It felt like it have been months since she'd last been outside. Even longer since she'd been outside on her own, without some kind of nosy adult overbearingly breathing down her neck.

Elke stretched, laid out flat on her back with her backpack supporting her head, and gazed up at the sky. She'd wiggled her way free from the grips of that stupid do-gooder; she still couldn't believe he'd left her alone with that naive green broad in the first place. All it had taken was one well timed clone, and Elke had zipped out the door so fast she was sure she'd taken it off it's hinges a little.

"Heh... what a boob." Currently, the Native was enjoying a lazy afternoon to herself. She'd gotten her hands on a free burger an hour earlier, and with a full tummy and the sun on her face, she was quite content. She may have even fallen asleep right there on the roof of the 3rd street convenience store, if it hadn't been for a couple of voices popping up and breaking her out of a daydream.

"Yeah.. yeah, we got it. When are you gonna be here? I've seen three cops drive past already... it's f*%@in' nerve wracking standing out here."

Blinking, Elke rolled over onto her tummy and wriggled her way over to the edge of the roof, so she could peek down at whoever the voice belonged too.

"...What? No. Just the owner and his cow of a wife. Haven't seen anyone else in there all day." The guy nodded to himself while holding his phone to his ear, and kept glancing up and down the street nervously. "Yeah, no mutts in there today. Should be clear when you get here, too."

Her eyes narrowed at that word. Mutts. Another discriminatory term thought up by stupid apes to make themselves feel better about being left in evolution's dust. A deep frown settled on Elke's lips, and she reached back for the knife she had tucked away in the back of her pants. One annoying human? She could take him.


SSHREEEE

Just as she'd been about to stand, a beat-up while Cadillac noisily pulled up to the curb, and the guy she'd been listening in on stuck his head inside one open window to chat with a few fellows inside.

...Okay, so now there were more than one. She glanced back at her bow and quiver, and idly wondered how many she could peg in the face before they spotted her.

Smoke still billowed from the bus engine as it died and rattled until the sound of crunching began to come up from underneath the vehicle like an ominous warning to something else going on. Yet none of it mattered as the man stood up with his lips parting just enough to let loose a groan as a few pops shattered the near silence. On the bus sat a group of boys ranging from the ages of twelve to nearly eighteen and all of them had a small duffel bag sitting by their feet with random articles of clothing shoved in. This was meant to be an over night trip to somewhere for a tournament but suddenly disaster had struck. Sir, I saw a farm just a little ways away. Maybe they have some tools to help us. A young boy of about thirteen piped up with a remark as Shaelren began to think of things to do. Sighing he nodded and bent down to grab his bag that housed a simple steel suitcase. Inside it rested foam padding that had an expandable staff sitting in it made of solid metal.

Shaelren pulled the staff out and spun it experimentally, feeling it expand just slightly until it was five feet long and around four inches in diameter. He nodded to himself and walked off the bus with a brisk pace building. His students knew that when he left then the oldest would be in charge until he got back so he didn't need to tell them different. Just then a white Cadillac drove by in a rush and nearly flattened him into a pancake. He noticed it heading toward the farm and decided it was time to go incognito so Shaelren took off at a jog toward the farm and came into sight to see a scene in front of him that was strange. Stranger yet was the figure of a girl on the roof while she watched as well.

"Alright, boys. Let's get this done. Remember; we don't want to hurt the old folks too badly unless we have too. Just get the job done."

The driver stepped out and swung the car door shut behind him, while the two other passengers slide out and headed for the trunk. The Nervous one Elke had overheard speaking stood next to the driver.

"The last mutie they had here was some kind of slug thing. Disgusting. It stayed for two nights before leaving." He grumbled something further that Elke couldn't quite hear, and the party of four men chuckled to themselves. She noticed, as it turned out, that the things they had been procuring from the back were four red canisters of gasoline. The driver and cell-phone-guy withdrew small pistols from inside their coats, and the four men headed for the door. From what she could tell they probably intended to burn the shop down. Ballsy, considering what time of day it was.

Snorting, the twelve year old hid her knife away again. She was't too far up, so what she planned on doing wasn't exactly suicidal... but she knew there was still some risk in it. Her whole body tensed like a cat preparing to pounce, until one of the guys carrying the gas cans was just close enough for her to--

She leaped over the lip of the roof, her aim nearly spot on. Just as her feet were about to collide with the man, she split away, tucked, and rolled, leaving a clone behind to crumple into the man like a bag of cement.

"Gah! What the hell" One man went down, the gas cans went flying in two different direction, and Elke was on her feet as the three other men turned around and spotted her. "Who the hell is--?" The child stuck her tongue out and flashed a few crude gestures at them, before turning and making a beeline for their sitting Cadillac.

