[RP] The Condemned

In the early hours of the morning, Wolf made it to the city of Torino. Since it was the last train to run in the city. He had to leave the station till morning. Walking out, he looked and saw that the city was raining.

Wolf closed his eyes, the next time they reopened it was a gastly silver color. Looking up at the sky, the rain suddenly stopped and the clouds departed from the sky, showing a clear sky. While he never used his powers so willingly before, since he was being on the run from whoever it was that was after him, it didn't matter anyway. He had to stay awake, despite the act that he hadn't had sleep since he got to Venice, and the trips were very exhausting.

Wolf decided to check out the city, then return to the station when the sun comes up.
 
Picking a dusty bottle off the shelf beside her desk, she also yanked out two tall glasses and poured two glasses of whiskey. One she passed across to Beth. "Drink." She gave it as a playful order, then turned back to the shelf.

A bottle of clear vodka was opened with a pop, and its contents poured into Amelia's glass. Grabbing the strong cocktail, she returned to her desk, and downed a moderate amount of the strong liquid. Ahh, that was one of the things humans deserved credit for.

Her smile never quite left her face as she looked at Beth over steepled fingers, glass put to one side. "So, down to business. Is there anything I need to know?"
 
((OOC: Whisky... Man. :awesome: Won't be drinking it anytime too soon))

- Beth -

Perhaps not the best time to take it, but for Beth, it will never quite be the 'correct' time. Trapped in an instance in time, the girl was doomed to an eternal fever. Well, not quite 'doomed' in the sense of the word, but nevertheless, the ailment was one she had grown quite used to. Taking the cup coolly, she took a quick sip just as Amelia posed to her a question.

Beth looked to her superior, responding with a smile in kind. "Not quite, at the moment," She said offhandedly. "Unless you count in the fact that I've just turned a human no-name into ashes. It won't attract much attention to us, I'm sure."

She placed the glass down, chuckling softly, femininely as she shifted her gaze to Amelia. "I heard about that girl, Lacrimosa was it? Really, like her name. 'Regret'. Shall I do something about her?"
 
OOC: Tipsy kinda has a point there. And for that, this is my post.

IC: Leave him the hell alone? He was a feisty one and Josie had to admit that he had style. But she was never one for giving up on a target. In fact, hardly any escaped her clutches. There was a wooden figure holding a sign that started to approach her. It swung the sign at her head, but she managed to duck in time. Although there wasn't anyone around, Josie lived in constant fear that someone would discover her inhuman nature.

"So you want to play dirty? Then I guess I'll have to break the rules, too," she said.

Quicker than she normally could, Josie grabbed a sign out of the pavement and gathered her strength together. She smacked the wooden figure and it fell to the ground, smashing into several pieces. She shook her head. Pfft, why the heck was Orion doing this? He used other things to get away from her. He wasn't really facing her at all. And then her blood began to boil by what she saw next.

"You son of a bitch!" she hissed loudly.

Her instincts kicked in immediately. She grabbed her gun from within her jacket and running as fast as she could, she shot at the tyres. That motorbike was her baby, but she wouldn't let Orion get away with it without a fight.

"Get the fuck off my bike, you coward!" shouted Josie. "Come and face me like a man or are you chicken?"

She wasn't going to shout her mouth off, but stealing HER bike was the final straw. She continued to shoot her bullets at the tyres. And she hardly ever missed her target with the training she'd undergone. It was just lucky that Josie wasn't on orders to shoot down the damn mutant.
 
Doobie doo, riding freely, not a care in the world.... POTHOLE!

Orion swerved to the side to avoid it. At that moment, a bullet pinged off the ground where he just was. Shit, was she shooting at him?

"Get the fuck off my bike, you coward! Come and face me like a man or are you chicken?"

Jesus, didn't she give up? Though her yelling did explain who's bike he had just taken. Crap. If he got out of this, she'd probably kick him in the groin. Oh well, odds were she wasn't going to catch up. If she had superhuman speed, her burst of anger would have made her use it to catch up at this point.

