March 30, 1986
Horror and Kraken moved through the hallways. When they were younger Horror had always been half-afraid to work with him. He generally took too many risks and ended up bleeding somehow by the time he got home. Kraken had also always had an odd intensity in his eyes that had made Horror uncomfortable. However, if he had thought that that was intense, it was nothing compared to what was reflected in his solitary eye now.
That was probably the reason why he had stood back and let him deal with the first batch of guards that they had run into. Blood had flown and seconds later Horror was trying to navigate his way through the limbs. Kraken didn't say anything to him about it, just kept moving. Horror could only pray that his other brothers and niece would be able to find Vi unharmed. He didn't want to think about what would happen if she was otherwise.
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"In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeeeeps toniiiiiiiiight!" sang Séance as he used his powers to slam another man into the wall.
He was enjoying himself. That was a rare and exotic oddity in his life. He generally didn't enjoy himself very much, just walked around with a vague air of amusement and irritation. So saying that he was actually enjoying himself made him feel even better. It was like a wonderful little cycle.
"Hush my darling, don't fear my darling, the lion sleeeeeeeps toniiiiiight!" he continued as he made two of the guards shoot each other.
The week had started boring, then there was the shampoo betrayal issue, followed by locking up the girl he'd later learned was his niece. Then there were the revelations. Those had been pretty entertaining. The only downer was that there had been a rather disappointing lack of "Luke, I am your father"s, but he figured that they would come in some form or another.
"Oweeeeeeeeeee-eh-eh-eh-!" he yoddled.
"Will you shut the up!?" demanded Space.
"Oweeeeeeeeeee-eh-eh-eh-!" he snapped back at his brother.
He got a kick out of the way Space threw his hands up hopelessly. Classic.
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Claire ran down the hallways, shocking the hell out of anyone she ran into. The last few hours had invigorated her, and right now her powers were working better than they had in weeks. Normally she would try to take out a few without them but there were too many people with guns. She wasn't about to risk getting shot.
She thundered down another hallway and stopped dead. Several people were already laid out on the floor. Some of them were unconscious and from the bones poking out of their skins would probably be better off remaining so. Looking further down she saw a man whose head appeared to have been knocked off. Claire fought the urge to vomit, turning her head aside. Then she realized that someone had already beaten her to it.
That cleared her mind and made her think. Who would've decapitated and hurt so men like this? While she was by no means a cop or an investigator she knew that it couldn't have been done by a professional. Certainly it looked like it had been done efficiently, but clumsily at the same time. Then, to back that up, there was the vomit like the person had been surprised and disgusted by what had happened.
At that thought Vi's name raced across her mind. No, she couldn't be strong enough to do this. Yet, hadn't she once nearly knocked all of a man's teeth out of his head with a single punch? Hadn't she just mysteriously healed all of her gunshots? She was the daughter of two people who were very definitely different. Perhaps she had had some powers that she herself hadn't even known about.
She lingered at the scene for longer than she should've. It was certainly food for thought. For one thing it told her that Vi was probably no longer in captivity. If they had come to get a girl who had already rescued herself than…well…that would just be far too ironic. Now she knew how Kraken must've felt when he'd run into her the day before.
Of course, maybe Vi wasn't trying to escape. She might've figured out that they'd be coming for her and was trying to meet up with them. That seemed unlikely though. What was more likely, and slightly more terrifying, was the prospect that Vi was trying to take on her captors singlehanded. She couldn't be that stupid, right? She would know better than to try something like that.
Even as she thought that, she knew that yes, it was possible for Vi to do something like that. She had always had a rather overdeveloped sense of justice. If she saw someone doing something wrong then she would charge in, heedless of the consequences. Claire really couldn't complain though. It was how they had met after all.
Still, perhaps whoever had captured her had done something wrong. Well worse than kidnapping her. Vi might've gone off to find them and give them a piece of her mind. It was entirely possible. Scared now she looked around for any clue as to what her friend had done after running into the men.
She found it in the boot imprint on a man's chest. Unlike the others it wasn't the half-print of a roundhouse kick. It was like she'd stepped on him on her way out. Vi had a habit of doing that with people she didn't particularly like. However, this one seemed to indicate that she was headed towards the staircase, further in. Frantically saying every curse she'd ever heard Claire redirected herself.
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Vi felt like she was on fire. She'd never run this fast, hit this hard, felt so little fatigue, or believed herself to be this aware. It was like every single noise was suddenly amplified by a sixth sense. It was all almost too much to bear. Fervently she hoped that she'd be able to throw those walls up again once she got out of that place. Once she'd killed Jormungand.
At the end of the hallway she was in it opened up into a huge room. It looked like a storage area, filled with crates and boxes. Upon investigating one she saw the logo of a serpent wrapped around the globe. The tattoo of the man who had shot her earlier came into mind. Angrily she punched into the crate.
Like she expected the wood shattered under her fist. To her surprise though, white powder mushroomed out of the impact. Almost immediately she knew what it was, had smelt it before when they'd done drug busts. Trying very hard not to breathe in she took a few steps away from it, gritting her teeth.
"Tsk tsk. First the guards then the merchandise? You're learning very quick."
She turned around and glared at the baby-faced man in the suit.
"You're a mad scientist and a cocaine dealer?" she snapped.
"I sell other things," Jormungand shrugged, tossing a large hunting knife up in the air and catching it compulsively, "People, weapons, sometimes I do a few robberies. Dayton's the perfect place to do these sorts of things."
"It's not a crime factory," snapped Vi, "People live here."
"Yeah, people who are only too willing to sell themselves and their beliefs," snorted Jormungand, "I grew up here too you know. I learned that it's a shithole, and it's always gonna be a shithole and no one's ever going to do anything about it. Might as well make something for myself."
She shook her head.
"People like you are the reason the world is the way it is," she said, "In fact, you're the reason my world is the way it is. And believe me; I plan on doing something about it."
"Oh?" asked Jormungand, amused, "Which would be?"
Vi grinned slowly.
"Ripping out your heart and shoving it so far down your throat you choke on it," she replied.
