Ever since the first of the Zodiac strikes had occurred, the mutant community had been on hight alert.

The reasons were varied but the popular consensus seemed to lay within only a choice few ideals. Firstly, threats had always been leveled against mutants, either individually or as a whole. They were usually disregared or isolated enough that they were little more than a foot note. But in one day, the Zodiac's had actively attacked four mutants, two well known on both sides, the other two more obsurce but clearly deadly strong. And they had utterly crushed them...for all intents and purposes, it looked like they had put them six feet under. They showed they had the power to carry out their threats...and that every mutant was a target.

And secondly, there was always the hidden threat that arose from this. The threat from humans. Humans had been caught in the crossfire of some of these incidents that had happened since and once again, humanity saw how they were at the mercy of their superior breathen. The possibilty that humanity would rally against mutants, as they had done before, was very real. And for those who had suffered the camps, it was a very terrifying one at that.

And still the Zodiacs waited, knowing that the times to strike were not yet proper. They were reeling themselves, after the loss of one of their own and several shocking revelations since. Leo was dead...killed by the man he was supposed to have crushed, Cold Steel. The viligante mutant from Sanctuary, Kyle aka Forte, was alive as well, as was the Bone Queen, Isabel Duskmoor. Their killers had failed as well and tension was high as they sought to find an answer to this dilemina.

One man didn't care for any of that. One man cared for only one thing since its revelation and one thing only. Ending Isabel Duskmoor himself, weeping at his feet in pain and terror. Eyes watched for him, watched for her to slip up, to leave herself at his pleasure and mercy.

And Cancer finally found his chance with a sick smile on his face.

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It was only a matter of time, Kyle mused silently to himself from his hiding spot outside Sanctuary. Took longer then expected but nevertheless, it was bound to happen.

The matter to which he spoke of was currently sneaking from Sanctuary's golden doors, making good time in her efforts to get away from the building as quickly as possible. Although he was at a distance, Kyle knew exactly who it was from the way she moved..and from the bone limbs she was using to move herself. Isabel Duskmoor was taking advantage in a lapse in Zephyr's ever watching guard to sneak out to cause trouble...just as predicted.

Both Kyle and Zephyr knew that Isabel would never remain idle, at least not for any prolonged period of time. The woman loved her freedom and loved being able to cause havoc just as much. Since the Zodiac Cancer had almost put her where no one but Zeph had ever come close, she had been kept from going out alone...something that she defied at every chance. Initially, the plan had been to keep hidden till they had a place they could strike at. That plan had gone out the window when Orochi had attacked Sanctuary; both Isabel and Kyle had been exposed as being alive to the Zodiacs. It was only a matter of time before they came calling.

So Zephyr had opted a new approach; to make it possible for Isabel to escape, making it seem as if she was outsmarting him in order to do it...and then keeping a close eye on her. Based off what they knew of her attacker, he would seek her eventually but only when she was alone. And so it fell to Kyle to be the second set of eyes, to watch from the shadows when she escaped and to follow and assist her if the Zodiac's should appear. She would hate the idea which was why she wasn't told...and it would sell the trap much better.

Quietly, Kyle shook his head as he lowered his helmet into place and started his bike to follow the woman. It was a huge risk to be taking, this ploy. But Kyle had no intentions of letting it fail...or of letting Isabel fall. And so slowly he started tailing her, a task unto itself when she really wanted to move.

All the while, another set of eyes was watching her...and deciding where to bait the prey.

As much as Isabel loved the Sanctuary, she couldn't confine herself in it for very long without coming down with a serious case of cabin fever. Being inside for too long made her feel trapped and spending a few hours out in the city usually alleviated the feeling. However, with Zephyr on her back about keeping an even lower profile than usual it was getting more difficult to go anywhere for any amount of time. But he couldn't watch her every minute of every so she just had to irritably bide her time until she had a chance to sneak out.

Sneaking may not be the best word for it. Isabel never had been one for subtlety and she had no problem simply walking out the front doors. I the windbag was keeping tabs on her and wanted to stop her then he would have done so before she'd made it out onto the street. Hurrying to get out the door would only draw more attention to herself anyway, whereas sauntering her way out was far less suspicious.

Once she was a few streets over from where the Sanctuary stood she constructed her bone appendages and quickly scaled the nearest building. Rooftops might make her an easier target for a certain blowhard, but it allowed her to avoid attention from the majority of people out on the street which both kept any authorities off her back and let her spend some time to herself without any aggravations or murderous temptations. She didn't have any particular destination in mind, she just wanted to be out and about wandering for a while until she settled enough to be able to comfortable return to the Sanctuary.

Cancer, despite all appearances, was a paitent man. He'd learned, through trial and error, that the best things come to those who wait for them. And the tortured screams of his victims were all that much sweeter the longer he waited to hear them...and the longer he prolonged them.

