#avia carstairs

[ageeksnerdyworld]

Today’s doodles... not much to say about ‘em...

[ageeksnerdyworld]

Here’s the only decent sketch from today... might ink & color it tomorrow or just work on something else idk

(As always The Cyber World and the viruses therein belong to @voiceoflarka)

[ageeksnerdyworld]

A Birthday Bash

Characters: Avia Carstairs, Kelly Ronan O’Connor, Scribe Jenkins, Isabelle Lombardi, Emery Becker, Jett Leach, Mazarin Leach, Holland Ayer, Kalenn Birch, Walker, Scout Carstairs, Paisley Carstairs, and October Ispen

Word Count: 5,405

Trigger Warning: N/A

Notes: This idea has been bouncing around my brain for a real long time so I finally wrote it. But this took like ten years to write. This is as good as its gonna get. As always The Cyber World and the viruses therein belong to @voiceoflarka

Summary: The gang gathers at the Carstairs manor for Avia’s birthday. An unexpected guest arrives. Much to Scout’s dismay party shenanigans ensue. Click the read more if you’d like.

~~~

That morning Avia woke to find a hand written note on her night stand.

Happy birthday to my wonderful niece. May your wishes for today come true. I love you with all my heart. --Aunt Paisley

The ivory white paper was on the thicker side, with a golden border, and a small intricate flower embossed into the middle of it. At the bottom of the flower were the initials P.E.C. The message was written in neatly penned, and amazingly precise, black calligraphy. A smile formed as she read it. But her happiness was short lived as she realized that her father hadn't said anything. Part of her didn't expect him to even remember what today was. But a small piece secretly hoped he would.

She pulled the covers off and got out of bed.

Returning the lovely note to the nightstand she grabbed her phone.

She checked her messages as she crossed to the bathroom.

Most were from her teammates. All sending birthday wishes her way. There were also a few extra messages from Kelly. Each one of his texts were signed with a red heart emoji.

In the bathroom Avia washed her face from the lull of sleep.

When she was finished with that she went back into her bedroom and changed. She wore a long-sleeved, white, shirt with a boat neck. She also wore a red plaid patterned skirt with a hemline that ended just above her knees. The hemline was asymmetrical with the right side a bit shorter than the left. Two angled zippers sat on either side of the skirt. Underneath the skirt she wore a pair of thin, black, pantyhose.

Sitting down at the ivory white vanity she brushed her hair.

Before doing her make-up she sent “thank you” texts to everyone. She also sent a purple heart, and a red, emoji to Kelly. As she opened the drawer of her vanity there was a knock at her door.

“Come in,” she called.

The door opened and the small form of October Ispen stepped in.

They were her father’s driver, bodyguard, and the family’s butler. For as long as she could remember they had been a constant presence in her life. As Avia did her makeup she saw the reflection of the virus in her mirror. They wore a black suit, with a white dress shirt, an obsidian tie, and impeccably shined shoes. Their skin was white and covered with dark rosewood veins. A stone-cold, serious, expression marked their face. An expression which was even more threatening due to the utter lack of hair on his head and face. Even their eye ridges were entirely void of any hair.

Everything about October Ispen was unsettling. The veins that crawled along their bare skull. Their uncanny talent of being able to stand perfectly still. The black leather gloves they constantly wore. Their unnerving, relentless, brown eyes.

She knew why they were there without them having to say anything.

She sighed and said; “Already?”

October gave her a silent nod.

She shook her head and quickly took the dress she wanted to wear later out of her closet. Avia carefully laid it on her bed. Quickly finding the matching heels she set them at the foot of her bed. Just before leaving her room she slipped on a pair of sleek black boots.

Together the pair walked through the hallway and down the winding staircase.

When they arrived at the landing Avia gave October a pleading stare. They didn’t react. She sighed; not expecting anything else from them. They were her father’s employee after all. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that he used his powers to keep October in line. He had done so many times before to other less important people in his employ. He often said that he owed the success of his business to it. People often said that his powers were the only reason he landed her mom. Whether the rumors were true or not she had no idea.

As she rounded the corner and crossed the hallway all these things ran though her mind. She steeled herself before entering the dining room.

He sat at the head of the long, rectangular, dining table. His light gray hair was a bit messy as if he had been stressfully running his hands through it. As always the crawling scar under his right eye glowed lightly. He wore a dark gray jacket over a white dress shirt and a pair of cream colored dress pants. A dark brown belt sat on the waist of his pants. On his ring finger sat a thick, plain silver, wedding band. A series of files covered the area in front of him. In his right hand was a tablet and he held a stylus in his left. He twirled the stylus between his fingers as he read whatever was on the screen. When she entered the room October immediately walked to her father’s side.

Scout Carstairs always liked to keep his possessions close.

He looked up just as Avia walked through the open doors.

“Good morning,” she said.

Returning the sentiment he smiled slightly. The emotion was barely reflected in his eyes. He motioned for her to walk over to him. She did.

He held her hands in his. It was always strange when her father chose to show emotion. Every time he did it felt wrong, as if it was only half there, and fake. But she didn’t flinch away. She didn’t want to deal with any of the aftermath today.

“Happy birthday,” he said.

“Thank you.”

“Do you really want to have the party here?” he asked. “Dad has a lot of work to do, sweetheart, and it might not be a good idea.”

Avia rolled her eyes and let go of his hands. Of course he wanted something from her. He was barely ever nice just for the sake of being nice. Even the trips they had taken in the past were more often work related than not.

“This is about my team coming isn’t it?”

“No, I just--” she cut him off.

“It is! You think they’ll tear the place apart or something. They’re my friends, father. You still want to me be to be the little girl who liked staying inside all day? But that ship has sailed, father. I’m finally being myself and I have friends.”

“Avia, stop,” he said harshly.

“Not until you admit the truth--”

“I SAID STOP!” he yelled.

The lighting of the room shifted as he spoke. The lights dimmed significantly. When she looked at her dad now he seemed to grow twice his size. He loomed over her like a giant. If it was possible October looked even smaller than usual. Scout’s face darkened with anger. His voice now boomed and echoed.

“I can’t have that tattooed punk ruining tonight. He’s uncultured, disrespectful, and vulgar. Even the smallest, cheapest, thing is worth more than his life.”

“Tonight isn’t about you, father. Emery’s coming. They’re all coming.”

Avia was unshaken by her father’s powers. He tended to have his abilities up in some capacity almost all the time so she was accustomed to them. She stood firm and kept her face as calm as possible. She nodded in agreement. Scout was very surprised. Sitting back down he switched it off and the room returned to normal.

“Very well,” he said; returning his attention to his work. “You may go. Paisley would like to go shopping with you. Her present this year, apparently. I do believe she’s waiting out front for you.”

Avia said nothing as she turned on her heels and walked out.

Just like her father said Paisley was waiting for Avia on the front steps of the manor. She wore a slim fitting dress and a pair of black stilettos. The dress was mostly white but there were a few intersecting black lines across it. Some ran vertically and others ran horizontally. A few of the sections were dyed different colors; red, blue, yellow. A pair of black sunglasses sat on her face. She looked stunning as always.

“Didn’t go too bad, I see,” she said as Avia approached.

“Father’s letting my friends attend so I think not.”

Paisley nodded approvingly. She handed her niece a small, thin, rectangular envelope. The paper was clearly expensive and just like the note it was thick. It was black in color and the writing was silver. Avia’s eyes went wide.

“Father said we were going shopping,” she said confused.

“Oh, we are. But, one cannot really shop without stable finances,” she said with a smile.

Avia opened the envelope and the card inside was plain black with a small message. It read; Get yourself something nice, in that same silver font. Inside the card was a thin blue credit card. A small receipt showed how much money was on it. It was a lot more than Avia expected.

“Oh my,” she whispered in shock.

“If your tall, ginger, friend is coming then you’ll need something new. And fabulous. Also, it would greatly anger Scout and that is always a plus.”

Avia smiled and they descended the front steps together.

~~~

While the birthday girl was getting ready so were her friends. The Leach siblings were the first ones dressed and ready. So they met in the hallway outside the rooms and hung out. Mazarin, who was the odd one out in the group, stuck by her older brother. From what she had seen of Avia and her family differed so much from her own Mazarin didn't know what to expect.

"Je," she whispered to him as they waited for the others.

"Is Avia's family nice? Are they like how mom and dad used to be?"

"I don't really know," he said staring off at the opposite wall. "That's more of a question for Kell. He's the only one of us who's met Av's dad. Why? Something wrong?"

Mazarin wrapped her arms around her torso and hugged herself. She dug her toes into the carpet. Jett could tell something was bothering her. He reached over and put his arm around her shoulder; pulling her into a side hug. She leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Maz," he said. "I'm sure everyone's gonna be fine. We're going to a birthday party after all."

She turned away from the wall and hugged her brother tightly. Her face was buried into the front of his jacket. With her this close he didn't have to hear her to know she was crying. He could feel it. As she silently cried Jett began to slowly, soothingly, stroke her hair.

"I miss them so much," she said; her voice muffled a bit from the fabric of his jacket.

"Me too."

They stood like that for a few more seconds before she let go and wiped her eyes. Jett straightened the front of his his jacket. Then he noticed that her headband had fallen so he fixed it for her. He tucked his finger under her chin and gave her a soft smile.

"Don't you worry, little lady, we've got each other. And that's all that matters."

“Everything alright, Leach?” Walker asked.

Neither of them saw Walker enter the hallway, but, they weren’t bothered.

“Yeah. We’re good,” he said. Noticing the rabbit virus’s attire he chuckled; “You look almost the exact same you do every day, Texas Ranger.”

They wore a white, long-sleeved, button up which covered their upper body. A maroon, double-breasted, vest partially covered the dress shirt. Dark black pants covered their legs and the dark dress shoes poked out from underneath the fabric. A black waistcoat tightly hugged their frame. Their usual goggles were replaced by a black and brown vertical striped top hat. The hat hid their long, black, ears. The outfit was complete with a black tie that sat under the shirt collar.

“He’s right you know,” a voice called from the end of the hallway.

The voice belonged to Isabelle who had just exited her room.

She wore a pastel blue dress and silver colored heels. Her hair was pinned up on one side with silver, sparkling, barrettes. The rest hung down and was neatly curled. The hemline of her dress was shorter in the front, stopping above her knees, and longer in the back. A thin, white, ribbon ran along her waist; separating the sections of the dress. The bottom half was comprised of many layers. The very top layer was sheer and continued to just below her shoulders. Patches of small flowers were embroidered on that layer. She twirled around to show the others the back which was laced up like a corset. A small, white, clutch sat in her right hand.

Walker rolled their eyes at her but said nothing.

“You look nice,” Jett said as Isabelle joined the others with a smile.

Mazarin, who was sitting on the floor, looked up just as Jett spoke. Her eyes went wide and she gasped quietly. Isabelle walked over to where she stood and leaned her back against the wall. She jumped up from the floor and preceded to excitedly talk to Isabelle. She asked the skitty virus a multitude of questions. Jett knew that Mazarin admired Isabelle so he let them talk. He plugged his headphones in his ears and closed his eyes.

Walker spent the time analyzing the various dents, scratches, and stubborn stains that were scattered around the carpet. The four of them were all in their own worlds that none noticed Scribe enter the hallway.

“Ready,” she said; quietly approaching the group.

Scribe wore a dress that stopped just above the knees. The dress was white with gold and blue half oval accents. The design was clearly supposed to look like scales. A thin, light gray, cardigan comfortably sat on her shoulders. She wore an armillary sphere ring that hung from her neck on a thin gold chain. The sphere was open and the five bands circulated over one another. The outermost bands were engraved with simple recesses to form swirls and curves with the metal. Behind those a thicker band was engraved with her name in Atlantean runes. The two middle bands were then like the two outer ones. But, these impressions had a message engraved into the metal. It was written half in binary and half in Atlantean runes. A message just for her from the one who gave her the ring. She wore it on the chain to keep her mom’s memory close by.

Her outfit was complete with a pair of light gray flats.

"Scribe, you look so cute!" Isabelle exclaimed with a beaming smile.

She shrugged and pushed her glasses back on the bridge of her nose. Looking away, slightly embarrassed, she muttered her thanks. Returning the compliment she moved over to stand next to the skitty virus.

Holland, Kalenn, and Emery all entered the hallway at the same time.

Holland’s inky black hair was combed back; styled as it usually was in a short pompadour. They wore a dark teal suit. The lapels, and the pockets, were a dark navy. A white dress shirt poked out from underneath the end of the sleeves. Emerging from the collar of the shirt was a bright coral tie. Monochromatic coral paisley designs were embroidered onto the fabric. A matching coral pocket square was neatly folded into a winged puff. Their shoes were white and pointed at the toes. The soles were black and a slight heel. A sliver, rectangular, clasp sat on the outside.

Kalenn wore a short sleeved, black, dress. Much like Isabelle’s dress his was multi-layered. The hemline stopped in the middle of his thighs. Under the dress he wore a pair of gray faux leather pants. But unlike any of the outfits the others wore his was tattered and ripped. He also wore a pair of black boots that stopped at his knees. His outfit was completed with a sheer gray shawl and a silver antler shaped necklace.

Both the dress and the shawl had slits in the back for his wings.

While the couple stopped to talk to the group Emery rushed to sulk behind everyone. It was clear to Walker, who was the only one who saw, that he wanted to hide.

"I'm actually surprised at how well you clean up, Becker," Walker said with a smirk.

As a matter of fact this was the only time most of the team had seen Emery Becker with his natural hair color. His deep black hair wasn't spiked up in his typical mohawk either. It was combed down and slicked back with gel. And he had taken out some of his piercings; the nose ring, the double studs in his eyebrow and the claw shaped ring in his bottom lip. All of his ear piercings remained.

He wore a black leather jacket over a black button up. A bright, plain, white bow-tie sat just under the collar. He wore dark black dress pants and a white belt. The pants were obviously too small for him. The hem of the legs stopped just above the top of his boots. A small section of his mismatched socks poked through.

Despite the clear signs that his attire was hastily thrown together it seemed that Emery had put in an effort.

“Don’t listen to them, Beck,” Jett said. “You look like shit.”

Emery chuckled; “Least I’m not as ugly as you right now. You look like road kill, dude.”

They laughed and playfully threw insults and obscenities at one another until Isabelle made them stop.

Kelly was the last person to enter the hallway. He wore a simple black suit and tie. He was clearly nervous. While he walked over he kept readjusting his sleeve buttons and straightening his tie. Muttering to himself he wasn’t looking where he was walking at all. He was so distracted by his own nerves that he bumped into Walker.

“Watch where you’re going, O’Connor,” they snapped.

“Oh, fuck, sorry,” he said.

"That's everyone," Jett said; trying to take the heat off Kelly. "Let's head down and see what's what."

The group entered the elevator, taking up two of them at the same time, and descended to the lobby. Stepping out of the elevator doors they looked around. Avia had told them that her family’s butler was going to pick up the group. But they were nowhere to be seen. So, the gang decided to wait around until October showed up.

It was a long, boring, wait.

After what seemed like forever a short, bald, virus approached the group. The virus wore a black suit and had a serious expression. The group thought that this might be the person who was supposed to pick them up. Kelly was about to ask them who they were. But he was cut off when the virus lifted their hands and began signing something.

“I.. um, we don’t, uh, rea--” Kelly stammered nervous and unsure of what to say.

But Emery shoved past him, saving him from further embarrassing himself, and said; “Don’t worry, dude. I got this.”

A minute or so passed with Emery and the other virus signing back and forth. Even though he was speaking while he signed the entire exchange was very awkward for the rest of the group. When the short conversation was over Emery motioned for the group to follow.

As they made their way through the parking lot Kelly walked up to Emery and tapped him on the shoulder.

“How’d’ye know how ta do that?”

“Sign?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Kelly shrugged and nodded at the same time.

“Kinda had to learn it,” Emery replied with a somber smile. Then he chuckled lightly as if reminiscing about something. “Honestly, Irish, lemme tell ya it was pretty hard to talk to her without it.”

“Who, if ye don’t mind me askin’?”

“My mom.”

Emery jogged to catch up with the others and left Kelly standing in the parking lot with his mouth hanging open in shock.

~~~

It didn’t take long for them to arrive at the Carstairs manor. October was instructed to drive fast so they did. The group filed out of the limo and up the front stairs. Most of the group rushed inside, ready to get their party on, except for Jett and Emery. The boys took their time; awestruck by the expanse and the aura of the filthy rich of the place.

Emery felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to see October behind them.

Hurry it up, alright, they signed.

Yeah, sorry, he quickly signed back. Then he grabbed Jett by the arm and rushed inside.

The open foyer was spacious and inviting. Streamers hung from the ceiling and along the banister. The streamers were dark eggplant purple and navy blue. A large, rectangular sign, hung across the large chandelier. In the same purple and blue as the streamers the sign read HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVIA. Unsure of where to go the boys hung around and tried to listen to where the party was.

They heard Kelly’s very loud, and extremely awkward, nervous laugh.

The rushed over in that direction.

Stepping into the room they took in the scene. Neither were surprised to find that it was a large ballroom. Just like in the foyer there were purple and blue streamers hanging from the ceiling. On the left hand side of the room there was a long, stylish, buffet table. A wide array of food and desserts lined it. Next to the buffet table there was a smaller one. Bottles of champagne and a bowl of punch sat on it. On the right side of the room there were a series of round tables. Each table had four black chairs and was covered with a white tablecloth.

A small, black, bird shaped, centerpiece sat in the middle of each table.

The rest of the room stayed as the dance floor.

“Over here,” Mazarin called; waving the boys over to their table.

The table that the group had sat was actually two tables pushed together. Someone had fixed the tablecloths so that they covered both tables equally. On either side of the middle of the tables there was a centerpiece. When they approached only Mazarin and Isabelle were there.

“Where’s everyone else?” Emery asked.

Mazarin shrugged as she pulled Jett over to sit next to her. She started filling him in on what he missed.

“Scribe’s getting something to eat.” Isabelle said.

“Holland and Kalenn are slow-dancing; it’s adorable. I think Avia and Kelly are talking to her dad. Not really sure where Walker is though.”

Jett suddenly realized how hungry he was. Asking the others if they wanted anything he got up and walked over to the food. He got himself a plate and then had to awkwardly try and hold it white pouring himself some punch. Then he noticed how stupid he looked. So he set the plate down and poured the punch. Just as he started walking back to the table Kelly walked up to him.

“How’d it go?” Jett asked.

“Feckin’ awkwardly, an’ probably horrible, to be honest.”

“Sorry, bud.”

Kelly shook his head; “Ye don’t get it, Jett. He’s more intimidatin’ than he looks an’ he’s got that scar on his face. Ye can’t ignore that shit. No matter how much ye try.”

“Hey, Jett, can I ask ya somethin’?” Kelly asked; clearly changing the subject.

“Sure, what’s up?”

Kelly explained the earlier events as quickly and clearly as he could. His hands moved about wildly and his talked too fast. But he repeated himself enough so Jett eventually got the gist.

“It’s not my place to say. That’s something you really gotta ask him, Kell.”

Jett walked back to the group’s table.

While Jett left him alone Avia walked up behind Kelly. She tapped him on the arm. He turned around with a smile. Avia grabbed his face and gave him a long, deep, kiss. His bright, blue, eyes went wide for a split second. Then he relented and melted into the kiss. When she let go she lead him by the hand to the dance floor.

