divine right DR: Angels & Demons

[The Story Guide]

Time: 8:48 PM, September 19th, 2019

Sebastion
Even on a Saturday, the town of Shelby, Montana was small enough that there was little to do once the sun set. Most businesses closed, most families were home watching tv after dinner, young kids tucked in bed so they'd not be cranky through early church services the next morning. Sebastian and a half-dozen of his friends were exercising their teenage privilege to ignore social conventions and were taking up space on the stairs at the Exxon shopping strip on the edge of town, the closest Shelby got to an outdoor hangout spot. A storm has rolled in on the town in only minutes - not an unknown phenomenon, but the clouds looked angry and lightning chased through them like frenzied sprites. 

"Uh, guys?" Jeremiah Cross, one of the running backs for the JV team, was staring at the sky. He pointed to what looked like a silver shooting star against the deep purples and blacks of the clouds. 

Several people gasped as the realized what it was, Annalise stating in horror, "It's a plane. On fire." Lightning flashed brightly in their eyes and the plane wobbled down in it's descent. 

A little quicker on the uptake, Dennis started down the stairs, calling back over his shoulder, "It's too big! It's gonna crash near here." 

It was getting larger and very fast. Everyone scattered down the stairs and into the parking lot. Another lightning flash arced along the body of the plane, reaching out in ball of little tendrils - landing on the roof of the building, the roof of the pumps, and down to the ground of the parking lot. The air around them filled with static and power as the plane passed close over the strip mall, trailing molten debris as it went. A few seconds later the boom of impact only a few hundred feet away inside the circle of a highway off-ramp, knocking everyone to their feet. Everyone except Sebastian, who felt the push against him but simply pushed back with an unyielding strength he'd never known before. He felt powerful - amazing. Like he could do anything in this moment. Another small boom echoed from the direction of the plane and the smell of burnt metal and jet fuel spread across the area.  


Jael and Zac
They were in fly-over country, and true to form, they were flying over it. Ritzy hotels and even private home rentals just didn't have the same security as being thousands of feet up in the air in a privately-owned jet. Other than having to pop her ears several times, the ride had been mostly uneventful: Sezja was employee Zac again, this time to take out the legs (and warehouses) of a cousin that thought he could set up a side operation outside of family approval or cut. The first was annoying, the second was treasonous. This was the polite warning to shape up do right by his kin. The second warning would be far more direct and leave nothing for Ulian to do ever again. Sezja believed in second chances, but not thirds. 

Jael had spent the flight fleecing the wallets of Igor and Anton, which seemed to fair to her since they were being paid to look like Sezja's guards while Jael was the one actually doing that. She glanced towards the cockpit when the pilot's voice crackled over the speakers. "Мисс Буторин, мы идем в шторм. Мы не можем идти вокруг, и будет турбулентность. Каждый должен пристегнуть ремни безопасности."

Everyone sighed and Sezja rolled her eyes. Jael gave her a pointed look and the incredibly fashionably dressed woman pulled her seatbelt into place while giving Jael a look that translated perfectly into "Alright, you overprotective wolf." Their employer following the captain's instructions meant everyone else did, too. Thunder rolled around them and lightning flashed in the darkness outside. Then flashed again. And again. Brighter and closer each time. 

"Оставайтесь на линии!" the captains voice called over the speakers. Then the plane swerved, dipping down and hard to the right. Lightning flashed again, still bright but not brighter. The drinks slid and crashed onto the plush carpet of the luxury aircraft and Anton grunted as his seat-belt dug harshly into his side. Igor looked like a dog run through a centrifuge, trying to figure out what was going while also needing all his attention not to add lunch and stomach acids to the alcohol staining the white carpet. 

Jael and Zac felt the strike that set the right wing on fire just a few milliseconds before it actually hit. Jael's vision had blurred as her eyes tracked out the window and she saw a dozen different bolts of lightening: some were faint and missed the wing entirely, others struck the engine itself or arc into the cabin and her mind screamed NO!. In the end, the strike that Zac saw hit the tip of the wing and arced like a fairy dancer over the plane before dissipating. Mere seconds later, another bolt hit along the other wing and Jael's vision swam again, but the plane held.

The nose dipped down more sharply in a left turn this time as the pilot looked to bring them under this impossible storm and find somewhere to make an emergency landing. Catching hell from Pakhan Butorin was better than dying in the sky - or surviving when Butorin's daughter didn't. Lightning found it's way to the plane again, but this time it was the tail. Jael's vision didn't distort and the plane gave a great shudder as the lightning, finding it's mark, hit over and over again. The back of the plane was slagging and the light from above and behind them took on an orange tinge instead of the blue-white of lightning. The pilot tried to course-correct again, but the plane was responding sluggishly at best. The nose pulled up slightly, but not enough. They weren't in free fall, but they were falling. The ground rushed up as the pilot kept pulling and the nose moved a bit more, but not enough. When metal met earth, everything went dark for those inside. 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

So, the pilots, Anton, and Igor are dead or will be before medical care can get there. Vivi's speedster may be joining us later in the thread, but I can work her in as needed. For Jael and Zac, feel free to have your character's rousing. They have their templates now, as does Bastion, with instinctive control over their abilities. Right now, the plane is very much on fire and just pounded to hell. The back tail is partially still intact and shows dozens of lightning arc patterns etched into the metal. Have fun!

