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Survival of the Fittest; Open to all HFC Members
Topic Started: Sep 5 2008, 09:39 PM (658 Views)
Maria Siegel
Unregistered

Place in the time line: September 15th

A small portal of darkness appeared in the back of the dimly lit room, and through it Erebus watched the back of Mystique’s body as she sat typing at a computer. She was unaware of the silent portal which linked Maria from her rooms up stairs to this room, set deep in the lower levels. Twitching the portal closed, she stood up from her bed, a 9MM in one hand and formed another portal, this time right behind Mystique. The change in air pressure seemed to alert the metamorph but Erebus had already slammed her hand into the back of the woman’s head, the full force of her arm carrying the woman’s head into the screen of her computer as it sat before her. Glass shattered, sparks flying.

The portal wasn’t even closed before she was gripping a handful of red hair, lifting the other woman’s head out of the shattered remains of the screen and slamming it into the desk.

"A little birdie told me you’re Magneto’s bitch once again.” She hissed softly. The safety was already off in one smooth movement as she raised the gun level with the back of Mystique’s skull and pulled the trigger, the sound of the bullet leaving the gun muffled by the the silencer. The woman’s body spasmed and jerked, blood beginning to spread from the entry and exit wound and Erebus stepped back, lifting her foot to kick over the chair Mystique had been sitting on, her limp blue body falling to the floor.

Holstering the gun at her waist, she grabbed a handful of the formed Black Queen’s hair and dragged her through an opening portal. It took a few jumps, as her range wasn’t very huge, but it had vastly improved since she’d started working with Max. The cold rage burning inside her spread as she thought of her missing..... whatever it was that Max was to her. Mystique’s betrayal of him and the Hellfire Club to Magneto added intense insult to injury.

Dropping the woman’s body to the dusty ground, Maria looked around the remote landscape and then crouched down, grabbing Mystique’s chin and checked her pulse, wounds, and pupils. She was healing, her mutation dealing with the bullet to the head and so Erebus unhooked null cuffs from the belt at her hips, dragging the body to a telegraph pole. Tossing it down so the blue woman’s back was against the wood and walked around behind it, cuffing the woman’s wrists behind the pole.

“Well, this was fun while it lasted.” She commented as the blue colour began to fade from Mystique’s skin, but Erebus was already unfastening the belt adorned with skulls around the woman’s hips and walking away. Whatever happened to Mystique now, Maria didn’t give a flying fuck, but she wouldn’t die, a simple phone call would take care of that, and she wouldn’t return to the Hellfire Club. Maria, however, would. Stepping through a portal, she began her return trip.

***

Striding steadily into Hellfire Club, Maria spied her target immediately, the blonde Black Knight. She recognised that the gesture she was about to make would kill two birds with one stone, publicly announcing her new position, and hopefully ensuring the clone's loyalty. She would need him, as much as she begrudged it, if this was going to work.

Max had disappeared, the Hellfire Club without a leader as the lower levels squabbled amongst themselves over where things should go now and who should lead. She was not going to leave the club and the city to fall apart in the Black King's absence. Her constant searching for him had revealed Mystique’s status as a double agent. She wouldn’t let that betrayal just go and the removal of the metamorph meant that Maria could not only instate herself as the Black Queen, but take over from Max. She was the closet thing he had to heir after all.

Longshot was flanked by two pawn’s as usual and she walked towards him, waiting until he turned towards her before tossing the belt held in her hand onto the floor in front of the clone. It clunked loudly on the polished wooden floor. She rested her hands on her hips and lifted her chin, bright blue eyes cold and determined as she watched him. "I’m the Black Queen. If anyone wants to dispute that, I will happily persuade you otherwise.” Her voice was quiet, but her tone was strong and commanding which was very rarely heard emanating from the Darkforce manipulator, but the idea of being the controller instead of the controlled was coming more attractive by the moment.
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Belton I. Alerton
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Doc had been quite happily working on his blackvines before life suddenly decided to create an event that he really needed to be present for. Erebus' words were unmistakable. She was claiming power. She would control the Hellfire club from now on.

