Max's heart was pounding, adrenaline coursed through him. His bare foot slid into a small pool of deep red liquid. His hands were dripping with the stuff.

He spun and ran his paint drenched hands across the massive bedsheet he had strung up. Two lines of red appeared across the sheet in the wake of his motion. They were accented by the blues, yellows, greens, and oranges that were already there.

Most people on a Saturday morning would probably sleep in or go to the store. Max had opted to do some performance art. He had arrived in the park early that morning with all his materials in a backpack. He had strung an old white sheet between two neighboring trees and put a tarp down under him. He had his boom box out blasting his personal "get pumped" Playlist and had opened the small canisters of paint and set to work.

He kicked out with his paint drenched foot, splattering droplets on the sheet as he danced and painted. Most of the people who walked by looked at him like he was insane, but some had stopped to watch as he worked.

He had paint all over him now, and the sheet he was working on was nearly full. He dipped his left hand in the small canister of blue paint nearby, placing his right in the red once more. The music picked up to its final bursting chorus of conclusion and Max began tutting, making shapes with his hands, lacing his fingers together and combining the colors into a rich purple. He waved his hands in a circle across the sheet as the music finished and stepped back to admire his work.

It wasn't elegant, and it was far from what most would consider high art but Max looked at it and saw passion, energy, and flare. The small group that had been watching him dispersed as he took out his alcohol wipes and cleaned his arms, hands, and feet. It would be a little while before his masterpiece was dry enough to pack up so he pulled out a sandwich and a bottle of water from the small fanny pack hanging off his hips and sat down on the grass to enjoy the breeze.

"Well that's done. What am I gonna do for the rest of my day" Max thought to himself as he took a bite out of the bologna and cheese he had made that morning.

It was early morning and people were just starting to drift into the park.  There may have been many other things one could choose to do on a Saturday morning but few of them held much interest to Darkshift.  In truth, she wasn't one of those early arrivals but rather had been there all night, training.  The dark was a challenge and, for one such as she for whom shadows had become her home, it was a challenge she needed to overcome and the best way to overcome that was to train in the near darkness.  Had anyone been around to see her when the moon shone and the sun hid, they might have also heard a good deal of colourful language.  Not exactly the silence once needed to be stealthy but tonight hadn't been a night hiding.  It had been a night of action and becoming ever more comfortable with the absence of light.

Now that morning had fully come upon them, there was time to consider what to do with her day.  Sleep, of course, would come eventually.  Her sleep patterns had always been unusual but ever since meeting Aura and joining her Order, they had become even more so.  Her powers granted her a range of different abilities and one of them was to be naturally hidden in the darkness.  Thus, practicality determined that it should be her natural time.  Food was also much less of an issue than it once was given how well she was paid and for that she was grateful.  

If not for the appearance of an eccentric and clearly talented artist, Darkshift likely would have gone in search of said food but she had always admired those with creativity and the courage to display it openly and so she stayed, watching.  Her own talents tended more towards music than painting, but creation was creation.

Once finished and most of the other onlookers began to walk away, she approached the young man.  As always now days, she wore the sign of her being a mutant openly upon her fingers in the form of pitch black claws.  One day, perhaps, she'd feel comfortable enough covering her body with black aura but that day was not today.  "You've got some talent," Jayden spoke, gesturing towards his creation.  If he had a hat nearby to throw in a few dollars she would have gladly done so.  Many a day had she spent in just such a park performing in order to make the money for her next meal.

Max was pulled from his quiet contemplation by the sound of a girls voice. He looked up from his comfy spot on the grass to see a girl with a Mohawk looking at him. She gestured towards his work and Max felt a grin spread across his face at her compliment.

"Thanks, it was just one of those mornings where I couldn't help but get out and make something ya know?" He said.

He took another bite of his sandwich and a swig of his water and noticed that the girl's hand was not completely normal. He tilted his head to get a better look. There was some kind of black claw on one of her hands. She was obviously a mutant.

Max shifted his gaze back up to the girl's face. He knew how common it was for people who used their mutations openly or who had visible mutations to be stated at or met with disdain. He himself had seen a little of that whenever he would use his gift and anyone normal would see.

He chanced a glance around and saw that they were mostly alone, everyone else had moved on and was enjoying the nice day.

"I'm Max. Wanna have a seat and enjoy the morning while I wait for this to dry?" He asked, gesturing towards the grass beside him.

He reached into his fanny pack once again and pulled out a second sandwich and some chips in a pair of zip lock bags. He usually packed enough food for a whole day every morning.

