---

---

---

It was actually quite rare to find the administrator of Maximation make such a casual appearance at the facility's mess hall. No one ever sat alone there, well, unless you purposefully wished to outcast yourself by pulling a chair away from the populated table in order to retreat to a lonely corner. Lunch was scheduled after solo training, this was done with reason, since after spending time alone to practice one's craft or skill, he or she could reconnect closely with the other Hybrid-Humans. At the end of the day, they are all suppose to be on the same team.

All of the mutants were there, well, all but Mr. Buchanan and Clyde. Todd had to cut his stealth training short today, he had another messy nose bleed and started aching again due to the type of raging sinus pressure that can make a man go mad. He was given some pressure and pain relief medicine, in hopes to feel better in time for lunch. Though now, he was in the bathroom connected to his dorm room, doing whatever to soak up all the blood draining out of his nostrils.

Todd or no Todd, Eisley believed that they had the right to know everything, especially since one of them is dead now, Clyde was dead. The tissue meant to form fish gills within his neck, eventually grew to the point of slowly suffocating him in his sleep. At first, Eisley found that tragic, but once discovering that all of the mutants are bound for that same kind of disastrous biological doom, he was mortified. Just as they will be.

Before a single word, Eisley released a disappointed sigh while taking his spec off and staring down at the concrete floor, "I failed all of you..." There was no beating around the bush for Eisley, he was coming clean and honest. The magnetic door behind him sealed shut and locked, just as he wanted. Captain Jaymes Cane was persistent on Eisley being accompanied by fully-geared Maximation soldiers, but Eisley declined before arriving at the mess hall:

---

"N-No soldiers, no, I don't want to rush to hostility. Captain, the Hybrid-Humans, they have been trained and tested to be heroes-- men and women who know how to make the right choices, not animals. I don't want to treat them as if they are these savage beasts! If you wish to lock the door behind me, then so be it."

"You're walking into the lion's den, all because you have had an naive faith in humanity. Except, they are something a lot worst than lions. Sir, it is my duty to protect your safety--"

"Forget my safety! I killed Clyde Aether! And the rest of them are dying because of me..."

"Eisley, you take this experimental mishap far too personal... But so be it, their aggression is on your head."

---

Drops of sweat could be seen dripping from he surface of his forehead and down to the temples, "There is a reason why we have been recently retesting all of you, putting you all through even more medical examinations..." His palms were sweaty and shaking, even while he held his glasses. "Based on animal testing, the injection was thought to be safe... However, now with human subjects, the serum has developed rapid carcinogenic and fatal qualities. And..."

Eisley held his breath for a moment, closing his eyes, considering how he would phrase his next sentence. But he simply chose to be direct, though he still was not even prepared to face whatever may come to him, "One of your fellow Hybrid-Humans was injected through the neck with a serum that would morph tissue in order to develop fish gills. The tissue... suffocated him... in his sleep... Clyde Aether is dead..."

---

She should have known it was too good to be true. Only a fool would believe otherwise.

When Noelle had woken up today, nothing seemed particularly out of the ordinary. Her left leg felt numb and prickly but she didn't find that at all concerning and simply massaged the limb until it felt normal again. She yawned, stretched, and rolled out of bed to begin her morning routine. Being the early bird she was the woman was able to take care of her needs and still had some extra time to spare. Clyde appeared to still be sleeping when she stopped by his dorm so she decided not to bother her brother just yet. There was breakfast, she stretched a little, and even got to finish another chapter of that book she was currently reading -all before it was time for her daily training. Her lessons passed without incident. Today was just the basic stuff, stamina training on the treadmill. The machine's speed had been raised but she kept up easily enough and performed as expected. Once that was done with, Noelle headed straight for the cafeteria. A shower could wait -right now she felt like she was starving.

At this point she was functioning on auto pilot. Noelle filled her tray with over-sized portions of the offered meal options and then picked a random seat at the main table. She had no intention of striking up conversation at the moment so she didn't worry about who she sat next to. Noelle just wanted to eat right now. Keeping her manners in mind, Noelle tried not to wolf down her food like a savage as she brought up the first spoonful to her mouth and gratefully chewed. She swallowed, sighed with relieve, and then fed herself another spoonful. That's when she finally noticed three things that are out of the ordinary.

The first thing is that two members of the usual gang are currently missing; Todd and Clyde. Todd she wasn't really worried for but where was her brother? She vaguely wondered if he was still sleeping but the promptly dismissed the thought and assumed he was probably hanging around somewhere. Maybe even still training, although that seemed unlikely. The second thing Noelle picks up on is the unfamiliar presence in the room. That Eisley man is here but... why? It's not like he was a total stranger but the man didn't often show his face around here often enough and Noelle wondered if he was here just because or if there was an ulterior motive. Her unspoken inquiry was soon answered when the man caught everyone's attention and began to speak up. Pricking her ears to listen, Noelle set her spoon down and straightened up in her seat. Finally, is the third part of today's streak of peculiarities; she cannot understand what he's saying. Eisley's lips are moving and Noelle can hear him, she knows the meaning of the words he's saying but for some reason everything is just passing through her ears. He mentioned something about death.

"Who's dead?" The silence in the room following Eisley's announcement is deafening so Noelle's voice, though a quiet one, resonates the room as though she just used a megaphone. Clyde. What about Clyde? For some reason Eisley mentioned her beloved older brother but nothing's making sense, it's simply not sticking together in her head. Why's Eisley talking about death and Clyde? A moment passes. And then the reality of the situation finally hits Noelle. Hard. The shock clogging her mind finally clears and she's suddenly painfully aware of everything. Maximation's administrator's words finally have a definition. Clyde is dead. The woman doesn't even realize she's crying until the tears running down her cheeks begin to leave a wet path along her throat. "What do you mean Clyde's dead?!?!" she snarls. She reacts without warning, tearing herself from the table and lunging for the administrator.

Like a barbed-wire fence, Eisley felt her fingers surround his face, those ebony claws pressed almost to the point of piercing his pale flesh. Clutching his cheek, his left ear was slammed first against the metal table, while his lower jaw and chin dipped deep down against the raw meat that filled Noelle's tray. "I-I-I--I'm" With each piece of him, Eisley wrestled to assemble a single sentence amidst his panic. As each second passed by with him stuttering, the meat became squishier, Noelle pushing him harder against it, while the claws began to break flesh."... sorry!" It was all he could gasp in the moment, eyes both widened in a horrified stare that his head could add to the pile of raw meat on her tray.

---

Poppy swung her foot as she sat slurping her sweet syrupy treat through a straw, picking at the sticky residue under her collarbone that was left over from training. She had several similar patches all over her chest from all the damn monitoring they did while she flew around. How annoying were those cords? They called themselves ground breaking scientist but they couldn't even invest in wireless.

Her brain switched tracks, how stupid was it that her feet were no where near touching the ground? Did they make Poppy sized chairs? seriously. She was just as important as everyone else, she didn't deserve to feel like a small child sitting in daddys chair. But then again it was also kinda nice how her foot could swing without any ground hindering it, kinda like it was flying. She loved flying.

She didn't notice anything was going on until the guy she recognized as a lead scientist was already mid announcement. Who was fatal? She listened intently as he told them about Clydes death as if he was damming himself to hell. In the moment of complete silence that followed the announcement she slurpped her juice box loudly. who was Clyde again? she really needed to pay more attention to what was going on.

Poppy jumped as all hell broke loose, one woman attacking the pudgy guy and the other one crying about her boy toy, why was everyone being so dramatic? In a heartbeat, all that she heard, how everyone was acting, it all clicked. "the fuck?" She almost whispered. We were fatal. We were all dying. Shit.

A quick movement drew her attention away from her inner turmoil, and she started paying attention just in time to see the scientist get fucking speared in the fucking head. Her heart raced, her wings followed. Flittng into the air she looked around with rising panic. She wanted fucking out . With the quick glance she noticed that the conventional exits were sealed tighter then a homophobes ass hole. She flew around looking for any means of escape. In all their glory she spotted the air vents! Zipping up to them she wrapped her fingers in the faceplate and then she noticed the yawning blackness waiting for her on the other side. Her heart sank. Oh no. Looking around for maybe a fucking flashlight or something she spotted Claudia, the only girl here as small as her. She smoked like a train! She'd have a lighter, she'd have light!
"Hey! Claudia!," She hollered, grabbing the other girls attention. She gestured at the vent, " Help me get the fuck outta here?"

