Rough asphalt scraped against his skin. Duncan twisted and rolled. A black boot stomped down a hair's breadth away from his head. His own leg shot upward, connected, and in a flash the other was down beside him. Duncan found his footing first, launching himself shoulder-first into his rising enemy. They both crashed down again, this time with him on top. He intercepted the clawed hands that reached for his throat, yanked the figure closer, and retaliated with a headbutt that cracked his enemy's vizor and made his own head spin. Without hesitation, he brought his balled fist down where he thought the man's head was. Again and again, until his depleted strength made the downward swings more and more a means to support his unwieldy body. He could taste blood now too - although it was barely enough 'red' to make a post stamp with. 

[color=crimson]"Who-"[/color] he swung, [COLOR=CRIMSON]"is your-"[/COLOR] his other fist hit bone. [COLOR=CRIMSON]"boss?!"[/COLOR] A gurgle came from below him - the man's jaw was fractured. Before he could chastise himself for it, blades sung through the air, barely audible in the intersection's violence. On instinct he threw himself back, two tearing through his coat and one burying deep in the palm of his hand.

Adrenaline made him find the strength to spring to his feet, pulling the knife out as he backpedaled toward their wreckage of a car. His gaze locked on the owl, who approached with a confident, limber stride. "You think we are contracted killers?" Its voice was sharp and distorted. "Come now Doctor." daggers flashed in its clawed hands. "You should know better." 

The metal glint was all the warning he had of their trajectory. It rained knives, all with deadly precision and strange curving paths. There was no red in his vicinity left, but he was able to generate it with smears he made on his white shirt with his bleeding hand. The projection - a small baseball bat - was only enough to deal with the brunt of the attacks and forced strategic choices. Prioritizing chest and head over limbs, and then legs over arms to keep his mobility. When he leapt forward to close the distance, his arms were already the equivalent of pincushions. 

It was the associated pain that kept him going, kept him sharp. He couldn't quite roll with the punches, but with each hit he took, the buried memories of pasts conflicts resurfaced. Duncan was forced back by the ferocity of the owl-figure, doing his best to intercept and sidestep the flurry of blows. His admirable defense broke with a kick to the chest, slamming him into their crashed car. Duncan spun to wrestle himself out of the owl's grip, calling on the red of his wounds to bind the owl to the car. It was a thin thread, but the kinetic power was enough to hold even the largest of elephants. 

[color=crimson]"I'm not asking again-"[/color] he struggled to stand, but found the car wreckage to be an excellent support. [color=crimson]"who are you?"[/color]

"The future!" the owl cried. "We are the future made manifest." he struggled against the bindings. "And you Doctor, you should know what the future holds for rampaging mutants" 

Duncan's panting breath faltered. His head snapped toward the others, eyes wide. There were bodies and vehicles on fire. Police shooting armed mercenaries, and the mercenaries shooting back. There were still people running. Shapes that moved behind the windows above. But worst of all, most of the visible damage and deaths were caused by his family. [COLOR=CRIMSON]"Oh you fools. You damn fools!"[/COLOR] Duncan hissed. His own struggle had blindsided him.

Dazed, he reached into the wreckage. It caused the owl figure to fight his bindings even more. [COLOR=CRIMSON]"Don't bother. Your ability is no match for mine."[/COLOR] Duncan was pretty sure that all the owl had in him was the ability to manipulate trajectories. He felt around until he found the handle of his briefcase. 

Then, as the mercenaries realized what had transpired and bullets came flying in his direction again, Duncan noticed the armored vehicle speeding up. Errol was on it, shouting his name.

Yet all that really stuck with him were the words of the Owl.

"Tell the Sentinels that the U-men send their regards."