The Majikus Circus. 8D Five Years Ahead~

The silver haired woman leaned away from the balls of fur in David's hands to fix the black haired male with an aggravated look. Honestly, couldn't this one catch a clue? Poisoned once himself, with his lover taken captive alongside him, and the hybrid and her pups at their mercy, and he was standing there making demands. Most people would have had the sense to shut up and go along with whatever their captors wanted of them. Glaring at him coldly, Ava turned back to David, and picked up the smaller of the two pups. Holding it the scruff of its neck between forefinger and thumb, she walked over to the tall male.

"To answer your question. We are a varied group of people working for a man who is interested in studying and, where applicable, exploiting the abilities of freaks like yourself. Also." Ava slowly held the squirming, crying pup up till it was eye level with the man. "I suggest that you stop with your attempts to free yourself. Or I shall take this mongrel, walk to the lakeshore, and drop it into the water. It has no special value to us, but I believe David's hybrid would be heartbroken if it were to lose one of its offspring." So saying, the scientist whirled around, dropping the animal back into David's arms. Ugh.

She was wiping her hands on her pants when Paul walked his own captive back to the van. Ava raised one eyebrow at the bloody, crying woman, but simply nodded to Paul. "Well, I see you managed to secure yours. Now we merely need Fang and we can leave." She stepped aside so he could shove the shaking female into the van with the other subjects. "Penelope, any progress on his front?"

The place certainly was getting crowded, Penelope had to concede within the vaults of her mind. It was to be expected, she supposed.. Considering the number of people who had set of on this little mission; And the number that had been added with their apparent success. The short, dark haired child glanced between each of the people there, focusing her gaze on the tall, black haired male. His straining against his bindings had not gone unnoticed; And clearly it hadn't made it's way past Ava, either.

She merely watched as the silver haired scientist proceeded to collect one of the newly arrived pups, practically waving the thing in front of the man's face and offering an ultimatum. Well. He certainly seemed like the kind of guy who would care about his companions safety. And if not, well. There was always the butterfly... And even the new one that Paul had just sidled up with.

Maya, who had remained silent and somewhat impassive, bristled noticeably when Ava first took a hold of Nylat's newborn. How dare she!... Threaten the life of something so vulnerable that it would never be able to protect itself, and while directly in the mother's presence nontheless. Maya could only imagine the sort of pain her friend was enduring there and then... And the anger. And the helpless feeling that only a situation like this could possibly provoke.

She almost growled, keeping a firm hold on her tongue. She didn't wish to make the situation any worse... And right now, they were in a pretty tight corner. Averting her eyes, her face blanched when she caught sight of Kioko, bleeding and being dragged over towards the rest of them. Another one... Just how many of them were going to have to go through this... Although the mention of another person already answered this.

Maya inhaled sharply, then looked quickly at the floor, squeezing her eyes shut for a couple of mniutes. It was hard enough trying to control her own fear... But her fear for the others was probably far more prominent, and it was beginning to make her feel more than a little sick to her stomach. And this wasn't even the start of it.

Penelope had returned her attention to the surrounding area, ignoring, it seemed, any of the reactions from any of their captives. It didn't matter what they did. After all, she'd almost enjoy watching them trying to get away before promptly smashing them into the ground if that's what it resorted to, so it mattered little if they refused to take Ava's advice. She snorted quietly to herself, then looked over at the silver haired scientist as she spoke to her. "I believe he's close." She replied, turning her gaze back towards the Circus. In fact. He was already on his way.

~~~

It had taken very little time. As the parents of the little freakish child made themselves comfortable and settled down for the night; Fang had simply slipped into a position underneath the youngsters cot. It had been an easy thing, considering the sheer amount of shadow within the van.

Once done, He then slipped up, quite literally, through the thin mattress, in the same way ink might blot through paper. His entire form created a sort of black, bottomless puddle underneath the light weight of the two year old; The inky substance forming thin, clawed fingers that wrapped around the child in less than a second. Lionel was then promptly pulled into the small void that Fang had created, effectively bringing the child into the dark male's realm; Cutting off any connection to his van; Or his parents.

The shadow then slipped quickly back through the mattress, before making it's steady way between the crack under the closed door; And shooting off with starting speed back across the grounds, flitting from shadow to shadow.

It didn't take long at all, and Penelope quickly stepped aside as Fang's shadow began to form upwards from within the shadow of a nearby tree. The darkness swirled, before quickly evaporating to reveal the coated form of the tall, dark male, now holding a somewhat bedraggled child with one hand. He grunted sourly, paying slight heed to the others there, before dropping Lionel unceremoniously into Penelope's arms. He then stepped into the van, seating himself passively back into the seat he had occupied on the way down here; Followed by the younger girl.

Maya looked positively hopeless by this point. Another captive. And yet another captor. Only this one, she had to silently conclude, was probably the scariest by far. He hadn't needed to make any idle threats or even thrown a glance their way. His whole presence screamed "nightmare"... And his height quite easily matched that of Dravius. He certainly wasn't helping the situation, that much was certain.

She slumped half-heartedly into the closest seat, allowing her forehead to gently lean against the back of the seat in front of her; Wrists still aching from the rigid constraint on them. She stared for a minute at the floor, then closed her eyes; exercising a good deal of effort to keep her breathing under control.

Kioko shuddered in disgust when the weird man spoke again, crying out in surprise and pain when he slammed her into a tree trunk. Her eyes widened in fear as he pulled out the rope and knife, and the pyro's shaking increased as her hands were tied together. "Please don't," she begged quietly. The pyro twitched away as the strange man leaned in again, only succeding in smacking the back of her head against the tree. She began sobbing once Paul tugged down her shirt and drew blood, fear and pain leading her to hyperventilate as Paul dragged her along to the van. Kioko stumbled once, almost falling when he decided to draw his knife again and slice open the skin above her eyebrow. The pyro winced as the blood began to run into her eye, her efforts to blink and clear her vision accomplishing nothing except mixing the blood with her tears.

The sight of Nylat and the others, captured and waiting at the van, sent a chill of fear through her, made even worse once another man appeared as if from nowhere, and handed Lionel to an emotionless dark eyed girl. Kioko began to shake again, and dropped her head, trying to hide the blood running down her face. Maya, Dravius, Nylat... They had enough to be scared about. They didn't need to worry about her as well.

*rolls*

David shook his head. "Unfortunantly, no, Ava. I have my own experiments for them. Maybe when I'm done, if one lives." Nylat growled, but was ignored. But then she realized something. David was too into research to harm her pups, no matter what. So as soon as the opportunity provided itself, she'd take it. Falling silent, she resolved to give him more trouble than she had last time. There would be blood. Lots of it. Already she found her heart hardening, her logic slipping away to defiance. She only barely held onto herself, just enough to remember that she wasn't alone in this. She had others to think about.

David, realizing her silence was likely not good, glanced back, and that's when Ava took the pup. Nylat bristled, going straight into hissing--completely skipping growling. David glared at Ava, but even still, Nylat recieved a boot to the nose. She yelped and backed up, still growling as she sat and held a paw to her nose. As the shadow man appeared with Lionel, Nylat laid her ears back. They were digging themselves a deeper and deeper hole. They'd be in SERIOUS pain when they were found. Then a thought hit her. IF they were found. Surely, they weren't so dumb as to make themselves easy to follow. Her heart sank.

At the appearance of another man and Kioko, she softly laid her forehead against the ground. No. Nonononono. She shook her head. This was getting terrible, and fast.

At Paul's appearance, though, David smiled to himself, and nudged Nylat rather roughtly with the toe of his boot. "Alright. Into the van." He still held the needle to Kylain, but Ny still walked slower than satisfactory. However, no amount of urging could get her to go any faster, thus making David look somewhat the fool. As she jumped into the van, the vehicle rocked slightly from her weight before she settled herself down. Sticking the needle into her shoulder, he injected just enough of the tranquilizer to supress her, leaving just enough to kill one of the pups. Or at least, to use that as a threat. As he did so, him and the hybrid stared daggers at each other, and when he took the needle out, she continued to glare. As he turned away, though, she let her head droop, fighting the beginning effects of the quick-acting tranq. David took his previous seat once more, the two pups sitting in his lap.

Dravius had been busy twisting his wrists back and forth inside of his restraints, vaguely feeling the thick plastic cut farther into his skin, bright red blood welling up. The actions and reactions that were happening were due largly to a huge amount of anxiety, due to both the general atmoshphere and the unsettling numbness leeching into the shoulder joint of the arm the severe woman had touched. He continued twisting, all of the muscles along his arms standing out in cords. The blood now coating the plastic ties was beginning to make them a sickly sort of sticky.

When Ava made her grim threat, Dravius' face went from an expression of slight anxiety to a deep seated fury. His jaw tightened abruptly, and he suddenly felt to urge to sink his teeth into the woman's hand. How on earth could she threaten something so small and helpless? Baring his teeth at her, the young man released a huge snarl into the confines of the van, but then swiftly curtailed himself, pressing his lips together over his teeth tightly.

Breathing in through his nose deeply, Dravius took a step back, and found Maya's shoulder with his hand, and gently laid a palm on it for a moment, trying his hardest to offer at least a little bit of reassurance to her, and fairly sure he was failing miserably. Hey, let's go for a walk-whoops we got kidnapped. Goddamnit.

The young man's expression performed yet another abrupt change as a soft crying became evident, and Dravius' eyebrows furrowed in an expression of extreme concern. As Kioko was led into the van, Dravius' eves were drawn to the streaks of blood above Kioko's eye, and soaking through her oversized sweatshirt. His eyes were drawn to the average-sized man leading Kioko, and his level of uneasiness heightened even more. The expression on the man's face was one of barely concealed glee.

----------------------------------

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, Pauled LOVED it when they begged. The man had managed to wrangle the psycotic joy off of his face and into an expression of amused expectation. Just before they had entered the van, Paul had wiped a thumb across the blood on Kioko's forehead, and rubbed that digit and his index finger together, feeling a pleasant, yet not nearly overwhelming enough, buzz at the base of his skull. It really took a nice bloodbath to get Paul to a place where he'd always like to be.

Although that place also tended to be one that required sedation, according to Ava. And the police. Still. Paul's pupils had gone from normal to pinpricks as his fingers became reddened. Walking into the van, Paul noticed that Kioko was holding her head down. A quick smile flitting across his face, the young man dug his fingernails into the soft skin between her jawbones, and under her chin, to force her head up. "Darling, don't you just want everyone to see your pretty face?" He sneered, removing his fingers gently. Then he blinked a few times, an alluring, irony scent filling the small van. "Ava, who's bleeding." His speech was rushed, and Paul was assessing the van with quick movements of his dialated eyes.

Paul's knife had disappeared back into his bag, and he was suddenly preoccupied, but his hands were still gripping Kioko's wrists. He qiuckly took stock of all the people captured there, including a small child held by Penny. How aggravating. Paul hated chidlren. They were so whiny, and always wanted something.

Always.

Ugh. Children.

Penelope could barely stand them. Not this young, at any rate. The dark eyed girl stared at the blue child in her arms, lips curling slightly in slight disgust. At least the kid didn''t seem to be crying yet, at least. Fang had done incredibly well to take the kid without really waking him up, or unsettling him too soon. It'd probably be best if they could keep it that way... Penelope certainly didn't fancy being stuck in a van half an hour with a wailing baby.

Shrugging her shoulders to herself, she glanced fleetingly at the other people in the area, before stepping into the van after Fang and seating herself next to him; Keeping a firm but steady hold on the child in her arms. The driver had also reappeared, and now sat in the driver's seat, preparing to set off.

The van started moving just as Maya felt Dravius' hand on her shoulder, and altered her gaze far enough to stare for a few seconds at the deep, bloody cuts the Co-Master had already managed to inflict on himself. She almost tried to react to his silent reassurance with a shaky smile, but her she was finding it increasingly difficult to change her expression in any way. She did, however, pull her forehead away from the seat in front of her long enough to glance around the van. She couldn't quite shake the horror of seeing Lionel in there with them; Or the severe concern of Nylat, Kioko, and Dravius. Her own fear was suddenly really rather sharp when she realised they were moving. They were heading nowhere pleasant, and that fact was beginning to bear down on her quite strongly.

It was around this point she went back to pressing her forehead against the back of the seat in front of her.

Penelope had ignored most of what went on, only partially listening to Ava deal out her threats as the van suddenly entered a black hole, re-emerging into Fang's territory before picking up it's speed. She glanced over her shoulder only when Paul spoke.

"You should prepare something for him." She said quietly in Ava's direction. "The tall man's blood seems to be getting to him. I'd rather not be stuck in here if he decides to go feral."

