``gotta love the big apple, MEPHIE'S NO TOUCHY PROPERTY

[Artemis Degas]

New York City wasn't nearly as dangerous as it's repuation claimed, at least not in Arty's opinion. She felt pretty dang safe walking down busy sidewalks when night fell. It had been her sort-of-home for a handful of months, which was as close as she would ever think of it. Her home-home was in Salyersville, but that wasn't important right now. What was important was... well, nothing really important was going on. Arty was just walking Ditto, because he was getting restless and Artemis wasn't faring much better She wasn't but a few blocks away fom her apartment, 'cause she knew she'd get lost otherwise. The sheer size of the city was the most worrisome thing about it. She held Ditto's leash loosely in her left hand, the collar not clipped to the black woven strip. Yeah, there were leash laws, but Ditto was well behaved and weighted close to as much as Arty. She didn't plan on trying to tango with him should he start running. If someone was close enough who cared, she'd clip it. A blue t-shirt and jeans were the extent of her lovely, oh-so out together outfit, complete with a pizza sauce stain or two and she had just slipped on canvas 'kicks. With no money or jewelry on her person, it was highly unlikely that she'd end up the victim of one of those publicized muggings that New York was famous for. Her focus was elsewhere, anyway, not lingering on safety or anything like that. She had studying to do, which took priority over anything, namely over Jude The Obscure. The book was hardly interesting and she had not bothered to try and tone down her disapproval to people who told her otherwise. She'd much rather be reading The Bell Jar or Jayne Eyre or something like that... Dickens would have been a better choice. The point was moot, because the book wasn't optional, unless she wanted to fail. Damned college professor.

"'Ey, boy. Slow down," she called out, Ditto getting too far ahead of her. Like the good puppy he was, the dog fell back into an Arty-friendly pace. She yawned, scratching the back of her head, and glanced up at the nearest street sign. It was dumb, but Artemis had to keep up with where she was to avoid getting lost. Like stated before, the size of New York could swallow Salyersville, for real. A calm green gaze fell on Ditto again, watchful. The dog was really pretty, actually, for a feller. He was brown, red, and white, with a blue and green eye, sleek and floppy eared. His previous owner had trained him well enough so Artemis had little trouble getting him to behave, most of the time. It was a mercy on her... Otherwise, she'd have to try and fight with him and she didn't have that sort of time... A petite palm reached down to pet the shepherd, amused by the way the light played on his coat as they passed below a streetlamp. She didn't really know where Ditto was heading, but wasn't gonna stop him anytime soon. She felt bad for cooping him up in the apartment all day. It was too nice a night to stay inside, anyhow. The air was cool but nowhere near old and with all the mechanical lights, it was too blasted perfect. For New York, it was even pretty quiet out. There was noise, yeah. Traffic mostly, music from somewhere, and all the normal honking and bustling. It all seemed really distant, though, and not at all relevant. She barely noticed the footsteps a good length behind her, until Ditto stopped and turned, barking. Artemis turned, casting a dismissive glance at a small group of guys. They weren't paying attention to her and were just a couple of years older from the looks of it, nothing to worry about. Heck, they were even vaguely recognizable from the University. She went back to walking, pushing Ditto as she tried to force him to turn back around.

"Ditto, settle," she warned, caught off guard by an uncharacteristic growl on the dog's part. "Baby, turn around and c'mon." The dog wasn't complying. She raised an eyebrow at him, then noticed how tense he was getting. Artemis knelt down, putting a hand on the back of his neck and trying to smooth down bristled fur. With impatience, she clipped his leash to his collar and tugged. "Ditto, c'mon... What's wrong?" She was preoccupied with trying to get Ditto calmed down, barely registering the raucous laugher from the guys. She clicked her tongue a few times, then gave one good pull that budged Ditto. "Now, boy!" Debate over, Ditto turned and started running, dragging Artemis along with him. She wound the leash around her wrist and hand quickly, holding on tightly and stumbling to keep up as he did the dumbest shit ever and turned down an alley, where Arty usually purposefully avoided, just for sheer superstition. "Ditto, damn dog!" She tripped forward, leash slipping from her grip as she tried to catch herself before hitting the ground. Dammit, she was gonna kill that dog! (Not really, at all.) She pushed herself up, brushing back the dark hair that had fallen into her face. Her cheeks blushed as she turned and saw the guys at the mouth of the alley, between her and the street, laughing way too loudly. Annoyance flashed first as she tried to locate Ditto. Oh, that little furball was in trouble. She would nair him for acting like that...

