Mutant Freedom Now!

[demonic_monkey]

"Mutation. It is the key to our evolution. It is how we have evolved from a single-celled organism to the dominant species on the planet. The process is slow, normally taking thousands of years, but every few hundred millenia, evolution leaps forward." --Professor Charles Xavier (Marvel Comics)

This is nothing like Marvel's world. Mutants are plentiful here, but they are hunted down and imprisoned due to the destruction their powers may cause. Some have chosen enslavement over imprisonment and now help hunt their own kind. Most of these are telepaths who can sense other mutants and how powerful they are, how dangerous they are. The mutants have been divided into classes based on their powers.

Class 1: Minimally dangerous, but still considered extremely dangerous. These mutants have powers that could be brought to bear against an opponent much better with proper training, but they lack the training to use their powers as successful weapons.

Class 2: Moderately dangerous. These mutants have more training and stronger powers to use, but have certain weaknesses that make them vulnerable to attacks.

Class 3: Highly dangerous. These mutants possess very powerful attacks and have fewer weaknesses than Class 1 or 2 mutants, but they can get tired if they use their powers too much in a small amount of time.

Class 4: Extremely dangerous. These mutants have more than one mutation, with etremely powerful abilities and knowledge on how to use them.

Class 5: Critically dangerous. These mutants have near unlimited amounts of power and the strongest attacks of any kinds of mutants. They are considered the biggest risk to national security and are apprehended with extreme prejudice and kept tightly locked away and often in drug induced comas to keep them from using their powers at all.

In this world, the mutants will have to fight for their freedom and, naturally, certain groups may come together, perhaps even with different ideas on what needs to be done to find their freedom.

~+~+~+~

Class 4 and Class 5 mutations are currently off-limits, with the exception of certain NPC mutants that will be thrown in from time to time. During the game, after certain amounts of time, you will develope secondary mutations which will bring up your class. Eventually, you can even reach Class 5, but remember that no one is invincible. Everyone has some weakness, whatever it may be. An advanced healing factor is welcome, but not to the same point as Wolverine, for example. You can start out as Class 1, 2, or 3. If you start out being hunted, remember that mutations usually don't manifest until close to puberty, so they will be young unless they found some successful way to hide for several years. Again, I must stress that there shall be no god-moding in this game. Strong powers, yes, but let's not take it overboard.

Object of the game: Mutant freedom!

~+~+~+~

Name: Thomas Roberts
Alias/Nickname: Elemental
Class: Three
Gender: Male
Age: 21

Appearance: Thomas keeps his brown hair relatively short. He has a decent amount of facial hair, as he refuses to shave while in captivity. His hazel eyes are almost always locked in a furious glare. He is tall and rather muscular due to daily prison work-outs. He wears the customary orange jumpsuit and white shirt and is not at all thrilled about this. He has a tattoo of his nickname "Elemental" across his shoulders and the Latin word libertas tattooed on the inside of his forearm. His hands always shackled in everyone's clear view so that he cannot touch certain things.

Mutation: Tactile control of two of the four classic elements; earth and water. He can control these elements as long as he is touching one of them with his hands. When touching earthen material (dirt, rock, grass), he can turn dirt to quicksand, shape stone into walls to hold back and enemy, and make the grass grow and even ensnare his enemy. When water touches his hand, he can reshape it and hold the molecules tightly together almost as tightly as ice, although it remains unfrozen. Continued use of these powers will drain his energy.

First Secondary Mutation: This mutation will emerge later on in the story, turning Thomas into a Class Four mutant. With the emergence of this mutation, he will be able to control light to an extent, allowing him to darken the lights inside a room completely or bend light around himself to become invisible, should the need arise for him to hide quickly. Turning out the lights will not work out of doors, so it's not as useful as the invisibility, but neither are useful as a weapon (though invisibility can come in handy in a fight).

Second Secondary Mutation: This mutation will emerge close to the end of the story, turning Thomas into a Class Five mutant. With the emergence of this mutation, he will be able to create wind currents and will be capable of pyrokenesis, giving him all the power of the elements. These powers will not require touch, but the pyrokenetic ability will need a living flame to work (so he'll have a lighter or something).

((NOTE: Even with all these powers, he is still vulnerable to attack, like from a gun or something else. He is not immortal and will eventually be very powerful, but he can be defeated. Also, depending upon the power class you choose, you will have to list two to four secondary mutations that your character will have to go through.))

Skills: Some martial arts training, strong (but not superhumanly so), agile, and a decent strategist.

Personality: At the moment, Thomas is a withdrawn prisoner. He keeps a diary of his time in the prison where he was taken after his capture by mutant hunters. He hardly talks to anyone in the prison, with a few exceptions, and is very angry about his incarceration. His anger is great, but he will not bring himself to murder his captors in order to escape, stating that he doesn't want to be like them.

History: Thomas was born in a small town hospital and grew up in a rural area as the mutant hunts were going on all around. He spent most of his time running around with a few friends in the woods near where they lived; playing, being a child, and having fun. Close to puberty, Thomas's mutation manifested when he almost drowned while trying to swim in a recently-flooded creek. When the power manifested his hand touched the bottom of the creek and he pulled up a pillar of rock to stand on in the rushing water. Nobody had witnessed the emergence of his mutation, so he tried to keep it hidden.

The hunters' telepathic "hounds" had sensed the rise of his mutation, however, and they found him a few months later. He tried to fight them when they showed up with handcuffs, but a telepath was with them and used his power to immobilize Thomas by seizing control of his brain and using it to stop him from making a move. He was imprisoned and has been living in the same cell for ten years.

~+~+~+~

August 4, 2011

Over the past ten years, I have discovered that the one way to keep my sanity in this place is to keep this record of what I am going through simply for being what I am. By locking away part of myself here, I can maintain what little freedom I have left. It's not much, but it is better than nothing. Over all the time I been held here, I have watched several of my kind get walked through the doors. They were stripped of their freedom just as I was, captured just as I was.

I have learned that not all of us are noble. Some of our kind have sold their souls to the devil that imprisoned us, just for a few creature comforts, leaving us to be brutalized by fearful people who don't have any idea that they are only poking a hornet's nest with a stick. I fear what may become of these people when we regain our freedom. What those of us without restraints will do when the restraints they have placed on us are removed.

Thomas lowered his pen and looked out through the bars on his windows. He had not been allowed to go outside since he was brought here. He found that he missed the feeling of the dirt between his toes. He looked at the tattoo on his arm and nodded. Someday, he was have his liberty back. Someday, he would be out of this place...but it would not be this day.

A guard rattled his nightstick against the bars of Thomas's cell.

"Alright, number 9167-DH-153," the guard said, refering to his by his inmate number rather than dignifying him with a name. "It's time for lunch. Step forward and keep your hands where I can see them."

Thomas rose from his chair, doing as he was told. He really didn't have much of a choice in the matter, as his hands were shackled and chained to a chain at his waist. He sighed as the door slid open and he was ushered out of the cell and led toward the prison cafeteria. He had gone through this same routine every day for the last ten years. He was beyond sick of it.

[TheXeeroT]

Name: John Rowe
Alias/Nickname: Inkheart
Class: Three
Gender: Male
Age: 20

Appearance: John has longish white hair, blue eyes, and keeps his face clean-shaven. He stands at 5'11" and weighs about 165 lbs. He is a bit muscular from working out several times a week and is dressed in and orange jumpsuit and white shirt. He has multiple tattoos, too many to really list completely, all of which he gave himself during his incarceration in the mutant prison where he has spent the past eight years.

Mutation: John has two distinct mutations that manifested themselves a year before he hit puberty. The first mutation is that of a genius intellect. The second mutation is a teleportation ability that he cannot currently use due to the measures that the government took to make their mutant prisons improbable to escape from.

First Secondary Mutation (to Class 4): This mutation will manifest later on in the story. When it does, he will gain psychokenetic abilities that will allow him to move objects that weigh less than two tons and block certains kinds of attacks.

Second Secondary Mutation (to Class 5): This mutation will manifest close to the end of the story. When it does, John will gain the ability to slip into seperate dimensions when he teleports, allowing him to drag certain enemies into dimensions that he can survive a visit to, but they often cannot, such as a dimension without oxygen to breathe (this would be rather convenient in real life. Nobody would ever find the bodies... ^.^)

Skills: Rather strong, very fast, and a great tattoo artist

Personality: Despite being a prisoner, John maintains an upbeat attitude. He will constantly try to bring cheer to his angry-about-being-imprisoned friends, but often fails, especially with one particular friend. Despite constant failure at this, he never gives up.

History: John grew up in a low-income home where he felt unwanted and unloved. When his mutations emerged, he ran away and kept running for as long as he could. He managed to evade the mutant hunters for a long time, but eventually they caught up to him and he was imprisoned.

~+~+~+~

The rapping of a nightstick on the bars of his cell door interrupted John's concentration as he was drawing a new design for a tattoo he would give himself later.

"Don't tell me," he said. "'Alright, number 2754-DH-448, it's time for lunch. Step forward and keep your hands where I can see them.' Yeah, I know."

He got up and walked to the cell door. He saw a fellow prisoner with his hands shackled to a chain around his waist and smiled at him.

"Hey, Tommy," he said. "How'd you sleep?"

[Rylias Shadow]

Name: Riashka Quint
Alias/Nickname: SkyFire
Class: 2
Gender: Female
Age: 20

Appearance: SkyFire is about 5'5” with long red hair falling down her back and eyes that may have been cut from the blue of the sky. She wears black sneakers, worn and torn jeans, and a midnight blue t-shirt under a black leather jacket.

Mutation: Her first mutation is not the first one she discovered, rather the first she has mastered. She has the ability to change her shape to that of a red furred wolf that never outgrew her blue pup eyes. SkyFire also has the ability to conjure and manipulate electricity, and although she discovered this ability first, she has very little control over this mutation.

(Class Three will be achieved when she learns to control her electric ability.)

First Additional Mutation: (Class 4) SkyFire will gain the power to actual conjure real lightning storms and pull lightning strikes from the sky to the earth.

Second Addition Mutation: (Class 5) SkyFire's transformation ability will morph again, and she will still be able to transform into a full wolf, and she'll also gain another form, a mixture of her human and wolf bodies to create an anthropomorphic "beast-man" form.

