Shane was running, sprinting as fast as he could go. He was determined to put as much ground between himself and that house as possible, and as far as he was concerned, it wasn’t happening fast enough. At first he’d stuck to the rooftops – his usual domain – but hopping from building to building wasn’t the most efficient route, so a few blocks back he’d switched to moving down the sidewalks.

It was very late now, long after midnight and everything was closed and dark. There were very few people around, and the few that were loitering here and there couldn’t have cared less about him. He was pretty sure the police weren’t after him either. If they were, he’d still be hearing the sirens, or at least see the occasional cruiser rolling around, looking for someone. Instead there wasn’t anyone that seemed to know where he was, or even have any idea that he could be involved.

He was panting loudly at this point. He’d been running, climbing and jumping for at least the last half hour, and he still felt like he hadn’t put enough ground between himself and his mother’s house. He was beginning to stumble here and there. Occasionally he’d make room for someone or something that got in his way, only to realize he hadn’t moved enough. He’d bounced off a dumpster, ripped his jacket on a fence and nearly tripped over a homeless person. The fatigue was really starting to wear him out.

He turned another corner, flying out from an alleyway. A boy dressed up in some kind of costume happened to be walking down the sidewalk at that point. Shane did see him, but had very little time to react. Perhaps earlier in the night he might have been able to move out of the way in time, but at this point he was just too tired. He crashed head first into the kid knocking both of them to the ground.

It took Shane a moment to get back to his feet, but he was still the first of the two of them to do so. He advanced on the young man glaring. He’d just had a bad night made worse, and his adrenaline was running the show now. His breathing was extremely heavy, almost wheezing, but he was still moving fine. He shifted a sizable chunk of his mass to his legs.

“You think you’re funny running in to people like that?” Shane snapped at the boy. Before he could answer, he threw a kick out towards him as hard as he could. Maybe letting off a little steam on this kid would help him keep his mind off his own problems.

Akshay. Was. On. Cloud. NINE! He had just gotten out of the premiere movie for Action Squad Zero, the movie that fans of the comic series had been waiting for, for absolute ages! It had all the heroes in it: Odin, Eye.Ron Man, Dark Spider, the Bulk, even American Soldier! The movie was a complete and utter triumph to the point that Akshay was still squeeing and uttering gibberish as he walked and talked into his cell phone to one of his co-workers, Lexi.

But while the sounds he made were odd enough, it was the manner of dress he was in that was the most surprising. See, true fans of the movie showed up wearing “Action Squad Zero” t-shirts or face make-up, but Akshay, he always had to go one above. That was why, strutting down the sidewalk in the late, late night, he was dressed up as American Soldier! Akshay only felt that it was necessary to dress like this considering that American Soldier was one of his favorite characters!

Complete with shield and mask (the entire outfit, really) Akshay strolled about as he spoke into his cellphone, praising the movie, but also blasting Lexi for not showing up as Dark Spider like she promised that she would.

“You needed to throw that ‘party’? Lexi, that is the LAMEST excuse!” he sighed and shook his head as he strolled on. “I mean, seriously, without you there, I just looked silly! Huh? Well maybe next time I WILL ask Rebecca!”

The young wordsmith sighed as he strolled on. It was late and he needed to get home. Though normally Akshay would have taken his ducati wherever he needed to go, tonight he knew he was going to be getting out late and didn’t want to risk driving in the middle of the night. Besides, he liked a good late night stroll when he could get it. And he was going to need the walk to burn off the adrenaline on his trek home anyways. Otherwise he’d be wired all night.

But as he rounded a corner, looking down at his cellphone to make the next call to nerdgasm to someone about the movie, he suddenly thudded into something…or rather, someone! With a gasp the comic fan stumbled down onto the ground with a groan, his shield clanging against the concrete sidewalk. That…was not fun.

