[IC] Uprising of the X Gene

[Shard]

It must have been to everyone’s surprise that a third party stumbled into the dark alleyway. Kevin had to admit that he didn’t quite catch that all of these people were coming after him. Damn, he just wanted to get home to that filthy motel and on the way he met a bunch of Hunters and apparently a Shaolin who didn’t know where she had ended up. This was getting hilarious. “One of yours?” Kevin would turn to look at the monk but he’d rather not let his guard down, especially not if this was a trap. “I have to admit, I didn’t see this coming. You’ve tried a lot of shit but this…you’re thinking outside the box.”

“Oh shut up.” With a single hand motion, three other Hunters gracefully leaped from the shadows and joined the man’s side.

“She even uses the Drunken Master style, this has got to be fun…” Ever since Kevin came back to this city, things had been up in the air. Mutants were running down the streets acting like children. Humans were pushing an issue that was beyond pathetic and now there were monks pretending to be drunk stumbling down alley ways? Why did he ever leave the arenas? Things made sense down there, and none of this bull shit was around to bother him. Well, that settled that. He was going to settle down but it was sure as hell not in the city.

“Bring him in alive.” The man continued, standing with his arms crossed. Kevin’s grin grew wider once the three men charged towards him. The fourth, or first, had jolted back up to his feet now that the heavy strike to his spine was wearing off. He pulled out a dagger, ready to enter the fight. None of the Hunters seemed to have bothered with the monk, but rather went straight for their target. He returned the favour and dashed forth, his blade raised. It didn’t take long before the symphony of steel started to play loudly with the clashing of blades. Kevin danced between their strikes and blocked what was necessary. He was outnumbered four to one, but that did not mean that his strength alone was what he was going to use. With the razor edge of a katana hammering down towards his chest, Kevin took a quick step forward and twisted his body before placing his hand on the back of the blade, moving the strike out of course and sent it full force into another Hunter. Three left.

The fight was fast, it didn’t take more than a few seconds before the first guy was down and the second would soon follow as Kevin parried his strike and moved the thrusting blade into an enemy behind him. That was two, and he was still to dirty his own sword. Two left, plus the main guy. “Don’t feel bad.” Kevin commented now that they all had some distance from each other. “You don’t suck. I’ve just been doing this since before you were born.” Now going on the offence, Kevin struck forth and clashed blades with the remaining two, manoeuvring between them to strike at the leader. If that monk was going to be useful, she just got two enemies stumbling her way.

Meanwhile, Kevin’s sword clashed with the leaders. This guy was more capable and their blades met several times in succession, causing sparks to fly from the strikes. “You freak…!”

“If only you knew.” The mutant replied. Their blades resumed the clash, the battle quite fierce. One could clearly see two streaks of blood spread across the stone walls from both combatants, followed by several more. Kevin finally found an opening to shove his sword hilt deep into the other man’s stomach, however the momentum of a blade heading for his throat was still high in acceleration. Kevin quickly raised his hand and caught the blade, blood gushing from his palm and neck as the katana went deep. He took a step back once the man fell to the floor, his eyes gazing at the nearly dead soldier. Seconds after impact, Kevin’s wounds were already healed but his clothes were drenched bloody from the fight.

“Monster…” The man managed with his last breath. Yes, it felt like home again.

[Rock Killjoy]

Tony watched as the battle began, she made no move to assist either party the one man Kevin seemed to have it under control. She took note of his fighting style, basic techniques she learned young nothing new for her mutation to copy. As the two opponents staggered towards her Tony lifted the bottle, and jabbed one man directly in his Adam's apple as he lifted his blade to strike her. Needless to say the man went down and hard at that, he hit the ground on his back with a loud thud. His sword clattering off into the shadows, towards the lurking invisible girl.

At the same time as she struck the first attacker the second bladed man came from a different angle his sword slashing upwards. However, Tony was far to experienced and skilled to be taken out by this opponent who was mediocre at the best. As he began to swing Tony balanced upon her left foot, which was planted firmly where the first attacker previously stood. She threw her right foot backwards at an arch, which ended with the point of her foot meeting the mans jaw, right on the hinge... With a sickening crunch and a pop, the mans jaw broke and unhinged. The kick hurling him straight into a building, subsequently breaking his nose and causing him to fall ontop of the first attacker both dead.

Both men fell at the same time her moves beautifully in sync, she set the bottle down on the ground as she looked up. It turned out Kevin dispatched the leader at the same time as Tony finished her foes. Tony had a rather sad look on her face....no not sad a disappointed look, not at her foes lack of skill but...her own lack of restraint she always regretted and loathed when she had to take a life. However it seemed she was right about Kevin he wasn't normal, he was definitely a mutant like her. She looked at him silently, Tony hadn't dropped her guard but she wasn't tensed either her arms folded behind her back.

[MissAddler]

Dr Douglas felt a scream rise in her throat as something crashed into the car nearby, but managed to supress it, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. She forgot about her 'locked-car' issue and edged forwards, towards the crumpled car. It appeared someone in a silver suit - teenage dress was becoming weirder and weirder these days - had fell from the rooftop above and Dr Douglas was certain they would need medical attention. Thank goodness she knew CPR.

But before she had reached him, she saw the figure move and scramble up, out of the dent they had made in the front of the car. She slowed slightly, confused. Surely the man must be near death after a fall like that. She held out a hand, to help the disorientated chap to his feet.

