Isabel was on a mission. However, it wasn't one that had been assigned by one of the Order's higher-ups. Through her own personal leisurely readings and studies in the Sanctuary's library, somewhere she'd stumbled upon the mention of acupuncture, and the idea had stuck with her.

She was forever creating spines and needles of varying sizes, so why not get a little more creative with her abilities? Aside from its curative properties, she was positive it could also be put to ill use. And she did love toying with her playmates. It had the potential to be a lot of fun. And if she ended up having any talent in the art, she could play the opposite end of the scale and perhaps somehow aid her friends with the techniques.

And so she was on a mission to sift through a local bookstore for some informative reading material. 'Acupuncture For Dummies', perhaps. Something with a good number of illustrations in any case. But first, she'd need to procure some spending money. She could certainly just take a book or two, she was sure, but it had been a quiet night and she wasn't quite up to disturbing the other Sanctuary residents with a bunch of sirens trailing her back home.

Luckily, even at night, the city was lively enough that it shouldn't prove overly difficult to find someone's pocket to pick. Not-so-luckily was the reputation the preceded her, making people understandably more skittish around her should they happen to recognize her. It would require a little more patience than she was used to providing, but she could manage it.

Or the off chance that someone slipped into an alleyway all by their lonesome within her line of site. Some people just made it much too easy.

As long as resources are finite there will be confrontation. This is a fact of life which is not unique to man; evolution itself is designed to reward those who most often triumphs in confrontation. It should be of little surprise therefore that, among all specious, man has become the most proficient in this regard devising numerous new ways to engage and conduct conflicts ranging from sports to the formation of laws.

Still, some things never change, there will always be disputes which can only be settled through violence, blood and death. The end result of such discordance however generally has a negative effect on business, thus there will always be those who seek to stammer any battles within their territory and, depending upon the nature of the business in question, the rewards for any successful peacekeeping can prove to be quite substantial.

It was because of this that Zephyr found himself questioning the wisdom of accepting such a peacekeeping assignment for only $5000. Admittedly it was probably advisable to a certain amount of funds on hand which weren't electronic, but still, this wasn't even his forte; negotiations of this type relied on reputation, of which the elementals was rather subdued as he lacked any interest in mass homicide unlike other mutants, or shows of force/intimidation, which generally weren't worth the effort.

It was aggravating situation but one the hessian could do relatively little about; gang wars appeared to be growing in popularity these days and therefore it was likely such peacekeeping missions would also become somewhat more plentiful in the near future. The most effective course of action in such circumstances then was to try and cultivate a somewhat more impressive reputation in this initial assignment in order to, ideally, make any future negotiations less trying.

With a slight shake of his head Zephyr dismissed his disparaging thoughts and shifted his focus to more practical matters, such as how best to utilize the eighty minutes available to him before the leaders of each respective faction were due to arrive at the 'battlefield' which, in this case consisted of a desolate harbor warehouse perhaps a thirty minute walk away if one were to make use of the many back alleys which riddled the neighborhood.

'I suppose I may as well get there ahead of time' The elemental mused as he turned down a convenient side street. Perhaps a short flight might even be in order.

Alleyways were a mugger's best friend. Honestly, Isabel couldn't understand why people still dared attempting to brave them without at least one companion to watch their back. New York was a dangerous place, after all, what with all the ill-tempered mutants running around. Particularly the bow-wearing variety.

Casually she slowed her pace a little as her gaze trailed after the young man that disappeared out of her line of site on the street and down one of the nearest alleyways. Seems like it was her lucky day. She had anticipated strolling up and down streets for a few hours at least before being able to find a suitable target and location, away from too many prying or alerting eyes.

Taking a precautionary peek around the corner she planned to turn, she wasted little time in dawdling behind. There were enough connecting corridors, fire escapes, and side streets that it would be easy enough to lose such a nicely picked target. That would be a real shame and an unfortunate waste of time were that to happen. She wasn't about to get herself lost trying to find one person in the maze of a city.

Fortunately, no such chase needed to be abandoned. Her newest playmate hadn't gotten too far by the time she'd turned the corner and begun traveling the alley's length. The young man didn't seem to be in a hurry to get anywhere, giving her plenty of time to catch up.

"Congratulations!" she spouted, smiling broadly and gesturing almost theatrically with her hands as she did so, "You've been randomly selected to offer a donation to a worthy cause. That would be me. All contents of you wallet, pockets, socks, and any other hidden containers are to be emptied and turned over immediately. Behave and play nice and I might even let you walk out of here in one piece."

