Elli grumbled quietly to herself, softly cursing the multitudes of bright, garish yellow cabs and slightly less garish cars that were steadfastedly refusing to remove themselves from her path, despite the giant whirling lights and blaring siren streaming from the car. Elli got a disturbance call while doing the rounds, her first day back on patrol almost coming to an end when she was called into action. And now, when she tried to respond, the damn stubborn New-Yorkers were refusing to budge an inch.

It seemed that what started as a peaceful protest against mutants and the many troubles they caused had been riled up into more than that, and was now attacking mutants in Central Park and destroying both private and public property. Thus, the a few units had been called in to see if they could get the situation under control, or if riot control needed to be summoned. Elli was one of the units in the area, so when the traffic finally thinned out, she was speeding at some 70 miles an hour to Central Park.

After making a few moderately dangerous turns, Elli hit the brakes and leapt out of her car, police tonfa in hand. Though she hoped she wouldn't have to use it, a tonfa was similar enough to a short sword that she was confident in her ability to defend herself. Still, she hoped it didn't come to that. She really hoped that the people would disperse peacefully, but from the dispatch it didn't sound likely.

Walking up to a small crowd of people that had gathered on the outskirts of the park, whether to get out of the way or to watch the show, Elli cleared her throat and raised her voice. "People! I am Elizabeth Fletcher of NYPD, and I'm going to have to ask you to leave the area for your own safety. More officers are on the way, and I assure you this will be resolved as peacefully as possible. Thank you." So saying, Elli moved on, trusting in those not too far behind her to ensure the departure of the spectators.

After about twenty seconds of hard running, Elli came across The Mob. And yes, it deserved capital letters. The Mob appeared to be about a hundred or so people, all of them yelling angrily, and several wielding signs and banners depicting slogans such as 'freaks for life, they cause strife' or 'inhuman freaks deserve no better than rabid dogs'. All in all it was your typical group of viscious bigots, and it made Elli sick. What made her even more angry was the mutant they had cornered. It was a small child, cowering in a corner. Another mutant, one floating in a glowing bubble of sorts, was attempting to rescue the child, but was continuously driven back by the mob.

Elli made herself visible, shining her flashlight into the eyes of those at the front of The Mob and holding her tonfa at her side. "This is the New York police. Disperse now, or you will be dispersed!"

A person in The Mob spoke up. "We have our first amendment right to assembly, asshole!"

"Peacefull assembly, sir. It is anything but when you attack your fellow man and destroy property. Cease and desist, now!"

Juka's day had started out pretty good, all things considered. After returning in the small hours of the morning from his usual nightly patrols as the masked floating Green Mage, he had fed his kitties and proceeded to band practice. There was nothing quite like band practice to put him in a good mood, especially when it was one of those practices in which everything seemed to be meshing perfectly. To make his day even better, after band practice, in reward for just how well it had gone, the five of them had mutually decided that they simply must reward themselves with some Thai food and although Juka no longer really needed to eat, he liked nothing more than to go out for high quality delicious food. He had, of course, bought for the entire band because he was the one with all the money.

After band practice Juka decided that he would really like a stroll in central park and that is, unfortunately, when his day began to turn around. His trip there was uneventful, floating in from high above and managing to land and unbubble without anyone catching sight of him. Immediately, however, he realized that something was off because he could hear a rather large commotion coming from nearby. Walking closer he began to make out words, very anti mutant words. "Freaks for life, they cause strife" was taken up as a chant.

Juka's first inclination upon coming upon the angry mob was to try and bubble and convince them all that mutants weren't the threat the believed and have them all disperse peacefully. Thankfully, a rare instant of common sense prevailed and he realized that while he might consider himself something of a spokesperson for non-violent mutants everywhere, people like this might not appreciate that fact, especially not while they were engaged in violent group think behavior.

Juka was planning on simply turning heel and walking away without anyone even noticing he was there and hoping it would just disperse itself on its own when he caught a little girl that had been cornered by the mob and in that realization Juka made the decision that he couldn't simply leave her to be torn apart by the mob. Before he really had time to consider what he was doing and the fact that he was now likely to be the one torn apart, he bubbled himself and floated over top of the mob and the little girl. "Leave that girl alone she didn't do anything to you!" He put his hands on his hips and wished desperately that he had his anvils with him.

