Really, she wanted to laugh. Not just a giggling, airy laugh of a total bimbo, but a deep down, earnest, throaty laugh that shook the very foundations of her core. Of all the events that she could have foretold for her evening, this was certainly not one of them; and why should it when her day had started so brilliantly? First of all, Becca was falling more firmly in line every single day. She had the redhead on the ropes and, soon enough, she could start rebuilding her into the perfect little obedient pup that she always wanted. Next, she was actually manage to wheedle a cougar out of a valuable family heirloom that she managed to pawn for a hefty price. And lastly, her night had all the promise that awaited a sensual young woman who had no qualms about using her body to get exactly what she wanted out of the world.

And it was there that things took a sharp left into a sh*t-filled ditch. When she had headed out for the night, she had dressed to the nines in a short, black dress with a plunging neckline and a short hem that showed off plenty of thigh. The woman was going to be on the hunt tonight for a new plaything when her strolled through a particularly dirty alley was interrupted.

Two men and a woman, each of which looked like little more than gutter trash started to follow her. The cat calls, the whistles, and the overtly sexualy come ons secretly made her grin but she told them all to shove their various body parts into a blender. They didn’t take kindly to her opinion and proceeded to chase her down. Normally she could handle herself but what she didn’t count on was the woman who turned out to be an M-user, a human taking a drug to synthetically activate her X-gene.

The fireball was the last thing she expected and was surprised when her dress caught fire. Agnes screamed and, in her growing fear, felt, that snap as something far more sinister in her was set free. Agne and the Hive Queen had a bit of an arrangement that they would start working together from now on. So, when the situation called for it, she wasn’t going to try and keep the carapace-covered nightmare locked away. Agnes certainly held up that end of the bargain as her life depended on it.

The humans didn’t expect the young woman to ripped her charred skin off and reveal the monstrous creature underneath. They were terrified, a feeling that Agnes lived for, but they were quick to pop those stupid pills in their mouths and go on the offense after she managed to kill one of them. Both the woman with the fireballs, and another man who was seemingly super-strong, managed to hold against the Hive Queen until, finally, they managed to subdue her.

Really, her night was going downhill rather fast.

So now that’s where she was. Apparently the young woman had stumbled down the alley of a warehouse where gang was making a really cheap version of M. They didn’t seem to know fully what they were doing as their drug was unstable, but that didn’t seem to matter to them. It was a commodity that the city wanted and they were going to charge an arm and a leg for it. So long as it worked at first, they didn’t care what happened to people in the long term.

Seeing her as a means to improving their formula, they had no idea how M really worked but their chemist wanted to experiment with mutants, Agnes still in heer Hive Queen form was chained up in a dark, dank corner of the facility. She could hear the whirling of machines and chatter of people on the ground level above her. In the dark room, she glanced to the side to see a small, tiny window that wasn’t being covered. Just as well as she doubted she would actually have been able to fit through it in this form.

Weakly she peered into the darkness around her, the long, spiny appendages on her back were curled but also chained firm against the brick wall. Opening her mouth to hiss, she momentarily gagged at the scent of several anti-bug candles that were situated around the room. It seemed that these guys weren’t that stupid but she knew it was only a matter of time. She struggled against her restraints again and, while she she couldn’t feel any pain due to the thick carapace that covered her body, she also couldn’t feel any give.

It seemed that, unfortunately, she was fairly well bound. But she would get out. She had to get out. She was a force of nature, after all, and nature couldn’t be contained...

Being back on the right side of the universe had put Isabel much more at ease about being brought into the fold of her newest faction. In fact, she was starting to feel pretty excited about the whole thing. She'd been feeling rather aimless, incredibly bored, and more than a little lost once the Order had fully dissolved and the other members had scattered to who knew where. Ragnarok had been an interesting enough diversion, but it had imploded upon itself much too quickly and left her back where she had been. She'd been doing very little with her days beside lounging around drinking and being harassed by Zephyr, so when the Syndicate had tapped her for her first assignment she'd been all too happy to accept.

M was one of the Old Man's main concerns on her side of the Rip and he seemed relatively eager to start snuffing out distributors and destroying their supplies. Of course it was in order to replace it with his own version of the stuff, but for the time being Isabel was content enough with smearing the mutant wannabes across New York. M had always left a bad taste in her mouth even when the Order had their hands in it. Destroying it rather than trafficking it was much more her style.

She'd been given the location of a warehouse that had its own little makeshift manufacturing setup in full swing, pumping out cheap M to try and turn a profit as quickly as possible. Sounded to her to be a bunch of amateurs with barely enough know-how to get cash in their pockets and eager enough to pump the stuff into their own systems for a quick fix of feeling special. They'd be unpredictable, but unstable. There was no way they could go toe to toe with a real mutant like her.

Even so, just waltzing in through the front door wasn't exactly the best idea. Humans, even ones with manufactured X-genes at their disposal, were always so very attached to and eager to use their guns and there was no doubt they'd have at least a couple of people stationed at the doors to try and cut down any invaders. And while dramatic entrances could be fun it was often much more satisfying to get the drop on someone and watch how they handled the surprise. Chances were they'd hesitate just long enough for her to avoid at least a few bullets in her skin, which was always a plus.

The Old Man had at least been nice enough to tip her off about the entryways and windows so she could get a good idea of where to poke around for a good way to get in. The doors would all almost certainly be manned, so she focused her attention on the windows of the building. It took a few passes around the place before the spotted what had to be the smallest window in the place, low to the ground and just big enough for a person to wiggle through. It reminded her of those little basement windows and probably lead to a store room or something. That was most likely her best bet at sneaking in before anyone caught her.

The window came unstuck with little effort, the lock at the top having carelessly been left open, and she slid her way in feet first. It was a bit of a tight fit in some places, but with a deep exhale she managed to wriggle her way through and drop onto the floor on the other side, giving herself a brief moment to adjust to the poor lighting.

