Hunter had been following the battle via a satellite feed. He had deliberately chosen not to interfere as he saw this as s good training opportunity for Tris and would give Zephyr a nice work out too. He heard Zephyr’s question, but paused for a moment before answering.

“Zephyr, Tris is not, I repeat not to suffer serious injuries. By serious I mean an injury that would leave her unable to move about under her own power for more than a week. When she gets back I will talk to her about this incident. It won’t happen again.”

Pausing momentarily he added, “And Zephyr, in the future I advise against assuming things. Assumptions can often lead to some very nasty accidents.”

Tris was keeping an eye on Zephyr's position, seeing him withdraw alittle way and stand stationary high in the air like standing on a street corner. Tris didn't even consider the possibility he had given up this easily......though she did use this time to put as much distance between them as possible. Tris was alittle miffed she wasn't exactly giving as good as she was getting right now, seriously wanting to blast some sense......or atleast alittle good ol fashion back off caution into Zephyr's head. But he was getting further away, not closer, and she was content with the fact she had his bike and not angry enough to force a fight right now......right now she was just looking for keeping out of Zephyr's range....and watching the sky didn't fall in.....like that stunt he pulled back in the alley.

Tris smiled, tossing her wind swept hair out of her eyes and aimed in a new direction. Tris had a strong feeling Zephyr wasn't ready to let the ordinary s know about him and his powers, but was feeling safe enough to try crush her like a hammer cause there was no one else around. If Tris could get back to the populated city areas and people, Zephyr would have to find a new way to track her, since he'd trashed his Jeep.....
She still took the long straight and wide roads, remembering what he could do in confined spaces....but was slowly but surely heading for wacky, human civilization .

As Zephyr began to receive Hunters reply his features initially worked themselves into a scowl, however as the vampire went on the elementals lips twitched upwards ever so slightly. So Hunter did not want the girl seriously damaged did he? Well that was a rather vague instruction, even with the blood suckers additional comment the merc was still left a good deal of leeway. Trista’s arms for example, Zephyr was fairly sure the woman could walk quite well without those annoying upper appendages and ever since Hunter had helped the ungrateful whelp gain a greater measure of control she really didn’t have use for them anymore. The ribcage was also a key target; the elemental knew from experience that bruised or broken ribs did nothing to impede ones capacity to travel only their ability to breathe.

Focused as he was on the various methods of torture that would pass through the convenient loophole in Hunters instructions it is perhaps not entirely surprising that when the British mercenary once more began to actively seek out his prey he came to the unpleasant discovery that the girl had used his moment of distraction to speed off and had managed to escape his visual radius. Understandably the elemental was less than pleased at this revelation and swiftly worked to rectify the situation, rocketing upwards the mercs form rapidly ascended into the sky until he came to the point where he could easily overlook the entire district, deserted as the area was it should prove no great task to locate a speeding motorcycle.

Tris was getting rather tense, she kept glancing over her shoulder, certain that every shadow passing overhead was her airborne rival......
She actually ending up blowing up- a plastic bag, a balloon, some glass from a window.....and there was a acoupla near misses for some stupid pigeons that were in the wrong place at the wrong time......she inwardly cringed at that.....too bad Zephyr hadn't caught up to her yet, she thought sourly, seeing that display, he would have fallen out of the sky laughing.

Trista knew she was letting that pesky flight or flight response get a hold of her, and she focused herself to breathe and relax just alittle.....all those mediation classes Hunter had suggested she take coming in handy.

Tris knew this whole calm of the storm thing couldn't last, Zephyr would find her before she got back to more occupied areas.....and the roaring motor of the motorbike, while fun and thrilling and all those other things....was still quite loud, and drew the unwanted attention of the airborne menace.....and she wanted to avoid this as long as possible.

Tris sighed and a small frown formed apon her face- she had to ditch the bike......for now in any case it was too noticeable. Tris glanced along the rows of abandoned warehouse sheds she was currently passing......she needed a hiding place for her "insurance" to be kept safe from aerial view and roving eyes....and she didn't know how much time she had before he found her.....so limited time for action.

She looked up and around- no one there, and dashed into nearest storage space and braked in to a stop. She turned off the motor, looking around and and spying, among the junk and old motor parts of the shed- a mound of tarpaulin covers, empty gallon drums and random other garbage no one else cared to scavenge just yet. She did the best she could and set up a camouflage tent type thing around the bike with random parts against the junk pile....when she was done, the pile lay like it hadn't be tampered with....like it was untouched for months. Tris smiled when she thought of all the other old storage spaces around here bouts.....with all the junk in them, if Zephyr still valued his property, he'd have to realize she was the only way to getting it back in one piece.....and she could have hidden it anywhere.

....Also, these old warehouses had roofs, walls, borders, a form of protection, lots of junk and old containers that used to contain flammable substances.......if Tris stayed close to them, she could either hide or draw Zephyr into the building, giving her own powers a better working chance against his......good plan......which hopefully she wouldn't have to use.
She crept outside and along the wall, glancing up at the sky occasionally.

....By the time Zephyr came looking for her, she was three blocks down and walking fast.

there would be no tell tale roar of the bike for him to follow this time.

Zephyr remained suspended in mid air as he extended all his available senses in his quest for the elusive little thief. Strangely he was finding this harder than it should have been, the dull roar of the his motorcycle which had been present during the entire first phase of their chase had been his main method of tracking of the girl whenever she had whipped out of sight, now though there was nothing, not even a dreary whine. There were only two possible conclusions to draw from this, either Tris had traveled far enough to escape his natural hearing radius, or she had actually shut off the bike. ‘She wouldn’t be that stupid’ the elemental told himself, ‘she believes my machine is the only thing protecting her… I will soon dismiss that illusion from her mind.’

