It was about time! Akshay had finally managed to get in contact with Llama! After everything that has been going down lately, the wordsmith needed a sense of normalcy again. He was still a little timid to be out in the dark without a friend nearby, but he was now doing exceedingly better. So good was he feeling these days that he when he was finally ready, he contacted Llama, an old friend from back in his foster home days, in order to catch up as he promised.

After her acceptance to the meeting, Akshay booked a pretty nice French bistro called “The Happy Brothers” and forced her to accept his promise to pay for the evening. After all, it was the least that he could do for allowing the lack of communication between them after he moved. Though it was impossible for foster kids to really keep those old lines of communication open, Akshay still felt like he owed her.

Besides, how many times did he get to take a beautiful young woman out for an evening? That is not to say that this was a date! Oh no. Akshay definitely wasn’t ready for dating again. After his break up with Emerald and the atrocities that occurred between him and Chrys, Akshay was definitely not ready to allow another woman that close to him.

But Alma was different. She was a friend; and friends were always something that he could use in abundance.

So, dressing up in his nicest jeans, a dress shirt, and a blazer, Akshay rode his ducati to pick up Alma. From there, they were off to dinner!

The evening went by fairly well! Much of their conversation simply built off their last meeting back in the comic shop in what seemed like forever ago; filling in the gaps of their time apart, talking about things here and there, about how different New York City was when compared to Buffalo. In the end, the evening was turning out to be a rather fun experience! It was enough to distract, and yes, even make Akshay forget his horrible past few months! He guessed that reconnecting with old friends had that effect.

Chuckling as he poked at the remains of his grilled Angus tenderloin, Akshay shook his head and reached for his glass of water, trying to retell a funny story.

“So, yeah, I’m dressed as Captain Goldfish, standing in the middle of the floor,” he said, laughing as he mimed himself mashing buttons on a remote, “Trying to get the damn balloon goldfish to start flying and it just isn’t working! It…It was just a bad promo day,” he said, finally descending into laughter.

Laughter. He missed it so much lately.

Alma’s life, too, had grown crazier in of late. Mostly it was self-inflicted, but after happening upon that stash on M, she’d since been on edge. You just didn’t have a stash like that laying about willy-nilly. Something had to be up. Who knew, maybe the mute guy was operating separately from the Sanctuary—maybe they knew—but either way, there was a tickle at the back of Alma’s mind that screamed, “Criminal activity!” It was a finely-tuned sense that she’d acquired after years of growing up with it… Alma liked to think she had a sense for it. Or maybe, she was just paranoid.

Either way, there was nothing she could do. If she got into any trouble, she’d be out of luck—nowhere to live, nowhere to eat. Hell, they were letting her live there scot-free. Where else would she get that, besides a homeless shelter?

Alma needed this—needed an evening with a friend. A safe acquaintance—like Akshay. Akshay was a cool guy, with whom you could share a casual dinner. Alma donned a nice pair of high-heeled leather black boots, fashionable high-waisted jeans, and a flowing blouse that, had it not been for the high-waisted jeans, would show her midriff. Overall of this, an unflattering sweater.

He met her at the Sanctuary, on a rather sharp-looking motorcycle, and the two of them made their way to a quaint bistro. The ride over was nice—it had some nice speed to it, and the whole way over, the young woman grinned. The lighthearted feel remained well into dinner, the two of them laughing and chatting as though the two of them hadn’t ever parted ways.

Alma’s recollection of the past few months was a little more lackluster. She’d been laying low, hadn’t done anything noteworthy—she didn’t feel like talking about how she was residing in a homeless shelter for mutants. So instead, she spoke of job-hunting, of looking for a junior college to attend, and a more permanent place to live. Akshay, however, seemed to have enough to say on his own. Alma was more than willing to listen. He was so animated when he spoke, you couldn’t help but get absorbed in what he was saying.

Alma laughed along with his story, wearing a broad smile as he retold the story of said “bad promo day”.

“Oh my goodness!” she exclaimed, covering her mouth as she laughed, “So what did you do? With the balloon? Did you ever get it to fly…?”

Her own plate was a little fuller than Akshay’s but Alma had come to a near complete halt in eating, and was nursing her iced tea while they spoke. She was in no rush to leave.

