As the sun rose up over the horizon Simons alarm began its 7:00am wake up blast which jarred the sleeping mutant from a rather peaceful dream he’d been having about a young girl he’d met at a night club the previous evening. With an irritable sigh the elemental rose from bed and started to get his bearings and a pleased expression slowly worked it’s way onto his features; today was the first day he wouldn’t have to spend hunting for an employer. Having managed to get on Hunters rather lucrative payroll the previous day Simon could now afford to spend his time on more worthwhile activities, such as exploring the city.

Twenty minutes later the elemental had left his penthouse suit and had taken the elevator down to the bustling streets of New York. There would be no use of his powers this day he promised himself as he navigated the crisscrossing streets and busy intersections. Today would be a day spent in relaxation as he enjoyed the privileges his three million salary could bring.

It should be no great surprise then that after wandering the city’s waterfront for the first few hours of the morning that Simon's eyes alighted upon what was supposedly the symbol of hope and goodwill for all people in this nation; the statue of liberty. Standing nearly 50m tall the pale green figure could easily be seen from the waterfront and attracted untold number of tourists daily.

Simon was about to become one of those tourists.

Moving at a slightly faster than casual pace the British mercenary quickly made his way towards the nearest dock, where he then purchased a ferry ticket for half price after indulging the naïve girl behind the counter in some light conversation. Shaking his head wryly Zephyr boarded the ferry along with everyone else, ‘It never ceases to amaze me how some girls can be affected by a simple smile and an empty discussion.’ He mused as he selected a window seat away from the general crowd. ‘I suppose it’s just another way they’re inferior to men’.

Glancing out the window Simon kept his gaze focused on the green figurine that was steadily growing larger. ‘I hope it doesn’t take too long to get there’

As people began to disembark on the famous island, with their camera shutters clicking away like good little tourists, a not-so-innocent pair had slipped behind the Lady Liberty’s back. A pair of red-headed teenagers stood on the outdoor promenade on the far side of the statue. Actually, one of them, dressed in a green and ivory sundress with a fishnet overshirt, leaned against the guard rails of the promenade wall, tapping her foot rapidly. The other paced back and forth, arms crossed across a rust-colored T-shirt, worn with a pair of faded jean capris. On the surface the pair appeared to be normal, run-of-the-mill human twins. It didn’t take a genius to tell they were both very, very annoyed. Eventually, the pacing one stopped, and slammed a fist into the metal guard rail. A low pitched rumble accompanied the hit, and left a small dent in the metal, the first clue they were not normal humans.

“We should have wiped that stupid smirk off of his face when we had the chance! He had no business butting in like he owned the world!”

>It’s not like we had a chance, with all of the badges moving in.<

“We still could’ve blasted out his ear drums. You can bet I will next time.”

>If we can find him. This is New York, dumbell. Mutant Central, population, who knows?<

To anyone eavesdropping, it would sound as if the one girl was losing her mind, holding a one-sided conversation, while the other merely listened. But Amp could hear her sister clearly, though nothing else.

“Grrrrah! If I ever get hold of that creep again, I swear he’ll never hear another sound for the rest of his life!”

The pacing Amp turned and swung at the wall. Again, a low rumble sounded as a chunk was blasted out of the wall, crumbling on the ground below. Vibe watched, still tapping out a myriad of vibrations through her feet, feeling and fueling her sister’s angry responses. Anyone crossing the Sonic Sisters' paths today was in for a world-class headache.

With his hands thrust casually into his pockets Simon made his slow descent down the gangplank amid the rest of the passengers. Moving with an uncommon grace that came from feeling lighter than air the elemental meandered around awestruck tourists and hyperactive children as he made his way onto the expansive promenade.

Paved with gleaming red and gray bricks the alternating colour scheme of the promenade was almost impossible to make out through the crowd of bodies bunched together in front of the statue. Ignoring them for the most part Zephyr strolled towards the base of the statue and gave a friendly nod to the security guard standing at the entrance. Idly the elemental wondered what the man would do if he knew that one of Interpole’s most wanted was walking into his nations most treasured monument, ‘something ill advised no doubt’.

