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A later hour, but it had been a long day. Unlike Raven, Victor couldn't even get drunk afterwards too. Downsides of his abilities were few, but sometimes really felt. He'd entered, his coat had been deposited on the arm of the couch he'd swiftly fallen on with a heavy thud. Now? The large man scratched at his beard and exhaled a breath.
This was as close to a home as he'd had for a while. Even if Cain had been making a song and dance of protecting Mutant Town he was still here, just as Lynette was. Woe to anyone who might risk attacking the place again…
*
The smells of the room were at least soothing. It was something sugary and spicy, apple pie topped with crumble was bubbling away in a questionable oven. Sitting up on a counter top was the floofy haired mambo, her curls tucked back and away into a wrap of crimson fabric. The flat was also 'roasting' thanks to the girl's dislike for the cold. Thankfully for them, their new living quarters had an amazing radiator.
Hearing him enter, that flump and sigh, the girl looks up from an old book she had been studying, intently, for days now. Dogearing her place, she sets it aside and slips off her seat. Silent, she pads closer to the large man and looks over him, her fingers reaching out and scritching at his scalp. "S'wrong?"
*
"History bitin' me in the ass." Victor answers with a grunt, eyes closed for a moment as he inhales the scent of the food. The byproduct of the heat? Well, even he can get uncomfortable with temperature extremes. The scruffy man reaches up to yank his shirt off and toss it towards the bundle of fur that is his jacket before he lays back bare-chested. "Raven…she'd been keeping some secrets from me. More then just the whole 'not dead, actually a mutant shapeshifter' thing too."
*
"Didn' t'ink she de most trustin' lady in de first place." Lyn murmurs, watching the shirt fly and pulling away. Moving to the heater, she turns it down, at least a bit, before heading back to the sofa. Crawling up to sit close to its arm, she wiggles until her lotus bent legs now form a pillow for the wild Canadian. Working her fingers in his hair, and under his chin, she watches his face, even while her own shows curiosity. "So, y'wan' talk 'bout it?"
*
A half-smile from the man as she wriggles her way under his dark hair and heavy form to make a pillow of herself. He reaches a hand up, lazily tangling a finger in her own hair for a moment before lowering it again. "Gonna come out sooner or later," he speaks. "She and I, when we hooked up back…well, a long time ago. She threw me off a bridge and thought I died? Turns out she was pregnant at the time."
There's a pause there, he watches Lyn's face for a reaction, but even so he's made to double down. "I found out when I caught his scent. The guy in charge of the attack here? He's human, and he's our son."
*
Lynette smiles, resting her wrapped head into his hand, even as he seems to find a few loose curls that have escaped. Still working, massaging, scratching, she listens. She knew about them being together, but hey, he keeps talking. Blinking, her dark eyes rest on the man's face, and then /more/ comes to light. Her fingers ceases their movements, and after a few moments of silence, the girl scoffs. "Well…damn. Y'doin' ok?" A pause, "We still killin' de fuck'r?"
*
"Honestly?" Victor says with a pause. "I'm fine, but a little angry about not knowin', more angry about the fact my blood is runnin' through the veins of some waste of space like that…" a shake of his head, he turns his gaze back towards the door. "Raven wants him alive, if we can manage it. But I told her I'd put him down in a heartbeat if it came to it. Doubt he'd stop for some warm and fuzzy family ideal."
*
"Ain' y'fault, y'know? Y'didn' know 'bout 'm, n'I doubt Raven raised de boy, neitha." Brushing back his hair, she cups her palm on his brow, jaw, and cheeks before giving the very tip of his nose a soft 'boop' of her finger. "I ain't de best t'talk 'bout fam'ly stuff. I mean, I killed most 'f dem years back, n'de otha week, y'helped me kill de rest." Blank faced, she takes a breath and sighs. "S'up t'm if we brin'm back dead 'r not."
