Omar Denis

The country's been falling apart these days, my father says as he reads the paper. With the sky a flurry of colors and the sun just barely showing through, people have begun to go crazy with the appearance of the oppressed countries in the world reacting with supernatural powers. The news had tried to keep it from getting out, yet they've appeared even here in Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania. The other day, I saw fully armed SWAT take down a Hobo that apparently had the "mark" and used some glow to warm himself. My own father's concern with the state of affairs comes from his own condition. He had tried hiding it from my mom and I, yet it's come out. His eyes had changed, and an odd mark sprawled down his neck. The net calls the superficial change of those who "awaken" a mark of power. I had no idea what could've caused this change happen, however, he showed us he had the ability to combust things he concentrated on. His eyes would turn orange as the sunset, and the mark would glow slightly. It was fucking amazing. He didn't think so though, and I saw what they did to the bum. No one's seen him in his alley for weeks now.

He's been off of work for a few days now, called in for sick. It'd be nice having him home, really nice in fact... if he wasn't constantly plotting out what he should do.
He scrubbed the mark raw with steel wool and even the raw flesh showed the discoloration. Sunglasses only did so much for his eyes as his power would suddenly manifest when he'd get mad..
Mom wasn't thrilled about it either. But after some time, he decided he needed to take off. One day when I came home from school, he just wasn't there. He was here, and he was healthy. and now he's gone without even a note.

His work calls and my mom tells them he no longer lives here. He's gone. No longer in our lives.

Within a week, the police arrived to ask questions. With the threat of people changing like this, they've investigate every missing person report.
Conspiracy theorists say the phones are tapped, nothing is safe. They say they're taking us both in for questioning. People don't just disappear after all.
My mother eventually breaks down to tears, I just say, he's gone. I know why, of course.
But I can't just tell them, I don't know what they'll do to him. When we get home, a car begins to sit across the street. It's just me and my mother now and we start getting scared. Dad seemed more terrified than either of us before he vanished.

Within the week, an officer knocks on the door, he tells us that they've found my father. He doesn't mention the marks. He asks if anything strange occurred while he was with us. He doesn't mention the eyes. We wrestle with our discomfort and carry on with conversation, albeit nervous, he can tell.. He tells us that he would like to take us to the station.
He doesn't mention the fire. I don't understand why this is happening to us. I just think of the hobo that isn't around anymore. I just think of my dad that left to try to protect us. This country's falling apart, he said. Yeah, our lives are falling apart.

I swear I smell the fires he made, smoke just doesn't leave a house. If he searched, he'd find the scorch-marks, The Officer would know we had him. Why is this happening to us, to me. The police protect us from them. But we're "them" now, because my father's one of them. We're falling apart. . .
The Officer notices my panic, he calmly asks if I'm okay. If I'm having a panic attack, his hand is on his holster, slowly opening it. This isn't my life, it can't be. My mother simply smiles and says that we'll go down to the station. He watches me, says he'd like me, the young man to see his runaway father. He suspects that I'm one too, no.

Still unable to accept that this is happening, I look to mom, and she urges that I come with her to appease the officer, All three of us know what's going on, yet no one will say it.
I still can't believe that this is happening. Is my life going to end? I step forward, "Sure, I'll come and see my old man. Need to know why he left. Didn't even leave a note, ya know? Fucking asshole." I say, trying to act nonchalant, though it doesn't help me much, on the inside, I hardly keep it together.

In short order, my mother and I are sitting in the back of a squad car, lights on but no sirens. Some way back, I notice other cars follow. The officer glances at me in the rear-view. My Mother tells me it's okay, that we'll be home and waking up in our own beds tomorrow. She tries to comfort me as much as herself. Still, I don't get this, the police protect us, they defend us.

Dad was always happy to see them when we've needed them. All of a sudden though, it's like we're criminals for just.. existing. We're just existing, right? We're not hurting anyone. My mother continues to comfort us both with shallow words. “We're just going to see your dad and everything will be alright,” She holds my and I feel her trembling. We've been in the squad car for half an hour when my mother asks, "Why are we leaving town? I thought we were going to the station."

The officer replies, "See, about that, he's in a neighboring town. made it pretty far on foot, we'll be seeing him in a cell outside of the city."

Also, I'm willing to take any suggestions for this story/setting/quest.

Outside input often makes things more interesting.

This just sounds like more bullshit, He's still not saying anything about the marks, his eyes, the burning. I've got little to lose at this point, right? Just because of our association, our existence, we're not going to have our lives.
They're going to deprive us of everything that we've known because we're considered one of "them" now.

"Hey Officer, what was your name?"
Looking into the rear view, the officer responds," Bundy, Officer Bundy. You ok back there kid?"

I laugh slightly in my panic, "Yeah, I'm fine. So what town are we goin' to?

"Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania reports say your old man tried hiding out there."

"So why'd you take him in? Why not just bring him back to us or something?"

"Kid, you think we can just drop off a missing individual at home? We need to know why he ran, where he was going to, and make sure it's the right person."

"So why didn't you put us on the phone with him?"
The officer is silent at that. Trees pass along the side of the rode as they head northward outside of city limits.

"He wouldn't talk. We could only go by his last description." The officer finally says.

"So what if it's the wrong guy? Just some other black guy that you're yanking off the street that's abandoned his wife and kid?"
Mom stares at me as if she's going to slap the liar out of me, yet she hasn't interrupted my chat with Officer Bundy.
Talking helped, but I feel like he's keeping something from us. I can't be sure of anything he says. I honestly don't think we'll be at home by the end of the day. Officer Bundy keeps an eye on me in the rear view. Wonder if I pissed him off at all?

"So, do you know why he was hiding, or why he left?" I ask, wanting more to know if they knew about dad.

Officer Bundy sighs with a bit of frustration and says," Didn't I just say he wouldn't talk? Why the hell should I know why he skipped town?"
"Where did you get his description?"

"His job filed the report. We need to keep tabs of people that go missing. It's mandatory for citizens to report missing people nowadays.
His job was lawful. If you two don't cooperate I could arrest you for that failure." At that last part, Officer Bundy looks at me in the Rearview again. I remember when he touched the holster of his gun again, he was definitely ready to fire at me if I ran, apparently I'm a criminal now.

Looking around in the car, my mother's to my right. She's been mostly desolate this ride, shaking nervously. She must be terrified, I need to help her. I look a bit past the meshed glass dividing the front and the back, he's got a laptop open. I can see that on the screen is a search for our house, and it's been rerouted to Beaver Falls. Cop must not be the most street savvy.. There's not really much of anything back here that's loose or anything.

Some part of me wishes that I was one of them. Truly. Like my dad, I could just burn this fucker and leave. Thinking about escape, I look out of the back, some way, there are the black cars with tinted windows...

I won't let these guys just take me, they can have my mom, she's given up, or she doesn't think that she can make a difference. No, dad ruined it for us, dad was different, and now we're different. I need to get out of here.

"So, Officer Bundy, you don't know your way to Beaver Falls? Guess you don't head out this way much. It's... a.. nice... uh.." I start to hold my stomach and groan.
Bundy looks back, "What's wrong?"

