Carry On...
Jan. 1st, 2010 12:02 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsJulian and company arrive at the ICU where they are in for a slight surprise.
Following the signs leading to the ICU, Simon couldn't help feeling bad. Dean had been the one to introduce him to the life, and now he was paying his last respects to the kid in a hospital. It wasn't his fault--he knew that--but nothing could lessen the pain. Gordon had said Dean simply couldn't grasp his powers, and would have to deal with them on his own, and yet Simon couldn't help but figuring that it was simple. It was terrifyingly simple: one of his close friends was about to die. It didn't matter why.
Shock wasn't the first emotion that Julian was hit with when he spotted the man who was now a stranger to him across the hospital hallway. First came anger- at himself for not having turned the snake in, and at Simon for ruining the beach house, not to mention for having the nerve to show up at the hospital where Dean was laid up like a decaying vegetable. Shock did come next as he realized what would likely happen if Simon caught sight of him, forcing him to dash around a corner and away from his three friends. Peaking out from around the corner, Julian felt their eyes on him.
Nico turned to Julian's direction, a puzzled look on her face. "Alright...", started, but her voice died soon after she noticed the look on his eyes; Julian was a lot of things, but he knew when to get serious, and something in the way he was hiding wasn't right. "Guys, we might want to follow Keller, quietly." Looking around, Nico tried to spot whatever had put Julian on guard.
Unaware of anyone, Simon continued trudging down the way. He ignored the tingling sensation in the back of his neck, dismissing it as a side effect of being surrounded by the sick and dying. If he never returned to a hospital after visiting Dean it would be too soon.
Julian watched as his old friend disapeared inside Dean's room, his eyes wide. "That son-of-a-"
“That son of a what?” Doreen asked, popping up behind Julian. She could be annoying that way, but she liked to think it was one of her charms,
“What’s going on?”
"The guy who just went into Dean's room." Julian pointed, not that he needed to since they'd just come from there. "That was Simon. Simon Gutierrez."
Once they got behind a wall, and out of Simon's view -who had entered the room anyway, so he couldn't see them anymore-, Nico turned to Julian. "You mean the Simon dude that ruined your beach house? What happened there anyway? What's going on, Keller? You look like we are about to get into a fight...and I don't like that one bit."
"Guy's got more strength than Inez, um, did. Even more if what I think is going on actually is." He straightened himself out, then turned to Nico with a puzzled expression, "Wait, who told you about that?"
Inez who? Nico thought she had heard the name, but didn't pay much attention to it. "What, you thought nobody would ever find out? I'm not sure if you got scolded by it in the mansion, but there was... chit-chat." She looked a bit uncomfortable now. "No need to go there though, alright? Now tell me what do you think it's going on."
"I think he's probably boosted," he said, letting the subject go. "Which means...he's probably stronger than...well, anyone."
"Boosted?" Megan piped up. The way Julian said it, it just sounded ominous. Plus, Julian was pretty strong. If he thought this Simon person was stronger than him, than ANYONE...Or maybe she was just creeped out from being in the hospital. She had been quiet until now, made uncomfortable by the all-too-familiar setting. Dad had spent a lot of time in a hospital because of his lung cancer, and she'd had to say goodbye to her mom in the hospital after a fatal heart attack.
"Yeah," realizing she was asking for an explanation, Julian continued. "We both knew, well, know, I guess, this guy who can take your power and make it stronger. We called it boosting." Julian sighed and peaked around the corner toward the room again, "He was way stronger than he should have been when he kicked my ass at the beach house. I'm betting he's still with McPhearson. The bastard."
“Then Julian, shouldn’t we try to stop him?” Doreen asked, “Especially if he’s up to something bad. I mean, we’re here. We can’t let people get away with anything bad.” And she remembered what he had told her about all of this in the first place, “He might be stronger than you, but is he really stronger than all of us? And if it’s still too much we can always call for help.”
"I don't think that starting a fight in a hospital would be a good idea Doreen," said Nico as she kept an eye on their surroundings. "Especially if the guy is super strong or whatever; we would be only putting others in danger." So they were going to watch him for now, but the idea of a confrontation didn't seem to far away in Nico's mind anyway. "Keller, this is your problem, so you are going to take the shots, alright? What should we do?"
Julian thought for a moment, considering all the options carefully. "Okay, here's the plan...."
