The light above her wavered ever so slightly. As if she were still moving, even though she was laying flat on her back. Her arms and legs felt heavy, and she was pleasantly tired. After everything she had been through lately, digging into her small stash of medication had proven to take the edge off.

Smiling stupidly at the ceiling, the twenty four year old lifted one heavy arm and stared at her gloved hand silhouetted by the light. She had found out a while ago that the little pill she had been given for her various injuries not only helped with pain, but with emotional baggage as well. Though she was not a fan of getting herself hopped up on pills, Andrea had quickly become reliant on the little white pills when it came to very... stressful.. days. Considering what her last few outings had consisted of, she was more than willing to let herself lapse into a day full of napping and forced contentedness.

Plus.. they kept those awful dreams away, and terrible headaches. Just the reminder of those was enough to make her squeeze her eyes shut, and scratch at the lumpy scars left over from where her serpents were once attached. The stitches had long since come out, but the healed over wounds still occasionally itched and ached like the day they had been inflicted.

Sighing, she ran her hand through her hair, letting her eyes slipped closed int the silence of her room. She turned and curled into a ball on her side, tugging her blanket up and over her legs. If all went well, she was going to have herself a numb, dreamless nap. With a glass of water and her medication on the nightstand next to her bed, well within reach, she wasn't all to worried about waking up into a full blown panic attack... like she had the two nights before. After what had happened in the park... lord, she hadn't been getting much sleep. The old nightmares had crept back in to invade what was left of her peaceful sleep. Now Lions were after her, right along with pink axes, and other terrible monsters.

but... the meds made that all better. Giggling, she pulled the little bible her mother had sent her out from under her pillow, and clutched it to her chest, willing herself to go to sleep, as her wall clock tick-tocked away.

It had attracted stares and questioning at the mansion. More than usual, anyway. In the city though, nothing at all, it was completely normal. Cafas ran his fingers through his hair, as if he expected something. There was nothing different. His old weather-beaten trench coat was pulled around him. He hadn't changed since the previous night but for that, though his hat was buried in his pocket at this point.

His collar was turned up against the last dregs of winter air seeping their slow way out of the city streets, leaving a chill in the bones of those that were dressed for spring. It was late in the afternoon, the air was cold, and the masses were hungry and tired after their day's work.

Sucks to be them.

He joined, at last, some of the less savoury looking of the crowd, and made a final push for a place to get out of the cold, a sanctuary, if you will. The doors lived up to their fame. Cafas walked though them. He didn't attract any undue attention, he was practically invisible midst the people walking in. After all, who would notice a 21 year old with light brown hair in New York City?

Practically unrecognisable like this...

That was, of course, the point. He found himself pushed towards the kitchen. He felt it best not to be sucked in there. It would waste time, and if he left it without eating, suspicion. He stepped out of the slight crowd, and set off toward the dorms. He found them with ease.

Step one...

From the cover of a corner behind a stack of chairs he texted some directions to his accomplice. He tucked his phone away. From his jacket he produced a mask. Nothing flashy, just plain black covering his nose , eyes and forehead.

Step two...

Red really wasn't a subtle colour. Then again, fire alarms aren't meant to be subtle. He looked either way, counted to 10, and pulled down on the lever. Bells rang, water shot from above, panic spread through the dining area, and the flood of people heading for the front door would have been impassable, for a human.

Step 3...

He jammed his hat on and started to search.

His teeth were chattering.

It was cold outside. That wasn't why his teeth were chattering.

He was going into a situation in which he would likely die in a horrible way. That wasn't why either.

He was a man who stored kinetic energy in a battery that happened to be composed of the right half of his body. That battery was the fullest he'd ever gotten it by far. His whole body felt like it was shaking, fighting to get out of itself, trying the hardest it had ever tried to explode! That was why his teeth were chattering.

Behind the protection of his mask, a passerby would still be able to hear it, but they wouldn't be able to see that his eyes were wide open... They wouldn't see the smile on his face that would make the mad hatter question his sanity.

They would, however, see a man in the now quite infamous Judge costume, which had found screen time on news programs due to the many brutal acts of vigilantism he'd carried out, walking hazily down the streets stumbling left and right. He found it hard to focus like this... He found the urge to just... touch someone, anyone, and make them disappear in a pretty red mist almost irresistable...

But he had a goal.

