First Floor: Food, Clothes, Death (Open)

[cadillac]

It was busy in the mall today, people bustling and running around everywhere. The entire scene was almost chaotic in some ways. People walking and talking with reckless abandon, ignorant to the others around them. It was amazing how rude American's could be, and how they just didn't care about those around them. It was pitiful, they scurried around as if each one was more important than the other. Not that it was just humans either, American's in general seemed to be that way... Well, maybe not just Americans, but people.

Sitting in the middle of a large open area with many chairs and benches, an obvious resting spot in the middle of the chaos, sat a man dressed very nice compared to the many people wearing just regular clothes around him. He had on black dress pants with grey stripes, black dress shoes, a black button up shirt with the collar unbuttoned and the sleeves rolled up to his forearms. He also had on a black striped vest with a red tie tucked under it. While not incredibly dressed up, he just looked like a businessman in the middle of a crowd of regular people, that is to say... He stuck out a little.

The man was sitting on one of the benches, with his foot resting on his knee and a newspaper open in front of him. Really, nothing was too strange about him except for the fact that he had sunglasses on inside. If one were to look behind the glasses, they would find pale blue eyes, reminiscent of that of a dead person. Though no one here would likely know his name, the man was called Johnny Cadillac. No one really knew why he was called this, but most were certain it wasn't even his real name.

John was here to blend in, it had been a long time since he had been to America and he wanted to get a piece of what they were like before he started making himself known. Something was bothering him a little though. Across from him was a bank, then there was the food court behind him, and on either side were long halls fool of clothing stores. That wasn't the problem though, the problem was that a group of men kept walking past the bank and eyeing it.

It was odd, but was even more odd was that every time they walked by it there were less of them and when he glanced around him he saw the others breaking off from the group and positioning themselves around the mall at choke points and exits. It could be coincidence but they were just too odd to ignore. Not to mention he had a gut feeling something was about to go down, and those feelings were never wrong.

Johnny tried to ignore it for now though, popping open the newspaper again and reading an article about mutant attacks around the world. Flipping the page he began reading the daily comic strips. Family Circus was far more interesting to him than the happenings around the world. After all, to a certain point they are all the same. Someone gets killed, something gets blown up, and someone gets blamed. At least Family Circus had variation.

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

It was close to a month now. Since she’d decided to leave the country until Rory came back. Sadly, her plan hadn’t exactly… well worked! Tari had called, telling her to catch the next flight from Paris to come help her with something. With the work done, Freya had quite a decision on her hands. Go back to France as soon as possible, or spend the rest of the day in the States, and head back that night. Finally… She decided on the later. Maybe she could get some shopping done…

Freya finally found herself at the mall, wandering the large, open Food Court. She didn’t carry any bags yet, having only just arrived at the mall a few minutes before. In no way was she trying to stand out, wearing a pair of faded jeans and a simple but nice blue blouse. If only she was capable of blending in. Her flaming red hair made it near impossible to overlook her.

She’d come to a stop, her gaze wandering, as if trying to decide where to go first. She’d noticed a bank not too far from where she stood, but paid it no mind. Why should she care about a US Bank?

[cadillac]

Johnny glanced up over the top of his newspaper, eyes still hidden by the thin, black sunglasses. With how dark the lenses were, one might almost assume he was a blind person, were it not for the fact that the glasses were much smaller than the glasses most blind people wore. No, he worse them to hide his eyes. After all, most people were wary of a person with pale blue eyes that had almost no pupil to speak of. That tended to cause questions, and Johnny hated questions because they required answers. Answers he couldn't give, or more correctly, wouldn't give.

Just then, a flash of red out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He glanced over to see a girl with flaming red hair and an attractive figure moving through the mall, standing out against everyone around her. Sure, she was attractive, but it Johnny wasn't exactly one to give chase to something just because they were good looking. He popped the newspaper a little to straighten it up and continued reading.

Then suddenly, at the far end of the mall, a women began screaming bloody murder. Soon, the screams spread to the other side of the mall as well, and then behind him. Quickly the screams were followed by gunfire. Johnny dropped the paper and stood up, almost immediately he had to catch himself as a mob of people rushed by making it impossible to stand much less see where the gun fire was coming from.

He tried to push against the onslaught of people, but was practically forced to follow them until he was able to slip out and into a small hallway between two stores and could only watch as the masses of people moved by him.

If it was chaos before, this was absolute insanity. People were screaming and crying, more gunfire was going off, but it was impossible to tell from where. However, the screams of wounded people made it obvious what was happening outside. He could do nothing for now that until the crowds cleared out some, otherwise he would likely be trampled to death. Besides, he couldn't blow his cover... Not yet at least.

