"I have one missing person but I'm not torn up over it. Fortune favours the bold so I shall show favour." The eleventh subject escaped but he didn't need her powers anyway. He had more than enough and he doubted she would come for him. The others were gone though. Every weapon eliminated.
At the mention of Theta, Koschei looked at Klaus and then looked away, his heart tightening. "Three will be unhappy with me but he never did understand. Sacrifice is needed. Dirty work must be done. It's all in the greater good. For us and our kind."
Klaus frowned and tilted his head, still holding onto Barty. "Three calls you Koschei. And me Klaus. Why?" He looked at Barty. "Do you have a name thing?"
"Apparently. It's... Bartholomew?" It still seemed a bit too long to him, honestly. he wasn't overly fond. "Klaus fits you." He had decided that right away, not that he wasn't ready to call Klaus whatever he wanted to be called.
"You can tell Koschei, One, whatever, you can tell him that he sounds like a pompous-- A pompous so-and-so." Theta couldn't come up with a better insult, but he really meant that one. He wasn't sure Klaus would actually relay it.
"Three says to say you're pompous." Klaus repeated as he watched Koschei try to wipe the blood from his face.
"Tell Theta that he needs to learn to trust me. And I am not." Koschei huffed as he started to move for the door and towards where the man with glasses should be. They needed out, they needed that master key and then freedom was theirs. "We're close. Soon we'll be outside."
Klaus took Barty's hand in his own and frowned at the name. "It's long." He wasn't a fan of Bart-- whatever. He already forgot it. "Can I say Bar? Bar-Bar. Baaaaart." It was a fun start to the name. "Barty."
"You can say it however you want." Since Koschei had already called him Bart, Barty assumed that any other shortening wasn't that unusual. He held on to his hand and walked with him behind Koschei.
Theta walked a little ahead, pushing Koschei's shoulder only for his hand to go through it. Damn it. He could explain to him all the ways in which he was very much pompous. He also felt that Koschei had to be improvising at least a little. He always sounded more self-important when he was uncertain.
"We are going to be outside today." Barty said it to Klaus, filled with confidence. "And we will be safe."
"What is outside? Is it a different lab?" Klaus kept hearing about it but he wasn't sure. He had never so much as seen out of a window so the idea of something beyond this was odd. It was like telling someone there was a second planet one could just walk to. It was exciting but scary.
"Outside are trees and grass and streets. Buildings, houses, trains, cars, art, music, dogs, cats..." Koschei listed, having no idea what these things truly were but he knew in theory. And he was eager.
He pushed his way into the room Barty had kept the man they needed and stood in front of the bastard with a proud smirk. "Hello, papa. We're ready to go outside now."
"You are not ready. You are but children playing with matter you do not comprehend." The man wasn't moving much, presumably still under Barty's command. Theta stayed next to Koschei, sticking his tongue out at the man. He wasn't in favour of the methods Koschei was using, he didn't disagree with the principle.
"We will learn to comprehend. We're fast learners, aren't we?" That was how they had become Number One and Number Two respectively, after all. Good at following instructions. Good at understanding. Useful. Dangerous. So very dangerous.
"There is nothing I can't comprehend. I can understand any matter because I can understand matter." Koschei explained as he turned to 'papa's' computer and proceeded to rip it apart with his powers. Every little piece of the computer floated in the air, every chip, every wire, every port. "Every problem is easy. Once you break it down."
He launched the components at papa and they flew at the wall behind him, narrowing missing the man. Intentionally, of course.
"Everything can be broken down. Items, plants, animals... people. Broken down from action to protein to acids to DNA to molecules." He was so powerful now, he felt the hum of his kin inside of him. All that power, all that knowledge. He was rewriting himself with new mutations, even as they spoke. "Would you like to see? Shall I break you down?"
Klaus gulped and closed his eyes, not wanting to see that. "Can we leave now?"
"Shh, Klaus. Close your eyes. Don't listen." Barty wanted to shield him, but he also had to make sure that Koschei wouldn't forget what their aim was over the power high he was currently experiencing. "What do you need from him, Koschei? Tell me."
"You are too different for the world. You'll see. They won't accept you up there." The man shook his head, looking from one to the other. "You don't all want to end up broken like Four, do you? Dead like Three."
"Dead isn't the end." Koschei insisted as he looked back at Klaus and then back to the man responsible for all of his misery. "He had the passcode to unlock the door. He has to enter it and then he has to shoot himself in the head. I'm sure you can handle that, Barty."
"No, no, no. Barty, no. No more blood. No more death. There's too many ghosts." Klaus pleaded as he held onto Barty and looked at him desperately. "I know, I know, he's a bad man but -- we can just go outside."
"And then he comes for us again." Koschei pointed out, getting annoyed. "Barty, Klaus doesn't have to be aware, you know? You could tell him to just -- be somewhere else."
"He shouldn't do that to you, Klaus..." Theta wished he could do anything to stop this, but of course he had no means to. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't stop Koschei."
