Old Habits Die Hard (R)

Kas sat emotionally crushed, sulking in his silver Supra only a few nights after his spirits had been lifted by a very memorable time with Evelyn, finishing off a second fifth of Black Velvet. Nothing like drowning your sorrows..

He was at the appropriated place. A medical testing and development facility on the outer edge of the industry area of the city. The roads were narrow, and mostly deserted at this hour of the night. This sort of place was held under tight security, though. Especially with the declaration of Martial Law. There were things the wrong sort of people could use to hold power over millions.. Chemical warfare was something not even most mutants could fight.

Shift-change happened nearly an hour ago. By now, all of the guards would be comfortable and relaxed; ready for a normal night of walking boring patrols and watching security cameras that every once in a while showed them a stray dog or cat sniffing around.

It wasn't, however, going to be a normal night. Kelly tied a black scarf around the lower half of his face, pulling up the hood of his dark navy hoodie sweater. He tossed the bottle at the passengers' side floorboard, sighing profoundly. "Fuck my life."




In the middle of a swig of his iced tea, washing down a spicy italian sub, his phone rang and displayed a number he hadn't seen before. Hoping inwardly it was Rachel or his buddy Neal, he answered.

"Sup?" There was silence on the other end for a moment, then a deep male voice responded.

"K4-Z12. I have need of your.. unique talents. Meet me at 146 Central Park West in half an hour. Twenty-seventh floor. Don't keep me waiting."
Kas nearly choked as he listened, feeling panic rise as his stomach turned to lead. He hung up the phone and flew out of his window seat at the little sandwich shop where he'd met Neal. He ran for the restroom and wretched until he was dry-heaving. How could they have found him? How did they even survive!? It didn't make sense.

Wasting nearly half of his time pulling himself together, Kas left the restaraunt quickly and hopped into his car, gunning the engine.


Ten minutes later, he was at the top floor of what appeared to be a high-rise, high profile condo tower. Where he stood looked like a palace fit for royalty. Everything boated opulence. It made him sick.. if he could feel any moreso.

"Mr. Sharp? Right this way." A young lady in a revealing dress and heels greeted him and lead him to a sitting room, then circled an italian leather couch to sit next to a man in an off-white suit with combed-back blonde hair and a bronzed tan The man smiled warmly, though Kas didn't see that smile reach the man's brown eyes.
"K4-Z12.. Nice to finally meet you."

"Don't fucking call me that." Kas growled. The man chuckled.

"What is it.. Kas, then? Have you enjoyed the Big Apple so far?"

"Get to the goddamn point. What the fuck do you want from me?"

Again, the man only laughed at Kelly's venomous words. "Very well. The point. Geotia was a corperate-funded 'business', on some its more.. underground levels. Before the untimely destruction of said business, its assets were safeguarded. Your files being one of said assests, as well as the other subjects'; a back-up database was made. I am, since that unfortunate incident two years ago, the sole inheritor of said database.."

Kas only glared at the man. He still wasn't getting to the point, but at least now he know how he'd been found. The businessman took a sip from a glass of water and passed it to the girl on his arm.

"After your little incident in Times Square, I've been keeping an eye on you, since I've familiarized myself with your file and your record from Nevada, I was certain it was you. Now... I see you've gotten along here in New York rather nicely. Made some new friends, even met a few pretty ladies. It doesn't have to be interrupted, Kas. You can go on playing at being a part of society. All you have to do is retrieve something for me, and there will be no trouble for anyone."

How? How could this bastard have been watching him the whole time? Was someone he knew informing him? Did he plant bugs in the apartment? Was he really stupid enough to threaten Evelyn? His thoughts raced with questions, but he tried to rein them in and focus on the one that was important at the time.

"What do you want me to steal?" Hissing the last word, because he knew it was true. What else would he be asking for?

"Ahh.. This is something that may be in your own best interests as well, Kas. A competitor posesses a prototype serum which they have been developing and illegally testing for years now. Soon, they are going to start mass-production to offer this injection to expectant mothers. It is supposedly tested and proven to reduce the possibility of birth defects.."

Kas narrowed his eyes at the man. What the hell was this?
"In truth; this injection eliminates the chance of the X-gene occuring. If this comes to pass, there will be no more of us."

