[center][h3][color=cyan]γ€Žπ•Šπ•’π•Ÿπ••π•–π•£γ€[/color][/h3][/center] [center][img]http://i65.tinypic.com/28hztyw.png[/img][/center] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/3R5vYYi.png?2[/img][/center] [hr][center][color=silver]𝕄: π•Šπ•–π•‘π•₯. πŸ™πŸœ, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / π•Žπ•šπ•€π•—π• π•£π••, 𝕄𝕒𝕣π•ͺπ•π•’π•Ÿπ•• / / π•„π•šπ•Ÿπ•– / / πŸ™πŸŸπŸπŸ˜[/color][/center][hr] Sander did not have a name for this scent. He knew it, he remembered from before. Something sweet yet strong, a sharpness to its taste. Complex. But he couldn’t remember the name. No matter. He just needed to know where it led. The mine shaft was dimmed, but his enhanced sight allowed him limited vision. The path before him was blocked though, walls of metal completely obscured the way. Even then, he knew the scent was behind it. The heart beat was [i]so close[/i]. Without hesitation, Sander slammed both of his arms against the metal surface, using the momentum from his sprint to put even more force behind the blows. The thudding of impervious flesh against thick metal startled Dylan, standing behind two layers of the hypercondensed metal his power afforded. He tried to tell himself it was more dirt hitting the alloy, but that was wishful thinking to an extreme, especially when the sound rang out again to the rhythm of anger and manic strength. He hadn't been paying attention to the wave of dust that rolled into the mines, preferring instead to not let the structure immediately around him cave in from the fallen titan's collapse. The slamming didn't lessen in volume--in fact, it sounded like the attacks were growing [i]more[/i] frequent. Probably the supergirl he had seen earlier. He knew shouldn't have been so loud, but he really hadn't wanted the nearby metal to fold inward. Sparing what he could, Dylan pressed his hands against the layered walls in front of him, pushing the metal on the other side around the assailant and hoping to stop them if not catch them in a steel alloy prison. With the walls on either side of him closing in, Sander slammed his entire weight against the one on his right, getting it out of his way. The material, strong though it was, didn't stand up to the blood mage's strength and warped backwards easily. On the other side of the wall, Dylan felt the force surpass his slow control of the metal and backed away, the grasping walls of steel halting their progress. Super strength and he hadn't prepared enough for it. Throwing as many jutting beams and partitions behind him as possible, he scrambled further into the tunnel as roving white runes began spiraling down the length of the corridor. Their watcher's eyes, and Dylan knew Nasrin's call before he even truly thought about it: she'd be leaving first with Galen and a select few through a different passageway. He would be fending for himself. Swearing under his breath, he hooked around the nearest corner, hoping to lose his pursuer in the maze of metal. Meanwhile, Sander had finished dealing with the metal walls on either of his sides, and once he did, he started on the obstacle still standing in his way. It gave, soon enough, crude metal parted around his arm as he tore through. The scent was moving. The chase was on. Sander broke into a mad sprint, smashing through whatever flimsy hindrance the metal mage had thrown his way. Footsteps approached him far too quickly and Dylan couldn't outpace them. Of course super strength came with super speed. How had he even hoped otherwise? Another desperate surge of metal slid into walls behind him as he ran, the material thickening far too slowly. He wasn't a damn fighter. Had never been. They just kept him fed and safe from sanctioned imprisonment so long as he fortified and maintained this particular cell's hideout. A bit of mental tugging from Linus and his metal remained permanently once generated, but that had come at the cost of his manipulation speed and now he sorely regretted tampering with his original ability. It had felt wrong from the get-go. [color f7976a]"Wait! Wait!"[/color] he shouted, hoping the ever-closing footsteps would hear him before inhuman strength tore him limb from limb. The mage running after him didn't even seem to slow down, and Dylan had been hoping for the disorientation of darkness and unfamiliar paths to further his escape. In vain. The walls were growing thin, the material broke easily beneath his grip. His prey was growing tired. Sander knew this, just as he knew the frantic heartbeats that were getting closer. A few moments more, and its life blood would be his. He bared his teeth in participation. No. [i]Focus[/i]. β€œ[color=cyan]Transmit.[/color]” -Sander managed, the words slightly mangled as he fought the stiffness in his jaws β€“β€œ[color=cyan]No…cuff. Doesn’t have…a cuff.[/color]” -He said to his shackle. A chained dog justifying its kill. Dylan stared at the twin, gleaming red lights in the darkness, cold dread rushing down his spine. He recognized them as eyes when the owner began speaking in a voice like a rabid animal's growl. No cuff. Right. The USARILN mages were collared. That's how they identified friend from foe. [color f7976a]"Wait! You don't have to kill me! You can--you can bring me back to the research institute, or--or something!"[/color] Sander titled his head for a brief moment, as if he was considering the option. He wasn’t. The fire had shut that line of thought down even before it could begin. β€œ[color=cyan]Over.[/color]” -The words left his lips, then Sander surged toward his target, throwing the stranger down on the ground before planting a knee on his stomach. Teeth closed around the rouge mage’s shoulder, crunching down on tendons and bones while Sander pulled on the limb to the sounds of screams and tearing flesh. A few minutes later, Myla’s voice came through the communication channel. β€œ[color f7976a]Order from up top: If you’re in the mines, retreat![/color]” Even when Sander didn’t recognize the voice, he could still understand the words. The fire cried out for more, but he knew his limits. Anymore, and he wasn’t sure he could hold back. He had to leave. He had to follow orders. The blood mage began to dash toward the entrance, leaving behind the mutilated corpse. [hider=OOC notes]Everyone can hear Myla's transmission. But you don't have to react to it since it is large irrelevant to mostly everyone. And yes, Dylan's words did come through. Also, this is a collab between me and a sluggery slug [@January] [/hider]