The first thing that hit her as the smell of citronella, which caught her attention so quickly because it was so incredibly out of place. The candles also explained to odd, dim lighting but still left plenty of questions up until she realized she could hear and odd sort of hissing noise and the sound of metal against metal from one of the back walls. She'd been so thrown by the buggy smell that it had taken her a moment to realize there was more going on in the room.

Apparently the room was already occupied, which gave her pause as she called up her armoring, anticipating that the individual was one of the M-using targets. It didn't take long to realize what position the other individual was in, though, and that they were decidedly not human and definitely weren't going anywhere. It still begged the question, though, of whether or not it was a genuine mutant or an M-user that had gotten in over their heads and had to be restrained until the effects wore off.

"You look nice and cozy," she said, tone slightly amused as she moved closer, briefly examining one of the candles as she went and starting to understand the connection. It would at least be easier to kill this one if she had to. It wasn't often she got victims wrapped up so nicely. "Bit off more than you could chew with that M junk, Buggy?"

Agnes was not amused. Why should she be? She was in her most terrifying and dangerous form and yet she couldn’t do anything to the people who put her in this predicament. The chains were thick and the disgusting scent of the bug repellant were making her stomach turn, thus making it difficult to concentrate. Oh but how she imagined the various ways in which she was going to hurt the people in this warehouse. She didn’t care who they were or what they thought they were -- they were going to pay for doing this to her.

Feeling another nauseous wave roll through the pit of her empty stomach, the insectoid woman hissed into the darkness and tried to turn further away from her. Her spined appendages struggled more against their chains, trying desperately to reach out and knock those ridiculous candles away but it was all to no avail. Anyone else in a similar predicament probably would have felt hopeless, but not Agnes. She knew she would get out -- it was just a matter of how.

But while she was in the midst of testing her chains and keeping her lunch down, she heard the smallest sounds of movement. Her compound eyes immediately looked ahead, peering into the dim darkness, trying to seek out the source of the sound. it could be anything: rats scurrying the corners, wind jingling chains against the wall, even another one of those M-addicted freaks coming down to torture her a bit more. Her imagination went wild with the possibilities -- until she she saw that small sliver of light flash across her eyes.

She turned to face the lone window in her quaint quarters, and held her breath as she saw someone pry it open before starting to wriggle inside. At first she thought she was right, someone was coming to finish the job, but it didn’t seem to be the case. Why would one of them sneak in through the window when the front door to her room was right there? No, whomever this person was, they were not part of this organization. Heh, wouldn’t they get the surprise of a lifetime?

Agnes said nothing at first, merely observing through the dark as the young brunette crept into her room. Her eyes followed her form, appreciating it enough to cause the intricate plates upon her cheeks to tilt upwards into a grin. She would have come up with some hastily thought up pick-up line but she spotted something else that caused her to stop -- a bow. The bow in the other’s hair was somewhat...familiar. Not from anyone that she knew personally but merely from someone that she had heard about before. Still, it wasn’t enough information for her to really go on, but it was enough to stay her tongue until she was notice.

Straightening up a little and tilting her head curiously, she watched as the woman crept closer to her. There was the smallest gleam of amusement on her face as she drank in Agnes’ appearance before she commented.

>>"You look nice and cozy,..Bit off more than you could chew with that M junk, Buggy?"

Her hardened lips pursed slyly as she wriggled her chained arms. ”Mm, so cozy. Granted, I don’t mind a bit of bondage now and again,” she started. ”But, truth be told, I much rather prefer to be on the more dominant side of things.”

She sighed. Anyone who knew the old Agnes would have never expected such words to fall from her lips. But, she had changed remarkably from her last molting, the one that saved her life. Gone was the meek, quiet girl who had dreamy eyes for love and romance, and instead was the instinct driven femme fatale now chained up in the facilities storage room, and quite a sight she made.

From head to toe, Agnes was covered in a thick carapace the color of a wasp; black and practically golden. The carapace looked tough, maybe a little singed and crack in some places due to the fight that she had just endured, but tough nonetheless. Black, compound eyes blinked away tears spurred on by the awful smelling candles, and the long, spidery appendages on her back were tipped with points sharp enough to penetrate a car door. Still, none of that helped her now due to how firmly she was chained up.

She grinned, exposing her rows of razor-sharp teeth, as she sighed a bit in faux-annoyance. ”If you must no, I’m not one of those M-heads upstairs,” she sighed. She then wriggled her chained wrists. ”This is my fault. You know, for not letting them have their way when they harassed me in the alley. The question is,” she tilted her head, grinning at the woman. ”What’re you doing here, beautiful? Clearly you’re not with them. If so, you need to learn the concept of a door. Much easier to get into rooms.”

So the odd looking woman wasn't an M dose gone wrong but a genuine mutant after all, one that had been collected by the wannabes upstairs. Fitting for a buggy woman like her to find herself pinned to the wall, in a sad kind of way. Finding a real mutant stuck in the place could complicate things, though. Killing her would have been so much easier, but now her presence begged the question of whether or not she was the only one being kept in the warehouse. If the M squad couldn't keep their dirty little hands off of a clearly dangerous but obvious mutant who was to say they wouldn't be collecting easier targets, too? She doubted they'd know anything about the intricacies of the original M manufacturing process, but it wouldn't take a genius to assume that active X-genes could be key in making the good stuff. If the group upstairs was willing to pump out cheap M for a good price, she doubted they'd be unwilling to increase the potency for a premium price tag.

"Getting taken down by a bunch of unstable amateurs doesn't look to good on you, Buggy," she said, ignoring the racier comments made by the other individual. It was a little disappointing that someone with at least a few clearly offense-based traits sounded to have been taken down so easily and then been so effectively restrained on top of it. It made her look like more of a liability than a potential asset in the inevitable fight that Isabel was going to engage in. It wouldn't be the first time she'd dealt with unfavorable odds, but cumbersome distractions were never welcome.

"Windows are better for sneaking in. Places like this don't usually like people barging in through the doors," she replied, her tone implying that the woman was bit dull for missing something so obvious. A hint of offense colored her expression that someone would ever assume she was associated with M users. Isabel was one of the best known mutants in the city after all and to imply she was anything but mutant was nothing above base stupidity. But the woman would see soon enough.

