((First post! Eyyyy. Also do you wanna bring the notes posts up to date with the NPCs and new pictures?

Time wise, I'm assuming it's some break time, maybe the beginning of summer holidays, so they don't have to worry about school and whatnot? Intro posts are most likely going to be longer than most rp posts.))


Chong Yang

"How're you feeling?" Chong Yang asked as soon as the car was humming smoothly down the road. Behind them the gates filled with other cars and parents awaiting the flood of children dispersing from school, relaxation and lethargy in the air. She was glad that she'd arrived early - one glance in the rearview mirror and she winced, seeing the long tail of headlights and blinkers.

"Finally!" Her gaze settled on the girl in the back seat, who was slouched back with half a scowl on her face, arms crossed in front of the backpack she hugged. The girl sighed. "School suuuucks. I can't wait to do absolutely nothing the entire summer."

"Maya!" Chong Yang chided, though there was no real heat to her words. "What would your sister say if she heard that?"

"Whatever she wants, because it's break, and she can't make me do anything." Maya stuck her tongue out.

"You're lucky you're still in middle school," Chong Yang told her with a chuckle. "If you were in high school... you wouldn't have a say in what you do. It's all downhill from there."

"Well, I'm not in high school yet," Maya leaned forward - and Chong Yang briefly interrupted to tell her to sit properly, because road safety, children - and slumped back into her seat. "Oh!" and she was leaning forward again, "can we get ice cream!? You can't start the summer without ice cream!"

"No, we can't. Your sister's waiting at home."

"Please please please please please!" Maya rocked back and forth in her seat, a string of high pitched pleas falling incessantly from her mouth. "Please! Just one cone! Not even a fresh one! A packaged one would do! Please?" Her mouth twisted pitifully, and she was making those puppy eyes again. "I'll even settle for a popsicle." She grabbed the back of Chong Yang's seat and shook it. "Pleeeaaaaase?"

A nervous shiver washed over Chong Yang. She thinned her lips, tightening her grip on the steering wheel. The fire under her skin had been docile for a good while now, much longer than she'd been expecting, and she'd worried that it would explode at some point, but not now, she pleaded silently. Not with the kid in the car. She flicked a look through the mirror back at Maya - the girl hadn't noticed anything awry.

Breaking into a nervous smile and trying to pass it off as annoyed resignation, Chong Yang heaved an exaggerated sigh. "Fine. But don't tell Emily, okay?"

"Promise!" Maya giggled, did a small dance - as much as she could while under a seatbelt - and held out her hand, pinky extended. "Pink promise!"

"Put your hand down. I'm driving," Chong Yang reminded her with a fond smile, and hoped she wouldn't see the white of her knuckles on the wheel.

The gas station wasn't far away, a small flat building squished like a midget between the surrounding skyscrapers. There were a few cars here and there at the pumps and a constant flow of customers in and out. Within minutes, Chong Yang pulled the car into a parking spot and let Maya out, quickly following suit. She made sure the doors were locked before hurrying after the girl who was already rushing into the store.

"Don't run off and get lost!" She called after Maya.

"It's a gas station, where could I get lost to?" Came the response between the automatic doors that were already sliding shut.

Stuffing her hands into her pockets and balling them tightly, Chong Yang squared her shoulders and stepped into the shop. The coolness of air conditioning washed over her, fighting back the heat of the day, but it did nothing to curb the growing feeling of flames skittering in her veins, poking at her insides like needles. Her throat was dry.

"Fanta numbers are rising by the day. There seems to be no explanation for what's going on, and scientists and the government alike are stumped." The overhead screen buzzed, the thin words carrying barely through the space. "Thankfully, the Corporation are working together with the police to apprehend the most dangerous ones - it is said the Corporation found a cure, somehow, but they're being mysterious about it."

Chong Yang blocked out the noise and hurried over to the counter where Maya stood by the case full of ice cream, deep in contemplation.

"You said popsicle," Chong Yang prodded her in the shoulder.

"Unfair!" Maya whined, eyeing the colourful array of tasty treats that weren't popsicles. Not that popsicles were any bad; in Chong Yang's opinion, they were perfectly fine other than the fact that they got everywhere when they started melting.

Nausea struck Chong Yang in the stomach and she nearly keeled over, breath catching in her throat as her stomach threatened to empty itself all over the glossy gas station tiles. Static crackled through her mind, drowning out whatever Maya was saying next.

"How about you pick out whatever you want?" She said, forcing her face to stay calm. "I'm feeling nice today. Have two ice creams. Maybe more. Heck, get Emily one."

"Really?" Maya's eyes went wide and practically shimmering with stars.

"Yep! I'm going to go look around!" Chong Yang called over her shoulder, leaving the girl at the freezer and already dashing for the back of the store. She just needed a minute or so, and she'll be back to pay for the treats. Maya won't even notice anything wrong.

