In the dark light, the skyscrapers that housed King Pharmaceuticals were almost unrecognizable.

The trucks drove into the underground carpark of the building. They spiraled down the many levels until they reached the bottom, and stopped infront of a flat wall. The driver of the front trucked pressed a button on the dash, and suddenly, the wall opened up to reveal more road leading off somewhere. The trucks continued on, the door shutting after the last trucked had drived through the secret wall.

Eventually the trucks pulled up in front of an elevator. "Alright, everyone out" Dorian said to the mutants in the truck. As people began exiting the first truck, mutants began to get out of the others.

Eventually, Syn and Jack got out of their truck and were guided to the elevator, which would take them down to the secret research facilities, where Jack would be spending her time until Dorian got what he wanted out of her.

The facilities themselves were a further 5 floors below where they currently stood.

"Syn," Dorian called out, "I'll come by and see how you two are doing, right now I have to escort the other mutants back to the Sanctuary."

She nodded, as the elevator doors shut, and a large automated lock was engaged to stop any unwanted company from gaining access to the elevator.

"Alright, everyone back in your trucks, we're going home."

This was the final event that truly eased Dorian's mind. She was now in his possession and nothing was going to change that until he willed otherwise. A satisfied grin formed on his face as the trucks stole off into the night back to the Sanctuary.

Why weren't we back at the Sanctuary? This was a new place. It had to be another of Mr. King's buildings. A sudden sickening feeling began forming within her. Damn I relaxed for a second, she thought as she looked at Jack again.

The girls power was very potent indeed and it was taking almost all of Syn's concentration to fight it and continue to try to counter it. When the van stopped Syn escorted Jack out still with more than enough strength to keep the girl from running. They were directed to an elevator and when Syn turned back to face the open doors she saw Mr. King watching the two girls. "Don't worry, she's not going anywhere." Then the doors closed and the girls were on their way down to a secret floor.

While Syn and Jack waited to arrive on their designated floor Syn turned to Jack. Still very much concentrating on keep herself under control as well as fighting the affects of Jack's ability. "Why did you want me to get you out of that place so quickly? Did you want to escape them or was it an act so that no one else would get hurt?"

Jack watched this group of mutants follow the one man they called Mr. King. She wondered where they were taking her... For now she didn't even care. As long as she got away from that facility she'd been stuck in her whole life, any new place was good for her. She kept her eyes peeled on the windows of the van, trying to catch any glimpse of the outside world she'd never been a part of.

After several series of secret entrances into a new building, Jack and this girl named Syn, exited the van. When everyone else had left, she looked around for possible exits, just in case this place wasn't much different from the facility she'd just left. It was awkwardly silent as she and Syn went down an elevator. Just as the thought passed through her, Syn asked her, "Why did you want me to get you out of that place so quickly? Did you want to escape them or was it an act so that no one else would get hurt?"

Jack didn't look at the girl and kept her eyes on the door of the elevator. "I... I've never been out of that place. I wanted to leave..." she quietly said. A flash of her Miss Penelope came into her head, but she immediately shook it away in fear the woman was dead. These mutants seemed to be deadly. "Most of the people there were nice to me. The doctors...nurses...my assistant..." She cleared her throat softly and stared at the numbers of the elevator as they descended.

It suddenly occured to Jack that this girl was actually standing near her in what seemed complete control. No one had ever been able to do that. She wanted to reach out and touch the girl to see what would happen, but decided against it. Her people skills weren't exactly normal. She'd never been around anyone this closely her whole life. Everyone spoke to her through a speaker in the door of her room at the facility. "Uh, how come you aren't getting sick like everyone else?"

A soft voice reached out and touched Syn's ear like a soft breeze. The voice belonged to Jack and she was answering Syn's question. The girl said she wanted to leave the facility where she was taken from. She also mentioned that the people there were nice, and how she hoped that this new place wasn't going to be like the previous. Jack didn't take her eyes off the digital display showing which floor they were passing. Almost like she was in some sort of limbo mind set. Syn looked the girl over carefully. Jack wasn't a physical threat to her or anyone for that matter. The only thing dangerous about her was her mutation.

