Man, this is going to get ugly. All we need is for one of them to take some hostage…

The movement was too fast for Jorge to fully comprehend it. For what seemed like a second, he stared down the deadly combo of scorpion and robot, felt the wind surprisingly kick up, then the cyborg woman was gone. In that moment a range of emotions ran through Jorge’s mind: He could not allow the two women to escape anymore, not after one of his officers was killed right in front of his eyes in cold blood; he had felt relief when the X-Men member showed up, even though he did not know what sort of abilities she possessed, that is until the wind started to kick up; and lastly, the swift movement of the terminator-woman caught him by surprise. One second she was there, the second she was not.

“Where’d…?”

His question was lost to the roar of the swirling wind as he turned and saw something new out of the corner of his eye. Before he could comprehend what was going on, the cyborg was already standing over one of the unconscious men that the blonde had taken out earlier, at the root of this entire debacle. His police officer instinct took over as he quickly raised his gun towards her, ignoring the X-Man’s request to ‘show his trust’.

“Put the man down, ma’am,” he stated as authoritative as he could.

He glanced back between the wind summoning woman and the blonde. The blonde seemed to be in the middle of distress. It was obvious she had never meant for things to get this far, but unfortunately things have turned this way. As he looked hopelessly between each of them, the detective was at a complete loss at what to do. If a man were to be taken hostage, he could not risk his life and lose another civilian. His mind reeled as he tried to think of something…anything. Then…a thought occurred to him. A stupid…suicidal thought that would more than likely get him killed.

“Is there any other kind of idea,” he muttered under his breath.

He glanced at the X-Man and locked eyes with her. He remembered what she had told him:

>>"…you will have to show trust."

I trust that you will save my butt. He thought to himself.

“Yo!” He said to the cyborg to draw her attention.

Quickly put the safety on his gun and he threw it aside. It clanked loudly against a brick wall before it noisily tumbled behind trashcans. He held his hands up, and slowly the water which had swirled so dangerously around his legs, dissipated into a rippling puddle of water. Carefully he walked over to the woman and her hostage, hands held high to show compliance.

“Listen, you want out of here without killing another person, then you might as well take me for a hostage.” He knew how it sounded, but it was the only idea he had. “The second that man regains consciousness, he will struggle to save his life and more than likely you’re going to have to kill another man in ‘self-defense’. You want a someone…then take me.”

He drew as much of the cyborg’s attention as he could: he tossed his gun aside, walked out into the open, and let his water defenses down. He was as open as any human to attack. In the back of his mind, the only thing he could think was:

I hope the reputation you X-Men have for ‘Last-Minute-Hail-Mary-Where-the-Hell-Did-THAT-Come-From’ Plans is true.

Oh absolutely not. Ghost focused her wind blasts rather than keeping it general in order to dislodge the woman who had sprouted ... spider legs and a tail? Something chitinous anyway. Why did so many mutants have tails? Focusing her wind meant the barrier was gone, but it seemed more important to keep the bad gu— to keep them here. So she focused the torrent on the woman who was climbing.

That gave Meld the perfect opportunity to take a hostage. Unfortunately the idea had not occurred to Ghost until it was far too late. She just didn't have that kind of devious mind. They were down and out of the fight so shouldn't they have been left alone?

Ghost took a step forward. If she could touch Meld, she was sure she could incapacitate the woman without much damage to herself, Meld or the man... though with how fast she had killed the other...

>"You want a someone…then take me.”

"No!" Unless he could dissolve into water, Ghost did not think that was a good idea. Yes, Meld would value his life more, but would she think twice before taking it?

And that effectively would take her side down from two on one to one on one.

Did Meld know she could Ghost? Did the officer? They should really take her since she could get out easily, but how could she substitute herself without raising suspicion? Or could she touch the officer and free him? Her thoughts bubbled around at a dangerous pitch.

First thing was first. She grabbed up the gun that the officer had thrown down and stuffed it into her back waste band. They shouldn't leave that laying around. Distantly, sirens echoed between the buildings. She just had to keep them all here and all alive until backup came, right?

