....Who am I?

Three words, as simple to say as they were to comprehend, their meaning universal to all cultures and ethnicity's around the world. Yes, three words, in the form of a question, whose answer every living being should be able to create for themselves. There was, of course, the deep philosophical meaning that some people would tell you to look for when asking that question. But for most people, those words simply asked...who you knew you were. A name to a face, something that defines you and proves that you live, breathe and exist.

So who was he? The words repeated through his mind, a three carriage train on a track that never ended, never stopped. And it never stopped because there was no station with an answer to stop at.

Other questions floated about the great void that his mind had become, questions about where he was, why he was here, how he'd come to this place. But not one of them had the strength that "who am I" had in this instance, nor could any of them be answered until that fundamental question was fulfilled. And why could it not? The man felt it there, the answer he was seeking, inches from his grasp...but no sooner had his hand reached out to take that hovering voice was it whisked away into the mists once again. It was as if something was dangling the cookie on a line in front of him and then laughing as they tore it away, only to dangle it again for a repeat performance. If he was able to register emotions right now, he'd likely be...what did they call it? Furious?

Again, as with every time he reached for that answer and failed, everything else just faded away. A blank slate that would be rebuilt again only for the cycle to repeat endlessly, restart and rebuild.

Who am I? And thus the cycle begins anew.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How are his vitals?", a single voice, male and deep with authority, rang out.

"Good sir. We've got him under heavy sedation but we're green across the board. Short of an earthquake, he won't be coming out of that state unless we shut off the drugs." This voice was different...female...light but serious, young too.

"Well, won't be needing to do that anytime soon. You have blood and tissue samples?" the old authoritative voice said again.

"Enough for now sir. If we need more, we'll have the handlers come give us a hand. For now, we should be able to run the tests effectively." There was a hint of eagerness in her voice now, the kind that slips into your tone when you're about to do something you find interesting.

"Excellent. Hopefully we'll get some success with this one; our latest batch didn't quite achieve the results we were looking for. Still...progress is progress. These mutants should at least be thankful we treat them so well...but then, they'll never know." Bitterness rang out in the man's voice, as if simply saying the word was corrupting his tongue. "Is your team prepared to go?"

"Yes sir. Final preparations are getting underway now. We're taking a big risk here, going next to that mutant hive. If parts of the government ever found out about this, or god forbid, the wrong kind of mutant, we could face some serious trouble."

"You leave that area to me and my staff. You're in charge of the biology and research division, so stick to what you know." A snort echoed the chamber they were in, the sounds of various machines beeping and hissing in the background. "There is no reward without risk. Just bring us back some high end test subjects this time. The stronger the mutant, the more potent they'll be and the better our chances of finding the link. I expect something to show for it tonight, doctor."

"Yes sir. We already have a few in mind..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The night was quiet. Sure, New York was never quite silent, but tonight, in this part of town, there was a strange kind of silence that filled the gap between cars traveling late at night. One could easily have attributed that to the fact that this was near Sanctuary, a place only the boldest humans would approach. Some mutants even had a hard time approaching the place; its reputation proceeded it well. Only a fool would come near the place with ill intent in mind.

For the men and women loading weapons and checking gear, however, that was the task put before them. Not one of them asked questions, though they did cover their insecurities about what they were about to do with jesting and the like while they were in transit. Now, no mouth spoke unless it was to ask for a piece of equipment, to give an order, to verify a bit of information that needed to be cleared for a peace of mind. Hours ago these men had been joking with one another, drinking, eating, enjoying life. Now they were all business, men paid and hired to do a job that carried the risk of coming home not with their fellows, but in a black bag that would vanish into the night. They had to be on their toes. Their chances of survival and the mission's success depended on it. And the mission's success always came first.

And so now they waited. Waiting for their contact to mark the targets, waiting for the opportune moment to spring their trap and bring home their prize. Or prizes. And just how many of them would be coming back still breathing the very air they breathed now.

Allison had learned a long time ago about rumors. Really, she didn’t remember a point where she didn’t know at least intellectually about them, even if it wasn’t until high school that she really saw how powerful they were. Still, she’d always known, abstractly, that rumors were powerful things; easily created, difficult to remove, capable of controlling and manipulating and destroying people in ways no one was quite willing to believe themselves vulnerable to. Not until it was too late, anyway, and then… well, Allison hadn’t gotten to ask that boy if he would admit that rumors about him could destroy him. No one had gotten to ask him anything; she only guessed it was rumors because she’d heard them first and laughed them off. The boy hated mutants; how could he possibly have been one? If he could control peoples’ minds, he’d have controlled the rumor out of existence.

Not that he needed to be one for people to believe he was one, or to react to the belief. Allison viewed rumors a bit more seriously after that, though she was even less likely to believe them.

