Inferno [plot]

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Patterson Manor jutted out from a sea of prairie grass, a terraced castle half-consumed by weeds and vines. In the dimming light, the tall oval windows seemed to glow like red eyes, until the sun sank into the horizon and a yellow moon rose into the hazy night. The air was thick with cricket-song and the smell of thick cut grass as the pack of raiders moved across the freshly landscaped lawn, toward where their enemies lay within.

Clarence didn't know what had motivated him the most to join the attack. Maybe it was his ego talking, swelling at the thought of beating down an inferior group of gifted people. Maybe he'd grown to like Beata Academy over the two years he'd been attending, and the thought of a gaggle of lawless hoodlums overthrowing it disgusted him. Maybe he just needed something to hit - something to placate his anger, the seething fury he felt every time he thought of her. The unfaithful harlot he'd continuously been allowing to use him.

The same harlot trailing a few meters behind him.

He let his indignation fuel his gift, trying to shift his focus away from her noisome presence and onto their targets. The Summer stretched out his neuropathic senses as the troupe crept through the grassy landscape, searching for the quiver of unseen hostile life. His hands tightened and loosened reflexively in anticipation.

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A little way's away, Collin clutched the fur of the hulking beast that was his service dog. His eyes were glossed over and unfocused, the telltale sign that he was gazing through eyes that were not his own. A hawk's eyes, in fact, floating soundlessly high above the manor, scoping out potential threats. This was why he'd been brought along - to scout ahead, totally unsuspecting. He didn't exactly have fighting experience. It was hard to when you were blind. He wasn't totally helpless, especially with the mass of fur stalking next to him, but he'd received strict orders to keep his distance.

He couldn't push the gnawing suspicion of being coddled away, but.. Orders were orders. Collin - the hawk - banked sharply downwards to try and get a closer look.

"So, it's our turn to blow up the mansion, huh?" A blonde woman stood off to the side, her smile all too smug. "Well, well, well... How the turntables..." Brailynn tightened the gauntlets around her wrist. She kept herself tall, chin up high, ready to be the first one to jump into the fray. These people had kept the entire school on the edge and at their whim for far too long. After what they did to them, what they did to her innocent, perfect boyfriend; after taking her friend and damn near killing a few others close to her, she wanted nothing short then to punch their teeth straight out of their jobs. "Hope they don't mind."

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Not far behind her, another shape wavered, staring down the dimming lights of the large estate. They had to have known they were coming. There was no way they could let an entire practical army just march right up to their doorsteps, or so he was inclined to think. Maybe after months of getting their way with ease, they were cocky, they'd never expect them to fight back. It'd taken months to find this place, he'd heard. Maybe they could end it all here. Maybe things could go back to normal after this.

"Shit..."

He knew he was just being stupid. Preston narrowed his eyes, fingers flexing, ready to draw his weapon out at a moment's notice. In the distance, he thought he saw a shadow stirring in one of the windows.

A trio stood nearby the rest, two grown men with a teenage girl. In front of and flanked by the other two was one of the men, who had a grey and green cloak draped over himself and a longsword held at his side. Unlike the rest, these three weren't from the Academy, but they were more than willing to help wipe out the band of gifted terrorists they found themselves warring with now.

The second man, who held a pike in his hands, glanced around at the other gifted individuals who were present. They seemed like they knew what they were doing, even if one of them appeared to be blind. Ira didn't find it very difficult to trust that he had some kind of trick up his sleeve if he was allowed to come here, though.

The young girl meanwhile kept her eyes trained forward at the mansion's windows, watching for movement from behind the shield she had in one hand whilst the short warhammer she held in her other hand was held at the ready, as if she expected to be attacked at any moment.

Paris's hands sparked nervously as he stood by his older brother. He'd never seen actual battle before. Sparring, sure. But this was different. This was real. Clenching his fists and taking a deep breath, he steadied himself. It wouldn't do anyone any good if he was too shaky to aim properly with his attacks. He glanced at this small army that had gathered to take down the mansion's occupants. The boy wondered if it would be enough. Who knew how many people were housed inside the large house? No matter what sort of intel they had gathered, it could be wrong. No, he shouldn't think this way. Paris shook his head to clear himself of the nagging doubt that kept crawling back no matter how hard he tried to push it down. He nudged Preston. "This'll be easy-peasy right?" he whispered, chuckling nervously and as quietly as he could.

Noiselessly, a needle of black energy lunged out from the darkness, arcing toward the banking hawk in the air. Down below, light filled the glass, slashing through the drawn curtains, before exploding outward in a fireball of heat and sound. A figure stepped through the flames, hands slipped casually into his pockets. So much for doors. "Hey. This is private property. State your business."

Preston narrowed his eyes, flinching back from the sudden blast through the side of the building. Good news was, they didn't seem to care whether or not whether the building would be fuck up, the bad news was that it meant they couldn't let their guard down for shit. "Right," the young man forced out a small grin. "Easy-peasy..." He reached towards the end of his weapon, twisting the blade off it's hilt and staring down their entertainer. The same punk from Sofia.

