Darius raised his eyebrow and hmhed as a sign of acceptance for them to stay all tough he did have his utmost suspicions. He snapped his fingers nervously and grabbed the drink that had been waiting on the table, he drank it with one swallow and placed the glass aside.

"Good stuff, now then..."

He said and leaned onto the bar table with his fingers tapping the dim surface.

"Shelter? I think not, usually people look for shelter in stores and other public places, not in side alley bars that aren`t even open yet....

So I´ll take a brave guess and say that you are here on something else than shelter."

_________________

Let him curse my name
On these blood stained pages of misery
Let him call me a tyrant so cruel
Let him curse my name, but remember the truth!

"Ok, thanks," said Marsia. She hesitated for a minute before joining the "new arrivals".

_________________

I was cured all right.

Raye blinked in surprise at Darius' accusation but replied, "We thought this building was empty - I'm a film student from Birmingham and I needed to check that my equipment was still working because my bag isn't waterproof. I was afraid that if I went into a public area - someone might attempt to steal it," he explained as he pointed at his bag.
"I'll show you some of the equipment if you don't believe me," he bluffed.

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Darius chuckled slightly and snapped his fingers again as his hand trembled slightly, but he tried to keep it under control while in the presence of strangers. He didn`t like this one bit, to him there were no coincidences, there were only reasons and there was a reason behind their arrival. The rain? Hardly.

"Well do show them, if you have them"

He said calling the bluff.

_________________

Let him curse my name
On these blood stained pages of misery
Let him call me a tyrant so cruel
Let him curse my name, but remember the truth!

Raye gave Mai a nervous glance and opened the bag, rummaging through it, "Let me just fine the cam- oh, here we go," he grabbed hold of the handle of what he was about to pull out, dialling a 6-digit code to activate it.

What he was about to pull out was like a tranquilizer gun, only with a more subtle shape of a sort of phaser. This contained darts with a special formula that was created in the research lab back in HYENA - when injected into a mutant, it would overide the mutant DNA and temporarily deactivate their powers, along with paralysing them for a brief time. However, depending on the amount of dosage used, it could either have have no effect on a homo-sapien or could instantly kill them.

Raye swiftly pulled it out and aimed at Darius' neck - taking no time to hesitate as he immediately pressed the trigger, he had to just hope that Darius' reflexes weren't quick enough for him to phase through it... but Raye wasn't sure of the extent of Darius' powers. As soon as the dart of neon violet liquid was shot mid-air - the gun deactivated itself.

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All tough Darius was what you might consider a paranoid sociopath, he wasn`t stupid and his reflexes had never been better. The dart did actually hit him in the neck, but at the very same instant Darius`s turned into his incorporeal form thus effectively avoiding the dosage. Darius grinned and stretched his neck before swinging himself over the table.

"Come now, that wasn`t nice was it. I give you a shelter and you reply by shooting suspicious darts at my neck? You HYENA do not seem to have any manners."

He knew them both now, he had already recognized them after a while they had entered. He had kept an eye on HYENA for a while and was quite aware that they were dangerous, but attacking another mutants without warning was a new thing to him. He thrusted his hand towards Raye with the intention of draining him.

_________________

Let him curse my name
On these blood stained pages of misery
Let him call me a tyrant so cruel
Let him curse my name, but remember the truth!

Raye backed away quickly but had his back pressed against the wall, the door which seemed to be his only exit was unfortunately across the room. He faced Mai with a concerned expression and clearly mouthed RUN at her - then glanced back at Darius.
He placed his hands on the wall behind him and frost started to sprout from his fingers like spreading ivy, the room temperature starting to decrease rapidly.

Raye had no idea whether this would affect Darius in his incorporeal state but it was worth a try... he had been gambling with his life all the way through this night.

_________________
Avatar by lamiai

Darius gazed quietly at the ice that began to spread and shrugged as it didn`t have a real effect on him all tough he was slightly slowed by it somehow.

"And I thought you HYENA wanted to end things peacefully, but I guess such request is futile eh?"

Darius grinned slightly and shook his head as he charged forward towards Raye with his hand like a dagger, his fingers were all pressed against each others like he was going to nail his victim to the wall.

_________________

Let him curse my name
On these blood stained pages of misery
Let him call me a tyrant so cruel
Let him curse my name, but remember the truth!

Mai gasped as Darius lunged for Raye and she sprung from her stool. She saw Raye back against the wall, mouthing run at her before he seemed to start turning the room in to a giant freezer. Mai had no intention of running, and as she defied the rising panic, she knew what she had to do.

