Heels clicked against the floor of the building's foyer. Rotating doors were walked through. Cool spring evening air flooded her face. She smiled to herself. Lower employees made a clear path for her. All business she strode through the gap and smiled sweetly, and fakely, to each of them. She had a presence here. They could almost sense her approach. Whispers would pass ahead of her as the first person noticed she was there, and would quickly spread trough the entire crowd in seconds. It was a well-rehearsed routine. All they had to say was Nasser and everyone would know. Like dominoes the sequence would spread outward from the starting point. It was the kind of power few wielded in a group the size of a company, but she had it.

Someone better have my damned coffee on my desk on time tomorrow or she will be finding herself jobless.

Her phone buzzed in her breast pocket. She refused to keep it in her handbag, she didn't need to open it every time someone sent her a message. However it buzzed much to fast to be a message. She reached into the pocket with her free hand and retrieved the small electronic device. She slid it to the open position and put it to her ear. "What is it Janice?" She paused in her walking momentarily, and the group recoiled slightly, moving further away from her by instinct. "What do you mean they cancelled their contract? Why do I need to sign off on that, isn't that John's job?" Her voice was kept calm. The calm spelled doom."I don't care what he thought Janice, it is his job no matter how big the account." She forced herself not to raise her voice, it frustrated her when people couldn't comprehend the simplest things. "Well then Janice, you get him on the phone and tell him I want his report on the matter on my desk tomorrow when I arrive, along with my latte or someone is going to not have a job by noon. Goodbye Janice." She slid the phone to closed and tucked it back away.

John is going to need to be spoken to about his work ethic.

She strode on fully down the stairs of the building to the pavement. She had forsaken motorised transport for the day in preference of offering her patronage to one of the cafes she frequented, a small yet ridiculously up market cafe to be precise. It did mean however she had to move among people who could very well be plotting her downfall. She switched to alert and strode into the main crowd, crossing two roads and managing to remain unharmed. In particular she watched anyone not exhibiting any mutation. Humans may be weak, but they had numbers, and they had struck before.

Vulgar rats, vermin of the earth yet so necessary for the running of society.

She arrived at her destination to the sound of more "Nasser"s. Clearly they had spotted her through the glass. Her usual coffee and muffin were on the counter before she had even opened her purse. She took out twenty dollars and placed it on the counter, picking up her drink and food before proceeding to the corner table, where she had a view of the entire store. Her usual order only cost thirteen dollars. She sipped the coffee. Perfect as usual. They wouldn't dare be anything less. The tension in the room made her smile. The smile of the untouchable.

Let them quake in their shoes, they are all expendable, and it is good that they know it.

While the sun beat down on the large city, Ahorta found herself in a world of darkness. She had left her home at the Sanctuary to get some food but she found herself running away from a man of maggots. After only two blocks from her home, the man approached her, pointing at his wrist. At first, he only asked for the time, but the closer he got, the more he appeared to have maggots falling from his hair onto his clothes and crawling out of his nose. Disgusting, absolutely disgusting. Without hesitation, she began to run, not looking back. She could hear footsteps behind her but she did not turn around to see what had happened to the maggot man.

Safety approached in the form of a small cafe. Quickly, she looked behind her to see if he had followed, but he was no where in sight. With that, she dipped into the cafe and rushed to a corner seat. Someone had already taken it. Her eyes scanned the corner sitter for a moment while she debated whether to tell her to move or to find a different spot. The woman in the spot looked very business-like. Most business women were a bit too uptight. The first indication was that most business women pulled their hair back into such a tight pony tail that it stretched the skin on their faces. What would happen if the face tore off?

She sat at the table next to the busniess woman, but diagnol to the woman while her eyes darted around the cafe, taking everyone into consideration. If anyone attacked her, she would grab the business woman's coffee and splash it on their face, that would distract them long enough to allow her time to plot out her next move. Her facemask was strung tightly to her face, only allowing her eyes to be visible. Her black hair fell loosely around her shoulders and she adjusted her black gloves. Her wardrobe was typical, a black trenchcoat with thick boots. If anyone bothered to look at the shirt under her buttoned jacket, they would see it was white and her pants black as well. Colors weren't her thing.

Her eyes darted to the woman getting a bagel at the counter. For a moment, it seemed that the woman stared at Ahorta longer than most people did. Though most people stared for a while due to her face mask, especially children. People could never mind their own business. The pressure from everyone staring at her narrowed her eyes and she turned to the business woman and spoke up. "You're in my spot," she said, her voice calm yet firm. Truth be told, Ahorta had never been in that cafe, but every corner should belong to her, or so her shattered mind believed.

