Catalysts: IC (Oh the thread is slowly dying...)

Aran made his way to where the man said the food was. He found food...And his mouth drooled. He opened up to one of his favorites from his more better-liked places. He took the fish filet burger, and dug into the sweet, tartar-sauce filled patty..

"Mmmm.." Was all he said.

It was a little bit cold, but a little bit warm too.

"COME NOW! SURELY YOU WOULDN'T COWER FROM ME AT THIS POINT, RIGHT PANDORA?! WINTER! I'VE SEEN YOUR POINT! ALL THIS FIGHTING DOES IS GET MY FRIENDS KILLED! PLEASE! ONE OF YOU!"

He was crying, his voice cracking at several points and he dropped his cigarette, curling up in a ball on the ground.

"It's.. It's all over isn't it..?"

Winter could not be sure, but as she dashed along the rooftops, leaping nimbly from surface to surface, a cry resounded in the distance.

Perhaps it even said her name? Odd, but I've not really any other choice. The police had begun to gather in greater force - perhaps the riot was over. Winter even thought she could hear a helicopter gaining on her.

She hustled down a fire escape and dashed through the now-abandoned streets, heading for the subway tunnel; the sewers had been blocked. Whoever that was, I guess I'm coming for ya.

He heard the sound of a helicopter and possibly worse coming down the streets; hope? Maybe it was Pandora for all the police attention that was coming. Either way, someone was coming, and fast.

"Hurry! Access A!"

Ragnarok ran in and began to enter a password for an override; lucky him, being in a dystopia meant practically nuke-proof underground shelters such as metros and sewers. All he'd have to do is wait for the person to enter, then he could lock it down so the police couldn't enter through the main entrances.

Winter heard the voice again; it was unmistakably Ragnarok, and originating from the subway tunnel down the street. She was as sure of this as she was sure that she did not want to ever encounter the man again - though even such an awkward meeting would be preferable to capture.

So Winter ran on, the tunnel entrance only a few hundred feet ahead of her. Policemen began reaching the open street, and took a potshot or two that whizzed by over Winter's head. She gritted her teeth and channeled the fear into her feet. The sirens... the horrible sirens... the helicopter... I can make it.

Aran finished another fish fillet burger...And disposed of it properly. He wiped his mouth with his hand. Then, he opened his mouth, and let out a quiet burp, not wanting anyone to hear him. He knew the man was sad...Perhaps someone close of him died in the explosions?

Aran stood up, and walked out into the open. He slowly made his way out to the man, his eyebrows arching. He could feel this man's pain...He had expirenced this before...But then he saw him stand up, perhaps someone had followed him? His hand to his side where his sword was, he put a hand on it, ready, creeping his way forward.

"Boy, if you're still in here stay! The police are coming and we'll make these tunnels practically NUKE proof! Just gotta wait for a friend of mine to come in.."

He bit his lip nervously waiting. He heard the helicopter and gunfire and worried; not two. Two of his friends could not die. They just couldn't. He refused to let it happen. He bit his lip; the distance was no doubt less than a hundred feet. He could taste the blood on his lip.

Hurry Bloom.. Don't die.. Not you too.. Nox's death was bad enough..

Winter caught a bullet in the shoulder, and another in the side. She did not notice until she'd made it through the dark aperture, past the two figures that awaited her there, and several steps beyond. She leaned on the wall, panting heavily.

"Heh... Never thought... d'see you... 'gain..." Winter gave a slight chuckle, too numbed by the sudden pain and her exhausted body to think properly.

He pressed enter and the doors sealed shut entirely. He walked to her suddenly and placed support on her side and shoulder.

"Come now.. Let's get you to the infirmary and deliver some first aid.. I can't have you dying too..."

He worried over her and helped her limp towards the infirmary before laying her down on a cot and wrapping heavy gauze around her bullet wounds, after removing the bullets slowly.

Winter, too exhausted to resist, simply murmured an objection or two before quickly falling asleep on the cot. She slept soundly, dreamlessly, for the first time in many years.

He pulled an old fire blanket over her; a poor makeshift blanket, but nonetheless he covered her. He sat next to her, allowing her to rest before breaking the news.