As he wandered about the sparely decorated museum that had been constructed in the statues base Zephyr became aware of an odd disturbance in the air. The disturbance wasn’t immediately obvious but now that he was aware of it the elemental couldn’t seem to ignore it; for a human it would have been akin to a particularly a loud mosquito constantly circling their head. Trying to dismiss this oddity from his mind Simon continued to wander the two floors of the museum as he searched for the entrance to the statue itself. However when he found the spiral staircase that wound its way up into the immense inner workings of the statue of liberty he was politely, but firmly informed by a pair of armed guards that the statue was closed indefinitely.

Feeling no small amount of annoyance Simon exited the statues base and wandered about the promenade once more. As he did so he noticed that the disturbance which had caught his attention a short time ago became stronger as he neared the rear of the promenade. With nothing else to do for the moment the elemental decided he may as well go and investigate.

Compared with the front of the promenade the rear was practically deserted, a few individuals mingled about in the shade cast by the massive figurine, while others took advantage of the benches dotted at random intervals to catch their breath and relax. What particularly interested the elemental though was a pair of red haired twins set apart from the rest of the tourists. It was clear to tell from their posture that both were vexed almost to the point of violence and as Simon watched one of the girls slammed a petite fist into a granite wall, and against all rules of logic a medium sized crater formed in the solid stone. At the exact moment of this little outburst the vibrations in the air, for this is what Zephyr had identified the disturbance to be, amplified itself tenfold.

‘So they’re responsible’ the thought was overlaid with a mild level of fascination; the elemental had never met another mutant capable of manipulating the air in any way and even though the girls only seemed capable of vibrations he was somewhat intrigued by them. After observing the twins through both normal sight and the abilities gifted to him by his blood Zephyr managed to hypothesize the nature of their powers. The girl in the sundress who was leaning against the railing seemed to be the originator of the vibrations, these were rather weak and were of no real consequence. However the other twin seemed capable of harnessing these vibrations and amplifying them to dangerous levels, as was evidenced by the crumbling stone and bent iron railings.

Having formed a working hypothesis Zephyr found himself wanting to test his premise and elevate it to a working theory. Moving at a casual pace the elemental approached the red head who was currently leaning against the railing as she seemed to be the less irritated of the two, “I would suggest that you cease your little parlor trick” he said quietly, “Otherwise your counterpart is going to attract some unwanted attention.”

It wouldn’t do if the girls caught the attention of the security force before Zephyr could completely satisfy his curiosity.

>We've got company,< Vibe stated without turning around.

If the person thought they were sneaking up on the pair, they would be disappointed. Amp also heard the footsteps coming, though they were unusually light, but she also ignored them. People were coming and going constantly anyway, most of them ignoring the irate pair. If this person was smart, he'd avoid them as well.

“I would suggest that you cease your little parlor trick. Otherwise your counterpart is going to attract some unwanted attention.”

So much for being smart. There was a slight pause in Amp's pacing as Vibe translated. Then she snapped, "Mind your own business and keep moving Jack."

Neither of the girls looked at him, though they did wonder fleetingly how such soft footsteps came from a man.

Zephyr raised an eyebrow as he turned to glance at the outspoken Amp, the elemental had been quite sure that he had pitched his words so that only Vibe would have been able to hear them. Perhaps the girl had enhanced hearing? The fact that the girls response had been off by a few seconds though made Simon disregard the thought, there was something else going on here the question was what?

'Yet another query for my growing list' he mused as he tried to decide how to defuse the girls; now was not the time for a confrontation, that would come later, when there were less witnesses.

Placing a polite smile on features Simon decided to try for flattery. This ploy had worked often in the past and the elemental saw no reason why it shouldn't work here; women were vain creatures after all and he had yet to find one that did not enjoy being complemented. "I meant no offense ladies" he said simply "I was merely trying to help one of my own kind" Simon paused there and glanced the two girls up and down as though he was considering something, "Still I suppose help is something you two rarely need considering how strong you are" here Simon glanced meaningfully at the cracked wall before pausing and shaking his head slightly, "Ah where are my manners, I go by Zephyr and you two are?" he waited for their response.

