He sat on his bike and waited for the vehicle to start to move, this of course was accomplished by waiting for the red glow of the tail lights to dim and the sound of the engine to fade. This having begun to happen he slowly rode his bike around the corner and studied the back of the van, it was to far to get a good look at more than the position of the lights but this time of night that ought to be enough, which of course he couldn't be sure of NYC still being new to him. If he was seen now it would not change much, they were moving and would most likely just try to lose him, but still being unnoticed was still a good thing.

He continued forward as the van turned onto a street, at which time he floored it down the alley turning his bike's light on. He wanted only one car separating the two of them to start with. Arriving at the street a second car behind the van drove past, and an expletive escaped his lips. He looked at the traffic, there was barely enough room for him to turn onto the street before the next car, but it was now or never.

The Ranger gunned the bike and flew out onto the street, acceleratingly to the the speed of traffic in seconds than passing it, he needed to get in front of the car ahead of him. He jumped up onto the sidewalk and cut his lights, the car behind him gave him enough light, and he flew past the car that had been in front of him and dropped off the sidewalk swerving in front of the car that was now behind him. Following this he turned on his lights hoping he had remained unseen by those he was following. He thought momentarily about the police having seen him but pushed it aside, if there were police nearby they would be to worried about getting to the bank to pay him any mind. He watched the car ahead of the one he trailed, watching for any turns they may take or where they stop. Well they don't know I drive a bike so as long as I give them space and don't follow to obviously from here on out they will hopefully think they lost me.

Meld was fairly certain, as she climbed into the vehicle and it began moving, that they were indeed being followed though she knew that there wasn't, presently, anything she could do about it except wait. While she couldn't actually see anyone obviously trailing them, she had a feeling that their attacker wouldn't be that easy to lose. She had seen him, however briefly, and he held his own in a fight with Aura and that alone made her suspect that they were dealing with someone competent. Though as good as he might be, she didn't think he'd be able to stand up to all three of them together.

"Keep to somewhat public areas," Meld suggested. "His weakness is his concern for the health of innocent bystanders." Of course she knew that David would have that concern also, but she was hoping that he would remain practical. "There are certain areas of town that the police will be less willing to bother us if things get messy and there's the added benefit that such areas tend to attract less wholesome individuals. You won't need to worry if they get a little banged up because they're no more innocent than the security at the bank was." At least she hoped that David would see things her way. it would make things far more complicated for all of them if he was to decide to have a doubt of conscience now, of all times.

Meld took another look behind them. She thought she might have caught a glimpse of a bike, something she was pretty sure that the had glimpsed before as well, but it was impossible to be certain. Had she not been experienced in the techniques of both being trailed and being the trailer, she might not have even seen that much. Whether or not they were being trailed still wasn't so important however, as continuing to believe that they were being trailed. It never hurt to continue to act cautiously.

"Whoever he is seems to have some sort of millatry training, the way he fights, his moves are fluid and smooth, to be honest part of me hoped he would follow, i wnated to finnish the dance, he seems to have some sort of heitened speed" she said explainign what she had gatherd from their fight. The man's morals seemed to be misplaced, the Mutant was also a fool, fighting other mutants for the humans, atleast she assumed he would have turned them into the police. He did not seem the type to kill, and so she knew they ahd the atvantage. "Meld is right any public area will do, if was make it so his actions will harm others, we can win this easily" she said.

Speaking of killing, their was one more loose end to tie up. "I never had any intention of killing the guard's david, your order was quite clear, but he had no reason to know our restriction's it's enough he thinks we will do such things. Every peice of information he has is another step closer to winning" she said trying to explain that David her actions as well as the need to be keep quite and to to trust your team. Closeing her eyes she continued, a soft smile comming over her lips "Victory is Life, Loyelty my purpose" she paused a few moments before continueing. "I woke up and went to sleep to that every day, It means, one's orders come before their own convistion that loyelty to your team matters above all else, even my own convistions" she said opening her eyes, she lived by that motto that crede. She heard it evey night before she went to bed and it was the first thing to enter her mind upon waking, an echo of her past.

SHe knew others did not always follow such a crede, it had suprised her at first, but what could one do. She beleived her loyelty would supply her with all she needed in life and so far it had. Loyelty had found her food and love and happyness, everything ocurred becuse of the trust or lack of that people had with eachother, she hoped her words would get david to trust her, at least for now.