 

[Bastion]

Everyone struggled to get back to their feet, save Sebastian who'd not fallen.  He didn't consider it strength or power, only luck.  He did feel amazingly good at the moment and may have noticed it more fully if he had time to think.  The quarterback for Shelby High was a full six feet of teenage brick house and when the dark haired young man remained standing when all others fell, he didn't waste time thinking about it.  "Call for help!"  He shouted to his friends.

"I think they saw it, 'Bastian!"  Jeremiah yelled.  "How can they miss it!?"

"Call for help!"  The teen shouted again and took off towards the wreckage.  His parents raised him right, and if people needed help, you helped them.  You didn't sit by and stare while waiting for help to get there.  It was a hell of a sprint, but as he neared the plane he could see people inside, unconscious some leaning against the windows.  Flames were spreading, people needed help.

The plane was a broken wreckage and the suffering was many and plenty.  The collision with the off ramp had shattered the chassis and left the massive body open  and split in numerous places.  Sebastian didn't hesitate.  He didn't know why he didn't, he was scared as hell and the adrenaline was pumping sure and fast, but despite all common sense he rushed in and braved the wreckage.  Heat from flames were intense on his body as he moved through the shattered ribs of the metal beast, never noticing that as he forced his way in through the tight spot, the metal easily bent and gave way with a whining creek.

"Hello!?"  Sparks showered from darkened shadows that grew darker as flames licked the outside of the plane.  The inside of the plane was in complete disarray with seats strewn about and broken glass and shattered champagne bottles and flues.  "Can anyone hear me!  Anyone alive?"  He moved through the wreck and pushed aside obstructions with an ease the sitation didn't quite give him time to notice.  He stumbled upon two women, one, a blonde, had been thrown completely from her seat by the force of the impact.  She was marred and bruised a bit and couldn't tell if she was alive or dead.  The second was still firmly in place in her seat and Sebastian quickly grabbed her seat belt and gave it a firm tug and snapped like paper.  That gave him the slightest pause but his mind went to the task and women came first.  "Terribly sorry ma'am, but I'm gonna have t'..."  She was unconscious.  "Right..."

He scooped her up onto his shoulder and with a fireman's carry scooped up the blonde as well.  It wasn't too difficult to get one on each shoulder, but he did notice how surprisingly light they were.  Huh.  Rich girls.  All celery and raisins.  A good woman in these parts had some meat on her.  Could hunt, and fly fish.  With a hopeful kick he slammed his foot into the emergency exit door, hoping it would give way after the impact.  It exploded from it's mounting and flew like a bullet, sticking into the concrete like a ninja star in a tree.  He couldn't ignore that.  "Woah."  He said softly.

He leapt out of the plane and carried the ladies off several paces.  JEremiah and Dennis were running up.  Luckily they didn't notice the emergency exit kick.  "Get these ladies to safety in case this goes up!  There's more inside, I'm going back in!  Go!"

"Helps on the way, 'Bastian!"  Jeremiah yelled.  "C'mon!  You're gonna get killed!  It's easier to let the professionals take care of this, bro!"

"It's not about what's easy, it's about what's right."  He shifted his weight so the boys could get a fair handle on the ladies.  "I'll be quick, take care of them."

The boys took the ladies from off his shoulders, each carrying one, as Sebastian ran back in.

[Zacharie Waters]

It was all dark. Zac could not breathe. He was seeing - no, he was feeling, intense, gobsmacked, whole, and - a honk brought him back to reality. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. His ears were ringing. The scene offered to his eyes left him in a state of shock. He was standing in the middle of a highway, a good 40 feet away from the plane wreckage. He watched with amazement a young man rush into the plane, without hesitation, and coming back carrying two bodies on his shoulders. Shaking his head, he remembered something extremely important to him. Fumbling in his jacket, he pulled out a small case labeled in golden letters Serengeti, and opened it. After putting his sunglasses on, he felt anew.

He began walking towards the plane, moving his sore feet with haste, not paying attention to the cars that stopped by and the drivers looking at him with their surprised gazes. When he finally reached the plane, he stumbled on a piece of debris and hit his head on the frame. "MERDE !" It definitely was a bad day for him. Taking a deep breath in, he rushed inside the plane, not caring for the heat. He had to be fast, he had seen the dark-haired lad rushing in again before he could arrive.

