Money went quickly in the hands of an arrogant teenage girl with no real means of making money. Being able to move into the housing at Ragnarok had been incredible, but she wasn't really sure how everything worked there yet. Communication was one thing that the faction really needed to work on.

However, the great thing about the fact that she was supposed to be acting chaotically, was that she was able to act chaotically. So it was both the love of chaos and the lack of money that brought her to the Chase Manhattan Bank that chilly afternoon.

Valkyrie walked in already armed - or winged, rather. Her crystals made light tinkling noises as they brushed against each other with each hard step in her heels. Her expression was steely and focused as she walked straight toward the teller.

"Money. Now." She glared at the middle-aged man with obvious balding spots poorly hidden by longer pieces of hair.

The man studied her for a moment before speaking very slowly in a tone that alluded to his annoyance. "Go away little girl. There's nothing here for you."

That was all Astrid needed. She had been expecting that, actually. She smirked and turned to the other patrons standing in the cue with a bloodthirsty look in her dead eyes.

The first row of crystals hit a woman in a very nice looking business suit, a young man in a suit, and an old man behind the desk. People screamed and stepped back. They hadn't been expecting the first hit, but they were not about to risk getting hit with the second.

People went as quickly as they could to the door, intent on getting out. Astrid cursed silently, realizing that she had forgotten to lock it. Two more rows of crystals were shot off in succession as she attempted to stop them from getting any further.

It would take a miracle for her to be able to salvage the heist. 

When Roach had first started tracking the movements of a certain Astrid Dubois, he'd been impressed with that he'd seen. Her abilities were interesting, she could fly, which made her highly mobile, and she even seemed to have a sort of offensive form she could shift to as well.

After extended observation, though, it became clear she was a diamond in the rough. She often acted with little to no preparation, which for someone trying to sew the seeds of chaos would have some success, but not if you planned to last long in the game of villainy.

Rough as she was, though, she would be useful if aimed in the right direction, and if she were to be taught how to do things right... Well, she could be a force to be reckoned with.

She had a long way to go yet, though... Take this instance for example. It was a little after noon. She was attempting to rob a bank. In broad daylight. Alone.

A few cockroaches managed to cut the phone lines before the panic button behind the counter could summon a META. The security guard, who had been outside on his break, noticed something was up, and grabbed his weapon, turning to head in.

A giant cockroach in a long collared tan trench coat followed him in, grabbing him by the back of the neck, squeezing quite hard, and then tossing him into the crowd of people attempting to flee. The giant bug calmly turned and locked the door, reaching to take off his hat, a rather concealing fedora, and place it on top of a coat rack provided for the guests. He then took off his coat as well, hanging it neatly.

"Mister teller... I do believe you heard the girl. Money. Now." His neat English accent flowed from his maw of palps, teeth, and tendrils. He gave Astrid a short nod.

"Listen well, people, here are the rules. We don't take out our phones. If the giant scary cockroach in the room sees a phone, he may be tempted to eat the hand that holds it!"

He danced over to the body of the dead security guard, which everyone had pulled away from, and reached down to grab his gun. "We don't try to resist. If we do, this dead body becomes a pile of dead bodies."

He inspected the gun in his grasp for a moment, and then walked on over to the island where one would fill out a deposit slip. "Finally, we do what the nice lady with the pretty wings says, or she kills you while the big bug watches." Roach leaned against the island, gesturing to the young woman, as if to say she was in charge. "What happens next?"

For some reason, the universe decided to give Astrid a break that fine afternoon.

Her miracle had arrived in the form of a giant roach. Definitely not the form she would have picked given a choice, but she would take what she could get at that point. If not for him showing up, she would have been, well, screwed.

She watched with a rather confused expression as a dead body was thrown into the mass of fleeing civilians. The roach then walked in, locked the door, and removed his hat and coat. He was even polite enough to hang it on the nearby rack at the door. It was like something out of a weird late night B-movie that occasionally came on in the hotels she used to frequent.

It then walked over to her and addressed the teller, revealing a male voice. He even nodded at Astrid. It was clear that the creature was someone she wanted to associate herself with. He had hooked her at the body, but helping her out was just another cherry on top of his teetering, layered cake of a first impression.