David didn't say a word to either of them, it wasn't that he was mad about what happened, or distracted by the situation. No his mind was focused, focused on how he was completely overwhelmed, how he was unprepared for this, and because of so he had nearly killed some guards, and put the other two in danger. They obviously knew what they were doing, Aura had a history, she worked these situations as part of her life. He couldn't shake the feeling that he may have screwed them over, they had believed he had done this before.

"Dammit"

He said taking a turn at the intersection, if only he could get through this one night. He had nearly screwed over Aura's plan, not this time though. This time he listened to them, someplace public? He knew where to go, and with that a plan began to formulate in his head. With that his confidence began to return, they had the element of surprise, whoever his opponent was didn't know what was going on. David changed to his left lane and took the next left turn, cruising down the road, looking at his mirrors as he did.

"Ok, central park." He said, hoping it would be good enough. The area had innocents, but it was still wide open for them, hopefully enough that nobody else would get hurt. He quickly took the next right, cutting across a lane of traffic "Almost missed our turn". He said planning out his route, and the next phase of what little plan they had.

"Aura, seeing as how you're in back you have the best opportunity to make a surprise attack, no windows in the back and you can rush out the doors, I can tell you when, just be ready to fight." He said taking another right turn. "Meld stay put till I say so, we'll need to be quick." The park was up ahead, this was it, David pulled in and onto the grass, finding a spot without much people. He put the car in park and waited for the man.

He continued to follow the car that trailed his opponents, so far this had been easy. Yet, now the van had changed lanes into the left and was turning. He had to take a chance here if he was to in some way keep them from thinking he was following. He drove through the intersection going straight, then moved to the left lane and cut a hard left to ride between two buildings. As he arrived at the next street over he cut his lights and watched the intersection, he surmised that he drove fast enough through that he could just see them drive through and know where to head. Just my luck, a right turn. They will probably see me sitting here waiting.

When the van passed he launched out onto the road his light off, his power enhancing his night vision allowing him to see just enough, albeit with difficulty. He followed them as he cut across a lane of traffic and even through another turn, he figured they knew he was behind them somewhere even if he was just to far to be seen clearly in the sparse lighting on the street. He tried to think of what they might do, they probably knew he was here and that he was following. Knowing that that they wouldn't lead him to their hideout they would take him somewhere they would have the proverbial high-ground. He wondered where this would be, but then he saw ahead of him. The park.

Of course they would go here, they figure I won't risk innocent lives and there will be some here but not enough to hinder them trying to clobber me. Also it is open. He figured that with if the other two can fight like the Aura that this will be impossible unless he can perhaps MacGyver something and gain an advantage. So as the van pulled onto the grass he stayed on the street and watched them wait there for him. He could only guess that they were waiting to spring at him from the back of the van, so he would have to get around them.

He turned the bike around and rode some thirty or so feet back and turned the bike again around, clicking on the head light. He hit the accelerator and began moving toward the van, he needed to be moving fast, but not too fast or he would kill himself. His plan was to jump from his bike and fly over the van to force them to come to him.

As he approached the van he readied himself, this would either work or hurt a lot. When the van was only twenty feet away he pulled his feet up onto the seat and jumped from the bike his legs reacting to the dire nature of this stunt and enhancing their strength propelling him over the van. as he jumped he pulled the gun from under his left arm with his right hand and fired four rounds into the top of the van as he sailed over it.

When he reached the other side of the van gravity had taken a hold of him and was bringing him down, hard. Slamming into the ground, were it not for the increased muscles size absorbing shock his legs may have broken on impact. Instead they just hurt, but were sill good enough to function should running be needed. He dropped to one knee and raised his gun.

"I guess I did that going to fast."

Meld silently agreed with everything that Aura had said, but didn't see the need to actually speak. It seemed as if David was going to adhere to their advice making further words meaningless. Sometimes words were needed and sometimes silence was better. This was one of those times. She nodded at David when he spoke his directions to her.

