Into the Black

[StarfallRaptor]

-REDACTED-

[bushwacked]

Axel's eyes widened in surprise when Emilena hugged him. From what he'd seen of her, she seemed like she'd rather kick a kitten than hug anyone... but maybe that wasn't fair. She was one of the reasons why he'd survived the attack on Soren's house, after all.

He gave her a nervous smile as they broke apart, which turned into a full fledged beam when she mentioned she knew more about Lily's mutation. "Hey, that's great! Awesome! There's still time if we..." He trailed off as Emilena added that it was up to him to decide who'd learn about it. "What... what do you mean? I trust..."

Axel stopped, remembering Kojuuro. Lily'd seemed terrified of him back in the infirmary... and thinking back on it, she'd been with him in the SUV when she tried to run away... What the hell's going on between them? Biting his lip, he looked up just as Adrian was rounding on Tony. "Adrian, just... stop. Tony's alright."

He looked at Emilena. "Look, I... I trust everyone here." Maybe not the Don, but saying so seems like a good way to earn a bullet in the back of the head. "If there's something you know, they should all hear it. But... I think Kojuuro should be kept out of it..." Axel glanced anxiously at Adrian. "I'm sorry..."

----------------------------------------------------

Marcus strode though the halls, barely giving time for Aaron to keep pace with him. "We can't just let them get away," he growled over his shoulder. "They've seen too much. If they talked..." He shook his head furiously. "I need to find out what our next orders are - we need to act fast."

Winding their way down the corridors, they eventually reached a plain metal door, identical to all the others in the compound with the exception of a small wooden sign hanging down. 'B. Rhaegson' was scrawled across it in black marker pen. It looked faintly ridiculous. Marcus banged a fist against the door, causing the sign to jiggle on the rope it was hanging from. "Rhaegson! I need to talk to you!" he barked.

"Yeah? Come in then, don't need to break the fuckin' door down," a voice echoed through.

Marcus twisted the handle and pushed it open to reveal a room identical to his quarters, with the exception of a large desk that was pushed up against the wall, on which sat a computer and a bunch of paper files. Seated behind it, with his feet propped up on the desk's surface, was the small man who'd come to Soren's door. A cigarette stuck out from between his teeth, and he brushed aside a strand of his greasy blonde hair as he eyed Marcus and Aaron curiously. "My computer won't work," he said. "Fuckin' perfect."

"The main transformer's out... and it got taken out when Lupis helped Echo and Bhat escape!" Marcus rumbled.

"It did?" Rhaegson sighed. "So much for doing things quietly..." He looked as Aaron and smirked. "Hey, buddy. Enjoying your first day?"

"I always told you we couldn't trust Lupis!" Marcus snarled. "So what are we going to do now? Echo and Bhat need to be eliminated, and Lupis..."

"No." Rhaegson said evenly.

"What?!"

"I said no. We're going to let Echo and Bhat go, and you aren't going to do anything about Lupis. We're still working with him."

Marcus stared at him for a moment, his eye twitching. "We're still working with him?" he growled finally. "Are you insane? He just gunned down three of our own..."

"Yeah, and that's... unfortunate. But trust me when I say that in the grand scheme of things..." Rhaegson spread his hands, "It was needed." Taking a final drag, he stubbed his cigarette out on the wall beside him and stared back at Marcus. "Look. What I said about working with Lupis? That's an order. Straight down from the top. Don't follow it, and I'll make sure you don't live past the week. And I'd hate to do that, you've been a fine fuckin' soldier up until now. We clear?"

Marcus growled, balling his fists so tightly the knuckles cracked, and turned, leaving the room without another word.

Rhaegson grunted, then turned his attention to Aaron. "If you got a problem, then please, let me know. If not, fuck off. And get the transformer working again, I'm a busy man here." He lit another smoke. If the questions start, we're gonna have problems...

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Emilena's thoughts had followed a similar thought path to Tony's; Axel would have to be mad to deny anyone present a chance to listen in. Or incredibly naÔve, which unfortunately would fit his character quite well.

"All right. Now mind you, I didn't get to ask any questions, but the basics seemed obvious enough. Lily herself isn't what's special; it's where in the forest it happened."

