Matt’s palms shot to his head as an instinct as he ducked into a low crouch to shield himself from the shards of glass littering his room. That lanky motherfucker was going to pay one way or another and Matt didn’t mind playing executioner. “How the fuck should I know?!”, his voice was loud as he ducked out of sight from the window and glanced at Go-Go, “does it look like I invited him in for a heart to heart?”. Even in the pressure of being shot at his almost permanent snark never left the taste of his tongue. He glanced at the repetitive thuds of bullets lodging into wall, his eyes narrowed into a deadly glare as he saw the message spelled out. “That crazy motherfucker”, Matt hurriedly tossed a bag into the corner until rocks rolled out by his feet.
“Hold on!” he shook her off for a second, hoisted a large rock into the air with the help of his mutation and flung it with more force than needed until it ripped through the window where Dylan reloaded. He hoped it messed up the cocky asshole enough to give them a chance to get the hell out of dodge. With some of his anger tossed with the rough rock he sprinted after her with no hesitation to grab his jacket over the back of the couch before rushing down the steep set of stairs.
“Could’ve taken me out to dinner first”, even though he was slightly out of breath from the adrenaline flooding his system he couldn’t help the remark from slipping by his lips as she reached for the gun tucked obviously into the waistband of his pants. “Just don’t get shot”, he grabbed her slender wrist and willed her behind him with a sense of urgency. He didn’t bother with the lock and knocked the broad prominence of his shoulder against the wood for a single impact before it busted open.
He had to hide the cringe of his car covered in a thin layer of dust, he hadn’t been far from home in a long time but he could only hope the 1968 Mustang clad in dark navy would bid them a lucky escape on their quick exit. Matt pulled more pebbles from his pockets flung them one after the other at the window with no regard if the slimy bastard was even still there. He opened the door with a hardh tug, slid in and reached over to unlock her door.
“Where the fuck are we even going?”, his voice was loud and strained as he craned his neck to look out for the lanky fuck, his foot pressed down on the gas pedal with a heavy kick as they took off into the street. A bearded man honked at them as they cut him off but he couldn’t give a rat’s ass about busting up the car when he’d prefer to keep his life intact instead. Of all the ways the day could have ended he never expected to be driving off with a super computer and a stick figure on their ass. Still, it wasn’t the worst day he’s ever had, it would’ve been nice if he didn’t have the hollow thud of a headache behind his lids and a hell of a craving for bourbon.
As they were running away Go-Go happened to turn and see Dylan peak his head out of the window for a second. The look of anger on his face was unmatched, but she also committed his face to memory. "I need a computer." She said as she ran. She wasn't gasping for breathe or struggling to keep up. Her mind flooded with a pool of adrenaline. It opened her lungs. It raced to her heart.
She sprinted ahead of Matt and was the first to his car even though she never seen it before. She could see his fingerprint on the door handle and knew it was his. She hopped inside the car and watched as Matt flung a few stones at the window. She almost wanted to smile. It was curious and she was dying to see more of what he could do. Regina had a boundless curiosity. Even in the face of danger her mind wondered what powers laid beneath those firm muscles.
Taking off down the road She fastened her seat belt. Regina didn't like the chances of not dying in a fiery car crash. She estimated by the rate of speed they were going and the erratic jerky motions of a highly agitated and slightly hung over man of his approximate height and weight that; they had a 14% chance of not getting into a fatal car crash. She rolled down the window and listened to the sounds of the city.
Wind ripped at her hair but she chose to focus on the smaller sounds. Her eyes straight forward unblinking. Her mouth hung slightly agape as Matthew yelled a question at her she neither heard nor processed. He asked where they were going. She didn't hear this. Her mind clicked off for several seconds in that time. Running calculations and crunching numbers in her head. "Turn right!" She yelled.
Moments after she said that a dump truck ran a red light and nearly clipped the back end of the car. She heard the truck barreling down the road at 66 mph when they had the right away. The car swerved right around a tight corner. "Take the interstate." She said in a flat tone. Her eyes were still straight forward. They were searching and scanning everything in front of them. Ahead of them she saw a license plate from Kentucky. She frowned.