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

Freya wasn’t one to pay attention to her surroundings or the people. She really couldn’t care less about who was near her just as long as they didn’t do anything inappropriate. Her gaze wandered from left to right, deciding where to start her search. Wait… Was she being too much of a girl, worrying about this kind of thing? It was a good thing Tari wasn’t here otherwise Freya would never be able to live this down!

A few more minutes had passed when suddenly she heard screaming. What the hell? Freya turned towards the screams just in time to nearly be barreled down by the mob fleeing in the other direction. Now she was pissed. Very pissed, but she couldn’t do a thing about it unless she wanted to make the whole situation worse. Her annoyance seemed to vanish though when she heard the gunshots. So that’s what had everyone in such a panic… Humans and their fear of guns, she almost rolled her eyes.

People were shoving into Freya, knocking her around like a rag doll and rekindling that annoyance. Why couldn’t they stay calm?! Unwillingly Freya was caught up in the mob, somehow though she managed to get herself to a wall, pressing herself against it to avoid getting trampled even more. Stupid, stupid humans! Why did they have to go into a panic? Weren’t they taught in school that causing disorder like this only made things worse?

She couldn’t see the shooters yet, but there must be more than one…

[cadillac]

More and more gunfire erupted around the mall, and then a massive explosion. Dust and debris scattered everywhere and soon Johnny could no longer see anyone, just a lot of shadows moving around. Then there were no sounds at all, soon the dust began to settle. There were bodies everywhere, scattered around everywhere. Not a whole lot of them, but enough that it shocked even Johnny for a moment. Other people were crawling, wounded, or trying to find loved ones but one thing was certain; the mall was far less active.

Johnny stepped out of the hallway and looked around at the bodies and the wounded, beyond them it was silent. What had happened in here? Where was the gun fire coming from? The blood and bodies that surrounded the room would probably shock a lot of people, but it wasn't anything he hadn't ever seen before... Or caused. Death was a familiar friend to him, but reckless killing, that was just uncalled for.

Then he saw them coming, about twenty or thirty of them walking down the halls of the mall, wearing full body suits. Some were carrying guns but others were... Walking along without any weapons at all; that was very strange. They were coming from all directions very calmly, shooting everyone that was still alive and putting bullets into the dead bodies as well. There was still too much dust in the air to be able to really, all were still at least a hundred yards away but converging toward the bank. Johnny grabbed the nearest person that was wounded but alive and drug them into the hall he was hiding in.

Then he ran out and grabbed another, and another. Saving people was generally against his credo, but special circumstances called for a change of the rules. "Is anyone still alive out there?" He called out quietly, a slight british accent hinted in his voice. He was going to try to get everyone he could to cover before he had to kill these men.

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

Everything was getting worse by the second, going from a few random gunshots here and there to a war zone. Than…. An explosion. Great. Why did she have to get involved in something like this on the one day she had decided to take for herself? Her luck for attracting trouble had struck again. Freya ducted as soon as the explosion went off, to avoid anything that might have gotten airborne.

She couldn’t see anything through the dust, having to cover her mouth and nose to prevent a coughing fit. When it finally started to clear… Well she wasn’t prepared for the sight. There were a lot of dead bodies. Sure, she wasn’t a stranger to such a scene, but these… These were innocent bystanders! For some reason, knowing that these were innocent people almost made her want to vomit. Great… Another reaction she wasn’t used to.

Freya’s senses had finally returned. She couldn’t see the terrorists yet, they had to be terrorists of sorts, but she could see someone else. Who was that? The person was picking up some of the bodies, probably wounded, and pulling them out of sight. Rescuing them? Well, at least there was one brave soul among the humans…

Gunfire started to go off again, not like before. A single shot each time, but right after the other… What was going on? That man had showed up again, the dust still lingering enough that all she could tell was it being a man, dragging off more humans to who knew where he was taking them. Then… she heard something. She couldn’t make out the words, but it must have been that brave man, none of the other people seemed at all capable of speaking.

The Gunfire was getting closer now. She really needed to move before they spotted her, just in case they decided to open fire on her as well. With an almost grunt she pushed herself off the floor, working her way towards where she’d heard the voice come from, and where that man had disappeared…

[cadillac]

As Johnny stepped back out into the clearing of bodies in the mall, he gave one more glance around. He had gotten everyone that was still alive apparently, then he saw some movement through the smoke and quickly ran towards it. As he got closer he could make out the figure of a woman, then as he got even closer he saw that flash of red hair again.