"Hey man. Hey. I need some air. I'm.. about to barf all over your... ugh seats..."
My mother puts her arms around me and whispers closely and quietly, "Faking?"

I slowly and slightly nod, surprised that she reacted so quickly to this.
"Officer Bundy, my son needs some air. Long car rides make him sick. It's not much farther but there's a rest stop, right?"

Officer Bundy doesn't reply for a moment, but he picks up his communicator and says," I'm pulling off at the next rest stop to give the kid some air, seems he's gonna blow chunks."
The Squad car soon pulls into a rest stop, with a convenience shell station/ restaurant, my play persisting all the way. He opens my door...

I wobble out of the car and stumble into the police officer, grabbing onto Officer Bundy for support, I feel the eyes of my mother on me, a madness of some kind must have taken her as well.
"Man, I feel like shit Bunds...eee." I start to heave as though I'm about to vomit, I see that his holster is carelessly undone from when he had his hand to it before.
With one final fake wretch, I grab for it and have the grip of his sidearm for a moment until he wrenches my arm and slams me against the car, the gun slides onto seat.

"So that's how it's gonna be kid? You could've made this nice and easy, just a quick check to see if you're just as fucked as your old man. But no, you go ahead and screw it up!" Bundy yells and slams a fist into the side of my head, jarring everything and making me see black spots.

It isn't long after that until I heard the gun go off and the pressure behind me quickly leaving. My head aches as I turn, shaking off the black spots as I see Bundy's head exploded onto the concrete parking lot, looking back at the car to see my mother holding the gun, a bullet hole in the glass.

Does this mean we're not going to disappear? The black cars enter the parking lot before I have time to recollect myself. Men open the doors from the other side, aiming guns at us. Well fuck.

With the new men making their entrance, I shake off the rest of the shock, drop to the ground and shuffle under the car.
They yell at my mother to drop her gun as she steps out of the car. I see her feet. The gun doesn't fall. I hear it go off, a second explosion and a third being one of the cars.

From my position I see that there are four left. Mom... What did she..
I hear another shot accompanied by the detonation of another car. The men return fire, and she fires another shot. This explosion is smaller. I see her fall to her knees, blood leaking out of her...

Crawling out from under the Squad Car, I see my mother with bullet wounds riddling her form, she looks at me, unable to speak, but still conscious. Her hands look different as I look at the gun, Black Starburst shapes riddle her skin, softly glowing white as she weakly picks the gun up, aiming it at the black cars.

I slowly understand, grabbing hold of the gun to steady it for her, pulling the trigger, the bullet sparks in midair and then detonates the car. She weakly spasms, blood seeping out from her wounds and now her nose. One last shot, she futilely tries to pick up the gun again for one last shot. I lay may hand over hers once more to help her steady again.

The starbursts flash white as the gun is fired, another spark midair, and another explosion, originating from within the car. She looked at me as she finally falls into her own pool of blood. Tears begin to stream from my face as I truly begin to realize what just happened. She changed.

She changed at a point today, and I didn't. I wasn't ready for this. I could've saved her, I should've been able to. No, she was the one to save me, I . My Father's gone, my Mother's dead.. I look to the sky, the changing hues muted by the approaching cover of clouds. I need to change. I need to adapt.

I don't have a world to return to now. It's not this country that's fallen apart. It's my life that's in shreds, and I'm the one that needs to change. I look down at my mother's corpse... and I see dazed or dead mean at the exploded bits of black car, people hiding inside the convenience store, a payphone near the entrance.

Working through my shock, I come to my senses and pick up the gun, turning the safety on and shoving it down the front of my pants, covering it with my shirt.

Checking the cop for his wallet, I find that his name was "Ted Bundy" and he had a couple of 20's on him, this could be useful later on. I take the keys from his body and look over at the men in black suits. They don't seem to be moving yet.

The people in the convenience store refuse to come outside as well, surely they must have called the police or something by now. I look to the squad car, close the passenger side door and enter through the Driver's side. Sitting in the seat, I turn on the engine and look around. . .
It seems that the entrance is blocked now by debris, though the exit is mostly open. My Mother's still warm body lies in the parking lot. There are back streets over the curb and down the hill from this parking lot.

Putting the keys in the squad car, I turn them to get it started, I look back outside and see mom's body just lying there. I'll just... No, I just can't leave her here.

Throwing open the door, I open one of the rear doors and carefully put her in the backseat of the car, she feels disturbingly light.. Must be all of the lost blood. The people in the store still haven't budged as I shut the door and turn the keys, the engine rumbling to a start.

Taking a moment to get a feel for the car, I back it over the body of Officer Bunder, and floor it as I aim for the curb. The car clips it and bounds. I pushed too hard on the gas though as the car flips and rolls down the hill. My body is jarred from the impact, however we end right side up.
My vision remains clear, no black spots. I'm about to put the pedal to the floor before I realize, I don't have a clue where I want to go. I look at the computer, the destination inserted wasn't the police station in Beaver Falls... and I'm nearly inside of that town as it is... and Mom's still in the back seat.

Having taken the wheel into my own hands, it's clear that I should drive on some distance, at least to get away from that small scale disaster that mom caused. There doesn't appear to be anyone in the neighborhood of these back streets. At least, no one that's not hiding after the explosions.

The details of the streets are a blur. My mind wanders as what's happened today sets in. My mom's gone, my father's detained, incarcerated, or whatever they've done to an outsider like he, and I'm alone in the outskirts of some boonie called Beaver Falls... I almost want to go home... But they'll be looking for me there.

There won't be anything left. Not even relatives are reliable help. Wait, they'll be looking for me. This car has a computer, it must also have gps. "Shit!" I yelled out loud, as I slam my hands against the wheel.

Outside of some isolated house, and a forested area not too far for a sprint, I reconsider my options.

Popping open the trunk, I walk around back to see that in there is what looks to be a first aid kit, a tire iron, a spare tire, and various road-side equipment. There's also a large case that appears to be a gun case, however it is locked with a combination lock.

I take the first aid kit, despite its weight, it's the only thing that's really noteworthy, I look at my mom in the back seat and almost smile before I break out into tears. Oh god, why is she dead.. Why...

Anyone lurking? If not, I'll finish this at my own leisure.

>>22738515
Continue.

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With the colors in the sky changing to show a slowly setting sun, I decided to take a look at myself in the mirrors of the car, There was no sign of a concussion or any other apparent damage.

At least, any that stood right on out. I checked my hands and my arms for anything as well. Nothing apparent. It seems hiding under the squad had saved me from the worst of the damage. Yet, as I look at my neck, I see something odd.
Pulling my shirt off and looking into the mirror, there's a strange mark on my chest that looks like 2 crescent moons with the upper and lower ends of the two designs going up and down respectively. Looking carefully, the silver mark slowly, very slowly spreads. I'm honestly not sure when it must have happened, yet it did. I take the batteries out of my phone and take a tire iron from the back seat to destroy the computer. I'm alone, stranded, and oh, now I'm really one of “them”....

That's the end of where the 1st session left off.

