Vin looked up at the sky. The stars were unfamiliar but they shone clearly even if there were less than she was used to. The more odd thing of the sky was the giant crescent that shone like a dull sun. Knowledge came unbidden to the forefront of her mind on what the thing was and why Scadrial lacked one. Shaking her head she focused.

That had been happening frequently. Not long just the last two days since they arrived here but most of it seemed useless. She could tell someone exactly what the composition of iron and steel was as well as 14 other metals 7 of which she knew what they made of but not what they were. The seven metals were likely allomantic metals given how of all the knowledge gained from being a god the number 16 seemed to be almost branded in her mind.

Frowning as the air rushed passed her she focused on the task at hand. Burning steel and iron she was nearly blind from the sheer number of blue lines marking the absurd amount of metal in this city. She could nearly fly without even needing to dip down or rise though habit had her keep to the rise and fall she was used to. She'd need to get some horseshoes at some point as then she wouldn't be limited to just a city or the metals surrounding her.

The city itself was a rusting headache. It was loud, it smelled, and was bright. None of those were a good combination with Tin and she dreaded later that night when she would flare it with her other metals to burn them away.

Trailing the pulses she Pulled herself high into the air. The person who she hunted could manipulate bugs or control them so landing anywhere would possibly have her spotted by the bugs or be swarmed by them. In the air she could see any attack coming and either get away or end the source quickly enough. Tin made it obvious where the bugs were even if it was nearly deafening on the small hordes assembled just out of sight. Moving a clip from her belt to her hand she considered taking the person out from range. Shaking her head she put it away. They had done nothing to harm Elend or her other than startle them.

With the sheer amount of metal in the area it was incredibly easy to keep herself stable in the air. She had seen Zane once do the same trick with three anchor points and the numerous bits of metal around her made it trivial.

Pulling herself above most of the building she anchored herself and let out a yelp. A roar of fire erupted from down the street and the sound of bugs amplified. As she watched a swarm descended from their hiding places into a alley. Pushing herself forward she heard a second drumbeat reveal itself as the fire had appeared. Was there a smoker or had the new source not been using their powers?

Pulling herself onto a rooftop overlooking the alley she looked down. A black figure ran to the metal ladder and stairway that dotted the buildings. The figure was not doing a good job of looking non-threatening. A black outfit modeled after some kind of bug. The face especially screamed threat and was rather unsettling. Still Vin's best friend was a corpse eating pile of meat that had two pieces of metal in him so she wasn't going to judge.

The more concerning thing was the second figure. A large tattooed man wearing a metal animal thing on his face was growing in a sickening sight. His skin seemingly was melting off and being replaced with thick knife like scales. The markings on his arms vanished as scales covered the seemingly molten skin. In his hands two small infernos blazed as he threw them at the fleeing bug person. The first went wild and smashed into a building with a thump and began to blaze on the walls. The second just missed the bug figure and slammed into the metal stairway causing the dull rusted brown to glow a bright white.

Three figures dressed in matching colors and with similar tattoos to the monster writhed on the ground as bugs swarmed them. Some of the swarm Vin had seen tried to attack the monster only to catch fire in flight. As the man raised another fireball Vin drew coins from her belt and Pushed on them. Regardless of the sides these two were on those in the buildings were innocent. They didn't deserve to be burned alive because of two others fighting.

Leaping down in the same motion Vin watched the coins embed themselves in the non-scaled parts of the monster. Pulling Elend's sword off her shoulder Vin swung as the ground approached. At the angle she was she'd cleave the man in- A blast erupted from the man and Vin was knocked off course as flames threatened to consume her. The light was blinding even without tin and she was forced to stop burning it as the heat reached her.

Rolling quickly on the ground Vin gave herself a half moment to look herself over. None of the flames had caught her in a serious position and while her cloak was singed she was fine. The burns she now sported were trival with pewter. Rasing her sword she flared pewter. The man raised another fist of fire, this time directed at her, and she slide beneath his arm and slashed into his shoulder. The blade dug itself in past the bone but as she used the swing to pull herself up she watched as the scales screeched and grew around the blade.

Pulling the sword out she blinked as the gaping wound healed within seconds. That was a concern. Above her the bug figure scrambled up onto the roof of the building she had been climbing. Bugs continued to try and swarm the man to little effect.