He wheezed as he stood up, no idea what had just happened, when his eyes locked on the large individual looming ahead of him. Akshay blinked, wide-eyed as he stared at the man. Slowly he started to open his mouth to apologize but the words never got a chance to leave his mouth.

>> “You think you’re funny running in to people like that?”[/color]

“Wha?” He started to ask when suddenly a massive leg shot out towards him. Akshay gasped as he brought his shield forward. It blocked the attack but he was not prepared for the recoil it would produce. Akshay stumbled back onto a brick wall where he paused for a second to catch his brief. Afterward he admonished the man for attacking him (not the smartest of moves). “Hey, buddy! What’s your problem!?”

Skydancer ran across the rooftop, pausing near the edge only just long enough to spot a convenient fire escape ladder in the roof across from hers. A tube, all ready extended from her shoulder, extended itself and wrapped around the bottom rung of the ladder. She leapt, allowing her momentum to assist the natural strength of her tube and bring her over to the next building. She was breathing hard but there was a grin on her face, should anyone have been close enough to see her. This was the sort of thing she loved about being a mutant; the simple freedom to run and swing from the rooftops. She was returning from a late night training session at the circus but just because it was late didn't mean that she couldn't have a little bit of fun on the way back to The Mansion.

The next rooftop was a story lower than Skydancer's current perch but that was hardly a barrier to continuing on her way. There was noting to grab onto this time, but it was always easier going lower than it was going higher. She sent three tubes to the lower roof, splayed out in a triangle. The pointed tips weren't exactly the best for traction unless they were impaling themselves into dirt or wood, but roof tiles tended to provide enough traction as long as she used at least 3 tubes. Once anchored, it was a simple matter to lower herself down and continue on her way. It was an enjoyable challenge trying to figure out how to get home while remaining exclusively on the rooftops, allowing her to exercise quick thought and problem solving skills. She took a slightly different route home every day so as to not memorize the most ideal route back. It was all about playing to her strengths while avoiding her limitations.

Skydancer was planning her next move when she was distracted by a commotion happening down below. Someone dressed as a super hero was being accosted by another figure, though it was too dark to really pick out many distinctive features of him. She wondered, briefly, how many wannabe super heroes were actually in this city as her mind went back to memories of her recent encounters with the slug people and a certain wannabe super hero involved in that little debacle as well. Now was not the time to wonder about such things, however.

No thought about the attacker being a mutant honestly entered Skydancer's mind. She saw someone in trouble and, knowing she had the ability to help, she sent her three tubes down and lowered herself. Had she considered the fact that the attacker might be a mutant or, for that matter, might have a gun and thus be actually dangerous, she might not have been quite so hasty to act. As it was, she didn't think of much of anything aside from saving the poor unfortunate super hero.

"Don't you know its not nice to hurt people," Skydancer asked, staring at the offender. Once on the ground, she lifted her tubes in front of her, pointed tips sticking out menacingly.

Shane’s foot was throbbing with pain. He hadn’t noticed the shield the costumed idiot had with him, and the shock of ramming his foot into something other then what he’d expected had only amplified the pain he was feeling. He was absolutely livid now, in a state where everything anyone said was likely to come across as antagonizing to him. And he really didn’t like this boy’s tone.

He moved some of the mass in his legs into one of his arms. The moving flesh lessened some of the tingling from the kick earlier, which felt good, but was certainly not his primary reason for doing it. He approached the ‘hero’ and raised his enlarged fist.

“I asked you a question,” he shouted before swinging the fist down on the boy again, not holding anything back. He was already starting to tire himself out from those two attacks, and his breathing reflected that. The adrenaline was the only thing keeping him going.

Then suddenly a woman dropped down from the rooftops between the two of them. She was mildly intimidating, pointed tubes she seemed to have control over aimed at him. She looked ready to defend the boy. Not quite what Shane had envisioned for this little encounter.

>> "Don't you know it’s not nice to hurt people?"

