A/N: Thanks so much to Rowe, Enigma and Northern Star for their advice and tolerance towards my incessant babble. ;-P
-
You know, 452, you're much prettier than in your picture
"So Ames, how does it feel being the one dangling from chains? How does it feel to be weak and vulnerable?"
I had woken up to find myself hanging upside down from the same rafter where I had previously perched. Standing behind 452 were the freaks who she had been sitting with at the table. This time all they held guns and wore wary expressions as if half fearful that I'd do a David Copperfield and slip loose from the ropes that bound my wrists and ankles.
At 452's question, I felt my face twitch with barely controlled anger and took a deep silent breath to calm myself. I was hardly thrilled to be their living piniada but I wasn't about to give them the satisfaction of knowing this.
"Get over yourself 452. Do you think you and your freaky little friends scare me? No 452, you bore me."
As she stepped closer, my eyes subconsciously ran down her body until they came to rest on the hips which swayed with each measured step. Catching myself, I felt the self-disgust rise to my throat like bile and choked it back down again. Clearing my eyes of all emotion as they met hers, I gave her a mocking smile, wondering if I should have allowed my gaze to linger longer, knowing the self-revulsion would be worth it to watch her squirm with discomfort beneath my stare.
Ignoring my contempt, 452's eyes drifted over my face, her breath brushing my cheek. About to growl out an insult to her, I had the words on the tip of my tongue when I noticed the small smile on her face. She was enjoying the power-trip that came of having me hanging here like this. The little control freak probably got off on having men to crunch beneath her boots, be they willing or not. I suppressed a chuckle. It seemed that was something we had in common. Deciding I'd rather not let her see she was effecting me with her little game, I held back my words. Anything she could do - I could do better.
"What were you hoping to achieve?" Though she spoke softly, 452's voice had a hard edge, as if she were carefully trying to control her anger, perhaps thinking she would get answers out of me if she tried asking nicely first.
I wanted to laugh at her attempt to fool me into believing she wasn't scared. Not only had we gained access to Terminal City's headquarters, but I'd sat and watched the absurdity that was their morning meeting unfold below me. I could have taken them out any time I wanted had I not another agenda in mind. This invasion of territory showed the transgenics just how slack they had become. To say they were both furious and embarrassed was an understatement. Knowing I'd ruffled their feathers, scales, fur and whatever else these things had growing on them, was a great source of amusement for me. Even as I dangled before them.
"Oh you know, I thought I'd drop by for a quick game of Identify the Animals in Noah's Ark. I'm sure you're familiar with that one?"
"Why don't you quit with the attempts at witty banter Ames. It's not a talent you possess." 452 spoke the words quietly in a clipped and edgy voice, never diverting her glare from me. Deliberately ignoring her and maintaining my smirk, I continued to speak.
"Oh don't be like that 452! You should be an expert at that game by now!"
I grinned, one thing these transgenics hates was the reminder that they were made from an assortment of odds and ends. 452's face was expressionless but nothing could hide the anger that smouldered in her eyes.
"I said shut up Ames." 452 stepped away out of sight and returned with a tazer. Perhaps she was seeking poetic justice but there was little good it would do her. The worst she could do with the thing was knock me unconscious, and I welcomed such a thought.
"The aim is to try and figure out just what the fuck kind of animals Sanderman put into you freaks. I mean, I thought the dodo has been extinct for years but you lot are so fucking thick headed that -"
The tazer struck my stomach and the electrical charge caused my body to convulse. I closed my eyes, clenched my teeth, and focused on closing off the threat of pain. From the moment I realised I was their captive, I had been preparing my mind for whatever torture they would try to inflict upon me. These animals probably intended to push my limits, but they would find that there was no limit to my self-control when it came to tolerance for pain.
Once the spasms wore off, I opened my eyes to find my view blocked by the cloth of my shirt which had ridden down my chest. The room was silent as they waited for a reaction from me. I wondered if I should feign unconsciousness to understate my strength but my ego wouldn't allow it. I was in a vulnerable state, but I refused to be weak.
