Isaac looked up, the full moon reflected in his eyes. He had been asked to do a little research around the downtown area of the city, to verify that Nemesis had indeed recieved help from the local gangs. If it was true, then it would make Aegis' job much more difficult, seeing as not only would they have to deal with a group of powerful Alters, they would have to take down a army of humans as well. Isaac didn't like the thought of having to kill normal humans, but his Alter, Cain, had a different mindset. They were enemies, and they were in his way, so they had to die. As he walked Isaac noticed people emerging from the shadows, slowly following him. He then noticed people stepping in front of him.

"So, the info was true. How unfortunate..." Isaac sighed as he surveyed his surroundings. "About ten of them, from all sides..." They all pulled pistols from under their coats.

"Some brat from Aegis snoopin' around our turf? I'm affraid I can't let you leave here kid. Guess we'll kill ya before he can come out!" With that they all fired their guns, emptying their clips at Isaac. It formed a large cloud of smoke around him.

"D-did we get 'im?" One thug asked. "Yeah, no one could have survived that." Suddenly they heard a whistle coming from the smoke.

"Damn, you guys are rude, aiming for a cheap shot like that..." When the smoke cleared, a different man stood there. He had long grey hair, with a black and red trenchcoat with a western style hat.

"Shit! It's him! Cain the Trickster!" A thug screamed. Cain raised his hands, revealing two large magnums.

"Well, guess its time for you all to go..." Cain pulled the trigger man times, riddling the area with bullets. After the onlsaught was finished, not a single person remained alive. "That did the trick. Guess little Isaac can go report to his Aegis buddies now." With those words Isaac resurfaced, his eyes widened by the carnage.

"Dammit Cain...You have no self control at all...I suppose I had better leave before the authorities show up..." Isaac gave one last look, sighed, and then left the area in the direction of the Regen Corporation, the front and headquarters for Aegis.

Peering out the large window of her single bedroom and otherwise small apartment, Mabel sighed at the growing night. "Why can't there be more hours in the day..." She muttered. She'd been tapping away at her computer for the past hour, rewriting and rephrasing a column on recent gang violence in the city. She tried to make it sound more interesting and dangerous, but the truth was that there just wasn't a story to be told. Well known, established gangs who ruled the streets, found slaughtered without any explanation at all. All the signs pointed to a rival gang operating in the same area, but no groups with the capacity or even firepower to do such a thing even existed.

Mabel was just a journalist, it wasn't her responsibility to figure it out. But without suspects or even leads, it was just half a story with the other half no where in sight. A mystery. "This is useless," She muttered, falling backwards onto her bed. Tilting her head to the side, she spotted an envelope on her bedside dresser, fat with money. She knew what it was, but swore she wouldn't use it. ~I don't need that blood money, but... if it's just to pay rent...~ She cringed at the thought. There was a signature on the envelope. Big and fancy, Henrietta. "I can live without your charity..." Mabel muttered to the girl that wasn't there. Turning over in her bed, her eyes blinked shut and she let her financial problems fade into sleep.

The lightbulb in her room flickered with the shift. One moment there was Mabel, tired and worn from the stress of an uncertain job, and the next there was Henri. Rolling off the bed and too her feet, she stood at the very same window Mabel had just minutes ago, white-blond hair settling about her shoulders. Her eyes gleamed, ready for the night ahead. With two quick moves she forced the window open and plunged out it, into the cool night air and straight for the Regen Corporation front that was Aegis' HQ. She moved along the tops of roofs, plunging past distractions bent only on her destination.

"Damn it," thought Madame Rose to herself, running toward the sound of the gunshots. "Just missed him..." She looked around at the blood ridden bodies that lay in the alley. Definitely Cain. She couldn't say she was all that disappointed though. They were gang members after all: normal human criminals. It wasn't like any Alters had been killed. She wasn't sure why the gangs had alligned themselves with Nemesis considering they too were just humans, but who cared, right? Expendable soldiers, right? Right?

Rose sighed slightly. Okay, so she felt a little bad for them... but at least it was for a good cause; their deaths hadn't been in vain. With one last look at the bodies, she strolled off into the night.

