Early morning in Buffalo NY in mid-November. There is a cozy 10 inches of snow on the ground and the snow plows have been up and going since before the sun even rose. Phoenix pulled her long leather trench coat a little closer to herself, swearing about how wet and soggy it was. Most of the humans she passed would stare because she looked as if she had a terrible hunched back when it truth, she was concealing her wings. In most cases she wouldn’t care but as of lately the activity of Mutant Hunters has grown to an alarming amount, and more than a few fellow Mutants have been vanishing. “Gallagher must be in town,” she mumbled to herself.

Slowly, Phoenix walked down the street. Every time she took a step there was a soft sizzling sound of her over heated form making contact with the bitter cold ground. If someone was to watch carefully, they would see the snow falling towards her evaporating before it even touched her coat. Taking a right down Virginia Avenue, Phoenix began to glance around to make sure she was not being tailed. She hasn’t heard anything out of the ordinary. A couple at the end of the street were getting in on in the kitchen. The funny part was, Phoenix could hear her husband’s car coming down Main Street. That was going to be a shit storm. Shaking her head, Phoenix walked up the stairs and held her right hand out towards the ground and waves of heat began to radiate from her palm, melting the snow to reveal a symbol burned into the concrete. It was a pair of wings, a symbol Phoenix made to let all Mutants know that there is safety nearby.

Turning back the way she came, Phoenix walked down the narrow alley way to the back of the apartment she was just standing in front of. Crouching down, she popped the basement window open and awkwardly slid through the window, her wings making the job difficult. Once inside the dark basement Phoenix closed the window and then found a switch. Turning it on, the massive basement was lit by a handful of ceiling lights. “Home sweet home,” Phoenix said to herself. Taking off her coat and hanging it on a nearby coat rack, Phoenix stretched her wings as much as she could.

In the small basement there were 2 massive sofas, a flat screen tv with a PS3 hooked to it and 2 cases full of games and movies. There was a kitchen area with brunet orange counters, a microwave, a large fridge and a sink with a few dirty dished in it. There were 4 doors to choose from. One was locked tight since it leads to the upper part of the building. Two other lead to furnished bed rooms and the last was a bathroom. It took her a while, but Phoenix built the place on her own, a few mutants passing though helping when they could. It was her home and a safe house to any who needed it. Well, Mutant wise.

An awkward bundled form of a man briskly walked through the snow, his boots loudly crushing the snow under every step he took. He rubbed his gloved hands together in an attempt to retain as much heat as possible. The man brandished a large tattered burgundy trench coat, worn out military style combat boots with a few holes, a green stained scarf, and green cotton gloves over black leather gloves. His body shuddered as he exhaled a misty fog, and forged on in the direction he was headed. The man looked about him slyly to check for some of the given signs that others of his kind leaved behind. He shouldered his bag off from under his coat, and tried to search it's contents with shaking hands. The bag was harder to hold and open in these conditions and he spilled his contents in the snow. A note book skittered across the ground into a low open window.

The man fell to through ground trying to grab all the spilled contents, as though he were afraid that they would disappear from his eyes. He scrambled picking up loose papers, pens, and portfolios and shoved them back in their respective places. He slowed down as he picked up his wallet, a picture of a boy with a scowl on his face and a name, Nathaniel Reid. The boy sat up, and pocketed the wallet instead of stuffing his bag anymore. Nate looked in the bag to double-check that he'd had all his materials, and noticed that his notebook was missing. He looked back at the ground, but didn't see anything. He frantically looked about him in the snow shoving his hands into piles, which he'd hoped it'd somehow been buried under.

He knew nobody had come by to take it, so it has to be somewhere. "Where is it?" He whispered to himself, his words turning into a fog as they left his mouth. Nathaniel shoulder his bag again, and stood up to look around for a better view. He walked up and down the alley way a numerous amount of times to see if it could have been blown down with a gust of wind, or slid into some opening somewhere. Then he saw his black and red notebook teetering on the edge of a open window sill close to the ground, probably the basement floor. He rushed to grab it before it fell in, but his fingertips brushed it forward tipping it the final degrees to where it fell in. A loud thud was all he heard as he looked into the brightly light room, obviously someone was in there, and he didn't want to scare them by just breaking in, but he also could talk to them in fear that'd they would be freaked out by his teeth. He was at an internal impasse, and he decided to go with the former; sneak in.

Luckily he had a slender body, which he wasn't really proud of, and would slip in rather easily, but he'd have to remove all his larger clothing to manage it first. He took off his coat revealing a plain white button up shirt with a black t-shirt underneath, and set the scarf down to the side. He'd gently dropped his bag inside the window as well, so could easily put his notebook back in when he got it. Nate slid his femininely figure through the window, and once his feet found purchase on the floor he crouched down. He scanned the room to look for his notebook noticing how exceedingly bare room was, but it felt cozy. His gaze finally landed on the notebook, which managed to slide to one of the large couches in the room.

He checked around him listening for any people, and tip-toed over towards the book, trying to be as quiet as possible. Nate had grabbed the notebook, and started to walk back to the window, but pushed over a nearby coat rack. The loud noise scared him completely, and he yelps as he ran forwards. "Crap." Nate said under his breathe as he realized he'd given himself away.

Isaac yawned as he woke up from his slumber.  As he gazed around his murky surroundings, the young man slowly rubbed his eyes.  There was something about the cold that always made him tired in the mornings, and it was on days like these that he wished he could just sleep in.  But, being on the bottom of lake Erie, sleeping in would not be a good idea.