The man stopped for another drink, smiling at the lady next to him and tucking a strand of her hair behind a bejewled ear. Kas was only capable of blinking his eyes in astoundment. An end to mutants?

"Waaait.. why do you want me to bring it back to you? I can just as easily smash it, and be done."

"I want to be sure. I wish to dispose of it myself, properly."
Kas slowly shook his head. He didn't like the sounds of it. What if he brought it back and the guy just used it to do the same thing himself?

"Let me assure you, I'm not trying to cross you. This is business, nothing more." The blonde man reached out and traced a finger across the delicate jawline of the girl next to him. Kas watched as she sighed, her eyes glazing over. He could see her ample chest starting to rise and fall faster. A blush rose into her face, and then Kas dropped his vision to the persian rug beneath his shoes. A guy that could get someone all hot and bothered with just a simple touch? He shook his head again. Must be convenient..

"I'll do what you ask- but after this, you leave me, and my friends the hell alone. For good. No more. This is a one-time deal!"



Kas got out of the car, and started across the wide parking lot to the med lab, already having spotted his way in. A dense, uncomfortable fog rose into the air, finding every vent and crack to seep into. He wanted to do this with the least amount of damage possible...

"Fuck's sake.." He swore as some over-cautious buttcrack of a guard rose an alarm. The whole place was now on alert. "So much for doing this the quiet way."
The police special forces would be here in no-time. SWAT could have had their hands full elsewhere, and still they would have dropped what they were doing to come to the defense of the laboratory full of hazardous materials. Martial Law or no.


He easily slipped by the patrols and dogs around the outer perimeter. The entire 'medical' facility was made up of several buildings- most of which were made to look like upscale offices. Well-tended grass carpeted the ground between clean sidewalks lined with symmetrically arranged rocks and plantlife.
Though behind all of the inviting decor, there were a few plain buildings surrounded by a tall brick privacy wall. He lingered in the fog like a phantom until two men with flashlights jogged by on the walkway, and vanished, echos of their voices and footsteps quickly fading.

Kas sprinted to the wall, holding his breath as he ran straight at it, then up. His toes barely found purchase on a crack in the bricks when he ran out of momentum. It was just enough to reach up, and hook his fingers onto the ledge at the top. He peered over the wall, finally letting his burning lungs have a breath. Kas hoped he wasn't missing any important sounds.. along with the rythmic whine of the alarms, he heard his heart thundering in his ears.

"This isn't right.." Whispering as he sat crouched on top of the 12ft. high-profile wall offering 'security' to the innermost buildings of the complex, looking down on the armed men pacing around. He felt his insides twisting with guilt. Sure, he'd let it gnaw at himself before- but never while 'on the hunt'; in the middle of his mission. This was new.. It was always nothing but concentration on the task at hand. Why was this happening now?
Shaking his head as the corners of his eyes burned and vision blurred, Kas blinked in startlement. A beam of light from one of the guards' flashlights hit him in the face.

He glowered down, raising a hand to deflect the light.
"You gonna fucking shoot me or what?!" Kas hollered obnoxiously, taunting the men below. They promptly pulled up their weapons, and Kas sprang like a leopard as bullets sailed through the air. He could count every one as it flew, if he wanted.. on a normal day.

Pouncing the closest guard as he stopped firing- finally realizing he was wasting ammo; Kas planted a knee squarely in his gut and whirled to grab the rifle in the hands of the next man. He wrenched it up, smashing the man's nose with his own weapon before he could react. As the gun was released from the man's grip, Kas jerked it away, hammering another guard in the side of the head with the stock. The two remaining guards pointed their guns and squeezed off a few shots, only to find their bullets turned back at them, hitting one in the leg and another in the foot. Kas ran as he heard them screaming and cursing, disappearing again to make a dash for the doors. He could sense the air rushing in through the cracks as easily as anyone could hear a dog howling in the middle of the night.

A forceful blast of pressure from the inside blew the doors open like the cork on a champaigne bottle. Warm, sanitizer-scented air flowed out.. and soon to follow were more goons with guns. Kas growled, narrowing his eyes. He still didn't feel focused, but his instincts were kicking in. The cold mindset to attack with no impunity was steadily returning...


