If there's trouble, all us freaks have is each other.

[thefuzzyguy]

Kurt had proved very hard to control for such a little guy. His teleporting could be controlled with stolen MRD technology, modified so as to be a bit less safe and a lot more punishing if he tried to get the collar off. But the mild, frightened kid they'd caught had turned into a determined little terror, and his various infractions had gotten him condemned to increasingly unpleasant confinement. A cell large enough to climb around in let him try to ambush the scientists coming to look at him. A confined space left him at an advantage over anyone without night vision, a prehensile tail, and a wicked kick. In the end, they'd settled on a modified version of the heavy-duty manacles that kept the most dangerous subjects spread-eagled against the wall. He didn't fit perfectly and might have found a way to slip even that, so they'd turned it upside-down. His physiology kept it from being agonizing the way being held that way would have been for a normal human, but it did leave him light-headed and dizzy, and he finally seemed subdued.

What the great minds of Hydra had missed was that Kurt had never intended to hurt anyone. He just wanted to get out. What came after that he didn't know. If he went home they'd find him again. They might hurt his parents. But the one thought he could keep clear under the muting influence of the collar and being held like a giant blue bat all the time was that he needed to get out.

The thick walls and the constant blood pounding in his head made it hard to pick out, but there was suddenly enough noise in the hallway to catch his attention. He groggily lifted his head, squinting toward the bars in the door.

Comments

[thefuzzyguy]

"Das macht nichts. ...Er, no problem. I'm Kurt." He'd conceal that, but he let it slip when they first caught him. At least his last time is still a secret. He's mostly sure they know exactly who and where his parents are, but on the off chance they're bluffing, he's not giving them anything. Fortunately, Kurt's just an ordinary name.

[mightiestgreen]

"Kurt...I'm Bruce." His last name was definitely known but no need to bring it up just yet.

He made as if he was just looking idly at the floor again but very quietly, below a whisper, he plays a hunch. "How good is your hearing?"

He had noticed the pointed ears.

[thefuzzyguy]

He's never been a fan of the Hulk stories, anyway. The news, as a rule, is depressing and, up until a few months ago, never had any effect on him.

Kurt jumps the very little bit his restraints allow him to. He can just barely catch the words, but he gets the idea. But there's nothing to suggest his co-conspirator has equally good hearing. "Uh, pretty good." He pauses as long as he dares to make it clear he's trying to answer. "Name. Good name." Babbling nonsense, but he's pretty prone to nonsense anyway. Hopefully their captors won't pick up on it that fast.

[mightiestgreen]

Good. The kid was quick for being hung upside down for who knows how long.

Bruce waits a moment before asking another question aloud, "When do they eat around here?" and then the second one very quiet, "Alright, I can't promise this will work. Just keep giving me stuff to answer."

[thefuzzyguy]

He's no supergenius, but he's sneaky. "Um, it's hard to judge time like this. I don't get hungry fast when I'm not moving. Do you?" It's... well, it's something to answer. He's trying his best to focus, but there's going to be a lot of uncontrolled blather.

[mightiestgreen]

Hopefully Hydra will get confused by the blather while they're trying to do something else.

"I'm always hungry. Higher metabolism. I guess you teenagers know something about that, huh?"

"This will sound strange but can you spit at your restraints?" Bruce knows these types of restraints are for holding people but their downside is being electronically controlled. Enough moisture and they would short out like a fuse.

[thefuzzyguy]

It certainly does, but he's willing to try anything and making sense isn't a big priority since he's been living with a constant headrush. "Ja, probably. About being hungry, I mean." He hopes this is going somewhere. It's a real strain on his limited faculties to come up with halfway plausible responses.

[mightiestgreen]

"What's that accent, German?"

"If you get it wet enough, it should short out and let go. But you won't have much time when it does."

"I shouldn't say anything, you should hear my spanish."

"If you can get your tail between your neck and your collar, that could block the sensor for a time too."

[thefuzzyguy]

"Ja, Bavarian," he says distractedly, trying to get that straight in his mind and picturing the collar. He knows what Bruce doesn't. He doesn't need to get out of his restraints, just to get the collar to stop blocking his powers, and then he can get them both out. (And, considering the man doesn't know that, helping an apparently useless kid is quite good of him, under the circumstances.)