The constant buzzing of the fluorescent lights droned on as the other hybrids milled around the mess hall. A quick head-count told Troy that all but two of them were concentrated in the small space. This seemed odd - it was rare that they join together in a group this size unless it was for training. It was true that the mess hall had a healthy amount of activity after individual training, but something, and he couldn't put his finger on what, just seemed off to Troy. Perhaps it had something to do with the added training they had recently been put through. He could tell that they were all being pushed to their limits, and it became commonplace for the metallic scent of blood to waft through the halls during training.

He ran his fingers through his tousled hair, wondering what he could be missing. A tray sat before him forgotten, remnants of food lingered untouched. The sustenance they offered was understandably high in nutrients, vitamins, and all of the necessary dietary supplements they would need to survive and even thrive, but this had no bearing on the taste. It was slop, and that's all it would ever be. At times, when he was feeling particularly displeased with the lack of well-tasting food, Troy would reminisce about the delicacies from his home country.

His eyes quickly shot up as another scent captured his attention. Eisley would be entering the mess hall soon, from the scent wafting through the open door and the sound of his approaching footsteps, it would be just moments. Strange, he's more nervous than usual, and he's coming in alone. Eisley had been the one who introduced Troy to Project HYBRID. When Troy had been working on his Ph.D. in genetics, the two worked together on a grant, and it was through this connection that he'd learned about the incredible opportunity to take part in something so much greater than himself. Eisley had proven to be a kind, thoughtful man. Nervous and lacking in confidence, but well-meaning. He had endeared himself to Troy, and the two had established a working friendship. At first, the two had blindly believed they were helping to advance humanity, but as the years progressed the government's agenda became clearer. Being a participant of the experiment, there was only so much clearance Troy was able to attain, even if he was assisting with the DNA sequencing. Eisley however, as a high-level administrator on the project was able to glean much more of the truth. When he was able to, in short, hushed phrases, he would attempt to fill Troy in on some of the more devastating news. The project was falling apart, and the mutations weren't holding up, the tumors were metastasizing and expanding in unexpected ways, the modifications were slowly being rejected by the hosts' bodies.

When the door locked behind Eisley, Troy stood. He could see it coming before the words left Eisley's mouth; the negative reactions weren't isolated events, they were all susceptible. Clyde was perhaps the first victim of many to come from this project. Noelle had been closest to Clyde, so Troy understood her reaction. Judging by her grief, he felt she would have been capable of taking the messenger's life as a way to try and escape the hole that was inevitably forming inside of her now. Troy understood grief, how overpowering and consuming it could be, how it threatened to throw everything into darkness - but he'd also learned that he was stronger. He stayed observing from his vantage point, distant enough away to have a better view of the room, but close enough to jump in if necessary. Naeemah seemed to be capable of controlling the situation, having pulled Noelle away from Eisley in one swift move, but shortly after that, things started happening too quickly for Troy to be able to control the outcome. While Eisley was in the process of telling Naeemah about Todd, Dante swept up and murdered him so quickly Troy didn't have the time to react.

His eyes narrowed as the dialogue between Dante and Naeemah continued. He'd known not all the others had joined Project HYBRID for the same reasons, but he'd never imagined one of them to be a cold-blooded killer. And what was all this hypocritical bull-shit about a Knight's Code? His hands balled into fists as he considered pummelling the scorpion freak for being such a piece of 'excrement' himself. A quick look at his surroundings told him this might not be the best bet. There were far too many of them in the closed space, and now that blood had been shed, it would only be a matter of time before they turned on one another. Eisley was dead, and Troy knew that nothing could be done for him now. How many innocent deaths will I have to be party to? Is there truly not one among these people who wanted to produce something good for the world? Troy sighed inwardly, then made eye contact with the small camera he was sure the Captain was using to keep an eye on the situation. Was the man trying to turn this into a madhouse on purpose? I suppose the easiest way to get rid of unwanted experiments is to let them do most of the work for you. Troy threw up a middle finger towards the camera to make his feelings known before making his way toward Naeemah.

"You really think begging will get you anywhere?" He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Get up. You're smarter than this." Troy had observed her for some time. She was intelligent, at least when not grief-stricken, strong and capable. She would be a good ally in getting out of their current mess alive, and truth be told, he was curious about Todd's whereabouts as well. "I hate to agree with the trigger-happy moron, but Todd's probably still alive." Troy's fists balled again, and his knuckles turned white. Eisley would've added his name to the list of deceased when he had notified them all of Clyde's death. Naeemah needed a reality check and fast. If she was capable of pulling herself together, they might be able to make a difference. The sound of many boots approaching told him they wouldn't have too much longer.

---

---

There was just.. a lot going on. For someone who wielded animal instincts, one would expect Noelle to be able to move like her wild counterpart. Breathe like it, behave like it. Swift and agile and g r a c e f u l. But such was not the case now. It seemed that today anything that could go wrong would go wrong. Starting with the death of Clyde. Among the chaos engulfing the mess hall Noelle simply stayed there like a goddamned sitting duck, stuck in the abyss of grief still dragging her in and swallowing her whole.

It was a sensory overload.

First came was blood. After Eisley was skewered the crimson thing's metallic stench seemed to fill her nostrils as if the entire room were coated in it. Which nearly made sense considering the remains of Eisley were now splattered all over her. Then came the men. Noelle could hear their boots thudding against the hard floor as an undetermined number of security approached the sealed threshold from which Eisley had stepped through mere minutes before. She vaguely recalled Naeemah saying something about there being ten; Noelle wasn't about to argue against that. Lastly, there was the commotion. Perhaps that was what finally snapped her out of it. The sirens weren't enough to faze her but the urgency in Naeemah's tone, combined with the unnatural sound of metal against metal as the mechanics of the doors finally began to pry themselves open again seemed to do the trick. Noelle moved from her position on the floor and skedaddled to keep up with the others as they made their way up the ceiling through the air vents, using a chair stacked atop the table in order to reach. It reeked of dank air and dust and her nose twitched as she resisted the urge to sneeze.

She wasn't the only one, and the cramped space was a tight enough fit as is. Once up in the air ventilation system Noelle moved to wedge herself farther in and away from the opening that left them exposed to whatever lay below. "Guys, move" she hissed, more out of concern than actual malice. The sound of gunfire rang out and echoed loudly within the metal confines and she flinched. Was this the plan all along? Send in Eisley as bait and once he was out of the way, take out the errors in the project? She could understand why she and the other Hybrids were to be erased from existence but she briefly wondered what Eisley had done to warrant such a verdict. Ignoring the others, Noelle put her nose to use and squeezed past the others. She didn't know where she was going but as long she she wasn't just staying here then anywhere was fine.

Dante "Stalker" Foster

“Exterminators looking for pests to spray down...” Dante thought glaring at the puppets assembling and pointing their guns ahead, he already was aware of his surroundings from his observation previously instead of actually eating.

“You won't squash me. I'll get through all of you to get back...” Dante thought with haste grabbing a large table right beside him, flipping it upward to act as another shield for the bullets. Immediately using the high table like a springboard to climb and jump up to the ceiling, knowing his climbing was much faster than his ground movement, accelerating on the walls and through the ventilation system. “I move silently and faster this way, go luck trying to pinpoint my location when you can't see or hear me.” He moved with relentless speed and lack of direction, eventually he removed one of the panels and quickly ducked his head down to scan the surroundings below, finding that he traversed into some kind of bathroom area, he quietly crawling on the ceiling of the restroom making sure their wasn't any surveillance cameras or anyone patrolling nearby. Landing like a feather, back facing away from the wall of mirrors, letting out a couple slow methodical breaths, brushing the several smashed bullets from his exoskeleton like chip crumbs of his shirt. “That will probably make my body ache once the adrenaline wears off...” Dante sighed inaudibly, pausing to listen, unable to hear anyone approaching nearby. In the very next swift motion of his tail smashing and completely destroying the mirror directly behind him, glass scattering upon the ground. He turned around quickly, staring slightly downward, concentrating on the sink. He turned on the handles and cupped his claws and started drinking the tap water, proceeding to dig his claws into the sink. Dante scowled.

