Another Cinnamon Bun - OPEN

[Amita Bosko]

Amita was once again at a Cinnabon. After roaming from city to city, she decided that the Cinnabon was the best place to eat whenever she started to think of her mother. The pastries were so delicious, she could easily forget who she was and what she was doing.

After paying at the counter, Amita sat down at a table and began to munch on her favorite snack. Mid-bite, she heard a woman scream. Amita glanced out the bakery's window and saw a man brandishing a gun, holding a child hostage.

Once again, Amita would get to play the heroine.

Amita sadly looked down at her half-finished cinnamon roll. Something always happened before she could finish them properly. She debated leaving it, but then decided to bring it with her. So, pastry in hand, Amita skipped out the store, jumped on her red retro bicycle, and followed the man into a nearby jewelry store. Amita was always calm, and she believed she could handle the situation. It looked simple enough; the man was holding the boy hostage until he could get all the jewelry he wanted. Amita would not let that happen. She would absolutely have to intervene.

[Paine Helsing]

It had been a long time since Paine had had something sweet.

He walked into the building, he had never been in here before so it was foreign, and walked up to the counter, ordering a cinnamon bun. Once he got it he sat down at a table, smiling softly at it. He remembered having these as a child, the gooey icing dripping off of the sides and onto the paper that it was given to him in. It was just as soon as he finished his nice treat for himself that he heard the screaming; it wasn't like it was possible to not hear such a thing. Out of instinct, the fire-controllers skin heated up greatly from the adrenaline rush and he was on his feet in less than a second.

A man with a gun was in the building, and before the redhead knew it, was taking off with a child and heading for what seemed to be another store. Blinking a few times in utter shock, Paine quickly shook his head and took off running. His form was thin and well-built; he was perfect for a runner, so following the man on the bike was easy. It wasn't like he thought of himself as a hero; if doing the right things at the right time made him a hero than so be it.

The redhead passed a girl on her bicycle on the way, though payed her no mind.

Paine skidded into a jewelry store, panting slightly but not too terribly bad; the distant wasn't enough to fatigue him greatly. His emerald eyes were locked onto the criminal, and the pyromaniac was obviously about to put of a fight for the small boy that was in the thief's custody.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He spat angrily, about ready to advance toward him even though he wasn't the one with the gun at the current time. "Let the damn kid go. If you're going to steal at least don't do it pathetically."

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[Amita Bosko]

Amita skidded to a stop outside the Jewelers, her long brown braid swinging. She slid off her bicycle gracefully and gently propped it against the outside wall. Tilting her head, she nodded, satisfied. Then she swung open the door.

As the jingle of a new customer echoed through the room, she surveyed the scene. The thug had his arm around the little boy in a choke hold. Amita frowned and took a bite out of her cinnamon roll. This was not okay. The man's other hand was steadily aiming a gun at a young man whom Amita hadn't seen before. Well, she thought. If the gun is aimed at him, then he must not be a bad guy. He had unnaturally red hair and gleaming green eyes that shone in the light. She smiled at him. She wasn't sure why; maybe it was his eyes. They made her think of gemstones, emeralds perhaps.

As the thug saw Amita, he swung the firearm her way, then back again between the redhead. This continued until his raspy voice finally spoke.

"Don't you dare come any closer; I swear I'll shoot!!" The boy he was holding was turning red.

"Let the boy go." Amita took a small step forwards. Normally she'd laugh in these situations. She couldn't help it; people with guns didn't know how sneaky she was, what powers she had. It almost felt like cheating. But this time was different. There were two other people who could get hurt, and Amita hated it when people got hurt. That's why she always did what she did.

"I'm warning you!" The man's gun aimed at her heart. She took another step forward. The gun clicked. Amita froze. Here she had two potential witnesses of her power. Could she risk using it?

[Paine Helsing]

And before he knew it there was somebody else that was seemingly on his side and wasn't about to sit back and simply watch this entire thing happen. It was a girl who didn't look to be scared of what was currently at hand, in fact, she looked rather relaxed. Paine wasn't scared either, but it was surprising to see somebody the same as him. If things got bad, the mutant always had his fire; that was his normal reassurance.

