He was cold. The weather had decided that it was going to take a downward spiral right around the same time that he lost his jacket. He’d dealt with cold before, so it wasn’t anything new, though it was the first time he’d been unprepared for the sudden change in the winds in years. He sat perched atop the building in a large sphere form, looking admittedly ridiculous.

Shane was hiding out among the rooftops in a rather large factory/warehouse district just outside of city. He’d decided he had enough of the hustle and bustle of the city, and arriving at the warehouses on the weekend as he had done lead him to believe he had found a quiet urban area to retreat to.

He woke up to some of the most obnoxious sounds he’d ever heard. Saws, drills, and the ever-present release of pressurized air filled the hazy sky. He sat there in his blobish form, looking down on the various workers, growing rather irritated. His eyes were currently his only features, but they conveyed enough of his frustration, though – again – admittedly awkward looking.

He began to ‘melt down’ into a more snake-like shape before slithering off towards the opposite end of the building, where he’d quickly picked up that fewer people frequented, and only when the has a cigarette in mouth. He’d been trying to keep an eye out for a jacket that would fit him in various sizes, and so far he’d really only been able to narrow his focus down to a few individuals in the pack. This man was one of them.

He was a larger fellow, regardless of what direction you were measuring in, and his jacket was fairly loose fitting. His outfit was looking quite tempting, and he was alone. Daytime really wasn’t his prime hunting time, and he really wasn’t at his best, what with the cold and all. But despite the daylight, the coast was clear, and Shane’s shivering was becoming too intense to say no to that coat any longer. He took one last glance around the area for any possible intruders before preparing for a drop.

It was somewhat bittersweet returning to the district of factories and warehouses after having left her home of 11 years within it's confines. Oh she loved her new apartment well enough. It was a lovely place and a penthouse no less. However she had lived in that warehouse for many years. The adjustments to new neighbors and new neighborhood were difficult after being able to avoid just that for so long. However such things were not what Mute was here for. Yes at the moment she was in her work gear and her trip to the warehouse district was not prompted by nostalgia but by a job. A bit of sabotage, sponsored by a company that had wanted to buy this particular factory and was turned down. Cosmina sat atop a neighboring building and watched place carefully.

Early this morning she'd slipped in and placed the bomb before any of the workers had arrived. It was simple, very simple. It was just by the doors since her employers didn't want the building too badly damaged. It was meant to serve as a warning only. That and they didn't want to have to pay too much to repair the place later. They'd given her no such limits on casualties so Mina was waiting for the moment of maximum impact. She'd positioned herself so as to see the interior of the factory by the door where she'd planted the bomb through a window. A coy smile flitted across her features as a small knot of workers, five in number, stopped exactly where she wanted them. Clearing her mind she encased the explosive in a silencing field so as to not alert the whole neighborhood and depressed the button on the remote trigger in her hand.

The blast was quite silent as it ripped through the area. Not that those affected by it were silent. No, the panic and pain were both easily discernible on the air. Collecting her things, Mina departed the roof via a fire escape and found herself in an alleyway by her target where one of the men that worked at the factory had been having a cigarette. Until he darted back inside, still blissfully unaware of what had been about to occur to him. Mina however wasn't that unobservant. She stood stock still, waiting to see what this mutant had in mind.

The man was struggling to get his lighter to start. The clicking was erratic, audibly showing signs of frustration. He examined it, discovering a distinct lack of fluid in it. He shook it next to his ear, confirming that his eyes weren’t fooling him, but minimal sloshing sound was a sure indicator that he was running on empty. Frustrating him further was a now quite prominent smell of burning wood.

Satisfied that his craving was going to be left unfulfilled, he began to wander towards what be assumed was the source of the smell, head leaning back the entire trip. He only got a few feet before he could see the smoke pouring out from building next door. His gaze traveled up to the sky and the thick black clouds chocked up the air. His also happened to drift just high enough to spot another black mass out of the corner of his eye.

Lunging at the distracted man, Shane hit the larger fellow hard in the face with the bulk of his body, knocking him to the ground. He was quick to encase the man’s head in his mass with the intention being suffocation. He didn’t offer much in the way of resistance though, possibly already knocked out from the initial collision; it was rare for him to do much hunting on paved surfaces. He took the time to examine what the man had been interested in.