~~~

The couple danced close.

Avia felt a tap on her shoulder. She ignored the obvious vie for her attention. Whoever this was they could wait. In this moment it was just her and Kelly. His arms were around her waist. She had placed her arms over his shoulders. They were looking into each other's eyes; swaying back and forth.

Whoever stood behind Avia loudly cleared their throat. They spoke with a conceited and very posh accent. The voice alone exuded a pompous and conceited air.

"Pardon my intrusion but I haven't given the birthday girl my respects."

Avia knew exactly who it was without needing to see his face.

Elias Dekkart.

He was the son of one of her father's business associates. Dallas Dekkart and Scout Carstairs had known each other since the earliest days of his business. She was one of the few people Scout trusted with his life. They often met for lunch or dinner to advise each other on business matters. From time to time the adults would spend entire days with one another surveying other business prospects.

Which meant that Avia and Elias had spent a lot of time together as young sprites. Over the years he developed an intense crush on her. While she never expressed even the slightest return of his affections he persisted. She hadn’t seen him in a very long time and she wanted to keep it that way. Hearing his voice put a damper on her mood but she had been taught better than to ignore guests no matter how unwanted they were.

So she put on a smile and turned around.

He wore a black pinstripe suit with a plain black tie. A silver tie clip kept the fabric in place. In his breast pocket sat a bright white pocket square; folded neatly. Wine red veins covered his daisy white skin. His chocolate brown eyes matched his perfectly coiffed hair. Everything about his attire and his look had a pretentious opulence to it. Even his stance was overtly grandiose.

"Oh, Elias, it's been so long I almost didn't recognize you," she said in an obviously bothered tone of voice.

"Whereas I could never forget your beautiful face. Many happy returns of the day, my dear."

He took her hand and kissed it gingerly. As he slowly, and very uncomfortably, let go Kelly stepped up next to Avia. She made a big show of kissing him. He understood what she was getting at so he too made a very obvious display as he hugged her. The message was clear and she hoped Elias would get it this time around.

She would never be his.

"Who might this be, my dear?"

The question was meant for Avia but she deferred to her boyfriend. It only made sense that he introduced himself after all. Kelly stared Elias down and stood on the balls of his feet; making himself appear even taller. Elias didn't seem to be intimidated but then again Kelly knew next to nothing about the young man.

"Name's Kelly Ronan O'Connor and I'm her boyfriend."

Elias stuck out his hand and introduced himself. Kelly didn't take the offered hand. Instead he muttered something about "being absolutely parched" and walked away. It was clear to both Avia and Elias that he was mocking the unwanted guest. Barely five feet away Kelly looks over his shoulder and cocked his head to the side. Avia saw the slight gesture and excused herself.

She turned around and called to Elias, mimicking his accent; “Don’t embarrass yourself by crying to mummy.”

Elias Dekkart was left alone.

~~~

The group spent the rest of the night having the best time. Scribe and Avia started devising a plan to get Elias out of her hair for good. In void of paper they had been typing notes in their phones and drawing maps on napkins. Jett, Mazarin, and Isabelle danced together. Holland and Kalenn were sitting at the group’s table making up stories about the other party-goers.

At some point in the night Emery took control of the DJ booth. He rummaged through the pre-set music before getting rid of all of it. With an over the top motion and gravitas he reached into the inner pocket of his leather jacket. He pulled out one of the very few copies of Midnight Decoy’s first CD.

Without even giving it a second thought he put it on. Seeing the anger on Scout Carstairs’ face made him smile.

Almost out of nowhere Walker appeared at his side.

“Pissing off her old man?”

“You know it,” he said with a nod and a smirk.

“I have an idea. Be right back.”

Walker rushed off without another word.

Meanwhile Scout was sitting near the entrance. He was sitting with Paisley and Dallas Dekkart. The latter had five glasses of champagne and was starting on her sixth. The Carstairs siblings were daintily drinking their champagne in moderation. October, the ever dutiful butler, stood within earshot of Scout. Elias rushed over to his mother and tapped her on the shoulder. Dallas tried her best to hang on to her son’s words but she was very drunk.

He desperately threw some water in her face and said; “She told me off, mother. Her and her ginger boy toy. I was just trying to be nice.”

“What? Scout, is this true?” Dallas exclaimed.

“October, be a lamb and tell Avia to play nice,” Scout said.

“Don’t listen to him,” Paisley said. “She doesn’t like this sniveling brat and she’s quite within her rights to. He’s been after her since they were sprites.”

Unsure of what to do October walked over to the birthday girl anyway.

October stood there until Avia noticed them. Scribe actually took notice of the virus first. She tapped Avia on the shoulder and pointed toward October. Avia looked at them and they gestured to where Dallas and Elias were sitting. They began signing to her but then remembered that she didn’t know ASL. But it seemed that she figured it out quickly enough with the context. Avia eventually gathered the guts to tell October to roughly escort the Dekkarts out of her house. They did without the slightest hesitation. Much to their surprise Emery joined them. As they telepathically threw Elias and Dallas out the front door Emery stepped up next to them.

Just as Elias rose to his feet Emery let out a glass-shattering scream. Both of the Dekkarts fell on their backs.

Slamming the doors in the Dekkarts’ faces the two of them went back to the party. Instead of joining the others they hung around the buffet table and talked in ASL.

You sign fluently.

Thanks. Had a pretty good teacher.

You have stories don’t you?

Tell you mine if you tell me yours, Emery signed with a smirk.

Meanwhile Walker went around messing with the decorations. They made sure to do so without being seen. After a while Kalenn and Holland joined in. The trio went around popping balloons and tangling streamers. Emery went back to playing music from the unmanned DJ booth. Kelly began spraying, and drinking, the champagne over Avia like she just won NASCAR. Walker ran to the coat room and came back with bags full of silly string. They threw cans out to everyone and the group ran around spraying each other with silly string. Some overturned tables and teamed up as if they were playing paintball.

Scout watched all of this in silent horror.

“Leave them be, brother,” Paisley said; laying a hand on his shoulder. “They’re just kids. They’ll tire themselves out eventually.”

She was right and they did. Tired, and out of ideas, Isabelle was the first to start dozing off. Over time they all began to succumb to the lull of sleep. Jett tried to rally the group so they could get back to the hotel. But Avia shot him in the face with silly string; effectively shutting him up. Emery and Mazarin laughed and after a bit so did Jett.

After a bit more of silly string fighting the group collapsed into a massive dog pile on the ballroom floor.

“Sleepover!” Mazarin yelled as she crawled into the pile.

[ageeksnerdyworld]

It’s Only A Nightmare

Characters: Jett Leach, Emery Becker, Avia Carstairs, Kelly Ronan O’Connor, Isabelle Lombardi, Scribe Jenkins, Holland, and Walker

Word Count: 5,437

Trigger Warning: None of note

A/N: I finished this and even though i really don’t like it and feel like it’s crap it is done. Tbh I wanted to drag it out more but I’m not good at writing. And as always the Cyber World and the viruses therein belong to @voiceoflarka

Parts: X,X,X

Summary: People are falling victim to heart attacks all over Dashland. None of the cases are alike except for that fact. The body count is growing. And so the team is sent on their first field mission. Click the read more if you want to.

~~~

Jett stared blankly in Emery’s direction; fear and torment in his eyes. Emery couldn’t face his best friend and his gaze fell to the floor. He whispered an apology but it went unheard. Isabelle tried to comfort Jett as best she could and rubbed the Nevermore talon that hung from her neck. After a while she got up and left the room only to return with her camera. She took pictures of the broken glass and the brick just in case they needed it later for whatever reason. When she finished she sat back down next to Jett on his bed. Scribe grabbed Avia by the arm and led her to the broken window. The two talked in hushed tones as Scribe pointed out something to Avia. Holland walked back into the room with a mug of tea in their hands.

“Here you go,” they said passing the mug to Jett. “Chamomile and peppermint. Drink, it’ll help.”

Kelly stood in the doorway fidgeting with the zipper of his jacket. He looked around the room, unsure of what to do, and then walked back out into the hallway. The squeak of his sneakers against the wood floor filled the empty space as he paced back and forth. He muttered to himself and gesticulated wildly in his distress. He looked back just as Emery looked in his direction. All Emery offered in return was a sad, and clearly worried, shrug.

“You’re right, Scribe,” Avia said just loud enough for the others to hear.

“Right about what?” Isabelle asked.

Avia said nothing as she walked over to the shattered glass that lay on the floor. She knelt down beside it and assessed the shards. Looking up she saw Kelly passing the hallway and she got up from the floor. Over her shoulder she told Scribe that the shards seemed to verify her theory. She walked out into the hallway and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend; nuzzling her face into his chest.

“So…?” Isabelle asked; her attention focused on Scribe.

Holland, Emery and Jett also looked to her for answers. Or whatever it was she was going to tell.

“Whoever threw the brick had to have been standing on the ground when they did it. The pattern of the cracks in the leftover glass and the placement of the shards prove it. Different types of glass break in different ways but there’s about five or so other factors that result in the cracks.”

She pointed to the hole in the top of the window; “This hole, and the surrounding circular cracks in the glass, correspond to the way the brick and the shards landed on the floor.”

“You can’t be serious,” Holland said.

Scribe shot them an angry look and crossed her arms over her chest.

“How could someone throw that brick all the way up here from standing on the ground? It just doesn’t make sense.”

“Evidence doesn’t lie,” Scribe retorted.

“I get that there’s a lot that I don’t know, or understand, compared to you all. But… This is something else. How is that even remotely possible?”

“Because the guy who did it is basically a giant and has super strength,” Jett said as he put the empty mug down on the nightstand next to his bed.

“Excuse me?”

“You know who did this?” Isabelle asked; worry and curiosity heavy in her voice.

“It’s a long story but unfortunately I do.”

“Well, I better go make some more tea,” Holland said. “And you need to get out of this room. This… It can’t be good for the nerves.”

The team congregated in the living room and Jett told his story. Emery already knew everything so he cleaned up the mess. He joined the others after tossing the shards in the garbage. Jett tried to keep his composure while telling the story but he broke. Telling the others about how he set fire to his home with his parents still inside was too much. He tried to get through it but his voice wavered and tears fell down his face. Isabelle saw those tears and grabbed his hand; squeezing it tight. Scribe left the room and then came back with her stuffed rabbit. She passed it to Jett and told him that he could hold it for as long as he needed it. He thanked her with a silent nod and held the rabbit to his chest with one arm. All the while Walker stood in the doorway to their room, on the outskirts of the group, just within earshot.

The others let him recover and continue in his own time.

When he finished his story he returned the rabbit back to Scribe and wiped the edges of his eyes.

“Why didn’t ye tell us before?” Kelly asked. “Not tryin’ to shite on you or anythin’. Just curious. Is it because this is literally the only reason here an’ ye didn’t want us to know that? Do ye not trust us or somethin’? Not trustin’ Walker I completely understand. They’re shadier than a forest in the middle of a thunderstorm.”

“I didn’t want to get you all involved in this shitshow, because I trust and like all of you, Kell.”

“Awwww, bless my bleeding heart!”

“Don’t get sappy on us, Irish,” Emery said with a smirk and a wink.

Avia and Isabelle asked Jett what he wanted to do now. He told them that he honestly didn’t know. In his mind this was the perfect opportunity to confront the woman who tore his life apart. But he didn’t know where she was or where she could be. She could literally be anywhere in the district or the world. There was no way to pinpoint a location.

“Actually, you’re wrong,” Avia said.

“Wh—what? How?”

“Simple. We just cross reference the places where the victims were found. Specifically the cluster... Wait a minute.”

Avia rushed to her room and grabbed her phone from where it lay on her desk. She pulled up a picture she had taken of the map that Detective Root owned. The picture had all the stickers she had put on. She passed the phone to Jett and asked him to pinpoint where his family’s bakery used to be. He zoomed in on the corner of Hawking and 1st Street. He stared at the spot for a few seconds before handing the phone back to Avia.

“Just what I thought. Your family’s bakery used to stand in pretty much in the dead center of this cluster of bodies.”

“Cordelia’s got to be hiding out there somewhere,” Scribe said.

“Let’s go,” Jett said as he rose from the couch.

Emery, who was standing behind the couch where Jett sat, pulled him back to a sitting position. He gave Jett a stern look which surprised the litten virus. He shoved Emery off with a harsh shrug and got off the couch. He was going to do this whether the others were going to back him up or not. He owed to himself and his little sister. He owed it to his parents. He told the group all of this before stomping off to his room.

Holland grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around.

“I really don’t think that’s a good idea. Especially with everything you just told us,” they said. “But you are the leader so I’ll follow you.”

“This is the worst idea you’ve ever had Leach,” Walker said; shaking their head.

“I need to do this, Texas Ranger. You can sit there being all pouty for whatever reason or you can step up and help. Your choice.”

Walker nodded and took their nunchucks out of their back pocket as a show of solidarity. Jett nodded and looked to the others. Emery gave him a look that clearly meant he was in this for the long haul. He would go to the ends of the earth if need be. Isabelle disappeared and then reappeared shortly after with her flail gun in her hand and her leather jacket slung over her shoulder.

“Ready when you are,” she said with a smile.

“Give her a beatin’ she deserves far more than that,” Kelly said.

Avia and Scribe also expressed that they would see this plan through. Jett couldn’t believe that these people were more than ready to go to war for him. But he would’ve done the same if any of them had asked. He told them all that there was something he needed to do before they left and they were more than okay with waiting for however long it took. He assured them that it wouldn’t take long at all. Then he went around the room and hugged each one of them. Some were shocked by this sudden display of affection but they all hugged him back. Jett went up to Emery last and hugged him the tightest.

“Thank you for this, bro.”

“This is what family’s for, isn’t it?”

XXXXX

The next morning they went to the station bright and early. Much to everyone’s surprise Jett seemed to have slept fine that night. When they arrived they told the detective about what they had found and about the plan they had come up with. Jett had brought the piece of paper as evidence. Isabelle had taken pictures the night before and also brought those to show the detective. He sat at his desk with his arms folded over his chest calmly listening. It was clear that Legacy was impressed with their work and he didn’t hesitate to show it. But when they finished their pitch he immediately shot it down.

“It’s too dangerous.”

Jett’s mouth opened in shock; “Wha—Whaddya mean too dangerous? Are you saying that everything else we’ve done so far wasn’t dangerous? Fighting what’s his face almost got Holly and Avia killed!”

“That’s exactly why we’re not going with your plan, kid. I know that you want to avenge your parents and everything but the answer is no.”

“Bu—but Detective! You can’t do this!”

Legacy rose from his chair and walked around the desk. His tail swished from side to side as he did and his hooves clopped against the tile floor. He stopped just a few feet from where Jett stood. With a steely look in his eyes he leaned closer so that his face was just a couple inches from the teenager’s face. This close to the detective Jett could see every last wrinkle and freckle that lined and dotted the man’s face. He could the small hairs of the gray stubble that lined the detective’s chin. He could see the firmness and unwavering will in his eyes.

“I can and I will. In case you forgot I’m the adult here and I’m in charge.”

“Yeah but they—” Jett started to protest but the detective cut him off harshly.

“You’re students. Not real cops. I’m not going to let you throw yourselves into a situation that you already know is highly dangerous. I mean we’re talking about you all facing a Nightmare Aura, a djinn with super strength, and a woman with mind control abilities.”

“What if you came with us like last time?”

“I said no. End of discussion.”

Legacy left the group there in front of his desk and ordered one of the rookie cops to watch after them. Tyke Bunsen reluctantly walked over and introduced himself to the group. He told them all to sit right where they were and then he sat in the detective’s chair. After a while he took a small stress ball out of his pocket and began tossing it into the air. He caught it and threw it back up. He seemed to be focused solely on tossing the ball to himself. But the moment Isabelle got up out of her chair he caught her and viciously ordered her to sit down.

“What the hell do we do now?” Emery whispered to the others.

“I have an idea,” Walker said; pulling the others into a small huddle.

The group needed a distraction so that they could sneak out of the station without the babysitter noticing. And Walker’s plan was pretty simple. They were going to distract Bunsen by snatching the stress ball he played with. Emery could help if he wanted since he was pretty much a walking distraction all on his own. Emery grumbled at the jab but he agreed. So when Bunsen turned his back on the group Isabelle would rush over to the back of the building and pull the fire alarm. She had to be the one because she was the smallest and quietest of the group. No one would notice her.

In the sudden commotion, while everyone congregated to the nearest exit, the group would sneak out the back.

Everyone agreed that it was a pretty good plan.

“Cover your ears, Scribe,” Walker said looking over to her. “I’m sorry but things are gonna get a little loud in here.”

“It’s okay. I have headphones,” she said as she pulled a pair of noise cancelling headphones from her bag. She put them on and gave Walker a thumbs up. They gave her one right back and smirked.

“Are you sure about this, Walker?” Holland asked.

“Yeah. I’ve done this loads of times. What could possibly go wrong?”

XXXXX

Much to their surprise their plan went flawlessly. Once they were outside they hid behind the back of the building and looked around the corner. Sure enough all the officers were outside. But the group needed to work fast if they wanted to get back before the detective did.

“Anybody know how to hotwire a car?” Jett asked; half joking.

The group turned to Walker.

“What are you all staring at me for?”

They decided that it was better to make their way on foot. Stealing a car to do something they already weren’t supposed to be doing wasn’t going to look good for them. Even though none of them knew exactly where the detective went they had a good idea. There was really only two places that he would’ve gone to. One was the church and the other was where the cluster was. And lucky for them they knew exactly what was at the center of that cluster. Avia pulled her phone out and put the address into the phone’s GPS.

“Pretty sure you don’t need that, Princess,” Emery said.

“Yeah, uh,” Jett said. “Em and I know the way.”

Avia nodded and turned the GPS off.

They discussed and all decided that the detective would’ve probably gone to the church to see if Nonagon was there. If they really wanted to take on Cordelia this was the perfect time. Jett guided the group down the side streets. In his memory it was the faster way to get home from the Academy. And it seemed that his memory didn’t betray him. The group ran as fast as they could and hoped that they would make it before the detective.

Walker hung at the back of the group.

At some point Walker stopped and let the others surpass them. They ducked behind a nearby building and searched for a fire escape or some sort of ladder. What they saw instead was a windowsill a few good feet off the ground and a couple of various missing bricks and ledges. They decided that this would have to do and they made their way up the side of the building.

Meanwhile the group reached their destination a lot quicker than they thought they would have.

The street was oddly empty for this time of day.

“Weird, huh,” Isabelle said looking around the street. “Shouldn’t there be, I don’t know, people around?”

“Yer right this is pretty fuckin’ weird,” Kelly said as he tightened his grip on the handle of his war hammer.

The destroyed, and burnt beyond recognition, remains of the bakery still stood on the corner. All evidence that there was even an upper floor where a family had lived was all gone. Jett clenched his fist and grit his teeth in anger when he saw it. He broke off from the group and walked towards the building. Emery followed behind but Jett didn’t notice. Parts of the sidewalk were still stained black. A few sections of the walls were still standing. Jett reached out and touched the charred edges. His fingers came away blackened by soot. He knew what the message was behind leaving the husk of the building there for everyone to see. It was a reminder for him if he ever came back that much was clear. But it was something else as well.

It was a warning.

