As Lucas stepped out of the building, he heard a familiar voice catch his attention. He turned his head to see Dawn standing in the middle of the street. Lucas grinned at the sight of the familiar face. "Heyo!" He waved back as the man that had been flung across the street tried to get up but stumbled back down onto his bottom, sending a small harmless shockwave of fire from where he landed, unconscious. He took a few strides to face his old acquaintance. "Long time no see, eh Dawn?" he said excitedly. "I've got some new loot if you're looking to buy. I got some military stuff from some Liberty soldiers~!"

The young man's gaze shifted over to the winged man, staring with the curiosity of a child in his eyes. He quickly turned back to Dawn. "So, friend," he said with a friendly tone, emphasizing the last word with quite a bit of gusto, "What brings you to this part of the wastelands?"

RE1 knelt in the dirt with her head down, presenting as little a threat as possible in hopes the stranger wasn't going to take the opportunity to shoot her.

That probably wouldn't be fatal. But it would make the situation even worse.

The sound of a thud in front of her caused the creature to flinch, thinking for a moment it was some kind of projectile lobbed in her direction, possibly something explosive...but after a good few moments passed and there was no brutal reprisal, RE1 slowly opened one eye to survey what lay in front of her.

It was meat.

She gazed at it for a short while, before cautiously inching over to it. Once there she lifted the piece in one hand and sniffed the piece in a suspicious manner, as if trying to determine any contamination. Her hesitance was clear, but eventually hunger won out over fear and she tore into the meat with sharp, predatory teeth. Within a couple of seconds only the cloth was left.

The experiment fell silent, only to follow up with an unsettling organic sound, that of flesh knitting itself back together. Her posture relaxed, as if the considerable pain she'd been in had abruptly ended. Then the mutant's head tilted up in the direction of the masked itinerant.

"Th-thanks."

She spoke in a voice that belied a lack of use, like she knew perfectly well how to speak, but had so little call for it.

When your name was an ID code, people had very little interest in your personal opinion. @Conch Shell VII

At the sound of Drake’s voice, Dawn turned away from the entrance of the bar, catching sight of the drunken man attempting to rise in the process. He had fallen back onto the searing earth just as quickly as he had risen, and she found himself watching him for a moment longer before facing Drake completely. The temptation to try and help the man to his feet had been strong, but strangers were dangerous. Drunken ones more so.

“Oh, hey, Drake. Everything’s fine. I was just passing by when I saw someone come flying out, so I just wanted to see what happened.” His worry hadn’t gone unnoticed, and Dawn gave him an attempt at a reassuring smile before properly acknowledging Lucas.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” She glanced back over at Drake. “Drake, this is Lucas. He’s an old trading partner of mine.” It was hard to call the other a “friend” given that most of their interactions were exclusively to haggle over prices and such, but he was at the very least someone Dawn considered an ally.

As such, it was with a certain amiableness that Dawn replied to Lucas’ questions, shifting the bag on her shoulder so it had less of a bite in her shoulder. “Well, I’d, um, heard that this town usually doesn’t try to kill newcomers, so I decided to see if I could stay here for a while. And it depends on what you’re offering, really.”

She chose to let Drake introduce himself properly if he wished. He was a cautious one, and it was likely he wouldn’t want much said about him on his part.

@Hyro@Sketcher

Another day, another empty portfolio. Lazarus had packed up his supplies, save for the gramophone, which wasn't an antique by any means. It was a dime store thing, something that the previous owner had no doubt picked up in a novelty store. It played a handful of pre recorded songs, a few of which were familiar to the mercenary. The technology had been alien to him, but it hadn't been beyond his mental capability to figure out. However, it was beyond the machines capability to moved beyond the two songs that had survived the passage of time, and nature.

The tune followed him down the path he had taken, and into a broken street containing a number of intact buildings. One drew his attention near immediately. It's rotting archway was the only one that had been disturbed recently, indicated by the footprints that had disturbed the dust, and tore at the threshold.

