Strength in Numbers [Invite only]

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Xander! Why are you still here?

Looking to my side from my motorcycle, An old Harley Iron 883. Fixed up and refurbished to look new. I have worked on the past three years. Finding replacement parts is not easy. Mostly I had to fabricate all my own pieces for it to work. But Sam, kept helping me with the project by somehow finding tools and items. It seemed she could almost pull them right from her ass. Either way, I had been giving the bike a tune up with the engine. it had been hogging gas more often now, and I needed to fix it a little, and added a little extra boots to the CCs.

Taking the ratchet off of the bike, I wiped my hands on my jeans. The black soot and oil coming off onto the jeans, and marking on them in lines. Looking up to Sam, I smiled lightly as she stood there in short shorts, and a tank top that was leaving little to the imagination. She was always trying to get with me, but I always turned her down. Mostly because of my gift of powers.

I was finishing up. Why aren't you home?

She shrugged her shoulders and smiled at me. Then walked out, and made it very clear that she was trying to draw my attention by swaying her hips in a very exaggerated motion. I shook my head as I put the panel back on the bike, and secured the fuel tank. Putting the tools up, I then grabbed my helmet, a old and weathered dome of black and grey, and put it on my head. Leaving the straps off, and just putting the dark visor down around my face. I turned the engine on, and pulled the back out of the shop. The rumble of the engine between my legs felt so good. it was a feeling like none other. The rumble and purr of the engine, even more so with the supped up engine. I smiled under the helmet as I sped off.

I stopped at a intersection because there were cars zooming by. Not caring that others may have been in the way, they almost ran over someone. I just shook my head and went across the street. Only to stop about a block down, and pulled into the alley that I kept my bike. Except this time, there were about five men who were standing there. One with a pistol, another with a sawn-off shotgun, and the last one had a baseball bat.

Shit was all I could think.

A large city was much like any other to Nɇaroviin, if only because he knew nothing about the world beyond his little colony. With lungs that did not now burn like they were on fire, he could learn a little more and so he was out to see the world that stretched out around him. It was an almost scary experience, but he was too excited to do anything but just see what he could enjoy, learn more about people and everything else, which was how he found himself in New York. It was on the outskirts that he arrived within his cursed form, slipping through the shadows until he could find clothes, and then becoming humanoid he would begin to experience. The clothes were comfortable, a pair of jeans with holes in them that seemed to be that way for whatever reason and a muscle shirt, mostly to give his arms some breathing room.

”What to do, what to do?” Nɇaroviin muttered to himself, sort of looking about at anything that caught his interest, from the people around him to what looked like a fine restaurant he could smell the food of from here.”Wow, that smells really good.” He muttered to himself, feeling a low rumble work its way through his stomach as he followed the smell of food to its source, which was what looked like a hotdog stand. If he remembered, humans for some reason wanted weird paper for that kind of stuff, so he would have to do the next best thing, and that was take it. Not like they could stop him, and so slipping in to an alley and out of his clothes Nearo would shift into his form once again, a great intimidating creature with a black carapace and looked oddly similar to something from a certain franchise.

With in human speed, he would dash out from the alley, snatching around four of theose hot dogs from the stand, before returning to his hiding spot, each one impaled upon daggerlike claws, one plopped into its mouth as massive teeth would devour it with two chomps. The other three would follow as he found himself not sated, but those sure did hit the spot. So, with the clothes wrapped around his tail, he would skitter along discreetly on the rooftops, catching sight then of what looked like….well humans pointing strange metal toys at another human. They looked like weapons of some kind, which meant they likely wanted to hurt the guy, and that was just not cool. Sure, there were times when his people hurt one another, but as the righteous knight Hetallos said, it was all justice. So like a black blur, he would leap down, bonking one on the head with his tail to knock them out and letting out a great screech that caused them to grip their ears.

Oh, he did so love that, especially when they started firing their useless weapons at him, though the bullets only harmlessly bounced off.

There was always a time and place for everything. Slowly, I raised my hands and got off of the bike. Putting the kick stand down, I let it lean over on it's side. I didn't have any weapons with me. There was no real need. I had abilities that others didn't. And that is where I was about to ignite my hands in tongues of blue energy, but stopped when suddenly a large black creature fell down onto one of them. Using a tail like object to knock one out. The two sought to turn to the new creature. One that had already taken one of their friends out. The loud blast of a shotgun went off, firing a good two rounds right at the creature. Only for it to stand there like nothing happened. As well as the other man firing almost all of his rounds into the creature.

I took that moment to move. I flung both of my hands down to my sides, and in a flash, the blue tendrils of electricity moved up and down my arm as I took a step forward. Flinging a bolt of pure energy at one man. Striking him to the ground as he convulsed from the blast hitting his head. And taking another to throw the second bolt at the other. He too, fell. Only clutching his chest as his heart was now going to have a messed up heart beat.