Alma was laughing as hysterically as Akshay and the wordsmith had to chuckle. He had to admit that this was definitely the type of night he needed. Just a quiet evening with a good friend was absolutely perfect to battle all the crap that had been happening these days. It was a good way to remind him that he was still human and not in fact a cursed being. He could be capable of happiness. It was verification like that that he needed most in this world.

He was very happy he had agreed to do this.

>> “Oh my goodness! So what did you do? With the balloon? Did you ever get it to fly…?”[/color]

Still chuckling, Akshay took a sip of his water as he began to shake his head.

“No! Stupid motor was completely burned out and there was nothing I could do to get it to float!” he said with a laugh. “So when my partner came in dressed like the Emerald Archer, I had to pick up the stupid balloon fish, make gurgling noises with my lips and hurl it at him!”

New laughter descended and Akshay just sighed. It was such a train wreck of a promotional day that Akshay couldn’t even think about it without laughing his butt off. It was a good thing that he rarely, if ever, took himself seriously.

Sighing once the mirth died down, Akshay smiled across the table. She really was the spitting image of her sister. But what was best about Alma was that she was her own person. A person that he both respected and admired. He thanked whatever lucky stars managed to force their paths to cross again.

Another drink of water and he plucked up the check from the table. Sad that this part of the evening was already over; they were having such a good time. But…an idea struck. He grinned as he looked up to Alma.

“Llama…um, since we’re having such a good time,” he said. “Why don’t we pick up some Coldstone ice cream? Need something normal to wash down all the fancy French food!”

>> “No! Stupid motor was completely burned out and there was nothing I could do to get it to float!”

Alma gave an enrapt, “Oh, no!”, but still allowed herself to laugh along with him. It was quite the fiasco, and quite funny.

>> “So when my partner came in dressed like the Emerald Archer, I had to pick up the stupid balloon fish, make gurgling noises with my lips and hurl it at him!”

Alma’s own laughter increased to a giggle, but as Akshay quieted, her own giggles drifted into chuckles, and the slipped off altogether. She watched Akshay a few moments, speculatively, and when her friend looked up and beamed at her, Alma smiled back.

“What a nightmare,” she agreed.

>> “Llama…um, since we’re having such a good time. Why don’t we pick up some Coldstone ice cream? Need something normal to wash down all the fancy French food!”

Alma “ooo’ed” at the idea, almost sighing—there was an ice cream place in Quebec that had “Coldstone” in the name, and she remembered it fondly. Before her father turned absentee, he’d taken her there. It was about three hours away from Saint- Jérôme, in Quebec City, but it was good enough to be memorable. It was immensely unhealthy, as well, but good enough no neglect that small fact.

“Sounds fantastic,” Alma agreed brightly, lifting a clean napkin and patting her lips daintily, “I haven’t had ice cream from there in a long while.”

She “Ooo’ed” at the idea of having ice cream. Akshay knew that he had her there. Not that he was planning some grand scheme to get her into bed or anything! God no! First of all, he really wasn’t ready for something like that considering his latest track record. But another thing, he just didn’t see Alma like that. Yeah, she was sweet and fun and entertaining, but the simple fact was that she was linked too strongly to his past. He couldn’t look at her and NOT see the little girl nicknamed Llama who secretly read comic books with him.

No, she was a friend and nothing more. But friends could have ice cream!

>> “Sounds fantastic, I haven’t had ice cream from there in a long while.”[/color]

He chuckled and nodded.

“Then it’s settled! We shall have ice cream!” he beamed wide, feeling his usually goofy self return. It was a good feeling to gain that back, after everything that’s happened. Then, before she could object, he waved his to their passing waiter. “Check please.”

It took some argument but Akshay had promised that he was going to take care of this meal. He really didn’t have to, he knew that, but he wanted to. She was an old friend, she was trying to get on her feet her a new town, so it was only fair that he at least attempt to treat her to something nice. If she wanted to chip in for ice cream, fine. But even if not, he was cool with that. What’re friends for?

After receiving his credit card again and taking care of the bill, Akshay stood up from their table and smiled as he bowed in an overly dramatic way and offered his arm to Alma in the most gentlemanly manner.

“Mademoiselle…your carriage awaits,” he said with a grin. There was nothing wrong with having a bit of friendly fun.

