Part 5

                                                Erran

Who would have guessed that Erran was already ahead of the curve by doing his own individual research and development? Jack would have known this for now, and Erran's current project. The young businessman had been developing an actual stimpack, a device that would heal the wounds of whoever it was injected to. While still in development, Erran was making headway with the project that by his calculations, he'd accomplish the final product in the next few weeks. As he was about to speak up, he paused to witness the craziness of Freak; he was lucky he managed to get a hold of a tray of Baklava, or Erran would have been upset. As the main course was revealed, he paused and eyed the person with the towel. -c-

Then the arrival of another team member occurred, though this one seemed to be lost in his own thought. Erran offered him a wave, but left it at that for now. His attention was seized by Cathryn, and it was then that he fully caught a glimpse of her powers. Erran had felt sorry for the girl, she was like a pathetic cat caught in the rain, and frankly he still had some good left in him that he felt obligated to help her out. Having halted his running a while ago, he approached Cathryn and Jack before clearing his throat. "Ever since the change I've been more intelligent," he explained. "I've been running some pet projects, but I can put them on hold to help Duracell here out. We can either outfit her with a utility belt that absorbs the randomly discharged electricity she expels, or I could make shoes that would act as a grounding agent so that she'd have to intentionally focus on aiming her electrical powers to overcome the resistance. What do you think?" -e-


                                         Mine

Cat, poor Cat. Em's heart goes out to them all. It really does, everyone here. They...they all just. No, be calm and collected. Don't, just don't. Though, for questions about training? Those would have to wait for now. Regaining whatever energy was dispelled, the brunette stretches and goes to prepare to go for another lap attempt until...Dex? W-what is he doing? Eyes widen in surprise at his antics and a smile is indeed seen on that face. Alright, alright fine break time and two new recruits? O-oh! Too many people, deep breaths. It's alright, just be calm. The music is turned off. Eyes on Cat though and watching as she approaches Jack, Em just sort of approaches and smiles towards the other...gently as though to try and help ease the other's panic. "H-hey, Cat? I-it's g-going t-to be alright. G-got a spoon back. H-heh." (Sorry, my brain is just...fucking mush.)



                                                  Jack

Everyone had gathered again, and now everyone included a lot more. Jack's family had gotten a whole lot bigger. Instead of looking freaked out - even when Freak broke the very laws of physics - instead of looking sad - like the young figure that approached them with eyes red - worried - like Cat with the broken earpiece, he looked happy. If this was what his team was going to look like for the next five years, then hell, he could learn to laugh sometimes too. Jack put a hand on Dex's shoulder for a moment and shook him some, then let him go to take up a spot somewhere in the center of all of this. "Everyone, I just want you to know, if you need anything, and I mean anything that is going to help you here, come see me. I promise all of you I'm always willing to hear you out." The smile remained on his face as he took a deep breath, obviously steadying himself as he finished up in a rush.[C]
"I also gotta say here and now, when we're out in the field, obeying orders is the only way. You disagree I'll listen if we have time, but if I say go, we go, alright? It shouldn't have to be said, but the reason is because it will save lives." He hoped that would be enough at least. That he would be enough, for them, but they'd all find out together one way or another. "What about some kind of battery? Or capacitor?" Jack replied to Erran, though nodding his head at Cat and plucking the broken unit from her grasp. "Hmmm. Seesm a shame to let that energy go to waste. In any case, time for that later. Let's get back to barracks at a quick jog," Jack said, ushering everyone along, and organizing them as they started out. "Everyone can get cleaned up and changed into civvies, and then I can introduce you to the delights of our mess hall." As they jogged, he pulled Christal out of the line with him to the side where low voices could afford them some privacy, "You doing okay? I'm Jack."


