It had been sometime since he was left for dead laying in the streets bleeding out from multiple wounds, bullet holes, knife holes and more internal damage than he cared to admit. Though he had been out in public multiple times since then he was a little more secretive about his powers and who he actually was. Sam Johnson, X-Men, crime fighter and in his own somewhat arrogant eye a hero. But what makes a hero? Someone that is willing to get the tar kicked out of them time and again? Someone who no matter what did what he could to save a life? Sam didn’t know and while his crime fighting had been done more in secret and his criminal wrangling been a little more violent and off record a little more fatal than he used to do, Sam knew there was a time and a place to strut your stuff. This was one of them.

“Get him out of the truck before the cops come!” a man with a ski mask yelled at another fellow cladded the same way. There was three of them and while Sam could have remained a shadow and hidden from the world he was tired for the most part of people thinking he was dead. Not his friends or his students (or lack of) they knew he was alive it was the public. For some reason Sam felt they needed to know he wasn’t really dead. That his death was a farce used to throw off some thugs that jumped him when he was drunk stumbling back from the bar. That he was and still was as cool as they used to think he was.

One of the three walked up to the armored car that was currently shut tight and sprouted a large red glowing claw. Like one from some kind of video game. With a yell he hefted the hand into the side of the armor car and ripped the door clean off the hinges. There was gunfire after that. Sadly a few rounds were fired before Sam stepped in. Ice quickly surrounded his body and the hat he was wearing fell off of his head. ”I think that is enough of that!” Sam yelled as he ran up and grabbed one of the guys in the ski mask and flipped him over and slammed him into the concrete knocking the wind out of him. “Wha!?” was all he could manage before Sam punched him in the gut further forcing the air from his lungs as he gasped trying to breath.

Ice shot from his hand and pinned him to the pavement. Turning his head and to the other two would be robbers he ran in their direction before they noticed what had just happened to their partner in crime. ”I said! Freeze!” a bullet whizzed past him as one of the guards from the truck fired at him as he grabbed the other robber with a gun. Ice fell rolled up from his sleeves and coated his body in a thick crystal like structure of ice. His gun free hand and his face were the only thing not incased in ice, as he was slightly elevated off of the ground. Another bullet whizzed by hitting his arm. The ice impacted then pushed it redirecting it before it could penetrate.

”Knock it off!” Sam was about to yell at the guards in the armored truck before he realized it wasn’t a bullet but rather a flash of light. Two more hit his armor and was redirected as he turned to look at the culprit. It was the guy with the claw. The air became colder as snow started to fall around them. Mist rose up from the ground and ice started to form around their feet. Normally it would have been more difficult to produce all this ice so quickly but luckily for the justice system and Sam it was rather humid. Pulling water moisture form the air was almost as easy as standing in a puddle.

A blast of ice shot from his hand as the guy with the claw and light show tried to form a shield which was quickly covered in ice.

Ryden didn't usually involve himself in armed robberies, but every once and awhile, you just appeared at the wrong place at the wrong time. With a check to cash after a long week of work, he took a turn towards his bank only to find himself suddenly standing in front of a bank robbery. While he wasn't exactly the heroic type, he wasn't quite chicken enough to just turn and walk the other way. How often did he get to be the hero anyway? Then again, anything he tried to do would probably result in more property damage than he was trying to prevent.

Choices.

Over the yelling and the chaos, some ice mutant appeared and saved him a few choices. Yet Ryden was still standing in the sidewalk, watching the chaos while the other pedestrians ran the other way. Maybe it was time to start running...

Suddenly the light mutant turned his eyes towards Ryden and the sound mutant scrambled out of the way as a stray shot went towards him. He wasn't sure how powerful the blasts would be, but he wasn't ready to test it out. A second blast clipped his shoulder as he moved, and Ryden yet out a yelp of surprise at the stinging sensation. The yelp carried to the light pole he passed under, and there was a snap and a dramatic creaking as it started to fall towards the van.

"Crap..."

Once the light show shield was incased in ice there was no further visible movement. At least from what Sam could tell. The shield and light show gave off a heat signature obscuring the body. Sam waited for a second then heard a noise from the other side of the armored truck followed by a fallen lamppost. With a loud thud the lamppost collapsed on the armored truck. Looking for the source of the fallen lamppost Sam only saw a single man near it. Everyone else seemed to flee. Raising his hand towards the figure he raised his hand. ”What ever you are doing I suggest you knock it off.” with his hand still pointed towards him Sam shifted his eye towards the armored car. ”Go! And call the police!”

