"Excuse me, are you alright, looks like you were in a fire or something?"

Dr Douglas whipped around, startled by the question. She was already on edge and she felt as though she was nothing but a bag of jumbled up nerves. She forced her breathing to slow from hyperventilating mode, as she realised it was just a man. A man who, for some inexplicable reason, seemed familiar...but she couldn't quite place her finger on it. She avoided his eyes, choosing to keep her eyes locked on the concrete below - perhaps, if she couldn't see him, he couldn't see her. Or recognise her.

"I'm fine," she said quickly but as soon as the reply left her lips, she realised how silly that sounded. Her clothes had been blackened by the fiery explosion, her hair was sporting the 'been through a hedge backwards' look and her leg looked as though it had been recently savaged by a dog. She rubbed a bit of dirt out of her eye, struggling to see in the night gloom as it was.

One thing's for sure; she couldn't be associated with that blast. Not that her brain could conjure up anything even remotely plausible.

"I had a little incident with my oven," she improvised lamely - seriously? A degree in physics and that's all she could think of? - "Came outside for a bit of fresh air."

(wonder what would be familair, the skin wont show his real face as its more like a mask, but oh well, it can be his voice XD)

Alexis nodded.
"Guess you live nearby then, guess it was a pretty big issue"
Alexis smiled.
"considering it all, I guess your place is a bit out of if it now, do you have any place to sleep further?"
As he spoke he noticed her looking away from him, So he figured he would not have much use to look at her as well, so he looked at the other girl.
"Stupid question, since your cheer leading friend is here, I mean I doubt your her mother, considering your in your twenties I think and she is in her late teens"
Alexis then stook out his hand in an small attempt to greet them polity
"I am Alexis by the way, Alexis Zabel, and you lady's are, If I may know if course?"

His fingers found home around the hilt of his sword , gently squeezing the handle to get a feel for it. Memories of a vicious past surged back into Kevin’s mind at the touch of his sword, memories filled with both pride and sins. The edge and scabbard were parted slightly to reveal the sharp edge of Kevin’s trusted weapon. A pure piece of steel from tip to bottom drew this sword incredibly resilient, a full tang blade of high quality. Incredibly simple in appearance, but it was a blade to surpass many others and had never failed Viper in a fight. It was given to him as a gift by an old master awaiting his trip from this world. A parting gift fitting his departure.

Kevin freed the blade from its restraint and with a graceful swing, he could clearly hear the wind flowing with the steel. The mere thought of putting this sword back on his body, ready to cut his enemies, filled him with a rush he’d rather leave behind. ‘Once a killer, always a killer’, he sighed. One could perhaps hope that the rage and joy of battle did’t reach beyond his fists, but part of him actually enjoyed being hunted by the Weapon X program. One could speculate that it was a form of twisted justice where he saw himself allowed to slice these agents in pieces. Perhaps he could simply see the frailty of mortality in the process, feeling high and mighty at the sight.

He sheathed the blade once more and placed it back in the case. That super charged agent would attempt to find him again, and Kevin would return the favour. Either way, they’d cross paths once more. With the nearly unending ride of thoughts and speculations coming to an end, Kevin crawled into bed and dropped down on his back. It had been an interesting day filled to the brink with symbolism. Everything which had happened pushed him in the opposite direction of his previously intended purpose with coming back.

Ally kept running through the maze of side roads, only slowing when the sound of the sirens were drowned out by the darkness. She sheltered under and overhang of the building besides her, her clothes were slightly damp from the rain but also muddy and torn in places. She looked a right state, she would have to head over to her stash of belongings on the other side of town to get changed.

She uncovered the laptop from her coat, checking for any signs of damage. She didn't dare turn it on here, not now. Maybe it would just be best to sell it on fast and be done with it, this night had already become out of her control, she didn't went to make it any more complicated.

Ally glanced up and down the road, working out her current position in relevance to where she wanted to go. She wasn't far from one of the drop off points, a place in which she could sell her goods fast, and so she decided to head there first.

She pulled up the cover of the shadows, just to make sure, despite the fact the evening had quickly dawned upon them and with it taken the light. Within a few minutes she made it to the familiar brick wall. After a quick tousle with one of the bricks, she pulled it loose - revealing a small box. She placed the laptop inside and closed it quickly, placing the brick back and making it with a white line using a stone from the floor.