I hope it's not too late, Isaac thought. I don't want too many people asking questions once I get back on land. Somehow managing to gather enough concentration to access his gifts, Isaac heated the water around him.  The got water felt nice against his cold, clammy skin, and the shock jolted him awake.  Some of the nearby fish jerked awake as well, glancing around with their dinner plate eyes before settling back down in the silt to continue their seasonal rest.

"Sorry!" Isaac bubbled, the words not enunciating properly through the thick liquid surrounding him.  Figuring that it was time to resurface, Isaac focused once more and slowly began to rise to the icy surface, that mirrored boundary that separated him from the rest of the world.  Isaac melted a hole in the thick ice, poking his head up into the air just enough to be able to observe his surroundings.  After checking to make sire no one was around to see him, Isaac emerged from the water, pushing the liquid off of his body as he entered the chilly air above.

It was a short, brisk walk across the ice to the nearby piers of Buffalo, New York.  Once he reached the edge of the city, Isaac stopped by one of the many icy, abandoned rowboats to pick up his things, which he had left there the previous night.  

Once he had changed his clothes (quickly, it was FREEZING!), he strode into the snow covered city scape.  It was still early in the morning, and much of the residents were still slumbering.  The only sign of life on the barren streets was the occasional snow plow, those hulking machines who worked tirelessly to rid the streets of the accident inducing powder which is snow.  Isaac waved at the disheveled person sitting behind the wheel of the massive vehicle, but the man paid no attention to him.  Isaac shrugged.  I guess some guys just aren't morning people.

A little ways down the street, Isaac ran into something a little more interesting.  A few blocks down, the young man could see a heavily clothed figure walking down the street towards him.  Isaac normally wouldn't have paid any attention her, but even from a distance, he could see... disfiguration.  Either she was a catholic bell ringer, or she was like him. Gifted.

Rather than barging in to investigate, Isaac set himself down where he was and observed from a distance.  He watched in quiet interest as the woman turned into a nearby alley and out of sight. 

Before long, another cloaked figure appeared, this time male walked by the alley.  The man stopped, to Isaac's surprise, and reached into his coat.  In a matter of seconds, all of his belongings were spilled out in the snow, and the figure hurried to gather the items up.  Isaac chuckled softly.  He must not have been very used to cold weather if he had lost that much dexterity.  

A few minutes later, the good had been collected, and the man stood up once again.  Figuring that the guy would just continue on his way, Isaac stood up, brushed the snow off of his pants, and prepared to move on.  Just as he was about to set off, he noticed something strange; the man had turned into the alley too!  Either something's going on there, or I'm delirious, Isaac thought.  Why on earth is that alley so frequented? The man knew there had to be more.

Isaac speed-walked down the street, quickly arriving at the alleyway in question.  All he could see of interest was the basement window of the nearby apartment building, which was, strangely, wide open.  "Not the most energy friendly thing to do during November," Isaac mumbled to himself as he trudged down the narrow passage.  The man jumped as he heard a grumbled curse come out from the window.  So that's where he went.

"Hey," Isaac said, waiving cheerily as he knelt down to look in the window.  "Looks like you're in a bit of a pickle.  Need some help?"

It was fairly cold, freezing to be more exact. Jecht shuffled his heavy boots through the thick snow layer beneath him, his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his coat to prevent them from freezing shut. This was one of the many rare occasions the mutant could get himself moving freely through the streets without having to worry about people staring as if they see a ghost walking past them. As a chill ran alongside his neck, Jecht raised the collar of his coat, shivering a little as he did so.

His yellow eyes scanned across the streets, noting every figure that appeared in the mutant's sight. Which wasn't too hard as like most mornings, most people are still asleep, especially with weather like this running through town. Along his way he noted a few people in particular that caught his attention, forcing Jecht to stop for a brief second as he examined them before continuing his way. There wasn't much planned like every other day, Jecht would just roam the streets, park and anything else he felt the need to appear.

A few blocks from the park Jecht felt a cold pair of eyes watching his back. But, as he turned his head to catch the stalker, the feeling disappeared, and the mutant made the decision that he was just imagining it, but he had this feeling ever since he first stepped into this city. After all, his life wasn't an easy one, it never was, and if things were going to stay like this it wouldn't start changing any time soon.

Jecht let out a sigh of relieve when his foot touched the park ground, it kind of felt like a second home. Aside from the abandoned apartment he took residence in anyway. The park was more a place for him to secretly practise his abilities without the fear of someone staring at him. He had found himself the perfect area, a small open field that was surrounded by thick trees that hid it from any curious eyes, and Jecht would notice it when someone would crawl through the bushes.

He removed his hands from the pockets on his coat, a small metallic object in his left hand. Jecht closed his eyes, moving his left hand to point towards a small river running through the park. The mutant's left hand glowed black kind of like a flame enveloping around it. On the top of Jecht's hand appeared a circle, a symbol, kind of like the ones used in dark rituals. In a brief second the metallic object grew into a sword-like shape, along with the sound of metal clashing as it took the form. "Great, I am finally getting the hang of controlling the form I want to make it." He swung the sword downwards, the wind making a cutting sound as he did so...

Christian Walker.