Sam didn’t have time to call the police or radio for any other X’s at the moment he had his hands full. One was still pointed at the guy next to the fallen lamp post and the other shifted to the ball of ice that held the guy with the light show. The sound of the truck’s engine started and it was shifted into gear but before it could take off the ice surrounding the light show started to crack and be forced apart. Bright lights and large amounts of heat started to escape from the dome and it caused Sam to step back shielding his eye even though it wasn’t his eye that was being assaulted. It was the heat to his sixth sense.

Sam hated severing the hold over his sixth sense it made him a hundred times more vulnerable to everything around him. His blind eye was useless so all he could do was shift his one eye to the light guy to the other one until the light show was over.

Ryden couldn't help the glare that crossed his face as the ice mutant yelled at him. He opened his mouth to argue then shut it again, realizing how pointless and unhelpful it would be at this stage of time.

Call the police.... right... like that would happen.

"Phones." SNAP CRACKLE. "Don't like me." He yelled back. A piece of the armored car vibrated than exploded next to the robber, who backpedaled away in surprise. Then he was encased in ice and that seemed to be the end of it. That was, until the ice started to break.

Muttering to himself, he let his voice sense a different piece of metal inside the ice cocoon. Powers or not, the man still carried some metal weapon on his person. With a few muttered curses, Ryden stepped forward and hollered. "Knock it off!" in an uncreative manner that made his inner novelist cringe. But the cry of surprise was enough to reassure him his voice had done something, and the man buckled slightly in pain.

The light show ceased after the other guy yelled to knock it off. He didn’t know exactly what was happening all he knew was the light show dimmed so Sam turned on his cold sense again. Everyone in a close proximity to Sam was felt. The light guy still a lot brighter than everyone else but it was bearable this time now. The man inside of the cocoon collapsed and then Sam willed the ice to incase his limbs as best he could. He didn’t know what the guy did that his other hand was focused on but he knew it wasn’t pleasant. At first Sam thought the guy commanded him to knock it off.

”What did you do to him?” Sam asked as the cocoon revealed the guy and his iced over limbs that were fixed on the ground. Sam took a few steps towards him and still kept his hand aimed at both of them.

Sam spotted the blood pooling out of the guy with his own light show and he ignored the other guy for a second. Clearly he wasn’t part of the gang or if he was he’d take this time to run. Sacrificing your own man to get away is pretty messed up. Sam also could point him out so Sam would find him if need be.

”Stay calm man! My ex-girlfriend was a EMT. I learned a bit from her.” Reaching to his communicator Sam called for an EMT unit hoping it wasn’t the one Athena was in. They were still on good terms but he didn’t really feel like running into her yet. Light show screamed and tried to struggle. ”I said stay calm!” Sam pointed a hand to where the blood was leaking out of light show and ice formed up causing the blood to freeze to the skin. He might get frost bite but it was better than the alternative.

Sam spotted a gun barrel sticking out from the ice Sam just formed over the wound. More metallic fragments were close or imbedded in other areas on Mr. Light Show. Sam looked up to the guy who caused the exploding gun. ”Get over here!” Sam commanded as he lowered the temperature around him to make sure no one would get close enough to get the drop on Sam.

Ryden was not the most heroic individual. Sure, he stepped in from time to time if he could help, but he wasn't really the sort of person to stick his neck out for strangers. He also wasn't the sort of person to get involved in conflict like this. He was sort of an accidental hero, it seemed. If he could be considered a hero at all. The man trying to keep control of the situation seemed to doubt it.

As the ice mutant confronted him, Ryden considered the options. Run was high on the list, but the cold brushing past him deterred him some. Frost bite was not something he wanted to experience right now. Reluctantly, he stepped forward, warily glancing at the men who had attempted the robbery. For now they seemed subdoed, but he wasn't above screaming like a pansy if he needed to to get away. At least there was more metal the nearer he got to the ice mutant. He just didn't want to get caught in the crossfire...,

"Yes?" He said quietly. His voice buzzed through the armored van.