New York possessed a number of quintessential experiences that visitors were unlikely to find anywhere else, games at the Yankee stadium, the view from the statue of liberty, the overall ambience of times square or simply being mugged by a mutant with homicidal tendencies in one of the many back allies with littered the metropolis. Admittedly the final item on the list was not likely an activity many visitors would willingly seek out or particular enjoy but it was available none the less, often regardless of whether one wished to be involved or not.

If Zephyr were to be entirely honest he would admit that he actually appreciated the above average level of mutant related malfeasance. For one thing it played a rather substantial role in lowering the housing prices throughout the city as many people were rather unwilling to spend significant amounts of money on property which could easily be damaged or destroyed by a single wayward strike from any number of untold mutants in the area.

Secondly, the volume of successful mutant crimes had demonstrated precisely how valuable such skills could be in conducting certain illicit affairs, and so in a way it was almost a means of free advertising, clearly such a resource was to be treasured and cultivated in order to reap the dividends it would invariably produce. The elemental doubted that the compensation he received from his freelance work would even be a third of its current level were mutant activity not so prominent.

These points and others however were somewhat muted when the hessian himself was the unlikely target of a hopeful assailant. The elemental generally held a certain amount of pride over his abilities which bordered on hubris and thus when he noticed a figure had trailed him into the backstreet the hessian took no direct action, he had time to kill after all and the alley was otherwise deserted and rather well sheltered. All in all it wasn't a bad location for a brief altercation.

When at last the hessians pursuer chose to announce their presence Zephyr paused and pivoted slowly to face his attacker with one eyebrow raised in slight surprise. He hadn't expected to be dealing with a young woman yet the voice of his would be attacker clearly indicated such and though he could not discern much of the girl in the meager lighting reflected from the main streets, the elementals spatial awareness informed him that the maladroit gamine was garbed in somewhat curious attire.

In general Zephyr's opinion of women was not what one would call complimentary. Having grown up in a somewhat traditionalist environment without a mother or other significant female figure aside from his younger sister the hessian had rarely seen women in positions of authority and so he had subconsciously come to relegate them for the most part to obsequious and subordinate roles. In short he had little respect and low expectations for most women, and though his time with Ghost had caused his views to shift somewhat in regards to female mutants the hazel haired mercenary found it difficult to consider any woman a threat.


This should then, hopefully, explain why upon learning the gender of his assailant, Zephyr's posture became somewhat more casual and the barest of grins tugged at his lips. This girl intended to mug him? Well, she could certainly try, perhaps she would even prove amusing, there was no harm in humouring her for now at least, she didn't even appear to be armed. What was the worst she could do?

"Is that so? Well I'm afraid you've caught me at something of a bad time, but let me see I think I have something... ah, here we go" Adopting a lightly veiled condescending tone overlaid with feigned innocent surprise the elemental made a brief show of patting himself down before withdrawing a solitary copper penny from his trouser pocket. After taking a moment to balance the coin upon his thumb he flicked it through the air with a subtle accompanying gust which sent the slim metallic disk on a swift course for the brash would be assailants head.

"Don't spend it all in one place now."

With his grin becoming marginally more prominent the hessian slipped a hand into his pocket and formed it into a fist as he swiftly focused his attention on condensing a low patch of air near the girls feet. He still hadn't mastered this particular aspect of his power and working as hurriedly as he was it wouldn't be his greatest demonstration of control; a solid kick could likely break his hold, but hopefully it would be sufficient to make the gamine stumble if she made a move towards him.

Isabel couldn't ever remember someone having visibly relaxed when the realization that they were under attack was made. Or semi-visibly, as the current case may be. The alleyways was a bit more poorly lit than she had anticipated, not that it would matter all that much. She didn't always have to see perfectly well in order to get her work done. Still, the lack of alarm was jut a little unsettling. Either the young man was stupid or he had something up his sleeve.

The small, satisfied smile that she'd gained as the stranger complied and began patting down his person soon faded as nothing but a single coin was retrieved and displayed. That unsettling feeling was gradually being reinforced as his fingers toyed with the penny. What kind of moron gave attitude to an attacker when they were stuck by themselves in an alley?

A scowl was starting to settle over her features when a sharp pain caught her just above her right eye. "Ack!" Her hand flew up so her fingers could press down on the area of injury, trying without much luck to relieve the stinging by applying pressure. She'd seen the flick of his hand and had been expecting to hear the coin bouncing off the pavement soon after. How the hell had it reached her with such a small movement and with so much force? Maybe he wasn't quite as stupid as she'd credited him as being.