“A trigger happy moron? They're the imbeciles kissing those demons feet to put themselves higher on their pedestals. Is it unfair to steal someone's life? They act like I'm in the wrong killing that wretched sinful liar? That man lied to me, stole my precious time on this earth, he already killed me and my dreams.” Dante thought, the sound of rushing water wasn't drowning out the memories flooding in his mind.

“He killed everyone that he turned into beasts-like me...he even killed another today, yet they blame me for something I know they all wanted to happen. How will I be able to support my family now? What do I tell my brothers and sisters who depend on me for everything? I was justified to do far worse, but I was merciful and made it quick...” Dante thought finally turning off the faucet, after washing the dust and dirt away. Taking seconds to compose a strategy and making his exit, going through the door and using the incredibly high ceilings to his advantage. Creeping around the walls, while he remained alert.

“This place isn't very well lit, why waste money on electricity lighting such a enormous location right? Plus, I've been here for long enough that I'm pretty sure I could pass through some of the glaring blind spots. I've decided that I will survive as a knight of justice. These bastards already killed me, but I refuse to truly die until I can find you all a perfect home...” Dante unconsciously forced a smile upon his face, like every time he brought up loving sentiments. Seeming to anticipate that somebody was secretly judging him from the distance, pleading that they couldn't differentiate sincerity from the cold and apathetic gesture that it was...

---

---

Dante was humming the melody from a song that he happened to hear yesterday, while shopping for the perfect present. Glancing at the clock, eleven minutes away from four thirty. Casually sitting himself down, leaning back and exhaling. Noticing her walking out through the kitchen's door, with a tall glass of limeade in her hands. The elderly woman was beaming, seeing the light fixtures, the fancy wallpaper, the polished black furniture all organized even better than she could have imagined with the white linens perfectly aligned. She started to happily giggle approaching him. Offering the chilled glass dripping from condensation, like the sweat coming from his forehead, reaching to the tip of his nose.

“Thanks.” Dante said taking it from her with a smile, before starting to drink it down.

“No, young man. I should be thanking you. Forget my day, you've made the rest of my month! You made this entire restaurant look gorgeous.”

“You did all the work of half a dozen interior designers that I paid to work on it, who never actually showed up!” She continues with a harsh change of tone, before smiling at Dante again while taking the emptied glass. “I never expected someone just walking past to spend hours renovating for a complete stranger.”

“It was simply the right thing to do.” Dante answered with a pleasant tone, standing upright then collecting his backpack by the opened doorway, a sudden harsh breeze blew past rattling the chains on the door holding the closed sign.

“No, that's not something anyone would do. You're unique young man and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.” The woman nearly forced around a hundred bucks in his hand. Dante observed her pleading stare to accept the money she offered. He quickly zipped open his backpack and inserted the money, before closing it and putting it on his back.

“And you're wise enough to know not to argue with your elders.” She teased pushing his chair in. “Any girl would be lucky to have you.” Dante stopped while in the midst of leaving and turned his head back slightly. “I'm actually very lucky to have her. It's our 4th anniversary tomorrow and I'm meeting her today. Bought her something that I hope she'll like, wish me luck.” Dante replied. He headed outside into the streets, feeling the cool breeze that hadn't been there before, attempting to cross with a hurried pace, before the lights changed...

Eventually reaching a garden, he walked through an older gentleman sitting by the lake and feeding bread to the ducks, several kids climbing the trees and a couple walking their dogs across the red wooden bridge.

“Sometimes it's hard to find her since she changes her appearance on the fly, but she's beautiful no matter what she wears...” Dante thought while smelling the strong fragrance from all the rose bushes he was walking towards. Suddenly, she came out from the corner prancing in his direction. “Snow white hair, purposefully messy looking, her favorite heart shaped nose piercing and her usual Gothic outfit that shows off her stomach...” Dante thought examining her differences and smiling once she got close enough, completely oblivious to the bulky man running past him to catch an incoming football, until Dante's hands and knees got antiquated with the dirt. He stood back up without hesitation, narrowing his eyes at the hulking figure stared at the football, between the feet of the young woman shoved on the ground, reaching his hand toward the woman.

“Ah shit, lady. I'm sorry, I wasn't-” The man spoke with a voice of a foghorn. She remained speechless, until Dante grabbed the man's wrist tightly and yanked the arm back, seemingly trying to break it off and also grabbing his shoulder and slamming his body down. Dante quickly helped her stand up.

“Dante...” She uttered softly.

“One second.” Dante interrupted.

“Ow! What the hell dude!? It was just an accident!” The man yelled. Dante turned his attention to the man and slammed his foot into his throat, applying enough force that could have potentially broken his windpipe. The man desperately pulling at the shoe while flailing on the ground. She flinched from witnessing what had happened.

“Dante! We need to talk!” She exclaimed taking his hand with both of hers and tugged until he started following her while, both running away until they reached a fountain. Both of them were alone, holding each others hand while they sat beside each other on a bench, both remaining silent for moment, just listening to the wind whistling through the trees. Dante immediately started to dig through his backpack before she started to speak, revealing a black case full of chef's knives. He smiled though his expression changed to concern to match the tear coming from her eyes that she quickly wiped away from her cheek.

“We really should stop meeting like this.” Dante half-sung with a chuckle. “These are the ones you've been wanting right? You've done so much to get me through my college hell...now I can finally support you to go into the cooking school that you've been telling me about.” Dante continued, uncomfortably fidgeting with one of the knives inside the case, pulling one in and out.

“Dante, when we first met...I was being harassed by my ex and his friends, I felt powerless to do anything when he grabbed my neck...I felt like I could never escape my father no matter where I went. But you came in, out of nowhere...I called you my dark knight in shining armor.” She uttered with a slight smile though it appeared she was still frowning. Dante paused staring at his shoes, looking up to her, she kept glancing at him but never made eye contact.

“Emma, what happened? Did you get in another fight?” Dante asked, she merely shook her head.

“That's not it. I-I don't want to say it, because it feels selfish of me...but-” She spoke softly. “Why does it always feel like you're faking everything? Your mood swings come from nowhere...when you were stomping on that dude's throat...you reminded me of my father. You didn't even look angry, you just had a cold stare on your face. When you act that way, your eyes look like a demon's...I feel like I don't know the real you...” Dante blinked for a moment, but didn't have much of a reaction.

“If you want me to find them to apologize-” Dante answered.

“No, you won't mean it, so it doesn't matter. That's not the point.” She interjected. Slamming her hands against her lap and the fountain.

“Then what are you trying to say? Please, you know I'm not good at interpreting-” Dante responded trying to sit down beside her. Instead she stood up walked away and crossed her arms. “I'm breaking up with you Dante...this can't work between us...” Dante finally had some kind of reaction, quickly approaching from behind and taking one of her hands and squeezing it firmly.

“Emma wait, you can't mean that. Did your folks change their mind about me?” Dante asked.

“No, they adore you. Why wouldn't they? You're always so perfect around them...And no it's not what you did, it's not even your fault. It's mine, okay? I can't be in a relationship with someone that feels like their lying to me with every word they say...” She spoke sharply getting her distance from him and turning her back.

(Music)

Both remained silent for what seemed like an eternity for her, but he didn't respond seemingly frozen in place. “I'm serious, we're done...I'm sorry.” She started running away with her hands covering her eyes, Dante watched her leave, dropping his extended arm down at his side and sitting down, a drop fell down from where he stood. However, it wasn't tears, just rain starting to fall down with the harsh breeze blowing on by...

Going to his house, he was immediately hugged and surrounded by his many younger siblings, the expected routine anytime he returned, all of them starting to explain how their day went and asking him how his date went. One of them mentioning that his newest song had a thousand new views from today. He gave them a grin from ear to ear and gave them a group hug and ruffled the hair on all their heads. Explaining how perfectly his day went and telling them he was exhausted from going on a long hike with her and that he needed to rest, persuading them to go play in their rooms and allow their big brother to get some rest, exchanging I love you's while they all laughed and ran up the staircase. Dante smiled as long as he needed to, before going into the kitchen and cleaning out the entire sink and putting away the clean dishes.