"Oi, you keep shooting at me, I may end up crashing this damn thing and totaling it! You want that to happen?"

Annoyed, Orion had unconsciously used his sound manipulation to make sure she heard him. He also had a tune playing that was about as loud as a stereo at full blast. Bullets pinged off the ground as Orion continuously, and randomly, swerved. Then, impossible as it may seem, his luck ran out: a bullet found it's mark, and hit the back tire.

"SHIT!"

Orion jumped off the now completely out of control and de-accelerating bike and rolled off to the side into a back-alley. Since he had been on a bike, he had gotten a big lead, and he intended to use that. He winced as he realized that if she did catch him, she would at this point kill him. Or maul him severely, depending on how much self-control she had. Either way, running was a very good idea. Where to run to?

Going out the other side of the alley was out, as was going to the roof via a nearby fire-escape. Too predictable. That meant that he had to be un-predictable. He let his eyes travel quickly up the fire-escape as he ran to the start, and found that one of the doors was slightly open. Near the ground floor, too, so he could get to it quickly. He ran up the fire escape, hoping to god that she hadn't caught up to the alleyway.
 
So he was going to crash her bike then? Pfft, the tyres were busted, anyway. What did it matter to Josie if he crashed it? She had to damage her baby in order to get it back and that was the sacrifice she was willing to go to get it.

"I'm from an organisation called MERIT. If you hadn't gone all Mission Impossible on me, then I wouldn't have reacted like this!" she shouted at Orion.

And it seemed that no matter where Orion would go, Josie would be following. The new power she had unlocked, probably heightened senses from suffering under his sound manipulation, would lead her right to him. She could smell his annoyance, his intense breathing. She watched the bike spin out of control and head into an alleyway.

God, if my baby is even scratched ...

But no, she wouldn't kill him. MERIT taught her not to go down that road, the path that the Black Hand chose to follow. She would not become a cold-blooded murderer. Maintaining control of herself was essential, especially since a fierce temper was deadly combined with her superhuman strength.

Josie spun around the corner into the alleyway, hearing him take another escape route. She concentrated, focusing on where he was going. She was able to keep control of his path, having focused on only him. The fire escape was right there and she could hear his breathing through there. Josie took a breath, sighing to herself.

Was this target really worth the effort?

"If you're going to moan about how I'm chasing you, then I've got every right to do so," she said, raising her tone of voice. "You accuse me of assisting a thief, steal my bike and then crash it. I only wanted to talk and you ran. I made no gesture to hurt you. I could probably hurt you right now, but I won't. That's not ... how I work, or MERIT works for that matter."

She felt somewhat awkward taling to him from outside the fire escape.

"I'm not the bad guy. I know you're not either, despite your recent petty schemes to stop me. Please come out here and talk to me. But if you don't reply within the next minute or so, I'll leave my MERIT card on the floor. I'll walk away and if you want to talk, then I'll be waiting for a call. If not, then I guess I'll leave you until we meet again. But ... all I can say is ... don't take the coward's way out."
 
"If you're going to moan about how I'm chasing you, then I've got every right to do so. You accuse me of assisting a thief, steal my bike and then crash it. I only wanted to talk and you ran. I made no gesture to hurt you. I could probably hurt you right now, but I won't. That's not ... how I work, or MERIT works for that matter."

Damn, she still followed him? But still... Orion waited, calmly, on the fire escape. She still seemed to be talking, and since she wasn't hostile... he would hear her words.

"I'm not the bad guy. I know you're not either, despite your recent petty schemes to stop me. Please come out here and talk to me. But if you don't reply within the next minute or so, I'll leave my MERIT card on the floor. I'll walk away and if you want to talk, then I'll be waiting for a call. If not, then I guess I'll leave you until we meet again. But ... all I can say is ... don't take the coward's way out."

