You know, she was really getting tired of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It seemed like every time she stepped out doors, something ridiculous happened, or something horrible. Today... was no exception.

The sound of gun fire twanged and reverberated through the room she was hiding in. Some sort of war was going on out in the street, between to groups of young men. She didn't under stand. All she had heard was a mutant related shout, and then gun fire had clogged up the air. Andrea, huddled behind a wall in a likely abandoned building, clasped her hands over her ears and waited for the violence to stop. Had she the courage, she would have peeked out through the broken window to her left, or perhaps the door less frame she had ducked in through. That was not a good idea however, seeing as she had a mane full of snakes, and was obviously a mutant.

Instead, she rocked herself forward more, compressing herself into more of a ball. Right now, she missed her room... at least her room had a door to protect her from the dangers this city posed to her. For a moment, gunshots ceased, and she was able to raise her head, and listen. Shouts and yelling out in the street still, the pounding of feet, and the sound of sirens screaming ever closer. She heard shouts, more mutant slurs, and the feet started heading her way. With a jolt, she rolled to her feet and headed for the stairs. The building she had ducked into had been an apartment building a few years back, before a fire had claimed its upper floors and it had fallen to waste.

The gorgon clambered up the stairs, intent on stowing herself away from whoever it was entering her hiding place on the second level. Below, as she turned into the upper hallway, she heard curses... and the gun fire picked up again. Andrea was able to peek through a hole in the floor, spotting those who had chosen to hide away with her. They carried a man, who was trailing blood, and many guns. The pit of her stomach dropped away, replaced by a cold ball of fear. She recognized the men as the ones who had been out on the street, yelling and shouting at mutants across the road...

The past month for Amber had been relatively trouble free. Sure she had been having all sorts of problems with her mutation as is slowly changed her from a healthy, if pale, teenager into some sort of sickly plague victim, but actual problems with humans and other mutants she had managed to avoid. It was quite a change from months prior as she had been chased by more than one mob, not to mention had someone almost kill her with a knife and almost get eaten by giant mutant worms. In fact, if not for her mutation weighing heavily on her mind and the questions regarding whether she'd ever be able to fit in again, the month would have been considered a welcome respite from the usual chaos of her life.

But of course no respite could last forever, especially not when Amber was involved because, naturally, nothing in her life was ever easy or pleasant for any length of time. Something always happened to ruin her fragile happiness, as inevitable as life itself. Of course something had to happen and when it did happen, it had to happen in the worst way possible. No, it couldn't just be one man attacking her because she was a mutant, it had be be a gang of men and that gang of men had to have guns. She hated guns, hated them with an all consuming passion. Who had invented such a horrible object anyway? It was not only a sadistic invention, but a downright deadly one as well.

The day had been overcast and Amber had left the Mansion earlier than usual, choosing to enjoy the dusk before nightfall. It was rare that she was able to do so, but tonight the weather was good and she put up her dark red veil and began walking. She didn't usually have much worry about what areas of the city she wandered in, after all not many would bother a black eyed mutant and if they did she could shift and defend herself against most humans. Most humans, that is, that were in singles or pairs, maybe even in threes. But when there were large numbers and/or guns involved that was a different matter entirely.

When the gunshots started up they weren't aimed at Amber, in fact small and quiet as she was she didn't even think they noticed her. No, they were aimed at other mutants, she knew this because of the anti-mutant slurs coming out of their mouths. The first thought she had was to be the hero and save the poor mutants but she quickly realized that being both outnumbered and outgunned that was a very very bad idea. The second thought, and more relevant one, was that she really didn't want them to spot her and turn their attentions onto her. She had enough experienced with angry mobs armed with guns to know just how bad an idea that was. Trying desperately to keep a level head and not simply flee in terror (which was sure to get her noticed) she made herself as small as possible, flattening herself against the wall of a building.

Shelter was what she needed, Amber decided. As she looked around panic began to rise in her and she felt her skin begin to burn and prickle with the first signs of involuntary change. If she looked down she knew she would begin to see scales where there should have been soft white skin. With no time to think and knowing only that she needed to get inside where she was protected and where she wouldn't shift by mistake she desperately tried to open the doors of nearby buildings. The first door was locked tight and sheer force of willpower was all that prevented her terror from furthering her unwanted shift. The second door, the building looking like a dilapidated warehouse of some kind that may have faced a fire sometime in its past, opened and she quickly scrambled in, shutting the door behind her.

Outside the gunfight was only getting closer and Amber scrambled up the stairs. Maybe there would be a room up there she could stow away in, somewhere she could curl up in a corner until the chaos and violence left the area. Was it too much to ask that she find a little bit of safety for herself? Had she really done something so very horrible that she didn't deserve her own well being?

The call that came to his desk was one that made his brain cringe, which was unfortunately because so far had been having a pretty good night. Things were going well in the office, the MRC had managed to make headway in a few cases that were real brain stumpers but through perseverance and hard work they managed to achieve some headway. So far it seemed like it was going to be a pretty successful night, but then the call came in…anti-mutant gang had apparently clashed with pro-mutant citizens. Of course…guns were fired because of the altercations. It was something that Jorge Cervantes hated to hear…but he was no stranger of it either. With a grumble and a sigh, the detective had dashed out of the office, jumped into his car and made straight for the scene.

So far police were already responding to the scene, but they were going to need MRC there to handle whatever agitated or wounded mutants there would be. News was sketchy at best as to what had started it or whether there were even any victims to speak of. Be that as it may, though, they always had to assume the worst case scenario.

