One of the guards gave Bendi a slight grin. "Just keep tellin' yourself that. It doesn't help much." he responds, the pair of them making sure to firmly escort him from the cell in case he does decide to try pulling a runner on them. He'd be led out of the cage room and down a few hallways and into a room that looked very much like a laboratory. Shanna was already strapped down on one table, straining against the bonds. Without any sort of ceremony, they'd flip him up onto the table, holding him down against it while similarly strapping him into place. One over the knees, one at each wrist, one over his chest, and another over his neck. All were locked in place firmly, so if he started to change, he'd likely break at least one bone in the process.

As soon as he was fully secure, the two backed off to a table and stood, waiting for a moment, until a voice entered the room. "Ah, there you are. I decided to randomly select someone for a little experiment, and you were the unlucky one we landed on. Now, the girl you're next to has a peculiar ability, to give the wounds she's got to other people, which she demonstrated on a few of my orderlies. Quite interesting. I wish to know if it works in the reverse, and with what kind of wounds. Hers were caused by a knife, but, say, chemical burns might be harder to deal with. Of course we'll still go through regular burns, up to the second degree. Oh, and we'll try to see if she can leech the effects of drugs from other people, since having her on hand to remove poison might prove to be useful."

One of the two men carefully picks up a lancet and makes his way over to Bendi, looking him over quietly before deciding on his left hand. He quickly pushes all the fingers back, and draws the blade across his palm, making sure not to slice deep enough to damage the muscles and tendons. Shanna herself had paused during the explanation, and was even more pale than she had been previously, her horrified expression fixed on Bendi. Once the incision was made, the guard turned around and freed her right arm, allowing her just enough room to reach over and touch him, but she seemed to be frozen in shock.

Bendi shouted in pain as the blade slid across his palm. "Damn bounce! What in th' Bloody hell d' you blokes think you're doin'?!" He was going to unleash a string of Australian curses when a sudden pain coursed through the rest of his body. "I... I think I'm gonna' chunder." The pain increased as bones began shifting, skin began to crack and reform, and feathers began to sprout to reveal a mighty... Kiwi bird.

Bendi suddenly looked up to see the guards towering over him. "What're you lookin' at, ya' wanker?" he shouted, but was surprised to only hear a series of chirps and caws. Bloody hell? Did I do that? Bendi thought. He decided to try again, only to achieve the same bird-like results. I better take a Captain Cook to see if I can't find a mirror.

And a mirror was found, one that obviously belonged to a one way window. "What in the name of--? I must have a whole group a' roo's loose in th' top paddock! I'm a bleedin' Kiwi!" he said, temporarily forgetting that the only sounds he was making were those of a Kiwi bird. Damn. If only Anna Leigh were here. She'd be havin' a fit an' cuddlin' me like I was some stuffed doll a' her's. Bendi squawked as Anna Leigh suddenly appeared in front of him, exactly as he'd seen her earlier that day: blue eyes, ginger hair, and a bright, wide smile.

((OOC: Anna Leigh is visible to everyone in the room.))

The guard watched with some measure of surprise as Bendi seemed to shrink, everyone watching the process quite intently as the young man shriveled down into a rather small bird. That, wasn't what they expected. Even as he let off his stream of chirping noises, the guard who'd cut his palm open looked over at the window. "Thought you said that we wouldn't have to worry about them changing once we'd strapped them down."

"Oh, are you suddenly afraid of a bird now? It's nothing that can be dangerous to you, so catch it, and get on with the experiment. I don't have all day." the voice responded over the speaker, though the guard was slower to respond. He wasn't sure what power the bird had, but if it was anything particularly dangerous, they'd need to call in some backup. Before he could even start moving to catch the bird, he noticed a spray of color out of the corner of his eye. Something that wasn't there a moment ago. Both guards turned to stare at the suddenly appearing figure in shock, though Shanna was turned the wrong way for the figure to really be that visible.

"What?!? Who is that? How did she get in here?" called the scientist, the guard who'd sliced Bendi's hand open taking a few cautious steps forward, really unsure if this had anything directly to do with the Kiwi on the table. Without much warning, he lunged, aiming to tackle the figure to the ground, though some small part of him doubted that this was going to work.