The girl, with her mask, the one who looked as if she was in a rush. A panicked rush. She didn’t need that type of person near her. Was she an employee, is that why she had approached? Shula was sure she hadn’t hired or promoted anyone that paranoid about germs and disease, it was a bad trait in an office where multiple people handled every document. So it was concluded that the girl did not work for her. Therefore she was under no obligation to tolerate her. However as she opened her mouth the girl spoke. The words silenced the whole café. Such defiance had occurred once before in the eatery, and it had not gone well for the other party.

Who on Earth does she think she is?

Shula’s glare turned icy. Daggers were shot from her eyes, to use a tired cliché. The barista was already on is way over. He couldn’t help the girl though; arrogance could not be tolerated in those who could not afford it. ”Your seat? Young lady, who do you think you are? I will have you know I have sat in this seat my every visit to this establishment and not once seen YOU in here, let alone in this seat. I have the power to completely shatter your life. Now remove yourself from my vicinity if you wish to see another sunrise.” The entire shop was listening, but they wouldn’t have heard the final threat, Shula was keeping her voice to a low but deadly whisper. They would be waiting to see how the young girl reacted. Shula had seen the situation wherever she went, it was old hat to Shula, and she knew how to play it. Act the super-powerful business woman she was and they would all back down, and no one would dare question her for months. A tiny ball of glowing glass orbited her hand at close proximity, invisible to the shop behind her handbag, a small seared patch forming on the table. The other girl would almost certainly notice. She seemed the paranoid type.

Lets see this little girl run!

Everyone was staring at her. Each and every eye was either on her or the business pin up next to her. What had she gotten into? The woman bellowed some intimidating words, but Ahorta remained still, watching everyone else. She could sense a power from the woman, she was a mutant, and Ahorta enjoyed the company of mutants too much. However, if she backed down from this woman, everyone would see her as a scardycat and she would never live this down. While the woman's teeth were clenched and she whispered threats about Ahorta dying, she wasn't a giant maggot, so she wasn't that frightening.

She could see a little hint of the woman's power beginning to grow for some kind of battle. The advantage Ahorta had was that she never had to behave in front of anyone. No location of a battle would threaten a replacement at her job and she had a strong feeling the Sanctuary would enjoy such a sight outside. Would this woman dare to venture a battle outside her work? It had to be her work or people wouldn't bow down to her this much. Everyone waited in anticipation and Ahorta took out a napkin and wiped her table clean. She couldn't very well battle in a messy area, right?

To even herself up, she removed her gloves and tucked them gently into her jacket. They had been dipped in a base to keep them from being destroyed by her acidic sweat. She then lifted her mask only enough to fit a finger in and scratch the top of her lip. She then returned her hand to the table while it slowly ate away at the wood. She wasn't excited enough to destroy the table just by resting her hand on it. Tiny bits of smoke raised from the wood and twirled around her mask. "You're not a clown, you don't reak of alcohol and you're not drenched in goo. I'd have to say, you're the most unfrightening opponent I have ever met. And I've never enjoyed the sunrise, that burst of light yellow that wakes the business ticks up and sets their gears," she said, turning her attention to the business woman for a moment while she scanned her.

There were no scales, no slates for eyes, no serpents for hair, and no giant red nose. Her hair was a little shiny, but shiny wasn't frightening. She returned her attention back to the audience, eyeing each and every one of them individually. She hated people. She especially "HATE PEOPLE WHO WATCH ME!" she shouted, her eyes resting on the imposter. He had green scales and he was approaching the table. There was one thing for certain. She turned to the woman again, this time with slight excitement in her eyes. "Let's fight in here. I would love to burn everyone's face off. We could end it with a muffin. All their piercing eyes and your snotty voice, it drives me crazy," she hissed, her tongue tasting her lips, not as if anyone could see.

The girl was quite clearly unstable. Shula could see that from her wild paranoia. It almost amused her. Had it not been for the way the girl seemed to think she was in any way capable of damaging Shula she may have genuinely been humoured. However the girl was making a scene. A large scene. Shula didn't have either the time or the inclination to care about the girl. It was beneath her. She finished her coffee, broke a piece off her muffin and nodded to the girl. Half the cafe stood poised for action, the other half was already taking it. One had a cell phone out. Shula had owned the same model, the tone noises were familiar. 911. It was laughable anyway; should anything happen most of the staff were mutants. One in particular, the waitress always inconspicuous in the corner, could just about throw a car from a block away. It was part of the reason Shula visited the Cafe.

Puny girl. Should return to her ward.

