Kyle stood guard over the slowly moving Evelyn like a statue all his own, eyes out to the chaos around him, arms ready to strike or block at a moment's notice or to even grab her to bolt out of the way suddenly. His legs were just as ready, his entire body tense for incoming danger. He glanced to Evelyn when she finally spoke, the tension in his shoulders ease a little; at least she was still capable of talking.

With a hit like that, the chances of a concussion were pretty solid. It had obviously broken skin; there was a slow line of red sliding down the corner of her face. It had rung her bell good, that was for sure. It was like someone had hit the power button on her; she was barely moving and when she was, it was like she was remembering how her limbs worked.

"You sound like a computer; I'd make a comment about that, but this is hardly the time for it." He tried to sound calm and in good humor, hopefully to help her get back on her feet faster. In the meantime, he flashed another bolt out at a rider who got to bold for his own good before turning his eyes on a single point amidst the chaos; the mutant. As soon as Evelyn was ready or able to fend for herself for a moment, that man was his.

"Hate to rush that lovely brain of yours but there's sort of an art war going on here. And that bastard will get away if I don't get after him, but I'm not leaving you alone like this. So use your passion to protect your art...and get on your feet so we can crush him."

Once the echoes started functioning again, they quickly alerted Evelyn to her bleeding head. It was nothing bad at the moment, but she still wasn't sure what lasting effects a concussion could have on her powers. She'd rather not learn that at this point, and wondered if DocProf could fix that if it happened... she realized she wasn't completely sure what extent his powers worked. He couldn't undo blood loss, she knew at least that much. She'd rather not experiment with the rest.

>>"You sound like a computer."

Evelyn stuck out her tongue as she got to her feet, trying to ignore her turning stomach for the moment "My powers work like a computer so that shouldn't be so much of a surprise." She remarked and picked back up the sai where they had fallen. "Playbacks have stopped though. Go kick his ass." She grumbled, and turned to keep watch on her surroundings more.

The damaged art turned her stomach all over again.

Kyle watched carefully as Evelyn struggled to her feet, his body ready to respond at at the wrong twitch from either the battling masterpieces or the shaky Evelyn. She was shaken, that was for sure, a fact Kyle could easily see from the look on her face. She looked like she was going to be sick. Considering she'd just had her bell rung and rung good by a metal shield, it wouldn't come as a shock if they discovered she had a concussion. Hence his attention to her; a concussion could feel like nothing but a bad headache before the person suddenly keeled over.

At least she retained a bit of her humor, which was a good sign. "Remind me to update your software later then; you probably need the upgrade." Satisfied that she would be able to at least continue standing for a while longer, Kyle turned his entire focus on the man behind the scenes. To the man's credit, he was still there, afraid and amused at the same time behind the the chaos in the room, his attention only half on the pair of them.

Kyle's eyes were already plotting their course when he replied to Evelyn, turning back for only a moment to grip her shoulder lightly. "Stay here and try not to move. This won't take long." His expression had locked then, right into the face that spoke volumes into Kyle's intentions. He was deadly serious now, his face a cold mask of little expression save for his eyes, which were staring daggers at the man.

And just like that, he was gone, putting all his fast traveling skills to work. He didn't give the battling figures more then a moment of his attention, diving, weaving, sending little blasts at them to knock them off his course as he flew across the room without a wasted stride. This was his element; dancing with death like it was an old friend, his motion always constant, never slowing for more than an instant to make slight changes in his course. He was on a mission and to hell with anything between him and it.

The man finally realized the threat coming his way and with a startled gasp, pointed in his direction before fleeing down the corridor. As if commanded, two of the battling statues headed Kyle's way...and then they were gone, one blasted apart by his energy blasts while the other was only acknowledged long enough for Kyle to dodge and bypass it, putting his feet to the dirt as he dashed after the man. Silently, he hoped Evelyn could hold on for just a few minutes.

A few minutes would be all he needed to teach the man a very grave lesson about what Kyle did to those who hurt he cared for.

Try not to move.... Evelyn could handle that instruction. She kept the sai handy in case someone got too close, but her head was defiantly still feeling a little spiny right now. The echoes didn't miss how serious Kyle was though. She didn't envy the individual who was going to be on the receiving end of his anger. Although, the more art she saw destroyed, the more she felt the man would deserve it. It was that small side of her that drifted away from the hero mindset. She selfishly found herself wishing the mutant would get what he deserved for what he did here.

