If the pizza he brought with him wasn’t a dead give-away his voice certainly was. He immediately recognized the voice as the one he had spoken to after he had taken the voice modulator off back in Grayshire on the video stream. “I was starting to think you wouldn’t show up.” Lexx said as the man sat down next to him. Lexx then shook his head and grinned at the suggestion. Not cause he refused a slice but because the man really showed up with a pizza. “I didn’t really expect you to actually bring a pizza. Sure I’ll have a slice.” Still, even simplest acts like this tell a lot about a person. If this is hinting at anything, it’s that the ‘masked man’ is dependable. Atleast I would hope so, Lexx thought.

“So what should I call you? Other than Mr. Anonymous.” As he said that Lexx finally got a good look at his face. He had quite an average look, nothing noteworthy except how pale he was. It almost appeared as if he was sick.

The sheer amount of technology taking up the apartment threw Amelia off when she pulled herself through the window, and though she couldn't source the start of the fire, she was positive something had been rigged close to the door, where the fire had already spread out. To her surprise, she was joined shortly by the masked man, and she did a quick double-take when she noticed the mask. Okay, so it wasn't very frightening from the side, but a front view? That was a whole other story. Definitely not a shoe thief, then. How he'd even got up the building was a mystery, but she had to agree - they needed to get the unconscious man out before he caught fire like his computers.

"Right," she managed to get out, the smoke causing her to cough immediately after. When had she gotten so sensitive? She'd dealt with smoke before, and it never set her off so easily. Maybe sticking to everything but glass wasn't the only thing that had changed about her.

Taking a deep breath through her shirt, she picked the man up with ease, slinging him over her back like a sack and heading back to the window. It didn't occur to her until she was scaling down - a more difficult feat than she'd expected, because she couldn't go upside-down now that she was carrying someone - that she didn't know if she was supposed to bring this man with them or not. Witnesses were starting to gather, though; people that were evacuating the building, most likely. With a quiet swear, Amelia settled for picking up her shoes and leaving barefoot. She adjusted the man on her back to be more slung over her shoulder than behind her back, briefly considering how easy it was to carry him, and set off, ignoring the protests behind her. If this guy was being targeted, she was better off bringing him with her; she didn't just go in a burning building for fun, after all.

Ved
He smiled gently, moving the box of steaming pizza in his direction, after he took a slice, he rose a shaky hand and took a piece himself. He took a bite and chewed thoughtfully, enjoying the flavor of it, as well as the dry spice to it.

"For the time being, please, call me Ved. It was the nickname my Mother gave me when I was young."

He said quietly with a subtle smile, reaching up and scratching slowly on one of the shaved sides of his head. His fingers, like himself, were long and thin, and his hands were incredibly cold.

"And what would you like me to call you?"

He asked as he lifted the slice to his mouth again and chewing slowly, then setting the slice on top of the closed box as a makeshift plate. He took in the man's appearance slowly, making sure to notice little details that would otherwise go over-looked.

I hope I can trust her, After half a minute John had gotten the lock to open. Inside the safe was three papers and two numbered USBs. Folding the papers he placed them and the USBs in a pouch on his belt and stood to look around the burning room. Water had started to come out of the sprinklers in the ceiling.

Thinking it over for a moment, John forced his shadow to form a glove on around his hands. "Sorry Jerome, but we can't risk it." John moved from computer to tower to terabyte tower smashing each. Soon the room looked worse then it began with.

As John moved towards the window part of the ceiling came down blocking it. damn, He turned and ran into the hallway. Most of it was fire, but on the opposite end was another window. Jogging to the other end, John looked out the window it sat just above the building next door. Taking a couple steps back before running and jumping through the window. Glass cutting his arms as he smashed through it. huf, He was just short, and landed on the edge of the roof. Using his shadow to form hooks again, John slowly climbed down.

Taking the long way around to the meeting place, he was starting to feel worn. Stopping in a dark ally to avoid police cars flying down the road. He had a moment to catch his breath. Finally reaching the meeting place, he turned to the corner and asked two things, "Can I trust you, and is he still breathing?"

When Amelia reached the meeting point, she laid the man on the ground and started doing what she could to clear the man's lungs of any smoke. Though he was breathing on his own, his breaths were shallow and it was clear enough he was struggling. Just being in clearer air seemed to be helping, however, she had no idea if he'd wake soon or not. She was pretty sure proper care after inhaling smoke like he had required a manual resuscitator, and a small knot was forming on the back of his head. Throw in the preliminary burns from the initial exposure to the blaze, and she was amazed he was still alive. Fifteen blocks was no walk in the park, after all.