Calming his thoughts once more Zephyr inhaled deeply and kept the breath held within his lungs as he reached once more for his gift. Casting out his consciousness until he became aware of the many billions of molecules all around him, they were his to command, they were his weapons, his armour and his tools. With a speed that came from years of practice he brought the air under his influence and dominated its natural impulse to flow where it may until it came to a standstill. There was a momentary silence as all sound died and then gradually as he adjusted his control the elemental was bombarded with unnatural sounding echoes as the air became more sensitive to the slightest vibrations. Simon heard a familiar cooing which came from the multitude of pigeons who used the warehouses for shelter, he listened to the almost undetectable whispers of the isolated bystanders as they held their trivial conversations, for a moment he focused his gift upon these intervals creating a stream of almost solid air between them and his own ears. The effort required to perform this feat and maintain his influence around the rest of the surrounding air was enough to make the elemental head start pounding and so when he failed to find anything of significance in their words he swiftly abandoned them.

Shaking his head softly Zephyr released his influence briefly in order to take an unburdened breath and ease his throbbing skull. The one problem with this little technique was that if he exerted too much control over the air it began to take on the properties of a solid, therefore making it impossible to breathe, still the elemental was by no means out of shape and could easily hold his breathe for at least 60 seconds, plenty of time to perform a quick scan of an area, however it seemed that this chase would require a more in-depth examination and as he once more filled his lungs to capacity and closed his eyes as he once more brought things to a standstill only to have his azure orbs widen open in surprise as his ears became filled the gentle roar of an engine. Swiftly abandoning his tyrannical tendencies over the air Zephyr kept his focus fixed on the solitary engine as he plummeted and followed the noise to source…

…only to be met with a mixture of disappointment and frustration as the vehicle he was pursuing revealed itself to be nothing more than a simple maroon moving van. Crossing his arms and staring at the offending vehicle as if he expected it to combust under the power of his gaze the merc let out an irritated sigh and began tapping his tapping his fingers on his arms. This wasn’t working he would need to utilize another method to track down the little thief…

Tris had been sneaking around for what felt like an age and a half, looking up at the clear and cloudless sky with less and less foreboding.
.......now where was her helmeted tracker.

She'd covered a fair few blocks by way of stealthy footwork, hugging building and skirting alleys not much larger than her, looking for an attack that might be coming....that didn't come.......the adrenaline high she'd been working from was fading fast.......and she was getting...well.....bored.

Tris knew it was a good thing- obviously, that she well still free of annoying alley guy, who was trying to kill, or if he couldn't, seriously maim her atleast.......and she seriously doubted he would give up this easily.

......but Tris was impatient......it was one of her main flaws......here she was, had a great hide/run plan to get back to the city, no serious injuries to speak off, and it was obviously working cause Zephyr hadn't found her yet......and yet here she was seriously considering sabotaging this great idea cause A) if Zephyr had given up and gone home, she was damned if she was walking all the way back to the city if she didn't have too, and B) as aforementioned, she was getting bored with the lack of action.

While Tris was impatient, she wasn't stupid......well okay, she acknowledged to herself- doing this is somewhat stupid, but I dont do well with waiting........so while being crazy, she knew she had to have some sort of plan for the very real possibility that Zephyr would swoop in here like the vengeful God he was trying to emulate, she would have to be.....prepared. Tris smiled, though there wasn't much humor in the expression.

Trista darted to the nearest of the old warehouses, through a partly opened rusted door she barely squeezed through. Stepping inside, as her eyes adjusted to the dim and dusty light, she saw this space seemed to contain much of the outline of the building she'd stashed the bike in.....High up windows piecing the gloom with dirty beams of light, a make shift stair case reached a second story storage type deck, and most importantly.... dusty covered junk everywhere, some containers and paint cans labeled highly flammable....all of which Tris could use.

She set about making this place as Tris "friendly" as possible, setting the container that formerly contained highly flammable substances to good and strategic use around the place. She chuckled just alittle as she went along with her work, feeling she was auditioning for Home Alone- mutant style.

After she'd completed her preparations, which hopefully she wouldn't have to use.....but knowing full well she'd probably have to, Tris went outside with an armful of old paint cans and a hardened brush she'd found hiding under an old work bench after many moments of industrious looking......one of them under the gross dried stuff at the top which proclaimed the colour to be field of cherries, even have a scrap of liquid paint still there.

With an impish expression many had learned to fear, Tris squeezed outside again with her bounty and, setting down her prizes, she stirred the horrid mix of dried and liquid paint and wrote a message on the door......it stood out against the black and rusty metal like a sore thumb.
Happy with her handy work, Tris then carried the rest of the tins out into the street and set them down nearest the other building, one stacked on another, like a small piece of art- the leaning tower of paint tins, going back inside to drag out some stuff to put around it that could catch fire......Tris then retreated to the door.

With a grin and a wave of her hands and a thoughtful look, the cans , one by one, began to explode, and cause of the content and the materials surrounding her structure, she soon had a high, lovely, multi coloured bonfire, that spat off fireballs occasionally.
The sound was loud, like a slap to the ear drums, and the heat was sure to bring any person within range of sight or hearing......she'd soon know whether her masked attacker was here or not.


Trista slipped back through the door, then peering out again, only her face and one hand that curling around the door frame were visible.....she watched, and waited.....

