Chaos and Discord (Niah & rskde)

The streets of any modern day metropolitan city aren't exactly known for their peaceful and serene atmosphere. However compare the state of this city now, to what it was a few of weeks ago and you'll soon realize that things weren't so bad before. Now the streets were home to lawlessness and chaos, as an unknown force was tearing through the city. The authorities had several theories; drugs, gangs, terrorists, some even theorized that an outbreak of some sort of new virus could be to blame. Whatever the source, it was clear that every day people were no longer themselves. They began turning on each other like a pack of animals, until eventually the national guard was finally brought in to contain the mess. Try as they might, they were missing one key ingredient needed for success... a very shiny apple.

At first glance; one particular dank and narrow alley, positioned in the heart of the city, may have seemed empty and void of life. That's because it was, at first, then after a moment a woman seemed to appear from nowhere. Her extensive dark locks flowed in the wind gracefully, as the loose curls cascaded down past her shoulders. She was dressed all in black; a Venetian tunic which hung off the shoulders and skinny jeans tucked into flat soled boots. Her caramel skin caught the moonlight, as did her strange eyes, which were an unnatural colour of gold. Her petite frame gave the illusion of weakness, which was to be this man's biggest downfall. As he walked past the alley, the attractive woman caught his eye and so he approached. "You lost beautiful?" He asked in a repulsive manner. She looked to the male as if he was nothing more than an annoying bug, buzzing around her face and treated him as such. She simply began walking past him, intending to leave.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Foolishly, he grabbed the woman by her arm and attempted to assault her. What happened next he had surely not been expecting. Taking him by the throat, the woman slammed the male against the wall and began tightening, she was deceivingly strong. "I'm going to need you to apologize, before I crush your windpipe." Her eyes beginning to glow as she spoke to him. "So this is what you're doing instead of searching for the apple, Eris? Choking mortals to death?" Out of thin air, another woman suddenly appeared beside them. The man would have jumped with fright, if he wasn't already forced against the wall. "What do you want Athena? I'm busy." Eris replied dryly, re-positioning her hand so that she was holding the man more by his jaw, allowing him to breathe. "I can see that, and the apple?" Athena probed, her blue eyes shining with the same intensity as her fellow Goddess'. "I'm working on it!" Eris' reaction was not too dissimilar to a teenager being ask to clean their room.

"When? Because by the looks of things, the mortals' exposure to it is already out of hand!" At this Eris began to smile wickedly. "I know, right? It's like Gotham City down here." She replied, clearly very amused. Athena simply stood stone faced in response. "You really need to get a sense of humor." Eris added. "And you need to focus! I remember what happened the first time you allowed this apple to cause destruction!" This caused the dark haired female to scoff. "I allowed it to happen? Funny, because as I remember; that was a completely avoidable situation caused by you, Aphrodite and Hera being the biggest group of narcissists in the known universe." Athena's jaw began to clench. "Just find the damned thing!" Her eyes then darted to the human, who seemed confused by the entire conversation. "And do it discreetly!" Athena finished, before disappearing as swiftly as she had came.

Once again the man was panicked and his wriggling underneath her hand began to annoy Eris. She sighed and tightened her grip once more. "Please..." The main gasped and strained. "I'm sorry..." He begged. The woman rolled her eyes and mused about her decision. "It's your lucky day, because for once that whole 'God made me do it' bullshit defense, might actually be true. I'm sure you'll be an upstanding member of society again once I've retrieved my property." She let go and allowed him to drop harshly onto the floor. "Until then, don't do anything I wouldn't do." She gave the man a wink and then disappeared just like Athena.

She reappeared in a police station, or what used to be one at least. It was amazing how the presence of her apple quickly rendered the police useless. Sure; some might be out on the streets trying to fight against the rising tide of madness. However she guessed that others would have also been hit with the apple's influence just like everyone else. Whatever the reason, the station was abandoned. With crime skyrocketing, there was simply not enough room in the holding cells here and so they were no longer in use. Plus they appeared to be heavily damaged, no doubt a riot had broken out not too long ago. "Hello? I'm here to report a missing item! Don't all rush to help me at once!" Eris called out sarcastically, her smile never wavering. Well she supposed it was time to get to work. With her powers weakened she could no longer sense her apple and thus was unable to locate it. So her best bet was to begin searching police records, maybe these mortals had stumbled across something in the past few weeks? She broke into a nearby filing cabinet and began searching.