"I don't even know where the nearest hospital is," Amelia muttered irritably, wondering, not for the first time, if she should have left him outside of the building. At least when emergency services had arrived, he would've received more appropriate medical care. Not only that, but for all she knew, she'd just taken the man for his attacker.

Before she could dwell on the man's condition any longer, the masked man joined Amelia in the alley and fired off two questions as soon as he saw her. Standing from the crouch she'd been in by the man's side, her lips pulled down into a frown. He seemed to have his priorities pretty straight, but he was the one in a mask, and that first question should've been what she was asking. Regardless, she answered him after a few beats of silence between them.

"I'd like to think you can," Amelia responded, glancing over her shoulder at the unconscious man. "He's still breathing, but he's struggling. His arms have burns - probably second degree, given his proximity to the flames, and his head injury seems mild, despite the knot on the back of his head. On the upside, he's not bleeding." She ticked off the man's condition with her fingers as she spoke, then looked expectantly at the masked man. "Are you trustworthy?"

Elijah had been sitting on top of his building on and off for days, but this particular moment seemed to change the way the top of his building feels to him. His "Happy place" was the top of his roof, bad that quickly became a place of espionage when he'd witnessed both a fire in a building a few blocks away, and two fleeing civilians. He'd observed intently the girl scale the burning building downwards with a man on her back, and shortly after watched a man run from around the building. Elijah's first thought portrayed two people setting a fire in an apartment then fleeing with their victim. But as they ran down the street into the alley way across from his apartment, their conversation would signify they didn't know each other.

Elijah forwarded his brow as he watched the girl examine the body than give her analysis to the man with the mask. "Two masked people in one city; seems like a trend." Elijah whispered to himself in a cavalier tone. Elijah focused on the two people, starring at them with beaming eyes. The sound waves that their voices were emitting danced in the air, and the more Elijah focused the clearer the waves became. Elijah focused more on the sound waves rather than the two people. He could hear their voices now, as clear as day. The females voice and the masked man's voice could be heard as if they were right next to Elijah. "They don't even know each other..." Elijah concluded as he eavesdropped on their conversation.

Elijah thought about modifying his sound waves to make it so they were audible only to those two people, but Elijah wasn't confident enough in his powers and didn't want risk looking like and idiot talking to himself on a roof. So, he decided he listen in only. As he listened in, his mind started to wander thinking about conspiracies against people like him. He was almost certain he wasn't the only person with powers, so he knew he wasn't the only person being hunted. could these two be different people hunting the same person?, Elijah thought. That theory stuck in his head now, it made sense why the girl was carrying the man and why they didn't know each other. They may have answers to everything that's been happening lately...

Letting out a sigh of relief John relaxed. "Let's hope you can seeing how you just pulled my lead into JTechs out of the jaws of death." he said with gratitude in his voice. Surely this could have gone worse. Jerome was a good man, and deserved better than just being killed off by JTechs.

He took in the woman in front of him for a moment before continuing. Her nails catching his eye for a second, but he'd seen worse down in Haven. Looking her in the eye as he took a few steps forward, his Stigma Eye glowing lightly. "That man is Jerome Owens the brother of Jackson Owens who is the Vise President of JTeachs. Jerome has been helping other people like us. His brother has been tempted to also start helping, but something has gone wrong. "

John hoped that he wasn't going to far by trusting her, but she was like him so she most want so type of payback for what happened. If she was one of them it might be good to have a bit of backup in nasty situations. John crouched next to Jerome to check his pulse, I I need to get him somewhere safe. You can come with me if you wish, but if you do you have to swear to me that we will trust each other." he picked up Jerome, and turned to face her. "I guess to show a sign of good faith I am Dr. Stigma, though to some I am John Gruger."

Lexx thought back to the few news he'd seen about his own actions. The murders he had committed. Some people in various forums had began using a nickname for the perpetrator. For him.

"Well, apparently, people are starting to call me 'The Black Mist Assassin'. How silly. And long." He said with a serious face looking in front of him at nothing in particular. He then took a bite from his slice of pizza before continuing. "Just call me Lexx."

