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I'm Fixing a Hole; The Monster Mash: Thread One!
Topic Started: Sep 10 2014, 05:15 AM (610 Views)
Wolfsbane
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Wolf Form
Timeframe: August 24th, @ 11 am
Location: The Mojave Desert, Southern Nevada


Wolfsbane had tested the waters a time or two these past few months - going out on a recruitment mission, a small rescue here and there - but this was it, this was her return to the big leagues after an extended maternity leave. She found herself more... excited than anything else, if she was entirely honest with herself. She had enjoyed being an X-Man. She had enjoyed making a difference in people's lives, saving them or preventing them from doing something horrible to someone else. As a member of the X-Men, she felt valuable, she felt important, but on a global scale. In the classroom, her importance was localized, highly focused. But here, in her yellow and blue X-Suit, out in the world, she felt important to everyone. And that was a good feeling.

So for her return, she was tasked with gathering a team up and investigating an occurrence of Phoenix energy out here where the mid-day sun would most certainly give you at the least a sunburn at the worst a serious case of heat stroke. They had some experience with Phoenix energy residuals before. Colossus had a team that got sent all the way to the Savage Land. So these things were dangerous, even out in the middle of nowhere. So it had to be dealt with, lest people get lost in them, or worse - whatever was on the other side got through. The risk was too great either way.

So the team was gathered up, and deployed out to the site. Rahne felt fortunate that she and Jack were able to get a babysitter, and felt doubly fortunate that her formal return to full team duty was to be at her husband's side. Add to that that two of her closest friends, Avery and James, were there too and she was more than confident in her place here. She didn't know Jack's mentee (was that the word? Pupil? He wasn't a student, so...) all too well, but he trusted the guy, so she would too.

Sarah Vale was hand-picked to operate and interpret the mechanical equipment necessary to read the energy signature, see what it was, and what they could do to neutralize it. All things considered, she was the most important one here. The rest of them, they were all there to deal with whatever might happen as a side effect - Sarah was the one capable of actually accomplishing the mission. After all, they knew very little about the portals even after what Colossus and his team had experienced - here, they were prepared for it, knew to a certain degree what to expect and had equipment designed to analyze and hopefully eliminate it.

"Uch," Rahne grunted as she adjusted the wide-brimmed sun hat she wore to shade herself out here while they examined the portal. "O' course this thing jus' had t' materialize in Sunburnland, USA. How're we doin', Sarah?"

((Note: We'll go for a little bit from this end of the portal, then off we go from there))
Posted Image

[size0]Say the dog and butterfly,
in the air they like to fly.
Dog and butterfly.
She knew she had to try,
and she float back down to the warm soft ground,
laughing - she don't know why,
but she had to try, she had to try.
Dog and Buttefly.


Avatar by Natalie, signature by Olga. My graphics set is complete again! Thank you so much!
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Specter
Unregistered

Dallas was surprised to find that he wasn't nervous about today. Well, that wasn't strictly true. He certainly felt some apprehension but that was probably healthy. Only a fool would run off on their first mission in the company of the X-Men with blind over-confidence. So, he was bracing himself, but he wasn't a nervous wreck. His stomach wasn't churning, his breath wasn't short. Rightly or wrongly, he felt ready for this. His fingers brushed over his belt buckle, tracing the outline of the X emblazoned there, and it brought a smile to his lips.

This felt like a reward for all the hard work he'd put in since returning to Xavier's. He'd been training intensively in power use and combat techniques, overdoing it for a while until Avery intervened, with Jack as his primary mentor but also alone and with any X-Man he could get his hands on. As Specter, he'd acted as a solo hero back home during his years away from the school so he also had plenty of experience under his belt, even if that experience was at much more of a street level than the X-Men usually dealt with. He believed he had the tools he needed to help the heroes of Xavier's to protect the world but, until now, he hadn't had the opportunity to prove that. There had been times when he'd felt like he'd never get here. It had been hard to make the switch from being an active superhero to being just some guy, forced to do nothing while others put themselves in harm's way. He loved his job in the kitchen but it wasn't easy to just carry on dicing tomatoes and flipping burgers while his friends saved the world.

