(This is another open post involving citizen attacks. Thanks Forte for the permission.)


As Samuel made his way through the crowded streets he let his mind wander to memories of his home. “Opening up about my feelings eh? Yeah right last time I did that I ended killing people for a decade.” Truth is Samuel was growing tired of this whole rehabilitation thing. The mental evaluation, polygraphs and debriefing of whatever intelligence he had on rebel and military positions in his home land and if exchange room and board as long as your cooperative.


“Bull sh**…” he murmured to himself as his thoughts continued to run through his mind. He continued down the street, a slight ruckus could be heard down on of the dark alleys, the sound was faint but Sam was sure he could hear the sound of muffled cries.

The crime in New York is as well-known as the statue of liberty, but as of late there’s been a rise violent crimes, with citizens and mutants attacking at random. Samuel knew what a waited in that alley was none of his concern, but part of him was almost drawn to the thought of violence. I mean how much trouble could a little peak cause?


“Naw…” He muttered.

He could use a little excitement in his life right about now but stumbling into someone else’s quarrel was something he’d had enough of.

As he continued on his way a short scream escaped the alley drawing the attention of those close enough to hear it. As the on lookers stared into the shadows of the alley a body slowly made it’s way from the entrance followed by another and another, soon a large mob of random citizen’s stood at the alley’s entrance.


“Kill, Maim and destroy…!” One shouted from the rear before the crowded erupted into a violent charge. Most panicked and attempted to flee, other attempted to use reason and logic as defense. Samuel decided to meet force with force, slamming his heel into the knee of an oncoming attacker, Sam followed up with a left jab to the clavicle. Shoving the maimed attacking aside, stepping forward and into the next assailant his elbow collided with his sternum. Grabbing the man by the neck he flipped him over his shoulder delivering an open palm strike to the nose crushing the fragile bone beneath his weight. His eyes scanned he field at those around him and the scene didn’t look good. Most have either fled of fallen, and despite the fun he had been having thing were getting a bit overwhelming.


“I think I need some help…” As purple energy auras began to manifest around him, six yellow orbs soon followed, as the energy solidified and took shape three humanoid forms stood around Sam. Yellow eyes shifting between targets awaiting their next command.

"Let's make it interesting boys.." Samuel said with a grin.

Oh how wonderful it was to have actual warm and actual new clothing without any holes or anything.  Not to mention a full belly and no immediate worries about where he was going to find money for next month's rent.  Life had changed since his recent entrance into The Mansion and changed for the better.  Optimism was a very strange feeling indeed and one he hadn't experienced for quite a few years.  It was something that still didn't feel quite right, as if it was a circle trying to fit into an oval hole.  It was also something he was pretty sure he could get used to.

Presently, Masque found himself walking towards a bus that would take him back home carrying a bag full of art supplies.  Another benefit to his new found was not having to worry about running out of paint and canvas.  Maybe finally he could dedicate himself more fully to his craft and maybe he'd even get good enough to make a decent living at it.  Maybe walking through the alleyways wasn't exactly the best route to take back but old habits died hard and it was through those alleys that he felt most comfortable.  Feeling good and not much feeling like trying to hide what he was, Masque had decided to decorate his skin.  In this case, he decided to go with leopard print colouring across his body.  Sometimes you just had to go with how you felt.

In retrospect, Masque really should have been observant enough to  notice the danger before he was right in the middle of it.  He should have felt the tension in the air and, when he heard the nearby scream, he should have run in the opposite direction instead of freezing in place.  Unfortunately none of that happened and following the scream he simply stood there, skin changing from bright leopard to the concrete greys and browns of the buildings around him.  Maybe if he hadn't been wearing clothes which were most assuredly not the dull colours of the city buildings he might have succeeded in masking his presence, but unfortunately no matter how much camouflage his skin provided, it didn't do much when you also happened to have on a dark red shirt.

Before Masque had enough time to gather his wits about him and actually do something practical with his situation rather than merely stand around in dumbfounded silence, he found himself in the middle of a melee.  Had the entire city suddenly gone mad?  

“Take them down gently guys…” Samuel advised rolling up his sleeves as his own flesh burned and melted away as that eerie energy started to flood from his forearms and hands. Glancing over his shoulder, Samuel grabbed the closest threat to him before tossing him into a group on his left. On his right a young teen roughly Sam’s age lunged before catching a ‘Superman’ punch in mid-air.