"God Dammit!" the man spat out, dazedly.

Synapses connected in her brain as she realised that the man wasn't really hurt and the silver outfit was not just some crazy, obscure fashion and her hand snapped back to her body. No ordinary man could survive a sky dive without a parachute, therefore he couldn't be an ordinary man. The silver seemed to be part of him. His mutation.

No, she thought quickly, no, no, no. She couldn't become involved in something like this, nor be associated with any mutants of any kind. Just being near one could be dangerous. She began to back away, her small heels clattering on the concrete slabs. To ease her guilty conscience, she reasoned with herself that the dude was alive and didn't look too hurt - he surely could survive without her help. Her head reeling, she tottered past her modern car, deciding to head back to the offices for her precious car keys, despite the impending darkness of night. She couldn't stay out here all night, especially considering the rally unfolding in front of her.

The mutants' rights crowd had clearly gained some form of energy from the obvious display of a mutant ability and were chanting even louder - if that were possible - and Dr Douglas caught glimpses of people being pushed over. She hurried across the square, huffing and puffing in annoyance. Of all the days, she muttered to herself...wait. She caught a flicker of movement out the corner of her eye and her head snapped in the direction of the blur. She found herself staring at the dark opening of an alley, tucked away from the commotion of the mutant rally. She approached cautiously when a couple of people came into her line of vision. They were stood, panting, covered in a vivid red stain that looked suspiciously like fresh blood, with a host of limp, mangled bodies littered around them. She couldn't make out any of the victim's nor offender's faces; the lighting was too dim.

Her eyes widened as she scrambled to grab her phone, her fingers fumbling for the nine digit as she tried to back out of sight of the two.

It seemed she had just stumbled upon the scene of a murder.

[Penguin]

“Monster…”

Rosaline stood there, eyes wide with shock as the man drove the blade into the last of them She was way more in over her head than she thought. Had killing them all really been that necessary? She swallowed, feeling both fearful of the man and amazed by the amount of skill he possessed. The ground around them was covered in blood as was the man. No, this wasn't defense. This was murder. Whether or not those men were bad, killing all of them wasn't necessary. It was easy to tell these men weren't the first. It was people who used their abilities like that that created an atmosphere of hatred against mutants. Then again, the man seemed to rely on pure talent and hadn't used an ability as far as she could tell.

Another girl had joined and had dealt with two opponents of her own during this. Rose had not taken note of it until a sword clattered in front of her, clattering noisily against the ground. Her battle was violent and resulted in the death of her opponents as well. These two knew what they were doing. Rose was sure, despite her lack of battle experience, that she could carry herself well too but she wasn't sure she could just kill people as easily as they did.

Movement made Rose gaze to the opening of the alley. The woman from before was standing there, looking as shocked as Rose felt. The poor thing seemed as if she had seen a ghost. She spoke before she could catch herself as her name came to mind, "Dr. Douglas." She whispered. The narrow alley reverberated her words and she cursed in her mind and quickly backed up to leave only to trip over a body. She hit the ground, the force jolting her painfully. With a moan, she sat up on her elbows and backed away from the body hastily. Rose glanced down at herself to find her body visible, limbs covered in tiny, clear raindrops. "Oh... uh... hey. "

Nice going, Rose. She thought to herself wryly.

[Shard]

One, two and three people had come to interfere with Kevin’s business. If they wanted it, they could have it. ‘Please, take it.’ But it wasn’t that simple. The woman in the distance was fumbling for a phone, no doubt calling for help. The monk had bested her foes and was on guard for Kevin and the girl on the ground seemed out of place in every sense of the word. He examined the situation for a moment before his eyes were fixed at the previously invisible girl. He had not seen this one before, no doubt a mutant with cloaking abilities. “You alright?” He began, turning to look at the blood running down the sword in his hand. Kevin sounded serious and somewhat disappointed in the fact that things had turned out the way they had. Finally, the sky had started to cry. “I see…” He whispered, looking up at the dark clouds. It was never about the others, and death wasn’t going to occur at the scene with the red haired mutant. He had brought it with him as he had many times in the past. It was getting tedious. “You should go home.” Kevin spoke to Rose before turning to the other two. “Don’t dirty yourselves with this. It will cling to you like cancer.” He dropped the sword and started out of the alley, walking as calmly as he spoke. Despite what had occurred, Kevin didn’t seem fazed at all. He was calm, collected and breathed slowly. His words were soft though despite the warning, he didn’t seem to care too much about what the group was going to do with what they had seen. The heavy rain was growing more vicious now and the blood was being washed off the walls and concrete, flowing towards the sewer system. “I’m sorry you had to witness this.” He finished, soon out of the alley.

This truly was a shame. Kevin didn't care much about the whole struggle between humans and mutants, though bringing this to an already unstable city wasn't something he wanted to add. In his defence, they attacked him and if they got their hands on him, there was no telling what the Weapon X program could do to damage mutant kind. Kevin could very well be a walking nuke if the wrong scientist got a hold of him. Of course, these three didn't know that. To them he'd seem like little more than a monster who just massacred a bunch of people and as it was, they were right. He wasn't going to deny it. Kevin was a monster and he had accepted it long ago. The one saving quality which didn't draw him a complete sociopath was that he didn't want others involved in his shit. No matter if he dug it up or if it came looking for him, his trouble was his own and he didn't want anyone else to get hurt because of it. Trouble and bullshit was pretty much what kept him going most days and sometimes flies got stuck in the spiders net. These three were on the scene of a fight between Kevin and the Weapon X program and were most certainly on their radar now. Part of him couldn't leave in good conscience knowing that these three would be having a hell of a ride if they were unlucky. It was already too late anyways, the bodies were there and eventually someone would come and snoop around, notably the cops. So this was what happened when he tried to settle down. Apparently that was a very bad idea.

