*Setting: Iraxx walked down the cold, grey corridor quickly, limping ever so slightly. Four days had passed since Gian had cut his recovery-vacation short and now most of his battle wounds had healed. His burnt chest was still abit inflamed and he still had faint scars across his face, hands and other wounded parts, but apart from that he was 97% back to his normal self. Since being off work Iraxx had, had no contact with the Council whatsoever, infact, it was strange of them not to call him hours before he went to see the demonstration of one of the most hyped up projects that the Orkhids had been involved in. Turning right he finally came to two big brown double doors which he pushed open...darkness greeted him. Turning his head slightly to the right he saw some small spotlights beaming their white glow down from the ceiling to, what looked like, a stage. Allowing his eyes to slowly acclimatise to the light, Iraxx slowly moved to the nearest table and in doing so sighed a happy relief as he realised a chair was free. Fumbling around he eventually sat down at the back of the room and awaited for the demonstration to begin.*
***
*Setting: As the lights hit the stage, Janek, Sykes and Chorge stepped into them from the wing to the left. Janek was dressed in his normal dark, attire, except this time he wore a pair of dark sunglass'. In fact, they were more like swimming goggles if anything, and seemed to give him a more sinister look than he had, had before. Sykes was dressed in the usual white Scientist uniform and Chorge was dressed in much the same as Sykes. They all proceeded towards the front of the stage, and towards a large, vertical desk equipped with a microphone, but this time minus the jug and glass of water. Smiling out into the darkness, Chorge looked out, leant forwards and spoke into the microphone as Sykes and Janek stood at either side of him..*
Chorge: "I WELCOME YOU ALL BACK HERE AGAIN FOR A RATHER ZPECTACULAR DEMONZTRATION..."
The large room was completely still. Completely quiet. The air was filled with suspense as to what they were actually going to see. Turning to the right of the stage, Sykes signalled to someone and out of the wings came a large, muscular Orkhid. His hair a shade of dark purple and his eyes blue. It was Ryan. He was the Orkhid equivalent to a 15 year old now, and had strangely gone into the final stage. The final stage of the long, highly anticipated experiment was basically when the nanobots inside the subjects activated. Enhancing strength, sight, hearing, regeneration capabilities and so on and so forth. This, although exciting for the people involved, was also highly worrying. Only when the subjects got to the age of 18 should the nanobots had become active, but in Ryan’s, and Aisha’s case, had they become active earlier. Watching as Ryan made his way into the centre of the stage, the audience talked excitedly amongst themselves. Admiring Ryans large, muscular frame and realising that if all the subjects were like this, then the success rate of Orkhid battles would be increased dramatically. Ryan looked out into the audience, purring lowly as he placed his right arm infront of his face to shield his eyes from the intense light.
Janek: "This is subject O5. O5 is one of tvo who have prematurly entered the final stage. Ve do not knov the reason for their progression, but ve are treating it as a previev of vhat is to come vith the rest of the children…”
Stepping away from the microphone Janek then allowed Sykes to speak and explain what he expected from the children and the project in general. Sykes smiled enthusiasticly as he spoke, commenting on world power and how his race would finally get what it deserved – racial domination and a tactical advantage over all creatures and creeds.
***
*Setting: As Sykes took the mic, Iraxx looked around in sheer boredom. He had foolishly believed that the demonstration would have started straight away, but this was sadly not the case. First Sykes spoke about how he came about the idea and his hopes for the future of Orkhid kind. Then the leading Consultant took the mic again, talking about his dreams and hopes and also the hardships that came with the job. A holographic image was then shown of the process that took place with the children. Showing how, when active, the main nanobots, situated in the Heart and Brain, pumped out thousands upon thosands of smaller replicas, all which bonded to the blood cells and coursed throughout the beings bodies. Speeding up their healing factor and improving strength, agility, hand-eye co-ordination and other such attributes. And although this was vaguely more interesting, Iraxx wished that the live demonstration would just take place, and finally it did. Stepping to the side of the stage, Janek ushered the teenager to the centre and stated something to him, which Iraxx couldn’t quite make out. O5 then stood in the centre and prepared himself, looking to both the left wing and right wing of the stage. As he waited, four armour clad guards entered the stage, two from either side. All wore their visors down and all brandished a large, metal rod, used for a variety of violent reasons. As Iraxx squinted to see what was going on, customised Shrinks lowered themselves down from the ceiling to tables situated at the back of the conferrence room, showing what was happening from a closer perspective. As Iraxx watched contently, he noticed that the female sat just infront of him was taking notes, but failed to act as he wanted to see how well the subject on screen performed.*