“Je, bro, come on. You shouldn’t be looking at this,” Emery said.

“You’d think that but I already have. I’ve seen this so many damn times that I lost count. I was the one who did this, Beck. It’s my fault they’re dead. I killed them.”

“That’s right my little kitten,” a voice called from somewhere in the vicinity.

Jett immediately recognized the voice and who it belonged to. His breath quickened and his fists erupted in flame.

Cordelia Nieves stepped out from where she was hiding with Nonagon and Khalid on either side of her. She wore a slim fitting black dress, a gold belt around her waist, and a pair of black heels. Her long, wavy, blonde hair fell a bit past her shoulders and covered her right eye. But the pulsing red glow of her soul leaked out through her bangs. Her green eyes were wide with an odd excitement that echoed in her smile. Two more of her goons emerged from somewhere behind the group. And then four more appeared from opposite sides; flanking the group from the right and the left. All seven of them were completely surrounded and had nowhere to run.

“And now you’re going to get all your classmates killed too. How tragic.”

XXXXX

The group rushed over to Jett but they were cut off by the goons Cordelia had brought with her. They had no choice but to fight the viruses that had blocked their path.

Kelly gripped his war hammer and swung the axe side into the nearest virus. But the small, orange and white, male gecko virus took the hit like it was nothing. The blade of the axe had knocked some of the scales off man’s cheek and cut into him. And yet he didn’t seem to feel it at all. Kelly stared at him with wide eyes and he just smiled in return; a strange crazed look in his gray eyes.

Sensing that Kelly was caught off guard the gecko virus tackled him to the ground.

Kelly blocked the man’s fist with the handle of his war hammer. He used the handle as leverage and tried to push the man off him. But the gecko had slipped away and someone else was holding him down. Kelly looked up to see a large, tan skinned, male virus with a thin beard and black hair holding him down with his foot.

“Oh yer a big one ain’t ye?”

Meanwhile Avia was fighting with another one of Cordelia’s goons. He was human; tall, skinny, with dark skin, sky blue veins, and a shaved head. Avia lunged at him with her rapier and he tried to jump away from the attack. But he was a little too late. She cut a thin line along the man’s side. The attack didn’t seem to do any damage to his person but he was angry beyond belief. His eyes seemed to glaze over and roll back in his head.

A large, dark, cloud formed right above where Avia stood.

Before she realized what was happening a bolt of lightning struck her.

She fell to her knees and she grit her teeth against the pain. She still had a hand on the hilt of her rapier and she rose on shaky feet. Just as she got up something struck her in the back and she fell again. Avia turned to see a small raccoon virus with a bo staff smiling at her.

But before she could turn her attention to the raccoon the man she was already fighting struck her in the face with a harsh left hook.

Gripping her rapier she shoved the blade at him; stabbing into his leg.

Holland was being attacked on three sides by three different viruses. One was human and carried a pair of identical scimitars. Another was a yellow canary and he flew above the others; just out of reach. His weapon of choice seemed to be a laser whip. He brought the whip and Holland dashed out of the way. The last virus they were up against was a dragonfly virus but he did not fly like the canary. He stood by the human and looked at Holland with his head cocked to the side.

“Well, these odds are a little unfair, don’t cha think fellas?” Holland said. “How about we level the playing field?”

Shadows ran from the alleys, and under lampposts, and other various areas to where Holland stood. The viruses he was up against didn’t seem to be the least bit dazed. The shadows lashed out at the canary; attaching to his wings. They pulled him down to the ground to where the others were. The shadows engulfed the space and completely shrouded Holland’s body.

“Wait where the hell’d he go?” the dragonfly virus asked turning to the others.

They shrugged in response.

Suddenly the human fell on his face with a yell. He dropped his scimitars and was dragged through the darkness. His screams rang through the dark but he had no idea where he was or what was going on. Neither did the two viruses with him. The others looked around for the source of the noise but all they saw was blackness.

Emery was standing by Jett’s side but then Fiyero Nonagon bum rushed him. He tried to knock the man to the ground with a scream but he didn’t have enough time.

Fiyero came at Emery with a harsh left hook. But Emery saw it coming and he ducked under it; grabbing the man’s abdomen. Pushing him to the ground Emery wrapped his legs around the other man’s preventing him from breaking away. Sitting upright on the man who was now grappled to the ground Emery grit his teeth in anger and yelled. He began wailing on Nonagon’s face; landing each punch with the sickening sound of impact.

Waves of fear emanated off Fiyero’s body and Emery’s face contorted in fear.

“Hehehe, that’s right kid,” he said with an evil chuckle. “Feel the fear and just let it wash over you. Let it consume you.”

Emery tired to fight it but the fear had already set in. He pulled off Nonagon and backed away from him; hands up in defense.

Meanwhile Isabelle was fighting the gecko virus and a raccoon virus. The raccoon virus was taller than both the gecko and Isabelle but that didn’t worry her. What did bother her was that the large bo staff with a fish hook at the end that the raccoon wielded. The gecko was small and fast but so was Isabelle. She swung her flail at his feet and he jumped over the chain. The raccoon virus swung the bo at her feet; knocking her to the ground.

“That all you got, mister raccoon man?”

Isabelle pulled the chain of the flail; separating the spiked ball from the handle. She swung the ball at the raccoon’s face. Shooting two rounds at the gecko she pulled herself to a standing position.

The raccoon returned her hit with a swipe of the fish hook against her face. Her hand instinctively flew to the cut and it stung. Smiling at the raccoon she swung the spiked ball at her side as if she was going to bring it down on his head. Instead she shot at the man’s hand; knocking the bo staff from his grip. He dashed for it and she turned her attention to the gecko. She shot at the gecko but he dodged each one of her bullets.

Angry she let out a yell and swung the flail at his head. But he dodged the blow and the spiked ball got caught in a cracked section of the road.

The small form of the gecko virus jumped on her back and laced his fingers together before hitting her over the head. At the same time the raccoon swung the bo staff at her side.

She fell to the ground.

Scribe had camouflaged the moment the group was surrounded. No one could see where she was in the midst of the battle. That was because she wasn’t actually in the battle. She had ran in-between her teammates and the gang members; ducking out of the fray. Running across the street she hid behind the remains of the corner bakery. But she couldn’t take her eyes off the fight. It looked like the bad guys were winning. She pulled on her sweater sleeve and began twisting the fabric over her fingers.

Looking to her left she saw Jett and Cordelia facing off.

She looked over to the others and thought about what to do.

Then Isabelle fell to the ground and didn’t get back up. Scribe’s hand formed fists underneath the long sleeves of her sweater. She got up and ran back into the battle. The others couldn’t see her so she kicked the gecko virus in the face.

“What? Surprised to see me, Fire Boy?”

“I knew it was you all along,” he said; hurling a fireball at her head. She flew off the ground and dodged the blow. She laughed.

“Are you sure this is how you want things to go, my little kitten? There is an easy way to do this.” she said; influence heavy in her voice.

“Get out of my head,” he said; his voice straining.

“Oh, but, we worked so well together last time. Are you sure? Come now, you know you can’t resist.”

“GET! OUT!” he yelled; holding both of his hands out directly at Cordelia. Huge flames shot out of his hands and a few smaller one flicked at the sides of his arms.

XXXXX

One by one each member of Jett’s team and various goons under Cordelia’s influence fell on the battlefield. Isabelle was still knocked out from the blow to the head. The gecko was fighting an opponent he couldn’t see. Avia had taken out one of the gang members and was still standing. Kelly was lying on the ground with his war hammer far out of his reach. Emery had managed to take out the human with the dual scimitars before he passed out.

Jett was being held in place by Khalid. Cordelia stood next to him with a hand outstretched; gesturing to the battlefield.

“Look at all this horrible destruction and pained you’ve caused, my little Fire Boy.”

“Me?”

“You’re the one who told them to come here. You’re the one who convinced them that they could do this. You told them that it was possible for them to help you in your fruitless endeavor.”

He knew that she was right. Regardless of what Cordelia had done in the past what had just happened was his fault. And his alone. Turning to face her he looked at her with a grief-stricken expression.

“What do you even want? You already took everything from me. What else is there?”

“That’s for me to know and for you to lose sleep over, little kitten.”

Suddenly a voice called out over the battle; “Kid!”

“Detective Root?”

The detective galloped into view; his face red with anger and worry. Seeing the results of the battlefield he stopped. He scanned the mess before him hoping and praying to no one that the students were alright. Rushing over to where Jett was he slowed to a walk. He held his hands to show the villains that he was unarmed.

In reality there was a gun in the holster at his side.

“Let him go,” he said; talking to Khalid. “He’s just a kid. They’re all just kids.”

Khalid didn’t respond and he didn’t move.

“Didn’t you hear me? They’re damn children. What you’re doing is ludicrous.”

“He’s not gonna do anything, Detective,” Jett said struggling under the Madrid’s strength. “And he never will unless she—”

“Shut it, boy!” Cordelia ordered and Jett’s mouth instantly closed.

“Oh. So you’re the woman he told me about.”

Cordelia unfurled her wings and took off into the air. She landed on the ground right in front of the detective. She stood uncomfortably close to Legacy but he didn’t let it show. He had dealt quite a few people like her in his time. But this was first time ever dealing with someone as powerful as she was. He had never seen anyone control this many people at the same time.

“What of it, detective?” she said; her voice taking on a sultry tone.

Oh, no. No, no, no, no. Jett cried in his mind. This was not going to end well.

“Well, for one I came prepared,” Legacy said as he pulled a gun on Cordelia.

She laughed, loudly, and then turned an icy glare on the detective. He turned the gun away from her and struggled to stop himself from what he was doing. His hand shook and his face contorted as he tried to fight her. But it was no use. He pointed the gun at his temple. Legacy looked at her with pleading eyes. He tried to pull the gun away but the smallest amount of space he would gain was instantly taken away. He mumbled pleases of mercy but they fell on deaf ears.

Cordelia looked him up and down and nodded; pleased with the new attitude the detective had taken on.

“Now, the question is what to do with you. What to do. What to do,” she said as she paced in front of the detective.

“What do you think genie?”

“Turn them on each other,” Khalid suggested; turning to Cordelia.

She waved that suggestion off with a hand. She had done that before and she didn’t like repeating herself. Ever.

Walking away from the detective she went about checking on her men. Those who were awake were badly hurt and she made them sleep; promising that they would be alright in the morning. Nonagon was the only one, beside herself, who had barely a scratch on their person. She ordered him to stand by the detective and he obeyed instantly. Then she went about checking the members of Jett’s team.

“Seems like they’re alive for the most part, my little Fire Boy,” she called back to him.

“Leave them alone!” he yelled.

“Oh don’t worry,” she said as she knelt over Emery and whispered something in his ear. “I’m not going to do anything to them. Not yet anyway.”

She walked back over to where the detective and Nonagon were standing. Resting her chin against her hand she nodded to herself. She ordered the two of them to fight for a few minutes. When she was satisfied she told them to stop. Then she told the detective to handcuff Nonagon and arrest him for the string of murders he was investigating.

“No! Detective don’t li—”

“Kitten!” Cordelia hissed; ordering him to stop talking. She walked away from the others and turned to him. She stood directly in front of him but he pressed his ears to his head and turned away. She lifted his chin so that he had no choice but to look her in the eye. Her next words weren’t just for Jett but for the detective as well.

“Fiyero Nonagon was the one who committed the murders and you know it. All of the evidence points to him. And only him. He had no help and wasn’t in anyone’s employ. He is going to be arrested for his crimes and that is the end of that.”

She ordered Khalid to let Jett go and he released his grip on the teenager.

The last thing Cordelia did before she left was make the detective and Jett forget that they ever saw her that night. They had fought Fiyero Nonagon and no one else. Once she was satisfied that her powers took effect she turned her back to them, revealing the skull shaped cut out on the back of her dress, and left.

Slowly but surely all of her goons, except for Nonagon, followed behind her.

[ageeksnerdyworld]

It’s Only A Nightmare

Characters: Jett Leach, Emery Becker, Avia Carstairs, Kelly Ronan O’Connor, Isabelle Lombardi, Scribe Jenkins, Holland, and Walker

Word Count: 5,836

Trigger Warning: Swearing, Fighting/Arguing

A/N: Not much to say about this except that it’s the second part. And as always The Cyber World and the viruses therein belong to @voiceoflarka