Two bolt didn't take a lot of energy, but throwing them that distance, and with precision took energy. I already felt sore in my shoulder. A side effect from the use of energy. I could feel the blue tongues of energy rolling over my skin as I stood there defiant against this creature. Not sure if it was an ally or an enemy who only beat the men up, so it could get to me. My helmet still on, I could believe that the visor was reflecting the blue light from my hands.

Taking a step forward, I raised one hand up, and let my left hand's energy dissipate and transfer over to my right. Using all my energy to make it brighter and stronger. My voice heavy with an almost angry tone, I spoke to the creature, not sure if it could understand English. I spoke in a command, rather than a question. Making my point clear. I came into this world kicking and screaming with someone elses blood on me, and I intend to go out the same way.

What are you, and why did you attack them.

The thug he stuck went down quick, but he had used nowhere near enough force to kill a human, atleast as far as he was aware of. ”What.Now.” He would vocalize, though even that was difficult with a mouth that was not made for human’s speech, looking to the man that had used all of his ammo on his near impervious hide. It was then that he turned upon the one that seemed to have been under attack by these men, unleashing a few bolts of energy at the ones that were attacking him, taking them down with seeming ease. Once that was done, he wanted to talk with this unknown male but they seemed to take his presence the wrong way, perhaps it was his teeth. ”Don’t…attack…am..not…foe.” He would attempt to speak, mouth taking the approximation of a smile.

Knowing he couldn’t explain himself like this Nɇaroviin did the smart thing, and decided to shift into a more familiar form. His black carapace would begin to shed, breaking off as it would hit the ground and dissipate into a powder before fading away into the air. This would go on for a fee seconds as a tall male of around twenty would appear in the creatures place. True, he had forgot he would be in nothing but his birthday suit, but then again not that it mattered to him. His people were not too big on the whole nudity thing afterall.

”There we go, talking is a lot easier when you have lips.” he said with a genial smirk. ”Those guys were…gonna shoot you, so I beat them up.” As far as he knew, helping people was something humans enjoyed, so perhaps this was one of those special cases, or this guy was just a psychoath. Either way, he was prepared to deal with whatever was thrown his way.

I kept my hand up. Waiting for a reply. When it was almost garbled speech of not attacking him. I still kept my hand up even as I watched the skin he had literally fall off from him. If it was a him. And it was proved true by a man, about my age in looks alone. His manhood was clearly visible. And he said it was easier to speak with lips. Continuing to explain that he was helping because they were going to shoot me. I smiled under my helmet as I realized that he was just doing it because he saw someone in trouble. Sure I felt better knowing I didn't have to waste as much energy on the thugs, but I could have handled them on my own.

Instead of being an ass about it. I lowered my arm and let the blue light fade and trickle out to nothing. I then reached up and pulled the helmet off. I then twisted my head to adjust for the change in weight on my head. I looked at the man. His body was physically fit. Muscular form , and even then, he could have likely easily take me in his other form.

I slowly began to take steps to him to close the distance. For reasons? many. At a closer range my lightning was more lethal, and it takes time to transform it looked like. Meaning I could shock him if necessary before he could change. And, I would look more accepting if I walked closer. For now, I ignored the lack of clothes. It's not like he was That impressive.

Well thank you.

I got close enough to offer my hand in a shake. I would rather be nice, and then stab his back if it was the last resort, than be an ass the entire time.

My name's Xander. Yours?

Presenting himself as a non-threat seemed to make things go much better than staying in a more intimidating form. Sure, even as a human he was no pushover but he lacked that protection against electricity for example, which would have lead to a painful death should he piss this guy off. From his mannerisms alone, one could surmise him to be a sort of gentle giant of sorts,, always with a small smile on his lips and his body language was anything except threatening. That was what made him interesting as a hunter, despite his lack of menace he could hunt things rather well.

Humans were not one of them however, he liked humanity more than anything else, so hunting them would have been counterproductive. The thank you only seemed to accentuate that friendliness, as he accepted the hand and shook it firmly. Even without meaning to, his grip was what one would call like a vice, though that might have been more his impressive strength than anything else. The guy would offer hi names, meaning that Nearoviin would have to offer his own, but it sounded so odd compared even to Xander.

”I have a name but it sounds a little weird, so just call me Chris.” He would say still grinning, before taking a single step back. While he didn’t mind being close to people, strangers were an exception and the human world was full of nothing but them. ”I hope I didn’t scare you, that usually happens when I help like that. Last time I did, the person I saved actually attacked me, I’m still kinda feeling that one.” Which was true, he didn’t take any permanent damage but he sure had been hurting for a few days because of that.