Christian stared blankly into the large screen images of many places around the world started spreading around but he made the screen focus on Buffalo. This screen was a creation of his own, the screen of a super computer. He had placed very hidden secret cameras all over the world that was linked to the screen as well. The reason he focused on Buffalo so much was because he heard information that a SWAT team designed to take care of the mutant "issue" had sent out a Stephen Gallagher to check Buffalo and when I said heard I meant stole. Christian had hacked into the SWAT teams data base to gain all of it's information so he could gather mutant test subjects before they could kill them, I mean after all wouldn't it be better to give the m more of a part in this game instead of "people you must eliminate" anyways Christian was growing impatient, his gray eyes were getting darker until he noticed something interesting... a peculiar looking person put her hands in front of the snow and the snow started melted until it formed two wings, and when he looked even closer he noticed the the falling snow flakes melted around her before they even touched her, then she left through an alley way. Afterwards two more peculiar people walked to the same alleyway. Christian checked the address, and then he went there.

Christian walked around in a big black overcoat, black pants, black combat boots, and a black hat. He walked around the sidewalk where he saw the girl form the wings. They were gone though the snow probably covered them up already, so he went towards the alleyway where he saw the three odd people go. He noticed an open window and two people in the room it led to. He decided to listen and not go in so he could see if he could find out any information on whether or not they were mutants.

evil double post!!!

Phoenix made her way back to the room on the right and went in, kicking off her shoes. One thing that was great about her powers, she never had to wait for anything to dry. Closing her door behind herself out of habit, Phoenix went to the far side of her bed and pulled her brown cloth messenger bag up off the floor and then pulled out her SONY lap top. Opening it up, she hit the power button then heard something hit the concrete floor and skid across.

Cocking her head to the side in a very animalistic motion she listened more closely. Just outside the window she heard someone very small crunching in the snow and what sounded like taking off something kind of heavy. Her brows came together when she heard the incredible feint squeak of the window opening and of the figure falling to the ground and make his way over to where the first noise stopped moving. What are you after?

Silently, Phoenix got up and made her way over to her door. Just as she was about to push it open she heard a heavier set of foot prints of someone who just turned down the alleyway then paused, “Not the most energy friendly thing to do during November” the figure outside mumbled.

Thank you captain obvious, Phoenix grumbled to herself. Then the coat rack fell over with a loud clatter making Phoenix jumped slightly at the unexpected loud noise.

“Crap.”

Crap is right kid. I’m sure the neighbors heard you too.

“Looks like you’re in a bit of a pickle. Need some help?”

“If you two don’t answer these next few questions carefully you’re both going to need a lot of help,” Phoenix announced and walked out of her room. Her wings were resting comfortably on her back and her hands at her sides, slightly curled in a claw like position, tiny flames randomly appearing licking at her fingers and forearms then vanishing again.

“Who are you, and are you human?” Phoenix looked between the two. The boy outside looked much more put together but seemed kind of damp. It was very strange for this kind of weather. As of the other kid on her floor whose skin was almost blue from the cold, Phoenix easily honed in on his sharp teeth and claws. “Well?” she asked growing impatient.

Nathaniel cursed under his breather again as he rubbed the side of his head. He lifted up the coat rack that he caused to fall, putting the large coat that fell back on it. He cradled his notebook in his arms for second being happy that hadn't lost it, and walked towards his bag. A voice caught him off guard, startling him so bad that his glasses fell off from his face. Flustered his picked them up from the ground, and looked at the foggy figure through the window. He squinted trying to get a better look at the person, but just couldn't get a good look.

He'd turned around towards the girl who'd came out of the room. He stood in shock after noticing a rather large pair of wings "Um.....um....I can explain this." He whispered as he backed himself up to the wall. He couldn't really make out her other features due to the lack of his vision, and he tried to make himself smaller. "No. I'm a mutant." He barely said avoiding looking into her eyes. He pulled his book closer to his chest, and noticed his bag a few feet away from him.

Nate was planning on making an escape, but remembered there was the man standing outside of the window, canning that plan. He couldn't think of a way out of this situation.

“If you two don’t answer these next few questions carefully you’re both going to need a lot of help,”

Isaac moved his eyes to glance at the newcomer in the room.  She seemed to be about his age, and she was pissed.  The woman was definitely a mutant, if one could judge such a thing by the large wings protruding from her back and the flames flickering from her fingertips.  I definitely don't want to mess too much with her, Isaac thought.

“Who are you, and are you human? Well?”

The other young man attempted to answer, but he was so flustered that all that came out coherently was that he was a mutant.

"Well, if you don't mind, I think I'll come in while I answer that," he replied calmly, sliding fluidly through the window and closing it behind him.  "My name is Isaac, Isaac Dartmouth, pleased to meet you.  As for being human, I suppose that, scientifically, that would be the correct way to describe me.  I am, however, gifted, like you.  By the way, interrogation isn't exactly the best way to make friends.  Mind if I sit?"

Idelkys was being violently held against the wall, by a younger and shorter man. He had blonde hair and ocean blue eyes, that were quite angry. "Listen you little mutant freak, I don't want to see your face around my town anymore. Things like you ruin the atmosphere." The man spat in hate, trying to threaten the not-so-impressed Idelkys. The man was probably twenty one, no older than twenty three, Idelkys knew that. Idelkys remember when she was his age, she was still filled with hate, hate of everything that crossed mutants. The blood and the decomposing bodies that followed after insults towards mutants, the S.W.A.T giving her the name of Infection to identify her, that was also a vivid image. It was a reminder too, that anger could change people, fear and anger.