Skills: SkyFire is skilled at hunting down her own food and money, as well as running from, hiding from, and escaping humankind.

Personality: SkyFire has learned to be skeptical of people, unless they are clearly mutants and on her side. She is very loyal to her friends, and ruthless to her enemies.

History: Riashka grew up with human parents who happened to be Wiccan, and their open mindedness and religion made them the neighborhood targets of rudeness. At age 14, their Riashka began to experience many technological failures; her things just seemed to short out. It was one night on the roof during a thunderstorm at age 15 when she first transformed. Since she did not fight her first transformation, she never had trouble with any that followed, but as she fought her electric powers, she is no where near able to control it. She hid her abilities well until she graduated high school, and somehow it got out that the Quint's girl was a mutant. Not long afterward, their house was broken into, and her father was shot before Riashka could transform and chase the intruders away. Her father fell into a coma, and has yet to wake up. After he became 'ill', Riashka left home to keep her parents out of danger. She joined up with a traveling circus, and they grew very close as they roamed the country.

Riashka had to contain her electric abilities, and every few months it became too much to bear, and she was forced to release it into the sky. This could usually be explained away by “a lightning storm”. One night, she and her troop took a night off in New York, and she was divided from her friends, and cornered in an alley by human hunters. She transformed and attacked to defend herself, and in her anger, shot an electrical strike at them and it was powerful enough to cause rolling blackouts. Her comrades saw her transformation and abilities for the first time, but their friendship was too deep to be divided. It was then that they called her “SkyFire”. She later learned that she had killed the three hunters in the alley, and she had also killed two people on life support in the blackouts. Devastated, she has vowed to break away from her friends, and find someone to teach her to control her power.
------------

SkyFire slunk through the trees on her own for the first time in a while. Her friends had wanted to come with her, but they all knew that while SkyFire was looking for someone to tutor her, the troop wouldn't be able to preform if they were helping her, and they needed to preform to make their money to live on. She missed them, and hoped they could reunite one day, but for now she had to make sure that she wasn't responsible more death.

She came upon a building, a building that looked rather like a prison from the outside. The windows had bars on them, and guards were hanging out on the grounds. She narrowed her eyes; if she had to guess, this was one of those mutant prisons. She felt a deep anger spark into flames in her chest; it was humans like these who had hurt her family, who hurt, killed, and tore apart countless families.

As carefully as she could muster, she crept closer to the building and eventually located a fusebox. She thought for a minute.

I suppose if I ran enough electricity through this fusebox, it would overload and kill the power in the building. Let's give this a try...

She put her hands on the wires coming down into the fusebox. Luckily, it had been about six weeks since she had released any pent up electricity, so she knew she'd built up enough power to do what she needed. She took a deep breath, and pushed her electrical energy into the fusebox until her goal was achieved, the box smoking, popping and sparking, clearly broken.

She let go, and found that electricity was still surging from her hands. She spotted the nearest power line, and directed the last of her electric surge at the battery at the top of the wooden pole. The battery exploded, causing an EMP shock wave to wash over the building and beyond, killing anything electric inside. The explosion was deafening, and she smirked, knowing at least a few of the trapped mutants inside would now be able to manage an escape.

Shibby.

[DarkWolf]

((I know this is another electric-based mutant but the powers are different and I wrote this hours ago but couldn't post due to net issue and cannot be arsed to write a new character. :p))

Name: Kyle Alexander Davis
Alias: Cybermind
Class: 3
Gender: Male
Age: 19

Appearance: Not too muscular but keeps himself in shape. Short, thick, dark blue hair that is scruffily brushed back. Silver coloured irises with neon blue circuitry-like patterns. Skin light-coloured, "caucasian". Currently wears typical prison jumpsuit.

Mutation: Electrokinesis, Technopathy - Moderate manipulation of electric currents and can control electric-based technology with his mind. He can detect any electrical system nearby and remotely interact with it. He can charge and dampen nearby electricity. This means he can have a battery die out even when it was otherwise fully charge or can even use battery-operated devices without a battery, boost or block wireless signals, and similar such things. He can overcharge electric currents to cause circuits to explode. His technopathic interaction with electric systems is great vast. Most things are easy to manipulate and it can be channeled across the circuit or network - making him an expert hacker. Most common uses have no drain but larger uses - like trying to control big systems, hack against supercomputers, or dampen/charge great quantities of electricity such as charging up an aeroplane or such as will drain. Although he can detect the electricity of a living body he cannot interact, charge, or dampen it in any way. He may also detect signals like radiowaves from radios, cellphone calls and text messages, and even remote controls for everyday objects like TVs. He can boost, block, or interact with these too. He could, for example, "call" a cellphone in range and speak through it using just his mind or send text messages to one. Because he can dampen electricity he has high resistance to electricity used against him and weaker amounts he's immune to. However strong electric strikes can still hurt him.

First Secondary Mutation: This mutation will emerge later on in the story turning Kyle into a Class 4 mutant. He will gain the ability to emit electricity from his body - typically as electric blasts. Used offensively can knock back enemies and stun them. It is faster to blast using hands but may fire electricity from anyhere. Using electricity like this can drain him.

Second Secondary Mutation: This mutation will emerge close to the end of the story, turning Kyle into a Class 5 mutant. Kyle's current abilities are enhanced. He gains immunity to electricity and can choose to assume an electric form - an aura surrounds him and collapses in and he becomes bald, his form flickers, and seems made of electricity. He can "possess" any network or signal to travel through it very quickly and can employ his technopathic abilities upon that network as though it was his own body. If he goes into the internet he's almost an internet god - able to control any and all computers connected on the 'net at once. He can 'live' in this form indefinitely and will likely choose to do so. In either form he can heal, recover power, or nourish himself by absorbing electricity from any nearby source by willing it into him. He requires less in his Electric Form than his Human Form and can survive by siphoning a small amount of the electric current in the system he is occupying.

Weakness: EMPs which disable systems can greatly impede his abilities for a while. His Electric Form is more susceptible to this and will physically harm him - and knock him into Human Form. If he is a system in an Electric Form when an EMP strikes the whole system it will greatly weaken him, force him out at random, force him into human form, knock him out cold for a short while, and greatly dampen his abilities for a longer while. Water can weaken his electric generation and slow the movement of Electric Form but his control over electric currents prevents feedback so water is not much of a weakness - he can use his powers underwater.

Skills: Some basic self-taught combat skills. Good in a fight but by no means an expert. He's moderately athletic and strong but nothing too impressive at all. He has a high IQ, is streetsmart, and oddly enough is a true expert at technology. He can build you a lesser supercomputer like it was nothing and even without his abilities could hack most systems. He's good at anything electronic - software and hardware. He's also incredible at operating most vehicles from motorbikes and cars, to some planes and helicopters - although he learned these by sneaking into simulators.

Personality: His personality can range but often has an ego, quite sarcastic, usually upbeat, keeps himself to himself, and can be very stubborn sometimes. He often acts superior when it comes to computers and hacking and scoffs at those who are lesser. It's not exactly helping that the ego has merit given there's not many who hack like he can even without powers.

History: Kyle has always loved technology and was incredibly gifted at it even at a very young age. He seems to innately understand technology. He was always tinkering with electric things - starting with his toys. When the family TV broke he repaired it, aged only 5. His parents recognised their son's amazing aptitude and enrolled him in private school. He was in college by the age of 12. At 13 his IQ seemed to drop and he began having headaches, feeling lethargic, and the hair on his body began to fall out bit by bit. The doctors could not figure out what was wrong. After two weeks, he was in bed, now bald, when the symptoms worsened. He had seizures as if being electrocuted. He was taken to the hospital but the seizures stopped on their own. He woke with a jolt - his eyes had changed and he felt his power. He was taken home and quickly learned about his abilities - playing with electric systems around him. His parents feared him, made him not to use his abilities, to hide his eyes behind tinted glasses and telling the school he needed them for medical reasons. But the hair that grew back was a blue not his normal brown. He grew tired of hiding himself. He played with his powers more and more.

By 14 everyone seemed to know what he was and despise him for it. His parents threw him out to the streets. He quickly learned to become streetsmart - he was already quite independent anyway. He never ran out of money - hacking ATMs with a thought was easy. He hacked his way around but was caught and experimented on. He eventually escaped two months later and erased the computer data and overcharged their generators. In the chaos he fled. He spent the next 4 years becoming infamous as a mutant hacker but he was eventually tracked down - which is why he's now in a prison. The experiments he had done on him did make backup paper files and survived the fire he had caused - the results were a serum capable of inhibiting his powers. The serum could not be mass-produced and only worked on him, and was made from his blood. So, every week they took blood. Every day he was given a dose of the serum made from it. He had been kept as a powerless prisoner for five months now.

--

Kyle lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. He hated being so confined. Not his body, he often holed away in a room, but his mind. He couldn't sense the environment as much as he could before. Those currents and systems were silent to him and he missed them. The door was electrically controlled. If he had his powers he could open the door with a thought but the poison in his system blocked that part of him. A chemical restraint. He wondered if there was a way to stop it working? It was made from his blood - part of his own power turned against him in a weird way. Was there something he could do to his blood so taint the next batch?

He felt something slowly stir inside. His power was itching to return and he was due for his serum. Normally, it was administered by the guard using an automatic injector into his arm just before lunch. Eating immediately after the injection helped prevent nausea from the serum. Sure enough the guard rattled the bars and took out the gun-like injector from a pocket. With a sigh Kyle stood up and listlessly made his way towards the guard. He obeyed as usual but before the guard injected him there was an explosion and he felt something. An inkling, an edge of a sense, then he felt the EMP. It flooded him like a punch to the stomach. Thankfully, his powers being inhibited suppressed the effect. The lights went out and the door was already open. He heard doors nearby unlock themselves and much shouting. The limited daylight was enough to still see.

He backed from guard and as the guard advanced he kicked the guard in the stomach before jumping into a knee to the chin, knocking him out. He stamped on the vial of the injector before rummaging into the guard's pockets and took his keys. He left the cell and looked around. Mutants moved about. He saw one who was shackled and ran towards him. He used the keys to unlocked the shackles.

"Can you get us out of here?" He asked the now unshackled man.

[demonic_monkey]

Thomas could hardly believe it. The power inside the prison had gone out. He had been here for ten years and this had never happened. They had failsafes in place, but it would take a moment for them to kick in. Luckily, a moment was all he needed.

