So far Leon's day had been pretty bad, firstly the plane had been delayed by hours making his transport to the mansion leave without him. Then he noticed he had no money for a taxi meaning he had to walk. To a place he didn't know the location of. In a unfamiliar city. So by definition..Worst. Day. Ever. 

"Stupid bus couldn't be bothered to wait a few hours..." me muttered to himself as he walked through what appeared to be a park. Great it was getting dark he thought noticing the faint glow of his lit cigarette growing brighter against the darkening sky. "I should probably start to slow down with these, this is the 10th today" he grumbled quietly. Finishing off the last few puffs of the cigarette. 

Suddenly every muscle in his body tensed as a small cold pressure was applied to the base of his neck, "I don't want no trouble, just give me all your money and valuables and you'll be fine." He heard a voice say directly behind him.

Well i should have known this day could only get worse...

  

Serena had gotten up early, where the violent types weren't awake yet, probably from staying up all night beating the hell out of whoever the desired. It quite honestly, disgusted Serena.

She had woken up, gotten dressed. And then proceeded to get a cab straight to her apartment. Something had peeked her interest recently, although her the process of investigating it had also turned out to be rather painful.

She had been reading through some of her brothers case notes on his laptop, out of boredom, and she had found what she soon learned was his last case, the serial killer who did things with a surgical level of skill. And he had two lead suspects, one of which matched the description of the murderer who killed him...

At first it was tear and rage inducing. But then later, she decided that something was amiss and continued reading through the case files, for some indication that it wasn't just her imagination, that there was something more to the situation that had lead to his untimely demise.

After spending several hours at her apartment, the young Haemokinetic realised that it was getting a bit late, late afternoon early evening time. So she decided she should get back home... Her other home.

She could already hear the noise and violence rising like a crescendo outside of her apartment, and she guessed it could only get worse as the evening progressed.

She moved down the stairs, and went straight out onto the street, paying no attention to the chaos she went straight for the park. She already knew it from her... numerous strolls through there on her way back to the mansion. And she also knew that there would probably be less crowds there to get in her way, or attack her.

As she moved into the first tree line she heard a voice.

>>"I don't want no trouble, just give me all your money and valuables and you'll be fine."

She saw a man, make that, a mugger with a gun pointed to the back of a young man, who looked to be roughly her age's head. She rolled her eyes.

The British Blonde proceeded to sneak up behind said mugger. Thank god she had been practising her self defence. Although, she had the drop on this guy...

From behind a tree, she quickly moved around the corner And smacked down on the guys elbow, he proceeded to drop the gun. And she then brought his arm up behind his back. He began to struggle. "Hey, get off me you bastard!"

Man, he was scrawnier than he looked. Thank god for that."I hear it's dangerous outside. You should run along before you get hurt, you are now disarmed, there are two of us, and he might be a mutant." Serena was putting on as intimidating a voice as she could... this really wasn't her style.

If the other teenager infront of the mugger were to look, he would see an attractive, slightly short, blonde girl. With sky blue eyes, wearing a teal summer dress, with a pair of teal hair pins in her long hair, trailing to just past her shoulder blades.

With a sudden rush all of Leon's muscles loosened and he let out a sigh of relief, then it occurred to him that the pressure was taken off fast. Too fast for a mugger, after all he didn't have what he wanted yet. After a second or two of indecision Leon decided to turn around and face his attacker. Only to be greeted with a sight he did not expect. 

The sight that greeted Leon was largely different to the one he had envisioned. Before him was his attacker...being attacked by a teenage girl. "well i did not expect this" was all Leon could think to say. Then as all of this information started to process he noted that the girl was in fact British. 

Is that British i can hear? I will ask her about that later.

"OK OK. I think you can let him go now its not like hes going to try and fight both of us." Leon told the new girl. kicking the fallen gun into the bushes.

Serena nodded to the Britishteenager. She found happy thoughts found her, another British person. They were so far and few these days. Well, she supposed, they are in New York, so it's not really surprising that British people are not very common. She released the mugger.

He proceeded to make a run for it through the bushes. He looked like a kid. Dammit, why did this city have to be so cruel that it drove so many people, even teenagers. To Violence.

I think humanity just tipped things to burn this city down.

The words of that stupid wolf news reporter rung throughout her head. Giving her a flash of anger.

She noted that the boy had already kicked the gun away into the bushes. Good, he was not violent then. That was nice. She inspected him. He was rather well dressed... Waist coat, way to further sterotypes...She thought to herself.

He had medium length black/brown hair, and he wasn't particularly muscular looking. She gave him a warm smile, she practically radiated warmth. "Well, glad that worked out alright..." She gave a light giggle.