One of the men, stocky and bowlegged, jabbed a thumb behind him, stepping forward. "If you're looking for the mutt, he ran off that-a-way," he told her, with the drawl of somebody confident that he was hot shit. With his white dress shirt half unbuttoned, Artemis was sort of sure that he was probably closer to cold diarrhea. The smart part of her head registered alarm as the man's friends moved behind him, kinda blocking the exit. Oh, crap. This is not taking place, she decided. Her head was putting together the most likely and ultimately worst case scenario, which wouldn't have had much crappy freakin' credibility if it weren't for the fact that the smell of some sort of alcohol was lingering. She bit her bottom lip and started foward, hoping that no one would try to stop her. Of course, the man did exactly that, sidestepping to block her path. She darted to the left and he moved to block her immediately, hammy palms raised up in the universal sign of 'I'm harmless, I'm unarmed'. Arty couldn't help but think that this was bullshit. "Hey, hey, what's the rush?" Okay, Artemis had no time for stupid shit, 'specially not with cliche statements. "Chillax, little missy. You aren't going anywhere." Okay, now it was really stupid. And bad. But mostly stupid. He was using a slang word for stoners and surfers, basically throwing a threat out, and the smirk on his lips was enough to warn Arty that 'chillaxing' would be a bad idea. And he had called her 'little missy'. What was that? Start focusing now, she told herself, a small chill running down her spine as she forced heat to her clenched fists.

"Move!" she ordered, eyes flashing. Yeah, she probably didn't look intimidating, but her tone was nothing short of authorative. The jerkface laughed again and before she knew what she was doing, she pulled her right foot up, shifting her weight to the left, and let a kick fly forward. It would have been badass, if the guy hadn't caught her ankle and twisted. Artemis winced and yelped, jerking her leg to try and break the grip, and managed to fall backwards into the dumpster, the corner pressing into her back sharply. Before she had time to recover, she was shoved backwards, much smaller frame slamming into the wall. The larger for pinned her there for only a moment before Artemis pushed her palms up and at his chest, sending a blistering surge of heat forward. The man screamed and the smell of burnt flesh filled the air as he backed the hell away from her. Artemis shuddered, feeling as if a bucket of cold water had doused her, but started running as soon as she could. Rough hands caught her all too quickly, reminding her that her attacker had friends, dammit.

"The bitch is a mutant," somebody cursed, and Arty couldn't help thinking, Oh, gee? Really?. The guys had her hands pinned behind her back, which was more than likely overkill, and the one who'd originally been the aggressor, or whatever, was still freaking over third degree burns, on the ground and very vocally in pain. Oh, eff. Someone needed to get the guy medical attention, which Artemis would have suggested in a snarky manner had the fourth not been pulling a blade. Shit. Wasn't possession illegal in New York?

"Leggo right now, or ya balls are gonna fry!" she threatened, thrashing as much as she could in an attempt to break loose. She couldn't do anything right then, she hadn't fully regulated her temperature and thanks to stupid side effects, she was freaking hungry, plus the offensive part of her ability wouldn't work until she could move her hands... The comment was still good for bravado. "Try it when I gut you, bitch," Mr. Blade-Weilder retorted all too seriously. Shit, this was bad...

Where was her freaking dog to play Lassie when she really, really needed it?

[Kurt Wagner]

There was a bar, just away from the mansion. A tiny place, little more than a hole in the wall, which was probably the reason Kurt liked it so much. Besides, the fact that there were children around diminished the likelyhood of finding beer at the mansion. And now, on his first escape in a month, Kurt surprised himself slightly by not going there. The first time he had been with the X-men, after his accidental attempted murder of the president, the professor had given him something, an image inducer...that would allow him to take on the facade of a normal human. At the time, Kurt had shunned it; he had no desire to hide himself. Or at least not a constant desire.

