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Post by Kitty Pryde on Jan 10, 2009 11:59:25 GMT -4
Inside the lab, all was fairly quiet and dark, not a movement to be seen. Then, suddenly, something seemed to emerge slowly from an outside wall. It was a hand, an arm, a head... before long, three people had stepped into the room from nowhere, leaving no trace of their entrance behind them.
Collapsing to her hands and knees on the floor, Princess Katherine gasped for breath. Although she used her powers often, and was trained to use them well, she rarely attempted to phase other people with her, let alone people as large as Victor Creed. The strain didn’t keep her down for long, though, as she started searching the darkness for any sign of Kurt and the priest.
“Where are they?” she asked frantically, forcing herself back to her feet. “They should already be here! Where are they?”
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Post by Creed on Jan 10, 2009 12:42:49 GMT -4
The whole thing made Creed queasy...even before the princess and her little talent show. He didn't mention his discomfort any more than he mentioned how impressed he was at how handy a skill like hers might be.
Instead, he sniffed the air and scowled, senses alert. As the girl collapsed, he slid past her on the alert and scanning with everything he could muster.
"I dunno", he answered gruffly with an audible sniff at the air. Clearly, that fact didn't make him happy. The polished hallway was dimly lit as all but sporadic lighting had been shut down for the night. Television monitors hung from sturdy brackets attached to columns spaced out along the distance, and they cast an oddly colored glow as the sounds of nightly TV entertainment echoed softly through the corridor.
Creed tensed at the sound of Doctor McCoy's voice. "...thank you, Colin", he was saying from multiple directions, "We're happy to be here." Sounds of laughter and applause from the crowd.
"They'll catch up", Creed said edgily. He knew that even if they didn't, when that show was over so was their chance at finding anything. "We best get movin'".
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Post by Kitty Pryde on Jan 10, 2009 13:12:11 GMT -4
Creed did nothing to even try to reassure her, and Katherine shot him a glare as he passed her, all business. The other two had vanished into a black hole and he had no interest in what that meant for them? He didn’t care where they were or why they weren’t here already?
She practically jumped out of her skin, though, at the sound of Doctor McCoy’s voice, and actually breathed an audible sigh of relief when she realised it came from the television monitors that had been left on. Seeing his face on the screen, and considering where they were, Creed’s urgency suddenly made sense. Whatever it was that they were here to do, they were on a very short schedule, and searching around for the other half of their party did not factor into it.
“Okay, but...” she started, following the big man uneasily. “I mean, it would be easier to get moving if I knew where we were moving to.”
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Post by Tatiana on Jan 10, 2009 19:11:55 GMT -4
Without warning the princess had her by the arm and the three of them were through. Tatiana shook herself and looked around. She glanced down at the princess as the other girl went to her knees, and then got back up again. Obviously the strain of moving them had gotten to her. She was about to offer help to the other girl, when her boss went by the both of them and reminded all of the time constraint they were under.
Tati just watched as her boss began to walk and the princess followed him. Last again, she just shook her head agan. Typical of him, just assuming she would follow and be the good girl. Her eye flashed with resentment. She had swallowed her fears and tried to channel them into something else. The young woman crossed her arms and walked a good distance behind the two 'leaders'.
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Post by Creed on Jan 11, 2009 22:06:11 GMT -4
The problem was Creed didn't know where they were moving to either. It was the priest that had some kind of "divine inspiration" as to what they hoped to accomplish. He was the one who was supposed to lead them. All Creed knew was, something here never smelled quite right.
In fact, to a man with his heightened senses, some of it just plain stunk on ice.
That might be as good a place to start as any, he thought. He cast a glance back to the girls behind him, then scanned both directions before selecting one to move in.
"This way", he said and slid silently to the farthest wall. It was ludicrous for someone of his size to try to be unseen in an open hallway, but Creed did his best.
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Post by Kitty Pryde on Jan 11, 2009 22:19:29 GMT -4
Stopping while Creed seemed to contemplate their choices, Katherine looked at the other girl. Instead of seeing her own fear reflected back as she expected, Tatiana appeared more annoyed than anything. Biting her lower lip in confusion, the princess turned back to Victor just as he started moving again.
Slinking after him, Katherine wondered if he really knew where he was going or if he had just made an educated guess. This whole... whatever this was was so lacking in information that the regret just kept building, and without Kurt here to remind her why she was doing this, the desire to flee was also getting stronger.
“What are we looking for, anyway?” she whispered, just feeling the need to talk more than actually having anything to say.
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Post by Creed on Feb 1, 2009 15:17:14 GMT -4
Creed frowned. This was never meant to be his party, it was the padre's. He was only there to provide whatever support - or distraction - might be needed to bring this whole mess down around Magneto's ankles.
Victor Creed had never been someone who knew very much about what was right. He did, however, know wrong when he saw it.
Or smelled it for that matter. Someone needed to take charge. If it was him, he was going with what he knew.