A few art pieces that weren't quite down for the count shifted nearby, but they still seemed preoccupied with each other. Dehorsed riders assessed armor, and a few dogs from nearby exhibits wandered past. Evelyn let the echoes track the actions as best they could, scooting back to the wall so she could brace her back against it. She glanced to where Kyle was moving, waiting and watching, wondering if she wanted to see what would happen. It was a choice she'd have to make soon, because in her world, she could never erase a memory.

The paintings, frames splintered, canvas torn...

She glanced, echoes still staggering to keep up.

Kyle had been a little mistaken in how long it would take him to catch the man. A few minutes had been his prediction.

It took only seconds in reality. The man was quick on his feet, there was no doubt of that. But all that running had taken its toll on him and Kyle could easily see that he was breathing heavily from all the effort. Kyle, on the other hand, was just beginning to breathe a bit heavier. Fringe benefits of his power and his physical ability so often came in handy for moments like this.

It did take him a few extra moments after the man managed to slap another painting on his way, the colors in the painting bursting to life in the form a very colorful swirl that seemed to take on the form of a dragon. Cute trick...one Kyle had no choice but to rip through with his hands as he had no time for anything else. Grabbing the swirl in his hands, Kyle pulled hard to either side, sending the colors spinning to the floor as they returned to the canvas they once had been. Evelyn wasn't going to like that, not one bit...but lives weren't as easily replaced as art could be. Sure, the artistic value would likely be lost. But in the end, a living breathing person had to come first.

Kyle would have torn this entire place to ribbons and ash if it meant that lives, his and Evelyn's especially, would continue. Hopefully Evelyn would understand that.

One life that didn't merit this grace was the man, who'd paused thinking he'd done something to deter his tracker. The sudden expression of fear on his face as Kyle tackled him into the open barely had time to form as the pair rolled into the chaos. Rolling off him to his feet, Kyle was on the man again just as he tried to point his arm towards a pair of battling soldiers to protect him.

CRACK!

The sound of the man's arm breaking managed to echo even above the chaos around him and the man's scream eclipsed even that sound. His concentration broken, the mutant backed away, cradling his arm, as the chaos around them suddenly froze. For a moment, all was quiet. Then everything changed into madness once again. Paintings suddenly launched themselves back the way they came, their once solid forms returning to the canvas from which they came. The soldiers returned to their displays, the standing knights and their horses galloping back to pose dramatically from wence they came. Only the destroyed works, the shattered armors, the scattered metal remained, unable to return to the form that they once held.

As quickly as it had begun, the chaos ended, the museum filled now with only the surprised cries of the remaining patrons and the ragged breath of the mutant as he cradled his shattered limb. Glancing towards Evelyn, Kyle stalked back towards the man, who shot him an angry look mixed with pain. Kyle didn't appreciate the gesture or words he stumbled out of his mouth as he approached...so he broke his other arm too. Then he kicked him hard in the knee, knocking the man to his back. As the man tried to rise, Kyle slammed his fist hard into his face, shattering his nose and spilting his lip. Stunned, the man fell to his back, now weeping openly in pain.

"Ple...plea...please....don't.....pleas...please don't...kill me!" he managed to weeze out as Kyle stood over him, a foot planted on his chest, a hand pointed open towards his head, energy all but waiting to spring upon his ruined form. Kyle's eyes were dark, cold, utterly without emotion. As was his voice as he spoke.

"As much as you deserve it, as much as I could easily dispense what you have brought upon others...its not my call to make." He glanced over to Evelyn, who was watching the whole thing from where he'd left her. "The only person who can judge your fate is the one whose joy you've so callously destroyed with your actions. So Evelyn...the decision is yours. Should he breathe...or should he join the works he's forever destroyed? I live his life in your hands."

Paintings fell, canvas and frames littering the ground like blood splatters on a battle field. As Forte destroyed the last art piece, her heart turned, stomach twisted, and she watched helplessly from where she stood. Bone broke, and the scream echoed through the room. She could hear the pain, the echoes analyzing the break, the injury, sparking her own memories of pain in her mind.

