Iris shuffled from foot to foot, fear and relief straining for control of her emotional track. Currently she stood in the shadow of a building once used as a fish packing plant, located near the water's edge. The smell brought back unpleasant and harried feelings from her last visit to a cannery, and the Stalker attack that went with it. The darkness of the early morning hid most of the area from view. But there were stirrings of life in the surrounding shadows.

Maybe it was from watching too many movies, but Iris had imagined the mass 'Cleansing' to involve a mob dressed in white robes and head coverings, waving around burning crosses or torches and brandishing blackjacks, or something along those lines. That facts that this crowd had dressed mainly in black jeans and sweats, and didn't bother trying to hide their faces, possessed normal riot-type weapons, and had avoided any form of pyrotech, both relieved and disturbed Iris.

Another unsettling detail; with exception of the original email, there had been no other instructions given. At least none that she knew of. It just seemed that everyone had shown up, and were waiting for the others to move first on what was, apparently, thought to be a minor mutant stronghold.

She glanced at her cellphone time. 1:56 am. She swallowed, trying to wet a dry mouth and settle an unsettled stomach. Maybe nothing would happen. Maybe this was just a test or something, to see if the acolytes and heirophants were truly loyal. Or something.....

She saw Duane and several of his buddies standing nearby. From the look on his face, Iris realized she was grasping at straws. She gulped again. Maybe there were no white hats and robes, but the group was still out for blood.

Speaking of blood..... She turned and squinted, looking to see where Hunter had disappeared to.

Hunter was the other side of the crowd from Paragon, having left her to go and speak to the other Hierophants. "We'll guys," he asked in a neutral tone, "What do we have."

"Muties," a squat man with a thick neck replied, spitting out the word, "dozen or so. All of 'em low level. The boys and girls should be able ta handle 'em. Once we're all 'ere we do the usual, speach from one of us lot, then smash the place."

"Say Darren," said another man, tall with hawk like features, "how about you make the speach. It is your first time, why not get started with a bang?"

"Me?" said Hunter, "Of course, I'd be honoured. If you'll excuse me I just need to go and prepare something." With a smile Hunter made his way back into the crowd. Slipping effortlessly amound them he made his way over to Paragon. "They're going to raid the place. There are about twelve mutants inside, none with enough power to withstand this lot. Before we go in I've been asked to amke a speach, stir up the mob. Once in stay close to me. If you want to help make sure you use a gem that people wont be able to tell it's you using it."

Iris suppressed a yelp, but not the startle.

"They're going to raid the place. There are about twelve mutants inside, none with enough power to withstand this lot. Before we go in I've been asked to make a speech, stir up the mob. Once in stay close to me. If you want to help make sure you use a gem that people wont be able to tell it's you using it."

A gem no one will notice her using?

<"Let's see.... Ice, moving around like an animal, an me extremely jumpy and apologetic. Noticable. Liquid? Same thing, plus I may decide to pass out or make a slip of the tongue. Noticeable. Sound. Lack of hearing and tendancy to attack whoever attacks me first, regardless of the side. Very risky, and very noticeable. Dark? Changing into a shadow qualifies as noticeable. Light.... no good in the dark, and not helpful in a fight at all. Clear? Loss of control tends to be noticed.">

She snorted. "Yeah. Not noticeable. Easy...." she remarked, and turned back. She waitied in the background, and decided to wait and see what happened before deciding what to do. And hoping that eventually her heart would realize that it wasn't a stand-in for a bongo drum.

Giving Paragon a reassuring smile Hunter made his way to the front of the crowd. Standing upon a box that had been placed there he held up his hands for silence. "Brothers and sisters of humanity," he began, "We are here to purge this world of the unclean. Tonight we shall send another group of foul mutants to where they rightfully belong."

The got a huge roar from the crowd assembled before him. This was not the first time Hunter had stirred up a mob, whipped them into a killing frenzy. While he knew that Paragon would prefer he try to placate them, the other Hierophants would see right through the act. No, this had to be convincing.

"Now, go forth into the foul ones place of hiding. Show them that there is no place in this world where we will let them linger, despoiling the sanctity of humanity. Let the purge begin!" As one the crowd roared and surged forward, instilled with the mad desire for mutant blood. At once Hunter was off the box and moving through the crowd to be beside Paragon. This could be dangerous for everyone involved, he didn't want her getting hurt.

While Hunter was steadily talking the mob into violence, Iris was steadily talking herself out of this mess. She figured in the darkness, nobody would see her slip away. If asked, she could always say one of the mutants knocked her unconscious as they escaped. No big deal. And completely plausible. She had her escape planned and her excuse worded, and even took one step backwards to enact it.