Pain burned through her veins. The world was getting blurry; she furiously wiped her eyes clean and glanced around. She was in the magazine section. Everything was a haze of colours blending together. She couldn't discern any of the titles. It didn't matter. Checking one last time to make sure nobody was looking, she tore a random issue from the shelves and faced the corner, making to look like she was deeply engaged in reading.

She let the fire loose. Instantly her hands were coated in a slick layer of flame, burning yellow and blue in the harsh white lighting of the store. The magazine was gone, reduced to ashes in a second as it was consumed in barely a woosh. Thin grey dust scattered across the floor, flecks of charred paper among it. She needed more. Blindly she grabbed another one, instantly incinerated in her hands, and then another, until the corner of the shop was piled in the remains of magazines.

She staggered, leaning heavily against a rack. Her movement kicked up a curl of dust, floating down the aisle in a small eddy.

World spinning, she sucked in a large, shaky breath. The pressure was finally receding from her head, the fire appeased for the time being. It burned steadily for a few moments, spreading through her veins with a comforting warmth, before going dormant once more.

Stunned, she hung there for a few beats, heart flying wildly. No doubt she'd grown dog ears again - why did that happen? She couldn't understand, just as she couldn't understand why she was inclined to burn things. Reaching a hand up, she confirmed that sure enough, a pair of fluffy ears sat atop her head, faintly twitching. She patted them a couple of times and as they always did, they melted back into her hair.

The store seemed strange in that moment. The light was too bright. The sound from the TV, far away from her, was too loud. She could sense the vibrations of Maya rifling through the freezer, and the brush of cloth as the cashier wiped the counter. And-

There was someone else.

Not from the entrance, no, otherwise she would have felt the door slide open, heard their footfalls, felt the miniscule tremors through the ground as they moved. This was much closer to her.

A cold sweat came over her. Nobody had... seen her "vandalise" the magazines, right? She turned slowly, hoping to appear innocent and just looking, and caught sight of the stranger. He had just emerged from the bathroom, the door swinging shut behind them. Thankfully, it was at an angle where he wouldn't see her directly unless he turned around to look around the door.

Not thankfully, however, was the expression on his face. He looked weird, to say the least. His cheeks were sunken in and his skin had an almost green tint to it, leathery under the big hood he wore. His eyes bulged from their sockets, and were those scales she saw at the corners of his eyes? His gaze was that of a predator's.

She squinted. His attention was fixated toward the cashier area of the shop. He moved. That movement was like limping, lumbering, more animal than human, and Chong Yang realised she'd seen - heard - of him before.

A Fanta with the appearance of the mythological lizardfolk has been evading authorities in the Fourth district. This individual shows no sign of intelligent thought and has attacked multiple people before, posing a threat to society. The Corporation has made preparations to send a team to take him down. In the meantime, keep vigilant, citizens, and stay safe."

He was heading toward Maya. And he was breaking into a run.

Without a second thought, Chong Yang threw herself forward, reaching to grab some his arm, or his coat, anything. "Hey!"

Xavier

The space was silent. Empty silent, hollow silent, the kind of silence that whistled like the wind in a winter storm, now congregated in an abandoned warehouse, the rusting steel beams crisscrossing overhead, the piles of forgotten, rotten cargo boxes.

Xavier made his way forward, gliding over the ground, the slow, rhythmic clicking of his heels partially absorbed by the thin layer of dirt and dust accumulated on the floor. Ahead of him was his target, a young woman currently shrinking away from him, her shoulders hunched, head down, arms wrapped tightly around herself. Arms which ended in massive bear paws, tipped with massive bear claws stained in red. Her whole torso dipped forward as if it could not support the weight of her upper body.

"Darling, sweetie," Xavier said softly, extending both hands, palms out - no weapons. His coat swished softly as he walked, a silent, reassuring whisper. "It's alright. Everything will be alright. It wasn't your fault."

"Nothing's alright!" The scream cracks through the still air like a pistol shot. Xavier stops moving. The woman's voice breaks, words torn apart by sobs. "I didn't mean to- I didn't- Ava, poor Ava-" She shook under the force of her cries. "She didn't deserve this- I can't- I didn't-"

"Of course you didn't," Xavier soothes. "Nobody knows what's going on. You turned, and lost control. You are not at fault for anything that happened."

"But I-" The woman screamed again, backing up further. "I- I killed her! She died in my arms! My-" She tossed her hands down as if she could disconnect and throw away the bloodied bear paws altogether. "She was right there, beautiful Ava with her brilliant smile, flowers in her hair. She had apples in her hand, one was for me, and she was talking to me, trusting me... What have I done..."