Then she gave him another quick look over. He was quiiiite a bit taller than her. "Are you at all injured?" She inquired.

Yeah definitely British.

"No I am not injured, thanks to you." Leon responded plainly to the question. However it may sound he was still thankful to this mystery girl. Upon closer inspection the girl was a fair amount smaller than him and decently pretty. This however was dwarfed by his shock of her accent. Another Brit. On his first day!

"Sooo anyway I'm sort of lost. Care to help a man out?" he asked the girl as he watched the man, well what he thought was a man but on closer inspection was no more than a boy, scramble away. 
"Oh sorry where are my manners the names Leo-" was all he could manage before his body was racked with coughing and spasms in his throat. The fit only lasted a few seconds but that was enough to leave him shaken and on edge. 

why do the fits always come at the most inopportune times? 

Serena smiled as the other British teenager. Good, he was unhurt. Well, at least she was able to help him. Even though he didn't openly show gratitude, Serena simply assumed he was thankful. He hadn't exactly been rude, and he was English, how bad could he be?

She smiled at him. "Of course, I don't know the city all that well, but I'm sure I can help you out a little... Where are you going? Or rather, where are you trying to go?" Serena was giving off that friendly, radiant smile that she was well known for.

She smiled as he begun to introduce himself, and then was cut off by rapid coughing. Her smile turned to a flash of concern. Was there something wrong with him? Of course there was.

She moved over to him and put an arm on his shoulder. "Hey... Are you okay?" They were in the park, they couldn't be too far from a water fountain. maybe he just needed something to drink. She hoped that was all it was.

Leon waved off her arm and straightened up taking several deep breaths before saying "I'll be fine it just happens from time to time." In a tone that was not to harsh but implied he didn't want to go into details right now.

"As for where i was trying to go its called Xavier's sister school." Said Leon with a little smile, "you know kinda big mansion, iron gates  a boarding school for....special people." putting emphasis on the words special people, hoping that she understood that he meant mutants, and didn't think he was being to vague.

Now that he wasn't doubled over coughing and she moved closer he started to notice more features of her than before, the way her hair went down past her shoulder blades and some odd hair pins. And as she was closer he also noticed that she was indeed short. Only coming up to about his neck at most.

 Oh well I almost got mugged , I guess I can have another. He thought as he pulled a fresh cigarette from his pack, which he  proceeded to light and take a long calm inhale.

"So do you know where the school is?" he asked with a new found calm.

Serena's look of concern grew slightly... weary. Was he a mutant? Or did he just have a breathing problem. Because she was a mutant, and her mutation had been known to cause her a particularly bad cough.

"Oh..." Serena responded. "Oh! You're a mutant." Serena smiled. At least she hoped he was a mutant... And not some secretive human terrorist, who was just using her to get in there. She would never hear the end of that.

Serena noted that he smoked... well, that was just unhealthy... Oh well, it's not like she could stop him doing it. She also wondered how old he was, because he looked around her age, and she wasn't legally aloud to smoke in the U.S. Not that she wanted to, as far as she considered, it was disgusting.

Serena tentatively nodded. "Yeah... I sorta live there." She really hoped that if he asked, and she responded. That he wouldn't freak out about her mutation.

Serena had an innate fear of people finding out about her mutation. She didn't really understand why, she just got this feeling that they would automatically reject her, on the other hand, people kept accepting her regardless.

Oh good she understood what I meant.

"Yes I am a mutant, I guess there's no point in hiding it now anyway." Said Leon with a slight warmth to his voice, to demonstrate his point he willed the ash from the end of his cigarette into his mouth and stored it for later. He hoped he hadn't been too forward with the display after all that trick normally creeps people out.

The trick aside he couldn't believe his luck after all, the solution to his problems was standing right next to him. This girl saved him and just happens to live at the school he was going to.  "Oh sorry completely  forgot, I'm Leon, like I tried to say before you know the coughing.." He said smiling he was not happy to be in america but knowing that there are people like this here may just make it easier. 




 

Serena started to smile, as he smoked, Serena noted the smoke and ash trailing off the end of the cigaretteEwwwwwwwwwwwSerena thought to herself. Smoking was a rather... filthy habit, that was probably why he was coughing, not because he had a mutation which made him cough... Like Serena's.

Then he swallowed the ash after telekinetically manipulating the ash on top of his cigarette. Again ewwwwwwwwwww That was an usual habit... Was that another part of his mutation?

"Hiya Leon, and ewww. That cannot taste pleasant... But yeah, I am also a mutant, I live at the mansion, it's a bit of a walk, and it'd probably be best to stick to the park as if you hadn't noticed... The city is sort of, violent currently."

Serena thought she might have heard something in the bushes, or behind the trees. But she dismissed it. The sooner they got to the mansion the better.