"I meant no offense ladies. I was merely trying to help one of my own kind. Still I suppose help is something you two rarely need considering how strong you are."

This time both twins turned to look at the newcomer, giving him one of their famous, in-sync 'once-over' stares. Brown hair, blue eyes, half a foot taller than them; he looked fairly normal for the most part. Definitely couldn't tell he was mutant on the surface.

Amp and Vibe were as vain as half of the other teenage girls in the world, moreso even. And normally they would have even ignored the fact that the flattery in his voice wasn't reflected in his eyes. But at that moment they weren't in the mood to be placated.

"Ah where are my manners, I go by Zephyr and you two are?"

As one they rolled their eyes and turned away again. "Not interested," Amp replied shortly. If he didn't take the hint, then things were going to get 'loud'.

As the twins turned away a frown formed on Zephyr's features and the wind picked up ever so slightly. Things were not going the way he had planned and his irritation was plain. Although he didn't particularly care it was obvious that the girls were bothered by something and their anxiety was the reason for their negative response.

Simon refused to be deterred though, he would get something out of this little journey and since he couldn't climb lady liberty he would satisfy himself by unraveling the nature of these girls powers. The only question was how? There were still too many people around for him to be comfortable using his own abilities in any sort of battle. He hadn't brought the tranquilizers that Hunter had given him so he couldn't relocate the girls without causing some kind of ruckus. The only option left to him was verbal persuasion and that had already failed twice, 'well they say the thirds times the charm' he thought as he composed himself once more; it wouldn't help the situation if he descended to the girls level, they weren't worth his irritation anyway.

In a somewhat resigned tone the elemental hung his head before glancing at the girls once more and trying to placate them "Well your entitled to your opinion, however as I'm stuck here for the next twenty minutes could we at least have a civil conversation?"

Vibe glared at him and straighted up. >What part of 'not interested' does he not get?<

Amp likewise turned again, this time hands on her hips. Both girls' green eyes pulsed angrily. "Listen, pal, are you deaf? You want to hold a conversation, go find a mirror. We're in no mood to be civil right now. So be smart, take a hint, and get lost."

An ear-piercing squeal split the air, the kind that makes you wince and cover your ears for a moment. With their 'hint' delivered, the twins turned and stalked away. Neither of them paid attention to the sudden breeze.

As the high pitched squeal cut through the air Simon features worked themselves into a grimace and he instinctively summoned a sharp gale within the vicinity of his person. The noise instantly became diluted and more bearable and caused the elemental to pause for a moment as he thought about exactly what had happened. The girls had obviously created a very mild sonic attack, something which had obviously not been restricted to just him as Zephyr could see multiple people clinging onto their ears. Somehow he had been able to dissipate the sound by using his own abilities, the question was how?

Thinking back to his ancient and despised physics lessons Simon narrowed his eyes as the answers came to him, 'Sound is simply the vibration of air' he told himself silently, 'when you speak you pass on kinetic energy to nearby air molecules which then move until they collide with another air molecule and transfer the energy the process is repeated indefinitely thus creating sound. When I summoned that gust I interrupted the transfer of some of that energy thereby reducing it's effect' a dull smirk adorned the elementals face as he came to his conclusion, he now had a means of defense against the twins attack, one that wouldn't attract unnecessary attention from nearby humans, provided the girls limited the range of their attack to his person.

Blinking his eyes Simon realized that the twins had set off across the promenade and he let out an irritated sigh; this was becoming far more difficult then he had first envisioned and he was starting to become impatient. Glancing at his surroundings Zephyr noted three separate security cameras scanning the area and he frowned; with the girls as hostile as they were now it was extremely likely that things would become quite heated and Simon had no interest in appearing on the national news. The problem was easily solved though, the elemental focused on the air surrounding the cameras and gave it a little push which resulted in a rough breeze turning all the cameras so that they faced the walls they were attached to, problem solved.