Shula stood and laughed gently, but audible to the entire store. "I'm going to leave now. As little as the lives of the people here mean, they do make the best coffee in New York. Now you go home, and we pretend this never happened." Like hell. Lawyers would descend upon the girl in a storm of paper, and she would sue her for the very mask on her face. All she needed was the girl to look up at her momentarily. Recent violence had lead to most angles of the store being covered by cameras. The one that wasn't was down. The business woman picked up the rest of her muffin, and launched the tiny bead of glass kept invisible under the table, controllable on such a level only by the merit of having little mass, directly at the girl's shin. See her walk after that. It would be blamed on another patron, they were panicky enough to make it believable.

I hope that damages her irrevocably.

Shula, with no patience for the situation, left the store at a brisk, calm walk. She would feel in control for a while, the confrontation had thus far gone well. The girl may even have ended up with a half inch across ball of glass living in her leg, fused by the heat. Shula headed for home, taking a quick turn down one of her alleys, marked as such by the glass covering most of it. She had the normal alley goers leaving her offerings of glasses and bottles, afraid of her wrath coming down upon them. She wouldn't have bothered with them, but they were too frightened to NOT be useful. Shula picked up a wine glass and flicked it with as much force as her flinger held. It cracked in on itself. She picked up one chip and put it in her mouth, chewing carefully.

Hmm, good quality

Phones quickly began dialing those three digits. It seemed that Ahorta heard that number ever so often. Every time someone got scared of her, they would call it, and it seemed so many people did call it. The last time someone knew who she was, she was in a mental institution, one she had broken out after some pure dedication. Though she wore the face mask for years and she showed every sign of being crazy. Though no one had caught her, not yet. The noises from all the phones echoed in her ears and she clamped her hands over her ears, cursing mildly under her breath. The man who had green scales halted in his place and the woman stood up and decided to leave. It was so depressing. She thought she found someone who hated humans just as much and wanted to make one hell of a battle, but she relied on her placement in power. Pathetic.

The woman started to walk away, turning to Ahorta a few times. She took the mature way out of the situation by leaving. Maybe it was an invitation to go somewhere more private. "Fight or flight, funny, didn't look like you had wings," she hissed. Why was everyone calling? Technically, she hadn't done anything and actually, this business woman had said just as many things about how worthless the lives of humans were. How come Ahorta got the butt end of it? Ahorta kept her gaze on the wood she was currently eating through, her eyes trailing up the smoke until it disappeared into the air. As the woman turned away, something painful hit her shin with full force. It wasn't large enough to break her bone, but it was small enough to cut into her skin. Whatever it was, it hadn't made it deep enough before the acid ate it, still, there was blood.


Blood. There was blood running down her leg, she could feel it. It was her blood! That damn woman had cut her with whatever her power was! Quickly, Ahorta jumped to her feet and tried to pick up the table, it was hammered into the floor. To make things easier, she wrapped her hand around near the base and ate directly through it. Lifting the table, she positioned herself like in baseball. The sugar and sweetener fell off the table along with the napkin dispenser and hit the contents on the table next to her, sending a cup of coffee on one of the ladies' lap. Before she ate through the rest of the table, she threw it at the window. It shattered through and Ahorta watched as people ran for cover. She could see the man with green scales cowering behind the counter. Walking out the broken window, she grabbed the small fence that enclosed the outdoor eating area and ate through it so she could take a piece of the bar with her. She replaced her glove on one hand and chased after the woman. So she didn't want public attention? With one swift move, she threw it at her. It didn't matter if it hit her, she wanted her attention. She hadn't fought anyone worthy of a fight for a long time. Not since that Asian guy at KP.

Shula felt something rush past her rather swiftly. It smashed into one of the thicker portions of glass in the alley and all but shattered it. This was not acceptable. If it was that girl throwing things at her there would be hell to pay. Shula swung around and spotted the insane creature. By now the end of the alley was clear of people. Sirens blared in the distance, warning of police. Shula glared at the girl, so it would come to a fight. Her heels weren't exactly what she'd call her preferred shoes for the situation but they would have to do. Shula was prepared to kill the girl. Kill her dead. Shula considered herself lucky, given the circumstances, that the heavy fence had missed her, albeit by a rather narrow margin. Had it struck her, she likely would have been injured quite badly.

Time to learn some manners.

Shula noted with a smile the blood coming from the girl's leg. So she would be starting with that tiny advantage would she? But where was the tell tale glow of the glass still embedded in her? Even when supercooling it would not have gone down to nothing so soon. "Interesting fact, glass melts at a temperature of 1996 Kelvin. The only acid known to dissolve glass is hydrofluoric acid and apparently whatever you're made of," She didn't like that bit, but it was a reality she was dealing with. She had paused simply to summon a small ball of molten glass, hovering slightly above her now outstretched hand, directly beside her. ",But no acid is going to save you from being burned to a cinder. Shula used her other hand to perform the well known bring it on hand gesture.

