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Summary: Bruce, Vincent & Arsenal discuss abilities and Sentinels in the tunnels.
Date: June 15, 2020
Log Title: New Allies, New Threats
Rating: R (L)
The Future - The Underground - Mutant Base
Hidden in the maze of tunnels is the open area that the mutants have turned into their have, their home. Not wanting to risk electricity being detected down here, there are battery powered and gas powered lights leaving the place dark and damp. At least three mutants are always on guard down here at the entrance to the mutant camp and secret passwords and codes are needed to get into this room. There’s a large door with a large piece of wood barricading it as those down here don’t take any chances.
Scene
The tunnels mood is beyond dramatic as the past few nights of constant drizzle and rain have put most of those trapped in the surface of the earth in a sour and depressing mood. Vincent, however, is more like he was a decade ago, brooding but mellow, despite the fact his feet are covered in gauze, and the wings on his back, still haven't learnt the muscle control required to fold flat on his back. The newest arrival in the tunnels sits slumped against the wall like a bent copper pipe, with a crimson shruiken in his hand that looks like solidified red lightning, but as he twirls it in his hand, more and more prongs grow out until it becomes a circular disk.
There is a hobbled clanging noise coming down the tunnel from the direction of the barracks. A large man in black appears. He has an eye patch over one eye, and one arm and one leg are encased in a golden armor. Dingo has not had a very good week. The rain does not do good things for his abilities, and he's been trapped inside. Unfortunately he is not the easiest to get along with since the attacks several years ago. "Stupid twat…How dare she…Goddamn…" His accent is strongly Australian, and he seems a bit drunk. The man has just been kicked out of the barracks for getting into a fight with…Well…Everyone.
The small handwelder Arsenal held in his hand was alive, barking out sparks here and there as he releases a grunt. He'd heard Vincent's arrival, some bit of talk about him but had yet to meet the man not that he met really any of them down here beyond brief encounters, he wasn't the most socially out going, he lacked in the ability to communicate on the same level with the majority this kept him quiet and to himself until something was needed, a few more sparks and he was lifting up his arm the mechanical servos on it grinding together before a loud twitch and chitter was heard, it spazzed out, wrist started spinning and slapping violently at the air on it's own accord forcing him to force it off again with an irritated loud exhale. His face for once was visible, having needed the helmet he always wore out of the way and not obscuring his visibility. Words coming from Dingo had his head lifting, a brief glance before he carried on trying to repair the damage Danny Oda had put on him.
Vincent's fingers continually fiddle with the energy based shruiken-disc object in his hand, as he takes in a deep breath and a sigh of boredom that only comes to those in the infirmary while there's things that could be doing if they weren't injured. The echo of Dingo's words fill the tunnel, causing the slight reaction from Vince of him looking in the direction they're coming from. "Can't possibly be all that ba-" Vincent says to the voice down the hall but shuts his face as soon as he gets a look at Dingo's face. Usually he's not one to hold his tongue, but since he can barely stand, he decided to keep it to himself.
Dingo stops and glances down at the winged mutant sitting on the ground. He takes a swig from a grimy bottle he's carrying around with him, to those who know how to barter with the man, they'll know the "Dog Grog" is very potent and tastes like paint. He frowns and motions toward the man's feet. "What happened there, butterfly? Land on some pidgin spikes?" He seems to be ignoring Arsenal at the moment, though the sound he's making seems to annoy the man slightly.
More light lit up the area he was in against the wall, sparks shoot out and he seems to resign himself for now shoving the handwelder away, its light fading out. Listening to the other two speak before he offers a, "Neat trick." To Vincent having seen the shuriken-disc, "Maybe you can help me out here…" Arsenal’s body was moving now, the man stood up, his hair still burnt off and making him look almost Powder bald and pale aside from healing mangled tissue, even his eyebrows had been scorched away. Hoping off of the pile of broken rock and discarded cardboard leaving a few parts behind he pulled himself off the wall, the welder it would seem was once attached to his own body, hooked into a direct jack into his frame. Dingo he looked at, curiously as the image cycled through his internal computer, image recognition lining up, the same done to Vincent. Not that he'd react to whatever he found, right now in this war, the sides were already drawn.
