The Chosen

Amber eyes flickered over the faces across from him. His voice held almost a deadly quiet.

“We’ll make our move tonight. Their powers should be activating, so it’ll give us the chance to seek them out without just wandering around aimlessly. I don’t care if you move out in teams, or if you decide to go solo—just do what you have to do. However, I don’t want you to kill them yet, is that understood?”

“Ah, why not? Isn’t that what we’re gonna do anyway? Why not do it when they’re completely helpless?”

“Heh, funny, Miles. I’d thought you’d be the one to, ‘enjoy the hunt’. But it’s because I want them here to dispose of. We’ll have them together and we’ll be able to do whatever we like without risk. In the other world, however, that’s not the case. Just do as I tell you, if you would.” Alexander tipped his head toward Janko. “Try not to go overboard. I don’t mind if you knock anyone out or injure them, but don’t get too carried away. The real fun’s going to start when he get them here.”

He walked up to what appear to be a simple, metal door frame. Within it, sapphire energy swirled; pulsating in time with a small blue stone set in the man’s ring.

“I’m not sure how long it’ll take to find them, or where exactly they are, but let’s get this show on the road, shall we?”

That said, the blue seeped from the top of the frame, filling the space. Miles walked through without hesitation, a smirk lifting his lips as his fingers danced along the steel of his daggers. Alexander himself stayed back with Janko, allowing the other members to pass through first.

“Good luck,” he told him.

~

Vivien shut her eyes. The usual night-time sounds filled her ears and she let out a breath. She was thankful school was finally out—her parents wouldn’t her do much anytime else. They always seemed afraid someone was out to get her, or something along those lines.

But they weren’t even in town, for once. They had business to attend to in Carolina, leaving her with her grandmother. After a moment, she sat up and looked around the field. She wondered if anyone else from her school or from around the block would show up—the peaceful little field seemed to be a nice hangout spot, after all. But as of right now, she didn’t see anyone—just heard the crickets and running water of a nearby creek.

Normally she would have been a little antsy being close to the woods at this time of night, but for some reason, she felt safe in the spot she’d picked to star-gaze.

Probably because there's no one else here, she thought. She stretched and lay back down, keeping her eyes open. Well, she wouldn't mind if it stayed like that. As long as no one came charging out of the woods, or jumping down from a tree, she'd be fine. Some of her friends always played tricks like that on her, and she didn't appreciate them.

(Wow, that was bad. XD Sorry guys! This is what I get for doing onexone for so long.)

Celestine was laying down in the field like she always did. She had another usual fight with her parents so she went to the field to let cool off. School was over and she knew she would come here more often. There was really nothing to lose staying there every night.

She gazed around the field causiously, and saw her friend Who she was surprised to see out in the open. She didn't say anything to her though. You could never tell when the others are plotting something, and you don't want to get involve messing their plans up.

Savir sighed and leaned back slightly, looking down at Vivien over the top of his book from his perch in a tree. She was certainly worth looking at. "But," he muttered to himself, "she's far out of your league, as well, Saviroe. Ten to none she's taken by someone on a sports team, anyway... And that doesn't change anything."

He sat there, pretending to read his book while playing "Love Me, Not" in his head. After however long, he sighed again and took a breath to raise his voice and call out to her...

And words died on his tongue, instead coming out as a strangled croak as he saw Celestine laying about not too far away. He frowned, pensive, and went back to his half-minded reading.

Link liked the peace and quiet.

He strolled through the field, admiring the cool summer night and the stars above him. He admired the trees that bordered the flat plain, and admired the many sounds that came out of it. He strolled, whistling a tune to himself all the way.

Doo, doo, do-do-do-do-do-do!

It was the theme from one of his favorite games, and he enjoyed the tune of it, all adventurous and glorified. He caught sight of two figures, and after getting a bit closer, recognized one. He called out to Vivian, not really giving a damn if anyone was going to play a trick or was planning something, because everyone tended to be respectful and nice to Link Ross. He came to stand over her, grinning down at her as she stared up at the sky.

"Mind if I join you?"

