Illistad

"The body has been confirmed to be that of Howard Lowe, a rank-B gifted with the ability Ursine Physiology." The female news reporter stated as the broadcast stopped showing scenes of the tragedy.

"For those not familiar, Ursine Physiology is a transformation type on the higher side which allows the user to have bear-like traits. If I remember correctly, Mr. Lowe was able to transform into a grizzly bear, isn't that right Jill?" The male news reporter questioned his associate.

"That's right Brian, he would gain an immense boost in strength which makes me wonder how they are able to commit such heinous crimes without using abilities themselves."

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Lowe's family."

Liam stopped the video to take a look at the comment section.

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Alex Marucio ☑️ (@amarucio):

[Scumbags, he was a good man, and did not deserve this. RIP]

[💗8.3k | 🔁1k | ⌨️258]

--

Mary J. Kartzovitz (@itsMaryK):

[What a cruel thing to do. Why has nothing been done about these criminals?!]

[💗120 | 🔁13 | ⌨️4]

--

Thanos Was Right (@5xterbos):

[He and the rest of them have it coming parading themselves as if they are some sort of gods lmao]

[💗227 | 🔁138 | ⌨️374]

Caterino Mollarton (@catMollarton):

[@5xterbos you're part of the problem. Stop assuming everyone is the same]

[💗18 | 🔁2 | ⌨️3]

Thanos Was Right (@5xterbos):

[@catMollarton Hold this ratio.]

[💗48 | 🔁4 | ⌨️5]

========================================

Liam figured that the WGO would put out a statement addressing the situation shortly, as this matter could no longer be contained due to the passing of a rank-B.

"Illistad..." He muttered.

No one knew when the group was originally formed, but it's assumed to be a few years after the aurora event.

They started off as a small group that would protest against gifted individuals. Claiming that they are a menace to society and needed to be separated from 'normal' people.

They quickly picked up traction, gaining support from different parts of the world. After all, it wasn't uncommon to see groups of people dying everyday due to a gifted individual.

It was harder for a gifted person to control their abilities back then, as they didn't have the support that existed today.

There was a lot of back and forth between pro and anti-gifted, with neither side wanting to let up.

However, the spectrum started to shift when a young gifted girl started panicking in a political rally due to losing sight of her mother.

Needless to say, the girl accidentally let off her ability which caused several blue miniature pulse bombs to be generated around her.

The people near her noticed this and started screaming and pushing the people near them, trying to do anything in their power to escape the girl who they mistook as a terrorist, most likely sent from some other country.

There were some who considered themselves brave and tackled the girl to the ground, thinking they would be able to stop her.

Feeling cornered, she let out a devastating scream, and unwillingly set off the bombs.

The damage was terrible.

It was reported that 47,382 people died that day, including the young girl.

It was speculated that at least 4 times the amount of people were injured.

This was also the first time that an ability of this type was seen.

The incident introduced the 'Special' ability category, and caused an influx of anti-gifted supporters.

A few months after that tragedy, a gifted individual with the ability to change his hair colour was found dead outside of a bar.

CCTV showed he was confronted by a group of 4 men who seemed to have drank too much and noticed him demonstrating his 'trick' to a co-worker. The video showed them beating him senseless, and the man ended up cracking his head on the pavement.

The video was spread on the internet, and the 4 men were found guilty of manslaughter and were each given a sentence of 6 years and a fine.

Once again riots and protests occurred, but this time the voices of gifted individuals grew louder. They were tired of the injustice that was being received. Being blamed for another person's crime and having to take the brunt of it.

There were lots of people who realized it wasn't their fault of course, and deep down knew they needed the gifted to deal with most of the beasts that roam the lands. But most were too scared to voice their true opinion.

Illistad, who had grown into a significant force at this point in time could no longer afford to be passive aggressive and started taking matters into their own hands.

They would start confronting low rank gifted individuals, making trouble for them here and there, knowing they wouldn't be able to do anything to gifted with strong abilities.

At first it started small, pooping on their doorstep, keying their cars, stealing their deliveries.

But several of the members who couldn't get past the death of their loved ones came together to take matters into their own hands. Gifted individuals on the lower end of the spectrum would start disappearing every month.

The stress over the last few years had caused social unrest for everyone.

Gifted individuals, strong ability or not, had started to panic, believing they were the next to somehow disappear. Whilst those without abilities were worried if they were able to see the next day.

It was a never-ending cycle of unrest.

It was truly a darker time.

Over the years, the authorities had arrested countless individuals belonging to Illistad, but it did not help the overall situation.

It seemed as if one member was arrested, another citizen would take their place. It was hard to differentiate who was for and against their cause unless they spoke their mind.

This would go on for decades, until the members started fizzling out, and the authorities created better countermeasures to protect gifted individuals.

Like so, the group was considered to be a relic of the past, until 5 years ago when they publicly reappeared with a message, accompanied with the dead body of a rank-D gifted.

Since then they have been increasing the number of their targets, as well as aiming for higher ranked gifted.

However, this was the first time they had ever targeted a gifted who had a higher rank than C.

Or at least, the first time known to the public.

It was only natural for the WGO to put out a statement addressing how they would approach this matter to put people at ease.

It didn't take long for them to make a post, after all, the trending tab was filled with nothing but the topic at hand.

========================================

World Gifted Organization ☑️ (@WGO):

[It pains us that such a tragedy would happen to a good man. We send our thoughts and prayers to Mr. Lowe's family, and will make sure that THE COWARDS behind this spend the rest of their lives locked up.] ~ 7m ago.

[💗48k | 🔁5.6k | ⌨️1332]

========================================

Liam closed his laptop, no longer in the mood to message his friends.

With the murders of gifted individuals, he started contemplating on something he had not thought of ever since he awakened his ability.

"If one of my clones were to die... what would happen to me?"

___________________

[WGO Database]

Ursine Physiology: The ability to use the traits of bears or transform into one. Variation of bear may differ.

Category: Transformation

Ability rank: C ~ B

Rank explanation: Greatly enhances the individuals strength, speed, and durability depending on which part of the body is transformed. May also result in a decrease of intelligence.

___________________

UnpaidAuthor:

Apologies if the chapter felt like an info dump, will try to improve.

Vote with power stones for faster + more chapters, and add to your collection, thanks.