When she came back tomorrow she would open it to find cash in its place, it may not be the most cost effective way to sell her good, but it was a quick fix. Now that the laptop was out of her possession she could feel herself visibly relax the tension leaking from her posture and returning with a more calm and collected version. Ally once more took note of her position before heading back through a multitude of alleyways in order to get to her storage hold.

However as she rounded a corner, she was met with 3 figures, some of which seemed familiar. As she approached, still covered by her shadows she recognised one of the women, Douglas, from the explosion earlier. It was her, the one with the eyes that lit up and the spark of energy. She was like her - she was sure of it.

Ally advanced quickly, taking no notice of the other two people with her and instead drawing up a field of shadows around the pair of them now. To outsiders it would have merely looked like the women had vanished into thin air, when in fact she was just hidden by a cloak of shadows.

"Your like me, aren't you" she spoke in a hushed voice for although the shadows cloaked her appearance it would not stop the travelling of sound waves, only mute them slightly. She wanted answers and this may be the only chance she got for a long while. She only hoped her approach didn't startle her to much.

It was a surprise to see.
The woman that he had met 3 times already, just vanished in thin air, just out of nowhere.
"what the??" He looked at the other woman, finding her as surprised as he was.
This was an outside source that made the woman disappear.
"dammit!"
Quickly he reached out towards where the woman was standing just a few seconds ago, trying to grab the woman's clothes, hoping she was still there...
He did grab something, realizing its a cloaking power, but he was not aware of what he was holding on to, so he let go, not wanting to risk hurting the woman or what made this field.
"Ok, today really is nuts" he sighed.
"hunted by purist, fell of a building, shot at during a 'fun' mutant gathering, and now we got an invisibility user" facepalm and realizes that he had forgotten the nice red mark on his head that he just slapped hard "GIOD, that hurts, damned gun not"
Then he sighed "back on track of thoughts, I got to learn not to talk to myself like this, ah what the hell, pretty sure all 4, unless the invis user here is with a group, are all the same, to a degree, I mean we all got our own tricks, and I really need to shut up now, ok shutting up"

(GIOD was on purpose, he was misspoken)

"So, um, kid, do you need dropping off at home or somewhere?"

The woman seemed so awkward in this situation. She was a closet mutant like Rose it seemed. "Aw that's so nice of you. I would really appreciate it if you didn't mind. " .She held out her hand, and cheerfully said, "My name's Rosaline! You can call me Rosie. I think my brother had you as a physics teacher in University."

Before Dr. Douglas had a chance to reply, someone interrupted. "Excuse me, are you alright, looks like you were in a fire or something?"
Rose glanced at Dr. Douglas and stifled laughter when she replied that she had an incident with the oven. "That's one big oven." She muttered under her breath. "Yeah she's not my mom I just met her. You can call me Rose." She shook his hand back. "Cool to meet you, Alexis."

Then suddenly, Dr. Douglas disappeared. She looked around in surprise. "There goes my ride." She tried to joke to lighten the mood. "Uhm I don't know I can try to find her but are you okay? You have a mark on your forehead." Rose thought maybe she was getting a little too deep into this. She wasn't sure if she should just go home or not. She decided she owed Dr. Douglas the help if the woman had just been put into danger.

"Considering it all, I guess your place is a bit out of if it now, do you have any place to sleep further?"

Dr Douglas opened her mouth, despite having no idea how she was going to respond to that question.

"Stupid question, since your cheer leading friend is here, I mean I doubt your her mother, considering your in your twenties I think and she is in her late teens. I am Alexis by the way, Alexis Zabel, and you lady's are, If I may know if course?"

Douglas supposed she was a little reassured by the fact that she didn't quite look like the teenager's mother. The idea of her having any children whatsoever was laughable. Though when the cheerleader - Rose - introduced herself and mentioned that her brother attended the University where she taught, ice seeped into her blood stream. She knew who she was. That was it. She was done, finished, ruined. She ran her fingers through her dark, tangled hair in a swift attempt to make it appear presentable to her immediate audience; ignoring the fact that her audience was a mutant teenager and a mysterious man, with some kind of odd red dot on his forehead. She might as well reply with her name, considering her reputation could soon quite possible be in shreds.

