Leila

It Nathan was good at anything, it was being persistent. A lot of the times, Leila found herself having to usher him away to regain her peace of mind. Not only that, but the two of them walking side by side or being seen together could only mean that her chances of confronting an MP doubled. And she definitely didn't want that, not when her own actions didn't warrant it.

"If you want to see the 'kind doctor' that bad, you're more than welcomed to stop by his shop. He'll hear you out, unless you've given him trouble in the past. If that's the case, then I'm afraid all you'll get is his door being closed on your face."

Her anxiety was slowly increasing again. Nathan didn't annoy her to that extent, but now she had to be extra careful. As his questions continued, she decided to turn into a narrow path extending between two tall buildings.

"I... No, no plans. Not until next week anyway." She decided at this point that she might as well tell him the truth. "Your level of boredom must be really high if you want to hang out with me," she added with a smirk on her face.

Well, things were getting interesting. First the guy who was healing the girl Light had picked off the street came out from his back room to tell Light off due to the imminent arrival of MP which Light wasn't too worried about. Then a few moments later, the lady Light had dragged in came out of the backroom brandishing a weapon yelling about not getting captured or something.
"Aw, aren't you cute? Put the butterknife away dear, unless you actually think a merchant storefront and who is clearly a CotD would be here to kidnap you. Especially considering said CotD got you off the street." Light said, pulling off her top hat to give Bunny a toothy grin, before putting it back on. Looking at Chaz, making animated motions to empthesis her point. "Not like the MP is of much consequence, or at least the grunts. Most of the grunts get fooled by disguises like this all the time! Heck, this one time I even got one of them to go on a date with me..." Light said, trailing off with a laugh, leaving things up to the imagination of the other two.
"Anyway, just sit down. Worse comes to worse I make things act like a robbery and steal you away again so I don't hurt this man's business." Light said smiling. Rummaging inside her dress bottom, Light began pulling out random objects with the logo ACME on them, much like her outfit. It took her a few tries before she pulled out a tea set, the first few items being in order; A Turtle Shell, a Bowling Pin, and a Wrench. Whispers could be coming from Light along the lines of "Please don't be an explosive one this time..." as she tried to pour some tea. Unfortunately, the moment a drop hit the cup she was pouring in, it exploded in her face, causing her upper body to be covered in black soot which she shook away after a few moments, the soot magically disappearing.

Nathan/Zero
”Ah” Nathan interrupted, ”but you forget one important factor” he continued with his patent-pending cheeky smile, ”you have to be there so I can you tease and make me look even better – else it is no fun!”
The last part he said with a genuinely fake smile that could be spotted miles away, but of course that was the very point of it: he liked to see how far he could push those around him.
However, he didn’t get a chance to see what this conversation could develop into because just as he had just let the last word escape his lips, Leila decided to stumble through a rather messy sentence – that of course immediately caught young Nathan’s attention.
"I... No, no plans. Not until next week anyway." Leila spoke, but before he could comment on her alarmingly suspicious sentence she decided to deflect the attention towards him – or at least that was how Nathan understood it as she added with a smirk: "Your level of boredom must be really high if you want to hang out with me".
Nathan didn’t reply instantaneously, instead he gracefully jumped off his board and at the same time he activated his powers for a split second, manipulating the vectors of his board to gracefully jump up into his outreached hand – it wasn’t anything incredible or incredibly unnatural, it was perhaps just 1% off of what a normal human was capable off. In fact, it was done rather gracefully – if he had to say so himself.