"Bwuh." Bruce Lawson gurgled drunkenly, stumbling out the front door of the latest seedy bar he'd found himself drinking in with his few friends. He was well and truly wasted now, though, and - flanked by his three buds, all in similar states of inebriation - was headed for home. The quartet, swaying one way and then the other as they stumbled forward, came to a stopped crosswalk and attempted to run across, succeeding only in a faster version of their erratic, drunken stumbling, and then a crash landing on the curb.

"Mebbe... Mebbe we should... Calls a cab..." One of Lawson's comrades; a short, stocky man whose name was some horrible collision of vowels and consonants that was barely legible when sober. The other three men said various agreements, and soon the four of them were standing at the side of the street, hollering "TAXI!" as loud as their voices would go, waving at every yellow car that passed - taxi or no - until finally one stopped. The four guys piled into the converted minivan and crowed out their various addresses.

The taxi ride was frantic and loud, and filled with the raucous mirth that can only be summoned by four good old boys well and truly drunk off their asses. Eventually, only Lawson remained in the cab - then he, too, was dropped off at the foot of his apartment. He stumbled slowly up the six flights of stairs to his apartment, falling several times and very nearly rolling back down to the bottom, then collapsed onto his couch.

The Drifter awoke, cradling his own throbbing head. Apparently he was feeling a bit tipsy, too, but nothing disabling like Lawson's state. The man who dressed like a cowboy subconsciously found that it was time to check something at Aegis HQ, so off he went. He sprinted down the stairs and across the street, poncho fluttering dramatically, as he ran for the Regen Corporation's headquarters.

Noises came from a small park of the city. The crinkle of plastic and ting of cans hitting pavement. In the shadows between streetlights, a dark-haired youth was leaning into a trash bin, the chains at his side clanging against the metal bin as he rummaged. Trash was spread out around him from his searching.
He then stood up straight at a mere 5'6", a white paper bag from a local fast food restaurant in white-gloved hand. Why a hobo would have dress gloves on was a mystery, especially while poking through garbage. They were high quality, too - not something cheap from any Halloween store. He opened the bag and peered inside, sniffing. A small smile almost tentatively spread into his face as he pulled out a half-eaten burger. Success! He began nibbling on it carefully, as if it might disappear at any moment.

Of course, Matt missed his mom's cooking, but he wasn't picky and had no qualms about eating out of the trash. Bacteria was not something that worried him. In fact, neither was being homeless. He had never had much motivation for school or getting a job or working on his future. He wasn't very smart, but he was nonetheless capable of making a life for himself - if he hadn't been kicked out.

Finished with his burger, his stomach moaned for more. Thanks to his Alter, Matt didn't have to eat much. He found he was rarely hungry. But his dark passenger, as he called his Alter, hadn't eaten last night and hadn't even yet been out tonight. He absently wondered why, but only for a moment. He didn't much concern himself with his Alter or questions he couldn't answer, he just took life as it came.
The youth combed his fingers through his mess of hair, rubbing his head and gazing around almost sleepily, debating where to search for food next.

Kyou looked out the window and the moon and sighed, the sound full of longing and worry. She didn't want to sleep, sleep brought on those strange happenings she couldn't explain. The girl pushed away from her window and shut the curtains after she made sure the glass was locked. She knew it made to difference but it made her feel better before she went to bed. The eighteen year old changed into her white nightgown and slid into her bed. She pulled the dark green sheets over her frame and closed her eyes. Suddenly, they snapped open again and she sat up, deciding that she'd ask whoever it was what they were doing. Kyou grabbed the notebook from her sidetable and picked up a pen. Flicking on her bedside light she began to write, to who, she didn't know.
Hey. Yea, it's me...Kyou. Uhm, if you're using my body please let me know. I kinda feel it's my job to give you permission first, I don't like being used too much. Just explain what you want and whatever, I know I can't stop you but I want to know who you are. So, please respond. Thanks.
With that done Kyou set the notebook down and turned off her light. She burled up on her side and shut her aqua eyes, quickly falling into a deep sleep.

