Hell's Gate

[fenrir]

It was just over a year ago that it happened; an abnormal territory later known as the Hell’s Gate appeared in Minneapolis, altering the sky and wreaking havoc on the landscape. The heavenly bodies, the stars and the moon, disappeared and were replaced with false stars.

It was around this time that people who possess diverse special abilities began emerging all across the world. These individuals, known as Contractors, each have a corresponding star in the fake night time sky, which vibrate when the contractors power is being used and fall from the sky when they die.

For a while everything seemed to balance itself. Most contractors kept themselves hidden, and those that were found were either recruited for their abilities, or killed in secret. Roughly a year after the gateway appeared however, more and more contractors appeared at a faster rate than ever before, more and more stars filled the sky and sighting of increasingly strange phenomonom increased.

Some took this as a sign that the gateway was weakening, or strenghting depending on your view, and that something new was about to come through. No one really knows for sure, all anyone really knows is that the Contractors look set to play a large role in whatever happens.

****

More about explaining the finer details of the story than an introduction. As their name applies the Contractors power comes at a cost; each time they use their powers they have to make a payment in the form of a Remuneration. This Remuneration, or payment, is usually paid by performing some form of innocuous act (eating or drinking a particular item or performing some random action). It is not clear what happens to the Contractor who doesn’t make their Remuneration, though they have generally been described as being psychologically compelled to complete this act.

This larp basically takes place right when things start in terms of the gate opening. As a Contractor you can work for anyone you want (CIA, MI6, whatever), or be completely independent, you have complete freedom in this respect.
Powers are likewise completely up to you; as long as it isn’t too over powered and as long as you only have one power, you can have any power you want, just try to be creative.
For the Remuneration, this again can be anything, nothing too severe is necessary, just make it an inconvenience.
****

Name: Ryan Anderson
Age: 21
Ability: Explosive handprints (stay with me on this one you’ll see in the story)
Remuneration: Smoking (something I’d rather not do but like I said it should be annoying)

Appearance: Shoulder length dirty blonde hair, blue eyes. Average height and build. Looking in most ways average apart from the slight scars and burns from when he first discovered his power that can just about be seen on his hands and forearms.

Personality: In a word, pragmatic. Emotions play little role in his usual thought process. His abilities (and the uses he had put them to) have made him rational, logical and amoral in equal amounts.
****

Hitman, assassin, Mercenary; however you want to say it that was his job. With powers like his, what else could he be, especially in the first few weeks when almost anything he touch ending up exploding at some point or another.

He looked straight at the two men in front of him; they were his targets, he didn’t know why and didn’t really care to ask. He’d cornered them down a side street and was now blocking their way forward. He didn’t bother wearing a disguise like he usually would; they wouldn’t live long enough to identify him. The man on the right blew a cloud of smoke in his face, apparently not knowing just how dangerous he was. He waved the smoke away as he was reminded of his remuneration.

“I’d prefer if you didn’t do that. Second hand smoke contains a much larger amount of the harmful substances that you yourself are inhaling. Inhaled directly smoke contains roughly 5.3 to 43 nanograms of carcinogenic nitrosamines, compared to the 680 to 823 nanograms you just blew in my face. There’s also eleven times the volume of smoke itself, around 18,000 nanograms. So again, I’d prefer if you didn’t smoke near me”

“Hold your breath if you don’t like it” The man blew another, larger cloud of smoke into his face, though if he had any reaction to it he didn’t show it. Instead he raised his left hand up in front of him and held it in a position like he was about to snap his fingers.

“I warned you”

He snapped his fingers and all across the walls on either side of the two men a dozen or so handprint lit up luminously. A second later they detonated and the street was filled with smoke and noise. He waited calmly for the smoke to clear before looking down at the two bodies on the ground. He reached down and pulled a miraculously intact cigarette packet from one of the bodies. He lit the cigarette and inhaled slowly before coughing the smoke out roughly.

“I really hate smoking. But if it keeps me from dying a horrible death like they say, I can live with it”

He looked up and in the distance saw the top of the large wall built around the Hell Gate just about poking over the tops of the buildings.

More and more Contractors keep appearing; the sky’s practically full of stars now. If this keeps up I might be out of a job.

[Wolfx]

Name: RJ

Age: 21

Ability: RJ has the ablity to control and manipulate shadows. He can move them and drape his enemies in a blanket of darkness. He also has the ablity to use the shadows to become a black wolf. In this form he can hide in any shadow and move between them (and he can only do these things in this form).

Remuneration: Everytime he is finished with his ability, RJ must howl like a wolf. He has found it ironic, and even enjoys it at certain extents.

Personality: RJ is almost the exact opposite of his ability. He is carefree and has always wanted to live life freely. He always accepts new friends, but is cautious to who he deems a "friend".

Appearance: RJ is average height and has a slight build...nothing to outlandish. He has short brown-black hair and is usually wearing a normal T-shirt and jeans. One distinct charactaristic is his eye color. Both used to be green at a time, but when he gained his ability one turned a dirty yellow. As a wolf he is completely black except for a grey patch on his stomach. He is built for stealth, and his eye color remains the same.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"There he is! Get after him!"

The FBI agents bustled down the alleyway after RJ, using overpowered flashlights to make sure little to no shadows could be used.

RJ jumped over a fallen trashcan and continued on. He tried to take hold of a shadow around the corner but his attempt failed as a helicopter spotlight beamed down on him.

They're getting better and better at this. Won't be long 'till they actually do catch me. RJ thought as he turned another corner out into the streets.

He looked down the street and saw a small coffee shop with outdoor tables. He raced towards it, the FBI right on his tail. He hopped over the small metal picket-fence and grabbed one of the oversized umbrellas covering one of the tables. He continued on, hopping over another fence on the opposite end of the coffee shop.

With umbrella in hand he dove into another alley.