>> “Then it’s settled! We shall have ice cream! Check please.”

Alma had argued that point. It was only democratic that, as friends, they both pay for their portion. It wasn’t a date. It was an evening out. If Alma wasn’t a woman, she’d argued, Akshay wouldn’t have wanted to pay for her. Yet, decorum required that he pay, and what more, Akshay was insistent. So Alma swallowed her protests and gave him a tired smile. She’d get him back at Coldstone. Whether he liked it or not. It was only fair.

It was a playful vengeance that she intended upon reaping, and all in good-fun. Akshay was a nice guy, which made his paying for the meal feel even more like taking advantage of him.

>> “Mademoiselle…your carriage awaits.”

Alma giggled and accepted his arm, hugging close to Akshay. All in innocent fun.

“To the ball!” the raven-haired woman announced, “To the ice cream ball!”

“Ow!! Stop!!!” the cries issued out from the alleyway.

“Dangerous mutie freak! Stay out of New York!” a voice shouted out in response. “Didn’t you see that video? You MONSTERS aren’t wanted!!”

CRACK!!

CRUNCH!!!

“OWWW!!!”

“Hehehe! Break the other leg!” cackled a female voice. “That should drive the point home. She ain’t wanted…”

SNAP!!!!![/b]

“AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

…

“Come on. Let’s go before someone see’s us!”

***

>> “To the ball! To the ice cream ball!”

Akshay chuckled as Alma took his arm. It was a fight to get the bill but she finally seemed to concede to his wishes. As he said, this was not a date, just a friendly gathering. If she wanted to take care of the ice cream, so be it! But that didn’t mean he couldn’t give her a hard time in response. He was just thankful that she didn’t take offense to wanting him to pay this time. After all, that would have put a rather big damper on their evening. And, considering that they were having so much fun, that would have been such a shame.

With her attached to his arm, he chuckled and grinned like a goof as he began to lead her back out into the night air of the city. He loved New York at night. It was lit up like a diamond: sparkles from the lights of sky scrapers, the neon advertisements meant to catch the eye, even the chill in the air, everything was so alluring about the city.

He loved it here. And he would love it even more if Alma decided to stay. Which, thankfully, seemed to be the case so far! Go friends!

With her on his arm, Akshay began to lead her back to his ducati that was parked on the side of the road. He started to fish his keys out as he glanced over at her.

“Having fun so far?” he asked.

Sniffle…Sob…Sob…

He blinked in confusion. Alma wasn’t crying. Instead he turned and heard…crying? It was coming from a nearby alley that was just around the corner. Glancing at Alma, Akshay face began to fill with concern as he looked at her.

“You hear that?”

Alma walked in-step with Akshay, smiling and allowing herself to glance around as the two of them strolled along. It was so nice and peaceful, so relaxing. It was exactly the kind of evening out that she needed. Even the bodachs seemed to be in a lull. They bobbed behind Alma in their semi-transparent forms (which would be wholly invisible to the human observer), their luminous eyes swimming about as they murmured to themselves.

Everyone was at ease. They walked in a comfortable silence until the Ducati was within their line of vision. Alma released Akshay’s arm as he dug his keys out of his pocket.

>> “Having fun so far?”

“Having a blast,” Alma assured him, grinning, “I’m especially enjoying the Ducati.”

The last word drifted off uncertainly as Alma also caught the sound of someone crying, from just behind her. Akshay turned to glance at her, and Alma shook her head minutely. It wasn’t her…

>> “You hear that?”

Alma nodded.

“Sounds like crying,” Alma said matter-of-factly, glancing over shoulder, before allowing herself to turn completely to glance behind. She listened intently, a few moments, then looked back towards Akshay. A crying person at this hour of the night seemed sketchy to Alma—normally she’d just hurry on by and hope someone else would take care of them—but Akshay seemed genuinely worried. Alma gestured towards the alley from which the sounds was emanating, pointing to it quietly.

“Shall we investigate?” Alma whispered. Her feet were already taking the first few steps towards the alley to show that she meant it. As she drew closer to the alleyway, her steps grew more assured, until coming to an absolute halt at the maw of the alley.