“This”, he said as he stopped suddenly in front of a doorway marked “PRIVATE”. He sniffed at it. The door itself, like so many others they had passed, was obviously heavy and well reinforced. Its thick metal frame jutted out and to its sides where it merged with a complex panel with a coded lock. Creed studied it, searching with his other senses the patterns of energy and heat beyond it that his eyes couldn’t see.
The frown worsened or improved, depending on your appreciation of frowns.
“Good bet th’ damn thing’s alarmed”, he said mostly to himself as he scanned the criss-crossed lines of electrical current. “…’n probably th’ room beyond it, too…”
Thick metal claws emerged from his fingertips as he tried to figure out how to put them to best use. He cast a questioning glance at the princess, uncertain whether her powers were any better with alarms than his were. “How’re you at guessin’ secret codes?”, he asked with a smirk.
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Post by Kitty Pryde on Feb 3, 2009 0:17:47 GMT -4
Walking so close to Creed, Katherine almost walked right into the back of him when he suddenly stopped. Peering out around his rather large form, the princess scrutinised the door carefully, her brow creased in worry.
She could probably phase them all into the room like she had brought them into the building, but that had taken a lot out of her, and the door seemed really solid. The denser the material, the harder it was to phase through and the more pain it caused her. Then there was the issue with the alarm. If Creed was right and the room within was armed, even if they got through the door it would set it off on the other side. They would have to diffuse the alarm first.
Glancing over at the sharp claws that had suddenly appeared from his fingertips, Katherine’s brow furrowed further. That could work, or could set off the alarm. Either way, she was certain it would be painful for him if the electricity conducted right through those metal claws.
“I’m thinking about as good as you are,” the princess replied. Laying a hand on his arm, she stepped up to the control panel. Letting her hand hover above it for a moment as if she was contemplating trying to crack the code, she instead thrust her hand into the panel where it disappeared inside.
These wires should be to the alarm, so if I can short the circuitry...
Sparks flying everywhere from the panel, the lights on it went dark and she cringed, waiting for the sound of an alarm.
Nothing.
“Or maybe better,” she looked up at Creed with a grin. “That should take care of the door too. We should be able to pull it open.”
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Post by Creed on Feb 3, 2009 0:47:52 GMT -4
Creed blinked at her and let out a soft, quiet cough.
Yeah. We. he thought to himself.
Metal claws scritched against metal door like chalk on slate as Victor Creed forced the dagger-like ends of his fingers into the seam between the door and its frame. Gaining the leverage of his fingers he slid the door aside in its tracks.
Flourescent lights buzzed and came to life, illuminating the sterile laboratory beyond.
Creed's expression soured. It probably wasn't so bad to the other two, but to his heightened senses the place reeked.
Rows of long tables formed two columns stretching off into the enormous space. Medical equipment was here and there on carts. On the tables themselves were countless bodies covered in not-quite-opaque plastic sheets.
Slowly, almost mechanically, Creed stepped inside.
His mouth gaped.
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Post by Kitty Pryde on Feb 3, 2009 11:55:21 GMT -4
Katherine could only grin somewhat sheepishly at the much larger man. Alright, so strength wasn’t exactly her, well, strong suit. She could walk through anything, and was nigh invincible in the way that nobody could hurt what they couldn’t touch, but her strength was that of a normal girl of her size, and that wasn’t much. Princesses didn’t do much heavy lifting, after all.
Stepping back while Creed pulled open the door, she hung back, watching the side of his face for his reaction. Unfortunately, what she saw wasn’t pleasant. At first he appeared disgusted, but it then shifted to something almost... horrified. Ignoring her inclination to turn and run, the princess reluctantly followed him into the room.
Instantly she wished she had given into that first instinct.
It was like a scene out of one of the worst horror movies she could imagine, worse than she ever could have imagined because it was real.
“Oh God,” she whispered, covering her mouth with her hands, her eyes going wide. Bodies. Bodies everywhere. Even from where she stood by the door some of the shapes didn’t look right. Some of the sheets hung awkwardly in places as if... as if pieces were missing. “What is this place?”
All the times she had been in this building for appointments with Emma, or to visit little Callie, and she had had no idea what was really going on in here. What was really going on in here? A stabbing pain shooting through her head just as her stomach lurched, Katherine made a dash for the nearest trash can.
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Post by Creed on Feb 3, 2009 23:27:51 GMT -4
Creed didn't answer. He couldn't. Neither did he make a move to help the princess with her ...condition. The healer should be perfect to take care of any of that.
Instead he stepped forward purposefully and tore away the closest of the plastic covers to expose the body underneath. He was far from unfamiliar with death, and Creed in no way had a tender stomach, but what he saw surprised even him in its grotesqueness and savagery. His eyes widened.
All identifying features of the person on the table had been ...removed... sometimes surgically and with precision and sometimes with a look as though it had been torn, ripped...possibly bitten away. The corpse was headless and it had no hands or feet. The chest was opened and the skin peeled away. Most of the organs were partially or completely gone.
A low growl was all Creed could manage as he stared down at the body. A small white tag caught his eye near the cadaver's thigh...probably once a toe tag...and he lifted it and read what it said.