((As I'm not sure what else to do with two NPCs at my side...:p))

There was a lot of noise on the other side as Sam was escorted by the other two guards. A large commotion, and people were moving everywhere. Just accepting his fate, the lynx just came along and sat in the now empty cage, where it was shut and he was left once more. He mewed, miserably until he realized that besides him were two others. Still being skeptical and cautious, he approached each side and gave it a sniff.

As the guard who cut Bendi's hand lunged towards Anna Leigh, the bird squawked a warning, but she just looked at the guard as he passed right through her. What the bloody hell!? Bendi thought in alarm. Is she here or not?

Anna Leigh just looked back at the bird, and shook her head. So... you're not here? The figure shook her head again. Am... am I going loopy? Still, she shook her head. So are you, like, an illusion or somethin'? Finally the figure nodded. And I created you... because I wanted to see you? The figure nodded again. But if I created you, how can you be answering my questions? She shrugged. Lotta good that did me. So, can I create other illusions? She nodded. Ace! Thanks fer th' help, Anna!

Alix looked at the remains of the gun the recruit had handed him. How odd. The grip is torn apart, as is the rear end of the barrel. What could have done this? Running a finger along the twisted edges where the grip had been torn apart, he caught a whiff of gunpowder. Now, that's odd. It's almost as if the bullets went off while still inside the magazine. Rising to his feet, he wrapped up the pieces and went to find Kat.

[[OOC: Sorry it's been so long guys. Wasn't sure when to post this one, but decided to try for now.]]

(( Nyack, sorry about the delay guys. Hard to get time that family doesn't take up near Christmas. ))


The guard rises to a knee, staring back at the illusion while the speakers turned on again. "Ah. So that's what you can do. But is that all you can do? Someone, catch the bird." the voice calls again, the other guard that had been waiting and watching suddenly dashing forward. He keeps his eyes focused on Bendi, and he didn't look like he would make the same overshot mistakes that his companion had been making. Of course, he didn't know what Bendi knew, so there was a lot of room for trouble if he was quick enough.

Bendi didn't really see the other guard coming to catch him so much as heard the approach. Thinking quickly, Bendi imagined a room full of little Kiwi birds just like himself and dove right in between the guard's legs. Seconds later the room was full of squawking, chirping, fluttering Kiwi's.

The guards pause in surprise when they see so many birds all around, before looking towards the reflective one way window for some kind of help. They couldn't tell which one was the real one. "Very well. You now know how to use your powers. Impressive. How about a moral test. Let's see just what sort of person you are. One of you, go to the girl. Her powers would make this useless, so don't let her touch your skin." he said calmly, the first guard moving into place, about to lift his scalpel when he paused. He then gave the other guard a significant look. They both then looked down, to see if they could spot a trail of blood on the floor. Since Bendi had been cut, the injury might be leaving a trail. If not, they could continue on with the plan that the good doctor suggested.

Bendi caught sight of the scalpel in the one guard's hand, and there was no way that he was going to let them hurt someone else. All of the Kiwi's turned to face the two guards and charged them.

Of all the things that Bendi could have done, charging en masse was not what they expected him to do. So, as they had no idea which one was the real one, the guard with the scalpel made a quick move towards Shanna, only, before he could bring the imprompt weapon down, he found that she had rolled off the table. While everyone had been distracted by Bendi and his display, she had been quietly and carefully undoing her bonds with the free hand that they'd left her. She and the guard stared at each other across the table for a moment, when an alarm sounded, a yellow light flashing from somewhere near the ceiling. The guards knew what this meant, and made a run for a wall where they put on two gas masks, just as a peculiar hissing started to fill the air. It might take a moment for it to work, but both of them would fall unconscious before they had any chance at escape.

"I can see I overestimated your ability, and underestimated theirs. Return them to their cells for now, and make sure that the kiwi doesn't use his powers if you can."

