Jacen barely had time to stop the vehicle and get over into a parking space before Lori was already dissapearing into the subway. This was just so much like her that it wasn't even funny. "Still no phone and no way to contact you." The man muttered to himself, ever so slightly annoyed as he leaned his seat back so he could be a little more comfortable, "Why is it becoming more and more obvious that you're just a touch of a control freak Miss Lori?"

***

The time ticked by and even though Jacen was doing his best to ignore the clock he caught himself continueing to glance at it. Five minutes dragged on to ten which eventually led to fifteen. Even though Lori had said it might take up to thirty he was already preparing to go check out the subway station if she wasn't back in twenty. Of course, if she was wanting to get away it would be far to late to try and track her down after a twenty minutes head start.

Finally after almost nineteen minutes she was climbing back into the car and handing him some somewhat rumpled but still relatively nice clothes. "All black?" Jacen asked with a slight grin as he took a quick gander at the sizes. The pants looked good but the shirt was deffinately going to be tight. Hopefully it wouldn't be to tight but there was no question that almost nothing would be left to the imagination, "You trying to make me look like the bad guy or something?"

Flashing Lori a quick grin to show that he was joking Jacen slowly pulled out of the parking spot and then made his way back over to meld with traffic. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see the gray, yellow, and black fabric neatly folded but without closer examination there would be no way to know exactly what Lori had picked out for herself.

"I guess we should probably stop somewhere and see about changing clothes before we actually stop at our destination. Unless of course you want to get changed in the truck. Then I'll just pull over somewhere secluded and enjoy the show." Jacen said with a smirk as he glanced over at Lori and then brought his gaze back to the road but even then he continued to watch her out of the corner of his eye. Her expression was going to be great, he just knew it.

"You mean you're not a bad guy?" If he wasn't a bad guy, why was she wasting her time with him? Lori considered herself quite the bad girl, black clothes or not. She'd chosen black slacks for herself and a baseball tee that was grey with yellow 3/4 sleeves. The shirt was too big and would definitely hang over the shoulder more than her current borrowed one from Jacen, but that was kind of the style... or something. She typically tied up the extra in a knot at her stomach and considered herself good.

"Black is the color of the arts, right? Beatniks and all that. Would you rather be a beatnik? I think I could swipe you a beret." But that was in jest. Really black was a safe choice. A sort of neutral that meant he would be unable to pass fashion condemnation on her. Really, some of those donation clothes were bad and if even Lori knew that, then it really had to be horrible.

Lori shrugged at Jacen's comments. "Unless you're looking to start something..." She gave him a look to let him know that they both knew just what that something was. "I thought we'd just change in the truck. If this is a change before hand sort of event, of course. But if we have time to stop somewhere, sure." It was another one of those no big deal things. Yes, getting undressed and dressed in the traditional sense was rather intimate, but everyone went to gym in high school, right? She could pull her arms through shirts and swap out her pants without flashing too much skin at all. Of course that was no fun, but they were apparently on a time line now. "Up to you." She shrugged.

"Well, how about we just say the jury's out on that one." Jacen said with a quick laugh at Lori's bad guy comment. Ever since meeting Lori he had to admit to himself that he was drifting away from his comfort zone. He wasn't particularly ready to say that he was a bad person and honestly he didn't think he ever woudl be a completely bad person but maybe he wasn't as good as he had previously though. Yeah... that was it. He wasn't a good guy but he wasn't really a bad guy. But, what would you call someone in between?

"Well as much as I might be interested in starting... other activities, I'm actually enjoying just doing other stuff with you." Jacen said after a few moments thought and a slight grin in Lori's direction, "Although I can't let it be said that I passed up the opportunity to watch you get changed."

Scanning the road for several moments Jacen finally spotted an empty parking lot that had the bulbs on two or three of its lamp posts busted out. It didn't look like the safest place in the world and he deffinately wouldn't choose it as a place for necking with Lori, but it should be safe enough for just a quick change of clothes in the vehicle.

"Although... if I'm quick I might just manage to kiss some of that bare skin before she can completely cover up." Jacen amused himself with the thought as he pulled into the parking area and pulled over into the shadows. After locking the doors, Jacen put the vehicle in park and then turned off the engine so that they wouldn't be to obvious while sitting there. He did however leave the key in the ignition so that the interior truck lights wouldn't come on.

