It had been a few weeks since he had been busted out of prison and for the most part everything lacked the color and excitement it once did. Maybe it was the fact that those he had come to call friends weren’t really that but more like fixtures in his everyday life in America. It was odd to think that friends would leave someone to rot away in a prison cell without so much as a call. Ulysses as expected was the only one going against the curve of the members of the order. He was the only one that made a phone call attempting to enter the prison to see him, and he was the only one Bacchus told not to come visit for fear that he too would be locked up as an accessory to most of his crimes.

Reluctantly the furred obliged to the giant’s request on the only condition that once Bacchus was out Ulysses could give him the beat down he thought Bacchus so rightly deserved for getting caught in the first place. Feeling that the beating was to come sooner that expected Bacchus was more than happy to agree to the terms that his primal companion had set up.

However much to Bacchus’s and Ulysses dismay the time it took to break him out took far longer than both of them would care to admit to bust him out. What’s more is the checks Bacchus had been getting from Slate and the Kabal had stopped coming in. Something Bacchus in particular was rather upset about, no longer was any money getting sent to those he was indebted to due to his own father’s stupidity. That being said Bacchus thought it was clear that then and there his arrangement with Slate was terminated. The only loss there was the money seeing as Bacchus had no real loyalty to the runt anyways.

In fact if it were up to him he would have liked to end it on his terms however the motivation to due so had been missing ever since he had been ‘released’ from the system early due to good behavior. Sure when he was released he did have some motivation to get a little payback on his former boss but after he had found out Jon and Minnie had vanished from work one day. No loss with Minnie but Jon on the other hand… that was something that didn’t sit right with him. Jon was his brother after all, brother in all but blood and if anything happened to him…

Well that was one of the reasons everything seemed so bland lately, he had to figure out some way to make up for the lack of money the men back home got when he was locked up and the fact that Jon went missing only meant he had to hurry that much more. A few former inmates offered to help him seeing as it was due to those who rescued him also helped Bacchus to free them in the process of the breakout. The fact that they were helping him… it made things easier but it didn’t make things perfect…

Another thing that had been bugging him lately was the fact that someone kept messing with his pets not only did someone let loose a few dozen of his eight legged friends but also his two most beloved pets. Charlie and Karen were as loyal as any man eating carnivorous reptile would be but he had a special way of dealing with them something Ulysses couldn’t substitute at least without not losing a limb. How Ulysses recovered them he didn’t know but once they were reclaimed they were moved with a majority of his pother pets so another breakout wouldn’t be repeated.

However, as of late Bacchus’s new lair where he hid the majority of his pets became overcrowded, so reluctantly he moved a small fraction of the critters back to another free basement room where he had enough room to continue attempting to regain control over his abilities which also lead to another reason everything seemed so bleh… Sober living was a nuisance but he had more control over everything he did something he had figured out in prison.

Coming back from the cafeteria with a full stomach and a dozen pounds of raw meat in a giant burlap sack. Bacchus heard an explosion of some kind, something that wasn’t unheard of in the sanctuary but prison life made him far more paranoid than before immediately he quickened his long strides down to room where a few of his critters resided.

The door blown open… not again…. He wasn’t there for the first few incident but he was here now and the difference between him and Ulysses, was not only the size of his fist but the remarkably small temper he had since he realized that most of those he had called his friends in America were anything but. His heightened since of hearing kicked in on it’s own and for a moment Bacchus had to shut his eyes to cope with the sudden increase of sound. They were still in there, a man and a girl from the sounds of it they were admiring his pets.

Good, if all went well they would be feeding them soon. The snake’s maybe hell maybe even Eli the dragon could get a taste. They should be good and hungry, if his control over them was as well as he could hope then their appetites should have grown with them.

Entering the room with a few loud steps Bacchus ducked his head to enter the basement room where he spotted a few of his beasties some of them looked rather skinny it seemed this time around while they all survived they were burning through their fat stores faster than he could provide for them. It was one of the only downfalls to this mutation to master it he had to put the critters lives in jeopardy and the only way he could help them was wait till they shrunk or they died… one result was often more cause for celebration than the other.

”OI!” Bacchus boomed out getting most of his pet’s attention causing them to quite down from most of the racket they were making, ”Seems like you folk must be lost!” dropping the giant bag of raw meat with a thud Bacchus looked over to the metal doors and then back to the pair one was a man who had stumbled across Eli and the other a smaller girl who looked all to happy to be there. ”I’d step back if I were you, Eli isn’t the friendliest of visitors…”

Ah good ol’ Eli little did they know only an hour ago he was a baby, they baby critters were after all the easiest to manipulate and grow smaller parts meant more underdeveloped parts which meant the odds of them dying due to something not growing along with the rest of the body was much smaller.