But now, his work was paying off. He was being given a chance to show what he could do. More importantly, he was being trusted not to endanger the rest of the team. The Powers That Be had faith in him and that meant something to Dallas. Time would tell if he could operate on the scale the X-Men worked at, if he could be an asset rather than just a tag-along, but he was determined to do his absolute best.

"This is pretty different to patrolling the back alleys of Portland in the middle of the night," he admitted in a murmur to Avery, though the wry smile on his lips suggested that he didn't mean that as a complaint. He was glad she was here. Jack too. Dallas trusted all those present simply because they were all X-Men or Legacy and that alone demanded his respect, but Avery and Jack were both important to him on a personal level. Having them at his side helped a lot in putting him at ease.

As he swiped the back of his hand across his sweaty forehead, Dallas attempted to squint up at the sky but it was too bright to keep his gaze anywhere near the throbbing sun above. This heat was uncomfortable, especially in his uniform, but actually good for him since his shadow was at its strongest under the most glaring sunlight. A thought occurred to him though and he shot a glance back at Avery. "Are you doing okay in this heat?" he checked, concern in his eyes. Avery's physiology was different to the rest of them and he wasn't sure how she would be affected by this kind of temperature. It might actually be beneficial to her, he supposed, but if she was struggling then he wanted to know about it so he could keep an eye on her.

Rahne asked Sarah how things were going and his ears pricked up, eyes drifting back in her direction. Network was the key here, the star of the show in many ways. Ultimately, the rest of them were essentially bodyguards for her while she did her thing and it was interesting to watch her work. She was an impressive individual. As was Jimmy, and the Russells, and Avery. For a moment he felt a pang of insecurity, the fear that he was a little fish out of his depth in this company, but he quickly squashed those self doubts. While he was in the field, he needed to be focused and together. He could question himself later.
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Avery
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Botanical Manipulation and Biology
Avery strolled leisurely alongside of Dallas, observing her friend on his very first mission with the X-Men. She noticed the sea of emotions he was swimming through. He was excited and nervous at the same time, proud to be getting this opportunity but also realizing that this was serious business and they didn't know what they might face. She smiled to herself. She couldn't blame him. This was a big deal for him. Like a REALLY big deal. All his hard work had landed him a chance to prove he had the stuff and yet at the same time, if he screwed up then it might dash a potential spot on the team for him. Avery had full faith that he had the chops for it, he just needed his moment to shine. Whether today would clench it or not, she didn't know, but she did know he'd make a fine X-Man some day. She chuckled quietly as he admired his shiny new belt and continued walking through the desert.

Her belt bucked and making a slight jingle as she walked, Avery scanned the land with the rest of her team. In her head they had a pretty good team, the brains, the brawn, speed and tracking…and herself with her own talents and bag of tricks. Chances were they'd have a much easier time than when she went to the Savage Land with the last rift. And at least with Network along they'd knew where the rift was located and could more aptly prepare to go into it..or anything that might come from the other side. No getting ambushed and shanghaied for her this time.

"This is pretty different to patrolling the back alleys of Portland in the middle of the night," Dallas's soft voice commented beside her, causing her to smirk a little.

"Well you're not a vigilante anymore, now are you? Now you're up in the big leagues and it's your turn at bat." She sing songed at him jokingly. "It's a little daunting at first, but you'll get used to it. You have a job to do and you just focus on that." She had to bestow all the confidence she could in him because when it came to situations such as these, it made a world of difference.

As they continued on she noted that some of her teammates were not as comfortable in the heat as she was. Mind you, she did find it a little on the hot side but not one bead of sweat ran her face nor a puff of exhaustion escaped her lips. Dallas on the other hand wiped her brow and she unlatched the canteen strapped to her belt and passed it up to him.

"Are you doing okay in this heat?" He asked, concerned how her unique physiology affected her more than others. He had the right to be concerned as the weather and change of the seasons did affect her. One would think a flower would wilt in this heat, but on the contrary she looked unaffected and if anything her skin held a healthier glow than before.