((ooc: Free for any to respond to the emergency))

Loika ran in her wolf form. She was running late. Her black fur made her almost invisible in the night. She ran past Kas' car. She could hear the sirens blaring. What the heck was going on? She ran towards the direction of the sounds. She could smell Kas and was following his scent.

As she neared him a big male german shepherd rounded a corner of the building and snarled at her. It was comical because he was also wagging his tail. " Oh pulease. all males are the same." She said outloud. The german shepherd ran at her and tried to attack her face. She dodged at the last moment and spun around. She grabbed him by the tail and jerked him backwards. He let out a yelp and turned to snap at her. She was faster though. She caught him by the throat and slammed him into the ground. He yelped and struggled to get free. She held him down until he stopped moving. She didnt kill him but he was out cold. She didnt enjoy killing. especially animals.

She looked up in time to see Kas jump off of the wall. She guessed he wasnt planning on waiting for her. She ran to the fence and looked up. It would be difficult for her to jump up. Impossible. She snorted and started to dig. Her powerful claws and paws made easy work of the grass and dirt. She dug quickly and until her front legs started to hurt.

She was going to give up when she could feel air from the other side. Just a little more...She dug out a little more dirt and then crawled under the fence. It was a tight squeeze and now she had dirt in her fur. As she poked her head out on the other side there was an explosion. She could smell the lab smells and it made her tense up. She HATED that smell. She scrambled out of the hole and ran to Kas like a loyal dog. She stayed low and looked up at him when she reached him. " Im here, and sorry im late!"

The flitting sound of four paws on grass failed to catch his attention as Kas stood stock still, facing the open doors as if waiting for hellfire to spill out of them.

Loika running up to him and suddenly speaking triggered a basic reaction. He spun, hand raised and ready to face the 'threat'. As Loika spoke, he snapped out of it and straightened up, nodding and drawing in a deep breath, trying to focus.

"As soon as the guards come out, run inside. I'll take care of them. I need you to find a key card for the sub-levels. The higher security clearence, the better."

It was possible to do this without such a thing, but not having to bust down every single door they came across would be alot better than wasting all of that energy and announcing their presence everywhere they went.

Guessing his tactics were familiar to Loika by now, he knew the black wolf could take advantage of the fog that rolled into the building, clouding vision and making each breath take extra effort at human head-level.

His ears were already ringing, and Kas could feel a pinching pain blooming behind his eyes. The task had hardly begun and already one of those thunderclap headaches was building to strike. He clenched his teeth, and ran for the doors. Shouting and the pounding of feet approached fast. Rather than going inside, Kas stuck to the wall just outside the entry, partly hidden by a door hanging halfway off its hinges.

The guards ran out into the fog and began waving flashlights and guns.. by the time one thought to look behind them, it was already too late. He knocked three out with the metal handle of a flashlight before they had the chance to fight back. Three more remained, centering their guns on him.

Gunfire rang out, along with an ear-rattling boom as if lightning had struck nearby. The fog gave a visual of the air's movement, though no one was particularly interested in it. All the guards stood dumbstruck, unsure of what had happened. Their bullets seemed to stop in midair as if they hit an invisible wall. Kas stood in a bubble of clear space, sighing.
Before anyone made a move, Kas whipped the mag-light in his hands at the nearest man, thunking him soundly in the head. He ragdolled, and the remaining two stood pointing their guns, but debating whether to shoot, glancing to one another.

Kas wasn't going to wait for them to decide. In the blink of an eye, he ran off into the open doors, leaving the two men standing there wondering what the hell just happened.

Loika snarled at first in surprise when he aimed his gun at her. She relaxed when he lowered his gun. It wouldnt kill her but it wouldnt feel great either. She nodded as he gave her instructions and ran in under the fog. It was still amazing to her that he could do that. He had some talent. She almost snickered when the guards started to pass out from the fog. What was in that fog she wondered. She didnt want to find out right now.

Her job was to find key cards. It would be nice if she had a scent to follow but she would have to deal for now. She went along searching guards as they fell to the ground. They were all lackeys. None of them would have something that important.

She shivered when she looked around. There were labs around her. Labs with animals in some of them. Scientists. She had a flashback of her childhood. The labs, the experiments, Stryker. She shook her head. That was all gone now.