The blue-haired mutant a few cells down from him ran up with some keys and unlocked his shackles.

"Can I get us out?" he repeated looking over at John. "You hear that? He wants to know if I can get us out. Stand aside and watch, my friend."

Thomas grinned and turned toward a wall. He slammed his fist into the concrete floor. The man-made stone split open, a long fissure running out from where Thomas's fist had contacted. A great split opened in one of the walls and several of the mutants around him cheered.

"BROTHERS AND SISTERS!" he cried, pointing toward the open wall. "TO FREEDOM!!"

[TheXeeroT]

John smiled as Thomas split open the wall and mutants started pouring out through the opening. He grabbed Thomas's arm to get his attention.

"I'll be back," John said. "There's something I have to do real quick."

John released Thomas's arm and teleported to the "maximum-security" wing. He looked down the rows of beds holding the mutants kept in drug-induced comas. He began teleporting to the side of each bed, ripping out IVs and waking up the sleeping mutants as swiftly as possible, giving the same quick message to each of them.

"The prison can no longer hold us," he said. "We are escaping tonight. Freedom is ours."

When the last mutant was awake, John teleported to Thomas's side again.

"Okay," he said. "We can go now."

[demonic_monkey]

Thomas looked over at John when he reappeared.

"Maximum-security?" he asked rhetorically. "Good. No mutants left behind."

Thomas walked over to the hole he had ripped in the prison wall and looked down to see a girl standing near an opened fusebox.

"John, I found our savior," he said. "Would you mind taking me and my friend with the keys down there to her?"

[TheXeeroT]

"Hope you don't mind, but seeing as you freed my friend, I guess you're with us," John said, grabbing Kyle's arm and teleporting the short distance to where Thomas was standing. He grabbed his arm and teleport the pair with him down to where the girl was standing. He gave her a bow. "Thank you for our freedom."

[Rylias Shadow]

SkyFire was still a little out of breath from exerting her power, and gave them all a salute and a wink.

"I thought my people inside might like to escape!" She said brightly. "Now follow me through the trees where the humans rarely follow." She said, and her energy spiked all around her.

Her transformation took her two full heartbeats, and before them now stood an auburn she-wolf with sky blue eyes. She flicked her tail and lead them the way she would have headed had she decided not to break open the prison, hoping the humans here were not equipped enough to follow her, but that was usually her good luck.

[demonic_monkey]

"Proper introductions will have to wait, it seems," Thomas said, following the wolf-girl toward the woods. "At least until we are safely away from this place."

It occurred to Thomas that he had left something behind in his cell. He quickly turned to John.

"John, I hate to impose, but could you go back and get my journal, please? It's very important to me."

[TheXeeroT]

"Sure thing, my friend," John said before teleporting directly into Thomas's cell and picking up the still-opened journal and 'porting back to where Thomas was outside. He handed him the book and continued following the girl and Thomas.

[DarkWolf]

Kyle stood amazed as the guy he help split the earth and made an opening in the wall. "I'll take that as a yes," he said, "wow you must be handy to have around."

As the mutants ran out around them he momentarily lost track of things until the one who had been called 'John' grabbed his arm. Kyle felt an odd, dizzying, sensation of being pulled into a new location and as his eyes refocused he saw the woman who was no doubt responsible for their freedom.

"Thank you!" he said rather simply but graciously before watching the woman transform into what he could only describe as a werewolf.

"A werewolf?" Kyle uttered stupidly. He had never spent much time around other mutants so any powers were always impressive to see. He shook his head and followed them and saw John vanish into the air and moments later return. Teleporting? Now that is definitely cool! he thought to himself as he followed them through the woods.

His powers were ebbing back. He could sense the people behind and the ones he followed. His powers, however, weren't all that useful right now. Still, the fact they were returning gave him comfort. He hoped wherever they were heading had a computer.

[Rylias Shadow]

SkyFire pounced through the forest, leading the trio of mutants behind her through the trees away from the ruined prison. Every few yards, she would stop and use her animal senses to make sure no human was following them. As far as she could tell, her every check had turned up nothing behind them.

She soon stopped about a hundred yards away from a highway while still in the trees. She faced them and returned to her human form, her clothes retuning when she did.

"My transformation ability adapts pretty well. I'm glad I could help free you guys from your captors, but now that I have, I was wondering if any of you could help me." SkyFire said, sitting cross legged on the forest floor.

[DarkWolf]

"Depends on the help needed," Kyle asked a little short of breath, "I guess now is a good time for introductions. I go by Cybermind mostly. For the quick and simple explanation my powers let me control computers or electric circuits. I'll gladly help since you rescued us but unless something electronic is involved I won't be much use. Who are you, by the way?"

[Rylias Shadow]

SkyFire brightened a bit at the mention of his power. It wasn't exactly what she needed, but she was certain she wouldn't find anyone with powers more similar to hers that Cybermind's was.

"My birth name is Riashka, or you can call me SkyFire. Nice to meet you, and I think you'd actually be the best person to ask." She said, smiling. "I was looking for someone who can teach me to control my electric abilities."

"And who are you two?" SkyFire asked the other two.

[kathryn]

Name: Xanthe Dierks
Alias: X (his sister calls him Dex)
Class: 1
Gender: Male
Age: 25

Appearance: 6' 6", average sized adult. His skin is a mix of African and Caucasian (his grandmother was from Africa). Gold eyes, keeps his dark red-brown hair cropped short, save for a small braid done down the side of his face. Wears a blue jean jacket, jeans, running shoes, and a light t-shirt. Keeps his whole life's belongings in a small bag, including his father's pistol. He has a strange tattoo of an X mark over his heart. Looks perpetually unshaven

Mutation: Power Dampening (his highest level power. If he touches a person with a mutant gene, he can suppress the person's power. He can also make it harder for hunters to detect the mutation when he dampens the powers. He can only do it for five minutes for every hour thus far, and it's harder to keep up when there's someone trying to detect mutant powers)

Biomanipulation (Specifically, he's able to turn any part of himself into a weapon, whether it be hardening his skin to create a super hard shield, or turning a loogie into a well aimed bullet, or turning a fingernail into a razor sharp instrument. He isn't able to hold it up well, and it is usually only able to come up for a few seconds)

(Class two will be maintained when he can do the biomanipulation for an extended period of time)

First Secondary Mutation (To Class 3): His biomanipulation becomes even stronger and he's able to take on more weapon characteristics for a longer time. As well, he also gains enhanced healing abilities (like if he got a cut, it heals quicker than normal). But if the wound is too serious, he would still need medical attention.

Second Secondary Mutation (To Class 4): His power dampening becomes stronger and he can even weaken physical attacks. He can negate level 1 and 2 and can even weaken level 5 powers. If the attack is too large and he weakens it, it can affect him physically and drain him of life energy.

Weaknesses: His sister, and the fact that neither of them had any form of training or much practice.

Personality: Very protective of his sister and is usually very serious. He can lighten up and even laugh, but now those times are rare. Keeping his power dampener on so often has kept him on edge. The only one he wouldn't lose his temper at is Solstice, but he will not hesitate to take out anyone who threatened either of them.

Name: Solstice Dierks
Alias: Nova (Her brother calls her Stacy)
Class: 3
Gender: Female
Age: 12

Appearance: Same shade brown hair as her brother, same color skin, similar cheek and nose. Her nose tilts up more, and she has softer features due to her youth and her being a female. On the brink of puberty, just developing enough to be identified as a young woman, but still with some childish traits. Her hair is worn long, with a braid on the side of her face the same as her brother's. 5' 3", skinny, full pouty lips. Wears a hooded zip up jacket with Invader Zim decor on it, low rising jeans, worn out shoes, and a simple t-shirt. Has taken to "borrowing" make up, nail polish, and hair accessories, which she wears and stows in her star design backpack with her clothes.

Mutation: Psychic Weaponry (She is ale to form psychic weapons with her mind, similar to the green lantern's abilities but without having to use the ring. Also, she's able to attack people's minds with just a thought, sending horrors into their dreams or crippling their mental capacity. Mutants and people with strong wills have a much higher resistance to this)

First Secondary Mutation (To Class 4): Telekinesis and telepathy.

Second Secondary Mutation (To Class 5): Later in the story, she can see atoms clearly and split them with super accurate precision. She is also able to withstand radiation.

Weaknesses: Besides teen angst and an inability to control her emotions well, if she uses any power too much or too long, it causes her a blackout and a nose bleed. If she gets too emotional, this can happen by accident, which is why Xanthe's dampening power is so handy.

Personality: When she was a little girl, she was a nice and utterly normal adorable girl. As a "tweenager", she is given to sudden mood swings and is looking like she yearns for independence. Just like any other twelve year old girl. But she is smart and, though developing a rebellious streak, is nice and compliant to her brother. When separated, she is shy at first, but if she senses that someone will hurt her or her brother, she'd use her powers without even thinking about it. She acts mostly on instinct, and has shaky control over her powers. What she can control, it's almost too powerful for her to handle.



Histories: When Solstice was born, Xanthe gained mutated powers. Because of the low power Xanthe had, he was able to successfully hide his mutations from his parents and from the government. He couldn't allow anyone to take him away from his family, especially not when his sister was so small and needed someone to care for her.

When his parents did find out that he was a mutant, it was on accident. They feared him so much after that, and even moreso feared that if he was a mutant, then it could catch on to Solstice. They asked him to leave and threatened to turn him over to the government if he didn't. Xanthe was 20, and his little sister was only 7.

It wasn't long after that when an accident happened. No one could have expected it to be caused by an early mutation of a small child. Xanthe came back home quickly to find his parents both dead and his young sister in a hospital bed. Despite being in the center of the devastation, she suffered no wounds. Xanthe knew immediately what that could mean and he fled with his sister, not caring about anything else but the safety of his younger sibling.

They have been on the run ever since.

(OOC: Due to them being siblings, their histories are together.)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Xanthe drove at a relatively normal pace on the highway, his backpack in between his legs, his sister snoozing beside him. Solstice had taken to reading a book he bought her for her 12th birthday, some sort of vampire novel called Twilight. She mumbled something about Edward in her sleep.

He smiled. Maybe if he found another part time job in the next town, he could buy her the next one.