*
"Said she only held him for a day, doubt raising kids was her style. Probably wasn't mine either even if I had known back then." The boop earns a half-quirk of the corner of his mouth in a smile before he shrugs. "It's in Raven's hands now. Comes to it? I'll kill him and sleep easy that same night, but she's our leader. She can' make the call till I decide otherwise."
*
"S'ppose. I ain't lettin' dese people down, dough. S'gone too far, n'if she ain't dere, well…like I said. D'pends on 'm, don' it?" Another boop, she glances up toward the kitchen, her lips moisten as she passes her tongue, 'smelling' the dish in the oven. "I be back 'n a sec, de pie's done." Gently moving herself away from his head, the girl strides back into the kitchen and starts pulling the dessert out of the oven, setting it aside and allowing it to cool. "Hey, Vict'r? Y'wanna a drink 'r 'nyt'ing?"
*
VX has arrived.
*
It wasn't too hard to pick out Victor and Lyn's place in Mutant Town. After all, asking where 'the big guy' went tended to get you two options. To rule out Cain Marko? You just had to ask for the one with the beard. Currently he was laying back in the overly heated flat, dealing with a day's worth of revelations and generally bad news. When Lynette goes striding out of the room he nods. "If we've got beer, bring it…if it's cold anyway." There were downsides to living with someone who was basically a reptile when you spent most of your time wearing fur.
*
The roar of VX's Harley is pretty easily heard even over the din of everything happening around the area, even heavy machinery moving around doesn't drown out the rumble. Normally he wouldn't ask for help with something like this, after all he has a rather unique gift when it comes to interrogation. But all the information in the world won't do him any good if he doesn't pass it to the right people or at least potential allies. And so he is moving up to the door of one of the only other mutants he knows that is willing to fight back just like he is. He limps slightly up to the door, clearly favouring one side of his body before knocking loudly to announce his presence.
*
"Yeah, we got s'm. N'turn dey heat'r down if y'wan'. I c'n get a blanket." The girl mutters, going about opening the icebox and claiming a bottle of brew. The sound of the bike does get her attention, and all the more so once a knock thunks against the door. Blinking, she eyes Victor and then sets the bottle down. Moving to the door, she moves her fingers over the knob, before allowing it to open, quickly. She stood behind it, out of sight, waiting. The flat is indeed warm, but not oppressively so anymore. It smells of sweat, sweet soups, beer, and more recently, hot spices of a freshly made (and cooling) apple pie.
*
The smell and the sound make it pretty clear someone's approaching, but at least it's not some wanker in a sports car to flash his cash. "It's unlocked," he calls, but Lynette has already beat him to it while he sits himself up on the couch properly and twists the cap off the neck of the drink, downing a mouthful with a sigh of some minor relief. The door opens to a familier face, but odds are he'd smelt the scent of the chemical mutant already and knew whom stood on the other side of the threshold. "Beer?" he offers lazily, as much a greeting as any other. "Who kicked your ass?"
*
"Sure a beer would be good." VX steps through the door and shrugs out of his heavy leather coat, it may not be as stuffy as it was before but it is still more than enough to make that kind of cover a little warm. He looks to the side spotting the other occupant but doesn't comment on it instead slightly inclining his head. "Just a bunch of punks. Bats and handguns. To many people around for me to use my powers though. Caught me with a lucky shot. But they won't be bothering anybody else anymore." He shakes his head and moves a little deeper inside. "But that is not why I came here. After the fiasco that we both got in on i decided I was sick of being on the backfoot. Went out and caught myself someone that we can pump some intel out of. Find out what the FOH is trying to protect so we can take it from them."
*
When Victor doesn't pounce at whoever came knocking, Lyn moves, peeking out from behind the door, her crimson wrapped curls showing up before her dark eyes do. She waves, a wiggle of her fingers, and once it's official that Victor knows him, she closes the door and locks it. Grabbing a second bottle, she offers it to VX and then pads back into the kitchen, serving up slices of the pie for both men. "Have a sit down first." The Creole insists, glancing over his wounded limbs and seeming to consider something, nibbling at her lower lip while doing so. "Y'do? Heard tell de othas got one, too. Guess dey like c'llect'bles now." She muses, winking toward Creed before looking VX's way again. "M'Lynette, by de way."