With my phone powerless and the laptop smashed I'm pretty sure that whoever is or was tracking me, can't do so any longer.
I look to the woods and then the house at this dead end street. It's white, and looks like it could accommodate at least five people. There's one car in the driveway. There's a break in the brush in the direction of the woods.
If I wanted to, I could evade my possible pursuers there. The Squad car still isn't out of gas despite the long ride, and mom's still dead in the back seat.
I apparently have some kind of power, but I don't know what it is or how to use it...

Shifting my shirt around a bit to cover up my mark, I look over at mom, her lifelessness bringing a choking sob to my throat as I shake my head.

She had awakened at one point in the car, or when the officer grabbed me.. or maybe before then.. The black starbursts on her arms had been so bright when she used her power.. Whatever it had been, it was amazing.

Sighing and realizing that I need to bury her somewhere, I walk up to the door of the white house. Eyeing the window as I come near, noticing a flick of the blinds, someone's home. Knocking on the door, there's no response.

I realize that these people may not answer the door. I take a deep breath and try to talk as loudly as I can without yelling.

"There are some bad people after me. They killed my mom, she's in the back seat of the car." Holding back that knot in my throat as tears come to my eyes, " The police officer with us was killed. I, I just need somewhere to hide... And.. Some... where... to.. Bury mom.."

The tears started to coming out, hot on my face on the cold day. I knock on the door again with the back of my fist. It still doesn't open, however there's an eye staring at me from a crack in the curtain. It flicks away again as soon as I catch it.


A response is finally heard, "We don't want your trouble!" it's a woman's voice. "They killed a cop, what's to stop them from getting us too!?"

With a response, she can't just pretend to ignore me anymore. Between sobs I ask her, "Please, please let me in. Who are they?! Do you know?"
A man responds," I don't know, I don't know kid! Get out of here!" I don't need you're trouble!" The door swings open and a large man is in the doorway, putting a 6 round magnum to my head. I freeze, looking down the end of the barrel, I shake my head slowly in disbelief "Please... I'll go... Just... Bury my mom for me?"
The man says nothing for a moment, yet responds. "We didn't see you. We didn't bury a body. You don't stay here. Are we clear?"

Staring down the barrel, that same, nearly insane impulse wells up in me, I feel my face break into a smile as I quickly slap the gun out of my face, the the gun firing off to my right side as I deliver a thrust kick to the man's balls. Pulling the cop's glock out of my pants, all pretense of sob story seems to be gone as I aim it at the man, now holding his groin and gritting his teeth as he starts to bring up his gun again...

Seeing that he's getting ready to shoot despite his pain, I bring my foot up for a swift kick to knock the gun to the side of the house.

I glare at the man for a moment as I consider putting a bullet in his head when I realize that this, this is mad. Mad and wrong... But I've gone this far, this bridge has been burnt.

"I don't like guns in my face..." I mumble to myself as I spin my gun around and give the man a weighty hit to the head, knocking him unconscious and giving him a gash.

Shaking my head as the woman in the house screams at me, "Get out! Get away from him! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

I run back to the street and to the squad car, I try not to look in the back seat as I know what's there and don't need a reminder. I put the gun back into my pants as I see a figure in all black standing on the return path of the street, seeming to stare at me. It's hard to make out, however it seems to be in shiny black metals, with what should be the face, a solid dark shape.

It begins to walk toward me, I'd say that it's at least 500 meters away.

With everything else that's happened today, I can't see how this can be any worse. I begin to walk over to it, glancing back at the car, the thought flashes in my mind that this may be a pursuer.. however I don't see any threat of firearm or anything.

When I look back, it's closed the distance by about 50 meters. It's walk is quick. I advance closer to get a better look. Within around 250 meters( 100 meters from the car) I can see that it has something of a feminine form to it.

It puts a hand to its head as it still advances on me with a swift walk. As I can see it a bit more easily now... It does have shiny black metal parts, however most of it seems to be some sort of leather or other flexible material. There aren't any other possible threats in the vicinity, none of those men in black cars...

I'm thinking of what this figure could imply right when it brings its hand down and begins to run, no sprint at me.

As the figure breaks out into a sprint I glare what's presumably a "her" down. She's moving fast, inhumanly fast but with all the shit today, I don't even care anymore. I break into my own sprint, charging at her. Yelling, I feel something strange in my chest and legs as I can even feel my mark glowing.

Pushing myself into my top running speed, I angle myself into a tackle just as it takes me down, I briefly see the aurora sky before everything goes black...

With an ache in my head, and strands of light from the setting sun, I wake up in the woods, no sign of civilization in sight. The black figure is standing over me. The female figure all the more apparent than before.

She puts her hand to her head and I hear a very low and husky, yet female voice speaking through the dome-shaped mask. I can't see anything of her face... in fact none of her bare flesh is showing.

"The collateral, named Omar Denis has woken up. He recovered more quickly than I thought. Further instructions?" She's silent for what seems like a long time. My arms are restrained by a black cable. There's a wet feeling on the back of my head, though I don't have any ache or pain. I have my shirt, however my pants are gone...

"Roger. May I have some fun with him to find out what he can do?" The silence was broken only to return.
"Roger. I won't rough him up too much more, valuable commodity after all."
She removes her hand from her head and the cables are undone.


Well, here I am, in the woods with some chick that took me out... Putting worst things that've happened to me so far today in the back of my mind, I figure I need to know just what the fuck is going on.

"Hey, so... Fast and in all black. What's a guy like me have to do with a girl like you?"
The masked dome seems to regard me as she starts to chuckle, "Oh yes, what's a guy like you gotta do... to get involved with a girl like me..."
I begin to look down from the mask to her chest just in time to see her pick a foot up and crush it into my ribs.
"Guy like you that's an Over like me... You healed quick, Your specialty is..Regeneration? Reinforcement? Bone manipulation? Show me."

With the horrible pain of half of my ribs breaking into my body, I can hardly give a response, or even really hear what she's saying over the pain.
"As... Secured... Renaissance... Hear... Heal... HEAL... HEAL YOURSELF YOU SHIT!" She ends up yelling at me. I feel a blow to the side of my jaw as bones crack. The pain is unbearable and I start screaming, feeling my mark glow before everything fades to black again.

Some time later, my jaw feels a lot stronger than before, and my ribs too. She paces back and forth before she realizes that I'm coherent again.

"Geeze, sometimes I forget how squishy humans are, especially new Overs." She stops and regards me from her mask. "I am from a company called Renaissance. They hire those like us to work in well paid contracts. I just happen to be the one to have found you after my prior mission got botched."

I stand myself up, touching my jaw and my ribs to make sure they're both "together" to my surprise, they are.. and the two points both feel incredibly more solid.. the rest of my body too in fact..

Despite the fact that this chick broke my body in a couple different ways doesn't mean that I can't still try to score... right?

"Geeze, you've got some strong legs.. Why don't you take off that armor, you sit on my lap, and we talk about the first thing tha-" She closes in and grabs me by the balls. I forgot that I'm in just a T-shirt right now.
"Pops up, right?" She gives a squeeze, much harder than I would have ever liked. and I'd drop to the ground if she didn't have me by...