Deron looked down at his left hand. The orb on his arm had turned an orange-ish color, meaning he was still a ways off from them. That, or their abilities havn't awakened yet. Given how quickly he was traveling twords them, that seemed to be the case. He had become a master of telling exactly how far away they were based on the color of his device. This would be simple, stalk them at a distance using the device to know where they were, wait until they fell asleep, and just carry them away. He always thought of himself as more of a night person, anyways.

Just in case, he brought his weapon with him. Not that any of them would stand a chance against him, but you never know how these things will turn out. Maybe someone will sleep-walk of something? Or try to sleep-fight? Actually, yeah there was that one guy who tried to sleep fight before, wasn't there?

Suddenly, his attention went back to his device. Don't get distracted again, you're going further away from them! Deron spent the next few minutes carefully watching the color as he walked around in a circle to get his bearing again. That way! He continued twords them.

Don't worry, you'll stay alive.... For now! A grin crossed his face as Deron visualised what would go through thier head when they would wake up tied to a post away from thier camp. He almost felt sorry for them... almost.

As usual, Vivien jumped. "Waaa---Liiiiink! Didn't even...hear you coming." She cleared her throat, trying to play it off. Not that it really worked. She sighed and lightly hit the side of her head.

"Damn, I wish I wasn't so jumpy! But go ahead." She didn't mind company, as long as she knew the person. A noise in the forest made her look up. Though she squinted, she couldn't see anything. At first, anyway. She thought she could made out a faint outline, but she couldn't be sure. She looked Link's way, then spotted another figure across the field.

Was that Celestine?

Smiling, she started to call out, her hand in the air to wave. But before she could call out, something stopped her.

An object fell near her left hand, which was on the ground. She was confused at the light generating from the front of it, and when she picked it up saw what it was--a crystallized firefly.

"...What?"

It broke into pieces in her hand and she furrowed her brow. She looked at Link, but once again, was stopped; this time by a second glow. But it wasn't coming from a firefly.

It was coming from the mark on her collarbone.

"The hell?" She touched her fingers to it. Her skin was ice cold. Another one of the bugs drifted in front of her and she reached out to it, closing her fist around it.

Crystal encased it like frost.

Gasping, she threw the bug to the ground and stepped back, looking at Link. "Oh my god, tell me that didn't happen." But her eyes were fastened on the fossilized insect, her tattoo continuing to give off light.

~

Miles picked his way through the forest. He didn't know where the others were, but he was pissed HE had to end up in the woods. His pendent wasn't even going off! Not the way he wanted things to go.

"Better be soon," he growled, though perked up when it flickered. "Thaaat's more like it."

Link gaped as Vivien turned bugs to crystal, before saying with a half smile, "damn, I knew you were special, but, wow, maybe not superhero special."

He scratched at his head, glancing at his wrist and catching what looked like a glowing tiger, and he had a moments notice before energy fringom his wrist shot through his arm, giving him a sharp, but somewhat pleasant pain as he was forced to all fours, and hair sprouted from every spot on his body. His arms became legs, and muscle grew, rippling on the enormous tiger. He sniffed at himself, wondering what the hell was going on, and even saying it out loud, and to his surprise, the words were there, but low and growly, but understandable all the same. He looked at Vivien, saying, "what the hell?"

Savir winced as his shoulder was suddenly stung by something. Reflexively, he smacked it, and grimaced as the pain suddenly shot up exponentially. And just kept getting worse, spreading down his entire arm.

"Ow... ow... ow... ow... OW... OW... OW!! AAAGH!"

With the last, he doubled over and consequently was pitched from his branch, landing with a loud, dull *THUD* in the dirt, writhing and screaming his throat raw, clawing his coat and shirt off in time to see his birthmark-gone-tattoo, a sword bound in chains on his left shoulder, shine like a lantern, the veins of his arm blackening. And the blackness was spreading.

"Oh no... oh god... no... AGH!!"

He doubled over and retched furiously, apparently loosing every meal he'd ever eaten, and just then, the agony subsided, and the blackness just... vanished. He stayed as he was, though; curled up on his knees and trembling. A small voice whispered in his mind; Absolute Power Bound With Absolute Loyalty

Unknown to him, he was whispering the same to himself aloud.