As the van pulled into central park Meld readied herself to spring at a moment's notice. Almost too fast to follow, the bike carrying their assailant suddenly came into view and their enemy vaulted over the top of their van, firing several shots into the roof. It would have been an impressive feat to watch had Meld not be concerned with not getting hit by bullet fire. As the echoes of the gunfire dissipated, she took a brief moment to look over herself to see if she had been struck. She noticed a small trickle of blood flowing down her right shoulder, but it seemed the bullet had only grazed her. So long as she was careful not to get wounded again, she was fairly certain it wouldn't hamper her significantly.

Judging that David's idea of a surprise attack was pretty much a non-issue now, Meld jumped out of the van and ran behind a nearby tree. The tree cover was relatively thick here and she was fairly certain she could use that to her advantage. While she may not have had much experience with firearms,s he knew enough to know that branches and tree cover tended to make hitting a target, especially a moving one, more difficult.

The shots barley missed her, opening the back door, Aura used the now open door to acess the roof of the fan, she kept low on the roof, looking around for whare Ranger had gone to, unale to see him, She stood up, her Aura a flowing with it's natural glory, She saw Meld take cover. She hoped David was all right, she had simply moved when the shots were fired and her mind had assumed he would as well. She figured the gunfire would atract attention as would her Aura she hoped like before they would flock to see a mutant fight, if they did, they would have already won.

He was useing real bullets now, and she smiled, if he was going to play that way maybe she should as well, Pulling out the gun she had gotten earlior as well as the one she just aquired, she took Aim at Ranger and fired several shots from each of the guns, her aim left somthing to be desired however as she had never fired a gun before at all, she was not hoping to hit however, but to atract attention, thus her standing position and the guns, she realized right away even if the bullets hit, she still needed much more practice with them.

David ducked his head as the bullets pierced through the roof of the van "Damnit" He muttered. Luckily he wasn't hit. The man landed in front of them, before anyone reacted David immediately reached forward and flicked his lights on, using the fog lights to enhance the blinding effect they would have on the man. Before he could say anything the other two responded, Meld out one side, and Aura at the back, moving to hurt him. As they did David rolled out of his seat into the back of the van, keeping low to avoid any more shots.

Crawling through the van he peeked his head out the back, and saw the man's bike which had apparently slammed into the back, hopefully damaging itself. That's when an idea popped into David's head. He slid out the back door and pulled out his little utility knife, grabbing the bike he removed the keys and cut the wires from the ignition, and any others he could reach, thoroughly disabling the vehicle.

"Aura his vehicle is scrapped, we need to get out of here, he can't follow." He said rolling back into the van and crawling his way to the driver's seat.

Not long after his painful landing the van hits him with blinding light and before he can react he hears gunfire. He didn't have to wonder who the gun, no guns he could tell the difference in the shots, a bullet scratched across the side of his head and he could hear them landing around him. He had to move, sitting here with lights pointed right at him he was a great target for whoever happened to be dual-wielding pistols atop the van.

He forced himself halfway up, his legs in pain, and jumped to the side. He could not see a thing in front of him as the trees blocked the light from the van at this angle. His power boosted his sight, but having just stared into a crazy bright light it could not increase his sight. He had suffered some minor retinal burning, similar to when you glance at the sun during the day and the after image persists for a while, but taking up most of his field of vision.

He knew this effect would dissipate in a minute or so, but he doesn't have a minute or so. He continues to move, unknown to him at the time, toward where Meld had hidden herself. When he hears a yell from the male,

"Aura his vehicle is scrapped, we need to get out of here, he can't follow."

At this he turned to head to where it came from, if his bike was disabled than perhaps he should return the favor. Well that was the plan until a rock decided to be in his near blind path causing him to stumble and land feet away from Meld his gun laying next to him as he dropped it in the fall.

Meld watched as her enemy stumbled from the light, clearly blinded or at least significantly visually impaired. Then she heard David call out that their enemy's vehicle had been scrapped and he could no longer follow. It seemed that this was finally about to end, and in their favor.

As Ranger collided with the rock and fell, Meld was tempted to finish him off right there but at the last moment decided against it and went for the gun instead. Not only was escape their primary goal right at the moment but, as much as he had done to impair their success, he was still a mutant and she would not kill a fellow mutant unless forced to do so. Instead she forced her clawed hand down into the gun, effectively destroying it.

Meld vaulted up and over the rock that had caused Ranger's fall and reentered the van. "I destroyed his gun but I don't know if he has another one." Now all they needed was for Aura to reenter the van and they would be free to make their getaway, stash successfully in tow and with no casualties.