[Scoundrel]

Bustling through the heavy crowds, it came to a point where advancing further to the deeper sections would certainly be an impossible task to accomplish as people began to throb with excessive movements. Danny could only stay at a close range in order for him to fully observe who exactly was the prime setter of the said protest. He continued moving over, sliding past a few people and bumping through the shoulders of a few blunt individuals. It was undeniably inconvenient but Danny remained curious. Then, a large bulky man came barging through and bashed his right shoulder, slightly sending him off with some of his steps limping a few inches backwards. "Watch it!" The man exclaimed only to make Danny scoff from the complete disrespect shown. Truly he thought that the man would have apologized instead but he left the matter discarded and went on to use the advantage of his height to take peaks of the front scene.

Moments later, things ascended into tensions of stress as a red-haired guy went over to catch the entire crowd's attention with his indescribable exploits. The cries shifted into shrill chants of enthusiasm but was deafening from the intensity of the crowd's voices. Afterwards, they hauled off a variety of phrases in unison which made the situation a lot chaotic than usual. Danny was on the verge of leaving until things, again, toned a much more disastrous scene. The stage in front of the protesters levitated slowly and hovered above the crowd's range of sight. Clearly, as how it was demonstrated, Danny immediately identified that the red-haired guy was the one responsible for it from the glimpse of his hand movements and odd actions. The very sight of it triggered yet another outcry which was much louder than before. Jumbled movements were packed into narrow spaces as several people were struck by frequent bumps. The situation became much worse but Danny realized his question was now answered, so there was no reason to stay with the crowd, though the main problem was how to get away.

Protests were never the brightest of solutions, perhaps proposing a single agreement of peace might be the best case. But then again, an agreement would just come out as a miracle towards mutants and ordinary people since the morality between them erupted into a turmoil. Danny could only imagine of how much the certain activity would cause such affliction to people's views towards his own kind. Peace would surely be drifting away once everything explodes into the highest levels of tension. There were innocence which Danny assumed to be sacrificed and even though he would attempt to rescue those lives, there wouldn't be a slight difference he could contribute to reduce the damages dealt to the mutant's social status.

Danny bustled through thick flocks of people, cutting off some who were blocking his path towards an exit. He slid himself along narrow spaces without bothering to apologize from the lack of courtesy. Luckily, he made it out in no time, panting briefly as his eyes remained glued at the red-haired guy who happened to captivate cheers and caused an unwanted ruckus. Moments later, the rain started to fall moderately then transitioned quickly into a rush of heavy clattered drops. A realization then flashed into his head, noticing that he had left Juno behind. "Shit!" Danny exclaimed, knowing it wasn't a good idea from the start. Without sparing a second, he clicked his umbrella open then started to sprint towards the area where his car was parked.

He raced in the midst of a heavy rainfall. His shoes splashed the swamped cement, sending off sprays of water sideways and some soaked the lowest portion of his jeans, wet. Finally, he placed himself into a halt as he neared the parking area. Danny tendered his midsection to a bend as heavy breaths streamed from his excessive panting. His gaze were strung down to the cement, unable to yet bring his view up to the car. But as he managed to keep up his breathing as well as his gaze to the view of his car, his eyes quickly widened in a complete mix of shock and anger.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Words erupted to an abrupt cry jutted at the top of his lungs. Danny's jaw dropped only to have eyes suffer from the gruesome and morbid look of his car. It was heavily damaged especially the hood as Danny took a peak of it. The deafening screech of the alarm just made everything worse, adding up an excruciating headache. He clearly had no idea what to do as he remained standing in disbelief. If only his mutant abilities could include repairing non-living things, then life would be easier. Luckily, as he glanced through the car's window, he saw Juno mushing up the last bites of his treats. Fortunately the troubles of the dog might be over but the new issue Danny was facing looked much more serious than a pet's problems. He slapped his palms onto his forehead then brushed it through his hair as Danny continued glancing over the scene. His mind erupted again furiously. "WHO THE FUCK DID THIS?!" He yelled. There might be someone out there hiding but his mind was too busy streaming multitudes of frustration. He ended with a deep, heavy sigh followed by a groaning mutter knowing that his day-off had just transformed into the worst day he'd ever experienced.

[Metronome]

-32 and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very bad Day-

For the first two years of his life, 32 had undergone extensive conditioning and experimenting. How did they find out just how long it took for him to starve? How had they come up with the recommended numbers for his sleep, water intake, and healing rate? They put it to the test, of course.

32 was awoken, washed, and led down a hall that seemed far too long. He could barely walk, his body weak and shaking. He hadn't been given a single calorie in three weeks. His face was gaunt and pale, his cheeks hallow. His ribs could be counted from twenty feet away, his skin was thin and frail like paper, his legs could barely support him. But never the less, 32 followed his handler into a room that was very much empty. There wasn't even a chair. The only distinguishable feature was a door, and if looking at it from the outside, a two-way mirror that allowed his handlers to watch him without his knowing. 32 was taken into the middle of the room, dressed in full gear, and told not to move.