He left buildings behind in a blur as he drove through the city streets, his sirens blaring in riots of blue and red lights. The buildings momentarily were painted all shades of colors and flew past him as he drove, weaving in and out of traffic. His mind slowly began to drift back until it became a finely focused unit intent on tackling whatever would be thrown his way. He ignored all outside distractions, paid no attention to the passing buildings, or cars ahead and instead became almost robotic as he drove all the way to the scene. Then, upon arriving, up ahead he could see the rest of the black and whites that had responded to the scene and already he didn’t like the looks of it.

Uniformed officers were perched behind open doors, guns raised as they looked for any stray people caught in the presence of a burned out, warehouse looking building. That could only mean that a stand-off was going on.

Jorge groaned and shook his head as he pulled up close behind the other cars and joined the scene. “Exactly what my day was missing,” he said in his growling voice.

Gun removed from its holster, Jorge leapt out of his car and jogged forward until he had joined the rest of the police and ducked down behind one of the squad cars being used for cover. He immediately began to ask for information on what had happened as he glanced over the trunk of the car he hid behind and eyed the building.

It looks pretty abandoned. he thought to himself. Thank god. I’d hate for hostages to be in there at this time.

Upstairs was not much safer than the floor below. A burned out shell of a room, with holes in the floor and matching holes in the wall. A few items of old, furniture lines the walls, and one old water soaked carpet that had been left to rot on the floor. It took a moment for Andrea to realize that she was actually standing in another hallway, not someones apartment. Off to her left she spotted another doorway, door itself missing, that led to another set of stairs. A little sign that hung at a crooked angle from the wall pointed to the fact that it had probably served as the fire escape rout at one point or another. She took a few uneasy steps into the room, her movement causing a skittish mouse to launch itself from the torn up couch across the room.

Downstairs, the troupe of seven had settled their injured member along a wall. He had been hit twice. both times in the arm he had been holding his gun with. "Dammit Eddi, if you hadn't of shot at that first pig, we'd have been out of here by now!" The others seemed to agree, save one. Ryan didn't agree with any of what had just happened. He didn't want to stay, nor did he want to be any part of the squabble. He had even given his gun to Eddi, after he had dropped his out on the street. "There's a crap-ton of them now... " All eyes turned to Dan, who was perched by the broken out window, watching as more and more cops arrived outside. "...Pigs everywhere..."

Outside, the mutant teen who had been the source of the attack was being hoisted on a gurney into one of the two ambulances that had shown up. One of his friends hopped in with him, too keep him company on he ride, while the other two were busily recounting what had happened to a couple of officers back behind the action. "Man, we were just walking by.." One kid started, wiping some of his friends blood from his hands. The other picked up where he left off. "Out on the town, ya know? And this kid, some douchbag with jock hair, just starts screaming at us. Mutant scumbag! and like, starting flippin' us the bird an' sh*t. And our buddy just puts up with it, ya know? He's used to people being d*cks because of the tentacles and stuff, but anyway, this other guy just keeps on going..." His friend jumped in again, "We just couldn't take it anymore, so I was all like Oh yeah?! Shove it where the sun don't shine A**hole! and the guy got all p*ssed off and sh*t and whipped the gun outta nowhere and started shooting at us!" The officer blinked, shifting his attention between the two, and fiddled with his paper and pen. Kids sure did make it hard to take them seriously these days...

Andrea had maneuvered her way across the room quietly, only managing to make a few old floor boards creak a little here and there, to where she could peek out of a gaping hole in the wall. There were shouts from outside.. lots of sirens... and... oh dear. Lots of cops. The gunmen downstairs were the least of her worries now. The threat of being deported loomed over head, and the Greek slipped back from the window, intent on finding her own way out, but stopped in her tracks when she heard the sounds of footsteps heading her way. Her heart jumped into her throat, and in a panic she picked up a broken lamp from the floor, raising it above her head like a weapon as the foot steps grew closer and a figure appeared in the room with her. Female... with a red scarf?... She obviously wasn't one of the bad guys...and... something about her was oddly familiar. "...You... who are you?" Lowering the lamp, she dropped it to the ground- and action she didn't think about clearly enough.

"What was that?" Eddie asked, his eyes shooting up to the ceiling. "I think someone's up there..." Ryan glanced up as well, and shifted on his feet nervously. "Two of you head up there and check it out." Markus barked, kneeling next to Eddi. He chambered a round on his gun, just to be ready, and watched as Tony and Roger clambered up the steps. Andrea snapped to attention when she heard them coming, and turned toward Amber. "Run!" She darted across the room, reaching out to snag Amber's arm so she could drag her with, but never fully made it there. Tony's hand snaked out of the darkness to grab her by the shoulder, he missed however, and only managed to rip her hood back. She struggled for a moment as he tried to drag her back, before the snaps holding her raincoat in place pulled apart and she was able to dart away, leaving him holding her coat. Seven snakes jumped to life, leaping from the depths of her hair to hiss at the man who had attacked her. She turned and caught sight of the mens weapons, tucked into the front of their pants and bit down on her lip. '...for the love of god..'

There had been a time in the not so distant past that Amber hadn't minded the police. In fact, even now she didn't really have anything against them as they had saved her in the past. Or at least one particular officer had saved her in the past. But the sound of sirens was no longer the sound of safety, due in large part to her adopted sister Aura's influence. She had learned that the police could sometimes be just as dangerous as the criminals of the world, if not more so. They had the weight of the law on their sides, after all, whether or not they actually chose to obey it themselves. There was always that aura of authority that surrounded them, regardless of whether or not it was actually warrented. Sometimes it was and sometimes it wasn't and that was the sad truth of the world.