Parts: X

Summary: People are falling victim to heart attacks all over Dashland. None of the cases are alike except for that fact. The body count is growing. And so the team is sent on their first field mission. Click the read more if you want to.

~~~

The detective had sent the group home after the fight despite their objections. He insisted that they rest up and heal. Everyone was hurt pretty bad and shaken to their core. Jett was still reeling from everything and couldn’t stand just yet. Emery sat next to him; comforting his friend. Avia had a winding crack along her forehead and small wisps of her soul began to flow out. Her eyes were shut and she leaned against Kelly for support. Holland was still passed out from over exerting their powers and so they had to be carried back to the detective’s car.

Once everyone was inside Legacy drove the group home.

Emery took up the window seat in the back of the van; leaning against the glass. Isabelle took up the other and Jett was sandwiched between them. Isabelle was staring out the window wide eyed. After a little while she looked away from the window and began pulling at a tear in her jeans. Walker, Holland, Kelly and Avia were uncomfortably squished like sardines in the very back row of seats. Holland and Avia sat in the middle, both fast asleep, and the other two flanked them. Avia’s head rested peacefully on her boyfriend’s shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and held her close. He also held a cloth against her forehead in an attempt to ease the flow of her soul that had begun leaking out of the minor crack. Scribe sat in the front passenger seat next to the detective. She had a small pile of copies if each victim’s file. She was the only person on the team who thought to ask the detective if it was alright to take them.

“He’s probably hiding out somewhere near,” she said, after a long and uncomfortable silence.

“That’s what I figured,” Legacy responded; his voice stern and quiet.

“Then let’s fucking go back!” Emery yelled.

Legacy shot him a look through the rearview mirror that quickly shut him up. Emery crossed his arms over his chest and slunk deeper in the seat. He went back to staring out the widow; angrily muttering to himself. Obscenities and vile threats, mostly directed at the killer they were trying to catch, fell from his lips. Some were meant for the detective. Some of those angry words were directed at himself.

Walker reached over the edge of the seat and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. Emery flinched in surprise, not realizing that anyone could hear him, but said nothing.

The rest of the ride was spent in total silence.

XXXXX

When the detective pulled up to their building they all filed out of the van; broken and defeated. He had offered to help those with more severe injuries inside. But, just as the words left his mouth, before he could even move to open the driver side door and get out of the van, Emery and Walker simultaneously shut down his offer. Legacy nodded, understanding that they needed to be alone for the time being, and watched the group stagger through the door. He continued to watch until they were fully out of sight.

He turned the key in the ignition, bringing the van back to life, and drove off into the night.

Once they were inside their dorm the group went their separate ways.

Walker carefully eased Holland onto the couch before going to their room. Scribe went to the room she and Isabelle shared; holding the files close to her chest. Isabelle also bolted for the room, grabbed a handful of clothes, and dashed into the bathroom. Jett went to the kitchen; head hung low. Emery followed at his friend’s heels.

Kelly led Avia to her room; nudging the door open with a hand. Her room had become a semi familiar sight since they had started dating. Sleek, stylish and neatly organized Avia’s room was an exact echo of her personality. Everything in her room had a specific place and it was entirely spotless. Upon opening the door and stepping into the room Kelly’s feet landed on the soft, white, faux sheep skin throw rug. He felt Avia slip on the rug and he immediately stopped.

If he let her fall and she got hurt any further he’d never forgive himself.

Kneeling down, keeping a hand on her back, he placed a hand under her legs and picked her off the floor. Holding her close to his chest he carefully passed by her stainless steel desk carrying Avia to her bed. Her bed was in the far left corner of the room and bookcase sat on the right side directly opposite the bed. A window sat a few above the floor, in between the two, which looked out onto the street. A long, rectangular, black ottoman sat at the foot of her bed.

The pair was nearing their sixth month anniversary and Kelly really wanted to do something for it. Avia always laughed the idea off saying it was asinine and childish. But after what happened earlier that night? He was definitely going to do something nice for her if they both survived this ordeal.

He carefully laid her on the bed and removed her heels; setting them on the floor. Then he unbuckled the strap of the scabbard at her side. Carefully lifting her up he slowly pulled the scabbard, and the rapier within, out from under her. Getting up from the bed he picked up her heels before walking over to the coat rack that stood by her desk. He hung the scabbard on one of the hooks. Then he walked across the room to the closet and set her heels down in the empty space on her shoe rack.

“Ke—Kelly?” Avia whispered; her voice weak.

“Shite,” he muttered under his breath before walking back over to her. He hoped he could’ve avoided being the one having to explain what happened. He sat on the corner edge of her bed and grasped her hand with a tight grip.

“It’s alright you—” he started to say but she cut him off.

“How’s Holland? Are they alright?”

“I’m not entirely sure. They sorta passed out after everythin’. Whatever the hell that guy did to Holly really messed them up.”

A sad look came over Avia’s face. She tried to explain to Kelly what happened when she was trapped in the shadows but he wasn’t having it. He gripped her hand even tighter and shushed her. This wasn’t a time for her to be worrying about anyone else. She needed to rest up and recover. He told her to lie back down and that he would get her something for the smaller cracks and bruises. She did.

“Get some sleep, mo ean beag,” he said leaning over to give her a kiss on the forehead. Then he quietly got off her bed and quickly crept out of her room.

He quietly closed the door behind him.

In the small hallway Kelly stopped for a few seconds, shaking his head with a sad sigh, before walking out into the living room. There on the couch, fast asleep, lay Holland. Emery and Jett sat next to one another on the other couch. Jett held a cup of cocoa in his hands, his ears flattened against his head, staring off at nothing. The other three were nowhere to be seen. It was rather normal for Walker to mysteriously disappear at random. It seemed to be a part of who they were as a person. Kelly assumed that Isabelle and Scribe were in their room; recovering from the events of the night. Kelly walked over to where Holland lay on the couch and lightly shoved their shoulder.

“Wake the fuck up.”

Holland didn’t move and Kelly smacked them in the face.

“Dude!” Emery yelled shocked.

Holland awoke groggy and confused; “What—What was that for?”

“Ye know exactly what ya big, steamin’, stinkin’, pile a garbage! Ye coulda killed her!”

Holland slowly sat up on the couch. It took a minute for them to realize what Kelly was yelling about. But eventually it dawned on them and their expression became remorseful and sad. They avoided Kelly and looked down at the floor instead. They sat with their hands clasped together in their lap.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Ye better think a somethin’ before I hit ye again. Yer fucking stupid shadows, and damn possums, are the reason she’s got a giant crack in her fucking head!”

“Wait… what?” Jett and Emery had yelled at the same time. Jett dropped his mug of cocoa in shock. At the same time they both turned to the other for answers but neither knew what Kelly was talking about. And they were both ignored by the others as they argued. Realizing that he spilled his cocoa Jett apologized to no one and left to get something to clean it up.

“It wasn’t me. It wasn’t my fault! Don’t you get that?”

“Oh fuck my little white Irish ass and call me Shirley. Anyone else have shadow powers you lily lickin’ wet noodle? I don’t think so.”

“It was that Empath and you know it,” Walker said; seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

“Whoa, whoa, hold up there, Irish. What the fuck do you mean by a giant crack?” Emery yelled as Jett walked back into the room.

Kelly turned to Emery and began a rapid fire explanation. He started by saying that he was probably exaggerating a bit but that Avia did have a lot of cracks all over her body from the fact. There were lots of bruises too. And he knew full well that they all had minor cuts, scrapes, cracks and bruises. But Avia had the most and one of those cracks was on her forehead and looked pretty bad. He quickly corrected himself and said that he saw it, that her soul was slowly leaking from it, so he knew that it was bad. As Kelly described the severity of Avia’s head injury Jett lost all color in his face and his ears flattened against his head once again.

Kelly turned his attention back to Walker.

“Oh, now what? Yer gonna tell us not ta fight? That’d be the funniest thing to happen all night. Where the hell were you during that whole battle anyway? I didn’t see ye anywhere.”

Walker shrugged; “Getting my ass beat like the rest of you.”

“You know it is pretty damn suspicious that no one saw you during the fight,” Emery said.

“What are you the fight police or something? We were all distracted! Besides Leprechaun over here couldn’t see jack thanks to Tall, Dark, and Shadowy.”

The argument continued to escalate as the group got louder and louder. Isabelle came out from her room and stood on the outskirts of the argument. She tried to get the others to stop but it was of no use. They didn’t care if the noises bothered Scribe. They didn’t care if Avia was sleeping. They didn’t care to realize that what they were doing was stupid and counterproductive. They just wanted to tear each other’s throats out. She sighed and went back to her room.

Jett quietly got up from the couch and stood on the wood side table in the middle of the living room.

“EVERYBODY SHUT UP!”

They did.

“What happened to Avia isn’t Holly’s fault, alright? It isn’t Kell’s fault. And despite their oddness, and super shady behavior at times, it isn’t Walker Texas Ranger’s fault either. Hell, it isn’t even that, Fredario or whatever his name is, guy’s fault. It’s my fault. Mine.”

“No, dude, bro, it’s not your fault,” Emery protested.

“Yes. It. Is. You said it yourself last night, Beck,” Jett said; hanging his head sadly. “I’m team leader. So that makes this my fault.”

“I just said that to get you to do something, bro. I didn’t mean it like that.”

“There’s something else too.”

“What does that mean? Something else?” Walker asked; giving Jett a sideways glance.

“It’s a little hard to explain and it’s probably better to say it when everyone’s in the room and not actively trying to kill each other. Everybody get some sleep we’ll talk about it in the morning.”

They looked around at one another and realized that he was right. Sleep was the best thing for all of them at this point. Everyone nodded in agreement and went to their respective rooms. Except for Holland who was still in a ton of pain, both psychical and mental, as they plopped back down on the couch and fell back asleep. And Kelly who went to give Avia something for her injuries that were worse than they looked.

XXXXX

Scribe had changed shortly after arriving and was now wearing a dark maroon, long sleeved, sweater and a pair of black shorts. She sat on her bed, cross-legged, with her back against her pillows. A worn, well-loved, stuffed brown rabbit lay on the bed beside her. She pulled a sleeve of her sweater over her thumb. She was intently staring at one of the victim’s files.

Earlier that day she asked the detective if it was alright for her to take the files with her. He chuckled and lightly shook his head.

“That’s the reason for making copies,” he said. “But I guess your teammates haven’t figured that out yet.”

Her eyes read the information over and over again but nothing was jumping out. The group had only been home for ten minutes, maybe a little more, and she already ran through the five files twice. There wasn’t a file for the sprite boy they had found earlier that night. Not yet anyway. Scribe knew that they would most likely be one in the morning or the afternoon at the latest. The other files sat in a small stack to her immediate left.

There has to be something that connects them other than just the manner of death, she thought.

If there was she wasn’t seeing it.

Frustrated she picked the files up and laid them out on the floor. She flipped open each one to the first page and then sat down in the middle of the room. Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Scribe imagined herself in a large, empty, pool. Not necessarily swimming but floating in the water; letting it softly push her about. That’s when Isabelle walked in.

“Oh! Sorry! If you’re busy I can come back later. I don’t want to bother you.

“You can come in. Just don’t touch anything and walk quietly,” Scribe responded; eyes still shut.

“No biggie. I can do that.”

Scribe calmly listened to the empty air as Isabelle walked into the room. Isabelle stopped, paused for a few seconds, and then walked across. A soft thud reached her ears as Isabelle plopped herself down on the beanbag chair. Then Scribe opened her eyes.

Naturally the first file before her was of the first victim.

Enjay Sno. A fox virus originally from the Historical District. Female. Eyes: Blue. Hair: Brown. No veins and no powers. She had lived alone prior to her murder. The front page of the file also had two pictures of the victim. One was prior to death. It was the only picture the police could find in her apartment. It was of her and her boyfriend. He was questioned by police but proved to be innocent. In that picture Enjay was happy, smiling, and alive. The other picture was a headshot taken by the police department’s M.E.

Same old, same old, Scribe said to herself as she moved on to the next file.

Key Scotts, the second victim, was almost the complete opposite of the first. A human virus born and bred in Dashland. Male. He had green/brown heterochromia and his hair was black. His veins were a deep navy. He had no powers. Unlike the first victim he came from a well-to-do family of lawyers and had a good relationship with his parents. There were also two photos of Key. The first was a typical stylized headshot, his soul leaking through his left eye, and said nothing about the man in the photo. The other was after he had been dead for a few hours.

Her eyes scanned the second file for a connection.

That’s when the fighting in the living room got too loud. Far too loud to be ignored, far too loud to be background, and far too loud for Scribe. Scribe couldn’t handle all the noise and the stress of her investigation at the same time. She shut her eyes tight and brought her knees to her chest. Her mouth twisted in a pained grimace. Scribe brought her hands up the sides of her head and threaded her fingers through her hair. Her hands clenched and she started to pull at her hair. She pulled hard but not hard enough to pull any hair out. Yet.

“Oh no. We are not doing this tonight,” Isabelle said the exhaustion she felt audible in her voice.

Isabelle struggled to get out of the beanbag chair for a minute or two. She loved the chair but it was a hassle to deal with. It swallowed her small form. Once her feet were on the wood floor she walked briskly to the door and left the room. She was always light on her feet so she did all without making a single sound.

Walking out into the hallway the argument was even louder and she clenched her fist. Getting mad at each other after what they went through was stupid. None of this was anybody’s fault and they had to keep it together if they wanted to solve the case. Not to mention the fact that this was a pretty important part of their training. Fighting was just going to make everything worse. She turned the corner and immediately was met with the sight of everyone yelling, gesticulating, and trying not to throw punches.

Isabelle bit her bottom lip and began playing with her necklace.

Part of her wanted to take it off and throw it away after what that murderer did. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it. The necklace was too sentimental, too important, and filled with far too many memories. Nothing would make her part with it. The area on her neck where the cord sat burned and would remain a constant reminder of the earlier events of the night until it healed. She shook the thoughts away and spoke up.

“Hey, guys, all this yelling is really upsetting Scribe. Can you stop? Please? Don’t you care that you’re all making a teammate, a friend, upset?”

They didn’t listen so she tried a different approach.

“You’re going to wake up Avia. Kelly! Kelly! Your girlfriend needs to sleep you, big idiot!”

No one seemed to even notice that she was there. If truth be told Isabelle was far too exhausted to put up a real fight with the others. So she just left and went back to her room. She turned the doorknob and slowly opened the door. Isabelle didn’t want Scribe to get the full brunt of the noise since it was already bothering her.

That’s when Jett decided to scream at the top of his lungs.

Scribe’s body shook at the sound of Jett’s scream.

“Oh no,” Isabelle said; her voice full of worry. “I tried to get them to stop before but they didn’t pay attention to me.”

“It’s okay. They stopped now.”

“You sure,” Isabelle asked with a suspicion.

Scribe nodded. She went back to looking over the files; thinking that she found the connection.

Nabiyah Tomas didn’t have any powers. Sorris Daughtry didn’t either. The fifth victim, Secena Orion, didn’t have powers. Scribe knew that the young sprite didn’t either.

Isabelle wanted to do something to make her feel better after everything that happened that night. So she walked over to the shelf that sat above Scribe’s desk. On Scribe’s desk there was a replica of a human skull, a stack of notebooks, a laptop, and a small tabletop calendar. The top drawer on the right hand side was locked with a small padlock. But Isabelle knew what was inside it; a small handheld labeler and a label maker. The bottom drawer probably held more notebooks and pens. Isabelle stood far back enough from the desk that she wouldn’t accidentally touch anything. She knew that the shelf held Scribe’s dirt collection but she had to stand on her tiptoes to see the labels on the small vials.

“Don’t touch those. Those are mine. Don’t touch.” Scribe called from her bed.

“I’m not gonna touch them, don’t worry. I’m just looking.”

“Looking is okay. You can look.”

“Thank you.”

A few minutes passed as Isabelle looked at the vials of dirt. Each vial was corked and labeled. Some of the vials were labeled with small handmade tags while others had actual labels. Each label was composed of two set of numbers. The numbers were written in the same format; the first number was followed by a little circle, the second was followed by an apostrophe, and the third was followed by a quotation mark. Or at least that’s what it looked like at first glance. The longer she looked at the vials she noticed that the dirt in each vial was clearly different from the one before and the one after. It made sense since Scribe told her that she collected dirt from the places she had been to.

That’s when Isabelle realized that the markings weren’t what she initially thought.

They were a degree symbol, foot, and inch markers.

“The labels are coordinates,” she whispered to herself.

She turned to Scribe and repeated what she had said. “That’s pretty neat,” she added.

“You really think so?”

Isabelle nodded; “It’s different than just writing the name of the district but it’ll help you figure out— ”

“Where I am if I ever go back, yeah!” Scribe said with glee. “That’s why I do it! Dad understood that and said it was really smart. Mom never understood.”

“Wanna tell me a story about one of them? The vials?”

Scribe nodded. She already figured out the connection between the victims so she was done with that. The others needed time to calm down so she wasn’t going to bring it up right away. It was better to wait until the morning. So she gathered the files and began telling Isabelle the story about the first vial on the shelf. The girls spent the next two hours swapping stories of their childhood adventures, their parents, and home.

XXXXX

Jett had trouble sleeping that night.

Emery did as well.

They both found their way to the living room at same the time. Neither knew which one got up first but they seemed to be the only ones awake. Holland was still sleeping on the couch and so they tried to be as quiet as possible. Jett had changed at some point in the night to a pair of red boxer shorts and a gray tank. His hair, a complete tangled, sweaty, mess, was currently in a low pony. Emery knew why but he wasn’t going to tell his best friend that. But he also knew that he didn’t look any better. He could feel bags forming under his eyes and could smell his breath.

“You look like shit, man,” Jett whispered.

“Hilarious coming from you right now, dude. You look like a semi ran you over. Twice.”

“Harsh,” Jett said with a laugh.

They fell into an awkward silence which was new for the both of them. Then Emery pulled Jett back into their room and began rifling through his backpack. He threw what he didn’t want to the side and almost hit Jett a couple times. After a few minutes he pulled out every single pack of hair dye he owned. He told Jett to pick, or two, and then left him alone. Emery came back after a few minutes; with a pile of snacks and energy drinks in his hands. He dropped them on the floor and asked Jett what colors he picked. Jett held up two boxes. One was labeled Electric Hot Pink and the other was labeled Holographic Blue.

Emery nodded approvingly and took the boxes from Jett.

Before they left the room Emery grabbed a bottle of hair bleach. Then he went into the kitchen to grab a plastic bowl and a couple pairs of disposable gloves. He explained to Jett that the current color needed to come out first. Otherwise the new colors wouldn’t turn out the way he wanted them to. He pushed the bathroom window open and left the door ajar to attempt some sort of ventilation. He explained how to mix the bleach to Jett and then turned the shower on. Sticking his head in, he stood underneath it, for a few minutes. Emery left the bleach in his hair for a good two hours before washing it out; revealing his natural hair color. The boys spent the next hour or so in the bathroom trying their best to create some sort of an alternating color scheme of the selected colors on Emery’s hair.

“You should try and do a pink swirl or something in the patches of blue,” Isabelle called from the doorway.

“Holy shit!” Emery yelled in surprise.

The sudden sound of Isabelle’s voice had completely spooked him. In his surprise he doubled back and ended up tripping on the bathroom rug. He fell on his back and landed in between the bathtub and the toilet. Jett laughed. Emery tried to get up but he quickly lost his grip on the side of the tub and he fell again. Jett laughed even harder and this time Emery started laughing too.

“Sorry,” Isabelle said; grimacing and trying not to laugh.

“Don’t be,” Jett said as his laughter died down. “You didn’t scare me.”

“You’re fine, you’re fine. I’m doing alternating tips, anyway,” Emery said as he stood up.

“Are you two almost done? I kinda need to go.”

“Shit, fuck, sorry, I didn’t realize. Shit,” Emery said.

They were in fact done for the time being. All they had to do now was wait until it was time for Emery to wash the dye out. So the boys threw everything in the trash and took the remainder of their snacks. They apologized to Isabelle for earlier, and for leaving the door open, and left. Isabelle shrugged and then shut the door behind them.

Out in the hallway, much to their surprise, the boys saw Holland up and walking around.

“Holly you, uh… you okay?”

“Yeah, thanks for asking, Jett. I really mean that,” they said with a smile.

“You wanna watch a movie or something?”

“Yeah, I’d like that. Anyway I’m pretty sure I slept enough for the next month and a half,” Holland said with a laugh.

Jett and Emery got rid of their dye stained gloves as well as the excess dye. Holland helped when they were needed. Then the trio walked back into the living and Jett dropped the leftover snacks, and drinks, on the coffee table. Emery went about setting up the movie. Holland went about setting a few small throw pillows on the floor for those who preferred to sit there. Then they headed to the hall closet and grabbed a few blankets.

Isabelle came out of the bathroom and rushed over to the others; excited.

“Omigod, omigod, you guys! Are we having a movie night!”

“Yeah, guess so,” Jett said with a shrug.

“Awesome! Wait, wait, hold up I’ll be right back. Don’t start it without me!” she said before running off.

“Guess I should make some popcorn then, huh?” Emery said getting up from in front of the T.V.

A few minutes later Isabelle came back with her camera around her neck. She then plopped down on the couch. After awhile the smell of popcorn wafted through the entire dorm. Kelly and Avia emerged from her room and joined the others. Scribe also made her way to the living room around the same time.

Jett and Emery sat next to one another on the opposite couch. Holland took a seat next to Isabelle and then Kelly sat next to them. He patted the empty space next to him; inviting Avia to sit there. She stood on the outskirts of the group, behind the sofa, arms crossed over her chest. Her face was a mix of emotions as she eyed the others.

Avia took a moment and then sat next to her boyfriend.

“Movie night?” Walker said.

“They don’t have that wherever you’re from?” Isabelle said.

Walker didn’t say anything. But they sat on the floor on the opposite side of Scribe. The large bowl of popcorn sat in between them. Together the eight of them watched one of those mind-numbing comedy movies starring some celebrity only known for comedies. Halfway through the movie Kelly and Avia started making out and Emery threw a pillow at them. Everyone laughed.

Isabelle took loads of pictures; promising to make a collage. Walker constantly ridiculed the main character while Scribe pointed out structural flaws in the movie. Holland told them just enjoy the movie for its jokes. Emery and Jett simultaneously shouted that the movie had no jokes.

They all had fun, smiled, laughed, forgetting the earlier events of the night for a little while.

XXXXX

It was the middle of the night and the entire dorm was dark and quiet. Everyone was sound asleep. Everyone except for Walker who was preparing to go out. They opened the top drawer of their dresser and felt around inside. Soon they found what they were looking for; a small square-shaped panel. They pressed the panel in and a small hidden compartment opened up. Reaching inside they pulled out the item and sat in the middle of the floor. The item was a small dictionary with intricate gold leaf designs on the front and on the spine.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor they set the dictionary down and reached into the right side of their pants; pulling out a thin chain. They unhooked the chain from the ring that was sewn onto their belt. A small, metal, key hung from the chain. They wrapped the excess chain around their fingers and held the key in between their thumb and forefinger. A small keyhole was hidden on the side of the box that was designed to look like the pages of the book. They put the key in the lock and turned it.

The box opened.

Despite the box’s small size it held quite a few things. Things that Walker would never show to anyone; especially their teammates. But at that moment they were only concerned with the two items on the very top. One was a black leather respirator mask. The mask had become a bit tattered and faded over time but they weren’t going to replace it any time soon. The other item was a pair of goggles with a double eye loupe on both sides. The goggles had also seen better days. The leather straps were pealing in certain spots and the left side lens had a large crack in it.

Walker pulled both items out of the box, relocked it, and returned the box to its hiding spot.

They put the mask on and then pulled the goggles over their head. They moved their hair out of the way before pulling the goggles over their eyes. Walker walked over to the other side of their room and grabbed a coat from their closet. The one they pulled out was long, hooded, and made of black leather. The coat had a series of buckles along the sleeves, underneath the collar, and a belt. They put the cloak on and pulled the hood up before creeping out of their room and out of the dorm.

Once they were outside they roamed the streets for a while.

Every few minutes a sound reach their ears, and one would flick in the direction of the sound, or some passerby would catch their eye; putting them on high alert. They pulled the hood tighter around their head before ducking in an alleyway. Looking up they smiled at the sight of a fire escape on the side of the building. They quickly climbed up the ladder to the first landing and then they kept on going. Once they were at the very top landing of the fire escape they grabbed the edge of the roof and pulled themselves up.

They stood at the edge of the rooftop for a minute; looking at the people below.

There weren’t many given the time of night but there were enough to be looked at. Walker breathed deeply and took in the dusk air. Turning on their heels they started to walk across the rooftop. They could see the rooftop of the building next to the one where they currently stood. From the look of it was less than a ten foot gap. They broke out into a sprint. Then they reached the edge. They swung their arms back and jumped. Their arms swung forward as they leapt off the roof. They landed with a practiced grace. Walker used the momentum to roll a bit further onto the roof.

Walker stood up and immediately broke into another sprint.

This pattern of parkour continued as they ran across a few more buildings. They had to admit that they missed this. Doing something only for themselves. Doing something just because they enjoyed it. It had been such a long time since they had done this they were a bit surprised they still had it in them. But repetition leads to muscle memory and they would be able to do no matter the breaks they took. This was something they would always go back to. The adrenaline, the alone time, the feeling of the wind in their hair.

Everything about nights like these was perfect.

They stopped on the roof of the sixth or seventh building. Or was it the tenth? They lost count awhile back but they didn’t really care.

The building was maybe a thousand feet, maybe closer to two, Walker had no clue. But it was tall and seemed to be one of the taller buildings in the area. From their vantage point on the roof they could see the tops of the other buildings. They perched on the edge of the roof and turned the eye loupes down so that they could actually see the city below. Doing so allowed them to see more of the city below. They scanned the area for anything that would be unnatural, or out of the ordinary, for this time of night.

“Old habits die hard, huh? Seems like yours die even harder, الأرنب الصغير,” said a voice, mockingly, from the dark.

[ageeksnerdyworld]

It’s Only A Nightmare

Characters: Jett Leach, Emery Becker, Avia Carstairs, Kelly Ronan O’Connor, Isabelle Lombardi, Scribe Jenkins, Holland, and Walker

Word Count: 6,485

Trigger Warning: Death, Violence, Swearing, Fire, Flashback, PTSD Episode

A/N: So this took like forever to write because I’ve been sick and I had my wisdom teeth taken out. It’s real hard to write while you’re super drugged up and in pain. Also according to my laptop that word count equals 15 pages. And always The Cyber World and the viruses therein belong to @voiceoflarka

Summary: People are falling victim to heart attacks all over Dashland. None of the cases are alike except for that fact. The body count is growing. And so the team is sent on their first field mission. Click the read more if you want to.

