Forum Thread

Derek gave a hearty laugh, tapping his knee gently. Then, after a few moments, he started to unbutton his shirt. "You may hope that this will be peaceful," he muttered. "But some of us have more than Tributes on the line." At that, the final button came undone, allowing Derek to pull the fabric away and reveal something rather terrifying: his ribs were gone, his stomach was gone, his entire torso had vanished. Instead, several metal ribs descended from his collar, though still allowing the sight of a metal spinal column and a few odd contraptions near his waist. Buttoning his shirt once again, he leaned back. "I've got a personal grudge as well. Angelina comes first, though."

The mention of a grudge makes Asher perk up. "I hear you" Asher mutters. "But I'm not willing to put my hate before Maci. Once they are secure, I can't promise that I'll continue to remain civil" he glances at a surprised Jaxon. "Sorry, but I've been meaning to find and kill a certain someone for years now."

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Derek smiled and leaned forwards, his grin lined with orange, as if an immense amount of heat were somewhere between his collarbone and his tongue. "I like your attitude. Personally, it's fairly similar for me. My daughter, then a certain somebody." He nodded, his excitement in meeting Asher very clearly shown. "How old did you two say you were?" Phenix had been silently listening, his amusement plastered across his face. He could tell that Derek liked these two.

"I'm 22 and he is 20" Asher responds. His feeling towards Derek was mutual, it felt nice to know that another person was desperate for revenge against the Capitol. Derek's compliment puts a smile on Asher's face. He was worried that his plans would be met with nothing but arguments, instead it was met with praise. He gives Jaxon a stay quiet, I'll handle this look before returning his gaze to Derek. "So, who wronged you?" Asher asks.

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Derek leaned back again and nodded, considering their ages carefully. Hearing Asher's question, he raised a rather cocky eyebrow. "I've got issues with Snow himself, the man's always found a way to screw things up for me. I've got thirty things off the top of my head that I could get him back more, and I've probably got more written down."

"Snow... Yes, I'm certain many people feel the same. Payback against him would be beneficial to everyone." He glances out the window and sighs. "I don't know who it is I'm supposed to target. All I know is that there is some person out there who had gotten away with my father's murder. He is going to regret not killing me right away."

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This seemed to snag Derek's attention even more. "Oh? You're not sure who it was?" His view turned questioning, his tone inquisitive. This was a new mystery he wanted to solve, a new question for him to ask. "Why aren't you sure? Were you there at the event?"

"I was too young" Asher admits. "And in a weakened state due to Maci's powers- she used her ability to permanently disable my powers. All I remember is laying in a hospital bed with my father next to me. Then waking up one day to my father flatlining. I thought it was a natural death, his powers were also disabled and he seemed to be weaker than me. But lter, a stylist had appeared and teleported me out of there. He explained to me that his death was no accident... Amongst other things." Asher shuts his eyes and winces at the memory. "I wish he never told me the truth"

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Derek grinned wider at this information. "If anything, you should be reassured. There's a high chance of there being more corrupt stylists. If we can find a few, we'll add to our numbers. Even better, we might shock the Capitol a little with the new additions. You've already given us more than a little insight to our target, that's good. Very good." He seemed to gain a diplomatic tone, then turned to Phenix. "You've got everything arranged?" Phenix nodded and leaned forwards, setting down his briefcase and removing the modified weapon. Pulling it in half like he'd done in the kitchen, he handed one half to Derek.

"We'll arrive at the Capitol in around an hour or so. Assuming we can bypass the checkpoint, we'll be within range of the Tribute's hall. If we can get there first, we'll be able to try and free them. If we're turned around, I'll take Jaxon and Asher with me while you move to any monitoring or security stations, disabling the security system; It would be best if you froze the images to keep them from thinking anything's happening."

Eventually, the Avoxes, traitors of the capital, started to set up a large buffet for lunch. The trainers blew their whistles as they ordered the tributes to knock off to replenish their systems with food.

Blossom sat next to Charlie, both girls had their trays loaded with food of their liking. Blossom had more of a seafood variety while Charlie had mostly veggies and fruits. Both had a tall carton of milk.

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