If Zephyr was attracted to her little mutil height and colour fire, he would soon see the words she painted on the door......WELCOME ZEPHYR....and an obnoxiously cute smiley little emoticon she suspected would drive him nuts......it was an invitation....a challenge, from her to him.

With his hands thrust casually into the pockets of his jacket Zephyr remained motionless upon the ledge of one of the many nondescript warehouses that covered the area. He’d had a lot of time to think since this entire affair began and his reflections had allowed him to calm down significantly. He realized now that he’d been foolish to pursue Trista, the girl would have eventually had to return to the labs and he could have confronted her at his leisure. If he hadn’t invested so much time in this pointless endeavor already the elemental would have done precisely that, however his pride would not allow him to simply turn back at this stage, he would get satisfaction.

A sudden explosion reverberated through the air and Zephyr’s head immediately whipped round to identify its source. He was rewarded with the a sight which caused him to raise an incredulous eyebrow beneath the obsidian helmet he wore; not five hundred meters away a pillar of flames rose easily above the structures which surrounded it, occasionally spitting off orbs of molten mass in a manner similar to a volcano. What really caught the mercs attention though was the shade of the blaze; it was not the uniform crimson of most open flames or even the pure white of a truly intense flame. The ridiculous bonfire that stood before him looked like something out of a child coloring book, greens blended into yellow which then bypassed the stereotypical crimson and went straight to violet which in turn gave way to blue before finally bleaching away to a shade of alabaster at its core.

Swiftly extending his thoughts to the area around the absurd blaze Zephyr deftly leeched the surrounding area of oxygen as he traveled to the site at a casual pace. He was in no doubt as to who had caused this little spectacle but he saw no need to rush, it was obvious that the flames were something had been prepared and not an accidental explosion. The little thief wanted his attention that much was clear, as for why well he wasn’t about to attempt to fathom what went through the laughable nexus of nerves she called a brain. However he was certain that the girl wouldn’t be running off after putting on such a show.

Coming to a stop atop a rather aged and rusting structure Zephyr glanced down at the slowly die inferno. If Tris had any sort of wit about her she would already know that he was here and would therefore be scanning the skies, hence why he had placed himself at a significantly lower altitude. As his azure orbs swept across the area he noted the rather diverse collection pots, cans and a mixture of other various containers which had been used in the bonfires conception. All of which looked like they belonged to a bio hazard zone, the little idiot was lucky she hadn’t triggered some sort chemical reaction when she activated her abilities.

As he swept his gaze around the seemingly desolate area it didn’t take him long to locate Trista’s immature calling card. The elementals features adapted a look of mild annoyance as he saw his own name splashed above an emblem of what he assumed was meant to represent a smiling face. ‘Has she no concept of subtlety?’ he thought as he shook his head in disdain, ‘how she has managed to survive up till now I have no idea, but if she wishes to bring thins to a head so abruptly so be it.’

Inhaling deeply Zephyr closed his eyes as he sent his awareness once more into the winds as he sought out his target. What he found was not encouraging, the warehouse was so densely packed with various clutter, debris and junk that it would be impossible for to distinguish a living being from the rest of the junk. Still he wasn’t too worried, he had a general idea of the structures layout and unless Tris had X-ray vision she would have as much trouble spotting him as he would her. It was with that thought in mind that he executed his rather simplistic stratagem; searching through the diverse spectrum of elements within the air he swiftly identified and manipulated the nearby oxygen molecules until he had created a thick stream leading from Trista’s childish message to the diminished bonfire she had created. The dying flames eagerly leapt towards this new source of fuel and charged towards the rusting door burning at familiar blue colour similar to the elementals own azure eyes.

At the same moment the flames were assaulting the entrance the merc crafted one of his signature wind blades and easily sliced an opening through the warehouses roof which caused quite a din as the sheet metal clattered to the earth below. Zephyr himself however had silently floated around the perimeter of the building until he had reached the rear of the structure and swiftly cut another entrance into the warehouse just as a section of the roof above caved in, perfectly masking the sound of his real entry. Hopefully Trista would retaliate to his trivial stunt and reveal herself, and the moment she did that this little game was finished.

Tris had moved, crouching down and peering through a dirty encrusted window on the ground floor nearest the wall, it gave her a great view of the area surrounding the bonfire......and after much waiting, she eventually saw Zephyr as he scanned the area.....he didn't look amused- well good, she thought sourly, she wasn't either.

She raised a well crafted eyebrow as the door with said welcome message adjourned apon it, was suddenly accosted with a squiggling, twirling live ribbon of bright blue flame from her rainbow bonfire.- nice, she inwardly complimented.....she felt the heat from her current position as the hot flames smacked into the door, crackling as they reached up, trying to consume everything in site......if Tris had still been standing there, she'd have been roasted and toasted by now.......still, all that thought just for a welcome message....Tris smiled- and who said Zephyr wasn't good at communication.

Tris drifted into a shadowy little recess along the wall, where she was protected by the bodies of some old cars, and the gloom kept her hidden from plain sight.....she felt certain Zephyr would make some dramatic move now......and she was proved right as with a inhuman screech that went way beyond a human ears comfort level, daylight, untainted by dust and time, appeared in the roof, as it looked like claws again had done some enormous damage....a huge gorge of shorn metal that dropped, smashing rafters below it as it went, falling to the ground with echoing clangs......Wow, that would have hurt if someone'd been standing under there, no, dont pull any punches Zeph, its not like I'm on the same team or anything, Tris mused sarcastically in her own mind, keeping a running commentary of the presiding events.