He placed the machine down in the doorway, allowing the music to travel on the acoustics of the building, filling it's old walls with music for the first time in what was likely, decades. His footsteps soon followed the music, deliberated and pace, with no regard for disturbing whomever may be inside. He had no reason or want to hide his presence. Arrogance played a smaller part than intention in this instance. Sulking around buildings like a common thief didn't lend any credence to the confident air one needed to exude as a mercenary.

The man continued into the building, eventually coming to stop atop a dried pool of blood, and, upon further inspection, a young woman who by his estimation, had lost a little to much to be lucid.

The music had been a worthwhile idea. His coming had been announced, so he wasn't likely to startle her with the,

"Good day." that left his lips with an easy confidence that matched his posture, one fist on his hip, with his opposite palm on a nearby stand.

The muffled sound of projectiles firing off registered to Orion only after the Knight shrieked. The shots that she sheltered from pinged off of his body with a metallic shhnk, ricocheting to either side of him with no particular urgency. Another voice was on the scene not a moment later, but Orion had no chance to assess the threat. He jerked his hand back as if stung and released the Knight at the sudden burst of heat, which had turned his palm a dull, faintly glowing red.

A spray of steam, hot air, and dust grazed his body without the same immediate pain, but the heat of it was like an open oven door. There was a thunk as something landed near his feet, and it took only a second to realize it was a grenade. It took another two to process that this was not the sort of open melee qualifier he was used to.

Another one to say, "shit," and the same second to realize that the stakes had escalated to the point where he had no clever quips left to make. There were three people, the past six seconds had become a blur, and there was a blinking grenade on the ground about to strike someone who could not run away. There was no winner, here. Just people who could die, or not die.

An experienced soldier could have weighed his options in those short few breaths, and likely decided that the most beneficial course of action was to back up, let the others have their fight, and make off while there was a good chance to flee. Someone less used to fighting and taking risks may have just run out of being overwhelmed.

Orion, however, was neither used to high stakes nor conditioned to flinch when afraid.

So he did, as Mitch would lovingly call it, "some stupid, stupid hero-complex shit," that clearly showed his "boneheaded determination to get killed for literally nothing."

He turned with amazing speed for someone of his weight, and in one move shoved the Knight forward onto the ground and dropped onto his elbows and knees above her as the grenade gave its last beep. The heat of her body was sweltering underneath him, but the split-second choice had not left him much opportunity to consider the consequences.

Knight Norrevinter's concerns regarding the huge metal man with a grip on her arm had all but gone out of the window faced with this new threat. Orion was serving more as cover than an opponent by the time she saw the wall rise up.

"Coward!" Kora snarled, further enraged by the tactics of this opponent.

Then she saw the grenade.

Then she was being flung to the floor as the heavy weigh behind her abruptly shifted. It felt a bit like being thrown down by a wrecking ball, and had she taken Lazos' full weight then a broken knee would have been a far lesser worry, but for reason's Kora's mind hadn't wrapped around at that moment in time, he had not.

Berserk mode in full force, the Knight was not thinking about Orion's attempt to protect her from the grenade, even as the explosion jolted her forwards and she got a mouthful of sand where, unprotected she might have been in pieces on the floor. None of this crossed her mind.
All that was in her mind was getting that man.

As the dust settled Kora scrambled suddenly forward, pulling free from under Orion and stopping for a moment to press her superheated hand against her injured knee. There was a hiss and the foul smell of burning flesh as the wound cauterised instantly.

And with that, she was off at a charge.

The pain in her leg must have been unbearable as she forced weight on the foot but if it was she was showing no sign of it, especially when she flung herself at the wall and tore her way up with alarming speed, even whilst dragging her injured leg up with her.

Reaching the top of the barrier the berserker let out a scream of fury and perched on top like some hunting animal, before letting loose another explosive burst of heat below in the direction of the mercenary.