After having performed this incredibly graceful feat he once again turned his attention towards the fellow Child of the Dark beside him. “Ah, it seems like you caught me red handed!” he spoke in a sweet, innocent kind of way. “I am indeed very bored – all the ‘projects’ I had been working on for the past two days have somehow turnout out to be various degrees of failures, so instead of staring into the wall back home, I decided to get out for a cup of coffee”
His tone had slowly turned more and more normal, almost as if he was mindlessly stating the facts of his life, but as he ended his small speech his attention once again became a shining spotlight directed straight towards Leila.
“However,” he began, “I had actually decided to head over to one of my favorite shops before you passed by my life just moments ago, though now that I have met you I think I have found something much more interesting”.
His sweet, yet somehow chill inspiring smile that shone down upon the girl besides him could best be translated into the look of a cat just before it would pounce in and push its owner’s favorite cup off the table. “Why did you stammer just before?” he said, smile still painted beautifully on his face, “are you hiding something from me? You know I hate it when you hide something from me!”
The last part was added in a comically intense tone that would make any soap-opera or teen-drama on television to instantly cast him in a leading role – or at least that is what Nathan would like to think.

Chrono 002:20
R&D Maximum Security Ward
Subject ID:# 52-0A-351
Subject Name: Ink
Status: [ HIGH ALERT ] Quarantine Escape

The hallway ahead was much longer than she imagined, but little time could be spent worrying about the distance she actually had to travel. Pure idiocy carried her across the cold metal floor, and being a glutton for punishment, Czigani didn't hesitate even when the few random guards came barreling out of side doors, shock batons gripped tightly in their hands.

She maneuvered around the first, a fat clumsy oaf, whose wide swing sent him off balance and face first to the floor. The second tried charging toward the woman in hopes of tackling her, but again Czigani was able to slip past by spinning her lean frame, avoiding a head-on collision and diving through the first door on the left. She scrambled to her feet, pushed the door control to the close position, and quickly headed down the empty hallway.

“ALERT STATUS: Breach in Sector 3, Corridor 15. Lock down sequence initiated. Proceed with caution” A monotone and robotic voice announced over the broadcast system, causing the hallway lights to cut out and dimly lit red auxiliary lights to switch on.

“Bitch nuts!” The woman exclaimed, slowing the pace to get her bearings. “All you fuckers will pay when I get out of this shit hole!”

Czigani could feel the anxiety and fear building up again. She hated the feeling of being trapped like an animal, despised it even, and her body’s defenses seemed to respond, as the runic and creature-like tattoos that covered her body slowly crawled and lifted their blackened tentacles. It was an uncomfortable sensation, that burned the inside of her body, yet in turn fueled their protection even more from the pain it caused. Her powers, for all intents and purposes, were a vicious cycle that she found difficult to control.

But control she did not want at this point. She wanted out at any cost…

Her feet picked up the pace once again, heading for one of the doors at the end of the dimly lit corridor, and slipped through it before it had closed permanently. She took a moment to catch her breath and refocus, trying to block out the blaring sirens and flashing lights from their internal security system. An overwhelming feeling of nausea washed over her, and she suddenly found herself collapsing onto the floor with barely any muscle response, yet her senses were fully intact.

“What the fuck...” Her words came out very breathy, as though her lungs couldn’t take in and push out enough air as normal, and the tattoos began to slowly cease their movements, and retreat back to their place of origin on her body.

“Your innate defenses, Miss Salahori, have caused your body to experience a massive amount of fatigue, to the point where your muscle tissue has systematically shutdown until you've fully recovered.”

The voice on the speaker system sounded very much like the lead scientist back in the room they had initially kept Czigani in, however a bit more artificial.

“Please stop this foolishness, and let us help you.”

The woman, laying on the floor in a fetal position, slowly reached out an arm, hoping to grab the metal chair nearby. Movement came, but sluggish and painful, as she slid closer to the chair, eventually taking hold of it’s leg to pull herself up. Her hand ran up the metal leg, feeling for a place to grab, but managing to cause a small slice in her finger from the jagged fragments on the back of the leg. The pain was momentary, but at least she felt something...

The overhead speaker crackled on once again, repeating the earlier “alert status” in the robotic voice, followed by the voice of the lead scientist.

“Do you hear that, Miss Salahori?. They know your location, and are coming for you. Give up the fight, and let us help you.”