She trotted into one of the labs and looked at the scientist sitting at a microscope. He was working on something. He heard her claws click on the floor and looked over his shoulder at her. To an untrained human's eye she could just look like a big black german shepherd or a black husky. " Why are you loose girl? where is your patrol? i swear those idiots dont know how to treat expensive equiptment." He said. Calling her a tool made her snort. Humans didnt value anything.

She walked closer to him and wagged her tail like a dog. He pet her on the head and smiled. maybe he wasnt so bad. " Alright you can stay in here but if your patrol comes looking for you-" He seemed to finally notice the fog out in the hallway. He went to the door and opened it farther and realized the alarm was sounding. " What in the wor-" Loika had seen a key card attached to a loop when he opened the door. She trotted up and took the key with her teeth. The key chain attached to it broke when she ran off. He called after her but she didnt bother turning around and going back.

She trotted and hopped over passed out bodies and went back to the door to wait for Kas. She sat with the keycards on a key loop in her mouth. One guard nearby on the ground wavered in and out of conciousness. He saw loika sitting there and reached out. He grabbed her by the back leg and yanked. Loika hit the floor with a shud and barked. She dropped the keys when she hit the floor and turned back to bite at the guard. He laughed when she growled and bit at his hand. He had kevlar gloves on. Her teeth didnt seem to make a dent.

The shadows fluttered, and a blur came out of the fog.

"Jackass.." Kas muttered as he skidded to a stop where he heard the growling and yelping from; and let go of the pistol he picked up. Simply changing the resistance from the air to very little, his own moving momentum was enough. The gun smacked the guard soundly in the side of the head, and he dropped to the floor.

Walking over to retrieve the keychain card, Kas felt something buzzing in his back pocket. Who could be calling...?

"Fucking ballsack." He cursed quietly, tucking the card into a front pocket and reaching for the phone. Peering down at the screen, he scooped up the pistol with the other hand.
EVE his phone read. He couldn't -ignore- her. That wasn't a good impression. It was late, maybe it was something important. Worse yet, what if that Blondie had her kidnapped to make sure he got the job done?

An inability to make a choice could just as easily spell the choice being made for him, he realized as the phone buzzed for the third time..

"Uhh.. hey! Wassup?" Kas answered, attempting to sound 'normal'. He glanced at Loika from where he'd been kneeling for an awkward moment, staring into the screen. In twisted humor, he pointed the pistol at the temple opposite the phone and shrugged apologetically.
Still listening to the phone, Kas jumped up, stashing the gun into the large pocket in his hoodie and turned to peer down the hallway.

Loika wiggled free of the unconscious guard and stood up. She shook like a wet dog shaking off water. She sat and tipped her head in curiosity and watched kas talk on the phone. Hopefully he didnt tell her where he caught loika moonlighting to make more money. She liked eve, she was really nice and mackenzie adored her.

She stretched and looked around curiously. Maybe they would make it through this after all. A small team was easier to coordinate than a big group. She waited patiently for kas. He made one good dog joke and shed bite him.

Eve was sitting in her room,bored out of her mind.She had nothing to do seeing that Shikon and Lakai had went out on a date,and other Brotherhood members weren't here.She tried to fall asleep but she failed.She tried reading a book,but got too distracted.

A man was assaulting her thoughts since their second,you could call it,date.She had been thinking about him for days.His face,his eyes,his body,everything.She wondered if that could be called addiction,but as many times as she changed her mind,she would always end to the same thing.She wanted him.

She pushed herself off of the bed,and went searching for her crappy mobile phone.'Mental note.I need to get a new mobile',she said before grabbing he phone.She searched in her contacts and found him.She selected 'Windie' as his name.Her nickname for him.She quickly clicked the call button and waited.

"Come on Kas...pick it up...",she mumbled mostly to herself.She waited and waited until she hear his voice from the other end."Hey Kas!I just wanted to talk to you...",she said as a matter of fact.She needed to hear his voice,see his face,touch him.

Kas saw that doggy-like head tip of "Luna"'s and had to try hard not to snort into the phone.
Looking away down the hall, he gave her a little gesture to 'stay'.