Avery just smiled back and shook her head. "Mmhmm! I'm fine! Well, as long as I keep hydrated anyway. I actually do really well in the heat, like a little sunflower soaking up the sun. Though, I'd much rather be at a beach than out here. We really need to take a trip to the beach sometime," she added in thought.

It was at this time that Rahne called upon Sarah to see if she had picked up anything yet. It was possible it could be right in front of their noses and they'd not know it. With memories of her last rift related trip swimming back into her mind, she scanned the terrain around them for signs of others. With a speedster in their midsts an idea came to mind and while she wasn't the leader type, this small task would make her feel a lot better.

"Specter dear, I need you to do a perimeter check." She told him in more serious tones than before. "The last time I went on a mission like this we were ambushed by the Brotherhood. There's no saying they're not checking into similar rifts…or anyone else for that matter. Just do a quick sweep of the area and give yourself enough birth so you don't accidentally zip into the rift."
[align=center]Posted Image[/align]
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Sarah Vale
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Technopathy
She had to admit, when she’d been approached about this particular mission, she’d sort of agreed without thinking. After all, obviously they knew she’d be able to help, and they’d thought it through enough to come to her specifically. It wasn’t until she’d actually gone with the team that she realized with a moment of trepidation that the entire team was made of either members of the main X-Men team, or staff members. While she was part of the security team, she didn’t usually consider herself staff. She was close enough in age to most of them, and of course she knew all of them to varying degrees. Thanks to having spoken to Piotr after his adventure in the Savage Land, she knew a decent amount about these randomly appearing Phoenix energy signals, and the damage they could cause.

Once she knew the purpose of the mission, she’d gotten some equipment – she’d altered some of Shoe’s sensors, calibrating the robot to be more sensitive to the energy readings she was looking for. She’d gotten a few other things together, and then they’d tracked the signal to…The Mohave Desert, in Nevada. She’d packed Shoe and a few other instruments with the team, and tinkered most of the way, occasionally adjusting their flight pattern to follow it. Perched in the back by Shoe, when they landed she had to admit – it was a bit weird to know that they were following her around to the source. Humming under her breath, she had one headphone in one ear, plugged into a hand held device, the screen display scrolling lazily.

Shoe was following along behind her, the large purple and silver robot paced, mimicking her movements as she swept the sensor. She probably could have done this from inside Shoe, but for now she was okay with being herself. The black sleeveless top was light enough, and her uniform pants were just as comfortable. There had probably been some weird looks from her teammates as she’d handed her jacket to Shoe, letting the robot carry one of the sensor probes as well. Tugging the rim of her baseball cap lower, Sarah glanced up at Rahne’s voice, grinning and pushing her sunglasses further up her nose, one hand waving the sensor about.

“Almost there, I’ve got some interesting readings. Fascinating energy signature…” Pointing in the direction they were walking, Sarah flashed them a bright smile, maintaining a thoroughly innocent look on her face for her next comment. “Could be worse. Could’ve been in Death Valley. It’s only about 96 degrees here. Current temperature in the valley is 110.” As if this were information any of them wanted to know. Finally reaching a spot, she paused, frowning at the sensor and turning in place, staring at a spot in the desert seemingly at random. It looked like a heat mirage, the air waving upwards when she squinted at it. A thought brought Shoe closer, and she absently handed the sensor to the large robot, taking instead a device that looked disturbingly like a ray gun with a display screen.

“I think I found it. Specter, avoid this ten square foot area, you should be clear of it.” She didn’t glance up from the display, fiddling with it, a small beam of light coming from the end, spiraling through the color spectrum as she adjusted settings. Finally pointing it at the rift, she spun a knob, and for the second the view of the desert wavered, as the energy field shimmered more clearly into view. A fluctuating warped view, glowing slightly red and orange around the edges, shrinking and growing randomly. “…Jackpot.” She grinned, glancing at the rest of the team, before tossing the gun-like device back to Shoe. The robot was already scanning the portal’s energy, and Sarah was frowning, sifting through the different devices the robot was carrying, backpack already slung around in front of her, open, her toolkit protruding from it.

