A deep rumbling issued from an old motorcycle, spreading far and wide across the empty expanses north of Laguna. It was mid day, the weather was hot, and most people would be walking around covered entirely in thin, loose clothing to ward off the sun's rays but allow the breezes to cool them down. One young woman, however, hadn't thought of doing that in the past two years. Currently she was wearing an old t-shirt and loose kaki pants; arms exposed and the only thing covering her head being a pair of goggles to avoid the sand entering her eyes. Her relatively pale arms were uncovered, as was her neck and face; hair the colour of fire waving freely behind her as she drove across the sparse plains. A shout, a gunshot, and a frown pulled at her lips and creased her brows. She looked behind her, watching as a group of what she assumed were scavengers came closer to her. They were each driving a motorcycle like hers, but unlike her they wore clothing that covered their entire bodies and shielded them from the relentless sun. Another shout, this one vaguely audible over the rush of the wind past her ears. [i]"...Stop...no more warn...shot...give...stuff..."[/i] Great, it was a couple of bandits who thought that she was a helpless woman who couldn't defend herself. It wasn't that she couldn't see the logic behind their assumptions, but come on! To live in this day and age one had to toughen up, [i]especially[/i] if you became an Immortal. The world was not kind to you if you did not know how to defend yourself, and it was downright malicious and evil if you happened to catch The Sickness but survive. The bandits came up beside her, driving with one on either side, and one behind. They each drove a good ten metres on either side, but judging by the looks on their faces they weren't going to race her. "No more warning shots!" One of them yelled, pointing a gun at her. "Next one [i]will[/i] hit!" She sighed and hit the break, turning her bike into a sideways, screeching stop. She stepped down from the bike and looked around at the bandits as they, too, dismounted and walked closer to her, guns held at the ready. Evelina--for that was the young woman's name--had her own gun still strapped to her hip, and a short broadsword carried horizontally across her lower back. She crossed her arms underneath her modest bust as the three bandits--all men, she could see now--stalked closer. "What's the matter?" She asked innocently, looking at each of them in turn, eyes hidden by the goggles. "Give us your stuff, now," one of them demanded. He was the one with the biggest gun, and, presumably, the leader. Evelina's brows knitted together in a frown once again. "No." "You will give us your stuff if you don't wanna die," a voice from behind her said, soon accompanied by the feeling of something hard pressing against the back of her skull. "Now be a good little girl and hand over whatever you have." "No, I don't think so." She looked at the two now standing in front of her, one of them heading towards her bike for the supplies hidden in its side bags. "It's mine," she continued. "Don't touch it." The voice from behind her laughed. "Not like you have much of a choice, kiddo. Three against one, and a gun to your head. Now why don't you just shut up and take the chance to live, hmm?" "It's not like you'd be able to kill me," Evelina said calmly. "Wanna try your luck, then?" She could feel the man behind her place a hand on her hips, feel it snaking its way across her stomach and slowly upwards until he held one of her breasts. "If we can't kill you, then why don't you stop me?" As if to emphasize that she was powerless to act he squeezed her breast hard, fondling it like only someone deprived of any decent contact would. Evelina's eyes narrowed behind the goggles, her mouth pressing into a thin line. "Alright, that's it." She kicked backwards, hitting the pervert behind her in the groin with her heel. In both fury and pain he pulled the trigger still pressed against the back of her head. It fired, and hit the wheel of one of the other bandit's bikes. The grin that had spread across the perverted bandit's face was soon wiped away from the lack of the expected spray of blood, and also because the girl whom he had thought he just killed, evaporated into tiny particles of light. Before the hammer of the gun had even struck down, she was gone in a shower of sparks and had rushed away. "I told you, you wouldn't be able to kill me," Evelina said from behind him, appearing suddenly from nowhere. The broadsword usually strapped across her back was in her hand, pressed against his neck. "Now stand ba--" "Shit! Sh-She's an Immortal!" It was the guy who had been watching Evelina getting fondled and held at gunpoint. It had taken him a few moments to regain his voice, but her dissolving into motes of light definitely did not go unnoticed. "Acute observation," she remarked dryly, pushing her goggles up onto her forehead and revealing her green, slitted eyes. "Yes, I'm an Immortal, and a healer. So if you'd kindly leave my stuff in my bags, and then piss off... I'd very much appreciate that." "K-Kill her!" It was the guy who had been sorting through her bags. He'd drawn his own gun again and pointed it at her, the first shot ringing out and missing her completely. A grunt from the man she was holding told her that he had taken the shot. [i]Damnit.