"What about? You have me intrigued now.." Sure, it might not be the best time.. but the curiousity was eating through his brain like a worm inside an apple. He couldn't not ask.

Another noise from down the hall had caught his other ear. Kas ran down the hallway and ducked into the sentry station where the screens displaying the security camera feeds, as well as Sports Center were gleaming. A man was balancing halfway in his chair as he called for back-up on his location. Kas blasted the chair out from under said guard, causing him to crash to the floor. He lie there stunned, groaning before passing out from hitting his head on the ground.

Kas was still listening primarily to the phone while checking the display, hoping Eve hadn't heard all of that. He leaned out of the door and beckoned Loika forward with a wave.

Loika didnt like being treated like a dog. It was what it was though. She actually stayed when he put a hand up. She sat down and watched the hallway. The lab smells were too familiar and they gave her the creeps.

When he beckoned to her she trotted down the hall and into the security room. She heard the crash down the hall and saw the security guard on the floor. She sniffed the guard. He was unconscious and he stunk. She sneezed and layed down on the floor facing the door. Her head rested on her paws while kas was on the phone.

Eve smirked when she heard him say that he was intrigued.She opened her wardrobe still holding the phone,and stared at it."Well,you know....I wanted to see you.Would you like me to come over to your place or will you come over to mine?",she asked biting her lip.She finally decided.She really had to be addicted.Or was it called something else?Maybe crush for example?

She stared at her opened wardrobe for what seemed like an hour,before she pushed some clothes to the side,to reveal some dresses.In the end,she picked out a blue dress she had bought recently.She had to look beautiful if he agreed to meet up with her,and she had a feeling he liked the color blue.In your life you have to take risks after all.

As she was about to ask him if he agreed on meeting up with her,she heard a crash and then someone groan.She listened carefully,trying to understand where could Kas be."Kas?What was that?",she asked curious.What if he was with another woman and she just destroyed their mood?"A-Am I interrupting something?",she asked feeling her heart sink.

Kas peered into the displays, and began pressing buttons on the console that controlled the security camera feed, switching to different halls.

"Ummm... wellll..."
He hesitated answering Eve, unsure of what to say. His mind was reeling at insane speed trying to come up with something to tell her, but a guilt-ridden weight in his gut kept him from spilling any of the clever lies.

"It's uh.. just not a good time right now.." Kas stammered nervously, fearing whatever Evelyn was bound to assume from this.
He spotted another patrol group, likely the ones their friend on the floor called. Four men running in a straight line, weapons drawn.

Still holding the phone to his ear, Kas signaled for Loika to follow as he crept out into the hall to waylay the incoming guards. As soon as he saw the first begin to round the corner, he spoke to the disappointed silence on the other end of the conversation.

"Can we.... make plans? For later? I'm not saying no.. I'm just saying... not right now."
The last peice of his sentance was also run over by one of the men shouting
"There he is!"

Kas inwardly sighed. He kept listening to the phone, hoping Eve wasn't going to just hang up on him.
At the same time, Kas cleared the distance between himself and the first man in two strides, and kicked his kneecap. As he went down, Kas grabbed the MK rifle from his hands and slammed it into the next guy's gut as he stepped around the corner.

Loika laid on the floor of the security room and boredly listened to his conversation. She didnt feel quite so bad about lying to peter. It appeared to be a normal thing between couples to lie. She giggled a little when he tried to plat it cool with eve.

She took her time getting up when he instructed. She peeked out of the room and saw the guards rushing kas. Time to work. She ran out of the security room and ran at one of the armed guard that was getting ready to hit kas with the butt of his rifle. She jumped up on him in a flurry of snarling and teeth. She knocked him to the ground and went for his throat.

Eve was waiting for Kas to answer.He seemed tense and Eve was getting worried with each passing second.Her mind was running.What if she interrupted something?With someone?She bit her lip waiting for Kas to reply.When he finally did,his voice showed how much he didn't want to meet up right now.


"It's uh..just not a good time right now..",she heard him say and she sighed.She wanted to snap back-it was a natural reaction-but she kept herself back.She but her lip and let him continue."Can we.... make plans? For later? I'm not saying no.. I'm just saying... not right now.",he said.

