Learning Curve (Ask)

Galaxuis got the tiger safely to the local zoo where doctors immedietly cared for the feline. Here she had gotten the information that animals have been taken from the zoo and the pregnant tiger was one of them. Galaxuis didn't take another second to consider going back for the cubs, if the zoo is there home they had no reason to wait lonely and vulnerable in the jungle. She was happy to have mentally mapped out the jungle to make her way back to the tiger cubs but was scared that other animals and the changing cold, wet, weather had taken the lives of the young. In about 20 minutes she found herself close to her destination. She brushed past giant tree leaves and quickly weaved around a few tree trunks and roots when she came to a complete stop. She noticed her spirit animals surrounding where the cubs would be and this both puzzled and eased Galaxuis's mind. "Guys?" She walked closer to her spirit animals and noticed that they were protecting the cubs. The gorilla held the cubs in his giant arms as the bears held giant leaves over the cubs to keep them from the Brazilian rain. The wolves trotted towards Galaxuis from different angles, they must have been protecting the area, as the raccoon made their way into Galaxuis shoulders from the trees. Though they helped protect the baby zoo animals she couldn't help but feel slapped in the face that Hotwire and Scope did not have her spirit animals help them. She was starting to feel as if her assistance wasn't needed on in this mission. She grabbed the cubs in her arms and had flown back to the zoo, the spirits following behind her. In half the time that she found the the cubs she had gotten back to the zoo. The doctors and zookeepers where all ecstatic to have the cubs back with their mother and safe from harm. Galaxuis was ready to watch as the mother tiger acknowledged her children but had gotten a message she couldn't fully read. She had gotten the gist of it though, she needed to get information at the clubs. She nodded at the message and looked back at the doctors "Where is the clubs? I think there may be some information I can obtain there from the people," Of course the doctors looked weary about a young girl making her way to the clubs alone but told her anyway due to her reassurance that she will be fine with her powers.

The sounds of music were beating through the walls of the club and different lights colored the windows almost as if fireworks were inside. This would be Galaxuis first time going to a club and for some reason she was nervous of the idea. She had no idea the mannerisms that came with clubs. She didnt even expect to smell alcohol from a man who stumbled out of the back door. She took a few steps backwards as the man stumbled to her place laughed and then threw up. Galaxuis cringed as liquid spilled on the street but quickly made her way inside as the man gave her a rather promiscuous smile. When the door closed behind her she realised that things may be harder to get specific information. The crowd of people where jammed packed together, their bodies swaying, twisting, and melting together. Galaxuis wasn't sure what person she was looking for and tried looking for someone who may have been shaddy looking but she couldn't come to terms of what was going on. She stood awkwardly against the back door as she pulled out her communicator. She was about to ask hotwire what she was suppose to be looking for but the communicator got slapped out of her hands then stepped on in the dancefloor. Galaxuis mouth was wide open as she watched the communicator get stepped on. She then felt someone grab her arm roughly and when she looked to see who had grabbed her her ears dropped from the size of the man. He would have to be almost 7 foot and heftier then a pro wrestler. His lips moved and then morphed slowly into a smile but Galaxuis couldnt make out what he was saying, she could, however, smell the alcohol in his breath. He leaned his head closer to her face and she was horrified to see that his left eye was made of glass and rolled in it's socket. Galaxuis tried to tug away but couldn't from the man's form grip on her. She used her powers to swing a bottle to his head which was terribly ineffective. The man's face twisted into a snarl and with his other hand choked her against the door. He leaned in again, his face an inch away from the Golethian as he said something yet again unacknowledged. Galaxuis couldn't concentrate on any powers from the music and because the air that was surrounding her brain. He gripped tighter on her neck and she felt as if her brain was about to explode, she couldn't even scream. Galaxuis placed her hand over his and begin to dig her nails into his flesh, she started to feel the warmth of his blood and the hardness of what seemed bone. The man ripped his hand away from her, his screams lost in the sounds of thumbing music. Galaxuis was extremely light headed as she stumbled into the crowd. She glanced back to see where the guy could be but she couldn't find him. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on getting her breathe but instead she was seeing a child playing in the streams of the forest, then a young lady cooking breakfast, a man hitting a women, the sky, the ground, the sea, faces, and more faces. She was picking up everyone's memories and along with that different emotions. She tired to call out for it to stop, she tried to stagger away from the group but didnt have the strength to push past the crowd. It was all to much for her, the visions, and the emotions, the thoughts that were making her way into her brain. She knelt onto the ground as she gripped her head. She whimpered for a few moments as time and the world seem to be lost from Galaxuis vision. She couldn't take it anymore, she tried opening her eyes to see the club but as she opened them her eyes stung as if lemon juice was poured straight on them. She needed to stop this madness.