Because of her sister's wisdom, the sirens did not provide Amber any comfort although they also didn't provide her any dread on top of what she was all ready feeling and what she was currently feeling was an immense amount of dread indeed. It took every ounce of willpower she had to continuet to climb up the stairs in search of safety and to prevent her body from shifting on its own. These thugs, whoever they were, were targetting mutants and she was, whether she liked it or not, a mutant and not one that could easily hide herself. Unless an unusual amount of luck was with her and she was able to find a whole in the wall small enough for a Compsognathus and enough time to actually shift into a Compsognathus before the thugs downstairs made up upstairs.

Amber could hear the men down below her although she tried desperately not to. Bad enough to know that they were nearby and targetting mutants, worse to know that they were in the same building as her and at any moment they might spot her or hear her and she would become the new target for their agressions. Itching burn across her skin increased and spread and she didn't have to look down at her own arms to know that they were now almost fully covered in scales.

"...You... who are you?"

So tight were Amber's nerves wound that she actually jumped at the unexpected appearance of the familiar figure. "Amber." Her voice came out hoarse and slightly garbled as her teeth had begun to sharpen and multiply.

"What was that? I think someone's up there..."

Amber didn't need to be told twice that running was by far the best option. She allowed her arm to be snagged and stumbled after Andrea, half running and half being dragged.

Out of town mutant gets into a fight with a local anti-mutant gang…why was Jorge not surprised when he heard this? He shook his head as he remained knelt down behind a squad car door, gun out as listened to one of the officers fill him in on the situation. He already was not liking how things were turning out. He hoped that the tentacled mutant would survive this attack, but as Jorge kept staring at the building, a bit of anxiety began to build up in him. To be that violent towards a mutant who had done no wrong other than to defend his good name? He really, really was not liking where this was going.

“Do we have IDs on them? Is the building surrounded? Have they made any attempts to come out or talk to the police?” he asked the officer on duty.

“No. Nothing! They ran in there, we know at least one his armed with a handgun but that is it. Other than that, there hasn’t been a squeak out of them.”

Jorge nodded and thought for a second as he pulled off his trench coat and tossed it over the door. Reaching in, he pulled a officer’s spare Kevlar vest out and strapped it over his chest. The detective sighed as he secured the vest onto himself, checked his gun and looked back to the officer.

“Okay, let’s go drop in on the neighbors.”

Gently the detective stood and circled along the back of the squad car he had been situated behind. A small group of officers began to follow his lead as he made his way towards the side of the street the building was on. So far no gunshots had been fired, they had not even heard so much as a peep from their suspects. That could either be good or bad. So far none of the officers situated around the building had called in to say they saw suspects running. All doors and windows were secured from their vantage points, so they had to still be in there. But be that as it may, why haven’t the police heard demands?

With a shake of his head, Jorge and the small group that followed made it to the building and pressed up tight against the wall. Slowly he crept along the length, gun out as he stepped forward, following the wall until they made it to the front door. Jorge closed his eyes and felt that the building had no water running into it. Great he thought as he opened his eyes again. If so his abilities would be no use, so far. He hoped there was a puddle or clogged sinks somewhere inside there, should he need the help. A nod to the nearest detective, Jorge stood as and dashed to the opposite side of the door and shot a glance to the officer who stayed low and covered the door. Carefully Jorge stepped forward, still pressing himself to the side, away from the opening before he stepped out, took a breath and kicked the door in.

Quickly he pressed himself against the wall again, keeping his gun tight in his hands. He peeked out quickly, gun held straight and ready as he checked all the dark areas ahead of him. When he saw nothing, he nodded to the group of officers that followed and began to lead them in. Flashlight beams illuminated the area ahead of him as he checked all corners, gun trained on any and everything that looked suspicious or like a hiding place for some murderous thug. But he kept his eyes moving, noted one thing for a millisecond before moving on to the next.

Carefully he made his way into the building and paused at a set of stairs. Gun raised as he looked up, he listened quietly as the rest of the officers began to file out, checking all areas of the bottom floor while Jorge and another officer proceeded to keep the stairs covered.

“First floor all clear, sir,” came a ring of responses from officers who had checked the bottom floor.

Jorge nodded as he slowly began to lead the way up the creaky, dusty stairs, his eyes focused in the dark and revealed the black, misshapen forms that lay all around. Broken planks of wood, burned out furniture and fixtures, soot covered walls and even the strewn about trash and bottles from vagrants who have used the building as a temporary shelter from the world. But the detective bypassed all of that and continued off with his troupe of officers behind him, ears straining to hear danger before it rears its ugly head.

"Ay... S'just a couple'a... woah... Freaky lookin broads." Andrea spared not a moment, but turned and snatched up Amber's arm once more. A tug in the right direction, up a second flight of stairs and to the third floor. She needed to get away, she needed to get amb-.... Amber! Now she recognized the girl.. if only by name, and slight recognition. Without missing step, or stopping her near dead sprint, she turned to look over her shoulder. "Amber... I know you... You were at the dance." Yes, she was sure of it. Her toes caught the last step, and she released Amber's hand as she stumbled onto the third floor. Below, Tony watched, mildly annoyed as they vanished upstairs, and dropped Andrea's coat onto the floor. He turned to rodger, "Run down stairs and tell the others that we've got it. I'm gunn ahead up and take care of our guests." A little smirk accompanied his statement, and he chambered a bullet into his gun. Rodger chuckled back, and hopped back down the steps to spread the word.

