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Post by rusty on Aug 5, 2005 7:48:51 GMT -5
The rest of the train ride was fun, and it was kind of interesting to try and get off the train without looking at anyone, and they got out into what was presumably Sharon's park. It wasn't until he saw a sign that Rusty realised where they were and his mouth formed a small O of amazement. Wow, Central Park. He hadn't realised that it was this big.
They moved into the park, Rusty looking around in amazement. It was kind of weird, seeing all this green space and knowing that there were sky scrapers just out of sight. " So Rusty, you do know about Central Park right? It's one of the tourists attractions of New York City. The largest park I know of, and the best looking one too. You could get lost in it if you don't know your way around." Sabastian said, startling Rusty a bit. He'd almost forgotten the other boy was behind him, since they'd been so quiet. Nodding gently, he looked at the sprawling park. "Yeah, I can imagine getting lost in here." He murmured softly in reply, distracted.
Sharon however apparently knew the way through the park, leading them down a smaller path to a less crowded, slightly cleaner area. Looking back over at the group, she grinned. "My park." Rusty nodded, not replying. Central Park had a park inside it. That was cool, actually. Sharon was looking strangely behind, and Rusty turned around, wondering if there was something interesting happening. Sharon sometimes got distracted by really normal stuff but she did have a nack for finding the interesting variety as well.
It was just two guys however. Two big guys. Who looked kind of...nasty and angry. Rusty just looked at them for a moment, blinking. Everyone knew cities were full of criminals. You saw it all the time on tv and, while tv wasn't always exactly right, it usually had some basis in fact. "Uhhh...Jono?" Rusty said, tapping the other boy on the shoulder. Remembering he was supposed to be signing to him, he panicked and waved his hands frantically, flicking random gestures that hopefully looked like sign language. Thinking really loudly, he said < Do we have a problem?>
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Post by darkmatter on Aug 5, 2005 8:23:17 GMT -5
Sabastian followed Sharon, looking back every once in a while, they were definantly being followed. However Sabstian really couldn't do anything abou it. He doubted though that the men would do anything while they were in a crowded area so he waited, he'd alerted Jono and that was all he could do. It made him jumpy and nervous but he walked on trying to look normal. If the men didn't know that the Hellions knew they were being followed then it would give the Hellions the upper hand.
He walked into the less crowded area and saw Sharon jump up on a rock. Sabastian's heart sunk. This was not what they needed. They needed crowds they needed a big open space so people could see what was happening. My park! She said and Sabastian smiled, " It's lovely Sharon." He saw her face change and knew that the men were behind him. Rusty's frantic hand waving confirmed it. He glanced back and saw the two men, they looked meaner, < That's them jono>
He walked over to Rusty and muttered quietly to him, " They've been following us from the subway." With that he walked forward away from the group toward the men, < I'm going to see what they want. Get ready for trouble>. Sabastian used his I'm-not-here-to-make-trouble-but-if-you-give-me-any-i'll-give-you-some-back look as he walked toward the two men. He didn't come close enough to them that they would be able to hit him if they tried, just close enough to talk. He went silently through the opening comments he could make, What do you want was not one he would choose. It provided too much of an opening. can I help you was the same way Is there something wrong wouldn't work either. He paused when he reached the men, " My friends and I don't really appreciate the looks were getting from you, so please either explain or point them elsewhere."
Well at lest it was the traditional New York mind your own buisness greeting. His accent probably helped, at least the men would know he was no tourist.
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Post by deeb on Aug 6, 2005 22:36:30 GMT -5
Jono nodded to Sharon when she confirmed that indeed, she considered the sprawling wilderness within a city her 'park'. Dark Matter warned him that they were being followed. If course they were being bloody followed, hadn't he explained that to Sabastian in the Hellfire Club? Emma was likely having them followed for their own safety. He was about to point this out when Rusty tapped him on the shoulder than began to wave his hands in the air like a fool. < Do we have a problem?>
Chamber rolled his eyes. < Bloody hell, Rusty, > he snapped. < Stop waving your arms around like a git. Mute doesn't mean deaf. > Whether or not they had a problem, Jono couldn't tell yet. Sharon seemed to have noticed the men as well and seemed concerned.
