Time to Think (open)

[Victor Creed]

Victor was irritated and well...irritated. His life was turned upside down and reverted again. What was this woman doing to him? Before he could have cared less if a woman he had been with had died. Hell most likely he would have been the one to kill her. But somehow this one had gotten into his head. Gotten into him and made him react to it. He decided to leave the Brotherhood's base for the time being. Let Phoenix play mommy while he tried to figure out what was going on in his head.

Of course, had he known that she was dealing with Logan right now he would have eagerly gone to rip his face off. But New York was a big city and even with his senses didn't mean that he could find the man unless he was actually looking for him. For all he knew he was still gone.

He wore his usual attire of combat boots and matching military styled pants with a plain black shirt. Over that was a large full length overcoat. It seemed a little heavy for the slight chill in the air but it didn't seem to hamper him in any manner. He stalked the streets like a tiger through the woods. Hands were stuffed into his pockets to hide the metal covered claws from wandering eyes of passerbys.

[Rabid]

The sky slowly darkened, and the city seemed to brighten as people milled around in the streets. They payed no mind to anyone else except for the chores they may have needed to get done before day turned to night, and men turned into monsters. Most individuals stayed in the crowd, and out of the area of the street that seemed to not have any occupants. There seemed to be no one in these dark corners, but that could easily be proved wrong by the flash of eyes or the sound of scraping. It was unsettling for some to be alone in such a place. The mountainous buildings, and smelly alleyways were home to many of the undesirables. May they be mutant or not. Of course, a certain mutant seemed to be breaking the silence. It was not the sound of scuffling, but the sound of fighting echoed against the walls like a symphony of pain.

A punch, a kick, and growl emitting from a muscular chest from pain. She had given a warning, and they had ignored it. Now pain was raining down on her form, but not for long. Ten men surrounded her. Everything seemed to go into a blur. A black out of the mind occurred. Her body moved naturally, but her sane mind tried to stop the oncoming carnage, but it never stopped. It was a bad dream.. just a bad dream.. Blood on her face, showering into her claws. It was just a bad dream.. The screams of pain, and yells to get away from the 'monster.' They started to run. The beast chased after them. Her sane mind tried to stay behind in the pools of blood to wallow. A graceful bound, and a gurgling growl as the chase was on. A chase through the winding alleyways. She flew by in a blur on all fours, but she could see the entrance of the alley up ahead.

Her mind slowly took hold again, and forced herself to a stop as the injured men broke through the heaps of trash. Her graceful bounds skidded to a stop, and she shook her head in confusion. She slowly looked at her hands, and solemnly rubbed the tips together to flask off some of the dried blood. She looked in a dirty puddle to see the blood covering her face. Her only reaction was her repeating 'Not again' over, and over again. She lethargically pushed herself up before taking off the backpack on her back. She took out a rag, and spat on it before slowly rubbing her face clean. She leaned up against the brick wall behind her, and tossed the rag in her bag before letting her head fall back. Her clothes did not make it through the fight the way she wished. Her long sleeved t-shirt was torn at the edges, and her pants tucked into boots had splatters of blood all over them. The only thing that was somewhat presentable was the leather army style jacket which she slowly pulled out of her bag, and pushed over her shoulders to ward off some of the cold. She did not mind it on normal circumstances, but it being on her shoulders comforted her for some strange reason. The blood on her claws still dripped onto the ground below her with a solemn, and desolate plipping sound. Her tail slowly rested beside her, and the tip twitched every once, and a while to reveal her forever mounting irritation.

[Victor Creed]

It would have been hard not to miss the screams that echoed through the alley. But the screams weren't heard by him. Victor was consumed by his thoughts and the world just faded around him. It wasn't until he smelled the massive amount of blood on the wind that his attention diverted. He stopped just at the entry way of an alley to peer down the corridor. Victor watched as a few men managed to scatter away from a..woman? Women didn't usually attract such blood but it seemed this one was far from being anything usual.