Silence. 10 seconds passed.... 20... 30... 40...

And then the sound of someone coming down the fire escape echoed across the alley.

"... I trust you. I may not join with you, but I trust you not to harm me or reveal my nature, which counts as harm anyways."

Orion descended and sat on the bottom step, looking up at her. She didn't seem like a bad sort. Then again, looks were deceiving.

"Sorry about your bike. Feel free to punch me in the face if you want to. Once we're done talking, let me know how much that costed so I can replace it for you."
 
It didn't take too long for Orion to make his grand entrance. Josie stood there, hands on her hips. She wasn't tired from running, but more annoyed since it felt like a waste of time. She heard him speak and nodded her head, as he spoke.

"We don't want to reveal what we are," said Josie. "We're living in a world that's too dangerous to learn of mutants. World War Three would break out if they did. That's what MERIT does. We keep the truth quiet, recruit mutants to our cause and maintain peace in the world."

Then she heard about her bike. Oh, her precious bike ...

"I won't punch you in the face," she continued. "Even if I slapped you, I'd probably hurt you more than what I intended." She grinned to herself upon saying that; it was only true. "Don't worry about the bike, my superiors will cover the costs. It's not too damaged badly, it's seen worse days."

She held out her card to him.

"Take it. You might not want to join us, but you may need our help one day. There are a few mutants that go rogue and don't want to join us, but sometimes they call us for help. If you run into trouble, we can do exactly that. It's a lifeline. How I'm doing this with you now? That's how I joined them years ago when I lost everything."

She grimaced at the mere thought of the past. No, she had to erase it. That wasn't important right now.
 
"We don't want to reveal what we are. We're living in a world that's too dangerous to learn of mutants. World War Three would break out if they did. That's what MERIT does. We keep the truth quiet, recruit mutants to our cause and maintain peace in the world."

Orion nodded. He had heard rumors.... but there more rumors then just those of MERIT. He kept his silence as she spoke, however.

"I won't punch you in the face. Even if I slapped you, I'd probably hurt you more than what I intended. Don't worry about the bike, my superiors will cover the costs. It's not too damaged badly, it's seen worse days."

Subtle hint. Orion made a mental note that one of her abilities was inhuman strength. As she had managed to smash apart the wooden figure he had sent at her, this was simply confirmation. She held out a card to him.

"Take it. You might not want to join us, but you may need our help one day. There are a few mutants that go rogue and don't want to join us, but sometimes they call us for help. If you run into trouble, we can do exactly that. It's a lifeline. How I'm doing this with you now? That's how I joined them years ago when I lost everything."

Orion let out a soft chuckle as he took the card.

"Interesting technique... anyways, I am a bit interested. However, if you don't mind answering me a question or two... The first is, why me? If you had known of my powers, then you should have realized I kept careful control. Perhaps subtly flaunt them, I suppose, but I still keep them under wraps."

As if to prove that statement, the background music started again, playing the FF victory theme before shutting up again. Orion grinned.

"As for another... I have heard rumors of MERIT. I decided to keep to myself, though. However, I heard rumors of another group, called the Black Hand. Could you explain who they are?"
 
"MERIT have been tracking your situation for a while," replied Josie. "They thought that your profile matched what their ideal agent is. I'm aware you control your powers carefully, maybe that's why they sent me. I'm sort of the same, except from when you made my eardrums bleed. But I guess you've helped me to realise I'm still a work in progress."

She chuckled softly to herself at the background music. Then she proceeded to answer his second question.

"The Black Hand exists and they're dangerous, it's why we act as a lifeline to rogue mutants such as yourself. They want to reveal the existence of mutants and cause World War Three. The existence of mutants stems back to the Second World War. We stand against the Black Hand to prevent them from not only exposing us, but maybe changing the world forever by destroying it. They primarily base themselves in Russia, but I've heard there are units here. Thankfully, MERIT has closed down most of them. A few remain."