Sabastian pointed out the obvious. < That's them, Jono, > he said, then continued. < I'm going to see what they want. Get ready for trouble. >
Jono let out a mental and sigh and palmed his face. Get ready for trouble how? If he removed his scarf and face covering to get ready for battle, he'd give them away as mutants. Chamber let out another mental sigh and opened up his mind, scanning the surface thoughts of the two men Sabastian had approached. They were not Hellfire Club security. They were gang members who planned to mug them. And they'd brought four buddies to help them. Bloody hell, Jono though bitterly. We're not out an hour and we find trouble. Emma was going to kill him. Granted, she'd kill that blighter Forge for abandoning them too. That was a small comfort.
< Right, > he told all the Hellions. < We're surrounded. There's the two chaps the Sabastian is socializing with and four more blocking our exits. Any bloody suggestions? >
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Post by Catseye on Aug 7, 2005 2:11:26 GMT -5
She froze as Jono relayed the message. There were people trying to hurt them? In her park? That was just plain unacceptable. She thought for a minute. < Hit them with a bottle? That's what Stan said to do if someone gave you trouble. Hit them with a bottle. >
Of course, she didn't see any bottles lying around. None that would work, at least. Stan had always had some kind of whiskey or bourbon or something in a bottle. A glass bottle. Those were heavy. Turning, she climbed down from the rock, ready to join Jono and Rusty. Unfortunately, she just happened to walk pretty much right into two of the thugs. One of them grabbed her arms and the other one... well, he had a look in his eyes that she'd seen before.
Living on the street, she'd seen things. And she wasn't about to let said things happen to her or to her friends. Blinking, she started to change, while shouting to Jono through what was left of the psychic link, < Jono! They're here! > Before the thug that was holding her knew what was happened, she had opened a gash in his leg, her hind claws tearing easily through his clothes and flesh. He dropped her as his friend pulled a gun. He hadn't realized that she'd actually used her feet to hurt his pal. As she dropped to the ground, her clothes tore and fell into the snow below her. Now facing a fully developed, larger-than life purple panther, he realized that something was out of the ordinary.
He was quick on the draw, but she was quicker. As the gun fired, she twisted out of the way, landing nearly vertically on the rock. Before he could get off a second shot, She had slid below his line of fire and disappeared back into the woods, suddenly remembering why she liked that part of the park so much. Plenty of coverage. Of course, she had forgotten about the tourists. As she climbed over another set of rocks, the flash of a camera went off behind her. Turning, she found herself blinded by yet another flash. In one swift movement, she morphed into housecat form and leapt into the nearest tree, ready to wait it out. Had she been thinking clearly, she probably would have stayed to help her friends. As it was, though, she was too scared by the gunshot.
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Post by darkmatter on Aug 7, 2005 20:17:11 GMT -5
Sabastian watched the mans face contort with an ungly sneer but didn't hear the words that came out of his mouth because jono's 'voice' filled his mind. He swore inwardly, he knew it! Why had he let them get into this situation? He shouldn't have let them come to this corner or the park, Sharons home or not. He was still deciding what his next move would be -since Jono had asked for ideas- when he heard the gun go off.
"NO!" He yelled and turned around hand already pointed at the two men that had been holding Sharon, she was already gone. Black ink like substance shot out of his hand and wrapped around the gun wrenching it from the mans grasp. " Where's Sharon?" Had she been shot? Sabastian didn't have a clue, but he was not going to let anyone else get shot.
Someone grabbed him from behind, and held a knife to his throat. " Don't move mutie." Sabastian was facing Jono and Rusty when he froze. He was silently kicking himself for putting himself in that position. It was completely stupid of him, but he had to get that gun. < Jono don't do anything yet! Just wait.> He may be in a fix, but he was not finshed yet.