Something caught his eye, a sign on the road. He paled and quickly looked away. The sign was one he frequently came across on his travels. How many was it that he saw those horrible buildings that housed mutants like prisoners? How many times had he been pulled over, merely to suppress his an his sister's power from detection? How many close calls had they had?

Only a few, which for him was enough to have a fear of being separated from his sister. He looked over at her again and knew that in a few years, she would be one of the most powerful beings in the world. If she was ever to be caught, she would never get out of those places alive.

Xanthe took a breath to calm down and continued to drive. Then all of a sudden, as he passed a light pole, it popped and went out, as did the others in the area. He slowed and pulled over, more curious than anything. Then he looked at the building and saw that where he had seen lights, there was now nothing.

His face blanched and he went back in the car, driving away. He knew that a black out occurred. The next logical step was that the mutants would now be free. While that idea wasn't bad, what did make him want to get far away was the idea that where mutants run, Hunters chase.

[Cahalith]

Name: Tobi Jones
Alias/Nickname: Mimmic
Class: three
Gender: female
Age: 22

Appearance: Tobi stands at 5’ 6” with an androgynous appearance, it is hard to tell whether Tobi is female or male, and with the way she dresses: an A line tank top, baggy ripped jeans, and pair of skater shoes, it isn’t hard to question. Her hair a non descript shade of blond and is cut short in a page boy style, her face has light dusting of freckles, and with green and yellow hazel eyes.
Mutation: Tobi can mimic any human she has come in contact with within the last 7 days
First Secondary Mutation: She can mimic any human she has come in contact with with in the last month
Second Secondary Mutation She can mimic any human she has ever come in contact within the last year.

Skills: Can skate board, paint with oil, drive race cars, and shoot guns

Personality: Tobi is passive and seems submissive until you get on a subject she is really passionate about like art. Tobi tends to go with the flow of things, and take what people say and do with a grain of salt rather then just believing them strait out, yet trust every one until she is betrayed. She believes in the need for balance, and staying calm in the face of adversity, though she doesn’t always manage to do so.

History:
Tobi grew up in a small town with loving parents, She lived a normal life until she was about 13 and like most girls their body begins to change, hers however changed in such a way that was abnormal. Any one she came in contact with she could mimic, her parents wanting to hide their daughter put her on home school, unfortunately for them a telepath had sensed her mutation and was on the way to find her.
She spent 2 years in a cell until she mastered the ability to take the shape of a guard. Who she used to walk out of the prison, she is currently being hunted and has been traveling for the past 8 years alone trying to keep herself free.
*************

"shit" Tobi muttered under her breath as the lights above her began to go out, this was such a bad idea. she couldn't help but think. Grabbing her skateboard she began to skate down the road trying to avoid being noticed suppressing all thoughts of everything, but of course that was not something she was good at. Her mind wondered to the idea of being captured again and her heart began to pound. "shit" She said again and kept thinking to herself quite, quite, quite, damn-it quite!

[demonic_monkey]

After following the mutant girl who had saved them until she stopped and after Cybermind's introduction, Thomas stepped forward.

"My birth name is Thomas," he said. "My real name is Elemental. I have tactile control of earth and water, but that's about it...unless I somehow manage to evolve further. In any case, I am glad to meet you and I am very happy that you freed us from that place. Ten years of my life were wasted in that place. I only hope that I can make up for those lost years."

[TheXeeroT]

John, after hearing everyones introductions, decided to make his.

"The name's John but most call me Inkheart," he said. Looking towards SkyFire, he bowed. "Thank you for freeing us, although I do wish you would have done it after we had lunch. I hope I don't sound too ungrateful."

Stretching, he decided to have a little bit of fun. "Instead of telling you about my powers...," he teleported a few feet to his left, "...let me show you instead." He then teleported back to where he was standing. "Tada! I am also super intellegent."

Suddenly, a sad look came over him. "Damn it...I left my tattoo machine back at the prison, but I am not going back for it." Looking around at the rag-tag group, he posed a question. "So, where to now?"

[DarkWolf]

Kyle grinned a little nervously. "I don't know how much help I'd be but I'll certainly do my best."

After the introductions of Elemental and Inkheart he said, "I recommend stopping at an ATM for money. I can make it dish out as much cash as we need. We can go for food then before finding some place safe to hole out for a while. We're going to need a change of clothes, too, or else the public people will go screamin' about escaped convicts."

[Rylias Shadow]

SkyFire beamed at Cybermind; this was exactly what she'd been hoping for.

"Anything at all would be great." She said brightly. She then nodded and smiled at Elemental and Inkheart.

"It's nice to meet you guys. I'm glad I've freed you from that place. Now, I don't know this area all that well, but I do know that up the highway about a mile or two from here is a city where we can probably run into an ATM, like Cybermind here suggested, but that town IS gonna be the first place they'll look for you...or us or whatever." She said, waving a hand.

"Another city in on the highway going the other way, but it's much farther. We might try running there instead; there's less of a chance of them looking for us there first. If we head that way, by the time they make it there we can be another city or two away, putting us well ahead of them." She suggested, getting to her feet. "But money sounds like a good first thing to get." She grinned at Cybermind.

[buzzsaw133]

Name: Alan McOrian
Alias/Nickname: Ironman
Class: Three
Gender: Male
Age: 23

Appearance: Body is completely hairless, muscular build. He wears a short-sleeved, tan, button-up tee shirt and tan khaki pants. He has a pair of blue and white Nikes he got as a birthday gift when he turned twenty one in St. Mary's Correctional Facility. He has a tattoo of a Thor's hammer at the base of his skull and a tree of Yggdrasil tattoo covering his left arm. He has a twenty-five to life time piece tattooed on his back. He has a snake tattoo around his left ring finger and a dragon tattoo around his right middle finger. Blue eyes, weighs 230 Ibs and is 5'6".

Mutation: Immunity to energy effects/attacks and telepathic/telekinetic effects/attacks. Still vulnerable to poison, disease, radiation and physical injury.

First Secondary Mutation: He will gain this farther into the storyline. He becomes immune to poisons, disease and radiation. He becomes a level four mutant.

Second Secondary Mutation: He should gain this much farther into the storyline. He gains immunity from physical injury. He becomes a level five mutant.

NOTE: He is still vulnerable to exhaustion, dehydration and starvation even at level five.

Skills: Created a form of ecclectic martial arts he calls "Hunting Wolf". This involves wearing an opponent down by counter attacking and evading, then finishing with an attack to the joints, neck and other vital points. Skilled in crafting shivs and improvised weapons. Exceptionally high pain tolerance.

Personality: Very withdrawn, but occasionally active when needed. He has a dim outlook on life, mainly because of his poor upbringing. He tends to try to help others when it is no problem for him, but will turn on them if they turn on him.

History: Raised in Williamstown, WV, he lived day to day, working at a sawmill until he was approached on his eighteenth birthday and apprehended by the authorities. His powers manifested themselves when his mind was invaded by a psychic and he gave the psychic severe mental whiplash. He was experimented on because of his immunity to psychic effects and was electrocuted, to know effect. He is serving twenty-five to life for murder since the psychic died.

(this work?)

[DarkWolf]

((OOC: So, basically you've made your character immune to everyone else's characters at level 3, and become virtually unstoppable by level 5?

You don't get the concept of no-godmoding do you?))

[buzzsaw133]

(You can still punch him, push him, stab him and otherwise to whatever. I am sorry if I did not specify, but energy refers to exclusively energy attacks like electricity, kinetic energy and other things like that. He can still be burned, thrown and otherwise maimed until level five, even then you can still wear him down.)

[DarkWolf]

(Punching stabbing etc only are harmful because they ARE kinetic energy. It's why Sebastian Shaw absorbs punches - physical attacks are attacks use kinetic energy to cause damage.

At Level 3 you shouldn't be immune to such a very wide broad aspect of things. If general then it should be some resistance, not even that much, just some good resistance. If you narrow the spectrum increase resistance. If you limit to a single type THEN choose immunity.

And your level 5 is insanely overpowered rendering it unstoppable to any character be it PC or NPC. Even the X-Men's Juggernaut lacks what you have at Level 3, let alone level 5! Your character is seriously over the top.)

[buzzsaw133]

(I know my Marvel, he has energy absorption. I said immunity to energy attacks, that should be kinda obvious)

[DarkWolf]

(What's obvious is that you miss the point. The only difference between immunity and absorption is that with absorption you get to use the energy that was directed at you while also rendering you safe from it, immunity just means being safe.

I'm done discussing this with you. It's not my RP, use whatever character you like until DM comes back. Personally, I'm just going to ignore your character exists and I won't be the only one.)

[buzzsaw133]

(Fine...If you want to pout...peace out nigga)

[demonic_monkey]

((OOC: Buzzkill, that is overpowered. Please remove...all of your posts. I'm really friggin tired of you doing this crap all over the place. I am NOT going to tolerate this "I'm-not-god-moding" hullabaloo. That character is the definition of god-moding, plus you just wasted nearly an entire page of MY RP with your bullcrap and a racial slur...unacceptable. Show more respect for the people that have been on here since before the hack, you witless noob. Now that that is done...))

Elemental nodded.

"The collars they were using to keep some of the telepaths under control here were probably knocked out by the EMP burst you created," he said, "so if they're smart, they'll be running, too, so we shouldn't have to worry about them using those guys to track us. We can handle homo sapiens with our different powers..." He paused and looked over his shoulder at John. "Did you hear a car?"

[Rylias Shadow]

SkyFire nodded and smiled at Elemental.

"That's a plus, also my good fortune should come in handy for us all; no matter how many tight spots I seem to find myself in, I always seem to stay out of human grasp." She explained with a sly wink at them.

She certainly hoped that Cybermind had at least a kernel of good advice that might help her in her quest for control. She glanced up at his hair, and noted the color.

Such a deep blue...I wonder what direct sunlight will do for the color. She pondered to herself.

[DarkWolf]

"I guess it very much depends on the power. Although, from what I saw while we escaped you overloaded circuits rather than will them to shut off or emit an EMP directly. I guess you blast the electricity? I don't know how to really help with that. I can't blast stuff. My powers are more of a mind thing. But whenever I use it I feel like my own body's electric circuit surge, change, somehow. If it's similar I'd say focus on the feeling you get when using the ability. I can dampen electricity so when my abilities fully return and we're safe I could maybe help train you? Right now I'm more worried about standing out in these awful, bright, orange fashion statements." He looked down at his jump suit with a raised eyebrow.

