It was a world that Akshay was still getting used to. There were times where he didn’t think he ever would. Something it was just too...weird. But then there were others where he remembered that he was doing something he loved. Sure it had its stress and scary moments, but it was something that he truly enjoyed and that meant he achieved something that so few others have.

But it was good to know that he wasn’t the only one facing such a situation. When he turned the question back around on Sveta, he learned that she too had achieved a sort of windfall. Granted he didn’t know much about her prior to this, but judging by what she said, she was running a rather lucrative organization! And for a great cause too!

And here he was, just make money in entertainment. Clearly one of them had a far better moral center.

He snickered a bit, taking a sip from his flute of champagne. ”Wow,” he chuckled good naturedly. ”Way to make the Hollywood sell-out sound like a completely selfish tool.” He was kidding, of course. His broad smile was enough to make that known. ”I’m kidding. That’s really great, though. I’m glad to hear that you are doing so well, and for such a noble cause. If you have the name of the outreach group, I’d love to pass the info along to some of my friends back in California. They love to give to organizations like that!”

He glanced again at his possible purchase but, upon turning back, he spotted Sveta watching several other individuals who had seemingly joined the party. They didn’t seem altogether interested. Then why come?. Still, he only paid attention to them because his new companion had pointed them out.

His brow arched as he watched them for second before turning to her and shaking his head. ”Nope,” he said. ”I’m still kinda fresh to the city again. Why? Do they seem out of place?”

It was hard to summarize all that Sveta had been doing, and all that Haven was up to, in a way that it did not sound too clandestine, or too idealistic. In a way it was both, but Akshay did not need to know that. He was here, like most of the guests, to spend some of his copious amounts of money on a good cause. And probably buy a comic book. Either was, as long as he thought Sveta was solely working for charity, she was fine with that.

>>”Wow. Way to make the Hollywood sell-out sound like a completely selfish tool... I’m kidding. That’s really great, though. I’m glad to hear that you are doing so well, and for such a noble cause. If you have the name of the outreach group, I’d love to pass the info along to some of my friends back in California. They love to give to organizations like that!”

Bless him. If only he knew that she had no mora high ground to stand on around here...

"It's called Haven. We are running this auction. I'll give you my card." she said with an easy smile, her attention distracted by the new arrivals. They did not look like they were here for comics. Or a good cause.

>>”Nope. I’m still kinda fresh to the city again. Why? Do they seem out of place?”

"Don't they?" she mused. Rather than being in a giving mood, the men looked like they were casing the joint. Sveta's eyes narrowed. She knew these events were going to draw attention sooner or later. "Hey, Aksay, can I ask you a favor?... Would you mind having a chat with them?"

Haven. Hrm, he would have to remember that name to pass along to his more charitable friends back in California. They were always looking for good places to donate money. And not just because it looked good on a tax form! That was a miracle in and of itself! Either way, Haven would surely get some nice donations once he was done here tonight. It really seemed like Sveta had gotten herself lined up with an amazing organization. He truly hoped they continued to do the good they set out to do.

But as he mentally locked away that name, his attention was turned to the newcomers. In reality he didn’t give them all that hard of a look but once Sveta pointed out that they looked out of place, he squinted a little. Interesting. They didn’t seem all that interested in being here. That wasn’t strange in and of itself, after all, he had been dragged to events that he found boring too. But so many of them? And all coming in at the same time?

Admittedly, that was a little strange.

Akshay was about to let the matter go when Sveta turned to him and asked a favor. Would he mind talking to them? He was somewhat confused by the request. After all, if there was really some cause for concern, shouldn’t security get involved? Maybe she didn’t want things to escalate or cause an embarrassment. Easier to just stroll up as a stranger and strike up a conversation.

He shrugged his shoulders. ”Ugh, yeah, sure,” he said. ”I’ll be right back.”

He smiled, adjusted his suit a little, and subtly made his way over to one of the people that had walked in. Up close they did seem like they were acting the smallest bit suspicious but he didn’t point anything outright. Instead he hovered a little close until he caught one of their eyes, smiled and held up his strike.

”Hello!” he greeted cheerily. ”Having a good time?”

Shit. Why did that sound like a pick-up line?

It felt a bit unfair to send Akshay into the jaws of the lion (or whoever people said it). He meant well, and was definitely too nice for playing politics at a fancy auction. But Sveta could not approach the people without being pegged as the host of the event, and she wanted to find out what they were doing here first. Because the look on the three men's faces did not spell 'charity'.

Sveta mingled, moving strategically closer to the entrance to keep an eye on Akshay.

>>”Hello! Having a good time?”

The three men turned to look at Akshay as if they were not used to being addressed in such a friendly manner. Two looked at the third, it was clearly his right to answer.