"Hey, hey," Xavier's voice dropped to a whisper, a honeyed susurrus through the wide open space. "Love, you've tired yourself out running. Come now. Breathe." He shifted his posture, easing the tenseness in his shoulders to appear more approachable, trustworthy. He still held his hands out to her. "It's alright. I know you're scared right now, and it's a normal response. You are fine."

She peered up at him through teary eyes, distraught like a deer in headlights. "I- I- I murdered-"

"Shh, breathe," Xavier smiled - a careful smile, not too wide, not to bright; just something short of hopeful, the sort of smile that said there's still hope. "Let's not dwell on what we could not control."

She paused. Hiccuped. "I didn't mean to. I- I didn't want to. I couldn't- Nobody- Nobody will believe me-"

"Of course," he cooed. "You had no control over your actions. I'm here, aren't I? I believe you. I know. Can you do something for me?"

He had her attention. He saw the spark of clarity in her eyes - she was listening.

"Breathe," he said softly. "Breathe in... breathe out... Listen to my voice. In... Out..." In the cavernous warehouse, speaking so low, his words came out as a deep, smooth rumble, like that of a cat's. "In... Out..."

As he spoke, he subtly reached for his power, a small packet bundled up within him. He let it come out little by little, a tiny flow like grains of sand seeping through the cracks of a cloth sack, trickling, sifting, with a soft hiss. It was invisible, but he could feel it with his mind - he drew it out it like strings of spider silk, spinning them into a delicate, thin web, spreading out from him. The effect was almost immediate; as the woman inhaled and exhaled shakily, her bear paws were slowly dissipating, first the fur, and then her hands, shrinking until they were normal again.

"In... Out..." He continued, and took half a step forward.

Her breath caught. He stopped.

"Breathe, sweetheart," he gave her another smile, this time a winning grin. "You're doing great." His power permeated the air like something living, beating to its own heart, glimmering and glorious. He let it settle around her like a gentle, intangible blanket.

She stabilised. Her hands - human hands now - were still shaking, but she wasn't crying anymore, the tear tracks drying on her cheeks.

He let her be as long as she needed, counting in and out breaths. He needed to get to her, but he'd let her take her time. They had time. The dusty rags clinging to the walls of the warehouse rippled lightly in an incoming breeze, and he let his eyes slide to a blissful squint as the wind reached them, toying with her jacket and combing through his hair.

Finally, she spoke. "They're- they're gone?" She was looking down in amazement, staring at her palms, fingers, and nails as if they were alien to her. Then, she was looking at him. "They're... gone!"

"I knew you could do it," he said encouragingly. "Breathe. Focus on the now. Do you feel better?"

"How did you know?" She asked.

He cocked his head.

"I mean," she stuttered, and looked away, clenching her newly returned human hands together. "You ran after me and I ran and I thought you were going to hurt me since that's the logical thing to do after I hurt- I mean- no! That doesn't matter! I mean- What I mean to say is, how did you know that this would work?"

"Oh," he chuckled. "I assumed it had to be tied to emotions. A lot of things stem from extreme emotions, no?" He ventured forth and took a step. She didn't move. "You must have been so scared, running away, feeling as if the world was out to get you." His expression softened, and he held out his arms. Another step. "Dear, I know what it's like to feel lost." Another step. "It's in times like this that we should have someone to support us, yet often we can't find that support - I guess, I wanted to be your support."

She flushed and looked down. "You risked your life. There was no guarantee that your guess would work."

"That's what it's about, isn't it?" He was getting close; just a few more steps. His power dissolved into air as he dismissed it. "Helping others will always be a risk, but, it's what we should do."

"Does this mean I can go back to my life now?"

"I'm afraid that wouldn't be too good of an idea. You might have a fit again - it's best you learn how to control it first."

"Control it?" She furrowed her brows, looking up, yet not quite looking at him. She refused to meet his eyes. "How can- how?"

"There are always ways," he told her. "The Corporation is one." He extended a hand toward her, an open invitation. "We can help you be learn how, and then you'll be back with not a worry in the world."

"You're with the Corporation?" Her gaze hardened and she drew back. "I've heard... things."

"Things?" he laughed. "Darling, people talk. Why don't you see for yourself?"

"They- they never come back, apparently," her voice was going shaky again. "They're killed. That's what the Corporation does, right? Kill all of us... Fantas," she spat the colloquial name. "Because we aren't human anymore."

"Hey, hey, breathe," he reminded her.

"No- I- you're-" A shutter slammed down over her expression. "I can't go with you."

"It's best if you do. No matter what people are saying, we are your best bet at mitigating other outbursts, for lack of a better word, in the future." He could read the tension in her body, clear as day. Her foot shifted backward. Muscle bunched.

