"...Know what that means, kiddo?"

In every mammal's life, depending on their relative height on the food chain, comes a moment where all plans to stay ahead of their predator fails. Here, the responses vary. Some animals run away immediately, without thinking, and sometimes into a trap depending how well the predator planned ahead. Some rear up and prepare for battle, which is especially effective against predators who rely on stealth and the element of surprise and chaos. Humans are the exception - some thirty thousand years ago they leapt all the way from the middle of the chain to the top, and their Fight or Flight reflex became irrepairably damaged. In fact, it turned into Fight and Flight, or in most cases, neither.

And thus, Chris found himself frozen in fear. He felt, in the long pause that followed the stranger's question that anything he says, even his next breath, endangers Carrie directly. He felt he was in that room physically, getting gunned down alongside her because of a stupid pronounciation mistake. The scene must've played through his mind a thousand times, his muscles straining, small drops of sweat appearing on his forehead. There was a pain in his chest, and he was surprised to find himself holding his breath. He inhaled a short gasp.

"What - I'm not telling anybody." he finally said, quickly spitting out the words. His monotonous voice made him sound like a tough criminal being interrogated, and he wasn't sure that was a good thing. But he needed to get to the point. "What do you want from me. What can I do so you let her go unharmed."

He realized what scared him was the man's voice. Around him the bass was still pumping, and lights were still blinking. The phonecall was not real. He was imagining it all. He slowly began walking towards the entrance to the club, out of curiosity.

The rave was actually starting to get interesting. The fact that she had already made plenty of scores before Valt showed up was nice too. It was times like this, when he just acted like any other guy, that made him bearable. Mika motioned for the bartender to get her the same of whatever Walt had ordered, vhatever it was she could handle it. The bartender put two glasses in front of them and hurried to get to the others thirsty patrons.

It was then that she heard the unmistakable sound of gunfire. It was almost completely drowned out by the music but she had heard it enough to know it even with everything going on. It seemed that the party was about to turn into something less fun and more dangerous. Not wanting to sound scared she thought they might slip out of the party before whatever was going on found it's way to them. She placed her hand on his chest and spoke into his ear so he could hear her clearly. "I'm not thirsty anymore. Let's get out of here." Mika tried to drag Walt without seeming too urgent. If he found out someone was in trouble he would rush in to help without a second thought and that would probably end badly even with their powers combined. Whatever was going on she just wanted to make sure that the two of them didn't get hurt over it. To hell with other people Mika was looking out for herself and her own. The rest be dammed, they were all just normals anyway.

Collab with @Twilights Curse and @Knight of Doom

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Eris heard the sound of gun shots. While for most, the sound was nearly indistinguishable from the heavy music reverberating from the sound system, for Eris she could feel the gun shot. There was the possiblity that it was apart of the music, but Eris could feel the metallic vibrations of the aftershock from the gun once she focused on it.

Instantly, Eris was on her toes. If the police caught her at an illegal party, then she might have her scholarship revoked. Eris tried to feel for radio signals. The low bass that vibrated the room kept messing with her head, but she managed to detect many radio signals. They seemed to have a long range and where currently being used.

Eris bit her lip, she needed to find Rachael, fast. So, she turned to the male who had addressed her earlier. "Have you seen a girl? She's my age, long brown hair, very preppy. She also probably is extremely drunk and with around 4 or 5 friends." She hoped this stranger could help her. She wasn't very comfortable asking, but it was worth a shot.

Nathan stood, watching the young woman. He couldn't detect anything wrong at he moment and didn't know she could either. So after asking if she wanted a drink, he waited. His sunglasses he wore to the party were resting on the top of his head, poised to be pulled down if needed, though why anyone would need sunglasses in the middle of the night was anyone's guess. Just when he was starting to think she was ignoring him, she turned and faced him, though what she asked was not what he expected.

"A girl, your age, long brown hair, very preppy." he went through his mental list of girls he'd ran into or seen or even glanced out, excellent recall was another thing he had in spades. "Hm, when she is extremely drunk does she giggle a lot, and have a kind of snort that follows the giggles?" he asked. Eris nodded. "Cause I saw one girl like that, as you said surrounded by about eight "friends"." He held his hands up, making the air quotes gesture. "Come on, I'll lead you to where I saw her." Moving off the wall, he turned around and headed for the door, that would eventually take them to another room.

