RPG The Wanderers

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[center][FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][U][B]Cast List[/B]
[/U][/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2]DeLarge as Adam Jackson[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2]The 10^th as Caelum ?Cael? Tempest[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2]Stephanie as Dierdre Faye[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2]Afro as Kresh ?Thraximander? Bastion[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2]Darren as Emilia Rosen[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2]Muuh Puar as Percy[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B][U]Chapter One: City of Silence

[/U][/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2]Adam pulled his jacket around himself to shelter from the cold night air that was circling the group as they emerged from the tear. Tempest came through first, slipping his glasses on immediately to try and scan the surroundings. Kresh followed soon after, wrapping his cloak tightly around his body and shivering slightly; then Dierdre came through, as cool and calm as ever, seemingly dressed as a young schoolgirl. Emilia and Percy were bringing up the rear, chatting away to each other as they were wont to do.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?Welcome to London, ladies and gentlemen,? [/B]Adam exclaimed with the air of an over-enthusiastic tour guide as he walked over to the rippling tear. He reached up, pinched his gloved fingers together at the top of the tear, and ran his hand down along the opening. As he did so, with a slight crackle of energy, the tear closed itself up as though Adam were zipping the air back together. He shook his hand as a cloud of vapour billowed up from it, and pulled his gloves off, shoving them into the inside pockets of his jacket.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?First things first: we need to find the anomaly. Take a look around, and see if you find anything unusual. We?ll try and work out what?s wrong from there. Cael,? [/B]he said, turning to his good friend and right-hand man, [B]?Feel free to go and do your thing. Just get back here as soon as possible!? [/B]Cael nodded his thanks, and then set off at a run out of the alley. The others knew what he was leaving to do, and they had come to accept it after all these years.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?Is London always so freezing?? [/B]Kresh asked, his voice shuddering as he spoke. He was a big guy, but he was used to more temperate conditions than the ones they found themselves in.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?Only three hundred and forty days a year,? [/B]joked Adam with a wide, mischievous grin and a wink, [B]?So...who wants to take a look around?? [/B]He rubbed his hands together in excitement and bounded out of the narrow alleyway. The others followed him, somewhat less enthusiastically.[/SIZE][/FONT]
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---