*****
The group loses the car they were tailing at the mall.
It hadn't been so much a car chase as a slow paced car following with Julian using his telekinesis to tell which way the white pick-up was moving through the city traffic. Unfortunately, the connection was severed by a rather severe pothole as the the truck entered the Galleria parking lot. Julian was now, however, suspecting that Simon hadn't come inside. They'd split up to look for the muscular Mexican-American, but so far, he hadn't seen his old friend once...and it wasn't that big of a mall. In any event, they were meeting up, so perhaps the others had been luckier. "Anything?" he asked the group of three girls waiting by the mall's fountain.
Megan shook her head. She was rolling a piece of gravel around with the toe of her shoe. She was afraid they actually WOULD find Simon. She had never been in a physical encounter with another mutant before and already she could feel her anxiety building up in that place between her shoulder blades. It was a weird feeling that usually meant that her skin was about to start excreting the dust. Then suddenly her pink hair pricked up at the back of her neck.
“I smell a lot of things, but it’s really hard to pick up just one person,” Doreen said, looking around and sniffing the air, “I can ask the locals if you want,” meaning the local squirrels.
"Do you think it would help?" Julian asked hopefully.
“I don’t know, maybe? They don’t really pay that much attention to all the people,” Doreen said, “But sometimes they’ll remember someone. Not always though.”
"Anyone else have any ideas?" Julian sighed. While he wasn't eager to actually find Simon he did want to figure out what had been going on that would have made him attack him.
"The Staff of One?" Megan suggested. She wasn't really sure how the staff worked, but she knew it was incredibly powerful.
Nico sighed as well; so much for not using her magic the whole time. "Alright, I think I can gives us a hand here." Then she proceeded to bite her index finger, the same she usually punished in order to bring the staff out. "When blood is shed, let the Staff of One emerge." And out it went; Nico noticed it was getting less and less of a bother, and it actually worried her. "Okay, let's see..." She was pretty sure she could make Simon shiny or something, but the idea was to follow him without being noticed and everything, so they needed to track him. "But how?", muttered the goth as she looked around, her eyes stopping on one of those typical 'You Are Here!' posters, the map of the whole place there. Smiling, Nico placed the Staff of One against the map, focusing on a spell; words came out of her mouth by herself.
"Lurks in Shadows. Hides in the park.
Simon. Simon. Simon Dark.
Show yourself, Simon Dark"
The arrow pointing the place they were started to shine, and then changed from 'You Are Here' to 'Simon Is Here', and indeed, the arrow was moving over the map as the one they were looking moved as well. Nico turned to the others, a smile of satisfaction on her face. "How awesome am I?"
"Wow, that's brilliant!" Megan almost shrieked in her soft voice. The uneasy twist of her mouth relaxed into a small smile. Currently, Simon's marker was moving past The Limited Too and the Build a Bear store, toward the food court. "Do you think he's heading for the big exit through Sears? I bet all the restaurants have doors to the outside from their kitchens, too. You know, to where the trash and stuff is."
Julian looked at the map and nodded, "No wonder we couldn't find him." Starting toward the exit he spoke up, louder this time than before, "Let's go pay him a little visit." It was time to get some answers.
*****
A drug deal is interrupted by a wave of giant squirrels and several young mutants.
Several thuggish looking men were unloading plastic wrapped bricks of white powder into the pick-up truck while his old friend had a rather heated argument with two black kids he didn't recognize. Julian crouched low behind the dumpster, trying to listen in on what was being said while not believing that Simon could actually be mixed up with dealers. When they had worked together in the Lords, their entire purpose had been to stop people like this! Rage surged through his veins as the argument between the poisoners progressed.
"You gonna tell me why we're changing the drop location? Gordon'll be pissed if you fuck this up." Simon stretched his muscles in a threatening manner, he needed to get to Gordon as soon as possible. His neck twitched subtly as he tried to curb his need for the boost. He wanted it more every day, and it was starting to wear on him. He looked at his companion and tried to fight the urge to beat someone into the ground. He needed a boost, soon.
Ramona pointed at a one of her boys. "No, put that there! Not there. There!" she pointed before rolling her eyes and turning on Simon, giving him a once over. "You just shut your mouth and dun worry your little ignorant white ass about a ting. We got dis." She kissed her teeth at him, sneering at the same time. "And don't you go flashin' those pegs at me like dey got someting dere," she threatened, waving a finger at him before she pressed one into his bicep and moved it away from her like she was too good for it.