When Elemental mentioned the car Kyle had to search with his mind. Normally, he'd notice a car long before it reached audio range but his system wasn't fully recovered from the drug. Still, it felt so good to have his powers back. It was like being able to see again after spending the last half a year completely blind. He wondered how anybody, how he when a kid, coped with just their very limited five senses.

"There is a car," he said with his head a little to the side and his eyes having a 'distant' look about them, "there's two people inside. Based on sizes I guess an adult and a child. Oh, there's also another adult coming this way, seperate from the car, based on the style of movement my best guess the person is on a skateboard. I doubt very much either the two in the car or the skater are from the prison," his focus seemed to once again be in the now and he grinned with a half-shrug, "I can't be any more specific than that."

He paused for a moment to think a bit before continuing. "Inkheart you're a teleporter and you teleported me back in the prison. Any chance you could teleport me into the town to an ATM? While I get the cash you could perhaps, quickly and discretely, procure some basic clothing? Then you can teleport us back here and we can go to the next town over. The change in clothing helps limit the chasers and we could find a diner for food - since we did miss lunch. It'd be faster than us going to the town as a group, easier to go unnoticed too."

He smiled nervously feeling a bit out of place. He didn't know if that came across as a suggestion like he intended or some sort of command. He then noticed SkyFire looking at his hair and looked down feeling a little self-concious. He still smiled though. He was used to people looking at his hair. Not many people walk around with dark blue hair - punks usually dye a brighter shade, it's making a statement, or some people dye it very dark to where you only notice it's blue in certain light. While his was a darker blue it was still hard to miss. Sure, he could dye it, but why should he? Besides, he usually spent a lot of his time in a room. But whenever he noticed somebody looking there was always a twinge of self-concious thoughts wondering what the looker was thinking.

At least she hadn't notice his eyes yet. Somebody staring directly into your eyes was always nerve-wrenching for him, although he didn't really know why.

[TheXeeroT]

John rubbed his chin, considering everything Kyle had said.

"I suppose I could do that," he said, "but it would take a little while to reach the town and I'd need to teleport all of us most of the way there, so as to get everyone away from danger. Still, I can do it. Let's join hands."

He held out his hands to Kyle and Thomas.

[Cahalith]

Tobi was skateboarding down the road when she saw the car lights and her heart beat increased, She knew that coming to the prison to try and break in was a bad idea, and now they where going to get her too. due to her panic she wasn't paying attention to the side and ate it.

As she hit the ground she winced, feeling a concrete burn from hell. This was not pretty. She should have been paying attention to where she was going not the car that could have been a seer who could be working for them to try and lock her up again, or hell being this close made her nervous. She sat up and held her arm and her board, then stood up and started to walk. She was fine, just in pain but mostly her ego.

She needed to get over this fear, and help free other mutants but how? what they did wasn't right, it wasn't fair, they, we, are people to, and until we do something wrong we shouldn't be locked up like criminals. She needed a guard so she could walk in.

[fenrir]

Name: Eric Hoffman
Alias/Nickname: Mad Science
Class: One – three of four when equipment is taken into account
Rank: Mutant Hunter/Science Officer
Gender: Male
Age: 24

Appearance: Eric has wild, medium length light brown hair due to the fact he almost never bothers to comb it while wrapped in up work – and he’s always working – and because running his hand through it is an almost frantic nervous habit of his. His piercing blue eyes are hidden behind a pair of round-lens glasses and he is never seen without his customary white lab coat – fireproof, of course – with sleeves which rolled up and sown to always be just above the elbow. Under this he usually wears and plain black t-shirt and cargo trousers with a pair of modified army boots.

Mutation: Super Intelligence; specifically relating to the areas of mechanics and computer programming, giving him an innate understanding of both and allowing him to build and program incredibly complex devices that would usually be impossible. He himself is not aware he has this power, or indeed that he is a mutant at all, believing himself to be nothing more than your average genius and mutant hunter.

Equipment: To aid him in capturing mutants he has built himself several devices which provide him with man-made alternatives to the following mutant abilties.

Strength His Exo-suit – a set of thick mechanical gauntlets which cover his hands and forearm all the way up to his elbows linked by a frame which extends up the length of his arm to the shoulders and across the back before meeting between his shoulders blades and across his chest where two metal plates cover him for additional protection; it is designed to be worn with his coat with the back plate being on the outside of the material. To make that clearer, the only armour is on his forearms and chest/back but it is all connected.

They are made out of titanium, making them durable enough to also provide armour without being too heavy. They gauntlets themselves enhance his gripping strength while the full frame allows him to lift and push much larger weights than what he could normally lift, limited only by what his unenhanced lower body can support.

Flight A jetpack can be attacked to the back plate of his Exo-suit on the outside of his coat this lightweight and compact device, along with the jets on his modified army boots, allows Eric the ability to fly or at least hover.

Optics His equipment is completed by a visor he wears over his eyes which protects his eyes while also coming equipped with night-vision while providing the corrected vision his glasses normally give him.

Tape Recorder Kept in the right inside pocket of his lab coat; he kept losing his notebooks, so he built this as a good alternative. Nothing all that special about it, though it is bullet-proof, bomb-proof and generally just damn near unbreakable.

Weaknesses Aside from the fact that his lower torso, legs, upper arms and the majority of his face are unprotected, all of his equipment is man-made and therefore breakable. It is also for the most part still in the beta stages, meaning that it is still incomplete and untested.

One vulnerability in particular (OOC: DarkWolf take note) is the fact that his boots are controlled by a wireless signal between them and the jetpack. Most of his equipment is controlled directly and is all interconnected, i.e. his jetpack is turned on via switches in the gauntlets, but the boots are not. These signals can be overridden to hijack control over both the boots and the jetpack, turning them off, preventing them from being turned on or turning up the power on them.

First Secondary Mutation: This ability will manifest itself late into the story. Technopathy; boosting him to a level 3 alone and a potential level 5 when equipment is taken into account, this ability gives Eric the ability to mentally control any computer controlled device within a thirty foot radius. Additionally he can reprogram or even reconfigure any device he can make physical contact with to change its function to whatever he desires, assuming it can be done with the parts already present in the device.

Skills: Combat experience, technical knowledge of machinery in general, detailed files on the capabilities of the Mutants he pursues.

Personality: About as eccentric as you would expect a guy named ‘Mad Science’ – self named to boot – to be; while in his role as Science Officer it is not unusual to find him talking to himself, wandering the building seemingly lost and sealing himself away in his lab along with other such oddities. In the field as a Mutant Hunter however, he becomes much more extroverted, almost cheerful as he gets the chance to road test his latest invention or modification.

History: Like many mutants, Eric’s abilities first manifested themselves during early puberty, but unlike many his powers were so subtle that he did not even realise that it had happened; aside from a sudden leap in his science test scores and a desire to become a mechanic. It wasn’t until a year later that he was tracked down and several men in black suits visited him at home.

However, instead of being carted off to prison like every other mutant however, Erica got lucky when they realised that he was unaware of his own nature as a mutant and was ‘recruited’ instead, being taught how to use his abilities and being put to work designing and building equipment to be used by hunters to capture other mutants. Odds are if a flashy weapon was used to catch you, Eric helped design it. He always kept his best work for himself though.

A few years ago, Eric became bored with lab work; he wanted to help catch mutants in a more hands on way, he wanted the chance to actually use the weapons he had been keeping to himself instead of just modifying them in his spare time. On the condition that he kept working on new designs for them as well as hand over a few of the designs he had been keeping to himself, his bosses agreed and he became a hunter, quickly making a name for himself by catching several low class mutants as well as one particular level 3 that had been giving everyone else trouble.

****

Their prison may have been subject to a mass breakout, their guards may have been helpless to stop any but the most helpless Class 1 Mutant from escaping, and they may even lack the means to mount a proper prisoner retrieval; but you couldn’t say they didn’t react quickly.

It was barely half an hour since almost the entire prisoner population had escaped from the specialised Mutant Detention Centre but already they had guards, tracker dogs and even a helicopter out searching the woods for anything orange. They had already brought back a couple of Class 1 or 2 Mutants but for obvious reasons they were having trouble with most of the higher 2’s and all of the 3’s. As such, the Hunters were being contacted and brought in to help, with an offer of double the usual bounty of Mutants for any convicts brought back within a timely manner.

Eric, more widely known as Mad Science, was the first to respond to that call and had already been briefed on the situation by the prison’s warden; poor man didn’t know what to think when he walked in with his gauntlets and visor, he must have looked crazy.

Eric had requested and been given detailed reports on all Class 3 Mutants who had escaped. He currently stood in the former courtyard of the prison while leafing through the small stack of paper files in his hands, familiarising himself with the profiles of the most dangerous, and most profitable, Mutants out there.

“Let’s see, Thomas Roberts: Elemental, ‘tactile control of…’, ‘tattoos saying…’, ‘known to keep a diary, not found in cell’. Boring, next. Inkheart? Genius intellect, we’ll see. Ooh a Teleporter, those are always fun. They just hop, hop, hop around until you figured out the pattern and grabbed then by the throat. Squeezed their larynx just right and their eyes bug out and they can’t concentrate on using their power. Ah, good times. Whose next? Kyle Davis… Technopathy? ‘Can override wireless signals with his mind’, scary. A Serum? Well, he should have been dosed just before the breakout; I shouldn’t have to worry about him just yet”

With a snap Eric closed the files and dropped them carefully into the inside left pocket of his coat – he had asked for the travel sized version – before igniting the rockets attached to his back and feet and lifted himself into the air. Once above the trees he turned in the direction of the nearest town, just spotting the line through the trees which indicated the presence of the nearby highway. However had thought it was a good idea to build a Mutant prison this close to a city was an idiot. Nevertheless, it made tracking the escapees so much easier; anybody with average intelligence would head that way, which meant his targets went that way.

He tilted himself forward and began to move in that direction, soon passing over trees and picking up speed until he was covering the ground between the prison and the highway at a considerable pace.

(OOC: Continue about your business. I’ll have my guy turn up in a few posts if you guys don’t mind)

[demonic_monkey]

Thomas grabbed ahold of John's hand and held his own hand out to SkyFire.

"We need to get out of here," Thomas said, "but I don't think we should head toward town. They'll be expecting it. John, is there any way you can 'port us into the back seat of that car? I know, I know, it sounds like a bad idea, but it's better than being predictable, right?"

