Alex, for all his caution, still seemed to attract trouble like flies to honey. It had been over a year since the incident but it seemed some people didn't forget. Some people still wanted revenge or to prove themselves superior to a "killer" mutant. He could only imagine that's what it was. That his status, as a mutant with a record, is what attracted jerks like these. That or the Bird Hunters were starting to get brave about what they wanted to do to mutants.

In any case, after a long chase, after another round of people staring and watching and not helping, Alex found himself in an alley with a chain link fence at the end. He stood there, panting for air and staring at the unbelievable sight. Of course, of course he'd end up backed into a corner with no material to work with. He was never going to get out of this cycle. The only way it would end was if he actually died. Which didn't seem like it was going to be a long stretch.

He turned to face his pursuers, three men in varying degrees of out of breath, stood in the way of his only escape. He slowly backed away, hands up prepared to fight, "Guys, I'm warning you, back off." A bluff, he didn't have it in him to use his powers like that again. And despite all his training, three on one was going to be hard.

They didn't waste time with talking, there were no jeers or taunting. No, they only attacked him. Alex got in a few good hits before they pinned him to the ground. He didn't get a chance to cry out for help, they just started whaling on his head and face. Knocking him out was probably the plan, unconscious was safer for them, unconscious meant they could do what they wanted and Alex couldn't do a thing to stop it.

He stopped struggling after a while, let it happen, watched black spots dance before his eyes. No one was coming to help him anyway.

He had needed to go for a walk. Artair had spent the last week cooped up in the campus library studying and if he spent much more, he was going to scream. Rather than go to any of the coffee shops on campus for the umpteenth time, he instead went for a wander. His walking lead him deep into New York, past cafes and sandwich shops, nothing really looking appetising to him. Maybe all he really need was some fresh air, clear his head a little.

Ten minutes later and apparently hungry, he gave up trying to find anything specific and just entered the nearest coffee shop. It didn't look too bad at least, the prices were ridiculous but the food looked good and the coffee smelled amazing. Grabbing what ever looked edible, he got something resembling coffee and head outside to sit down. Sitting inside would have driven him up that wall and it was always relaxing to just sit and watch the world go by.

He'd not been there long when he saw a young lad go past at a dead sprint. OK that was weird, he'd looked terrified. That would have been the end of it had three fully grown men also went past, sprinting. Whoever they were, or whatever the lad had done, the men didn't look nice. Was no one seriously going to help? Jesus people were just looking away. Artair had always heard of the bystander effect but this was something else. Downing the last of his coffee, he set off after the strange chase.

Nearly losing them a couple of times, he managed to spot them dive down an alley. Slowing he readied a weapon, keeping his eyes out for trouble. Rounding the corner, he swore to himself. They'd jumped down any number of the side alleys off this one. Wracking his brain he nearly missed the scared voice. Nearly. Sprinting towards it he pulled the weapon into reality.

Sliding around the corner he spotted them at last. Whatever this kid had done, he didn't deserve this kind of beating. They wanted blood. Artair was more than happy to oblige them. Launching himself towards them, he swung a vicious blow with the quarterstaff, slamming into right into one's temple with a nasty thudding sound.

Alex laid there, head spinning, probably bleeding in a couple spots and he knew he should probably start struggling again, fight back. But he knew, he knew if he did, it'd be all his fault if these bastards died or got hurt and he'd be in trial again and he'd probably be sent to jail regardless of what happened. Sam would be so upset with him, he'd probably disown him, and he'd be alone again. So he didn't, despite every instinct screaming that he should fight, he ignored it.

However, something miraculous happened, someone had come. He couldn't see very well, but the weight of the men lifted off him and he could see someone fighting them with something glowing in hand. He laid there, trying to regain the will to move just enough to scoot out of the way. That done, he watched his savior take on the three brutes. It was almost like watching a movie, like this guy was a knight in shining armor come to save him.

