Waking up (open)

Tiberius opened his eyes for the first time in months, he was just awakening from his self imposed hibernation. He tried to stretch and found he was blocked by a couple junked cars. He used more force and tossed them aside with no effort. He stretched in his familiar snake body and looked around his jaws open wide revealing the row of razor sharp fangs.

He pulled himself up on top of them and looked around he heard the workers in the distance starting to panic at the sight of the huge monster snake. It wouldn't be long and someone would come to try putting him down. Tiberius stretched out across the cars and waited wondering who it would be.

"That your big bad monster? Or we 'specting a whole family of dem t'ings to crawl out from under dere?"

"That's him. But you knew that." Two HIVE students stood watch a short distance away as people fled from a shadow moving in the junkyard. Chaos was a staple to them, but Pix didn't look especially jovial today () "Explain to me again why your divination has taken this long to find him." Hugh turned to the girl whose face held a mesh of ritualistic paints.

"Been tracking him aura. Beast like that probably been sleepin' though. Throws the spell off. Naah mean, mon?" Charmcaster was ever ethnically and religiously diverse. Pix didn't often ask for her help because she put him ill-at-ease.

"Not really." Her Jamaican slang was lost on the sprite, "But it sounded like excuses. I needed to wrap up my business with Tiberius a long while ago."

"Cus he killed you, ain't that so? You here puttin' your earthly soul to rest?"

"For the last time Charmcaster, I'm not a zombie."

"Duppy." She corrected.

"Whatever!" (>﹏<)

"Level, mon. I a purified your soul already." Her hand fell over his heart in some symbolic gesture, "Would not catch me wid a duppy, lest he were my slave." For a moment the priestess looked sweet, almost bewitching, but then her hood swept over her hair. The unsettling vibes were back, "Now let me do my t'ing." Helen took to the air, no longer hiding from Tib.

Diving into her magic bag, three stone trinkets were thrown in front of the alien, "Come a weaken 'em blow by blow, obeah make my monsters grow!" The hand-held figurines suddenly expanded until they were each the size of a lion.

Spoiler:

Tiberius sighed and rolled on his side. The chitin guns on his back shifted as he lined up shots and opened fire into the beasts. He fired six shards at each and waited to see the results. Even though his back was turned the eyes in his back would allow him to be aware of them. Tiberius hadn't seen the creatures before but the size was nothing new to him. He lifted himself and turned toward the beasts raising his six talons to see what was left. Tiberius licked his lips eagerly awaiting this wake up call.

Opposed by such a fierce barrage, the grotesques didn't stand much of a chance. Able to be cast quickly, these beasts were not Charmcaster's best spell. Thus, they shattered without due pomp and ceremony. One had made it to air, taking a flying leap at Tib before it was gunned down. Not expecting the heavy-handed response, Helen was taken aback by its suddenness. Yet Pix was ready.

"Nice going. Now you made a mess in this neat junkyard, Tiberius." A whirlwind of pixels condensed into human form. Pix landed amongst the debris and wasted no time picking up a spike. One of Tib's projectiles. He turned and threw it to Charmcaster who had regained her wits enough to catch.

Hugh turned back to the creature, loath to keep his eyes off Tib for long, "Believe it or not, I've come to talk." (>_>)

Tiberius's cannons converged facing him again without rolling over. "You want to talk again square guy?" He began to get up his cannons stayed pointing at him. He was still massive and turned to face them and stretched with his six talons. He slithered down over the junked cars toward Pix slowly. He looked down at the strange man and ran his tongue along his teeth as though he were waking up and asked seriously. "Is this going to be long and boring like last time?"

"Detailed and comprehensive." Pix corrected the offhanded comment. Tiberius advanced, and had Hugh been alone he would've maintained distance. However, with a classmate to impress, the sprite man was loathe to budge an inch. He just needed to stop his legs from quaking and keep a cool facade (T_T).