“Good evening,” Alma greeted uncertainly, eyes squinting in the low light in search of the source of the noise. She spied a huddled form a short distance in, but hadn’t the bravery (or stupidity) to venture any closer, “Excuse me…? Are you okay?”

>> “Sounds like crying…Shall we investigate?”

Akshay nodded. Though he was a bit wary of sticking his neck out these days, Akshay was not so much of a coward that he wouldn’t help someone who was obviously in pain. Sure he could have easily just called the cops or an ambulance and had them take care of whoever it was, but he had to admit that there was a small twinge of curiosity. Even if curiosity did kill the cat, Akshay had to know what was going on in this city.

Maybe he really wasn’t a superhero, but Akshay sure as hell was going to be a good citizen of the city!

Taking the lead, he followed the sound to the maw of a gapping alley. He definitely didn’t like the looks of it. It was dark, narrow, and there was scarcely any light within. It was the perfect place to lay down an ambush of sorts. At least according to his mind. But, pushing such thoughts away, he moved forward, his ears straining to catch a clear direction that the sobbing was coming from.

When it finally seemed as if they were narrowing in on it, Akshay paused. Alma was the first to speak up though while he fished around in his pocket for his cell phone. They needed some kind of light.

>> “Good evening…Excuse me…? Are you okay?”

Akshay finally felt his fingers brush the smooth cover his phone. Gratefully sighing, he snagged it out of his pocket and immediately awoke it from its sleep mode. The glare of its brightly lit screen was almost enough to blind him since his eyes were growing far too adjusted to the eerie blackness of the alley. But as he quickly scrolled through his apps, he clicked on the [FLASHLIGHT] app and turned it away the second the screen turned white and lit up the entire alley with the flash of its camera, now turned steady.

“We just want to help,” Akshay said a little timidly as he slowly scanned the surroundings with the light. When his eyes had finally adjusted, he saw the smallest of movements and turned the light onto it.

“Eeep!” a weak voice cried out. “Please! Please stop! I’m sorry! Don’t hurt me anymore!”

Akshay was startled by what he saw. There, hunched up and curled against the slimy, brick wall, was a thin, slip of a creature. Female, from what he could tell, she had tint of blue scales that ran the length of her body, large black eyes that reminded him of a frogs, and webbed, flaps of skin in between each of her fingers and toes. What was worse, though, were the dark bruises and broken bones he could see protruding out from her skin. Instantly he felt a pang of sympathy as he rushed to the poor mutant’s side.

“Oh my god, what happened to you?” he tried to ask.

But the creature would have none of it. She wailed, screamed, and attempted to fight off her “attackers” with her limp, broken arm.

“NOO!!! STOP!!! GO AWAY!!! GO AWAYYYYY!!!!”

Akshay flicked on a flashlight, for which the young woman was grateful. With the darkness illumed, the alley seemed a little less scary than before. Akshay shyly informed the person that they were just there to help… There was a ripple in the darkness, and Akshay aimed a light at it. Alma gave pause, her eyes widening faintly. It was a fish-woman, blue scales glinting in the darkness. She was curled against the wall, and had suffered a beating. A mutant-woman.

While Akshay quickly moved forward and asked questions, Alma fished into her pocket for her own phone.

“I’m calling 9-1-1,” she announced, loudly enough for the fish-woman to hear, before addressing Akshay specifically as she said, “We need to get her medical help.”

The woman hollered, and swung a badly-damaged arm at Akshay, and Alma soon joined him, standing to the other side of the woman as she panicked. They couldn’t have her running, not while she was in such bad shape. By how irrationally she was screaming at them, it was entirely possible that she could try to bolt, even in this condition.

“Madam, calm down, please,” Alma said tersely, “We will not hurt you. We’re here to get you some help. If you don’t stop flailing about, though, you’re going to hurt yourself more.”

Alma was a little freaked-out, which meant that she was becoming rather businesslike in her interactions.

“Maybe not 9-1-1,” Alma murmured to Akshay, “Is there… any mutant-specific medical places in the City? I don’t think she… is entirely present, mentally. Other mutants may be safer.”

She rose her voice as she addressed the woman. Sensing the tension that ran through Alma’s form and voice, the invisible bodachs were drawing closer, murmuring amongst themselves.

“Ma’am,” Alma said her voice soft yet businesslike, “What is your name? Do you remember what your name is?”