The FBI turned the corner to see an umbrella laying down, open end facing down the alley. It cast a deep shadow, even with the helicopters lights shining down. One of the officers walked towards the umbrella and lifted it up.

"Damnit! He got away again!" he shouted. RJ was already slipping through shadows down the alley and far away from the FBI.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once plenty far from the site, RJ came up from the shadows, almost invisible in his wolf form. He let the shadows around him lift away and let out a long, drifting howl.

Maybe next time guys.

[fenrir]

He returned to his employers after completing the assignment, same as he always did; and same as always they immediately had another one for him to complete.

Somebody always needs killing.

"We need you to keep this one alive"

Or not.

"Where's the fun in that" He picked up the file on the table in front of him. He was being aksed to capture anothe Contractor like himself, not something that had ever happened before, mostly he was asked to kill them or just ran into rival Contractors on assignment.

So this one can control shadows huh? Can hide in them and teleport between them; no wonder the client couldn't catch him.

"Some Government organisation wants him alive; CIA, FBI, I don't care, their paying a small fortune to have this guy on their side. Catch him alive and part of its yours"

He snapped the file shut and turned to walk out the room. "No problem", I never did it for the money anyway.

He walked out onto the streets, reading the file as he went.

No one knows anything about, predictably. I guess I'll just have to keep my eyes open and take my chances when I can.

[Alleycat]

Name: Catherine (Cathy) Jakar
Age: 20
Gender: Female

Appearance: Light brown hair to her chin, somewhat wavy and often contained in a short ponytail. Tan skin, hazel eyes, light freckles. 5’6” 125llbs. Dresses casually, jeans, t-shirt, and black converse high tops.

Power: Electricity. Must be conducted through something like water, metal, or surrounding power lines. Cathy carries a long chain in her pocket that she can conduct this electricity across. Her power can be more freely used during storms.

Remuneration: After using her power cathy feels the need to pop every joint in her body. Anything that can be cracked will be i.e. knuckles, toes, neck, etc.

