Joe walked down the dark alleyway, well stumbled would be a more accurate as he gripped the neck of his bottle in his left hand he pushed off the wall with his right every few steps. He could hear the sound of people attempting to follow him stealthily down the dark alley, Joe had known they would be a problem since he sat down at the bar after winning the prize money for tonight’s fights. Bringing the bottle up to his lips he took another long swig from the before lowering it to look in the now empty container and throwing it against the far wall letting it shatter against the brick facade. Turning around he faced the three men that had been tailing him his chin raised as he looked at them through half closed glazed eyes. “Money’s right here boys,” Joe said as he patted his front right pants pocket. “come and get it.” With that Joe raised his hand and beckoned to the three.

One night three fights, it was how Joe had been making his money for the last week at the basement of a dingy little bar and tonight was no different. Leaping off his left leg his right hand launched forward connecting with the left side of his opponents face. The man crumpled to the floor as Joe came back to the ground and seeing that the fight was over let his hands drop to the ground as the referee slid to the ground to separate the two fighters and check on the unconscious man. Walking towards the exit of the cage that housed the match Joe began stripping off the tape that bound his hands picking up the cigar he had left on a ledge. Inserting it into his mouth he took a few quick puffs bringing it back to life and sat down at the bar dropping the blood stained tape on the bar in a pile so it could be disposed of.

“I’ll take the whole bottle.” Joe said to the attractive blond bartender that stood behind the bar and in return she placed the bottle and a roll of money in front of him and flashed him a seductive grin. That’s when he saw it the man next to him spot the sizable roll of money and then look Joe up and down sizing him up along with the bruises that were already forming and the cuts under his eye. Stuffing the money roll into his front right pocket Joe quickly began to unscrew his new friend and take a nice long swig from the bottle of liquid medication.

The three men approached quickly the one who had sized him up in the bar out in front hands down towards his sides. Joe moved with quickly his right hand launching out grabbing onto the opposite wrist of the first would be attacker he twisted his body around bringing the attackers arm over his right shoulder and shoving his own hips back into the man yanked and launched the man over his shoulder bringing him crashing to the ground in front of him. Quickly releasing the wrist he brought his right arm up again and swinging his elbow back felt it connect with the face of another attacker continuing the motion rotated himself around to face the last assailant. As he finished turning he felt a fist connect with the side of his face causing his vision to waver momentarily allowing the attacker to wrap his hands around the back of Joe’s neck and attempt to drive a knee into his face. Raising his arms quickly he snared the knee and lifted bringing the man off balance and driving him to the ground jumping onto the man Joe brought a fist to the side of the man’s face only to be met by a burst of blood from the man’s face. Stopping Joe looked at his right hand which was now covered up to his forearm in crystals, much to Joe’s surprise. Joe hadn’t meant to activate his power between the liquor and adrenaline it must have activated itself and looking at the now unconscious mans destroyed face Joe knew this was only going to get worse.

“He’s a freak!” Joe heard one of the men call out and was quickly followed by the sound of a gravity knife flicking into place. Much worse.

Aura had not been able to find much to do today, she had no pressing appointments and she had managed to thrust aside her own worried for the time. While checking a back alley for possible gang members, she started to hear some noises that interested her. A drunk she saw, the man had a bottle in his hand and three men were following him. Aura pressed her body to a wall beside a dumpster that hid her mostly. The situation looked strange to Aura and so she watched waiting to see what would happen.

Then something happened that took Aura's attention. The man punched and did some damage to his opponent not only that but strange crystal seemed to surround his arm. A mutant, that changed everything, those pursuing seemed to be human however and the one yelling he's a freak. Aura looked around trying to make sure they were relatively isolated from anyone watching them, assured that she was Aura smiled and stepped into view.

Aura began walking closer to the group. As she Did, pink energy appeared in front of her eyes, then seemed to pour out over the rest of her body until she was entirely surrounded by a barrier of translucent pink. "Picking on mutants huh? I got an issue with that she said , the Aura around her right hand stretched into a six inch blade Aura Made her way to the die of the other Mutant, but did not look at him. "I Like the arm" She said to her fellow mutant as she advanced on the one with the blade.

Joe heard more footsteps only now they came from the opposite direction and as he still stood over the unconscious man Joe let his eyes look up he spotted a woman walking towards them. She was attractive but it was the pink that seemed to radiate out from her eyes and surround her whole body that really caught his attention as she walked. “Picking on mutants huh? I got an issue with that.” As she stood next to him Joe gave her a once over again trying to understand what was going on and watched as the pink aura around her arm stretched out forming into what looked like a blade . “I like the arm.” Joe raised his right hand up again and looked as the blood dripped off the jagged set of crystals where his knuckles should be. Letting his arm drop he stepped around the man on the floor and turned to look at the two remaining assailants rage and hatred painted across their faces at the sight of two mutants standing in front of them and their friend laying on the floor.