"You know" he said over the music, but once they were in the hall it was somewhat muffled, so he didn't have to yell. "You still owe me an answer about that drink, I think you should have at least one with me, I mean I am helping you out and all that." He said, looking over his shoulder at her, smirking. "You look like you should let down your guard and party a bit.. even just a bit. Couldn't hurt." Little did he know, at that paticular party, it could hurt quite a bit actually. Pushing the double swinging doors open that lead into another room. "She was over there, the corner," he said, pointing over the crowds head. "You won't make it through that mess of bodies." Before she could say anything, and cause he was such a nice guy he helped her out. He moved to her side, bringing his hand up, he held the back of her head with his hand. "Hold on." Then Eris felt like the air rushed by fast, really fast. He released her. Eris realized that they were on the other side of the room. He pulled his sunglasses off his head with a smirk. "That's her," He pointed to the group, with the snorting giggling girl in the middle.

"Thanks," Eris replied out of habit. But what the heck just happened? She was on one side of the room one second and then here the next. Then it dawned on her. "Mutant". Eris had never really applied herself to that word, but now that she had met another, she came to that realization. But now was not the time for questions, or drinks. Eris quickly grabbed her friend, and started dragging her away from her friend despite her protests. "Sorry, but I'll have to pass on that drink." Eris informed the male mutant. "But since you helped me out I'll tell you something. Get out of here fast. The officials are here, and I doubt you want to get caught at this party." With that Eris started dragging her drunk friend to the door, while trying to think of a way to side step the police.

Nathan stood there, watching as he just got the ultimate of brush offs in the history of brush offs, watching as the serious young woman dragged her severely drunk friend away. Her warning still ringing in his ears a bit. The officials? If the cops were here, he'd be gone before they could blink, let alone catch him. It was really only a matter of time before the law came. Whoever was running this thing went all out on everything, they should have just hired a spotlight guy to shine a light right above the building that red, "Illegal rave here. Underage drinking, drugs, music and premateral sex all happening here. Come and arrest us," Giving himself a shrug, he checked his watch, his "aquired" watch. Maybe he could hit up a diner and refuel. He was feeling a little hungry and could eat.

With that goal in mind he pushed his way through the people. He'd used his power once, cause he knew people weren't going to be looking, but one could never know and he did have a little restraint. Once he was out of the room and back in the hall, he'd take off and be long long gone before any cops even managed to get ready, not knowing that people were already inside.

ISABEL

Despite getting on the ground and surrendering herself willingly, The Tactical Unit came to do what they were order to do, and started to load the horrific mutant girl up with lead, only they were unaware of the magnitude of her power set, and were surprised when she re-arranged the velocity of the bullets and slowed them down to the point of tiny baseball bats before they impacted her and began to bruise her left and right, taking away both her concentration and the attention of the other booze and drugged up party goers.

"God damn," the leader said, "men, we've been made. You know what to do,"

looking around at their surroundings, the soldiers all loaded up and yelled in unison, "HUMANITY ABOVE ALL ELSE!" and began to open fire upon the crowd, some brain matter here, and heart flesh there, but gore was now everywhere as people were slain where they danced...

CHRIS- A FEW MINUTES PRIOR TO THE SHOOTINGS INSIDE

"Here's what we want you to do kiddo," the voice on the other end spoke mockingly of him, "all we want you do is lock the outside doors of the hospital so that nobody goes in or comes out, if you do that then your precious little co-worker will... live," he said in a serious yet mocking tone, "and for a bonus round, make sure there aren't any witnesses around that Lamborghini parked out front, we got a guy coming to do some stuff to it. Make sure that goes smoothly, and we'll all stop checking out what's under the hood, if you catch my Tokyo Drift," in the background Christopher could make out the monsters laughter as they were doing whatever it was monsters did to young women these days.

ERIS

When Eris revealed to Nathan that the "officials" had busted the party, the men in the men in the white van assigned to tail her finally realized what her specific power was, and the men looked at each other like idiots for an extra second before the driver picked up his radio equipment and alerted the unit in the hospital, "Assault Team One! Assault Team One! You've been made! I repeat, you have been made. White haired female mutant, ability to detect radio transmissions, early twenties! Eliminate the witness!"

The stealth transport helicopter in the sky signaled to the worried driver that they had the situation under control, and front the sides a missile cannon equipped with several smart missiles- projectiles programmed with their target, thus eliminating unwanted casualties and were only a foot or so long began to locate Eris in the crowded ground floor of the rave spot.

NATHAN

If the speedster were smart, which he wasn't, then he would have stayed by Eris instead of look out for Number 1 and escape the situation, for during the time of their conversation, Christopher had hastily locked up all entrances to the hospital, thus leaving even the fastest young man alive as a sitting duck, and young Eris defenseless.

MIKA AND WALT

Time slowed down like the way it does in the kinds of video games were the player is presented with a fork in the narrative, in this case there was the story of the good guy, and that of the bad guy. In Walter's case, the good guy scenario was to go help the people in danger, and save Isabel. The way of the bad guy was right beside him, pulling on his arm so that she could save her own neck, and Walt could easily just slip away with her, make out with her down the road and maybe some hanky panky would be rewarded unto him.