What'd they want? "You could give back everything you've stolen and fuck right off," he called back all too casually. Sparks lit at his fingertips, shimmering against cold steel as he drew his arm back and sent it rocketing towards the douchebag's neck with a loud, crackling snap.

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There were a few others who didn't quite share Ryan's grandiose showmanship or his patience. The shape in the window stirred, pressing her hand up to the glass and etching in soft, icy swirls; weakening it to the point it's entirety would shatter with the simple bat of her elbow. Nadia leapt out, her heels digging into the earth and springing forward, impromptu icicles shooting her into the air. A sharp, blade-like sliver of glass appeared at her side as she sprinted towards the crowd. With little warning, she went for the small sparky boy, swinging.

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"Good luck," Brailynn whispered to the rest. While the chaos began to unfold, she'd fled her way across the clearing, ducking through and avoiding garnering what attention she could until she reached the ginormous hole the blue-haired guy left behind. With a quick focus on her legs, she'd given herself enough power to leap inside, unafraid. "Creepy mansions shouldn't scare us." The dirty blonde was quick to pause, running down the first clear hallway she'd seen and trying to make her way towards the center of the building.

Shit. Ryan grit his teeth and flung himself side ways as the blue steel came slicing toward him, flames blasting up from around his legs to propel him off the window ledge. He rolled out into the yard, an orange haze lifting up around him in a bubble of heat. The grass yellowed and blackened beneath his steps. "Stolen?" This was his fucking house. His at-least-sixteen-greats grandfather built it with his own damn hands. "Wrong address." Sure, he didn't care much about preserving a cheap haunted house. But he wasn't about to let this prick wreck the place before he could.

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For a moment, the lights in the mansion flickered off, plunging the hall into darkness. Then a blue flash filled the void, a lightning bolt streaking down the corridor toward Brailynn. Kayla rounded the corner as the lights blinked back to life, sparks crackling in her palm, a heavy grimace on her face, eyes ringed with sleeplessness.

This wasn't how this fight was supposed to go. She could hear the commotion outside. Enemies. She paused in her steps, almost opening her mouth to say something, but the words couldn't form in her head. Kayla just raised her hand, electricity arcing between her fingertips. You shouldn't have come here.

Paris watched dumbly as the girl charged him, his instincts only saving him last minute. He managed to avoid getting stabbed, thank fuck, but he was slashed and he fell backward. The only thing he could manage to do was reach out and grab for the girl, electricity still flowing through his arms. Maybe it would tase her. We'll see.

There, in amongst the crowd of ambushers, his hair blending into the soft green landscape was a young man whom nobody expected to be a part of this mission. It was especially odd for the student himself. He couldn't quite remember the moment he accepted his role in this venture. He just knew that after some encouragement from his best friend, and a sly tip from Beata's information, the Spring was on his way with several other volunteers.

Farkas, a generally cowardly boy, was only on this mission for one clear reason. He wasn't even sure just how solid his reasoning was, but the small chance was enough to force him out of his comfort zone. He was here for his father.

The moment the boy perked up to look at the rest of the troop, a fight broke out. Nobody wasted any time whipping out their gifts for the offensive, charging straight the enemy without hesitation. While a few students chose to fight those that came to the door, he spotted a few of his classmates charge through the ranks and into the mansion. Without any clues to his father's whereabouts, Farkas ran forward, following a dirty blonde girl as she forced her way into the building.

He could feel the petals falling from his hair already.

The moment the hawk dove, a flash of green and black revealed itself, gloved hands gripping the bird by its neck, squeezing tightly. In the chaos and sounds of battle, any normal animal would've fled, but this one? This one inching closer, as though to inspect more, was most likely a shapeshifting student who had thought they could get away with being a harmless little animal. Visor covering his eyes, Callum smirked, clamping tighter and tighter with slender charcoal fingers. His scarf blew behind him like tattered black wings on top of the roof. "My, aren't you a daring little thing to think you can get away from me?"

Snap!

When the bird didn't morph back into a person, he tossed the lifeless animal aside. "Looks like I didn't get first blood." Every line spoken as though it were rehearsed and scripted from a stage play, the puppet descended to the ground, dashing toward a girl with a shield with inhuman speed, twisting his body into a flurry of kicks at her backside. Beneath his clothes, a stigmata faintly lit up with blue, running like veins across his flesh.

The small blade came snapping back towards him in a flash much like a boomerang, finding it's home again slick between the tips of his fingers. He stood tall, chest puffed out, opening his mouth for another slick, eager comeback and -

He took in a deep breath and raised the blade towards the faggot.

And -

"Fuck you!"

Yeah, witty banter couldn't have been his forte. Preston quickly decided to forgo the bad-ass show he'd been trying to put on and charged forward, arcing a crescent whip of lightning towards the blue-haired bozo with a lash of his arm.