Fixing his azure gaze back on the steadily departing twins Zephyr's mouth set into a thin line, the two obviously weren't in the mood to talk and normally he would have let them be, however now that he had a form of defense against their mutation he needed to discover how effective it was against one of their stronger attacks. It was time to see just how riled up the girls could get. With a thought Simon summon a wind current that left him just barely above the ground, the effect of this was two fold; firstly it would allow him to react and maneuver more swiftly and secondly, to any casual observer this subtle levitation would be unnoticeable and that was just the way Simon wanted it.

Floating towards the red headed duo at a fast pace Zephyr continued to move his legs to give the illusion of walking for the benefit of any human who might be watching. As he neared the two girls though he strived to remain as silent as possible until he was right behind them, then in a dead whisper he uttered, "If you don't want to be civil that's fine by me, however..."

A solid gust of wind attacked the twins feet causing them to stumble forward, "...your not getting rid of me that easily"

As fixed on their own issues as they were, the twins were caught off-guard. Vibe visibly jumped when he practically whispered in their ears. Amp missed the challenge, but both were thrown off-balance by the sudden gust. They quickly regained their balance and turned to face him, eyes blazing. The ground below them began to rumble ever so slightly.

Vibe's gaze shifted just slightly.

>He's floating, just above the ground. No footsteps,< she reported silently.

"Nice 'parlor trick'," Amp mocked his earlier words aloud. The ground stopped shaking, though most of those still on the promenade decided they should take cover should it be a real earthquake.

>Since low isn't working, shall we try high again?<

One-sided grins lit both of their faces. Another shriek of sound was sent through the air, doubled this time, and aimed directly at Zephyr, followed by another, and another, and another. Each pulse increased in pitch as it was fired, until the sounds were so high, they seemed constant. Amp held his gaze unwaveringly. Staring was one of their favorite intimidation techniques, not to mention a fairly decent distraction.

Nearby, one of the many stray cats that could be found in the city, sat up from its sunny napping spot on the railing. It hissed, claws unsheathing and sheathing as it watched the trio.

"Nice 'parlor trick',"[/color]

The girls tone was mocking but Zephyr didn't really mind at this point, he'd managed to pull one over on them and in the desolate area of his mind that was reserved for his imagination there was little scoreboard that read:

Zephyr: 1
Twins: 0

Simon's own score jumped up once again as he realized that that he'd managed to nullify the twins initial response to his challenge; earthquakes were hardly effective against someone with power of flight after all.

Unfortunately the elementals winning streak was short lived, as the troublesome duo developed identical grins Zephyr sensed a series of vibrations emanating from the girl in the sun dress to his left. Before it occurred to him raise his new found defensive abilities the twin on the right had grabbed hold of those vibrations and multiplied them exponentially as she directed them towards the elemental.

His ears screamed in protest as they were once more assaulted by the sonic sisters, this time was different though, the attack was not only higher but in pitch it also carried with more than double the amount of energy their previous warning shot had contained. The result of this was Zephyr almost falling to his knees as he stumbled backwards and his features contorted themselves in an attempt to express the excruciating agony he was experiencing. Unknown to either the twins or their victim Zephyr's ears had become more sensitive as his abilities had developed, his heightened sense of hearing normally aided him in hearing subtle murmurs of weaker breezes to more fully understand their nature. At this moment in time though this little side affect of his abilities was proving to be a great weakness.

However Zephyr had not survived in Europe’s criminal underworld by standing around like a fish on a hook, the elementals instincts once again came to his rescue, this time summoning a vicious cyclone to match the power of this new attack. The air swirled around his body like a raging torrent cutting through the sonic attack, reducing it's painful shriek to that of a dull roar.