Briefly she looked to her own fingers as she lowered her hand. No blood, so the skin likely hadn't split, but she was sure she'd at least have a nice bruise by tomorrow. "Jackass," she muttered, her irritated scowl back, the stinging in her forehead only adding to the problem. And to think she'd been behaving herself. She hadn't even stabbed him before demanding his money. Ungrateful jerk.

"Fine. If you wanna play games, I can play games," she commented as a small blade slid into her hand. But, yet again, something seemed to go wrong when she went to move her legs. It was almost like she'd caught her foot on something, but at the same time it wasn't a solid tug at her shoes, it was more like wading through sludge or something similar. And again, "Ack!"

Her free hand shot out to make contact with the nearby wall in order to steady herself. Alright, so maybe the guy wasn't stupid. It was definitely seeming more like he had something up his sleeve, she just didn't know exactly what it was yet.

Frustration was quickly turning into anger. She could feel a temper tantrum gradually rising. This was turning into more of an ordeal than she'd expected. So much for easy pick pocketing. Or a quiet night. At this rate, there might just be another body lying in one of New York's alleyways in a pool of its own blood. Irritably she tossed the blade at her target as she steadied herself, but not before attaching a thin cord of bone to its base first. That way, if she missed she could still retain control over the blade, rather than losing it in the hasty act.

A slight smirk hovered on the elementals features as he watched his oddly attired assailant stumble through the condensed pocket of air and collided blindly with a wall to steady herself. Admittedly it was somewhat aggravating that she'd manage to shatter his grasp on the insubstantial barrier but it was still a work in development, a few more months perhaps and he'd be proficient enough to craft an ethereal shield capable of, if not halting bullets, at least impeding them to the point where they were no longer lethal.

Still those were thoughts for another time, for now he would simply have to content himself with whatever amusement he could derive from the maladroit gamine before him in the next few minutes before she ultimately gave up and fled. Before such a stage could be reached though he would need to select his next course of action; there were quite a few options available to him actually, he could gradually begin to drain the air from the alleyway eventually leaving the girl breathless, however that would require continuous concentration over a number of minutes and as it had been some hours since he'd last taken his medication such an action would likely induce a migraine.

Alternatively he could create an agglomeration of oxygen in the space separating the two of them and then ignite it a foot or so before her, at an appropriate distance the heat would likely do little more than sting for a while and as a bonus would consume all of the surrounding oxygen leaving the girl as breathless as the first option. This would be a somewhat faster process however and thus less likely to cause him much in the way of pain, in contrast to that though the volatile display would likely cause the girl to flee almost immediately which would rather ruin his fun.

Just as another possibility began to echo through the hessians thoughts he noticed that the graceless gamine had rather quickly managed to regain her balance and from her stance seemed quite eager to continue their altercation. Vaguely amused by ponderings of what his hopeful assailant might attempt Zephyr dismissed his other machinations and opted to play the role of responder for as long as the girl managed to hold his interest.

The movement, when it came, was swift but far from unpredictable, after all when one is able to perceive their surroundings through displacements in the air a most unconventional idea is required to take them off guard. Throwing a knife however, while not standard practice among the thugs of the city, was still rather mundane. Additionally given the fact that such weapons were typically designed to minimize and compensate for wind resistance all that was needed to throw them off course was a brief burst of air.

This was precisely what Zephyr proceeded to do and he watched with certain mild fascination as the blade flew by approximately one foot to the left of his head, only to have his eyes widen slightly as his eyes managed to discern a strange chain attached to the knifes hilt. That was unexpected and brought with it the slightly unpleasant realization that just because weapon had passed him did not mean it had become any less of a threat.

Rapidly focusing on the slender displacement of air which signified the presence of the gamines blade Zephyr deftly turned side onto to both his assailant and, ideally, her weapon. As the knife was retracted however it moved somewhat swifter than the elemental had anticipated and though expeditious burst of air prevented the weapons edge from slicing his neck, it caused the hilt to score a hit on his jaw, momentarily jarring his thoughts though surprisingly causing little in the way of pain.

'The last dose must still be working.'