By this time, he'd already been conditioned to follow orders. But how well? By the five hour mark, he still remained standing, but his whole body shook with effort. His handlers began to regain interest when it looked like he may finally fail. Then, half an hour later, he did. 32's legs went out from underneath him. He landed on his knees, hard, and he tried desperately to get back up. When he couldn't, his handlers came in with nightsticks. He was beaten for his disobedience, and his wounds took precisely three times longer to heal.

---

32 was awoken, washed, and led down the hall. He had not been given fluids or food for a week and half. His skin was dried and scaly, his eyes sunken, his tongue swollen, and his mouth like sand. He swayed as he walked into the room, in full gear, and was told not to move. 32 stood straight for a whole 27 hours before he finally fell. He simply slumped over onto the ground, unconscious. They started an IV on him to get him re-hydrated, waited for him to wake, and then beat him once more for his disobedience. His wounds healed, once again, 3 times slower.

---

32 had not slept for a month. They kept him caged, because he had become increasingly violent. When he started to doze off, his was shocked back awake by a taser. He hallucinated, he muttered to himself, he twitched, and after the first two weeks, he had begun to vomit back up whatever food they gave him. When they were finally convinced that he was ready for the testing, they took him out, cuffed, and led him to the room. He stood in the middle, his cuffs removed, and told not to move. That seemed to click something in his exhausted brain. The soldier went stiff, stopped any noise he was making, and stood as rigid as a board.

He stood there in a coma-like state for 48 hours, and the handlers were sure that he would have remained that way until starvation set in. They pushed the experiment along a little. Sleeping gas was slowly released into the room. It began to take effect after ten minutes. 32's eyes began to droop. He started swaying, but quickly regained his balance once he realized it. He fought it; he fought it hard. But after another 30 minutes, he fell over, passed out. It was another 3 days before he would respond to any medications to wake him up. Once awake, he was beaten for his disobedience.

---

32 was awoken, washed, and led down the hall. He wasn't given his uniform to wear as he usually was; he was given nothing. He was taken to the room, told not to move, and left once again. After he'd stood there for about an hour, the scientists began slowly increasing the room's temperature. At 100 degrees Fahrenheit, he began to sweat. This was noted. At 150, the room began to smell like burning flesh from his bare feet touching the heated floor. Even as an audible sizzling sound could be heard from the speakers in the control room, 32 made no expression that gave away his pain. He did not move. At 300 degrees, the room's temperature gauge peaked out. A puddle of sweat and blood had formed around 32, and flesh over his entire body was visibly struggling to heal as he lost water.

His handlers had to wear special suits to fight the heat as they went to go get him. 32 struggled to walk, but did so because they told him to. The flesh of his feet had been burned all the way to the bone, unable to heal due to the constant re-burning. One of the handlers got sick at the sight and had to leave. 32 was laid out on the floor until his flesh stopped boiling. He was given water, but no other reward. Silently, he knew he had done good. He didn't disobey them; he hadn't moved. Tears had run down his face, but they hadn't seen. He had trembled ever so slightly from the worst pain he'd ever endured, but he hadn't moved. He hadn't screamed. 32 did everything he was told, and never defied orders.

When he was fully healed, a good three hours later, he was taken back to his stasis chamber and put back to sleep.

[Rock Killjoy]

Tony looked at the girl whom appeared rather close to her she smiled a bit, she didn't seem the least bit disturbed about the men she just killed. She turned and bowed her head to the two she dispatched, in a show of both humility and respect. Tony then turned back to the girl whom just appeared and extended one of her hands towards her and spoke softly. "I won't hurt you I promise." She left her hand there and if the girl so chose to take her hand, she would pull her to her feet and nod towards her.

She then looked towards Kevin and addressed him, looking him hard in the eyes but yet with a soft undertone in her hazel eyes. "I always help those that may need me, it is what I've learned." She paused for a brief moment "Be that as it may it appears you had it handled yourself." She smiled again and glanced towards Dr.Douglas "Please Ma'am allow me to explain the incident here, I mean no one any harm. I'm looking for those like me."

After she had said this to Douglas the bottom dropped out, rain hammering down upon the gathering. "In anycase we seem to be bound by fate, that doesn't mean we have to stand in the rain though. Perhaps we should continue our discussion some place dry?" Tony desperately hoped that the three would agree and accompany her to discuss the events. She had a feeling the universe wanted this, this collision of events to occur.

[Drake Baku]

Ryu looked as the woman ran away and he dropped his head.
"truly, best day ever"
to his Irritation the moment he dropped his head and it hid a part of the car not crushed its alarm went off
"great, lets add that as well"
He was able to turn his head and look trough the window, he had to wait for the dizziness to wear off and he only hoped it would be for the cops showed up.
Then he noticed the dog sitting in the car, looking at him at first "so that was where the barking dog came from"
He dropped his head again "glad I fall on the hood and this thing did not blow up, poor doggy"
he lied there for a while before he suddenly heard a person scream.
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
He tried to get up to see how and what, but he was still to dizzy.
then shortly after that he heard a second yell.
"WHO THE FUCK DID THIS?!"
Now he was sure, the one screaming this was talking about the car.
Still Dizzy He forced himself up "Sorry, I slipped, I pay for the car, once I got some money" He said as he hardly got himself standing, if not for the silver skin supporting his body he would likely not even be able to stand at all.
He looked at the man while still wobbly and grabbing a light post in order not to fall

[Metronome]

32 dumped the body in the tub and began to clean up in a hurry. He turned the water back on to make it look like Stronghold had let his tub overflow, then went into the bedroom and picked up the mess he'd made in there. He took the fired gun and stuffed it under his belt. 32 was about to go take care of whoever had entered the condo when his headset came to life.