Did she know Nox enough..? Will she care...?

Revisited by the horror of Nox's death, he began to sob nearly silently once more, covering his mouth to allow Winter her rest.

So why do I bother with such frivolities? Where does my concern with the rest of humanity lie? Does my love, my care for my brothers and sisters here intercept my loyalty to which my true mortal soul belongs? I am here in a rundown building in the middle of the outskirts of town… hiding. Protecting. Protecting my family… progressing my own personal demise…. They need to eat soon. They are getting hungry. They are scratching at the shell of my skull, my headache resonating throughout my being. You’d think I’d be suffering…

BUT NO. I AM THE HIVE. MY MIND, MY WILL PROTECTS EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU. I PROMISE YOU THAT NONE OF YOU WILL EVER BE HURT. I’LL FEED YOU, I’LL HOUSE YOU, I AM THE NOURISHMENT, I AM THE HIVE.

But here I am in this rundown building… the house is rotting… the smell of demolition is drawing near. The citizens fear us, my loves. My children. They fear you. Oh, but how can they? With your adorable wings and itsy, bitsy mandibles. Your stings resonates your will to live; your buzz echoes the purity of life. But the “civilized society”… They are not so civilized, they are not so pure… you wish your voice to be heard, don’t you? Mine too. Oh but I am so shy, so timid. They mock me; they fear me for my presence is none. You give me my form, I am grateful for your generosity, my lovelies.

YOU ALL ARE THE FLOWER OF MY LIFE. YOU ARE THE NECTAR IN WHICH I DRINK FROM TO FUEL MY VITAL ESSENCE. YOU ARE THE REASON FOR MY EXISTANCE. AS YOU DRINK FROM A FLOWER I DRINK FROM YOUR ESSENCE. WE ARE ONE, I AM THE HIVE.

Oh but I promise you all so very soon. My name is Damon, you know this. New Suffolk doesn’t though. They will hear my name, they will hear my voice, and they will hear yours too. If they don’t listen to reason then why bother? Their flesh will be your meal; their bones will be your nests, all after their hearts bursts and the rot and puss takes over the burning of their tissue... human bodies are so fragile. The other catalysts will fear you, fear us. Fear no fire or poison, for we are strong. We are a hive, the hive.

MY HEADACHE, MY HEADACHE IT BURNS. WHY DO YOU TORTURE ME SO MY DEARESTS? I PROMISE YOU SOON, NEW SUFFOLK WILL BURN IN YOUR TOXINS, YOUR MANDIBLES TAKING THEM APART BITE BY BITE. BUT ALL OF YOU WILL BURN BY THE HANDS OF—

Oh, but I’m so, so sorry, my lovelies! It will never happen again, I promise! I apologize for my outburst. I am not what I used to be, it feels as if my mind is slowly being lost. But I promise, once all of you are fed things will be better. For all of us… it will happen tonight, when we are rested and the people are weak. I do this because I think of you, as you are my meaning. My life. Oh, my brothers and sisters of the hive, I do so very much love you… each and every one of you.

The time will come soon enough.

My dearests.

Pandora soon found a clothing store with a smashed window and a sowing machine in the back, and set about ripping apart and sowing together fragments of clothing, recreating her old outfit in bright red and yellow, the already sparked chaos allowing her to revel in the fires and step out from the shadows. As she filled a few of the pockets with her remaining explosives, she realized she had used up almost everything she had.

an hour later and Pandora was in a University, several dead security guards willing to attest to her tenacity in finding her chemicals. "Lets see... ah, here's the chemistry department!" she smashed through the locked door and quickly broke into the cabinets, silently composing a song as she mixed ingredients together. all you gotta do is take a cup of sulphur, add it to the mix... then you need a little something black not yellow, a little charcoal, just a pinch! making this bombs is such a cinch add a teaspoon of saltpeter... add a little more then you count to for and stand back twenty meters!