"I am here for the M, though. Me and my employer share some similar opinions about the stuff and this place seems to have a lot of rats running around, so I volunteered to do a little pest control." Picking up the nearest candle she turned it idly around in her hands, briefly wondering how easy it would be to just burn the place down. Starting a blaze in an unmanned back room would be a good start, but fires always ended up with firemen and police all over the place trying to put it out and prevent people from burning to death, which was another complication she wasn't willing to deal with. The hands-on kind of murder was so much more satisfying anyway, even if it did mean risking a few new bullet wounds.

Blowing out the candle she placed it back down and inched a little closer to the other woman, letting her gaze run along the restraints pinning her down as best she could in the dim, uneven light. Simple enough chains, easy to unlock if you had the right key and Isabel always had the right kind of key. "So are you the rat-eating kind of bug, or the kind that buzzes off as soon as someone swats at you?" she asked as she ran her hand along one of the chains connected to the woman's closest arm to find exactly where it was locked into place. It was just a matter of inserting a section of bone and jostling the tumblers until the lock clicked open and released. Finding all of the locks in the terrible light was more complicated than unfastening them. She just had to keep an eye on those sharp appendages. Armored as she already was she still doubted they'd feel very good and she wasn't entirely certain yet if this woman was truly against the M users. But even if she wasn't it would ultimately just mean another body left behind before Isabel moved on to the rest of the warehouse.

>>"Getting taken down by a bunch of unstable amateurs doesn't look to good on you, Buggy,"

Agnes sighed with slight frustration. ”Tell me about it.” A shake of her head followed. ”What will people think of me?”

She could have taken them. Agnes was sure of it. The second that she shifted into her Hive Queen form, that should have been enough to signal the end for these wannabe mutants, but they got the drop on her. Super strength and fire were two things that she didn’t always play well with, especially when it seemingly came out of nowhere. Still, she would keep her good humor about the situation and merely grin at the brunette who seemed busy with trying to decide whether or not to help her. Not wanting to shoo away her only possible savior, she would play nice.

Still, she had to wonder about her newfound friend. She watched her squeeze her buxom form through the tiny window so, clearly, she wasn’t working with the M-heads, but she wondered what she was doing here. Was she trying to sneak in to steal some of the goods for herself? Was she just a transient trying to find a warm place to sleep? Or was she here for an entirely different and nefarious reason? The possibilities were endless but she wasn’t going to pester too much for information.

But she would ask...

>>"Windows are better for sneaking in. Places like this don't usually like people barging in through the doors,"

”Understandable,” she admitted. May as well offer a kernel of what she knew in hopes of being actually released rather than teased the whole time. Though, with a glance at the woman, a little teasing could be offered once she were out of this predicament. ”I wouldn’t want to go barging in through the front doors with that arsenal I saw while being dragged in.” she offered. ”And, considering that most carry a small emergency supply of M on them, would be quite the shame, especially not knowing their powers...which I do.”

She smirked. If she had to bargain for her way out of this, then so be it. Then again, the woman could think that she was merely lying in hopes of saving her own armor-plated ***. But Agnes wasn’t that deceptive. Okay, she was, but not in this regard.

>>"I am here for the M, though. Me and my employer share some similar opinions about the stuff and this place seems to have a lot of rats running around, so I volunteered to do a little pest control."

Agnes nodded her head, listening as the woman crept closer and started to inspect the chains that held her so tightly. She was here on orders from someone else to do some ‘pest control’. While taking down a drug ring certainly sounded like a X-Men move, they wouldn’t go so far to murder an entire facility full of people. No, this was something else entirely, but what? Who would be that crafty to send in a mutant as a cleaner? As she mused about this, she glanced to the other woman again and couldn’t help but let her eyes peer at the bow. Again...familiar…

”Lucky for me you’re here for a rodent problem rather than an insect problem,” she smirked exposing her sharpened fangs again. She didn’t move sudden but rather kept very still as the other inspected the chains. She didn’t need to startle the woman into thinking her the enemy all of a sudden.

As the woman was now fairly close by, Agnes glanced at her again and was struck with sudden realization. The bow, the attitude, though she never met this woman in person until now, she knew who she was. When she lived at the mansion, even when she briefly rather with the X-Men, she knew who this person was -- Isabel Duskmoor. An extremely dangerous mutant, one in which the very thought used to make Agnes’ blood run cold, making her shiver in fear. However, now it seemed that she had an entirely different view on the woman.

That happens when said criminal may, in fact, be one’s rescuer.

>> "So are you the rat-eating kind of bug, or the kind that buzzes off as soon as someone swats at you?"

Turning her compound eyes to the brunette, the insect queen grin curled even more slyly as she locked her gaze with her. ”Oh trust me, I’m so very, very hungry…”

Arsenal was never a particularly welcome word, but Isabel couldn't say that it was entirely unexpected. Drug rings were usually armed to the teeth to keep their supplies safe. Not knowing what kind of synthetic abilities would be cropping up wasn't ideal, either, but she'd fought mutants before without knowing the extend of their mutations. It was the instability that was a more pressing issue. The creeps that didn't know how to properly use whatever manifested meant they were wild cards. They could either be inept enough to make themselves an easy target or they could make a mess of things by trying to go all out as wildly as possible. It would be a pain either way, but she was eager enough to prove herself as a new member in her faction to be willing to deal with it.

She didn't miss the in-the-know comment the other woman made about the abilities of at least a few rats. She was trying to make herself sound valuable and worth using. There was that hunger for revenge, too, probably to prove that the capture was an unlucky fluke on the insect's part. Still, having an extra set of spikes on her side wasn't such a bad idea. If nothing else the bug could at least serve to split the operation's attention and give Isabel a chance to cut a few pests down more quickly. "Well if they took you down I'd hope you'd at least know how. Bad enough they did it in the first place but to be clueless about it too would be just pathetic."