When he spoke Sam could hear a buzzing sound coming from the armored car. It faded though when the sound of sirens reverberated throughout the city signaling that there was someone on the way. Hopefully someone with a little more experience in the life saving department. Sam shifted his eye towards the personal light show who stopped squirming and screaming when he passed out due to the sudden blood loss. ”Did you intentionally do that to him?” Sam asked now convinced he wasn’t apart of lightshows gang, he wouldn’t have come towards Sam when he told him to.

Depending on his answer Sam might have to put some cuffs on him till everything was figured out. If he purposely tried to kill him he’d be under arrest however if it was just a mistake Sam might be willing to overlook and give him a stern warning and a finger wag. It wasn’t like this light show was a hardened criminal or anything, this was the first time Sam had seen or heard about a power set like this with armed robbery. Now if the guy was someone the world better off without he might have thanked him. Not publicly at least.

Ryden considered the ice mutants question, and glanced at the man who was now passed out from blood loss. Rubbing the back of his head. he tried to figure out how to answer as truthfully as possible with as few words as he possibly could. "Sort of." He finally remarked. "Not that exact result, no." He added. He wasn't sure if the man would get his point or not. He had hoped something would happen to the buy, but the amount of bleeding and damage was really out of his control.

The longer Ryden stood there the more he felt like he was under interrogation now. He wasn't a criminal. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. In some ways, he felt irritated by this mans behavior. What did it matter if he injured the guy or not? He was part of the robbery, wasn't her? Isn't it a good thing Ryden did something? This was why Ryden never bothered getting involved in things like this... somehow he always seemed to be the bad guy.

The answer wasn’t exactly reassuring, sure the guy might have not intended to do it but he didn’t exactly seem remorseful for potentially making the guy bleed out to death. Slowly Sam stepped away from the guy with his own light show and took a step closer to the guy that injured him. ”I’m gonna ask you again. Did you intend for him to end up like this?” Sam’s voice was a little more forceful this time as the air chilled a bit more. His breath was now visible as the ambulance came on sight.

Two unfamiliar medics jumped out of the vehicle and ran towards Sam, ”He is bleeding out, the cold should slow the bleeding down. Suggest some gauzes then transport him right away. Tell the police to get the Mutant division down there with someone who can handle some heat and a light show.” Sam stepped further away making sure not to get involved any more than he had to, he wasn’t as well trained as them and he figured he’d only get in the way.

Walking over to the guy who did the damage Sam raised his eyebrow. ”What’s your name?” he was grateful that he had a little help however it wasn’t the kind of help he normally liked at least not when he was in the public eye surrounded by a bunch of witnesses. More sirens came into view as the police showed up.

Ryden considered running for a few seconds before the air chilled and he thought better of it. As much as he hated being interrogated by some stranger, he really didn't want to get frostbite by being dumb. Grumbling, he looked the ice mutant back in the eyes and said "No." The broken light pole quivered, and one of the paramedics paused just long enough to give it a cautious glance. Ryden tried to figure out how to explain himself without making the situation worse. It felt like they were already beyond that though.

"Not all metal explodes like that." As if to verify, a smaller shard of metal snapped in two, a clean break with no flying debris. "While I wasn't opposed to injuring him..." He forced himself to pause as the windows of the ambulance rattled. "I'm not cruel." Yet. This dumb guy was pushing it though.

As the siren's approached, Ryden considered lying about his name if nothing else. The last thing he wanted was this all to float back to the paper and get him in trouble. He had a job, if nothing else, and he didn't want to loose that. "Ryden." He finally said. There was no use starting lies now, not if he wanted this guy to believe him.

Sam watched the metal snap in half and the explanation on what could have happened. Sighing slightly Sam shrugged, ”Well he is still alive and we have healers if we need them. Though I wouldn’t mind if this guy felt a little pain.” the last bit was more to himself then Sam looked to Ryden, ”So I guess thanks.” the air around them warmed up a bit as Sam stopped trying to control the temperature though if Ryden stepped closer he would have felt a bit colder around Sam only so Sam could feel everything close to him.

