The clouds overhead signaled rain. Dark clouds moved in across the sky and cast out the once brilliant sunshine. Rhett was sitting on a park bench with a Teddy bear and a ventriloquist dummy.  Rhett didn't really care about the rain.  Sure it might dampen the mood a bit, but he wasn't going to melt.  The clouds promised rain, but it never came.  It was just a dreary afternoon. 

Rhett sat on the bench with his arms stretched out over the back of the bench.  He was just killing time.  He didn't have any major plans today and he was tired of sitting in that musty old mannequin factory that he called his humble home.  It was good to get some fresh air. Rhett was a psychic.  He psychically controlled toys.  Rhett was also an asshole.  So it was no wonder his best friends were a teddy bear and a dummy. 

There was some dog wandering through the park without an owner.  It seemed to be a lost mut.  Rhett watched it with curious eyes as he took another puff of his smoke.  He gave the teddy bear and the dummy telepathic commands to run after the dog.  Just for the mental exercise he was seeing if he could make them run fast enough to catch the dog. 

The teddy bear's short little stumpy legs pumped furiously as it chased the dog that barked at it and ran.  The bear dove and missed landing face first in a patch of dirt.  The dummy was much faster.  It had longer legs with bigger strides.  The dummy cornered the dog and then under Rhett's guidance it jumped on the dog (Gold Retriever).  The dummy grabbed a fist full of it's fur and began to ride it like a cowboy trying to stay on a bucking bronco. "YEEEEE HAW!"  Rhett called in a fit of laughter.  The dog shook trying to get the dummy off but it gripped tighter and tried to stay on.  Rhett didn't have much to do today besides bullshit around in the park. 

The Teddy bear got up and brushed it'self off and ran over to play the role of rodeo clown.  The bear danced in front of the dog trying to distract it from it's mission to dismount Ryder the ventriloquist dummy.  The bear garnered more barks from the dog who was beyond annoyed with the duo of mischievous toys.  Rhett took another puff of his cigarette as he watched the entertainment he had created for himself.

Dear, God, Derek prayed for rain. He was one of those weirdos who liked being caught in the rain. It was just refreshing to be doused in water from the clouds above. It was a bit chilly today because of the castover so he decided to grab his gray cardigan to add a bit of extra warmth.

Seeing as he didn't have anything better to do since he was free from wok, the young mutanted decided to go the park. He loved wandering around the greenery of New York. It felt way more natural to him than the concrete, stone, and seament.

Derek heard a commotion coming from a few feet away and slowly made his way. Narrowing his eyes, he made his way toward the scene. When he saw what was happening, Derek frowned. A poor dog was being ridden by some sort of dummy and a teddy bear egging him on.

He then turned his head to see who was doing it. An elderly man who was making a cigarette. Now Derek wasn't the kind of person to seek vengeance, but this was annoying him. The dog was clearly not enjoying himself. Glancing up into the trees, he nodded his head two a couple of squrriels. They had been watching and wanted to do something about. With Derek there, they were allowed to.

The two squrriels scurried from their tree and toward the man. When they got close to him, they pounced and started scratching any uncovered skin.

Rhett watched as the dummy who's name ironically enough was actually Ryder; continued riding the dog. The teddy bear tried to grab at it's paws playfully. Rhett could hear the dummy yelling at the dog "Giddeyup!" The voice was only in Rhett's head. Rhett was slightly crazy. He believed his telepathic companions to actually be alive. They were not. They were merely moving to his psychic instructions, but it didn't stop him from having full conversations with them. Heck he even had a mannequin named Judy as a girlfriend. The details of that were better left untalked about.

Rhett was enjoying the show until something distracted him. He saw out of the corner of his eyes two squirrels racing towards him. This momentary distraction was enough for the dog to bite down on the right hand of the teddy bear. It's teeth sunk in as it viciously started to tear at the bear's stuffed hand. Rhett was psychically linked to his subjects so when the teeth sunk in. Rhett felt pain shooting through his right hand.

The pain in his hand caused him to yell.  "Son of a..." Rhett's control faded from the toys for a moment and the dummy was thrown off the dogs back.  It hit a tree.  Rhett felt a stiff blow to his back from where the dummy hit.  The dummy slumped lifeless against the tree.  The dog began to run off with the bear.  The thing was going to be it's new chew toy.  Rhett didn't want to see his friend ripped to shreds.  Rhett pushed his mental thoughts back into the bear and made it reach up and yank on the dogs collar hard.  The dog shook it's head violently causing another burst of pain in Rhett's hand. 