Vivien's breath caught in her throat. She fell back on her hands, her eyes wide at the sight of Link. He was a..a TIGER? She was already freaking out, but when she heard a scream somewhere behind her in the woods--and a voice she recognized at that--followed by a thud, she didn't know what to think. What the hell was going on?

"S-Savir?" Her voice was so weak, she didn't even think he could hear her. But she couldn't keep her eyes off Link. How was he a tiger? How?

Shaking, she tried to get to her feet. Hot pain stopped her. Her eyes shot open and she let out a short scream, fingers digging into her collar as the mark burned at her skin. Violet flashed across her iris' like a wave, vanishing just as quickly as it'd come. And with it, the brief spell of pain died.

But the shock--the shock didn't. She struggled to catch her breath, now coming in gasps. Why was this happening?

~

Miles' ears pricked at the sound of faint screams. His pulse raced and let out a woot, the pendent glowing brighter with each swift step he took. At this rate, he'd be there in no time!

Unfortunately, he failed to notice the tree after craning his neck in the direction the screams had come.

"OW. GOD DAMN..!!!"

He shook his head, the string of curse words continuing to flow his ears continued to ring. He shut his eyes, trying to clear the red from his vision. EXACTLY what he needed before going into possible battles. Exactly.

"Holy hell?!" Cyrus witnessed from the distance as Link had turned into a tiger and there were screams of pain. He sprinted to Vivien and Link but stopped as he felt a searing burn on his right chest. He looked down his shirt to see the gear clock glowing orange.

With grunts of pain, he made it to the others. "You're a tiger what the hell?"

Just then, the gear clock set on fire, and the pain was gone. Instead of screaming, which any normal person would do if they were on fire, Cyrus just laughed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hannibal took out his pocket watch to check the time- it was searing hot and the inside glowed brightly.

"It would appear that I am very close," he said to himself, "And there are more than one."

He unlocked the latch that held his sword in his cane by turning the head of it. Then he pulled the blade out, anticipating a fight.

"Though, I am getting too old for this."

Janko scowled at Alexander. "I can't make any promises. If they resist it is in my programming to kill them." With one last glance he stepped through the portal.
-----------------------------------
Janko has been flying overhead when the ringing started. "I'm close." He said with a grin. He landed behind the small house and peeked around the corner to get a good luck at the group. "Five there and one off in the field." He slowly snuck up behind the girl and pulled out a dagger. "Come nice and quiet now and no one gets hurt." He noticed the other had glowing tattoos and grinned. "This should be fun."

Vivien started at the sound of the voice, still in denial about what was happening. But when she turned and saw who the voice belonged to, she yelped and stumbled back closer to Cyrus and Link. She'd been surprised when Cyrus had laughed when his mark acted up instead of yelling in pain, since that's how everyone else had reacted, but she couldn't even focus on that.

Not with the person that was in front of them.

Her sapphire eyes trained on the dagger, her lips parted like she was going to say something though nothing came out. The stranger's words repeated in her head a few times before she found her voice, which came out surprisingly clear given how obviously shaken she was.

"Wha-what? Who the hell...are you?" If there was a man inside that suit, Vivien was definitely intimidated. Someone that large--she didn't even want to know how strong they would be. But she knew one thing--there was no no way she'd be going anywhere with anyone at the moment.

~

Up ahead, Miles spotted a clearing. But he could already see Janko with a small group of the teens, and his pendent was giving off another light--one of the others had to be near.

"Damn, Janko better not take all the fun!"

He almost missed the boy doubled over on the forest floor in his excitement. He skidded to a stop and smirked, feet from the young man as he looked down at him.

"What do we have here?" Metal sang as he slipped his twin daggers from thier sheaths, steel gleaming almost evily in the moonlight. His pendent confirmed that this boy was one of those they were after. "It'd be easier for you to just come with me and not fight back, kid. But what fun would that be?"

Celestine looked over too them, her eyes widen, "When the hell did a tiger come here?" She thought to herself. She was still glancing over at the group only to see a few men with daggers she never seen before. She was about to get up and go over there of course. But at that moment in time. She felt her own pain.

It's was unrealistic, her body couldn't decide if it was hot or cold. She was about to explode.