Dark grey, almost black orbs opened and Kiiya sat up, rubbing at her eyes. She yawned and stretched out her arms, looking almost like a child with her baby round face and long black ponytails. Kiiya got out of the bed and dragged herself across the carpet to the window. She wrenched apart the curtains and stared up at the moon, her best friend and solice. "Good morning La Luna, hope you slept well too," she said, her voice matching the youngness of her face. The teen unlocked and opened the window, enjoying the feeling of the night's fresh breeze rolling against her cheeks. She turned and walked to the side table, opening it and reaching as far back as her hand would go.
She pulled out a black pistol and pressed the cool metal to her smiling lips. Tonight would be fun, she would get to be the Nightingale for another day. Kiiya nearly danced over to the bedroom door and unlocked it to push it open. She glided threw the house to the front door and let herself out into the real world, humming a soft tune to herself as she searched for her next victim.

Dodging under a ventilation shaft, Henrietta stumbled to a sudden halt, pausing the fluidity of her movements at the sound of clanking metal down in the alley below. Leaning her head over the ledge and surveying, she spotted a boy just forty meters below scavenging through trash. ~Youth, out this late at night? Possibly a gang member.~ She had heard the rumor that Nemesis had been operating with local gangs in the region. A senior operative among Aegis, Cain, had been investigating the phenomenon, but no call as of yet to determine the situation. Where Henri and the boy currently stood, near a park just outside of downtown, she wasn't sure there even was gang activity. But if so, there was little else he could be doing out at this time of night. At least, that's what she thought.

As the boy began to move again Henri sprung out above the alleyway, twisting so that one foot reached either wall of the narrow pass and slowed her fall dramatically as she slid down towards where he had just stood. She was wearing her normal attire, the dark olive tactical vest, form-fitting to match the thin black jeans. The tight outfit made for easier operating. None of her knives were visible, but she knew that a quick snatch if anything went wrong could arm her.

(The boy she's approaching is Matt Todd. Apologies if that was vague)

After some thought, he decided on checking some more trash bins of the park. Pizza sounded nice but he wasn't going to get his hopes up. Just as he began walking to head further into the park, he heard a skidding sound and then a dull thmp. He turned to find a tall woman, older than him, with white-blonde hair and vivid blue eyes. She was studying him warily with a fierce gaze. He frowned faintly. What could she want with a homeless 17-year-old? Leaning forward in her direction, he sniffed as if this would answer his question.
Alter. He heard in his head, just like a thought but not his own. Little different than his voice, but more confident... Dark and smooth as velvet, yet light in tone like someone who was having a good day.

Matt gave no acknowledgment to the voice. "Uhm," he began quietly. "Hi." His voice was not velvet, though it was apparently capable of sounding as such. His greeting was cheerful and sincere, lacking any confused or distrusting tone someone out this late by themselves in the city ought to have.
Matt did not put up a front with anyone; his blatantly innocent behavior was nothing designed to lower people's guard, it was just how he was. Often in school this ended up raising suspicion, which had him in trouble for many things that actually weren't his fault. Though he knew his dark passenger did terrible things, he felt no need to take any of the blame upon himself, nor expose his Alter as a monster. So despite the crimes of his Alter, he lived on taking no responsibility for it.

As he passed a house on the way to the Aegis' seat of power, The Drifter got one of his feelings again. He didn't understand quite what these 'feelings' meant. The sudden feeling of his guts twisting up and the atmosphere becoming tense around him. But he knew that it usually meant trouble, and it usually meant Alter trouble.

The Drifter stopped. His hobnailed boots clicked to a stop on the concrete sidewalk, both hands instinctively dropping to the grips of his revolvers, the old leather of his work gloves creaking as they gripped the worn sandalwood handles. His sharp eyes swivelled in their sockets, locking onto whatever had caused that feeling.

It was a kid. A little kid, much younger than The Drifter looked, felt, or actually was. Or at least, it looked to be a kid. She had two black pigtails and a baby-like face, dressed in what looked like a white nightgown. Nothing extremely threatening at first glance. Odd, but innocent. Then The Drifter looked harder. And he saw the gun. It was pitch black against the backdrop of the night, hard to see but for the slight glint of the starlight off its black-as-sin frame. He felt it in his bones, now - a sudden feeling of dread, of malicious intentions, of general bad-ness. All of it coming off that girl.

'Alter.' The word sifted through The Drifter's subconscious mind slowly, but it embedded itself there, glowing like red hot coals against the dark backdrop of his mind. An Alter, then, and one that didn't look very friendly by any measure of the word. One hand drew one of those massive revolvers, and levelled it at the girl. "Alter, I conjure," he said, his aim never faltering.