"Take I-296. Interstates with even numbers run east to west. Interstates with odd numbered signs run north to south." She didn't like the chances of heading in a straight line. She had no idea if they were even being followed. People in Michigan drove like crazy assholes. Everyone was swerving all over the road. She checked the rear view mirror. She was taking Matthew back to her apartment.
She wanted to take him back to the fool's clubhouse. They would be safe there, but she didn't want to bring any heat down on the club. "Fuck. I left my jacket at your place!" She said furious with herself that she didn't grab it. It wasn't the kind of mistake that she usually made. Any mistake wasn't the kind of mistake she usually made honestly. "My house is at 2345 Dovenshire street. You're ten minutes away. Ride this to exit 112 and get off make a right a right a left a right a right a right a left, u-turn at the median and you'll pull up at my house three houses down."
She turned to Matthew who's driving had stopped being so haphazard. "You get all that?" She saw the confusion in his face and pulled out her phone. Setting up the GPS she slammed it down in the center console. She reclined her seat and tried to stop the pounding in her head. All this noise. All this chaos. The migraine was back. After a moment of rubbing her eyes she sat up a little. Looking at him softly she smiled.
"Sorry to fuck up your day cowboy." She said softly. She had no idea that Dylan had used that word in such an infuriating way only moments before this impromptu drive. Leaning over she kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks for being my white knight back there." She paused a second. A serious look growing on her face. "You said he was after the Fools? Did he say why?" Her eyes were big brown balls of honesty and confusion. She hung on his next word, her pouty lips slightly parted and she smelled like a blooming rose.
Matt lifted a single brow seeing the quick slip of the seat belt across her chest, “and here I was thinking you have bigger balls than I do”. A light laugh escaped his lips as he refocused his gaze on the busy road only adding to the ever present frustration from being chased by a cocky stick who left an infuriating message engraved in bullet holes against his walls. The city’s bustling melody waving in through the open window counteracted the heavy stress contracting in his shoulders and relaxed under the wave of fresh air polluting his senses.
“Early warning gorgeous, early warning”, there was a glare in his eyes as he took the sudden hard right as per her mathematically accurate suggestions. He didn’t hesitate to follow her directions, without her aid he’d probably be running them dead ahead into a tragic car accident leaving the whole assault on the asshole back at the bar useless and irrelevant.
“Translation!”, he shouted loudly not because of her intelligent mumbles about east to west and north to south but because he narrowly avoided hitting a pedestrian crossing the road. He tried discerning if anyone dared to follow after them but he was more worried focusing on the road ahead then the road left behind. He shot his eyes to her shoulders for a second with the obvious lack of leather marking her as a fool, he almost laughed at the irony of a living super computer forgetting to grab her jacket on the way out while he, a smart, albeit not a genius, remembered to take his on the way out.
At the fast rate of directions spurting from her mouth he opted for a silent confusion rather than another vocal outburst of frustration, he was sure no one followed anymore so he relaxed a little more behind the comfort of his steering wheel. He tried to recall the directions in his mind but he ended grinning like a child in a candy store at the more practical approach of a phone’s GPS leading his route.
“I swear to God the next person who calls me cowboy – I’m throwing punches”, his gaze softened from the harsh annoyance at the abrupt change of pace as he grinned almost playfully at her, “I’ll make an exception for you though. You owe me Chinese though, today or every other Tuesday”, a happy grin lifted onto his lips at the soft touch of her lips against his cheek. “Don’t mention it, he was a dick and you weren’t. Easy choice”. Matt wasn’t always known for his chivalry but he was particularly glad he opted to rush her to safety, she intrigued him more than most booze driven girls he spent his time with. Besides, even if the day ended up giving him a headache and a serious need to renovate he quite enjoyed the thrill of something stretching past the mundane taste everyday life.