Blood had begun to trickle out from her eyes and seep down her cheeks. She was working with several broken bones at the very least, but it didn't seem to be bothering her at all. There was a good reason that the Citadel saw few concerns in letting the Knight walk the wastes alone. She was capable of becoming a one-woman howling storm of a destruction. A berserker.

@ScoundrelQueen@VitoftheVoid

Walking alongside his little stone barrier Alex couldn't help but feel tired. Despite his best efforts this wasn't going anything like what he had planned. At best he'd get a couple of coins out of this, at worst he'd be chased out of town. It had been a bad idea to intervene after all, if the girl hadn't goddamn exploded he could have at least looted the body. But there was no point to mourning lost goods, and there were other opportunities to be had. A slight smile appeared on his lips as a loud bang echoed through the town. So that left just tin man and the frost fellow. Now this frost fellow looked like he might be an issue, but Alex could probably charm his way out of this situation. And the tin man was the opposite of fire girl, all defence and no offence. If he decided to get uppity he'd just use his killing hand, which could pierce any armour. That was more like it. A little bit of thought, and suddenly his situation looked so much less bleak. With a chuckle he stepped towards the frost fella. This was all going to work out just-

A barely human scream of pain and anger ripped through the air.

Twisting on his feat he saw the fire girl leaping onto his stone barrier. She glared at him with hatred in her eyes, which were now leaking blood. Oh f*cknuggets. How in the ****** *** **** had she jumped the wall with a wounded leg?! What was this girl, a monster?

No time to think, no time to judge. Just instinct. The girl raise her arms and thrust them towards him, unleashing a blistering wave of heat. A hastily thrown up right arm summoned forth a continuous spray of cold water, which hissed and steamed as it collided with the girl's attack. Stepping backwards Alex momentarily had his breath taking away from him. Even with all this cold water he could feel the heat on his skin, and he knew that if he hadn't reacted as quickly he'd have been dead.

Cursing whatever steroids were keeping this chick going he fired off another defensive jet of water as he used his left to absorb the stone barrier the girl was now standing on in an attempt to knock her off balance. Whatever crazy shit was running through her veins right now must be making her immune to pain, and based solely on her facial expression Alex had no intention of getting into a fistfight with this thing. Placing his left hand on the ground he ripped into the earth, creating a crevice that raced towards her. The longer it got the wider and deeper it became, culminating in a 2m wide and 5m deep crevice. Meanwhile his right hand began rapidly releasing a cloud of yellow fog which spread across the battlefield, obscuring vision. No matter how dangerous her attacks were, there was no way she could hit him if she couldn't see him.

Alex himself had already switched to heat-vision, drawing on the vast arsenal of equipment his Hands of Fate gave him. Scrambling back from what was effectively a massive white blotch in his sight he tried to find a spot from which he'd be able to take down this menace. Even her inhuman constitution wouldn't save her when he riddled her with bullets.

Perhaps in hindsight working with Norrevinter was a poor choice, their own powers would serve to clash against one another in conjunction, obviously ice has always been ill-suited with fire. Though this would not deter him from aiding his fellow Knight, walking away from this fight wasn't an option. He would need to keep his wits about him when using his powers over the cold, a creative approach will be needed for this case.

The battle had quickly escalated before his eyes and Lyonel had learned to be cautious of both friend and foe, Norrevinter had began to slip into her berserk state and the skull-masked man displayed an unique, dangerous power with the use of his hands. The latter was enshrouded by a cloud of yellow fog rather hastily after creating a crevice that threatened to swallow up the Viking. Recognising that the Viking is more than capable of handling herself, even with the injuries she had already accumulated so far, he decides to focus on taking down the mercenary as he sheathes his drawn sword.

