Camelion's Story

Dusk


Dusk started as she heard Mat's voice.
"Dusk, come on. Everyone's at the hospital, we'd better go find them... Before someone realizes what we are...."
Dusk's brow furrowed, as she attempted to get a grip on the situation. They were in hospital???
"What happened?" As a sudden worried thought flew through her mind "How's Amp?"
Some emotion coming from Mat bashed against the thin, mental barrier she kept between them. She frowned, he was struggling with a strong emotion. There were only three emotions that could carry that much weight; hatred, pain, anticipation or sorrow. The first three didn't seem to fit Mat, the last one possibly. She would have checked it, however since discovering her ability, she had resolved not to use it on her friends as a matter of privacy. That is unless there was an emergency.
Not wanting to reveal that she may have picked up on his private emotions, Dusk stayed silent, though a hint of worry gnawed at her.
"Is everyone okay?" she asked tentatively, unsure if the emotion truly was sorrow, she wanted to know. She came forward slowly. "Matt? What happened to Ash? I heard her screaming…"
She stopped, aware that the topic might be sensitive. By now she was close.

"Mat?"

Dusk


Dusk let out a shriek as "Mat" drove her into the ground, temporarily driving the wind from her lungs. She was quickly pinned under his weight and she felt her thin startled breaths quicken. She immediately froze up, her limbs going cold and brittle. She refused to move only allowing her weak chest to rise and fall in quick irregular succession. Her upturned face was gazing at "Mat" in a mixture of horror and fear, her dark green eyes silent and pleading. His dangerous, red irises stared back, bold and bloodthirsty. Her face was startled with a mixture of shock, yet she forced herself to look past "Mat" rather than at him. She kept her mouth firmly closed, her mouth was dry anyway and would be useless to talk with.
"Why'd you do that, Dusk? We really do need to go find the others...There was no reason to run....."
The voice that emanated from Mat's features was his voice, yet it seemed inviting and seductive, quite unlike Mat's personality. Her breathing slowed slightly, and she started to calm down as she listened to his honeyed words, yet her mind screamed at her to get up. It hurt to lie there, his hatred and ambition burned and she struggled to re-enforce her thin, weblike barrier against his emotions. The heat of the emotions was like burning coals, and lessened the comforting tone of the voice to some extent, though Dusk found her reason slip from her as the barrier became strong. She half wanted to believe "Mat", yet the battering against her mind was a continuous reason to be wary.
Suddenly something cold and hard slid itself along her side, and all irrational thoughts of safety were washed away as the unforgiving blade touched her. She shivered involuntary, though remained motionless, her eyes distant and unfixed in an attempt to forget about the current situation. She felt like a deer in headlamps, unable to make her limbs move, though completely aware of the danger she was in. No one was close enough to hear her scream if she so desired, she had been informed of that from her position in the tree.
Her tongue finally came loose.
"What do you want with me?" she asked shakily, her eyes now firmly fixed on his face. Her lips were the only movement she made, in hope that a lack of a struggle meant perhaps more chance of leniency from whoever the person that claimed Mat's form was. So she remained decidedly motionless, her eyes watching intently, awaiting his next move.

-Jarek-

He whined softly, not liking seeing Caine look so tired out, but he didn't go to support him or anything, as he wasn't asked and didn't want to make him feel bad. He just followed, ever loyal, but a little more anxious now, and was ready to turn into his lizard like form so he could be used for support. However, he seemed happy when Caine reached the top okay, and looked around, pulling on black combats when given them. As he was taking his bloodied shirt off, a banged up looking man came in and growled at his master. He stared in disbelief, quite ready to turn and tackle the other man to the ground to try and teach him some respect. He glanced back at Caine, but couldn't see if he was annoyed or not.

Still stunned, he pulled his shirt off. Jarek was skinny - you could see his ribs and the now-straightened bumps of his spine. In livid letters, a name was carved into his back. The scar was heavy, but pretty old: G KOWALSKI. His original owner, the one who trained him, was Polish - hence Jarek's name and accent. Gabriel Kowalski. He was dead now, died in a carcrash, and Jarek'd mourned hopelessly for weeks, until his next owner had come along. Another name was carved on his side - L SONDHEIM. Lucas Sondheim, his next owner until he'd left. To be fair, Jarek never liked Lucas. The man didn't command respect. He'd ask if Caine wanted to cut his name into him later. He pulled on a black shirt and jacket, holstering his gun at his thigh and looking around for some ammunition. He took the 9mm bullets off of a girl and put them in a large pocket on his new jacket.