" The rest of ye' muties best not do anyting, or yer friend 'ere get's it. Now, 'and over yer money, an we may not kill yer." The man sneered again, He had no intentions of letting these mutants go alive. He'd kill em, when he was ready.
Sabastian still held the gun in one strand of 'matter' from his right hand. He didn't pull it in, he didn't want to surprise the mugger's or draw attention to it. He concentrated on his left hand and a small thin strand of 'matter' crawled up his jacket and to his neck spanning out to block the knife without letting the man see it. Sabastian locked eyes with Jono, < Now!>
He pushed the knife away from his throat with the 'matter' and spun out of the man's hold. He expanded the 'matter' to create a shield for his body. He didn't know if any of the other men had guns, but he didn't want to find out with a bullet in his body. He hoped Rusty or Jono had a plan, because besides getting out of that mans grasp he didn't. Self preservation was at the top of his list.
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Post by deeb on Aug 7, 2005 22:48:44 GMT -5
Jono saw the men struggling with Sharon, heard her 'call' out to him in panic. He saw Catseye twist away, turning into a large purple panther and land on the rock, leaving one of the thugs bloodied. One of them fired a bullet and she leap away into cover. The bullet bounced off the stone.
Chamber paused as he felt his shirt jerk downward. Looking down, he saw a gout of psionic flame from the hole the bullet had torn in his shirt. He was stunned for a few heartbeats, glad it had been him who'd been hit and not one of the fleshier Hellions. The thug was looking for where Sharon had gone when he glanced back at Jono, his jaw dropping as he saw the flaming hole. Dark Matter used the opportunity to get the gun away from the stunned thug with his powers.
"Don't move mutie." One of the bastards had a knife to Sabastian's throat. Jono half-turned, cursing silently. < Jono don't do anything yet! Just wait.> Dark Matter told him. He obviously had an idea.
"The rest of ye' muties best not do anyting, or yer friend 'ere get's it. Now, 'and over yer money, an we may not kill yer." The man holding Sabastian threatened. Jono resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Sabastian managed to get free of the man and throw up a shield in front of him. Jono decided wasn't waiting for anything, although Dark Matter's signal came the same time as Chamber decided to get this over with. They were given away. Now they needed to get away fast.
He tore off the scarf and yanked down the shirt concealing the flames around his face. He used his powers to force the bullet out of his body, letting it land with a loud metallic clatter on the sidewalk. He leveled his gaze at the thugs. < That was a bloody mistake, chaps, > he said, his eyes starting to go white. With Sabastian behind his shield and Sharon in the woods, he could blast a few of them.
He linked minds with Rusty and Dark Matter. < Sabastian, keep your ruddy shield up, > he ordered. <Rusty, take Sharon, she's up a bloody tree, and get the bloody hell back to the Hellfire Club. We'll catch up after we lose these gits. > If they split up, they would be more likely to get away. With that, Jono blasted at the thugs behind Sabastian, knowing the energy shield would protect the Hellion.
He and Sabastian were much more prepared to deal with these thugs and would have less problems losing them if they took chase. He hoped the energy blast would distract the men from Rusty's disappearance and also scare off any bystanders. If this made it on the evening news, Emma was going to kill him.
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Post by rusty on Aug 8, 2005 9:27:24 GMT -5
Sabastian walked past him, murmuring " They've been following us from the subway." and Rusty almost froze, cursing himself mentally. Jono sent < Bloody hell, Rusty, > he snapped. < Stop waving your arms around like a git. Mute doesn't mean deaf. > and Rusty dropped his hands quickly, blushing. Right. He knew that. But he could worry about missing it later. Why hadn't he noticed them? There had just been so many damn people, running around everywhere.
Sabastian was talking to them and managing to look remotely intimidating somehow, considering he was a lot shorter and skinnier than these guys. Of course, everyone in New York looked intimidating, no matter what they actually look like, so that probably wasn't going to help.