He ducked to the side just as her fist came swinging, pounding into the air where he'd been. Even with her bear form gone, she retained that strength. "Leave me alone!" She screamed, tears coming again. "I don't want to go- don't take me- I have family!"

Her hands swelled up, bristly fur springing from her pores, nails lengthening.

Xavier tsked, skidding back to evaluate the situation. The target was unstable, dangerous, and most likely wouldn't listen to a second round of persuasion. She'd already made it clear she wanted nothing to do with the Corporation. Even as he stood there to think, she was growing, her anger and terror seizing her, swelling into extra mass. Her hair turned into shaggy brown fur and her ears reformed above her head, two small fuzzy nubs. For all purposes, she was a brown bear now - a brown bear with a human face.

And the brown bear was charging him.

"This is on you," he told her, and shot forth to meet her charge. "We can't let a danger to society run free."

She faltered, clearly unexpecting him to come toward her, and then screamed, throwing her entire weight behind her movement. One paw came up and slammed down, heavily crushing through the air. Xavier twisted, coat tails swirling behind him, and slid under her strike. As he was beneath her chest he ground his foot into the ground and spun his body, balling his hand into a fist and driving it into her shoulder.

She bellowed, something crunching on contact, and snapped back, momentum completely reversed. Undeterred, she was charging once again, albeit with a limp. "I don't want to die!" The words came screeched from jaws that were neither human nor bear, something horribly disfigured and in-between.

He ignored her. Standing his ground, he threw out a hand at her, this time casting out his power full force. She transformed back mid-run, on all fours, and crashed to the ground in a pile of dust. She quickly scrambled onto her behind and scooched back as he walked briskly toward her, expression blank.

"I- I knew it!" She pointed, tripping over herself as she got up. "You- You guys are up to something- They- They're right-" Pushing herself upright, one shoulder dipping lower than the other, she swung an arm out in an attempt to strike. He caught her hand and twisted, drawing a yowl.

"Enough," he said flatly. Yanking her toward him, he shifted his weight back to one leg and pivoted, quick as a whip, roundhouse kicking her on her jaw. She dropped like a sack of rocks, but still blearily clawed at his leg. Her mouth was moving, but what came out was slurred, incomprehensible. He stepped away from her, easily evading her hands.

"Anomaly secured," He touched a hand to his earpiece, perfectly moulded to camoflauge with his skin. "I'll be out in a second."

She whined, tears seeping through her lashes, dark droplets in the dust where she sprawled. He paid her no heed.

"Took you long enough. Should've used those knives they gave you." Clotho's voice came through, almost laughing. "The vehicle's outside."

Xavier let the connection die and looked down at her. She'd dragged herself closer to him, still trying to reach him with her claw-like nails. It was over, he thought, so no point in playing nice anymore. In a snap of bones and muscles, instead of the human Xavier, a massive jaguar stood in his place, golden eyes cold and dark.

"You-" she gasped. "You too-"

With one swipe of his paw, she was knocked out, and he was back to his human form again. With a tsk, he reached down and hoisted her up into his arms. His team was outside, readily accepting her and securing her next to Odile, who fussed over the woman and conjured a cup of water for when she would wake up.

Xavier hopped into the vehicle. "Back to headquarters!" He exclaimed, smile back on his face as he settled into his seat.

Your worst nightmare is arriving in about ten minutes, he texted Freya. After a few seconds of contemplation, he smirked and spammed a rainbow of emojis. As always.

Carrie is relaxing languidly in the shade of a large pine tree near the gas station. She's positioned so that no light touches her from under the thick, jade needles, but even so she's wearing a hoodie that hides far more skin than she'd usually wear in summer. She's reading a book so thick it makes the dictionary seem thinner than a travel pamphlet, and so large that it's the only reason she's still carrying around her backpack. She's never liked pine trees. She's always hated the smell, though not for any particular reason, and the fact she's the one who cleans up stray needles during Christmastime doesn't help her negative disposition.

But, she doesn't have much of a choice, in this situation at least. Carrie left about 40 minutes before school ended under the claim she "wasn't feeling good" in the hopes she could get home before anyone sees her. It's a nice day out, even though the weather-person said it was supposed to be cloudy and slightly rainy today, and she knows the risks that come with sunny days. However, she'd come home to a visibly distraught Kalli, a broken window, and a dead dog. Not her dog -they don't own a dog-, but somebody's.

After a half hour of calming down her sister, Kalli was out of snack food. Nibbling on stuff helps Kalli de-stress and it usually holds off her chimerism for a while. It's not the healthiest coping mechanism, but it's effective. So, heavy-book backpack and little sister in tow, they'd gone over to the gas station. Kalli doesn't need to be accompanied and she takes a long while anyways, so there's no real reason for Carrie to worry about her being alone in there.



