Chapter Two: The Meeting

[albatross]

One of the mutants, with three arms, looks over at the new arrivals. "Well what do we have here?" She queries.

She motions to the others and the eight mutants at the end of the room stop talking and get up. One goes through a door at their end of the room and quickly returns with more than dozen more mutants. Twenty-two mutants of various sizes, all obviously mutated, approach and gather round the team.

"Whad'da want," one mutant with sandy skin drawls, looking at Patriot.

"We came here to meet you," Tiger said simply.

"Are you really sure you want to meet us?" asks a different mutant, covered with scales and distinctly lizard like right down to a short tail.

"Ooh! I think I'd like to meet her!" Says a towering mutant with deep black fur and a head like a panther. He sidles up to Tiger and puts and arm around her condescendingly. Her eyes don't betray a even a hint of discomfort, she even smiles politely. Deep down, she thinks over breaking his arm, but outwardly she behaves as if he is someone she knows.

"What about you?" The sandy looking guy says to Shroud, "Do you want to meet us too?" He steps closer, scratching his hands together.

The other mutants also close in, looking threatening.

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[shiivster]

*Jeckle is lost from view as they close ranks about the group. then her voice is heard to be saying ' .. uhm .. excuse me. you really don't .. it stings ... ' *then the group sees the area about her open up and she's in the middle with her hands over the head as if expecting something to go boom.

*her puzzled look says it all as she looks at the mutant holding the small device .. and she inquires 'could you turn it over and see if the batteries are in? .. they aren't? .. oh for ... just give me back my little toy then please .. thank you' *her short stature is evident among the taller individuals as she swipes the item back 'next time you could have asked instead of lifting it off me. and i'll take my wrench back from that one .. ' *her gloved hand is held out to what appears to be empty space and then she looks at the empty spot 'i got you on the glasses, even if you're most likely doing something i'm wishing i could do just now .. thank you'

*she then tugs her coat close about her and bats at the occasional hand that reaches for her, then having had enough and knowing the layout of the room from her scanning earlier, uses the leg braces to aid in her jump up and over the heads of the crowd to lean against a wall and pulls out the notebook again and goes back to her schematics. her mumbles clearly state her as not a fighter at this point, and then nodding, puts the notepad away.

'so .. who's the Lynx girl that was almost grabbed outside a relation of? .. we did stop the attempt to take her' *then wishes she didn't say anything, as once again she's blocked off from the others* 'oh bother .. i wonder what Heckle would do at this point? .. bluff? .. nah .. he'ld do something really stupid like offer to buy a round on him .. oh man i really gotta shut up at times ...'

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[Dome]

Dante tenses as the mutants approach and gather around the group. He does nothing, but is prepared to at a moments notice.

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[dakota]

Khris smiled politely at the sandy looking guy. " The kid's right. We aren't here for trouble, otherwise we wouldn't ave kept the kitten from getting nicked on the way here. Now kindly drop this boring bravado, it doesn't work for me on them, it won't work for strangers." He motioned towards the panther guy," and kindly take your paws off the lady, I'd hate to see the bosslady put you in the hospital tonight."

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[shiivster]

*Jeckle watches quietly. Her strangely colored eyes barely miss anything just now. She shrugs and then frowns at getting called 'kid', then rolls the eyes and looks elsewhere for now*

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[albatross]

Tiger looks over to Shroud from under the furry arm of the panther mutant with a questioning glance, as if she is wondering whether or not she should put the guy annoying her in the hospital or not.

“You wouldn’t put me in the hospital, would you?” The panther guy asks Tiger sarcastically, leering down at her since he is at least three feet taller than she is.

Tiger shifts her glance to him, thinking it over. “Should I?” Tiger jokes lightheartedly with a big smile.


“And what’re you gonna do about it,” the sandy mutant asks Shroud. He pushes at Shroud with one arm, slowly, something even a normal human could avoid. It obvious he is testing, and the others follow his lead.

“Yeah, what are you going to do!” Several other mutants all being pushing at the Magician, Shroud and Dante. The ones around Patriot and Jeckle merely watch the others for now.

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[shiivster]

*knowing from past experiences, well more from her brother's reports, this is a little boy's case of 'my muscles bigger than yours'. *she rolls her eyes and disregards them*

now, while not at all offended at being excluded as 'dangerous', she turns to the mutants closest to her with her empty hands and bluntly asks 'so .. what it is you do? .. and is it something that can be, copied technically? .. cause i think that would be so cool to have. fancy stuff without technical support. mind you .. it would put ME out of a job. i do the tech stuff .. so what is it you do?' *she maintains the 'i'm a harmless little fluff bunny' attitude for those nearest her.