About damn time, too, Belton thought to himself. The infighting had forced him to start creating counter measure creatures for various members who may see him as a threat. He was right now working on a special cockroach heavy animal that could survive Raweson long enough to kill him. This was no easy task, and Doc was relegated to having the main swarm hive have an opening directly to a room you had to go through to get to his lab. God help anyone who was forced to deal with the full swarm, millions strong. And there were the blood spiders who made their nests there. No, it was relatively safe but it could always be safer.

Belton was just modifying his blackvine a little, hopefully making it a little sharper. It was not nearly dangerous to require his lab, so he was in his quarters when the declaration rang out. He reverted his plant back to what it was and walked out, wondering what had happened to Mistique. His question was answered. She had killed her, not an easy feet. Certainly not one he would want to try. The woman could probably mimic several of the methods he used to keep his creatures at bay.

In all honesty he had expected more subtlety when Erebus finally decided to take control. He figured she would do more than just execute Mistique. He felt the need to point this out. He didn't want to make an enemy of her, but did not want to appear a loyalist either.

"Challenge you? No, I think I shall not mam. You may do yourself well to ask yourself if you want to assume a position that you got by slaying it's previous owner. Seems a very dangerous place, where someone can simply kill you if they want your power, instead of having to earn it."

He knew, or at least he thought he knew, what such methods would accomplish. Erebus would be killed one day, as would her successor and the next after that until things dissolved. He didn't know that Mistique had been a traitor, that Erebus had simply been doing s what he himself would. Well, that's not true. Had he caught Mistique she would beg for a death so quick.
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Longshot
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Probability, Psychometry, Cloned Origin, Empathic Charisma
Longshot was agitated, and an agitated Longshot meant there would be blood, and yes indeed the pretty pawns with him both wore fresh cuts on their pale skin, visible plainly as their clothes were, to be blunt, quite brief. He was, quite to the point, a child who missed his parent, fussing angrily because Daddy had not yet pulled up to fetch him from kindergarten, because Mommy was too busy to look at the new trick he had learned. Max had been gone and he had not told Longshot where he was going. That bothered the clone more than he had the emotional maturity to express. Magneto had left and when he was gone, the Phoenix had come and burned his mind into ash, damaging him to the point where he was not much more than this child, this temperamental, violent and deadly child.

No one had told him that Max was, in fact, missing, and because of that, he felt abandoned, and unwanted... and scared.

When Longshot was scared, he hurt things, because there was no longer any point in cutting himself to release the chemicals that had been put in his system to control him. Having been gone from the Mojoverse for so long... he was on his own, and there was no one to pull his strings. He longed for instruction, longed for direction...

... longed for his king.

The clone lay across the laps of his pawns, head on one, feet on the other, and the fingers that massaged his temples and toes were stained with their own blood. The metal tang was in his nostrils and it satisfied him some, but he was not soothed, and his pretty face was creased with irritation. The pawn who caressed his forehead, caught a lock of his long blond hair carelessly, and his eyes opened, in fury. Fear filled the eyes of the pawn, not untinted with desire, "My Lord Knight..." he whispered.

What Longshot was going to say or do was cut off by Erebus's arrival, as he looked at her, she threw the skull belt that belonged to their Black Queen to the floor. The pawns gasped as she made her pronouncement and he slid off their laps, stooping to pick up the belt. The Doctor simpered and ingratiated himself to the new Queen, but Longshot did not look up from the belt. He hardly heard the man's words, only those of Erebus...

Not looking up, he said, softly, "Did you murder our King?" A tear traced the curves of his smooth face, "Have you murdered our Queen?" He threw the belt like one of his blades so it sank into the wall near where Erebus stood. He looked up, and there was confusion and defiance in his eyes, "Have you come now to murder me? I do not die easy you know."
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Maria Siegel
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Maria wouldn’t have expected the Black Bishop to truly understand her and her motivations but she expected a little more from him than that. She had no fear of death and no real desire for power. Her motivation in taking on Mystique was simple: she had betrayed them, and Erebus did not approve of betrayal. Her action of assuming the title of Black Queen was equally simple; someone needed to take charge and ensure everything Max had worked for didn’t dissolve into chaos and petty infighting while he was gone. Besides, in her current position, she could divert as many resources as needed to finding Max. She trusted no one else to take this position and do the right thing with it.

