Shwa

Demitri's inner core shook violently, though his exterior seemed calmed and unnerved by the information Marcus told the rest of the team, he was frightened for the first time in a long time. The man who they thought to have been destroyed after his rampage of killing friends and family members...was still alive. Physically or spiritually, it didn't matter how but the giant know knows the murderer of his father was alive and possibly around the base somewhere. What he didn't understand was the need to find Tank so desperately, but they again, his eldest son was prone in the past to be manipulated by those who were stronger and in power over the teenager. Demitri closed his eyes as he tried to think of a solution to their current problems, one of the gods stayed in London and needed to be found and destroyed, or the very least dealt with, and now Anomander has made his way back into their lives after such a short lived break period of peace. Demitri grunted through his teeth as he though, but he felt something warm wrap around his large hand, it was warm and comforting to the touch, the giant looked down as he opened his eyes, meeting Ali's eyes in a loving stare. She was concerned as well, more so for the news of their son possibly being in harms way, but also a loving look to let Demitri know that everything will be alright, at least, that's how the giant translated the warm embrace of her hand. Demitri gave a slight smile as he turned back to their group, seeing all the members ready to head out and face their new mission. Pocket stood comfortably close to Jason as the wolf man wrapped a hand around her slender shoulders, Gene and Sasa mimicking the action while Jeff and Luwein stood on their own ground ready to head out to London. The doors opened once again behind Demitri and Ali, both turned around to see Cloak and Patch enter the room, followed by the imposter High Councilor Shield, who everyone knew was Copy cat. "We're ready to head out with you Commandant, everything has been arranged" Copy Cat stated as she transformed back into her original female form, Demitri raised an eyebrow at the statement, before he could speak to protest, Cloak began to talk. "The High Council has gone under lock down after the deaths of three of their members, but after all the information of their years of service and their plot to control Commander Ali Athens, everyone is going under extensive memory scans from Break and other psychics to make sure there were not other members of the council that was in on the plot." Ali grasped onto Demitri's hand tighter, remembering the events that took place during her time of supposed death thanks to Madam Pain and the others. "I know of that, I signed the paperwork and warrant, something that will probably get in into a lot of trouble, but with the written permission from the other commandants from the surrounding bases, it was more than enough to..."persuade" them into accepting the terms of condition. But, I am still concerned for the presence of you Copy Cat, I would advise that you stay and remain under the cloak of my father to keep moral up." Demitri still hurt on the inside, knowing his father was no longer with them in the living world. "Sir, I made sure that my position was the first to be scanned, its a process that will take at least up to 4 days to perform for all the mind readers, on a single person to make sure their scans are thorough. They will not be missing Shield while the other 453 members of the council are undergoing the search." Copy Cat replied. "Also Sir, it seems your team is down a couple of members, we can make that up. Transport, Medic and Spy agent to assist in the search for the god in London." Demitri nodded, they needed all the help they could get, and with their powerful mystic staying behind and Tank gone missing, their power house hitters were limited to Demitri and Gene for projectile attacks. The commandant stood straight as he nodded, the three new members huddling next to the rest of Alpha Team Elite, Ali took the folder with the information that was collected on their new target. "So, finally we have a chance to take care of one of them" Demitri nodded as he looked over to Roger. "Do it" Without a response, Cloak's black smog engulfed the room until everything was pitch black, the travel only took seconds, but the team finally saw the light of day, the whole team reappeared in between the alley way of two town home complexes. The black smog slowly vanished into the air as everyone adjusted to the new light and humidity of the country, there was something new added, they were all dressed in civilian clothes. Everyone marveled at the new skills Roger had gained. "Well, this is a neat little trick" Demitri commented as he looked back at his transporter agent, but was surprised to see his friend wearing a pair of cargo shorts with a tank top shirt, showing off more of his defined physical body. Ali raised an eyebrow before speaking. "Well, who knew you worked out Roger" She snickered for a moment, the man blushed lightly before crossing his arms. "I thought this would be better than going around in regular uniform, we have to be careful. from your reports on the attack at the Ball with Sybille, Set already knows your identities for those who were there. We're not sure if he's conspiring with his siblings, so extra precaution should be taken....sir" Cloak looked around, seeing some of the civilians looking as they passed at the group huddled in a tight circle. Jason did his best to not scratch his ears dog style with his leg, his bare feet and toes clinging to the brick ground trying to resist the urge. Calypso took the hint and scratched underneath his long hair at the spot that made the man weak at the knees. "Alright Alpha Team, fan out and keep a close eye for anything suspicious, this is the area where Basse was spotted, or thought to be spotted, so lets keep it close and tight." Everyone nodded at Demitri's command, the group leaving one by one in pairs until it was Demitri, Ali and Luwein left in the alley, the couple held hands as Luwein sat upon Demitri's shoulders. Playing the role of an innocent child while scanning the area with his heightened senses and powers.

Alexander worked on his coloring project with great detail, though he didn't like art as a whole and thought it to be a waste of material and time, it always amazed the boy how creative he was with coloring and thinking of different designs to put down on paper. It seemed so manual and simple rather than create objects and programs on computer with the use of codes, maybe that's why it was more relaxing when done on paper. Alexander practically had his nose to the desk as he continued on his artwork, the bangs of his hair falling down around his head to provide shadow and darkness as the boy worked, the other children made small chit chat about their daily activities and plans for the weekend, but none really seemed to ever include Alexander in those plans. It saddened the boy at times, he was good friends inside of school, but whatever made him an outcast outside was still unknown, he would at least like to have an invitation to go somewhere and see his peers outside of a learning setting. With a heavy sigh, Alexander sat straight in his chair, looking down at his paper now full of color and swirls, a small smile trickled across his face with satisfaction, he was starting to think he might have been an artist in the past life or something. Loud clicking sounds echoed in the classroom as the art teacher made her rounds, looking over the children's works and critiquing them one by one, their smiles and laughter filled the room as the boys swooned over Miss. Anstey while the girls admired her energy and feminine attitude. Alexander always thought she was pretty, she had been with the school for years now, so he had been told, but her popularity was unmatched by any other teacher. More clicking of her heels as she walked, coming closer and closer until she stopped in front of Alexander's work desk and peered down at the boy as he put the finishing touches on his own paper. "My, this is very unique form of color combination, who knew we had an artist in our midst." Miss Anstey smiled as she sat down on the chair facing the little boy, Alexander blushed at the comment while the other kids looked towards the two. The art teacher slowly picked up his paper and scanned the detail of his work, she was thoroughly impressed. The boy blushed more, he could feel all the eyes of the classroom on him and the teacher, he wasn't use to this kind of attention, though he sought after it, it was a new feeling to him. Miss Anstey traced over the lines with her slender index finger, her eyes scanning the work as she smiled, without excusing herself, the teacher stood and took the artwork with her to the front of the classroom. "Class, this is something new I'll be doing this year," Taking a sliver piece of tape from her desk, she turned to the chalkboard and taped Alexander's portrait to the top right corner of the chalkboard before turning to face her students. "I think it would be a nice addition to the class to add an "Artists Corner" to the room. I'll pick your best artwork and place it up here for everyone to see" Smiles lit up the room from the news, Miss Anstey walked back towards Alexander and knelt down next to his desk. "I'm sorry, I didn't even get your name, my first artists corner winner" She extender her hand mid air, Alexander snapped out of his moment of glory before noticing the hand in front of him. "O-Oh, My name is Alexander Sunyak Miss Anstey" The boy shook too hold of her hand withing a second, feeling he was being rude by leaving her hanging, but the moment he touched her flesh, the boy felt woozy, almost uncomfortable as small images flashed in his mind. He was confused at what was happening, looking around the classroom, everything seemed to freeze, like time itself had stopped, even the teacher before him. But when Alexander looked back at Miss Anstey, she was not the person as he recognized her in the beginning. Another woman stood holding onto his hand, more scary looking and her outfit was something....unreal and dark. Fear coursed through the boys veins until he blinked his eyes once, when he opened them everything was moving like normal. His limp hand moved when Miss Anstey shook it for the both of them. "Well Alexander, I hope to see more of your artwork hanging on the chalkboard this year." The woman smiled as she stood up from her spot, the bell had rung, signaling the end of the school day as the children packed their things and rushed out of the door. Alexander took no time to hesitate as he did the same, still shaking slightly at the images he saw and the woman he saw in his teachers place. It was eerie to say the least, when the room was cleared, Miss Anstey began to clean up the utensils and art supplies and place them back in their original order. It took about an hour or so, but she finally had time to prepare things the way she liked it before going to her desk. There was a call on her mobile, reaching into her small purse, she answered the phone without reading who was calling, knowing very well who it was. "[color="#8B0000"][i][b]Did you find anything today?[/b][/i][/color]" The modified voiced asked, Anstey rolled her eyes as she collected her belongings. "I don't see the spirit being in a child's body, maybe the intelligence was wrong about that woman we killed years ago" "[color="#8B0000"][i][b]Do not think outside of the order woman, you have been punished for that before[/b][/i][/color]" Anstey rolled her eyes in anger, leaning on her desk she peered at the artwork Alexander did in her class, something was off about it. Blinking a couple of times, she noticed that the boys last name always vanished slowly, as if it phased itself through the picture somehow, leaving only his first name. Anstey thought she was exhausted, but it kept occurring over and over again the more she looked at it, it finally dawned on her now, their prize was in sight. "I think I found what we're looking for" She smiled before taking the picture off the chalkboard and putting it into her purse. She gave the information to her leader before hanging up, she was instructed not to pursue the boy, for other agents have already located him. In case they were unsuccessful in obtaining the carrier, she would move in as the unsuspecting teacher. the news did not please Anstey, but she was limited in her moved for now. But she had her ways of working outside of the Maldito family's watchful eye. She left her classroom and walked smoothly down the hall, still a smile on her lips. Alexander decided to make an outting to the mall after school, he had enough money to last him a lifetime thanks to his hacking skills, so he thought to spend the day spending and getting what he needed for his weekend long days of staying inside playing video games with his online friends and hacking buddies. The boy was holding onto a bag of electronic items he got from the video game store as he walked along the railing of the 5th floor, looking past the glass barrier, he saw that the mall already was packed with shoppers for the evening time as the sun set. Even some classmates were inside hanging out with one another, Alexander disregarded the need to hang out with any of them, after what happened in Art class, he knew at least someone noticed his work and noticed he was even alive. The boy took a break as he sat down on one of the mall benches, relaxing his feet from a long travel and shopping around for the items he needed, there was something else that worried the boy. In the distance, a couple could be seen looking around, two male's as they went store to store, but the funny thing, they had been on each level that Alexander traveled to, and to each store he passed by and went inside of. Looking over to his left, there was a very muscular male that was just on his cell phone on and off as he explored the mall, but it seemed as if he was trailing the boy as well. Alexander shook his head slightly before standing and continuing on his way towards the elevator to exit the facility. ([color="#0000FF"][i][b]I'm probably still freaked out from earlier today...but that was too weird and scary.[/b][/i][/color]) The boy thought as he reached the elevator doors, slowly making his way inside, the large muscular man also entered before the door closed, leaving both inside as the elevator traveled down slowly. Alexander continued to peer down at the main entrance, lots of traffic flow of shoppers this evening. The silence was broken when the man closed his phone, almost purposely loud before spoke. "So, you're the last carrier now huh?" Alexander raised an eyebrow as he turned around, the muscular man was now dressed in a black hooded trench coat as he looked down at the shivering boy. Alexander backed himself to the glass window as the man drew closer and closer, smiling down at the boy. "Once you're gone, we'll have what we need to vanquish and exterminate our enemies, especially the Crimson Guard" The elevator stopped abruptly, both men held onto something to keep their balance, the doors of the elevator opened quickly as shoppers waited to enter. Something inside of the boy told him to move with haste, his life was in danger and he needed to flee immediately. Going on his instincts, the boy ducked and dove past the larger mans legs before rolling on the ground, finally on his feet again he rushed towards the exit, with his small body he was able to maneuver without any problems, but his stalker had trouble with his own mass moving past the crowd. Opening his phone once again, he spoke it without dialing a number. "The carrier is headed towards the norther exit, surround the area within a 15 mile radius and apprehend him!"

Demitri pondered at the words she spoke, still light headed and weak from her touch and kisses, when Ali planted her hand on Demitri's chest, he felt the world of problems lift from his shoulders once again like it always has before. He didn't realize how long it had been since either of them had a simple glance at one another, stood next to one another even if for a moment to relax, or even made love and share the special bond they've made countless and countless times before. the giant looked down at his wife, slowly healing from her injuries sustained by the twisted High Council members when she was their captive, the woman's burning desires clearly flooded through the mans thoughts along with her worries and hesitation about the news that would be spoken about their past love and their battle to keep it as time grew. Demitri took a deep breath before closing his eyes, his body shook as he held onto his wife tighter, feeling her body pulse at his grip made the man weak in the knees, but he was at last complete with her once again, alone together as he had always wanted. The commandant cupped his index finger and thumb under Ali's chin as he tilted her head upwards to meet the mans gaze, her eyes now shining with new life and light, much more lustful and surging with energy that before. The giant knew she had the right to know about everything that had happened, she deserved to know the hardships and struggles they went through, the countless battles side-by-side and the rewards from said battles. It was time. "Whether you leave or not, that's up to you Ali. I pray to gods you stay...for us, and for our family..." Raising an eyebrow, Ali was bewildered about the comment, but after hearing about her relationship with the commandant, she was quick to speak what was in her mind and heart. The slender woman squeezed her hand that laid on Demitri's chest, grabbing hold a large ball of his shirt fabric before taking a breath. "Neos...and the other small children...ours?" She held her breath, lips quivering at the thought, it was scary to her, almost frightening...but yet there was a part of her that was excited to hear if her thoughts were actual true. Demitri took a soft swallow of air before answering. "Dante and Lily are adopted, we've had them for two years since you've rescued them...and Neos is our natural born son." Ali gasped at the answer, tears slowly forming into her eyes as she laid her head on the mans broad chest, feeling swooned with emotions and slight memories enter her mind as if a tidal wave of information ran through her veins. Demitri could hear small huffs coming from her, Ali's breathing intensified and picked up its pace, but the giant held onto her as her body leaned into his, tightening his embrace of his wife. "Ali...are you ok? Speak to me" Demitri shook Ali lightly as she calmed down, never letting go of that man she was remembering slowly as the information settled in her mind, it took her a moment to speak before she opened her mouth to answer back, but she was ready for the rest. Placing a hand on her forehead, Ali messaged the flesh of her scalp softly, feeling a somewhat "brain freeze" feeling on her temple areas was sending shovers through her mind, but she relaxed enough to look up at Demitri with a slight smile. "Dizzy, but fine..." Ali suddenly felt a wave of nausea hit her as her body dropped on its own, Demitri reacted in enough time to catch and hold onto his wafe, without thinking, the giant swung her body in mid air, catching her legs and holding her bridal style as Ali threw her head back in surprise. the lightning fast move with sudden urgency surprised the young empath as she lifted her head back up to look up at Demitri. The giant looking down at his wife with worry and fear that swirled in his hazel eyes. It was something almost new to the woman, she could feel her cheeks burn as her body acted on its own, her arms lacing around Demitri's neck as he held onto her, it was something odd to the woman, but yet...it felt so natural and right for her to be so close to the commandant. They had done this many times before, but now it felt all brand new to the girl. "Demitri...." The giant said nothing as he moved his body to walk to his bedroom, no, their bedroom. It didn't matter about technicalities or grammar corrections, Ali was his wife through thick and thin, nothing was going to change that for the man. Entering their bedroom, the giant stood at the edge of their bed as he laid Ali down gently on the soft mattress, the coolness of the sheets was something of comfort to the woman as she sighed in relaxation, taking note of the way Demitri handled her fragile body with his hands. Demitri himself knelt down on the side of the bed as he brushed the stands of hair away from her face softly, his fingers brushing against her skin made the man himself heat up from the slightest touch he felt from her. Ali finally relaxed herself as she found a pillow not too far from her, reaching her arm to grab hold of the soft rectangular bedding item, placing it under her head as she laid and kept her gaze on Demitri, never lingering her stare. "If there more...please tell me. I want to now everything Demitri...everything." Demitri nodded as he took his thought into consideration before speaking more. But she was right, she did need to know everything, and she had every right to. "I'm just wondering where to begin..." The man weakly smiled as he finally collected himself. He began to divulge all the information about their service with HDF, their growing love, the battles and scare son his body, their interactions with Sybille and the other members of Alpha team along with current events. the argument they had at the ball, the fights Marcus and the commandant have had, the children and deaths of Anomanders targets, especially his father Shield. Everything was out in the open as Ali listened and nodded, her own emotions fluctuating from the memories she originally wiped from her mind.