“I promise you all, if I could become immortal I would. Just to guarantee you'd all get everything you've ever wanted. I'd do more than our mother's god could ever accomplish...” Dante thought nearly dropping the last glass from merely recalling that awful word.

Finally alone in his room, locked door and backpack's contents spilled all over the ground from being hurled to the corner. Dante had towel sprawling across his desk, one of his girlfriend's presents resting on the edge of his skin, drawing it vertically across his arm, digging through his flesh with blood seeping out. “Cry...cry...cry-dammit!” Dante tried but not a single tear fell, not even from the pain inflicted upon him. He slammed the knife down on the desk and simply wrapped his bleeding arm with the towel and tied it in place, being careful to not leave a mess. Grabbing a warm beer bottle a key from the pile of discarded contents on the floor, quickly tossing the rest back into the backpack, unlocking his desk drawer and taking a bottle filled with pills hidden under a stack of papers.

Dante quickly popped one of the pills and downed it with the entire bottle of beer, dropping both to the ground and wiping his lips with the towel tied to his arms. Flopping on his backside on his bed, looking at the room around him melting into a vivid kaleidoscope with drastically shifting colors, like a tie-dye shirt was stapled to his eyes. “It's not my fault...I was born defective...” He laid there smiling at his ceiling, simply humming the song that he planned to sing to his beautiful girl...

---

---

It was cold up here and the dust was irritating her nose, to the point where if she wasn't rubbing at it then she was instead wiggling it. Kinda like a bunny. But Noelle persisted -sneezes or not, she couldn't stay in here forever. But it was goddamned cold and if it wasn't for the turtleneck she was wearing then Noelle was sure she would have been a trembling mess by now. At first her destination in mind had been her dorm room, someplace safe and familiar and away from everyone else. But the woman quickly realized that might actually be an awful idea based on the racket being made below. The corridors were probably swarming with guards by now and Noelle was willing to bet that they'd be searching the bedrooms this very moment for any of the Hybrids who managed to escape the cafeteria. She slowed her crawling and mused over her remaining limited options. What about Arlo? Maybe he could help... Arlo was the man personally in charge of Noelle's training. Well, the fighting part anyways. Dude probably wasn't that much older than her with light brown hair, grey-blue eyes, and short scruff of a beard to boot. He was shorter than her but definitely heavier and never went easy on her during their sessions. Hit like a train. Not to mention he had the mouth of a sailor but overall, the man was amicable enough. Noelle wasn't sure she completely trusted him to help her right now but then again, there wasn't anyone else she could turn to for aid and realistically there was zero chances that she'd make it out of here alone.

Proceeding with caution, Noelle continued along the maze. Since her sense of direction was pretty shitty she had to rely heavily on her senses to get to where she needed. There wasn't exactly a trail to follow so it was more of an intense version of the Hotter-Colder game. Here? Nope. What about over there? Nope. If it wasn't a dead end then it was just the wrong overall direction, something she realized only after the scenery started to become unfamiliar through the slits of the vents. An announcement over the intercom had her halting in her tracks but only for the briefest of moments. The voice was that of stranger but she recognized the name. Werner. Had they met before? Noelle tried to recall a face she could place with the title but promptly came up blank and then decided to forget about it. That wasn't important. The voice continued chattering and most of the man's words went in through one ear and passed right out the other. She listened but wasn't paying attention. Until the last part.

“And Ms. Aether…”
"What th- OW!"
Noelle banged her head against the aluminum wall of the air ventilation's wall when she tried to turn around, startled by the direct addressing. Or was it? She'd missed the ending of Servier's announcement so she had no idea what exactly it was he had wanted to say to her but that was irrelevant. Could he see her now? Noelle paused and waited but nothing else happened. There was a moment where she almost believed that she'd just imagined it, then scoffed at the thought. No she'd definitely heard it and that was the concerning part. Why was she being personally called out like that? Concerned that her earlier blunder of whacking into the wall may have may too much noise, Noelle scampered off to resume her search.

She had no idea how long it had been from the time she left the cafeteria until she finally found stupid Arlo but the relief was immediate. Said man was in his work-space at his desk, staring off at the far wall with a walkie in his hand. Probably waiting for further instruction she presumed. "Pst." The instructor's head whipped around as he searched for the invisible intruder. "Arlo, it's me." "Benji?!?!" It took a while for her to get used to but he only ever called her by her alias. She wasn't sure if he was just following protocol or just trying to keep a professional space in between them. "What the hell are you doing here?" By now he'd located the source of her urgent whispers and stood up to approach, watching the ceiling. The little walkie was still in his hand but he didn't seem to be making a move to use it any time soon. She watched his fingers anyways. "Just come open this thing. I'm freezing." Arlo stuffed the communication device into a back pocket and grabbed a chair to boost himself up. It took some effort but some of the screws in the vent were already loose enough to work free with the back end of a pen and Arlo stepped aside as Noelle crawled out before landing in a neat crouch. The Hybrid stood and hugged herself. Arlo wordlessly went to grab his fleece jacket off the hook on the wall by the door and tossed it to her. "Thanks."

"Why did you come to me?" Straight to the point as always. Noelle put on his jacket and zipped it. "I need help. Clearly." "So your bright idea was to find me? A man working for the very same people currently looking to stuff your hide like a fucking hunting trophy? "Pretty much." Arlo let out an weary sigh. "Losing my job is the least of my concerns right now if I do that. There are suits in the halls walkin' around with armed escorts. One actually passed the door not a minute ago. Are you out of your mind?!?!" His voice has raised just the slightest in frustration and Noelle flicked her ears, playing close attention to the door. "Please" she responded, although her hesitation almost made it sound like a question. "Unbelievable... Get under the desk and shut up."

And with that, Arlo strode out. Noelle hid.

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Rourke walks down the desolate hallway, on his flank two security personnel flank him. Armed with their various firearms and security equipment, they trudge along in armor. Watching corners, entrances, and movement, the guards continue to tactically walk behind Rourke. Rourke himself carrys the 40mm one handed, it rests on his left shoulder as he continues to stroll along the facilities corridors. He whistles to himself, the tune echoing the halls as the agent, his boots clapping the ground with every step.

While she waits Noelle fidgets in the small space under her trainer's desk, picking at her cuticles and occasionally shuffling to keep from going stiff in the cramped position. Arlo had been gone but only a minute and yet her mind kept wandering, exploring all the possible outcomes of this. Not necessarily the good ones. What if he's caught? What if he sells her out? What if the cameras somehow spotted her sneaking in and they're on the way to drag her out now? Noelle flicks her ears and listens closely for the door or anything beyond it. Arlo had locked it before leaving but that doesn't extinguish her concerns of someone else walking in. She has no doubt that the entire building is being cleared out, room by room, for the missing Hybrids.

Meanwhile, Arlo strode down the corridors in a poised manner. He almost feels guilty for what he's about to but the thought only lingers a moment before it is roughly pushed to the back of his mind. The man has to remind himself that Noelle isn't entirely human anymore and the risks she and her 'kind' pose to the public aren't ones he's going to tarnish his conscience with. Arlo stops at the first split in the hall and looks both ways, then catches the sight of Rourke's back. The man isn't alone and Arlo can't help but feel a pinge of regret as he approaches the trio. "Agent Rourke" he calls out as he closes the distance in between them.

Rourke turns his head, half his face showing as he looks behind him. The guards swing around immediately, they make a one eighty and face Arlo weapons drawn at him.

Arlo immediately halts mid-step, both hands going up. "Don't you fucking aim that shit at me" he grumbles, more of surprise than actual annoyance. But there is no malice in the man's voice -he realizes he's probably startled them. Everyone's on edge now and he briefly reflects over the notion that he could have just gotten shot. There's a long pause before the man finally lowers his arms and jabs a thumb over his shoulder, pointing in the direction he'd just come from. "I've got an early Christmas present waiting you you in my office."

Rourke looks over to the man, now turning around fully to face him. "Who the fuck are you and what are you on about?" He says, the guards lower their weapon, albeit they eye the man suspiciously. Rourke pulls the grenade launcher which was resting on his shoulder into both of his hands. Holding the rifle with two hands he aims the launcher down, in a cautious stance.