The smell of the blood was making his muscles tense as well as those clawed fingers twitch. Not that she would see his claws since they were still placed within the pockets of his over coat as he took a few confident strides towards the creature. He took a few sniffs of the air slightly, just enough to single out her scent from the blood that she spilled.

"Probably not the best place for a slaughter Darlin'." He smirked slightly to her as he stood merely a foot away. It was obvious that he held no fear for what he managed to witness as the carnage had scrambled around the corner. But with those screams it was only a matter of time before those nosey humans came around with sirens and guns. Not that guns really mattered to him but those bullets still stung.

[Rabid]

She was very aware of the man, and registered all of his words, but would she respond? No. She did not see a point in responding to the man at the moment. She lazily pushed her arms through the sleeves as she studied him through the corner of her eye. Scent wise she could tell he had more of a bloody, and metal smell which she either labeled him as either a feral mutant or some insane maniac. She could also guess both, but she did not seem to really care. She slowly stood up, and glanced at him one more time as she slung her pack back over her shoulders. He was a big boy.

Even for a mutant she was large, and still growing, but she could tell by the girth, and height of the male that dwarfed her that pissing him off was not a good idea. Her tail twitched and swished back and forth in a slow motion. Her cat-like pupils contracted as she watched him with caution. He was about a head taller than her, and seemed to have a natural grace of a predatory, large feline. Just by standing there it seemed like he was controlling the whole situation by his smug look. She rubbed her fingers gently together which caused the now crusted blood to gently rub off. She was still dazed from her encounter, but she made her body stay strong even though her sane mind was still stunned from the roughing up she had done. Not that she cared at the moment. She would relive it in vivid nightmares, but the thing she needed to pay attention to way the bulky male that had come uncomfortably close to her.

Then something else caught her attention. Her glowing eyes fastened to a spot behind him. Her torn ears twisted a bit forward as she heard the sirens, and the mutter of the police scanners as they received a report. They were still a quite a while away, but she stick gave the man a nonchalant flick off her tail before she stalked off with her head down, and tail pushed down against her rump slightly as she retreated. She glanced back at the male with caution as she continued to make her way away from the harsh noise, and the men that would probably shoot her down. She was not an idiot. She put caution before curiosity. She would not mind if he followed to quench his own curiosity, but she would not wait for the police to come, and try to shoot her or arrest her. She tilted her head to the side as she moved with slightly movements. They still held predatory grace, but showed the youth, and growth that was still to come. Her movements were not as fluid as him, but that would solidify with age.

She heard them take a turn, and get even closer, and her ears pinned back as she stared back at the entrance of the alley way. A deep growl emitted from her chest before she snorted out a hot puff of air. She did not look scared, but there was a flash off her eyes as her body naturally pushed forward as she claws dug out to catch into the pavement. She bounded off with her tail stuck straight out for balance. She bounded down the alley, and made her way through the terrain of garbage, and barb-wired fencing.

[Victor Creed]

And she was just going to walk away from him? Not so much as a hi? How rude was that. The police were easy to deal with, the only problem came when you killed one or ten of them. Not that he really cared. But this girl had his attention for the moment and the fact that she ran. Well she should have known better than to turn her back on a predator and run. But unlike most predators in the world, Victor was smarter.

Instead of running after her in full speed he used his claws to clutch into the brick wall of the alley and scaled the surface of the building. Once he reached the roof he ran from roof top to roof top until he gained the extra feet ahead of the girl. With precise timing he jumped down, landing feet first upon the pavement meer feet away from her. It took a moment for his body to recoil from the impact and move so that he could stand to his full height and fold his arms over his chest. It was then that she'd be able to see the odd metalic shine of his very animalistic claws.

"It's rude to walk away when someone is talkin' to ya." He glared at her slightly then smirked a smirk that revealed the predatory point of his canine tooth.

