Gate Keepers ((OPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!))

"Sweet. Thanks, beautiful," Shiv told Alyvia with a grin and a wink over at Anoki, as much to annoy her brother as to charm the girl. It was all in good fun, of course. Anoki was just too serious sometimes.

He entered the elevator, still tossing the ball up and down for a few moments before at last growing bored with it and dissipating it.

"Well, fighting Beasties isn't so bad. Think of it as a video game with the coolest graphics ever."

Alyvia felt a light blush come over her cheeks at Shiv's words, and she let lose a giggle. He always was so kind to her, and always seemed to tick her brother off. Not that it wasn't hard to do that. But he never stayed angry long, and never at her.

"But it isn't a game," Anoki said, as he and Alyvia stepped in after Shiv. "We can get hurt. People can..."

"Maybe more like superheroes," Alyvia interrupted. "With the way you go around protecting everyone without them every knowing that it's you. It must be pretty sweet."

Kaoru

"We are not superheroes, and we are most certainly not characters in a videogame." Kaoru interjected, as she came up from behind the group, quickly entering the elevator before it closed.

"A noble sentiment, to think us superheroes, but we're not." Kaoru added, giving a chuckle before she ruffled Alyvia's hair.

"However, if we were superheroes," she stated, a thoughtful look on her face, "I'd totally be the boss. Like I am already to you guys, not counting Commander Ling. I suppose Anoki would always be the grumpy pessimist, like he already is, and Shiv would be our comic relief. Only as a superhero, his jokes would be funny. And little Alyvia here would be our plucky little Mascot! Swaying Invaders to our cause by the sheer force of her cuteness!"

A few blocks away on the outskirts of a local park, an oddly pale man in noticeable beige suit was sitting inside a local coffee shop reading a news paper. Every once in a while, he would make simple movements, either to shift to the next page or to sip his coffee, keeping his face hidden with the paper as he scanned it.

The paper didn't reveal much; obviously the Gate keepers were being as conspicuous as they had been back in Japan.

Flipping down the paper slightly, he looked around the partially inhabited coffee shop, snorting with indignation before resuming reading. They'd get it eventually...all of them would...

"Ha! You're right. We are superheroes, aren't we? Next, we'll be wearing tights and stylish capes. I can call myself.... The Shiv!" he joked with a grin. He nodded in agreement with Kaoru.

"And I'll be the handsome stud that all the girls want to date and find out their secret identity."

Charlie looked at Shiv and opened her mouth to say something. She decided instead not to say anything.

She couldn't wait to get down there though.

"Hey!" Alyvia objected as she pulled away from Kaoru and ran a hand through her hair, fixing the slight mess that the older woman had made. She then giggled at Shiv's words. "I'm sure you would be."

"That," Anoki said as he reached up and brushed the last out-of-place strand of Alyvia's hair back into place, "I seriously doubt. It would be foolish to call attention to ourselves."

Shiv grinned as he stepped into the elevator, pressing the button for the bottom floor, "You're such a stick in the mud, Anoki. Do you ever have any fun?"

"This isn't meant to be fun," Charlie said in a soft voice. "This is serious. If you act like it's a game, you'll just get yourself and possibly others hurt."

Kaoru

"All this talk about superheros is fun, I admit, but Charlie is right." Kaoru announced. The elevator then came to a stop and the doors opened. Kaoru stepped out of the elevator with her subordinates and took a look around the underground base, making sure nothing was out of place.

"Now, Gate Keepers, please report to the ready room. Commander Ling and I will join you shortly. Lieutenant Hameho should already be there. Alyvia, please go to your room, like always. If we need your input, we'll be sure to call you!" Kaoru said, giving the younger girl a bright smile as she finished.

"I believe my nephew Ken is still in town, and would love to see you while you're here!" she added, knowing that Alyvia had become fast friends with the boy in question.

((Hope you don't mind me doing that, Casey. If you do, I can edit it out.))

Charlie didn't smile when Kaoru said she was right, but it did feel good. She didn't feel bad about shutting down Shiv's idea about them being superhero. Shiv annoyed her, but she didn't want to see him get hurt--or worse die.

She looked around as they got off the elevator. Kenny looked up and waved at the group, smiling warmly.
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Chad was wiping glasses. The bar was open, but it was still way too early for anyone really to come in. Sometimes they got a few people, mostly talking to each other and drinking quietly.

