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Chaos in Small Town USA; X-Men
Topic Started: Nov 24 2015, 03:35 PM (716 Views)
Wolfsbane
Member Avatar
Wolf Form
Timeframe: November 23rd, @ 4 pm local time
Location: Agra, Kansas


As Katie Beringer hid behind the pumpkin display at the local grocer she worked at, she couldn't help but think that this was a sucky way to die. She was just working here part-time stocking the produce section while she took some classes at the community college. She was just supposed to come in, keep the non-refrigerated merchandise stocked, keep the floor clean, answer customer questions. Nobody ever said anything about a seven foot tall muscle bound freak, disproportionate with its massive arms but tiny head, huge barrel chest and what looked like short legs, smashing through the front door and proceeding to tear the place apart.

Nobody told her that her manager would, in his attempt to talk the beast-man down, get backhanded so hard that he would get sent careening across the store, through a display of candied apple kits and smashing into the floor with a sickening, wet crunch that she was pretty sure meant he was either dead or severely injured. Nobody told her of the screaming, both from the creature and from the other people in the store. She saw nothing, only heard sounds as the store she hated working in was torn apart all around her. Heard the sounds of oversized fists slamming into people, people she could only assume she knew, and the last, desperate grunts of their lives being ended.

She had a history paper due tomorrow, she realized as the creature's shadow loomed large over her. He had found her. This was it, she was dead and it was going to be here. In this stupid grocery shop, in this stupid small town that she was supposed to be getting an education in solely so she could one day move out of it. And now she was going to die.

Only that didn't happen. Something hit the creature, she could hear the impact, as she had her eyes squeezed shut and her back pressed up against the cardboard box display the pumpkins were in. The creature's inhumanly low voice grunted a heavy, deep grunt as something went "crack". The blow was followed up by another, something that cut it, tore it's overly taut skin open. The creature screamed. And then a third hit, from high up, and then the floor shook with a heavy impact.

"Miss," a voice sounded out, a soft, feminine voice that was not at all what Katie expected. "Ye're safe now. Come with me, I'll get ye out of here."

Katie slowly opened her eyes, blinking them a few times and forcing herself to relax the death grip her lower jaw had on her teeth, as she turned around. The creature lay prone on the floor, unconscious. Four sizable gashes across its right shoulder and a good welt on its forehead. She couldn't see the impact mark on the sternum that initially sent it toppling away from her, as it fell face down.

Then there was the other creature, furry, clawed hand outstretched. It looked to Katie with bright, piercing gold eyes that practically shone in contrast to the reddish fur coating its body, but almost matched the yellow and blue suit that covered its torso, shoulders, and upper thighs.

Two hours ago, at Xavier's Institute, upstate New York

The alert was a sharp one, urgent and rapid. Something like this rarely ever happened. If at all. Cerebro usually caught one new mutant emerging at a time in one place, or two or three in rare circumstances. This was different. This was unheard of. New mutant emergence on this scale was something nobody had ever seen.

"Sixty four?" Rahne Russell asked as the X-Men assembled to analyze this alert. "Sixty four in... I've never heard o' that place... damn thing's busted, right?"

She knew the answer before she finished asking the question. Busted? No. Never. Cerebro's maintenance was crucial, and upkept on a frequent basis. If Cerebro wasn't constantly operating at peak efficiency, lives could be lost because the X-Men couldn't respond to crises as they arose.

In conjunction with the alert came in live news reports from the area, springing up in holographic projection around the X-Men assembled in the War Room. Chaos in Small-Town USA as a large group of mutants suddenly began ransacking the town of Agra, Kansas. Attacking innocent, human civilians, attacking each other and causing collateral damage. Rampaging against buildings, automobiles, whatever was around them. Fatalities unknown at this time. Stay tuned to this channel for live updates as we receive them.

"Definitely nae busted," Rahne said with a sigh. Something bad was going on there. Something... how could Cerebro detect this huge a number as genuine, real mutant manifestations? It didn't make sense.

"I'll go suit up and arrange a babysitter," she said, jaw set. It was go time. Time to save the day, or whatever was left of it.

Now...

"Quickly, now," the creature said, and when it moved its mouth to speak, Katie could see the barest hint of wickedly sharp fangs inside. "There's a whole bunch more out there, ye're only safe f'r now."

Safe. As a monster stood triumphant over another monster, telling Katie to go with her. Katie clearly only had one option.

Her eyes rolled back into her head and she passed out, leaving Wolfsbane scant moments to catch her before her head bonked on the floor.
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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Emma
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Telepathy, Diamond Form, Killer Fashion Sense
Emma swiped a few controls on the panel, and the numbers came up once more, alongside stats, satellite images -- pretty much skeletal, all things considered. The holographic projections changed as Emma swiftly zoomed in on where Cerebro had pin-pointed the x-gene readings.

"It was too small a window. I can't seem to find their entry point, though there is no way 64 of them could have just gotten off a bus without anyone knowing. If anything, I'll be able to track their transit once we get there," she told the room, her eyes focused on the screens and keys in front of her as Rahne spoke.

Emma didn't answer her rhetorical, hopeful, question, but all present would know that the thing was not busted. And further, Emma would not have allowed Cerebro to ping the alert if she wasn't sure something was up. The blonde telepath was neither flighty, or exceptionally keen to leave the comforts of civilisation for Agra, Kansas.

Another few clicks of the panel keys, and Emma managed to tag each of the 64 mutants as red. For a scant few seconds, the room watched as the red dots speedily went into residences, businesses, and generally moved along the streets, pausing for moments each time. Emma could only assume that in the pauses, lives were lost. "They're moving, and moving fast."

Rahne nodded resolutely, and Emma could only agree. "Let's try and save Kansas before dinner. I've got another stack of Economics essays to mark."

Two hours later

"No, no, no please!" Archer Ames brandished a large piece of glass -- all that remained from the jewelry case -- in front of him weakly, as the simian creature in front of him advanced with a rather misplaced grin. "Stay back or... Or... I'll..."

Teeth flashed and the mutant creature leaped, ripping a loud scream from the apprentice jeweler's throat. The sound was short lived though, as light danced across the floor and a diamond arm came less than an inch from Archer's face, narrowly missing his red nose.

"On your feet, behind the pillar, now," came Emma's harsh instruction, as she slammed a hard, diamond elbow into Archer's attacker.

Archer scrambled, his eyes darting only for a moment from the diamond woman, who was shinier, more beautiful than any of the jewels he had a chance to work with. His daydream of even speaking to her was cut short as something else cannon-balled through the storefront, shattering the glass in a million pieces.

"Urgh," Emma muttered, with one hand around the half-monkey's neck, she squeezed until she heard a crunch. Neck broken and spine dislodged, Emma let the creature fall to the ground in a heap before turning to the newest intruder. In a moment her diamond form faded away, and her telepathy engaged.

Watching with bated breath and too fearful to make even one sound, Archer snuck under one of the display cases still standing to see the woman fade from diamond to human flesh, her blonde hair tumbling around her shoulders. The white that she wore was a stark difference to the destruction around them, and for some strange reason managed remained pristine.

The newest antagonist, human in appearance aside from one clawed hand, charged at Emma with a snarl; one tick of the second hand later, he was frozen on the spot, his eyes widening.

