It was raining. Not that this was a problem for him, unlike that poor ladies raincoat, but it still was hard to be happy when it's bucketing it down. Nonetheless Chris was trying to happy. He was returning to New York! Having left a few months ago and spent a very boring time in Australia he was glad to be back. Munching on his burger he wandered around the place, looking at the for sale signs, trying to work out whether to rent, buy or go live at the sanctuary.

His musing and general wandering around was rudely interrupted by the arrival of some thugs. He wasn't on very good terms with them when he left, and apparently they hadn't forgotten.
"Hey! Give us your money!" Okay, apparently a different group.
"Hey yourself. I don't have much more than a 50, granted it's more than your mother earns but it's still not a lot"

Thunder made Lori yip in surprise. Rain was so not her thing so she hurried.

Rainbow polkadotted galoshes kept her feet and ankles clear of any splashing. Above that, her trusty trench. No one who was anyone in New York didn't have a trench coat. Finally, and possibly most dangerously, she had an oversized golf umbrella.

Her hair began to rise, a sure sign of an impending lightning strike so Lori dashed quickly between buildings and got as low as she dared, huddled under her umbrella like it was the shell and she was the tortoise.

> "Hey! Give us your money!"

What? Really? She raised her umbrella a bit to peek, but lightning struck something on the roof of the building overhead and Lori squeaked again in response. That would have been her had she not ducked in here with the ongoing robbery.

The moron getting robbed had about as much tact as the robbers had sense.

"Excuse me." She stood, glad that her voice was smooth as honey instead of the shaking she felt inside. "My name is Lori and I couldn't help but overhear." She smiled and approached with her hand out as if this was all quite normal. She was short, but her clothes spoke of money. She was a polished business executive and a woman, definitely a far better target for a mugging.

Unless they bothered to touch her skin. She was teeming with extra electricity. If she didn't get some of it out, the next lightning strike would be even closer still.

It was all that stupid, clumsy janitor's fault.

Well, more accurately, it was the fault of whoever had hired the janitor. But that was besides the point.

The thing was, if he hadn't tried to mop the second floor of the Mansion library with the toxic waste of someone's failed science experiment, then they wouldn't have had to section off that part of the building, which ended up including not only the second floor but the entire library, the dining room, and a hallway. None of which any of the residents, including Margo, saw as more than a temporary inconvenience, so it wasn't that big of a deal. Until she, being Margo, got bored enough to try a number of online classes, which were actually pretty awesome but somehow ended up with her taking a stroll down the street on this particularly rainy day to people watch. It sounded creepy and oh-so-perverted, but it was buckets of fun.

Her first real assignment for one particular course of study: a creative nonfiction essay, to be sent in to a local office for critique. (Anything she was going to send in, she figured she might as well put some thought into.) So off she went. She made her way down the street, hood up to keep the rain out of her eyes, Doc martens splashing through the puddles- she'd thought her rubber rain boots with the lizard pattern were too conspicuous for this occasion- and altogether noticed by no one.

Which was all well and good, until she turned the corner and nearly walked into a mugging.

"Hey! Give us your money!"

"Hey yourself. I don't have much more than a 50, granted it's more than your mother earns but it's still not a lot."

"Excuse me. My name is Lori and I couldn't help but overhear."

The girl quickly retreated, but not before catching a glimpse of the scene in question. A group of dim witted thugs. Their victim, some jerk with a soggy, half-eaten burger. A well-dressed lady, trying to shake hands like the business woman that she was. What did she think she was doing? Margo bit her lip and leaned out of sight, listening. She could insert herself into this situation if she wanted to, how she wanted to, and when she wanted to. Not any other way.

Chris was more than happy to deal with them himself, namely by running away but if this lady was willing to intervene then he wasn't going to stop her.
"Ah! Just in time."
He turned to face the would be muggers, didn't look like they had a chance any more, and addressed them.
"Right now it looks like your options are to go for me, go for her or leave. Just before you decide I must point out that the last time I was mugged all five of the muggers ended up dead."
It's not a lie if it's partially true right?

The leader looked confused for a second before snapping to two of his underlings. "You get the fancy one." This left him and one other minions to deal with Chris.
Just before they attacked, Chris spoke to the lady. "I would appreciate it if you didn't kill them."

Judging by the looks everyone was giving everyone else in this confined space everyone knew she was a mutant. A safe assumption. Who else would dare approach the situation rather than ignore it? That had been her tactical error. Humans would pull out the stops against someone like her.

Their collective errors were to assume that she cared about any of them. She planned to do everything in her power to continue to give them that wrong impression.

> "I would appreciate it if you didn't kill them."

"Well, we can hope for the best." Whatever that may be. The elemental eyed the shoes of everyone in the alleyway. Too much rubber.