The thought buoyed the elemental somewhat and removed what little displeasure he would have otherwise felt by being upstaged by a mere mendicant, for truly who else would resort to mugging? Still though the hessian decided that, while his interest had been maintained, he was no longer overly fond of surprises; and though he'd done an idle scan of the woman's form all of her attire had left him only a vague impression at best. A more precise facsimile was called for now, even though it would have to be less than subtle in order to differentiate the girl's raiment's from any other items she might be concealing about her person.

Idly rubbing his jaw more out instinct than actual pain the hazel haired mercenary adopted a reflective tone as he spoke, hoping to distract the girl for just the moment he needed to grasp hold of the air surrounding her and bring it to bear for his purposes. "Hmm not bad, you almost had my throat with that one, well done."

The scan started even before he finished his statement, really it was nothing more than an increase in air pressure and in most people it rarely caused more than a shiver. As previously mentioned however the gamines heavier garments necessitated a somewhat firmer touch in order to provide a clearer mental image of her figure and the overall effect was actually dimly visible in the poor lighting.

An invisible force sweeping down the gamines body and causing her visible outline to shrink slightly as her clothing was momentarily brought flush against her skin, with particular attention being paid to places a weapon might be stored; under the arms, along the ribs and around the small of the back were some of the typical locations, though there were one or two others as well.

The entire process took only a handful of seconds, and though the image which assembled itself in the elementals mind was a clear representation of the girls figure it revealed no additional items possessing the rigidity typically associated with metals. Curiously however it appeared as though the chain he'd spotted earlier was connected directly to the-

Zephyr's line of thought came to a somewhat abrupt halt, had the girl just giggled?

---

((OOC: As you've likely noticed I've taken a few liberties here, if you want me to change anything just send me a PM or chat to me in the Cbox.))

Tossing the blade hadn't gone as well as could have been hoped for, though Isabel hadn't really expected much else. In the least, whatever the young man had been doing to her feet seemed to have ceased with the distraction of the blade, one foot gingerly moving at first soon followed by the other as she readjusted her posture and stance. Things were starting to get interesting.

She had hoped the thin attachment to the blade would give her an advantage. After the initial miss, she'd quickly reeled it back, though the action was executed with minimal movement. She didn't jerk her arm back in order to retrieve it, fearing the motion would tip him off a little too early. Instead, she simply began retracting the cord back in through her hand at a rapid pace, reclaiming the lost bits of bone as well as deftly returning the blade to her hand, leaving only a small portion of the chain to hang out of her grasp.

The slight jarring of the cord as it moved gained a small grin from her as the blade seemed to bounce off some area of the young man's face. It was a small injury, judging by the lack of any immediate response or following worrying of the wound. She probably hadn't even drawn blood yet. What a shame. She'd just have to try harder. In any case, "Gotcha~" she taunted quietly, the slightest hint of a singsong tune entering her voice.

"I don't usually miss," she replied lightly as she idly turned the blade in her hand, "You got lucky." Long range wasn't exactly her specialty. It might be useful to train a little bit in that style of combat, but it just wasn't as much fun as more close-ranger assaults, so it wouldn't be likely that she'd be pursuing that sort of training anytime soon.

Her grin and falsely amiable tone quickly faded with the sudden flush of light pressure that swept across her figure, an uneasy shiver running up her spine and causing her to wriggle just a little, as if attempting to shake off the intruding gust. At the most it only seemed to press the fabric of her clothing closer to her skin, and yet it still felt unpleasantly intrusive somehow.

And yet despite the unpleasantness, she couldn't help the small giggle that escaped her. Things were starting to get exciting. The only explanation she could come up with was that the young man was a mutant. And while it seemed in recent times that you couldn't toss a rock in the city without hitting a mutant it was still somewhat surprising that the person she'd singled out as her victim would turn out to house an active X-gene within them. This was going to be fun.

Slowly she strolled a little closer to her latest playmate, aiming mainly to close the distance in order to increase her chances of successfully hitting the young man next time. She almost had his throat last time, after all. With a little more precision she could potentially do some real damage.

"You just gonna stand there, or are you gonna keep things interesting?" she prodded, making a show of the knife in her had splitting into three separate blades and gaining three separate cords. "At least fight back a little. Squirm, run, scream, something." It was no fun when they just stood there, though with any luck that'd change soon. She hoped he'd remain distracted enough by the splitting blades that he'd fail to notice the thin string worming its way towards his feet across the pavement. He didn't really need his hamstrings, did he?