Several hours later, as the chief cause of her exhaustion was the exertion Winter had put herself through, she began to stir. Still feeling the wounds (though someone had clearly seen to them, a fact for which she was quite grateful), Winter sat up with deliberate slowness. She groaned as her head began to pound. Raising a hand to the offending body part, she stood up and only then became observant enough to notice Ragnarok.

"Oh. It's you," was all that came out of her mouth.

Ragnarok had been looking over her tirelessly; he hadn't slept in three days now. And his eyes were obviously dried up from crying. He simply stood and grabbed her hand loosely, leading her to the place which served as Nox's current tomb before pointing at the pale figure which was no longer his friend but his friend's husk.

"You... were right.. he... he got killed.."

Winter, though still uncomfortable around the man, could sense his clear distress even before he led her to Nox's tomb.

"I... oh..." her hand flew to her mouth, eyes wide. "I didn't think..."

She lowered her head, not quite knowing what to say. Yes, she had known Nox, but not very well; he had simply been a fellow Catalyst, and ever since he'd sided with Ragnarok she had begun to lose respect for him - but death was not a fate Winter would ever have wished on the man.

She shed a tear or two, silent.

"I... You were right.. I'm just... I'm just depressed.. I tried reviving him right away but.. It didn't work.. Damnit.. My powers can't even give life to the dead.. Just strengthens and immortalizes others..."

He shed more tears and crossed his arms slowly, sighing quietly. He turned to Winter and looked at her, sincerity in his eyes.

"I'm sorry..."

Winter would have felt sorry for Ragnarok, she really, really would have, if something he had said had not planted an idea in her brain.

She lifted her head suddenly. "Give life to the dead..."

After a moment, Winter quickly turned to face Ragnarok. "Give life to the dead. Do you think...?" She motioned towards the tomb, not sure how to continue. Would it be permanent? Is it even possible at all?

"Do... Do I think what? I tried reviving him with electricity remember..?"

Ragnarok had no knowledge of Winter's powers then raised an eyebrow curiously.

"You have a method that you'd like to try...? Could it... Could it possibly bring Nox back to life...?"

"I... Well... If I can't do it, I can't exactly worsen the situation, can I?" She managed a slight, nervous grin. ...Can't I? What will happen to me? Will I start to... BECOME Nox? And how could I keep him alive forever?

Perhaps I could simply revitalize his heart, get the blood pumping... Or, or if I targeted different parts of him one at a time, his tissue might begin to regenerate! Or... She sighed. "At any rate... it's worth a shot if I can bring him back."

Aran looked at the two, and slowly approached them, his stomach full of the food he had eaten. He looked at them, then to the tomb... He knew it was a tomb, somehow. He could feel it, he could hear about someone's death... Aran hastened his pace, wanting to see what was going on. He was behind the two, and he looked over their shoulders, standing on the edge of his toes.

"I-Is it your catalysts ability...? Revitalization..? I-I could overcharge... Or try at least... I want to help. Help for your kindness... Please; allow me to help..."

This is.. This is just uncanny; she can REVIVE people?! That sense of kindness and hope I felt when I drained part of her energy... This must be why... Why she's called Bloom.

"Please; I don't have much in the way of money but we'll over you safe haven. You don't have to agree with our ideas just.. Please.."

"I... of a sort, yes - but I've never tried it on any person before."

She shifted uncomfortably, considering revealing that she had used her power to free herself from Ragnarok's chains - but decided against bringing that particular encounter up.

"You needn't pay me. Nox is... an acquaintance, and it's my duty to try." Winter moved over to the tomb, preparing herself for what she'd find inside.

"Right. He's been dead for.. a few hours now. He shouldn't have rotted any y'know.. I hope you care enough to help because... I can help you."

He became aware of Aran suddenly and turned to him speaking quickly and quietly.

"My child; I'll inform you of what is happening later.. For now, please allow yourself some recreational time in our makeshift living room. It's got the slightly rusty door."

"Right, right... I would appreciate the assistance."

Crossing over to Nox's body, Winter shut her eyes quickly - for it was not a pleasant sight. She muttered a few words of encouragement to herself and placed her hands on Nox's arm, reaching out with her mind with as much care as she could bring herself to muster. I must be calm. I must focus; I can do this.