He had to get to the Sanctuary... "Heh... Almost..." His phone buzzed, he looked at it... A message... He read it... Directions. Cool. His phone exploded. Damn. He kept walking.


He was there. He let out a little laugh... People avoided getting near him. He laughed again.

The chattering stopped. He felt an eerie silence; the calm before the storm. He looked up to those famous golden doors. Damn. They were pretty. They really stood for something, huh?

"Heh.... Knock. Knock." He reached his left hand to the left door, his hand closed into a fist, and lightly touched it.

BAM! CRRRRRRRAAAASH. The door proves stronger than it's hinges, and was knocked inward, where it fell harmlessly off to the side... Dang, he hadn't used enough of his energy, He'd wanted to destroy the freakin thing.

He took a deep breath, and paused... There was a crowd of people heading his way. They paused when the door was suddenly busted in. He stared at them for a moment... His mind wasn't as clouded by the energy, though he still had a huge amount running through him. What to do, though? He'd had Cafas pull the alarm to get any innocents out of the way first.

"eh... Don't mind me... Just... passing through." The confused crowd didn't need to ask questions, they just pushed past him, and out into the streets, careful not to get close enough to touch the scary man. He walked onward, his single objective in mind.

Mercury lay in his bed dosing. It started raining and a sleepy tail restlessly found its way to a gigantic venders umbrella he had stole before he opened the umbrella above him and continued to doze.

Abyss’s attention snapped up as soon as he heard the alarm. If it had been that fire boy setting stuff on fire in trash cans again for fun he was going to smack some sense into and out of him. he was tired of the damn alarms going off for no good reason, and then the crack of the doors resounded through the building. His angry stride carried his frame towards the entrance.

Mars and Saturn sat quietly in the room and continued their heads up Texas hold’em. Water falling from the sky was tame for this time of day at least around the sanctuary.

Venus pushed out of the pile of bodies around him, the scents of jasmine and lavender incents got dosed as the water poured from the ceiling. “Don’t worry I’ll find out what is going on. “ He pulled on some pajama pants and looked around in the hall. Just as Jupiter pushed his way into the hallway a bottle of alcohol in both hands. “What the hell is wrong with this place?”

Venus sushed the angry Drunk. "Oh like drinking in the rain is new to you."

Jupiter rose an eyebrow. " atleast I was drinking alone, it stopped you from." He burst into abrupt laughter at the disgusted look on Venus's face.

"we were napping." Venus corrected venomously. He then proceded through the hallways to shut off the sprinklers surely. any fires could have been put out by now, if it wasn't a prank in the first place. He turned a couple of corners and came face to face with a pretty masked boy.

His eyes narrowed. He was pretty sure he knew this feather haired, stubbly chin boy from somewhere. He looked him in the eyes and something clicked a bit further.

Aura's aura kept her dry, the water striking the aura and trailing off whichever way it cared to go. Aura left her her Aura up in sanctuary, not that the place was overtly dangerous or at least as non dangerous as a place filled with mutants with varying levels of control could be. Aura assumed that was what triggered this, some kid with no control. She had set off the alarm once herself it turned out hitting them with a hammer set them off as well.

Aura had quickly made her way to the foyer and directed others as well to that point. That was when a strong force ripped the door's from their hinges. She was glad when the others moved past the man standing in the doorway but less impressed when the man began to head in the opposite direction of the crowd. His entrance made Aura believe he was a mutant though she ha dno idea what he could do other then pick locks with extreme force.

Aura stood her ground and looked at the man, her eyes looked peaceful and concerned for the man, who was obviously heading the wrong way. "My friend, until we determine if this is a prank or not, all are to evacuate" She said staying where she was even as the crowd thinned out around them, she sent a glance back to lisa and then returned it to this man. His behavior was certainly odd and he had broken the only recently restored doors. Aura needed to keep an eye on this one, her Aura thickened as she stood there awaiting this man's response and hoping he would just turn arround.

Damn, what luck, right? Right before him, without him having to pick through the crowd, or search the many rooms this fine establishment had within it, he saw the first person he'd wanted to talk to. She was easy to spot, honestly, with that pink aura floating about her small frame. Jees, though, she talked to him like they might as well be chums. Clearly she didn't watch the news, or she would know that he was a man who mercilessly hunted down and killed people like her on a regular basis.