Lori altered her personal magnetic field's range. If it wasn't tied down, it was on its way toward her. She was a bit rusty with using her abilities, so if she gave it a bit too much oomph, it wasn't really her fault. It was just your average low level magnetic pulse. It didn't even reach that far.

Her pull did, however, have the desired effect on the knife one man was brandishing.

She'd surprised him and he'd almost lost his grip. That made him stubbornly hold on even tighter.

'Now to line them up.'

Lori took a small side step and gave her power a quick boost.

Belt buckles jostled. The nearby dumpster nudged forward, despite being full. The all-metal fire escape groaned against its moorings. And the knife, now held with a special stubborn tightness, whipped straight toward Lori. Good thing she had side stepped to put thug #2 between herself and thug #1.

"Oh. No." The words were right. The tone was wrong. Lori wasn't upset. She was mocking. "Help. Someone call the police."

Her hair started to rise, a telltale sign of an impending lightning strike.

From her vantage point behind a nearby dumpster, Margo watched the proceedings with an increasing sense of dread. The scruffy-looking guy, who she assumed was the intended victim, shared a few words with the lady; the leader of the gang spoke to his thugs. She couldn't hear the exact words, but none of it sounded too good. Then the actual fight broke out, and she pressed herself further back, out of sight. She should really just leave now, before any one got killed.

Too late.

Without any warning, the dumpster she had been hiding behind jerked forward, accompanied by a shriek of metal from the fire escape ladder above. Margo, skittering clear of both, was just in time to see the woman sidestep a knife thrust, which plunged instead into the gut of a nearby thug.

"Oh. No." The woman's voice cut through the air, mocking. "Help. Someone call the police."

There was blood everywhere.

What was worse, Bloody Knife turned. He saw her. He stepped forward, and Margo swore he grinned. She backed up, and he grinned some more. Easy meat, he must have thought.

He was close enough. Now! A tidal wave of fear literally flooded out from her, and she scrambled around him while he was distracted.

"A little help here?"

Chris looked at the two thugs approaching him and sighed.
"This would have been a lot easier if you had all gone for her."
Quick jump and some swinging and he sat perched on top of the lamppost, only to almost fall off when it jerked. Looking over revealed a knife protruding from one of the thugs and the woman mocking the others.

>"A little help here?"

"One. I told you not to kill them." He shifted to look at the newcomer "Two. In a bit of a tight spot here myself..."
Surveying the situation did nothing to help. He pulled a couple of marbles from his pocket and threw one at the confused thug, just before it left his hand he swapped the weight of it with that of the fire-escape. It impacted the thugs leg, broke it and went right through, cracking the concrete where it fell. Another three took care of one of the thugs going for him.
"... but I think I can work something out"
Course, now he was out of marbles.

Bloody Knife did not respond as she expected him to. His shocked expression turned predatory. Lori stepped back to change her vantage point and see not only the other two vandals, but the target that made Knifey advance rather than flee.

A rubbernecker. A girl rubbernecker cowering behind the sludge stain left by the freshly moved dumpster.

The executive rolled her eyes. Only in New York.

Of course, she could be a plant... someone to draw their attention and make her expose her back, maybe? The guy did hesitate.

"He might not die." Lori watched the marbles Hamburger Man tossed and gave her umbrella a playful twirl where it lay against her shoulder which sprayed water on those near to her. It made Knifey jump.

Time to gamble. Lori really was sexist at heart anyway.

One more step put her back to the wall across from the fire escape and put more of the dumpster between herself and Mr. Bloody Hands. She used the wall behind her to brace herself and pushed quite suddenly with her power. He may have left the metal bit behind in the belly of his friend, but there was plenty left to use against him.

She wasn't at a vantage point where she could see him get mowed down by a dumpster, but if the girl didn't move to the side, she might end up there as well.

"Can't help those that won't help themselves."

Having escaped the disoriented Bloody Knife for the moment, Margo paused breathlessly to examine the situation. Hamburger Dude wobbled on top of his lamppost, offering up his help in the form of...marbles? Huh, she thought, as he launched the swirly, minuscule orbs in the thugs' direction to good effect- it looked as if Bloody's leg was broken. "Much appreciated" she called, winking down at the thug.

The lady, on the other hand, simply twirled her umbrella and sprayed Margo in the face with a fine mist of water. She blinked.

The dumpster lurched without warning again, this time too quickly. Margo jumped hastily out of the way, skidded backwards upon landing, and nearly fell on her butt. Well, at least she hadn't been flattened, which was more than you could say for the unfortunate thug. Still...

"That your life philosophy or something?"

In any case, the girl had learned her lesson. Giving the dumpster a wide berth, she hopped over the railing of the fire escape and started making her way up. "Don't get any ideas," she warned. "Please?"

