One didn't become the best without a great deal of time and effort and Meld had ambitions to become the best. It wasn't an ego thing, although she might admit that there was something of that in her motivations, it was an issue of being dedicated entirely to her goal and knowing that as the best she could fulfill her cause most effectively. It was with that goal in mind that she found herself atop the Mansion rooftop practicing to become just that.

Meld knew that there were very few things that she was truly good at, more than a few that she was competent at and quite a number that she was hopeless at. One of those few things in which she truly excelled was fighting and, if it came to it, killing; but those skills didn't come to her without effort. It was only through hours of training that she came to gain the skills of which she was so proud of which had served her so very well many times in the past and would, hopefully, continue to serve her well in the future. With every new flesh meld she acquired she had to, to a degree, start anew, relearning those skills that made her so very deadly in combat. Her most recent flesh meld wasn't of her normal titanium variety, but rather a hand from a mutant who could turn on and off electrical objects, a very much flesh and blood hand bereft of the hard metal claws she was so accustomed to.

Meld was still having problems controlling her new found electrical based power but knew that once she mastered its use it could do to increase several of the other skills she excelled at; breaking and entering being foremost among them. In the meantime, however, she felt the lack of defense and offense keenly; so much so that she had taken pains to try and offset the weakness. No, she did not seek to create herself a new flesh meld and get rid of her hand before she even had a chance to use it effectively; but opted instead to use her skill at metal craft to fashion herself a titanium gauntlet. The gauntlet was custom made, leather on the inside and hard titanium on the outside complete with 4 razor sharp metal claws coming out of the top of the gauntlet. It wasn't her lost metal hand, but it was a suitable alternative.

The only problem with the titanium gauntlet was a problem that could only be solved through time and training; the claws came out of the top rather than off of the fingers as Meld was used to. Thus she found herself, on top of the Mansion roof at dusk, practicing alone, going through the motions of battle and getting used to her newest weapon.

"Turn left..."

Max walked through the halls of his new home, muttering directions to himself. Only having been here a few days, Max wasn't quite knowledgeable about the layout of the Mansion yet. He found it to be a labyrinth, with far too many doors then was necessary. He only hoped there weren't any wild goblins in THIS labyrinth. However, this was a school for mutants. There just might be.

"Two doors to the right...aaaand!" Max said as he opened the door he was hoping was the "TV Room" as some of the students had called it. He was bored, and thought he might spend a few hours watching American Television.

"ACK!" Max shouted as a few mops and brooms tumbled out of the door. He had found a closet. Stumbling over a broom, Max managed to stop himself from smacking his head onto the wall just in time. Sighing deeply, he bent down and managed to stuff the cleaning tools back into closet, muttering Scottish Curses.

"Okay, now wot?" Max said, looking around. He noticed a stairway at the end of the hallway that only lead up. Figuring he might as well try, Max headed over and climbed to the top, opening the door. The breeze ruffled his hair as Max stepped outside. THIS time he'd found the room.

"Ah Bloody Hell! I'm never going to..." Max said, then stopped, his mind churning. "Wait a second...no smoke alarms here..." Max instantly whipped out his pack of cigarettes and rusty lighter.

After a few puffs, Max sighed in relief. Just as he was about to bring the lit smoke to his lips for a fourth time, he heard something form around the corner. It sounded...well, he hadn't a clue what it sounded like. He decided to investigate. Holding the cigarette loosely in his lips, Max reached into his pockets and took a golf ball out of his right one and a few American coins with his left.

Peering around the corner, Max saw Meld training. With her metal "melds" being something not only had he never seen before, but something that was weird even by mutant standards, Max couldn't help but stare. However, he wasn't to go unnoticed for very long, for the evening breeze was at his back, and the smoke and smell from his cigarette was blown towards Meld.

Meld continued to slash at the air, going through her forms and imagining opponents in front of her, or behind or beside for that matter. Of course, having metal limbs and a metal tail meant that hear forms weren't like anything that she had learned in those long ago days during high school when she had first gained her martial art skills. No, with every new meld she had further customized her technique, going from something that was a fairly standard hybrid of jui jitsu and karate to something that only vaguely resembled them.

As Meld continued to practice, every so often she blinked her tail eye, further training her visual coordination so as to utilize the third eye to its maximum benefit. One blink and she was alone, a second and there was a stranger behind her, gaping. She stopped abruptly, wiping her brow with a nearby towel, before turning to get a more full view of the man. He was definitely not someone she was familiar with and although she hadn't spoken to everyone at the Mansion, she at least had a working knowledge of who lived there. A new face wasn't entirely surprising, however, as they seemed to show up fairly often.

"Can I help you?" Meld asked. It never hurt to be polite, especially when meeting new mutants. Besides, one never knew when might meet someone who could be convinced of the worthiness of the mutant cause and there was no point in estranging a potential ally.

"Can I help you?" the woman-machine-Cuisinart-thing asked as it...she...turned around to face Max, who quickly pocketed the golf ball back into his pocket, palming a quarter instead. He didn't want to leave himself unarmed, but against someone that had knives for fingers, he didn't want to show too much agression.