Despite the gesture Arlo doesn't feel worried. He internally cringes once he's realized his mistake; after having worked here for some time, Arlo just sort of assumed that all the staff were familiar with each other. It's times like these when he's reminded just how big the facility and -its staff count- really are. He sighs and attempts to start again from the beginning. "I'm Officer Arlo Keyes, Noelle Eden's trainer" he explained. He hesitated before continuing. "She's hiding in my room now."

Rourke's face contorted into a smile as the man explained himself, he went to speak with the guards. "Follow Keyes, I'll be right behind. We'll catch this cat, you know cat out of the bag?" The guards just walked over to Keyes, obviously not entertained by the poor joke. The two men, both at around 6'4-6'5 stood tall over Keyes as one motioned with his gun to "lead on." Rourke followed along, 40mm in hand.

Arlo wordlessly turned around and began retracing the path he'd just come from. He didn't need to look behind to make sure he was being followed, the heavy footfalls of the large and armed men was more than enough indication. He hadn't been walking for long when he first found Rourke so it was only a couple of minutes before the door to his office was once again in sight. He doubted Noelle had left, just by showing her face he knew how much she trusted him. But he was worried about her abilities. Could she sense them approaching now? If that was the case then there was nothing he could do to stop her from climbing back up the ventilation system and escaping. The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a small set of keys and unlocked the door before pushing it open. He stepped aside and gestured for the guards to go in. There was no way he could bear to face Noelle right now.

The guards pushed Arlo aside, flashlights on they scoured the room as their weapons were raised and ready. Rourke stepped in behind them with his rifle leveled, he didn't have a gas mask on but his guards did. He looked behind his back to check if Arlo was going to shoot him in the back or something. He didn't, not yet at least. Rourke turned back to the room. He looked around as the guards cleared the empty office, lights shining everywhere. Where could she be?

Noelle realized her mistake too late; only when the unfamiliar smell of strangers alongside Arlo's was right outside the door did she realize she was in trouble. But she couldn't exactly reach the vents, even with the chair there was still a considerable distance she'd have to jump before even hoping to get a grip on the stupid thing. So there she was, a sitting duck with nothing to defend herself as she waited haplessly for the inevitable. There was the sound of a very distinct and animalistic growl emanating from beneath the desk. Noelle was on all fours, peaking through the small gap between the carpeted floor and the bottom of the wooden piece of furniture. Arlo looked away when her wild gaze met his. Too late to back out now. "So that's how it's going to be..." The disappointment in her voice was hard to disguise, even when she flashed her teeth at Arlo. Noelle snarled and turned her attention to the two armed men.

Arlo was a man who worked for some very powerful people, betraying them would be suicide and he knew it. The two guards raised their guns in the direction of the desk, they began yelling at it. "Hands let me see your hands!" "Give yourself up freak!" Rourke raised his 40mm in the direction of the room. "Noelle, you don't want this to end badly. These guys are serious, give yourself up or they'll haul you out of there. Most likely screaming in pain, your choice but times on the clock - starting now." He said now turning the safety off the 40mm.

Noelle paused and seemed to take her options into consideration. When she had first signed up for HYBRID, she thought of it as working with them, not for. She was acutely aware of how severe the situation was but she was also aware that she'd never be happy if she let them lock her up. Or were they going to simply kill her? Neither were something she wanted but the latter option almost seemed like a mercy. The woman unsheathed her claws and looked around as she tried to asses her chances. Probably slim but hopefully nonexistent. How desperate was the organization? Noelle never paid much attention but it would take a real fool to think that this was cheap work. She knew the whole project was expensive and she was likely a valuable asset. How much could she get away with before she was deemed too much to be kept alive? Noelle decided to try her luck and lunged for the first armed guard closest to her.

The guard was taken by surprise as Noelle - the graceful Noelle jumped him. The large man struggled with the hybrid, the other guard jumping in. Attempting to push the mutant off his partner. Rourke, taking no time, shot the 40mm tear gas into the room and closed the door. The shell bouncing off the floor and into the guard Noelle struggled with, knocking him over. Gas spews out of the shell as it lays still in the closed room. Rourke took out his phone to text his partner, Octoman Werner!

"Noelle <3 is at Arlo Keyes office, need help lol."

It was only thanks to her artificial lack of fear that she didn't flinch, didn't relent in her fury-driven assault. At this point the pain of the non-lethal was inevitable and Noelle knew there was absolutely nothing she could do. Not while she was trapped and without a mask to protect her. At least this way, she knew that they weren't going to kill her (yet, anyways). Using tooth and nail, Noelle fought as hard as she could. She hissed and snarled and bit and kicked. Her claws were useless against the Kevlar suits for the most part but she tried using those anyways. "I'm going to kill you!" she shrieked, ire blindly driving her on. But the rage didn't last long, didn't have the chance to. After Rourke had shot the tear gas capsule, the room immediately began filling up with the burning cloud of chemicals and now she was beginning to feel the consequences. The guards were entirely unharmed by this and she was left to suffer in the agony of it alone. There was no proof but she had a strong suspicion that her enhanced senses just intensified the effects of it and sped up the process. Noelle felt herself pulled off her target and struggled to escape the other man's grasp, only to curl up on the floor in pain. Her eyes burned and blurred with tears while her nose felt like it had been set on fire. Even her tongue began to feel dry and her flesh felt like all hot and irritated. Noelle sneezed, then began helplessly coughing.

The two guards pushed the now irritated and gassed Noelle off themselves, they stand up and turn the mutant onto her stomach. One guard takes out a pair of handcuffs while the other grabs her arms, restraining her arms behind her while the other guard cranks the handcuffs tightly onto her wrists. Both the guards press their knees into her back to keep her down. "Don't struggle you bitch!" One of them yells as he strikes the furry Noelle in the back with the butt of his Mp5 stock. Rourke peers into the room, unaware of any change since it's pouring with tear gas, the tear gas makes its way out through the vent Noelle came out of. The guards continue to struggle with the crumpled Noelle, attempting to restrain the beast!

Noelle was reduced to a limp mass, barely able to writhe from the discomfort of everything. The only sounds escaping her was the pathetic whimpering as the guards did with her as they pleased. Unfortunately the restraints also kept her from being able to rub at her face (that hadn't been helping but she kept doing it anyways until they cuffed her) so she squeezed her eyes shut and hoped the effects would wear off soon. As embarrassing as it was, she was also crying now. Noelle was hurting and frustrated, not to mention that she hadn't forgotten what they'd done to Clyde. She wasn't in any position to put up a decent fight anymore but she wasn't going to be very compliant either. "I hate you" she hissed, snapping her teeth at anything that came too close.

Out in the hallway, Arlo frowns. He can hear Noelle but doesn't dare move to assist. Nor does he ever utter a peep of complaint. There is no reason left for him to remain. Rourke has everything under control, so he leaves.

The two guards drag the mutant out of the room as she lays limp in their care, the guards nod to Rourke before taking the kitty - dog - wolf hybrid off and away to the Octo-Agent Werner! Rourke takes out his phone and begins to type to the Octo-Agent

"Nvm, cat in the bag LOL."

Dante "Stalker" Foster

Creeping across every blind spot on the slick reinforced ceiling, like a spider that crawls inside your throat when you sleep. Quietly advancing past the unaware soldiers strolling past. His eyes shifting to every possible door, going down the endless hallways with no light at the end of the tunnel, like a bad nightmare. Suddenly halting, suspending his body down in mid-air by his tail, hanging onto the ceiling. Above a stray soldier lighting their cigarette with a chrome lighter, swiftly dropping down and grabbing their head in his descent and making their forehead kiss the ground, knocking them unconscious. Immediately, confiscating their machine gun and strapping it firmly to his back and swiping the key card in his pockets, glaring down at them. He quickly licked the tip of his claw, digging his claw through the soldier's padding like butter and pierced through their flesh until reaching the femoral artery, pulling it out then cauterizing the wound with the lighter’s flame.

