At first, Viktor was content not to worry over Darina's warning. Not big, not armed, not something to worry about. Probably just a rat, or a dog, or some other small animal that made its home out in the ruins. He hoped it was, still worn over the previous situation that went down in the Underbelly's tunnels. It had been a long day, far too long, and now he just wanted to be able to relax until their transport finally arrived. Surely, nothing that small would be something to worry about?<br/><br/>But then gunshots rang out, and the titan's wrath was stirred once again. The bullets themselves did not sound very high caliber. Tiny 'plinks' of minuscule projectiles bounced off the concrete near Rock Hammer, and a few off himself directly. Viktor had guessed the mutant's hide was thick before, but even a small bullet not having much effect was pretty damned impressive. Despite these thoughts, he was almost immediately on his feet, rifle scooped off the ground by its sling and prepared to shoot back at whoever was firing on them. Rushing forward, he pressed himself against the concrete opposite where Rock sat, peeking around the corner to scan for the assailant.<br/><br/>Much to his surprise, it was a child, holding a rifle that was very much not suited for her. The barrel waved around madly, shots firing every now and then, littering the area with shots that didn't seem suited for much more than hunting birds. His footing adjusted, readying to run out from his initial cover and towards something else, with a simple plan to subdue the girl nonviolently. Well, mostly. Shooting a kid, even an armed one, was unacceptable. Tackling one at full force to unarm them so they'd stop shooting?<span style="font-style: italic">Much</span>easier to live with. He started forward, only managing about two steps when the sounds of air being violently forced away by something moving through, and the proceeding high-speed piece of stone flying past him, drew his attention.<br/><br/>"The hell are you-" Words directed at Rock's actions were cut off. The giant soared through the air at downright shocking height and speed, leaping from the ground as if he weighed not a fraction of his actual mass. Viktor's grip on his rifle's front end dropped, and he simply watched in a mixture of awe and confusion at how far he was moving. He might have expected it from a smaller, more agile-looking mutant, but from someone of his sheer size? It was honestly terrifying.<br/><br/>All fear aside, the massive man did eventually start to come back down, and it seemed his point of impact was right atop the would-be sharpshooter that attacked. She'd disarmed herself already, tossing her rifle forward in some attempt to continue attacking, and somehow had survived the initial throw that Rock send at her. Viktor couldn't imagine how, but the fact that she hadn't been splattered across the ground behind her was enough reason to still try and stop the fight. He released his rifle and tugged on the sling, tightening it around his torso, and began to rush forward.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">"Fuck, fuck, fuck,"</span>Viktor silently thought as he went against every instinct and ran towards the impact zone of the enormous mutant. Dust and ash kicked up by the shock of landing, and whatever else happened behind the masking curtain of particles, were an incredibly uninviting sight as he drew nearer.<span style="font-style: italic">"You idiot, he'll crush you."</span>His self-preservation very much did not want him to do what he was about to, but he fought against it. As a large silhouette within the dark cloud came into view, Viktor jumped and launched himself at it. A tackle, aimed at Rock's midsection, was meant to knock him over.<br/><br/>Of course, the difference in their size and mass proved quite problematic to the attempt. Viktor instead just sort of grabbed onto him and stumbled, catching his footing again and pushing against him as much as he could. "Hey! Knock it the hell off!" He shouted, bracing himself for what he felt was inevitable retaliation, reflexive or otherwise. "It's just a kid! Calm down!" The latter half of his command was emphasized with an impact of a balled fist on Rock's chest, not so much a punch as a punctuating, weak slam to draw his attention away from the girl and towards him.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>At first, Stefan was unsure as to what Mikhail spoke of. His gloves had yet to come off when the question was asked, but some moments after, he started to realize. "Ah, no, not at all. Most new people around here do, anyway." He finished stacking together some leaves he'd harvested from a mutant plant, then idly wiped his palms off on the outside of his coat to dry them off a little. "If I'm not mistaken, you aren't entirely normal anymore, are you? Well, neither am I. Everyone who's changed manifests these changes a bit differently. You saw what I did earlier, in the woods?" He paused, looking at Mikhail's completely greyed out eyes once more. "Perhaps not. But sometimes, people change a bit more severely than others."<br/><br/>While he did not reveal any more skin, he turned his hands over to show the extent of their damage. His skin looked as if it had melted and reformed in some places, and looked quite grey compared to the average person in the base. There were no fingernails, or even fingerprints, on either hand, and in a few places, it looked almost like some muscle or other lower layers of skin could be seen through a split epidermis. "This is what happened to me. My whole body is, how to say it, unstable? After I changed, nothing quite came back together the same way."<br/><br/>He paused, balling and unballing his fingers a few times, then moved his hands and linked them behind his back before he continued to speak. "Of course, some of the scars are burns. One of my earliest memories had something to do with fire. Putting two and two together, eh?" While his expression remained invisible behind his mask, the way he moved his head suggested he meant it to be more lighthearted than the subject matter would lead one to expect. "But it doesn't impede anything. I can still feel things, mostly, so I haven't lost any fingers working with knives yet. Here's hoping it stays that way."