"What happens next?"

It seemed that she was to be taking the lead in the endeavour. Astrid bit her lip, having been thrown off guard by the thing's entrance. She glanced at the teller, who was very slowly making his way over to the safe. That was fine, it gave them more time to make an impression on the hostages, and maybe even spill a little more blood.

That would just depend on their behaviour.

"You are going to wall," Valkyrie's voice echoed through the lobby of the otherwise silent bank. She raised a pale, slender finger to point at the far wall. "Taking seat and not talk." Damn, that had even sounded like proper grammar. She mental patted herself on the back.

At first, the hostages just stared at her, their faces wracked with terror. However, they moved quickly into the instructed positions after Astrid yelled:

"Now!"

The Roach nearly squee'd with glee when he heard her speak again. It was just like his bugs had described! She was so French! He placed both main elbows on the table and leaned deeper onto it, placing his head in his hands. What a neat kid; She was what, 15, 14? Almost definitely here from France, or a colony thereof. Here she was in a whole other country Robbing a bank alone, albeit terribly, at such a young age. It made him want to root for her.

She was trying so hard! Her instincts weren't bad, either. "Excellent idea, Valkyrie. It's very important to get all of your hostages in one, clearly visible location. I commend you." He stood tall, and tapped his shell with a short chest hand. A little cockroach skittered out and looked up at him. He clicked at it a few times, motioned toward the hostages with his antennae and placed his hand on the table. The little bug seemed to nod briefly, and then it crawled down his hand, staring at the group of hostages with intent.

"I'm Gregory, by the way. Absolute pleasure to meet you. I'd shake, but the teller is trying to make a break for it, so you might want to stop him." He casually nodded toward the teller, who was trying to make for a back office.

Roach would let her handle it; he wanted her to know he felt her capable. The younger folk often had a complex with such things. "May I suggest a leg wound? We will likely need him alive~" He hummed, glancing out the window to make sure no passerby's happened to be staring back.

They were clear for now. He heard a chitter from the table near him; one of the hostages, a man in a business suit, had tried to pull out his phone.

Astrid would hear the sound of furniture breaking if she was still focusing on the teller. The man in the suite's legs would be the only thing visible, the rest of him obscured by one of the comfy guest chairs and the hole in the wall made by both him and the object. He wasn't moving. Roach turned to the crowd; they were all cowering and just generally freaking out.

"What did we say about phones? I make good on my promises, humans; You get one more. That is all. And then everyone dies. It won't be quick, either."

If the roach had been trying to get on her good side, he was certainly succeeding. His big words went over her head, but she got the general idea of what he was saying. She liked all of it.

For a second she was confused as to why he knew her name, but then she realized one fundament truth: she would be offended if he didn't know her name. With everything she had done recently, everyone in the city should have had at least some idea of who she was. From the second she had walked into the bank, everyone should have had their hands in the air. They likely would have, in a perfect world.

'Gregory' directed her to the bank teller, who was most definitely trying to get away. A bad move. Astrid stepped forward to get a better view of the teller for a shot. The fact that her wings were already in crystal form made it much easier for her to simply reach back and pluck one from the rows. She would have simple shot off an entire row, but it was difficult with the desk in the way. She would have to go one by one.

Valkyrie tossed it hard at the man, aiming for the leg like the bug had suggested. However, her aim wasn't the most greatest, so she ended up hitting him just left of his spine. The man screamed and fell forward, grabbing at the fresh wound.

Astrid smirked, trying to hide the fact that it had not hit where she had meant it to. She turned to the group without changing her facial expression. "Looking at that. This is happening to all your trying go."

"What did we say about phones? I make good on my promises, humans; You get one more. That is all. And then everyone dies. It won't be quick, either."

She looked at Gregory and licked her lips, hoping that someone would do something stupid. Even just a twitch. That was all it would take. 

She watched the group silently for a minute, the money forgotten. Most of the hostages were sitting silent and still, but there was a young boy that kept jerking his arm around. It wasn't a natural movement. Astrid narrowed her eyes and tried to see what he was doing. From what she could see...

