1677/Forgotten Tigers

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Forgotten Tigers
Date of Scene: 27 July 2017
Location: Mutant Town
Synopsis: Alexia and Okhotnik meet, and deal with a gangster problem. Yana comes along and makes it her problem, too.
Cast of Characters: Tendril, Okhotnik, Black Rose




Tendril has posed:
    It's an early morning, the air still comfortably cool, before the steadily rising sun has time to start baking the city again, raising the temperature noticeably later in the day. There's at least a breeze and some clouds to help, a few fat white ones scudding across the sky lazily overhead. This close to Mutant Town, people are just changing shifts, with those more happy with (or having to work during) the night shift returning home to collapse while others are opening their stores and shops.

    Wandering down the road is a young woman, wearing...well, not a whole lot, to be honest. While Lex has sort of resigned herself to being stared at elsewhere, she does admit she feels a bit more comfortable here, where a weird girl with mauve skin kinda blends with guys who look like elephants or girls who flit around on fairy wings or that guy over there who looks like he's a giraffe. Normal!

    Of course, she's getting looks for entirely different reasons given how much skin she's showing, but she's a bit distracted, as she's carrying a big bag of assorted kolaches she bought at a shop on her way in. Now, she's sort of wandering on her way out, but stops to chat with some other teens about her age she seems to know, passing out a few and taking some ribbing about having not already eaten the entire bag by herself, which she takes with good humor. A punch in the shoulder in one case, but generally good humor.

Tendril has posed:
    The homeless are a fact of life in any major city these days, and certainly not less so than New York City, or in the Mutant Town district. It is exactly this that Diya was counting on when she made her choices of where to run to and how to hide. The biggest problem she now faces is the inertia: now that she has run, now that she is hidden, what next? She hasn't managed to come up with a plan for that, yet. The key so far has been survival.

    Part of that survival is the fact that New York City is a good bit warmer in its summer months than most of the Russian cities she is used to. She has had to seek shade and shelter. A woman alone in a sea of homeless could be a target, a victim, but not Diya. There's just something about her that makes it clear to all but the most dense that she is not to be taken lightly. And she hasn't hesitate to prove the point to the particularly dense.

    Right now, the dingy blonde is tucked away in the shade of an alleyway, legs tucked up against her chest, eyes mostly downcast, head lowered, arms wrapped around her legs. Dressed in oversized military fatiques, drabby and dirt-stained, most just plain avoid her, except for the other homeless. Even they keep a margin around her, none getting too close. The exception to this is that there are quite a few cats nearby. None are right beside Diya, but all are within thirty feet or so. It's a lot of them out and visible in such a close area in daylight hours.

    The presence of food - not rotten, spoiled, stale, or already used - reaches Diya's senses, and her grey-green eyes lift, subtly, watching an oddly colored young woman moving closer to the mouth of the alley, amongst the youngsters. She is hungry, but she is not desperate enough to hurt children. It will wait. For now.

Tendril has posed:
    The odd girl waves to the people she's talking to, then begins wandering towards said alley. As she does, a part of her forearm ripples as a tendril sprout sout of it, sliding down into the bag, then emerging with one of the wonderful smelling kolaches as she brings it up to her mouth to take a bite out of...well, really pop most of it in her mouth, looking like a chimpmunk as she tries to chew the whole thing, wolfing it down as only a teen can.

    The cats, however, causes her to slow down, curiously, mostly because several promptly decide she is a human with food and that food should be theirs, running up to her and mewing loudly. "...geez, where'd ya all come from..." she says curiously, peering down the alley. "Fish buffet or somethin'?" She steps into the alley a bit, then slows as she sees the woman inside. "Oh...hi?" she says, her tone a bit softer, sort of eyeing the crowd of cats a little warily. Animal controllers, not completely unknown in this district, and the last thing she needs is to be assaulted by the Cat Queen or such. She turns her attention back to the woman, frowning a bit. "Hey, um..." The tendril slides back into the bag, rummaging, then emerges, this time holding several kolaches as it wraps around them. "Do you want some of these? I've got lots..." She's a little tentative, wary, but holds them out, the tendril growing longer until the food is more or less in front of the woman in fatigues.

Tendril has posed:
    Despite a passive, disinterested fascade, a keenly incisive and bitterly hard grey-green gaze takes in the girl, watching her with the kind of unblinking attention usually reserved for animal life ... and soldiers. Prepared killers. There is, in spite of that outer passivity, an air of sheer cold-blooded lethality in the air around the woman. That is why the other homeless give her a berth of at least five, usally closer to ten feet. Space the cats, apparently, are only too happy to occupy. Hence the herd now bothering girl with the kolaches.

    Clearly the woman judges carefully, before finally speaking. When she speaks, her voice is soft, but there is a biting edge to it, and a hint of a strong accent, watered down by care and attention, rather than time and adaptation. "Not sure why you offer." Honesty, bald and plain. "But won't say no."

    It would take someone truly dense and unaware to miss the way all of the homeless deeper in the ally flinch back a bit as the utterly still figure of Diya finally rises from her spot, moving one Hell of a lot more smoothly than anyone looking like her has any business doing. She advances, moving painfully slowly, towards the girl, pausing just at the barest edge of their conjoined reach.

    "What do I owe you?" No anger. But no trust, either.

Tendril has posed:
    The girl waits for you to hold out your hands and sets the still warm pastries in them, then shrugs a bit. "...nothing." she says, smiling. "I've been hungry." She taps her stomach. "In addition to the kickin' skin tone, got a metabolism like a furnace, 's why I got so much." The cadence of the way she speaks sounds a lot like some of mutants that hang around the area. Well, mostly under the area...the Morlock contingent, who tend to prefer the tunnels to the streets, for a variety of reasons. "But I ate a bunch already, these were for later." She still has a bad habit of grabbing large amounts of food when she can, especially for sales, then squirreling it away when she gets home. Love those 5 for $5 sales!