Rhett's hand started to bleed as teeth marks appeared on his wrinkled flesh.  In a last ditch effort Rhett had the bear whack the dog on the head.  The dog let go and dropped the bear lifelessly on the ground.  Rhett breathed a sigh of relief.  His hand was burning and throbbing. Just when he thought he was safe the squirrels he had forgotten about jumped on him.  Tiny teeth and claws tore at him and Rhett flipped over the bench falling backwards. "Ahhhhhh!"  Rhett cried in surprise.  Killer squirrels?  And this was supposed to be such a peaceful park! What the heck!

Derek watched the entire scene, happy that the dog got his vengeance on the mutant who stressing him out. Good for him. Derek whistled, signaling for the squrriels to stop. Once the did, they hurried to the nearest tree to continue their day. Now, Derek's method wasn't the best and not very Haven-ish, but it was necessary.

He made his way over to the fallen man with his hands folded over his chest. The ends of his cardigan flowing behind him.

"I'm sorry about that, sir, but that dog wasn't enjoyin' himself," he glanced at the wound and cheered on his bottom lip. "...you should get that checked out."[/color

Rhett wasn't sure what the heck just happened. He was attacked by a few squirrels out of the blue. People have called him a nutcase in the past, but jeesh. That was a little absurd. Rhett hadn't stopped to consider that perhaps another mutant had actually attacked him. His mind wasn't thinking along those lines at the moment. His freaking hand hurt, and his ass for that matter. He just fell on it.

Rhett looked around when he heard a voice telling him to get his hand looked at. Rhett raised the hand to inspect it. The blood from the phantom bite dripped down his wrist and disappeared down his jacket sleeve. "Eh. I'll live kid. Help an old man up will ya?" He groaned as he reached out for the stranger's hand. Rhett wasn't the vengeful type. Even if he knew that Derek was actually the one who caused the attack he was more likely to be impressed than pissed off about it. 

Rhett was proud of his mutation. He embraced it fully. He believed himself and other mutants to actually be better than normal humans. They were the next ladder rung up on the evolutionary ladder. What wasn't there to be proud off. Rhett didn't care how lame your mutation was, if you were a mutant you were one of the boys. Derek's mutation wasn't lame. Derek's mutation was just dripping with all sorts of possibilities.

After making it to his feet Rhett looked around. His toys were lying lifeless in the park. Big glass eyes staring earnestly in his direction as he dusted himself off. Rhett leaned back and cracked his back before finally looking at Derek for the first time.  He was a youngish looking guy with strong features. Rhett's eyes moved over to see the dog he was 'toying' with was running out of the park now. Oh well. Rhett picked up his cigarette that was still burning in the grass and stuck it back in his mouth. It was good for at least one or two more puffs before being discarded.

"What's your name kid? Mine's Rhett. Rhett Diggler at your service." Rhett took a sarcastic little gentlemanly bow and smiled graciously. He wasn't sure if the kid had noticed what was going on. He wasn't sure how long he had been in the park.  He didn't know if he put two and two together that Rhett was the puppet master pulling the strings on the possessed toys. He was clear across the park from the action on his little bench. "You see that shit over there with the dolls? Crazy huh?" Rhett asked as casually as if he asked him the time. Rhett was trying to gauge his reaction. Not everyone was thrilled to meet a mutant. Rhett wasn't generally thrilled to meet new people himself, unless they were interesting.

It hadn't even dawned on Rhett that they guy was apologizing to him for the attack.  Honestly when he first came up Rhett was still a little stunned by two squirrel missiles that had divebombed him.  He missed the first half of what the guy had said entirely.  Rhett's selective hearing at work.  He had his senses about him now.  Rhett took a few quick puffs of his cigarette and dropped it on the ground.  Crushing it out with the toe of his cowboy Rhett was all smiles. 

Because the man was his elder as well as a mutant, Derek took the man's hand and helped him up from the ground. Maybe Derek over reacted when he had the squirrels bite and claw at him. "...Sorry, sir, about the squirrels, but as a voice for animals, I have to step up for them. The dog wasn't really enjoyin' bein' messed with like that." Derek took his hand back once the man was back on his two feet.

"Uh, I'm Derek Menes, sir. Nice to meet you too, I guess." The twenty year old mutant awkwardly scratched the back of his neck and chewed on his bottom lip. The man didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that Derek had sent two rodents after him. At least Rhett wasn't a villain.

"Oh, yeah, very crazy. Are you a telepath or telekinetic?" Derek asked curiously with raised eyebrows. He didn't know what this man was capable of, but he knew that it had something to do with manipulation.