But letting innocent people be harmed, even if the alternate was getting laid, that wasn't Walt. Despite what rich girl's say on their Twitter account for the multitude of followers how he treated them, Walter was not a bad guy.

So the choice was rather a simple one for him to make as Time resumed.

Taking his alcohol and chugging it for some liquid courage, he confronted Mika about the situation, "do you really want to take some guy's wallet back to Daddy, a wallet which likely won't have nearly enough lunch money to pay off the sharks that are after him this time? Are you going to let these people die and run away when you have the power to save them? Well I have that same power, and you kknow what? I'm not running. Not anymore!" He yelled aloud and turned and go after the source of the gunfire.

JOSEPH, NICHOLAS, AND OTHER MUTANTS ACROSS THE NATION

Across the great nation of America, across the waters in other countries, in international skies, mutant children and young adults were plucked from their lives, plucked from civilization and placed upon commercial airlines, stripped of everything and given not even basic human rights, they were treated like the worst of America's Most Wanted. There were no Mutant Rightsduring this time, no organized Movements or leaders who could last a week or more to provide their people with some kind of hope, some kind of anything. No, all these Mutants had to look forwards to, was The Doghouse...

Something unfamiliar washed over Chris while he made his way to the hospital entrance. He felt his eyes widen, his teeth clench, his muscles push against their psychological boundaries. Soft pain emanated from his joints. He walked absentmindedly, his mind busy with imaginary scenes of the caller's throat being ripped out of his body, his spine broken, his skull caved in. The young man almost collided into the doors.

But when his hand reached out, his 6th chakra finally caught up with his 2nd. They knew where he was. They wanted to isolate the hospital. This entire thing was a trap. He felt his hand muscles waver as he realized the lives of everyone inside might be in his hands - And it wouldn't matter if the person on the other side of the phone was a mass-murderer out for blood or a criminal who wanted revenge on a single partygoer. It wouldn't matter to all those people marked "collateral". So he closed the door just enough for it to be opened with a well-placed kick.

Done with the building, he turned towards the cars parking in front of it. He felt himself going numb with anger and helplessness. With a moment of focus, he turned his adrenaline down to nominal levels, relaxed his muscles, and normalized his breath.

"I am doing what you asked. Stop hurting her." He said to the phone while looking for the aforementioned car. "My cooperation is dependent on her well-being. Give her the phone." His words were not hostile, angry or fast. They were a text being read by a bored radio show host. But for now, he had decided to make their Lambo guy a cripple, and hoped they could convince him otherwise.

"Stop hurting her?" The voice asked over the phone, "Kid, you don't know the meaning of the word pain, but never mind all that." The voice went quiet for a moment before the phone was handed over to his young lady friend,

"Chris," she spoke quietly, but there were signs in her voice that she was terrified, that she was crying, "Christopher, do what they want-" that was all she could say before the Voice returned.

"Y'know, this isn't our first rodeo, and you definitely aren't some alpha male Bull," the voice taunted him while down the parking lot, a brown UPS delivery truck pulled into the Hospital parking lot and pulled up to the Lamborghini, "Your move kid, keep your girl safe, or somehow screw up what we're doing and you'll wish she was dead, the things in my head I want to do to her, it's scary," he added with a laugh as the UPS driver started to get out and go around the back of his truck.

Chris was perfectly still, trying to listen to the phone while keeping the UPS man in his peripheral vision. He wondered if with enough experimentation, he could learn to discern emotion and intent from a person's tone of voice. But Carrie did not seem to be in shock or in need of any immediate medical aid at least. He hoped these people were professionals, but he had really no way of knowing. "Alright." He said, absentmindedly.

Some loiterers were turning to look at the UPS guy's work. Chris casually walked towards them, phone still in hand. He did not want to hang up - it felt as if the conversation was Carrie's lifeline. In his head, this situation slowly became similar to a medical operation. He had been in one where one of the company's new devices was tested, and his expertise was needed in real time to keep the patient alive. The staff was surprised at how calm he was, given his almost nonexistent experience. But it was simple - he did not have to be physically affected by fear. And he wasn't planning to start now.

"Hey." He said, a bit louder than necessary, when he was close enough. "My buddy's running late - do you know how long this gig is gonna be up?" "Ah," the voice said, "I see our first test of loyalty has come into play," in the background he could hear the sound of a gun clicking for live fire, "will you keep your girlfriend alive? Warn these punks about what is to come? Or will you save your own skin? Choices, choices," he laughed.

Inside the abandoned hospital, the crowd was now being fired upon as the assault team raged onto the crowd and was met with opposition by the mutants to the rescue. Outside, the fake UPS driver was loading two duffel bags worth of weaponry into the trunk of the luxury sports car, not looking over at Chris or the street kids. The young man, oblivious to the gunfire due to the music and the building's acoustic isolation, bothered the kids until they got annoyed and left, and so did he, moving away from the Lamborghini and towards the entrance of the hospital, so as to not draw attention.