"I'm pretty good with languages," he finally remembers to say, as he brings the spade-shaped tip of his tail to his mouth. Transferring spit and cutting off the sensor at the same time seems like the best call.

[mightiestgreen]

Bruce kept steeling himself for alarms, people running, or the influx of tranquilizer that signaled they had been found out. But so far, no such occurrence had happened.

"I'm fair...better with math, really."

He doesn't say much else, letting Kurt work on what he'd told him to do. Even if he does get loose, Bruce knows it's a slim to none chance that he can get out of the contraption he's in without disabling the computer.

He doesn't know Kurt's teleportation trick would be able to get them both free in a jiffy.

[thefuzzyguy]

"I stalled out on algebra," he says absently, getting his tail as wet as he can so the words come out even more garbled than a German accent would usually do. It's a bit gross, and he's annoyed at himself for even caring when he might be able to get out of here.

It doesn't look like much, but it's apparently odd enough to earn him another shock. It hurts plenty, but he doesn't care, because he manages to slip his dampened tail in and short the whole thing out. Disrupting the circuit burns his tail, but he'll worry about that later. His collar's only out for a second before the backup kicks in, but that's all he needs to port out of it, straight across to the other cell. He lands upside down in front of Bruce, his entire sense of the world scrambled by being wrong-side-up so long.

[mightiestgreen]

...he definitely wasn't expecting that.

"What in th--!" Bruce is startled by the sudden arrival of his cell neighbor, who he was PRETTY SURE was over in the other cell a moment ago. Even if he is upside down, he really needs to right himself quickly before he's found out.

"Quick, hurry, you've got to...run..." Bruce trails off, falling asleep again as one of the red alarms sound overhead. They were making sure nobody was getting out that had already slipped their bonds. Bruce mumbles, trying to stay awake as he sags against his restrained wrists, "...go, get out..."

[thefuzzyguy]

Kurt's had his teleporting for a few years, and being both naturally curious himself and with a couple of academics for parents, he's tested it as best he can. He can make it outside this building, at least, but he's not sure what he'll be up to after that. He can take a passenger normally without too much trouble, but the condition he's in now doesn't make it likely that he'll be able to do a second jump outside. And he was only half conscious on the way in, so the door is about all he knows to aim for. And he'll be bringing an unconscious guy along. This is the worst plan ever.

He's still doing it. He lurches halfway to his feet and leaps for Bruce's arm. He could just as easily grab the man's leg and port with much less trouble, but he's terribly touch-phobic and not thinking too clearly. The arm is a lot less personal. "Sorry, this is kind of a rough trip," he mutters as he grabs hold, and makes the long jump that dumps them onto Hydra's back porch, so to speak.

It... might be called an improvement.

[mightiestgreen]

There's a dizzying black nothing that Bruce is gratefully not fully conscious for. And then he lands on his stomach with a whoomph of air out in a groan, wondering vaguely how he's fallen out of his bonds. Even if he's dreaming it or its the drugs, he'll take the chance and struggles to try and get himself off the floor. He's not making much progress yet. "wha'happ'ned?" Bruce tries to ask.

The sirens are still going off but slightly muffled now that they're out of the building.

[thefuzzyguy]

"Poof," Kurt says dazedly, exhausted by just two ports and all over pins-and-needles as blood returns to his extremities in its normal portions. "But there's probably a million guys coming." Not to mention this facility is surrounded by scary walls. "I can get us pretty far away, but they'll probably be right behind und, well, I might pass out." He's not trying to be pessimistic, but Bruce has a right to know this is the lousiest escape ever planned.

[mightiestgreen]

There's a funny sound coming from Bruce. It sounds like he's...laughing? Maybe it was the ridiculousness of the situation plus the drugs, but Bruce felt much better now that they were out in the open.

He puts a hand up to the guide rail to drag himself up onto his feet, wavering a little. "Million guys...good." His eyes flashing green for a second. He really didn't like changing, letting the Hulk have the upper hand, but in this circumstance...Hydra had pushed enough buttons to get him ticked off. And you wouldn't like Bruce when he's angry.

"I owe you so I'll take this one. You take it easy."