Kalli is wandering around the small store. She's been looking for nearly 20 minutes now, and she still hasn't decided on anything to buy. She's not looking for anything in particular- just something that will last a while. She's borrowing one of Carrie's hoodies in an attempt to hide her face. But, even so, the tear-streaks on her mottled dark/pale cheeks are visible, and her glimmering eyes threaten to refresh the fading marks. She seems to have all but forgotten about the $10 in her pocket that her big sis gave her, glumly observing the brands without really acknowledging them. She doesn't seem to hear the TV, notice the people coming and going, or understand the concerned woman who asked if she was alright or needed to call someone. It's like she's trapped in an invisible void.

Eventually, she snaps out of her misery, sighs, and grabs a large bag of chips at random. She doesn't care what kind it is. It's food that's under $10 and she's not actively allergic to it. That's all that matters to her. She quietly walks up to the cashier to pay for her chips, ignoring all the usual "find everything okay?" talk cashiers are paid to ask. She hands the cashier the money, grabs her bag of chips, and pauses halfway out the door. Something doesn't feel right.

She glances around, and she notices the strange guy coming out of the bathroom. Her heart catches under her tongue, and it startles a slim tear out of her still-watery left eye. She's been around bad people long enough to recognize one.

She can feel the beast underneath writhe in her lungs the moment her heartbeat picks up. It feels thick and viscous, and it never feels the same way twice. This time around, it feels like a squeezing snake - like she swallowed a boa and now it's trying to constrict her chest. She tries to keep her breath stable, trying to just ignore the awful feeling.

Slowly, silently, she reaches for her phone, quickly texting Carrie to warn her of the situation.


Carrie is good at finding shadows in an emergency. She doesn't usually risk lighter shadows, but she can't not use them right now. She flits under trees, dashes behind peoples' shadows, and hurries through the faint shade of the sparse clouds, charging through the front door of the station just in time to spot and promptly launch herself at the lizardfolk.

(My 'h' key is slowly dying so there's probably some missing h's here, sorry)


Chelsea is waiting in the car. She's not angry, at least not right now, though from the look on her face she doesn't appreciate not getting to charge at the lady full-force this time around. She just sits quietly, glaring at Xavier out of the corner of her sapphire eyes. She always gets like this when she doesn't get a chance to slam her face into a target for no reason other than that being her favorite way to attack people.

Callum has chosen to not show up, apparently. Maybe he's already home. Maybe he'll pop in after a few minutes. Maybe he's going to explore the area for a while. It's hard to tell with him sometimes. Or most of the time for that matter- he doesn't tend to explain the reasons behind his choices, and the reasons aren't usually obvious enough to not need explanation.

Victoria is, as usual, trying way too hard to be noticed. She's leaning back with her feet kicked up as high as she possibly can, which has got to be seriously uncomfortable. She's wearing heels that legitimately look like you could stab someone's eye out with, which is probably for drama because there's no way anyone in their right mind would wear heels this ridiculous to a fight unironically. She's currently threatening to bonk the target on the head with the heels, since that's the way she's facing. She's also wearing earbuds (visibly expensive ones), but not listening to music. She does that a lot- that way she can eavesdrop on everybody without needing to talk to them. Even though there's not possibly anything so important that they wouldn't just tell her later when she's not "listening to her playlist".


Freya doesn't respond directly. She doesn't bother. She does, however, use the react feature on the texting app to give every emoji a thumb's down. Except for the cat emotes. Those get thumbs up, because cats are cool.

Carrie gets to the lizardfolk first. Chong Yang's hand closes around air, just a second behind the tail of his coat as he is knocked over by the girl that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, moving a smidge too fast to be natural. But Chong Yang doesn't have the time to ponder over the inhuman speed of the newcomer. As the two crash to the ground before her, her first thought goes to Maya. Maya is still by the cashier.

Cold, nervous sweat slid down her spine as she notices that Maya is looking toward them, attention drawn by her panicked yell. The girl's eyes widen, mouth dropping open at the sight. In her hands, a pair of popsicles go forgotten. A moment later, the head of the cashier appears as he leans over the counter to peer over at the commotion.

The lizardfolk growls, bucking under Carrie's weight. The teeth-grinding screech of claws against the floor rings out through the store and Chong Yang winces.

"Get out of here!" She yells at Maya. "Go back to the car!"

Maya's lower lip wobbles and her mouth moves to form words, but Chong Yang cuts her off. "Go!" She looks pleadingly at the other girl too.

The cashier calls something that is lost in the thrum of blood rushing through Chong Yang's ears, but the distinct shake of fear is clear in his tone. Chong Yang hopes that he gets the memo too and has the good sense to get out of here.