((If it wasn't obvious enough; I'm aiming at Kiiya.))

Kiiya decided she'd make her way for the park, knowing that there would be some pervert wondering the area looking for a whore. The nightgown she was wearing would be the perfect lure for someone like that. As she was slightly more devloped than Kyou the nightgown gave away a lot more celevage than it was supposed to. Also the fact that it ended just past midthigh helped her case. She smirked a sadistic grin to herself as she examined her own body and the way the white heels on her feet made her sun-kissed legs seem longer and leaner. Kiiyo loved her body, she loved how it helped her bait the most disgusting men towards her. Those type of people deserved to die, they were the people she mainly killed.
Criminals: rapists, killers and theifs. No one would miss them, so she killed them. In her mind she was doing the entire world a favour by removing those men and women from the streets. It made her feel even better that she was the one who was doing it. Like she was some sick twisted God who reaked judgement out on the wrong do'ers and bad people of the Earth. 'Besides,' she thought as she made her way to the park with a little pep in her step, 'who wouldn't want to be killed by someone as gorgeous as me?' She laughed her quiet melodic laugh and spun once before going back to her normal stride. "Who wouldn't?" she asked herself as she hugged Beetlejuice to her chest.

Suddenly she paused as she felt the air around her change. "Fucking Alters," she muttered. Then she felt the warmth as she absorbed the ability the other Alter had, she didn't know what it was but she would figure it out soon enough.
Kiiya turned and lifted her pistol to the man standing behind her, a bright smile pulling at her plump pink lips. "Good morning old man. How are you this fine day?" she asked, her child voice full of innocence and the sound of serious curiousity. As if she really was trying to be civil despite the fact that she was holding a gun pointed at him. "I don't really want to get in a fight you know. I'm just on my way to find a pervert and remove him. I find no joy in killing innocent humans. I can tell by your aura you're with Aegis. They've approached me many times but I have no will to kill my own kind thanks. Or to be killed by my own kind." She cocked the gun, her voice and smile still calm and peaceful.

Blinking at what she found to be a very obscure and unexpected response, Henrietta winced and kept her focus. She found the voice to be much younger and less mature then expected, but payed it no mind. Criminals come in all shapes and sizes, of this she was sure. "What the hell do you think you're doing out this late? Are you operating some sort of cartel?" Her eyes shot from his feet to his hair, not recognizing any of the typical signs of a gang member. Tattoos, shaven heads, leather... None of it in sight. She lost only a bit of her suspicion but kept her stance straight. It was a combat one reminiscent of judo, with her right hand a lead fist and left hand just behind it. With her feet shoulder width apart and eyes clued to him, she stated firmly "Talk."

There wasn't even a moment's hesitation.

The time it took from the sound of the gun being cocked to reach The Drifter's ears to the time his gun fired - once only - was less than a second. His thumb flashed once, working the hammer on his revolver, and then the bullet discharged. Beetlejuice zipped neatly out of Kiiya's hand, carried at least a foot away; unharmed (due to the strange nature of an Alter's chosen weapon) but out of reach. The thumb worked again, pulling the hammer. This time the gun settled on the girl's heart.

"You ain't right." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. "Alter'r no, ye're dangerous."

Kiiya looked down at the wound above her heart and nearly laughed. It tickled her and she wanted to itch at it. Instantly, Beetlejuice was back in her hand,; it was connected to her through her own soul. She'd sold it for the gun and it never left her for more than several seconds. Instantly she pointed the gun at the old man and shot, the bullet flying through the air and hitting his gun from his hand. She shot again, this time the bullet just grazing his cheek. Kiiya blinked in shock at the speed she had done it with. So that was the old man's ability. She laughed at the information, pure and true. "I must thank you old guy, you've given me a very helpful ability. And as for shooting at my heart, it isn't possible. When I sold my soul for my lover right here-" she waved Beetlejuice in the air and let it aim again "I was told by the guy that he'd protect my main organs until time came to pay up. Then I'd be as vulnerable as a normal human," she explained in between her laughs.