Just as Syn was pondering about Jack that's when Jack spoke up again. "Uh, how come you aren't getting sick like everyone else?" Syn thought for a second and smiled somewhat like the cheshire cat did in alice in wonderland. "Because I'm adapting to your mutation." Syn thought to herself again as she concentrated on her whole body almost as if scanning it. Her piercing green eyes then locked back on Jack. "I have the ability to overcome things such as your mutation, and if I concentrate hard enough I can make myself immune to it. So other than being assigned to watch over you I'm also making it so you don't have an ill affect on me anymore."

Jack wasn't really sure what that meant, but didn't say anything else about it. She wasn't really the type to have a conversation with anyone she didn't know. Not that she knew many people... Just Penelope. 'Maybe this wasn't a good idea. I should've checked on Penelope...' Jack thought, wondering what was in store for her with these strangers. "Where... where are we going?"

The tone of being uneasy was apparrent in Jack's voice. Hearing the tone made Syn smile. She enjoyed knowing when others were affraid when she wasn't. It made her feel stronger and more in control. Speaking of control Syn realised that it was taking less and less concentration and effort for her to resist Jack's power. "We're going somewhere safe. Where others can't get to you."

Syn looked to Jack and saw how nervous the girl was. "You know there are bad people out there. Both human and mutants alike who would want to hurt you. So my colleagues and I decided to get you out of that inferior place where you were being kept and to put you in a much more protected environment." In her mind's eye Syn was literally speaking with a forked tongue like that of a cobra. Trying to gain Jacks trust in order for her to cooperate more freely with Mr. King's wishes.

The words "somewhere safe" made Jack feel a bit uneasy when it should have made her feel better. Point blank she was confused, for someone like her 'safe' meant isolated which is what she had been trying to avoid. She decided not to share her concern in that respect.

Her inner child was both scared and a little intrigued, she hadn't been around a lot of mutants before and she was excited to experience their lives...however she was scared because the experience could have been her last.

"Don't worry Jack, we're gonna take care of you and keep others from harming you." Syn paused for a moment almost like she hears something in the distance when in fact she didn't hear anything at all. Instead she was realizing that she had finally overcome Jack's ability. Syn relaxed herself just to test the situation and nothing happened. Everything was fine as if they were both normal.

She smiled and looked at Jack once again. "There, it's done. I negated your power and you no longer have any effect on my powers." Finishing that sentence Syn released her pheromones to help calm Jack and make her feel safe. "Everything will be just fine."

Jack had to admit it disturbed her that this woman was immune to her powers...but she soon got over it.

"Yeah...I know.." she replied.

Nail awoke with something pressing against his throat. His aching body wanted to jerk back, but he only managed to squirm slightly. He realized that something was in his mouth, something that tasted bitter. His eyes opened slightly, and the first thing he could see was one of Abyss’s doppelgangers. He gasped slightly, but in doing so nearly choked on the pill. Without meaning to, he swallowed them down.

Nail, now mostly awake, scrambled to back away from the group and pressed him against the wall of the cell. He was worried. The guys were standing right over him, making him swallow pills, but the crystal that usually formed to protect him did not appear. He wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. It had never happened before.

He felt a sudden stab in his stomach, and realized it was empty. He had thrown up the only thing he ha eaten all day, and his stomach was punishing him for it. Not only that, his body ached all over, and he felt as if he had a minor suntan. He must have overused his ability. That was the only thing he could think of to explain how horrible he felt.

Still slightly groggy he sat against the wall and looked the group over, also taking in the features of the room he was in. It was brightly lit, and he was definitely in a cell. Three of the walls, including the one he was up against, were a cold hard and white plastic. The third wall was a see-through Plexiglas, with a see through door that slid open and closed.

It was far too creepy for Nail. It was like one of those alien abduction movies or something where you’re locked in some weird cell until they come and do strange experimentations to you.

“Where the hell am I?! What did you just give me?! Who are you?!” He simply let out the questions as they came to mind, with his tone getting more frightened and urgent. For all the ferocity he once had back at the subway, he was nothing more than a rat in a cage now.