There it was. He was going to do the exact thing that she knew he would do. Mika turned to run away. To hell with these people right? My own safety comes first right? Right?! She turned back towards Walt as he ran towards the gunfire. Only a split second had passed as she started to run after him to help. "Ugh, fuck you Playboy! If I get shot I'm gonna roast your balls!" She ran as fast as she could dodging and weaving through the crowd trying to catch up but there were too many people.

Finally she decided to jump on a table and burst into flames raging over the crowd towards the gunfire. From her point of view she could see what she could only describe as stormtroopers gunning down the crowd. It didn't take them but a second to notice the ball of flames flying overhead as they opened fire fairly quickly but so long as she didn't revert back to her normal body the bullets would just pass right through. She dove into the middle of them hoping to catch them all on fire and send them running but none of them seemed fazed at all. She emerged from her flames completely naked, unfortunately she can't seem to take her clothes with her. Caring less about being naked and more about the men with guns that now surrounded her she burst into flames again and away from them behind a column for cover.

Nathan, once in the hall was about to take off, and head somewhere else.. he had some cash in his pockets, which was always good, he'd stop and hit a fast food place and load up on some food before probably heading home, when he heard the sound, a distinct crack that came from an assault rifle, heading into the room the sound was coming from, which was being nicely masked by the music, and the same room that Mika and Walt were in, and Eris was dragging her drunk friend through. he saw the bodies, and the blood. "what the hell" he said, not expecting that, he was expecting cops, coming to break up an illegal rave, but this was.. this wasnt right. and his first instinct was to get the hell out of there, and fast.. and there was none faster then him. but these people were innocent, and they were being mowed down. it didnt take long for him to make up his mind, not long at all as he brought on the speed and time slowed around him, bullets froze in mid air, moving super slow that he could see the actual air they cut through. grabbing Eris and her friend, he had them behind a pillar fast before he turned to the men.. catching them surrounding a girl on the ground, who was all bruised up he ran over. thumping one in the forehead, he moved around to the others grabbing the waist band of another and pulling straight up, he'd go through each and every one that was firing into the innocent group of people, barely touching them or hitting them in the face with his hand. which was something, since he was moving at the speeds he was, the strength of his touches, hits, and wedgies were all exponentially increased, it was why he wasn't flat out punching them, it could possible kill them. when all the men were taken care of, he went and grabbed the bullets they had fired and began adjusting their flight path, pinching them between his fingers, he angled them straight up instead so they'd fly away the people. when he was done he stopped moving, appearing standing behind a naked girl who had taken cover behind the pillar. he didnt need to see to know those men firing were out of the game. "yo, can you make me a hole?" he asked her. "the doors are locked or chained up or something, i tried them, can you burn me a hole?" he asked as he looked her up and down, admiring the view before the current situation came back and he went back to looking her in the eyes. he had a few new holes in his pants and pull over, but his shoes were the ones that were currently smoking, and smelling like burnt rubber. "if i had a way out, i can start moving these people out of here"

Isabel was dazed, and when she looked back up, expecting to see a gun in her face, she was just in time to catch all of the gun-men surrounding her suddenly flailing and recoiling at nothing. Some shouted in pain, but all stopped firing for a moment.

Looking at these humans, she was filled with hate. They had no regard for life, they feared people like her so much that they would kill everyone here for it. Many were humans, but even then they didn't deserve this treatment.

Her yellow eyes shimmered as her power ramped up. She held a hand out at the nearest agent before they began to fire again. His head twisted itself around, with a sickening wet crunch. He was lifted off the ground, floating limply for a second before flying at speed and ramming another of the assailants and knocking him bodily into a wall.

Isabel rose to her feet and psy blasted another gun wielding crony as she made her way to the door. She lifted another into the air, twisting his arms until they broke and his gun clattered to the ground. He started screaming as he floated toward her, forming a live flesh and bone barrier between her and anyone who would shoot at her.

Joseph and Nicholas
'The Doghouse'

Lights, swirling, at least they seemed like it. Something else covered his vision even as he could barely see much of anything. Sounds were coming in too, sounds that had different pitches, tones, a lot of what seemed like screams. Slowly Joseph Stein was able to start recalling what happened. Flying through the air, only to be shot down like Icarus from a bullet. Slurring deeply from the back of his throat Joseph couldn't think straight as he was suddenly turned into a different direction. When he realized two guys were dragging him by his arms. Only to suddenly get thrown violently to the floor.

“Here you go fatty, maybe you can eat him!” Joseph could hear as he realized a sack was over his head. Suddenly though a door quickly getting shut hit Joseph's still sensitive eardrums hard. Wincing until he heard something incredible and almost too violent in of itself. As suddenly a metal getting pounded viciously rang through the room.

