Lizzy looked at herself in the mirror. Her wavy hair flowing down her back. She grimaced at the sight. It was so boring. So plain – so… Lizzy. It was time for something new. She just needed something different. The first thing she decided to do was to try to braid her hair. Whenever she went out, there were so many girls wearing braids. Lizzy wasn’t exactly one with fashion, but this style trend fascinated her.

She attempted a French braid, but after ten minutes of trying, her arms were tired. She looked at herself in the mirror and said, “This looks horrible! Why am I even doing this?” She ripped the braid out and threw the hair tie across the room.

Then, Lizzy remembered something. She remembered the straightener her mom got her for her birthday a couple years ago. She hadn’t used it because she knew how long it would take. Lizzy had so much wavy hair that the battle typically wasn’t worth it. Disturbing the contents of her bathroom cabinet, she finally found the straightener. It was all the way in the back gathering dust. She plugged it in, let it heat up, and began straightening her hair.

It took a while, but eventually Lizzy got her hair straight. She stared at her reflection. It was so bizarre seeing straight hair replace her blonde waves. Her fingers combed her hair almost to see if it were truly there.

A change of scenery. That was what was needed now. This new look needed to be accompanied by going out. She donned her thick red coat to combat the wintery air outside before she headed out of her apartment.

The chilly air numbed her face, but Lizzy didn’t care. The new hairstyle boosted her confidence more than usual, and she decided that today would be a good day for some coffee. It was New York, and most people had to get their coffee fix. Lizzy walked a little before she appeared in front of her favorite coffee shop: Java the Hut.

Going inside the little shop, she went up to the barista and ordered, “Can I get a caramel macchiato, please?” It wasn’t her usual order, but today was different; her hair was different, her confidence was different, so her coffee would be different as well. It was like she had been made over. Lizzy wasn’t sure why, but who knew what today would bring?

Tses was wandering the streets of New York, hands shoved deep in her leather jacket--Well, her jacket was a debatable label. It was given to her by a friend, and was a little big, but in a comforting way--With a matching black skirt, leggings and combat boots, she mixed into the crowds, feeling the chilly wind ruffle her blond hair. She had been mixing up trouble lately, whether for the thrill or to try and avoid thinking about her emotional imbalance was another thing entirely. She kept looking for bigger and bigger spoils, whether it was a bank or a store, her bravery was bordering on reckless; only when things went crazy was she distracted enough to feel calm; in a sad, ironic sort of way.

A thief by profession, she was on the job today, and her target was a small coffee joint called Java the Hutt. The choice was primarily based on location; it was away from her apartment, it was small and lacked security, and coffee was expensive, she so was hoping to at least get a hundred dollars from the small business, if nothing else. Unarmed, except for her mutant powers, she was hoping to use intimidation this time to make a quick getaway. While sneaking in at night usually worked best, arriving in broad daylights gave her access to the register and safe without risking blowing up the money inside.

Sneaking through the back alley, she used a small explosive to pop open the door latch, and met the startled employee in the backroom on the other side, getting more caramel for a customer's order. Tses let the green energy on her arm's flare intimidatingly, and glared at the employee. "Money, now." She snarled, and the startled Batista, surprised her by letting out a scream. Tses quickly clamped her hand over the girls mouth, glaring at her and cursing under her breathe. "Awe come on, don't do the whole screaming thing." She backed against the wall, dragging the girl with her, and listened to see if anyone reacted in the other room. She gave a little huff and blew her bangs out of the face, while the girl squirmed. At least this Batista was young... any taller Tses wouldn't be able to hold her mouth shut without heels on.

The girl swatted her hand at Tses, smacking her across her left hand, and Tses cursed allowed, snarling in pain. Beneath her black arm bands, her bad arm was bandaged up tight from her incident trying to punch the stud on a wall. She started to rethink her plan, even before she heard footsteps coming around the corner.

Lizzy stared at her phone while she waited for the barista to come back with her caramel macchiato. It was one of those things she did a lot. There was no real purpose to it because all she did was stare at the pointless things people posted to the various social media sites she was on. Why some people posted certain things escaped Lizzy, but she decided that maybe just for a moment, she'll be one of those people. She held her phone up so she could take a picture with her new hairdo, but then Lizzy thought she heard a scream.

Not knowing what to do, Lizzy looked around to see if any other customers heard it, but there was the young man sleeping in the one corner and a pack of whispering gossips in the other. Neither one made any indication they heard a scream, but Lizzy was sure she heard it. She didn't know what to do. Would it be best to go back there just in case?

But what if that were the case? Lizzy couldn't fight anyone. She'd never fought a person in her life. That's not true anymore, the back of her mind whispered. That one intense dream or whatever it was. You fought and killed. It might have been a different setting that wasn't even true, but Lizzy remembered herself as Melody so well that it was a part of her.

Lizzy said today would be different, and this was her chance to prove. Her gut was telling her someone else was here, and it wasn't good. She wasn't a fighter, but her confidence was telling her she could do this. Not wanting to alert any potential threat, Lizzy remained quiet as she tiptoed toward the back room, ready to use her high-pitched scream and reveal herself if she absolutely needed to.