    She watches the other woman, still a little wary. The alert watch of someone who's been where she needs to keep an eye on her surroundings. She doesn't sense trouble, but there's always someone around who wants to bring it to her.

Tendril has posed:
    There's a delay, a pause, as Diya not only thinks of the words in English, but also plans to shape them in a way that sounds blurry, rather than sounding distinct and painfuly Russian. "Eat when you can. Sleep when you can. When you need them, they will be in short supply." It is an aphorism of military life, especially in the special forces. Also a survival mechanism, which is why it is something that the homeless recognize and respect.

    Interestingly, there doesn't seem to be any part of this woman who cares about Lex's skin tone, or the tendrils she forms to do lifting for her; there are other priorities at work. "You sure you'll have enough for you, later?" Diya knows about having a metabolism that has to be stoked like a furnace ... and which takes a heavy toll if not stoked sufficiently. She wouldn't wish that on any but her worst enemies.

    That's not this girl.

Tendril has posed:
    Lex hehs. "Yeah. Good thought." she admits, agreeing with the phrase. She purses her lips, looking down at the bag, then back to Diya, then back to the bag, before she huffs out a sigh, then just steps over, setting the kolaches back in the bag and offering the whole bag. "Yeah, look. Actually, I can get stuff back home." she admits. "Just, they smelled so good an' they had a sale so I kinda went overboard. Really, you'd totally be helping me out by taking them, that way I don't gotta carry them alla way home."

    Her appetite grumbles at her a bit but she forces it down. One of the perks of being fostered to the X-mansion...all you can eat cafeteria. She'll just be a bit hungry until she gets home, and she can deal with that, she figures. She's not in the danger zone yet.

    She watches the other woman, her golden eyes meeting hers if she looks back, then risks a cautious smile. "Um, please." She holds out the bag to her.

Tendril has posed:
    Lex hehs. "Yeah. Good thought." she admits, agreeing with the phrase. She purses her lips, looking down at the bag, then back to Diya, then back to the bag, before she huffs out a sigh, then just steps over, setting the kolaches back in the bag and offering the whole bag. "Yeah, look. Actually, I can get stuff back home." she admits. "Just, they smelled so good an' they had a sale so I kinda went overboard. Really, you'd totally be helping me out by taking them, that way I don't gotta carry them alla way home."

    Her appetite grumbles at her a bit but she forces it down. One of the perks of being fostered to the X-mansion...all you can eat cafeteria. She'll just be a bit hungry until she gets home, and she can deal with that, she figures. She's not in the danger zone yet.

    She watches the other woman, her golden eyes meeting hers if she looks back, then risks a cautious smile. "Um, please." She holds out the bag to her.

Tendril has posed:
    The golden-eyed girl hesitates, mulling the rudeness of wanting to snag one after offering the bag. But then you did offer...her tendril slip in and snags one last one from the bag. "Just one for the road then." she says, looking a bit embarrassed at her stomach rumbling as she pulls one out transfering it to her hand as the tendril disappears back into her arm, leaving an artistic swirl of the little darker purple marks on her pinkish skin. "But it's fine! I got stuff at home." she insists. "So, go ahead, rest are yours, k?" She has to gently but firmly disuade a cat from trying to climb her leg to get to said kolache.

    "'Sides...I got stuff like that now, I can give out what I want." she says simply. She remembers being hungry, and frankly, how damned lucky she is that Xavier took her in.

Tendril has posed:
    The other woman watches pensively, judging. Then gives a short nod, reaches out again and this time takes the bag from Lex.

    "Ok." Nothing more.

    Diya takes one for herself, extracting it from the bag and eating it swiftly but neatly. Interestingly, none of the cats try to climb //her//, but mill around her attentively. She takes a knee, witdhrawing another and breaking it up into bits, laying them out with a brief touch of her eyes to that of each cat, identifying the one that bit is for. Oddly, these hungry, half-feral cats do //not// try to steal from one another in her presence, but each accepts what it is given. But she only breaks up one this way.

    Then Diya is back on her feet and moving deeper into the alleyway. She takes a knee in front of each of the other homeless, offering out one of the kolaches in slow, steady, smooth movements that are eminently patient. When the bag is empty, she nods to the others, tearing it open so that all can see she has given freely.

    Then Diya walks - pads - back to Lex, pausing again at the extreme edge of their mutual reach range, and nods. "Thank you."

Tendril has posed:
    The mutant girl has been watching this with bemusement, as one of the cats promptly jumps inside the ripped bag to make ABSOLUTELY SURE there's none left. Or to lick at the grease stains. She's smiling a little bit, but nods. "Sure...glad it could help." She pauses "...I walk by here a lot, maybe I can bring some more by next time. You know, if - "

    "Ah, THERE is our little pink friend!" says a male voice from the edge of the alley. Diya is close enough to see Alexia stiffen a little, closing her eyes as she mouths 'fuck', then shifts her hand, making a little brush gesture towards Diya, trying to encourage her to move back by the other homeless as she turns around. "Oh hey, Pietro, how's it hangin'?" she says in polite tones. "Long time no see." Something in her voice suggests it could have been longer and she would have been JUST fine.

    The man in question is large, almost seven feet, with a handbar mustache and a very bald pate (apparently the mushtache is making up for the lack of hair?), and pretty muscular. In fact, he looks a bit over musculed, in that way that some mutants get when strength is their talent. He obviously knows it too, as he wears a nice shirt and suit cut to emphasize those hard eightpack abs, unbuttoned to show off the top of his defined pecs. There are two others with him, a short, squat guy who looks a bit dwarfish with a odd, shark-ish head and lots of pointed teeth, his eyes a dull red and a bulky, compact build to him, while on the other side is a more slender, who'se currently playing with a knife, a sort of vulpine look for him, especially his teeth, which are an unattractive black in color, his eyes black to match. And his tongue, which can be seen when he flicks it out to slowly lick his lips. Much less powerfully built than the other two, but he looks like one of those guy who's fast over buff.