[Rabid]

She had slowed slightly once she had turned the corner of the alley, and had gotten a longer way from the area in which the police would shortly inhabit. Then, he appeared in front of her again. She splayed out her claws, and used them to go into a sliding halt seven feet away from him with her tail flicking to the side. She slowly stood up, and the tip of her right ear pitched backwards while her left one twitched his way almost as if they were radars. She let off a warm of air before sizing him up for a minute, and of course she already pushed him off as a predator, "Figured ya follow meh", she said tilting her head to the side. Her tail slowly stopped moving, and cautiously moved against her rump. It stayed in between a submissive, and aggressive position to show that she would defend herself if she needed to. She looked at his teeth, and claws. She was not going to be an idiot.

She slowly pushed herself around, and took the pack off of her back, and tiredly set it down on the top of a dumpster before scooting her rump there. Her ears stayed back with her nostrils flared. Her tail came around to hang off, and twitched every once, and while as she watched the large male. She was still tired, and the haze may have left her mind, but she could still feel the need to sink her claws into something... which was something she was not in the mood to do. Her muscles felt tight, and she rolled her neck to release some kind of tension from her muscles, and joints, but her eyes never left his, "What do ya want", she said letting her claws come out, and knead at the metal of the dumpster. She had no intention of fighting him, and he body went back into the natural pose of a tired submissive. On another occasion maybe she would have given him lip, but from the heaving of her sides, and the slight deadness in her eyes revealed her fatigue.

She was not showing weakness which was strange. She still held herself straight up. It was like a mix of submissive, and dominant features as she sat there to create a gentle medium. She stared at his fangs, and licked her own to reveal a row of jagged weapons, but she eyed his claws with a certain aloofness. She let off a puff of air, and finally decide to let off a strange chuffing, and grumbling noise that some large cats used to greet each other. She did it three different times, and let her pupils relax.

[Heavy Metal]

For the most part the night was turning out nicely, all of the orders for the shop were placed, had time to read at the coffee shop, and just enough time to take to the skies to get some fresh air. But of course the night always ends with a break of sirens below, to think a normal night could occur without police scanners giving that one code...that ONE code they oh so often used for mutant sightings. To think that could happen was foolish...just plain foolish, but as routine as this call was, now would be the part where Aries would decide if it was worth his time or not.

Those giant angel wings made up of hundreds of neatly organized blades would hold his position high up above the city. He pressed his ear buds deeper into his ears to get the better details of the mutant sighting. Mutant attack....claw marks...sliced jugular...one bleed out fatality? no...two bleed out fatalities? Something of that nature was worth looking into, and Aries was actually closer to the scene than the police were. With that note his wings arched back to give his body a sharp turn and dove downward. His vision darted around to find the streets and panned to the left to see a larger man jumping from roof to roof.

Closer inspection and a circle around the air gave view to a smaller figure dashing through the alleys. Maybe the two were working together? Who knows, but the radio chatter said the attacker was female so the target was most likely the one cutting through between the buildings. His blood pulsed and his body instantly grew his famous body hugging chain mail all around, eyes hallowing black as his nose sunk into a pointed slope and hundreds of needle-like razor sharp teeth filled his mouth. He began diving harder as he saw the man jump down and begin conversing with the woman. His body then gave finishing touch to his image come to be well known as Heavy Metal the Harbinger, growing plated gauntlets, plated boots, plated torso armor, and a plated helmet all with a flawless sky blue color and a holy cross design.

K-KLAAANG!!

He crashed into the ground with thundering impact echoing into the air, perfectly crouched down onto one knee and both metallic palms bracing the now severely cracked and slightly cratered pavement. His wings were covering his whole body, each wing being ten feet high and twenty feet long, curled inward as not to scrape the buildings around him. Both wings made an audible clicking before pulling back to reveal his image slowly standing to his feet, chest rising and falling to indicate a heavy or irritated style of breathing. "Two counts of murder...", he began to speak aloud as both tips of his wings stabbed and anchored themselves into the ground. The blades of the wings pulled back near the front and pushed out a set of four large rotating mini-guns.