"Agent 32, what's your mission report?" 32 ducked back into the bathroom and spoke in a hushed tone.
"Target eliminated. A witness may have entered the condo; permission to advance?"
"No. We need you down on the streets. Project: Viper has been located, and the three agents sent to capture him have been taken out. You're the closest operative in the area. Bring him in alive." 32 wanted to point out that his current mission could be foiled by a witness, but kept his mouth shut. He never defied orders.
"Yes sir. 32 out."

32 crept back into the bedroom, too see that the intruder hadn't made it back there yet. He got his grappling hook and used it to smash the large window on the other side of the room, then shot it across the street and let it grab on to another building. He leaped, swinging through the cold, raining night. His feet landed firmly against the brick of the adjacent building, and up he went. 32 ran along the drenched skyline until he came to the location. His eyes searched the dark until they landed on the scene taking place in the alley below: three dead agents, three unknown variants. 32 only saw one male, and assumed it to be Project: Viper. He matched the description. The other two...
"Sir, there are two unidentified variants with the target. Permission to eliminate?"
"They aren't ours; permission granted."

That was all 32 needed. He jumped over the edge of the building, falling a few floors before landing on the fire escape, and then jumping down into the street. He landed firmly between Project: Viper and the two variants. Behind the goggles of his uniform, his eyes glared at the target. 32 removed his rifle from his back and raised it, then turned and pointed it at the female in the strange uniform.
"Come quietly, and the female won't be killed," He said. 32 knew the Viper's powers inside and out, and he knew the gun would never damage his skin. His conscience...maybe. 32, on the other hand, had no conscience. Only orders.

[Equipment tally:

Hand gun: 15 rounds
Hand Gun 2: Unknown
K31: 6 rounds
Two knives
Explosive]

[ShadowedRaven]

Ally stood just inside the door of the computer shop, the room was dimly lit and packed full of wires, gadgets and array of electronics. She had been inside once before, that's of course how she knew of where the laptop was located and it's access codes.

The first time she had entered was really just to scout out the place, it was so cluttered that she had instantly known if she could take something silently then it would be weeks before they registered as missing since they simply wouldn't know it was gone.

A voice rang from the back, " I'll be out in just a minute". A minute, that was all she needed. A normal person may have called out in return but instead she drew up the shadows from the corner of the room and used it to mask herself as she crossed, expertly locating the laptop she had had her eye on and slipping it under her jacket.

She could hear her own heart pounding, the adrenaline already kicking in despite the fact that it was a relatively simple grab and run. She could hear the rustling of sounds in the back and quickly crossed back to the door as the footsteps grew closer.

She reached for the handle and pulled the door swiftly open, the cover of her shadows dropping as she walked back onto the side street. The rain was beating down hard and she made a quick dash for the other pavement, pausing momentarily under an overhanging roof. She glanced nervously at the computer shop door the adrenaline still thrumming through her.

The details of the shop passed through her mind as she took a moment to make sure she had successfully retrieved everything an left nothing out the place. Her shadows would have kept her hidden from the security camera and the guy hadn't even made it out in time to see her enter.

However she still needed to get to the cafe and as she walked back towards the town square it seemed her previous distraction of the activists had turned more into an uproar and flock of people and police alike. She froze - trying to spot an easy path through the crowd, it was either that or heading back down the side street and then taking a network of alleys to the cafe, which would considerably cut her time.

But it seemed that would be her only option as the crowd was riskier in more ways than one, she would be out in the open and under the risk of being taken in by the police just for being near the protestors and rally never mind the laptop she had. She would rather brave the backstreets in the pouring rain gloom than the square itself.

She pulled a disk of shadows above her head and took a moment to solidify it, bending it to take the form of an umbrella and creating a handle just for affect. It took a considerable amount of concentration but it did the job and would stop the laptop from becoming a victim of the ever pounding water.

With her umbrella in tow she took off at a run down the alley keen to make it to the cafe, out of the rain and away from the commotion in the main square. She wanted to be rid of this laptop tonight, use it for her own means then sell it on for a bit of cash.

[MissAddler]

Dr Douglas shook her head mutely - ignoring the girl, the Asian man and the girl that had just appeared, sprawled out on the alley floor - as she backed away as quickly as she could. She fumbled with her phone and in shock at one of the rally goer's cries, she dropped it onto the sidewalk. The cell smashed onto the concrete and the screen promptly shattered. It looked okay but Dr Douglas knew before she even leant down to pick it up, that it was now dead - nothing a quick touch wouldn't solve, but the screen would be like that, till she had it repaired. It wasn't like she was going to call anyone official anyway; it was clear that they were mutants. Even if they didn't recognise her as one of their own kind, she couldn't bring the state down on them. She wasn't that ruthless.

