The world had ended. That's what her father, Iris had said when he began locking up the house a month ago. They lived in a gated community in the richer part of the city, but he'd said that the gates may not be enough to keep the corrupted out. Deity had seen one once when she dared to sneak out of the house late at night. The corrupted woman Deity had seen, had seemed so mindless and angry..a shell of what she had been before the Green Ninja failed. Now sitting in the kitchen and helping her mother meal prep for the month, she frowned and watched the hazel eyed woman chopping vegetables her older sister had swiped for their family from the grocery market down the hill. "Mom..are we going to survive this? I mean Dad said that the ninja got hit by the Overlord..what if they're out there too?" Editia paused in chopping a carrot, laying the knife aside and staring at the cutting board. "If they are out there.." She sighs and turns to Deity. "You must remember that they may not be the heroes you remember anymore." Deity frowned, getting up and walking over to her mother. "You mean because of the blasts they took on the staircase?" Editia only nodded, going back to chopping the vegetables. "Yes. Whatever dark magic he spat at those ninja, it corrupted them. With Lloyd's failure, it-" Editia's grip on the knife faltered as she trembled. She took a breath and sighed. "Never mind, you need to get down to the basement and make sure the generators are still running." Deity sighed and grumbled, leaving the kitchen. Her uncle Erik patted her head as she passed him in the hallway, grinning. "Stay safe down there, kiddo. I heard your sister Emily say she's seen some spiders down there. Pretty scaaary!" Deity rolled her eyes and snorted, heading down a few floors until she reached the wooden door that led to the basement stairs.
"I like spiders, you daft old man-" Deity chuckled to herself as she opened the door, feeling a familiar set of legs rest on her shoulder and climb up to sit on her head. Deity lifted her hand up to her head, feeling the spider slowly crawl onto it. She slowly lowered her hand as she went down the stairs, chuckling when she saw which spider it was. "Oh there you are, Goldie." A Golden Silk spider-she didn't quite know the exact species of Golden Silk, she just knew Goldie wasn't venomous. "Wanna help me check the generators? You know, a lady never plays with spiders." She chuckled when the spider tapped around her hand, as though she were disagreeing. "I know, I know. You never did agree." Deity carefully set the spider on a nearby shelf, shaking her head as she went over to the generators and checked the power levels. "I wonder if we can sneak outside tonight, y'know? The night sky is prettier when we sit up on that hill." She sighed and tapped the power meter on the fourth generator. "All is well down here, you wanna-" Deity turned to look at the spider, who was wrapping up a bug. She chuckled. "Don't let me interrupt your lunch, Goldie. I.." A sound of a struggle was heard above, and Deity paused. Were her sisters fighting again? Or maybe Delia's kids were fighting over a toy. She slowly climbed the stairs, opening the door and silently closing it behind her as she neared the stairwell to the next floor. Finally nearing the main floor, Deity stopped her ascent of the staircase when she heard gunshots ring out and demented laughter after the shots. Her hand tightly gripped the stair railing. Someone had broken in. Someone had gotten to them. She needed to find a good place to hide, and fast! Forcing herself to climb up the rest of the stairs, Deity peeked around the corner to see her sister Delia bleeding out on the ground, dead from multiple gunshot wounds. Her hazel eyes were wide with shock, and a smile was carved into her face.