It finally dawned on Rhett that this kid was the one that caused the squirrels to attack him. Rhett said nothing. He only stared at him for a moment. Rhett's eyes narrowed as the wrinkles in his face pulled tighter. The long scar over his one eye seemed to get longer and angrier as his face scrunched up. Rhett looked damn angry. Suddenly he burst out into a fit of laughter. Rhett's shoulders heaved as he doubled over and clutched at his stomach. He was laughing so hard he placed a hand on Derek's shoulder to steady himself.

"Hot damn kid, why didn't you say you were a mutant?"  Rhett grabbed the edges of his jacket and gave them a few short, stiff tugs to make it rest more naturally on his broad shoulders.  Running a hand through his wavy hair Rhett was smiling again.  There was something uncanny about his toothy bright white smile.  He was smiling sure, but there always seemed to be gears turning in the back of his mind when he did.  Like he was smiling for appearances and secretly he was plotting something.  It wasn't the case this time as Rhett was just happy to meet a fellow mutant.

"So what do they call you? And don't say Derek.  That's your human name.  What's your mutant name son?  I'm puppeteer."  Rhett said nodding his head graciously.  "I can control toys with psychic thoughts.  That's about the jist of it."  Rhett said watchin the young mutant carefully.  He still didn't have a good handle on what the kid's power was so he asked outright.  "What is it you can do anyways?  Can you talk to any animal or just squirrels?" 

Derek saw Rhett's face and didn't know if he should run or punch him in the face. Most likely the former since Derek wasn't a violent person. But then he started laughing. Again, Derek didn't know if he should laugh with him or, again, run.

"...Because I wouldn't know how to bring it up." Rhett seemed like he was cool with the whole squirrel thing. He watched the older man's movement closely and tried to determine whether or not he was safe from harm. Then again, mutants usually didn't hurt other mutants unless provoked...

Mutant name? Derek didn't know if he had a mutant name or not. He decided to answer Rhett's question about his powers, "I can communicate with and influence the behavior of animals of any species or family." Derek explained with a smile. "I...thought about Faunus, but I dunno what to name myself."

Rhett looked at him a moment. He was trying to figure out why he kept looking at him funny. There was a bit of blood dripping down from his hairline. It ran down the trench of the scar over his eye. The deep wound from a long ago fight painted red as the blood trickled down.  Rhett barely noticed. He had bites and tiny scratches everywhere, but he was more concerned with the throbbing in his hand.

Rhett pulled out a bandana from his back pocket and began to wrap his hand tight. He listened to the kid.  "Don't be ashamed of being a mutant." Rhett said calmly.  Rhett was proud of his mutation.  It wasn't the most leather, but it was damn entertaining.  Rhett was a redneck a-hole who constantly throttled the line of boredom and suicidal.  He was all about risks and thrills and he didn't care about the danger.  He wasn't sore at Derek for trying to knock him on his ass. In fact, he was actually kinda glad he did.  He liked people that had a little fight in them. 

Rhett had a black bandana tied around his hand.  He reached up and rubbed his chin when he heard about Derek's mutation.  He was a little disappointed that he didn't have a corny name he went by.  All the kids now days with mutations had at least a code name.  A secret identity.  It was common sense afterall to go by something other than your own name.  That way if you found yourself in trouble you could at least blame it on your alter ego.  Your enemies couldn't track you down so easy.  "Listen here Zoo Keeper....I think that we outta....." 

Rhett's train of thought was broken off when screaming could be heard in the distance.  Rhett's head turned to see a woman running into the park screaming.  The air around them got colder suddenly.  Rhett looked back at Derek.  He didn't think he was doing it.  Was there another mutant coming into the park? Rhett balled up his fists. Rhett watched as a motorcycle came flying through the air and landed with a crash in the center of the park.  Super strength huh?  "You like to keep folks safe right? You may have to jump in here."

Ordinarily Rhett didn't mind a mutant stretching his wings and having a little fun.  Rhett wasn't about hurting people though.  He was a degenerate and a thief, and he robbed banks and armored trucks, but he generally didn't hurt anyone.  Rhett didn't even really steal for the money, mostly for the rush of it.  It didn't sit right with him when mutants hurt people it game them all a bad name.  The new mutant came into the park.  "You two aren't running.  Why aren't you running?"  The mutant said as he stared at Derek and Rhett.  All around them people were scattering except for the two mutants.  "You ready for a fight kid? May need you in a second."  Rhett said as the dummy and the teddy bear pushed themselves up from the ground and stood up.