“Stabilizer…If there were ever a time to make a Flux Capacitor joke, now would be it.” The technopath muttered mostly to herself, although she was pretty sure everyone could hear it. Tugging a different machine over to her from the pile, ignoring the dirt and dust getting on her as she knelt in front of Shoe, prying a panel up with a screwdriver and tinkering with some of the wires inside. Her eyes glowed momentarily green as a few parts within the machine rearranged, and she tightened the panel’s screws again, shifting to look at the portal critically.

“Okay, so this should work to stabilize the energy field and…In theory, it’ll shut it down.” In theory, of course. In practice…Well, she’d never really worked with this kind of unpredictable energy, which of course was why there was an entire team of them there. She didn’t use it, not yet, tapping the screen thoughtfully, her gaze a bit distant as she continued working on it, powers letting her slide through the workings, shifting things as needed, making sure it as calibrated correctly.
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James Proudstar
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Man, he loved the desert.

After spending time totally knocked out on the trip to Nevada, Jim was pleased with their mission location. The Mojave had always been close to home, and while some of the X-men present (most noticeably Rahne) weren't pleased with the dry, hot earth, it felt nice to be in familiar areas. This was, of course, his first official outing as an X-Man since he'd dropped off the map nearly a year ago, and he was honestly excited for it. It was a good team, nobody he didn't know well. Jack being there, and Rahne too, was a huge plus of course. Things always seemed better when you had your best friends there. Sarah had been hand chosen for this specific mission and as of late he’d gotten to know her between (and sometimes during) various disasters.

The moment he stepped into the desert light, the black of his uniform sucked in heat like a vacuum, warming him to the core. It was bright, harsh light on the flat ground, bouncing up the heat everywhere. For a moment, he was thankful the thing didn't have sleeves. Warm or not, however, Jim wasn't uncomfortable. In fact, unlike most of the team, he hadn't broken a sweat even. His tolerance for heat was higher than most peoples, and even higher than his tolerance of the cold. He was fully decked out in uniform, save for his hat. They weren't expecting much trouble; maybe everything would be boring and swift. Although that wasn't too likely.

"Aw see Rahne, it ain't that bad." He grinned in her direction after Sarah noted the heat in Death Valley. As much as his mood was light, there was a part of him still committed to keeping an eye and an ear out for trouble. Last time a team had been sent out, they'd apparently been sent to the savage land. Who knew where this portal led to? Not to mention last time they’d run into the Brotherhood. He'd be wary, but with the flat landscape, Jim could see clearly for miles around them. At least they wouldn't be sneaking up on them. Looking around to his fellow teammates, Jim heard Avery mention having Dallas do a check on their perimeter. He didn’t know Dallas terribly well personally, but he knew Terry was a friend of his, which was enough for Jim to think he was good to have around. Not long after, Sarah revealed the portal in a swirl of oranges, flickering above the ground.

Jim stood by Sarah and her giant robot, which dwarfed its maker by nearly two feet, and was only an inch or two shorter than Jim himself. However, Sarah had apparently opted to have her work as a walking coat rack for the moment. As she worked on her gear, James turned all his attention to the rippling distortion. Funny how all the Phoenix energy still was causing issues. Maybe that was some kind of cosmic metaphor. Oh well. He crossed between them, slightly restless, his dark boots kicking up dust. Waiting was not exactly his strongest point. Although this was probably a good time to work on that. Patience was a virtue, after all.
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Werewolf
Unregistered

Having served as an X-Man for more than five years, Jack had over time begun to approach missions with same mindset as a hunt--find the mark, eradicate, and bring home the spoils. There were never any spoils to bring, but so long as everyone in his pack came home breathing with all of their limbs intact it was as good a prize as any.

His red eyes looking dull compared to the bright and unyielding sun, Jack swept his gaze across the assembled group of senior and budding teammates while keeping his ears swiveled towards their surroundings. Missions were easier with familiar faces, even those that were new to the group, and Jack was especially eager to see Dallas on the field again, knowing personally that the younger man had progressed well in training and needed a little less guidance with each session.

