Memory Ashcroft's Story

Jonathan had sprang into action with his sister when the fighting had broken out, not wanting to leave his friends, allies and - as Ryan had correctly put it - family to the mercy of the soldiers. Although he was keeping his mind on the fighting as much as possible, trying hard to avoid skin contact, the thoughts of Vincent's power returned. The extent of his strength did not deter Jonathan as it would to most, knowing that Vincent's number one priority in all situations was to protect and not harm, but it did worry him. He trusted V like a brother and would fight to protect him from everything and anything, but that kind of power cannot always be contained and controlled.

Pushing all of these thoughts from his mind, he returned his focus to the matter at hand. Memory and Jonathan had been staying as close to Vincent as possible, refusing to let anyone near him. With a feminine grace and divine elegance Memory jumped from the ground, flipping her body backwards, and landed on her hands. Swinging one leg up at a time, the brown leather heeled boot colliding with the chin of an oncoming soldier knocking several teeth out of his mouth in a shower of blood and saliva, she touched her feet back on the ground before spinning like a ballerina and striking one more in the cheek.

Jonathan was not doing as well as his half-sister who seemed out for blood as he could not touch the skin of his enemies. Thankfully, along with his sister, he had managed to use his powers on a number of occasions, this being a situation where they are actually useful.

A thump behind him caught J's attention, a feeling of unrest coursing quickly through his veins, infecting the blood and spreading it onwards through his body. Taking a step forwards, J raised his arm to around chest level and swung it and his body around in one quick motion. Then he hit the ground. As it happens, when an opponents suspects your attack and dodges it, you might just end up going off balance and dropping to the floor. Narrowly avoiding a black military boot to the face area, Jonathan leapt to his feet and stared into the eyes of the soldier before him. Accessing his power, Jonathan gazed deep into the dark abyss of the man's mind, sensing and feeling the terror of his greatest fears.

"Your mother is sick I see." Jonathan spoke slowly, his voice sounding eerily sinister even to himself. As new information on the soldier's greatest fear sprang to the Texan dream-manipulator's mind, his second power also taking effect with his words, Jonathan's head tilted to the side slightly.

"Cancer?"

Fear was infecting this pawn of Weapon-X, corrupting his thoughts and reality itself into something dark and unnatural around him. Jonathan could see it too for he was creating this demented dream-world and a small pang of guilt and sympathy grazed his heart, but now was no time for niceties. He wouldn't let more of his friends - his family - get hurt.

"Every day that you have had free from your work you've been going to see her, looking after her." Jonathan continued starting slowly in the wide-eyed man's direction, a sick feeling of satisfaction emerging from the beads of perspiration running down the paling skin of the one opposite him. The surroundings darkened as Jonathan's ability affected the perception of reality from the now trembling figure, a black mist forming into nightmarish images and distorted sounds echoing within the confines of their heads. The one thing that Jonathan appreciated more than anything with this ability was that only himself and the victim were affected by terrors, all others around him seeing only J's victim dropping to the ground in horror with tears in their eyes.

"But you know that she isn't getting better." The man gasped as if Jonathan's words had physically harmed him, stung somewhere sensitive in his mind, and his eyes began to water and overflow. The two were now only around five meters away and this distance was slowly but surely closing. The black mist that always formed the figures when using this power dropped between the two, this smoke shifting and solidifying into a three-dimensional form of his mother's weak and dying body and the knees of his victim gave way.

Jonathan didn't stop.

"You know that the treatment isn't working."

The sound of hysterical sobbing and pathetic whimpers for his mother echoed in Jonathan's mind, all other noises distorted. For a second he thought he could almost hear the sound of someone shouting him, not his sister or anyone he recognised but a voice nonetheless. Disregarding this barely important occurrence, he pressed on with the torture. By this point, the man had his head clutched tight in his shaking hands, the motion as violent as his weeping.