Tris stood absolutely still, waiting for her gust to arrive, peering around the loftie space from her hidden vantage point for Zephyr to come in and see what she'd done with the place......Tris smiled quietly at that thought.

While waiting, Tris reviewed what she'd seen of Zehpry, as something wasn't sitting right. The fire thing was bugging her, causing her to rethink her perceptions of Zephyr's powers- she'd been studying with hunter, reading up on whats out there, and no telekinetic she'd ever read about could do the fire thing as well as fly and cut through metal walls.....to control fire like that he'd need to be pyrokinectic, and that usually didn't go with telekinesis....though it couldn't be ruled out......the only other way to control a stream of fire like that would be to control the element it needed- air, oxygen........The other displays of Zehpry's abilities flashed through Tris's mind as a new suspicion grew......oh crap, he was an elemental wasn't her, that ment he would have quiet afew more tricks up his devious sleeve than he'd shown so far.

....still, if she could get him close enough, he might find himself unable to use them....

she waited to see what he would do next...

Cloaked in the natural shadows of the building Zephyr waited patiently as the dust settled and the sharp echoes from the fallen section of roof gradually faded away. Silently removing his helmet he glanced around the gloomy interior keeping his eyes open for any sign of movement that would indicate the presence of another human being, however after five minutes when the area still remained annoying silent the elemental restrained a sigh, it seemed as though Trista’s survival instincts mirrored those of a frightened mouse or some other pitiful creature, the girl had frozen and was waiting for him to either attack or turn away. Considering he had already spotted several areas which were suspiciously free of dust he knew that his target was in the room, so leaving wasn’t truly an option. On the other hand Simon had no desire to spend his time shifting through the various odds and ends that still cluttered the building.

After allowing the silence to drag out for another five minutes Zephyr came to a decision which caused the corners of his lips to tug upwards ever so slightly. Sliding a hand into his jacket the elemental delved into one the hidden pockets which had been worked into the lining and retrieved the silver Zippo lighter he had purchased on a New York high street all those months ago. A deft flick of his wrist caused the ignition device to open conjure a tiny flame into existence as all create a rather audible “Snap!” which echoed clearly around the warehouse.

Zephyr paused for just a moment as he stared at the crimson flame, in a way Tris herself was responsible for this next course of action for she had planted the idea in his mind, and being the person he was Simon fully appreciated the irony of the situation.

Once more allowing his mind to soar along the wind currents the merc delved through the spectrum and grasped hold of the precious molecules oxygen hidden among the sea of nitrogen. Deftly bending the life giving element to his will he crafted the oxygen into twin streams which ran off to his left and white and eventually connected larges stretches of canvas o either side of him. Speaking in a dull tone Zephyr addressed the room in general, “As much as I have enjoyed our little chase Ms. Evans I have neither the time nor incentive to continue our game of cat and mouse. So if you value your life at all I would strongly recommend you reveal yourself.”

Unless Trista did something quickly the elemental would ignite the twin coils of oxygen and they would race like wildfire to their designated targets. If that happened the whole structure would go up in flames in mere minutes and the annoying thief would go with, unless of course she stopped this ridiculous game of hide and seek and revealed herself. Personally Zephyr was hoping the girl would be too stupid to realize what he was doing and would end up trapped inside; it would be all too easy to make Hunter believe the girl had set the place alight herself and died before she could escape. Sadly though the ball was Ms. Evans court and all Simon could do was wait for a reaction.

Zephyr was silent along time, seemingly awaiting any hint of her presences.........but Trista -smiling, out waited him.....and at length his impatiences showed.

There was a sudden snap-ing sound, and a tiny glow of light emanating from the region around the silhouette that was Trista's only view of Zephyr's form from her current position.

Tris inched closer on silent feet and a suspicious whim, peering through a gap in mess of old machine parts until she could see him alittle clearer.
......butterflies of anxiety hit her stomach unannounced at what she saw, remembering the fate of the poor door that had displeased him..... oh crap! he had a lighter- an open flame to do with as he saw fit.

....while she respected his move, she was alittle pissed off as he was stealing her thunder so to speak- she was supposed to have the upper hand here.
....but this was not exactly the finest time to sulk, when a distracted moment or three may get you dead......he was up to something, and she had to watch it.

Speaking in a dull tone Zephyr addressed the room in general, “As much as I have enjoyed our little chase Ms. Evans I have neither the time nor incentive to continue our game of cat and mouse. So if you value your life at all I would strongly recommend you reveal yourself.”

Tris knew she couldn't hide forever......indeed, couldn't hold herself back long even if it was prudent she should......this thing between them was ON....and she was tired of running- might as well get this thing going with a bang.....literally.

Trista Evans lightly stepped over the trash strewn cove she had closeted herself in and inched out into the open, through still deep in shadow. She took a deep breath to center her thoughts......

......and aiming her hands carefully, she concentrated- hard.

The alighted flame in Zehpyr's grip seemed to grow dim and then wink out. The silver zeppo seemed to not so much explode as....disintegrate in a fast, hot heat, into a sludgy mess of lighter fluid and silver flecks of metal that made up the instrument.

Her head was swimming and strained from the concentrated effort.....not exactly the best way to step into a fight, but it was better than blowing off the hand of one of the Kabals initiates......even if said initiate was wholly grating and super annoying.

She waited a heartbeat or five to get her dizzy head under control, then stepped out into the light with a purposeful stride of the perfectly confident....she could act it even if she couldn't be it.