Hunter was just hogging through central park minding his own business. He actually liked having to work out to stay in shape. The endorphins that were released when you exercised were great. Even if he didn’t enjoy it he’d have exercised regularly. After having been in phenomenal shape for over four centuries he had no desire to get out of shape now.

However his pleasant jog was soon rudely interrupted as he came across a group of angry anti-mutant protestors. Sighing he was going to just turn round and walk away when he caught sight of several things. First there was a little girl trapped by the angry mob. There was no way that Hunter could just walk away and leave her there. Secondly Juka was floating over the top of the mob in that bubble of his. Looked like he was trying to help the girl. From what he’d seen of Juka’s powers he should have a reasonable shot at getting the girl out safely. But just in case he’d stay nearby to help if Juka needed it.

Then he saw the final thing that meant he couldn’t walk away. A guy in his teens wearing a hoodie and jeans was rushing past. He had a baseball hat pulled low, the hood up and his hands in his pocket. Hunter thought he saw a gleam of something under the hood. Unfortunately for the guy someone in the mob saw it as wall and called to his friends. They grabbed him and pulled his hood down revealing an interesting sight. The boy’s body seemed to be made entirely of crystal. Unsurprisingly the mob was not impressed by this.

He’d hoped to be able to stay out of this but looked like he was going to have to dive in. Hunter jogged up and clapped a hand on the crystal kid’s shoulder before they could drag him into the middle of the mob. Giving the scared mutant a reassuring smile he turned to the two men who had a hold of his arms. “Now gentlemen,” he said politely, “How about we just let the kid go and resolve this in a calm and peaceful fashion like reasonable adults?”

They took one look at him and immediately saw his silver eyes. The expression on their faces suggested that the answer was no. That and the fact that one of them was taking a swing at him. Apparently you just grabbed and scared mutant kids but adult mutants you attacked on sight. Dodging the swing he grabbed the guy by the wrist and the back of the neck. Turning him to face the crowd he shoved him back into his fellows. That broke their grip on the crystal kid who Hunter immediately pulled back from the mob. “Stand behind me,” he instructed. The kid just nodded. Now to try and hold of an angry mob without hurting anyone.

Elli's attention was flitting around the area, taking everything into account as she prepared to make split second decisions. The mob was getting more violent by the second, and the wrong thing could definitely act as a catalyst to turn all that pent up energy loose, in a destructive way. It was Elli's job to prevent that, at least until backup could arrive to make things more manageable.

And then things went and got worse.

“Now gentlemen, how about we just let the kid go and resolve this in a calm and peaceful fashion like reasonable adults?”

It seemed that another mutant kid had become the target of a portion of the mob's wrath, and that an older man had stepped in to protect him. Punches flew, but the man seemed to be able to dodge well enough. For a split second, Elli wavered, but then decided that the mutant could probably take care of the small child that was cornered, and whipped her taser out. Taking aim, she put the two prongs between the shoulder-blades of the one who had thrown the punch. He went down for the count as his muscles locked up, and a few of his compatriots turned their attentions to Elli, the others staying focused on the man.

"Yes, let's resolve this like adults, gentlemen." She said, her badge shining starkly in the night, her taser back in it's holster and her tonfa at the ready. The men, bolstered by each other's presence and by the fact that Elli was alone, advanced on her. How sorry they would soon be of that.

"This is the New York police. Disperse now, or you will be dispersed!"

Juka really wasn't sure that having the police here were really going to make anything better. Bubbling and floating over to the angry mob had the desired effect of grabbing the attention of more than a few of them, of course, but unfortunately it did not have the desired effect of grabbing their attention enough so that the little girl could escape. As far as he could tell he had two options. The first was to dive into that angry violent crowd, unbubble, grab the little girl, rebubble and hope for the best. That plan had the very distinct disadvantage of being suicidally stupid. The second option was to taunt the crowd enough that they got so angry at him that they forgot all about the innocent little girl and she was able to run for her life. All she had to do was get far enough that she was out of the middle of the mob so that Juka could swoop in and take her to safety. That plan was only very slightly less suicidal than the first plan but, since it was all that he could come up with at such short notice, he decided he would have to make due.