~~~

The entire trip back to the scientific building seemed to go slightly slower than their trip to the Circus itself; Probably because of the uncomfortable stuffiness of the van with all the extra bodies in there. As soon as the van pulled to a stop outside the building, Penelope immediately stepped out of it, still carrying the blue skinned baby and followed shortly by Fang. It was sometime within the early hours of the morning, near as she could tell.

The two of them made their way into the entrance of building, greeted by three or four scientists who had been waiting on their arrival. The two of them waited within the entrance hall, before Penelope looked back over her shoulder at Ava. "Well?" She asked. "Where do you want them?"

~~~

The night had been a long one, for Zyano at least. Shortly before Lucia and Raphael had paid a visit to Nylat; The huge, sand furred hybrid had decided to take another run around the lake. It wasn't often he allowed himself the freedom during the evening hours; But it was certainly worth it when he did.

He had spent a good portion of the last couple of hours simply running; Either for chasing possible prey or simply because he was able. He had even allowed himself to get more than a just a little wet, having run into the lake headfirst a few times. Eventually, he ended up on the opposite bank, only just able to pick out the small, winking lights of the village far across the huge mass of water; The lights of the Circus vans seeming even further away.

He was sat, quietly watching the light rippling on the surface of almost still lake water. He seemed slightly bemused by it, eventually pulling himself out of his reverie long enough to shake out his fur and pull himself to all four paws. He then headed back around the shore, back towards the Circus at a steady lope.

Upon returning, he idly noted that most members had retired to their beds for the night; before padding towards his own van, a rather large yawn pulling at his jaws. It seemed almost, however, before the hybrid even reached his van, that something was slightly off; And he paused outside the door with his ears perked. Nosing open the door, Zyano carefully padded inside, his large paws making little to no noise as he entered the dim dwelling. He stopped almost suddenly, the scent of his mate and pups being somewhat subtle, too subtle.

His eyes quickly adjusted, and a strange, gnawing concern began to form when he noticed that the van was deserted. Any other day, this wouldn't have been an issue... But Nylat would not have moved with her pups... She wouldn't have been able to. It was then he noticed something else, something that made his fur bristle with anger and fear. A whole new scent. Small, but there.

Clinical. Chemical. The scent of something almost hospital like... And it certainly wasn't a passing scent. Someone had been here. Something had happened. Someting terrible. Still bristling, Zyano, with a barely audible snarl, bounded straight out of the van door, bolting after the scent; A growl still bubbling in his throat.

He followed it relentlessly; Before he had to pull himself to a sudden stop. More scents... Both some he knew and others he didn't. That of a metal vehicle. There was a strange sort of foreboding here; And a sudden, blazing horror began to form in him. This wasn't right. Something definately wasn't right. The scent of blood was far too strong. Kioko's. Pulling himself together, his growl returned in full force and he continued to follow the scent, pounding along after the back country lane, when something else suddenly stopped him.

Nothing... Just. Nothing.

The scent of the vehicle had stopped abruptly, as though it had simply vanished into thin air. No. No. This wasn't... This wasnt possible. Zyano could only stare into space as the complications became apparent... He couldn't follow them... He didn't know how to follow... Nylat... Kylian... Tylia... The others. They'd been taken.

A sudden, tearing fear forced it's way through the giant hybrid's throat, emerging out into the cool night air through the creature;s powerful lungs. A howl so despairingly empty it rang among the trees, hanging in the still evening air. The terrible sound had barely made it's way beyond Zyano's fangs before he turned, and with a new, burning determination, fled back towards the Circus, howling a second time almost as soon as he reached the boundary, the sound more than able to bring the members of the Circus into full wakefullness.

Karene, looking somewhat bedraggled; Her caramel hair mussed slightly, stepped out of her van door with a concerned expression. She was staring in the direction of the awful noise when Raphael skidded to a halt some distance away, looking far more alert for someone who had been asleep.

"What was that." Karene asked, stepping from her stairs to stand beside the blonde Ring-Master.

"No idea... But I don't like the sound of it. At all." He immediately stepped off, walking at a rather brisk pace towards the direction of the despairing sound.

Ava huffed in disappoinment when David refused her request for one of the hybrids, but let it slide. Fine. She had her own subjects to play with, after all. Speaking of which, it seemd they wouldn't have to wait any longer for Fang. As the silent man dropped the blue skinned child into Penelope's arms, Ava stepped around to the front of the van to reclaim her seat in the front. Glancing in the rearview mirror, she threw a smirk at the obviously enraged, but now silent Dravius, mentally taking stock of their captives. All told, it had gone much more smoothly than she had anticipated, a fact which filled the scientist with unholy glee. Excellent. The sooner they got back, the sooner Ava could begin her experiments.

Her good mood was ruined once Penelope spoke up, causing the silver haired women to frown sharply. Of course. She'd all but forgotten about the bleeding man, and Paul's reaction to things like that, being busy with making sure the research subjects were properly secured and then threatening the man to keep him from trying to free himself. She'd need to deal with this immediately, before the mohawked idiot ruined their efforts by letting himself get carried away. Once again pulling out her case, the scientist removed a syringe and unbuckled her seat belt.

Standing carefully, Ava stepped into the back of the van, leaning over the first row of seats to reach Paul in the second. "You don't need to worry about that, Paul," she answered, grabbing his arm and quickly injecting the sedative before he could stop her. Re-capping the syringe, she took her seat once again. "Just relax, and let the drugs do their work. And don't cut up that albino anymore before we get them back to headquarters," she added. "It's almost impossible to get the stains out of the van upholstery."

-----

Ava snapped into scientist mode as soon as she entered the building, snapping her fingers at two of the scientists who were awaiting them. "You and you," she told them. "I want the white haired girl and the tall man checked over for injuries, then place each of them into a solitary room. Make sure you sedate both before you cut off their restraints, and watch that one very carefully, he seems to think he's the hero of the group," she ordered, pointing at Dravius.

"As for you, prepare an examination room, I want to get a baseline for these freaks and their abilities before we begin." She told the last one. As they marched Kioko and Dravius off to follow her orders, Ava looked over at Maya where she had been left behind. "As for you," the scientist said. "I'm not going to waste any of my people taking care of that," Ava sneered, gesturing at Lionel where he was now beginning to wake up in Penelope's arms and fuss over the unfamilar enviroment. "So, you're going to do it for us. You seem like the type to worry over a child, even one that isn't yours, so the child and you will be sharing the same room, as long as you cooperate. Attempt to escape, or refuse to go along with any of our tests, and I'll seperate you. The child will be put into a containment cell by himself with one of my assistants to look after it. And my people aren't known to be very nurturing. Penelope, take her and the brat to one of the rooms."

Although, once the experiments began, the butterfly winged woman really wouldn't be in much shape to take care of herself, much less a child. But she didn't need to know that. Not yet, anyway.

-----

Erik half-stumbled, half-fell out of his bed as the mournful, eerie howl reached his van. Recognizing the sound as belonging to Zyano, he hurriedly kicked the comforter away from where it had tangled around his legs, cracking his knee against the bedside table as he did. Swearing loudly he hobbled to the door, pausing just long enough to yank his bathrobe off its hook and wrap it over his thin pajamas.

The shapeshifter broke into a run once he was outside, heading in the direction of the howl, his untied bathrobe flapping behind him. His bare feet slipped once in the grass before he managed to catch himself, his hurt knee protesting the treatment. The redhead was wheezing by the time he managed to reach Zyano, doubling over and bracing himself on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. "What's-" He coughed, gasping for a moment before trying again. "What's wrong, what's happened Zyano?"

Straightening with a wince, Erik looked around them, trying to see in the darkness anything that would have his friend so upset. "Why the god-awful unholy noises? I haven't heard you sound like that... Well, ever," he said, unsuccessfully tried to massage away a stitch in his side.

-----

Selvai followed his wife out of their van, fighting back a yawn as he struggled into a pair of boots. "Any idea what that was?" he asked. "And are we sure it is safe to head toward it?" he added, although he kept pace with both Raphael and Karene as they went.

"Won't know what it was until we go look, though," came a familar voice from behind them, as Adriel jogged up, wearing only a pair of white shorts and a matching tank top. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes with one hand and clutched a long sleeved, over-sized shirt with the other. "Besides, between the four of us I think we'll be okay, right?" she commented, struggling into the shirt with the barely there coordination of someone who had just woken up. "Raphael has his illusions, you two have your Hogwarts powers, and I can stab anything that gets too close."

-----

Like everyone else, Disera had been awoken by the hybrids howls, although she hadn't been sleeping as easily as other members of the circus. After the initial shock of being woken abruptly, the shifter sat for a moment, trying to place what was wrong with the van. It hit her, then; no sounds from Lionel's crib. After such a loud, creepy noise, the toddler should have awoken crying or at least started fussing until one of them came over to sooth him back to sleep.

Disera rolled out of bed, hurrying over to the crib with a sense of dread, grabbing the blanket and ripping it away to reveal an empty bed. Flipping on the main lights, the shifter began to shake as she searched through the van, flinging aside random items and even tipping over a chair in her panic.