Kaz entered the Sanctuary through the back entrance still holding Iris. Quickly making his way through the coridors to the elevator, he took it down to the living area. Making sure no one was in the halls, he brought the girl to his room. Laying her on the bed gently, he moved over to the corner of his room to a decent sized chest. Opening it he opened a few compartments until he found the two things he was looking for: a sedative and a paralys. Neither were very strong, but the combination of the two would keep her groggy and make it very hard to move on her own. Both were self contained, so no seringe was needed.

Before closing the chest, he grabbed two pill bottles and took one pill from each. Moving over to Iris, he lifted the sleeve of her right arm up to expose her bicep. Pressing both containers to her skin he pushed down on the applicator, a short hiss sounded as the drugs were put into her blood stream. Moving over to a small desk, he set the empty applicators down and pulled out a piece of paper and and pen. He thought for a moment before jotting down a quick note for the sleeping girl. Pulling the paper off the notepad, he put the pills in the middle of the paper then folded it into thirds, then into thirds again tucking the ends into eachother to make a self contained pouch, much like that a crime scene investigator would use when plastic could not be used and paper bags were too big.

Iris lay on his bed sleeping peacefully, but her clothes betrayed her peace. Tattered and scorched in places, dirty and wet in others. Opening his closet he pulled out a small duffle bag and put a pair of drawstring gray sweat pants and the smallest black t-shirt he could find in the bag. There was no reason to treat her like crap. He had caused it, he had pushed her until she retaliated. He could have just taken the girl without a fight. An unprevoked fight. She hadn't done anything to him, except for a split lip; Kaz chuckled at that as he touched his lip with his finger and looked at the girl; and he had caused that too. Zipping up the bag and moving to the bed, he looked at her once again, but this time thinking of where to put the note he had written.

<Pocket...no, she needed to find it fast, can't always feel something there unless you already knows its there. Her hand...she could drop it after I drop her off and she wouldn't find it. Shoe; one, he didn't feel like removing it, two, she wouldn't be walking around anytime soon so thats a negative.> Rubbing his temples with his thumb and middle finger for a moment, then moving his hand down his face until he rested his hand on his chin, he sighed as his eyes locked onto the only spot left. <I'll just hope she won't feel TOO violated.> Reaching down the top of her shirt he put the note under her bra, but not too far, he wasn't one to take advantage of an unconsious girl. He made sure the note would stay before slinging the bag onto his shoulder and picking Iris up into his arms again.

This time he didn't head up to ground level, but to the vehicle bay. Picking out a black BMW, he strapped her in. Grabbing the keys from the key locker, he hopped in and started the car. He was glad the windows were tinted, he didn't need anyone seeing a passed out girl in the passenger seat. Checking the mirrors quickly and adjusting them as needed, he also turned the GPS system on to help him navigate around. Pressing the garage opener, he saw the sunlight begin to shine down into the garage at the end of the tunnel. Shifting into gear the car began to roll slowly, Kaz was savoring the feeling of the engine's quiet roar, it had been a long time since he had driven a car like this.

Entering where he wanted to go on the GPS, it showed him the fastest rout given the time of day and traffic. <Perfect.> With that he sped out of the garage which shut automaticly. The route he took was more a scenic route than a straight shot, but it was better than rush hour traffic. Kaz shuddered at the thought. It was a short drive to KP, especially with Kaz speeding like a demon. Kaz only stopped once durring the drive, he had to grab something he had forgotten about.

Down the parking ramp at he drove, until he reached a dead end. Quirking an eyebrow, he pressed another button on the inside roof of the car. The wall in front slid away and allowed Kaz to continue before sliding back into place. Finally he reached the elevator and parked near it. Taking the key from the ignition, he grabbed the bag from behind the seat and got out. Walking around he opened Iris' door and lifted her out of the vehicle. Pressing the key code for the elevator, he entered and decended. Making his way to the holding cells he could hear a comotion from up ahead. <Seems Abyss was sucessful.> Opening a cell accross the hall from the man who seemed ready to die of fright, he set the duffle bag down and lay Iris down, her head resting on it. He turned to leave and nearly forgot what was in his pocket. Turning towards Iris he set the water bottle down beside her. Exiting the cell, he shut the door and punched in the keycode to lock it. Looking at the man in the cell Kaz recognized him as the one who was with Iris earlier. Opening the man's cell, he walked in and shoved him into the wall. Kaz's eyes seemed to flash a deep crimson as he glared at the man. "Two things. One; If you don't shut up, I'm going to break your jaw and crush your voicebox so you'll never be able to make another annoying sound again. Two; If you don't stop acting like a human, I'm going to kill you right here right now." He turned on the man, before he shut the cell door, "You're a mutant, now act like one and suck it up!" He slammed his hand on the keypad, the door shut and sealed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Note to Iris
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wakie Wakie Iris,