[/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2]Thirty minutes later, the five of them were on the Strand, walking towards Waterloo Bridge. People milled around them, heading to work, to school, to meetings with their superiors, to lunch with their families.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?Human life at it?s finest,? [/B]Adam whispered to Emilia, who was scanning the crowd with a vaguely suspicious look on her face that the rest of the group had long since come to terms with. She used to be a police officer, so she was always on the lookout for trouble, especially in heavily crowded areas such as this.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?Don?t they seem a little...docile to you?? [/B]she asked, looking around at the crowds of people. Adam stopped and looked around ? they were bustling around, yes, but they seemed to all have incredibly vacant looks on their faces. Then he noticed the strangest thing about this new universe.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?None of them are talking to one another,? [/B]he murmured, running over to the old man selling hot dogs from a beaten-up stall, staring into the distance, his eyes glazed over.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?Hello, there,? [/B]Adam said, looking intently at the man?s face.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?Hello, sir, how may I help you?? [/B]he responded, his voice cold and almost robotic, [B]?I have many delicious products on offer for you today.?[/B][/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?Can I have a hot dog??[/B][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B][/B][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?Of course, sir,? [/B]the old man said, silently moving around to fetch Adam?s snack.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?And a can of Coke??[/B][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?Absolutely, sir.?[/B][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?How much is that??[/B][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B][/B][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?£5.30 altogether, sir.?[/B][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?Do you mind if I pay by card?? [/B]Adam asked, pulling a credit card from his pocket.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?Not at all, sir. Place your card in the machine.? [/B]Adam did so, and a message flashed up, telling him he had insufficient funds.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?I am sorry, sir,? [/B]said the old man, [B]?You do not have sufficient funds for this transaction.?[/B][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?Oh, I?m sorry. I?ll use my other card instead.? [/B]As he said this, he drew his silver Probe from his inside pocket, pressed the button and held the glowing end to the credit card, holding both items as close to the old man as possible. Replacing the Probe in his pocket, he shoved the same card back into the reader, where it told him the transaction was successful.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?Thank you, sir,? [/B]said the old man, handing him his receipt as well as his food.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?What was that all about?? [/B]asked Percy as the rest of the group caught up.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?He didn?t respond, even when Adam basically stole food from him,? [/B]replied Emilia, [B]?It?s like he?s in some kind of trance.?[/B][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2]Adam handed Kresh his food, pulled the Probe from his pocket once more, and stepped around the back of the hot dog stand to the old man. With the thumb and forefinger of one hand, he held open the old man?s right eye, and with the other hand, he shone the light from the end of the device across the eyeball. Once he had repeated this a few times for both eyes, he stepped back, retrieving his hot dog from Kresh and taking a large bite.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?His pupils are fixed and dilated,? [/B]he said thoughtfully, through a mouthful of bread and processed meat, [B]?And I?d bet my left leg that?s the same for all these people. Their bodies are active but their brains are almost unresponsive.?[/B][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?What does that mean?? [/B]asked Dierdre, a vaguely quizzical look crossing her face. Adam paused, looking into the distance as he ran his hand through his tousled locks.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?It?s like they?ve been hypnotised. Someone, or something, is controlling their minds, but God only knows how they?re doing it,? [/B]he said, [B]?I think we?ve found our anomaly.?[/B][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?So what do we do?? [/B]asked Kresh.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?We need to find out if there?s anyone unaffected,? [/B]replied Emilia, immediately taking charge of the situation, [B]?Percy, go and find Cael ? we need him back right now. Dierdre, Kresh, you two try and find an information point ? see if there?s anything out of the ordinary in the city?s modern history.?[/B][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?What are you two going to do?? [/B]asked Percy, gesturing to Adam and Emilia.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]?We?re going to examine as many people as we can to see if they?re all like this,? [/B]replied Adam, stepping in, [B]?If we can find even one person who isn?t affected, maybe we can work out what?s causing this. We?ll meet back here in an hour and see what we?ve found. Oh, and people??[/B][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2]The group turned back to look at Adam as they began to run off.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][SIZE=2][B]
?Don?t kill anyone.?[/B][/SIZE][/FONT]

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[Darren]

[SIZE="1"]Emilia began walking in a random direction. She didn't care much, but she didn't like to be in one place for too long. Except for the futuristic Earth, where she spent almost a year.

She didn't look back to see if Adam was following. He was a big boy; didn't need looking after.

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][B]"Do you know where you're going?"[/B][/FONT] He asked, catching up with her pace.

[FONT="Century Gothic"][B]"No. What gives it away? The American accent?"[/B][/FONT]

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][B]"Well, there's that and the fact that you're going in the wrong direction."[/B] [/FONT]He said.

[FONT="Century Gothic"][B]"Right. Well, you lead the way then."[/B][/FONT] Maybe it was Emilia who needed looking after. At least in London.

As they turned around, Emilia pulled out N.E.D., a handheld computer and one of her gadgets she got from her time on the future Earth.

[FONT="Century Gothic"][B]"N.E.D., I need you to create a new file for this reality."[/B][/FONT] She told the computer

It came to life with a blur of lights and buzzing noises. [FONT="Courier New"][B]"Command received. Creating 'Reality #8' file. Downloading planet History. Wait time... six hours."[/B][/FONT]

She sighed at the thought of having to wait that long. If anything, it would certainly prevent her from finding out anything about the planet any time soon.

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][B]"So, you've only been to seven realities before this one, huh?"[/B][/FONT] Adam asked.

Emilia guessed it was simply an ice-breaker. After all, she was the most recent member to join the group of planetary wanderers. And she figured that, as the unofficial leader of the group, he was just trying to get to know her.

[FONT="Century Gothic"][B]"Yeah."[/B][/FONT] She replied. Blunt. Straight to the point.

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][B]"And how old were you when our reality died?"[/B][/FONT]

[FONT="Century Gothic"][B]"20."[/B][/FONT]

It was a fair question. Time moved at different paces in different realities, so for some of the travelers, very little time had passed by since the catastrophe, but for Emilia, she had been dealing with her new life for four years.