“You won’t be able to move that leg, or your body for a couple days, but perhaps you’ll be wise enough to consider that if I was just a wolf who wanted sheep to slaughter, you’d be dead.” Dante thought going across the hallway, hearing nobody approaching, swiping the key card beside the door and watching the door quickly ascend, a dim flickering light barely providing enough to show the dozens of stacked boxes crammed into the tiny storage area displaying text.

WARNING: Highly Flammable!

He opened the lighter again, watching the bright flame flickering for a moment before casually turning around and taking a step away from the door, beginning to start humming before releasing the lighter from his grip with the flick of his wrist. An inferno erupted from the doorway just behind him, flames quickly spreading while he walked away without glancing back. “Though I do hope, your employer cares enough to send reinforcements or you’ll become just another statistic in this dungeon.” Quickly putting distance between himself and the blaze returning to crawling across the wall. Not long until he found important looking, massive double doors that had multiple keypads on both sides, across from the wall he was clutching. “It appears that I’d need multiple key cards to access that room, which intrigues me, maybe that door leads to an exit. Wouldn’t be a stretch, could even be a fire exit in case of certain accidents happening…but I can’t just steal several more cards because they may also need to be swiped simultaneously, which is impossible. Dammit, I need to get out of here...”

His thoughts were interrupted, drawing his attention to both doors suddenly opened like parting waves with a mob of guards charging out. Just getting a single moment to act, he carefully lunged across the wall with a single motion soaring above their heads, barely passing through the doors that slammed shut straight behind him, landing with a forward roll before standing upright, resting his tail against the wall behind him feeling for the light switch for the pitch darkness that surrounded him. “Hm, I guess high-school gym wasn’t a complete waste of time-” White light abruptly flooded the room, but he couldn’t feel anything on the walls. Becoming disoriented for a split second, before blinking a couple times to adjust to the light. The room was particularly large and empty without a single noticeable object in sight, hearing some repeated beeping sounds and gears turning. He began noticing several openings in the wall and floor protruding something metal and extending and shifting shape.

“Warning. Hybrid detected. Capture Protocol Initiated.” A robotic feminine voice declared. He clenched his claws and unconsciously took a step back.

“What is this?” Watching these structures head backward and transforming into eight large robotic arms. Grabbing the machine gun from his back and switching the safety off and aiming at the hand rushing forward from the wall and spraying the mechanical arm with bullets, shells scattering across the ground, but not impeding its charge, smacking into Dante’s chest and causing him to slam his back into wall, causing the gun to fly right out of his claw. The gun’s barrel caught in mid-air by the second hand, before the third hand grabbed the handle, both bending and snapping the gun in two. Scowling and leaping onto the wall, the mechanical arms approaching swiftly, dodging a quick stabbing motion of his tail, grabbing and yanking him off the wall. Six hands all holding him firmly, two for each arm and two for his thrashing tail, dragging him closer to the middle of the room. Frantically struggling allowing him to break free and plummet down to the ground landing on his two feet, with an audible thud. Hearing strange sounds coming from beneath him, quickly leaping forward and rushing toward the arms.

Seeing two fists charging at him simultaneously, grabbing them both with his claws and gripping them tightly and holding them in place, another fist quickly dived to his right side and clashing with Dante’s tail which also kept it pushed back. But suddenly feeling his left side being punched from the fourth hand unable to block it, proceeding to have the fifth smash into the back of his head, however the blow to the back of head only gave him a sudden realization. Slamming his tail through the fifth arm piercing straight through and shoving the other arms back and turning around grabbing the arm and violently tugging it until completely tearing it from the wall, causing sparks to fly out and thrown down, causing the arm to lay motionless on the ground. He smirked feeling his legs and shoulders being tightly gripped in response. “I knew it, you’re programmed to only subdue...that hit against the back of my head could of had much more lethal force from how these are built, but I barely felt it...I was worried I had to deal with multiple targets that wanted me dead. Instead, you think that you can put me in some kind of prison...probably under the floor in the middle of the room...well there’s where you’re dead wrong.”

He grabbed another arm tightly with both claws, slamming it straight through with his tail and ripping another straight out of the wall, with another arm being discarded to the ground like a lifeless corpse. “Knight’s Rule 44! Don’t trap your prey, unless you plan on killing it!” He broke free again, taking another couple of half-hearted blows to his body before countering by slamming his tail through another arm. “I don’t have to worry about the collective, I can tear you to pieces, one by one!”



...He exhaled deeply catching his breathe, sitting among the scrapyard of the machines that surrounded him. He stood up staring at the wall he entered from and rubbed his right side. “Well that was a lot of time wasted for nothing and likely made my distraction tactic with the fire less effective, thanks to this incredibly elaborate and likely costly trap that I completely destroyed. I guess it was good for combat training, if nothing else…” Dante muttered. “Why even have a room like-” Dante questioned aloud beginning to quietly sing his words, scanning around the room noticing green light appearing from the wall with sparks coming from it. He smiled and approached slamming his claw in between the cracks where the green light was emitting, not requiring much effort to forcefully shove a hidden mechanical door open.

“Let’s see what’s behind door number two…” He sung heading inside, going through a narrow hallway, still illuminated with green light, continuing to move forward at a steady pace. “I’m finally free from this-there’s no other reason for such a room to exist if this wasn’t a place they’d think Hybrid’s would go through...the only explanation is that I found an exit to the outside world! Brothers, sisters...I’ll be able to see you again.” Dante thought with a smile across his face, though what flashed in his mind was the drugs and alcohol. But a niggling doubt came into his mind, smelling something foul, like dead bodies. “Wait-there’s another explanation...it doesn’t have to be an exit…” He conceded finally reaching the end, seeing an expansive room full of unknown equipment, like giant test tubes containing green liquid, reminding him of an alien movie. “It could be where the Hybrid’s are made, or imprisoned...or killed.”

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Collab between @CyanideSweetie @beyond visions and @13org

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"Todd sure is taking his time..." Naeemah said to herself worried. She and Poppy were still waiting for him to get back. 
Sure, she had said that she would trust him and wait for him, but she was getting worried and impatient.
"Poppy, I'm worried... Do you think something happened with him?" She asked, turning to her. She knew that Poppy was hungry, due to her quick metabolism.
Poppy  opened her mouth to reassure the snake woman but she was interrupted by her growling stomach who was then cut off by a loud buzz.
That was when they heard an announcement over the intercom. It was Dr. Werner Sevier. Naeemah never liked him that much. She never talked with him, but something in that man seemed off... The way he talked, his actions... For Naeemah, trusting that man would be a fatal mistake.
Poppy blinked hard at the announcement, Werner? Sure she had noticed the guy, hell who wouldn't? He was the epitome of tall dark and handsome. All bulky muscles and mysterious scars. But why would he be the one making announcements? No offense, but she hadn't thought that there was a lot going on upstairs for that chunk of hunk; only for him to introduce himself as 'Dr'.
"Don't trust him Poppy... Something is wrong with that man... his words, the way he talk... That overly familiar, soothing tone of voice... It may sound pretty ironic, and even funny, but his voice is full of venom. Trusting him seems to be a fatal mistake." Naeemah said, her forked tongue getting in and out of her mouth as she said that.