Time faded things, though, and by the time Allison heard the first whisper around Sanctuary about someone kidnapping mutants, the boy in high school had been nearly forgotten. She rolled her eyes at the rumor--really, someone kidnapping mutants might happen, but from “the heart of Sanctuary”? There were far too many powerful mutants around for that to ever happen.

Other people, however, seemed not to dismiss the irrational so easily. The second time Allison heard the rumor she made a point of dramatically rolling her eyes and dismissing the notion; by the fourth time she heard it, she was beginning to worry. Not because the rumors were practical at all, but because so many people seemed to believe them. That could make people nervous, and that… well. Allison wasn’t sure exactly what would happen, but putting a bunch of people, many with highly destructive abilities, in one place and making them all paranoid was never going to have good results. So, absurd or not, the rumors had to be dealt with.

How to deal with them… that was more difficult. Clearly, just pointing out the absurdity of the idea wasn’t enough; it rarely was for rumors. The best Allison could come up with otherwise, though, was a patrol; if people saw that there were guards, hopefully they’d relax a bit. And, hopefully, the time she spent patrolling would give her a chance to figure out something better.

Allison by herself wouldn’t look like much of a patrol, though. Justifiably enough, to anyone who knew her abilities; she wasn’t exactly a fighter. That, however, meant she’d have to find someone else to go with her, which… could be a little more complicated.

Fortunately, it didn’t take too much wandering for her to find a solution, conveniently located in the cafeteria (along with another overheard whisper that could easily have been the rumor). Allison grinned and changed directions. “Aurion!”

You ever have those days...you know the ones, where you are just in a terrible mood, and you don't know why? Worse yet you can't seem to slog it off? I'm sure you have, everyone has, and that was the type of day Aurion was having. For whatever reason he was just irritated and snappy, glowering at everyone who passed him. It couldn't have woken up on the wrong side of the bed. He didn't have a bed.

The first place he went was the roof of Sanctuary. Normally that was the place he went to to relax, be alone, etc. It was nice up there, at least he thought so. But no, that did anything to help his mood. So off to the Gym he went. And broke one of the punching machines, and a treadmill thing. The sauna and pool did nothing either. So he stalked off, hunched over, walking on all fours, tail lashing from side to side, occasionally slapping into the walls and even ceiling a couple times. Aurion ignored the protests and exclamations of those he passed when his tail, or shoulders came close to knocking someone over. His only reaction to such things were a glare, a growl, and a baring of teeth.

He wound up in the kitchen, raiding the large fridges. A large turkey, some pork chops, and steak were the things he carried with him to a table. The meat was deposited with some force, causing those around the table to move away. Pork chops and steak were the first things that he devoured, greedily and in a very messy way.

When Allison came into the cafeteria he had already eaten almost all of the meat he had brought to the table. When she called his name, he looked up at her and sheered a large chunk of meat from the turkey leg. Aurion grunted at her as she sat across from him.

He picked the bird clean of all meat as he listened to her explain the rumors she had been hearing. He really hadn't been in the mood for company, but he had still been eating. By the time she finished telling him about it, and what she thought about doing, he figured she had a good idea. Even if they rumors were exaggerations or complete fabrications, it was better to take a look and prove the rumors wrong, than do nothing and them be true.

"Fine. We go." He didn't mean to sound angry, or upset, but his words were clipped and sharp. Besides, maybe a mutant like Aurion, who was obviously irritated, would help deter anyone from trying anything. Especially since Alli was not a very threatening or imposing mutant.

Aurion's sharp, quick, movements had him moving towards the door almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth. He didn't know what Alli thought of that, and he didn't really care at that moment. He only knew a few things, that Allison was following him as they moved towards the Foyer and street, and that if there was some truth to the rumors....he wouldn't just be spotted with red.

The blade sliced the spot he'd been before, forming a nice red line along his leg as it grazed him on the way up. Landing on his side on the dumpster, he rolled over the dumpster and landed on his feet on the other side, glancing briefly down to the red line on his leg. Smiling beneath his mask, he chuckled as he thought over his next move. "That's amazing! You can control its length when its already been formed? Impressive indeed!"

But what was his next move? The memory was so vague, so misty, that although the man could see through his eyes, could feel the world around him, nothing was clear. Not where he was. Not who he was fighting. Not how he had come to be hurt. And again, most importantly, not who he was. It all felt familiar though. If he could just push past the mist, force himself to see clearly for even the briefest of moments, deep down he knew all his questions would be answered in a single instant. And so he tried, driving himself into that mist with reckless abandon, clawing at it as if by simply sweeping his hands he could clear his way and find those answers he so desperately craved to find.