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[dakota]

Khris allowed the sandy mutant to shove him, fighting the urge to smirk. " Pal, do yourself a favor and drop the attitude. We only want to talk." Without realizing he's done it, Khris slipped into his 'shroud', his movements blurred as he blended in with the surroundings. At the same time, he began to look for something he could use to exchange for his Pythons is things escalated.

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[shiivster]

*a tiny part of her is interested in what would happen if she dropped a flash grenade in the darkened room .. but decides that she would be safer if she doesn't do that.

*instead she tries to gather a bit of information by being the 'friendly' one. a part of her mind observes Shroud with his ability in play .. and wonders what it would take to copy a visual displacement field .. and a part of her mind shuts itself off for a while thinking circuits and such thru.

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[albatross]

The team's lack of physical resistance seems to calm the mutants down, and they refrain from more shoving. The sandy mutant turns to face Patriot. "What do you want?" He asks.

Tiger speaks up, "We would like some information." She is calm and straightforward. The panther man still hasn't let go of her, and he raises his head to look her in the face.

"And what information would you like," The sandy mutant asks sarcastically.

"The hardest kind to find," Tiger says flatly. "We are looking for a way into the Labyrinth." The panther mutant drops his arm from around Tiger in surprise.

The sandy mutant doesn't look at her, "There is no way in."

"No," says Tiger, "There are people inside who keep others out. Those people need water, food, supplies, and want thousands more things. There is a way in." She looks at him steadily. The calm confidence in her voice speaks volumes as to her intent.

The sandy mutant looks away, and a scaly mutant speaks up. "What would you give us for information?" Tiger and the Sandy mutant both look at him. He covers his mouth at his error. Tiger's eyes gleam in triumph, but the Sandy mutant looks down.

"There was a way, but its gone now." He sighs, "It won't cost you anything, because its closed. We used to have a way to get through the labyrinth, to... other parts of the city... It was... a shortcut."

Tiger nods, dismissing the obvious lie. The sandy mutant continues, "The way has been demolished, and its still guarded by snipers."

"Where?" Tiger asks.

"Don't be stupid," he replies.

"I don't intend to be, but its difficult without information." Tiger says serenely.

"Northwest of the labyrinth, over a mile, is an old trolley station that has been out of use for decades. It had an underground section, that was demolished months ago. The part that linked to the Labyrinth is gone."

"Thank you," Tiger smiles. "I appreciate the information." She looks around to the rest of the team, to see if anyone else has any questions.

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[shiivster]

* Jeckle pauses briefly, a little disappointed that not one of the mutants near her replied about their powers, and then shrugs it off. looking at Tiger and then at the otehrs she comments 'they got a 'no fly zone'? .. i could always try to scope out what i can by remote plane or something ... ?'

*she says nothing about it being a 2 pronged snooping fest .. what with a shute camera doing the real and the 'decoy' remote controled airplane to keep attention off the chute and the 3 minute life span it has for relaying the digital information.

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[dakota]

" Trust me pal." Khris replied, relaxing enough to revert to normal. " The best way to deal with snipers is to let another one deal with them. That's where I come in." He smirked, folding his arms acrossed his chest.

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[Dome]

Speaking up to the group, "I know the place they are speaking about."

He then addresses the local mutants,"Why was the entrance demolished? If it was totally sealed off from that direction, why post snipers to defend the area. I'm no expert, but it sounds like a waste of resources."

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[shiivster]

'hmmm ... ' *is all Jeckle says as Dante talks. her agile mind is thinking of a possible 'bug' that crawls instead of flying or hovering. one that can relay back a steady stream of information.

*she pulls out the notepad and starts a few doodles and then after flipping the page starts on the wiring that would be required for such a project. her mind has forgotten that others are nearby for just now and she continues to doodle and sketch and erase one line from time to time.

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[albatross]

The mutants are quiet for a few moments, thinking about Dante's question. Then a slick skinned one towards the back speaks up. "It was only demolished this year- a few months back, they could have been hoping to kill off everyone who knew about the entrance if anyone was foolish enough to come back."

He shrugs, "I think they just want to make an example, kill off a few of us to make sure we don't try to find another way in...."