With a shrug she began gradually unlatching the chains, working her way around the woman mainly by touch as her hands followed along the restraints to find their locks and connections. Looking for a light switch first probably would have been the better idea, but she'd already gotten started so there wasn't much reason to bother. "Hope you're better at this the second time around. I've got no problem leaving your sorry ass here if you get grabbed again, but more than a bad distraction would be nice." Assuming the woman wouldn't make a beeline for the door once she got free. Even revenge plans could be quickly abandoned if an easy out presented itself in the face of an arsenal.

It didn't take more than a few minutes until she got the last chain undone and stepped back from the multi-apendaged woman. She certainly struck a more imposing figure when she wasn't stuck to the wall but looks could be deceiving. Even the most dangerous looking individuals could be complete cowards. She'd just have to wait and see. "I dunno what your plans are but I'm gonna level this place and everyone in here. I don't really care what you do, but whatever info you've got would be nice."

Now that Agnes had an inkling as to who she was dealing with, she knew better than to press her luck. From what she remembered hearing in her days at Xavier’s, the bone-manipulating mutant was not one to be trifled with. She left a river of blood wherever she went and was frequently on the MRC’s mutant most wanted lists. Highly dangerous. Highly trained. And not at all you want to be on the wrong side of. While normally the insect queen would have shied away from an encounter like this, now being in the presence of the murderess made her blood pump just a little bit faster.

How thrilling. But, for as much as she wanted to keep up with the cat-and-mouse talk, she knew that she needed to presson. This wasn’t the ideal space for either of them so they needed to move things along into the next phase. Of course, that is if Isabel thought there was a viable we in this scenario. The mutant could easily just leave her down here and burn the entire facility to the ground; yes, she saw her eyeing those candles. Therefore, Agnes needed to present certain facts to the busty brunette -- including the fact that she knew what they were up against.

>>"Well if they took you down I'd hope you'd at least know how. Bad enough they did it in the first place but to be clueless about it too would be just pathetic."

She grinned. ”Trust me. That is a mistake they won’t Three-Stooges themselves into again.” She was deadly, she was smart, she knew that she could rend these fools flesh from bone. However, luck had been on their side earlier, luck and numbers. With someone like Isabel on her side, the tides could definitely be turned in their favor.

>> "Hope you're better at this the second time around. I've got no problem leaving your sorry ass here if you get grabbed again, but more than a bad distraction would be nice."

”Oh hunny, my ass is anything but sorry,” she teased. That would be all for the innuendos...for now. Again, she needed to be on her best behavior is she were going to be freed and helped on the way out of here.

Agnes sighed as she felt the chains being undone, one at a time. It was time consuming but she didn’t complain. Instead, as she felt each limb and appendage being unlashed, she sighed iin utmost satisfaction. With a twist of her wrists, Agnes stretched out her arms contentedly as she felt her bones pop due to disuse. A roll of her shoulders and she stretched her back, finally able to move to a different pose. And when the final chains were undone, she grinned as she firmly placed her feet against the ground and stood up.

Standing, upright, she did make a much more terrifying sight than being curled up in the corner. A pair of her sharpened appendages immediately dug into the concrete below her and hefted her up from the ground, increasing her height and allowing her body to fully stretch in bone cracking satisfaction. It was like waking up after a long night of sleep. Only rather than hungry for breakfast or a shower, she was eager to spill some blood in much needed revenge. With a roll of her neck her compound eyes gazed down at the bonemancer as she stood back, watching her. They had an agreement, it seemed, but only so far as Agnes proved to be useful.

She didn’t like having to prove herself. But, the case being what it was, she was willing to swallow her pride at the promise of freedom again.

Her arms crossed over her chest as her lower appendages returned her to the ground. Standing on her own two feet, the spiny limbs curled and flexed, ready to cause harm where need be. As she faced the bonemancer, she made an almost threatening side, her extra limbs coiled back, points ready to launch forward like a viper ready to deliver a deadly bite. But Agnes made no move against Isabel, rather she just smiled as she waited for the other woman to decide how this would go.

>> "I dunno what your plans are but I'm gonna level this place and everyone in here. I don't really care what you do, but whatever info you've got would be nice."

She lifted her head, sniffing the air. She could feel the vibrations of the people moving back and forward upstairs. They were getting another shipment ready, she could smell the chemicals they used, but only partially given the candles that were still lit. Moving passed Isabel, she sighed as her appendages reached out and snuffed out the flames of each candle, slowly causing the nausea-inducing scent to dissipate and fade into the air.

”Given the fact that they beat and humiliated me, all by luck, I swear,” she smirked. ”I’m certainly ready to repay them with a little payback.” She sighed, watching Isabel for a moment before she seemingly came to a decision. ”Okay.” She turned back to the brunette. ”Two guards at the front door. Each with handguns. Several more people in the facility, including workers, a chemist, and security. I tangled with both a fire-mancer and someone with super strength.” She pointed to the chipped and singed plates on her chest, to signal she was telling the truth. ”As they dragged me in, I saw lizard man, someone lifting boxes with her mind, and a pair of twins. Their powers...I don’t know.” A shrug. ”I was coming in and out of consciousness, so sue me.” Another sigh and she faced the door. ”Their boss is here, though. I know that. Bastard came down to give me a visit. Said they would bleed me dry for my X-gene. Guy in a white suit and an eyepatch.” She snorted. ”Like he shopped at the Villains-R-Us store.”

There were a lot of people in the facility, most armed, most carrying M. However, the only good thing and bad thing was that they were inexperienced with their abilities. They could just as easily set fire to either her or themselves. While normally Agnes wouldn’t care what happened to these people, they did hurt her and promise to inflict near endless torture. That certainly required a bit of caring on her part. Though she had a feeling she could have managed on her own, working alongside a killer like Isabel could certainly tip scales.

Her eyes drifted back to the brunette. ”So...you have any ideas on where to begin?”

Isabel waited mostly patiently as the other woman unfolded herself and stretched with a mess of pops and cracks, either from her joints or her shell or both. She was starting to get antsy in the small room, but if the insectoid was going to follow along she'd have to wait until the other woman could at least stand steady on her feet again. An ally tripping all over themselves with muscle cramps was nothing more than dead weigh that would have to be cut loose. It wouldn't do any good to jump in with a weak start.

