《MOAS ; Coming Home》Among Us Hide...
Advertisement
After myself and Mack arrive back The Playground, Mac has my left arm over his right shoulder as he helps me into the lab as my nose bleeds and I have been coughing up a little blood where Fitz, Simmons and other scientists are.
"We got a problem." Mack speaks up, and everyone in the lab turns to us confused. I then make the blood and my wound nonvisible, and they all look shocked.
"Get her on the table, I need an I.V. stat." Simmons says as I Mack helps me up onto a metal table.
"What happened?" Fitz asks us confused as I keep my right hand hovered over my wound on my right hip.
"Lash happened." I groan as I lay down on the table on my back. I then hear barking and tilt my head up to see Skye and Rosco walking into the lab.
"Lyra?!" Skye rushes over to my right side as Fitz and Mack stand on my left and Simmons pulls on surgical gloves as Rosco jumps and places his paws on the table between Dotz and Mack.
"Rosco needs to leave." Simmons tells us.
"Come on." Mack goes to grab Rosco's collar, but Rosco only barks at him, making Mack step away from him. I then hold up my left hand towards Skye before making her turn invisible.
"Rosco, fetch Skye." I tell Rosco, but he whines "Go!" I tell him, and Rosco runs out of the lab.
I then drop my right hand from pointing at Skye and back down to my side, and Skye turns nonvisible.
"How long have you been able to do that?" Skye asks me confused.
"How do you thing I got Lincoln out of that building?" I ask her breathless.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Fitz asks me confused.
"You didn't ask-Simmons!" I shout of her and she rushes over with gauzes and medical gloves on "Take the samples you need, then stitch me the hell up." I tell her through gritted teeth.
"When your ready." Simmons stands on my right with her hands at my wound ready, I then move my right hand away from my right hip and stop using my power, and I immediately begin to bleed out quickly, and Simmons presses both of her hands into my wound to stop the bleeding.
"Aahhh!!!" I scream in pain before a needle is injected into my left shoulder, and I quickly pass out.
As I something wet dabs my face, I squint my eyes open to see Rosco licking my face as he stands on top of me.
"I'm up... I'm up..." I assure him as I go to sit up, but I groan in from the shooting pain in my right hip, and Rosco whines as he lays on my legs and I prop myself up on my elbows "... I'm alright, buddy." I assure him.
"Your lucky." I hear Simmons say, and I look up to see Simmons walk over to me as I still lay on a table in the lab, and an I.V. is in my left inner arm "There was no internal bleeding, but you did loose a lot of blood." She explains to me as she stands on my right.
"Did you get your samples?" I ask her.
"I'm running them now." Simmons assures me before mumbled shouting is heard from outside of the lab, and we look out the far left windows of the lab to see May and Hunter arguing.
Advertisement
"May's back?" I ask Simmons confused.
"Yes, she and Hunter had to retreat from their mission to secure Ward, and Hunter became reckless wanting to kill Ward and in result H.Y.D.R.A. attacked Garner. Coulson got there just in time, but one of the agents got away." Simmons explains to me.
"Have Garner give an I.D. then get Skye to run a facial scan, until then we need to find out who Lash-" I try to say as Rosco jumps onto then floor and I swing my legs over the edge of the table, but Simmons cuts me off.
"-Coulson wants you to rest, you should do as he says." Simmons tells me.
"He isn't my boss anymore, Simmons." I say to her.
"Then trust your doctors advise. Rest." Simmons tells me, and I hesitate.
"... There's only two doctors I trust, and your one of them. I'll take it easy." I assure her, and she sighs with a smile "Now get this I.V. out." I tell her, and her smile falls "Please?" I show her a smile.
After Simmons took the I.V. out of my arm, I change clothes before myself and Rosco head to the Lounge to find Skye, and we stop in the doorway to see Coulson standing beside Skye whom is sitting at the lunch table with her laptop and paper work.
"... It messed up our chance to see the ATCU facility." Skye says to Coulson, neither knowing I'm here.
"But good news..." I speak up, and they both turn to look at me " I have a theory." I say to them.
"Your supposed to be resting." Skye says to me.
"But, I have a theory." I repeat myself "Lash was tracking us. He knew where our truck was. He needed inside info for that." I explain to them.
"You think he's got access to ATCU information?" Coulson asks me confused.