First and foremost, if you're reading this, then you're at least consious. Which is good and bad. It's good you're awake of corse, but bad because in a few minutes you're about to feel like you're dying a very painful slow death. Your insides will feel as if they're on fire, with a hand gripping your hear and lungs, crushing the very life from you, not to mention the worst migrane you could ever immagine.

But don't worry, see those two pills? Take them..NOW! There's a bottle of water near you. They will counter the effects of the drugs I gave you. Just a sedative and a paralys. They are not OTC (over the counter), or even RX. And you don't want to know where they came from.

If you haven't noticed there's a bag under your head, inside is a change of clothes, they're simple and probably not your style but it might be better than your dirty wet ones.

I can't tell you what's going on, but I'm sure you'll find out soon enough on your own. All I can say is, if you make it out of this, you'll be stronger, and I'd love to have a rematch with you.

Good luck,
And don't do anything stupid, K?

Kaz Corydon
AKA Sarrus the Dragon

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
End note.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He didn't say it in the note, and she didn't need to know, but the first injections were the first of the the drugs, it was true the pills would take away the side effects, but they would also put a more lasting sedative into her body and make it harder for her to move around.

Iris was ready to pull her hair out with frustration. The little animated hammer laughed uncontrolably at her as it ran, stopping every few steps the pound the ground, shaking it under her. She tried her best to catch it, but the little menace stayed just out of her reach. With each swing, Iris felt herself getting more and more dizzy, and the maniacal laughter echoed in her ears. Finally she collapsed. The evil little monster ran circles around her, laughing and pounding, then laughing more. Then it stopped, and grinned at her, and she noticed it had red eyes. Suddenly, it swung at her head.....


Iris’ eyes snapped open, and she rolled onto her side. And immediately regretted it. Pain lanced through her head and neck. She was only vaguely aware at first that she’d been dreaming. She took a deep, shaky breath, and gulped away a wave of nausea. A moan escaped her throat. Well, the evil hammer may have been a dream, but the pounding was real enough. Her vision was blurry, as if she was looking at the world through water. And she ached in places she didn’t know existed.

How long had she been out? And where was she?

She closed her eyes, both to block out the water waves, and to rack her memory, with no success. She groaned again, and tried to sit up. <“Ugh! Why is it so hard to move?”> She felt something poke her in the chest, like a loose safety pin. She reached up to fix it, but felt something else instead, stuck inside her shirt. She couldn’t seem to get her coordination right, and dropped whatever it was on the floor. She had to pause before leaning over to get it; her migraine was getting worse.

“Ugh, what I wouldn’t give for some Vicadin and a Starbucks,” she mumbled, and picked up the packet. She unfolded the paper, and something small fell out and rolled on the floor. Reflexively she grabbed at them to keep them from rolling away. She hit something else in the process, something larger, and sent it rolling too. Another pain stabbed at her, and she had to wait again for it to pass. She’d had migraines before, but this was ridiculous.

Finally she managed to unfold the paper, and saw it was a note. She had to hold it close to read because of her blurry vision. As she read, a combination of anger and fear flooded through her, momentarily dulling the pain.

The park. Nail. The two mutants that attacked them. It all came back in crystal clear memory. Painful memory. He was telling the truth about the pain she was feeling. She blinked and looked at the pills she realized that she was clutching. He must be crazy if he thought she would take them without any explanation, especially after knowing he’d already drugged her once. She set them aside, doing her best to avoid sudden movements.

Duffle bag? She vaguely remembered feeling something soft under her head, but any explorations were out of the question for the moment. In the back of her mind, she wondered why he would care what she looked like.