"Kanec! Kanec get up!" she screamed, bordering on the verge of hysteria as she ripped the blankets off of the bed. Dropping them in a pile on the floor, Disera spun around to look over the van again. "Leo's not in his bed, I can't find him, you have to GET UP!" Her voice rose higher as she spoke, to the point where the shifter was now shrieking, breathing so hard she was almost hyperventilating as she clutched the small blanket she'd taken from the crib.

As they got further and further from the Circus, Nylat's heart sank. Finally, she laid her head down on the floor of the van, ignoring everything but the inside wall of the vehicle that she was currently staring at. It was boring, but if she focused on it and it alone, she'd be fine. Or so she hoped.

When they got back, David was out in a flash, but calmly waited for Ava to distribute her subjects as she wished. Nylat, however, was slightly less patient, sitting up and flicking her tail back and forth like a cat about to pounce. Finally, he snapped. "Come on, you miserable mistake. I have someplace special for you." She didn't budge. He frowned. "I said come." After a pause, she leisurely stepped out of the van, the vehicle rising a bit once relieved of her weight. David led her into the building, keeping a close eye on her and a firm hold on the pups. He led her to a room he'd had set aside just in case, and forced her into a large cage. He set the pups down beside her, not wanting to lose them, and they ran to her side, whining. She glared at him, earning a smack across the snout. But before his hand was out of reach, she snatched it up in her teeth, biting hard until she heard a crunch. He had to bite back a yelp, but she let go, and her held his injured hand close. "The only reason you get your pups is because they need you, mutt. I'm sure, though, that they can be tended to by someone else." She curled her tail around Kylain and Tylia protectively, and he glanced at his hand, which was bleeding significantly. "Tests start tomorrow. Worse than before." She didn't flinch or grimace until after he left, at which time, she let her head droop. She was stuck.

David grabbed a first aid kit from the wall (because let's face it, if you're working around potentially dangerous 'freaks', there's going to be a first aid kit here and there) and set about wrapping his hand up. It hurt like hell. She probably broke a few bones. He was lucky--he knew her strength. Probably a bit better than most. As he tied of the bandages, he resolved to get his hand checked later.

~~

Kanec, lightly sleeping near the edge of the bed, gave a start at the howl, and hit the floor with a thud. Shifting into a dire wolf and ready for anything, he found that a lie as he, too, realized what Disera had, only a moment after. As she tore through the van, he frantically sniffed around, trying to find any sign of someone taking him, but finding none. He frequently dodged out of the shifter's way, not blaming her for not noticing him in her panic. When she started yelling, he shifted back, approaching her carefully. He thinly covered the edge of panic in his voice, to not send her into the close-at-hand panic attack. "I'm up, I'm up." He wasn't going to console her with lies of 'It's alright' or 'He's around here somewhere' because at this point, those weren't going to help. But he laid a hand on her shoulder lightly, slowly. "You have to calm down, or you'll hurt yourself." He was almost as panicked as her, his ears flicking constantly, his wings shuffling. "Maybe that noise had something to do with it. Let's see about checking it out." He was trying his hardest to keep calm, he really was, but his eyes betrayed him, worried and panicked at the same time.

At Paul's sudden twitchiness, Dravius had turned his attention more towards the man, as he looked as if he had just snorted a few lines off of the van's hood before entering it. The Co-Master sannk lower in the car seat, although his furious expression hadn't shifted an inch. He continued working the plastic ties back and forth more, although with small movements that were not very noticable at all.

Dravius looked a little bit surprised, mask of anger slipping, as Ava all but lunged into the backseat and stuck a needle into the twitchy man's arm. What in the seven hells was going on here? And holy shit shadow realm? The young man was only becoming more and more bewildered as the van ride was going on, eventually settling back into his seat, still twisting, twisting, twisting.

When a huge, near-compound came into veiw, leaving the shadowy road behind, Dravius leaned forward, scooting himself to the end of the van seat, his lip curled slightly in an expression that could turn into a smarl any second. At Ava's exit from the van, Dravius angeled himself in a way to get out of the van without his arms, and followed behind the woman, towering over her but still feeling utterly powerless.

The doors slid open in front of the small train, and at Ava's orders to the lower scientists, and her stupid comments, his angry expression turned into a deep-throated snarl, his lips pulled away from his teeth. It took a few seconds for him to process that Maya would be staying behind, and he turned his head as he was urged on, teeth still bared and eyes furious.

Along the sterile hallways of the building, the scientist was joined by a muscular man in a clean white uniform, and eventually, Kioko was led off to a side hall by the original man, and Dravius forced to go on a few more yards to an equally clean white door. The young man briefly considered resisting, but when the orderly opened a case next to the door and pulled out a syringe, the muscles in his shoulders relaxed, and he slumped slightly, shaking his head once.

The plastic ties were cut off of his wrists after an injection, but the stuff was quite fast acting, and every one of his limbs felt ridiculously heavy. Everything in the goddamned room was white. Like a fucking insane asylum. The thought of it made Dravius fighting made, but the sedation made him sit down on the goddamned WHITE bed, not wanting to move.

-------------------------------------------

Paul had finally fingured out the source of the blood, and was reaching out a sneaky hand to rub his palm all over the blood on the tall man's wrists and hands, before he noticed that his name was said, and he pulled his hand back into his lap, quick as a flash. Equally quickly, he felt a prick in his upper arm, and as soon as he could look at the source of the pain, Ava had leaned forward again.

"What? But...but...You're no...f...fun." Paul was feeling the effects of the sedation almost immediately, blinking a few times. "J-James di-di-didn't say I couldn't." The young man was slurring fairly heavily now, leaning slightly on Kioko.

The man's eyelids were drooping now, and Paul gave one tremendous yawn, leaning his head on Kioko's slightly shaking shoulder, his two-toned hair falling into his eyes, where he remained for the rest of the ride.

The voices of people and car doors opening woke Paul up abruptly, and he rubbed his eyes with his hands, taking a moment to realise where he was. The fact that there was a woman who he didn't know that WASN'T completely bled out alerted him. "Get out." Paul's voice was slightly soft from sleep, but still had an edge sharp enough to cut. The knife he had produced helped with that.

Paul gave Kioko a shove out of the van, yawning hugely. "Fuckin'....'hey, let's tranquilize Paul, he he!'," He grumbled, running one hand through his hair, and pulling his cardigan back up onto a shoulder that it had fallen off of. Heading into the building, he leaned in close to the young woman once again once the scientist motioned for her to follow. Paul dug his nails into her upper arm as she was pulled away, hissing, "I'll see you later. I'm not done with you."

Maya, like the others who had been confined to the van, followed the scientists out into the night at their prompting. She had done her best to ignore the sudden change in the surroundings when the vehicle had started moving; Which hadn't proved to be all that difficult seeing as she had kept her gaze pretty much floorbound the entire trip.

The night air was cool, and the blonde shivered slightly as the group headed towards the somewhat clinical looking building ahead of them; Turning her eyes to Penelope once they had made their way inside. She had listened to Ava's sudden decisions with a growing sense of uneasiness; Watching with eyebrows curved as both Kioko and Dravius were led away.

The blonde looked back at Ava, her expression slightly flat despite her ever increasing fear. Everything felt ten times worse now that she was more or less alone with these people...

Penelope had watched with her usual detached interest, half glaring at the blue skinned baby in her arms when he started waking up. Ugh. Great. This was all she needed. The dark haired child's expression quite blatantly portrayed her distaste. At Ava's command, the girl merely nodded, gesturing towards another of the scientists before heading down the opposite hall to where the other two freaks had been taken; The butterfly winged woman followed a short distance behind, the scientist just behind her.

The walk to the rooms took a short while; Maya finding it increasingly hard to take note of how many turns they had taken. When the dark haired Penelope slipped open a door, she paused for a moment; Glaring at the unnoticing, dark eyed child, before stepping into the room. The scientist who had followed took Lionel from Penelope, and promptly walked into the room after her; Placing the baby on the simple bed. He then proceeded to undo Maya's zip ties; Penelope keeping her vigil should the woman try anything, though she highly doubted it.

Once done, the man left the room; And the door behind him was closed with a resounding, hollow bang. Maya stared at it for a moment, then promptly sat herself on the bed next to Lionel. Any thought of escape had been dimished as soon as she'd looked at the back of that door. There was absoloutely no way she was going to get out of that.

Pulling her legs up onto the bed, Maya leant over just enough to pull the squirming Lionel into her lap; Running her fingers gently through the little boys' hair in an attempt to calm him enough to get him back off to sleep. Her thoughts were tinted with the possible horrors of this place; But it was the sense of being trapped that frightened her the most. She hated being trapped. And the worry for the others certainly wasnt helping. Not at all.

Penelope had headed back to Ava upon sorting the room for the butterfly and the child, followed by the scientist who had accompanied her. She and Fang would remain around here in case they were needed. The other scientist, who had been laboured with the task of setting up the examination room, walked around a corner at that point. His name was Todd.

"Your room is ready." He stated on arrival, stopping just in front of the silver haired scientist. "It had been halfway prepared for your arrival. Were you wanting to take one of your subjects down there straightaway?"

