(Continued from Looking for trouble. I decided that you had a pretty good name for the thread Cold Steel.)

The Shadow Stalker silently moved to poach the two unsuspecting mutants and make them both a new addition to its growing count of victims that were trapped in the camps. Deactivating its cloaking device, the Stalker decided to first scare the hair off of its victims. However, one of them surprised even this robot.

Shade didn't need to be told to jump because he was already in the air from surprise. Suddenly, he had became the one in tow and nearly had his head sliced off by an invisible Stalker. Was there anything these robots couldn't do?

The Stalker gave a metallic roar (though slightly higher than its larger cousins) as it latched onto a wall to avoid the slippery floor. Following the mutants while still attached to the wall, the Stalker came around thoroughly pissed off. It wanted blood.

"You know, this might not be the best time for questions." Shade said as he noticed the rampet robot behind them. Breaking the young mutant's grasp, Shade slid off course and landed slightly off balance on the hard concrete. That was the moment the Stalker had been waiting for. Leaping off the walls, the robotic beast flew at the mutant like a velicoraptor pouncing on its prey.

(Just to tell you. The Shadows aren't shielded. So you can hurt them a little, but they are great close range fighters so have fun.)

Steel, saw the hunter jump towards the mutant, almost in a split second, right before the hunter was about to pounce, Steel concentrated, within a fraction of a second a spear was formed and thrown into the hunter, it only dented the armor, but it served it’s purpose. It ended up knocking the hunter inches away from the mutant. Steel formed two katanas of ice. Steel didn’t like to run into a fight but when the situation called for it he was ready to fight. Steel stepped in between the mutant murder machine and the mutant, getting into a defensive stance.

Stepping to the side, Steel was in the perfect position to see the mutant, but still focusing his attention on the hunter, spoke up and asked the mutant “so… you any good in a fight or more of escape artist, because if were stuck in a fight not to sure if this will be cake.” Waiting for a reply the hunter jumped and was going for the kill, unless it’s arms in a very fast blurr Steel got hit by two of the seven hits. Each punch felt like a brick to the body. Times like this Steel was happy he didn’t have a normal childhood and was happy that the faction of the government taught him how to take a hit. The thick ice armor helped a lot as well, if it wasn’t for that he would be down for the count.

The next two blows seemed to be a little slower than the first just because it was a robot. After training for years to fight just about anything other than people, robots were very easy to manipulate. At least they were. Steel was glad he could lower the temperature of air molecules to practically nothing. Using this power on the joints of some robots made them practically immobile. Some, unfortunately this hunter was not a normal robot, Steel side stepped 3 blows from the mutant hunter and then brandishing his swords only got two swings with his swords, the first cut a wire on his side and one knocked the small missile arm it had on it’s other side.

“Oh yea” said Steel all excited. Up until he realized what the robot was doing, the joints on the robot started to vibrate and accelerate. The cold chill that surrounded the two was no more. The chill around Steel was still there but the robot started to move faster, pulling out its laser, it shot threw the sword Steel was wielding.

Steel gasped as the laser hit his shoulder passing threw the swords. Steel gasping for air asked “any ideas?”.

Shade rolled as the Stalker dove at him, missing the mutant by near centimeters. Scrambling back to his feet, Shade watched as the robot used Cold Steel as a punching bag. Using this opportunity to attack, the black blades threw from Shade's hands as he tried to damage the robot. Ticking off its side like rain, they proved little more than a distraction.

"Slash at the joints!" Shade yelled at Steel before he had to leap out of the way of a laser.

The distraction was all Steel needed, with all of the attention focused on Shade, Steel leapt to the floor using his body armor like a sled and slid right up to the stalker. The one Laser arm was targeting at Shade, and completely exposed. Two swords one arm Steel loved those odds as he was coming up from behind he slid over to the laser arm using his momentum along with the swords. The two blades cleaved right through, without stopping Cold Steel lost control of where he was going and skidded into a car. Hoping that there wasn’t much the hunter could do Steel took a breath and got up. He had never been this tired in his life, fighting on an empty stomach was something that Steel hated with a passion, food was the motivation he needed to keep going. But he had a new motivation talking with this mysterious mutant. He Saved Steel’s life more than once, he needed a name at least.

Steel looked at the huge dent in the car and thought that would suck to have to pay for. Steel turned around getting more and more exhausted, he asked the mutant “how accurate are you with your daggers, I might have a plan.”

"Good enough to hit the thing." Shade said as he crouched behind a car for cover. The Stalker seemed lost after the dismemberment of its laser. However, it had now recovered and was going to vengence on these pathetic mutants. Charging towards the two, he locked onto the ice man who was laying on the ground.

The Stalker, however, didn't make it halfway across the alley before several blades smashed into its side. Using the car's shadow, Shade had rolled under the car and 'jumped' to the back end of the alley. The metallic fiend turned to find its assailant as several more daggers flew from the shadows, impacting into the side of the robot. It let out a metallic roar before turning back to continue its assault on the ice guy.

The Hunter jumped and lunged at Steel. Steel side stepped one punch then they started to hit and then the hunter started his barrage of punches, one after another they hit Steel. After four of them the machine started to slow again. Even though he was in pain Steel smirked. He knew how to beat noticing the pattern in the fight so far.