And his paitence had finally paid off. His spies, the ones who watched Sancutary activity 24/7, finally reported the news he wanted to hear. His prey had finally emerged from her hiding hole. Sure, the spies had been told to report on all activity that occured in that nest of mutants, sending hourly updates back to command and to the General. But this piece of information was for him alone. He had made sure of it.

Or so he thought. Within minutes of the report, his link to the General pinged and a message arrived, throughly encrypted. It was but a moment for the program on his computer to decrypt the message and as Cancer looked at it, he scrowled in frustration. The Bone has moved. Your time is now. Sending the Archer to assist. Do not fail. Within moments, the message was gone, deleted by a hidden virus created to clear their logs, so that no communication could be traced back to them.

"A shame. Looks like I'll have company for my date." And then he was gone, out to finally set the trap he'd been waiting so long to spring.

It wasn't hard to keep up with the spies, who reported her movements to him and adjust to get ahead. Dusk was falling now and the city was glowing as thousands of lights flickered on to illuminate the darkness. To illuminate him. Once he was sure he would be in her path and after conferring with his...comrade...Cancer waited, signalling a man to take a shot at the woman and draw her attention. Provided it worked, he would be the one she saw, all deathly pale and smiling, a little wave of his gastly fingers. And then he would be gone, disappearing amongst the trees of the nearby Central Park. To where his trap awaited. Come get me, little flower. So I can pluck your petals, one by bloody one.

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As it were, keeping up with Isabel wasn't hard. Pretty tough to miss the spider like bone legs she'd created that propelled her across rooftops with ease. As an added bonus, he could spot them from afar, so it wasn't hard to maintain a respectable distance and keep an eye on her at the same time. In his biker outfit , she likely wouldn't recognize him anyway. Couple that with his low humming engine and Kyle might as well have been any other ghost on the streets tonight.

Still no sign of trouble. Maybe we were wrong. Maybe the Zodiac's have...

The sound of a rifle being fired silenced the thought in his head in an instance and his eyes snapped up, looking for the source of the shot. He couldn't see anyone, at least not from street level. But someone had fired a weapon and one look at Isabel's sudden shift in stance told him who had been the intended target. Kyle couldn't see who, nor could he see if any damage had been done to her...but he could tell she'd seen something.

Or someone. Kyle cursed under his breath as something headed into the park ahead. And the game begins. He reeved his bike and headed for the nearest alley to park it and armor up. It was time to end another constellation of the night.

Dusk and nightfall were quickly becoming Isabel's preferred times of day, almost entirely because it made sneaking around that much easier. Dusk created a natural glare, amplified by all the glass from the widows in the surrounding buildings which she could use to her advantage, while nighttime provided her with dark pockets to discover and take advantage of if she didn't want to be seen. Not that anything ever really hindered the blowhard if he wanted to find her, but any kind of advantage was welcome.

She hadn't been planning to be out for too long. Just enough time to appreciate the sensation of freedom and space, even if it was an illusion. All she had planned was to make a large loop out away from the Sanctuary and then back again, large enough for her to expend some energy and frustration but not so large that making her way back would become tedious.

Her pace had slowed from a more frantic scrabbling in her haste to get out to a more comfortable gait. She wasn't in any hurry to complete her circuit and return to a potential scolding should he presence at the Sanctuary be missed. She'd just alighted on one rooftop and was making an on-the-fly decision on which building to aim for next when a loud crack split through the normal city commotion and she found herself suddenly scrambling to regain her balance.

Something had struck one of her extra appendages and splintered the bone about halfway up its length. The damage was easily repaired and she managed not to let the force of the blow knock her down but that didn't mean there was no harm done. Someone had deliberately launched an attack on her and would likely do so again if she didn't retreat or find the culprit and retaliate. She swung around to see if she could spot the assailant, her armor rising into place beneath her clothing, hidden so as not to give off the impression that she was going on the defensive.

It wasn't hard to spot the familiar figure as he stood waiting for her acknowledgement with a cocky little wave before promptly disappearing into the Park where she'd first met him. He chest suddenly felt tight and the little hairs n the back of her neck stood on end while she watched him retreat. He obviously meant for her to follow him, but she wasn't entirely sure she was up for that particular chase.

Her previous experience with the pale freak had been far from pleasant and it was incredibly hard not to let the memories of the fight invade her thoughts at any given moment throughout the day and night. The guy had very nearly killed her, him and his partner leaving her to bleed to death in the Park after a nasty fight. But Zephyr had managed to collect her in time to find a healer and prevent her from losing more than just the fight.

The thought bolstered her courage and her anger ignited. If she wound up needing help again, it was an easy phone call away. But the difference between this meeting and the last is that this time she knew his tricks and could anticipate them. No number of bad memories were going to stop her from reaching his scrawny throat this time. She could keep her head and stamp down any panic she might feel.

The rooftop was quickly abandoned as she descended to enter the Park. Twice now he'd found and attacked her and she was going to make certain there wouldn't be a third encounter.