He stumbled again, this time on a mountain of muscles carrying the limp shape of Anton. Zac's eyes were seeing stars, so he breathed out, breathed in... and coughed a little. "Blast this smoke !" Then a feeling hit him like a truck, and he looked at the tall young man in fear. There was something awfully... wrong about him. Then another thing appeared to him clear as crystal. He stepped back so the young man would have room to step out of the plane, and pointed a finger at Anton : "He won't survive long. Rescue better be quick." He could feel the fake bodyguard's presence slowly tailing off, and it gave him the creeps.

Sebastian blinked twice, then swiftly moved out of the plane, before asking : "Excuse me, sir, but... Are with the rescue?  Sir, there's however many more inside and I sure could use a hand.  She don't look like she's gonna last much longer for she goes up in a ragin' heck fire." He did not look bothered at all by the heavy weight on his shoulders.

Zac allowed himself a wry chuckle before answering : "One could say that..." He gave it a shrug and rushed inside, without looking back to the young man. He quickly found what he was looking for. His laptop was a ruin, but he managed to save the hard disk, and hid it inside one of his jacket pockets, making sure to leave no prints on the laptop carcass. His big bag had been thrown  to the other side of the plane by the impact, but the G28 it was hiding -in pieces, of course- was intact, as well as its Scrome J8 scope. He took the bag and slided his arm under the handle, resting it on his shoulders, then began looking for Igor. He found the man, laying on the ground close by the pilots cabin. Bending over him to check for a pulse, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his left ear, covering it with his hand. Some blood was slowly oozing from it, and Zac let out a string of curses in french.

The fire was still raging, he had not so much time to try and save the rest of the crew. He coughed again, cursing the smoke. Hearing the steps of the dark-haired young man entering the wreckage, he asked loud : "Did you take the two lasses out already ? I couldn't find them-" He suddenly shut his mouth, realizing how stupid he had been. Shaking his head, he focused again on Igor, but couldn't find a pulse. "That one is out..." He muttered to himself.

[Bastion]

"Well, grab one anyway, sir."  Sebastian stepped forward as Zac stood to the side to let the large teen move past him.  Sebastian didn't seemed to notice the man had collected his personal effects all well and good.  Wasn't for him to judge though.  He grabbed one of the men and effortlesly hoisted what was easily a two hundred pound man with a single arm and let him rest on his shoulder.  The giant teen was covered in smoke and black smears from the wreckage.  "Very least we can see to it these men are given a proper rest, not lost in a fire.  The families deserve that closure.  Grab his partner."

Sebastian's heavy hiking boots thudded on the floor like every step was the entirety of his weight.  "Well, c'mon now, we ain't got much time!  Yer being slower than a herd o'snails traveling through peanut butter."  He waved Zac to him with his free arm and left from the plane again.

[Jael Carver]

Cool night air, someone carrying her under her back and knees. The smell of smoke mingling with someone’s really bad cologne. People shouting back and forth, fucking Zac being one of them.

But no Sezja.

Jael opened her eyes without moving any other part of her body. She was being held by a young man, a stranger, who wasn’t paying her any attention. Her hand slipped into her waistband and pulled out a small knife. Dennis barely perceived that she’d moved before he felt the edge of a blade on his throat. He froze, moving only his eyes to look at her. “Put me down. Carefully,” she told him, using the Russian she’d become accustomed to using for the past several years.

“I don’t understand,” he squeaked in English.

“Put me down, carefully,” she repeated in her native tongue. “Legs first,” she growled when he started to squat. She held his shoulder while she gracefully regained her balance, then used that grip on him to reposition so that he was between her and the other people. 

“We’re just trying to help!” the kid said, his voice cracking. 

Rescuers. The plane crashed, she thought just as she saw Sezja, held in someone else’s arms. Another young man, maybe even a teenager. 

For a second, she thought about continuing to play it hard, but it was probably unnecessary. If they’d wanted her or Sezja dead, they’d already been dead. Removing the knife and tucking it back away, she said, “Didn’t mean to scare you. Thank you for the assistance.”

Her former hostage stared at her, speechless and Jael resisted the urge to snap at him. “My friend,” she said, moving toward the other kid holding Sezja. “Is she alive?”

“Yeah, she’s breathing,” the kid said nervously. “Uh, why do you have a knife?”

“A girl never knows when she might need to defend herself.” Jael gave him a sly smile, even as she put her fingers on Sezja’s pulse. The strong beat eased her worry for her ward and friend. “Have you called for help?” she asked, turning to look at the plane.

“Yeah, but I think Bastion’s going to get them all out before anyone else can get here,” the kid who had been holding her said. He spoke with awe, pointing behind her.

“Who?” Jael asked, turning just as a tall, well-built young man emerged from the plane, Anton over his shoulder. Anton was a big guy, a mass of fat and muscle that made him a great visual and physical deterrent, but the kid carried him with ease. 

Oh, my… Jael almost licked her lips at the sight of the beefcake. Instead she asked, “Who’s left in there?”

