((Warning: Explicit violence and gore.))

The room was as silent as a tomb. There seemed to be a cacophony of violence going on both above and below Roland's current position. It wasn't here. The observation room was smaller than the room he had emerged from, a small table and two chairs present. Also, an open file folder. He walked slowly and quietly around the file until it became right side up to his vision. His head hung as eyes perused every facet of his record. Bright red drops of blood dripped on the file as Roland imagined the gleam of delight in the eyes of Interpol. In the eyes of the Tongs from Sing Sing. In the eyes of many a hunter who had a lump in their throat at the thought of lost quarry regained.

Quiet contemplation quickly tipped into the abyss of rage once more, his mind's brief respite shattered at the quick and decisive stroke which had been dealt. Not a death stroke, though. Close, but not quite. Roland's grip tightened on the shiv, it's crude edge pushing into his fingers. While he had rejected the gift of death given, his smile returned, as maniacal and quivering as it was at the moment. He would return this gift in spades. His eyes turned to the door before him. Judging by the lack of power and the abundance of explosions and the occasional report of gunfire, he could only imagine that the cavalry had come. Hopefully he would recognize them sooner than later.

The door opened and swung on its hinge, answered by the shuffling of boots on the far end of the hall to his left. Sooner than later. With a burst of initiative, his head poked out from the opening and flashed a glance, retracting as quickly as the wall began to explode with jacketed penetration. Skills were wired into his synapses as the shiv turned in his hand, his body pressed against the wall. Someone had to investigate. It was human nature. A flashbang was thrown by another skilled hand as it hit the doorway's opposite side and banked into the room. Unfortunately for the rushing footsteps behind it, the device came right back out.

Roland ducked and closed his eyes, his hands over his ears. The concussion was still enough to push him to the floor from the opposite side of the wall. Moans and distorted moans came after the initial high pitched squeal dissipated. Skills. His body entered the hall, crouched and low, moving forward like a predator. The first one was feeling the wall, trying to orient itself in the chaos of its assaulted senses. The shiv came down like a feral dog's fang, burying deep into its neck, pulled free and pushed deeper into the wound before the blood could flow. Its body became a shield as a stray shot from small caliber sidearms sunk into it.

Be it the chaos, the blood, or the shine of the light on his black, shark-like eyes, the guards began to retract more than retreat. it was as if they had been polarized to be physically repelled from Death, whose eyes scanned them, disarming them. Standing from the corpse and planting his heel firmly on the blade of glass below, Roland felt the glory of evolution in his hands as his hands gripped two pistols. Time slowed to a standstill, the guns training down on the few who could gain their feet. No need for the masquerade, his native tongue lilted with great Britannia. " Never turn your back on Roland Pruitt."

His feet began to move after the feet retreating. First went the born cowards and the newly deaf and blind. His heart pumped with each bullet as it slid out of the chamber, every precious explosion of powder ending lives. The slowest of the runners paid for the price of his lack of cardio as a slug kissed his brain via the back of his skull. Time quickly caught up to the pace of his speeding heart, the great grin widening, a great maw of death ready to envelop the world. They were regrouping, standing ready to fight. Roland's pace never stopped, the chamber sliding back and forth with precision and craftsmanship. It would be a round of closed caskets next week as metal caught faces. Take my face and I'll take yours.

Lack of guns produced knives, which hit the concrete seconds before their wielders did. Chest shots to close the deal went into each body, even as they bounced off the floor. The guns went silent, dropped to the floor as they had spent their allowance. Faces. Roland's eyes scanned the floor, the combat knives finding a new master's hands. Why play the game by their rules? They had had their fun at his expense, at every mutant's expense. Now. Now was the time to flip it on them, to put them on the other end of the hook.

Moving quicker down the hall, keeping to the shadows, Roland eyed a rifle as it came around the corner. It slid across the ground behind him as he closed the gap between predator and prey. The face of surprise and shock met his own of vengeance as the blade slid across the guard's throat. A swift kick to the back of the knees and a handful of hair separated sinew, the wet ripping sound preceding the thump of the body. The spray of jugular blood painted the wall in an arc, similar to the one Roland's body spun in, bringing him back to his running. The door ahead was illuminated enough for its hinges to pop out, the door beginning to fall toward the next victims. His feet left the ground and his body carried the door the rest of the way through.