The man accepted my handshake. And even moved a little close. I however was starting to feel a little uncomfortable with the thought of him dressed for a tussle in the bed, while I looked to be prepared for a boxing match. He was out of place. And likely was not from here. Still. I let go of his hand as he said his name was Chris because his other name was a little weird. I guess I could respect that. If he was from another world, or even a different place where human customs were not normal, then his name would likely be hard to say.

There was a slight pause, as he then seemed concern that he might have scared me. Yes, I was a little frightened, but completely scared? no. I mean there were stories of Vampires, Were-wolves, and even a Fairy. or however they spelled their name. So a.... Were-alien? was not out of the question. I shook my head. letting a light smile come to my face.

For a moment there, yes. But after you explained yourself. Not really.

I then looked around, and smiled. Grabbing all three weapons. The pistol which I shoved into my jacket pocket, I grabbed the bat and put it under my armpit, and grabbed the shotgun with my left hand. My right indicating the fire escape up. I continued.

You helped me, so let me help you.

Might as well find a place to stay for now since the both of us were out in the open. And exposed. Though really he was the only one exposed.

While he was out of place, Nɇaroviin did not feel that way in the least. It took him a few moments to realize that perhaps his nudity might have not been so welcome, but then again the guy had not said anything about it. So it must have not been as bad, meaning that he would continue as he was until someone said he should do otherwise. At least the guy wasn’t so scared of him now, which made things so much better for Nearo. That meant he could go about trying to learn more about humanity, something that fascinated his people without end.

Looking down at those he had knocked out, Nearo would poke one of them with a foot to check if they were still alive, receiving a small groan as they stirred a bit. So they weren’t dead, meaning he had no accidentally killed a guy, much to his pleasure. Nodding as if to himself, he would turn to Xander as if wondering what he would do now. For helping him out, the guy seemed to want to return the favor but how he would do so was unknown. Until he pointed to what looked like a ladder, one of those things that humans climbed up.

Doing as indicated, he would begin to climb up the fire escape, starting off slowly climbing but then just rapidly ascending as if he needed a second to understand what he was doing. It took less than a minute, but he scaled the thing, now standing on his two feet at a higher altitude. ”Why were those people attacking you?” he would venture to ask, hoping he wasn’t one of those people that always had secrets, they annoyed him more than anything.

As Chris began to move up to the levels of the ladder, I just shook my head as I moved up after him. I took the weapons that I had, and moved them out about along myself so I could climb. Making my way after the man. He stopped to look down at me and ask why I had been attacked. I simply shrugged my shoulders as I reached to him. Moving past him as I spoke. Continuing to climb.

Could have been a mugging. Or they wanted to simply beat me up because I work at the local auto shop.

I then came to a window, and opened it after taking off the lock. Opening it to move in first, and then turning on the lights with a flick of my finger on the switch. I then stopped as I realized that Chris might not know what a car or motorcycle is.

I work at the vehicle shop. I fix and repair broken vehicles so people can ride them. I also make little trinkets or whatever else.

I liked working with my hands. I like being able to physically do something. And I took pride in being able to make things that others couldn't. it was a good skill anyways. Moving around him after he had moved into the room, I closed the window and locked it once more from the inside. Throwing my keys into a bowl on a coffee table, I then sat the weapons on the same table, just before I shrugged off my jacket and let it be thrown onto the couch.

Want anything to drink? Water or beer is your choice.

Muggings, a new concept to someone who was used to everything belonging to everyone else, but then again that was how humans differed from his people. They thought things belonged to them, and ownership only brought about more pain than anyone would have liked. If someone else had something they wanted, they stole it and sometimes killed the owner because that made things easier. As for wanting to beat him up because of where he worked, that made no sense to him really. ”Because of where you work?” He said more of a thought outloud rather than a question, though it could have been taken as one if the male were so inclined to answer.

They would continue to scale the fire escape, climbing until they reached a window they he would climb into, and Nɇaroviin would follow after. His line of work did sound interesting, repairing things and making things, not quite what he did but it sounded nice. Nearo like to hunt, working with a bow and just tracking things down. Sure, he could take down prey in his cursed form, but it was not as fun as doing so the old fashioned way. Slipping through the window, he would find himself in what looked like a human abode.

This was perhaps his first time having actually entered one. It differed a lot from where he grew up, the colony didn’t look so…alien. While the guy sat everything down, he would just sort of absorb the sights of the small living space, dull green orbs darting about. The choice in drinks seemed to be sparse, but that might have just been the guy’s choice. ”Beer sounds good.” Nɇaroviin said, nose crinkling after he took a sniff of the air.

Because of where I worked was the question. I smiled. With thugs around, there were gangs as well. Meaning territory. Markings on buildings and even colors to represent their "clan" or group. He must have not understood this. Despite that, he was still intelligent. I just smiled a little as I took two beers out of the fridge. Popping off the top of one so I could hand it to him, and then popped the top off of the other. Taking a quick swig before answering his question.