Water vapour in the air is now more than ample with the jet streams of water from before having been evaporated after colliding with an intense heat wave. The Knight is now more than capable of letting loose with a icy blizzard of his own, first he would slam his two hands onto the ground before freezing it solid, the frozen earth would snake its way up to the area shrouded by the yellow fog and would lock anyone in place as they would find their legs encased in solid ice. Without any pause to possibly waste this chance he would manifest a barrage of long, sharp, icy shards into the fog, before following up with dropping a huge pillar of ice suspended directly over the area, that used up a considerable chunk of the surrounding moisture to create, straight onto wherever the mercenary was hidden.

‘Curiosity killed the cat’ was what the winged boy wanted to say in response to Dawn’s rather reckless decision, but decided against it. Of course, Dawn would likely still hear this comment against his wishes, but at the very least he figured she had learned to appreciate when people decided to keep comments to themselves.

His silver gaze trailed over to Lucas and lingered for a moment, looking him up and down as if trying to gauge if he passed some imaginary checklist. There was a bit of hesitation, Drake’s undying caution remaining as persistent as ever. He did find Lucas’ emphasis of the word ‘friend’ a bit odd, but had decided not to comment.

“Drake,” he introduced finally, his tone carefully firm, “As I’m sure you’ve pieced together by now. Nice meeting you… Lucas.”

He wasn't exactly sure how trustworthy a "trading partner" was, but much like Dawn, Drake also had his own curious side. And seeing how he still had two more water bottles in his bag, he opted to stick around and find out what this new person had to offer.

The Knight slipped out from underneath Orion before the grenade's heat had even dissipated, and was running back toward the active combat before he could even think to yell, "That's a really stupid idea, lady."

Not that she would have listened.

A thick, yellow cloud was forming. A crag and a wall varied the landscape. The second Knight seemed to have show up to the fight, and was spreading ice across the ground to take out the intrusive merc. In combination, it seemed that the other three parties had their hands full enough, and the injured Knight had someone to help take her home. A trained, bonafide member of the Erubescan armed forces, no less.

Which left Orion's conscience clear.

He took one more glance over his shoulder at the scene of chaos, brushed his hand against the earth and Ash, and shifted into something far less easy to spot against his surroundings. Looking like a rather large, man-shaped boulder, he took off a at brisk walk in the opposite direction of the confusion. He kept a lookout for anyone following, his thumb cautiously checking to be sure that the tungsten carbide ring was still affixed around his finger should someone pursue.

Kora, steam billowing off her shoulders and blood streaming down her face, barrelled forwards at a charge. The leg of her uniform on the injured side was soaked in blood and leaving spotty trail behind her, but she seemed to be shrugging it off like it was nothing. Clearing the widening void between them would not have been a problem. She sprang towards the yellow smokescreen, feet thudding into the dirt on the other side and into a continued run... for the two steps it took until she hit ice. An eruption of steam turned it to water, and also threw the knight's feet from underneath her.

She fell back and tumbled into the crevasse, bouncing several times off the rocky walls before hitting the ground with some force.

The berserker's mind was going at miles a minute. It took her a few moments, kneeling on her shattered knee at the bottom of a deep hole, to realize what had just happened, and what it meant.

There was another gifted.

Someone was-

"STEALING MY KILL!" her roar echoed across the waste.

@TechnoWizROK@ScoundrelQueen@VitoftheVoid

It was a good thing this guy used ice. Something like metal control might have been hard to spot, but the coldness of ice made it easy to see in the infrared spectrum. As such, Alex wasn't caught off guard when the ground began to freeze beneath his feet. A dangerous power, ice control, and hard to avoid. However, the Hands of Fate were more than a match. Reaching down Alex simply removed the frozen ground around him before the ice could affect him. Using his left hand of 'destruction', he could remove any obstacle in his path. When a series of icy shards were launched into the fog at random he was able to see them coming, and slapped them out of the air with his left hand. As each of them came into contact with his hand he simply drew them into his pocket dimension, absorbing every attack even as it occurred. An attack like that, with little to no aim, had no chance of taking him out.