An attachment of five soldiers had their AK's pointed at targets. Unfortunately for them, their targets were down the hall past them, their backs exposed to Roland as he let loose a guttural howl of violence. Shouts of alarm and the seconds it took to turn their weapons were the last seconds they had. Gunflashes, screams, and the hiss and gurgle of steel making love to flesh filled the hall. No eyes, human or mutant, would ever wash clean to the horrific display which soon ensued.

Four legs propped him up and immediately he was aware who they were Streak and Jewel. Focusing on the ice around his arm he dropped the ice on both upper limbs, not only to make himself lighter but they were his team mates and with armor as cold as his he could easily create frost bite on their flesh and it was a painful experience he didn’t want to put them through however the guards on the other hand, they were a different story.

He heard his comrade’s pleas to leave and Jewel’s offer to help. Sam just nodded and said, ”Hold still!” the command he thought was simple it was directed to both Jewel and Streak, there was no happy tone in his voice even though he found two people he had been worried about since he was placed in the camps. Now that he no longer had ice in his arms it was easier to focus on the ice in the surrounding area.

The ice around his waist and legs remained solid and unmoving while the ice beneath his frozen feet shifted and gathered around the base of all of the guards who were still standing. The ice crept about and engulfed the legs of three guards. Once the ice became waist high it remained frozen and still around them to match Sam’s current position.

Nodding his head and weakening the ice into nothing around his own legs Sam quietly said, ”Streak feel free to knock them out if you’d like, but let’s keep moving…” he had to get out of there before a another flash would come into his mind and threaten to split his mind in half. ”Do you know how the others are doing?” Sam asked to both Jewel and Streak leaning more on Jewel than on Streak so if Streak was going to do he could detach himself from Sam and not have Sam topple over. ”Alex and Ghost are around here somewhere and I won’t leave either one of them on their own…”

Sam’s ice was cold, and heavy. Thankfully he got rid of most of the ice so that Streak and Jewel could carry him. “It doesn’t matter Jewel. I just want to help get Sam out. You don’t need to fight.” He said as soon as she appeared by his and Sam’s sides. There was no way Streak was going to pass up the opportunity to beat up on a few good impotent guards. As Sam stood up and used them for support, Streak continued to move them Sam and Lily for a while. “Don’t mind if I do.” The silver manipulator said simply, as the trio walked past the guards that Sam had secured in place. Streak left Jewel to carry Sam a little ways away before he started to use the guard’s as punching bags. The funny thing was that they would bounce back and forth every time you hit them.

Streak stabbed his sword into the ground right in front of all the guards. Once that was out of his hand he started simply punching them. Each time they were hit Streak would see their eyes close just a little more as unconsciousness started to hold them firmer in its grasp. After all the guards were slumped over in their half –ice cocoons, Streak grabbed his weapon and walked back over to join Lily in assisting Sam. “Yall are the first two I’ve come across. I don’t know where the rest of them are.” They started to walk back down the hallway, from where they came and head back up the stairs. “Hopefully we’ll find Alex and Ghost on our way out.” Shawn said optimistically. He knew that those chances were slim but he still wanted to give Sam hope.

Assisting someone up stairs isn’t exactly easy when there are tons of other people pushing past you. As each one passed the little group, Streak looked at them, just to see if he may know one of them. None looked familiar, or looked like they were from the X-Men. Streak also began to wonder where Fade had disappeared to. He went in before her and hadn’t seen her yet. There was also the little fact of finding Shin and Ghost. Who knew what Ghost’s plan was once she could use her powers? He’d have thought that she would simple just find a crack in the wall and get out. Not because she was cowardly but because her powers weren’t much good in a fight. Like Jewel’s, they didn’t have much… oomph… to get the job done and get them out of a sticky situation. “Either of yall have any idea where they’re keeping Alex and the rest of the team?” The silvermancer hoped that one of them might have an inkling of where they were kept. If they didn’t Streak was afraid that it would turn into a wild goose chance to find them.

