Post by The Madness Menagerie on Apr 27, 2021 8:30:32 GMT -5
**OOC// -- Special thanks to mystifyingoracle for the collab! Love the stuff that we put up!
As the moonlight glitters off of the lock picking tools within the hands of Su, a malicious smile crosses her face. Emerging from the shadows from across the street, Witch Dagger Ink appears all but abandoned, a fact that Su looks to take swift advantage of. Outside of The Institute’s interest in Silvio, the Lab Rat King, and the relationship between the two; Su needed to know more.
She sniffs the air and shudders. Zephyr had been here. Or that mouthy wench Su couldn’t wait to get her hands on. They both left the same scent.
Ignoring the front door, Su slips between Leon’s building and the adjacent one, melting back into the shadows with ease and finding herself weirdly at home. Shaking her head of the feeling, Su makes it to the back and eyes the fire escape, aged and looking like it was in desperate need of an update. It didn’t matter, Su had come to investigate the building, noting the obvious structure flaws and coming up with a schedule for Silvio.
He was out doing whatever he did at 6:45 in the evening, just as the sun is setting in the sky. It didn’t matter WHAT he was doing but the fact that he was still leaving every day at the same time and coming back exactly an hour later. Plenty of time.
Su puts her tools away and hops up on top of a nearby dumpster, eyeing the rusted ladder before her. Jumping and easily catching the bottom rung, Su effortlessly pulls herself up and to the first platform. The rest should be an easy enough ascent to her goal.
“...You, uh...just that dedicated to getting me a copy of Watchtower or should I be calling the cops?”
Silvio Leon, holding a bag with a donut in one hand and take-out cup in the other, gazes up at the woman currently clinging to his fire escape. In spite of the sarcasm, his heart hammers in his head. He’d prepared for people trying to get to him after issuing his challenge to Pandaemonium and his denunciation of Jon’s attacker. While the tattoo artist had expected attempts, it didn’t mean he was happy about catching someone in flagrante delicto. He’s just grateful that he wasn’t inside the apartment.
And as much as he wanted to enjoy his snack, he has a feeling he just bought some munchies for the sidewalk.
Here we go.
Su freezes, hoping that when she looks down, Silvio Leon won’t be standing there. Following the voice, her eyes fell upon ‘The Oracle’ and she silently curses to herself. Dropping down to the ground she meets his gaze.
“Silvio Leon. The once great and powerful Oracle, now just a vestige of his past scrambling for meaning.” Su pauses as she looks at her watch before eyeing Silvio curiously. “You’re early.”
“And you’re hanging off my fire escape like a spider monkey with aspirations of burglarhood, so we’re both experimenting tonight.”
As Su drops to the ground Silvio almost does a double take. He starts to form Zephyr’s name, but stops himself.
No. Not Zephyr.
His eyes narrow and he drops the bag with the doughnut (raspberry-filling and double glazing he internally laments having to sacrifice), reaching for the phone in his pocket.
Su laughs quietly as she takes out her official documentation from Perriera and holds it up for Silvio to read. “Diplomatic immunity. Call the cops if you’d like.”
“Diplomatic immunity doesn’t mean you get to commit a crime and no one can stop you, Gruber,” Silvio says, taking the phone out. “It just means you might not be able to be prosecuted. The cops are still going to get you out of here. You can get lost of your own volition, or in the back of a squad car. Your call.”
Su holds up her hands and backs up. “Fair enough. However, I think it would be in your best interest if we just talked instead. No need for phone calls that ultimately yield nothing but time lost in pursuing your other interests. Whether that is little boys hung out to dry in a hospital? A broken experiment? Or my personal favorite, a lost twin?” Su smirks as she circles toward the alley leading to the street, her back to the entranceway.
“You know, I’m not one to fight anybody I’m not contractually obliged to,” Silvio says, a note of danger coloring his words. “But I’d advise reining in that kind of talk before I reconsider how much professional courtesy I want to observe right now.”
It was one thing for somebody to talk about Silvio like that.
It was another entirely to direct that kind of disrespect at his loved ones.
“Tough, tough words. I’m mildly impressed!” Su smiles. “As much as I’d love to engage in fisticuffs with you Mr. Leon, I have other matters to attend to. You should really check that temper though, it could get you into trouble. Just as I’m sure you are more formidable than I think, I can assure you the reverse is true.”