"Here's as good a place as any." Jacen announced with a grin as he reached down and pulled his undershirt and overshirt up over his head with one quick move. Kicking off his shoes Jacen's hands moved to the fastener at his waist while he watched Lori begin to change. First chance he had she was gonna get a surprise kiss!

((OOC: modding with approval it's teh only way to fly.))

And so it was. Lori wasted no time in pulling her arms through the sleeve holes, it was big enough that she wasn't stretching the shirt too much when she stuck her arms out the bottom in search of the pre-bunched baseball tee. In one swift movement Lori had the old shirt off and the new one half on only caught on her shoulders in the back. That was when the first kiss struck.

She yelped like he had stabbed her. It was so unexpected to receive a torpedo-like kiss on the shoulder above the bra and just beneath the shirt. Lori pulled down her shirt dodging other attempted torpedos until it was time to switch pants. There was no way with the shift of weight and occupation of her hands that she could dodge any kiss hopefuls.

Afraid, or rather distrustful of what Jacen would do with the opportunity, Lori grabbed his cheeks with both hands and pressed her lips against his. She'd played this game before, teasing... walking this line of almost-but-not-quite. The trick was to get her pants on before it got too serious... which was all kinds of backwards. Not only had Jacen already seen the whole song and dance, but putting pants on... yeah this game of almost shouldn't be as effective as it was... for either of them.

***

Dressed and finally reaching the Manhattan Bridge, Lori was focused to a fine point. There were only a few people milling around and she just couldn't determine what was happening here. Even after they were approaching on foot, she saw there was a plywood board that seemed to be advertising... levels of dip? As Jacen started to search out who was in charge, Lori hung back to inspect the wood sign. This looked suspiciously like...

"Emily!" There were fingers digging into her ribs and suddenly the world was spinning around a focal point behind her. The voice was male and eerily familiar, the hands were strong and of a darker tone than was possible from just a good tan. Lori instinctively tugged at the hands holding her, but before she made any headway, the ride was over and she was turning on the balls of her feet ready to hit....

"Lazarus?" They hugged, Lori extending a leg around the man of color for a brief moment as they shared a kiss for each cheek. "You scared the hooey out of me!"

"You here to jump?"

Lori shrugged. "Apparently. Jacen, this is Lazarus. He'll always bring you back. We hung in college." Though they shared groups of friends they did not ever have classes together, hence the lack of real name knowledge. The man called Lazarus arched a brow at the pair. "Jacen as in Jacen and Lori?" The skepticism was thick in his voice. Lori only winked. Years of subterfuge couldn't be undone just because of one chance encounter.

"Emma, you know lying is bad." He cupped her face and pushed back her hair with his palm as he spoke, an intimate gesture to be sure.

"So is this little shindig, but you don't hear me complaining." She stuck out her tongue and that was that. Lazarus retracted his hand and went to business explaining the ins and outs of this bungee experience. What was a name compared to tax evasion, running a business without the proper permits and licensing, among other transgressions?

Cash up front, Lazarus went on to point out the levels of dip. Full body, to the ankles, middle of the road, or just a head in those sickly sweet polluted waters. Lori looked at Jacen, uncertain. She protested the dipping, but bungee was by no means an exact art. There was no guarantee they could keep her pollution free, so she chased a more feasible option. "Is there a way we can jump at the same time?"

"Lover's embrace? Hoo, Emmy, you can't be serious about this boy. You can't jump seperate and at the same time, you'd bang together. If you can't let go of him for that long, you may as well get strapped in together."

She frowned. That wasn't it... not really... not that she could admit. She just didn't want to fry what little wildlife was left to this poor river. Not to mention her identity as a mutant would remain secret to her friend and there was no risk of power leakage. Lori shrugged at Jacen. It was his money...

