Something was shifting, in the bushes. A glowing white figure - a woman of some sort, prowling around the premises, focused on a lone mutant walking through the grounds of the X-Mansion.

Ambrose didn't intend to intervene. He hadn't intended to stop by at all - but the two white figures, glowing bright with life, were too curious to ignore. One predator, one prey, and he was very much wondering who his fellow hunter was.

He'd landed safely away from the figures, landing on the ground with a thump that was unavoidable, considering his current form, and slid through the bushes not unlike a lizard towards his two targets. Neither was moving fast enough to get away from him, so he was easily able to catch up, and was not prowling through the undergrowth near-silently. Leaves were rustling, but it was a relatively windy night, so nothing sounded particularly out of the ordinary. Whoever the other hunter was, she wouldn't suspect anything until Ambrose was so close it wasn't possible not to notice him.

And he was nearing that zone right about now.

"Hello," he breathed out, muzzle inches away from the back of the other person's head. "Out for a little recreational hunting, are we?"

Isabel usually gave the Mansion a wide berth, knowing that her presence would likely incite a bit of a riot with a sizable chunk of the residents living there. Her visits in the past had never really gone pleasantly, ranging anywhere from an all out brawl to accidental embarrassing shapeshifting, and all of them leaving a rather bad taste in her mouth.

She wasn't foolish enough to think she could start a fight on the Mansion grounds and hope to walk away from it unscathed, if at all. The Mansion wasn't exactly well-known for taking prisoners, but she doubted they'd let her simply slink off after an altercation. And so any time she was feeling particularly bold she stuck to sneaking around the perimeter of the grounds, trying to avoid at least most of the cameras or at least sticking close enough to the edge of the property that she could make a quick escape if she tripped any alarms.

The aim of her stalking wasn't often to maim or otherwise harm any residents that she came across unless it happened to be one of the X-Losers. The number of young students living there far outnumbered those spandex wearing do-gooders. She was more interested in seeing what kind of kids were sneaking around the grounds after dark like herself and hoping that perhaps she could persuade a few of them to look into the Sanctuary. Provided they didn't recognize her and make a run for it before she could get a word in.

The Sanctuary had been woefully dull since the Order had slipped into a rather lengthy period of inactivity. She was sort of hoping that getting a few new recruits through the golden doors would help to kick start things a little. At the very least getting a kid to relocate to the shelter was one less kid for the X's to twist into another goodie and cause problems for the Order later on.

But if some little snot got too uppity and decided that Isabel was the kind of person they could throw their attitude at, then she wasn't at all opposed to setting them straight by scaring them half to death. She knew well enough by that point how much blood loss would be lethal. She knew when to hold back.

She'd already found a target wandering around shortly after she'd arrived and had spent a few minutes trailing after them at a good enough distance that she probably wouldn't have been heard unless the kid was really listening. She was still deciding whether or not to pursue the kid as he rounded a corner when the hair on the back of her neck suddenly stood up and a tingle began to climb up her spine.

The hot breath on the back of her neck processed before the words did and she'd spun to face whoever had snuck up on her before they'd finished speaking, a blade forming in one hand brought up toward the neck of the offending individual. She wasn't aiming to injure them just yet, but the threat was there.

Coming face to face with a dragon was not what she'd been expecting. A layer of bone seeped to the surface of her skin to offer her some protection, hidden by her clothing so as not to give it away. She didn't like that she'd been snuck up on and seeing exactly what it was that had managed it presented her with doubts that she'd be able to slip away without a potentially noisy altercation that would only serve to draw more attention to her.Sshe should probably find another area of the city to recruit in.

"Back off, scaly," she hissed, taking a step back from the too-close muzzle and angling her blade toward his face at arm's length as she went. "I've already fought one dragon and I kicked his ass. I can do it again."

Well, she was doing something threatening - that was for sure. But Ambrose's heat-based vision wasn't deciphering much, but he could vaguely identify what seemed to be a knife and armor seeping out of her skin. His eyesight only allowed him to register movement (and it was rather precise about that, thankfully) and heat, so he was relatively sure that his guesses were correct.

"Back off, scaly," the woman snarled at him, and Ambrose couldn't help but be a little affronted. Scaly? Really? And was she waving her knife at his face? He supposed she was trying to be threatening. He wasn't entirely sure if she was succeeding. "I've already fought one dragon and I kicked his ass. I can do it again."