[DarkWolf]

Kyle hesitated at the idea of everyone teleporting. He was about to state how he'd consider it too risky - there were people around and they would notice bright orange jumpsuits very easily. When Elemental spoke up mentioning the car he figured that would be a good idea. He wondered if Inkheart could teleport into a moving cramped space. Was there a way to give him the exact position? He could track the car easily. All cars have a basic electric circuit - even the very first motor car ever made - an engine turns fuel into power fed into a battery to store and convert into electricity. That electricity was sent through a circuit of wires to the other mechanisms to use them along with the headlights, turn signals, dashboard, et cetera. Identifying vehicles and tracking them was very simple. And his powers were returning more and more by the second.

He was about to take Inkheart's hand and mention his agreement with Elemental's suggestion when something tickled his mind. He looked towards the woods they had travelled through pushing his mind to get as much information as he could. His range had already returned in full for sensing.

"Whatever we decide we need to go - right now," he stated with urgency, "somebody is coming from the prison directly towards us by a jetpack. He or she will be here in less than a minute at very most!"

He quickly grabbed Inkheart's and SkyFire's hands and with an insistent glare eyed Inkheart and said, "teleport, anywhere, quickly!"

[Rylias Shadow]

SkyFire grew nervous about the teleporting idea as well, and began to think of another route for her to take...or something.

Kyle, or Cybermind barked out suddenly, and grabbed her hand. Her heart skipped a beat at the cry and the sudden contact.

"Teleport, anywhere, quickly!" He said sharply, and SkyFire felt a sudden fear strike her heart. She almost pulled away, and started to transform, but the power fell as quickly as it rose, creating a a strange ripple under her skin from her head to her feet.

Relax, they aren't going to drop you in limbo, or something...right? She told herself, and stood her ground, equaling Cybermind's grip.

[kathryn]

(OOC: I suggest droping them in Xanthe's backseat. I can't think of how else they can meet each other.)

[TheXeeroT]

((OOC: Rare thing here. DM gave me permission to control his character for this post...lol))

Without a moment of hesitation, Inkheart teleported the four of them into the backseat of the car. It was cramped and he was not used to teleporting into a place he didn't know, but he had managed to pull it off. Skyfire was seated to Kyle's right, Kyle was seated to Thomas's right, and he was seated in Thomas's lap.

"Damn it, John!" Thomas said. "Get off me."

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," John said, squeezing in between Thomas and Kyle.

[kathryn]

Xanthe was steadily making his way away from the mutant prison, his sister still sleeping gently. She could sleep through a hurricane, he thought to himself with a small smile.

Then there was this sound and he felt the car's weight shift to the backseat. He heard voices talking right behind him.

Though it didn't appear much, he paled as he looked in the rearview mirror to the four people behind him. Three of them wore standard uniforms for captured mutants, the woman looked like a civilian.

He looked over his shoulder at them, his eyes wide from shock. He was about to scream at them, but then Solstice made a small noise. Not wanting to shock her, and not wanting to make a big fuss, he turned his eyes back to the road. Calmly, his hand slipped between his legs, into his pack, and he pulled out a pistol, setting it on his knee.

"Which one 'a you did the teleport into my backseat and give me a reason why I shouldn't shoot you right now," he said, trying to keep his voice calm.

(OOC: For those who also landed in the back of his car, go ahead and write your before Xanthe talked and after Xanthe talked response.)

[Rylias Shadow]

SkyFire nearly groaned as she appeared, smushed, into the backseat of a car. She didn't like cars, they were small and stuffy, especially when four people had poofed in there all at once.

She expected the driver to freak out and wreck the car. She didn't expect him to pull a gun from somewhere and point it at them, demanding to know who had put them there.

A very wolfish whine escaped her, and she thought for a moment about opening the door and running for her life, but he'd probably shoot her before she made it out. She opted for silence instead, internally scolding herself for whining.

[Cahalith]

Tobi turned as she looked away from the prison at a car filled with people suddenly her eyes widened "shit" under her breath, one of them looked like they where a civilian the others looked like they had escaped, the clothing they wore where the same prison garb she had been in.

getting back on her skate bored she skated over, knowing full and well she would regret this, skated over looking like she was lost, and not noticing the gun since it was in his lap. She waved her hand trying to get the drivers attention.

[fenrir]

Turned out the flight from the prison to the highway was further than Erica had thought, five maybe ten minutes in a straight line and still no sign of orange anywhere. Normally he would have turned back by now with the reasoning that nobody could have come so far in such a short amount of time, but these were Mutants, and a Teleporter among them to boot; if anyone could make an escape that quickly, they could.

Sure enough, not a minute later Eric caught sight of orange jumpsuits through the trees. It looked like at least three escapees plus, oddly, a civilian; outside help perhaps, another Mutant? It was a moot point as, as soon as he spotted them they all disappeared; guess he was right about the Teleporter. Worse was he had no information about range or limits on how many people he could carry; they could be all the way into the city by now.

Still, they would likely go somewhere close by, the city eventually but right now that meant the highway. He was close enough now that he could see it in the distance – he really needed to remember to install a zoom feature on this visor next time he had the chance – and angled himself to start flying forward again. It might take a while, but eventually he would find them, all together and earn himself a nice big payday.

[DarkWolf]

Having been teleported twice now Kyle was convinced he did not like such a form of travel. At least based on the odd sensation it caused. He suppressed the urge to groan at being in such an uncomfortable fit. When the driver got a gun out and threatened to shoot them he felt defensive and had to check himself mentally.

"No need for a gun," Kyle said in a pleasant voice which he kept low to not disturb the sleeping child, "we don't intend harm we just need to get some distance and will then be on our way. One of the hunters from the prison is coming this way on a jetpack. We need you to get us out of here. Please help! Oh," Kyle noticed the skater more clearly up ahead waving for attention, "there's a person up ahead trying to hail us. Could be worth it to see if they'll help. The more who help the more we can get away and the faster you and the child can go about your merry way."

Why would the skater flag us down? He thought to himself. He could see it was a woman. Surely, they'd have noticed at least these orange jumpsuits? Most would simply ignore us - who would want to deliberately get involved with mutants? Unless she noticed the gun? But then why would a normal person care - we're mutants. Second class citizens, disliked by society. She must be a mutant too!

Kyle's mind worked quickly to try and assess everything. It was the same as hacking in a way: try to look at something from as many angles. Why would this man, with a child, continue driving? An ordinary person would simply stop the car, point a gun, and demand we leave while waiting for the hunters to arrive to hand us over or at least say which way they went. It then clicked.

"You're both mutants aren't you?" Kyle asked with a frown and cautiously.

[demonic_monkey]

((OOC: Since TheXeeroT is slowly passing out over here, he is giving me permission to use John for this post.))

"I'm terribly sorry, sir," John said. "I was the one who teleported us into this car. I did not mean to startle you, but I guess if someone suddenly appeared with three friends in the backseat of my car, I'd be a little wary, too."

"We just managed an escape from a mutant prison, which you no doubt saw while you were driving past," Thomas said. "This is the first freedom we have had in quite some time and we are indeed being hunted. I have a feeling that my friend here is correct in his hypothesis that you and your young ward are mutants as well. Otherwise, you would have stopped the car and told us to get out. In any event, if this hunter catches us, you two will no doubt be imprisoned, too. I really don't want any of us going back there and I don't want you two to have to suffer what we have...or you, too, for that matter SkyFire. I only ask that you don't start shooting because we want to keep our lives and our freedom. If it's alright with you, we might ought to pick up the skater, too, as I am quite sure that she's one of our kind, too. Whatever the case may be, we con't have much time and we need to get out of here while we still can. Please. Help us, sir."

[kathryn]

(OOC: The gun is in his friggen lap! He's not pointing it at them! How can you see the gun from outside anyway?)

[Cahalith]

((OOC: I miss read your post. what do you need me to do about it to right the wrong?))

[kathryn]

(Sorry. Just edit your post a little to not include the gun. But it wasn't just you, Cahalith)

Xanthe caught the word hunter and silently berated himself. He made a one minute decision. "Alright. I'll help you. Now, try and make yourselves comfortable. I'll see what this person wants."

He put his gun back in his backpack, slowly pulling over to the skater and rolling down his window.

[Cahalith]

(OOC: I will go back and edit it after this one)

Tobi wasn't sure why she was doing this, took a deep breath as the car pulled over, window rolling down. "Um- Hi, Do you have room for one more?" She wanted to make sure the other mutants where not going to be returned to the prison. and if they where she would make sure to try and get them out. "These guys back there, they are buddies of mine." pointing to the mutants "and um, I want to make sure they get to a safe spot I am Tobi by the way." She was scratched up from the fall, holding up a hand "I would shake your hand but i doubt you want blood on you." She gave him a friendly smile.

[kathryn]

Xanthe sighed. "There's room between me and my sister up front. Here, climb in," he said, opening the door and leaning back to make room for her.

[Cahalith]

Tobi smiled "Thank you very much sir" And climbed over him in careful not touch or wake the sleeping girl upon getting in. Her thin body fit with ease between the two of them.

She turned and looked back at the others and gave a slight smile then turned and buckled up. She hoped she would provide help. "First things first we have to get you all clothing before any one else sees any of you, I am sure you all thought of that already...though." She smiled at the girl with civilian clothing, wondering if she broke them out, or if she was like her?

[kathryn]

"Let's go then," he said, pulling back onto the road and driving off, going just the right amount over the speed limit.

[DarkWolf]

(OOC: Even if just on his lap at least 3 in the back would still see him take it out. Plus, fairly evident he'd have a gun since all four would see him move to take something out and then threaten to shoot them. It was therefore much easier, in retrospect, to say "pulled a gun" then "moved to get a gun out and rest it upon his knee while threatening to shoot them to infer he had a gun".)

Kyle smiled at Tobi. She had stated they were buddies. Since he had never met her before he could only assume she was trying to ensure they would be safe which meant she was definitely a mutant. The driver had not reacted to the accusation of being a mutant beyond agreeing to help them - to Kyle this was admission.

"So," Kyle said a little cheerily to the driver, "I go by the codename Cybermind, the woman to my right is SkyFire, the man to my left is Elemental and the guy in his lap is Inkheart. What name shall we call you, friend?"