It was probably just some officials trying to cull the rally in a discrete way as possible and the mutants had probably fought back, anyway. Well, that was how she reassured herself - how she justified abandoning the scene, and not calling the authorities.

She staggered into the crowd, a little disorientated before moving a little way away and leaning against a brick wall, making sure she was out of the action. She made sure her dark tinted glasses were firmly in place before going against all her trained habits and mentally reached for the glowing thread in her head, that she visualised on the few occasions she dared to purposefully to tap into her technopathic ability.

First, she fixed her cell phone. It took merely a thought and energy pulse before she felt it hum back to life in her palm. The rush she got from it was incredible, she found herself marvelling but she forced herself to focus. It was purely out of necessity that she was using it.

She could feel the silver cords of electricity laced throughout her mental map of the town square, each one pulsing with delectable energy that called to her. She pushed all of that aside and sought out the alleyway in her mind, where she could sense the pulsing of a phone; it seemed one of the victims had been carrying a cell. She zoomed in on the tiny system and felt herself leak into it, tapping into the calling function. Perfect, she thought, as she clutched at her own cracked cell whilst keeping her eyes locked ahead in her thoughts, her concealed irises glowing behind the lenses. Focusing on the cell - no doubt lying in the dead's man pocket somewhere - she forced it to call her own, which her physical self answered. She wasn't entirely sure what she was doing - largely running on instinct - but she needed to know if the alley mutants knew who she was. She couldn't be linked with the place.

She listened to her cell, hearing the distant drone of the rally both in reality and down the phone. She strained her ears, trying to decipher any conversation.

"Come quietly, and the female won't be killed" the voice was flat and forceful.

Dr Douglas's glowing eyes widened; it didn't sound like the original group she had left behind. It seemed someone else had joined the party. She felt a stab of guilt - did she even see them kill the black-clad men? Even as corpses, the victims had looked pretty threatening - not like victims at all; perhaps, just perhaps, it had been in self defence and they were innocent. And about to run into more trouble, apparently. She found herself edging back towards the alley, her cell still glued to her ear. Keeping a large distance between herself and the scene, she observed, the gathering just visible, listening down the phone and hoping no one would hear her heavy breathing through the deceased man's phone, which she guessed was buried deep beneath clothing.

She felt her glowing eyes dim as she drew back in her electrical sense, powering down her ability and simply listened through the phone, her mutant abilities still dancing at the surface, should she need them for her own self defence.

A last resort, naturally.

[Penguin]

“You alright?” The man had asked. Suddenly he didn't seem so malicious anymore. Rose took a deep breath. She needed to get it together. A hand extended into her vision and Rose reluctantly took it as the girl promised not to hurt her. She brushed dirt and bits of concrete off her skirt as the rain began to pour down on them. "Yeah I'm fine." Thanks."

“You should go home.” Rose looked back at the man. “Don’t dirty yourselves with this. It will cling to you like cancer.” He dropped his sword and began making his way out of the alley. “I’m sorry you had to witness this.” Maybe she was wrong to judge him so quickly. She began to consider that maybe he had no other choice but to kill them. Rose decided that there we no harm in asking. He seemed to be harmless toward them. Afterall, if he had been a real murderer, he would have got rid of the witnesses.

"Wait-!"She yelled before he could leave the alley. "If you don't mind, could you tell me who those people were?"
The thudding of feet hitting the ground made Rosaline whirl around before "Viper" could answer. A man in goggles had jumped down from what seemed like out of no where. She was stunned to find him pointing his gun at her.
"Come quietly, and the female won't be killed," The man said. Rose had a feeling these people could not give a damn whether or not she was shot. They were not even acquaintances. Maybe this man did not know she was a mutant and he only wanted the other two. She seemed as normal of a teenager as normal could get at first glance. Even she wasn't entirely sure of everything she was capable of. Rose considered blinding them all and running for it but she didn't feel right leaving them to go to whatever horrible place this man might bring them. She knew there were places where people like them were experimented and tortured like lab rats. Revealing her power could be a huge risk.

"Well nice to meet you too." Rose greeted sarcastically. She cautiously eyed the gun and decided to let the other two make their move first. They seemed more experienced with these kind of wackjobs. It had to be fate that they ended up here. This time, she wasn't going to just sit out and be inconspicuous for the sake of her own welfare.

[Shard]

More people? The alley was starting to get very crowded and this new addition was hostile. Kevin turned to look at the man and narrowed his eyes, this was interesting. After having sent five soldiers to their deaths, Weapon X sends a single agent to reclaim Viper? He allowed a soft sigh to escape his lips as his eyes met the man’s. This guy was confident, he was battle hardened and it was obvious that he’d be more of a challenge than the others. ‘He knows of my powers, obviously.’ Kevin thought, otherwise the gun would have been aimed at him. Great, they were using others to damage him now. He knew that faking it and telling this man to do his worst would lead to the girl’s death. Kevin’s moral wasn’t high enough to care about the body count by his feet, but once innocent lives played in, he’d sing a different tune. “You don’t let up, do you…” He sighed deeply. What to do, what to do. This agent was outmatched and a battle would most likely result in his death, but a wrong move would end up with the girl dead on the concrete. Damn, these Weapon X assholes were gathering around Kevin like moths to a fire. They really wanted him back in that cell. “Fine…” Kevin rubbed his forehead. “I am getting really tired of your bullshit. If you want to get me, come. Let the others go, and subdue me if you can.” He held out his hands slightly, inviting 32. He had no plans of tricking the man nor did he want to escape. This was getting old and he was more than willing to face 32 in a one on one fight to see where it would lead. No one else needed to get hurt.