When they had heard the reports of the amount of violence that had broken out within one city.. Everyone had been dumbfounded, the National Guard from all surrounding states had been called in.. Which makes things slightly easier when they tell you that it is going to be a street to street fight in order to maintain order while the injustice is stopped. A large line of Humvee's, MRAP's, and 5-ton's.

His name is Ethan McKnight, though most of the men and women in the National Guard just refer to him as McKnight. He's nobody special, just a Private First Class which is only the second rank. He is about 6'2, being the genetically lucky one within his family. He has a set of hazel brown eyes and black hair, his hair being cut military short and his face clean shaven in order to support regulations.

From a few miles off, the city looks awful.. Black smoke rises above large buildings and explosions are sometimes seen, maybe someone had left the gas in a chemistry lab on, only for somebody to light a cigarette. He sits in the front passenger seat of a Humvee, leaning against his seat as he stares out the small bulletproof window of the vehicle.

"Yo, McKnight's daydreaming again!" Private Hendrickson chirps from the backseat of the Humvee, prompting the driver, Sergeant Anderson to slap him on the shoulder. "Wake up man, we're nearly there." The Sergeant says before turning back to the road in front of them.

McKnight sighs when he feels the slap connect with his arm. "I'm awake, I'm awake!" He says, speaking with his Eastern American accent. When they finally arrive, none of them seem to be affected by the apple, as they are all trained to have a strong will, the corrosive affects of the apple do no damage to the Guardsmen.

From across the street a shot rings out, the bullet pinging off of the Humvee McKnight sits in, forcing them to stop and jump out of the Humvee, their M4A1 rifles raised and ready, completely loaded. McKnight's M4 sports a holographic sight on the top, a compensator on the barrel, and a fore grip under the hand guard.

They spot the group that had started shooting, when they start to take more fire the small squad of Guardsmen engages, taking down the group within seconds. "Anderson, take your group and secure the police station." A voice crackles over the radio. The squad gets moving, getting to the front door of the police station before the sound of screeching tires cancels out all other sound. McKnight can only watch as Hendrickson is smashed into by a black mini van, sending his limp corpse skidding across the road. The group opens fire on the van, which boldly drives off while the bullets smash into the back and sides of it.

Anderson and the other member of the small squad rush over to help, McKnight decides to walk into the police station, his M4 raised as he does so. "Anybody in here?!" He calls out.

"Junk, useless, asinine..." Eris was still rummaging through the police files. Every time she came across papers that provided no useful information, she would toss them into a nearby waste basket and uttered the odd annoyed response. There was a warmth that washed over her body and a flicker of light could be seen reflecting in her eyes. What was causing this? Well the fire that she had started in the waste basket of course. Why had she set the waste basket alight so that she could burn papers? The same reason that she had dropped the apple down upon this city in the first place, boredom. "Moronic" the woman said, dropping another few sheets of paper into the flames. She was currently sat in one of the offices leading off from the main part of the precinct.

Finally one particular file caught her eye. The paperwork pertained to a serious assault that had occurred a few weeks ago, around about the same time that the apple had touched down. Eris began to scan through it and soon came across what she was looking for. According to this; two men had been arrested after the police were called in to deal with a dispute that had broken out between them. One of the men ended up having to be rushed to hospital and the other was taken into custody. The entire fight was caused by, what the police officer referred to as, an 'ornamental item'... a golden apple. Due to not knowing who the actual owner of the property was and also because it was now part of an official investigation, it was placed in the... "Evidence locker" Eris read out loud with a smile on her face.