A second was all it took for her to enter into his dorsal posterior insula and commandeer his nervous system. "Archer, sweetheart," she said as the clawed mutant was held, seemingly in suspended animation. "You're going to leave now. To the right from the back door, please. Avoid the main street." Her voice was soothing, and Archer calmed down significantly, rising to do her bidding.

What he didn't know, was that Emma had flooded his mind with the perception of peace, while convincing, rather effortlessly, of the need to run and run fast.

Without looking, Emma ascertained that the young man was out the door, then moved forward towards her captive. She didn't waste time. With so many civilians still in danger, her vendetta for information could wait. Pressing one finger to the centre of the creature's forehead, she willed for pain to flood is body -- as commanded, it did as it was told.

::I've got two down here, one simian, and one partially mutated. Something's not right with their minds. I can almost feel it. If you can, incapacitate and not kill. I want some to read after we've stabilised the situation.:: she sent out to the team as she hog-tied the crumpled mutant to a pillar. Emma would return for him later.

She swept out of the store quickly and saw Rahne carrying an injured girl out onto the street. Noting that her colleague had things in hand, she moved down, systematically checking each shop down the thoroughfare for casualties.

::Darlings, we've got two going into that apartment building on South Street,:: Emma sent out to the team the moment she caught sight of a large lizard tail slipping left ahead of her.

A scream sounded to her right; Emma scanned one last time for any other X-Men approaching, before she turned diamond and ran straight into the antique store.
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Derek Addams
Unregistered

"Sixty four? In a town that small and backwood? That's over a fifth their population, why there?"

Derek folded his arms and scowled at the images appearing on the different projectors across the room. His eyes and face had none of the usual lightheartedness that was typically clear at any other moment. The numbers didn't make any sense and if Cerebro and Emma were right, then this riot mob came out of nowhere, or more specifically, "activated" out of nowhere.

And everything he'd taken the time to learn about mutation since he got to the school all those years ago said that was just not possible. The worst part about it was that everyone seemed to agree. He thought about adding a few theories, but then again, theories weren't important at this point. Not with what the news was reporting.

Sixty-four people... he thought as he cracked his knuckles. At least we have a good idea on how many we're up against. Just hope it means that's all that's coming.

Now...

::I'm on it!::

Derek both said his response aloud and mentally as he hurried into the apartment building. He still hadn't quite gotten used to responding solely through telepathy situations like this, where at any point, some opponent could come crashing through the wall at you intent on chewing your face off. Plus, given the situation, stealth wasn't going to help much, anyway.

The building was an indoor apartment complex, where anyone living there would have to have a key and each floor was connected by a hallway and a stairwell. He could already hear screaming, but couldn't figure out if it was coming from outside the building or from within. The lights began to flicker as he slowed his pace, pondering what Emma had broadcasted before projecting back to her.

::So something's driving them, then? If they've got a queen bee, maybe there's a way we can take 'em all out at once.::

A scream nearby broke his focus, nearby, but from above. The next floor. He sprinted down the hallway to the stairwell, finding the door nearly ripped off it's hinges. He glanced over it for a second before the lights flickered again and he gazed up at a nearby ceiling lamp and noticed a strange, coalescing pattern of electricity swirling around the bulb. "Oh, great..." he mumbled as he lowered his goggles onto his eyes and got to his feet. Heading into the flickering hallway, he noticed someone lying in the floor, smoking. Not in the sense of smoking a cigarette, his body was literally smoking. As the bruised mutant came close, he could tell that his skin was charred, in some places, it was even blackened.

Bruiser took a deep breath, then kept moving. That scream meant that whoever killed that poor man was still in the building, and that someone else was still alive. If there was a way to find them before Mr. or Mrs. Crispy served up another course, then that was the priority.
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Chamber
Unregistered

::Wait your telling me that sixty-four mutants suddenly showed up in a small Kansas town? Why do all bad things happen in the Midwest?:: he said making a quick quip about his Famine moment ::Well that is definitely going to startle a few members of the remaining populace. Time to test out some new moves I've been working on.:: Jono watched the red highlight forms zip around the holographic image that was the town, confused and afraid. He knew how one mutant would feel suddenly mutating, but sixty-four at once now that was planned. He didn't know by who or what, but it wasn't right to them to all change instantly.

As he suited up and waited to leave, Jono pondered on what type of mutants would be there and the best way to subdue them. He would have to restrain himself with his flame unless he came across a few that he couldn't stop without it.

Hopefully this isn't too much of a nightmare. he thought as he zipped his suit to just under his flame cavity and climbed the ramp into the plane.


Present Time...

As they had drawn to the outskirts of town Jono had dropped out the back and taken off like a rocket, his flames propelling him from his feet. Since he was the only flier they had, he had assigned himself to take down any of the mutated fliers. Flying alongside the jet, he had spotted at least four so far clumsily flapping wings or rocketing around. Chamber felt that he didn't need to use his flames to knock them out of the sky and down onto the ground. Coming up to the winged ones he knocked one out with a quick jab to the neck catching them and depositing him on a roof. Doing the same to the other he quickly chased down the two rocketeers who he saw was actually one. It was two people merged and each one had fire shooting out of their arms and legs. The flight was haphazard and both of the heads were screaming in fear. Unfortunately the only way to stop them was to blast them, and so Jono let loose a quick blast of flame at the center of their back.

It connected with a thwump sound and the duo began to fall their flames sputtering out. Catching them Jono directed his flight towards the ground resting the amalgamation of limbs and bodies against a car. ::Guys I just knocked out two people merged into one,:: he sent to his team :: I don't know if they were conjoined or put that way, but it makes me wonder what else is different. Keep your eyes open.:: From down the street an explosion of wood and concrete announced his next opponent as it barreled through a building.

The mutant was a giant ball about 10ft tall and as it came to a stop it unfurled to stand on two legs with giant arms. When in the ball form it looked like an armadillo, completely covered in armor but able to steer itself. ::Oh crap,:: he said to himself as the creature roared at him and started rolling towards him. Quickly shooting a blast of flame at it, Jono took off running before rocketing off. The shot bounced harmless off its shell and it continued to follow him, rolling over cars and taking chunks out of buildings. ::Okay I need to get you out of town,:: he said to the creature before sending to his team ::I got a mutant who is good a demolition, I'm leading him out of town to put him down.::

Everynow and then Jono would lob fireballs at the creature, drawing a roar and a crushed car for his actions. Getting to the outskirts of town, Jono fired one last blast at the thing before landing about 100 feet away from it. The mutant spun itself like wheel, knocking over a water tower and then turned to face him. It was like an old west duel almost except with super powers. Jono looked at the mutant with flaming orbs as it spun in place before launching its bulk at him. He blasted it with a quick stream of flame hoping it would slow down it's momentum which it didn't at all. He barely had time to dodge to the side, but even then he was smacked in the shoulder and sent flying 30ft away.