“I am sure you’re a smart guy. Firing that gun will attract attention and you know you can’t take me down fast enough to be gone before this place is swarmed.” He took a step forward towards 32, seemingly casual in his stance. “So if everyone here would do themselves a favour and get lost, maybe we can solve this without unnecessary complications.” He slid his foot beneath a katana on the concrete and kicked up, grabbing the hilt as it twirled through the air. “Pick up a sword and put that ear piercer away.” A soft smile stretched across Kevin’s lips as he spoke with 32. Hopefully he’d accept the challenge and let the others leave. They didn’t need to be involved in this.

[MissAddler]

But there was something...wrong, about the man who had joined the gathering.

She was struggling to hear now that she had powered down. The night wind and rain were becoming a little too eager and the momentum the rally had gained showed no signs of diminishing in the near future. The red-headed guy - a crimson beacon in the grey of the evening - was bobbing up and down, now, as he started showing off his levitation skills, whipping the large platform from side to side. The audience that had gathered supplied a few oohs and aahs, which seemed enough to sustain his demonstration. He grinned, his white cheeks turning pink - approaching the shade of his hair - as the effort required for him to exert began to increase, along with the impressiveness of his display. Dr Douglas muttered to herself; stupid. Trying to help people like that was pointless. It was if they wanted to be taken down by the authorities. Did they not have any life preservation instincts?

The prickle of unease did not subside. She found herself peering hard at the man back in the alley (trying to ignore the fact that it was now the scene of several murders) but there was no outward sign that he was particularly unusual - though by the others' reactions, she could pretty much guarantee he was some kind of mutant. So what, exactly, could he do?

For the second time that night, she gave in. She reached for her electrical sense and unleashed it, yet again.

Oh my, Dr Douglas thought, stunned. The strange guy ran on electricity. That, was quite a revelation in itself. She could see he was made of flesh and blood - well, it certainly seemed that way - but it seemed as though an electrical component was concentrated in his chest area, from what she could make out; a golden, pulsing point in her mind's eye. She glanced at the others. It was irrational and stupid and probably the worse decision she had ever made, but she felt, as a fellow mutant, she needed to protect them - whoever they were - from this threatening being. Maybe that would erase the guilt she felt for leaving the mutant crumpled up on the car she'd fled from earlier.

She kept her thumb and finger on the frame of her glasses, keeping her eyes fixed on the shadowed man and focused deep on the electrical thrumming that seemed to source from where his heart should be. How very odd. And something seemed almost...familiar about it, or him, or whatever the thing was. Though she couldn't quite place her finger on it, nor afford to divert her attention into sifting through trivial memories. She pulled mentally, beginning to drain the writhing spark in the man's chest. She immediately felt the toll it took on herself, and after draining a considerable amount and letting it flow through the ground, she stumbled backwards and slid down the wall in exhaustion, breathing heavily and feeling dizzy. Maybe that would have some effect on the creature - hopefully as much as it was having on her.

[Metronome]

32 kept his eyes on the man, unwavered by his offer. "I do not bargain with targets; come quietly, and the female won't be hurt." He seemed to mean business. 32 had no interest in the exchange of banter that the other, failed, agents had. He was here to get shit done. Or at least, until something went wrong. 32 felt it the moment it happened; the soft, almost inaudible whirring that came from his chest stopped. Beneath his armor, the light went out.

32's eyes widened behind his goggles. He dropped the gun, clutching at his chest not unlike an old man having a heart attack. He made a rasping gasp as he felt to his knees, his chest burning and his whole body going weak. His heart was malfunctioning. He looked up just in time to see a woman standing off into the shadows, eye glowing. 32 hadn't seen her before; another variant. Variants were never good.

His eye flicked to his gun, laying on the ground just a few feet away. He leaned slowly towards it, using one weak arm to hold himself up and the other to reach.

[Rock Killjoy]

Tony reacted instantly when she spotted the change in 32's body language, her foot shot upwards into a high kick as gravity sent the gun towards the ground. Her foot slammed into the weapon kicking the rifle upwards, the gun landed upon a rooftop a testimate to Tony's powerful body.

With her foot well above her head Tony saw 32's outstretched arm and brought the foot down in an axe kick, her target his right shoulder. What she aimed do was to to break the bone leading to his collar bone and dislocate his rotator cuff, making his arm dangle uselessly. If it collided the bone would make a sickening crunch and crackle, one someone would hear from frozen chicken.

Tony would then assuming he was down for the count step back away from him, while she assumed he was down she didn't drop her guard. She took her hands from behind her back and held them by her sides, her palms slightly open slightly balled into fists.

Tony then glanced back at Douglas and her eyes glowing electric blue cutting through the milky black shadows of the night, and she nodded to herself she knew now.... She knew it was fate it had to be, four mutants colliding in such a big city in such a way the universe had a hand in it and she knew it. Tony didn't linger on her thoughts or Douglas for long as she turned her attention towards Rose, "Are you alright?" She asked her in a soft tone of voice one would possibly call a whisper; if it wasn't so clear.