< Right, > he told all the Hellions. < We're surrounded. There's the two chaps the Sabastian is socializing with and four more blocking our exits. Any bloody suggestions? >
He heard a sound behind them, spinning away from Sabastian and the two guys to see two more of them, who must be some of the four Jono mentioned, grabbing Sharon. That was not good, at all. Before anyone could do anything, she lashed out, slicing through one guy's leg, and the other one drew a handgun. Oh boy, this was all kinds of not good. Staring stunned for a second, Rusty jumped when the gun fired, hands flying above his head, but Sharon was already changed into full purple panther mode, vanishing into the woods.
Sabastian did his powers-thing to take the man's gun away, but then someone grabbed his throat, shouting " Don't move mutie." and Rusty spun around again at the noise. Watching closely, afraid of what was going to happen, Rusty noticed the little strand of black crawling up Sabastian's arm, then he spun away, pushing the man aside and jumping aside.
Jono ripped his shirt down, his voice echoing in Rusty's head < That was a bloody mistake, chaps, > the blaze from his chest lighting up the whole park. <Rusty, take Sharon, she's up a bloody tree, and get the bloody hell back to the Hellfire Club. We'll catch up after we lose these gits. > Right. That he could do. Sending his agreement back to Jono, Rusty headed into the trees as he felt the blast go out. He did not want to be involved in something like that.
Rusty wasn't an expert but Sharon had left some pretty unique and visible tracks on her path, and it wasn't too hard to follow her, at least at the start. Things got even easier when he hit the crowd of tourists looking puzzled. They were staring in the same direction, still with camera's half raised.
Ms. Frost was going to kill them. Dead.
Eyeing the crowd, Rusty moved around them, as best he could, eyes scanning the area they were staring at. Even in New York, Sharon wouldn't have passed unremarked on, so it was a good bet that they were staring the way she'd gone. Searching for any sign of a panther around there, Rusty called soft knowing she would hear him if she was there "Sharon? Where are you Sharon?"
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Post by Catseye on Aug 8, 2005 9:55:22 GMT -5
She hugged the tree branch, her claws digging deep into the wood. She knew the people were staring towards her, and she stared right back. Suddenly, she spotted a familiar tuft of hair. The voice that accompanied it was familiar, too. Rusty. Turning, she jumped from the tree, landing right before him on the path. She looked at the crowd and blinked a few times then leapt up into Rusty's arms. Emma wouldn't like it if she turned back into human form in front of everyone. Then they'd know that something was different. Turning her head, she spotted someone else who knew her.
It was hard to tell at first, but sure enough Roy, one of Stan's old friends, was standing at the edge of the crowd. He had the same loopy grin that she remembered. Looking up at Rusty for a brief moment, she decided to go over and say hello. Most of the crowd had dissipated, the novelty having worn off. Wiggling her way free, she landed softly in the snow and trotted over to him, rubbing her head against his leg. "Well, if it ain't Stan's magical cat! I been wonderin' where you got to after he died. She looked over at Rusty, wishing that she could talk somehow when she was in cat form. Unfortunately, she could barely talk when in human form. Instead, she meowed loudly, then looked toward the path where Jono and Sabastian were.
She could see the light from what she assumed was Jono's face. Once the initial fear of the gun wore off, she realized how much danger her friends must be in. With a quick glance back at Rusty, she ran toward the clearing, morphing into panther form as she went. By the time she leapt back onto the rock, Jono seemed to have hit at least a few of the still standing thugs with a blast. One was getting away, though. With a low snarl, she rushed after him, weaving through the trees. He was fast, but she was faster. Minutes later, she returned to the clearing, dragging him along, his leg in her mouth. She hadn't actually hurt him, but that didn't keep him from screaming bloody murder and kicking at her side as they went.
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Post by rusty on Aug 8, 2005 15:38:22 GMT -5
Rusty nearly jumped when Sharon, small now, sailed out of a tree to land on the ground in front of him, blinking at him a few times before springing up at his chest. He caught her, still a little startled, but he'd been at the academy long enough to not be really surprised. It was just hard to assosciate the little cat in front of him with the giant purple panther that had nearly torn a man's leg off a few minutes ago.