A barking laugh issued from his mouth as Simon took in the woman's words. She could act tough, but if she delayed his boost she'd see just how strong his pegs were. He was not in the mood for fucking around. "I don't think you understand the situation. If this doesn't go down just as Gordon wants it to then your ass will be six feet under and it'll be my pleasure to put you there. So, stop patronizing me and answer the question."
Romona's hand cut into his words like a knife, striking him across the face. "Don't you talk to me that way. You thik you can talk to me that way, we'll show you six feet under. And it's Gordon who ordered the change so I'll make sure he knows exactly wha'chu bitchin' about. Remember, you piece of trash. We're not the ones who've had the five-O on our asses. If Gordon's gonna get rid of anyone, it's going to be you, you piece of--"
"Hey, hey," Randal came up behind Romona, placing his hand on her shoulder and cooling her temper some. "Wat's going on here?' he looked between Simon and his twin sister.
"Oh you know wha's going on here, Randal. He tinks he owns this and--"
"I think he's trying to do his job," Randal pressed, although he did exchange a brief look with Simon.
Nico had been silent, the Staff of One in one hand, feeling actually happy of holding the damned thing for once. She was getting more and more worried at the whole picture. Why was Julian's friend messing with drugs? It didn't make sense at all. The strong looking one, Simon, looked a bit anxious, which could either be good or bad. Julian had mentioned something about him being boosted, but Nico could only relate it with Kick, the drug used to amplify the mutant's powers, which was addictive; maybe the way Simon was getting boosted worked the same way? Turning briefly to glare at Julian, Nico tried to process the whole deal. "Keller, we are getting ourselves into something big, aren't we?", whispered as she turned to watch the group again, but still wanting to hear an answer.
Taking a second to slowly move back behind the dumpster, Julian sighed and composed himself. "Big doesn't even start to cover it, Nico. What the hell is he doing with drugs?!" The harsh whisper rasped at the back of his throat, "We used to bust up crack houses together, not supply them." Looking at the girls, Julian realized that confronting Simon would only put them in danger. The smart bet, this time, was, "Okay, let's get out of here and call the cops." Slowly he poked his head around the dumpster's side again, only to connect eyes with the one person that he'd hoped not to.
"Julian, you bastard!" Simon shouted, his frayed nerves exploding into action without warning. He charged forward, completely oblivious to the scene he was making. His former friend had gone too far, it was one thing to happen to see him at the hospital, but to follow him... that was just asking to die. Without the boost it'd be harder to completely destroy Julian, but he was fairly sure his anger would compensate for it. It would have to.
Megan's skin was burning. Her gaze was locked on Simon, who was moving closer to Julian. He looked like a mad dog ready to rip someone's throat out.
"What do we do?" Megan whispered desperately. Adrenaline was coursing through her veins, and she couldn't think. She had to act. But do what?
“This!” Doreen said, Monkey Joe coming back with fifty other squirrels. He still had his connections it seems, “We get him away from us,” she said, clicking frantically, the wave of squirrels heading towards Simon, “Maybe…”
The Wave of Death wasn’t exactly a refined technique.
"Oh shi-" The face Simon was making was anything but relaxing; no, it was completely terrifying to see a guy possibly capable of tearing them all apart with his hands only. Nico raised the Staff of One, unsure of what to do; he was Julian's friend, sort of. The wave of squirrels gave her an idea thought. She only hoped the staff would understand her idea. Pointing the staff to the wave of squirrels, Nico focused on what would be a wide area spell.
"Overgrown Rodents!"
From the staff came a ray of white energy that hit Monkey Joe, and then bounced to the next squirrel, and then to the next two, and then the next three...in a matter of seconds all the squirrels were surrounded by a misty white aura. And then they started to grow, a lot. They grew to the point of being of the size of a horse each.
Now that was a Wave of Death.
The sudden sound of overgrown land mammals stampeding toward them wasn't exactly something Julian had ever experienced before- though it wasn't one he'd ever thought he'd hear either. "Oh shit," was all he managed to get out before shifting the shield that he'd made to block the mac truck that was Simon toward the wave of rodents. Fortunately they weren't aimed at him and Julian was able to slip between the stampede and the wall as they passed. As he neared the edge of the heard, he made a mad dash toward his friends.
