The three roughly-dressed thugs had been too preoccupied with forcing open the car�s lock to gain illegal entry to even realize that there actions had been seen by a figure passing through with an unrelated purpose in mind. The woman dressed almost entirely in leathers of black and red had noticed the Hellions long before they had noticed her, her pale blue eyes narrowing over the top of her facemask. Her unseen observer cocked his head as she charged straight into battle, lacking any form of conversation with her would-be victims. The Hellions predictably abandoned their intended prize in favor of self-defense. He gave a laugh from his hiding place as he felt the confidence in the Fallen Gunner�s mind; he thought this would be no challenge, and that he would maybe even have some fun with the girl? Expectedly, the Hellion leader was more than surprised when he was thrown back several feet by no more than a ripple in the air, heralding almost undoubtedly from the girl as she stopped in her tracks, both hands to her head.

The Hellion closed to her swung with his knife but she moved quickly, her body lithe and her reflexes nimble. The air between her and her attacker rippled again just for a moment, but the impact it had on the targeted thug felt like the collision of an iron mallet. From his shadowed lookout, the spectator could feel the Hellion�s pain almost as though it was his own, all thoughts of slicing the girl�s delicate skin lost from his mind. �The bullets, Kayla,� the observing figure murmured softly, his fingers still pressed to his temples, and as he whispered the words, the leather-clad woman sidestepped the spray of the revived Gunner�s shotgun. For his efforts, the Hellion received his second blast of energy, his spine meeting concrete for the second time since the mysterious woman�s appearance.

Only now did the four Hellions across the road see their gang-mate�s plight and rush over to aid. He could sense that, predictably, all four of them did so out of the lust for a fight than out of loyalty to the other Hellions. The figure still observing the battle gave a deep frown, remembering with displeasure how they had fared together against such a crowd the previous day. Alone she was even more prone to ending up in an unfavorable situation.

Kayla backed slowly away from the advancing Hellions. Seven men was certainly more of a challenge than three, each one holding a gun, two of which were shotguns, and most carrying a knife or bat too. Preparing herself for the upcoming battle, the leather-clad heroine called forth an intangible force field from the depths of psyche, allowing it to engulf her psychical self and protect her at least from most of the possible harm the Hellions would send her way. The air rippled around her, causing her auburn hair to lift slightly over the top of her crimson mask. Her every conscious thought focused and yet totally unaware of the other probing its recesses, Kayla sent the first psychic blast forwards, unseen, to strike back the Slicer moving in on her. The thug staggered back as predicted, causing his allies to move around him, the first swinging his bat and the second firing a fortunately wild shot from his gun. Unseen by Kayla, the Gunner hopped onto the front of the car that he had been expecting to be joyriding moments earlier, now hastily loading pellets into the duel barrels.

Before the bullets could even spray from the weapon though, the Fallen Gunner rose high before his proposed victim�s eyes, gravity seeming to lose all bearing on him, before he was released and allowed to come crashing down heavily onto the car. Instantly the car�s alarm system began to blare, sounding out across the parking lot, but this was not heard by the Slammer of the group as he found himself clutching his head, his hammer and pistol abandoned, as he tried desperately to get rid of the pounding forcing its way into his mind, distracting him from all thought and emotion. This worry was removed from the thug though as Kayla�s powerful Force Bolt collided with his chest, sending him into a much-desired state of unconsciousness.

Kayla knew of his approach long before he had arrived beside her, for she felt his mind as vivid as it was to her, hurrying forward with an all-too-clear intention of aiding her. She did not acknowledge his presence as he stood beside her, clad as before in his black and white spandex complete with a dark mask of ebon covering his face above and including his nose. He felt her casting a glance to him, her eyes strangely hovering first on his hair, a pale brown streaked light by the sun, and then to his eyes, a concentrated blend of greens. This was all the attention he got from her, having watched her entire battle from the seclusion of the monorail above, as she turned her attention and a blast from her concerted mind back in the direction of the defensive Hellions. Jared narrowed his eyes slowly at the woman stood beside him, then by simply looking at the Hellion aiming a pistol in his direction he put the street-thug into a state of memorization. �You need to sleep� sleep until the cops arrive for you� don�t wake up, nothing here matters now��

He watched her as she subconsciously fit the crimson mask to the lower half of her face, making sure it was tight and concealing the markings he already knew were there; he was more aware of the absent movement than she was. She turned hastily away from him though, surveying the scene of fallen Hellions around the dented car before them both.

�I didn�t ask for any help this time either.�

�I know you didn�t, but you knew you needed it.�

In immediate response to his comment, Jared felt her mind suddenly shut him out, allowing him no further access to the thoughts, emotions and memories that were running through her conscience. In there he had seen such pain, raw and unwelcoming, such sights that he had even questioned if ever he wanted to be within her mind a second time. He had partly understood her from the moment he delved within her psyche, as he did with so many, every individual that walked past him, not knowing that their darkest secrets were on display to him like flashing lights above their heads. She had been so cold and unwelcoming to him from the moment she sets eyes on him; he found the feeling of recognition in her thoughts to be strange, as she was most certainly new to him, although her had lost so much and could not be certain. Her being so reclusive towards him had not swayed him, she had her reasons and he hadn�t even had to search her to find them.

�I�ve done fine without you many times before, you know? I don�t need a guardian angel, or did you forget to read that from my mind?�

He chuckled softly and shook his head, purposely bringing a hand to his streaked hair for he knew, correctly, that it would draw her eyes. Though she couldn�t know it, he�d read from her thoughts the previous day that she liked his hair, and he found himself enjoying playing on that knowledge.

�You needed one yesterday� and I know you haven�t forgotten that, Kayla.�

�Hmph.�

She turned away from him, moving a little too quickly across the parking lot in the direction of the mission she had been assigned to by G.I.F.T in Freedom Corps, and Jared didn�t need her to unblock her mind from him for him to see that she knew he was right. Breaking into a jog he took off after her, calling out in hopes that she�d hear him.

�Where are you headed?�

To anyone else it might seem a strange thing, but he loved asking her simple questions for the single reason that with her, and only her, did he ever have to; with anyone else, unskilled in the power of the mind, he would know the answers to his questions before he could even ask them, but with Kayla he had no choice but to ask, for her answers did not volunteer themselves. Of course, there was a high chance he would not get his answers, and this never pleased him, but with her it was the risk he ran.

�The Vahzilok just entered a schoolyard.�

�Schoolyard?�

�Schoolyard, that�s what I said, yes.�

She looked back at him over her shoulder, allowing him to catch a brief glance of the mocking in her glittering blue eyes as he tried to keep pace with her. He returned the look with the smallest of smiles though his mind was, as any superhero�s would be, on the schoolyard in question.

�What are they doing in a schoolyard, Kayla?�

�They�re Vahzilok��

�Ah.�

With a deep and sincere frown, the man that was The Hive-Mind turned his gaze to the street ahead, probing forward, searching seeking. His thoughts ricocheted off a man, twenty-four years old and an accountant, married to a twenty-five year old half-Asian called Sue, his name was Barry and he had two older brothers, Shawn and Michael. Barry knew from Michael, the father of a little girl called Angela, that the Galaxy City schoolyard was two blocks from his current location, taking a left at the end of the lane and following the street past Orion Beltway. Jared hurried past Kayla now, not seeing the wondering glance she gave him, heading in the direction of the schoolyard given to him unknowingly by Barry�s subconscious as he passed by.

�I�ll assume you�re fine with me coming along for the ride,� he called back to her, but she did not give him a reply, simply choosing to follow in a stubborn silence, her crimson mask secured tightly over her scowling lips.