Deity fought the urge to vomit as the smell of blood wafted up to her nose. She carefully stepped over Delia's body and made her way to the dining room, hearing a man talking to himself in the kitchen. No..he wasn't talking to himself. Deity heard her mother pleading and backing away-pots and pans clattered to the ground as Editia backed up. She heard a bout of crazed laughter, and a scream as multiple gunshots rang out. A loud thud followed the shots, then..humming. Peaceful humming. What was he doing? Deity carefully crept up to the doorway of the kitchen, peeking inside. A feeling of terror crept into her body as she saw the purple suited man bent over her bloodied and dead mother. She watched him pull a razor blade from his pocket and start carving upward into her cheeks, starting at the corner of her mouth. The smile..the forced smile from her sister's face. Deity opened her mouth to scream in fear, but no sound came out. She ran back to the dining room, shakily crawling under the long tablecloth and curling up under the table. Deity paused and held her breath when she heard running footsteps headed her way from the kitchen. He'd heard her. This was it, she was done for..right? Deity listened to the muffled voice, her ears still ringing from being in close proximity of the gunshots that killed her mother. "Must've run off..don't worry, I'll find you too!" The man giggled, clapping his hands together with glee. "heheHehAHAHa! I can't wait to make you smile!" Deity trembled when she heard more footsteps, it was the rest of her family coming down from higher floors to see what the commotion was. Body after body dropped as this mystery man shot her family down. Soon, all she heard was a constant ringing in her ears. She doesn't know if the shooting has stopped, so she shakily lifts the table cloth. All she can see is the man firing clearly unnecessary rounds into the bodies on the floor. They're all wide eyed and smiling, and their blood stains the floor.
Deity drops the tablecloth when she sees the brown haired man turn her way, silently lifting it again when it seems safe. The sight she's greeted with makes her stomach turn, and tears fill her eyes. He's taking turns dancing with the corpses, and currently has her dead uncle Erik in his arms. The reality of what happened to her family is slowly sinking in, and her mind is telling her to flee. But her body won't go out from under the table. Deity carefully drops the table cloth, curling up onto the carpet. Outside of Deity's tablecloth hideout, JJ giggles when he sees Tia bursting in, breaking down the front door while she rides on Cole's back. She never does that unless..he gasps and puts a hand over his heart. "Princess, my brutal little butterfly..there you are." JJ turned to the corpse in his arms. "My apologies, you were a wonderful dancer but I've other matters to attend to now." He dropped the body, watching it hit the floor. Princess only chuckled, slipping down off of the rocky behemoth that used to be the master of earth. Cole grunted and sat down on the floor, making it shake. JJ took her hand, gently pressing a kiss to her hand. Princess giggled and placed a hand on her own cheek, pretending to swoon. "Ohh, JJ you flatter me.." Her bright purple eyes watched the messy haired madman in front of her. "Did you need any help, my love?" A slow grin spread across JJ's face as he let go of her hand, picking up one of the bodies. "Help me get these lovely people ready for a family portrait, hm?" Princess gasped and immediately picked up another body, watching Cole grumble and pick up chairs. Once they were all arranged, Cole sat back down when JJ began fixing the camera with Princess. He saw no enjoyment in this. Why sit dead people up just to take pictures? Nine bodies all grouped together for pointless photographs. Well, he may as well look around the room and see if there were any shiny valuables that JJ missed. He grunted and stood up, walking around the dining room and peeking into cabinets.
He paused, frowning a little and turning his attention to the dining room table. Cole heard shaky breaths anytime he got near it. Looking over at Princess and JJ, they were too busy taking pictures to notice what he was doing. He carefully knelt down and lifted the cloth just a little. JJ had missed one. Cole watched the shaking woman that was curled up under the table and covering her head, scratching his cheek in thought. He should tell Tia about this, when she gets control of the body again. Tia liked saving people, and she was a good person..well, she tried to be. Cole let go of the tablecloth and went back to sit down, frowning when JJ waved him over. He grumbled and stood back up, taking the tiny party hat he was given and begrudgingly putting it on. JJ set the timer and sat with Princess in his lap in front of the corpses, with Cole standing behind everyone. Once the picture was taken, JJ giggled and began packing the hats away, shaking his head. "Ah..today was wonderful, don't you think Princess?" She smiled and helped JJ with packing up. "Oh absolutely lovely. It made you happy, and I love seeing you happy." He chuckled and kissed her cheek, heading out of the house with the things he'd stolen and the camera they'd taken pictures with. Once JJ was gone, Cole noticed Princess slumping a little, leaning on the wall. He always knew when she came back, because he could see her body relax from it's defensive stance and her eyes flicker back to a dull purple. Cole slowly stood up and walked over to his friend, carefully nudging her to make sure she was okay. Tia slowly lifted her head and smiled at Cole, then frowned when she saw all the blood. "JJ killed again..right?" Cole only nodded, pointing over at the blood splattered dining room table. "Missed one. Shaky girl, didn't hear me lift the cloth earlier." Tia frowned. "Missed one..?" She carefully went over to the table, kneeling down and gently lifting the cloth.
