Iris did her best to ignore the fire in her arm as Darius dropped her just in front of the maintenance shed door. “I’ll manage,” she answered him, just noticing another land next to him; it looked like a human-sized bat. She hoped it was a friend. “Just try and keep them busy for a few minutes!” she called up to them as she ducked inside. She hoped they heard. With as angry as the Big Red Wrecking Crew seemed to be, a few minutes might be all she had to make this work. <“Note to self,”> she thought. <“Next time throw mud as someone your own size. Especially when there’s more than one of him.”>

She didn’t give much notice to her surroundings inside the shed, but two things did catch her eye; a small utility sink in one corner, and a riding lawnmower. Perfect. She made her way to the storage cabinets. One was unlocked, and she searched frantically, but couldn’t find what she was looking for. The second was locked, of course, and there was no time to find a key. With hardly a thought she pulled water from the sink to her in a thin, super-powered stream. The jet smashed into the lock with the force of a bullet, shattering the metal, and opening the cabinet. Inside were various chemicals and other dangerous materials, meant to be used only by the groundskeepers.

And the pool cleaners. A quick look at the labels to be sure both were there, and.......

A sly smile slid onto Iris’ face. “Thank you Mr. Hasslebaum,” she murmured aloud. Her highschool science teacher hadn’t been too thrilled with her....’experiments’, nor had her guardians. Then again, he was the one who assigned her to clean the school pool for a year without giving her the ‘safety talk’.

She tried, unsuccessively, to move her arm. She grimaced a bit when she saw a bit of blood mixed with the mud, but there wasn't time to worry about it. She was safer not touching the containers anyway, so she pulled the water from the sink toward her, as much as she could. She split the blob into three parts. Two she used as her hands, picking up the two containers she needed. At the same time, she moved to the lawnmower and opened the gas tank, and pulled out the fuel inside. It wasn’t much, perhaps a gallon. Hopefully it would be enough. Above her she heard a thump on the roof. She hoped that was just Darius and not a Big Red bird. The shed had no back door, but there was a window. Cautiously she glanced out. Seeing no Brick Wall Men, she climbed out, a task made hard with one hand. She grunted as she hit the ground, then pulled the water, containers and gas very, very carefully behind her. She peeked around the corner, keeping the liquids out of sight, looking for the original Big Red. She needed to find him for this to work.

((ooc-- iris I'm assuming that your arm is bleeding...))

Skoliro glanced down at the female mutant when she spoke out of habit and immediately regretted it. He had been trying to avoid looking at her since he had known that she was bleeding. His mouth started to water to the point that he was almost drooling and he licked his lips. Even when he turned and closed his eyes he could still smell her, since he had automatically locked onto the scent. Crouching he held his head in his hands, trying to control himself, but the scent was so pristinely delicious that he could help himself even when she went into the building.

Suddenly the smell of her blood got stronger. Skoliro threw back his head screeched the most horrible screech anyone there had ever heard, something like the sound bats made when they were hunting.

Darius.

He managed to mutter, though he still crouched near the edge of the roof.

Go...

[/color]

<"Bingo."> It was hard to miss the mud-covered mass that she'd originally played tag with. He and two others were making a bee-line for the shed. <"Let's hope this works,"> she thought.

Suddenly a shriek split the air above her. If it was possible, she felt her blood run cold. She nearly lost her grip on the water and fuel; as it was she did drop the third blob of water, the one that wasn't holding anything. Iris lost her focus for a moment, trying to find the source of that awful scream.

Iris decided to take one threat at a time, and hoped that the second one would wait, at least for moment.

Turning back to Big Red, she jumped out into the open. Once she was sure he saw her, she acted. Forcing herself to concentrate only on her task, she pulled her water ‘hands’ out from hiding, along with the containers they held and the fuel. Since she’d lost the third water blob, she pulled a clump of mud forward instead. With as much force as she could muster, she pulled her arm back, then forward, like a baseball pitcher. The two ‘hands’ swept forward, headed for Big Red Number One, small tendrils slipping under the seal of the containers of Bromine and Chlorine Tablets. The seals popped open just as they reached their target, releasing a gas that could, in a normal human, be fatal at such a close range. Since Red wasn’t exactly what you would call normal, she went a step further, and sent the mud and fuel flying. The water mixed with the tablets, disolving them, and slammed the two chemicals together. Add the mud and gas, and.................