"No, I think he's in the ATCU. We know that he can transform himself into a regular-sized guy and back. What if he's hiding out as one of them?" I explain to them.
"That's a scary thought. I've got Rosalind giving me a tour of her operation today. Let me see what I find there." Coulson says to me.
"Take Rosco. If you show him the Lash DNA we have, he can scope the place out whilst you act all guest-like. Me and Skye can run through the background checks of everyone there." I explain to him.
"I'm the Director, you remember that, right?" Coulson asks me.
"Fine, what's your plan?" I ask him with a smile, and he hesitates.
"... You take time off." Coulson tells me.
"Throughout my whole career, I have never taken a holiday." I tell her.
"It's true, she hasn't." Skye speaks up.
"Maybe you should try it, I hear Tahiti's nice." Coulson says to me.
"Funny." I barely crack a smile.
"Whatever you dig into, try to keep it off Rosalind's radar. I need her to trust me today." Coulson tells us.
"You're not having a hard time working her, are you? Not getting too attached?" I ask Coulson hesitantly.
"You do this long enough, you learn to cut yourself off from all that. Makes it easier to do the job." Coulson tells us before he begins to leave up to his office. It's not always easier.
"Sir?" Skye asks Coulson, and Coulson stops walking and turns to her "Is May really back for good?" She asks him.
Advertisement
"I'm not sure. Right now, she's out for blood." Coulson tells us before he leaves.
After Coulson and Rosco left to meet up with Price, I sit behind my desk in my office with my feet prompted up on my desk with an electronic tablet on my lap as I search through the ATCU database, and Skye sits on the other side of my desk with her laptop on her lap as she researches the same. Skye then moves to put her feet up on my desk.
"Don't even think about it." I tell her as I continue to look at the tablet on my lap, and she slowly puts her feet back on the floor as Mack walks in holding an electronic tablet in his left hand.
"Been thinking about your ATCU theory." Mac says to me.
"And?" I ask him to continue.
"Now, who took off before the convoy left, and who knew the exact route we were going to take?" Mack asks us, and I hesitate as I think.
"... Banks." Skye and myself say at the same time.
"He's got access to everything that ATCU learns about Inhuman's." Mack hands me his electronic tablet with Banks' I.D., and I place it over my own electronic tablet on my lap.
"Lets tail him." I tell them.
"Already got a van ready to go, full surveillance package. Infrared scanners, one-way glass." Mack lists.
"Perfect. Suit up." I tell them as I pick up the electronic tablets and lift my feet off of my desk and onto the floor.
"Lyra-" Skye tries to say, but I cut her.
"-Skye." I state.
"We can handle this." Skye assures me.
"So can I." I assure her.
"We'll be careful, this time we're fully prepared, you heard what Mack just said." Skye explains to me, and I hesitantly sigh lightly.
"... I'm on coms." I tell her.
"I'll drive." Hunter sticks his head through the door of my office, and we look at him confused to how long he has been standing there "I mean... Please." He says to me.
After Skye, Hunter and Mack had tailed Banks to a parking garage in a van, I sit at my desk as I watch the live security footage from the van on the wall computer as we wait for Banks to exit the building in the car park, and I have my laptop open on my desk as I research more information on Banks.
"No one yet. Banks still not back." Hunter informs us.
"He wasn't back 37 seconds ago, either, but thanks for the regular updates." I sigh at Hunter "This guy is bad news. Got discharged from the marines. With cause." I explain to them on what I have found on Banks.
"And Rosalind hired him anyway." Mack sighs.
"He was part of an elite anti-alien task force after New York." I add.
"Of course he was." Skye scoffs.
"So what's the plan when he gets back? Is this a grab-and-torture kind of deal? Chokehold might not work if he turns out to be Lash. But we could-" Hunter tries to say, but I cut him off.
"-Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down, Gitmo. I thought you just wanted to drive." I say to him confused.
"Just offering helpful suggestions." Hunter says to me.
"Helpful in what way, exactly?" Skye asks him confused.
"Um... Stopping bad guys?" Hunter suggests.
"How about professionalism? Doing your job smart, not getting people killed?" Mack asks Hunter.
"Mack." I warn him.
"Hmm. Wild guess... This isn't about following Banks." Hunter states.
"Hunter, come on. Andrew almost died." Skye says to him.
"And there we have it. Look, it's not like I just handed over Andrew and said, 'hey, please kill our friend'." Hunter tells them.