The faint sounds of various workers frantically trying to understand what was going on could be heard over the main bulk of machine noise. He couldn’t make out much more beyond the smoke though. It looked as though a reasonably large fire had started in one of the nearby buildings, but he hadn’t heard much in the way of a commotion or fire alarms.

Then he spotted her. Someone had managed to keep herself hidden away. He was certain she hadn’t been there long, but it didn’t change the fact that she was watching him now, and he had no interest in having her ring any bells bringing anyone else his way; he still needed to make use of his latest haul. Sensing that he was done with the man for the moment, he slowly began assembling limbs from his blobby mass of a body, starting with a head, eyes aimed directly at the mystery woman. He didn’t particularly want to make this a violent interaction (he was a bit on the small side at the moment), but he might as well prepare to defend his kill zone. A strong, cool breeze blew through the courtyard, tossing some of the smoke into their direction, while sending a massive shiver down Shane’s back. He wanted that coat if nothing else.

She was as silent as the explosion she'd just pulled off as she stood and watched the odd formless black mutant go about his attack. Mina was somewhat impressed but mostly just curious about this mutant. She hadn't met the like before. What's more she needed to know if it, as she couldn't quite tell a gender from a shapeless mass, would keep silent about her presence here. The wall of the building made an adequate substance to lean against as she watched through her mask. It was a little amusing that she was dressed in all black, complete with her mask, when she met him. The only real hint of color besides black were her eyes showing through the holes in the mask, brown they were, and the slight sliver of skin that showed there and at her mouth. Even the bag in which her gear was stowed was a solid black.

It became apparent after a moment that whoever this was, they would not go about their task while she was watching. At least, not without some reassurance. Beneath her mask an eyebrow hitched upward and her lips quirked into a smirk. Mina pitched her voice slightly different and added a slight accent to it to disguise it.

"Go right ahead. I won't stop you."

Who was she to stop someone from attacking another? Really that would just be silly. A waste of her time and energy. Not to mention the sheer hypocrisy. No she just continued her casual, if not particularly comfortable, leaning against the wall and watched. The police would arrive eventually and it would behoove Mina to be gone by then.

"The cops will be here about that fire or whatever eventually so if you're going to do something to him I'd hurry up if I were you."

Another minute or two and then she'd leave. The curiosity wasn't worth risking the police.

His head tilted to the side. He was suspicious, but more curious then anything else. It didn’t appear as though she meant any harm, or had any interest in interfering with him at all, but her attire did anything but give off an innocent vibe, especially with the air rather think with black smoke. The mention of the police almost seemed to summon them, though. The sound of sirens were already beginning to slip the symphony of irritating distractions punching into the back of his skull.

She was right, of course; he needed to deal with the man sooner rather then later. He’d never eaten out in the open with people watching before, at least not anyone he knew about. An audience might just prove to be a little more then he was comfortable with. He let himself melt down over his victim, keeping the better part of his human torso intact, eyes staying locked on the woman across from him. He spread himself out enough to encase the man under him, and could feel the tingling throughout his body that was typical before he began the absorption process.

He couldn’t do it though, not with her right there. He’d come to accept the whole process as who he was, but introducing a new party made him feel quite monstrous. He hung his head down in shame, equal parts being give to the actual act and the fact that he couldn’t carry it out.

Sliding off of the body, he became aware of footsteps coming towards them. A group of workers were moving rather quickly towards them, concealed visibly in the heavy smoke, but their yelling was become quite pronounced through the other noise. Shane quickly reformed to a human shape again, grabbing up the jacket of the fallen man and tossing his hat on over his head, both items far too large for him. The shadowy figures of four men emerged from the thick smoke into the more open courtyard.

“Hey man! What are you doing just standing there?” one yelled to Shane as he came into view. He stayed quite still, not making a peep, tossing a gaze back in the girl’s direction.

“S@!t,” the man said again, noticing the motionless man on the ground beside him. The four of them quickly began to move in towards him, but he stayed still. He had no idea what to do next.

Whoever or whatever it was went about its business. Or at least it gave the impression it was going to. There was some form of hesitation and during that hesitation the first echos of sirens could be heard. New York's finest were actually on the ball today. Pity that. And the lingering over the body of its victim cost them both as Mina heard the footsteps. Her hand was delving into her bag before the men even made their first comment. Mina drew back into some shadows as she dug her weapon out, a semi-automatic handgun. The gun was left carefully out of sight behind her back until the men were distracted by the fallen man. A stray thought was all it took to have a silencing over both her gun and the men in question.

