[center][h1][color=00a651][b][u]NERO KAYAKOS[/u][/b][/color][/h1][/center]

When Ashton mentioned that the Ascendancy [i]maaay[/i] have fucking lied to them about them being the only ones who could really bond with their magic crystal meth, Nero only snorted with amusement.  I mean, no shit.  There wasn't any reason that [i]he[/i] could think of that they needed kids to perform on, and there were plenty of expendable adults as much as kids without a future to try this on, so why not?  Nero didn't believe for a second that these desperate fucking bastards could only perform this trick on people his age.  That was a straight load, so no big surprise there.  What WAS a surprise was Iris causing him to flinch with that slamming slab before telling him they'd be getting out of here soon.  Geez, he just wanted a [i]sitrep[/i]...  They really [i]were[/i] all freakin' crazy soldiers.  [i]No wonder[/i] Amy wanted to therapitize them.

You could definitely tell that things were off about all of them.  The situation was frustrating for all of them - They got jumped by magic mercs, Squad 0 bailed the mercs out, and so consequently the assholes didn't get dead. - but now as they jumped into the hole...Iris had this weird smile on her face.  Nero couldn't miss it, because he went stealthy, and when he did, he was more-so than he was before.  It wasn't AS MUCH a surprise when he did it, not as much as the sudden weirdness with his last spell, but that was because his brain caught up with his body when it activated.  He could shapeshift!  I mean, he could [i]shadow[/i]-shift!  I mean, he was making all kinds of spooky and horrifying shapes behind Sam and Iris when they weren't looking.

[color=00a651][i]Is this what it's like for Finn?  Can I be a frigging CAT?[/i][/color]

The [i]shape[/i] of one, as long as he was made of shadow.  He was still a [i]physical[/i] wraith-like form, but now he was malleable AND he still went invisible in the shadows.  He could...  [i]Holy shit, he merged with shadows![/i]  He poked at Iris' shadow, and suddenly he was just overlapped onto it [i]perfectly[/i].  That's how he noticed that he mood whiplashed so quickly.  She couldn't see him, of course.  He slipped back before anybody noticed that something was off.  The lot of them had all kinda' senses, after all.  Wouldn't want her brother to think he was up to something.  Of course, it was at that moment that Maria suddenly broadcast into his head and made Nero lose his concentration.

[color=00a651]"Whoa, whoa, [i]whoa![/i]  When did [i]you guys[/i] get here?  Geez...  Helluva shock, there.  Ring a bell or something first, okay?"[/color]

He didn't [i]hate[/i] telepathy, but it DID spoil the concentration, and he DID want to test out some of what the good doctor plugged into him.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

All of that was neither here nor there, just the last vestiges of what happened as they were pulling Realist out of his cage, then pulling [i]themselves[/i] out thanks to Maria's warning and some of that clever portal magic, courtesy of Finn.  Back on the ship, Nero took off his mask and chilled, although actually BEING chill was at a bit of a premium.  You see, apart from being pumped up, Nero remembered all the faces and names and remarks of every single son of a bitch that brought him into this mess.  He had...a list.  He had a list, a means of tracking them, and a special method of execution.  However, to test it out, he focused [color=ed1c24][i]The Black Spot[/i][/color] on [color=00a651]"Fucking [i]Crowley[/i]..."[/color] to test it out.  He wouldn't sustain it, but he DID want to send sort of a message and get a bearing on just how close the boy had been to their location, back there.

The [i]other[/i] reason he wasn't so chill is that he was thinking on the way back [color=00a651][i]'I want a chainsaw.'[/i][/color], and so he started checking prices and...oh good fucking god, what?  His account had jumped up even more!  Where the hell was he going to spent it all?  He could buy his own Ascendancy Bomber!  No, he could buy the fucking [i]Xuanzang![/i]  He wasn't [i]going[/i] to, but he could!  What the hell?!  Well, one thing was for sure.  He was going to get...a [i]really good[/i] chainsaw.  Something self-cleaning and self-sharpening, guaranteed to cut well for ten fucking years!  And that was just the [i]first thing[/i] that came to mind.  I mean, he didn't usually need much, but there was going to be some cutlery.  Maybe something hands-free that he could wear, or something that he could [i]build[/i].  He wasn't a super tool guy, but with [i]that[/i] kind of credit, he could [i]learn[/i] to make weapons.  Nero didn't know what Ash and Flame did to make this money, but it was going well into his 'Kill The Bastards' fund, no question.