*
There isn't a heap of furniture in the dwelling, but there's enough. Besides, Victor is happy to sit himself on the floor. "Good," he simply nods his approval to the other mutant. Waiting for him to take his seat before he responds to the followup, giving a little bark of amusement at the information. "Hope he's good an 'comfortable'," the man smirks. "But there's no sense in leaving him stewing. I'm sure we can ask him things nicely and get him to spill his guts."
*
VX moves to take a seat as he is urged before he pops the top off his beer. He takes a pull of the brew and looks down at the pie curiously. "The others? They go and grab a recruiter too? Figured it was the best way to start working my way down the chain." He grins at the woman, a smirk remaining on his face as he speaks "My names Marcus. Some people call me VX, mainly the media who have no idea what they are talking about."
The man nods to Victor as he takes another sip from his beer, savouring the taste before answering. "Yeah he is nice and comfortable, not going anywhere either. And i have a pretty good plan as to how to get the information out of him too. Just thought you might want to be a part of it. And you might know who to pass any intel on to."
*
Lynette looks at both Victor, and VX. "Marcus." She repeats, and when no pie is accepted, the mocha skinned girl shrugs her slender shoulders and moves back to the kitchen. The sweets would keep for later, after all. She doesn't interupt, but the question about the Brotherhood has her nodding. "Yeah. Don' know 'bout de questionin' dere jus' yet, but yeah. Wit de pair, t'ink we get s'm good info outta dem." She, too, sits on the floor, still eyeing Marc's wounds. "If y'wan' m'help, I c'n do dat, too. We c'n make sure de info get t'Raven n'Domino 't least."
*
"Nothin' wrong with the idea of poolin' what we know," Victor nods, another pull from his beer before he shrugs his shoulders. "We've learned a couple of things, but if what they say and what we say matches up? Good. If they tell us somethin' we don't know? Better." He looks to Lyn, nodding his head while absently scratching at his beard. Probably better she talk to Raven at the moment anyway, all things considered. "Well, finish your beer and tell us where you've got the rat stashed."
*
"I don't need much help getting the information. I have a pretty…good idea of how to get it. Not that he would say that." VX keeps the almost sinister smile on his face as he reaches into his jacket and pulls out two syringes. "Sodium thiopental or 'truth serum' if you will although that is a misnomer, it should loosen him up a little." He slides the syringe back into his jacket and holds up the other "And this is platypus venom. Excruciatingly painful, enough that it is incapacitating to most men. And on top of that it is known to cause a heightened sensitivity to other sources of pain." He looks down at his own wound for a moment, idly probing the sight. "Don't worry about me, i'll be fine. Just need to ice and wrap it."
"And if it does not match up then we pit them against each other until one of them tells us the whole truth. And we can at least run any new intel past the other and glean something from their reactions." He takes another long pull from his beer "He isn't far. Got him in the basement of a collapsed building, chained tight to the main structural support."
*
Soon, once the bottles are drained, the trio (at least two of them) dress for the cold outside. Thankfully, for Lynette mostly, it's not a far walk. The building was indeed abandoned, with broken chain-links and signs warning to 'KEEP OUT', few would be caught here unless they were squatters, and in desperate need of some shelter.
The basement was void of life and light, smelling of sweat, piss, tears, and the dusty must of age and neglect. Chained to the center support is a once handsome man, with auburn hair and sickly yellow eyes. His clothing is worse for wear, showing stains in certain places, and his arms are akimbo in an uncomfortable position. The chains that hold him secure have began to bite into his skin, rubbing them raw and now coated in a fine layer of blood thanks to his former, more strength worthy struggles.
Upon entering, the girl in a head wrap quickly reaches up and covers her mouth, not allowing much air to enter between her lips and wash over her 'scent' sensitive tongue. "Merde…" She curses gently.