With the date being so long ago, there was every chance that her apple was no longer there. However at least it was a start! Eris stood and began to walk out, kicking the waste basket playfully as she did so. She was just tucking the file underneath her arm, when she heard someone calling out. Eris was now stood in the doorway and facing a man that was dressed in military garb and holding a large gun. "Well this awkward..." She said. Her eyes glanced round nonchalantly at the mess that the station was in, it was completely trashed. "It was like this when I got here, also there's a fire in this office you guys might want to put out..." She added. "No idea how that got started, must have been teenagers."

Eris took a few steps about, as if completely unfazed that the male was holding a dangerous weapon in his hands. "I'm going to be out of your hair in just a sec handsome..." She was clearly looking for which way the evidence locker might be in. Her eyes glanced from several doors, to the odd corridor and then rested back on the male. "You seem like an informed type of guy. Evidence locker, this way or that way?" She pointed in opposite directions and waited for him to reply. Her entire demeanor was of someone who was just very relaxed and in her element. Not of someone who had just been caught trespassing in a police station during an outbreak of a rioting city.

He doesn't exactly aim the weapon at her, though he keeps it at the ready in case she tried something. "Ma'am, evidence files are Federal property, you don't have any reason to be throwing them out or rooting through them." He says to her while keeping his finger on the trigger, outside more gunshots erupt but he ignores them, walking deeper into the station.

His hand leaves his gun, grabbing her shoulder softly. "I'm gonna escort you out, there's no reason to be in here." He says, seeming completely levelheaded as he speaks to the Goddess, though he can feel something radiating from her, whether it be power or just a commanding sort of tone, he still isn't discouraged from taking a leadership position over her.

"There's safe houses outside of the city, I'm gonna get you to one of those, you won't have to worry about the looters." He explains before attempting to pull on her shoulder in order to get her out of the police station, not being too forceful but at the same time he is putting some force and urgency behind it.

The Goddess rolled her eyes, why did it have to be a soldier? Military personnel were always a pain, of course they were used to being in charge and expected people to follow orders. Both of which Eris really didn't have the time nor patience for. "Actually I think you'll find that what's in there is actually my property." She replied to his first statement. As the male stepped towards her, Eris gave him a questioning look. "Sweetie, you're not about to make this difficult on yourself are you?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. That's when he took hold of her shoulder, "oh you are." He informed her that she was to be taken to a safe house, away from the looters, well where was the fun in that? "Yeah... no" she placed a hand upon his wrist and twisted. Not enough to break his wrist, but enough for him to release her. "Listen I'm kinda on a tight schedule, so instead of me breaking your arm, how about you just tell me which way the evidence locker is?" She could easily just search the entire building, but being pointed in at least the general direction would just be a whole lot easier.

When she twists his arm he grits his teeth in pain, his mouth locked for a moment before he speaks. "Lady.. Let.. Go of.. Me." He says while struggling to get hold. "Government property doesn't concern you.. What the fuck are you looking for anyway?" He asks while his other hand slowly glides down to his pistol, grabbing hold of it before pulling it free of its holster, pressing it agaisnt her head. "Let go or I'll blow your brains all over the wall." He says to her,cocking back the receiver.

Eris didn't let go, instead she just continued to watch him as he once again told her that the contents in the evidence locker belonged to the Government. He then asked what she was looking for, however before she could even answer, the slippery git grabbed his pistol and pushed the muzzle against her forehead. At his announcement of what he intended to do, she smirked. "Oh will you? Mortals, you're so over-dramatic. Never heard of the word please?" She cocked her head at him and waited for the male to say the magic word, still holding onto his wrist. She twisted it a little more, simply because he had the audacity to pull a gun on her.

Mortal?

"What the fuck do you mean, calling me a mortal? We're all human.." He says before clenching his teeth together as she twists more, his finger tightening around the trigger as he speaks. He finally gives in. "Please let go of me." He says to her quietly, his wrist starting to feel SS if it is going go break from her hold.

"No, you're human, this is more of a 'temporary glitch' for me." Eris then released his wrist. "See, was that so hard? Manners cost nothing you know." She dusted off her hands before then beginning to look around once more. Water off a duck's back confrontation was to her, she didn't even seem to care that there was a possibility of him still shooting her. The noises from outside informed them that the commotion wasn't subsiding. She hadn't been paying much attention before and even know the sounds didn't seem to bother her, chaos was where she felt most comfortable after all. Eris' long black locks shifted across her shoulders as she looked back to the male, her golden eyes surveying him closely. "By the sounds of things you're really busy. So how about I make you a deal? You show me where the evidence locker is and if what I'm looking for is in there, I promise that this entire city will be back to it's normal, boring self in no time."