And then it was over. The memory was gone, stripped from him yet again, taken far from his grasping fingers and his voice that had no sound. Not that the man would remember having come so close; once again his mind retreated into nothing, dim and blank as it had been for so long now. Had it been long? Didn't he just arrive at this place? And thus the cycle of questions without answers begun anew. Who knew what memory would claw its way free this time to tease and torment him; no one could answer that question, for no one knew.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rigs hated this assignment. Hated it with such a passion that he was probably the best man for the job, if only for a few simple reasons. One, no one looked twice at some bum curled up in ragged clothes and a grime stained jacket. Rigs had a talent at making himself fit into any environment and being that guy on the street people actually cross it to avoid. Okay sure, some folks had dared to pass him and toss money into that hat of his, money he put to good use like any bum would...but for the most part, he was a ghost. If anyone had taken a proper look, they might have noticed that his bum was built like a tank, although the jacket hid most of that from plain sight.

Secondly, Rigs hated mutants to a fault. Okay sure, he'd seen some mutants that probably deserve his kind of hatred, but Rigs could push that kind of emotion far from his mind. Mutants were a menace, whether they wanted to be or not. Hell, even nukes in the hand of some brain dead president were better; at least the president needed to get permission before dropping an H-bomb. This mutants didn't and Rigs didn't know what was worse; a mutant who didn't even know they were carrying that much juice or one that did...and didn't care. They all needed to be controlled or killed in Rig's mind. Only way for humanity to ensure they didn't get wiped out.

Finally, it was because, despite his hatred for mutants, Rigs could be as cold and detached from that emotion as if he didn't have it at all. Which meant that despite sitting across from one of the biggest mutant hives in New York, Rigs never even as much as snarled at the place. Nothing to give away his true intent; a watcher. The boys from base had placed him here to observe the place, to watch the comings and goings of every mutant that went in or out and, if chance arose, tag one for pickup. Preferably, any that made the list of known mutants with a hell of kick to them or were visibly mutated to the point where they might provide good DNA. That's what Rigs inside contact was for, a man they'd placed inside that grant fort; sure, it was a mutant but it was one of their mutants, who would die for them in an instant. And that man had just dropped Rigs some intel on a few mutants who would be perfect for pickup. And lucky for them tonight, one of them was wandering outside even now...and it was not alone.

Lifting his arm as to cough into it, Rigs clicked the small communicator in his hand to life. "Rigs here. Got a couple coming out of the rabbit hole now. Got confirmed eyes on one known to others as Aurion; hard to miss, he's a giant waking lizard. He's got a girl with him, no visible mutation that I can see. Suggest waiting to see if they break off, try and catch just the big guy."

Not a moment later, a voice came back through his hidden headset, a woman's voice that did a little to warm his chilled body. "Negative street panner. Can't chance a catch like this slipping by; we'll take them both. Might even get lucky and nab two that will pay for our research."

"Roger that. They're making their way down the steps now...heading towards my position west of the rabbit hole. Get the boys into place. The big guy might need a bit more to take him down."

"Understood. We brought the payload just for something like this. Lead them in."

The payload?! Ah shit, Rigs thought to himself. Somewhere deep inside, Rigs almost felt bad for the pair at that thought. Deep, deep, way to far down to matter inside of course though. With a slight cough, Rigs watched as they grew closer, taking to one another, before slipping into the shadows the alley he was near and throwing a small rock to catch the big guy's attention. Then he vanished into the alley and into a darkened parking lot hidden around the corner. Come on then, you damned mutants. Come into our parlor and play.

The sound of weapons being cocked was masked by the sudden wind that echoed through the packing lot as Rig's comrades waited for their prey. Waited and prayed and sneered.

Aura was in the foyer, having just gotten back to sanctuary after visiting a few places who had decided not to pay protection money. Both had paid up upon realizing what she could do them and wanted to do them. Her feelings aside she followed the orders as they were given. The foyer seemed quite today to Aura today which disappointed her slightly, she enjoyed seeing new mutants walk through the golden doors, unable to grasp how pure and beautiful sanctuary truly was.

Aura was about give up when she Saw Aurion, unmistakable in his appearance. Perhapse of more concern was Allsion following behind both head for the door. SHe took a half second to react and charged went out the door after them. "Hello my love, and you as well Aurion, May i ask the hurry?" she said keeping up with them, her question entirely out of concern.

She had of course tried to look into the rumor's but the city was large and one could hide very easily if they knew what they were doing. She had come up dry, despite rather thorough interrogations which left her without question they had known nothing at all of the kidnaping's. If the rumors were true, she would aide in giving the sentence to such a terrible crime against mutant kind. Aura was simply happy that if somthing did happon she would be here.

Allison had to alternate between walking and running every few steps to keep up with Aurion, but that didn’t bother her too much. She had to do that fairly often, and with as tall as Aurion was, it probably would have been almost painful for him to slow down enough for her to keep up easily. Probably best not to annoy the person she was about to spend a few hours with. And anyway, it wasn’t like running was hard.