Deirdra stood on the ground, her hands placed on her hips in an irritated fashion. She shook her head so her blond hair fell behind her ears. As she stood, planning what to do next, Meld had made a move. One of the men that the scorpion woman had knocked out was now in Meld’s possession. The blond smirked and looked to both other mutants. Their options would be limited now. They both seemed to care very much for all of the surrounding people’s lives, which meant they’d have to be careful if they didn’t want the cyborg hurting the stupid human.

Just when Deirdra thought the mutant officer couldn’t get any more foolish, he did. He offered to trade himself for Meld’s hostage. The scorpion rolled her eyes and watched as the third female mutant’s expression became a little distressed. Her exclamation sounded similar to the expression on her face. Deirdra’s blue eyes narrowed as the cop threw his gun away. She wondered if he was plotting anything, or just playing it by ear. Either thing could turn into something bad for her and Meld. The woman with white hair was able to control air, so she could attack them easily.

Her scorpion legs helped move her body part way up the wall once more. “Let us go or we’ll kill that man.” She gestured with a nod towards the man in Meld’s grip. She turned to look at the mutant cop again, wondering if the cyborg would trade for him.

Meld wasn't entirely surprised when the male cop offered himself in place of the human hostage she had found. Oh, it was a hideously stupid and potentially suicidal thing to do, of course, but hero types were like that. When it came to the saving of those thy considered innocents, they were willing to sacrifice themselves. It was, in fact, something that Meld understood quite well. Were those in trouble mutants, she'd put herself in harm's way to save them as well. What she didn't understand is why a mutant would seek to save a mere human.

"Sorry cop, but you know I can't do that," Meld answered, her voice almost apologetic. "I give you my word, however, that if you let us go this human will come to no harm. Look through your records, I think you'll find that when I give my word I keep it." There were many things she had done in her life, many sacrifices she had made for her cause, that others would consider horrible. Hell, even she shuddered to think of some of the acts she had been forced to take in the pursuit of her all important cause, but if she wasn't there to take those risks and commit those acts then no one would. However, if there was one thing she was proud to say, it was the fact that once her word was given, she did everything in her power to keep it.

Taking the cop as a hostage would have been a stupid decision. For one thing, Meld knew he was a mutant and that had two downsides. First, if she was forced to it she wanted to be able to kill her hostage because an empty threat meant nothing and she couldn't simply murder a mutant in cold blood like that. Second, he was a mutant and thus may have any number of tricks up his sleeve. No, it would most definitely not be in her best interest to take the cop. The human man, almost a boy really, was more than sufficient for her needs. All he needed to do was prevent the heroes from shooting so as to allow herself and the scorpion woman to depart peacefully.

Meld glanced at the female mutant when she exclaimed her great displeasure at the idea of Meld taking the cop hostage. Well, at least she wouldn't have anything to worry about now. She took a step back, keeping the hostage in front of her as a shield, her tail swiveling back and forth behind her, ruby eye blinking. By now she could hear the distant sirens approaching, the very last thing she wanted to hear at that moment. It would be difficult to climb with a hostage but if she managed to wrap her tail around him, she thought she might be able to do so. She took a step closer to the scorpion. "I suggest you listen to her. You've seen what I'm capable of."

At a complete loss for what to do next, Jorge stopped advancing on the cyborg and her unconscious human hostage. He had no idea what move to make next. He tried to offer himself up as a hostage instead so that the civilian could be taken out of the equation, but unfortunately his opponent was not one to fall for it. She would keep the human in the situation because it granted her the bargaining chip, the ace up the sleeve, that could get her out of this. Granted it may have been stupid to offer himself up in the first place, at least he was a police officer. He was someone trained to give his life to protect civilians…

But even bigoted ones? Jorge thought to himself. Part of him, a very small part, thought it might have just been better to let the man die so he could bring the terrorist mutant in, but did that make him any better than her? Sacrificing for the greater good was never one of those mottos that Jorge was willing to accept, yet these days, it sounded better and better.

He glanced out of the corner of his eye and caught the X-Man’s look. The offering of himself was not going to work, so they needed something, anything else to buy time. Both the scorpion and the robot had the distinct advantage of having a hostage, as well as an escape route over the rooftops. Apparently the X-woman’s ability consisted of manipulating the wind and that, mixed with his ability to control water, gave them the advantage to prevent their escape. It was hostage though. It was him that kept them from making a move.