While Jack certainly knew everyone present, some more than others like Jimmy, he still felt more complete in missions with his wife at his side, although Rahne's return to the field after the birth of their son renewed his anxieties of her safety all over again. There was no questioning of her prowess or skill, but he worried all the same about not only her well-being but his own--the very thought of Greg going without one or both parents made Jack's stomach clench.

The only thing more overbearing than Jack's own internal and run of the mill angst was the heat of the desert sun beating down on the small group sent to inspect the portal. A sparse breeze circulated the shapeshifter's thick undercoat, but it only brought the searing heat closer to his skin. As counterproductive as it might seem to assume his wolfen shape in this environment, Jack loathed the potential alternative of quickly baking inside his human skin and turning as red as his wife's hair. Nonetheless, the feral man felt it was a tactical advantage to already be on his guard, especially when it concerned a mission Rahne was in.

Turning his massive head as Avery instructed Dallas to do a perimeter check, Jack nodded sagely to him. He could do it, and he would be just fine, leaving the feral shapeshifter to keep an eye on something else.

Stooping forward to inspect the shimmering portal at his wife's side, Jack curiously sniffed the anomaly without getting too close as Sarah took note and went to work.

"I've never liked these things," Jack remarked with a chuff. "It's not um.. not so much the portal itself.. but what's on the other side of it."
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Wolfsbane
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Wolf Form
"Speak f'r yuirself, Jimmy, ye're not a fair-skinned redhead," Rahne said with a smirk as she looked back to Warpath, shaking her head slightly. This was his environment, more or less. He grew up in climates like this, whereas Rahne's childhood had her in more frigid air, with plenty of shade from cloud cover.

But playful jabs about the weather aside, things seemed to be going well. Sarah was analyzing the energy signature with equipment that Rahne likely could never understand, while the rest of them got about setting up a perimeter. This was going well. Which surely meant that something could go wrong and likely would, but hey - they were prepared for that. As prepared as they could be, at least.

She glanced over to Jack as he voiced some concerns. He wasn't wrong, that was for sure.
"Well, that's why we're here, aye? So if anything nasty's on that other side, people qualified can deal with it rather 'n some poor sap in a dune buggy. Besides, maybe we'll get lucky an' Disneyworld'll be on the other side, aye? That'd be nice. I've never been to Disneyworld."

There was no confusion as to why Jack had opted for this mission. He was ever her protector, ever her knight in shining in armor, whether she needed him to be or not. It was simply a part of their lives now, especially now that they had a kid to care for. At the very least, Rahne was not at the point where she resented his protective nature. Not yet at least. She hoped she never would. She didn't want to resent anything he did.

"Oooh," Rahne said, eyes going wide as Sarah made the portal appear visible before them. It shimmered in the light of the sun like a mirage, but in open air rather than on the surface of the ground. It seemed almost like an ethereal mirror, but she couldn't quite make images out.

"It's... really quite... beautiful, aye? Wow," she couldn't help but remark on the sight of it. "I'm quite glad we were here t' see this. Almost sad we've got t' shut it down."

Nothing seemed to be coming through from whatever was on the other side, thank goodness. The other side was... difficult to make out. If it could be made out at all, even. But, the longer it stayed open, the higher the risk that something could come through, to where it wasn't supposed to be.

"Alright - guess we're ready t' shut it down. Whenever ye're good t' go, Sarah."
Posted Image

[size0]Say the dog and butterfly,
in the air they like to fly.
Dog and butterfly.
She knew she had to try,
and she float back down to the warm soft ground,
laughing - she don't know why,
but she had to try, she had to try.
Dog and Buttefly.


Avatar by Natalie, signature by Olga. My graphics set is complete again! Thank you so much!
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Sarah Vale
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Technopathy
Honestly, the dry heat in the desert wasn’t all that bad. Certainly not as disgusting as the sticky humid heat she was unfortunately used to. She was probably going to be sunburned to a crisp, but she was enjoying herself too much to jump into Shoe. Besides, they were obvious enough here, with Jack as a giant wolf and Shoe marching along like a good little robot. Heaven help them if Google Earth caught sight of them puttering around out here. The internet would have a field day. Grinning to herself, she glanced up as a few of them inched closer as the portal came into view, shading her eyes with one hand as Rahne spoke.