Idelkys raised her hand and caressed the side of the mans face. She couldn't be upset with him, not with her past. "Did I ever tell you, that I was a mutant?" The man jerked from the touch of Idelkys hand, like many others who she would reach out to. He raised his hand in return and slapped her, stinging her left cheek. People were gathered around the two, watching, waiting to see what was going to happen. "Is anyone going to stop this man?" Idelkys questioned the crowd, her eyes looking around the crowd, whenever she got eye contact, the person would look down to the ground.

"This woman deserves to die! She's a mutant everybody!" The man screamed to the crowd, his voice sharp and loud, and doused with fear. His blue eyes were getting wilder, he was trying to keep an eye on Idelkys while talking to his audience. "Look at her height! And her hair and eyes! She's a freak!" Idelkys was brought to the ground, being held by her hair. The man showcased her, like a lion tamer and his pet.

"I am European. My eyes are gray and my hair is dyed." Idelkys said calmly. "This man thinks that dyed hair is a crime. Is it?" There were some people in the crowd who believed Idelkys, enough for them to shout at the man to 'let the poor girl go'. The man was starting to panic, he was losing his audience's faith. He started to cough a little, for being around Idelkys for too long, but it was snowing, so his coughing was easily dismissed. Idelkys waited for someone to rescue her, or at least until the man let go of her hair.

Spook woke up when he heard the crashing and the talking from one of the nearby buildings. With a quiet sigh, the disfigured former scientist looked through the chewed-out spyhole just in time to see a man slide through a window and close it behind him. Having spent the night in a thankfully empty dustbin, he was chilled to the bone and rather irritable this morning. Taking one last look out of the spyhole to check that the coast was clear, Spook leapt out of the dustbin, catching the lid as it fell and delicately placed it back where it should be. Nobody had seen him at all yet. Excellent.

He took a piece of cardboard out of his satchel and started chewing on it as he crept towards the window. True, it wasn't exactly gourmet cuisine, but it didn't taste that bad. Not to him, at any rate. Nervously running a black tongue that was twice as long as a human tongue across his sharp teeth, Spook gently tapped on the window before tapping again, this time a little louder and more insistent. He was hoping that these people were mutants like him, judging from how they acted like they were trying to look inconspicuous.

The occupants of the building would be looking at a nightmarish face with jagged teeth and dead eyes who was munching on a piece of cardboard and... waving?

I guess it's safe to say that these people, mutant or otherwise, were probably going to get a little... spooked...

The park grew more and more crowded with people, and Jecht was getting the occasional bush shaking sound from every direction. Practising his abilities wasn't safe now, at least not openly. He was rather lucky a kid who surprised the mutant by jumping out of the bushes mistook his next forge for a magic trick, the kid went even as far to ask for Jecht do show it one more time. Ignorance is bliss, isn't it? He was lucky this time, a next encounter could prove to reveal him as an 'abomination'. He decided on leaving the park, perhaps making the trip back to his temporary home and bless another day of not having been unmasked.

Though when stepping outside of the bushes, it seemed the kid was telling his mother about the 'magic trick' Jecht had performed in front of him, and immediately he was glared at with suspicion. Who could blame them really, you could bet your life that there are bound to be mutants who will use their 'gift' in a wrong way, Jecht should know, his forging ability wasn't just for weapons. If he wanted he could form a hairpin to fit a keyhole, opening a lock as with just one finger snap. The streets were awfully quiet, except the sound of a crowd forming around whatever was occurring.

Jecht stepping closer to the crowd, he could make out a familiar yell, someone was being blamed for being a mutant. He squirmed himself through the crowd, wanting a closer look at what was happening here, giving the occasional 'Excuse me.' or 'Pardon.' as he bumped into the mass. The situation in front of him appeared to be what humans mostly did when they were afraid, blame someone for being abnormal when you can't explain something they did and gather a crowd to support you. Pathetic, I am almost glad I am no longer classified as human.

He'd watch for a few more seconds as the blond male floored the female, almost presenting her as a beast. Jecht scanned through the crowd but nobody seemed man enough to stand up to this theatrical event. With a soft sigh Jecht slowly made a few steps to reveal himself to not only the crowd but the confused male as well. "Hey, don't you have something better to do then blame someone for being a mutant? Obviously you are confused, let her go and walk away. You are only spreading unwanted fear in this street." He stepped even further, his eyes literally set on the blond male should he do anything reckless. "Calm down, you are not the only one who is alerted by this mutant thing. But that doesn't mean you can blame every human you meet for being one." Jecht scanned around the crowd who didn't seem to be wanting involvement in this themselves, yet they were watching the event unfold like they were watching a film on TV.

"Um.....um....I can explain this." the boy with the sharp teeth seemed terrified and at the moment, blind by his lack of glasses. It was really a sad sight that forced Phoenix to take a step back.

"Well, if you don't mind, I think I'll come in while I answer that," the damp boy replied calmly, sliding fluidly through the window and closing it behind him. "My name is Isaac, Isaac Dartmouth, pleased to meet you. As for being human, I suppose that, scientifically, that would be the correct way to describe me. I am, however, gifted, like you. By the way, interrogation isn't exactly the best way to make friends. Mind if I sit?" Now this one rubbed Phoenix the wrong way and made her neck hurt a little bit from the tension that grew there.