Aura heard both guns begin to clcik, they were out of ammo,, then the light came on and impaired Rangers vision, still she was in no real position to attack him quickly and then, she heard David mention, the other bike was disabled and watched as Meld renterd the van. Aura put away the guns and jumped down from the vans roof, the battile had been anti climatic and left aura with a rather unsatisfied feeling, but she had her orderd and slipped back into fan shutting the back doors quickly.

Finding a weak point in the door, she carved a small rectangle hole through the this metal, so she could tell if this one, would find another way to follow them. She heard a police siren nearby, again she figured the bullets may have called whatever police car was not at the bank right now. She wnated to fight ranger, but her orders went over what she wnated for herself and so she would obey. taking a seat in the back she kept watch out of the newly made peephole. It was all in just how he was determined she guessed, if Aura was driving, she would have hit him with the van, but she knew better then to suggest this.

David already had the van started when Aura hopped in. Without even looking he popped it into gear and jammed the gas down, kicking up dirt behind him. He turned the van away from the man and left the park. David could now hear the sirens, and wondered if they would catch their opponent, or if it would be expensive to fix his bike.

The van cruised down the street, and up ahead David could see flashing lights. His body began to shake a bit as the nervousness became almost unbearable, but the cops drove right by them without a second thought. For the first time in the night he felt genuinely relieved, they had actually escaped.

A bug grin spread across david's face "So," He spoke up "What are you goign to spend your money on?"

He heard something crushed next to him, something metal, and moments later he realized what it was. His gun. He grabbed the gun and rose to his feet, his sight was improving and he could see the van moving. His other pistol was not loaded with bullets and he didn't have the time, they would get away. In his anger he pulled his right arm, holding the broken pistol in it, and then flung it forward propelling the broken gun at the van. He knew it would not do anything more than dent the side, crack a window, or just bounce of the tire but it was something.

Hearing the sirens he knew he had to move fast to get out of here. He walked up to his bike, yup it was defiantly out of commission. He lowered himself down and grabbed the bike to lift it up. He pulled for a few moments before his power shifted from his just returning to normal eyes to his lifting muscles. The bike came off the ground and the Ranger stated walking, no way he could run while carrying a motorcycle, away from the scene. He had to get deeper into the park so that the police wouldn't find him, but also he had to find a faster way to carry the bike. Damn it, they got away with the money and left the police on me.

As Aura returned to the van and it finally began to drive away Meld grinned, the tension of the night quickly leaving her system. It had been a success. They had won. Their loot was had, the cops had not caught them and there had even been the bonus of a fun little fight in the interim, even if the end of said fight had been a little anticlimactic. It had been months since she had had so much fun and it reminded her why she had gotten into a life of crime to begin with. Or at least, reminded her that her visible mutation and running away from home weren't the only reasons she had gotten into a life of crime. She had to resist the urge to hug her two partners in crime.

"I've got a new arm to build," Meld answered with satisfaction. And with any luck there would be enough of her portion of the loot to pay for her next flesh meld as well, whatever she decided it would be. "It was a pleasure working with you, David. I admit, I had my doubts about you but you held your own, pulled your weight and helped us pull this off. If you're ever short on money again you know I'm more than willing to help." She grinned again, not being able to help herself. This was a good night. A very good night.

"Looks like we win this round" she said as they sped off, she was happy Ranger had not done something else crazy like try and hop onto the van, they could not keep making scenes and not get cought. Still she wanted to meet him again to fight him one on one, he was a good fighter and Aura liked that of him, even if he was constrained by the hero status. Aura saw three main catagories people could be separated into, heros,villains and those in between. People were people and did not always stick to their cards, but many cases like this one they did.

"Meld's right, you did good, a few kinks but you never worked with us so it's to be expected, as for the money, interestingly enough i agreed to do this becuse when i was talking to meld she mentioned she needed a large sum of cash for her Meld's, so i came here to get the money for her, ironically she ended up coming as well. I don't really need money myself" she said honestly having never really used it, mostly because it was a bit strange to her, Aura had never really had any need to use money and so had never learned it's actual value. She looked around at her two partners in crime, their had been rough spots but what mattered it that they succeeded.