Lily looked away and turned her attention to supporting Sam while STreak took put the guards, one by one. It was not like she was not used to seeing violence, or that she didn't know it was necessary for all of them to get out of here alive; she also knew most of the guards wouldn't hesitate a moment to kill any of them. But still, she was tired of the chaos and the fighting, and because she knew it was far from over, decided not to think about it.
"They were keeping Alex separate from us" she said once they were moving again "She should be..." she looked out the tinted window to guess where they were exactly. She hadn't been here much during her time in the camps; it was not a place where you could just wander around. But she had a vague idea about what was where.
"She should be this way" she pointed, and glanced at Sam. It only made sense he wouldn't want to leave anyone behind. Especially Alex. Last time she met the other girl, she didn't know if Sam was int he camps. Lily wondered if she knew now.
"I don't know about Ghost, but I know where Shin... um, used to be." she frowned "They don't have anything I can sense either. We'll need to work on that." she muttered "Let's go find Alexs first, she's the closest."
Jewel hoped she would have enough strength to see this through. Finding two of her teammates gave her something to fight for. So far, so good.

((Hymn, haven't seen you around in a while so feel free to post a reply following me, but I'm going to get Fade moving in the plot))

Sounds of the battle brought Fade back from the cautionary stance she had placed herself in. The girl in front of her had been freed but her friends were still out there and Fade had no idea what has happened to them. "Freedom is your's but there are others who are still locked away and cannot escape on their own," she warned the girl. All freedom comes with a cost, the only way to be truly free is to leave all bonds with loved ones behind and purge oneself of all emotion. Fade was free, she did not need to be there, but freedom isn't free.

With that, she dodged back out the hallway. The guard she had taken the keys from was unconscious on the ground and the group of rogue mutants had already moved forward and left a trail of guards behin. If one of her team mates had been in that group, she would have seen them, but they were not in there and she did not know where everyone was. She approached the door to the next set of cells and simply phased through it before noticing a giant hole right next to it. It had been locked electrically, so it could not be opened without force or some kind of phasing power.

There was a guard on the other side, three actually, but one of them looked young and skiddish. One of the guards raised his gun and took aim. There were only a few milliseconds to act and Fade immediately changed to her phasing state, it was easy since she had just come out of a phase, but even the sound of a gun can cause her to lose focus and she braced herself for the gun shot. It fired, she felt nothing, and she shook her head to regain focus before launching an attack. No, she was not very powerful, no, she did not lift weights. But she was very good at surprise attacks and she turned herself invisible and jumped as high as she could. Phasing her claws into the ceiling, she kicked up her legs. One of them attached to the ceiling, phasing her raptor toe nails into the cement while the other landed directly under the guard with the gun's jaw. You could hear the sound of the blow and the other two aimed their weapons directly in front of him. She took the moment to drop from the ceiling onto the man, taking the weapon. With one swift movement, she brought the gun down on the back of his head and he stopped moving.

The other two looked confused and continued to point their guns in every which direction. She grabbed the bigger one by the neck and pushed with all of her might to restrain him against the wall, he fought back and wiggled free. Fade jumped back up and caught the ceiling with her hands before kicking him in the jaw, same as the other man. He did not go down and she kicked him again. Deciding not to hit him like that again, she grabbed the gun and fired it. It did not hit any of his vital organs, it his his leg and he yelled out before dropping to the ground in pain. While his hands grabbed his wound, she took his gun and kicked him in the face. A little harsh of an attack, yes, but she could not bring him down and she did not enjoy just running all the time. She turned visible and aimed both guns at the skiddish guard. A few sputters from his mouth begged her to not fire, but she cocked the gun and prepared the fire. It was all an act, she was bluffing and he fell for it. He dropped his weapon and took off.

Adrenaline tended to bring out the worst in everyone and no one tends to think about exactly what they should do before they do it. She scolded herself for using a weapon and dropped both of them. She was much better just running away from a fight, but for some odd reason, she could feel the adrenaline urging her to fight, urging her to do something rather than just sit there and wait for everyone to leave. She continued forward, still visible, no more running.