[Bastion]

"Who's left?  With respect ma'am I don't know who was on it."  Sebastian said calmly as he passed the lovely lady by to set the man down.  He looked to his friends.  "Y'all grab him when you get her taken care of!  Your doing great guys, help'll be here in a minute!"

He tuned his attention to the blonde stranger.  Like him her clothing had taken a turn for the worse, dirty and torn in several places either by the wreckage or because of it.  "Ma'am, rest assured, you tell me who I'm looking for and I'll see to it I get them out of there.  How many of you were there?  I counted five so far, you two, the two flying this thing, and the guy wearing sun glasses in the middle of the night.  I missin' anyone?"

[Jael Carver]

 

“Zac.” The word was spoken softly and with no affection. She let it go immediately to focus on the man that Bastion carried. “There were two pilots, two bodyguards, Zac, Sezja, and myself. There should be two more men.” She gave him a shark’s smile. “Be careful, if you insist on playing the hero, seksual'nyy. Be a shame to lose you.”

She turned to Sezja and brushed hair out of her eyes. Frowning, she waited for her companion to wake up.

[Zacharie Waters]

The said man wearing sunglasses in the middle of the night was slowly making his way, not caring at all about the darkness, and way more about the weight of Igor on his shoulders, added to the one of his bag. He still didn't understand why he would have to carry a dead pile of meat, but the young man seemed to care about it. He shrugged as he was getting closer to the small group, praying his knees would forgive him the mistreatment. He decided to put down Igor's body close by Anton's massive but limp shape, and once done, stared at both of them, his fists on his hips.

"Quite the pair..." Then he turned to Jael with a sly grin, and slightly pulling down his sunglasses, he mischieviously threw : "You look like you could use a whole army o'doctors, eh, devotchka !" Ignoring any reaction from her, he put his sunglasses back to where they belonged -on his nose- and turned again towards the fake bodyguards and pointed at Igor. "I'd wager we won't be able to save him in time for his brains to get oxygen. Carrying him was a mistake." He then pointed at Anton. "He's got more luck, way to say. If one of you lads could... I don't know, do a heart massage, keep it pumpin' blood, and maybe he'll live long enough to wake up in a hospital bed. And that's me being optimistic. I didn't check on the pilots yet, but... well, the nose got pretty messed up."

[Bastion]

Sebastian looked perplexed for a moment but he noted lovely woman's accent.  "Must a European thing.  Here, heroism ain't got nothing to do with one's sexuality.  Sorry this had to be your 'Welcome to America' moment."  He placed his hand on Jael's arms near her shoulders.  "Get some water.  Stay hydrated and if your friends are in there, I'll find them.  N'go find a shady spot,  I got this."

He turned and ran towards the plan a third time.  Local rescue sirens could be heard screaming and wailing, notifying the scene of their arrival in the not so distant future.  He climbed back in as Zac looked to Jael.  "I suppose, perhaps I should?"

"No,"  Jael shook her head slowly.  "I want to see how he does.  He handled a two hundred pound man like a sack of groceries."  Her eyes narrowed with predatory interest.

An explosion rocked the plan from the left side and inside sparks showered down on the local hero, sending small burns tickling their down his neck and shoulders.  Two more, two more... they had to be in somewhere.  "Hello!?  European people?!"  When no one replied he got a little nervous since he didn't see anyone and time was running was running out.  "Aw, c'mon... don't y'all do this to me.  There's a really pretty girl outside and I told her I'd get everyone out.  Don't make me go out there a liar... work with me folks!"

Behind him, towards the front of the plane, was a loud grunt.  Buried under debris was a raised hand that shook a few times then fell limp.  Of course!  They were buried under the debris!  He didn't think to look there what with their dark suits and shadows of the plane.  He ran to the arm and began uncovering the body by throwing things aside.  Sure enough, almost perfectly camouflaged was a man in a dark suit.  He looked about and began doing the same to every pile of wreckage and within a few moments he'd found them both.  He'd run out of time however, and an explosion rocked the right of the plane, sending it shifting to the left and slamming it against the massive concrete support of the  highway overpass.  The emergency exit he'd been using to get in and out of was extinguished like a candle as the portal darkened by the sudden impact into the support.

"Sebastian!"  Annalise screamed at the explosion and screamed again as the plane shifted and slammed into the concrete barrier of the overpass support.  She covered her mouth and muttered "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." Over and over at a speed Jael and Zac couldn't keep up with.  The rescue trucks pulled up along with the local sheriff and several deputies only to be immediately bombarded by half a dozen teens yelling at them what was going on all at once.

