Something's Wrong (open)

[bobby]

"I didn't mean anything by it, just didn't think you'd be what Lilly was talking about."

He shrugged off her attitude, having had dealt with it enough from Rogue and Logan. He decided that since it was going to be where they were meeting, he would clean up a bit. He placed his hands against the floor and concentrated. His hands changed to ice, and pretty soon the ice around the room was melting away, the flame throwers going back into the wall. It wasn't long until the room was back to normal, though a little wet with spots of water dripping down.

"Yeah I know why you're here, you're going to be coming with us to face the Nightmares."

He wasn't that clueless, and he didn't like how some people judged what he knew based on his age. When he heard Apocalypse and Rose (more Apocalypse than Rose) coming down the hall, he stood by and waited, not wanting to get near the bounty hunter. Being a mutant, he trusted bounty hunters almost as much as he trusted Apocalypse, whether it was a little more or a little less was to be decided.

[Rose North]

Merfonde had just shrugged off everything he said, preferring to spend her attention of the approaching pair then watch him melt the ice he'd created. Rose, when she spotted the 26-year-old Bounty Hunter smiled softly. "It's been a long time, Merfonde." All she got in return was a nod, but that was to be expected. Merfonde wasn't much of a people person after all.

Rose stopped only a few feet away from the Bounty Hunter, noticing that Bobby was already with them, so she didn't need to go off and find him. "I see you've already met her, Bobby." She smirked a little, as if asking whether Merfonde had been unpleasant to him. A second later, her mood was serious once more. "I would like to introduce Merfonde Duskrunner, one of the most capable female Bounty Hunters." Rose obviously had the utmost confidence in Merfonde, to a point where she didn't even have her guard up.

Suddenly, Rose smirked again, looking to Apocalypse, and then Bobby. "You both doubt her abilities, if I remember. Would a demonstration be willing to convince both of you?" She looked to Merfonde, smirk still in sight. "You wouldn't mind, would you?" Merfonde just shrugged, as if to say she didn't care.

[mero]

Merfonde just leaned up against the wall again as Rose introduced Mero to the two men. Personally she didn't care what their names were, so she had no reaction when Rose skipped over introducing them. Again, it wasn't personal, Merfonde was bad with people, but she hated men, so these two men were out of luck with getting her to treat them with respect. She might not turn on them if they irritated her, but she'd definitely beat them to a pulp to teach them a lesson. And the way she carried herself seemed to warn both men of that fact.

Merfonde had just shrugged as Rose's half request. She was used to people doubting her abilities, these two men weren't any different. They'd probably never even seen a skilled Bounty Hunter before in their life. Maybe it would be fun to spar with one. After all, that was how most animal species proved their dominance. Not to mention it'd really chance their opinions on true Hunters. "Sure, why not. We have time, after all." She opened her eyes, her gaze settling on the two men. "But I don't plan on fighting Rose, so one of you is going to have to volunteer." She smirked.

[bobby]

"Yeah we've met. Great sense of humor."

He said with a hint of sarcasm when Rose commented on him meeting Merfonde. Apocalypse continued to stand in silence next to Rose, still unimpressed with the woman that was supposedly the bounty hunter. When Rose asked if they still wanted a stration, he formed a half smile.

"Yes. Let's see if this is worth the attention you're giving her." Apocalypse said.

It was when Merfonde agreed and suggested she wasn't fighting Rose, did both men seemed caught. Apocalypse only smirked and shook his head. Though he was interested, the thought of fighting a human still was below him. He turned his attention to Bobby, who stood there with a shocked look.

"What? Me?" he held his hands out and shook his head, "No way, I don't fight s. It's not my style."

Though as soon as the words left his lips, he suddenly began to feel that he had officially placed a bullseye on himself. Apocalypse only chuckled at the words, looking to the two s as he waited for their own approval. He was more interested in seeing what she would do to Bobby then seeing what she could do in general.

[mero]

When Bobby mentioned her 'sense of humor' her cold gaze settled on him, giving him a dark, but black look, as if daring him to say it again. Finally though she looked away, rolling her eyes. Her gaze soon turned to Apocalypse though, the man who disbelieved in her abilities the most. She decided right then and there she would prove him wrong. She'd prove to him that sometimes you should fear humans. They might not have powers like mutants, but they weren't out of the game. Not while she was alive.