"Is that the best you can do 452? I would have thought you'd have enough practice kicking your little gimps around to be better skilled in B&D."
452 ripped my shirt away from my face, her face contorting in anger. My smirk failed me. Having to look at these freaks upside down was a torture in its own, what with a direct view up 452's nose and all. Yanking my hair, she pulled my face towards her,
"If you haven't noticed, you're in no position to be mouthing off. Being that every person in this room would like to see you gutted, I once again suggest that you shut the fuck up."
She released her hold and swung me back as she stepped away. For a moment, her eyes flickered over my exposed chest and briefly widened in surprise at the sight of my toned torso. I tensed my muscles, causing them to ripple and her to watch in fascination before catching herself and allowing the mask of disgust to fall over her face once more. I was surprised 452's instincts would betray her enough to look at a hated enemy in such a way. It seemed she wasn't as self-controlled as she would like to think. I smiled at the enjoyment I could reap out of using this knowledge against her.
"I'm sensing a lot of unrelieved sexual tension from you 452." My voice involuntarily dropped to a deepened husk, which proved to make my words even more effective. How amusing. I was the one being publicly humiliated, yet she was the one whose face was turning various shades of pink. "Perhaps you should tell your friends over there to leave the room?"
Behind 452, the canine growled low in warning. I glanced to him, wondering if they kept the thing on a leash. He stood with his arms tightly folded across his chest. No doubt fighting the primordial urge to tear me limb from limb.
"Watch your fucking mouth!" 494 leapt up and stalked towards me, as the Eyes Only informant stepped forward to join him. Feral anger radiated from the male X5 as he drew his uninjured arm back to take a swing at me, while the human bounced a baseball bat in his hands, a grim smile on his face. An injured transgenic and a human - I wondered just how brave they'd be if I weren't tied down and unable to fight back.
"Hey! I can handle him myself!" With 452's anger suddenly aimed at them rather than me, I threw back my head and laughed, wondering if they realised how much their little vixen in shining black leather was getting a kick out of playing the dominatrix. Lowering her voice, she ushered them away, "I'm in charge here okay?"
"Yeah leave her alone. She's enjoying the power trip." I threw the comment in and waited with amusement for the reaction.
As 452 turned back towards me, her eyes dark and predatory, I expected that she would use the tazer on me again and focused on relaxing my entire body in preparation. Instead the transgenic stepped closer and brought her mouth to my ear, her voice low and dangerous as she spoke, sending an unwanted shiver though me because of it.
"I had no intention to stop Joshua from killing you today. And I assure you that I have no qualms against finishing the job myself."
She pulled away, her eyes meeting mine, her expression unreadable. This time we were playing for the big bucks, no mercies were to be offered on either side. The fact that I was alive even now surprised me, and being that I was strung up and defenceless, it probably wouldn't pay to push my luck.
And so I smiled, bored of this staring competition we were playing.
"Joshua." I slowly drawled the name, sarcasm thick in my voice. "Oh how sweet. And what did you name your other pets 452?"
"Father - father named me!" As the mutant jumped to its feet and strode over to me, I cringed at its use of the word father once more.
"Why must you insist on calling Sanderman your father?" Frustrated rage began to pulse through my blood, finding no release and thus churning within me more.
"Because he was. He was my father." With the dog-man now standing before me, I fervently wished once again that I wasn't dangling upside down. These freaks were ugly enough when I was viewing them the right way up.
I didn't want to consider the possibility that Sanderman could have defiled our most sacred traditions any further than he already had. Creating fake replicas of our ancient race through the manipulation of animal and human DNA was blasphemous in itself. And if he had used his own genes in this freak before me... No. I refused to believe it. Enough lines had been crossed already without adding an extra one.
"Oh give me a break." Rolling my eyes, I turned my head away, hoping he'd shut up and scuffle back to his post.