In the next section, she could see three familiar faces. One of them was leaning on another while one walked ahead. It was Shawn, Sam and Jewel. There was no need for any 'hey, guys, you ok?' so she simply said "I am fine, where are the others?" before she slithered her way to the other side of Sam and supported him. She figured they knew where they were going whereas she just got lucky to run into them. God, Sam was cold, he was freezing, well, that is just what happens when there's an ice elemental mutant around. Actually, come to think of it, Fade had never learned what his power was, so I guess this is when she learns, right?

The adrenaline was wearing off, as the aches and pains of interrogation and confinement began to throb in alarm. The thick smell of blood and detritus, now clinging in slabs to Roland was nauseating. With no one else alive in his immediate vicinity, he took the time to walk the quiet halls of what appeared to be administrative offices. No armed guards or cramped cells. Carpet, art prints and desks were the standard here, which suited the man fine. The knives were long gone, replaced with a single loaded sidearm. In his current state, a child could have probably snuck up on him, his senses dulled with the coming crash.

It was a lovely find and not much of a surprise to locate the Director/Warden's office. He was sure there was a mountain of information in the computers. Maybe he would look at them sometime. A trail of putrescent organa fell in small clumps behind as he made his way into the executive washroom. The door swung open lazily, Roland's usual sharp senses dulled with an hour of visceral violence. The thin pants he had been given fell off in anticipation of a thorough scrubbing.

A shower stall was indeed installed, the answer to his prayers. The 9mm found its way to a small shelf in the stall as the water was turned on. Though sputtering at first, a steady, strong stream of hot began to splash on the tiled floor, a whirlpool of red already beginning around the drain. After just a small manipulation of the cold water and a good lathering of cloth, Roland immersed himself in the stream, the shock of his multiple wounds chiming in as pain. He'd had enough of that recently.His head hanging beneath the soothing waterfall, he could see his skin becoming apparent. An occasional kick to the drain to move the growing semi-solid pieces that were blocking the suction was necessary.

Feeling his chest, there were circular areas where the hair was missing. On closer inspection, he could tell that these were electrode marks. Wasn't the first dance. Some electroshock had apparently been the culprit as far as why the last few weeks had been absent from his recent memory. Not that any of it particularly mattered. His identity was out for the world to see and just about anyone who could have been told anything extracurricular wasn't doing much telling anymore. His face had developed a generous beard, curly and black as it always had been. At least he could grow it out now without trying to come up with some ridiculous story as to why the face didn't match the top.

A turn of the handle and he stepped out of the murky red mist. He was ready for a nice, long nap. No naps to be had today, but he could certainly use one all the same. Even with all of his vigorous scrubbing, the towel came back a dim pink. He was glad he hadn't looked across at the mirror on his way in. The vanity's switch was flipped and it became apparent that he had been underground too long, its sudden overt brightness causing Roland to squint at the bearded man in the reflection. Looking into the stall through the mirror, the sidearm was directed to his right, now lying on the counter top. A new towel wrapped around his waist, another ready for his new old face after some shaving.

Dragomir ducked as he and his golem passed through an enormous hole in the wall, one that, very surprisingly, led outside. The fresh air hit Drago like a blast of the past, and he took a moment to let the cool wind blow through his unkempt hair and beard. Though he usually kept his beard and hair to reasonably short lengths, the guards had been loathe to hand any sort of sharp object, like a razor, to the inmates for fear of uprising, and though Drago could have conceivably used the shivs that now armed the chainsaw-like appendage of his current creation, that would have been a huge risk of discovery that he hadn't been ready to try.

The reason Drago was surprised that the hole led outside was because he had thought he was heading towards the center of the compound, where he assumed the high-security containment areas would be. He had figured that they might have some sort of emergency backup generator to keep the most dangerous mutants, so they might've needed some help getting out. Still, now that he was outside he felt that by the time he got back inside to them, they would either have already escaped or order would have been restored. Either way, a waste of time and effort.

So he continued out of the hole and into what appeared to be a parking lot. Drago didn't get very far, however, before he saw what appeared to be a very large, very angry red man. The amounts of destroyed vehicles around the man testified to his strength, and Drago hoped that the mutant was on the side of those breaking out as he approached. "Hail, friend!" He said, in Romanian.