[center] [img]http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt278/PandasQ/Blood-2.jpg[/img] [/center] [center][left]The Big Bang Theory...a complex wonder of science, religious miracle and imaginations, but for countless centuries; modern day scientists ans skeptics have wondered that very question. Which one caused the Big bang? They can argue that it was the work of a high powered being that is both merciful and vengeful. The computations of particles and gases fusing together to create a new astronomical wonder; or even the ideals and hopes of life outside of the norms creating new universe. They were close, but far from obtaining the actual truth in it all. During the explosion of the big bang, something else produced itself from the ashes of life....an actual spirit. Inside of this single floating orb lies the power of destruction and creation all in one, how it was able to manifest itself during the birth of a universe is still unknown, but even at its creation it has remained docile and observant of life as it went by. This singular spirit has been on the planet earth during the passing of time. Exploring the birth of man and his many wonders of consciousness and thought, kingdoms and nobility serve a higher power or calling, plagues and disease spread though out countries, the formation of religious houses and the wars over which one was justified as the true savior. This single spirit has also adapted to human emotions and normal day of life, during the Egyptian era, it infused its core body into the life of a human child. Experiencing all the wonders of growing and aging, and lessons learned by elders and life experiences. When it was time to move onto the offspring, the spirit would simply slip into the new host of the same family, reliving those experiences again and again, but never letting the human host hone into its hidden and raw power the spirit held within, for disaster and chaos would ensue for the race of man. During the lifespan of this particular bloodline, the spirit has lived to see the world shape itself for both good and bad, but never losing the experience of mankind's limitless imagination. It was during the years of the Roman influence that sparked a warning of the spirits presence. A group called "Maldito", full of brilliant scientists of the time, rich family members and thieves alike came across interesting information about their worlds creation, a singular energy trail was left behind, and their group could find and locate the source of great power. Luckily for them, they had the power of magic on their side to locate the spirit. With much effort and scheming, the Maldito family found the current host and tortured him for information on his power. Unknowing the the host at the time, the spirit never made itself known or even knew when he was infused with a being of great power. The spirit stayed in the host until his body died, finally showing itself to the Maldito family, but escaped soon after to go to the next generation's body to hide. [/left][/center] So the chase began, the spirit jumping from one body to the next of the same blood line as the years passed, always hiding from the Maldito family that grew in number and wealth over the years. More members joined to have a chance at capturing and harnessing the spirits natural raw power. It wasn't until the time of King Henry VIII that a noble night saw the murder of a host, and saw the spirit rise from its corpse around several Maldito family members. Acting on valor and courage, the knight fought off and killed each family member until the spirit was left alone with the brave night. As a token of gratitude, the spirit summoned enough energy and "synced" its knowledge of its life and the Maldito family, the information was a lot for the knight, but he knelt and drove his sword into the ground, pledging to always protect the spirit and whatever host it may reside in at the time. This was the birth of the Crimson Guard Family. Warriors, magicians and average humans guarding the secret of the spirit and protecting the host while the Maldito Family continued their hunt for ultimate power. As time passed, members on both families have also, but there are some who still hold a high place, gaining immortality through means of magic or sacrifices to continue their secret war of destroying or protecting the spirit with powers unmeasurable by science or man. The Maldito family and Crimson Guard continue to battle their war in the shadows, not all the time are the Crimson Guard successful in protecting the spirit. The same with the Maldito family, still unable to capture the spirit with great power before it flees or their members are attacked by the Crimson Guard, now that times have changed and positions have shifted, it has become more of a dangerous battle with science and technology advancing to their peek. The last member of the [beep] bloodline is only but a child, a child now entangled in the bloody war of centuries past.... [color="#008000"][i] Veronica huffed and heaved as she ran down the streets of her hometown, the hells of her shoes clacking and echoing into the dark night as her body limped and battered with every step. The woman continuously looked behind herself as she ran, trying to flee her feared stalkers as she held onto her limp and broken arm with all her might, blood pouring from her wound as she desperately made her way to the only safe haven she knew of. Turning another corner, the dark clouds gathered atop of her as she shuffled closer and closer to her destination, praying to her god for sanctuary from those who hunted her so vigilantly. Finally turning another corner, the woman gasped as she saw the cathedral of her church, stopping for a moment to pace her breath to the beat of her heart, pounding away at her chest violently and without fail. Mustering all the strength she had left, the woman pushed on down the dark roads until she cam upon the steps of the church, but footsteps were not far behind as she drew closer and closer to her destination. finally reaching the large metal handled of the door, she pulled with all her might for entrance, but to no avail, pounding onto the large wooden door barrier for any assistance. 'HELP ME PLEASE!!! SOMEONE ANSWER!!" Veronica begged, tears running down her slender cheek, mixing her salty liquid with her velvet shade blood from the side of her mouth as she spoke, but no answer or help came to the woman as the echoes of her hunters stopped at the bottom of the stairwell, she knew she was to die tonight, but for what...she did not know. Looking back, her body shook in fear as three figured stood at the bottom of the stairs, all hooded in black and well masked by the night, one man strode forward, climbing the staircase slowly as he spoke. "Woman, we know the spirit resides in your body, and we shall claim it for our own" He stepped closer, one by one he claimed the cement, every step forced her heart to beat even faster as the hooded figure approached her. Veronica looked to her sides for a possible way of retreating, but she found herself surrounded by more hooded figures, at both her sides as they looked upon her smiling. Their intentions clear as the sun as they too closed in on their prey, Veronica rested her back onto the wooden door of the church, scared for her life as she watched the man from the stairs come face-to-face with her. Her pulse quickened, her thoughts scattered as the man withdrew a sword from his cloak, an ancient weapon, but its age was only matched by the blood that has previously stained the steel. "Please...I don't know what you spe-" A flesh tearing sound cut her words before she could finish, without mercy or compassion, the hooded man drove his weapon through her chest, aiming directly at her heart as the steel pierced the wooden door behind her. Veronica's blood slowly pouring down her body as her arms went limp from shock, then lifeless as the woman threw her head back. Moments of her life flashing before her eyes before he muscled relaxed, letting everything go as the last breath of life escaped her life, only a smile danced across the elder mans face as he withdrew his sword from her body. Veronica struggled to stand, but gravity was her enemy as she fell to the concrete flood, no longer living, but her eyes remained in a state of fear. No screams, no last prayers...just death. All the hooded members surrounded her body, as if to wait for something to happen, it only took moments for them to realize their was no victory in this death. "Impossible, we have eliminated her lover years ago, the spirit should have passed onto this woman. Our informants spoke of her carrying a child, why has the spirit not left her body. She was the last bloodline carrier to live!" A woman roared as she paced around the dead body of Veronica, the other members looked at one another with doubt before the elder spoke once more. "That was years ago, and Veronica [beep] might have spawned a child already...our informants were wrong" Several scowls could be heard from the group members. "We shall research the finding, we killed her husband two years ago and we all saw the spirit flee his body, right in front of our eyes. It most likely went into hers, but I'm guessing her offspring is the new carrier..." The elder man walked away from the corpse as he wiped the blood of his victim clean from his ancient steel, the other member following closely as they walked into the shadows of the night. "What shall we do now?" Another member of the clan spoke, his only arm swaying as he walked in tight formation with his other clan members. "That Maldito family is closer to finding the spirit of great power now than we have ever been. If the child is born and alive, he is the last, we shall dispose of him swiftly...FIND THE CHILD!!!'[/i][/color] [color="#000000"]~[/color][color="#000000"][i][b]Years Later[/b][/i]~[/color] The storm that night was fierce, the wind blew viciously as the lightning struck without warning, sending sonic booms throughout the area if surrounded. Alexander stayed curled underneath his covers as he tossed and turned in his sleep, more nightmares brought on by the onset of the storm, the child alone in a large house alone was not comforting. More the child struggled to wake up from his nightmare, seeing images of death and dark figures haunted the boy as people died off one by one at their hands, no peace came as the memories flooded the boys mind left and right. With a loud boom and bright flash, Alexander rose from his slumber, gasping for air as the wind hit his house with violent intent. Sweating in his own sheets, the boy panted and shook from the chills his body produced, looking around for a moment to collect himself, he knew he was in his room safe and sound and out of harms way. Taking a hand to his head, the boy calmed down little by little, though the storm outside made it impossible to concentrate clearly as he closed his eyes when bright flashes from the lightning storm interrupted his thinking. ([color="#0000FF"][i][b]Another night of this...oh man, I'll never get any sleep for school[/b][/i][/color]) The boy shook his head at the though before turning to his bedside table, seeing the clock flash 6 o'clock over and over again, the boy groaned as he threw the sheets off of his body and made his way to the bathroom to prepare for the morning. ([color="#0000FF"][i][b]Never mind on that...[/b][/i][/color]) Alexander groaned as he prepared himself for school, always prompted and ready, the boy finally made his way downstairs with his essentials, grabbing his laptop and lunch before heading out the door, covered in a yellow raincoat jacket before stepping outside to the pouring rain. The boy hugged his body as the wind added onto the downpour, making his way down the street slowly, he shivered and kept his head low from the assault of water and sharp wind burning his face, within a half hour, he made it to school, still dry on the inside of his raincoat thankfully. Alexander made it down the hall, holding onto his backpack tight as he entered his first class of the day, math. Sighing, he entered through the door, only to be met with the glares of the other students and teacher. "Almost late Alexander, take your seat for roll call" Mr. Humphres stated, Alexander smiled and shyly made his way to his assigned seat, the lesson had began not too long afterwards, but the boy was more concentrated on the storm outside. The images from his night before haunted the child as he watched the rain droplets slowly pour down the window, the feeling of another presence was strong, flowing though his own veins as if they were blood itself. Alexander shivered at the though before continuing onto his lessons for the morning, the feeling lingering on his conscious as he lost train of though often to look around his surroundings, just to confirm his suspicions. The rest of the day went by smoothly, lunchtime was always crowded and full of life as the other students talked amongst themselves with their fellow peers. Alexander sat at the corner of his table, closest to the window as he typed away at his computer, practicing his skills and looking through the web like the little spy he was, for his age and mental understanding, he was fully practiced in the technological world. But his time at his computer made himself to be outcasted by other kids at school, always earning teh name "computer nerd" or something equally childish, it bothered the boy from time to time until he accepted his place in the social norm and went about his business. The metal bell rang chimed through the lunchroom, their meals were over as all the children gathered their belongings to head to their last class before the day was to be done with. Alexander sighed as he closed his computer and gathered his own belonging before making his way to his last, and least favorite class of all...art. [b]Alrighty, small into to the story, shows how Alexander mother dies at the hands of the Maldito family. I didn't mention the last name for it has changed since Alexander was adopted, but I'll revile that later on in the story. Have fun with your first post guys and dolls! [/b]

Awesome auditions guys, looks like we're set to start this. If anyone else wishes to join, please feel free to do so, the more the merrier! I'll be starting this later this evening/early in the morning after work tonight. Glad to see this brought such attention, can't wait to start!