Sebastian looked at the other emergency door, opposite the one he'd been using.  He took in a deep breath as the heat and smoke were now having no real means of escape.  His world was starting to get hazy, unclear and he knew the two men wouldn't last long.  He looked down at his steel toed work boots and muttered a prayer to what ever was listening.  "I sure hope this works... c'mon..."  He braced himself on the seats and launched himself forward, slamming his foot into the door and felt relief as it exploded off its framework.  On the outside the the emergency door took off with a sound like something exploded behind it and it soared off to the fields behind the gas station tumbling end over end and tearing up earth like a tiller gone mad...  "Woah..."

Within a few moments the two men were set down in front of the EMTs as Sebastian took a moment to lean on the van and cough.  His skin was blackened and sweat glistened all through his hair and smeared across his arms and neck.  He looked like a wreck himself.  Jael's cunning eyes narrowed again.  Even Zac had carried away several scrapes and bruises and he'd only gone back in once.  This Sebastian kid... aside from sweat, grime, and smoke... only his clothes seemed to had been torn.  She hadn't gone through life and made as far as she had by being a fool.  Other's may not have caught those details, but she certainly did.

Sebastian coughed some more before an EMT guy handed him a water.  He chugged it down to half way in a single tilt.  "As promised ma'am."  He smiled at her and raised his water bottle as his friends rushed him and showered him with high fives and hugs.

They halted as the Sheriff approached and gave Sebastian a once over.  "Yer folks are on the way, Sebastian.  Good work son.  I'd be remiss to remind you of how stupid you were, boy, but good work."

"Thank you, sir."  Sebastian nodded.  "I know it was... but when people need help, you help."

He wandered over to Zac and Jael.  "Hope everyone'll be okay.  Glad y'all made it out okay.  I-I'm Sebastian.  Sebastian Stone.  Er'body round here call me 'Bastian, though.  Whole name's too many syllables around these parts... we like to keep it simple."

[Zacharie Waters]

Zacharie offered him a fair grin. "You sound like my kinda people. You can call me Zac, that's three letters." He winked at him, and caught a mental picture of said 'Bastian. The kid was impressive. He had spartian-kicked an emergency door while carrying two bodies, and looked quite better than the state of his clothes would have suggested. He gave a discrete look at Jael, raising an eyebrow.

"I think you noticed before me, eh, lovkyy... Fireproof stockpile o'meat."

[The Story Guide]

Bastion

Jael nodded to him, her eyes still on the unconscious woman next to her. Suzanne Summers was checking the woman over. She was a good EMT and the town expected her to eventually get over her fear of success and actually go to medical school; either that or get pregnant and marry the sheriff’s eldest son instead of living in sin with him. There was a clear generational gap on who thought which path was better for the stocky brunette. She waved to the ambulance, calling over two more EMTs and their stretcher. Jael followed after, her pretty face set in a pinched frown. 

Suzanne turned her gaze on Bastion. She crossed her arms and considered the sooty teen. “You should go to the hospital. You might have smoke inhalation.” 

She glanced over at the plane and ruined stretch of highway. “You really rescued all of them?” she asked with more than a touch of awe in her voice.

 

Zac

The storm still raged above them, sending out lightning bolts and thunder with ear-splitting regularity. The only thing it wasn't doing was raining, which wouldn't have put out the oil fires from the plane but would have mitigating the heat some at least. Zac was sitting near Sezja, Jael and Bastion; his head was starting to pound in time with the storm above. Each pulse brought with it weird feelings and then snatching of light and sound, but they quickly escalated to full-on hallucinations.

A river, dark and swift, running into the sky, forking in three directions just at the horizon: 

In one direction the branch is small but deep. The water churns as rapids that scatters drops into the night sky where they become stars - bright but burning too fast and exploding across the sky. The largest of the water-suns collapse in one themselves to become massive black holes, swallowing up everything near them and dragging the last of that water into their cores. 

In the opposite direction the branch is wider than the first but more shallow. It unfurls into the sky like a river delta that has found the ocean. It pulled at him, an inviting beach on a summer day where you know each wave by heart and the current holds only a friendly invitation. This water flows through the universe, creating paths that connect all that is with all else that is.   

The middle direction, widest of three running steady and quiet but splitting and rejoining itself like an intricate braid. This water flows into the sky but also falls back to the horizon, creating new rivers on the Earth and seeking every living place in the infinite Multiverse. Zac blinks and shakes his head. There’s just too much there to chase down, the possibilities too truly endless. He knows in that moment to look there again would be powerful but lead to madness. “Not yet,” his own voice whispers to him with an echo heard in time. 

“-know where you are?” a voice broke past his fugue. A young man, an EMT by uniform and looking concerned was talking to him. “Sir? Sir!”

 

Jael

Jael’s attention was nowhere on Zac as Sezja was being loaded into the ambulance; she was making little noises of distress each time the stretcher jostled. At the look on Jael’s face the older EMT with them said, “That’s a good sign, miss.” He smiled at Jael, trying to set the girl at ease. “She’s starting to wake up. We can give her pain meds once we finish checking her over. There’s room in the back for you, if you want to come to the hospital with us.”