                                                  Freak
There was food, drinks, merriness, new squad members, electricity being wasted… wait WHAT?! There was perfectly good voltage just being … No, no. Oh hell to the no. As orders to march back to their respective barracks were given, and Jack himself moved to speak with the newcomer, Freak would do something similar. Dashing over to and mildly surprising Cathryn by super speed dashing twice around her petite figure. "Listen here, Missy. You and I need to have a talk, right now!" That said, for how strict his words sounded, there was a clear spark of mischievousness to the glint in his eyes, which perfectly matched the easygoing grin on his dashing, blue features; and he made sure she was aware of it before doing what he did next. After all, Freak had a plan, and it was a good one. Maybe. Kinda. Alright, fine, possibly. Geesh! Hit it, DJ! [c]

≈ "Ain't got no cash, ain't got no style. Ain't got no gal to make you smile. But don't worry, be happy… 'Cause when you worry your face will frown,.. And that will bring everybody down. So don't worry, be happy. Don't worry, be happy now." ≈ And just like that, with such a playful rhythm to his freaky step, the blue male would sweep Cathryn off her feet and insta-dash her back to the AP barracks, princess style. This, while leaving everyone else in the dust who wasn't going way above and beyond to try and keep up with his ludicrous speeds. The next instant, as likely perceived by Cathryn, would see the two back directly in front of the female barrack's door, where he'd carefully set the cute female back down, safely onto her own two feet again. Why so close to it? 'Cause, he wanted her to have the option to run away inside, if she felt the need to, where he clearly wouldn't follow. Unlike someone other male in their squad. - Grin, griny, wink. - You know who you are. <3 [c]

If she'd give him the time of the stolen day, however, then he'd get to whisper a few things to the female, in a direct mind to
electrically charged mind format. No eavesdropping now, ya hear. That's bad manners. So rude. Like, really. If successful, the blue male would have attempted to impart some much needed confidence and reassurance to the girl who clearly seemed to need it. Along with the knowledge of their plan and the fact that they could privately communicate in this manner, thanks to the similarities in their powers' sparky bolty traits. Quite convenient really. It was like texting for the mind, with voice chat features included! The emojis tended to fade away a little faster than desired but that was a reasonably acceptable drawback. In the end, Freak just sought to inspire a smile and maybe a couple of giggles out of the girl, while wantig to give her some hope that, you guessed it, she shouldn't worry, and be happy. [e


                                                 Cat

At first Cat hardly seemed to hear the people speaking then she heard Erran speaking about problems she had with control over her powers. Looking a bit shocked as he conversed with Jack about ways to help her gain control, she smiled tentatively at him. "Thank you..I don't believe I caught your name. Mine's Cathryn, just Cathryn please." Looking over at Emily, she felt more at ease with her friend there, and smiled warmly at the girl, her fears not forgotten. The fear was still visible in her eyes if one looked close enough. "You got a spoon back? That's great Emily, I trust you all..it's just me I don't trust right now." Letting go of the broken equipment she listened to Jack and repli ed to him after he gave out orders. "Yes S..I mean Jack." She had nearly called him by his most hated title, but caught herself just in time. Cathryn had a soft spot for Emily, it was strange maybe how fast the two had become friends, at least Cathyrn considered Emily a gre

at friend. "So what did you think of running, I couldn't pick up much of your conversations, my ear piece got fried." Trying to keep her voice steady as she conversed with Emily, knowing they would be jogging back to their barracks, she looked forward to getting into civilian clothes. The charge around her fingertips continued to build as she pointed her hand away from the others, the electrical charge seeking the pa th of least resistance through the still air. Seeing as none of the team was close enough to get hit by her electrical discharge as she pushed that power out away from her hand. At the same time she was doing this, the speedy male zoomed right into the path of that power. She was about to express her horror when she was suddenly picked up and carried off to the door of her barracks. Sat down on her own two feet, her mind still trying to process what the hell had just happened, she blinked at him in confusion. Finally her mind caught up with th

is chain of events, and she was slightly annoyed, plus a little scared by the male's sudden actions. "Y..You shouldn't do something like that, sometimes I hurt people when they startle me.." Great her nervousness was back, and the fear too, but she forced a smile anyways. "I'm uh..gonna go change now." The glow around her fingertips had faded at least, the stored power she had gathered completely drained away at least. That mental conversation was kind of freaky, but she understood enough of it to catch the gist and even fixed the male with a tentative smile. No laughter was hard, but she did lift a hand to Freak before heading into the barracks to get changed. She selected a cute t-shirt for herself, and a pair of jeans too. Normal tennis shoes to replace her training footwear. Exiting the barracks once cleaned up and changed she waited just outside the female barracks for Emily, though having arrived before her, she was probably going to be waiting a bit.