The three nodded in unison, shaping their hands into a mace, axe or blade before charging into the fray. To any on looker the scene would seem quite strange. Besides the three ebony Imps wielding hand weapons and the ninety or so citizens attacking everyone there was the actual battle that was most confusing. In all aspect the Imps’ weapons interacted with and crossed with the pipes, baseball bats and whatever else that the civilians held. One creature missed with a mace leaving a bowling ball sized crater in the brick wall, but these weapons didn’t draw blood or even cut their victims; sure clothing was torn and people cried out in pain but there was no signs of physical trauma.


As the battle continued Samuel could sense the tide wasn’t turning in their favor, and just like and busy afternoon in the New York the street was busy and packed, traffic had come to stand still when a crazed woman got lucky with a baseball bat knocking a shadow Imp into a passing cars windshield. Buses packed with people watched in horror or joined the battle, some to help other just to see another mutant freak down. The already high tensions between mutant and humans were already high and with a large scale melee involving both sides like this “who” and “what” didn’t seem to matter much.

Samuel could see the what looked outline of a red shirt and shopping bags pressed against a nearby wall, focusing his eye a bit more to make out the object meant taking his eyes off the battle around him, a mistake he’d regret.


As he looked away he failed to notice the silhouette behind him, the one of the woman with the baseball bat…

It took a hard punch to the side of his head to finally force Masque out of his stunned stupor.  The punch stung but his stone skin protected him from any real damage, causing more damage to his would be assailant than to himself.  Although it wasn't always good to be a visible mutant in a city not always friendly to his kind, small favours like flesh mostly immune to brawling damage made it all worth it.  

Almost by instinct, Masque's skin changed a second time, this time taking on the likeness of a painted demon.  Harsh black and red warpaint lined his eyes and mouth creating the illusion of being some kind of infernal hell creature.  Sure the illusion was no more than skin deep but it was surprising how effective such things could be in avoiding fights before they ever again although a look around confirmed that there would be no avoiding this one.  The city had indeed gone mad.

Although Masque didn't consider himself a callous person, escape was the only thing on his mind; everyone else could take care of themselves.  In truth, having come to realize the gravity and chaos of the situation he found himself in, he was terrified.  Maybe most weren't armed but a quick glance revealed that many were and his skin was paltry protection against actual real weapons.  

A kick by a man to the chest caused another flair of pain and this time Masque retaliated striking the man in the nose, the blood poring out of it leading him to believe it had been broken.  What now, where to go, how to get out of the zone of fighting?  Everywhere he looked people were hurting one another, screaming and yelling either in terror or berzerker rage.  Out of the corner of his of his eye he spotted a strange blackish purple glow, almost certainly something mutant related.  He needed a goal and, as there wasn't any clear path to safety, that seemed as good a goal as any.  If nothing else, having someone to fight beside might help him not get himself cruelly killed.

Sam watched the shifter for a few seconds before catching the shadow of the woman behind him, instinctively he knew he would have no time to completely dodge or block the attack. Raising his fore arm quickly he braced as best as he could.


The wooden weapon connected with a fleshy thud sound, instantly filling Sam’s head with a flash of white knocking him to the cement below
 ‘Your dazed but still conscious’ he told himself mentally, covering his face as he rolled away from his attacker, palm slowly raising in the woman’s direction releasing a torrent of purple energy over her. She stood almost frozen as the stream of energy washed over her, falling to an unconscious heap at Sam’s feet. Sensing his distress the Imps started to fight their way back to their master, Sam was kneeling now his senses returning to him.


Another lunatic attempted to capitalize on Sam’s position raising his leg to kick in Sam’s head, but he had missed his moment. Easily he deflected the kick slamming his infused fist into the knee with a vicious crack.

“This is getting us nowhere…” he stated, noting that it was time for plan B, grabbing the baseball bat at his feet he contemplated moving to more lethal means but decided against it when a teen charged at him.


Bat hilt to solar plexus followed by a knee strike, ended that threat. He surveyed the area again.
"Now what?"

James had been on his way home from the mansion, he had gotten bored sitting around all day and going for a walk had seemed like a good idea. Now It didn't. He had no idea how it happened but James was now in the middle of a huge melee.

He was just walking through when a group of people started yelling and beating on others with various weapons. At first he had been confused, why the hell would everyone be fighting? But then he saw the guy go purple. Ah, its like that. Not sure weather to turn and leave, or to stay and help, James stood still and watched the purple guy and a group of black guys with glowing eyes lay into the mob.