Again she marvled at the sheer melody her laugh had, like a baby's laughter. Tempting and sweet and lulling. She was truely Nightingale. "Now, how about I tell you this as well seeing as we're both matched up. I will go with you to this Aegis place and think about joining you guys. Does it sound fair?" Kiiya shook her head to answer her own question. "No of course not. Alright how about this, you escort me back and press your gun to my head if it makes you feel safer," she added to sweeten the deal. Of course a gun to her head would mean nothing as she could heal very quickly due to the deal she'd made but she wanted him to feel as safe as possible.

The girl held up her arms as a sign of defeat and removed her finger from Beetlejuice's trigger. "Your choice cause I'm not dying anytime soon."

He watched the woman flinch as if he had made a move to attack her. He tilted his head slightly, like a questioning puppy might. What had set her off like that? He hadn't even moved. She must be very jumpy... Purred his dark passenger, chuckling. Matt briefly wondered if she could sense his Alter or if he just appeared suspicious enough to investigate. Either seemed likely.
Even being homeless, many people were surprised to find a boy his age out late at night. Matt was nocturnal; always had been, though it had been suppressed under his parents' roof. Now he not only had the freedom to sleep when he wanted but it worked out to be more convenient being active at night anyway. Even though the night wasn't always his - sometimes his dark passenger got half, sometimes the whole night, sometimes none at all. But it made no difference to Matt. He slept practically comatose almost all day, regardless of how much of a night he had had.

The woman asked him what he was doing out this late. He at first made no effort to answer, brows furrowing a little as if he himself wasn't sure. She scanned him up and down, probably searching for any hint of a weapon or other potential threat. Matt was young enough to join a gang, and he had gotten offers, but had turned them down. Gangs were not in his nor his Alter's interest. Of course, the thugs that make up gangs don't take kindly to being said no to, but his Alter had taken care of that. His dark passenger wasn't fond of Nemesis teaming up with local gangs; he didn't think it was necessary. In fact, he was sure it would only hinder them if anything.

The woman was tense, clearly ready to fight. Why she would feel the need to take such a defensive stance faced with him, he had no idea. There was nothing formidable whatsoever about Matt and he knew it.
"Talk." She instructed bluntly. He heard laughter, clear as if it were right next to him though he knew it was only in his head - laughter that wrought shudders in those unfortunate enough to hear it, but Matt seemed immune. He could feel his dark passenger was itching to toy with this woman, and wondered why he wasn't out yet.
"... No." Matt finally answered quietly. There was no hint of criticism or attitude in his voice, it was just an honest, light-hearted answer. "Do I look like a business man, Miss?" He offered a small smile. Even if he was shaven, his hair and attire would still be much too scruffy to look professional. Not to mention he looked no older than 18. And he had just been rummaging in garbage.

((I didn't shoot you in the heart but kay, whatever.))

The first bullet, the one that knocked the revolver from The Drifter's hand, shocked him a bit. This was the first time he'd had his own gun shot out of his hand. With a slight smirk, The Drifter wondered if the feelings he'd just felt were the exact same ones that the victims of the stunt felt when he did it to them. The second one took any feelings of mirth out of the air. The feeling of blood welling on his cheek was a familiar but unwelcome sensation, as was the ringing in his ear caused by the bullet going past it. Beneath the shadow of his hat, the gunslinging Alter squinted. There was something extremely strange about this new Alter. He couldn't put his finger on it - he was no psychic or fortune teller - but the air was still charged with an aura of... Not-right-ness.

Without removing his eyes from Kiiya, The Drifter stepped back, bent and retrieved his gun from the place where it had come to rest, a few feet away behind him. Lifting the gun and looking it over, watching the silver surface glint in the light of a neon street-lamp, The Drifter eventually returned the gun to its holster and retrieved the weapon on the opposite hip, drawing it and pointing it at Kiiya.

"Walk," The Drifter grunted, resting one thumb on the hammer.

Blinking, again somewhat dumbfounded at the response, Henri's stance lowered slightly. "Hey, you're not in a gang at all..." She muttered, dropping her defense all together. She quickly realized that may have sounded like she expected a response, so she did her best with body language to say he was dismissed. "Go home kid," She shook her head some. She had heard gunfire off in the distance, and was almost annoyed that she'd wasted her time there. Turning to walk back down the alley, she paused and stood there, realizing there may have been a crucial fault in her statement. She didn't turn to speak or correct herself, but lingered in an odd way, almost as if she'd been caught guilty.