[thefuzzyguy]

"Ja, okay, sure..." He's just glad he doesn't have to take them to the top of the wall and then as far away as he can see, because, well, he might die. His nose might be bleeding and his vision is swimmy, though that might just be his head facing upward again. "So you don't need a lift to the top of the wall?" Just so he was clear. He thought he might be able to do that one safely.

[mightiestgreen]

Bruce takes a slow breath, feeling his own head starting to clear. "Give me a moment and there won't be a wall."

He has an inner conference with his monster, something like this.

You hear that? A million guys all coming to get us. Are you going to let them lock us up again?

There's a resounding NO and Bruce winces, almost falling back on his knees as he holds the sides of his head. With a yell, his body starts morphing into something very different than a skinny physicist. His arms bulge, his skin tints darker and darker to green as he grows in height and bulk in a matter of moments.

The Hulk is loose!

[thefuzzyguy]

"Geil. Ich rettete der Hulk." He's pretty okay with that, though. If the guys who've been keeping him locked up for months want the Hulk confined, he's totally prepared to side with the Hulk. And even if that weren't so, the man saved him thinking he was just bailing out a kid, not arranging his own escape. He's fine with he Hulk.

But he's still moving a little out of the way, infuriatingly clumsy and slow as he does. He knows he's got incredible grace buried in there somewhere, but right now his limbs are like uncooperative lead. Never mind getting out of the Hulk's way. He might not even be able to evade the Hydra goons.

[mightiestgreen]

Yes, here come the goons. Right on cue to get a green fist in their masked faces. They don't even have time for their spiel about two heads, Hulk is already smashing every head that shows itself.

He heaves on a car door, ripping it from it's hinges and cutting a path through the men with masks and ray guns. Scattering them like bowling pins.

When they fall back to regroup, he turns on the wall, beating it with his fists.

BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM CRACK!!

Hulk ducks a laser blast and looks through the smoke for Kurt. Bruce made him promise to get that kid safe.

[thefuzzyguy]

Kurt's slow and confused and scared, but he's still a creature constructed entirely to move. He'd be embarrassed if he could see himself, lurching around obstacles instead of spinning past them, running straight into a fallen piece of fencing and barely turning his facefirst tumble into a somersault, stamping solidly on one masked soldier's foot when no other way to get around her is readily apparent. At least it works. He makes it to the wall, panting and struggling but intact.

[mightiestgreen]

Hulk reaches down with a decisive swipe of his hand and scoops up Kurt over his shoulder. "Holdin' us up, Blue," he snipes as he puts his shoulder hard to the hole in the wall, making it large enough to go through.

Out they go, past the compound and the men chasing them in various vehicles. Hulk hits his stride once he's on flatter ground and takes off running full speed.

[thefuzzyguy]

Considering what little he knows of the Hulk, that seems downright polite, and pretty lucid. He tries to hold on, but there's not really much to do but dangle here. He's always resented being short and light, but it's coming in handy just at the moment, even if "toted by a galloping Hulk" is a damned uncomfortable way to travel.

Makes it hard to talk, too, but he tries. "If--Oof!" that bump got him right in the chin. "You need a jump--Ow--to lose them for g-good, I can p-probably get us a little-ow--ways." He hopes. A normal sized person is hard enough.

[mightiestgreen]

Hulk growls, don't interrupt him while he's running! Besides, the Hulk is solid as a brick wall, would he really want to try and teleport a brick wall with him?

Finally, they've left Hydra in the dust, the Hulk slowing down near a deserted field. Who knows where, but at least they're here and in one piece. Hulk sets Kurt down, mostly on his feet. Towering over the blue mutant without really meaning to and giving him a look as if he's trying to work out what his angle is. Hulk is just suspicious of everyone.

[thefuzzyguy]

He certainly shouldn't. He'd probably injure himself nastily in the process if he tried; he's already feeling it from the rescue plan he needed to be rescued from. But he would. It's just the way he is.

Once set down, Kurt opts to sink to his knees. He'd like to sleep forever, but there's real grass under his feet, fresh air, soft sunset light... It really doesn't matter than he feels like death warmed over or that the international most wanted monster is looking at him like he might need smashing. "So... that was fun."