The Chosen

He smiled and tossed her a fresh apple, saying, "it's no problem. By the way, you looked really good in those gym shorts."

With a wink, he started walking towards the park across the street, turning back and saying, "you coming V?"

"Ow!" Miles rubbed the spot she hit him and blinked, taken off guard a bit. "And I know, but--if I can't move, you shouldn't hit me either. And I though you said you couldn't 'cause you were dead," he added as a joke. "...And as long as we don't plow into people and or crash into anything, I guess I'll trust you. As long as I don't get dropped again."

~

I hated those damn gym shorts.

She blushed a bit more at the comment but walked back to his side, now unsure of what to do with her feelings. She should've expected something like this to happen. Nothing she could do about it now, though.

"Yeah, yeah." She chewed on the apple, taking small bites. "I'm shorter than you, remember? Smaller strides."

He slowed down, allowing her to catch up. The park was dark, but it was a cool summer night, and he walked through it, enjoying the night. He glanced at V with a smile, saying, "I thought short people were supposed to be jolly."

He laughed at his own joke, taking a bite of his apple, before saying, "what if, after all this is sorted out, or sooner, hell, if we get a chance, you and I go see a movie, eh?"

"No one said I wasn't jolly. I just can't walk fast. And if we get through this, yeah...If we're even allowed to come back here. Who knows if they have movies or not in that other place." Though maybe they did, with their technology and whatnot. Never knew. Though, if all of them did get through it, throwing a, "I survived!" party for all of them seemed appropriate.

He smiled, saying, "I'm going to hold you to that kid. Pinky promise?"

He held out his right pinky. Sure, it seemed childish, but it also seemed right.

She laughed, but curled her left pinky around his. "Fine, promise. And is kid my new nickname now?"

Vivien yawned, stretching her arms. She was starting to get tired, the adrenaline from the earlier experience starting to wear off. She wasn't sure if they were supposed to stay up or go back to their houses, though. She guessed it would be better to stay up at least until Raize or Skyla gave them any word on what to do.

He poked her in the belly as she yawned, grabbing her hand and leading her back towards the Cafe.

"Tired, are you?" he said, feeling fatigue drifting upon him as well. He shook his head, clearing his mind, as the building came back into sight.

She jumped when he poked her and frowned at him. "At least you don't jab my side. And yeah, I am actually...After all of that, I wouldn't be surprised if we all just dropped to the ground asleep. Specially David and Cyrus. ....Poor David. I can't beileve using powers too long can make you that sick.."

Vera arched a brow, crossing her arms over her chest, "Don't question woman logic! " She said. Upon his acceptance of her proposal, she beamed. There was a bit of a mischievous look in her eye as she threw up her arms and said, "Blast off!" And flew both of them as fast as a bullet out of the room.

"Excuse me, pardon me, GET OUTTA MY WAY!" She said, twisting and avoiding annoyed passerby-ers. She seemed in complete control and thoroughly enjoying the blurring hallways, the wind whipping around her now undone hair, and dodging anyone who happened to be in their path.

Suddenly, she came to a screeching halt and looked at Miles. With a very Vera-like gaze, her eyes owlish and innocent, she asked, "By the way, I haven't seen anyone else besides you make it back..." She looked thoughtful for a moment, "What if they got captured?! That'd be worse than your one hit KO! Captured by a bunch of teens..."

Her eyes widened in fright, "Oh God! Hormonal teens! Imagine what they're doing to them!" She said with a shiver, "We have to go save them!" She abruptly took off again, speeding through the hallways and shouting at the top of her mighty lungs, "AAAAALLLLEEEEX!"

She came to another halt and looked back at Miles again, "Or what if... they were unable to overcome their intense desire for one another? They've run away! They're having a big love fest... and I can't watch!!" She seemed to think this idea was a lot more terrible and she shot off, even faster this time, yelling louder and more impatiently, "AAAAAAAAALLLEEEEEX!!!!"

(I love her. So much. XD)

Alex could've heard her from all the way across the palace.

Which he kind of did.

He moved toward her voice best he could, figuring he might want to get to her before she ended up putting a hole in the wall.

"Is everything ok, Vera?" he called, not wanting to get too close in case she appeared around the corner and plowed into him.

~

"Actually," Miles called between the wind and her shouts, "Old man is back, and so are the others, I think! Haven't seen Samuel or Deron yet though!"

He nodded, saying, "sometimes people are more sensitive. I know I can't eat mexican food without going totally out of wack. But don't worry, I'm sure he'll be fine. Just some nausea, right?"

"Nice comparison. But it's true, though." She glanced over at the glare of blue light and saw Skyla and Cyrus. "Well, look. Guess they're practicing. I;m kinda just tempted to go in one of those booths, lay down, and sleep. One of you can just wake me up if you leave."

He snorted, pulling her into the cafe behind him. He waved his hand out, saying, "pick one, I think I'll stay up, maybe do a crossword."