He seems confused by her, unsure of what she meant by temporary glitch, if she isn't human, then what is she? He hesitates, should he shoot her? No, that's not his place.. "What do you mean?" He asks, suspicious.. Was she the cause of all this? "I don't see how you alone could possibly do anything.. I'm coming with you if you're taking any evidence." He says to her while crossing his arms, his pistol is slipped into his holster.

"Well, lets just say that my relatives have no sense of humor. So as punishment for this shit storm that I may have caused accidentally on purpose, I'm not allowed back home until I've cleaned it up." She began fiddling with a paperweight positioned on one of the desks, her tone conveying that she found the whole situation bothersome. Eris gave a mischievous smile, "I'm resourceful." She replied to him questioning how one woman could fix all of this. She watched as he re-holstered his gun and crossed his arm firmly. Mockingly Eris saluted him, "sir, yes sir! Lead the way..." She honestly didn't care if he came with her or not. The moment the apple was in her hands, she intended on disappearing and going home. Plus she still had no idea where the evidence locker was, hopefully G.I. Joe here did.

He sighs when she salutes him, he walks to the back of the station and smashes his foot against a sealed door, which opens with a loud bang. Inside sits a large amount of evidence folders. "Enjoy, it's all here." He says to her, watching her carefully and taking mental notes of what evidence she was taking from the station.

Eris followed behind the male and watched as he unconventionally opened up the evidence locker for her. "Well thank you very much" she replied with a smirk, before practically skipping inside. Removing the file from underneath her arm, she began flipping through the pages in order to find the case number. Her eyes then began scanning every label, looking for the same number on a corresponding box. After about five minutes, she had found the one that she was looking for. However instead of being happy, the Goddess seemed disappointed. Her apple was a powerful object and gave off a sort of 'energy'. If it was in this box, than she should be able feel magic emitting from it immediately, but she felt nothing.

In an unenthusiastic manner; she flipped off the lid and found the box to be empty, except for one thing. Eris reached in and retrieved an empty evidence bag, which had clearly once housed her apple, but since then had been ripped open and left abandoned. "My, my... don't you mortals have sticky fingers." No doubt the call of the apple had been too strong and so someone had stolen it. Well it had to be someone who had access to the locker. Once again Eris flipped through the case file and found the names of the policemen who had brought it in. "Officer Marcus Jackson and Officer Nico Ramirez" she read out loud. Her golden eyes looked back up to the army personnel. "Well as much as this was fun, I have a few house calls to make." She said, beginning to walk past him.

He watches her look through the evidence locker, his arms crossed. She seems disappointed, never really a good sign when it came down to things, then she tries to walk out but he stops her, stepping in her way. "You told me that you would come with me, you gave me your word, so we're either doing this together or you hand that over and I do it with my squad while you sit in a refugee camp." He says to her, his eyebrows raised at her as he speaks.

"You keep your word and we'll find whatever it is you're looking for, then if you're right about whatever it is this chaos will come to an end, which is my job to make sure it does, so I would be doing my job to come with you." He says, not budging from in front of her.

Eris' brow furrowed when the male stood in her way, he really loved being a pain in the ass didn't he? "Uh... no I didn't." She had no idea what conversation he had been a part of, but she had certainly never given her word to go with him. "The deal was that if I found what I was looking for, your city would go back to normal. You were the one who insisted on coming with me. Plus honey not but ten minutes ago I almost broke your arm without breaking a sweat, you really want to start threatening me again?" Refugee camp her ass! She had been under the impression that he had meant coming with her to the evidence locker, not coming with her throughout the entire search for the apple! Eris grimaced, she really didn't have time to drag a mortal around with her wherever she went. He would just slow her down and get in the way... or would he?