“OH YOU THINK ITS A FUCKING JOKE DO YA?! YOU WON'T BE LAUGHING WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE AND TEAR YOU TWO FUCKING WANKERS LIMB TO LIMB YOU BETTER HOPE I NEVER GET OUT OF HERE BECAUSE IF I DO YOU TWO ARE DEAD!”

Joseph weakly struggled to get up or even get what was a burlap sack off of his head. Suddenly though he felt it get wanked off and hoisted up to his feet. “You alright mate? Hope they didn't hurt you too badly.” The thick English accent was weirdly assuring for Joseph. Who sighed and tried to shake the cobwebs out of his head. “No I'm alright just...” Joseph had turned to see who had helped him up and briefly stunned himself quiet from the frankly enormous young man who had his arm in his huge hands. “Uh no I'm good.” Joseph awkwardly finished himself before he was let go. Finally able to get a view of his surroundings.

“Yeah get a look around, I tell ya Hell couldn't be any worse than this shit hole.” The large now roommate noted as he glanced around as well. Two really cheap looking beds with a mattress and pillow, a beaten down looking metal toilet, and that was it. Joseph groaned as he grew more scared, something catching his throat leaving him unable to say anything.

The two had an awkward first encounter to say the least. Joseph spent too long worrying about his mom and siblings. They were probably worried sick about him as much as he was about them. Finally though the large cell mate offered a few at least decent words. Nick was his name, he wasn't normally such a boiling pot of anger, but getting sold out by his parents the way he was did make Joseph understand at least some what. He couldn't imagine such a thought in his own way.

“So what happens now?” Joseph cautiously asked as he sat at the side of his bed.

Nicholas shrugged, having been thrown into a pair of ratty looking sweatpants and shirt that barely fit him while Joseph was still in his shirt and pants.

“We wait, and hope.” Nicholas told him.

CHRIS-

Once the Lamborghini was loaded up with the weaponry to frame Walter for the massacre that was currently in full swing,the UPS delivery driver pulled one last weapon that he had concealed in his waistband and fired into the loitering crowd, each shot was a dead on headshot, some of the brain matter and blood splatter landed on Christopher's clothes even.

"Now that's the sound of music," the voice taunted him, "you chose right, kiddo. Thanks to you, we can get away with whatever we want and all the blame will be planted on some rich prick, and to think, you really thought we were going to let you and your girlfriend just walk away? Ha, that's a joke if I ever heard one,"

As the voice chatted him up, the surviellance van assigned to him quickly pulled into the parking lot and drove up next to him, and two things happened in unison. A gunshot could easily be heard through the phone, and the van door slid open and many hands pulled Christopher into the back with them...

MIKA, NATHAN, ISABEL, AND WALT

Despite charging into the fray first in an attempt to save the day for some poor schmucks, Walt watched in amazement as Mika lit herself on fire and charged through some of the Assault Unit like they were bowling pins, and then some kind of invisible force knocked several more out in a comical way like a certain movie blockbuster. And then the grey mutant who's abuse started it all was given the opportunity to fight back, and Walt watched her at her fullest as she telekinetically ripped several more of her attackers to shreds and tossed them about like they were ingredients in a bloody salad.

Then came Walter's time to shine as Fifty Shades of Grey became too exhausted, and all those efforts left just a few standing opponents for him to deal with. As they reloaded their weapons, he started to take off his jacket and tossed it on the blood covered floor, everyone around them was either dead or in full panic mood, even the music and strobing lights were done with,

"I guess introductions are in order," Walter said as he popped his super dense knuckles, "you can call me The Vault, 'cause it's hard to crack me open, bitches," he said in a badass tone before charging for them.

The guard on the left fired first and missed, giving Walter enough time to reach the center guy who fired directly into his chest, the impact pushed him backwards, but Walter used the momentum to grab his arms and perform a flip behind the guy, spin him around and punch him with the force enough to knock his head off his body, which is what happened.

The guy to the right was a better shot though and switched to heavy fire and landed two more shots into him, but all that did was leave Walter angry and maybe leave a bruise.

While those two engaged, the one who fired first left the scene to call for back up, and outside, all the surviellance teams were now getting together in the parking lot, equipping themselves with heavy duty tranquilizer weaponry.

JOSEPH AND NICHOLAS

They were taken from their homes, drugged for the field trip in transport and delivered to what looked on the outside to be some luxurious facility for a rehabilitation clinic, a plaque on the peach colored front entrance that could be read after they passed by the giant marble pillars read: HUMANITY ABOVE ALL ELSE.