((Is it too late to join this?))

Username: ConfusedShipper123
Name: Locke Thomas
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Race: Caucasian; primarily English, European background.
Gate Keeper? (If yes, what power?):
Appearance:
Personality:
History:
Additional Information:

Username: ConfusedShipper123
Name: Liana Bantoc
Age: 20
Gender: Female
Race: Asian (Filipina)-American
Gate Keeper? (If yes, what power?): Yes; Gate of Emotional Intelligence--an above-average ability to read one's own and others' emotions, as well as a slight ability to influence them.
Appearance: http://www.taaz.com/makeover/161390914.html]Liana, with a tendency to dress like this Liana clothing and this Liana clothing and this Alison watches too many movies
Personality: Liana is simultaneously introspective and observant, while being completely immersed and invested in the people she surrounds herself with. She is sociable and self-aware, a well-adjusted young woman. She takes her role as a Gate Keeper very seriously, but does not yet fully grasp the gravity of such a power, having discovered it only recently.
History: Liana was born and raised in California, and has always been very connected to her heritage, as her parents and their siblings were first-generation immigrants to the U.S. This proved to be challenging, but the closeness and nearness of family eased their transition greatly. She grew up very close to her family, some of her best friends being her cousins, and has a great connection with her brother and sister, all while investing greatly in her friendships. In spite of this closeness, during her last years of high school, she felt as though it was time for her to take her dreams elsewhere and experience the rest of the world, starting with the rest of the country. She had always been very involved in her school activities and excelled academically and creatively. Her and a few of her friends had all applied and been accepted to schools in New York City, and thus decided to take their last summer to road trip there.
They had many enjoyable experiences on this trip, and many bizarre ones as well, but one night, the trip turned from the typical journey of self-discovery into a horror film. As they were driving down a poorly-lit midwestern road, a man, or so he seemed at a distance, standing right on the dividing lines of the two lanes, and walking into theirs. Liana tried her hardest to stop the car before she hit him, but instead, he grabbed the edge of it himself. Clearly the creature was not human. And as he tried to terrorize her friends, and as he began to attack, she shouted "OPEN THE GATE!" and her strength increased, her words were fire and she felt a strange power as she fought him off in a strange way.

Eventually, they reached their destination, thoroughly shaken, and hardly on time.
Additional Information: N/A

Liana

Liana followed the students into the secret meeting place of the Gate Keepers. It was a little bit immature to think of the keepers as super-heroes, but the thought was certainly intriguing. They fought off evil that hardly anyone knew of, but they did it quite bravely, with a great risk to themselves. Yet did a gate keeper's power make them any more moral than the rest of the world? The fact that they had knowledge of these secrets, did that make them any better than anyone else? She knew, in her own heart, that this was not true. But it was an odd thing to ponder.

Regardless, she continued down the hall following the others, hoping that a large crisis was not at hand. If anything, she felt very average, very worn out this day, after spending it capturing the darker pieces of life with her camera's lens. The photos were powerful, she confessed. But just the thought of the things she had witnessed today, the times she hadn't been able to help, simply wore her out.

It did not matter, though, she told herself. She would do what she had to do. Because it was the right thing to do.

Alyvia's face lit up at the sight of Kenny, and she waved back at her. While she hated being seperated from her brother, it did help when she had others around her age to spend time with. Not that she would ever let it show, how much she hated that she couldn't help Anoki.

As for Anoki, he was too busy pouting over Shiv's words to say much. Well, pouting wasn't the right word. It made him sound childish. But while he knew that he wasn't very good at having fun, it still bothered him whenever anybody brought it up.

Alyvia turned and threw her arms around her brother. "Good luck," she said, and then pulled back. "Be careful."

His eyes flickered onto her scars and then back away. "I'm always careful," he said.

"Don't worry Alyvia-chan, I'll make sure Anoki will return to you in one piece," Shiv promised, smiling over at the girl. Even he knew what they were doing was dangerous. He decided he wasn't going to allow anyone die around him while they kicked alien butt. Shaking his head at the thought, he decided to concentrate on more amusing matters.

"Unfortunately, I cannot do anything about his condition. He will always have gigantic stick up his butt," he told her gravely, grinning mischievously like he always did as he headed for the waiting room.

