Avenging (Open)

Skydancer ran across the rooftop, pausing near the edge only just long enough to spot a convenient fire escape ladder in the roof across from hers. A tube, all ready extended from her shoulder, extended itself and wrapped around the bottom rung of the ladder. She leapt, allowing her momentum to assist the natural strength of her tube and bring her over to the next building. She was breathing hard but there was a grin on her face, should anyone have been close enough to see her. This was the sort of thing she loved about being a mutant; the simple freedom to run and swing from the rooftops. She was returning from a late night training session at the circus but just because it was late didn't mean that she couldn't have a little bit of fun on the way back to The Mansion.

The next rooftop was a story lower than Skydancer's current perch but that was hardly a barrier to continuing on her way. There was noting to grab onto this time, but it was always easier going lower than it was going higher. She sent three tubes to the lower roof, splayed out in a triangle. The pointed tips weren't exactly the best for traction unless they were impaling themselves into dirt or wood, but roof tiles tended to provide enough traction as long as she used at least 3 tubes. Once anchored, it was a simple matter to lower herself down and continue on her way. It was an enjoyable challenge trying to figure out how to get home while remaining exclusively on the rooftops, allowing her to exercise quick thought and problem solving skills. She took a slightly different route home every day so as to not memorize the most ideal route back. It was all about playing to her strengths while avoiding her limitations.

Skydancer was planning her next move when she was distracted by a commotion happening down below. Someone dressed as a super hero was being accosted by another figure, though it was too dark to really pick out many distinctive features of him. She wondered, briefly, how many wannabe super heroes were actually in this city as her mind went back to memories of her recent encounters with the slug people and a certain wannabe super hero involved in that little debacle as well. Now was not the time to wonder about such things, however.

No thought about the attacker being a mutant honestly entered Skydancer's mind. She saw someone in trouble and, knowing she had the ability to help, she sent her three tubes down and lowered herself. Had she considered the fact that the attacker might be a mutant or, for that matter, might have a gun and thus be actually dangerous, she might not have been quite so hasty to act. As it was, she didn't think of much of anything aside from saving the poor unfortunate super hero.

"Don't you know its not nice to hurt people," Skydancer asked, staring at the offender. Once on the ground, she lifted her tubes in front of her, pointed tips sticking out menacingly.

Akshay was one the ground and it had definitely hurt. His back pressed up against the brick wall, his arm which held the shield was throbbing from where the man had suddenly kicked him, and Akshay was sure that none of this was going to go well. He had demanded an explanation, but he probably should have left it a mystery. Instead the man in front of him seemed to take the tone of his voice personally and crept forward, breathing heavily, and raised his fist (a massive one at that) in order to bring it down upon his head.

Wide-eyed, Akshay scrambled to move despite the pain but all his efforts got him was a flail or two. The brick wall was slick with some slime he couldn’t identify and his arm was throbbing. But he was not going to be pummeled to death by some ill-tempered man in a back alley of New York.

That…was way too clichéd.

>> “I asked you a question,”[/color]

He tried to move, lifted his sore and dented shield, trying to find some voice to reason with the man in front of him. But before he could, there was the suddenly sound of someone else dropping down nearby. Akshay paused in disbelief as he stared at a woman…with purple skin and several tube-like things pointed directly at his attacker. Did he just get saved by Professor Squidess?! Today was SUCH a comic book day.

>> "Don't you know it’s not nice to hurt people?"

>> “You should probably mind your own business.”[/color]

Akshay watched in stunned silence as the paired seemed to be staring each other off. Before he knew it, there were TWO people with tentacles now. The man who had attacked him had apparently been able to grow them from his very flesh, almost mimicking his savior exactly. Tubes/Tentacles withered about and he watched as the offending figure crouched down momentarily before suddenly take a dead-on run towards his protector. Akshay, had to do something.

His mind went into autopilot as he reached to his belt. Slipped into the holster was a gun…a…realistic looking water gun that he had added to the costume to complete the illusion of the World War II hero American Soldier. Hand slipping around the grip, Akshay pulled it up and, feeling the water slosh around inside, he squeezed the trigger.

Two spurts shot out, aimed directly for the attackers face if to do nothing other than distract him…

Shane was practically galloping the distance between himself and the tube girl. He was only one stride in to his charge when he started to realize that it wasn’t going to end favorably for him, or at least not how he planned it to go. The tube launching up to a nearby window was the first sign of trouble for him. He watched it latch on to the window’s barred covers as his second stride made contact with the ground.

Then his attention switched the costumed kid with the stupid shield, and he’d suddenly forgotten about the woman. While his third stride came down to the pavement he saw the boy pull a gun out from concealment. He’d seen guns before, but after the events of the evening earlier, he was feeling far less comfortable with them then ever before.

His fourth stride brought him within just a couple of feet of the woman, but his unblinking gaze was fixed on the gun, which was now aimed right at him. The boy squeezed the trigger and Shane could swear he heard the popping sound of the bullet firing out. Instead, the cool splash of water hit him in the face, square between the eyes.

His gaze switched forward again where the shadowy figure of the girl was now grappling out of his field of vision. His fifth stride was the first with an active effort put into slowing down, now that the only thing between him and a brick wall was an ever shrinking empty space. He could feel a second splash of water hit him in the arm; an irrelevant attack. The first shot - despite his relief that it wasn’t fatal - did indeed blur his sight slightly.

His sixth stride of the charge was his last, trying again to slow down, but catching on a crack and sending him flying shoulder first into the brick that awaited him. He lay there motionless for a moment. His breathing was heavier then ever, and he’d winded himself in the collision. He winced at the pain, but did manage to climb to his feet.