Her senses were sharp, and the will to push on was ever present, but her body lacked the strength it needed. She felt drained and helpless, laying on the floor like some poor strung out junkie in the slums. Maybe this is where she belonged, with the freaks, the outcasts, and the wretched that the rest of society didn’t even want to know existed. Her thoughts dwelled for a moment on those nights, a young punk with no direction, picking fights anywhere and everywhere, and despising her life as the “daughter of a respected police captain”.

She often wondered if the real reason she had killed him was to blot that title from her history completely, but knew what she was doing and aware that the freedom she once had would be no more after all was said and done. This place, however, wanted to tear her down. This building run by the elitist Science Division in the R&D sector wanted her for only one reason. No. They weren’t going to get this guinea pig for their perverse pet projects and freakish research. She knew who they were, and didn’t want them to have the last laugh.

“Go to hell, ASSHOLES!” She screamed, allowing the last words to drag on, as she viciously scraped her wrist against the jagged metal chair leg, tearing through her veins, causing blood to pour out, run down her arm, and onto the white floor into a dark puddle where she lay.

The speaker crackled on, followed by the frantic voice of the scientist.

“Dammit girl, what have you done?...CODE BLUE! Immediate medical crash cart needed in Sector 3, Room A-6! Self-inflicted lacerations to her wrist!”

The man’s voice faded in and out as the blood drained from the woman's body, and the black veil of final death approached to greet her with a wicked grin.

Leila

Leila's patience was cut short before she and Nathan were able to reach the end of the alley. His demanding questions and unbalanced attitude were enough for her to decide that it was best to send him on his way.

"Okay, you're right...I'm dodging your questions, but it's only because I have something to do that I'd rather keep private..." She feigned a look of concern to solidify her lie, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to get rid of him that easily. "So, if you want, we can go see Dr. Chaddrick tomorrow. Let's meet at the diner for breakfast in the morning, okay? I have to go now, but I'll see you tomorrow."

She gave him a smile, then approached him to give him a goodbye hug. Leila placed the palm of her hand against the back of his neck. As she left it there for a couple of seconds, she implanted a memory in his head. Nathan now believed that he had to go see a friend of his in the Political Ring. She knew no serious harm would come to him, unless he was caught, of course. This "friend" of his doesn't really exist, but the memory would be long gone before he even makes it to his destination so she wasn't at all concerned. Giving him a quick wave, she took off in the opposite direction to go back home, glad to have finally gotten rid of him.

Chrono 018:24
R&D Maximum Security Ward
Subject ID:# 52-0A-351
Subject Name: Ink
Status: [ 3 days in solitary without incident ]

The woman was asleep on the floor in the middle of the ten by twenty meter cell surrounded by various small plastic bottles of paint, and a few boxes of used charcoal sticks. The once off-white colored walls had been completely covered with various abstract and impressionistic murals and imagery, many of which depicted mythological creatures destroying buildings, chasing people, and transforming into militia soldiers with the letters “R & D” on their chests . Symbols of unknown origins were drawn on the floor, starting from the corners of the room, and moving into the center. Along the wall, a small cot with a thin mattress, and torn sheets, as well as a small table with a tray of untouched food.

A buzzer sounded, opening the door that lead into the room just outside Czigani’s cell, and startled her out of an otherwise deep sleep.

“...the fuck!...” She blurted out in an incoherent slur, blinking her eyes rapidly to adjust her vision, and wiping the little bit of drool from her cheek.

“Pulling an all-nighter again I see, Miss Salahori?” The lead scientist said, stepping up close to the energy shielding that served as the cell door, and looked around the interior. “I also see your feelings for R&D haven’t changed much in the last few days…”

“Yeah well, you bitches suck, your food is shit, and I’ve barely seen anyone come through here, so don’t go telling me what I can and can’t paint old man.”

The woman sat up and sprawled her legs out to stretch. Her wrist had been bandaged from the recent incident, and the short dark hair she once had was shaved off completely, revealing several more runic and tribal tattoos, a few that matched what was already on her body. And her silver and onyx piercings were removed, leaving only the holes in her ears, nose, and lip to serve as a reminder. Her clothes, a simple light gray tank top and matching cotton pants, were plain, awkward fitting, and a hard contrast against her tattooed skin.