"GENOME POSITIVE SPECIMEN Progenitor #F1C8D1307
Mutation Negative
Known Mutant Progeny: 2"
Beneath all of that in much smaller letters was this: "MacTaggart, M.".
None of it meant much to Creed.
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Post by Kitty Pryde on Feb 4, 2009 21:17:11 GMT -4
After depositing the contents of her stomach into the trash bin, Katherine sat back on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest.
I just want to go home. I want to see Emma and get my mind zapped and forget any of this ever happened.
A tempting thought, but one that could never be. Even if she ran now, she could never forget what happened here, and if she so much as let a telepath near her to wipe her mind clean, they’d see it first and they would know what she had done.
She was betraying her father. She was betraying everything he stood for. But then, if these people were attempting to change things, to change this...
“Did he know?” she said aloud to herself. Was this what she was betraying? Was this what her father stood for? She couldn’t believe it – wouldn’t – but...
“Who are these people?” she asked, louder this time. Getting back to her feet, her legs still felt shaky but they held her up. Slowly approaching Creed, the princess couldn’t bring herself to look at the body he had uncovered, couldn’t stomach the horrendous mutilations, so she kept her eyes on the tag.
Mutation Negative
“She’s human...”
Known Mutant Progeny
“A human who bore two mutant children.” Even as the words left her lips the pain in her head increased. “Are they all... are they all like this?”
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Post by Creed on Feb 5, 2009 21:48:12 GMT -4
He didn't speak. His jaw was set. Creed turned and looked at the princess and the look in his eyes was a mixture of his age - he was much older than he looked - and his anger and his disgust at what it all represented. His work...the real work hiding behind all of the catering bullsh-t and nonsense...was the liberation of these people.
He already knew that what he was able to do in secret...hiring bounty hunters under very false pretense and hiding his identity along with his intent, stealing and smuggling servants and runaways through use of his warehouses and unprecedented access...he knew it was all inadequate.
It angered him to learn just how inadequate it was in this way. So many dead. "Yes", he finally answered. They were all this way. Jaw clamped, he sniffed at Katherine.
Quite suddenly, Creed's expression changed. He whirled around, stormed further into the room and pulled back the plastic covering to expose the lower limbs of another corpse. He snatched the tag that dangled from decaying toes and tore it free.
He read the tag.
"GENOME POSITIVE SPECIMEN Progenitor #F1C8D0354
Mutation Negative
Known Mutant Progeny: 1"
With a very odd expression – one that held both meaning and question, he turned back to the princess and held it out to her.
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Post by Kitty Pryde on Feb 5, 2009 23:19:31 GMT -4
The look in Creed’s eyes was so powerful Katherine could barely breathe. In that moment all doubt left her. Whatever he was doing here, she knew it was for the best. With just that look she felt she could trust him.
If they were there to stop this carnage, she was going to do whatever it took to help.
“What kind of monster does this sort of thing to...” the princess started to ask, but Creed suddenly turned away and made a beeline for another body. Watching in confusion as he lifted the sheet and tore off the tag, she was at a complete loss when he held it out to her. Hesitantly, she took the tag.
“Another human. One mutant child,” she reported. Looking up to see Creed still watching her, she glanced back down at the tag and slowly moved her thumb which obscured the name.
What it revealed was a name she hadn’t heard in a very long time, one she had stopped associating with anything more than a distant memory thanks to Emma’s therapy. But the brain fix was fading, the headaches getting worse, and the name felt like a dagger to the heart.
Pryde, C.
“No...” Katherine gasped, dropping the tag as if it had burned her. Images began to flash before her eyes. Memories. Strong arms holding her on broad shoulders. A deep, joyous laugh. A round face with a thick, black moustache and a kind smile.
“No, it can’t be him!” she suddenly screamed. Kitty. He had called her Kitty. His precious little kitten. “It can’t be!”
Pushing past Creed she grabbed the sheet and tore it from the body. The mutilation and decay made her sick.
The still familiar face broke her heart.
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Post by Tatiana on Feb 6, 2009 13:08:42 GMT -4
Tatiana's eyes were wide. The smell alone in this room was beyond disgusting. She uncrossed her arms and slowly followed the other two into the little room of horrors. She watched as the princess was sick, and then as she screamed.
Understanding came slow to the young lady, then a small expression, almost a smile came to her face. The bodies were apparently parents. Her breath came short.
She didnt even bother to ask for permission as she began flipping open covers, almost faster and faster. Tati had to know. She had to know if those bastards who had treated her so cruelly were here. Did she want them to be? Or didn't she, the young woman wasnt sure.
The other two people were forgotten as she raced through the room. Where were they? WHERE WERE THEY? Nobody deserved to be treated like this, but what if those people were horribly cruel?
Out of breath, she flipped open the last cover, and sank to the floor. Tatiana didnt know whether to cry or to be happy. Neither of them were here. She curled up, tears coming to her eyes. What would she have done if they had been here? The people who made her what she was were so horrible to her. She was scared of her own feelings. Where had that hate come from?
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