~~~

"No idea." Karene replied, glancing quickly over her shoulder as Selvai stepped out of the van. "it doesn't sound too good, though." She had a grimace on her face, as she followed swiftly after Raphael. She looked again over her shoulder as Adriel's voice floated over to them; Smiling slightly. "Probably."

The blonde Ring-Master, who had travelled somewhat ahead of the others; Stopped when he caught sight of Erik. Zyano, he noted, was pacing restlessly outside the open door of his and Nylat's van; His growling a constant mix off hisses and whines.

"What's going on?" Raphael asked, his tone of voice highly concerned as he came to a stop besides the panting Erik. Zyano had barely had chance to respond to his red-headed friends questions, his pacing continuing despite the new arrivals. His growls remained hovering in his throat as he paused long enough to glance between Erik and the others.

He fought to keep his agitation under control.

"Nylat's gone." He hissed. "Someone's been in our van. She and the pups have dissappeared." It was here another growl escaped his throat, and the giant hybrid continued his pacing, ears flat against his skull and his amber eyes flaring with both anger and concern. Raphael had almost instantly shot off towards the open door of the van, stopping in the doorway to glance into the dim interior.

Karene's expression was flat. "How in the hell..."

"I don't know." Zyano growled, still pacing. "I followed their scent... I just... There were others. Other scents. Kioko-"

"What." Raphael's eyes flashed as he turned his head sharply to regard Zyano.

"- Maya. Lionel. Dravius... And others I didn't recognise. I followed them as far as I was able... And then. Then... It just dissappeared!" His following growl was incredibly loud, though it tapered off into a despairing whine; As the hybrid forced himself to sit still long enough to look at the others there. Raphael had rejoined the group, his expression slightly disbelieving.

"We need to find them." Karene said suddenly. "Surely there's a way..." She was biting her lip. Lionel?... Lionel had been taken?... Disera was going to go spare... And the others too...

Raphael was frowning, his expression dark. He had plenty of questions, none of which would get any answers any time soon. "We need to find some way of locating them." He said flatly, speaking more to himself than the others there.

Zyano's expression was almost pleading. "How?"

"I don't know. You should probably lead us to where this trail of yours ends, for a start, though. Then we'll think of something. In the meantime, I think we can remain ever so slightly hopeful."

The hybrids eyes were questioning. "I don't understand."

"These visitors of ours seem to have made a couple of possibly fatal mistakes."

"And they would be?" Karene asked, arms folded across her chest.

"They've taken Nylat and Dravius."

~~~

The group followed Zyano the short distance to the end of the trail, coming to stop in the middle of a backcountry lane that resided quite a distance away from the lake. Zyano was the first to stop, the sudden lack of his mate's scent forcing him into another bout of quiet whining. His concern was almost overwhelming. The Ring-Master simply looked at the empty, quiet lane; The night air leeching the usually bright colours from his form.

"Any ideas?" He asked of no-one in particular.

Karene looked thoughtful, then looked at Selvai. "Do you have any experience with scrying, by any chance?..." She asked. "It probably won't do much with helping us find them. But it'd give us a location, at least."

Erik had followed the others as Zyano led them to where the scent trail ended on the small lane, although he did lag behind them a bit. He probably needed to exercise a bit more. Or grab his shoes the next time he burst out of his van in the middle of the night.

The shifter finally managed to catch his breath as Raphael and the others stood by discussing strategy for finding the missing members. He grimaced at the distressed sounds Zyano made. He couldn't imagine what his oldest friend was going through, having some stranger come into his home and take not only his mate, but kids as well. And then not even being able to find where'd they'd took them to.

Walking over to him, Erik dropped to the ground beside the hybrid, folding his legs under him in the dirt and sliding one hand into the fur over his shoulders in an attempt to comfort Zyano. "Hey, hey man. Try not to get too worked up, they're going to need your help when Selvai finds out where everyone is and they stage a rescue mission," he said quietly. "Besides, you know I'm not good at this comfort thing, so don't make me make an ass of myself here," he said in a more joking tone.

Standing next to Karene, Selvai exhaled slowly, trying to let go of the anger that had gripped ahold of him when he'd heard Lionel was one of the kidnap victims. "I have performed a few simple scryings in the past, yes," he answered. "To find missing items and such, never with people as the targets, though. But I will try. I will need some items from our van before we start."

-----

Disera forced herself to take a breath as Kanec sat his hand on her shoulder. He was right, it wouldn't do Lionel any good for her to drive herself into a panic attack. She needed to calm down and do whatever she could to help find Leo. The shifter took several deep breaths, holding each for a few seconds before releasing them. She forced her wings and tails to settle down, although her hands were still wringing the patterned blanket taken from Lionel's bed.

"Right, kay, let's go find what made the noise, and we need to tell Raphael what's happened, and have the other members help us search-" Disera was speaking very fast at this point, grabbing Kanec's hand and pulling him after her as she headed out the door in the direction of the howls. It took only a few minutes to find the crowd that had gathered around Zyano, and Disera dropped Kanec's hand to hurry over to them. "They took Lionel," she nearly sobbed, throwing a pleading look between Raphael and Selvai. "Someone came into our van and took him from his crib."

-----

"Shut up Paul. You and I both know why that was neccesary," Ava told him as he started bitching about being tranquilized in the car. Honestly, he acted as though this was the first time she'd drugged him. Shaking her head, the scientist turned her attention to Todd as he entered the room.

"Good, I hate having to wait. You," she said, pointing to another male scientist, this one going by the name of Robert. "Go and fetch the tall male we brought in, and escort him to the room. Make sure he's properly strapped to the table. I'm not taking chances with that one." As the man hurried off, Ava glanced back over at Paul, frowning deeply. "You. No cutting up the albino till after I get a chance to play with her. Or the other woman. I'm not having you damage my things before I get done with them."

-----

Kioko had curled as far away from the creepy man as possible while in the van, to the point where she was pushing up against the window on her other side. She thought about shifting and letting him fall over into the floor, but the threat of him waking up and deciding to pass the time between where ever they were and where they were going by bringing his knife back out made her freeze up. When the van finally stopped, the pyro hurriedly shoved herself out, afraid that the obviously unbalanced man would forget about the smoking women's orders not to cut her anymore. She stopped briefly next to Maya and Dravius, until the severe looking woman began barking out orders, and two of her lackeys forced her and Dravius away and down a hallway.

The pyro cast one last desperate look at Maya, Nylat, and Lionel before the scientists forced them around a corner and she lost sight of them. They went down several more hallways and corners before being seperated, and Kioko began shaking again as she was led alone to a plain white door. She was shoved through the doorway, and the rope around her wrists cut away before one of the men grabbed her arm and shoved her shirt sleeve up just enough to plunge a syring into it. The men left the room, and Kioko sat down heavily on the bed to the sounds of the door being bolted shut behind them. The injection was already kicking in, and the pyro slumped to the side, facedown on the sparse bedding as she lost consciouness.

Kanec followed close along after Di, not really needing to be dragged, but not protesting, either. When they reached the group, he shifted once more into a dire wolf, pacing back and forth close behind Disera, his worry setting his overprotective mode into gear. He'd already lost someone tonight, he wasn't going to risk losing her, too. He closely inspected those gathered as he paced, then the landscape around them. Nothing amiss. For now. Still, he paced, too restless to sit still. And it was better to pace in this form, able to fight at a moment's notice. Plus, if he were his human self right now, he'd be flaring his wings as he paced, and he'd probably knock someone out with them.

~~

As David had left, he'd turned off the lights and Nylat stared, unseeing, at the ground of the cage for a long time. Then she laid down, curling around her pups. The metal around them was incredibly cold, so she held them close, determined to not lose either of them to the cold room. The dark, cold feeling brought back terrible memories of her early life, and she closed her eyes, wishing it all a nightmare. But when she opened them, she was still there, still stuck in those metal bars. Feeling suddenly alone in the dark room, and knowing David wouldn't do anything to her until morning at the very least because of his hand, she raised her head and let out a long howl, one that despaired, yet held hope. While it was sad, it still held a fire that she did. She wasn't going to go out without a fight. As she howled, she didn't care if it stayed just within the confines of her room, or if it was heard throughout the facility. Let them hear. Let them come. She'd take every one of them.