WHIIIIIIIIRRRRRRLLLL!! HONK!!!! HONK!!! WHIIIIIIIIIRRRRLLLL!!![/i][/color]

Jorge caught the sound out in the distance. It was the backup the other officer had called in on his escape out. They must have been gunning it because he could hear them far off. They were coming and they were coming fast. More than likely any other residents in the surrounding apartment complexes or businesses have called in with hysterical stories of robots, giant scorpions and living water running rampant in the streets. The police would be quick to react to something like that, especially in New York.

Another scan of his surroundings and Jorge knew that something was going to have to be done. They could not let the terminatrix run off with a human hostage, even if she did promise with sugar-on-top that she would not kill him. Then his eye caught something that stood a few feet behind his opponent…a fire hydrant. He could feel, deep inside, the water that churned, ready to be summoned to his call. But would a distraction work here? Would she be jumpy enough to loosen her grip on her hostage long enough for the X-Man to get the civilian out of here?

Eyes focused, Jorge took a step back, as if backing away to let her go, yet, with his clenched fist, balled in rage, his mind caused the water the churn in the hydrant. If he could summon enough water in there, enough pressure would build to caught quite a ruckus of sound and fury. But would it be enough?

He caught the X-Man’s gaze momentarily as water pressure built to dangerous proportions behind the cyborg and turned back to the enemy. All he need was one, hopefully good gust of wind to compromise the fire hydrant enough to burst open.

“Fine,” he muttered to her, “hide behind the human. Don’t expect a good bye kiss from me though.”

It felt like hate was boiling down into a hard marble in her stomach. Ghost knew that guns were poor taste in mutant society, but so was involving innocents. She didn't want to do this, but she caught the policeman's eye. He was working on something. All they needed was time. A stand still would buy them time.

One long legged step to the side and her stick-thin arm was behind her drawing out the weapon. The safety clicked off audibly on its way out from the back band of her pants. She knew what she was doing with a standard issue 9mm. She was leveling it in a two-handed grip toward the part scorpion-lady. Her hostage wasn't as secure as Meld's, but Ghost had a definite, clear bead on the woman.

"Let him go, Meld." Her voice was low, steady and commanding. She'd practiced this tone with her class at the police academy. It was her business voice. And she meant business.

"Don't think I won't do it." The scorpion woman twitched and Ghost moved the barrel of the gun ever so slightly and a shot rang out. She felt it all over her body, a cold sweat springing up almost like a side effect of its discharge. The bullet flew wide on purpose. What was a happy accident was the fact that the shot cleared both mutant hybrids and squarely struck a wobbling fire hydrant.

Deirdra thought she was out in the clear. The mutant cop had pretty much given up for the most part. It was obvious Meld would kill the man if she felt she had to. The blond narrowed her eyes at the man and then rolled them. “We aren’t hiding behind a human. We’re willing to free him once we know we can leave this mess.” She was so frustrated. All she had done was knock a few idiots around. No permanent harm done and they’d be back to normal within minutes. Now, a cop was dead and there was an X-Man here. It was all going down the toilet.

When Deirdra looked back towards the X-Man, she noticed a gun pointed at her. The scorpion woman froze and gritted her teeth together. Now she was a long distance hostage. A shot flew passed her and hit a fire hydrant. The blond’s eyes widened when she realized that the woman would shoot her if given a reason. Deirdra put her hands up in surrender and stayed perfectly still. She was glad that it was only a warning shot because her upper body was perfectly vulnerable to gunshot wounds. Her lower half wasn’t as much, considering her carapace.

The blond glanced to Meld, with a silent plea on her face, but despite it, she felt her mouth open. “Meld, you should probably go. If you try to help me, you’ll get caught by the cops. I don’t want that to happen. Please go.” She knew that the woman probably wouldn’t listen to her at all. Meld wouldn’t leave a mutant behind if they needed help.

Judging by the cop's reaction, it seemed that Meld had made a good choice in deciding to take one of the humans as a hostage. With a very dark expression on her face, she carefully transferred her grip on her hostage from her arms to her tail. Her titanium tail wrapped around his torso, holding him effortlessly off the ground. There were a couple of disadvantages of doing so, mainly the fact that she could no longer effectively use her tail eye to make sure no one was trying to sneak up on her from behind, but it was the best thing she could come up with to allow her ease of climbing up walls and therefore ensure her escape before the arrival of backup.