Not that a purple cat wasn't remarkable, of course. It was just...the best they could do at the moment, especially since she'd torn some of her clothes back at the mugging. God, the mugging! He'd nearly forgotten. It wasn't that Jono and Sabastian couldn't take care of themselves, but Rusty didn't want to run out on them. Suddenly though, before Rusty could turn and try and find his way back to where he had come from, Sharon started squirming in what was clearly a demand to be let go. Opening his arms to let her jump loose, Rusty watched her run over to a guy who, rather surprisingly, seemed to recognize her. She looked back at him quickly, and Rusty looked at her, waiting for her to speak before remembering she was still a cat. God this could get confusing sometimes.
She set of back down the path at a quick pace, apparently knowing where she was going. Which was definitely a good thing, since it would likely have taken Rusty too long to get back by himself for him to be of any use. As he caught up to her, he saw her changing again, back to panther this time, leaping off the rocks as Rusty arrived, panting. She was faster than he was in this form too. Spotting her running off after the third guy, Rusty did a quick count, realising there had to be another one somewhere. Spotting him hiding on the other side of the clearing, he pulled his finger-lighting trick on a larger scale, a small ball of flame surrounding his hand. Moving over to the guy, who was watching Jono with a really strange expression on his face, Rusty pointed and concentrated, fire streaking out to set the guy's pants on fire. He lept up, shouting and screaming, and Rusty moved in behind him, herding him with little streaks of fire, over towards Jono and Sabastian.
Sharon was coming back, dragging another man and Rusty had absolutely no idea what they were going to do with them all.
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Post by darkmatter on Aug 8, 2005 16:13:18 GMT -5
Sabastian stood shield raised as Jono tore the scarf and jacket away. He knew what was coming even if the men didn't. Though he expected that by this time they did. He closed his eyes as Jono began to shoot out psionic flames at them. He saw the flashes of light from behind closed eyelids and opened them after it was done. He looked around and spotted an opening on the left. < Jono there's an exit on the left, Rusty's already gone. One of the men behind us is down the other is missing>
Sabastian began edging toward the opening, it was a different route then what Rusty and Sharon had taken, but that was the point. Jono had wanted them to split up so Sabastian had looked to do that.
He turned his head as he heard someone screaming and saw a panther dragging a man up the path. " The hell..." He groaned, Sharon obviously hadn't gotten the memo. Behind him came another man herded by balls of fire. Of course that would be Rusty. Well Jono's plan was shot to hell. < They're back, and they so sweetly brought company>
Sabastian looked again at Sharon and realized just how much damage her 'prey' could do to her. He reached out a hand and used his power to hold the man like a rope would. He would now be useless in a fight unless he let down his shield, not likely until Jono was done shooting flames at people, or until he let go of the man. " We have to get out of here! The police will be here soon."
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Post by deeb on Aug 9, 2005 19:12:06 GMT -5
Jono was relieved when he thought Rusty had followed orders. Three of the thugs went down when the concussive blasts from his chest hit them. He turned away from Sabastian, ready to blast anybody who tried to block their exit. That's when he saw Sharon in full panther form dragging a man by his leg and Rusty herding another his way with shots of flame. He palmed his forehead, shaking his head. < Bloody hell, didn't Mum teach you lot to follow orders? > he demanded, moving towards the two Hellions and their quarry.
He saw Sabastian entangle the man Sharon was dragging around with his powers. As Rusty herded the bloke with the blazing pants towards him, Chamber sighed mental again. He stepped towards the fleeing man, who was paying attention to the kid shooting flames at him, not Jono. Not one for caring about sporting chance, Chamber belted him across the face before he even turned to look at the mutant. He could have used his powers, but hitting the man felt better. This fiasco was going to get them all in trouble.
Shaking his fist, he heard Dark Matter behind him. "We have to get out of here! The police will be here soon."