Paul had been standing with his weight shifted to one side, his left hip dropping, and his arms crossed. He had a sneery expression on his face, not dissimilar to a petulant child. He was more than a little annoyed at Ava for taking his plaything away, and he had begun eyeing the butterfly-winged woman, wondering that her paper-thin wings would be as easy to cut as the substance they so resemebled. And how much they would bleed. Probably quite a bit.

After all, they were extra extremities, so they just added to the amount of blood that could be squeezed from her flesh. Paul had been moving gradually closer to the woman, wanting to see if her wings would tear with a simple tug, when she was led away, and returned to looking extremely irritated.

God, why were all of the stupid scientists in this place so ugly. Content with wearing those nasty, white labcoats, and eager to follow orders. Paul curled his lip in a deep sneer at the approaching man, his arms crossed tightly, and his cardigan slightly askew.

At Ava's remarks towards him, Paul stomped his foot and exclaimed, "Whyyyyy?" He was whining loudly, his arms straight by his sides. "I caught one, and now you're taking her away! I was saving her for later, since I can't actually kill her." The young man continued whining, a pained expression on his face. "And she's not YOURS. She's MINE." Paul really did feel that Kioko belonged to him, and he just wanted her back, the same way a spoiled child would want a toy he was told he couldn't have.

--------------------------------------

Dravius had been sitting on the white bed with heavy limbs, then suddenly he stood with a bit of effort, and cocked an arm back, slamming his closed fist into the wall next to him. The wall didn't seem to give a shit, which only made the young man angrier, despite the fact that he would also like to lie down and close his eyes for a while.

The crust of dried blood over the gashes on his wrists had cracked with the swift movement, and was oozing slightly on the wrist he had rammed into the apparently concrete wall, along with his now-damaged knuckles. Dravius cursed loudly a few times, picking at the flakes of dried blood around his wounds almost compulsively, then turning around in a tight circle, feeling the blood rushing in his ears.

Dravius' anxiety level was rising steadily, and in a few seconds he began to hyperventilate, eyes widening at a sound at the door. It eased open, with Dravius looking exceptionally like a cornered animal, the only noise his rather panicked breathing and the occasional splat of blood on the floor. And orderly stood on the other side of the door.

Suddenly, Dravius bared his teeth at the man, fingers hooked into claws. The man was shorter than him, but had a much stronger build, and looking past him, apparently had a friend.

Dravius went for it anyway, managing to rake his rather long nails down the first orderly's face before he was wrestled to the ground, the side of his face smacking onto the cold floor. He was then swiftly handcuffed and hauled back to his feet, still struggling slightly. THe young man clawed at the hands near his own, holding the cuffs. The orderly whom he had attacked had recovered sufficiently enough to give Dravius a murderous look, turning to lead the others out.

In his being tackled, the Co-master had bitten his tongue hard enough to draw blood, and he now spat a combination of blood and saliva at the retreating man's back, making a red splatter on the orderly's uniform, accompanying it with a "Go fuck yourself, bitch!"

The words an attack earned Dravius an extra escort, one in front of his leading the way and two hanging onto his upper arms. The destination wasn't too far from his original room, and Dravius was wrestled into a room dominated by a flat examiner's table, with thick straps dangling from it.

The young man was then forced onto the table one struggling limb at a time, his hands bound behind his back until two men could be bothered to grip them while another strapped them down, Dravius cursing and fighting mad the entire time. His tongue still had a steady stream of blood leaking from it, and his wrists had begun leaking crimson fluid again. "THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" Dravius was screaming by this point, writhing int the restraints to do his best to do damage to the three men around him. One, breathing heavily, pressed an intercom button on the wall, announcing, "Doctor Smith, the patient has been properly...restrained." Dravius' yelling and cursing was audible over the speakers, his language growing increasingly dubious.

"Scrying?" Pff. Why didn't he think of that. Zyano flicked his ears in the direction of the two magicians; A more prominent, but still cautious, hope flaring in within the pit of his stomach. His only real issue now was the time. The longer they took, the greater the chance that something was likely to happen to Nylat or one of newborn pups; And that thought in itself was near unbearable. Nylat was far, far too important to him for him to lose her now. And the pups... They were barely a week old.

Another, quiet involuntary growl hovered in the large hybrid's throat, and he resumed his restless pacing for a moment or two before forcing himself to sit and remain still. There was little use in wasting all his energy now; Although it really didn't do anything to diminish his anger and fear.

Staring down the dark country lane, Zyano flicked an ear in Erik's direction when the red-head knelt beside him, being slightly surprised by the Shifter's halfway serious re-assurance despite his situation. Sure, the hybrid knew he could be... It was more a case of how rare such a thing was. He listened in silence, managing a somewhat sarcastic and light humoured snort.

"Don't I just know it." He agreed, managing a tight sort of grin in the Shifter's direction, turning his amber gaze to rest on his old companion. "But thank you." The hybrid's tail waved weakly across the dirt, sending up little dust clouds as he turned his attention back to the others.

Karene had only nodded at Selvai's words. "Well that's good." She said, sighing quietly. "I never really tried it. So I couldn't guarantee I'd have any success. And you better hurry and go get those items. I don't particularly fancy wasting too much time if we can help it."

It around this point when Disera showed up, almost in tears and looking very much at the end of her tether. Karene had pretty much guessed the source of her distress before the blue-skinned woman had even so much as managed speak. She hadn't doubted Zyano's powerful sense of smell. "We know." She said quietly, stepping over to Disera and wrapping her arms around concerned mother. "We'll find him. And the others. Lionel wasn't the only one taken." She murmered, keeping her arms firmly around the summoned creature. She threw a quick look at Selvai. "You'd better hurry and get started as soon as possible." She suggested, exhaling quietly through her nose.

Raphael had remained stood a short distance ahead, his expression sympathetic when Disera had approached. He hadn't said anything against Karene's inquiry into Selvai's scrying abilities, seeing as as of right now it was their only real option. There was no telling how far these people had travelled, or where. And that sort of situation tended to leave A LOT of possible options.

Sighing through his nose, he took a couple of steps back towards the group when yet another face arrived, this one looking slightly confused. "Sorry." Xavier said, looking slightly concerned at Disera when he came to a stop. "I followed you out here." He stopped long enough to look around at the others. "What... Exactly is going on."

Raphael rather swiftly relayed the entire situation, Dravius' older brother looking slightly infuriated by the end of it. "Why exactly do people feel the need to kidnap people who can actually cause them serious damage. It seems MUCH easier to me to just... Take a normal person." He snorted, slipping his hands into his pockets and staring hard at the ground in front of him.

"Who knows." The Ring-Master responded. "It seems to be a recurring thing with us." He paused, then glanced back towards where the vans were situated; some distance away, the lights barely visible beyond the neary copse of trees. "We should probably, for now, just hope Selvai can successfully locate one of them... Then the real challenge begins." He paused again, then looked around at the group, eyes narrowing. "I think... It would be wise if only a few of us actually follow this trail. I'd rather not risk more of us than I absoloutely have to. And we may need to be somewhat discreet."

"I'm going." Zyano growled from where he sat by Erik. "They've taken something that is far too important to me. And quite frankly, I'm rather looking forward to sinking my fangs into the being who has so much as touched my pups and mate."

"I'll stay, then," Xavier mumbled. It was pretty obvious he didn't want to... But Raphael probably had a point. Karene paused for a moment, then sighed. "If Selvai wishes to join you... I'll stay too. You wont need two of us with similar abilities. Besides, I need to keep an eye on the Circus for you."