Josie sighed sadly to herself, folding her arms across her chest.

"I'm sorry that you have to take this all in at once, Orion. But I'm starting to feel that the Black Hand is going to up their game and go public. If that happens, then MERIT is going to need as many allies on their side as possible. If you decide to call that number whether you're in trouble or need someone to talk, ask for me. I'm Josie."
 
"That's a shame. If you were really from MERIT, you would already know that I take orders for them already. Strike one." With that he pressed another button on the control panel. More slots opened in the cieling and stonecloth fell from them, enclosing the intruder in a hallway of the cloth, closing off the exit and forcing them forward.

The stonecloth was an interesting creation of Isaac's. Sewn from sheets of mountain bedrock, they were sheets of stone the thickness of an inch but the strength and resilience of feet of stone. Besides that, it was the weight of stone,unable to be picked up by anyone without superhuman strength.
 
"MERIT have been tracking your situation for a while. They thought that your profile matched what their ideal agent is. I'm aware you control your powers carefully, maybe that's why they sent me. I'm sort of the same, except from when you made my eardrums bleed. But I guess you've helped me to realize I'm still a work in progress."

Orion nodded.

"Very few people expect, let alone prepare for, an attack to INSIDE their head. That little trick is handy. Your lucky: if you had continued chasing me to a deserted area, then you wouldn't have hearing anymore. I would have just destroyed your eardrums."
"The Black Hand exists and they're dangerous, it's why we act as a lifeline to rogue mutants such as yourself. They want to reveal the existence of mutants and cause World War Three. The existence of mutants stems back to the Second World War. We stand against the Black Hand to prevent them from not only exposing us, but maybe changing the world forever by destroying it. They primarily base themselves in Russia, but I've heard there are units here. Thankfully, MERIT has closed down most of them. A few remain."

Orion let out a low whistle.

"So... they are the ones that are trying to plunge us into war. So, it seems that they have made a slight amount of progress... Bastards come near me and they will be in pain..."

Orion descended into a series of low mutterings, stopping when she spoke again.

"I'm sorry that you have to take this all in at once, Orion. But I'm starting to feel that the Black Hand is going to up their game and go public. If that happens, then MERIT is going to need as many allies on their side as possible. If you decide to call that number whether you're in trouble or need someone to talk, ask for me. I'm Josie."

Orion slowly nodded, before standing, straightening himself.

"Thanks Josie, though I don't think I need the card."

He began flipping it between his fingers, a pen sliding from underneath his sleeve. Quite calmly, he began to flip both at once, causing the pen to write something on the card.

"Nevertheless, I will hold onto it. In case someone else needs it. Meanwhile, rest assured that I will aid MERIT in whatever way I can that doesn't involve outright joining them me. Call me.... a friend of MERIT."

The pen disappeared, as did the card. Orion held up his left hand, flicking it to make the card re-appear. On the back, the side that was completely blank before, was Orion's full name, his address, his abilities, and his statement to help MERIT without joining them. All in legal contract form, with his name at the bottom, signed. It was tiny, but there.

"You may want to hold onto this. Seeing as I"

Orion held up his right hand and flicked that to reveal the MERIT card Josie had given him.

"hold onto yours. Take this card as a statement of my good faith to MERIT."

The MERIT card disappeared. Orion's contract card, meanwhile, also disappeared, though it re-appeared a minute later flying straight upwards to float gently down and land in Josie's hand, if she reached out to catch it.

"Meanwhile, is there anything I can do to help you enjoy your stay in New York? Like get something to eat and a souvenir? After all, the least I can do is offer my hospitality."
 
Josie grinned at the eardrum remark.