The whole time that Shaelren had stood there he watched the men grab gas cans but that was the moment he knew he had to act or people would get hurt. Quickly he swung the staff around and it expanded more until it was six feet. Using the staff, the man pushed off the ground and flipped into the air performing a front flip and hitting one of the guys with the gas cans. Already he knew something was going down that shouldn't be and so Shaelren spun the staff and struck another guy, backing up toward the girl and raising his body's density just in time to block a bullet that had been shot at him. Swearing arose and it caused Shaelren to chuckle to himself.

"Have you never heard of mutants who can out think your mortal weapons? Puh-lease little men, stop trying." As he spoke, Shaelren lowered his body density to normal and stood with his back to the girl who was a mutant as well. "What are the odds of us beating them and getting out of here alive?"

Woah. Staff dude had just deflected a bullet. That made him instantly more interesting than the car. Puh-lease? Who was this guy, and where had he been hiding all her life? Who even used words like that anymore?

"What are the odds of us beating them and getting out of here alive?"

"...Are you kidding? You just deflected a bullet, dude. I'd say that ups our chances to pretty f*#@%in' good!" Wait... where had this 'us' sh*t come from?

Both the guys who had previously been carrying the gas can's were already recovering. The one Elke's twin had fallen on was scrambling to pick up he tanks, while the other was swearing and attempting to recover from being thwacked soundly with the business end of Staff-man's staff.

Her duplicate wasted no time scrambling back to her side, warily avoiding the unknown mutant who'd joined in their fight. "You just keep on doing that thing you just did and whack them with your stick, and I'll take them out from back here with my--" She reached back, expecting to grab her bow... and found that it was gone. Then she remembered that she'd set it down up in the roof so she could take a nap... aaand she'd jumped off and left it, and everything else up there. "--@#$%&*!" A rather colorful curse capped her comment. She had to go get that boy back! Not to mention her backpack and quiver! All of the arrows she'd stolen from her brothers were in there!

Leaving her twin behind, Elke took off without a moments notice toward the building. Being as small as she was, and with added help from Mr. Staff-Man, she was able to squeeze through the group of startled, nervous humans with ease.

... well, until she got to the driver, who was stationed nearest the door to the convenience store. With him, she attempted to duck and roll between his legs.

Shaelren swore softly as the girl took off running toward the store yet again, probably heading to the roof for something since she had nothing on her. As she did, he walked backward slowly so that he could see everyone coming at him. Yet what he didn't see was the small branch that his head hit with a solid thud. Shaelren fell to his knees, dazed and unable to see real well, with his staff on the ground a little way away from him. Laughs, cruel and evil, erupted as the men began to walk toward him but Shaelren looked up just in time to see a punch aimed for his head. Using reflexes alone, the martial arts instructor rolled sideways and swung his leg out in a perfect low sweep that knocked the man down.

Shaelren stood up dizzily and jumped forward, making his body less dense as he went toward the next man, and passed through one of the guys. He solidified on the other side and spun in the air to grab the man. With a deadly grip, Shaelren put him in a rear necked choke that turned the man's face red quickly. "Leave now after you put your weapons down or I break his pretty little face right before he dies from lack of oxygen."

The native hit the ground hard; the knees of her jeans scuffing as she slid along toward the one-man-blockade in front of the door. She could see it in her head; her plan unfolding without a hitch. She'd slide through the gap in his legs while he was startled, dart inside and head for the roof-- maybe warning the old folks on the way-- and grab her things. Then, once she was armed, she'd snipe her un-armored foes from the roof with one well aimed arrow to the cranium each. Victory would be hers!

....or, at least she would have if she hadn't come to a stop directly in front of the bad guy, instead of behind him. Blinking as both she and he realized they were nearly touching, she flung her arms out to the sides. "..ta-da?!"

Seconds later, she was on her feet with the drivers arm tightly around her neck, and his gun pressed against her head. "Hey! Staff dude-- guy-- YOU! YOU let him go and leave, or I'll blow off his-- her?" He glanced down at the kid in his grip. Elke rolled her eyes, heedless of the fact that there was a gun jammed snugly against her temple. "... Her.

"-- HER little head!" The guy continued, and tightened his grip on her.

Shaelren did a fast calculation, numbers whirling through his head and possibilities flying past his eyes. Suddenly he grinned when he realized the mistake of the man's words. With a shrug, Shaelren tightened his grip and his captive went limp. As the man in his arms passed out, the mutant lifted him up and threw him, straight at the other man, watching as the bodies collided. In the confusion, Shaelren grabbed his staff, propelled himself in the air and came down hard on the man with his staff against the man's throat. "Or you can drop the gun and leave nicely like I said the first time." Shaelren glanced at the girl who had been earlier in his grip. "You, move back so that the gun won't blow your brains out when I knock his out."

... oh sh*t. She didn't like the look in Staff-guys eyes, or that grin on his face. What did he have up his sle-- OH JESUS HE JUST TOSSED THAT GUY!