Or was the shining bit real. He couldn't tell, he was sure he had a concussion or at least a really bad black eye. Man, he was going to have to sneak into doc's office for a quick heal up. He didn't mind the school doctor knowing what happened, but he didn't want his dad or anyone else finding out. They'd get worried and demand he stay on school grounds. Even though he was an adult and perfectly capable of handling himself- oh, who was he kidding?!

He should probably stay locked in his room for his own safety and never leave. At the rate things were going, he was going to die before he reached 21. It was only a matter of time before events like this finally caught up to him. He could only live on borrowed time for so long.

Dodging back he took a defensive stance, ready to strike or defend if need be. It was good to be using the staff again, it had always been a favourite of his and he needed the reach and versatility at the moment. The thugs had been stunned by his sheer ferocity but the one he'd already struck was getting back up. What the hell were they made of? At least they were all focused on him, the kid had already taken a nasty beating. He was still moving but god knows what internal injuries he could have. If Artair could keep them occupied the kid could either call the police or make a run for it.

"Tough guys, you lot. It take three of you to take on one kid." He detested bullies but three men beating on a kid? "You only just been able to rough up the local grannies," he continued taunting them, "thought you'd move up scale?" He wanted them only focused on him, not paying attention to the lad. Feinting towards one, he quickly brought the staff around in an arc, taking out one of the groups legs. He'd have rather hurt him more but his friends reacted quickly, trying to circle him. C---, they knew what they were doing, he wouldn't be able to fight them all off for long with only a quarterstaff.

Rather than worry, he let the fight wash over him, blocking and countering. He could wear them down, getting hit by a long bar as hard a steel would hurt. Of course, considering his luck in fights, it didn't last long. Movement on the ground distracted him, letting one of them get inside his guard. Dammit stupid could he be. The guy have a vice like grip on his arm and was hammering him in the chest and stomach.

Dropping the weapon, Artair responded in kind, pulling out a very nasty caestus and just started punching. AT least it worked in loosening the mans grip and just as he broke out of it, his two friends jumped on him. They were just trying to drag him to the ground and if he let them, Artair knew he'd not walk away. Striking at any exposed flesh holding onto him, his dropped staff started smacking into the group as well, flying around and keeping their attention.

This was getting bad. As much as he didn't want to kill them, they clearly had no such qualms. If pain didn't work, blood would. He scattered the staff, drawing his power together and focusing on a suitable weapon. It was time to turn the tables.

Alex watched, dazed by the show of power against the three attackers. For a moment, he could only sit and stare and wonder where this man had come from. That is, before he realized he should probably call the cops. Now that there was someone to vouch for him, maybe he wouldn't get in trouble. Yeah, as long as they both survived this, these guys would end up going to jail. Not him.

He just didn't want his dad to find out.

He struggled to pull his phone from his pocket, hands shaking but he got it. Well, in that moment anyway. One of the men knocked away by his rescuer's fist caught sight of him, up and moving about with phone in hand, "Hey!" Alex was jolted by the sudden shout, it being the first word he had heard out of any of his attackers.

Instead of returning to the fight, the man got up and grabbed Alex's hand, attempting to get the phone. They struggled for a moment, but in his weakened state, Alex was helpless and he wasn't about to use his powers on a human being again.

Phone ripped from his grasp, his assailant smashed it on the ground, stomping on it for good measure. Alex watched and found he really had one choice. Make a run for it. He stumbled to his feet before the man could realize what he was doing and ran for the entrance of the alley, hoping that he wasn't abandoning his rescuer. Hoping that the man figured out what he was doing and ran too.

The image in his head solidified, he just needed to pull it into reality. Slammed his fist into the side of one the men still wrestling with him, he scattered the caestus and drew out the sword. The feeling of it in his hand was good. This, this was a weapon. hitting the same man in the same place with its hilt, then bringing it back in a viscous attack he broke the guys nose, sending him spinning off in pain. Good, now he could really bring it to bear.

Unfortunately as he'd done this, the first guy he'd knocked away was wrestling with the kid, looked like he was trying to smash his phone. Swearing, he was stopped from coming to the lads aid, both his opponents were on they're feet again, this time with nasty looking combat knives out. Looked like they knew how to use them too.