As the woman began to make her way towards the one that was stupid enough to whip out a blade Joe followed her preparing to engage with the other one. Joe stepped sideways as a punch was thrown at his face and snatching the man’s hand he pulled him yanking the man off balance and with as much force as Joe could muster he drove his elbow into the man’s sternum forcing all of the air out of the attackers lungs. Releasing the arm Joe was holding onto he whipped his crystal covered arm and slammed it across the attacker’s upper chest knocking him off of his feet and leaving him gasping for air in a ball on the ground. Joe had made certain to not hurt his attacker to seriously the first one had been an accident but as Joe looked at the man whimpering on the ground Joe knew he would be fine after his pride healed. Turning to look at the woman who had come to his aid all Joe saw was his bladed attacker lying on the ground and he couldn’t see what had been done to him. “Hey thanks for the help. What the hell is this city coming to?” Joe was still very drunk and it was obvious as his words slurred though he was holding himself up pretty well considering what had happened.

Aura smiled as she walked, she was confident and at her peek, the man before her looked slightly drunk and was obviously an idiot. Aura had walked through battlefields, this man had probably never watched someone die. The man tried to stab her, Aura let the blade sink into her Aura to the handle, turned her Aura sharp and severed the handle from the blade, just before his fingers. Aura suddenly moved forward, well trained reflexes and practiced muscles propelled her, as she raised her blade over her head. She expected the man to try and block with the blade or move aside from the blow, the man lazily turned, Aura's eyes went wide as her blade struck home, splitting his spine. Aura did not know if the man would die, she had meant to kill anyway but the mans reactions might have served him a far worse fate. Aura knelt down and checked the man's pulse even as she heard the other Mutant talk to her. He was alive, Before responding Aura ended the man's suffering.

"No trouble" She said Raising to her feet, Aura's aura flicked once to get rid of the blood off of it, then she looked back at the other Mutant. He was drunk she realized thinking back onto his words."I am Aura, do you have somewhere to go? I fear that trash may have attracted attention" She said reasonably. Aura had seen the things liquor did to people and had mostly avoided it for that reason. It was much more important to be in control. Still as she looked back, she considered the fact the Drunk's opponent was alive. "As for where the city is going, it is far to infested with humans for my taste" She said a visible shiver going through her as her Aura dropped to faint outline of her.

Aura looked around then quickly emtied the two downed men' of their wallets, tossing the money and credit card over her shoulder, she instead took their driver license's and dropped what was left. Aura cared nothing about the money not that she knew the value of the few bills she found, which was why she tossed them, to her it was worthless.

Joe watched the young woman bend down towards the man who had pulled out the blade and he wondered slightly what she was doing her body obstructing the view between the two of them. When she stood and faced him Joe scanned her once over as she flicked something off of the blade she had constructed. As she asked if he had anywhere to go Joe felt the slight grin crack onto his face and he stepped towards her. “Yea I got somewhere I can go, care to help walk me home?” Joe said as he reabsorbed the crystals into his arm. Joe listened again as she described her opinion of the city and Joe began to piece things together. He had heard rumblings of the city having vigilantes on all sides of the mutant issue and he was beginning to get an idea for where this one stood.

“So what are you trying to say?” Joe asked as she bent down to rummage through the men’s wallets dropping everything except the ID cards. “You think that mutants should go around killing all the humans?” Joe asked not letting his voice show any emotion towards whether he thought that was right or wrong, frankly because Joe didn’t know himself he certainly could see the arguments on all sides of the issue.

Joe pulled a thin cigar out of his pocket along with a steel covered Zippo lighter an eagle, globe, and anchor etched onto the side of it and with a quick flip of the lid and a striking of the flint he was quickly lighting up his cigar the puffs of smoke filling the air in front of him. Stuffing the lighter back into his pocket he looked up at the pink outlined woman taking a deep drag from his cigar the cherry illuminating his face in orange red light. Joe wasn’t sure where he stood in the whole mutant, human battle and frankly he didn’t care all that much if they wanted to fight it out between themselves that was just fine as far as Joe was concerned as long as no woman or children were hurt Joe could ignore it all and drink himself dead. Speaking of which Joe was beginning to feel the craving for more alcohol as he stood in the alleyway. “Care to head out, I’d rather not make a name for myself with the cops?”

"I would see the Humans, destroyed, so that the next generation, need not fight it in my place. Their can not be peace between humans and our kind, becuse anytime we win anything the humans will question and accuse of using our powers. Humans have almost gone to war with other for things like sports" she said simply. "If i had my way i would force Humans from this city and gather an army here" she went on with a shrug.

"right" she said, since he knew the way Aura would follow him. With what she saw the other mutant do and with what she knew she could do, she almost pitied any idiots who tried to play hero. More so gang members then police though, police at an annoying habit of getting backup. "Yea i don't need them to see me again" she said honestly. Lori disliked her members from making the papers to often.

"your power is beautiful, does it only effect your arm?" she said both curious and trying to make conversation as they moved. Aura loved hearing about others powers as well as knowing what they could do. The more Aura knew the more she could make combat choices more effective. Her own Aura would dissopear if they walked in an area where humans might be, as Aura was trying hard not to atract attention.