"My name? W-"

But before she could complete the sentence, she felt a swathe of shadows enclose her, ripping her away from her current conversation and replacing her surroundings with a writhing mass of darkness. Normally, she would've started screaming in utter confusion but thanks to the day she'd just had, she simply watched. Nothing was too bizarre today.

A girl with dark hair appeared in front of her.

"Your like me, aren't you"

Perfect; another. This is what happened when you tried to actively help people and mutants. It certainly wouldn't be happening again, unless it was behind the safety of her website. She was stupid for thinking otherwise; look what had happened to Izzy. She had startled herself with that thought - the crazy day of x-gene madness had forced her to reminisce something she hadn't thought about for years. She pushed that memory right back into the depths of her brain - that was not something she particularly wanted to think about right now.

"Yeah," Dr Douglas said, a little hysterical "Isn't that great? Woohoo for mutants. And the perks? Anytime you try to help people, you get shot at or some kind of assassination attempt!"

She glanced at the shadow girl. Okay, maybe that was a little harsh.

"I'm sorry," she apologised, rubbing her forehead "It's been a long day."

"your not in the least worried about someone disappearing like that huh?" Alexis sighed at Rose her comment of her ride.
"yeah, I am fine, my left shoulder hurts more anyway, so unless I stupidly face palm my self as I did just now, its all good, comes with the mess of trying to do good things I guess" Alexis shook his head, today really was weird and full of well, a lot of things, mostly bad stuff in a way...
He looked at Rose directly in her face, he may not have seen her face, but he had heard her voice around the time everyone started getting the hell out of that ally, speaking to someone about getting out of there, who apparently had been the other woman.
Well he knew there were girls at that little 'party', that much he can see in heat vision, he also was starting to be sure that the woman was a mutant, I mean, she survived a bomb!
Putting all this together it was easy to think that everyone in that mess was a mutant, hence his comment of 'mutant gathering' before, and at least 3 others were here right now, a new high score for him.
Then out of nothing he heard the woman's voice yell out:
"Yeah, Isn't that great? Woohoo for mutants. And the perks? Anytime you try to help people, you get shot at or some kind of assassination attempt!"
Alexis looked at the empty spot where the woman had been before.
"Aint that the truth, now If both of you would gladly turn visible again? were all the same here anyway, Rose was at the scene before, Miss, who ever she is was, I was, trough I guess you guys would recognize me better if I powered on, but I dont want to seem like a threat for our invisible friend here"

"you're not in the least worried about someone disappearing like that huh?"
Rosaline glanced at him. "Of course I am it's just been a weird day. I have a way I might be able to find her. " If she can bend light to make herself invisible, couldn't she bend it to see someone else doing it? Perhaps it wasn't light the other person carried. She could have been teleported too anyway. Rose shut her eyes and reopened them, her vision bending the area around them. The light wouldn't penetrate one particular area but she could make out the silhouettes of two people.

"Yeah, Isn't that great? Woohoo for mutants. And the perks? Anytime you try to help people, you get shot at or some kind of assassination attempt!"

"You know what I could have just ran away but I stayed to help you get out of there." Rose called. "Sometimes helping people is worth the risk. Now stop being invisible or whatever."

Ally tensed as she picked up on the voices of the two beyond her shadows, she had hoped they would have ignored the disappearance, maybe acting shocked and taken aback. But eventually accepting he strange event and putting it down to their imagination. However it seemed these to were not ordinary civilians like she had first suspected.

As a hand entered the realm of her shadowed cloak she felt the momentary slip of control and instantly hardened her defences, the shadows which had once held a fabric like cover over them was now instead a wall, a cold, solid, black wall. Sure if they reached out again they would feel it - more obviously so - but it gave her some comfort in the fact it was more of a solid protection.

She fixed her gaze on Dr Douglas, watching the women with an unwavering glance, one of curiosity but still wariness. It was if by staring hard enough she could force an answer to come quicker.

However eventually the women did speak, and her confirmation, despite the snappy retort and sarcasm that was with it, was all she needed.