"Oh... little mouses..." Tony sing-songed, and half jogged up the steps. At the top, Andrea recovered from her fall, and paled. She sent a look Ambers way, brought a finger to her lips- a signal to keep quiet- and dragged herself up. Quietly, she padded across the room, pointing out the open doorway of an Apartment towards the back of the hall. "This way..." She was tempted to drag Amber along again, but figured she was more likely to trip her up, than help her. Once she was too the doorway, she saw that the room she had chosen was empty. It lacked furniture... and hiding places. She felt her face pale even more... Had she just doomed them? She glanced around her barren room, wondering what she was supposed to do. Two of the three windows of the place were intact, save for a few small holes here and there. Rocks and debris littered the floor, along with old rags of blankets that looked as if they had been used recently. She moved over to the last window, which had been broken nearly all the way out and the wall connected to it had been rotted away by rain and abuse. She could see the building behind the complex, and what looked to be a fire escape... and an idea hatched in her head.

On the stairs, and down on the first floor the weapon toting men all went silent as a soft creaking resounded from further back in the building. Rodger paused at the bottom of the staircase, then dropped his gaze to Markus. "There are some girls upstairs, Mutants. Hiding on the third floor, What do you want us to do?" Markus glanced over from his seated position next to Dan by the window, a frown heavy on his lips. "Well, We ain't got much of a chance down here... an' we could always them chicks up there are hostages." The others nodded, and moved to make their way up the steps. "Eh, one'a you help me lug this fool up the steps." Taking one last peek out at the squadron of cops littering the road, he darted away and helped heft Eddi up onto his feet. The gang made it up the stairs shakily, but quickly, and dropped Eddi at the foot of the stairs.

Tony nodded in greeting, his gun held out at his side. He had stopped near the middle of the stairwell when the creating had started up. He assumed that it was just the two muties though, up there on the floor above... probably running about like mice trapped by a cat. "Well, two'a you should come up with me, since you're all nice n' cozy up here." Tony suggested, grinning nearly from ear to ear. "God knows what kind of abominations are hiding up there..." And the others agreed... for the most part. Dan and Rodge trotted up the steps with him, intent on helping Tony fish out the girls quickly. Markus however, set about trying to bandage up Eddi, all while cursing him under his breath. And Ryan shifted on his feet again. He glanced from Eddi, to the stairwell, and back to Eddi. Then he turned his eyes to the red and blue flashing along the wall... and his nerves finally got to him. "#*@k this..." Before Markus could shout, or throw something at him, Ryan turned and bolted into the depths of the complex. He knew there had to be a few ways down and out, and he was going to take full use of them..

From the very beginning Amber's shifts had been triggered by fear. Maybe it was because her initial shift was so traumatizing or maybe that was just the way her power worked, but it was nevertheless true. She had learned to control them better, learned to shift at will without any strong emotion at all. But still, when it came to stressful and terrifying situations, those situations in which her life and well being were in danger, her body still tried to invuluntarily shift. It took an immense amount of willpower to keep her human form and even more to prevent her from crying out in pain as her body and mutation and her mind fought for control of her body. Every scale that emerged, every chang, no matter how minor, was a small agony and all those small agonies combined into one giant agony. Still, she clung to her human shape as best she could, knowing to change would make things even worse than they were currently.

"I was at the dance," Amber agreed. Talking was difficult not only because of finding herself with too many teeth but also because of the pain. When Andrea fell Amber felt a moment of panic. She was the only one in this place that she could consider friendly. She reached down in an attempt to help her back to her feet, all the while looking behind her as she heard the taunts of the human thugs. Why did people have to hate so very much? Why did they have to try to hurt or kill every little thing that they didn't understand? It wasn't right and thinking of the injustice Amber let out a growl, her vocal chords now less human than they should have been.

Once Andrea had made it to her feet, Amber once again allowed her to lead. She had to be careful as she walked as her legs had begun, ever so slowly, to change which made running difficult. The room, it turned out, was completely barren minus some debris littering the floor, barren of everything including sufficient hiding places. There was a hole in one of the walls that might have been small enough for her to hide in if she was in her Compsognathus form but even if she was able to hid succesfully, she wasn't about to leave Andrea alone.

"I might be able to help defend us," Amber stated. Her voice, by this point, was barely legible and she hoped she had managed to make herself understood. "Maybe not against guns, but I think I can help." It seemed desperate and in fact it was desperate but she couldn't think of any other way out of present circumstances. Unless the police were to come and save them at the last possible moment, but she wasn't about to hold her breath for that eventuality.

The complex was dark but the detective’s trained eyes scanned all corners as he walked stealthily in, gun trained and eyes sharp. He knew there were at least four or five suspects in here, at least one or two were armed. They attacked a mutant on the street and one of them had been injured in the altercation. Jorge sighed as he checked all his corners and moved around another corner, leading a small squad of five other officers, when he heard the thundering of footsteps. At first it sounded like it was coming from up above him, but as he pressed himself against the side of a doorway, he heard it echoing down the hall. Someone was running away from them, but it did not seem to be a run of attacking, instead it was out of fear.

Jorge motioned for the other officers to follow. The detective hurried until he heard the sounds of groaning and cursing. He peeked around a corner and saw a man, sitting at the foot of a staircase, in pain from a rather serious wound. That was definitely one of the perps. Quickly Jorge and his team moved out and covered the man.

“Freeze! NYPD!”

“Damn! Okay okay!” the thug breathed heavily.

Jorge slowly stepped closer, keeping his gun trained on him. The second he was close enough, he began to check the man in his seated position. When he was cleared of any weaponry, Jorge had a nearby officer cover the man until an paramedics could get in and take care of his injuries. With that taken care of, he looked up the second staircase, trained his gun, and slowly began to move up again.