***
*Setting: Ryan growled lowly, watching all four guards from the corners of his eyes. His breathing became deeper, and as they began to fan out, Ryan could feel the tiny bites of the nanobots inside him, feel them begin to work more activly. Grunting through his nose, he caught a glance of his finger nails lengthening. Growing half an inch longer than usual in a matter of seconds. But this was not the only change, the active nanobots had also caused the veins in his eyes to pop, causing a surge of black blood which now devoured his entire eyeballs. The hairs on the back of his neck began to tingle. And as the first guard to attack attempted to club him on the back of his neck, Ryan turned to face him and grabbed the metallic baton with his right hand, kicked the being in the stomach and snatched the weapon away. As the guard staggered backwards, stunned, Ryan span around to the second attacker, blocking his weapon as the Orkhid brought it down towards his head. He then forced this guards baton away from him, swinging his weapon towards the creatures head, hitting the guards helmet and causing the glass visor to crack. The guard dropped to his knees, dazed and woozy as Ryan then kicked out with the sole of his heavy boots. Hitting the visor full on and shattering it aswell as knocking the Orkhid unconscious. Ryan then span around arm outstretched, crouching down as he did. In doing so he caused the baton to hit the third attacker, cracking his left knee-cap. Screaming out in pain, the guard dropped his weapon with a loud clatter. Smirking, Ryan then formed a fist with his left hand and uppercutted the guard, his hand going through the glass and hitting the guard squarely in the face. Flipping backwards the Orkhid fell on his back, unconcious. Ryan now stood to his full height, feeling almost unstoppable as all three who had dared to attack had failed. There were still two standing, one with a weapon and one without, but they didn’t dare move. As the crowd watched in amazement, Sykes smiled with glee. Stepping into the shadows of the right wing for a few seconds, Sykes then emerged with a handgun. A Beretta. Underarming it to the nearest guard, he then watched to see how Ryan would handle the situation. The guard who caught it was the one who already had a weapon, but upon receiving this advantage, he cast his baton down and caught the gun. Swinging it to point at Ryan he smiled behind his visor, only to stop as Ryan grabbed his wrist before he could fully point it at him. Holding his wrist with his left hand, Ryan then hit the guard repeatedly in the left side with the baton he held in his right. The guard screamed out in pain, bending his left shoulder to the downward left slightly. Manouevering his left hand to the gun, Ryan was then able to grasp the gun and snatch it away. Allowing the guard to drop on his left knee in agony. Raising the baton diagonally over his left shoulder, Ryan then brought the weapon down in a fierce ‘phwack’ which caused the reinforced plastic helmet to shatter and the guard to flop semi-concious to the ground. Ryan then span around to the unarmed guard, tossed the gun in the air by its nozzle, caught it by its handle and pulled the trigger twice. The bullets flew into the guards kneecaps. Shattering the bone and forcing the guard to fall forwards on bended knees, the teenager then swung the baton upwards as the guard fell, causing the final connection to be a vicious blow which not only shattered the guards jaw through the helmet but was sure to incapacitate him from duty for atleast 4 weeks. As the final guard dropped to the ground, the entire crowd stood in a rapturous uproar of cheer and jubilation. Throwing the baton down, Ryan then threw the gun from his left hand to his right, catching it professionally as he looked out at the crowd, sniffing deeply. He could smell something. The scent of a creature that wasn’t supposed to be in the crowd. Slowly Janek and Sykes headed towards the podium, ready to take questions and praise, but as they motioned for Ryan to leave the stage and for another set of guards to drag the injured off into the wings, Ryan stepped quickly to the front of the wooden platform, made a quick scan of all the Orkhids in the crowd and then pointed his gun out in the audience. Aiming steadily Ryan fired.*
***
*Setting: The gunshot was a lot more shocking now it wasn’t been used for the demonstration, and as Iraxx watched as random audience members dived out of the way, he witnessed the bullet hit a male Orkhid Scientist. The bullet seemed to lodge in the creatures skull, as it blatantly never exited through the back, and instead made the head jolt backwards fiercely. The Scientists at that table screamed in terror, diving away incase they were on the receiving end of one of the bullets. Glancing up at the stage, Iraxx saw that Janek and Sykes had quickly placed space between the creature and themselves and five guards had quickly appeared, all brandishing shotguns and rifles. Their knees slightly bent, the guards positioned themselves around the creature, their guns all pointed at his back and head. But instead of attempting to fight them off, the teenager dropped his gun and placed his hands on the back of his head. Iraxx could vaguely see that the teenagers eyes had gone back to normal from their once all black image. He smiled, softly. Wondering if this debacle would impress his superiors or not. And wondering even more how Gian would react.*
Male voice: “NO!! NO WAIT!!”
The voice came from a Scientist who was near the table of the victim.
Male Scientist: “IT’S A CHANGLING!! HE WAS A CHANGLING!!”