"So . . . Ved, before we continue our previous conversation, you should learn something first." Black dust surrounded his left arm and took the shape of a long blade he held in his hand which he swung violently just stopping at a hair's breadth of Ved's throat. He stood there for a moment in silence and took another bite from his pizza slice. "We barely talked for a minute and you already trust me enough to meet me in person? What if I was someone grateful to the people who did this because of my new-found powers? And you? You basically stated publicly you are against the people who did this. If we are to work together, I need you alive. And meeting strangers like this, especially ones with powers like these, is . . .", he paused for added drama ". . .bad for your health." Either all what Lexx said was true and Ved was too trustworthy, or he had dangerous powers with which he could defend himself. If the latter was true, Lexx would hope he'd showcase it as he was curious too see them. If the former was true Lexx could only hope he had learned his lesson.

Lexx let go of the blade and it disintegrated into black dust before vanishing. "Now. The organization you were speaking of. As I recall my last question was about it's intentions. Oh, and I'm also curious about how many people have joined it already."

Ved
He watched the blade fly towards his neck, and he remained combletely calm, almost uncaring towards the threat on his life. He knew people, he knew them in a way that was nearly superhuman. He rarely misjudged a person, and on that rare occassion it'd be something trivial like a favorite band or movie. He had never once been wrong about whether or not he could trust someone, and he knew he could Trust this person, Lexx. He also, frankly, had very little value for his own life, given his poor health, and that someone else would eventually surpas him in the fight for superhuman rights.

"Someone in support of a 'terrorist' attack don't often kill it's Members."
He mumrmured gently in response, pushing a bit of hair from his eyes
"Our intention is simple, we aim for unification of Man and Mutant, we have abilities that the world could use to the benefit everyone occupying it, and that opprotunity shouldn't be wasted on account of simple bigotry. I've personally amassed a few thousand people worldwide, primarily hacking communities and so forth, and we are supported by several humanitarian organizations."

His pocket buzzed gently, and he touched the phone through his jeans. An explosion had occured in New-York, and a woman had been seen scalling the side of the burning building, then fleeing the scene with a man on her shoulder. Still using only his contact with the phone, he entered the street-camera server, his left eye reflecting what he saw. It flashed as the explosion took place, as he watched the girl climb the building he suddenly recognized her, she had clearly lived in grayshire, but he had seen her before, her name was Amelia, and she had been kind. To him on several occasions, brief encounters at stores and such, but he doubted she would remember him, especially by name.

David woke up violently, thrashing around for a few moments to free himself from his latest nightmare. He reached up and felt his forehead. It was drenched in sweat. In general, he felt terrible. David had never slept well, but his powers certainly didn't help in that regard. The intense visions that only visited him occasionally in the waking world plagued his mind at night. All the things that were, could have been, and might be rapidly flashed before him in his sleep. David stood up, and dusted himself off. Not willing to return to the realm of his visions for a bit, and got dressed, and went into his living room.

David thought back to his encounter in Grayshire. He had only heard bits and pieces of the conversation. What little he did, know, though, was it had something to do with those symbols back in Grayshire. David had seen them before, but thought little of them at the time. Remembering the news site the man in the trench coat had been on, David opened the page on his own computer. He glanced over it, finding nothing of particular interest. Then, he saw the symbol. Clear as day, as if it was just another advert, the symbol was there. David began to contemplate his next move.

For once, David wanted one of his visions to come to him. While they tended to offer more questions then answers, they tended to give him an idea of what awaited him down a particular path. However, this path was clouded. There were so many different endings down this path, he couldn't piece any of them together.

Eventually, David came to a decision. He had had his fill of being left in the dark. It was time to find out what happened to his home. Taking a deep breath, he scrolled over to the symbol, and clicked on it.

Though she felt that "jaws of death" was a bit of an exaggeration, Amelia couldn't help the swell of pride that came with helping someone. She wasn't sure if this man worked for JTechs, or was just an in to the company, but she did know that JTechs was getting a lot of heat since the Gray Bomb had dropped. There was a lot of speculation and scandal surrounding their potential involvement, and no one was really willing to solidly take a stand for the company until they made an official statement themselves. The masked man's next words cleared up her confusion, and she nodded - so Jerome was helping the people of Grayshire, and the Vice President of JTechs was looking to get in on it. That explained the fire, then.