She picked up on the words of the other around them again, tuning back into her full surroundings now that she had heard what she desperately needed. This confirmed it, she was not alone.

For a brief second Ally felt as if someone could see her, like actually see her, despite her cover. As she glanced over at the other girl wearing a cheerleading outfit the look of concentration on her face made her wonder what power she possessed. Whatever it was she fought it best she could, creating a thicker set of shadows around herself.

She glanced back at Dr Douglas, giving a sharp nod, before removing the field around her - once again making her visible. It seemed the others were fully aware of her presence now, but still she kept the shadows hovering in front of her, revealing her silhouette but not allowing any other features to show.

Although she was desperate to know more about what she was, her life on the streets had taught her to be wary and so her shadows remained in place as she watched them all from behind her own wall of protection.

Tony looked at the man as he insisted he leave, and wondered if she had offended him in some way. She let him speak and as he asked about the one he was searching for, he sounded familiar very very familiar. In fact she did know, the description he gave matched that of the man she met in the alley earlier that night. Tony was puzzled by this who was this homeless man and why was he searching for the other mutant, she knew she needed to use caution... She finally spoke up after a few moments of gathering her pouches back onto her person, "I might know of whom you speak, but why is it you search for this man?" She kept her same level upbeat tone as she looked upwards at him her legs crossed.

Tony looked at the window and the rains ever present pounding upon it, seeming like it would continue through the night. She felt something familiar about the man before her...something about the way he stood and the way he presented himself. She awaited a response to her questions as she re ran the nights events through her mind, in an attempt to see if she knew this man indeed. Perhaps he was one of the bar patrons? No not quite everyone there was loud and drunk.... Someone she bumped into perhaps? No he didn't look like anyone she bumped heading to the alley, he surely wasn't any of the dead men... For obvious reasons.... He....no he couldn't be the man whom she saw the high speed regeneration from, if he was he would surely be trying to dispatch her.... She shifted and looked at him with a more serious trained glare of suspicion, "I know of whom you speak yes, I will help you find him... On one condition." She paused and spun one a ring on her middle finger with a beautifully carved koi fish on the metal band. "I will accompany you while we search, this condition is mandatory."

The man blinked. "I don't know," He repeated. "It's just very important that I find him." He glanced back out at the window, watching the rain. He seemed hesitant to take up her offer, but eventually caved. "Okay. If you take me to the man, you can come." She knew something, and it was more than he knew. He couldn't afford to lose that one link to the target...man...whatever he was.

The nameless man pulled the door open and walked outside into the cold rain. It had felt nice to be dry and warm, but he felt as though such comforts weren't meant for him. They were meant for people, the kind with names and feelings.

Alexis looked at the 2 when they finally returned to sight, mostly at the girl clad in shadows.
"well, welcome to the club, dont know what club but after today I plan to make something with all the mutants I met today, seriously, Been trying to be a super hero for months, never did I encounter an other mutant, and then today... I should have counted" Alexis sighed, more from being tired in general then anything else.
He looked at everyone here "so... I know I am just an idiot first class, well I spoiled the beans about my self already, mostly cause I realized you girls are gifted as well, but I am pretty sure that our shadowy lady here is wary, and I doubt you 2 would think, 'hey lets trust this guy with no reason', so... perhaps, I dont know, tell each other our powers as a basis of trust or something, I dont know?"

"You know what I could have just ran away but I stayed to help you get out of there." Rose called, "Sometimes helping people is worth the risk. Now stop being invisible or whatever."

Dr Douglas couldn't argue with the truth in her words - but before she could say anything, the shadowed girl had withdrawn and she found herself back in front of the dude (who she was fairly sure had just confessed to also being a mutant) and the cheerleader again. What a bizarre, little group they made.

"so... I know I am just an idiot first class, well I spoiled the beans about my self already, mostly cause I realized you girls are gifted as well, but I am pretty sure that our shadowy lady here is wary, and I doubt you 2 would think, 'hey lets trust this guy with no reason', so... perhaps, I dont know, tell each other our powers as a basis of trust or something, I dont know?"

Dr Douglas just stared at him. This was exactly the type of situation she'd been trying to avoid.