He had a phone!

She grinned and stepped forward. "Stupid thing doing," she sang to him. She readied her wings, but stopped and looked at Gregory. She didn't know why exactly she had done that, but it seemed right to check with him before doing something. 

Roach's antennae perked up a bit in surprise when she threw a bit higher than he'd advised. Bit of an accuracy issue? When she turned around he snapped back to minding his own business. He would likely have to see about some accuracy training. Or maybe a reigning in of the bloodlust, like with Aura, but maybe with more success this time.

"Ah, also a good idea. Someone else must have save access as well, and they won't try to escape after that man's fate. Brilliant, Valkyrie."

Look at him, already chiseling out a lesson plan. He didn't even know if she was on board, yet.

She moved away from the safe, eyeing the hostages. He tilted his head a bit, observing her movements, her focuses. She was dangerous, wasn't she? She wanted to kill every last human in this room. He liked that.

One of the humans gave her an excuse. She looked to him. His antennae perked up once more.

Oh, she was on board. He looked at the crowd, stopping on one person... Name tag, Melissa, branch manager. She was crying. He walked on over and grabbed her. She shrieked, and he gave he a bit of a knock to shut her up. She was out.

He looked back to the Valkyrie, and back to the crowd. "Show me what you can do. But never forget, when you walk in to a place like this. The objective always comes first."

Objective...?

What was that word again?

Oh! Right, objectif. It sounded almost the same.

Astrid's eyes widened as she looked over at the safe. That's why she had come originally; for the money. She needed it, and she wasn't going to walk out without it. If she did too much to the hostages, then so many things could go wrong and she could endanger the whole mission.

She glanced at a roach the scurried past her and bit her lip. She so wanted to kill them, but the money had to come first. But they were already shaking with freight! It would be such and immense shame to let all that fear go to waste!

Maybe she could just do one... 

She nodded silently to herself. That was what she was going to do. Kill just one. Quickly, but make an example out of them. As if the group wasn't already scared enough.

Valkyrie noticed one of the hostages sitting alone in a corner, not near any of the others. Perfect. She swung around and shot off a row of crystals, hitting her intended target. She grinned widely and took in the screams of the others. God, everything was going so well. 

She stepped away and moved over to the safe. Frowning at the both the lock and the man who had passed out on the floor, she realized why Gregory had told her to aim for the leg. There wasn't much she could do about it, though. 

"Know getting in?" She yelled to the hostages over the screaming and confusion that was going on. 

By the time Astrid killed the hostage, Roach had his hostage in a chair next to the safe, tied in with some torn clothing. He turned to look as she killed a lone hostage instead of the crowd. Interesting. She was holding herself in check. This was good; she took instruction well.

He just needed to select the right lessons.

Lesson one? Calm down.

"No need to find someone in the crowd; I found the manager right here. She'll wake up shortly. I'm impressed at your restraint, Valkyrie. Always remember to look around you carefully. Watch for details, always measure your options against each other." He pointed to the badge on the woman he'd grabbed, which stated her name, Melissa, and her job description. The big bug gave the woman a tap on the cheek. She stirred slowly, and then froze as her eyes focused on the giant bug, and the deadly angel. "See? Remain calm, and an option will show itself."

He turned to the woman.

"The safe code, or my friend here turns you into a pin cushion, not unlike our friend in the corner over there" He motioned to the dead body in the corner.

Her face flushed, and she slowly nodded. "F-Fourty t-two... Eight... Eighteen..." She rattled off a few more numbers, and Roach wrote them down on a deposit slip. "What now, Valkyrie? Would you like to open it, or shall I?" He held out the paper if she wanted it.

Gregory was so smart.

Astrid was well aware that without him, her mission would have been a complete bust, and at that point, he was basically leading the show. She wasn't complaining, though. The guidance was much appreciated, and she didn't mind the compliments that were peppered in either.

She glared at the woman as she began to speak, doing her best to memorize the numbers as they came slowly from her mouth, all the while trying to look as intimidating as possible.

"I am doing the it," Astrid proclaimed, fluffing up her wings as she strutted towards the safe. She look the thing up and down and repeated the numbers in her head over and over.

