Heart pounding wildly in her chest, Aura struggled to make sense of her surroundings through her fog of panic. Her eyes kept darting between her assailants and her baby, who barely even registered that anythjng was happening at all. She tried for a few seconds to look for a way to escape, but quickly realized it was futile. Fervently, she prayed that they would just rob her, that they would take her wallet and leave without hurting her or Jude. Mostly, she just wanted Jude to be safe.
"Please," she said pleadingly, her shaking voice barely above a whisper and her hands trembling, "Please, just spare my baby..." She pressed Jude's head closer to her chest, wanting the closeness in this moment of terror.
Helplessly, Aura watched the two men advance on her, and her entire body began to quake. She had nothing to defend herself with, and even if she did she would be of no use in a fight. She possessed neither the physical strength, nor the capability to cause anyone pain. Even if her ability didn't make it almost impossible, she wasn't sure she could ever bring herself to violence. Just thinking about it made her stomach churn and flop uncomfortably.
If Jude's life were in danger, Aura thought to herself, eyes still glued to the men who were nearly upon her, Not that it helps me in the slightest because I still don't have anything to use as a weapon. She closed her eyes as the nearest mugger reached out his hand towards her.
That was when Aura heard the voice. It was smooth with a hint of a rasp that made it soulful and warm, and it was soft but not lacking in confidence or strength. She felt like she could stand there, eyes closed, and listen to that voice all day, but then she realized that it sounded vaguely familiar. When she cautiously opened her blue-green eyes, she saw a tall, dark-skinned man standing in the alleyway and holding tightly to the shoulder of one of her assailants. She recognized him as the man with the guitar who she had ignored earlier.
Creativity
Level 71
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 253
Posts: 5,852
Posted: 2/24/2019 at 4:19 PM
Post #402
Mosi found that there was a balance in the world. There was good people, and there was bad people, and to let someone decide who you were going to be was bordering on sinful and unlawful. That's what his parents taught him. The things he was forced to do in that terrorist group only happened because he let them; he got to choose now whether he wanted to be good or bad, and he chose that he wanted to be good. That's why he didn't let women with young babies (or women in general) get mugged.
The man upon whose shoulder his hand rested reacted violently to Mosi's suggestion, as he expected, but Mosi was able to duck to avoid the punch. He took hold of the man's arm and swung him against a wall in a move that he had been taught in his youth - use the momentum of someone bigger than you's rage to hurt them.
"I don't like hurting people," he shrugged as he held the man against the wall by the back of his neck. "But I can." He shifted so that the man could see the marks on one of his hands, sparing a quick glance at the other attacker, who had a gun trained on him and a finger hovering over the trigger. "If me hurting you is the alternative to that baby losing his mamma, then I'm more than happy to. You know what the marks are, bud. How many do you have?"
The first attacked growled and jerked. "Down, Gor," he called to the other, who promptly dropped his gun. "Let me up. We'll go, freak."
Mosi smiled and stepped back. As promised, the two muggers heatedly stormed off, but not before spitting at Mosi's feet. He didn't care though, and merely turned his attention to the woman. "Are you alright?" he asked in a gentle voice, then looked at the baby. He had the scars of some odd deformity on his face, but it didn't matter to Mosi. A baby was still a baby, and was still pure. "He's adorable," he chuckled as he offered his finger up to the baby, who grabbed it in his small hands.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,034
Posted: 2/25/2019 at 7:41 PM
Post #403
Stunned was probably the best way to describe how Aura felt in this moment. Her back was pressed against the stone wall behind her which had prevented her escape down the alley. Her arms were still wrapped protectively around her infant son, who was still contentedly gazing up at her and sucking on his fist. He had no idea of the dangerous situation they were in, or the violence which was about to occur. She felt only slightly better knowing of Jude's ignorance. He didn't deserve any of this...
Watching the fight with terror in her eyes, Aura couldn't take her focus off of her tall, dark-skinned angel. He seemed to calm and fluid with the way he moved. His voice as he made intimidating threats to the two muggers was full of confidence. If these two chose to escalate the situation, this man was ready to face them. She felt her stomach flutterinf again, but it was no longer with fear and panic. This man, a complete stranger, had saved her and her baby, a fact made even clearer when the two muggers took off.