"Right, Let's change the subject! Why are you doing this to me? Going to make me disappear? Or are you like me? Heh, ahh.."
She releases her grip and gives me a kick that sends me to the ground. Not crushing like the last one, but still pretty hard. I see the colorful sky again before it's blotted out with her jet-black body. She's standing over me and apparently staring as she starts, "You may call me Fauna. I am an invoker that is listed to specialize in beast mimicry, I track miserable quarry like you. I have made people vanish in the past, however right now, I'm offering you employment, by your own will or not..."

She pauses and it sounds like she's chuckling before she says," If you weren't such a crummy Over so far, I'd call this a first date. Now, What... Is your power?"

With Fauna looming over me, it's really hard not to regard her form, she's rather slim despite what she's wearing.. and her suit shows the curves of her breast very well despite the armoring..

With a smile, I say," Well, what does Renaissance do aside from employing crazy hot bitches with superhuman strength?"
Another laugh is heard before a sharp fist is planted into my solar, the force knocking all of the breath out of me.
As my marks begin to glow with that familiar feeling of recovery, she says," Well, Super Powered Crazy hot bitches like myself enjoy a variety of options at the lovely company of Renaissance. We have personalized living quarters." She punches me in the solar again," Rank based assignments from scouting other Overs, to assassinations, to ending conflicts, to undercover security work." She backs off and then delivers a hard stomp to my abdomen.
"And Systematic research, analysis, and refining of our powers. We crazy hot bitches sure do have it nice...."
I feel like I've just been tenderized as my marks begin to glow again.

"It was harder to hurt you than before.. interesting..." She backs off a bit and puts her hand to her head again. Her back is turned.

"Reporting, I've discovered his power. He's a shift-type invoker that also seems to mimic animals to some degree like myself. He recovers from injury very well at that..."

Letting myself recover enough after her the bout of abuse that Fauna laid onto me, I slowly get up and rub the damaged part of my body.
Seems my power allows for rather swift recovery while I'm willing it..
Though, I feel kind of bad about her assuming what my power is, I walk up to her and start with, "Hey, listen, I'm not even really sure what I can-" She spins around and puts her powerful hand over my mouth, stopping me from saying anything.

"It was nothing. He hasn't tried to run yet, it seems he's agreed to come with me. Where should I go for pick up? The previous area is likely too hot." She pauses for a moment and then throws me back. "Confirmed, we'll be there in half an hour." Taking her hand from her head, she closes the distance between us and grabs me by my throat, lifting me up with crushing force.

"This is me mimicking bear strength. You can do it as well, See how my marks do not glow? Never say otherwise. You mimic animals. Are we clear?"
I nod as I feel her grip on my throat lessen and then drop me.
I hadn't truly accepted the invitation to Renaissance... but she tells me to come with her and I really don't see any escape options...
We begin to make our way through the woods in silence, she doesn't even look at me as I follow...

The silence bearing on my nerves, I decide to try using my power again, like before. I relax as I feel energy flowing into me, making my wounds heal faster as well as strengthening the afflicted areas.

I don't know why she told me to say that, but I get the feeling that she's trying to help me out.. I notice a draft and notice that I don't have any pants... She took them when I was out cold...

I wonder why she took my pants and not just the gun or the wallets?

"So, Crazy hot bitches are into taking away my pants? I thought it was a bit drafty.."

There's no response for a few moments before she finally chuckles," It's fun, making recruits walk around without pants. My own little bit of hazing."

"See, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you just wanted me in my boxers for... Other reasons.."

She laughs immediately this time,"You're dreaming, kid. You're way too fragile of a man to handle me.” Let's make a deal though. If you can ever subdue me, I might just fuck your pelvis broken. Quickest way to this girl's heart, is through her ribcage."

Her laugh has a deadly sound to it now.
I've got some goosebumps, and not from the exposure...
She says we should almost be to the pick up point...

With the time we've spent together... Breaking my ribs and jaw... Making me damn near piss blood, and strangling me... I think the masochist in me actually wants to see her again..
"Hey, umm... Fauna?"
She doesn't turn around, yet she replies,"What is it?"
"After I join up with Renaissance, will we see each other again?" I realize this sounds pretty corny as soon as I say it.
She stops, turns around and seems to regard me intently, "We are likely to meet each other again at the primary compound. We should both be quartered there unless on assignment... That sounds sappy. Are you a girlyboy all of a sudden?"
Apparently my blush betrays me as my silence is met with laughter, I've had enough of it when I go ahead and ask," Were you serious though? If I can beat the shit out of you, we'll fuck?"
She goes silent and then that dangerous laugh resounds again," That's implying that you'll ever be stronger than me." She says in an especially husky voice.
I'll see about that if my power is really what I think it is... But now I'm curious...
"What's under your mask?"
This question is met with silence.
She closes in on me... Grabs me by the back of the neck and with a loss of patience, says,"We're almost there. They'll be waiting." The next 5 minutes is met by the pain of her grip on her neck, that I grow accustomed to only to have it get unbearable again... Just how powerful is she?
We're out of the woods and into something of a clearing with a VTOL in waiting.
She pushes me in, and then the pilot, without saying anything takes off with us.
Fauna stares out of the window with her arms and legs crossed. I feel the back of my neck and find that there are sharp bony spikes just protruding from my skin.

Without an actual mirror to check myself out with in the VTOL, I feel around my body and look at what I can. There are very small spiked segments running down my spine, my bruised stomach has lost its hair and has begun to show development of a resilient segmented shell, and my ribs feel solid, yet flexible enough to move around. My jaw has also become rather different, now that I notice it.
I've lost the ability to move it side to side, and the development of a very sturdy skeletal structure as begun... What she said could be seen as true.. While I still feel and look mostly human right now, it seems that I could pass for mimicking animals... Whatever that really entails.

With this in mind, I look to her, gears turning in my head and finally clicking, what she said earlier... Is she the same? My mouth starts to move but then I realize that she didn't want me to say anything about it... Right.. I mimic animals...

Though, I still want to know what's under her mask... how she really looks... A good way to ask... That just doesn't come to me...

"Fauna, I'm sorry for asking about that... A woman has her secrets, and a woman has her mask. I want to know.. But you can show me when you want..."

She doesn't say anything to that.
The ride goes on in silence, save for the hum of the VTOL's engine. Time passes and I eventually fall asleep to the sound. It's been a hard day, but at least I'm not entirely alone.. and I have a place to go.

Waking up, I find that we've landed in the middle of the desert with an airbase nearby, stocked with VTOLs and other various aircraft. As Fauna pulls me out and beckons me to follow her as we enter the military bunker.

Once inside, I'm registered at what surprisingly appears to be a front desk. I'm given a tour by Fauna, showing me around the facility. She shows me the cafeteria, a testing room, Gymnasium/Combat training room, and other general facilities. She hands me a card and explains that it's like a credit card. It stores credit based on missions or tests that I perform, and I am able to purchase things for my personal quarters, or unique supplies for fieldwork.

I'll be sanctioned to go on missions after thorough, debriefing on the general theory of Over Magic, testing and being assigned a "Danger class."