There was a keypad next to a big metal door that she hovered her fingers over. 

"Fourty-two, eight, eighteen," she repeated silently over and over again. The only thing left to do was to translate the gibberish to French.

Beeping noises sounded as the numbers fifty-two, eight, eighteen were entered in. A red alarm sounded overhead and an obnoxious noise reverberated through the bank. Astrid growled under her breath and quickly tried a second time. 

The second time, the door swung open, revealing the contents of the safe. 

Hmm... Something almost seemed off about this girl. He couldn't place a finger on it. Perhaps being an impressionable teen villain had something to do with it...

Oh well! She got to work opening the safe, while Roach tended to the hostage. When the alarm went off, his head turned quickly toward the manager, who shook her head profusely, as if to say the alarm wasn't her doing. He was convinced. A short nod made her sigh in relief.

The safe swung open, and Roach politely thanked the manager. He then grabbed her head and twisted until there was a loud pop. The remaining crowd shrieked. "Someone outside most assuredly heard that alarm. We likely only have a few minutes until the META arrive. Collect what you can in sixty seconds, and follow me." He turned to the crowd, and grabbed the guard's gun from one of his chest arms.

"Now, to clean up this mess."

In just a few moments, the remaining hostage count went from six to zero. He called his bug to him once more; it crawled into the relative safety of his shell.

"We will meet later to split the loot. I trust you will be there, Valkyrie... I have much I can teach you."

He tossed the smoking gun in his hand to the side, and grabbed another deposit slip, scribbling an address down on it. The sound of police sirens could be heard in the distance. "I'll make sure they don't follow you when you fly off. Meet me at this address when things have cooled down."

The giant bug approached to hand off the location, and then walked to the door, retrieving his coat and hat, and then departing at an oddly casual pace. "Au revoir, Valkyrie!"

Astrid's face fell a little as she realized that Roach was right. She had completely ruined things when she had accidentally set off the alarm. If the METAs knew what they were doing, then they would have to move much faster. Within sixty seconds faster.

She nodded quickly and ran off as quickly as her heels would allow her to. They clicked along the marble floor and brought her back to the safe. Her eyes grew wide as she examined the contents of the tiny room. There was more money there than she had ever seen in her entire life.

Pale arms extended straight out and landed greedily on the pile of cash. She stuffed money in the pockets of her dress as well as every other crevice that could hold it. 

After everywhere on her person was stuffed with money, she loaded up her arms and took off. Astrid was forced to move slowly in order to avoid dropping anything, which proved to be an issue. 

She walked out into the main hall and gasped at the sight of blood and bodies. Gregory was something special indeed. She smiled at him and took the address between her teeth - the only available place to hold anything at all. 

Astrid left the building quickly and then took off, intent on finding some sort of bag that could hold the money easier. She flew slowly, but still managed to drop a few bundles of cash. She cursed herself silently, but knew it was useless.

---

 
When things seemed to have calmed down, Astrid flew to the designated meeting place. It was much easier after she had secured a bag that would carry the money a little easier. She had brought almost all of what they had taken, but she had kept a few stacks of cash out for herself. She couldn't totally trust Gregory to split everything, especially after witnessing just how nefarious he could be. Sure he had proven himself to be working on her side, but one could never been too sure. After all, she had only kept a few thousand out. There was so much more left in that bag, so he would likely never even know.

If he did somehow figure it out, then... Well... Maybe it would good on her to be thinking ahead?

Astrid shoved those thoughts out of her mind as she rocked on her heels while she waited for her cohort to arrive. 

The meeting place was an alley way between two shops in the outskirts of down town NYC; it wasn't considered a very nice part of town. Part of that was because of the higher than average mutant population. The rest was because of the equally higher than average crime rates.

When she arrived, he was already there, but not within sight; he wanted to observe her a moment before he made his presence known.

She held herself like a child still; how had she become so wonderfully dreadful at such a young age, he wondered?

"I hope I haven't kept you waiting long." His voice came from above, a fire escape on the apartment above one of the shops. "Traffic these days. Dreadful." Slowly he pulled himself from his comfortable seat, his chest arms closing a small book, and tucking it under a tiny chest armpit. He leaned over the railing of the escape, crawling quickly down it, the side of the ladder, and onto the ground.