Paine turned to the thug again, and then the girl beside him took a step forward, the gun clicked. It was then that his emerald eyes snapped open just a little wider and his lips pulled back in an angered snarl. He thrust himself from his place and was heading towards the robber. Before the human could even tell what was happening, Paine had grabbed the wrist which held the gun and threw it back, the other's fingers wrapping around the man's throat. Paine allowed fire to burn under his skin, just under it, heating up the pale covering of his body to an extreme amount.

The man began to scream in agony, but Paine did not let go.

"Release the kid." His grip around the guy's throat tightened. "Now!" Paine knew how to force his way upon others. It wasn't exactly something he liked to practice often, for he was a lover not a fighter, but could turn mean whenever it was needed. He dared to say that this was one of those rare times.

The hold that the thief had on the boy loosened, but not enough to where the squirming child could break free. It was then that the emerald-eyed male turned towards the girl that was on his side.

"Can you get him?" He asked, pushing the robber back farther and trying to make the boy as easy to obtain as possible.

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[Amita Bosko]

Amita had already had a plan. The man was going to shoot, the bullets wouldn't hurt her, and she would run up and take away his gun before anyone knew what had happened. She actually decided that if anyone asked questions, she'd say he missed. It was possible; he was strangling a squirming child with his other hand.

When the gun clicked, the redhead dashed forward, slamming the man against the wall by his throat.

"Stop!" She yelled at him, but he must not have heard her.

As the man began to scream in pain, Amita's face turned white. What was happening?! Surely a hand around the throat didn't hurt that bad! Then she saw the glowing hands and the blistered skin. Why was the young man doing this?!

As Amita advanced forward, gloved hands grabbed her from behind, covering her mouth. The thug the redhead was attacking relaxed a bit, loosening his grip on the child.

"Can you get him?"

Amita thrashed furiously against the heavily muscled man holding her, dropping her cinnamon bun. She sighed regretfully as it smashed into the ground. She began struggling even harder.

"Oh no you don't," he whispered in her ear, "This bounty is all ours." Amita looked around and noticed that two other criminals had entered the store. The man she had followed had not been alone. That made a total of four. Amita had never fought more than two at a time before. Maybe with the redhead's help, I can take 'em!

As this thought entered her mind, Amita also realized that to escape the situation, she would have to use her power. This situation was becoming serious.

Amita kicked off her flip-flops. Instantly, the muscled man's hands gripped the air. Well, almost air, Amita thought as she phased. His hands passed through her as she stepped out of his reach. She whipped around.

"Nothing personal!" She struck her assailant's forehead with the flat of her palm, leaving him a nice concussion.

[Paine Helsing]

When he saw that his question was not answered automatically and the sound of struggling behind him became apparent, the redhead quickly turned around and was appalled at what he saw. There were more of them? Great. Just what they needed, right?

Paine growled and suddenly raised his leg, kneeing the single criminal in the stomach. It caused his grip on the child to release completely, but now Paine had to work on getting the boy to safety. He grabbed the child and raced toward the end of the building, seeing a man and a woman holding each other out of fear.

"Can you please watch over him? Just until we get this taken care of." And with that, the emerald-eyed man whisked away, just in time to see quite an impressive feat. Amita had slipped through the grasps of the thugs, but had done it in a way inhumanly possible. Their hands were grabbing air, but the mutant could still see her physical form. Paine had to stop himself from grasping what had just happened. There was somebody like him, somebody that was the same. He had been waiting for such a long time to find a person who wasn't like all others.

He ran to her and stood beside her, facing the criminals. He growled softly, the flames bursting from his skin and enveloping both of his hands, reaching up to his elbows. The flames soon danced from his eye sockets, eyes no longer visible. The bright orange and yellow flickers reached up past his hair, though it did not burn. He smiled over to the girl. "My name's Paine, nice to meet you."

The man with blisters on his neck from the redhead's previous work was advancing, or at least trying to. His wounds were rather severe, but it looked as though none of them intending on giving up so easily. Paine took a warning step towards him, and the man looked rather scared for a few moments, but then got together what courage he had left and starting running for the pyromaniac. He dodged quickly, turning to see the thug's back. He gripped the thief's hair, smoke rising to the ceiling and creating a sick scent that made Paine's heart thump with excitement. Using his other hand to press against the criminal's back, he created a large pulse of flames to propel the man forward. He flew forward until he hit the wall, falling to the ground and rolling over a few times. He did not get back up.