His timing had been perfect and Jacen could feel the sweet thrill of victory as his lips planted one on the bare skin between her shoulder blades. Quickly pulling back he just narrowly avoided being captured by the descending t-shirt and then his lips smirked as his eyes continued watching for the next opportunity. Was it even possible to recreate a yelp as precious as the one Lori had just let out? Apparently it was not in the cards for Jacen to find out that night. Suddenly Lori's hand were on his cheeks and her lips were pressed against his as she apparently tried to figure someway to get the pants on without using her hands.

***

As they arrived at the bridge Jacen was still marvelling at just how flexible Lori really was. While she hadn't been able to get her pants all the way on without her hands, she had been able to use the seat to scoot them upward an amazing distance before finally having to release his face. At that point she had been far enough along that he had simply gone on to focus on pulling on his own clothes before finally heading out.

While Lori stopped by a temporary wooden sign that had been set up, Jacen made his way over to the wooden crate that was currently acting as a desk. A cash box sat on top of it and along with the man that was collecting payment was another individual with a very obvious bulge under his thin wind breaker. "Security." Jacen thought with a smirk as he handed over payment for the two of them to jump and then made his way back over to Lori.

"Nice to meet you Lazarus." Jacen offered when introductions were made. Turning his eyes back over the river, he tried not to smirk as he heard the other man begin to lecture 'Emmy' about the pitfalls of lieing. The funniest part of course was that more than likely Lazarus meant her lieing to Jacen about her name being 'Lori' while not realizing he was actually the one being lied to. Sometimes life could be really ironic.

"Lover's embrace, full dip." Jacen said without the slightest hesitation before glancing over at Lori and giving her a quick wink. Lowering his voice quickly he muttered a few words that were meant for her ears alone, "Gotta give you reason for a shower later."

***

There wasn't a very large crowd here on the bridge so the jumps would move along quickly. After all, they kind of had to before the cops showed up. One single and one couple were in line before them with one single, one couple, and then one more single following right behind. Leaning over the edge of the railing, everyone hooped and hollered as they watched the groups go into the drink one at a time. The single had wanted to be close to the water and somehow they had managed it, just getting him far enough to barely graze the water with his hand before springing back up toward the bridge.

"Full dunk!" The couple right in front of Jacen & Lori had ordered happily before stripping down to some of the skimpiest swim clothing that Jacen had ever seen. "What guy in his right mind actually puts on a speedo?" Jacen wondered as he averted his eyes and looked back out at the dark water, "There is not once chance in hell..."

***

Finally the moment of truth had come. Jacen and Lori were standing on the edge, facing each other, with a harness that held them in an intimate, 'lovers' embrace. Slipping his arms around Lori's waist Jacen looked down at her with a smug look on his face. "Think you can handle this one, beautiful?"

She did a double take. He didn't even hesitate. Not one bit. "Uhh. Yeah. Sure." Full dip? She wasn't quite sure a shower could erase the ick factor from that river. But it was his money, right?

Right?

Right?

Okay so she was strapped hip to upper thigh - supposed to be hip to hip - and ankle to ankle. She was fastidious in her supervision of the rope and harnesses. Unfortunately it did pass her inspection and then there was nothing left to protest. Jacen taunted and she looked up every inch between them defiantly. Right.

"Shut it." And she threw herself backwards as hard as she could. That meant she jerked the harnesses and they were tipping over the edge. All she had to hold onto was Jacen and Jacen, her. And boy did she hang on. If they weren't strapped together at the ankle she'd be crawling up him. Bt no matter what, nothing could delay the inevitable SPLASH!

She squeezed her eyes closed and squeezed tight. This would never be possible without this man. She would never ever... They sprang back up out of the water "This is all your fault!" but she was spitting and sputtering. There was no way the sludge was coming off, but her shirt... that was too big and an entirely different story.

As always, Lori wanted to be in control of the situation and so Jacen wasn't at all surprised as she took the initiative to cause the fall. Both of them remained silent through the fall, and the only sounds that could be heard was the cheering from up above and the whistling in their ears.

Cold...

The shock of the water enveloping their water was a complete shock to the system but at least it didn't last for long as he and Lori suddenly shot back upward, dripping and sputtering as they regained their breath.

"This is all your fault!"

Even upside down Jacen could move quickly and without the slightest hesitation he leaned down.. no... up and planted a kiss directly on Lori's water coated lips.