Unfortunately the decision was made for him. Without warning a man tackled him at waist, slamming them both into the side of a parked car. Gasping James sat up. "What the he-" before he could finish the guy started scrambling towards him, arms flailing.

With a grunt of surprise James leaned against the side of the car, palms cold on the surface. Just as he kicked the guy in the head to keep him at bay, the familiar cold feeling spread up his arms. The steel sliding slowly across his body. For once James really wanted it to go faster. Faster...faster...fasterfasterfasterfaster-

The guy got up again, shaking his head and stepped towards James. "I don't want to hurt you..." No visible reaction. The man just lurched towards him, arms outstretched he landed what would have been a good punch on James's shoulder...if it hadn't been made of steel that was.

With a sickening crunch the man fell back. That's just unfortunate. The steel climbed up his face and across his scalp just in time for a wooden 2x4 to crack him across the back of the head. Luckily, he felt nothing. The piece of wood snapped in half and he turned to face his aggressor.

Without thinking James stepped forwards and headbutted  the man. His eyes rolled back as he slumped to the floor, unconscious. James felt bad about it for about five seconds, before he saw properly what the fight had turned into. People were lying all over the place. Some looked fine, while others looked...really not okay.

Stepping forwards into the fray, James ran towards the center, looking for people who needed help. Countless weapons made contact with his body, but he ignored them, moving on. That was, until he came to a stop.

A bolt of white hot pain flared up his arm, looking to his right just in time to see a crazy looking woman wielding a metal baseball bat. Breathing heavily, trying to ignore the pain, James brought his left hand up and caught the bat during its second swing and twisted it out of her grip, taking it for himself. It might be useful.

James didn't want to hurt the woman, luckily she got knocked over by two people fighting behind her, out of sight, out of mind.

"Now what?" He heard behind him, turning he was surprised to see the purple man.

"Get the hell out of here?" James asked unhelpfully.

Masque continued his attempt to struggle forward in the melee towards the distinctive mutant glow.  There was the small blessing that few of his immediate assailants were armed.  The repeated blows to his flesh hurt, there was no denying that, but as long as there were no knives or bats or similar weapons involved there was little risk of actual damage.  That didn't lesson the building panic in his chest.

In front of him, Masque spotted a middle aged man beating on a young girl cowering on the ground, arms protectively over her head.  If Masque had had a voice he would have yelled to try and get the man's attention and try and get him off the girl.  Failing that, however, he ran and kicked the man in the knee.  The man shrugged off the blow but he had succeeded in distracting the crazed individual who now turned his attention to Masque.

The man swung wild and Masque ducked, retaliating with a knee to the solar plexus causing his assailant to crumple.  Now if only that was the end of it and he could go home peacefully and mostly unharmed he would have been a very happy person.  Unfortunately, one lunatic down hardly made a dent in the chaos swirling in every direction.

Finally he had a clear view of the mutant who had been the goal of his mad charge; a dark skinned man with a purple aura and a number of strange purple creatures near him.  At least he appeared to be some luck against the mad humans.

A final sprint towards the man and Masque waved his arms wildly to try and get his attention.  In his distracted state, unfortunately, he didn't notice the woman coming up beside him.  The woman was armed with a pair of brass knuckles and he was struck solidly in his ribs and he felt his skin crack and splinter at the point of impact.

“Get the hell out of here?”

An unexpected voice replied from Sam’s rear. Even more surprised to see a metal clad boy engaging in the battle alongside him, eyeing his weapon of choice it was clear he and Sam were on the same page; and getting out of here was certainly an option. The scene was only getting worse; the wailing of police and ambulance sirens could barely drown out the scream of terror and panic from those attempting to escape the violence. Other lay defeated on the concrete either victims of and attack or trampled, punishment for failing to keep up while fleeing.


Scanning the immediate scene; his eyes fell upon the mutant he spotted from earlier near the alley making his way through the crowd, although now he was no longer brick colored, but resembled something a bit darker in nature. Then Samuel felt it a sense of tugging in the back of his mind almost like a sixth sense. Panning to his left Samuel watched as a crowd of three maybe for attackers surrounded the Imp that had been slammed into the windshield before beating him out of existence, a purple mist rising to the sky from where he was.

Then Sam saw it, just on the other side of the car was an alley, an escape.