"Um...well, ya see I was look fae the tellyrum, but I lost me map. Ended up here and figgered might as well sink in a smoke, aye? Saw yee doin ta dance tricks, got distracted...."

Max tried to act as casual as possible, taking a drag as he walked around fully from the corner, then leaned on the wall. He decided to be blunt and hope for the best. He was a pretty fast runner, so that would be handy if it...she...got offended.

"I'm sorry luv, but I gotta be askin. Wot the bloody hell are ya?"

Meld could sense the discomfort from the newcomer but wasn't put off by it. It was rare that she encountered someone, mutant or human, that didn't feel some measure of discomfort while around her, especially during a first encounter. It was only the very stupid ones or the very dangerous ones that didn't feel it and even many of the dangerous ones felt it. In her mind she felt that it was more than just her bladed limbs and tail, it was the fact that others could sense the blood on her hands, even if on a subconscious level, and that rightfully made people uncomfortable.

"Um...well, ya see I was look fae the tellyrum, but I lost me map. Ended up here and figgered might as well sink in a smoke, aye? Saw yee doin ta dance tricks, got distracted...."

Dance tricks was certainly a new description of her actions and a slightly amusing one at that. She smirked at the man. "Its important to keep in top form and people don't usually bother me while I'm up here." Now that Meld appeared to be done training for now she slipped off her metal gauntlet and flexed her blue veined hand.

"I'm sorry luv, but I gotta be askin. Wot the bloody hell are ya?"

The comment led to another smirk followed by a laugh. Meld could appreciate directness. "I'm a mutant just like I presume you are." She held out her non-metal hand in offer of a hand shake. "The name's Meld."

"I'm a mutant just like I presume you are." She held out her non-metal hand in offer of a hand shake. "The name's Meld."

Max raised an eyebrow. Coming from Scotland, he'd heard some unusual names, but Meld was a new one. He wasn't sure if it was a nickname, codename, or one of those "hippie" names he'd heard of. Nonetheless, it fit this strange...woman...in front of her. He'd finally decided that she was indeed a woman. Maybe.

Shaking Meld's hand with a slight nod and a smile, Max replied "Aye-aye min Meld. Name's Max Livingstone, of Aberdeen. Scotland, ya naw?" Reaching up to his cigarette with his free hand, he finished it with a final drag and flicked it behind him, sending it shooting off like a bullet (metaphorically speaking), the force of the air as it soar putting out the remaining embers.

"Iffen ya be a mutie, wots ya powers? Look like a bloody...well, wots it again... Swiss Army Knife! No besmoochin ya figure granted. Just bein honest." Max had seen her smirk when he had taken the blunt approach. He decided to stay the course.

"A pleasure to meet you Max," Meld answered, watching the cigarette but fly into the air in a manner that was plainly unnatural to her eye. Obviously it must have something to do with his mutation.

"I don't think I've ever had anyone ask me what my powers are before, I thought it was pretty obvious." It certainly was a new experience for Meld although her outward appearance didn't give the full story behind her powers, it was the first thing people saw and the thing they made judgments based upon. "I'm not exactly a swiss army knife. I design what I call flesh melds and then replace various body parts with my flesh melds or in some cases add new body parts." She moved her tail around by way of demonstration and blinked her red ruby tail eye at Max.

"How about you're power? I assume it has something to do with the way that cigarette butt flew through the air?" It never ceased to amaze Meld the wide variety of powers mutants possessed.

Max went cross-eyed slightly, blinking at the tail. Yes. A tail. Made of metal. With a red eye at the tip. A glowing, red eye. That blinked back.

"Naw I might not be all 'illed up, so I naw that's rail. Stranger then a tosser inna bloody stienpot, granted." Max blinked a few more times at the tail, then looked at Meld's other two eyes.

"My wot? AH! Aye, me powers. I call it Momeuntum Infusion. Nothin all knobdobber like yours though. Pretty handy at a game o darts though, or a race." Shrugging modestly, Max rocked back and forth on his heels slightly, then decided to attempt a joke

"So, iffen yew can attach more body parts and such, that mean yew can have a toaster in ya buttocks? That's be grander in all hell."

Meld was struggling slightly to decipher exactly what Max was saying because his accent was so thick. Maybe what she needed next was a flesh meld to decipher accents or possibly even translate foreign languages, though she wasn't entirely certain it would even be possible to create such a flesh meld. Replacing body parts and enhancing senses was one thing, but that would require direct changes to the brain and she was pretty sure that was beyond even her exceptional powers and she wasn't about to even consider searching out a mutant with a power that might transfer over to her should she steal one of his body parts. Her hand had been an act of self defense, she wasn't going to start making a habit of praying on mutants.

"So, iffen yew can attach more body parts and such, that mean yew can have a toaster in ya buttocks? That's be grander in all hell."

Meld blinked at Max, this time with her human eyes rather than her tail eye. "A toaster?" Confusion in her voice as she remembered a recent incident with a toaster that now no longer worked. It had been just after she had gotten her blue veined hand and she had shorted out a toaster, among other things. At least now she could control it enough so that it didn't simply pray on random electronic objects.