~~~

Paul. What an amusing human being... Although that was probably a bit of an innocent description for him. He was far more like a monster, really. A bloodthirsty one. Penelope watched the interaction between the two with an unreadable face, turning her dark eyed gaze to Ava at the female scientists demands.

"Fang would be more than willing to oversee the tall male's preliminary experiments." She said after a moments pause. "It might be wise to have someone there... Just in case." The girl paused again, then raised her eyebrows slightly. "And I can keep an eye on the pyro." She suggested. "If you don't wish to leave Paul to do it." Fang, who had watched iin silence, didn't wait for Ava's approval before melting into a swirling black shadow on the floor, before shooting off down the hallway.

Todd, the scientist who had sent word ahead to prepare the first examination room, also looked at Ava. He had been about to speak when his fellow scientist's voice floated through the hall; Accompanied by the incredibly foul language of their obviously irritated captive. "My, my... They should have given him an extra dose of sedative." He mused, before shaking his head quickly and looking back at the silver haired woman. "Would you like any other rooms prepared?"

~~~

A mere minute later, Fang had slipped under the heavy door to Dravius' room, merging from his shadow to stand half hidden in the corner. This, afterall, was a part of his job. He, Penelope, Paul... They all had their abilities to capture, sure... But then, they were, in part, also expected to provide some sort of protection for the scientists here. They, of course, had no real abilities; And tended to fall foul of a free freak riunning about the place.

Crossing his arms, the tall, dark eyed male watched the Co-Master's thrashing with the barest of attention. Well. He wasnt going anywhere fast.

Kanec, still pacing, listened to every word spoken, and at Raphael's suggestion only a few go, he sat, the fur along his spine standing nearly straight up, his ears laid flat. "I'm going. No matter what." His mind flashed to his dragon form, for a moment forgetting all about being discreet. He'd tear a town apart if he had to. "They had the nerve to take my son and friends. That is unforgiveable to the point of death for considering it." He bristled more, growling slightly.

~~

Nylat fell silent, for a moment just warming her pups. Then, after a while, she set about inspecting the bars of her holding. Not far enough apart for her to slip through, which was to be expected, but almost. They obviously didn't expect her to let her pups go that far. She stood and pushed on one of them, feeling it give just a little, but when she pushed more, it didn't budge. Great. Metal made strong enough even she couldn't bend it. And she was at her strongest right now. That would fade soon. She again felt the space between the bars. Well, if her last imprisonment was anything to go by, after a few days of being undernourished, she MIGHT be able to slip through, but by then she wouldn't have the strength to go far at all. Especially not if there were more than just regular humans. Which there was, from what she saw. At least that shadow man.

She slipped a paw through the bars, unsheathing her claws and attempting to pick the lock, to no avail. In fact, she ended up almost getting her claw stuck. Sighing, she curled back up around her pups, about to get what sleep she could before going through weeks of no sleep, when a small sound outside the door caught her attention. Suddenly, the door opened and the room was flooded with light, and a catch pole came into her line of sight. "Come now, my mistake. I have to assess you before tests." She growled at what she could see of David, backing up into the back corner of the cage and pulling the whining pups close with her. "Struggle and I'll take them away."

"Just try."

He scooted the catch pole in further, and she thought for a long moment before slipping her head through. Of course, he had to practically drag her out with it, but she wasn't going to let him take her pups. But as soon as the short pole maneuvered her in range, she latched onto his leg, digging her teeth in for all she was worth. David yelped, pulling the loop tight. Nylat could feel her air flow slowly cutting off, but she still didn't let go, digging her fangs in to the bone. If she had her way, they'd have to surgically remove her.

"Because you'll damage her, and I need them for my experiments," Ava answered Paul, talking to him as though he were a slow child. Which, at the moment, he reminded her of quite a bit. "And, you know that just because you caught it doesn't make the freak yours. I've explained this to you more than once, Paul. Although, if you can keep yourself in line and not annoy me, I'll let you have the albino when she's no longer useful to me."

She glanced over at Penelope. "That would be best. None of my assistants are quite equipped to deal with the subjects. And Paul will get carried away if he's alone with the white haired girl. In fact, make sure he doesn't bother the blonde one either, I don't want her wings ripped off or something equally damaging done before I get a chance at her."

She turned her attention to Todd after listening to the announcement over the loudspeakers, lips pressed together tightly in annoyance after hearing Dravius' string of swearing. "I'll deal with that in a minute. Idiots should know better than to take chances like that." Sighing in aggravation, Ava pinched the bridge of her nose between her forefinger and thumb. "Yes, prepare another room for when we're finished with the first subject. I don't wait to have to wait while that one is cleaned and straightened up." Dismissing the man, Ava left, heading in the direction of the room where Dravius had been restrained.

The silver haired woman pushed through the door, looking over Dravius on the table before walking over to a cabinet and pulling out a paper smock, tying it over her clothes. She grabbed a pair of latex gloves from a box affixed to the wall, snapping them on as she approached the table. "Hello there. I've heard you've been giving my scientists a hard time," she said casually, drawing a tray of wickedly sharp surgical instruments closer. Picking up a syringe, she injected the tall man once again with sedative, then dropped the empty syringe back onto the tray. Her hand hovered over a scalpel, before picking up a pair of trauma shears. "Although I realize that you are quite upset at the moment, I would suggest that you not fight any longer. Have you forgotten that your friends are here also?" Picking up the hem of his shirt, the scientist began cutting the article of clothing off, pulling off the remains of the shirt and tossing it into a nearby trashcan. "Paul, for one, is very interested in the little albino. And not for research."

-----

The red head returned Zyano's grin with a small smile of his own. "Welcome. Now, let's never bring up this sappy moment again, or people might start thinking I'm not actually as shallow as I appear." Leaning back on his heels, Erik listened to the Ring Master as he spoke about only taking a small number of people to retrieve the missing members. "I'd offer to go, but I'm not much of a fighter. Unless you think you'll need me to infiltrate wherever our friends have been taken, in which case I'll need to get my shoes," he offered.

"I'll stay here, and help Karene. Plus, we'll need to take stock of the other members, make sure no one else is missing and no one has been injured," Adriel said. "I trust your nose, but we need to double check," the short haired woman said apologetically, looking over at Zyano. "Plus, we don't know how long these people were inside the circus. It's possible they took more members, or decided to hurt someone who stumbled over them," she said, looking over at Raphael.

"I will be going, of course." Selvai stated. He brushed a strand of Karene's hair out of her face, kissing her temple softly. "Take care of her, please," he said quietly into her ear, motioning to Disera. Selvai nodded once, gently squeezing Disera's shoulder where the shifter had leaned into Karene. "I'll be back soon," he said, stepping away from the two. Instead of walking back to the van, the magician teleported himself there, appearing next to the van steps. It only took him a few moments to find what he had been after, a round, worn mirror wrapped carefully in an old cloth. The mirror itself was rather plain, being about seven inches in diameter without any sort of handle or decoration to the metal covering the back and sides. He grabbed a small notebook and pencil, shoving them into his pocket before teleporting back to the group.

"Right, I have not done this in quite a bit, so I will need quiet," he explained, looking around at them. "Also, it is important that no one disturb me once I start." Unwrapping the mirror, Selvai took a seat on the ground, folding his legs underneath him and holding the mirror with both hands. Taking deep, even breaths, he let himself relax completely, bending his head to stare into the mirror. The magician made no sound for the next several minutes, concentrating on studying the surface of the mirror.

He finally lifted his head, grabbing the pencil and paper and scribbling down the name of a town several hours away from the circus' current location. "Here. I did not see an exact address, just an image of a building. However, I believe I can recognize it if I see it again." Selvai rubbed at his temples with one hand, standing up carefully. He offered the paper to Raphael and rewrapped the mirror carefully. "I can be ready in a few minutes."

"Wouldn't possibly think of damaging your image." Zyano snorted, feeling only marginally better about his current situation thanks to Erik's lighthearted jibes. Still. It was nice of him to try, and knowng that the red-headed shifter was still there for him despite being a part of the Majikus was a comforting thought. They had, after all, only even relied on eachother before joining the Circus.

The hybrid listened as Erik spoke again, this time to the others. Raphael, who had looked somewhat distracted, smiled slightly at the shifter's words. "I can handle any infiltrating." He responded, using a couple of fingers to press his temple lightly. "But chances are, all hell will break loose once we get in there." He flicked his gaze to Zyano; Who returned the look with one of cool disregard. (He was almost certanly going to bite someone.), before looking over at Kanec as the winged being spoke.

It was unusual, to say the least, to hear such venom in the shifter's voice, and that only added to Raphael's strange sense of foreboding. He himself was angry and more than a little concerned. Of course he was. But he was beginning to think that maybe he would most likely be the only one here to keep his emotions in check... At least. For the time being. He would, almost certainly, have to take action should something awful have happen to any one of their missing members.

"All right. But please try to exercise some restraint... at least for the time being."

Shaking his head quickly to free them of any morbid thoughts; The blonde then turned his gaze back up towards the empty country lane, seemingly once again distracted. He nodded idly at Adriel as she also offered to stay behind; Also thankful that Selvai had decided to join him.

Karene, who had still been somewhat busy comfroting Disera, nodded mutely at her husband's request before watching him teleport himself'; Most likely to their van in order to retrieve those items he needed. "Come on." She said suddenly, wrapping an arm around Di's shoulder. "Let's go to the food van and get some hot chocolate. Somehow I doubt suggesting you get some sleep will accomplish anything on the count that you're not likely to listen to me." She smiled slightly. "They'll bring him back." She added, gently pulling the distraught shifter off towards the vans.

The Ring-Master had watched them go, his expression once again sympathetic. Zyano had also watched, his expression mirroring Raphael's; Although part of that was probably his own desperate need to get his mate and pups back here safely; The want putting him directly in Disera's very situation. He would never, could never, forgive himself should something happen to any of them.

Selvai's return caused Zyano to jump slightly, though he managed to withhold the growl out of curiosity and a sudden exultation that they''d soon know where their missing friends were. The silence following the magician's words was deathly, and as he suddenly concluded his scyring, Raphael quickly stepped forward and retrieved the paper.

"Well..." He said quietly. "I know where this place is. Bad news.... It's a three hour trip. And that's on top of actually finding the building."

Zyano answering growl was immediate. "We can't take that long!" He exploded ,practically jumping to all four paws, huge fangs bared in a feral snarl. "Anything could happen to them in that time!"

Raphael had taken to chewing his lip, his eyes focused on the paper. Zyano was right, of course. It was a long time to leave their friends and family in the grips of people who... Well. He wasn't certain. He didn't quite know the culprits reasons for this, although that probably made thhe whole thing worse. The problem was, he had no quicker way of getting there.

He paused, then looked at Selvai shrewdly. "I wouldn't normally ask this of you. But these circumstances are pretty dire. You don't have any spells that could possibly assist with this particular problem, do you? No matter how small or insignificant. Any advantage will help us here." He asked. "If not... We'll have to drive for it."

~~~

Penelope had stood silently with her back against the clean white walls of hallway they currently occupied, watching again Paul and Ava's invovled conversation. Like her silver haired collegue, she couldn't quite help but imagine Paul as some spoilt little child, not wanting to share his plaything. James had been quite straightforward with the split haired young man, and yet he still got infuriatingly childish about the whole thing. Honestly. She was halfway tempted to go and get him a live rabbit, and let him "play" with that for a while.

Sighing through her nostrils, the dark haired girl turned her gaze to Ava when she was addressed; Eyebrows raising slightly at her words. Great. Now she was lumped with the job of looking after the guy?...

Still. It was probably best. She supposed. At least it was in Ava's point of view. For her, it would probably be a very, very long night. Or morning... Pen decided to keep her mouth shut as the head scientist responded to Todd; Only being marginally interest in the sudden swearing emanating from the speakers, and watching as Ava left to deal with her first subject. She then looked at Paul.

"Well. I suppose I'll let you keep the other experiments in line." She said. "I'll just... Keep you out of trouble with Ava. And make sure you don't damage them TOO much." She smiled sweetly at him; An expression that was so out of place and yet so fitting on her childlike features.

Todd had also watched Ava's leaving, sighing quietly through his nose. He would have helped with taking the albino to her examination room...However. The first few experiments were usually conducted on people who were awake... Afterall. Once the internal experiments began, most subjects were never quite so... Lively. And liveliness was always good for testing abilities, or seeing how a particular subject moved and how their bodies worked. Specifically like the butterfly woman. Her physical differences, after all, were far more interesting than the albino's.