When the dust had settled, and the man with the guitar approached her, Aura tensed again. Maybe she'd been wrong, maybe this man was just as dangerous to her as the others. It would be easy enough to find out...and so she slowly let her mental barriers down just enough and her ability sprang forth in a rush, like a river that's been dammed up for a long time. Almost instantly she could tell that this man meant her and Jude BO harm, but...there was an overwhelming intensity about him that she was unsure about.
"Y...yes," she said to him timidly, unable to keep the tremor out of her voice, "Th...thank you." She watched, mesmerized for a moment, as he reached out and let Jude grab his finger, and then his next question was just too much. She stepped around him and hurried out of the alley and didn't stop for anything the rest of the way home.
Creativity
Level 71
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 253
Posts: 5,852
Posted: 2/25/2019 at 8:26 PM
Post #404
'Two weeks, buddy. It's just gonna be two weeks, then I'll be right back here. If you're good, I might even bring you a present.'
'I don't want you to go, Aunt Elsa...'
'I know, Jojo, I know. But I promise I'll be back in two weeks.'
This was not the first time Spirit had made this drive, from the Resistance headquarters in Maine to a few hundred miles outside some small, isolated fishing village in Alaska. And Spirit enjoyed the freedom of driving enough to really be able to enjoy it. She hadn't taken her truck this time; she had instead left her baby in the hands of Cyber. And the kids. They were in the hands of Cyber, too, among a few other helpful Resistance members. Although she missed her truck, she still loved her motorcycle, with the little car for Krafty to sit in. Just maybe... Maybe not as much as her truck.
The house was hardly anything more than a cabin. Well-made, but definitely not professionally-done. It looked no different than the last time Spirit had been here, except perhaps more beer bottles than before. "You're slacking on the household chores, Pitch," she muttered to herself as she parked her bike next to a tree and unstrapped Kraftaverk from the little sidecar. He was dressed up in a dog-fitted motorcycle jacket and helmet, to help keep random people from identifying him as an extinct animal; Michael's Ability didn't last for weeks. Plus, Krafty looked rather dashing.
Pitch was exactly where Spirit thought he'd be, behind the cabin-like home, chopping up some firewood. She approached, but stayed a few yards away, her own helmet tucked under her arm. "Same old Pitch. You're so predictable, you know that?"
-
It wasn't fair.
Somehow, that was the thought that ran through her thirteen year-old mind the most nowadays. It wasn't fair that some idiot had hit her parents. It wasn't fair that she was stuck with her wicked aunt. It wasn't fair that she was in study hall. It wasn't fair that she didn't have a real home. It wasn't fair that she even had to go to school. It wasn't fair, none of it. Especially since all she'd ever wanted to be was normal, and she couldn't even have that.
Yo Ted, guess what Hot Boy Ryan said to me today? The text came in from one of Teddy's closest friends, Vanessa.
Tell me everything, Teddy replied eagerly, her phone held close to her face.
Well, I was kinda trying to talk him up about you, y'know, since you like him so much.
Teddy felt her face begin to burn a little. She didn't! You didn't! V!
Hear me out, hear me out! Oh ye of little faith! I was telling him how your dad was from England or whatever. And he said, "Oh cool! I like foreign backgrounds!"
Feeling her heart speed up a little, Teddy sighed, fingers hovering over the keyboard. It was a while before she responded, so much so that Vanessa prompted her with a few little texts. Iceland, Teddy finally replied. Iceland, not England. It's not as cool.
Edited By Creativity on 2/26/2019 at 11:32 PM.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,034
Posted: 2/25/2019 at 10:06 PM
Post #405
There was nothing better than the great outdoors. Well, except getting drunk in the great outdoors, which was pretty much what Pitch did every single day. It was really the best place to do any drinking. He didn't have to worry about anyone picking a fight with him, and no one could kick him out for being "drunk and disorderly", which almost always happened when he drank in bars. At the moment, he was only partially drunk, and chopping firewood.