"You just gonna stand there, or are you gonna keep things interesting? At least fight back a little. Squirm, run, scream, something"[/color]

The gamines statement was punctuated with a subtle grating noise accompanied by an inexplicable shift in the air surrounding the girls weapon, however it wasn't until she began to close to the distance between them that Zephyr managed to discern what had happened and his azure eyes narrowed slightly as he spotted the trio of blades clenched between the fingers of her right hand. He'd just scanned the girl not five seconds ago and no additional weapons had come to his attention, yet the girl clearly had two additional blades with the same dimensions as the first and that irked him.

There were two likely explanations; either the weapons were somewhat more malleable than most and thus had managed to escaped detection, or he was dealing with mutant. Of the two Zephyr found himself rather hoping it was the former even though a part of him had already resigned himself to the latter. New mutants were always something of a wildcard and generally required an undue amount of effort to deal with in combat as you first of all needed to learn the root of their mutation and from that extrapolate to any possible weaknesses which could give you the upper hand.

All in all it was a royal pain.

Still he could at least draw one conclusion from the girls behavior thus far, namely that she was a close quarter combatant, otherwise she would not have made any attempts to draw closer. Considering that the hessian preferred to deal with things at a distance the logical course at this point would have to withdraw or possibly take to the air in order to increase the space between them then, as the gamine exerted herself trying to catch up, rapidly drain the oxygen from the area to simulate advanced fatigue. Ideally she'd never know what hit her.

However simply retreating would only give the girl the misconception that she held the advantage, likely prompting her to attack and beginning a game of cat and mouse the elemental truly did not wish to participate in. No a different tactic was needed, preferably one which would allow him to distract the brunette long enough to not only withdraw to a suitable vantage point from which to continue this mock battle but also provide ample time to take his next dose of medication, he was almost overdue.


Thus the hessian chose to indulge his typically neglected sense of theatrics, raising a single finger in a gesture for the girl to stop before then making a slight show of checking his watch in the dim light. He then directed a small, apologetic smile at the girl before speaking,"If I could have just a moment? I'm afraid I'm overdue for my medication." Without waiting for a response from his hopeful assailant the elemental idly withdrew an alabaster container from his pocket and deftly extracted, and swallowed, a pair of cream coloured pills before then returning the ivory case. "Thank you, now where were we?"

At the same the mercenary had been rapidly extending his control, not to remove the surrounding oxygen from the vicinity but rather to coalesce a dull blade of air behind his maladroit attacker and direct it towards the girls feet, pausing for only just long enough to ensure the blow came just as he finished speaking with more than sufficient force to knock an ordinary girl of her size over. In theory the brunette would land in a rather undignified manner and the few she took to regain her feet would be more than enough for him to move away.

Almost as an afterthought Zephyr once again increased the air pressure around the hazel eyed gamine, although he was all but certain she was mutant it never hurt to confirm such things. This time however he had a clearer view of the girl and thus was able to use his eyes to trace the path the scan took as it once again flowed down the brunettes figure, testing the pliability of her attire and then her skin for anything which might stand out and paying additional attention to the area around and under her arms as that appeared to be where the weapons had originated from.

He never noticed the thin strands of bone creeping across the floor.

The calmness with which the young man requested for Isabel to give him just a moment before continuing their little game came as a surprise. Without really thinking her slow stride fell to a halt as her head tilted a bit in curiosity while the stranger downed a pair of pills. Medication should be the least of his worries. What on earth was he playing at?

And then it all suddenly made sense with the startling pressure slamming against the backs of her feet. "Wah!" Her arms flew out, looking for purchase on something and finding none as she made a futile attempt to save herself from sprawling gracelessly onto the ground. "Sonuvabitch!" she cursed as first her rear and then a shoulder connected painfully with the pavement as her body fell and twisted. The trio of blades bounced off the pavement as they fell out of her grasp, the thin chains connecting between the blades' bases and her palm keeping them from falling too far from her.

While she was trying to right herself, at least into a more dignified seated position, that obtrusive pressure passed again. She couldn't help the small squeal that escaped her as it passed again under her arms and along her ribs as she wriggled and squirmed in a useless attempt to rid herself of the sensation that was tickling her. That had to be cheating.

Sneak attacks from behind and ticking. That wasn't fair at all. Though it seemed as if their thoughts were running on similar wave patterns for the time being. The young man hadn't taken any action against the strands of bone snaking their way toward him. Perhaps it had been fortunate that she'd been flailing a little in her recent descent as it seemed that the origin of the threads by her ankles hadn't been spotted just yet. Apparently sometimes it paid off to be knocked on your ass.