Personality: generally easy going and sweet. Very determined with exceptional will power.
~~~

Cathy hurried down the street, flipping a small notebook in her hands. Of course, she was lost again on her way to a job. She'd lived in this city all her life and she still didn't know where she was going. Distracted, she bumped into someone else along the street, snapping her out of her thoughts.
"Oh, uh, sorry. I-hey do you know how to get here?" she asked, holding up the notebook. It wasn't hard to fix the electronics once she got there, but getting there...

((yep, no awesome backstory for me))

[Wolfx]

RJ walked down the sidewalk at an easy pace. The sun was barely showing on the horizon, just about to break into a sunrise. The sun was a bitter-sweet relation to RJ's power. The shadows were much stronger and easier to hold together during the day, but there are much less to grab hold of.

He turned a corner and continued down the street. He had a few dollars in his pocket and was looking for something to eat. Since the government started chasing him he had lost his job, house, and practically everything. He frowned at the few dollars he had left and wondered how he would get more.

After turning another corner RJ looked down the street. Through the dimly lit street lights he could see two figures, one holding up a notebook to the other.

"Excuse me" RJ said as he walked around the two. He continued on walking, hoping to find a small grocery or store to buy a small meal at.

[fenrir]

Ryan looked at the notepad and saw the name of an electronics repair shop written down; he’d been there before and knew where it was. Still, he didn’t really have time to be giving people directions when he had a job to do. He was about to start walking away when someone walked around the two of them and muttered an ‘excuse me’.

There’s no way I’m that lucky; it’s the Contractor from the file. He’s walking in the direction of the shop, might as well take the girl with me; at least that gives me an alibi if he spots me following him.

“Sure, follow me, I’ll take you there”

[Alleycat]

Cathy smiled with relief, pocketing the notebook and following after him. She looked around him for a moment to see the person who'd passed them, also heading the same way. She put her hands in her pockets and followed quietly after Ryan.

[Wolfx]

RJ took a quick glance back as the two behind him started to walk. He looked forward and after a few more steps crossed the street and went down a different road. He looked down and could see the wall surrounding the Hell Gate off in the distance.

I've seen it so many times but even now its still an amazing site RJ thought. He stopped at a small grocery and walked inside. He grabbed a small box of granola bars off of a shelf.

This is about all I can afford. he thought as he breathed out a sigh. He payed for it and walked outside. He then turned into an alley to sit down and rest for a bit. He took out one of the bars from the box and started to eat.

[fenrir]

He followed his target down the street, making sure to keep enough distance between them, the girl following behind him.

Her being here will complicate things. I’ll have to be careful not to use my powers around her; no one’s allowed to know about Contractors. Maybe her presence will convince him to do the same

He waited outside the store while he bought some things, pretending like he was getting his bearings to convince the girl. He started walking again when he came out, this time much closer than he would have liked. He watched as the other Contractor ducked into an alleyway.

Now’s my chance. He followed him into the alleyway and stood just off of the main street blocking the exit.

“RJ, you can’t run any longer” he glanced back at the girl over his shoulder and spoke in a lower voice. “Sorry, guess you’ll have to find the shop yourself”

[Wolfx]

RJ looked up at the man. They wouldn't send just one guy if he wasn't a Contractor. he thought.

"I can run as long as you haven't caught me yet." he said, setting down the box, upright, and standing up. He then held his hand out towards it and yanked the shadow from its spot. He then hurled it towards the man's face, hopefully blinding him. He only had a few seconds before the shadow would dissapate, so he used that time to race past the two into the street.

He would have run away then...but something stopped him. The Gate. It was surrounded in a cloud of thick black smoke....and a huge chunck wall was gone.

[fenrir]

He raised his hand to try and block the shadows but some of it still hit his eyes. He stumbled back and heard the Contractor run past him into the street.

At least he’s not running further into the shadows

As soon as he could see again he turned and ran back out into the street after him. He could see the man just standing there in the open staring at something in the distance. He looked up and saw that a large chunk of the wall built around the gate was now missing as though it had been knocked down, but it was fine a few minutes ago and he didn’t hear a thing; the gate itself was shrouded in shadows. Now that he was paying attention he could hear the sirens in the distance, and then he could see the people running down the street away from the gate. One of them stopped by them and shouted a warning to the rest.

“Get out of here quick, there something coming out of the gate”

“Guess it finally happened huh? I thought something like this might happen with all the new stars showing up. I guess our little problems put on hold for now”

He walked away from the other two in the direction of the gate.

“I’m gonna go check things out” he turned to face the girl “You should get out of here though”

[Alleycat]

Cathy dug into her pocket and scooped out the long, thin chain coiled there.
“I’m not going anywhere” she said, taking a step after him.

She gathered that this guy wasn’t normal, and obviously the one he’d been following was a contractor too. She dodged someone fleeing down the street and started toward the wall. Maybe there would be something she could do. She hadn’t had her powers that long, but it had been long enough.

I can’t believe it’s gone she thought, glancing toward the wall.

[Wolfx]

RJ looked ahead at the people running away from the gate. He was so caught up in everything that was happening the long howl he released almost surprised him. Almost forgot about that. he thought.

"Well hell if I'm going to miss this." RJ said, walking towards the gate. "And you seem to already know my name...care to make it even?"

[fenrir]

"Thats an interesting Remuneration you have there. My name's Ryan since you want to know. Let hurry up and get to the gate. I want to try and get past the police and whoever else before they block everything off"

[Alleycat]

"I'm Cathy, I agree we should hurry." She said, starting to walk. She knew she would have to be careful once the police got there.

[fenrir]

With introductions taken care of he ran in the direction of the shadowy mass that presumably held the gate. After a few minutes he reached the first police barricade, but couldn’t see any obvious way through.

“Damn, their faster than I expected” He turned to face the other two who had followed him this far. “We’ll have to find a way around somewhere, either that or go straight through, and I don’t feel comfortable displaying our powers just yet”

He turned to face the gate again and was about to look around for another path when he saw three large shapes moving towards them down the street. They looked roughly humanoid in appearance, two arms, two legs, but had elongated arms and a crouched walk that left them walking on all fours. As they got close he could see them in more detail, each of them bore red markings on their faces, each different from the others; all of them stood roughly seven and a half feet tall in their crouched position.