"Oh, good, you brought the money. Shall we take a seat?" He motioned to a door leading into the alleyway. "Oh, right, how rude of me. You likely aren't aware of the various safe places for our kind in the city." He strolled over to the metal door, and opened it into a cozy room with a few tables in it. A couple were already taken up by visible mutants, but there was one open. Roach waved her over, pulling out a seat for her, and then seating himself.

"Go ahead an pull out the money; no one here will talk to the police. Everyone minds their own business." He crossed his legs in front of him, digging into his shell for something.

"How much did you manage to procure?"

Roach's voice came from above her, sending a shiver down her spine. She wasn't incredibly observant, but she also wasn't usually that caught off guard by other people. She had so much to learn from the creature quickly making his way down toward her, and boy, was she excited.

Astrid's eyes grew wide as she was ushered into a room with tables and obvious mutants. She had no idea that places like that even existed. As far as she knew, mutants just lived among humans and occasionally caused trouble.

It made complete sense, though. Why shouldn't mutants have their own place? Why shouldn't they get their own restaurants and safe places to do business. In a way, it made her feel safe in a way that few things ever did.

She glanced around at some of the other visible mutants and puffed out her chest proudly. She wasn't going to receive weird stares in there; she was with her own kind.

Astrid heaved the big duffel bag up and let it drop on the table. Money was a lot heavier than she had originally assumed. Once she had gotten it there, she unzipped the top and let the contents spread over the table top. She shrugged at Gregory apologetically. She wasn't good at counting. She just hoped that Gregory was planning on being fair and not taking advantage of her. The lounge was a good sign, though, so she didn't feel entirely on edge. 

"Getting drink?" Valkyrie asked hopefully as she slid into the seat across from him. If they weren't going to call the cops about large sum of stolen money, then surely they could let a little underaged drinking slide, couldn't they? 

Roach watched as the money spilled onto the table, his antennae perking up a bit as he did a quick mental inventory. He reached into his shell, and produced his own bag. My, was it surprising how much she could fit on her person? He quickly went about counting it in front of her, visibly. Once he finished a stack, he would place it into his bag.

He did this until all of the money was in his bag.

"One hundred twenty thousand dollars! Excellent haul, Valkyrie!" He paused, realizing for a moment that she would have no idea what was going on; why was all of the money in his bag?

"As you are aware, we cannot just spend this money; it must be properly laundered before we put it into distribution. Otherwise we will be caught. I am assuming you, being newer in town, have not yet found a great contact for that. I can assure you I work with consummate professionals. You will get your cut shortly." He pulled a small calculator from his shell, plugging away at it with a tiny chest hand.

"I would say... seventy thirty in your favor is fair, as you planned this heist originally. There would also be a five percent fee for the laundering; cost of doing business. That would leave you with... Seventy nine thousand, eight hundred dollars. How does that sound?"

He paused when she asked for a drink, and nodded stiffly. "Of course. They have all manner of coffees and teas here. It is the back room of a bakery, after all." He totally missed what she was going for, there.

Astrid's jaw and fists clenched as Gregory put each stack into his own bag. Why was he doing that? It was supposed to be an even split. It seemed that she had been right to be wary, and she was very glad that she had kept that small sum out for herself.

However, she blinked when the bug creature began to explain himself. Oh- so he did have a plan. Not one that made sense to her, but thus far, he had given her all the reason to trust him. She would give him another chance to prove himself to her. Hopefully things would work out and she wouldn't have to turn to alternative measures.

He began to talk numbers. Numbers that went right over her head. They were one of her weakest spots in English, and she definitely wouldn't be able to catch them when he spouted them off that quickly.

"Write down," Astrid grunted to him while mimicking a pen and paper. Her tone was still a little irked, and her expression matched it perfectly. She wasn't entirely happy with how things were being handled, but she also wasn't angry enough to do anything about it.

Her brow furrowed and she glared at Gregory. "Not coffee, not tea. Drink. L'alcool." Alcohol. It really wasn't that difficult of a request, was it?