"You know that one time..." Jonathan stopped just inches from the body of this solder's mother and crossed his arms standing as tall as he possibly could so as to tower over the man, just realising then that he was no longer keeping eye contact with the helpless soldier. Every other time he had used this ability the effects had stopped the second his eyes left the victims', but now it had continued beyond. Perhaps it was the words that had continued it on. All the previous times he had never spoken, merely gazed deep into their souls and amplified this fear. Regardless, he could think on it later.

"...one day that you finally have a chance to see her again..." With determination mirroring that of a dying man attempting to give one last clue as to who his murderer is, the soldier crawled pathetically across the metre of distance between the man and his 'mother', pull her towards him and cradling her in his arms. Though Jonathan could see this, the man had not actually moved in the real world. To everyone outside of this illusion, this hallucination, the man was just sobbing violently and clutching his head as the maelstrom of tormenting terrors tortured his fragile mind with Jonathan looming over him.

"...it will be too late." As the husky male voice whispered the words slowly, the body of the soldier's mother broke back into smoke, the darkness around them also fading away as the end of this ability drew near. An agony filled cry ripped from the soldier's throat and bounced off of the silver walls of that enclosed area.

Moving swiftly and elegantly, practically gliding along the floor, Jonathan charged at the man while Memory watched with a mixture of fear and fascination.

All through Jonathan's performance of his power, the final outcome being sinister and menacing which brought a chill down her spine with just one glance, his body had seemed to darken almost slightly. It was as if a dark mist had started to envelop him, the thin layer not even hiding him slightly but removing a degree of the light. M knew that this was impossible but still believed that Memory saw what she had seen. Maybe, Jonathan's ability not only affected the victim's mind but also those around him? Maybe his mind projected it out slightly and affected the minds of those around him in a subconscious attempt to intimidate his enemies?

She did not know.

Either way, she could not take her eyes off of him. Not now as he moved closer and closer to the man in one fluid motion, his skin getting dangerously close to the other's. Jonathan's long fingers gripped the front of the soldier's uniform and lifted him up in front of him to around hip level, the man not even nearly supporting his own body with Jonathan's hand being the only thing keeping him upright. J's face suddenly contorted in disgust as a flash of light came from the soldier's neck. Memory at first assumed it was dog tags, as soldiers tend to have. She, however, was wrong.

It was a cross.

Realisation hit Memory and hit her hard.

The man was Christian. That was why Jonathan had become disgusted. Not because of the man's religion as Jonathan would never judge another based on a fact such as this, but that he was so willingly to take innocent lives and still practice in the name of 'God'. Gripping it tight, he yanked it from the neck of the whimpering man with haunted eyes and moved in threateningly close, their noses practically touching.

"You thank your God that I let you keep this worthless life. I could kill you right her and now but I'm letting you live. Remember that. Maybe then you'll see some sense about what you are doing my friends."

Throwing him backwards on his back on the cold metal floor, Jonathan turned dramatically on his heels and sauntered towards his next victim.

Memory, finally released from the trance which her brother had so effortlessly captured her in, charged after Jonathan and jumped in front of him. She placed her hands on his chest and pushed back slightly as a look of determination fell on his face, the eyes focussed on one soldier in particular.

"No! No. That was... I mean it was..." She was officially lost for words. Her eyes searched about for the right ones, finding the fighting allies and enemies around her. Thankfully, Jonathan and Memory had been forced further away from the main action but were still in great danger so she would have to be quick with her words.
"You really did, for a second there, remind me of-" The brown haired girl gasped before looking around frantically for the exit, her eye finally finding it.

"Mom!"

Before Jonathan could question her on the cry, she was off. he reached out to grab her arm and hold her back but his fingertips only just managed to slide along her skin. He glanced between the sprinting girl and Vincent, wanting desperately to help them both. The internal struggle was killing him from the inside out, but in the end family won. He closed his eyes and though quickly to Vincent.

"I'm sorry, I really am, but she's my sister. I have to go. Please forgive me..."

Not waiting for an answer, Jonathan dashed after her, only moving faster as she fell into the clutches of a soldier. He had left a trap for her, like a spider would for its prey, and sprung when it had worked perfectly. What he didn't expect, however, was Jonathan. The soldier raised his knife to Memory, the sharp blade getting nearer and nearer and nearer as she struggled in vain.