“My apologies Mis-”

“I don’t want your stupid apologies, okay...Doc?” She exclaimed, grabbing one of the bottles of dried paint and throwing it at the energy field, causing it to crackle and waver momentarily. “And stop trying to be my friend for fuck’s sake...”

Doctor Kordano let out an empathic breath, and held up the datapad he’d been carrying. “Well, as hard as it is to believe, you’ve been less aggressive since the treatments after your attempted suicide. The massive blood loss you incurred seemed to have put your special abilities in a kind of stasis.”

“So what are you telling me, I’m free to go because I’m not a threat to the common asshole on the street anymore?” She said with a wry grin. “Oh wait...that’s right, I killed someone, so ‘no Czigani, you are not free because you are a cold blooded murderer and we need to keep you here for the rest of your crappy life to poke you with needles and shit’ “. Her hand balled up in a fist as she mocked holding a large syringe stabbing herself in the head. “So does that about sum it up, Doc?”

The man couldn’t hold back a smile while he stood and watched the woman’s theatrics. “No, you aren’t free, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have something special planned for you.”

“Oh? Is it my birthday?” She said, turning her body to lay flat on her stomach, and proceed to do pushups. “Or maybe, just maybe I actually get some fucking brushes to use with the cheap paint you’ve given me, so I don’t have to use my fingers anymore?”

The doctor smirked, and pulled up a chair to sit down in front of the cell, placing the datapad face down on his lap. He leaned forward, staring at the woman for a moment before speaking.

“Do you know what happened to your brother, Miss Salahori?”

He let the question hang, and Czigani, continuing her pushups, stayed silent up until the doctor was about to speak again, and interrupted him.

“Yeah. Dumb shit left when I was a teenager and I never saw him again. I hope he’s dead. End of story.”

“What if I told you that he didn’t leave you, but he had been kidnapped and held for ransom because of who his father was. Your father, Captain Jorgio Salahori.”

Czigani pushed herself up, rolled back into a sitting position, and stared back at the aging doctor with a wide grin on her face. “I’d say you’re a few cards short of a full deck, Doc. And why in the nine hells would you tell me this anyway?”

“Because Miss Salahori, your father was a high profile target by resistance groups run by the children of the dark. These mutant gangs essentially kidnapped, tortured, and ransomed his life for a large sum of money. When your father wasn’t able to pay on time what they asked for, they killed your brother, and sent the police department footage of everything as a warning. He had nothing to do with any of this, but they used him as bait...”

Czigani sat there, her grin faded away and replaced by a burning anger, and tears welled up that she hadn’t felt in a very long time. She stood up, balled both hands into fists, clenched her teeth, and stepped up only inches from the energy field separating her and the doctor.

“Show me the fucking footage…”

The woman clenched her teeth as she sat and watched the small screen on the datapad, the image quality was sub par, but still clear enough to identify her brother Jaysen, naked, beaten, bloodied, and strapped into an old wooden high back chair. The person holding the camera drew in close, getting a good shot of his frightened expression, and then pull back to a wide shot again, before placing the camera onto a tripod pointed at the chair. A hand came into view for a moment, making a middle finger gesture, and quickly disappearing. Jaysen’s mouth was moving, saying something, but void of sound to pick up his voice.

“I apologize, but there was no audio in the copy they sent us” Doctor Kordano frowned.

For several minutes, it had only been him alone in a room with a hanging halogen light above his head, but then a half dozen figures, some thin built and others muscular, strolled in all wearing costume masks of various mythological creatures.

“Those sick fucks” She scoffed while cracking her knuckles. “They knew he was into fantasy type shit, stuff from centuries back that doesn’t even exist anymore. Pricks thought it would be funny to play dress up just for him.”