”Now I’d have you be stating your name and reason for being here before I decided to see if they prefer live feed opposed to dead ones.” Bacchus said his voice sounding something like a cross between an Aussie and a pirate. It was only natural to speak pirate when you heard it in a conversation right? While he had no intentions of harming a little one such as the girl in front of him he had a feeling the man before him was the culprit from a few other incidents involving his pets being released.

With the same twisted grin spread across his features Hull pondered the colossal reptile before him; the creature was a mottled tawny shade with wide amber eyes which had immediately focused upon the mutants presence with the inquisitive look a predator often gives a strange new creature. The claws on its feet were easily over three inches long and held a salient edge which looked sharp enough to dismember a man, and as the twisted traveler called a steel pipe into existence and playfully slipped it through the bars of the cage the beasts head snaked round and snapped at the offending length of metal displaying teeth just as lethal as it's claws.

It was perfect.

There are certain precautions and tools one should utilize when attempting to handle a less than domesticated animal. Overly padded attire for protection, food for distraction and a cattle prod for fun were just brief a beginning of the items which could be used in such a situation. If none of those can be procured in a convenient manner however there are other, less standard, tools available to those possessing a modest spark of imagination and creativity.

Glancing once more around the secluded workspace the deranged slaughterer briefly considered his options, the area contained little which would be of immediate use, admittedly he could likely restructure the wire mesh of one of the empty cages into an appropriate muzzle however that would take time and patience, neither of which Hull currently held in vast supply. He needed something which could produce fast results with the minimum of fuss in order to move onto the next point of chaos.

Generally the Canadian killer maintained quite a few such items in storage; one never knew when a 12 bore shotgun or MP5 would come in handy to settle those little, everyday challenges. Unfortunately though most of his toys were not precisely designed to keep another live, or at least, in a fully functioning condition. The sinister anarchist was not deterred however, weapons may have been the majority of his holdings but there were other objects within his grasp, every crafts man needed to maintain their tools after all.

Retreating back to the main chamber of the subterranean menagerie Hull did a cursory scan for a ready work surface promptly headed towards a convenient counter top. Slipping a hand behind his back, out his passengers line of sight, the foreign fiend employed a small amount of legerdemain to make a brief show of seemingly pulling a physically inconceivable length of metal from one of his pockets. The steel pole was then deftly placed down and single swipe of a sterling fingers easily severed two thirds of the rods length which Hull then passed up to his first mate before setting her down on the floor . "Make yer'self useful lass an' take hold o' this for me."

Turning his attention back to the smaller section of the rod the twisted traveler again utilized a measure of prestidigitation to withdraw an argent role of duck tape from his inner storage. The next handful of minutes were then spent tearing off excessively long lengths of the agglutinative substance and entwining them before attaching the single silver strip to the remaining section of steel on the counter top.
With the jury rigged equipment complete it was then the work of the moment to stride back to the monumental monitor lizard, open the comparatively small feeding slot, retrieve the longer section of the rod from his diminutive first mate and hurled it like a dart to the left of the creatures head. As the reptile whipped its neck round to snap at the offending item it presented a perfect side profile of its jaws which proved a simply ideal anchoring point for a smaller length of metal attached to an extensive strip of duck tape which rapidly went on to provide service as an impromptu combination muzzle and reins.

'Duck tape use #10,031 is there anything it can't do? I don't think there is.'

From that point however things rather went downhill. To begin with there was a simple lack of foresight on the Canadian killers part; most people typically accept that the larger an animal is the greater its muscle mass and overall strength will be. Hull utterly failed to take this into account, thus when the monitor lizard retreated at speed in an effort to avoid the sticky substance the morbid murderer was yanked along for the ride and brought into sudden and intimate contact with the steel bars of the cage before he remembered to let go.

Only truly lucky people get more than one concussion a day.

”OI!” [/color]

Then they got a visitor, who for some inexplicable reason, did not seem to appreciate their grand presence. Indeed the man only saw fit to threaten the pair of pirate adventurers before him and his attempt at swashbuckling discourse was simply atrocious. Clearly he possessed little experience with corsairs and had no idea who he was dealing with. The man needed to be educated, and there was no time like the present.

"No call for that type o' talk, it hardly be t' proper behavior for sea fair'n gentlemen such ourselves. If you insist on mak'n such impolite conversation I'll have me first mate blow you down. Now then, you be ask'in for names, however it be impolite t' make such a request without first givin' your own."