(sorry for how long this has taken. Life has been a bit nuts recently)

"Oh, or maybe we can transform into a whole bunch of animals.. like.. in a family. Like lions and tigers."
"I d-d-dont know, I just s-seem to turn into a t-t-t-tiny, furry thing. I think it is called a r-ring tailed c-c-cat, I used to see them out on m-m-my hikes."
Azura thought about it. A right tailed cat? Thats BS! If everyone else turns into big cats, they'll have no use for me and I will be killed or worse...
Suddently, the anxiety that she had held at bay flooded back into her. She managed to squeek out an Oh shit. before the now familiar pain rushed into her. A few moments later. She was leaning against the now large bars of her cage. She peered over at her new friend, seeking some sort of comfort.

[yeah, holidays tend to do that to people XD]

Caine closed her eyes and turned away as her neighbor changed back into a little lemur thing. She opened one eye to check that it was over. It was. Good.

"You seem to transform a lot," Caine leaned forward so her face was more or less at lemur-Azura's height. "I haven't even transformed at all.. but the other guy that was here didn't transform near as much as you do." The whole transforming thing seemed more of a nuisance than like some sort of useful development at this point..

At that point Caine's mind started to wander a bit. She was hungry, but more than that, she was craving something... I want something salty.. no.. sweet.. like orange slices.. or.. what was that drink..? Kinda like root beer.. "Mmn, cream soda.." She accidentally mumbled that bit aloud but didn't particularly notice. If anything, it sounded like a very random non-sequester.

There wasn't much comfort from either his left or his right. That was when the lynx realized what he was grasping, clamped between his jaws firmly but not enough to bend - the card that he was offered earlier by the street magician. He set it down, looking at it, observing it as if it was his only source of entertainment. Nothing else had interested him. But somewhere out there was the wolf that had actually bothered to show a sense of difference from the rest. Almost as if he wanted to call out, he yowled, almost uncontrollably. Finding himself out of place, he quickly silenced himself and lay flat submissively on the floor. He suddenly felt angry at himself, furious at what he had just done. Not the yowling, but what he was doing now. Defiantly, he sat up as if to challenge whatever would come as punishment.

Anmar tensed as she saw the guard who had nearly killed the Briton move his hand to his tranq gun- or plain old gun- due to what must have been a very scary yowling lynx. Or killed him. No way he could have survived that, and yet here he is. Maybe it has something to do with the serum, though I doubt it's on purpose.

"Remind me how you're still alive," she said to the Briton, keeping one eye on the guard and having a strong urge scream at the top of her lungs, which she shoved down brutally.

While her neighbor was muttering about cream soda, Azura saw a flash of a guard come into the room. Wanting to know what was going on, she forced her spinning mind to calm down. Slowly she began to feel the tug of her leaving her body.
"Time to test this. I wonder..." as she was thinking opened her eyes and took a step out. This time, she didn't freak out as bad when she saw her body lying there. She looked to the front of her cage, and walked. Slowly, she found that she could walk through the bars. Delighted, she ran over to where this new, scary guard was, and watched.

Rudolph looked to the girl that was questioning his form's survival, considering how best to attempt to imitate Will. This girl's showing more concern than the others, maybe she had a crush on him or something. Alright, let me think. He sounded a bit foreign, was a sarcastic sort... I'll try some Shakespearean, see how it goes."T'was the strength of your love that returned me from the brink, for a single day gazing at thine countenance is worth an eternity of this hell. I'd risk death a thousand times and again, that I might be brought closer to you."

The lynx staggered when he saw the one he knew to be the fierce guard suddenly approach, and eerily said his name. There was something about this person - something different from the rest. A high rank? A level of brutality that no other guards here had? It certainly put the feline on edge. He still maintained his stance, tail flicking as if to show his lack of fear. The brown eyes stared at the man before him, silently awaiting what he would do. He slightly lifted his digits and set them on the floor, then repeated, almost in a rhythm.

A feeling of anger, or a feeling of rebelliousness arose as he watched on. His claws felt like retracting, but he held fast, waiting.

Azura sat and watched the linx go on edge.
"He could shoot him! I gotta do something!!!!
With out thinking, Azura jumped at the gaurd.
"Death from above!!!!" she mentally yelled. But to her surprised, she passed right through him, watching him twitch as if she was a ghost.