"Yeah I get it.It's fine",she said ready to hung up when she heard another voice."There he is!".She wanted to ask Kas where he is,when she heard other noises.Groans.Kas was hitting someone."Kas damn it what's going on?!",she yelled.

"Yeah I get it.It's fine"
"W-Wait.. a-"
Interjecting as Eve sounded hurt and disappointed, he didn't get the chance to finish.
The last man rounded the corner and skidded to a stop, seeing two people already on the floor and a third doing a great impression of a chew-toy.
He started to pull his gun barrel up, deciding whether to shoot the guy standing there on the phone, or the 'dog' tearing someone to shreds.

Kas didn't give him a chance to think long. Quick as a snake snapping up a mouse, he reached out and grabbed the gun, angling it up and breaking the man's nose with it. As the guard's hands went to cup his face, Kas relieved the man of his weapon. A muffled scream of pain left the man before Kas thunked him on top of the head with the butt of the gun, knocking him out.
Eve yelled at him from the other end of the line while this was going on, and now Kas was the one standing there debating..

"I.. uhm.."

What the hell was wrong with him? Before now, everything was simple. Action and reaction.
Now, he was consulting his feelings, and they were very very confused.
Tell her the truth despite having preached to her about going legit?
Tell her a lie and live with that guilt until the truth came out?
Either way, it was enough reason to tell him to get bent and leave her alone.
The last thing he wanted to hear.

What he did hear, however, was two gunshots going off.
He whipped around from watching the hallway, realizing one of the men on the ground wasn't unconcious. He'd pulled a sidearm while Loika was busy, and took a couple of free shots. One at each of them.

A sharp stab in his side said the one aimed at him found its mark.
"Gotta go! Sorry!"
Pulling the phone away from his ear, Kas groaned as he pressed the 'END' button.
It quickly dissolved to a growl as he lunged forward and chopped the man in the neck with the stock of the rifle, undoubtedly breaking his spine. The guy twitched once.

Scowling behind the black scarf hiding his face, Kas was pissed off.
At them, at himself. At anything that gave him an excuse. He hadn't messed up this badly in a long time..
"Pencil-dick fucking cocksucker!"
Pocketing his phone, he pulled up his sweater to check out the hole below his sixth rib, shaking his head. Surprisingly, there was a minimal amount of blood. Kas was using the air pressure to hold it all in. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to fix it.

He knelt to check on Loika, sighing.
"Are you alright?"
If his fuck-up had gotten her shot..!
He pushed the thought back, clenching his teeth and drawing a painful breath.

When the shots rang out Loika yelped and fell on top of the pretty much dead guard she was attacking. She laid there stunned for a few moments. It was in back left leg. She got up and turned back to lick her leg. She knew the bullet was still in.

When she looked up at Kas she realized hed been hit too. Dammit. She limped over to him and sat down. ' Okay this is gunna be gross but trust me, like a dog i have saliva with antibacterials in it... and it helps you heal a bit faster." She licked the bullet wound on his side until it was clean.

After she was satisfied she had helped Kas she limped back over to the guard and took his knife. She shifted back to a human and yelped in pain. Animals had a higher pain tolerance than humans. She was nude since she had just shifted from wolf. Her back was to Kas. Her body was covered in scars. From the barcode on the back of her neck all the way down to her heels were random and nasty looking scars. Better visible here than the low lighting of the strip club. She used the knife and began to dig out the bullet in her leg. She bit her lip to keep in the screams of pain she wanted to make. She had to get it out before she started to heal.

The bullet popped out and clinked on the floor. She dropped the knife and stood still for a second. The only thing that hurt as much as the injury was the healing. And it took alot of energy to Heal and to shift. The would was slowly starting to heal right there. It was a trait she shared with Wolverine. Quick healing. It would completely heal within the hour. " Im bringing down the biggest fucking stag i can find later. Im starving." She said and shifted back into a wolf.

Most of what Loika got was a nod, and he let the wolf do her thing.
He was locked in an internal war with his mind to stop picturing how Eve was responding to him hanging up on her.. and none of it was good.
Kas stared at the empty hallway ahead, trying to focus on what needed to be done.
The pain was helpful in making emotionless reaction rise to the surface, which is why he didn't say anything to Loika until after she went through the task of extracting the bullet and he heard it plink onto the floor. He wouldn't remove his own until they were out, somewhere safe. Right now, he couldn't afford the headache.

