Purification Processes (Closed - Hope, Purifiers)

[Ysmir]

"Oh, I like when you spar angry!"

---

"Sacre bleu, it's hot," he lamented, waving a hand before his facemask.

"Of course it is, Fantomex. We're in Louisiana." EVA pulled no punches in her response to him as she morphed into her feminine, humanoid form.

The bayous were hot and musky during this time of year, and the smell was absolutely atrocious. Perhaps this was the reason a group of mutant-hating extremists had made an encampment all the way out here -- the horrid stench and humidity would ward off any would-be investigators before they got anywhere close. But unluckily for them, Fantomex had a goal in mind, and he was quite difficult to deter with such a thing.

Mutants had been disappearing; very few people were talking about it, what with the commotion caused by the new-and-improved District X back in New York, but someone had been targeting their kind behind the scenes. The deeper you looked into these happenings, the more a very gruesome image began to unfurl. For some time now, he had made it his mission to root out and uncover such conspiracies. Investigations required time and money, and his thievery helped with that second bit in spades -- but the time for accumulating wealth and capital had long since passed. He wished to make a mark now, one that wouldn't soon be forgotten. And if it was against the type of people who'd like his head on a spike?

Well, then, all the better.

His investigation (and interrogations) had taken him somewhere northwest of Lake Fausse point, deep in the marshlands. It was an extremely remote and secluded spot, but easily accessible from the nearby rivers that winded and twisted through the forest thicket to several inlets. It made tracking one's movements nearly impossible; perfect for a top secret organization of jerks to carry out unspeakable acts in privacy.

EVA followed alongside Fantomex through reeds and bushes until they found themselves atop a small mound overlooking a clearing in the brush. At the center of an intersection of inlets and bayou waterways was a river in a mucky field, and near it stood a highly advanced metal structure that had been partially overgrown by the nature surrounding it -- coincidentally, this only increased its camoflauge. It was certainly what they were looking for.

"Magnifique, EVA," he praised, glancing to her, "your geographical capabilities never cease to amaze. Now, just to find a suitable entry point..."

EVA transformed into a sphere of picotech that hovered by Fantomex's shoulder, as the super soldier descended from the small hill and began his approach toward the facility...

[bio858]

Purifiers

Fantomex would find himself overlooking a large ancient mansion, bought by the old money of the South way back when. A perfect place to encamp the mutant hating Purifiers, though there was doubt they really understood such a coincidental setting. In their eyes, they never saw Mutants as human, hence there was no need for such equal treatments. Quite like how the former owners of this mansion felt about those with a different color of skin compared to their own.

But enough about history, there needed to be focus on the present. The mansion had three floors and a basement, and inside said basement were at least 3 Purifiers torturing a scientist that they had captured a few days prior. The man in the lab coat that was tied up to the chair had knowledge about another laboratory, filled with mutants that they had been testing on. The first lab that the group had found was filled to the brim with the "abominations" inside the glass tanks, which they had all made sure to be thorough in eliminating. But they knew there more labs like that.

"Mutant f**k*r! Where are your damn labs? We know you have more!"

"Yeah, start f**k**g talking! Or else we'll have to get a bit rougher with ya!"

The man in the lab coat started whimpering. nearly about to give in. But it would seem it take just a little bit more of a push before he divulged such information.

"I-I don't know anything. I swear. The locations are all on a need to know basis. Our governments have them as undisclosed black sites. They only tell us whenever they need us shipped out to another facility. Please, believe me!"

The lead Purifier would head over to the table some feet away from the tied up scientist, picking up a battery powered drill.

"See, that's nice doc. But I really don't believe you."

WHIRRR!

If the former Weapons Plus initiate wanted a chance to get to the scientist, he'd have to sneak past the 20 or so guards that roamed the various floors of the mansion. Some of which were enhanced by exo-skeleton armors and guarded mentally by unique telepathic helmets. But given the man's powerset, perhaps such a feat will prove quite trivial to someone such as him.

[Jaymi]

You can't have my life
I'm not your sacrifice.
You can try, but I'm free, and you won't conquer me.