She let her instinct kick in as her body started to transform. Her 4 horns grew high on her head, her teeth begin to sharpen, as her eyes glowed a luminous color of yellow. Galaxuis begin to levitate high above the crowd tears streaking down her mocha skin. People had at first been paralyzed with fear but the next second where scrambling for the doors. Galaxuis smiled as she used her powers to make the doors and windows disappear into nothing. The people were trapped inside with no way out of the building. Galaxuis voice echoed over the sounds of music "Shut up, just all of you shut up!! I'm tired of humans. Morbid creatures with no sense of reality, all living lives so aimlessly. I'm sure the creator did not have this in mind. I'm disgusted in you," Galaxuis's smile became toothy with excitement "Demon's have more sense and living then you pathetic things," as she finished taking everything in the room begin to wrap in ways that where nearly impossible. People's bodies twisted like pretzels, parts of bodies growing bigger or going smaller. It was a live fun house in the club and it was only going to get worse. Galaxuis then used her reality warping powers to combine all the bodies together. They twisted and melted together into a giant ball of bodies. "Ah, the sound of silence is so nice. Now to get rid of these visions," the balls begin to slowly implode. Galaxuis laughed as the ball reduced in size "I hate being on this Earth filled with such sickening creatures. How you run off ignorance. Pathetic," As the last bit of ball vanished Galaxuis returned herself to the dance floor. She gazed up at the sky with an eyebrow raised "Better?" She nodded as she let out a small chuckle "Much better," her eyes stopped glowing as her horns and teeth returned to normal. As she returned back to her normal self she fell to her hands and knees. She was extremely tired and all she wanted was to sleep and forget what she had done. What her demon self had done. She lay on the ground curled up into a ball.

Hotwire lost Scope as he jumped on his hoverboard. He couldn't run for his life.

He spent two minutes trying to catch up with him... but then his Commicator started beeping.

"Hey H-Dub! It's Sync! She's in trouble! Hurry over here!" The transmission went.

Hotwire tracked the signal to a small club, hole blown in the wall. Everything was warped.

Scope had kneeled next to sync.

"Scope... she may be in shock. Keep talking to her. Keep her calm. Try to raise her legs, to keep the blood flowing.

Hotwire started looking at the room. Tables twisted like wire. No one there.

"What happened here? Looks like this place got hit with some powerful spacial distortions."

As Scope touched Galaxuis shoulder, she lay tight in her ball. She could faintly hear a voice but she couldn't tell that it was her teammate that was speaking. She was so tired that her reactions and senses were out of whack. She heard another voice, also faint but getting louder as the seconds passed. Though she knew it was Hotwire and Scope it didn't seem to register why she was so slow and why they sounded they concerned. She felt her body being shifted and it felt nice to have something warm on her skin. Something felt wrong to the alien. Something was missing and she couldn't put what. Her brain suddenly begin to tinker away, processing the missing pieces. Suddenly she got a flood of visions and her head ached as if someone jabbed a knife into her skull. Her chest lifted up, her eyes shot open and a brilliant yellow light shone from them, as she let out blood curdling screams. Tears streaked down her brown skin as she also started foaming at the mouth. Everything in the room begin to lift a few inches, even Scope and Hotwire. After a few seconds Galaxuis eyes stopped glowing and her screams reduced to whimpers. The visions had subsided but Galaxuis' memories and senses had returned. She could feel the warm wetness on her face and by instinct she wiped her tears and slobber away, though more tears made them self present on her face. Her eyes started to focus on her surroundings and the first thing to come to view is Scope's face. Galaxuis eyes widened in terror and she tried to back away from him. Scared that he would be angry with her. Scared of rejection. Scared of them being scared of her.
"I killed them! I messed up and I killed them. I ruined the whole mission!" She tried to cover her eyes with her hands almost to hide her shamed face "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it, I didnt mean it," She sobbed harder as she recalled what she had done to them, what she had said "I'm so sorry.." her tears came to a halt as she heard the spirits speak about the troubles she had caused not only for 50 or more families, herself, and the mission, but what she had placed upon the Titans. She wailed again not daring to look her teammates in the eye. They also sadly mentioned Grace's possible upbringing to Ben's position as leader and this only made Galaxuis more scared then she could possibly be. She knew they weren't trying to scare her or make her feel bad but to warn her for what may come. Their animal instinct was simply to stay out of harms way to try and get out. She also remembered Ravian who she had left alone at the tower, possibly with the ice princess with no Ben protection. She felt as if she caused a giant problem but had no clue how to fix it. All she knew was to not draw attention to herself and the Titans that she needed to get out of there and fast. "I....I killed them. I killed all of them," she turned her head to hotwire trying not to look at him "All the info I can find is that these animals are from the zoo, someone is taking them and putting them out there in the wild. I dont know why yet." She turned her head to Scope "I did something so shameful and...I...need to get out of here. I'm sorry," she tried not to cry again but failed.