"Close your eyes, Klaus." Barty commanded him, tightened his arms around him. "I want you to dream of outside. Of our house. The way you have before." He waited to make sure that Klaus was holding still and then he looked at the man who stared at the three of them with wide eyes.
"Look at you two. One and Two. You are so well made. You could do me proud."
"Shut up," Barty told him, "Put in the passcode for the door."
Of course, the man had no choice, walking over to the door. "You are not ready for the world. It takes more than your powers to understand people."
"The world will be easy. It's the next step, the next thing to conquer. We've already conquered hell. Through me you go into a city of weeping; through me you go into eternal pain; through me you go amongst the lost people." Koschei quoted from a book he had stolen from this man's office once upon a time. He had fear of the outside, he was nervous but he wanted to be out there. He wanted freedom. "Eternal I shall endure. All hope abandon, ye who enter here."
The door they needed to open came open and a breeze hit Koschei for the first time in his life. It was cold but not the way the lab was cold, it was strange. Fresh. It smelled nice.
"You were right, papa. We are well made. And we are as strong as you predicted. And we will make this earth our kingdom." Whatever this Earth was.
"You are just a child. They will destroy you out there."
Barty looked at Klaus, who was prone in his arms now. He remembered a time before Klaus had been broken. He looked at the man who had decided to make them and he felt no such thing as mercy. He never had before, why would he start now? "We will take our chances," he decided, "Now go and kill yourself."
The man looked resolved, if unhappy, and Theta watched him walk away, knowing that no one could hear him. He spoke to Koschei anyway. "Are you ever going to tell him that he's just sent his own father to death?"
"Come, Bart. Don't look back, we're leaving now. Bring Four and we'll walk to freedom together." Koschei knew he could not stay with them, he had so much to do and to learn. Protection was needed, safety was paramount and Three had to be restored. Still, he wanted to not take his first steps alone.
Because he was terrified and he didn't know if this was truly a good move or not. He had learned, in recent months, that confidence was so very easy to fake.
So he held his hand out to Barty. "Shall we, kin?"
"Let's." Barty felt fear now, but Klaus was in his arms and he wanted to be brave. He took One's hand and dragged Klaus along as they headed out the door. The air was fresh. He hadn't known it could be. It was dark. Was it always this dark outside?
They exited from the side of a hill at night, hidden away by a seldom used dirt road. None of this Barty was able to identify. But he looked up at the sky and saw some lights. Stars, he assumed. "Wake up, Klaus. Look around. We are out."
"Eh?" Klaus slurred as he opened his eyes sleepily and then tilted his head back, looking at the pretty lights. What? It smelled different and then he turned his head, he saw big hills and grass. Hell, he felt the grass under his feet and between his toes. It was so strange. He giggled, unable to stop himself. "We're outside?"
"Yes." Koschei let go of Barty's hand and looked down the path ahead of them and then back at the lab. "We have to go forward, not backwards. All three of us... four of us? Is he -- Is Theta still...?"
He didn't want to leave him in the lab, all alone.
"Do you see them, Koschei? The stars." Theta was smiling, arms outspread as he looked up. "I want to go see what they see. I want to visit all of them too. Don't you see that it's beautiful?" He sighed and shook his head, looking over at Klaus. "He never sees the little things. He worries too much."
"...I think so." It looked at if Klaus was looking at some kind of ghost, anyway. Barty was trying to interpret it as best he could. "We... We need to go where houses are, right?" He wondered what direction that was.
"He likes the stars." Klaus informed Koschei, who hadn't taken the time to really look at them. He was in planning mode. His eyes were on the road leading away. "You should look at them, One."
Koschei looked at Klaus and then tilted his head back, looking at the stars twinkle in the sky. They were beautiful. He hoped to have more time to appreciate them. "Pick a path and stick to it. That's what they say. So let's walk along here and eventually, we'll see a 'house' we can have."
Already leading the way, Koschei went ahead. Klaus watched and then turned to Barty. "The outside is beautiful. Do you like it?"
"You are no fun, fuddy-duddy," Theta informed Koschei, who couldn't hear him. he still elected to walk next to him, so Klaus and Barty could have their talk in private.
Barty made sure to keep a hold of Klaus's hand, following behind Koschei who seemed to at least have some kind of plan. He was hoping that one day he would have plans too. "I like it," he confirmed, "I like the trees."
He gestured at them. They looked so different from what he had expected. Bigger and they had more presence. The way their leaves rustled, it was was if they were speaking. He wondered whether he could command them.
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no subject
At the mention of Theta, Koschei looked at Klaus and then looked away, his heart tightening. "Three will be unhappy with me but he never did understand. Sacrifice is needed. Dirty work must be done. It's all in the greater good. For us and our kind."
Klaus frowned and tilted his head, still holding onto Barty. "Three calls you Koschei. And me Klaus. Why?" He looked at Barty. "Do you have a name thing?"
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"You can tell Koschei, One, whatever, you can tell him that he sounds like a pompous-- A pompous so-and-so." Theta couldn't come up with a better insult, but he really meant that one. He wasn't sure Klaus would actually relay it.
no subject
"Tell Theta that he needs to learn to trust me. And I am not." Koschei huffed as he started to move for the door and towards where the man with glasses should be. They needed out, they needed that master key and then freedom was theirs. "We're close. Soon we'll be outside."