Guards, handguns, goons, and engineers, all as expected but even so she listened to what was said. Super strength was annoying, but ultimately not too much of a problem as the strong ones were often just as vulnerable as other people. The firestarter was liable to set the warehouse on fire before they did any real damage to the pair, which would only work in their favor since it would take care of whatever equipment and M they had stashed in the place. The lizard and mystery twins couldn't be too much trouble and the villain stereotype, while another mystery, sounded like he was the chatty type and probably wouldn't pass up some opportunity to gloat and give them time to put him down. It was the one that was moving things with her mind that could prove to be the bigger problem. Isabel was a purely physical fighter and had thus far managed to avoid any major fights with psychic mutants. She just had to hope the kid was clumsy.

As for a plan of attack, Isabel had never been very good at planning, often just rushing in and shredding whoever was in her way. An all-out brawl would probably still work but they could at least get it moving in a certain direction if nothing else. "Nothing set in stone," she shrugged, watching the buggy broad extinguish the offending candles. At least the crack of light under the door would point them n the right direction to get out now that the candlelight was gone. "Get outta here first and then I think we'll aim for that front door, off the idiots with the guns and block off the main exit to force them all back into the building. I bet we can get that pyro kid to light some fires and start burning everything down, but I wanna take out that telekinetic first." Range wasn't Isabel's strong suit and if the kid could lift stuff with her mind it was almost a given that she'd be fighting from a distance and making an enormous pain of herself. If lifting wasn't the only thing she could do with her borrowed power then it would be even bigger trouble for them.

She moved over to the door and tested the knob, rolling her eyes when she found it unlocked. Apparently they'd been very confident in the strength of their restraints, though she supposed they hadn't exactly been wrong. "You wanna go first, or should I?" Revenge didn't often like to wait, but if the other woman would rather follow Isabel's lead she could certainly show her how it was done.

Oh Agnes was itching to get out there and throw a little payback in these people’s faces. She could feel the hive queen clawing to let loose and go based on pure instinct, attacking everything that moved. However she wasn’t going to let that happen just yet. While they had an arrangement, she knew better than to let that primordial witch loose without any kind of reins. If she were the do that, there was a high probability that she would attack Isabel and she didn’t need to add to her enemies list just yet. Instead she would keep in control of his terrifying form and warm her hands with a little blood. After all, she was owed that.

She squared up her shoulders as she explained everything that she knew about their attackers. While the majority of them didn’t seem like they would be too tough to handle, the psychic, the firestarter, and the strongman would probably be issues. The firearms not so much. Isabel, she knew, had experience with those kinds of enemies and even Agnes could take a shot or two, though anything stronger than a point blank shotgun blast would probably be an issue.

What they needed was a plan...so she asked her fearless rescuer if one was in the works.

>>"Nothing set in stone,"

”Hrm…” she hummed to herself. She didn’t say anything more than that. It wasn’t a judgement, instead it just gave Agnes a chance to think things through. She had a rough layout of the facility in her mind so maybe could lead the way but she needed a direction to head to first. Thankfully she wouldn’t have to think of this completely on her own anymore as she turned back to Isabel.

>>"Get outta here first and then I think we'll aim for that front door, off the idiots with the guns and block off the main exit to force them all back into the building. I bet we can get that pyro kid to light some fires and start burning everything down, but I wanna take out that telekinetic first."

She nodded. it sounded like a fairly solid plan and made the most sense. If they could take out the gunmen at the front doors, they could start corralling the rest of the workers and security deeper into the building. Cut off the exits, herd them to a point where they could do some real damage, honestly, she liked the idea. Though, if history were anything, it probably wouldn’t go as smoothly as all that, but at least it was a direction.

Though she didn’t like the odds with any of them, she had a feeling she could handle the telekinetic herself. Powers like that required focus and Agnes had the precise tool to screw with someone’s focus. After all, there weren’t many people who could stand a swarm of insects covering them from head-to-toe, especially an inexperienced M-head.

”I’ll handle the telekinetic…” she mused aloud. A dangerous humming began to vibrate from the inside of her chest, signalling...something that she was keeping hidden for the right time. She glanced to Isabel and smirked. ”I got a surprise for her.”

With a plan in mind, it was now time to start enacting it. Agnes stretched out her appendages for a final time, readying herself.

>> "You wanna go first, or should I?"

”Allow me,” she offered.

Creeping towards the door, she reached down and casually turned the knob. Like Isabel she rolled her eyes. Morons. Carefully she pulled it open, and peered around the corner. The hallway was brick, lit by lights so dim it hurt the eyes. Nothing could be seen but the expanse of the hall, leading to one, large black door on the other side. Bravely she stepped out into the hall, a little saunter in her curvaceous hips as she marched down the way. Just as she was about the make it to the end, there was the sound of a creak as the black door was slowly pushed open.

There was a brief moment where it seemed like nothing would happen. Agnes stood there, smiling, as the large, mustached man with the green eyes was stunned by her appearance. Whether it was her looks or the fact that she was free, no one would know. In the second that he took to stare, one of Agnes’ spiny appendages lashed out, piercing through the man’s lower jaw, silencing him as she effortlessly lifted him up. With a sigh she turned, setting his body down against the wall.

She glanced to Isabel as she shook the blood from the spine and turned back to the door. ”Shall we?”

So the woman already had a plan for the telekinetic. An ominous, weirdly buzzing plan, but as long as it worked the methods didn't particularly interest Isabel. If she could keep the creep occupied and out of the way long enough to get the ball rolling then they'd have a much better chance of getting things done quickly. She could only assume the plan was also lethal, which was even better.

Stepping aside to let the garishly colored woman pass first, the bonemancer followed closely behind, closing the door after them so as not to let it tip off anyone that might come along once they'd passed. If anyone could even see the door from down the hallway. Why was all of the lighting in the place so terrible? If they were trying to score bad guy points with the atmosphere they were missing the mark big time. Dark hallways were nothing but an annoyance. She'd have to give them a few pointers about what really instilled fear in people.