Captain Darling wasn't just a pirate, he was a pirate magician. The first mate stared in awe at the man as he worked with his duct tape.

One can only stare at a man working with duct tape for so long before getting thoroughly bored. Failing to comprehend what her captain was doing and reluctant to get scolded on her lack of imagination by asking about it, the child decided that this would be an excellent time to work on her swordplay. Wielding the metal rod like a cutlass, the lass cut at imaginary foes and parried imaginary blows.

This lady pirate was soon established as the fiercest swordfighter in the land. Like an impossibly skilled swordsman from a far-fetched tale, Kaitlyn demonstrated her unparalleled mastery of the blade by cutting off a fly's wing in mid-flight with a deft flick of her wrist. It may have been a hand-sized fly, and it may have accidentally run into the rod while she was swinging it wildly, but the fact remained that she had severed a flying insect's wing. And that was something.

The master swordswoman soon found herself disarmed, and now the captain was using the metal pole in an ill-fated attempt to put his strange duct-tape-crafted device on the komodo. So complete was his failure and so inscrutable were his intentions that no amount of self control could prevent the child from giggling. Whatever the man was trying to do, it was pretty stupid.

>>"Oi!"

Kaitlyn turned her head to face the giant with a vague feeling of horror. This man wasn't in the game of pretend, and he probably wasn't very fond of the idea of random strangers setting giant animals free in what seemed to be his little zoo.

Captain Darling, of course, continued to be his swashbuckling self, telling off the newcomer on his poor piratical manners as if they all three of them were in on the game. But wait... were they all in the game? The giant seemed to be making an effort to talk somewhat like a pirate. Was he somehow involved? The girl stood in silence, looking from the giant to the captain and back again, unsure of what to do.

She hoped that the Captain wouldn't actually order her to blast the man.

A massive hand reached up as it landed on the owner’s massive hip. Bacchus wasn’t amused and when he realized that he had changed accents he blinked. So what if they were doing it even if he had started talking like a pirate he had no intention of consciously talking like one. Adopting his fully aussy accent Bacchus looked to the man who threatened him with his first mate which he could only guess was the girl he was with. Something Bacchus found slightly amusing.

”Let’s try this again,” Bacchus said as his hands grew slightly larger making them more disproportional to his body than they already were as his he grew an inch or two taller. ”Name’s Bacchus Brickson, and your where your not supposed to be, so I suggest you tell me what your doing here before I see if Eli is as hungry as he looks.” it came off as a threat but if they did what he requested there would be no need for violence. Well violence directed towards the man the child she would be fine no reason for the captain to pull his first mate down with him right?

He paused as he looked at her for a second longer his frame double possibly triple the size of hers. She looked confused and possibly scared it was then and there, his fist shrunk slightly to make him look less intimidating than he already was. She reminded him of Brooke slightly… a girl near her age back home… she was almost like a sister someone he hadn’t heard from since he broke out.

”They aren’t perfected yet and any stress you give them only makes it harder Eli especially…” his eyes shifted from the girl who reminded him of Brooke and home to the man who was acting like a pirate. ”Savy?” Bacchus said in a questioning tone hoping that the captain and his first mate wouldn’t try to stress his pets anymore.

The mind tends to work in strange ways, making incomprehensible leaps and connections between variously stimuli that even the most advanced mind would be unable to consciously decipher. Imagine then what would happen to the thought processes of an individual whose mind has been subject to quite significant impetus not once, but twice. To put it laconically, erratic would not even begin to describe the resulting thought processes.

Most people would likely it quite difficult to function under such conditions, fortuitously however Hull's mind had always been somewhat... unique, and thus was accustomed to inordinate influx's of chaotic ideas and had become quite adept at filtering them into something resembling a productive line of thought. Therefore what had originally been a tumbling stream of consciousness ranging from the practicality of puppy's as mobile explosives, the optimum points of dispersal for an airborne toxin within the local subway, to the metaphysical effect the colour pink has over the majority of mundane minds in a life or death situation.

All these idea and more were sorted and compiled in order of relevance and potential amusement, ultimately allowing the wandering psychopath to contrive a course of action which would not only fail to occur to most individuals but also generally cause some poor soul a great deal of... unpleasantness, thereby allowing the twisted torturer to enjoy the sensation of schadenfreude.

In this particular instance the deranged anarchists initial plan was simply to plant a bullet behind each of the intruding juggernauts eyes, however when said juggernaut revealed a certain potential for growth the sinister slaughter's mind crafted a tableau of the city being demolished by an immense form which towered over the landscape. Things would be far more amusing of this man were to live, however as he still seemed to retain an element of hostility a less straightforward approach would be preferable.