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][B]"So, seven realities in four years? You don't travel much do you?[/B][/FONT] Adam pried.

[FONT="Century Gothic"][B]"On the contrary. I was on six of those for no more than than a few months at at time."[/B][/FONT]

She wasn't annoyed with his questions, but she knew what his next question would be, and she really didn't want to go there. Not now, at least. So, Emilia changed the subject really quick.

[FONT="Century Gothic"][B]"Where are we going?"[/B][/FONT]

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][B]"Don't worry, it's just up ahead. There should be a lot of people this time of day."[/B][/FONT] he said, completely blowing off the question. Then, [FONT="Book Antiqua"][B]"So you stayed in one reality for quite some time then? Why?"[/B][/FONT]

[I]I knew it,[/I] she thought.

After a considerable amount of silence, she sighed and said, [FONT="Century Gothic"][B]"Story for another time. I see people up there."[/B][/FONT]

She picked up her pace a bit, putting some distance between her and Adam. Again, she didn't look to see if he was following. [I]He can take care of himself.[/I][/SIZE]

[Orcus]

[FONT="Book Antiqua"]Tempest hadn?t gotten far from the group before he too had noticed the odd behavior of this world?s denizens. He had been blazing absentmindedly down the sidewalk when he?d collided with a middle aged woman. After collecting himself, he insisted on helping the woman to her feet, but she simply picked herself up, tidied her belongings, muttered an apology and walked away. Rattled slightly, Tempest turned to see if one of the other citizens could explain to him why the woman was so disconnected. Unfortunately, everyone he spoke to appeared to be suffering from the same sedated state. Frightened that ?his family? might be afflicted as well, he doubled his pace towards where his ?home? was located.

It didn?t take him very long to arrive at his childhood neighborhood?at least, this world?s equivalent to his childhood neighborhood. His eyes surveyed the quaint uniform brick buildings, and his nose twitched slightly at a scent that was simultaneously familiar and alien. He drew in his breath slowly, and exhaled heavily; he had conquered crying at this sight of his would be home long ago, and that singular heavy sigh was the only sign of remorse and grief that escaped him any longer. Passing through his nostalgia as quickly as he could, Tempest regained his wits and pressed his right pointer and middle finger to his glasses to scan for his ?parents?.

His parent?s energy patterns were quickly identified inside of the house, in the living room to be specific. From what Tempest could assess from their vitals, the two were entirely healthy. Tempest lowered his hand and growled lightly; this discovery did him absolutely no good. The lady he had run into, as well as the surrounding citizens had all possessed adequate vitals as well. It became clear that the only way Tempest could affirm his parent?s freedom or entrapment would be to talk to them directly. He inhaled deeply again, then put on his sincerest smile and rapped lightly on the door. It took only a moment before the door creaked open and Tempest?s ?father? stepped out.

[B]?Hello young man,"[/b] his voice assaulted Tempest's ears with its lack of emotion. [b]"How might I assist you?? [/B]

Tempest?s face fell immediately. If his father had been afflicted, chances were his mother had been as well. Responding automatically to Tempest?s silence, Mr. Tempest leaned forward and cocked his head to the side in a highly robotic fashion. Tempest couldn?t help but shudder at the motion and the continuation of his father?s robotic voice.

[B]?Is something the matter..."[/b] The man took an unnecessarily long pause before producing the next word, [b]"son??[/B]

A cold chill rippled over Tempest?s skin and clamped his teeth together. His fair skin became a pearly white, and his eyes seemed to burn with a greater intensity than usual. The two rings he was wearing at the time, Breeze and Flame, flared up at his sudden shift in emotion; the temperature around him suddenly spiked, and a fierce breeze pushed past him and into the house. Much to Tempest?s chagrin, even the surreal shift in the atmosphere did not render with his father.