Each member of the audience reacted in the same way, a stunned gasp. Glancing over, it was clear that, even from behind, the being wasn’t Orkhid. The Changlings long reddish hair draped over the chair it was sat on. The guards surrounding the teenager immediately began to lower their weapons, intrigued to how the being had known…
***
*Setting: Janek and Sykes immediately rushed to the podium, ready to receive yet another bout of applause. Yet as Sykes opened his mouth to speak, he was interrupted by Ryan who placed his hand over the microphone and whispered in Sykes’ ear.*
Ryan: “There’s another one…”
Sykes looked into Ryans eyes, knowing he was probably right due to his accute sense of smell. He mouthed the words ‘where?’ to which Ryan replied.
Ryan: “I don’t know. It’s harder to locate, but there’s definatly another.”
Nodding, Sykes then whispered to Janek to take over as he then went off stage along with Ryan.
***
*Setting: Iraxx squinted at the large Tv screen of the customised Shrink as he attempted to see what the teenager was saying to Sykes. Intrigued to why it couldn’t be revealed to the audience. But as he did he was distracted by the female infront of him getting up and quickly hurrying to the door, notepaper in hand. Sensing something was awry, Iraxx stood and followed her, going through the large double doors and down the corridor. Seeing her turn right at the next junction, Iraxx quickly hurried forwards, not wanting to lose her in the maze of dull coloured hallways. However, he failed. As he turned he was graced with the image of an empty corridor and nothing more. Snarling, Iraxx slowly walked forwards, stopping when white powder from the ceiling landed on the shoulder of his leather jacket. Looking at it for a brief second, Iraxx then slowly turned his head upwards, gasping in shock as the female Scientist then dropped down on him, forcing him to the ground and stunning him briefly. She then got up and ran down the corridor, turning left which headed towards the exit.*
***
*Setting: Sat behind a small desk, two guards watched the 16 CCTV screens that were built into the grey plastic of the desk. Thus far they had seen nothing interesting and because of lack of funding the facility had, had, the CCTV camera’s had not been positioned everywhere. Seeing movement from one of the camera’s which was situated further down the corridor, one of the guards slowly stood up and walked around the front of his desk to look down the corridor. It was Iraxx, running towards him in a mad sprint. The guard recognised Iraxx as the “eyes and ears” of the Council and instantly saluted, though this practice was often forgotton.*
Guard: “Sir!!”
Iraxx: “Open the damn doors!! I need to contact my superiors immediately!!”
He hardly seemed out of breath, and instead seemed more irate. Looking up from the screens, the second guard nodded a ‘hello’ to him as he pushed the button which allowed the sealed, glass doors to open. Iraxx nodded a thankyou and began making his way to the door.
Voice: “STOP IT!! STOP IT NOW!! HIT THE F*CKING ALARM!!”
Turning the first guard looked down the corridor to see another Iraxx limping as quickly as he could to the door. The first Iraxx snarled lowly, glancing at the guard sat behind the desk and throwing himself on top of the desk so his stomach was on the flat of it. He then reached out, grabbed the back of the guards head with his right hand and with his left positioned his index and second finger infront of the beings eyes. In a second large, grey claws had jutted out from the tip of the fingers, piercing the guards eyes and shooting right through the head. The guards jaw dropped open and he shook slightly before going limp. Pushing himself off the desk the imposter then got into a fight stance, his long grey claw slowly revealing themselves from all his fingertips now. Stopping when they reached a size of 12-13 inches. Stepping back in shock, the guard attempted to move to the back of the desk to where his dead partner was, to where the alarm was, but as he did the being lunged at him. Piercing his throat with the claws on his right hand, he then repeatedly began stabbing the claws of his left hand into the guards chest and stomach. The guard choked in horror, feeling the sharp weapon-like claws dig into his skin, muscle and bone, searing into his Arteries, Lungs and Heart. Yanking the nails that had dug into the neck out, the being then kicked the body of the creature backwards and into the oncoming Iraxx who caught the body and staggered backwards with it before letting it fall. The imposter then turned and ran out the door and onto the facility grounds towards the car park. Iraxx took chase, running with effort as his muscles still ached from his prior battles. As he approached the first car he looked around it and sniffed the air softly, hoping to pick up the blood of the two dead Orkhids on the creatures claws.
Iraxx: “Heh, quite a stunt you pulled there. I’m impressed. Just one question though – how were you able to replicate my clothes?”
He said this quite loudly, hoping that the creature was fooled into thinking that Iraxx knew where it was and, would thus, come out – revealing its position. Although, the question he asked was a sincere one. No Changling, no matter how old they were, was capable of replicating clothing. Which is why most tended to stick to one form if they’re on a job. Moving slowly around the side of the car, Iraxx looked cautiously through the windows, hoping to catch a glimpse of it from the other side.