Allison grinned when she saw Aura, then beamed at the greeting. “There’s rumors about someone kidnapping mutants from Sanctuary, and they’re freaking people out. We’re going to go be visible guards so people can relax. Want to come?”

Allison grabbed for Aura’s hand as they continued. She would have clung a bit more, really, but it was somewhat difficult to do that when moving as fast as they were. Or moving at all. She took advantage of the pause as Aurion opened the door to cuddle before letting go. Cuddling was wonderful, but not particularly guard-like, and the goal was to look guard-like after all.

Outside was cooler than Allison had expected, though not cold yet. Evidently it had been a while since she’d been outside at night; she’d adjusted to only encountering daytime temperatures. And it would be getting colder; the sun was low, streaming into Allison’s eyes and making her squint, but not nearly down yet. That… would be a problem. Much colder and Allison was going to need a jacket. Unless Aura could turn her aura into a jacket….

Well, hopefully it wouldn’t get colder too quickly. Once it was dark they could always go inside; most mutants wouldn’t be able to see if they were still there, and some of those who could would be asleep. Even those who saw them coming in should still be reassured, as long as they didn’t sprint in being chased by something.

Aurion gave Aura a gruff, grunting, 'Hng' of greeting. He wasn't annoyed or upset seeing Aura, or that she would be tagging along, at least not any more than the mood he was in already. Besides, having Aura around could only be a boon to their little group. Aurion himself was potent; Allison, on the other hand, was not. If, by some chance, some moron really did try to make a move on them, it was nice to know that Aura would be there as well, not only to watch his back, but also to help protect Alli.

He was also glad that Allison was there. Aurion didn't really relish the thought of trying to explain what they were up to. Speaking had gotten easier since he had began living at Sanctuary and had to speak more, but he still spoke in a jarring, halting way. Not to mention he was just not in a good mood. Though, he admitted to himself, he doubted Aura would have joined him in the patrol, if Allison wasn't with him already.

When they got outside Aurion took up a position closest to the street and slightly ahead of the girls, with Allison in the middle. He plodded along on all fours, tail flicking and swinging from side to side, occasionally hitting something and causing him to snarl or wince momentarily. Opening his mouth to speak, Aurion felt the cool air as it passed through his mouth into his lungs. Looking at Alli and Aura, he saw that neither of them would be too warm if it got cooler out.

Up ahead of them he saw two women walking in the same direction they were going. "You two." His deep voice easily carried to the women. By the way they stiffened it was obvious they had noticed the three of them before he called to them. What he was more surprised about was that they didn't bolt or even attempt to pretend they hadn't heard him, instead they turned their heads to look at him. Moving ahead of Aura and Alli, he closed the distance to the women. "Need jackets. Now." His tone was gruff, with a 'Don't piss me off.' edge to it.

With just a little bit of reluctance they handed him their jackets. Aurion caught sight of something on one of their necks. His head tilted down as he looked at it, the woman shifted, trying to hide whatever was on her neck. In a quick motion his hand was up, finger extended and pulled her shirt away from her body. Looking up into her eyes, he glanced at the woman's friend then back. The woman shook her head. Pulling his hand away from her he looked at the human, "Go home. Now." With a little nod from the woman Aurion had grabbed, she took off. To her he said softly, "Streets not safe now. Hide powers. Golden doors. Sanctuary. Run." He pointed in the direction that he, Alli, and Aura had come from. He thanked her, patting her on the arm before she took off at a dead sprint.

Though he watched the woman run towards Sanc to make sure nothing happened to her, he kept an eye on the surroundings. He held the jackets out to Allison and Aura. He spoke in a flat tone, "Return them later." Since he was facing the way they had come, he didn't notice the man slip by, but he did hear when the thrown rock smashed into a car window.

Aurion turned his head quickly towards the sound. Aurion saw where the rock had cracked the car window. Though it was unseen, he raised one eyebrow, as he looked in the direction the rock must have come from. Turning to girls he shrugged. "Check it out?" Before he moved to follow the unseen man, he tore the door off the car. "Broken already." He held the door off to the side, somewhat in front of Allison.

"I had heard those very rumors, though i never tracked down any real information on it" she said. "i Will join you, though" she went on. She trusted Aurion of course but Humans were stupid and might not take Aurions obvious superiority seriously. She still encountered humans who still tried to punch her, so their intelligence in her eyes was suspect. Aura assumed humans were behind this if anything actually was going on.

She took Allsion's hand as it was offered and smiled enjoying the all to brief cuddle time before they were outside. It was something she had grown to enjoy. If they were to be visible guards though she would need to help in that department. In her free hand, she formed a fly swatter, somthing she had learned on a camping trip with her sister.

