Zephyr watched impassively behind the night vision goggles as the few lights within the mansion gradually flickered out and died. ‘Another parasite, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised’ surprisingly the elementals thoughts were not overly negative as he mentally voiced observations. So far this “Jazz” had not done anything to offend him which was surprising given his current track record with red heads. Simon held a certain amount of respect for people who demonstrated good manners and even though the girl had not formally introduced herself she had not attempted to insult or mock him like a certain number of other individuals had done. In fact Jazz had spoken precious few times since he met and the elemental counted this as a plus in his book; she knew not to bother her betters with pointless chatter. Now if she would only do something about her appearance she could almost pass for a professional.

When Hunter scooped up their lone female member and effortlessly vaulted onto the mansions eight foot wall the merc slowly incline his head upwards and reevaluated his employer, ‘immortality, hypnosis and strength…I suppose he has speed as well, quite a resume’ Once his vampiric employer had decided that the coast was clear and dropped deftly onto the mansion pock marked front lawn Zephyr made to follow his lead. Flexing his muscles as he crouched down and then surged upwards with all the force his legs could muster, admittedly this wasn’t much as the merc physique was less than impressive, however a sudden gust of wind easily gaze the elemental the added boost he needed to land atop the granite wall in the same crouched position he had started with. He remained in the position for a few seconds as he performed a second scan of the area, it wasn’t that he doubted his employers skill, it was just that in a situation like this you never knew when someone would get into their head to go for a little midnight stroll; this place did house its own army of adolescents, Simon wouldn’t have been surprised if a few of them regularly visited each other after hours.

When his own sweep of the grounds revealed nothing suspicious Zephyr dropped down of the wall and landed gracefully on his feet and moved swiftly to catch up with Hunter who had already begun to cross the expansive lawn which separated them from their target. In truth the elemental saw this move as a mistake the lawn was a wide open space with absolutely no cover, there was no need to move this close until after he had sedated this “Paragon” and he could easily do that from atop the wall. However he kept his mouth shut; Hunter obviously had some attachment to their target for him to take part in the mission himself and would probably not react well to any constructive criticism until the mission had been completed.

When he caught up with the vampire Zephyr remained silent as his employer directed his attention to small hole in one of the mansions walls and handed the elemental a small monitor. The merc almost sneered when he received the advance piece of electronics, but he kept his impassive mask in check and took the device without comment, people placed to much stock by what their own eyes told them, not realizing that sight was one of the easiest senses to overcome, for Simon the air was all he needed.
Allowing his azure orbs to slide shut Zephyr crafted a gentle breeze around his person, directing the light gust to swirl around him the elemental paid close attention to its influence flow and when it encountered any resistance, as it did now, he instantly became aware of it. In this case the elemental knew from the shape of the obstacle that the wind had only encountered Hunter and so he took no action. Instead he increased the area of the breeze until it came into contact with Jazz, having now identified his allies the merc took a light breath and direct the air current to flow along the mansions walls until it came across the conveniently placed hole Hunter had pointed out. Letting his consciousness to flow within the wind stream Zephyr gradually became aware of the contents of the room as the breeze traveled back and forth. It had been a long time since he had needed to use this technique in such detail; whenever he rode his motorcycle it was no great effort to sense the metal monstrosities that traveled the roads, this scenario required a greater level of delicacy.

After a few minutes Simon had managed to get a general layout for the room, it was remarkably similar to a university dorm room. There was the usual furniture; bed, closet, desk chair, a few rectangular objects he believed to be moving boxes and what seemed to be a small bathroom behind one of the doors. It was a quaint little setup though Zephyr couldn’t really care less, there was an unusual form in the middle of the bed which he believed to be Paragon, it had all the usual curves for a human female and it shivered when he increased the air flow to a suitable degree, however despite this minor success a small frown tugged at the elemental lips; he couldn’t find the girls cat. He had checked all around the bed and under the desk and even briefly scanned the bathroom but he’d found nothing, refusing to let his annoyance get the better of him Zephyr began a slow methodical scan starting from the floor and slowly working his way up until he discovered a curiously shaped object perched atop the stack of moving boxes he had dismissed earlier. Focusing his attention upon this new anomaly the merc sent out a slightly stronger breeze toward the foreign object and was rewarded with a movement which indicated life.