    Pietro puts his hands on his hips. "Oh, yes! Haven't seen you in, what, two months? And here you are still needing to do that job for me..." His voice is pleasant, but has a hard edge in it towards the end.

    Lex's chin comes up. "I DID the job for ya, and I'm out now. We're square. It's not my fault it didn't work out for ya afterwards." She doesn't retreat as the larger man strides up to her, deliberately using his size as an intimidation tactic. "Mm, it didn't work out for me..." he mimics. "Which means it didn't really pay ahything off, wouldn't you say? C'mon, you're quick...or maybe you can take me up on the other job offer." His eyes slit. "You got plenty to make some real money..."

    His hand lashes up suddenly, firmly grabbing Alexia's chest before she smacks at his hand, causing her to gasp in suprise and outrage as she starts backing up quickly. "I'd say fuck off, but ya'd take it as a yes..." she says sharply, one arm covering her chest defensively. "I told ya, I'm out now. I don't do stuff anymore. Get someone else if ya got somethin' planned.

Okhotnik has posed:
Diya doesn't choose others' fights for her own. That sort of thing is stupid. Reckless.

Honorable.

Damnit.

Motioned to back off, Diya does so; best not to alert predators to their stupidity until it is too late. She takes her spot against the wall, in the shade, and everything about her says she's not paying the slightest attention to what is going on at the mouth of the alleyway.

But that would be a damned lie.

And then Pietro grabs Lex.

There is no warning. No call out. No growl. No shout. One moment, Diya is on the ground with her back to the wall, a good twelve feet from the confrontation. In the next moment there is a blur of motion and an explosion of intent, all without any sound. Her movements are eerily quiet, as the dirty, dank blonde is on her feet, striding twice and then leaping forward, producing - quite improbably, and WHERE THE HELL WERE THOSE?! - a knife in one hand and a heavy handgun in the other.

There's just something about the combat actions of a tactically trained specialist. They see and understand the threats inherent in others in ways most people just can't process. And it's not logic. It's instinct. Which is why the handgun is aimed at the head of the fox-like man, the trigger pulled from barely four inches away, as the knife goes low, not sweeping until Diya lands, driving the blade into Pietro's knee. And all of it is happening //so damned fast//!

Okhotnik has posed:
    The fox man is only just starting to react as you leap past Pietro and Lex in a blur of motion, startling the both of them. He starts to bring the knife up right before there's a crack of a gunshot and his head jerks back, most of his brain spraying over the wall beside him as he crumples, th knife clattering to the ground. Pietro lets out a howl of suprise as the knife hits his knee...it doesn't sink in as deep as it should, but it definitely is embedded at the moment as he grabs his leg, hopping backwards. Even the shark dwarf is taken off guard, blinking as he gaps.

    Much like Alexia, who is wideyed, her jaw having dropped. But then almost immediately reacts with a similar predator's explosion to action...and now you get to see precisely WHY Alexia tends towards the skimpy outfits, as a quartet of thicker tendrils sprouts from her back in a wave like motion, slamming into Pietro to send him crashing into the bricks hard enough for them to shatter, pinning him before her left arm lashes out, another snapping out with a *CRACK* like a whip into his jaw as he jerks to the side, looking dazed.

    The shark finally starts to say. "HEY!" Then hesistates where he is as Pietro crumples a bit agains the wall, holding up his hands at the drawn gun. "...right...no trouble...no trouble...' he says slowly, backing up a bit.

Okhotnik has posed:
The other woman shrugs her shoulders. "I don't love tunnels. But they work. Other people hate them too, which makes them safe." Because the people you want to escape don't want to be down here looking for you. Diya looks at the other woman. "You got out. That's good. You come back because you care. That's good, too. This ... the rest of this. That's up to the rest." Those that didn't get out. Those who are still here.

"You fed my people. We're even." Diya responds. "You should go, before your people worry." Just as uncomfortable and uncertain, the dirty blonde starts to slink away through the tunnels, heading back the way they came and then up towards the streets. She doesn't dismiss Lex or try to make her go away, but clearly she's hoping the girl will do so.

Okhotnik has posed:
It's not easy. Deeply-seated instincts demand that Diya end the enemies before they can present a future threat, and it wouldn't be hard to realize that as she is still in that blurry level of fast motion, yanking the blade out of the back of Pietro's knee as she pivots and comes up, gun aimed at the shark-man's forehead as she advances, blade out in the other hand, face a rictus of intent.

There is no other emotion to Diya. No fear. No hesitation. No horror at what has been done. Not even any curiosity about Lex's talent. But the very dangerous woman stops with the smoking hot gun barrel pressed to the shark's forehead. "Any of you come back, for her, for mine, I finish it." Delivered as it is in clipped, sharp Russian-accented English, it's sure to make an indelable impression.

Sure the problem has been dealt with, Diya turns to see that her fellow homeless have melted away to nothing, fleeing the scene of conflict as well they should. Even most of her cats are gone, though not far; they have spread out, gone for high ground, and are watching ... like the miniature predators they are.

Okhotnik has posed:
    The shark gulps. "R-right, I'll just...be...somewhere else then." He turns and books it, arms pumping as he runs back onto the street and out of sight. If nothing else, he doesn't want to be anywhere nearby if the gunshot gets reported. As you turn back, Lex is looking at you with still slightly wide eyes, her chest rising and falling. "...fuuuuuuuck!" she breathes, looking over at the dead fox guy, then back at Pietro. "Oh man on man..." She retracts the tentacle into her forearm again, the ones from her back scooping up the larger Pietro. Despite her size, she seems to not have a problem with his weight at all, dangling him in the air.