She watched as Aurion requested Jackets from two passing woman, Sanctuary residents as well it seemed. She did not quite approve of the action but Since Aurion did not hurt them, she said nothing. Still he was right, these kidnappings were disturbing and unusually close to home. Most people knew better then to target such a place.

Aurion then ripped a door from a car, it was broken and their was little they could do about it now anyway. "Yea, we should" She said hoping the rock had not been a simple way to get their attention. She glanced once more at the car door, she would need to recall Aurions strength in the future. A thin pink outline appeared around, stopping only where Allison's fingers touched.

Although Rigs had already been moving by the time the new mutant had joined the pair, he'd managed to at least notice the new arrival before he'd fled down the dark corridors of the alley, making only enough noise to make it clear which direction he was going. Although then that, he was a ghost in the night, almost vanishing in the dark shadows before he'd kick or knock something aside to give away his position, which was often several feet away from where he was last. Rigs had been chosen for this job because of his skills and because he could get the job done.

The addition of that third member of the group, which from Rigs brief glance he could tell it was a woman, wasn't a complication to the plan. Not yet, in any case. Not unless she was one of those women they had been briefed on, one of those women who resided within the Sanctuary walls who's power made even his bosses shiver slightly. From his glance, he could tell she wasn't the one who's face was plastered all over the city, the bone mistress or whatever she was. It was both a comforting and shameful thought; it meant they weren't dealing with a ruthless killer for sure yet, but at the same time, she would certainty be a prize the docs would like. And if the payload was anything like he'd heard, even she'd have a tough time with the damn thing.

Rigs quickly swallowed those thoughts, instead shifting his mind to focus on the task at hand. Somewhere behind him, he heard the sound of metal grinding, the unmistakable sound of it being shone from somewhere. Skidding to a stop at the corner of the alley, Rigs glanced back, his eyes piercing the darkness with ease as he looked back to the spot he'd been only moment before. Sure enough, the three were following him, the lizard man in the lead with the two women coming up behind him. The source of that sound was there, held clearly in the lizard man's outstretched arm. A car door. A makeshift shield eh? Pretty clever for a freak...that also mean's he's strong enough to rip a car door off. Now I'm glad we brought the payload, Rigs thought to himself.

They were being cautious though, which meant they would be thinking clearly when they walked into the trap. Couldn't have that, so Rigs gathered his wits and cleared this throat. Then his hand went up, another rock sailing clearly from his grip towards the women. As expected, the lizard shifted the shield to deflect the blow, but its intent had been clear enough. Flipping a single gesture with his other hand, what Rigs did next would have dug deep into even the calmest of men.

"Hey, you ugly mutant freak! You some kind of special freak who gets off on having his way with normal women or they just big enough hoes that they'll even give a lizard a slip of the tongue?! Well, I guess someone would have to want to get knocked up by your kind, otherwise you wouldn't have been born! Or did mom and dad crap out a freak and then kick him to the curb? Don't blame them, lizard balls. If you even have them. S'matter?! You afraid of a human, you dumb shit? You should be!"

He'd said the words in quick fashion, knowing it wouldn't take long for that freak to come barreling across the alley. With any luck, that would be exactly what he did and those two women with him. Even if he hadn't touched a nerve in the women, he didn't know a man alive that he couldn't get under their skin...Rigs was good at that too. Flipping another gesture, Rigs suddenly took off full tilt across the street, disappearing around the corner before doing so to break line of sight.

Then he was bursting into the waiting trap, making a non-committal motion with his hand that was the signal to be ready. Sliding in behind a nearby car, Rigs was handed a loaded weapon by the man waiting there in efficient fashion, readying the rifle and taking aim at the parking lot entrance. Around him, the rest of the men were ready to close the trap...and one man stood ready at the door of a moving truck, ready to fling it open at a moment's notice.

As soon as the three entered the lot, Rigs sprang the trap. He almost shouted in victory. Almost.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He was drawing his right arm back for the main attack when the woman shifted the arm carrying to bone whip to snap in his direction. At this distance, the main body of the whip was his concern, though there was always the possibility of the end managing to snap around and clip him. One thing at a time. His first thought was to duck and roll under the incoming attack....a thought that had to switch on the fly as the bone whip suddenly added another feature: bony spikes across its entire length.

"My lord, you'll just full of lovely surprises."

The memory drifted across his eyes as if he was standing there, living every moment of it again in perfect detail. In fact, he could almost feel the air shifting as the weapon came at him, which made him want to evade it just like he'd done before. Just as quickly as the thought entered his mind, it was yanked back, along with the rest of the memory, dragged back into that abyss where every thought had gone. The fog returned, thicker then ever, but for a brief moment, the man was able to hang onto something.

That woman. The one who in his memory had been striking so determinedly at him, those bone weapons of hers filled with blood lust, their intent clear. The mist tried to cover her up and it was only a matter of time before it succeeded. But the man held it back for that extra moment, burning the image of that woman into his mind. The fog would take it, this mind realized, but somewhere deep down, he knew he would not forget as he had before.