---

Is it a bit cliché to walk up to a house wearing your hair back in a ponytail, dressed in a skirt, hauling a wagon with a sheet over the goodies inside, and knock on a door to a mansion in the middle of nowhere? Yes. Yes it was. Did several sentries definitely radio their sightings of her as she approached? Almost definitely. Was it stupid dramatics for the sake of dramatics? Only about half. Honestly, the Purifiers were bad people who hurt mutants just because they were mutants but that meant they mostly tried to leave humans unharmed. Hope, a sixteen year old girl dressed somewhat like a girl scout and hauling cookies with a bright red ponytail? She looked a lot like a human and she suspected they wouldn't hurt her until they were sure.

Which is why she chose it as the approach. It got her close to the door so when everyone did act, she was already behind their lines. Of course, she was still raised by Cable and though he'd never admit it, he had a flair for the dramatic and she learned that quickly.

"Hello? Anyone home? I'm selling cookies. You like cookies, right? Help a girl out and buy some?"

---

I won't crawl, most of all, I won't fall
For you!

[Ysmir]

"Oh, I like when you spar angry!"

---

"EVA," Fantomex began, looking to his companion, "be my eyes in the sky, love. See what you can see."

"Copy that," she replied, flying off away from his shoulder and toward the old plantation mansion.

EVA, no larger than a softball, was rather easily able to bypass any exterior security that they may have had positioned outside of the decrepit manor. She hovered first around the third, top floor, scanning through the windows and making mental notes of the locations of each guard that she could see, notes that were also relayed back to Fantomex due to their unique psionic link. She also took notice of whatever security measures they may have had inside; scanners, cameras, defensive technologies and the like. Despite the ramshackle nature of the Bayou mansion, the Purifiers had set up a rather advanced and entrenched operation. The more challenge, the better.

"It seems they are expecting trouble -- or, simply covering their bases well. Merde." Fantomex relayed his thoughts to EVA, who spoke back.

"It appears from their chatter that they have located a mutant biologist of some sort. They seem to believe that he can lead them to a laboratory containing test subjects that they wish to eradicate." Like Fantomex, EVA possessed enhanced senses of her own. She heard the muffled conversation deep in the basement rather clearly as she patrolled the perimeter of the building -- it wasn't as though the three interrogators were making any efforts to be quiet.

Fantomex lifted a hand and stroked his chin through his mask. "Not many exterior entry points. First floor too heavily guarded... but may be able to slip by if a distraction is made. There is also the matter of the roof... patchy, in disrepair. Could possibly--"

Fantomex was cut off rather suddenly by EVA's voice in his head. "Front door. We have a visitor."

Fantomex's brows furrowed, and he popped his head up from behind the brush he hid in. With his sharp vision, he was able to make out...

"What in the blazes? Is that a girl scout?"

[bio858]

"Hello? Anyone home? I'm selling cookies. You like cookies, right? Help a girl out and buy some?"

A young girl with her red hair tied back and an outfit that seemed remotely similar to that of the girl scouts stood outside the plantation. One of the masked and armed Purifiers would eventually answer the door, bewildered about the teen's appearance.

"HEY! DID ONE OF YOU ORDER GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!?"

The man would yell back towards the men on the first floor of the mansion. One of the other masked goons would answer in kind, stating "NO! WHY THE HECK WOULD WE DO THAT!?"

"THOUGHT SO!"

Looking back at the girl, he'd respond "Look young one, we're doing some serious business here. You need to head on home, away from here."

Though as the masked men stated that, one of his allies would quickly run up behind him.

"WAIT! You got any Thin Mints on you!? I've been craving those."

The first thug would look at his ally with a shocked expression.

"Boy! What in the blue nelly is wrong with you? We're undergoing a big operation here. We can't go endangering civilians!"

"Did you just order girl scout cookies? The heck is wrong with you?"

"I was craving Thin Mints. Why?"

"You can't be serious. We're undergoing a serious operation for the Lord. You can't risk some little girl's life for some cookies?"

"...Yes."

While the two debated, perhaps the young girl who was in fact, not a member of the Girl Scouts, had time to act on whatever plan she had in mind.

[Jaymi]

You can't have my life
I'm not your sacrifice.
You can try, but I'm free, and you won't conquer me.

---

The door opened and instantly Hope was inspecting what little of the inside she could see. A few paths this way and that would lead deeper into the house, and she could spot a few silhouettes in the background. It was the man who opened the home yelling that offered more information as he exchanged a loud conversation with someone further inside.