"Hey, why don't you undeducated brutes pick on someone your own size," Juka called down. He was very very careful not to float low enough to actually be in range if anyone tried to, oh I don't know, grab him or hit him with baseball bats. His words had the desired effect of riling up the crowed and a few more looked away from the girl, but it still wasn't enough. "Because you're all so manly and brave, picking on a sweet little girl like that. Going to just stand there while a dress wearing boy in a bubble emasculates you?" More rumblings, very very angry rumblings. Go Juka go, you're doing a good thing. He felt a little tendril of fear that he was probably doing something very very stupid and something very bad was going to happen because of it.

Sending out a tendril to a nearby tree, Juka wrapped it around a branch and pulled until the branch came off and he began swinging it around like a funny shaped leafy club. "Come and get me, you pathetic wastes of human flesh. Come and get me if you can." A rock flew in his direction and he had to dodge to avoid getting hit. Oops, maybe he had gone too a little too far threatening their manhood, but as long as it allowed the little girl to escape, it would all be worth it. Another rock flew and another and Juka was so concerned with actually saving his own life while distracting the mob long enough for the girl to run away that he had yet to notice Hunter on the other side of the mob.

Hunter saw the cop drop the guy who’d taken a swing at him drop the guy with an accurate taser shot. Steadily he moved round to her while keeping the kid behind him. “Evening officer,” he said with a respectful nod of his head, “Looks like you might benefit from some assistance. At least until backup arrives.” He really hoped backup was on the way. Good as he was he couldn’t hold of this many people without seriously hurting them and he’d like to avoid that if possible.

A significant portion of the crowd was advancing on the three of them. They were outnumbered at least ten to one and these people really wanted to kick the crap out of him and the kid and now the cop for helping them. “So you take the half on the left and I’ll take the half on the right?” he said with a smile to the cop.

Juka seemed to be holding the attention of the rest of the crowd. So much so they were tossing rocks at him now. The boy had grabbed a branch and was waving it menacingly at the crowd. From where he was now he couldn’t see the girl. Ideally he’d ask Juka to lift him up and drop him so he could get the girl out but he didn’t want to leave the cop and the crystal kid alone. Especially as another guy was about to try his luck.

One of the bigger guys stepped in and drew his arm back to try and punch Hunter in the face. He calmly stepped in close and punched the man in the throat. It wasn’t a hard enough hit to collapse his windpipe but enough to send him reeling and spluttering for breath. Pulling back next to the cop more were closing in. “So how long until your backup arrives,” he asked.

“Looks like you might benefit from some assistance. At least until backup arrives.”

The man walked to stand by Elli, and though she eyed him warily she nodded at his comment. She certainly couldn't take all of those people on her own, and having more than one target would only confuse them. Her tonfa spun in her hand, and she smoothly transferred it to her left, then back again, testing the balance. It wasn't nearly as heavy as a sword, meaning she could swing it faster without doing any real damage. Also, it was padded so it would leave bruises, but (probably) not break any bones.

“So you take the half on the left and I’ll take the half on the right?”

Elli smiled. They were gravely outnumbered, but it would only take a few beatings for the rest to lose heart. Though Elli regretted that it was necessary, necessary it was. It was not her job as a cop to beat people, it was her job to keep the peace. "I was thinking 60-40. You are just a civilian, after all."

Almost in concert with the guy going after the man, another came at Elli, arms outstretched to grab her. Her mind flashed back to that awful night, and with a soft growl her tonfa spun out to thwack the man in the kneecap as he came forward, knocking him off balance for a follow up strike to the kidney, then another with the butt of the tonfa to the top of his head.

“So how long until your backup arrives,”

Elli shrugged, as the rest of the people eyed her warily. "Best case scenario? Five minutes ago. Worst case? Ten, fifteen minutes from now. Depends on traffic."