Belatedly Meld realized that it was meant as a joke and laughed though her discomfort was evident. "Sorry, I guess I don't have much of a sense of humour." Or if she did, it was of a much darker variety and probably not the sort that most would be comfortable with.

Max raised an eyebrow at Meld. Her reaction to his joke was just about as strange as her appearance. This caused a split reflection towards Max's attitude for this new-found mutant. He was very interested in her abilities, her willingness to shape her body into such an inhumane appearance. He'd seen odd looking mutants before, like Andrea, but Meld seemed...different. He wanted to know more. On the other hand, her sense of humor, or lack of, bored him a bit.
Coupled with her obvious capabilities to tear Max a new mouth, Max didn't want to have a chance to annoy her. However, the pros outweighed the cons. He pressed further.

"So luv, 'ow did ya end up finding ya powers? Did ya always know or did ya accidentally attach a machine to yaself by accident? Be strange, that. I know I first found my own powers by chance. Bloody good timing to if ya ask me. Anyway, that's besides the point." Max leaned into the wall again, spinning the quarter in his right hand back and forth between his fingers. "Wots ya story eh? Don't mind sharin I hope."

"So luv, 'ow did ya end up finding ya powers? Did ya always know or did ya accidentally attach a machine to yaself by accident? Be strange, that. I know I first found my own powers by chance. Bloody good timing to if ya ask me. Anyway, that's besides the point."

"I lost my hand and just happened to have a replacement prepared by chance." Meld was deliberately curt about her answer; it wasn't exactly something that she wanted to get into with a complete stranger. Despite the fact that the incident had occurred many years ago, its memory was still something that brought her pain. She had no issue with the fact that she had discovered her mutation at that time, of course, but her sister had been made to suffer, thought dead for many years, because of her failure. She had been the one with the fighting skills, she was the one who was supposed to have protected her sister but she had failed.

"How about you?" Meld tried changing the subject. Talking about Max and his own mutation was a much safer and much more comfortable topic. "How did you discover that you were a mutant?"

"How about you?" Meld asked after her obviously uncomfortable answer. "How did you discover that you were a mutant?"

Max shrugged, and took out his pack of cigarettes again. If he was going to talk about his powers, he deserved a smoke.

"Well, funny enough, I threw a toaster at a bloke...long story." Max muttered thorough the cigarette in his lips as he tried to start it with the rusty lighter.

shrick
shrick
shrick

The lighter crackled as it failed to produce a flame. Max tried again and again, but the lighter just wouldn't work.

"Ah bumshite. Bloody thing never works." Max pocketed the Zippo that failed him constantly. He would normally have gotten rid of it, but he hadn't had the time to buy a new one.

"Anyway...I wos a wee lad, only 'bout fiyfteen or so. Always used to run 'round Aberdeen at night, loved just being free. One day, 'oweva, some blokes got me cornered in a junkyard I wos cuttin through. Said it wos their turf."

Max stuck the unlit cigarette behind his right ear, continuins his story.

"Long story short rally, I managed to get me hands on a toaster, and threw it at the gangrel wit a knife. Don't know wot happened really, but next thing I know, that bloody toaster goes off like a rocket form me hands into the blokes chest. Knocks him off his feet it does."

Shrugging, Max flipping up the quarter he'd be palming with his thumb and caught it. "Since then, been able to infuse stuff with momentum. Throw it real fast." With a causal flick of his wrists, Max threw the quarter at only a fraction of his full speed. The quarter hummed through the air before hitting a metal pipe, leaving a considerable dent.

"See wot I mean?"

Well, it was certainly an interesting story and a toaster wasn't exactly your typical type of weapon but whatever worked was fine by Meld. When one was a mutant sometimes one had to be creative or maybe it was more apt to say that creativity was forced upon one. "Sorry I can't help with the lighter," Meld apologized. "Maybe if it was electric I'd be able to turn it on." Or maybe not, she still hadn't quite gotten the hang of using her new hand yet. It was kind of hit or miss whether or not it would obey what she told it to do.

"You're lucky you turned out to be a mutant then. If I had discovered what I could do earlier than I did..." Meld's voice drifted off as her mind wandered back to her sister. Of course, had she discovered her powers before the attack her parents would have all ready banished her from the household and she wouldn't have even been there at all to try and help her sister so perhaps it didn't really make a difference after all. At least her sister was alive and she probably wouldn't be had it not been for her actions.

Shaking her head to clear it, Meld continued. "I learned to fight long before I learned I was a mutant. Mostly it was formal competitions and the like when I was growing up but I always thought I should know how to defend myself, just in case. Being as visibly mutant as I am, the need to do so occurs more often than you might think." She wasn't sure how discriminating the rest of the world was against mutants, but here in America she found plenty of people that tried to antagonize her despite the fact that she was obviously a walking weapon. Canada had been better, but that might have had more to do with the fact that it wasn't as obviously at that time as it was now, than any real tolerance.