Iris took cover behind the shed as a giant fireball erupted directly in front of the giant mutant. She wasn’t sure what would happen, but she was hoping for, at the very least, a triple knockout.

Skoliro still crouched at the corner of the roof, clenching his head and trying with all his might to stop himself. It was useless though, someone was going to lose some blood, and soon. Suddenly his head shot up and he spun around, just in time to see the fire erupt near the red mutants.

The fire didn't help conceal his thirst, in fact, it might have just increased the need. He could tell Darius wasn't going any where, but luckily for him the bleeding in his wing had seceded. Skoliro glanced down at the girl, and pure instinct took over. The scent of her blood was so strong, so wonderfully strong. He couldn't help himself, not any longer...

In an instant Skoliro was on the ground beside the mutant.
(ooc- i'm going to stop here so I don't god mod...))

Iris gulped. "That was too close." Out of the blue a giant yawn escaped her throat. Now that the adrenaline rush was gone, she was exhausted. Part of it was the Liquid Stone. She glanced down at her right hand, and the violet-colored gem that sparkled in her palm. <"Maybe I should switch out, before I pass out,"> she thought.

But she didn't have time to worry about it. Something swooped down and landed in front of her. Her mind vaguely registered the human-sized bat she'd seen earlier. But this time, all she saw was teeth.

With a shriek she thrust her working arm forward. From inside the shed, water shot forth from the sink and through the building wall, slamming into the creature's chest. Then she leapt to her feet and into the building through the hole she'd just created. She huddled in a corner, completely terrified. It was one thing to fight someone that looked like big and mean. But when things started appearing out of the shadows, that was a whole 'nother matter.

And a vampire???

Iris shuddered.

Skoliro dodged her hand, thinking it was an attempt to beat him off. Sadly he was wrong and took the full force blast from the water that was shot out of the building. He was thrown back a couple of feet, but it didn't affect him much. Now his normally cool and calm features appeared sharp and deadly. His common sense no longer had affect on his mind, replacing it was pure blood lust. This girl was in for a frightening experience.

Skoliro burst through the hole in the wall, dislodging a few bricks with the force, and looked around. When he couldn't see her with his eyes he let out another terrible screech. The noise returned to his ears in great detail, showing him where every single thing in the room was located. Searching through the sound he found an irregularity shaped some-what like a human, and he pounced.

Arriving at the source of the noise-shape he found that he had been right, the girl was curled in the corner, attempting to protect herself. He licked his lips and smirked his fang-filled smile; he had found his prey once more...Suddenly he swooped down on top of the girl, holding her down by her shoulders. Skoliro's eyes widened at the sight of the bleeding arm and his moth started to water. Slowly he bent down near the mutant's neck, stopping just short to whisper in her ear...

I hope you've been good.

((ooc:BOO-YA!))

Iara was doing hand springs and cartwheels not to far off as the battle raged on. She was bored and wanted some more action but practiced her imaginary roda anyway. As she sweeped the air with her foot she heard a woman scream.

She looked back just in time to see a young woman with violet hair and what seemed to be a broken arm dash through a hole in the side of a building. A creature with huge bat wings followed her in.

Spontaneous as ever, Cascavel ran after and gracefully jumped through the hole to see the creature hovering over the lady and gripping her shoulders. Iara round house kicked him in the back of the head leaving a deep jagged cut in the back of his neck from her high-heeled boots. She jumped into a hand stand and brought her foot crashing down onto his shoulder, sinking him to the floor.

Skoliro took the full force of the kick. He didn't budge though. His mind was made up; he would feed off of this girl if it was the last thing he did. And it may just be.

When the second hit landed on his shoulder he collapsed on top of the girl. His mouth landed directly on top of her neck, fangs scratching it slightly. A drop of blood splashed on to the floor from his head, and he chuckled slightly, a little blood loss wouldn't make much of a difference.