David was on his own. He didnt like being around people, and he couldnt help wandering off sometimes. It felt nice, being able to forget everything and just go for a walk. Did wonders for stress, and god knows he had enough of that.

It was quiet though, no life around him. He briefly wondered about that, before looking foward and seeing a large shape. He ran towards it, and his eyes widened in surprise.

"...a...tiger?"

Deron looked down at his device. It had suddenly gotten quite a bit more red! There were two possible explemations for this.... Either two or three or four them had activated thier powers at the same time, which almost never happened, or he had somehow managed to get alot closer than he thought! Unless this thing was just malfunctioning, stupid piece of junk! There was a simple way to see if this is working.... Deron twisted the ring around the sphere and watched as it turned a faded green. This worked the same way, except it detected other devices that sensed power instead.

It seemed like it was working, the others were moving in the same direction. He just decided to follow them instead.

By the time Deron found one of them, it seemed like he was ready to fight the teens already. "Hey Janko! What's going on?" Seemed like Miles had run off to fight someone somewhere nearby.... Looking over the group quickly, one guy seemed to be a tiger, another guy was starting to make a flame, and there was a girl with a bunch of crystal bugs around her. At least, that's what it seemed like.

"You know I had a plan for these guys, right? You didn't have to go pointing daggers at people, I mean we still need to take them alive!" He shifted his gaze back to the tiger. "Although, I guess if I watched that tiger become a tiger I'd be a tad jumpy too." Suddenly, Deron drew his scythe in case someone tried to do something, even though they clearly just got thier abilities.

"I don't trust the way that tiger's looking at me!!!"

Finally, Hannibal arrived where the teens were. He joined Janko and Deron silently.

"I don't care about the other two," he said, pointed his sword at Cyrus, "but I would prefer taking Cyrus."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was no time to think this through. By now, three people had come to either take them away, or kill them. This is a where Cyrus's rare rash mind came in.

Suddenly, fire from his chest was redirected to his hands and forearms as he charged the old man who wanted him in particular. He slapped the blade away (though still in the man's hand) and rammed into the old man, knocking him to the ground.

Now, he would just be fighting the old man, that is, unless one or two of the other men came in to attack him.

Cyrus stood straight and looked down at the fire on his chest and arms, feeling only warmth from it but not pain.

The old man stood and brushed dust off his suit.

"Fine, if that's how you want it," he said, getting into a fencing stance, "En garde."

David watched the man draw a scythe. Instantly, he began to panic. He came to the woods to get away from this sort of crap, and now...what could he do?
He looked around, and saw some rocks on the floor.

He activated his power, wincing at the wave of sickness that went through his body whenever he activated it. He grabbed a rock, and threw it at the man, picking up another, continuing to throw over and over.

Savir, still trembling, spared a glance for the new arrival. And another for the knives in his hands. He froze, solid as stone for a moment, and forced himself back onto his feet, calm-as-you-please putting his shirt and coat back on.

"And who might you be?" he asked, surprised at the lack of a tremble in his voice.

Vivien started when the two around her started to fight. But that left just she ans the man in front of her, and she had absolutely no idea what to do. Should she try to run to get help? No--she'd never make it.

"Be careful guys!" she called to her friends, her voice laced with worry as well as slight fear she couldn't hide. She looked back to Janko, took a step back, and bolted for the forest. Maybe since he was so large, and the trees so plenty, so could make an advantage for herself. She knew she was going to have to fight, whether she wanted to or not. When she felt she was far enough away from the others, she stopped running, pulse pounding in her ears. But what was so going to fight with? Could she possible make things if she could crystallize objects?

She didn't have time to think. Violet light spilled from her hand to the air, filling into the form of a see-through blade. The surface glinted in the moonlight and she did what she could to hold it properly, or what she though would be proper, and braced herself for when the man came.

~

Miles clicked his tongue. "Aw, not afraid? What a disappointment. Guess that means you'll just be more of a fighter. And who am I?" His smirk grew. "Damn kid, what makes you think I'd tell you something like that? I might let you on if you prove yourself to me...But then again, maybe not." His muscles relaxed as his body slid into a stance.

"Hope you don't mind getting cut, kid."