She met their eyes one by one. "Somewhere in the forest, while on her day hike, Lily stumbled across...something. It sounded like it wasn't a tangible thing, so she may not have even noticed it. But it's where her powers came from. The Purifiers are trying desperately to find that spot, so they can learn more about it. But only I know where it is."

She held up the backpack. "I found this while on my way here. Lying in the forest." She opened up the smallest pouch.

Inside was a driver's license and Mantreads Hiking Goods membership card, both for Lily North.

"The spot has already chosen Lily once," Emilena continued. "If we return her there, maybe she'll learn what she needs to control her mutations and her abilities. She might be able to turn herself back to normal."

[Pterano]

Ferret junior and ferret senior paid attention to what Emelina had to say, and it suddenly all started making sense to Tony now. When she was finished, Don Stracci motioned to Tony. "Get out. I got something I wanna say first."

"But sir!" Tony protested, but was cut off by his father raising a paw.

"Get... out."

"Sir..." Tony bowed his head, and walked out of the room. The don's gaze suddenly became fierce, much fiercer than he seemed capable of looking as he turned his eyes on Adrian. For all the world he suddenly looked like he could walk up and throttle the life out of the wolf effortlessly, but he remained in place.

"I've taken you in... offered you full medical assistance... my son took you for a nice ride in one of my cars... I'll provide you with hardware later... and you question his word in front of me? Don't test my patience, son. A Stracci's promise of assistance is better than any promise you'll ever get in your lifetime... my son was just trying to get you to stop thinking like a horny little slut and get your mind focused on more... I dunno, important things? Plus rightly questioning the lady's loyalty. Now I think she's proven herself, but she had to do that first instead of having you try and act all macho and defend her, which proved nothing." The don raised his brows here. "But it did tell me what you value and I'm this close..." he held up his claws to show there was a mere centimeter between them, "to feeding you what you seem to value most and seeing how strong your libido feels when you're done eating. Do not ever do that again. I mean come on, you're on crutches... acting like a tough guy at the expense of my son is the absolute last thing you should be doing just to impress your little girlfriend cause I'm telling you now... I'm not impressed, and I don't think she is, either." He shook his head here. "So start acting like you appreciate my kindness and hospitality, or you'll be finding out that my breakfast menu can be a little... different, shall we say, from other places you're used to staying, to say nothing of the fact that you'll hardly be a male when you walk out of here. Do I make myself clear?" he asked, eyes still on Adrian, the don's calm demeanor having been replaced by steely resolution and an inner fire now that showed he was deadly serious.


Tony sighed and flopped into a chair near Soren. He picked up a cars' magazine his dad liked to read, and began skimming through it. "Well... things could be going... a little better." he mumbled, looking over at the human. "Reading anything good?" he asked, noting Soren was reading a newspaper.

[Serris]

(The Heights)

Soren folded up his newspaper. "Nothing much, just some cops raiding a back alley clinic – and another Purifier attack. This one on the CEO of one of the cybernetics corporations."

He then looked around to make sure Emilena wasn't in earshot. "I don't trust that vixen at all. She's up to something and I know it."

Anne shrugged. "So Tony, any news?"

-------

(Purifier Compound)

Aaron gulped as his tail tucked in between his legs. "N...No sir. I'll get right on that transformer!"

He backed out of the office.

[Pterano]

Tony nodded, his face falling a bit at the mention of the Purifiers. "Oh... well... yeah... that's not... the way to handle things." he said with a sigh. He lowered his voice then and leaned in to reply to Soren.

"I'm with you on that too. I mean she did tell us what's wrong with Lily but... I dunno... something about this just seems... off. Only way to know if what she said is true or not is if we confirm her story... and I'm not willing to do that with the entire group, just in case." He whispered.

He then straightened up in his chair and looked over at Anne. "Oh you know... not much... we think we know what might be wrong with Lily... provided we can trust this newcomer... and well, my dad's threatening to feed Adrian his genitals... the usual, right?" he half-joked here, chuckling as a wan smile spread across his features. He felt sorry for the wolf, but that was something you learned here rather fast... nobody crossed the don. His father was the type who'd do just the thing he threatened and then still end up helping you because he'd promised to do so.

[StarfallRaptor]

-REDACTED-

[Serris]

Soren nodded. "She used a doctored warrant to go snooping through my burnt workshop and before that, she tried beating me up. I strongly urfe you to use caution in dealing with her."