*
Victor had replaced his coat and his shirt for the journey, he'd even wolfed down the entire pie slice he'd been offered in about two bites. Even killer mutants liked pie damn it! Stepping into the basement, the taller mutant gives a sniff, frowning a little at the harshness of it. He'd been to war and he'd certainly smelt fear, but he wasn't smelling anything familier. This recruiter was a new face that he doubted had been to mutant town, but that didn't mean he wasn't worthless when it came to giving them information. "Impressive," he speaks of the restraints to VX before stepping forwards towards the man, grabbing for a fistfull of his hair.
"Wake up rat, time to start squeaking."
*
"Sorry about the smell. This isn't exactly a prison. And I am fresh out of mercy for people like him." VX looks down on the prisoner with clear hatred in his eyes, his entire body tensing wanting nothing more than to beat the information out of the man. Perhaps unluckily for the man he has trained himself to be more merciful then that. He moves off to a rough table that has various pieces of scrap metal and what not atop of it. He clears a space and carefully places down his jacket before placing the syringes down on top of it. His hand taking up a metal pipe as he comes to stand back in front of his captive.
VX makes sure he has the mans attention before he continues. "Now you have seen a little of what I can do. But you have no real idea yet." The pipe in VX's hand starts to smoke before it falls apart, falling to the ground in two seperate pieces with a loud clang. "I can make you feel unimaginable pain. I can pour acid through your eyes, i can make you feel the most painful venom of all the different animals around the world with only a thought. And if you really drive me to it i can rig it up until you watch your own dick dissolve a single drop of acid at a time until there is nothing left." He pauses in his speech and kneels down to properly look the man in the eyes "So is there anything you wanted to talk to me about before i get to all the fun stuff?"
*
ROLL: Lynette +rolls 1d10 for a result of: 9
*
A voice, a growl, a yank of hair, the clattering of metal, and then the countless threats of someone who was good on his word. The man wakes up, and he is paying attention. He glares at the pair, his eyes moving from one, to the other, and even peeking pass them and eyeing up Lynette as she keeps her distance, hand still up and protecting her senses. A rumble sounds in the man's throat as his focus returns to the men towering over him. This was a moment of choices. His next words would help decide how his next few moments in life were going to turn out.
"Fuck you, you mutie freaks."
*
Victor actually laughs, a barking noise from the bearded man as he looks up at the roof and then to Vx and Lyn in turn. The noise is genuine, but that makes it all the more sinister before he reaches out with a swiping motion, a splash of blood coming from the motion before the pain follows and he stoops, picking up the large chunk of what used to be the man's ear. So he wasn't quite the same in his interrogation methods as VX, go figure.
Lifting the severed ear to his mouth he speaks again, eyes level with the bound man. "Maybe you didn't hear us. Time to answer some questions, quickly and politely. Or my friend and I will have a contest on who can inflict the most pain on you before you bleed out. Personally, I like my odds."
*
"I pictured you for a weaker man. Good on you for proving me wrong." VX stands back up and moves over to the table. "Give me five minutes and then we will see if you feel like changing your mind. I know that you hate me and my kind, we will see how long it is until pain overcomes hate. I almost wish I could record it, but i guess that is just the scientist in me."
He looks at Victor as he moves to the table "Leave enough of his ears that he can still hear our questions." He picks up the Sodium thiopental and moves back over jabbing the needle into him before slowly pressing down on the plunger. "Now i did my homework for this. You would be suprised at the book your local library keeps. This is the exact not so recommended dose for somebody of your weight. So I don't need to be afraid of overdosing you, you won't get out of this that easily." He picks up the second syringe and injects it into the man "This is the first of those venoms i was telling you about. And by no means the worst, after all i need someplace to go after this. Don't worry this won't kill you either. It is not lethal, just incredibly painful."
*
ROLL: Lynette +rolls 1d10 for a result of: 7
*
Lynette couldn't judge, wouldn't judge, and after the choice had been made, the girl steps back from the pair and moves around, before plopping on to the ground and simply watching. They were better at these things, even if the girl had her own skills, they were not needed. She would bare witness. Smirking, she does give a soft wiggle of her fingers, and both VX and Creed could see a creeping darkness slipping up the man's body before it covers his eyes in darkness.