"Stay down." He growled in an agitated tone, whipping around to check on his new acquaintance.

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[Amita Bosko]

With one man down, the others quickly advanced. Amita had needed more martial arts practice, and here she was, presented with more. As an overweight man she nick-named "stimpy" in her head reached for her, she ducked and single-knuckle-punched his sternum. She winced as she heard a small crack. Hurting others was never really her thing, but she was relieved as he dropped to the ground.

As she raised her fists in front of her chest and confronted the last criminal, she watched the redhead from her peripherals as he took the child outside. Good, she thought, now that he's safe, I can really let loose. As she pulled her right leg back to roundhouse kick the last man standing, her left leg was kicked out from under her. Amita let out a "whoosh" of air as she hit the tile. The man in gloves stood over her, holding a large knife. Amita prepared to phase, but was spared the chance by the redhead who stormed back into the Jewelers. The two men standing froze, and Amita let out a low whistle. The young man was completely engulfed in flames; the last part of him to burn were his green eyes, which were now indistinguishable from the rest of his burning face. Her breath caught. It was beautiful: the flames danced around him with a personality of their own, laughing at their own power, causing the shadows in the store to writhe in agony. Amita always had that problem; she found beauty in everything. It was a good quality for when she was making new friends, but it made fighting "the bad guys" even harder.

She caught a glimpse of white through his fire as he introduced himself.

Amita didn't have a chance to exchange the pleasantries as the thug she had originally followed charged for the man on fire. What an idiot. Amita no longer felt bad for him as he was quickly overpowered. As she stood, the last two criminals winced, waiting for her to burst into flames as well, but not yet convinced that they wouldn't get a chance to grab some jewels. She giggled. Having powers were fun, even if hers didn't directly cause harm to others.

Amita couldn't help it. She raised her hand, one eye brow raised. "You guys scared of a little fire?" The men screamed and quickly backed away. She realized that the walking fireball was blocking the only exit.

"I promise I won't hurt you if you behave." Halfway through the fight she had first heard the police sirens in the distance; apparently when one of the thugs broke a glass jewelry case silent alarms had gone off. If she could just keep them all here, the police would come by to pick them up.

As one of the thugs tripped over a piece of charred debris, Amita realized that this time, she wouldn't be able to stay around for the police. They would have too many questions. Amita and the redhead would have to leave before the police arrived. She turned to her new ally, who had apparently just thrown the thug ten feet.

"Stay down!" She heard him growl. She caught his eyes.

"We're going to have to knock them out and make a run for it." Stimpy was already on the ground; they just needed to take out the gloved thug and his friend.

[Paine Helsing]

This group of criminals were really nothing compared to the two mutants, for this was easy work for them. And in Paine's mind, it was almost just a bit fun to teach these thugs that they were equivalent to dirt. For somebody to take a child and put their life in danger all for the sake of stealing jewelry, they had to have been pretty low. Paine was prepared to knock them down even lower.

He heard his ally speak to him and tell him that they needed to get out of there quickly. It was then that he tuned into the sirens that weren't too far off and racing towards the scene quickly. He muttered a few curse words to himself. Paine knew that being found with his ability was a bad thing, but he wasn't sure as to why. He had just learned about things called "Hunters," that were after people like he and Amita. In fact he had encountered one himself but the hunter had felt overwhelmed, so he had ran for it.

He lessened his flames so his skin could be seen, and he reached for one of the men that was still conscious. Just a hard blow to the head was all it took, right? He gripped the male by the collar of the shirt and thrust him up against the nearest wall, making direct contact with his skull. The thug tried to waggle his way back to his feet after he hit the ground, but was out like a light soon after. He trusted that Amita had taken care of the other thief, for she could hold her own quite well, as Paine had learned.

The crowd around them was completely speechless, but who could blame them? A girl who could get out of any grasp and dodge anything coming her way and a man who could turn into a giant ball of flames. Not exactly something one is apt to see on a normal, daily life. Paine wished he had such a life, but no such luck was kind enough to come his way.