“Don’t worry, Shoe’s recording it. Video and energy signature. If this works, we’ll know next time what can be sent to shut it down. Personally, the mirage-like image was giving her a headache, coupled with the fact that a few of the machines were doing the equivalent of screeching like happy kids at the energy levels. Still tinkering with the gun-like device she held, she waved a hand to get the dust out of her face, pointing the object at the portal a few times and looking at the screen in concentration. Rahne gave her the go ahead, and Sarah bit her lip, glancing up at Shoe.

“Measurements? Okay…Uh, you guys might wanna take a few steps back.” Waiting to make sure everyone was back a bit, Sarah pointed the gun and fired, sending a thin green laser shooting at the portal. Frowning in concentration, Network stared as the edges of the portal seemed to freeze, the shifting and changing stopping mid-stretch, wavering a bit in the middle. Twisting a dial on the device, the beam thickened a bit, and the portal’s edges slowly began to fold in on themselves, the center turning gray and sucking the red and orange tendrils into it.

“Slowly…Why don’t they ever show this part in movies?” Muttering mainly to Shoe, and not seeming to notice as the large purple robot nodded in agreement, Sarah twisted the knob again, once more thickening the beam of light, the edges of the portal rolling faster, collapsing in on itself. “Come on, just a little more…” The device in her hands was heating up a bit, but finally the portal was only about the size of her hand, bulging on one side with light, before seeming to finally just collapse into a flat line. About to let up on the gun in her hand, Sarah’s eyes widened as suddenly the spot where the portal had been seemed to explode, orange light blossoming out from the spot and following the beam of light up to the gun barrel in her hand.

“…Hit the deck!” The technopath shrieked, dropping the gun as it suddenly burst apart, the orange light from the portal sweeping out in a blast, scooping them all up and dragging them forward into itself in a final fiery roar of power that likely sent dirt and dust flying in all directions. It swallowed them whole, and then collapsed, dead and depleted, behind them, not even a circle of dust to indicate where they had been standing.

TO BE CONTINUED…
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Specter
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Ever perceptive Avery had some words of encouragement for him and Dallas offered her an appreciative smile in return, coupled with an affirming nod. Her advice mirrored his own thoughts - focus on the matters at hand, keep a level head, and everything would be fine. Well, it might not be fine. X-Men missions weren't exactly renowned for being uneventful and incident-free. But he had a whole team of talented and skilled heroes at his side. Whatever happened, they'd deal with it together. It'd be okay.

As she explained that the heat wasn't an issue for her, Avery handed him the canteen at her belt and he accepted it gratefully. "Yeah, this kind of environment is actually good for me too. My shadow's at its strongest under bright natural light." Who knew why. It was one of several aspects of his powerset which didn't make much sense but he'd learned not to question it. This was the hand the mutant gods had dealt him and that was that. "So he loves it," he continued, nodding at the shadow with a grin as it snaked along the ground beside them. He tugged at the collar of his uniform to let a little air reach his neck. "I'm not so thrilled with it though."

Trying to ignore the baking temperature, he watched Sarah do her work, his eyes travelling to Shoe occasionally because a giant robot was obviously the coolest thing in the world. He couldn't help wanting to grin every time he looked at it. Whatever sights they witnessed today, Shoe would probably be the one which would stay with Dallas the longest. He was broken from his reverie by Avery, who had a task for him, asking him to check the perimeter. Instantly, his stomach flipped. He was being given an actual command by an actual X-Man on an actual mission. But it was a straightforward one, something he could do efficiently and easily so... so he shouldn't worry, should he? All he had to do was follow the advice he'd been given. Focus on the job. So, he straightened a little and smiled, trying his best to look confident and at ease, grateful to her for helping him to feel useful. "On it."