The reason why Merfonde didn't want to fight Rose was mainly just because she owed Rose. Until that debt was repaid, she'd rather not face Rose in combat. It seemed though that it was almost instantly decided who would face her. The slightly younger man who'd been in the Danger Room, the ice controller. Her gaze was on him again, an almost mocking look in her eyes and a sinister smirk on her lips. Of course he didn't fight women. He must be one of those 'Gentlemen'. "What? Are you afraid you'll lose? You know, you're being quite sexist. Not willing to fight just because of my gender."

Merfonde was all for equal rights between the genders, but she often times would use her gender to gain leverage over men.

Rose had just laughed and nodded, agreeing instantly to the two facing off. And Merfonde obviously didn't seem to have any problems with it. She swung her bag off her shoulders, dropping it to the ground and taking a few steps forward, entering the Danger Room with a confident stride. "Don't worry, I won't beat you up to bad. I won't even use any of my equipment other then what's on me, how does that sound, 'Iceman'?" She didn't know that was his codename, but it was an obvious nickname for someone who controlled ice. She turned, her hands on her hips as she smirked devilishly at him, waiting for him to make a move.

[bobby]

"No, it's not that I'll lose it's just...oh nevermind."

Bobby groaned slightly, looking to Rose as she laughed, and then to Apocalypse. He looked up at the ceiling as if silently asking "why me?", before looking back at Merfonde. He shrugged and smiled a bit, trying to sound competitive as she stepped into the danger room.

"Well, if we're going to do this, we should at least have some fun to." he smiled then looked up at nothing in particular, "Computer. Battle arena simulator, level five."

Arena simulator, level five activating. Simulator will begin when room in secure.

"You two will have a better view upstairs in the control room."

He looked to Rose and Apocalypse as he spoke, Apocalypse smirking as usual before heading up towards the control room. He looked back to Merfonde as the doors began to close. He waited for the lights to come on as the simulator started to begin.

"I've never played this level, I finished level four yesterday."

He decided to chose level five because it would keep it suspenseful for both he and Merfond. Within seconds the ground began to rise in separate areas, one of which was under Merfonde, which rose up to meet with the part of the ceiling that was coming down. Bobby took this opportunity to head to freeze the ground and change into his ice form, giving him perfect footing.

[mero]

Merfonde raised an eyebrow. He was sure he wouldn’t lose? Well well, he might be even more confident then she was. And he had no idea what she was capable of. His confidence probably only came from her being human. She’d show him. Just wait and see.

She shrugged when he decided to start a simulation to make things more interesting. Rose had followed Apocalypse up to the observation deck when the simulation began, the doors hissing shut. Meanwhile, Merfonde just waited patiently with a wiry smile on her lips. “Played?” Her eyebrows raised a little. “Is that what you people call it?” You people meaning the X-men and the students that went to the school. Suddenly she smirked. “Sorry, but I believe on learning on the job. There’s no risk in ‘practicing’.”

She didn’t move an inch when the ground under her started to rise, the ceiling right above crashing down to meet the section. Of course if she didn’t move she’d be squashed like a bug. Only when it was near last minute did she reached into her boots, yanking out a pair of knifes and leaping off the edge right when the ceiling and floor smashed together. Twisting in the air she slammed the two knifes blades into the thin line between floor and ceiling, wedging them in deep enough that she hung there with ease. He was freezing the ground after all, and seeing as ice was his advantage she had to have a plan before going in.

A half second passed, before she released the two knifes, dropping to the ice covered ground with the ease of an acrobat. She slipped a little when she hit the ice, but she instantly used the little grip of her shoes her to advantage, using the momentum of the slip to propel herself across the ice. In the same instance she yanked out another pair of knifes, which probably left you wonder just how many she had on her! Something was different about these knifes though. Whatever it was though was a mystery. He’d just have to wait and see. She jammed the knife in her right hand down into the ice, leaving it there as she skid to a stop at the other end of the Danger Room, carefully, she went around one of the new pillars. She stood there, her free hand on the metal, watching him carefully.

[bobby]

"You people?" he looked to her from across the room, his voice becoming irritated, "What do you mean you people."