"Excuse me," Ambrose immediately responded, sounding legitimately offended. "Do I look like a dragon to you?" Well, yes, he did. But that was irrelevant. "'Dragon' is such a plebeian descriptor. I go by the names Jabberwocky or Jörmungandr - you see how unique those are? Compared to dragon?" He was sure at this point the woman was getting slightly irritated of not only having been interrupted, but having been interrupted by a gentleman not-dragon.

Settling back onto his haunches, which was significantly more comfortable, Ambrose tilted his head a little (not unlike a puppy) to get a clearer look at her face. Damn his eyesight.

"Past that, I'm not here to attack you, so there's no need for the pugnacity or the armament." He peered at the weapon, squinting at it as he leaned his head forward a bit. "Is that a knife? Of bone? Fascinating. I presume that's your mutation, then? Bone manipulation?" And he scrambled through his mental databases, trying to match the power and face to a name, before suddenly straightening up to look at the woman.

"You're Isabel! Isabel Duskmoor!" he exclaimed, almost delighted. "I am such a fan of your... work, you may say. What we do is not that dissimilar, you and I - the only difference is our intentions, and mine tend to be more honest, I'm afraid." He said the last part with an almost halfhearted shrug, swishing his tail back and forth, completely unaware that he looked like a rather large and adorably smug puppy.

Isabel was a bit taken aback by the way the dragon started speaking to her. Much, much more polite and well mannered than she ever would have suspected. In fact, it reminded her very much of a certain windbag that she had to deal with regularly. Unfortunately for the overgrown lizard, that wasn't much of a compliment. Really, it just served to irritate her more.

"Pretty much textbook dragon, yeah," she replied flatly, her blade lowering a few inches as he seemed to back off and make himself more comfortable. She wasn't going to put the weapon away yet, no matter how well-spoken the dragon was. Even the most well-mannered individuals could turn beastly at the drop of a hat.

She blinked at his choice of descriptors, the familiar names taking a moment to register in her mind, though once they did she decided she was thoroughly unimpressed. "Jormungandr? You mean like the giant snake that got so huge he could wrap around the world? Kind of sounds like you're overcompensating to me," she said, noting that while he was fairly big, maybe even a little larger than the other lizard she'd fought not too long ago, by dragon standards he was pretty puny. "Oh, and spoiler alert, both of those serpents get themselves killed, so if you're trying to sound impressive you might wanna aim for something that lives at the end of their story, dragon."

And if the similarity to Zephyr wasn't bad enough, the overgrown iguana was apparently a fan of hers. She was used to being recognized by most people, even if it took a moment to place her face like it had for the stranger, but most people's reactions to her were quite the opposite. Mass murderers didn't tend to gather a positive following and she wasn't exactly sure how to react to someone  that seemed so agreeable toward her 'work'. Unless...

Her expression twisted back into anger and she brandished her blade once more. "I swear to god if you're talking about those goddamn calendars I'll show you exactly what I can do and gut you right on the X's front lawn." How was that for honest?

"Pretty much textbook dragon, yeah." Ambrose had by then decided that she was not a particularly nice person. That was alright, though - it wasn't like he was either. "Jormungandr? You mean like the giant snake that got so huge he could wrap around the world? Kind of sounds like you're overcompensating to me." What - overcompensating - for what? He wasn't - what -

He didn't even realize that he was spluttering out loud, trying to form words, but too offended to properly do so.

"Oh, and spoiler alert, both of those serpents get themselves killed, so if you're trying to sound impressive you might wanna aim for something that lives at the end of their story, dragon." Now she was just being a jerk on purpose. Yeah, they both died, but they had their good runs. The first thing a revolutionary should learn is that he is a doomed man and all that.

She seemed surprised when Ambrose had commented that he was a fan of hers, though. A fan of the chaos she wreaked, mainly - it was obvious why something like that would appeal to him. But then she got mad, very quickly.

"I swear to god if you're talking about those goddamn calendars I'll show you exactly what I can do and gut you right on the X's front lawn." Oh, those. He remembered them as being hilarious - someone with a reputation as vicious as Isabel's becoming Bone Bikini Girl? Priceless. But no, not what he was referring to.

"I'd like to see you try," he said instead, almost amused. "I'm afraid scales, be they dragon or not, tend to stop knives rather easily. But no, not the calendars, as amusing as they may have been - I'm speaking of everything else, really. You're a member of the Order, correct?" He wasn't really expecting her to deny it, but it didn't matter anyway. Ambrose was well aware of her current status as a member of that faction.