She stopped a cautious distance from him, but still close enough to hear him perfectly, and use her powers- both of them. Trista gave a mocking litttle bow, her sarcastic voice ringing out:

"All ya had to do was ask Zephie."
she was revelling in the cutesy nick name.
"Sorry about the lighter,"
she went on without a shade or twitch of sorriness to her features.
"Just, ya know, trying to make sure my ass doesn't get the the same treatment as the door."

As the elemental waited for some type of response of response from his quarry he began to notice that the lighter in his hand was beginning to rise in temperature ever so slightly. Initially the merc ignored thinking that the Zippo’s own flame was the cause of the heat, however the burning sensation swiftly escalated to the point where the metal was scalding his own flesh and he dropped the device on reflex. Fixing the offending Zippo with a strong gaze of resentment the elementals eyes widened briefly in surprise as the lighter switched from solid to liquid as it melted in midair and formed a metallic puddle at his feet.

For a moment Zephyr just stared at the shapeless puddle that lay at his feet, he had liked that lighter; he’d purchased it from a wandering vendor on one of the crowded city streets after he’d first discovered he had the potential to manipulate flames. The Zippo had been with him ever since he’d mastered that discipline of his abilities, he’d always relied on it and it had never let him down, now it was just a pathetic blob of metal. Annoyance surged into being within the elementals mind, it didn’t come from the loss of his lighter; that convenient device could easily be replaced, no his irritation stemmed from the fact that he knew he wouldn’t be able to find such a good deal again as he’d originally purchased the Zippo for $10 which was several dollars under the current market value, it would be near impossible to find a duplicate lighter for the same price.

A sudden flicker of movement in his peripheral vision caused Zephyr to tilt his head upwards and lift his gaze until his azure orbs fixed on Trista’s mocking form. As the girl began taunting him the merc’s features slid back into its traditional passive mask. It was a habit he had developed when he first began to understand human behaviour, being able to appear calm was a vital quality in his line of work as it not only made you appear more mature but also tended to aggravate opponents and make them lose their focus.

Once Tris had finished her childish dialog Zephyr raised an eyebrow in slight disbelief; the girls own mud brown orbs held a hint of determination he had not noticed earlier and could mean only one thing, “Do you actually intend to fight me?” A low chuckle escaped the merc’s and his lips twitched upward in a genuine smile which was becoming exceedingly rare for him. “Ms. Evans you don’t seem to realize just how outclassed you are…”

Almost leisurely the elemental extending his thoughts to the air surrounding him, disrupting its natural flow and crafting it to his will as he formed a surging torrent of air directly before him, taking his time with aiming the attack he casually directed the torrents energy at Tris before releasing its full fury and watching with a faintly amused expression as the column of air picked up various pieces of debris as traveled rapidly towards it’s target. The attack itself wouldn’t do any permanent damage but it would be enough to easily lift the little thief off her feet and throw her with a good deal of momentum into the pile of rather heavy machinery located directly behind her.

Once Tris had finished her childish dialog Zephyr raised an eyebrow in slight disbelief; the girls own mud brown orbs held a hint of determination he had not noticed earlier and could mean only one thing, “Do you actually intend to fight me?” A low chuckle escaped the merc’s and his lips twitched upward in a genuine smile which was becoming exceedingly rare for him. “Ms. Evans you don’t seem to realize just how outclassed you are…”

Tris stared back, glaring daggers at Zephyr for his mocking and superior behavior. She opened her mouth to say something.....hopefully cool and witty, but she'd settle for any retort.......
Until she saw a column of wind appearing, made all the more visible by the metallic junk it picked up that had previously littered the floor.
"Mother of God and all her wacky nephews."
was all she managed to mutter, as she turned to the side and tried to jump out of the way....
The swirling mass floated towards her, seeming both to take forever and only a moment to bring its full force down upon her......she couldn't get out of its path in time.

Trist was picked up painfully by the invisible force and thrown clear and roughing afew meters away, landing with a hollow thump on a pile of used engine parts that skidded and shifted beneath her as she lay, some poking painfully into her skin like an annoying encouragement to get up and back out there....which is what she did......eventually.

Trista just lay there a minute after the force of impact- Owwwww, she inwardly groaned. Before slowly and carefully sliding down the pile and standing up.......OWwwww was her inward whiny litany again.
"Well I've always wanted to fly but that was ridiculous."
she muttered.
She had a few shallow cuts, and her body would be one big bruise tomorrow....but she was up.

She looked at Zephyr, he just stood there, superior amusement seeming to exude from every pore.....she was a simple fascinating insect to him, he was watching her as a scientist watches a new breed of microorganism- watching to see what she would do next.....

she gritted her teeth and hobbled towards him, seeming to shrink in on herself abit, seemingly defeated- she didn't need to hobble......but he didn't know that.

"Well its just the stakes are alittle unfair Zephyr."
she said petulant and childish, getting back to the earlier conversation.....before she got taken for a ride.
"I'm not allowed to blow you up."

She sighed;
"But I suppose I can do this..."
quick as a flash aiming at one of the old cans of ex flammable material use she'd prepared earlier.
It exploded into fiery nothingness.

.....but this was just a distraction, she aimed again, this time at the air molecules before him- She'd been practicing this with Hunter as well. The air exploded in a way- the force throwing him back and onto the ground.

She allowed herself a tiny smirk;
"Not so fun now is it!"
she mocked.

....and now for the grand finally.......she raised her hands again and concentrated......aiming.........FIRED.......and a chuck of metal was BASTED away just slightly to the left of Zephyr's position.

