Colin's posts

They could feel Anna behind the vines... and she was not happy, to say the least. Hollie had never seen her or heard her this irate, this violent before. It was... frightening, actually.

"I meant what I said!" Andrew replied, putting his hands on the floor to try and maintain the vines... even though they could start to see them rotting away from Anna's mana.

"We're connected to the planet, and the planet seems to be unstable!" he told her.

"Making US unstable!" he went on.

"What about your calming mana?" Hollie asked. "Shouldn't it be working on her to calm her down?" she asked further.

"...it IS calming her down." Andrew told her, his tone dead serious.

Andrew shook his head.

"No. I don't." he said.

"All I know is that suddenly-" he went on, before he tackled Hollie to the floor, as thorn-laden vines shot out from seemingly nowhere, and barely missed them.

"Anna, please!" he cried out in desperation, getting off of Hollie.

"Not Hollie!" he pleaded.

"Our connection to the planet is going haywire!" he told the mage, as he started to erect his own walls of vines to try and stall his lover.

The brunette was silent for a moment, before rolling onto his front, and coughing... to the point where a large splattering of forest green liquid was spat out from his mouth. She knew what it was... and it was alarming.

"H-Hollie?" he asked, looking at her, and then looking around.

"Where's Anna?" he asked her.

"I sent her somewhere else in the house." Hollie responded. This seemed to cause Andrew's eyes to widen a bit.

"Ohhhh, she won't like THAT..." he mumbled.

"Hollie, you need to get out of here!" he exclaimed. "NOW!" he yelled.

"Something reeeeeeal screwy is happening!"

Hal nodded in response after she kissed him, and smiled.

"All right." he responded. "I do hope you manage to get some useful information." he told her.

"In the meantime, I'm going to check a few mage channels and boards, and see if there isn't any information circulating about this sudden turn of events." he informed her further.

Hollie nodded, and vanished from where she was, appearing beside a nice little townhouse... but there was something that was making it seem not so nice at the moment. Inside, she swore she could hear... voices. Loud voices.

And crashing. Crashing, yelling, smashing, thumping... it seemed like there was massive destruction happening inside.

Normally that wouldn't be as alarming as one would initially think, but... something seemed different about this. One of the voices, the male one, she thought she heard... desperation in his tone?

The man hid behind a corner wall, and watched as he saw several people hastily making their way to an emergency exit of the underground complex that they inhabited. It seemed there was one person being violently ushered along... even forced to move... by 2 people, while a 4th one, the clear leader of them all, was screaming at them, and the one they were moving.

"GET HER OUT OF HERE!" she shrieked. "JUST GET HER AWAY FROM HERE!" she hollered further.

"T-to where, mistress?" one of the two underlings asked.

"WHEREVER!" she snapped back. "JUST GET HER AS FAR AWAY FROM HERE AS POSSIBLE!" she commanded. "Let her die somewhere that isn't HERE!" she finished violently.

"..." the man that had been watching this from afar just sighed quietly, stopped watching, and started to slowly walk away, down the hallway.

'...I get the feeling this isn't the last we've seen of this problem...' he thought to himself ominously, as he already started to make future plans regarding this... as best he could.

- - -

Hal and Hollie were resting on the couch in the den of Hal's home, just enjoying an evening together. They had ordered in food for dinner, as well as some dessert, and now they were watching television, with Hal sitting at the end of the couch, and Hollie leaning up against him. They had just started watching a crime drama, when the program was suddenly interrupted by an emergency news bulletin.

"Oh, come on, we were just about to see who the victim was." Hal muttered. "Wonder what this is about...?" he then asked quietly.

The news anchor was reporting that strange weather-related phenomena were happening around the world. They mentioned that several areas were experiencing earthquakes, while others had severe tornado warnings, and tropical storms were rising in other parts of the planet. While the areas were known for these events, the strange part was that they were happening all at once.

"Huh, that's weird..." Hal commented, before the anchor was handed an update.

"This just in, it's been reported that Mount Vesuvius in Campania is showing signs of activity." they said. "Scientists and Geologists are saying that, while activity is not surprising, the sudden appearance of it is-" they continued, before being handed another paper. "And THIS just in... it seems that the supervolcano, Yellowstone Caldera, in Wyoming, is ALSO showing abrupt signs of activity." they reported, continuing with the story, and clarifying what that meant.