~~~

The young woman tried to run but it was of no use. The shadows that chased her looked real but they weren’t. The monsters that lurked deep in those shadows weren’t real either. She felt them. Her fear was real. And that’s all that mattered.

All Enjay Sno could hear outside of her own screams was the sound of her boots against the concrete sidewalk.

Her mother always comforted her whenever she had a nightmare when she was a child. But she wasn’t a child living in her parents’ house anymore. She had moved out years ago and started to make her own life; she hadn’t even spoken to her mother in months. And she wasn’t really having a nightmare.

She ran down the alley and out into the street; screaming.

When the local police found her body the case surprised everyone at the station. The young female fox virus didn’t die because she was hit by a car. In fact she wasn’t hit by any of the vehicles on the road that night. She miraculously didn’t have a single scratch on her person. It seemed that her heart just gave out on her. The medical examiner ruled her death as result of a sudden cardiac arrest.

A few weeks went by and the young woman was quickly forgotten.

Key Scotts could feel the fear running through his veins as he searched for the source of his terror. But there was no one around. There was nothing to be seen in the middle of the woods and the deep, dark, of night. He had no reason to be there on a normal day especially if he was in his right mind. But neither of those things were the case.

Everywhere he looked he saw something terrifying.

He ran from everything that was out to get him. He ran from his deepest fears. He died cold, alone, and afraid. He had everything going for him in life. Just like the woman his death was ruled a sudden cardiac arrest. He was the son of a prominent lawyer; going into the same field of study. He had a fiancé and a happy home life. There was no reason for him to die that quickly. His family issued a statement to the press against the dangers of drugs.

Suddenly there were five dead and no one had any answers.

XXXXX

The day started just like any other day; hell on earth. Mornings were always hectic ever since the group was put together as a team. It didn’t make much sense to any of them. Putting eight people all on a single team? It was insane. This meant that eight people had to share a kitchen, a bathroom, and a living space. While a few team members were somewhat absent in the morning from time to time it was always chaotic.

“Avia you can’t hog the shower! There are seven other people here!”

“Calm down, sweetie,” the bird virus’ voice rang out from behind the bathroom door. “There should be enough water for you when I’m done.”

“Are you sure becau—Wait a minute! Was that a short joke?” Isabelle yelled; banging on the door.

Emery was sleeping soundly on the top bunk but the commotion from the girls woke him up. He tried to go back to sleep but that’s when Isabelle started banging on the door. People who never lived with a larger amount of other people tended to forget that most places had thin walls. Most of those people also usually thought that walls were completely sound proof. Giving up on sleep he swung his legs over the side of the bunk and hopped down. He knelt down and peeked into the bottom bunk. He saw a body shaped pile of blankets and pillows but he nudged it just to be sure. Jett responded with an annoyed grunt and rolled on his side; away from where he thought Emery was.

Satisfied that his best friend was still alive he groggily walked out in to the hallway.

“Ladies, ladies, stop yelling. There’s a civilized way to fix this.”

He walked into the kitchen and turned the hot water on full blast.

Avia came running out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel; carrying her clothes.

“You stupid troglodyte!” she yelled as she slammed the door shut.

“Hey! I’m not a caveman!”

“I’m honestly surprised you even know what that means,” she retorted through the door.

He opened the fridge and grabbed the first thing his eyes landed on. Grabbing a spoon from the utensil drawer he spun on his heels and walked to the living room. Once there he plopped himself down on the couch with a sigh. He pulled the lid off the yogurt cup and licked it clean. Sitting alone in the living he peacefully ate his yogurt while the others woke up and made their way to the kitchen.

Soon the others woke up and the dorm got a lot more hectic as people fought for the bathroom, space in the kitchen, or some other thing. Walker was making pancakes for the group which surprised everyone. Holland made a batch of tea which surprised no one. Kelly sat at the table with a mug of coffee and a bottle of whisky and was currently pouring the whiskey into the mug. Everyone was going about their morning. Except for Jett who seemed to still be asleep.

Emery sighed and got up from the couch.

He knocked on the door to the bedroom that he and his best friend shared. Jett answered with a grunt. Emery tiptoed in and closed the door behind him. He could see that in the bit of time that had passed Jett had moved around quite violently in his sleep. The bed was now a total mess. One of the blankets was shoved off the bed and wedged between the frame and the wall, another blanket was half on the bed and half draped off the edge. None of the blankets were actually on Jett’s body. His black tank top was full of wrinkles and rolled up; exposing his stomach. He held a pillow over his face with one arm draped over it. His other arm dangled off the side of the bed.

Emery walked over to the bunk bed and sat on the edge of the bottom bunk.

“Bro you gotta get up.”

“Nuh-uh.”

Emery gave Jett a hard shove. Jett responded in kind by slapping his friend in the face with a pillow.

“Dude, today’s the big day.”

“I don’t care.”

“Pretty sure you don’t want to be stuck in here all by yourself while we go take down bad guys, bro.”

“I’m not moving until somebody finds that bitch.”

“Well, you’re not gonna know if we find her if you stay here all day.”

Jett grunted in agreement and got up. Emery left the room and gave his friend time to get ready. Everyone else was ready and waiting. He gave the group a wink and they all collectively sighed. Once he was ready Jett emerged from his room to see everyone waiting expectantly. Avia was a bit annoyed having wanting to make a good impression with whoever they were working with. Jett apologized and held the door open for everyone as they filled out of the room.

Once outside the team made their way to the police station.

XXXXX

They were assigned to tag along with Detective Legacy Root. He was a good cop, with over thirty years on the force, who was nearing his retirement. Root was a grizzled centaur virus with a splattering pattern of gray, black, and white all over his horse torso and legs. The human half of his body was tan and muscled even in his old age. He had gray hair that matched his beard and a few freckles across his nose. His tail was stark white. His eyes were a deep brown, almost black, color and they set a stern and steely gaze on the group as they entered the station.

“Look what the Academy sent us, Sarge, a buncha wannabe heroes,” the voice of rookie cop Tyke Bunsen loudly proclaimed to his friend as well as everyone else in the room.

“Think y’all took a wrong turn this ain’t the playground, kiddos,” Sarge Rajah added; laughing.

Legacy turned his stern gaze on the young cops and they quickly shut their mouths. He greeted the group as they approached his desk. He took in each person who stood in front of him for a minute or so. There were eight of them in all and the detective was surprised that the Academy let this big of a group even exist. Even though he had been given a briefing on the group prior to their arrival he let each one of them introduce themselves.

“Go grab some chairs for yourselves,” he said once introductions were over with, “unless you all prefer to stand.”

The group left except for the black rabbit virus.

All Legacy knew about the kid was what the Academy knew. Which was actually next to nothing. The rabbit, Walker was their name according to the Academy’s records, looked around the station as Legacy went about collecting the copies he had made of the case files. The detective watched the rabbit out of the corner of his eye as they surveyed the room. Soon the group was all together again the detective handed out a copy of the case files to each of them.

After they had discussed the known facts of the case he let the kids ask a few questions. The tall, lanky, ginger kid didn’t ask any questions so much as he just talked out loud. The rest of the group ignored him and so Legacy did the same.

“This is crazy. We’re actually working a case, you guys! Heart attacks ain’t much of a real case if ye ask me but I can’t believe we’re actually doing this! This is the best day ever. Actually, no, that’s not true. If we saw any 99ers out there doing stuff then it’d be the best day ever.”

“Babe,” Avia whispered. “I love you but do shut up.”

Walker picked up one of the files and stared at one it with a murderous look. After a minute or two Walker set the file back down on the desk without a word; leaned against the side of Legacy’s desk and crossed their arms over their chest. Two of the girls, the dark skinned one with round glasses and the one with the Devil’s Eyes, asked if he had any suspects yet. He chuckled lightly before going into detail about the few suspects he did have in mind.

A small time crook with who went by the name Hilarity was a possible lead. Hilarity was one of the local criminals with a power of the Empath variety. Usually the guy would make his victims laugh until they cried using the scene to commit robberies and make his escape but it wasn’t a stretch that he had changed his MO. There was a succubus virus that had become quite known to the police recently who could’ve been involved. Another possible lead was this suspicious vagrant woman who had been seen in the area recently. No one knew anything about here but this wasn’t the time to be leaving out any suspects.

And, of course, there was also Fiyero Nonagon.

“Fiyero Nonagon isn’t your normal Empath, kids.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Emery asked trying his best to tone down his usual snark.

“He’s pretty damn dangerous, that’s what it means.”

Walker turned a suspicious eye on the detective; looking him up and down but said nothing. The detective returned the look and Walker nodded; clearly impressed.

“What makes you think an Empath did it?” Jett asked; hand raised.

“No need to raise your hand, kid,” Legacy said with a chuckle. “This isn’t math class.”

An awkward silence fell as his joke went right over the group’s heads. Legacy gave them all a slight nod. These kids didn’t want to mess around and that was commendable. If any of them wanted a career in law enforcement in the future he wouldn’t be surprised.

“Like I said before every victim’s death was ruled by our ME to be cardiac arrest which is a big coincidence. The only thing that connects these cases is that fact that each victim’s body was found in a place they had no reason to be—”

“What about the fifth victim, the human?” Scribe asked.

“What about ‘em?”

“They were found in the only place they would’ve been. Seneca Orion had no other place to be besides the church. The only place.”

“Could be a fluke,” Legacy said, “or maybe our perp is just getting more confident. That happens all the time. Far too often, actually.”

“So you’re saying we could have a serial killer?” Avia asked knowingly.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

With that he stood up from his seat and told the kids to follow him. Sitting around talking about the case wasn’t going to get them anywhere. And if the group really wanted to help, or at least finish their assignment, then they had to get going. The more time spent doing nothing the more time the killer could use to strike. For all they knew the killer already could have. The group had to work fast if they wanted to catch this killer.

Legacy lead them out to the front and told them all to stay put.

In a few minutes he came back in a large police van. The group stared at him all with different expressions. Walker’s face clearly showed that they didn’t think the van was necessary. Avia was shocked to say the least. Jett’s expression didn’t really convey anything that Legacy noticed. Both Kelly and Isabelle stared with wide-eyed excitement.

“Kelly was right you guys. This is the best day ever!” Isabelle said excitedly as they all piled into the police van.

XXXXX

The sermon room of the church was large, empty, and cold. Even the large stained glass windows seemed darker than usual. Only a few candles were lit on the altar at the back of the room. The confessional booth that sat on the left side of the altar was open and empty. A few small pamphlets and religious texts scattered the pews. But the entire building seemed dead to the world. It was if the building itself knew of Seneca Orion’s death and was in mourning. If rumors were to be believed Seneca not only grew up in the church but he never left its walls.

“Right in the Academy’s backyard. No wonder they sent you all to work this case.” Legacy said; taking in the scene.

He sent the group to look around the rest of the building while he surveyed the sermon room. Walker went off by themselves to look outside while Kelly and Avia searched together. Neither choices were much surprise to anyone else. Isabelle, Holland, and Scribe all went to search the Jett and Emery decided to stay behind with the detective and search the scene of the murder for clues.

In the sermon room there wasn’t much to see or to search besides the body of the deceased. So the boys went to inspect it first.

“Don’t touch it, bro.”

“Dude, bro, why would I touch it?” Emery asked feigning innocence.

“Because you always do shit people say not to do and the detective told us not to touch. If you touch it I will burn your hands off.”

“You’re joking.”

“Dude, do I look like I’m joking?”

Emery knew by the sound of his voice that Jett wasn’t joking from the very beginning but he just wanted to test it. He held his hands up in front of him and turned them around to show that he wasn’t holding anything suspicious. Then he made a big show of putting them in the front pockets of his jeans. Jett nodded approvingly and then both of the boys laughed at how stupid that was. They turned their attention on the body of the deceased.

The body of Seneca Orion was still and unmoving. He lay in an odd pose; on his stomach, face to the ceiling, arms and legs akimbo. His jet black hair fell down over the front of his face in waves. The longer sections stopped just short of his eyebrow. The shaved sides of his hair had an intricate design cut into the short hair. He wore a long blue scarf that was wrapped around his neck a couple times. The rest of his clothing was typical of those who ran in religious circles.

“Isn’t it weird that his body’s still here?” Emery asked.

“This guy was killed last night… or was it this morning? I don’t remember, man. But yeah it is weird that his body is still here.”

“Guess they wanted the detective to check it out first,” Emery said with a nudge in the detective’s direction.

As the group went about searching the church for evidence the detective’s phone rang.

“Root, it’s me.”

“What is it, Rajah? I’m on a case.”

“That’s just it, we got another one.”

“Dammit,” he said with a sigh. “Where?”

“Harbor on Fanend. Not too far from the church you’re at now, actually.”

The officer gave Root the address of the where the victim was found and wished him luck. Root thanked him for the information. He told Jett to gather the test of the team and when they were all back in the sermon room he relayed it to the group. Then they all group into the van once again and drove off.

XXXXX

The body was recently deceased. By the looks of it the victim had been murdered not too long ago. The soul was still leaking from the victim’s right eye; a dull pulsing sea green. The victim looked to have died in the same way as the other five. The victim was another male. But unlike the others he looked to still be a sprite. His dark hair was cut angled across his forehead. He wore blue and gray tennis shoes, tan cargo pants, and a dark gray hoodie. The way his body laid on the sidewalk it looked like he had died while running from the building.

This one’s just a kid, dammit! he thought angrily.

Legacy knelt down and looked at the body of the boy more closely.

The boy’s brown eyes were filled with terror and his face was now a permanent fearful expression. He had a small crack on the bridge of his nose as if he had been in a fight some weeks prior and the injury was almost fully healed. While he inspected the boy’s body the students behind him argued.

“Whoever did this has to be in the area still,” Avia said.

“Yeah,” Walker said, “they couldn’t have gotten far.”

“Well, actually, they could have,” Kelly said. “If they were in a car, or on a bike, or a motorcycle they could’ve gotten far. They could’ve gotten pretty far actually. And if they’re a mervirus then, well, we are by the boardwalk. Or if they can fly or if they have super speed or even speed burst powers—”

“Fucking hell dude shut up! That isn’t helping.” Emery said; cutting him before he could continue any further.

“Control your boyfriend’s mouth.”

“You think I have any control over anything he says? Or when he says it?”

“What should we do, Jett?” Isabelle asked; bringing the group back to the task at hand.

“Why are you asking me?”

“Because you’re team leader, dumbass,” Emery said.

“Oh yeah… okay um… I think we should look for clues around here. Maybe there’s something that’ll tell us where the murderer went.”

But before anyone moved to do anything Scribe tugged on Jett’s left arm.

“He went north. Could be going back towards the Academy or somewhere else.”

“Oh,” Jett said completely at a loss for what to do.

“We’re going north. On foot,” the detective said; standing up. And before anyone could protest he galloped away from them. The rest had no choice but to follow.

XXXXX

The group was approaching from the area from the south; going up the street. They were only about four or five blocks from where the sixth victim was found. And Nonagon was just there; waiting. He stood underneath a street lamp with an expectant look on his face.  He leaned against the lamppost with one leg bent at the knee and his foot resting up against the post. He wore a long tan, somewhat stained, leather duster jacket. Underneath the duster he wore a pair of dark washed blue jeans, black tennis shoes, and a plain white t-shirt. Legacy motioned the group to duck into a small alleyway and made them huddle up.

“I don’t like the look of this.”

“Oh yeah, really,” Emery said rolling his eyes; not even trying to hold back his snark.

Scribe tugged on Jett’s sleeve again and his ear turned to her direction. She whispered; “It’s probably an ambush. He’s just sitting there waiting for us. Ambush.”

“I agree, but, we’re kinda supposed to follow his lead right?”

“Maybe we can just talk to him,” Holland suggested.

“You really want to try talking to a guy who killed five people?” Walker asked. “Fucking pacifist.”

“I’m just saying we can maybe reason with him.”

“There’s no reasoning with psychopaths or serial killers, Holland.”

“Takes one to know one—”

All the while the kids were arguing Legacy was silent; blocking out the noise. He was unsure of what to do. It was pretty clear that this was an ambush. Maybe Nonagon wasn’t working alone like they thought. But he couldn’t see anything that pointed to signs of other people in the area. It didn’t make sense that he would just be here, a few blocks from where his latest victim was found, waiting for them. It was strange. Serial killers always do strange things but this was beyond that. He had to have backup posted somewhere or at least waiting on it to arrive.

But he didn’t want another body on his hands and so he had to act fast.

“By the looks of it he could be setting up an ambush for us. Now as far as we know he isn’t working with anyone else. I’m not sure whether he’s waiting for us or for his partner to arrive. So we’ll go with the latter and hope it works out.”

“What do you want us to do, detective?” Jett asked.

“You eight, damn they are eight of you isn’t there…”

“Yes, there is,” Scribe said matter of fact.

“Yeah. Yeah. So you eight are gonna all come at him from different sides, okay. How and when you do that is up to you, alright. I’m going to talk to him and maybe distract him so he doesn’t notice any of you.”

The detective walked over to the killer without giving the group much thought.

XXXXX

Jett divided the team into pairs and went about drawing a plan in the dirt of the alley. But then he realized that there probably wasn’t enough time for that and the plan was simple enough. They just had to circle the guy and then flank him when Jett gave the signal. He told everybody to make sure they didn’t all go in the same direction. He and Emery backed out of the alley and climbed to the top of the building on their left. They made their way down the opposite side of that building and rushed across the street. They had Nonagon’s lower right covered. While that was going on Kelly and Avia went in the opposite direction; ultimately taking the upper right. Isabelle and Scribe dived out of the alley and rushed up the street. They hid behind a couple trashcans and waited.

“Leaves us to stay here, then, huh?” Holland said turning to Walker.

“Guess so.”

Holland turned back to wait for the signal. The detective was alright from what they could see. The centaur virus was standing across from the guy, supposedly Fiyero Nonagon but Holland had no clue, with his arms folded across his chest. It seemed that whatever conversation they were having was going well. The detective wasn’t making a move to arrest the guy but the guy wasn’t making any moves on the detective. Then Holland saw a flash of reddish orange fly into the night sky before it dissipated into nothingness.

“That’s the signal, alright,” Walker said.

The group all rushed out of their hiding spots at the same time; affectively covering the killer from all sides. But instead of being frightened or the least bit surprised Fiyero Nonagon laughed.

“You’re resorting to this, Root? You’re sending Academy kids after me? That’s low. Even for you.”

“What’s he talking about, detective?” Jett asked; worried.

“Run along, little Fire Boy. Shoo. Go,” Nonagon said with a smirk on his face and a motion of his hands.

Jett instantly froze up.

But before anyone could react Fiyero turned his gaze on Holland. Holland screamed instantly and their entire body shook in fear. Their legs were quivering and felt like jelly; cold and weak. Their hands trembled at their sides. Their loud, terrified, screams never stopped. The shadows that crept in the corners of the nearby alleyways quaked in response.