Akshay leaned down to help the poor fish woman but she was screaming and flailing about in bloody murder. It was obvious she was in a lot of pain but there was nothing he could do for her if she didn’t keep calm. But it seemed that no matter what he or Alma said, nothing seemed to calm the poor victim who was squirmed to drag herself away as quickly as possible. It was quickly beginning to get frustrating but Akshay knew he needed to keep his cool.

“STOP!! GO AWAAAAY!!!!”

God, if only she’d stop screaming!

He heard Alma mention calling 9-1-1, and he nodded to her. That seemed like the best course of action. It was obvious that this mutant needed some medical help and she needed it now. Sadly, though, he was not exactly sure how she would react to an entire group of people trying to help her when she wouldn’t even let either him or Alma get next to her. He frowned a little as he knelt down, which only prompted the fish woman to attempt to squirm away further.

“NO!!”

“I-I’m only trying to help,” Akshay said carefully, retracting his hands so that he didn’t appear as if he were trying to grab her. “You need help.”

The woman descended into tears and Akshay felt his heart sink. He turned and looked back to Alma who was apparently rethinking their course of action.

>> “Maybe not 9-1-1…Is there… any mutant-specific medical places in the City? I don’t think she… is entirely present, mentally. Other mutants may be safer.”

Akshay tried to think. The only place that came to mind was that Mansion Emerald used to go to al the time. From what he knew, it was the best place for mutants and they even had a mutant doctor on staff! That should be good for this situation, right?

>> “Ma’am…What is your name? Do you remember what your name is?”[/color]

Alma addressed the poor creature again but, as the norm, the injured young woman merely screamed to the top of her lungs. It was enough to make Akshay cringe since he was kneeling directly next to her. He didn’t know if her voice was augmented due to her mutation, or it was the fact that they had walls pressing close to them, all Akshay knew was that was scream was very loud.

And it traveled.

Wincing and uncovering his ears, Akshay sighed as he looked down to the young woman who was shivering and attempting to squirm away until she met the wall. It seemed that then her panic only swelled in her chest.

“Lady, please, calm do—“

“WHAT’S GOING ON?!” a gruff voice called from down the alley way.

Akshay looked up…and immediately felt intimidated. Standing in the darkness of the alley was a group of what had to be mutants. The group of them had physical mutations, others swirled with energy, but the worst of them stood at the head like some terrible leader. Extremely tall and muscular, he was covered from head to toe in dark brown fur. In places, mats of thick black replaced the brown and it looked as it he had a large hump on his back. But his face, gods his face was just terrible. A thick pig snout, two yellowed tusks protruding from his jaw, and a dead, white eye greeted his look. This mutant was obviously of some warthog-like persuasion.

And he looked pissed…

Alma looked concerned, but also uncomfortable. Even despite her businesslike inquires, there was no calming her down. This woman was in horrible shape. All she did was yell that awful, high-pitched shriek, making Alma wince in both sympathy for the wounded mutant, and in sympathy for her probably-bleeding eardrums.

“Keep an eye on her,” Alma said shortly, “I’m calling 9-1-1.”

She couldn’t hear a thing in this proximity. Alma punched the number pad of her phone, dialing those three, sacred numbers that could call for help. Alma hit “Send” distractedly and held the receiver to her ear, slowly strolling towards the mouth of the alleyway.

“Hello, 9-1-1, what is your emergency?” a man with a smooth voice answered after a few, brief rings.

“Hi,” Alma greeted tensely, the screams following her up the alley, “I’m in an alley just north of 5th and K, a friend and I just found a mutant lady whose been badly beaten, and may be delirious. She keeps screaming.”

“Has she given you her name?”

“She has not stopped screaming long enough to tell us,” Alma murmured.

A sharp holler down the alleyway made the young woman stop abruptly in her absent walking, hazel eyes lifting hesitantly. A group was blocking her path, and upon close inspection, none of them seemed to be human. Alma didn’t know any of them.

The operator uttered another inquiry, but it went unheard.

“One moment, sir,” Alma murmured, “There might be a problem… I think it’s a gang…”

She held the phone to her chest, the bodachs surging behind her in invisible agitation. They could feel the tension in her voice as she spoke. Alma swallowed hard, trying to swallow the nerves back. Not here. Not in front of Akshay. He couldn’t know that she was one of them.