Inside it was even more beautiful and relaxing with a centerpiece garden and pond with large multi-colored fish swimming about, but this was not the place for these two. They were taken through a set of security doors, and then restrained before entering an elevator which took them two miles below ground.

After that they're eyes had a hard time seeing as they adjusted to the facility's dim lighting and were fitted with some sort of high tech wrist bracelet, both boys could feel tingle of pain as the bracelets gave them their first doses of reality, and then they were dumped in a "fresh" cell for the newbies.

But what they couldn't see, was the cell block they were in, which was a mile long, and each cell was occupied two fold, the hall filled with screams and cries of mutant protest, useless and demoralizing. Welcome to the...

DOGHOUSE

As the shootout died down and the others took care of what was left Mika was left naked and some random mutant was eyeing her up and asking for an exit. "I can burn a hole in your face to help you with that staring problem too." She wasn't particularly fond of this side effect of her powers, it wasn't that she couldn't burst into flames without ruining her clothes but she still hadn't quite perfected the technique. On the other hand, it was a fairly effortless way of getting undressed. In the mean time she walked towards the nearest corpse on the floor beside her. They were bleeding all over the floor and Mika could feel the warmth of the freshly spilled blood beneath her feet. It was unfortunately not an unfamiliar feeling.

She examined the corpse, which was missing a large portion of it's head but it was clear to see that it was a young girl. She was wearing a long coat which Mika promptly pulled over herself despite the bloodstains. The coat itself was a bit too colorful for her taste but beggars can't be choosers so she made do. Mika started towards the doors looking at the fallen swat cops on the floor. "I should really stop holding back when I use my powers..." The whole situation stank. Mika could tell that something wasn't right. "Hey, I don't think this is over." She spoke to everyone left around her. It was somewhat comforting that other Mutants were present and not just normals, at the very least their survivability was much higher.

Chris recoiled from the gunshots around him, and almost immediately dived towards one of the victims, ignoring the fake UPS man. It was a girl, kind of, with a frail thin body, half of her head shaven off, more piercings than a group of death metal fans, and above all, a hole in her face just above the right eye. He extended a hand towards her, slowly, as if in a dream... But when the gunshot on the phone finally registered, it slowed his world to a halt and shut down all his senses.

His knees, already bent over the dead raver, gave out, and he sat down on the ground, his eyes staring ahead. He slowly became aware of a searing pain in his chest, one without any physical source. It was raising strange alarms. He wanted to kill and die all at once, and when the hands closed on his arms and shirt from behind, pulling him into darkness, he felt for some skin with his fingers and sent a shutdown command to the heart. There was a low grunt, and eventually the hands began letting go. There were voices of panic and anger, muffled by his apathy, then a strong hand grabbed him by the back of the neck and slammed his face into the van's door.

"You better stop this right now or I will fuckin gut you, mutie!" someone growled from behind him. He turned his head slowly, adjusting his eyes to the darkness. One of the special forces guys was clutching his chest, his eyes wide and bulging. But when Chris extended a hand, nother black-clad man, who most likely was not paying attention, lunged towards him. The scientist absentmindedly pulled him to the floor and climbed over him on the way to the choking man.

He was met with a gaze of helplessness and horror. The man was breathing rapidly, his lungs useless with his pulse set to almost one beat per minute. He put a hand on the man's exposed neck, whose breath slowed within moments. But as he looked at Chris with gratitude, the young man's stone-cold stare returned the fear into his eyes. Yes, you are nothing but a machine to me, the glass-shielded eyes said, and your life is a wave of the hand away.

They pulled him away eventually, and he folded into the sitting position they forced him into a few minutes ago. They were all in a hurry to let go of him once he was sitting, but he did not notice any of it. Slowly shutting down his senses, he closed his eyes and withdrew within himself. He thought he should've noticed something in the way they referred to him, but it was all far away...

Nathan stood there, looking at the naked girl, nodding. "be worth it" when she said she'd burn a hole in his face, he grinned as he looked up at her face now. "dont take it toooo personal, i ruin my clothes all the time too, friction is a bitch" he pointed out, before rolling his neck, he was feeling drained. "you wouldnt have to have some food stashed somewhere would ya?" following her out from behind the pillar or whatever, looking around, and his carefree, joking attitude was lost as he saw the scene around them. "damn, what the hell did they do this for" he asked, when really there was no good enough answer to justify the death of so many. "yea, this isnt over with.. the doors to this place are locked up, i know i tried them, and really, anyone got something to eat" his speed came out a cost, i big one. he had a hyper burning metabolism. off the charts when he was tested as a kid, he kept passing out, right around the time his x-gene kicked on.. he'd faint, cause effectively if he didnt eat damn near constantly, he'd crash as he called it, he'd get sluggish, his speed would start to shut down, and eventually he'd faint. "talk, im listening" as he sped through the carnage, a blur as he found, purses, backpacks, pockets, anything really as he zoomed all over the room. stopping now beside and back from walt, sucking on a sucker, having a dozen more in his hand, along with a pack of peanut butter crackers, and a lot of gum. "hey, that catch phrase was cool as hell, the vault, cause its hard to crack you open, i need something like that too" crunching the sucker, he tossed the stick and went, grabbing another and putting it into his mouth after the wrapper was off, he did the same thing, biting the sucker part right off, then tossing the stick, but he couldnt wait around, he needed the energy, he was feeling the Drag, which would come, his speed suffering and then the Crash. "so, what now.. anyone around here no how to make a hole, i tried firefly, but she just rudely threatened me" grinning at her, winking as he munched on the mouthful of sucker pieces. "still would be worth it" she'd know what he meant

