When confronting armed robbers, having more than a broom in hand is advisable. Even the echoes could have told her that but for the first time she'd ignored them. Seeing someone reaching for her Degas was enough to make her act in an incredibly stupid fashion,and that was why she found herself kicked to her knees, pain stinging through her and a weapon trained on her, contemplating the best attack plan.

[Seven robbers, weapons only in two individuals hands. One leader, one second in command, others follow directions, don't act free thinking. Best plan of attack: eliminate leader and other weapon wielding individual.] Easier said than done. There was a hand around her throat cutting off her air before she could plan any further, and with a flicker of movement and a painful sounding thud, it was gone. Then she found herself blinking at the shadow figure illuminated by the flashlights, and a familiar voice.

[Kyle.] Her brain informed her. She was wise enough not to say his name aloud, but the recognition showed through. Nonetheless, she was pissed off still, and she may not be able to attack them physically but by golly, she would sure give them a piece of her mind.

"I'm alright. Although I am finding myself wishing all sorts of ill on this goons." She did a quick glance across the figures as their leader slowly struggled to his feet. Two of them helped them, the other three were pulling out weapons and doing an awkward shuffle with flashlights and guns. Then she gave a massive string of words back to her defender. "Second in command is down. Only free thinker other than the leader of the group. Leader is armed with one of the others man's gun, so are three others but also holding flashlights. One's a lefty. Last gun is down to the right of your foot." She hissed. She gave it one more glance, "Still loaded. Don't accidentally set it off."

The man Kyle had put into the museum floor might have been dead. He wasn't moving but Kyle hadn't thought he put him down that hard. Still...no sleep would be lost. His life just might, however, if he didn't deal with the others. As his eyes played across the fidgeting lights and the grumbling men, Kyle found himself musing how this had come about.

Upon his arrival, Kyle's plan had been simple enough. Use the shadows to help neutralize the men one by one, to take advantage of confusion and stealth to chip away at their numbers until only a few remained. The man on the roof had proven no trouble; he didn't even have time to register Kyle's presence before Kyle had fallen on him, clubbing him with a solid kick to the jaw to rumble his brain before flattening him with a punch to the same. He would be out for hours and it hadn't been hard to use plastic cuffs to restrain him.

But a good plan lasts only until first contact with the enemy. Kyle had been content to wait for his chance to strike, but that had been before Evelyn's arrival. If they'd only restrained her, Kyle would have stuck to his guns...but instead they were opting to silence her for good. It had been a slight battle in his minds whether or not to let them do it, to strike early and reveal himself while saving her in the process or letting her die and leaving the element of surprise on his side. In the end, his choice had been made. Now he was staring at six angry men, half terrifed at his arrival, half angry that they were dealing with another kink in their perfect plan.

With all those lights, it was easy to count the number of enemies and know their general location. However, the lights shining in his face made it hard to make out their body shapes and in that same notion, where their weapons might be. He heard the devices being cocked, knew that their guns were being trained on him even as he stood there, silent, his head tilted down so that his helmet shaded his eyes from them. It was gonna be a close call to take out those weapons...and with Evelyn behind him, it was going to be even more difficult. At the moment, she was a liability.

That was his thoughts until Evelyn all but gave him all the information he could have needed. His expression didn't change under the mask that covered up to his nose, but internally he was almost estatic. It wasn't every day the key to the fight practically told you everything you needed to win. "Valuable information. I'm beginning to like your power more and more. Now take cover; this might get chaotic."

Even as he spoke, his fingertips had been gathering energy. Each of them glowed a dim purple, a fact hidden by the fact that he kept them low and just out of the light shining in his face. His body gave away nothing, even as the men were shouting at him now to move, get down, don't try anything funny. Only one man wasn't shouting; the man he'd kicked back into the group. No sooner was Evelyn out of the line of direct fire did Kyle move; darting off to the side out of the light, his hands snapping up. Bolts of light shot out from his finger tips, aimed at those flashlights. Men cursed, lights fell to the floor and snapped out, one of them even dropped this gun. Some of them fired, before a harsh voice rang out against them.

"Idiots, don't just fire blindly! You could damage the goods! Pair up and stick close...bastard took out our lights. Probably a mutant...watch yourself and get ready to leave. If you get a clear shot though, of him or the girl...kill them."