[B]?I?m sorry young man, but unless there is a matter you need to discuss with me, I must be returning to my wife. Good day.? [/B]

With that, the man bowed and slowly shut the door in Tempest?s face. Overcome with a mixture of intense shock and blatant fury, Tempest simply stared at the door for a few moments before he could come to his senses. Having regained his casually aloof demeanor he shrugged the whole incident off and turned away from the house. His adrenaline rush now gone as well, he realized the area was a tad chilly, or rather, that it had been chilly for a while judging by his incredibly pale hands. He threw his hood over his head, pressing his golden hair lightly against his glasses, and then stuffed his hands into his coat pockets. He couldn?t help but smile all the while as well; this was the ?normal? Tempest, the ones the other ?Wanderers? were used to. The one that had just been an emotional wreck was simply a lingering homage to his previous form.

[B]?Tempest! Ey Tempest!?[/B]

Tempest shook himself out of his happy place at the sound of the familiar voice. Looking up, he noticed Percy nonchalantly rounding the corner. On sight of Tempest, Percy nodded his head in acknowledgement, gestured back in the direction he came, then spun around on his heel and walked off, whistling. Tempest shrugged in agreement and followed suit, catching up to his ally and whistling along.[/FONT]

[Muuh Puar]

[SIZE="1"]Whistling to himself, Percy walked down the same street he came down. It was a quite desolate area, even though it was full of apartments and shops. Percy thought that it could have been the poor weather that caused people to be staying inside. Would make sense to him. It was cold, dark, and definitely not a happy day. It smelled like rain either just fell or it was about to.

While he was thinking this, Tempest had joined him, carrying his trademark smile. Percy stopped whistling.

[B]?You know, you look like the Cheshire Cat when you smile like that.?[/B] Percy spat out. He didn?t mean it as an insult. He knew he had to clarify. [B]?Don?t worry, I like him. I like Alice?s Adventures in Wonderland in general. Good story. Even better when you?re so high you can?t read it. I mean... uh... I like... cats??[/B] Tempest?s smile diminished, not to a scowl, but a confused look. Percy saw this and looked away rather quickly. They kept walking on the path that Percy had taken, as it was the most direct. On the way, however, there seemed to be more people. They had come out of their houses for something, it looked like. They looked like they were walking out to the market. Percy made like he was going to call out to one of them, when Tempest stopped him.

[B]?It?s no use. They?re like their in a emotional coma.?[/B] He said. Percy looked at him. His usual smile wasn?t on. [B]?I?ve noticed this lack of emotion. It?s not just that, either. Willpower, responsiveness, everything. They?re just walking around. Like zombies.?
[/B]
[B]?Without the whole eating people bit, right??[/B] Percy jokingly asked.

Tempest looked at him. His smile returned. [B]?I don?t know for sure.?[/B] Once he finished, he bolted towards the direction they had arrived into the reality from, laughing. Percy looked around at the people, all walking around in a slow manner. A minor look of horror rose on his face. He took off after Tempest.

[B]?DON?T LEAVE ME TO THE HORDES!!!?[/B] He shouted as he ran. The frequency of people had increased for some reason, like a rush hour for food. This created a harder path to navigate. It became impossible for Percy to not run into people. Tempest however, was ahead of the wave of traffic. He was far enough ahead to turn and mock Percy. But, when he turned his head, his laughing smile slowly faded, and he stopped running. Percy caught up to Tempest, placed his hands on his knees, and began to catch his breath.

[B]?Look.?[/B] Tempest said aloud, motioning towards the way they just came from. Percy turned his head. He could see the path he had taken to get to where they now stood. It was very evident that he had hit at least 15 people, knocking them down, on his way there. But, instead of facing an enraged crowd of people, or a hungry horde of undead, the people stood up, muttered apologizes, and kept walking forward. The two men knew this wasn?t right. They looked at one another and shared the same stare. It was a physical agreement on a thought: These people aren?t healthy. So, once the crowds had passed them, the two headed for the direction everyone else had headed at a run. They had to get to the others quickly. This news was too odd to not report.


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OOC: Sorry for the shortness, but I just wanted to get this going. Need to get to the next part/person.[/SIZE]

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[FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode]Almost an hour had passed, and everyone Adam and Emilia had scanned had the same symptoms.

