"Tell me again why we were just in Vryer's experimental quarters."

"It's simple, really," was the calm, yet slightly cocky response. "I just wanted to see what the snivelling, pointy-eared bastard was up to."

It was common for the GHEIST to sneak and scour when it came to their enemies' locations; yet due to his own suspicions, Jaxx had brought it upon himself to do a little surveillance on one of his own clanmates. And whilst many would have accused Ernst of simply following the redhead out of habit, it was known that the Ratman had a very deep, bitter spot for the pale-skinned scientist aswell.

"I don't get it," Ernst said, tilting his head like an inquisitive canine as he continued to stare at the powdery pile on the counter. "What's so suspicious about this, exactly?"

"Well think about it, Mr Wissenschaft," Jaxx responded, reciting the points on his gloved fingers. "Mr Cohen starts failing on his findings, disappears for a few days, returns with this powder stuff alongside an itching desire for new findings...and now everyone suddenly wants to help with his research despite him still being an arrogant, blunt arsehole."

He'd expected some kind of immediate, malicious retort in agreement to his insults about Vryer, so when Jaxx was faced with silence he wondered just what was going through Ernst's mind at that moment.

"Do you get it now, Mr Wissenschaft?"

"The room...it's full of cheese," he said, his drifting tone soon turning ecstatic. "Who left all this cheese here? It's simply herrlich."

"Just what are you blathering on about, Mr Wissenschaft?" Jaxx asked, sounding rather irritated at Ernst's seemingly unnecessary nonsense; irritation soon turning to concern when he noticed the trance-like state in the Ratman's eyes.

Gently pressing the mask part to the other male's face as he bend down to his level, Jaxx was careful to release only the tiniest snifter of gas; it wasn't the safest or most pleasant solution, but it was the only one he knew. As the snifter entered his lungs, Ernst was soon coughing and spluttering like there was no tomorrow; a reaction Jaxx had often seen to those not used to his Xantio-serum, but a short one nonetheless as his fellow GHEIST was soon his usual, untranced self.

"Was...," he began, his German sounding a little slowed down as if he was seeping back into reality. "Was in der..."

"It seems we could be dealing with very hallucinogenic substances, Mr Wissenschaft," he explained, gently placing a hand on his shoulder before standing up to take a closer look at their findings. "It would be wise to keep that keen, scavenger-esque nature of yours under control."

Pulling off one of his gloves and running his bare finger along the mess of powder residing on the counter, Jaxx was careful to take a gentle sniff; almost choking a little at the mere smell he was quick to rub all traces off his skin, whilst fending off Ernst's slightly slobbery attempts to help.

"It seems the key issue here is where on earth Mr Cohen's getting this stuff. He can't have created this himself, he can't even replicate my Xantio-serum...unless he stole some of it and has been messing around the compound structure. If that's the case, he's as good as dead if me and Red Monarch have anything to say about it. Where did I put that knife anyway?"

His straightforward explanation had soon turned into another, slightly manic rant of words, causing Ernst to roll his eyes once more at his fellow GHEIST's somewhat annoying habit. However, annoyance soon turned to tension when the Ratman noticed Jaxx run his finger through the powder once again and actually ingest the grains that had stuck to his still bare-skin.

"I'm all for being one up on the enemy, but I don't think Mr Cohen has any idea just exactly what he's messing with," the redhead explained, noticing the other male's tense stance and chuckling it off. "Oh please. With the amount of gas I've taken in my lifetime, did you really think this was going to send me on some psycho-hippy trip?"

"Jah," Ernst replied, sounding rather serious. "You're so unpredictable, it's dangerous."

"Unpredictability is a good thing, Mr Wissenschaft. Keeps the enemy on their toes. Now, I think we may need a little textual help with this one," he said, gazing up at the books in the top shelf. Realising he wouldn't be able to read their spines without a little boost, he immediately jumped; holding onto the shelf's thin ledge with just his fingers, Jaxx quickly scanned the titles staring him in the face.

"You could have just stood on mein back, jah?" Ernst commented, shaking his head and giving a little 'tsk' when faced with the response of "you fidget too much". However, chuckles soon turned to concern when he noticed the bookshelf began to wobble slightly.

"Be careful!"

"I found it!" Jaxx retorted, holding the located book in the air in quite a triumphant manner; celebrations soon cut short when the metal shelving began to tip over and crash to the ground. Luckily, the redhead was far from smushed, but his awkward fall to avoid being so had caused him to smack his head rather heavily on the tile-esque floor.

"Jaxx! Are you ok?!" Ernst exclaimed, sounding rather frantic as he gently lifted the redhead's head and suddenly shuddering when he felt the flowing blood.