They stopped walking about twenty feet from the barricade and stared at the officers and assorted soldiers their. One of them raised a hand and pressed it to the shadow covered wall of a house and he watched as the shadows formed around its forearm, colouring the black skin and even darker shade; it pulled its hand away to reveal sharp claws that weren’t there before. He turned to face the Contractor next to him who used shadows for his powers.

“Friends of yours? I don’t think it really matters if we use our powers or not anymore; let’s just assume these things aren’t friendly and attack before they can”

He ran forward at the barricade and leapt over the car in front of him before the officers could react. He ran over to a nearby trash can and placed two handprints on the lid before picking it up into his hand and throwing it like a Frisbee at the nearest monster. The handprints lit up as it neared the creature and detonated right before connecting with its face; it stumbled back and clutched its face, and when its moved its claw covered hand away from its face he saw viscous black blood oozing from its new wounds.

[Wolfx]

RJ watched as Ryan ran forward to fight. By the time the trashcan lid had exploded RJ was already racing toward the police line, but instead of jumping on top of them he dropped down and slid under one of the cars. He used the shadows underneath to take his wolf form and jump to the closest shadow to one of the creatures.

After a few seconds he leaped out onto the creature, ripping at its neck. Black blood oozed out of the wound. The creature stumbled back, and before it could recover RJ was already back onto it, ripping at the same wound.

RJ fell back to the ground after releasing the creature. It swayed back and forth before tumbling to the ground.

[Alleycat]

Cathy was quick to follow in the fight, sprinting toward the barricade and nimbly leaping over. She didn’t slow until she was in front of the remaining creature. It reared up, sweeping shadows off of the nearby buildings and transforming its arms into sword like appendages. It hissed and swung at her. Cathy spun her chain and let one end loose toward the creature, as soon as the metal had made contact a sizzling wave of electricity vibrated along it’s length, burning into the shadow monster. It screeched and stumbled back, only to attack again with more force. This time Cathy tossed the chain toward the creature’s head. It almost deflected it, but the very tip of the chain grazed its forehead. In that simple touch another wave of sparking electricity shot down the chain. The monster gave a roar as black blood seeped out of the burning wound and toppled to the ground.

[fenrir]

With the other two creatures dead, his was the only one left. He tipped over the body of the trash can, which he had already covered with hand prints, onto its side and held it in place with his foot. The creature seemed to have recovered from his first attack and made a move towards him.

He quickly kicked the can forward and the creature stopped to watch and it slowly rolled to a halt just under its chest. It looked up just as he raised his hand as he did in the alley and snapped his fingers; the trash can became luminous with the light of all of his handprints before detonating in an explosion which blew the creature backwards several feet and demolished most of the wall of the house it stood next to. It lay on it back for a second and tried to get up before succumbing to its wounds and dying. He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it quickly before inhaling with a grimace.

He looked up at the corpse once more just to see if it was actually dead only to see something much worse instead. Just down the street and moving slowly towards them was another group of six of the creature they had just faced; leading the group however was a much smaller individual. It looked almost human, if it weren’t for the same black skin and red marking than characterised the larger creatures; this one too was abnormally large, standing at least seven feet tall.

The group stopped just short of him but kept the leader kept its gaze fixed on the barricade ahead. It raised an arm casually and the police car in the middle of the barricade lifted into the air before dropping back down on top of another one, crushing it.

“Oh great a telekinetic.” He turned to look back at the police just in time to see them all flee in terror. “What brave souls they are”

He looked back at the group of creatures to see the leader staring at him discerningly. A second later it said something to the larger creatures in a language that didn’t sound anything near to human. They then stalked towards the other two Contractors predatorily while the leader continued to stare at him, before finally raising its hand and gesturing for him to come closer.

“Guess I’m his opponent. Lucky me”

He paced along side the wall for a few steps, dropping down to scoop up a few pebbles and dropping his cigarette from his mouth. As he stood he ran forward and threw the pebbles at the leader, in response it raised its arms defensively as the small rocks detonated like fireworks. Using this moment of blindness from his opponent he picked up a larger rock and threw it heavily at its face; however this time the leader caught the thrown object using its powers and threw it back just as the handprint began to glow. He rolled out of the way just as the rock exploded with the force of a large hand grenade in the spot he was a second ago.

“This might be harder than I thought”

[Alleycat]

Cathy stumbled back a few steps and stared up at the next wave of mosters. She glared at the backs of the fleeing polic officers before cracking her neck and starting to spin her chain again. It went a lot faster this time and she struck out at the nearest monster, leaving burning lines of electricity along it's black skin. It wailed and cuahgt her on the shoulder, throwing her a few feet away. She winced at what would be a bruise and ran at it again, swinging the chain into a noose around the creatures arm. With a jerk the arm was seared off, leaving a small river of gooey black blood to puddle under its feet. Cathy finished off the creature with a slash at its neck, promptly moving on to the next attacker.

[Wolfx]

RJ watched the car fly into the air behind him. He looked back forward as the group of enemies split into two groups of three, one going to Cathy, the other to him. He stepped back and let loose a blood-curdling howl before racing to the group in front of him.

He ran at full speed towards the group, leaving wisps of shadow in a flinging off of his body. Before he reached the creatures he jumped into one of their shadows. He felt an eerie presence as he passed through before leaping out and grabbing the shoulder of one of them. He jumped off the monster as it fell back onto the concrete. One of the others tried to grab him but he leaped to the side and hopped onto its back, grabbing its neck and forcing it to the ground. The creature he had wounded earlier was up again, holding a sharp spear of shadow in his hand. He hurled it at RJ grazing the top of his back. He howled in pain and lifted the shadows off of him, returning him to a human. But, instead of releasing them into the air, he through them at the creatures' faces, blinding them both.

He took the time to jump into an alley and collect more shadow, forming into a wolf again and jumping into another of the beasts' shadows. Again he felt an eerie presence. Just as he did before he leaped out, ripping at the creatures neck. He fell off as the beast tumbled to its side, dead.

The last one, unscathed, was already racing at RJ. It tackled him into the ground before he could react. It then formed another shadow-spear and slammed it down. RJ was already jumping into the shadow of a mailbox as the spear stuck into ground, dissipating into the air.

The creature looked around aimlessly, not able to find RJ. It turned its back to him and RJ raced out of the shadow, tackling the creature and sinking his fangs into its neck.

With black blood dripping from his mouth, RJ howled again.

[fenrir]

He rolled out of the way again as the leader threw another of his rigged projectiles back at him.