She never had a reason to distrust Dr. Werner, but she also never had a reason to trust him as well. And that was more than enough reason to keep an eye on him. Call it female intuition, maybe it was even because she felt a similar poison than hers on his words, but her intuition almost screamed to not trust that man.
Poppy was surprised by the flashing red light of a warning that Naeemah was clearly giving. She could tell that the womans anxiety was about to choke her, "Todd's okay, Naeemah. He wouldn't let us down." She smiled reassuringly.
But before she could even think more about it, she felt a familiar vibrating sensation on her chest. It was her phone ringing again. Immediately, her semblance, mood and voice changed.
"Its Todd! Oh my... I was so worried..." she said, opening her cellphone.
"I'm with Troy, we're safe. Where are you guys?" The message said.
"Did he forget about the food he was bringing to her and Poppy's juice? He was the one who told us to wait for him in his room... Did he forget about it? Well... he is safe. This is all that matters." she thought to herself. Maybe if it was another person, and not Todd, she wouldn't be that careless. She would certainly had taken her thoughts more seriously, but she was relieved that Todd was safe, and ended up dismissing those discrepancies as simple mistakes.
"Why it took you so long?! I was almost going out to search for you!! We're still waiting for you in the same place you left us. You'd better bring us our food! XP" She texted him back.
"Todd is with Troy. Guess I was getting worried over nothing." she said, with a small smile on her face.
Poppy grinned at her, "See? I told ya!" She rubbed her hands together excitedly. It was almost chow time!
About ten minutes later, Naeemah could spot seven heat signatures beyond the walls of Todd's room. At first, it could be assumed that they were simply passing through the hallway since they were not making any other searches through the rooms prior to Todd's. Though both of the girls could feel their hearts sink as the patrol stopped upon reaching the door they were only a couple of feet away from. The only ounce of hope they could desperately hold onto was the guarantee that Naeemah was picking up on her boyfriend's scent among the crowd of seven. Yet, does that leave the possible doubt that he rattled them out? Could Todd really be that cruel, is there a dark side that Naeemah has not seen in him? Or did he actually turn himself to Dr. Sevier, in blind trust that this mystery man could help them? Todd was optimistic, but not foolishly naive.
Naeemah was calmly waiting with Poppy for Todd. After the message he sent, she was much more calm, as she knew that he was ok.
After ten minutes, she felt a very familiar smell. It was Todd's smell. For a brief second, she opened a smile, before she realized... Six other thermal signatures together with him. She didn't know their smell... She was expecting Todd to be alone, maybe together with Troy...
What was happening? To make things worse, they knew exactly where they were. They didn't even search for them, they went straight to Todd's room.
Was Todd captured? She knew that he would never betray her... Was he tortured? Did they harm him? Naeemah's head was almost bursting with questions, but one thing spoke louder than any thought she could have: her instincts.
She couldn't just run away and leave Todd there, but at the same time, she had to protect Poppy.  And there was not enough time to think about any plan. The only thing she could do now was coil herself protectively around Poppy in the corner of the room, hissing loudly and menacingly, while rattling loudly as they entered the room. Her fangs were dripping with venom, as she hissed menacingly, her forked tongue rapidly getting in and out of her mouth. 
Poppy could tell that shit was going to hit the fan the second Naeemahs smile dropped off her face. The woman hustled her into a far corner and started to coil protectively around her, "No!" she gasped wiggling from her grip, "I can help, but I need to be able to move!"Poppy was no delicate flower. She had bones even Naeemahs iron vice couldn't break. Finally wiggling free she darted into the air and quickly zipped to hover against the wall above the door frame, ready to launch a surprise attack.
With those deep brown eyes of his, Todd glanced back at the soldiers positioned a foot behind him. He would be the first to enter that room, since they would at least recognize his friendly face. First, he turned the door's knob before then kicking it open, though not stepping into the room itself. "It's me--," he interrupted the creaking of the door as it swung open. "It's me," he repeated, finally now walking into his room. "I had very little options, and this was the best one. Trust me." The last thing Todd wanted was for them to think that he betrayed them. He may have failed them in the sense of getting caught, though Todd will admit with no shame that if he had another chance to save another mutant like Troy, he would do it all over again. 
As Todd walked inside the room, Naeemah was still coiled around herself, in the corner, hissing and rattling loudly. Poppy was ready to attack as well, after escaping Naeemah's protective cuddle.
 It was obvious that she would attack anyone who came near her. She was sure that something had happened with Todd. He wouldn't betray them like that... 
But when he opened the door, kicking it down, her world crashed down...
He was fine...  He wasn't cuffed, wasnt wounded... Not even a scratch, that's what left her even more scared.
Why he was doing that? He wouldn't betray her... would he? She tried her hard to think about what reasons he may have for betraying them, but the situation didn't helped.
"Todd?" Naeemah asked, confused. Even after knowing that it was him, she still didn't stop hissing and rattling. She was still coiled around herself, ready to strike.
"Have you really betrayed us? You brought them here?" she asked, looking at him with piercing eyes.
Every second that passed, she was getting even more irritated. It was a huge emotional shock to her when she understood the situation. She wasn't thinking straight, moving and acting only by instinct.
 "Wow... Naeemah... Says a lot about how much you trust me," he uttered back in a sarcastic tongue, folding his bare arms as he no longer wore the uniform top from since being caught. Instead, the only piece of fabric keeping Todd's hairless chest from being exposed was his grey tank-top.   "They took my phone when I got caught trying to save Troy. They were coming to you anyways. Now, let's just...  go..." 
Naeemah's mind was still a maelstrom of thoughts and feelings. She wanted to believe Todd, she wanted so bad, but there was only one possible reason for that.
"What have they offered you? What have you traded us for?" she asked, still looking at him. 
 She still loved him so much... She wanted so much to believe him... But her instincts told her otherwise. She was trying so hard to understand the situation... But everything pointed to only one possible reason why Todd brought them there...
 "They didn't offer me anything-- I was caught remember! That left me with little choices, but I at least knew my only chance of ever seeing you again was to comply," Todd began taking large paces towards Naeemah.  "If these Maximation GI Joes get hostile, I'll break their legs and beat them with their own feet. And you know I don't like getting violent, but I'm not going to let anyone hurt you, Naeemah. Same with you, Poppy." Taking another step towards his girlfriend,  "I'm sure their patience wears thin, so if I have to, I'm dragging you out of here."  Todd grabbed her wrist.
"Their patience?  You were the one who brought them here without even warning me... Its MY patience that's running thin." she said, still with her eyes full of anger.
When he grabbed her hand, she hissed to him, showing her fangs.
"You don't understand... It's not that I don't trust you... I don't trust them. I never trusted Werner, not even for a second." she said, pulling her hand away from him, still hissing and rattling.
"My patience is wearing thin, Todd. And you should know very well who is scarier and more dangerous between me and them..."
"If you want me to at least listen to what they have to say, you'd better to tell me everything. Give me a good reason why I shouldn't break their bones one by one and sink my fangs into their necks." Naeemah said, hissing to the soldiers.
 "Because where would that get you? Where?" Todd did not have claws nor fangs nor even fur. On the outside, he did not look like much. But on the inside, charisma and the art of persuasion was his specialized field. Though he did not use his words to manipulate Naeemah, but he spoke of rhetoric that held all sincerity in his sensitive heart. "I cooperated with them and you see where that brought me-- to you, just what I want when every bloody nose reminds me of my pending death." 
After hearing those words, especially the last phrase, Naeemah stopped hissing, breathing deeply and calming herself down. That wasn't her. The only reason why she was so emotive was Todd. She was always too emotive when he was included. She knew that, and hated it. A few seconds passed with her completely silent.
Todd indeed had a point about that. He was still alive, and fine. She still didn't trust Werner, but if they were willing to let Todd free, then the most probable reason was that they would use them to hunt the other mutants. She had two choices: either continue that game of cat and mouse, or become the hunter herself.
When Naeemah opened her eyes again, she was almost another person. Her cold, calculating demeanor was back, as she analyzed the soldiers under her freezing stare.
Naeemah darted on his direction in the blink of one's eyes hugging him far too tightly to be confortable. He could see that she was still very confused about all that, but she had already made a decision.
"I hate you Todd... You simply came in and made a mess inside my heart... I need to keep my emotions in check on every situation that you're included" she said, still hugging him a bit too tightly.
"But I love you by that same reason..." she said, kissing him aggressively. He could see that she was a bit mad, but she finally understood the situation.
The kiss was unexcepted, but so was the I hate you. Naeemah could really let her emotions  unfurl sometimes. Though even as she does, Todd cannot help while being bundled  up in her warmth, to notice that he does the very opposite of her. Without the humor he forces in himself, Todd would seems to be a stoic man. Laughter acted as the distraction from his feelings of weakness and memories of his dead brother and his suicidal father. It was strange how aggression and passion seem to almost mend together. In that very moment with Naeemah, that Todd felt that fine line between aggresion and passion, and it was like a breath of fresh air being pumped right into his lungs with each kiss she gave him before pulling back. 
"You guys are using us, right?" she asked, facing the soldiers.
"It's the only reasonable move that Werner could make against the mutants. To fight fire against fire. After all, we're disposable, right?" she asked, looking at them with a cold stare.
"I can see why you would do that. All in all, it's not a bad strategy, and considering out situation, Its something that will benefit both of us. We will have to worry only about the other mutants, and you won't have to worry about us, while at the same time, having better chances against the other mutants... Very well... I will cooperate, but that doesn't mean that I trust you."
"Poppy, its ok, come down." she said, calling her.
"Yeah, I've got your back too, Poptart," Todd reassured Poppy right after Naeemah spoke to her. The  three of them were like a team, and as soon as Sevier knows that, the stronger they will be, even if that means them ultimately working for him. 
Poppy watched the interaction with her hackles rose, the couple was so engrossed in each other it was like they forgot everyone else in the room but Poppy was all too aware. She eyed the soldiers who were definitely more focused on the large dangerous snake woman than her own small perched figure, she scanned the men, seeking out Werner. It seemed to her that he was the boss man, so if she could take him out then the GI jar heads would have a harder time regrouping. She gritted her teeth when she realized he wasn't there. Guess the doctor didn't want to get his own hands dirty. Instead she targeted the man who was incorrectly leading the group though she didn't recognize him. She took a deep breath, psyching herself up to attack the large trained soldier. She could do this. Fast like a hummingbird, sting like a, er...hummingbird... Whatever. She narrowed her focus on the man and just as her muscles were tensing to attack Naeemah addressed her. She was going to ask her if she had lost her shit, but then Todd spoke up using her pet name and she knew she was a goner. "Fine," she hissed, shooting a glare in  the general direction of the men with guns, she fluttered down landing near the couple. "but let it go on record saying that I do NOT think this is a good idea."
"Don't worry Poppy... I'm going to keep my eyes on them. Although its relatively safe to say that they need us as much as we need them... You know the drill... As long as we remain useful to them, we're ok..." Naeemah said, as Poppy came down.

