“What the hell?”

He was mad at her. She tried to pretend that didn't bother her despite the fact that it did. Oh, it was no fork in the arm, but it wasn't her fault that this had happened. Really~!

Speaking of forks, Mars did her a grand favor by removing the pronged conductor from her arm. It was the combination of prongs and metal that made it such a danger for draining. Well, that and the fact that it was embedded in her flesh. She had tried and failed to be brave when he pulled it out. She ended up whimpering like a little girl anyway. It hurt!

Slate made a sound like a bullfrog that distracted from her ouch. He'd thought Mars had left. She did too honestly. But when he was back she was so, so glad that he hadn't been very far.

She jumped at the sound of a small metal land slide, hating herself for it. And then jumped again when he touched her to fish out a hand, a little less the second time to her ego's delight.

"How close do you want them cut."[/color]

"No blood?" She'd meant for that to come out a little more commanding. Stupid, stupid, stupid. In a perfect world, she'd chop off the tips of her fingers leaving it only to the bone. She didn't have the courage to cut into her own bone or even be awake to witness bone cutting... or arm amputation... wasn't this how all the trouble started?

Lori remained still huddled in her little ball despite the fact that Mars had taken her stiff arm for a sort of manicure. Once he finished with that one she'd pull it back into her little ball.

“Lori?” The bullfrog turned his attention to her and she did not shrink in on herself. Nor she tuck her face more solidly between her knees. Nope. She sat there as strong as a little lump of woman could and didn't tremble in the least as she waited for the axe to fall. Not. One. Bit.

“Did you... blow up my Labs? And—punch me?”

"No!" She hissed the word from between her knees. "Well... I did hit you." And the labs did look an awful lot like her handy work. "You did something like the void."

She did turn her head then to peek out at Slate from behind the messy web of blonde. Her hair tie was gone. Just gone. Just like all that carefully cultivated and drawn out power. "You emptied out my reserves." And she sounded just as miserable as she felt. Shielding was like breathing. It was letting that power out that took the concentration. Because if she wasn't careful something like this would happen.

~~"No blood?"

“Ok,” he wanted to ask a thousand questions of what happened. This was unacceptable, he was ready to hope up and go back to Florida and reek havoc on who ever had done this to her. and he would once he found out. he would render the wretches into nothing.

>>“Abyss?” “Mars?” “I thought you left.”

“I was waiting for Lori here,” He then looked to Lori with a question in the form of statement.” I didn’t think you were going to stay.”

>>“Lori?” “Did you... blow up my Labs? And—” “—punch me?”

~~"No!" "Well... I did hit you.". "You did something like the void."

Hmmm, so this still could have been a misunderstanding. He liked that more than he would like to admit.

He had thought she would like the void, love it now that it was his…but if it emptied her reserve, well he could understand, .though he was pretty certain that nothing like this happened in the void.

Clipping the wires felt oddly natural, it wasn’t too far from clipping fingernails. He kept the little wires in his hand, having no clue about the why or what , where they were concerned.

~~"You emptied out my reserves."

Him and the woman had soooo much to talk about, at least he did. Then he had to figure out how to repay Slate for asking such a favor that went wrong. For now he settled on being quiet and waiting for his assumptions to either find their mark or find a surprise lurking in one of the thoughts.

Quietly as an aside to Lori. “we can tap a transformer on the way home.”

>> “I was waiting for Lori here. I didn’t think you were going to stay.”

Of course she had stayed. Slate’s head tilted slightly to the side, as he tried to remember why that was such a straight-forward concept. Of course she had. Because she had been very tired, and very hungry. He could not heal those—

Heal?

Oh. Yes. He could heal. He attempted to do th—

Oww.

--but got only a very sharp pain in his head for his efforts. And a brief moment when the stars above shut off. Everything was black; then it faded back into dark colors, and Lori, and Abyss. That did not usually happen, did it? The stars were very strange tonight. And his head hurt.

>> "No! Well... I did hit you. You did something like the void."

He had? Yes, he did. The teenager on the floor attempted to sit up; this worked somewhat better than the last time. Baby blue eyes blinked down at the woman as she swam on the floor, quite insensitive to the effect all that movement would have on his head.

“You were... touching me. And threatening. I... did not want my arm blown off again.” That is what had happened, the last time a woman had touched, and threatened. Something in him felt a little off; could Lori do that with her power? Ah; but he did not know what her power was. Except that she had blown up his Labs. And killed him.

Blink.

>> "You emptied out my reserves."

“You killed me.”

“You were... touching me. And threatening. I... did not want my arm blown off again.”

Threatening? It was more like teaching, really, but it sort of felt like splitting hairs at this point. "I don't blow off arms." And even that sounded like a whine. She hated it. She couldn't quite hate anyone in particular just now, though. She set her forehead back against the cool tile floor. Stupid.

“You killed me.”

"I didn't do anything." She managed a sort of growl.