"We just arrived" he said, with hints of an accent in his voice "We were told this is a... charity event? For the mutant clinic down the street?"

Akshay didn’t know why he was doing this. A pretty girl asked him to do something and while he wasn’t the type to feel like he had a chance with every pretty woman who spoke to him, often times he would discover that he blacked out and agreed to any strange demand. In this instance he was asked if he could talk to a trio of strange men who made it into the party that seemed out of place. Really this should have been a call to security but, lo and behold, he stupidly opened his mouth and agreed to participate.

Stupid Akshay. But, oh well. He was in too deep now.

He smiled cheerily to the newcomers, giving each of them a nod as the lead man seemed to be speaking for the group. After reiterating that they had just arrived, he asked if this was a charity event being held for the mutant clinic in the city. Though Akshay didn’t get all the details from Sveta, it certainly seemed like that was the case. So, he nodded.

”Oh yes!” he nodded. ”Totally worthy cause! I hear that they do such amazing work with mutants. But, you know, charitable institutions like that need all the help they can get. Categorically they are usually greatly underfunded, even though they heart is there.” He nodded matter-of-factly.

Sveta watched as the men scanned the crowd, probably noting the general economic class, and the free food and drinks. She had expected the cause to raise some flags. The clinic was a good place, doing important work, but it was also in the middle of useful real estate, as far as the local bosses were concerned. Some of whom did not like poor mutants flocking there.

>>”Oh yes! Totally worthy cause! I hear that they do such amazing work with mutants. But, you know, charitable institutions like that need all the help they can get. Categorically they are usually greatly underfunded, even though they heart is there.”

Bless Akshay. The men looked at him like he was out of hit wits. The boss guy actually sneered, but then tried to get his face in a more neutral arrangement.

"Are you the one in charge of this event?"

Akshay knew that he was digging himself deeper into whatever this was. The longer he interacted with these guys, the more uncomfortable he felt. It was clear that they weren’t the most talkative types and there really was something that was just suspicious about them. They really didn’t seem like the types of people to come to a charity event and they weren’t participating in anything. They were just...looking around. So weird. He could see why Svetlana was a little suspicious.

His eyes drifted across the room, trying to find where she had gone off to. Could he signal her? Maybe wave her down or perform morse code with his eyebrows in some attempt to signal her that something was up? Sadly, before he could locate her, the initial man he had begun speaking to drew him back with a question.

Did he run this? Hrm. He had to be careful here. His initial thought was to respond with honesty. But the reality was he wasn’t entirely sure who the head honcho was. He didn’t have a lot of time to speak to Sveta but he assumed it was her. Still, he didn’t want her to get on the radar of these guys. No, maybe he could delve a bit deeper into their motives and flag security on his own. They had to be everywhere here, right?

He cleared his throat and nodded. ”Oh, yes. Akshay,” he said, holding his hand out to them. ”Akshay Malik. Happy to meet you. Recent move from California. Thought I would put together a little party to raise some funds for a worthy cause. The medical center can use whatever help you all are willing to give, whether money or just volunteer time, of course.”

He knew how to act the part. The problem was he wondered where exactly Sveta had gone off to...

Sveta moved between guests, not stopping completely because it would have been too obvious to stop and stare. Akshay seemed to be holding his own so far, although the new guests were definitely not all warm and friendly towards him. She knew she would have to intervene soon, but she hoped she could do it without a public confrontation.

Akshay offered a hand. The man looked down at it like it was borderline offensive, then accepted it, squeezing Akshay's hand a tad longer and harder than necessary.

"Well, Mr. Malik, then you are just the man we are looking for. Let's speak in private, shall we?"

It sounded polite, but it was not really a request. The three men surrounded Akshay like old friends, and walked with him across the room towards the door that opened to the back hallway next to the bar.

Sh*t.

Akshay was not really known to the charity crowd yet. Him and some guys walking around did not really raise flags for anyone except Sveta. Putting her glass on a table, she moved after them, following along; she nodded to a security guy, signaling him to keep people from following her.

This was going to get interesting...

Aw sh*t. Akshay had seen that look in the man’s eyes before. He wanted to take Akshay somewhere private to talk. He doubted that could mean anything good. However rather than be able to step away from it, it seemed that he was in too deep. If he broke away, they would immediately note that something was wrong. But if he went with them, surely he would be in trouble.

Still, maybe he could talk to them. Maybe he could try and quell whatever idiot plan that they had. This wasn’t the place for it, obviously, and he didn’t want to take money away from that hospital. If anything he could try to pay them off himself or at least say he would. After all, he could afford security if he really, really needed to.

And, again, he didn’t want to get Sveta in trouble. Waving her down would only turn their attention towards her. No, he would have to try to be as diplomatic as possible with this.

