Will The Sun Rise? (Brotherhood Recruiter needed!)

[Sherridan Kaine]

***NOTE: This thread is open, but I definitely need someone to recruit Sherridan into the Brotherhood in it, as it was designated for this.

A night without stars. A free night. A night off. This one simple Monday night is all this to the partially tired Sherridan Kaine, who has decided not to hunt any humans tonight. He sits at the bar, drinking a glass of some hideous alcoholic drink which has alcohol as it's healthiest ingredient.

His rich, shoulder-long golden blond hair is set loose, falling all around his head. He is bare-footed, wearing a pair of dark jeans, out of which a long tail comes out, although it is now wrapped around his waist, and a black tank top, and a black chain around his left wrist. His fur is now white with black stripes, like a white tiger's, and his facial fur is already starting to show up in form of a short beard. If he didn't shave in the next couple of hours, it will probably be the same thickness as everywhere else on his body.

Being partially drunk, his senses are not at full attention, but they are still far above human level. He definitely needs a shave, and a nice warm shower. Yes, he likes showers. Unfortunately, though, any water that is in a form of a puddle, such as a bath, sea, lake, or ocean, terrifies him. His left hand is holding the glass of mysterious liquid, while his right hand is used to lean on the bar. His feet are somewhere about mid-height on the bar stool, and his look seems distant, a look of a man who is just tired of everything.

Being a regular at this bar is the thing that allows Sherridan to still be here without being bothered. Whoever challenged him in this bar ended up unconscious in a pile of mud several miles away. No, Sherridan is not a cold-hearted killer. Most of the time, at least. OK, he's not a cold-hearted killer when he is Sherridan Kaine, not Ferus.

Yes, Sherridan needs a shave and shower badly, but he can't get either- his apartment is out of water and electricity because of street repairs. And, yes, Sherridan indeed has a multi-million fortune in his bank account and owns several huge villas, but he uses any of that only in cases where he simply has to, and even then it is for goals that are far from money or profit related. Sherridan works on his own out of principle, and has decided to first get a job and come to the highest place possible in it, and only then start using his fortune for his pleasure.

This, unfortunately, seems far, far away, since he hasn't managed to keep a single job because he found himself too concentrated on other things, such as hunting down mutant-haters at night and dispatching them. Oh, this is far from a secret- every at least a bit formidable mutant has heard of the "Silent Hunter", as the news reporters so boldly named him. Publicity doesn't mean a thing to him, but neither does secrecy.

While wallowing in self-pity, tough memories, and toxic vapors from the glass, Sherridan's ears twitch as he hears a very atypical type of door-opening and closing. He knows the exact sound and way the regulars entered this place, and this was definitely not one of them. Which is strange, since people preferred other bars to this one.

He looks up from the bar surface to see...

[Magneto]

Magneto pushed open the rather flimsy door of the run down bar, entering slowly as his gaze moved about quickly, taking in just how many occupants inhabited the place. He let his fingers slide across the door as it shut, taking one careful step after another as he sought out a place to sit. He was dressed in a pair of dress slacks and a white button up dress shirt, the top button undone of course, and wore a fedora pulled down across his brow to hide his face somewhat. As he reached up to remove his hat, Magneto caught sight of a rather interesting looking character sitting alone at the bar. The man was clearly a mutant and judging by the way no one seemed to be bothering him, one who was more than capable of handling himself.

Choosing a stool next to Sheridan, Magneto placed his hat on the bar and ordered a water, much to the amusement of the bartender. Erik was not one to drink much, he tried to keep himself sober and alert at all times, considering the messes he always found himself in....or rather, the situations he constantly chose to seek out. "Your either very brave or just plain foolish to walk out openly like this," he said as he kept his gaze directed at the wall of liquor bottles on display in front of him. Magneto would make the first subtle move and then go from there depending on Sheridan's initial reaction.

