Stripped down

Arianna suddenly felt a jolt of frost in her throat. It felt as if part of her had been completely cordoned off. She could no longer feel her poison glands. The only venom she could spit was with her eyes as she crawled out of the chair and levelled a death glare at the strippers.

"What have you done?!", she managed to wheeze between laboured breaths. The men stood in front of her, chests exposed in the ultimate leather gear that was actually quite functional. The woman stood up and tried to lunge at them but she missed.

"You really made a mistake, blowing out like you did," Daken flaunted as he got closer and pinned her arm behind her back. She struggled with all her might. Her slender fingers were no match for his bulky build. Tom rifled through the thick bag she'd brought with her. It was heavy and not full of clothes either. The familiar sight of green bills came into view as he opened the zip and peered in.

"So. You wanna restart Gold Labs, get all the dirt and all that shit. But you walk around with the 100mil you plan to use. Tsk tsk tsk. Not smart, sweetie."

"Don't touch that!", Arianna screamed and struggled as Tom's fingers wrapped around something shiny. She had been trying to hide her identity for the last 2 months, only for her hard work to come undone. He picked up an ID card that bore her name.

Her real name.

"Seems like I found you, Jenny Parker."

He stalked closer and caressed her face with his gloved hand. He leaned closer and sniffed her hair.

"Whew that's a lot of dye to use. Not healthy," he boasted with a smirk. "Hannah had wondered where you scurried off to. You were the only mutt off the ship we couldn't find. Well... She couldn't find."

"How did you find me? I stayed hidden-"

"No", Daken snapped. "You got desperate. So you screwed up. Royally." He yanked her arm tight as he leaned closer to her ear. "Desperation. It can make us do really, really stupid things, hm?"

"What are you gonna do now, huh? You gonna kill me?", she snorted through gritted teeth against Daken's grip.

"Oh no. Me and this hunk? No no. You have 'our' word that we won't kill you. But... Can't say the same about anyone else," Tom shrugged as he hefted the bag with the money when a USB stick with the label "Gold Files" dropped out. Arianna looked as pale as a ghost as she watched helplessly.

"Huh. Guess this will come in handy", Tom muttered as he picked it up.

Daken released Arianna as she fell to the ground, still wheezing.

"Too bad you weren't a client. I think we would have had an awesome time. Don't you?"

He ran his finger on her chin in a condescending manner then stood to leave with Tom. Arianna managed to get to her feet and dialled a number on her phone.

"It's me... Get the lab ready.. I need...attention...."

---

With their mission complete, the boys hopped into their car and drove off to Hannah's mansion to report. Something was on Tom's mind. Even without advanced telepathy, it was driving Daken up the wall.

"You wanna organise your thoughts a bit, Ice Man? Causing havoc over here."

Tom scoffed a reply, "Really? So what? You're a telepath now or something?"

"Technically, I'm a 'bodypath' so whatever nervous energy you've got going there, seeping over this end."

Tom sighed and thought for a moment.

"I don't know... I guess I'm wondering, what now. I mean.... I didn't meant to become a test subject. It was supposed to be an intelligence job but... Guess not heh....".

"Well," began Daken. "Wasn't your fault you got duped into that experiment shit. You're a free man now though, so... Choice is yours. If you're really stuck, Hannah can help you."

"I don't wanna be a pain to her or anything. She helped me out -"

"Then all the more reason to ask her for help. You know the only pain in her ass is someone who won't ask for help. So get off your ass and go ask her for help."

Tom pondered over Daken's words for a moment. The boys continued driving in complete silence until they reached the Vogue residence. The night was young, and they were about to have good company.