Fauna begins to explain that Danger Class is the overall threat that an Overhuman exhibits with their power. The more capable they are of causing death, or difficult to capture should they get out of hand, the higher their danger class. The Danger Classes currently rank as follows:

>F: Civilian: Incapable of doing anyone harm with their ability.
>E: Civilian: Capable of inflicting harm.
>D: Civilian: Capable of inflicting death upon someone.
>C: Soldier: Small scale terrorism equivalent.
>B: Soldier: Highly resilient to Conventional weaopons. Hard to capture, and capable of causing a large amount of damage.
>A: Elite: Immune to Conventional weaponry. Can only be subdued by another Overhuman.
>S: Theoretical class: None to date, they are to be treated as a nuclear weapon, or a natural disaster.

With no other questions on my mind, I shrug and start to head to my personal chamber before she grabs me and pulls me close, for a moment I think she's going to confess something to me, but then she just whispers," Remember, you mimic animals. And be careful with that power." She pushes me off and walks away.

when are you going to run a game again?

>>22739647

Likely after I finish this.

I realize that the other Overs in the places we visited must have had a good laugh... as I'm still in just my T-shirt and Boxers.

Heading into my chambers with my Credit- Card as a key to the door, I quickly find that it's rather... Spartan. Just a bed, a table in the middle, no TV either... There's a few pairs of clothes laid out on my bed.

One is black as Fauna's suit, that appears to be rather tight fitting, another is white, and a bit more comfortable-looking as the shirt and pants are a bit more billowy...
The third is Gray, and has fashionable cuts in it for improved airflow or something...

Slipping out of my shirt, I find that the white outfit also has a set of modest undergarments to go along with it. I slip off my boxers as well and put on the articles one piece at a time. After comfortably dressed in the large white shirt and pants, I realize that it's rather like a karate gi, it takes me back to when I used to do martial arts.. Mom would take me there and watch me in tournament..
Training and sparring were always much more fun than tournament ever was though. Memories of Mom and Dad start to come back to me. I sit on the bed and try to hold back the tears. I mean... I'm alright.. I didn't just lose everything right?

10 min break

>>22740056

Was an estimate.

Back

Leaving my room, I decide to go to the combat training area from earlier. I pass by some obviously Over girls, as they're marked, that giggle at me as I pass. They must have seen the exhibition that Fauna got me to do inadvertently.. I sigh, feels like some sort of college or something with Fauna hazing me before entry... Brushing that out of my mind, I reach the area for combat training, from the observation deck, I see people that are on standby, and other people using various crazy abilities against each other. There's a lanky man with dark, slicked back hair that's rapidly making walls out of the surrounding materials, sand, dirt, etc that were put onto their field. His opponent closes the distance, mashing through the walls with his fists only to have more made and the lanky man casually moving to a new location. With how the walls are breaking, I wonder if the walls are weak, or if the bruiser's that strong.

At another site, there's someone that's duking it out with a similarly physical oriented Over, however one seems to be not only physically capable, but manipulating things in their environment.
In another setting, there's two people combating, one seems to be using localized explosions, and the other seems to be bending light to make them miss, with the occasional focused beams to counterattack.
There are many people of incredible power here.. It's a wonder... Looking upon another field in the area, I actually see Fauna, clad in her all black. The person opposing her seems to have extremely quick reflexes, most of his movements, a blur. However Fauna shows off her prowess in parrying a large portion of the exchange before throwing a kick at the guy only to have it absorbed and caught... Before she plants her hands to the ground and spins her other leg around to knock the guy out. I think she went easy on him...

While I'd like to bug Fauna for more of her time, I decide that it's best to approach the field with the man that makes walls.

Approaching the field with my gi on, it seems that the bout between the wall user and the other invoker's about over. The muscled man walks off with his fists bloody from beating in the sand. He looks at me and grunts, "Good luck kid. Those things're hard as shit."

Not yet understanding the gravity of what that guy had just said, I step into the ring against the Evoker with slicked back hair.

"Yo, Mah name's Walter, friends call me Wallie. Yeah, sounds like some sort of sick fuck'n joke right? Whatever. Your name, kid?"

"My name's Omar, My specialty's Beast mimicry, you know I'm new?"

" 'Course I know yer new kid. Some chumps see the fireballs.. Oh fire, I'm so scared. Others see the fuckers smashin in face. Yeah, real bruisers. Then they see me, guy that makes walls, and they're like, Yeah, I can fuck 'm up! Beast Kid, you stepped into the wrong ring."

Before I can say anything else, I see the sand moving and a wall being rapidly built in my direction, leaping out of the way, I scramble in my head over fighting stance and figuring this out...

Guy's an evoker, means that closing the distance.. A wall of sand is assembled around one of my arms. I start to struggle from it as another one wraps around my legs. I notice in the midst of this that when he uses his power, a brick and mortar-like pattern glows on his face and arms. My right arm and both legs are stuck..

Taking a deep breath, I resolve myself, thinking of my mother. Her power, as brief as it had been, was amazing... I need to live up to that. I need to be stronger than I am now! With my emotion, I feel the glow of my mark as my body pulls at the sandy prisons that "Wallie's put them in.

I only begin to feel the sand give before he wraps my other arm in one as well. He walks up to me, kicking sand off of his shoes and assembling a neat floor to walk on. He's about a foot from me as he shakes his head.

"Kid, kid, that just won't do. Going wild can get ya killed. It's much more potent when yer relaxed. Why bash through like a lunatic, when you could be a touch slicker?Look at me, an evoker, I make walls. No explosions, fireballs or laser-shit from me... See here, check this out."

Wallie snaps his fingers a couple of times as the sand rapidly assembles itself around my neck.

"See, this don't take me much. Let's see you get outta that. We'll fight fer real when you aint such a prick."

I spit and growl against my binds as Wallie waves over and calls for someone to bring him a martini...

Struggling in frustration for a few minutes as Wallie sits in a chair made of sand, sipping his procured martini.. It was at that moment, that I realized that he was that relaxed, and his marks were still glowing steadily, looking down to what i could see of my own, it's erratic.

I start taking some deep breaths and relax myself. He's not attacking, so I have time to think. Suddenly, I start to feel the sand loosen as I relax and let my power remain steady.

Wallie throws away his martini glass, letting it shatter on the ground before snapping his fingers, causing it to reform.

"Looks like you figured out the first advantage Invokers have against Evokers. You can feed off of my power." Wallie smiles widely, in an amused and almost wicked way.
"You can only feed so much, and I can make it a lot harder for ya. C'mon kid, let's see what ya got!"

Remembering my training, I decide to compose myself in a balanced manner. I keep in mind foot techniques for clearing the distance and start forward with a swift half moon only to be met with a wall.

Rolling around, I find another wall construct in front of me. Eventually, I realize that even when he's serious, he sees his defense is literally his best point. Stepping back, I relax myself into my power as I realize that he's kept the wall low enough to see me.

Once more, my legs are trapped by sand, this time it's much harder to dissolve, and it's only replaced again. With the use of my power, I break the trap once more to step forward and I leap over the wall, about to strike him, I realize my mistake as he assembles a dome around himself.

I decide to pull power from the construct and punch anyway. My fist connects and my reinforced skeleton allows me to leave a dent in the dome without hurting myself.

