Lost in the Fog

Cursed with New Power

Izuku kept visiting the tower, and questions started forming in the other survivors heads. At first it was with Laurie, so they assumed that they had deepened their relationship, but when she started staying back near the campfire, they didn't know what he was up to. Felix and Elodie especially were worried, as they were the closest to him. Elodie asked once, "Laurie..."
"Yes?" She looked over at the duo. They were a part of a group that knew more than most, so survivors gave them a decent amount of respect, even though they annoyed her at first with the references to the Halloween movie.

The frazzled-haired woman asked, "Where's Izuku?"
She shrugged. Since he wasn't there, he was... elsewhere. "He's practicing."
Felix asked for the first time this conversation: "Practicing...?"
"It's for him to tell."

That didn't allay their worries, however... until Felix noticed that the blonde was at ease. "What if he's working on his perks? He didn't have any before."
That made sense, with Elodie sighing with relief. "Right! That would explain his change..." but then, Laurie laughed, "is it not that?"
The blonde shook her head, "No. It's hard for me to explain, as I don't understand it, but he is getting training to a new kind of power. Not a killer power, though. Something that finally gave me hope." The two realized what she was inferring. "Really?! A way out?"
She hushed their exuberance. "Not yet. It will be a while, but it has the potential. I can take you there next time, but you have to let him focus."

Felix nodded, "Understood..." It was then that Elodie was taken away to a trial.

It was then that she woke up in a nightmare. Midwich Middle School. The air horn sirens were clear to all survivors when you arrived there. It was her least favorite place, not just because of the aesthetic... gore and instruments of pain were everywhere, but because it was the best map for stealthy killers. She hoped it wasn't one of them. Walking towards the nearest gen, she found Izuku already on it, determined to make this trial as quick as possible. She knew why. Quick trials meant that survivors suffered less, and Izuku wanted that for others as much as possible. He was basically a Martyr archetype, and already showed his, frankly disturbing lack of self preservation. It was then that she noticed the TV sitting on the ground a few feet away. She whispered to him, as they worked, "It's the Onryo. You have to be careful of the curse. It builds up through exposure to her. Don't be fooled by her appearance, or lack of direct chase power... she is one of the stronger killers here."

"Right." It was after a few seconds when the TV flickered on, showing disturbing imagery. An Eyeball, a Well, a Man in a weird outfit with a cloth covering the entirety of their head. Don't look at it. Focus on the generator.

Izuku was also focused. Whatever he was doing gave him more confidence. However, they heard a scream, and looking around, they found that Jake Park had fallen to the ground on the second floor. The two of them saw his aura try to crawl down the hall before he was violently picked up by the throat. That reminded them to work on the generator, as it was mostly done. It would only take about 20 seconds from Elodie's estimation. As they powered through the last of the progress, the gen was about to go off when the TV switched to the Well again, but this time, it wasn't random. A hand poked out, gripping the side of the TV, and a head of black hair poked out. She's coming.

"Izuku, she's teleporting, we have to leave!"

He grit his teeth, "Just power through it..."

The Onryo pulled more of herself through, her straight black hair now falling towards the floor under gravity's influence. The gen was very close... turning to check on the Onryo, the vengeful spirit was now catching herself on the ground with her hands. Pulling herself forward, she finally extracted herself from the TV, and got to her feet. Elodie's vision sparked with static for a moment, when Izuku did the unthinkable when the Terror Radius started to play in her ears.

He shouted, "Stay on the gen!" And then he tackled the Onryo into the nearby loop, hitting her head against a metal cage with a twitching mangled corpse inside. During the stun, the gen popped, and she dipped out of there, scared for her life. Why would he do that?! Unless... is that one of his perks? Jane can use lockers to stun, and Laurie can stun as well... It was then that she noticed the next unusual thing: when he became injured, she could see his aura. That must be the second of his perks!

Continuing up the stairs, she hoped he'd be alright.

Izuku was now running, exhausted from the stunt he just did. The last time he was there, he heard from the Observer that his first perk was extraordinary. Due to his loyalty to the true spirit of a hero, he gained the strength of the one he idolized most for a brief time. It could stun the killer for a decent amount of time if he launched them into a hard surface, but could still stun even if they didn't hit a wall, just for a shorter period of time. It seemed that it angered her to the point where he became her obsession. Well, I got the desired effect... He looked for the next route to take, and found that there was a set of stairs past a pallet leaning against a large mound of flesh. Well, despite its appearance... I guess this is a good pallet to use! When he passed it, he heard the sound of a tortured violin, the tell tale sign of her attack, and it slammed down on her head. The cursed symbol that she tried to project broke under the force of the pallet stun. A different violin sound, one of pain from the killer, sounded as he ran upstairs. However, the Terror radius went silent as he moved. Looking around, he didn't see anything so he carefully navigated the second floor of the middle school. Ignoring the flesh and razorwire... American schools are so different to Japanese schools. He entered a room, and heard soft footsteps. Leaning against the wall, he held his breath as he let them pass. Looking outside the room, he saw the Onryo. She had demanifested from the world, phasing in and out like a character from a VCR tape. I'll have to ask about this killer after the trial, to get as much information as possible.

She didn't turn into the room, instead opting to go down the hall to a room, and a shout could be heard from the fourth survivor: David King. He shouted, and Izuku could see him run from the room he was working in. Making his way over, he found that the gen was mostly done, and that the Onryo had broken it. Stopping its regression, he quickly powered through it as another gen popped in the distance. 3 gens done, 2 to go. He was going to look for another when David was downed. That's... where I used the pallet earlier. Sorry about that!

Running down the hall, he went looked for the closest access to the bottom floor, which turned out to be a hole in the floor. The David was then placed on a hook right below him, and he considered going down when he heard a TV play the same noise as when she teleported. It caused him to slip and fall down the hole, landing harshly on his back. The Onryo approached the ledge, peering down at him, and all he could think was, oh no...