[b]Name[/b]: Alexander Sunyak [b]Age[/b]: 13 Years of Age [b]Sex[/b]: Male [b]Family[/b]: Carrier [b]Appearance[/b]:[url="http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i141/Yaoi_And_Anime_Lover/Digimon/Izzy/4cb14219.jpg"]Alexander[/url] [b]Personality[/b]: For a growing boy, Alexander is still new to the world and always learning more about people around him and the culture he's been brought into. Somewhat of a technology prodigy, Alexander can be very useful with a computer and other electronical objects. Already learning from friends both in person and on the net about hacking and accessing personal information. Though years of staying inside has left Alexander somewhat sheltered, keeping to himself and not using his social skills to their maximum, the boy is shy and hesitates a lot when confronted and asked about himself. Alexander would like to be more active and hang out with his friends at school, but he's seen as somewhat of an oddball when he talk about computer topics instead of sports or the latest news, so he's not invited to a lot of events with his school friends. [b]Bio[/b]: During the last change of carriers, the spirit went to the father of Alexander, but his life was lived short after his son was born. The Maldito family traced him within months of Alexander being born and was murdered one night during a bar fight with one of its members, the spirit fled hours before and hosted itself within the baby form of Alexander. At the age of two, Alexanders mother was killed, the Maldito family thinking she was the next in line for the spirit to flee to, but she was not of the original bloodline, that's when Alexander was placed in foster care and given a different last name thanks to the state. The hunt to find the baby boy seemed futile, and the spirit would not show its location, even to its protectors while it laid hidden as the child grew. The last of the original bloodline carrier now grows with a different last name attached to his body, the spirit taking the change to heal and rest before calling the Crimson Guards for assistance. Alexander is an only child, that he knows of, and is an ward of the state, having no living parents since he was born. The boy has lived from one foster home to the next, always staying to himself, releasing the thought of living a normal life with a normal family, that was until his foster care taker gave the boy a laptop for his 8th birthday, then things changed for the better. Alexander was able to learn about backdoor gateways and hacking through some friends on the internet, enough so he was able to access personal bank accounts from people and the government, able to put it into a personal account of his own. Within time, the boy was able to purchase his own house downtown, and give a little money back to his foster care taker for the shelter and upbringing. Now that Alexander is 13 years old, he's mastered a lot of his computer skills while maintaining the illusion that he lives in a town home with parents who, as he claims, are always away for work. Lately during his life, Alexander has wondered why he has trouble sleeping at night, images of past and foreign places to the boy seem to pop up at random, keeping the child from having a good nights rest. The images haunt the boy so much, scenes of death and running from one location to another, as if something were chasing him as well, or he was seeing the eyes of the ones being chased. Not every one of his dreams end badly, sometimes there are people who protect the running figure from harms way, Alexander sleeps well when he has one of those dreams. Lately though, when they boy is walking home from school, or sitting in class, or even getting undressed for sleep, he feels something eerie watching him. Almost as if they know what he's going to do before he can even finish his task at hand, Alexander has been locking the doors and windows of his home, and setting the security alarms every night for the past month as the feelings grew stronger and stronger. [b]Abilities/Powers[/b]: Alexander is quite agile and flexible for his age, able to flip around without a worry and craw through tight spots in alleyways or air vents. He is also a speedy runner as well. Besides physical abilities, the boy is a master hacker on the computer, and carries around a lock picking set with him in his pocket, he likes to practice the first form of hacking little by little (lock picking) as a hobby. The power of the spirit is still hidden inside the boys body, as past carriers before him have yet to harness its internal power, the spirit is now fearful of those who hunt him, for this boys body is the last of the bloodline. [b]Weapons[/b]: Alexander carries no weapon on his person. [b]Profession[/b]: Alexander is a student in middle school, a B average student, but can advance grades above his own if he put more time into studying rather than playing on his computer.

They look awesome, I'm really stuck on numbers 1 and 3, though 2 an 3 look like text titles from the castlvania games, haha. Thanks a lot for the modification :-D

Hiya there artists, mostly cAns cause he only responded last time, but I would like some help adding some cool text to this photo for my first RPG. The title would be obvious, the title of the RPG which is "Curse of the Bloodline". I was thinking white scripture text to go with the velvet red bloody background, but if you have any other thoughts/ideas please feel free to be creative. thanks a bunch! I'm hoping to launch this new rpg before the weekend :D. The picture is below, hope to get some assistance from some great people! [IMG]http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu216/rhymz4jesus/BACKGROUNDS/blood-5.jpg[/IMG] ~Mage

([color="#0000FF"][i][b]It's over...its finally over. Dad....[/b][/i][/color]) Demitri thought as he peered to the ground of the shadow world, dark and black as before, even before Anomander came to seemingly take over this realm, it was still nothing but darkness and empty thought. Demitri realized this is where Marcus and Neos did their training, to expand their sons powers on a plain Demitri could never reach, he had to hand it to the mystic, this was a game he could not win over with their son. Marcus' heavy breathing filtered in the giants mind, he too was exhausted from the final burst of energy they used to defeat their enemy, but the mystic seemed to be more effected in this world, but only slightly as Demitri fell to one knee, feeling the blood escape from gene's ice patch on his shoulder. The man became woozy and huffed for great amounts of air like Marcus did, but even that was becoming difficult for the commandant. Marcus picked up Neos in his arms as he knelt next to the commandant, placing a hand on the mans broad shoulder before looking back at the group. Jason held Pocket in his arms while Jeff helped Sasa and Gene to their feet. Luwein assisted the wounded tank to his feet but barely, the teen was obviously more heavy than the smaller boy, but he managed without complaining. Cloak knelt down next to the stone figure of Ali, along with Patch as he scanned with his powers for some sign of life, there was only a faint reading, but it was enough to convince the man she was still alive. Marcus looked down at the commandant now, seeing his wound continue to bleed through the melting ice. "This place is not for everyone to stay in for a long period of time, and with the powers you let released when fighting was drawn on your stay here. We have to evacuate immediately, for the others might be effected as well." Demitri nodded as he stood slowly, feeling the burn from his wound along with the numbing ice that surrounded the area, the man finally made it to his feet before both en saw a flash at the corner of their eye. It was blinding at first, Patch and Cloak groaning at the surprise brightness that caught their sights, but slowly the light dimmed to an acceptable level as they saw clear flesh instead of stone on Ali. Slowly, her body morphed back to skin and muscles, her hair free once again to blow in the wind as her fingers laid on the ground of the world. It was a marvel everyone thought impossible. "AlEX!!" Demitri shouted, slowly making his way to the woman, finally standing over her body and the others who knelt, Demitri joined them as he too knelt down next to patch. "I don't even know where to begin sir, but I can fully say the effect of Anomanders powers are nullified now. She's back to normal" Patch smiled weakly as he scanned her body with his glowing hands, the green light surrounding his body as he hovered his hands over her slowly. Feeling the pulse and heat radiate from her body was a happy sign to the man, Demitri weakly smiled as well, holding onto his wifes hand tightly with his free arm, Neos smiled as he hugged Marcus around his neck. The hounds surrounded her body along with the other members of Alpha Team. There was a large groan that caught everyone's attention, the group looked over to Tank who hissed with his eyes closed, Luwein trying his best to support his body while the teenager wiggled in place. Jason knelt down quickly, still holding onto Pocket in his arms, but he seemed to be weakened as he growled, shaking his head as if to stay awake. Marcus looked at each member of the group that seemed to be effected, even the commandant, the shadow realm only allowed certain users inside for such a prolonged period, and now the others were feeling the effect as well. It worried the mystic, things could get ugly is they stayed any longer. The marked man looked down at the commanant and the others who knelt, Patch was starting to feel the effects of the world as well, falling to his side as he laid next to Ali, he was weakened, the commandant seemed to be nodding off where he sat. The only ones unharmed by the effects of the world were Luwein, Cloak, Neos, Pocket, Ali and himself. "Cloak, it's time to go" The man nodded as he stood up, holding onto Ali's body in his arms, without saying a word, the cloak around his neck opened up and blew as if wind had fought against it. The cloth grew enormous as it surrounded the group, the black smog adding the darkness effect for a moment, Neos looked behind Marcus back as he saw Gear looking directly into his eyes. "Come on Sly!" The boy cried, Gear barked as he rushed over to the group, jumping and vanishing from the shadows with the rest of his family, the other hounds broke formation and went about their own ways. Back at the HDF back, the group reappeared outside of the compound, just as the sun was about to strike high in the sky, indicating it was soon to be noon, suddenly everyone's effected pains from the shadow realm wore off, but they still felt their own pains from the battle. The doors to the large base opened up slowly, a team of medical officers dashed outward to the commandant and other members of Alpha Elite, those who managed to walk escorted themselves with the medics at their side. Tank was taken on a stretcher, along with Ali and Pocket while the others went on their own to the med ward. As the group passed the halls, they were looked upon by the recruits and lower ranking members of the base, all of them in awe as they saw the commandant and his team battered and injured from their recent mission. Marcus looked down as he held onto Neos, the child now sleeping in his embrace,holding onto his stuffed fox "Sly" in his stuffed plushy form, the mystic smiled that they were able to get him safe and sound. Despite the markings and red areas around his cheeks from the slaps he had gotten from Anomander, the child was perfectly fine on the outside. Commanders Voice and Shock Wave came down the hallway with the twins Recharge, both twins holding onto Lily's hand as they saw the team enter the med ward. "Mon, Dad!" She gasped, but was held onto the twins as they all entered. "Don't worry girl, they will be alright with time" The doctor spoke to Lily as Demitri laid on his back on the hospital bed, groaning from his injuries, he laid next to his wife Ali, who had some IV's injected into her system. Marcus sat upright on his hospital bed, assuring the medics he was fine, but they checked him out just as a precaution. Dante laid on his back on the opposite side of the room, Lily rushed over to his side and grasped his hand, the teen turned his head and smiled down to his little sister. The commanders stood over Demitri's body as they spoke. "Sir, we came to inform you that Madam Touch is out of danger, she is no longer on life support" Commander Shock wave stated, Patch raised an eyebrow as his arm was being bandaged. "What do you mean? Touch was on Life Support?...when was this?" He questioned, Demitri groaned at the remembrance of his mothers condition, but he was more than happy that she was healing nicely and not on a machine to breath. The words from the commanders slowly died down as Demitri fell into his own world, trying to rest from his injuries and have a personal mental moment on his own to collect his thoughts. At the time being, his family was safe, his mother slowly recovering and the man man known as Anomander, who's murdered so many and destroyed countless lives, was now dead. To Demitri, he considered all of that to be one hell of a mission accomplishment.

[size="3"] [font="Arial"][size="2"][font="Trebuchet MS"]The Big Bang Theory...a complex wonder of science, religious miracle and imaginations, but for countless centuries; modern day scientists ans skeptics have wondered that very question. Which one caused the Big bang? They can argue that it was the work of a high powered being that is both merciful and vengeful. The computations of particles and gases fusing together to create a new astronomical wonder; or even the ideals and hopes of life outside of the norms creating new universe. They were close, but far from obtaining the actual truth in it all. During the explosion of the big bang, something else produced itself from the ashes of life....an actual spirit. Inside of this single floating orb lies the power of destruction and creation all in one, how it was able to manifest itself during the birth of a universe is still unknown, but even at its creation it has remained docile and observant of life as it went by. This singular spirit has been on the planet earth during the passing of time. Exploring the birth of man and his many wonders of consciousness and thought, kingdoms and nobility serve a higher power or calling, plagues and disease spread though out countries, the formation of religious houses and the wars over which one was justified as the true savior. This single spirit has also adapted to human emotions and normal day of life, during the Egyptian era, it infused its core body into the life of a human child. Experiencing all the wonders of growing and aging, and lessons learned by elders and life experiences. When it was time to move onto the offspring, the spirit would simply slip into the new host of the same family, reliving those experiences again and again, but never letting the human host hone into its hidden and raw power the spirit held within, for disaster and chaos would ensue for the race of man. During the lifespan of this particular bloodline, the spirit has lived to see the world shape itself for both good and bad, but never losing the experience of mankind's limitless imagination. It was during the years of the Roman influence that sparked a warning of the spirits presence. A group called "Maldito", full of brilliant scientists of the time, rich family members and thieves alike came across interesting information about their worlds creation, a singular energy trail was left behind, and their group could find and locate the source of great power. Luckily for them, they had the power of magic on their side to locate the spirit. With much effort and scheming, the Maldito family found the current host and tortured him for information on his power. Unknowing the the host at the time, the spirit never made itself known or even knew when he was infused with a being of great power. The spirit stayed in the host until his body died, finally showing itself to the Maldito family, but escaped soon after to go to the next generation's body to hide. So the chase began, the spirit jumping from one body to the next of the same blood line as the years passed, always hiding from the Maldito family that grew in number and wealth over the years. More members joined to have a chance at capturing and harnessing the spirits natural raw power. It wasn't until the time of King Henry VIII that a noble night saw the murder of a host, and saw the spirit rise from its corpse around several Maldito family members. Acting on valor and courage, the knight fought off and killed each family member until the spirit was left alone with the brave night. As a token of gratitude, the spirit summoned enough energy and "synced" its knowledge of its life and the Maldito family, the information was a lot for the knight, but he knelt and drove his sword into the ground, pledging to always protect the spirit and whatever host it may reside in at the time. This was the birth of the Crimson Guard Family. Warriors, magicians and average humans guarding the secret of the spirit and protecting the host while the Maldito Family continued their hunt for ultimate power. As time passed, members on both families have also, but there are some who still hold a high place, gaining immortality through means of magic or sacrifices to continue their secret war of destroying or protecting the spirit with powers unmeasurable by science or man. The Maldito family and Crimson Guard continue to battle their war in the shadows, not all the time are the Crimson Guard successful in protecting the spirit. The same with the Maldito family, still unable to capture the spirit with great power before it flees or their members are attacked by the Crimson Guard, now that times have changed and positions have shifted, it has become more of a dangerous battle with science and technology advancing to their peek. The time is current, the spirit's new host is an orphaned boy who attends school and lives his life out normally, but the poor boy is now in the crossfires of an ancient battle for the being inside of his body. He is the last of the original family bloodline since Egyptian times, and for only being a child, he is the last place the spirit can remain dormant. For if he dies, the spirit cannot jump to another host to hide inside, and will be reviled in plain sight and the powers of the original Big Bang shall be released if used for dark purposes. The years have passed and even members of the Crimson Guard are wavering from their original mission, but the elder members remember the promise they made, and they plan of keeping it to save their world from utter destruction. [b]Guidelines: Alright, my first RPG with the help of some awesome members, lets make this a lasting and exciting one. The current time for this RPG is now, our time, 2011. So any means of technology can be used by any member, the location will be given when we start this as well. As a side note, NO FAMILY MEMBER KNOWS THE IDENTITY OF THE OTHER. To further explain, each family member has a seal on their body, a tattoo of their seal, it will alert them when the spirit or another member of the opposite family is near. The symbols for each family member will be on the first post when this makes it to the Theater section, I'm positive members will like their personal family symbols. I would like to get at least 5 dedicated posters (including myself) for this, a fair amount on both families and then the Carrier. Since its set in current times, I'd like the family members to be hidden in regular job roles (cops, teachers, students, business executives, etc), but still faithful to their duties. You can be a rich tyrant, superstar singer, or ever a commoner going about their lives. So be creative :D Sign-Ups: Name: (Self Explanitory) Age: (Since some members are immortal, give a general age or timeline when you were welcomed into the family) Sex: Family: (Which do you belong to? The Maldito Family or Crimson Guard?) Appearance: Personality: Occupation: (Current job to hide yourself from the other family member and carrier. Teacher? Construction worker? Stock Broker? Student? anything goes) Bio: (Share a little bit about your character, their past history with the Crimson Guard or Maldito family, if they've lived for centuries or even this decade or the next, let us know) Abilities/Powers:[/b] (Let's not be too X-Men, anime gun ho. Have a general idea but remember you are limited. Are you a psychic that can only levitate or read peoples minds? A super strength fighter with the inability to swim? Or even a magic user that has physical limits, your character is your own creation, but lets be level with one another.) Weakness: (As stated above: Can't swim? Afraid of heights? Not a social butterfly? Clostrophobic? We love em all !!) Weapons: (If you choose to have one, always optional) [color="#008000"]I will be playing the role for the current Carrier of the Spirit, the last of the bloodline. I already have two spots reserved for Crimson Guard Members, but if we get a lot of posters then hey add on or join the other family. Hope to see some enthused posters for this one :D Happy Postings![/color] [/font][/size][/font] [/size]