“I got an idea…see the alley over there, by the smashed car?” Motioning his head in that direction before swatting two would be attacks back with the bat in his hands. “If we can clear a path through these guys…” Words trailed off as his watched the shifter from earlier make an all-out sprint for their location; waving his arms wildly…

“Fool…” Samuel muttered, watching as the mutant was struck and then fell to the ground favoring his torso. “Come on we got to go…!” He shouted to the metal clad mutant, his mind pondering going back for the fallen mutant.

James saw the flailing mutant go down. Then the purple guy suggested they get on with his plan. Half of James wanted to run, get out of there while he could, but having seen the oddly coloured guy get punched in the gut was a wake up call. They couldn't just run, they had to get as many people out with them as they could.

"Right," James nodded. "You make your way there, try to clear a path. I'll catch up." Without waiting for a response he took a deep breath and ran over to the guy who just got sucker punched, knocking people who tried to attack him away as only he could, trying his best not to hurt them too badly.

"Hey lady!" He yelled at the woman armed with brass knuckles, ready to lay into the other mutant. She ignored him. Goddammit. Without thinking he struck the metal bat down his arm, making sparks and a loud noise. It got her attention, sure. Unfortunately it got some of the other crazies attention too.

The lady took a swing at him which raked across the right side of his face. Even with skin made from steel, the force still made its way to the flesh underneath. I hurt, a lot. Grunting and ignoring the pain, James brought the bat up, reading his swing as if he was waiting for the bowler to throw the ball and slammed it into the left of the assailants head with a meek "Sorry."

Offering a hand to the person under him he noticed that their skin wasn't normal and that they were an obvious mutant. "C'mon, get up. Lets get out of here."

Then James gasped. What. The. F***. Was this a zombie apocalypse or something? It wasn't what he had expected it to be like.

The woman who he had knocked down and assumed to be unconscious was obviously not. She reared up and attempted to bite his wrist. The after effect was, to say the least, horrifying. The sight almost made him sick.

He looked at the mutant again and said more firmly. "Now!"

His stunt with the bat had got a group of the crazy citizens to turn their way and if they didn't move quick, they would be surrounded. If none of them had firearms James would be fine with any amount of citizens in this state, but he didn't want to cause unnecessary harm.

How Masque had missed the metal mutant he wasn't sure except that he had been hyper focused upon the man with the purple glow and there was so much else going on around him that he just hadn't been paying attention.  Now that he had noticed the other, however, he was hard to miss.  Not paying attention had caused him injury; his ribs hurt and he could feel a trickle of blood.  Hopefully nothing serious.  If only his skin were metal instead of stone maybe it'd be different.  Or maybe he should just pay more damned attention.  At least he had reached his goal.

“I got an idea…see the alley over there, by the smashed car?  If we can clear a path through these guys…”

Once again Masque didn't exactly have any better plans and he nodded his affirmation.  At least the guy seemed to know what to do in a situation like this because there he sure as hell didn't.  Following directions was definitely better than getting yourself pummeled to death and that seemed to be the likely alternative at this point.

"Now!"

It was a demand Masque was only to happy to follow.  Two competent mutants and then there was him, stuck in an incomprehensible situation and in way over his head.  He felt more than a little sick to his stomach.

Following behind the glowing purple mutant, the next man to attempt to assault Masque he spotted and stopped.  A fist flew towards his face which he caught and kicked the man in retaliation in his knee.  A sickening crack followed and the collapsed.  If not for his gifts he knew he'd be injured way worse than he was and quite possibly dead.  How many people would be reported dead after this day?  Not something worth thinking about.  All that was important was staying at the glowing purple mutant's side and praying to whatever gods might be out there that he and the metal mutant could help keep him alive.

"Right,..." His comrade agreed, but the look on his eyes told Sam he had other plans.

"You make your way there, try to clear a path. I'll catch up." Before Sam could stop him the idiot had ran off, Sam barely able to track him through the chaos.
“Err…” Samuel protested as the metallic boy ran into the crowd to play hero. He had half the mind to leave them both there and save his own hide. For a quick second his mind flashed back to those hot days of training in Africa and the words of is mentor…‘In battle there is no time room for, mercy or compassion. Death comes to us all, my child but the weak find him faster than most…’



Quickly he was shook from his flash back, a rather boney yet large fist connecting solidly with his mandible joint shifting the jaw out of place and back in, and sending Samuel down to the cold asphalt below. Recovering quickly he rolled from his attacker and rose to his feet. As the lady charged he swung with the technique that would make any major league scout proud, the loud crack echoed off the building sides filling the air and grabbing the attention of more than a few citizens.