All these memories that had tried to surface had her. She was the key to remembering. And so he would make sure he remembered, even as the world grew dark and misty once again.

It took Allison a moment to recognize the flyswatter as what it was, and when she did she giggled. A flyswatter was… not really what she thought of as a proper weapon, but who knew; being made of aura probably gave it all kinds of special abilities. And it would be seen as quite fitting.

Allison was, actually, kind of surprised that she wasn’t startled or scared by Aurion’s occasional snarls. She would have been when she moved to New York. Or she assumed she would have, anyway, but then she’d assumed she still would be until he actually snarled. Instead she glanced over a few times, saw that nothing seemed wrong, and paid it no more attention.

The jackets were nice. Not quite Allison’s favorite, since they removed her excuse to go inside and sleep early, but oh well; she’d be warmer in the meantime, and she didn’t have any particular need to get up the next day. Besides, if she got tired, that would probably be enough of a reason by itself to go inside. Or just fall asleep where they were, if they found somewhere to sit. And the women Aurion had gotten them from… well, were probably terrified out of their minds, honestly. But they’d get over it, and had no reason to be scared anyway, and they could return the jackets later. So Allison smiled at Aurion as she slid the jacket on, grinning that it was (like everything) too large for her. Jackets were the one clothing item she’d never minded that in; it just made them warmer, after all. She had no objections to her fingers being (in this case half) covered and kept warm as well.

The car door she was less sure of, since an entire door was… slightly harder to repair than a window. Of course, the insurance company would probably just replace the entire thing instead, so whoever owned it would get a new car out of it. And, well, it was already done anyway, and… friendly Aurion might be, but Allison still wasn’t inclined to argue with him. So she raised an eyebrow--as much at the fact that he held it in front of her as anything else--but said nothing.

She was more grateful when a rock came flying at her (seriously, a rock? Wasn’t that a bit too cliche to be allowed in reality?) and was blocked. Her eyebrow rose further, and was matched by the other, as the (apparently homeless) man began yelling, and about a sentence later her mouth was open in shock. Really? Really? Okay, so it was nothing she hadn’t heard or been called before, but really? Even assuming the guy was stupid (and/or insane) enough to have missed the fact that all three of them had just been in Sanctuary… really? Did he think that making three (or even one) mutants mad at him was a good idea? The entire basis of prejudice against mutants was fear; why would any rational person antagonize mutants?

…Not that people often behaved rationally. Still, Allison was going to go with crazy.

And apparently, they were going to go inform the lunatic of his error. Not precisely the most guard-like action… but he had thrown something that them (her), so technically he’d attacked, and letting a small attack go tended to invite larger ones. So taking care of it wasn’t a bad idea.

The guy was surprisingly good at disappearing, though; Allison didn’t see him anywhere in the mostly-empty parking lot he seemed to run into. There were some cars that he could have hidden behind, buildings he might have gotten into (and, with luck, would be quickly expelled from), and a few unkempt medium-to-large bushes that he might have hidden behind if he was particularly skilled, but which wouldn’t be enough if they just looked from another angle. So unless he was some form of teleporter, it shouldn’t be a matter of anything more than checking the cars and, if he’d managed to get in a building, waiting for him to be kicked back out. Allison slowed, pausing just into the parking lot, turning and glancing around to figure out which car was most likely for him to have hidden behind, considering the time he’d had (not much) and the angle he’d have come in it. It only took a few seconds to pick one and point at it. “Try that one.”

Aurion blinked as the rock hit the door and realized it had been aimed at Allison. Looking at her, she seemed to have the same reaction to it that he did. It was kind of pathetic. Or would have been by itself, but apparently it was just meant to get their attention, again. The man was spouting off a whole bunch of stuff that Aurion understood, but didn't quite 'get'.

The girls seemed to have a different reaction to the man's words. They seemed to get what they guy was implying, and it wasn't good. Allison had a sort of incredulous look on her face. "He is stupid. No?" Aurion said to the two women next to him. "You no think he try make us mad, do you?" Aurion got the feeling this wasn't just a case of a human being stupid and tempting fate by pissing off a few mutants.

When they saw the man duck out of sight in a parking lot Aurion looked to Aura. "Cover Alli. I go up." He pointed at the wall then to the roof of the nearest building.

With that he shifted his grip on the door and jumped, dug his claws into the wall then pulled and jumped again until he got to the roof. He followed the progress of the girls on the ground and reached the parking lot entrance at the same time they did. Alli apparently was very quick on the draw. He glanced down and saw the direction she pointed in.

