Food For the Soul, Maggott [Open]

[Ryo Hoshino]

[CF: Weapon X Facility - Futile Searches]

He didn't know where else to go in this damned place except for the most ironic, yet comforting: The Cafeteria. It was always something the bugged him, but it made sense when you really thought about it. Sure he couldn't eat solid food anymore.. well at least not in the conventional sense, but when he was in the cafeteria, where people COULD eat, it made him remember. The memory of living a somewhat normal life was probably all he had at this point. Not that it was a great time for him. Even when he was able to eat properly, he couldn't keep normal food down, and if he was able to, it didn't nourish his body at all. After meeting Magneto, Japheth realized it was because his powers were manifesting at an early age for him.

Once inside the now empty cafeteria, he sat down at a table and stared. The smell of freshly cooked food was wafting through the air. They must have been getting dinner prepared... or was it lunch? He couldn't remember since he hadn't actually been in contact with the outside world for a few days. It was almost sad.. except he realized that he never really enjoyed life outside of these bars. Although, anything was better than being a mutant slave to maniac.

"This can't be what the good lord had in mind, for ol' Japheth?.. could it?"

He asked the question to no one, knowing that no one would answer him. In truth, he didn't want the answer. He just wanted an escape. It wouldn't be long before the Director wanted them to go on another crazy mission. There wasn't any guarantee that he'd even return alive. The members of Weapon X were all starting to get restless too, tensions were at an unbelieveable high, and yet there was a small light at the end of the tunnel. Agent Zero had gone out of his way to save X-23. Could it be that the team was starting to actually... bond? -- That was a thought that made Japheth chuckle a bit.

"Ring around the rose and a pocket full of bullet shells."

[X-23]

[CF: Futile Searches]

Hunger. It was one of the baser instincts that ruled the feral and the human alike. There were only four essential needs that Laura knew of: food, shelter, clothing, and sex. She got three of the four here and only two of the four outside of these walls. Did that make Weapon X the better deal? Oh hell no, she’d give anything to be flat on her back being screwed by whoever the highest bidder was…she’d take that any day of the week over the bitterness, anger, pain and electroshock therapy that she got every day here. And that was saying something; prostitution had been one of the lowest experiences in her life…and yet she preferred it to this. Well, she’d just have to put a little suggestion in the director’s box that he fixed the place up…

Well, at least he was still feeding them.

Stalking down the hallway in her usual leather training suit, she was immediately drawn by the smell of food. Oh Jesus, Mary and Joseph she’d never needed food like this before in her life. With the way her healing factor had been going, she desperately needed sustenance and soon, or risk collapse. She heard a voice before she even entered the area…Maggott. Feral ears picked up just about anything that was ever said around here, "This can't be what the good lord had in mind, for ol' Japheth...could it?" She wondered the same thing, was this everything that she was intended for too? Had she been put on this earth to be tortured and degraded by scientists? Had she been sired from Wolverine to sit in a cell, awaiting judgment or tests or to be sent out to murder someone? Surely this wouldn’t be her life’s work.

Striding into the cafeteria, she slammed open the door, grabbing a plate and piling enough food on it to feed most of the Russian army for a few years. She was starved, emaciated, and no longer going to be that way. Too bad her metabolism moved at the speed of sound, she’d love to sabotage all their hard work by becoming their fat assassin. Then at least they’d have to leave her off killer duty until she was back to normal. But alas, it wouldn’t work out. Striding out to where Maggott was sitting she slammed her plate down and took a seat across from him. "Ring around the rose and a pocket full of bullet shells." Giving him a light smile, she took a bite of sausage, her stomach growling loudly at the taste of food. “Seems that great minds think alike, huh?”

[Ryo Hoshino]

The sound of movement around him alerted him, but only so slightly. With his luck it'd be someone who was out for blood and would gain something by slashing his throat from behind. He was disappointed, however, to find that no one had an escape for him by means of death. Instead, he was greeted with company and a familiar (and surprisingly pleasant) face: Laura Kinney..aka X-23. He still couldn't get over how strangely beautiful she was. It was obvious from that moment, why it was Weapon X benefited from having her. She looked so innocent and harmless, troubled maybe, but not lethal in any kind of way. It was this that Japheth had grown to love about her. She looked so helpless.. until you pissed her off, then you found yourself stepping back and wondering what it was that you had originally confused for helplessness in her.

“Seems that great minds think alike, huh?”

He looked at her at first with a really straight look as though trying to figure out if she were joking. It wasn't until he thought about it that he realized he'd never really fully explained his mutation to anyone. In fact, come to think of it, he'd never really explained it anybody in his life. It had always been a point to Japheth to hide all aspects of it because it was so...disgusting. Most mutants were blessed with gifts, things that could undoubtedly help protect the world or destroy it. Others were just born different, whether by appearance or personality.. but only Japheth was born as a disgusting malformation of nature's humor. His "powers" were most definitely a curse when you came down to it. So one could only forgive him for keeping that to himself.

"I'm not much of a heavy eater. The girls do all the chewing, I just sit back and live off the, excuse the pun, fruits of their labor so to speak."

If she wanted to know more, well then good for her. For the time being, however, Japheth was content to just leave it at that. He liked her, sure, but that didn't mean she was entitled to know his life story. At least she was there and willing to talk to him. Since he'd been "staying" at the facility, all he'd ever seen her do was cuss, banter, grunt and growl. To see some sort of humanity come from her was excitingly refreshing. It reminded him that there WAS such a thing as civility in the world... even in Weapon X.