A flying rock hit Juka painfully in the side and he yelled out in pain. OK, so his plan to get the crowd so riled up that they started mindlessly attacking him hadn't exactly been his brightest idea, but he couldn't have simply let the little girl get eaten alive, could he? Looking down, he saw that she was starting to make progress, inching her way over to the edge of the crowd where hopefully she'd be able to run or maybe he'd be able to float fast enough up pick her up and bring her to safety.

Another rock came flying up and Juka and he intercepted it, barely, with his large stick. Things were definitely not going well, especially if someone in the crowd should happen to have a gun. He gulped and desperately hoped that wasn't the case. Even if he was able to survive a gunshot, and that was by no means certain, he didn't exactly feel like testing the matter. One might even say that he was developing a phobia of guns, especially guns that were firing bullets directly at him.

Almost as if reading his mind, Juka spotted an orange flame. "Burn the muties!" A woman holding a flaming branch yelled the words out and the chant was quickly taken up by the rest of the crowd. Up in his bubble Juka was relatively safe from fire, unless someone in the crowd had a weapon far more aerodynamic than a flaming branch, but they had, unfortunately, noticed the little girl again before she had gotten far enough away to start running. It was at this point that Juka noticed Hunter and the cop lady beside him.

"Hunter, there's a little girl on the other side of the crowd who's going to be killed if we don't get to her in time," Juka yelled, hoping desperately that he, or the woman with him, would be able to do something for the girl. Not waiting to see what the two of them would do with his words, he dive bombed the crowd near where the little girl was, whirling his stick weapon around in circles and hoping desperately that he was not about to get murdered for his rash action. He had to save the girl, no matter how painful and dangerous that turned out to be.

The cop dropped a guy with three swift tonfa strikes as he pulled back from the man he’d dropped. If they dropped enough of them then the rest would back off, but at the moment they were just making the crowd angrier. Plus backup could be quarter of an hour away. Things did not look good for our heroes.

Out the corner of his eye Hunter saw Juka take a rock to the side. Probably a bad bruise but he’d be fine. The little girl wouldn’t be without help. Juka shouted a warning before charging heedlessly into the crowd. The boy would be overwhelmed without help. There was just too few of them. Hunter quickly started running scenarios in his head.

Even with his help the cop’s odds of holding back the crowd were slim. There were just too many people here for them to fight. Without help Juka and the girl were going to be in serious trouble. Odds on he was the best fighter here and if only looking out for himself he was likely to do far better than anyone else. Looked like there was only one real solution. It sucked but then so did everything else about this situation.

“When I move take the kid and run,” he said to the cop, “I’m going for the girl.” Before she had time to argue Hunter was moving. He headed straight into the crowd. His sudden charge caught them off guard and he made it past the first half dozen before they knew what was happening. Then it got much harder. People started to make grabs for him or swing fists. A hand grabbed his shirt and he did three quick strikes at the man’s shoulder hitting pressure points and temporarily disabling his arm. Someone else grazed his shoulder with a punch and got a strike to the windpipe in return. Hunter had to go all out as he made his way through the crowd and was starting to take some good hits. He struck back hitting pressure points and still trying to make sure that he didn’t seriously hurt anyone. But he was making progress and closing on Juka and the girl. He just hoped he’d make it through before the crowd overwhelmed him.

The teenage boy floating in a bubble above the crowd seemed to know the man aiding Elli, for he shouted across the space to the man, calling him by name and asking for aid. "Hunter, there's a little girl on the other side of the crowd who's going to be killed if we don't get to her in time."

Ooh, my, that certainly sounded bad. As Elli turned to Hunter to formulate a plan of action, he shouted at her and took off. “When I move take the kid and run. I’m going for the girl.”

Chivalry is dead, Elli thought, and I am invited to it's funeral. Still, she had no choice but to do what the strange mutant said, for he was gone and, though they backed off from surprise at first, the group of people was advancing on Elli once again. Though it went against every bone in her body as an officer of the peace to simply run from such anarchy, if she didn't wait for backup she would be swamped under the sheer numbers of them.