[B]"Pupils fixed and dilated, bodies react to external stimuli but brains seem unresponsive,"[/B] sighed Adam, dropping down onto the fountain in the centre of Trafalgar Square, [B]"All of them. Every single person we've come across, all of them comatose."[/B]

[B]"Well, at least the anomaly's obvious,"[/B] replied Emilia dryly, sitting down a foot or so away from Adam, tapping away at the screen of N.E.D., desperately trying to download some information about this universe, [B]"What do you think is causing it?"[/B]

Adam turned to look at her, resting his chin on his hand. She was good at hiding her loneliness, as were all the Wanderers, but she seemed more aloof, more distant than the rest of them. She had spent so long on a single world, then moved quickly through the rest - there must have been something to keep her there for so long, and then driven her to leave.

He felt the familiar, almost fatherly urge creeping into his mind, but he knew that she would share if and when she wanted to. He respected her privacy, and pushed his wonderings to the back of his mind.

[B]"Who knows,"[/B] he sighed,[B] "I'd say some kind of airborne hallucinogenic, but the concentration would have to be huge to make the effect this widespread, and we haven't been affected."[/B]

[B]"Could it be something in the water?"[/B] Emilia asked, trying to initiate the familiar process of allowing Adam to bounce ideas off her, in the hope he'd come to the right conclusion.

[B]"Could be, but there would definitely be some other kind of side effects to a soluble hallucinogenic. It's much more likely to be someone or something creating a hypnotic field, but to make this kind of effect the field would have to be incredibly powerful."[/B] He ran his hands through his hair, a classic sign of Adam thinking, causing his light-brown locks to stick up erratically in all directions.

[B]"Is there a way to enhance a smaller psychic field?"

"Enhance it? Theoretically, but to broadcast low-level psychic interference on this kind of scale would require an enormous transmitter,"[/B] he ranted, leaping to his feet, [B]"They'd need some kind of enormous communications...DEVICE! Oh, I am so thick!" [/B]

He grabbed Emilia's head with both hands and kissed her
vigorously on the forehead, before dashing off into the crowds of comatose people. Emilia scrambled to her feet and followed him, a little bewildered by his triumphant actions.

[B]"What is it?"[/B] asked Emilia as Adam rummaged through a man's pockets.

[B]"This!"[/B] he yelled, yanking the man's mobile phone from his pocket, and pressing the end of his silver probe into the screen, emitting a high-pitched noise from both devices, [B]"Everyone uses mobile phones - whatever is creating the psychic field must be using the mobile phone mast to broadcast the hypnotic field further, letting them take control of basically every single person in London! And if this works, I can trace the signal to the source!"[/B]

[B]"You might not need that, Adam,"[/B] said Emilia, looking into the distance. Adam looked up from the phone, and followed her gaze above the buildings to the east. A large mobile phone mast rose high above the city, the company logo emblazoned on the side.

[B]"Oh, you beauty!"[/B] shouted Adam, taking off at a run towards the phone mast. Emilia rolled her eyes and took off after him, sending a message out to the other members of the group on N.E.D. as she ran.

---

It didn't take Adam long to reach the towering phone mast. It was surrounded by a tall, chain-link fence, an enormous gash torn in one section of it. Adam looked up the mast, which was steadily humming with power, to the company logo.

[B]"Sorry, Arcadian Network, looks like you're about to have some bad PR,"[/B] he muttered to himself. He headed towards the gap in the fence as Emilia caught up with him.

[B]"Don't you think we should wait for the others?"[/B] she said, barely out of breath from the intensive run, her police training helping.

[B]"Emilia, whatever's doing this has near-complete control of the city of London. With that amount of power, who knows how long it'll be before it does something else, something much worse. I need to get in there and stop it before it hurts anyone. Stay here and wait for the others."[/B] Emilia nodded, recognising a lost cause when she saw one.

Adam clambered through the gap torn in the fence, and moved slowly towards the base of the mast. He flipped the screen up on his wrist strap, trying to analyse the surroundings, and pulled his probe out of his pocket, aiming it ahead of him, the powerful light in the end illuminating the way ahead of him.

Suddenly, he saw something move in the dark, and heard a low, rumbling noise. He moved forwards, his computer telling him that the source of the noise was dinstinctly non-human.

[B]"I couldn't have guessed,"[/B] he murmured, moving towards the source of the noise. He squinted ahead of himself, seeing a succession of blurry shapes at one corner of the mast's base. Moving forward again, the creature came into full view.