The barista's slightly terrified expression quickly turned pissed off when she realized resisting wasn't going to get her killed. Even while Tses tried to keep a hold of her, and maintain her stealth, things quickly fell apart. The young girl snacked her in the face, kicked her in the shin, and Tses growled, creating a small orb of energy and letting it go inches from the girls face. There was the fwooosh of kinetic energy that pushed the girls hair back and pressed powerfully against her face, then the girl froze more with fear. "Thank you! Now, safe, please. I really don't want to blow anything up today...." She muttered, trying to contain the situation.

Steering the girl around the corner towards the office, she tried her best to look intimidating, but this was feeling more like a hostage situation and less like petty theft. If it came down to it, she figured she could always just ditch the money and run. A thought that seemed more entertaining when she got another kick in the shins. This time, she did the childish thing and kicked the girl back.

"Stop doing that!" She growled irritably, and her hands flared with green energy. It was seconds away from a cat fight instead of a robbery.

The girl turned around, about to tell her off, eye flashing and her face pissed off, then her face seemed to get a small amount of hope for something she saw behind the would be robber. Tses started to turn, a bit bewildered, to see what she was looking at, and squinted at a shadow she thought she saw around the corner.

Lizzy crept as quietly as she could in the back room, but saw no one in the immediate room. She thought to herself, Where did the barista go? Anything she needed for her drink would be in this room. There was no need for going off unless… unless she was in danger. Continuing the search, she was sure she heard voices coming from the office area of Java the Hut. Her footsteps were only so light, but she could only pray that her feet would not betray her.

A voice rang out from the office saying, “Stop doing that.” Peering around the door, Lizzy saw the barista with another person, another mutant. Right off the back she knew this strange female was a mutant by the way her hands burned green. Immediately Lizzy hid herself around the corner. What to do, what to do..

She searched around the hallway for something to possibly incapacitate the mutant, but it was a bare hallway. Nothing was around except for a couple of picture frames, but Lizzy doubted that would do her any good. The only weapon Lizzy had was her voice. It would mean revealing herself as a mutant to the barista or anyone else who heard her, but Lizzy didn’t see any alternative option.

Maybe deception would help Lizzy out a little. She focused on the little sound bite she heard from the woman, and in the stranger’s voice Lizzy yelled, “Stop doing that or else you’ll wish you hadn’t crossed me.” She didn’t know how to be menacing. Lizzy was ready to use her high-pitched scream, but maybe using the woman’s own voice would confuse her. She could only hope.

Tses couldn't see anyone behind her, but then a voice called out. It sounded like ... her own voice, and that through her off. She'd met a few mutants, so unusually circumstances didn't surprise her like they used to. But there was nothing quite as odd as hearing someone speak that wasn't you but seemed like you.

She turned slowly, and sighed, glancing at the Barista. She just shook her head nervously as if to prove it wasn't her. "You know, I'm really tired with everyone making such a big deal of this. I remember the days when 'rawr, I'm glowing' was a more effective threat."[/color] She sighed, and the barista stuck her tongue out at her. "Stay out of this! Tses glared at the girl, and then faced back in the direction the voice came from. The barista stayed put though, and that gave her a small amount of leverage to keep working with.

"You know, we can settle this the tough or easy way. I'd really rather not blow things up today. It's kinda my lazy day. You know, get some money, take it easy. You're really not helping." She called out, hoping the lurking individual would listen to her. If she had to fight her way out of here it would really ruin her week. But there were times you had to go with plan b: property damage. If someone else wasn't cleaning up your mess, you were at least giving someone a job, right?

The robber yelled back at Lizzy. Well, Lizzy thought, I have her attention. Maybe I can work on getting the barista to safety. She thought the woman must be terrified out of her mind – Lizzy herself was scared, but something in her gut was telling her she had to help out. The woman yelled, “Stay out of this!” and Lizzy assumed it must be toward the barista. The barista. Lizzy hadn’t even thought about the danger she was in! This mutant might injure her – or worse – kill her. Who knew what those glowing green hands could actually do.

In the office, the female continued to speak. “You know, we can settle this the tough or easy way. I'd really rather not blow things up today. It's kinda my lazy day. You know, get some money, take it easy. You're really not helping.” So her hands blew things up. That didn’t comfort Lizzy in the slightest bit. Continuing to speak in the robber’s voice, Lizzy said, ”What if you let the barista go and grab the money? That way nobody gets hurt.” Lizzy had a feeling the robber wouldn’t fall for it, but it was worth a try.

She was still ready to scream if things turned worse, but if the barista was able to get out of there, Lizzy might be able to incapacitate her without the barista. Then, Lizzy had an idea. Why did she not think about this earlier? Silently, she pulled out her cell phone and texted the words “Help robber @ Java the Hut” to 911. She wasn’t exactly if this would work, but Lizzy wasn’t exactly trained and if she was knocked out, then maybe the cops could catch the robber.