"Perfectly fine, Mr Wissenschaft," he replied, managing to keep his speech from slurring despite his injuries. "I only hit my head, nothing too serious."

"You're an insane dummkopf," Ernst replied, but it was all in good faith as he sighed in relief at the fact his clanmate was still conscious. "What is that book anyway?"

"It's my own personal copy of Potency- Potions, Poisons and Powders. Sure, it may be a little outdated to some scientists..."

"It's ten years old!"

"Yes, but I keep it up to date with my own notes."

Opening up the thumbed, slightly dog-eared text, it seemed Jaxx had been true to his word; every page scribbled on in fountain pen, every picture captioned with notes and on one particular page, there was even a case of his regular rambling, but in the written word.

"How this is even considered lethal, none of my test subjects were even sick from it," Ernst muttered, slowing down and looking rather insulted when he noticed the accompanying doodle. "Why is there a drawing of ein rat underneath that?"

"Don't get too mad at me Mr Wissenschaft, but I used to use rats as test subjects. It fascinated me how they seemed to survive everything. Just like you do. Highly tuned to poison, aren't you? Could sneak in the smallest drop and you'd still pick it up, you poison-resistant freaks, you-what are you doing?"

Hearing a rather fabricated rip, Jaxx was surprised to see part of the other male's rodent-like, coarse-haired arm exposed as he held the newly-separated fabric in his other; tensing up a little when he noticed the Ratman approach him, he couldn't help feeling relieved that the other GHEIST was actually being gentle around his tender head. Soon donning a bandage of Ernst's ripped, coat sleeve, Jaxx then found himself flipping through the pages of his dog-eared book; sighing in quite an annoyed way when his suspicions were confirmed, but also because the black, makeshift bandage had slipped over his right eye.

"Nope, I should have known," he said, hoisting the sleeve back up and regaining his sight. "Nothing here in the book about this darn powder."

Noticing Jaxx's attention was taken by his book, Ernst couldn't help letting his natural curiosity take over as he stretched up over the counter to take another look at the powder (somewhat putting you in the mind of a large dog trying to reach up to the dinner table). However, a sudden sneeze was enough to send the powder falling in a snow-esque flurry, with the Ratman soon trying to reach the flakes on his nose with his tongue.

"Mr Wissenschaft, you truly don't learn from your mistakes, do you?" Jaxx said, approaching Ernst and wiping the powder from his nose with his sleeve. "And it seems that Mr Cohen hasn't given a name to his creation. I was thinking Xantiare, since my other two..."

Trailing off, he could feel a sudden twinge in his chest; one that he hoped was a premature need for gas, as he didn't consider Vryer a valid candidate to actually feel guilty about in terms of claiming hi creation.

"I'm going to return the powder to Mr Cohen's quarters right now," he said, rather deliberately as he spoke out loud and almost forcing his being to relax. It was a lie, of course, but Jaxx wanted to make sure the pain wasn't due to guilt; sighing with relief when that wasn't the case, but now slightly worried as he had no idea what was causing it.

However, his ponderings were soon interrupted by another familiar clan face; hovering by their doorside was none other than Erika, and when SHE she wanted your attention, it often only meant one thing.

"Jaxx, Ernst...erm, Sigmund's on one of his visits and he says he needs to discuss things with you. Like, right now."

-

"So Mr Britton...have you managed to rid the city of that darn ruffian yet?"

It wasn't often that the GHEIST members were able to talk to their esteemed leader for more than two seconds, yet Jaxx had had the honour of conversing with Sigmund in his study on many occasions. This had often branded him Sigmund's 'pet' amongst the clan and there had been many jokes about the seagull growing jealous, but the truth was that Sigmund considered Jaxx the least moronic amongst the members; regarding him higher than even Erika, despite the fact the feisty female served as the perfect bodyguard to his cause.

"I'm afraid the Rescue are growing in strength with every day," Jaxx said, giving Ernst an experienced glance; many a time, the Ratman had had to make a hasty retreat from the hospital after staring through the barrel of Ash's gun or Nancy's super-powered fire-hose. "It's getting more and more difficult to break into their ranks."

"So what exactly have you been doing for the clan then?"

It had been an innocent enough question, but to Jaxx it had been nothing more than a cleverly disguised insult; spitting out his tea in disgust, he couldn't help glaring at his leader in quite a dark, stony way.

"I'll have you know that I do plenty of important research for this clan!" He exclaimed, seeming frustrated; frustration soon turning to slight embarrassment when he noticed the somewhat irked stare he was receiving from Sigmund.