"Right. 'I had no choice'." Mack mocks Hunter as Banks exits the building.
"I had no choice. I-" Hunter tries to say, but I cut him off.
"-Guys, guys." I say to them, and we watch Banks climb into his car.
"Looks like we're following him home." Mac sighs.
"At a safe distance!" I remind Hunter.
After Skye, Hunter and Mack had followed Banks back to his apartment, Hunter parks across the street from the apartment.
"He's gonna go back inside when he finishes his call." Hunter states.
"What's our next move?" Mack asks me.
"He goes in his house, we're done for the day... But then again, I don't want to give up on him yet." I say to them.
"I could break into his car, drop a spot cam in his speedometer." Mack suggests.
"We have to be stealthy. If he catches you, we're toast. Coulson is in the belly of the beast. We can't tip off the ATCU that we're on to them. There must be some way we can keep..." I trail off as I hear metal slam "... What was that?" I ask them confused.
"Come on!" Skye shouts. This is why I'd prefer to be in the field.
"What's happening?!" I demand.
"Hunter shot him." Mack sighs.
"Get Banks in the van, now!" I tell them.
"So much for stealthy." Mack sighs.
"Here we are." Hunter grunts as I hear a thud.
"And this is a good idea how?" I ask Hunter.
"I didn't kill him, I-I just iced him." Hunter states.
"And screwed Coulson. He's working Rosalind, and you just shot her number two. When she finds out-" I try to say, but Hunter cuts me off.
"-She won't. That's what the bandana's for. Lash is an Inhuman. Inhuman's have markers in their DNA." Hunter says to me.
"... If we test Banks' blood for markers, we'll know if he's Inhuman or not. That's actually kind of smart." I admit.
"Thank you." Hunter thanks me.
"But I still think you need to talk about your anger issues." I tell him.
"And this isn't the med lab. We don't have the equipment to draw banks' blood." Mack says before I hear a punching sound.
"Oh, Okay." Skye sighs. Hunter.
"There you go... Blood. Okay, there might be a small anger issue." Hunter admits.
"Just pass me the swab." Skye sighs before I call Simmons over my laptop.
"Lyra?" Simmons asks me confused.
"Jemma, I know you haven't been in the lab and I hate to ask you to do work, but if-" I try to say, but she cuts me off.
"-In fact, I can handle it, actually. Whatever it is." Simmons assures me.
"Do you have time to run a blood analysis? I want to see if Banks has Inhuman markers." I explain to her.
"I have plenty of time. Send away." Simmons says to me.
"Thank you, Jemma." I thank her.
"I'll call when I know." Simmons assures me before I hang up the call.
"Skye, send the DNA off. Mack, Hunter, what do we have in his wallet, cellphone, pockets..?" I ask them.
"Guy shops at Costco." Mack states.
"Anything useful?" I ask them.
"There's not even any selfies. Banks, you are boring. Well, apart from the fact that he might be a giant beast who blows holes in people's chests, but-" Hunter cuts himself off as a cellphone chimes "I-I-I didn't do it. I-It wasn't me. I-" He rambles.
"-We know. It's a phone." Mack assures him "'Subject en route to Endotex.'" No caller I.D." He says to us, and I look it up on my laptop.
"Something called Endotex Labs in Gaithersburg?" I tell them.
"We could check it out. What do you think?" Skye asks me.
"Well, we've got time before Simmons comes back with results." I say to them.
"What about Banks?" Hunter asks us.
"We could take him with us." Skye suggests.
"I've been trapped in a moving vehicle with Lash before. Don't love the idea of it happening to you guys." I say to them.
"Yes, if he has the DNA markers, we know where to find him." Skye tells me.
"... Handcuff and tie him down with whatever you have. Let's move." I tell them.
After Skye, Hunter and Mack arrived at The Endotex Lab, they sit in the van outside of the building as I look up the security on the building on my laptop.
"This is the place. Matches the Endotex location." Mack states.
"High-voltage, zinc-coated razor wire, iris recognition? Staggered perimeter patrols. They don't want any visitors." I say to them.
"It's got to be a front, don't you think?" Mac asks us.
"So what now?" Hunter asks me.
"Skye, your up." I tell him.