It was a deep, bottle-green colour, with a large, slender body. It's head was formed from bony ridges, almost in the shape of a tricorn hat. Instead of a mouth and nose, it had a small, sharp beak. Small, jet-black eyes stared at Adam, but there was no anger in them. Four long tendrils extended from the creature's back onto the metal of the phone mast. From head to spiny toe, the creature was a little taller than Adam, so he was looking into the thing's beak rather than it's eyes.

[B]"Oh, you are beautiful," [/B]he whispered in awe, gazing up and down the creature as it continued to make small, almost moaning sounds. He tentatively reached a hand out to touch the creature's underbelly, and it didn't lash out as he did. He placed his bare palm on the warm, soft skin of the underbelly, and closed his eyes.
[B]
"You're scared,"[/B] he whispered, feeling emotion emanate from the creature, [B]"I understand. You're alone in a universe you don't recognise, and you're using that hypnotic ability of yours to stop people attacking you. But it's ok, you don't have to be scared any more. You can go home."[/B]

He scanned the creature up and down gently with his probe, then plugged the end of the device into his wrist-strap, downloading the information acquired.

[B]"We've got it covered, Adam!"[/B] came a booming voice from behind him. He turned to see Kresh and Tempest advancing towards him, the former holding his hammer, the latter holding his hand up, his rings crackling with potential energy. Percy was a few feet behind them, his rifle levelled at the creature, with Emilia at his side, her ray gun in her hand, but lowered at her side. Dierdre stood at the back of the group, her arms folded, leaning against the fence.

[B]"Stop!"[/B] he shouted, holding his hand up, [B]"It's harmless."

"Harmless?"[/B] growled Kresh, [B]"Adam, it's taken control of an entire city. We've been looking around, we couldn't find a single person unaffected."[/B]
[B]
"It's just scared,"[/B] said Adam, turning back to the creature, [B]"It's lost, and this is a defence mechanism. And if you don't stop pointing those weapons at it, then it could do something even worse."[/B] He continued the download of the information as the rest of the group reluctantly lowered their weapons. His wrist strap quickly discovered a home universe for the creature, and Adam smiled at the result.

[B]"Let's get you home, big fella,"[/B] he said soothingly to the creature. He pulled the left glove out of his pocket and pulled it on, allowing the black mesh touch the wrist strap. The strap uploaded information to the glove, and Adam reached out in front of him, concentration etched on his face.

He reached his gloved hand out, laid it gently on the creature's chest, closing his eyes to focus. Then, in a single motion, he gently pushed the creature backwards, causing it to disappear with a flash of blue light.

[B]"That was something of an anti-climax,"[/B] muttered Percy. Adam took a few deep breaths, then turned to the rest of the group. He looked on each one of them, the same grim look of concentration etched across his face, his expression slowly turning into a wide, toothy grin.

[B]"Hear that?"[/B] he asked.

[B]"What?"[/B] asked Tempest, cocking his head to try and hear anything on the air.

[B]"People,"[/B] said Adam, running off back towards the square.

[B]"Always with the running,"[/B] murmured Tempest, before taking off after him.

---

[B]"Adam,"[/B] said Percy,[B] "You might want to stop doing that."

[/B]Adam heard this suggestion, and broke off the warm embrace he had locked the first available fully-aware citizen of London into.

[B]"Oh..."[/B] he said apologetically,[B] "Sorry, ma'am."[/B] He nodded and she walked off, looking confused, with a hint of satisfaction. The group gathered around Adam, who smiled at them.

[B]"If only they were all that simple, huh?"[/B] he sighed, [B]"Oh well. Time to move on. Always moving on." [/B]He reached out with a gloved hand, his middle and forefingers outstretched, and swiped them downwards, creating a rippling tear in the air.

[B]"Onwards and upwards,"[/B] he said, before stepping through the tear into a new world...