The slash across his ear, peeling away the lobe and shell drags a cry from his lips. Soon, he stifles it, panting and fuming from behind gritted teeth. Spittle bubbles and flys with some of his heated breaths. A needle sinks in, and soon another as well. A few moments pass, his thumping, thundering heart pumps, working the toxins through his system, and then his world goes dark. His pain ramps up even as crimson flows down his jaw and throat, sinking into his skirt and flowering scarlet.
"FUCK!" He vocalizes, his body giving a struggle against his bindings. "I CAN'T SEE! YOU LYING PRICK! YOU BLINDED ME!" Lyn giggles. The man pulls all the more, even as his breathing becomes more frantic and aware. "Do what you want you monsters! All you're doing is proving me right! I'm not squealing!"
*
Victor merely flicks the severed part at the man's face as the yelling starts, effectively slapping him with his own ear before he steps back away from the panicking man and back towards Lyn. He'll let VX do what he wants first, after all in his own experience the people who bought syringes to an interrogation rather then merely blades? They often knew what they were doing. He leans against the wall, folding his massive arms casually and gesturing in a mute 'go on' towards the man.
*
"My five minutes isn't up yet. I have only just gotten started, I didn't mention this to you yet. But the venom i injected you with heightens your sensitivity to pain. Unfortunate." VX kneels down once again and holds out his hand his thumb glistening slightly as it is covered by a clear thin liquid. He slowly presses it into the side of the mans knee, the flesh melting away as he inserts his thumb into the flesh before he starts to wrench at the mans kneecap from the inside.
*
Lynette rests back against Victor's leg, eyes forward and darkness still coating the captive's eyes. She listens to his words when he speaks, both his and VX's in turn. The man struggles around the column, and then a 'hiss' twists into the air. Clothing melts, giving a tell-tale aroma of melting synthetics and then flesh bubbles and pops back as it becomes tight like a drum due to the heat. It doesn't stop there, and the more his digit digs, the more the man trembles.
He doesn't hold his tongue for long now, as wails of abject horror and pain echo against the walls of the vacant lot's basement. "CHRIST! STOP! STOP!" Stubborn loyalty only lasts for so long, of course. "I'LL TALK! STOP! GOD, PLEASE!!! WHATEVER YOU WANT!" The action even makes the dark skinned girl shrink back against Creed's limb, the darkness, and her ability to control it, falling away, returning the man's weepy, red-strung sight.
*
Burnin flesh? He hadn't smelt that in a while. Not mixed with acid anyway. He doesn't flinch at the torture, nor does he recoil at the cries, instead he lazily reaches out his arm to pull Lyn closer to his chest, letting the woman take refuge from the reality by tucking herself against his coat should she desire while nodding to the other mutant. He can ask his questions first, Victor will add his own when he needs to.
*
"Less than five minutes. That is how much time all that hate let you last for. You should think on that." VX stands and shakes his head moving over to a bucket of water he had set in the corner from delivering the man, he quickly washes his hands diluting the acid enough it does not eat through the bucket at least not immediately. "Start talking. And do not hold out on me. If I think there is more that you know I will go digging again. And I am not even done with the first knee yet. Remember that." He comes back to the front of the man and kneels once more "I want the names of everyone you know, where you meet. How you get in contact. Every single thing you know about the friends of Humanity."
*
Lynette pulls at the slack of Creed's slacks, pulling herself up to standing, and sinking against his chest. Even so, she keeps her eyes on the one known as Marcus, and the snot-draining, sniffling figure still chained. The man whimpers, his mind racing in that known feeling of 'who will hurt me more if I talk'. The answer was apparent, and all the more so as juices flow continue to flow from the side of his head and the new 'vent port' in his leg.