The old smell of rotted wood and soot assaulted his nostrils but he did his best to ignore it. It seemed that these guys were just boxing themselves in because they keep moving up in the building. He did not know what drove them to do that, but it could not be good. Still though, he had a job to do so Jorge continued on, leading the dwindling number of his group further up the building, over creaky stairs and through hanging cobwebs. The beams of their flashlights barely pierced the dark and all they saw was a building that should have been condemned and torn down ages ago. Some of the walls were so burnt that they had large cracks and holes in their surfaces that allowed him to see the night outside. Because of that a chill was biting all around their limbs but they had to keep climbing. And that was when he heard more rushing footsteps.

Up above there were bodies running, but they were light and softer than the heavier footsteps that followed them. It could mean anymore. Maybe their leader was just a big guy and everyone else was much smaller? Whatever the case, he had heard no reports about hostages and it was doubtful anyone lived here, unless they were squatting. The prospect of that filled Jorge with a type of dread. The last thing he needed was innocent civilians to get caught up in all of this. But they could not take things so slow anymore. They had to hurry because best case scenario, the thugs were looking for a way out and he could not allow that.

Nodding to his fellow officers, Jorge began to climb quickly the stairs and peeked into the floor to see a couple of the preps running away from the stairs. They had not seen them so quickly Jorge climbed onto the floor and once the rest of his officers were up and well protected, Jorge threw himself behind a doorway and screamed out into the hall to get everyone’s attention.

“This is the N.Y.P.D.!!” he screamed. “The building is already surrounded! Drop your weapons and come out with your hands up!” He peeked over the side of the doorframe, his gun held ready in hand. He prayed that he could sense running water somewhere, anywhere, just for a back up.

Not good... not good. Andrea heard the commotion in the hall, she heard taunting, and she heard Amber... but she didn't turn around. She stared at the fire escape across the building, and frowned. It was too risky to jump... she wouldn't put Amber in danger like that, or leave her behind. One fat drop of rain slithered though a crack in the ceiling above her, hanging on for a moment before it released and smacked onto her forehead. She glanced up, noticing that outside it had started to shower, and her frown deepened. The next thing Amber said caught her attention, and when she turned to question the girl she froze in her tracks. She had never seen Amber struggle to transform before. A mouth full of sharp teeth greeted her, a strained expression.. shaking and that.. frightening voice change. It was a surprise Andrea didn't faint.

Downstairs the wounded thug had given himself up and confessed to both his own crimes, and that of his friends. Rather eagerly, too. He pointed out that one had vanished into the back, looking for another exit, and nodded upstairs the way Jorge had gone. News of the two girls left his lips, and he allowed himself to be carted down the stairs and outside in handcuffs to a waiting ambulance.

“This is the N.Y.P.D.!!”“The building is already surrounded! Drop your weapons and come out with your hands up!”

The gunslingers paused in their tracks, eyeballing each other quickly before they split up and made breaks for open doors. Two found themselves hidden by the next stairwell up, ears keen to pick up any sounds of approaching footsteps. The others made a dash for the room lacking a door at the end of the hall. Andrea was kicked back into work mode when the men appeared at the entrance her and Amber's room. She screamed, taking one quick step back, and her snakes leaped into action due to the sudden rush of fear.

Hubris lunged forward and opened his maw wide. Two slim fangs extended and twin jets of a clear liquid were shot across the four foot gap between herself and the doorway. The venom splashed onto the first guys face, wiping a gloating smirk from his lips instantly. His gun clattered to the floor, firing off a single shot into the wall across from Andrea and Amber, and he brought his hands to his face and dropped to his knees. The two behind him screamed as well, watching as their friends forehead right cheek and right eye shifted from soft and peachy to rough and gray. "Mutant B@*$#%!" He raised his gun, squeezing the trigger a few times, but hit nothing as the venom soaked man knocked into him and sent his bullets off in random directions.

Andrea's eyes turned to Amber, she was dumb struck as to what she should do, and her legs were shaking too much for her to move. The two gunmen hiding by the stairs heard the gun shots and exchanged glances, they raised their own weapons and waited for the cops to come charging into sight. Above them though, rainwater had started to pool in the ceiling. Many years of collection had left the floor above soaked through and through, and after the last few rains a good sized pocket of water had built up under the floor. The ceiling crackled, water dripping at first slowly, then faster as spackel and paint flaked off. A few drips landed on one of the men and caught his attention, and just as he looked up the pocket of water broke though the ceiling and drenched the both of them in putrid, stagnant rain water.

Two girls, both were somewhere hiding from the thugs that had been chased in here. Just great. That was all the detective needed right now. So far they were the ones who had the advantage, they had more room to operate, they had the high ground, and there was the potential for hostages. Jorge and the police with him were at the distinct disadvantage here but then…there was a sound that drew his attention.

Drip…Drip…Pat…Pat…Drip…

Immediately Jorge’s senses sharpened and closed his eyes. He could feel it, that gather of water in various spots around him. The rainwater outside began to seep in, collecting in old puddles of grimy water, rolling down web covered, dirty walls, and dripping through cracks in floor after floor before colliding with the ground far below them. The detective had never been so happy to feel the sensation of the water around him. The smell of the rain, that musty smell of clean water mixing with the days, months, years old dirt that clung to every space of this building. It was welcome sign.

Maybe down the scales have tipped a little in his own favor.


But it was one misstep from one of his fellow officers that started it all the chaos. One officer, a bit braver than he should have been, peeked out from behind his opened door, causing the hinges to creak loud. It was like an invitation, a spotlight in the darkened hall that showed off his location. Before the detective knew it, he heard gun fire from further down the hall…the thugs were unloading round after round in their direction.

Jorge ducked back behind the frame, gun in hand as he listened to the sound of threats, splintering wood, and angry bullets buzzing through the air. He wanted to fire back, but there was still no telling where those girls were. They could be on the top floor, they could be in hiding, they be being used as human shields right now. Jorge did not know. What he did know was that he really did not want to take the chance. He would have to rely on something a little more subtle.

Creeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaak…Ka-SPLASH!

Jorge snapped his attention back to the hallway, hearing the sounds of men sputtering that had been drenched with water. Apparently the ceiling had caved in somewhere ahead due to the sheer weight and damage of the water on the wood. It created a mini downpour on a couple of the gunmen. That was all he needed…

As he glanced out from his doorway, he spied them, sputtering from behind some fallen debris. He turned, nodded to his fellow officers to keep ready. They knew about the girls, so they too had to make sure not to do anything stupid. Jorge, on the other hand, would let his natural gifts finally come to play.

Steeling himself up, Jorge closed his eyes, uttered a prayer and finally leaned out just enough to shoot out his open hand. He could feel the immediate reaction. The water he was focusing on, those puddles and the drenched clothing of that pair of gunman, responded and sprang to life. With the smallest twitch of his fingers, he pulled enough water to form a tight, swirling orb of water around their heads. It must have been a surprise, and agonizing for them to suddenly be cut off from their precious oxygen. But Jorge did not let up. Their silent screams and flailing was enough to give him and his team time to scramble closer as Jorge did his best to keep up the floating orbs around their heads.

Once they have collapsed, passed out due to partial drowning, Jorge released his hold on the water and sighed a bit contentedly. Two down, only a few others to go.

But first…he needed to find those girls…

Gun in hand, Jorge sprang to his feet and joined the rest of his team, being careful not to give away their locations and searched empty rooms for the pair.

Backed into a corner... Andrea felt her heart hammering away in her chest. Amber was so close to... turning... into something. Andrea did not know what, since she possessed no knowledge of the girls mutation... But whatever it was, it looked frightening.

The man she had injured was down for the count, his gun clattered to the floor where one of the other men picked it back up. Two guns were leveled in her and Amber's direction... and there was nowhere to run. She spared a glance at Amber, her nerves close to breaking, before her mind came to a rash, panicked decision and her body acted on its own. "Amber, run!" The twenty two year old darted forward, her serpents reacted to the surge of fear and adrenalin and lashed out with hisses and snapping teeth at the men in the doorway. Andrea threw herself into the closes gunman, while the other stumbled away from the door with a curse... it gave Amber a chance to run, at least... though Andrea didn't know what she was going to do for herself.

The fellow she threw her body weight into reacted by thumping back into the wall beside him. She moved to push herself away from him, and dart out into the hall, but something hard smacked into the side of her head. She saw stars and dark black blots over took her vision. Her snakes withdrew into her hair, feeling the confusion from the pistol whip the guy had dealt their mother. A warm hand grabbed her by the neck, and she was drawn closer as the thug shifted away from the wall. "I got her, don't think she'll be a problem for a bit." The other male was wary to step closer, what with the moaning man on the floor as a testament to Andreas dangerous serpents. "...What about the other one?"

The man holding Andy shook his head, and peeked out into the hall. "We don't need her, c'mon, lets head out... they've gotta heard the gunshots." Andrea felt herself led out into the hallway, and half dragged deeper into the building. The sound of dripping water reached her ears as pain from the new bruise forming at her temple blazed across her skin. The trio came to the end of a hallway, complete with an emergency exit. The grip in her neck shifted from a hand, to an arm around her throat, and the trio came to a sudden halt. The building was quiet save for the soft creaking of old, water damaged floorboards. People were moving, though the thugs couldn't tell from where.

"...Oh man... oh man... we should just make a break for it.." One man's worrying was silenced with an abrupt Shh, and the cold barrel of a gun was pressed to Andreas temple. She ceased her wiggling, and sucked in a frightened breath. " We ain't going nowhere until we're sure they won't follow..." Her captor breathed, then adjusted her until she was more or less before him like a human shield. "Just so you know... if those hissing black worms go for me, I won't hesitated to pull this trigger." Andrea hoped, for her sake, the serpents had understood that threat... Next, the man motioned for his companion to get to work jimmying the door open, and raised his voice so any of their pursuers woudl hear him clearly.

"Don't bother comin' any closer, officers. We've got us a hostage, and if you so much as show your faces I won't think twice about splattering her mutie brain all over the wall!"

Rooms were checked, cleared and moved on from. Jorge and his team were quick, surveying what they could, keeping an eye out for the two mystery girls that one of the thugs claimed had been. So far there had been no sign of them in the dark, dank rooms. The only thing they found were discarded whole and broken furniture, trash heaps, piles of debris, and the sources of many of the more pungent and grotesquely odious smells. It was obvious that few, if any people really stepped into this place. After all, what was in it for them besides a place to squat? It really could not have been converted into someplace illegal, especially because so much of it was so rundown and everything looked easily flammable.

The detective peered into another room and cleared it when suddenly another officer shouted.

“Sir, over here.”

Jorge made his way over and peered into the room. One officer had his gun drawn, covering a fallen man. He was not sure what ailed him, but he could already see another officer putting the cuffs on him, as well, as others checking the room. He sighed as he stepped in, gun down to his side and peeked around.

He was about to leave the room and move on when suddenly he caught the smallest of movements out of the corner of his eye. He turned his attention back into the room and stepped in. Another officer was kneeling, trying to coax a young woman out from underneath one of the dilapidated pieces of furniture. She was extremely pale and sickly looking…Jorge recognized her almost immediately. He helped her once, protected her from a street gang that was attempting to harass for how she looked.

It really was a small world.

He ducked down and kneeled, smiling over at the young woman. “Hi, you remember me? It’s Detective Cervantes,” he gave her a warm smile. “Listen, go with these officers okay? They only want to get you out of here safely, I have to go find your friend. I will talk to you when I get outside, okay?”

