Catalysts: IC 2.0 Announcement in OP!

She woke up as night approached. Hunting time. Entering the hall, she looked down at her tail again. Carrying them around was an absolute pain. But if her children absorbed the life force of just one or two people... The choice was obvious. Making her way down to the lobby, she headed off for the military base. There would be soldiers out guarding the civilian streets by now, much less there.

Sliding under the fence, she hesitated as one of them struggled in her. A portion of her skin stretched under the will of a single hand. She increased the sedative again and continued. The long term sedative for their metamorphosis was too precious to use for the moment, resistance to it would prove fatal for them.

Hesitating around one of the buildings, she began her practise of listening out. The perfect chance to gauge how far the twins would grow. By the time they were a year old biologically they'd have total resistance to the growth enhancements. But then she wanted Ragnarok to be there still. It was a tough choice, but then she would have guards to protect her.

Nox crept into a barracks. He planted the bomb beneath a bed. He tried to sneak out, but a passing patrol of guards saw him. He drew two kunai. He stabbed two, and jumping off of their bodies stabbed the other two. He had to leave, before the deaths were discovered.

She heard alarms go off and froze. "Nox!" Not wasting time, she waited for two nearby guards to turn their backs before leaping at them, tearing their jackets open and pressing onto them, watching as their bodies withered away. Getting up, she glanced around in search of Nox. Obviously both had plans for the base, they needed to co-ordinate much better.

He nearly ran into Steph running away from the bodies. He was surprised to see her, in her condition. "Are you sure you should be fighting while carrying children? It seems rather dangerous." He shut his eyes against the glare of many alarm lights.

She rolled her eyes and urged him towards her hole in the fence. "Medusa put up a pretty good fight against Perseus while carrying a winged horse and a heavy gold giant in her gut, I'm fine. Ragnarok's a rock head anyway so I assume they take after him." Dragging her tail caused her to be slower than usual, but she dived through with little trouble. Waiting on the other side for Nox she prepared her knife hands.

He crawled through the hole in the fence, taking care to conceal it with brush afterwards. Troops were scrambling inside the compound, where they were looking for the fugitives. Nox struck a match and threw it into the dry scrub. He then pulled on steph's arm, urging her to follow as he ran.

She shrugged at his desperation, sliding along with not too much effort. It was becoming a strain to hold them in now that they were ready. Perhaps Nox should know now. "Nox, can you stay at the hotel for a bit? I believe that you should be informed of my plan, I believe that we can work in conjunction to support Ragnarok's larger goals."

"It's fine with me." He looked back, the brush fire now a faint glow in the distance. He slowed to a walk, and his pulse slowed. Out of danger. For now. "Y'know, there seems o be a lot of trouble to be had on this island."

She nodded in agreement as the hotel grew closer. One benefit that the plants brought was a drawing sensation, distorting the perception of time to make the journey quicker, for her at least. "While you continue your physical efforts in driving out the humans, I will be aiming right for the centre of the world powers, demanding that the UN release this island to the Catalysts. Hopefully the combination will give us some breathing room."

"Reason? With them? They're remaking the holocaust right now. They won't reason with Catalysts. Much less us." He held the door for her entering the hotel. Once they were both inside, he looked around.

She made her way up to the stairs until she reached the new guard level, waiting for Nox to catch up. "I'll be gathering hostages, I have a pair at this moment. If the UN does not comply with our demands, I will provide a demonstration of what I can do." She moved towards the first alcove and looked back at Nox. The tip of her tail scratched at the plants inside it. "You may want to turn your back if you're queasy."

Nox turned to allow her to do whatever she was doing. He pulled out a pocketwatch an used the mirrored inside to look at his ace. The dark areas under his eyes had become darker and larger, and his eyelids were a bit droopy.