“There’s an injured woman, here,” Alma said matter-of-factly, raising her voice, “A fish-looking woman. My friend and I heard her crying, and we’re calling an ambulance. She’s in really bad shape.”

She held the receiver back up to her ear, turning her back on the gathered crowd.

“Still there?” Alma inquired.

“Yes—is everything alright?” the man inquired.

“Concerned passer-by’s,” Alma said kindly, “What should I do?”

“Just stay there, for the time being. We’ll send help. What buildings are you between?”

Alma gave the man all the information that she possessed, and pleaded with him to send someone who could help the mutant woman. Perhaps a mutant-related crimes, sort, to take a statement of some sort. The operator assured her that they would. The call ended, and Alma hung-up the phone, sauntering back towards Akshay.

“There’s an ambulance on its way,” Alma said calmly, “And a Mutant Related Crimes person, to take a statement and make sure she’s treated well. They asked us, if it wasn’t too much an inconvenience, to keep her company and try to stay in the same general spot.”

Akshay had lost all feeling in his legs when he heard that booming voice echo down the alley and strike his eardrums. He shuddered at the sensation of fear that crept up his spine and wanted only to curl up into a ball and pray for the sound to go away. But he knew that it would not be an option for him. It only for the very fact that Alma was here, as well as a young woman that needed his help (even if she wouldn’t stop screaming!). No, he would have to knuckle under and try to maintain his composure…even if he was fairly certain where this turn of events was going to lead.

Struggling to maintain himself, Akshay moved onto his two feet as the woman on the ground was flailing and crying even harder. She was curled into a ball, her broken fins hanging pathetically in tatters around her body. She shivered and, as much as he wanted to lean down and offer her his jacket, he was fairly certain that she would only scream all the louder.

So instead he did nothing and just looked dumbfounded at the group that was gathered at the other end of the alley. He really was not liking the looks of them.

He heard Alma try to explain the situation and then relate to him that she had gotten in contact with the ambulance. As nice as that was, he was not exactly sure how helpful that would be with their current situation. Instead, he too tried to remain calm.

“Ugh, good, m-maybe, then, we can just back out and wait for the ambulance outside on the stree—“

“How’d she get like this? What happened?!” bellowed the massive warthog mutant again. From his left came another mutant. This one was even more mutated with huge, insect like eyes and appendages, and a massive skull that seemed to weigh him/her down. But it didn’t seem slow as it made a beeline directly for the fallen fish mutant.

“She’s hurt,” the creature clacked out through his mouthpiece. “Bad. Looks someone beat the hell out of her.”

“H-H-Humans…” the fish-woman weakly managed to say. She cringed and shook as she turned her big, black gaze onto both Akshay and Alma. “H-H-Hurt…meeeeee…”

All angry eyes shifted onto both Akshay and Alma. It was so pointed and direct that Akshay was fairly certain that he had felt a tiny part of his soul shrivel up. Totally not the night that he was envisioning.

“Whoa, wait!” Akshay said as he saw the group of mutants advance. “We didn’t—“

“DAMN HUMANS!!! FIRST THE COPS AND NOW YOU!!!?”

…crap…

First, Alma panicked—as the warthog-man bellowed, and the bug-thing flew forward, Alma went to Akshay’s side, holding onto his arm. It wasn’t as though she feared mutants—no, that would be hypocritical. She feared their anger, and she feared being outnumbered. The young woman didn’t look the “mutant” part, and was thus assumed to be “human”. They wanted: that much was certain. They wanted retribution, but they had the wrong people.

The bodachs, sensing their mistress’s tension, were beginning to drift into the alleyway, luminous eyes pointing inward as they approached, murmuring amongst themselves.

“We don’t know,” Alma countered as the warthog yelled, his voice ringing in her ears, “We were on the way back from dinner, we just—found her like this—I swear to you.”

Alma’s voice dropped, her lips drawing towards Akshay’s ear as she whispered, “We need to go, now. The medics will understand.”

The insect darted past, and made its astute observation. Finally, the fish-woman spoke, and she stated that she had indeed been attacked by humans, her round eyes fastening onto the only two humanoids there.