"It's hard to believe, but I'd probably grow a set of new ones. As well as having my superhuman strength, reflexes and heightened senses, I can heal at a rapid pace. I've tested it out before ... well, if you can call it a test. I acidentally cut my finger off when cutting my nails. The finger got destroyed, but I grew a new one. So essentially, I guess you could say I'm indestructible. Well, almost. I haven't gone too far into testing THAT one yet."

She heard what he had to say, interested to hear what Orion had to say regarding the Black Hand. Josie was curious that an outsider knew of the Black Hand. Then again, they had been making themselves known with the minor attacks going on around the world. It only put MERIT on the edge.

"I want them gone as much as you do. They don't care about who they hurt in the process, although they won't harm or force mutants to join them. They respect their free will, but I think it's going to be the opposite soon now that they're openly attacking several places."

She was taken aback when he said he didn't need the card, but she understood. She really did. There were several rogue mutants that wanted to stay anonymous and she respected that. Josie may have been one of those herself, but had been convinced to join the organisation in the hope she could build a bright future for mutants.

At this point, she remained silent. She watched what Orion did and stood there. The meeting was resulting in a peaceful conversation and quite possibly, a new ally. Even though the plan to recruit him into MERIT failed, Josie had to admire Orion. He may have been a persistant little idiot running away, but the end result was satisfactory enough.

Josie caught the card in the air and saw his details in black and white. She studied it for a moment before looking back at him.

"I would take you up on the offer, but I'm afraid I'll have to be going back to England now," she said, putting Orion's card away in her jacket and crossing her arms thereafter. "The Black Hand's always at work, which means so are we."

She looked at her bike and grinned.

"Don't worry about this, someone from the MERIT base here in the city will be picking it up. It should be as good as new and back where it belongs in the next few days. You take care of yourself, Orion. Don't be a stranger."

And with a weak wave as well as a warm smile, Josie made her way down the street.
 
Morning came, and Wolfgang returned to the train station, a ticket already on hand. Checking how much money he had in his pouch. He noticed that he had enough money to get himself to where he needed to go and survive for a few months.

Getting on board the train bound for the French capital of Paris, Wolfgang looked back. Surely those people who were after hand would not follow him there. He then started thinking about it, they were talking about some organization called the Black Hand...those that killed his family before they were killed themselves. How he was attacked on every turn just getting across the border to Italy.

As the train started rolling, Wolfgang finally felt at ease.
 
"I would take you up on the offer, but I'm afraid I'll have to be going back to England now. The Black Hand's always at work, which means so are we. Don't worry about this, someone from the MERIT base here in the city will be picking it up. It should be as good as new and back where it belongs in the next few days. You take care of yourself, Orion. Don't be a stranger."

With a small wave and smile, Josie departed. Orion waved back, then a thought struck him.

"Oh shit. Isaac! I gotta let him know! Crap, crap, crap!"

Orion performed an about face, then sprinted down the alley, pausing to nab a bicycle. As he hopped on, he began riding towards Isaac's shop.

-a few minutes later-

Orion made far better time then he thought. Then again, when you could command the wheels to go faster then inhumanely possible and speed down so fast that your a blur, you kinda don't pay attention to distance. Orion came to a hard, screeching stop at the entrance to Isaac's shop. And he looked as if he had a visitor. Someone that he was hitting with what looked like.... a stone slab the size of paper? Orion shook his head and advanced on the shop. He magnified his voice.

"Hey, Isaac! It's Orion! From the casino? I'm totally fine! It turns out that she only wanted to talk to me about MERIT!"

And then he realized that Isaac was hitting her partner.

"Erm... I think that's her partner. I have their card right here, so..."

Orion took out the card and gave a little wave in the direction of the shop, standing still in the street. Hoping to god that Isaac would listen and spare the poor girl from... whatever the hell he was doing.
 
"That's a shame. If you were really from MERIT, you would already know that I take orders for them already. Strike one."

Remi was getting a headache. Why did HQ always fail to tell small details such as this? The man was being unreasonable and Remi felt like her patient was running thin. Isaac triggered another set of traps and more of the weird cloth was dropped down, blocking the entrance, attempting to funnel her forward.