"O-o-o-ok." Then, names start flowing, like water. Places, too. It seems that the FoH have meeting spots, numerous, in different burrows of the city; the only place not on said list is Harlem. There's a comment on the main branch starting in Brooklyn, and how he was approached by a co-worker on a build sight he works at. This man? His name is Walter Jones; and he's a welder by trade. He use to have black hair and clover eyes, but not anymore, obviously.
"W-we just call each out. Use letters, bill-b-billboards at work. Simple shit." Huffing, he takes a moment to sob, everything catching up with him until he finally voices. "Creed. The leader's name is Graydon Creed. I-He kinda looks like me, but, I…shit. Shit, shit, shit!"
*
Someone probably would expect Victor to react a little more poorly to the fact that the man leading the FoH shares his name. He probably would have too, were it not for a discovery earlier in the week and the recent discussion with Raven in regards to a few secrets she'd kept along with kicking him off a damn bridge. He says nothing, but there's a little narrowing of his eyes while he listens none the less.
*
"But you…?" VX lets himself trail off. "Come on you were doing so well." VX shakes his head slightly as he looks at the man, actually rather happy with the amount of info they have gleaned even if it does have to be cross referenced and checked. No matter what though it will still be useful. He turns slightly to look at Creed and Lynette "That match up with anything the two of you have heard?" He waits for their answer as he turns back to the man, lightly cupping his face and slapping him almost tenderly "You get to live a little longer, i'll even bring you some half decent food. You are buying though. And if this information pans out? After I have acted on it i'll even let you go."
*
"Don' know, chere. Don' t'ink de othas question dere c'ntact jus' yet. We pass 't 'long 'nyway, non?" The name catches her off guard, even causing her obsidian eyes to lead up toward Creed. She remembers what he told her before, but now, the lost babe had a name, and it was his.
The man sputters and huffs, saliva and blood weeping from his flubbing lips, and the slap only seeming to make it worse. "I don't l-look like him. Not n-naturally. They c-changed me, see? They're l-lots of us. T-to protect Creed."
*
Keeping his surname? He'd ask Raven later if that was some bad joke on her part after she'd thought him dead. Either way it could wait. "Makes sense. The smell didn't match, even if he looked similar. No body double is going to fool me…" A pause, thoughts occur to him as he finally speaks up to ask his own question. "They change you to make you look like 'im? Where. Not gonna be recarvin' faces on every street corner."
*
"They changed you? Changed you how? Surgery or something else?" He leans back on his heels slightly "Guess i'll just have to kill everyone with your face. How hard could it really be. Apart from you of course. I don't think you are the big bad boss chained up in my basement like this." He notices the others reactions, but he doesn't question it for now. Afterall they will need to debrief after this anyway. He looks towards Victor as the man speaks, so more than regeneration and what not. Heightened senses as well. Well that is pretty neat. "Well that should speed up the 'killing all of them' plan."
*
Lynette gently grips against Victor's shirt, keeping herself within his hold, hugging around him all the more, now feeding off his warmth. She doesn't speak, returning to listening more than anything else.
"Brooklyn." He answers, giving a location before dragging his teeth across his upper lip, then lower lip. "Please…" he then whispers, stressing toward Marcus. "Just…let me go and you'll never see me again. I got folks in Kansas, I can just…get lost, y'know? Disappear…"
*
Victor actually chuckles for a moment, a dark noise before he gestures for the door, moving to guide Lynette from the room and glance back over his shoulder at VX. "Pack up your toys however you please. There's nowhere on this Earth he can disappear to that I won't find him." With that threat spoken clearly to both prisoner and imprisoner alike, he starts to make his way out of the room. They had a place to start tearing the gears out of the FoH's machine now.
*
"Not yet my friend. I said I will let you go after we have acted on your intel. I am not going to let you go and warn people. And I need someone to talk to about all this if it leads me into a trap or just plain old doesn't pan out." He turns to follow Victor and Lynette "I'll be back later with some food and water. Don't go anywhere." He makes his way up the stairs slowly before getting out and breathing in some fresh air with a satisfied sigh. "Well that was something." He trembles slightly as he adrenaline rushes and starts to die off "But at least we got what we wanted."