That said, he lunged at Savir, graceful with his movements as though he was dancing.

One step back, a heartbeat, another step back, another heartbeat. Savir survived by backing away as fast as his feet could carry him, but that strategy would flunk out eventually. I knew there was a reason I wear black everywhere... He smiled slightly at the thought and, in on smooth motion, shrugged out of his coat and flung it at his assailant, dashing off towards where he had heard someone running before. It was perhaps too much to hope it was Vivien, but he doubted one of the attackers would flee like that, and any company was better than none. He made his pace into an easy, ground-eating lope, like he did when running his laps in PE.

A glint in the moonlight made him stop dead and duck behind another tree. He swallowed hard before calling out, "Veevee? That you?"

Her flickered from the direction she'd come when she heard Savir's voice. She didn't know whether to call out to him or not--unsure of where the man was. But if anything, she was definitely going to need help.

She rose her voice. "Yeah! Over here!"

Maybe not the smartest to be calling out when who knew how many of these creeps there were, but she felt she didn't have a choice. "B-but someone else might be here soon, so..look out." She wan't sure what else to say, but she was quick to scan the area. When she spotted Savir, his features washed in moonlight, she wasted no time hurrying to his side, blade still in hand. She didn't know if anything had happened to him, but she didn't think now would be the right time to ask.

~

"Dammit!" Miles slashed the coat and threw it to the ground, eyes flashing. "Little brat!" He started off after him when his pendant glowed again; green. "'Ey Janko, that you I hear? If you're coming this way, there's another one of 'em to deal with! Wanna team up?"

Well, if it was indeed Janko he heard.

Janko's feet carried him quickly through the night. Though he was big and suit looked heavy, he had gotten used to it, and was able to run for an hour without having to stop. He soon caught up to her and drew his sword. A reddish glow shone from the edge. It cast a red tint on the small clearing and reminded Janko of being a in a photo developing room.

"Like I said before, come out now and I won't hurt you. Hell, you might even come out of this thing better off for it." He was lying of course, but there was no way the girl could know that. Janko immediately heard Miles' voice and grinned. "Of course. This girl's got some speed in her. I'll definitely need a hand."

Vivien clenched her teeth. "After that other guy said, 'we need them alive', I'm not believing that!" But she felt panicked when she heard him call out to someone. There were MORE of these guys? She stepped closer to Savir, swallowing when Miles stepped to Janko's side.

He looked at Vivien and laughed. "Aw, really Janko? That twig's giving you a trouble with speed? Hell, maybe I shudda been the one to run into her." His eyes flickered back to Savir and he scowled. "And YOU. Here I was, actually planning a fair fight. And what do you do? Throw your coat at me! Disrespectful. If you and your girlfriend wanna play any tricks now, though, you might wanna rethink doing so." His smirk was back. "You wanna toy with them a bit first, Ja? I'm up for some fun. As long as I get to go at that boy a few times, anyway."

Janko grinned as some rather interesting thoughts ran through his mind. He shook his head to clear his mind. "Sounds good. Just remember to leave him alive."

He walked closer and brought up a barrier of energy around him and the girl, seperating her from the guy. He ran the tip of his thumb along the edge of his blade and pointed it towards her. "Nowhere for you to run now girl."

Shit! What the hell am I supposed to do now?!

Vivien froze. It was obvious Janko knew how to wield a blade. It was also obvious she had no idea what she was doing, or what she could do at that. She tried to still her beating heart but still couldn't get it to calm down. Savir and the others had seemed so calm--why was she the only one freaking out like this?

"I noticed," she grumbled. Maybe there was a shot she could talk him out of this--it was better than trying something she knew she was going to lose at. But on second thought, looking at him, she discarded that idea as well.

Her eyes flickered to the ground, then back to Janko. If only she knew more about whatever she could do with these crystals...Only one way to find out. Shaking slightly from nervousness, she flickered her wrist instead of swinging the sword. Violet crystals spiked at Janko's feet, and though she felt some relief that it'd worked, her previous feelings didn't go away. She immediately prepared herself, at least tried to keep an eye on the man, best she could; waiting for him to make a move she wished he wasn't going to make.