Her head spun and she put a hand against the wall. More broken sounds, more pain... Her insides rearranged themselves, her nausea brought by the very real flickers of pain carried by her playbacks. He damaged paintings, true, but the echoes analyzed the other sounds moving through the museum. Children crying for parents, injured patrons calling for help. Here the man who caused it asked for mercy. Where had his mercy been when he destroyed centuries of work, priceless paintings? Where had his mercy been when he hurt patrons and staff alike? Humans, mutants, all just victims in his path. Forte turned, and asked for her to make the call.

She stared at the man, her expression cold. The echoes read the fear across his face. For a moment, her heart hardened, and she started to let the bitterness get control. Then the echoes continued talking, reading off more of his story. Rejected by people, persecuted for who he was. Alone, struggling for someone to notice, someone to help... She knew mutants like that, mutants who could easily go bad, easily hurt people. What should she do? What should she say?

Everyone had good or bad, but what was done here was still unforgivable. It was personal. And that twinge of emotional pain made her choice.

"Let him breathe and let the cops have him.." She finally said, and turned her back as the man sighed. She gave one more glance over her shoulder, darkness in her eyes that caused the sigh to turn into a choke in his throat. "But should he ever step foot in this museum again, I will not hesitate to make a call to change my mind." There was no chance he would mistaken her mercy for weakness. The anger that still burned in her expression was far from being merciful, but it was just short of being a killer.

Kyle watched silently as Evelyn eyed the man, her expression as cold as ice, that barely contained rage boiling just on the other side. He could tell she was furious with the man; it didn't take a genius to know that the damage he had caused to her art had both hurt and angered her. Hence that cold look she sent the man's way, her mind likely steeling itself for the choice she was about to make. She clearly was thinking it over hard, as she rightly should.

Taking a life was not something one should come to easily. Kyle, in his own right, was different in that way. He'd kill those trying to hurt him or others without a thought or those he believed would harm others in the future if set free. But he never killed someone who was defenseless unless absolutely necessary. And even that was few and far between.

Finally, a choice finally won out in Evelyn's mind and Kyle calmly listened as she gave out her verdict. He watched her with a newfound interest as she gave the man his chance to live but just as quickly made it clear that his life would not last in the long run if he should are to harm this place again. Kyle stayed silent a moment longer, watching her from his position over the man before putting pressure on his chest with his foot as he leaned down to look at him hard.

"You're lucky. Lucky that she still has a heart after you tore hers apart with your "game". Had it been my choice...well, I'll let you think on that. And on this.

She has given you her warning. Here's mine; the call she will make will be to me if you should ever do this again. And if I have to see your face again...you will become a work of art yourself. As a bloody smear on the wall. Keep that in mind." With that, Kyle smashed the man across the chin, knocking his lights out for what would be a long while. Long enough for the police to arrive and to handle him. Not that he was much of a threat with the injuries Kyle had given him; those would just help make it easier.

Stalking away from the comatose man, Kyle put a hand on Evelyn's shoulder before turning her slightly to inspect the wound on her head. It was bleeding still, albeit much slower then before. Nothing too serious, but a heavy blow like that could likely bring about unforseen damage as well. Tilting her head slightly to take a final look, he stepped back, glancing to what remained of the mess around them.

"Seems I never have a normal night whenever you're around." Giving her a slight smile, he tilted his head a little, hearing something remarkably like sirens getting closer. "I'll have to find more excuses to visit you then; it keeps things from getting boring. On that note; make sure you get your head checked out properly and soon; I doubt you need me to tell you why.

Now, if my hearing isn't completely gone, I think I can hear the calvary on its way. Seeing as I'm surely not on their most loved list, I should probably get going...will you be alright until they arrive or should I stick around till the last minute, just in case?"

Evelyn didn't say anything while Forte finished dealing at the man. She kept her mouth shut and tried to keep her anger in check. The paintings...the museum... everything looked so damaged, it was disheartening. The more she thought about it, the more her head hurt. She tried to return Forte's smile, but inside, her heard just felt shredded like many of these paintings. He kept talking, but his voice sounded fuzzy. She put a hand to her head as playbacks flickered.

Why would she be...

He was asking if it was ok if he could leave, but the answer was almost immediately clear as her legs bucked and she went down. Whether it was a combination of stress, the injury, or the adrenaline wearing off, it all finally seemed to hit her at once, and it was lights out.

She was going to have a lot of explaining to do when she got home....