Chamber bounced like a stone over the compact ground before coming to a stop. Climbing slowly to his feet his right arm hanging as his shoulder was dislocated, Jono glared at him while feeling his version of blood flow down from multiple cuts on his head. Looking down he also noticed his right hand was broken, thankfully his legs were still working and he had to utilize them quickly to avoid another hurtling ball of armor. ::Ok guys this guy won't go down conventionally so I have to use force on him. Cover your eyes if your near the south side of town,:: he sent his team ::also I feel like I got hit by a train.::

Narrowing his eyes as the mutant took a wide turn around a boulder Jono stood his ground and gathered his flame. When he needed to Chamber could be quite powerful, this was one of those moments. Regular blasts didn't stop its momentum but he was hoping a charged, continuous blast would. As it got closer Jono seemingly took in a huge breath, his flame dying down briefly before it was expelled from his chest and throat with an almost cannon like sound. As the pillar connected with the armor it again echoed the sound of bomb going off. It was a powerful blast but the mutant kept coming pushing against the flame.

It was a battle of force and while the mutant had momentum, Jono had an almost unlimited supply of flame. Above them a firestorm swirled where it connected with the armor and shot up into the air. Narrowing his eyes Chamber roared a telepathic roar of defiance and flared his flame up to the point where it was white hot. The rocks and dirt around the pillar melted and bubbled, quickly turning into magma. That increase of heat and power, stopped the creatures momentum dead and launched it backwards against a boulder. Just applying a little more pressure, Jono made sure he stayed down before cutting it down to normal. Seeing him spread eagle against the boulder, he nodded to himself before reporting it. ::Sorry for the light show and heat, but the armored cannonball is down for the count,:: he sent to his team ::Though I would wait to collect him as I unfortunately made a mini volcano due to the heat and power. I might need an assist to put my shoulder back in place.::
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Werewolf
Unregistered

Jack frowned at the red dots rushing about the projected map, the mutants they represented committing an unknown toll of damage in their rampage about the small town. He thoughtfully worked the pad of his thumb into his chin before resolutely folding his arms across his chest; Cerebro had never been wrong, but everyone present appeared to express some sort of disbelief, and Jack certainly held a similar sentiment.

“I grew up in the village of Ighișu Nou, and three mutants in a place where there were more sheep than people was considered weird… but sixty-four in a town even smaller? That’s not normal.” Jack blinked as he recalled the genetic make-up of the people around him—himself included. “Uhm.. you know.. relatively speaking.”

As fanciful as the matter at hand appeared to be, there was only one appropriate response—fix the chaos. As his wife remarked that they would need a babysitter for Greg, Jack silently hoped that maybe there wouldn’t be so much chaos when his child was old enough to understand.

Present Time

“No! Put that down!” Jack snarled, as though he could reason with a mentally unsound and dangerous opponent in the same manner as his nearly two year old son.

A minivan dangled several feet off the ground just a few dozen yards away, its exterior scratched and dented from being wrenched from a tight alleyway. The air around it crackled with barely contained telekinetic energy, and emitting it all was a tiny platinum-haired woman staring him down in the street, her nervous system lit beneath her skin with a luminescent glow. From a distance she otherwise appeared mundane enough, but an up close view would reveal that her sclera had darkened to black, leaving only tiny pinpoints of light where her pupils should be.

Only moments before the nameless older woman had been terrorizing some of the remaining human citizens with a whirlwind of glass that had been smashed out onto the sidewalk. Jack had managed to get between her and her prey while in wolfen form, but now that he had instigated a confrontation he wasn’t exactly sure how to proceed. She had to be pushing her mid-seventies, and the standing orders to incapacitate and not kill made the situation that much trickier.

With no response to his shouted warning, the woman willed the car to hurtle towards him with alarming speed, but Jack was marginally faster. The chunk of metal passed close enough to whip the tips of his ears as he darted to one side, allowing the car to crash into the intersection behind him before rolling to a stop upright. He lunged to close the distance between him and the woman, and his opponent took that moment to telekinetically rip a stop sign from the ground, her expression unchanging as she tried to swat him away.

His patience growing thin as he was clipped in the jaw with the sign stake, Jack growled and tackled the older woman to the ground with as much caution as possible. Still conscious as she was wrestled into the restraint of his arms, the feral man felt his ears ring as the flat piece of metal cracked him in the skull several times with rapid succession. Muttering a string of swears, he wedged his forearm beneath her chin and squeezed until the sign clattered to the ground.

Jack sighed with relief as he confirmed that his attacker’s neck was still intact, which was more than he could say for the state of his skull. Unsure of what to do now, he lumbered towards a street bench and carefully placed the woman on it. Meanwhile, Emma and Chamber checked in via telepathy; years of hearing voices in his head at irregular intervals had yet to completely desensitize him, but Jack tried not to let it distract him from his task.

After picking a large pice of gravel from the unconscious old woman’s cardgian, Jack grabbed the metal backing of the bench and forced it to curl around her like a cage.

::Hang tight, Chamber—I’ll find you in a minute. I just put someone’s nana in a chokehold.::
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Wolfsbane
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Wolf Form
As Wolfsbane stepped out of the grocery store, she stepped out into chaos. All around her, newly mutated people driven mad by the metamorphosis rampaged mindlessly. They were young, they were old. Make, female. Adults, teenagers, even a child or two, so far as she could tell. So many people gone absolutely power-mad and there was no discernible pattern to it. Whatever this was, it seemed to be indiscriminate-

She quickly ducked and darted forward as an errant burst of green nearly crashed into her and the fainted young woman she was carrying. No time to theorize just yet, needed to get to a safe place, an untouched place. This girl could not be out in the battle zone, not in her condition. School gymnasium would have been a good choice, but it want near here. Not convenient enough and too risky to make the trip. She needed something nearby, something close to her current location. Had to be a building, a business that was going ignored, that was untouched amid all this craziness.

No, no, no. There. Yes. There. Odd that it was empty at this time of day, all the lights off, parking lot empty aside from some debris, but the doctor's office, across the street from a local bank and set back from it by a slight elevation - that would be the trick.

She ran for it, holding onto the girl in one arm and tried the front door to the quaint, pleasant-looking family physician's office, but found it locked.
"Damn," she muttered, shaking her head with a sigh. But the good thing about quaint, old-fashioned buildings is that front doors were never too terribly reinforced, especially not in a tiny town where everybody knew everybody else.

A sharp and hard shove at the doorknob jarred the door loose, busting it open, and Rahne ducked inside. The place smelled pleasant, a faint aroma of potpourri wafting in the air. Prints of Norman Rockwell paintings on the walls. Magazines in the lobby. Not a light on. Not a window drawn. But she could smell -

"Don't - move - a muscle," she heard a voice from behind her a fraction of a moment after catching the scent. And then she heard the click of a pistol's hammer being cocked.

"Hope ye're the doctor," Wolfsbane said, calmly, gently.

"Nurse practitioner," the voice responded. "Now get out. Won't have any of you freaks messing up this place."

"Would nae dream of it. May I set her down please? She fainted after I rescued her," Rahne really didn't have time for this. There was a crisis to deal with, and she was being held gunpoint by likely the only male nurse this town had ever seen.

"What the hell did you people do out there? What did you do to them?"

"We saw the alerts. We arrived to put a stop to it an' save lives. Which I'd like t' get back to, if'n ye dinnae mind. We're the good guys, I promise. Hence the costumes with the big bold X on 'em."

"Look-"

"Are you alone in here?" Wolfsbane interrupted.