”Ryden.” Sam said nodding his head, ”Like Cher, I guess.” Sam gave a slight nod then looked as one of the officers ran towards Sam. ”That all of them? And how did that guy get the shrapnel?” the cop looked to Ryden and raised an eyebrow. Police had a tendency asking questions when things like this happened especially if there was a pedestrian involved. Before he could ask anything else Sam shook his head, ”He was the most dangerous, one. He almost got the drop on me and would have gotten away.” Sam looked to the officer, ”I’ll fill out the paper work for this. Just have someone send me the paperwork.” It was the least he could do for Ryden seeing as the stranger had saved him.

The cop gave Sam one last look of distrust then ran off to the other officers who were cuffing and reading the rights to the other armed robbers. Looking back to Ryden, ”Be best if we start leaving before anyone else starts asking questions.” Sam said gesturing towards the sidewalk in the opposite direction of the poice ”I’m curious though, how do you manipulate the metal like that?” Sam asked seeing as he had run into several people with the power over magnetism before.

I guess thanks. Some gratitude. At least Ryden wasn't walking away in handcuffs. That would have put a damper on his day. Although the way the cop was looking at him made him wonder if his relief was a bit too soon. Ryden was already skirting under their radar with his 'destruction of public property' record growing. Accidental, but still.

The guy motioned for them to start leaving, and Ryden frowned slightly, trying to figure out how to explain himself without breaking more stuff. He was getting better at it though, although he hated talking dumb. "Resonance." He hoped the ice mutant understood what that meant. He didn't have his notebook handy and he was pretty sure more exploding stuff wouldn't help his case. "I talk, stuff breaks." Maybe that would ease the guys curiosity, if nothing else.

Sam smirked when the guy said the word. He was familiar enough with it. In fact sound based mutations seemed to be one of the few that really gave Sam an issue when he had to deal with them. Fire he could dose with ice after turning it to water. Electricity he just had to be wearing rubber boots or something along those lines but sound? From his guess the reason it was so hard to maintain them was due to each individual ice crystal vibrating to the point where he can’t control it. If this guy’s resonance was similar to any of the sound guys he had a run in with, Sam would rather be on good terms with him.

”That kills me.” Sam said making a bad joke. Last guy with any abilities similar to his was the loudmouth who had nearly killed him and left him laying out in the street. Of course unless Ryden was there he wouldn’t have gotten it so Sam decided to stop laughing at his own joke.

Sam started walking away from the crime scene his attention still turned towards Ryden.
”Must be difficult to get by then if,” Sam pointed to his throat ”destroys if your not too careful.” Sam could only assume it didn’t destroy all the time seeing as when he just spoke there wasn’t anything blowing up.

Kills me....

Somehow, the phrase triggered something in Ryden's mind, and he paused, looking closer at his companion. Something seemed familiar. As a reporter, he often came across other stories his coworkers were taking. Because of his powers, he rarely did things like interviews so those typically shuffled past his desk without getting much of his attention. But there was one story awhile back his boss let him look at, mostly because his unfortunately involvement in the situation, and the mutants it involved. Ryden hated thinking about those attacks because his destructive episode of Karaoke was something he didn't want to relive, but the individuals that were first attacked...they had been a bit elusive. Ice, mutants, dead. Ryden felt the gears click into place even as the conversation continued.

"Only metal and glass. Still, we're in New York." He shrugged. Finally, he felt confident enough to speak up. "Hey, word on the street was you died or something." Ryden remarked. A lamp post wobbled slightly as they walked close to it. He bit his tongue to keep from talking too much in one shot.

Sam slowed when Ryden said ‘Metal and glass’. Two things the city wasn’t short on. Basically if Ryden wanted to throw a tantrum for some reason he could cause massive damage. More reason Sam didn’t want to depart and bad terms with this guy. A thought crossed Sam’s mind for a second then he dismissed it. No reason to bring more people in on one of his side projects if he wasn’t paying.

>>> "Hey, word on the street was you died or something."

Sam turned slightly from Ryden scratching the side of his face. ”Wouldn’t be talking to you if I was dead now would I? Unless I wanted brains or something.” another bad joke but it still didn’t cause Sam to force himself to laugh at the subject. ”It’s… complicated.” Sam said shifting a glance towards him, ”They say my heart stopped but here I am.” Sam threw his arms up with a shrug extending the cold around them so his sixth sense picked more up.

”Thought it was more than word on the street, they had a youtube video of it. Buncha ****s.” Sam started to grumble slightly before he asked Ryden, ”Why do you want to know?”