With a fast but small movement his mouth was clasped around her throat. Skoliro's fangs pierced the girl's skin easy, and he started to drink. So far there hadn't been enough blood loss on her part to kill her, just seriously wound her.

((ooc-hope you don't mind me biting you, was forced into it..lol))

Thinking quickly Cascavel dropped to her knees and closed her mouth onto the wound she created in his neck and began to pump her venom into him. She realized it must have burned like heck from the way he reared back and yelled. She formed a fist and hit him as hard as she could in his chest to try and stop his heart.

Skoliro sat their for a second when she bit down on his head. Weird, he thought, a mutant biting a mutant that's biting a mutant. Suddenly the pain got to him. It was a sering pain, like someone had lit him on fire. He screamed and reared up, ripping the girl's skin unconsciously. The blood started to spurt from the open wound, and he knew there probably wasn't much hope for her.

There was a hard thump on his chest, like someone was trying to stop his heart. This had to stop. He reached out with his mind for the nearest creatures of the night, and found all the bats from before. Come...help me. At that moment thousands of bats burst into the room, filling almost every free space there was to move.

They swarmed closer to the mutants, preparing to attack. Skoliro threw himself on tip of the girl, holding her down like he had the other. About ten bats attached to his head, sucking the venom from his blood. The rest all started to screech and swirl around the girl, threating to attack. But he would let them, not yet.

When the creature tackled her, Iris froze. Her mind refused to focus on anything except those teeth. She couldn't do anything. She vaguely sensed another presence in the area, but she couldn't see anything but those fangs.

She felt a pain in her neck, like needles, then something wet and warm. Blood. That.....thing.....was.....

Another pain shot through her, as if those teeth had been ripped away. The wetness continued. Her heartbeat echoed dully in her ears, drowning out everything else.

Her body still refused to work, limp as a rag doll. But the pain kept her partially conscious. A single thought echoed weakly in her mind. <"Liquid. Blood is a liquid.">

So she pulled back. She pulled at the blood, like she had pulled at the water. Her mind was dull, and unfocused, and she felt as if her mind's eye was shattered, like glass. But she continued to pull back. If she could just hold it in a little longer.......

Her heartbeat slowed in her ears, and her focus continued to splinter. Soon the blood that had been exposed to the air began to thicken and coagulate, and Iris lost her grip on it. Eventually, she lost her grip on reality completely. Her focus shattered, and she passed out.

With her unconscious, the stone deactivated itself. Her violet hair turned back to blond. The purple gem vanished from her palm and reappeared on her back, dull and lifeless for at least the next half hour.

That is, if she lasted that long.

(OOC: Okay, I'm out of it for now. We'll see what happens after a while. )

Iara struggled as much as she could, using all her strength to try and topple the creature... man... vampire whatever he was off of her. She didn't mind the bats much on the fact that their screeching was hurting her ears.

"LET ME GO!"

She continued to use all that she had. She wished that her mutation came with a set of fangs so she could bite him or something.

"LET ME UP! THAT GIRL IS GOING TO DIE IF I CAN NOT GET TO UP. DO YOU HAVE NO HEART AT ALL?"

Skoliro struggled to hold her down. She was strong, but not quite strong enough. He smirked when the bats detached from his head, his blood was now clear of her venom. LET ME UP! THAT GIRL IS GOING TO DIE IF I CAN NOT GET TO UP. DO YOU HAVE NO HEART AT ALL? The girl was practically screaming into his sensitive ears. Wincing he turned his head to the side and tensed his muscles. He wouldn't let go though, his mind still was not all there. He was still smirking when he turned though, and his voice left his lips. It was his usual velvet voice, but it was harsh, like poisoned wine.

Heart? No, that was ripped out of me when my mother breathed her last breath.

The bats were silent when he spoke, but as soon as he was quiet they burst into a chorus of harsh screeches, like a thousand nails dragging across a blackboard.

She felt sympathy for him after his statement but when the bats started up again she screamed and arched her back(as much as she could) in pain. Her ears felt as if they were about to fall off.

"MAKE IT STOP! PLEASE!!!!!! PLEASE LET ME UP!!! I WAS ONLY TRYING TO SAVE HER! LET ME UP!!!!!!!"