This was the most pathetic fight ever. Slate was stirring and by God, Lori wasn't going to be out done. She sat up and waited for the rubble to stop spinning before looking down on Slate with a slack face. Her eyes were unfriendly. "I don't use my power, I stop it from being used. All the time. It's always on, always wanting out..." And she didn't kill on accident and she didn't do kids. Even she had her limits. Not that he needed to know that.

She didn't do anything. That was exactly the problem though. "Without squeezing it down... it all gets out." She rattled out a sigh. She was stating the obvious, but they sort of had to start here at ground zero to figure out everything that had gone wrong. Once Mars was finished with one hand she attempted to close the hand. It pulled too tight to continue when her fingers were almost ninety degrees. Her hands and forearms still covered in zebra skin.

Lori nodded to Mars about the transformer. They would definitely hit up the city for a bit of free charge... on the way home.

Mars watched as the ping pong ball bounced back and forth between the two weakened individuals…it was odd to see either of them in the state, She was typically bouncing with sass and edgy fun, he was analytically figuring out the world and how it related to him. but always bright eyed and curious.


>>“You were... touching me. And threatening. I... did not want my arm blown off again.”

He began to wonder how deep the deep end was that he tossed Slate into.

~~“I don't blow off arms." "You emptied out my reserves."

>>“You killed me.”

~~"I didn't do anything." "I don't use my power, I stop it from being used. All the time. It's always on, always wanting out..." "Without squeezing it down... it all gets out."

And finally she said something that made too much sense to him, he wanted to take care of her and yet here she was back at square one energy wise. He supported her with his right arm and covertly showing affection in the gentleness of what could have been an embrace if he circled her in with his other arm. His tail went out and supported the young man’s back.

“She was working on bringing you back before I got here.” He stated in support of Lori. “ Ok, I think maybe we should leave, Slate can I take you somewhere a bit less ground zero?” He didn’t think that Slate would send the labs after them but with Lori drained and the firepower they had here, he might need to keep an eye on possible exits…he could always make one if needed. “Would you let me carry you at least until we get you to a car battery?” he questioned the still wobbly Charge. All and all the base of what he wanted was accomplished…she looked a lot healthier… and that bathing suit was making his eyes think of her in ways that were absolutely inappropriate when taking the situation into account. Besides they still needed to talk.

The taser had been... inadequate. The very look on Mars’ face had been enough to tell Noin Mortman that fact. She’d had to let him past; there hadn’t been much choice in the matter. Or, rather, she had made her choice carefully: she’d chosen to remain conscious, and in one piece. As the red monkey tail had bobbed off down the hallway, Noin had picked up the phone next to her. A dead line greeted her ear. Without so much as a blink, she set it down—set down the taser, too—and pulled out her cell phone. Her first call was to Nigel Banks.

---

The phone rang. Rang. The fallen concrete muffled the sound; the hallway was still, as it had been since before Mars had gone through it.

The ringing stopped.

---

“Stop, stop,” Melissa Rivers laughed, batting his hands away as she rolled over. It wasn’t the urgent ring of an inner Labs line, or of Slate’s phone, but a call at this hour was generally for a good reason. Was it about that noise? She vaguely recalled hearing a noise, but there had been a lot of other things going on at the time. “Hello? Noin? ...****.”

That call ended. More began.

---

It was going to take days to reset the experiment. When welding a scalpel against the innermost layers of a heart, large leaps in the concrete ground under his feet where not appreciated. Doctor Ingram made very certain that the guard who so audaciously burst into his laboratory knew this, quite clearly.

“...I... ah, yes, Sir, very sorry about—”

“And another thing—”

“Sir? The Eastern half of the complex just... tore itself down. We’re evacuating the research staff.”

Not until they gathered his research notes, they weren’t. What? Did this incompetent little solider boy think their lives were more important than his research?

---

“Abyss confirmed,” Nicholas Williams spoke quietly, his lips moving a bare fraction over the small receiver that wrapped around to his mouth. The rifle sight showed the scene through the collapsed roof in subdued tones of green and gray. His breaths were measured, but on the fast end: for a man in a hurry, stairs to the roof were the fastest option.

“Or which—” Through the line, Nicholas could hear a yawn crack Charles Trigg’s jaw. “Ahh. Whichever one he is. The blonde it there still, too. Heh—in movies, don’t they usually have less clothes after the explosions? Not that I’m complaining, as-is...”

“The Boss is moving,” Nicholas continued, from his own rooftop. “No threatening moves from—”

“What is it?” The video techie asked, from inside a dark room in the Western half of the Labs proper. They weren’t getting any feeds out of the East. And they hadn’t been, for awhile. Nigel had passed on an order not to worry, straight from the Boss himself. And that’s the last anyone had heard, from Nigel Banks.

“...Nothing,” Nicholas said, relaxing his fingers away from the trigger. “Just a tail.” A monkey tail, to be specific. From the way it seemed to be supporting the teenager, he surmised that it was a non-combatant. “Tell Rivers it looks clear. Relatively.”

A protest came down the line from Charles, as the blonde straightened herself up. “No no, don’t turn your back, sweetheart—”

The view wasn’t so bad, from Nicholas’ roof.

---

>> "I don't blow off arms."