"Oh, I'm not ashamed about bein' mutant, it's just that you never know how people will react to you once they learn that you're different," that went for the same for telling people that he was gay. It was more of a way to remain safe and intact.

Zoo Keeper? Was that his new code name now? Derek didn't know, but he kind of liked it. Then another code name popped into his head, "What about Tamer? I like that one too." Tamer sounded more threatening, yet gentler in a way. Zoo Keeper was too benevolent.

When Derek heard screaming, he turned his head toward the sound. The young mutant felt the sudden shiver and shivered. He balled his fists and whistled a few times. Two American Kestrels landed on either side of Derek's shoulders in preparation. He was getting better at calling to animals and felt very proud of himself. Seeing the motorcycle crash into the park definitely made him on edge. He looked over at Rhett. "Yeah, I feel like I'm goin' to have to, too."

Derek's eyes fell on a man, who in his mind, was pretty attractive. He knew that was a bad thing. He cleared his throat and studied the man closer, "yes, unfortunately," Derek whispered to the older man. He cleared his throat and took a small step forward, "...Can we help you, sir."

Rhett stared at the kid for a minute. Blinking several times he actually shook his head to shake off what he just heard. "Can we help you? We're not taking his freaking order kid! This isn't Olive Garden. I'm pretty sure he's here to mangle us!"  Rhett said.  Turning his attention back to the new mutey who joined the park Rhett's expression changed.   He had a look of pure disgust on his face. 

Rhett believed that mutants were superior yes, but he didn't believe in them terrorizing for the sake of destruction.  Rhett was no angel.  He liked things going boom and he enjoyed a nice blazing fire, but he wasn't an anarchist.  Rhett didn't do bad things because he was evil.  Rhett did bad things because he was bored.  He wasn't about stroking his ego, it was about finding a thrill.  Rhett walked a very thin line of crazy and chaos.  His twisted set of morals allowed for him to do just about anything he wanted with a few exceptions.

Rhett would never murder anyone or cause them harm unless they pissed him off.  Rhett would never mistreat a woman.  He was a Carolina boy, raised a southern gentleman.  His mama taught him better than that.  Rhett could find all sorts of reasons to be an ass, but he really struggled finding reasons to do good deeds.  Now, was one of those rare exceptions.  Rhett's eyes followed the screaming woman until she was gone from the playing field.  "You guys are mutants.  I can tell!"  The guy called out. 

The ventriloquist dummy and the teddy bear began walking calmly over behind Rhett.  They took places on either side of him.  Rhett's face was twisted in an expression of anger and those thoughts of rage transferred to his toys.  Ryder's painted smile seemed dripping with ill will.  It's mouth curled into a hideously evil sneer.  The teddy bear's eyes narrowed and it's usually happy face seemed furious as it reached inside it's shirt and pulled out a switch blade.  The dummy pulled out a pair of brass knuckles from the pocket of it's ripped jeans....Rhett was ready.  He only had these two toys with him but he was ready.

Rhett didn't know how to back down from a fight.  That brash redneck nature and southern pride.  Rhett wasn't sure of the extent of this guy's power but it was two on one.  "Yeah?"  Rhett called back.  "Well, then you should know who you're dealing with!  Puppeteer and the Tamer!"  Rhett tried not to wince at how corny it sounded out loud.  The kid really needed to work on a more threatening name.  The mutant smirked at them.  His eyes moved between Rhett and his new friend.  "That's cute.  Well, they call me Hercules. You're about to find out why...."  

"..................HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"  Rhett doubled over in laughter.  That had to be about the worst name ever!  He ripped it straight from greek mythology.  Rhett had heard some corny ones in his day, but suddenly the guy seemed a lot less threatening.  Rhett was still laughing when Hercules ripped a park bench right out of it's foundation and chucked it at him.  "Oh sh*t!"  Rhett yelled and dove out of the way.  Rhett hit the dirt with a thud and quickly scrambled to his feet.  The guy was fast though!  As soon as he hurled the bench he  was charging at Derek.  His fist balled and ready to cave in the side of his face. Simply because he wanted to show off his strength against a couple of mutants and prove how strong he was. 

>> "Can we help you? We're not taking his freaking order kid! This isn't Olive Garden. I'm pretty sure he's here to mangle us!"[/i][/font]

Derek shrugged his shoulders, "I dunno! It just seem polite!" He whispered to Rhett. It wasn't everyday that another mutant confronted him. Just today. He turned his attention back to the man who had arrived and shifted his weight from one leg to the other awkwardly. He didn't know whether or not he should take back his question to the man or let the chips lie where they were.