Still, she had no idea who he was, and he wanted to keep it that way. He gave her a quick once over, and stopped in his tracks. "I take it you would be Aura. I've heard a lot about you... You're shorter than I thought you'd be." He spoke in a low, gritty tone, allowing the last of the crowd to file past him, leaving them standing in the foyer, water raining down on them. "I promise you this is no prank." His hand reached to his back, and unlatched the sledge hammer attached to it, which he pulled out, and smacked into his other hand. He twitched a little as a jolt of energy raced through him, and his teeth gritted loudly against each other... So much energy... It tingled to the point where he was nearly numb to the world. It was okay now, though... He had someone to direct that energy into.

Someone who deserved every bit on hell he could rain down on her. "I'm here for something else. Judging you is just going to be the icing on the cake." With that, he reached back his arm, sledge hammer clenched tightly in it, and flung it at her chest at a frightening speed. He was careful to restrain himself; he didn't want to waste all of his carefully gained energy. He only sent it with enough force to break a rib cage, or lodge itself into the wall behind her if it missed.

"you heard about me? " she said amused and upon seeing the hammer come out sh held up a finger, a signal. Aura was taking this as a direct attack on Sanctuary and she knew Lisa would sound the alarm. She had no idea who he was but judging from what he did to the door and the lack of explosions Aura assumed this was a mutant. No prank told Aura as well the sprinkler was simply a distraction. Aura guessed his choice in clothing did not involve the local circus either, though she felt the armor would provide little issue, even if she did not cut through it, she knew she could break bones through it.

"I see, a common criminal or a Human supremacist? Either way it really does not matter" Aura said confidently. "Just another coward who believes so little in his own cause he has to hide" She went on. Aura had no idea the true convictions of the man, nor did they matter. If he was determined to attack Sanctuary she would defend it, the order was clear and as she watched the man through the Hammer she started to move. He was seeking something which suited her even better then simple defense would have.

She avoided the incoming hammer with a swift move to the side and a second later, moved forward quickly, she heard the impact against the wall. Ignoring that Aura's Hands formed a pair of short swords as she moved the moment she closed the distance Aura brought her Blades like a pair of Scissors. She had little idea what the man could do, so her best bet was try and neutralize him quickly. Still either way Aura knew an important detail she did not have to win this fight, simply delaying him was fine. After all the Sanctuary had enough fireball to take down even the vampire she and meld had fought, or at least she believed it did.

The sound rocked the building. By the sound of it one of the doors had been blown clean off its hinges. Yep, Saph was in the building. Cafas returned to indiscriminately kicking in doors. Most of the rooms were empty, some had people, but they weren't who he was looking for and most gladly ran when told to. Those that didn't he left where they were and continued. He was clearly just being helpful.

Stupid danger room, I had kind of hoped it had been wrong in rescue sims and she would be behind the first door.

Cafas fancied he heard footsteps over the alarm. He turned to face them. He was fairly certain he lost a bit of colour and his eye twitched behind the mask. Something about seeing a 6'9" red creature built like a brick barn did that. Especially when it was looking at you like that. He tried for the same tactic as he had been using previously, though he doubted it would work. "Please make your way out of the building while we contain and assess the damage."

Also, please don't kill me.

Cafas kicked in another door, searched the room, found no one and turned back to face the door. With any luck he'd now not have to deal with said beastie. Few things frightened Cafas, that guy however, was one of them.

"You heard about me? I see, a common criminal or a Human supremacist? Either way it really does not matter. Just another coward who believes so little in his own cause he has to hide"

"Say what you will, I care not for the last words of an abomination."

Hah! She avoided the hammer. Great, he would have been disappointed if she hadn't. Clearly she'd beeni n her fair share of fights; he had been in countless battles as well. The difference between them was that he was prepared for this, and she wasn't. His right hand shot out as she formed her weapons and attacked with a scissor slice... It was the kind of attack you saw on the silver screen, and he was sure it would be the last thing any helpless civilian or two bit criminal would ever see.

He was no two bit criminal. His hand, placed in the path of both of the blades, stopped them effortlessly in their tracks, as if the swings were simply robbed of the force applied to them. He leaned in just a little, and whispered, his brown eyes(due to colored contacts) staring right into hers . "You're going to lose this fight, Aura. You're helpless against me. How does that FEEL!" With the last word, he lifted his back leg up for a chest kick that would knock a heavy weight boxer on their back, and down for the count. Even now he was still playing it easy; he wanted her to feel weak. He wanted her to feel like the people she killed felt before they died.

her attack would have killed the average person, though she had not been aiming to kill the man, she had actually planned for him to dodge, the fact that her blades simply stopped at his hand was troubling. It was something that had never occurred before. She smiled at his words about an abominations last words and she could not agree more. "Weather you care for the truth or not is your own choice" She said simply.