Sirens drawing ever closer, he saw a back exit not too far off that probably lead to the winding alleyways of the city. If they could get there they would surely stay hidden. Turning towards his partner, he motioned for her to follow and he took off for the entrance, pounding on the door once for it to open as wide as possible, and he was running, checking back to make sure his new friend was following him. Or he hoped she would be his friend, anyway. Paine was such a lonely fellow, it would be nice if he had somebody to talk to about all of this stuff, not to mention another mutant. Wouldn't that be just dandy for him?

They soon got a resting place, and they were able to catch their breath, or at least Paine was able to do so, anyway. After he could speak normally, he turned toward the girl, emerald eyes staring at her kindly. "That was awesome."

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[Amita Bosko]

When... Paine, was it? When Paine motioned for her to follow him, Amita had just struck the last thug across his temples and was about to tell him how the both of them could get away unnoticed. She could extend her phasing to both of them and they could easily escape though the back wall. But, being the rash boy that she was now learning him to be, he took off through the front door without consulting her. She chuckled. She wasn't angry at all; on the contrary, fighting alongside him had kicked up her adrenaline and made her giddy. I could get used to this, she thought.

Amita ran outside, jumped on her bike, and tore off after Paine, leaving the screeching sirens far behind her. She noticed that it took a while for her to catch up to him. Maybe the fire inside him makes him run a little faster, she wondered.

Amita's eyes shone from the adrenaline as she pulled her bike to a stop beside Paine.

"That was awesome!" Paine exclaimed.

Amita laughed. She already liked this strange fire-boy with the emerald eyes.

"No, you were awesome! How did you do it?" Amita looked him over. "You're not burned at all!" She was still reliving the moment in her mind: the dancing flames, the trembling shadows, and his glowing green eyes. The same eyes, in fact, that were watching her now. She looked down at the ground, suddenly bashful. She hadn't really talked to people much since she had been on her own, and she wasn't sure how to take the attention. She decided she liked it for now.

Trying to distract these stray thoughts, Amita sat down on the cement curb. She anticipated his answer.

[Paine Helsing]

The compliment was something he wasn't quite used to at the current point in time, but he found that it made him feel nice on the inside. It had been such a long time since he had sat with somebody and laughed, in fact he couldn't remember the first time it had happened. He wasn't exactly the most popular when he attended school, and now that he quiet it, he was finding that his life was much easier. She looked at the ground, and it became obvious to him that she wasn't used to the contact, either; he could tell it by the look within her eyes. He had the same one over and over again when he had to go up and talk to people he didn't know back when he was getting used to living on his own.

"Well, it's obvious we're both not exactly normal, huh?" He mumbled gently, holding out his hand and letting a small flame dance just above his palm. "Show me that thing you do. Oh!" He came to a sudden realization. "I never got your name."

Now that he was away from threats, it was amazing how much of a different person he became. He was kind and sweet, a caring soul that adored to protect those close to him. He had a quick temper and quite the sex drive, he was driven by flames, the most passionate and wild of all things, but his heart was good.

Paine sat down next to her soon afterward, surrounded by alleyways as the sirens pulled up to the store. They would find the thugs and would probably get stories of the two that saved the entire place. The police weren't hunters, but they could have possibly been told to go after people with such feats. Hopefully they knew nothing of the sort and would just leave it alone so the two didn't have to flee farther into the city. The mutant preferred to stay around the outskirts, but he had ventured into the city today. Perhaps there was a reason for it and he had just figured it out.

He was excited. Extremely excited. A potential friend was sitting right next to him.

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[Amita Bosko]

When he ignited the small flame, it flickered upon his palm like a little wisp of a soul. She barely contained a gasp. Get a hold of yourself, Amita scolded. She had hardly met anyone else with these powers as well.

"Oh, I'm Amita. Amita Bosko." She looked around at their surroundings. There wasn't much to work with. "Watch." Amita got up and strode over to her bicycle, which was currently leaning on its kick-stand. Meeting Paine had made her feel much more confident in herself, and she strode through the the red retro bike without a pause. As she turned and walked back, she could barely contain a smile. And why shouldn't she? Amita let the smile grow until it covered half her face.