"I could've done that." Nodding as he kicked the chunk of metal with a toe, Kas turned back to watching the other direction. Not that nudity was an issue, though all those scars covering a pretty girl nearly his own age.. it was depressing.
Kas was at least encouraged by the fact he didn't have to worry about Loika keeling over from one gunshot. Keeping up with him was a chore even for most mutants.

He then turned all of his attention on the sense no one but him could see.
Every current, every breath, every heartbeat.
He found an elevator shaft that the warm surface air expanded into.

"Let's get what we came for."

Kelly started down the hall at a full sprint, despite the miserable fog making it hard to see what was ahead. It was all fine for him.. Kas could feel the air filling the space of the building, and the life moving within that. Pinpointing a way down, he turned to run another stretch of hallway and find an elevator. Fog seeped into the double-doors as something on the other side stirred.

The elevator was coming up. Any moment now, the doors would part, a number of armed guards would charge out.
"Six... what is it with goons and even numbers..?"
Remarking to Loika, he readied for the inevitable.

Loika laughed softly. " i had to get it out before i healed. That woulda sucked balls. My first mission i broke my leg. It healed crooked and a doctor had to rebreak it and set it straight. That hurt like a fucker." she was still in pain and limping but she trotted alongside him. Even in human form her heartbeat was faster like a wolf's and her temp was a toasty 108. She would always look different compared to other's through kas's special power.

She looked at the elevators. "6 huh? Ive got an idea. Get back out of sight of the doors. Ill lure them out and u hit them while they are distracted." she didnt bother to listen to him argue. She trotted over to a dog on the floor and quickly pulled its collar off. She wiggled it over her own head and came back to the elevators and laid on the floor far enough from the elevator door that the guards would have to come out to investigate the "dog" on the floor. They would assume she was one of the black shepherds and be too busy with her to notice kas attack.

Kas only quirked a brow at all of the gorey description from Loika, then an unseen smile appeared. It wasn't very often he came across a female that was such a warrior spirit.
Giving a short thumb's up at the tactical use of distraction, Kas glued himself to the wall beside the elevator doors. In the fog, it was difficult to discern he was there.

The elevator rattled to a stop, and the doors ground on stiff gears.
Six men in black matching uniforms with automatics shouldered stood impatiently within the metal box. One stepped out first, looked around, and the rest shortly began to follow.
The first man leaned down to poke Loika with the muzzle of his AK, making quiet kissy-smootchy noises to see if she was alive. Obviously a dog-owner.

Kas didn't like the looks of this batch of corperate goons. They held themselves with more assertiveness than the former simpletons in the halls and patrolling the grounds. In an effort to limit using his gift, he was taking down as many as possible going melee. Kas knew he wasn't MMA material or anything that impressive though.. just resourceful.

Kelly started the fiasco off with a bang.. literally. Since he was against the wall, and Loika was on the ground- a pressure-blast like a grenade exploding threw the men walking out of the double-doors. They landed in a heap, though only the guy at the bottom wasn't moving The rest were slowly crawling back to their feet.

Closest to Loika, the first soldier was turning around and leveling his gun at the elevator.

Loika rolled to her feet and grabbed the assault rifle barrel with her mouth. She shook her muzzle back and fourth in an effort to jerk the gun out of his hands. He reached out and grabbed her by the ear and gave her a jerk. Loika let out a yelp but held onto the gun. She finaly jerked it out of his hands and tossed it. She turned her head despite him holding her ear and bit his wrist. She jerked on his arm hard. He yelled in pain and let go of her ear. " you will run now if you know whats good for you." she said to the dig lover. He appeared to be the only smart one. He nodded and made a run for it. She turned back to another guard who called her a mutant freak.

"What the-!?" One of the remaning four couldn't believe his squadmate was running away, complaining as he got to his feet and turned around. Just in time to take a whack to the head.
Kas moved in quickly while most of the guards were still disoriented.

Swinging the blunt end of the gun on one guy, he knocked that one to the floor. Kas turned to deliver a swift kick to the chest of another in the middle of standing up, then spun around to meet the third.