“If you make it out of this, you'll be stronger, and I'd love to have a rematch with you.”

<“If?”> Iris closed her eyes, her heart pounding. “Wonderful,” she said aloud. “Here less than a week, and already face-first in the horse muck.” The sarcasm was a front. In her mind, Iris felt like a child left alone in a dark alley. She gulped back tears.

She glanced at the last part of the note again. <“Kaz, huh? So that pair of red eyes does have a name.”> She bit her tongue on a few other names she wanted to call him. <“A rematch?”> That was a given. But not now. She was nowhere near strong enough. Besides, first she had to survive in one piece.

Iris clenched her teeth, and slowly lay back down. The pain was getting worse. She considered her pain tolerance higher than most, but there was no way she could endure much more on her own. She shot a glance over at the two pills. No, she wasn’t that desperate yet. Instead, she activated her ice power. It was working, so she’d been out long enough for it to regenerate. Cold washed over her body. Along with the usual frost, patches of ice began to form over her pain centers. Slowly but surely the pain dulled to just barely tolerable. Outwardly, she looked like some had tried to chip her out of a block of ice, and only partially succeeded. Inwardly, she tried to ignore the little voice in her mind that swore cameras were watching her every move. For once, it probably was right. Her eyes closed and her breathing slowed.

<“I sure hope you got away Nail.”> She looked as if she was sleeping peacefully, but between worry, anger, fear and pain, she was fully awake and aware.

Through the fog that clouded his vision, Nail watched as Abyss left the cell, and another silhouette flew towards him with what looked like harmful intent. He struggled to make it to his feet, and try to protect himself, but he was far to disoriented to put up a fight. He man easily got him by the throat. He felt himself fly into the wall, was faced with a pair of red eyes.

"Two things. One; If you don't shut up, I'm going to break your jaw and crush your voice box so you'll never be able to make another annoying sound again. Two; If you don't stop acting like a human, I'm going to kill you right here right now."

The eyes released their grip on his throat, and he stumbled to his knees sputtering and coughing. He heard the door slide shut, but he didn’t watch as the man left. He stood at the floor, catching his breath for a short while.

“What a hard ass…”

He didn’t really listen to what the guy was saying. He was more focused on the whole lack of oxygen thing at the time. It was about this time that the drugs kicked in. His limbs felt week and elastic like noodles, and the tendons behind his eyes seemed to tinge slightly. His brain felt like it had just dropped into neutral, and he found it hard to focus. It was actually quite relaxing, but he was still concerned with the situation he was in.

He heard a familiar voice saying something, but he couldn’t really tell. It seemed quite and distant. He looked up and out into the hallway. There was another cell across from his that was pretty much Identical to his. There was a large number painted in black above the cell on the wall. The number two. Looking inside, he managed to see the form of Iris looking over a note. Inside the room he could see some other things as well, like a bag and a bottle. Looking around, there was nothing in his cell at all. <What the hell. She gets to bring a bag of junk with her and I’m left her pretty much naked…>

He heard her speaking out loud again, but it was too muffled to make anything out. Standing once more, he shuffled over to the Plexiglas window. He looked around the room again. There was absolutely nothing in it. A portion of the ground near the corner was cushioned. He guessed that was supposed to be a bed.

“Hey! Iris! Girl from the park! Can you hear me?! It’s Nail!”

He hit the window slightly, but in his weakened state he didn’t manage to make very much noise. He spoke loudly, so she could hopefully make out what he was saying. He could hear his voice reverberating off the strange plastic, which made his voice sound strangely electronic.

Cascavel awoke in a fit as she cursed in every language she knew and touched the unbelievably sore spot on the back of her neck. She slid to the back of the cell and pressed herself against the wall.

She was still disoriented and felt sick to her stomach. She tried to stand but it took a few time for her to get to her feet. She suddenly became angry.

"Where am I?!?!"

Iara hugged the wall and begin yelling at the new man who entered. Her voice was heavilly accented due to her stress and she would be surprised if he understood her.

"DIABLO!"

It was the first name she could get out as anger filled her. She began cursing at him in every language she could muster and in between spoke quick bits of english curse words as well.