Titan Defeated (Alice)

[Victor Creed]

Victor staggered down the alleyway that passed the Purgatory. His staggering was mainly from his disorientation more than actual weakness. He had awoken quickly and left before he could go on a murderous rampage. Normally he probably wouldn't have cared but there were a lot of people down there, a lot of mutants. Victor had managed to retrieve his overcoat before he left the underground fighting arena, but left his shirt behind. All his wounds were healed and he felt fine, but the animal was pissed. Rage was building into him at enormous levels. The further he went down that alley the more it built. Luckily no one seemed to have run into him in this state.

Then suddenly with a roar his fist went through the brick wall next to him. Muscles in his shoulders heaved with his heavy breathing. The pain from the cuts in his hand starting to calm him slightly. Sure losing a fight wasn't the end of the world. It was the fact that if he ever ran into Shaun again, which was only inevitable, that he would want to rip him to shreds with his own claws and teeth. As well as the way he lost was so...cheap.

He pulled his fist from the wall, looking at his hand to see the damage, none of course. A slight snarl came to his lips before he punched the wall again with the same effect.

[alice]

The Purgatory was a strange place. She’d gone, more or less for curiosities sake, but she hadn’t expected them to require she register for a fight. She was fine with it… Until she found out about the no kill rule. Now that was just annoying. So, she’d decided not to stick around. And, when she spotted Sabretooth (She didn’t know his actual name yet), it was like a dream come true. She snuck out after him, trailing behind at a safe distance so she wouldn’t be noticed.

Alice was good at sneaking. But, when you controlled the shadows, you had to be. She used them to muffle her steps, make it harder to see her, harder to smell. She watched him in silence as he roared and started to beat the brick wall to a pulp.

Her curiosity was getting the best of the girl, Alice unable to stay so far away. Slowly she crept closer and closer, continuing to use her power to muffle her footsteps. She probably got closer than she should, because she finally got to the point where even her power couldn’t hide her presence. But by then it really didn’t matter. She wanted him to know she was there. ”Doesn’t that hurt? Beating a wall….?”

[/justify]

[Victor Creed]

The first reaction Victor had to that voice was to lash out. Of course he had noticed her just a moment before she spoke. But those words seemed to startle him into a more violent reaction. His hand lashed out to grab her neck and lift her into the air. His eyes were wild and animalistic for a moment before he realized just who he had in his grasp. He sneered slightly and loosened his grip before he placed her gently back onto the ground. "It doesn't hurt." He probably should have apologized for his rough treatment of her but he didn't bother.

"What brings you way out here Kid?" They were pretty far from New York after all. And it was interesting that it just happened to be near that arena. He glanced her over for a second. "Come here for a fight too?" Victor rolled his shoulders slightly, trying to wear down the tenseness he felt in his muscles. "You don't seem too roughled, musta won." He smirked to her, at least someone had better luck than him today. Though he was impressed with the way she managed to sneak up on him. Not many could do that.

[alice]

The sudden assault just about brought Alice's own predatory side out. Otherwise though... She didn't seem to register the sudden lack of oxygen, her whole body limp as she.... just stared down at the man, waiting for him to release her. She was strange, she didn't 'feel'... well most things like normal people. Suffocating, for instance, just felt like she was holding her breath underwater. She wouldn't realize it was happening until she started blacking out. Injuries.... That depended on the severity. Anything less then torture was just a mild irritation to her, anything about it.... She was the same as everyone else she supposed (She didn't know for sure, she'd never actually been tortured...).

Finally though, she was back on her own feet, the girl reaching up, the touch where his grip had been on her throat, as if trying to figure out just what he'd been trying to accomplish. Finally though, she shrugged, her hand back to her side. "Curiosity." The club had sounded interesting, at first at least.

"I didn't stay for my fight. They have a no kill rule." He could probably understand why that would turn her off. A predator didn't just chase game and let it go. When she 'played', she aimed to kill.

[/justify]

[Victor Creed]

Victor was actually surprised that her little shadow powers didn't show when he grabbed her. Not that a fight in this particular alley would have been a good idea. And with all of the anti-mutant issues floating around, it was better to pick and choose your battles. He had chosen his battle, but he would have to plan more for it to work. It seemed that his son was far more resourceful than he realized.