His arm went back, getting ready to throw the door at the car Alli picked out. Aurion didn't really expect the door to make it, but maybe it would get close enough to get the guy to come out. Just as he was about to let go of the door he saw something from the corner of his eye. "Guns!" He yelled as he launched himself off the building before he threw the door at the car already picked out.

The Rock seemed out of place. Aura had been attacked with a large verity of weapons before, but not very often with a common rock. It was aimed at Allison However which made Aura growl. The content of the message the man shouted was not lost on Aura either, but She had an odd feeling tugging at the back of her mind, Like she was overlooking something. He was running and it seemed like he was leading somewhere as well.

The man was an idiot in any case, if Aura got a hand on him, we would live only a hair longer. Aura was unsure Allison was the actual target of the guy just had poor aim and meant for one of them. Either way to Aura attacking a Mutant was a criminal offense, weather or not the blow landed at all. Animals should never be aloud to get away with such things, she thought to herself.

Aura watched as Allison pointed a car she thought the man had hidden near. As Aurion moved to check, Aura looked around. Somthing was not right, She stayed near Allison her eyes looking around them. She was feeling a bit like a lead animal and she did not like it much. Aura took a breath and Her Aura was around her, much more easily seen now. Aurion's call about gun's came a moment later, however Aura moved forward hoping to atarct attention. She had no idea about Aurion, but she knew her resistence to bullets was better then Allison's. "A trap" she mutterd realizeing what that sinking feeling in her had been all along.

When it comes to any plan, the plan could be the most masterfully designed plan ever conceived...until the first moment of action. There are so many variables to consider and counting on someone, human or mutant, to act in a certain way with only minor intel on their personality, is stretching even with the best possible guess. Which is why the second best rule when it came to plans is always have a fallback plan. In Rig's case, it was to have several fall back plans. And now was certainly time to use it.

Rigs had been counting on the three mutants to enter the parking lot from the only viable entrance. His troops were positioned in accordance with that belief, so that when they entered the lot, he could close the trap around them, cutting of their escape. What he hadn't expected was the two women to enter the lot alone. Or the lizard man to come barreling down from the roof of the building across the street flinging a door towards the parking lot. Towards him. If Rigs were a lesser man, he might have panicked in the wake of this development. Some of his men were twitching in response to this development for sure. Unfortunately for the mutants, that's the best they would get.

Rigs rose quickly from behind the car he was taking position behind, stepping out with rifle raised towards the two women. The door landed with a crash a few feet to his side, exactly as he expected it too. At a slight gesture with his head, more of his men, about two dozen in total, readied their weapons, though only about half that number made their presence known. The one's that didn't make their presence known has the tranq guns at the ready, while those who made their presence known had fully loaded weapons; the difference in the guns would have given away their true intention of this meeting.

"Nice of you to join us. Now, all of you, down on the ground with your hands behind your back. And one wrong move from you, lizard man, and I'll make sure your girlfriends here learn how good a shot these men are. We don't want this to have to turn to violence, but no mistake; we won't have any second thoughts if we do."

Rigs glanced to the man standing by next to their loading truck, giving him a slight nod. The man caught the look and tensed his hand on the handle to the door. One wrong move from any of the three and he would fling that door high. And then all would end quickly.

Allison’s guess at which car the crazy guy had hidden behind was accurate. Or, at least, it seemed to be; someone emerged from behind the car who seemed to match the guy who’d run for as good a look as Allison had gotten. Unfortunately, Aurion’s car door missed.

Equally unfortunately, it seemed that Allison’s original assessment of ‘crazy’ had also missed. And guns? Those had been nowhere in her thoughts at all.

Allison froze when the guns--and the people wielding them--appeared. That was still an instinctive response; guns were danger, and danger was not something Allison liked to run into without thinking.

But knives and drugs and mutations were danger too, and so was falling out of trees and wandering the streets at night with Megan. Allison had gotten much more used to danger, recently. So after the initial freeze she relaxed, smiled, and whispered “Aura?”

Allison was pretty sure that Aura could do something about bullets--if not stop them, then deflect or slow or somehow else deal with them. Allison didn’t know of anything yet that Aura couldn’t deal with, anyway, and running clearly wasn’t an option. Hopefully Aurion would get to where Aura could protect him too; Allison wasn’t completely sure about him, but she had yet to encounter anything living that could resist bullets well enough to matter against guns like that. The chances that Aurion could were not ones she liked.

That took care of defense, as well as they could, anyway. But there were too many enemies for them to necessarily get away; moving would be difficult with all of them needing to be protected by the aura, and far too slow to prevent the enemies from simply following them--and, probably, surrounding them. So assuming the enemies were halfway calm--which seemed to be the case--escape wasn’t an option.

Besides, Allison was not happy in the least about this. She had nothing against humans--they were at a disadvantage, sure, but that didn’t mean they were inferior. Perhaps her opinion was because she wasn’t any more powerful than they were, or perhaps not, but Allison fully believed that mutants were every bit as human as artists, athletes, and all other humans with talents.