"You're welcome!" Jacen called back with a grin as they began to fall before once again being caught by the bungee cord.

***

Guerrilla Bungee didn't provide a whole lot for its customers besides the actual bungee jumping equipment but they did at least keep enough towels around for their clients to dry off with.

"You look almost as good clothed while dripping wet as you do without." Jacen said with a chuckle as he roughed up his hair with the towel and then moved on to drying off some his bare chest. His shirt was hanging on a nearby railing after being wrung out though the occasional drip was still falling from the fabric. Since they were both still went, Jacen was making sure to stay close to his female friend just to make sure she didn't have any shocking experiences.

"Glad you came along?"

They were slick with something much thicker than water. It was greyish in color and despite the fact that she sputtered and spit, when Jacen pressed his lips against hers all she could taste was nasty river scum. Lori scrabbled at the edge of her shirt pulling it down... or up as their bounces became less and less violent.

He'd said you're welcome. Like the his fault bit was a compliment. That earned him a good solid whap that splattered the muck toward Lori. At least neither of them had screamed. The stomach lurching dive had been fun, terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time. Would they always seek thrills like this? They'd run out eventually... and Lori certainly wasn't going for bear wrestling no matter how reckless or dangerously fun it seemed.

***

They'd tried to unhook Jacen and Lori in the dingy that ferried them to shore, but the straps were so sludgy that they had to wait for dry land to untangle the couple. Lori slid her shirt down and Jacen slid his shirt up and off as the tech guy fumbled with the straps at their waists. Soon they were toweling off the sludge and free of the hip harness, most of the physical bondage that kept them close. Of course, with Lori wet, she was sure to keep Jacen close. The tech next worked at their ankles, pulling off bits of garbage as he went.

Lori wiped her face almost obsessivly before sticking her tongue out at Jacen's comment. "So that's why you wanted a full dip? Wet tee shirts and later shower potential?" Not that it was that hard to guess. She tossed her towel at him and stepped her one free foot out of the cuff as the tech directed. One ankle down, one to go.

"I can't think of a day when I wasn't glad to come along. Err... well, maybe excepting the puke day at the bar. That was a rough ride." The tech looked up at her skeptically and she pushed at the kid's face asking if he could hurry up. In fact. As Lori turned her face up to glance back at the bridge she noticed some red and blue flashing lights. "Oh sh--faster, seriously!" He fumbled frantically until sirens were heard approaching their current location. He instead turned to deflate the dingy and scoop up the more expensive equipment like the hip harness and evidence like the towels. Stupid kid!

Lori squatted to tug at the soft cuff restraints herself, but it was useless. A freaking boyscout had gotten fancy with the knots since the cord was frayed. The sewage water had soaked into the cord and made it swell up, tightening the knot to an inconceivable tightness. She pulled at the knot so Jacen could see. The sirens were so close. "This is gonna need a knife. How good are you at three-legged races?" She had shorter legs than him. Lori hoped he remembered that.

Jacen looked at Lori with a grin before putting on a serious expression aand giving her a mock critical once over, "I betcha you could at least third place at most wet t-shirt contests... maybe even the occasional first or second if the competition isn't that great." He knew this teasing might be pushing it with an already annoyed Lori so he wasn't at all surprised when she through a somewhat playful but not that playful punch at him.

"I'm kidding!" He said with a laugh as he raised his arm and blocked the blow, "Just a joke!"

***

Jacen's eyes were locked on the approaching lights and he couldn't get the sound of the siren's out of his mind. What had seemed like such a daring and adventerous idea only a few hours before was now beginning to seem like one of the stupidest things he could have suggested. "Damn!" He swore under his breath as he felt the kid continueing to fumble around their ankles, "Shoulda just gone home and had the shower and bedroom fun instead of getting in this mess!"

"Huh?" Jacen shook himself, clearing his mind as he looked down at Lori and tried to catch what she had just said. "I've got a knife in the truck but I haven't ran a three-legged race since I was a kid. You?"

The sound of screaching tires could be heard up on the bridge as the police vehicles skidded to a stop, following by the sound of officer's barking orders at anyone who was still on the bridge. It was only a matter of seconds before someone got the bright idea to look over the railing and see if anyone was down on the bank of the river.