                                                      Erran

Erran listened to Jack and nodded for the sake of satisfying him. "The belt would hold the charges, and once she learns to control it, she could use them to amplify her attacks in the future; way ahead of you. I was going to come up with a medicinal aid for our wounded, but I can put it on the back burner for now." In Erran's eyes, a preventative would far outpace a solution especially when it came to powers. As the red head addressed him, he offered her his trademark devilish smirk that promised only good times and mischief. "Erran," he introduced himself once more. "Fenrir on the field, I'll get a prototype drafted soon and when you have time we can experiment on the testing in one of the labs I borrow." Phrasing, it was meant to be androgynous. He waited for Jack so they could walk together, letting Cat and the others walk ahead of them. That was when the blue guy swept Cathryn up and dashed away, which Erran cared little to pursue. -c-
"It's an odd team," he confessed to Jack, turning off his earpiece so they could have some privacy. He would only speak this to Jack once they had complete privacy from all members. "I'll work with them, for now...but don't expect me to get attached. Us capes don't last long in this line of work." He paused, and watched the team become blips in the distance before clearing his throat. "The blue one is chaotic, can we trust him not to kill one of us or cause destruction in a comicbook Jokeresque fashion just for humor? The light bug seems to have an attitude problem, and the forcefield girl seems like she'll take the first bullet shot at us. Duracell might kill us, and the others seem either too inexperienced, or too background to properly appraise them." Erran was a pessimist who viewed himself as a realist, yep, one of those assholes. Over the past few months, he got to see Jack as he lost his squad and how that affected him. -c-
Erran swore he would not make that same mistake, especially since the stuff they trained to do made searching for IEDs in Afghanistan look like a skip through Disneyworld. -e-




                                                     Christal


kept to himself as he walked. He didn't want anything to do with anyone whatsoever. The lesser he spoke to anyone else, the better. He didn't plan on making conversation but it seemed Jack did so regardless. He was moved off to the side and...Asked how he was doing? Was he really asking him that? Wasn't it already obvious, given their already dire situation? Or maybe these people didn't care? Maybe they didn't really go through much at all? He'd shake his head, snarling at the ground. He refused to even really look at Jack in the eye, let alone reply to his question. Instead, he kept his silence and kept his head down. The look he had was one of being utterly fed up and completely uninterested in life as a whole. He'd seen too much death to really care anymore. The silence was held consistently, never faltering, even when random conversations and happenings took place around him. He just simply didn't care. He'd do what he was told and that was going to be the extent of his (C)

"relation" to these anomalies. All he cared about was peace and privacy at this point. At least this way, once these others eventually die off, it wouldn't affect him whatsoever. That's just who Christal was now. Maybe, had Jack met Christal prior to all the terror that he had to witness, he'd probably had a lot to say. As of now, he had absolutely nothing to say to him. Him or anyone else that would ask the same question. There was ONE thing on his mind though, and that was the filthy beasts that locked them up in here like dogs. His hands clenched again. He wanted to feel rage but...Jack was right next to him and possibly holding a hand on him too. The damage done by his searing hot aura would be more than likely permanent and wouldn't exactly make things easier here for him so he'd try a few breathing exercises to keep himself calm and collected. This would be noticeable by Jack but he didn't care. As far as he was
concerned, there was no one else in his world anymore. Just (C)

himself and the sheer rage he felt against everything and everyone around him. As this happened, he'd try to remember the woman's words once again...But it just wasn't enough. How the hell does one just "magically" forget about some sick pieces of shit treating you like you're their lab rat? Maybe it was just him. Who knows? He didn't, and he didn't care either. His head was kept held low. He simply refused to reply to Jack. Yep. He wasn't going to be an easy one to deal with. Whatsoever. (E)