"LET GO OF MY SISTER!"

Knocking the knife from the soldier's hand, Jonathan gripped his neck tight - completely forgetting for a moment about his ability - and pinned the man up against the wall with him suspended an inch from the ground. Jonathan's eyes widened as the victim's own darkened, the pupils growing larger and the and the iris taking on a strange purplish hue as had happened with all the rest. His hand released slowly as the man's eyes dropped and his body went limp, the soon to be cadaver hitting the ground hard at his feet.

Jonathan stared in horror first at the man, then his hands and back at the man taking a step back from his biggest mistake that day, that year.

"W-what have I done...?"

With a shake of his head and an almost inaudible sob, he charged after his sister and into the mansion corridors.

Ace

a masked figure stumbled out of the shadows battered and out of breath.she tripped and feel to her knees unkown as to where she was.she looked around to find herself in a giant hole in the wall realizing it was on of the surrounding walls of the danger room
.'who the hell put a hole in the wall?'she said to no one in paticular.she got up when a a seizure like symptom raked through her bony for a moment her left eye turned black for a few minutes until it was gone."No dammit"Ace had won the battle but she had yet to win the war within herself.sighing she walked around a bit until she stepped in to the danger room,whoch was a bad idea because she saw Jonothan staring into a soldiers eyes making his worst fears come true.Ace cclutched her head for a moment as sshe seemed to have been affected as well but to a lesser extent. she could feel Alices power surge and she hasped realizing that if stayed here any longer her win would have beenn pointless.So she ran back into the closest shadow and ran a few feet in total darkness when she stepped out into the front yard to to be thrown backwards by a large explosion and she was pushed back into a shadow and stumbled in the main corridor to have Jonathan onve again in her view but he diid not notice her as he ran by.




Agent Six

as she watched Wolverine fight Sabertooh she wondered were Agent Zero was put she quickly pushed that thought away.she focused back on to the Weapon when on of the mutants proteecting him ran off to take down a coulle soldiers along with a girl.the two faught quite nicely without any visible powers that she could see. until the young man began to stare at the soldier doing something to him. the soldier began to cry out in fear and the houng mutant was saying something but she was too far to hear in him so she decided to get closer. she made her spirit solid enough to be able to take a chunk of crumbling ice and threw it on the ground close to where the two were standing and begun to form an observer spirit as the ice began to melt. as she left her old spot and onto her knew one she could know hear hear him and soon she realized that it was a bad idea to have gotten so close to them. while the mutant was talking she could feel something tugging at her subcounsious but she didd t know what it was and the feeling quickly passed. 'so this mutant uses words that put fear into the victims heart'. finally the soldier collasped and the other femal mutant ran up to him putting her hand on hiss chest to stop him from doing anymore damage. 'why would she stop him,he is protecting her and their so called "family".the girl then looked away from him and yelled out "Mom" and she searched for something and ran towards the exit, where a soldier waited for her to fall into his trap which she did.

the soldier began to advance on her with a knife when the young man ran at him yelling "LET GO OF MY SISTER" and grabbed the soldier at his throat pushing him into the wall. thats were things began to change the area of where the mutant held the soldier it turned purple and then it looked like the soldier died or was rendered uncouncious.'humm so he also has an ability similar to the Rouges?'the girl quickly ran off and the boy realizing what he did shook his head in disbilief and looked back at the Weapon before running off after his sister. as he left Agent Six spotted movement in the shadows and realized the very same woman with the mask from earlier was standing there inthe shadows but it looked like the boy was so intent on going after his sister he didnt notice her. but upon seeing her Agent Six heard/felt an explosion from outside and quickly switced positions with her observer spirit outside.

there looked to be a large explosion and the man know as the GameMaster was on the ground wound.she looked around and caught sight of something small and black inthe sky dropping fast to the ground.