Todd looked over at Paul and Penelope. "Perhaps you two would like to bring another subject to our second examination room. No doubt Ava will want to move swiftly onto the second one once she's done with him." He gestured at the speakers. "I'll go prepare it." Waving over two other scientists, Todd then turned and walked off towards one of the other experimentation rooms.

~~~

Maya had spent most of the time in her room quietly singing Lionel back to sleep. As of right now, it was the only useful thing she was able to do, and to put the small child at ease would at least keep away from the probable horrors of this place for now... His dreams would probably be much more preferable to whatever it was that would be waiting for him or her outside this door.

Once the little blue shifter's breathing was steady and calm the blonde gently eased herself off of the bed before placing Lionel's head on the somewhat flat white pillow. She then proceeded to pace the room, her thoughts a jumbled mess of worry, fright, and a barely noticeable anger. The walls of the room she currently resided in almost seemed to be closing in, the small space making her feel more than just a little constricted.

Her most noticeable pain however was almost certainly the worry for the others. She had no clue whether any of them had been taken to similar rooms, or whether they'd been taken elsewhere completely. She couldn't help but compare the start of that day with the present, and the mere memory was enough to paralyze her movements; Sitting herself heavily on the bed, arms wrapped around her torso. So much for her happy anniversary... After this. She wasn't even entirely sure she was going to see any of them again. Kioko, Nylat... The others back at the Circus... Her mother. Angel.

And Dravius. It was almost enough to send her into hysterics. Almost.

Dravius had only renewed his struggles, swearing ever louder at the men in the room, insulting everything from their mothers, becacuse no one whose eyes were that far apart didn't have a cousin for a mother, to their hygiene. The Co-Master turned his head abruptly towards the door, silent except for his panting breathing.

As the smoker entered through the opened door, and Dravius flung a few more curses her way, making some choice comments about her particulor odor. When she approached him with a large syringe, the young man writhed, doing his best to avoid the unavoidable, at least when one was strapped to a table.

Within a few seconds, Dravius had to concentrate to keep his eyelids from closing on him, and instead focused on his rather heavy breathing. Licking his dry lips, Dravius tried, in a rather weak fashion, to avoid the shears coming his way, though his limbs now felt as if they were made of lead. The man only bared his teeth at Ava's comments, growling slightly.

Dravius was still panting slightly when his shirt was removed, the dozens of scars criss-crossing his skin obvious on his fair skin, the most prominent of them being the two divots that were once large bullet holes. "What're you doing." The Co-masters words were more of a statement than a question, although still full of quite a bit of venom. He was feeling increasingly fatigued, and was sure that soon he wouldn't be able to do much more than lie on the table.

---------------------------------

Paul's petulant expression had given way to one of extreme annoyance. He felt colossally patronized. Which only caused him to pout even more. "But I don't like Penny." Paul huffed, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "And I won't do anything to her. Either of them. You already told me not to, I'm not foolish." He snorted, then stuck his tongue out at Ava's retreating back.

"Yay lines!" Paul clapped once or twice, his face lighting up a disturbing amount. "Oh, I won't damage anyone too much. Cross my heart and hope to be middle-class." The young man traced an "x" over his heart with one finger on is left hand, smiling. "You should smile more, Penny. You're almost disgustingly adorable." He remarked, then turning his attention to Todd.

Paul always had the compulsion to call Todd "Tood". For no reason, really. It was just fun to say. And irritated Todd. It even irritated Tood. "Yay whoo!" Paul clapped a few more times, bouncing in place a few times. "I don't actually know her name. Should I find it out before I bleed her dry. Seems only considerate, you think?" The young man turned to Penelope before beginning walking in the direction Kioko had been taken off to.

"What d'you think, east rooms? I think so." The young man said, almost to himself, as he turned a corner to more rooms. In a long hallway, Paul peeked through the small veiwing port in each door before he reached one that revealed the woman facedown on the bed, and he produced a keycard. "How do we wake her up. She's like....passed out."

"I mean, I have ideas, but I think Ava wants her with all her fingers." Paul shrugged, leaning against the door and tapping the card gently on the electric lock. "I don't carry round syringes, and don't usually do grunt work. Got any ideas?" He stretched his arms over his head lazily, taking a deep breath through his nose.

"Alright. I'll get out of the way, then," Erik said, standing up from where he was crouched next to Zyano. "Try not to maim those bastards too badly," he told the large hybrid. The red head ruffled his fur before following Adriel, Karene, and Disera back to the circus. Selvai sighed, tapping his fingers against the wrapped mirror before speaking again. "Yes, I do actually. If you pinpoint this town on a map for me, I could attempt to teleport a small group of us there. Although I have never teleported that many people over that long a distance... But I will do it."

-----

((Time-skipping for Ava (~^3^)~))

Humming cheerfully, Ava snapped off the latex gloves covering her hands and tossed them in the direction of the trash. Things had gone along rather quickly once the sublect had settled down, thanks to the extra sedative, and, after removing the rest of his clothing, Ava had been able to finish her preliminary examinations without much struggling from Dravius. She picked up a chart on which she had took notes during the examination, including Dravius' height, weight, and the many scars across his skin. Holding the chart under her arm, the scientist carefully picked up a tray holding several vials of blood, and petri dishes holding samples of the black haired man's skin.

Outside the room, she handed the tray and chart off to a waiting assistant. "Take the samples to the lab, and put the chart in the records. Bring the butterfly woman to the prepared room, and take this one back to his room, clean this room, and bring the albino in once it's ready." Ava glanced over her shoulder at the naked and drugged man strapped to the table. "Also, you should probably get him some clothes or something before you put him back in his cell. Or after, it doesn't really matter."

((.... *Gigglesnort*... Naked Dravvy. Strapped to a table.))

As Erik upped and left, Zyano watched his oldest friend with a peculiar sort of thanks in his gaze. He turned his amber eyes back to the small gathered group as Selvai spoke of his capability with getting them all to the town where they needed to go. Well. It sounded somewhat promising, at least. If the magician was able to teleport them all straight into town, at least three hours of time would be cut out of their search.

Raphael had raised his eyebrows slightly at Selvai, then nodded. "All right." He said, running a hand through the blonde hair that hung over his eyes. "But... If you haven't done this before, I don't want you overdoing it. If you really think you can handle it, then we'll try. If at any point it pulls on you, feel free to only take us some of the distance. Like I said... Any little help will do. Even if that means only covereing half the travelling time."

He paused, then sighed. "Of course... That still leave the issue of finding the building. We'd better get going." Stepping off, Raphael immedaitely bolted towards his van; Returning within minutes holding a map. "It might be a little difficult pointing out the town to you on here... This is, afterall, a rather large. I don't have one of this exact area." The blonde opened the paper he held, before pointing. "This is where we are now. The town is north west, around here. It doesn't matter about you being precise. As long as we cut out the three hours, or most of it, we'll be all the better for it."

~~~

She should have known. Known that Paul would, naturally, go follow the little albino girl like some drug user might follow a dealer. She rolled her eyes, before following after him, her expression resorting to its usual portrayal. It was on the way to the pyro's room that a voice came over the speaker, letting the scientist, and Ava, know that Todd had got the second room prepared.

Shaking her head, the girl continued to follow the split-haired male, idly noting their surroundings as they walked; And only stopping when Paul had finally found his little fix. Penelope glanced quickly through the viewing glass, then looked back at the man she had been following.

"I'm sure the scientists have ways of waking her up." She answered, yawning slightly as she looked back through the door. She had been about to add to her answer when she decided better of it, and instead leant herself against the wall. It was only a short while later when two scientists arrived,, being sure to pass on Ava's orders.

Penelope blinked at them, before looking back at Paul. "Well. Looks like she's dealt with her first one. And it also seems like she's made her own choice about her next subject." The girl snorted. "You need to stop being so impatient... I'm sure she'll get around to your little friend there, and of course, give whatever's left to you when she's finished. But right now, we've got another target. Unless you'd like to just sit here and stare at your friend in there."

Shrugging slightly, the girl turned on her heel and walke back the way she had come, back towards the entrnace of the building before passing it and heading down the opposite corridor. She knew exactly where the other woman was, having had to drop her off in there earlier, so it took little time to get to her room. She opened the door, before stepping into room. The kid, she noticed, had gone back to sleep, leaving the blonde sat on the bed with her eyes focused on the wall.

Although, upon entering, they'd focused somewhat fearfully on her. With a simple gesture, the two scientists who had followed immediately apprehended the blonde, Maya of which had, orignally, planned to continue being the obedient subject (All things considered). The sudden contact however, seemed to put her on edge enough to result in a somewhat more violent scuffle; Something which resulted in one of the men writhing around on the floor, hands covering his groin. His howls followed the small group out of the room and hafway down the hall.

They managed to half drag Maya to the prepared room; One scientist pushing her roughly so that she was sat on the cold metal table. "I think... We'll wait for Ava." Penelope murmered, cold eyes focused on the butterfly in front of her. "She always did like her subjects to be up and about... Makes it easier for the preliminary's... Of course. One of my collegues here would be more than happy to give you something should you prove to be anymore bother."