"Now we use the new dwarf Fitz crafted. He doesn't think it's ready yet, but that's stupid because it's awesome, so... I stole it." Skye explains before she pauses momentarily "What? Lyra didn't say you were the only one with issues." She says to them "All right." She sighs before she sends the dwarf off, and my wall computer shows me the live footage its gathering. Simmons then begins to call me over my laptop, so I answer it.
"Simmons, what do you got?" I ask her.
"It's negative. Banks has no Inhuman markers. He's not Inhuman." Simmons tells me.
"So he's not Lash. Really? I was so sure..." I trail off sighing annoyed that we don't have him yet "... Okay. Thanks." I thank her before I hang up.
After telling Skye, Hunter and Mack what Simmons had told me, we watch the dwarf go in and through the Endotex lab.
"I don't care what the blood work says. That guy Banks is shifty. You know he once held me prisoner on a train. Didn't care for that." Hunter says to us.
"Banks was still on his way here. Endotex is obviously a front for ATCU." Mac says to us.
"No, there's something here. Maybe the dwarf will find something so today won't have been pointless. Banks wanted to be here for a delivery of something. I wonder what it is." I say to them as a large truck is driven into the building.
"But won't they see the dwarf?" Mack asks us confused.
"They will not. That's the 2.0." I say to them as the dwarf goes into camouflage mode.
"Fitz should not be keeping that locked up." Mack says to us before the truck begins to unload a rectangular crate "Uh... Wait a minute, what is that?" He asks confused.
"I don't..." Skye trails off confused as they lift the crate, revealing a glass box filled with an orange liquid and there is a person inside unconscious.
"It's a person." I state horrified.
"Oh, god." Skye inhales a breath.
"Is he dead?" Hunter asks us confused.
"No, they're monitoring him. He's alive." I say to him.
"But in some kind of what? A coma?" Mack asks us confused.
"This is ATCU. This is where they're storing Inhumans they find. Like animals in cages. We need a better shot." I say to Skye as a crane picks up the box, and the Dwarf pans to the side of the crane and it shows Cpulson, Rosco and Price watching the crate "Can we turn it up? I can't hear a thing." I ask Skye.
"It's up. This is as close as we can get without giving ourselves away. There's noise in the background." Skye tells me.
"I know how it looks..." Mack trails off.
"He should be freaking out. This is the sort of thing that should freak a person out. Why is he not burning this place to the ground?" Skye says to us confused.
"He's telling her what he thinks. He's horrified, like we are." I tell her.
"It doesn't look like it." Skye sighs.
"Look, bring back that dwarf. Make sure we're not discovered. There's no way we're working with the ATCU now." I say to them, but Skye hesitates "Skye, the dwarf... Bring it back." I warn her.
"All right." Skye sighs before she brings the Dwarf back in.
After Coulson, Skye, Hunter, Mack and Rosco returned, Coulson explained that Price is capturing as many Inhumans she can to put them in stasis until she can find a cure. And right now, I am sitting in my office with my legs prompted up on my desk as Rosco lays on my lap and I am on my cellphone, holding it with my right hand to my right ear, with Lincoln as he calls in every few days.
"... I told you, you don't have to worry about me and Rosco. Are you all right? Staying safe?" I ask him.
"Safe as houses." Lincoln sighs.
"What?" I ask him confused.
"It's an expression. People say that." Lincoln tells me, and I scoff lightly.
Advertisement
- In Serial1063 Chapters
Edge Cases (Book 1 Complete!)
Rare classes and powerful skills are helpful. Too bad the system doesn't seem built to handle them. What even are all these errors? Our team of outcasts and adventurers will have to rely on their trust - and the bane of all stories, healthy communication - just to survive, let alone understand what the system is doing. Because they're quickly realizing that it's doing something; to people, to monsters, and maybe even to the gods themselves. And their goal isn't just to survive; it's to make things better. It's a good thing they're not doing it alone. --- Edge Cases is an attempt to take the LitRPG genre and the overpowered MCs trope and write a story where numbers aren't everything. Sometimes it takes trust, support, and just a touch of being very, very clever. Expect a mix of action, slice-of-life, friendship, and ominous worldbuilding. Updates M-W-F at 6pm EST. Cover art by Alovck of Artstation, and typesetting by jessessey right here on RoyalRoad.