Shane took a moment to try and clear his head. He was still seeing red, but he was attentive enough to note that his combatants weren’t in the best shape themselves, at least as far as he was concerned.

He wasn’t anxious to jump back into full on raging bull mode again, but he had no interest in playing it defensively either. Now that it was clear that the kid’s gun was just a toy, he dropped pretty low on the threat chart in his mind. So Shane decided to deal with him first.

Tossing out an elongated arm in a similar fashion to a whip, he launched his tentacle attack at the shield wielding boy as hard as he could.

Skydancer's body was a mass of bruises. The fall caused her to ache everywhere but, as she tenderly made her way back to her feet, it didn't feel as if anything was broken or any tubes had shattered with the impact of the fall. That was a very good thing. It wasn't that she was more prone to injury than most humans, but when she was injured beyond a few scrapes and bruises, her injuries tended to be more serious. As it was, in a matter of minutes any superficial damage done to her would heal in mere minutes.

Her attention returning to the situation at hand, Skydancer took it as a good sign that their morphing assailant was also on the ground and she guessed it had to have been curtasy of the brick wall immediately in front of him. She took it as something less of a good sign as he made his way back to his feet and didn't seem slowed down in the least. She took it as even less of a good sign as he proceeded to attempt an attack at the defenceless shield boy. Well, two could play at that game.

"How about you pick on someone who can actually stand up to you," Skydancer challenged. She hated bullies; always and always would. The bullies in her new life were somewhat more dangerous than those in high school and somewhat stranger in appearance, but bullies were still bullies and she wouldn't suffer them.

"Let's see how you fare against someone who can actually hurt you. I promise you, my tubes are far more dangerous than a mere water gun." Skydancer spared a brief glance at the little victim, establishing that she didn't see any serious injuries, before returning her attention to her enemy. She was angry now and, in her anger, didn't bother to hold back. Three tubes shot from her torso towards the shifting mutant, pointed purple tips aimed at the thickest part of his body. She would see just how well he faired against an actual threat, this time.

Akshay was sore. His hold face felt like he was hit by runaway bus and, to be honest, he just could not get his mind to focus. Everything was blurry and whenever he tried to focus, all he found was red hot pain streaking across his face. Part of him wonder if maybe his face was split open and the wound was far worse than he thought it was. But as he reached up and gently brushed his fingers across his cheek, he was thankful to find that he did not feel blood, just raw skin.

That was going to leave a HELL of a mark in the morning! If he made it to morning…

The thought was sobering and actually caused the young wordsmith to look past the pain that he felt emanating from every pore on his face and move. He winced and groaned as he rolled onto his stomach, hearing some more commotion from the duo. It seemed as if their fight was continuing and they were simply going to ignore him for now. Apparently he was chopped liver.

Akshay winced and moved onto his knees and glanced over to find that the amorphous man had turned his attention fully onto his purple skinned savior. The woman was also looking tired but he doubted that she was the type to really back down from a fight. Her tentacles lashed around and pointed threatening at his own attacker. But then the man tried to pull the same maneuver and lift himself out of harm’s way. Initially his gambit worked as he dodged a couple, but at least one found it’s place caused the man to screech in pain.

A look of surprise flashed across his own face. How was he supposed to feel about this? After all, the man attacked him, but did he really deserve to be skewered like that? Part of Akshay wanted to say yes, but another part thought that he needed some kind of fair say. After all why did he attack him in the first place?

Maybe the man was just having a bad day or…

Then he saw the man’s own tentacle lash out at the woman again. He gasped as he had moved to his feet and dashed forward as best he could. Removing his dented shield in one swoop, Akshay suddenly lunged it like a Frisbee at the man, yelling to the woman who had saved him.

“Watch out!!” he screamed and sent his shield flying, aiming for the man’s back…

Shane collided with the wall hard. His head managed to steer clear of the impact - but just barely - while his shoulder crumpled from the hit. There had been far too many incidents with the walls of the alley tonight and he was getting sick of it. Both sides of his body were aching, the impaled side of course hurting significantly more. His eyes were fixed on his target though, the purple woman he was currently tethered to, and no amount of pain was going to break that concentration. He could see his arm sailing through the air, ready to make contact with his opponent when a sudden and surprising mixture of sensations started coursing through his body.

There was a faint sound of shouting that he’d hardly heard, but it was unmistakable; a warning. It was immediately followed by an increase in pain from his shoulder as the tube wiggled free from his flesh. The pain was overwhelming, but he had a moment of relief as he felt the collision of his own whip making contact at the other end of the alley. He was no longer looking at his target now though. He'd underestimated his unbreakable stare, which apparently was vulnerable to the intense pain he was feeling in his freshly exposed wound. It was only for a second that he looked away, but in that moment he was hit with some kind of metallic object, right into the side of his head.

The collision from the shield knocked him from what little stable footing he had, leaving him in a crumpled position on the ground. He wasn’t unconscious, but he was disoriented and could barely make out up from down. His instincts took over and he reeled in all of his appendages to create a ball like shape, essentially his fetal position. His eyes aimless scanned the surrounding area, trying to latch on to anything recognizable.

He could see the shield and managed to piece together that it was the cause of the impact that knocked him down. He tossed out an arm to grab it, which was successful after a few missed attempts. Once he managed to get hold of it, he tossed it in the direction of the girl, but there was no focus to the throw and it bounced off a wall nowhere near her.