He trotted after Caine and glanced at this other mutant, still pretty mad that he'd growled at Caine.

"Hello," he said politely.

-Vas-
Vas followed the hound, keeping up with its pace with relative ease. He cocked an eyebrow when he saw what looked like a arm in the middle of the road. Curious. He assumed this was something to do with a powerful mutant - there was no collapsed body near by. Following the blood trail with his eyes, he spotted a large silhouette on the side of a building. The man grinned and slipped into the darkness, loading his gun. Definitely a mutant.

-Jarek-

The smile grew terser when Camelion didn't respond. He definitely was not relishing the idea of having to work alongside this man. In the past, he'd worked alone. He didn't need some child too sulky to reply getting under his feet. He grinned, saccharine. It was too wide, exposing all his small, sharp teeth in a crocodillian smile. No doubt he could work the crocodile tears as well, if needed. Or at least whine and milk sympathy efficiently. He put his long hair up in a ponytail and saw this Camelion fellow open the door for Caine. Jealousy writhed in his chest and he almost growled. His smile faltered, lip twitched and he stared.

"It's nice to meet you," he tried.

His voice was calm, gentle as ever, despite how internally irate he was. He clambered in the van, glancing at the half-frozen seat, and watched Caine with care and worry. Although he wanted to ask if he was okay, he stayed silent, lest he annoy him.

-Stef-

Stef hungered for a cigarette. He stuck a hand in his pocket and pulled his battered zippo lighter out, fiddling around with it. He couldn't smoke now or on the mission, but he was used to smoking one after another. His fingers were stained yellow and brown in places, as were his teeth, and his breath was perpetually disgusting. Poor man didn't have a lot going for him. He followed the commander, mind on other things, like the mission. No nerves crippled him - although he'd be up against mutants and possibly other armed people, he wasn't scared, per say. The man didn't mind death. He didn't enjoy the prospect of it, but he didn't exactly fear it, especially when he was full of adrenaline. What was on his mind, however, was how he wasn't smoking at that precise moment.

-Jarek-

Badly veiled irritability... interesting... he thought, offering a tighter lipped smile instead of exposing his sharp little teeth. He was used to people showing disapproval of them, it wasn't odd. They were oddly white and even, which didn't help. However, the thin white lines criss-crossing his lips often unnerved people as well. He gave the 'pretty ladies' bit a thought. Jarek didn't care for gender - he only cared if the people he was sleeping with were terrified of him, injured, dying or dead. Of course, his superiors fit there somewhere. In fact, he'd definitely rather they weren't injured. Jarek's mind was twisted, although it was pretty clear he'd been that way from a young age, rather than it having anything to do with his mutation.

"Knives, tools, broken glass, hallucinogens, my teeth and claws... anything that comes to hand. I'm very creative."

He watched, curious, as his new 'team mate' transformed.

-Vas-

With his spotters binoculars, Vas peered. He nearly recoiled with horror upon seeing the creature on the side of the house. He'd never seen anything like it before. Ducking down in the shade, but from a position he could easily fire from, he set his rifle up. The gun was huge and powerful, but obviously slow-firing. He carried a submachinegun for close-quarters combat, but he wasn't sure if that would do as much damage against this monstrosity. When his boss said all about those dangerous mutants roaming in public and possibly harming civilians, he assumed he'd meant children. Most of them were children, after all. Unlike his brother, he didn't feel such pathetic sympathy. He was a killer, and so he killed.

Raising his binoculars to his eyes once more, he got another look at the scorpion-like mutant and his upper lip curled in disgust. He thought the hunters were bad enough, but this was gross beyond all belief. He lowered the binoculars and peered through his scope instead. He didn't know quite where to aim, but decided on the dopier looking head and carefully aimed, and lightly pulled the trigger. The man swore as the bullet missed as a gust of wind whipped up and growled, trying to retreat into the shadows. The bullet slammed into the wall of the house instead, bringing up shards of concrete and debris.

-Stef-

Stef pulled the jacket and bulletproof vest off, wearing a green t-shirt underneath. He yanked a baggy sweater on over that, yelping when it caught one of his ear piercings. The combats and boots, he kept on. It wasn't so unsual to see someone dressed like that. The man looked at his rifle sadly, not wanting to leave it there. Usually it went wherever he did, and for a moment, he wished he'd taken his big old toolbox along so he could have hidden it in there and claimed to be a repairman. But at the moment, he was a counsellor. He looked the right kind of scruffy for that with his half dyed hair and piercings. It'd make the claim easy to believe.