She closed her eyes as the cocoon began to emerge from her tail. "I recently birthed several hundred snakes, both to protect this hotel, and to make sure I could handle such a mass inside myself. So, I went to the base and consumed six women, for the purpose of metamorphosis. Once they are laid in these alcoves, they will continue to mutate until they are gorgons, open to my influence. That's what I plan to use the hostages for, helping to convert more female soldiers faster to decrease the humans power while increasing ours, and forcing action in the meantime." She gasped as the cocoon was fully out, plants already twisting around it to shower it in mist.

"That seems like a very very Wile E Coyote plan. Not that it's silly, but could backfire." He began to seek an unoccupied room. He needed sleep, day or night. He needed to be at his best if he was to fight. Of course, the fighting might not happen.

She took her time laying the other five. As each emerged it became much easier. By the time she was panting, face down on the misty ground in a weakened state, she was glad of the feeling of weightlessness that had come. Taking her time, she got back up and went to the top floor, checking by Nox's room. "Sorry, 200 snakes which you grow yourself is one thing, six fully grown humans who you're creating cocoon's for is another. A semi-sibling of mine lives here as well, two floors down is where the hostages will be. These rooms up here are for the important Catalysts."

"Thanks for letting me stay here, Steph. You're a kind person." He entered his room, which was as he had left it. He all but jumped on to the bed and fell asleep after around five minutes of reading.

She slithered over to him and pulled the blanket over. "I wish Ragnarok felt the same way..." She paused to sit down on the bed. Going behind his back for Nox would probably prove fatal, for both her and Nox. Yet she couldn't just let his sudden kindness go with just a thank you and a room to stay. She got up again and left the room. Later, once things had settled down again. In the meantime she had to concentrate on growing her force of gorgons. Once she had sixteen others to assist her in transforming more, she could worry. "Just so long as they leave the females alive."

His dreams had obviously been affected by his choice of reading material. He was flying through the air on dragonback, taking in the sights from an eagle's view. He was able to ast magic, too. It was a pleasent enough world.

She lay back down on the lounge again, looking at the twins underneath her skin. Maybe two weeks closer. It was hard to tell really, especially given there was no reference for comparison. Maybe if she felt herself going into labour she could just rush down to the station and bring them back. Wouldn't be too difficult after what she had just gone through.

His dreams changed topics again. He was now subconsciously fretting over Pandora's safety. He hadn't heard from her in a long while, and he was beginning to get worried. It was a decent reason to worry, in his opinion.

Her sleep came with more dreams of her intended future. Revenge on all the harm caused by the military in the form of the female soldiers undergoing the metamorphosis. The males would be shipped off in their boats away from the island, while others bringing in freed Catalysts brought them to safety. The rubble could stay, catalysts had no concern about mess after all. Well, most of them anyway.

He awoke with a start from a series of nightmares. He crept out and began to tiptoe down the hall in search of water. He found a restroom with a sink. As he stepped in, however, he frightened a little rattlesnake which began to rattle.

She got up as a blurred image of Nox burned through her mind. Obviously he had startled one of the snakes. Not wasting time she hurried to the room, sliding past Nox and taking the snake up close to her chest. "Be calm child, he is a Catalyst." She waited for the rattling to stop before placing it back down once more. "Sorry about that, I seem to have missed informing a few while they emerged. They don't exactly come one by one if you know what I mean, I'll let you get back to what you were doing."

She turned to look at the mirror. Hygiene had seemingly been neglected during the past few days, her face had several scabs and blood spots. Leaning down she began to wash it off with refreshing splashes of water.

He went over to the next sink in line and got a drink of water. He sat down by the rattlesnake, now calm, and began to pet it on the head. He accidentally bumped into Steph on his way out. He apologized profusely.

She shrugged it off, patting his shoulder. "A little nudge never hurt anyone." She bit her lip for a moment. He had an interest in someone else, she already knew that. Still, it didn't mean she was excluded from showing a little affection, after all he did end up saving her back there. Leaning forward, she kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Sleep well, knowing you there'll be something great to wake up to." She continued back into the hall, making her way to her room slowly.