>> "That's cute. Well, they call me Hercules. You're about to find out why...."

Derek was about to say something, but was cut short by Rhett's laughing.

"Hey, stop!" Derek nudged the older man. He didn't want anything else thrown so that the man could prove that he was a threat. Derek quickly turned to watch a bench sail toward them. The youngest of the three mutants tucked and rolled out of the way, the birds on his shoulders taking to the skies.

Once Derek knew that he avoided the bench, he stood up and nudged the man was charging at him. With a quick whistling sound, the birds circled around and aimed for his eyes and mouth.

"Rhett?!" He called, looking around for the man.

"I'm here kid." Rhett groaned as he pushed himself to his feet. He dusted off his jeans as he refocused his attention on Hercules. This guy was a pain in the rear end. Rhett wasn't exactly as polite as Derek, but this guy needed to learn some manners. Rhett's eyes darted over to Ryder. The dummy seemed to hiss with laughter in Rhett's mind as it took off running towards the man.

The man saw the speedy little creature descending on him and balled his fists. He had missed his punch on Derek and since Derek rolled away he had a closer more immenent threat to deal with. Damn that little guy is fast Hercules thought as Ryder ran across the soft grass. Rhett focused all of his mental strength on Ryder causing his head to throb lightly. Ryder ran and punched Hercules in the kneecap as hard as it's little wooden arm would allow. It's punch was surprisingly powerful. It wasn't just the dummies swing, but the force of Rhett's mental excursion driving it.

"Ahhhhh" Hercules cried and dropped to one knee.  Ryder followed it up with a punch to the jaw that made his head whip around. Derek's birds about this time were attacking his eyes and mouth.  Hercules swatted at the birds.  There were to many attacks coming in at one time for him to deal with.  Rhett then called Ryder back.  In an out.  That was the strategy.  Duck and move.  It didn't do him any good to have his toys ripped apart by an angry mutant.  Ryder found his place back by Rhett as Rhett looked over to Derek.  "On your feet kid, this ain't over. Ain't even close."  Rhett's voice was not filled with the usual lighthearted joking quality.  It was serious.  Sweat dripped from Rhett's forehead.  He put a lot of mental thought into that first attack.  He was going to be exhausted after this.

At least Rhett had their toys on his side. Now they had definitely out numbered Hercules. Derek slowly got to his feet and looked at Rhett with his wide brown eyes. He didn't know what else to do, then to let the birds and toys do their job.

Then a thought popped into Derek's mind and quickly whistled to send off the birds. "...I got this," Derek told Rhett before jogging toward the aggressive mutant. He knew that this man had super strength, but that didn't mean it was impossible for him to go hand-to-hand with him in combat.

He took in a deep breath and remembered what Ranger (Ranger) taught him. With a quick breath, he gave Hercules a punch to the nose and a roundhouse kick for good measure. He regained his footing and made sure not to hurt the toys that were in his way. Derek waited for another move to be made.

"Stop this now! We don't want to hurt you!" Well, maybe Rhett did, but Derek didn't. He always felt bad about hurting another mutant. It was like hurting a distant, distant cousin or something strange like that. Wait, were all mutants related? Was Derek really having this mental discussion with himself? He quickly shook his head to get the thoughts out. 

"That kid's about to eat sh*t" The teddy bear said. The voice of the bear only being in Rhett's head. Rhett smirked at the remark from the bear standing behind him. "Probably, but let's see what the kid's got." Rhett said quietly. Rhett reached an arm up and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his silver jacket.

"You know, it's a shame I have to mess up that pretty face of yours. What do you want first huh?  Broken nose or broken jaw? Or perhaps you'd like to pick up your broken teeth with broken fingers?" The mutant said to Derek. He was picking himself up from the floor. The roundhouse kick caught him off guard and it took him down! He was bleeding from the corner of his lips. The anger in his voice said that he was getting frustrated. "Don't let him rattle you kid! You got this!" Rhett called from behind. The mutant seemed to ignore Derek's pleas for peace. Instead he charged. He wanted hand to hand combat? He got it.

Rhett was feeling the strain of the fight.  He hadn't moved from his place once, but the mental strain of animating the dolls in a fight already had him breathing heavy.  Rhett was trying his hardest to focus all his thoughts on landing powerful blows and it was taking it's toll.  He was going to sit this next part out and see if Derek had what it took to handle it on his own.  If not Rhett would surely step in and finish it.