Shadow's Dance (old)

Chapter 3: Tattoo

Her arm was covered in the black skin as before, a larger palm and dagger like claws spoke the truth of her two nicknames, Mocking bird and the Demon's Dragon. She could copy one's ability but her balance turned her into a blood thirsty monster. Pouncing the ground near one of her seekers, like a tiger she darted down the hall. Panic and adrenaline filled her mind as the dark skin continued to grow. She made it to a lounge area, two doors both from the same hall, bad luck. Getting up on two legs, the black coloring on her arm still hadn't disappeared. A feral growl came out of her lungs as she faced the four people.

"Now, now, Jane, calm down. We don't want you to get hurt anymore. We're not your enemy." Said the same guy from last night.

"I'm not going to be your dog either ass holes!" She snarled just before something happened.

A surge of energy came as the other eyes lit up blue. Gripping her head she could feel the battle of dominance over the two forces. Slightly bent over the dark coloring slowly disappeared and her silver eyes returned. Her legs buckle as she hanged her head low. Sweat started to bead up and Jane was out of breath.

She looked up at them. "

Confusion and bewilderment filled the room of what happened. It was as though she was a different person, like Jekyll and Hyde, it wasn't normal, not even for someone gifted with abilities. It could have been Phantom for the psychological part but the other couldn't be replicated.

Jane straightened up with a stone cold expression. "So, why did you try to take me out? Why didn't you? What is it that you hope to gain from me? What is it that you want me to become?"

The man that she recognized spoke. "Looks like we need to have a chat, I'm Iwix." The other three said their names, Cupid, Scarlet Rose, and Golden Crome, right after.

Iwix waved for her to follow as he left through the door. Like she had a choice, Jane followed, still remembering they did care for her while she was unconscious. He lead the group to a different lounge area. One with a kitchen and dining area visible from the couch. Cupid didn't enter the room, she went off by herself to get some file. Scarlet and Crome went to the training room. All that was left was Iwix and Jane to sit there.

She seemed almost embarrassed about them having faced to face with her other powers even if nothing really happened, almost. Her first impression was screwed up, shifty, heavy hitter that's looking for a battle, only half of that's true. Jane did have a rich understanding in her ability, her strategy in mid battle was exceptional, however, her realization of her limits were nonexistent. A cunning opponent that goes for the kill and doesn't toy with the enemy. Her other side was clearly more reckless but could back up its hot headed personal. When both sides were activated they canceled each other out, no powers could be used, and it was involuntary. Jane was mostly silent about the entire thing. She sat with her knees glued to her chest.

"So you want to destroy Phantom, how are you planning on doing that?" Jane almost whispered and her eyes were focused on the floor.

Trying to simplify their plan Iwix responded."We take out their support system then take down the main branch."

"The facility you and Cupid just infiltrated wasn't a support system, after years of failure Phantom wouldn't put too much more into that. Besides, they have more important projects than taming a beast. That was there only to contain and do minimal research until then. Your group isn't trained enough to handle the full force. I wasn't strong enough either..." Jane's mind seemed to drift off in thought before diverting somewhere else. "If you knew that I was dangerous why keep me alive?"

"You're still human, we are still human. No one but Phantom are true monsters, that is why we didn't kill you."

She looked up at him. "What do I do now?"

"Well, you could join us." He gave warm smile.

Jane eyes relaxed. "I have freedom?"

"Yep, you can even leave at anytime." Iwix gave a concerned look. "You won't have to face Phantom alone. We are here to help."

"It's not Phantom that I want to face." Her cold stare on the ground returned. "Do you know of anyone who's not on your team that has gifts?"

He tended up. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that there is more like us. More experienced, trained, ancient group of gifted people." She gave a long sigh. "They call themselves the Mages, most of them don't have ties to one another, lead by what they call the Blood King. He has access to more knowledge about gifted people than Phantom or you could obtain in a millennium. What makes this group deadly isn't that they have gifts but the wealth of knowledge and skill all of them have." Her silver eyes slowly started to glow. "I want to destroy their king because he stole something precious to me."

He pointed to his eyes as Jane closed her eyes and the glow disappeared.

Iwix didn't beat around the bush."What were you to them, specifically the Blood King?"

Jane let her feet touch the ground. "I was the first Ace."

"A what?"

She sighed."An Ace is like the muscle to the Blood King, I joined with him on missions or I was his personal marksman."

"Why do you want his blood?"

"Because he taught me everything that I know today. My skill wasn't gained from Phantom but from him while we did missions. So I had to learn quickly or both of us would die." Jane gritted her teeth. "He also marked me." Her left hand touched her back before turning around to show what appeared to be a tattoo. "That's what makes me the Dragon, it's more or less a curse that sets a limit on your power. It can give your more energy but less control or more control but less power. It sets somewhat of a balance but it's not something you can control. Not many have this but it caused me to be caught by Phantom."

Jane covered it back up and faced Iwix who was processing all of it. He his forehead before getting up. "I should probably show you around."