The silence engulfed them, for Nox it was a wonderful liberating feeling, since she could now hear her individual thoughts once more scattering about. He walked around her, slowly, circling like a predator, but she didn’t flinch. She kept her glaze level at the wall in front of her, and showed no sign of being in anyway uncomfortable. Remove the knife. Singular, the knife…interesting. She hesitated for a second before sliding her knife out of its sheath, and placing it upon a low table. It was a Kris, a long knife with a wavy blade that had served her well for many years. In fact, it was undoubtedly her favourite possession, and though it had been used well it was immaculately well kept and therefore its blade was honed to a sharp point. He had used the singular and Nox therefore saw no need in removing all of her weapons. It wasn’t that she had any intention of using them it was just that over the years they had almost became part of her.

“What can I do?”, She spoke to herself more than him, as she straightened up and prepared herself for a little demonstration. With no radio or mobile phones nearby she concluded she would just have to explain this first bit. So she began, in a matter of fact sort of manner- no pride, no emotion, just words. “I can manipulate radio waves, blocking signals, or modifying them to my desire”. There were easy; they were so low in energy it was like changing the key of a song, and once you got found the right signal oh how much confusion it could cause. “I can do the same with microwaves, so any technology that relies on either I can either render useless, or insure that it receives the wrong information”.

She smiled slightly, because she much preferred ‘playing ‘ with light and therefore she had the most control over it. She concentrated, feeling the energy in the room, and then she began. Adsorbing all the light from the room, it became black, pitch black. Nothing could see it this darkness, regardless of their night vision, since there was no light to see by. She was constantly absorbing the energy from the light, insuring that not for a second any visible light existed. When she had first begun to channel the energy into herself, like she was doing now, her finger tips had glowed, but soon she had learnt how to control it. It always gave her an elevated sense of power as it flowed within her, and she loved it. “ I can also control light. Adsorbing it, channelling it, manipulating it in anyway I choose.” To prove her point she focused on the energy within her and channelled out into the room again, focusing it upon a point so it created a white orb of light. She breathed out, releasing her mind of any stray thoughts and concentrated even harder on the orb which now hung between them. Slowly with the up most control she monitored its energy so that it was at the very lowest from of light, resulting in thr orb now being a dark red. She fed it more energy, slowly, directly from the light which was supplying the energy, and so it began to change as it progressed through the colour spectrum – from red to orange, to yellow, to green, to blue to violent until you could barely spot it against the darkness, and then it went.

Then heat. Having restored the normal lighting to the room steadily, she let her awareness into the room again, but this time searching for something else, his body heat. She found it and began to channel it away from him, obviously she wouldn’t go far enough so it became harmful but hopefully it would catch him off guard, and she firmly believed in explaining everything after she had demonstrated it. She took enough heat away to drop his external temperature only, just so he would feel like he had stepped out on a winter’s morning, and did nothing that would affect his core temperature. “I can channel infrared as well, and therefore heat. Either taking it away or giving it in excess, in both cases to the extent of death.” As she mentioned giving it back in excess, she suddenly released his own heat back to him, with the added energy from the light as well. Once more, the heat was uncomfortable but not harmful, if she persisted and focused the energy on his skull his brain tissue would loss too much water. So she soon stopped.

She paused, almost long enough for him to think that she had finished until she spoke. She had been debating whether or not she needed to prove her control over gamma rays, but had concluded that he at least should know all her powers. “And then..” She stopped as she surveyed the room, she needed something living…ahh, a pot plant, perfect. She faced the plant and this time she closed her eyes as she focused. A deep breath. Let go of all your thoughts, now slowly become aware of your surroundings. Another breath. And focus. The heat flooded up through the buildings form downstairs, all she had to do was to call more of it and then direct it all. Pull the energy together, from the downstairs, from the light, from her and Hunter, combine it all. She felt it strengthen ten fold as it surrounded her edging to be put to use, constantly flowing form the floor below. Now. This time the energy level was extraordinary, and all focused on that one little plant. She had held her arm, palm facing the plant, knowing it didn’t help she still found it help her control the radiation, and when dealing with so much energy she certainly didn’t want any of it to go astray. The radiation had now long ago surpassed the stages of light, ultraviolet, and even x-rays, and now was well within gamma rays. The radiation beat upon the plant, and, due to it small focal point compared to the amount of radiation, it didn’t take long for visible effects to occur. The leaves began to wither, curling up, and draining of all colour as the cells died, one by one. Still the radiation continued, seeking out any intact life within the stems, the roots, the leaves, the petals. A single ashen petal fell, from its attachment point it floated down to the floor below, on impact it crumbled, and returned to dust. She watched its last passage and then turned, slightly light-headed from channelling so much energy, but finished, she nodded slightly to hunter to indicate this, and waited. What would be next?

Hunter noted that she only removed one of her concealed blades. He didn’t bother to push the matter, it left her thinking that she had and edge on him. That would lead to overconfidence that he could exploit if required. When she began to speak of her powers he didn’t think he would need to, but kept the option there.