Anne nodded. "Let me follow her. If anything goes wrong, I can use my radio horn implant to let you guys know."

"One problem, Emilena hates Augments."

Anne deflated. "Back to square one." Her ears suddenly pricked up. "Tony, Don Stracci has drones, right? Why don't we spy on them with drones?"

Soren tapped his fingers against the fine mahagony table. "That'll work but what if she's up to something? All we can do is watch."

[bushwacked]

Axel held his breath in the few moments after Stracci and Adrian had traded words, the tension between the two of them being thick enough to cut with a knife. The Don's threat - which Axel fully believed he would go through with if pushed - had reminded him that they were in the home, and at the mercy, of a powerful criminal mastermind. It left him feeling distinctly rattled.

"I'm... I'm sure Adrian meant nothing by it, sir," he said hesitantly. "We've been through a lot and it's... hard not to be cautious. We are grateful for everything you've done... More than you could imagine."

Swallowing, Axel turned his eyes to Emilena. "You... you actually heard this?" A hopeful smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. "If you're right, then it sounds like a decent plan! Or, a plan, at least, which is more than we've had before. Yeah, I... I say we go for it! We've got nothing to lose, right?!" He looked between the others, his smile faltering and his eyes dropping to the ground when he glanced at the Don and remembered the threats he'd been making just moments earlier.

[Pterano]

The don's countenance melted back into its more indifferent self upon Adrian responding. He even gave a slight smile, though it definitely had the air of confidence behind it of someone who could back up his words. "There... see? That's all I wanted." he said, spreading his arms now. He remained silent to let the others continue from this point on, until he caught Axel looking at him. "I'm sure." he responded simply to Axel's attempted reassurance, though gave no hint if he really believed it or not.

When Axel once again met his gaze, the don gave a slight thoughtful frown. "Well one thing I should say... is that I'll deal with the government pukes who are coming here for the night. I'll ensure they're so tied up with my hospitality that they won't be able to do much of anything else. They're playing into my paws after all by willingly coming here... knowing they have to surrender all their weapons and gadgets. So I'll keep them busy while you do whatever you want to do regarding this." he offered.


"What? She did that?" Tony whispered back, his brow furrowing in confusion. "Then what the hell is she doing hanging around with you guys?" he asked, uncertain on this. "And she hates augments? Sounds like she picked the wrong group... not to mention boyfriend... to pal around with." he murmured.

He listened to the plan about the drones, and nodded. "No... better to send some of my father's soldiers along if you're worried about her turning turncoat. I mean I don't know anything about her, but she suddenly shows up here offering to take us... and Lily for that matter, into some strange spot in the woods that we don't even know about? Doesn't sound like the safest of plans to me." the ferret commented. "Plus, you could just insist that Anne has to come along... it's a group effort, or no deal. I think we've already made it clear we don't trust her... say she needs to earn that trust by bringing whoever you want along." he said in hushed tones, pushing his claws onto the tabletop now.  

"In fact... why don't some of us check out this 'spot' first? See if what she said about it is true? If it is... then we send Lily along in the hopes that she can be cured, like Emelina said. IF Lily can even move that is..." he said now, glancing to the side and sighing.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Emilena hardly spared a glance at Adrian. It was after all an incredibly stupid decision on his part, and she'd never been particularly impressed by bravado anyway. Nor had she ever asked for a white knight to defend her.

She was far more interested in the don. She knew him as a ruthless and determined businessman who single-handedly made his family the leading crime syndicate. Somehow, she'd made a good first impression, and she hoped to keep it. "I agree with Axel's reservations about Kojurro. I suspect he may have...slightly off-color reasons for following Lily. Motivations Adrian would endorse."

She looked at the group. "It might be a dangerous hike. After all, we'd be heading somewhere that the Purifiers are also looking for. And I don't know anything about how this spot works...and you've all seen what exposure did to Lily. There's a risk of that happening to you. Hell, it might have already infected me; who knows."

She met the eyes of each person in the room. "I just want to make sure you each understand that whoever goes won't be in a comfy mansion with a gracious host anymore. We've all had some horrible nights recently, some of us could do with some downtime. But I think this trip should embark as soon as possible, before Lily's condition gets any worse."

------------------------------

Exstasis pulled out of the parking lot in a jet black Van, Sanjay in the passenger set.

"What do you know about the Straccis?" Exstasis asked.