Though she may not have meant it that way, it was certainly the way Bobby took it. To say "you people" to someone like Bobby, was like saying it to an african american on the street. He narrowed his eyes as he watched her hang from the pillar that was made when the floor and ceiling connected. It began retracting as she fell towards the ice. Who did she think she was talking like that? I'll show her what mutants are capable of.

He reached down and touched the bottom of his shoes, covering them with ice as well. He then took off around the room, making sure to keep a safe distance from his target. He didn't want to do this to a female, but right now he decided to make an exception. Closing his hands into fists, he formed two large balls of ice. First pass he threw with his right, and the second with his left. The walls began to come to life then, aiming at the two that were in the room. Bobby dodged as laser fire began to shoot all over the room. He knew it wasn't long before the danger room became a war zone with himself and Merfonde in the middle.

[mero]

Merfonde seemed to shrug "You people as in sheltered 'heroes'. Who try to take the world on with only a knowledge of what's out there." It wasn't that Merfonde had a grudge against the X-men, not exactly, it just sort of irritated her that so many of them were killed in action purely because they were ill trained. They might believe they were more then ready, but it was the complete opposite. To be a Bounty Hunter in the Order, your entire life, from the moment you were born to your 25th birthday to devoted entirely to training. To didn't bother developing social skills, or going to 'high school' to learn subjects you'd never use in life. All of Merfonde's skills revolved around the hunt. "You really think you can learn everything you need to survive by running simulations, when there's absolutely no risk of getting killed? Where your life is never on the line?"

Merfonde was smirking again. There were certain skills you could only obtain by being in the field. Things you needed to survive. She'd just have to show him exactly what she meant.

For someone completely out of her element, to be able to move so well on the ice was astonishing. Like she'd been talking about only moments before, there were certain things you could only learn on the job, and one of those things was adapting to any situation, and still being able to be just as accurate as you would be when you had the advantage. She's wasn't graceful, but the way she slid about on the ice, avoiding his two attacks, and then the lasers was refined and sharp. She really was a trained killer.

It was unlikely that he realized what she doing, propelling herself from one side of the room to another wall, off to a different elevated spot, off to another, but there was obvious intention. Every movement she made was planned, but there seemed to be absolutely no order, which would leave her next location completely unpredictable. All the while she never dropped the knife in her left hand, but always having it's tip touch each destination before moving on.

The room was adapting, the lasers firing at both of them with marksman precision. Every time one came her way though, Merfonde would twist around to narrowly avoid them. Unlike him, she couldn't put up any sort of 'defense' to these lasers, forced to dodge them. Finally... She was getting frustrated. Skidding to a stop near her ice planted dagger, she yanked it from the ice, pressing it's tip to the other dagger and... yanking back?

Merfonde pulled the daggers towards her, as if forcing something at their ends to come in her direction. In reaction, he'd probably spot two thin wires from each end of the daggers. All around the room wires were ripped off from their hiding spots on the ice, wrapping tightly around the only thing in their path, the 'ice-man'. "Don't struggle. Move to much and these lines will slice you to pieces. And don't try breaking them. Their made out of the one metal that only Adamantium can break, Orichalcum."

[bobby]

"This coming from some 'mutant wrangler'? Playing cowboys and indians and rounding up mutants to "secured locations". With people like you it's no wonder there's so many evil mutants out there."

He didn't believe that mutants were better then humans, but he didn't like how she seemed to put herself above mutants just because she'd been in the field more often then not. He could see her moving from one spot to another, watching her movement yet keeping an eye on his surroundings. More traps and weapons were being thrown at them now, from blades falling from the ceiling to openings in the floor. He had seen a few of these from the control room, but it was different from another level.

He decided to do something different, a skill he had been practicing on, but had not yet perfected. He continued to skate along the floor, moving almost as fast as Ian would on normal ground. Every now and then he would hold a hand out and let some ice go. The ice shifted and formed around until it turned into another Bobby. He was making clones of himself to try and distract her, thankfully the echo of the room helped move his voice.

"You don't know anything about what we do here, you don't live here, so quit acting like you know mutants just because you hunt them like animals."

He looked back at her and saw her moving the daggers that she had acquired. When she pulled them apart, he looked around and saw wires coming out of the walls and suddenly wrapping around him. He struggled in his ice form and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Lady, do you have any idea why I'm called Iceman?"