EPISODE 2: HOME SWEET HELL

0600 HOURS
CNN

"Breaking News outside of Washington DC tonight as an incident has occured at an illegal rave at St. Elizabeth Hospital, an abandoned medical facility since the 1970s," the blond news anchorwoman reports, "reports and sources indicate the involvement of one Walter Ashmore, heir to the Ashmore Congolmerate Corporation, as well as several high valued mutants. Eye witnesses report a vehicle owned by Mr. Ashmore, thus placing him at the scene."

0700 HOURS
ASHMORE CONGOLMERATE HQ- NEW YORK CITY

"As CEO of Ashmore Congolmerate, and as Walter's own mother, I vow the American people that I will assist the authorities in finding my son, and the mutants responsible for such an unnecessary tragedy," a beautiful blond woman in a crisp blue pinstripe business suit announced to the world and wiped away a tear rolling down her make-up caked cheek with her breast pocket handkerchief,

"So as of 6:30, my husband, our advisors, and myself have been hair at work trying to design some kind of mutant deterrent in the event that a crime against humanity of this magnitude shall never happen again, and all of America shall be updated as our plans progress, thank you and God bless America,"

0800 HOURS
THE DOGHOUSE

WALTER

The shirtless young man awoke with a jolt and a grunt of pain in his chest as he rolled over, but was surprised when he fell and hit such cold, hard concrete.

"ow," he moaned and grunted as he struggled to stand up, his vision was groggy, so it took his eyes to adjust. Where once he was at the rave, dealing with the humans who attacked and killed damn near everybody around him, now he was in a very dim, very black cell.

It was maybe ten feet wide and seven feet high, a black toilet sat unused in one corner, next to which was a bunk bed, a figure was looking half dead on the bottom bunk, and there was a metal sign with a list of rules drilled into the wall.

Turning around as sounds were starting to come back to him, Walter pressed up against the metal bars, a look of abject terror stricken upon his face as screams of mercy and pleas for help echoed down the cell block.

And soon he would join in...

She didn't quite remember how the fight went down but she had ended up in a real shit hole because of it. She lay there barefoot in her newly acquired grey jumpsuit covered in bruises from when the guards had their 'fun' with her. It wasn't an experience she wanted to repeat and so she complied with the rules until her body could heal. For now she would wait, and when the time was right she would castrate the guards that so eagerly made her life hell and burn this prison to the ground.

She did her best not tot focus on the screams but was interrupted from her thoughts by the sound of her cellmate falling onto the floor. She didn't want to waste any energy on whatever idiot she had been paired up with so she just stayed still and hoped whoever it was didn't start any trouble. As it was now she'd have a tough time resisting an attack. She peeked over her shoulder and recognized the body in front of her immediately. "Oh good *cough* at least if I'm going to be in this shit hole I get to be in it with the richest guy in town *cough* fuckin' fantastic." In truth she was relieved that it was Walter and not some crazed sexual predator. It would be useful to have a friend. "Welcome to the Doghouse, at least that's what the guards are calling it."

It was odd that she had been given a cell with a male. As far as she knew everyone usually separated males and females but given how unusually aggressive and trigger happy the guards were it actually wasn't the strangest thing going on by far. Perhaps they had hoped that in her weakened state she would be unable to defend herself and her cellmate would take advantage of her. That would give them a show for sure. This was no ordinary prison, which was all the more reason for Mika to hate it.

Nathan groaned, laying on the bunk of his bed, a combination of being brought into this damn place and the Crash, he was weak and slowly weakening even more. whoever they were, they wernt feeding him, and he had to eat almost constantly to keep up with his hyper Metabolism. wearing a pair of sweats, he pushed off the bed, and moved toward the door to his cell, he slammed his fist against. "HEY YOU SORRY SONS OF BITCHES!!" he yelled out. "IM NOT GETTING ENOUGH FOOD IN HERE, IM CRASHING, AND WHEN I DIE FROM THAT, IM SO COMING BACK AS A GHOST AND FUCKING YOUR WORLDS ALL UP!!" pounding on the door til he slipped, losing his balance and he spun around and fell to the side, hitting the floor like a sack of potatos. "son of a bitch" closing his eyes, he brought his hand up slowly, rubbing his forehead. "im going to stay here til i stop feeling the earth spin" he said, nodding to himself.

laying there, his mind was going with his body, that sluggish feeling he couldnt even remember at this point if he had a roommate or not, not that it really mattered at the moment he was wanting, no needing food or they were about to have a seriously dead mutant on their hands, he no lie he would come back and haunt their asses.