"...eight counts of attempted murder...", he continued as his arms extended with a loud metallic crunch and morphed into large rifle gun-limbs. Each forearm spat out a reel-like chain of ammunition belts ready for use, right on cue the top of each wing did the same. But the final oh-my-god was when two men formed at the top of each wing picking up a mini-gun in each arm and aimed them at the girl showing two large skulls on their chests (Punishers). "...punishment is Death.", he finished just as he realized one important detail....she wasn't a woman at all, she was just a teenage GIRL!!

His eyes went from hollow black to blank white, he couldn't believe it! He got involved in that stirred up commotion for a kid!? "Wait....you're just a kid?", he said aloud in a partially confused tone.

[Victor Creed]

He moved forward after her, standing before the dumpster to look at her even though smartly she avoided eye contact with him. It made him smirk a bit. She was cute...for a kid. "What do I want? Well the police are going to want you dead after what just happened in that alley. I can offer you a place to lay low for awhile. A place where such actions aren't looked down upon. The humans are pathetic and dangerous...you don't need to live among them anymore."

Victor arched a brow as he heard the loud thud behind him and the way to earth shook slightly from such an impact. Just who the hell was this. But being the man that he was he didn't even bother to look at him until he heard the inmistakable sounds of guns clicking and the man's words of punishment. Once he saw the skulls upon her chest like some sort of guiding lasers he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her down from the dumpster so she could stand behind him. Victor turned to glare at the overly armored man. He was going to need it. His lip twitched with a snarl as he took a step backward with one hand still behind him in a 'stay put' manner for the girl.

Wait....was he protecting her?! When the hell did that happen? If this man wanted to kill her who was he to care? But then again he was guilty of far more murders and other unsightly things than this girl could muster in such a short life. "Ya she's a kid...what of it?" Victor's muscles tensed as he watched the man, waiting for the inevitable movement forward.

Now...Victor should have been protecting the girl because he wanted another wild feral to add to the Brotherhood. Another mind that thought like his and he could train into a perfect 'machine'. But unfortunately for him...this girl was probably getting his protection because she reminded him of his daughter. The one he had yet to really embrace or speak to. And if he had his way of things he probably never would. He wasn't really father material. Not when his mind was already planning ways to rip the pieces of metal from the man's body and tear him to threads with those adamantium claws he had on each finger.

[Rabid]

She listened to the elder feral in complete silence. Her ears twitched, but her eyes never raised as she listened to his proposition. She licked her lips slowly as she thought about the prospect of somewhere 'safe' to stay. She did not understand that term. It always seemed to allude her in the deepest sense. She narrowed her eyes as she licked her sharp nail with a long tongue, but a deep metal clang resounded, and she hardly had time to notice the red skulls aimed at her chest before the larger male pushed her from the garbage dumpster to use himself to shield her. It was a very strange gesture indeed. She thought the male would be colder to her, but he seemed to be protecting her in an unwavering fashion was a big change from the man that was just chasing her down.

She gently leaned against the man as she seemed to huddle there with a growl stifled down in her chest. She slowly let her head poke out from behind the large male. She blinked slowly, and watched the mechanical man with a steady gaze. She let off a puff as she took in his persona. He was unnatural. Metal like that was unnatural. Unclean, man-made, evil, and deadly. Not part of the normal cycle of life. She snapped her teeth together in annoyance. In the end he did not even look that intimidating if you broke him down. He looked large, and clunky to her. The heavy breathing she took as a weakness which made her ears perk forward ever so slightly, "If I wanted ta kill those men then they would be dead right now", she said in a dull tone, "It's not meh fault they like abusin' mutants", she said blinking slowly.