"He was! He named me Joshua. Said I was special."
A massive hand reached out and grabbed my hair, pulling me up so that I was no longer upside down and our heads were at even levels. As much as I was glad to have the blood drain back out from my face at last, the dog-man's fetid breath blowing across my nostrils truly did test my capacity to hold onto conscious thought.
"I was the first. Sanderman called me his son. That would make you my brother." Though the freak grinned, the smile didn't reach his eyes.
I knew that although this sub-animal had shown mercy for my life twice, hatred for me burned blacker within it than any other of Sanderman's creations. He was a basement creature and had spent his life waiting to see the light. Without doubt I knew his patience equalled his physical strength, and for now the monster within him was prepared to wait. Meanwhile to whitle away the time, he seemed happy to wind me up. And unfortunately, my loathing for this creature and anger at his suggestions, caused my temper to rise to the bait.
"You don't get it Scooby . The only thing special about you is that you were the first freak to actually survive outside the womb of your poor surrogate mother. That doesn't give you claim to my bloodline. But I don't expect you to possess the intelligence to understand these things."
At my words the transhuman released me and laughed, causing my anger to mount. He held me in contempt. As if it knew some great secret that I wasn't privvy to - as if it knew more than me. But no, that wasn't the worst thing. Walking away after giving me that laugh, retaining this information that I was suddenly certain I had to know - that was the red cloth waving in front of my face.
"You can quit strutting about as if you claim a shred of higher intelligence - you're a fucking dog!"
Black rage began to blind my vision and I wrestled with my mind for some platform of rational thought - some self-control. I knew I shouldn't let him get to me, but I wasn't used to being ignored. And I certainly wasn't used to being laughed at. As far as stupid transgenics go, I began to wonder if this canine was more intelligent than the rest of them. Beating me, subjecting me to electric shock... none of these things had any effect on my mind, and little effect on my body. But by waving secret knowledge of my father in front of my face and then ignoring me - laughing at me even... that tore at my insides far worse than any knife could.
And somehow I think the hulking creature that stood before me now knew this.
A movement to my right caught my eye and once again the tazer struck my chest. The seemingly endless electrical pulse sent my body into convulsions once more, these ones stronger than the last. I released my hold on conscious thought, allowing my mind to slip mercifully into the blackened void of complete unawareness. Escaping this sideshow nightmare at last.
When I woke from my second bout of unconsciousness, I was now released from the rafter and tied to a chair. Around me were several transgenics of varying degrees of Ugly. No one payed any attention to me, confident that I couldn't escape. I tried to move my hands, testing for some way to wriggle myself free. As I'd already guessed, there wasn't the slightest hint of slack in the ropes.
My mind played over the previous hours, pulling apart each one of 452's words and actions, my attention focused on finding a weakness I could use against her. Again and again my thoughts fell back to the way her eyes had briefly raked over my bare chest. My treacherous mind then lingered on the memory of my own body's reaction to her stare and I breathed slowly through my teeth in frustration. I was used to being the one in control. That I could even be considering such thoughts about a creature lowlier than an animal set my stomach churning with absolute disgust. But the thought lingered non the less. In the process of discovering 452's weakness's I seemed to be in turn finding my own.
"Hey Max, ya pet pain in the ass is awake."
The lizard who I'd encountered on a few occasions now, gestured towards me before turning back to the conversation he was having with a couple of equally offensive looking fellow salamanders. I leant my head as far back as I could and closed my eyes, forcing un-beckoned thoughts from my head. I certainly wasn't in the mood for dealing with Miss Mortal Enemy right now.
"What the hell can you tell me about these?" My head was yanked forward and I found 452 standing over me, a fierce expression on her face as she pushed a bare forearm in front of my eyes.
I glanced down at a fresh set of runes that covered her skin and frowned at them slightly before returning my eyes to hers and delivering a slow mocking smile. "What makes you think I'll tell you anything?"