This was of dubious reassurance, to the blue eyed teenager.

>> "I didn't do anything."

Dubious being the keyword, here.

>> "I don't use my power, I stop it from being used. All the time. It's always on, always wanting out... Without squeezing it down... it all gets out."

So then... this was his fault? That seemed to be what Lori was saying. But... it made his head hurt, just a little bit more. She had killed him... and it was his fault? That did not seem fair, somehow. It was appropriate to be angry with someone when they killed you, was it not? But he had revoked that right, seemingly. Should he... apologize to her? ...For her killing him?

>> “She was working on bringing you back before I got here.”

Slate leaned against the tail behind him, letting it support his back. That was so much easier, than sitting upright all on his own.

“Thank you,” he settled on saying, quietly. She had killed him. He didn’t have to apologize, right? (This emotion, Slate vaguely recognized, was sulking.) But she and Abyss had brought him back. He did not look at either of them in particular as he spoke.

>> “Ok, I think maybe we should leave, Slate can I take you somewhere a bit less ground zero?”

“That’s all right,” a female voice said from the doorway. “I think we can take care of him from here, if you don’t mind.”

There was a pair of man’s pants belted around her waist. Between that and the oversized T-shirt, the thin satin of a lacey black teddy showed. Her hair was pulled back in a quick and dirty ponytail, done on the run. The belt was tightened; the gun holster at her hip was comfortably placed for easy draw; the handle shone black with a well-maintained polish. It was the only thing of her own she’d known where to find, in the scramble to leave her apartment across the grounds. Slate was always speaking of priorities. Melissa Rivers had hers straight.

“It seems we’ve got some cleaning up to do,” she understated, in a friendly monotone. “Do you know the way out, or should we escort you?” It wasn’t a threat. It was simply... a very important question, with a very wise answer. She hoped, for all their sakes, that the Abyss and his little blonde thing were indeed wise. The Boss liked the Abysses.

Lori scowled at Mars for telling Slate that she helped. She wasn't sure why, but she hadn't wanted Slate to know that fact. Slate even said thank you. Which was... stupid. Lori was watching a small little piece of metal filing on the floor. Under normal circumstances it would be slowly worming toward herself. It sat very still. It seemed as tired and motionless as she felt.

Mars had moved to cup her like a very muscly chair. He asked if he could carry her and she was already shaking her head no despite the fact that she knew that walking was not an option. She didn't bother to move. Her small hands touched the red arm around her. She took Mars for all kinds of granted.

A woman spoke from behind her and she didn't bother to turn around. "Imagine that. We've worn out our welcome." Her words were sassy, but her tone was tired and flat. She squeezed Mars' arm and looked up at Slate hoping Mars' tail dumped the toadish child in the rubble. She sighed dramatically.

"See you around, Kid. Try not to die without cause. It's such a bother." And she started the slow and arduous process of trying to get to her feet. She would not protest to be swept off her feet. She would even attempt not to begrudge Mars for it. But she would do almost anything to avoid asking for the help she clearly needed.

((OOC: Mars and Lori continue here.))

~~“Thank you,”

>>“That’s all right “I think we can take care of him from here, if you don’t mind.”

Mars looked to Slate to see what he had to say about that but the woman kept on yapping. Why did he keep all of Hunter’s sassy women employed, yes it helped to have self confident employees, but my goodness how did they get any work done around her if everyone had this attitude. Hmmmm, a round trip flight to Florida, consecutively Not knowing where Charge was for a month, putting up with a plane ride with two couples in the back of a plane snuggling all the way back to New york. While a man who could turn his powers off and blend him in with his foolish brothers set close with a woman. While Lori, who apparently went and got into something big for his sake set messed up in the void. Then all this garbage….It was safe to say that his patients was running a bit thin.


>>“It seems we’ve got some cleaning up to do,” “Do you know the way out, or should we escort you?”

Mars opened his mouth to speak, but Lori’s tongue seemed to recover before his. He held her scooped up and even with his chest.

<<"Imagine that. We've worn out our welcome."
"See you around, Kid. Try not to die without cause. It's such a bother."

“Slate, I recommend you tell that.” He nodded at the woman who had an odd dress code. “That bullets only go deep enough to annoy us.” Was it a bluff? He wasn’t really sure, he had a theory that most bullets would have trouble penetrating through his muscle to anything vital, would they hurt like all heck, of course. “and attitudes beg to get broken.” He then glanced at Slate who he was gently lifting to his feet and steadied him next to the woman. “ I think we will see our selves out, thanks.” His glance turned into a bit of concentration as he thought at the young man. I apologize for the mess; let me know if I can ever do you a favor, even if there are consequences in completing it.

He then turned toward the part of the counter that still showed from the rubble in the canteen, bounded toward it and scaled the rough mess that was once their dining area. He bounded onto the roof top and made his way toward the parking lot. After a quiet walk He hoped off the roof top and went toward his motor cycle. He looked to Lori with a roguish smile and nodded toward a nearby transformer, “I don’t suppose that would be supporting the labs, do you?”