She didn’t have the need for Max that Longshot did, she wasn’t a child without a father to lead her around by the hand, but Max had given her purpose in her life, he had given her a reason to live rather than simply exist and when she found out who had taken him, she would destroy them. There would be no swift bullet to the back of the head. She would make it last for days... weeks even, make them suffer fully for what they sought to take from her.

“Do you really think I fear death?” She asked the Doctor, tilting her head and looking at him with an almost clinical appraisal, assessing how useful he might be, assessing his skill and the strength of his character. Would he be one of those to try and claim her position? She did not miss his no so subtle point that she didn’t earn this position. But what would one do to earn such a position any way? “Death and I are close companions.” She told him, a smile of cold amusement forming on her lips. She didn’t bother to correct him about the fact she hadn’t killed Mystique. Let them think it, let them fear her more. “If someone wishes for my position, they can challenge me and I will deal with them as I dealt with Mystique.”

Erebus gave the rest of the room a challenging look, encouraging those who didn’t approve of her bold move to come forwards and let themselves be known. She didn’t flinch as Mystique’s belt flew past her face and embedded itself in the wall. Turning her gaze towards Longshot, her features remained smooth and blank, her eyes holding a stark warning for him to watch his tongue and his actions. His words made no impact on her apart from his first question, the inquiry as to whether she had killed Max, which caused the icy anger inside her to spark and blossom.

“Our Queen was a traitor. She betrayed all of us. I dealt with her accordingly.” She did not dignify his first question with a response. Instead she walked towards Longshot, stepping well into his person space before she stopped. The slender blonde clone was barely taller than her and with the heels of her boots, they stood at the same height. It was perhaps a risk to get so close to such a deadly killer, and while she didn’t have his luck or the increased agility, she was just as deadly in her own right. Her mind and body had been shaped into that of a warrior, and that was all she knew. Only a thin thread of remnant mortality and sanity kept her from coming Longshot and allowed the warrior to become the general.

“I did not kill our King. He is mine too and when we find out who took him, you and I will cause them to curse the day their miserable existence began.” She spoke quietly, barely above a whisper, her face close to Longshot’s, her eyes looking directly into his. Her words were carefully chosen, in simple terms the clone would understand, knowing that she would need him and his loyalty. “I don’t wish to kill you. I wish that you pledge your allegiance to me so that together we can bring our King back.”
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Rawson
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Nuclear / Atomic Energy Manipulation
Being a god was much easier than it was made out to be. Despite all his initial confidence and eagerness at obtaining the power gem deep deep down within him Rawson still had some reservations about such unbridled power. He wasn't worried about being corrupted. Even if he did believe that power could corrupt he wasn't worried about being driven mad with power. That was all part of the plan. What he was worried about was the extra responsibilities he'd have to shoulder with his new untapped power. Suddenly he'd have to fly around the world, or destroy a country, or make a dozen clones of himself. He could do all of those things relatively easily of course, but he didn't have to before and he didn't see why he would have to after he got the gem.

But after Max disappeared Rawson was a little surprised at how disappointed and bored he was doing nothing at all. Of course he looked for Max, but despite having more capability than the rest of the club put together he never got any farther than a stray scent here or a especially dark shadow there. It was fruitless and while he worked the rest of the club was tearing itself apart. And Rawson would have none of that. So despite not receiving and orders or commands or assignments or even a suggestion Rawson started one by one burning off the infected branches of the Hellfire club.

Rawson really wasn't sure why he was doing it. If he wanted the gratitude of Max or any of the other court members he would have carried out his inquisition more publicly. If he was doing it only out of boredom he would have had some more fun with it, although he was having fun. He didn't even need to do it for the money or drugs the club had, he was independently wealthy and while he had the power gem only a fool would deny him. It would seem to most people he was doing it out of his rarely expressed loyalty to the club but that hadn't occurred to Rawson, or if it had he'd ignored it. He wasn't sure why he was going to such lengths to protect the club, he just was.