"Are you alright? Let's get you out of here." He said, pushing his glasses more firmly onto his head before reaching a hand out to the woman.

Just then, there was another gun shot, this time right behind them. The smoke fully cleared and almost the entire mob of killers was standing around them. A large man holding a very big machine gun stuck a cigar in his mouth and took a puff before speaking, "Oi! Boss... We got a couple live ones, on their feet." Soon, another man with his face covered by a hockey mask stepped out and looked them both over.

"We need witnesses to this, we want the world to know... You three stay here, the rest of you come with me. Kill the guy, do what you want with the girl, but leave her alive." About fifteen or twenty of them broke off and began walking toward the bank. What did he mean, "we want the world to know"?

Soon only the three largest men remained, each with a look of lust in their eyes, looking over the red head like a piece of meat. It was obvious what they wanted. The largest one began walking towards her before Johnny stepped in front of her, "Touch her and I'll rip your throat out. He said, a strong hint of his British accent once again. The men just started laughing, "Hahahaha, we're going to have some fun with your girlfriend, and yer gonna have to watch." He said to a chorus of more laughs from the other two men.

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

Freya hadn’t seen the man before now. Sure, he must have been in the mall earlier, but why would she have seen him before now? Either way, he was an odd man, dressed more like a business man then anything else with small dark glasses. Who wore sunglasses in doors? She almost thought he was blind, but he’d reacted to quickly, looking at her and holding out a hand for hers.

She kept her expression blank, but refuses to accept the offered hand. It wasn’t that she was cautious of him, but more like she just didn’t want to hold another man’s hand, nor did she even need the help! Not to mention his treating her like a defenseless woman…. She almost scowled. Thankfully she was saved from the awkwardness that would have followed, sure the terrorists showing up wasn’t great, but no more awkward silence!

Still… The fact that they’d showed up then… And what they said… Oh she didn’t look happy. Her expression was a mix between disgust and murderous. She didn’t say anything though, just glared, as if daring the remaining men to come closer. When the random man stepped forward though, right in front of her, her expression almost darkened even more. “Sorry, but I don’t need protection.” The men might not have noticed yet, but the darker her expression got, the hotter the area seemed to get.

[cadillac]

Johnny hadn't notice the change in heat at all. Sometimes it was a strength, and sometimes it was a weakness, but there was little that he could actually feel on a physical level. Changes in heat, minor pain, a lot of those things didn't even exist to him. Not to say that they still couldn't hurt him like anyone else, which is what sometimes made it more of a weakness than a strength. Regardless, even if the woman had started a fire in front of Johnny, he probably wouldn't have felt it. That was a side effect of dying and coming back to life when you weren't supposed to.

Apparently the men hadn't felt it either, so overcome with wanting the beautiful man before them that they didn't care about subtle changes in heat. When she spoke though it got quiet among all the men, causing Johnny to slowly turn to glance at her and speak somewhat quietly, "Perhaps the wrong word of choice, love..." Johnny said, just as the other men broke out laughing.

"Ya here that boys? She don't need no protection, HAHA, guess that means she likes it wild. Move pretty boy, I want her first." The large man gruffly pushed Johnny into the man to his side, who in turn grabbed him and threw him toward the last man. Then moved in toward the red head.

There was a slight "snikt" sound as the man grabbed Johnny, and the mans face turned from amusement to horror. Looking down at the space between Johnny and himself, he saw a long, thin blade extending from Johnny's shirt sleeve. Slowly the man slid backward, off the blade, then collapsed quietly onto the ground as the blade slid back into Johnny's sleeve. The other two men were so consumed with lust, that they hadn't even noticed their partner had been killed.

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

Yeah, poor choice of words, but Freya did not care in the least. Not to mention it only proved how dirty the men’s minds were that that was the first thing they thought. Not only that… It just meant they’d be more surprised when she roasted them for touching her. They wouldn’t be expecting it at all. That wasn’t what irked her the most though. That went to the random British man calling her ‘Love’. That almost made her twitch, Freya shooting a dark glare at him.

Sadly, she couldn’t go yelling at him for the comment, her gaze slowly brought back to the men, her eyes narrowed almost to slits. She didn’t move a single muscle, no sign of fear in her expression even when one of the men and the stranger started to ‘brawl’, which was very unusual for a woman in this kind of situation.

“Very subtle.” Was all Freya said, glancing out of the corner of her eyes at the men, the terrorist dropping to the ground, dead. Again though, she was forced to turn back to the other two men. For some crazy reason… She was smirking!