She sat back down beside him. "How was that?" The continuous grin on her face couldn't have made it more obvious: Amita had a friend. After teaming together during that fight, she hadn't quite realized how quickly she had attached herself to Paine. Amita was fiercely loyal and would never betray a friendship, once established. Well, she hoped they were friends. She already assumed they were.

Amita had just graduated high school the year before and with no parents or reason to stay, she left her hometown. She had just wandered around, returning occasionally, but mostly searching for her purpose. From the way Paine acted, she quickly assumed that he too had been on his own for a while. In the past, she had already performed a few rescue missions before, but none even compared to what she had just done with Paine.

And she wanted to do it again.

[Paine Helsing]

He kept a steady eye on her whenever she left his side, and her ability was amazing to him. He smiled to her in return, looking awe-struck. This simply proved to him that there were more of his kind out there, all he needed to do was find them. For so long he had been looking, thinking, observing, and now he had found one. This was a milestone that he would never be able to forget, nor did he want to. Paine gave a small laugh, his mouth still open from amazement.

"How.. Do you.." He mumbled, trying to figure it out. He laughed at himself again, shaking his head. "That has got to be the coolest thing I've ever seen." The pyromaniac complimented, leaning back some but keeping his emerald gaze upon his new friend. He wanted to learn everything about her, learn her entirely just so he could say that he really did know her. But of course they had only met not even an hour ago. So quickly they were finding each other to get along and to boost the other's confidence so well. It was an unimaginable thing, really. It made Paine happy to know he had a person next to him who he could just look at and smile whenever he saw something funny, or somebody to laugh with, somebody to cry on; this was a feeling he had honestly never experienced before. He was used to being on his own and entertaining his own self, but here he was with a brand new friend. He almost didn't know what to do with himself.

And she was a pretty girl, too. A nice figure and a sweet, loving face with large eyes that shimmered with warmth, but Paine didn't have sex on his mind. For once. He just thought that she was beautiful. It wasn't often that he would see that in girls, considering all they liked to do was show off what figures they thought they had, but here was this one who had it but showed it off modestly. It gave her a sense of respect that Paine couldn't help but follow along with.

The sirens in the distance had stopped, so that must have meant that the criminals were in the cars and being lugged off to prison. It was seemingly so that the police weren't on the search for them, which meant that they could soon venture back into the city and hopefully get something to eat because what would Paine say? All of the exercise and excitement had given him quite the appetite.

"So you can walk through things and have anything dodge you, and I can turn into a giant walking fireball. Kick ass." He smirked, looking at the sky and examining the fluffy clouds that were overhead. But there were some gray ones off in the distance that promised rain later on that day. Lovely.

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[Amita Bosko]

Hearing the compliment made Amita's face flush. No one had ever said something like that about her power before. She hardly revealed it to anyone, as one of her fears was being called a freak. As his green eyes followed her, she couldn't help but look back. He was quite muscular and had a strong body, standing several inches taller than her, but it was really his face that drew Amita's attention. She had always liked red hair, but Paine's hair wasn't the typical red. It was as bright as a stoplight, and it sure made Amita stop and stare at it. She had to admit to herself though, that it was his eyes that captivated her the most. They stood out starkly against his white skin and red hair, and they glowed whenever he used his fire.

Amita was so excited to have found Paine. Amita had made a few friends with what she called "Specials" over the past year, but none of them affected her like Paine did. She had found several who all had different abilities. Except one, she thought. There was one that could phase like me. She usually just talked to them to learn how they coped with their powers once they were discovered. But as for Paine... She just felt...drawn to him. Maybe it was his smile, Amita thought, or maybe his warm laughter that reflected his personality. She already knew this was one friendship that she could never drop like the others.

As Amita was thinking (and trying to avoid direct eye contact with Paine's beautiful eyes), she had pulled out a golden locket on a chain from under her shirt and played with it. She was so distracted that she didn't notice that the sirens had stopped.

At Paine's voice, she stopped moving the locket. Keeping her eyes on the necklace, she said simply, "I saved a boy from a fire once, and I didn't get hurt at all because of my power." After a moment, she finally looked up at him. His white face stood out from the dark clouds in the sky, waiting to unleash their rain. She took a moment to wonder if rain affected him or his powers, and she felt some concern for him, wondering if he'd be alright.