Silvio snorts, raising his brows. “I catch you trying to break into my home, you insult me and my friends, and I’m supposed to exchange pleasantries with you?” he scoffs. It was true that the Oracle was more on edge lately due to that damnable itch from a lack of time in the ring, but this was ridiculous. “Spare me. What exactly is the matter you have to attend to, then?”
Su flashes a manilla envelope from behind her back and tosses it at Silvio’s feet, letting the contents scatter. A picture of Mia Rayne, bound and in the trunk of a car flies out as well as a sheet with directions.
“I want out of The Institute Mr. Leon and I need an insurance policy for when I make my move. Things got sour and I’m tired of having my head on a chopping block. Consider this as a ‘goodwill gesture’ from me to you.” She backs up with her hands in the air so Silvio can do what he pleases with the envelope.
Silvio doesn’t take his eyes off Su as she tosses the envelope to his feet, only glancing down when she raises her hands, catching sight of the photo. He knew this woman; had given her a tattoo, in fact. That she was trussed up in the back of a car was hardly encouraging, and as Sue explained her plight, he felt a sudden, unexpected wrenching in his heart.
Oh, goddamnit.
Goddamnit don’t be stupid.
Still.
If this was real?
If Su wanted to be free of a cult?
“...You want out?” Silvio says slowly, meeting Su’s eyes. “How exactly is this a ‘goodwill,’ gesture, and what kind of insurance policy do you have in mind?”
Su smirks. “To answer your first question? Follow the directions, bring whomever you’d like but it won’t be necessary. She’s there waiting. Tell my twin about this Silvio. She knows exactly why it’s important to find Mia alive and well; beyond all that family stuff of course. Physically Mia is fine but ask Zephyr what happened to her mind as she saved my twin from utter extinction.” Su watches Silvio closely. “As to your second, all I want is protection. Once The Institute finds out I’ve taken back their top experiment, they’ll come to get me. Ask Zephyr. They implanted a bomb in her head if she ever went rogue. I don’t even want to think what kind of contingency they have for me.” She shudders and falls silent as her gaze still matches Silvio’s.
Silvio’s eyes widen, his jaw and take-out cup (London Fog, extra bergamot, sadly joining its fallen pastry companion) dropping.
“Tell me I’m not going to find her still hog-tied in the trunk of a car!” he exclaims. God, had she just left the poor woman there? Would she even be alive still?
He shakes his head.
“And…protection? Who do you want to provide that? Me? Listen, I’m good at what I do, but I’m just one guy, and as you mentioned, I have other loved ones who currently need looking after! My opinion? The best thing you can do here is disinfect this situation with sunlight. Get in touch with a journalist, blow the lid off this thing, expose The Institute for who they are, see if you can get some police or government protection.”
Su shakes her head. “Maybe, but one thing at a time. I burned bridges with Zephyr to the point that I doubt she’d even believe a word I say. It’s understandable but I’d like to try and repair things with my sisters. You get Mia back and then we can figure out next moves. Until then, I still have an image to keep.”
“Fffffuck,” Silvio hisses, looking over the photos, brow knit. Maybe this was all a trick, but if it wasn’t? Someone might die* without his intervention. He wouldn’t be able to forgive himself, regardless of who that someone might have been.
Letting out a groan of frustration, he squeezes his eyes shut for a moment before looking back at Su.
“Fine,” he spits. “I’ll talk to Zephyr about this.”
Sooner rather than later would be good. Heaven knew what state Mia would be in.
He looks up at her, mouth a tight line.
“You’ll be safe for the time being, then? Or as much as anyone can be with those jack wagons?”
Su smiles knowingly. “Oh ye of little faith. Take care of my sisters Leon. I’ll be in touch.”
“Is this where you throw down a smoke bomb and disappear dramatically?” he deadpans, tucking the documents back into the manilla envelope.
“Going to leave the same way I came….” Su points back down the alley way and looks quizzically back at Silvio. “I didn’t think that smoke would be needed.” Shrugging she turns on her heel and walks away, disappearing around the corner.
Watching her leave, Silvio huffs a sigh before bringing his phone to his ear.