"Hungry?" He asked.

With a slight effort he removed the gravity on the bags and lightly flicked then upward, letting them slowly float up to the girl where she stood. He usually wasn't so careless with his powers but felt like it was a sign of good intentions.

"I've had those mornings myself," Darkshift agreed.  "I make music mostly.  I've dabbled a little in paint, but that's just not where my talents lie.  You have to go with your passions, right?"  It had been a long time since she'd had a normal conversation about art and music.  It felt a little surreal.

She noticed his attention focused upon her hands and didn't react.  It was a test, of sorts, to display her mutant status openly.  Not so openly as to be unavoidable in attracting attention; she had done that once to rather unpleasant consequences, but openly enough for those she interacted with directly to notice.  The Order was about helping mutants who needed help and trying to end human oppression of mutants, violently if necessary.  Mutant super hero is what she called herself in her head with more than a hint of sarcasm but somehow a job taken for money was transforming itself into a cause she could believe in.  Clearly something was wrong with her.

"I'm Darkshift," she replied, following Max to a nice, dry piece of grass.  "I wouldn't' mind a bit of food."  The bag floated towards her and she grinned at the artist who had now revealed himself as a mutant.  It was always good to encounter her own kind.

"Very nice.  You a telekinetic?"  Maybe she should have been more concerned about potential observers, but they were relatively alone and not causing any trouble.

Max chomped on his sandwich as Darkshift sat beside him. He listened to her talk intently.

"Music huh? Nice. I dance more than anything but dabble in some other mediums. Darkshift is a cool name. I'm guessing you picked it yourself? I need to pick a nickname, something awesome and unique...like GravBomb or Velocitor." He smiled.

"On second thought maybe I'll wait on a nickname and let someone else help me." He laughed.

He was glad he hadn't set her off by staring and was pleased to have the company to sit with him. He'd moved to the city a few weeks ago but hadn't really made any friends. He knew some poeple at the theater he worked at but not well enough to go out together.

He shook his head at her question, " Nah, though I've been asked that before. I manipulate gravity through touch. It's a good thing you did take the bags, otherwise they would have kept floating higher and higher in the air till the effects wore off."

He laughed. It would have been odd to see his food float off,not to mention he'd draw some strange looks. With all the mutant trouble in the city and these Robot cops he'd seen he figured it wasn't a great idea to be broadcasting the mutant thing.

"What's your gift? It looks like some kind of claw or talon. Is it solid or energy?" He asked, almost reaching over to touch it before deciding he better not.

He liked meeting other mutants and hearing what they did. Some were more closed off then others about their gift but Max was always amazed about what other people could do. Everyone's a special little snowflake right?

"Yup, picked it myself," Darkshift agreed.  "You might call it a right of passage, of sorts, for some of us mutants.  Rejecting our human names given to us by our parents and choosing new names for ourselves reflective of our natures."  She's never never put such thoughts into words before, but as they left her mouth she realized just how right they felt.

"I definitely think your on the right track with your name options."  Her words were meant to be encouraging.  "If you let someone else choose for you, I don't know, it loses its personal nature, you know?"  She unwrapped and took a bit of her sandwich, pondering.  

"Gravity, nice."  It was also nice just to be sitting and talking in the park, for once.  No training, no running from anti-mutant mobs or, even worse, robots.  No missions or thefts.  Just talking.  Like friends.  Like normal people.  It probably wouldn't last.  It never did.

Upon being asked about her gift, Darkshift took a furtive look around, making sure there were no eyes upon them.  It seemed they were still relatively unnoticed by the few people also milling around the park.  "I'm kind of a partial shifter.  My aura solidifies into animal parts."  She rolled the sleeve up on her arm for display purposes, guessing a small demonstration would be more suited than a large one.  With a thought, black scales covered her forearm.  They then melted into black wolf fur and melted again back into pale flesh.  

"I can add all sorts of animal parts.  But, you know, stealth and all."  She shrugged and made a vague gesture towards some of the other park patrons.

Max smiled at Darkshift. She seemed like a pleasant girl. Her story of how she had come to have her name was fascinating to Max. He had never really spent an extended period of time with other mutants, hearing about a group of them that chose to reject the titles of society and branch out was interesting.

"I'll probably stick with Max for now." He said with a laugh, "Me and my parents might have our differences at the moment but they've always been pretty supportive X-gene or no X- gene."

Of course at the moment he was a little miffed at his folks. They had cut him off after he refused to come back and live with them. NYC had seemed like a good idea to them before he left, but I guess a month later and no college or job prospects changed their minds. This left Max with a studio apartment to pay for on his own and little financial stability.