Just when Meld thought that she and the scorpion might be able to actually get out of this with no more harm done, Ghost did something unthinkable. First she demanded Meld let her hostage go which was, of course, not going to happen until she was safely far enough away not to get herself caught. It would be utter foolishness for her to do anything. But then the woman pointed her gun at the scorpion woman and actually took a shot at her! Meld growled, low and very threatening. It was one thing to help a cop and defend justice. It was even acceptable, barely, that a mutant should go after her. After all, she was a self professed murderer and even if the officer and his ally had chosen the wrong side and were defending the wrong justice, at least she could see the motivation there. But to shoot at another mutant, a brethren, who was guilty of nothing more than defending a poor mutant girl was an unthinkable crime!

Meld froze where she was, her hostage still held securely by her tail. She tried to calculate the distance between herself and Ghost in order to gauge whether or not she'd be able to attack the woman before she let off another shot. Unfortunately the answer to that was most likely no. She then tried to calculate how quickly she could throw herself in front of the scorpion mutant and decided she had a better chance of doing that, although the outcome of that particular move was still in question. It would all come down to reflexes, whose were faster? The better question might have been whether or not the woman with the gun would actually do it, would she actually shoot the scorpion woman? Or was she bluffing? That was the question.

"I won't leave you," Meld answered the scorpion mutant. There was no question of leaving her behind as a sacrifice in order to save her own life, that just wasn't going to happen. "You don't need to do this," Meld told the woman with the gun. "I tell you what, you put your gun down and I promise to put my hostage down as well. That seems fair, doesn't it?" She watched the other woman's reaction, tension thrumming through her entire body.

Jorge watched in silence and never took his eyes off his opponents as they all seemed caught in some standoff, neither side willing to take the step backward or forward. The tension in the air was so thick that a knife could through it like a warmed blade through butter. He watched as the unconscious man wrapped in the cyborg’s tail still seemed to twitch but still with no signs of consciousness. Jorge sighed deeply as he watched the scene unfold around him. The X-Man had seemed to take his hint and made an attempt to shoot the were-scorpion. Thankfully she did think he wanted her dead.

As soon as the gunshot rang out, Jorge had caught sight of where the woman had aimed. She had struck true and he could already see that the fire hydrant of compromised. Water trickled out from the bullet hole she had managed to tear into it. He would have to admit that he did thank god she was a good shot.

Eyes locked on the cyborg, he watched as both she and the X-men member seemed to be trying to make things a little safer. If one dropped the gun, the other would drop the hostage. Jorge watched intently, he knew what he was planning could be risky but it could provide enough of a distraction, he trusted that it would get the hostage out of the way and keep the women from escaping long enough for backup to finally make their way over.

His vision focused on them as he felt the water trickle out from the fire hydrant. To them, they more than likely could not hear it or even knew of its presence, but to Jorge, he felt the tug of that glorious source of water as it spilled out ever so slowly. Then he did what he did naturally…take a chance.

The movement was so sudden that most would not have expected him to do it. He swung his arm up, swept across the air and closed his fist tight. The water responded to his actions the second he made them and burst through the hydrant. A loud echo of countless drips caught everyone’s attention as Jorge used all his focus to make the water erupt towards the cyborg, but he was not take a pot shot with a water jet like before. This time his actions formed the water into a globe of swirling liquid that did not drip and hovered in the middle of the air. A twitch of his fingers and he send the water sphere towards the robot in order for it to submerge her head and to deprive her of precious oxygen just enough to get the hostage out of harms way.

While doing this, Jorge struggled, his mind feeling like it was going to split in half. The migraine was hard to manage especially since he had summoned a bit more water than he could control this whole time, but he had to try...even though his vision had started to blur.

Meld wanted a trade and that was exactly what Ghost had wanted from the beginning. She loosened her grip somewhat, taking her cues from her counterpart. She went from two hands to one hand, always flicking her eyes on to the scorpion to be sure that she wasn't about to be ambushed for trusting Meld to let go. She was obviously watching the wrong person.