"What on earth happened to you?" He asked, staring at the sleeve bandage peeping from beneath Jaxx's bowler hat, only to be faced with the somewhat blunt response of "It's really nothing, Mr Gheist. Just discovery."

"Oh? And just what kind of discovery required your bandage?"

They began to tell him everything they knew and understood; Jaxx happily explaining about what he had discovered and the potential it had (along with the embarrassing bookshelf incident), and Ernst just babbling on about a light-headedness and how he wished he'd managed to get a hold of that cheese.

"Ok, now you've explained to me what it can do, I think I understand a little better now. But I still don't see what use this would have to our domination—well, it seems we haven't finished, Mr Britton," Sigmund said, sounding rather serious as he noticed the Jaxx suddenly pouring a little scarlet something into his tea. "Explain."

"It's nothing, it's really nothing," the redhead gabbled, frantically trying to hide away the vial with his free hand; silently swearing when the glass tube suddenly slipped from his grasp, Sigmund and Ernst couldn't help gazing down at the seeping puddle in a rather suspicious manner.

"Once again...explain."

"I...I managed to formulate a liquid version of my Xantio-serum and-"

"See, that's the type of thing that would aid our conquest. Oh it just disappoints me that you'd use it for something as pathetic as your tea. What's to stop us from enhancing Clint City's water supply with a little 'Scarlet Fever'?"

"With no disrespect, that suggestion is just moronic," he immediately retorted, daring to continue despite the other GHEIST'S sudden dark expression. "Xantio-serum is only effective in a concentrated dose, so even if we did managed to leak enough to avoid the dilutions...well. I know we've called the citizens of this city imbeciles in the past, but I doubt even they're stupid enough to go ahead and drink the bright-red water."

No one had ever spoken to Sigmund like that before. Well, no one who hadn't been exterminated as a result that is, with the other result being that the tension that fell over the trio was so thick, the GHEIST could have cut it with a knife and easily had third helpings of 'awkward silence' pie.

As if he was hesitant to do so, Ernst slowly began to raise his hand, only to withdraw two seconds later with an annoyed shake of the head. It was bad enough having Jaxx being easily annoyed at his curiosity, so adding Sigmund to the equation was nearly asking for suicide. Then again, Sigmund had always had an odd kind of soft spot for the Ratman, even before the experiments; in fact, the experiments had been his own, slightly morbid way of saving the homeless' Ernst's life, a saving grace and chance at purpose when his life had completely crashed. A lot of the GHEIST weren't too comfortable around him during first encounters, especially since he was a result of their leader's rare moments of mercy, and if truth be told they still found him a little too weird. Jaxx was one of the few GHEIST who let him hang around because he actually enjoyedthe Ratman's company, and as a return of friendship Ernst was always willing to help the redhead with all kinds of freaky scientifics.

And said redhead was now staring at him in a somewhat bemused manner.

"You had something to say, Mr Wissenschaft?"

"Jah," he replied, almost seeming a little reluctant to carry on, especially when he turned to face an intrigued Sigmund.

"Das formulate...it's actually property of Vryer."

Jaxx couldn't believe it. Was the rat seriously ratting him out?

"Please. If it has 'Xan' in it's name, then it's clearly mine"

"But just back in ein lab quarters, you were still considering the name and-"

"That's enough, Mr Wissenschaft!" He exclaimed, feeling pissed off enough to raise his hand to strike him, but knowing it wasn't an option with their leader present; anger soon turning to anxiety when the redhead realised just how guilty he appeared due to his reaction.

"Well," Sigmund began, staring Jaxx down in a very disapproving manner. "It seems I still have a lot to learn about you. Stealing from the enemy is permitted, but I thought it was clear that stealing from our own was off-limits. Despite what we may create, science still demands that brotherhood and decency live amongst the ranks. I don't tolerate petty thieves, Mr Britton, never have done and never will do. And if what Ernst has just said is true, well then...if you don't watch yourself, you may find that you'll no longer be of use to me."

-

They didn't really understand themselves why they chosen to sit out in the rain. And then they realised it hadn't really been through choice.

As Jaxx shuddered at the mere feeling of the heavy drops crashing through his clothes, Ernst was actually enjoying himself; head back and mouth open as if trying to catch the liquid bullets on his tongue, he was still grinning like an idiot after he had to withdraw from his little game. His excitable expressions had been met with nothing but the deepest silence from the redhead, and now it was really beginning to get on his nerves just how happy his clanmate could be in that situation.

"This is all your bloody fault, you know."

It was those very words that soon snapped the Ratman out of his childish, good mood.

"Die hölle?! You're holding this against me?"