“Turns out stick figure fuck works for GADEM. I wasn’t really bothered by his suggestion to seduce you but I really don’t wanna be pissing off the fools. Besides, he can go fuck himself and the damn government”, he wiped a hand through his unkempt hair and looked out of the window as he slowly eased the car along the route the GPS suggested. He glanced at Go-Go, he didn’t know if her friends knew GADEM too well from personal experience or if this was the government’s first outreach to the rowdy, outlaws but he knew it spelled trouble for them and ironically his ass was on the line now as well. At least it wasn’t a fucking Monday.
Regina listened quietly as Matt spoke. G.A.D.E.M. She had heard of them before. She sat there thinking about every conversation she had ever heard about them. Every article she had ever pulled up on the internet about the shadowy rumored public menace. A frown tugged at her lip as all manors of bad vibes spilled into her thoughts.
"These guys are trouble." She said quietly. When the car pulled up to her house she paused. She looked around trying to note anything of interest. She saw depression patterns in the grass. One set led to the mailbox. Those belonged to Fred the mailman. He was a harmless old man though he sometimes insisted on hand delivering her mail, in hopes of catching glimps of her in something skimpy. Go-Go sometimes answered the door in just a see through piece of lingere and nothing more.
There were two other sets of tracks that led to the back gate. The gate was left carelessly half open. She noticed that too. The idiots at G.A.D.E.M. weren't as smart as she thought. If they were they would have made shore not to leav any visible trace that they were here. She was a supercomputer she noticed things that others simply didn't this was just sloppy. Turning ahead she faced her eyes forward and in a flat tone told matt to drive. "This place has been compromised." She said in monotone.
Go-Go's mind was frayed. As the car drove off she realized that the sloppy nature of their intrustion was purposfully set up that way to look like they had broke in. There was no one there waiting for them, but they probably had eyes on the house. It was staged to look like she couldn't be safe anywhere. They wanted her in a panic, though she was calm and collected. She didn't want to bring him back to the fools. Not when doing so could possibly put the club in more hot water though she did send out a text to William at the club letting them know that the club was under government survalliance.
Little did she know that William had already been nabbed by G.A.D.E.M. and sat in one of their holding cells. Go-Go didn't have many usual haunts. If she left her house at all for anything besides work it was to hang out at the Fool's clubhouse. She spent her nights getting drunk and riding the stripper pole. Flirting with the boys and sometimes taking one or two of them at a time back to one of the many rooms in the back. She didn't have a place to go honestly, though she had heard of a secret underground hotel for mutants. A place far off the radar and where mutants on the run could lay low for a few days.
This place as as secrete as they came and only because of Go-Go's unique abilities of observation, deduction and super human hearing did she learn about it at all in the first place. She picked up the phone and placed a new GPS location into it. "We need to go there." She said stiffly. Her eyes blinked a few times as she stared straight ahead. She didn't say anything or blink for several moments. She only stared quietly ahead of them as if she were dead to the world.
Her mannerisms were sometimes slightly robotic in nature. Go-Go could feel the weight of being tired crashing against her tense shoulders. She could alter her brain chemistry and allow the tired feeling to disapate in an instant but she didn't. She eased into the tense feeling and leaned over resting her head on Matt's shoulder. She sometimes just allowed the pain or tired feelings to take her. It reminded her that she was human. Sometimes that was easy to forget.
“Well if that cocky bastard’s anything to go by I’m betting their all dicks”, Matt’s tone was still laced with heavy snark and the upset sneer in his gaze depicted his newfound hate for the organization and their operatives. He kept the car’s engine on as he pulled up to the house, he didn’t want to be cornered with no way to get back on the road. Matt tried seeing the subtle signs of an ambush but he wasn’t exactly the supercomputer she was, he wasn’t a dumb idiot laced in muscle and snark but he wasn’t a genius either.
“Fucking great”, he didn’t hesitate to thrust the car into reverse before ripping out of the driveway with a last glare at the house. He didn’t know where to go but he supposed being on the road was better than staring at a house tainted by the government’s filthy intrusion. He tried peeking at the name on her phone but he couldn’t see much, a few words here and there but not enough to fill the curiosity in his mind.
