He sighed as he pushed his way through the crowded sidewalk, forcing his way past the people, but always making sure he wasn't jostled TOO much. People shot mild curses his way at times, but he had somewhere to be, and he needed to get there, lest he miss his ride.

He looked to be a young male, not even 16. He stood a little taller than one would expect for his age, around 5'10''. His hair was short and messy, naturally jet-black with silver streaks running throughout. He wore a plain white tee-shirt under a faded denim jacket that matched his jeans, alongside dirty grey sneakers. He was also carrying a duffel bag that seemed to be crammed full of stuff, but the odd thing was his choice of eyewear.

He was wearing sunglasses that were as black and opaque as his hair... even though it was grey and cloudy out. Some people even muttered derogatory commented to him about them, but he didn't seem to care. He had somewhere to go, and nothing was going to stop him from getting there.

...until he noticed that there seemed to be some sort of commotion happening off in a less crowded part of the area, but it was definitely shadier... both literally AND metaphorically.

"....." he was silent as he heard some sounds of what he thought was a scuffle, before sighing.

'Damn it.' he thought.

'Oh well, I got time. And I wanna see what's happening.' he admitted.

That was something about him. He didn't fear trouble. He always seemed to be drawn to it, and he wasn't about to change anytime soon. With that, he changed direction, and headed to what was going on... whatever it was.

The 6 that seemed to be the aggressors were armed with various weapons and/or implements. A couple were wielding lead pipes, another had a spiked bat, and the other three had large switchblades.

And they did not look very pleased.

"...freak." one repeated to the female.

"Your kind don't belong in this world." another spat.

"We'll teach you to show your face to us normals." a third one hissed, before the one that had just arrived sighed and cleared his throat loudly, causing a couple to look behind them, at him.

"Whaddya YOU want?" one of them asked.

"This isn't your problem." the other told him.

"It is NOW." the young male responded. "I'll MAKE it my problem if I need to."

4 of the 6 of her assailants flinched when they heard that.

"Night terrors?" one asked.

"Brain breaking?" the others said in unison.

"Don't listen to her!" one of the other two snapped.

"I can't risk night terrors again! Not after the last mutant I encountered!" the one that mentioned the night terrors exclaimed, before he dropped his lead pipe, and fled the scene, running past the young man.

"We don't need no mental crap happening to us!" another yelled, as the other 3 dropped their weapons as well, and followed suit, leaving just the 2.

And they were armed with large switchblades.

"Cowards!" one of them yelled out, as the other quickly snatched up the switchblade one of the runners dropped.

"Hmph. We'll discipline them later." they said.

"For now, let's show these two kids what it means to mess with the Asphalt Aces." they added.

"....ah, that tough-guy gang that thinks they're vigilantes when they kill and attack mutants." the young male commented derisively.

"Don't play innocent!" the one with two blades shot at her.

"We know you're one of THEM." they said.

"And HE must be as well!" the other insisted, pointing at the young male.

"Hah." the young male responded.

"Your information system is nothing but rumours and supposed sightings." he said.

"Oh, shut up!" the first one yelled. "She outright admitted saying she has freak powers! Now this ends!" they declared.

The two of them then looked at each other, nodded, and split up. The one with two knives went for the girl, and the other one went for the male.

"....." the male was silent, sighed, and dropped his duffle bag.

"Because of course it would come to this." he mumbled.

The young male had been holding his own against the gang member, but it had mostly been dodge tactics. He had avoided all the attacks and attempts, and the member had sustained a little damage in the process.

"What!?" they exclaimed.

"You got it." the young male responded.

Then, before the gang member could respond, he swept his leg under their feet, causing them to collapse to the ground. In another swift action, he slammed down on their back, twisting one of their arms behind their back, and grabbing their hair, pushing their head down onto the concrete below them.

"Got 'em." he said to the female.

"Do whatever voodoo you do." he told her.

The male got off the gang member, and was silent for a moment, before shaking his head.

"Yeah... seems like you could've taken them on your own." he said sincerely. "But I tend to be attracted to trouble, and when I heard what it was about, I needed to step in." he told her.

"After all, those like us gotta stick together." he reasoned.

"Name's Jackson." he told her, introducing himself in return. "Though some call me Jack, and some can get away with just calling me 'J'." he said further.

"And don't worry about repaying me." he went on. "It's cool." he assured her.

"I just need to catch a bus real quick." he then said. "And if I miss it, it'll be a long wait for the next one." he sighed.

"I'd rather not be late for the first day of a new school." he added with a shrug, as he adjusted his sunglasses.

"Eh?" Jackson asked.

"Where?" he asked further.

"Uh.... hmmm... what's it called again...?" he mumbled to himself, trying to recall it.

"I can't remember the name, exactly." he admitted.

"Professor Xavier's... something... something... for Gifted... something." he said, giving as much info as he could, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Sorry, that's all I got." he told her.

"If that didn't help, I wouldn't be surprised."

Jackson was silent for a moment, before he picked up his duffle bag, slinging it over his shoulder.

"Sure." he replied, as he followed her out of the alley, and into the sidewalk.

"So... you go to that school as well?" he asked.

"I shouldn't be surprised." he said.

"But what you did back there was... really cool, and unnerving." he commented, meaning for it to be a compliment... which she could tell, given his tone.

"Those tendrils were really spooky-like." he told her further.

"But... is that, like, your thing?" he asked.

"Memory manipulation, or just general brain scrambling, or something else?"

Jackson was silent again, before nodding.

"All right." he said.

"Cool on the cab." he commented.

"When they get here, and when we get in, I have questions." he said.

"Like... a number of them." he mumbled.

"Your explanation of what you do and are answered a lot, but brings a lot more questions to the front." he went on.

"Though I'll buy it being handy at times." he then added.

"I'll ask them when we're someplace we can speak more freely." Jackson told her.

"Speaking of such matters in the open can invite... problems." he mumbled.

"Still, that was impressive, what you did back there." he said.

"I have no doubt you could have taken them, but it still seemed unfair for there to be 6 against 1." he reasoned with a small shrug and a yawn.

"But, they seemed to be all bravado and bullcrap anyway."