Unfortunately, that's all that can be said as the dome dissolves and he unleashes a torrent of sand at me in as a horizontal wall, knocking me to the outskirts of the ring.

"Good Job kid, that's one of my stronger defenses and you managed to put your knuckles in it. I commend ya. I'll tell you though, you'll be a better match with more speed and power. Ask for me when you get better on that, eh? I've got a bunch of creds saved up so I don't need to take many assignments."

I breathe heavily as I realize how much drawing his power actually took out of me, my arms feeling unnaturally weak. I nod my head and Wallie walks off whistling, but I'm about to pass out...

Returning to the observation deck, I take stock of my fatigue. It's strange. My arms are almost unresponsive. I watch from there for a while longer, seeing Over combat is just too radical to not watch, and it's much different from any regular conflict.

I learned today that Invokers can break down and undermine the powers of Evokers by absorbing what causes them... I found out from asking questions about the hybrid fighter and finding out that she's what's known as an animist, someone who is able to affect the world like an evoker, but also empower themselves like an invoker. Not much is known about the fundamentals of the power from the other peers in the facility.

Wallie sits next to me and we chat it up. He explains to me the limitations of Invokers and how they can start to get really messed up if they keep using their power. He claims it's the same for him. If he didn't have a lot of pre-arranged ideas and control, he'd have a hard time with making as many as 5 walls before he'd pass out.

It seems that these powers require discipline and regulation. Going berserk can be rewarding, but far too reckless.

After getting myself together after a couple hours, I retire to my chambers, slapping sand out of my Gi. Hanging it up, I go to sleep. I think I can get to like this place yet...

That ends the point of the second session.

Waking up early the next day, I groggily get myself ready for the morning, brushing my teeth with a distributed toothbrush and washing my face in the sink. There's still some sand on my body from my sparring with Wallie on the yesterday..

To think that someone that just makes walls could use them so cleverly.. Heck, he didn't even break a sweat, and I was spent from my assault... That weird fatigue... It's gone now, however it seems I have a lot of things to learn in using this power...
As I finish up, I have an inkling that Fauna and I may share a similar power.. but if so... Can I really get as strong as her?

She may potentially be hot beneath that armor of hers, but she was so terribly strong.. she threw me around like a rag doll.

Anyway.. there's things to do today. The monitor in my room shows my first "Mission."
They'd like to assess me. It's for a bit later in the day however...

Granted, I'm cleaning this up as I go along, I should've just archived these when I was done...

Only thing on my mind by the ends were "sleep" though.

I still have people lurking?
Any questions, comments, concerns?

Well, since they've given me the time, I guess I'll go eat breakfast. I already brushed my teeth, but whatever. I just won't get orange juice or something.

I locate the Cafeteria that I was shown earlier, I see at least twenty people awake this early and getting ready for the day... To think, all the people in this room have some kind of power...

Some kind of power capable for harm or good.. I guess mine's more self preservation than anything though.. Not much good to anyone but myself.

I see Wallie at a table with a few other people, eating something fancy for breakfast.
I step up to the empty line and see that there's foods from many different cultures available.. they really went all out with this restaurant.

The entire menu charges credits save for some really basic things. Last I checked, I had 10,000 credits on my card...

I'm not really quite sure how much I'll be making in the near future so I decide to just take the free gruel..

One of the servers behind the counter chuckles at me and says ,"Oh, you seem to be new here. Rarely ever do we need to serve the gruel. It's either a credit-pinching newbie or someone that spent all their credits on something nice.."

"Wait, wha-" I begin to reply, but I'm cut off by a bowl of milk and rice being handed to me swiftly.

"Here you go. Take it and enjoy. We'll see you again at lunch-time freshblood." The server smiles in an almost dangerous way. It was then that I noticed that he had a series of green marks on his neck.

Looks like some of the Overs here work the place too..
I take my gruel and look about at the place once more. There are some more people filing in, and I begin to notice that they tend to be grouped up like cliques. High school never ends.. Dad had said that once...

I see Wallie and a few of his mates along with that huge bruiser of an invoker sitting at a table.
I see an empty table off to the side of the cafeteria.

There's an empty spot at a table with a bunch of girls.
There's a dark-looking chick sitting by herself..
I don't see Fauna anywhere.. At least.. not in her suit.. Could she be among this crowd?

Well, I figure that I'm already acquainted with Wallie somewhat... And someone sitting alone is far more approachable than a crowd.
As I make my way over to her, I notice that there's not even anyone at the surrounding tables. As I get closer I start to feel an unnerving sensation as if I should go away... I try to ignore it as I take my seat beside her..

Still having an inkling of removing myself from the premise as I struggle to say something.
"H-hello there.. I'm a bit new here, Is it alright that I sit here?"
She looks to me, her eyes glowing a soft violet with purple web-like veins running down her cheeks. I see that her attire is somewhat akin to a gothic lolita, save for the fact that it actually looks comfortable and practical based on what we... What DO we do here?

She speaks to me in an almost hostile, though quiet voice," The name's Violet and I don't babysit the nobodies. I don't want to be bothered right now, go away." As she finishes, the feeling as though I should leave gets stronger until I get up and extricate myself from her "personal bubble."

Huh, so that's why she's alone.. I rub my head, only to realize that I left my food at her table. My feet won't let me get any closer to her however... Are all the women in this place such bitches? Goddamn...

I've had some problems lately.. But a bitch named Violet will not be one of them. Despite the strong deterrence she seems to be outputting, I have her figured for an evoker.. that means that I can dissemble it somehow.. it worked with the sand right?

With no particular thought in mind, I relax and begin to draw from what she's doing. I make a weak point in the barrier and begin to slip through what I'd call a blind spot...

She doesn't seem to notice me until I'm back in front of her, picking up my food.
"Sorry, I forgot my food."
She smiles somewhat at this," A newbie invoker can already do this? Ah, someone must have helped. Was it Wallie? He's a good teacher... There's a limit to that skill though."

She touches her pale hand to my arm and says," Take your food and sit by yourself."
This time, I black out, and find myself sitting alone at the other end of the Cafeteria. I hear Wallie laughing as he walks up," Hey kid. Messin' with Violet, that's some good stuff. Be careful though okay? Some people here aren't as nice as me or her.. Like, there's this chick named Fauna.."

A throw a look to him that tells him I know her.
"Ohh, so you've already been acquainted. Yeah man, stay away from that freakshow. She's been here longer than most people. And she's been on disciplinary action more times than I have fingers or toes to count on."

Ok, I don't know a lot about Fauna yet.. but I honestly don't think she's a bad person..

I hunch down and leer at him a bit as I say,"Hey, hey, I don't know about all that. She didn't seem all that bad to me... Maybe you just need to get to know her.?"

Wallie puts a hand to his forehead as he leans in over me and shakes his head," Man, we all know she's a crazy bitch. Ask just about anyone here and they'll say the same thing. Or..." He leans in close to whisper in my ear," Did she promise to fuck if you lay her out?"

Wait... how does he-

"She tells that to a lot of the good-lookin' newbies. Heck, she even told me. But whenever I tried to check and mate with the chick, she always found a way to get through whatever shit I did. Kid, she told you that to keep you dreamin'."