After picking up Jerome, John - as she learned his name was - offered for her to come with him. She weighed her options for a moment, biting her lip and peeking out of the alleyway before nodding in agreement. It was safer to stay with helpful company, especially after she'd gone and drawn attention to herself. The last thing she needed was to get questioned or cause another scene, and Amelia wanted to make sure Jerome would be alright. There were still too many variables to work with, and she wasn't willing to risk being alone just yet. The city, at least, was getting easier for her to navigate, so no matter where they went, she was confident she could find her way back to work or her apartment. John hadn't been hostile, and was willing to trust her; she may as well extend the courtesy. They were both from the same small town, anyway.

"I'm Amelia Kersey, though I suppose Lemur would be accurate enough, given the recent...developments with my body," she told him, shoving her hands back in the pockets of her jacket. "Can't lose the claws, so I had to paint them." She added that explanation as an afterthought, well aware that the bright blue was going to catch anyone's eye. At least it served its purpose, though she may have to go with a more subtle orange when she repainted them, just in case it was too eye-catching.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Miss Kersey, " John said politely before turning to walk out of the ally. He kind of liked Amelia, she reminded him of someone that he knew in boot camp. Sirens could be heard a few blocks away, "I hope you don't mind the smell, but we're going to have to go through the sewers to get to Haven."

He shifted Jerome before jogging over to a manhole in the middle of the street. For a moment John thought he saw something on one if the buildings, but after a moment shurged and continued. Holding his left had out towards the manhole, three branch like shadows stretch out to move it. As he climbed down into the sewer, "hopefully we reach the old metro entrance quickly . When he reached the bottom he waited for Amelia before walking down the sewer.

"John Gruger and Amelia Kersey...Both are superhumans, like me." Elijah Whispered to himself, as if saying it out loud would help him remember their names and who they are. Elijah's Theory of them hunting other supers started to fade as he listened into their conversation some more. All their talk of this Jerome guy, being trustworthy and John's mention of this haven started to make Elijah question their motives. He's not quite sure just yet if they were trying to fool each other, but their words seemed genuine. Elijah watched as John dipped down into the manhole, he could hear John say something about the old metro. Intrigued, Elijah decided to investigate this "Old Metro". Only problem was, he didn't know where it was.

Elijah ran to the side of the building, on impulse of course, and dropped down on the fire escape. He held his hands out to his side as he ran down the fire escape, his hands mending the sound waves that vibrated off the metal clanging of the stairs. Elijah's heavy footsteps couldn't even be heard by a bat, they were almost non existent. This was one of the many perks that came along with his powers, the ability to be sneaky. Elijah looked back at the manhole making sure no had had seen them, than continued to run down the fire escape. He kicked down the ladder, he made sure he tuned out the sound waves from that as well. Within moments, he was sliding down the ladder like those cool guys do in the movies.

Elijah was panting heavily by the time he came in sight of the manhole. He was no athlete, so all this physical strain took it's toll. Elijah needed a minute or two to catch his breath, it worked out for Elijah because he needed a few minutes to make sure they were both in the manhole. Only then did he follow them. Elijah's make-shift plan was to increase the intensity of their footstep's sound waves, while making his own quieter. This was going to be a new feet for Elijah, but somewhere deep inside him was telling him he had to follow them, even if that meant pushing the limits of his abilities.

At the mention of the sewers, Amelia scrunched up her nose and nodded. She'd heard in passing about Haven, and it was only her newly-heightened senses that had prevented her from taking the free-and-easy route of having a roof over her head. Sure, she'd learned quickly that she could navigate the dark with no problem, but the smell? She couldn't stand it. Still, with the sirens singing in her ears, she knew it was the safest, quickest way into Haven. Before she could ponder hopping down the manhole, she could've sworn she heard someone on the fire escape behind them - but after a moment's pause, the sound was nonexistent, and she shook her head. Her senses were on high alert, and it wasn't unusual for people to imagine things in their paranoia. With this in mind, she clambered down easily to follow John, one hand free of her jacket to cover her nose and mouth.

Once she was in, she tugged the manhole back into place, but wasn't sure it fell back as it should've been. It was heavier than she'd expected, even with her newfound strengths, and Amelia figured a car would pass over sooner or later and knock it in like it belonged. "Hopefully," she agreed, uncovering her mouth to speak, but quickly replacing her hand. She wasn't sure how strongly the tunnels smelled to John, but for her, they were overwhelming. "I think this is the only reason I haven't been to Haven," she admitted quietly, aware that her voice would carry in the cavernous space.