He was led away, moving towards one of the backdoors. He wanted to try to subtly flag down security, just in case, but with everyone in tuxes and fancy attire, it was hard to tell who was a guard and who was just an anti-social partygoer. Ugh, he was going to have to handle this himself.

Once they were out in the alley in the back, Akshay breathed in the night air (in hopes to settle his nerves) and turned to the men. ”Hey guys, bit chilly out here, no? Why don’t we stay inside? It’s warm. There’s free champagne. Little appetizer weiners. Surely that’s gotta entice you.”

The door opened to the alley behind the building, which seemed to be a fact the three men were familiar with. No personnel stopped them on their way out; they didn't care, didn't notice, or knew well enough not to notice. Probably a combination of all of the above. Once out of sight and out of mind, the three men took up positions so that Akshay was in the middle of a loose triangle, with no clear exit in sight.

>>”Hey guys, bit chilly out here, no? Why don’t we stay inside? It’s warm. There’s free champagne. Little appetizer weiners. Surely that’s gotta entice you.”

"Don't worry, Mr. Malik, you can get back to your little wieners soon enough" the leader smirked, stepping up to Akshay, disregarding personal space "As long as we just have a quick business chat and come to an agreement, yes? We agree, we shake on it, and you get warm again. Sounds nice, doesn't it?"

One of the other two men snickered. They were probably not paid for their sense of humor.

"Now, I know it must be a misunderstanding, this event. You said its fundraising, for the mutant clinic, right? I do like a good cause. Good money needs to go to good causes. But... I am sad to say, that clinic is closing soon. You understand? There are plenty of good causes. In other neighborhoods. So, this neighborhood, you support through us. Say goodbye to the clinic, maybe the put up elsewhere. Everyone is happy."

"You know what the problem is with sexism?"Sveta's voice interrupted the lil villain monologue as she stepped out the door, closing it behind her "This is 2020, the Age of the Internet, boys, and Haven is getting shit done. You should've known the boss is a woman."

So Akshay had seen this movie before. He remembered being in a movie theater, chuckling and shaking his head at the poor character that was invited to a back alley by a bunch of goons and then proceeded to have his ass handed to him. He was lucky that they left him alive, but at the same time, the state that they left him in wasn’t the most ideal either. If Akshay were watching himself from the outside, he definitely would be chuckling at the poor man’s upcoming fate.

Standing in the midst of three men, he could honestly see this going one of two ways. And since there was no synthesized porn music playing in the air around them, he had a feeling that the worst of the two outcomes was right on his doorstep. His gaze shifted between the three men who surrounded him as he tried to think of the right thing to say.

That’s when the exact wrong thing came out. Ugh, he wanted to slap his own self for that. As a matter of fact, he partially considered a plan where he just acted completely out of his mind in hopes that they would run off, thinking he was insane. But before he could even attempt it, he could see that dangerous glare in their eyes. There was no escape now.

They were bigots, as it turned out. People who didn’t want mutants to receive any services and more than willing to ensure he paid a really, really bad price for even attempting to make that a reality. Yeah, the heck with Sveta. He really should have just stayed in his penthouse and watched a movie -- or at least called a hooker like most of his peers in his line of work.

”Hey, guys, come on,” he said with a sigh and a shake of his head. ”We should be helping one another, not--”

There was the sound of interruption. All heads turned to see another figure that joined them...Svetlana. Akshay breathed a small sigh of relief and looked to see if she had brought cops or guards with her. Instead she was standing by herself. Seeing that, he immediately felt scared for his friend. Was she going to be the new focus of their attention, for obvious reasons?

He could see their leering gazes and Akshay tried to step up. He didn’t want her to get hurt or put into some other horrible position. So he spoke up.

”Ugh, gentlemen, don’t mind her. You wanted to threaten...I mean...talk to me. So let’s talk privately.” He cleared this throat as he turned back to Sveta. ”I got this. Please go back inside…”

The three men turned to stare at her; she assumed that had more to do with her outfit than her words. Or maybe a combination of both. She was definitely intruding on a would-be mafia intimidation scene here. She felt guilty about getting Akshay in the middle of it. The boss (well, the head thug, anyway, she doubted he was very high on the food chain, otherwise they would not send him to harass a fundraiser) seemed amused at her appearance.

"You can be my boss any time, sweet cheeks."

Ugh.

>>”Ugh, gentlemen, don’t mind her. You wanted to threaten...I mean...talk to me. So let’s talk privately. I got this. Please go back inside…”

Sveta knew for a fact the three men were not carrying firearms. She paid event security well to make sure of that. That did not mean they were unarmed, however, just as she wasn't either. The green dress she was wearing did not really leave and space for stuffing a gun in her underwear, but she did have a switchblade strapped to her thigh, because being a cliché was not as painful as being dead. But only slightly.