He watched the girl shift her arm and was amazed. It was pretty cool. He could mess around with one of the laws of physics, but it felt more like a gimmick to him then something to inspire fear or awe.

Darkshift's power however, seemed so versitile.

"That's pretty fantastic. Obviously you can do mammals and reptiles. What about birds? Oh could you create a bunch of octopus tentacles that be sweet? Or maybe a patagium like flying squirrels? Base jumping would be a blast." He grinned.

He realized he was rambling. It was a bad habit of his when he got excited. He stuffed another bite of sandwich in his mouth and swallowed.

"So how long have you been in New York? What brings you to the big apple?" He asked.

"You're lucky to have supportive parents."  There was a hint of bitterness to her words.  There had been a time when her mother had been supportive as well, but apparently her mind had been weak and easily influenced because her tune changed when she met her second husband.  Bastard.  "Not all of us are so lucky."

"Birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, fish.  Pretty much if its an animal I can manifest shifts based on it."  She shrugged.  All in all, she felt pretty blessed as far as possible mutant powers went.  Hers was a versatile one and that meant she could be useful.  She could do good and help those mutants whose powers might not be so active and whose wills might not be so strong as hers.

Of course, gravity based powers could certainly also have their uses.  Was it a natural progression of her new dedication to helping mutants that her mind should start considering such things?  Having an actual thing to believe in still wasn't something she was fully comfortable with.  

"I've been in New York for a few months now," Darkshift answered, relieved for the topic change.  It was complicated having something to actually believe in.  

Max felt bad. Darkshift had apparently gone through some stuff with her parents by the tone she spoke in. Him blathering about his great childhood probably hadn't been a smart idea. He was glad she moved on from it quickly, choosing instead to discuss her mutation.

"That's amazing. All I do is make stuff float, and here you have a whole planets worth of animal powers at your disposal." He replied.

She answered him about how long she'd been in town and Max was about to reply when he heard a strange noise around them. He turned and saw five robots walking there way. Now Max wasn't a hick, but he hadn't been in big city NYC long enough to have had a run in with the Meta Bots yet.

The four Bots walked over, the lead Boy's head twitched, like it had a nervous tick.

They closed the distance on Max and Darkshift and stood a healthy distance away.

"ALERT: Citizens please move on. You are loitering." The Bot said in mechanical voice.

"Excuse me? This is a public park? You can't loiter here." Max replied.

"Move along citizen." The Bot countered.

Max cocked an eyebrow up in confusion.

"What's up with robo cop here?", he grumbled, "we aren't going anywhere."

The bottom nearest Max's painting looked at them.

"SCANNING: X-gene detected. Mutants present." It said.

It turned and looked at Max's painting.

"ALERT: Vandalism will not be tolerated." It spat out.

Max rose in panic to protest but he was too late. The Bot reached out and grabbed the sheet he had painted on. There was a sickening rip and it tore the sheet from the trees, leaving his masterpiece in three pieces fluttering in the wind.

Max was a pretty calm guy, and tended to not get upset often. Something about watching that mechanic cop tear his hard work apart set him off. White hot fury rose up in Max. It filled him in a way it never had before. Logic left him, common sense flew out the window. All he knew was that that Bot had destroyed something he had made. It had destroyed a part of him.

He let out a feral yell and charged the Bot, not caring that he was outnumbered, not caring that he was still barefoot from his painting experiment, all he could think about was hurting this thing.

"WARNING: Hostile Mutant detected. Apprehending target." The Bot said.

It's mechanic wrist twitched and a police baton shot out of it. Max didn't even slow he pounced at the machine consequences be damned.

"Its more a matter of what you do with the gifts you're given than what the gifts are," Darkshift answered.  She might have said more except that's when she noticed the Meta's.  Four of them.  Something deep in the pit of her stomach sunk.  Well, there went her pleasant morning in the park.  Not to mention possibly her freedom and bodily well being.  Crap.

"Best not to antagonize them," She directed at Max, her voice just above a whisper.  He didn't listen.  She didn't expect him to.  She got to her feet, facing the Meta's.  At least she had learned a few things from her first encounter and that had to count for something, right?

And now they were identified as the mutants they were.  To make matters worse, one of the bots then went and attacked the innocent painting.  Great.  Just great.  Just what she needed today.  And then suddenly Max was charging the group of Meta bots like he didn't have the slightest idea what kind of threat they could pose.  Well, he probably didn't.