"Have you heard of Ragnarok?" he asked suddenly, scuffing at the ground a bit with his claws. "If you haven't, you will soon. Ragnarok was the one behind the slew of explosions at those banks," and yes, there was a little bit of pride in his voice as he said that. So much money, going up in flames, and no actual people hurt or killed. Some might disapprove of his preference towards no casualties, but it just made things a bit neater, and he needed at least a tiny bit of that. "I'm sure it'd be significantly more fun than the Order, don't you think? They're nothing more than outdated terrorists, stubbornly fighting for something that's never going to happen. Ragnarok is the future - imagine one where nobody cares which species is superior. Imagine one where you and I serve a greater purpose rather than our petty, materialistic goals of today."

Yes, he was aware that there was a slightly maniacal glint in his eye as he spoke, lauding his own faction and its actions. But he couldn't help it - modesty had never been his strong suit, and when he was in his true form, he didn't have to hold back what he truly was.

The dragon couldn't have been all that big of a fan if he thought something as simple as a tough hide was going to stop Isabel from finding a way to leave his carcass to rot for the X's to find in the morning. "Knives aren't the only thing I've got up my sleeve. And everyone's got their weak points. Don't underestimate my abilities to produce a corpse."

Her lip curled over his amusement for those horrible calendars that somehow had still managed to stay in circulation. He was at least smart enough to leave it at that and move on. He seemed to be awfully cocky and she was more than willing to wipe the smirk off of his long snout, despite what he may think about his scales. He had to have known what a short fuse she had if he'd been following his exploits and yet he was awfully willing to play with fire.

"One of their best," she offered as a reply to his inquiry about the Order. The faction wasn't exactly advertised the way the X's were, but it was hardly a secret in the mutant community anymore after the brawls they'd gotten involved in. And if this gecko was skulking around the Mansion it wasn't much of a stretch to think he'd have picked the name up from someone living there.

"Blown up banks, yeah. Ragnarok, no. Though I gotta say those explosions weren't all that impressive. All that work and no casualties? Boring." She couldn't even bother to be impressed over the amount of money that'd been destroyed. Cash really didn't mean much to her since the Sanctuary provided so well for everyone and she'd been stealing everything else for years. Casualties were the only worthwhile thing about blowing stuff up. He wasn't making much of an impression.

Putting down the Order wasn't winning him any points, either. Granted they weren't out causing as much mayhem as they had in the past, but she was still very much invested in their ideals and wouldn't be persuaded to abandon the Faction so easily. And as much as she would like not to care she was sure Zephyr would very much disapprove of her defecting and getting involved with a new group without his approval, even if the idea interested her at all.

"Equality of the species was never exactly an interest of mine," she replied, reabsorbing her blade and crossing her arms to showcase just how unimpressed she was by his sales pitch thus far. "If all you've got to offer itsharmonious living with humans you're better suited trying to recruit the X's. Shared living space in the world is kind of their whole thing."

"Knives aren't the only thing I've got up my sleeve. And everyone's got their weak points. Don't underestimate my abilities to produce a corpse." Was that supposed to be suggestive or threatening? He really couldn't tell, to be honest, and he really didn't care. It affected him about as much either way, seeing as he could fly and she couldn't.

One of the Order's best, hmm? Lovely. He now knew one more thing about her - she was arrogant.

"Blown up banks, yeah. Ragnarok, no. Though I gotta say those explosions weren't all that impressive. All that work and no casualties? Boring."

Well, she was quite polite, wasn't she? Casualties just made things messier. It was a lot simpler to cover up property damage than it was to cover deaths. Well, he couldn't really have expected much else from her - while the Xs were instruments of peace, the Order were instruments of chaos. Ragnarok was more about an oxymoronic combination of both - chaos conducted in an orderly manner. Organized crime at its finest, so to speak.

"Equality of the species was never exactly an interest of mine. If all you've got to offer itsharmonious living with humans you're better suited trying to recruit the X's. Shared living space in the world is kind of their whole thing."

Oh, dear. And that was where she was all wrong. He appreciated her sheathing her blade, though, even if the action was meant to be patronizing.