Casually twirling her tonfa, Elli did one of the most cliche moves there was: she did the Matrix 'come on'. Unoriginal though it was, in the crowd's angered state it worked, sending them surging in an amorphous mass towards Elli, and further away from the crystal kid. The gut of the fastest runner met the butt of Elli's tonfa with a whoosh, and then Elli had to keep the thing darting from side to side, knocking people off balance but unable to do follow-up strikes because of the press on all sides.

After a few seconds of this cat and mouse, in which Elli almost got hit by a few lucky close calls, she decided it was time to go. She took a quick hop about four feet back, so that every person in the press overbalanced and was standing on their toes. A quick step to a leap, and Elli was using the shoulders of the mob as a springboard into a graceful soaring eagle flip, landing in a roll and grabbing the crystal kid by the hand, so that she was practically dragging him along.

"Hey kid, don't worry, I'll get you out of this." And so Elli ran, hoping that the sound she heard in the distance was indeed police sirens.

Diving into the middle of an angry mob was just about one of the most rash and stupid things that Juka had ever done in his life, and that covered a lot of ground. His whirling stick served to keep the majority of the mob off of him, more than occasionally colliding with flesh and he could only imagine creating some rather impressive bruises. Unfortunately, with dozens of bodies surrounding him, most was not nearly good enough ans he quickly lost count of the number of bruises he was accumulating.

The advantage of having a giant semi-resistant bubble was, of course, that the mob wasn't able to grab onto him and force him into the ground. The disadvantage was that it really wasn't any protection against the many fists and feet that were flying towards him. He focused his attentions on protection the little girl from the majority of the damage. He could take it even if he was going to be little more than a pile of pain and bruises by the end of it and, in all likelihood, trapped in his bubble for at least a few days while healing, but she couldn't.

Through the roar and chaos of the crowd, Juka could neither see nor hear Hunter of the cop's approach through the crowd, he could only pray desperately that they were on their way. The longer he remained in the midst of the chaos, the more injured he became and the more injured he became the less able he was to protect the child. A kick to the head sent stars through his skull and he struggled to maintain focus. The fact that his branch collided with his assailant was little more than chance, instinct and the fact that the crowd was so tightly packed that it was difficult not to hit something. If someone didn't come to help him, he knew he wasn't going to last much longer. That, and he could only hope that the flaming branch he had seen earlier didn't start a larger fire. He couldn't exactly do much against flame.

Hunter was going to be very sore tomorrow assuming he made it to tomorrow. But right now pain was nothing but a distraction so it was shoved to the back of his mind. One of the advantages of learning to restrain his abilities was the fantastic control he gained over his own mind. Pushing aside pain that would stop others in their tracks was now a simple task.

Up ahead Juka came into view. The little girl was not far behind him. Juka was not doing well and despite the telekinetic waving of his branch around the crowd were pressing in on him. Before he could call out he caught a flicker of something bright out the corner of his eye. He only just ducked in time as the flaming branch was swung where his head had been.

Sweeping the legs out from under the person holding the branch he grabbed it and pushed the final distance to Juka. A wide swing of the flaming branch bought them a little space. “You ok?” he asked swinging the branch again causing the crowd that had been encroaching back in to step back once more. Beckoning the little girl she slowly started crawling towards them. Someone leant out to grab her but Hunter darted over an jabbed at him with the flaming branch and forced him back.

Grabbing the girl about the waist he hopped back to Juka and swung the branch again to get the crowd back. While he couldn’t keep this up all day he hoped to keep it going long enough for the NYPD to arrive. “Can you bubble the girl and get out of here?” he asked Juka. A rock came hurtling out of the crown and he barely deflected it with the branch. More started coming and it was all he could do to shield the girl from them. This was really going to hurt tomorrow.

Elli, the crystal kid safely hidden behind a tree and some bushes, began to run back towards Hunter and the other child. Hopefully they could hold out on their own until she got there, where she was sure the three of them would be able to keep the crowd off of the kid until backup came. As she ran, Elli wondered why it was taking so long for backup to arrive.

She soon found out.