The men all murmmered in agreement before grabbing the man next to them to carry out their leaders orders. Only where there once was six, five men remained. From the shadows, Kyle waited...waited...and then sprung, fists and feet a blur of motion as he brought the heat down on the men.

Evelyn hated being given orders, but under the circumstances, she let herself quickly scramble away before anything went down. She didn't get far before the light vanished and gunfire went off and she suppressed a squeak of fear as a bullet went far too close to her leg. She quickly rushed the wall where the bullet hit, and breathed a sigh of relief... the painting was ok. If they so much as nicked one of these masterpieces...she shuddered to think of it.

While she wanted to run and hide, her protective instincts were still on edge. There was yelling and eventually some painful sounding noises that seemed like Kyle was taking care of the problem. However, footsteps to one side of the room were brought to life by Evelyn's echoes, and she felt her brow furrow and she moved that direction. The footsteps, and shuffling manner suggested it was one of the lesser of the buglers, and she suspected he was trying to sneak out with whatever he could. In the dim lighting, she could barely make out a shadow of an arm reaching for a painting.

Her hand struck out in a slap before she could process her actions, and the sound resounded through the air and across her stinging palm. "Don't you DARE touch that!" She snarled in a hiss, and the man tried to shove her out of the way. A short struggle ensued as Evelyn tried to drag him away, then his arm swung back in annoyance trying to pat her aside.

With the lights gone, Kyle's eyes didn't take long to adjust to the darkness that now covered almost every inch of the museum. The men he was descending upon would soon have the same advantage but Kyle wasn't intending on giving them the length of time to gain it. No sooner were the lights out and Kyle had silently dropped one of the men into a twitching log on the floor, he had used one of the nearby odd sculptures to drop amongst the men and unleashed hell.

Kyle was a fighter by nature. He had spent many years fighting, perfecting his technique...and recently he was far more dangerous than ever. Kyle now struck faster, stronger and knew where to hit a man to put him in the pain. First things came first; his blows came down hard and sharp onto the arms of the men that held guns. There was a sharp crack from two of the men as Kyle's blows made their wrists buckle and their fingers numb, weapons clacking to the floor as the echoes bounced off the quiet halls.

One man went down cringing as Kyle used his blade to give his arm a nasty but non-fatal gash. A solid kick to his jaw put him out cold as he stared in shock and tears at his arm. Three down, four to go. By now, their leader was openly shouting at his guys to grab what they could and go. One of them was darting off to do that; the other three were busy with the sudden shadow that was flinging blows at them. To their credit, the three men were starting to work as a team, even without their guns.

Kyle calmly faced the men down, blocking and moving to keep the men guessing. Blows came in from his sides, but they were quick, panicked blows; every time one didn't make the right contact or found nothing, they threw more blows in an attempt to take Kyle down. That was exactly what Kyle had been waiting for. His hands sparked lightly before he unleashed his energy, smashing two of the men into each other while their leader was knocked off balance by his collapsing team mates.

That's when Evelyn shouted. Snapping his head around, Kyle managed to just make her out, a few steps away. And she wasn't alone. The man who had broken off from the others had been trying to make off with a painting...and Evelyn had stopped him. She had succeeded in stalling him at least...and buying Kyle enough time to make his way over to them just in time to catch that swinging arm across his chest before smashing the man in the wall hard(avoiding the paintings entirely thankfully.)

"Be careful; you could have been hurt." A low purple light slowly started filling the space around them as Kyle's left hand began emitting energy, the hand raised to point at the leader who was trying to get his comrades back to their feet. The light drew their attention but it also stopped them in their tracks as Kyle stared at them coldly...even as the light illuminated the dripping red from his right shoulder where the knife the man had been wielding had made contact.

"One chance. Surrender now...or join your friends. Make your choice quick."

The arm that swung towards her was stopped, and the attacker was thrown painfully into the wall next to her precious painting. Evelyn flinched, not for the man, but for her art that was nearly assaulted. Frowning at his statement, she grumbled under her breathe. "I'll be careful when they keep their filthy hands away from art!"

She could even hear the sculptures next door rattle slightly from the force the man struck the wall. She imagined the bronze sculptures were quivering in their cases, and the only thing protecting them was her, and Kyle. They were probably glad Kyle had arrived, otherwise they would have been doomed.