“This is getting me nowhere; I need to try something more direct”

He stood up and instead of looking for another object to turn into a deadly explosive he ran straight at his opponent. Apparently thrown by this sudden change in tactics it didn’t react immediately, it soon composed itself however and reached its arm back, readying to throw a punch just as he got close to it. Instead of trying to hit it however he placed his hands to the ground at its feet a second before he was thrown back by a powerful uppercut.

He picked himself up off the ground and immediately snapped his fingers in a familiar gesture, causing the ground beneath his opponent to glow with two handprints. They detonated a second later and the leader was thrown backwards; he ran forward quickly while his opponent was still stunned and placed several handprints on the ground around him. He took a few steps back just as the leader began to try and get up. He snapped his fingers quickly and watched as the ground all around his opponent lit up and it was engulfed in a large explosion. Satisfied that this was enough to finish the fight he turned to face the other two contractors.

“You finished yet?”

[Alleycat]

Cathy had tossed the chain around another monsters head. THe creature was turning away from her and when it turned it wrapeed the chain tighter around its neck. She pulled and the creature stumbled forward, hissing. Another jerk, this one charged, gushed black blood over the cahin as the monster was decapitated.

She smirked, pulling back her chain and popping her neck and fingers and rolling her shoulders. She turned and smacked directly into her last opponent. The creature grabbed her around the waist and threw her toward the remenants of the police barricade, momentarily stunning her. She picked herself up and watched as it stomped toward her, gathering shadows onto it's barbed arms. Cathy blew a hair out of her face and advanced forward, her chain trailing in the dust behind her. As the thing waved its arm to strike she swept the chain foreword, wipping it in a long wave charged with bolts. The end of the chain hit the creautres low hanging head. Wihtout even a hiss the monster collapsed on the ground dead.

Cathy, wrapped one end of the chain aroudn her wrist to free her hand and sat down on the ground. Cracking each finger individually, then taking off her shoues and cracking each toe. She proceeded to do this with each joint.

[fenrir]

He lit another cigarette as he looked down at the strange corpses which now littered the streets, before turning and looking into the distance at the shadowy mass that hid the gate.

“Guess that’s where these things came from. I knew something was going to happen with that Hell Gate someday but I wasn’t expecting an invasion force”

He spoke more to himself than to the other two contractors, but still spoke loud enough that they could hear.

“We’ll have to go there and see if we can close it up again or something; not like we have a choice either way really”

With that he started walking in the direction of the wall surrounding the gate, more specifically the part that had fallen down. He threw his remuneration away before breaking into a run. He reached the wall several minutes later and was now standing a few dozen feet away from the base of it and the large gap that would be their way in stood just in front of him.

Between him and it though stood a much larger obstacle than what they had encountered before. This new creature stood twenty feet tall and seemed to resemble a much larger, much bulkier version of the humanoid leader he’d just finished fighting with a slightly more slouched posture. Its pitch black skinned body covered in the same red marking that adorned the other creatures faces.

“I really hope this thing doesn’t start throwing cars like the last one”

[Wolfx]

RJ again lifted the shadows from around him. He stood up and felt at his back. A red scar ran down where the shadow-spear had hit him, but it was nothing serious.

"Heh...that hurt." he laughed.

He followed behind Ryan, keeping speed until he stopped. RJ looked up at the large figure in front of him. It was a frightening sight, but after a few seconds RJ jumped into action.

Big monster, big shadow. he thought as he ran into an alleyway to collect shadows. After he was again in his wolf form, he jumped into the creatures shadow. It immediately started smacking its own shadow furiously.

It knows I'm in here. RJ thought as he waited for the right moment. The beast flung its arms down and in mid-swing, RJ leaped onto its arm. He then clawed his way up the beast until he was at a good position to strike. He then clamped his teeth into the beasts neck. A groan could be heard, then a hand came down onto RJ's back, picking him up and throwing him into a building. Luckily, RJ was able to cushion some of the blow with nearby shadows, allowing him to avoid serious injury, but it still shook him up.

This may not be my fight.

[Alleycat]

Cathy brushed herself off and ran up to the wall after the others, coming to a halt and staring up at the monster in the doorway. Chain still wrapped around her hand partially, she whipped it toward the shadowy creature, the metal makign a small flash and spark when it hit it. The monster groaned and took the end of the chain as Cathy was pulling it away, using it to pick her up and swing her into the side of a building a few feet away from RJ.
"Ow..." she groaned, supporting herself on the wall and getting to her feet. There were heavy lines, one or two bleeding, where the chain was wrapped around her hand. Probably from being thrown.
This is going to be a lot harder than I thought.

[fenrir]

He sat back and watched as both RJ and Cathy both attempted and failed to subdue the large obstacle between them and the gate, all the while gathering what information he could about how to beat it. His conclusion?

We’re screwed

He ran forward and headed towards the left side of the creature, picking up lots of smallish rocks from the debris that coated the ground from the walls destruction. He held each one in his hand one, placing a handprint on each one before throwing them heavily at the large opponent. Each rock detonated harmlessly against the Brute’s thick skin however, succeeding only in annoying it and drawing its attention towards him. The large creature reached over with one oversized hand and grabbed a car in its palm, crushing it as it lifted it off the ground and threw it with surprising speed and accuracy towards him. He dove to the side quickly and just about managed to roll to the side and the wreckage came to an abrupt halt imbedded in the side of a house.

“Why do these things have a vendetta out against vehicles!?”

He picked himself up off the ground and brushed himself off just as the brute picked up and crushed another car with the same intent.

“Oh screw this!”

He immediately ran back in the direction of the other two Contractors, noting with some relief that the creature had lowered the car, apparently dissuaded by the range.

[Wolfx]

RJ dropped from the wreckage of the building next to Ryan and Cathy. He spoke quickly. "I have an idea. I'll use everything I can find to get a cloud of shadows around this...thing to blind him." he explained. "I don't know how long I'll be able to hold it for, but it should give you both enough time to get this guy down."

RJ then ran back into the street in front of the creature. It bent forward and released a roar, in response RJ bent down and howled in return. He then grabbed all the shadow he could get. Some from cars, some from street signs, anything he could possibly get in his grasp. Then, with one movement of his arms, he thrust all of it into the beasts face. It flung its arms around wildly, trying to pull the shadow away.

"Go now! I can't hold this for long!" RJ shouted to the others.

[fenrir]