CRAP, damn and blast it!!!
that wasn't supposed to happen....well this time.
Tris tried to breathe and relax- though under the circumstances this was difficult. She was calling her freezing power to the fore......and to much was riding on this added edge for it not to come.

she tried again....she raised her hands and concentrated.....prayed.....aiming.........FIRED.......and Zephyr seemed frozen in time for ...a time. Unfortunately she never knew how long this thing was gonna last- 30 seconds to 3 minutes was the longest she'd reached so far......so she had to go-NOW.

She ran up to Zephyr, grabbing chains and rope she'd hidden for this purpose earlier on the off chance it work.

She would try bind his hands and feet in as much rope and chain as she could manage in the short time available to her.....it probably wont hold him for long........but it damn well would surprise him.

The elemental watched with a bemused expression as his “opponent”, he still chuckled at the notion, was thrown bodily across the room and collided with the discarded mechanical parts. The dust cloud which was summoned after her impact was almost noteworthy for it completely clouded his view of that section of the room and for a moment Zephyr was reminded of one of the many anime series he used to watch when he had been younger. He couldn’t remember all the details exactly but he did recall that most of the main characters were able to conjure energy bursts from their palms and this usually resulted in exaggerated explosions which always left behind dramatic dust clouds to conceal the fate of some unlucky soul and drag out the episode for a few more minutes.

Simon was stirred from his nostalgic memories by the sound of shifting metal which signaled that Tris was finally moving again, he hadn’t really expected the girl to stay down after his initial attack, since that would have been the smart thing to do. This thought was temporarily put on hold though as he saw the way she slowly hobbled forwards, her entire posture, from her lowered eyes to the way she seemed to cave in on herself radiated a sense of defeat. Zephyr raised an eyebrow incredulously at this performance, the girls behaviour was completely different from the Trista he knew, ‘there’s no way it’s going to be this easy,’ he mused to himself as he watched his fellow Kabal member gradually make her way back to the center of the room. Still he refrained from performing any follow up attack; if the insignificant fool was actually going to accede defeat he would be benevolent and allow her to admit his superiority and then break only one of her arms.

When Tris did at last voice her thoughts Zephyr’s features shifted slightly from amused to dissatisfied and he lowered his head and gave an audible sigh, “That is why you are not only incompetent but foolish as well” he stated simply, “you knew your skills were next to useless in non lethal confrontations yet you insist on continuing this ridiculous charade you call a battle.” He locked his azure eyes onto her hazel orbs and sent her a cold glare, “Do not blame me because you have delusions of aspiring above your status.”

The elemental would have continued, for there was plenty he had to say on this subject, but he was interrupted at that point by a sudden explosion to his left. Out of instinct more than any conscious decision he conjured a blaring wind which barreled into the quickly dissipating explosion and removed it from his vicinity. ‘If this is the best she can do-’ he thought in a scathing manner before quickly abandoning the thought as he realize that the air in front of him was heating rapidly, for a split second the mercs eyes widened in surprise as his mind came to grasps with what was about to happen, throwing up his arms to shield his face the elemental took hold of the little air he could in the brief time available and did his best to construct some form of defense. Fortunately the explosion proved to be little more than concussive burst, yet it still managed to eat its way through Zephyr’s half baked defenses and easily blast him off his feet as well as drown out any kind of retort that Tris chose to make.

As he was blown backwards Simon allowed his instinct to take over as he curved his body inwards so that his form roughly resembled a ball. When gravity did once again take hold of him the merc did his best to roll with the new momentum he had gathered, a trick he had learned when he had first started experimenting with flight, particularly the landings. However rolling forwards is infinitely easier than rolling backwards, partially because you can see where you’re going and are therefore more likely to maintain the necessary balance to complete the maneuver. Despite this difficulty though Zephyr somehow managed to roll off his back and land in an awkward crouching position just in time to see a rather hefty piece of metal go sailing past him about one foot to his right, and in spite of the fact that he had just been delivered what he believed to constitute a cheap shot he couldn’t help but role his eyes at Tris as he got to his feet. “I see your aim hasn’t gotten any better” he commented dryly as he went to take a step forward…

…only to find that he had suddenly accumulated a rather inconvenient collection of metallic restraints all over his person to the point where he vaguely resembled an iron mummy. It isn’t everyday that one abruptly finds themselves adorned with chains in much the same way Christmas trees are decorated with tinsel, so it can perhaps only be expected that Zephyr would be somewhat thrown by this strange event and chose to express his astonishment through a series of choice expletives as the chains binding his feet caused him to lose his balance and fall flat on his face where he lay silently for roughly ten seconds as he tried to comprehend exactly what the hell had just happened.

He knew that Trista’s mutation granted her the ability to detonate objects at will and from what he’d just experienced the blasts were caused by granting molecules extra kinetic energy which caused them to heat up to the point where burst from their bonds, therefore creating the explosion. So how exactly did that translate into him being wrapped in chains? Focusing the majority of his mind on answering this conundrum the elemental absently set about releasing himself from the rusted chains, granting the surrounding air a sharpened edge superior to any blade he effortlessly reduced his bindings to ribbons.

Rising with a practiced grace that came from feeling, quite literally, lighter than air Zephyr allowed the broken chains to clatter audibly to the floor as he brought himself to his full height and stared at the red head before him with a puzzled expression which gradually evolved to one of understanding as the answer presented itself to him, ‘Of course; her mutation allows her to manipulate the speed of molecules, so if she is capable of increasing their speed there is no logical reason why she shouldn’t be able to slow them down, or completely stop them as well ’ he concluded silently, it made sense really; after all he was capable of summoning hurricane force winds yet he could also create desolate voids and they were practically complete opposites of each other.