"It doesn't smell as bad in Haven, but it's hard to actually smell things with this mask." The part of the metro that was being used had actually been cleaned up by the new inhabitants. Though the rest of the metro was in pretty bad shape. Truth be told John felt a little awkward. He normally kept his distance from others, and any he did approach normally just shuffle around him, but John didn't mind. He didn't look very friendly to most people.

Each step echoed loudly as the pair walked down the sewer, and for a few moments there was just the echos. Then John decided to break it, "so what part of Grayshire where you from?" the question echoing over their steps.

Lexx maintained a serious face but at the same time he was chuckling mentally. He had made up his mind at that point. He would find out what Ved's powers were, assess how useful he was, and once his usefulness expired, so would he. Too trusting and naïve. People accepting us? Yeah right. And even if that happens, it's only a matter of time until the government hunts us down. There won't be any . . .peace, Lexx's thought ending in disgust and contempt at the world in general. He refocused his thoughts on what Ved's abilities might be. And he had a pretty good idea too. The fact that he had been able to secure his connection to him so thoroughly and quickly back in Grayshire during their video conversation hadn't gone by him. Frankly, it was rather impressive. Lexx finished his train of thought and snapped back to reality.
He almost blurted out at Ved to wake up since he didn't believe his hopes could ever become reality and he knew he'd probably die in the process too, either by his own hand or other people who might oppose his . . . vision. And Lexx knew there would be many.
In the end he just questioned him further. "So how do you hope on accomplishing this 'human-mutant peace'?" And while doing so he also noticed smoke in the distance. He assumed a building was on fire and planned on checking it out once he was done here.

Ved
He smiled peacfully, then turned to him and chuckled.
"Through political and Medial extermination of anyone who disagrees. In six months, the only people seen in media or online, the only people who will be heard, are those who support the cause.
He said chuckling gently, it would provide full world support, and complete alliance, with out too many assassinations. Of course, he couldn't single-handedly control every one of his members, and they certainly could make attempts on the lives of enemies.

@NanoFreakV2

The dark underbelly of New York City stinks. Granted it is the sewers. I was really dark in the musky sewers, but Elijah managed. If it weren't for the power to affect noise in all ways possible, there would be a very high chance he would loose his targets and be trapped down there. Elijah continued to follow John and Amelia in hopes that they would find this "Haven" soon. It hardly mattered at this point. Even if Elijah gave up and decided to forget about this "Haven", He couldn't exactly turn around and walk home. He had terrible navigation skills. The only option now was to follow the two.

Elijah picked up some other noises, higher pitched than their footsteps. He recognized the sounds immediately, they were speaking; Speaking of GrayShire. Elijah started to find it hard to focus all of a sudden. Using his new found gift to heighten the sound of their voices and their footsteps while silencing his own seemed to be a bigger task than he'd imagined it to be. Elijah must have slipped up or something because he heard a single footstep came from beneath him. When Elijah heard his own footstep, he froze. Like a deer in head-lights. Elijah placed his other foot down as soft as he could, unfortunately for him there was a puddle under his foot. Although quieter than his first un-muffled step, it still wasn't silent. Elijah froze again, hoping they didn't hear him. He reacted quickly out of fear. He waved his hand over himself making the sound waves that came from his footsteps extremely quiet. He didn't make John and Amelia's footsteps louder again because he was afraid to slip up again. He started walking at a faster pace, trying to come within an earshot distance.

Just as he nearly stood up and prepared to announce his departure, Ved's statement made him sit back down. He stared into the ground as he grinned and then proceeded to cover his mouth with a clenched fist afterwards moving further down and rubbing his chin. Maybe not that naïve after all, Lexx thought.

“Then we might . . . just have something in common.” He said to him as he finally stood up.

“I hope we’ll discuss the details later. Right now we have more important matters at hand.” Lexx said and then motioned his head in the direction from where the smoke was rising. “I think we should check that out.”

Ved
He smiled softly, then flicked his fingers, three red dots appearing on the man's body, one on his forehead, and one on each lung.
"Sit down, and Pardon the threat, but I did not come here to share my food and information. You know to much for you to leave here un-contracted, so I present you three options."
He said softly, taking a bite of pizza and chewing it slowly, before continuing.
"Join my organization as an average member, join my organization as my right hand man, or take a chance with three fully automatic Barrett .50 calibers, all manned by mutants with incredibly accuracy. The choice is yours."