Come closer, I only need you within twenty feet.

There were few things that Ahorta was afraid of on this Earth, glass happened to be one of them. Most people and even mutants fell underone of the many categories of her phobias, but this woman was oddly inviting almost. Her mind was not raced, she was relatively calm considering her typical attacks. The woman followed, piecing together Ahorta's mutation the whole way. No one should know details of her mutation, she hardly knew much about it either, she only knew when she needed it, it could hurt people. On the other hand, this woman was strong, angry, intimidating and a mutant. Ahorta's last run in with a mutant left her as the loser, that can't happen this time, the last mutant wanted her sedated, this one wanted her dead.

She threatened to burn her, so it was hot glass, perhaps thats how it all got reshaped in her hand. The woman outstretched her hand but Ahorta stayed her ground. In fact, she moved away from the woman and approached a nearby fire escape stairway in the alley. Since she couldn't reach, she took off her gloves and placed her hands against the brick wall. They ate through the concrete with ease and left little holes. She used those hole to pull herself up, making new ones and placing her feet in the first holes she created while she climbed up. She reached the ladder and started to climb. While her power began to eat through the metal, she pulled herself up to the second floor with enough speed that she didn't fall through.

Higher ground was an advantage for Ahorta. First off, since the cops were arriving, she would rather stay out of sight. Secondly, if the woman was to fall off, hopefully she would be hurt. If Ahorta were to fall off, although she would be frightened, she has always been able to get up. It was clear the woman did not care about the police or she would put up her glass ball. Cops would believe self-defense, but her stance was clearly one preparing for an attack and that would catch the cops' attention. Unless the woman had bought out the police, but hardly anyone could do that unless they were mob bosses or such. "And you're frightened employees can't cover your story, you're alone now," she laughed, leaning over the edge.

Shula was pleased that the girl had chosen to run. For one, it left her with less clean up to do before the cops arrived. The police, ah there was a problem. well, no use wasting a perfectly good glass ball. She sized up the building the girl was standing on, took three steps forward and threw the ball of glass at her. The force behind it may have propelled it slightly higher than the roof of the building, which all in all wasn't very high. Luckily for Shula the girl was the only one that knew of her mutation. Sure, others assumed, but none actually knew. She didn't wait to see what happened, she turned, and walked to the end of the alley. The opposite end to that which she had entered.

Well if she died they won’t find much more than bones in glass.

Shula was down to a possible five more shots. This displeased her with a definite hostile person around. Her exiting the alley was perfectly timed with the sound of screeching tires at the other end. She had crossed the road and moved to the back of the crowd completely unnoticed by the time the backup had come to close off the other end of the alley. It was a good getaway. Possibly the girl would just leave her be, although she did seem to be a nut job.

She will be killed, or at least stopped, if she tries anything.

The woman ran away. Why did that not surprise Ahorta? In the face of danger, cowards turn to the authorities to save them. The only thing the cops were good at was giving Ahorta a headache with all those sirens and such, those loud noises and flashing lights, walki'ing strategies to eachother. Boy were cops annoying. Still, the boss woman thought they could help, so she let her think that. The glass ball she had shot at her whizzed up to the building and Ahorta tried to dodge it. Quickly, she leapt behind an air conditioning vent, but it hit full force. The glass ball splattered across the machine and knocked it out of its nailed in position. It skidded across the rooftop, taking Ahorta with it and the metal heated up. It was hot to te touch, but Ahorta touch was enoug to not feel much anyways. Her eyes narrowed as she approached the ledge.

She grabbed onto the edge of the building and allowed her body to roll off, caught by her one hand. The air vent teetered on the edge above her and she let out a scream. Everyone turned they attention to her, but she looked so different. Her jacket had torn off when she fell off the edge but it remained up on the building. The facemask everyone recognized her by was off and her hair was in a funk, she almost looked... normal. "Help me! Please! The woman up there is crazy! She has my daughter! Someone help my Suzanne!" she cried out as her hands continued to eat through the building and she sunk lower and lower. Cops surrounded her, ready to find some way to catch her, but with a smirk on her face, she let go.

Breath left her. For a moment, she was weightless, it was frightening. She could feel the wind whip across her skin as she plummeted down and she kept her eyes glued to the sky. Don't look down she mentally repeated until it happened. With great loud thud and plenty of people's cries of shock, Ahorta landed on the hood of on of the cop cars. The cops crowded around, but the ambulance had already arrived. She just had to look dead.