Summoning his silhouette, Dallas remained still for the second or two it took for the shadow to slither up his body, coating him and fusing with the cells of his body, supercharging them to grant him the speed he'd need for this task. Merging with the shadow quelled the nerves which had started to bubble in his stomach. Before he could dash off, Network indicated the area he should keep clear of. "Gotcha. I'll keep my distance." The wolfen Jack had a nod for him, which granted Dallas the extra little bit of confidence he needed. The man's opinion was important to him, and if Jack had no qualms then he didn't need to have doubts either. He offered up a nod of his own in return before racing away from the group, quickly becoming little more than a black blur.

Using the portal area as an epicenter to avoid humiliating himself by accidentally careening into it, Specter ran out in a spiral formation, getting increasingly further from the team. As his darkened legs kicked up dust beneath him, his eyes narrowed and scanned the area, searching for anyone or anything that struck him as suspicious or out of place, Brotherhood or otherwise.

Soon enough, he'd finished circling and returned to the team, skidding to a stop in his original spot beside Avery. Though there was a temptation to staple himself to Jack's side after training with him so much, he was deliberately avoiding it. This was the first official mission the Russells had been on since becoming parents so he was sure his friend had enough to worry about without having to take responsibility for the newbie as well. Jack would have his back, no doubt, just as Dallas would have his, but he didn't want the man to feel like he had to devote his attention to him, not while he had the mother of his son to concern himself with.

"All clear," he reported, glancing between Avery and Rahne as he dragged a hand across his forehead. If he'd been hot before, he was roasting now. "Nothing suspicious, everything's quiet. In fact, there are hardly any civilians around at all. If anything happens here," he said, eyeing the fascinatingly mirage-like portal energies Sarah had made visible, "We won't have too many bystanders to worry about."

He'd returned just in time for the mission to reach it's critical moment. On Rahne's word, Network began the process of shutting down the Phoenix rift, telling the rest of them to step back. Dallas followed the command without question. He had little understanding of what exactly Sarah was going to do here so he was happy to just follow her directions and let her do her thing. He chose to remain merged with the shadow though. If disaster was going to befall them then it was going to happen now, and he needed to be ready. Once Network fired her laser, though, he started to relax a little. He was a layman but to his eyes, it looked as if this was working. Maybe this mission was going to pass without a world-threatening crisis after all.

And then, with chilling inevitablity, he was proven wrong. The portal seemed to explode and, without any time to properly think through what was happening, Dallas's instincts told him Sarah was the one in danger because she was closest to the rift, so he lunged forward in a futile attempt to save her. Network wasn't the only one in trouble though. One foot left the ground but didn't have time to come back down before the raging energies engulfed them all.
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Avery
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Botanical Manipulation and Biology
Having time to chat back and forth was a comfort rarely seen on missions. He revelled that his shadowy partner thrived in the sun and her eyes quirked in interest as poor Dallas was suffering the heat. "Well! Looks like we're learning all sorts of things about each other eh?" She took back the small canteen, took a swig and clipped it back into her belt before she decided to give Dallas a task.

He was ripe and ready to go and confidence beamed on his face. It wasn't a cocky sort of look but more like the one of someone who had been training and waiting for this moment. Avery looked to his shadow who obviously mimicked Dallas's movements but she could tell that it too was feeling very self-assured right now. Sarah then gave him a more precise distance to outskirt the area and Avery nodded as she looked over to her, grateful for the information. "Thanks Netty."

And however strange it might seem to anyone else, she said to it Dallas's shadow, "It's you're time to shine kiddo."

Then she watched him power up and zip off. The rush of the wind and dust kicked up in his steed reminded her of Pietro, as did every time a speedster was in her presence. And like every time she was met with a sad pang of missing her husband which caused her to look over to Rahne and Jack who were doing their first mission since little Greggy. She wanted that so badly but never told anyone so…nor was it the time to think of such things. Before she knew it, Dallas had returned and she was glad to have his company.

He had only good things to report. No suspicious activity, no lurkers (Brotherhood or otherwise) and no residents to worry about should things go wary. Good. Upon reflecting, the desert soil was poor and Avery wasn't exactly sure how well her powers would work here, how well summoned roots or plants would comply, how strong they'd be or overall quality. Luckily that wouldn't be a problem no, merely just something she'd have to run in the danger room once they returned.