---

As the three of them rode down the elevator among the crowd of soldiers, Todd let his eyes drop down to the floor, staring. He was beginning to feel a bit dazed, and unable to think properly due to the sinus pressure building up within the nasal cavity. In his left hand, Todd wrapped his fingers around Naeemah's palm, while in his right, Todd massaged the bridge of his nose, trying to ease the splitting headache. At the end of the day, they were all still sick. If it is not Maximation that kills them, perhaps it is the cancer they were injected with in the first place. 
Naeemah was visibly agitated and uncomfortable as they rode down the elevator. She was the one who said that they wouldn't kill them, but she couldn't help it. Probably, every single soldier on the elevator there wouldn't hesitate to shoot them if their superiors gave them the order. Furthermore... She could feel that it was time to shed her skin. It wasn't a pretty or comfortable thing to do, and Todd knew that. It wasn't just an annoyance. It was painful, stressful and extenuating. Every single one of the mutants who lived with her until now knew that they should not enter her room when she was shedding her skin, under any circumstance, because she would probably attack them.
She wrapped her fingers around Todd's hand, maybe trying to ward off the dark and grim thoughts by being close to her loved one, but the truth was far from pleasing, and there was no denying or running away from it...
Continuing in his eye contact downwards, Todd noticed drops of blood hitting against the surface of the metal floor. He slid his right hand off he bridge of his nose and placed his fingers against the nostrils-- yes, it was another nosebleed. They have been happening for weeks now, and yet Todd has tried hiding them from Naeemah. He did not want to worry her. Though now, it seems he has no choice. 
"Shit, not now," he muttered under his breath, knowing that there were no tissues around to clog up the soon-to-be outpour of blood. So what does Todd do? He peels off his gray tank-top. Now shirtless with his ex-lightweight-boxer muscles exposed, Todd cups a ball of fabric in both of his hands, pressing it against his nose. 
Poppy glanced over as Todd was shrugging off his shirt, her eyes quickly shot  to the ceiling. Knowing that if the snake woman noticed her getting an eye full Poppy would become snake chow.Naeemahs possessive nature was the thing of legends. This didn't mean that Poppy didn't notice the blood. She slid out of her jacket and handed it to him., she usually kept it on at all times to keep from getting chilly, but she didn't think his tank top was going to last him long. The blood scared her, she knew it wasn't dry air causing this flood. They were all terminal. She let out a long sigh, this blew.
Todd looked down at Poppy's jacket, he honestly did not wish to drench it in his blood. In fact, he really did not enjoy how grim the entire situation became because of him and his bloody nose. Thus, trying to bring light to the situation, Todd resorted to jokes, like he always did. "Nah, I'm good, Pops... I'm totally not having a bloody nose or anything," Todd covered up the drops of blood on the floor with the sole of his shoe. "I just like taking off my shirt when ever I want to get freaky. We do this all the time, don't we, Naeemah?" Todd chuckled, giving a light nudge to Naeemah's shoulder.
"A nosebleed? But I didn't even take my clothes off yet!" she said, with a mischievous grin.
"Don't worry Poppy. Todd knows very well who is the one in charge here when things get freaky"
"So it would be better for you to behave yourself, ok?" she said, trying to hide her agitation due to the skin shedding.
The several times that those nosebleed happened that week was strangely high. She knew that it wasn't normal. The way how Todd tried to hide that from her... She had never seen it herself, not even once. Sure, she could taste the blood on his clothes when that happened but still...
"Todd, we will have a room for ourselves, right?" she asked him.
"You know that it's not very comfortable when I 'hug' someone while I'm sleeping, right? So... Will I have a room for myself?" she said with a smile, trying to hide how uncomfortable she was.
But if Todd or Poppy paid enough attention, they would realize how her tail was unnaturally coiled around itself as they waited on the elevator, almost like she was trying to hide her own tail. Todd probably already knew what was happening.

Dante "Stalker" Foster

Hearing the subtle dripping coming from the mold growing on the ceiling, the pungent reeking scent of bleach and decay. Dante had shielded his eyes from the evil presence surrounding him, the suffocating aura made his breathing shallow. Dante sauntered through the room, quickly feeling around the entire area with his tail. Wiping his foot off on the nearest solid surface, to remove whatever liquid he had just stepped in, took thick to be water. "Just remaining here makes me remember everything all over again...I can't stand this much longer." Dante thought. Interrupted by his tail colliding with a rounded metallic object. Finally prying his eyes open, his heartbeat suddenly stopped while simultaneously letting out a quick gasp. His tail had in fact been wrapped around a doorknob, but it was merely discarded on a wooden desk. The demon's gaze directly in front of him, reaching its elongated claw out.

"You'll never drag me there!" Dante shouted crushing the object with his strike, shattering the demon into pieces of glass. Taking a moment to catch his breath, regaining composure as quickly as the doorknob that rolled off and clanged to the ground. Wasting no time to meticulously comb over the area, feeling no apprehension about creating noise. Once it appeared that a tornado had blown through, binders and folders with the Bible's thickness, filled with either coded information or pure gibberish. Rusty tools and knives, dismantled guns without any ammunition, everything scattered across the floor. Having nothing in his clenched claws except for layers of dirt and dust. Returning into the narrow hallway, it felt like pressure gripping his throat had been lifted. "All that effort-with absolutely nothing advantageous for my escape. Perhaps, it's my own strategy that requires reevaluation. Instead of operating by myself, maybe I should stop and ask for directions."

It was a surprisingly brief period of time expended involving the opening the giant mechanical door, like it had been unlocked afterward. Casually stepping outside and seeing nobody in the vicinity, barely hearing a whisper. Climbing back on the ceiling and leaving the area behind while humming a tune, scanning the grounds beneath and heading through another seemingly vacant hallway with an equally long perpendicular hallway on both sides, leaving him to scratch his head, feeling like a rat lost in a labyrinth. “Why make an underground building so expansive if you don't even have enough guards to properly fill it? Typical, the stupidest ones always somehow become the ones that garner the money and power.” Dante muttered inaudibly, “I just want someone I can easily intimidate and interrogate.” He grinded his teeth, heading down a direction chosen on a whim, his growing desires starting giving him a headache. He wanted a cigarette, to see his family, down some pills with a fifth of vodka, work on a new album, hearing the pleasured sounds his girlfriend made when he sunk his teeth into her flesh, even fast food sounded appealing...

“I should have jacked that dude's smokes...”