[Bastion]

5 hours ago, The Story Guide said:

Bastion

Jael nodded to him, her eyes still on the unconscious woman next to her. Suzanne Summers was checking the woman over. She was a good EMT and the town expected her to eventually get over her fear of success and actually go to medical school; either that or get pregnant and marry the sheriff’s eldest son instead of living in sin with him. There was a clear generational gap on who thought which path was better for the stocky brunette. She waved to the ambulance, calling over two more EMTs and their stretcher. Jael followed after, her pretty face set in a pinched frown. 

Suzanne turned her gaze on Bastion. She crossed her arms and considered the sooty teen. “You should go to the hospital. You might have smoke inhalation.” 

She glanced over at the plane and ruined stretch of highway. “You really rescued all of them?” she asked with more than a touch of awe in her voice.

Sebastian scratched his head.  His cheeks flushed and it became obvious that Sebastian Stone was not Shelby Montana's premier ladies man.  "Now don't go making into no bigger deal than its gotta be, Ms. Summers."  He was familiar with her and her sorted love affair with the Sheriff's eldest son  as with any small town, half thought she could do better, the other half didn't.  She'd come in every year she could to teach the students CPR and other basic first aid techniques.  "They were needing help, so, I helped.  I'll probably be at the hospital in a bit, we both know my momma's gon' fuss and cuss til I do."

"She's just worried about her little baby boy is all," the two shared a laugh, both knowing how Sebastian's mother could be when she got worried.

"Well, I ain't so little no more," he replied with that frustration every teen boy had when his parents remained clingy when they wanted the freedom to discover the world on their own.  "Well, thank you again, Ms. Summers, I reckon I'll leave you to your work.  I'll go have a seat and wait for my folks.  Take care now."

He found a quiet spot to sit and wait.  Within moments his friends had all joined him and began talking.  A few offered support for what he did while a couple others could only talk about how bad ass it was.  He reminded them that they all were a part of it, they helped drag or carry the people to safety.  After only a few moments of that they were back to laughing and talking like teens who had moved on and nothing eventful had happened that evening.

Spoiler

Suzanna Summers?  Really?

 

[Zacharie Waters]

10 hours ago, The Story Guide said:

Zac

The storm still raged above them, sending out lightning bolts and thunder with ear-splitting regularity. The only thing it wasn't doing was raining, which wouldn't have put out the oil fires from the plane but would have mitigating the heat some at least. Zac was sitting near Sezja, Jael and Bastion; his head was starting to pound in time with the storm above. Each pulse brought with it weird feelings and then snatching of light and sound, but they quickly escalated to full-on hallucinations.

A river, dark and swift, running into the sky, forking in three directions just at the horizon: 

In one direction the branch is small but deep. The water churns as rapids that scatters drops into the night sky where they become stars - bright but burning too fast and exploding across the sky. The largest of the water-suns collapse in one themselves to become massive black holes, swallowing up everything near them and dragging the last of that water into their cores. 

In the opposite direction the branch is wider than the first but more shallow. It unfurls into the sky like a river delta that has found the ocean. It pulled at him, an inviting beach on a summer day where you know each wave by heart and the current holds only a friendly invitation. This water flows through the universe, creating paths that connect all that is with all else that is.   

The middle direction, widest of three running steady and quiet but splitting and rejoining itself like an intricate braid. This water flows into the sky but also falls back to the horizon, creating new rivers on the Earth and seeking every living place in the infinite Multiverse. Zac blinks and shakes his head. There’s just too much there to chase down, the possibilities too truly endless. He knows in that moment to look there again would be powerful but lead to madness. “Not yet,” his own voice whispers to him with an echo heard in time. 

“-know where you are?” a voice broke past his fugue. A young man, an EMT by uniform and looking concerned was talking to him. “Sir? Sir!”

 

Zacharie jumped as the EMT's voice brought him back to reality. In an instant, too short to be measured, he was standing, not sitting, and almost stumbled into the worried EMT. Then he shook his head and apologized sincerely.

"I'm sorry," he said, rubbing the back of his head with a teethful grin, "I must be a little disoriented after what happened." Am I high on acid ? Bordel... What's happening to me ? "Come again ?"

The young EMT slowly sat him down. "I asked you if you knew where you were, sir."

"Er... Judging by our flight path, and your accent, I'd wager somewhere in the USA, but no idea precisely where, to be honest..." He turned his head to the right, checking on Sezja and Jael.

"Shelby Montana, sir. Hold on, is that blood on your left ear ?" He took Zac's head with one hand and began cleaning the blood with a clean tissue, then took a deeper look. "I'm gonna ask you to follow us to the hospital sir. We're gonna take care of that ear."

Zacharie frowned. "What about the two big lads we brought back from the plane ? One of them had no pulse and-"

"Someone is taking care of them, sir. Right now, you are my problem, not them." The EMT added with a soothing smile. He took a handful of notes on a piece of sheet.