David North had entered the X-mansion. He slowly walked through the dark corridors. When the mansion went into lockdown mode the hall lights were programmed to darken. Nothing but daylight illuminated the halls of the X-mansion. David had to find his way to the danger room. He seemingly casually strolled down the hall admiring the mansion in his search of the Danger Room. He pondered, “I wonder what life would be like had I taken Logan up on his offer to join the X-men… Not bad looking. But I think I should save it as a retirement option.” David chuckled to himself. He saw someone approaching him in the distance, a girl. David slipped quietly into an alcove next to an empty bedroom doorway and watched the young lady dash in his direction. “Now she’s a pretty number. Sadly she’s not alone.” David whispered. “ Zero com, [David’s personal computer database.] give me info on targets one and two there.” David whispered into his earpiece.

David’s micro database scanned the nearby area picking up on Memory and Jonathan. It pulled up the data given by the intelligence on the mansion’s inhabitants.

“Target one identified as Memory Ashcroft
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Known abilities: Memory manipulation/ alteration
Target two identified as Jonathan Moore
Age: 24
Occupation: Student
Known Abilities: Dream/ Nightmare Inducement
Special note: Please be advised to avoid skin contact with target”

David smirked as he listened to the information. The two students were actually headed toward the door beside where he was hiding. David, with his gun drawn, popped out of the alcove and aimed his gun at the two just as they reached Memory’s bedroom door. “Hi there.” He said with a grin. “I hope you don’t mind me dropping in on you. Oh and I’d advise you not to try your powers John. If I feel even the slightest sign of fear or a dream state come over me, I will shoot you. Now I will let you grab whatever it is you came for as long as you calmly show me to the Danger Room. What do you say pretty lady?” David spoke casually and suavely. He looked as friendly as one could look while holding a gun to another.

[Outside the Mansion]

Stinger watched as Cara turned the shadows of a few soldiers against themselves. She slowly walked closer to the mansion and toward Cara, her pink high heeled boots clashing against the pavement. “That’s impressive. It’s Creepy, but impressive. You must be shadowdancer… Cute but you do look a bit rough around the edges. I don’t tussle with your type alone.” Stinger commented playfully. She then Turned to Frenzy and called out to her. “Hey Frenzy come over here sugarface! We’re gonna have ourselves a little girls only party!!”

Ryan was in a state of shock. So much was happening around him, he didn't know what to focus on. Logan was here, challenging the predator, which brought Ryan some piece of mind. "Well that takes care of that. Logan should be more than a match for that monster." However, things were not going well elsewhere. Adria was down, Johnathan and Memory had left, and people were dying. Ryan thought he hadn't killed anyone, but he wasn't so sure anymore. In the heat of battle Ryan had lost himself in the fighting, focusing on speed and precision as opposed to lethality. "Bahamut" was a non-lethal style, it focused on intimidation and disorientation, however, he was sure some of his punches were thrown a little too hard. He'd heard nasty crunching noises as he hit some of the men, but then again, they weren't covered in armor like Ryan was. Ryan just stood in disbelief for a moment. This was war. It was terrifying, what happened when two sides opposed each other. He heard voices, bringing him out of his reverie.

"What's going on! Are you alright?"

"She’s been sedated. This can’t continue like this!"

Ryan snapped out of his dazed state of mind just in time to be completely unprepared for the group of soldiers rushing the group. Luckily, Kyle and Vincent rushed to their aid, dispersing the men and the threat. Thantos was here. Good. Ryan remembered when the two of them first met. Ryan was on his way to class when he bumped into the mutant. He was just moving in, and Ryan liked to run kinda fast, so when they collided, Ryan had sent his stuff flying all over the hallway. Thantos yelled at him to look where he was going, and Ryan kind of ignored it. Then Ryan realized that maybe he was having a hard time being friendly so he helped him move his stuff in (becoming very late for class in the process), and they've just been friends ever since. Ryan still doesn't recall exactly quite how it happened. Ryan realized that it was Thantos asking about his condition, so he answered him. "I'm alright Thantos, just catching my breath. Taking out that many soldiers is easy for you, I have to work a little harder at it," Ryan joked, smiling despite the battle raging around them.