"You ratted me out. That was really, bloody unfair of you."

"You have nein idea just how unfair life can be, Jaxx."

"Excuse me?"

Despite perfectly knowing what the Ratman had just said, the redhead couldn't help staring at him in a manner that silently dared him to repeat his last statement.

"I said you have nein idea just how unfair life can be," Ernst began, in the most serious tone he'd been known to use. "Unfair is telling two beautiful children who are just starting school why their Mutter isn't there to see them off. Unfair is trying to support those children, but you know it isn't going to get better no matter how hard you try. Unfair is watching them being snatched away from you because of slander and lies. And then it's knowing you're never going to see them again, especially when some scientists have their own morbid way of giving you another chance."

"Do you really think Germany isn't going to have any problems with this!" He then exclaimed, grabbing his tail in a manner of blatant disgust before sighing in what seemed like regret. "I'm sorry. I just miss them so much. And even though they're all grown up now...no one deserves to be without their Vater."

"You...you've got that right," Jaxx replied, his voice sounding somewhat thick and heavy as if he was about to start crying; the rainwater dripping down his face being the perfect guise against the emotional streams he felt were inevitable. All this talk was reminding him of his own father, and he often wondered if he would be the same, demented rogue if they hadn't been separated when they were. Thinking about the incident usually made him angry, but the wet nature of the rain was enough to distract him from rage.

"Hmmm...back there, Mr Gheist said something about spreading a little Scarlet Fever...you don't think he knows about me trying to defend the Sentinel from Mr Dead's attacks, do you? Oh dear lawd, I hope not, because then I'm already in enough hot water as it is and-"

His somewhat worried musings were soon interrupted by a short, sharp sneeze from the Ratman, followed by another and then another.

"I don't care how pissed off Mr Gheist is at me, we're going back right now" he stated, immediately getting up from his concrete seat. "The last thing we need is you catching pneumonia."

"Rats don't catch pneumonia, silly," was the childish retort.

"You still have the man part in you, remember? You're still very targetable...and now I think about it, I may actually have something on me."

"Sie liegen."

"No, it's truth. Here," Jaxx said, gently placing the hot, flask lid on the Ratman's lap. Some may have been suspicious at the mere possibility of a GHEIST act of kindness but more often than not, the scientists did actually look out for their own, and Jaxx felt the perfect remedy for the situation was soup. Soup of the chicken kind, with a little cheese thrown in for measure as Jaxx had often suspected Ernst to be the most likely to fall to illness during their exploits.

However, it seemed that even the addition of cheese was not enough to make the Ratman remotely interested in eating.

"You've put something in this," he said, glaring at the redhead in quite a dark manner. "I can smell it. And it's certainly not das cheese."

"A touch of the proper formula never hurt anyone, Mr Wissenschaft," Jaxx said, a somewhat devious smile on his face as he ushered the bowl towards him. "Ever noticed that I'm never ill? It's just the gas."

His somewhat creepy explanation was met with the same, dark glare, causing him to suddenly take up a false, caring persona.

"~Someone has the means to ward off the sniffles..."

"I'd rather have the sniffles than follow your directions and go against GHEIST protocol again," Ernst scowled, almost spitting his words out until he trailed off in a somewhat, distracted manner, was unable to keep himself from sighing. "Though I guess I was wrong to throw you under the bus like that. But you have to understand, you can't just-"

"You can't spout lies and claim credit infront of Mr Gheist and not expect to be punished in some way or another. I completely understand, Mr Wissenschaft," Jaxx explained, glancing in the other male's direction with a rather coy smile on his face. "Even at the chance of usurping Mr Cohen."

Suddenly feeling the flask being snatched from him, Jaxx was somewhat surprised and disappointed that Ernst was pouring the soup back and replacing the lid without so much as a single sip; disappointment soon turning to intrigue when he noticed the Ratman begin to scurry off, handle between his teeth as he carried said flask in his mouth.

"Hey, just where are you going with that?"

"I know someone who would want a taste of this much more than I do," he replied, removing the flask from his mouth as he did so, before perking up as if he'd suddenly remembered something. "Oh, before we return, is it ok if we go and pay ein besuch to Bernie? He promised I could try his secret recipe next time I saw him."

"...are you really sure you of all people want to do that?"

But Ernst had already scampered off before Jaxx could get a response to his question. Shaking his head and giving a chuckle as he did so, the redhead couldn't help but feel that despite the inevitable chaos that was to come, company with the Berzerk member would be a welcome, needed distraction.

Besides, it was said that Sigmund wasn't one to easily and quickly dismiss any disagreements...