    "Okay...okay..." she says. "...grab the...the dead guy. I know a place. We gotta get off the street." she says after a moment of though, pale but thinking. She watches you a little warily now, but not fearfully, more the air of someone who realizes they're in a room with a predator that may not WANT to eat them, but might be unpredictable about changing their mind.

Okhotnik has posed:
"Da." the homeless blonde offers. She lopes back to her spot against the wall and returns with a plastic grocery bag, into which she stuffs an abandoned blanket, or a third of it which she rips off as casually as a second-grader tears a piece of paper. She lopes back to the fox, pulls the bag over his ruined head and then ties it firmly into place. Then she hoists his body up over her shoulder like it weighs nothing at all, and lifts her gaze towards the cats. "Hssst." she comments, for no apparent reason, and then glances at you, standing on the balls of her feet.

Right. Fast as Hell.

Scariest of all, Diya is apparently OK with things like leaping up onto the roof of a building to get out of sight of the cops, complete with her burden //and// Lex's. It won't be long before they are out of sight, out of the way of the authorities, should the Shot Caller (tm) system bring them.

"You fight better than expected." Diya comments, when they pause. That crisp Russian accent has disappeared into the mushy, indistinct accent she used before.

Okhotnik has posed:
    Lex is able to to keep up with a combination of parkour style movements and using her whips to climb as you rapidly exit the area, as the first distant siren sound can be heard approaching in the distance. The girl moves quickly and agilely, almost impossibly so at times, eventually leading you down to a storm sewer grate that has a large padlock on it. She pauses besides it, one of her tendrils curling up, then pushing into as she gets a look of concentration, tongue coming out to brush her lips slightly. "Yeah, I'm fulla suprises..." she says distractedly, glancing at the other woman, then twisting as the lock pops open as she opens the door. "...you too, seems like. In here. There's an old sewer junction, flows out to sea. They don't use it much but the runoff from the water flows through it still." She hops in, then drags Pietro in after her, her tentacles flexing and shifting to manuver the larger body through the door.

    She pauses once you're inside, closing the door and relocking it, then stops, just looking up at you. "...thank you." she says, hugging her chest a bit, as she swallows. "He's a fucking asshole I did some jobs for, and he's been after me for years to do weird movies because of what I can do...." she says, a definitely flush coming to her cheeks. "I thought I'd squared things with him. I guess he just figured he's wait until i wasn't useful to him in other ways." She pauses, then tentatively steps forward and gives you a light hug. "...thanks. No one knew I was here, if they'd caught me alone..."

Okhotnik has posed:
"Stronger than I was. Faster." Diya comments to Lex as they continue moving across Mutant Town to the sewer entrance in question. Then she hops down to follow, helping to get the grate up out of the way, then back down. She sure as Hell doesn't look like she can toss around something the size of Pietro like it's nothing, but apparently she can.

The hug takes Diya off-guard. She holds very still, tense, but not pushing away. She breathes raggedly, and nods jerkily. "No one hurts one of mine." she murmurs, softly. "Not if I can help it." And apparently, she can. A LOT.

"I cannot allow him to come back." Diya murmurs, eyeing Lex and Pietro. She doesn't relish killing, but it's automatic for her. Instinct. And she seems convinced she can do it quickly and painlessly. She tosses the fox'man's body into the water run-off, and reaches out for Pietro. It's cold. Efficient.

Okhotnik has posed:
    There's definite hesistation int he girl as she steps back as you make a gesture for you to give her the other man. "He's...he's protected." she says slowly after a moment, watching you to see if you follow her. "You know what that means? Freddy Rinaldi, he's one of his guys. I don't think he likes him a whole lot, because he's a mutant, but...he might come looking for what happened to him if he...dies."

    She folds her arm over her chest. "I just...ya know what you're getting into? Me, I'm...I don't have to be here all the time, but if they come looking for you and he's DEAD, they...might feel like they gotta prove somethin', ya know?" the girl says, a little worriedly. "Sharkey's dumb as a box of a hammers, he might not even remember you well enough to point them your way, and I don't Pietro saw much of you at all...."

Okhotnik has posed:
"He has been broken. Defeated. Humiliated." Diya comments, eyeing Lex. "And he may not know me, but you. If he lives ..." If Pietro lives, he is an ongoing, potentially exacerbated threat to Lex. And Diya isn't OK with that.

"If they want to come for me ... let them." Diya offers. "Maybe they'll get lucky and do it right." There's no inflection there. No sadness, but neither any fear or anger. It would be a relief, really. Much easier that way, no need to come up with a plan to solve the insoluable problems she faces.

"This is your place, not mine." Diya admits. "I can go, disappear, never come back. These people, this place, you know it. It is a part of you." She shrugs. "Decision is yours: alive, or dead. Dead seems simpler to me. But ..." But it's not her call. And 'simpler' doesn't mean 'right'.

Okhotnik has posed:
    The girl looks back at Pietro, then to you. "...yeah, he's gonna be piiiiiiissed." she admits, sighing, as she bites her lower lip. "...I don't care if they do. At least I know to look for. And he's just...a fucking bully, you know?" she says slowly. "No one knows he looked bad but Sharky, and...and Sienes is dead..." she says, her eyes flicing to where the dead man has already disappeared into the channel, floating away.

    There's that back and forth in her head, before she sighs, flinching away from killing an unconscious man. "Dammit. No, we'll just...stuff him in the utility room over there. By the time he figures his way out we'll be long gone."

    And she goes to do just that, picking the lock with a tendril again, then tossing him inside before she shuts the door again, turning back to you as those strange whip-like lengths retract back into her back, her tattoo distorting slightly where they vanish into the muscle there again. She walks over, hands on her hips as she frowns. "...I don't HAVE to be here. It was...home. I got a break, but I like to come back here. See how people are doing, maybe..." she smiles a little. "....spread kolache love and stuff."