The men were moving toward her dark associate. Mina could leave them and the other person to their fate but she had a policy of being careful about these things. There was no certainty they hadn't noticed her. They needed to be dead before she could proceed. Her arm snapped up with the gun in hand. Four perfectly silent bullets flew toward the four men advancing on the other alley occupant. Subtly as could be done in this situation Mina motioned for the other to back down the alley with her. She fired off another round of four. Better safe than sorry. They needed to be dead.

Thankfully her shots had at least brought the men to the ground. Without releasing either silencing Mina moved forward to check each man and finish them if necessary.

The sleeves of his jacked went beyond the tips of his arms, which often would have been an issue, but in this case, the concealment of his hands meant that an element of surprise was on his side. Beneath the fabric his hands twisted into a crude hook-like claw on one hand and 3 pointed fingers on the other. Timing was everything, so he waited, and listened. The goofy hat he’d taken from the dead man certainly did its job at keeping him warm, but the large earflaps made listening closely quite difficult.

He could tell that were entering into his range, and that they their steps we’re starting to accelerate. The suddenly, he lost them. He couldn’t hear them anymore, like they vanished. A bright light went off in the corner of his eye as he spun around. 3 more laid motionless around the already dead first victim, and a 3rd silently reached out a hand looking for aid. His mouth was moving, but the man didn’t make a peep.

Then there was a burst of red.

Silent again, but the man had definitely been shot, presumably for the 2nd time now. Shane didn’t know what was going on, but he could see the woman from earlier advancing on him, gun drawn and looking angry. She motioned to him, implying that she wanted him to follow her, which, given the present situation, seemed like a reasonable alternative to being shot.

“Who are you?” he manage to force out of a half formed mouth, the words sludging together and lacking much in the way of separation. His hands stayed in their current form, flinching involuntarily, and frequently. He was facing her, and keeping his calm, but between the girl with the gun, the 5 bodies, the giant cloud of smoke and the Approaching sirens, he wasn’t fooling anyone.

Her shots had not gone wrong and Mina didn't have to put any extra bullets in any of today's corpses. Disposal of the bodies wasn't an option due to the proximity of the police so she would have to leave them. The woman was thinking about her options when the black mass posed a question to her. Mina turned toward it and decided that her professional name would work well enough in this case.

"Mute. Now my fellow criminal we should get out here. Neither of us can afford to be found by the cops over five dead bodies."

She took some time to peer out into the crowd around the blasted factory. The cops were still busy but there was no telling when they'd start searching the vicinity for the culprit.

"You may follow me if you wish."

Being responsible for another person's safety was something she'd done before in bodyguard work. That wasn't what she was up to this time. It would be up to this person to provide their own protection. She had no incentive to protect them. The gun was stowed back in the bag but the bag was left partly open so that the gun would be easily reachable if it were needed. That done, Mina headed for the other end of the alley. Mina knew this district like the back of her hand and so she would easily lose the cops. Whether her company followed her was its affair.

Shane managed to take a small amount of issue with the girl’s sentiment that he was a criminal. He thought about it, a bit, realizing that he was certainly not an innocent, but criminal seemed like a harsh word for someone just doing what needed to be done, especially coming from someone who had just gunned down several men right before his eyes.

He didn’t have long to dwell on the issue though, as the woman was making a break for it and he had no interest hanging around a scene like that any longer then he needed to. He wasn’t sure where the woman was going, but he knew it couldn’t be any worse for him that just waiting around to see how things went. Hell, as far as he knew, hanging around could make him a liability that would need to be dealt with.

The stranger already had a pretty reasonable head start on him, so he took off in full sprint, shifting the bulk of his mass into his then slender legs. He was relatively new to the area, and what he did know, he knew of the roofs, so the way the ally’s worked was as foreign to him as the ones in the city had been when he first arrived.

As the two of them weaved through the various open topped tunnels, the sounds of sirens and yelling began to loose any feeling of direction, but they were also becoming more muffled. This seemed to be as good a time as any to slow down for a minute.