“‘Eyyyy, Zeph! You, uh, wouldn’t be up for an impromptu road trip, would you?”
As the moonlight glitters off of the lock picking tools within the hands of Su, a malicious smile crosses her face. Emerging from the shadows from across the street, Witch Dagger Ink appears all but abandoned, a fact that Su looks to take swift advantage of. Outside of The Institute’s interest in Silvio, the Lab Rat King, and the relationship between the two; Su needed to know more.
She sniffs the air and shudders. Zephyr had been here. Or that mouthy wench Su couldn’t wait to get her hands on. They both left the same scent.
Ignoring the front door, Su slips between Leon’s building and the adjacent one, melting back into the shadows with ease and finding herself weirdly at home. Shaking her head of the feeling, Su makes it to the back and eyes the fire escape, aged and looking like it was in desperate need of an update. It didn’t matter, Su had come to investigate the building, noting the obvious structure flaws and coming up with a schedule for Silvio.
He was out doing whatever he did at 6:45 in the evening, just as the sun is setting in the sky. It didn’t matter WHAT he was doing but the fact that he was still leaving every day at the same time and coming back exactly an hour later. Plenty of time.
Su puts her tools away and hops up on top of a nearby dumpster, eyeing the rusted ladder before her. Jumping and easily catching the bottom rung, Su effortlessly pulls herself up and to the first platform. The rest should be an easy enough ascent to her goal.
“...You, uh...just that dedicated to getting me a copy of Watchtower or should I be calling the cops?”
Silvio Leon, holding a bag with a donut in one hand and take-out cup in the other, gazes up at the woman currently clinging to his fire escape. In spite of the sarcasm, his heart hammers in his head. He’d prepared for people trying to get to him after issuing his challenge to Pandaemonium and his denunciation of Jon’s attacker. While the tattoo artist had expected attempts, it didn’t mean he was happy about catching someone in flagrante delicto. He’s just grateful that he wasn’t inside the apartment.
And as much as he wanted to enjoy his snack, he has a feeling he just bought some munchies for the sidewalk.
Here we go.
Su freezes, hoping that when she looks down, Silvio Leon won’t be standing there. Following the voice, her eyes fell upon ‘The Oracle’ and she silently curses to herself. Dropping down to the ground she meets his gaze.
“Silvio Leon. The once great and powerful Oracle, now just a vestige of his past scrambling for meaning.” Su pauses as she looks at her watch before eyeing Silvio curiously. “You’re early.”
“And you’re hanging off my fire escape like a spider monkey with aspirations of burglarhood, so we’re both experimenting tonight.”
As Su drops to the ground Silvio almost does a double take. He starts to form Zephyr’s name, but stops himself.
No. Not Zephyr.
His eyes narrow and he drops the bag with the doughnut (raspberry-filling and double glazing he internally laments having to sacrifice), reaching for the phone in his pocket.
Su laughs quietly as she takes out her official documentation from Perriera and holds it up for Silvio to read. “Diplomatic immunity. Call the cops if you’d like.”
“Diplomatic immunity doesn’t mean you get to commit a crime and no one can stop you, Gruber,” Silvio says, taking the phone out. “It just means you might not be able to be prosecuted. The cops are still going to get you out of here. You can get lost of your own volition, or in the back of a squad car. Your call.”
Su holds up her hands and backs up. “Fair enough. However, I think it would be in your best interest if we just talked instead. No need for phone calls that ultimately yield nothing but time lost in pursuing your other interests. Whether that is little boys hung out to dry in a hospital? A broken experiment? Or my personal favorite, a lost twin?” Su smirks as she circles toward the alley leading to the street, her back to the entranceway.
“You know, I’m not one to fight anybody I’m not contractually obliged to,” Silvio says, a note of danger coloring his words. “But I’d advise reining in that kind of talk before I reconsider how much professional courtesy I want to observe right now.”
It was one thing for somebody to talk about Silvio like that.
It was another entirely to direct that kind of disrespect at his loved ones.
“Tough, tough words. I’m mildly impressed!” Su smiles. “As much as I’d love to engage in fisticuffs with you Mr. Leon, I have other matters to attend to. You should really check that temper though, it could get you into trouble. Just as I’m sure you are more formidable than I think, I can assure you the reverse is true.”