    She's a bit uncertain after the talk of 'doing it right'. "If...if you're cool with tunnels...I can show ya some safe places down here. I mean, if ya wanna hide out or...or just have a good place to stow your stuff? Then we'll both be pretty safe."

Okhotnik has posed:
    In a word: Fat Chance. Well, two words. The girl promptly starts walking with you. "Eh..." she says, clasping her hands behind her back. "It's really just kinda me..." she admits. "Kinda. I mean, I know some people who would wonder where I am eventually, maybe but it's summer so not like I got a schedule to keep."

    She glances over and sniffs. "...are you saying saving me from being forced into tentacle porn is only worth a bag of kolaches?" she says, archly, a faint tone of amusement in her eyes, before her expression softens. "Really, it's cool. Actually, if you don't like tunnels, there are plenty of places that come out on the surface, or areas with lots of light coming in. More like, um, a cave than a tunnel." she clarifies. She pauses a little, then adds. "...though...I do know where there's some food stashed. And a shower, sorta. I mean, if ya wanna...." She's not going to mention that the other woman does have a definite odor, but she figures it might be nice in general for her. "It's not too far?"

Okhotnik has posed:
The quiet homeless woman pauses at an intersection, and then points. "This way." She does not explain that some part of her weird-assed instincts are telling her she just picked up the scent of a crocodile down the straight passage, or the vibrations of traffic and fresh air breezes down the side passage. She's already weird enough without bringing up 'feelings'.

Stupid damned weirdness. It never goes away.

Diya shrugs at Alexia. "A favor for a favor. It's simple." She leads the way along the side passage, until they come to a ladder leading up to a grate. As before, she moves with incredible ease and agility, and hefts the metal grate as if it were made of paper, handing Alexia up and out and then re-seating the grate.

Diya still talks slowly, long pauses between, as she works on her words to scrub most of her accent off of them. It does leave her sounding mushy-mouthed when she speaks. "You are doing well for yourself. Stay with that. Don't let yourself be draw back to the streets." A few steps and she murmurs, almost subvocally, "It's where I belong."

Black Rose has posed:
    It'd been only a day, since the rave. And now, Yana had found herself once again in Mutant Town after her meeting with Magneto, and seeing Dani again. As Diya and Alexia move out, they'll see a girl - familiar to Alexia, in all black, fishnets, and calf-high boots with bright, bright blue hair. She doesn't seem as if she's waiting for the two girls in the least, though, considering her back is turned to the grate, and she's standing at a slight angle, her backfoot set with weight.
    Alexia will note that there's another guy from Pietro's little 'gang', facing them. His name is Marat. Not as large as Pietro, but still large at just over six feet tall. Thinner. More pallid. He's talking to Yana. "So, you haven't seen her? You sure?" He's asking, with an unfriendly little foxy sneer to his expression.
    "You're barking up the wrong tree," she tells the man, sounding bored, more than scared.

Tendril has posed:
    "...no one belongs on the streets. It's just where they have to be, for one reason or another..." she murmurs, frowning over at Diya. "Don't sell yourself short, okay? And I'm fine! I know these streets, I was on them for years before - " She suddenly stops, reaching out to hold out a hand flat in front of Diya's stomach to stop her as she hears the voice...one of which is very familiar and on her mind after the encounter earlier, the other...she also recognizes?"

    "That's one of Pietro's guys..." she murmurs softly. "And...I think I know her too." She gets a slightly worried look as she carefully peers around the corner to try and get a better idea of what's going on.

Okhotnik has posed:
Diya backs away from the hand that reaches out for her, apparently shy of being touched. She is always a little tense, but now it becomes clearly visible in the tightness around her eyes, a rigid sort of vibration to her presence. She doesn't draw her weapons - where the Hell did those things come from, or go to? - but she seems clearly prepared for violence.

"Then he will have to be removed. Is she safe? Or should she be removed as well?" And just like that, Diya starts stalking forward. No weapons, but there is an air of pure preparedness for violence; brutal, efficient, permanent violence. It's like the flip of a switch.

Black Rose has posed:
    'Slick', or that's what we'll call him, for Alexia probably never knew his name either leans forward towards Yana, "It wouldn't do," he begins to elaborate, "If I were to find out you were holding out on us," he begins, "We would do bad things to you. Very. Bad things. Do you know what your own liver tastes like?"
    'Slick' reaches out to touch Yana's cheek. That's his mistake. Yana touches him, as his hand moves up to her, grabbing his wrist. Then, she releases his hand.
    And even as Diya begins to stalk towards 'Slick', she will likely notice it first. The man's movement is suddenly significantly slower. As he realizes it, his facial expressions also move in slow-time. As if he were suddenly caught in a video that someone was watching, frame by frame, in a stop-motion animation picture.
    Yana still hasn't seen Diya, or Alexia. "About Pietro," she says, quietly, slamming a mid-kick into Slick's body.
    The man begins to double over, in exceeingly slow motion. "I know he's a wanted man. And, now I know where to find him. So, you go tell him you've been spreading his name around. And, that the thing he fears most is coming down on him like a bat out of hell."
    Finally, as Pietro's body finally begins to reach the point where he is fully doubled over and trying to fight out of the dream-scape motion he's trapped in, Yana's knee connects to his forehead.
    "You don't get to run Mutant Town."

Tendril has posed:
    Alexia's eyes get big as Diya starts stalking past. "NONONO, not her, she's not with them!" she says, trying to head Diya off. She's gotten that she doesn't like to be touched, so she halts her first instinct to reach for her arm. "Wait!"

    Of course, now both of them are rounding the corner, just in time for Yana to deliver her beatdown to Slick, which causes Alexia to stare a bit. "....whoa...."

Okhotnik has posed:
The greasy, ill-kept streetwoman slows as she witnesses the assault, and the power use it strongly implies. Apparently the girl does not need help, and has every intention of eliminating that threat without Diya needing to do anything.