When he finally turned his full attention to her, Hope was ready to try and argue with him about sending her away. It didn't change her plan too much, but if she was just let in... well, that would help a bit. She never had to, though, as a second man appeared and asked about some cookies. With a bright smile, she nodded.

"I think I've got one left!" the teen said cheerily as she turned towards her wagon. While the pair argued at the front door, she moved back and pulled the cloth off the top. The little radio flyer did not, in fact, house delectable treats for all ages. No, it carried a small arsenal of futuristic guns, several knives, and a pair of grenades. It was a large one of the former that she grabbed and just as the second man was acquiescing to not putting her at risk, the former messiah was turning about to show who was really in danger.

"Fresh from the oven," the redhead said with a grin as she squeezed the trigger. A blast of energy ripped from the barrel with enough force that, if it hit, would knock both men back against the far wall inside and likely do some damage to it. It wasn't lethal, but with the number of broken bones her rifle would cause, the pair might wish it was.

---

I won't crawl, most of all, I won't fall
For you!

[Ysmir]

"Oh, I like when you spar angry!"

---

It would be some kind of an understatement to say that Fantomex, the usually unflappable thief and mercenary extraordinaire, was shocked.

"Yes. It appears to be. Odd." EVA continued patrolling the perimeter but focused in on the "girl scout" who stood before the front door of the compound. Everything about this, to both EVA and Fantomex, was rather confusing and certainly not a normal circumstance that they would have anticipated. She looked to be barely older than a teenager, somehow caught out in the middle of the bayous knocking on the door of a decrepit plantation mansion.

"Sacre bleu," he cursed to himself, "I do not like this one bit."

"The guards seem to be taking her seriously. Are they impaired?"

"EVA, my love -- they have seen it fit to maintain their base of operations within the southwest entirely confined in the walls of a decaying mansion that was once a shining symbol of White Ultranationalism," he replied, rising from the bushes and pushing across the grassland to hopefully assist the girl if the thugs decided to get violent, "of course they are impaired."

Then, she pulled back the covering on her wagon -- and Fantomex's eyes widened.

"Oh?"

He watched as the "girl scout" blew away a cadre of armed guards with what appeared to be an energy weapon that even he could not put his finger on. It was either on the bleeding edge of advanced weapons technologies, or simply from the future -- hard to say which. Regardless, it became abundantly clear to the thief from this not-so-subtle display that this was no ordinary girl. Even worse, her being the enemy of the Purifiers meant little; she could very well be dispatched by Weapon Plus, here to rescue their scientist and prevent him from leaking information about the whereabouts of the captive mutants.

Not if he had anything to say about it.

"New plan. Come give me a lift, EVA; we're going in through the second floor." With their attentions squarely set on the girl breaking in through the front door, Fantomex broke into a sprint as EVA enlarged in size, the two meeting around the back of the plantation. Fantomex leapt upward and grasped onto the ship's underbelly as EVA lifted him into the air, flying him toward the second floor window of the plantation. With precise timing, Fantomex released himself just in time for EVA to break off and divert to the side.

CRASH!!!

He broke through the window and landed in a tight roll, springing up with both silenced handguns drawn and firing two shots -- one for each head of the guards who spun around to greet him. The guards dropped in unison, and Fantomex pushed to his feet, sprinting toward the stairs and hoping to descend in time to reach the basement first or cut off the intruder while she was busy.

[bio858]

The sound of the powerful concussive blast of energy that had knocked out the two men arguing at the front of the plantation was audible to nearly everyone inside the mansion. The men either patrolling around within the first floor of the mansion or simply lounging around would have their heads turned towards the sound of the commotion.

"The f**k?"

"Guessing that girl wasn't from the girl scouts."

"No shit sherlock! Get your weapons ready! Probably got more than just her around!"

Though the 8 or so men on the first floor would not be having any immediate backup, as there would be the sound of a window crashing within the second floor. Two dead bodies would drop as the other 5 men on that floor rushed towards the sound of the commotion. However, it would seem they had somehow missed the intruder, noticing their deceased comrades on the floor.

"Wha-what the hell is going on!?"

I don't know! The girl got friends! Just rush down to the first floor! Bastard couldn't have gotten far!"

Little did they realize, the intruder had "snuck" by the 5 in quite the rush. Though even he may find some trouble getting sandwiched between two waves of guards. But if he and the girl were able to work together, perhaps they could take down this ragtag cult and find the scientist locked up within the confines of the basement.