Back outside a small smirk decorated Simon’s features as he kept his eyes closed and withdrew two of the modified darts his employer had given him earlier. Holding them in one hand he raised the sedatives until they were level with his closed eyes and released them, only to have them fall less than a foot before they were caught in a sudden updraft which left them hovering at the elementals shoulder. Leaving one of the darts to float by his side Zephyr took control of the second and sent it flying silently through the small hole and into the targets room, almost immediately his sensitive hearing picked a low hiss from within the room and he swiftly erected a thin shell of nothingness around the cat to block out any noise the pet might make.

Returning his attention to the annoying feline the merc experimentally floated the dart closer and he was rewarded with a series of movements which left the cat shaking atop his podium. Although he could not in fact see the creature he could easily imagine it hissing at the sedative that was the slowly floating closer, when it came within a certain range Zephyr felt the animal take a swipe at the surrounding air and swiftly moved the dart out of it’s reach before slamming the dart forward and into the cats chest. The vibration of air molecules around the creature told the merc that the feline had given some cry of outrage before it collapsed on its stack of boxes, however thanks to his little sound proofing of the creature no audible sound was made.

With the cat now taken care of the elementals smirk became slightly more pronounced as he focused his attention upon the second dart that had been hovering at his side, With a single dart the sedative left his shoulder and went flying through the conveniently placed entrance in Paragons wall and soared swiftly over to the bed where the dozing the female remained blissfully unaware of the events around her. The dart penetrated her skin easily and released it sedative into her blood stream where it quickly went to work, ensuring that the naïve girl would remain unaware for the next few hours.

Outside Zephyr calmed his features back to his usual bored mask and turned to Hunter, “I’m done”

Hunter watched Zephyr set about the task with interest. The first thing he noted was Zephyr declining to use the monitor that he offered. It seemed the mercenary could sense his surroundings through air currents. As he spent a while simply standing there with his eyes closed Hunter concluded that it was a difficult technique and required a great deal of concentration. So he waited patiently for Zephyr to do what he was paid for. Closing his own eyes he listened to all the sounds around him, straining for signs of life. He could hear the faint sounds of people moving around, but no indication that it was anything more than someone moving around in their room. Hunter opened his eyes when he hear Zephyr saying that he had completed his task.

Now it was Hunter’s turn. Quickly scanning the side of the building he identified a way up to the hole in the wall. “I’ll go up first,” he said calmly, “Once I’m inside I’ll lower the rope and pull you up Jazz. Zephyr, you can make your own way up once I’m in.” Taking a slow breath he leapt up and caught the tiny ledge that ran around the building roughly between the first and the second floor at a point directly below the hole in the wall. Moments after he had latched his fingers in place he pulled himself up with all his strength, propelling him straight up and allowing him to grab the edge of the hole. Effortlessly he pulled himself up so he could see inside and froze, his eyes scanning the room.

The first thing he noticed was a hole in that wall that had not been there while the cameras were running. Some additional damage must have been caused after the cameras were disabled. He made a note to contact the builders once they had Paragon secured and have them add the new damage. With only the unconscious forms of Paragon and her cat visible, and his hearing not detecting anything else moving in the room he pulled himself up and into the room. Once he moved swiftly to the door. Pausing he listened for any signs of life in the corridor. Hearing none he slowly opened the door and looked out into the corridor. It was empty.

Stepping out into the corridor Hunter pulled a small device out of his pocket. It was a small black cylinder, an inch in diameter and a quarter inch thick. He placed it in the middle of the corridor and tapped the button on the top. Returning to the door he silently closed the door and placed a small earpiece in his ear. What he had just set up was a motion sensor. If anything moved down that corridor the earpiece would beep and he would know they were coming. With that now covered he moved back to the hole in the wall.