Trading quick blows and keeping them at length, Artair rapidly had to reassess the situation. A mistake from either side would prove deadly and with three of them, chances are it'd be Scottish blood split. The lad was moving though, getting away from one of them. It looked like he was running. Good, if the lad got free, Artair could fight a retreat towards the street and break for freedom easier. Launching a quick flurry of blows agaisnt his two, it proved to be enough of a distraction. The lad was free. Artair only hoped he could do the same.

Slowly back up turned out to be a problem. Without the element of surprise all three were focused on him. Circling him, they kept trying to cut of escape. For once, his lucked was good. The thug with a broken nose overstepped earning a nasty cut to his thigh. Quickly moving into him, Artair slashed his achilles heel for good measure. Leaping backwards, he threw his sword at them and sent it spin with his mind. Now, now it was time to run.

Alex was pretty sure his nose was broken now, the wheezing inhalation was a good sign something had broken in there. He was lucky nothing else was broken. He just wished he could stop to get a proper breath in. But there was no time for that. He needed a place to hide, scratch that, they needed a place to hide. The guy who saved him was right behind, the sound of screaming at his heels. His savior must have pulled out a more deadly weapon than before.

There was a door to one of the buildings, he hadn't seen it in his panicked rush to get away from them. By some miracle it was unlocked and he rushed in, keeping it open just a crack to beckon the weapon creator in with him. The room was dark and he hoped this wasn't a repeat of the last time he had run away from a group of thugs.

Once the man got in, he shut the door as quietly as he could and waited, keeping a hand on the handle. He listened, waiting and waiting until there was the sound of the men running or hobbling by, before he finally took a breath. His chest hurt, his face hurt, everything hurt and it'd be a hell of a time getting back to the school to see the Doc. He only hoped he could convince the guy to not alert Sam about what happened. His adopted dad had enough on his mind already.

He looked over his shoulder at where he presumed his knight in shining armor was in the dark. "Thanks...I guess I owe you one."he murmured, exhausted but smiling now that it seemed the danger had passed.

He didn't stick around to see how badly he'd hurt the guy, turning quickly and sprinting in the direction the lad had run, hoping to catch sight of him. The lad had taken some nasty hits and Artair wanted to make sure he got a hospital, or at least wasn't going to drop in the next few minutes. He nearly missed the figure gesturing at him from the door, but thankfully he had and managed to launch himself through the door before he was seen.

Sitting silently in dark chafed at him but hiding was the better plan. He wasn't in any position to run for a long distance and his new friend was probably feeling even more worse for wear. Keeping silent and straining to hear the thugs, he quickly checked his ribs for any breaks, hoping he'd gotten away with less injuries than his last stupidly heroic moment. Thankfully, all his bones and joints seemed mostly intact. He'd barely be able to move the next day thanks to the bruises but if that was the worst he had gotten, it was a damn lucky fight.

Waving his hand at the comment before realising the person attached to the voice wouldn't be able to see it he quietly replied. "No problem lad, don't need thanks for doing what anyone else should have." It sickened him sometimes just how passive people were when it came to things like this.

With the immediate danger gone his medical training was kicking in again. It was probably a good idea to check the lad for broken bones, as well as a concussion. Pulling out his phone and turn on its torch he, angled so they were  both somewhat illuminated. Trying to give him a kind look he asked "You alright lad? You took some bad hits there and I like to make sure you're no going to drop on me, if that's OK with you?" Even just being able to see him, Artair could tell he was worse for wear, his nose bloody and already swelling.

"No problem lad, don't need thanks for doing what anyone else should have."

He gave a light laugh at that, leaning heavily against the door, "Mm, well, should but don't more often then not." Man his head hurt. Now that the adrenaline was dropping all the nerves that were keeping him awake kind of slipped away. He needed to get home and get to the doc pronto. There was no way he was going to let himself end up in the hospital. He wasn't going to be a burden on Sam, no matter how much the man said it wasn't an issue.