Still lamenting his rifle, he slid the handgun he carried around with him in the waistband of his combats. The baggy clothes would conceal that, and it helped that he tended to walk naturally slumped in civillian clothes, so as not to scare people by being tall at them. This whole situation still made guilt sit heavy in his stomach, and Stef felt worse and worse for the children he'd help capture. He wished he could be more like his brother in that respect - focused on the job rather than morals and ethics. He headed inside, smiled at the receptionist, signed in (his handwriting was wonky as anything, and the man was cursed with the plague of '∃', it seemed. "ST∃FAN FINCH - KAWNSL∃R"). He grinned dopily and apologised for his spelling when the woman corrected it. With directions to the childrens' ward, he headed up there, humming to himself.

A man came up to him and asked for his driver's license. He smiled, until the man got to the criminal bit. Well, that was unfair. Still, he found his wallet, pulled it out, and handed it over with a friendly grin.

"Here y'go, sir! I ain't a criminal, though. 'S a bit rude of you to say and all, but you take a look."

-Vas-

Although the shot missed, Vas grinned when the creature fell, presumably through shock. However, he was impressed when it could back up. To be truthful, the pincers and stinger scared him a little. He'd never had experience fighting giant bug men before, but he was sure he could handle it. The noises the injured scorpion-men made unsettled him to say the least and he retreated a step back into the shadows.

As he drew near, Vas wasn't surprised it couldn't see him. He knew he was well hidden in the dark. But, more fool him, he drew his submachinegun, not realising the movement would make him detectable. He clicked off the safety - surely the sound wouldn't help? - and checked the thing was loaded before grinning smugly and waiting for the right moment to aim and fire.

-Jarek-

Jarek watched Camelion with his head tilted. He quickly realised the man's new form was meant to be a younger version of Caine. He wasn't sure what to make of that, and the primal, servile base of his brain was incredibly confused. There were two masters, now. One looked ill, but was the proper one. Or was he? And now there was a much younger, more handsome, stronger one, but that one was fake! What was going on? He looked between them a few times, and then let out an animal whine, holding his head in his hands. His more human logic was attempting to reason with the bestial part of his brain, to no avail. His drive to serve seemed to be more powerful than his cold intelligence, and so he remained confused. If there had been enough room, he'd have turned into his creature form through sheer bewilderment. As it was, he looked at Camelion and shuffled closer to him, head spinning.

"D'you need anything, sir?"

His voice contained notes of panic and strain it didn't normally, and his accent was thicker than ever. Not to mention the hiss that came out. He then glanced to the real Caine and whimpered.

"Do you, sir?"

The man went back to holding his head in his hands, whimpering in confusion and trying to reason with himself at the same time. His head was beginning to ache now from squeezing his eyes tight shut and raking his wonky fingers repeatedly through his hair. He didn't like how other Caine - impostor - Camelion was talking to him at all, and his lip subconsciously curled. Still shaking and bewildered, he started to relax when real Caine was speaking but it was hard to pay attention when part of his head wanted to do what one person said, and the other wanted to do what another said and it felt like he was internally arguing with himself. He wasn't of course, but he felt like he was being pushed one way or the other, and confused thoughts rushed through his head.

And then he heard Camelion snarl at Caine. That was enough for his brain to make some sense of the situation and he growled, low and rumbling like a furious dog before whipping his knife out and levelling the tip with Camelion's stomach.

"Did you just snarl at him?" he asked steadily now, staring.

-Vas-

The man staggered back when nearly attacked, surprised with the speed the creature could move. It was a stroke of luck the hound tripped them, and Vas leant back against a wall, panting and gripping his SMG with conviction. Swallowing, he squared his jaw and prepared to fire again. If only he hadn't missed with his shot from the sniper rifle, which lay back on the ground near the hound, useless. It would have been no good in close quarters anyway. Vas was nearly at the back of the alley and shuddered to imagine it being him between the wall and creature.

As he backed up, however, he knocked into an old fire escape. Not considering how arachnids could scale walls he relaxed a little, ready to clamber up there as fast as he could if he failed again. He'd never encountered anything like this before, and felt almost detatched from the situation, as if he was playing a video game. He aimed and fired. The gun was innacurate, especially at this distance, but spat out bullets fast and hard towards the mutant. Some slammed into the ground, caushing chips of asphalt to fly up, others grazed the walls of the narrow alley. He hoped enough would hit the beast to disable it.

He quickly reloaded and scrambled up the fire escape. The metap steps creaked under his weight and he swore in Russian, cursing his own stupidity and lack of planning.