Uncoiling the rope from his shoulder he lowered it down to Jazz. He also gave Zephyr a nod, indicating that he could come up.

Jazz was more than relieved when Hunter offered her another way over the wall. She might have been athletic but she was hardly good enough to scale it on her own....though she never would have asked for help on her own.

The young woman tried to keep her mind focused on the task at hand, but she couldn't help but get lost a bit in the situation. This wasn't something she typically did. Although she was having no side effects from the juice she absorbed (not even a flicker of a headache or a case of the giggles) she was so out of her element that she felt herself starting to doubt what she could be doing for the cause. But doubt wasn't a game Jazz Miller played.

She waited for Zephyr to scale the rope, looking to her boss for instructions.

With his initial task completed the elemental granted himself the luxury of becoming a simple observer, thrusting his hands casually into the pockets of his jacket he watched with a bland expression as his employer deftly scaled the mansions scarred walls. The merc wasn’t used to having an employer who could actually work with him in the field. Nearly all of his previous associates had either been overweight gluttons or stick thin anorexics and while he had respected a select few for their cunning and wit, Hunter easily surpassed all of them; not only was the man capable of carrying out any threats he made himself, the vampire was also paying him triple his usual fee.

Once Hunter disappeared from sight Simon leaned against a crumbling section of mortar and hid in the natural shadows of the building as he adjusted the settings on his goggles before performing a swift scan of the still desolate mansion grounds. He did not enjoy being out in the open like this, it would be all too easy for some restless youth to glimpse them through their darkened windows and raise an alarm. However as there was little he could about his present situation he did his best to dismiss such thoughts from his mind; there was little point in obsessing over matters that were beyond his control, closing his azure eyes behind the advanced optic sensors Hunter had allocated to them Zephyr allowed the wind to act as his eyes while he patiently awaited Hunter return.

The elementals eyes snapped open the moment he detected an obstruction in front of the gaping wound in the mansions walls, due to the goggles that currently adorned his cranium though the action was largely unnoticeable and the only clue that he was once more in the land of the living was when he slowly craned his head upwards to glance at Hunter. The vampire was slowly lowering a coil of rope down to their position and seemed to be using himself as the anchor. Swinging his head round to look at their crimson haired “teammate” Zephyr waited for the girl to start her ascent only to find that she was already staring pointedly at him, raising one eyebrow above the confines of the goggles the merc stared evenly back at Jazz, “The rope is meant for you” he stated simply just before he crouched down and once more performed an inhuman leap with the aid of another unnatural updraft. The elemental landed nimbly upon the edge of the opening with his knees slightly bent and his eyes cautiously scanning the darkness for any possible threat. When he found none the young man straightened his posture and wandered silently into Paragons room, keeping his eyes fixed on the single door which led out into hallway as he waited for his employer to lift the third member of their group.

(OOC: As Jazz is away I’ll use the permission to god mod that she gave to keep the thread moving. Hope you have fun while you’re away Jazz

IC: Hunter paid little attention as Zephyr flew up and into the room. When Jazz took hold of the rope he began to pull up rather than wait for her to climb up. Once all of them were inside he pulled out two small earpieces and handed one to each of them. “Place them in your ear,” he explained, “they are linked to a motion sensor that I have left in the corridor. If it beeps that means someone is coming. Remain silent until they pass. If they enter the room subdue them swiftly and silently. I will deal with them.”

He cast his eyes across the room before settling on Paragon. While he had seen her on the camera footage, and in the recordings that the AI had given him, it was very different seeing her in the flesh. He still remembered her smell, but kept his face blank so as not to betray any emotion. “You two will now need to pack up everything that is a personal belonging of Paragon in preparation to move it to Mondragon labs. But before you move anything make sure to look at it in detail with the goggles. They will record the exact positions to ensure that Paragon will find everything exactly where she left it.”