“Do either of you even know what ‘wild’ even means? I’ll give you a hint.” Freya stepped forward, this time the temperature jumping another fifteen degrees. It was beyond the point of not being noticeable. She didn’t stop there though. Both of the men would feel a lot hotter than it was. Not at the boiling point, but it would hurt, a lot. As if being slowly roasted alive....

[cadillac]

By the time Johnny turned around, the men were writhing in pain on the ground. They looked as if someone was taking a blow torch to their skin, sweat was running down them and their skin seemed to be boiling. Johnny glanced up at the red head, then back down at the men as he realized what was going on. She was a mutant! How could he have been so stupid, but that meant she still thought he was human. She couldn't have seen his blades, so maybe he could get away with a reason why the man just dropped to the ground.

Then it completely donned on him. Red hair, burning people, very attractive. She fit all the markers of her, there was no doubt, she had to be her, "Freya Elensar. Johnny said, looking at the women, but before anything else could be said guns opened fire on them. That wasn't all though, as it turned out, the men who weren't carrying guns were mutants.

One of them jumped in front of the others and slammed his fist on the ground, a shockwave spread out and shook the entire building. Another began picking up the debris, with his mind, and throwing it at Freya. As the rest continued to fire at her, all of them seemed to ignore Johnny, as apparently they had heard him call her Freya and now every one of them was intent on killing her. The most strange part came when a black glow grew around all of the dead bodies at their feet... and they started standing up and coming at Freya like zombies.

Many more mutants began stepping out of the bank and it became clear then. This was a shock squad, sent to kill all these humans and terrify them, maybe by Cain perhaps? Whoever it was, all of them were gunning only for Freya. Another mutant, obviously a telekinetic, began ripping apart the floor underneath Freya, while at the same time another one began to collapse the roof on top of her. Not to mention about eighty "zombies" were running for her. As well as being shot at.

Johnny couldn't stop himself, being taken by surprise like that was unfair. He ran forward and grabbed Freya by the waist and gently tackled her out of the way just as the ceiling crashed down, killing several "zombies". The room was filled with smoke once again and briefly the onslaught of mutants on her ended.

Unknown to Johnny, his glasses fell off during his tackle, revealing his glowing white eyes. He pulled himself up slightly, having been laying on top of Freya, "Sorry about that... Obviously I shouldn't have helped you... And you probably don't want my help now, so I guess I'll just let you take care of the mob yourself." He said with a slight wink, standing up and moving off the top of her, obviously poking fun at the fact that he had just temporarily saved her from the shit storm of death.

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

Freya’s focus was on the two men, letting them slowly be roasted alive…. She definitely wasn’t in a good mood. For several reasons. First? All this happening today. Second? The whole mass murdering of the humans. Third? These men were disgusting. Fourth? She was just overall pissed. Over all things weren’t looking that good for the men.

The damage was done, the men would never recover from the roasting she’d done, when she suddenly stopped. Let them suffer it out… It was right then though that she heard her name… What the hell?!

Freya turned around with a look of pure shock on her face as she stared at the British man. “How d-“ Sadly, the gunmen opening fire on them made her stop short, her attention turning back just in time to completely melt the bullets flying towards her. The shock was gone, replaced with that sheer anger again. Without a second thought she reached out, focusing on the guns. They started getting hotter and hotter, to the point that they started to melt. It was her favorite thing to do to guns, especially when the guns were still being held by the men. Burn their hands beyond usage.

Before she could even finish though, a whole mess of things seemed to happen at once. All the attacks seemed focused on her. Great. The ground was shaking almost as violently as an Earthquake, followed by all sorts of things being thrown at her, the ceiling was collapsing and.. oh look at that! Some of the dead humans had stood up and were coming after her! Yeah, just perfect.

Again, Freya didn’t hesitate. The zombies suddenly caught on fire, the flames carrying from one all to the others. Sure, they wouldn’t feel pain, but if they were ash, they couldn’t come after her. Sure, she felt bad for the humans, and horrible for having to destroy the bodies, but she wasn’t going to let them kill her!

Something suddenly wrapped around her waist, yanking her out of the way and onto the ground. What was that?! It took her a moment to realize that it was that British man… Her shock lasted only a moment, and he was getting off of her before she could yell at him. Why… Why was this so familiar?!

“Why do you know my name..? And why the hell did you tell them?!”