[kathryn]

(OOC: It wasn't the fact that they could see it that bothered me, or even said that he pulled it out. It was the fact that at least two people said he pulled it out and pointed it directly at someone. That's the difference of punching someone in the mouth and just putting your hand in a fist)

"My name is X-... My name is Dex. What kind of names are those, if you don't mind me asking?" he said, looking in the rear view mirror at them.

[DarkWolf]

"Some view it that the name we give ourselves as a mutant is more of a real name than the one we are given by parents at birth," Kyle answered with a half-shrug. "Our codenames are more appropriate for who we are and what we can do. If I said my name was Adam Smith what would that tell you? Nothing. Just another ordinary name in ordinary society. But why should I go by that name when I am not ordinary? What does my name of Cybermind tell you? It's not ordinary and denotes a mind that is associated with Cyber things - which means computers, technology, electricity, and data. I am an electrokinetic technopath. The name is therefore more fitting to who I am than any name this mundane society would brand me with."

He smirked friendly but knowingly as he eyed the driver. "You're familiar with the concept of going by the name society didn't give you, right X-Dex?"

[kathryn]

"A little. My powers aren't easy to detect, so I was able to live in what you call normal society for most of my life. And please, just Dex," he said. "My real name is a little unusual, so I prefer if you just called me by my nickname."

Solstice gave a yawn and stretched. Xanthe froze, afraid that she would wake up and freak out. But then she just turned over to the window and went back to sleep. Xanthe gave a sigh of relief.

"Listen. If you see that hunter again, I want you all to touch a part of me. I can hide powers for a little while, but we have to touch... It won't be for long though. I'm still... I guess I would be a class one."

[demonic_monkey]

Thomas smiled. Everything seemed to be going well, though the driver, who was calling himself Dex had paused before giving his name. The skater, Tobi, was now in the car as well and everyone was being carted away to safety.

"I am glad to meet all of you," Thomas said. "My real name is Elemental, but the name my parents gave me is Thomas. If you wish to call me Tom or Tommy, that is fine. I don't much care, though I prefer to go by the name Elemental. And thank you, Dex, if that is indeed your real name, for offering to hide our powers from those seeking us. I don't know about my friends here, but I will take you up on that now." He clapped the driver on the shoulder for a moment. "Who is the person in the passenger seat, I wonder? Your sister, yes? And what are her powers? Forgive me if I am being nosy, but after ten years in that hellhole, I find it hard to trust anyone."

[fenrir]

It might have been the remote location or it may have been the earlier hour at which the escape had taken place, but there were almost no cars on the highway that Eric could see from his vantage point, hovering high above the concrete as he was. In fact that only car that seemed to be heading into the city at this hour was one that had stopped about a couple hundred meters from where he was, the door closing after letting a person – a girl, maybe carrying something like a skateboard? It hard to tell at this distance – into the passenger seat.

It was possible the Mutants were already in the city, he didn’t know the range of the Teleporter to know if that was possible but he did know they weren’t anywhere in sight.

Well, maybe they had come through here along the way? Maybe the people in the car had seen them? He was going to have to pass them on the way to the city anyway so he might as well stop them and ask. He dove down closer to the highway before levelling out, practically skating down the hard shoulder on his jet boots and jetpack in a display that must have been quite a sight to those that weren’t used to it. And if you were, you must have an interesting life.

He caught up with the car a few minutes later and pulled up along side it. He looked through the side windows at the occupants – more numerous than he thought, that many people in a car can’t be safe – and thought about what he would ask; he wasn’t used to dealing with the public on these things.

He decided to just ask if they had see… wait a minute. That was them. Either that was them or orange had suddenly come back into fashion. What other explanation could there be for three people wearing orange jumpsuits to be piled into the back seat of a car? This was amazing, three maybe four mutants and mutant collaborators all stacked together like sardines in a can. Ha ha ha.

He pushed off of the ground and flipped through the air in a manoeuvre that looked almost controlled before landing hard on the hood of the car facing the windscreen, badly denting the metal in the process.

“Stop the car. You are all under arrest for aiding and abetting criminals, or for being criminals. You have the right to remain silent and all that other stuff”

[DarkWolf]

"His jetpack is speedier than I anticipated," Kyle mentioned non-chalantly looking up after the thud. Normally, he'd be concerned, but instead he simply smiled. He felt the full relief as the last of the serum lost its effect. Kyle changed. It wasn't big, this change, and it wasn't physical. No colours or glows or any such thing. It was far too subtle - noticeable without really knowing what the change is. It was more the way he moved, held himself, spoke, as though how he was before was a slower, confined, version and now he was fully himself. Essentially, that was it precisely. The problem with the serum was that its effects wore off too quickly. The chemical restraint had fallen.

"Keep driving," Cybermind instructed after the guy had finished yelling his commands, "I can take care of him."

Cybermind's fully freed mind charged with power. He felt the connection with the electrical circuits and energy in this man's cybersuit, jetpack, and rocket boots. He felt the flow ready for his will, eager to please, like a servant who based their very existence upon the master's call.

Let's see how well you chase us when your suit and jets abandon you he thought a little darkly. Like a click in his mind he overloaded the circuitry in the suit frying the circuits completely. At the same time he made the jetpack and rocket boots go haywire before shutting off with another circuit-frying overload - hopefully the haywire surge would shoot him off course before they brought him down to Earth so he doesn't get slammed into the car. He wanted to stop the guy from persuing not kill him.

"You'd think they'd know not to use technology against a guy who can control any form of technology with a thought." Cybermind shrugged casually.

[demonic_monkey]

Thomas smirked at Cybermind's words.

"You'd think so," he said, "but you'd be wrong."

He felt something roll into the side of his foot in the floorboard of the car and reached down to grab it. He pulled up a twenty ounce water bottle.

"Well how do you like that?" he asked himself. "If your handiwork fails to stop our pursuer, don't worry. I have a weapon now."

He unscrewed the bottle's cap and just held onto it, waiting to see if Cybermind's abilities would do the trick and get rid of the mutant hunter.

[Cahalith]

Tobi who had been listening to the 'light' conversation about mutants, names and powers yet did not say what she was called due to not wanting to give away too much of her own abilities quite yet, after all no one asked. Was surprised when a jet pack rolled up to them and demanded they pulled over she hoped that he didn't get the licenses plate of this vehicle, or else they would never lose him. Shivering slightly at the thought of what might have to be done to survive Tobi looked at Dex "We might have to acquire a different car." her voice was quite not wanting to be overheard, as she let those that could handle the situation handle it.

[fenrir]

(OOC: You guys are all surprisingly blasé about jetpacks)

Looking through the windscreen of the car, Eric’s eyes seemed drawn to one person in particular; he sat in the middle of the back seat and had unusually blue hair – though any level of blue could be considered unusual when dealing with hair. He recognised him from the files in his pocket as Kyle Davis Alexander, a.k.a. Cybermind, who he had singled out as being a great threat at first, up until he had heard about the serum. He should have been dosed just before the break out if everything was running as scheduled but, as the self proclaimed genius inventor looked into the Mutants eyes he had a feeling the guard was running a little late that day.

He felt a surge run through his gauntlets as sparks popped from several important control systems, the rockets on his jetpack and boots firing on their own and pushing him off the hood of the car slowly. He reached down and slammed a metal encased hand on the hood and grabbed hold of the lip, the metal folding under his grip like he had grabbed paper.

That was the thing about his suit, laden with electronics as it was the actual Exo-suit ran on pressure sensitive hydraulics. He tightens his grip and the glove reacts and tightens its grip, which is a lot stronger. He throws a punch and the suit throws a damn punch. He tried to make it work through electronic controls in the gloves but that was too difficult in the end; it was much simpler to just have it move based off of his own movements, amplifying his own strength rather than work off of what the suit was capable off. Indeed everything on his suit worked mechanically, just with circuitry used for the control system for the jetpack and boot. It was arguably weaker for it but it meant that when Kyle Davis Alexander shorted out the controls in his glove it took away his ability to fly, but not his strength.

Nevertheless the rockets had more than enough power to wrench Eric away from the car even with his grip – the hood flying away with him before he dropped it onto the highway – before sending him careening over the roof. He lashed out reactively, punching straight through the sunroof and grabbing hold of the roof, again crinkling metal in his hand. He used his new hand hold to settle himself on the roof of the car bow that his rockets had cut out and reached into the car with his other hand, fishing around blindly before his hand found something or someone and he grabbed hold of it.

[demonic_monkey]

A hand came through the sunroof and grabbed ahold of the arm Thomas was holding the water bottle with. He growled and turned his hand, pouring the water into his other hand, where it collected and held together as a sphere. He reshaped it into a whip-like shape and lashed out at the hunter who had a grip on him. His powers held the molecules tightly together, allowing them to act as a solid rather than a liquid, but with enough flexibility to bend instead of break like ice would.

[TheXeeroT]

"Okay, yeah, this is waaay too cramped," John said. "I think I'm gonna do some car-surfing."

With those words, he teleported out of Thomas's way and onto the roof of the car between the windshield and the Hunter.

"Hey, robo-douche!" John shouted as the car continued down the street. "Let's see you get your hands on me!"

((OOC: I'm assuming that Xanthe is still driving, because if he had slammed on the brakes, this awesome action scene wouldn't be happening.))

[fenrir]

Eric managed to grab something inside the car and almost immediately felt something begin hitting against his gauntlet in retaliation; however, whatever it was wasn’t hitting hard enough to damage the metal. He hear voices inside the car and a second later the pop of displaced air as another jumpsuit wearing convict – John Rowe if he remembered correctly – appeared on the roof in front of him with no visible means of support. Eric looked down at his left hand still digging into the roof of the car and looked back up at John.

“Ok, I know how I’m staying anchored on a moving car. But I don’t know how you are”

Letting go of whatever he was holding inside the car, Eric pulled his arm out of the sunroof and slammed the gauntlet into the side of the car, shattering the window in the process and grabbing the rear door by what used to be the bottom of the window. One quick pulled managed to break the lock and have the door swing open, one more heave and the hinges broke as well and the door came free in Eric’s metal clad hand.

Swinging his hand up he let go of the door and threw it at John, hoping he would be too focused on other things to think to duck or teleport away.