[bushwacked]

Axel blinked at Emilena's comment on Kojuuro's 'motivations'. He opened his mouth to ask what she meant... then closed it again slowly when she continued speaking, deciding to bring it up later when they weren't discussing more important things. Even if that was true, it doesn't explain why she'd seem so scared of him... there's more to this going on...

His face set firmly. "I don't care about the risks. If it could help her, then I'm going. And hey, comfy mansions are overrated, right? Ah..." He coughed nervously, hoping Stracci hadn't caught that last comment. "I'll... I'll understand if not everyone wants to go. It's just something I have to do."

-------------------------

Marcus was standing motionless in the hallway. "We do what he says," he said lowly when Aaron backed out of the office. When the door closed behind him, Marcus added, "For now. As soon as we don't need Lupis anymore, I'll deal with him." Marcus snarled. "Personally."

[Serris]

(Pelvanida Parking Lot)

Sanjay adjusted his stolen and holstered pistol. "Aside from the fact that they and the Bak Long Triads are the two largest organized crime syndicatea in Lanthae? Not much."

----------

(The Heights)

Soren nodded. "But how do we know what to look for?" He then carefully peered through the small crack in the door as Axel, Emilena and the others argued

He then got up from the chair. "Anyways, I'll have a word with Emilena."

Soren then stepped out from the small study and crossed his arms as he fixed his gaze on the Vulpine. "All right, Emilena, I'll let you take Emilena to this location. But on two conditions: I and whoever I chose will accompany you with Lily. And you show us where this place is – before we allow you to bring Lily."

----------

(The Purifier Compound)

Aaron nodded. His natural canine night vision helped him navigate the dimly lit hallways. A few points of light showed where the less visually endowed were using flashlights.

"Marcus, I'll be overseeing work on the transformer if you need me. Speaking of which, I heard the name 'Patrick Anderson' mentioned in a newspaper story. Turns out one one of ours got to him. Shall we...finish the job?"

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

"I literally just invited everybody who wanted to go," Emilena reminded Soren, as if she were talking to a fifth-grader. "You don't get to choose anything; they can volunteer themselves."

She turned to Axel. "Thank you for agreeing to come without trying to tell everyone else what to do. Now, regarding whether Lily comes with us; obviously I think she should, since from what I heard her status is deteriorating at an alarming rate. But the two here who really have the right to make that judgment are Axel and Lord Stracci. Axel since he's the only one in the room that's really proven his loyalty to Lily, and Lord Stracci because Lily is currently recuperating under his medical care."

She glanced at Soren again. "That's just my opinion of course; since Mr. Almaya wants to make decisions for the entire group, he might not agree."

------------------------------

"That should be enough," growled Exstasis. "Now, our goal is to learn what we can, so try to use your charms to get us as far as you can into the mansion. I've got trackers and bugs I can plant after that. I've also got a psionic reader in my eyepiece; I'm hoping to pick up evidence as to whether they've held Ms. North at any time."

He stopped at a red light. "But you better be damn careful, or they're just gonna shoot both of us. You understand?"

[bushwacked]

Axel looked quickly between Emilena and Soren, feeling the tension rising. He held his hands up. "Guys, come on, we can't argue! That won't help anyone." He faced the human. "Look, I... I don't think we have time to scout it out before we bring Lily. She was looking bad and Tony said it was just getting worse.... I don't think we have a choice. Taking her out there is the only thing we can do."

He glanced over his shoulder at Emilena. "I can't think of why she'd double cross us... Besides, I think we can trust her. Why else would she say we can take whoever we want?"

-------------------------------

Marcus scowled as they walked. "Patrick Anderson? He didn't listen to our last warning?" He grunted. "Too bad for him. He dies."

[Pterano]

Tony shook his head. "I have no idea..." he said softly, then got up to follow Soren. It seemed as though Emelina didn't exactly dig Soren's orders. Well... so much for that idea.

"Don... Don Stracci." Don Stracci corrected Emelina with a smile. "I ain't descended from no goddamn European royalty after all." he pointed out, looking around and chuckling a little bit. "Don Stracci is fine. I ain't no lord."