"I really appreciate the help, Akshay" she smiled. Bless him, he would literally take one for the team. "I got this."

"And I got you, baby."

"Oh, shut the hell up." Sveta turned to face the guy "I know why you're here and I know who sent you. And the answer is no. Leave the clinic alone. In fact, leave the whole neighborhood alone. You don't want to mess with the guy who can level half the city when he's pissed."

"What guy? This guy? I don't see no city-leveling guy..."

Sveta sighed.

"I really don't want to ruin this dress. Get lost."

Akshay didn’t like what was happening here. The thug had him surrounded, they were clearly getting ready to make him hurt if he didn’t agree with their demands, and now Sveta was here, a future victim if they didn’t get this situation contained. Ugh, that’s what he gets for going out and agreeing to talk to strangers. Really, this was all his fault and he should have known better. But, back to the matter at hand.

He looked between Sveta and the thugs. She reminded them that she was the head of Haven, not Akshay. The way she stood her ground, the strength she showed, it was inspiring to say the least. Not that Akshay wanted to get into those old, chauvinist tropes where she was the weak woman and he should sacrifice himself for her. That wasn’t what this was about. It was more that he didn’t want his friend (acquaintance, really) to get hurt.

She wasn’t standing down. And neither were the lunk heads that she was warning. This wasn’t good.

His chest rose a little when she warned them against threatening a man who could level the city. Could he play that? Sure. He could try! He was tall and intimidating -- or tall at least! Maybe if he acted it just right, he could come off as--

He deflated just a tiny bit when one of the thugs sneered that he didn’t look scary at all. Akshay wasn’t capable of that power, sure, but for someone to not even be a little nervous about someone saying that about him was...well, it was disappointing. What had he been working out this whole time for?

”Heeey…” he whined, but no one paid him any attention.

A line was crossed in the sand. However it seemed that both parties were willing to cross it. Even though Sveta gave them one last warning to back off, they refused. And, soon enough, the man who had been talking to and threatening Akshay was the first to step forward.

The line was crossed. Judging from the look in Sveta’s eyes, that seemed like a mistake. Akshay piped in, whispering under his breath.

”I...probably...wouldn’t do that…” he muttered.

>>”Heeey…”

Akshay was still there. Brownie points for that. He could have run away, or could have thrown himself into the fray like a knight in shining armor, but he did neither. Sveta hoped he'd continue doing that, for his own good. She had been talking about Devon when she mentioned leveling city blocks, but these dudes obviously were not up to date on Haven's firepower.

And it made them bold.

>>”I...probably...wouldn’t do that…”

"Do what? Get to know the boss lady better?"

Sveta threw a punch with great accuracy. She felt the nose break under her fist, and her glove was spattered with blood. Damn. The man staggered back with a stunned and hurt look on his face. "Bitch!"

One of the others threw himself at Sveta. She ducked, stepping out of the way, and kicked him in the back of the knee. She'd have to kick off the heels soon, but for now, they were good for extra pain.

Sometimes, dealing with things in hand-to-hand combat was the simplest way to go.

Akshay shook his head as the first thug that he had tried to warn sneered at his comment. The moron was quickly met with a firm punch to the nose, breaking in the cartilage and causing a spurt of blood. Akshay, and the rest of the thugs, were all taken aback by the sudden move. Akshay was especially affected -- ugh, that was so much blood.

A wave of anger seemed to course through the men. As one recoiled from the punch, another took a leap at her. The wordsmith didn’t even had to time to shout out a warning for her as she quickly clocked the thug, side-stepped, and threw her heel hard into the back of his knee. The sounds and whimper that flew from his throat were enough to even make Akshay feel sorry for him.

That’s when he looked back to Sveta. Wow. A smile pulled at his lips as he watched her operate, thoroughly impressed with the way that she handled herself.

Another thug, despite seeing his comrades taken down, went in for the attack. However, as he managed to pull Sveta’s attention, he turned to see the first man with the broken nose pull a gun from the inside of his coat. Startled, Akshay shouted: ”Baseball bat!”.

The word formed in thin air. Plucking it out with his bare hands, he immediately swung it the gunman, smashing him across the shoulder, causing him to drop the gun with a clatter. The word burst into shards of psionic energy before disappearing into thin air. Akshay grew wide-eyed as the thug turned, holding his shoulder, and then barreled into him.

”AHH!” Akshay attempted to run a few steps back but was tackled across the waist and thrown to the ground.

“Damn freaks!!” the man yelled and made ready to pummel Akshay into the ground like a railroad spike.