He glanced at the new GPS location with a curious glare, “where the hell are we going?”, his tone softened in the slightest seeing the near blankness in her eyes. “You good gorgeous? Cause you look like you’re shutting down again”, his gaze shifted to the world flashing by through the window for a second before feeling the draw of fatigue. As good as the day started with her gorgeous entrance to the bar, everything after getting food was fucking chaos and he appreciated a relaxing day after the heavy consequences of drinking far too much.
He glanced at her auburn hair as he felt the touch of her temple against his shoulder, he was slightly doused in worry for their safety but he’d portray confidence regardless of the situation’s stress. “Doesn’t look like we’re being followed. How about you get some shuteye, I’ll wake you up when we get there”, he glanced at her from the corner of his eye with both hands still clutching the steering wheel.
Matt appreciated her guidance in their escape, he didn’t know much more except the rusty feel of the bar and maybe the laundry place down the street. He thought about his sister stumbling into his place to see the bullets driven into his wall, the shattered glass and the busted door. At least she wasn’t gifted with the same unique touch of a gene mutation like he was. I still didn’t make him feel any better at the thought of his sister running into GADEM or that English fuck that shot at them.
“Fuck!”, his abrupt eruption woke him from the stupor of his thoughts as he dug through his pocket for his phone, “sorry”. He smiled apologetically at Go-Go before punching in his sister’s number and listening impatiently at the dial tone. She wasn’t ever good with phones, enough so that he wasn’t worried when her perky voicemail greeted his senses. “Hey! I got into a little trouble, you need to steer clear of the bar for a few weeks”, at least he knew she was fully aware of his troublesome taste in the dangers of life, besides, having her living halfway across the country helped a whole lot.
Regina clicked her mind off and she was off in a dream. She stood in front of a builiding. A gadem facility. She had never been there, never seen this place but her mind was able to put together a reasonable faximillie from what she could gather from her imagination. She stood in front of this building wearing a nice skirt and a black silk blouse. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and in her hand she carried a leather bound briefcase. She confidently strolled up the the building and pulled on the handle.
It was locked. Though she could see through the glass there was a guard stationed at a security desk. The clock on the wall said 2:15. He buzzed her in and she opened the door. Walking in her heels were cocophony of clickety clack. She walked with purpose and intention as she made her way up to the front desk. "Penelope Simms to see the director of the facilty." The guard raised an eyebrow. She raised one back matching him tick for tat. "Who are you?" He asked with a doughnut in his hand. He was a cliche ridden mess. The clock on the wall said 2:15 There were white powder stains down his shirt. She looked at the photos on his desk and saw two kids, but not mother.
She saw the tanline on his finger, the almost sad lost look in his eye as his words came out with a dreamy sleepy quality. This man was a widower. "I'm a representitive of Betterman law firm. I'm here to go over a case report with the director, i was asked for specifically." Regina rode her lie for as far as it would take her. The guard seemed unsure. "Wait just a moment Let me confirm." Regina placed a tender hand on his wrist. A touch he hadn't felt in a while she gathered. "Sir. I really need to get home to my kids. This meeting is out of my way can't we forgo the procedure here?" He sighed and pressed a button.
He had to get home to his own kids. His shift was almost over. Regina smiled and stepped through the partition into the lobby and pressed the elevator button. She stood patiently and waited as the bell rang down to the next floor. The clock on the wall 2:15. Even here she was in control. In this vivid dream she was consiously control of every action she made though she could not control what the dreaming vessles of others did in her dreams she could only react. She stepped inside the elevator and rode it up to the top floor. She stepped out of the elevator into an empty white hall. Passing by she saw several locked rooms.
Interogation rooms it looked like. There was a whole several floors of just office space. This place was to appear to be normal from the inside out. It was the temporary facility she was in. She looked around and walked quietly checking each room and familiarizing herself with the layout. This was all a dream. This wasn't something that could literally help her just something to occupie her mind while she rode in slumber. She was practicing. Determining the best route to infiltrate. As she had already made up her mind she wanted to track down the bastards before they hunted her and her friends down.