'Boy'? Jarek was sure he was older than Camelion, and chuckled inside. Thirty six wasn't old, but it certainly wasn't young either. He definitely didn't like his attitude to Caine, however, and still growled lowly. There was a highly obvious threatening undertone. He didn't like being touched either, and so snarled loudly. Prickly. As soon as the man started talking, Jarek snorted, derisive.

"Oh, sorry, allow me to bow down to king of bullshitting," he snapped, voice laced with vitriol and a near hiss.

Jarek hated people who got so high and mighty. As he saw it, they were pathetic, having to reassure themselves of their abilities or intelligence or good looks constantly. His politeness might have seemed weak, but it showed the man exuded confidence. He had no need to act rude and bother other people, because he was sure of himself.

"Yes, yes, I get it, you're fantastic in every way. Now shut up. And don't dare growl at master."

His last words dwindled as Caine admonished both of them, but mainly the other mutant, it seemed to Jarek. He felt elated when he learnt his new master was proud of him and quickly thanked him, rubbing his arm where Camelion had grabbed it, yet beaming happily. Then, when they arrived, he waited patiently for orders, sheathing his knife once more.

-Vas-

The man wasn't as agile as his lither brother and had trouble twisting and turning to avoid being hit by the two-faced creature. Panic welled inside him as he was almost clasped in his huge pincers and he raced faster up the rusted steps of the fire escape. It hadn't shrugged off the hits entirely, but it didn't do as much damage as Vasiliy would have liked. The man landed awkwardly on one foot and winced as pain shot through his ankle. It felt twisted, not sprained, and he struggled to carry on with it. Nearly at the landing, he staggered and slammed into the railing.

An ominous creak filled the air as the staircase twisted away from the wall, Vas clinging desperately to it and his gun. His damn foot felt aflame, and he tried to shoot at the mutant once more, but missed as the staircase wobbled and whined further. He was screwed.

Commanding Guard

His hand kept a firm grip on the girl, feeling barely any resistance to her digging her heels in the floor to try and stop him. She was obviously weak and still trying to resist? He almost sighed, why didn’t they just come nicely? It was always more work than needed to be done when they resisted so much. Then sharp pain sprouted from his shoulder and raked down his arm. Blood began to well up in five straight lines. He caught the girls hand and twisted her wrist tightly, almost to the point of breaking it. His jaw was clenched from the fire that was going through his arm, but he didn’t cry out. No, he was too used to pain to cry out as something as simple as feeling that a dagger was sliced across your skin. He noticed the girl’s nails, claws rather, as they sheathed themselves and he chuckled.

He paused as a woman came up to him. Blonde curls, slender figure and oddly, deep red eyes. That through up the first red flag for him. Mutants normally got the eye colors that were uncommon ad unusual for normal, red being one of them. "Excuse me, these two are my patients...Just what are you intending to do with them?" He took a glance down at the girl he had collected. Then back up at the woman, but someone else caught his eye and he almost cussed outright. Caine was there; he had found out and was going to take the mutants first. Then he laughed and looked down at the woman in front of him. ”You and I both know that they aren’t true patients Camelion. Tell Caine to leave my Lady’s mutants alone got that?”

He got all but one step before another showed up. "Come on kid, your parents are here to take you home. Where it's safe." He looked the boy over; he was small, thin and strangely looked like the one Camelion was impersonating, and the face features seemed to add more to his assumptions. ”I think you have the wrong child. This one is not a patient.” He held up her wrists, expertly keeping her bloodstained nails out of view, and showing the employee of the hospital that she didn’t have the necessary bracelet designated to patients. ”Don’t worry she is in good hands. Hopefully she won’t end up back in here.” He smiled to the boy and walked out through the sliding doors with Dusk, hoping that his other guards had gotten others and this was all they were going to take to Carmine.

Vas flailed in surprise when a girl suddenly grabbed him and pulled away from her grasp, snarling in Russian. The hell was she doing? She was making the whole situation worse! The stairs creaked further, and Vas clinged deperately to the rails, but it was no use scrambling to the top, even! The whole thing was loose and would crash down at any moment.

"What are you doing, you idiot girl? You'll kill us both!" he snapped, panic running wild in his blue eyes.