A small smile spread across Tony's features as well at this. He then decided to speak up of his own accord, lifting a claw in the air. "Uh... one problem. Lily might not exactly be capable of moving." he said now. "Is there a road that runs by those woods? Cause short of carrying her ourselves... which would really slow us down, I don't see how else we're gonna get her out there. But I am going to go check on her condition and see if she's capable of moving." he threw in now at the end.

"If you're going out there... you aren't going alone." Don Stracci muttered. "I'll assign you a detail... and you'll be taking Mr. Stryker with you." Tony's eyes went wide at this. Mr. Stryker of course wasn't his real name... no one but his father knew his real name... but he was certainly one of the more feared enforcers and hitmen in his father's organization. The don pushed his earpiece now. "Mr. Fontana... arrange for Mr. Stryker to meet me near the infirmary." he ordered.

"You got it, sir. Don Stracci... that information on Denny North is in." the iguana informed his boss.

"I'll take it in my office. Come on... let's go ensure you can visit Ms. North." Don Stracci said to his son now, nodding with his head. "Please... excuse us a few moments."

The two ferrets left the group now, heading through a series of hallways that dead ended at the hidden elevator. Both went through the steps to activate the thing, the wall sliding back to reveal the large elevator behind. "Go on... I'll go back to the others." the don stated.

Tony nodded, and stepped in, riding down deep into the cliff and finally arriving at the secret safe rooms. The ferret noted the Doktor seemed to be off. Approaching Lily's bed now, Tony glanced down at her. "Lily... it's Tony... can you hear me?" he asked, gently shaking her.

Upstairs, the don arrived back with the group. "All right... my son's checking on her. How are you planning on moving her if she can't move on her own?" he inquired, looking at Emelina.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

"Is she really that bad...?" Emilena put a troubled look on her face. "Hmmm. Perhaps a gurney, if we have high-quality ones that don't make any sound. Or a wheelchair. It has to be able to navigate in the forest. I'm sorry, I haven't seen her, so I don't know the nuances of her condition."

She looked around. "Where is Kojurro anyway? And has he ever explained to anybody why he's been following us since he randomly appeared in the hospital parking lot? He doesn't appear to have a connection to anyone."

-------------------------

Lily stirred. Her extremities had basically stopped growing at this point; all three of her appendages were covered in crusted blood but they appear to have become functional parts. Her tail was swaying slightly, recalibrating her balance as she shifted positions to get a look at Toby. She didn't say anything, but Toby had her strangely rapt attention.

[Pterano]

"She was in a medical bed the last I knew." Don Stracci answered Emelina. "I don't know if we have anything mobile like a gurney but... how far did you say this location was?" he asked.


Down below, Tony suddenly froze as he was staring into what seemed to be a very coherent Lily's eyes. And a very changed Lily for that matter. But how... was... she better? "Um... Lily?" Tony asked again. "Can you get up and walk? We have to take you someplace... can you stand?" he asked, enunciating his words just in case she couldn't understand him.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Lily continued staring at Tony. She seemed to be examining him. She let her gaze run along his flank, lingered on his neck, and finally meet his gaze unblinkingly with her bright red eyes. The pupils had become smaller than ever.

She squinted and shook her head, dizzily. Assuming a crouching position, Lily got onto her knees and shakily climbed off the bed. Her stoney skin seemed slightly lustrous, a side effect of its natural ability to reflect light away from it.

She stood shakily, but her tail twitched to help keep her balance. It was actually rather sleek and stretched to the ground.

All in all, the figure standing before Axel was quite a sight, but not necessarily a pleasant or comforting one.

-------------------------------

"It's a little out of the way, but not too bad," Emilena replied evasively. She didn't want to reveal any more of the location than she had to.

She regarded their host with grace, but on the inside her thoughts were spinning. He's just going to relinquish control of a psionic monster, let us walk away with it? That's not the mafia don I've heard of...

[Pterano]

"Oh my god..." Tony whispered, in awe at the sight before him. He noted how she seemed to be looking him over... as if he was new to her, or something. But... would she be OK to touch? Gulping, he reached out now, slowly... slowly... very slowly. He gently grasped her hand, hoping nothing would happen to him...


The don caught the evasive answer and narrowed his eyes again. "Out of the way, you say?" He had his own plans... but first things first. "Mmm." he said, nodding now, a thin smile spreading across his features. "I see... of course it is. Such evasive answers, Ms. Echo. If I didn't know better... I'd say you didn't want me to find this place." he said now, his smile growing.