Unfortunately, Hunter spoke faster than she could plan.

The group roared and surged forward, and she was carried along for the ride.

The mutants inside were not taken by complete surprise; the roaring arousal from Hunter's speech had given them a few second's warning. Still, the group was small, only eleven in number, and none of them were very strong. Iris was dismayed to see that all but two appeared to be teenagers.

The building was surrounded, giving them little option but to fight. As the mob entered, one of the group, who appeared to be the oldest, used his abilities to levitate three of them, looking to be the youngest, into the rafters of the warehouse. The others scattered, attempting to find places to either hide or make a stand. A rush of air hit Iris and those nearest her, knocking them off-balance. Had the elemental responsible had any training, she might have sent them all through the wall.

Iris ducked behind a stack of boxes as the crowd again surged forward. Adrenaline raced through her system, and she felt her back began to burn, threatening to choose a gem for her. She closed her eyes and forced herself to take deep breaths. If one of her powers was going to activate, she wanted to be sure she was in control of the switch.

Liquid. It had to be Liquid. Any of the others, and she might slip up somehow, hurt someone. At least with the Liquid gem she would be calm enough to concentrate. For a while....

She clenched her teeth as the purple gem forced its way painfully through the gash in her palm. Calm clarity washed over her, hidden behind the dyed hair and disguised eyes. She took one more deep breath, then peeked out from behind the boxes to get an idea of what was happening.

Hunter weaved through the crowd with an unnatural grace, but they were too fired up to notice. In the chaos he couldn't see Paragon, so resorted to another sense to find her. Sniffing the air he picked out her scent amoungst the crowd and followed it.

Finding Paragon down beside a box he kneeled beside her. "You alright?" he asked. He'd spotted the bump in her palm and hoped that it wasn't the onyx or clear gem. If it was he might have to subdue Paragon before she blew their cover.

"You alright?"

"I'd be better if you'd quit sneaking up on me like that," she replied, giving him an irritated grimace.

She inhaled deeply, closing her eyes, trying to shut out the chaos around her.

"So, how far are you planning on going with this act?" She kept her voice low, figuring he would still be able to pick it up.

While he answered, she began to spread her awareness out, searching for anything liquid in the area that she could use. It was a cannery; surely there was something. She felt several small amounts of water nearby. No doubt part of the mutants' supplies. It was a start, but not enough.

Hunter heard every word Paragon said as he scanned the area around them. The mob was surging past, unaware of them in a rush to get the mutants. Up in the rafters the wind elemental let loose another blast, and Hunter shielded Paragon with his body. The elemental was far weaker than Zephyr, and so Hunter withstood the blast, though many nearby were floored.

"After tonight I'm looking to get to the council as soon as possible," he replied to her question, "a week tops." Spinning back he watched as one of the mutants stepped forward towards the crowd as several bone spikes were extended from various parts of his body. With a slash he dropped the first man to reach him, before stabbing another in the gut and slicing open a third's chest. The mutant fought valiently, holding one of the stairs up to the rafters.

However, the Hierophants were no fools and began to direct the mob to the other set of stairs. This one was guarded by a femal mutant, a pair of tenticles extended from her wrists and lashed out whip-like into the mob. One of the crowd managed to catch hold of a tenticle and yanked her into the crowd.

"I meant, how far are you taking this act. As in, here and now."

Iris narrowed her eyes. The stack of water bottles next to the stairs toppled over, rolling into the crowd. One of the humans tripped on them. He lost his balance and fell, taking two more with him. The side of one bottle exploded, and the water zipped out and upward, piercing the arm of another.

She drew back quickly. They couldn't stay hidden long; even with the riot, someone was bound to notice their absence eventually.

"I still don't plan on sticking around for the rest of your little charade," she added calmly, looking about for something solid to throw.

"Here and now I'll do what I must to keep the charade going," Hunter answered. He stuck by Paragon's side as she moved back, away from the fiercest fighting. "We can argue later, let's deal with this situation first."

Over by the stairs the tenticle mutant had been pulled into the crowd, but Paragons use of the water bottles had given her time to get back to the stairs. She lashed out again, trying to keep the humans back. A flash of silver was folloowed by the mutants scream and blood spraying into the crowd. Someone had severed her tenticle with a knife, and she was now recoiling up hte stairs as the mob advanced.

Iris clenched her teeth and eyes together, trying to block out the scream, but adrenaline already flowed through her system, setting her on edge. With her awareness cast out, she could feel the blood as it left the woman's body. Before it could hit the ground and congeal, the droplets converged into a small puddle, then shot out in a high-powered jet, through the knife-wielder's hand. Another scream, and more blood flowed.