Kas jabbed at him with the rifle only to have the guard catch it and try to rip it from his hands.
The bigger guy was definately stronger.. but smarter?

With a secret smirk, Kelly pulled back and engaged in tug-of-war long enough to make certain the other man's momentum had shifted to pull against him.
Then he let go, and watched as the guard stabbed himself in the sternum with the barrel and directly fell over backward. All it took was a small change in resistence..
By the time Kas could confront the last man, he had his AK pointed right between those clear baby-blues.

"Go for it, shitface. C'mon!" Kas taunted. It was a deadly little game of chance, betting his life that his mental 'trigger' was faster than anyone's finger.

Loika was fighting her mutant hater still. She grabbed her by the dog collar she was still wearing and hauled her up so that her front paws were dangling. She made a little choked noise and tried to struggle but it was hard to get any leverage. He pointed his gun at Loika and readied it to fire. " Let him go, or your little dog here gets it." The guard said. He looked serious.

Choices between morality and tactics were precisely why Kas preferred working by himself.
He could stake his own life on chance with few compunctions. Accelerated healing or not, he wasn't sure Loika could survive a bullet to the head. Best not to test it.

"Wait.." Kas gave them the span of a heartbeat, then lunged at the man holding the gun to Loika.
Both guns fired back-to-back, filling the hall with yet more booming noise.
As Kas twisted the collar out of the guard's hand and pulled Loika roughly away.
The bullet meant for her face grazed past her ear, 'pulled' the other way by shiting the air as much as he could around something traveling so fast with such a short range to spare.

He also had to mind the auto-fire from behind. One, two, three bullets crashed into the walls. One dinged off the gun used to try making Loika a hostage, tearing it from the guard's grasp. Another Kas felt lodge itself into his calf.

As the last armed man perpared to fire again, Kas glared at him and flipped the guy off.
The guard pulled the trigger and then stumbled back as his AK blew apart. While he had fired the gun, it exploded from three bullets stuck and colliding in the barrel. Kas would have laughed at how easy cheap guns were to jam, if he wasn't fighting back a wave of pain striking light lightning behind his eyes. It was instantly dizzying, and Kelly had to take a knee, squeezing his eyes shut.

Loika scared there for a little while. All she could think of, is Peter would be left to Raise Mackenzie alone. Could he do it? He hadnt spent much time with her. Kas pulled through for her. She collapsed to the ground and gasped for air after the guard had dropped her. She was okay she just needed to breath. She laid there panting and gasping for air. " K-kas you okay?" she called out in a raspy voice.

A voice made it through the pounding between his ears, though the words were garbled. He cracked one eye open, and winced as it seemed brighter than the summer sun in a desert.
Squinting at the distorted lights and shadows, he picked out the one that resembled Loika. Her warm breath was the important thing he was searching for.
Kas nodded, getting to his feet and glancing at the back of his jeans at the dark stain on one leg.
"Fuckers. Shit. That blows..!" Once, the last of a limited-edition True Religion's. Now, expensive gun-cleaning rags.. He couldn't very well wear them ruined. An M67 bullet wound wasn't anything new. It was a small injury in his definition, compared to the thunderclap headaches.

Kas slowly tested his gait and walked into the elevator, making an obnoxiously inappropriate 'suck it' gesture at the security camera before manipulating just one teeny bit of air pressure that really mattered. The bit trapped inside; right behind the lens. Such a tiny shard of glass cracking was barely noticable to anyone but the coward watching at the other end of the camera.

"Ooh, joy. Five sub-basement levels! If I have any more of these fun surprises tonight, I might have a stroke out of sheer over-excitement." He snorted, retrieving the keycard and noting it would only take them down to B-4. They would have to find stairs or another keycard before they could get to the objective.

"If you want to wait here in the elevator, I'll understand."
Kas wasn't going to make Loika take the risk, because she had at least one very small person that would miss her.. and possibly not survive without her. That had been tested before, after all.

Loika used her paws to force the collar out of her neck. Her neck hurt like hell. That was gunna bruise. She shook her head, her fur around her neck standing up in the process. " If your leg can handle it lets take the stairs. We will just have to take them either way to reach our destination." She looked around and shivered. " God this place gives me the creeps. Its just like the one i grew up in."