"Jermaine! You two, gets these kids!" she yelled, extending her long nails in their direction.
Randal dropped off the tailgate of the truck, three thugs behind him and joining the other two. Another four came around, down the side of the truck and all of them began to close on the girls while Romona stood back, flipped her cell phone open and quickly dialed a number.
Megan's skin felt like it was on fire, and her heart was beating against the inside of her chest. She tried to recall her training, but her brain refused to do its job. She looked to Nico and Dori, who were working so hard and so quickly to throw everything they had at the adversaries. I... just want my friends... to be safe... she thought desperately.
Suddenly time seemed to stop, and a great sense of peace came over Megan. Her skin was now tingling, not burning. Almost calmly, she moved to close the gap between the other girls and the twins.
Small pollen-like bits beaded on her arms and hands and then lifted off into the air, disturbed from her skin by the slightest air current. Like motes of dust, they floated up and swirled in the air.
Then there were suddenly thousands of them, a whole cloud of them, encompassing the twins and the thugs, threatening to spread out toward Julian and Simon as well.
"Girls, we need to go," Megan informed her friends in an airy voice, backing up toward them slowly.
The sudden sound of overgrown land mammals stampeding toward them wasn't exactly something Julian had ever experienced before- though it wasn't one he'd ever thought he'd hear either. "Oh shit," was all he managed to get out before shifting the shield that he'd made to block the mac truck that was Simon toward the wave of rodents. Fortunately they weren't aimed at him and Julian was able to slip between the stampede and the wall as they passed.
As he neared the edge of the heard, he made a mad dash toward his friends. "We need to get out of here."
“What about the squirrels?” Doreen squeaked, “We can’t leave them!”
"Nico, can you do something about that?" Julian shouted, not wanting to hurt Doreen's feelings by leaving the rodents behind.
"What? They'll return to their usual size later, but right now the squirrels are the ones keeping them away!" She couldn't just make the squirrels leave at that time. "Doreen, they will be alright once they return to normal." It wasn't a solution though, since they were still leaving them there. "You can still talk to them, actually; just tell them to scatter and hide."
Following the signs leading to the ICU, Simon couldn't help feeling bad. Dean had been the one to introduce him to the life, and now he was paying his last respects to the kid in a hospital. It wasn't his fault--he knew that--but nothing could lessen the pain. Gordon had said Dean simply couldn't grasp his powers, and would have to deal with them on his own, and yet Simon couldn't help but figuring that it was simple. It was terrifyingly simple: one of his close friends was about to die. It didn't matter why.
Shock wasn't the first emotion that Julian was hit with when he spotted the man who was now a stranger to him across the hospital hallway. First came anger- at himself for not having turned the snake in, and at Simon for ruining the beach house, not to mention for having the nerve to show up at the hospital where Dean was laid up like a decaying vegetable. Shock did come next as he realized what would likely happen if Simon caught sight of him, forcing him to dash around a corner and away from his three friends. Peaking out from around the corner, Julian felt their eyes on him.
Nico turned to Julian's direction, a puzzled look on her face. "Alright...", started, but her voice died soon after she noticed the look on his eyes; Julian was a lot of things, but he knew when to get serious, and something in the way he was hiding wasn't right. "Guys, we might want to follow Keller, quietly." Looking around, Nico tried to spot whatever had put Julian on guard.
Unaware of anyone, Simon continued trudging down the way. He ignored the tingling sensation in the back of his neck, dismissing it as a side effect of being surrounded by the sick and dying. If he never returned to a hospital after visiting Dean it would be too soon.
Julian watched as his old friend disapeared inside Dean's room, his eyes wide. "That son-of-a-"
“That son of a what?” Doreen asked, popping up behind Julian. She could be annoying that way, but she liked to think it was one of her charms,
“What’s going on?”
"The guy who just went into Dean's room." Julian pointed, not that he needed to since they'd just come from there. "That was Simon. Simon Gutierrez."
Once they got behind a wall, and out of Simon's view -who had entered the room anyway, so he couldn't see them anymore-, Nico turned to Julian. "You mean the Simon dude that ruined your beach house? What happened there anyway? What's going on, Keller? You look like we are about to get into a fight...and I don't like that one bit."