Nodding in sagely manner at Banes final question Hull laid a firm hand on Kaitlyn's shoulder before meeting the other mans gaze. "Aye I understand, you be concerned for yer charges and so you deserve an answer." The hand on the petite child's shoulder clamped done further as Hull swiftly maneuvered the young girl in front of him and held her there as one would a rather inadequate shield.

"Tell him what we be doin' here Ms. Phaust."

The captain had grabbed her, and now she had to explain to Mr. Brickson just what it was that they were doing in the underground zoo. Kaitlyn stared at the massive man, unable to speak for a few seconds.

"We were just, ah..." she began tentatively, then stopped.

No no no. Captain probably actually thinks that we're pirates. She needed a way to tell this man that they were playing pretend, without actually saying the word "pretend." Otherwise, the concussed captain might take offense. The kid wanted to keep the game going, even if her playmate wasn't entirely aware that it was a game. After another brief, uncomfortable silence, she cleared her throat.

"Arr, excuse me," she began, as if her normal voice was the embarassing result of something impairing her usual, swashbucklin' speech. "I be First Mate Faust, and this be Cap'n Darlin'. We be plannin' on breakin' out some o' the cap'n's mateys from prison, and these beasties were part o' our plan to distract the prison's guards."

After another brief pause, an excellent idea came to her.

"What say you ta joinin' our crew, Mr. Brickson? You'll be gettin' a cut o' th' loot! An' you could be the ship's look-out, an' you wouldn't even need to climb into the crow's nest, on account o' yer height."

First Mate Faust smiled at the prospective pirate, hoping that, at the very least, he would let them keep their game going undisturbed.

Bacchus’s eyes fixed upon the one acting like a pirate and his gaze narrowed slightly as he seemed to realize the gravity of the situation he was in. Bacchus’s hand watched the man’s hand move over then clamp down on the girls shoulder and direct the girl in front of him. Bacchus blinked and decided that he didn’t like this guy as of now it almost looked like he was willing to shield himself with the kid in front of him. Smart move on his part might be the only reason he survives and walks out without any scratches on his person.

There was no way in hell Bacchus was going to willingly hurt a kid. Especially one that reminded him so much of Brooke, when she spoke Bacchus nodded his head slightly and then looked up to the one addressed as Cap’n Darling. Bacchus was going to have to have a chat with him later without his first mate acting as a shield. For now however he would play along with them, just to make sure if they were really intending to beak someone out of prison the captain wouldn’t be so heartless to use the kid as a shield. If they were really attempting to break someone out of prison (which he had just escaped quite recently) Bacchus would have no qualms ending the captains life.

”Are ya now?” Bacchus said in his pirate accent as he looked from the captain then to the girl flashing her a wide grin to try and keep the game going till he could figure out what really was going on. ”As your cap’n said, these be my charges and I’ll have them not be put in harms way for the likes of you, I will however often to lend…” Bacchus’s hand grew a few sizes, ”You a hand for the cut of the loot!”

He looked back up to the cap’n and grinned slightly, ”Where is your ship?” he asked with a smug grin fully expecting the cap’n to ruin the girls game.

Mr. BB was not making many friends at the moment, no siree; but truly that was only to be expected from someone who could not fully appreciate the prodigious awe projected by a pirate captain and a petite, though powerful, loose cannon. If circumstances were more proper and if time permitted the punishment for such blatant disrespect would have been a good old fashioned keel hauling, sadly the current scene lacked both an appropriate hull to be dragged across and barnacles to perform the necessary lacerations, and so BB was safe, for now at least.

What kind of parent gave their progeny the initials BB anyway? Did they not realize the life of mockery and derision they would ultimately be sentencing their child to? The imaginations of children were not to be underestimated under any circumstances! The possibilities were almost endless; Billy Bob, Banana Brain, Butter Ball, Bebop Baby, Boob Buster, Ballroom Blitz, Breakthrough Bleeding, Brokeback Bloke, Bantam Bug, Barbie Boy and even, yes... Beyond Boring which really was all the man amounted to right now, that and being a kill joy; after all he wasn't even attempting to join in the fun-

"...I will however often to lend... you a hand for the cut of the loot."[/color]

Hull blinked, his thoughts abruptly derailing once again as he processed this unexpected affirmation of his awesome status; Bacchus had just placed himself under the command of Captain Darling, which could only mean one thing... he had a new minion! Another luckless soul to do his bidding and further enhance his reputation as a dread pirate of the intergalactic house of pancakes! Soon the world would be his for the taking, however credit where credit was due, he crouched down and ruffled the hair of his first mate.