One by one the members of Alpha Team Elite fell to their defeat by the hands of Anomander, it seemed in the shadow realm he was more powerful than he was in the human world, all the attacks thrown at him seemed to only bother the man and not effect him one bit. Demitri now stood toe to toe with the man, both men grappling one another as their hands intertwined, Demitri charged his electrical currents into the mans body as they held onto one another. Sparks flew as the other team members lifted themselves from the ground or stayed back from the electricity that flowed around the two men, Anomander simply looked into the wind wizards eyes and smiled, knowing he had the upper hand. "I'm afraid you've grown quite boring my boy, be gone with you" The man spoke, channeling his dark electricity back at the commandant, Demitri unable to withstand the assault as he yelled in pain, finally releasing Anomanders hands as his body flew backwards and skidded on the ground several times before stopping. Ali looked onto the battlefield as he friends fought the monster of a man. Neos still held close at the mans side, anyone who tried to come near the child would be struck down or forced to retreat as Anomander attacked with his powers of darkness. Marcus began to charge towards the mans blind side while Gene and Jason made a direct attack approach, the ice mystic firing a freezing energy blast from his palm when the two got closer, Jason gave a mighty howl as he jumped into the air to distract the dark being. Anomander simply smiled as he deflected the freeze blast and shot it straight up to Jasons location, hitting the werewolf in his shoulder as the ice turned black while it encased his right arm completely. Gene grunted as he attacked Anomander with a flurry of punches and more ice attacks, finding an open spot to grab Neos, he extended his arm, only to have it grabbed by Anomander and twisted sharply, bringing the iceman to his knees. "Such foolish attempts to claim something that is no longer yours" He scoffed at the soldier, lifting his arm and swinging Gene in a circle before launching his body at Marcus, the mystic was caught off guard when gene's body collided with his own, sending the two rolling backwards as they yelped in pain. Jeff used his powers to slowly levitate Neos ever so slightly while Sasa distracted the man by firing her rounds from her pistol. Pocket dashed to the side of Anomander, her scythe in her hands as she swung furiously at the man, only to receive a laugh as he mocked her attempts to harm him. "Foolish girl, have you no fear in me?" Anomander caught the blade of her scythe in his bare hand, holding tight as Pocket tried to free her weapon from his grasp, she glared at the man with hatred in her eyes as she grunted. "Your a monster, and like monsters, we'll take care of you" She continued to squirm as she held onto the staff of her weapon, Anomander laughed loudly as his free hand transformed into a dark shaped claw once again, Pocket gasped at the sight as he lifted his limb into the air to strike the girl down. Calypso was scared frightened when she heard Jason cry out her name in warning, closing her eyes, feeling as if she was about to be stricken down by this monster of a man. But nothing came, seconds passed until Pocket opened her eyes to see Tank grabbing the deformed claw and twisting it behind Anomander's backside, the man was obviously shocked he didn't notice the teenager come from behind, both grunted and struggled as Tank held on tight, the claws blades and talons cutting into his own armor deeply. "Run Calypso" Tank shouted over their grunts, Pocket managed to get her weapon free, but spun around quickly and made a direct hit to Anomanders chest, or so she thought. Finally staying still, she saw she had struck Tank in the chest deeply as the boy yelped and fell on his back, shocked from pain as his body twitched a little, Calypso gasped as she knelt down next to the boy. "Oh Gods Tank I didn...." Her voice was cut short when Anomander appeared behind the young girl, grabbing the back of her neck as he raised her body into the air, Pocket kicked and screamed from the rough grasp as the man laughed. Tank tried his best to stand, a heavy force struck his chest as the boy screamed, the shadow mystic stomped his foot down onto the boys wound, paralizing him in his spot. More bullets hit Anomander in the back by Sasa's weapon, but nothing seemed to do damage to the man. "You see how futile it is to come across my path? Those who have are now dead, as you all shall be" The man turned his body as the arm that held Pocket rose and fell to the ground, still holding the girl as her head bend forward as her body arched from the impact. Jason saw the black ashes rise from the ground, seeing Pocket unconscious drove the wolf man wild as he struggled to stand, the encased right arm was heavier than he had expected, feeling his shoulder already dislocate itself from the socket as he drug his arm on the ground. "POCKET!!" He roared, Anomander simply enjoyed the battle ground he created, nothing could touch him. He could see Marcus stand on his feet once again as Demitri rose his body with the support from his arms, grunting as he peered over the Patch and Cloak tend to Ali's wounds, she was deeply weakened by the travel to the shadow realm and the attack by Anomander was more to add onto her body's stress and frail form. Demitri finally stood up on his own two feet, seeing Jeff concentrate on extracting their son, the commandant knew they had to keep the distraction going. Marcus' runes glowed brightly as he peered over to Demitri, seeing his ally weakened but still willing to fight gave him the drive he needed to stay focused and steady, Demitri's eyes glowed white as the wind and electrical energy flowed through his body as he braced himself. Both men needed no words to share as they dashed for Anomander, Tank was still his prisoner along with Neos, they had to do what they could to get the children away from the psychotic man. Demitri pumped his legs hard and fast to add to his speed, a clear direct attack was his choice, he was unsure about Marcus, but knowing the mystic for so many years, he already had something planned. Once he got close enough, Demitri released the full extent of his powers as he extended his hands arms towards Anomander as he stood tall and firm on top of Tank, two powerful wind tunnels escaped his palms as the wind force blew past the commandant and made a direct hit towards his enemy. Anomander simply stood as the wind funnels hit his body, but he created a gap as the path was blocked, making the wind pass his body at his sides, the man laughed at the futile efforts to save the children. "And you're the commandant of the base why?" He scoffed at the wind wizard, Demitri only smiled as he continued holding his place. "Because chump, I'm not alone and I'm never ashamed to ask for help..." With that, light shinned at the bottom of Tanks body, a single rune flashed and vanished, suddenly, several ground like fists popped upwards. The surprise attack caught Anomander off guard as he was sent to the air, Dante yelped and coughed up blood from the sudden release of pressure from his bleeding wound, Neos crawled over to his eldest brother as he sobbed, holding onto his arm tightly. Dante grabbed Neos by his waist and held on tight. Jeff saw the opening as he lifted the two boys in the air, flying them towards his direction as Sasa covered them as they landed roughly on the ground until the rolled to Jeff's feet, the teenager yelled as he covered Neos body from the impact. Jason finally made his way to Pockets side, the werewolf scooped the girl into his free arm, cradling her head as she stayed unconscious. The wolf man growled deep in his throat as he slowly stood up , holding Pocket close to his chest. Anomander finally landed on the ground, hovering before his feet touched, then slowly making a comfortable land before he growled angrily. "You will return the boy to me" Jeff stepped over Dante and Neos and stood in front of the two, Sasa at his side as Marcus dove down to cradle his son, still hysteric at the pain he felt from his slaps and beating. The mystic's heart sunk as his child wept in his arms, covered in Dante's blood as the teenager gasped. Demitri finally made it over, holding Gene's body on his side as the ice soldier grunted in pain. Jason finally making it back to the formation, before anyone could speak, Anomander charged the group, firing off his dark energy blast at them, one blast struck Demitri in his shoulder, going through his body in and out as the commandant yelped and fell on his back. Another shot made a direct hit to Sasa in her chest, sending the woman flying backwards as she passed out on the ground, Marcus thought quickly as he summoned a light shield that protected the group from the rest of the attacks. But like councilor Shield, it too was becoming weaker and weaker with each strike to their barrier. Anomander drew closer to the barrier of light, but a dark figure appeared in front of him, opening up the flaps of his cape, cloak hovered in the air as he blocked the vision in front of Anomander, the darkness of his cloak swirled in the air as Anomander was a couple feet away. Quickly, several figures rushed out of the portal as they collided with Anomander. The newly healed Ali dealing a flying kick to the mans sternum, Luwein striking with his staff at his stomach while Patch dealt a hard right hook to the mans jaw, the force from all three strikes hitting the man at once was enough to send him flying several yards away from the ground as the trio landed on their feet. Cloak hovered slowly to the ground himself as Marcus released his energy barrier, Demitri coughed more blood as Gene patched the wound by sealing ice over the bleeding area. Ali and the rest regrouped with the others. Ali gasped as she saw Demitri's condition, diving to her knees, the woman held his head to her lap as he spat blood onto the ground. "Are we dead?" Demitri joked, but Ali didn't smile as she looked over to Marcus as he held onto Neos, still crying while Jeff held onto Dante's hand. Patch lifted Sasa in his arms as he spoke to the group. "We have the boy, we should escape while we can" Marcus shook his head. "We came here to finish this, and that's what we're going to do. No more running away or playing hide-and-seek Patch" Marcus replied, without warning, Anomander manifested himself from the ground with one of his muddy portals, similar to the ones they saw in Russia as he sprang up to surprise the soldiers. Before anyone could act on attacking, the man unleashed a wave pulse of darkness, sending everyone flying backwards as the electricity shocked their bodies while they cried in pain. Neos fell unconscious as he flew back, but Anomander extended his claw arm and grabbed the boy by the neck while Marcus landed on the ground. Groans of pain escaped everyone's mouth from the surprise shock treatment, but they all looked up as Anomander held Neos close to his own body, holding the child by his neck with a single arm. Ali and Marcus grunted through their teeth as they tried to stand, but their muscles were too torn and healing to do anything, the rage built inside of the woman as her powers manifested in front of her enemy. "Now now, this is something I've claimed to be mine, and I won't give it back so easily" Anomander turned to walk away from the group, but stopped dead in his tracks when a pack of beast like creatures surrounded and faced the dark skinned man, Anomander was somewhat surprised to see them all here together. He knew the creatures were powerful, but never knew why they showed up to aid these people. The beasts barked and growled as they drew closer, Gear in front of the pack slowly lead the others as they drew closer.