He went to punch the girl in the face, although his aim was awkward from trying to keep his balance enough to try and land safely when the construction did inevitably collapse on the man, and two mutants. The thing screeched awfully as it finally pulled back from the wall, rusty struts breaking in areas, and fell. There was no time for the Russian sniper to prepare himself and jump, or even try to land safely. A sharp piece of metal raked his side deep, and his head slammed against the floor. Vasiliy's arm lay at an awkward angle, white bone protruding sickeningly through flesh, and he lay unconsious and unmoving. His submachinegun had fallen from his hand and he looked pale and grey as a dead fish.

-Jarek-

Making a point to completely ignore Camelion and his arrogant attitude, Jarek just listened carefully to Caine. He smiled and nodded.

"Yes, sir."

He skulked off into an unused corridor and slipped between this plane and whatever it was that allowed him to become a huge reptile. The figure of Jarek flickered and disappeared - the man was all but invisible, unless someone walked into him or heard him. He slid silently down a corridor, still human-formed but unseen. Using his common sense, he went to find the boys he'd been assigned to get.

The coloured signs made the childrens' ward exceedingly easy to find, and Jarek grinned. Still unseen, he slipped through the double doors after a nurse swept through, the thick smell of antiseptic, hospital food and illness filling his nose. So... two brothers, one older than the other. It didn't take him too long to track both boys down. Still invisible, he crept into their room and watched the two children. There was no pull of his heartstrings or twinge of sympathy as he searched the supply cupboards - luckily left open in the ruckus - at the end of the room. Although Jarek wasn't a user and never had been, he had a broad knowledge of drugs. The man smiled a thin-lipped smile to find a drawer full of shots of various sedatives. Enough to knock an adult man out for definite! That'd work well for these two boys.

Two syringes seemed to disappear as he picked them up. Tapping the bubbles out carefully, he headed over to inject the older boy in the neck. His hands were cool and a little calloused as he found the correct place to inject. He prepared the needle and went to quickly plunge it into the boy's neck, hopefully before he woke up.

-Sergei-

In a less crowded ward of the hospital, a slim man sat up on a bed, attended to by a nurse who washed and cleaned his inner arm. He peered, curious, as she removed thick, stinking gloop from the deep wound, tutting as she did so. The man's fingers twitched sporadically as she accidentally prodded an exposed tendon a few times whilst a soothing lotion was rubbed in. He was glad she'd asked no questions. The drug he took that did this to his arm hadn't been made illegal yet, but he was pretty sure the government wouldn't like to hear of it. He watched the white bandages wrap around his poor, destroyed inner elbow and sighed.

"Thank you very much, nurse. Sorry you had to look after my nasty, nearly-rotten arm, hah," he said with a charismatic smile.

The nurse raised her eyebrows and made a zipping motion over her lips. She'd been bribed significantly by the strange little man, and although everything told her that she should tell, that man was too sweet to her (not to mention all that money he had given her. That helped). She helped him down from the bed and waved him off. With a sweet smile over his shoulder, Sergei headed towards the exit. His rotting arm hurt terribly, sweat beading on his forehead from the pain. He put the hand in his pocket carefully as he strode down the sterile corridors, boots click-click-clicking.

Slipping through a door, he saw a... what could only be described by Sergei as a situation going on. An old fellow had fired a gun at a girl with a missing arm, people all around, people grabbing other people, people arguing... Curious, he watched them, wondering what was happening. He head gunfire from down a corridor. This was strange, very strange. Something governmental? Sergei wasn't fond of the government after they'd tried to grab him and execute him a few times in the past. Folding his arms, he stood and watched the strange little situation unfold.

Dusk


The stranger suddenly grabbed her right wrist gripped it so tightly she let out a startled cry. If he applied anymore pressure she was sure he would break it. He seemed to have no other reaction to her clawing his arm though, and he continued to half-drag, half escort her to the door.
"Excuse me, these two are my patients...Just what are you intending to do with them?"
Dusk twisted her neck, hoping beyond hope that she might be rescued. There was a tall blonde woman, and for the briefest moment Dusk thought the fates might have smiled at her, and then she saw the eyes. The dark, dangerous red. Surely not. Her side ached instinctively as she saw those eyes. She almost let out a moan but managed to keep herself silent, though she had no doubt the stranger had recognised her. Now she was unsure of who she wished to go with, if she even had a choice. Both of them had dark motives, but which was worse? Obviously the crimson eyed stranger wanted to torture her, but the other was unknown...
”You and I both know that they aren’t true patients Camelion. Tell Caine to leave my Lady’s mutants alone got that?”
Dusk shuddered. Both of these people knew exactly what she was and it seemed that they weren't allies.
"Come on kid, your parents are here to take you home. Where it's safe."
The voice was kind and Dusk automatically tried to take a step towards him before the man jerked her wrist up to show the man, just managing to keep her bloodstained nails out of view.
”I think you have the wrong child. This one is not a patient."
She gave the man a panicked look, her bright green eyes begging him not to buy it.
”Don’t worry she is in good hands. Hopefully she won’t end up back in here.”
Dusk finally found her voice.
"Please, don't let him take me…" but the words were too little too late as the man dragged her out the door. She turned her face to she his hard unfeeling one.
"Just let me go"
She started to struggle, putting up as much of a fight as she could muster, before letting out a shriek as her side pained her.
"Please"