Silvio snorts, raising his brows. “I catch you trying to break into my home, you insult me and my friends, and I’m supposed to exchange pleasantries with you?” he scoffs. It was true that the Oracle was more on edge lately due to that damnable itch from a lack of time in the ring, but this was ridiculous. “Spare me. What exactly is the matter you have to attend to, then?”
Su flashes a manilla envelope from behind her back and tosses it at Silvio’s feet, letting the contents scatter. A picture of Mia Rayne, bound and in the trunk of a car flies out as well as a sheet with directions.
“I want out of The Institute Mr. Leon and I need an insurance policy for when I make my move. Things got sour and I’m tired of having my head on a chopping block. Consider this as a ‘goodwill gesture’ from me to you.” She backs up with her hands in the air so Silvio can do what he pleases with the envelope.
Silvio doesn’t take his eyes off Su as she tosses the envelope to his feet, only glancing down when she raises her hands, catching sight of the photo. He knew this woman; had given her a tattoo, in fact. That she was trussed up in the back of a car was hardly encouraging, and as Sue explained her plight, he felt a sudden, unexpected wrenching in his heart.
Oh, goddamnit.
Goddamnit don’t be stupid.
Still.
If this was real?
If Su wanted to be free of a cult?
“...You want out?” Silvio says slowly, meeting Su’s eyes. “How exactly is this a ‘goodwill,’ gesture, and what kind of insurance policy do you have in mind?”
Su smirks. “To answer your first question? Follow the directions, bring whomever you’d like but it won’t be necessary. She’s there waiting. Tell my twin about this Silvio. She knows exactly why it’s important to find Mia alive and well; beyond all that family stuff of course. Physically Mia is fine but ask Zephyr what happened to her mind as she saved my twin from utter extinction.” Su watches Silvio closely. “As to your second, all I want is protection. Once The Institute finds out I’ve taken back their top experiment, they’ll come to get me. Ask Zephyr. They implanted a bomb in her head if she ever went rogue. I don’t even want to think what kind of contingency they have for me.” She shudders and falls silent as her gaze still matches Silvio’s.
Silvio’s eyes widen, his jaw and take-out cup (London Fog, extra bergamot, sadly joining its fallen pastry companion) dropping.
“Tell me I’m not going to find her still hog-tied in the trunk of a car!” he exclaims. God, had she just left the poor woman there? Would she even be alive still?
He shakes his head.
“And…protection? Who do you want to provide that? Me? Listen, I’m good at what I do, but I’m just one guy, and as you mentioned, I have other loved ones who currently need looking after! My opinion? The best thing you can do here is disinfect this situation with sunlight. Get in touch with a journalist, blow the lid off this thing, expose The Institute for who they are, see if you can get some police or government protection.”
Su shakes her head. “Maybe, but one thing at a time. I burned bridges with Zephyr to the point that I doubt she’d even believe a word I say. It’s understandable but I’d like to try and repair things with my sisters. You get Mia back and then we can figure out next moves. Until then, I still have an image to keep.”
“Fffffuck,” Silvio hisses, looking over the photos, brow knit. Maybe this was all a trick, but if it wasn’t? Someone might die* without his intervention. He wouldn’t be able to forgive himself, regardless of who that someone might have been.
Letting out a groan of frustration, he squeezes his eyes shut for a moment before looking back at Su.
“Fine,” he spits. “I’ll talk to Zephyr about this.”
Sooner rather than later would be good. Heaven knew what state Mia would be in.
He looks up at her, mouth a tight line.
“You’ll be safe for the time being, then? Or as much as anyone can be with those jack wagons?”
Su smiles knowingly. “Oh ye of little faith. Take care of my sisters Leon. I’ll be in touch.”
“Is this where you throw down a smoke bomb and disappear dramatically?” he deadpans, tucking the documents back into the manilla envelope.
“Going to leave the same way I came….” Su points back down the alley way and looks quizzically back at Silvio. “I didn’t think that smoke would be needed.” Shrugging she turns on her heel and walks away, disappearing around the corner.
Watching her leave, Silvio huffs a sigh before bringing his phone to his ear.
“‘Eyyyy, Zeph! You, uh, wouldn’t be up for an impromptu road trip, would you?”