With the brute blinded and unable to see, he ran forward and immediately began scanning the debris for anything he could use to bring the creature down. Spotting a long section of rebar, pointed at one end like a javelin, and picked it up, placing hand prints all over its surface before finally placing one hand firmly in the middle and raising it over his shoulder ready to throw.

He threw the rigged javelin as hard as he could, spearing the large creature through the knee and raising a pained howl from it. A second later the rebar began glowing with a familiar light before exploding and tearing the brute knee apart from the inside. The creature fell forward, the damaged leg no longer able to hold its weight and it toppled to the ground and landed face first, still clawing at the shadows covering its face.

“Cathy, get it now while it’s down”

[Alleycat]

“Got it!”
Cathy shot forward, climbing up the side of the monsters to stand on its back. Attempting to keep her balance as it tried to jerk away. She wrapped the chain around its neck and gathered up as much energy as she could, releasing it along the chain and ultimately frying the creature. Its head rolled away from its burning stump of a neck. Cathy coiled her chain back up and slid down off the creature, Looking triumphantly at her handiwork as black blood gushed sluggishly onto the debris below.

[Wolfx]

RJ released what was left of the shadows from the lifeless head of the creature. He wiped a dried spot of black blood from his mouth and howled again. His heart was slowing from a steady pound to a calm beat.

He let go a deep breath and spoke. "Well...that was exciting" he laughed. "We should keep moving though...before another one comes."

RJ walked forward, then broke into a jog towards the shadows surrounding the gate. He stopped in reaching distance of the dark cloud. He slowly walked forward and put his hand inside the shadows. A dark feeling almost exactly the same as the one from the creature's shadows hit him. He turned to Ryan and Cathy behind him, nodded, and turned back around and walked into the cloud.

Looking around, he could see nothing but a thick black fog and a large blurry figure in front of him, the gate. He walked forward and stopped, waiting for the others to enter.

[fenrir]

He walked into the shadows following after RJ and approached the gate hesitantly, the large solid structure looming over him the closer he got, its silhouette barely visible through the thick mist surrounding it, which seemed to lift the closer he got. Then something else drew his attention; a new silhouette, small, human in shape but unmistakably another one of the leaders he’d faced earlier.

He looked around briefly, making sure to keep the leader in his periphery; he saw no other creatures, none of the animalistic creatures the last one led, no huge shadow of a brute hiding in the shadows, just one lone figure facing them in the mist. And for some reason this just made him fear it all the more.

If he’s here alone he obviously doesn’t think he needs any help against us; that’s an intimidating thought.

Not wanting to give his opponent a chance to attack, he immediately grabbed one of the rocks that he’d placed in his pocket earlier, and held it in his palm. He threw it at the leader with as much force as he could, only to watch as it calmly caught the projectile in his hand and merely held it as it detonated. He threw two more rocks before rolling behind whatever object he could see for cover. He peered over the waist high object as a jet of fire erupted from the leaders raised arm, engulfing the two projectiles as they then harmlessly sailed past him, unable to be detonated as the handprints were seemingly burnt off.

“If you’re done testing my abilities I have something to tell you” The voice spoke from the direction of the silhouette but before he could process the meaning of this it spoke again. “I’m under strict orders not to kill you even if attacked. And even though I’d much prefer to just burn you alive right now it’s not worth losing my life. Come out here and face me so I can deliver the message and leave this repulsive world behind”

Seeing no harm in at least stepping out from his cover he stood and slowly walked towards the leader, ready to run at a seconds notice, until he stood before him without so much as a burn to show for it.

“For whatever reason our God considers you worthy enough to be inducted into the ranks of his army, you and all Contractors” The leader spoke in a deeper voice that sounded as if it was speaking a language it wasn’t exactly built for, but still managed to convey the contempt it felt at the idea of having Contractors on the same side as it.

“Come through the Gate if you want to accept his overly generous offer; or, stay here and watch as your world burns before you suffer the same fate” The leader turned around and began walking back towards the Gate, stopping just before touching its surface. It turned back to look over its shoulder.

“One last thing; you may find your powers to be a bit more potent once you reach the other side. I wouldn’t be surprised if this affected your ability to use them, unable to handle such power being as weak a species as you are” It turned around to face the Gate once more, passing through as is it wasn’t there, the surface rippling like water.

He turned to face the other two Contractors before giving a shrug.

“Might as well go see what this ‘God’ has to say, seeing as how he went through so much trouble to see us”

With that he turned around a walked quickly through the Gate. The other side looked much the same as the one he’d just left, same thick dark fog everywhere, clouding his vision. He looked past this to the silhouettes and saw a few dead, twisted trees but nothing else; the gate appeared to have had the same effect here as in their world, clearing out the surrounding area to make way for its arrival. He stepped away from the gate to make way for the others before stopping and leaning against a tree some distance away. He lit another cigarette to pay his remuneration.

“No wonder they decided to invade us. If their whole world looks like this I’d want to leave to”

[Wolfx]

More...potent?

RJ walked up to the gates entrance shortly after Ryan. He hesitated. It's not that he was afraid, but he felt something...tugging at him through the gate. He tried his best to ignore it and walked through.

RJ looked around once through. The black fog distorted his view, but he could clearly see the dead trees and desecrated land that surrounded the gate. He spotted Ryan leaning on a tree. He walked up but said nothing and waited for Cathy.

[Alleycat]

Cathy stared up at the gate after the leader had left, and both ryan and RJ had passed through the gate. It was as intimidating as the leader had been, and Cathy was both wary and curious. She ran through the motions of cracking her joints. She had done it so many times today that some of them didn't make the same satisfying crack they usually did, but running through the motions still paid the renumeration.

She took the chance and stepped through the gate into the barren lands beyond. She gazed around her in fascination, turning around to look up at the gate she had just passed through. It was the same on this side as it had been on the other though. She caught a whiff of ciggarette smoke through the strange black fog and turned to see Ryan and RJ. She trotted towards them.
"Now what?" she whispered. It seemed almost sinful to disturb the silence of this place.

[Wolfx]

"Well I guess we shou-" RJ was interrupted by a roar. Six creatures, similar to the first three they had encountered, were racing towards them at full speed, gathering shadow and forming different weapons to suit them.

Well that didn't take long. RJ thought. He jumped behind one of the trees and collected shadow of his own, draping it over him to regain his wolf form. But, before he could even think logically, he was already racing out towards the group, wanting deeply to tear them all to pieces.

One jumped forward to confront RJ and they met with a clash. The creature was wildly trying to stab RJ with a shadow-spear, while RJ was thrashing out with his fangs towards the beast. With fury in his eyes, he bit into its neck, tearing out flesh and sending black blood drizzling through the air. The creature fell, and RJ howled, but it was not for his remuneration.

