[ rpb ] shield [ iosif ] [ night of ash .001 ]
characters: iosif wright
general location: s.h.i.e.l.d. academy facility, undisclosed location.
specific location: south-west tower - male student dormitory
timeframe: 11:00 PM, June 13th, 2014
general notes: Part I / ? of the Night of Ash
Artificial light blurs his vision the moment he turns the phone over. The background for the lock-screen is a snapshot of the collection of misfits he's gathered during his time at the Academy. Iosif doesn't like wishing ill on his friends but there's a big desire to punch one of them in the arm--because the glaring screen also reveals that it is 11:14 in the goddamn evening the night before his goddamn training session just a few days off from a new goddamn mission.
"God damn it,' He appropriately curses. Ignoring the cause for the phone lighting up ('3 New Mssgs!'), he flips the phone over again becoming engulfed in the darkness of the room. Iosif sinks into his pillow, sheets loosely placed over his shoulders like a cape, and mind dragging along with him. He is slowly edging towards the goal of a dreamless sleep.
Dreaming is always hard before missions, and impossible after them. There's rarely a time--maybe a few days--in-between those two instances where he can truly escape everything. That changes in two seconds and he will no longer have a dreamless sleep for the night--nor for any nights in the future.
First, the bed frame shakes, and so does the nearby desk, and so do the books and picture frames on it. The other bed--currently devoid of a roommate to fill it (a situation he won't think about if he can help it)--the door to the bathroom, the windows. Everything shakes with the sudden echoing BOOOOM that has Iosif sitting up right almost instantly. His body, trained to move for such an ocassion of possible danger, reaches and pulls open the door before his mind can.
He's not the only one. The shaking has stopped and students across from him, up and down the hall open their doors. Boys of various ages, some as young as seven and as old as twenty-two, live in the south-west towers. There are murmurs of curiosity. One turns back into his room with an angry huff, and when the door slams shut behind him the shaking starts up again. The hallway quakes, and the overhead lights flicker on and off with the continuous BOOM BOOOM BOOOOM.
Iosif's fingers turn white as he grips the edge of the door. The others in the hallway are screaming and shouting--he sees one boy fall to the floor. The lights are completely off by the time its over.
"Think it's a drill?" "God--they're really goin' for it this time." "Yo, you ok?" "Is it--like can we--" ALERT. ALL STUDENTS AND STAFF MUST EVACUATE THE BUILDING IMMEDIATELY. PLEASE FOLLOW PROCEDURE ALPHA-BETA-FOUR. ALERT ALL STUDENTS AND STAFF MUST EVACUATE THE BUILDING IMMEDIATELY. PLEASE FOLLOW PROCEDURE ALPHA-BETA-FOU-- Iosif pulls himself together enough for a glance back into his room, which has become half-flooded with light from his television set. The Academy's logo--which is actually the S.H.I.E.L.D emblem--plays on screen with the same message and the same voice reading it aloud. A lump of dread rises into his throat as he takes a moment to listen. Any evacuation plans categorized below a ten are deemed are usually close to catastrophic. Iosif knows this from the manuals, the classes and training. When he looks out into the hallway there's another boy, with light blond hair and strong chin, that catches his eye. His face is full of the ill look of someone who knows. A few other boys do too, now that Iosif looks for that ill over the growing crowd of boys; and although he hates that sort of confirmation it also means he's not alone in dealing with this. "What's--What's going on?" "Evacuati--" "Alright," Iosif calls out into the hallway. "You," He points to the blond boy. "You, and you," Two others. "With me. Everyone please go down and out through the western entrance or southern courtyard." After a few tense moments of silence he gives a loud, "Today!Move, move, move!" The sound of their stomping feet is too much for Iosif's voice and so he retreats into his room again, but not before signaling to those he singled out first. "Is it really....what it's supposed to mean?" The boy with the blond hair says. "Whadda ya mean what's it supposed to mean?" A shorter, stockier boy asks as he pulls on a pair fo slippers--the act is almost ridiculous but it has Iosif reaching into a cupboard for a hoodie in a moment. "Um--There's lots of evac stuff. For some floors or some buildings and they all have numbers. Anything below a double digit is pretty much for everyone. Students and teachers." The blond boy says quickly; the other pales. "W-We're under...attack, actually." This new boy, with spiky black hair half-dyed purple, chips in--the three others watch him walk in as others rush past behind him. 'I can...Here. I can see it. Gimme your hands." The others hesitate, until Iosif offers his. When he does his vision surges. No time stops, it just continues, and everything is a blur until he sees the shaky sight--people running all around on a field. The field is green and it takes Iosif a second to realize its grass, but he can't focus on the grass because his vision is moving. Up to where bright lights are being cast down. The vision jerks to the left and figures in black run towards him. Iosif gasps as he's pulled out of the vision, and the boys in front of him are holding onto him tightly so he doesn't fall over. "Sorry, that kid---I think they got 'er." Iosif doesn't let go of the boy's hand as he nods. He allows himself a shudder and then breathes in. When he breathes out, "We're wasting time. Your names and powers, and then a quick plan. Mine's--" "Iosif--Yeah, we're...in Roger's class together. I'm Jeff. " The blond says with a soft smile. "Hand blasts." "Ye-won. Call me Jay. Visual linking." The boy Iosif held hands with half-smiles. "Iosif. Ferrokinesis." "Camden--sound blasts. Joseph?." The stocky kid stands by the door as the hallway starts thinning out a bit. "Io-sif." "Io-sif, ok, so we got a plan, man, or what? Shit, should we have to?" "Alpha-Beta-Four is an expected casualty situation. I'm going to say this once: you stay and help or you go and do what you want. I'm not--" "Nah, man. I'm in." He's surprised by how the stocky boy smiles, and the dimples on his cheeks give him an odd air; it's the combination with the eyes: a picture of innocence with a harsh look. He's a fighter.