His Kick had solid force behind it, Aura was sure had her Aura not been up, she would have likely been nursing a broken bone or to. As it was she was thrown onto her back and skidded into Lisa's desk, her Aura absorbed the damage but momentum was momentum, She stood up flexed her Arm's and Let her Blades reform, this time they formed into hammers their movement like flowing water. Her smile was even brighter now, this man could be fun, but he was dangerous and she would need to probe him.

"You could be right, you might well kill me. Aura said simply with a visible shrug. "But i don't have to win or even survive the fight, i simply have to keep you occupied until others arrive, every moment you spend on me is a moment further from your goal She said not convinced she was helpless, everyone had their weakness and she would soon find his if she could.

Looking to Her hammers, she decided on another approach, her right hand instead formed a wide blade, then the chainsaw started to move. It lacked the intricate parts a real one had, but it kept to the same goal. She smiled enjoying the fight, she then took the Chainsaw and cut a piece from Lisa's desk with one swing, satisfied he was not dulling her weapons and knowing he obviously was no null, she simply had to find a way to win.

Aura moved forward again a few moments before she would have struck him, she moved to the left and brought the chainsaw down to strike it. Aura was wondering if simply sharpness was the issue, maybe the man could dull her weapons as she struck, even if he could dull the moving saw, though harder to maintain then other weapon's, meant that the the chainsaw might stipll rip at his fleash. At the Same time, her Hammer hand swung for his other shoulder, trying to keep him off guard by striking ona few fronts.

"You've killed countless civilians... Do you really think I wouldn't be perfectly fine if the most I did today was put you ten feet under?"

That was a lie. He had a real goal, here, but he was doing just fine at it right this second. All he had to do what keep the eyes on him. Aura's most definitely were. She turned her aura into a pair of hammers, but then second guessed herself, changing one of the hammers into a chain saw.

"Now, now... Are you sure that's the right choice? Sometimes it's best to go with your instincts." She charged in, and even did a quick shift to the left in order to get a better position on him. but he had a surprise for her; As she pulled her weapons back to swing he shot forward, using a burst of force from his left leg that shattered the tile beneath his feet, and sent a fist at her chest with twice the force of his first kick. He wondered how long her Aura would last under this punishment... Not long enough for the amount of energy he'd collected, he was certain... His chest suddenly ached... He ignored it. He didn't want to think of what it meant, but he was sure it had something to do with him holding so much energy for so long... Luckily, with every bit he used on Aura, it was getting easier to manage.

He was a little concerned that he might end up using too much energy on just this one fight, though... He had no clue who would be next in line.

Aura felt the impact and her weapons never came to bear, the force of the punch sent her clear across the room, her Aura luckily protected her, but she could feel the strain on it at the impact. This time she cleared Lisa's desk, she would have went further but she formed a spike from her palm and jammed it into the desk, even then their was a several inch gash in the desk. She got up Slower this time, but the smile stayed on her face, even As her Aura shifted. The impacts were having effect but Aura was good at hiding it, though Aura knew a few more blows like that and she wouldn't last long. She still knew little about his power as well..

"You seem to mistake me for someone who cares, i was born on a battlefield and i will die on one. Why would it make any difference if you were the one to kill me or if it were a mere human? In many way's i wish you would, even though you are a fool. If i do live, i will certainly kill far more humans, our people will not be safe while a single human walks it" she said ignoring the part about her second guessing herself.

"I like you though, your making this fight a challenge and more importantly your good at this. But you do know a Null lives here, what might you do i wonder, when your powers abandon you and that mask is torn from your face." She said with a smile and she even started to giggle a bit like they were talking about boys. She considered her options and her Aura reserves, so far she had kept the loss in her Aura imperceptible, but it wouldn't matter soon.