"And that's where you're wrong," he said almost smugly, directly voicing his own thoughts. "The X-Men want an idyllic utopia - a place where mutants and humans can coexist, as if that were ever going to happen. That's not what Ragnarok wants. Humans and mutants alike are ruining the world, and so we don't want peaceful coexistence. We want extinction." And he curled his lips up to reveal sharp canines, a little bit of insanity flickering in his yellow irises. He stood up unconsciously as he spoke, gesticulating wildly as he grew gradually more absorbed with his speech. "Imagine this - a world where only the most fit have survive. People like you and me, and if they're intelligent and highly capable humans, their species is no matter - only their abilities. You can only fix the world after you've destroyed it first, and that is what we wish to have - a world where only the best survive, to repopulate the planet in a way that only the best will continue and bring us to a time when we can rise over petty things like fighting over species or money." He took a breath, only then realizing that he seemed positively delusional to an outsider, and what he was saying was probably going over the poor girl's head anyway (she probably wasn't fit to live in Ambrose's post-apocalyptic utopia, but she'd make an effective minion), and took another breath to calm himself. "Well." And he settled back down into the resting position he'd been in before. "I also highly doubt Zephyr would approve, and I suppose that's what you care about most, don't you?"

Extinction wasn't exactly where Isabel had seen the conversation heading. Lack of species superiority and blown up banks never would have added up to mass extinction in her head, but she supposed any ambitious faction had to start somewhere. It was just a shame that such an impressive goal was starting out so cleanly, and in her opinion, on a rather boring foot.

She watched him stand and deliver his speech with an arched brow, determined to remain mostly unimpressed and skeptical mostly out of spite for the jabs he'd taken at her Order, but even so it did sound like a pretty tempting goal to chase down. All except for the part about allowing humans into the new utopia, as he called it. Humans had always been obstacles and stepping stones rather than anything useful to her, but she supposed that any budding new society needed people to do the grunt work. Destruction and mass murder were admittedly right up her alley and with the Order becoming so quiet and Zephyr holding the reigns her violent needs weren't being so easily met.

Having the windbag's name fall out of the great reptile's mouth effectively stopped her train of thought and brought her attention fully back around to the overexcited stranger. The majority of people weren't aware that the pair of them had anything to do with each other which she suspected was because Zephyr wanted it that way, but she wasn't exactly eager to let anyone know she was under someone else's thumb either. Having the name slide so slyly out of the dragon's toothy maw was a little concerning.

"Who?" she asked, attempting to adopt a convincingly bewildered expression which wouldn't be too difficult as she was genuinely confused as to how he knew about the blowhard. "I don't really care what names you throw around I don't need approval from anyone about anything," she continued, not wanting to dwell too long on the subject at hand lest she let something slip unintentionally. "If it's death and destruction you're looking for, I'm an expert."

"Who?" she asked, feigning confusion, and that was how Ambrose knew he had said something that had caught her attention. Not many people knew about her and Zephyr, but he liked to keep tabs on those he was interested in, and she and the mercenary both certainly qualified. "I don't really care what names you throw around I don't need approval from anyone about anything," she said. So Ambrose had also hit on something that she didn't want to pursue. All right, then - he'd let it go. He'd keep it in mind for the future, though. "If it's death and destruction you're looking for, I'm an expert." And, jackpot. He knew that the "death and destruction" thing was sure to win Isabel over. He doubted her loyalty, but loyalty was optional - as long as she didn't screw with any of Ragnarok's missions, she'd be safe.

"Well, what do you say we have an audition of sorts, then?" he said amiably, eyes glinting in the light from the Mansion. "This is certainly the perfect place to do so." He swung his head around to look at the imposing building. "Why don't we try it with no casualties, though? Just to see if you really can go about this with a bit of class."

"Audition, huh?" She couldn't really say she was surprised by the scaly stranger's desire to see her in action since any recruiter worth their salt would need to know tat their would-be recruitee was worth their attention. What she hadn't quite expected was for him to target the Mansion. Sure she was the one who'd been caught stalking around outside looking to cause a little mayhem, but she was sure what he had in mind wasn't quite the same.

Isabel had some reservations about the idea. She was by herself on enemy turf with a guy she'd only just met and therefore couldn't trust. She didn't know anything about him except for the death and destruction thing, but any fool could run around bragging about being such a big shot. She had no guarantee that he wouldn't turn around and help the X-Nerds wrangle her into some cuffs. And she knew causing too much mishandled trouble would definitely displease Zephyr-who-was-not-the-boss-of-her.

But she supposed as long as no one could call it a rampage she'd be safe enough to at least try and explain her way out of any trouble. And keeping her out of jail really was in Zephyr's best interest so she felt safe enough to bet that he'd come and fetch her in some manner if things got too out of control.

"No casualties. Not exactly my style, but I can handle a challenge. What exactly did you have in mind?"