“I’ll clear a path alright….” An enthusiastic grin spreading across his face and a look of playful confidence in his eye Samuel let loose an un-audible battle cry, charging forward towards the alley wooden bat held firmly in both hands. The remaining skin and clothing he had started to burn away, that eerie aura around him erupting brighter as it over took his whole body, trailing off like purple flames as he charged fully transformed now the plan was simple rush in take out as many as we can, then hold the position until they get back.


He swung the bat with practiced accuracy striking joints and weaker spots on the human body to maximize his efforts, eventually summoning four more Imps to assist; in fact they held down the escape path nicely. Glancing back he checked on the others progress before returning his attention back to the fight. A rather large gentleman lunged at Sam next managing evade and counter his bat swings before splintering it on his forearm, unfazed he grabbed Sam by the throat pinning him against the wall. Instinct took hold and like all good habits that your try to kick, the opportunity presented itself and habit took hold, shoving that splintered piece of wood into the neck of man the artery to be precise triggered Sam’s release and a shower of blood.


Immediately the man grabbed his wound before slipping into shock and passing out. Sam was all but unnerved as he stared back at the others.


“Let’s go!” He shouted at them.

The shock and adrenaline that came with getting thrown into the crazy brawl was wearing off as the three of them made their way to the alley. The tunnel vision which had blanked out everything but his main points of focus had gone. James got his first view of what was really going on. People mauled each other in ways which he could only describe as beastly. Some of the sights made him feel sick.

His arms were shaking and fear, something that hadn't been present to begin with, gripped his spine. Even through the strong feeling of invincibility which came with being made from steel, James was undeniably scared. This wasn't something the average seventeen year old student should ever have to deal with.

The mutant he helped up hadn't said anything, which was strange, but they had managed to start moving back to the purple guy. With the other mutant at his side, James used the baseball bat and his body to block every incoming attack he could. Without the steel he would have been a dead man.

James was running backwards, eyes open, looking out for attacks to jump in front of. He almost looked like he knew what he was doing, which in truth he didn't. The past deed had all been adrenaline and impulsive reaction to what was going on around him.

At the moment, he was hurting. The amount of blows which had hit his body were building up, causing little more than loud noises. James may be made of steel, but it still hurt to get thwacked by all sorts of stuff. Punches were fine, he felt literally nothing from those, but all the wooden implements were taking their toll.

Luckily for James he was blocking a swing from a teenager his own age when the purple man split someones neck open.

"Lets go!" James heard from behind. He turned and saw the purple guy. Okay, good. The strange black things were holding the escape route open well and it looked like they could make their way to the alley without being apprehended.

Not looking was bad. James felt something wooden crack against his shoulder. The pain would have been minor, only he had been hit there a countless amount of times in the past couple of minutes. Blowing air through his teeth, James ignored it.

"Okay!" He patted the other mutant on the shoulder, who looked just as frightened as he felt. "You go ahead a couple of paces, I'll top as many from getting to you two as possible."

James sounded confident, he didn't feel confident. But he did feel positive at least, invincible even. Now I really need to learn how to fight properly. As if in response to his previous thought something else hard cracked against the same shoulder. "For god sakes! Get. Off!" He shouted, pushing the attacker over, trying not to hurt him.

How the hell did I get into this situation were the words that kept repeating over and over again in Masque's head.  Just when life had started looking up he found himself here surrounded by madness and violence and, he was convinced, quite possibly on the very brink of death.  He'd never been on the brink of death before, not really.  He'd been in fights before and there had been many days when he hadn't known where his next meal would be coming from but brink of death?  That was an all together new one.  

Masque twisted and managed to avoid a stomp aimed at his foot but he wasn't quite so lucky in avoiding a knee that landed right next to his cracked skin.  If his vocal chords had actually worked his wince would have been audible.  Despite the pain, he managed to grab a hold of the man and swing him until he collided with a teenager nearby and they both toppled to the ground, momentarily stunned.

For a moment pain got the better of Masque and he fell to one knee.  It took all his effort to pull himself back up to his feet again and half run half stumble after the aura'd man.  It was the desperation of wanting to survive this that gave him the stamina needed to go forward and not just give up and collapse.  In a sort of distant dreamlike way, he admired the way the aura of the mutant just in front of him burned away his clothing.  He didn't remember having been struck on the head so perhaps the disconnected feeling was shock.