(Wait, a gun-wielding bad-ass with impossible accuracy versus a gun-wielding bad-ass with {now} impossible accuracy? You guys can shoot eachother's bullets!)

(Moot that part then)

Kiiya obliged and walked before the old man, swinging her arms by her sides like a little girl. She even skipped before the old man humming a happy tune to herself as she did so. What made her so happy? The thought of killing and the cries of pain she had caused nights before. Oh how enjoyable those all had been. She didn't care about the gun pointed at her or the fact that she was, again, going to have to deal with Aegis. The reason she didn't like groups was that they all had rules, with Aegis she wouldn't be allowed to kill any humans. It was boring that way, other Alter's were so hard to kill, except that one where she got the pyrokenisis from; he'd died so eaily it almost shamed her that he was even one of them.
She twirled even as she walked, completely danced to tunes in her head. She felt free at night, she felt complete and whole under the shine the Moon and stars. They called to her, made her dance for them. Stars were violent, malovent things; she got it from them. That was why she enjoyed violence so much, because stars were violent things. "Hey old man, do you like the stars? I mean, the complete and sheer violence and destructive power of them?" she asked innocently, turning to face him while walking backwards.

When Isaac arrived at the Regen Corp.'s building, it was 10:00. The lobby was dark, being that its front as a pharmaceutical company closed at 8:00. However, that was not where he was heading anyway. Around the back there was a large garden area, with a massive fountain in the middle. Isaac stepped up to the fountain, pulled up his sleeve, and put his hand in the water, the scanner reading his hand. When the ID matched, the fountain shut off, and a the center lowered down, forming an elevator. He stepped on it and the elevator moved, dropping many stories underground, to Aegis HQ. The HQ itself looked increadibly advanced, consisting of many facilities. However, Isaac was heading for one room, the meeting room. He stepped inside and took a seat. He was the member of Aegis, not his Alter. Cain only did what was necessary or what was asked by Isaac. He never liked to work with others. In short, Isaac dealt with imformation while Cain did the tough work. There was a man already awaiting him in the room. His name was Eric Weiss, an elderly man who was the president of Regen Corp., as well as the one who started Aegis years ago.

"Ah, Isaac, you're back. Have you learned anything?" He asked. Isaac nodded.

"Yes. It was as we had heared. Nemesis seems to control the local gangs now. Cain had to kill a group of them, yet with his style, it looks like it was a gang war, so we will have nothing to worry about. However, this turn of events is troubling. Nemesis is gaining power." Isaac gave a small sigh.

"Hmm, I see. Well, it was bound to come to this, so please do not feel distressed. Those thugs have made their choice, and they will have to pay the price." Weiss said calmly, with a deep sense of wisdom. Isaac looked around the room.

"By the way, where are the others?" He asked.

"They have yet to arrive. Worry not I believe they will be here soon. They are strong so they can take care of themselves..." Weiss said. Isaac nodded and leaned back in his chair, patiently awaiting the others.

((Does this look like Wanted? The Drifter is a crack shot; he isn't a magician. And after this post I'm gonna go inactive for the night; don't get too far without me. ^_^))

(Lol, suppose that's true. Night Cypher. By the way, Azure, Eric Weiss. Isn't that Harry Houdini's real name?)

(Is it? I don't know it was just something that came to mind....Anyways keep comments such as these to the OOC please.)

A corner of his lip crawled upwards, making his small smile crooked, as if he couldn't bring himself to smile any bigger. "Gang? No." Everything he said he spoke quietly, yet he didn't come off as shy. She seemed to get the picture, her fighting stance and tension leaving her all at once. Apparently she could not sense his Alter. Both of their heads turned upon hearing gunfire somewhat nearby. The woman's brow furrowed with irritation. She turned to begin walking away but then stopped as if trying to remember something.