A simple kiss from his wife could make the giant forget everything that was troubling him, her soft and delicate body held against his strong embrace felt so natural to the man that he would completely block the world off around himself to make it last forever. Though her frame was a bit slimmer than it once was, she was weak and needing ample amounts of food and rest, it didn't bother the commandant one minute, he still remembered the fire cracker of a woman she was before all the changes and scars that covered her body. The revenge she got was justified to Demitri, he would have done the same thing if the situation was different, but Demitri could empathize with Ali. He too knew what torment and pain were, the sense of losing yourself and breaking to someone's will besides your own, the man thought it was the worst kind of pain anyone could ever go through mentally and physically. but for Ali, and her powers, the emotional level must have been at their maximum. Still, the giant inhaled her scent and lavished her body as his hands roamed around her back, letting out small whines as he felt the scars that his fingers traced, it boiled the man's blood intensely and he traced the scars on her back. Demitri withdrew his lips from hers, breathing heavily as he shut his eyes for a moment, thinking back to all the information about his father and mothers attack, and now their son was missing, no doubt in the hands of a mad man who sought after his powers for some weird reason. The giants breathing grew fast and heavy as his chest rose and dropped quickly, Ali placing her hands on his chest as the man thought to himself about all the planning and investigating that had to be done just to find their natural born son. Demitri knew Marcus had to be informed of the death of Shield and the kidnapping, he deserved to know what has become of his son as well, Ali rested her head on Demitri's chest, feeling the warmth of his body heat her own, the vibrations of his breathing brought shivers of delight to the man as she remembered bits and pieces of her former life with this man who held her so lovingly. Demitri finally opened his eyes, looking down at the blurry vision of her hair while his tears continued to drop onto her locks, he was still disturbed about everything and yet after all she's gone through, she was here...back at their home to comfort the man with his own pains. "Ali....w-w-we were lovers at a time, but I made a huge mistake that drew you away from me and..." Demitri bit his bottom lip quickly, feeling the need to keep all the information about Marcus and Demitri's fight at bay as to not bring back any harmful memories to his wife. It pained the man to be so distant to the one he loved, but he promised he would make things right on his own without a handicapped advantage of their past. Also, he was a gentleman, and gentlemen always honored their words with another, namely Marcus, about their fight to win over Ali's heart. Ali slowly withdrew her head as she looked up at the weeping giant, she could tell he wasn't himself right now, but she was glad to be here with him and support the man who she once fought side by side on so many occasion. Simply, the woman nodded as he released her from his grasp, standing face to face again, Demitri would like nothing better than to devour her where she stood, make love to his wife and remind her in so many ways why they made such a perfect pair. But those desires would have to remain dormant for now, a new mission was at hand, and Demitri was out for Anomander's blood to stain his hands for the loss of his father. There was a knock on the commandants door, both Demitri and Ali looked for a moment, Demitri wiping his eyes to clear his tear stained face as he commanded the door to open, instantly a figured walked through the door. It was High councilor Shield, his exact copy to say the least. Ali gasped as she stood attention to the man, only to receive a whicked smile as the man smiled. "It's good to see you alive and well Miss. Ath....I mean, Talon." The Councilor stood close to the two, Ali smiling as she got the praise, but she knew something was off with this man, his emotions were hiding something, and they didn't share the same pattern for a male. Still, she kept silent as Demitri spoke to her. "Ali, I would like you to assemble Alpha Team Elite for an important briefing, this is to be kept on the hush for now, that's on my order. Is that understood?" Demitritried to hold back his own tears as he looked away from the councilor, the painful mirror image of his father was starting to take a toll on the man, Ali sensed this as well as she hesitated to answer. "Yes sir, ummm...excuse me gentlemen" Ali saluted once more before she left her former home, the steel doors slid open and shut as quickly as Ali left the home. Demitri looking back at Shield as his tears flowed freely now, there was a swift change in the imposter, starting from his head, the small skin flakes changed inch by inch as the height and weight changed as well until the light finished traveling down to the shoes. Standing in front of the commandant was a long blond haired woman, a familiar face to teh man as she saluted swiftly after her change. "Thank you for the assistance Copy Cat, I apologize for my composure..." Demitri was silenced when the woman embraced the man for a tight hug, surprising the giant as he relaxed moments later. "I'm so sorry Demitri, when Cloak told me...I don't know how sorry I am for the loss of your father" Demitri fell to his knee as he returned the hug to the woman. "Thank you, I'm assembling Alpha team for an update on the matter, I would like you to assist in explaining the situation please" Demitri placed his hands on the woman's shoulder as he looked into her blue eyes. She nodded without hesitation before turning heel and exiting the commandants living quarters. Demitri hears some rustling coming from his bedroom, entering, he saw the large fox Sly wake from its slumber, stretching on his large bed as the sheets flew to the floor with a single swipe from its tail. Demitri smiled for a moment before making his way to his bed and sitting on the edge, he could feel Sly moving closer to the man, laying down at his side as he whimpered more. Demitri took his hand and scratched the back of the foxes pointy ears. "I know...we'll get him back buddy, but we're not going to do it alone. Later that evening, all the members of Alpha Team Elite were brought into the Commandants well lit living quarters. Ali was able to borrow some clothes from Pocket until she was able to gain all her original weight back and fit into her own uniform. Everyone was assembled all together: Tank, Luwein, Gene, Jason, Cloak, ali, Demitri, Marcus, Jeff and Sasa sat around waiting for the last member to come in, everyone was skeptical on their new addition, thought it was only temporary as Demitri promised, it was needed for what he had to share with them. The steel doors opened as Shield entered, arms behind his back as he smiled greeting all of those who stood, everyone except Cloak and Demitri. "Good evening Alpha Team, I'm sorry this has to be a late night meeting, but the commandant has some important news to share with you" Everyone looked at Demitri as he stood straight up from his spot and spoke. "Alpha team....we're on a new mission of up most importance, Neos has been kidnapped" The words hit Marcus harder than anything as he stood angry and enraged by the news. "What are you talking about? He was taken out of the base like you told me, to your mother and fathers mansion!" Marcus contained his anger for now, but he would have liked to know this information before they were summoned. Demitri kept a cold stare at the man before continuing, Jason stood and placed his hand on teh mystics shoulder to calm his friend. "He was, that's where he was kidnapped from" Demitri tried his best to hold back his sadness, he needed to be strong for his team as Ali has been in the past during their missions. "Wasn't Madam Touch at the mansion? Or you Councilor?" Pocket spoke up, Shield slowly shook his head as he frowned, Luwein and Jason both felt something wrong with the councilor as soon as he stepped in. Luwein could feel the presence of another, not the man who he knew as the councilor, and for Jason, it was easy enough for him to smell the difference. "Madam Touch is on life support..." Everyone gasped at the news, Dante held onto the arm rest of the couch, feeling pain at the news. "The reason for this is that we suspect that she was a member of the 12 Anomander was seeking...and he found her." Marcus' heart pumped hard and fast, Anomander mentioned something about a Healer and sensed it in Demitri when they were in Russia, but he had let that slip from his mind, he didn't even consider Madam touch being the person he sought. She was a force to reckon with if anyone decided to go against her, the news of her condition hit the man hard as Demitri spoke. "With these photos, we can definitely say that it was Anomander who attacked the mansion" Demitri tossed a manilla folder on the glass table in the center of the living room, the photos scattered all over as each member examined the findings and notes. Marcus picked up a single photo in the living room of the mansion, a large blood spot clearly showed along with Berserks head in the background. "He got Felix as well..." The mystic mumbled, not too saddened by his death, the man deserved everything he was getting to him. It was a shame they had to protect him in the first place, but that was not his call. "Yes...and...my father as well" Everyone looked at the commandant questionably, when they clearly saw Shield in the living room as well. "Demmy, your father is right there, what do you mean?" Pocket spoke, but as she did, Jason transformed fully as he hunched over the imposter shield, sniffing his head and shoulder for the councilors certain scent, but found nothing. "No, that's not Pavlos Athens. Smells like..." The imposters hand rose as Jason went silent, making his way towards the center of the living room before speaking to the group. "You're correct mutt" The feminine voice spoke, once again, the woman changed her form and figure to go back to her original state of being, everyone gasped as Copy Cat opened her eyes finally to see everyone's expressions. "I'm not Shield" "Then...oh my gods..." Ali put a hand to her mouth, she could make the connection quickly, she now understood who Demitri was weeping over when she came to comfort him. The woman couldn't imagine it would be someone so close to him, Demitri only sighed weakly as he spoke more. "High Councilor Leader Pavlos Athens was murdered, protecting Madam Touch...." Marcus lowered his hand that held the photo he commented on, he too was speechless at the news, Dante slowly whimpered as Gene and Sasa tried to comfort the teenager. cloak lowered his head sadly along with Copy cat. "This new is not going public, that's why I'm having Copy Cat fill his spot to keep moral and suspicions down until we find our target. Anomander will pay for this crime, and we're going to get Neos back in one piece." The tension in the room was a sad one, but everyone knew their mission at hand, Ali felt rage build into her frame, the baby boy was very close to her indeed, as she looked at Marcus and Demitri, she could tell for sure she wasn't the only one feeling rage. Sly slowly made his way to the living room, nuzzling against Ali's leg softly, she jumped at the surprise to see a St. Bernard sized fox appear out of nowhere, but she relaxed after a moment as it laid his head on her lap. "Is that Sly?" Jason questioned. "Yes, obviously in some kind of attack or defend form to protect Neos, but looks like it wasn't' successful, and only Neos can control when he's a stuff animal or live animal at his own will. For now, he's stuck like this." Demitri spoke once again, Marcus scanned the fox clearly, it was Sly, and the transformation was incredible, but without Neos to change him back, he would remain a large fox. But then Marcus thought to himself, there may be a connection to finding Neos with Sly's help, if the boy cannot escape to the shadow realm, then there might be a possibility to use sly to locate his master, their son. Time was of the essence as the group continued their planning for tracking Anomander.

~During the Fight at the High Council Chambers~ Tabitha reclined comfortably in her living room, the mansion now quiet and peaceful for the evening most of the servants gone for the evening besides the nurses who kept watch over Neos. Her grandson slept somberly after a long afternoon of strolling about the town with his grandmother, buying fresh meats and vegetables for the supper they consumed that evening. It was a tranquil day for Tabitha to spend time with her family, she had missed her husband while he attended an important, yet questionable mission in the northern states. But the life of an experienced soldier never remained peaceful, the woman thought it odd though for the High Councilor leader to be sent instead of another decorated soldier or team at the base. Still, it wasn't her place to complain, Tabitha snuggled herself deeply in the cushions of her recliner, the fireplace sparked with life as the flames danced and illuminated the dimly lit atmosphere she rested in. Almost gothic and cursed, but the presence of Tabitha brought a sense of calm, the eloquent woman reached to the end table next to her recliner, picking up the crystal martini shaped glass. Bringing her beverage to her nose, the woman inhaled the strong scent of vodka and other ingredients fused into the liquid. Smiling, the woman finally brought the rim of the glass to her lips, her flesh spreading across the glass, the liquid slowly pouring down her throat; only for a second before she parted her lips. Her red velvet lipstick leaving an indentation mark on the glass as the olives inside swirled slightly before sinking to the bottom. Tabitha closed her eyes as she felt the liquor relax her muscles, the calm in her body was a welcomed one, seems forever since she was actually able to have time to enjoy an evening to herself. Pushing her raven colored hair behind her shoulders, the woman looked back down onto the end table, seeing a wooden picture frame with several photos of her family; the woman smiled at the memories from the past. A photo of Pavlos and herself on their wedding day, his tuxedo pressed and form fitting to his body, her wedding dress white with red velvet sashes to match her husbands under shirt. Tabitha took another sip from her glass as she continued to look at the other photos. Seeing herself hold her son Demitri when we was born, the other photos of his growing with age and time through his schooling years, military and first picture as a cadet with HDF. There was a photo of Demitri and Ali on their wedding day, sharing a loving kiss right when the picture was taken, the sun in the background showing their bodies clearly in the picture without a shadowed silhouette. The next photo showed Ali holding onto baby Neos when he was born, cradled in his mothers loving embrace with Demitri at her side, crying as he smiled down onto his little bundle of joy. Dante and Lily looking down at their youngest sibling, Tabitha chuckled lightly when she saw her husband posing bunny ears behind ALi's head during the photo, without her knowing until Lily mentioned something. The next photo showed Tabitha herself, putting an ice pack on Pavlos' black eye for the stunt he pulled, the man only smiling as he held onto his wife close, his large arm wrapped around her waist in a loving manner. Taking a lazy breath, Tabitha took a final sip from her glass before setting the crystal down on the end table, placing it next to her picture frame. A lone servant girl walked into her living room chamber, carrying a silver tray, another martini glass fully prepared and ready for consumption. Tabitha smiled as the young woman bowed her head slightly, it reminded her of Colonel Demos' way of greeting her, the young girl smiled as well while she took the empty glass and replaced it with the new one. "Tonight is such a lovely evening Madam, its a shame Pavlos is away on such a night" The young woman broke the calm silence. "I'm sure he feels the same way Samantha, but he shouldn't be too long, almost two weeks gone and I still miss him since the day he left" Tabitha held her new drink in her hand, the flames on the fireplace burning brightly as the light shinned off her engagement ring. The memory of her husband proposing weeks after a controversial mission made her heart flutter, as if it were a school girls crush over a man. Samantha giggled slightly softly before the two woman jump at the sound of a powerful crashing that echoed from outside the living room. Tabitha slowly stood from her recliner, booming echoes drew closer and closer to their location, Samantha cringed as each noise erupted and became louder, cowering behind her employer. Tabitha stood firm in her spot, but felt a sense of urgency for those who were still inside the mansion. Since Neos was brought earlier on an emergency transport by Vortex on Demitri's order, security measures were taken to ensure the mansion was a fortress to be reckoned with. But by the sounds of the unknown intruder, it would seem that the measures weren't enough. Tabitha turned her head slightly and spoke to the young girl. "Sound the alarms, and get my grandson to safety" Samantha only nodded, rushing to the entrance doors, only to vanish completely as she screamed in agony before being vaporized. A dark, black energy blast shot from the other side of the entrance, creating a large hole on the polished wooden doors as it shot through the walls of the mansion. "SAMANTHA!!!" Tabitha yelled in horror as her friend died in front of her own eyes, but her screams became silent when a tanned skinned man with white hair walked nonchalantly into the living room, holding something hairy in his hand. He scanned the the dimly lit room, finally spotting his target as he strode forward to the woman smiling, Tabitha backed away as much as she could, only to hit the seat of her recliner as she tripped backwards, sitting on her bottom now as Anomander stood over her and the chair all together. Fear rose in the woma'n' soul as he peered down at her, only smiling, never speaking as he marveled her physique before breaking the silence. "The years have been kind to you Tabitha...or should I say, Madam Touch" The man laughed as he placed both hands on the arms rests of the recliner with snake like speed, trapping the woman where she sat. Tabitha narrowed her eyes in hatred, she remembered the sketches of this man, but seeing him up close, she was more positive it was the same person. "Don't remember me? Well, I certainly remember you, and the role you played sealing me away for so many years. But now my sweet, its your time to pay for your actions" Tabitha smiled as she sat poised, collecting herself as she crossed her arms at her chest, legs crossed in a lady like fashion before speaking. "I don't recall such a action, but I'm more than positive you deserved it-" A swift backhand met her cheek, sending the woman down onto the carpeted floor as the man laughed, Tabitha shook at the pain, looking back to see Anomander charging another energy blast into his clenched fist. "I was going to make this easy, but like before, you've always chosen the wrong SIDE!!!" Anomander quickly aimed his arm to Tabitha, sending another black energy blast, but the woman quickly rolled to her side, her body lifted to the air by the shock wave. Tabitha's eyes glowed green, a small current traveling from her toes to the top of her body, her uniform showing when the green wave passed her night gown until she was fully changed. Landing on her feet, Touch charged her own powers once again as her eyes glowed a dark emerald green shade. Anomander wasted no time as he charged, bringing his fists down onto her small frame, only to have it blocked by both of touch's arms. The force was stronger than he had imagined, even to her, the woman grunted as she kept her guard up, more strikes came, one after another as Touch did her best to stay alive. Blocking, countering with her own kick and punch attacks, everything she was born with and learned over the years was being put to the test as she fended against this mad man, sending her own energy blasts towards her attacker, seeing it had no effect on his what so ever. When her powers collided with his body, it didn't seem to bring back any old wounds or sores, nothing was there to be broken down. Once close enough, Touch ducked underneath another energy blast and kneeled directly under the mans body, turning ever so slightly, the woman grabbed the mans thick wrist with her delicate hand, side stepping as she tossed the man to the wall; creating a large dent upon impact. Blood seeped from the side of Touch's mouth, the living room now torn to shreds from the fight, the fire still gave them what little light was needed, especially for Tabitha as she struggled to keep her stance firm. Anomander withdrew himself from his spot, looking down at the beaten woman, simply pointing a finger at her, several shots of energy fired, cutting her legs slice by slice. The wounds stinging greatly before Touch fell to her side, wincing as the blood poured from the deep gashes. Anomander stood over her now, smiling as he enjoyed the tears that poured silently from her eyes. "Farewell Healer, you shall now be number 8 on my list..." Touch looked over the corner of her eye, seeing the item Anomander was carrying in fullness now, it was the head of Berserk. A last screaming facial expression frozen forever on his head before his decapitation, Touch cried silently as she faced her approaching end. Once again, Anomander shot a powerful energy blast down at the woman, only to have it bounce back and strike the man directly in his chest, sending his body through the air as it collided and went past the brick layered fire place. Touch opened her eyes as she felt a strong pair of arms lift her body from the ground in one fell swoop until she was hoisted into the air. The woman looked up to see a pair of hazel eyes look down sadly, her own eyes watered as she hugged the man. "Pavlos..." She wept, Shield held onto his wife tight as he stood tall now, holding his mate closer as Anomander appeared from the hole he went through. "My lady...why is he after you?!?!" The Counsilor was worried, and had every right to be. Without commanding, his own powers acted on their own when a volley of blasts shot at the two, Pavlos did his best to hold firm, but with each blast that came at the pair, his own powers weakened. Touch's hands glowed on Pavlos' skin, trying to re-energize her husbands abilities, but nothing seemed to happen she she aided. With a last shot, Shield's barriers broke, making the senior soldier shuffle back quickly as he held his wife in his arms. The councilor was breathing heavy, no one as able to destory his barriers before, slightly shaken, Pavlos stood his ground. "No one can save you now" Anomander stated as he walked towards the two, Pavlos was frightened for the first time in decades, looking down at his torn wife, he smiled briefly . Remembering their life together in a flash of memories, their work, their love, their son and the future generation was all set in place. Feeling like their time was limited, the man hunched his head down and locked his lips with hers, though the timing and situation wasn't ideal, touch softly welcomed the kiss. ([color="#483D8B"][i][b]I love you Tabitha...[/b][/i][/color]) Anomanders arms transformed into a deformed dark calw, almost in comparison to the nightwalkers appendage as it stretched to the ground. Drawing his new arm back, the man stretched it forward at the couple, Pavlos keeping an eye opened during the kiss, quickly dropped his wife from his grasp just as the claw pierced his left chest, cutting through his heart as it shot out of his bacl. Touch screamed as she saw the blood flow down her husbands uniform, his body remained still in shock as his head hung down. He gazed at his wife, her voice drowned out as his own heart stopped beating, then, darkness surrounded his vision until nothing was left. Anomander retracted his claw and laughed as the former commandant and high council member fell face first into the carpet, Touch crawling to his side as she cried. "PAVLOS!!!!" She wailed, hugging his body, trying to use her powers to heal his wound, but he turned cold as the minutes passed. Without her knowing, Anomander stood behind the woman as she wept over her husbands body. "Such a sweet and touching moment, I will honor the mans sacrifice by letting you live woman....for now" The dark skinned man swiped his claw behind touch's head, knocking the woman out as she laid next to her husbands body, blood pouring out onto the carpet and spreading on the floor, Anomander laughed until his voice cut off for a moment, he senses something powerful in the house, something that was familiar to him...yet dangerous. Turning away from the couple, he left to go find the source, tears still pored from Touch's eyes as she laid unconscious. The monster of a man made his way upstairs to the second floor, killing off anyone who got in his path, soldiers and commanders alike, along with innocent servants who were on duty until he came to a large room, blasting the door down once again, he noticed it was full of old schooling photos of the wind wizard. He scuffed at the sickening family resemblance to the Healer and the man he just killed, in the corner of the room, a little boy shivered as he cried to himself, hugging his toy fox as the white haired man drew closer, smiling as he saw the boy in flesh and blood. Too scared to use his powers to defend himself, the boy wept at the sounds of crying his grandmother shouted from downstairs moments ago, all the noise and sounds of items breaking woke the boy from his sleep earlier that evening. "You are the offspring of The mystic and wind wizard together, aren't you boy? Well...no worries, no harm shall come to you, for I have a treat to share" Anomander laughed as he snatched Neos by the collar of his shirt, the toy fox coming to life as a large beastly fox, but the two vanished from sight as Neos screamed for help. The fox sniffed the spot where they vanished before running downstairs, seeing dead bodies lay on the carpet until he made his way downstairs, sniffing out a familiar scent. the fox finally found Pavlos and Touch lying on the ground, Pavlos body turning almost white as the life and soul left him moments ago, the fox whines as he nestled next to Touch, feeling her heart beat as it curled her body into his, keeping her warm and safe as the sun rose in the distance. ~Norther HDF Base~ I just hope...we can find a way to fix these before she comes to" Marcus spoke softly, Demitri nodded in agreement before speaking. "Me too Marcus, me too" There was a lot of hustle and bustle of rumors that came from the base about Ali's return and the death of three High council members at her hands, Demitri thought her father would be able to shed light on the situation with the information he and Marcus were able to gather. Along with the fact they found Ali alive, yet shattered and torn, should be enough to convince the other members of the council of the actions they had to take. Nevertheless, they had found the one person they had missed do much, and thought gone for so long, it was a sheer glimpse of hope that she would be able to return back to the way she was before,but with her newly formed powers, it would take time and understanding. There was a loud ringing coming from Demitri's phone, the tone brought a sense of urgency to the giant, that was the ring if someone was trying to contact him on his direct personal line. "Watch over her, have to take this, could be from the council members themselves." With that, the giant left the room and the med ward, standing outside of the steel doors as the soldiers went about their business, talking to themselves as they passed the commandant, looking at his as if her had some sort of plague. Demitri put the phone to his ear, but only heard crying on the other end, it was from Circuit. "Commandant..." She gasped for air through her sobbing. "Circuit? What's the matter?" "It's...it's horrible sir..." Demitri tried to calm the young woman down the best he could, she was mumbling and crying too much for the man to understand her words. But finally, she got the strength to speak a full sentence. "Sir...High Council Leader Shield..." Demitri listened closely, but when he heard the news, his heart pressed against his chest hard and sharply, the giant felt woozy as he stumbled back to the steel wall, tears forming in his eyes as the words sunk in. He couldn't believe it...his father, the powerful Shield Athens....was dead. More news came about his mothers condition, she was sent to the eastern HDF base for special assistance since the norther base was full of commotion, they had tried to reach the base earlier, but with all the fighting no one was able to be contacted. Demitri let the hot tears flow down his face as he simply nodded, trying to hold back his emotions as Circuit continued to speak. "Commandant...there's no signs of Neos either" It was the final straw, Demitri closed his phone and clenched it tightly in his fist, cracking the outer shell as Cloak appeared in front of the commandant, he was obviously hear broken at the news as well, but it was being kept hush-hush for now due to the possibly suspect in the murder and kidnapping. Cloak merely nodded as he transported the commandant and himself to the mansion, Demitri rushed inside to see their people securing the area, all the bodies taken out already and scent to the HDF morgue. Demitri ran through the house, calling out his sons name, looking into his old bedroom, he could see this is where Neos was sleeping, and the same room where he was taken. There was some rustling in the closet that caused the man to charge a blast of wind in his palm, turning towards the doors as it opened slightly, the large fox "Sly" slowly came out, whimpering as the blotches of died blood soiled his white fur. "Sly...?" Demitri uncharged his powers as the fox slowly walked over towards the commandant, nestling his head on the mans hip like a cat would for attention, Demitri called cloak back and the man took the three back to the northern base. Once there, the commandant simply walked away with sly at his side. "Sir...I am sorry for our...your great loss. He was an honorable man...should we" Cloak spoke with a saddened look before Demitri rose his hand in the air to halt his words. "No, not until we have this settled and finished, until then...not one word" Cloak nodded. "Yes sir, our highest priority is the man now, I'll have Copy Cat pose as the council leader until things are settled" Demitri didn't answer back as he made his way to his living quarters, tears dropping down onto the steel floor as he walked with the enlarged fox, it too was in pain.