Masque felt like he should have been shocked at the carnage the metal mutant was causing and even more so at the blood that erupted at the hands of the aura'd mutant but all he felt at the moment was numb.  He didn't need to be told more than once to follow and get the hell out of there.

He stood there the skeletal image of a man burning in the manifestation of his own negative energy. Samuel didn’t know it but in the wake of all the violence and carnage his own power was replenishing, to him it was merely the rush of being in the heat of battle…again. To him in this form in these moments he was unstoppable, he knew his strength and speed were beyond these peon’s grasp, but he welcomed the chance to unleash his raw abilities once more. Slamming another would be obstacle’s head into the nearby brick wall Samuel could see the alley’s end. Having lost two of his Imps in defending the alley the remaining four followed behind him closely. Easy orders to follow right?

With escape just a few feet away Samuel felt himself slowing down he was so close and yet something was hold him back, besides the part of him that was enjoying the violence he was physically being held back from his objective. Looking behind him it was clear where his dead weight lied.

The metallic boy and the demon were still a few yards behind him, with a horde of angry citizens nipping directly on their heels. ‘You have got to be kidding me…’ Samuel thought to himself, the eyes of his minions flashing a bright yellow as their attention turned to follow their master’s.


Unable to hear what was being said between the two, or why they had stopped running in the first place but the body language was a dead giveaway. On side the metallic kid was capable, even a reliable asset but Sam was finding himself growing a bit irritated with his pointless acts of heroism. Especially when the objective was so close and as for the other one, he has proved to be nothing but a burden since this ordeal started, and here they were again the both of them about to die for the exact reasons Samuel thought to leave them the first time. Frankly he was beyond irritated… he was pissed off.


“STOP WASTEING MY TIME!!!” He roared speaking to his supposed comrades, than the crowd.

On his mere though the Imps charged back towards the two boys, charging into the crowded alley entrance, Samuel in short pursuit went air-borne, leaping over the shock stricken demon child and crashing down in front of the metal boy. His hands managed to settle on the necks of those closest to the iron boy as he landed, the force of Sam’s impact immediately driving them to the ground, his hands flashing brightly engulfing their necks and face in purple energy. Looking up his Imps had begun to push back the crazed attacks as the alley funneled them in. Turning to his stragglers he eyed them viciously; if he still retained facial features it would clear he was beyond displeased.


“You should learn to protect yourselves better… the both of you. I’ll stay behind you two get the hell out of here before you get yourselves hurt.” He shoved both of them in the direction of safety watching as the masses struggled to get through the bottlenecking Imps. Those that did manage to squeeze through were dealt with swiftly and violently. If he still had lips he would have smiled....he was good at this.

After all he couldn’t fully blame them for their incompetence, after all they were merely stumbled into this war. Sam has lived in one most his life.

“STOP WASTING MY TIME!!!”

Oh you have to be kidding me. The purple guy was yelling. Great, get all of them to look at you. James had half the mind to turn around and roar a rude comeback, before he could Sam grabbed him and pulled him back.

Luckily James stayed on his feet, stumbled a bit but didn't fall. Good, he didn't want to look like an idiot. What was with this guys? Did he have any idea how heavy being made of steel was? Nobody could get around quickly like that.

"You try running around with steel skin!" James spat.

Sam ignored him, naturally as he was a little preoccupied some guys with purple stuff, great. That was completely normal, worrying.

“You should learn to protect yourselves better… the both of you. I’ll stay behind you two get the hell out of here before you get yourselves hurt.”

Right, okay. That he couldn't argue with. After all, James couldn't see any way to help the people beating the crap out of each other. Licking the inside of his mouth, he could taste blood. Okay, that was bad, he had taken enough of a beating to be bleeding...even through his steel hide.

James gave the demon looking mutant a glance. They were bleeding, that was bad. Okay, admittedly he didn't like the purple guys attitude, but it was stay and fight for no reason or run and be fine.

Deciding that leaving the purple guy was the best option, James spat a wad of blood on the floor and wiped his mouth. "Come on, lets get out of here." James said to the demon looking guy, after all, he hadn't done anything to earn dislike.

Turning he began to run down the alley, not too quickly. Fast enough to stay ahead of the crazies if they got past, but not so fast as to ditch his companion.