The old Darkshift probably would have just fled and left the poor guy to his unfortunate fate.  She didn't have any attachment or loyalty to someone she had just met that morning.  Unfortunately the new Darkshift had only one possible option: To help him get out of this problem he had half brought upon himself.  He was a mutant and she helped mutants now.  Damn vigilante mutant super hero or something.  Why had she chosen this path again?  At that exact moment the answer alluded her.

"Hey, over here!" she yelled, trying to draw the attention of at least a couple of them.  Pale, weak flesh transformed into thick black scales across her body and two black bull horns grew out of the top of her head.  She was as ready as she'd ever be.

The logical side of his brain warned Max he was attacking a police sanctioned officer. It warned him he didn't know what these things could do. It told him he should stop, go peacefully, and apologize.

The other part of Max's brain punched that whiney voice in the face.

He flew at the Bot that had destroyed his art. He threw a punch but before he could land it the baton the police Bot had produced slammed him in the stomach. He flew backwards.

Okay these things were pretty fast.

He threw his arm under him, planting it in the soft grass and whirled around with a dancers grace. He flew back at the Bot and drove both his feet into its chest with a double legged kick. It hurt his bare feet, but his anger helped him ignore it.

He threw his power over the Bot, changing the gravity on it to angle towards a nearby tree. He kicked off and the Bot flew diagonally, slamming into the tree and tearing off a chunk of the bark. It struggled there, trying to pull itself from the wood.

He heard the roar of air in his ears and ducked just in time to see another Bot's police baton fly over him. He rolled between the Bots legs and came up on the other side of it. His hands flew into the fanny pack around his waist and he produced two heavy steel yo-yos, one in each hand.

He flicked his wrists and the yo-yos soared out, wrapping around the Bot. He sent his power down the metal wire he had wound them with and inverted the gravity on the Bot. He pulled back the yo-yos as the Bot "fell" straight upward.

"You aren't getting off that easy." He cried.
He took off after the Bot, soaring into the air on weightlessness. He threw his yo-yos at the Bot, pounding it over and over again as it rose higher and higher. He didn't think he was harming it much but hitting it made him feel better.

The ascended over the tops of the nearby trees and flew ever higher. The Bot apparently wasn't programed for this kind of thing and was flailing madly trying to hit Max who was out of range.

When he was satisfied with the height Max threw out his yo-yos and watched as they wrapped around the Boy's neck.

"Desist. Please Desist." It cried.

"Fat chance" Max called back.

He sent his powers up the line again, realigning the Bots gravitational pull with the ground below and doubling it for good measure. He swung his arms around and the Bot blasted past him, hurting towards the ground. Max tugged the strings aiming the Bot at the vacant path he had been painting near and his yo-yos coiled back into his palms.

The Bot hurled towards the Earth and crashed into the path with a sickening crunch, making a decent crater around it as it did. The Bot he had stuck to the tree had got its bearings and was slowly crawling across the grass towards its companion, fighting the gravity change as it went.

"Darkshift " Max thought.

The idea had hit him suddenly. He scanned the park far below looking for his new friend to see how she was faring.

Two of the four Meta's turned to pay attention to Darkshift.  That was good, two for each of them meant they might actually stand a chance.  Maybe.  Either way, it was too late to turn back now and her new friend didn't exactly seem inclined to flee.

"Do not resist," came the command of one of the bots.  Like hell that was going to happen!  Resist as much and as long as possible, that was her motto.  It had gotten her in trouble before but, hell, she was all ready in trouble now so how much more could resisting possibly get her into?  Besides, for once it wasn't even her fault this time.

"How about you stop resisting," she retorted.  She lowered her head, waiting for the right moment to make her move.  3...2...1 and she charged, horns smashing into the metal torso of one of the Meta's, making a loud 'clang' noise.  Her head rang with the impact but, more importantly, the Meta stumbled back, clearly stunned by the impact.  "Yes!"  Probably a bit early for celebration, but she'd take what she could get.

Turning her attention to the second Meta, she was just a little bit too slow as one of its fists slammed into her side.  If not for her thick scales, the fist might have done some real damage.  As it was, most of the impact was absorbed leaving her largely untouched.  In response, she spun and one of her legs went underneath its and it crashed to the ground, tripped.  With a thought, her head transformed into that of a crocodile, one of the few animals with the jaw strength to maybe do some damage.  With her new set of teeth, she bit down on the shoulder of the robot, feeling the satisfying crunch of metal.

Distantly, she was aware of the sounds of battle from Max and the other two Meta's but so caught up in her own fight, the details alluded her.  Hopefully he was able to take care of himself.