"I'll pass," she said, flatly and slouched back against the brick wall, "Besides, I would have figured it would be pretty obvious now. Now, I know we're hardly going to become the Justice League - or whatever - but we have to remember that that robot man-thing is still out there. It seemed pretty intent on destroying that mutant and it now knows that we all exist. I don't doubt that it's already logging our DNA into whatever company it works for. This is a matter of personal safety."

She resisted the urge to shudder. So much for anonymity.

"We need to find it. And I'm guessing the best place to start would be the internet - and for unlimited access, I'll need my computer system," she was sounding more like herself - business-like, efficient - and it seemed to draw her out of the startled mind state she'd been operating in.

She pushed off the wall and began striding back down the alley, using the pain from her leg to keep herself focused. She had a purpose. She was past the point of hysteria and a cool, collected determination had settled upon her. She straightened the charred collar of her shirt, beneath her jacket in an attempt to order herself.

"I'm guessing I'll need your help - I think there's enough space in my car for you all," she said with a defeated sigh.

She marched off, her heels clicking (one louder than the other). Her pride prevented her from glancing backwards, to see who would follow.

Alexis shook his shoulders "Obvious what? Oh well"
He then started to follow her, not really knowing why he did it, but he did.
"say Lady, I dont know who you are, I think you have been watching tomany sci-fic's, the guy was electrified and do cyborgs really exist, besides, if the humans have DNA scanners that are small enough to be placed in a real live robo-cop, why are they not using it to hunt us down just like that, a small DNA scanner like that should find the X-gene"
He then was walking next to her, apparently he was a little faster if he wanted to.
"But I do agree with the personal safety stuff, just think your looking bit to far for why, non the less, I am in, Just call me Silver Ryu, or Silver or Ryu, what ever you like, when I am powered on, figured if people go out having powers and doing stuff, we need code names right?"

Kevin opened his eyes and stretched, sitting back up in the bed. It was still nighttime but his rest was never meant to last long. He slipped into a pair of socks, jeans and his boots. A rather thin black shirt with a high collar found home on his torso, loosely fitting his frame. If he was to ever come in contact with that assassin again, he needed to get on the man’s radar, something that would be a slow progress if he hid out at home. That agent, or assassin, had found Kevin with was seemed to be ease once before. If Viper appeared outside, he would no doubt be found again. Good, that was a plan at least.

Sadly, he couldn’t bring his sword into civilised society. He didn’t need it of course as his martial arts was on par with his sword skills, but a battle with someone like him would get nowhere if they just punched each other. The next best thing was to slip a dagger into his jacket and go from there. Kevin moved down the stairs and into the cold night, his eyes scanning the environment. For all he knew, the assassin could already be there. Nothing that he could see was appearing before he eyes so far as his walked down the street. ‘Come and get me…’ He thought, keeping vigilant. This could very well take a while but patience was a virtue he had a good relationship with.

The streets were empty, no one as far as he could see. In the distance the police were more than likely still examining the crime scene as he hadn’t been gone for long, but one thing stuck out more than the rest. The wonderful, serene silence of a sleeping city surrounded him and it brought a faint smile to Viper’s lips. More than a single part of him missed the mountains of Japan where he could sleep beneath the embrace of a cherry tree. Stars always watched over him with the silence lullabying him from consciousness. Once the thoughts had grasped him tightly, Kevin gracefully climbed towards a roof where he sat with his feet dangling by the edge and eyes looking up at the dark sky. “Come and find me…” He whispered, leaning against a metallic vent. This was what his life had been reduced to, a treasured specimen hunted by those he hunted back. He missed the days when he could travel without someone hiding behind a rock, taking notes of his daily life before an imminent attack. It was getting tiring but at the same time, it was his only source of entertainment. Funny, it had come to the point where he couldn’t even determine if it was tiring him out, or if he indeed enjoyed this little game. “I can wait for an eternity…” He continued. “Come and find me…” Viper repeated, his eyes scanning the streets below in between turning to the stars. After everything that went down today, many others would more than likely join his lifestyle. Hopefully they were up for the task because the hunt was about to begin.