"I can defend myself."

"Nae what I'm asking. Alone. There are likely more inured out there an' I wanna bring 'em here. Need t' know they'll be tended to."

"... I'm here with two other nurses. They're in the basement."

"No doctor?"

"He never showed up today. Do you think he-?" his tone shifted, from defiant and tough to scared, a bit more accepting. She figured he came to the conclusion that she was trying to help, which was good. They needed cooperation.

"If'n I find him out there, I'll either bring him here, or contain him. Whichever is necessary."

"Thanks," he said, and he set the gun down, putting the safety back on, allowing her to turn around and him to take the young woman from her arms. "Sorry about..."

"Psh," Wolfsbane waved a dismissive hand. "I'm the big bad wolf, 'it's only natural t' be afraid, specially when all this is happening. We will get this settled, though. I promise. And thanks for the help."

And then she ran back out into the street, headed back towards the chaos.
"Wolfsbane to all points," she said into her communicator. "We've got cooperation from some local nurses at the doctor's office on Third and Beringer - Orson Family Physicians. Please direct anybody ye can over there for shelter an' treatment."

She could have thought it over the neural network Emma and Chamber had them in, but she wanted the people to hear that. She wanted people who could hear her to go, and there were a few, three or four. They hesitated a moment before heading in the direction she was coming from. Good. The less people out on the street, the fewer casualties.

::Nana? Ye mean - okay, since when do people manifest when they're elderly? That does nae happen,:: Rahne thought back along the link. This wasn't making sense, and nothing was adding up to a reasonable solution. A viable answer to all these questions. Clearly, this wasn't natural. That much was certain. But that begged the question who? How? Why?

Zooming towards her was a girl, maybe fourteen years old, possibly younger or even older, glowing bright red as she moved at inhuman speed. The manic snarl on her face was of a person not in her right frame of mind, out for random violence and not in any state of being to halt it or even slow it down, This wasn't normal, even of mutant manifestations, that so many people would react so violently.

Wolfsbane planted herself, and then at the right moment, jumped upward, placing both palms on the top of the girl's head the moment she got into range and shoving downward, pushing her into the street where she skidded a bit face down. The scent of blood in the air indicated the girl didn't go uninjured, but what had to be done had to be done. Wolfsbane moved forward.

::Anybody close t' finding a source? Or anythin' a' tall? Or if ye jus' need a pitch-in?::
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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Emma
Member Avatar
Telepathy, Diamond Form, Killer Fashion Sense
Not for the first time in the last 20 minutes, Emma begrudged the team's moral high-ground. Sure, she was all for civilian welfare, and sure, she was all for pleasantries and peace-loving, but she rather thought they were so far past peace, they left it in the dust. The casualties that littered the ground before they got there had numbered over a hundred, and that was just a cursory estimate as she scanned the minds on the ground. It would have been so much easier for the to annihilate the entire town. It was a logic of greater good right? What was a few hundred lives if they could take out a mutant army?

That was the problem, right there. They didn't know if it was a mutant army. They didn't know where these crackheads had come from. To know, they had to narrow in on some source, somewhere.

Stepping into the antique shop, Emma's diamond form remained unharmed as a large breakfront crashed around her. The mutant that stood deeper in the store had hefted it effortlessly and threw it straight for emma as she stepped through the door. It was brute strength against brute strength, except, Emma generally thought herself the better looking one.

"Oh sweetheart, you should know better. Don't you know, rock trumps paper," she said, her tone condescending as she took deliberate steps forward. Even using the store's aged merchandise, even the largest oak furniture, as ammunition were no matched for her superstrength and durability. Her organic diamond was sharp enough to cut glass and strong enough that a single push from her wrist was enough to send a part of a broken bed frame flying.

"Help me, please help me!!!" the shop's clerk shrieked from behind the strong man mutant, who looked as if he had burst out of his clothes.

Emma gazed around him and saw the young woman, her dark hair matted with blood, and her arms clasped around a man, whose neck looked like it had been pried off like a corkscrew.

"You think you can come through me?" the strong man asked, laughing cynically. The girl behind him wailed louder.

She considered him for a moment. Instead of feeling threatened, Emma found herself wondering if this particular mutant, who seemed to be slightly more aware of his circumstances, would remember more. In that second, she knew she had to keep him alive.

Time to use that diplomacy she was not known for.

"Through? Why would I need to go through you? You think you're a match for me?" she said, deliberately sounding as nonchalant as she could.

With a roar, the mutant charged towards her and she raised a knee into his groin as he tackled her. The two fell to the ground, but Emma's diamond was hard enough to incapacitate. Taking that moment of his confusion to his advantage, Emma flipped him, then straddled his chest.

"You're not nearly as large as Piotr," she mused, pressing her diamond nails to his neck like five sharpened blades.

"Now, you're going to stay very, very still, while Auntie Emma does a little bit of research. A sound from you, and your neck is shredded. Clear?"

She waited for a brief look of awareness to cross his eyes, and then faded from diamond to flesh to regain her telepathy. Once there, it was easy as pie to keep their enhanced villain at bay with a few mental holds.

Having subdued the man for now, she turned to the girl and telepathically instructed her to flee for the family clinic. As a small favor, Emma also wiped the memories of her dead fiance from her mind. Effortlessly, Emma's instilled in her a need to forget and calm down, and made a mental note to check in on her later.

Left alone in the shop with her captive mutant, she finally turned her full attention to him.

::Let's see then. Come on, show Auntie Emma everything you know.::

With skill borne of years of practice, Emma flitted through the memories and thoughts, downloading all of that to her own organised mind, and sifting through for anything important.

A body builder, a teacher, Soccer coach.... A wife... three children... He even had a background in nutrition. He spent Saturday nights at some country club, and recently he'd been sick... All of it was dreadfully mundane.

The only upside was that for some reason, he retained some kind of cognitive intelligence.

Refusing to give up, Emma braced herself for the onslaught of images and dived deeper.

Emma continued to seek his memories, and finally, crossed a vague memory of a doctor's office. The emotions attached to this memory were slightly different. She felt frustration. He couldn't recover, and he was getting headaches. She replayed that memory again, as she eyed the mental image carefully.

After a while, she relented, and stopped her hunt. Her teammates were still out there, and she couldn't afford to waste time now.

::I have a captive I need to take back to the school; there's something wrong, but I can still access his human memories. It looks as if he has an enhanced exoskeleton, and some superstrength and durability,:: she sent out to the group, pausing the memory where she left it, but at the same time freezing his neural capacity.

::I'm rerouting his posterior cingulate and altering his motivations, and putting mental blocks on his primary motor cortex. We'll leave him on the jet until we're ready to leave. Does anyone have null cuffs?::

Emma detailed her actions to the team as she did them to her assailant, now as calm and harmless as a newborn puppy.

With a mental nudge, Emma made him stand, then stroll out of the antique shop and away from the fighting.

It wasn't possible. 64 mutants in a small town, with no discernible entry or exit point. Emma was equally frustrated. The memories weren't yielding anything. It was rare for something so large scale to be so... meticulously planned.
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Derek Addams
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Another flicker of the lights caused the hair on the back of Bruiser's neck to stand on end. He still had no idea which corner the mutant that ran into the building was hiding before, but he had a pretty good idea of what their mutation entailed. Flickering lights, exploding bulbs, burn victims. All pointed to an electrokinetic. Luckily for him, he didn't have to worry about electricity too much. The bigger concern was the scream he'd heard from this hallway.