He winced at the sudden light filling the confined space, the brightness pulling him from his thoughts.

"You alright lad? You took some bad hits there and I like to make sure you're no going to drop on me, if that's OK with you?"

He blinked a few times, forcing his eyes to adjust. The guy looked alright, even with the stark contrast the phone's flashlight gave his face. Alex on the other hand probably looked like he fought a brick wall with his face. Nose was broken for sure, black eye, bruising around his head and shoulders where they had grabbed and pinned him.

"I'm okay, but sure if you want. Definitely not the worst I've felt though."he shrugged, sitting up a little more so Artair could do whatever he was thinking on doing. "That was a pretty cool power by the way, what's your name?"he asked after a moment of silence. Might as well get to know the guy if he was going to be examining him.

Yeah more people could do with helping. How far had the lad been running before someone had stepped in. It made him sick to think how passive people were to others in distress. He just did not understand that mindset.

The kid definitely looked bad, but thankfully he was aware enough to let the Scot examine him. That bode well, chances are he didn't have a concussion but it needed to be checked anyway. "Good, mostly just want to make sure you don't have a bad concussion or internal bleeding." Gently checking the lads nose, he confirmed it was broken. Damn those were always nasty to fix. "Names Artair by the way, nice to meet you. What do I call you then, lad?" Lowering his phones brightness he held it up. "I know it probably hurts but focus on the light, won't take long."

Well, the lad was tough at least. He might have a broken nose and more bruises than he could count, but he wasn't concussed. Must have protected his head when he went down. Smart kid. "Any places on your body feeling numb or have a stabbing pain?"

Having finished the check ups his instructors had drilled into him, he could at least say the young man opposite him didn't need an ambulance at least. "Good news is I don't need to ring 911, you won't go down any time soon. But you will need to go to the hospital, sooner rather than later."

They did at least have to time to sit and wait a few minutes, let whoever those thugs were to get a bit of distance. Wouldn't do to set off to the hospital and run into them there. What was worrying was how calm the person next to him was. He was young, but he must have been in some bad situations if he could keep his cool in this kind of stress.

"Names Artair by the way, nice to meet you. What do I call you then, lad? I know it probably hurts but focus on the light, won't take long."

"Nice to meet ya under these ridiculous circumstances, I'm Alex." He couldn't help but chuckle at the exchange of pleasantries, eyes following the blinding light the best he could. He couldn't tell that it had been reduced, it still made his eyes sting. But good news was, his eyes dilated like they were supposed to. Well, the non-blacked one did anyway, the other one was starting to swell, making it hard to see from.

"Any places on your body feeling numb or have a stabbing pain?"

He carefully shook his head, "Nope, just my face. I'm gonna guess that's not unusual given what just happened." It wasn't the first time he had taken a beating like this. It was just the first time in a long time. Last time was...last year, maybe? With the Australian cops? It was hard to keep track of it all any more. At the moment the memories just kind of blended together into one painful mess.

"Good news is I don't need to ring 911, you won't go down any time soon. But you will need to go to the hospital, sooner rather than later."

He gave a hum of agreement, "Yeah, but I know somebody better than the hospital. Plus, they don't charge. Just hope he doesn't decide to tell dad." He leaned his ear against the door again, double checking that the thugs had truly gone away before slowly standing up. "You don't have to go with me by the way. I can handle it from here."he said, perhaps too casually. But honestly, he didn't expect any more help from this relative stranger. He just needed to get to the nearest bus that would take him back to the school. No big deal.

So the lad was called Alex. Good name, strong name. "Nice to meet you too, know try not to move move around too much, won't take long." Names were pretty important to him. Sure, they might not define who you were but it was a part of what you were, your heritage and history. Its why he valued his own name so much.

If he wasn't complaining about anything particularly bad, chances are he was fine for now. As long as he got a proper check out by a doctor, preferably as soon as they'd gotten away from here, that would suit Artair fine. When he mentioned something about better than a doctor his interest was peeked. This he had to see, if only to make sure no one was scamming the poor kid and putting him in even more danger. "No lad, can't have you collapsing somewhere being on my conscience. That and those thugs might make another appearance. I'll get you to your friend."