Zacharie was brought to to the ambulance into which Sezja was being loaded. Hopefully, he had had the time to throw his bag into thick bushes before anyone could notice. He'd come back for his stuff later. Right now, he needed to make sure that his payroll was not gonna fly to hell with his current boss.

[The Story Guide]

Jael & Zac

The sirens of the ambulance made normal conversation inside the vehicle nearly impossible. The EMT checked Sezja's pupils several times and asked her to follow a finger or say her name or the date. When Sezja kept slipping back into Russian to answer, he gave Jael and Zac a pleading look to translate. Despite her linguistic confusion, Sezja seemed mostly okay. At the hospital - the Marias Medical Center, they could read from the brightly lit signage outside the ER entrance - all three were swiftly moved through triage and bedded down in the ER rooms. They didn't even protest with Jael insisted on staying in the room with Sezja instead of moving to one of the other rooms to be seen separately. The level of accommodation set her on edge. She hadn't been in the American medical system since she was a child, but she didn't remember anything about it being so cavalier with normal procedures.

The ER doctor appeared just as unusually swiftly - a steel-haired middle-aged woman with a badge that read "Dr. Foster" and two nurses in tow - and set to working on Zac first. His ear was stitched up and he was given a cold pack and several hospital-strength painkillers. Once he was settled back in, Sezja was seen to with similar efficiency: several cuts were stitched up, others bandaged, she was run through quick basic tests for a concussion, and one of the nurses was sent off to arrange x-rays on her shoulder and right arm and to get a full body MRI. "Just a precaution," Dr. Foster said in that way that's supposed to make you feel better but just ends up sending you down the rabbit hill of 'what if?' 

Finally, she turned to Jael and smiled. "The EMTs tell you me you seemed to come through pretty unscathed. You're a very lucky young woman. I'd still like to look you over." There were sounds in the ER room as someone else was walked back; Dr. Foster waved her nurse off in the direction of the newly occupied room. As the young man left Jael caught the unmistakable look of a deep bruise form along his jaw and the slight hitch of someone trying not to limp. 

 

Bastion

Sebastian's mother did in fact fuss at him all the way to the hospital. When his parents had arrived at the wreckage she'd pushed through any of the feeble attempts by the deputies to maintain a 'do not cross' line and had done a quick check of him before hugging him tightly enough to make his father wince. He'd barely been able to convince her to let him sit in the back seat of the car alone; his father had looked to the plane, looked to his son, and given him a wordless nod of approval. The elder Stone knew he'd get the full story from his son at some point and right now was more about making the woman of the family feel secure than about either of of the men. At the hospital, the ER was nearly silent, only the triage nurse on duty. Sebastian went though triage and was settled into one of the three ER rooms in less than ten minutes. 

A haggard young nurse stepped into the room with Sebastian and his parents with a clip-board; a large red mark along his jaw showed where he'd have a deep bruise in the next day or so. "Uh, so, you were at the crash?" He glanced over Sebastian and asked, "Are you having any trouble breathing? And feeling of weakness in limbs or dizziness or naus-"

 

Everyone

The hospital began to howl. It was the only way to explain the sound screaming out over the speaker system - unmistakably human but seemingly drawn from the pits of Hell. Dr. Foster frowned and stood up. "Stay here," she said firmly before quickly making her way to the ER entrance into the hospital at large. The nurse in with Sebastian nearly jumped out of his skin, flinching away from the speaker and whimpering, "Oh God please, not again."

[Jael Carver]

Jael turned to Sezja. <Stay in here,> she told her ward/friend firmly.

<”No, don’t go out there!”> Sejza grabbed her hands, her eyes scared. <”Please don’t leave me here alone!”>

Jael gently extracted her hand. <”I have to assess the threat,”> she said firmly, but in truth, that noise excited her. She wanted to hunt it down and find out what it was. Maybe it was something to kill, and if she waited too long, Zac would find it first. <”Lock yourself in the bathroom. I’ll be back soon.”> 

Sezja raised an eyebrow but slipped into the bathroom, locking the door with a loud snap. Jael smiled to herself as she slipped out of the room and caught up to Dr. Foster. “What is going on?” she asked in English, flipping back to her native language easily. “What is making that sound?”

[Bastion]

Sebastian wasn't too far off from the nurse, offering a leap of surprise that brought him to his feet  "What on God's green..." he said with a start.  "Sir, the heck is going on in this place?  Why you mumbling?"

[Zacharie Waters]

Zac was holding the cold pack against his left ear, but the right one totally heard the creepy scream screeching through the speakers. Putain, impossible to be quiet today.

He rose up from the bed, stood on his feet. Wow, they gave me some good stuff. He was feeeling a little numb from the painkillers, but he had known worse, so he would deal with it. Voices on the right caught his attention. That was Jael talking to the doctor. Hurrying out of the room, he leaned on a wall, close by Jael and Dr. Foster.