Go-Go stopped infront of a door that said top secret. The clock on the wall said 2:15. She pushed her fake glasses up on her nose a little and reached for the handle. "You have arrived at your destination." The words pulled her out of her dream and her mind clicked back on. Here already? She thought. She had no concept of time in her dreams. She could control them and everything about them but for some reason the clocks in her dreams stood still. Looking at an abandoned building she smiled. "This is it." She said getting out of the car. She leaned against the side of the car and motioned for Matt to follow.
Regina whispered to him. "This is a secret underground hotel for runaway mutants. We can stay here for a few days, but these mutants are.... Well, kinda testy." She admitted. Moving over to the door she pushed it open and walked in. A green light above her covered her, basked her in glowing radience as it scanned her dna. "You are cleared to enter." It said. She paused and looked at Matt. "DNA scanner checkpoint. No humans allowed past this point. Come on, you're fine." She smiled at him.
She had never stayed at this place but Silver Shadow had. He used this place a few times when he was lying low and running from the cops. If he vouched for it she knew it was safe. Go-Go wasn't particularly close with Silver Shadow. He was kind of a grumpy asshole to her, but she trusted the fools with her life. "Come on. It doesn't hurt." She urged Matt. Below they would find another door with a bouncer standing guard. He would allow them entrance into the seedy underworld of illegal mutant hotels.
Matthew silently sung to the ACDC songs drumming through his radio, there was a quiet nothingness to Go-Go’s face and he wondered if she was truly catching some rest or if she was busy shutting down. The road felt long and tedious, at least he didn’t have to stare into that stick figure fuck anymore so any other scenery was welcome to his senses. He pulled up to the destination highlighted by the GPS with a confused glance, he didn’t expect a five star luxury but this place looked about as empty and quiet as the expression on Go-Go’s face. He could hardly imagine anyone being inside the decrepit abandoned building, much less having an actual mutant hotel for those on the run.
“Thanks for letting me drool on your shoulder Matt, so nice of you”, he mimicked her voice with a playful glare once her car door closed. There was something highly intriguing about her, yet awfully robotic enough to make him feel intimidated. Moving out of the car and locking the door he moved to her side of the vehicle with a distrusting glance to the towering building. “They’re not gonna probe me right, cause that’s a deal breaker”, he sassed with a determined smirk etched on his features.
He was somewhat shocked at the sudden green light that greeted him, he flipped off the origin of the light with a quick wink before following after her. “I was gonna ask how you know about this place but you’re a fool, makes sense”, the words were meant more to him than they were to her. He reached out, grasped her wrist with a rough but tender gesture and pulled her behind him before leading the way down a set of rusty stairs. Matthew hardly knew her but he already busted his door, screwed over GADEM and blindly trusted her lead – he wasn’t about to risk her at the last moment.
He looked over his shoulder to offer her a small smirk almost landing him smack into the burly bouncer guarding a rather large, steel door. “Fuck buddy, make a sound next time”, he stepped back with a dark glare and looked to Go-Go for a second.
“Am I supposed to bribe him, how the hell does this even work?”, he shrugged his shoulders turning to Go-Go. He wasn’t the most patriotic asshole but he wasn’t ever on the run before and he hardly knew how to cover his tracks, much less charm his way into an underground mutant hotel.
Moving down the rusty steps Regina noticed that the guy at the door seemed to be larger than she relaized. He must've been 8 feet tall when you really got in close and his arms wre the size of Matt's torso. He stared at the two new comers . He said nothing. Go-Go looked up at this hulking behemoth of a man. "We're here to see the broker." She said simply. THe man nodded and grabbed the handle to a large iron door. Pulling it open he stepped out of their way. THe door was rusty and broken down much like the rest of the outside. The walls were a hobbled brick color and some windows on the coutside appeared busted out and unkept.