Kaoru

Once everyone was assembled into the situation room, Kaoru began the meeting.

"According to our scouts, there hasn't been any Invader activity yet today. However, we are expecting some soon. It's been a week since any sort of attack by the Invaders, and they don't stay this quiet for much longer. Thus, we've got to be prepared if and when we get a report today. So, everyone will be reporting for combat training! Any objections?" she asked, scanning the faces of her fellow Gate Keepers. Hameho raised her hand in the air, waving it around in a comical manner, but she chose to ignore it.

"Fine! Everyone report to the Combat Arena, then." Kaoru announced, taking a little pleasure in Hameho's pout. On retrospect she may as well have ordered the lot of them to the Combat Arena in the first place, but eh, too late now.

Anoki let out a soft sigh and pushed himself to his feet. More boring training. Great. But maybe he could put Shiv in his place. He knew that the other boy was just joking, but still... Jokes like those got old really fast. Even if it did make his little sis laugh. Or was it because of that?

He started for the Combat Arena. Yes, it was especially because of that.

"Sweet! Can we have a tournament this time?" Shiv asked excitedly as he headed towards the Combat Arena. He loved testing out his powers. That was the best part of being a Gate Keeper, other than the cool stuff and hunting monsters. And the nice people that he got to hang out with.

Charlie glanced over her fellow Gate Keepers. She was pretty sufficent with her Gate, but she wasn't the best out of everyone. If she had to spar against any of them, she wouldn't mind putting Shiv in his place or seeing if she could take on any of the stronger ones.
---------
Kenny smiled as the group left. She thought to go see Alyvia maybe. She liked talking with the girl. But...

Kenny looked at her cellphone. She was worried about her daughter. Something was up with her and Kenny wasn't sure what. When she asked, her daughter just blew off the questioned and changed the subject. It worried her.

Kaoru

Once the team was gathered together, Kaoru clapped her hands. The lights dimmed slightly in the spherical room they were in, and special shielding activated all around the walls, floors, and ceiling. Then, rather slowly, a series of Invader-esque targets rose from the floor, not too far from where Shiv was. For the moment they remained stationary, though from experience everyone in the room knew these dummies could be moved by remote control.

"Alright! Shiv, why don't you start first? See how many Invader Dummies you can take out!"

Liana

Liana observed her fellow opponents for a moment, itching to tackle some training herself. Her power was not incredibly helpful in aiding physical attack, so she took great care in increasing her phsyically defensive skills. She was a woman of slight build, and her strengths laid in her mind. Yet she could easily take on a typical human male; a supernatural creature with the unique abilities to destroy her, however, was an entirely different story.

She drew in a deep breath and strived to clear her mind.

"Why, thank you, Kaoru," Shiv said happily glancing over at the "Invaders" and taking a stance and shouting, "Open the Gate!"

With that said, he began throwing knives at the dummies, most of which hit the bull's eye, though some were off by a few inches. When they started to move, however, Shiv had to work harder. He was throwing less fast and was actually taking time to aim.

"Like shooting fish in a barrel," he boasted.

Kaoru

"Oh?" Kaoru asked, giving Shiv a wide grin.

"Well in that case, let's make it harder!" she declared, and clapped her hands. The lights then proceeded to shut off, shrouding the room in unending darkness.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Shiv cried, pouting slightly as he took more time to aim with his knives, losing a few inches in accuracy, "You know, the stars are usually out at night."

Anoki's body tensed at the sudden darkness, but the slight movement would go unnoticed to most, with the absence of light. His tenseness quickly shifted to disgust, however, as he heard Shiv's words. Could the boy not shut up for just once, and actually concentrate on what he was doing? It was a wonder Shiv hadn’t made some serious blunder in their fights with the Invaders.

---

Alyvia was wandering the halls, humming softly to herself as she skipped about. Her thoughts, however, weren’t quite so happy as her outside appearance would let others think. She hadn’t been in Kenny’s company for too long, but she could sense that something was bothering the woman.

Maybe she could get some flowers or something, and that would cheer Kenny up.

Charlie wateched patiently as Shiv started to attack the dummies. She knew that she would do well herself, but when the lights went out, she let out a curse in a quiet voice. Although she used shadows, she didn't like dark or low lit places. But maybe the lights would go back on for the others.