He laughed at this, chuckling at the thought of him doing a crossword.

"From what I remember, you never did crosswords." Vivien smirked but didn't hesitate at sliding into one of the cushioned booths. She literially layed down on her stomach, arms folded under her chin, and shut her eyes. Being small that the booths were a bit larger than normal helped, as did her size. Needless to say, she was asleep in no time.

*** Dream ***

Screams, metal clashing, and footsteps. Those were the only sounds to echo in her mind. For some reason the floor seemed closer than it should have been, though when V looked down she saw it was because she was smaller.

She saw a group of men rush past, some carrying a child while others turned and faced whoever was chasing them. Only to be quickly quelled, of course. Fear filled her and she scurried down the hall, only to come to what looked like a throne room. In it, she saw a man and woman, as well as an older man--he looked remarkebly like Hannibal, but that couldn't be right--, a blade help ready in the younger man's hand. He seemed to be saying something when a figure entered the room, but the only thing V could make out were amber eyes. Then someone grabbed her, though she called out for one of the men as she was whisked away. She didn't know what was going on--just that she wanted to be near the three in the larger room.

*I'll end it there cause I'm lazy*

Link sat, actually starting a crossword, before a commotion in the booth V had crawled into caught his attention. He looked, and saw her tossing and turning. He shook his head, not wanting to make her, but concerned none the less. He silently stood, walking towards her, and shrinking into a fox. he leaped once onto the bench where she lay, forcing himself under her arm and providing her with a snuggly type animal and the comfort of another source of heat.

*Is too fat to do character interactions*

Vera heard Miles through the wind but she didn't reply. She was too busy shouting Alex's name as she searched for him.

She came around a corner at breakneck speeds and saw Alex. She jutted to a halt and looked up at Alex. Her cheeks were a little flushed from the exertion of flying the both of them too fast (and yelling at the top of her lungs). She took a deep breath and then started to talk very, very fast.

"Alex! We have to go back! Sammy and Deron mightbehavingalovefest and I need to be there! Or they could have gotten captured but that's not as important. Send me back!" She put her hands together and pouted, "Pleeeeeeaaaase?"

"About time we found them!" Deron shouted as his tracking device turned a deep red. He hid wherever he could as it seemed the reading had altered a little bit. They had broken off into seperate groups? But why.... Using his vast knolage of telling what the color of the sphere on his arm ment, Deron deduced that the smaller group was moving away from the building for an evening stroll of some sort.

"Try to keep an eye on the larger group, Samuel...." He said in as hushed of a tone as he could. "Maybe you can figure out what thier abilities are or something... I dunno! However you do these kinds of things. I'll follow the others. Something tells me they're up to something, and I could probably take them out myself...." Without giving his partner a chance to respond, Deron ran off in the shadows to try and spy on them.

So it seemed there was a guy with what looked like cat ears or something and a large bushy cat tail. Probably the brother of the one who turned into a tiger earlier. Slightly snickering, he couldn't help but think who got the better part of that deal! It seemed he was alone with the girl from before, the one who could.... Damnit! What was her power again? Wait, wasn't she the one that fought thier group off earlier? Yeah! He remembered figuring that out! She was the one that turned the tide and made his allies retreat, wasn't she? A sense of caution overcame Deron, best not to mess with her until the moment was just right. From his cover, the hunter watched them slow down a little.

Perfect! He readied his scythe gun and took aim. Just a little more to the right... I'll blow the brains right out of your pretty little skull.... Then, almost on cue, she backed into a corner as the cat guy got in the way of his shot. No no no! Damn damn damnit! If he took out the guy then she'd hear the shot in time to fight back or something! Unless, of course, this guy was a spy. He seemed to have her cornered, but for what reason? As the cat man moved a little, Deron caught a glimpse of the woman's blushing face. Wait, why was she.... Two teens alone at night going for a walk........ It was so obvious now that he thought of it! Lovers! They were in love... or at least thought they were. The verry thought made him scowl with disgust from his hiding space. He almost wanted to shout at them to stop this madness, but feared her potential power. In light of the attempts to drag them off, these two were trying to find love!?!?

As soon as Deron got himself back together, he aimed his weapon with the full intent of destroying them where they stood! But they were nowhere to be seen. Where did they go? He'd kill them. Kill them both! Looking down at his device, they went back! Of course!

When he arrived back at the building, it was honestly supprising to him how un-guarded it was. With a look of murder on his face, he silently slid through the front door. There they were, sleeping soundly while the others seemed to be training in the back. He kept his weapon just a few inches away from the ground with anticipation. It seemed the cat man had ran off with the others. She was just lying there, soundly sleeping with a fox. Another one of his brothers, prehaps? Or simply a pet or wild animal? People had kept foxes as pets before. Something about her made Deron forget how powerful she must be. Maybe it was her innocent face, kindly sleeping unplagued by thier presence? It made him almost hesitate for a minute.