The one remaining man with the gas can tried to dive out of the way as the full weight of the unconscious guy flew at him. He missed, and they both ended up in a pile on the side of the walkway. Before Elke or her captor could recover from what had just happened, Staff-man was already in the air looming over them and closing in quickly.

"Are you nuts?! You're--" The rest of what he'd been screaming was cut off suddenly as the end of a staff was roughly jabbed into his neck. He toppled back, releasing Elke in the process, and she scrambled off to the side.

"You, move back so that the gun won't blow your brains out when I knock his out."

The Native blinked, torn between confused anger and honest to goodness glee, but decided to follow his order anyway. She could tell him off later, once she had her things back. Speaking of things...

Elke, now back on her feet, skipped on over to gas-can guy-- who was still struggling with his unconscious friend-- and kicked the can away from him. Then, turning on her heel, the teen sped around the fight and back into the building in order to collect her things. On the way past, she screamed at the old couple to get out via the back.

The driver, who was pinned to the ground, glared up at the martial artist who'd bested him. "You freak! It's people like you that are bringing this city to ruin!" His gun had clattered away from him out of his reach, otherwise he would have tried to take a shot at the mutant.

Merrily, Elke skipped back out of the building with her backpack slung over one shoulder, and her quiver and arrows clutched to her chest. "Oh hey. He's still kickin', huh? We'll come on! We gotta bust outta here before the cops show up!"

Barely staring a glance at staff man as she passed, because really, it was his choice to come or not, she headed straight for the abandoned Cadillac and crawled inside the passengers seat.

... and then into the drivers seat. Hot dog! They'd left the keys in the car. When were mutant hating, would be arsonists ever learn? Turning the key, the engine roared to life like a wheezing old man, and she shifted into gear. Did she know how to drive a car? Kinda-sorta-not really, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to give it a try! "Hurry up, slow poke!"

She buckled herself in; Safety first!

As the confusion died down and Shaelren got a good look at the guy who he had pinned to the ground he saw that it was just a man like him. Average height with some muscle and a whole lot of defiance but all in all just like him. This wasn't right and as he got ready to back away and leave but the man spoke hatefully to him about him being the reason for the city falling apart. Shaelren's eyes hardened and his jaw tensed as he listened and watched the man struggle to get to his gun.

"Have you ever thought that maybe we are like you but that we are here to help you? Did you see me kill any of you even though it is possible that I could or even harm you more than knock you out? The worst injury in your group could be a broken bone and still you say I am a freak and the one destroying your city. I help people and I protect the innocent but you are the ones who were going to harm this old couple. Does that sound like my fault in any way? Grow up and learn that humans aren't the best people in the world."

To top off what Shaelren said, he stepped back and as the man tried to stand up, a blur flashed and the staff smashed into the man's jaw. It sent him flying backward as Shaelren walked away and hit the small switch that held the spring in place. As the switch was pushed, Shaelren's staff shrank and collapsed so that it was once again able to fit in his pocket. The mutant crawled into the passenger seat of the Cadillac and looked in the backseat to see that jumper cables were indeed sitting on the floor. Good, he would be able to jump the bus and get it to the nearest shop so the engine could be fixed.

"So why were you on that roof?" Shaelren asked the question and then realized he didn't know the girl anyhow. "My name's Sh...Andy, yeah, Andy. I'm a martial arts trainer whos students are actually just down the road with a bus that broke down. I was heading to that building to get some help and just happened to be there when the sh*t hit the fan."

Blinking at the guy, Elke leaned forward a little to stare past him. Wow... he'd taken care of those guys already? Her nose wrinkled and she snot him a snooty look before turning back to start the car. It didn't roar to life, or purr for that matter. It more of clunk, clunk, sputtered to life.

Still, it was a rather satisfying feeling. "I dunno... sunbathing?" Never-mind the season and weather, it seemed perfectly plausible to her. The teen nodded her head at him absently in greeting while she was fiddling with the many buttons, switched, and levers that worked the car; accidentally turned the windshield wipers on, then hurriedly turned them off again, before figuring out which lever shifted the car into gear. "You can call me Moose." She paused, pressing down gently on the accelerator, "... You sure do talk a lo--." She cut herself off with an unflattering yelp when the car jumped forward unexpectedly after she applied a little too much pressure on the gas pedal. She jerked the wheel to angle the vehicle onto the road, but not before side swiping a mailbox with her right headlight.

"... ehehe... time to go!" She was not about to stick around to get scolded a for that, and definitely was not about to stop so Andy over there could change his mind on who was driving who and where. She hit a max of 35mph, concentrated on not jerking the wheel every three seconds, and kept her eyes on the road.

This was a piece of cake! Who needed to take classes for this, anywa-- BANGCLUNK

Weaving the car back into her own lane, she watched the crumpled shell of another mailbox as it vanished in the dust behind them. "...whoops."