Thoujgh stepping through the illusion was just that. The inside was nice. A five star hotel in the middle of nowhere. There was a 20 foot high fountain in the middle of the lobby. A gold and diamond chandilear hung in the center over the fountain. Regain had to stop and just admire the sheer lavishness ofit all. It was an illusion cast over the place. A talented mutant that could touch objects and make them appear to be something else had made this place seem like an abandoned where house. It's geometry and configuration shifted and changed to match what your brain thought it was seeing. Only a simple touch was enough to do this. The rusty stairs they came down on the way in were merely a straight path. Completely flat.
They were walking across the hall when they're minds told them they were traveling down stairs.. Weather or not this place was as luxerious truly as it seemed was another question. They could be thinking they were seeing a 20 foot high fountain when really they were staring at a wall and oblivious to the rats scurrying about across the floor. Each person saw what they wanted to see. Regina's version of this oasis in the wasteland was different from what Matt was seeing.
Regina's lips curled upward in the delightful hint of a smile. She had been surprised. It was a rare thing. Her mind saw everything though this was impressive. She could even see past illusions and illusion creating mutants normally had no effect on her though she was glad this one.... The picture distorted. Waving lines ran down the walls like aburst of static on an old television set. Regina fround. Her mind was seeing the details behind the facade of luxerious illusion. She saw tan walls with brown stains on them. Dirty blue carpet and A pile of corpses in the corner in a shopping cart.
There was a tall thin man standing beside it. As the illusion flickered she was in the mirage he was dressed fancy as a bell boy. In reality he was wearing sweat pants and a dirty tank top. He pushed the cart of bodies down the hallway while briefly talking to a co-worker. The cart of bodies flickered again as the strong illusion tried to push itwas way back into her head. It looked like a luggage cart but she knew the true horror that it really was.
She had a rising feeling in the pit of her stomach. She didn't like it. But the door behind them was now sealed. Turning back she saw a formidable looking man guarding the exit. He looked nasty with a horrible scar running down his cheek. The illusion flickered and he was dressed fancy in a door man's uniform with a bright smile on his face. Okay. She thought. I'm officially creeped out. "Checking in?" A pleasant sounding voice called out form behind her. Regina whirled around to see the smiling face of the front desk lady. The illusion was gone. Her mind had saw through the bullshit.
Her super brain picked up on all the tiny inperfections in the illusion and shattered it's perception like a man who put on his glasses after going within them. She saw clearly now. The woman wasn't unattractive her hair was blond and her eyes were bright purple. Interesting. "Yes, we need a place... to stay." Go-Go's voice was a bit wavery and unsure. For the first time since she met Matt she seemed scared and less than confident. She looked at Matt wondering what his take on this was. She had tangled with illusionists before but usually they had absolutely no effect on her mind.
This one had the power to break into her view of the world and change it to his liking who the fuck was this guy?!!? "We have room 206 available for you. Your stay is complimentary. If you're hiding or on the run we ask that you check any weapons at the front desk. Weapons are not permitted past the lobby." Regina raised an eyebrow. "Our stay is complimentary?" "Yes you can stay as long as you wish dear, only Vega will request that you check in using our bioidentifier pad here. You're stay is complimentary on the condition that you owe him one favor." Regina had to resist the urge to laugh.
"A favor? What would that be?" The front desk lady smiled politely. "It's not for me to say dear. I'm not the one asking the favor. Everyone who stays here agrees to be in the debt of Vega. If you don't agree then you can always take your chances out there, with whatever you were running from. This is Hotel Vega. He makes the ruels I simply enforce them." She said with a motherly tone of someone explaining to their child why they can't have something. Regina looked at Matt she was completely out of touch with what to do. Had Silver Shadow done a favor for this Vega guy? If so what?
What did he want from them? She had to admit though her mind was more than a little curious at the mysterios Vega and the shady hotel. Regina turned back to the lady. "What's with the cart full of dead bodies?" She was stunned. She couldn't believe someone was actually not seeing the illusion that was projected over this safe haven of sorts. "I uh well um..." She didn't get to answer as Vega himself spoke up from behind them. "They are the ones who came back to tell me they could not horor my favor. Their deaths were painful and slow. I do not like someone who breaks their word. To me... It is cowardly. I am Antonio Vega. Welcome to the safest place for mutants in the United States!" He said proudly with a humble bow. His accent was a heavy latino accent. His smile was dashing and undescribable.