Mars was had to admit it, he was having the same basic primal fun that a toddle had when knocking over a block tower, He was crumpling and crippling cars with punch after punch to vehicles, he hadn’t seen a guard make it out this way yet and he had to say he was pretty proud of how this was going, he hoped that the majority of the prisoners were making it out alive, regardless they’d be better off free or dead. He hoped for freedom though.

"Hail, friend!"

Mars grinned at the aged man and his aged greeting. “Hail and well met. We’ve got them on the run or heading to their graves, this camp is done, I am just out here waiting for those of us that need vehicles or guards foolish enough to approach.” He eyed the pair. “can either of you drive? Or if you like you can hang out with me and ride out with the underground when we start calling a night.”

Mars attempted to be a little bit less imposing to the old-timer, it’d been some time since he had seen an old mutant, particularly one that didn’t appear to be immortal…there was a tragic thought, why were there not more old mutants? Perhaps they learned to la low.
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Mercury came into a hallway where it cut off my a wall of bodies and then saw the hulking reflection in the corner grinning. “ Hi Abyss!” Mercury called to his brother tossing him the sledge hammer and keeping the axe for him self. “ Lets get out of here, there isn’t anyone left to kill. I guess we could go make sure all the cages are free. But just then a howl broke out, and they recognized it as one of theirs…possibly Saturn.

Abyss and Mercury took off down the halls running past any of those with out a mind to stop them…something was wrong. Very Wrong.

“Hail and well met. We’ve got them on the run or heading to their graves, this camp is done, I am just out here waiting for those of us that need vehicles or guards foolish enough to approach. Can either of you drive? Or if you like you can hang out with me and ride out with the underground when we start calling a night.”

"Either of us? There's only one person here.. Oh, you mean Chainsaw over here, huh?" Drago had been confused for a few seconds, for he didn't even think to consider the spontaneously-named golem as a person. It certainly wasn't near to the intelligence of some of Drago's other creations, and while he still did not know why that was true, he knew it was.

"I can drive, tractors that is, but my leg ain't doing too well right now, I don't know how successful that venture would be. Besides, I think I'd better stay here and help you guys out, all these young people might need some help, so I guess I can stick around. And if guards come," Drago said, gesturing at the blood plastered on Chainsaw's appendage, "I can help out with that too."

Mars nodded calmly to the the confusion, you never cold tell for sure, he wouldn’t have been surprised if the trash golem started talking and told him the old man was the conjuration. He calmely listened to the old man, not wanting any piece of a trash mancer, particularly in the mess he had been making around the parking lot.

Mars will nod cordially to the old timer and ready himself for any action. “I appreciate the help, and would be happy to help you get wherever it is you are going when we pack up and decide its time to leave.”

The Red Brute Peered at the old man’s leg, “is there any bleeding, or is it broke? I can’t do much but I can dress a wound or set a break.


The hustling oafs Abyss and Mercury break into the morbid death scene of their brother.

(Attn: Streak, Jewel, And Fade)

”No I don’t!” Sam yelled ahead to Streak sounding more worried than he would have liked to admit. ”But let’s keep moving, who ever was running this place didn’t want to keep Alex far from me…” he was thankful at that point he was being used so they could control Alex. It made finding her a hell of a lot easier. The rest of the team however would be a little more difficult to find, but he had a few ideas to get them to rally to him once they made sure the complex was emptied out.

Leaning on Jewel he nodded his head, ”Ghost and Shin are probably the ones I am worried the least about.” Sam said as they continued moving forward searching for their teammates. Ghost could just turn to air and wait till the danger passed or just pull the air from the lungs. Shin could just create a wall of shards to protect himself. No there were others he was more worried about.

Speaking of other members his expression softened when he spotted Jenny also known as Fade run down the hall to support his other side so he wouldn’t weigh down Jewel to much. ”Good to see your safe Jenny…” Sam said quickly as he severed all connections for the time being with his temperature control around them at least for the time being. Right now he would focus on the doors around them and the hallways leading to where the ones he was searching for resided. ”That’s why were looking,” Sam said to Jenny his attention turning towards the doors exiting from the cell block they were in into a larger one. ”Through there!” Sam pointed to the massive doors, which required a key card to enter and exit.

