It was hot. And dry. For the 1st of April, there was a distinct lack of lying in the new's channels weather forecast, pertaining to that. At street-level, people milled by in short-sleeved shirts, shorts, and sandals, without the need of coats. Ice cream vendors patrolled the streets in the village, luring innocent children to spend their hard-earned allowances on frozen sugar water and desserts with gumball noses. People fanned themselves with newspapers on the subway. In Central Park, runners did less running, and more sitting in the shade. Bethesda terrace was rife with tourism. On a hot day like this, when the forecast called for sun, sun, and more sun, people liked getting out. Scalding weather obviously called for milling, and baking, and basking. In Lenna's apartment, the heat was even worse.

The living room faced the sun. With the blinds open, a solid sheet of light filtered down through the glass, like a death ray focused on Lenna's prone form. She'd been drawn to the light. No. She'd been caught by it. Walking past it after her shower, the light had hit her, and she'd stiffened, fallen to the floor in her jean shorts and red tank top. She'd clutched at her chest, as she boiled, and grabbed the nearest tourism brochure off the coffee table. Flagrant fanning followed. It was too hot. If she kept in the death ray's focus any longer, she'd need another shower... and maybe, some nice cryostasis.

Something needed to be done about this heat... something drastic. 'Going Outside' levels of drastic. Thus, was Lenna drawn to the shade of Central Park, like a moth to a flame. Forty minutes later, Lenna approached Bethesda terrace.

She eyed the tourists by the snack carts. There was a crowd. Here and there, artists and photographers worked with small groups. Some sat in the shade on the grass, with umbrellas kicked open. It reminded Lenna of a certain classic painting by some pointilism artist of the past. People were crashed with animals and reading material. All that was missing from the image of Seurat's was the poofy dress.

Lenna shifted the strap of her red leather purse on her shoulder, and reached down for her light novel. A blur of movement went unnoticed out of the corner of her eye, then something shoved her. The next thing she knew, a gaunt-looking teen with a nose ring and spiked hair was running off with her purse.

"Hey!" Lenna growled. What the heck did he think he was doing? That was HER PURSE. Oh, he'd messed with the wrong woman. Lenna broke into a run.

He had been practicing all day; first, in front of a mirror, and then to himself out on the streets. "Unhand her, villain." He mumbled to himself once more as he walked on into the park. Saph was smart (heh.), He knew that if he was going to make it as a super hero, he needed to talk like a hero. So, he'd been reading some comic books, and apparently they all talked like they were Mounties or something. He figured he could handle that much.

He stopped behind a tree, shifting uncomfortably. He was starting to think that maybe he had taken the advice from the comic books too far. These tights were a bit snug, to say the least, but at least he was wearing something over them for now. He flinched as he felt a poke on his right shoulder. Saph spun about quickly, eyeing the surrounding area... Nothing... It had been like this all week. He felt a poke, he looked to see who it was, and no one was there. Maybe there was an invisible person walking around and screwing with him. He said in moderate volume. "Very funny." To no one in particular.

He decided to focus on why he was here. He had heard that recently a gang of hooligans had started mugging people, and snatching purses in the park area. He had come to put a stop to it, but not before preparing himself appropriately. He had gotten dressed in the costume he'd made this morning, and ran shoulder first into a dumpster about ten or twelve times. Now all he had to do was watch and wait. It wasn't long before his patience paid off. He caught sight of a spiky haired teen staring into the crowd, obviously looking for his next victim. To Saph the kid stood out like a sore thumb; he himself had been that kid once in the past.

The older mutant ducked back behind the tree, pulling open his coat, and ripping off his side-button sweats. He pulled on his black ski mask, and stood in all of his glory in blue tights and spandex, with a big markered in red M covering his chest. Once he was done he tried to find the kid again.

Ah hah! He was running off with a purse in hand, a woman helplessly (in his eyes) chasing after him! Saph quickly took up his crowbar, pulling back his arm and yelling in the noblest voice he could manage. "Unhand that woman's property you... eh... JACKASS!" Villain! you VILLAIN! how hard was it to say one freaking word?! He shook off the slight embarrassment, and budgeted a decent amount of force towards throwing his weapon. It stuck into the ground in front of the mugger's feet, causing him to trip and fall flat on his face.

Saph let out a loud. "Hah!" and hobble-charged towards the fallen perp, speaking to the woman as he went. "Worry not, miss, I am here to hel-" He passed within five feet of the woman, and suddenly fell flat on his face. What the hell? He thought "Wha...t th...e he...ll?" he said, as his right half was quickly switching back and forth between being totally normal (humanly so) to absorbing everything, even the force from his own attempted movements. He tried to get up, but it wasn’t even close to easy.