“Is that where you got the ideas for your tattoos? From Jaysen?” Kordano asked, looking over at the prisoner whose emerald eyes remained fixed on the dimly lit screen.

“Yeah...” She whispered after a long pause.

As the video played, the mob could be seen surrounding her brother, taking pot shots at him with chains, crowbars, and electrified bullwhips. One of the figures stepped up closer, wrapped what appeared to be barbed wire around their gloved hand, and punched Jaysen in the chest, and side of his head, causing thin lines of blood to run down his face and torso. He screamed, that much was apparent without the need for sound, and the more he struggled the worse his beatings became. One after another, each member of the circle stepped in to take yet another shot at the otherwise defenseless man, each adding another deep bloody wound, dark bruise, or large welt on his body.

“We don’t need to watch any-”

“Leave it!” Czigani scolded him, hitting the metal chair with her fist. “Just. Leave it.”

A taller dark skinned male figure stepped behind the chair, placed his hands on both sides of Jaysen’s head and instantly created blue veins of electricity that caused his target’s body to convulse and scream in silence. Each group member took a turn, employing some horrific display of supernatural power that, with every stroke, caused greater pain and suffering. A razor blade was used to shave his head down to the skin, leaving nothing but patches of hair, cuts, and running lines of blood.

Doctor Kordano, having seen the brutality of the footage a few times already, cringed still. “Ms Salahori, I think you get the point though-”

“Doc, I swear if you turn that off, I will reach through this fucking energy field that sits between us and strangle your old, scrawny-ass neck until you're dead.”

As the woman continued to watch her bloodied brother used as a tool of revenge, one of the masked figures, possibly a female, wearing a fitted chain mail top, mesh stockings, and stiletto high heels, stepped in front of Jaysen and kneeled down in between his shaking legs. She had a long tail that could be seen swaying like a serpent, and metal razors at the tip that gleamed in the poor lighting. The creature lifted her mask enough to expose her mouth, placed a clawed hand on his knee, and bit into his thigh, causing him to recoil in pain and terror. A pool of blood formed at the foot of the chair as the beast released her hold and turned to the camera to flash a wry grin through sharp and bloodied teeth. She dipped her clawed finger into the pool of blood, and proceeded to slowly form crude letters on his chest that read:

The Children Shall Survive

Czigani shifted uncomfortably in her seat, closing her eyes for a moment, before reopening them. The “Children”, she assumed, referred to the offhanded name given to those born different within Domino City. “Mutants”, however, definitely fit as a better description though. Czi held her head in her hands, trying to understand the reasons for such erratic and brutal behavior among the Children. But deep down she knew, and her lowlife father had been the one responsible for initiating such a vicious retaliation. Sadly, the ones to truly suffer from his past transgressions were his own kids.

“I am one of these monsters” She mumbled under her breath, staring at the screen for the last time.

As a final jab into the very heart of morality and a huge cock shoved up the ass of the R&D and it's corruption, Czigani’s brothers life was ended with a swift decapitation by some kind of plasma laser imbued sword. The masked executioner tore the head from the remaining charred neck tissue and held it up to the camera, smiling through jagged yellow stained teeth, before the image went black.

Czigani screamed at the top of her lungs, rising from her sitting position and throwing the chair across the cell, only to yell some more until there was no breath left in her lungs to expend. She wanted so badly to release her own powers and all the rage that would follow, for the ink to be set free from her body, lashing out in a chaotic and bloody frenzy, yet she couldn’t. The drugs that were pumped into her system, coupled with neural inhibitors attached to her brain, dulled any further use of her power, suppressing whatever triggered it’s manifestation until R&D was ready.

“Doc, you need to get me the fuck out of this place so I can find these pricks!” She exclaimed, getting as close to the energy screen as she could without touching its electrical charge. “I’ll do whatever it takes, but I can’t stay here while the assholes who did this roam free.”

The doctor stood up and turned off the datapad, returning her gaze with a grin of his own.

“That’s excellent news, Miss Salahori. Excellent indeed.”