"Galy...this is my fault... if I knew what could have happened on your own... I never would have sent you to this club. I can't lead for my life."

Upon realizing the deaths were caused by Galaxius, Hotwire began to panic.

"Oh no... this is bad... we have 50 plus deaths on our hands... our fault. We have to turn ourselves in... I'm sorry... we've failed."

Galaxuis was absolutely terrified. The voices of the past made it's way into her head and tore at every piece of comfort she could cling too. She remembered after almost killing her step father how he stared at her with his hateful eyes and called her a 'monster'. He had always called her these things but that time, this time, it felt like his words were true. To anyone who didn't know her she was a monster and it had always been that way. Just as she felt the loneliness kick in she felt warm arms wrap around her and her face being buried into Scope's chest. It had been the first real human contact she had since she came to Earth. It was strange how contact could bring one peace at least enough to make her crying simmer down to mere whimpering. She wrapped her arms around and lightly clung onto his jacket taking in his warmth from both his physical body and spiritual. He pulled back when her breathing became more at ease, raising her chin so that their eyes met and he told her his secret. Because of the contact she had with him she could feel the sincerity of his being and she believed every word even though at one time she thought he didn't like her. She felt foul for letting such thoughts cloud her judgment of him.

Once Scope asked if he could trust her she grabbed his hand her eyes filled with honesty "I will never let anyone know about you and I promise you that your brother will be safe. You can trust me." She looked over at Hotwire who was just as shaken up as herself and once he apologized and panicked over the deaths she knew what to do. "No, it's my fault. You did nothing but your job," she stayed silent as she organized her thoughts "You guys have so much to offer for the Titans and for families and friends. Me being in the Titans hasn't always been such a great experience," she paused again "My point is that I am not needed as much as you guys are. Me coming here has dragged so many people down and my act here is bringing them lower. I dont want to bring you guys down with me...not this low." her voice became stern "I want you guys to leave here and if authorities or Titans ask about this you say that I went missing saying something about my father and that when you came across the bar that it was already destroyed. This will hold them off until I can find a place to hide. Eventually they will come after me and hopefully by then I can take them." Galaxuis turned to Scope and through she was starting to tear up again she smiled "Thank you, I promise you that if you ever need me I'll be here," she pointed to his chest "I owe you that much," she then turned to Hotwire "Same goes for you. Now I have to go. The police will be here soon." She immediately went an hugged Hotwire for not only a goodbye but so she may keep an eye on him from time to time she gave him once last smile before she went and gave Scope a tight embrace. This one person changed her view on things in a couple sentences. As she hugged him she whispered "I don't know if you know how much you helped me today, thank you." After kissing Scope on the cheek she backed away from her soon to be former teammates. She promised herself that she would go see them again soon and waved before flying out of the club and out of Brazil.

She wasnt sure if Scope knew how much of an impact his words had on her or how important he had just become to the Golethian but one thing was for sure he gave her hope for herself.

In his time here, the musky damp smell that had permeated the cellar was replaced by the metallic whiff of blood. Dr Levine thought he had become immune to the odour by now, but he'd not been trapped in a room with it for half a week before. His room-mate and patient continued to lie ramrod straight on the metal gurney. Until he was powered up the unfortunate stranger was still a vegetable.

After finalising his compatibility tests for the mechanical components he'd added to the brain, his captor had left. All had been silent. And while time was not easily measurable underground, Levine felt it had been more than half a day. His complimentary food items were long eaten. Hunger began to set in, and he started to wonder if the coma patient's fluid drips could be used to sustain him.