The lizardfolk struggles to his feet. In an impressive twist, he manages to grab Carrie by the arm and drag her off his back, tossing her into a shelf. Bags of chips and candy cascade to the ground as the steel frame crashes back. Chong Yang darts forward, throwing her arms wide before locking them around the man's waist. She meets a form rigid and not soft like flesh, resistant against her grip and giving her a hard time trying to find purchase.

Nevertheless, she thins her lips and focuses for a split second, drawing her senses into herself, in this moment, feeling the ridges of scales under the cloth under her finger, hearing the beat of blood pumping through her ears. She digs her heels into the ground, bends at the knees to lower her center of gravity, and hoists the man up.

Time slows as his feet leave the floor, shoes falling off of reptilian claws. Chong Yang's muscles tremble under his weight.

Then, time speeds up with a woosh when she arches back and slams the lizardfolk's skull into the floor, her own thankfully stopping a few hairs above getting her head cracked open. She tilts sideways and lets the man's stunned body roll off of her before flipping back up, bouncing to her feet. Her head spins. Fire crackles in her fingers, the sparks roused by her rushing blood.

Everything is loud, every sound ringing twice, thrice. Once the world clears around her, she realises that it wasn't just her - barred shutters have slammed down over the windows, locking the inside of the store from the outside world. Originally intended to keep robbers out, it was now keeping a monster in.

Maya's still there at the counter.

"Go!" Chong Yang screams. The girl finally seems to snap out of it, frantically looking back and forth. The doors were blocked. The cashier emerges from behind his counter, extending a hand. There must be a back exit.

Maya hesitates, looking between Chong Yang and the cashier.

"Stop waiting-" Chong Yang gasps as something closes around her ankle, restricting so hard her bones grind together. Whatever it is gives a sharp tug and she loses her balance, flailing to the ground. She hears Maya scream. "I'll be out soon after! Trust me, Maya! I promised Emily you'd be safe!" Claws slice into her calf and she bites back a cry, hoping that Maya wouldn't see her pain and get to safety. Blood dashes across the floor, bright red against stark white tile.

"Hey!" Chong Yang calls to Carrie, once Maya is out of sight. She hopes the redhead girl hadn't gotten a concussion or the likes after getting thrown into the shelves with such force. "Run! I'll hold him off! Call the cops!"

Xavier meets every dirty look thrown at him with a grin. "What?" He flicks his wrist and a knife springs into his palm, quickly finding its place in a quick, spry dance as he twirls it through deft fingers. They always gave him knives. He doesn't like using them in missions. They are fun, however, to play around with during downtime. Especially when people are glaring at him.

"It's not my fault you insisted coming on this mission, so don't blame me when you didn't get to smash anything," he says to Chelsea. Mission teams are usually comprised of three people, a main operator who goes on the field whether to hunt down a target or to negotiate and sweet-talk a potential partner, a supporter for backup, and an overseer whose job is supposed to be coordination but ends up most of the time being the driver and source of quips and chatter over comms.

Xavier doesn't blame Chelsea, though. Her last mission was still fresh on everyone's minds - her last mission with the Anomaly that could punch holes through everything they touched had injured Odile, playing supporter at the time, pretty badly. It was only thanks to Clotho and the tireless medics back at the Corporation that the girl had survived a piercing far too close to her heart for comfort. Even thinking back now, Xavier gets the shivers. There are always missions that remind him that his chosen path is not an easy one. A single misstep, a breath taken too soon or too late, could spell disaster. Death.

Looking at Odile in the front seat next to Clotho, the girl so young and lively with her every future possibility extending out before her, he can only be thankful that she is well despite the layers of bandages and support structures bound to her body beneath her clothes. Everyone had tried to keep her in the infirmary longer so she could heal, but she had insisted, just as Chelsea had. He knows he should have been more firm in not letting her come, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't grateful for her and everyone else in his team. The world is dangerous, so dangerous, and he is so lucky to have them by his side in his pursuit to make the world a safer place.

He makes sure to lean forward and ask Odile if she felt alright. No harm in making sure. She replies with a chirped 'yes' and a huge beaming smile, so he has no choice but to settle back in his seat and make a mental reminder to get her checked up once they get back to HQ.

His attention turns to Victoria. A smirk splits his face, something half exasperated, half resigned. He knows she's listening. "Victoria darling," he purrs. "Would it perhaps be too much to ask you to remove your feet from where you have so carelessly placed them near our dear target's head? Your heels - what dreadful shape they are, definitely unsuited to the rest of your outfit - are going to poke something out at this point." He idly flips his knife back into his palm and holds it up pointing toward the target, bringing it to his eye to look down the blade. Seemingly satisfied with his near pointless inspection, the knife returns to its jolly path swirling between his fingers. "You know what Boss wants. We can rough up our targets a bit during extraction, but let's avoid any additional damage, shall we?"