Once the tickling sensation had ceased she was able to gather herself up into a sitting position as she innocently brought her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, the blades left to hang as they would. "Not bad, kid, " she complimented, just barely able to keep her friendly smile from morphing into a more mischievous grin.

With a sudden flash of movement, she aimed to wrap the strands of bone up and around the lower half of both his legs where they would twist and constrict, hopefully cutting into his skin and damaging the muscle enough that he'd be unable to keep standing for the time being. He'd be so much easier to deal with if he was stuck sitting on his rear, much like she momentarily had been.

Just as before the second scan failed to discern any trace of weapons hidden about the gamines body and a portion of Zephyr's mind sighed in mild aggravation. There was little doubt now that the girl was indeed a mutant and thus was subject to all the complications an active X gene brought to combat settings. He'd have to exercise a greater deal of caution, which meant keeping a closer eye on the girls actions and spending less time taunting her until he could determine precisely what he was dealing with.

Still though the situation was not entirely irredeemable, he'd managed to hold the upper hand thus far in addition to placing a few more feet between the two of them while the amber eyed gamine had been laughing off the effects of his second scan on the alley floor. Zephyr shook his head, for some reason a ticklish mugger seemed quite a counterintuitive concept, it also drastically reduced any lingering aura of menace which might otherwise have hovered over the girl. It was rather hard to take someone seriously, let alone fear them, when a well placed poke could send them into peals of laughter.

For just a moment the elemental considered renewing his scan and simply leaving her laughing in the tenebrous backstreet and going on his way. Such a use for his powers had never really occurred to him before and though it seemed an oddly appropriate way to dispatch his brash assailant he still had over an hour to idle away before he was needed elsewhere, who was to say whether he would encounter another individual as diverting as the girl before him now? Best to explore such distractions now while he had the time and they were available.

Leaning adroitly against a conveniently placed dumpster Zephyr's smirk become somewhat more prominent as he glanced down at the oddly attired gamine, watching as she gradually calmed down and then pulled herself into what could easily be termed a defensive sitting position as she refused to get back on her feet, and briefly the hessian wondered if she'd admit defeat, however by this point his eyes had adjusted to the darkness and the amiable smile which tugged at her lips was quite in contrast to the rest of her body language.

"Not bad, kid, "[/color]

Zephyr recognized the cadence almost at once, he'd used it himself not one minute ago; it was a subtle mixture of condescension and affected innocence designed to both taunt the listener and, ideally, shake their confidence, causing them to second guess themselves as they tried to figure out what was giving the speaker the confidence to talk as they were. It was a useful little trick however it's one drawback was it could only work to its fullest against those with more than half brain, needless to say this ruled out half of the city and even more of the criminal population.

For those with the intelligence to recognize the tone though the best course of action was generally to either put the speaker down as quickly as possible and hope you were fast to stop whatever they had planned from going into play. Alternatively, if you thought it was more likely they were bluffing, you could simply play along and keep one eye open. Being who he was and considering who he was facing it took relatively little time for Zephyr to decide upon the latter and respond in the same tone.

"I can do it again if you'd like, you seemed to be enjoying yourself."

As luck would have it however the elemental had chosen the wrong side of the coin and a mere moments after he finished speaking two pale threads leapt from the grime covered earth and struck for his legs. Backed up against the dumpster as he was there no chance to avoiding the tendrils and so they swiftly enfettered his lower legs in a crisscrossing lattice of ivory before then constricting to levels which were painful even for the hessians drug coated mind.

With no easier solution presenting itself the azure eyed mercenary uttered a curse and did the first thing which came to mind; almost instinctively his main arm performed a sweeping motion directly above the point where the two painful strands rose from the ground. The action was almost immediately accompanied by a faint hiss as the nearby air was bound into a rapid and sharp flowing motion which sliced through the white threads with little difficulty and instantly brought a halt to the growing pressure surrounding the hessians legs.

A small section of the elemental mind began to stir the recesses of his memory as he glanced down at the white bindings covering his legs, however it was soon over ruled by another thought which recognized that, if not for the painkillers he had started taking on a more than regular basis, the sensation from his legs would likely be a burning agony instead of a dull ache and that it would be unwise to allow the gamine the chance for a follow up strike, thus the hessian swiftly sent another, less refined, blade of air aimed for the side of the girls head and felt no small amount of satisfaction when she pitched sideways with barely a sound.