Leaving them to get to work he went over to his daughter and carefully scooped her up. Holding her lightly in his arms he stepped to the edge of the hole in the wall and jumped down. He landed almost silently, casting his eyes about for signs of activity before he set off across the lawn at a steady run. Upon reaching the perimeter wall he cleared it in a single bound before walking up to the van. Stepping into the back he placed Paragon in the seat and secured her in the harness. He paused to look at her briefly, brushing a stand of hair out of her face, before exiting the van and crossing back over the wall. Racing across the lawn he scaled the wall and was back in the room ready to tale the cat along with the first box that had been packed. The fact that Paragon had yet to properly unpack made this a much easier task.

Zephyr stared at Hunter blankly for a moment when the vampire in effect told him to act as a delivery boy. Normally the elemental wouldn’t have problem with this if the object being delivered was relatively small and/or need to be transported a reasonable distance. In this case however the items in question were decidedly weighty moving boxes belonging to an adolescent girl which needed to be transported all of 30m. As the merc watched his employer walk away while carrying their target only one thought went through his mind, ‘I’m missing the Grand Canyon… for this’

As soon as Hunter touched down on the mansions fertile grounds the young man released a restrained sigh and methodically scanned the room with his headgear in order to get a complete picture of the area. This was another thing that was beginning to annoy him about Hunter, the blood sucker never told the whole story and while Zephyr could respect that for the most part it was the needless little secretes that were slowly getting to him, the cameras in the NVG were a perfect example, why couldn’t the man have simply told them about the cameras when they were still at the lab? It didn’t make sense; did the vampire expect one of them to go running off in the middle of the mission- ‘why the hell am I whining over such trivial matters?’ he thought with no small amount of aggravation, as he strode over to Paragon’s closet and slowly began removing various items of clothing. ‘I’m supposed to be a professional; as long as I get paid I’m not supposed to care.’ Indeed this was usually the case, whenever the elemental was on an assignment he was able to focus solely on his objective without caring about what he was doing, yet for some reason this wasn’t the case here and a little voice at the back of Simons mind was telling him why; he was bored. The urban sprawl of New York City had gone from exciting to mundane in less than three months and considering he’d been here for nearly six it was a wonder he hadn’t tried to stir up some excitement simply for something to do. ‘Note to self, negotiate holiday scheduling with blood sucker.’ A change of scenery was precisely what the elemental needed to return to his normally passive mind frame, however he couldn’t do that if he was constantly being called in for every little task his employer wanted doing.

After spending 10 minutes or so shoving various articles of clothing into a set of black oblong suitcases he’d found under the girls bed Zephyr zipped the containers up and shoved them in Jazz’s direction before walking over to the various stacks of moving boxes which littered the room. Closing his eyes and drawing in a deep breath the elemental once again called upon the gift granted upon him by his blood, with a single thought multiple gusts blew all of the cardboard boxes into the center of the room, with another though a small cyclone swirled into existence beneath the rectangular containers and lifted them off the floor ever so slightly. As the boxes left the ground they began to wobble ever so slightly and Zephyr reached out a hand to steady them; he may have honed his abilities intensely over the years but wind never was known for traveling in calm, level patterns. So it was with one hand preoccupied with the stacks of moving boxes that the elemental gradually made his out of the room and back onto the mansions grounds via the conveniently placed whole in the wall. After that it was a simple jaunt over the expansive lawn and brief leap over the wall to arrive at the van. This process was repeated multiple times until Paragons rooms was completely void of her possessions.

Hunter watched as Zephyr began clearing the room with methodical efficiency. He made a note of the boy’s professionalism at a comparatively menial task. Hearing something in the mansion he froze. Straining his hearing he heard the sound of something dropping once, twice. After that he heard footsteps, faint and distant. Eventually he dismissed it as someone dropping something. As Zephyr had transferred all of Paragon’s items to the van that only left one thing to remove.

Moving silently to the door Hunter slowly opened it and peered out into the hallway. Nothing stirred. He retrieved and deactivated the motion sensor before returning to Paragon’s room. With everything removed it was time to leave a single item behind. Hunter pulled out the forged note and set it on Paragon’s now bare bedside table.