Yes, nothing was better than the great outdoors...as long as you could remain undisturbed.
As soon as Spirit's voice reached his ears, Pitch felt the quality of his mood deteriorate. He just kept on chopping wood with a renewed vigor, hoping she'd just think he wasn't home and go away again. Of course, he was never going to be that lucky. She found him, like she always did, and she had that same sarcastic tone to her voice as she stood there casually with her motorcycle helmet under her arm. He knew what she'd come to say, knew it like he knew the layout of the liquor store in the village.
I should tell her to just leave, he thought to himself grumpily, I could make her leave if I wanted too, but... It wasn't worth it, was the unspoken end to that thought. It just was never worth it...
"Last time you were here I wasn't chopping firewood," he told her in his monotone voice, his hazel eyes barely sparing her a glance, "Why are you here, Elsa? You already know my answer."
Creativity
Level 71
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 253
Posts: 5,852
Posted: 2/25/2019 at 10:43 PM
Post #406
Spirit had spent two months in one of Mantis' facilities - an island called Pes. That was two months she knew she'd never get back, but there were people who spend more time there. Pitch was there longer than her, too, but she didn't know how long exactly. It was at Pes that she had earned her fun little nickname, Spirit, and he had earned Pitch. Though he had normally avoided using her tattooed name. She tried to do the same, but it had become a bit of a habit, calling people by these impersonal names. No attachments.
However, her relationship with Pitch was different. She used humor and optimism to detach, and he used pure isolation and that attitude of not caring. They had escaped the island together, with Strength developing the plan. It was just her, Pitch, Strength, and Stitch with that luxury of escape. Strength had immediately turned to trying to free others from the grasp of Mantis. The rest of them... had been slower. Of the rest of the group, only she had joined the Resistance, though certainly not for a lack of trying to recruit on her part.
She knew what Pitch's answer was, yes, and she'd like to not have to make this long journey every now and then, but well, she was fairly certain he didn't even know what a cell phone was. So this was a struggle she had to face if she wanted to help him. If. So far, she had been pretty willing to come track him down, but every time, it was getting harder and harder to leave Jojo for two weeks.
Honestly, at this point, with Pitch, she wasn't even going to skirt around the edges of the issue. There was no point with him. "Stitch was taken," she told him. "We don't know where she is."
Sighing, Spirit dropped her helmet onto the leaves and approached Pitch, grabbing the bottle that was sitting on a stump and taking a swig of it. "I don't know how you can drink that," she laughed and turned to toss it across the yard. "I've always been more of a whiskey fan myself. Anyway, you might want to rethink my offer." Giving another sigh, she moved forward and gently laid a hand upon his axe. "I mean it, Asher. They're tracking us down, one by one. And they won't rest until we're all back in their grasp. The Resistance is the safest place right now."
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,034
Posted: 2/26/2019 at 9:30 PM
Post #407
Computers were way to understand, they were simple. At least, to Cyber they were. People were complicated and confusing. She had always been slightly awkward in social situations, not that she cared and so often made a fool of herself and laughed louder than anyone, but this was even more differebt and terrifying. While Spirit was gone on a recruitment trip she had left the technopath in charge of the kids. She had been shocked, and Spirit had told her she could get help from the others anytime she needed, but...
It was like a challenge, and Cyber never backed down from a challenge. She could do this. How hard could it be?
"Patrick, I a'ready told ya!" she shouted, her voice raised to be heard over Jojo asking her for the millionth time where Aunt Elsa was, "I don't care how many times ya try an' get it past me, but I know it's a fact your aunt don't let you have ice cream for dinner!" She closed her eyes shut tight for a moment, massaging her forehead with her thumb and forefinger.
So...maybe this was harder than Cyber had thought. Still...she could do this.
After finally getting Patrick to accept that he had to eat a proper dinner, and after soothing poor Jojo's separation anxiety Cyber successfully got both boys tucked into bed. She felt bone tired as she passed the torch of supervision off to the next shift, and then headed for Teddy's room. Checking on the teenager's progress with her homework was her last thing to do for the night. She knocked briefly on the girl's room and then opened the door and poked her head in just enough to speak.