Daruis didn't seem overly concerned about Mai, which gave her the advantage. She slipped out the tiny mirror again and concentrated hard - within seconds her reflection disappeared. But then she'd always been better at becoming invisible than becoming visible again. She didn't know if her plan would work, it was certainly questionable and she'd never done it before, but she was going to try.

Mai wasted no time, and darted towards Raye moments before Daruis did. She grabbed for his hand the moment she stood in front of him. It was cold to the touch, and she whispered to him to stop freezing everything - keeping contact seemed to be giving her frostbite. He did so and warmth flooded back in to his hand again; they were both now invisible and the contact also meant Mai could push him through the wall he was leant against, as she would if she was walking through it. She did so and they slipped effortlessly into the alley outside.

_________________

"Without music, life would be a mistake." - Friedrich Nietzsche



"Make happy those who are near, and those who are far will come."

Fwee!

Raye gasped as he stumbled onto the floor, the shock of phasing through the wall had him quite dizzy.
"T-thank you...", Raye stuttered, "I'm sorry for getting you in this mess. But at least we have better knowledge of where he is and what he's capable of."

He leaned on a dumpster as he struggled to his feet and glanced at where he could hear Mai's sharp breaths - and embraced her with an awkward hug out of gratitude, "Thank you for not listening to me as well," he added with a slightly forced chuckle.

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Mai hugged him back, "Well I wasn't going to leave. However, we should leave now, because we don't want Darius after us. He didn't take too kindly to being shot." She grabbed for his hand again, "Just don't let go, unless you want to smack in to something solid." She said, quickly and quietly. Then they ran, Mai easily getting them both through all of the solid objects in their path.

_________________

"Without music, life would be a mistake." - Friedrich Nietzsche



"Make happy those who are near, and those who are far will come."

Fwee!

Marsia was half way towards the new arrivals when she changed her mind and decided to go with Raye and Tai and Mai. She knew what might be out there: anti-mutant mobs. So she brought her sword with her. Just in case. It was raining but she didn't care. She went out quickly to find them.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nick began to search through Mutant Surveillance Ministry for any potential allies. While Nick had his swords and hallucination powers, he couldn't take down a riot or the military police by himself. He found one that had a shady past: Darius. He was last seen in an abandoned bar, according to the report. Nick shut down his computer and, making sure his two swords were with him, he left his flat.

_________________

I was cured all right.

Darius sighed as they disappeared trough the wall and looked towards Marianne in the next room. He turned back into his normal form and cursed loudly.

"I should have known they had some lead on how to find me..."

He muttered and gazed around the bar.

"Take everything you need from this place, it`s not safe anymore, we can`t sit here and wait for them to storm the place.... yet I am glad they never found you, they might have taken me for a greater threat that I am. We leave for another place, far more distant and safer..."

He said with a mysterious smirk on his face as he began suddenly grabbing items that he required for this other place.

_________________

Let him curse my name
On these blood stained pages of misery
Let him call me a tyrant so cruel
Let him curse my name, but remember the truth!

Raye jumped as an invisible force once again grabbed his hand but instantly reliased it was Mai, especially as he could now see her as they made contact. He nodded at Mai's suggestion to not let go and started running along with her - adrenaline rushing through him each time he phased through a solid object. He glanced at Mai and smiled softly to himself, he admired her for her courage and determination.

"Mai," he managed to say as they kept on running, "I'm weary from using my power in that bar... I need to rest. I think we've run far enough now..."
He took some deep breaths but just before they made their way through another object, he gently tugged on her arm to signal her to stop.

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Mai stopped and looked apologetic, "Of course, sorry, I didn't think." There was a low wall near them and Raye sunk down on to that, catching his breath. For the first time since they'd met, Raye looked somewhat weak and vunerable. Mai didn't feel particularly weak though, a little tired perhaps. She looked around them before sitting down next to him. He was quiet, concentrating on getting his strength back; Mai didn't think it would be good for Darius or any of his comrades to see them like this, and she reached out for his hand again. He looked at her, somewhat confused and she voiced her thoughts about people seeing them when he was weaker than usual.

_________________

"Without music, life would be a mistake." - Friedrich Nietzsche



"Make happy those who are near, and those who are far will come."

Fwee!

Raye faintly nodded at Mai's thoughts, "Very wise...", he started to cough but cleared his throat, "And considerate of you."
The rain started to pour in a heavier manner and Raye peered up at the sky, "I think we need to find some shelter. For real, this time."

_________________
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