"Time to go!" Jacen said quickly as he slipped an arm around Lori's shoulders to help steady them both as he began to take slow steps away from the bridge. It was difficult to get their walking in sync, especially since his legs were so much larger than hers but it really couldn't be helped. This was their only way of escape and if they didn't take it... well... Jacen wouldn't have to worry about whether he'd pass the next years physical exam to remain a S.W.A.T. officer, now would he.

Lori was sure this was going to be something that would be much funnier if it weren't happening to them. At a later date, three legged running from the cops would be hilarious. As it was, they tugged a bit for control of the shared leg more than they should have.

They had been waddle-walking for a few conspicuous blocks now and it was possibly time to come around and attempt to make a roundabout way back to the truck. Dear sweet truck that held the glorious knife of freedom.

"I'm telling you, yes, you are correct that taking a right here is less conspicuous, but you're not hearing me when I tell you we don't want to go that way." Lori attempted to hop over a puddle but came up pathetically short. Ah well, it really didn't matter since she was sopping wet already. It was too cold to be running around drenched. They were both going to catch a cold and then no one would be there to nurse the other back to health. Wait. That was a disturbing thought. Why was she worrying about nursing him back to health? This was crap. Another fun night that devolved into stupidity.

Lori tugged one last time at the ankle restraint before giving in to Jacen's decision. "If we get mugged for looking like retards it is so not my fault." This area of town was one Lori didn't wander into alone at less than full strength. Being wet was a major disadvantage all its own, but being cuffed at the ankle to another person... a person who happened to negate her power. Well that was a mixed blessing of sorts. Yeah, she wasn't shocking herself silly, but she also was as helpless as a... "Human!" ...yeah, that.

An upstart youth in a black hoodie came bouncing out from between buildings. "Two humans! Lucky us. Lucky us. Lucky us." He was literally bouncing between walls and the ground as if he were made of a super ball from the grocery store vending machine. Slowly his comrades caught up to him, several out of breath and not a single one over the age of 21. "Oh you have got to be kidding me." A roll of the eyes heralded her disbelief. She would slap them around and send them home to momma crying if she had the power.

"Shut it lady! You give us your cash and we'll maybe let you live, filthy humans."

Lady? Human? She started toward the isolant pup, but caught against Jacen's ankle. Frick on a stick! She whipped her head around to glare at their joined feet and shiver.

"What is this?"[/color]

"They're stuck together!"[/color]

Their laughs were all acid and derision. Had the tables been switched would be doing the same? Probably. That didn't change the fact that Lori was all too ready to punch someone now. It wasn't like they had many other options. Oh, just let them get close enough.

"Look, a right here will get us closer to the truck and will keep us from looking suspicious." Jacen said with at least a touch of exasperation in his voice. "And yes, I am hearing you say we shouldn't go that direction but I haven't yet heard a good reason why we shouldn't go that direction!"

Finally the two of them began to start along the road while Lori continued to gripe and complain about them getting mugged. All Jacen could do was roll his eyes a touch, after all, who would be stupid enough to try and mug a guy as big as him? Muggers weren't idiots and at least eighty or ninety percent of the time they picked the weak and defenseless. Why in the world would they go for someone like him?

"Human!"

Well... ask a stupid question and get a stupid answer. And there they were, the stupid team themselves. Bouncy ball boy and his four... five... six friends? With all the mingling, shouting, and bouncing it was kind of hard to tell but Jacen really didn't care at the moment.

"And how did you know about this area?" Jacen muttered under his breath, "You used to run with this crowd or something?"

The laughter was rolling out from the group as they noticed that the two humans were attached together. In some ways their being attached together was a very good thing but in other ways it was a very bad thing. Since Lori was wet the good things probably outweighed the bad.

"Well, thanks for giving us a laugh." One of the boys sneered. "Money... NOW!" From his spiky hair that was dyed blood red to the black leather jacket, leather pants, and heavy boots he looked like something from a bad Hollywood movie. In fact, if Jacen had seen him at any other time he probably would have been holding back a laugh but instead he found himself just glaring at the man.