"Tell me, and I'll tell you what I've done with your little friends." 452 spoke softly, pushing out her hip as she folded her arms across her chest. Her expression that of one who truly thought she had the ball in her court.
Laughing, I shook my head. "Like I care."
"Oh I think you do care Ames. After all, your little Familiar mob bosses won't be happy with you if we send them back in pieces."
"You should have left the interrogation tactics to someone more skilled 452." Doubt briefly touched upon her face before she replaced it with annoyance once more. Smirking, I continued. "I know that you couldn't have the first idea as to where to send such pieces... besides, regardless of how much you try to deny it, you just don't have the stomach for killing."
Her mouth formed a moody pout as her eyes narrowed. "Yeah well, your dropping in on us this morning has forced me to revise that particular moral."
"Whatever 452." I laughed and turned my head away, my eyes wandering across the room at the slip-shod headquarters they continued to hold me in.
At a small table, 494 was busy playing a card game,
though he would occassionally glance in our direction. No doubt checking
to make sure I hadn't morphed into a snake and slipped free of my
ties.
With twisted curiousity, I studied
his four companions. Two appeared human enough -X5's I guessed.
But the freak opposite 494 had obviously suffered an excessive amount of
feline DNA if the ears, eyes and tail were anything to go by. It
was more fortunate however, than the creature beside it, who looked as if
someone had thrown a handful of shark teeth into its mouth and left them to
grow in which ever direction they had fallen. Shuddering in revulsion, I
averted my eyes, feeling suddenly like a character from a Lewis Carroll's
story. What the hell was my father thinking when he allowed these things to
live?
Sensing 452 move closer, I continued to ignore her even as she crouched before me and leaned in to take my chin much the way as I had done with her when our roles had been reversed, and force my head to swing back around.
"We've got your pro-wrestler team locked away. We have a fully restored laboratory - your father's legacy he left to us. And we've got more than a few transgenics just itching to find out what makes your kind tick."
"Aah 452. What a team we could be if our circumstances were only different." I made sure that the sarcasm in the statement was obvious for those who were a little slower than me to comprehend. But for a moment my mind was invaded by the brief memory of my body pressed intimately against hers, and I tried to hold in the involuntary shiver that ran through me. Self-disgust swept in to chase the memory away, and I continued in a voice suddenly dry and raspy. "But you know, you just don't sound convincing."
Releasing her hold on my jaw, 452 pushed away from me, her expression sullen and moody. I could just imagine her stomping her feet in a tantrum and the image brought a satisfied smirk back to my face once more. Her eyes locked on mine as her scowl deepened further. There were so many weaknesses in this piece of transgenic scum before me, I couldn't decide what part of her to pick at first.
"Joshua!" Tightening her jaw, 452 turned away from me and beckoned to the pup. As he lumbered over to her side, I couldn't help but briefly wonder if the pooch was house trained. "Is our guest room ready?"
"Uh yeah Max. It's ready." The canine glanced down at me, his face impassive. "Do you want me to take him there?"
"Yeah, please. I'm growing tired of his ugly face."
The dog-man leant down and began to untie me from the chair, while I offered my captor a knowing grin. "Be honest with yourself 452. You don't really think that do you?"
Setting her jaw in an angry scowl, the X5 folded her arms tightly across her chest, her eyes darkening with suppressed anger as she tried not to rise to the bait.
"And when you come back, we'll deal with his buddies."
As Sanderman's first successful mutant began to lead me away to what I presumed would be a bare concrete room and a couple of 24 hour guards outside the door, I chose to remain silent, knowing anything I said would only be thrown back in my face. And I prefered to reap the satisfaction in knowing how much it would irritate the X5 if I gave her no further excuse to try and taunt me.
452's eyes burnt with black emotion as they caught hold of mine, but in that moment, I was unsure who the hatred was directed to. Me - for hunting her and in turn causing the world to hunt her kind. Or herself - for not understanding why she continued to allow her greatest enemy to breathe.
 |
|