The shadows moved with a rapid pace along the walls and the street; making their way towards Holland and the rest of the group. Long, outstretched, tendril-like shadows wrapped around buildings, pooled off edges of the sidewalk, and climbed up lampposts. A mass of shadows began forming on the ground next to Holland. The mass grew, pooling at the virus’ feet, and started to take shape. Soon the black mass wasn’t a mass anymore and instead was a pile of angry opossums. A few of the shadows wrapped around their legs and arms but the shadows slowly made their way up; creating a hooded cloak on Holland’s form. They were now concealed in total darkness. Their terrified screams echoed through the night air as they commanded the shadows to attack.

The black, void-like, opossums lashed out at whoever was near.

Avia screamed as the opossums jumped on her; slashing and biting at her. They scrambled up and down her body as she lashed out at them. But they were too fast for her and they evaded her attacks almost effortlessly. She struggled to pull her rapier out of its sheath at her side.

“Call them off Holland! It’s me, dammit!” she yelled in their direction.

“They can’t hear ye babe,” Kelly said rushing to his girlfriend’s side.

Suddenly he shadows were on him as well and many more were coming. Kelly gripped the handle of his axe with both hands and swung it at his feet. The blade of the axe cut the shadows and they dissipated into the night air. But more were coming, a few even starting to attack, and he still didn’t have proper footing on the ground.

“Get these things off me! Get them off now!” Avia yelled; her voice muffled through a sea of shadows.

“Give me a fuckin’ second will ya?” Kelly yelled back.

He swiped at the shadows but they were growing and growing.

The shadows engulfed his legs once more and he fell back on the ground. The shock made him lose grip on his axe and it fell from his hands. His axe was soon covered in shadows and unable to be seen. He lashed out against the shadows but it did nothing. More shadows crawled on his body; covering him from all sides.

Meanwhile Avia reached through the darkness; searching for her rapier. Punching and kicking at the shadow opossums didn’t seem to do much. And that didn’t do anything to the other shadows either. The shadows were suffocating her and she didn’t have many options left. She gritted her teeth angrily hating that she couldn’t get her weapon out. She tried everything she could and that was her only option. There was always the option of waiting for the others to possibly survive this fight with both Fiyero and Holland.

But if she did that she could be dead by that time.

Suddenly she felt a poke in the small of her back. She struggled against the shadows to turn and see what it was; hoping it wasn’t something that was actively trying to kill her.

There her rapier was seemingly floating in the darkness that surrounded her. But in reality one of the shadow opossums was holding it out. There was some part of Holland, deep inside the fear he felt, that knew what he was doing. Some small part of him knew that Avia wasn’t an enemy. Trying not to dwell on how insane and completely impossible this whole situation was she grabbed her rapier. In the same movement she swiped at the shadows around her.

“I made it out. I actually made it out,” she said between harsh breaths. Realizing what she said she shook her head and gripped her rapier tight.

“Of course I made it out.”

That much was true but the shadows were still everywhere; still on the attack.

XXXXX

Meanwhile the rest of the group, along with the detective, focused on Fiyero who was trying to get away during the commotion. While the commotion wasn’t enough to distract the entire group it was enough for Fiyero to dive across the street and into another alleyway. Legacy cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled to get the killer’s attention.

“We have you surrounded. This is over. You can--”

“It’s just you and those kids, Root. You can’t stop me.”

Emery stepped up, planted his feet firmly on the ground, and turned to the others.

“Stand your ground and cover your ears.”

With that he let out a scream that knocked over a couple trash cans and sent Fiyero to the ground.

“Dude!” Jett said giving Emery a slap on the back.

But the one attack wasn’t enough and Fiyero stood up once more; “Nice try, Songbird.”

“Songbird? What in the fuck?” Emery echoed with confused disgust.

“Oh crap,” Isabelle said readying her flail.

Fiyero rushed to where the others were in an obvious attempt to push the group back towards Holland and their shadows.

Isabelle swung her flail wide and it smashed into the side of Fiyero’s right leg. She pulled on the chain and the spiked ball of the flail fell away from the handle. With the spikes still embedded in the villain’s leg she punched him in the face. While that distracted him she yanked the chain and yanked the spiked ball from his leg. She pressed a boot down on the wound in his leg and leaned down; pressing the barrel of the gun against his temple. The black cord necklace hung off her neck the Nevermore talon dangling just a few inches from the man’s face.

“We got you now, mister. If you’d just--”

He gritted his teeth and yanked on her necklace; choking her and simultaneously pulling her face closer to his. Then he slammed his head against hers. She stumbled off him in a pained daze. He swung at her leg with his own and she fell to the ground.

In the middle of the group stood Scribe; frightened of all the noises around her. She sat on the ground, brought her knees to her chest, and held herself tight. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. As the noises around her became louder she thought about wanting to disappear. She closed her eyes tighter. Her shoes, and her feet inside, began to blend in with the dark gray of the road underneath her.

“Scri, do you have any—” Jett said turning to realize that she had seemingly vanished.

“Shit.”

“Don’t worry bro,” Emery said. “She’s probably gonna go do something awesome.”

Just as he finished his sentence he was tackled to the ground by Isabelle; completely caught off guard.

“What the hell? Stop it!”

Isabelle started hitting him and he put his arms up to block her blows. Kicking around he tried to use the momentum of his own body to throw her off of him. It didn’t work. Surprisingly she was stronger than her small frame made it seem and she held on. Elbowing her in the face he hoped the pain would distract her and he could wiggle free. But that was of no use either. He took a deep breath and waited for an opening.

He really didn’t want to do this.

But he had no other choice.

He let out a scream right in Isabelle’s face and it instantly flung her off him. Emery shook his head and pulled himself to his feet. Isabelle ran at him again but this time he was ready and he pushed her back a few feet with another scream. Soon she was engulfed in the shadows along with three other of his teammates.

“We’re fucked.”

Legacy and Jett tried to stay focused on taking Fiyero down. But the shadows at their backs were too much of a distraction. A large, swaying, shadow wrapped its form around Jett’s leg; tight. He tried to kick it off but it was of no use. A trickle of fear began to creep up his spine. Looking up his eyes met Fiyero’s and the trickle ballooned into a full on panic. His pupils went wide and his breath quickened.

Terrified, and unsure of what to do, Jett turned on the detective.

“What the hell’s gotten into you, kid?”

Jett didn’t respond. Instead he sent a harsh right hook to the detective’s face. Then he sent a knee to the detective’s chest. Legacy could see the struggle in the boy’s eyes as tears ran down his face. But he didn’t stop attacking the detective. His fear was too strong and overpowered any and all other rational thought. This was worse than the detective could have ever imagined. The rumors about Fiyero Nonagon were true. The virus wasn’t just some unstable junkie with powers.

They were dealing with a Nightmare Aura.

The detective shoved the teenage litten virus off him and he pulled his gun from the holster at his side. He turned the gun on Nonagon and pulled the trigger. But before he could actually get a shot off a small fireball hit his hands. In the pain and the surprise Legacy almost immediately dropped the gun. Jett’s right hand clenched in a fist and then opened again; a small fire emitting from his palm. He did the same with his left hand.

Jett launched fireball after fireball at the detective; forcing him back to the others.

Every last one of Jett’s team members were somewhere in that mass of shadows. And in this state he didn’t care if he was headed that way as well. He didn’t know, think about, or even care if his team was still fighting one another. The only thing that ran through his mind was sheer terror.

He forced the detective into the blackness and walked in after him.

Almost at the same time his fear suddenly melted away. So did Isabelle’s and her knees buckled underneath her. Emery caught her before she hit the ground. Holland gave one last terrified scream before they passed out on the ground. As Holland’s fear subsided the shadows began to crawl back towards the alley. The shadowy opossum figures dissipated into benevolent pools before gliding back to where they originated from. The long, flowing, hooded cloak that had engulfed Holland in complete darkness began to fall from his prone body.

Kelly was holding Avia; both of which were covered in minor cracks and scratches. Scribe came out from behind a mailbox; eyes wide and terrified. Her normal coloring slowly came back as she stopped using her camouflage. Walker found their way back to the group also covered in cracks and bruises. The detective slowly got to his feet and pulled small flecks of concrete out of his hair.

Jett was standing in the middle of the street; flames licking off his body. He stared out with wide eyes at nothing. His chest moved up and down in rapid time with his breathing. Panic crept up his spine once more. He wanted to run but there was nowhere to go.

Suddenly he was back home again.

He was outside and it was night. His parents were inside and they were crying; scared. His dad who always had a joke to crack or some other way to make light of a dark situation was shaking. His mom would always try her best to be a light in a dark room, to be there for those suffering, was now sitting the destroyed seating area of the bakery she tried so hard to bring to life. The majority of their small corner store bakery was trashed. Broken glass and cracked ceramic lay strewn about everywhere. He could feel the broken glass underneath his feet. He could feel a hand on his shoulder. He could feel the presence of two other people. One of those people stood next to him. She knelt down and whispered in his ear. Words he would never forget.

Burn it all down, Fire Boy.

He took a breath. Then another. A tear fell down his cheek. He couldn’t stop any of the others that followed. He stood there; stuck in terrifying moment he could never forget. Then he felt the very faint sensation of a hand on his back.

“Breathe,” a voice called. “You’re not over there right now, dude. Just breathe.”

Emery stood there with a comforting hand on his friend’s back guiding him out of the episode. Once his breathing was back to normal Emery pulled him away from the scene. Standing in the place where he almost set the detective on fire wasn’t a good idea. It wasn’t helpful. This whole thing was horrible. Emery talked to Jett the whole time he walked away from the middle of the road. Once they were safely with the others he sat Jett down on the sidewalk.

“Wh—where am I?” Jett said; blinking.

“It’s okay, dude. You just had an episode. But it’s okay. I’m here.”

“Oh, yeah,” he said forgetting about the others in the moment. “The others are here too, Je. The detective’s here too. We’re helping him with a case. You’re at the docks.”

“The detective. The docks,” Jett repeated; nodding.

“Where is that asshole by the way, Detective?” Emery asked turning to Legacy.

Everyone looked around for Fiyero Nonagon. But he was nowhere to be seen.

[ageeksnerdyworld]

I’ve been listening to this one song on repeat all day which reminds me of these two so here’s a crappy doodle of the bird lady and her boyfriend...

(The Cyber World and the viruses therein belong to @voiceoflarka)

[ageeksnerdyworld]

It’s Only A Nightmare

Characters: Jett Leach, Emery Becker, Avia Carstairs, Kelly Ronan O’Connor, Isabelle Lombardi, Scribe Jenkins, Holland, and Walker

Word Count: 9,470

Trigger Warning: None of note

A/N: I’m gonna be honest here and say that I don’t think I’m going to continue with this story because I don’t feel like I’m writing it the right way. I know that sounds stupid but it’s true. I really feel like I’m doing most of these characters, and the story itself, an injustice. And as always the Cyber World and the viruses therein belong to @voiceoflarka

