Later that night, Kai, Issac and Nadya sat on a balcony overlooking the ruined city.
Beyond the metal railing, the world was buried in a thin layer of snow. The skeletal remains of buildings stood against the moonlight, abandoned and lifeless. The streets below were barely visible beneath the frost, stretching into the distance like veins of a long-dead beast.
It was serene and quiet out here - far removed from the chaos of the underground pit.
Kai exhaled, watching his breath turn to mist. He had felt a bit cold earlier, but now, standing on the balcony, it barely registered.
'I guess mutants are resistant to the cold.'
Another thing to add to the list of changes.
Despite the eerie silence of the city, he felt oddly at ease here - at least more than before. Nadya, for all her volatility, seemed to respect him now after his fight. And Isaac had been friendly from the start, despite his uptight nature.
Still, a part of him remained on edge. That instinct never faded.
Nadya let out a sigh, swirling a half-empty bottle of liquor in her hand. She had been steadily drinking throughout the night, and Isaac shot Kai a knowing glance.
"Just a heads-up," he said, voice low. "When she gets drunk, it's like a dice roll. She could get aggressive, overly jolly, flirtatious, or just flat-out wild."
Kai laughed lightly. "So it's up to luck?"
Isaac nodded grimly. "I shared the nursing room with her for a couple of days. I've seen a few of her drunk states."
Kai glanced at Nadya, who was still focused on the city, her eyes reflecting the moonlight. He wasn't sure which version of her he'd end up dealing with tonight, but it was probably best to be prepared for anything.
He also couldn't help but look at Isaac's sleeve that was fluttering in the wind.
Noticing that, after a long pause, Isaac broke the silence again.
"You want to know why I lost my arm?"
Kai glanced at him and nodded his head, curious about what had happened after he had blacked out.
Isaac smirked faintly. "A while ago, I was sent to capture Nyx."
The air between them shifted.
"Back then, all I had to do was grab him - just get my hands on him, phase off with him into our transport, and that would've been it. We would've had the man revered as the smartest in the world in our custody..."
"But?"
Isaac exhaled through his nose, shaking his head. "I got close. Close enough that my hand was about to grab his arm - his left arm. And then…" His smirk twisted into something darker. "He cut it off himself."
Kai narrowed his eyes. "He cut off his own arm?"
"Yeah. Blade straight through the joint. No hesitation. My ability relies on contact, so once the arm was severed, my power didn't work on the rest of him. And by then, the guards were swarming. It was too risky to stay, so I phased out. And Nyx? He lost an arm, but he got away."
Kai leaned against the railing, thinking back to the battle in the facility, especially after he had gone berserk.
"Seems like he gave it a few upgrades since then," he muttered.
Isaac scoffed. "Yeah. No kidding."
'Of course, that twisted fucker would do the same to him,' Kai added internally before Nadya chimed in.
"Well, this time the boss wanted us to mess with his research," she said, stretching her arms overhead. "Bastard's been cooking up monsters, but worst of all? Rumour has it he's developed Mutant Suppressants."
Kai's brow furrowed. "How would that even work?"
Nadya looked over to Isaac, as if asking him to answer for her. "The Z gene - it's what makes us mutants. It's what allows our abilities to manifest. Everyone's mutation is different, and each one comes with its own drawbacks, but that gene is the foundation."
He tilted his head. "I don't completely understand it, but if that gene could somehow be isolated or attacked - the same way antibodies fight off viruses - then, in theory, mutants could be suppressed. Their abilities completely shut down."
Kai processed the information in silence.
Isaac continued, "So far, no one's managed to pull it off. But if it were possible, we'd be defenceless against the Association. They already want to monopolise everything mutant-related. If they control who gets to have powers and when they can use them, it's over for us."
Kai tapped his fingers against his glass. The idea of suppressing a mutant's abilities… It was horrifying. Even more so than being able to produce more mutants.
A rogue mutant without their ability was just an outlaw waiting to be captured or eliminated.
There was a moment of silence as they all considered the possibilities, including Nadya, who was unusually calm. Her usual fiery temperament was dulled - probably thanks to the alcohol. But then she smirked.
"Enough about that. Since Isaac's in a sharing mood, I've got my own story."
Nadya's voice lost some of its usual playfulness as she recounted the story.
"After the Z Virus outbreak, the world was a fucking mess. Amina? She was kidnapped by a mutant terrorist group in the Middle East. They slaughtered her family and kept her alive because she was a mutant that could heal. Forced her to patch up their wounded combatants. She was a tool to them - nothing else. If she resisted, they'd torture her and make her watch as they killed people. So she did what she had to do to survive."
Kai listened silently, eyes locked on his drink.
"The Outlaws were sent to wipe them out," Nadya continued. "And when we stormed their compound, we found her locked up. Terrified. Barely even a person anymore. Just a husk of a girl too scared to even speak. Everyone else thought she'd be useful and left it at that. But I…" She hesitated. "I took care of her. Got her out of that state. It took time, but she's been with us ever since."
Kai exhaled through his nose.
He hadn't meant to scare her when he had awoken. But now it made sense why she reacted so strongly to him. Someone who was trapped and exploited against their will… Kai understood that feeling all too well.
They had moved past that moment, but the weight of it lingered, as Kai attempted to change the subject...