And then he's turned away, staring soulfully out the window like a star in some easily forgettable drama movie. Clotho clicks on the radio. The group squabbles a bit over who gets to connect to the stereo to put on a playlist. Someone wins out and the beginnings of a song drifts through the air.

The drive back is unremarkable, or as unremarkable as can be with the constant chatter and occasional conflict over who gets to DJ. When they finally arrive at HQ, a reception team armed with tazers and other precautionary tools take the unconscious target from Xavier's team, vanishing into a gate to some facility.

Everyone else disperses to do their own thing - except Odile, who begrudgingly accepts the proposition to head over to the medbay after everyone nags her - and Xavier finds himself strutting into the main building, boots tapping over the smooth marble of the reception. Employees of the Corporation are scattered around in small groups, some talking in hushed voices of future projects, others hanging around enjoying their free time. Several look up and wave as he passes and he gives them a wink, occasionally throwing in some finger guns to spice things up. Nobody comments as he tosses his knife one last time, the metal glinting in the sharp sterile lighting, before flicking it into oblivion, hidden somewhere up his sleeve.

He swipes his card on the sensor next to the elevator and steps in. When the doors next open, he sweeps into a wide floor with a vast open center dotted with a few tables, chairs, and couches. He heads along the outside of the leisure space and makes his way to the rooms lining the walls, their walls made of the sort of translucent glass meant to keep out any stray curious gazes, but they are useless against him. Muscle memory brings him to the third room on the left, the door of which he swings open with a flourish. He doesn't knock.

"I'm back~" He singsongs, gliding into the room and sprawling into the chair in front of the desk, with none other than Freya behind the desk. "Miss me?"

Carrie stumbles to her feet. She's bleeding fairly badly, is incredibly dazed, and it feels like she might have dislocated her shoulder, but hopefully that shoulder can be fixed if she hurries to a doctor. Trying to blink the dizziness away and squinting through the fuzz dizziness can cause, she grabs a broken bit of a shelf, wielding it like a bat.

She starts hitting the lizardfolk with the broken bit of shelf, slamming the broken thing against his head as hard as she can. As she starts to get a bit of her head back together, she also starts kicking and stepping on his shoulders, trying to force him to let go of Chong Yang. It's not as effective as it could be, considering she can't use her other arm right now, but getting smacked by a metal object over and over is bound to be quite distracting no matter how much it's actually hurting.



Kalli, frightened, backs away into the furthest corner of the store. Her body is flickering, threatening to turn into some form of beast. She trembles next to the row of coolers where cold drinks and alcohol are kept, feeling like she's going to turn into some sort of moth, or cat, or dog, or something at any moment.

(I've got a chimera form ready for Kal but it can wait if you'd rather she not)

Freya, who was most definitely not looking at cute pictures of sleeping tortie cats on the site Xavier suggested to her when she's supposed to be working on important magic job-related stuff, quickly slams her computer shut, flushing a little. "Would it kill you to knock, Xavier? I'm not your mother. This isn't your bedroom. You're not a 13 year old."


She starts readjusting the many papers on her desk, which have been put into mild disarray by his sudden entrance. Most are work documents, but there's also some calendar stuff for her personal time, such as dates with her husband and hang-outs with Xavier. She tends to 'fix' her papers if she gets flustered, since it distracts her from the momentary embarrassment long enough to get over it. Most of the work documents are printed out, and she never uses the physical copies since digital is easier.

She finishes reorganizing the files, readjusts the silver necklace with the rose-quartz pendant she's wearing, and huffs. "Are you here for something important, or are you here to distract me from work again? I'm very busy right now, so it better be the former or I'll report this to HR."

((You can control the lizardfolk if you'd like. Also, interact with and expand the environment! Makes for more dynamic, longer rp))

"Wait! Watch out!" Chong Yang yelps when Carrie begins to whale on the creature clasped around her ankle. She's grateful for what Carrie is doing, but she can't help but feel threatened when there's a giant chunk of metal repeatedly slamming down so close to her. From the inhuman force with which the shelf is being handled, Chong Yang doesn't doubt for a second that it's going to be at least a month - an extremely generous estimate - of limping and ankle pain, possibly with crutches.

Thankfully, the vice grip around her leg loosens without her getting anymore hurt other than the bleeding gash and likely broken bones. She yanks her foot away from the lizardfolk and worms forward a bit before pushing herself up, immediately wincing as she stands. Every step on her injured leg feels like fire, and she can't tell if that's her cursed power threatening to bubble up, or just the wound. That's a bad thing.