[cadillac]

Johnny slowly looked back at Freya, apparently he was correct in guessing her name. He turned around fully to face her, pale eyes glancing over her and no longer hidden by the missing glasses. Though, he didn't care too much, she was a mutant too after all. However, if she went around talking about a British guy with glowing pale eyes, that could mean very bad news for him.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Cadillac said, an obvious hint of annoyance and disdain in his voice. "I really meant to tell them your name, love. Now, should I pull up a chair, do you have more questions? No, then perhaps we can get back to the situation at hand." JOhnny said, adjusting his vest gruffly.

"Honestly, perhaps you wanted to get crushed by ten tons of rock and debris. Next time I'll be sure to let it happen." Really, he had just saved her life from an incredibly excruciating death and what does she do? She yells and complains at him. If this was the Freya Elensar that Phantom was attracted to, Johnny couldn't see why at all.

Johnny immediately turned on his heel and walked straight into the massive amounts of smoke and debris, heading toward the mutant terrorists. As soon as the smoke engulfed him and he disappeared, his body seemed to begin to get lighter and lighter until suddenly his skin was white and he looked more like walking smoke than a human.

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

As strange as it was, Freya wasn't all that fond of people knowing her name when she didn't know them. Sure it was bound to happen with her mother being such a well known mutant, and her own habit of destroying things when she grew angry.. That wasn't the point though! It was still unnerving when complete strangers called her by name.

Right then though... She noticed those pale eyes.... Now that was a little freaky, and unnerving. Normal people didn't have eyes like that. They almost seemed... dead. Freya knew instantly that something was odd about him. The most likely answer was his being a mutant. It was the only logical answer! Still...

Freya was forced out of her shock though when he spoke. Her gaze darkening as she heard him calling her that word again. Why did it irritate her so much that someone other then Rory was calling her 'Love'? Even though it wasn't meant in the way Rory would say it... Not to mention his sarcasm only made things worse. "Yeah, you do that. Wouldn't be the first time." She really had been crushed previously.. It wasn't a pleasant experience in the least! The last time she had been crushed though, Rory had been the one to save her... Why was this encounter so much like that?! It irritated her. This guy wasn't Rory, and yet... Similar events were happening...

The nameless 'hero' had gone off into the smoke, disappearing in it. What was he going to do? Freya shook her head. Now depending on what he did, he'd either be the 'Hero' or be a complete idiot. Either way, she'd just have to wait and see. Not to mention she couldn't see a single thing in this smoke....

[cadillac]

As soon as Johnny walked out of the smoke, all of the men stopped for a moment in shock as a "ghost" began walking toward them. Those that still had weapons opened fire on him, The bullets passed through his smokey body as if he weren't even there. The man nearest to him began shaking slightly in fear as Johnny began to run at him, the man trying to quickly reload his pistol.

Suddenly Johnny lunged at him and the smokey vapors splashed over the man's body and he began convulsing as the smoke seemed to be absorbed into him. He collapsed on the floor shaking as everyone gathered around him, guns trained on him, not knowing what to expect. Then as suddenly as it happened, it stopped, and the man stood up calmly and turned to face his friends. They all jumped back slightly upon seeing his face, and eyes a ghostly pale color with no visible pupils.

A wicked grin spread across his face and with lightning speed he raised his gun on his friends and opened fire from point blank range. He killed six of them before it really even registered what had happened. Then the two or three that still had guns shot at him, while the rest used their powers to bring him down.

THeir former friend collapsed on the floor, and out of his eyes, mouth, and nose, the vapor that he had absorbed began to "leak" out and form what looked like a smokey human again. When he was fully formed (in smoke) in front of them, they all took a step back, in fear perhaps. Then without warning he lunged forward again, "splashing" around another attacker. This time however he reformed on the other side and immediately phased into his human form.

Two thin blades extended from either arm, and he spun on his heel and slammed one blade into the back of the man he had just lunged through. Then, before they could open fire again there was a slight "whooshing" sound and he phased back into his spectre form as the man collapsed on the ground. Now, there was totaly chaos among the men as Johnny was fighting right in the middle of them and they couldn't hit him and could barely see him.

The smoke had long since cleared between Freya and the mob of mutants and Johnny. So now, she would clearly be able to see the the numerous dead bodies of mutant terrorists and the ensuing chaos as it looked as though they were trying to fight each other just to kill Johnny. Though, Johnny himself was nearly impossible to see in the commotion, due to his constant phasing in and out of the real world. It was probably a very odd sight to see, indeed, and all of them had apparently forgotten about Freya. So now, it was her choice whether to stay and help the man she didn't even know, or leave without even being noticed.