Deciding it would then be in his best interests to ensure the brunette stayed down Zephyr opted to toss aside all attempts at subtly and deftly cast out his control, searching for every cluster of oxygen he could locate and then removing it from the girl's immediate proximity, placing it directly above her into a single agglomeration which later serve as fuel for a fireball if need be. The hessian continued this process for a few moments, waiting until the gamines breaths became markedly shallow, before relaxing his grip upon the air slightly and allowing a small amount of oxygen to flow back into her lungs.

With the brunette incapacitated for the most part Zephyr allowed his thoughts to return to his own injuries, first and foremost he needed to remove the overlapping ivory framework which still bound his legs, being as close to the skin as they were a measure of precision would be needed in order to remove them without further harm. Fortuitously though the dumpster against which he was leaning had been closed and so it was relatively matter to leverage himself up onto its lid and examine the white bindings more closely.

A handful of minutes later Zephyr was staring contemplatively at the remnants of the white lattice which had enfettered his lower legs. He'd been somewhat surprised to learn that despite the unnatural flexibility it had displayed the thing was compromised of bone and the discovery had resonated with something in his memory and he'd focused on it for the past minute or so because it was better than concentrating on the throbbing of his legs.

It was a story he'd stumbled across in the news he was sure of it, something to do with bones and deaths associated with a name which was hovering on the edge of his thoughts. Elizabeth? No, Bella? No, that wasn't it either...

It took another handful of minutes before the name finally settled on the hessians tongue, Isabel, yes Isabel Duskmoor. She'd been responsible for quite a few killings in the past, a good number of them had come from the NYPD own and it was rumored they had a private bounty on her (severed) head for a sizeable sum, though the elemental had never been able to confirm this in any way and he'd rather not deal with the consequences if the rumor turned out to be false.

Besides, a new possibility had just occurred to the azure eyed mercenary, the girl could just possibly prove herself useful. First things first however, it was always good practice to confirm ones suspicions before moving on.

Shifting his gaze back to the bonemancers prone form Zephyr allowed the flow of oxygen to increase another degree and he pitched his voice to her when she began to stir. "Try to stay still if you can, your body won't be up to much for now." After pausing sufficiently to allow his words to sink in he continued. "Would I be correct in assuming your name is Isabel Duskmoor?"

--

((OOC: Godmodded with permission.))

She probably should have expected the retaliatory strike in response to her own attack, but Isabel had apparently put just a little too much faith in her abilities and a bit too little in the young man's reflexes. She'd already been struck in the head once, did he really have to aim for it a second time? Where was the creativity in that? She was in for a major headache later on, she just knew it. "Sonuvabitch."

She gave an irritated groan as one hand moved to press against the side of her head where she'd been hit with who-knows-what. It wasn't anything visible that struck her, like the penny had been. She was sure she would have at least seen some kind of blur of movement or something out of the corner of her eye. For the time being the means of the young man's attack would remain a mystery, much to her displeasure.

She was just beginning to move in order to sit back up when all of a sudden each intake of air seemed to rapidly lose the essential components she needed. All the muscles she'd been using in her attempt to right her position very quickly grew fatigued and she was soon yet again flat on her back on the grimy pavement feeling more and more like a fish out of water.

Broken bits of understanding regarding the young man's mutation were starting to fit together here and there, but hardly any of them could command much attention from her as her chest began to burn and her heart rate rocketed in an attempt to deliver the much-needed oxygen to the rest of her body. Her sight, which was already partially compromised by the darkness was starting to fade in and out of focus and she felt as if they were on their way to rolling back in her head. She'd be unconscious soon enough at this rate.

Mercifully, after what seemed to be an eternity, her labored breathing finally seemed able to draw in a regrettably small, but needed, amount of oxygen. Her gasping grew somewhat more audible as her lungs desperately worked to gain as much of that oxygen as possible and relieve her of the horrible suffocation.

It took a minute before she even realized the stranger had spoken to her, and another handful of moment before her mind could comprehend the meaning behind the words. She hadn't planned on moving just yet anyhow, aside from all the heaving her chest was doing. She didn't think she could move much of anything else at the moment even if she wanted to. Everything felt too damn tired.

"That answer is correct, sir. Please step up and claim your prize," she huffed in reply to his question, trying to come across as sarcastic, though the effect was somewhat lost. "And, am I correct, in assuming, that you, are a jackass?" she continued, the sentence unfortunately broken up by the gasping that she was still victim to. It really was difficult to insult someone when you could hardly breathe. And probably stupid, but then she never had been one to think much before acting.