“Okay, Mute. Just who exactly are you and what were you doing back there in the first place?” he shouted towards the girl, his exhaustion very clear in his voice. He immediately regretted the volume of his voice, looking around to make sure there wasn’t anyone around that may have heard, but his question still stood; He wanted to know what was going on, and if sticking around was really a very good idea.

They escaped. The whoever followed her, relying on her sense of direction to see them to a place that the cops would not easily be able to follow. Mina was easily able to do just that. Eventually he, for it was far easier to assign it a gender than to keep thinking in terms of it, slowed down and shouted at her. Mina turned. He sounded exhausted. That was somewhat pathetic. Her body had yet protest in the slightest at the running. Then again she was used to it. Perhaps this was a fresh young criminal and as such he was not yet hardened to the running this lifestyle would require. He smile stayed in place as he demanded her identity and purpose. Below the mask a single eyebrow rose. He was truly clueless.

"I'm Mute."

The smile remained but her eyes held just a touch of reproach. Her eyes said, 'I already told you that. Are you stupid?'. A slight chuckle, soft and cool, escaped her before she spoke again.

"As for what I was doing there...well I was hired by the former owners of that plant. They were forced to sell it to the current owners in exchange for their daughter's life. They wanted a little bit of revenge is all."

It was a lie. However Mina was quite practiced at telling pretty lies that sounded true. Whether or not he believed her didn't really matter. If he saw fit to try and squeal she would find a way to be rid of him.

"The cops won't be able to catch up so easily now."

Mina kept alert for any signs of pursuit anyway. Vigilance kept her alive.

He wasn’t buying any of it. It was clear she had something to do with the fire, that much was obvious, but he had doubts anyone who covered their face would be that upfront about who they were. She had the gun though, and he was a little deflated compared to optimal levels. That mean her word had all the credibility it needed.

“Well then, Mute, where do we go from here?” he asked. Really, he just wanted to know what she was going to do with him. He’d had every opportunity to deal with him the same way she had everyone else, but yet there he was, slowing her down, likely agitating her, and walking on thin ice.

He collapsed to the floor, partially out of exhaustion, but mostly to relieve some of the excitement and stress from his body. His blobby mass receding in towards the warmth of the oversized jacket. He locked eyes on his company, trying to make sense of the days events to himself.

Then a light turned on somewhere in his head.

“You’re some kind of mutant too, aren’t you?” He asked. The rasp was starting to wear away, but the cold left a little bit of vibration in his voice. Any answer he got would be under heavy skepticism, but there was no harm in pressing the matter. He did prefer people when he learned they had a bit more in common.

*********

Sitting on the ground, out in the open on display for anyone to see was a wallet at the entrance of the alleyway the two fugitives had escaped into. A breeze managed to flip it open, revealing a photo ID of a man named Harvey. The same man lying on the ground, not 30 feet from where the wallet sat, unconscious (if not worse), but definitely still breathing.

We? Mina grinned at that. He thought that there was a we in this. How quaint of him. Perhaps it was time to rid him of that notion.

"I am going to take off. My job here is done. You? You can go do whatever you want." Mina paused for a moment to let that sink in, "Just know that if you decide to try and cross me I will end you."

All through out her voice never wavered from something pleasant and friendly. The effect might have been a bit disconcerting to some but Mina truly didn't understand why. She watched the mutant collapse from exhaustion. It was a reminder of just how much higher a standard that Mina held herself to. As he declared her a mutant Mina eyed him warily.

"Perhaps I am. It doesn't much matter to you."

What she was or wasn't was none of his affair. Mina turned away and consulted her memories of this particular part of the district. It wouldn't be difficult to get away. Mina would lay low at her apartment for a few days before collecting. Her employers would understand the caution. She'd also need to keep an ear out for this guy going to the police. He didn't seem like he would. He had just mugged someone after all. That made him part of the criminal element just as much as she was. Still, it was better to play it safe and make sure of that.

First responders were crawling around the warehouse district. The fire was demanding their attention, but a few police officers managed to catch sight of a few motionless bodies from their cruisers as they rolled onto the scene. It was apparent that all but one had been killed by fire arms, and the possibility that the shooter was the one man still breathing wasn’t being riled out, but the lack of a gun anywhere in sight was certainly putting a roadblock on that theory.