He’d likely have had a similar reaction to anything that came out of her mouth, but coming across as an actual taunt to him boiled his blood. At this point in the evening, Shane was nothing more then a bull in a matador fight. He showed off his horns in a form of mimicry, shifting his mass into tentacles reminiscent of this woman’s tubes and lock his gaze of the new addition to their little group.

“You should probably mind your own business.” He growled the words out, jaw clenched. It came out mostly as gibberish, only a few words really distinguishable. He lowered himself down into a familiar football position, as if he was on the line of scrimmage about to pounce, or a sprinter waiting for the gun. All that was missing was the triggering sound to send him into motion.

No such sound came, but a glimmer of light off of the boy on the ground’s shield caught his eye, and it was good enough. The hulking body of tentacles dove at the tube girl with the intention of throwing his weight into a body check. He was too tired for anything but the hail mary play.

Akshay was one the ground and it had definitely hurt. His back pressed up against the brick wall, his arm which held the shield was throbbing from where the man had suddenly kicked him, and Akshay was sure that none of this was going to go well. He had demanded an explanation, but he probably should have left it a mystery. Instead the man in front of him seemed to take the tone of his voice personally and crept forward, breathing heavily, and raised his fist (a massive one at that) in order to bring it down upon his head.

Wide-eyed, Akshay scrambled to move despite the pain but all his efforts got him was a flail or two. The brick wall was slick with some slime he couldn’t identify and his arm was throbbing. But he was not going to be pummeled to death by some ill-tempered man in a back alley of New York.

That…was way too clichéd.

>> “I asked you a question,”[/color]

He tried to move, lifted his sore and dented shield, trying to find some voice to reason with the man in front of him. But before he could, there was the suddenly sound of someone else dropping down nearby. Akshay paused in disbelief as he stared at a woman…with purple skin and several tube-like things pointed directly at his attacker. Did he just get saved by Professor Squidess?! Today was SUCH a comic book day.

>> "Don't you know it’s not nice to hurt people?"

>> “You should probably mind your own business.”[/color]

Akshay watched in stunned silence as the paired seemed to be staring each other off. Before he knew it, there were TWO people with tentacles now. The man who had attacked him had apparently been able to grow them from his very flesh, almost mimicking his savior exactly. Tubes/Tentacles withered about and he watched as the offending figure crouched down momentarily before suddenly take a dead-on run towards his protector. Akshay, had to do something.

His mind went into autopilot as he reached to his belt. Slipped into the holster was a gun…a…realistic looking water gun that he had added to the costume to complete the illusion of the World War II hero American Soldier. Hand slipping around the grip, Akshay pulled it up and, feeling the water slosh around inside, he squeezed the trigger.

Two spurts shot out, aimed directly for the attackers face if to do nothing other than distract him…

It didn't take Skydancer long to realize that the bully of a man was more than just a man. His body seemed to be strangely amorphous but even if that changed the rules of the game she was now playing, it was too late to change her mind now. By jumping down from her rooftop perch, she entered herself into the contest and once entered there was no way her ego would take defeat and running would certainly constitute defeat. Besides which, the wannabe super hero needed her help and that was something almost as important.

“You should probably mind your own business.”

Shifty mutant suddenly grew a set of tentacles rather reminiscent of her own tubes save that the colour waswrong, although Skydancer had no way to know if they held the same properties or not. It didn't really matter, not anymore. Even if they could also shoot flames or electricute her, now that she was comitted she'd rather die than actually give in and run away. Well, almost rather die; certainly she'd rather risk serious bodily harm anyway. Olympics this may not be, but that didn't mean she shouldn't still strive to be the best and the best didn't run away like cowards.

"I think I've just made this my business." Skydancer let out a growl in imitation of the imitator and darted her eyes around searching for something to brace upon, before settling them back on her now enemy. A tube sot out of her back towards an open barred window above her and wrapped itself around one of the bars.\ She didn't know if the bars would hold her weightif it came to that nor did she know if the tentacle mutant had even noticed the move, but it seemed worth the risk.