Commanding Guard

He barely gave the girl a glance as he half dragged her outside. "Just let me go" The naive girl tried struggling against him. He laughed as she let out a scream. By her movements he could tell her side was wounded. "Please" He smirked at the whimpered plea. ”You’re not going anywhere. You’re our property now, I can’t just let you go.” He walked over to the guards that had stayed outside the hospital, making sure no one found the hounds by accident.

He bound the girl’s hands, and handed her over to the guard. ”She’s wounded, but still resistant. Sedate her if you have to.” He gave a ruthless smile to her and turned to head back into the hospital, while the guard that now held her, held her bonds firmly, making sure she wasn’t about to get away easily.

Amp/Blast

They felt Dusk’s skirt leave their grasp and let out a small whine in response. They were being left alone again. They didn’t want to be alone, especially since they were almost unconscious. They heard voices, a man’s voice as Dusk was taken away, then more as people seemed to be arguing. He instinctively flinched, when people argued, someone got hurt, and it was more likely going to be him. Then he heard others coming into his room and he forced his eyes open. There was a man there, who seemed to be fending off another. He was confused as this other was first a woman, then a man. Whoever it was, they had red eyes and he instinctively coiled up. He pulled back against the wall in him normal, feeble attempt to get away from the man.

Amp/Blast

They were scared, plain and simple. The men were fighting each other, both were wounded and neither Amp nor Blast wanted to know who was going to be the winner of this little battle. He flinched as the red haired man was hit and went down. The one, who had won, stalked towards him. Amp and Blast both pulled farther into the corner they had lodged themselves into, but the man still picked them up without difficulty. Both of them were slightly confused as they saw the winner shift and then he looked like the red haired one. Amp was panicking, trying to kick or hit the man, and possibly wiggle out o the man’s grip. But their muscles were weak and he was still tired. Blast knew that through brute strength they weren’t going to win. He screamed, the sound ringing in the man’s ears, and he hoped it would cause the man to at least loosen his grip so they could pull themselves free.

Commanding Guard: Eriyk

He walked back inside the hospital and it seemed all hell was breaking loose. There seemed to be gun shots from somewhere in the building, there were screams filling the hallways, and it seemed that Caine was using a devise on one of the mutants. He frowned; he knew he wasn’t going to get as many as he wanted. He would have to go raid the Institution and get them back. He paused as he saw what seemed to be a shadow moving along the wall, trying to avoid the people. He smiled, he knew what shadow travel looked like, very few could notice the small shifts in the shadows but he had spent enough time around the type to notice the ability. He watched the shadow move, he could vaguely make out two forms inside, and he smiled. He paused where he was, watching the direction of the shadow then fallowed it.

Jarek was invisible, in his lizard form, under the van. Presumably to bite anyone that came close, although who knew? He was a strange man who did strange things. Hearing Camelion, he turned visible, poking his reptilian snout out and flicking his tongue. Something smelt disgusting and it wasn't any of the children or Camelion. The stench of rotting flesh was making him feel sick to the core and he snorted, turning human and wriggling out to stand and look around. There was a small, blond man heading out of the hospital; someone he didn't recognise.

"That man's suspicious and he smells bad," he said, staring at him fixedly and growling. "I can also see he has a dagger sheathed at his hip and a gun holstered at his thigh and isn't hiding them well under that coat of his. He smells like he's rotting."

The man just beamed at Jarek and trotted over, dipping his head to both men.

"Evening, gentlemen," he said chirpily. "There's a lot going on here! I saw a... situation in that hospital. Are you part of that?"

He did indeed smell awful - there was an overwhelming reek of necrotic flesh highlighted by hints of cigarette smoke and something clinical and astringent. Jarek sneezed and shook his head, bothered by it even in human form.

"Gesundheit!" the man said absentmindedly, trying to peer in the vans.

He was indeed small and slight, huddled down in a rabbit-fur lined leather greatcoat, like something an explorer or soldier might wear. His features were interesting, handsome despite that stink and his obviously underfed form. Blue eyes glinting, he offered the two men a grin.