"...okay, that's not good." Hal said, his voice far more serious now. "What is happening with the world, suddenly?"

"Thank you for helping." Hal responded.

"Is your sister all right?" he asked. "From what you told me, she was just as much of a victim in this as anyone else." he reasoned.

Before she could answer, they heard the back door to the bar open.

"Jasmine?" Marcus called out. "Hey, you still-" he started to ask, before there was a pause.

"Heh. I think Marcus has my scent." Hal told her.

"I'll go and meet him." he said. "And perhaps we can all share a drink." he finished with a smile.

"I do." Hal responded.

"He's an old drinking buddy of mine." he told her.

"Nice guy. Shame he blames himself for his past when he shouldn't." he then lamented.

"Nice to see he's finally found someone. Maybe that means he's moving on and has decided he's actually worthy of happiness." he commented further, before snapping his fingers.

"Oh, and my R&D team synthesised a counteragent for those gems." he then told her.

"All my affected agents have reverted back to who they usually are." he declared.

"Probably not." Hal agreed. "That would be FAR too coincidental." he chuckled.

"Also, hope it goes well for him. Sounds like he's going all-out, so it deserves to go well." he reasoned.

He then paused, and sighed.

It seemed like this Marc/Marcus wasn't going to show up, and she wasn't going to get him for this.

"All right, I need to ask." he told her.

"This Marc. Or Marcus. Is it Marcus McCormick?" he asked her outright.

"...eh?" Hal muttered.

"Ah, well, firstly, it's why you'd only be paid per info." he told her. "Sort of like a commission-based job, but without minimum goals." he said. "And like being paid for being a tipster." he continued.

"Think of it as merely supplementary income." he suggested.

"You don't have to, it's merely an offer." he went on.

"And Blair...? That name sounds familiar..." he then said further.

"An employee of mine, Evan, has a lover named Blair." he recalled.

"I'd like to offer you a position at the Unit." Hal told her.

"And no, it doesn't mean abandoning your job HERE." he then assured her. "I'd like to hire you on as an official informant." he said. "Meaning you can come to us with tips you hear, or you'll be asked to be on the lookout for information and such, and will be properly reimbursed for it." he explained.

"Knowledge is power. Knowing is half the battle, all that." he went on.

"It should properly be compensated for." he reasoned.

"Think you're up for it?" he asked.

Hal nodded again.

"He willingly does it, though." he said. "Guess because of what he is, he just has a stronger constitution for that sort of thing." he shrugged.

"And fair enough, you go and do what needs to be done." he told her.

He then took another drink and looked around the place. It seemed like it was nice. Friendly atmosphere, décor was good... he could see why so many of his employees liked it here.

He also wondered if she would get her Marcus to join them for the discussion... and if it truly was the Marcus he was thinking it was.

"Ahhh, I see, I see." Hal responded.

"And yes, poor Ilias was a test subject for the... previous, less-sweet versions of the drink." he told her. "I sampled it when she felt she had it completed, as alcohol poisoning... really isn't an issue for me." he muttered, taking another drink.

"Once you get used to it, it's not so bad." he then commented.

"At any rate, I'll stick around here until you shoo the rest of the people out." he told her.

"...though they may leave without a fuss, if any have given you trouble before." he went on.

"Their boss IS here, after all." he laughed.

Hal nodded in response, looking at the drink and sensing something... familiar... about it. He then shrugged and picked up the glass, downing a decent portion of it. Immediately, she saw him wince, before he swallowed what he'd taken.

"Whoo!" he exclaimed.

"That IS super sweet." he agreed, before pausing.

"Wait..." he said, taking a smaller drink and smacking his lips slightly.

"Wait, I KNEW this seemed familiar." he commented, before looking at Jasmine.

"I didn't know Kiah worked with you." he said.

Hal scanned through the paper, reading it over, and then, without hesitation, signed it.

"Done." he said.

"Let me see what this mythical drink is all about." he chuckled.

"And as for what I wish to speak about, it may be best done in private." he then said.

"So whether it's after you close, or at a later date, please let me know. If you're willing to hear me out."