"Two hours. The asset is two hours late to the extraction point." The man ran both hands through his hair in frustration. "He's never late. If we lose Murphy's pet, he'll have our asses." He sat a control center, the very one he'd been sitting at when 32 was ordered to capture the Viper over two hours ago. They shouldn't have sent him on a second mission; he hadn't been prepped for it. Now he'd gone AWOL and their tracers were malfunctioning. Weapon X and Friends of Humanity combined could count on one hand how many times their shared super assassin had failed a mission.

"Well don't just sit there, dammit! Send out a team, find him! Burn the whole damn city down if you have to!" Another man stood behind him, a higher up. He hadn't been happy when he'd heard the news, but his anger was merely a fraction of what Murphy would show them if they didn't find the asset. That thing was too valuable to lose, especially with the agenda already lined up for it.

The man picked up his headset, which he had tossed down in frustration, and spoke into it. "We need an elite search squad. Start in sector 6 of the city and fan out from there. You are looking for a male, five eleven, dark hair, dark eyes, could be wearing anything. Look for strange mannerisms or hidden weapons. If the target is found, keep him in your sight but do not approach until a team arrives to apprehend him. We can't risk him running."

==================================

The rain had let up. It slowed into a quiet drizzle that pattered against the pavement, but not before the nameless man found himself soaked to the skin. His hair, longer than usual, was curlier when wet. It almost grew to the top of his ears, little dark waves and curls plastered to his wet head. He didn't speak to his companion if he could help it. The man didn't really have much to say, and he felt that he hadn't for a long time. Conversation consisted of yes, no, and four letter sentences. He soon figured out that this girl didn't actually know where to look for the man they were after, but he had yet to break away from her. Her strange treatment of him was...he wasn't sure what word to use. Nice? Kind? Human? None were words to be spared for him.

When they had started out, his gait had been a little strange, unsure, maybe even a little clumsy and uneven. But the further they went down the blocks, the more his stride became like the prowl of a predictor: fluid and precise. It looked odd, given his soaking wet shirt, a little too tight, and sweatpants. He had put his boots back on, but despite the heavy footwear, his steps were silent.

He hadn't regained any more memories, but he had hallucinated while he had slept. He had seen a man he thought he knew; a man he trusted. The man stood in front of him and watched as he was put into a chair and strapped down. A helmet with spikes on the inside was forced down on his head. Why wasn't the man helping him? He felt pain, his mind being ripped away, and electricity... The electricity. The man, the one he was looking for, had pushed him into electricity. That's why he was- The nameless man stopped, letting out a soft grunt at the sudden shard of pain in his head. It hurt to remember. He brought his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose until the headache subsided.

Ally glanced at the guy as he spoke, referencing to her on many occasions as 'shadow girl'. Some part of her wanted to reveal herself, give her name and allow some element of trust to start to form. But her head was more practical and so for now she was happy being one of the shadows.

She stiffened slightly as the guy mentioned revealing more about themselves and joining up as a group. She, however, did not fancy being a superhero. Although she didn't currently hold the best life out on the streets, she wasn't about to jump head first into fake missions to make them feel better about themselves and their powers. He could do without coming in close contact to the cops.

She was about to just turn and slip away when another spoke up. Ally had revealed nothing of herself, her only words barely a hushed whisper to the woman in heels and she doubted that was enough to spark recognition if she was ever in her vicinity.

Ally however fully understood where this woman was coming from, it seemed she too knew the importance of protecting themselves from whatever unknown threats existed. But she didn't exactly like the idea of hunting down the robot that had caused the giant explosion.

She watched as they started to march away and Ally waited in her spot, lingering. Her mind was full of the decisions she had to make, but one thing was clear, if she didn't take the opportunities that were before her then she would never reach a better life away from the streets she had come to call home.

So after a few moments she started to walk after them, dropping her cover of the shadows - partially because she could feel the strain it was starting to put on herself - but mainly because she knew it was inevitable that they would find out who she really was. But the fact that it was naturally dark outside filled her with more confidence since distinguishing marks were less likely to be noticed under the gloom of a black sky.