Groups of people called gangs have a hold over areas around here. To get to work I have to pass a few areas in which rival gangs work. So some suspect that I am with one. When in truth, I am not.

I then took another swig of the beer. Letting the drink run down my throat smoothly. As I did so, the light above me started to flicker. Losing power. I smiled a little. Reached up and with a small spark in my hand, lit the lightbulb once more. making it just that slight difference in the room, brighter.

Enough about me, What about you? where did you come from? and what do you do for a job?

So they would explain it further, it was more of a territory dispute more than anything else. He knew of gangs, or at least one gang that a member of his species was associated, not a move he supported but he had a little faith in them. So they had just assumed he wasn’t with them, so attacking was the best option for them. So his beating them down was more than justified in the end. Taking the beer offered to him, he would manifest his tail which seemed to appear rapidly from his lower back seamlessly, the tip popping the cap off and letting it fall into the palm of his open hand.

He took a swig of the beer, which tasted somewhat odd on his tongue, but it wasn’t anything new as far as drinking. ”have you…um..come across this gang called The Ultra Gang before?” Nɇaroviin ventured to ask before taking another sip, wondering how many times he had run against the local gangs. Fair enough he didn’t know anything about the might of the gang nor where they worked, but he wanted to make sure. One of the lightbulbs began to flicker, but the guy stopped it with a small spark from his hand.

”I come from a colony, I live there with my family.” Hopefully questions were not asked, because that always got awkward when they got into the specifics. His job was easier to mention, because that was something he was proud of talking about. ”What I do is…simple really. I’m a hunter, where I come from that involves hunting down food, taking care of livestock and stuff like that. It’s not the most glamourous but I like it.” One could not surmise from his tone that he despised his work, rather that he had a certain passion about it.

Eeli and yumo were walking down the hall of a small apartment building that reached 6 stories tall.  They laughed and joked as Eeli took the key from his pocket and began to swing it about.  His jet black shoulder length hair swung as his bangs lowered to stop just over his vivid purple eyes that looked with excitement as the neared the room they planned to share for the night.  His black v neck T-shirt, Red hoodie and Red and black basketball shorts hung lazily over his body as he began to reach for the door.

"Dude that was awesome, can't believe those cops tried to stop that man all by themselves."  Yumo said as he leaned onto the wall next to the door.  His white hair tipped red tied into a long tick pony tail.  His hazel eyes looked at the door knob as the click of the lock echoed in the silent hall.  His shirt stopped at the bottom of his sternum and the rest was covered by a now open jacket that stopped at his waist showing his black khaki pants that stopped at the middle of his calves.

"What do you think will happen to-?"  Eeli stopped as he noticed Yumo's confused and partially angered expression.  He turned to the door and looked in to see two guys standing in the middle of the living room. One looked as if he was up to no good at all and the other was completely naked.  Eeli and Yumo walked in and stared for a minute before anyone spoke.  "Why are you in our current living area?"  Eeli asked calmly as he looked at the naked guy.

Yumo stared at the man next to the guy that was naked.  He didn't care too much for what their reasoning may be.  He needed to let off a little more steam anyways after the hits he took with titanos.

At the mention of the Ultra Gang, I shook my head. Already answering Chris as he then continued on with my questions. Saying he came from a colony, and was a hunter or gatherer. He also took care of the animals. He was likely good at being stealthy, and silent. Deadly as well. So I would already know to make him an ally instead of an enemy. I smiled and shook my head at him when suddenly there was a jangling at the door. Instantly, My right hand flared up in electricity as two people walked in. Speaking to one another, they asked why we were in their living space.

I looked at them confused. Utterly confused.

What do you mean your place? I have been living here for a good year now.

I kept my hand up. A palm open to show almost a cracking ball of energy in my hand while almost the entirety of my right arm was lit up in tongues of blue energy know as electricity.

How do you have a key to here?

He didn’t really expect a response as far as his own life, but likely the guy would have been interested in knowing something like that. To know the person they were sharing a room with was versed in the arts of stealth, and could likely pick them off in their sleep was always fun to know. The organic metal tail that jutted from his human body would twitch slightly, scraping along the floor with the sharp barbed tip as if feeling the place out. It was now acting more like a finger tracing over a surface, bored with life more than anything else.

That was when he heard something, a jingling sound and then a door opening. His eyes narrowed into predatory slits, as his posture changed ever so slightly as if much like predator ready to leap should he have the excuse. Ripping from his throat was a growl that no human tongue could make, lips curling into a threatening expression. ”I don’t know who these people are, but one of them reeks of blood.” His growling voice would note, his body already tensed up to transform within less than second. Sure, he could not pierce them with his tail but they didn’t know that.

So he had the illusion of a weapon and that was more than he had in this form. They smelled like danger, and he did not trust that.