He took a semi-hunched stance as he slowly stepped down the main hallway, casting glances behind him, and into adjacent doorways that looked like they had been sliced in half. Aside from the flickering and humming, he didn't hear much else, a sensation that made his throat clench as he wondered if he was too late.

But, too late or not, he still had another job. Finding the one who did this, and neutralizing it. The X-Men always stressed that lethal force was a last resort, and Derek respected that. But the main question here was if it was avoidable.

Temporary insanity... I can get that....... focus, idiot.

The sound became more pronounced then. Whimpering. Nearby. His head jerked to face the direction it came, one of the apartments with a door, or rather, a quarter of the door still on the hinges. The buzzing and humming continued as he made his way in, noticing the inside looked just as wrecked as the hallway. Overturned furniture, what looked like claw marks on the walls, and the ever-present flickering that left him half-guessing where his next step was. He could still hear the whimpering... from the kitchen? He carefully inched his way to a nearby cabinet. The sound was getting louder. Whoever it-no, she, the voice sounded feminine, or at least child-like. Carefully opening the pantry door, he whispered softly, "Hello? It's OK. I'm here to help. You're gonna be okay..."

He slowly cracked it open to see a girl, she couldn't be older than fifteen, cowering in the cramped space, hair dishevelled and arms covered in what looked like claw marks. He stopped. Her eyes were wide and wild. She was terrified. Holding up a hand, he tried to look as pleasant as possible knowing his face probably looked like he'd gone three rounds with whatever it was that chased her in there to begin with.

"It's okay..." he repeated. "Are you alone in here? Is th-"

His question was cut off by the sensation of something hitting him hard on the face. His entire face. The next sensation was that of sailing through the air before crashing into the wall near the front doorway. He quickly pulled himself to his feet as a blurry... something began lumbering toward him. He wasn't sure what it was. The thing rippled like the Predator, and was at least twice his size.

Two... came the realization as he heard more screaming from the girl in the cupboard. Emma said there were two...

Bruiser grunted a bit as it hit him again, this time sending him flying back into the hallway. The shattering wood and the sensations of the impacts affected him about as much as the jerkiness of riding an old-fashioned rollercoaster. The only difference here being that he needed to come up with a plan rather than shout "Whee!", no matter how much he wanted to. He had to remember he was still in control of this situation. He had to remember that each impact added to his own "Ace in the hole", and that there was, at present, at least one person VERY close by who could be seriously hurt by this thing.

"Ha!" He retorted as he sprung to his feet, shouting back into the darkness of the apartment. "That tickled, Preds. How 'bout you stop playin' with yer food?" He brought his fists up into an attack stance, running over a list in his head.

Clawed chameleon mutant... and an electrokinetic still unaccounted for.... how can I...?

He didn't have much time to think. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a flash of electricity as the lights flickered again. And then he saw him rounding the corner at the end of the hallway. His skin looked brown and charred, with yellow veins protruding from his skin as electricity visibly swirled around him. He seemed to walk with the slow, eerie pace of a zombie; An occasional twitch of the arm or a shudder in his entire upper body made his movement all the more surreal.

::Ok guys this guy won't go down conventionally so I have to use force on him. Cover your eyes if your near the south side of town,::

Chamber's voice rang in his head and moments later, he saw a flash of light at the end of the hall behind the glowing Walker. A flash that also revealed a ripple on the ceiling he hadn't noticed before. The Predator was on the ceiling now, he realized, right between him and Frankenhooker.

I got this...

"COME ON, GODZILLA, YOU WANT DINNER, COME AN' GET IT!!!" he shouted as he began to back up, waving his hands in beckoning as he began to focus.

Right hand... right hand... right hand... right hand.... It was still new. And he wasn't sure it was going to work. He had to keep both of them in sight, and hope to God he was able to find that moment he'd felt when he was practicing with it. The veins on his skin began to darken and protrude as he continued to step back. It was only 5 seconds, but it felt like an eternity. Then, he felt it. A surge across his body that made his heart pound and every inch of his skin tingle. And as the blur on the ceiling dived at him, Derek shouted as he drove his fist across to meet it.

"FALCO... PAAAAWNCH!!!!"

His aim struck true, and he was pretty sure he heard the cracking of bones accompanying the burst of wind that swirled through the hallway as he released the stored kinetic energy in his body, sending the beast sailing down the hallway into the electro-zombie behind it before both crashed through the window, taking most of the wall and much of the debris in the hall with them before they hit the ground outside.

And then came the backlash. Bruiser staggered before collapsing on the floor, his entire body feeling numb from the expulsion. Several seconds passed before he was able to get to his knees, at least. At which point, he saw the girl peeking around the corner in the apartment.

::I have a captive I need to take back to the school; there's something wrong, but I can still access his human memories. It looks as if he has an enhanced exoskeleton, and some superstrength and durability. I'm rerouting his posterior cingulate and altering his motivations, and putting mental blocks on his primary motor cortex. We'll leave him on the jet until we're ready to leave. Does anyone have null cuffs?::

He'd been so focused on neutralizing the two in the building, he'd been ignoring other messages amongst to neural link. Climbing to his feet, he broadcasted back.
::No cuffs here, but I got a survivor... Ems, can ya point her in the right direction, I dunno which way's clear at this point...::
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Chamber
Unregistered

As Jono walked out of the molten ground and boiled rocks, he looked over himself for injuries. His orange-ish blood oozed from the many cuts and scrapes on his head, oozing down over his left eye that he constantly wiped away. Jono's right shoulder was still dislocated and his arm hung useless at his side. Now that he was out of trouble, he could also see that it was broken in two places as well as his right hand. Narrowing his eyes in frustration he walked towards the town as Jack mentally responded to him. ::Okay Jack I'll meet you half way, that way you won't have to worry about the lava,:: he replied to his teammate. Heading back into the town he cast his gaze around looking for anything suspicious or a threat. Nothing leapt out at him from the buildings or the street and that was a relief. ::Nope I haven't seen anything that might have caused this Rahne,:: he sent to the team ::Of the mutants I've encountered they've only had two settings. Angry and scared. I haven't seen any others.::

Coming up to an intersection, he cautiously stepped out from behind a car. So far there was nothing that might be a threat to him. Catching sight of movement out of the corner of his eye, he spun to try and see it. Whatever it was he just missed it as he caught movement again from his other side. ::This can either be good or bad,:: he thought to himself as more movement caught his eye. Anticipating where it would be next, Jono turned just in time to see a little form that of a child run past him. ::Hey it's okay, I know I look scary but I'm a good guy,:: he sent to the little child. Looking for any movement he scanned the area hoping that he might see some movement. Seeing none he mentally sighed and kept walking towards Jack.