Slipping the phone back into her pocket, Lizzy hoped that the robber wouldn’t know better about the cops being on their way. It was a card she could pull out of her pocket if things went sour. She hoped the phone would go undetected – until it began to ring blasting Circle of Life through the hall and most definitely in the office.

Hastily pulling her phone back out, Lizzy silenced the phone call she was currently receiving, and very frightened for what danger she just engulfed herself with now.

The stranger on the other end of the coffee shop kept talking, and Tses listened as politely as she could. Which wasn't very polite in the end, and involved a lot of fidgeting and muttering in irritation. She hated the idea of just letting the Barista go, because that would prove how incredibly novice she was at this whole hostage thing, but she also really didn't care about trying to get the money at this point. Someone knew she was here, and had the mutant cornered, and creating several explosions to blast her way out probably wasn't the most productive way to keep her criminal record clean. If this could be sorted out peacefully, well, she wasn't going to turn up her nose at it.

Tses sighed, and glanced at the Barista. The barista glanced back. For a moment, they locked eyes, each sizing up the other. The young girl had pierced ears, a nose ring, and fire engine red hair. Rather than looking scared at this point, she just looked irritated to be stuck sitting here while the hostage battle ensued. Tses glared at her, and stuck out her tongue. "You should be thanking me. I bet you're still on the clock." The girl gave a little shrug, and reached into her pocket, pulling out her mp3 player. Tses glared in irritation, but let it slide for now. So what if the Barista wanted some music while this situation was sorted out?

Apparently, the stranger thought the same thing.

The sound's of the Circle of Life blasted through the back room, and Tses felt herself chuckle, putting her hand on her hip and sighing. This was probably the most terrible robbery she'd ever conducted. But maybe that was what was making it so amusing. While the stranger hiding on the other side of the room was probably terrified of the whole ordeal, Tses had the cards in her hands and was calling all the shots. The only problem was, she was sitting on a couple of twos, and was about to try her poker face against a full house.

"Ok, let's talk business. If I'm going to be letting the Barista go, the least you can do is hand over some money for good measure. After all, if you can't even get to it, why should I make deals." She kept her voice calm and collected, and looked at her glowing hands like the glow was a coat of nail polish she was examining.

Why did Lizzy have to get herself involved in this? Why did today have to be her bold day? Why on earth did she have to straighten her hair? All of this could have been avoided if she just left her hair alone. But no, it was too late to turn back now. She was realizing that she was in over her head.

And what money could Lizzy fork over? She didn’t want her to get her hands on the coffee shop’s money, and certainly not on her own money. But Lizzy had her trump card. What was stopping her from using her high-pitched scream and then knocking the robber out? Then, Lizzy remembered: the barista. Of course.

She focused on the stranger’s voice so she could reply to her. She took a breath in and opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Lizzy didn’t know what to say to the robber. What if she just remained quiet? Obviously, her presence was known, but maybe if she just waited. Maybe she’ll come to me and I can knock her out if she wanders over here.

There was a reason that Lizzy wasn’t a cop or in the FBI or anything of that nature. She didn’t know how to handle these kinds of situations. She didn’t want to make a false promise even to a criminal. Besides, if this 911 text worked out, there should be cops here anytime, right? Lizzy had her doubts about this plan working, but Lizzy’s voice mimicking wasn’t going to last much longer, and besides she wanted to be ready to use a high-pitched scream, which meant her power had to be rested. This had to work, or at least she hoped.

Tses felt trapped; for the first time in her life, she was out of ideas. With a sigh, she pulled a box of canned items over, and plopped down on it, glancing at the 'hostage' barista. The girl seemed pretty bored, and Tses didn't blame her. Her adrenaline rush was mostly gone now, and she was bored as well. She never expected a robbery to go like this. It was supposed to be 'hands up' and tada! Money. But in her life, things never went quite as planned, and she grumbled at her bad luck.

"Ok, so I guess you're not into the whole negotiation thing. Maybe we can call a truce instead. We go our separate ways, pretend this never happened.... I don't blow up the coffee shop, coffee girl gets some extra time off the clock, and maybe she'll give you a free coffee for saving her life. Win win for everyone, and much better than cops and sirens and hostages and general nastiness." The blond haired mutant casually suggested, and glanced at her gloves with a bored expression. She swung her legs on her perch, and listened for a response she doubted was coming at this point.

Tses didn't know if the girl would agree or not, but at least her talking would stall things for awhile. All she had to do was sneak out the back door again, and she was home free. Money had started to fade into the back of her mind. she could just deal with that type of stuff later. It was easier to just pick a few pockets than deal with vigilantes.

Ewee.... vigilantes.

"We could all just hang out and listen to music or something... Barista girl seems to like it, and your cell phone seems to like it. I'm not big on the whole 'hug and get along' thing, but, hey, if it suits you."[/color] She was rambling now, and buying time to plan. She slowly got back to her feet, and started to edge her way towards the door.