"He won't find Pietro." a voice comments from behind Yana, mush-mouthed and largely accent-less. "And you clearly do not need any help." That said, she stops where she is, watching the slow-motion finish, and then turns, intending to walk away, senses sweeping to be sure Slick doesn't have any backup.

Black Rose has posed:
    As Slick's head begins to fly upwards, nose crushed, Yana wrenches his arm up to expose his side, and levies another kick to the kidney, in a casual, indifferent manner with the aura of someone who is well aware of how her power works, and of someone who has practiced doing this sort of thing before. This is -not- her first rodeo, clearly.
    She turns to Diya, as the woman approaches, speaks. "No?" She frowns, able to read into at least some of that implication in Slick not being able to find Pietro. "Well. Shit." As if she'd been looking for Pietro, herself. Or, it'd been important to her that the message get to him.
    She looks back to Slick. "Run," she tells him.
    It takes Slick a few long moments to - well, get to the point, muscles straining to run away, and he begins to do so, moving no faster than someone might casually walk. At least. Until Yana hits his back.
    There's an explosion of speed, suddenly. The man is no longer moving at a lazy 1 mile per hour. He's suddenly at -- well, hard to eyeball. But fast enough to be on a highway, and slamming, loudly, face-first into the metal side of a building, and falling over, unconcious. Perhaps dead, from the impact.
    Yana runs a hand through her hair, and regards Diya, curiously. Then calls, "Lex, hi. Fancy meeting you here." She smiles, warmly. As if none of that just happened.

Tendril has posed:
    It was such a NORMAL morning. She had kolaches, she was joking with, checking in with acquaintances along the street....and now she is with two women who pretty much effortless and coolly are extremely skilled at fucking up the shit of anyone who annoys them!

    "H-hi...." Lex says, a bit dazedly. "Um...yeah...lucky that." She sees Diya starts to move to walk away and moves to cut her off. "Wait wait, we haven't figured out what to do about this yet!" she says to the taller woman, hands on her hips as she frowns up at her. "I don't want those assholes looking for you, and if they're already looking for PIetro, that means Sharky ran straight to their clubhouse to blurt out everything."

    She sighs and rubs her face. "...fuuuuuuuuuuck...." This is just...she doesn't know where to begin here. She parts her fingers slightly, peeking through them at Yana. "...and you're a badass who kicks the snot out of Pietro's muscle..."

Okhotnik has posed:
"I told you that the best option was to kill them." Diya comments to Lex, very softly, still mushy-voiced, her accent largely hidden. "Now. Do you mind?" The tall, unkempt, ill-washed ashen blonde woman peers down at Lex. "Get out of my way, and I'll go take care of the problem." Never leave an enemy breathing behind you. Lesson 1, damnit.

Diya seems to pay no attention whatsoever to Yana, though surely she cannot be that impervious to the woman's interest and actions. She surely noticed it all. None could have missed it. But her focus seems entirely on Lex in front of her, and Pietro still alive bound up below in the tunnels.

Black Rose has posed:
    Yana looks almost bored again, however briefly, as she angles her head to consider Diya, then Lex, and then she turns to consider Slick, laying inert, and unconscious. Very bad off, but not dead. From under her sleeve on her left arm, she pulls out a simple playing card. On the back, printed, a black rose. On the front, the Ace of Spades. She holds the card between her index and middle finger, casually. "Whose your friend, Lex?" Interested eyes look over Diya, again.
    "And, do you know where Pietro is?" Diya's words of 'He won't find Pietro' suggestive of knowledge. Yana is exceedingly perceptive. She adds, in friendly manner to Diya, the counterpoint to the other's aggression. Hers is a casual, almost indifferent air to Diya's more focused intensity and direct manner towards the issue at hand.
    

Tendril has posed:
    The mauve girl gets a slightly frustrated look. "Ya can't just kill off his whole gang, that'll just draw his boss down on ya!" she points out, hands on her hips. "And there are lot more of his guys than you! I mean, yer badass but.."

    She looks over to Yana, which distracts her nicely from trying to head Diya off, then blinks slightly, then back to Diya, getting a sheepish expression. "...um...we kinda had introductions get interrupted." she admits, looking back to Yana, then to Diya. "What should I call ya?" she asks the taller woman.

    At the second question, Alexia frowns a bit, her eyes flicking to the card. "...and...who are you, exactly, Yana?" she says slowly. She doesn't look frightened, but has that slightly wary 'cat not sure if it wants to be petted' look to her.

Okhotnik has posed:
The cold, indifferent ex-soldier - that much she cannot hide, and doesn't bother, given her military surplus attire - glances over her shoulder at Yana, then back to Lex curiously. She knows the other girl's name, of course; she listens all too well. "Most just call me Hunter." she murmurs. Not exactly that, but it is the english translation of what they always called her, and the trio are speaking english right now.

"Believe me, Lex, I can kill them all. And I will, to keep you and the others safe." There's no pleasure in her voice; she doesn't get off on this, and isn't trying to prove anything. She's just trying to clean up the mess, that's all.

Diya glances at the black rose woman, consideringly. "I know where I left him. Where he will not wake up for some time, and won't get free for a good while after that." She should hunt down Sharky and end him. It is what she told him she'd do, after all; best always to follow through on threats.

Black Rose has posed:
    "I'm Yana," answers the blue-haired girl, sincerely. Curiously she looks back to Lex, "Same girl you danced with, just the other evening ago. You're Lex. And she's Hunter." Blue eyes flick to Diya, again. She can appreciate the bold strength, confidence, the woman displays openly. "Though, you don't look like Hunter," opines Yana, matter-of-factly to Diya. "She had caramel skin. Wore soft leathers. But, I suppose you have enough of her nature in you," she conceeds. Not that Diya would know she's talking about a best-loved novel by the Englishman Neil Gaiman she used to read so many times over in younger days before bed.
    She doesn't do anything with the card, yet, but her eyes flick, casually, towards Slick. As if waiting for the man to get up. A faint groan can be heard, followed by a hiss of pain, from Slick's general vicinity. She adds to Lex, mildly, "Yes. That will draw his boss down on me." And that, by her expression, seems to be exactly what she wants.