---

[B][SIZE=1]OOC: [/SIZE][/B][SIZE=1]Ok, so that was terrible. Just wanted to breathe some new life into this thing and get it back off the ground. I do believe it is your chapter, [B]The 10th[/B].[/SIZE]
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[Orcus]

[FONT="Book Antiqua"]Tempest watched as Adam stepped into the tear and disappeared. He had always been uncomfortable with the notion of his friend travelling into the unknown first, especially given Adam?s strictly non-violent approach to everything. It made sense, of course?Adam would be able to gauge most efficiently the danger of their surroundings and their chances of survivability. He leaned towards the wormhole and yelled down at Adam.

[B]?HEY! Everything look alright on your end??[/B] Adam?s rippled and distorted voice emitted from the tear immediately.

[B]?Yah, I think it?s safe to come through! Mind your footing, however, you?ll be coming out in a--- crap!?[/B] Adam?s expletive trailed off into the sound of twigs snapping and a loud roar. Without hesitation, Tempest drew his chakrams and leapt through the rift. A torrent of energy swirled around him for only a moment, and then he was through. Before he could identify Adam?s attacker his right foot struck a stray object and he toppled over?right into Adam. Adam wheezed and flailed around.

[B]?Get off of me and put those weapons away! No fighting until we know for sure what it is!?[/B] Tempest growled and pushed off of Adam so he could balance himself back out. He readied his chakrams at his side and scowled lowly.

[B]?It?s exactly because we don?t know what it is that I?m keeping my weapons out! Where did it go?[/B]? As Tempest finished his sentence, the other members of the party poured out of the rift, weapons readied as well. Adam hopped to his feet and dusted himself off, then sighed exasperatedly.

[B]?Seriously everyone, you?ve probably frightened it off with all of the noise and heightened aggression.?[/B] Dierdre scoffed and sauntered forwards, her eyes scouring the landscape disdainfully.

[B]?Sad that you lost the chance to run tests on something, hmm??[/B] Adam opened his mouth to object, but before his breath could even escape, a bullet whizzed past his face and yelp rang out from behind him. Dierdre, Emilia, and Percy turned to the source of the shot, weapons drawn, while Tempest, Adam, and Kresh spun around to identify what had yelped. Upon viewing the source of the cry, Tempest flinched in surprise.

[B]?What the hell?"[/B] Tempest had expected some form of mangy beast to lie in front of his, lashing out at them violently as its wound bled. Instead, all that lay in front of them was a pile of multicolored mechanical armor that exuded some dark purple fog. Tempest simply stood, mesmerized by the spectacle in front of him, when suddenly he felt something warm strike against his neck, and his vision faded to black.

After what felt like a few hours, Tempest?s body jolted forward and he reflexively went to grab his chakrams. Before he could reach them, however, a body collided with him and knocked him into the ground, then quickly scrambled to pin his arms down. A familiar voice yelled down at him.

[B]?Heeeeeey! Stop thaaaaat!?[/B] Tempest diverted all of his attention to his attacker and began laughing when he caught sight of Percy?s mock serious face. He nodded at his crazed friend and head butted in the forehead. Percey staggered slightly and fell off of Tempest, who stood up and dusted himself off. Feeling a little better, Tempest extended his arm towards Percy and grinned.

[B]?Don?t jump on me next time.?[/B] Percy laughed and grabbed Tempest?s hand and then hoisted himself up. Once Percy was up another voice caught his attention; this time, it was Adam?s.

[B]?If you two are finished over there, we?ve got a job to do.?[/B] Tempest shook his head with amusement and then turned to Adam and nodded. Adam motioned for the two to follow him out of the room, and then he lead them down a long, metal corridor, which led to what Tempest assumed was a massive command room. Around a large circular panel waited the rest of the Wanderers, as well as a few military men and women. As Adam led them towards the panel, Tempest couldn?t help but admire the weapons the soldiers were armed with. Each weapon looked similar to Emilia?s handgun and Percy?s rail gun, save that they apparently still used bullets, not energy rounds.

[B]?Good morning son. I apologize for having to knock you out earlier, but I couldn?t risk you endangering my men.?[/B] An attractive yet terribly authoritative woman, probably in her mid-thirties, approached Tempest and stretched her hand out to him apologetically. Tempest grinned amiably and shook her hand firmly, having finally regained his cheery exterior. He hadn?t been very fond of being knocked out, but she seemed nice enough. She smiled back at him and then took her place at the head of the panel once more. She took a moment to fiddle with the machine in front of them, which Tempest just noticed pulled up holograms, and then conjured up an image of the creature they had seen earlier.