Creed couldn't help but laugh as she mentioned the no kill rule. "Well it doesn't surprise me that that would turn you off from it. Then again you probably would have to try harder not to kill someone than to kill them." He smirked at her almost like a proud father would, not that she would understand that. There was something about this kid that entertained him. Maybe it was the predator in her or the way she simply didn't care that the way she thought was nothing like the way others did. It was...endearing.

"So you decided to follow me?" He turned from her and headed down the alley, not necessarily to get away from her but to get away from where they were. He needed to move, give something else for his muscles to do rather than tear apart a wall. "The people at your little mansion wouldn't like you following me."

[alice]

The X-men, and James, seemed to believe Alice was finally figuring out that attacking people for no reason was bad. That she was slowly learning self control. That last part was true. She was learning, learning and growing. She'd caught on to people paying her more attention then she wanted purely because of her behavior, and she wanted to be invincible. She wanted them to forget why she was dangerous... And then strike out when they least expected it. As for her reason for not attacking Sabretooth... She hadn't come up with a way to defeat him yet. And until she did, she was wary of him, just as he should be wary of her.

She was silent as he spoke, but a small smirk was on her lips. Killing people was fun. And if she didn't have a reason to let them live, why do it? Now she was curious just what sort of reason would make her let someone go.... None came to mind. "What sort of reasons are there to let someone live?" He'd probably think her question strange, at the same time though, he might catch on to her taking an almost.... apprentice role around him. How she absorbed everything he said with out question.

Alice quickly followed him, trailing behind the man like a puppy, staying only a few feet behind him. "They don't know. If I behave at school-" She paused for a moment, before quickly rewording it. "Mostly behave, they ignore me." She fell silent, his words finally sinking in. "Wait... Why wouldn't they like me following you?" The girl failed to realize why they would even have a problem with her speaking to this man. Sure, she knew he was dangerous, extremely dangerous...

[/justify]

[Victor Creed]

"Reasons?" He wasn't really a good person to ask that question. "I guess if you need information out of them is a good reason. Or if for some reason you care about them...I guess." Victor wasn't good with relationships as it was after all. And wait a minute. When did this turn into a relationship? The kid was following him and he...didn't care. Nor did he really care about the constant questions she asked. Odd.

"Your school 'friends' don't like me that much." He continued to walk down the alley until they reached the end. He turned to look at her with a little smirk. "I'm a murderer. I enjoy torturing people and especially don't care if humans live or die. Those people in that mansion don't like people like me. I'm too...real for them." Of course he knew she was somewhat like him. So she could infer that they didn't like her either. Then again they haven't done anything to show that to her. Who was she to believe?

"One of these days you're going to have to make your own decisions Kid. Claw your way out of the cage."

[alice]

"If you need information though, why not just torture them till they tell you, then kill them?" That was the only answer he'd given that made sense to her. The other one.... Was a little puzzling. She didn't get attached to people, at least not in the way other did. Caring for someone? Was beyond her comprehension. Respect someone? Yes. Trust? Sort of. Love? No.

Sabretooth was like her. Seeing as most people at the school hated her... Well, it'd been a stupid question to ask why they hated him. None the less, she listened to his explanation in silence, stopping only a few feet from him. When he went on to mention that cage once again though he had her full, undivided attention. It wasn't like her attention had been wandering though. She'd just seemed... Well, half asleep (probably the best explanation) until now.

"What do you mean, exactly?" She had.... issues when it came to metaphors. She was a very literal person, which wasn't that surprising. She knew she wasn't literally in a cage, so how were they metaphorically caging her? What did the school do to try and tame her?

[/justify]

[Victor Creed]

"If you kill them then you can't use them as bait. So...I guess if you don't need them for bait then kill them." He didn't really care what she decided to do with people after torturing them. He just told her what were reasons not to kill people.

Victor couldn't help but to chuckle when she didn't seem to understand what he meant. "You are a little bird, trapped in a cage. That headmaster is your master. He clips your wings and keeps the bars locked." Of course he had no idea that Xavier was missing.

And there he went with the metaphors again. "You are a dangerous creature Alice." Victor turned completely towards her now. His hand reached forward and grabbed her chin. It was in a gentle manner, just forcing her to look into his eyes. Predator eyes looking into predator eyes. "A very dangerous creature. And they will do anything to hold you back. Keep you from doing what you do best. If you stay there...they will change you. They will force you to be something you are not."