Swinging the sword once more she Pulled herself into the air and swung it far faster than any person without pewter could. Aiming directly for the monster's torso she watched him bring up a hand to try and block the blade only to lose the fingers as the blade pushed past into his torso. Severing the tattoo of the thing on his chest's tail she drew her daggers and drove one to the man's neck. Scales were rapidly appearing as the man tried to pull the sword out and her first blade cracked against the scales now appearing on his neck.

Impaling him did seem to have another advantage as bugs swarmed and bit him while avoiding her. Ripping out the sword she kicked him in the face and Pulled herself up the stairwell to the bug figure.

"Go. Get out of here." Vin said nearly snarling at the figure. People with powers here were open about it in a way. They advertised who was who with their outfits. What did this figure, a woman by the look of her build, think would happen when she fought someone with power over flames with rusting bugs?

"C-can't he said he was going to kill kids." The woman, teen if anything, said panting as more bugs piled into the man below.

That... that changed things. This man, no monster would slaughter children? For what? Reputation was all she could think would be the desire of this.

Slamming the sword into the rooftop she turned to the girl and looked up at the insect-like design of the mask. "Blind him and I'll kill him." She said pulling out her daggers. She was down to maybe a minute of pewter left. Her other stores were much better though her iron and steel stores were decently depleted. Grabbing a vial off her belt she downed it. Four left and then the last set was all she and Elend would have.

Damnation the one that had cracked on the scales looked like a breeze would shatter it. Replacing it and grabbing Elend's koloss sword she got ready to leap back into the fold. Gripping the hilt she started to pull it free.

"Wait! I've been injecting him with venom he'll fall unconscious soon." Bug girl said. "If you kill him this gang will be after you." She said and Vin frowned. She had conned her way out of harder situations and Elend could likely convince any guard that she had been justified.

A thump was heard and Vin peered down. Below them the monster was climbing the building leaving jagged flames in his wake. With each great leap he cleared a story. Grabbing the girl Vin Pushed off the sword and leaped from the rooftop to a safer one across the stone street. As she landed she anchored herself to the building and looked at the monster as he cleared the wall and crashed onto the rooftop. Glancing about he let lose another burst of fire to clear the bugs that had infested his skin. To his side the Koloss sword leaned on the cracked roof.

Frowning Vin Pulled on the blade. Without the another of the metal of the buildings she would have gone flying instead after a moment the blade wrenched free and spun as it flew towards her. Only to crash into the monsters side and bounce off. The scales had grown and now covered most of his flesh.

Rusts.

"It's him or us. I can handle anyone who comes for revenge. Now blind him before he burns down the area." Vin snapped at the girl. The monster was moving slower but it still was a danger. It leaned down and grabbed the sword that had bounced off of it seemingly startled by the weight and turned to them. Raising the sword he set it ablaze and grunted out a challenge. Perfect.

Bugs swarmed once more at him and he swung the sword trying to get them away even as some landed on him. The swarm was much smaller than before but still larger than Vin. Nodding to the girl she ran to the building ledge and lept off. Below a round slab of metal stood in the middle of the street. Flaring steel on the metal she shot up into the sky well above the buildings.

As she reached the peak of her arc Vin Pulled on the flaming sword and fell from the sky at a rapid pace. The monster tried to hold the blade but lost his grip on it quickly as bugs blinded him. As the flaming blade rushed toward her Vin stopped burning iron and twisted her body. The blade streaked past end first and she grabbed the hilt right before it past her by. Falling she felt the flames and her vision turned orange as a wave of flame erupted from the monster.

Dropping a coin she Pushed herself upward and Pulled on the fire escape the bug girl had used. Twisting she dodged the flames and landed on the fire escape. The monster looked up apparently not able to se through his own flames. Pushing on the fire escape Vin launched herself toward the monster. Turning the sword to its side she stopped burning all her metals but pewter. Burning Duralumin she felt her strength increase tenfold. Swinging the blade as the monster turned she swung upward. At the last moment the beast blasted itself backwards with its flames causing her to miss the intended target of his chest. Landing Vin turned and looked at her work.

He wasn't fast enough to get entirely out of the way. Letting out a scream he dropped to his knees as his right arm fell to the ground. Gritting his teeth he set his left arm ablaze and tried to cautirize his wound. Only for nothing to happen when he pulled his hand away.

Immunity to his own flames? Normally that be useful but at the moment it could be a death sentence.

The flesh around his missing limb seemed to be trying to close but the amount of blood he was losing was plentiful. Still no need to leave things to chance.