"Guy's got more strength than Inez, um, did. Even more if what I think is going on actually is." He straightened himself out, then turned to Nico with a puzzled expression, "Wait, who told you about that?"
Inez who? Nico thought she had heard the name, but didn't pay much attention to it. "What, you thought nobody would ever find out? I'm not sure if you got scolded by it in the mansion, but there was... chit-chat." She looked a bit uncomfortable now. "No need to go there though, alright? Now tell me what do you think it's going on."
"I think he's probably boosted," he said, letting the subject go. "Which means...he's probably stronger than...well, anyone."
"Boosted?" Megan piped up. The way Julian said it, it just sounded ominous. Plus, Julian was pretty strong. If he thought this Simon person was stronger than him, than ANYONE...Or maybe she was just creeped out from being in the hospital. She had been quiet until now, made uncomfortable by the all-too-familiar setting. Dad had spent a lot of time in a hospital because of his lung cancer, and she'd had to say goodbye to her mom in the hospital after a fatal heart attack.
"Yeah," realizing she was asking for an explanation, Julian continued. "We both knew, well, know, I guess, this guy who can take your power and make it stronger. We called it boosting." Julian sighed and peaked around the corner toward the room again, "He was way stronger than he should have been when he kicked my ass at the beach house. I'm betting he's still with McPhearson. The bastard."
“Then Julian, shouldn’t we try to stop him?” Doreen asked, “Especially if he’s up to something bad. I mean, we’re here. We can’t let people get away with anything bad.” And she remembered what he had told her about all of this in the first place, “He might be stronger than you, but is he really stronger than all of us? And if it’s still too much we can always call for help.”
"I don't think that starting a fight in a hospital would be a good idea Doreen," said Nico as she kept an eye on their surroundings. "Especially if the guy is super strong or whatever; we would be only putting others in danger." So they were going to watch him for now, but the idea of a confrontation didn't seem to far away in Nico's mind anyway. "Keller, this is your problem, so you are going to take the shots, alright? What should we do?"
Julian thought for a moment, considering all the options carefully. "Okay, here's the plan...."
*****
The group loses the car they were tailing at the mall.
It hadn't been so much a car chase as a slow paced car following with Julian using his telekinesis to tell which way the white pick-up was moving through the city traffic. Unfortunately, the connection was severed by a rather severe pothole as the the truck entered the Galleria parking lot. Julian was now, however, suspecting that Simon hadn't come inside. They'd split up to look for the muscular Mexican-American, but so far, he hadn't seen his old friend once...and it wasn't that big of a mall. In any event, they were meeting up, so perhaps the others had been luckier. "Anything?" he asked the group of three girls waiting by the mall's fountain.
Megan shook her head. She was rolling a piece of gravel around with the toe of her shoe. She was afraid they actually WOULD find Simon. She had never been in a physical encounter with another mutant before and already she could feel her anxiety building up in that place between her shoulder blades. It was a weird feeling that usually meant that her skin was about to start excreting the dust. Then suddenly her pink hair pricked up at the back of her neck.
“I smell a lot of things, but it’s really hard to pick up just one person,” Doreen said, looking around and sniffing the air, “I can ask the locals if you want,” meaning the local squirrels.
"Do you think it would help?" Julian asked hopefully.
“I don’t know, maybe? They don’t really pay that much attention to all the people,” Doreen said, “But sometimes they’ll remember someone. Not always though.”
"Anyone else have any ideas?" Julian sighed. While he wasn't eager to actually find Simon he did want to figure out what had been going on that would have made him attack him.
"The Staff of One?" Megan suggested. She wasn't really sure how the staff worked, but she knew it was incredibly powerful.
Nico sighed as well; so much for not using her magic the whole time. "Alright, I think I can gives us a hand here." Then she proceeded to bite her index finger, the same she usually punished in order to bring the staff out. "When blood is shed, let the Staff of One emerge." And out it went; Nico noticed it was getting less and less of a bother, and it actually worried her. "Okay, let's see..." She was pretty sure she could make Simon shiny or something, but the idea was to follow him without being noticed and everything, so they needed to track him. "But how?", muttered the goth as she looked around, her eyes stopping on one of those typical 'You Are Here!' posters, the map of the whole place there. Smiling, Nico placed the Staff of One against the map, focusing on a spell; words came out of her mouth by herself.