Of course, that's when the pillar appeared. Gathering and freezing the moisture in the air, it seems the swordsman had created something rather large. So if Alex himself couldn't be seen, they'd just attack the entire area? Not a bad strategy, but was it really a good idea to spend so much energy when you don't know what your opponent's ability is? It seemed they were still underestimating him. With his left hand of Destruction Alex reached out, and carved a hole through the middle of the pillar. All it took was a touch.

The berserker's bloodcurling scream echoed across the area from outside. If nothing else, it was probably that lady's crazy scary shouting that had prevented anyone else from interfering with this match. It wasn't a voice that encouraged interference. However, neither of the Knights had realised the true nature of Alex's power, the power to Give and Take. Because this power could turn the opponent's abilities against themselves, the tools of the enemy were just another aspect of the environment. This power, second only to his brothers', would end this battle right now.

With his left hand, Alex cracked the pillar that surrounded him. Not enough to cause it to collapse, and yet the fissures formed a very specific pattern. Leaning his right hand against one of the cracks, Alex unleashed wind. Every crack was filled with compressed air, pushing outwards and shattering the pillar as a whole. A ball of air rapidly expanded outwards, and with a crack like thunder the entire pillar shattered. Hundreds of razor-sharp shards of ice exploded out, raining across the surrounding landscape. Alex had carefully crafted the ice into blades, which now scoured the surrounding landscape. Anything that stood near the explosion would have been ripped to bloody shreds, and even the swordsman wasn't safe from this attack.

Of course, Alex didn't expect something like that to be enough. But it was enough to cover him, for a moment.

Dashing forward Alex emerged from the cloud of gas, both hands at the ready as the large icy splinters he had previously absorbed now launched themselves towards the swordsman Knight at high speeds. A blast of air from the 'hand of Creation' launched him forwards at high speeds, allowing him to accelerate far faster than a normal person. It was a trick he'd used many times before. Closing the distance he stretched out the Left Hand of Destruction. With a single touch he could annihilate this opponent, as well as this hand blocking nearly any incoming attack. The ultimate shield and the ultimate spear. And the Berserker, who was most likely still intent on killing him, would follow him soon enough. The cold ice he absorbed from this guy would be excellent for fighting that hothead.

Beneath his mask, Alex was smiling. Fighting two Knights at once? This was going to be FUN.

Orion registered the bang, and shifted out of his camouflage into his former alloy form on instinct. A few errant shards clinked against his hide, but the lion share of the blast was several yards behind him by now. It was a wonder how anyone without a shield could survive something like that, but...

Well, the Knights had one another, and whatever backup would come for Knights.

If something took him down, there would be nobody coming back for Mitch. And she didn't need to be alone.

He shook his head and shifted into earth once again, taking off at a run toward the rugged settlement. It was doubtful that anyone would be more hospitable there, but it seemed less likely for whomever came out of the mess behind him to try and fight him somewhere that others may be inclined to pile on.

Curiosity killed the cat. It had been a brief, fleeting thought, but Dawn had snagged it regardless. She couldn’t really deny that Drake’s opinion held a ring of truth- bars tended to be violent, rowdy places, apparently even in less chaotic places than the Wastes. It was a risky move, but it had at least shown some pay-off in terms of meeting an old contact. Dawn adjusted her hat, quietly appreciative of his courtesy (but knowing better than to openly acknowledge it), and was about to make another comment when she abruptly stiffened.

In the distance. It was faint, but she couldn’t miss it now that she had sensed it. Someone was heading towards town, and quite rapidly. Considering that this was a trading stop, it normally wouldn’t be too surprising, but it was the feelings from the presence that caught Dawn’s attention.

Stressed.

Frantic.

Worried.

Nothing good.

Lips pursed, Dawn glanced over to Drake, the only other person that she knew was a sensor. “Do you feel that?” It was quiet, barely audible, but sound carried in open spaces like this. If trouble was coming, then they needed to prepare.