::So I happened to glance at what looked like a child, maybe 5 or 6 but it was moving far to fast to be a regular human,:: he sent to his team ::I couldn't get her or him to come close to me, but I did let them know that we were the good guys. I hope one of you guys can find them. As for null cuffs, I had some but they melted when I took down cannonball man. Jack I think I'm getting close to you so I'll see you soon my friend.:: Hobbling a little bit from his injuries he headed towards Jack really wanting to get his shoulder fixed but knowing that it will hurt a whole lot when he could feel his broken arm.
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Wolfsbane
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Wolf Form
((Sorry for the skip Jack, Preview, but this needs to move forward. I can't let it idle any longer.))

::We should have some on the jet, Emma,:: Rahne thought, locking in on Derek's scent and following it. He was the one who has asked for help, and he was the one who would get it. His scent was running hot and used his powers, but there was some other energy in there. Electricity? Had he mentioned that? No time to wonder, she was almost at him.

But her mind couldn't help but wonder, think, theorize. What was going on? Where did these mutants come from? If they could get any information from Emma's captive, that would make it all work, she was sure. She hoped. They had to find something. Somehow. Some way.

It didn't take her terribly too long to get to Derek's location, and the building looked particularly blasted. She could smell the electrical burns and the lingering ozone-like scent in the air from Derek's concussive force burst. This was a big one. She hoped he was alright.

She came upon the scene in time to witness the after-effects of Bruiser's battle. Two down, unconscious in a heap. One rather large and beastly, the other thin and spindly, smelling like a lightning strike. All the information she had taken in on her way over was making sense. He'd had to hit them pretty damn hard, it seemed, but it did the job.

"My goodness," she gasped, before reaching Derek, who had the teen girl with him. He looked like he was in pretty sore shape, but he came out on top.

"C'mon, I can get ye to the safe zone," she said, holding her hand out, and looking to the girl, who was clearly terrified. She led the way, stepping over blasted and broken debris as she headed back out of the building. This town was getting demolished in all of this. She felt terrible about that. They couldn't even successfully play damage control here, it was purely about saving lives and stopping the rampage.

"I've managed to secure the help of the local doctors' assistants just down the road here - no sign o' the doctor himself, though. They'll be able to - hell," she muttered, as the path ahead was interrupted. A teenage boy, tall and thin, with a messy mop of blond hair atop brightly colored skin that continually warped and changed color, swirling from blue to red to green to the next color and the next color, randomly and without pattern. His hands glowed in a similar swirling color pattern.

"Brad?" The girl said with eyes wide open, her voice hoarse and cracking. "That's Brad, he's in my class at school!"

"He's a local," Rahne said, taking a defensive stance as it became clear that this Brad was aggressive and about to attack. Were they all locals?

"Bruiser - I'll keep him occupied. Get her to the safe zone - Orson Family Physicians - then ye can double back an' help me," she said, before lunging to intercept Brad as he surged forward, levitating on a trail of brightly colored light. She moved to strike him in the midsection, to knock the wind out of him and incapacitate him, but he was faster and swung his glowing left fist for her shoulder, sending her sprawling aside.

"Ow," she muttered, feeling the stinging pain of whatever was coursing through him. It burned, but didn't leave much in the way of physical marks. She was hurting, but not down yet. She quickly got up, kicking him in the chin as he attempted to slam her with both palms while she was down. He screamed as he smacked asphalt instead, and she grimaced a bit, both from the stinging pain in her shoulder and knowing that this was just a kid.

"C'mon, Brad, calm down, he dinnae need to-"

He interrupted with a primal roar of frustration, whatever it was driving him to insanity preventing him from sound, human logic. His entire body pulsed with light, radiating out from his chest and all around, enveloping Wolfsbane in the agony he radiated, a wave of pure mental pain that sent her reeling back, every nerve on fire.

She hit the ground almost insensate, trying to block out the pain that she knew on some level had to be in her head. She grit her teeth, squeezed her eyes shut and tried to stand. But then, it stopped, suddenly and without warning. He pain was gone and the glow had abated.

She opened her eyes, slowly and cautiously, to see the boy on the pavement himself, his colors dimmed, his light out, as he convulsed and foamed at the mouth.

"Son of a -" she scrambled to her feet, rushing over to the boy. "No no no no no, come on, no..."

She could hear the frantic palpitations of his heart, smell the bile in his mouth and the blood as he bit down on his own tongue. She could practically smell his body burning itself out. He wasn't designed for this and it was killing him.

((This is beginning to happen to other changed people now - not all of them, but a good few))
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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Preview
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Precognition
At the mansion…

There was painfully little she could do about not being in the know about the situation in Kansas. In fact, Emma, with all her research, her knowledge, her faultless telepathy was fairly shortsighted in this regard.

But that did not mean that she was not resourceful enough to think out of the box. In fact, as far as she was concerned, here lay an excellent teaching opportunity. She caught the precog guiding the middle school aged kids in dodgeball. It was always a good activity for her to whip out when she’d been too trashed on alcohol to plan actual lessons the night before.

:: Jessica. Training is over. You’re needed. Excuse yourself from whatever inane physical activity you are teaching, and meet me in the basement. ::

Emma’s comment seemed pointed, knowing. As Jessica dismissed her students, she decided she should probably prepare some form of homework to make herself feel more credible.

A precognitive would be useful, very useful. Emma was confident that having come thus far with Jess’ training, she could hold her own on the field. Of her students, Jessica was the one with the most control, not in terms of her previews, but more in terms of her emotional expression. In a fight, a steady, calm exterior was almost as important as hard skill.

Emma was waiting for Jessica in the War Room when she arrived.

“There’s been a situation in Kansas. You’re coming with us.”

Later, in Kansas…

There was no police station in Agra, Kansas…No hospital, either. The town was just that small. The nearest support from local authorities would have come wailing from Phillipsburg, a slightly larger town some 15 or so miles down the highway. Jess could nearly hear their blaring sirens, she predicted only fifteen or so minutes before the squad cars arrived. Then what? Jess couldn’t really tell with small towns like this, particularly because she’d never been in a small town like this, never even imagined a small town like this. How did they react to mutants? How did they react to crisis...? A mutant crisis?

There was no time to consider the normal battle situations. This was what Emma had wanted her to learn. Jessica Vale was a planner. It came with the territory of being a precognitive mutant. But throwing her into a situation where every single thing she knew about planning was moot? That was Emma’s favourite way of teaching.

:: It’s time to give in to intuition, Preview. I don’t have time for you to keep thinking. ::

Jessica bit down on her lower lip. Emma was right, she was thinking too much and not doing enough but the situation just didn’t sit well with her. The thought made her nervous to the point she felt ill as it rolled in her head. Is this what it felt like to be on a mission? She could almost envision it—like propane to a campfire, here come the small town cops with their guns loaded in the middle of pandemonium far grander in scale than anything that ever happened Agra, Kansas. No. Emma was right. She was thinking too goddamned much again. If the authorities were coming, they likely would have already been there. She pushed the thought far out of her head. No need for such anxious thoughts to even enter her mind, lest she wanted to see it in their future. There seemed to be a fine line between predicting the future and wishing for it to happen.

:: You are going to have to multi-task, :: Emma projected into her mind. Of all the team present, Jessica was the only one not endowed with superhuman strength or durability. Thus, it made the most sense for her to be at a receiving point for any, or all, they managed to save. Her previews would keep her safe, but it was her steady reflexes Emma now trusted.