"Lurks in Shadows. Hides in the park.
Simon. Simon. Simon Dark.
Show yourself, Simon Dark"
The arrow pointing the place they were started to shine, and then changed from 'You Are Here' to 'Simon Is Here', and indeed, the arrow was moving over the map as the one they were looking moved as well. Nico turned to the others, a smile of satisfaction on her face. "How awesome am I?"
"Wow, that's brilliant!" Megan almost shrieked in her soft voice. The uneasy twist of her mouth relaxed into a small smile. Currently, Simon's marker was moving past The Limited Too and the Build a Bear store, toward the food court. "Do you think he's heading for the big exit through Sears? I bet all the restaurants have doors to the outside from their kitchens, too. You know, to where the trash and stuff is."
Julian looked at the map and nodded, "No wonder we couldn't find him." Starting toward the exit he spoke up, louder this time than before, "Let's go pay him a little visit." It was time to get some answers.
*****
A drug deal is interrupted by a wave of giant squirrels and several young mutants.
Several thuggish looking men were unloading plastic wrapped bricks of white powder into the pick-up truck while his old friend had a rather heated argument with two black kids he didn't recognize. Julian crouched low behind the dumpster, trying to listen in on what was being said while not believing that Simon could actually be mixed up with dealers. When they had worked together in the Lords, their entire purpose had been to stop people like this! Rage surged through his veins as the argument between the poisoners progressed.
"You gonna tell me why we're changing the drop location? Gordon'll be pissed if you fuck this up." Simon stretched his muscles in a threatening manner, he needed to get to Gordon as soon as possible. His neck twitched subtly as he tried to curb his need for the boost. He wanted it more every day, and it was starting to wear on him. He looked at his companion and tried to fight the urge to beat someone into the ground. He needed a boost, soon.
Ramona pointed at a one of her boys. "No, put that there! Not there. There!" she pointed before rolling her eyes and turning on Simon, giving him a once over. "You just shut your mouth and dun worry your little ignorant white ass about a ting. We got dis." She kissed her teeth at him, sneering at the same time. "And don't you go flashin' those pegs at me like dey got someting dere," she threatened, waving a finger at him before she pressed one into his bicep and moved it away from her like she was too good for it.
A barking laugh issued from his mouth as Simon took in the woman's words. She could act tough, but if she delayed his boost she'd see just how strong his pegs were. He was not in the mood for fucking around. "I don't think you understand the situation. If this doesn't go down just as Gordon wants it to then your ass will be six feet under and it'll be my pleasure to put you there. So, stop patronizing me and answer the question."
Romona's hand cut into his words like a knife, striking him across the face. "Don't you talk to me that way. You thik you can talk to me that way, we'll show you six feet under. And it's Gordon who ordered the change so I'll make sure he knows exactly wha'chu bitchin' about. Remember, you piece of trash. We're not the ones who've had the five-O on our asses. If Gordon's gonna get rid of anyone, it's going to be you, you piece of--"
"Hey, hey," Randal came up behind Romona, placing his hand on her shoulder and cooling her temper some. "Wat's going on here?' he looked between Simon and his twin sister.
"Oh you know wha's going on here, Randal. He tinks he owns this and--"
"I think he's trying to do his job," Randal pressed, although he did exchange a brief look with Simon.
Nico had been silent, the Staff of One in one hand, feeling actually happy of holding the damned thing for once. She was getting more and more worried at the whole picture. Why was Julian's friend messing with drugs? It didn't make sense at all. The strong looking one, Simon, looked a bit anxious, which could either be good or bad. Julian had mentioned something about him being boosted, but Nico could only relate it with Kick, the drug used to amplify the mutant's powers, which was addictive; maybe the way Simon was getting boosted worked the same way? Turning briefly to glare at Julian, Nico tried to process the whole deal. "Keller, we are getting ourselves into something big, aren't we?", whispered as she turned to watch the group again, but still wanting to hear an answer.
Taking a second to slowly move back behind the dumpster, Julian sighed and composed himself. "Big doesn't even start to cover it, Nico. What the hell is he doing with drugs?!" The harsh whisper rasped at the back of his throat, "We used to bust up crack houses together, not supply them." Looking at the girls, Julian realized that confronting Simon would only put them in danger. The smart bet, this time, was, "Okay, let's get out of here and call the cops." Slowly he poked his head around the dumpster's side again, only to connect eyes with the one person that he'd hoped not to.