To everyone,

I’m sorry, but I couldn’t stay, not after what happened. I can’t bear to stay and be continually reminded by all the damage I did, to the mansionn and the people who live here. I didn’t was any long goodbyes, so I left quietly in the night.
Please don’t come after me.

Iris

The note was a perfect copy of Paragon’s handwriting, and even had a few tear stains in places. It was expensive, but ensured that there would be no pursuit. With that done he coiled up the rope and slung it over his shoulder. Picking up Jazz he leapt down into the grounds, landing softly. Scanning the area one last time for signs of activity he ran to the wall, leapt over it and set Jazz down. Before getting in the driver’s seat he checked that Paragon was secured as well as her cat.

Satisfied that they were he got into the driver’s seat of the van. He briefly ran over the mission in his mind. They had made a perfect entry and silent extraction. Everything had gone as planned. Hunter allowed himself a small smile as he waited for Jazz to return power to the block. With that done they would be on their way, with none in the mansion even aware that there had been visitors.

With the last of Paragons possessions placed securely inside the vehicle Zephyr climbed inside the now cramped space and settled himself atop a random stack of boxes before finally slipping the NVG off his head. 'What a pain' he thought sourly as he slowly massaged the areas where the goggle straps had bitten into his flesh. 'At least it's almost over, just a few more hours till the sun comes up and then I can be on my way'

Bringing his hands to rest at his sides the elemental stared into the dull gloom which seemed to consume the rear portion of the van, most people would have practically blind in such a situation, however an almost undetectable breeze granted him a type of "second sight" with which to view his surroundings. It wasn't much of a view though, Zephyr had no way of determining what an object was made out of or what colour it was, he couldn't even tell if something was alive unless it moved or took breaths deep enough to disturb the natural flow of air. Still it was better than nothing in the dark void he presently found himself in.

As the light draft reached the far end of the vans walls the wind questing winds encountered the unconscious form of Paragon and paused for just a moment. The merc had completely forgotten that the girl was in here with him, he hadn't been present when his employer had loaded her into the vehicle and had barely gotten a glimpse of her when he had entered her room. Feeling slightly curious and with nothing better to do Zephyr closed his eyes and raised the strength of the breeze slightly as it washed over the girls prone body and a vague image began to form in his mind; a woman.. reasonably well proportioned... somewhat taller than himself. Increasing the winds intensity so that Paragon hair was splayed against the vans walls the image began to come into focus; he was now able to make out her face and even a few individual strands of hair which continued to flutter in defiance.

As the air currents made their behind the girl and down her back the winds ran into an anomaly and Zephyrs brows rose somewhat, 'that’s unusual' he thought in mild surprise as he focused his attention on Paragons upper back, increasing the gusts strength once again so that the girls form was now leaning forward on the harness which held her down the elemental found five rounded objects arranged in a seemingly random pattern on the girls back which were harder than normal flesh. The strange objects had captured the mercs interest as he tried to determine exactly what they were, ‘Is this why Hunter values her? Are they linked to the abilities he mentioned?’

Fascinating though that line of thought was his “second sight” could do no more than inform him of the strange objects presence and as he didn’t consider it worth his time to actually stand up and examine the girl with his own two eyes he would have to abandon that line of inquiry for now. Releasing a deep breath Zephyr opened his eyes and allowed his artificial breeze to die away, placing elbows on his knees the elemental cradled his head in hands as he fought off the sudden attack of anxiety. While there was doubt that this "second sight" was indeed useful Simon found that using it as something other than support for his own eyes or simply keeping it activated for long periods of time made him... uncomfortable. It was nothing serious but it was something he liked to avoid if he could.

Staring into the dull gloom of the van once more Zephyr waited for the vehicle to make its way back to the labs.