The kid was already starting to stand and look around in confusion.

So dead. Once she caught him. Not a chance he'd survive.

... Or so she thought. Then, a man in tights showed up. She stopped. Dead in her tracks. Lenna staggered like a bullet had hit her. "W-what?" The Hell? What kind of inglorious... She trailed, eyes locking on the wannabe-hero in the mask. And he was wearing a mask... Dear God. Hadn't she just had some sort of discussion with someone she knew about how vigilantes got nothing done, and the best way to accomplish anything was to use your head!? Right after she'd punched a mugger in the face, actually. But that was assault, not vigilantism. He'd been a jerk. He deserved all the wall-to-face and fist-to-face action he could get.

The crowbar flew through the air to trip the mugger... Well, at least it looked like she'd be keeping her purse... That was good.

Her eyes swung to lock onto Hero-boy as he addressed her. Had she been worrying? .. Maybe about his attire, and the tights situation, but... "Okay." She sighed as the hero's nose met ground. She walked over to the mugger, grabbed him by the hair, pulled him down, and kneed him in the stomach. He fell casually to the cement. Lenna jerked her purse free from his grimy digits. She didn't bother to spare a glance towards hero-boy's humiliation. It was pretty obvious what had happened here.

"Get a real job..." She stated, to no one in particular. The mugger quivered on the concrete. As for the hero-boy. Lenna finally looked over at him, and took the moment to elaborate. "Same goes for you."

Such an idiot...

The girl walked over to beat the crap out of the mugger, and Saph was suddenly able to move once again. He sprang to his feet quickly, looking around alertedly. That was embarrassing. Had anyone seen? Yup, the whole damned park was now staring right at him; most of them were laughing.

note to self: The costume may need some work.

He was at a loss. had he just had another seizure? No, it didn't feel the same. What was it, then? He looked to the woman again, and winced in empathy as he caught sight of her pummelation of the young ruffian. She must have hit him pretty hard; one knee to the gut and he wasn't getting up. Saph twitched as she commented on his need to get a job. "H-Hey, lady, I got a real job, okay? I don't see you working today!" It was true... she was walking around in a park mid day. He took a deep breath, reminding himself that she was probably in shock or something. You had to be nice to the people you saved; he'd read so on the forum he had joined.

That same forum had suggested a surveying method to help beginning super heroes; you simply asked the people you saved a few questions. Judging from the look on the woman's face, she wasn't satisfied with his heroeing today... Oh well, he had to ask anyways. "Eh, Miss, if you got a minute... on a scale of one to ten, ten being the best, and one being the worst, how would you grade your hero service today?" He reached into his tights to pull out a small pad and pencil, taking a moment to adjust the uncomfortable tightness, and then preparing to write her answer.

She was about six feet away, so he aimed his ear at her, hoping she could move closer, but not wanting to break her comfort bubble; she seemed like the type that didn't like people near them, and he didn't want to get kneed in the stomach. The tight-wearing hero was beginning to thank himself for not wearing anything under his garbs... It was one of those days that sucked the moisture outa you; he didn't have to worry because spandex breathed like a dream. If anything it was a little breezy.

Was he mad? Well, he was certainly mad enough to wear what he was wearing, so there was that answer. Lenna slid the purse strap back over her shoulder, eying the contents of it and brutally trying to ignore him. He had a real job? Okay. She'd believe that. She'd believe that as soon as her mugger grew sixteen feet, and became a woman.

She didn't bother to contradict him, or argue against whatever he'd said. Lenna had a job, obviously. It was how she paid the rent. It wasn't the kind of job one spoke about, though, and arguing the point with him wasn't worth it at all. He was mad, after all, and just a bit crazy. One didn't argue with a crazy person. They tended to think they'd won the argument after it was over, no matter the end result.

Contact-blue eyes looked up at the man as he again tried to converse with her. On a scale of one to ten? Who was this guy...? Lenna's lips curved uncontrollably into a sneer. "Zero, Zero. Where the hell did you hide that pad of paper, anyways..." He certainly had little room for pockets in the snug thing he was wearing. "Just a suggestion. Wear normal clothes. If you want to play hero, it's probably best you go one shade south and be the Good Samaritan. Heroes tend to get shot at." She arched an eyebrow. "By the police."

She sneered, he glared.
"Zero, Zero. Where the hell did you hide that pad of paper, anyways..."

"Zero ain't a number between one and ten, genius. And really, Think about it, do you really want me to answer that question?" He shook his head a bit, and looked down to his pad, scribbling in it. "I'll put it down as a ten, cause it's got a zero in it, you got your purse back, and you're in good enough condition to give me some lip."