Eris had just been about to disappear out of the police station, sick of the sight of the man. However her eyes then landed on his army insignia and she couldn't believe how rash she had almost been. He was a member of the armed forces! This meant that he was in a position of power and authority in this city! Maybe having him around could work to her benefit? She mused it over once more before finally replying. "Fine! You want to be useful? How about the addresses for the officers that worked this case?" Eris pressed the file into him and waited for him to take it from her.

"I don't care if you twist my arm again it's my job to make sure everyone is safe, and if that means coming with you then I'll do it." He says to her, his eyes locked with hers.

He takes the evidence from her before reading the officers names, he walks over to a beat up computer, turning it on before biting the bottom of his lip, there was a password. He opens up tge drawer and finds a sticky note that literally says 'password: hghjk186928' on it. He shakes his head. "Dumbass.." He mutters before typing in the password.

He finds the address before scrawling it down on to a small notepad he finds in the drawer, he hands her the two addresses. "One of them is out in the country side and the other is in the center of the city, where all of the fighting is the worst." He explains to her. "So if tgat means anything, pick where we're going before the sun drops, it gets cold out here and more looters come out at night." He explains.

He peaks his head out of the station and finds his squad gone.. He decides to link up with them later. He walks back inside and looks at her. "What's your name, anyway? Calling you lady is getting old."

"Ah great, a freaking martyr" Eris mumbled. The man kept her gaze, clearly his way of showing his intent and determination in the matter. The fun level had officially been notched down by several hundred. Eris rolled her eyes as he walked away and began searching through the computer files. She simply stood behind him and watched, he seemed to know where the employee details would be stored and quickly retrieved them.

Eris took the addresses and read through them quickly, then gave a devious smile. "Center of the city it is, sounds more fun." She folded the paper and slid it into her jeans pocket. "Eris..." She replied. "What about you?" For the first time she took a good look at the man's uniform and saw his surname on the right side of his chest. "McKnight? Ugh... I think I preferred 'mortal'. First name?" She asked.

"Fun isn't exactly how I'd describe it." He says while leaning against the desk he had been rummaging through. "My first name is Ethan.. Eris.. That name sounds familiar, like one of those Greek goddesses from the old stories, are you from Greece or did your parents just think it'd be funny to name you after a goddess?" He asks, still not buying into the whole deal.

"If you want to make any progress today, we ought to get moving, I'm not gonna leave the inside of a building once that sun hits the horizon." He says to her, checking his watch.. Four in the afternoon, the dark would come in around two hours.

"Maybe not your type of fun" Eris replied. "Ethan..." She would most likely revert back to calling him the 'mortal' on occasion, depending on her mood. "The reason it sounds like the name of a Goddess is because it is. Eris; Goddess of chaos, strife and discord." She walked on over to him, her gold eyes now beginning to glow as she locked onto his. "At least that's what they call me, and the item in question that I'm looking for is; my apple. Gold, has the inscription 'τῇ καλλίστῃ tē' written upon it in ancient Greek. Very old, powerful and... destructive, as you've all discovered."

She then gave a wicked smile. "Don't worry, I can get us there pretty quick." Eris placed a hand upon Ethan's shoulder. "Hold on tight, I hear the first time for mortals can make you feel a little sick." Within seconds the two of them were suddenly no longer in the police station, but outside of a tall apartment building in the center of the city. Eris looked up as she stood firmly on the sidewalk. "Stop one, Marcus Jackson's."

He laughs. "Very funny, and I'm Jesus." He says with a scoff, crossing his arms while looking over at her. When her eyes start glowing his eyebrows knit together. "I'm dreaming.." He mutters, pinching himself before shaking his head. "I'm gonna wake up any second now.." He says as if trying to mentally wake himself up from a dream.

She grabs on to his shoulder and he looks confused, suddenly he's on the sidewalk in the middle of the city. He falls to his knees, coughing before vomiting onto the side walk, groaning as he does so. "It's just a dream.." He keeps mumbling as he stands, looking at the house in question. "When we're done with this whole apple thing, you have a lot of explaining to do.." He says to her before walking inside, grabbing his gun to make sure nobody challenged them.