She took a glance at the remaining fighters. The leader was still a liability, although he was unarmed and his gun had drifted off somewhere to the side. There was only one robber left who had managed to get his gun, but it was jammed and he was fighting to get it working. "One weapon left, jammed, left side, far back robber. Two are nursing broken ribs, won't be moving fast. One concussion, one busted nose, a dislocated shoulder.... remind me never to get on your bad side." She remarked lightly as she gazed over the intruders.

It was much more impressive than her broom wielding skills.

The leader growled slightly under his breathe as he gazed up at Forte. The man against the wall was clearly willing to surrender, but his leader seemed to have other plans. "How about we don't surrender. Let us go with a handful of paintings, we'll make sure the girl doesn't get injured. You may be able to beat us, but not without risking injuring her in the process."

"He's stalling." Evelyn interjected, giving another glance over the men. One, two, three, four, five, six.....shit.

She quickly glanced to the right, and there was the bumbling gun wielder with it pointed at her ballerinas. She took an automatic step forward. Her heart was in her throat and she momentarily panicked. "Do you realize the historical significance of that piece?! For goodness sake, don't point a gun at it!" The gun turned towards her. She rethought her comment.

One gun left between the six men that were still able to move. From a statistical standpoint, only one gun, and one that was currently jammed at that, between six men that were all armed before put the ball firmly in Kyle's court. Kyle knew otherwise; one gun jammed could quickly become unjammed at any moment. And only one gun was needed to turn things south for him and Evelyn real quick.

His eyes never left the men even as Evelyn whispered to him their status, his eyes locating each in turn as she pointed them out. Broken ribs, a shattered nose, a dislocated shoulder and a concussion were not injuries to take lightly...but all of them were starting to stand and even a wounded dog might yet have bite in it.

"This is nothing. I'm not even angry yet. But staying on my good side is not a bad idea either."

His hand still glowing, Kyle's expression remained neutral throughtout the exchange between their leader and Evelyn. By the end of it, Kyle wanted to put his hand to his face in the classic facepalm that had become normal terminlogy in today's society. Refraining from doing that, Kyle kept his eyes on their leader, watching the man pointing the gun at Evelyn out of the corner of his eye. "I apologize; you must have misunderstood me. I wasn't giving you a choice; you will surrender or suffer. As for the woman, she's doing a good job of almost getting herself hurt without your empty threats. Simply, whether I said yes or not, she would put herself into harm's way for these paintings and likely not regret it."

Before any of them had a chance to react, Kyle's hand flashed as the energy he'd stored there snapped out at the man holding the gun towards Evelyn. He unleashed two blasts in quick succession; the first removed the gun from his hand rather violently, while the second caught him dead in the chest and sent him crashing to a heap in the hall over. Once again, Kyle's hand turned purple in the darkness, only this time it was pointed at their leader. "You won't be hurting her nor leaving with anything of value. I gave you a chance...and now you join the relics."

And once again, Kyle was upon them, only this time, flashes of purple energy burst forth from his hands instead of fists or kicks, sprawling them in every direction in moaning heaps before turning to search for the leader.

Evelyn would have been irritated at Kyle's commentary about her ability to place herself in danger; that is, had she not managed to find herself staring down the barrel of a gun. At that moment, she found herself lead to believe there may be some truth in the manner. But there was nothing to be done at the moment, other than try not to do anything stupid. For having voices in her head, she sure managed to ignore them when it was important.

More shooting, more painful sounding grunts.

After a quick fray of activity, the gun was gone and Evelyn decided she would finally listen to Kyle's advice and leave the scene. She was certain they understood they weren't allowed to touch her art, and she was certain they'd try it anyway. At least Kyle would keep it safe. Getting in his way was only going to endanger the exhibit more. She snuck next door to where the sculptures were, wondering if now would be a good time to call the police.

Her echoes wondered why one of the display cases was open...

And then something struck her on the back of the head and she crumbled to the ground.

The leader, having snuck out of the room, leaving his accomplices as the necessary distraction, scooped up the thin girl and roughly tossed her over his shoulder. Grabbing a second bronze statue, he carried the pieces and hurried for the exit before the sounds of fighting in the other room stopped. Outside, one of the men Kyle had taken out was slowly coming to, the driver, and the leader frantically waved for him to start the vehicle.