The kid was starting to get up, thinking they had stopped paying attention to him "You stay right there, punk." He froze, and then laid down again. The girl gave him some input. "What? The costume looks great... which leads me to question number two... How well was your hero presented today? Same scale."

He grinned a little, "Oh, and while we're handing out advice, you'd be a knock out if it weren't for that hard a%s, maybe you should try decaf." The older mutant felt pretty clever for that one, he reached up to scratch his face under his mask, and then went back to writing: For future reference, only help nice people.

Did she really want an answer? Actually, yeah. She really did. Lenna didn’t like mysteries at all. If she knew where he’d hidden the pad, she’d know where to tell him to cram it.

Lenna stared at him as he put down ‘10’. “Wow. I guess you showed me, putting down fake numbers.” Yup. That really showed her. Was he trying to get on her bad side, when she’d so far been nice enough to give him invaluable words of advice?

A derisive laugh escaped her as the mugger flopped back down at his words. “I’ll admit, at least you got ‘being demanding’ down. And that trick with the crowbar? Eh, it was okay.” For a guy in an over-the-top costume, at least.

“But, seriously.” Her eyes narrowed. “The costume? Really? How do you expect to accept the undying gratitude of any damsel you rescue, when you can’t even show your face after wearing it…?”

”That’s a ‘1’, by the way…” She pointed a bent finger towards the notepad. “ For your logs."

She took a step towards him as he scratched under the mask. She suddenly wanted to rip it off of him, and reveal his face to every gawker in the park. Her, a knock out, indeed. A coy look slipped onto her face. “How ever can I repay you?”

"Hmm... Well, since I'm changing numbers anyways, Ten has a one in it, too. I'll throw another one up there..." Yes, he was just aiming to piss her off by now, but in his defense, she was kinda rude! He looked at his long list of questions for her, and shrugged, marking them all down as ten's anyways. He smacked his lips as the pad and pencil when back to whence they came, disappearing in his insanely tight clothes. Gees, he was starting to sweat again; stupid muggy days...

"You know, there really should be a review process for the victim as well. Let me tell you, you're a major buzz kill." Saph folded his arms, speaking frankly. He perked up immediately when she said that bit about repaying him.

"Ah! It's about time we got to this subject. Here's the deal, I start at fifteen percent of the cost of what I've saved. This cost includes money, items with personal feelings attached to them, and of course, life. I would normally put the total cost of a life around 1000 bucks, but since you've been a real sport, I would say 500. That means you owe me at least 75 bucks... Hey, I'm not so bad at math, whadya know? Though if you'de like you can go higher, I like to provide a low base-line so's the other fifty bucks you give me can feel even more special." Yes, he was asking her for money. He confirmed this by holding out a hand toward her, and then paused as said hand started to feel funny. He pulled it back, and wham, it was normal again... He repeated the process five or six times. "What the?"

((OOC: All actions approved by Saph.))

Lenna blinked. Yup, because of his comments, that mask was coming off. Victim reviews? Marking down meaningless digits? He deserved anything and everything he got from her… his final comment (and it would be his last) made everything starkly clear.

“You’re… charging.” Lenna offered him a deadpan stare. He was charging for a service she could have accomplished quite well on her own. He wasn’t a hero. He was a crook. That’s why he wore the mask. Now, everything made sense.

“In that case,” She faked a devious smile, drawing closer to the not-so-rugged, tall, dark-because-of-the-ski-mask, and obviously-not-handsome ‘hero’. A hand went up to the side of his face, as Lenna pouted her lips. “Perhaps, a…”

The mask came off as Lenna took a step back, triumphant look on her face. “Idiot. If you wear a mask and take peoples money, you’re a criminal, not a hero. Police?” She cupped her hands, calling around. Police, police. Wherever could they be?

Her eyes drew back to the guy. Now, he was on the ground. Her calling stopped. “Huh.”

Saph froze as the woman approached. The action wasn't fully voluntary; his right half suddenly felt like a statue, and he had to fight to remain standing. She got closer, placed a hand on the side of his face. His mind shot to a certain green lady for reasons that he wasn't sure of, but would have to think on later.

Was she trying to seduce him? What the hell? He had been a complete d-bag to her, why would she- Oh. She ripped off his mask, and the action threw off his fragile balance, and sent him careening into the ground with an. "Oof." She called him a criminal, and started calling for the cops. He wanted to leave, run like hell, but his body wouldn't respond.