Iris froze. Her head suddenly felt like a balloon, spinning and light. She reached out to grab onto something before she fell. A chill swept over her, like a wave of ice. She checked her skin to be sure she hadn't activated the wrong gem, by accident, but saw no frost.

A full thirty seconds passed before her vision cleared and the chill dissipated.

"What just happened?" she whispered. She realized her mouth was dry. And her hands were shaking badly.

Another scream pierced the air. Iris cringed back and nearly fainted again. She didn't realize that her awareness of liquids had honed in on the tentacled mutant's blood. Her mind kept trying to tell her that that amount shouldn't be outside of the body, shouldn't be able to be manipulated.

In her own way, Iris was feeling the woman dying. She whimpered, and took a step back.

When Paragon reached out for support Hunter was immediatly there to steady her. He could see what was happening, she was controlling blood for the first time. With his experiance in blood he could begin to imagine how she must be feeling.

Someone in the crowd noticed them and stormed over. "What are you two doing?" he demanded.

"She's not feeling to well," Hunter replied.

"Well she started being 'not well' when the blood started attacking us," the man countered, pulling a knife. Hunter was in no mood to argue. Stepping forward now Paragon was more steady he grabbed the man by the wrist holding the knife and the throat and locked eyes with him, swiftly erasing any suspicion before sending him back into the fray.

Hunter returned to Paragon's side to check she was ok.

<"Get it together Iris. You don't have time for this. Worry about your sanity later!">

She took a deep breath to steady herself as Hunter returned. She waved him away.

"I'm fine," she growled. "Go help whatever side you plan on helping, and I'll do the same."

She shifted her awareness back to the water, back to familiar ground. A pile of rubble lay nearby. She moved forward and grabbed a fist-sized stone. Keeping her gaze averted from the death scene on the stairs, she launched the projectile into one of the other crowds. She aimed close to the young mutant that was the mob's target, enough to seem like a plausible attempt. The rock missed, but came close enough to make the boy flinch away. A nightstick from the crowd split the air where he'd been a moment before.

Iris turned away from that battle as well, before another disaster could burn itself into her memory.

A new substance touched her awareness from above. Something hit the ground not far away. She sensed another one headed in her direction, and dodged away. It landed with a wet SPLATT!!

<"Black.... wet, and a funny smell.... Ink??"> She looked upwards. In the rafters above, one of the young girls rained down blobs of black ink on the crowds. She couldn't have been older than thirteen....

Iris took hold of the unplanned resource. Perhaps the girl would realize she wasn't in full control of the inky rain, but the humans wouldn't, and that's all that mattered. Iris joined those on the ground trying to hit the out-of-reach mutants with miscellaneous projectiles. But she cast outward and sent the ill-aimed blobs into faces and mouths of those around her, blinding and choking the rioters.

She quickly became involved, and lost focus on what was happening in the rest of the warehouse.

Unfortunatly for Paragon one of the rioters had seen what had happened earlier and jumped to conclusions, fast. Drawing his knife the man closed on. He didn't get closer then five meters, as Hunter intercepted him.

Locking eyes he removed the man's suspicion before sending him back into the fray. Turning back to Paragon he saw another man behind her, baseball bat raised. Rushing across the room at inhuman speed ht blocked the strike with his forearm and cried out in pain. The blow dropped him to one knee and caused him to cradle his arm close to his chest, but he'd prevented Paragon from being hit.

Iris turned around at Hunter's outcry. It took her by surprise because.... Well, for one thing, she'd never heard it before. Ever. And he sounded hurt. She'd never heard that before either. He must have been acting......

The rioter with the bat raised it for another swing. Iris threw one of the rocks in her hands at the man's hands. He yelped and jumped back.

"You idiot! We're not the enemy! They are!" Iris pointed into the rafters, just as another barrage of inky globs rained down. She felt them coming, but ignored them, allowing them to hit their marks, including the back of her own head. To further the act, she reached out to one of the others and wrenched away a nightstick. She launched it upwards, like a boomerang. The mutant girl shrieked and ducked, stopping the black rain.

Iris turned back at the scowling bat-wielder. He didn't look convinced, but made no move to attack again. She knelt next to Hunter, playing the part of a concerned girlfriend.

"Nice acting," she murmured very softly. She started to roll up his sleeve to check his arm where the weapon had connected. Since she didn't think he was actually hurt, she didn't try to be gentle.

<"He is a healer, after all,"> she thought, a bit irritably. "There probably won't even be a bruise.">