"Change of plan, there's trouble." He instructed, and the van peeled out from it's place in front of the museum.

At least the paintings were ok...    

As the last of the wannable robbers hit the floor in a bumbling heap, Kyle took a brief moment to survey the situation. Of the seven men he'd encountered inside, his eyes counted six laying on the floor around him, either moaning in pain or simply lying still; whether or not they were still breathing wasn't as much a concern to him. As threats, they had been completely neutralized for the time being, a fact that he ensured by giving the ones still conscious a swift kick to the head.

Satisfied that they were down for the count, Kyle turned to seek out the leader; he'd seen the man avoiding getting involved in the brawl earlier, but his hands had been preoccupied at the time to do anything about it. Now it was clear that the man had fled or was in the process of doing so. He would have to get outside fast to head him off before...

A sudden thud caught his attention, his entire body snapping around to face the source of the sound. Barely, he managed to catch a glimpse of someone booking it down the halls, the leader most like. But what caught Kyle's eye was the fact that he was carrying something over his shoulder; a piece of stolen art perhaps? Inwardly, he frowned; he had told Evelyn he wouldn't let them take or steal anything. Kyle disliked to be proven a liar.

Moving quickly, Kyle burst after the man, unleashing a bolt at a nearby glass case as he passed it. The bolt wasn't meant for anything big or flashy...but it did shatter the glass casing around some vase of sorts and sending an alarm blaring through the museum. With any luck, that would bring the still unaware guards up in monitor running or calling for the police. The defeated men were handled. Kyle's task lay elsewhere.

He made it outside just in time to catch the leader throwing his stolen item into the back of their getaway van. His glimpse was brief, but in that brief moment, Kyle was able to notice that the item he was throwing into his van was flexible...and human. Kyle had promised he wouldn't let them take any of the priceless gems within; that incluced the gem that was named Evelyn. Things this night just didn't want to go right. Shaking his head, Kyle took off for the nearby alley as the van slipped into the night traffic.

Moments later, Kyle was roaring after it, his bike weaving past cars as he fought to keep the van in sight. There were at least two men left, he knew. One was driving, the other was the leader...there might have been more, but for now, Kyle was unable to tell. Normally, Kyle would have just blasted the van, but with Evelyn inside, that risk was too great. But tires, on the other hand. Racing up, Kyle kept pace with the van until it was near a clean stretch near the park...then his hand lashed out, sending two bolts of energy at the rear tires. They rumbled and popped, sparks spraying off the metal rims as the van veered off into the park.

Pulling his bike to a stop, Kyle quickly headed into the trees to find where the van had eventually met a tree.

Evelyn was lucky: she didn't remember the short car chase that had ensued, or the rather eventful crash that had resulted. She did feel the first little glimmers of consciousness starting to take effect, however, shortly after she knocked into the seats in front of her. The bronze statues bumped a little too close to her head for comfort, and she rolled clear of them and tried to find an exit. The unfortunate thing about getting knocked out was it didn't stop her brain from getting bombarded by playbacks, so waking up still meant trying to sift through memories. Had she been painting before she passed out? Had she been looking at a dinosaur exhibit? Maybe it was an auction....

Someone grabbed her by the hair and yanked her towards the door of the van and she felt the real memories click back into place. So she did the stereotypical thing: she screamed.

The brief tussle that resulted sent the leader of the robbers out the door of the van, Evelyn tumbling onto the grass after him, while his driver was still slumped against he steering wheel. His movement was unsteady, shaky, and he was moving gingerly on his right side. Evelyn was rude enough to take advantage of this as slammed her rather disoriented Echoes guessed there was a broken rib. He doubled over, cursing, but still managed to switch his hold from her hair to her arm. Her head felt like it was full of stuffing; memories crashed into echoes, and general pain stunned the rest of her senses. Thankfully, her echoes picked up on approaching movement.

Her attacker would be dispatched of shortly...

The van hadn't made it far into the park. Without its back wheels, the speed of the vehicle had been edged away greatly upon the road and the soft grass of the park finished what the concrete had begun. It was a miracle that the vehicle didn't manage to turn itself upside down in all the spinning and swirling it did on route to its final stop. That or the driver's skill. What it did do, however, was manage to wrap its front end around a large tree, the front wrapped out the trunk like lovers. Smoke drifted from its engine and more came from the metal rims which were still hissing.