Perhaps if she was older she would have brought a different kind of predator out of him. But she was just a kid after all...

[alice]

Alice opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. After a moment, she closed it, deep in thought. Bait? She'd never considered it.... Using victims to draw in more victims.... Finally, after several moments of the wheels in her head turning, she found a response. "Does the bait have to stay alive after they've done their job?" It was a serious question, which would be unnerving to anyone other then a psychopath. She truly was learning from him.

At least this metaphor was a little easier to get then the last. It's meaning unsettled her. Her gaze dropped as she pondered over it, as if trying to come to terms with it all. There was silence until he spoke again, only this time he didn't stop there. His hand suddenly entered her lowered field of vision, forcing her to look up at him. Her eyes didn't shut, didn't widen. She steadily met his feral gaze, her own wild and dark.

"..." She was silent for a few more moments. "I don't want them to change me." There was a sudden defiance in her voice that hadn't been there before. Actually, no one had ever heard such a tone from her. Alice was always somber or angry, nothing else.

[/justify]

[Victor Creed]

Victor chuckled to her question. "No, no they don't. Once they outlive their usefulness then you kill them." It was funny how she seemed so apt at killing people but lousy at being a 'villian'. But that didn't really surprise him considering she lived at that institute.

"Then why don't you leave?" He had thought he convinced her to leave the first time they talked. And she seemed rather irritated at the rally when he had seen her and been in his right mind. "They can't keep you there. You wouldn't be here if they could. And yet you still linger there. Perhaps because it is the only thing you know?" Victor knew how to read people.

"There's more to life than being a pacifist." His grip upon her chin finally was removed. He was satisfied enough that he had her attention. "You have to get out and see what the world truely is. There is pain and turmoil everywhere. And now with the anti-mutant propaganda at work. Things are going to get ugly. You're going to have to pick a side Alice. Do you want to save the current hell we live in? Or destroy it and create something new that will be worth living in?"

[alice]

Being a villain? It was something she'd never really considered herself. But, being raised at the school, they'd gone out of their way to make sure she wasn't exposed to anything that would give her ideas. Movies for instance. She wasn't allowed to watch anything with violence, because, who knows. Maybe it'd rub off on her and she'd start growing. She was on a very strict reading list. Hell, she wasn't even allowed to read Sherlock Holmes!

For as 'restricting' as it was, Alice had grown up there. She'd been a student ever since her parents deaths. He hit the nail right on the head when he guessed it was the only thing she knew. "I grew up there." Had she ever truly considered leaving the school? No, sure she'd fancied the thought here and there, but to actually go through with it?

Alice twitched when he mentioned the state of the world. She hated it. She wanted to kill the humans that were ruining everything. "No. I want to destroy everything." Alice didn't want peace. She just wanted to cause as much damage as possible.

[/justify]

[Victor Creed]

"You grew up in a cage. Locked away to keep the rest of the world safe. You want to destroy things? Then what is stopping you Alice?" He asked her in complete seriousness. "What is stopping you from destroying everything?" He couldn't help but to sneer at how dificult she was being. "Why not strike out on your own? Why not leave...permanently?"

He waited for a long moment. Perhaps to let her think for a few moments. "Are you afraid? Afraid of being alone?" He stared at her for a moment. That was it wasn't it? "You wouldn't have to be alone. There are plenty of people that think the way you do. Maybe even help you with that destructive side." A smirk came to his lips at that last comment.

"It is up to you. If you want, I have a perfect place for you to live and flourish as the lurid creature you are. But if you aren't ready...that is all on you."

Victor turned from her, he knew turning his back on her was dangerous but he did it anyway. He did it mainly to remind her of that dark creature that lived inside of her that either needed to be dealt with or nurtured. A keen use of his senses had him turn to look at her just before she surely would lunge at him in some manner. "Are you coming...or not?"

And there it was. If she didn't want to go with him then fine, he really didn't care. But she had to make a decision. She had to do something, he wasn't going to drag her kicking and screaming. As entertaining as that would be. She had to decide if she wanted to travel a path darker than the one she already walked upon.