Skydancer barely noticed the little hero's watergun as morphic man charged her. She knew she couldn't take much damage, her mutation saw to that, so the trick would have to be timing and remaining one step ahead of her opponent. He charged, she lepaed and her tube around the window bars lifted her up far above her head. Her plan had paid off!

Her plan had seemed to pay off, that was, until she heard a very distinct creak following by the feeling of the bar she was latched onto giving way and then the far more terrifying feeling of falling back to the ground in a painful heap. Purple tubes splayed around her, all she could think was that she thankfully hadn't fallen very far.

Shane was practically galloping the distance between himself and the tube girl. He was only one stride in to his charge when he started to realize that it wasn’t going to end favorably for him, or at least not how he planned it to go. The tube launching up to a nearby window was the first sign of trouble for him. He watched it latch on to the window’s barred covers as his second stride made contact with the ground.

Then his attention switched the costumed kid with the stupid shield, and he’d suddenly forgotten about the woman. While his third stride came down to the pavement he saw the boy pull a gun out from concealment. He’d seen guns before, but after the events of the evening earlier, he was feeling far less comfortable with them then ever before.

His fourth stride brought him within just a couple of feet of the woman, but his unblinking gaze was fixed on the gun, which was now aimed right at him. The boy squeezed the trigger and Shane could swear he heard the popping sound of the bullet firing out. Instead, the cool splash of water hit him in the face, square between the eyes.

His gaze switched forward again where the shadowy figure of the girl was now grappling out of his field of vision. His fifth stride was the first with an active effort put into slowing down, now that the only thing between him and a brick wall was an ever shrinking empty space. He could feel a second splash of water hit him in the arm; an irrelevant attack. The first shot - despite his relief that it wasn’t fatal - did indeed blur his sight slightly.

His sixth stride of the charge was his last, trying again to slow down, but catching on a crack and sending him flying shoulder first into the brick that awaited him. He lay there motionless for a moment. His breathing was heavier then ever, and he’d winded himself in the collision. He winced at the pain, but did manage to climb to his feet.

Shane took a moment to try and clear his head. He was still seeing red, but he was attentive enough to note that his combatants weren’t in the best shape themselves, at least as far as he was concerned.

He wasn’t anxious to jump back into full on raging bull mode again, but he had no interest in playing it defensively either. Now that it was clear that the kid’s gun was just a toy, he dropped pretty low on the threat chart in his mind. So Shane decided to deal with him first.

Tossing out an elongated arm in a similar fashion to a whip, he launched his tentacle attack at the shield wielding boy as hard as he could.

Akshay had tried…and he hit home! The first squeeze of the trigger had managed to get water into the attacking man’s eyes, but the second barely grazed his arm. Not that Akshay was expecting to do much with only a water gun, but he was hoping that it would have at least distracted his attacker enough to keep him from flattening the young, purple skinned woman with the tubes that had jumped down to help him.

It became apparent though that maybe she was not going need his help. She had grabbed only some bars with her wiry tubes and pulled herself out of harm’s way! That was completely awesome! And on top of it, the man was too distracted by him that he was stumbling towards that large brick wall that faced him. He would effectively knock himself out! They would not have to get pulled into some fight to the death, or would anyone have to get anymore needlessly harmed in the process! It was the best solution all around.

Wait, bars shouldn’t break like that. And why did the fleshy man trip so inelegantly?! Gawd, the both of them were just ruining this perfect plan for peace and harmony.

Akshay winced as both of them fell to the ground like sacks of potatoes. It looked painful and he hoped that neither of them, well the girl at least, was not paralyzed because of it. Unfortunately, though, it seemed as if the sloshy creature was the first to move. He snapped his head around and locked eyes with Akshay, and the wordsmith, in that moment, felt a real pang of fear.

His attacker then claimed his namesake and attacked!