Kyle was a shadow amongst the trees, covering the park quickly to reach the van's location. It wasn't hard to find, what with the trail it had left in the grass and the smoke in the distance. Kyle hoped that Evelyn hadn't been hurt too badly in the crash; he would have found that unfortunate. With a little luck, she'd be fine and the robbers would be...

The scream that pierced the night ended that thought dead in its tracks. Kyle's pace went from quick to swift in an instant, his body a dark blur as he covered those last few yards to the crippled van. Just in time too; the leader of the crew was dragging Evelyn from the vehicle. She was giving him the fight of it, but Kyle could tell she was shaken from the crash. The man was as well, but the advantage was falling back into his court. And he was livid. Kyle heard it in his voice even as he closed that final distance, energy in hand.

"You annoying little...my men beaten, my plan screwed. All because of you and that damned mutant. So now I'm gonna drag your ass into the woods, have some fun and then put my fist down your throat! And I really hope you cho.."

What he hoped never got said, because in that instance, Kyle was there. The man had realized it at the last second, but he was no where near fast enough to stop the hand that gripped his face, his palm to the man's mouth. "Choke on this." Kyle's hand flashed and the man's eyes went wide as his energy sprayed right into the man's open mouth. For a moment, every orifice on the man's face glowed...before Kyle's energy made sure he wouldn't be hurting anyone again.

As the man's body slumped to the ground, Kyle took a moment to check the status of the driver before dropping to a knee beside Evelyn, putting a hand on her cheek. "Are you alright?"

It was like trying to listen to voices underwater as Evelyn struggled to escape her captor. Her mind was still filled with her jumbled up playbacks, and while she tried pushing the images aside, it was hard to think through the mess. Her echoes tried alerting her to another presence approaching, the smoke coming from the van, the pain of the grip on her arm... She could still make out the threats being directed towards her though, and that was a memory she could have done without.

Then suddenly, a familiar figure was there, there was a frightening glow---Evelyn looked away, deciding it wasn't an image she wanted burnt into her memories forever. She could hear the figure fall away, felt herself sink to the grass, and didn't realize she was shaking slightly until a hand on her cheek brought her back to reality.

"I'm ok. A little shaken, admittedly but... the paintings?" She turned, and scanned Kyle's face for the first time since he arrived. With the outfit it was certainly a different sight than the figure she'd met in the museum, but still a welcome one. The grass under her knees felt cold on her skin.

Even though Kyle had managed to keep his demeanor calm, cold and distant, the fact that Evelyn's most pressing concern after being kidnapped and tossed around and almost killed was the status of her paintings made a small huff of laughter escape him. "Oddly enough, I'm not surprised that's what worries you the most. Far as I know, they didn't escape with any paintings. One moment."

Standing, Kyle wandered over to the ruined van and ducked inside for a moment. The driver was still slumped over in his seat, a small red line running down his face from the gash on his forehead. Another man was slumped over in the second seat, groaning slightly. Checking him for injuries, Kyle gave him a slight bop on the head to knock him out. He wasn't too badly hurt and now at least the cops would find him.

A moment later, Kyle exited the van, dragging the two men a short distance away before dropping them next to their fallen leader. Returning to the van, Kyle was gone only a moment before returning with the two statues the man had stolen. One had a slight coating of blood on it, so the first thing Kyle did upon returning to Evelyn's side was tilt her forward gently. "You've got a bit of a gash here...I suppose he must have bashed you with the statue. Nothing too serious but we should get you checked out just in case."

He was about to say more when the sound of trickling fluids made his gaze return to the ruined van. Beneath the van, a pool of something was forming...gas most like. Normally, Kyle would have pushed that thought aside...until he saw the small fire from the engine that was burning slowly on the grass. Quick as the devil, Kyle scooped Evelyn up, the statues already in her hands from her inspecting them, and put all the energy he could into his legs to run.

They hadn't gone more than a few feet before the van exploded into brilliant colors, the following shockwave sending both of them forward from the force. Kyle took the worst of it, as he shielded Evelyn from the blast, before sliding behind a nearby tree to avoid the raining debris. Glancing back, Kyle took a moment before turning back to her. "At least one can't say I don't make things interesting. Have you ever ridden a bike before?"