Deity sat with her chin resting on her knees, staring at the floor and letting tears slip down her cheeks. All she could hear was ringing in her ears from the gunshots. Her whole family was dead. What would she do now? Lifting her head to see if the multiple shadows of the people were gone, Deity jumped and scooted back when she saw the brunette woman peeking under the tablecloth. Her mouth was moving, but Deity couldn't hear it. Tia frowned a little and scratched her cheek in thought. Maybe she should use vague hand gestures and talk slower? "Can..you..talk?" Tia asked, pointing to her mouth. Deity just stared, clearly still in shock from what just happened. She carefully offered her hand, which was usually a sign that you could trust the person. Deity stared at the hand, then at Tia. Deity didn't know if she should take it. What if this woman was like the man that had killed her family? Shakily putting her hand in Tia's, Deity crawled out from under the table with her help, freezing when she saw the partially stone skinned behemoth waiting for them. Monster! That was a Monster! Tia frowned and patted Deity's hand. "Cole isn't a meanie, don't worry about it so much." Deity paused as she read Tia's lips, and slowly looked up at Cole. ...Cole? As in, the master of earth, Cole? Her mother had said they may not be who she remembered them to be, anymore. They weren't the men who protected the city anymore. Changed by dark magic, and Deity could tell how the blast Cole took had changed him. Parts of his skin were like stone, and he seemed very silent. He'd become part of his element..a living rock. Tia lifted her head to look at Cole, smiling as she helped Deity to stand up properly. "Can you carry her back to the warehouse? I don't think she's in any shape to walk." Deity couldn't hear what they were saying, but soon she was carefully picked up by Cole and being carried out the door. Peeking around his arm, Deity's breath caught and she absentmindedly gripped the soft part of Cole's arm, starting to shake.
The corpses of her family-all nine of them, had been propped up in chairs and party hats had been put on their heads. Crude, wide smiles had been cut into their faces and Deity could feel her breathing becoming shaky as she dug her nails into Cole's arm. Cole paused as they went out the front door, turning to Tia and showing her Deity panicking. Tia frowned. JJ had already gone back to the warehouse without them, and they had a long walk back. She had Cole stop, and slowly went over to Deity. Tia gently placed her her hand on Deity's arm, rubbing it. She looked up at Cole, whispering and shaking her head. "She's in shock. I don't blame her, but we need to comfort her-" Cole watched Tia in slight confusion as they began walking again, having to think for a moment. "Comfort.." He slowly looked down at the shaking woman in his arms and carefully pulled her head to his chest, giving her a gentle squeeze. "It's..okay." Cole didn't know that she couldn't hear him, but Tia had told him once that sometimes actions mean more than words. Deity shut her eyes, letting tears slip down her face. Everything was gone, and she was alone. Where could they possibly be taking her? Trembling when she felt a stone hand under her chin, Deity slowly opened her eyes to look at Cole. He gave her a crooked little smile, moving his hand from her chin to gently pat her head. "Tia is nice. Won't let JJ hurt you." JJ? Who was JJ? Was that the name of the man that killed her family and turned them into that vile display? Cole could feel her shaking, so he gently laid her head back against his chest as they walked past the gate, onto the warehouse grounds. When they went inside, Deity lifted her head when Cole shifted her in his arms, only to feel fear and panic creep into her body when she saw who was in the warehouse. JJ lifted his head from repairing his gun, a slow grin spreading across his face. "Oh..look at that.." He chuckled when Cole held the woman protectively, seeing Tia step in front of Cole.
"I missed one."