:: Take the first stretch of the street. I will be up ahead. Call out if you need me. Remember Preview. This is not a time for bravado. I will not be losing a good student because of your stubborn head. ::

It was as close to affection as Emma had for her at the moment.

Jess refocused back on her task. Emma requested that Jessica leave the relative safety of the jet so that she could be the team’s eyes on the ground. Jessica sought to help create a safe zone, where her precognition could alert them to any dangers in a controlled environment. There was no police station in Agra… Where else might such a small town have locals converge in a time of need? What other location could act as a center for town communication? Being too small for even a town hall she guessed the next best thing was the church. Best to locate that, then, in case any stragglers and survivors made their way to that location in search of safety.

Jess continued to survey the area, finding her attention drawn once more to the unimpressive looking Methodist church standing a few blocks down, surrounded by tall brush so nondescript and small. She remembered seeing a doctor’s office on the map, the rather small map, she’d read on their flight to the town of Agra. Jessica had a rather gifted memory and could remember the details in their patches of gray...not that there was a ton to forget. Fortunately both were down the very same street that Emma had now guided her down. Multi-tasking.

:: I have a couple of null cuffs and one of the null field generators,:: Jessica added after Rahne, :: Send him my way, Emma, and I’ll cuff him. I can retrieve more from the jet if they’re needed::

Jessica stopped in her tracks, her brow furrowed at the sound of a loud snap… or rather the memory of such a sound. The faint taste of an old penny, the tingling sensation at her jaw, a preview. Jessica snapped her neck back just in time to miss something—a blurry outline of a shape from hitting her in the face. It disappeared almost instantly but Jessica made out the human form. Male, short blonde hair, late thirties, eyes gone black like ink had been forcibly dripped into them, plaid shirt haphazardly hanging from his wide shoulders.

Jessica’s whipped her arm across her chest just as the body appeared again, attempting to take hold of her neck but being rebuffed with a sharp slap. The man disappeared just as quickly as before, only Jessica’s senses were trained on him now. It was almost as if he’d come in slower this time, she’d been waiting on his return. She twisted her torso around and threw an elbow to connect with his head just as he snapped in front of her a third time. Half a second later she was no longer standing on Southern avenue but sliding down a nearby rooftop, her attacker staggering backward from where he landed as blood trickled down his nose. Neither slipped entirely off the rooftop; each found their footing.

Blood dripped onto the blond man’s lip and he didn’t wipe it away, didn’t cup the newly sprung fountain of blood. That was what made him look really batshit crazy. It’s not like Jessica went around breaking noses but she’d seen her fair share, enough to think herself pretty reasonably familiar with the normal reaction. Normal would be to at least acknowledge such a break with at least a slight grimace or to flick the blood away. But it wasn’t like he’d even dismissed the broken nose, he just remained narrowly focused on her, she guessed on his next attack.

“We can chat this out,” Jessica whispered, holding her hands up in a demonstration of peace. She’d gathered from the others that the mutants were violent but she felt the need to at least try to reason with the man, to placate him with nonviolent means. She’d be lying to say that she didn’t like a good fight but this was no simulation, not a spar. She could hurt him and he wasn’t even in his right mind.

His pupiless eyes didn’t even blink at her before he snapped away from where he stood..

She didn’t really need a preview to guess what followed. She side-stepped to the left just as he appeared with his arms outstretched toward the spot she’d just been standing. He missed her entirely, staggered clumsily. She guessed that in his short time as a mutant he’d already gotten used to taking others by surprise and not the other way around. Jessica was opportunistic in a fight and wasted no time in bringing her knee up in a high kick that struck him in the chest and forced him staggering back.

Back into the pew, not open air… He’d teleported again upon getting kicked and now they were in some corner of the church she’d been intending to scout. It was even smaller inside than she imagined. Maybe because of her precognition, she had a much easier time than he in transitioning from place to place; she’d recovered while he was still trying to push himself up from the pew he’d fallen against.

::Emma, I was…:: Jessica hesitated, noticing that her attacker had disappeared again. She shouldn’t have taken her eyes off him, he moved so quickly. ::Pulled away. Keep your guy where I can find him, I’ll cuff him once I finish up here.::

There was no snap to follow, no stir in the corner of her eye. Wherever he was, he wasn’t there which meant that he was either reevaluating things or off wreaking havoc somewhere else, somewhere easier. But then was he even that smart? She didn’t know what drove them to attack the way they were--how one track minded was he? Jess decided it was time to shed her desultory approach, to be as objective as possible. Cuff the mutant Emma tagged, help secure a safe zone, defeat the teleporter. But not necessarily in that order. She didn’t want to waste time but the blonde man proved to be an aggravating assailant, he was distracting her. She thumbed one of the cuffs at her belt, sensing that he was due to teleport behind her. She paused, hooked a finger at the ring. She held--held-- patiently held.

Snap.

He was directly behind her and she lashed out quick as lightning to snap a bracelet on his wrist but either he was still struggling to adjust to his new abilities or he was finally baring his teeth because in that next moment they were both dozens of feet in the air and he was trying to rid himself of his passenger by means of a traumatic fall.

For a moment Jessica felt weightless until gravity remembered to drag her down. He’d already pried her fingers off but by instinct more than anything the precog reached for his leg just as he attempted to bllink away.

Next Jessica’s back was flat on the ground, hand still gripped with a vice-like grip at the man’s shins. She barely had time to look around and recognize the aisles of a small grocery store before they were snapped away again. And again. And again. They moved from one place to the other, dozens of places within seconds, all the while he was trying to kick himself free of her.

Jessica could mentally orient herself easily but physically this was taking its toll as being completely unlike the methods of teleportation she’d grown so familiar and fond of by her friends and mentors at the institute. Her insides felt like they’d been ravaged by a rotary egg beater, causing her to wrap her free arm around her stomach.

She refused to leave a puddle of vomit at the scene of her first mission. There was no way in hell she would let that happen.

Jess dared to open her eyes just long enough to see Derek’s side profile blink into focus for a fleeting moment before they’d blinked a couple of feet off the ground just outside the very same apartment. She landed hard on her back this time but since she had a tight grip of his leg, the teleporter landed none to smoothly as well.

“Enough,” Jessica demanded, swallowing down the bile threatening to overflow. She made sure not to lose contact with him as she rolled onto his chest and punched him hard in the face. K.O. “And fuck you,” she added under her breath.

Jessica straightened, flicked the null cuff open with one hand, and grabbed the man’s wrist. Deep trenches formed between her eyebrows. She looked at his face hard with deep concern. It looked just as it should have, maybe. Slightly pale as someone from Kansas might be this season, a streak of blood pooling on his upper lip, a bruise hadn’t formed where she punched him yet… But she continued staring.

::Something’s happening, Emma,:: Jessica said vaguely from within Emma’s guest room, the mental space in which Jessica had become fairly acquainted. She was cross legged and focused, sitting across from her mentor in the space. Calm despite all that happened around them. ::Or rather I feel something’s coming… Something isn’t right.::

Then Jess went wide-eyed. No longer just staring at his face but staggering away from his body in disgust as if it’d just burst into a billion invisible maggots. She watched his still body helplessly.