They'd barely even made it to the next door before it opened and some gorilla of a man stepped though it, though the waspy woman was quick to deal with him before his confused expression could finish settling onto his face. Isabel had been rig about those spines, they didn't look at all pleasant to be on the other end of. She curled her lip as the man was slumped onto the floor like a bag of garbage and deftly stepped around his splayed legs after briefly admiring the now-missing half of his face. She just had to hope the other woman was able to as quickly main whoever else crossed their path once they lost the element of surprise.

She simply gave a nod and slipped passed the overgrown bug and through the door. The rest of the building was at least utilizing better lighting. She supposed aesthetic only went so far once they had to actually see what they were doing. It was also much louder away from that back room. She could hear people moving around and shouting back and forth as they either milled around aimlessly or busied themselves moving boxes and equipment. There seemed to be enough people in the building that once the pair made their move word would spread and the fighting would get underway rapidly.

It took a moment for her to orient herself and remember where the front entrance was in relation to where she'd snuck into the place, but once she had she wasted little time starting to make her move. They had to get to those doors fast if they had any hope of cutting it off and beginning to corral everyone inside. Anyone left outside would probably just make a run for it, but she'd make sure to circle back and watch the warehouse once or twice more to catch any stragglers that might come back to scavenge.

"Hope you're bulletproof, bug breath," she muttered as she ducked behind stacks and shelving to try and get to the doors without getting caught too quickly. "One guard a piece and then it's a free-for-all. Just stay outta my way and I won't get in yours."

He armoring grew thicker in anticipation of the incoming gunfire and then she bolted, making a beeline for the closest guard leaning against the wall by the door, blade sliding into her hand as she went. There was a moment of confusion, delayed action as the pair of men startled and tried to process what was happening. But only a moment before the barrel of the gun was swung in her direction and the trigger was pulled. She felt one lodge in the plating of her shoulder and another graze her neck. She weaved to try and avoid catching too many as she closed in. Isabel had to aim high to get past the gun and the enormous arms holding it, but she managed to put a deep gash in the side of the man's neck and then catch him more fully in the stomach when he reeled back and clapped a hand to the first wound. The big ones always hit the ground so heavily. It was such a satisfying sound, though.

Agnes sighed as she flicked blood off of the spiny limb that extended from her back. The sight of the crimson ichor was indeed encouraging but she knew that she couldn’t celebrate just yet. There were still a lot of humans around and the one that she had killed was not part of the group that had initially attacked her. Those were the ones that she wanted to see die, not a nameless red shirt. Still, it was a satisfying kill, causing her to grin in satisfaction. Another stretch of her limbs and she made her way towards the door before stopping and turning back to Isabel.

The brunette nodded her head that she would be joining her and slipped passed her curvaceous form. Agnes was eager to see Isabel in action as she had heard many, many stories of her in the past. She was said to be quite unstoppable and that was something she wanted to experience herself. So, once Isabel moved through the doorway, she followed after.

Though the hall was dark, the rest of the facility seemed to be better lit. It was probably helpful since the chemist needed to see what they were working with. From here the sounds of the facility grew even louder, echoing in her skull. It took her a moment to center herself. She had spent a little too much time in that quiet, cramped basement, but now she needed to adjust to a much wider, open world. It would only take a second, that bystander by there was a good way to loosen her up.

In silence she followed Isabel, creeping behind towering boxes and hallways that would lead them to the front doors. As soon as it was in sight, they spotted both the guards that she said would be there. Both men had hands resting on guns at their sides. They were facing each other, grinning, conversing, no idea the fury that was to befall the both of them. As Agnes observed them, Isabel gave her a firm whisper.

>>"Hope you're bulletproof, bug breath...One guard a piece and then it's a free-for-all. Just stay outta my way and I won't get in yours."

”Oh sweetie, I love it when you talk like that.” Another roll of her shoulders and Agnes counted down in her mind. It was time for a little payback.

Isabel was fast, bursting forward and immediately engaging with the nearest guard. As much as Agnes wanted to just sit back and observe her, she couldn’t -- she had her own dance card to fill in. So, as soon as the brunette cleared her path, Agnes leapt over the boxes and skittered towards the second guard like a unholy insect from the deepest pits of hell.

The man turned to face Agnes, his eyes wide with alarm. The insect queen took a mental snapshot of that image, folding it up and saving it to enjoy later. For now, she descended upon the man, gripping over the mouth and driving one of her spines directly into his kneecap. The man released a muffled scream into her hand, flailing wildly as he took a clumsy aim at her and squeezed the trigger of his revolver. Several shots rang out, most missing, but at least one hit Agnes’ thorax, cracking the plate of her carapace. It held but another shot to the same spot would probably drill right through her. Thankfully, she wouldn’t have to worry about a second shot so soon as her her free hand gripped him by the wrist and twisted until he released the gun.

Wide, fearful eyes stared into Agnes’ compound gaze, blinking fear as he shook his head. Agnes shook her head, pursing her lips as if to sooth the man’s fears. But, as the seconds passed, she began to squeeze his mouth tighter and tighter. He screamed louder into her hand until only a strangled sound came out, one that was quickly followed by a sickening snap of a crushed jawbone. Opening her hand, she dropped the gurgling, silent man before turning back to face the rest of the facility.

They were certainly noticed by now, but, thankfully, the main entrance was now covered by the pair of female mutants. The look in her eyes, the carnage behind her, it was enough to send a few workers scurrying off, screaming to find someplace to hide. Those left behind, well, they would be proof of the fact that you don’t f**k with nature.

Agnes took a step towards them when something heavy suddenly filled her vision. Beating her wings hard, the hive queen took to the air, dodging around a metallic box that was hurled her way. Her vision following the trajectory, Agnes spied the young blonde M-head. She held on hand to her forehead and the other pointed at another metallic box which began to lift in the air; the telekinetic. A mouth of razor sharp fangs filled her mouth.