Thank goodness he'd planned for this latest encounter. A safeguard had been arranged, "In case you feel like taking a strike at me this time, or even doing a runner, I'll explain what my friend is preparing. Charmcaster can make voodoo dolls. A psychic link to your body. That spike you pumped out was the biomass she needed to connect it with you. If we have a misunderstanding here, we're using that to make your life a living hell."

Helen didn't even need to be near her victims. Tib could be across town and still experience the effects of the hex. She was more than just an eerie face, "Threats withstanding. I'm giving you an invitation. To join H.I.V.E."

Tiberius looked up at the small girl and said seriously. "I don't know what your talking about biomass for. That's from my meal a few days ago." Tiberius was bluffing but with his strange body there was no way to tell. Tiberius said seriously. "You mentioned this Hive before, I forget what it was though. Isn't it like a place to eat or something?" Tiberius rubbed his head slowly turning his back toward Charmcaster as though thinking. That was the problem with this monster he was cunning and intelligent. He planned to fill her with poison as soon as she was in his sights.

The priestess did not take kindly to being duped, "We should test it then." By now Charmcaster had used her mystic arts to somehow polymerise the doll with a piece of Tib's chitin. Extensive stitching held the ratty form of cloth together, its stuffing was a secret known only to Helen herself.

Yet Pix felt certain it was all a bluff. He was doubtful Tiberius would ever have given them such a confession if what he claimed was true. Sounded like an excuse Hugh would make up. 'Jokes on you' kind of reasoning. It was safe to proceed.

"You forget?" Hugh's face flashed passed a different emote (>.<), "No you don't. You just want to irritate me. Listen, this is actually a good move for you. Puts an end to this vagrant lifestyle you're now leading. Not that your scrapyard house ain't lovely. Just it can't hold much in property value." The sprite had mixed memories of this very junkyard. It was the last mission he'd taken with Cheshire, and also one where they'd gotten their butts kicked.

"Yes I know you're a wanderer. I've done my homework since we last met. Turns out that a certain monster gets traded teams more often than a Babe Ruth baseball card. H.I.V.E. academy is a chance to stop all that. Statistically speaking, we have a one-hundred percent satisfaction rate. As in our members have never joined other factions. Ever. Some leave, none turn."

"We're a home. A close-knit unit. Maybe even a family." Pix ignored the retching sounds Charmcaster was making behind him, she knew it was true, "I'm even willing to overlook the personal trouble you've caused me."

Tiberius listened to his words his head clearly following him as he went over the speech. He didn't get all the references like this infant named Ruth. he looked extremely confused when Pix mentioned personal trouble and he asked seriously. "What are you talking about, I haven't seen you since the last time you gave a speech." Tiberius's eyes had never left Charmcaster either of course, he didn't trust them yet.

Tiberius looked at the pixelated man and said seriously. "Whatever who cares about family. My only concern is are you good enough for me to hunt with." Tiberius slithered toward Pix towering over him purely by coincidence. He swung a talon down into the dirt and drew an image of creatures of various shapes and sizes then moved his talon and drew creatures that looked like dinosaurs running from them. "I want to get this back. I want to hunt something worth my effort. Can you offer that?" Tiberius was staring at Pix's eyes looking for any sign for deception.

Hugh facepalmed at Tib's reminder, "Yes. Of course." It'd slipped his mind. Tiberius wouldn't remember killing him. Sissel had 'altered his fate', so to speak, erasing Pix's death from the time-line. It'd never happened. But that didn't make his murder any easier to come to terms with. If you were justified for hating anyone, this would be it. And Pix had for a time. Dreamed of reeking revenge on his killer. Why he offered forgiveness now, was beyond even Hugh's ability to explain.

This pitch of comradeship was entirely out of character for the begrudging, young villain. It'll get me extra credit, bringing a powerhouse like him in. That's it. That's why... With his excuses made, he tried not to dwell on the matter.