"Hey, Teddy, how's it go...ing," she said, brightly at first and then when she realized what the teenager had been doing this whole time her cheerful tone trailed off and stepped fully into the room with a scowl, "T, we talked 'bout this. If ya kept up wit your homework, I'd talk to ya auntie again 'bout letting you be tutored 'stead uh bein' in study hall."
-----
The longer Spirit's presence persisted, Pitch felt himself get more and more irritable. He preferred to be alone, he needed to be alone. It was better, and it was safer. This woman insisted on regularly coming all the way out here just to poke the bear with a pointy stick. It didn't matter that he knew deep down her intentions were good, she still just pushed his buttons and she knew it. He knew she delighted in tormenting him just like she always did. She always knew just what to say and do to rub him the wrong way...
Especially when the blonde woman decided to do something like throw his alcohol.
"There was still some left in that," he told her, glaring in her general direction while he took a pull from the bottle next to his chopping stump, "And I locked the good stuff up because I knew you were coming." He added the last bit quickly to save him from having to respond to what Spirit had said about Stitch.
Gazing down at Spirit's hand resting on his axe, Pitch lost himself just staring at the section of pale flesh. It was like a gateway to so many memories he wanted to forget. Like the first time he had ever seen Spirit, all those years ago in the back of that blasted cargo truck, and the first time they'd spoken, the night after arriving on the island when they were both lamenting the lack of alcohol. There was the first time Stitch had joined the group, and then Strength. They were all that had escaped, the only ones who had regained their freedom.
Freedom that Pitch was never going to give up without a very serious fight.
"You act like I'm defenseless Elsa," he said, letting go of his axe and stepping away from the stump, "You know Shu wasn't capable of the things I can do. She was an easy target." His voice was bitter to cover up the sadness he felt as he reached up and ran his fingers over the scar behind his right ear, something he often did he was able to remember.
Edited By Britters on 2/26/2019 at 11:03 PM.
Creativity
Level 71
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 253
Posts: 5,852
Posted: 2/26/2019 at 11:28 PM
Post #408
It was amusing, how Pitch seemed to think that he was so obscure, that no one saw the real him through his drunken stupors and wood-chopping and self-confidence and self-loathing. He should know her better than to think that she couldn't see right through him. She had always been able to see right through him. But she knew that he was scared, at least a little bit. No one wanted to go back to Mantis.
Strength had argued with her, at first, when she said she wanted to be part of recruitment. 'We can't have you out in the field all the time, Elsa. They'll find you. You might lead them right back here. You might get captured, or killed. I don't want you out there.'
'This is my stipulation, Antonio. Either I'm part of recruitment, or I'll take these kids and cart them all straight to Iceland to live on a nice, secluded farm, like where I grew up. Who the hell knows where Pitch or Stitch are, and who cares? This is my one condition.'
"Your Ability?" Spirit guessed, and then laughed dryly. She ran a hand over her pony tail, turning and pacing a few steps away before looking towards Pitch again. "In case you forgot, I've got a pretty powerful Ability, too. That didn't stop me from getting taken the first time, and it didn't stop me from losing a whole eye, did it?"
She stopped and crossed her arms across her chest, leveling a half-glare at him. "And in case you forgot, you also got taken that first time. You can't hide behind your Ability." Then, noticing a lack of wildlife, she raised an eyebrow at the Alaskan. "And where's Rocket? No wonder you're lonely." Reaching out an arm towards him, she let it lose control, felt it slowly begin to travel between planes, every single molecule in her arm tearing itself apart and stitching itself back together, over and over, a million times in a nanosecond. "I know the pain just as well as you do, Pitch." Her gaze was steady as she looked into his worn face. "Asher," she added as an afterthought.
-
Teddy was definitely glad that she had made friends in the past three years. When she and her brothers were taken control of by their pathetic aunt, they had all been moved from their nice, comfy home in Georgia, all the way up to the freezing ice land (haha I'm funny) of Maine. She knew that her aunt was involved in something big - though what exactly the Resistance they stayed at was, and what it was resisting, she didn't know.