What she had been expecting from the police officer, Ghost wasn't sure. Only that, she had not been expecting this. The hydrant she had aimed at because it was not the scorpion woman and because it was wiggling ever so slightly. She hadn't really put things together that a water manipulator would want water. Not until all that wanter came flooding out. At this point Ghost had started crouching, her one handed grip on the gun careful. She had been about halfway to the point where she would lay down the weapon and the man would be free.

When all that water came swirling, plans changed. Her crouch became the runner's starting dash. With that kind of water attack, who knew what Meld would do to the man, even perhaps accidentally. Long legs carried her the few paces and she stopped to duck under a ridge of water and a flailing limb. Gun still in hand, Ghost tried to warp herself around the man. To shelter him and get as much of her body touching his as was possible.

It was a risk to entirely ignore the other women, but this was their best shot at keeping this man alive and safe. Once she was secure in her grip, Ghost inhaled sharply and was gone in a puff of smoke. Or rather, she was the smoke and half of Meld's hostage was now incorporeal along with her. It would take time to pull the rest of him into this state with her, but since the process had already started there was little that could be done to stop it.

The scorpion woman stood very still, trying to make eye contact with the woman who held the gun. She was hoping she would be able to beg with her eyes. Deirdra was many things, but ready for death was not one of them. She intended to live much longer, but if this kept up her intention may not matter either way. Her hands were still up in there air, giving off the air of her surrendering.

Deirdra was right about Meld. She wasn’t going to leave her there alone. Part of her was very happy, but at the same time she was a bit frustrated. This wasn’t getting them anywhere and the blond wasn’t going to be the one to leave someone behind. If Meld had left her, that would’ve been better in the woman’s opinion. She wouldn’t have to live down the embarrassment of leaving her own behind. She suspected the cyborg thought the same way, or maybe she just genuinely cared what happened to her. This confused the scorpion, but kind of understood it to an extent.

While she was standing there, debating what to do, water shot out from the nearby fire hydrant and blasted Meld. During the blast, the other mutant woman made her move. She grabbed the hostage and they both began to disappear. Deirdra blinked. She was surprised that the woman was able to do that. She had assumed that her only ability revolved around her control of air, which was stupid of her. Assuming was never a good thing to do. The blond had never been the type to just assume something because she was too suspicious and untrusting.

Deirdra glanced from the cop, to the X-Man, to Meld. With a smile, she scuttled down the wall. Grabbing a hold of her fellow Order member, she started her climb back up the wall. “We’re getting out of here. Are you all right?” She didn’t stop to talk. She didn’t even look at Meld. She was just trying to get them out of the situation. There was a good chance they could make it this time, especially with all the current distractions.

It wasn't that Meld had forgotten that the cop could control water, something impossible to do in present circumstances, it was more that she simply wasn't used to fighting her fellow mutants. Sure she had sparred a couple of times, mainly with Aura and Hunter, but that wasn't the same at all. For one thing, while sparring her life wasn't on the line, and for another both those mutants had been melee combatants like herself. When it came to ranged threats, she was woefully under equipped and all she could hope to do was block the incoming attacks until she got close enough to dispose of her enemies.

From the fire hydrant came a river of water which coalesced into a floating orb and was sent at Meld a moment later. She barely had time to curse her own stupidity for not watching him closer when the orb of water flowed towards her, engulfing her head. In that moment, and this was something she would be ashamed to admit, she who was always calm and collected in a fight, panic overtook her. All she could think about was the precious minute or two of air in her lungs and the desperate need to get more. She didn't think about the scorpion mutant, nor the dead cop she had killed, nor even the man who had placed her in this predicament at all. The only thing that mattered was getting enough air to continue living.

When Ghost tried to decorporealize her hostage, Meld didn't even notice the decrease in weight. When the scorpion mutant spoke to her, stating that it was time to leave, she barely registered the words within her mind. The only reason she noticed at all was because that was exactly what she planned as well. If only she could get beyond the water mutants range, because surely he must have one, then perhaps she could breathe and live to fight another day. That was her only hope because if that failed she had nothing.

Meld uncurled her tail, an act that in normal circumstances would have caused her hostage to tumble to the ground but in present circumstances she wasn't even paying attention. First she ran but maintained the presence of mind, barely to realize that the cops were coming and the only way she was going to get out of this alive was if she took to the rooftops. Sinking her tail blades into the nearest wall, she could only prey she got far enough from the water mutants range so that she'd be able to breathe again and not pass out unconscious on top of a roof.