"Care to tell us what is going on ?"

[The Story Guide]

In Sebastian's ER room the nurse shook his head, still looking pale and quite freaked out. "He's been doing things," he said in a scared whisper. "Things that aren't possible. He won't stop. We can't sedate him. He just....just...." The young man slid down to the floor, his back to the wall. He was shuddering and tears started rolling down his cheeks. 

The sound coming across the speakers wailed louder and Jael and Zac could hear rushing steps outside the ER doors. Dr. Foster frowned and said in a clipped voice, "One of our other patients. We're not sure how he's doing it. Now, please stay here." 

As she pushed open the doors out into the hospital, the howling on the speakers lowered down to a background static and a chorus of voices spoke over it. "Come to meeeee. I can feeeeeeel you. I know you're heeeeeere. Strong man, gone man, little wolf. Come to meeeeeee-" Abruptly the chorus cut out except for one man's voice, shrill and clearly insane, "Or I'll eat them all! Hahahaha! So little, so fragile, so base. They're nothing at all!"

[The Story Guide]

"Sir!  Sir!"  Sebastian asked the man sobbing on the floor.  "Are you alright?"  The man just sat there, back to the wall, blubbering.  "Dagumit..."  He stepped from his room to look around at the chaos.  He needed to find that voice.  No one was getting eaten on his shift.

Jael glanced at Zac and smirked. "Well, I think we just got called out. Wanna go see who's calling us?"

"Am I the gone man or the little wolf ?" Zac shook his head. The painkillers were actually stronger than he expected...

Zac slid his left hand under his armpit, feeling with a reassured sigh the grip of his Beretta M9. His left ear was ringing after what seemed to be hell through the speakers to him, but the pain was definitely gone for a moment.

"I guess we could have a chat with that ourodiets screaming around..."

“You’re clearly the gone man, since you only stick around for money,” Jael said with a caustic smile. She waves at her front. “Also, I am no man. C’mon, let’s go.”

Together the assassins eased into the hallway. Jael hadn’t pulled her weapon yet, but Zac could see her hand hovering near it. They’d only gotten a few steps before they spotted the big kid from the crash. “Hey, hot-stuff!” Jael called, glad to see the Strong Man. “Wanna be the big damned heroes of this place?”

"Reckon I would, ma'am."  The big kid said with a determined nod.  "You know where that voice is coming from?"

"Not a clue," Jael said with almost cheerful indifference, "but I suspect it won't be hard to find him. He's a patient here."

Zac almost stumbled into Jael who had stopped but managed somehow to dodge her, stumbling then into Bastion. "Hello, big boy. I... think I have a clue of where the freak is. I don't know how, but I have a rough idea. Also, we just have to follow the personnel rushing towards him..."

Zac was following Jael's steps, a bit lunatic, fascinated as he was by what he felt at the moment. Something terribly... wrong was closing in on them, but further into the hospital, he could feel movement, things being drawn to a greater... thing. There was no word to fully explain it. Surprised by Jael stopping, he almost stumbled on her, dodging to instead stumble into Bastion. There was something frightening with him, though he could not explain what. "H- Hello, big boy. I- I think I have a clue of where to go. Don't ask me how, but I got a rough idea. If we get lost, we can still head towards the personnel apparently rushing to the freak's room..."

The trio paced an erratic line through the hospital, eventually ending up in the main cafeteria. A wild-looking man, weirdly reminiscent of Jafar pretending to be a starving prisoner at the start of Aladdin, was lounging in a “sexy model” pose on top of one of the food-serving carts in the middle of the cafeteria; he grinned maniacally as they came through the doors. Behind him, dozens of medical machines had cordoned off about a quarter of the room, pinning in several dozen people and menacing them with various protrusions and tubes. Most of the people have a leg or arm wrapped in tubes to keep them from being able to leave. The unlucky few had needles stuck in them instead, their eyes glassy and expressions slack.

[Zacharie Waters]

Zac stopped at the entrance of the cafeteria, pressing his hand on the swing door, staring bewildered at the sight.

"Tell me it's the painkillers that make me see that."

His right hand was now caressing his weapon - he felt like an urge to shoot at the machines. Sticking a bullet between the eyes of the man lounging on the cart would probably fix the situation, but Zac wasn't sure anymore if he was awake or if this was just a dream. Was he going to wake up in the plane ?

[Jael Carver]

Jael gave Zac a sharp glance and growled in Russian, <”Why’d you let them give you painkillers?”>

<”Because I hurt,”> he snapped back.

Rolling her eyes, Jael switched to English and said, “You’re not seeing things. Plan time. He seems to know us, so he probably won’t let Jail-bait there close. Or me, not without a fight. Zac, you’re going to have to shoot him while we distract him. Hot-Stuff, you and I need to go in there and force him to pay attention to us. If you get a shot to take him out, do it. Simple. Questions?”