Still, despite the fact that she had never been overly good at making friends, she had been able to make some here. Vanessa was definitely her closest - the two of them exchanged hundreds of texts, every day, talking about all the fun things Vanessa's family bought, all the gifts, the rich uncles and aunts, everything.
Teddy's parents hadn't been poor. They weren't wealthy, but they were definitely the upper middle class. Her father was a helicopter pilot, and her mother was a lawyer. They made decent enough money. On her birthday, there would be an entire table full of presents. Now, with Elsa, she was lucky if she got four, and they usually weren't very good or expensive, either.
She rolled her eyes as the guard dog entered her room, complete with dreadlocks, piercings, and punk-look galore. It was true, she should probably be doing her homework, but she honestly didn't care anymore. Why should she? Her father hadn't had the best education, either, but look how far he got in life. He should have gone even farther...
"I don't care about my homework," she told Cyber with a raised eyebrow, challenging her. "And I don't care about school. I'm not going to the study hall. That [w]itch doesn't need to control my life."
Edited By Creativity on 2/27/2019 at 10:58 PM.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,034
Posted: 2/27/2019 at 11:41 PM
Post #409
Why couldn't Spirit just leave him alone? It was all Pitch could keep thinking about as he took another long pull from his bottle of beer. Why couldn't she just accept that he no longer wanted anything to do with the world, and that the world was better without him? He had no interest in her Resistance, no interest in anything that had to do with Mantis. All he wanted to do with live his solitary life, tucked away from the rest of humanity, so he could drink himself into an early grave.
Now, was that really too much to ask? Pitch was beginning to suppose it was...
"Don't patronize me, Elsa," he growled, knocking her arm out of the way when she was done showing off and pushing past her, "My answer is the same as it always has been. I don't know why you keep wasting your time." He paused on his way to the door, running his hand through his dark hair.
The one thing Pitch always hated the most about having his drinking interrupted was that anytime the cloud of drunken stupor lifted, even slightly, the pesky old emotions were able to sneak through. It was true enough that Spirit kept taking the time out of her life, time away from the kids (she had shown him pictures once when she'd first gotten them), and he knew that spoke volumes. Stitch hadn't had the most defensive ability, but she'd been no weakling. Maybe it was time he gave Spirit's request some thought...
Then, just as Pitch was about to contemplate giving in...the woman just had to mention that stupid raccoon.
"I don't know where Rocket is," he told her, the anger in his voice on the rise, glaring at her boldly and openly now, "I don't care where he is. He's a filthy varmint that has no place following me around like a loyal puppy. Now...just go." He turned his back on her then, and stomped into his house.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,034
Posted: 3/5/2019 at 8:24 PM
Post #410
Yeah, Cyber figured she was definitely going to have to pop some Tylenol before bed tonight. Dealing with the teenager's attitude was not how she had been hoping she would be able to end her night. She'd believed she had managed to get Teddy to be more or less accepting of her instructions, but teens were like an ocean of ever changing currents. With a sigh, she rubbed at the spot on her forehead between her eyes and went to sit on the girl's bed.
"Look, kid," she said wearily, tossing a few of her dreads behind her shoulder absently, "I just spent all day strugglin' tuh keep yo brothers in one piece and makin' sure they don' go makin' themselves sick eatin' nothin' but sweeties." She paused, regarding Teddy thoughtfully for a moment.
The truth was that Cyber was at a bit of a loss with Teddy. She could understand the teenage girl's feelings, but she also knew that Spirit was struggling with the girl's blatant dislike and anger. If she could try to get the teen to cooperate with her, since she at least had the advantage that she wasn't Teddy's aunt, it would possibly take some of the pressure off of the blonde woman's shoulders. At this very moment, she had absolutely no idea how to accomplish this goal, but she was going to try.
"Okay," she said quickly, running a hand over her face and then sticking Teddy with a serious gaze, "How about if you do your homework tonight I promise not to steal your phone while you sleep and send a bunch of embarrassing text messages to everyone in your contact list while I also post some of your baby pictures on your Facebook." She raised her own eyebrow at 5he teenager, the unspoken words hanging in the air...
Challenge accepted.
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