Hidden: In the Dark

Under the Dial

Maze wakes up, breathless, in a dark and enclosed area. She feels like she's laying but is not sure in which direction. She tries reaching her hand out but can't extend it to its full length, something is in the way. She pushes, this time with both hands, it won't budge. She tries using her powers, nothing, she pulls her hand close to her and tries to create a light. "Not again." She thinks to herself. Banging against her barrier, she hears a set of footsteps, stopping to listen. 

Closer. 

Closer.

'You're where you should've stayed.' She starts thinking to herself, her paranoia hurts and is spreading fast. 'Am I in a coffin?!'  Maze asks herself, freaking out. She calming down by trying to remember how she got in this situation. The car comes to mind. 'Is it one of our cousins?' She finally remembers what Steve said, regretting not listening to him better.

There's mumbling in the background, farther than an audible enough range to make out any words, at least from where Maze is. More footsteps. She feels like the earth is shaking as barrier seems to be caving. A crack of light seeps in from her left, slowly ripping itself into her container. She curls her body up, scared of what might come. The light reaches her face and she can see outside. 

In relief she can see, she looks up but then realizes there's something more important at hand, she snaps her head to the side to see what just released her. She sees a burly man with dark hair and glasses. She quickly tries to imagine him in a mask, like at the warehouse, the description fits if her memory serves her right. He's keeping a straight face with no words, not comforting to Maze at all. She notices more of a presence in the room so she whips her head back around, still taking everything in, to see another guy sitting on a fold-out table. He has lighter, dusty hair, kept in a spiked fashion. 'That's the man from the car, he's more wirey than the last.'  Next to him is a closed laptop.

The man with the dark hair, now directly in front of her, curls his lip then begins talking as if he was making a speech. "First thing's first, your powers, are bound. Look at that inhibitor on your wrist." She pulls her hand up and notices a thing that looks like a safety pin poked through her skin, a light glows on the end of it. "My design." The guy with dusty hair brags. "The only way to take it off is to deactivate it. That's titanium, you rip it out, it'll cut your veins. It needs to be unlocked."

Maze takes this into account then she lifts her leg in the air and start kicking, sending the wiry kid stumbling off the table. She turns around to the bigger one, though shocked, he starts barreling towards her. She dodges to the side and grabs his leg on the way past, tripping him, then bending it against his back to keep him from moving. She doesn't need powers to fight, ever since 'the incident' she's trained to prevent herself from being weak in any similar situation.

"What kind of sick game is this? Is this for some sort of bounty or just for kicks?!" At this point she really can't tell. The dusty haired man gives a disgruntled look from the floor, not even putting up a challenge. "No, we need your help." This confuses her. "Who are you?" She feels like she already knows the answer but she'll wait until they call her bluff. "That's not important right now." One of them says. "There's no point in keeping it from her." Tension, just what Maze needs. "Fine. Bert-" He points at the man on the floor. "-Randolf." He points at himself. Simple and concise introductions.

"Bert and Randolf? Those were the names Steve were talking about, so they did kidnap me?"

"Michelle, right?" This catches Maze off guard. "Uh, yeah..." So, they don't know, Vera must have only told them her foster name, makes sense. "How did you find me?" The room is white, but Maze can't tell if it just seems bright from being in that coffin so long or if the lights are just that powerful, probably a mix of both. She looks back at the coffin, realizing it's no coffin at all, it's a containment chamber, it takes a minute for it to click, she knows where she is. "T-This is-" "The Nexite testing facility." Randolf finishes as she lets up on her grip on his leg.