Isabel did not remember much. She didn't know if it was some kind of drug these... people had used, or if it was a result of overusing her powers. But she could tell that this wasn't a normal prison. She had been in normal prisons.

She was paired with a man, or, rather, a teenage boy. He was up and screaming at the bars, wanting food by the sound of it. A normal prison wouldn't pair women with men, unless it was just the drunk tank. But she saw no sunlight, and she was in a small cell in what appeared from her limited view to be a complex full of similar small cells. This was a long term prison, and it wasn't normal.

"If you really think you're in danger of starving," she intoned in her quiet rasp from where she was now sitting up on her bunk, "Then you should conserve your energy. Sit down and stay still. Do you know what you're in for?"

It wasn't the typical "what are you in for" because she suspected that he, like her, might be a little foggy on the details.

The scientist opened his eyes.

Gradually, the neural pathways of his eyes were given priority for transfer to his cognitive centers. He took the room in. He was sitting cross-legged on the top of a two-storied bunk bed, in a meditative position. The light was probably dim, but it did not impede his vision.

Slowly, his other senses awoke. The smell of mildew, sweat, piss and air that was breathed in and out so many times it was probably all carbon dioxide. The itching sensation of low-quality, tough fabric against his skin. The sounds of clattering, unintelligible screaming, footsteps. The chest of Carrie, exploding inward from the impact of a 9 mm round.

Chris inhaled sharply. That last umage was not a product of his senses, but more of memory. No - extrapolation of sensory memory. He suddenly felt the need to examine his body, but other than being a little dehydrated he was completely healthy. Slowly, the trip in the dark van came back to him, the cloth bag on his face, walking into rooms, riding elevators for a surprisingly long time. He shrugged this off - it didn't matter. What mattered was that Carrie was dead, a lot of people at that rave were dead, and he had no idea why he was here or who was responsible for this.

Wait. 'mutie'. That's what the SWAT guy said.

He silently slid off the bed and pressed his face against the bars. "Is anyone in here a MUTANT." his monotone becoming louder at the last word.

Eris woke up in a cell. Her brain just wouldn't function. It must have been a side effect of a drug they, whoever they were, gave her. All she seemed to remember from the rave was protecting Rachael from the gun fire that people shot. Whoever they were, they definitely weren't the cops. Now she was here, covered in wounds and bruises from who knows what.

"Is anyone in here a MUTANT?" Eris immediately opened her eyes. She saw a male figure at the bars of their cage.

"I am," Eris's voice sounded scratchy from having to yell at the rave. Revealing that bit of information felt good. She had never told anyone about it before, but in this situation it could either save her or destroy her. She was hoping for the former.

MIKA AND WALT

When Walter heard Mika's voice, he shrugged off her sarcastic tone that she had directed his way, "yeah, and I get get to be cellies with a Boxer's Daughter, yay," he teased her, "but for real, are you ok? Those bastards from earlier didn't hurt your anything did they? If they did, I'll gladly tear more heads from their shoulders,"

NATHAN AND ISABEL

The positioning of the Speedster's and Reality Manipulator's cells was a bridge of sorts between Chris and Eris and Mika and Walt's respective cells.

All around them, there were more cells filled up with more newly arriving mutants, and the guards looked like black stormtroopers, just guarding the cooridor like an empty shining suit of armor in a castle, if said castle had illegally herded many of the world's mutants under one roof and shut off the lights so they couldn't see.

CHRIS AND ERIS

When Chris and Eris came to the realization they were mutants sharing a cell and that more than likely so was everyone else, a voice came through the cooridor's loudspeaker system.

"Good morning, new arrivals! And welcome to the Doghouse, I trust you all slept well, and if not then that's on you. My name is Alpha, as in, I'm the Alpha Dog of this pack. You will hereby live by my rules, and by extention, the rules of the guards you see at their posts outside your cell doors. If anybody here wishes to speak up and wishes to leave, you may not do so," a brief pause as the Alpha and his Guard Dogs laugh hauntingly, "any attempt to leave unless escorted by a Guard will be met with hostile force. So, on that note, your cell doors shall open in 59 minutes exactly and you will all be herded into the mess hall for Chow Time, have a nice day in Hell now," he ended his speech in a cheery tone of voice.