“It wasn’t—“

Akshay, too, stammered an excuse, but they were already closing in.

“Akshay,” Alma squeaked, her heart hammering. This was really, really bad. They were so doomed.

The warthog man bellowed again, and their pace quickened to a jog.

They weren’t the only one’s closing-in, though. As the charge gained momentum, the bodachs were rushing closer. They, too, were building speed, sensing the rising fear of the young woman.

“No!” Alma yelled, dread sinking into her stomach like a stone. Alma released Akshay’s arm and stepped in front of him, blocking him with her body. It was that final thrill of fear that brought the bodachs into being.

They were just out reach of the warthog, the head of the group, when the first bodach passed Alma like an icy winter breeze, coming into fruition. Suddenly, a luminous shadow with glowing eyes stood between the two “humans” and their aggressors. Another black breeze eddied into vision, another bodach joining the first—the second was followed by a third, coming into the line of vision by the buggy-guy with the big head, and the fish woman. Alma’s breaths rose and fell jaggedly, her gaze glancing up the alley. The little ones were slowly joining their brethren in being visible, becoming tangible one-by-one.

“Y-you…” Alma trailed, swallowing hard as she searched for her voice, “Are certainly fast to assume. You think that just because I don’t look like you, I’m not one of you? That you can start things just because I look like one of them?”

Her legs were shaking, as were her arms. Alma’s entire face was tight with restrained emotion. She was so, so hoping that this wouldn’t be brought up between her and Akshay. They had such a good things, as childhood friends. The last thing she needed was a mutation to ruin it.

“I’m one of you,” Alma snapped, “And my friend is a good man. A sympathist. We have no fight with you.”

Her hazel eyes bore into the warthogs’ own, threatening to overflow with tears but filled with a smoldering anger.

“We have no quarrel with you,” Alma reiterated, “But my shadows—they will react, if me or my own are attacked. And I hold no responsibility to the damage that they do if you incite their fury.”

Akshay was just at a loss for what to do next. His instinct was to turn tail and run for his life, but the unfortunate thing was that he had Alma with him. He couldn’t just leave her behind, despite how much his baser instinct for survival was begging him to. Sadly he had to figure some way out of this so that both he and Alma could get to safety. But, being trapped in an alley with a group of very angry, pissed off mutants meant that their chances of getting out of this were limited.

But what could they do? Sure, the authorities were called but there was no way that even he could keep that angry mob talking long enough for them to get there.

No, there had to be something else they could do, but try as he might, Akshay just couldn’t wrack his mind together fast enough. They were quickly running out of time. Alma was nervous, Akshay was scared, and that gang of mutants certainly didn’t want to be trifled with. Crap. What could they do?

Then…Alma stepped in front of him? Akshay craned his head, wanting to reach out and pull the woman back before she made matters worse, but a cold sensation jolted through him. What was that he was feeling?

>> “Y-you…Are certainly fast to assume. You think that just because I don’t look like you, I’m not one of you? That you can start things just because I look like one of them? I’m one of you…And my friend is a good man. A sympathist. We have no fight with you.”

He…really was not seeing this! He couldn’t wrap his head around it. When he first saw those creatures slinking out of the darkness, Akshay felt every bit of saliva dry up in his mouth. Where were they coming from? Were they dangerous? But as he watched them take position between the gang of mutants and themselves, aided by Alma’s words, Akshay quickly began to realize that they were in fact there because of her! Alma…was a mutant!

“No way…” he whispered more to himself than anything. He glanced at the little black creatures, at Alma, and then at their accusers and Akshay felt a tinged of relief. Maybe it would be enough to scare those guys off!

>> “We have no quarrel with you…But my shadows—they will react, if me or my own are attacked. And I hold no responsibility to the damage that they do if you incite their fury.”[/color]

One of the lumbering gang, a tall, green creature with huge red eyes and tendrils that hung from his face, growled as he stepped forward. He was taller than the leading warthog, so it was obviously that he was far stronger. He snarled as he picked up a nearby trashcan as easily as if it were a toy.

“You dare protect a human!!” the creature shouted at Alma, casting an accusing glance at Akshay. “Filthy human sympathizers!” With a roar he stomped towards Alma, trashcan poised to strike her down.