Collaboration between
@StareNation @TheQueensGuard and
@Kat
Jan stared at the disheveled man, unflinching as she rose to stand up. The man ran his fingers through his peppery beard and turned to cough in his jacket arm. He stuck his left hand inside his coat pocket and handed over a wrinkly ten dollar bill with a torn corner. Jan didn't smile. She took the dollar bill with a gentle, yet firm ease and turned to the newcomers who'd appeared around the corner. She chuckled when the man stepped in front of the girl. He was searching for something regardless of his restraints, though Jan couldn't tell what or why. She only assumed he and his friend were here to try and stop her, an act they would both regret the moment they decided to attack her.
Ashley put a hand on the convict's shoulder and stepped beside him as he briefly looked at her somewhat perplexed by the motion before looking back over at Jan. She used her other hand to peel the mask off her face, and let it hang by her neck. Ashley tried to look as least threatening as possible.
"So not that it's any of my business, but I'm pretty sure you just took that guy's last ten dollars."
The accusation of theft wasn't the best way to avoid confrontation with a telekinetic. Jan's brow quirked when the girl quickly followed up with a greeting.
"Anywho, how's it going! You can call me Neon, and this big guy Nine."
Jan stared at her as she playfully punched her acquaintance in the side who remained glaringly silent and still save for the incline of his brow at Ashley's introduction, "Uh sorry 'bout that." The girl rubbed her head awkwardly before extending her hand for a handshake, a gesture Jan found somewhat offensive. "
"What's you and your friends name?" Neon asked, motioning to the man who was sitting on the ground beside them.
"I didn't take his money. He gave it to me… willingly," Jan stated in a blunt tone, shoving the dollar in her pocket. "I was hungry, so I
asked him for it."
"Normally I'd be willing to argue with you about how wrong that is, but don't think we have alotta' time. We just roughed up some goons that were trying to abduct Nine, so it'd be best if we weren't around when they scale that wall." Motioning behind her, she started to pull on Nine's arm. "If I were you redhead, I wouldn't wanna be around either. Especially if you're prone to "liberating" dollars from people."
Jan smirked, though the redhead comment irked her a bit. The girl– Ashley, as she'd managed to find out through some subtle mind probing– underestimated her ability.
"Who were you fighting?"
"Arcadia," Nine replied in a blunt tone, staring at Jan.
"Ah, those people. They scuffed you up real good. I'm surprised you're still standing."
"Arcadia?" Ashley said in bewilderment. "Who the hell are you?" She said, turning from the redheaded girl, to the man she just stopped from getting arrested. "Fucking hell I'm gonna be wanted by the government." Jan grinned upon seeing Ashley's face as she turned red in self-embarrassment.
Jan was neither shocked nor bewildered by Nine's statement– what a weird name for a man– but more so, amused by the events. Nine was a former prisoner, according to what she gathered intuitively from Ashley's slick tongue. He was a runaway, a convict like her, except he hadn't found a forever home.
"I don't know about you Ashley, but it sounds like Nine is far, far away from home. Wouldn't you agree, Nine?"
Both were met with the stone cold silence of #964 who kept his eyes firmly affixed upon Jan for a moment before shortly commenting, "We need to move."
"That's it? We need to move? Holy hell you are the silent type." Neon said, still not sure on how to address her convict associate.
Neon shook her head and sighed, "Too late to turn back now. Let's go, I know where we can lay low for a while." Jan stared after Neon as she motioned for Nine to follow her and headed out towards the street. The girl looked back one last time at Jan, who didn't seem at all perturbed by the short turn of events.
"It was nice meeting you Miss No-Name."
"You, as well, Ashley, Nine," Jan responded, nodding towards the both of them. "Pray we don't meet again."
Jan watched both in silence as #964 seemed to hesitate for a moment at her lingering comment before he turned on his heel and followed Neon as she moved on. Jan ran her fingers through her hair as the duo moved away. It felt good to not be bothered any longer. Now, she could finish what she came here to do. Once she was certain the duo was far away, Jan turned back to the homeless man and knelt down beside him, a sweet, sickly smile on her face.
"You came a long way, didn't you? You used to be so happy and proud of your sons and daughters, but after your wife tossed you aside because you lost your job and your marriage, it didn't get better. You couldn't find peace. I want to help you find peace. I know what it's like to feel abandoned and lost in the world. Since you were so generous today, I will grant you the gift of peace, Mr. James. It won't hurt. You'll only feel a small tingle."
She grabbed the side of his head and stared him down.
"Look me in the eyes."
The homeless man glanced up and Jan smiled. She'd caught him in his grasp and the world around her seemed to calm for a moment when Mr. James' eyes grew wide as Jan swiftly induced a mental torture beyond his wildest imagination. Mr. James would experience his wife's screams, his children crying, and his own death. He tried to turn his head away and remove himself from Jan's grasp, but she only strengthened her resolve, gripping his head harder and forcing him to look at her. Jan felt her body and mind rush with adrenaline when she heard Mr. James screaming as she prodded his deepest thoughts of worthlessness and self-hatred.
The blood vessels in his brain popped one by one, and once he was disoriented to the point he could not hold himself up anymore and felt a wavering loss of consciousness take hold, Jan immediately left him there to bleed out and die. No one could save him now, not even herself.
"Again, thank you for your contribution. Purifier will be delighted at how well I've outdone myself. I always tell him it's best when they suffer for the longest periods of time. It seems I'm right this time."
She kicked the corpse and left promptly. They were one step closer to the end, one step closer to unleashing her full potential.