Cancer danced like a man who'd just been told he was finally free of captivity, of a soul told he was no longer going to die, of a man who'd just been told he was about to be a father. He hadn't been this happy in weeks, having been stuck handling lesser tasks, lesser duties, always pushed away from his prey that had escaped him. How he wanted to taste her fear again, to find solice in watching the anger and rage die in her eyes to be replaced with the knowledge that this time, she would not escape him. No one to interrupt him this time, to steal his kill. This time, Isabel Duskmoor would be his.

The shot at her did little more then to surprise and confuse her momentarily, as he had expected it to do. Her bone armor was much too strong, even though he'd told the man that fired it not to cause any damage to her. Just to catch her attention on him, that was the plan. He had a stronger rifle at the ready, one that would crack her armor like butter if fired, oh those mighty cannons humanity made. But he wouldn't use it, not if Cancer succeeded. This was his kill but the General would not tolerate failure again. If Cancer failed, the sniper would not. So Cancer was sure not to fail.

He could hear her now, approaching fast, her bone legs ripping through rock and dirt and pavement to gain on him. And he was ready, standing in an open space surrounded by trees, the perfect place for his stage. Then he turned and waited, till her familiar form burst forth into the area, a horrifying sight to be sure to anyone else.

"Isabel Duskmoor, as I live and breath. I had thought that silly fool with his sword and his honor had stolen you from me...and yet, here you are, as if placed on a platter for me to enjoy once more. " His smile was twisted and wide on that pale palor, like a man on stage he played his role. "I see I've made your ire rise but don't worry...it shall change soon enough. Now...what horror of your past would you like to see first? Oh...I know." And just like that, the guards of the camps, two of them, hissed to life beside him. "Ready to play my dear?"

And forward they rushed, the game afoot.

Following the little freak wasn't exactly difficult once Isabel had made it to the street and through the gates of the Park. With her abilities she could move much more quickly than him, and even with his head start it wouldn't take very long for her to catch up to him. Running him down didn't turn out to be a necessity, though, since he seemed to have stopped to wait for her to join him in a small clearing.

That smile stretched across his pale face was just as revolting as she remembered it to be and his theatrical way of speaking was still sickening. But the difference between the current encounter and the last one was she knew what kind of tricks he would pull and she was prepared for them. She knew what his powers were and he couldn't catch her by surprise anymore.

She faced off with him across the clearing, allowing him to spout his nonsense without retort. The guy wasn't a fighter himself. He'd rely on his constructs to do his dirty work for him and she wanted to see what he pulled out before she began her charge. It would be easier to reach him if she knew what would be standing in her way. Not that it would slow her down very much.

And right away he was trying the same tricks he pulled the first time. A pair of Stalker Bots had materialized on either side of him. Isabel really, really hated those things and had to actively keep herself from taking a step back in defense. Against actual Stalkers she hadn't turned out to be much of a match, but with these things she was sure she could make better progress. If nothing else she just had to keep them from getting a good hold on her so she could get to the mutant. If she got to him, his little show would be over.

"Really? Is that the best you can do?" Two long blades grew from her outer forearms while she glowered at the constructs, pushing down the shudder that was trying to run up her spine at the sight of them. They weren't real and she knew it. They were just creations puppeted by the pale creep. All she had to do was get past them to cut him down. Still raised up on her appendages she charged, aiming to cut down the guards and then move on to the creep.

"The best? Far from it my dear. But like any good meal, one starts with the appetizers before getting to the main course. For you, these are the appetizers...and the fear that drips from you because of them just wets my tongue." If his look could get anymore depraved and disturbing, his pink tongue gliding along pale lips, dripping with saliva, might do just that. Oh, she put on a brave face for sure...but he could sense her fear, just beyond the rage. And it was growing steadily.

The Stalkers hissed at her as she begun her approach, those eyeless automations moving like the serpents they were based off of with frightening accuracy. The secondary mouths snapped out, both a physical weapon and a powerful laser when need arose. They watched as Isabel prepared herself and charged towards them before they sprung, one diving under her, its powerful spiked tail driving up at her no doubt armored torso, while the other dove straight at her, claws extended and an unnatural screech echoing around the park.

Cancer, of course, had taken a few steps back from the fight, letting the creations of her mind do the fighting for him. Sure, he wasn't a fighter but he didn't need to be, not when people destroyed themselves for him. And worse come to worst, he had the Jackal, his perfect creation, ready to fight at a moment's notice. He was simply setting the stage, the camp growing around them as she fought and his sickening voice filled her ears.

"Oh my dear...they are very real. As real as you and me and just waiting to remind you why you were so weak and powerless before them." He was already plotting a few other ploys in case the Stalkers were not enough. And there was no need to tell her that the more she feared them, the more real she made them and the stronger they became. "But struggle for me...the fear when you realize you're powerless will be "delicious!" And he was grinning from ear to ear.