Tendril has posed:
    She hmmms. "Hunter? Well...fits, I guess.." the pinkish mutant girl says. "Doesn't sound like a name, but..."

    Then Yana brings up wanting to draw Pietro's boss down on her.

    Lex throws her hands up in the air. "Are you...?!? I...but!?! ARGHHH!" She takes some deep breaths, then holds up a hand. "Okay. Let's start from the beginning quick. So...Pietro is someone I did work for. He's an asshole. He tried to tell me I still owed him work when I'm done with it, then he grabbed me and tried to suggest I work it off in other ways." She points to Diya. "And she really badassedly took him and one of his guys out, save for Sharkey, who ran off, with a little help from me. And we stashed him because I didn't WANT to kill im an' cause her more trouble, and me too. So, that's why they're looking for us."

    She points at Yana. "Why are ya looking to have his boss get drawn down on ya, exactly? 'Cuz I'm guessin' ya left out a few things."

Okhotnik has posed:
Diya merely shrugs. "It's the best name I have." she admits to both women. When Lex is drawn into chatting with Yana, the homeless woman stalks off, briskly, and heads back to the grate where they emerged, lifting it negligently and hopping back down into the tunnels.

As it is, 'Hunter' will probably be gone ten minutes or so.

Black Rose has posed:
    Yana, in the meantime, looks down the alley at Slick, who is slowly rolling back and forth, still moaning, in pain. Groaning. His hand moves to his head, to feel his broken nose. The spot where the concussion happened on his forehead. His other hand to his gut.
    She answers, casually, "I left a lot out. So did you. So, for that matter, did Dani." Then the blue-haired punk girl smiles, sharply at Alexia, "We all left a lot out. But. If you want a direct answer? Simple. Mutant Town isn't theirs. It belongs to the mutants. Somehow, Lex, I don't think you want to hear a few months down the road about the other girls Pietro molested, and put out on the streets, do you? Somehow, I doubt you're the first he's tried to do that to. Or, that you'd have been the last."
    She measures the card in her hand, takes stock of Slick, as he begins to roll over, onto his hands, and knees, coughing, violently.

Tendril has posed:
    Lex frowns, then erks as Diya jumps back down in the grate. It's actually a bit funny to see as she looks between Yana and the grate, obviously not knowing which to to focus on - Yana and her card or Diya about to permanently do in Pietro. "I...fine, I did, but it's not exactly first meeting talk an'...goddammit! Just...fine! You want Pietro, follow me then!" she says, just exasperated and a bit scared and feeling like things have just gotten out of hand completely. She gives the grate a good shove so it's open for Yana, then drops down in pursuit of Diya. "He's in a maintenance room, it's not far!" She runs (not walks) after Hunter. "Wait up! C'mon!"

Okhotnik has posed:
Okhotnik. That's what they called her. It's Russian for 'hunter', which is why that is the name Diya gave Lex. She doesn't run, but her measured walk is far faster than most people's jogs. She also doesn't get lost, doesn't lose her footing, and moves with sheer confidence. Which is why she has the maintenance room door open and is halfway across the small room towards Pietro by the time Lex and Yana can arrive.

"Stupid useless beast. You're not even worth keeping alive. But Lex wants you breathing." Frustrated, irked and annoyed, Diya doesn't bother to mush her words, so her clipped, ice-cold Russian accent is very, very clear as she murmurs those words, snapping the chains holding the still-unconscious Pietro and hoisting him up like a sack of potatoes over her shoulder. Then she turns, staring at the other two.

"What? I know I'm homeless, but I'm not incompetent. I can fetch pretty well." Diya complains, trying to be all mush-mouthed again towards Lex.

Black Rose has posed:
    After Lex drops down into the same sewer that Hunter dropped into, the card leaves Yana's hand and slams, hard, into Slick's skull. The man falls limp, and unconscious again as if he'd just been kicked by a mule. It would seem that the blue-haired girl is not adverse, however, to sewers. She climbs down the ladder.
    And, while she doesn't run, and she walks, somehow, she's walking, legs moving at what -seems- a casual gait, and yet is nearly as fast as Lex is running, and she matches pace with the other girl.
    "You need to learn how to relax. You're adding ten years to your life, by worrying this much," she banters to her friend. At least, Lex -was- her friend.
    When Yana arrives, she lifts her brow, seeing what Hunter meant by how long it'd take him to get out. Without worry, or seeming thought, to her safety, she enters into the room that Pietro had been stuffed into, with Hunter.
    "Hello, Pietro," she greets the man. She looks at him, as she squats down to a comfortable position, near eye-level. She pushes on his forehead, with the finger, to get his attention.

Tendril has posed:
    Lex sticks her tongue out at Yana as they run...so apparently this hasn't killed said friendship, though she's certainly on edge. She skids to a stop as she sees Diya coming back out with Pietro. "...I never said you were!" she says. "I...just didn't realize ya were bringin' him back instead of...um." She sighs. "Sorry."

    Pietro..does not look good. One knee is wrecked by what looks like a knife wound, and he's got bruses all over his rhino tough skin. He's a big guy, well over six feet tall and has that weightlifter look to him thanks to his mutant abilities. Missing some teeth at the moment too. He groans a bit as he's shifted, not quite conscious yet.

    As Yana steps in, Lex steps a little closer, as four thick tendrils sprouts out of her back, curling over her shoulder, apparently ready to slam the hell out of him again if he tries anything. "...okay. Now what?" she says, looking between the two of you, then mostly at Yana. "...ya got a plan for this?"