He wasn't stupid; he knew how people felt about mutants, how they felt about him in particular...yet he had always just let it go as common ignorance. The fact was that Kurt had always felt comfortable in his own skin, unusual as it was. In fact, he had often caught himself pitying other people, for being so similar to everybody else. Although, the fact that he had been on bar stools every time this thought had emerged discounted it somewhat.

Given the current climate, however, it was probably safest to give the gizmo a shot. Kurt may have liked the Nightcrawler look; other people were slightly more uppity about mutants these days and seeing as Kurt wasn't registered...he wasn't willing to take up any complaints. Which was why, instead of his devilish good looks, Kurt had ventured into the night as a tall, dark haired young man, totally indistinguishable from the other nighttime occupants of New York's streets. Aside, of course, from the tail that lingered beneath the heavy jacket and the vague scent of brimstone.

A red and white blur, that quickly developed a face and a voice collided with his chest, pushing any other thoughts from his mind. Rather than push him to the ground, the paws toppled him back into a wall, pinning him until the dog dropped back to the ground, whining slightly. "Woah there. Where did you come from?" He stared at the dog, as though expecting an answer. Kurt rolled his eyes, before leaning down to take hold of the collor with one hand."Well if you're not goi-" He paused as a strangled yell ran across the night accompanied by a horrified revelation. "The bitch is a mutant,". That could not be good. "Come on Fido, follow the yellow stained path to the screams of pain"

"Didn't your mother ever tell you to play nice with girls?" It took him a matter of seconds to take in the scene and a shorter amount to shake his head. People these days. They had no idea how to treat a lady. "Leave her alone"

[Artemis Degas]

What the hell use were her powers if a bunch of drunk frat boys could still be a threat? It was just not fair on any level! There wasn't much time to think about that right now, though, because dammit, she was kinda in a bad position. It never ceased to bug Artemis that the same people who swore they'd never hit a girl had no problem doing worse or everything under the blasted sun to mutants and God, they were just such asswipes. She jerked for a moment, not too hopeful that she could shake the dudes off but confident enough that if she was putting up a fight, it'd be harder for the dude with the knife to get near her. She had no idea whether the man would actually cut her or not, but considering the fact that she had very little chance to find out in a way that wouldn't hurt, Artemis wasn't going to make any assumptions. She groaned when she heard a male voice from the mouth of the alley announce the arrival of a would-be knight in shining armor or whatever. Had he have done something rather than just showed up, she would have been more impressed. As that wasn't the case, she'd thank him later for providing a distraction. The grips on her temporarily slackened and Knife-boy had turned around, giving her a chance to jerk her elbow up and slam one guy in the nose before turning around to do some damage to the other dude's manlihood with her knee. Basic self defense--anybody with an older brother or a month of Girl Scout experience knew how to do that much. There had been a sort of cracked sound and something warm stained her elbow as she realized that the one guy's nose was gushing. Had she done that? Good for her. Betcha he wouldn't be too happy with it, though.

"Oh, ya nose don't look too hot there, champ. Think maybe it's broken? Sure'd be an improvement," she quipped, feeling a bit more confident now that she wasn't being restrained by Curly and Mo. Her hands glowed faintly red again as she threw them up to let loose another blast of heat. It wasn't nearly as strong this time, but the guy with the broken nose didn't look too hot to trot and basically, Artemis knew he deserved it. The man she had kneed in the crotch was trying to get the original burn victim up off the ground, looking ready to scurry away. Good boys, maybe they'd learned a lesson. She quickly glanced around, trying to figure out what exactly was still going on. The dude with the blade was heading towards the man who'd told them to leave her alone and the other assface with the broken nose was left, but that was it. Arty turned to face Nose-Man when she heard the familiar yapping as Ditto came running. "Good boy, baby, but Mommy's kinda in the middle of somethin'," she said quickly, because as much as she loved Ditto, Arty was kinda busy right now. And Ditto would get hurt if he didn't get out of the way. "Hide-and-seek, boy. Play hide-and-seek for Mommy now--" She didn't get to finish her sentence because she hadn't seen the damn kick come at her until it was too late. She grunted, doubling over and grabbing her stomach. Shit. That was gonna bruise if it didn't do worse. She kept one arm pressed against her stomach and ribcage for a moment, straightening back up for a second before another sharp blow to her abdomen caused her to gasp. Double shit. That hurt. There wasn't a current opportunity to cool her skin to dull the pain, which was a bummer seeing as that could have come in real handy just then.