He had just returned from stopping yet another potential civil war when he couldn't help but hear what was happening within the walls of the Hellfire club. Of course he was running over Antarctica while intentionally listening in on Maria Longshot and the good doctor but such technicalities mattered not. In a matter of seconds he was at the door to the club, bobbing his head to the doorman as he casually walked across the threshold. As soon as he was enough out of the way not to be noticed by anyone on the lookout for mutants in the hellfire club he soundlessly disappeared.

He reappeared only a few feet from Longshot, or he would have reappeared if he wasn't invisible. He was just in time to see the blond clone throw the belt towards the brunette clone, it took all his willpower to stop himself from applauding. Then the pretty little Queen steeped forward and tried to intimidate the clone. Rawson didn't see that working out well.

Without a flash or any sort of spectacle Rawson was there, a few feet from the two clones. "Children Children Children" Rawson didn't mean to add the superhuman boom to his voice but it happened anyways. "Really I thought we could settle things with more civility." On his last word he moved instantly a few inches behind Maria, his mouth even closer to her ear even though he didn't speak his words only to her. "Your new world is burning away and you stage coups and threaten one another." He was behind Longshot now "Making ridiculous accusations because you're bored. Thinking up ways to thwart your allies" He said these words a few inches away from the doctor. "Mystique didn't deserve to be anything, much less Queen. Forget your personal feelings or former loyalties. The club must adapt like it always does. Focus our attention on more pressing matters than the deposition of a turncoat." Now Rawson was standing by no one in particular, leaning fashionably on a wooden cane, where he got it was anyones guess.
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Belton I. Alerton
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Rawson seemed to be quite pleased with his new power. Of course, the good doctor knew that whatever he might be working on in his lab wouldn't help against the man's new power. No, it wouldn't even scratch him. Dr. Sin was a planner, though. Power was given. It could be taken as well. If he ever felt that the man was becoming a real problem Doc would deal with him. He didn't have a great deal of respect for the way the man had handled his power. He had been given, for all intents and purposes, unlimited power and he had done what? Nothing. Destroyed some places, flexed his muscles, annoyed the rest of them. A fucking waste. He could have had real power. Not the ability to inflict harm on others, but power over people. The power to bend them to his will without a threat. He could have become king had he played his cards right. But he had seemed satisfied with the paltry ability to kill people whenever he wanted to. By the time he figured that an indirect person like Belton was a threat hopefully Belton would have figured out a way to strip him of his omnipotent abilities.

It seemed that he would have to hold off on that now, though. This particular branch had a lot more loyalty than the previous one he had been in. The new queen would almost surely look upon such notions as treasonous.

“If you have an accusation, Rawson, I suggest you have proof to back it or else hold your tongue,” Said the doctor calmly. There was no evidence. Yes, he had been working on a creation that was all but immune to radiation specifically for the idea of stealing Rawson’s power from him and then removing his newly mortal form. There wasn’t a biologist in the entire world who could comprehend what anything Belton wrote down, not a one who could hazard a guess at what his latest creation might be. He was really decades or more ahead of modern biological sciences thanks to his mutation. Rawson was just guessing based on his nature. He had to be. The gems may have granted omnipotence but they did not grant omniscience. After all, if they did Rawson would have killed Mistique himself long before their new queen did.

“As for my suspicion of you, my queen,” he said making certain that it was known that he did in fact recognize the power shift, “Well, one cannot be expected to know that our former queen was a spy until we are told, now can we? I certainly don’t dispute her fate…” a smile creased his lips, “although perhaps it was too long in coming.”

Ideas flitted through his head about how to find Shroud. All his animals would be almost entirely useless. The shroud used portals. Scent was untraceable. Even if he wasn’t missing of his own will, wherever he was it had been impossible so far to find him through scent. No, something else would be needed. There had to be a sense of some kind that could find him. Belton had begun to try and figure out a way to fuse mutants with others, but manipulating a single portion of a chromosome so specifically was difficult, even for the Doctor. What kind of plan did she have in place, he wondered?
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Longshot
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Probability, Psychometry, Cloned Origin, Empathic Charisma
Longshot ignored Rawson's whispered taunts, not concerned with the Bishop and his newly acquired powers. Max had vowed that there was a gem that he would be given when its location was secured, and so Longshot knew his time was to come. He ignored the Doctor and his own bristling at the other Bishop's mutterings. Truthfully the ranking of the Court puzzled Longshot, as chess had not been part of the programming in the learning computers that had made up his education, and his donor, the poor unfortunate Arthur Centino, had not known it. He could easily learn if he wanted but he found it far more interesting to use his psychometry to have the pieces tell him the stories of those who had handled them, which usually distracted him in his fractured mental state. So, long story short, he had never bothered to learn how the pieces corresponded with their rankings. He just knew he was above the pawns and beneath the King and Queen.