[B]?What attacked you earlier is known as an Akuma?they are sentient mechanical life forms that have recently begun appearing in our world via,?[/B] she pressed a button and then another image, this time of a space-time tear, sprang up,[B] ?this portal which abruptly materialized a few years ago. Another portal opened within the shopping center of a city across the country. Despite our best efforts we have been unable to close these tears for the past couple of years, and thus our scientists have contented themselves to study the portals and run tests on them.?[/B]

[B]?Though the tests on the nature of the portals have been rather inconclusive, certain things became apparent immediately?the appearance of these portals was altering the already dangerous beasts that inhabit the surrounding forests. The beasts have become larger, more monstrous, and extremely violent to our presence. We were forced to shut down the road between cities and rely on airship travel entirely.?[/B]

[B]?After about 3 years of solely this increased aggression, another element was added; whatever energy was leaking from the portal began to form itself into a physical shape?the Akuma. They behave in a similar fashion to the beasts, attacking whatever person strays to close to them, but they do not attack the creatures and the creatures do not attack the Akuma either. Regardless, the Akuma posed a great threat from the beginning, as they were able to bond themselves to human flesh as to possess people and convert them into killing machines. If we act quickly enough we are able to wretch the armor off of its victim, albeit with great difficulty, but if the bond is not severed within 10 minutes, the victim becomes an Akuma and will attack even form comrades indiscriminately. These human-Akuma hybrids relentlessly hunt down other humans and feed on them, and each time they do they grow in strength and size.? [/B]

[B]?Though we?ve been able to spare most of our people this grizzly fate, the residents of the city that housed the second tear almost completely succumbed to the Akuma infestation. The infrastructure of the area was quickly torn apart and demolished, and is little more than rubble currently. Luckily, the city has been cut off from the outside world by barriers equipped in every city to prevent beasts from terrorizing the people, but it?s only a matter of time before their barriers are destroyed? And subsequently before ours are destroyed as well.?[/B]
[B]
?If what your leader Adam says is true,?[/B] Adam attempted to protest the title, but she spoke on as if he had said nothing, [B]?then you strangers may be our only hope of eradicating these Akuma and preventing them from ever threatening our world again. If you are willing, we can provide you with a safer means to reach both of the tears. Our military airship can transport you to the city and I can send some of my most skilled rifleman to accompany you to the middle of the forest. Would you please assist us? ?[/B]

The air in the room was quiet as she finished speaking. Though disgusted with the idea of once-humans eating still-humans, Tempest didn?t feel altogether inclined to be one of those eaten humans today. He surveyed the other wanderers to discern their reactions, and found that Dierdre?s eyes seemed to betray the same attitude towards the situation. Unfortunately, they seemed to be the only two thinking of themselves, as the others all had looks of strong resolve on their faces. Kresh offered a response to the question first.

[B]?Of course we?ll help you folks out! These tears are obviously what we?re here to fix, and we couldn?t just leave you all in danger anyways.?[/B] Adam nodded his head in agreement and then spoke up.

[B]?We can divide into teams of two: Seeing as Tempest and I have the proper technology for analyzing and sealing the tears, the two of us will have to be in separate parties. Emilia and Percy, head with Tempest to the city and Kresh and Dierdre travel with me through the forest.?[/B] Adam looked over the others for their responses and then rested his eyes on Tempest. Tempest exhaled heavily and placed his hands behind his head, his face lined with a defeated smiled.

[B]?Show us the way to the hangar.?[/B]

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[SIZE="1"][B]OOC:[/B] Okay, so there you have it! Our characters need to navigate through either a thick, beast and Akuma infested forest or traverse a decimated urban jungle filled with human-Akuma of varying strengths and skills. At the center of the jungle, floating above a leviathan inhabiting lake is the tear that Adam and his crew must seal, and for my own party, we must travel to the remains of the city?s great fountain where it is rumored that the strongest of the human Akuma live. Faced with a dangerous terrain, battles a-plenty, and the risk of possession, how can our heroes possibly survive?! *dun dun dun*[/SIZE]