"lo-ok la-dy. Y-our t-he o-ne who t-old m-e to ge-t a j-ob." What the hell was going on?! Was it her? Was she some sort of mutant? He had seen a lot of abilities in his life but never had he experienced anything like this. "J-ust... T...T-ryi-ng to ma-ke a -liv-ing" He slowly managed to move his next so that he could look up at her pleadingly. "S-Stop it... P-P-le-ea-s-s-eee..." What ever she was doing... Oh god, he wanted it to stop.

Well, gee. It looked like he was dying. Her adapted field's handiwork, obviously. Whatever his mutation was, it probably didn't much care for being weakened. And even as he was dying, he kept up the facade. Make a living? He was pretty weak. That was pretty weak. She almost felt sorry for him, for being so weak.

"So weak..." She muttered.

Even as he was dying, he gave her lip. Lenna clenched the ski mask in her hand. What an idiot... Messing with her.

But, then he went and did something that made her pause. He pleaded.

Lenna took a few steps back, bridging the gap between them. Six feet. She lobbed the mask at him with a sigh.

"Get up. You aren't dying. You're just affected. Jeez," She rested her hands on her hips. He was so annoying... she turned her body away from him, facing him with her side. Lenna looked away.

Dang, it's hot today... It was too hot for this. And he was too annoying to die to some sort of adapted aura field 'thing'... if that was even possible. Sigh.

He was too annoying to die to something like that.

Saph knew he wasn't dieing or anything like that... but damn, this just... wasn't pleasant. The feeling made the hair on the back of his next stand on end. She passed away from him, and he felt his body unseize. He pulled himself into a sitting position, and just stared at the woman for a moment, absent mindedly catching his mask, yet not putting it back on just yet.

"You... Ain't no normal damsel in distress, are you? You got combat training, and... what ever that was" He reached up and wiped some sweat from his brow, looking over to his crowbar, and the punk that had been tripped by it. He heard sirens starting to approach. did someone hear her crying out and call? Oh well, they wouldn't arrest him, would they? No, just the punk that tried to steal the purse. "You're a mutant, huh? I've never seen anything like what you do..." He was curious for sure. If he knew what her ability was he might have an edge on someone like her in combat in the future. Or her... Power or no, she wasn't a civilian. Maybe she was a mercenary, like that shadow moving B*%$2... What ever she did it had a range.... What was that.. four, five feet? Maybe she could expand it, though, so he wasn't going count on that. She didn't even seem to be concentrating at all right now... He feared what she could do to him if she actually tried.

"You, eh... You mind me asking your name?"

He thought she was unnatural. Abnormal. Maybe a freak?

How. Annoying.

"Get up."[/color] Lenna repeated, emphasizing the statement with a gesture. Her finger pointed down, then it rotated up. Up. Not down. "Get up. And keep your distance. Six feet."

She was a freak, but she wasn't a mutant. He was annoying, but he didn't deserve police brutality. They needed to get out of here.

"I'll give you a name later. For now, follow. We're going elsewhere."

With that statement, Lenna turned and started walking. The sidewalk was steaming. Hopefully, he was hot on her trail. Not too hot, mind you. Too hot, and he'd be melting on the sidewalk, face-first.

Lenna passed the fountain, up the stairs, and towards the 72nd street transverse.

He raised an eyebrow at her as she demanded him to get up. She seemed angry. Maybe a bit annoyed, but at the same time she was ordering him to follow her. He blinked a few times, and then jumped to his feet, looking back in the direction the cops were coming from, and then back to the woman... she was gone.

He hobbled after her at his top speed, grumbling as he went. It took him a minute to catch up to her, but when he had, he wasn't winded at all... Gee, that morning run was really paying off for him. "Where the hell are we goin, and why are we runnin from the cops?" Was it the costume? That wouldn't make a difference, would it? He had fought crime for months wearing just a t-shirt and jeans. This girl seemed to think that throwing on spandex made you worthy of a hate crime...

Did it? Come to think of it, he had never really seen anyone run around wearing spandex. He looked around nervously, and then sped up just a little. Crap. He had left his coat and stuff in the park. He pulled his mask on quickly.

>> "Where the hell are we goin, and why are we runnin from the cops?"

"I don't want to have to explain the situation," Lenna retorted, exasperation obvious. "And neither do you." He was playing at 'costumed vigilante' here, superseding police authority. They tended not to like that. She tended not to like being seen with guys in spandex. It was on her list of things she didn't like to do.

Where were they going? She didn't have a clue. It was better than here, though. That was for sure. After a few minutes of walking, Lenna stepped off the path, and cut through grass, towards a grouping of trees. She pointed to the other side of the tree, and crossed her arms. "Go sit over there. Then, we can discuss everything that went wrong in this situation."