"Stay away from the kicks and stick to punching." Jacen muttered, "Maybe we'll get lucky and one of these guys is carrying a knife or something else sharp that can get us free."

"How did I know?" She looked at him quite insulted. "Jacen, I didn't come into power until halfway through college. You think I ran around with snot nosed punks like this?" She jerked her thumb at the group of boys. "Some things you just know, like not taking a canceling man to a freak show."

The gang of mutants were all too eager to start the fight, they didn't appreciate being ignored and they certainly didn't like the slew of insults that saturated Lori's words. Someone from the back melted and reformed into a golem-like shape made of brick. Bouncyball boy bounced into the radius but didn't bounce out. In his confusion as to why he simply landed as opposed to actually rebounding, Lori took the first swing.

It didn't matter that he was just a kid and it didn't matter that he was powerless. She slugged him across the jaw and put her whole body behind it. Sludgey brownish black river water arched after her punch, splattering the poor schmuck before he was forced onto his butt. One moment he was standing, the next he was falling backwards into a wall, and then ricocheting back into his pals from an unintentional bounce.

Quills or spines of some sort flew past Lori's ear with a whistling sound. It was too fast for her to flinch. The passing threat hardly even registered in her adrenaline rush. It only made her seem as if she were not impressed and had dodged the spines on purpose, though that was hardly the case. "Bring it, whelps! Even without a mutation, I will eat your hearts out." Her hands flexed and un-flexed near their defensive positions at her face. She was ready for the fight.

They didn't seem to know what to do with her. 5 foot nothing and ferocious without a mutation? They'd never had to consider a non-mutant a real threat before. Certainly not a female sapien in a seemingly compromising position. Most humans just laid down their wallets, took their beatings and went on their way.

"Stay away from the kicks and stick to punching."[/color] Jacen muttered and the words surprised her. She had to stop and calm down enough to process what he'd said for it to make any sense. "Right." She would have to remember to let them come to her. She wasn't mobile with Jacen attached at the ankle. Lori's hands dropped a fraction as she saw the next kid start to charge. What do you do when a brick-golem is bull rushing you?

This was most definitely going to be Jacen's first real test in how his abilities worked. Sure he knew that his powers canceled out the X-Gene but how would they affect someone that could suddenly sprout spines or turn into a giant brick man? Would they lose the spines when they entered his field? As he recalled that cat from the previous bar fight hadn't lost her fur or claws which meant that it was a very real possibility these mutants wouldn't lose their offensive capabilities either.

"Oh shit..." Jacen cursed as he watched brick man suddenly begin to charge the two of them. Well, if one of them was going to get hurt because of this situation it was most definitely going to be him. After all, he was the one who had suggested coming down this way.

Taking a half step forward with his feet foot, Jacen put himself slightly in front of Lori and brought his hands up in the standard, defensive boxing gesture. His imagination was already running wild with exactly what kind of pain and damage his hand would soon be experiencing when he tried to punch solid brick. But there was no backing down now. He had made his choice and he would have to live with it.

Brick man was closer but as Jacen began to draw back his fist for the most powerful punch he could throw, the mutant suddenly entered his field. Shrinking almost instantly back to his human form, the charging boy seemed to not notice what had happened until it was to late. At the same moment the boy's eyes suddenly widened in panic, Jacen's fist rocketed forward, slamming a powerful jab to his nose before his other fist came up in an uppercut that actually lifted the younger man into the air.

"Ok..." Jacen said slowly, his mind racing to adjust to what had just happened as he turned his attention back to the other mutants. Narrowing his eyes slightly the man smiled grimly as he waited for whoever was going to be brave enough to charge them. "Who's next?!"

Back in the corner of the group, bouncy seemed to be waiting to see what everyone else was doing. He had already felt the effects of both Jacen's field as well as Lori's fist and he wasn't particularly in the mood to try again. Red hair apparently decided right then that he was done playing game. Lifting his right hand he suddenly sent a wave of red hot heat that actually lit up the air molecules, manifesting as flames that were launching toward both Jacen and Lori.

Without a though Jacen suddenly turned, grabbing Lori and pulling her into a crouch where his body was in between her and the flames. All he could think of was the fact that he had been electrocuted when Lori was in the water so why should heat in the air be any different?