It was after all the only hallway his teammates didn’t come from. So it made the most sense to enter there… Lifting his hand from Jewel and leaning more on fade for a moment Sam placed a good portion on his weight on his feet and looked out through his lone eye to the metal doors. A blue jet of cold shot from his palm and landed on the door, which instantly started to not only frost up the door but also cool the air around them. ”Start knocking Streak!” Sam said as he severed the connection from the cold and his hand then placed his arm around Jewel so she could carry some of his weight the doors now were weak and brittle ripe of the shattering.

Once the doors were opened he started moving his feet towards the opening. Alex was around here somewhere he just knew it.


(OOC: Post continued in The Monster At The End Of This Book )

“I appreciate the help, and would be happy to help you get wherever it is you are going when we pack up and decide its time to leave.”

Drago nodded in thanks, and said "Well that's lovely. You think we should just wait for people comin' out, guard or otherwise, and deal with them as we think best? Or do ya wanna head back in and cause some havoc or something... I am game for either." Dragomir half wanted to stay out of the place, help those escaping, hinder guards and the like, but he also wanted to smash the place to pieces. I guess I'll just leave that to the more energetic young ones. He thought.

“Is there any bleeding, or is it broke? I can’t do much but I can dress a wound or set a break."

Drago laughed, "Oh, naw, it got broke a while ago, my first time round the camps 'afore I escaped. Never did heal up quite right, so now I got this damn limp. Pain in the ass let me tell you..." Dragomir chuckled softly as he mentally ordered Chainsaw to set him down near a supporting pile of what probably had once been a car. "Never let anyone tell you that getting old is fun. It's one downhill screwup after another."

[ Continued for Circe from: The Monster At The End Of This Book]

She didn’t feel any remorse. Lying was something she did pretty often. Streak and the redhead would do just fine. Both rested, both trained to fight, both having a full month at their disposal to prepare for this day. Yes, they would do just fine. So Alexandra picked the other door, the one that leaded to the administrative side of the building. Video footage was important, indeed, but if the information she needed was still stored on the director’s computer, that was even more important. And if she happened to run into a scared director it was even better.

But that was wishful thinking, of course. This side of the building looked perfectly empty. No sounds other than those of her own footsteps. It wasn’t hard to guess that the staff had left the building as soon as the alarm was ringed and left the fighting to the capable. Well, at least to those who held a gun and were foolish enough to try to stop an enraged mutant. Around here, the two were synonyms.

Her feet carried her to the director’s office at a quick pace. As quick as she could handle, that is. The path was carved into her mind although a month had passed since she’d visited it. She’d done her best to remember that piece of information, knowing that at some point it would prove useful. And she had yet to be proved wrong.

Not very surprising, the door was open. The office itself was dark, only a small patch of light illuminating the room. Alexandra forced her steps to become silent as she approached the door carefully. The sound of running water made her hand flicker. The metal ball hovering next to it changed shape. In moments, a set of blades took its place.

Seriously, did someone actually bother bathing right now? Stupid… Insane. Those were the two words that came into her mind. Or maybe someone had just left the water running? Another set of sounds reached her ears. It sounded almost like someone had put something on the sink. Interesting. The carpet that covered the floors of the office muffled the sounds of her steps as she approached the washroom door, walking against the wall, even holding her breath to keep the sound to a minimum.

Abruptly, Alexandra stopped next to the doorframe, leaning on the wall while allowing herself to inhale. The smell … was awful. It smelled of blood. It smelled of massacre. Combined with the steam coming from the washroom, it should have made anyone’s stomach rebel and force its contents out. Hers, however, wasn’t very affected. She’d spent the last month accompanied by the smell of blood. It didn’t bother her that much anymore.

Yet, Alexandra wrinkled her nose. Not really at the smell but at whoever decided that now was the best time to take a bath. Whoever it was, it had piqued her interest. Her head and upper body moved, just enough to allow her spy on the individual that had awaken her interest. And then, her body was back to its original position, only a second or two later. Her shoulder disagreed with the sudden movement, and started to hurt. More than before, anyway. Alexandra bit into her lip, hard, attempting to dismiss the pain. Right now was a bad moment to let her brain deal with the signals her body was sending.