8 278 - In Serial155 Chapters
The Eighth Warden
Cast out from his knightly order for using magic, Corec has no idea what lies ahead. Leaving his homeland to make his own way in the world, he finds himself linked to a beautiful woman through a mysterious rune. With otherworldly forces manipulating events behind the scenes, the two must seek help to free themselves from the unknown magic. But when the runes continue affecting others, Corec and his companions—an elven druid, a con man with a hidden past, and a thief who wants to be a bard—must work to discover truths about themselves and the world in which they live. I post the chapters here as I write them. There's also a revised version of each book that's collected and published as an ebook and paperback. That version is compatible with the version posted here—the story itself hasn't changed; it's just gone through additional rounds of editing.
8 838 - In Serial9 Chapters
A Titan's Crusade
Erik Thayne spent most of his life being brutally ridiculed and tormented for his weight and physical appearance, among other things. A social pariah and diagnosed with an eating disorder no one has an explanation or treatment for, Erik spent years trying to overcome his issues with his personal image and escape the ridicule and vicious torment of his peers. After years of dedicated effort, and a fresh start in a town away from his childhood and adolescent tormentors, he had finally begun to truly realize what he'd been striving for all along. Only, fate apparently has other plans because in the blink of an eye, Erik found himself snatched from Earth and taken to another universe, another world, where he is offered the chance to be more than he'd ever imagined. Now, he has to fight to restore the Balance between Chaos and Order on a world of swords and magic, in a universe governed by the System's laws, which resemble those of RPGs from Earth. Erik learned to embrace the things about himself that others taught him to hate, using them to reforge his physical identity into something more removed from his old self-loathing. But can he learn to embrace the darkest parts of his mind just as he did the reviled aspects of his body and become who he needs to be to succeed in the task set before him? It might just prove easier to stalk in the dark as a monster than to walk in the light as a man... *This is my first time publishing anything I've written to a public audience. Due to formatting issues, I forwent traditional stat-screens for something a little less problematic, delineating stat screens by separating them from regular text with horizontal lines in a lighter-grey coloration. Let me know if you like them or not. Criticism is entirely welcome, but please don't hate on my work after only reading 1 chapter. This is a writing project I intend to complete but I have committment problems so we'll see how long this goes on. Also, fair warning, as the description implies, the main protagonist is intended to be someone who has been treated cruelly, developed antisocial tendencies, and ultimately has to question his own humanity--or lack thereof. This story is not intended to be brutally dark but I will definitely be trying to follow a darker theme. It is intended to be violent and some scenes later in the story might be...alarming. There will likely also be some light, non-graphic (think more implied with crude jokes and conversation than actual details, there will be no full-blown sex scenes)relationship scenes planned later and if you're opposed to either a bisexual or gay main character, stay away. I haven't yet decided which way he's going to swing but the odds on him being straight are relatively miniscule, and I've always wanted to write a story about a gay man who basically looks like a lumberjack because who doesn't like giving conventional stereo-types the middle finger? This will NOT be a harem story, and I have no intention to focus on romance over action--it's a consequence of character development where I'm concerned, not the be-all-end-all of the story. The cover-art does not, in any way, belong to me. It was an image titled the Druid King (by duskanmarkovic according to the file name) which I found on Google Images. Until I can get something commissioned, this is the best stand-in image I could find.
8 111 - In Serial13 Chapters
Hunters
The world of Eviet is a dengerous place. Two twin fire-hounds that happened to get stuck in a storm know this better than most. In the morning after the storm they smell blood.
8 89 - In Serial14 Chapters
New World to Experience
YGGDRASIL was ending, and Apoc was hoping to see the game as it ends. And fortunately, he did. But he was transported into a world that is back in the past, yet seemingly not the same world, and coincidentally in an island that was cut off from the mainlands. What should he do? Find a way back home? Or stay and change the flow of time? A little note here; this story is a bit rushed. Considered that it is old and I have little time to revise the story whole. But unless you dont mind it and decided to just read it for the sakes out of it, then be my guest... Not in a offending way obviously.
8 219 - In Serial9 Chapters
Many-Worlds: Origins
The Fallen? New Dawn? The Seven Sins? Or a group of individuals? Which one these group will be able to stand up above all others to shape the world to their vision. Or will they all fail and instead watch it crumble through their fingers as realization dawns on them, that not everything as it seems. Hey everyone, as promised before, I am back with the rewrite of my previous story. I am currently half way through the rewrite, but I wanted to share what I now have. 2 chapters a week until it catches up to where I currently am.
8 142