Parts: X,X

Summary: People are falling victim to heart attacks all over Dashland. None of the cases are alike except for that fact. The body count is growing. And so the team is sent on their first field mission. Click the read more if you want to.

~~~

Avia woke very early the following morning and went about her morning routine. In the bathroom she ran a comb through her hair a few times and then opened her makeup bag. It took her a few seconds to find what she wanted but she lined the pieces neatly along the edge of the sink. Taking her lipstick she pulled the cap off and turned the bottom of the tube. The red stick emerged from the tube and she ran it along her lips. Pressing her lips together she reached for a napkin from inside her makeup bag. The napkin had been stained from previous lipsticks she had worn and had spots of blue, purple, and various shades of red all over it. She turned the napkin inside out for a clean spot and pressed it in between her lips.

She returned the lipstick to her bag and picked up a tube of mascara. Avia opened it and pulled the stick in and out of the tube a couple of times before bringing it to her face.  Her eyes met her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She froze up with the mascara stick in her hand hovering just barely above her eyelashes. Usually when she did her makeup her eyes focused on her face or their own dark reflections in the mirror. But that morning they immediately hit the reflection of the crack. The crack, events from the night before, that sharply cut its way along her forehead. It looked like it was healing. Slowly but surely it would eventually fade.

Her hand shook.

A tear ran down her cheek.

With the mascara still in her hand she gripped the sides of the sink. Her arms unnaturally shook. Her knuckles turned white and her eyes went wide. She looked down into the bowl of the sink. Her hair fell down, and forward into her eyes, and her bottom lip quivered. The tears continued to fall. She bit her bottom lip, in an attempt to distract her mind and, to try and stop them.

A hand grabbed hold of her right shoulder and gave her a shake.

“You okay?”

Avia turned her head and her black eyes looked in the direction of the voice.

There in the doorway, leaning against the frame with arms crossed over his chest, stood Emery. He wore the same outfit he had worn the night before; black tank and black sweatpants. His arms, which were bare under the sleeveless tank top, were in plain view and Avia realized that it was the first time she could see all of his tattoos. His hair was still covered in the dye from the night before but now it was covered in clear shower cap. The mess of colors showed through the thin plastic.

She nodded slightly and muttered; “Yeah. I’m fine.”

“You expect me to believe that,” he said with a scoff. “I’ve seen that thousand yard stare you got on many times before, Princess.”

“Did you just come over here to ridicule me or do you have something constructive to say for once?”

“Like I’ve said I’ve seen that look before. Just wanted to let ya know I’m here if you wanna talk.”

“As if I would ever look to you for help,” her voice harsh and bitter.

“Then talk to your boy toy or your old man. Just don’t shut yourself out, alright.”

Emery turned and left; leaving Avia to finish up in peace. She thought about what he had said as she put on some eyeshadow. She couldn’t be shutting herself out. She had to be in to cut herself off from the others. And she was definitely sure she wasn’t an actual part of the group yet. It was true that she and Kelly had been dating for some time but that wasn’t the same thing. The others seemed to gel together almost effortlessly since they had been set up as a team. Jett and Emery had already known one other prior to coming to the Academy. Jett’s younger sister was also a student. Kelly was the kind of person who could walk into any room and find someone to talk to. Or talk at in his case. Isabelle was a little ball of sunshine. And Holland was the embodiment of chill. It only made sense that the three of them bonded quickly with everyone.

Avia had no idea where or how to start.

She sighed and left the bathroom.

XXXXX

The group arrived at the station sometime around noon. Detective Root was waiting for them at his desk. His hair was a bit disheveled and his stubble seemed to have filled in a bit more. A mug of coffee sat on the desk to this immediate left. A small stack of files lay on the desk next to the mug. Deep in thought, looking at some papers, he hadn’t noticed the group arrive.

Holland loudly cleared their throat to get the detective’s attention.

“Oh, uh, sorry kids. Long night,” he said with a tired smile.

“You alright, Detective,” Jett asked; trying to hide the worry in his voice.

He nodded; “Yeah. Just tired. Hey, kid, care to get a cup of coffee for an old man? Go a bit back where you all came from and go down the hallway. Break room’s just there on your left.”

Jett shrugged and took the empty mug from the detective’s outstretched hand. He turned and made his way to the break room. Once inside he looked for the coffee maker which sat on the counter in the back of the room. He walked around the small folding table and chairs. The counter was dark gray and had a few cupboards that hung on the wall above it. The coffeemaker was the kind that you just set the cup underneath, pressed a button, and it made the coffee itself. Jett set the mug underneath it and pressed the button for one cup of plain black coffee. It took a few seconds but then the coffee poured out, in a thin stream, into the cup. The smell of freshly brewed coffee brought back memories of his parents and his home.

“What’re you doing here?” a voice said from behind him.

Jett turned around with a scared look on his face.

There stood Sarge Rajah. He wore the traditional police officer uniform with the bottom hem of his pants tucked neatly into the boots he wore. And he stood in a readied stance; hand just above his taser. The cop’s brow was furrowed in anger and his lips were pursed together. His eyes, which were black with a small rim of yellow, were closed slightly and contained a look of pure fury. The red coloring on the scales around his eyes seemed to make his expression all the more terrifying. But his expression completely changed when Jett turned around.

“Oh, uh, sorry about that. Thought you were someone else.”

Jett muttered that it was alright. He explained to the cop that he was just getting coffee for the detective. Rajah crossed the floor; boots tapping against the tile with each step. His tail moved from side to side as he walked making a slight swishing sound. The cop was talking about something but Jett didn’t hear a single thing. The sound of the boots against the tile floor reminded him of another sound. The unforgettable sound of heels against concrete. Jett felt his body tense up as the cop walked up behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder.

“You okay?”

Jett nodded and grabbed the cup from underneath the coffee maker. Rajah was looking for something in the cupboards but Jett knew he was faking it. He knew exactly what was about to happen, having been through it so many times before, and he really didn’t want to deal with it at the moment. So he turned on his heels and walked away. The cop started to reach for his arm but immediately dropped his hand. As Jett reached the door Rajah loudly cleared his throat. Jett sighed and turned back.

“Sorry about your parents. I used to go to there all the time. Your mom made the best damn snickerdoodles I’ve ever had.”

“Something else you want, officer? I have to get back to the others.”

“Guess you don’t remember but I was one of the ones on the scene that night. The image of that stays with you, you know?”

“You have no idea,” Jett said tersely.

“I’m really sorry we never found her. I really am,” he said shaking his head sadly. Jett said nothing. He gave the cop a look and then left him alone in the room.

“Your parents were real good people. They didn’t deserve that,” Rajah called after him.

Yeah, they really didn’t, he thought to himself.

He walked up to the others, mug in hand, and passed it to the detective before joining the others. Root gave him an appreciative nod and took a sip. Emery and Walker both gave Jett a curious, somewhat worried, look. But he ignored their looks and shoved his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. Root explained that the rest of his team were given copies of the newest victim’s file. Holland gave Jett a copy of a file and he opened it.

The file was on the young sprite they found the previous night. The detective explained that the picture of the young virus had been provided by the victim’s family. It was a selfie in which, he had an arm around a friend, he stuck his tongue out and held up a peace sign. One of his eyes was closed in a winking expression. A large wisp of his sea-green soul flowed from his open eye. His hair was a bit shorter, a lighter shade blonde, in the picture. In the picture the kid was the complete opposite of the way they had found him.

The other picture had to be taken hours after the group had found his body the night before. Maybe it was taken very early that morning; Jett didn’t know. But the boy had been dead some time when the photo had been taken. His once sea-green veins were now pitch black like ink. His brown eyes were faded, expressionless, and dead. The small crack that ran across of the bridge of his nose was still there. And now it would never heal. According to the file his name was Flask Antonsson.

“Eleven,” Jett whispered.

Legacy Root nodded solemnly; “Our perp clearly doesn’t have issues with offing kids. Which makes a hell of a lot of sense if you think about it.”

“Whaddya mean, sir,” Kelly asked.

“Remember when I said he wasn’t your garden variety Empath? Well it turns out that all of the rumors, and hearsay, about Nonagon were right. He’s a Nightmare Aura.”

“Oh shite.”

“No fucking way, man! No. No. I’m done. I’m gone.” Emery said.

He turned and stomped off; leaving the others with shocked looks on their faces. Reaching the door he lifted his arm ready to push the door open and exit the station. But suddenly the small form of Isabelle immediately blocked his way. She stood with her arms crossed over her chest; an angry look in her eyes. A small portion of the handle of her flail gun poked out from underneath her arms and rested against her right arm. The remainder of the handle and the chain was hanging down from her right hand. The spiked ball lightly swung back and forth.

“Move it, Short Stuff,” he threatened.

“You’re not doing this, alright. You’re not going to just bail on this super important, and graded, mission.”

“If you think I really care about grades then you don’t know me at all,” he said with a scoff.

“You really want to bail on your team. On your best friend?” the disappointment, clearly written on her face and, ringing through her voice.

Emery turned and looked back to where Jett and the others were standing. It was then that he noticed the terrified and pleading look in Jett’s eyes. He ran a hand through his hair and looked at the ground. He really didn’t want to do this. Fighting this guy once was more than enough. Holland and Avia both had been badly hurt. Jett had been horribly shaken and thrown into an episode. And who the hell knew what would happen next? But he couldn’t leave Jett to handle this himself. The others didn’t understand what was going on with him. Emery was the only who could pull him out if it happened again. He had to stay whether he liked it or not.

He nodded and whispered, his voice barely audible, “You’re right, Isabelle. I can’t bail on him.”

Isabelle put a hand on Emery’s back and the two walked back to the group.

XXXXX

The detective had left to grab some lunch for the group as well as himself. He left Jett in charge of the others which surprised no one. He had also given the group the task of memorizing what the police had on Nonagon. Walker’s eyes followed Legacy as he trotted out the door. Their eyes narrowed on the detective as he left the station. Once he had walked through the front doors Walker got off the desk and walked away from the group; seemingly heading for the bathroom. Shortly after the detective left Avia cleared her throat and got the attention of the group.

“What is it, Av,” Jett asked.

“I figured out something last night. I think it might help our investigation quite a lot,” she said.

“Share with the class why dontcha?” Emery asked.

Avia rolled her eyes and asked Holland to hand her the map that was sitting on the detective’s desk. She unfurled it on the floor in the middle of the circle of chairs. She asked the others to put something down on the sides of the map so that it stayed in place. The map was a map exclusively of Dashland. Avia went behind the detective’s desk and opened the top drawer. She grabbed a small pack of white dot stickers and shut the drawer.

Then she explained to the others what she discovered.

“So, here’s where the first victim, Enjay Sno, was found,” she said putting a white dot on the map.

Then she put a dot on the place where all of the other victims’ bodies were found. The dots made some sort of shape with about one obvious outlier. She took a pen from the detective’s desk and colored one of the dots black. Avia placed that dot on the spot where they had faced Fiyero Nonagon.

“He has to live, or at least be hiding out, in this area somewhere.”

“You’re so smart, ean beag,” Kelly said; embracing her and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

“Ew. Stop. Please stop,” Emery said; covering his eyes and looking away.

Jett stared at the collection of white dots all over the map. All of the dots were closer together except for the very first one. They weren’t in a cluster or anything. And they weren’t within blocks of one another. The dots, and the bodies they represented, were close enough to all be in the same general area. But then there was Enjay Sno’s body and corresponding dot. That dot was almost in a different district. It didn’t make any sense.

He looked up and asked Avia what she thought about that.

“It’s an outlier. There are always outliers in cases like this. Or he was—”

“Figuring out what he liked to do best. Statistically speaking, most serial killers will commit a few murders far before they start a spree and usually away from their home turf.” Scribe said. She had cut Avia off mid sentence but didn’t notice at first. Then her eyes went wide and her mouth formed a small “O” shape when she realized what she did. But Avia didn’t seem to mind. She just looked over at Scribe for a few seconds then nodded, approvingly, and gave the girl a small smile.

“Um… Okay… but why would they do that?” Holland asked.

“Because they haven’t decided how they want to kill their victims. Or what message they want to send.” Avia said.

“I have something else that might help,” Scribe said.

The others looked over to her and the sudden attention freaked her out a bit and she calmed up. She shook out the ends of her sweater sleeves so that they covered her hands. She started to twist the fabric over and in between her fingers; staring at the floor. Avia encouraged her to tell the group. Scribe took a deep breath and then told the others about the connection she found.

Avia nodded; impressed. Scribe smiled.

“Why didn’t either of you say something when the detective was here?” Holland asked; genuinely confused.

“Because,” Avia said, “a certain somebody had to be a big drama queen.”

“Oh, so, I’ve moved up from caveman? Awesome,” Emery replied; rolling his eyes.

“Good to see you all getting along again,” the detective’s voice called from behind the group. He had bags of food for the group and set them on his desk. Legacy motioned for the teenagers to take what they wanted. He apologized that he didn’t ask what they wanted beforehand. But the group didn’t really care. They were there to help him with his case not to be pampered or have fun. Kelly and Jett rose from their seats and began doling out hamburgers and fries to the others.

“So,” Legacy said; standing on the outskirts of the group. “What were you all talking about while I was gone?”

Jett explained to the detective what the others had found out. Every so often Avia or Scribe would interrupt and correct Jett or explain something he had forgotten to mention. Legacy stood, listening intently, and writing down a few notes every now and then. When the part about the map came up he knelt down on the floor and scrutinized the dots on it. His eyes narrowed in concentration and he ran a finger along the shape that the dots created. Tapping the circle in the middle of the shape he nodded approvingly.

“Great job,” he said; clearly impressed with the group.

They spent the next half hour enjoying their lunch. The detective asked the group where Walker had went and Holland explained. Legacy’s eyes narrowed and asked if any of them found that a bit suspicious. The entire group gave a collective shrug and gave varying replies of “no.” Holland leaned over and explained that the group just gave Walker their space because the alternative was difficult.

Legacy asked what that meant but Holland didn’t answer.

Kelly started to say that Walker was the type of person who wanted to keep their life private. That got him talking about how most people had things they never shared with anyone. Then he pointed to Holland and explained to the detective that they were pretty much a walking, talking, open book. But then that got him talking about how Holland didn’t have any siblings. Then he got to talking about his younger brother. Somehow Kelly got on the subject of cowboys and the history of the gun fights. No one knew how he got there.

With Kelly finally done, and Walker suddenly back, Legacy decided that the group got going to talk to the family of the most recent victim.

“And after that we’ve got a lot of ground to cover, kids.”

Legacy walked out to the car and most of the group followed. Kelly didn’t go with the others, and jogged off to the bathroom, saying that he would join them in a minute. Jett stayed behind. He knelt in a squatting position and stared at the map.

“Let’s go bag us a bad guy!” Isabelle cried pumping her fist in the air. Scribe winced slightly at the volume of her voice. Isabelle quickly apologized. Avia subtly fell into step with the pair. Walking on the left side of Scribe she asked what Scribe thought about the patterns. Both patterns seemed a bit coincidental but Avia wasn’t sure why. And she really wanted to know what Scribe thought about it. The three girls piled into the van; talking shop. Holland and Emery piled in after them.

Jett felt a sense of déjà vu since the start of the case but he couldn’t explain why. And now he felt that there was something familiar about where the bodies had been found. Or where they had been placed. He took his phone out of the front pocket of his jeans and took a picture of the configuration.

He quickly texted the picture to Emery, as well as his little sister, with the same message. It read; this look familiar or just me?

Emery immediately texted back; never seen it before in my life.

That’s when he remembered what Fiyero Nonagon had said to him.

“Oh, crap,” he said. “I forgot to tell the others about the—”

Jett rushed over to the door. Once he was outside he felt a hand on his shoulder. The sensation made him freeze up and pulled him out of his train of thought. The hand pulled him back inside the station.

“Better save it for later, don’t you think?”

“Um, yeah,” he said.

Walker nodded and patted Jett on the shoulder. They let go and motioned for Jett to walk in front of them. Jett and Walker piled into van; sitting in the middle row of seats with Emery and Walker. Kelly took the front seat next to the detective. With the entire group in the van the detective pulled out of the parking lot of the police station and drove to their destination.

XXXXX

The mother and father of the deceased didn’t have much information to add to their investigation. They let the group inside their apartment and said that they could look in their son’s room if they wanted. But other than that they had nothing to give. They hadn’t heard of anyone named Fiyero Nonagon. And they hadn’t seen anyone meeting his description around the area. Legacy sent the team around the house while he interviewed the parents.

Jett went into the boy’s room while the others looked through other areas of the Antonsson residence. Walker followed him. Emery tried to go as well but the detective told him to look somewhere else.

Emery grumbled but he went to search one of the other rooms.

The boy’s name was displayed on the door to his room with a series of large colorful felt letters. A small hand written sign on a piece of blank white paper was taped to the door underneath the letters. The note read; no parents allowed. Jett turned the knob, opened the door, and the pair walked inside. The boy’s room looked as if it had just been cleaned. But at the same time it looked a shrine to his memory. His bed was neatly made and the pillows sat peacefully against the headboard. A small faux wood grain skateboard leaned against the back wall of the room; underneath a window. There was a closet built into the wall next to the bed and a dresser was shoved up against the adjacent wall only a few feet from the door.

A desk sat across from the bed. The desk was messy and filled with miscellaneous papers, pens, and colored pencils. A large sketchbook also set on the desk. The sketchbook was open to an unfinished series of sketches. A couple notebooks sat next to the sketchbook. Jett grabbed one of the notebooks and flipped through it. Walker walked over to the dresser and opened up the drawers and began tossing clothes on the floor.

“Texas Ranger? What’re you doing?”

“What does it look like?”

“I don’t think his parents will be okay with you messing with their son’s things.”

“Says the guy rifling through the kid’s notebook.”

“But clothes are—”

“Are what, Leach?”

Jett stared at Walker for a minute before speaking; “Are you alright, dude? You seem, uh, you seem a little off.”

“As compared to what exactly?”

Jett shrugged. Walker scoffed and stormed out of the room. They left the top drawer of the dresser open and the clothes strewn about the room. Jett sighed and went about fixing the mess. Walker walked out in the backyard and told Emery that Jett needed help. Emery gave them a sideways glance but he ran back inside. Walker stood in the Antonsson’s backyard and stared out at the neighborhood around them. They sighed and thought about their little escapade the night before.

But the mostly thought about what that annoying trickster told them.

And what she told them by proxy.

Walker replayed the conversation in their mind; mulling over what was said and what wasn’t. They had thought they were completely along but then the madrid appeared in a puff of smoke. He mocked them and said that they kept old habits. It was true but the way the virus had said it made Walker feel like a stupid child. Then he called them that phrase whatever the hell it meant.

“What do you want?”

“What makes you think I want anything from you,” he asked; closing the gap between him and Walker with every step.

“Oh, yeah, that’s right. You’re just a lapdog being ordered around. Sorry, I forgot,” they said; matching the venomous mockery in the virus’s voice.

“You’re a funny one, الأرنب الصغير,” he replied, wagging a finger in Walker’s direction, smirking.

“I’m strange and off-putting,” Walker said as they pulled their goggles over their head and turned to face the virus behind him. They saw the male virus nodding slightly in agreement. He was standing with his arms crossed over his chest, with an expectant, and somewhat irritated, look on his face.

He towered over Walker’s form by a good margin. He was the tallest virus Walker had ever met and it honestly freaked them out. Despite his height he wasn’t as lanky as one would expect. His tan arm and leg muscles were lean and toned. His hair and thin beard were black. He wore a form fitting, light gray, blazer jacket and a plain white dress shirt underneath. The muscles in his chest could be seen underneath the layers. The sleeves were cut off, turning the shirt and jacket into a vest, and his arms were naked in the cold, night, air. An intricate, black ink, henna tattoo started at his right wrist and ran up his arm; stopping just before his elbow. A section of Arabic script ran along the top of his wrist just before the rest of the tattoo. Walker didn’t know, nor could they read, the language so they had no clue what the words said or meant. The virus’s other arm was a prosthetic. It started at the shoulder and was, black and white in color, clearly high tech and very sleek. He also wore a pair of black jogger pants with zippered pockets on either said. Two small pouches, on either side of his pants, were attached via straps that buckled on the inside of his thighs. Walker knew that the right pant leg was hiding another prosthetic; one that was black and looked like a mess of wiring. The virus’s outfit was complete with a red tie and a pair of black, air mesh, running shoes.

“You following me just ‘cause you can or you actually have something to say, genie.”

In a puff of smoke he disappeared and then reappeared with his bodily hand around Walker’s throat.

They felt their windpipe being crushed. They couldn’t breathe. Their lungs burned in pain. The madrid virus tightened his grip around their throat and lifted Walker into the air with one hand. His other hand lay at his side; fingers clenched into a fist. His light brown eyes, usually bright and playful, now ballooned in flames that licked at the edges of his face. This “party trick” as he had referred to it tended to scare most people. But Walker had seen it many times before and wasn’t a bit scared. What they were scared of what the madrid’s strength. Even though they knew that he wasn’t using his full strength they still had reason to be scared; having seen what he could do with that power. Even so they felt their grip on reality slipping as the already dark night darkened further around them.

“What did you call me?” he asked; voice dripping with anger.

“Fu—funny that—ah—that word bothered you, Kha—Khalid and not lap dog,” Walker said as they struggled against the virus’s grip. Their knuckles were white as they tried to pull the hand off their throat. In the back of their mind they knew that it was pointless but they were hurting. They weren’t thinking clearly. They were running on instincts.

“You’re lucky I can’t kill you, because you’d have been dead long before, الأحمق,” he threatened; dropping Walker on the roof.

Their throat burned and they coughed in pain. Despite their better judgment a hand instinctively flew to the hurt area and began to rub along the skin. Khalid closed the gap and stood directly in front of Walker. His large form shrouded them in a massive dark shadow. He stared down at Walker his eyes still engulfed in flame; hand of his prosthetic was still an angry fist.

“I came here for a progress report. But…” he said with a deep chuckle and a smile that revealed his sharp canines. “after tonight? I’m pretty sure she’ll want an in person testimony from you instead. Be seeing you, الأرنب الصغير.”

“I still don’t know what that means,” Walker said. But Khalid was gone. All that was there was a cloud of dissipating black smoke.

Walker blinked, bringing their self back to the present moment, and realized that they had a hand wrapped around their own throat. They dropped the hand and sighed. Staring up at the sky they yell out a loud, desperate, scream. They didn’t know what else to do. They didn’t have any other options.

They fell on their knees and stared at the ground. This dichotomy of their intentions, their soul, was so difficult. They owed it to her to help. They literally owed their life to that woman. But at the same time they didn’t see the point of her goals. The Leach kid wasn’t doing anything to actively sabotage those goals. She literally had everything she sought after; everything she had worked towards for so many years. What more could she possibly want?

His head handed over on a damn platter. Or his bent knee, they thought.

They really only had two options. They could stick it out, keeping their secrets, until things eventually fell into their proper place. Then when everything blew over they could leave, again, and start a new life somewhere else. Become someone else. It worked well in the past so they had no doubts that it would be troublesome this time around.