Jono groaned mentally and looked over at Rusty and Sharon. < Kitten drop him, > he ordered, not bothering to send his thoughts to only the Hellions. < We're bloody well leaving, now. > The bystanders' shock was starting to wear off. He scanned the small crowd's surface thoughts and saw their shock and horror at what he and the Hellions had done. Which was quickly turning to fear and anger. If they didn't get the bloody hell out of there right now, there was going to be a riot.
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Post by Catseye on Aug 9, 2005 19:44:28 GMT -5
She lumped back as Sabastian entangled the man that she was carrying. Still, she didn't lose her firm grip on his leg. She looked up at Jono, waiting for his word on what should happen next. At his command, she opened her mouth and the man dropped to the ground, struggling to grab his foot and make sure that it was still attached. Looking back down at him, she snarled, which caused him to freeze. As she walked back toward Jono, she kicked snow and dirt on him. By the time she reached Jono's side, she had morphed back into human form and was just starting to notice exactly how cold it was outside.
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Post by darkmatter on Aug 9, 2005 19:57:33 GMT -5
Sabastian didn't need pshycic abilities to tell the crowed was getting angry. He could see it on a select few of the audiences faces. They were coming to the conclusion faster than the others. Why did it always have to be the mutants fault? Why couldn't the crowed understand that these men had acted first? He sighed and concentrated on the man he was holding with his powers. He completely missed any conversation that was going on around him. This was the only man still concious, and he needed to not follow them.
After a few minutes Sabastian dropped his hand and pulled the 'matter' back in, however the black 'ropes' holding the man stayed. They would while Sabastian stayed within a two hundred feet diameter, of course the snow wouldn't help much, so Sabastian gave it seventy five feet.
When he finally looked up, Sharon was morphing back into human form. Without even waiting to see if she would remember cloths or not, he moved the shield he had created to rest between her and the 'audience' they had gathered. " Jono, cloths!" He waited impatiently for Sharon to get dressed. This was taking too much time. He knew that they had maybe a minute left. At least the crowd, as angry as they seemed, were a little too scared to attack them... yet.
After a few seconds Sabastian heard the faint siren wails and groaned, " Their here... I'll give it two minutes before they've got us. We have to go NOW!" He looked again toward the path he had mentioned to Jono earlier, it was still fairly clear, clearer than the others at least, " Take that path there, I'll cover our backs."
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Post by rusty on Aug 11, 2005 16:10:11 GMT -5
Sabastian ran over to Sharon, wrapping up the guy who she brought back with his powers, Rusty noted absently but he was more busy with his own...well, he couldn't call him an opponent, since he wasn't actually fighting back but he didn't know what else to call him. Thankfully, it stopped being a problem when Jono smacked the guy in the face, knocking him down. Apparently not having any organs or whatever hadn't made him physically weaker.
< Kitten drop him, > [Jono] ordered, not bothering to send his thoughts to only the Hellions. < We're bloody well leaving, now. >
Yeah, he sounded real happy. Not that Rusty could blame them. If she found out, or more accurately, when, then they were all going to die slowly and painfully. Sharon was rejoining the group, going human again and Rusty blushed and turned away a little as he realised that she needed to get dressed again.
" Their here... I'll give it two minutes before they've got us. We have to go NOW!" He looked again toward the path he had mentioned to Jono earlier, it was still fairly clear, clearer than the others at least, " Take that path there, I'll cover our backs." Sabastian shouted as Rusty heard sirens in the distance. Oh God, cops. This was not a good thing at all. But what was Sabastian talking about, some kind of grand gesture? "Come on, you can definitely hold it up as long as it takes us to get to the trees." The didn't have time to argue this but there wasn't any point leaving Sabastian behind.
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Post by darkmatter on Aug 11, 2005 16:49:58 GMT -5
( ?? Leaving Sabastian behind? ? Sorry, you must have not understood me, Sabastian said he'd cover the hellions bakks, meaning he was going WITH them, just at the back of the group to make sure no one caught them... That's all )
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