Amp/Blast

Blast’s screams didn’t seem to have any effect on the man carrying them. They were tossed roughly into a van and they winced, landing hard on their side. Amp noticed that Ash was there, she was trembling and it looked as if she were in pain. Amp wondered what had happened to her, he figured she was one of the stronger ones and was least likely to end up hurt. Blast was still angry at the man who tossed them but by the look in the man’s deep red eyes, he didn’t want to mess with him. Neither of them didn’t know what to do, they didn’t know if they should go near Ash, last time she was scared she was screaming loudly. And they couldn’t escape; the scary man with the red eyes was standing next to the doors. In the end they gave up, they were too tired, too hungry, too hurt, too everything to try and do anything. They were caught again, and all that they expected was more pain, tests, experiments, it made their head spin and brought out a whimper from their lips. They curled up in the corner of the van, as small as they could make themselves, in an attempt to block themselves out from anything that was to come.

"Stop calling me rookie - I'm pretty sure I'm older than you," Jarek said calmly before turning his attentions back to the smaller man.

Sergei gave Camelion a saccharine smile when he called him a fool and continued scrabbling to stare at the younger mutants. He was hungry and they all looked weak and pathetic. Maybe rather than breaking a deal with one, he could simply snatch one and make a run for it. Dragging a body along was difficult, though, and he sighed. Another plan, then. He could always eat the skinny tall one with the blond hair, although it didn't look like there'd be much to him. Still plotting away, he flinched when grabbed by Camelion.

"Oh, manhandling me, are we? Why don't you screw me up against your precious van?" he purred with a perverted grin before snorting and tearing himself from the man's grasp. "As if I'd let common muck like you anywhere near me; I'm far too good for the likes of whatever you two are. You're drawing lots of attention to yourselves, you know."

He darted away from Jarek when he tried to grab at him and turned into a disgusting little creature. Its huge jaws opened in a rictus and it cheeped a bit, cheerfully, although it was clearly a warning for the other two to stay back.

"Grab me again and I'll crush your hands."

((I'll reply with Vas later when I come up with something more substantial than 'ow'.))

Sergei just laughed, still a monster. It was high-pitched and chattering on one level, bubbling from his maw. On the other, it was a sneering chuckle. It was hard to tell where the human voice came from, but it was somewhere in his vicinity in any case. He went back to softly chirping like a little sparrow, tilting his head.

"Bless, it thinks it's tough. I don't have a girl. I could always make you my bitch, though. You just carry on jacking off to the thought of me eviscerating you, badass," he snorted, turning human again and smiling condescendingly. "On a lighter note, I'll leave you two boys alone. I was only curious and you had to grab at me. I was considering offering to work for your boss, but I'm sure you'll be fine without me."

He grinned and trotted off, feeling somewhat happy he'd managed to argue with someone. From days of not eating, Sergei was feeling grouchy and irritable, and it was good to get that out. He remembered the other men in the building. Maybe they'd be more compliant. Surprisingly enough, he could be cordial at times. Maybe not easy to work with, but certainly an alright man. Just some temporary work for food and he'd be fine. He headed over to where there were people who were very obvious guards in disguise waiting, looking for their leader.

Meanwhile, Jarek tried not to laugh at the strange man. He'd never had a situation like that, and had no idea what the creature was meant to be. It was disgusting and smelly but didn't look all too dangerous. He rolled his eyes at being called 'rookie' again, but significantly settled down when he saw Caine charging along. He whined hopelessly when he saw Camelion open the other van door, but got in. When Gabriel Kowalski was angry, Jarek'd keep close to him, like a pet, normally in his creature form. It felt weird not to be close when Caine was mad or upset.

Jarek peered out of the window of the van he was in, whining constantly and lowly, wanting to be near Caine. He didn't like the look of this sudden swarn of police officers and kept a close eye on them. It seemed, however, that his master had some kind of plan, so he relaxed a little. Envy bubbled inside of him when he realised that Camelion was closer to Caine and possibly more useful to him. With a keening noise, he ran his fingers through his hair and slumped in his seat, shooting at glare at the two unconscious boys. Maybe he should have stayed at the Lab, after all. He never liked his second owner, but he missed Kowalski. He'd pined hopelessly for months after he'd died even when he should have been working efficiently. Truth be told, he still missed Gabriel Kowalski and mourned the loss of his master. The man had taught him to read and write, speak properly, let him study and become intelligent, trained him in torture... everything. And he'd died in a carcrash when Jarek was 21. He blamed himself, even though his rational side knew there was no way to prevent a carcrash.