Joe listened to the attractive young lady describe her desire to have a war between humans and mutants. Joe kept his mouth closed as he listened to her talk and as they began to move Joe tried to sympathize with the girl, he was sure she had a hard life for her to crave war like this but Joe had seen the horrors of war knew the scars it left on a person. War wasn’t the answer. “It is only a matter of time before the X gene is spread across the entire population. If we can be strong enough to endure then there will be no need for people to die. Trust me war is hell it isn’t something you should wish for so lightly.” Joe wasn’t reprimanding the girl, not at all his voice was low and held a bit of sadness as he spoke to her as the faces of all of the men he had lost flashed through, dredged up this early in the night at the simple thought of war.

Joe had barely escaped cuffs during his meeting with Detective Cervantes so Joe thought he understood what the girl meant when she said she didn’t want to see police again so he quickly turned and began to make his way towards his apartment. As she asked about his power he eyed her up and down once. Joe didn’t consider his power beautiful he hated it, it was the reason he was still alive and had to stand there while his men were buried leaving him behind. “No I can get it to cover a little more than half of my body when I use it to make body armor.” There was no pride or vanity in his voice as he spoke, his power was why he spent countless weeks in that lab strapped to a chair with needles being placed into his arm regularly.

“I’m right over here. It’s been a few years since I’ve been back to New York I still haven’t really figured out how all these things have changed.” Joe said as he turned a corner onto a poorly lit street. “You live far from here?” Joe asked as he looked at his motorcycle as he passed by it making sure nothing was out of place on the chopper. Joe stopped in front of a small rundown apartment building reaching into his pocket he pulled out a small ring with two keys hanging on it. Turning around Joe looked at the attractive young woman. “This is me.” Joe said as he looked at the woman whose name he still hadn’t gotten. “I’m sorry my names Joe by the way.” Joe extended his hand out towards her. She was attractive and silently Joe hoped this wouldn’t be the end of their night together or at the least the last time he saw her.

"Yes that is evaluation, but for the first time humans can resist natures call to improve. It will be some time before humans are no longer the majority. When my powers first emerged, They formed a sword and i killed a girl i was fighting with. The humans caged me and i was freed i then spent the next few years fighting off humans with automatic weapons and mortars. I watched a lot of people die in those woods." Aura said bluntly. She knew war better then most and knew its horror firs hand.

"Sound's handy in a fight, also makes me wonder how your Crystal would fare against my Aura, would be nice to have someone i couldn't hurt around" she said with a laugh. It was true "I live at Sanctuary, have for a few years, since i left the woods" she siad having no idea how things had changed. she was lucky she could tell the changes from one year to the next.

"I am Aura, it is good to meet you Joe" she said with a smile. Aura never gave her human name, partially because she knew she despised it and partly becuse she had no idea what it was. She took the Man's hand though, her Aura provided a slightly boundary between her actual flesh and his. She still shook his hand however. "Looks like an interesting neighborhood she said looking at the apartments, she knew from her hunts areas like this attracted humanities less refined elements.

Joe listened as the girl recited a brief history of her life, it certainly read like a war novel and silently Joe pitied the young girl he had been told the things he would see and have to do and accepted that in spite of it this girl had been thrust into it. As the girl subtly challenged him to a fight sometime Joe grinned from the corner of his mouth, he didn’t usually fight girls but the challenge this girl could pose was tempting to a fighter like Joe. “Anytime you wanna go sounds good to me.”

When the girl said she lived at he Sanctuary confusion marked his face, she said it as if he should know what it was and with a name like “The Sanctuary” it sounded like he probably should have heard of it too but Joe tended to avoid talking to mutant, or anyone for that matter, and he let even less people know he was a mutant so that could explain why he had yet to hear of the place. As Joe shook Aura’s hand he felt a separation between their hands and grinning slightly he formed crystals over his hand and let them grow covering his forearm.

“It work’s for me. I have a question for you though, what is the Sanctuary and these nicknames mutants seem to give themselves is their someone going around giving these things out or was it something you thought up on your own?” Joe asked as he brought his cigar back up to his lips and dragged deeply from it before exhaling the smoke through his nose the wisps of smoke wrapping around his face and up off of his head.

"Sanctuary is a place for only mutants, no humans. Sanctuary accepts us all, regardless of our pasts.It is a shelter for mutants with no ware else to go. Sometimes people stay a few days sometimes like me they never leave" she said of sanctuary. Aura's voice made it sound like Disney land. Aura had a very high opinion of the place for a number of reasons, among others because she knew the police usually stayed away from it.

"Sanctuary is free to all of our kind, free room and aboard and a kitchen with chef's. It helps us learn to use our powers if we need to. We had a teenager blow up the kitchen awhile back, she explodes." she said recalling the incident that shook much of Sanctuary. Sometimes people lost control of their powers, more so the young ones. it was inevitable in a place like Sanctuary though. The golden doors were known by many.

"I Know not why a Mutant chooses to be called something other then the name humans gave them. For me it does not matter, i don't recall my birth name, age, or anything before my powers emerged. Aura is the only name i recall ever being called. For many though it might be a need to separate themselves as much as they can from humanity" she said not really knowing why many mutants went by aliases. For her it was simply the only name she knew, not that she would have used her birth name ever.