Vincent rolls his eyes and looks away from Dingo as he says, "Something like that." He's not as feisty as he once was, since his kidnapping ten years ago. Instead of looking back at Dingo and adding more potential to get either his ass whooped again, or generally picked on, he goes back to concentrating on the disk in his fingers, before he flings his arm upwards and the shruiken hits the flat part against the ceiling and clatters to the floor. Vincent sighs at his lack of success and Arsenal's question, not because he wasn't willing to help, but because he's not really willing to get up to move to the other side. "If you come here I will."
Dingo squints at Arsenal with his remaining eye. He seems not to recognize the man, but he knew many people in the old days, and the poison he's drinking probably is not helping. He frowns at Vincent as he sees him toss his shuriken in the air only to have is fall back down. He shakes his head and makes a "tsk tsk" noise. "Nai nai, yer doin' it wrong. I'm assuming you can't control it once it leaves your body?" He holds out his read hand and materializes a sand shuriken. He holds it between his fingers and shows the positioning to Vincent before tossing his up as well. His explodes in a puff of sand when it strikes, but were it solid enough it would have stuck.
"Appreciated." The man would manage, Arsenal had intended to find some techno-capable mutant down here he'd heard about but was so far out of luck. Their conversation he kept himself out of, this didn’t sound like it was something he at all was to be concerned with, history there perhaps. Already in movement he didn't much require the guy to stand, once near enough the mechanical garish arm was thrust out the joints in the back having a rather poor welding job on them, this arm, a temporary for now but it obviously required some precision that he couldn't accomplish with the outdated tool. Moving around the side of Dingo in his actions a simple given at the display," Another nice trick…" Some bit of envy at watching the others who could still use their mutant gifts, his own more or less lost to him the night all hell broke loose and the United States of Ahab truly began. "Just some more precise welds needed in there I can't reach if you could…" Trying his best to point and hoping the guy doesn't hit anything crucial.
Vincent's eyes follow Arsenal instead of looking at Dingo's demonstration. "No problem." Vincent says curling one foot carefully so that the bottom of his left knee is resting on his right ankle. Then he grabs the welding tool and looks closely at the section Arsenal was motioning to, "I have to attach what to what exactly?" Ignoring Dingo during the operation, Vincent becomes intensely focus on the task at hand, so much so that without his noticing, crimson and black patterns start to materialize in the air. They appear to be growing off the wall from his back, but are very ornate, like vines in an oil painting, or old style iron gates with curves and splits, and very sharp points on the end. The more he focus the more ornate and yet delicate the designs become.
"Just below the elbow pin, there is a cable, then there should be two metal looking knobs. Those need melded together, touched in the center around that cable without touching it… otherwise this arm will fall off next time I swing try to swing at any of the nasty #@cks we're fighting." Glancing curiously once more at Dingo, "Never got your name, either of yours… Arsenal." He offers, not paying mind right now to if Vincent was accomplishing what he requested successfully or not, he'd see in a moment, having been down here around enough lately to realize the powers that went into use were well… a large various array and an expect the unexpected sort of thing. The movement on the wall as per Vincent's conscious or not activation didn't warrant too much attention from him, almost figuring it may be considered rude to stare too much at it. Something he was in need of practicing.
Vincent pulls away after a few moments and wipes the sweat off of his forehead, which somehow causes the construct designs to fade back into nothingness. "That should do it, I think." After a double check at the work, "Without touching that cable? Yeah, got it." Vincent smirks as he looks up to Arsenal, "Vincent." He's had time to mull it over and yeah, that's his name. Looking back at Dingo he holds up his right hand and remakes a five star and asks, "Now how did that go?"