With his pseudo riddle answered the merc nodded his head appreciatively before setting his features back to their normal impassive state, and shaking his shoulders to rid himself of a particularly determined segment of chain which had been clinging to his neck, “I will give you credit for expanding upon your mutation” he announced blandly as the final links fell to the floor, “However it changes little”

No sooner had those words left his mouth he summoned an arcing blade of wind in front of Trista and sent it flying towards her legs. The wind attack he was sending wasn’t sharp enough to sever the girls limbs, Hunter had been very explicit that she be able to walk after this was over, this gust had been dulled so that when it impacted with its target the red head would simply be knocked off her feet and onto her face, one good turn deserved another after all. However Zephyr was determined that once the annoying little thief went down, she stayed down. The entire time he had been talking he had been carefully extending his influence over the air directly above Tris, granting it extra force and a downwards direction, at the moment he was keeping this pile driver of air from crushing the girl however the moment she was grounded he would unleash the air current he was holding at bay and have it press her into the ground.

Tris sighed and growled alittle, as her lovely, exciting, some might say seemingly foolproof plan......was fooled, foiled and just plain wrecked.
While she did very much enjoy the look on Zephyr's face when he unfroze- priceless that was. He quickly took the upper hand again, slipping out of a near small mountain worth of chains and rope like the unsurprisingly talented little Houdini he was, and was soon back to floating in the air and being the annoying, woman hating superior ass she knew so well.

She rolled her eyes in exasperation- why wouldn't he just stay down already- Grrrrr.

With his pseudo riddle answered the merc nodded his head appreciatively before setting his features back to their normal impassive state, and shaking his shoulders to rid himself of a particularly determined segment of chain which had been clinging to his neck, “I will give you credit for expanding upon your mutation” he announced blandly as the final links fell to the floor, “However it changes little”

"Oh, was that the hint of a compliment to go with your little diatribe.......why Zephry, I didn't know you car-----.....Ohhhh....Ooofff."
Tris snapped back, the start of a ranting session that didn't look to have an end. Though she didn't get to get very far, as her legs were suddenly hit with a force, felt like someone had kicked her knees out from under her.....she went down- hard......

"Oh hell" she muttered.
She was lying on the ground, winded and pride wounded.....again! face down, arms close by her side.

Aww man, what now- she thought sourly.....she got an unintended answer to that question sooner than she expected.

Trista felt a force, the same she suspected that cut her leg from under her. IT seemed to spread over her prone from like a large unwanted blanket, holding her in place.

Tris suddenly couldn't move, the pressure increasing- she was literally being slowly ground into the floor by a thousand tones of nothingness she could not see nor do anything about. She couldn't move, could barely breathe, and even that was getting difficult. That arrogant son of a bitch was crushing her, slowly squeezing the life's breathe literally out of her body......and she couldn't fight it, no matter how hard she tried.......

Trista was freaking out- Zephry was cold and unfeeling and he might just kill her for kicks...... her brain was in panic mode, switching to survival systems to keep her alive.....
That powerful urge, plus alll the pent up aggression she had for the air element was combined in her mind, slowly pooling resources as she lay there, unable to move or speak or act.......in any other way but through her powers- making her mutation all the more stronger....and also all the more unpredictable and dangerous- to everybody involved.

Her thoughts, her emotions, her intentions were all focused on Zephyr- His smug face, his annoying powers, his arrogant personality......and the thought she had to get him back, stop him.....in any way possible.......
Her mind reached out, her concentration so intense, and the pressure of her emotions building......

And suddenly, like the first time her powers were activated- the tension was released in and an enormous wave of uncontrolled energy....raw power.

She didn't know what it would do- freeze or blast or liquify, and couldn't control it if she tryied......she was afraid of it, of what she could do like this.....but it was too late. The damage was done.

Every cell in her body was just telling her to stop Zephyr and his hold on her any way possible.

((OOC: Apologies bout the post, soo tired, if it doesn't make sense, I can redo it tomorrow))

Zephyr watched with an indifferent expression as the helpless figure before him was slowly pressed into the earth. The little fool was still struggling against the inevitable; he could feel her muscles straining to overcome the torrent of air that was gradually digging her own grave, ‘why can’t she simply accept the fact that she’s beaten?’ the question nagged at the back of his mind like an annoying insect, ‘what does she gain by prolonging her suffering?’ for indeed that was all Tris was doing, if she had simply accepted her fate than the elemental would have released her by now. He had already decided to forgo his earlier decision to break her arms; that was the girls reward for developing her abilities, yet her continued struggle irked him for it meant she had not learnt her lesson.

Adapting a strain of air so that his voice would carry through the surging winds that held the pathetic girl down the mercenary spoke in a cold, uncaring tone. “Let me make this plain Ms. Evans, you may believe that your abilities make you special but in truth you are insignificant, your potential is limited and you will never accomplish anything of note. If it were not for our mutual employer you would still be living your pathetically mundane life in some rundown apartment out of site from the rest of the world as you tried desperately to hide what you truly are…”

Zephyr allowed himself to trail off as he noticed the girls laboured breathing, although there was more he could say, the little thief would be comatose soon and any further talk on his part would pointless. Instead he simply raised the intensity of the winds another notch in an attempt to accelerate her on the path to unconsciousness, ‘this little incident has run far longer than it had any right to’ he thought sourly as he slowly began to levitate and prepared to make his leave, once the redhead blacked out he would exit through the roof and head back to his apartment. What happened to Tris after he left was none of his concern, if she was as valuable as the Hunter claimed no doubt the vampire would send one of his retrieval teams the moment he left the scene.