::I didn’t do it,:: Jessica defended, ::But something’s wrong he’s not--::

Jessica relayed nothing further as that which she’d foreseen came to light. First foam rising at the mouth of her former attacker, then seconds later the violent convulsions. Jessica didn’t like any problem she couldn’t solve, hated that helpless and useless feeling. She didn’t know what the hell to do.

::Emma?:: Jess tried holding the man’s arms down fearing he’d hurt himself. She didn’t know what was happening, she could only see what was on the surface. ::Anyone?::
[align=center]Posted Image
I can just hear them now --"How could you let us down?"
But they don't know what I found; or see it from this way around

[/align]
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Emma
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Telepathy, Diamond Form, Killer Fashion Sense
The good thing about Emma training often with someone, is that projection on their part soon became second nature. She didn't need to remind Jessica that she was there with her all the time, neither did she need to prompt for information. Her telepathy, when it wasn't engaged in her diamond armour, linked their team together. It was in moments that she dropped out, understandably to utilise her super-human strength and durability, that they were cut from that neural link.

:: I have a couple of null cuffs and one of the null field generators,:: Jessica added after Rahne, :: Send him my way, Emma, and I’ll cuff him. I can retrieve more from the jet if they’re needed::

Jessica projected to them all, and Emma acknowledged, keeping the incapacitated big guy in the shop while she stood.

She was about to have him trail after her out of the store when she saw exactly what Preview felt, linked as they were through a rapport built after sessions of training.

"Jessica, no," Emma had the time to breathe out before she broke into a run. With a need to keep in touch with Jess, she refused to phase into diamond, instead barreling through the street towards the precog in her human flesh. Her telepathy served her well, as she shut down minds as she went, not even pausing to consider the captive situation.

Through the link and Jessica's mind's eye, she saw the scene change as she was grabbed time after time by the teleporter. The creature with his ink-black pupils did not stay long enough in one location for Emma to pin him, but just as well, they both landed moments before Emma came skidding to a stop behind them, having run through the street in search of Jessica's physical body.

Wrenching Jessica away from the man, she effectively put herself between her and the seizure case, then let it happen. "There's no time. Did you touch him?" she asked quickly. If this was biological, they would all need to be careful. Not all of them had advanced healing like Rahne, or was virtually indestructible like herself or Derek. "Are you hurt?" While seeking confirmation that Jessica was fine, Emma made a beeline for his mind.

There was no time, there was a scant few moments before this one expired and she needed his memories now. Slipping into his neurological system was easy, she shut down his pain monitors and steadied his convulsions from inside his brain, then turned her attention to his last few weeks. A hand still on Jessica, she reassured herself that the girl was alright by checking on her through their link, and simultaneously transferring what she knew to the precognitive. Every incident a lesson -- that was what she believed in.

"Doctor's office. It's all about getting sick. What is happening in this town?" Emma said, after a moment of studying the memories. In front of her, their rogue teleporter's heart had given up on him.

Emma did a mental count of those dead, and those hurt. There were more to take care off, but right now, she needed Preview to be focused, not scared. Turning to Jessica, she smiled, slightly. "You did well. You didn't hurt him and you survived. It's good, keep going."

"Rahne's designated a safezone at the clinic, Orson Family Physicians. Get as many people as you can there. I'll see you there in a second, alright?" Emma took a moment to study the girl's posture. She was a strong stubborn one, the sort that didn't cave easily; with a mild look of pride, Emma gave her a pat on the shoulder and swept away down the next street.

There was merit to teaching on the job. Students learnt fast.
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Wolfsbane
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Wolf Form
If Wolfsbane had anything to compare this situation to, she would have picked clutching at a pool of water to try and grab it up by the handful. You could get a little bit up, but most of it would fall through your fingers, splash right back down to where you grabbed it from, some of it splashing around and making a mess that was t there before.

But even that felt inadequate as she could do naught but watch a teenage boy painfully die from the mutation his body wasn't prepared for. Something that assuredly was happening with others, all around the town. There were injured teammates, injured and worse civilian citizens, collateral damage all about, and an immense sense of helplessness. It was easy to forget that lives were saved, that good was done, that the X-Men did what they could to alleviate a horrible situation, in the face of what was happening right then and there.

The boy coughed, shuddered, and exhaled one last time as the colors that swirled around him faded and darkened. A trail of darkened blood leaked out of the corner of his mouth, and he moved no more. Whoever he could have been, whatever he could have become, was done and over with. He was gone.

But the night had to continue. The mission wasn't done. And so the assembled X-Men fought on, saving who they could, stopping who they had to, doing everything they could to make as much of a difference as they could. And yet, it was a desperate grab for water. They saved lives, they lost lives. These mutants who were at the beginning mindlessly rampaging through the town were now faltering, their powers fading. That was the best case scenario. Others still were dying, suffering massive cardiac arrests. The night was long, but eventually it was over.

And as the X-Men headed home, having saved who they could have, and having gathered what they could to piece together what had happened - the one victim-aggressor Emma had managed to collect, and blood samples from both survivors and deceased - Wolfsbane couldn't help but feel like they had failed. Like they had failed to save the town, failed the people who died.

***

Meanwhile, far away from Kansas, an older gentleman, silvery white hair balding atop his head, a bushy mustache under his nose, and wearing a tweed jacket that was a bit out of fashion examined a data log in a very upscale office. Test subjects. Grafting. DNA modification. Radiation treatments. Failure after failure after failure, and then - success. A story of perseverance and trials, hard work and sacrifice paying off. And yet - it felt very wrong. Very very wrong.

"Well, Doctor Orson," a voice sounded out from the doorway, startling the man out of his reading. The man walking in was younger, but not a young man. He had the air of immense confidence about him accentuated all the more by his casual appearance. "Early data is coming in, and it is looking very good. The additive I gave you for your flu vaccine has indeed resulted in spontaneous mutation in every single subject."

"So... you're satisfied then, Mister Sublime?" Doctor Orson asked nervously, setting down the report on Sublime's desk as the man took a seat at it.

"Very. Temporary insanity side effects are to be expected and perfectly acceptable, and mortality rate so far is fairly low-"

"Mortality? You didn't tell me people were going to die!" the doctor interjected, eyes flaring wide.

"People die all the time, Doctor," Sublime said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Especially in clinical trials. You of all people should know that."

"That isn't what I signed on for, I wouldn't have-"

"You would have," Sublime said, sending a cutting glare in the man's direction. "For what you needed of me, you would have. Now, have you decided what powers you'd like your granddaughter to have? If it were me, I'd go for the wings, personally. What little girl wouldn't love to be able to fly?"

"I don't care what power she gets outside of the healing factor. The cancer has metastasized and is spreading aggressively."

"Of course, of course. I'll keep it simple, then," Sublime said with a smirk. It was easy to get people to do what you wanted them to do when they were desperate.

"Thank you," Orson said with a sigh, clearly not happy with what he was party to, but Sublime couldn't care much less about what the man was and wasn't happy with. He was instead looking down to his smartphone with a mildly amused look on his face.

"Seems we brought the X-Men to your town," he said, nodding his head thoughtfully. "Isn't that nice? Real live superheroes all because of you. Looks like I may have to do something about them soon."

[Finit]
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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