The other option wasn’t something they really felt like considering. But it still arose in the back of their mind. There was the option of coming clean to the others. They would be pissed to say the least but maybe the group would eventually come to understand the dilemma Walker was faced with. And they could always lie to her when they went in for their “progress report.” But then she could, no, she would use her powers on them and make them do what she wanted. They would be just like Khalid and the others.

“What the hell do I do?” they whispered to the open air.

XXXXX

When Legacy had finished interviewing the parents he called for the group to reconvene. They were done and had other leads to check out. Legacy thanked the boy’s parents for their time and gave them his card. He told them to call if they thought of, or remembered, anything that would help. Then the group went to talk to the friend in the photo that Flask’s parents provided.

The friend’s name was Daenerys Saffron Carlisle. She lived only a few blocks from the Antonsson residence so it was a short drive.

The young virus’s parents opened the door when the detective knocked. Her mother and father were more than happy to help. They let the group inside and the mother offered snacks and coffee. Legacy politely declined for the entire group and Emery protested. The mother laughed and went into the kitchen anyway.

“We were hoping to look around your house and talk to your daughter if that’s alright, Mr. Carlisle,” Legacy said to the girl’s father.

He was pretty much the exact opposite of his wife; tall and built like a brick house. He had a square jaw and a small scar along the left side of his face. His dark gray eyes were hard and angry. His voice was deep and gruff as he said that he would get her. With that he left the group alone in the family’s living room.

After a few minutes the father and the girl entered the living room.

The girl was young, still a sprite it seemed, and rather petite. Her hair was a dark brown which was a stark contrast to the platinum blonde she had in the photo the group had seen. It was cut in a longer angled bob and the bangs covered her left eye. The eye that wasn’t covered by her hair was a light honey brown color. Her veins were a bright lilac and ran along her arms and legs. She wore a plain, sleeveless, navy blue dress with a bright red belt that hung around her waist. Her outfit was brought together with a pair of black flats.

She took a seat on the couch next to her father.

Isabelle noticed that the girl’s eyes were rimmed red. It was obvious that she was deeply grieving.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” she said; reaching out and resting her hand over the girl’s. Daenerys nodded her thanks.

“If you don’t want to talk to us right now that’s quite alright,” Avia said.

Her father spoke for her and said that she was fine with answering any of their questions. Isabelle and Avia both crossed their arms over their chest and shared identical angry looks. The detective nodded and went about his questioning. While Legacy ran through the questions he had prepared the young girl stared down at her feet. The mother returned to the living room with a platter of cookies, small cakes, and cups of tea.

The girl gave them short few word answers and never looked up.

With the interview over Legacy guided the group out of the house. They all piled into the van except for Isabelle who stood on the sidewalk; staring back at the house. She told the others she forgot something and ran back inside. She asked the girl’s parents where their daughter went and then she rushed up the stairs to the girl’s bedroom. Isabelle stopped short of the door and ran her hands along the sides of her skirt. Then she knocked on the door.

Daenerys opened the door slowly.

“Hi,” Isabelle said smiling.

“Um… hi?”

“Can I come in? Is that okay?”

“Why?” the girl asked suspiciously.

“Thought you’d need a friend for a little while,” Isabelle said with a shrug.

The girl nodded and opened the door. Isabelle stepped inside and Daenerys closed the door behind her. Her walls of her room were painted a bright yellow. She had a small dresser that was shoved in the back corner of the room. Various pictures and photographs hung on thin wire all around the room; attached via various colored clothespins. A camera sat on the nightstand next to the girl’s bed. Daenerys went over to her bed and sat down on the edge. She tapped her hand on the empty space next to her. Isabelle sat down her face beaming from ear to ear.

“I like your pictures, did you take them yourself?” Isabelle said pointing to a photo of a squirrel nestled in pile of leaves.

Daenerys nodded. Isabelle explained that she also liked photography.

The pair talked about photography and Isabelle told the young sprite girl about a few tricks she learned over the years. Daenerys pointed to the necklace that hung from Isabelle’s neck and asked her about it. Isabelle politely explained what it was and why she kept it. She told Daenerys about all the adventures she and her parents would have before she moved to Dashland to go the Academy.

“Your parents sound really cool, and nice,” Daenerys said; looking towards the door of her room.

“I know you already talked to the detective about this and I’m sorry to bring it up again but do you remember anything strange happening before Flask passed away?”

“Died. People say passed away when they want to be nicer about death. But death isn’t nice and Flask died.”

A tear ran down the girl’s cheek and Isabelle held her hand; tight.

“I couldn’t say this in front of Dad, but, there was something that happened. It was a few days before? I think? Maybe it was a week. I don’t know. But something did happen before he died.”

“You can tell me. It’s alright.”

Daenerys took a deep breath before continuing; “There was this man who showed up on our street. He was weird and looked homeless. Me and Flask were just walking around getting away from my parents for a bit, you know? And he was there on the other side of the street. I thought he was scary but Flask didn’t. He went right up and talked to him.”

Isabelle nodded; “What did he look like? The homeless man?”

“His hair was long and dirty. He had this long coat on. It was really gross and had all these stains on it. His shoes were black and his eyes were big and scary.”

“Did he say anything to you?”

The girl shook her head; “No. He only talked to Flask because he went up to the man.”

“What did Flask do when he came back to where you were?”

“He laughed at me for thinking the guy was scary. And then we just went back to what we were talking about before.”

“So he never told you what the homeless man said?”

Daenerys shook her head. Isabelle thanked her for giving her what she could. She gave the girl a long hug and told her that everything would be okay. She got off her bed and walked over to the door. Before leaving the room she turned back and told the girl that she was sure that one day her photographs would be in some museum somewhere. Isabelle said that she would make sure that she would be there to see it. Daenerys smiled.

XXXXX

Legacy drove the group back to the church where they had found Seneca Orion’s body. He thought it would be best to look into the more recent victims instead of the other way around. The trail had already gone cold on the first four at this point. In his mind there was no point in asking the relatives and friends of those victims anything this far into the investigation. They would’ve most likely forgotten all the important information they knew.

Isabelle told the group what she found out from Daenerys on the drive over.

The detective was impressed. So were Scribe and Avia.

“Should we be going around and asking people if they’ve seen any creepy looking homeless people in the area?” Holland asked.

“It’s a good lead,” Legacy said as he pulled the van into the church parking lot.

“Besides it’s the only lead we have at the moment. When I describe Nonagon to the victims’ families and relatives no one seems to have seen anyone. But now someone has come forward with a less vivid description of the same man. It’s too good to pass up.”

The group exited the van and walked back into the church. Unlike a few days prior the church was brightly lit with the midday sun. The colored stained glass windows had colored the rays of sunlight that ran through them. This time the body had been removed from the scene of the crime and so had the police tape. But the church was still empty. The group’s steps echoed through the vacant sermon room as they walked down the aisle.

Jett tapped the detective on the shoulder.

“I have something you need to know, Detective.”

A loud crash interrupted the group’s movement.

Those with weapons readied themselves for a fight. Avia pulled her rapier from its scabbard. Kelly tightened his grip around the handle of his axe/war hammer. Isabelle pulled the chain of her flail; separating the spiked ball from the handle. She held the handle in her right hand, finger on the trigger, and the chain in her left. Scribe had already disappeared with her camouflage ability. Walker reached behind their back for their nunchucks. Jett looked around the church; scared.

“Sorry! Sorry! That was me!”

A young male satyr virus emerged from behind the altar. His light brown hair curled about his horns and his youthful face. His eyes looked dark but changed to a bright orange when the light hit them. He wore a white robe over a pair of black slacks and a white shirt. He was carrying a small candelabra, a series of folded church pamphlets, and a worn bible.

The group gave a collective sigh and lowered their weapons.

“What’s your name kid?” Legacy asked.

“They really start you guys this fucking young?” Emery asked at the same time; disdain ringing in his voice.

“It’s Trent, sir. Trent Crawley,” he said; turning to Emery with a look of disgust. “Yes they do. I’m more than happy to do the good Lord’s work. And there’s no swearing in the Lord’s house.”

Emery rolled his eyes but said nothing. The detective asked the boy if it was alright if they talked to him about a few things. He looked around sheepishly and said that he wasn’t sure. He was supposed to take the stuff to Father Montgomery. And the man did not like to be kept waiting. Walker gave the kid a sideways glance but the boy didn’t seem to notice.

Legacy convinced the kid that it was alright and the boy sat in the nearest pew.

“Did you know someone named Seneca Orion?”

The boy nodded; “He died. Father Montgomery said that everyone must go when the Lord calls them.”

“Did the priest tell you the truth? Did he tell you that Seneca was murdered right over there?” Walker asked; pointing to the altar.

All the color washed from Trent’s face. He hurriedly grabbed the things he had set down and hopped off the pew. He apologized and said that he had to leave. The boy turned heel and ran off. Detective Root called for him to come back but it was of no use. Jett rose to race after the boy but Kelly had already beat him to it.

“Way to go sociopath,” Holland muttered under their breath.

XXXXX

Kelly quickly caught up with the kid as he ducked down a long hallway. The kid turned around with wide, fear-filled, eyes. He dropped the items he carried and reached inside the pocket of his robe. He pulled a small vial out of the pocket.

“Hey, hey, hey. It’s okay. Yer alright, ceann beag, I’m not going to hurt ye.”

The boy splashed holy water in Kelly’s face.

“Sweet Mary and the wee baby Jesus,” he said with a slight chuckle of disbelief. “I’m not a fucking demon.”

“Wha—What do you want?”

“I just wanna talk ta ye, Trent. I’m sorry about what my teammate said back there.”

The boy looked down at the floor and said nothing. He knelt down and started to collect the things he had dropped. Kelly knelt down and helped the boy gather the items. Trent gave him a half surprised and half suspicious look. The boy got up off the ground and waited for Kelly to hand over the items he had picked up. But the lanky teen did not.

Trent shrugged and walked down the hallway.

For awhile the pair walked in silence. Kelly began whistling the tune of some half-forgotten hymn. The boy joined in humming along.

After awhile they stopped in front of a door near the end of the hallway. Trent explained that this was Father Montgomery’s office. Trent whispered that the father might not be happy to know that the police were there and so that it was better if he just stayed outside. Kelly smirked and said that he wasn’t police. He explained that if Father Montgomery had a problem with him being there the father would have to take it up him.

Trent knocked on the door.

“Come in, boy,” an old and gruff voice called from behind the door.

Kelly turned the handle and the two of them walked through. The office was neat and clean. An oak desk sat a few feet away from a large window that face the opposite side of the street. A large bookshelf ran along the right hand wall. A few chairs sat on the side of the desk opposite the large black office chair. The priest was sitting at the desk, glasses resting on the bridge of his nose, reading something. His hair was gray and turning white at the edges. Wrinkles and crow’s feet lined his face. He looked up to see a tall, lanky, ginger human virus standing next to Trent and he eyed Kelly suspiciously.

“Who is this?”

“A believer,” Kelly said. “I’ve been looking for a new church since I left my home district. And it seems to me that yours might just be the place, Father.”

“Hmm,” the priest said; looking Kelly up and down. He got up, walked around the desk, giving Kelly a hard look as he walked. Stopping just a few inches from Kelly’s face he stared into the teen’s deep blue eyes. Kelly stared right back. After a few minutes he broke eye contact and turned to Trent.

“Leave those things with me and give this young man whatever he needs.”

Trent froze and looked at Kelly with wide eyes. His mouth dropped open in confusion. Kelly straightened his posture and gave the kid a hard stare.

“You heard the father.”

Confused, and somewhat afraid, Trent put the things on the priest desk. His hands shook slightly but he tried to hide it. Father Montgomery gave the boy a nod and he backed away from the desk. He stood there for a second; still confused to what was going on. Then he lead Kelly out of the office and back into the hallway.

Kelly let out a sigh once they were out of earshot.

“Never lied to a priest before,” he said with a nervous chuckle. “First time for everything I guess.”

As they walked back to where the others were Kelly told the kid about himself. He showed the kid a few of his tattoos, mostly Celtic in design but with heavy Christian elements, and explained their meanings. Trent asked him if they hurt and Kelly didn’t lie. Each one hurt. And they hurt a lot. The boy said something about his brother having a large, very scary looking, tattoo on his back. And that the father didn’t like it and banned his brother from the church after that. Tears began to fall down the boy’s face and Kelly told him that it would alright. He told the boy about his mom and his younger brother. About how he felt this deep connection to a man he barely met and almost didn’t remember anymore.

Then Kelly asked him about Seneca.

Trent bit his bottom lip and didn’t say anything until they had joined the rest of the group.

The young satyr virus explained that Seneca was adopted by the church and raised inside its walls. He was as well. The church tended to take in a few babies every couple years or so just in case some of the viruses were on verge of being left in the care of the Nurseries. Emery interrupted to say that being raised in a Nursery was just fine. That he turned out just fine. Trent rolled his eyes at the comment.

He went on to say that Seneca was sort of like the parental figure he never had.

Most of the people in the church didn’t treat him very well. They saw him, if they remembered him at all, as sort of a part of the church. As a piece of the stonework or a section of the pews. But Seneca was different. They looked at Trent and actually saw a person. They treated him like any normal person would treat a child.

“Did ye see anyone strange before Seneca died?” Kelly asked.

“There was this homeless man who came in a couple times. Father Montgomery turned him away a few times. But Seneca let him in and gave him some food. Seneca was always a nice person.”

Trent went on to say that he often looked for the homeless man. He didn’t want the guy to freeze somewhere now that the temperatures were dropping. When the young boy finished his story the group exited the church. Standing on the church steps the detective told the group that they should probably set up an ambush in the church. According to the young satyr’s story Fiyero Nonagon had frequented the church prior to the murder he committed. Just like the story of the young sprite he killed.

Maybe it was a bit wishful thinking but this was the strongest lead they had.

Nonagon had nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide.

Jett cleared his throat and started to tell the detective what he had forgotten to say before. But his phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out and saw a text from his sister. She didn’t recognize the shape. He texted her that maybe it wasn’t a shape but half of one. She still didn’t see anything familiar about it. He asked Emery about the shape but he didn’t recognize it either.

But Jett couldn’t shake the feeling.

XXXXX

They hid around the church until night fell.

It was a long, quiet, few hours.

Emery and Jett hid together and talked amongst themselves to pass the time. Jett held a flame in his hand to give the two of them a little light. He turned to Emery with an upset look on his face; his nose crinkled in confusion and his ears flattened against his head in anger.

“I just know there’s something about it.”

“Bro, it’s not even a shape. It’s a bunch of fucking dots on a map.”

“Dude, be honest. Did you even look at it?”

A hand flew to Emery’s mouth in shock; “How could you accuse me of such a thing? I’m shocked, appalled, and very, very, offended.”

Jett gave him a light shove and Emery pretended to be severely hurt. They joked and laughed it off.

Meanwhile Avia and Kelly were sitting together on the opposite side of the street. Kelly sat on the concrete; back leaning against the brick building behind him. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket. His warhammer sat in the ground the handle just a few inches from his hand.

He grabbed Avia by the hand and pulled her into an embrace.

“Something wrong?” she asked.

Kelly shook his head and just held her close. She let him hold her there; their warmth melding together. After a few minutes his hands dropped from around her body and fell at his side. He looked into her deep black eyes and bent down to give her a kiss on the forehead. His lips lightly pressed against the crack there. He pulled away but she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I know something’s up. What is it, babe?”

“I’m so scared, ean beag. What if he messes with one of us again? And what’s gonna happen if it’s Holly a second time? Would they be able to go through all that again? What if you get—”

She pressed a finger to his lips; shushing him.

“It’s going to be okay, babe.”

“You don’t know that,” he said shaking his head and looking down at the ground.

“I think I do. It’s going to be okay because this time we’re not going into this fight like idiots. We actually know what we’re dealing with so we can beat him this time. And besides if all else fails somebody’s bound to see what happens and call the cops. Or those virus assassins you’re always on about.”

“You really think they’ll show?”

Avia shrugged; “I don’t know babe but hopefully it won’t have to come to that. I’m pretty sure we’d fail if a bunch of assassins came and did our job for us.”

Kelly lifted his head back and laughed loudly. He pulled Avia closer and kissed her; long and hard.

They stayed in their respective hiding spots for a few more hours.

Halfway through the stakeout Isabelle noticed a mysterious looking virus walking towards them. But the closer they got it became clear that it wasn’t a lone virus. It was a small group. The group had turned to be some semi-drunk college kids. The detective told them all to stay vigilant and reminded them that their perp had nowhere else to go. But the longer the night went on the more tired the group became and the more boredom began to take over them. Emery and Kelly had started to play some game that required a lot of shouting and swearing. Scribe and Isabelle had started to doze off; leaning against one another. Root tried to stay optimistic but it seemed that Nonagon had a different locale where he was spending the night. Once again Legacy Root drove them back to their dorm.

They all went inside and Isabelle ordered a couple pizzas for the group. Emery rejoiced at the offer of free food and gave Isabelle an unexpected bear hug. Walker denied the free food and went straight to their room. Shutting the door, and locking it, behind them. Kelly and Avia sat on the couch and cuddled up to one another. Jett went straight to his room and grabbed a pen and a notebook.

He opened the notebook to a fresh page and began drawing the shape over and over.

He sketched other shapes on top of the one the dots had made trying to find some sort of connection. Something was familiar about the shape and the placement of the bodies. He chewed on the pen as he thought.

Suddenly something crashed through his window and sent glass shattering.

Jett froze. The others ran into his room to see what the commotion was. Jett didn’t see them; his eyes glazed over in fear. Emery told the others to give Jett some space. Isabelle didn’t listen and pushed her way through and carefully walked around the shards of glass. Holland rushed to the kitchen to make Jett some tea. Scribe went to inspect the remains of the window while Emery looked at what caused the crash.

A small light gray brick sat on the floor in the middle of the glass shards.

A piece of black paper was taped to the brick.

Emery picked it up and pulled the paper off. He carefully tried not to rip the paper just in case something important was on it. Or something threatening. It had to be something because people didn’t just throw bricks through people’s windows. Academy students didn’t really pull these kinds of pranks on one another either.

The paper was thicker than a normal piece of paper but seemed to be solid black. Blank. Emery turned it over hoping that the other side was blank as well. But his hopes were crushed when he saw what was on the opposite side. He dropped the brick and it landed lightly on the floor.

“What is it?” Isabelle asked as she rubbed Jett’s back.

Emery turned the paper over so that the others could see. A bright red phoenix was embossed on the black surface.

[ageeksnerdyworld]

(The Cyber World and the viruses therein belong to @voiceoflarka)

Some more crapass doodles of these two

[ageeksnerdyworld]

I may be a bitch but at least I dress better than everyone here.

-- Avia

[ageeksnerdyworld]

Cinnamon for Jett and squad. I must know for doodling reasons.

For doodling reasons you say? Well, then! I’m answering this one first!

Cinnamon - Which of the “Cinnamon Roll” memes fits you best? (looks like they could kill but is actually a cinnamon roll, looks like a cinnamon roll but could actually kill you, looks like a cinnamon roll and is actually a cinnamon roll, looks like they could kill you and could actually kill you, or sinnamon roll)

Jett-- He’s a bit of looks like a cinnamon but could kill you and looks like a cinnamon roll and IS a cinnamon roll.

Emery-- Sinnamon roll? I think? Tbh I don't really get the sinnamon roll thing since I’ve seen it applied to various kinds of characters... Shame on me I know I’m sorry!

Avia-- Looks like they could kill you but is actually a cinnamon roll. She acts like a bitch but she has a heart of gold.

Isabelle-- Hands down the looks like a cinnamon roll but could actually kill you member of the team. Smol, adorable, murder skitty.

Holland-- They definitely fit the looks like a cinnamon roll and is actually a cinnamon roll archetype.

Walker-- Looks like they could kill you and could actually kill you. Maybe a bit of sinnamon roll? Buuuuut... that kinda depends on your stance of morally gray characters. AND ALSO WHATEVER THE FUCK IT MEANS!

Scribe-- She’s very much the looks like a cinnamon roll and is actually a cinnamon roll person.

Kelly-- Oh my sweet Irish baby boy! He looks like a cinnamon roll and is actually a cinnamon roll.

Thanks for the ask!

Color Related OC Asks

[ageeksnerdyworld]

If your viruses were gonna have a mentor, who would they want? :3c

Dude I love you so much! Sending me asks and shit... (TBH I have no clue how much my virus actually know about the 99 because I haven’t even thought about that yet so imma just describe them in character)

Jett-- A mentor? Um... I don’t know... Somebody who’s gonna help me figure out how to control my powers and stuff I guess.

Emery-- Laid back all-around cool dude. Doesn’t play by the rules. Someone like Jett. And somebody who won’t get pissed if I skip class to play with the band.

Isabelle-- I don’t really care who it is as long as they’re nice.

Avia-- Calm, collected, smart stylish, and driven. In other words someone who is just like me. We would get along perfectly.

Kelly-- Whoever it is they have to be fun! They need to be nice and easy to get along with. Won’t care if I drink. Fun, a good teacher, and let us spar a lot. Gotta use Bas Dubh often or she gets a little cranky, you know? Fun. Oh, oh, oh somebody who likes adventure and would take us on field trips! Did I mention fun?

Holland-- Not too pushy about me using my powers. Someone friendly and nice.

Walker-- Whoever it’s gonna be they better not try to get to know me. My life outside of this school is my business. Nobody else’s.

Scribe-- They can’t be loud. Can’t be loud. Somebody who isn’t going to get mad when I repeat myself. No yelling. I don’t like loud people.

[ageeksnerdyworld]

Isabelle tries to give her new teammates (aka new best friends because dammit she’s gonna make some) nicknames. She calls Holland “Holly” and that goes pretty well. She call Jett “Jay” and that’s fine. She even manages to call Walker “Walker Texas Ranger” and they don’t seem too bothered. She tries to think of a nickname for Scribe, and goes with “Scribbles.” It sounds cute but Scribe reacts so negatively towards it that Izzy panics and refuses to give her little sea horse a nickname.

Well the nickname person of the team is actually Jett…

Jett is called Je (totally pronounced like Jay I just had to spell that way cos I’m weird)

He calls Mazarin “Maz”

Emery gets called “Em” or “Beck”

Kelly gets called “Kell”

Isabelle gets called “Isa”

Avia gets called “Av” (which is pronounced like cave but without the c”)

Walker is definitely called “Walker Texas Ranger” because it’s too damn perfect to not call them that!

Holland is called “Holly” or just “Holl”

Scribe is actually called “Scri” because that’s what her dad used to call her & it was the only thing she would accept as a nickname.

[ageeksnerdyworld]

Scribe says “fuck” for the first time. Avia screams and tries to strangle Emery.

Oh no no no Isabelle would be the one to do the strangling.

Avia would be watching this happen from the couch as she paints her nails and say something like “I advised him against this just so you’re aware.”

Isabelle straight up tackled Emery to the floor. At first Emery struggles against her just to save himself. But then he’s like “fuck it im no match for her” and gives in. Walker comes into the room to this and falls to the floor laughing.

[ageeksnerdyworld]

Avia Carstairs

Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.—Winston Churchill

The Cyber World and its viruses belong to @voiceoflarka

[ageeksnerdyworld]

For Avia bby ;v; 27, 69, 19, 54

19. What does your URL mean?

Well, my instagram handle is just avia.c which is my first name and last initial. Short, sweet, and to the point.

27. What’s a sound you hate; a sound you love?

When someone scratches their plate with their knife or fork. That is the most annoying sound in the entire world. Nothing is better than music from a finely tuned violin.

54. What’s the last thing you purchased?

Coffee, silver ear cuffs, an eye shadow palette, and a pair of fur-lined leather gloves.

69. Best honest. Ever gotten yourself off?

No comment.

100 Personal Asks