[Sherridan Kaine]

After a quick glimpse at the man, Sherridan moves his eyes back to his drink. Of course he knew about Magneto. In fact, Sherridan has dedicated a major part of his free time to finding out everything there is about the mutant. And at the very sight of him, Sherridan would probably be euphoric.

Unfortunately, this is not the case, as he never saw a single picture, and the man's description isn't currently in his mind. Also, the fact that he is partially drunk helps in not recognizing the man who has founded the ideals Sherridan mostly goes by.

To the question, a reply comes after another sip of the ghastly drink. "I am neither, but merely proud to be a mutant." he replies simply, his eyes still fixing on an imaginary point somewhere between the bar and his glass.

At any other given time, the feline mutant would most certainly determine whether his partner in conversation was a human or mutant, and then attack with the goal to kill if he were the first. However, this is his night off, and Sherridan is actually happy to lead some conversation, pointless as it might seem.

"You're not a regular. What brings you to this part of town?" he asks afterwards, finishing his drink and grimacing at the taste of the semi-fluid thing that just went down his throat. "Jay, make me an espresso." he tells the barman. His espresso's were perfectly strong, just like Sherridan liked them. Anyone else trying them would either be able to barely tolerate it, or would die of poisoning, because Jay used to put six spoons of coffee on one cup of water, and then somehow filter a quarter of that coffee through something best not described.

Of course, Sherridan has a slight problem of trying to control his hot temper, and the other side of him, Ferus, seems to be particularly irritated today. Oh, Sherridan is far from a split personality, it simply made sense sometimes to just think of his night job as a different person in his head.

[Magneto]

Magneto smiled at Sherridan's reply, not touching the small glass of water the bartender sat down in front of him. He wasn't really thirsty, but he knew if he didn't order something, it would only draw more eyes upon him and make him look even more suspicious than he already did. Sitting with Sherridan probably drew more eyes his way than wanted, but hey, you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.

"Oh, I'm far from regular," Magneto said in response to Sherridan's remark, "I guess you could say I'm just out for a stroll, seeing what I can find," he finished rather cryptically, casting a glance in Sherridan's direction. Magneto was our recruiting other mutants to the cause, looking for those he could offer his hand to and in return, could count on their support when he needed it. The Brotherhood was in shambles and as it stood right now, there was only a handful of mutants running things. If progress and change were to happen, then Magneto would need other mutants...powerful and skilled mutants who weren't afraid to do what had to be done in order to secure the safety of their kind.

"Proud to be a mutant," Magneto said, repeating Sherridan's words, still smiling and perhaps just a bit more now, "As well you should be. We're the next step in evolution. Of course, I'm sure the homo sapiens would disagree with me on that one," he said as he smile faded a bit and his gaze drifted fully to Sherridan now, waiting for some type of reaction to his statement.

[Sherridan Kaine]

"You certainly won't find much here." he says in response to the first statement. The coffee is not yet done, and he is already starting to get a headache. He got over being drunk very quickly, and this time he wasn't even fully soaked with alcohol.

"The next step in evolution..." he says, remembering those words. And the name he called humans. Their scientific name. Even though his senses are almost as acute as ever, and he connects two and two quickly, Sherridan still doesn't think that he has the real Magneto sitting there right next to him. That would be just plain illogical- showing up in a dump like this.

"Magneto said almost the exact same words, you know. And I fully agree with him. He is probably the only man I hold any respect for any more." he says, not caring if anyone in the bar hears him. They have all learned not to mess with him, not even if he's fully drunk and half-way asleep.

Sherridan laughs at his own stupidity. "You know, for a second I thought you really were Erik..." finally he looks once more at his companion, and several emotions are visible behind his ice-blue eyes. First comes the second of realization, then pure shock, then amazement, and finally the utmost respect. He finishes the sentence in a completely different tone, one which shows that the semi-drunk cat-boy finally knows whom he is talking to. "...Magnus Lehnsherr himself."