But right now, he felt wretchedly lonely and inadequate. It wasn't a feeling the man was used to. He was letting his mind rush ahead of him. Truthfully, it was strange for him to experience any strong emotions at all. He might have seemed gleeful at times, but what counted as ecstatic for him was simple happiness for another. It wasn't something he could help, as such, just a symptom of sociopathy. Despite his sociopathic human mind, the strange servile urges of his bestial mind added another depth to his emotions. Although he did not feel sympathy (and was completely unable to empathise), he was able to be loyal and certainly understood fealty. He was sure it was his mutant side that was forcing these feelings of defectiveness upon him. He'd just have to work hard and offer himself up for other jobs, maybe translation. He'd bet that Camelion wouldn't be able to speak Polish, Russian, Arabic, French and Urdu. In his free time, Jarek sat with his nose in language books, mainly. He'd spent time speaking to the foreign mutants and workers at the Lab as well, and it'd paid off. He was only fluent in three (including English), but he realised it was a useful skill which was often in demand.

-Vasiliy-

A sudden pain swept through the man's head and his eyes flicked open. The intense flare that spread through his arm when he tried to move it was unbearable and he gritted his teeth and let out a moan of pain. Carefully looking over (even his eyes hurt), he saw bright white bone piercing flesh and felt sick to the pit of his stomach. And the girl was leant over him. The damn girl.

"You," he hissed. "You ruined my fucking arm as well as everything else?"

His eyes were bloodshot, skin pallid and greying. He attempted to sit, but let out another hopeless groan. His head throbbed relentlessly and he swore in his mother tongue. He prayed he hadn't fractured his skull.

"Why haven't you called a goddamn ambulance, you idiot? Here, use my phone."

With his good hand he groped around in his jacket pocket for his mobile phone, hand shaking as he turned it on. Thank fuck it wasn't broken. His head swam as he peered at the keypad and he tossed the phone towards Kyra. Trying to relax once more, he sighed and closed his eyes. He supposed, however, that he ought to ask after the girl's condition.

"You aren't hurt, are you?"

-Sergei-

Sergei sighed as the commanding guard rushed past with no regard for him. The short man glowered and folded his arms, sniffing haughtily. He'd make his own way to wherever they were going, and if their employers didn't want him, he'd have to sort something else instead. Turning tail, he strode off with a determined and yet somewhat wounded air. The carpark was swarming with people now and he sighed irritably. However, the copper scent of blood filled his sensitive nose and he sniffed appreciatively, turning to find the source. A young man. Now this was interesting... his eye was mechanical. He'd seen some things like this before, but not staggering around, lost. One of his creator's workmates had augmentations and bio-mechanics, but he was nothing like this.

He headed over to the young man, stomach growling hungrily.

"You'll get in trouble walking around here looking like that," he said softly, standing behind him. "I can help you out if you do me a favour, though, I'm hungry."

*Amp/Blast*

Neither of them knew officially what was going on, but were glad that they weren’t noticed. They were basically hiding between the bench and Ash’s cage, almost out of site of prying eyes. They weren’t too sure what was going to happen next and they flinched when the van started and they drove off. It was strange listening to the sounds outside because it all sounded blurred and mushed, there were no definite sounds. Amp closed his eyes and let Blast be in front, he didn’t want to try and be in control anymore. He curled up in the back of their mind and stayed there, just listening, and from where he was he could listen in on the minds around him.

He was still slightly perplexed about this because all he could ever hear before was the voices, now mind, and that was much more interesting. He felt around, two he instantly flinched away from, their minds were harsh, mean, and had a deep cruel sound to them. He felt around Matt’s and pulled away from his, it was also a bit violent but slightly different. He stopped on Ash, she was as scared as he was, he felt safe around her mind. Scared….be ok? Where we going….? He pushed the thoughts towards her, not knowing if she could hear them or not, though he wished she could.

Blast kept in front, watching out for what was going to happen to them next, he didn’t particularly like the idea of going back to the place that they had just gotten away from. Especially since they had seen some of what was out there, everything was so colorful and soft. Soft wasn’t something one normally got in the Lab, so out here is was like gold. He glanced around the van, there wasn’t too much interesting about it, besides the cage Ash was in and the strangely cold seat Matt was in. He glanced at the man he had dubbed as ‘Evil Eyes’ and listened to the conversation with the other. He hadn’t figured out a name for him yet but just watched and listened, he would figure one out soon enough.