Leon smiled at the girl, "It doesn't taste that bad, sorta like burnt bacon. And yeah the city is kinda crazy. " he said, only now beginning to realize that the city was a bit out of hand. All of the chaos he had merely dismissed earlier as he saw it, after all he didn't know what the city was normally like. But this girl who lived here just said that the city was going crazy. 

"So you mean the city isnt normally this crazy?" He asked with genuine curiosity.

If I'm going to be living here I may as well know whats going on.

Suddenly he stopped, it could have been his imagination after all he was thinking about violent mobs. But all the same he was sure that the bushes next to them just moved, and not like the wind was blowing them it was to... precise a movement. There it was again but this time behind them in the trees, again just a single noise. A single crunch of leaves. 

I don't like where this is going.

Serena giggled. Even though it was a little gross, Leon's comment was still a little amusing, and the prospect of manipulating ash was indeed an interesting one. She then began to wonder just how long Leon had been using his mutation.

She shook her head "No, the city isn't normally this crazy. Or rather, the city isn't normally this violent." Serena stated.

Fighting is stupid. Rioting is stupid. People are stupid.

Serena smiled to Leon. "We should probably get going, you know just incase some of the rioters find us-" Serena froze.

As the blonde teenager was just finishing her sentence, the man and his 3 'friends' leaped out from near the trees. Two of them had knives, one of them was holding a bat, and one of them had what appeared to be a knuckle duster on.

Serena gulped. "Well... That doesn't look good."

"DAMN STRAIGHT! Mutant whore!" the guy with that bat yelled.

He had looked thuggish. Serena was surprised he had the vocabulary to know 'whore'

So I didn't imagine it!

Suddenly the nice conversation he was having was shattered by the arrival of four armed men. By the look of their weapons and clothing they had been in other fights tonight, as both weapons and clothing was covered in flecks of blood, with more coating the weapons. In the case of the baseball bat it was more recognizable as a red baton than the wooden bat. 

>> "DAMN STRAIGHT! Mutant whore!"

"OH! Look what escaped the zoo, now I have heard of  parrots copying speech, but I have never seen a monkey call someone a whore before." He said with clear scorn in his voice. After all why should he stoop to the levels of gangs and uneducated people, and this isn't the first gang he has dealt with so he knew the drill. Show no fear. And don't give them an inch to work with.

"But alas I have little time to deal with people like you So. bye bye." He said with a slight smile on his face, feeling the tingling in his throat. starting as a small tickle, building to become a hot spice in the center of his chest and neck. Then came the ash, streaming out of Leon's mouth like a small storm.

The ash came out at direct head level for the new men, taking control of the cloud as it exited his body to form a smokescreen that covered the heads of the rioters. Although with that little ash the screen couldn't be as effective as he wanted it to be. At best it would buy them a few seconds head start he guessed.

((OOC: Permission for the dragging was given))

Serena felt like face palming. These guys, had just burst out of the bush, looking to cause trouble, or... Cause something. Considering they appeared to be rather unintelligent brutes. But before Serena could even attempt to diffuse the situation LEON just had to insult all of them.

Serena tensed, ready for whatever they threw at her. She noted that they had blood on them from fighting. Then Leon did something... Mildly unexpected, he expelled ash from his body and used it to blind the group that had jumped them.

Serena took the initiative, grabbed Leon's hand and dragged him, pulling him into a run beside her. "Come on! Lets go!"

She began to run with Leon in toe, well, attached to her hand by her grip. They ran, zig-zagging between the trees, trying to escape their pursuers.

One of them darted around the side of the tree and swung a knife. Damn, they recover fast... Serena thought to herself.

She jumped back, pushing Leon back with her. They were rapidly surrounded by four of them. "Urm... Any ideas?"

Well things where going according to plan, after all the girl had taken the hint and started running once they where blinded. Although he would have preferred to not get pulled along by the arm. Through the woods...

Ouch.

Running with a girl quite a bit shorter than you pulling your arm hurts, quite a bit. not to mention the fact that she was making them zig-zag through the woods. So yeah that was not the funnest run he had ever been on, as his arm and back where now aching a considerable amount.  

Then it all started to fall apart as the first of the mob recovered from the smokescreen and attacked them. Which was quite surprising, he knew he had to make the screen thin but still that was some impressive recovery. And confirmed that they where completely out matched in speed. 

Well this is going to hurt. thought Leon as the remaining three closed around them, boxing them in. "Well i did have one idea, but that failed as we where caught so...improvise?" He said trying to not let the worry and anticipation leak into his voice. looking at them now as they started to close in the circle they looked normal. Unfortunately they where not out of breath and most certainly not amused.