Several black S.W.A.T. vans swerved into sight, unloading men in full riot gear almost before they stopped moving. A few canisters of gas were popped and tossed into the mob, one landing near Hunter and the others. Holding her hands into a cup around her mouth to increase the volume, Elli shouted, hoping Hunter could hear her. "HUNTER!!! Cover your eyes and hold your breath! Get the kids out of there!"

So said, Elli ran to what appeared to be the command center, a black van with a makeshift tent next to it. Ignoring protocol, Elli bust in and interrupted the woman in charge, grabbing her shoulder and whirling her around so Elli could talk. "There are three people smack in the middle of that mob hellbent on killing them, and another hiding in those trees over there!"

The woman, who Elli saw from the nametag was Captain Henrys, nodded her comprehension and began shouting into a handheld radio, directing the breaking up of the mob. Elli moved to join those clearing the mob, but a raised hand from the Captain stopped her. Taking a pause from her directing, the Captain explained.

"Listen, they'll be fine, we got 'em, but I'm gonna need to hear your report while it's still fresh, okay?" The Captain had a slight southern drawl, and it made her seem more severe. Elli nodded, and took a seat where she could watch all of the action.

"I'll live," Juka answered Hunter. His own well being wasn't half as important as that of the little girl anyway. He could take care of himself and his wounds would eventually heal but he wasn't so sure about her. So young and innocent to be involved in something like this, it was heartbreaking. It was one thing to assault full grown adult mutants but shouldn't children have a different set of laws to govern how one acted towards them? As bad as it was to assault anyone, it was ten times worse when it was a child involved.

Hunter's presence made all the difference in the world to Juka's current position. While there were still far too many bodies and far to many fists and feet flying, now, at least, he had the opportunity to unbubble and grab the little girl. Not bothering to answer Hunter's question verbally, he went to work. In a moment his bubble disappeared and he landed softly on the ground, stick that had previously been used as a weapon falling beside him. "Take my hand, I'm going to get you out of here," he gently told the little girl.

Clearly terrified, the little girl took his hand and a moment later Juka's bubble reappeared, this time surrounding the both of them. He sent out a tendril and grabbed his branch once again, just as a rock smashed into his bubble, hitting him in the shoulder. Yet one more bruise to add to the multitude but at least he had the child now.

"HUNTER!!! Cover your eyes and hold your breath! Get the kids out of there!"

Reinforcements had finally arrived and not a moment too soon. Smoke began to fill the area and people began hacking and coughing. In his bubble, of course, both Juka and the girl were perfectly safe from the smoke. He looked with some concern at Hunter, hoping he'd be able to make it out all right. Unfortunately he wasn't able to carry more than one person at a time with him and, after one more glance in his direction, began floating the girl over to the cops.

The cavalry was here at last. This was good as there was only so long Hunter could wave a branch around to keep the crowd back. Juka got straight to work and grabbed the girl as the first salvo of CS canisters was launched into the crowd. Hunter waved Juka away when he glanced in concern. He’d be fine.

First thing to know about teargas, it isn’t a gas. It is a powder that is dispersed in the air. Keeping out of your airway and eyes was a priority. Second thing to remember was not to panic. If you panicked you would start to breathe faster and open your eyes wide. This would just leave you incapacitated faster.

Hunter tossed the branch to one side and pulled the top of his robes up over his nose and mouth. He also squinted so that his eyes were almost shut. Finally he began to slow his breathing. His eyes were already watering and he’d soon lose his vision but he hoped those near him would drop first. Despite the police attempting to stop the crowd some still came at him. Though his vision was limited his hearing was still good. While not as good as with his powers on it still gave him a direction to aim a sweep kick in. Where his opponents not also suffering from the CS in the air he wouldn’t have much of a chance but as it was they didn’t put up much of a fight. By the time Hunter was forced to close his eyes from the pain people had stopped trying to rush him.

When the gas masked SWAT team made their way to him they would find a curious sight. Hunter would be sitting cross legged on the ground with his hands on his knees palms up and his eyes closed. His robes would still be covering his nose and mouth and his breathing would be slow and shallow. He would allow the officers to guide him out of the teargas and towards the mobile command centre for him to give his statement.