Matt raised a brow at her words, there was something awfully off about the place that left him gently caressing the pebble tucked into his pocket for comfort or reassurance, maybe both. Still, he had to give the interior designer points for the beautiful interior that greeted them. He followed the old, polished wooden steps to the rustic hotel waiting on them inside. He saw the wooden floor panels contrasting the beige painted walls, one wall on the far end of the room consisted only of compressed logs with a high fireplace holding the flickering flames that made the whole place seem a whole lot more warm and almost home like. Still, something still bothered him, perhaps the ever present smiles on the staff littering the large room or the eerie deceitful glint to all their gazes.
Still, he’d appreciate the funds to make his own bar seem a little more up to date with this place, maybe redo the entire bar with new maple wood and a clear polish to boot, first and foremost he had to fix the fucking door. Maybe he’d put a mug shot of the stick figure asshole on the dart board and hope people find as much joy as poking at the dick as he did. with a sharp object at least. He groaned loudly, nonchalant about prying ears at the thought of his wall ruined in that arrogant message and his shattered window.
He glanced over his shoulder at the bulky asshole on the other side of the door, he had to wipe his eyes to make sure he was seeing the same scarred face clad in a door man’s uniform with a smile littered on his stoic face. “This place giving you the creeps too?”, he whispered the words close to Go-Go’s ear with his shoulder brushing lightly against hers. He didn’t like the idea of anyone else overhearing him, besides he felt the intrusive eyes of scar face following his every move.
“Goddamnit!”, he yelled softly at the tall lady manning the front desk with another crazy laced smile ever present on her slim face. He could hear the wavering tone in her voice and he felt worry lace his mind, she seemed in control of the world around her and seeing her fade a little made him more nervous than he cared to admit.
“I don’t like this”, he reached out and held onto Regina’s elbow before leaning forward, “You can tell your boss to shove the favor up his ass. I’m in no one’s debt”. He would’ve bolted right through the bulky bastard guarding the door but he opted to stay somewhat in front of Go-Go, in some way it might have looked like he tried to stay close to her but he was trying to be somewhat of a gentleman. He lifted a brow at the mention of dead bodies.
“Someone’s fucking with my mind, right?”, he spoke to no one in particular but there was a deadly glare etched on his features. He looked to the asshole who spoke with the same high and mighty tone as a man in charge. Matt felt the earth below his feet vibrate subtly at the uniqueness of the situation, he couldn’t see the bodies or the cart or anything real for that matter and it irked the living shit out of him. still, he imagined bolting wouldn’t end too well for them either so he opted to glance briefly at every face in the room, wary of their illusion and the reality of who they were.
“I bet you sold the same bullshit to them”, he lifted his hand to point to the heap of dead bodies but he had to lower the extremity begrudgingly still mind fucked by the illusion. Matt kept a close eye on the burly fella by the door, he wasn’t afraid as much as he was worried someone would shoot them in the head and dump their bodies astray like nothing ever happened.
Go-go watched with an intense curiosity. She couldn't tell if this guy was on the up and up. Usually she was able to tell if a person was lying through a myriad of ways. Heart rate breathing. Facial ticks and other cues. It was something she just naturally picked up on. Though with Antonio Vega she couldn't tell a damn thing.
It wasn't her fault. Mr. Vega had the unique ability to nullify powers. People's powers simply did not work around him. Or on him. He was like a mutation vacuum and he sucked up any powers that came near him. Mr. Vega focused on Go-Go. Her mind seemed fuzzy and distorted. She felt numb. Squinting at him she couldn't help but struggle to concentrate on anything he was saying. "It is okay if you do not wish to owe me a favor, we do accept cash. $400 a night. CASH ONLY!" Mr. Vega said.