"You've lost your edge, Deron...." He mumbled to himself. "Any other day you'd just slaughter them and leavethier friends to sort out the pieces." Without any further doubt, he switched the scythe to the other hand and angled the blade at her knees. You won't feel any sympathy if you don't look.... On the count of three....

One...

two...........

Threee-

V felt something brush against her arm, half asleep and just waking up from the dream. She noticed it was a fox and wondered if she'd been muttering in her sleep, since Link had seemed to want to comfort her.

But then she noticed a shadow over her. Blinking, her eyes widened and she gasped when she saw the blade, reacting rather than thinking. She a wave of small crystals at him and quickly sat up, bolting to her feet and scurrying from the booth, of course having the mind to take Link. She set him down on the floor but was still stunned, not sure what was happening. Was this guy with the group that had left? But why? Raize had said all of them had gone. Her voice came out in a squeak.

"Who...are you?" Her eyes flickered to the door, but she'd have to get around the man to reach it.

-eeee!

Which was about the time the fox decided it was time to act. He lept out of V's arms, and slammed Deron in the gut, hoping to knock him back, before landing on the ground, already shfiting into a tiger. The black and white striped wall of muscle now stood, growling deeply, staring right at Deron. Just for effect, he let loose a ear splitting roar, opening his mouth wide and showing all his teeth. When Skyla appeared as well, he crouched low, an impending shape, ready to leap at the man's throat.

Cyrus and Skyla heard an ear-splitting roar from inside the building. He ran inside to see a guy with a scythe and Link in tiger form. Fire sword still in hand, hand swung it over his shoulder, despite being fire it was solid.

"Well well well," he said, grinning, "What do we have here? One of the baddies I presume? What did you expect to happen? Thought you could take one of us out?"

He laughed, feeling kind of evil. He shook that off and pointed his sword at the guy.

When the tiger head-butted Deron, it knocked the breath out of him. Wait, crystals! She was the powerful one among them! Well, not much he could do about it now.

"What, you don't know who I am? Wait, that guy's the dam- Well, it seems you have a shapeshifter avalable to do multiple forms." With a newfound grin on his face, Deron looked at the woman's expression and found the familiar glimpse of fear. He switched the grip on his scythe.

"I'm afraid that I've had a change of heart. Witnessing the beautiful romance that has begun to appear between you two has given me a newfound purpose. I regret each and every person I have ever slain. I see now that you guys are humans just like I am and offer my thanks for showing me the way. Never again will I try and harm someone, since now I know that the same could easilly happen to me as well. You have shown me the light, I'll work to protect you against the others. There is no way I can possibly win.... Right?"

While he was talking Deron had used his ability to magnitize several forks from the side counter positively and his scythe blade negatively. Suddenly, the forks came flying across the room and firmly attatched themselves to the weapon.

"Unfortunately, for you, that's not my style anyways! And I can't let the others down yet." With less than a thought, the blade of his weapon shifted to the opposite charge. A wave of pointed forks shot forward like a shotgun blast straight at the woman and her tiger, covering a wide area! "This is gonna hurt!"

Cyrus didn't believe what the guy was saying. Then forks became attached to his scythe. Cyrus didn't know what the guy was going to do, but he had to do something.

He dashed pass the guy and stood between him and the others right as the forks shot toward them. He held up his blade, deflecting enough forks that they would hit Vivien or Link. Although, on two forks were able to shoot into his right thigh. He grunted and almost collapsed under his legs but he stayed up.

"That was surprising," Cyrus grunted, "but it wasn't good enough."

Janko had been watching the group from a nearby rooftop. He had hoped that maybe he could track them a bit more before making a move. Then Deron showed up. The metal man cloaked himself and hopped down to street level. He snuck as close to the fight as a he could, make sure his white-noise generators canceled his sounds.

He circled around the group, watching as Deron seemed to be tricking them. "Sly bastard." He drew his sword, still cloaked from sight, then placed the edge of the blade to the crystal girl's throat. "Checkmate, Mis Amis." He whispered as he deactivated his stealth settings.

Vivien froze, her face paling. "What..?"

Skyla cursed and threw a glare Janko's way, but didn't dare make a move. She pointed a flame sword at him, her voice a growl.

"Coward! Let her go and fight instead!" This wasn't good. Not at all.

Cyrus growled, the man in the metal suit arrived and had a sword to Vivien's throat. He wanted to break away from the other guy to help her, but the guy probably wouldn't let him. Besides, Vivien had Link and Skyla. At that he felt kind of down. Why couldn't she have him to protect her for once? It was always someone else; he was getting jealous.

Then a thought came to him: he didn't have to just use fire to create weapons, he could blast fire too. He quickly turned to the armored man and sent a slightly large blast of fire at him, that should get him away. Then he quickly turned back to the dumbass. Cyrus thought of him as a dumbass because he tried to attack by himself.

He held up his fire sword, ready to fight.

"So," he said to the dumbass, "why don't we dance?"