He listed to her explanation that was soon followed by her demonstration. As she darkened the room his eyes rapidly adjusted to the fading light, but soon even his vision was struggling. Eventually he could see nothing. Rather than straining his eyes he shut them and reached out with his other senses. He could smell her, her distinct scent permeating the room. While he heard her speaking he could also hear her heart beating. Even in this darkness he knew that he could precisely strike at her heart if required.

Eventually the light began to return and he opened his eyes. When she drew the body heat from him he gave no visible reaction, but prepared himself to kill her if he felt she was taking enough to threaten him. Soon enough he felt the heat return, and then rise. Heating was far more dangerous than could, as cold would only slow him, heat could kill much faster. He kept ready to attack at a moments notice, but relaxed mentally as he felt his body return to normal.

Her final demonstration was the most interesting. With a focused beam of radiation she had destroyed the plant on a cellular level. Indeed she would be a most useful asset. Now he knew what she could do time to find out what she knew. “Impressive,” he said, in a voice that only had the faintest hint of actually being impressed in it, “Tell me, what did Kaz tell you about me?”

There was only a hint of feeling in his praise, Nox, however, cared not; she wasn’t here to be bought with words, and much preferred keeping it without the difficulties of emotion. So now my knowledge is tested. She had an excellent memory, and so sent her mind back, recalling the details of her conversation with Kaz. She recalled everything, and once more concluded that she should tell him everything she knew, for if he thought she was concealing something she doubted the conversation would conitnue much further. She began to speak, remembering to keep it accurate and precise, in flat tone carefully ensuring there were no traces of admiration, or even a hint of her being the impressed at his obvious power, and wealth.

“He told me you are successful and powerful, both political and financial, and that you are the leader of a mutant group.” Had Kaz mentioned a name? Ah yes, “The Kabal, who acts as a elate strike force accomplishing your orders. The members of which, apparently get lucrative pay, and time to try to achieve their own personal goals.” Was that it? Yes. She hoped he would furnish her with more information, and waited to see whether he would or if there would be more questions.

Kaz had given her a pretty good run down it seems, it was almost his sales pitch to her. Hunter concluded that her powers were useful enough to warrant recruiting her, so he asked the final question. “How does $500,000 salary sound?”

With the bill being past he needed to strengthen his team, gather enough force to fight back. Kaz’s initiative in recruiting Nox gave Hunter the confidence to leave him in command while he took a different approach to the problem, but for now he returned his focus to Nox.

She almost laughed at his offer, but managed to suppress it into a slight snort, "$500, 000 you say?" This time she allowed a sense of amusement to play in her voice. Does he really believe I’m here for the money? Though the salary would have sealed the deal for someone else it meant nothing to her. Partly, because she had never had a salary in her life, and therefore had nothing to compare it to, and partly because money meant very little to her. In her opinion, it was a form of human pettiness, their ability to depend so highly upon something which actually was only paper amused her more than anything else. Naturally, she knew she needed money, but it had no hold upon her.

So what do I want? She had been bored, so she had travelled seeking out a challenge, and now, here in New York among others akin to her, she believed she had found it. She was here, talking to Hunter, because she wanted to not because her purse felt too light. She supposed she wanted to test herself, to improve, especially since she knew how venerable if she was without either her powers or knives.

What I need, though, that’s an easier question. "I need somewhere to stay. I want to improve my hanad to hand combat, and if ever the time comes when I have other goals I’d like to pursue I want the time to do so. But most of all, I want the promsie of fights to come. Those are my terms, on top of that the money will probably be helpful, but as long as you provide the rest I’ll gladly work for you.” That was it, in essence. Give her a shelter, enough money to survive off, a bit of tuition, and the promise of fights, and she would indeed loyally work for him. It may sound simple but it was all she felt that she needed.

Now Nox was the kind of person he wanted in the Kabal. A warrior, like Shogun, living for battle and nothing else. Hunter had spent almost a hundred years living by the principle of the warrior, but after a lifetime he needed to expand himself. He could effortlessly fulfil Nox’s terms.

“When you leave here there will be a taxi outside with a rubber bat hanging from the rear view mirror. It will take you to your new home, a penthouse apartment. Tomorrow the same cab will be waiting for you in the morning and take you to my headquarters, Mondragon labs. There are extensive training facilities there along with several masters in various forms of combat you can train with. I will have a session with you when I can, but as you might have gathered I am a busy man.”

“As for fights, I can guarantee that you will see plenty of combat. When you leave the lab you will be free to choose from a wide selection of vehicles to claim as your own.” Reaching into his pocket he pulled out an expensive watch and tossed it to Nox. “That will vibrate when there is a message for you. Find somewhere private and push the button and you’ll either be put directly in contact with me or a recorded message will play. That is how I will contact you if I have a task for you.”

Hunter hoped that would conclude things, as he needed to settle a few things with Calley. He understood that it was Kitra and Derrick’s fault, not the boy’s that he’d been discovered, and Hunter would not punish him for that. However, the boy revealed his abilities to Abyss, at least the ones he knew. Hunter would need to explain that to Calley.