"Well, Isaac Dartmouth being that you seem comfortable with the world find, but don't get my furniture soggy and make it mold. Second of all, the correct answer is 'no, I'm not human' being that none of us here apparently are not." Phoenix took a deep breath and let it out slowly, some flames appearing around her mouth as she exhaled. "I'm Phoenix, and I apologize for my reaction. I'm not fond of people trying to creep around being that very, very few can get by without my notice," her bright red eyes went between the two a few more times, sizing them up. The one on the ground was still looking for his glasses and out of sympathy Phoenix walked over handed the fallen glasses to him. "Be more careful, and there are blankets in the ottoman between the sofas," she said gesturing to the large square black foot stool. Standing up, Phoenix paused at the noise coming from the window again. "More guests?" she mumbled and turned to find herself staring at a gray face and white eyes.

Phoenix felt her heart skip a beat. At first she though it was a body, but then saw it was smiling and waving, then took a bite out of cardboard. Well that's new, she thought. Pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes, she motioned of the... well... thing to come in. "Welcome to the party, any friend you would like to bring?"

After her savior appeared from the crowd there was hushed whispers everywhere. People were talking and pointing, the whole scene was confusing. Getting put off by the appearance of Jecht, the man let go of Idelkys, and ran away, dispersing the crowd with his absence. Idelkys raised to her height of 6'5, towering over Jecht. Idelkys sighed and reached in her pocket to hand him a white air purifier.

"If you put that in your mouth you can breathe freely around me." Idelkys paused, waiting for the man to take the purifier, if he even wanted it. "I go by Infection." Idelkys looked sideways at the man, she knew he was a mutant. Not only because of his slightly abnormal appearances, but because of how he stood up for her. A trait that humans lacked when it came to the justice of a mutant. Now Idelkys wondered if the man knew her by her alias, it was widely recognized by S.W.A.T but maybe not so much to the outside world.

Idelkys looked around, the crowd was long gone and people were walking by aimlessly. They didn't care about the two white-haired couple, to them, they were just the weird junkies who dyed their hair and did crazy things in those clubs. Before she was stopped, Idelkys was on her way to a supposed safe room. There was word getting out that a mutant named Phoenix was protecting mutants and giving them hide outs, and now Idelkys was curious of the authenticity of the rumor. Idelkys motioned her body to the left, signifying the man that it was time for them to continue walking, if anything they could both go to the hide out.

Giving the male a last glare as he fled the area, Jecht turned his gaze towards the female who, to his surprise was taller then him. Sure he wasn't tall for a male, but didn't really think a female would be that much taller compared to him. Finding himself glaring awkwardly long at the female, Jecht shook his head, taking the air purifier as she handed it over to him. Breathe freely around her? Either that would mean she had bad breath or she was a mutant that had powers involving something around that, or worse. Definitely the latter of both.

He'd frown at the object in his hand before spraying the substance in his mouth, giving a disgusted look as he handed it back the to female. "Eh, Infection huh? I suppose there is a reason for that name, but that isn't really of interest now, is it?" He raised his eyebrow as Infection made an obvious signal that they should start walking. The crowd was still staring with confusion, really, such simpletons. As they passed the shrinking crowd, Jecht turned his yellow eyes at the female. "I go by Spectre by the way." He gave off a pause, shoving his hands in the pockets of his coat once more. "Humans, what did a mutant do to them to deserve this kind of treatment anyway?" Jecht reached for the scar on his face, the whole event somehow threw his thoughts back to his experience on the whole 'fear for mutants' thing.

Idelkys noticed that Spectre had used the purifier wrong. He was supposed to put it in his mouth and breathe through it. She demonstrated this to him by putting the purifier in her mouth and speaking. "Destroy their lives." Idelkys said solemnly. She took the uncomfortable contraption out of her mouth, and was reminded again as to why she did not use it herself.

Idelkys walked, looking for the symbol of wings on buildings or trees. She recollected the sadness in her father's eyes when her mother died in his arms. The anger in them when he found out that Idelkys was the cause. In some ways, Idelkys didn't blame people for hating mutants, they could be scary and life threatening. But then again, so could humans. Idelkys turned to see Spectre and caught something odd, there was a large scar on the left side of his face. His left eye was slightly clouded, and was also connected to the scar. Idelkys wanted to know where he got the scar from, but figured it was probably from a human. That's how most mutants got their scars.

Idelkys paused to see an uneven level in the snow, she kicked away the lowest levels to reveal a pair of wings engraved in the cement. "Now to find this 'safe' room." Idelkys rolled her eyes at the idea of being safe and started to create miniature bombs and particles of her virus. They coated her entire body and since they were so small, to the human eye they were not noticeable. Idelkys learned to create and horde her powers as such for a body shield, made when she was going into unknown areas. Seeing an alleyway next to the wings was a good clue that the safe room was close. Idelkys walked until she came to an apartment with a window near the floor. She heard people talking and the light was on, so she assumed this was the spot.

But, Idelkys was a little too large to squeeze through the window. Not only was she a woman of height, she was a woman of girth too, and she had the common sense to know she wasn't going to fit into most places. Plus, she did not want to look foolish. "I am not climbing into a window." Idelkys murmured. Too busy focusing on the window dilemma, Idelkys noticed a man peeking into it. He was wearing all black and blending in well with the shadows, another reason why Idelkys only now was noticing him.

"May I help you sir?" Idelkys said, glaring at the peeping tom. She had a feeling that this creep was probably looking for the same hide out she was. Except the man was more than likely looking to exterminate the mutants. Wearing all black was a good giveaway to being part of the S.W.A.T.