Dingo is glancing at the wall again, watching as the constructs fade. So they show up if he concentrates really hard on something? That could mean that he has to focus energy to prevent his ability from manifesting. This winged guy seems new, Dingo hasn't seen him before. The Aussie will have to keep an eye on him for a while, just to make sure he's not dangerous. Arsenal's question snaps him out of his trance it seems, "Hum? Dingo. I'm Dingo." He nods to Vincent and reforms a sand star of his own. "Hold it 'tween your fingers like that. Remember to follow through on the toss and…" He chucks it at a distant wall, causing the sand again to break apart on impact.
"Dingo and Vincent." Arsenal nods in confirmation, he steps back enough he can move his now free arm thrusting it out at the air quickly, though far less than with the last one that was peeled off like a bad layer of skin. He frowns, jabs at the air again and nods towards Vincent. "That'll work just fine." As they start to talk, the sand star reforming he moves far enough away he can test the limb out some more, idly watching them both. In doing so, what data he had downloaded into his internal computers was being sorted through, seeking out faces, voice and names from past files. Even if he intended on doing nothing with their files, knowledge was power in it's own right.
Vincent attempts to copy Dingo's finger placement and just aims across the hall without standing up. The throwing star hits the wall and stays for the briefest of moments before it falls towards the ground but never makes it. Vincent sighs just a bit as he looks down at his arms and legs, "I guess the atrophy really sets in after a while huh?" asking no one in particular.
The Australian follows the motion of the star as it strikes the wall. "Well that weren't bad. Just keep trying and you'll get it eventually." He glances down the hall toward Arsenal. Later on he may offer to take a second look at the arm. He did use to build things in the old days. Not that Dingo's all that nice a guy anymore, but if the people in this tunnel are equipped the best they can be then they might take down more Sentinels. Each person in this tunnel is a weapon, and Dingo wants them working their best. He quirks his head at Vincent. "What's with the throwing stars anyway? Don't know what those are made of, but they probably won't do much against a Sentinel."
"Curious on that as well, pretty sure, in all reality those things started out simply for the sake of distraction anyways." Arsenal would in, quietly observing them as much as can be managed while he was adjusting his arm, the hand opening and closing fingers upon it. Trying to re-calibrate his body as best he could. Theo, that was the name of the man he was supposed to seek out later when he had the chance.
Vincent looks between the two, and mouths the word, 'Sentinel' before saying, "Is that what those giant robots are?" even at the risk of sounding like some hermit freak. Then he looks at the wall where the shruiken struck, "Not really sure, but I'm pretty positive I can't make a gun…" Vincent says with a shrug.
Dingo looks at the man a bit dumbfounded. "Giant? Yes. The Sentinels are the giant robots. I hear there's a new type out there too, so be careful." He shakes his head. "Well guns don't do much 'gainst them either. Gotto outsmart 'em. Lucky it's not too hard to do if you're only dealing with one or two…Unless they're being controlled by a Hound. Then that can suck." He ponders for a minute. "Well you did something to the wall there, that might do something if you can build it up inside of 'em. My created weapons don't do much to 'em, but they jam up pretty good if you fill em with sand."
Arsenal nods as Dingo spoke. "Best hope on is the older models and their joints, but that’s not so much the case anymore. Last encounter seen some new types I'd didn't recognize, more like battlesuits." External energies were not in any way shape or form he knew a thing about the other man more than likely the expert but questions wouldn't hurt. "Do you know what your powers are Vincent? May sound a stupid question…" Wanting to hear a bit more about them, and this atrophy he had mentioned.
Vincent blinks, slightly embarrassed about not knowing the sentinels. "They do seem vaguely familiar though, like a past life or something." Or just from the past he can't clearly remember. He looks at Dingo and nods, "Build inside of them, I'll try that next time." He then looks over at Arsenal, "Well, there's these, obviously." Vincent says, his wings lifting slightly off the ground, "and I can do this." He says as he creates a solid bar of energy and then molds it into a ball between his hands without touching it, and then causes it to dissolve in the imaginary wind. "I remember I didn't though, my mutation was something else entirely. I- I can't clearly remember. I do remember bleeding a lot, and yet it was ok though."