I'm inclined to believe Wallie, he helped me out earlier and he doesn't seem to be trying to steer me wrong..

But can Fauna really be that bad? I didn't really have anything to defend her with either.
She was stomping in my ribs as she flirted with me, choked me when she apparently helped me... And...

"Kid, don't you have an appointment?"

"What?"

"Yer Assessment. Normally they hold that at nine, it's like... Nine-thirty now. Violet had you droolin' over yer food a bit. I cam over to see if you weren't braindead."

I guess I don't understand the overall urgency, but I get up and go, leaving my half eaten gruel behind.

I was late for assessment so I'm last to get tested. They were still running tests on some two other newbies that were too exhausted to make conversation after...

I resolve to do as much as I can in this assessment. I need a good ranking so that I can get decent assignments after all. Now that I think about it, doesn't this place seem a bit... Mercenary?
Oh well.. It's somewhere I guess.

As I step into the testing chamber, I see some kind of press machine, a treadmill with attachments for heart and pulse monitoring, the bruiser from Wallie's spar, and a console opening up at a corner of the room.
The bruiser stands in a ring, not unlike the sparring ground that I had stumbled onto yesterday.

It's a shallow dip into the ground and filled with a layer of sand.

The whole room seems to be made of a white metal, lights glaring.

The Bruiser shouts from the ring," Hey kid, you did good against Wallie yesterday. Seen some punks struggling in his trap for hours."

"Well, I'm glad to know that I learn quick, I guess." I say, really not liking what I think is going to be expected...

The bruiser laughs heartily as he pops his knuckles," Sure hope you do. I can only go so easy on ya when it comes to me."

I start to say something, just as an intercom kicks on,"Good morning Omar Denis. Had hoped you could be a bit more punctual. You will receive 1000 less credits for this than was assigned for your tardiness."

"Hey, wait, I get paid for this?"

"Certainly, you do. Our benefactors pay well for your arrival as well as your progress. We partition funds to use at your leisure so long as you are with us."

The voice continues," Now, please step into the Press. We must see how well you withstand various amounts of pressure. You will place your hands in the designated area and see how well you are not crushed. Fauna suggested we begin at 300 pounds."

I nod and stand between the two metal plates, placing my hands on them gently, realizing that if I fuck up, I could be crushed. Apparently the bruiser guy can see the look and he laughs.
"Don' worry kid. It only goes so far before the safety kicks. If you do well, it'll adjust the difficulty."

As he finishes, I feel the pressure start and begin to draw in energy to counter the push. I don't feel myself pushing much harder as it slowly encroaches past my efforts.
The bruiser frowns a bit and says," Hey kid, you need to focus on something. Make your arms strong. Strong like a bear or something. Shit, I clear 300 without even invoking."

Well, that advice should help, I focus on my arms and feel my muscles changing. I think of what Fauna had said... "This is me using bear strength... you can do it too."

Hyperdense muscle? Where did that idea come fro- I stop thinking as I realize that my chest feels like it's burning as the muscles across my ribs and arms feels like it's shrinking and expanding at the same time. The press slowly comes apart now...

"Excellent." The com says.
"Increase to 500."
My progress is stopped as the press comes back in.
"Oh yes, and the gentleman in the room lied, the press will kill you if you aren't successful."
The Beefed man says nothing at this, he just smiles.

What the fuck.

With my life on the line, as the voice over the com says, and not based on what Mr. Bruiser here said earlier, I decide it's really not worth the risk going any further and burning out.
I focus my power for a burst of strength and start to feel the change stop and pure power start. I force the press plates apart with one motion and dart out just as they slam shut behind me. . . Holy freaking shit... It wasn't lying.

"Self preservation instinct is good... Instead of fighting death you decided to evade it. The next test won't be quite as bad."

Bullshit, I think to myself...

"Please Remove your Gi and step onto the treadmill. The Gentleman in the room will attach the monitoring equipment to you."

I comply and step onto the treadmill. It seems very sleek, very post modern. I notice that there are no controls on it for me.. everything must be adjusted automatically or they control it...
The bruiser begins to attach the small pulse taking implements to my body, "Sorry for lying to you. Part of the assessment. Name's Kyle by the way. Wallie likes to call me Kill. Good luck in this part.."

Just as I begin to wonder why he'd wish me luck, the treadmill starts as the voice comes on again," In this portion, we assess your resistance to pain and willingness to continue. Oh, and your overall endurance."

Running at a small jogging pace, I suddenly feel an electric shock coming from one of the pieces on my body. It feels like 5 bee stings at once... I cringe and slow down a bit...
"It gets worse as you slow down," The voice says as the pain amplifies and I run faster.

The previous test takers are starting to make more sense now...

So, pain and all, I push myself to bring up my speed to a quick jog and hold it there. The pain is perpetual, but less than before.
I level out my speed and for a time, i figure it won't get any worse.. and then they start increasing the shocks again.

" Being an overhuman means going above your limits, not setting them Omar. We urge that you go faster. The shocks will approach lethal levels should you continue your current approach."

That damn voice again... I swear this pain would make me pass out at this point if I was still a normal person.. I feel my mark glowing in response to each pulse. I try to subvert it by evolving, but the shocks disrupt my focus... This... this must be willpower more than endurance...

I grit my teeth as I run just beyond the lethal shock level. My body begins to tingle at it slowly adjusts to the shocks as they occur. It still hurts like a bitch, but I don't feel myself near frying.
I continue on steadily, sweat dropping from my brow as it's already been what feels around half an hour on this treadmill. I can't see or hear anything else as I run at a steadily increasing pace, feeling my body perpetually running a bit faster than before.

I had thought to plead for it to stop earlier, but I can't even think about that right now... I run into the treadmill and fall backwards on it, realizing that it had finally stopped a moment too late.

I lay on it, huffing and puffing, for breath. Kill drags me off of it and sits me down with some water. He says something but I can't hear it.
Everything seems a void.. but then the com cuts through it.
"Excellent, you performed greatly on that test. Your willpower to push forward is outstanding, as is your tolerance for pain. We permit you five minutes to recuperate before the final part of your assessment today."

I feel half-dead, and they still want more?
Goddamn, Renaissance is hardcore...

I look to Kill, as he's headed into the sand-ring.
Feeling like shit, I smile and just need to ask him," So... how do people usually do by now... If I'm so exemplary?"

Kill just kind of smiles at me, showing the fact that he's missing teeth," Well, they don' usually last a goddamn half hour on that thing. Pressure machine though.. Usually first time reinforcers get about 1k before they need to call it quits. The safety only kicks on after that by the way. So I wasn't lyin'. Collect yourself kid, I'll be giving you a new smile in a few minutes."

With those words said, I close my eyes and think about earlier. I had thought about Hyperdense muscles for a moment before my power reacted to it...
Seems that I need an idea of something to really make it work.. There was also that pure power from when I pushed the plates earlier.. Was that Reinforcement? There was no change to my body with it...
My mind goes to Fauna though... I realize how much I want her.. but.. I wonder where she's at when it comes to this?
I'd love to see her slip out of that armor for me... wrap her legs around me as she kisses me and I hold her...