”Oh there you are,” she smirked. ”You and I have a date…” she started towards her when she noticed the Lizard Man scurrying in the shadows towards Isabel from above. Agnes whistled hard to the brunette until Isabel looked up to her. She pointed to the wall. ”Lizard! High up!” She smirked and then flew directly towards the telekinetic.

Things were certainly moving quickly, as expected. The moment the gunfire had started the others in the area were immediately ducking and scurrying for cover. It was like scattering cockroaches. The pair would have to work for it, but they'd squash them all before they were done. A few of them would make it easier, though, deciding to try and stand their ground to put up an ultimately useless fight. M users who were feeling unbeatable on their respective power highs. They'd all wind up the same, but at least they'd be more interesting to maim.

Isabel slid her blade out of the first corpse's gut, the body hitting the the ground with a hard, wet sound while she shook off the excess gore. The sound of the container hitting the floor made her duck reflexively before spinning around to locate the source of the noise. The telekinetic had come out to play nice and early it seemed, which worked perfectly for getting her out of the way fast. The banana bug had already claimed her though, so Isabel could focus her attention elsewhere and start mowing down others who were attempting a retreat.

The sharp whistle caught her attention but it took a brief moment to locate the source, having missed the sound of the other woman taking to the air amidst the clatter of the containers being hurled around. She was mildly irritated at being interrupted already, but given that the lizard would have quite literally gotten the drop on her otherwise she decided to let it go. A least the mutant wannabes were making it easy to check them off the list Buggy had rattled off earlier.

The scaly monstrosity had been ducking and weaving on a higher level, using the shadows from the shelving to attempt a surprise attack but had fully given himself away from where Isabel could now see him when he popped up and paused at the sound of the whistle. Sprouting her own spidery appendages she lifted herself up and began scrabbling her way up to meet him. She'd very nearly reached the top of the nearest stack when he scrunched himself up and then lunged, effectively catching her and knocking them both back to the ground.

She was already trying to squirm her way out from under the lizard before they hit the ground, the bony legs at her back saving her from landing on her spine or cracking her head against the concrete floor. A sharp pressure in her arm warned her that the scaly beast was trying to either bite his way through the bone plating or yank her arm off completely. With a string of curses she filled the offending maw with a handful of spikes, grinning as he yowled and tried to pry himself away, only managing to sink the spines deeper into his flesh.

With a grunt of some effort she managed to get her bone appendages beneath her and start hauling the large body off of herself and onto its back on the floor while he hissed, writhed, and clawed at her. He very nearly caught her in the face a few times and his heavy tail was doing its damnedest to knock her off balance again. All the thrashing made it harder to land a good hit, but ultimately all it took was a solid strike with another blade to the softer scales at his throat to finally put him down.

Unpinning herself after prying the jaws apart, she extricated herself from the tangle of scaly limbs and brushed at some of the spatter on the front of her shirt. Now that the overgrown gecko was dealt with she could move on to the next corpse-to-be. It was the firestarter she wanted to find so she could do a little multitasking and start trying to burn the place down while she stuck a blade in his heart.

Oh how much she wanted to watch Isabel in action. As she hovered in the air, she whistled out to her, warning her of the threat that was skittering down the wall towards her. Isabel had said she didn’t want Agnes to get in her way but she technically wasn’t in her way...she was just warning her of impending peril. She was certain that the bonemancer could have easily dispatched the monster, only suffering a few bites and scratches for her trouble, but what were future besties for? She smirked, leaving Isabel to her devices, and immediately charged after the telekinetic who was trying to pelt her with boxes.

It was strange. Agnes had never really considered her powers to be of the offensive variety, as in, attack rather than defense. More often than not her powers saved both her life and her honor as the insects would defend her if she were ever unceremoniously attacked or threatened. For years Agnes was both thankful and sickened by it. How many times had her frail self been injured or scared to the point where she would spew out a bevy of bugs to shield her? It made her feel like one of the most disgusting freaks imaginable.

Now, however, she fully embraced all parts of her mutation. She didn’t run and hide form her powers; now she used them to their utmost potential. This would be a prime example. As she flew through the air, she could feel the heavy buzzing of the brood as they twitched and readied themselves for a fight. They would protect and die for their queen, every last one of them and that was dedication that simply couldn’t be bought. Tonight her army would earn their stripes as their queen would be pleased with their many, many sacrifices.

A hard spin through the air and Agnes ducked and whirled around flying projectiles. The psychic was getting desperate now, grunting and sweating as she lifted and threw more than just containers, but cardboard boxes, trash cans, even the odd pencil and pen or two would come flying in her direction. But none of that would match the speed and precision with which the insect queen flew. A wide arc and Agnes dive bombed the young blonde, her face contorted into a pleasurable smirk of fangs that looked read to rend meat from bone. She was the stuff of nightmares, of the blonde’s (Tiffaney) nightmares.

“Oh s**t! Oh s**t!!!” she screamed. Another arm flew up and a metal safe suddenly ripped from a nearby wall and collided firmly with Agnes’ midsection.

”OOMPH!!!” Agnes gasped, the wind knocked out of her as she practically wrapped around the safe and plummeted down onto the ground. Her body thudded harshly against the floor, bouncing twice before falling still.

Tiffaney gulped, her arm shaking as she kept aloft several floating projectiles ready to use. Shakily she stepped closer, each footfall quieter than the last, until she was nearly on top of Agnes. Her confidence growing, she nudged the insect queen’s leg, jumped, and watched her closely. Still seeing no movement, Tiffaney crept even closer, gave another nudge with her toe, before she started to breathe calmly. She did it. She killed the monstrous mutant! The boss was going to reward her -- or he would have if not for fact that Agnes was nowhere near defeated.

The movement was quicker than expected, a sharp barb extended out from Agnes’ wrist and immediately drove into Tiffaney’s calf, down to the hilt. The blonde screamed in agony, her leg going numb as poison swept through her system. She started to gasp and shake but, rather than fall over, she was immediately held up by the Hive Queen’s firm hand. Tightening around her lower jaw, Tiffaney was lifted up and forced the face the nightmarish gaze.