Downing another vial Vin frowned as her metals were renewed. Only four left on her belt and five on the last one at the apartment. Hefting the blade Vin watched as bugs swarmed the bloody stump. The beast swung wildly as he flung flames at the bugs with almost all the flames going wild. He turned to her only to find her fist crash into his face. Grabbing him by the head as she fell she forced him down and kneed him in the face. The man had grown larger maybe six and a half feet now and his face was beginning to gain the molten quality.

"I'll fucking kill you!" He screamed as she drove her dagger into the swarm of bugs surrounding the stump. He let out a scream and Vin ducked under his arm as he attempted to burn her.

Twisting around she grabbed her dagger and twisted. The skin was repairing itself but the bugs were getting caught in even with the heavy heat. With a heavy kick Vin forced him to stumble to the edge of the building. Vin Pulled herself back away from him and Flared zinc and brass. Soothing away his confidence and anger and rioting his fear and despair. Burning Duralumin with the two metals she forced away all emotions other than despair and fear.

The thing dropped to its knees and began to shrink down. Letting out a scream he began to sob and clutch his wound as the bugs continued to dig into him. Vin walked to him and he began to scramble back from her. Grabbing his head she yanked her dagger out of his wound and shoved him off the edge of the building.

As he crashed to the ground she burned bronze to see if he was still alive. Her eyes widening she realized that another drumbeat was approaching and two, no three were nearby on the rooftops.

The bug girl had made her way off the rooftop across the street over to the still form of the beast. Glancing around Vin saw most of the fires had died out on the stone building but a few idle ones still remained on the rooftop. Stamping out the largest one she leapt off the building slowing herself with a coin.

Landing silently she turned to the bug girl. "Good job with the bugs. They helped distract him and I'm assuming the venoms are why his veins are purple." She said pointing to the dark purple veins going from his stump to the rest of his body.

"Th-thank you. Are you new on the scene as well?" The girl asked. Vin gave a nod. "Are you a hero?" She asked and Vin miss the way her voice tightened or how her posture changed slightly. Vin gave a smile and grabbed a vial. Downing it she began to gently soothe suspicion from the girl.

Vin considered her answer. She had done many unheroic things, she was an assassin for Lord Ruler's sake. How many nameless guards had died by her hand had truly deserved their deaths? But she had always protected the people she had cared for. She had worked to make a world without the horrors she had grown up in and died saving everyone on Scadrial.

"Yes I am. I'm relatively new to the scene but I've got training. You did good. You moved quick on your feet and your power kept him distracted." Vin said slipping into the role as if it were a con.

The girl relaxed at her words and Vin lightly rioted pride on her. "Thank you. Is there a reason your not covering your face?" She asked.

A loud roar echoed down the street and Vin tensed. "If it's all the same to you I'd rather not risk another fight and I have no idea whose coming other than they have powers. I don't wear a mask because the cloak isn't a disguise. It's a challenge and a statement. Anyone who sees it knows I'm a cape and means that people who try to challenge me are limited to other capes." Vin said. It wasn't really a lie either. In the final empire a mistcloak was a status symbol. Wearing it meant any guard would ignore them and warn any non-mistborn. But it was also a challenge and invited any other mistborn to attack.

The girl nodded and Vin saw a light appear at the end of the street. Vin dropped a coin and got ready to Push on it but stopped. This girl had fought a giant flaming madman early on in her career as a cape. Vin didn't understand a lot of how capes operated but it was similar to how mistborn operated.

"I'd get out of here if I were you but if you want advice or training I'll be on the rooftop from earlier tomorrow night and the night after." Vin said. This kid was going to kill herself if she didn't get training or a group by fighting someone high above her weight class. Besides Elend and her had been wanting to learn more about the powers here so learning from someone with powers couldn't hurt. Grabbing her sword she smiled at the girl.

The girl nods and Vin Pushes on the coin as the roar gets louder. Landing a few rooftops away she looks down as a man on a tiny mechanical thing parked in front of the twitching form of the flaming man. Vin tensed as she watched but the man seemed none combative and talked to the girl for a time before she started to leave. The other pulses faded leaving only the blue armored man and the girl. The man drew a small dagger, no some kind of thin needle with a vial attached and injected the unconscious man.

Jumping from the rooftop Vin headed home.

oOo

AN: Chapter 2 whoo! Rewrote this a few times but I'm happy with the current version. Sorry for the delay on the chapter but hope you all enjoy! Next chapter will be mostly Elend and Vin action with them trying to apply their skills and fit in on Earth