Akshay squeaked the second that he saw the tendril coming straight for him. He really didn’t know what to do other than to lift his shield once again. It was badly dented from the last time so it didn’t seem like he was going to be able to continue to protect himself much longer. But his frantic mind only thought to protect himself.

Up the shield went…and he barely managed to graze the elongated hand. It easily slipped past and struck him fast across the cheek. Akshay gasped as pain spider-webbed out from the spot that he was hit. Spit and blood flew from his mouth as he was sent rolling back onto his back and effectively dazed him. Akshay gasped as he struggled to regain his bearings but the pain and the daze just made it hard for him to focus.

Akshay blinked as he stared up at the sky. This…was so not his night…

Skydancer's body was a mass of bruises. The fall caused her to ache everywhere but, as she tenderly made her way back to her feet, it didn't feel as if anything was broken or any tubes had shattered with the impact of the fall. That was a very good thing. It wasn't that she was more prone to injury than most humans, but when she was injured beyond a few scrapes and bruises, her injuries tended to be more serious. As it was, in a matter of minutes any superficial damage done to her would heal in mere minutes.

Her attention returning to the situation at hand, Skydancer took it as a good sign that their morphing assailant was also on the ground and she guessed it had to have been curtasy of the brick wall immediately in front of him. She took it as something less of a good sign as he made his way back to his feet and didn't seem slowed down in the least. She took it as even less of a good sign as he proceeded to attempt an attack at the defenceless shield boy. Well, two could play at that game.

"How about you pick on someone who can actually stand up to you," Skydancer challenged. She hated bullies; always and always would. The bullies in her new life were somewhat more dangerous than those in high school and somewhat stranger in appearance, but bullies were still bullies and she wouldn't suffer them.

"Let's see how you fare against someone who can actually hurt you. I promise you, my tubes are far more dangerous than a mere water gun." Skydancer spared a brief glance at the little victim, establishing that she didn't see any serious injuries, before returning her attention to her enemy. She was angry now and, in her anger, didn't bother to hold back. Three tubes shot from her torso towards the shifting mutant, pointed purple tips aimed at the thickest part of his body. She would see just how well he faired against an actual threat, this time.

There was a certain level of satisfaction as his tendril whip cracked off the side of the head of the costumed boy. They were far enough away from one another that he couldn’t quite make out the details of his expression, but the way his body crumpled into a heap on the ground after the collision was enough for Shane to use his imagination. It was strange for him to enjoy something like that so much, but he couldn’t deny that he most certainly did.

As quickly as the boy went down, the vigilante was back on her feet, and looking as vengeful as ever. She shouted something to him along the lines of a pick on someone your own size type of threat, but he was hardly listening. Instead he was reeling in his whip-like appendage, preparing for it’s next strike.

Her threats were anything but idle, though. He hardly had time to react to the onslaught of pointed tubes flying right towards him. His mass was distributed primarily in his right arm and chest, leaving his legs with just enough to support the rest of him. This particular arrangement was not very conducive to dodging, running or any other form of evasive action. Taking a note from his opponent he sent his whip out to latch on to an exposed pipe and pulled himself out of harms way. Partially anyways.

One of the trio caught on to him, piecing his skin clean through. That pain would have been severe enough on it’s own, but the pull he was getting from the dodge he’d performed caused a ripping sensation to course through his body.

A short cry of agony left his lips followed by another increase to his heart rate and breathing. Blood was running down his shoulder now, soaking the jacket he was wearing in red. He tried to shift the weight from the wound around to try and spread the pain out a bit and lighten it overall, as he’d done in the past, but it had been a long time since he’d suffered a cut that deep and that wide, and the simple act of shifting the mass was too painful in that area.

In frustration he tossed his whip arm out towards the girl, but it lacked the same ferocity that it had when he’d swung it at the boy only moments earlier.