"Hey! There's a guy peeping outside of your window!" Idelkys screamed, loud enough for whoever was inside to hear.

Christian Walker.

Through the window Christian could hear every one saying they were mutants and he saw their faces and took pictures of them. One of them was quite familiar...she went by Phoenix he slightly remembered her from some of the files he hacked. Two people came from behind him Christian turned around quite aggravated at the fact that so many people were coming to this window. There was a girl mid-back white hair that is braided in the middle and loose at the ends. She had white eyes. Something that stood out a lot was how tall she was for sure. There was also a man with white hair, yellow piercing eyes, and a scar that went right through one of them.

He recognized one of them, she went by...Infected, Infection, Infectious something like that... He decided to make an alias for himself...a nice person who got sick would do just fine..."Oh hello..." he whispered. "Are you here for the safe house as well?" He asked already knowing the answer. "I tried getting their attention but I have a horrible sore throat in this cold weather so they couldn't hear me." He stated lying perfectly a skill he picked up at a young age.

Amadore threw a wrench at the flickering florescent light above him. The damn cold was seeping into his garage again and was freezing all the electrical wires. Again. He huffed in annoyance. Not only did he not like the cold, having grown up in warm, sticky Australia, but he was sure that if the temperature dropped anymore he wouldn't be able to properly fix his prized Garrucha. And it needed to be fixed before he went back out onto the field.

Sighing in frustration, Amadore picked up his cellphone and dialed his lab assistant's number. 'She should already be at Headquarters.' The phone rang for all of three seconds before a chipper voice sang through the speaker. Amadore held the phone a safe distance from his ear. What he could understand from his colleague was something about the lab results of experiment 431 and 345 had turned out positive and ready for use on the field.

"Good on ya mate!" He all but cut off the girl's excited rambling. It wasn't that he wasn't excited too but there were more pressing and cold, oh so very cold, matters to be handled first. "Now listen up. I need ya to get me some fly wire and fang it. Got that? I'm flat out like a lizard drinking right now and need some help. This bloody crap hole of mine is like a fridge!" His assistant had spent enough time with him to understand that he wanted her to get some flyscreen, fast because he was swamped with whatever he was working on while he freezes his ass off at home.

"Chief Forza why don't you just come in and work on whatever it is over here?" She piped up as she scooted around the lab gathering what he asked for. She decided to make him a cup of coffee while she was at time.

"Mate I'm having a go at it! But I think my arse is frozen to my chair. But I'll try to be there in a jiffy. Anything is better than this bloody rat trap here!" Amadore hasty packed up his supplies and checked to see if all his weapons and equipment was on him. He needed the flyscreen to reach into his Garrachu and dislodge residue that had built up in it. Unfortunately he had used the last of his fly wire to make a series of barbed grenades. Which sadly turned out to be a failure of an experiment. Shrapnel went everywhere. Something Amadore wasn't sure he could avoid every time.

Saying a quick goodbye to his loyal assistant, Amadore made his way quickly out into the frosty air. His SG 550 in a duffle bag so he wouldn't scare any civilians. It was rare of him to dress in his SWAT uniform. He stuck to his garage clothes. A simple white wifebeater and a part of oil stained pants and black boots. If only it hadn't been the middle of bloody winter he wouldn't have to wear his heavy down blue coat. Deciding to pass through the park in an effort to save time Amadore caught snippets of various peoples conversations. Oddly enough they all seemed to be talking about the same thing. Two people. A man and female, with oldly colored hair being pressed for being mutants or being human. It seemed like everyone he jogged past was split on the debate.

'Well this is something to definately bring up at Headquarters. And even slip a word to Gallahger.'

Shivers still ran up and down his back, even though he was covered neck-down in the warm woolen blankets given to him by Phoenix. Nathaniel blew on to his hands trying to circulate the blood flow, but he still was freezing. He pulled off his gloves to looked at his torn up fingers, and saw how blue the tips were "Why-why...is..ittt..so coo-ld? N-no heat?" Nate chattered as he pulled his hands underneath his armpits hoping it'd warm them up.

He was sitting on one of the large couches in Phoenix's large safe house with his knees pulled up to his chest barely peeking out to look at anyone else. Nate jumped a little at the sight of what he thought was a group of ghouls, because of some of the newly acquired scratches and cracks from his little spill earlier, and almost fell off the edge of the couch. He regained his composure, feigning an encouraging smile while returning the wave.

After warming his body up enough to regain his dexterity, Nate pulled out one of the portfolios from his bag. He rapidly flipped through some of the pages within the manila folder, and stopped on a blank page where he immediately started to sketch out a figure resembling Phoenix, and started to jot down a few notes next to the picture. He was ananlyzing her form, and trying to deduce what could've invoked this awakening genes with in the human genome.

"Welcome to the party, any friend you would like to bring?"

So they were mutants after all. The girl with the red wings certainly proved it, and one of the group even had the manners to return the wave. Wait, red wings? He'd heard something about the person he was looking for. They had red wings, didn't they? Spook turned his head to see some other people looking at him. Both had white hair like him, and one of them even had eyes that seemed... demonic. Although Spook was pretty cynical when it came to cults and demons, there was always his appearance to remind him that maybe there was some tiny grain of truth buried in all the lies somewhere.

"Hey! There's a guy peeping outside of your window!"