With everything in order, Jazz waited for the nod from her boss before starting to allowing the electricity to flow back where it belonged. She carefully allowed the correct amount to go where it needed to and, after a mere shake of her wrists, all of it was gone from her system.

Jazz looked down to the young girl near her. She was pretty, serene looking (appropriate since she was completely knocked out) and small. Jazz thought for a moment about why they had taken her, what was going to happen to the little girl? But the thought was gone as soon as it was thought of.

Shrugging slightly, Jazz moved her eyes to her teammates and silenced herself, waiting for Hunter to reveal the next part of their plans.

(OOC: Jazz, I’m going to god mod you into the van so we can get going. I hope this isn’t a problem and if it is please PM me and I’ll edit.)

IC: Hunter watched as Jazz returned power to the block and then got back into the van. He had just executed a perfect retrieval operation with nothing left behind to raise suspicion. With one final look around to check that they weren’t being watched Hunter started the van and headed at towards the lab in a controlled manner, so as not to arouse suspicion.

On the way he picked up the radio in the van’s cab and contacted the lab. He instructed the builders to review the recordings from Zephyr and Jazz’s goggles. They were to ensure that the replica of the mansion that was housed at the lab was exactly alike in every detail. A new hole was present that had not been in the previous feeds and so that would have to be added. With everything in order he replaced the radio and settled into the long drive to the lab.

(OOC: Zelek, if you’d like to open a thread in New York City where you disable the van after trying to keep up we can continue there.)

(OOC: Just had some free time, and decided to wrap up a few loose story ends.)

Neena waited until noon before returning to the room Nika had pointed out to her. It was hard to miss, considering the hole in the wall next to the door. She knocked lightly. No answer. She knocked again, and listened. Still nothing.

”Iris? Are you awake?” Still no answer. ”Iris, I’m Neena, one of the teachers. I just want to make sure you’re okay.” Nothing.

Neena stood back slightly, and blinked one eye over to x-ray. It took only a brief scan to see that the room was empty. Switching back, she opened the door and stepped in, and looked around. All personal items were gone. The only thing out of place was a piece of paper on the desk, which she picked up. A slight frown tugged at her lips as she read what sounded like a farewell letter.

The previous day’s events had indeed been stressful, from what Neena understood, but she’d been hoping to at least talk with the girl. Sighing, she headed back downstairs to show the Headmistress, and update the files.

------------------------------------

Later that day, near dinner-time, Neena led a young boy, a new resident, up to the dorms, to get him set up with an empty room. She paused at one door, poised to open it, then stiffened slightly.

”Is something wrong?” The boy was an empath, though just barely thirteen, and still unsure of his powers. Neena smiled at him, then shook her head.

”No, no. Just realized I was about to go in the wrong door. This one’s occupied. Let’s try this one instead.”

Once the boy was settled in, and headed back downstairs to eat, Neena went to the first door, and walked in. There were very few possession’s in the room; only one occupant from the looks of things. But what had caught her attention was the floor. Or rather, what was on the floor.

People stole girl, no time to get help, must save girl.

It was almost as if the message were a part of the floorboards, rather than etched into them. Figuring it was part of a game, but still, the Mansion had taken enough damage already. She closed and locked the room, using a spare master key, then headed downstairs to the Headmistress’s office. It took some searching, but she finally found the name she was looking for: Maksim Sacha Borova, aka Zelek. She hadn’t met him yet. So she decided to track him down. If nothing else, she figured he would come looking when he couldn’t get into his room.

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By the next morning, Neena was convinced that Zelek was nowhere to be found. No one had seen him for over a day, or longer. Considering he was known to have purple hair, he shouldn’t have been that hard to find. True, there had been more than one occasion where residents had up and disappeared for no apparent reason. Still, since he was listed as a teenager, Neena decided that, if he was gone longer than another twenty-four hours, she would go to the police. Not that she figured they would do much, since the boy was a mutant. But mutant or not, he was still a person.

As she was a bit absentminded anyway, she had no reason to connect Zelek’s note with Iris’s disappearance.

(OOC: Thread Closed.)