Through blurry eyes, the water bending detective watched with a small bit of satisfaction that their opponents had made the retreat. It seemed so far that the X-Man had been able to rescue the hostage, well, at least that is what he hoped. The man was not being carried away by the cyborg anymore but the massive migraine which occurred was enough for him to keep him from checking where his ally and the hostage had gone too. He experienced tunnel vision as he kept his hand raised and moved the globe of floating water along with the fleeing robot woman.

Jorge gritted his teeth as he watched the blonde and brunette as they attempted to escape. They had again started to scale the wall but already the terminator woman steadily moved out of his range. His focus on the water globe was weakening and the further she got, the more his head split. But even as she started to pull further away, he could hear the echo of sirens as the backup started to get closer and closer to their location. This did make him feel better because at least that meant that with the cyborg gone, no more officers would die.

Finally as they made one finally pull away and up the building, the water which had already started to weaken suddenly collapsed into itself like a popped water balloon. The water shimmered for a second before it rained down on the robot’s face, soaked her skin and hair before it fell into a cascade down past her and to the pavement below.

With a gasp Jorge fell down to one knee. Perspiration dotted his face as he raised his head and glared up at the escaping mutants. He wanted nothing more than to chase them down and bring them in for the murder of one of his officers, but he knew he could not. Already the Thirst was setting in and he felt that pull, that urge to rehydrate his body. His muscles shook involuntarily as he struggled onto his feet and glanced over to look for his ally and the still unconscious.

“H-Hello?” he asked exhaustedly. He licked his dry lips with his parched tongue as he turned from side to side, his blurry vision slowly clearing up. “Miss? Are you okay?”

Though he still had not heard from her, he was thankful for the approaching sound of sirens and that flash of red and blue down the street.

She liked to think that she wouldn't have done it. That she wouldn't have shot the insect-legged woman and that she would never hurt Meld no matter how disambiguated her sense of justice was. There was no way for her to know since the policeman had intervened. It wasn't like she at people all the time, though she had shot the man with green eyes and apparently she had shot at Sam in Hawaii...

This was not the time or place. The transition from corporeal to incorporeal was a tricky thing for others. The process was made easier once the tail that was flailing the man's corporeal half around decided to uncurl. It was a little like capturing water in your hands. It could be done, but took serious finesse.

And he was heavy. She couldn't remember changing anyone who had been unconscious before. Let alone someone with a jelly doughnut gut.

Meld and the scorpion left her range before she even really noticed. Ghost was left with a heavy burden sliding slowly through her fingers.

> “Miss? Are you okay?”

"Are they gone?"

She held on as long as she could, but she wasn't really built to carry heavy loads. "Whup." He slipped from her fingers and as soon as she lost physical contact. He may have hit the pavement a little hard when he became solid and perfectly visible again.

"He'll be fine... I think." And then Ghost set about the long process of making herself solid again oblivious to any flashing lights since her visual spectrum did not currently include light. She did hear screeching tires, even if the cop car pulling up was outside of her range.

She was vulnerable during the change as she became incrementally more and more visible. What a time for company to show.

They had done it. They had managed to get away from the police and an X-Man. Once on the top of the building, Deirdra took a moment to catch her breath. A laugh made its way out between gasps. She couldn’t wait to go back to Sanctuary. The woman was exhausted and knew that her scorpion would need a rest soon. She’d have to revert back soon, otherwise she may have to lay down somewhere, even if they weren’t out of the clear yet. After a moment, the blond’s breathing was back to normal and her laugh was the only noise she made.

“Well, that was exciting. I can’t say if that’s necessarily a good thing, but it was exciting nonetheless. I've never been so close to getting caught before. I need to learn to kill people without so many emotions bubbling up. That could've gotten me in a lot of trouble.” Deirdra peeked over the side of the building and smiled. “We better keep going though.” She turned to look at Meld, a bit of concern plastered on her face. “Are you all right? Do you need to rest?” The blond eyed her companion worryingly with a raised eyebrow. “Depending on the weight of that metal, I may be able to let you sit on my back on the way home. I could try carrying you, if you need the help. I’m not sure though.”