”Tsk...tsk…” Easily she lifted the woman up, off of her feet, and held only by her chin. She shook her head as she leaned in and whispered into the woman’s ear. ”That’s no way to treat a guest...is it?”

Buzzing. Buzzing was the last thing that Tiffaney would hear as a swarm of insects: roaches, wasps, ants, and flies all bombarded her ear canal, causing a thunderstorm in her head. As the woman flailed and screamed, Agnes yawned and dropped her to the ground and walked away with a casual sway of her hips. The psychic screamed and beat her fists bloody into the ground, the sensation of what the insects were doing to her from within too horrible to even conceive of. Anyone would have turned away knowing that nothing could be done for the silly human.

But Agnes, she just smiled. With a soft coo of her lips, she lifted her arm, watching as one of the giant, amazonian centipedes crawled out from her forearm and wrapped around it. Her lips pursed as she kissed its head and gently tapped its pincers. ”Don’t worry sweetie. You’ll have your chance to dine soon enough.”

She turned her head, trying to find where Isabel had run off to. There was still so many people to hurt together...

The sudden cacophony of screams was a clear signal that the telekinetic was having a bad time dealing with the bug woman. Isabel could tell the kid was done for without having to look to see what was happening. She'd heard enough screaming in her lifetime to know that those were the sounds of death, and a slow and agonizing one at that. The bug woman apparently knew what she was doing. If she could just keep it up they'd clear the facility in no time.

"Don't fall behind, Bug Breath," she called back to her companion, sparing a glance at the girl writhing on the ground before moving past the scene without another thought. Trying to steal the privilege of having a mutation came with a cost. These thieves thought they had it all figured out, wanted to play with the big kids, and now they were paying the price. It was only fair.

The inside of the warehouse seemed to be crammed full of boxes and equipment, the people running the operation apparently trying to get as much use out of the space as possible. Isabel had been given the bare essentials of the place's layout but all the junk piled up in it made t feel a lot bigger and less straight-forward than it had looked on paper. Still, they had a general direction to move in, she just had to hope there weren't any more overlooked doors or window that the roaches could crawl through.

"We gotta find that lab space and start destroying this stuff," she said, watching carefully for any scurrying individuals or any more guns that might appear. With so many people trying to make an escape she could only assume the most of the grunts moving the stuff didn't actually have access to the M for themselves, or else they'd tried it and were left with less than useful abilities. Active users so far had all been offensive and had probably all been assigned security positions. At least the runners made for easy targets. A quick shot in the back or a knife to the throat and they dropped just like any other corpse she'd ever left behind.

"If you see that firestarter before he starts trying to fry stuff, you make sure you point him out. There's a lot of cardboard and junk in here. If we can get him to start sparking we can burn the whole place down and be done with it." Chances were the kid would give himself away before they had to look too hard for him. Fire mutants were almost all hotheads and if the kid was new to using M he'd be that much more enthusiastic about showing off. But even so, the insect woman knew what the wannabes looked like and any advantage was worth using.

The psychic was reduced to little more than a few gurgled sounds and the spastic twitch of a dying neurons still desperately flooding her system to flee, despite the fact that her grey matter resembled swiss cheese now. As the bugs escaped the bloody confines, they started to make line back towards their queen who was now marching further into the facility. The doors were not clear of any opposition so all that was left was to sweep through the building and draw out the remainder of the staff who were still stupid enough to try and protect their shipments.

Yes, it was safe to assume that anyone they came across at this point just deserved to die.

>>Don't fall behind, Bug Breath,"

She turned, grinning a bit as Isabel moved past her and further ahead. They still had a few more rooms to check. Agnes didn’t really have to stay if she didn’t want to. She drew blood, she managed to clear an exit for herself, but she was inclined to stick around, if only to see how the bonemancer handled the rest of the crew who stayed behind. Besides, Agnes was nothing if not true to her word. She said she would stay out of Isabel’s way, but she also said she would help. Besides, these people had it coming.

>>"We gotta find that lab space and start destroying this stuff,"

Agnes nodded. Unfortunately that was the one thing that she didn’t actually see on the way in. She saw a few of the M users, the completed shipments, and then was dragged down into the cellar. As much as she wanted to point out exactly where it was, there was also a thrill of exploration. Who knew what challenges awaited them around every corner. Agnes was only too happy to shed some blood along the way.

As she rounded a corner, there was a gasp as several men, simple workers, suddenly charged at her with brooms, mops, and what looked like a clipboard. Their blow struck hard but broke against her hardened carapace. A swift movement and her spines reached out, driven deep under the chin of each individual, silencing them. She lashed her appendages to the side, sending their bodies careening behind her and into several cardboard boxes, pathetic.

She sighed. ”Humans,” she muttered with disgust. Wiping the blood from her spines, the insect queen moved forward, Isabel’s voice drawing her attention.

>>"If you see that firestarter before he starts trying to fry stuff, you make sure you point him out. There's a lot of cardboard and junk in here. If we can get him to start sparking we can burn the whole place down and be done with it."

”Don’t worry, hunny,” she said. ”I love watching you work, and I’m excited to see what you can do to him.”

Peeking in through another room, empty. She moved further down, heading towards one of the docking bays when the doors to a storage container were kicked open. Standing on the inside was a shorter Japanese man, younger, looked he was part of a Ducati gang. His skin cracked, revealing molten magma inside his body. He grinned once he caught sight of Agnes and held up his hand, making a ball of lava float above it.

“Hah!! Stupid freak!” he shouted. “Want to go another round with Scorch, eh?” He growled as he hurled the ball of lava directly at her.

Agnes’s wings beat hard, lifting her up and away from danger, though it didn’t seem to stop Scorch as he hurled softball-sized molten rounds at her. The insect queen hissed before a cackling breath filled the air.

”Come you FIRESTARTER,” she shouted, hoping to get Isabel’s attention. She wanted to know where the firestarter was and this was the best way to get her to sneak close to him. ”You have **** aim!” Another cackle and she whirled, dipping between balls of lava and staying out of his reach. Just as Isabel had said, the places where his missed shots fell immediately caught fire.