"A fine job there Ms. Phaust, you be handling all our new hands from now's on."

Recognition of achievement and good human resources were the corner stone of any despotic argosy.

”Where is your ship?”[/color]

"Arr?"

Hull glanced up at his latest crew member and his gaze narrowed slightly as he noticed the smirk on the other mans features. BB thought he was being clever did he? Well they couldn't have that now could they? After all what sort of pirate would Captain Darling be if he didn't have a ship? Well, obviously a revolutionary one leading a new way for pirate kind everywhere, but that currently beyond the scope of the scenario in question.

Giving Bachhus a demented grin the sinister anarchist leapt back up to is full height and jerked a thumb over his shoulder to the puzzled 'Eli' currently occupied in a rather futile endeavor to remove the strips of duck tape which had muzzled her.

"Our ship be right there matey, now you be helping us to make her sea worthy or won't ya?"

He'd have his epic mount yet.

This 'Brickson' guy was awesome. The size-changing mutant had joined in on the game at a moment's notice. Kaitlyn gave his "lend you hand" remark the smile that it deserved, and she thoroughly enjoyed the captain's praise. Everything appeared to be going rather well.

Brickson wanted to know where their ship was. That was okay, though. The captain would surely explain that they were going to hijack a ship after their upcoming, epic jailbreak, which would most certainly involve swordfights, cannons, and

>>"Our ship be right there matey, now you be helping us to make her sea worthy or won't ya?"

What? The giant monitor lizard was their ship?

This...

was going to be awesome! Kaitlyn's idea of a pretend ship until this point had consisted of a hastily arranged circle of chairs in the foyer., which was kinda lame in that it was incapable of moving. A giant monitor lizard gave the crew a mobile base of operations from which to buckle their swash. It was also a giant monitor lizard. They could pretend that its head was their ship's fearsome, magical, living figurehead! Or, maybe it was a giant sea monster that they had captured to propel their ship. Or...

Well, the Captain obviously had something awesome in mind, and soon she was going to find out exactly what that was. Assuming their new lookout would keep being agreeable. Kaitlyn turned to Mr. Brickson with a hopeful look, struggling to give her voice a pleading tone while still talking like a pirate. "I know he's one o' yer charges, but we won't be puttin' him in harm's way!" She turned to Mr. Darling for affirmation. "Right, Cap'n?"

Eyes narrowing on the smug captain as he pointed out Eli to be his vessel, it was funny Bacchus thought he made it clear no harm should come to his charges and here this guy was claiming that Eli would make a good vessel. ”Not very sea worth… Bacchus said as he looked to Eli with the silver tape that solved most of his problems wrapped around the Monitors snout.

The giant’s eyes shifted to the girl and he gave her an apologetic look, ”He puts himself into harms way…” Bacchus said as he then trailed his gaze to Eli who looked to all three of them with disinterest. ”Guess, I need to see what kind of stress he can handle…” Bacchus said as he walked forward towards the cage, ”the tape however has to go, I have a muzzle for I can use for him…” Bacchus said as he walked even closer and towered over the other two pirates.

”If any harm comes to him… you captain…” he let the threat hang out in the open as he rummaged through one of his drawers to find a muzzle he got for dogs when he was willing to try the growth on them, now however it would be more than enough seeing as he could customize the size to fit the chops of the monitor.

Another few moments and Bacchus entered the chain-linked cage he made for Eli and slowly approached making no others were behind him. He could handle a bite from Eli the others not so much, what they really had to watch out for was the tongue, dangerous things the monitors tongues they were a way of transferring and giving out their saliva which was full of bacteria… one of the main reasons he decided to enlarge Eli.

The giant lizard spotted Bacchus coming and tried to run but realized he had no where to go and now that he was cornered it made things far more interesting. Seeing as flight wasn’t possible Eli decided to fight and when he charged Bacchus he charged hard forcing the giant down for a moment only to shoot up knocking the lizard off balance before there was a minute struggle between the two as Bacchus removed the tape.

Hands becoming large and large Bacchus slowly moved his hand towards Eli and then slid his massive fingers around the body and neck of the lizard with one hand and with the other he slid the muzzle (which was now sized appropriately) over the jaw that opened and closed trying to latch onto his massive fingers in the process.

Muzzle on Bacchus looked back to the Captain, ”Hand me some rope,” Bacchus said as he pointed to the wall closets to the captain where some climbing rope hung on the wall.