A small smirk graced the elementals features as he caught Isabel's laborious reply, the bonemancers poor demeanor had been mentioned in or two articles now that he was able to recall them. The gamine supposedly thought herself something of a wit but if her opening comment were any indication then she was only half a one at best. Admittedly part of her poor word choice could be due to the oxygen deprivation but it still didn't change the fact that the brunette had given him a rather clear verbal opening, the elemental was almost tempted not to take it.

"Claim my prize you say," A small chuckle escaped him, "I must say I've never heard it put quite that way before, it's rather refreshing, tell me though, what would you do if I said yes?"

He chuckled again.

It took a minute for Isabel to understand exactly what the young man was saying in reply to the confirmation she gave. Inwardly she groaned. She'd admit that she'd set herself up for that one, not to anyone but her self of course, but her choice of words had been anything but ideal. She made a mental note not to try giving people attitude next time she was suffocating. Lack of oxygen didn't work in her favor. At least her assumption had been correct. He was, indeed, a jackass.

The stranger was quickly falling from amusing back to irritating and being strangled was beyond aggravating. The desire to injure him redoubled as she struggled to prop herself up on her elbows. It wouldn't do much good trying to attack someone she couldn't see from the angle she'd been knocked down into.

Even the simple act of propping herself up was a hundred times more difficult than it should have been, her fatigued muscles fighting her every step of the way and her breathing becoming even more labored, if that was at all possible. If she could at least get a shoulder against the wall to assist her into a more favorable position it would be a large improvement.

"Try it and you'll lose something important," she retorted between clenched teeth. She was starting to feel a little dizzy from her efforts, but she wasn't about to let the young man win just yet.

Ms. Duskmoor was clearly not amused at having her own words turned against her if her expression was any indication and had she the strength Zephyr was fairly certain the girl would have been slowly dragging her palm down her face. This mental of course only added to the elementals own entertainment, his azure eyes lighting with suppressed mirth as idly he wondered if the bonemancer would prove to be as amusing as Ghost. It was an intriguing thought.

Amusement however gradually shifted to curiosity as the hessian watched the brunette struggle to raise herself from the floor despite his warning to remain still. The girl was stubborn he'd grant her that, though she'd likely prefer the term determined, even deprived of oxygen and with her limbs shaking from fatigue she struggle to right herself. Likely there were those who would laud her efforts and praise her continued perseverance, Zephyr however was not one of them and when, after several moments, she failed to make any worthwhile progress in her endeavor a sudden gust returned the gamine to her original position on the floor.

This sudden reorientation understandably dampened the brunettes spirits another degree and prompted a none too lady like response regarding what would happen to the hessian should he make any attempt to claim his aforementioned prize. As these things went it wasn't a bad threat however the girl's current predicament rather spoiled the delivery and only caused the mercenary's grin to widen another degree before he acknowledged the comment in a smugly amused tone.

"Duly noted, however that does beg the question of what I should do with you..." The elemental paused for a moment as though considering something before increasing her oxygen again and continuing. "Would you by any chance be interested in making $1000 dollars for a single nights work? Before you object let me assure you it will not be earned on your back."

Isabel cursed audibly as she was yet again knocked down, the back of her skull bouncing painfully off the ground when she landed. Was this guy ever going to give it a rest? It'd be nice to at least catch a break, especially since she could hardly breathe. She'd have to remember to thank him later on, should she still have contact with him at that point. For the time being all she could manage to do was curse and childishly bang a fist against the ground in her frustration.

"Hmph." She didn't bother verbalizing any more suggestions for the young man, opting for a little more caution with her words for the time being. It likely wouldn't be long before she tried being a smartass again, but she might actually put a little bit of thought into it beforehand after her last little slip up.

And then her breathing seemed to ease up again, which she was exceptionally glad for, though her irritation still far outweighed any feelings of gratitude. Allowing herself to catch her breath as best she could, she remained on the ground only long enough until that was accomplished before attempting to prop herself up once more. She figured it was likely that she'd just get knocked flat again, but it was worth a shot. And once she managed to get propped up, she could move on to trying to get herself into a seated position. It was still slow going, but minimally easier than it previously had been.

The offer that was made to her caught her entirely off guard. The man she'd tried to mug, stab, and hamstring was suddenly offering to pay her one thousand dollars. It didn't make any sense, her suspicion clearly written on her face. "Who wouldn't want to make a thousand bucks in one night?" she replied after a moment. The whole point of going out was to get herself some money, after all, though she'd planned on getting it by her own means. "What's the catch?"