The two officers were alone with the bodies, calling for back up and paramedics, but waiting for their arrival. The first was with the victims, trying to decipher what he could from the evidence around him. His partner, visibly quite a few years younger, paced the perimeter of the wide alley. They didn’t say much, both putting all their energy into their eyes, looking for anything that might be of assistance. Then the younger officer spotted the wallet.

“Hey, come check this out.” He called out, flipping the wallet open. The driver’s license photo matched the unconscious man. The older cop investigated the contents of the wallet, noting that cash was still present in it. The younger one continued to check out the area around it, looking down the alleyway that the wallet was currently resting in. Something happened to catch his eye, and he began to wander down the alley cautiously, his hand hovering his holster closely.

**********************

The cold shoulder was a bit of a relief. Hearing he’d be cut loose was a bit of a blessing in his mind; at least he was leaving in one piece. Mute began examining her surroundings, presumably to determine what the best route out would be. Up was going to be his direction of choice, and though nothing would surprise him about this stranger, he had little faith she’d be able to scale the walls with the ease he could.

He eyed his surroundings as well, the two of them enjoying a brief moment of silence and skyward glances. Shane stood up again, having caught his breath again. He was rather light on the mass, and wasn’t sure it he’d have enough to reach the lowest ledges, but if he could make it, he’d be able to do the rest without issue.

“So, I assume this is where we part ways then?” he asked, genuinely unsure of where they stood. He’d have pressed the issue further, had a click sound from behind him caught his attention. Spinning around, he discovered a gun aimed directly towards him by a police officer, shouting at him to freeze. This was turning out to be a really pleasant morning.

The arrival of the cop made Mina grimace behind her mask. Bloody newbie had gotten them tangled up with the cops. Now she'd have to kill another one. Killing cops was just so messy and then they didn't leave you alone. Instinctively she reached out to her power and surrounded both the cop and her gun with areas of silence. He didn't need to call back up and the other cops didn't need to hear the sound of her gun. Her gun came up and she calmly and swiftly put two bullets on course for the spot between the cop's eyes. Since he was a cop he'd be wearing a vest so a double tap to the heart wouldn't be happening. But the vest didn't protect his head. She watched dispassionately as the man crumpled to the ground. Whether due to being grazed, avoiding the shots, or her aim being true Mina didn't stick around to find out. Now that her time was bought she threw a glance at the newbie.

A nod was the answer to the question he'd asked before the cop had interfered. Then she began to sprint away. Let the kid deal with it on his own. Even if he wasn't a child he acted like one. This was precisely why Mina avoided working with newbies if she could avoid it. Even the talented ones made stupid mistakes. Even the assassin she'd had to split a take with recently was better than a careless newbie. Of course she hadn't intended to get caught up with this particular newbie. He didn't even know how to pull off a decent mugging. Either that he was gun shy around other people. That was just as bad really, if not worse. What were the criminals coming to that they couldn't manage a simple mugging without bringing the cops down on a body?

All too suddenly Mina felt like she ought to have a cane to shake at those darn whippersnappers. Looked like it was time to head out to the bars. A night out on the town would get rid of the annoyance that this job had turned out to be.

Mute just took off. And a minute earlier, that would have been wonderful news. Now, however, he was alone with a corpse lying next to him, and a police officer at that. He just stood there, staring around looking for any kind of sign as to what he was meant to do. The thought o making up for his lost meal earlier certainly crossed his mind. He was starving, and the two of them were alone.

Or at least they were. The words “freeze” rang out from behind the dumpster again, this time in a different pitch. The shocked and furious police officer had his weapon drawn and had it aimed right for him. For a moment, Shane wasn’t even very worried. By this point, the pattern of angry man shows up, silent bullets enter their body had been established, and on some level he was waiting for it to happen again. Mute, however, was long gone by this point, or perhaps watching the whole event with a smile.

Unsure how to handle the situation, he panicked. The bulk of his body collapsed and he looked as though he’d fallen into a hole. The clump of body mass launched out as quickly as it condensed, tripping the officer and knocking him to the ground. As he hit the pavement, and shot was fired by mistake into the air, hitting something metallic based on the sound it made. Before he had a chance to do anything else with it, Shane went for the gun, knocking it out of the man’s hands and tossing it as far as he could into the alley.

Taking a more humanoid form, he took off down the alley in the opposite direction. Adrenaline that had been missing before was present now, and allowed him to move down the alley without even realizing how tired he was. Looking back never even crossed his mind.