Erebus stepped close to him, her eyes meeting his unflinchingly, something he admired when he admired their owner, something he abhorred when he did not. “I did not kill our King. He is mine too and when we find out who took him, you and I will cause them to curse the day their miserable existence began... I don’t wish to kill you. I wish that you pledge your allegiance to me so that together we can bring our King back.”

The star in Longshot's eye shone dark black, the edges tinted with deep purple, as if channeling her own shadowy powers, but it was a sign, a different one. Longshot bore no good will for those who had taken his master, his king, and there was no charity in even his childishly innocent heart. The Hellfire thought they had seen his depths. He was a pretty doll to be played with and to play with others with funny little cuts and petulant little slices. They only knew the broken toy that the Phoenix had turned Mojo's favorite assassin into. He had always smiled when he slit someone's throat, but back then, he had not smiled so much otherwise, and his charm had not been that of a clever child, but a practiced and wholly false pretense.

His three fingered hand was suddenly filled with throwing blades, though she would be hard pressed to say how they had gotten there. Longshot slashed out--

--and suddenly both of his palms were filled with his own bright red blood. He spread out his hands as if he was mimicking the crucifixion that he knew nothing off, the religion of creationism having not been part of his education either... only that of destruction, and he fell to his knee, head bent, putting his obedience where it belonged. "My king was taken and I didn't see it coming. My queen was a traitor and I didn't sense her deceit. I'm your sword, my new queen. Aim me and I'll fly true, order me and I'll cut cleanly, draw me and I'll lay waste in your name." He looked up, "Love me and I'll be your knight for as long as you'll have me."
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Maria Siegel
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Maria’s lips tightened almost imperceptibly as Rawson entered, mockingly moving around them and saying his little piece. For some one with apparent god-like abilities he seemed to have very little idea about what was actually going on. If she didn’t know that Max would want him around Maria would gladly have disposed of the the Black Bishop. She had little use for an idiot with more power than he knew what to do with.

He came so close to her ear that she could feel his breath hot against her skin and she resisted the urge to thrust a knife through his forehead. Unfortunately she doubted she could move fast enough with his new found powers aiding him, but one thing was for sure, as soon as she could she was taking the gem from him and hiding it somewhere even Longshot couldn’t find. Max’s decision to give Rawson the gem was foolish, if indeed the decision had been his.

She watched impassively as the two Black Bishops clashed briefly, beginning to realise exactly what she had taken on here, but she didn’t waver, she would adapt and find ways to deal with being at the top of the back stabbing world of the Hellfire Club. Belton finally proclaimed his allegiance to her and she gave a sharp nod of acknowledgement. His particular talents would be needed to help find Max, her mind already starting to work on possible plans. She had a more pressing concern however, in the form of Longshot, who had remained silent during the whole exchange. Maria couldn’t tell which way he would go, though she hoped her words had been enough to convince him to side with her.

The silver flash of blades danced across her vision and for a brief second she tensed, ready to fight back but instead the blonde clone slashed into his own palms. She watched, a little amused at his theatrics as he fell to his knees, arms out stretched. Reaching out, Maria took his chin in her hand, a gesture that was surprisingly tender, even more so because it came from her, and tilted his face up. Something befitting of his dramatic pledge seemed more appropriate than a simple nod and an ‘okay’. She ran her thumb over his bottom lip. “Then I suppose I will have to love you, my Knight.”

Releasing him, Maria surveyed her ‘inner circle’ with cool eyes, measuring each of their worth. Longshot would be her greatest asset she knew, he would never give up on finding Max. Belton could perhaps create something capable of tracking Dark Force, or on the most rudimentary level, Max’s scent. Rawson could... well she didn’t know the full extent of his powers but she was tempted to leave him to play with himself and his ego.