The small little laugh that slipped from Kyle brought a slight smile to her face, regardless of the stress of the situation. For someone who managed to suppress most of his emotions, it was that flicker of humanity that encouraged her. the question she'd asked while they stood and gazed at the painting in the museum came back to her, and she decided that perhaps there was more to him than what was on the surface. It would just take time to find, something to slowly chip away at. Even it it took the mayhem it did to get it, a laugh, however small and however quiet, was still worth it.

Pushing her hair from her face, she felt her shoulders relax in relief as he announced the paintings were safe. Well, assumably safe. While she hadn't seen any in the van with them in the few short moments before she was dragged out, perhaps they had been tucked somewhere for safer keeping. She waited as he moved the two figures from the van, noting the two statues he was carrying. Both bronze pieces, Degas like the paintings, they were still valuable and she was relieved to see them retrieved. So relieved, in fact, she almost missed his assessment that one of her beloved art pieces had been used as a weapon against her.

Perhaps the headache hadn't all been her powers. "I admit, with all the information I was trying to process, I didn't even feel the pain..." She remarked and allowed him to look at the back of her head. The movement let the echoes take not of the injury, however, and she considered whether or not she should listen and get it tended to. And then, her echoes took note of something else. [Flammable fluids leaking from van. Fire hazard. Explosion possible. Evacuation recommended.]

She opened her mouth to remark on it, but then the fire sparked and Kyle had already grabbed her and raced away from the wreck. A mental timer tried to sort out how long it would take to get away verses rate of burning but Kyle managed to exceed that distance and the force, as strong as it was, did not cause any serious injury. Her ears were ringing slightly though as they managed to get behind a tree. He didn't seem too injured by the blast but she still gave a quick worried gaze, hoping he wasn't just good at hiding it. She tried to direct the echoes to keep an eye on it. There was still the small cut he'd received fighting the burglars, but that hadn't seemed terribly large either.

"I think I've had about enough excitement for one night, as interesting as it has been." She said, rubbing her forehead with her hand and trying to clear her thoughts. "And... no, I can't say that I have." She suddenly wondered if she should be concerned about the possibility of riding one.

What remained of the van burned brightly in the darkness of night, the tree it was wrapped around slowly joining it in a fiery embrace. Frowning under his mask, Kyle stepped away from Evelyn for a moment, lifting both arms at the burning van. With no indication whatsoever, energy suddenly burst forth from his hands. The two beams smashed into the van with surprising force, knocking it away from the tree it had connected with a grind of metal.

He wasn't done there; closing his hands for a moment, Kyle stepped closer and then swung them sideways in an arc, his energy spraying out from each finger into a wider spread. It wasn't enough to put out the flames, but it did stifle them by a level. Hopefully that would be enough to keep them from spreading too far until the proper authorities could arrive.

A quick check of the men a few yards off showed that, aside from their fallen leader, the men were no worse from wear from the explosion. The cops would likely be able to handle them; they wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. Satisfied, Kyle moved back to Evelyn and offered her a hand up. Once she was, Kyle pulled the mask covering the lower part of his face down and smiled lightly at her.

"Well, I think its time for one final bit of excitement tonight." Removing his helmet, Kyle clicked a device inside, which returned it to its normal looking appearance. "We should get you to a hospital and have you checked out. But first, I assume we should return what has been taken, shouldn't we?" Eying the bronze pieces, Kyle offered his hand to guide her to where his bike awaited.

Accepting the aid, Evelyn lightly got to her feet, blinking to clear her head as the movement left her a little dizzy. She was slowly starting to feel the sting on her skin from getting hit by the statue, but figured with some sleep and rest she'd be alright. With his mask removed, he looked much more like the stranger who had visited the museum and less like a faceless vigilante.

"I don't really think a hospital is necessary. I can see a doctor in the morning if I need to..." Jensen would kill her if he found out she was hospitalized. She picked up the statues and followed him towards the bike. "I'd rather just make sure these get back where they belong and the museum is locked up ok..." She wasn't sure how she felt about getting on his bike. Anything with less than four wheels seemed doomed to end in disaster.

"Can't we just... walk?" She remarked quietly. A bit of that nausea seemed doomed to come back ....