"Omar Denis, please enter the ring."

My thoughts are interrupted by that damn voice again, I swear if I ever meet the person behind it...
"Kid, I aint got all fuck'n day!" Kill yells as his skin slowly turns red. Yellow-white spots glowing all over his body.

Holy shit, this guy is ready...

I work myself into the sandy ring. I see that it's quite a bit larger than I had thought at first...

The comm comes on again.

"In this test, you will be matched against an Overhuman who, like yourself, is an invoker. The gentleman, Kyle, will proceed to smash your face in once I give the go. Any questions before you start?"

Well... They're permitting me to ask questions... I'll start with the first and foremost on my mind...

"So, there's an... Uhh.. Agent named Fauna... What are her Benchmarks?" I say, unsure if she's really an.. "agent."

The voice calmly replies," One moment...."
It cuts off for about a minute and then returns.
"Fauna's benchmarks are pretty old, she hasn't done any assessments for a while. Last she used the press was one year, seven months, and twelve days ago. She stopped at two thousand, eight hundred pounds, exactly. As we fondly call it, the treadmill of pain... She went two times over the death threshold for electric shock based death in a normal human, and kept running at her own pace for about two hours before growing bored. There are other trials that she has taken, however I cannot tell you of those. Wouldn't want to ruin the surprise."

I think to myself at how strong she could or would be now... She's so beyond me right now...

"Oh, and we haven't found her an appropriate opponent to test the limit of her combat capability in quite some time. Did I mention we're doing that next?"

Ok... so I need to know more about this...
"You mentioned Invokers, I was given a rundown of Overhumans, but could you tell me more about what I am?"

"I'm afraid I am incapable of properly asnwering that. Kyle, would you be a gent and answer this please?"

Kill relaxes his power slightly, the white-yellow spots toning down to yellow. He smiles amicably despite his still dark-red skin.
"Invokers. We're the superhumans among Overs. We draw power from thou's and ideas, turn'n 'em inta energy our bodies use. I've trained mostly in pure reinforcement along with quicken'. Reinforcin' m' flesh, bone, an' muscle to outrageous degrees. Quicken', makes y' move fast. React'n see'n, think'n... But look, You asked f' Fauna's Benchmark. F' the Dead Press, I get just short of 4k." He flexes his muscles at this before continuing.

"We ten' t' be good against evokers that fight wit' their mind. We just drain their thought f' power. Gott' be careful though. Too much drain'n an we start hurt'n, bad. We're learn'n yer limit here kid."

I kind of had a clue as to some of that already... but this just confirms things... I know what I did earlier was reinforcement. It wasn't like the change I usually feel.

"Oh, and I have another important question..."

The comm comes back on, "Yes Omar?"

"Why is the speaker such a Sociopath? I mean, goddamnit, I could've fucking died earlier man!"

The comm is silent for a moment as Kill smiles, chuckling a little bit at that.

"Kill, would you kindly smash Omar's face in?"

Still chuckling a bit, Kill raises his power to Yellow-white glowing again, he readies himself in a boxer's stance...

Ok... Legit, I'm a bit scared at the prospect of this.

Seeing another invoker take a stance reminds me that despite being superhumans, we still use human bodies... Martial arts should obviously work well with them...
Now that I think about it, the sandy nature of the ring should also keep him from properly stepping in...
Or so I thought.

Kill approaches rapidly, stepping on the sand lightly yet firmly, and almost lays me out with a punche to the face as I slip and dodge to the side, rolling back to standing. Ok, that wasn't graceful, I think as I ready myself into stance.

Feet mostly together, left hand forward, and right chambered for a strong blow.

Kill smiles as he approaches again, throwing a left hand jab enough speed to blow out my eardrums with a small sonic-boom
I reel and think my face should be broken, except that it's not... it seems that Fauna beating me did the trick of toughening me up enough to not break from what Kill might just think of as a “love tap.”

I roll back to standing again and realize that Kill is just that much faster than me. Despite training, I can't beat his speed. He's not just a muscle head, he's light as a feather and his punch is greased lightning.

“C'mon kid, I'm jus' warmin up. Truth is... I'm here to show ya what an invoker can do, I aint finished either."

I haven't had time to think about using Reinforcement... That could help..

I decide that my best course of action is to simply go blow for blow with him.. I think he might actually like that..

I brace myself for the next impact, feeling the sensation of his fist smash into my face again, though it hurts considerably less.

"Good Kid..." He smiles as he brings around a hook that sure as hell clocks me, though my reinforced jaw takes the brunt. "Looks like you've got reinforcement goin. Helps a lot, don' it?"

I get up, realizing that my mark is glowing, and I don't feel as injured as opposed to before.. He brings another thunderous fist into my stomach. Unreinforced, I feel the brunt of the attack... though once more, Fauna's abuse helped me, i don't loose my breath. I throw a punch at Kill, focusing just hard enough to feel a difference, though the blow glances off.

My vision starts to get really blurry and I inadvertently fall to my knees, unable to rise..
"Ah, ah... I feel... so weak.."

"Ah, so that's his limit." Kill Says, before shouting to the comm," You get that boss?"

The comm comes on," Yes, his active time was splendid, he also shows a potential in progress last observed in Fauna. Though he is certainly a bit slower..."

Eventually despite their chatting, I pass out. I sleep soundly for the night, I guess. Waking up, feeling ragged, I briefly I recognize that I'm in my quarters.

I close my eyes and rest off the horrible damage assessment caused.

End of third session and where the storyquest left off.

Any lurkers have questions or comments?

>>22741619
>I decide that my best course of action is to simply go blow for blow with him.. I think he might actually like that..
>I brace myself for the next impact, feeling the sensation of his fist smash into my face again, though it hurts considerably less.
>"Good Kid..." He smiles as he brings around a hook that sure as hell clocks me, though my reinforced jaw takes the brunt. "Looks like you've got reinforcement goin. Helps a lot, don' it?"

Oh god, this sounds like a homosexual fantasy.

>>22741685

... Mildly... I suppose...

Starting quest thread from this point in story in about half an hour.

>>22742247
Shit man I've missed you. Were you been?

>>22741685
Thats why I love it

>>22742298

Been busy.

Lot of other Quest threads around too.
My willingness to compete has always been low.

Aside, if you haven't gathered by now, I'm going to be doing the next part for Omar.

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/22737959/
Upvote if you liked this...
And I wanted to ask what you guys think of the characters so far...

We've got:

Omar
"Kill"
"Wallie"
Violet
Fauna
And whoever's the voice on the speaker in the story so far.

Whatchya think of em?

>>22742413
Well you know how much I like Fauna.
Kill seems cool and Wallie could be a bro.
Characters seem pretty chill so far, though we might have to ditch this mercenary company later

>>22742439

Ditch Renaissance?

Man, why would you want to?

They've got the death press and treadmill of pain! Not gonna find that shit elsewhere!

>>22742489
I know, but it may be a sacrifice we gonna have to make

>>22742504

C'mon man, that gruel's hardcore!

>>22742489
This.

>>22742845

New thread, New Quest.