“When you’re quite finished comparing sizes, gentlemen...” she began, her gaze on her two Bishops. “...we have work to do, but perhaps somewhere a little more private.” Maria said, glancing at the assembled Hellfire members who were still gaping at the goings on. She had no need for pledges from the lower ranks, they would fall in line with the obvious power shift. A portal of DarkForce appeared, leading into the lower, more secret areas of the Club and Maria held out a hand to indicate the three men should enter before her.
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Rawson
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Nuclear / Atomic Energy Manipulation
There was no reaction from Maria, he expected that. It wouldn't behoove the club to have some without a cool head on their shoulders running the show. Maria was bound to run into people showboating more than Rawson had, and she was certainly likely to find people more rude and obnoxious. People were terrified of Max, it would take a few examples before they started to obey Erebus the same way they had obeyed him. So Maria had passed his little test, as he had assumed she would. Still, better safe than sorry. If Maria failed Rawson might have to assume the title of Black King, a rather ghastly thought.

Longshots reaction however did surprise the Black Bishop. He had expected the white knight to at least bar his fangs a little, or if he was in one of his moods to shrink back within in himself. But he ignored Rawson as well. Maybe he was taking cues for Erebus, which was good. The happier the family the more successful they all would be. Besides he didn't really have any reason to pester the clone, other than his own maliciousness and to make it appear to the other two that he was just being his aloof self and not testing them with taunts.

It was Belton's reaction he was really interested in. He didn't know much about the man, although for Rawson not knowing much only meant he didn't know at least half of their darkest secrets, but he knew enough to trust the good doctor to do his job and to do it efficiently. Besides, Max trusted the man and that was good enough for the black bishop. He really just wanted to see how the man would react when pushed against a wall. In a final analysis he at least held his ground, although he seemed to rely on the support and strenght of the rest of the club and its established rules than commit to anything himself. Which was smart, the doctor wasn't a fighter.

Rawson ignored the other bishops challenge in favor of watching the events unfold between Longshot and Erebus. Besides, he didn't need to prove himself to anyone. He had no intention of doing anything more than momentarily pester the other bishop.

He watched as the clone drew his knives. Rawson doubted he would attack someone with them, although he could have intervened at any time on the off chance that the clone had gone rogue. But why take away a chance for Maria to prove herself? The crucifixion move was a surprise though. Was he trying to go out of his way to show that he was a Christ figure? Was that what he really thought of himself? He was certainly batting for the wrong team if that was how he choose to see himself. But the self mutilation appeared to be Longshot's way of apology or something to that effect, because no sooner had the blood started to pour out of his palms than the clone professed his loyalty to the new Queen. That settled that then.

Rawson made sure he knew where the portal led with a quick scan of the building before accepting Maria's offer to make the occasion a little more selective. He could've teleported there on his own but at the moment he didn't need or want to annoy any of the inner circle members anymore than he already had. The travel took an immeasurably small amount of time but it had never been one of the bishop's favorite experiences and he came out just like he always did, feeling slightly unnerved. But he recovered quickly enough and made himself comfortable as the other members of the club made their way in.

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Belton I. Alerton
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Belton couldn't help but roll his eyes at Longshot's display. He was a man that understood that theatricality was required sometimes. He was certainly known to dress and act theatrically when someone had to be scared. Amazing how quickly people would spill their metaphorical guts when forced to witness you spilling someone's literal guts. Theatrical, yes but it produced results. Longshot... well Belton had absolutely no idea what the hell he was doing. The doctor was starting to understand him just a little. He could be entirely childish sometimes, impulsive, more concerned with the superficial and the fun than the deep and meaningful. Like any child, he needed authority, craved it, simply couldn't live without it. Max had seen this and exploited it, and Maria it seemed would too. Wise woman.