Akshay was sore. His hold face felt like he was hit by runaway bus and, to be honest, he just could not get his mind to focus. Everything was blurry and whenever he tried to focus, all he found was red hot pain streaking across his face. Part of him wonder if maybe his face was split open and the wound was far worse than he thought it was. But as he reached up and gently brushed his fingers across his cheek, he was thankful to find that he did not feel blood, just raw skin.

That was going to leave a HELL of a mark in the morning! If he made it to morning…

The thought was sobering and actually caused the young wordsmith to look past the pain that he felt emanating from every pore on his face and move. He winced and groaned as he rolled onto his stomach, hearing some more commotion from the duo. It seemed as if their fight was continuing and they were simply going to ignore him for now. Apparently he was chopped liver.

Akshay winced and moved onto his knees and glanced over to find that the amorphous man had turned his attention fully onto his purple skinned savior. The woman was also looking tired but he doubted that she was the type to really back down from a fight. Her tentacles lashed around and pointed threatening at his own attacker. But then the man tried to pull the same maneuver and lift himself out of harm’s way. Initially his gambit worked as he dodged a couple, but at least one found it’s place caused the man to screech in pain.

A look of surprise flashed across his own face. How was he supposed to feel about this? After all, the man attacked him, but did he really deserve to be skewered like that? Part of Akshay wanted to say yes, but another part thought that he needed some kind of fair say. After all why did he attack him in the first place?

Maybe the man was just having a bad day or…

Then he saw the man’s own tentacle lash out at the woman again. He gasped as he had moved to his feet and dashed forward as best he could. Removing his dented shield in one swoop, Akshay suddenly lunged it like a Frisbee at the man, yelling to the woman who had saved him.

“Watch out!!” he screamed and sent his shield flying, aiming for the man’s back…

When morphic mutant leaped up and wrapped his own tendril around a pipe, Skydancer thought for certain that her attacked had failed. However, when she felt the unmistakable sensation of one of her tubes enter flesh, she felt an immediate sense of satisfaction. Normally she wasn't the type to enjoy inflicting pain upon others, however the man, in this case, clearly deserved it. People shouldn't be allowed to pick on others without consequences and in this case, she was the consequence.

“Watch out!!”

Skydancer normally prided herself upon her agility and fast reflexes. They were the things that really benefited from her hours upon hours of training that she had been through for most of her life. However, she wasn't used to fighting and especially wasn't used to fighting someone who had beyond human abilities. She certainly wasn't used to be tethered to that other individual through a deadly pointed tube currently impaled in her enemy's body.

The warning came only a scant moment before Skydancer actually saw the tentacle racing towards her. Her mind froze for a moment before she jumped, attempting to leap to the side of where the tentacle was aimed. She should have been able to avoid it; she should have been able to move fast enough to prevent it from being a threat. Not taking into account the fact that her tube was still attached to him, however, caused her leap to be off.

Skydancer jumped, jerking her tube free of her enemy's shoulder. She crashed to the ground for a second time, half healed bruises and scrapes once again flaring back up in pain. A moment later she felt her opponent's tentacle strike the side of her neck and face. She groaned, questioning why she had decided to help the poor little super hero wannabe.

Shane collided with the wall hard. His head managed to steer clear of the impact - but just barely - while his shoulder crumpled from the hit. There had been far too many incidents with the walls of the alley tonight and he was getting sick of it. Both sides of his body were aching, the impaled side of course hurting significantly more. His eyes were fixed on his target though, the purple woman he was currently tethered to, and no amount of pain was going to break that concentration. He could see his arm sailing through the air, ready to make contact with his opponent when a sudden and surprising mixture of sensations started coursing through his body.

There was a faint sound of shouting that he’d hardly heard, but it was unmistakable; a warning. It was immediately followed by an increase in pain from his shoulder as the tube wiggled free from his flesh. The pain was overwhelming, but he had a moment of relief as he felt the collision of his own whip making contact at the other end of the alley. He was no longer looking at his target now though. He'd underestimated his unbreakable stare, which apparently was vulnerable to the intense pain he was feeling in his freshly exposed wound. It was only for a second that he looked away, but in that moment he was hit with some kind of metallic object, right into the side of his head.