Both Jason and Demitri left the courtyard quietly, they were sure on one thing and one thing only, there was something shady happening and the supposed execution of their beloved Ali could have been staged, but they wanted to know why if it were true. What purpose would it gain to make soldiers and their loved ones believe that the strong woman had been slained? What would it gain the party if this were true and happened? Instead of answering one question, Demirti was now left with more and more as he slowly made his way to his office, the room now empty; his employees had retreated for the evening to their own living quarter. Entering his own personal office, Jason quickly entered the dark, shadowed room as the commandant entered after his brother-in-law, slowly shutting the door and locking it quietly behind himself. Jason transformed back into his human form quickly as he peered around, still cautious not to make a sound, even though the two were alone in the facility on their floor. "So, believe me now?" Jason grunted, Demitri gave the slightests of nods before gliding to his office desk, bringint his personal computer to life by moving the mouse, the giant entered his personal password, which happened to be his wifes favorite flower, before the main screen came to life. Noticing nothing has been changed on his desktop, the giant began to open some files on Ali and her execution orders. Only finding a single signature on a lone file, nothing too detailed as it mentioned the man she killed the the reason for her reason for her execution. There have been only 6 members of HDF executed for going rouge or killing the innocent in HDF history, most of them occured before Demitri even joined when he was 24 years old, but the files of those executed a least had all of their records added to their file. Physical and medical, psychological and detailed explanation of their powers, all paperwork signed by the same member of the high coucil member who ordered Ali's execution. This rose Demitri's own personal red flag, noticing that it was the same man for all 6, now7 executions, Jason stalked over by Demitri as he looked over the paperwork. "Find anything out of the ordinary?" "Yeah, this counsil member right here...Councilor Raze" Demitri pointed on the screen, Jason noticed the numerous signatures on the death warrents for the past members, all signed by the same person, with a co-signer as well. "What about this Madam Pain?" Demitri raised an eyebrow when the name was mentioned, she's been with HDF since the 60's at the peak of the organizations active front, dring the time when monsters and scary creatures made its way to the movies, they used the opportunity to strike fear into the hears of humans by making those fears a reality. During the late 60's is when the European base was built to deal with out of state anomolies, yet she was only a sergent during those times. But on her records, its shows she was accepted into the High Council during the early 80's. Demitri leaned back on his chair for a moment before speaking. "That's really out of place, there's been only a few occurances of a council member extending their work past 15 years, but 15 years is the limit for a council member...yet she's almost held a spot for 40. Yet out of all the members of the chamber, she's probably marked as one of the most dangerous and volitile, yet she's been in the same chair even when my grandfather took the role of High Council member a couple of years back..." Demitri straightened in his chair before looking over her files over again and again along with Raze. "Not to mention, Raze had been in for almost 20 years now, I wonder if my father knows about this" He spoke, opening a new window to type an encrypted email to his father, knowing he would be sleeping and get this when he woke, but something had to be mentioned immediately. Jason flinched for a moment before snapping his head to the window, of the entrance door to Demitri's office, shuffling could be heard on the outside as the sond drew closer and closer to Demitri's door. "Hurry it up old man, we don't have time for this" Demitri ignored the pleas from his ally as he typed the last message before sending the message, quickly turning of his computer, both men stood and rushed over to either side of the entrance door as the wooden fram opened quickly, a single gun pointed first with a flashlight pointing to the now empty work desk of the Commandant. Demitri silently charged a wind blast in his palm as Jason readied himself to pounce on the intruder. Slowly, the figure made its way inside the office. "Who's there?" She whispered, Demitri and Jason both froze as they saw Circuit slowly entereing the office, Demitri quickly shut the door behind the his assistant as Jason place a hand over her mouth, disarming her of her weapon as the gun hit the ground softly, Circuit screamed for a moment before Demitri's voice rang in her ears. "Circuit, what are you doing here so late?" The woman calmed herself as she made out the Commandant in the dim lighting that came from the outside windw, Jason released her as she took a couple of deep breaths, clearly shocked by the surprise as she turned to face the two men. "A silent alarm is placed inside of this office and goes directly to my phone, so I thought to investigate" Circuit calmed her breathing as she stood at attention to her superiors. Demitri sighed in relief, at least she was trustworthy to the two of them, which they would need if they wanted to do something more into the findings of the murder of their beloved Ali. Demitri leaned down and placed both of his hands on Circuit's shoulders, both on either side as he brought her close to Jason and himself. "Listen to me carefully now Circuit, I need you do to me a huge favor, and be descrete about it too, we may be in over our heads" Circuit looked shocked as the commandant spoke, clearly he was in some kind of danger or planning to be soon, she would do anything to make sure the commandant was safe. Circuit simply nodded as Demitri continued to talk. "First, I need to to take my kids, Lily and Neos outside of the base, both at different location. Take Neos to my parents mansion, my mother is there on some personal time with the other servents who work there. He'll be heavily guarded for sure. Next, take Lily to my house in Ammond Terrance, the log cabin house and make sure you stay with her while you're there, bring another Commander from this list, any of them, to aid you. This is to be kept top secret now, if they question anything, say it's a solid "You owe me" from their commandant. Is that clear?" Circuit nodded as she took down notes on her personal computer after placing the small list of commanders into her breast pocket of her uniform, she was very detaied in her work indeed. Jason sniffed the air the room suddenly turned darker than it normally would, and the moon was still out tonight. Demitri noticed the change too as he took hold of his assistants hand and the three left the office floor, Jaon not too far behind. Once on the bottom floor of the building, Circuit ran off into the shadows to complete her task, Demitri looked back at Jason for a moment. "Jason, have Alpha Team Elite on stand-by, just in case, I'm going to try and find Marcus for this little hunt." Jason transformed into his werewolf form in an instant at the command. "Tank and Luwein as well? They're still only children Demtiri" Jason growled, Demitri sighed and nodded at the statement,. "But at least we can trust them to have our backs, we're playing things close to the wire with this. I'm gonna try and find Marcus and share the information we've gathered, depenending on his personal feeling, I'll convince him we need to go deeper in to finding out what's going on around the base, especially with the High Council. If you don't hear from us within 24 hours from now, all the information we gathered will be sent to your offce computer with all that we found, it can be at least enough to raise questions on two of the council members. Understood?" Jason grunted before making his way to inform the rest of his team members, the werewolf decided to wake up the sleeping Calypso first, feeling her life was i danger made the wolf run faster thean he thought he would in his whole life. Demitri walked down the halls nonchalantly, seeing the night soldiers go about their patrols, but he only saw a pair every hour, it was not like them to slack off. Demitri made a mental note to beef up security, turning a corner, the giant was in deep thought until he accidentally bumped into a small figure, it caught him off guard for a moment as he stumbled slightly. "Excuse me, my ap-...." Demitri looked as the slim, almost ghost like figure continued to walk down the shadows of the hall, thats when Demitri took a deep breath, before lazily shutting his eyes as his body felt relaxed at the aroma. ([b][i][color="#000080"]Oranges...just like my love...but...[/color][/i][/b]) Demitri turned his head slightly to see the figure out of sight now, but he could hear footsteps coming from behind himself, it didn't matter to the giant who it was, the scent of that person made the giants eye's water slowly. For the first time in months, he flt happy as he remembered the fragrance his wife wore that drove him up the walls with lust and affection, for once...he was happy, even for that brief moment.