"Good job, rookie." Avery teased, giving Dallas a little nudge as he stood next to her waiting of the closure of the portal

While waiting for Sarah to work her wonders there was little for her to do but enjoy the weather a little more than her companions were. Perhaps in the future this could be a two man job. A quick in and out but for now there were a few factors of danger that kept the team a hearty one. Thankfully this time around everything seemed tame. Avery didn't want to think of the things that could come out for the rift. A few dinosaurs wasn't that frightening in the scheme of things that could enter their world. Maybe some extraterrestrials, maybe gelatinous blobs with ravenous hunger, or something unseen like an airborne virus that would wipe out the entire human race. Okay so the first two was something they could handle but that last thought sent a cold shiver down her spine despite the hot desert heat. She tried to push it out of her mind but couldn't. "Mental note: everyone gets a physical as soon as we get back"

All and all once Sarah made the rift visible it was rather pretty to look at, the movement shimmy and shifting, mesmerizing and calming like watching a fire or the ocean waves. She asked them to step back as she prepared to close it and with a nod she stepped back a few paces which she felt was a safe distance even though she had no idea where a point of safety actually was. On the bright side, should something bad happen she had Dallas just within reach, he'd probably grab her up and whisk her out of harms way. But what were the chances of…

Something was wrong. Just went the had been zipped, or stitched, or whatever closed…something went wrong. Avery had already begun to relax, almost about to turn to Sarah and tell her she did a good job when the air in front of them exploded into bright orange. Amongst the roar she heard Sarah scream as the explosion rushed towards them with terrible speeds. Avery turned heel for one desperate jump to throw herself to the ground but her face never felt the sand. Instead she was ripped backwards by a strong force, her last breath devoted a purely terrified, blood chilling scream.
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James Proudstar
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A bark of laughter pulled itself out of the Apache and he turned to look at Rahne again, grinning brightly.

"Which is a blessing in itself. I would of baked long ago." As Sarah started up on closing the portal, Jim moved about a little, looking down at the ground. He grinned a little again when Jack mentioned not liking the portals. Not that he blamed him. Lately portals seemed to unleash unpleasant things. Although so far, it hadn't been anything he could stab or get a grip on, which was good enough for him. No crazy physic energy or another brood-virus. Monsters, aliens and/or terrorists, he could handle. Until the portal released some magic invisible gremlins, he figured that they could take care of anything that poked its nose out of there.

Hopefully they would get the hang of closing these things soon, and it would become a two man job. In and out, no danger. Keeping everyone safe was the main priority here, after all, and it was the foremost thing on Jim's mind, to be honest. After what had happened in the savage lands, he didn't want a single person there to be injured, physically or otherwise.

He glanced up slightly as Dallas raced off to do a perimeter, but soon fell back into his small, impatient movement. He'd always been restless, and it didn't help that he had a bad feeling that something was bound to go wrong. Because nothing was ever simple. It was like, the Mutant Murphy's law. However, as Sarah worked on it, everything seemed to be going... just fine. Maybe he was wrong. Dallas returned within a few moments, and besides looking uncomfortable in the heat, the team seemed just fine. The portal, in all this shining glory, shrank and contracted as was expected (or so he assumed was expected.) Taking another look at the flatlands around them, he figured they'd be home in a jiffy. Easy mission, quiet mission.

"Hey, I'd be down for Disneyworld. " He tipped his head to Jack and grinned at the idea. "Rollercoasters sound great to me. You think the--"

Then everything exploded.

Of course it was only in an instant of orange, of everything expanding and then contracting almost at the same time. He reacted by instinct, intending to reach out and grab whoever was closest; pull them away from the danger. That was his job, to keep everyone who could take as much punishment safe. There was no time for that, of course. Jim barely had enough time to begin to reach out, words still on his lips, ready to tackle whatever needed before they were gone. In fact, the only thing he managed to do was have one very clear thought of Oh shit.
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