Now that the immediate threat had been handled, Ryan scanned the room, getting a hold on the rest of the situation. There was Logan engaging Sabertooth, and X-23 was just standing there, watching them. Vila was moving the wounded out of the way. Phillip, Kyle, Hideki, Professor Fuyumi, Vincent, Thantos, and Adria were all who was left in the danger room not including himself. Adria was down, so that left the numbers to 8:2. If four engaged the two, then two could leave and help the front while the four inside could easily handle the two. "Vincent, can you relay this thought process to everyone?" Ryan thought, looking pointedly and Vincent. "I've come up with a plan. There are eight of us, not counting Adria, and two of them. We leave four of us here to detain the predator and his partner while four of us move Adria somewhere safe. If it's two vs. one you should be able to knock them out or otherwise incapacitate, and not kill them, that way we can get information out of them when we're ready to interrogate them once the big battle is over. On the other side, once the other four have secured Adria, they go outside and meet up with Doctor Xavier to reinforce their side. Does anyone have any qualms with that? My only problem is who goes where, but I'm sure some of us will be more than willing to volunteer for the position of fighting those two."

"Oh I'm sure you'd learn to love it." Cara answered seductively. "My type? Now that's hurtful." She a extended her arms out again, her fingers spread to catch a few of the shadows nearby her. Her eyes faltered for a moment as Frenzy approached. "So what were you promised? What would make you want to turn against your own kind?" Cara asked with spite filled words, moving her hands up slightly and touching upon the doors shadows, slamming them shut. "Especially you, Stinger. We fought for the same cause once! Magneto might have changed his ways but at least he still fights FOR mutants!" her shadow fell on something solid and wasting no time Cara sent it flying towards the pair laying her challenge down.

Frenzy slowly made her way toward Stinger and Cara. Stinger smirked as Cara replied. Stinger had once worked with Cara under Magneto. Back then she was interested in bettering the state of Mutant kind. She felt more ideological back then but now things were different. Things were worse in the world. Stinger opened her mouth to answer when the huge hunk of debris Cara hurled at her came her way. Luckily Stinger was pretty nimble and hopped backward as to avoid the brunt of the damage. However the object shattered causing a hunk of it to hit Stinger’s arm. “Yeouch! That smarts! You sure don’t waste any time do you shadowdancer. Stinger dusted off her pink dress.

“Well, to answer your question… They offered me a shit ton of money and immunity from the government’s wrath. It’s really that simple.” Stinger replied as he began to examine her nails, her hands illuminating with electricity. “Ya know gal, times have changed for worse. The days of me clinging to losing ideologies is done. I’m tired of fighting so hard for nothing. Magneto was and still is chasing a pretty dream, one that will likely never become real. So Weapon-X offered me a promise that they are making good on. It’s nice for someone to finally keep their word to a lady for a change.” Stinger then extended her hands sending electricity dancing and crackling in Cara’s direction.

Frenzy by this point stood a few feet away from Stinger. She was not totally opposed to the X-men and their goals. She actually wanted to meet Professor Xavier for herself as he seemed like a good person. She listened to Stinger’s story, it was not new to her but it was different from her own. She never really was involved with the mutant human struggle before. She saw mutants like Magneto as tyrannical and without order. She got involved with Weapon-X after being offered protection and a very high salary. She wasn’t completely money oriented but she chose what seemed practical as she was a practical person. She could see Charles in the distance and she took occasional glances at him. She would have approached him but she wouldn’t dessert Stinger.

Stinger then noticed a young man arrive at the mansion grounds making a mad dash toward the mansion. Frenzy was given orders from Trask via her earpiece to keep him from the professor. “Rodger that.” She replied. She turned toward Stinger, “Wendy, you’re on your own with Shadowdancer now! I got orders!” She then made a swift dash to intercept Sam. She cut him off in his tracks. “Sorry my friend but you’d best leave here. I have orders to get rough and I don’t want to have to do that.” She said calmly as she stood looking at Sam directly in the eyes.