[i][b][color="#008080"]The following weeks took a toll on the commandant, he was vicious in his onslaught to find answers to Ali's supposed execution, it was maddening as the giant fought and fought more with inquiries and personal visits to each of his commanding officers in person for a more "formal" questioning. Countless hours and nights spent trying to get answers and a decent enough excuse to why his wife was murdered in cold blood, it didn't add up to the fact she did something that wouldn't even call for an execution, even by the high counselors themselves. When High Counsiler Sheild came back and discovered the news, he was more than speechless to find out they had acted apon an action without his permission or knowing. but the high cousil kept quiet about the whole procession, even on the whereabouts of one of their own members who suddenly took a leave of absence, so Shield was told. It didn't matter, the day of Ali's funeral, it rained hard as the dark and grey clouds hovered over the lands for days on end, Demitri held onto Neos and sat next to his children while they watched the procession take place, Tank held onto Lilys hand as the child cried, hugging onto his uniform as the larger teen wrapped his arm around his sisters body. He too shed tears, but kept silent as he listened to soldier after soldier give kind ulogies to their departed commander, they were kind even if they were thought of last minute. Still, Demitri was thankful that they came and presented themselves in such a professional mannor, High Counsiler Shieild also spoke on Ali's behalf, it was a rare event to have one of them come out to a funeral procession, but everyone was calm and collective, tears shed as memories of the spunky yet rebellious member of Alpha Team Elite. Both Sasa and Gene sat next to one another in the front row with teh rest of their team, Gene placing his hand over Sasa's shoulder as she leaned her body into his embrace, holding a hankercheif to her nose as she weapt. Jason remained in werewolf form as he lauid on the ground, like a dog would, front paws crossed together as he lauid his head down in the space between, whimpers and cries emminated from his muzzel as he closed his eyes during the whole procession. Pocket sat in the chair at the end of the row, right next to Jeff and Commander Cloak, leaning down, she scratched his furry soaked head from time to time, looking down with a frown as she too cried ffor her closest friend. The werewolf continued to whimper as his fur soaked in the heavy rain, Demitri closed his eyes and thought back to all the memories they both shared with one another. Their first meeting, the scars hes collected during their countless missions with the rest of the team before they became Alpha Elites, the whole encounter with Sybille and meeting their new friends and family during those rough times. The newborn child that rested in his arms, silently sleeping through all of the speeches and thunder that struck in the air. All the giant could think about was her embrace, her smile, even when she was scolding the giant, he still missed it. Her scent, the way her hair moved with the flow of her body, everything reminded the man of his wife. Looking around with watery eyes, Demitri noticed one member of their team wasn't present in the meeting, one man that should have been in the front row like the rest of them. Demtiri growled as everyone stood from their spot as her coffin was lowered into the earth below, it was finally done. The tears flowed quickly now as Demitri closed his eyes, letting them fall down to his chin as they dropped onto the wet ground below. Slowly, the crows of soldiers left the scene, Demitri entered his living quarters once again with his children, Luwein close behind as he held onto Tank's free arm, no one said a word as Demitri handed Neos over to the teenager, he got the hint to lay him down for his rest while his father began to cook dinner. Ali had taken the responsibility to watch over Luwein after Mist died, so now the commandant was going to continue with her promise, making his larger, two person bedroom Luweins while the Commandant slept in the livingroom. It was a large adjustment, Luwein was certainly uncomfortable with the change, a large room like the commandant had would make it a challenge to get use to knowing where each item was. But the child didn't bother to argue with Demitri, at least not after what they just went through. Dinner that evening was silent, no one said a word besides Neos, going about his business eating his food that was served by his father. Demitri continued to read over the files, holding onto Neos food in his spoon in the air mere inches away from his mouth, the toddler tried to reach it but could not get to his meal. "Daddy...I can't reach!" He struggled to bite down onto his food, but still couldn't reach as his fathers arm that hel the food, slowly the child began to whine.m "Daddy.." The toddler placed his hands on the plastic table tray of his chair, suddenly, a bright light began to engulf the the whole chair, small sparks of light flashed as the boys eyes widened in fear as the light engulfed the whole cair and table now. "Daddy?" Neos whispered, Demitri looked over and stood quickly, grabbing his child from the chair, the light now absorbing the whole kitchen table, Tank quickly picked up Lily and Luwein by their shirt collars as he went to his fathers side. Both men looked as they saw all the table set and silverwear light up, suddenly the silver pieces explosed bit by bit "Get Down!!!" Demitri shouted, both men holding the children ran and dove behind the couch in the living room, there was a bright flash that filled the room before a large explosion erupted inside the kitchen, everyone hugged together as it rumbled the suite, knocking back pictures and pillows in the living room. The rumble stopped moments later as Demitri and Tank looked above the couch, a smoldering pile of dirt laid where the table once was. Lily just dashed to her room as slammed the door ****, Dante sighed as he helped Luwein into Demitri's room for the night. Demitri held onto his child, the toddler crying slightly as he held onto his fathers shirt. "I wanna see mommy" He cried, Demitri frowned as he simple patted Neos' back softly, taking his child into his own room. "She...she's not here right now Neos." Demitri whispered. "Will she be back soon?" Demitri said nothing as he laid his child down onto the mattress, Neos continued to look at his father, his sad expression clearly visible as the child only hugged his stuffed fox and closed his eyes. Unable to get any kind of emotional connection from his father as the man left the room, Sly coming to life in animal form as he curled up next to his owner. Demitri stormed down the hall in a quick pace. He looked everywhere, his office, the med ward, the courtyard, everywhere for a single person he had to find immediately. Finally coming into the training room, he peered at his target, rage in the commandants eyes as he strode over to Commander Demos. The mystic simply stood at the center of the training room, thinking to himself, hearing heavy footsteps, the man turned to see the commandant, but only breifly as he felt a strong blow to his face. The mystic backed up a couple of steps as he felt the pain radiate through his body, opening his eyes he looked up at the commandant once again, ready to fight. "You were suppose to be at the funeral, I would have expected you, out of everyone to be front row" Demitri growled as he charged his wind and electrical powers. the mystic said nothing as he charged his runes and sprang to action. Outside of the training room, yelling and loud explosions could be hard as the halls rumbled. [/color][/b][/i] Demitri remained in his office for the majority of his working hours now that the past couple of weeks has been fairly steady, but the man still felt uneasy with the choice the high counsilors made oh his wifes life, and his father agrees with the worry, he too was still investigating on his end as much as he could. New of Anomander were now but a dream, no sighting or reported problems with other HDF members as far as they now, but Captain Jason Talon and some members of Alpha Elite, such as Freeze and Sasa still scouted around possible sights where he might be reported. Marcus and Demitri haven't seen much of one another since the fight they had in teh training room, which to this day, was being repaired and out of use to the other members and recurits. The commander really stayed silent, just like Jeff most of the time now these days, the following weeks seemed to be rougher on him than the commandant, but Demitri was in no position to mourn when he had a whole base to run, he usually spent the night on the couch weaping silently while his children and Luwein slept in their own rooms. That evening, dinner was made as everyone sat at the table, Dante making another delicious meal, this time, it was more lively than it was a couple weeks ago. Lily invited the boy she liked over for dinner, a small "date" as Demitri would call it. The boy almost looked decent enough, he was the child of Sergent Nathaniel, the well known martial artist with Gamma Squad. Demitri checked his records, so far seems like a nice boy, the ability to walk through solid objects wa a little troublesome to the commandant, but he worried less about that when the boy sowed his excellent dinner table manners After dinner, Lily stayed with the boy Daniel and Tank as they watched television. Luwein helped the commandant with the dishes as Neos played with the now animated Sly all over the house. There was a knock on the door before it opened slowly, Jason walking in as Neos smiled, rushing over to hug his uncle, Jason scopped up the child as he made his way over to the commandant, smiling as he held his nefew. "Jason, this is a surprise, how are things with the search?" Demitri dried his hands before shaking the werewolfs large hand, he had gotten muscular and more defined during the past couple of months, even more so after the news of Ali's death. The wolf man sat down with his nefew and spoke lightly. "Just fine...I came home alittle early before reporting in. I just..needed to come home." The man scowled as the though, he really missed his sister, he now knows what she went through after thinking he was dead, the pain and feeling of being alone. She was a stronger woman than he gave her credit for, but his only ties to family gone now to him, eveyone besides Neos and Demitri, and their family. "No, I understand Jason, I'll overview the report in the morning. Have you heard from Demos lately?" Demitri asked, a little upset at himself for the onslaught he dealt in the training room, but he was emotional and and hurt at the time. "No, not really. Anyways I passed by the place where they executed my sister" Neos looked up at Jason, questioning his comment. "I mean....where your mother took a nap before leaving for her mission" Neos smiled, both men sighed at the quick save before Jason continued. "It's weird, usually I can still smell the scent of a dead person long after their gone, wolf nose and everything. But with the spot we all saw her died in...nothing..." Demitri raised an eyebrow as Neos ran off to the livingroom. "What do you mean?" Demitri asked, Luwein slowly felt his way towards the living room and sat down on his own chair as he listened to the television show that was playing. "Come, I'll show you, maybe you can understand" Jason and Demitri both left the living quarters and made their way to the courtyard where Ali had been shot, Jason transformed into wolf form and sniffed around slightly, Demitri's eeys glowed bright white as he scanned the area, he was right...something was missing from this spot where his wife was shot. A trace of something, but Demitri could only smell gravel and earth....no scent of Orange, even a faint trace. Jason finally made eye contact with Demitri and stood tall. "See what I mean?" Demitri nodded as he piched the bridge of his nose and nodded. "But that doesn't make any sense.." Demitri sighed as he scanned the area more shifting the wind to catch anything out of the ordinatry, using his electrical currents to scan the ground for a trace of blood pattern, but nothing came to the giant. The commandant grew confident as he and Jason both found nothing of Ali's bodily remains, or liquid traces. "What does this mean Commandant?" The giant's eyes turned back to their hazel shade as he looked over to the werewolf. "I don't know, but keep this on the hush-hush for now. With the high counsil acting the way they are, I don't want to sound any alarms within the base. Can you do that Talon?" Jason merely nodded as he growled in anger, something fishy was going on and he wanted to know what.

I completely understand, but requesting avi/suga over takes months, kinda annoying when people ignore requests. But I'm thankful it's the same for both, less of a hassle, thanks a bunch! No worries, I'm not much of a habit person to start with @_@

Leech worked very well under the conditions she was placed, the small room where all four were was hardly anywhere near inhabitable or sanitary like the Med Ward at the Northern base, but with what limited resources they had, it would have to do for now to get Ali in a stable condition. Demitri leaned on the wooden wall as she worked silently, Marcus on the other side of the small room, he had stopped pacing and decided to collect his thoughts while the female medic worked, not only that, the space was hardly available for either of the men to take a seat, just the small cot and a aged stood for Leech to sit on while she worked. Both men stayed silent as the others waited for them outside, they were all thankful to gain some distance between them and Anomander, the mad man found them without fail every time they went in a group, now that Berserk was in their party, he easily hunted them down, but it wasn't like before. Somehow, it seemed as his powers grew more and more as he slained the victims he sought after. Demitri's heel tapped onto the wooden floor softly, but his pace remained the same as the giant closed his eyes and messaged them with his hand, feeling the stress of having his beloved wife injured once again under his watch, he slowly felt undeserving of his position as the commandant every time something like this were to arise. Especially out in the field, they were all there and ready to aid her, but they seemed to always be on a downward spiral every time they fought this man. He was like nothing Demitri has ever encountered before, Sybille was at least dedicated enough to plan out his attacks, even during times of weakness, but this man....he was no holds bar ready at an instant. Demitri opened his eyes once more, the light still dim as he looked over at Marcus, the mystic never took his eyes off of Ali as she turned slightly, wincing at pain from the dagger wound Leech was trying to patch up. The giant could tell that he was truly worried about Ali, there was no hiding his feelings for her from anyone, not even to himself. The once poised master of magic from years ago would have had better guards up to show the team he was capable of handling situations like this, but now he was scarred by Anomanders own attack on his body. Demitri raised an eyebrow as he contemplated the new feelings he was getting from his team mate...was he actually scared of this man? It seemed unlikely, but recently...things have changed. Demitri pushed himself from the wall as he cracked his neck, feeling the muscles loosen and the bones crack, the giant reached for his pistol to check the ammo, still a full clip loaded into his favorite weapon, the commandant holstered his gun before edging his way to the mystic, looking dow at his team mate, Marcus didn't seem to care as he stared down at Ali. "We need to speak" Demitri whispered, trying to be silent so Leech could concentrate in peace. Marcus finally blinked his eyes, feeling the burn of dryness from his long gaze, finally Marcus looked up at the commandant, meeting the mans hazel eyes before speaking. "Something on your mind sir?" "We know this man is after Berserk, but for all our purposes, we could care less of what happens to him after the fights we've had and what he's done to Dante, past and present." Marcus nodded, both men shot their heads towards Ali as she yelped slightly, it was almost a whisper, but both men could hear it if they were across the base, so they thought to themselves. "Indeed, but our role is to be his protectors for now. Keep him under control and safe....for now, at least until we dispose of Anomander" "Right, but I wasn't finished..." Marcus raised an eyebrow as he looked back towards Demtiri, noticing that the giant was staring directly at him now. "What is it then" Short and to the point, but Demitri was on high alert. "He's also after you as well..." Marcus was a bit surprised that the giant had figured it out, Marcus was attacked numerous times, and somehow the giant commandant had figured that he too, was on his chopping black. "I don't know how you're involved in all of this, but he did mention Exodus as well, and you know as well as I do, that was her father. Things are slowly adding up, but now we're getting deeper and deeper involved in this mans path of getting whatever he wants. Are you sure there's nothing you can remember about the other people and why they're important to him" Marcus had contemplated the same thought over and over when he was alone meditating, but nothing came to him. It was odd, it seemed like a random hit man job, that was until his own personal red flag shot to the sky when Phoenix was murdered in her own base, not to mention a outcast of a soldier was brought back in for protection. But Anomander didn't have anything to do with Exodus' death, that was years ago when Ali was still little, the connection seemed unlikely that he even knew the man. But with events as they were, things only added up when more deaths came to their plate, and both men feared that Ali might be caught on one of the platters. "I am sorry Commandant, but nothing comes to mind" Marcus sighed, Demitri only nodded, reaching with is hand to scratch the back of his neck, he grunted at the relaxing feeling, looking over back at Ali, he remembered when she would message the man's muscles after a long day at work or just for her personal "fun". It broke Demitri's heart little by little, knowing she knows nothing of the time they've spent together, but some people did jog her memory slightly, like their children apparently, Demitri turned away from the mystic and left the room, entering the small office sized waiting area where the rest of the team sat and regained their strength. Pocket looked up at her superior and gave a light smile, the giant returning the affection as he leaned against the doorway, making sure it was well guarded and secured, especially from Berserk. Demitri noticed his son, Tank, sitting on the opposite side of where Berserk rested, way on the other side of the small area, not making eye contact with the savage man. Luwein stared outside the small window, Demitri couldn't tell if the young boy was scouting for anything evil out in the woods, or just having time to himself to contemplate things, he was having a rough time on his own with the recent passing of his uncle. Demitri felt shameful they haven't had the funeral procession yet for the late Commander Mist, but for now, it would have to wait until they returned back to base. Berserk snorted loudly, Demitri only moving his eyes towards the mans direction as he stood ans stretched himself. "So, hows the foxy lady? Heh, not so tough now after barking like shes top dog." Demitri grunted himself as he turned to face the man. "She is top dog, at least you you Felix" Marcus gave a cocky grin, licking his lips as the moisture sank into his flesh. "She wishes, in my day, I was top dog and no one could harm me. Maybe I could teach her a few "pointer": The man scoffed wickedly, everyone giving him dirty looks, his comments were out of line and down right nasty, talking about their friend and family member in such a manner. Demitri knew he had to keep his composure, even if it meant holding back all his strength so he wouldn't pummel the man to death right here and now. The giant stepped outside to catch a breath of fresh air, he needed to cool off, unknowing to him, Luwein followed close behind the giant, closing the door behind himself, he noticed the boy standing right next to the man, holding onto the loose end of his shirt like a child would if it wanted attention from its parents. Demitri looked down confused a little by the sudden appearance of the boy, but passed it off when he looked out into the wilderness they were surrounded in. The soft noises whistling in the wind, the chirps and chiters of the insects echoed as the mist floated throughout the air, the thick moisture blocking the view in the distance. To anyone else in their situation, they would probably love the scenery and atmosphere, but to Demitri, he was frightful of anything coming at them at random. The commandant remained on high alert as he looked around, focusing his powers to create a wind barrier around their small holding house, not enough to defend, but enough to alert the man if something passed through without warning. "Shouldn't you make it stronger?" Luwein spoke, breaking the silence as the giant looked down at the boy, puzzled by his comment. "Your barrier, I can feel the wind constantly swirling every so slightly around us, but shouldn't it be stronger?...eh, sir?" "Its just a precaution measure for now, there's another barrier beyond the one you see. Slightly stronger, but to hold that one I need to be focuses. I'm amazed you sensed it so quickly Luwein, your heightened abilities are remarkable ya know" Demitri smiled before leaning on the entrance door, his eyes glowed white as he continued to add on more power to the barriers as suggested. "It suits me fine..." The boy spoke short, still a lot on his mind, Demitri could understand his feelings, there was still a lot floating around in his own head. Mainly, the words the Anomander spoke before vanishing: [color="#8B0000"][i][b]"I will break you, one by one, taking what you most hold dear to you; allowing you to watch as it slips beyond your reach...."[/b][/i][/color] Demitri continued to concentrate his powers, but the phrase echoed over and over in his head, he felt like this was a warning sign that should be taken too likely. The giant knows of hows it feels to be used by someone else, the month of therapy he had to go through just to be on the safe side that Sybille's powers left no trace of ever coming back to harm the giant and the ones he loved. He was truly fearful of this new enemy, pondering if he could do the same damage that caused all of the problem between Ali and Marcus...and himself. Demitri clenched his fists tighter as he looked around, scouting for any signs of trouble that was in view of the groups holding position. [font="Arial"][color="#000000"][/color][/font]