Carelessly discarding the issue of family, Tib changed topics. Pix didn't by it. Everybody wanted to belong. Even as the alien continued speaking Hugh could denote clan tendencies in his desires. At least that was his personal interpretation.

As the behemoth got closer Charmcaster was understandably edgy, "Yikes, mon. I don't care if you be playin' diplomat. Put some distance between the two of ya! The doll ain't foolproof you know." She forcibly pulled Hugh backwards by his shoulder, causing him to move like a ragdoll, "I'd be safer if my only lifeline wasn't stood right next to me..." He muttered in response.

Tib's caricatures soon became clear. For once Pix wondered just how old this creature was, "The H.I.V.E. academy his a long list of agendas. And a longer list of people who will stand in our way. Nighthawks interfering. Symbiote muscling in on our territory. Both familiar to you, I understand. Though neither imperatives!" He hoped this wasn't offensive to Tib, suggesting that he hunt people he may still call friend, "Or main targets are Titans. As in the Teen Titans. For knocking off even one of them, you get bumped to the top of the class." He explained, "We know how to hunt. Same as instigating downfall." Mantis would get along well with Tiberius.

Tiberius watched them, the spell user was intimidate by him, something he would like. He slammed his talon joint on the ground at the mention of Symbiote. Rage filled his face for a second and it looked likely that he would attack before the expression suddenly faded. Tiberius asked seriously. "Teen Titans, oh right, so their viewed as tough by your people?" Tiberius sounded genuinely curious based on that and the fact he wasn't confused by their name he'd met them before.

Tiberius looked around slightly and clicked his teeth together in an unknown pattern as he pondered he was speaking his native language with his eyes closed. He swung his talons slightly and his cannons twitched and moved. He slithered around as though he were impatient but his motives were completely indecipherable. Tiberius rounded on them suddenly and moved forward in a rush asking "Where do I go to kill them all?" There was the gleam of a nurtured love of murder.

After all that'd come before, it appeared Tiberius was malleable to reason. Or moved by emotion. Symbiote's name had provoked something. Though in truth, the diminutive gang was becoming less of a concern. Last Pix knew they had gone to join Steel City's growing hoodlums.

Yet Tib's restlessness was putting both students on edge (), Pix especially began to recall the sensation of death this creature had once introduced him to. Charmcaster's guiding hand had gone from pulling him out of harms way to actively putting the sprite between her and Tiberius. Having sensed this, Hugh whispered a sharp rebuke, "You do know attacks go straight through me?"

"Unfortunately." She lamented, "But not poison."

Uncertain if Tib's query suggested an attack in the immediate, Pix tried to waylay such impetuousness, "You come to H.I.V.E. academy. Where we will give you everything you need to get at them. Time and opportunity." Pix explained, "And in return." The timbre of his voice rose to add attention to the point, "You'll keep our secrets, and undergo instruction from our tutors. We need your oath on that." Not that he seriously considered a beast would see the sanctity of oaths.

Tiberius looked at Pix taking in his words and bowed his head placing his six talons blunt side against the ground and bent low in front of him. "By the forebears and offspring I will not reveal your secrets, unless they are gained through genetic memory." He rose and looked at Pix saying. "We go on your signal square man."

Pix revised his expectation of Tiberius not valuing oaths. That swear-by sounded sincere. Not that a villain was the best person to judge sincerity, but Hugh had been put at ease. So he'd succeeded in bringing a powerhouse to H.I.V.E.s humble halls. There would be kudos for this. Sure he'd have to share it with the witch behind him, but that just gave him someone to blame should their new recruit decided to... eat anyone.

"Come along then. I've a feeling the people you frightened off earlier will have called for backup. Contacted the proper authorities to deal with you. Best if we disappear before Animal Control arrive." Pix said, "Charmcaster. Chant us out."

"That not found; our presence cloak. Exit by a puff a smoke!" Magical fog seemingly carried them off.