With the ability to think somewhat clearly once again Zephyr panted as he struggled to regained his balance but eventually stood upright once more, wincing as he did so, it seemed as though the girls attack had given him one hell of a headache and even now Simon felt as though a thousand tiny midgets were pounding on his skull with mallets. When the pain faded slightly the elemental sent a glare at the two shadowy forms that were visible just outside cyclone, he'd certainly hadn't expected to be that vulnerable to their attacks, 'Still if this is the best they can do-'

Zephyr was cut off in mid thought as the twins increased the tempo of their assault the cyclone faltered for a second and caused the elemental to hold his hands to his ears as he doubled over in pain. 'Bloody Hell!' he cursed as he cut off the cyclone and took to the air; he was done being a sitting duck it was time to see how the girls like a moving target that could fight back.

Executing a complex flight maneuver that was almost as unpredictable as it was fast Zephyr twisted and twirled through the air like a fish through water. If he concentrated he could just barely detect the incoming sonic and swerve away from them making him a devil of a target. Simon wasn't simply going to evade though, if he did then things could very quickly get out of control and that was something he couldn't afford.

narrowing his eyes Zephyr extended his awareness to the air that surrounded the girls, he could feel the vibrations being amplified and directed by the one on the right. The vibrations spread out in front of the two and formed a half dome in front them and if Simon remembered his physics correctly those vibrations would act as a natural barrier to as wind attacks he threw at them. However as the blasts were being directed and not allowed to pulse naturally the twins defense only existed in front of them, their rear was wide open to attack.

Extending his will as he had done countless times before Zephyr molded the air behind the girls into a raging torrent of wind which headed towards the girls with force equal to that of a speeding train.

'So much for subtlety'

>His head's got to feel like a construction zone right now.< Vibe grinned maliciously, her expression mirrored by her sister as they watched his face contort in pain. Their pleasure was lessened a bit when he hid behind the windstorm, but Amp upped the attack to compensate.

The girls huffed when he took to the air, and began dodging their sonic bursts.

"What's the matter Weather Man? We thought you wanted to talk? So come down here and-"

>Incoming!< Vibe cut her off. At the same instant both girls became aware of the rear attack.

Forgetting about Zephyr for the moment, Amp slammed a fist downward into the ground. A small crater formed below their feet as the blast pulsed down, then up and outward. The attack pushed back against the windstorm, cutting its force down considerably, but the storm still had enough force to knock the girls rolling into a nearby wall. Amp managed to put up a sonic cushion, and the wall crumbled with the impact. Fortunately for them, they were immune to their own sonics, or they would have been crushed by the forces.

Before even getting to their feet, Amp launched another set of attacks at the elemental. She sent simultaneous blasts on either side of him, alternating pitch and narrowing in distance. If he simply kept dodging, he'd end up sandwiched between the two blasts. Amp waited for that moment before aiming another barrage at his skull, trying to unbalance him and send a wave of nausea through his stomach.

Zephyr narrowed his eyes in annoyance as he felt his surprise attack dissipate under the twins efforts. This little skirmish was quickly becoming a nuisance; it seemed as though were just as capable of nullifying his attacks as he was of theirs. There had to be some other course of action he could take, there was no way a female could equal up to his abilities, even if the odds were two against one.

Simon's moment of daydreaming cost him dearly for he suddenly found himself caught in the path of two rapidly approaching sonic assaults from either side. With no time to maneuver the elemental was forced to stand his ground and attempt to weather the attacks. Thrusting both arms away from his sides he directed his palms towards the incoming vibrations and blasted them with medium level gales which almost completed negated their effects.

Unfortunately this did little to aid his situation for the twins took advantage of his divided attention to hurl yet another sonic burst which impacted with his skull without any resistance. A spasm of pain racked the elementals body as his stomach convulsed and his head throbbed violently. Unable to fully maintain his concentration Zephyr quickly lost altitude and landed with shaking legs on the base which held the statue of liberty.

Temporarily obscured from view because the height difference Simon was finally given a moments respite. Panting loudly Zephyr gave his lungs a thorough workout as he tried to placate his revolting stomach. 'There has to be another way' he thought furiously, 'I will not be beaten by mere girls!'