Tony looked back at 32 after lingering on rose for a single instant as she asked, as it was rude in her culture to speak to someone with out making eye contact first. Tony rolled her shoulders as she waited, her well toned powerful muscles rippling under her slightly some what pale flesh.

[Metronome]

[Equipment tally:

Hand gun: 15 rounds
Hand Gun 2: Unknown
Two knives
Explosive]

32 let out a grunt as he was pushed into the concrete, his shoulder popping out of joint and his collar bone snapping under the pressure. Had he worn more armor, he probably wouldn't have received as much damage. But who had time for that? The mutant who was interfering with his heart, and 32 was sure it was her, gave out. He remained still for a moment before the core's light blinked back on. 32 raised himself up on his knees, his shoulder already popping back into joint, seemingly on its own. His collar bone fused back together seamlessly.

He didn't even look at the female that had injured him, his eyes remaining on the girl with the formerly glowing eyes. She was the biggest threat, and therefor his priority. 32 reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, flat disk. He tossed the harmless looking object towards the girl. It gave a couple beeps, then exploded into a rather impressive ball of fire. A telephone pole right next to it gave out and fell, sending electrified lines into the puddles on the ground.

[Equipment tally:

Hand gun: 15 rounds
Hand Gun 2: Unknown
Two knives]

[ShadowedRaven]

Ally continued on her path through the weave of alleyways, it was getting considerably darker now and it seemed the rain had come to an end. She dropped her hold over the shadows, the umbrella she had created seemingly melding back amongst them. She adjusted her grip on the laptop, still concealing it within her jacket as she glanced around with each few steps.

She rolled her shoulders the tension slowly leaving as she no longer had to concentrate on keeping the shadow in a solid form. It didn't take much energy side it was a simple rough object, but as time went on or the bigger the object the harder it often became to control it. She had spent considerable amounts of time trying to build up her skills these past few months, but she was curious to see what else she could do, maybe the internet would provide some answers - whether that be through stories or specuation.

The darkness provided much cover without needing to be manipulated and soon she started to relax as she found herself down a familiar side street. However as she rounded the corner onto an alley off the street an explosion of heat and light erupted before her. She stumbled back, the scene playing out almost in slow motion. Instinctively she pulled up a wall of shadows and solidified it, helping to deflect the flame and reduce the heat that rushed over her skin. As it vanished she lowered the shield, instantly seeing the group of figures before her.

She froze, her senses overwhelmed with the urge to flee. What had she just stumbled upon!?

[MissAddler]

Exhausted, Dr Douglas struggled to keep her eyes open. What had she just done? And why? For a few prickles of guilt? You have to stand on a few toes to become a renowned physics professor - and that had never bothered her. So why should a few mutants? And now she had just exposed her most closely guarded secret. Hopefully the consequential damage would not be as bad as she worried it would.

The thing, the man, with the electrified core had buckled under her action. Some small sliver of her brain celebrated at her small triumph, that despite her lack of training with her mutation, she could still pack a powerful, disarming blow. A figure clad in monk robes had executed some kind of lightning fast move on him as soon as he showed signs of weakness, hacking at his shoulder and sending him tumbling down onto the concrete. She - for Dr Douglas suspected she was female, though the dimness was making identification tricky - certainly knew her combat skills, Dr Douglas found herself thinking, not that Dr Douglas herself knew anything about the matter. When robed-girl glanced at Dr Douglas, Douglas realised that her eyes were pretty conspicuous and swore under her breath. Her only hope now rested with the fact that no one here seemed to attend her lecture and would therefore probably not recognise her. She was certainly in it deep, if they did.

But she would have to deal with that issue later.

She was certain that she, and the person in the monk robes (presumably some odd fashion fad that Dr Douglas did not, and would never, get) had disposed of him. The wound on his shoulder seemed - even from this distance - pretty severe. However, barely seconds later, he began to move, the wound vanishing off his skin before their eyes. It was both the scariest and most extraordinary thing she had ever seen in her life. She actually found herself wishing she had caught it on film.

Under his stare zeroed in on her.

She muttered yet more swear words, appalled by her own use of language. She tried to shuffle into a standing position but her body was so tired that her limbs felt as though they were made of lead. She barely had time to blink before he had hurled something in her direction - for the oddest fraction of a second, she thought is was a Frisbee - before it landed a few feet away from her, beeping. It felt as if everything was happening in slow motion as her brain finally comprehended what it was.

A bomb.

All of her knowledge on physics drained from her head as she merely gaped, open mouthed, at the tiny device. That is, until she realised that she need to move. She scrambled up, her phone long forgotten and lying on the concrete somewhere, and began to dash in the opposite direction but it was too late. Even her jumbled thoughts knew that. She tried to reach out for her technopathy - maybe she could disarm whatever was powering the bomb - but her brain was too hectic, not trained enough to deal with this sort of thing, and she couldn't focus on anything but fear. Fear was not something she felt often. Now, she had an abundance of it; it flooded her entire body.

She stumbled in her heels - her choice of footwear, this morning, was probably going to kill her - and crashed to the ground, as it caught on something. She felt something wet on her face and could see red out the corner of the vision. The pain wasn't there, though. It had retreated in the depths of her brain, one of the least pressing things her disorientated mind had to deal with.

In the back of her head, she noted a nearby telegraph pole - humming with warm, inviting electricity - but that thought was cut short when the bomb exploded in a glorious orange blaze.