She seemed unnaturally calm, but it was easy to say that those with heightened senses could feel irritation, and anger rolling off her in waves, but she still forced her claws down, and kept her stormy eyes half closed. She could stay like this for only a certain amount of time before she burst. Her natural aggression was hard to fight, but she thought maybe teasing would help crush down the uncomfortable boiling within her gut. She snorted gently, "Ya know. That get up makes ya look like a giant toaster", she said in a dull tone. It was not meant to be funny, but to frazzle the man slightly. She had seen men like him before. Being experimented on meant you saw many interesting characters in her time at the Canadian facilities. She licked her lips slowly as she set her face gently against the sleeve of Victor's shirt as she continued to use him as a meat shield.

[Heavy Metal]

The two men on each of his wings who were shaped like The Punisher aimed the mini-guns down and sunk back into the wings. In fact, it appeared that all weapons almost instantaneously withdrew once he heard her words about it being a anti-mutant attack. His wings swirled around him and thinned out becoming a massive dark blue cloak billowing behind him...funny thing was that there was no wind, the metallic fibers in the cloak were one big muscle. Eyes returning to hollowed black when he set gaze on Victor, "I come when there's death involved, I don't care which side is preaching the loudest...a life is a life, but Im not in the business of killing kids for punishment.", he said with a deep baritone voice in his words.

The toaster bit didn't bother him, mostly because there was little to nothing a kid could say to get under his skin, had that been anyone else there might have been bullets, blades, and trains flying in all directions. Instead he held his palm up and formed a four slot toaster in his hand and tossed it on the ground. "Get your eyes checked sweety, because THAT is a toaster.", and he did do that to be funny. The side of the toaster said You've been spared by Heavy Metal, a clear message as he had little else to say about this situation. He turned partly to the side to indicate he was about to leave the scene, "Safe to call it self defense, stay out of trouble.", he said before turning all the way around and casually walking off. The last seen of his image was turning into a bum and stepping into the shadows.

[Victor Creed]

Victor sneered slightly as the metal man vanished into the shadows. He really thought that he could play judge on the streets? That was even more forward than his own brand of egotism. Then again Victor would rule the world with an iron fist so to speak.

Finally his attention returned to the girl that seemed to remind him of himself and his new daughter. He smirked at her remember the fire she showed a moment ago. A lost mutant, which so many were, and yet she still had her spirit. That was a good thing. "Stay in the alley if you want Darlin'. I wont make ya follow me, but if ya want a purpose. If ya want to make men like that pay...truely pay. Then maybe you should think about what I have to offer."

He was vague on purpose to set the curiousity within her before he would turn and walk away. While the metal judge seemed to leave through the natural exit of the alley, Victor left in the other direction. A less direct route yes, but he would still lead the way back to the mansion. A place that while still safe for mutants...now had a much 'greater' purpose in the world.

[Rabid]

The other man was gone, and she was left with the other feral mutant. She had a choice to either follow him or get left in such a dirty place. Her ears twitched a bit as she thought about it. A crinkle of the brow, and a deep breathe was taking in which had a strange rumbling sound that came with it. Well, she was a mutant after all, and a feral always seemed somewhat stranger physically, and mentally than most other mutants. This was a big decision so a couple of sounds as she pieced everything together was some what normal at this point.

She watched him go in the other direction than the metal man from before. Rabid needed to make the decision now or get left behind. Torn ears pushed forward as she watched him move away. Truthfully, she did not want to be left there, and had been searching for a place to stay for quite some time. Maybe, it was time to find a home, and put some trust in this man. Though, trust was not something that she gave out very often, and when she did it was at a sparing, and monitored pace.

It was time to 'trust' a bit. Animal instinct said to follow the dominant male for the reason that she would probably be extremely safe there. Slowly, the female got up, and trotted after Victor. Her tail was held in the air like a flag as she followed him. She kept eight feet behind him at all times with her head down, ears forward, and tail twitching back, and forth as if it were dancing. Beggars could not be choosers, and at the moment she did not even have the choice to be a beggar. Things seemed to be taking an interesting turn.