The Great Eight (Temporary Hiatus)

Chaos 101 II

A suspicious noise alerted the two girls out in the dorm's back garden, who flinched together.

"There's someone there!" Theresa whispered to Atlanta at a volume that was no where near a whisper really. Atlanta, in the midst of the tension, managed to shoot her a look before sneaking her way closer to the source of the noise. Theresa was close on her heels as they creeped up to the side of the dorm in wait.

"We'll attack first, ask questions later. On three, okay?" Atlanta hushed her orders to her companion, of which was confused on when exactly "three" meant.

"I mean - Now!" Atlanta, frustrated but bolstered by the hunt, leapt out of their hiding spot to launch their assault on the intruder. The darkened porch light barely illuminated the figure as he dodged Atlanta's lunge and redirected Theresa's jump kick using her own momentum with practiced ease. When the two girls were down, the figure stood into the light and revealed himself to be someone familiar with a disapproving frown on his face.

"Archie?!" Atlanta gasped disbelievingly from her spot on the ground, gawking up at the male standing near her.

"You know this guy?!" Theresa gasped, the adrenaline coursing through her still causing her lungs to work overtime.

"He's supposed to be one of us." Atlanta succinctly explained as she stood up, relaxed and relieved, and turned to get Archie's own explanation. "I thought you were leaving, why are you sneaking around?" Which somehow either disinterested him, or made him uncomfortable, because he began moving back to the dorm rather than be near the girls.

"I was checking the perimeter, making sure it's safe." Archie told them, but one could say that he was hanging around because of his own indecision on the whole "heroes" thing. But no further words were needed when, all of the sudden, every light source around them shut off simultaneously. Leaving them in the exact same position as the boys still ignorant of Archie's presence inside the living room. As well as for Athena and Mel who were in the middle of their fantastical conversation in the kitchen. In fact, the same was true for everyone in whole city, and beyond!

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What no one, besides the Gods and the newbie heroes, would expect to see causing the black out was a polar bear-esque giant simply lowering the dam's control panel's handles and redirecting that power to their master's own weapon of destruction.

"Is everything ready?" Cronus asked with a gleeful smile as he leaned over an electronic map symbolizing the electric power grid for the region, every light on it darkening with a sinister dread. When the giant gave the affirmative with a grunt, the out-of-control God barked out another set of instructions. "Good. Then divert the power!" And because he is that kind of whacky, the God entered his own monologue while caressing the map as if it were the world on a silver platter, "Sleep well mortals, tomorrow will bring the dawn of a new era. And those that live through it, will serve me Gah, who am I kidding? No one is going to live through it!" Cronus couldn't help the hysterical laughter bubbling up from his gut, "No one!"

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"So the Greek Gods are real?" Mel's meek voice resounded in the quieted air as the group came together in the living space to figure out what to do. She was sitting in on the sofa, where Athena had put her as she went on her own to do something or rather, head in her hands as she came to grips with the truth of her bloodline and her heroic fate. Herry sat beside her, still rooted to his spot from before and gave her a reassuring grin and nod.

"Yeah, freaky isn't it?" He gave a little chuckle as the other two boys gave small murmurs of agreement only to have Archie and the other girls come back in looking quite messy from the slight skirmish, but also puzzled at the light situation. But more so at another new presence in the room, and to Theresa's delight she was another girl.

"Hi! I don't believe we've met, I'm Theresa!" The rich girl was quick to make friends as she sat on the arm of the sofa next to the frazzled and shorter, practically fairy-like, girl. To which she received a small smile and a timid hand shake. Atlanta moved in next, Archie following in behind her as he was not keen on standing near the other boys he met before who gave him surprised looks. He was not looking forward to that conversation just yet, so instead he settled for introducing himself to another member of the rag-rag group of teenagers.

"Who is your ancestor? Mine's Artemis." Atlanta, ever the learner, asked of Mel.

"Uh, Melampus. Ms. Athena, she uh, told me that I was descended from him." A wry smile graced the hazel-eyed girl's lips as they met the various browns that were pinned on her at the moment. Still awe-struck at having the realization of having spoken to a real live Goddess. A Goddess of war, wisdom, battle strategy, and the patroness to the great city of Athens no less!

"I just checked the breakers and got nothing." Odie, who had snuck out to investigate the black out, got the ball rolling back onto the other matter at hand. Accentuating his point by flicking a light switch on and off in a rapid motion to have no light come from the light fixtures at all. Not even a little spark appeared. This got everyone's attention onto the ceiling light and other lamps in the space as a resounding bout of silence filled the room oppressively. Jay, though, inspired movement rather than inaction with an idea.

"There's got to be a logical explanation to this. The news was mentioning that some kind of fire-breathing monster at the dam, and now with this black out, we can't assume Cronus isn't somehow a part of this. Maybe the Gods at the school might know what is going on, or at least Hermes might have a clue. So I think we should head there, try and see what's going on." He fondled his chin as he usually did when he was thinking.

"I think it's worth a shot." Theresa input, sending a shy grin to Jay as she stood up from her unorthodox seat near Mel to move near their leader. Archie, Atlanta, and Odie fell in as well with nods or sounds of approval. Leaving Herry and Mel to get up and move over last. While she didn't know what significance the school had for the others, the implication that Jay gave which combined the school and the Gods gave her enough to conclude that the school is their base of operations and so she found herself nodding along too. Moving with Herry, feeling more comfortable around the big lug, to stand as one with the others before Jay.

"Alright then, let's get going!" Jay smiled, relieved to see his newfound companions building trust with his decisions ( even if it was only over a seemingly small matter of a black out ). And as a group, lead them back to the school to hopefully solve the issue.