At that very second, his complete stature changes. He sits straight in his chair, and his tail is no longer idly around his waist, but semi-loosely hanging down as if just waiting to do something, and overall he seems to act in the same way a high schooler might act in the presence of a familiar professor.

[Magneto]

Magneto smiled as he watched and read the change in Sherridan's face and eyes. The beast man had finally realized who he was talking to, the very mutant he seemed to admire and respect. Of course, Magneto had experienced this sort of admiration before and while it did boost his ego a bit, he had grown quite use to it by now. Of course, the way Sherridan freely used the name "Erik Magnus Lehnsherr", sort of made Magneto uneasy. Usually everyone referred to him as "Magneto", but then again, the government did have an extensive file on him and anyone with Internet access, enough money, and above average computer skills could get their hands on said file.

Magneto looked down for just a second, taking his small glass of water in his hand. After a sip, he set the glass back down and looked once again to Sherridan, "And just what would you do if I was indeed?," he asked, almost tauntingly, curious as to Sherridan's alignment and just what he really thought. The old man was perfectly safe, after all, in a world of metal, he was more its master than even he really knew.

[Sherridan Kaine]

Sherridan chuckles slightly, but then gets serious, and remains quiet for a while. Well, first off, there isn't much that he can do. Attacking is obviously not an option, since Magneto is probably the one mutant Sherridan would actually listen to, and he knows that he can't just ask whether there exists a new brotherhood and if he can join or not.

"Well, I have to say there isn't much that I really can do in that situation, is there? I mean, I don't really have any questions, since there isn't a single sentence about Magneto that isn't saved somewhere on my computer and filed in my villa. I would probably do the same thing I am going to do now: wait for questions." he replies finally, voicing his thoughts. He knew that it could have been risky telling about the Magneto-files in a bar like this, but there were some relieving circumstances.

One of them was the fact that Sherridan Kaine had become a completely anonymous figure in New York, which was a remarkable feat considering his immense wealth, and another was that the cat-man didn't just go off and buy the most expensive security system. No, before doing anything above the everyday procedure Sherridan studied closely the area in which the action will take place, or in this case security systems for homes and virus and hacking protections for computers. He had been studying allot about computers lately, and since he was gifted by human standards, this all was promising to make quite allot of him in his older days.

He had not hired security guards- they can be corrupted. Those new, all-electronic security systems were out of the question- even he could hack in. So what remained was a combination of high-tech motion detectors spreading all across his villa, so that there was merely about 20cm³ space between two lasers, and one of the non-Internet connected alarm systems from the 80's. Of course, this all was interconnected by Sherridan, so that only he knew how to disable it. Oh, and there were some medieval traps as well.

His computer was protected in a similar way, and since it was turned off and unplugged at any time other than when he was using it, hardly any hacking could be done, and if it could, it would be only hacking his "my pictures" folder or something other as trivial as that.

Naturally, though, Sherridan somewhat expected Magneto's disapproval of this young man, almost boy, holding every single file on the metal-twisting mutant in his hands. "I do have one question though- is it true that the cure doesn't work any more?" he adds finally, shifting a bit uncomfortably in his chair- he better not do anything to upset Magneto, or the chain around Sherridan's hand just might end up attacking it's owner.

((Sorry if I overdid it with the security talk... I got a slight inspiration wind there))

[Magneto]

"Ah, the cure," Magneto said as he looked down at the top of the bar in front of him, "The saving grace of homo sapiens everywhere. Their precious little security blanket which protects them from big bad mutants everywhere," he added with a smile now, finding the topic somewhat amusing. Magneto still nursed a sore spot on this subject, but since his return, he had taken a few steps to ensure the eradication of such a threat to him and his kind. Sure the so called "cure" was still scary, but now that he knew its effects were only temporary, well, that took some of the bite out of the homo sapien front. The worthless, tailless monkeys were once again rendered helpless against their mutant adversaries, something that Magneto was sure would send them back into a frenzied panic and search for something to even the playing field once again.