{I am sooo sorry about not replying. Kinda just never got round to it}

Chris smirked at the woman climbing the fire escape."Sheesh, it's only been a few minutes and you already know me so well. Don't worry though, I'd only melt the staircase after you're off it" In a stage whisper he continued,
"Really need to come up with something else, melting is getting old now"

Chris eyed the last thug going for him. High chance he would flee but you never know.
Just as Chris was shifting a gust of wind came through and he fell off, appearing to break his leg. He stood upright and used the lamppost and his staff to steady himself. He was in fact fine, but didn't want the thugs to know that.

The thug in question began slowly backing away. Having seen all of her comrades demolished she wasn't going to take any chances.

Lori made a small 'hn' sound as she mentally tried the phrase out in Margo's newly suggested application. "Not a bad one, actually."

It was curiosity that kept Lori watching as the first man, the one still wielding a hamburger (or had he lost it? What a bizarre creature.), fell from his perch and struggled to his feet.

Because. You know. Wind.

Theater? Or... Circus? This guy was definitely a ham.

And, as there were two exits to most corridors between buildings, and because Lori most definitely was standing between the last assailant and one direction, the last female aggressor went the other direction.

(Also sorry for the late post)

Margo didn't even bother with a reply as she made her way up the rusted fire escape, significantly annoyed with everybody by this point. She paused on the third story balcony, peering over the railing through the foliage of a half dozen wilted house plants. (Seriously, which idiot left those on the fire escape anyway?) It was a good vantage point, and although it was harder to pick out the figures moving below, she much preferred this. Up close and personal wasn't really her thing.

Water dripped down from above, splattering the girl as she took stock of the situation. "But of course," she huffed, noting the absence of a certain group of thugs. Of course she had climbed all those stairs for nothing, and what was she supposed to do now?

Down one flight of stairs, a slide down the railing of the next. She stood in front of Hamburger Man and the Metalmancer, folded her arms, and waited.

Chris groaned, but this was a groan of frustration not of pain. He straightened up and lent idly against the lamppost, swinging his staff. Abruptly it is torn feom his grasp and goes flying past the nice girls head to dent the railing she just slid down. He hurried over to grab it, undoing the weight shift of with the lamppost so that he could lift it. "Whoops. Need to remember to keep a stronger gripon it. Anyway, thank you. Unlike miss run-them-over-with-a-dumpster here. Now then, hopefully I can get to the sanctuary before dark, unless I get mugged again"
In a quieter voice he added "Or get ambushed"

Completely unappreciated. Lori froze when there was more thunder, this time close enough for her to eel it in her bones.

"Tell Lisa hello for me." The elemental waved to those that were Sanctuary bound. She was no longer the chief administrator of that endeavor, thank goodness. Lisa the secretary and foremost fixture at the Sanctuary, who Lori was convinced held the mutant power of organization, would take care of the soggy mutants as well as anyone else.

Instead of bothering with them, Lori was more interested in the aggressors. She went to survey her handiwork with the dumpster. The guy had his legs almost free from beneath the space between the bottom of the dumpster and its wheels. He was scraped, but mostly unharmed. The guy wriggled harder as she approached.

He was soaking wet from the rain, but Lori offered him a hand up all the same. He hesitated, but decided to make contact. Her smile was just so disarming, dumpster tricks or not.

Lori pulled. The man came free with her help. He would also probably have contact burns from the voltage she was unable to keep from pouring into him. Satisfied that his jerking body was, indeed, still alive, Lori fished out her cell phone.

Technology was so nice to have around. Though the phone was a brick with an equally clunky case, she managed to dial 911 just fine. "I need you to send an ambulance and a police car, please. Someone tried to hassle a pair of mutants." A fine upstanding member of society who made most generous police donations could get a squaddie there in half the time it normally took.

Lori wiped her hand on her coat.

The clock was ticking if the Sanctuary kids wanted to get out of the rain any time soon.

As a general rule of thumb, one should never taunt an enemy who holds the upper hand. But Margo, watching in horror as Lady Shock stood over the still body of the thug she had electrocuted and, cool as you please, called the police, couldn't help herself. Who the heck did that woman think she was?

"I take it that's another life philosophy of yours?" The girl asked coldly, "When in doubt, administer unhelpful shock therapy?" It wasn't even like she had liked that thug- he'd tried to kill her, after all, and she wouldn't have cared a single bit if he spent the rest of his pathetic life in jail. And it wasn't just that what that callous woman had done was over the top. It was the attitude.

"You know, I'm starting to understand why people despise your kind so much." Margo narrowed her eyes at Lady Shock, making sure to keep her distance (not that she was sure it would help, since apparently she could also control metal. Some mutants just had too much power for their own good.) "And you don't seriously think the police are going to side with you, right?"

Actually, she'd been considering a visit to the Sanctuary with the hamburger guy, just to check it out. But with the way things were going, she doubted anything like that would work out.