That did not mean she was going to forgive bigotry from them. And this looked very like bigotry to her. But doing much of anything would be difficult with the sheer number of enemies. If they behaved rationally, anyway.

So make them irrational. Allison had no clue what any of the others were motivated by, or telling themselves they were motivated by, so she focused on the one who’d spoken. “Girlfriend, girlfriend, girlfriend. You’re just so fixated on that, aren’t you? Why, are you jealous? Couldn’t convince anyone to sleep with you, so you figured you’d trap someone and force them to? Can’t say I blame them, I wouldn’t want anything to do with any kind of bigot either.”

Allison’s smile stayed in place, fixed on the not-crazy guy who seemed to be leading. Aura was there, and if the enemies had really wanted to kill them, they would have done so--or at least attempted to--when they first appeared. Which meant that the enemies’ intent was not to kill them, at least no any time soon. So no matter how he reacted, they were safe, and she’d just keep taunting him until he lost that nice self control and was ready to do something stupid. Then, they could deal with the bigots.

Throwing the door did get the man to show himself, even if it didn't hit, it did have the added effect of pushing Aurion slightly higher and to the side. So when he landed it wasn't right next to the man who seemed to be in charge. The man was calm, very calm, and almost seemed unsurprised to have Aurion jump from a building and throw a car door at him. It wasn't his first rodeo it seemed. Aurion listened to the man, his threats, his demand. Aurion smiled a wicked little smile.

They really didn't realize what they were doing having put himself and Aura in the positions they were in. With Allison mixed in it, Aura wasn't going to be able to go on the offensive easily, but who better to be on defense and keep Allison from being hurt than Aura? Even if he didn't know the full extent of Aura's abilities, she was Order, and that was all Aurion needed to be confident in what she could do.

Aurion, being the only one completely free to act, had the task of either eliminating the humans or drawing their attention to him so the girls could get away. He glanced at the weapons the humans were carrying and wasn't quite as confident as he appeared to be. Having never dealt with guns like that he wasn't sure if they'd crumple against his scales or if they'd put a lot of holes in him. Pain would be a part of either option, stopping bullets with your body always left welts and bruises, and even resulted in scales falling away, sometimes, but not very often.

Allison... Alison was easily the least combat oriented of the three mutants, and probably any of them in the parking lot. But she was quick enough to figure out what was going on, quicker than either he or Aura. Even managed to pick out which car the man had been hiding behind. She hadn't seen him do that, couldn't see him from where she stood. It only took her a couple seconds to do it, even if it was a guess, it was a damned good guess. Aurion had the feeling she was also the most articulate of the three.

And she was proving it. Aurion didn't know if it would have the effect she was going for exactly, but he was hoping she'd get them to be a little less calm and composed. If not that, then maybe they wouldn't be focused on him for a moment or so.

Looking around the area he saw four men, clad in what looked like police issue body armor, which probably helped against humans, but..Aurion chuckled to himself. Their armor wouldn't stop him. With a glance back to the girls, he was confident Aura was able to keep Allison safe. They were off to the side, in a sort of jagged, zig-zag line. He could get to them quickly, he knew that. and as long as he didn't get riddled with bullets in the process, he would be able to at least clear that side. Which would mean Aura would have less to worry about.

With that firmly planted in his head, Aurion juked to the side, ducking low, grabbed a car with both hand, heaved and threw it at the closest human. There was a chance he would escape, but it was slim. He was just beginning to move when the first report hit his ears milliseconds before he felt the impact of that first bullet. Aurion didn't bother wondering if the pain he felt was from a stopped bullet or a bullet hole, he just peeled off at the second human.

He felt a number of glancing shots across his torso and arms as he moved and tried to keep his tail low. The target he was after had his rifle aimed and began pulling the trigger. Aurion felt the impacts throughout his whole body. Jumping on the hood of one car, then bounding off the side of another, Aurion came at the man at a sideways angle. He tried to duck out of the way, but was too slow. Aurion grabbed the man's head with both clawed hands, dug his claws into the neck, twisted and pulled.

The move was finished by the time they hit the ground. In one hand Aurion held the man's head, in the other he grabbed the body. Twisting, he sent the body at his farthest target while the head took a b-line straight for the third of the four he had picked out. Absently Aurion realized that he hadn't seen any blood pumping from his chest during his attack on the second man. Inwardly, subconsciously, this gave Aurion a huge burst of confidence. Dropping to all fours, his head lowered he let out one of the loudest, deepest roaring bellows he had ever let loose. Loud enough to rattle a few windows of the buildings near the parking lot.

With all four limbs and a tail providing some force, Aurion rocketed nearly full speed (about 25mph) at the third target.