Charging would not work, yes she had little other choice, Sanctuary Security had yet to arrive. This Time she formed a pair of drills on her fists. She knew the man could take down a door,seemingly with his hand's and was strong enough where Aura knew she needed to find a weakness soon. Aura charged Again, a smile on her face. In the face of complete defeat, Aura was happy As she approached striking range, Aura Let the drill on her Left hand dissolve and sent a knee at the tin's stomach, this knee however had a foot long blade at the end of it. Aura would trust the rest to simple fate.

"You seem to mistake me for someone who cares, i was born on a battlefield and i will die on one. Why would it make any difference if you were the one to kill me or if it were a mere human? In many way's i wish you would, even though you are a fool. If i do live, i will certainly kill far more humans, our people will not be safe while a single human walks it.

"It's sad, really. You could have done so much more with your life. Instead, you wasted it on pitiful, narrow minded thoughts and revenge."


"I like you though, your making this fight a challenge and more importantly your good at this. But you do know a Null lives here, what might you do i wonder, when your powers abandon you and that mask is torn from your face."

A... Null... Powers abandoning? Wait, he'd run into that before.... That woman in the park. There was a name for it, then. No matter, Cafas couldn't take much longer, and a... Null wouldn't affect him too badly. Yeah. He could count on the aussie to get the job done... Now, to get this girl to stop talking.

She really could monologue, couldn't she? He had to give it to her, it did buy her more time to try to think of a tactic. She didn't use that time, however. She decided to charge in head on, changing the shape of her weapons, but little else... He'd heard everything he needed to hear from her. Her story was sad, but nothing could justify her actions. No, it was time to judge her.

She formed her spinning drills. "Suspect Alias... Aura."

She began her charge toward him, closing in swiftly. "Crimes... Many."

She came in for her attack, and suddenly dismissed her drill... By reflex he triggered his newly mastered freeze frame ability, sucking all of the kinetic force from an area 18 inches away from him and closer. He didn't need to look down at the bladed knee to know it was there, he felt it with his sixth sense... Damn... she had been so close; just an inch shy of landing her shot.

"Sentence... Execution."

He pulled back his palm, prepared to unleash all of his energy into her... It would make her a smear on the wall... But then an image popped into his head... Andrea. Why? Without even thinking, he attacked, and only used enough to send her flying far...

It was his hardest hit by far, but someone tough like her... She would survive it. She probably wouldn't be moving any time soon, but it wouldn't kill her.

She had been hoping to surprise him, but once again he proved extremely resourceful as everything seemed to suddenly stop. With her attack halted Aura knew she was easy pray and in deed she felt the impact against her Aura strike, Her Aura barely held out against the strike, she actually felt some of the impact against her body. She felt the breif sensation of flying and then a sudden impact against her back, as her Aura rallied behind her to protect her.

Even So she cried out loudly as she struck the wall and went through it, rolling into the the room beyond. She tried to get up and found she lacked the strength. Raising her Arm up, she saw what she felt, she could not make her Aura solid or hold a shape, her Aura had protected her but lines of blood still ran up her arm. "Not my time yet? She whispered to herself before her arm fell to her side. Her chest felt painful to, and Aura could only wonder if the man had hurt her worse then she thought.

Aura had a single regret before she lost consciousness, she had not found out more about the man's powers and capabilities. She had also proven worth while in only delaying him, she had not landed a strike at all or figured out his limits. Still she was alive and that meant she had time to figure out more and be better prepared next time. She smiled as she passed out on the floor at the very least she had givin it what she had, she could only hope she had delayed him enough.

Was he wearing a cowboy hat? You bet he was wearing a cowboy hat. The game was called TEXAS hold em. If he didn't have a cheesy accent, an unlit cigar in his maw, and an over-all scruffy disposition he wasn't doing it right.

The Roach looked to his fellow players, down to his cards, and up once more, sighing, and tossing them down. "Fold. Damn liberal types gettin all the good draws. Watch the card I need come up on the ri-" The sprinkler system turned on. "ver..." He then shrugged, and continued playing. Probably just that stupid pyromancer kid lighting a garbage can on fire again. It wasn't like the cards were gonna get soggy; they were laminated, just for this reason.

"Ah swear i'm gonna eat that kid one-a these here days, darn tootin." For once that was a joke; he knew the order didn't like it when their members made snacks out of each other, and he was willing to respect that. He was sure the big red gentlemen would know he was joking. They sure as hell knew he wasn't from Texas. Last week he'd played as eddy murphy... The whole black face thing didn't get as many laughs as he'd hoped.