Closing his eyes Simon lay down on the cool concrete as he quickly tried to think of a solution, it wouldn't be long before the twins found him again. 'They attack using vibrations' he reminded himself, 'We both use the air as our medium to attack-' Zephyr's eyes snapped open as he was hit by the sudden revelation, 'No they don't use the air; they rely on it, take away air and their vibrations will have no means of traveling'

Swinging himself into a sitting position Zephyr extended his senses once more and swiftly identified the troublesome duo by the natural disturbance they caused. He could feel the air vibrating around them, forming a dome of protection against any wind strikes he might throw at them. It seemed as though they hadn't yet discovered his position so he quickly set to work; what he was trying was completely new to him but he didn't see why couldn't work, after all he could control where the air was, so it should be no great feet to control where it wasn't. Approaching the ledge of the statues base Zephyr cast out his will towards the path of air directly in front of him, crafting it to his will he parted the individual molecules and created a space, almost instantly the surrounding air rushed forward to fill the gap by the elemental held it at bay, he needed to create a perfect vacuum and he couldn't afford to have even a single molecule of air.

Glancing down at the twins Zephyr placed a smug expression on his face as he waited for them to notice him, hopefully he would able to goad them into attacking once more, hopefully his little tactic would work, if not... the elemental didn't even consider it.

The girls were thrilled their attack worked, but grateful when he disappeared as well. When they got to their feet, Vibe grimaced, clutching at her upper arm.

>Ugh, I can't feel my arm!<

"Is it broken?" Amp limped over to her and squeezed her shoulder. If she could have screamed out loud, Vibe would have; instead she 'yelled' at her sister, who shrugged. "Well you said you couldn't feel it! At least we know it's not broken."

>Where'd that blowhard go? I'd love to break his arm, and a leg or two for good measure!<

Amp placed a hand on the ground, identifying and blocking out each sound she felt. There was a strange 'blank spot' near the statue's base, strange enough for them to investigate. They grinned slightly as they found him already watching them.

>"We see you,"< they chorused in a quiet, sing-song taunt, as Amp aimed another barrage at his skull. He was quite a ways up. Maybe they could make him sick enough to pass out and fall off of his perch. That would be a nasty fall, and just the thing to make the girls feel better.

Gritting his teeth Simon ignored the girls immature singsong taunt as he focused on maintaining the improvised void-shield directly in front of him. Although he was starting to get the hang of it what he was doing was no small feat; keeping track of every single individual air molecule that surrounded the vacuum and persuade them not to fill the empty space, it just went against airs nature; it had to be everywhere, the second there was gap it moved to occupy it. Normally this was a good thing becuase it meant that Zephyr was almost never powerless, however in this case it was starting to give him headache.

He sensed the twins attack the moment it was launched and he narrowed his eyes to slits as his attention was consumed by the vacuum, he couldn't afford a slip up now, that could mean defeat and his pride refused to let that happen.

As the sonic assault closed in on Zephyrs head it encountered the vacuum and suddenly the vibrating molecules found nothing to collide with, the sonic burst immediately lost its energy and dissipated to almost nothing. Simon's eyes widened in surprise as he felt the attack simply disappear, 'It actually worked?' As his mind finally began processing this little victory a smug smirk adorned his features as he he cast a contemptuous look at the two sisters. The tables had turned, 'I thinks it's time I put them back in their place'

Continuing to maintain his vacuum shield Zephyr took to the air once more and slowly drifted down from his perch on the ledge until he was just a foot above the ground. He wasn't fool enough to try walking again after what he'd seen the twins were capable of doing. Maintaining his contemptuous demeanor the elemental focused his attention on the wall directly behind the red heads, he wasn't going to waste his energy trying to attack them directly, he'd already seen that wouldn't work however there were other methods at his disposal. The twins were standing quite close close to the base of the statue, close enough for Zephyr to use their position to his advantage, creating one of his signature wind blades the elemental sliced though the solid stone at angle directly above the girls, a second later the stone came tumbling down.