Spook rolled his eyes, even though it wouldn't have shown due to the lack of pupils. "Will you shut up? I don't like being the centre of attention just as much you would, I'm sure." He slowly got up and walked towards them, his face fully exposed to their stares. "What's wrong? You seem to be a little... spooked, one might say." Giggling to himself a little, he hurried past them and entered the building, closing the door behind him. He reckoned that he'd played the part well enough to ensure that the people outside would hesitate to enter the apartment with him inside it.

"Name's Spook," he said to the three mutants in the room. Sensing the heat radiating from the red-winged person, he edged closer to the warmth, giving a contented sigh as he felt it seep through his frozen skeleton. When he felt warm enough, he continued speaking. "Can anyone tell me where I may find someone who goes by the name of... 'Phoenix'?" he asked, looking around the room as he finished devouring the cardboard that was still in his hand.

He slapped himself in his mind as Infection showed Jecht how to use the purifier, not that he would've wanted it in the first place. He muttered a simple 'Thanks.' as he placed the purifier in his mouth, it wasn't at all different, it was still disgusting in some way.

Jecht stared as Infection revealed a mark, a pair of wings engraved in the cement as she muttered something about finding a safe house. Not that it was his opinion that mattered, but Jecht felt like a safe house was rather, convenient, perhaps too... convenient. He'd just tag along for the moment, his curiosity peeked by this 'safe house' thing.

When they arrived at what Jecht assumed was the safe house, he carefully took in the environment, allowing his brain to capture the image for whenever he was in need of it. Infection yelling out for a figure that was standing next to the window caught him off guard, nearly tripping over a trash can as he did so. After collecting his thoughts back together, he glared at the figure Infection accused for being a spy. A male this time, rather, spooky-looking. His dark grey skin, white eyes and... large, sharp teeth, a thin body as well, there is no way this man could be a human. Unless he had dyed his skin dark grey, put in fake teeth and wore glasses with a deep white print, there was no way.

The male thought he tried to be a joker, spooked? Trust Jecht, this person might earn millions with his appearance if he'd work in for a amusement park in a haunted house. But Jecht had some odd looks as well, hence the eyes. He raised an eyebrow as he glared at the male running past them and sliding into the entrance as he closed the door before turning his eyes back to Infection. "So, I suppose we should take a look at this safe house thing."

Breathe Phoenix, this is what you do. You help others like yourselves. No matter how they come to you, yet again, Phoenix pinched the bridge of her nose and silently counted to ten. "Alright, this is a lot going on at once. I'm used to one maybe two showing up at once. Not like this hasn't happened before but it's sudden." I have a toothy kids with bad vision freezing, a fast taking damp kid, one who looks like a ghoul and two more outside heading this way. Alright, take it easy. I can do this.

"Why-why...is..ittt..so coo-ld? N-no heat?" Phoenix looked back at the form curled up on her sofa, freezing. Closing her eyes for a moment Phoenix raised the temperature around her and became a super sized furnace and began to head the room.

"No, there's heat. I was just out all night so the heat was missing," Phoenix said and opened her eyes again just in time for her ear drums to shatter.

"Hey! There's a guy peeping outside of your window!"

And here comes the migraine. Thanks for the warning, I appreciate it, I saw it already. Looking up at the ghoul in the window she saw him kind of crawl to where the screech of a voice came from.

"Will you shut up? I don't like being the centre of attention just as much you would, I'm sure. What's wrong? You seem to be a little... spooked, one might say." Phoenix rolled her eyes at his comment and folded her arms over her chest and leaned with most of her weight on her right leg, slowly becoming more relaxed because if she didn't things wouldn't end well. She heard him coming back and he kind of slithered into through the window and inched closer to Phoenix than what she was comfortable with. "Name's Spook, can anyone tell me where I may find someone who goes by the name of... Phoenix?"

"Well Spook, by your observation abilities and you think about it, the only one with anything read attached to them and is producing an odd amount of heat much like the bird of legend, the phoenix, I am Phoenix." Walking towards the window she opened the window and looked out, any snow near her melted immediately. The two standing not far away were either Mutant's or somehow Mutant supporters due to their change in appearance. "Please come and join the party. And Amazon," Phoenix said looking at the tall woman, "I'm sorry to say this is the only way to get in. It'll be tight but you'll fit. I get in here with wings and all." Jumping back down Phoenix walked over to the sofa and sat down, resting her elbows on her knees and her head fell forward in exhaustion and eyes shut. "Alright, I am in fact Phoenix. Now who are you all and just so I can prepare myself what can you do?"

Amongst all the chattering of both teeth from the cold and everyone talking in general Phoenix picked up on a shutter noise coming from a place it shouldn't be. Keeping her eyes shut, she strained her ears, doing her best to ignore all the others around her. That was when she heard the light breathing of someone else then heard him speak. She heard him nosing around earlier but now seem sheepish and she didn't trust the new one who was making his way over. When she heard him approach her window she looked up and narrowed her eyes on him watching carefully and looking over him, her eyes not missing a signal detail.

Idelkys smiled at the man, wondering if he thought that she would actually believe the lie. His voice sounded normal, and not too long ago he was taking pictures. If he was here for the safe house, why take pictures? Why make up a story? To be honest, Idelkys was now doubting his involvement in S.W.A.T, because they were at least more inconspicuous than him. Before Idelkys could properly threaten or even attack the spy, a curious slim figure slipped past her.

"Will you shut up? I don't like being the centre of attention just as much you would, I'm sure." The strange looking mutant said, before he slipped into the window. Where did he even come from? Idelkys was wondering if her vision was faltering, or if the mutants these days were just getting more strange as time rolled by.