Another warm, cop smile, and Jorge reluctantly turned his back and headed back out into the hall with a couple more members of the team. He really wanted to stay and assure that young woman that everything was okay, but he had bigger fish to fry. There was one more girl missing and still at least two other gunmen, but where were they?

Then he heard a shouting echoing to him from much further down the hall…

>> "Don't bother comin' any closer, officers. We've got us a hostage, and if you so much as show your faces I won't think twice about splattering her mutie brain all over the wall!"

Damn it… he thought, followed by another string of expletives that he dare not repeat.

They had the other girl. This was definitely not a good sign, Jorge could already tell. They had managed to pick off most of the men, but now that the hoodlums had the girl, the power balance had definitely shifted. If so much as a wrong move was made, she would be paying for it. But if they did nothing, they she would definitely find herself in a bad situation. It was one of those catch-22’s, damned if they do, damned if they don’t. The girl needed help, but it was evident that the men were serious, they would harm her…

What else could they do? A chance had to be taken.

The smell of the rainwater was still fresh in the air, which could only mean that there it must still be raining outside; which could only further mean that there must be puddles of it everywhere. That was good, at least he would not have to worry about being weaponless…it was just trying to get to that girl. Then, as he crept down the hallway, he reached another hallway and looked down it. There, he could hear one of the men attempting to pry open another door…an exit to the outside.

Jorge stood there, glanced back to his men and gave them the motion to keep him covered. As he crept down the hall, Jorge reached out with his abilities and felt that there was plenty of water around. If he could just manage a little sleight of hand and have a bit of lady luck on his side, he just might be able to do something useful here.

He inched his way down the dark, musty smelling hall. Thankfully the pitter-patter of rain was make the ghastly, empty building echo from all around. He doubted they knew he was approaching, but that did not mean their paranoia was not pretty high. Jorge played it cool, and got as close down the hall as he felt comfortable with and waited. The men were desperate now, at least one was, the one that was prying open the door. He would be easy to get rid of…it was the other, the one holding the struggling girl that made him fearful.

He prayed some lucky star was shining down on him that night.

“I almost got it!” he heard the other man whisper forcefully before finally, with one last final nudge, he threw his weight against the door and sent it flying upon to the outside. “Got it!”

Jorge was quick to move, he reached out with his open palm again and immediately seized the multitude of water that was pouring from outside. Practically manipulating from mid-fall through the air, Jorge pulled as thick a flood of water as he could muster and sent it flying directly towards the man, making it seem as if the man had been hit with a wave of it that have been hanging precariously pouring down from above. It was enough of a distraction to knock the man down and sent him hurtling off to the side…into another room.

Quickly, in the wake of the open door, Jorge manipulated the water that poured down outside and brought it slowly seeping it the room. It was only then that he revealed himself and spoke calmly…

“Hey, buddy,” he said as he held up his empty hands, luckily he had reholstered his gun into his belt at his back. “Why don’t we end this nice a quiet?”

The thug, snarled at being discovered immediately put the green skinned girl in front of him, holding her neck tight with a gun aimed at her head. “Not another step!”

“Now, now” Jorge said as his fingers twitched invisibly in the dark hall, subtly more water moved in and began to swirl around the young woman’s feet but not enough to draw the man’s attention. “Let’s not get trigger happy. We can talk nice and calm about this. Why don’t you just let her go, and we can walk out calmly outside?”

The thug only met his request with an angry string of curses and once more pulled the hammer back of on his gun, arming it and keeping it pointed with pointblank accuracy at the girl’s head.

Jorge sighed, knowing his attempt to negotiate was futile. Thankfully, he figured it would be and simply continued to manipulate more water around the young mutant. It swirled and sloshes around her feet, but still seemed to escape the man’s attention. Jorge locked eyes with the mutant…

“Listen honey, you’re going to be okay…”

“Shut up!”

“Don’t listen to him, I’m going to get you out of this…”

“I said shut your mutie lovin’ mouth!!”

“Why don’t you tell me your name?” he asked the female.

Attention off of him, the thug snarled as he glared directly at Jorge. He could get the girl out of this, he could, but he needed two things: first of all, he needed the girl the trust him, and second, he needed that man to get angry enough to raise his gun on an unarmed cop…

Come on, Lady Luck…you owe me…

Andrea had never been so acutely aware of her surroundings before. It seemed as if the creaking in the building had ceased, like the very foundation itself was waiting to see the outcome of the standoff. She could heard the male holding her breathing, wheezing very slightly like he had bad lungs. Her limbs were still shaking uncontrollably- she couldn't stop them... and all she wanted to do was flee. As if to make matters worse, the snakes within her hair were becoming active again as her grogginess wore off. The mans threat was still very present on her mind.

"...w-why do this?... Such v-violence is poin-" The arm tightened around her neck. "Shut up, will you! A don't need mutant scum preaching to me." Her lips sealed themselves shut, lengthy canines digging into her bottom lip as she stifled a whimper. She could hear the other male tinkering with the exit door, and tried to fixate her mind on something positive. At least Amber had gotten away, right? If the police were in the building, they'd find her...and she'd be taken from the building.

The sound of metal grating on metal, then a swift screech as the door was forced open reached her ears. The alarm connected to the door had long since died, so only the excited exclamation of "Got it!" from the other male and the pitter-pattering of rain reached her ears. The sudden sloshing of water, and the quickness of her captors partner vanishing into another room made the man holding Andrea jump. She was dragged around as he turned to point his gun in the direction of the room. The darkness prevented him from seeing the limp form of his partner, who had smacked his head fairly hard on the floor upon falling, and was more of less dead to the world for a while. "Damnit, this aint the time of games... Get your lazy butt up and get ov-" He was cut off by Jorge's sudden arrival. Andrea squinted through her glasses to see who the new voice had come from. “Why don’t we end this nice a quiet?”