Again, he tried to make a rational thought but it was pulled away by pure instinct. Again he lashed out towards another one, this time striking it before it had a chance to attack back. It too fell to the ground, but before RJ had a chance to move away, he was grabbed from behind and tossed around, shadow claws tearing at him and eventually throwing him to the ground. He didn't move. He was temporarily dazed by the hard collision with the ground.

[fenrir]

He watched as RJ took off towards the approaching creatures before he even saw them coming. He waited as two of them split off to attack him, placing a hand print on the tree he was now standing next to. He jumped to the side as shadow claws embedded themselves next to the tree in the exact spot he was standing a second ago.

He snapped his fingers to detonate the handprint on the tree but nothing happened. The creature pulled its hand from the ground, the claws now shifting into one single pointed spike. It raised this new weapon into the air about to stab down when the handprint finally lit up and it was thrown through the air by an explosion that was much larger than normal. The creature crashed heavily through a tree before coming to a halt on the ground, not moving and with a large chunk of flesh missing from its back.

“I guess that’s what he meant by more potent” He pulled the last two rocks out of his pocket and held one in each hand, facing the second creature which stood there, solely gathering shadows around its arms and shaping them into large blades along its forearms.

He threw both rocks at the creature, the first exploding before he detonated the handprint and the second only striking the creature in the head, succeeding in nothing other than annoying it. The creature dashed forward as the now useless rock detonated far too late behind it. He placed his hands on the ground quickly as it leapt into the air and jumped backwards just as it slammed it bladed forearms into the ground. He snapped his fingers again and again nothing happen.

“Screw this; I’m going home” He turned to walk away from the creature with its arms still stuck in the ground and a second later the ground beneath the creature lit up and it was torn apart by a much larger than necessary explosion. Pieces flew past him, and the entire top half of the creature landed heavily in front of him.

“On second thought I think I’ll stay; something about explosions that really cheers me up”

[Alleycat]

Cathy took a step forward, meaning to engage in the fight, when she felt something behind her. She turned just in time for one of the monsters to slash across her raised arm. She yelped and stumbled back, staring as two more joined that one, all closing in on her.

There was no time to pull her chain out; there was no room to swing it. She felt something burning inside her, strong and wild. She held up her hands as all three of the shadows leapt at her. A blinding burst of electricity exploded from her palms, leaping away from her in bolts and burning the creatures to dead, twisted husks somewhat like the trees around them. Somewhere in the city, a star glowed brighter.

There was no blood, and when the electricity died away the monsters crumbled to the ground. Cathy stared at them, astonished by her own power. She winced as she went to crack her knuckles and looked down at her hands. They had been burned by her own power.
He said the power would increase, but I never expected something like that.

[fenrir]

He looked around for the other two Contractors, smoke drifting away from the cigarette he still held in his mouth from before the fight. He saw Cathy, surrounded by charred, smouldering bodies and staring at her hands but otherwise ok. RJ, on the other hand, still hadn’t moved since he’d been thrown by one of the creatures that Cathy later killed. He walked over to the unmoving wolf on the ground and bent down to see if it still had a pulse, seeing as how it was made of shadows however this proved inconclusive, leaving only one option.

He kicked the prone body of the wolf once to get a reaction. “Get up.” When he didn’t react he kicked him a couple more times just to be sure; the wolf stirred a little but gave no signs of regaining consciousness. “Yeah, he’s not getting up anytime soon”

[Wolfx]

RJ stayed down until he felt a slight bump to his side. He ignored it but another came after that. He then moved slightly and woke out of his daze. His mind was jumbled and he couldn't think straight. Too many thoughts were flowing around at once.

He heard a voice above him. He slowly opened his eyes and looked up. Ryan was standing above him, obviously the one who had woke him. He felt angry for being waked, but was at the same time confused at to why he was angry for such a stupid reason.

He slowly picked himself up, his body aching from the bruising of the blow. A howl came out, one he wasn't truly in favor of releasing. He then lifted the shadows off of him with slight trouble. After it had all dissipated away, he stood up on two feet.

"If your going to try and check someone for life, maybe a friendly shove might be more suiting." he said to Ryan. He tried to laugh too but it was masked by a few coughs.

RJ's thoughts were still racing. It seemed that because of the power from being in the new world, he had lost control of his human self for some time, basing his attacks purely on instinct. Still now, he was fighting to not act based on them, but was having trouble.

"That...that shouldn't have happened."

[Alleycat]

Cathy turned around slowly, still a little dazed. She put her hands in her pockets, gritting her teeth against the lingering, painful burning. She walked over to the other two, checking around her for shadows as she did.
“I guess they don’t control the little ones. Maybe that fight scared them off so we won’t be bothered by them again,” she said, mostly to herself. “Are you two alright? I saw that your explosions didn’t go off like before. And you probably shouldn’t just run into a fight like that you seemed to have better tactics before.” She addressed them.

[Wolfx]

RJ looked to Cathy. "Well I probably wouldn't have ran up like that..." he groaned and rubbed his head, "if I would've been able to think straight." he explained. "The entire time, all I could think about was killing them, tearing them up....I don't know...it was weird."

He took a few steps back and sat down. "I just need to rest...for a bit."

[fenrir]

He leaned against another tree near to where RJ sat down as he flicked his cigarette away towards the bodies.

“So, about this offer the ‘God’ is making, the one the Elite at the gate mentioned. Are you going to take it?”

He spoke calmly to the other two Contractors without looking at them, instead staring off into the distance, away from the gate.

“Personally I’m tempted. The only reason this offer is being made is because this ‘God’ is planning to invade us; the Contractors are the only thing capable of even putting up a fight and he wants us on his side instead of fighting against him”

He stood up away from the tree and paced forward a few steps before speaking again, still facing the other way but speaking loud enough for them to hear clearly.

“If it comes down to war we really wont stand a chance. We’ve been able to win so far but we were only fighting small numbers; two or three of those creatures at a time, an Elite one on one or a Brute three on one. There no guarantee all the Contractors will even fight, most won’t want to take sides, and I’ve met plenty who actively hated humanity that would jump at the chance to fight against them. Logically if we want to live through this our only option is to take his offer and join him”

At this point he turned and walked back towards the other two Contractors, still not looking at them as he looked at some point over Cathy’s shoulder with RJ sitting to his right.