He smiled back.

[Ryo Hoshino]

The bustle around the cafeteria droned into white noise as Japheth sat there with Laura Kinney. He could never express to her how much it meant to him to know that she wanted to at least sit down with him and keep him company. To people like her and Wolverine, signs of affection were signs of weakness. Emotion was a weakness.. an unecessary emotion that did nothing but hinder you in the battlefield. For Japheth, it was a typical teen thing. He'd never really had a love interest before.. except for that girl back at the mansion. What was her name? Tabitha something something. She was definitely a wild one AND she had mouth on her. Laura on the other hand was something different. Her whole life was a mystery to herself and to those around her looking in.

He dark black hair and her cold empty eyes. Beneath them was the mind of a killer with the speed, strength, and skill to take down an army of men. Her genetics allowed her to survive an onslaught of retaliation and still stand triumphant. Everything about her seemed to mask a verile and feral creature. She was beautiful but deadly. It was like admiring the power of a cobra or a lioness. You knew they could kill you, if you were careless, but to watch them demand such respect was always a sight to behold. How could someone as young as he was, surive in such a place without a care in the world. To X-23, Weapon X was home... a home that was deeply hated, but a home nonetheless. She knew the ways of this place like he knew his hometown in Ghana. This wasn't imprisonment for her... it was just the way of life.

He slumped back a bit, ignoring the sounds of interruption as the girls made their way to a few other inmate's meals. There was even a loud screech as someone batted them off of their tray and across the room. No one dared try to harm them because they all thought they'd be devoured. For just a small period of time, Japheth didn't want to be preoccupied with them. This was about Laura Kinney and himself. Sitting together, trying to enjoy a nice conversation over lunch. Everything else: The girls, the Director, the collars... the pain... None of it mattered... not right now.

[Ryo Hoshino]

Eany and Meany were in the upper west part of the cafeteria. The inmates, had since lost their fear of the two cybernetic slugs and were instead having fun with them. Throwing them scraps of food, and trying to get them to do tricks. Some were even placing bets on them. The girls on the other hand had no concept of fun or games, they were just enjoying the fact that food was being given to them freely without them having to search for it. Sometimes they'd jump through the air to catch it, and with a little goading from the inmates they'd even learned a few tricks. Probably something that Japheth find a little grating when he got a chance to see. He on the other hand was a little preoccupied.

"So I've always wondered, luv. What's up with the bad attitude you sport around this place? It always seems as though the women aound here enjoy chopping off the dicks of the men."

He figured it was pointless to keep conversation idle and through chitchat. Now was personal time, and he wanted to get to know her on some sort of level. They were going to be working together for a while, and it only made sense that they learned something. Then again, given her previous history diplomacy, there was a chance that X-23 would simply slit his throat for asking her such ridiculous questions, but at least he'd get a reaction out of her other than some sort of growl or a questioning glance. Japheth was beginning to realize, that he just didn't care anymore. There was no way in hell he was going to let this place be a prison for him. It could be a playground if you squinted your eyes the right way.

It was obvious that no amount of thinking they had planned, would get them out of this place. The only way they could manage to escape alive, would be taking down the Director, or finding someone on the outside who could take care of him. Japheth had even allowed sometime to come up with a way to protect from the danger of the collars. It would involve tinfoil or something of the like that could block or reflect a signal, but it would definitely keep the Director from doing anything that could endanger their lives, short of walking up and triggering the collars himself, but Malcolm Colcord valued his life a lot more than the rest of them did.

"I'm growing tired of the place with each passing second."

[Ryo Hoshino]

No sooner had he spoke the words, did fate's strings tug at his life. Sirens began blaring like crazy. Maggott was caught unawares so he didn't catch the tail end of what was being spoken over the intercom. What he DID get was that something was terribly afoot and it was linked directly to the Director himself. He didn't know enough about the place to tell what kind of emergency specifically was at hand, but from what he could gather from previous experience, there seemed to be some sort of breach... but who or what else would possibly think to try and break into this place? Especially so soon after the X-Men had just left with Northstar?

"Laura, I do believe that's for us."

He winked at the feral girl sitting with him, and stood up. Mentally he signalled for Eany and Meany to come to him, which they did rather quickly, considering that they had gotten quite an exstensive (and for now) satisfying meal from the inmates. Maggott gathered them up, and allowed time for X-23 to join him. He knew the Director wouldn't tolerate tardiness, especially where his own well-being was concerned. It was much safer for Japheth to throw himself into a den of lions, with all limbs broken, than to appear late before the Director for anything.

Immediately, he ignored all of the symptoms of excitement. His adrenaline was pumping, his heart and mind were racing, and he was doing his best to keep calm.

"Eany!"

The cyber-slug lept from his shoulder and began to scour the area for the right place to gather information. Ironically it was a communications console. She dug into it with pleasure and transmitted to Japheth all he needed to know. Agent Zero had just gone through this hallway with a few other Weapon X personel. The communications were down and it also seemed there was some sort of containment breach within the lower levels of the facility. Whatever it was, it was definitely not something to be taken lightly.

Japheth now knew instinctively which way to go regarding the emergency. He only hoped he wasn't too late... or maybe in the Director's case, that he was.


[EXIT Maggott - TBC - The End of Everything]