Maya didn't respond, her eyes focused on the floor, a small curve to her eyebrows betraying her apprehension. She most likely woud have fought a little more... But the room hadn't been empty of life; A small number of stern faced scientists standing in the room expectantly. She wouln't have stood a chance against all of them. There was nothing she could really do now. Nothing exept wait.

~~~

(( I'M COMING TO HELP YOU, NY.))

Todd, having completed the preparation of the room, had meandered through the halls back towards where Ava and her first subject resided, stopping short when he caught the sound of something in another hallway. He immediately made for that sound, falling into a quick sprint when he recognised the voice as David's.

He stepped into the large room in time to catch soe monstrous creature tearing at the other scientists leg, and Tood immediately reached for a nearby electrical implement that dealt out shocks. Rather powerful ones. He promptly jabbed the long instrument into the giant dog's side, holding it there for a moment to allow the current to take effect, before pulling it away and taking a quick step back.

He looked idly at David. Sure. He'd heard, like most others, about David's experiments, but he had never imagine anything like this. His gaze had fallen back onto Nylat when he spoke. "You might want to get someone to look at that leg." He suggested, slipping his electical instrument through the bars of the hybrids cage, holding it mere centimetres from the smaller of Nylat's pups.

"And you." He said, knowing again from hearsay that David's experiments could understand english. "Better let go of the Doctor's leg. I doubt your offspring here would do all that well with a shock like this to their system."

The three orderlies had stayed in the examination room, standing impassively with the exception of the one Dravius had assaulted, who fixed a patch of gauze over the long scratches in less than a minute, and joined the others standing against a wall with no expression. At Ava's announcement that she was finished, the maimed man opened a closet and retrieved a set of plain white clothing, loose pants and a top with a rather high collar, with buttons starting near said neck and stretching back onto the back of the shirt. Meanwhile, the other two men had released the straps holding Dravius down and hauled the extrordinarily groggy man into a sitting position.

The clothes were then chucked at the young man, who put them on rather stiffly, eyes half-closed and moving slowly. The sedatives were making everything fuzzy, and at the point when the buttons reached a point on his spine where he couldn't reach them, he allowed one of the orderlies to do up the rest of them. Dravius felt extremely woozy, and shook his head to try and clear it, mostly unsuccessfullly.

The hallways all looked the same. The ruddy same. All of them. And now Dravius matched. His eyebrows furrowed, and his eyes narrowed. As he was excorted along the hallways, he still had two of the men gripping his arms, and he tugged a little bit to stick his hands into the large pockets in the white pants. Weird that the place had pants long enough to fit him.

Only a few minutes and countless twists and turns later, Dravius was deposited back into his room, the door closing with an unsettling lack of noise. The young man set himself on the bed rather unsteadily, running his hands through his hair, and looking around the room with a slight sigh. Well.

Looks like everyone was hosed.

----------------------------------------------------

Paul had turned his face away from the door to Kioko's room at the approach of the two scientists, letting out a huge whine at the news,complaining, "But I'm so boooooooooored." He rolled his head back and forth for a second, then groaned, "Whatever, I'll come. She's not doing anything anyway, dumb broad." Paul kicked the closed door before trailing after Penelope, walking down the hall in zigzag lines, trying his best to hop over the almost invisible lines in the bright white tile. How much bleach did it take to keep this stupid place clean?

Paul hummed along with a slightly dischordant tune, timing each beat of the song with a slight tap of the foot on each tile. The young man blinked a few times when Penelope stopped, nearly continuing past the young girl as she opened the door. Looking over her shoulder at the struggling woman, Paul had a rather vacant smile on his face. God, this was dull. He wasn't allowed to tear her wings, or make her bleed. She wasn't very interesting without those prospects at all.

The young man had once again trailed after all the others, still avoiding any cracks between tiles, walking delicately on tiptoe. Paul then began circling the room, the steady 'click-click'ing of the soles of his shoes a constant in the mostly silent room. Without warning, Paul came to aa stop directly behind Maya, and took a step towards her back, then retreating once again. He was rather indesicieve about whether he was allowed to touch the woman at all.

Selvai studied the map that Raphael held out for a few moments, then nodded. "I can teleport the four of us there. It would probably be better to attempt a handful of short leaps, instead of having me try to take us all there at once, though." The magician decided not to mention that so many teleportations, especially with three other people, would leave him drained, if not exhausted, by the time they reached their destination. It was more important to reach Lionel and the others quickly, anyway.

"I will be back in a few minutes," he said, heading back to his and Karene's van. After putting away the mirror, changing clothes, and tying back his hair, Selvai rejoined the group. "Alright." He held out both hands toward Raphael and Kanec. "I will need to be in contact with you to bring you along when I teleport. Also, I am assuming that none of you have actually teleported before, so you should know you may be a bit disorientated after the first leap. It would be best if we rest for a few minutes between each leap, so that the three of you can adjust."

-----

"I'll be with the next subject in a few minutes," Ava told her assistants. "Make sure she's secured until I get around to her," she said, pulling out her cigarette case and heading to the nearest exit. Outside, she went to her usual smoking spot under the tree at the side of the building and took a cigarette from the case and lit it.

After the smoke had burned down to it's filter, the silver haired woman stubbed it out and flicked it away before heading back inside. She made her way to the room where Maya was being held, smirking at the butterfly as she sat on the table. "Well. At least one of you has the sense not to put up too much of a fuss... I suppose we won't need to use the restraints on you yet." Pulling on a fresh smock over her clothing, and pair of latex gloves, she turned and addressed Paul and Penelope. "I don't think we'll need the both of you in here... Unless you want to stay and observe the examination. Paul, stop that," she said, noticing how close the dual-haired man was getting to the blonce woman. "No touching until after I'm done."

"Now, let's get on with it, yes?" Ava said, her attention back on Maya. The next few minutes consisted of measuring, weighing, and jotting down notes in a chart being held for her by one of the other scientists in the room. Finally, Ava stepped back and grabbed a tray of surgical tools, pulling it back to the table with her. The scientist had picked up a scalpel and specimen cup from the tray, her smile becoming once again twisted with manic glee. "Normally I begin with skin and blood samples, but those wings of yours are much more interesting. Why don't you be a good lab rat and spread them out for me?"

If there was anything worse than being locked in a room, it was being locked in a room with a bunch of scientists, waiting. The waiting was the worst. There was nothing to do except think about what was likely to happen, and the longer Maya sat there worrying about it, the more concerned she became. Not that it was hard to do, being in this room.

The blonde had remained, for the most part, staring at the floor. She had been trying her best to try and ignore her surroundings, although that wasn't really helping much at all. She glanced up, very much aware of the sharp looking equipment and god only knows what else in this room; And she quite suddenly felt a peculiar stab of cold at the sight of Paul.

Having been half-fighting her way out of her designated room, she had failed to realise the man's appearance up until now. And although the dark haired girl had been somewhat unsettling on her own, knowing that that man was there just made the whole thing ten times worse... Simply because Maya had seen first hand what he had done to Kioko... And how he had acted with her.

She desperately tried to ignore the male's pacing, freezing involuntarily when she heard his footsteps stop somewhere behind her; Fighting a great deal to not allow herself to look around at him. When he started walking again, the sigh she emitted was incredibly quiet, almost inaudable, and the woman allowed her gaze to fall to the floor again. The dark haired girl had remained stoo by the door, looking slightly bored.

Penelope honestly couldn't care less what Paul did. It was only with Ava's need of these people that she was keeping him from damaging any opf these people too much... Sort of. She still didn't really care though, and watched the split haired male's indesiciveness with a slight amusement.

It didn't take long, however, for Ava to finally enter through the nearby door, and Penelope merely nodded silently before gesturing towards Paul. "Let's go see to that friends of yours." She stated, turning towards the door. "It's about time she should be woken up. No doubt she'll be next on the list?" The girl threw a questioning glance at Ava, before stepping out of the door and down the corridor; Back towards Kioko's room.

Maya had watched the entrance of the head scientist with a strange mix of fear and relief. On the one hand, Paul was likely to leave the room right about now... On the other... Well.

She stared as Ava spoke to her, her expression flat and, despite her growing edginess, a strange sort of irritation at the woman's superior tone. The blonde went along, mostly willingly, with the scientists first few ventures. It was only when Ava started surveying the nearby tools that the blonde finally revealed some hesitation. Of course... There was nothing she could do. Unless she wanted to risk being restrained and probably dealt with in a much more severe way.

Maya stared, then very, very slowly, began to unravel one of her wings. She caught sight of a scientist stood nearby, waiting with restraints; Most likely in case she started getting restless. It was out of her sense of fear and irritation that she promptly threw out her wing to it's full length, fast enough and hard enough to smack said scientist in the face.

The man, who ended up flailing all over a nearby unit of sharp implements, was promptly surrounded by two of his collegues, who immediately tried to right him. The kerfuffle would have been highly amusing in any other situation.

Maya, however, hadn't really noticed. She had gone back to glaring at Ava. despite her feelings. She was not going to give this... Woman. The satisfaction of knowing just how much this place was getting to her.

~~~

"Oh good." Raphael sighed in quiet relief as Selvai confirmed his ability to be able to teleport the four of them to the town where they believed Dravius and the others were being held. The blonde Ring-Master listened silently as the magician continued, before shaking his head.

"Really. it's okay." He said. "It doesn't matter how you can do it. So long as you don't indispose yourself too much. And besides... This will save us three hours of travel. It's probably our best and only real option." He nodded, then watched as Selvai quickly dissappeared, turning his gaze to the nearby Zyano.

The hybrid had continuee his pacing, his amber eyes focused resolutely on the ground in front of him as he walked. He was still feeling incredibly helpless, despite the fact that the group quite clearly had a plan. No... It was more the fact that he felt like he was doing nothing. Heck. He might even feel a little better just running down the country lane... At least then he'd be doing something.

On Selvai's return, Raphael looke at the man's outstretched hand, then promptly took a hold of it. "All right."

Zyano immediately sat himself by Selvai, being sure his side was in contact with the magicians leg.

"Ready when you are." Raphael added, idly wondering whether or not it would be better to close his eyes.

~~~

(Do what you will with this. Raffy and the others are on their way.. ;D!)

Out in the corridor of the large complex, a couple of scientists had been burdened with the task of reversing the tall man's sedetive, the one who had just been taken back to his room; And both men strolled back towards his door with an idle conversation floating between them. It wasn't really an important job... But Ava seemed to like keeping her subjects wide awake when she wasn't dealing with them. Afterall, it gave the scientists a chance to observe these people with the safety of a thick iron door between them.

When the two reached Dravius' door, one opened it, while the second entered the room. He stared at the tall man, then promptly injected him with the reversal drug, before immediately heading back out. Honestly, such stupid little tasks they gave him. It really was somewhat dampening.

Joking lightly to his companion, the scientist outside the door snorted with laughter, before closing the door behind him, and promptly following after his friend, still chortling. Unfortunately... As was the case with quite a number of scientists in training. The door to Dravius room, although closed, had unfortunately... Forgotten to be locked.

Dravius had been sitting in his room for a few minutes, one bare foot put up onto the matress of the bed. He gently tapped the top of his raised foot in a bored fashion, feeling about to pass out the entire time. At the sound of the door unlocking, the young man turned his head and rested it on his raised knee. A rather young scientist entered and stuck a needle into his arm. It brought feeling back into his limbs, and he no longer felt as if he would topple forward at any time. He sighed to himself, running his hands through his hair and feeling his anxiety level rising once again. Taking a rather shaky breath, Dravius got to his feet and began pacing, when an extremely quiet creak caught his attention. His head whipped towards the door. Running his eyes up the line of light around the edges of the door, he was surprised and disbelieving to see no dead-bolt breaking the stream of bright white light.

Dravius approached the door as if it would run away, placing his hand on the knob on the inside, and wrapping his long figners around it gingerly. In degrees, the young man turned the knob, bent slightly at the waist. The high collar around his neck pulled at his windpipe, so he straightened up for some breathing room as he pulled the door towards him. To his amzement, it opened smoothly, and as he let it go in surprise, it glided on it's momentum for a few inches more.

The young man put one bare foot out into the cold tile of the hallway, glancing from side to side. Spotting no scientists or people of any sort, he padded down the hall, almost not believing that he was walking the halls of the facility. Dravius began walking faster, rounding a corner, when he froze. A scientist was in a similar sort of immobility. Making a split-second decision, Dravius lunged for the man just as the other tried to smack the talk button on an intercom panel. Fortunately, the tall man grabbed the collar of a lab coat and punched the man square in the face.

With a slight moan, the man crumpled to the ground, eyes half-closed. Quickly, his key card was removed form it's clip, the man tossed into a nearby room, and locked inside. Dravius had felt something snap under his fist, and suspected that the man's cheekbone now had a fairly bad fracture. Shaking his head, the Co-Master began trotting through the halls, trying his best to retrace his steps, but somehow ending up in a hallway that ended in a huge metal door. Curious, Dravius pressed a button and watched it slide open, to yet another hallway blocked by a set of fancily carved wooden doors. ...What?

He turned, going back through the metal door, the wood ones giving him a sense of uneasiness. At this point, Dravius was flat out sprinting through the scientific building, panting slightly, nearly slipping when he rounded a corner, and almost plowing straight into another scientist. This one put up more of a fight, and thus both the woman and Dravius got a bit roughed up. The man knew there would be a few splendid bruises on his face tomorrow, and he ended up just leaving the woman in another room, heaped in the corner like a sack of potaotes.

A few minutes of running rather aimlessly, Dravius skidded to a stop outside a labroom, because he caught a glimpse of bright orange in the otherwise spotless white building. Peeking through the small window in the door, and was appalled to see Maya sat on examination table with the nasty silver-haired woman. Oh god, what did he do.

Dravius eventually decided to just wait for a better opportunity, and scrambled off. Shouts echoed faintly around the facility, and Dravius followed them to a tightly closed door, behind which were two scientists, one being mauled by an old friend. Taking a deep breath, the young man turned the door knob and flung it open, cocking a fist back to slam it into the jaw of the scientist menacing Ny's pups with some sort of taser, with a rather loud- "I fucking hope that broke something, shitface!" He then stood with his back to the puppies, prepared to take some sort of more drastic action, depending on what happened next.