Dingo nods at Arsenal. "Yeah, hear those new battlesuits have metal similar to what's-his name there's claws. The X-man with the claws. Wolf…Something." Dingo holds no love for the X-Men. They let his sister die. "Whatever it is it's not something that can be broken into easy at all." He sighs, "And then there's these Spider things now, too. Smaller than the other ones but a lot faster on the ground. Haven't heard much about them, may be a rumor but you never know." Dingo watches Vincent display his abilities again and quirks a brow. "Used to? Your abilities evolved?"
"The Canadian badger?" Arsenal was joking of course, the first one he'd cracked in a long time - perhaps even used in the wrong enviroment. "Spider things?" He asks curiously, not having encountered one yet, this had to be something fresh out of the devil's maw. "Hopefully it's a rumor." He would muse outloud before studying Vincent several quiet seconds. Dingo having already asked the question that came to mind before he could.
Vincent disregards the sentinel conversation, for now, as there's nothing he could do in his state anyways. He does however push himself to remember and Logan being brought up jogs his memory enough, "No. They didn't evolve. I used to be a self healer, much like Wolverine, but now…" He says, looking at both wings, "I- I'm something completely different." Vincent says, having the shock build up and fade away as he realizes he's not him, not anymore.
Vincent disregards the sentinel conversation, for now, as there's nothing he could do in his state anyways. He does however push himself to remember and Logan being brought up jogs his memory enough, "No. They didn't evolve. I used to be a self healer, much like wolverine, but now…" He says, looking at both wings, "I- I'm something completely different." Vincent says, having the shock build up and fade away as he realizes he's not him, not anymore.
Dingo shrugs at Arsenal. "Don't know mate. Just overheard someone mentioned seeing something that looked like a Sentinel mixed with a spider." He shrugs and glances back at Vincent. "Ah yeah, Wolverine. That's it." He shows no sympathy at the man for looking different now. "None of us are what we were. It's something you're gonna have to live with." He holds out his golden arm to demonstrate, one of his favorite tricks since loosing his original. The limb simply falls to the ground with a clang, leaving the man with one arm. He bends down to pick it up, putting it back in place with great ease.
"Too much weirdness going on, time-altering, erasing people from present… powers being mutated into something else." Arsenal frowns, his hand taking up his helmet to seal it back on, changed was something he could relate too. He went from being a physical superhuman to a crippled cyborg. Mildly amused by the one-armed version of Dingo, "Seems the three of us have a few things in common, but maybe Vincent one of these telepaths here can help you out, I'd suggest the one named Addison but he seems lost himself, there is the other I know of Psylocke. Maybe if you're feeling bold and braver than I would ever be… you could let her dig around in your skull." Looking at the former Brotherhood member, "We really should investigate into this spider rumor, maybe even see where or who around here could help out on setting up a better intel communications and gathering group…"
Vincent says, "yes but…" before trailing off and forgetting the conversation. He creates a bar at arms length above his head and pulls up on it, and stands on the gauze covering his feet with a wince. "That's a start." Vince says towards Arsenal before he starts to hobble away, creating a pair of crutches for him to walk with, easing the weight on his feet. "I'll come find either of you when I'm ready to beat the shit outta something.""
Dingo watches the winged one hobble away. He offers a drunken wave but doesn't say anything. Turning back to Arsenal he simply shrugs. "Eh, it'd be good to figure out what they can do. It'd be better to figure out where they come from so we can take out the whole factory." He shakes his head, "But no one listens to reason. It's all 'Save the captured ones'. Nope. Not unless they're useful." He shakes his head and starts walking off himself, in the opposite direction from Vincent.
"Will be around of course." Arsenal replies to Vincent before speaking with Dingo "I'll listen to reason. This is war, keep in mind I'm around and maybe you and I can get something accomplished. I'm tired of pussy footing it around…" He turns and moves to the corner where parts had been littered about, sorting them and putting them away, absorbing into his own mind as the other two went their own directions. This was his first encounter in the Underground with other mutants where he'd actually gotten along on some level. Perhaps there was some hope here after all.
~ Fin ~