[TheXeeroT]

As the car door flew toward him, John teleported. He reappeared with his feet on the hunter's shoulders and gave him a quick, sweeping punch to the side of his head before teleporting again and reappearing above the exposed engine, his feet wedged onto the sides of the hole where the hood had been, preventing him from falling onto the very dangerous engine.

"If you mean to catch me, I think you're going to have to use both hands," he said. "People like you turned my heart blacker than ink. You will see no mercy from me!"

[fenrir]

“Use both hands? Yes I suppose I could try to surf on the roof of a car speeding down the highway using nothing but my own sense of balance, but for some reason the idea just doesn’t appeal to me”

Eric hopped off of the roof, maintaining his grip on his hand hold and swung onto the side of the car where the missing door was, giving him complete access to the back seat – at least on one side. “You may be able to evade my grasp but your friends are so fortunate”

He reached in one his free right hand and grabbed at the first person he could, muttering to himself while doing so. “Genius intellect, ha, he doesn’t even know the concept of maintaining three points of contact at all times. Dangling one of your fugitive friends with their face an inch off the tarmac might make the rest of you more amiable”

[kathryn]

Xanthe had his hands gripped hard on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white. He did not enjoy having his car torn apart like this.

And amazingly, Solstice continued to sleep.

[Cahalith]

Tobi looked at Dex he seemed tense and so did the only thing that she could think to do, "slam on your breaks." her voice was calm despite the stress, she looked over at him "And if its safe swerve to the left, or right it doesn't matter which.." she was wanting to knock the hunter off the car.

[demonic_monkey]

As the hunter swung over to the side of the car, Elemental reshaped the water whip in his hand and pulled a second found water bottle from the floor board. The water whip formed into a club-like shape, resembling a baseball bat. He tightened the molecules until the bat was hard and firm, splashing the hand gripping the edge of the sunroof with water. He grabbed the wet hand and started trying to pry it from the car with his power, wrapping the molecules around the hand and pulling. He put much effort into the act, while simultaneously swinging at the hunter with the water club.

"Hey, SkyFire," he said. "Why don't you try hitting him with some lightning? If you still have any left from breaking us out, that is."

[Rylias Shadow]

Between the gun, the skateboarder girl, the jetpack, the door on her side being ripped off, and Thomas calling out for her help, SkyFire nearly threw herself out onto the highway, and was in fact still contemplating that idea. It was times like this that her flight reflex came on, and it was because she usually followed that reflex that she'd never been caught by hunters before.

Upon Thomas's words, she looked inside herself for any traces of electric power, and found none. During the breakout, she'd spent all the power she'd built up. She had never had any control over this power, and didn't have any idea how to call it forth before it built up inside her.

"I can't." She cried over the roaring wind that filled the car from the missing door. She grabbed at the car, her hands on either side of the gap to keep from falling out of the car. She still stared out the car, the wind blowing her hair all around, wanting to transform, leap from the car and run. Yet she didn't...she had just helped these people out, after all; she didn't want to doom them to be put back in.

[kathryn]

"HOLD ON!"

He slammed on the brakes.

(OOC: You know how cars work. He was going about 70 mph, and he made a sudden stop. Anyone not buckled in would be moving.)

[fenrir]

The car began to decelerate at an alarming rate as Eric reached inside the car, his hand grabbing thin air as he began to move forward while the car didn’t. With his mechanical grip on the sunroof this wouldn’t have been a problem, in fact he’d probably be the safest person in or on the car – the car surfing teleporter was screwed by the way – or at least it wouldn’t have been a problem if his grip hadn’t been compromised by the water slipping under his fingers thanks to the actions of one Thomas Roberts.

The Exo-suit’s grip slipped free from the sunroof without struggle and Eric in turn flew away from the car in a textbook example of Newton’s First Law of Motion at work. Namely: Every body persists in its state of being at rest or of moving uniformly straight forward, except insofar as it is compelled to change its state by force impressed. In other words with nothing to stop him Eric left the car at the same speed that it was travelling at before the driver slammed on the brake – around 70mph – until compelled to change his state by the tarmac.

And it hurt.

Eric bounced once off the surface of the highway, the road scraping at his coat and his gauntlets kicking up a light spray of sparks. On the second bounce he managed to get his hands up and stop himself from touching the ground with anything that wasn’t protected by a layer of armour. The third time around he had slowed enough to get his hands and feet on the ground and slowly let the metal scrape along the tarmac until he had stopped.

Standing up and turning around he saw that the car had stopped and was now quiet far away. Deciding that going for round two at this point would be a fruitless endeavour he reached behind his back and hit the emergency manual start for his jetpack to start it up. It would be slow going without the boots and he had no control over speed or anything else with the circuits in his gloves fried, but it got him off the ground and flying back over the forest. He needed to fix his gear and make a few quick modifications before trying this again, maybe see if he could get some of Kyle Davis Alexander’s Serum while he was at it.

(OOC: You are free to head for the city now. Eric will be back once he’s made a few upgrades and maybe done something about his road rash)

[Cahalith]

Tobi was not buckled in, she was aware that she was going to be moving forward when she had suggested to Dex to slam on the brakes earlier, and so braced herself the best she could, as her slim body flew forward lucky not to go flying out the window, her head hit the dash bored hard with a thud.

She closed her eyes and felt her hand touch Dex and rather than be concern about her head she looked up the world spinning she said “I am sorry. I didn’t mean to.” She frowned and pushed herself back against the seat, and laughed lightly at the irony “last thing you wanted to get mixed up in…” She trailed off looking down, she still hadn’t mentioned her power of identity theft, and if she had it her way no one would have to know. Holding her back pack in her lap tighter feeling still dizzy.

[kathryn]

Dex made sure the car at least stayed on the road, but without even thinking about how anyone else was, once the car was completely stopped, he opened the door, got out, and looked at the wreckage.

The hunter was flying off now, wounded and with his gear half destroyed. At least he, his sister, and Tobi were alright, but he wasn't sure about the guy who was also on the car, or the others in the cab.

"Everyone alright?"

[TheXeeroT]

Inkheart had expected the sudden braking of the car and quickly teleported back into the back seat, bracing himself against the backs of the front seats. He smiled at Thomas.

"That was fun," he said.

[demonic_monkey]

Instantly when the car started braking, Thomas pulled all of the available water to himself, pushing him back into the seat and holding him there. Inkheart popped up in front of him and smiled at him.

"That was fun," he heard him say.

Thomas returned the smile and nodded.

[Rylias Shadow]

SkyFire had herself braced to keep from falling out of the car, so she was already braced for when the brakes were applied. Having never been in a car wreck, or even a car going 80 miles an hour before in her life, she was already mortified at her situation before the brakes were slammed upon; the screeching of the tires, the burn of the rubber, the clouding of the smoke invading her eyes and her nose all around her in the still violent winds.

When the car slowed to what she deemed a safe speed, and the smoke had started to clear, she jumped from the open side of the car and transformed in mid-air to land on four furred paws and turning to face the highway with impressive grace. She laid down and shuddered lightly a moment. It felt good to have still solid earth underneath her body again; she suddenly hated cars...

[fenrir]

It was maybe fifteen to twenty minutes before Eric touched down on the ground outside the prison again, marching straight through the courtyard and ignoring the looks the guards were giving him and he stalked past with his tattered coat, scratched and dented gauntlets and grazed face. The gear wasn’t badly damaged – aside from the circuits which were easily replaceable once he got the parts – just some minor surface damage, but they would need to be upgraded before he tried to go after those Mutants again.

He barged his way past all security, not that many tried to get in his way anyway what with most of them all out looking for the escapees, and into the office of the warden who greeted him with a surprised look.

“I need access to your workshop, some materials, and Kyle Davis Alexander’s Serum”

The man behind the desk looked even more surprised at that but he marshalled his features quickly and took on a more business-like appearance. “So you found Cybermind? I almost never expected him to be found, let alone so quickly; his skills make it easy for him to keep ahead of his pursuers if he so chooses”

“I found three level 3 escapees along with several more potential mutants and co-conspirators that seem to have not been caught before. I will pay for any materials I use out of my bounty for catching these criminals; however you will provide the Serum for free since it is due to your staff’s incompetence that he wasn’t dosed with it before the breakout”

The older man seemed to bristle at the insinuation that his prison wasn’t doing its job properly and seemed like he was going to argue against that point before he backed down. “Fine, whatever you need. Ask one of the guards outside and they’ll take you to our workshops”

[DarkWolf]

Cybermind only narrowly dodged the hand and didn't brace himself for the sudden stoppage of the car. He came out bruised but no cuts and nothing serious. Just an annoying pain and a few sparks in his eyesight which quickly faded. He moved stiffly out of the car and looked distantly in the direction the hunter flew off in. He was very troubled by this encounter. Some things just didn't make sense.

The guy's suit seemed to him some rather incredible strength. Normally this would be done by hydraulic pressure systems controlled by circuitry - the pressure is instigated by the hand movement but the act alone wouldn't be capable of controlling the pressure and so it would trigger a signal in a circuit and a CPU chip would determine what pressure to apply where and how much in order to simulate the workings of a hand at a super-strength level. It was already in development. But this hunter had a version that didn't use circuitry. How was that possible? Nobody could even remotely achieve that kind of tech yet. It wouldn't just be a case of having a genius IQ either. His own mutant abilities provided a superhuman boost to his IQ relating to technology, most notably electric technology. He had also hacked his way into some very top-secret government files before. He was privy to many of their technological projects. It was such hacking and having a few careless moments while doing so that got him caught by these guys in the first place. So creating a level of technology the rest of humanity would be, at least, decades away from ever coming close to achieving? Nuh uh, no way that's legit. A mutant made it. Was that hunter a mutant? If so why would he, when freedom has been provided, would he still choose to hunt his own kind? Something was very off here.

He knew they hadn't seen the last of the hunter.

[demonic_monkey]

Thomas opened his door and stepped out onto the blacktop. He looked at Dex and then Cybermind.

"I'm really sorry," he said, "about your car."

[TheXeeroT]

Inkheart teleported out of the car and clapped Elemental on the shoulder.

"That was excellent thinking with the water," he said with a smile. "And it was all executed so beautifully. You pried his hand loose while I was distracting him, Dex hit the brakes, Cybermind fried his circuitry, I'm sure the others did something too, unless they couldn't...but still, that was us fighting to keep our freedom and we won!"

He grinned. "We're still free."