Sending a final bored glance at the figure below him the elemental slung his hands into the pockets of his jacket and shifted the air around him to create a whirling vortex to lift him out of the building and into the endless blue sky above.. only to find that the air was strangely ignorant of his command and simply left him suspended ten feet above the ground. Somewhat taken aback by this display of resistance Zephyr’s brow furrowed in confusion as he exerted greater force on his element in an attempt to make the air acquiesce to his will… still no response. Shifting from confused to annoyed the merc paused and inhaled, preparing to send forth a surge of power, however as the various molecules of nitrogen, oxygen and various other gases traveled down his throat on the way to his lungs they seemed to hit an invisible barrier and froze. The elementals eyes snapped wide open in shock as his body reflexively began operating the instinctive choking mechanism in attempt to clear this unnatural obstruction. ‘What the hell?!’ Simon thought in alarm as he tried to raise his hands to his throat, only to discover that his limbs were restrained by some invisible force that was far more effective than any of the chains Tris had used mere moments ago.

The merc's eyes darting about wildly as he searched desperately for some type of solution to this crisis, he needed to do something quickly or he’d suffocate to death. As his azure gaze frantically swept across the scene below him he swiftly focused on the semi-conscious form of Trista Evans. It was a credit to Zephyr’s control and discipline that the column of air he had created to crush the girl had not completely dissipated upon discovery of his current predicament, however the pressure had weakened considerably and the elemental could see Trista’s back rise and fall sharply as her body seized advantage of his sudden distraction and took deep breaths to replenish the oxygen it had been denied seconds before. As he watched the girls breathing stabilize comprehension dawned on his increasingly cloudy mind; the little witch had frozen the air around him; she was trying to defeat him with his own element! Anger swelled within the mercenary’s mind, momentarily dispelling the dark haze that had clouded his thoughts, allowing him to focus and think rationally once more instead of relying on the blind panic that had been dictating his actions.

‘I refuse to be beaten this way!’ he thought furiously as adrenaline pumped through his veins and his thoughts turned to various methods he was use to avenge himself upon the redhead below. ‘No, forget about her, prioritize concentrate on what needs to be done first’ well it was quite obvious what he needed to do first, he wasn’t going to last long if he couldn’t breathe after all. Concentrating his energy on the air which had become lodged within his throat the elemental hastily cast out his consciousness and examined the potentially lethal air and found it was exactly as he had expected; Tris had somehow managed to extend her influence to the air around and inside him without somehow including his body. While some may have considered this a clever, maybe even brilliant move on Trista’s part there was a major weakness; even though it had been turned against him the air was still Zephyr’s element. All the girl had done was start a battle of tug-o-war between their mutations and the mercenary knew without a doubt that he was the stronger of the two of them. However despite this firm belief he was finding it next to impossible to coerce the molecules lodged within his esophagus to flow to his will, they simply refused to be set into motion once more. As the numbing haze began to settle across his thought once more Simon quickly came to the realization that his currents tactics would only have him suffocate that much sooner and so the elemental attacked the problem from a different angle. Focusing his attention on only the atoms which comprised the molecules of oxygen within the frozen mass he gradually managed to drag the life giving element away from the stationary throng of gases and guide it down safely into his lungs where his body quickly took over; transferring the oxygen to his blood and sending it on its way throughout his system.

Having now taken a synthetic breath the merc felt a measure of his exhaustion fade away, however he denied himself the luxury of relaxation just yet; much as he was loathe to admit he was far from safe, all he had done so far was buy himself some time. He still needed to disperse this perverse prison which bound him more securely than any material cage. Unfortunately this was turning out to be far more difficult than he had first envisioned; he had imagined that Trista’s hold over the surrounding air was akin to that of a newborn child over their favourite toy; very determined but ultimately rather weak. This was turning out to be far from the truth and Zephyr was finding himself drawing upon reserves he hadn’t touched in years and the effort was beginning to take it’s toll on him; already his veins were pulsing and his skin was coated in a light layer of sweat. ‘This cannot be happening’ he told himself vehemently, I have trained myself for years to increase my strength, she could not even control her gift a few months ago!’

With his own pride pushing him forwards the elemental reached deeper into his gift, within the warehouse an unnatural wind burst to life, whirling around the confines of the steel building as it rapidly grew in force, several vortex also sprung into being and swiftly began decimating whatever they came into contact with. A rusted car wreck was easily flung into the air where it was swiftly devoured by the raging winds and reduced to just so much metallic confetti. Old engine parts that were not quite to large enough to become targets of the razor winds were thrown through the chaotic space like sticks down rapids, constantly colliding with various hazards which were either overcome or decimated completely. Several large machine parts were propelled with such force that they pierced the buildings iron sheet shell as if it were no more than rice paper and rocketed into the other structures nearby. Amidst all this chaotic anarchy Trista was not ignored; several times small metallic shards raced over her form cutting cleanly through her clothes and causing deep gashes along her back and thighs, at one point a heavy canister of paint which had somehow managed to avoid it’s imminent destruction ricocheted off the back of her head. Zephyr himself was only dimly aware of all that was going on around him though, he was too focused on trying to escape his incorporeal bonds that he paid little heed to what his uncontrolled powers were doing to his surroundings, the only thing he was concerned about was breaking free reuniting with his element in its natural state.