@Hyro

”Hm?” The winged boy gave Dawn a side glance before registering what she had said. Feel what? He raised his eyes and they glazed over briefly as he felt his way around the town. There were a lot of energy auras due to the congestion, so it was hard to figure out exactly who she was talking about. Perhaps she meant physically? Some sort of earthquake or breeze, or--

Wait.

Drake’s senses zeroed in on one man in particular, his read on him growing stronger as said man rapidly approached. And while he couldn’t sense people in the same way Dawn could, he knew exactly what she meant. This aura was wild and vibrant, resembling stress or fear. Perhaps even panic or desperation. None of which were a good sign out here in the wastes.

”Oh, that’s not good,” he replied, his volume matching Dawn's.

Not to mention, now that he was looking… Yes. There were definitely some auras further out. They were too far away for him to get a good read, but at the very least, Drake gathered they were most likely the threat this wayward man was running from. Vivid concern replaced his previously glazed expression as he took a timid step back.

”If it’s not too late, now might be a good time for us to leave,” he concluded, growing tense.

Instead of waking Aran at the end of her shift, Eira opted to pull a double and stayed up, as she had already been awake during everyone elses shifts. The sleepless nights caught up with her after she woke Overreach up for his shift and Eira couldn't stop from falling asleep, as she had her body running off of fumes at this point.

Upon awakening, Eira was less than surprised to find herself alone with her mentor. She'd heard a great deal of shuffling not long ago, but couldn't quite bring herself to wake up fully. She waited until after she had everything packed to wake Aran, and noticed he hadn't seemed surprised that they had been left. Which was better for both parties, really, as this way her mentor wouldn't feel obligated to keep a faster pace than his leg could handle. Still, Eira wished that the trio had woken one of them before just abandoning the two.

Eira felt the shield around the town moments before it could detect her, giving the psychometric just enough time to fully block her mind, as she had already blocked most parts as a preemptive measure. With a muttered "Mentalist", her mentor also blocked the worst parts of his mind.

After her and her mentor had parted, him opting to go to see his sister right away and Eira wishing to scout the town a bit, the pyro headed to the best place she knew she could scam some brutes out of their goods. She had just gotten her second free drink from a fairly inebriated patron, and would have rejected it if it weren't for the fact that she had been watching this particular barfly. He'd had quite a few drinks in the short time that she had been present, and all Eira would have to do is wait until he passed out and his belongings would be fair game. As she assessed the man, her plan very nearly fell through when a figure seemed to appear out of nowhere next to the drunkard. She could just make the young man call to the bartender "Heya! How're ya doin', Sammy?" over the protests of her potential mark. She sighed in frustration as the scenario anticipated played out beside her, but she watched it unfold all the same. After a moment of the blonde standing triumphantly in the doorway, Eira slid off the bar stool and followed, with every intention of acting as if she had known the man so she could 'take him home' and pick him clean there. It seemed a better plan, anyways.

Eira waited behind the door for the young man to stop his foolish waving so she could pass, but froze instead when she felt a familiar pulse. A mentalist, and one she'd been prodded by before. She didn't have to look to see who exactly it was, as the young man called out "Long time no see, eh Dawn?" The pyro was suddenly glad that she hadn't let her mental defenses down after entering the town.

Eira couldn't help the frustrated snort when she heard the telepath respond, and wasn't surprised to hear Drake pipe in shortly after. Good to know those two hit it off. There was a pause in their conversation as Eira brushed by the man introduced as Lucas and paid no mind to the other two until she heard the telepath mutter "Do you feel that?" This caused Eira to slow as she was making her way to the now-unconscious man, but it still took her a moment after the mutant felt it for her to catch a vague, negative pulse. 'Oh, fun..'

@Sketcher@Claw2k11@bmxbrat484@Hyro