The collision from the shield knocked him from what little stable footing he had, leaving him in a crumpled position on the ground. He wasn’t unconscious, but he was disoriented and could barely make out up from down. His instincts took over and he reeled in all of his appendages to create a ball like shape, essentially his fetal position. His eyes aimless scanned the surrounding area, trying to latch on to anything recognizable.

He could see the shield and managed to piece together that it was the cause of the impact that knocked him down. He tossed out an arm to grab it, which was successful after a few missed attempts. Once he managed to get hold of it, he tossed it in the direction of the girl, but there was no focus to the throw and it bounced off a wall nowhere near her.

Akshay was exhausted but he was worried about the woman that had tried to protect him. That was the entire reason that he shouted to her and why he had done something as stupid as hurl his shield through the air and attack his enemy. It was not like Akshay had even expected it to work. If anything he was expecting his shield to miss by miles and maybe cause enough of a ruckus to startle her attacker. But he proved to be completely and utterly wrong.

Just as the amorphous attacker was turning away from the woman, both of which were looking pretty weak and exhausted, his Frisbee-like shield hit pay dirt! The man was struck hard across his face and sent him hurdling back onto the ground. Just as he stumbled back, the shield also clattered back onto the ground not far from him.

Akshay breathed a sigh of relief, and kudos that that had actually worked! He actually marveled at his own marksmanship (though more than likely it was just pure, dumb luck). But these thoughts were shaken away when he suddenly saw the man curl up into almost a literal ball. Appendages and limbs retracted and protected him; except for one which reached out and grabbed the offending shield.

“Hey!!” he started to dash forward but was too late as the shield went flying again.

Thankfully the man must have been pretty out of it because it simply rebounded off the wall and landed helplessly on the ground next to the woman. At least it seemed like that man was finally slowing down. Maybe he was finally getting it through his head that picking this fight was a bad decision?

He let such thoughts simmer as he dashed over to the purple woman, picked up his shield, and dropped to his knee next to her. The man had seemed exhausted enough that Akshay had his back to him as he knelt in order to check the woman.

“Hey, lady,” he cautioned as he very, very gently shook her shoulder. “Are you okay? Do you need a doctor?”

Being the hero was not all it was cracked up to be. Sure, the comic books and movies made it sound awfully appealing, but they were clearly leaving some very important information out of the picture. Information such as, it hurt to be a hero. Maybe if she had heard that part of it she might have reconsidered her actions. Actually, she probably wouldn't have but telling herself such at least made her feel a little less insane. The one good thing about the situation was the fact that, at least her opponent looked as bad as she currently did.

Skydancer gingerly made her way back to her feet. The only good thing about the situation is there were no large heights involved and no baseball bats, pipes or anything else capable of breaking bones. Scrapes and bruises sucked big time but they could be recovered from. Broken bones meant tubes most likely would be burst as well, and that was far more serious and far more difficult to recover from.

Skydancer ducked as the shield was thrown and went sailing over her head, although in truth she probably hadn't needed to duck in order to avoid it. "Can we just end this foolishness? I don't want to fight and you don't like to be in any shape to fight, so can we just end this and I'll let you go peacefully?" Just in case the shifter wasn't willing to listen to reason, she kept her tubes defensively in front of her, pointed tips directed outward.

“Hey, lady, Are you okay? Do you need a doctor?”

"No doctor," Skydancer answered. She spared a brief glance and a tired smile at the man before returning her attention to the threat. Her skin was all ready healing and unless he should throw something very unexpected at her, she didn't think a doctor would be necessary. "How about you? Do you need a doctor?" They had all taken a bit of a beating and not everyone had the advantage of miraculously healing flesh. Of course, some of the deeper pains would remain with her for days, but at least her skin would be nice and unmarred, right?