Leaning over toward Sherridan a bit, Magneto slipped his right hand into the pocket of his dress slacks and pulled out a coin of some sort. He resumed his normal sitting position once again and placed the quarter on the bar top, carefully balancing the coin on its thin edge. Then, moving his hand away, Magneto smiled as the coin began to spin around and around, picking up speed with each revolution, a slight physical picture of his ideas and movements in the mutant revolution. "The cure it seems is not the miracle it is claimed to be," he said as he glanced over to Sherridan as the coin then lifted off the bar top and hovered in the air in front of both Magneto and the cat man.

The blatant use of his ability in the open like thins was dangerous, but Magneto was not ashamed of who or what he was and to be honest, their wasn't much anyone here was going to do. The mutant squads and police probably weren't on the bar phone's speed dial and judging by the way most of the questionable patrons looked away, none of them wanted to be involved in this business of Magneto's anyway.

[Sherridan Kaine]

Sherridan looks at the quarter, and his cat eyes follow it all the while through its performance. So, it is true- the cure was not permanent. And how could it be? It has been derived from a mutation which denied all other ones, but only in a certain area of effect. And as the files said it, it was a child mutant. So perhaps as the child grows and its powers improve, that same mutant could be fatal for all others?

Sherridan decides to discard these thoughts for a later time, and he grabs his coffee, drinking it all at once- as with all poisons, it's best to take it fast, and all at once, than to take it slowly over time.

Instead of asking any more questions, the young mutant just keeps watching his unexpected companion, his tail now swinging idly around the bar stool. One thing he doesn't understand- what becomes of the brotherhood now that most of its initial members have either been "cured" and are recuperating, or are nowhere to be found, probably dead or worse.

Another question for a later occasion, Ferus decides and goes on with his keeping track of Magneto's movements. It is his primary instinct to observe anyone and everyone at first as a potential enemy, then from there set that same person as either real enemy, prey, or ally. His eyes are those of a hunter, and it shows in the way they scan each and every single detail both about Magneto, and the current state of the room they're in, which is something best not discussed.

[Magneto]

The coin which Magneto used for his little presentation fell back to the bar top and twirled about on its own before falling on its face. Magneto studied Sherridan for a moment, in his own way, and pondered just how to approach this situation. There was no tell tale sign that this mutant was affiliated with anyone, but then again, looks could be deceiving, just look at Magneto. A seemingly old man, weak and fragile to some, but yet he was one of the most feared and most powerful mutants on the face of the planet.

"Now that we've established who I am and what I am, what about you?," he asked rather casually. Sherridan had been rather interested in asking his questions, now it was time the cat man answered a few in return. It seemed he was somewhat interested in Magneto, or else he wouldn't have used the full name of Erik Magnus Lehnsherr. The way he spoke about the cure, showed he also had been following current events, so this meant he was active in the world around him and it also meant he had some sort of interest. The Brotherhood needed new recruits, hence why Magneto was out and about like this, he just hadn't expected to find one like this.

[Sherridan Kaine]

The look of a hunter in his eyes is replaced for but a second with confusion, and then the shift comes once more and now his eyes are that of a trained diplomat- not revealing.

"Well, to the question what I am, the answer is quite obvious. I am capable of amplifying any existing feline trait and applying it to myself, so I can't do anything without using my body to do it the way you or so many others can. Now, about who I am. One of my names, the given one, is Sherridan Kaine. This alone should be enough if you have heard the news in the past 7 years, although the Kaine name is still being dragged around through many shows on TV." he replies, deliberately leaving the information about Ferus, the "Silent Hunter", out of his answer, as well as any answers to the oh so frequent question of "What ever happened to the Kaine family wealth?" and and all others coming with it. He never denies nor confirms any of the speculations, even though whenever he makes a public appearance he is wearing an Armani suit, and he looks nothing like a mutant- merely a man with hairy hands.