Artemis didn't realize that she was on the ground until she heard footsteps coming near her and Ditto's growling reached her ears. She knew he was standing next to her, could feel one paw on her palm and the shadow slanting over the ground and her face was familiar. Didn't know who was approaching, whether it was one of the remaining two jerkfaces or if the man who could have been the calvary had come to air. Either way, it didn't make a difference. Artemis was gonna lay still for another moment because the ache and pain jolting through her lower torso was not going to let her get up for a minute or two. "Ditto, shut up," she growled under her breath, face to the alley's floor and words muffled. The dog whimpered, though, and she groaned as she pushed hersef up, hair in her face and obscurring her vision. Dude, if this was what it felt like to be a New Yorker, she wanted to go home, now.

[Kurt Wagner]

There was something about New York. It wasn't just the noise that lingered around at all times, the bars, the life or the coctail of experiences that came with it. Or at least it wasn't for Kurt. He grinned at the kid, walking towards him, holding out a knife. Something about the mixture of such volotile ingredients and youth made people think that they were invunerable. It was better than the dangerroom. Even though most of his buddies had run off at the mutant girl's heated display, the kid with the knife wasn't disheartened.

"Don't try it" Kurt warned, raising a finger. In all honesty, he hadn't expected anything to come of it, but it made him feel a little better, knowing that he had given some kind of warning. Not that it was any use. Almost as soon as the words fell from his lips, the knife lunged towards his torso...or at least it tried to. Smoke filled the area Kurt had occupied, air rushing to fill the space that the kid stumbled in to. "Tag. You're it" Still grinning, Kurt jumped lightly down from the dustbin. It was an old trick, one more fun and effective when he looked more like himself, but the effect was still impressive. That alone was obvious from the way the kid looked from Kurt to the entrance in confusion.

He could hear the girl behind him, dealing with the remaining thug on her own terms. Ones that were apparently far more confontational than his own. As it happened, those few seconds of distraction were all the knife kid needed to recover. The flickering streetlightling caught the blade. Kurt danced just out of reach, though the kid was apparently faster than he had expected. The knife caught his arm, tearing trough the thin fabric of his shirt and the thinner furry skin beneath. "Aww...I liked this shirt" One hand gripped the kid's arm, the other connected with his stomach as he moved in towards Kurt again. It was easy enough, after that, to lever the kid over his head. His own momentum provided much of the force, Kurt really provided little else than a skate ramp did to the inexperienced skateboarder. "You might want to run now" He heard a grunt from the ground "I don't intend to do anything, my friend, but I promise nothing of her"

The knife kid was smart enough to run. Even Kurt would have to admit that the girl was not somebody to face unprepared...or alone. The fact that she lay improne, groaning on the ground, while her bloody nosed attacker moved in for the proverbial kill. Kurt growled, softly. "I thought" The words were laced with a manace that was a credit to Kurt's acting skills. "I told you" His tail wrapped around the young man's ankles, dragging his feet out from under him and raising him a few feet into the air. Kurt narrowed his eyes. "to leave the lady alone" Threats. even the subtle ones, hidden beneath layers of forced politeness, are often more powerful than any show of power.

Kurt waited until the footsteps had faded beneath the background city noise before he leant down. "It is a rather moot point at the moment...but are you alright?" He placed a hand on her shoulder "Please, let me help you up"