Okhotnik has posed:
Okhotnik looks negligently at the massive behemoth resting on her shoulder like a paper sack. "Well, here he is. Where d'ya want him?" She seems in no real hurry to wake him up. Frankly, she'd rather just remove his head like a twist-off cap and float his corpse down the overflow channel. But for soem dumb reason, this idea bothers Lex, and she doesn't //want// to bother Lex. She cannot help she's a soldier. Life is cheap.

Black Rose has posed:
    Yana presses her finger against the man's forehead again, and then tells Hunter, "Here is fine, really. Just drop him anywhere you please." Unconcerned, it would seem, for Pietro's well being. Once the other woman had obliged, Yana had crouches down and she pats Pietro down some, looking thoughtful. Suddenly she is smiling as she reaches into his jacket and pulls out a blade - no sword or longknife, but a deadly switchblade. Illegal, by length. She pops it open, and looks down at Pietro.
    As much as to Lex and Hunter as to Pietro, she quotes, thoughtfully, "The expert in battle moves the enemy, and is not moved by him." A quote from Sun Tzu. Then, after poking Pietro one more time, she tells the other two girls, "You might want to turn your heads."
    She waits, if the girls wish to do that. She's polite enough to warn. The smooth, pale hand of the girl take Pietro's larger right hand, and the solid gold ring on it. And, she cuts it off. Then, she cuts off a bit of Pietro's sleeve, and wraps the finger in it, ring and all.
    Hunter may well then follow Yana's intentions, before Lex's mind can fathom it. A message. She answers Hunter, finally. "We can leave him here. Or, do whatever you planned to do with him. But, if we're leaving him alive, he'll need to stay here for a couple of days. Can't have him getting out. Spoiling things."

Tendril has posed:
    Lex frowns. "Wait, yer not really going ta..." And then she does. The other mutant girl makes a faint noise and spins around, swallowing heavily as she turns a little greenish. "...okay...okay...so...ah..." she says, not looking as Pietro lets out out a pained groan. Luckily for him, that concussion is keeping him out, even as the stump starts to spurt blood a bit.

    "W-what are ya gonna do he might spoil?" she manages after a moment. She's not completely inexperienced with the idea of sending a message like that. She's just....has no idea where this is going and is feeling very lost, as she finally peeks back at the other women. "...I just want Hunter to be safe. And me." she adds, as an afterthought. "...ya really think ya can deal with this?" she says, folding her arms a bit, frowning at Yana. It's not that she doubts her, she just...has no idea how another girl her age is going to manage that. Though the very professional beating she gave Slick suggests she's more than she seems.

Okhotnik has posed:
'Hunter' drops Pietro like a sack, without a thought or a care in the world. She doesn't bother to back up, or look away. She really doesn't seem to much care.

"I just thought I'd snap his neck, end his pain, and send him down the overflow after his fox-like friend." Diya admits, coldly. "If you really want him to stay here alive, Lex, I'm going to need new chains." Because she busted the ones that they'd used before. She may not know why the Hell she is so strong, but she knows how to use it.

"All I want is Lex and the others safe. If they come for me, alone, I don't much care." she admits to both of the other woman. They are the words of a woman who has long since given up giving much of a shite about her own life, whatever her reasons.

Black Rose has posed:
    "Then, if you want to be safe, we eliminate the gang," says Yana, reasonably. "And then you, and everyone is safe. Including our lovely friend here." She's not yet witnessed what, if anything that Hunter can do. But, it may become clear, over time, that Yana suspects (and not without good reason, considering their location) that the other girl, too, is a mutant.
    Pointedly she looks at Lex, "So we eliminate the gang, entirely. That's the only way that happens. And, you're smart enough to realize that." As for confidence? Yana seems to be full of it.

Tendril has posed:
    The other girl winces a bit as Pietro hits, but otherwise doesn't spare much of a glance for him, frowning slightly as she looks back at Yana. "I...yeah, but..." she starts to say, trailing off, looking back at Hunter, swallowing. She knows Yana's right. It's written on her face, even as her gold eyes drop a bit, a hand coming up to rub her forehead, more a nervous gesture than anything else.

    She takes a deep breath. "...o-okay. Yer right. If they're already lookin' for us..they're not gonna let it go..." Her accent deepens, the Morlock cant to her voice resurfacing slowly. "...I can't let ya deal with this without me." she says, looking up at the other two again, her eyes a bit harder.

Okhotnik has posed:
'Hunter' just shrugs, nodding to Lex. "Done." That said, she crouches down smoothly, grabs the massive head and neck of Pietro in her hands ... and snaps his neck viciously, efficiently, and with far more strength than her frame could generate naturally. Then she hefts him back up onto her shoulder. "Now, I need to get rid of this. I will be back. Meet me on the rooftop."

Diya doesn't wait for the other two, but lopes easily out of the door and down the tunnels, heading for the overflow. She makes sure to toss Pietro out into the flow and watch until he disappears, before she heads back through the tunnels, following her instincts until she finds her way up and out and back to that rooftop. Once there, she stands still, breathing deeply, sucking in non-sewer air for a while.

Black Rose has posed:
    Yana seems - impressed? With Hunter's cold ferocity, the smooth efficiency in which she dispatches Pietro. "You can help me deliver the message to our friend, if you'd like. After we talk to Hunter, there, and thank her for her help. Come on."
    Thanks, by Yana's definition, will be slipping Hunter couple of worn $20 bills, for room and board for a night or two at one of the local motels or hostels. A real bed. A real bath.
    After that, it's a quick visit to Slick, stuffing the wrapped finger in his pocket, and telling him to deliver it to his boss, before she changes her mind to not let him live.
    The war, then, is on. The small, almost unnoticeable war, is on. And there is no turning back.