He walked through the darkforce, mind as open as his eyes. What a fascinating thing, this darkforce she seemed to control. Teleportation, blinding, solid form. So amazing. He hoped one day he would be able to understand it, maybe even replicate it. He had been trying to replicate mutations in people, give them to others and such but progress was slow. He would have many lifetimes to complete it, and so he tried not to be impatient. The problem was that the more useful the mutant's power he wanted to study, the more dangerous it was to keep them captive, and then they kept dying... It was very troublesome work. Of course, Maria might let him study dark force if he told her it would help him find Max. Problem was that he would have to carry through on that. Knowledge was power, and if she was half smart enough to be Black Queen then she knew better than to let someone called Dr. Sin learn every fathomable thing he could about how her powers worked. Still, he honestly thought that it would help. That was the irritating thing about being a lying bastard. No one trusted you when you were telling the truth.

He waited for the portal to close, lest the pawns think that their leaders were careless enough to talk about such things in their presence. As the resident scientist, he felt a little obliged to come up with a solution. He had his pets for fights, but when it came right down to it the others were better.

"Assuming you wanted to discuss finding our king," said Belton, not really going out very far on a limb, "I've had my hounds searching for him most nights. If he's in the city they can't smell him at all, and that is saying something. They also can't here his voice or see his face. Anywhere."

The hellhounds were good for two things. The first and foremost was finding someone. It had take a lot of splicing to make the perfect silent trackers. Padded, silent feet and chameleon-like skin made them all but invisible at night. They had some mental augmentation too, and had to be trained how to use it. They could pick up a whisper in a rock concert, if they were listening for it. If Max was within earshot, they would hear him. He had also trained them to look for faces,and the eyes of a hawk help with this. He'd tracked hard targets before, even lost them. This was different. He knew if Max didn't want to be found his teleporting would ruin the hounds ability to track him. But they would still pick up a whiff, a scent. Nothing, not a damn thing. It was like he just vanished.

"It seems, from my point of view that conventional search methods won't work. I have some theories as to somethings that might work, but they require even more than I'm usually supplied with, and this isn't the kind of thing that we can go down to the department store and buy," he brought his hand to his chin in thought, contemplating which plan to go with, "I have a drug that could help us use anyone we wanted to our advantage, but we'd need someone with powers of finding people that exceed the ordinary senses. I could always try to see if I can find him by his almost unique dark force. I could make a clone of him and try to give them a form of empathy that people who are identical in every way share sometimes. You actually might be able to connect with him on a basic level if you are related to him by blood but I'd have to..." Sin thought for a moment about how that sentence was going to end, "Never mind. Anyway, Max is proving exceedingly difficult to find, and I'm fairly sure we're going to have to find something new if we want to find him."
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Longshot
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Probability, Psychometry, Cloned Origin, Empathic Charisma
His Queen caressed his cheek and ran her thumb over his lips and Longshot closed his eyes in the childish adoration that ached so deeply that he could hardly understand it. Five minutes ago, he despised this woman, hated that she was Max's in a way that he would never be, but in his warped and damaged psyche five minutes ago was a lifetime, and whatever came before that was impossible to remember. “Then I suppose I will have to love you, my Knight.” she told him, and it was very like the promise that Max had made to him. He had not lied to her. If she loved him, if she took up his strings to support him but not control him then he would cut for her, he would kill if she asked... and he would not kill if she asked him not to, though that would certainly be harder.

And as she ushered them into the portal, these three men who were each so beyond deadly in their own ways. Rawson with his wide spread cataclysmic explosions, Dr. Sin with his twisted mind wrapped in the tangle of one's genetic development, Longshot with his far more intimate and personal cuts... lead by this young girl, who was probably only older than Longshot himself, though frankly he had never inquired so about her, not interested before this time, whose powers were redundant and whose experience in commanding the Club was nil.

Yet, she would lead them to finding Max, to finding their king and she promised to love him, to guide him, to aim him true for the hearts of those who had stolen their King, their ruler... his Master.

Longshot didn't wipe the blood from his hands, and the pain only made him focus, though his enhanced healing factor closed the wounds quickly. He had pledged himself body and soul to Maria... and he would sign that contract in blood.

"I could ask the city itself," Longshot said, "I have read everything in office with my psychometry, and though I heard some very entertaining stories, nothing he owns gives me a reading of his future. Perhaps something in the city could tell me, something he touched before he vanished.... something he will touch when he returns. It will take some luck to find something, but that is something I am not short on."
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