Focus. The reflection on the mirror confirmed her that it wasn’t someone she actually knew. The fact that he was wrapped in a towel and that he had just finished shaving confirmed her that the guy was a bit on the crazy side. And still, the gun resting on the countertop was what bothered her the most. Exhaling, she released her lip from in between her teeth. At some point she’d forgotten about it. Her tongue ran across the freshly acquired wounds, tasting the blood drawn out from it. Her lip throbbed in pain but thankfully, the pain in the shoulder was fading away. The bits that remained were manageable.

Back to the towel clad lunatic. The hand that had the knives hover around it turned into a fist. Then it relaxed. Time to act. Body and mind. Her body turned so it would allow her to visualize the target and yet in a position that it would allow her to react in case the man reached for his gun. Her mind controlled the molecules of the knives away from her hand and to the side of the man’s head. So when he would turn around, a set of four shiny knives would be there to greet him. Also, she finally spoke, a hint of amusement in her voice. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Roland looked into the mirror, craning his neck this way and that, admiring his job. The goatee looked proper, though it needed a bit of trimming. He'd have to look for some scissors. He put his hands under the water and splashed his face and reached for the towel. As he did so, a glimmer of sliver entered his vision. His eyes glanced at the pistol but considering it seemed that four knives floated next to his head, he decided against it. He instead wiped his face off, some pink displaying that he hadn't got all of the former mess off.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

He knew the voice immediately. His mouth turned into a smile as he tried to think of baseball. He didn't think he could be too subtle in a damp towel if he actually turned to look at her. " Well, now's your chance, Alexandra." Stepping across the room, he grabbed his boxer briefs, letting the towel fall, assuming the knives followed. Among other things, his history was displayed for her in the form of multiple scars, be they from bullet, blade or burn. Sliding the undergarments over his legs, he turned back toward the vixen, sliding them up until they wer back in place, making a slight adjustment.

" I could have had my gun and shot you in the time it took you to stab me. Let's just be friends, shall we?" Looking at the bloody rags that were his uniform for the past few weeks, he looked past her, wondering if the man who owned the shower also had a spare suit. " Did you happen to see a suit in there anywhere?"

The answer she received was clearly not expected. The fact that he pronounced her name brought a surprised expression on her face. Her eyebrows rose, half-expecting the man in front of her actually elaborate on the fact that he knew her. Slightly widened blue eyes scanned the face of the man, trying to find anything that might help her to recognize him. Failure. The towel clad lunatic was still the towel clad lunatic.

For a second, Alexandra wondered why the hell he was carelessly walking across the room when someone threatened his life. The first reaction to the thought was to have the knives follow the man across the room. But, she didn’t even have the chance to issue the command.

The towel fell. Her eyes followed the motion of the white towel to the ground. Then, her eyes went all the way up to his face. Surely, she didn’t miss what lay between his toes and his face. The surprised look on her face had changed to a rather shocked one when she’d seen the towel fall. Now, beneath the dirt and blood that covered her face, she’d started to blush, too. Want to shock Alexandra Kettler? Get undressed in front of her. Seriously, she needed to get over this.

" I could have had my gun and shot you in the time it took you to stab me. Let's just be friends, shall we?"

A blink was her answer. It actually took her a few moments to process the words. Enough time to let the man in front of her voice his concerns about a suit. Mentally, she shook her head, at herself more than at anyone else. Physically, she did her best to recollect her jaw from the floor and gain back her composure. Also, pretend like nothing of that had just happened.

The knives still hovered in the air in their previous position. Three of them dissipated into the air, their molecules hanging around the room under her control. The fourth made its way to the man’s neck, pressing slightly against his jugular. His offer of friendship as well as his precious suit would have to wait until later, when she actually knew his identity. Alexandra tilted her head to the side, cold blue eyes locked onto his figure. If he moved, she’d send the blade right into his neck. Hopefully, he was smart enough not to try anything now. If he’d had the chance to shoot her, then he might as well have used it rather than brag about it later. “So. Who are you?”