"Julian, you bastard!" Simon shouted, his frayed nerves exploding into action without warning. He charged forward, completely oblivious to the scene he was making. His former friend had gone too far, it was one thing to happen to see him at the hospital, but to follow him... that was just asking to die. Without the boost it'd be harder to completely destroy Julian, but he was fairly sure his anger would compensate for it. It would have to.
Megan's skin was burning. Her gaze was locked on Simon, who was moving closer to Julian. He looked like a mad dog ready to rip someone's throat out.
"What do we do?" Megan whispered desperately. Adrenaline was coursing through her veins, and she couldn't think. She had to act. But do what?
“This!” Doreen said, Monkey Joe coming back with fifty other squirrels. He still had his connections it seems, “We get him away from us,” she said, clicking frantically, the wave of squirrels heading towards Simon, “Maybe…”
The Wave of Death wasn’t exactly a refined technique.
"Oh shi-" The face Simon was making was anything but relaxing; no, it was completely terrifying to see a guy possibly capable of tearing them all apart with his hands only. Nico raised the Staff of One, unsure of what to do; he was Julian's friend, sort of. The wave of squirrels gave her an idea thought. She only hoped the staff would understand her idea. Pointing the staff to the wave of squirrels, Nico focused on what would be a wide area spell.
"Overgrown Rodents!"
From the staff came a ray of white energy that hit Monkey Joe, and then bounced to the next squirrel, and then to the next two, and then the next three...in a matter of seconds all the squirrels were surrounded by a misty white aura. And then they started to grow, a lot. They grew to the point of being of the size of a horse each.
Now that was a Wave of Death.
The sudden sound of overgrown land mammals stampeding toward them wasn't exactly something Julian had ever experienced before- though it wasn't one he'd ever thought he'd hear either. "Oh shit," was all he managed to get out before shifting the shield that he'd made to block the mac truck that was Simon toward the wave of rodents. Fortunately they weren't aimed at him and Julian was able to slip between the stampede and the wall as they passed. As he neared the edge of the heard, he made a mad dash toward his friends.
"Jermaine! You two, gets these kids!" she yelled, extending her long nails in their direction.
Randal dropped off the tailgate of the truck, three thugs behind him and joining the other two. Another four came around, down the side of the truck and all of them began to close on the girls while Romona stood back, flipped her cell phone open and quickly dialed a number.
Megan's skin felt like it was on fire, and her heart was beating against the inside of her chest. She tried to recall her training, but her brain refused to do its job. She looked to Nico and Dori, who were working so hard and so quickly to throw everything they had at the adversaries. I... just want my friends... to be safe... she thought desperately.
Suddenly time seemed to stop, and a great sense of peace came over Megan. Her skin was now tingling, not burning. Almost calmly, she moved to close the gap between the other girls and the twins.
Small pollen-like bits beaded on her arms and hands and then lifted off into the air, disturbed from her skin by the slightest air current. Like motes of dust, they floated up and swirled in the air.
Then there were suddenly thousands of them, a whole cloud of them, encompassing the twins and the thugs, threatening to spread out toward Julian and Simon as well.
"Girls, we need to go," Megan informed her friends in an airy voice, backing up toward them slowly.
The sudden sound of overgrown land mammals stampeding toward them wasn't exactly something Julian had ever experienced before- though it wasn't one he'd ever thought he'd hear either. "Oh shit," was all he managed to get out before shifting the shield that he'd made to block the mac truck that was Simon toward the wave of rodents. Fortunately they weren't aimed at him and Julian was able to slip between the stampede and the wall as they passed.
As he neared the edge of the heard, he made a mad dash toward his friends. "We need to get out of here."
“What about the squirrels?” Doreen squeaked, “We can’t leave them!”
"Nico, can you do something about that?" Julian shouted, not wanting to hurt Doreen's feelings by leaving the rodents behind.
"What? They'll return to their usual size later, but right now the squirrels are the ones keeping them away!" She couldn't just make the squirrels leave at that time. "Doreen, they will be alright once they return to normal." It wasn't a solution though, since they were still leaving them there. "You can still talk to them, actually; just tell them to scatter and hide."
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