He had trained much in the danger room, even in his ice form mostly. One of the tricks he learned was something that could get him in and out of traps. He closed his eyes and concentrated, his form beginning to crack and crumble inside his bonds. It wasn't long before Bobby completely shattered into pieces.

Apocalypse couldn't help but take a step forward in the control room. He thought she actually killed the young mutant. He was nowhere to be found. After a few seconds though, two hands came up from the ice behind and grabbed hold of her ankles, freezing her from her feet to her waist. Bobby then rose up from the ice itself and stepped back, breathing a little heavy.

"Wow...that took more out of me then I thought it did."

"Impressive." Apocalypse said with a half smile, "Most impressive."

[mero]

Merfonde's gaze darkened far beyond any look she'd given thus far. "I've heard it all before. Why should I bother trying to explain myself to someone like you?" She paused, glaring at him with pure loathing. "You're a 'mutant wrangler', as you call it, yourself. You do the exact same thing we do. Locating out of control mutants and taking them somewhere where they won't be a danger to society! Did you even realize that this very school has hired us to do exactly that many times?!"

Merfonde stood there, almost shaking in rage. "Do you even know how much destruction your school has overlooked because you thought Cain was more important then some 'lesser' villains? Did you really think that because of your war with Cain that other problems wouldn't arise?! That you would blame Cain for thousands of deaths that had nothing to do with him!" No, no one ever realized what they were completely regarding as unimportant was actually just as big a problem as their 'main' threat. That all this time they'd been giving Cain more credit when he deserved. "You have turned a blind eye to the world, all because one elementalist has destroyed a few big name cities! And yet you blame him for every disaster in this world! Did you even consider that other people were putting their lives on the line all because you are stupid enough to forget that Cain isn't the only rampaging mutant in the world!"

Merfonde had a point. Ever since Cain came to power, the school hadn't gone on a single mission that wasn't connected to him. They'd forgotten that just because one man was causing trouble that other mutants wouldn't stop what they'd already been doing. And they hadn't even realized that it was the Bounty Hunters having to pick up their slack.

Merfonde didn't even move when he shattered. She knew she hadn't done it. She knew her own strength so she hadn't accidentally pulled hard enough to kill him, and he hadn't struggled enough to shatter himself. Which meant he was moving through the Ice. He'd already shown he could 'become' an ice figure, so why couldn't he move through it. She just smirked when her legs started to freeze, turning her head to gaze at him with the most amused expression on her face. "You got me. But I have one little question for you. Do you like my perfume?" The smell would hit him like a brick wall. It smelled like Irises, after a single breath he'd feel like he'd completely lost his connection to his power. Like something had severed the link. Not only would he feel that connection lost, but he'd feel weaker then before. He'd feel human, powerless.

Using her knifes she slammed the hilts into the ice around her, shattering it with ease, it was obvious, she was a lot stronger then people guessed. Freed, she hid the daggers back in her boots, taking a step towards him, the smell of Irises getting stronger the closer she got. "You see, we learned a trick, a long time ago. The only reason why mutants are so difficult to stop is because of one thing. Their power. If we can... cut them off from that, then we can have our way with them. Because the one thing all mutants have in common, is relying on their power more then is healthy."

Up in the observation deck, next to Apocalypse, Rose was smiling. Apocalypse seemed more focused on Bobby's abilities, using her full strength to go up against Merfonde when she hadn't even broken a sweat. "Apocalypse, did you notice that she's holding back?" Not to mention, she'd only used a pair of daggers, and some perfume to completely overpower Bobby. And like Merfonde had said at the start of the fight 'I won't even use any of my equipment other then what's on me'.

[bobby]

"That's a lie. We've gone on plenty of missions that didn't involve Cain. You humans are just to stupid to know it that you constantly think you're doing all the work. Like I said, you don't live here so don't act like you know what goes on."

He was really beginning to this woman and whatever group she worked for, whether the school needed their help or not. He only smirked when she called him a mutant wrangler as well.

"You help us locate them, whether they come in is their own choice. We don't force mutants to go where we want like you bounty hunters. That's all you are, hunters. I wouldn't be surprised if you had a private goal to wipe mutants out just like the rest of those mutant rs."

He smirked when she said that he had caught her, but his look was replaced with confusion. What did perfume have to do with being caught? It wasn't until she got closer to him did he began to feel weak and more human. He looked at her with pure as she smiled at him, turning and storming out of the room. Apocalypse stood there in the control room as Rose addressed him, his half smile still on his face.