Artair failed to mention how suspicious he was that Alex was going to actually get seen to. From personal experience he knew how much teenage boss loathed being told what to do, or being pressure to go somewhere.

Pulling out his phone and finding one of the taxi apps he'd been convinced into using, he turned to Alex. "What's the address, I can get a cab to pick us up right on the street." Who knows, he might even recognise the place, if it was one of the nicer treatment centres around. More interestingly, maybe the lad knew someone with a healing mutation.

"No lad, can't have you collapsing somewhere being on my conscience. That and those thugs might make another appearance. I'll get you to your friend. What's the address? I can get a cab to pick us up right on the street."

Alex resisted the urge to roll his eyes; the guy was only trying to help and well, he had a point. If he ran into those guys again, there was no way he'd get away a second time. And the first time only happened because Artair had appeared. He should be thankful for any help he could get. "Yeah, fair enough."he sighed.

He hesitated a moment longer before giving the man the address. The address to the mutant school, making it very obvious, that yes there was a healer at the mansion and yes he went there at least often enough to know the guy. He wasn't about to mention that he was also a student there and his dad was an X-man. No way, no how.

Address divulged, Alex cracked open the door and checked that they were well and truely alone. "Looks like we're clear, but uh, why don't you lead the way back to the street? Just in case."he asked, nervously. He couldn't see from the door if the guys were hiding around a corner or something. He just wanted to be sure the most capable guy was in the front.

He couldn't fault Alex's reluctance to give up that kind of info, but at least the lad saw sense. Artair was well aware that was still essentially a stranger to him, how could he know if the Scot could be trusted or not.

"Ah, you're one of the mansions. Well that's good then, Doc'll see you right pretty quick after all." Maybe he would be more at ease knowing Artair had already been there himself, true it wasn't that long ago but he'd gotten patched up himself. "Well, that shouldn't take long then and at least you'll no have to deal with that nose for much longer." 

Keying in the address and pick up time, he hoped they wouldn't be waiting long in the open. Those guys had been scary and well organised. If they were coming back they were coming back hard. What on earth had this kid done to make thugs like that want a piece of him? And if he was related to the mansion in some way, could it be someone with a grudge against him. No time for that though, looks like it was time to move.

"Course I can Alex, keep an eye out and don't hesitate to tell me if you think somethings off." Taking a quick look through the door crack to make sure no one was in that direction, he turned back to the lad. "If you need to bolt, shout when you do. It'll be safer if I know whether you're behind me or not." Nodding to him and pushing the door open, he moved out into the alley, holding a weapon ready in his mind. If they came back, they were going to get far worse than before. 

"Ah, you're one of the mansions. Well that's good then, Doc'll see you right pretty quick after all. Well, that shouldn't take long then and at least you'll no have to deal with that nose for much longer."

He nodded quietly, silently grateful that Artair didn't seem like he was bothered by the mention of the mansion. "Wait, you know Doc?" he asked, curious. Maybe this guy used to go to the school there or sought shelter with them. That would be good then, a strange coincidence, but good nonetheless. He'd rather it be someone known to the mansion's staff, rather than some stranger with no clue walking in.

"Course I can Alex, keep an eye out and don't hesitate to tell me if you think somethings off. If you need to bolt, shout when you do. It'll be safer if I know whether you're behind me or not."

"Right, I think we're okay though. Your powers were...pretty impressive back there." Impressive and violent. Creating weapons from nothing was fascinating, perhaps more so than his own powers. His powers had a source, there was material that he created from. But Artair didn't seem to need that, the man could just pull anything from the ether. He wondered if that extended to projectiles or if it had to be contained to a single form.

These thoughts whirled in his head for a while and in no time they were out on the street again. People were milling about like normal, giving them odd looks sure, but they were acting like nothing happened. Such was life, he supposed. Nobody mutants seemed to step up when someone was in trouble. It was frustrating...