"say Lady, I dont know who you are, I think you have been watching tomany sci-fic's, the guy was electrified and do cyborgs really exist, besides, if the humans have DNA scanners that are small enough to be placed in a real live robo-cop, why are they not using it to hunt us down just like that, a small DNA scanner like that should find the X-gene"

Dr Douglas' ground her teeth together, in an attempt to keep calm.

"First of all, it's Doctor, not Lady and secondly, I'd like to inform you that I am a physics professor with a university to degree of the highest calibre - I know exactly what is and isn't within the realms of today's scientific technology. Robotic technology is fast advancing and any old CSI forensic scientist could identify you from a lock of hair, or stray fingerprint on a drain pipe - all that man would need to do is collect it and examine it later, as I'm guessing that a man sized robot wouldn't have room for anything beyond human actions - probably not room for a DNA scanner; again, I'm not even sure whether he was a robot. But he was powered by electricity - trust me."

"But I do agree with the personal safety stuff, just think your looking bit to far for why, non the less, I am in, Just call me Silver Ryu, or Silver or Ryu, what ever you like, when I am powered on, figured if people go out having powers and doing stuff, we need code names right?"

"Glad you do have a sliver of self preservation. Codenames?" Dr Douglas raised an incredulous eyebrow and swallowed the sarcastic remark she'd been about to say and just regarded him, blankly "Whatever keeps you happy - I'll leave that to you."

After marching around the town square - keeping healthy distance from where the cops were swarming, examining the aftermath of the explosion for victims - Dr Douglas found her way to her car, by use of the street lamps. It was well and truly dark, now. She approached her car and automatically dug around in her pockets for her keys. It took a couple of seconds for her to remember that the whole event had been caused as a result of her leaving her keys at the office and she sighed, vaguely annoyed. Fine - she was just going to have to resort to her magic tricks.

As discretely as she could, she closed her eyes and allowed her electrical sense to enter to front of her mind, feeling the buzz of adrenaline that usually accompanied it. She placed her hand on the car door and felt the hum of electricity coarse through her, as it animated the locking system and clicked it open. She withdrew hastily, opening her eyes only when she was certain they had returned to their usual hazel colour. She cracked the door open and slid in the driver's seat, reaching across to the glove compartment and retrieving a spare set of shades. Since she had no keys, she was going to have to power this baby the old fashioned way - using herself.

She allowed herself a glance across the square to see if anyone else was coming.

To those that were, she glanced down at her watch with obvious impatience. She wasn't used to working in a team - lecturing at the university was usually a solo mission and having to both be efficient and relatively friendly was something she found tricky.

"Hurry up," she said, trying to prevent her voice from hitting a shout. She didn't want to grab anyone else's attention.

The wait would pay off, but not quite the way Kevin had first anticipated. With his eyes scanning the city below, a certain woman came into his field of view. She was hard to miss as the robes donning her frame was unlike anything a person would wear in the West. Viper jolted up to his feet before gracefully leaping down the side of the building. He grabbed hold of the drainage pipe and slid down towards the concrete below, vaulting to his feet once he was close and landed in front of the two. “Hey.” He uttered, tilting his head slightly as his eyes traveled to the soaked man. What was she doing with him? He looked like a bum, a hobo maybe? Homeless? That was for sure. She was helping him? Well, that was an action of a pure heart, something always good to see. Kevin offered the man a soft smile and a nod before he turned back to the woman. “Do you know what happened after I…uh…dropped.” He reached back and scratched the back of his head. To this man, it must’ve sounded like he passed out at a part or something. “And did you see where the guy ran off to?” Even if she knew, his current location wasn’t dependant on where he had been. Though, any lead was better than none.

“Maybe if I scream real loud…” He rubbed his chin, looking up curiously before he scratched the stupid idea. This man though, where was she leading him? To a safe house? To a soup kitchen? He was dressed in too tight clothing, he was drenched and quite obviously uncomfortable. His boots didn’t seem to fit well with the rest of his outfit. His boots didn’t seem to fit with anything short of military standard. Kevin crossed his arms, his hand close to the hidden knife in the breast pocket of his jacket. Unlike his previous leather, this was a thin jacket of plain, grey cloth. Like his shirt, it had a high collar would he decide to clip it together. “Eh…I’m pretty sure he’ll find me eventually…” Viper grinned slightly, looking down.