"Indeed I did. The has proven herself very useful against minor mutants. The boy's overconfidence was his downfall." his eyes looked to her, "It is a weakness all young mutants share."

[mero]

"Plenty of missions, you say?" Her frown was deepening. "Were you there when a band of rogue mutants were destroying any village they came across in Africa? Were you there when a mutant serial killer was targeting young children in London? What about when another tried to sink Venice? Had you even heard of these incidents before now?! So say you have been out saving the world, but I can tell you this personally. Not a single mutant came to aid us in any of those incidents. And those are only the mutant related problems."

"You don't force some to come?" Sometimes, reason didn't work. Some mutants couldn't be left on their own for their own, and others, safety. Merfonde laughed, shaking her head. "Do you leave a psychopath on the streets just because they don't want to come?" She had a point, you didn't leave someone on the streets when you knew they were going to kill with out help just because they refused to come.

When he mentioned them having a private goal to destroy mutants something almost seemed to snap inside her. "I don't hate mutants. But apparently with you, either we hate you, or we trust you beyond any doubt. You expect us to trust you when the only time you will come to our aid is when a mutant, one of your kind, is causing trouble. I don't trust you, because you believe mutant concerns are for mutants only, and human concerns are for humans only." She paused for a moment, fuming. "So when you see a human fighting both fights you think we are a bunch of sick bastards who think you are only wild game. You think we are murderers because we've learned that not all of you are reliable and had to learn to defend ourselves. Because you think we should always be inferior to you and look at you as if you are Gods."

He was being affected by the 'perfume' now, and as he stormed off, she turned, watching him with a cold stare. He'd just proved her point. Even if he hadn't said it, his actions did. He didn't want to be 'human'. He didn't want to be normal. "How does it feel? Knowing that the only reason you are considered strong is because of your power?" He was gone then...

[Rose North]

Rose shrugged as the spar came to an end, Bobby stalking off in fury. "It's sort of funny... Bobby didn't even realize that she wanted him to get mad. It's a common practice when you fight a mutant. Make them mad and they lose control. Sure, she might have gotten mad back, but she's been trained to not let it affect her abilities." Everyone had been a victim to this tactic before, but it seemed that when it was used on you, it never even crossed your mind that it was all intentional.

She just watched as Merfonde went about gathering her other two discarded knifes. "It's not just young mutants. Anyone who has never fought a human will be overconfident. That's why she's ideal to use against the Nightmares, because none of them have ever seen a human stand toe to toe with them. Not to mention, Bobby had time to absorb the information. He might have doubted her abilities, but a part of him knew to be wary because he'd been warned." Her gaze wandered to stare at Apocalypse. "Can you imagine what would happen if you were attacked by someone with her skill with absolutely no warning?"

It truly was a frightening thought. Before you could even mount a defense you would be down. Merfonde hadn't even needed to display all of those skills in the spar. If she'd wanted, all she would have had to do was get close enough that he could smell her perfume. If this had been a true death match she wouldn't have bothered spending all that time setting up the traps, Bobby would have been dead before he really knew what was happening. After all, an effective killer, like Apocalypse and Rose, knew that you didn't give your opponent time to react. When you attacked, you hit them as hard and as fast as you could. And that was exactly how Bounty Hunters worked.

[apocalypse]

"Well done."

He smiled as he watched the sparring come to an end, listening to Rose's commentary on the subject. He had to admit that he had never been impressed by a human before now. His smile faded though, thinking about where they would be heading with her. Would she really be up for it?

"She must be cautious of her own abilities, however. The Nightshades have been able to integrate both mine and Xavier's technology into their own base. We could be heading into far more danger then even the human can handle." he looked to her then, "Overconfidence does not only affect mutants."

When Rose asked him if he could think of what would happen if he was attacked by such abilities, he only smiled at her. Yes he was a mutant, but his suit was also of alien technology, which gave him an offense and defense that not many had seen. He turned and walked from the control room, heading down to the main hall as Bobby disappeared around the corner. He could only smirk at the young mutants attitude, knowing it was his pride that felt the worst of the damage.

"It seems our group has now become three. I doubt it would be enough even with our human companion."