They both look awesome bud, thanks a lot. On the other forum, the avatars width and size is maxed at 150x150 pixels, I cant tell if the current one is that size or not. But if you can change that to its size and add the name "Shwa on there, would appreciate that. Nice work on the signatures, really like them both :D:D

Demitri stayed for a moment as Marcus left the Med Ward, contemplating hard on the words the Mystic spoke to the giant before leaving. The man was still shaken by the sudden actions of his wife, it seemed too harsh and unsettling to the man, now he felt like he actually had to try all over again to be at her side and show the same love as before when they were just soldiers. Demitri threw his head back slightly, grabbing onto his hair as he pulled it back, wrapping his licks in a single pony-tail strand, his hair reaching down to his shoulders as it hung into the air carelessly. The giant had forgotten about getting his haircut the past couple of weeks, so much has happened that his own personal hygene seemed to lax a lot during the transition of events that took fold. Demitri smiled as the words Marcus spoke rang over and over in his head, chuckling slightly the giant left the room and ventured out into the halls to make his way towards his own quarters now. ([color="#0000FF"][i][b]Civil he says? I can agree to that...but she is mine Marcus. No amount of magic and coursing can undo the bond that we've shared, a bond that we made before you even showed up in our lives. I'll play this game, but I'll help Ali remember why we were destined to be together in the first place...[/b][/i][/color]) Demitri continued to stride to his quarters, greeting a couple of recruits as he passed them in the hallway, ignoring their salutes of respect to his rank, Demitri had been on restriction from work and needed to spend some quality time with his family now. The family Ali left behind....even though he was sure Break only erased everything about Marcus and the giant himself, Demitri still felt left out in the cold with the kids and Neos to take care of. Speaking of which, Demitri wondered how the training with their son was progressing, he had never really sat in during a session of his training with Marcus, the tension seemed to be extreme at the time it started, but now that things were at a stand still the giant was curious to see how his sons powers were developing under the watchful eye of the mystic. Demitri stepped in front of his own room door, the metal sliding to the side as a fresh wave of air rushed the giant, making his skin shiver slightly until he adjusted quickly once he stepped in, the doors now closing behind the man as he entered a key code to lock his home. Madam Touch was in the kitchen humming to herself as she held onto Neos with one arm, the other free arm stirring some beef stew in a large pot, Demitri smiled as he entered the kitchen, his mother turning her head smiling up at her son. "Welcome home Demitri" She smiled, Demitri smiled down at his mother, extending his arms as he took his son into his own embrace, his mother stretching out the arm that once held her grandson and giving a sigh of comfort. "He's getting to be heavy lately, are you sure you're feeding him healthy foods?" She raised an eyebrow, the woman continued to add ingredients to her stew as Demitri chuckled, rocking his baby boy in his arms, the giant hadn't noticed how much he's grown lately, he was looking stronger and more like his own father every day. Demitri nodded as he silently made his way to wards Neos' room, turning on the night light by his bed as he laid his bundle of joy down and tucked him in, the boy squirming from the comfortable mattress until he rolled to his side, yawning before softly breathing in the night. Demitri left the room, leaving the door cracked slightly to let the light from the kitchen come into his room, surprising enough the light shinned on the little boys head as he slept. "Has he eaten?" Demitri asked, standing next to his mother, she took a spoonful of the stew and cupped the bottom with her free hand to prevent any spilling, the giant leaned down and tasted her cooking, smiling as the memories of her cooking for him when he was little played over in his mind momentarily. "Of course, something quick and simple to send him off to bed. Lily as well, she's on the phone with her new crush, a boy at school who can change into different animals at will. Very skilled I must say" Demitri sighed as the thought of having one of "those talks" with Lily arose in his mind, then something else popped into the giants thoughts, his son Tank. "How's Dante today?" His mother froze as she looked down at the stew while it simmered, a slight frown tracing the outlines of her face before she spoke. "I'm sorry to say that no amount of my powers can undo what that....that beast has done to the boy Demitri. He's so distant and fragile, it's gonna take some time for him to come around. I heard all about the court proceedings with the High Counsel, sometimes I wish it were more like the regular human court systems, gather the evidence and prosecute the monster, but since we have special abilities, it's a much more complex system. There needs to be rules and regulations when reporting abuse by another member of the base, usually the High Counsel is on point, but the lack of evidence clearly wasn't there to help Dante out" Demitri grunted at the words his mother spoke, though she was right,m both Ali acted on impulse as they both fought , they were his parents and they both promised the boy on their own words that they would defend him and make sure he was safe. The giant felt a little ashamed of himself as he went to his room to gather a few clothes in his gym bag, going to the room next to his, the commandant cracked the door open slowly as the light entered the room. Demitri could make out his son sleeping on his back, chest wrapped up in bandages still with a small patch covering his left cheek, the sleeping teen slept peacefully, or least it seemed as so with they way he laid on his bed. ([color="#0000FF"][i][b]My poor boy...[/b][/i][/color]) Demitri still frowned as he closed the door silently, making his way back to the entrance of his home. "Where are you going Demitri?" "Training simulator, I have time on my hands, might as well stay sharp while I'm off duty for a while" With that, the giant left his quarters and made his way down the hall, it struck the man odd that Ali would still be moved into her old quarters as before, the sudden urge to see if she was alright struck the man as he made his way towards that direction. Finally standing in front of the door, it opened quickly, the reaction of Ali bumping into the man in such a quick motion rocked the giant until he stood his ground once again. Meeting her gaze melted Demitri in his soul, but he had to remember the rules to oblige by, if he was going to keep things civil, for Ali's sake. After correcting the young woman of her tone with the Commandant, she straightened up and obeyed like a good soldier that she was, Demitri escorted her to the new office Marcus had taken over. The walk was short, but the feeling of being next to his beloved felt eternal. Ali made her way inside, Jason and Pocket were waiting along with Marcus, who laced his fingers together as he rested his chin on his hands. Both men glanced at each other before Ali fully entered the office, both knowing they will do their best to win her heart, but at their own levels. Demitri stepped back as the doors closed again, feeling heated and frustrated, the giant made his way to the training simulator, locking the door with his own personal pass code, the giant stripped himself from his uniform, wearing only his black tank top and sweat pants as he talked to the computer. "Computer, level 15 setting, access code: Demitri Athens 45564709". There was a low humming sound that chimed for a moment before responding back. "[color="#800080"][i][b]Comfirmed, Commandant Athens, select oponents....[/b][/i][/color]" Demitri spoke, suddenly the room went pitch black, the soldier readied himself for the images and holograms to appear, suddenly, light flashed as he was now standing in the middle of a busy city, it was Time Square in New York City. The projected civilians looked at the man like he was weird and crazy, until an explosion caught their attention with screams and crying, Demitri looked over to the now destroyed Gap store, seeing Berserk walk out slowly, another crashing sound as a taxi flipped several times in the air before colliding with the CNN window on the 3rd floor of the main office building. A large, one eyed ogre monster slowly stalked the streets towards the center, grabbing innocent bystanders one by one as he chewed their heads off clean. A final attention grabbing explosion as another figure cut through the bodies of bystanders, the former Commander of HDF, Hank, in full rock armor stood by his other two counterparts as all three took sight of the Wind Wizard. Demitri cracked his knuckles and neck before bracing his own stance, charging up his wind and electrical attacks as the three rushed the commandant at one, preparing for their own assault on the man. ([color="#0000FF"][i][b]Not without a fight[/b][/i][/color]) The giant used his wind powers to meet the trio half way, colliding with all three of them as he fended and fought off his attackers. Outside of the simulator room, recruits passed by hearing loud yelling and crashing coming from inside the room, wondering what was happening inside, some of them ran away from the sounds. Circuit happened to walk down that very corridor and noticed the group gathering outside of the entrance door, viewing the battle that happened inside on a small viewing screen, she adjusted her glasses as the woman grew closer, gasping as she saw the Commandant being thrown through a building as he fought off his three attackers. "Oh dear...." She gasped, continuing to see the fight progress, she readied her key card in case his vital signs dropped to a dangerous rate In the newly appointed Commanders office, Marcus sat reclined in his chair as he talked with Ali, under the supervision of Jason and Pocket, Jason kept to himself mostly as he peered to his sister, marveled at how well Break did with the memory wipe, Ali remained poised as she heard all the information about her duties for being the lead for Alpha team. A title she's always wanted to obtain ever since she's been under the supervision of the former Commander Hank. Now was her chance to extend her skills on the field and gain some more respect from her superiors. Still, both the commander in front of her and the strangely vague Commandant confused the woman inside, she had more time to spend talking the Commander, his dark complection and markings astounded the woman as she traced the markings with her eyes. Feeling a bit heated at the fact she was in face eyed this man as she was the commandant earlier, an action she would never thought she would do in her career, but something just kicked in on their own inside her own being. There was an urgent knocking that came from the door to the office, , Marcus sat upright as he addressed the guest. "You may enter" Marcus spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, the doorknob turned quickly as Gene rushed into the room, panting as he caught himself quickly, standing tall and poised as he saluted the group of officers. Marcus raised his hand slightly to relieve the man of his official duties of addressing his superiors. "News Frost?" Gene simply nodded quickly, the rumbling of footsteps came in through the door behind the soldier, Berserk making his way inside the office as he looked down at the group, Jason growled madly as he stood hovering over his little sister, Ali standing from her chair as she looked up at the the beastly looking man, feeling with her powers his emotions and feeling, she wasn't comfortable with him in the room. Marcus stood from his chair too, sending a angry glare to his newly appointed subordinate. "What is the meaning of this Berserk?" The giant man only snickered as he leaned against the doorway. "That commandant chump is missing, even dearest daddy can't find him in the base. Now everyones uptight about finding him" He laughed more, feeling small shots of pain radiate from his ruin, the giant felt the pain and showed his glowing red eyes as he smiled. Marcus had no time to deal with Felix, the commandant needed to be found. "Jason, sniff him out and report to me immediately when he's found" Jason grunted, but nodded as he transformed and pushed past Gene and rushed into the hallway, Pocket followed closely. Ali started to walk towards the exit, feeling a hand grab onto her wrist lightly, turning around she saw the marked man stare at her directly as he spoke softly. "Where are you going?" Ali released her hand as she looked back at the mystic, his voiced seemed....concerned. "Our commandant is missing, that's in the up most importance to find the leader in charge of our base...sir" Ali saluted before turning and joining the search, Marcus right behind her, eventually running past her as she now followed behind the commander, letting a smile creep past her lips. Outside of the Commandants living quarters, Berserk drew his fist back and swung forward, knocking down the steel door barrier, shocking Madam Touch as she awoke from her nap on the couch waiting for her son to return. The giant made his way slowly into the quarters, seeing Madam Touch's eyes glow bright green as she stood with her arms crossed, standing her ground as the man towered over her "Hello again Tabitha...how long has it been?" Berserk smiled wickedly, Touch stuck him with a swift kick to his chest dark as he backed up a couple of steps, due to his limitation on power, he was forced to deal with the bone cracking pain. "Not long enough Felix" The man smiled as he suddenly dashed forward, connecting his shoulder to collide with Touch, sending the woman through Dante's door, the wood broken and scattered on his floor, Touch laid unconscious as Dante stirred from his sleep. The teen was lazy due to the drugs, looking up, his heart leapted as he saw his father in the doorway staring down at the two. "I beg to differ" Berserk smiled, Tank transformed into his steel form as he weakly stood and scooped his grandmother into his bed, standing now face to face his with father.

Hello all you artists and computer savey designers, I would like to get a new look for the new year....since mind apparently is outdated since I've started here as well. I'd like to get a new Signature and Avatar for my username, I'd greatly appreciate it to anyone who can make this happen for me. The following pictures attached are what I was thinking of: [url="http://images.google.com/url?source=imgres&ct=img&q=http://www.wallpapercube.com/firefox-cartoon_wallpapers_5010_1152x864.jpg&sa=X&ei=ZLbNTbF58OvRAa-1mf0N&ved=0CAQQ8wc&usg=AFQjCNGZFVUJR6ZPJqUFRHXouUMyIkfWlw"]Signature[/url] I would like this cut down to appropriate size and just have mu user name written somewhere in the middle or wherever available. if possible, the fox on the lower right hand side, I would like that to be my avatar as well to match, if possible. [url="http://images.google.com/url?source=imgres&ct=img&q=http://jivebay.com/wp-content/uploads/g_fox_mozilla_firefox.jpg&sa=X&ei=grfNTaHdFsre0QGtoKDgDQ&ved=0CAQQ8wc&usg=AFQjCNHcPlN8_KISt-Voum0PM4uxB-Gj9w"]Avatar[/url] If I could get this guy as my Avatar, that would be bad@ss as well. Note: I would like to make this my combo to another message board I go to, my name on there is "Shwa". That would be awesome, thanks!