"GHEIST man walking!"
"I..I'd appreciate it if you just did this quickly and quietly...if only for the sake of my nerves."
As Valentina led him through the main cell corridor, Jaxx couldn't help feeling rather nervous; having only visited prisons in the company of his muscular goons, the fact he was being thrown into one practically alone was causing him to "shrink". He should have realised the more timid personalities would have shown themselves, but it was all part of his plan, even at the risk of a few odd looks from his fellow prisoners for looking as awkward as he did.
"I still don't know why you were so willing to give yourself up like that. Heh, maybe some of that will rub off on your friend."
"Oooh, friend," he said, snapping out of his nervous stance. "You say friend. Friends are only good for those not smart enough to put their faith purely in fact. Facts never let you down or stab you in the back. Or act like pricks. So no friends for me, thank you. Just acquaintances who haven't pissed me off yet."
"Oh, I'd recognise that rambling any day."
As he heard the cell door slam behind him, Jaxx's attention was focused on the figure who stood before him; after hearing certain kinds of stories throughout the laboratory, the redhead's reaction to reuniting with Luba seemed somewhat awkward, and this time it didn't seem to revolve around her mechanical arm.
"What's wrong, Jaxx? You look as if you've seen a ghost."
"That odd little lad, who acts like the caretaker...he said you were-"
"Never trust a single word that comes out of Strynge's mouth, Jaxx. He's the kind of guy who finds it fun to spread bullshit," Luba explained, feeling so irritated by that very fact that she could barely keep eye contact with her fellow GHEIST. "He probably started some rumour that I was dead, didn't he?"
"I'd...best not answer that," Jaxx replied, feeling the sweat forming on the back of his neck; despite the fact he'd had no part to play in the rumour spread, having his neck broken played no part in his intended plan. And Luba was the kind of woman who easily got the wrong end of the stick and let anger take over, hence why assassination came so easily to her.
At that moment, they heard footsteps pattering on the prison floor; soon revealing themselves to belong to a certain Rebecca, Jaxx couldn't help feeling like it was the perfect time to initiate his good behaviour. Unfortunately, he still had a hint of his manic side showing in his smile.
"Afternoon, Miss Kyles."
The female's response was an awkward glance in his direction as she quickened her pace through the cells' main corridor.
"You're going to get a reputation for seeming like a pervert, you know," Luba commented, unable to keep herself from giggling slightly.
"I'm just trying to be nice, that's all."
"Nice?" She repeated, suddenly sounding quite disgusted at the very notion. "You're a member of the GHEIST, Jaxx. We don't do nice."
"Just because we don't do doesn't mean we can't. Nice does have it's advantages, Miss Rhinehart."
"What?"
"Think about it. The fact I'm not the looming hulk the Rescue made me out to be means people aren't taking all the rumours about me seriously. So it shouldn't be too hard to convince these morons of the law that I'm actually just a decent guy and they'll let me out ridiculously early like they do with all prisoners they misjudge. Besides, I gave myself up willingly."
"And a true GHEIST would never go without a fight," The female continued, sounding rather impressed. "Heh, I don't care what Vryer says about you, you're one smart cookie!"
"And what does Mr "Oooh Look At Me, I Hatched Kolos" Cohen say about me, exactly?"
"I'd...best not answer that," she replied, copying her clanmate's earlier response and sounding a little awkward.
"Never mind about that. Once I'm out of captivity, I shall reek my revenge. I'll eradicate Anderson. I'll eradicate whichever harlot he's decided is his girlfriend this week. I'll eradicate the whole of that darn Rescue clan! Heck, I'll even eradicate the whole of the city including myself if I have to!...I'm joking on that last one. I could never kill myself. Couldn't kill any of my fellow GHEIST either. Actually, I could kill Mr Cohen. But not you, never you."
Noticing the slightly scared look that Luba was giving him, Jaxx couldn't help giving a nervous chuckle; yet nerves turned to realisation when he felt something bulky in his jacket pocket and produced the shiny disc from earlier that day.
"Oh, but not before leaving this and hoping they mistake it for their own."
Carefully grasping the disc from him, Luba couldn't help staring in awe as if she was trying to memorise the very object inside and out.
"C0P-0UT!" She gasped, as if she still couldn't believe it. "Zero Dead kept talking about this but I never thought he'd actually finish it. This could crash their system ten times over with negative chance of recovery. It would practically ruin the Sentinel!"
"That's right, Miss Rhinehart, announce the entire agenda of affairs," Jaxx replied, rather sarcastically; though sarcasm soon turned to curiosity when he noticed a figure from the cell next door try to catch his attention.
"Hey, Jack the Ripper! Did I hear you right? You have a virus that could wipe the entire Sentinel force?"
"Well, a technological virus anyway, I..." The GHEIST male began, before suddenly cutting off when he realised he was confessing all to a complete stranger. "Just who the bloody hell are you?"
"The name's Patrick, but I often just go by Zatman," he replied, unable to keep from sounding a little hopeful that Jaxx might have known who he was.
"Yes, the exact same Zatman who's part of the Uppers," Luba said, feeling her clan mate would ask the next most-obvious question.
"But I thought rich people never went to prison..."
"I won't be here for too long if my clan's lawyers have anything to say about it," he explained, with a rather devious smirk on his face.
"Those guys must be as rich as you, given how many fights you get involved in," Luba commented, unable to keep herself from smirking. "So who was it this time? Ray? Armand? Griezzo?"
"One of the Rescue, actually," the Upper said, in a slightly pained way as he suddenly winced. "But that wasn't before I tried to teach your Vladimir a lesson and your stupid panther jumped me. Almost tore into my ankle. Tried to help get from the Rescue and their medicine was prison when Scott tried to pick a fight and I ended up flooring him."
Hitching his left trouser leg up slightly to reveal the ankle in question, his injury actually shocked the two GHEIST into silence; noticing it was not a gentle nibble but a savage chomp, the odd mixture of blood and bruising against the tender flesh hue meant they were unable to stop looking at it.
"Now I have the sudden urge to bite someone," Jaxx announced, out of the blue; noticing the odd, slightly perturbed looks that Luba and Zatman were giving him, he couldn't help grinning rather nervously as he began to explain.
"I get these urges sometimes, it's ever since the gas..."
He trailed off, his words soon being replaced by slow and heavy breathing which soon turned to what looked like hyperventilation. Trying his best not to slip as he did so, Jaxx leant against and slowly slid down the prison wall; looking more and more pained by the second, when he finally reached the floor he was positioned in a somewhat awkward, leaning sit.
"What's happening to him?" Zatman asked, sounding a little irked. "Should we get a doctor? Do the Sentinel even have a doctor?"
"A doctor isn't going to help," the redhead managed to declare, despite his constant pain and twinges.
"Jaxx..." Luba said, sounding rather wary as if she had the horrible feeling she knew what exactly was happening. "Just answer the question. What's up with you?"
"They took my gas and I bloody well need it!"