***

Bouncy's mouth dropped in awe as he watched the frustration rising on his leader's face. The heat wave that had killed people in the past was apparently useless against these two... whatevers. It was stopping about eight feet away from them and then spreading out as if there were an invisible shield between them.

"Mutants?" He murmured, finally speaking the words that everyone else was thinking.

Under normal circumstances, Lori would pitch a fit about Jacen stepping forward to take point. Not only did she work very hard to be able to take care of herself, but she was proud that she could. Unfortunately, Jacen made things not so normal... or rather too normal. Lori had gotten used to the feeling of his field. Maybe it was all the adrenaline activities, but no longer did it feel so isolated from her self or weak when around him. She'd done her bit, threw her punch and the next one was Jacen's. Yeah. That's how it went.

She focused on footwork. Jacen took steps that required her to take steps and rather than hamper the power of his punch or leave her sitting in a puddle, Lori decided to take the foot problem out of the equation. Of course it didn't help that quill boy was still lobbing sharp and stabby things at them, but Lori had that covered. The quills were hollow and so light that one good swat kept them from piercing the skin. If she was alert, none would get them. Of course, attention divided between footwork and quill duty...

Jacen grabbed her and pulled her down. A red sea of oh-my-goodness-it-is-so-freaking-hot parted around his field and suddenly she was oh so very thankful for the field protecting them. Lori closed her eyes against the brightness and even then could still see the glow through her lids. Even when the residual heat began to die down she was left scrubbing at her eyes. She didn't want to be unable to see if the fight continued, but large green splotches wafted across the most important parts of her vision. She cursed softly and then not so softly.

"How many times do we have to demonstrate that we're not human?" Lori growled over her shoulder. Her clothes that had been sopping wet moments ago were suddenly dry and stiff. When she stood, still holding onto Jacen for lack of visual stability, she turned to face the ones that were still standing. Or at least where they had been before.

"We're both mutants." Something sharp pricked her hand and Lori fumbled to pull a quill out and throw it at the very cautious looking youths. Numbness spread out almost to the tips of her fingers. "He cancels certain active powers, dipshits. We can fight you babies in diapers all night long one handed and one footed." She struggled, but did eventually get her numb hand to flip the bird. Life was made of the small victories.

"So take your fancy flame thrower, rubber ball boy and whatever else you got and go home before you get hurt.... because I want to hurt you. I want to hurt you a lot." They really hesitated now. Lori's speech had given her eyes time to readjust to the dim ambient light, at least she had that much. She actually hoped they tried something again because she wasn't done getting her aggressions out. Next one close in, she was going to slug even harder than the first whether it was technically Jacen's turn or not.

Lori's speach was aparently doing at least some good as she ranted and raved at the teens. As she spoke, Jacen was blinking rapidly to try and clear away the few dots that continued to try and circle the edge of his vision. He had been spared from msot of the light show because his back was toward it, shielding Lori from most of the heat, but that didn't mean he hadn't been at least a little affected. Under his clothes, his back felt like it was actually beginning to approach that feeling of sunburn.

"I suggest you try working at a salon somewhere." Jacen offered with a slight smirk, "That heat would probably work great for a sauna or a open air tanning room."

Red's jaw dropped as he continued two stare at the two individuals that had apparently been unaffected by his heat ability. For the first time since the Registration Act he could actually feel just a twinge of fear beginning go grow in his mind.

"It's some type of, of, shield or something!" He babbled angrily, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. These two couldn't be mutants, they just couldn't be! What self respecting mutant would allow himself or herself to be strapped together like that?! "Overload the shield and then we get what we want!"

The rest of the gang was all looking toward their leader like he was crazy, especially bouncy boy. In fact, Mr. Rubber Ball was slowly backing away and glancing around as though looking for some means of escape.

"I got her with one of my quills so it proves they can't be mutants!" One of the others spoke of bravely as he joined his boss at the front of th group, "Besides we outnumber 'em... let's charge!"

"Oh... wonderful." Jacen muttered in annoyance as his hands came back up defensively, "You want big and stupid or bigger and stupid?"