The pattern that had been happing was with every punch that the hunter threw the next one on the same arm came in a little slower; this was how they would win. The robot stepped back and started to accelerate the joints again, thawing them out. Steel was ready for the next few hits. As the first of the punches came instead of avoiding, or backing up to diffuse the punch Steel took the punch head on allowing it to impact into his stomach he could feel the ice crack and the metal in the skin. This thing was strong, knocking the wind out of Steel it pulled back for the next punch. Steel armored up and again and took the hit. Then by the third one the punches came in slower than they have ever before. Steel saw his opening and grabbed the arms freezing two to three spots, each one of the particular gears that moved the joints.

The reason he had found a chink in the armor of the hunter was because every time Steel was hit a little bit of the subzero temp impacted the fist, and in turn lowering the temperature on the joints and arms making it harder to move. All his training paid off by turning the Hunter’s strength into a weakness.

Steel forgot something an important detail, the feet. Steel got a kick straight to the leg. It broke clear though the ice impacting the leg, damaging it severely. Losing focus Steel howled in pain, and let go of the hunter, as he was flying Steel yelled shadowed man, “TAKE OUT THE JOINTS ON THE ARMS THEY WILL BREAK.” A brick wall broke Steel’s fall. Steel looked up hoping his half-baked plan worked.

The Stalker was seemingly concentrated on finishing off the ice mutant as it slowly stomped off towards Steel. A quck 'jump' and Shade was across the alley. One of Steel's blades laid slowly melting on the floor in front of him. Now in a slight jog, Shade carefully picked up the ice weapon as he quietly moved to cleave off the frozen arm of the metallic beast. Fighting the cold had was slowly creeping through his hands, Shade got in range and lifted the sword to slice off the remaining arm.

Wham! The arm suddenly shot back, smashing into Shade's side, sending him sliding across the concrete. The ice sword flew through the air and sliced into a car's hood, the blade impaled in the steel. Shade slowly turned his head from the sword to look at the Stalker. He sworn it was laughing as a grinding metal sound came from its voice box. It turned back to finish the fight.

Upset that his plan didn’t work Steel was afraid it would end here. He wouldn’t stand for it there were two many things he still has to find and discover. Steel refusing to give into his injured leg stood and started walking with a limp to the robot. The robot started its charge, arm still frozen relying heavily on the momentum he was getting.

Steel was knocked back several feet still standing. The robot was still stronger; due to his injured leg there wasn’t much maneuvering he could do. There was one move that he could use but seeing as it has repercussions he wasn’t too sure.

Steel gasped as the robotic demons arm thawed out and grabbed Steel around the neck cutting off his air supply. This could be it he has to use his ace in the hole. Worry about his new friend and the innocent bystanders walking around, he concentrated.
The temperature started to drop dramatically within a 10-foot radius the ground was covered in ice, metal started to freeze glass shattered. It was getting colder and colder now in the negatives the area surrounding the hunter and Steel began to glow from the suns reflection becoming brighter and brighter. The air around them started to get colder and colder, dense and dense making it more difficult for Steel to breath, normally this is a walk in the park for him but the robotic hands were tightening, if robots could show emotion Steel would have seen shock in the cold lifeless robotic eyes.

Steel looked over to the teleporting mutant to see that the ice started to cover the ground close to him. Worried Steel would kill him he dropped the temperature faster to get this over with, hoping that the teleporter would port further away, seeing as twenty feet is as far as his power reaches. Now reaching negative -300, Steel was starting to feel tired from pushing his power so far; he has never gone this cold. The closest he came to was -290 but he was unconscious for a day after.

“Almost there a little colder, just a little more.” Steel said to himself as his vision began to blurr, the robotic hand began to crack, Steel could breathe again but not much. Such a strain on his power, Steels eyes began to glow a bright blue, he was hitting his peak. -320 the equivalence to liquid nitrogen stopped the robot cold. Steel pushing he put all his energy into one punch, and struck.

The punch went straight threw the torso, Steel feeling all his energy drained fell to the ground, as all the ice around him shattered instantly. The last words before Steel fell was "are you ok", directing it to the mutant. Steel was covered in bits of ice unconscious, bumps and bruises covering his body and blood dripping from his nose.



Steel awoke a half hour after the incedent feeling dizzy and disoriented. He got a head rush from standing to quick, and touched his nose. Blood was all over his finger. Steel looked around to see the Hunter bot down for the count. Steel couldn't find the mutant anywhere. Bummer here he thought he made a new friend. Just relizing that a group of people were sourrnding him he decided to book it before the cops or another robot comes. Still feeling drained and sore all over, Steel just ran down the alley and out into the street hoping to get lost in a crowd.

It had been impossible for Shade to keep his eyes open as the ice guy made the temperature plumet around him. If he had, he probably wouldn't have left the mutant to fend for himself. However, Shade had decided now with the immediate threat destroyed it was time to ditch. After a slight inspection of his unconscious acquaintance, Shade had quickly 'jumped' through several shadows and was over a mile from the scene in less than a minute.

What had he been thinking anyways? He should have left that mutant there to rot when that second Stalker showed up. It wasn't like Shade really cared for the guy anyways. That guy just happened to be on the wrong street at the wrong time, and Shade had nearly died trying to help him? The hooded mutant pounded his head with his fist a couple of times before continuing his thought chain. What had he been thinking?

It didn't matter know though. The next time he would probably see that mutant was either on T.V. or stuck by his blade. Shade couldn't see how else they would meet.