*Thump*
Iraxx staggered forwards, turning around briefly to see the clenched fist of his imposter self come towards him. The impact was direct and sent him falling backwards and onto his back. Trying to scramble to his feet, Iraxx was then subdued by a kick to the face which knocked him out cold. As the being looked down on him, it placed its foot on his neck and brought out a silver mobile phone out from its pocket. Flipping the top it then dialled in a number with its thumb as it looked at the unconcious Orkhid. Upon speaking into the phone, however, the being changed its voice, speaking in its normal voice which was, almost certainly, female.
Being: “It’s me. I’m outside the facility now…Yes, the experiment is interesting…Oh yes, yes they could…Now. Pick me up at the extraction point arranged in 15 minutes…”
There was a slight flash of purple in the dimly-lit dusky sky. Turning its head the imposter looked to were the light was emitted from, and although it was far away, it was clear it was from a Plasma rifle.
Being: “…What? Oh no, no complications. Just a few bumps that need to be straightened out…yeh, heh, I’ll get to it. Heh. I’ll see ya when I get back.”
With a flick of its wrist it flipped the phones top down and thus cut the signal. It then placed the phone in its pocket and looked down at the, now stirring, Iraxx.
Being: “You shouldn’t play with fire, little boy.”
Crouching down the creature smirked at Iraxx, still in his form. Hanging its left hand over his head, it then positioned its index finger and second finger over his eyes and slowly began to cause its grey claws to unsheathe. But as they neared his eyes the beings arm strangely pulled away. And the more it forced its arm down, the more its arm was tugged upwards.
Female voice: “Now, what would you know about playing with fire.”
The beings arm was pulled straight upwards, causing the being itself to stand, and as it heard the voice come from its left side, it turned in that direction, only to be graced with the image of another Orkhid. Female. Her hair black and eyes grey. It was Amber. The being snarled and attempted to step forwards to attack the female, but in doing so was forced back and into the car, telekinetically, as Amber shot out her left hand, holding it in place. Amber then stepped forwards, stepping over Iraxx’s body and glancing down at him. The imposter shifted form, morphing into Amber this time and staring the actual female in the eyes.
Amber: “Now come, do I strike you as the person to be phased by all of your shape-shifting hijinks? Hm?”
The beings expression faded slightly, and Amber smirked.
Amber: “I didn’t think so…”
Placing her right hand on the imposters chest, Amber felt its energy and, with a quick thought, caused it to sizzle into nothingness. Smallish blacky-red flames emerged from Ambers palm and slowly spread outwards in a ring. Turning the beings mid-section to a black ash, the intense flame continued spreading, running down the arms, legs and up the neck. The creature tried to cry out, but Amber used her majick to quieten it down and continued to watch as it was completely turned to black ash. The full figured form of the unique Changling stood in a statue of ash, fragile and delicate. Ambers hand was still placed on the beings mid-section and as she pulled it away the body began to crumble, the ash that fell, floated softly on the wind until the entire corpse was nothing but debris in the air. Something that nobody would think twice about. Amber then cast her eyeline down to Iraxx and sighed.
Amber: “I can tell you’re going to be high maintenance…”
She chuckled softly and then turned into the wind, disappearing in a mass of black flames.
***
Moments Earlier:
*Setting: Janek stood at the window of the office that had been loaned to him whilst the demonstration was underway. Everything he had brought had been packed and Ryan had been prepared for transport. Looking out at the orangey sky he watched a flock of Birds fly home. He smiled, lowering his black goggle-like glasses briefly. But even then the dusk light was too intense for his eyes. He squinted, stepping back uncomfortably and remembering how his eyes had come to be so ruined. He cursed Cornesh’ name. Wishing he had done more to stop him from gaining access to Aisha when he had appealed against his restraining order. Pushing his black goggles back up his nose and infront of his eyes, he looked out more comfortably now - even though he couldn’t see the true beauty of the sky, and it was merely a darkened red to him. Slowly he turned, stopping when he noticed a bright purple blast going skywards. A Plasma blast. He mumbled something incoherant. And studied the sky for a few seconds longer, finally he turned. Wanting to catch up with Sykes and enquire if they had found out who the second Changling was, if there was one. And also to find out where the first one was from…*
Useful links
Experimental Embryo's...
Growing up; Babies
Growing up; Toddlers
Growing up; Pre-teens
Growing up; Teens
Issues...
Issues resolved...
'Making amends'
(OOC: Feel free to point out random shtuffs if you want. Comments would be appreciated since this is a sort of important factor for some of my, un-introduced, characters. Especially when the storyline gets all weird and confuzzling with a certain somebodies offspring.)