[shitty explanation because i'm a shitty writer]

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Brailynn only saw a glimpse of the girl at the end of the hallway, but she knew better to stop then. No where to duck, no place to dive away from, stuck between four walls; the dirty blonde had little other choice but to dig her feet into the carpet beneath them, twisted sideways and arms pushed forward with open palms as if that'd help bear the brunt of the blast.

And God, did it hurt, but she'd never felt more alive. The blonde could feel the metallic taste of blood in her mouth and her body near paralyze itself the moment that burst of lightning coursed through her. It burned. It felt like fire ripped away at her skin. Even with the blinding blast had ended, it felt like pieces of her might start sloughing off if she moved in the slightest, and yet, if she didn't take any steps then - it'd felt like she would burst in an instant.

"H-Hey, I missed you too." She muttered, her voice weak.

The Spring bared her fist up, and with a sharp gasp she collided it through the wall beside her, damn near crumbling the thing and leaving deep cracks up through the roof. She yanked whatever piece of dry-wall she could out and sent it hurdling for the small brunette.

She'd been so focused on Kayla that she hadn't even noticed the fellow intruder behind her.

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Nadia liked to think herself smart enough to side-step away from his attack, but she got cocky - thinking the fallen boy an easy kill. Her body seized up under his touch,  falling to the ground beside him with a gasp as the electricity rushed it's way out of her and through to the forgiving earth. She wasn't so quick to let her guard down again, though, clawing her fingers into the dirt and freezing the small area around her. Spikes flushed up suddenly into the air, gleaming dangerously, a porcupine's defense.

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"Hey, what are you doing here?!"

A shout came from behind Farkas. A young man had just turned the corner from the hallway, his stance strong and firm, as he was trained to be in times like there - times where he might have to fight, but it was all too easy to see the tremble and fear in his eyes. "Get out!!" The boy in black made a disgusting snarly, a green, steaming ooze dripping from the corners of his mouth and - with a mightly heave - he sent it spitting towards the green-haired boy's back.

(Just a little fodder to murder. ;> )

Ryan flung his face away from the blinding flash, jaw clenching shut like a steel trap as the voltage coursed through his body, but he didn't give ground as Preston rushed toward him. Embers fell from his fingers, whisking together into ribbons of heat in his outstretched palms. With a slash of his arm, jets of flame streamed out from down his arm, scorching lines of fire through the grass.

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Most people hit with that kind of power would've done a little dance before hitting the floor. Not her. Kayla didn't budge from her place as Brailynn soaked in the blue currents, stamping down the hall with shaking fingers as the girl tore a chunk out of the manor wall. CRACK! It exploded into powder and pebble-sized chips as it flung toward her, and Kayla advanced through the cloud of dust, electricity blazing down her sleeve. "Leave!" The word exploded in her throat, and her fingers clicked together again, loosing another wild blast toward the girl down the hall.

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Master Patterson peered out through the glass over the lip of his coffee mug. The ancient house shuddered with every heavy impact, echoing with the crash of glass and brick, dazzling colors strobing out from the yard. He uncrossed his legs, standing up from his desk, and fixed his tie. So the fight had come to them. I thought I had assurances this wouldn't happen. He advanced down the stairs at his own pace, through the winding halls toward the main foyer, rings of flame wheeling around his wrists.

Motherfucker thinking he was Iron Man or some shit trying to mow him down. Whatever. He arc'd his run, trying to close as much distance between them as possible before he'd been forced to leap away, blast of sparks breaking out around him to try and ward off the harsh funnel of flames eating away at his heels. With no time to be graceful, he twisted his body around, a snarl at his lips as he snapped his fingers and send a simple bolt of lightning flying at Ryan - ignoring the sizzling on his skin.

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"No!" Brailynn spat through the dust, eying the dark shape as edged closer. "What the Hell is wrong with you?" She ripped out another slab of dry wall with two hands, again - with a sharp huff - aimed it straight for the younger girl's pretty face. This time, she didn't stop to see the outcome, sprinting off the moment she saw an opportunity and slinging in her best fist for Kayla's stupid jaw.

A sharp jolt in his shoulder sent him twisting away, fingers twitching as a hot fire coursed through his veins, washing over his flesh and turning him numb. His jacket was singed and torn where the bolt was. He'd eaten his fair share of these, but he'd never gotten used to the burn. Ryan stumbled clumsily back as they rounded around each other, kicking up another wheel of flame toward his enemy.

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Kayla was smart enough to duck. She slammed herself sideways toward the wall, letting the block smash itself to pieces against the ground, but she couldn't dodge the hook. Stars popped in her vision, spinning around the dark hall as she went stumbling back, the tang of blood filling her mouth. With a sharp snort, she shook out her hair as her senses settled back into place, spitting out a chip of tooth. Electricity flickered across her knuckles, buzzing like a cattle prod. "Who the hell knows?" she hissed. "But at least I'm not fucking stupid. You'll die if you stay here. You and your stupid boyfriend."

That was the last warning she was going to get, as she lunged at her with a wild strike, sparks streaking down her arm and showering from her elbow.