So how then, do the media and all of his partners know that he is a mutant? That one is easy- he told or showed them. No pictures of his mutation exist, however, as he made special care that whenever the media found out about his mutation, they wouldn't have a camera with them.

How powerful he exactly is no one really knows, since all of his actions are kept well hidden, and this refers not only to his mutation, but to his ways of spending the fortune, and his social manipulations. Having many friends in high places always was one of the imperatives, but only Sherridan knew who and how numerous were these friends.

Still, Sherridan didn't expect Magneto to know all this, since the mutant had too many of his own worries to think about an almost irrelevant factor that appeared as trivia in the evening news.

[Magneto]

Magneto recognized the name "Sherridan Kaine", and to be honest, who wouldn't? Magneto did his best to keep track of important figures in the world and what stances they took on mutant rights and what not, and so, the Kaine name was something that made him smile. Sherridan had openly declared himself a mutant, a step up in Magneto's eyes and something that made him even more curious about the cat man. Laughing a bit, Magneto nodded his head, "And what would be your true name.....your mutant name, Sherridan Kaine?," he asked, letting him know that he thought little of the homo sapien names they had been given so early in life.

Magneto knew a lot of mutants chose to use other names and he surmised that Sherridan was no different. The old man himself very rarely used the name he chose those decades ago when he searched for his beloved and for good reason. Those memories were too painful to relive and that name was a strong tie to such a tormenting past, but that is another story for another time.

[Sherridan Kaine]

Sherridan chuckles slightly to himself. Perhaps Magneto did follow the news. But there was merely an implication in his tone of voice, nothing more, so he may just be faking it. Does it really matter, anyway?

"Well, that question has two answers as well. I prefer to go by my own chosen name, which is Ferus. The other, more prominent, or should I say notorious, is the "Silent Hunter", which was given to me by the idiots who work in the media. Once more, merely the name should be enough information." he replies, once more answering the question directly, but not giving away too much information. Still, if he knew about the "Silent Hunter", Magneto would know a big deal of information on Sherridan.

Then, a thought occurs to him. Oh, God, I hope he doesn't start asking about either the wealth or the fact that I seem to be two so completely different people! he thinks, and is already cursing himself for revealing too much information.

By this time, the bar was getting emptier by the second, which didn't actually take long, considering the amount of cowardly humans that was in the bar in the first place. Sherridan doesn't pay it much thought. They are all too scared to report to the police. And too drunk to be trusted anyway.

[Magneto]

It was sort of scary how everything seemed to be falling into Magneto's lap as of late. First her drew Pyro back to his side and then Mystique fell back into her position within his inner circle and then the boy from the bar, the one called Avalanche. Now it seemed fate had delivered Magneto yet another mutant to add to his regrowing little group of freedom fighters, Ferus the silent hunter.

Magneto knew of Ferus and the stories associated to him, after all he was on the news almost every night anymore. The homo sapiens were terrified to walk the streets at night any more, too afraid to take a chance of running into this killer mutant and that made Magneto smile even more. "The Brotherhood could use a mutant like you Ferus," he said as he turned back around on his barstool, putting his fingers around the warm glass of water, looking straight ahead. "Interested?," he asked casually, as if he was asking the man for a dollar or some other trivial question.

[Sherridan Kaine]

So he does know. Ferus is impressed. Perhaps Magneto isn't too busy to follow the news after all. In any case, being invited to the brotherhood is quite a pleasure for him. "I wouldn't say no." he replies simply, but pauses for a while before continuing.

"But which part of me would you be needing- Sherridan Kaine, the last member of the Kaine family, or perhaps Ferus, the merciless "Silent Hunter"? I need to know this before I sign anything, so to speak. Oh, and just to be sure, the two names I listed include completely different people. To say it crudely, a diplomat and an assassin." he says finally, his eyes shooting a warning glance to anyone left in the bar other than the two mutants, although it is unnecessary in itself.