Go-Go shoved $500 bucks cash in his hand. Yes, she carried that much. So she might have lifted someone's wallet on the way to the bar this morning. So what she was entitled. She was a criminal after all. "Keep the change." Go-GO grabbed Matt's wrist and pulled him along behind her. "You need to get us the fuck out of here quickly." Regina whispered to him. "Give us a key and let us crash." Regina snapped at the front desk woman.
She blinked in shock but she honored the request. Handing her the key to room 206 Regina snapped it up and stuck it in her pocket. "Now would be a great time to stretch those mutant muscle or yours. I don't even know what it is you do. Can you create earthquakes? Or break through walls? Come on you must have some fabulously helpful tricks up your sleeve." Regina was over this place.
It seemed everywhere they went today things went from bad to worse. The owner of the hotel stuck the money in his pocket and watched his guest with a vested interest. Regina didn't want to spent a minute longer here than she had too. She would rather sleep in a hole in the ground. Maybe Matt had some secret hideaway, but she just wanted to get away from creepy guys and she kept finding them around every corner.
Matt was about to tell the asshole to shove his underground hotel up his ass until he stood stunned at the bills shoved into Vega’s hand. He subtly reached down to tap a few fingers against the rough material of his pants until he exhaled relieved at the leather bulge of his wallet tucked into the pocket. He didn’t really believe she’d steal from him, still, she was a criminal and he was almost certain some of the money she carried wasn’t her own. He looked back at the eerie grin on Vega’s face with a suspicious glare as Go-Go pulled him along.
He gave her an almost exasperated glare at the echo of her voice bouncing off the borders of his mind. Matt wasn’t exactly pleased with the idea of someone rummaging around in his mind, there wasn’t too much he desperately wanted to hide but he definitely enjoyed keeping his thoughts as private as he could. ‘gimme a minute’, he snapped gruffly looking at the thick walls clouded in illusion.
Matt kept his gaze steady on the strangers in the room, he glanced at the long wall covered in compressed logs and snapped his eyes to Go-Go’s face at another clear echo of her voice ringing inside his mind. ‘You’re fucking demanding, you know that? I’ll let it slide cause you’re hot as hell’, there was a playful hint at his voice as he thought the words aloud in his mind. He spared her a brief wink and firmly pressed the soles of his shoes onto the ground. He had far more control if he was in physical contact but he had enough power running through his veins to pull of an easy earthquake.
His eyes lit up with a deep confidence as he felt the deep draw of the earth in the elements they composed together to build the floor beneath his feet and the components littering the thick walls he couldn’t see for the true reality they were. ‘stay behind me’, he gently pulled her behind him before feeling the deep rumble in the earth beneath him. at first the building barely shook but within seconds the walls shook under the rough tug of his abilities and the whole world shook. He saw several of the bastards lose their balance under the heavy rumble of the building, dust dripped down the ceiling and cracks broke into the walls.
The illusion began breaking and he saw some aspects of the building for what they were, bland and decrepit. He slipped an arm around Go-Go’s waist hoping to balance her against the vicious shaking of the world around them. One hand reached back to the thick wall farthest from vega and his goons. Matthew smirked proudly as two bulky assholes sprinted rather clumsily towards them. Slowly the wall tore free with thick cracks littering it’s borders, it shook free in large chunks and he hurled it towards Vega and his men.
Matt didn’t wait to see if he’d crushed them or not, he grabbed Go-Go’s hand and sprinted to the open wall baring the golden rays of sunlight. He forced his power’s focus on the building, waiting as pieces of wall caved in long enough for him to lead Go-Go back to the car. “fabulous enough for you?”, he winked for a small second before sliding back into the driver’s seat. He turned his head to see Vega stepping out with a furious glare, he slid his palm out through the window with a crude finger extended in the air and sped off.
“I got a place we can go, it’s not exactly a hotel but there’s beer and blankets”, he turned slightly in his seat to glance at the brunette next to him. this fucking day wasn’t getting any better and he just wanted to get back to some measure of normalcy. “You coming? Or should I drop you off somewhere?”, he was hoping she’d stick around, purely for the unique touch she added to their conversations and perhaps some part of him really enjoyed the view.