But Idelkys concluded that there was indeed two figures who were by the window without Idelkys noticing automatically. One who was wearing all black, and one who's skin was black.

A woman with red wings and eyes had came out the window to sit on a ledge. Idelkys almost didn't catch the woman speaking to her, she was too busy glaring at the spy. "Please come and join the party. And Amazon," only when she heard this all too familiar pet name, did Idelkys see a woman speaking from the ledge of the window. "I'm sorry to say this is the only way to get in. It'll be tight but you'll fit. I get in here with wings and all." Idelkys lifted an eyebrow as the woman went back into the window, returning to the hurried conversation.

So Idelkys decided to give her some slack. The camera man was in a corner, his black outfit blending with the shadows and not reflecting light, so there was a blind spot. But Idelkys specifically shouted out to her that there was a man peeping outside of her-

'Will you shut up..?' Idelkys now connected the two actions together, the mutant with the black skin thought Idelkys was talking about him! Idelkys slapped her forehead, frustrated at this weird turn of events. No wonder the girl didn't even bother to look for a spy, the mutant already took the heat for it!

"Spectre...", Idelkys started, rubbing her temples in frustration. "Please tell me I am not the only one in this 15 meter area that sees a man with a camera, in all black, lying about a sore throat."

Jecht turned his head, his yellow eyes glaring at the red winged female who was inviting both him and Infection to join, well, probably the gathering inside that building. He shrugged, making the first step towards the open window when Infection doubted her vision and wanted confirmation for that by asking Jecht if he saw, a figure? He hadn't really noted everything aside from the zombie freak that just made his way into the building.

With his hand he tapped just underneath his left eye, the eye that the scar ran through, and if one would look closely they would see that the colour in his left eye was much lighter then his right eye. "I could lie and say that I do, but with my eyes you never know what is real and what isn't." After a brief second of doubting, he looked closer. No, Infection wasn't the only one seeing the black clothed figure. "Never mind, or chances are we both are in need of an eye check-up."

Jecht rubbed his hands together, finally realising the cold. "Well I am not going to deny invitations inside when it is freezing like this." Not to mention that the mass meeting of mutants was indeed interesting. "Are you just going to stare at a stranger, or are you going inside as well?" He gave a glare at Infection, "Have fun freezing to death then." Jecht stated sarcastically, crawling through the window, surprised he could fit that easily. Wow, quite a group have gathered inside. He leaned against the wall next to the window, noting the red winged woman stating her name to be 'Phoenix'.

Wait, haven't I heard that name before? Aside from the mythical flame bird of course. Ah, well, I will look into that later. Jecht crossed his arms, observing each and every mutant in the room, if all were mutants...

The Imperator was not amused, nor was he happy if the word happy could ever truly be used to describe the emotions that the mass murdering mutant revolutionary felt. He had for many years now been tramping around this pitiful country, searching for those mutants willing to take up the fight, to join the revolution against these pitiful humans who dared to think themselves superior, and he had not been very successful. It was a bitter and tired Imperator who walked through the snow one of the few mutant colleagues who had seen the light and joined the great ruler in his revolution. He did not regard those few who had joined him as a success, only as his due and if anything less than his due, all should have joined with him.

This thought burned strongly enough that he gave voice to it as he walked through the snowy streets of Buffalo muttering faintly under his breath, breath that steamed in the air as it issued forth from his mouth. Imperator was walking slightly behind one of his followers, a rather useful mutant who could sense the locations and track other mutants mentally. Imperator cared little what the man's name really was and had always simply called the man Tracker, and as this was his group and he was lord the name had stuck.

"How much farther tracker?" Imperator's normally loud voice was softer than it normally was but still held the tone of command that was omnipresent in all the mutant did.

The other mutant turned to look back at his master, "Lord Imperator I can sense the gathering up ahead, it is only a few more alleys over at the most. And some of them are strong. They resonate much as you do my lord." The Tracker's face was a hideous mass of holes and orifices, a face that would have put off nearly any human but that did not faze the Imperator.

"Good" The voice carried a tone of approval though Imperator's expression did not change. "Lead on Tracker." The other mutant bowed his head and turned, then quickly began to walk with Imperator slightly behind. The others were to wait for his call to come, two men on the streets in the snow could very well have legitimate business and so were unlikely to be thought suspicious, this the Imperator knew, however a large group would attract attention, something that at this time the lord of the mutant revolution was not in the mood to deal with. He required new recruits, not another battle before he was ready to strike.

It was as promised only a few more minutes before they arrived at the alley that contained the entrance to Phoenix's safe house. However before they entered the alley Imperator stopped and the spines atop his head, great grey crystalline petrusions began to glow faintly. Within the safe house, and all the houses around for about 300 yards electronic devices went crazy, lights flickered wildly, televisions turned on and flipped through channels, some electrical outlets blew out. But more importantly any surveillance devices monitoring the area had their feeds dissolve into gray static and the camera clutched in christian's hand promptly had all it's internal circuitry melted and began to smoke.

Then Imperator and Tracker stepped into the alley way. Seeing people there Imperator walked forward, the spines on his head glowing and the presence that he gave off one of lordship and power. Tracker followed slightly behind the lord and as the mutant drew closer his servant spoke in a nasal but loud voice. "All Hail Lord Imperator, leader of the revolution, overthrower of the humans, the one who shall lead us to victory."