She slumps against one of the cooling shelves, feeling the coldness beyond the glass seep into her flesh, soothing the tingle of wild sparks. "Thank you," she gasps. The lizardfolk seems dazed, his movements sluggish as he hugs his head, trying to protect against Carrie's relentless assault. After a few blows, he goes limp.

Chong Yang stares at him, not daring to take her eyes off, waiting for some trick, some sudden movement. None comes. She turns her attention back to Carrie. "You should-" she breaks off, sucking in a deep breath to calm her thundering heart, "you should call the police. Get out of here. It's too dangerous-" her speech staggers again.

Maya isn't at the counter anymore. She can only hope that Maya got out with the cashier. Just as she is about to go back to dealing with the lizardfolk, she notices the other presence in the store. "Hi!" She tries to catch Kalli's attention. It's obvious that Kalli is terrified, petrified in place, but Chong Yang isn't in the right state of mind to take things slowly and coax Kalli out of the store. Right now, she can only give commands and hope the poor girl follows them. "Everything will be fine! Please just take a deep breath and try to leave safely!" Her eyes flick to where she'd last seen Maya. "Cashier!"

More detail would have helped, but Chong Yang has no idea whether the lizardfolk was still listening, and she doesn't want to reveal the escape route. If luck is on her side, Kalli will understand what she means.

Taking a deep breath, Chong Yang lets herself sag against the cooling shelf. She tilts her head up, fighting for her windpipe to open up, to provide her lungs with much needed oxygen. Things are not over yet. The man is still on the ground, and Carrie needs help.

The idea comes just in time, because in a flash a long whip of a tail uncurls from under the lizardfolk's clothes and lashes out, smacking against Carrie's calves and winding around them. With a tug, Carrie has her feet pulled out from under her. Chong Yang sees her go down, and in a split second, makes a decision.

Her ankle hurts like she has plunged it into a furnace, and as she moves, she swears she can audibly hear the bones inside crack and grind against each other. Nevertheless, she bears the pain and jolts forward to grab hold of Carrie, tucking her arms beneath Carrie's armpits to keep her standing. Chong Yang would have liked to stomp on the man's tail, but unfortunately she needs a leg to do that and her one weight-bearing leg is already being used to keep her upright.

((Maybe hold of on Kal's transformation. The plot rn is for Carrie and Chong Yang to get to know each other))

((Should you have her get a notification from the higher ups? Also could you put her husband in the NPCs list so I don't forget his name lol))

Xavier's smirk only extends wider in the face of Freya's agitation. He definitely knows what she was looking at. After all, he was the one who shared the cat site, and he had done it during work hours, too. Feigning nonchalance, he pokes at the potted shrub she has on the edge of her desk, running his fingers through the pale green leaves. "Why of course, I am not a 13 year old. I am a full-grown, mature adult!" He sits back, slinging one leg over another in a swirl of black cloth. He sure does love his long, flappy cloaks. "And I simply am here to speak to my most esteemed colleague and incredibly talented investigator within the Corporation; surely nothing is wrong here."

He eyes the mess of papers. Dossiers, documents, and passport printouts of people, tens of faces flipping by amidst the white pages. Seems like Freya was in the middle of something when he so brusquely arrived. He almost feels guilty, but it's Freya, so he never feels guilty. Plus, if she was so busy, she wouldn't be looking at cats. He gives a low satisfactory chuckle when he sees his name scribbled on some of her personal schedules under the big pile of official papers. "I do hope we'll finally get to see the Phantom of the Opera. Those second set of tickets weren't easy to get ahold of." The performance is tonight. He's definitely looking forward to getting out of work today.

The last time he had gotten tickets for them work had gotten in the way, a sudden dangerous Anomaly popping out a couple blocks south of the performance hall. Talk about a ruined night. He could practically hear the musical going on in the background as he fought through endless waves of clones. The person was using their power to mug people, acting all scary and threatening with a gun, but in the end they turned out to be simply annoying.

The next few minutes he spends poking around Freya's desk, picking up random things and putting them down. She's gotten quite a few more bobble head cats, he notes, and as he does so, his smile softens. He flicks one of them on the head and happily watches it swing back and forth. To fill the space, he speaks of random things, irrelevant things, from how Victoria keeps on replacing his wine stash with her own wine to how many he cats he sees himself owning in the future. He's really just chattering and seeing how far he can push it before Freya snaps at him to shut up.

The reprimand comes as expected, and he laughs at her when she huffs. "Distracting you from work is something important," he tucks his arms behind his head and leans back even further, tilting the chair from the ground. It's like he's going to fall over. He has always liked dancing with a line of danger, even if it was trying to find the perfect point of balance between staying seated and falling over. "Tsk tsk, you know HR loves me." They're happy with him. They let him get away with a lot. He neglects to mention The Incident, where HR was decidedly not happy with him, but hey, at least the people in the office were happy.