[/i] He shot again, though this time it didn't reach its target, hitting an invisible barrier instead. Removing her sword, Evelina shoved the pervert away, three bands of what looked like solid light materialized and bound themselves around his wrists and ankles. The final one placed itself around the wound in his leg, stopping the bleeding and putting pressure onto it. The one who had shouted to kill her shot again, and once more the shot was stopped before it hit her, as did the one from the other, still standing, bandit. She raised her hand, pointing her palm towards the former. Light gathered in her palm and, after a short while, shot forward and hit his hand. He dropped the gun, screaming from the burn marks covering the entirety of his hand. Calmly, she turned towards the only one still standing. He was shaking, eyes wide in fear and gun pointed at her in a desperate attempt to keep hold on some semblance of authority, even if it had so clearly been lost the moment she first acted. "Y-You're a fucking monster, you know that?" He half said, half shouted. "No wonder people fear you, with how much of a freak you are." "I'm no more a monster than you." Her eyes narrowed, her already piercing gaze becoming that much more loaded. "If anything, I'm less so. You steal and rob, kill and rape. How am I worse than you? I got sick, and woke up with these powers. It's not my choice, but you!" She took a menacing step towards him. "You take from others what they have worked hard for, threatening their lives if they don't comply. I wouldn't be surprised if all three of you had your share of rapes on your consciousness." The man laughed, a desperate sort of laugh. "Oh yeah? And what if we do? I bet most of them liked it. Hell, even [i]you[/i] would have probably acted like a good little whore if you'd just let John have his fun." "I don't think so." Where before her voice had been casual, if with an edge to it, it was now a low and dangerous tone she used. "Oh sure you do." He snorted, some self confidence returning to him when she didn't immediately attack, but talked instead. "Any bitch with a pair of cow-like hips li--" He got no further, and didn't even have time to react, before she was in front of him, teeth bared in a feral snarl and fist raised. A shimmer surrounded her fist shortly before it impacted with his face, shattering his nose and more than likely fracturing his jaw as well. ----- He awoke about half an hour later, fully expecting to see all of their equipment and provision taken. Perhaps the thing that he had expected the least of all was actually what greeted him. It was the feeling of gentle hands and slender fingers touching his face which woke him, something he would've only expected to feel from a whore. It was, however, a pair of slitted green eyes and long strands of fiery hair which greeted him as he opened his eyes. Bandages covered his nose and a good part of his face. "H-How?" He croaked, wincing as a lance of pain shot through the right side of his face. "Why?" "You don't call me cow," was Evelina's response. "It's the one thing I won't tolerate." She put the finishing touches to the gauze around his face and stood up, looking down at him with pitiless eyes. "And to answer your questions: Kinetic speed that comes from the result of travelling at 20 metres pr second, coupled with a barrier around my hand results in a very hard punch. And why I'm doing this for you? I like to believe that I'm better than the likes of you. Call it my attempt to lessen the hatred for us Immortals." She paused, glancing off to the side. "Your friends are well enough. I took out the bullet from that pervert's--John?--leg and bound the wound. The other guy I gave some salve to help with his burns. You're all bound in my ropes for the next half hour, after which they'll disappear. I've taken your guns but left your food and water. Good bye." She strode away, towards her bike, and climbed onto it. She didn't look back as she drove off towards north again. She'd heard that there were people in Russle Town who didn't look down on Immortals so much, and would be willing to trade with her, and let her work. She just hoped that they were right. Even if they weren't, she could always sneak in and plant a letter into the mail office. It was about time she sent her parents a new update on how things were going for her.