GO. All his Alter's instinct surged forward, demanding he lunge now. It was the perfect opportunity - her back was turned and her guard was down. Every bit of predator in him told him to attack now. But he didn't.
Matt winced, feeling a sudden great tension in his body as his dark passenger held himself back. The tsunami of instinct was so great he stumbled forward, wrapping his arms around himself and almost dropping to his knees. Teeth clenched, the hoarse beginnings of a whimper escaped him as if he'd taken a soccer ball to the gut and had the breath knocked out of him. His mind searched for his Alter with a questioning subconscious thought equivalent to, What the hell was that? But there was no answer.
Just as quickly as he had almost lost it, Matt's dark passenger calmed. The boy's black-brown eyes scanned the ground as if for an answer to his unspoken question. Confusion had such a grip on his features he almost looked on the verge of tears. But then his face lightened. His Alter hadn't eaten, that's right. He had less self-control when he was hungry. Matt stood up straight, rubbing his head, expression back to normal. Then his eyes widened a bit as he remembered he had company, and he warily lifted his gaze to her, unsure of what she might think of his little episode.

Henrietta was about to ditch, to leave the boy and his own problems to himself and get on with her duty, but that didn't exactly happen. She could feel a tension in the air, a rising sensation that hit all at once when the boy collapsed to his knees. Spinning '180, Henri quickly took a few steps to the boy, calling out "Hey, are you alright?" It was more of an instinct, having completely dismissed the suspicion she had felt just moments earlier. He recovered quickly, but that single moment still left her completely confused. Taking another step forward, she studied the boy's eyes, muttering "What was that-" Before she could even finish, she stopped. There was something wrong in the air.

When she first approached the boy, she figured he might just be some human thug. Then, when she dismissed him from that, she didn't even take him to be a threat. But now there was something else. She could sense another presence... It seemed almost inhuman, but something about him filled her with an unfamiliar emotion; Complete and utter fear. She didn't let it show though, keeping a stern and cautious face, she studied him as if to ask 'What the hell are you?'

As Madame Rose strode out of an alley, she saw a boy about her age on the ground with a light-haired woman standing over him. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something about them that demanded her attention. She'd seen many a strange scene in the city... but there was something about this. There was just.. a feeling the two brought out in her. Especially the woman... that was it. Alters. She recognized the feeling from the unfortunate few times she'd been forced to fight her own kind for Nemesis.

She stood confused a moment in thought; the boy seemed not to have transformed. "What did she do to him?" Her hand felt for her gun. Aegis. They were the only ones who hunted poor Alters like that. The boy, very clearly dirty and rather small, looked to be homeless. "His Alter is probably the only thing keeping him alive," she thought to herself. Why? Why did Aegis hunt their own like this? Rose began to anger at the very thought of it. "How dare they... poor guy probably stepped out of line, killed one little person or something, and they send out this murderous bitch to come kill him?" Alright, it was a little hypocritical considering her current profession, but still. Her grip on the gun, Thorn she called it, tightened as she headed toward the two.

"What the hell?" she asked, gun pointed at the woman. "What's going on here? What'd you do to him?"

He found she was a few steps closer than she had been before. In his pain he had missed her exclamation of concern. She took another step closer, staring through his curtain of dark hair to peer into his eyes. Meeting her gaze, he quickly broke eye contact. Matt, unlike his dark passenger, hated eye contact - it was part of the reason he let his bangs hang in his eyes all the time. It made him feel vulnerable, like others could see every little flaw of his when looking in his eyes. His Alter, on the other hand, loved it. He knew how to use it to his advantage; when he made eye contact with someone, he could nearly paralyze them with terror.

"What was tha-" The woman started, but abruptly stopped. Matt glanced at her. Gears were churning in her head, he could see it. Suspicion was crawling back in. Daring to briefly make eye contact again, he glimpsed something other than the woman's growing distrust. Fear. A panic she suppressed well. If she hadn't sensed him before, she must sense his dark passenger now. Averting her gaze again, he stood silently. He wasn't sure what she intended to do now, nor what he should do, and as of yet he had no advice from his Alter.

Another.
"What the hell?" A female voice called at them fiercely. Matt looked to find a long-haired girl around his age striding towards them, a gun aimed at the first woman. She was an Alter. He blinked beneath his hair. She thought he was a victim of some kind; that was alright with him. Now that the woman seemed to recognize he had an Alter things would probably go downhill from here, so if this new girl wanted to help him out he would have no argument.