When the sound of a trap door opening did resurface, he was too listless to respond with any degree of animation. The light clicked on and a blurred shadow once more gazed into the operating theatre/dungeon. He looked up when his captor finally spoke.

“Oh doctor. You have knowledge don't you? Tell me, have you ever heard of 'Titans'?”

“Titans? The Titans?”

“Mhmm. A group of that name have just arrived in the local area. They made quite the stir.”

“As in Brazil?” Hope began to light anew. This was incredible. Could the superheroes have been called here to look for him? Stop this madman and his sick fascination with surgery, “Sorry. The only Titans I know work in Jump City. Back in America.”

“People migrate, doctor. I gather they are some type of law enforcement?”

“Yeah. They're law enforcement. Superheroes in fact. The best type of law enforcement my country can offer. And if they're here, it'll be specifically to put you behind bars. I recommend that you uphold your end of the bargain and let me go, sooner rather than later.” Levine stood now, moving towards the window until both palms pressed against the glass, “You can't fight them. They won't come at you with a badge and a gun, they have special abilities.”

“Special abilities? Please, do go on.”

“You know, metahumans. Super strength, super speed, x-ray vision. If anyone can find you it's them. And when they do it'll play out better if I'm released. You hear me? You got your cyborg. It's time I went home... Now... Do you hear me?”

“I want them.”

“Pardon?”

“The metahumans. I want them.”

Dr Levine was speechless for a moment, “Didn't I make myself clear? They're no pushovers.”

“I will let you worry about that. When you collect them for me.”

“What the hell are you talking ab-”

A cyborg arm grabbed at Levine's shoulder, almost crushing it in the embrace.

“I believe it's about high time, doctor that I show you what I've learned. What you taught me.”

Hotwire felt true guilt in him... an emotion he never truly felt before.

He went to the apartment, went to bed, and before he knew it... day three had arrived.

"So... Scope... what to do today? Hotwire asked, looking through a Brazilian tourist brochure. Thankfully he bought one in English. Foreign languages weren't one of his strong skills.

"I've got it! We were on our way to the zoo when..."Hotwire said, trying to avoid talking about galaxuis. "You know... I say we head back there and do a little animal watching. Who knows we may pick up a few tid-bits without much effort."

(OOC: Thr33, trust me on this one, the zoo is a good idea, I've been talking with divingdart about a few plot ideas in regards to this. No spoilers, but the zoo will be worth our time.

(OOC: Sounds good to me! )

Nothing really. We're just visiting. But if we find something, it'll be a bonus.

Hotwire heard scope mutter that he wanted a monkey under his breath, which brought a grin to hotwire's face.

"okay... if you want one... maybe a shop around here carries them. The tower has to be able to support a monkey. After all... they had beast boy at one point."

Hotwire then saw a man standing in a corner of the zoo, playing a music box, which a monkey was dancing to.

"Hey, if that man has one, they can't be that hard to acquire."


(OOC: Divingdart... that's your cue.)

The man in question wore heavy but loose clothes, fitting to block the harsh rays of the sun yet still maintain a cool layering. A hood lay over his head as he stood hunched with his musical box, which jingled out a monotonously cheery tune. The man did not so much as shuffle, even as money was tossed into his tin, just crank the handle. His monkey, a golden-lion tamarin, commenced with a routine of handstands, tumbles, leg sweeps, rolls, and various unpredictable dance moves. Children offered the monkey slices of fruit, to which it did accept.

Just as the previous family unit moved off with final longing looks back at the monkey, the music man stopped playing. He crouched down to grab the tips he'd been awarded with a hand that was covered by bandages. As he did so, his monkey scurried over to a pair of new arrivals and pulled at one of their trouser legs. The man stood again and gazed at the two teens impassively, “Music?”

Hotwire followed scope over to the man with the monkey.

The man wore clothing covering his face, which was sort of unsettling. The bandaged hands.

Scope, I don't know if this man is on the level... I think we may have a lead. Just give me minute. Hotwire whispered.

"Pardon me sir, Hotwire said, brushing by the man as he walked towards the gift shop.

After a couple of minutes, Hotwire walked back to scope empty handed.

Sorry, they didn't have whatr I wanted, but they told me where I could find it. Hotwire gave a "just go with it" wink at scope.

"Come on let's go... I'll explain where we're going." Hotwire said, walking from the monkey-man.