Apocalypse RP #3: The Vanishing

[Philote]

With the initial trial successful, Nix begins to reach in deeper, as far as his power allows or until he feels any resistance while looking to see if he can manipulate the clouds in any way. Nix looks around every couple moments to make sure he doesn't end up getting caught while doing this.

For a majority of the time though, assuming nothing goes wrong with his test, Nix walks around and observes as much as he can. Nix goes around for about thirty minutes before returning to the arcade.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Yeah, Nix can totally touch the clouds without being hurt by them.

This seems to be some sort of main street. Up and down it you can see a variety of shops catering specifically to tourists, selling beach supplies, nic-nacs, food. You can smell salt on the breeze blowing down the street, but otherwise the buildings around you are dead and quiet. You're about to head back inside when a sound cuts through the deathly silence. A young mans gasp of pain.

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Ben relaxed a little, he'd had good memories in places like this. It was hard to be on edge in a place that embodied fun.

"So, why here. I mean, why did you decide to hole up in this place?"

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Abigale stops mixing what she was for a moment and you see a nostalgic smile spread across her face. "My husband, Edgar, bought this place when we retired down here. We were just driving down to the beach he saw this big old foreclosed building, smiled his big stupid smile, and decided that this is how he was going to occupy his time."

She pours the mixture onto a griddle and you can hear it bubble as the smell of cooking fills the room. "All this color was added by him. He wanted this place so badly to be some sort of fantasy world, where the real worlds problems held no power. I guess that's why I'm here. This is a safe place for me. Some place me and Sebastien could wait out....whatever all this is."

She slides a spatula under one of he pancaked and flips it expertly in the air. Watching her move about the kitchen you can see an invigoration in her steps. Every movement is precise, graceful even. Unmistakeably the movements of someone in their element. "Conner was here when we moved in. If you want to know what he was doing before we got here, you can check the scores on all these arcade machines. We didn't even know he was here the few days, poor man was hiding in the laser tag arena."

[Philote]

Nix immediately goes into full alert mode and finds some cover to hide behind. Keeping low, he slowly makes his way to where he can take a peak at the source of the sound.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

He doesn't have to creep long. Just down the road you spot the source of the noise.

Sebastien is bound up to the wall of a nearby building by by something you can only see by the creases it leaves in his cloths and skin as he struggles against it, a crisscross pattern across his arms, chest, and a single crease encircling his neck.

Standing in front of him are two people, a large fat man and a small woman with sunken eyes and wispy blond hair falling about her face. She's wearing a tie dye shirt with a large 1 painted on the front in black marker, and the man is wearing a Marley Bluefin's basketball jersey, with the same fish on it as Sebastian. The jersey looks like it was number 11, but one of the 1's has been ripped off. The girl holds her hand in the air in front of her, palm up and finger spread, and as you get closer you can hear her speaking in a polite, quiet voice.

"...just want to know what happened to our comrades in this half of the city. You much have seen something, living where you do. That's all we're asking." She moves her hand forward, and the crease running along his neck diminishes.

Sebastian gasps, shakes his head, and starts kicking with his legs. The girl sighs, and pulls her hand back. He gasps again and the creases become more pronounced, the one it his neck actually drawing blood.

"It is that sort of total selfishness that caused all this in the first place. What will your poor grandmother do without you to help her? Have you considered that?"

Your eyes suddenly notice a little splash of color laying on the ground. It's the bird that Abigail sent with him. It's head has been neatly severed.

[Philote]

Nix backs away slowly while crouched, keeping his eyes glued to the pair as he moves away. Once he has broken line of sight with the group, and moved a little further beyond that, he breaks into a run back for the arcade. Assuming the clouds are still open, he bursts in and yells "They've got the kid!"

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Conner stutters as you rush in "T-t-t-they've got what? Who? What? They?"

[Philote]

"Steven.....eh Sebastian....The kid!" Nix tries to spit out the information, hoping that Conner would get clued in on the importance of the situation.

"Two thugs have him pinned down. They have some kind of power and they killed one of the old lady's bird."

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"Oh lord, I,I,I, w-hat do we do?" He stammers out, terrified. "W-w-we can't live without Sebastien."

[Philote]

"Go get Abigale quick. See if she even noticed that one of her birds died."

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

He's back with Abigale within moments, leading the old woman with her eyes closed. "I was an idiot. I was so focused on cooking that...Conner, go make sure nothing burns."

The man shutters with relief before heading into the back before she turns her attention to you. "These thugs, what were they wearing?"

[Philote]

"One looked like a hippie and the other had some sport clothes" Nix replies. "Think you know them?"

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"One-ers." Growls the old woman, hobbling furiously out the door. "Army of One missionaries, been round to everywhere people live in the last few days talking about ascension. How good are you with those hands?"

[Philote]

"Not good enough to deal with people who can kill me with a thought" Nix replies.

"Sam could probably help with a distraction, but its Ben who you really want. That is if you can get him in the right mindset to deal with it."

"What exactly are we dealing with? What can they do and why do they want to kill us?"

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"They don't. The Army doesn't kill, not if they can help it. They recruit. Promise food, shelter, safety. That gets a lot of desperate people, but anyone not half mad from hunger or loneliness can tell there's something off about them. They don't use personal pronouns, for one, when referring to themselves. Always we or us. Even when they're alone. And there's a lot of them, compared to how many of us are still around."

"These two I only know because they've been around a few times, aggressively recruiting. Talking about salvation, becoming a living harmony and ascending together. Sounds mighty Jonestown to me."

[Philote]

"Tell that to your bird. What they are doing to the kid didn't look to gentle either. So what are you telling me, that we're not going to go in guns a blazing? Why can't he just electrocute the lot of them?" Nix says finishing with a finger pointed towards Conner.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Conner makes a noise like a pained cat at the suggestion, and the old woman says. "Because Conner's no good in a fight. And I never said they were gentle. They just prefer you alive and willing. They'll have you the other way if they can get away with it."

[Philote]

Nix sighs. "We have too many people who are no good in a fight" he says hopping that Ben wasn't lurking nearby to hear.

"If we can get him back in here and shut this place off with the clouds we should be safe right? That will give us time to think of how to deal with the bigger problem if we can take care of this situation."

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"Sure, if we could just get him back. What sort of abilities did you think the two had? Could you make a guess?"