The gun was returned to its previous place, pressed against her skin just above her ear. She was drawn once again out in front of the man, and after a moment she was able to see the man the voice belonged to. Her serpents hisses lowly, slithering about against her shoulders and neck while they tried to sort through all of the conflicting emotions of their host. Nothing was moving quickly, which in their eyes meant no intimidate danger was present. “Let’s not get trigger happy. We can talk nice and calm about this. Why don’t you just let her go, and we can walk out calmly outside?” Swear words burned her ears, and the gun next to her head clicked ominously.

Andrea's eyes widened, and she stared though her glasses at the man trying to negotiate with her captor. She was too struck with with overwhelming emotions to notice the water at her feet, much like her captor was too angry and distracted to notice as well. The way the man was talking to her... hush tone, sweet words. She got the overwhelming notion that she was going to die. Wasn't that how it always worked in the movies? The arm around her neck flexed, and she felt herself lifted onto her tippy toes. A feeling of desperation welled up in her chest, and her snakes reacted. Sloth slithered down her shoulder, away from the man holding her as his rage grew, and grew, and grew... The others, Vana, Hubris, and Ira, were busily winding themselves around the arm of the distracted man that held Andrea.

She heard the officer ask her her name, and the feeling of desperation in her chest doubled. He wanted to know the name of a soon to be casualty, perhaps? "...Andrea..." Fear left her accent thick and barely understandable due to the situation. Her captor tensed, growling deep in his chest, and she squeezed her eyes shut.... but... he didn't pull the trigger. In two ways he needed to keep her alive, one as a hostage, and the other as a shield. But the cop?... The cop, who appeared unarmed, he could easily do away with. He very politely told the officer to shove his questions where the sun didn't shine... and made a very typical mistake for a criminal. The gun was drawn away from Andrea's head, pointed quickly in Jorges direction, and he prepared to pull the trigger. Andrea's snakes acted on the flash of movement the only way they new how... six inch long fangs sank into the arm around her throat, and in an instant the thug felt a burning pain seep through the entire appendage. Instead of letting her go however, he tightened his grip and lifted her off her feet entirely as he reacted to the pain with anger.

>> “…Andrea…”

The accent was thick and though the man was cursing and trying to get all the attention back on him, Jorge managed to still make out her name. He smiled encouragingly, warm, and careful. He knew that man wanted the full attention, but he was hoping to get him mad enough to draw attention away from the girl. After all, what criminal would pass up the chance to gun down an “unarmed” police detective?

“That’s a pretty name. Listen Andrea…everything will be fine…”

More and more swirled around the girl’s feet. He was finally comfortable with the amount that was there but it still made him a little worried to pull this move off. It was risky but he knew that if he was going to get her out of this, this was what needed to be done. So he waited…eyes catching every aspect of the man’s movements, waiting for that slip, that second where he would turn the gun on him. And, in the end, Jorge was not disappointed at all.

“Hell with this!” The man growled as, with a shaky limb, he ripped the gun barrel away from the girl’s head and hefted it up.

It was clichéd for him to think, but Jorge literally saw time slow down. He watched the sheets of water falling slowly outside the door, he saw the droplets explode when they hit the railing or the floor into millions of tiny particles, then the twitch of a hand, the rise of a gun, the bite of a snake…wait…bite of a snake? Jorge’s brow arched as he watched snakes, a couple of them slithering out from the girl’s hair and latch onto the criminal’s arm, at least one or two biting from what he could see.

That’s a hell of a mutation Jorge muttered but pulled his focus quickly away from it. There would be time for that later.

It was obvious that these bites were not bee stings. The man reacted, violently, by screaming and gripping the girl tighter. He lifted her into the air. Whether it was by reason or it was just a knee jerk reaction to the snake bites, Jorge did not know. He pulled the girl into slightly more danger, but at the same time…did exactly what the officer needed him to do.

While the man was distracted with both him and the snakes, Jorge took a few steps forward and lashed out with one arm. Immediately, with a grip of his fist, the waters that rolled and surged beneath the young girl’s feet jumped to action. It swirled upward, like a tornado of liquid, reflecting and refracting the small amount of light that gleamed in through the open door, sending drops of water flying in all directions. The majority of the water, though, surged upward, fast and hard and enveloped the green-skinned girl like a shield.

The thing people don’t know about water is that it can indeed be painful under the right circumstances: belly flopping into a pool, pressurized water, etc. Jorge knew this which is why he forced the tidal wall he had put up around Andrea to spin fast and hard. The water lashed and struck at the criminal’s arm over and over again as it spun, it was evident that it was enough for him to finally drop her with an agonized groan. It was only once she was down and out of the line of sight, safely behind the water, that Jorge reached behind and pulled his gun from behind his back.

The motion not unseen, the thug raised his gun again and attempted to ignore the burning pain on his arm from both the snake bites and the water lashing. But his draw was too slow for the veteran police detective. Gun snapping out from behind his back, Jorge took aim and fired at the dark form in front of the open doorway. The bullet whizzed, like an angry bee through the air at high velocity before striking the man’s shoulder which was holding up his gun. The criminal scream as the metal round tore through, sending a wave of white hot pain flooding throughout his body and forcing him to drop his gun.

Jorge then rushed forward, kicked the gun away and kept his gun trained on the man. All the while he slowly lowered the shield of water he had put up around Andrea. He prayed she was okay…