A rubber bat, if ever there was a way to indicate the get-a-away car that was it, Nox mused. And a penthouse apartment, a bit extravagate for her, and she would have been more comfortable in something a bit simpler, but she concluded now was probably not the time, especially since Hunter seemed to be wrapping things up. She nodded as he explained about tomorrow, straight into it just the way she liked. She looked forward to proving herself in a combat situation, that would be the real test. She elegantly snatched the watch out of the air with her right hand, she wasn’t a fan of technology and believed that you should only be dependant on yourself. As he explained its purpose, however, she had to admit it sounded somewhat useful, so she pocketed it.

She liked his manner, he listed the facts, everything was already organised, and she could start right away without having to deal with the practicalities. No complications, no questions, he clearly knew how to lead. Her mind snapped back to something he had said, Vehicle choice. Ahhh...time for a confession; somehow, since she had spent her whole life either on the run or in hiding she had never found time for those all important driving lessons. “Perfect, except for the fact I should probably use time on driving lessons before I choose a vehicle.” She let a slight hint of irony play into the last bit, hopeful she would pick it up soon since she normally learnt quickly. So she had done it, proved herself enough to be hired, things were coming in place rather nicely in her opinion. She suspected they were done here, but waited just in case he wanted to add anything before she went searching for a rubber bat.

(OOC: Sorry in advance for the short post)

IC: Hunter listened to her confession that she was unable to drive. It was a minor flaw, and one that was easily corrected. “You’ll receive a course in both standard and tactical driving, allowing you to fully utilise any vehicle.”

With that issue addressed Hunter went and held the door for her. A plan was forming in his mind for what to do with Calley, and he wanted to execute it soon.

Tactical driving hmmm…something to look forward to at least. As he opened the door the noise hit her, it took a moment for her hearing to adjust since she had become accustomed to the almost unbroken silence of before. She walked downstairs again and was aware of his presence behind her. Reaching the floor she turned briefly to face Hunter, and having nodded slightly as means of indicating that she was taking her leave, she quickly turned on her heels, which caused her coat to bellow slightly, and strode towards the door.

The cold, relatively quiet night was a relief to Nox, and she allowed herself to relax for a moment before she started searching for this rubber bat. Pale clouds drifted overhead, obscuring the moonlight every now and then, causing moving shadows to play upon the street below. One such cloud drifted slightly due to the light breeze revealing a black taxi lurking over to her left, she approached confidently, and was soon rewarded by the sight of a small rubber bat hanging from its rear view mirror. Ah ha, as promised her drive. She open the door, and took one of the back seats, as soon as her door was closed the driver nodded to her and then reversed the car out into the street. Clearly, anyone entering the Batmotaxi, as it was now amply named, was sent by Hunter, and the driver knew not to ask any questions. She stared out through the night curious to see where she was being taken to, and ever so slightly relieved at having survived her first encounter with Hunter. She was now a member of the Kabal.

Hunter watched Nox leave the club without another word before making his way over to Calley. The typical method of physical punishment was proving ineffective, as Calley seemed innately capable of taking whatever pain was given him, then dismissing the experience from his mind once it was over. Hunter would have to make something stick.

Moving silently to behind Calley he regarded the boy momentarily before speaking. “Calley,” he said in an emotionless voice, “We’re leaving.” Rather than wait to see if the boy followed he turned and headed straight for the exit, the crowd parting before him once more as everyone made a conscious effort to get out of his way.

Stepping out into the cool night air Hunter immediately spotted his limo. As he crossed the street Maximillian got out and went to open his door. Upon reaching the limo he got straight inside. This would be a good opportunity to test a new device that Dr Ingram had developed, and Hunter knew how much better about the whole experience Calley would feel knowing he was helping Dr Ingram.

Calley had seen Nox and the Boss return from their little friendly chat; considering Nox was walking under her own power, he presumed to assume that the ill-tempered lady was the newest ever-pleasant member of their little mutant Kabal. Go, team. Woo.

He was aware of the Boss Man approaching him--and of the guy pausing to watch him--like a seven year old in a waiting room was aware of the dentist down the hall.

"Calley, we're leaving."

So it was his turn. Great.

As he tucked his hands into his pockets and silently shadowed the Scary Violent Abusive Boss Man out of the club and to his punishment, he had to stop himself from snickering. Because snickering was most unwise. But there was humor to be had: after all, it was just this morning that he'd doused Hunter with a bottle of water during Kitra's training session. Ah, good memories. He was sure Hunter would feel much more loved by his little spy boy if he knew that dousing was being replayed again and again behind the baby blue eyes that watched his back.

He got into the limo, across from Hunter.

Maximillian shut the door behind Calley before returning to the driver’s seat and heading off to the labs. Hunter remained silent as he finalised his plan and began preparing himself. This would not be easy, but the results should be well worth the effort.

(OOC: Continued in Debriefing Calley)