Klaus took Barty's hand in his own and frowned at the name. "It's long." He wasn't a fan of Bart-- whatever. He already forgot it. "Can I say Bar? Bar-Bar. Baaaaart." It was a fun start to the name. "Barty."
no subject
Theta walked a little ahead, pushing Koschei's shoulder only for his hand to go through it. Damn it. He could explain to him all the ways in which he was very much pompous. He also felt that Koschei had to be improvising at least a little. He always sounded more self-important when he was uncertain.
"We are going to be outside today." Barty said it to Klaus, filled with confidence. "And we will be safe."
no subject
"Outside are trees and grass and streets. Buildings, houses, trains, cars, art, music, dogs, cats..." Koschei listed, having no idea what these things truly were but he knew in theory. And he was eager.
He pushed his way into the room Barty had kept the man they needed and stood in front of the bastard with a proud smirk. "Hello, papa. We're ready to go outside now."
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"We will learn to comprehend. We're fast learners, aren't we?" That was how they had become Number One and Number Two respectively, after all. Good at following instructions. Good at understanding. Useful. Dangerous. So very dangerous.
no subject
He launched the components at papa and they flew at the wall behind him, narrowing missing the man. Intentionally, of course.
"Everything can be broken down. Items, plants, animals... people. Broken down from action to protein to acids to DNA to molecules." He was so powerful now, he felt the hum of his kin inside of him. All that power, all that knowledge. He was rewriting himself with new mutations, even as they spoke. "Would you like to see? Shall I break you down?"
Klaus gulped and closed his eyes, not wanting to see that. "Can we leave now?"
no subject
"You are too different for the world. You'll see. They won't accept you up there." The man shook his head, looking from one to the other. "You don't all want to end up broken like Four, do you? Dead like Three."
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"No, no, no. Barty, no. No more blood. No more death. There's too many ghosts." Klaus pleaded as he held onto Barty and looked at him desperately. "I know, I know, he's a bad man but -- we can just go outside."
"And then he comes for us again." Koschei pointed out, getting annoyed. "Barty, Klaus doesn't have to be aware, you know? You could tell him to just -- be somewhere else."
no subject
"Close your eyes, Klaus." Barty commanded him, tightened his arms around him. "I want you to dream of outside. Of our house. The way you have before." He waited to make sure that Klaus was holding still and then he looked at the man who stared at the three of them with wide eyes.
"Look at you two. One and Two. You are so well made. You could do me proud."
"Shut up," Barty told him, "Put in the passcode for the door."
Of course, the man had no choice, walking over to the door. "You are not ready for the world. It takes more than your powers to understand people."
no subject
The door they needed to open came open and a breeze hit Koschei for the first time in his life. It was cold but not the way the lab was cold, it was strange. Fresh. It smelled nice.
"You were right, papa. We are well made. And we are as strong as you predicted. And we will make this earth our kingdom." Whatever this Earth was.
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Barty looked at Klaus, who was prone in his arms now. He remembered a time before Klaus had been broken. He looked at the man who had decided to make them and he felt no such thing as mercy. He never had before, why would he start now? "We will take our chances," he decided, "Now go and kill yourself."
The man looked resolved, if unhappy, and Theta watched him walk away, knowing that no one could hear him. He spoke to Koschei anyway. "Are you ever going to tell him that he's just sent his own father to death?"
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Because he was terrified and he didn't know if this was truly a good move or not. He had learned, in recent months, that confidence was so very easy to fake.
So he held his hand out to Barty. "Shall we, kin?"
no subject
They exited from the side of a hill at night, hidden away by a seldom used dirt road. None of this Barty was able to identify. But he looked up at the sky and saw some lights. Stars, he assumed. "Wake up, Klaus. Look around. We are out."
no subject
"Yes." Koschei let go of Barty's hand and looked down the path ahead of them and then back at the lab. "We have to go forward, not backwards. All three of us... four of us? Is he -- Is Theta still...?"
He didn't want to leave him in the lab, all alone.
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"...I think so." It looked at if Klaus was looking at some kind of ghost, anyway. Barty was trying to interpret it as best he could. "We... We need to go where houses are, right?" He wondered what direction that was.
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Koschei looked at Klaus and then tilted his head back, looking at the stars twinkle in the sky. They were beautiful. He hoped to have more time to appreciate them. "Pick a path and stick to it. That's what they say. So let's walk along here and eventually, we'll see a 'house' we can have."
Already leading the way, Koschei went ahead. Klaus watched and then turned to Barty. "The outside is beautiful. Do you like it?"
no subject
Barty made sure to keep a hold of Klaus's hand, following behind Koschei who seemed to at least have some kind of plan. He was hoping that one day he would have plans too. "I like it," he confirmed, "I like the trees."
He gestured at them. They looked so different from what he had expected. Bigger and they had more presence. The way their leaves rustled, it was was if they were speaking. He wondered whether he could command them.