“Even so I don’t think I will. You heard what that Elite said, the way he spoke; he hated us, and more than just as enemies, he hates that we have powers, hates that humans, even a small number of them have been granted abilities like his own. I can only assume this ‘God’ is only making this offer as an assurance of a relatively peaceful take over. After that, who knows; maybe we’ll be killed, locked up or tamed and made into weapons like those creatures and that brute. Personally I’d rather take a stand and die fighting than play a part in my own destruction”

[Wolfx]

RJ closed his eyes while he listened to Ryan. His head ached from either the blow he sustained, or just from the way his mind was working then. He didn't know which.

"No" RJ said sternly. "I wouldn't even consider it. I may not have good relations with any people from our world, but I'm not about to sit and let them all get destroyed from powers they can't hope to match....no...I'm going to take this guy down, or die trying."

He still had his eyes closed.

[Alleycat]

Cathy hesitated a split second, a barely noticable pause, thinking about the offer. "Of course I'll fight against him. We can't let something like that take over a world helpless against it." she said. "If we manage to stop it from in here we'll stop the whole invasion effort without anyone even suspecting there was something wrong in the first place. A certain lack of recognition but trading it of for the continuation of life on earth as we know it seems pretty fair."

[john the baptist]

Name: Adrian Veldimore, calls himself the dark one

Age:20

Ability: Necromancy, the ability to rais and control dead creatures
Remuneration: Each use weakens his body an enormous amount, and after releasing the animated corspes he will sometimes pass out.

Appearance: Tall and gaunt, pail with sucken in features. He looks as though he may have been handsome at one time. He has dark emerald green eyes that gow when he uses his powers and white hair the fall to mid back. He wears strange dark clothes with a cape, all rimmed with what seems to be bones made up to be armor.

Personality: Strange, often times making no sense to anyone but himself. Usually very secretive and unfriendly with a nasty sense of humor.
********************

Adrian walked through the portal, when he saw three shapes near the trees he slyly limped up behind one, "So you're the ones that left that nasty mess for me back there." He laughed a very disturbing laugh as his eyes brightened. "That would've been fun to watch, but I came in too late." He sighed with mock remorse. Three tall dark creatures slowly walked trough the black cloud, each holding a shadow weapon as they were before.

[fenrir]

He listened to the others and their surprisingly noble answers to his question. RJ especially surprised him, as someone hunted for his abilities for however long; he expected a bit more malice, or at least indifference to their danger.

He was distracted from his train of thought as his eyes were drawn to the gate, or more specifically the person who just walked through it. He watched as this strangely dressed individual as he tried to sneak up behind Cathy while limping and surprisingly managed it without her appearing to notice.

Must be another Contractor, can’t think of any other reason why he’d be acting so strangely

He listened to the man’s strange comments as he spoke and was about to answer when he saw the three creatures walking up behind him and his body tensed. He was about to act when he noticed that there was something off about them; they moved without aggression, approaching almost as if they were allies, and their bodies were scarred, two with their throats torn out and one with a large part of its back missing. He realised that these three were the same creatures that he and RJ had just killed, and looking back confirmed that the corpses were indeed missing, the two Cathy scorched still burnt into place and the other laying in several places at once. It was then that he realised the nature of their new acquaintances ability.

“Oh great a Necromancer, you guys are always weird, must have something to do with hanging around dead people all the time. Anyway, I’m Ryan, you’re welcome to join us as long as you keep those things away from me; they smell bad enough alive and I’d hate to thing what they must be like dead”

[Wolfx]

RJ opened his eyes and looked over at the new Contractor walking up. He then looked over to the three creatures tailing behind him. He took him for another enemy at first but after Ryan had spoken he understood.

I thought they were weird alive... he thought.

RJ could barely remember the fight, but seeing the torn and mangled bodies of the creatures it only made him realize the situation even more. He had to learn to control his ability more if he wanted to fight again.

[Alleycat]

Cathy turned when she heard someone behind her, assuming the shadowing shapes behind him were hostile until Ryan explained it. She kept her distance all the same, if undead weren't enough to be wary of the man controlling them was. She was also worried the shadow creatures might still possess some kind of hatred for them, they had killed them after all.
"What's your name?" Cathy asked him.

[john the baptist]

"Adrian, Adrian Veldimore." Speaking at first only to the woman he had snuck up on, then he broadened his awareness and took in the others. "As of my profession, I think it isn't nice to be making fun of it. I did come to help after all, to help whom is still a bit in question." He let out another, low disturbing chuckle. Something just wasn't right about his voice, and those eyes, such an unnatural color. He told the three warriors he had ressurected to stay, temporarily ignoring them. He gave a smirk that seemed more of an evil sneer and continued, "I've been trying to get through this thing for some time, now it seems the only way to get in is then others are around." His smile faltered for a second, barely noticable at all. Soon the smile disapeared all together, taken by a look of shock and something very close to fear. The bright green in his eyes flickered again, then disapeared all together, leaving his normal dark green eyes. "That's not possible, that's not possible." He turned around to stare, wide eyed, as the three figures continued to walk forward. The neutral stance they had been using was gone. they started to walk faster, weapons raised as if to attack. "Stop!" Adrian raised his hand and the monsters faultered, then began running toward the group even more quickly. "This isn't possible!"

[DeathsWings]

Name: Jess Copps aka JC
Age: 20
Ability: Turning Air into a weapon ( you will see what I mean )
Remuneration: Scarring her body

Appearance: Normal Height with Slight Petite Build. Shoulder length red hair, One of her eyes is Grey while her other is Green. Wears a tank top and jeans with a pair of tennis shots. Her body is covered in scars from when she uses her powers, the only area not scarred is her face.

Personality: Is a Strong silent type around most people but those who know her see that she opens up, but is not very loud even then. But when on a mission can become emotionally unstable if something from her past is brought up.
****

Jess walked quietly down the street, her hoodie hood pulled up over her head with her bangs over her right eye, her jade green orb looked over the street that lay before her. The loud beating of her music rang through her head as she blared it, trying to make every other sound disappear, her hands in the hoodie jacket.
' Why do I have to have this power it makes everything so hard to do ' She thought as she watched a girl walk towards her, the girl walked by without even noticing jess, but without jess even looking back, the girls skirt was sliced up the back exposing her rear to the men also walking by, she gasped and covered herself. Jess simply smiled then winced as she made a small cut on her hand for using the wind. ' I hate that, but it was funny ' She thought then continued to walk down the street.