Regardless, this overbearing suspicion is tiring. Even though you take orders from MERIT already, it does not detract from the fact that you are moreso freelancing rather than part of the organisation. I am sent here to recruit you for a more permanent position.

Remi made her way forward. She might as well give him her card and leave if the man won't talk in a civil manner. After all, they seemed to be going nowhere. She made her way to near where he was a dropped her card on the table. God knows where he was hiding

Sorry, but i dont have all day. Here is my card with my number. Should you ever reconsider my identity and my offer. MERIT is always open.

With that, Remi turned around facing the door and flipped open her phone, speed dialing Josie. It seemed a mission failure considering that she couldn't recruit Isaac. At the very least, she could ask how it was on her side.

Hey, Josie. How is it on your side?


 
"A more purr-manent position? I'm afraid that would not be in my best interest. I have a shop to run. And..." Isaac lifted up the edge of the stonecloth and walked under it to the new hallway the trap had created. "That takes priority over anything else."

Peeling off a splinter of a needle from the large one in his hand, he wrapped his flamethread through the hole and threw it to impale the card. Whipping it back, he caught it between two fingers. He looked it over. "Looks legit. But like I said, I don't have time for you or your nemesis. If you want me to do a job thats fine, otherwise unless it directly affects me leave me out of it."

Reaching under the stone cloth again, he pressed a hidden button that controlled the cloth. "Feel free to leave but don't come back during work hours."

Standing back up, he tucked the card into a pocket.
 
It had barely been five minutes since leaving Orion that Josie felt her phone vibrating in her jacket pocket. She took it out, sensing that the caller ID had been Remi all along, and opened it up. She didn't get a chance to speak since Remi had spoken first. Not that she minded, of course. However, it didn't seem that Remi was about to tell her how things went ... since she was asking how it went for her.

"All went fine, but Orion won't join us yet," answered Josie. "I gave him my card and ran the whole call-us-if-you-need-help speech. I had to alter it slightly because he had questions, which is sort weird, right? Usually, they just take the card or make a snide remark how they don't need my help."

She glanced down at her bike, grimly reminded that it would have to be replaced. Oh well, it only meant she could have that more powerful engine installed now.

"So how did you and Isaac go then? Did you tango?" she asked sarcastically.
 
"All went fine, but Orion won't join us yet. I gave him my card and ran the whole call-us-if-you-need-help speech. I had to alter it slightly because he had questions, which is sort weird, right? Usually, they just take the card or make a snide remark how they don't need my help. So how did you and Isaac go then? Did you tango?"

Hm... somewhat charred a bit and got squashed for the first time in ages. Id say that classifies as a one side tango. Negative on Isaac. Apparently, HQ failed to tell me that they contract him already and he has his shop to take care of. It seems like your guy was more receptive than mine.

Remi jumped into her hired car and began to drive. Their mission was over, so they should be heading back.

You heading back to the airport now? Or do we have some free time? If that's so, wanna meet up?
 
"Ouch, sounds nasty. Least you didn't get your ears bleeding. Orion was a persistant little cunt at first, but he eventually stopped when I talked to him. And by the way, HQ was out of order not telling us that. I'm going to slam my fist in the superiors' faces when we have that meeting next week."

Josie said the last line seriously. Being told everything was something important when you were in MERIT. She valued being given the relevant information that would help in the missions, but whenever they failed to inform them of anything like Remi had said, it only angered her. And as she thought of before, combining her temper with her strength only made her much more than a force to be reckoned with. That was the understatement of the century.

After the brief pause, she spoke again.

"I've not heard from HQ about coming back straight away, so I'm assuming we can do whatever in the city for a while," she said in a more cheerful voice. "Why don't we grab something to eat? All that running's given me an appetite. I'm sending my coordinates to the car's satnav system now."
 
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