The Professor was busy turning soldiers away by taking over their minds. Magneto had finally convenced Pietro to help him and that he would protect Pietro. Charles could hear the calls of Ace. He felt the evil of Alice almost instantly. She needed to be suppressed fast or else Ace would not have made it. On Ace’s signal the Professor concentrated unleashing a psychic maelstrom that served to lock away and imprison Alice in the depths of Ace’s mind. To do this he entered Ace’s mind. It was a dark realm of strange wonder. There He spotted Alice, thrashing in anguish and insanity. She wanted to kill but was unable to regain control. He and created a prison in her mind to hold Alice. Charles then spoke to Ace, “The fortifications are strong but they will not for long Ace. Are you alright?” Charles asked Ace telepathically?



Vila’s vines wrapped around many of the people in the danger room, moving them to safety. Logan was kicked off of Sabertooth when Sabertooth placed both feet on Logan’s torso and propelled him backward into the danger room wall. Sabertooth was a little slow to stand as Logan had done considerable damage to him. His healing had complete and he launched at Logan, taking a slash at Logan’s chest. Logan yelled in pain then soon retaliated by punching sabertooh in the face with his extremely hard fist.

Vincent watched the scene not sure what he should do. He wanted to help and he could but Sabertooth’s little stunt with the gunmen made Vincent afraid to act. He didn’t want to kill again. He finally mustered up the confidence to take some personal charge once again. He wondered why X-23 had not acted. He tried to probe her mentally but he had trouble breaching her mind. There must have been something that prevented her from being probed.

“Vince! You alright?” Philip asked as he turned halfway toward Vincent. He was sure to keep an eye on the others just in case someone or something attacked them again. Philip was a little worried about Vincent after the previous incident. He knew Vincent was gentle, using force to stop a foe would be okay with Vincent but killing was somewhat of a taboo in Vincent’s eyes.

Vincent gave a smile and replied. “I’m alright love. No worries as long as you don’t get reckless.” Philip nodded in response.

Just then Ryan, whom Vincent kneeled down next to, addressed Vincent via his thoughts. "Vincent, can you relay this thought process to everyone?" Ryan thought, looking pointedly and Vincent.

Vincent replied telepathically, “yes Ryan I can, go on.”
"I've come up with a plan. There are eight of us, not counting Adria, and two of them. We leave four of us here to detain the predator and his partner while four of us move Adria somewhere safe. If it's two vs. one you should be able to knock them out or otherwise incapacitate, and not kill them, that way we can get information out of them when we're ready to interrogate them once the big battle is over. On the other side, once the other four have secured Adria, they go outside and meet up with Doctor Xavier to reinforce their side. Does anyone have any qualms with that? My only problem is who goes where, but I'm sure some of us will be more than willing to volunteer for the position of fighting those two." Ryan concluded.

Just then Vincent heard Jonathan’s voice. "We've got a problem..." Vincent then telepathically scanned the mansion and learned of Memory and Jonathan’s plight. He knew that David, Memory, and Jonathan would be approaching the danger room. David was indeed dangerous and Vincent didn’t want to add David’s cunning to Sabertooth viciousness.

Vincent replied telepathically. “I understand your situation Jonathan. Everyone can hear this transmission of my thoughts. Things are still pretty tense in here. I can subdue Sabertooth but the second mutant here still hasn’t made a move and I can’t attack her psionically due to something blocking me out. I can handle Sabertooth but to take down David as well would be difficult. As Ryan suggested, we must make our escape. Adria needs to be taken to safety. Fuyumi, Kyle, Ryan and Thantos should take Adria to safety. Afterward please assist Professor X and Magneto out front, they could use the help. Philip, Vila and Hideki will remain here for the time being. When Jonathan and Memory arrive I’ll distract the enemy and J and M can escape to aid the others out front. Is that clear?” Vincent communicated to everyone telepathically.

David, Memory and Jonathan reached the danger room. Upon entering they saw the vicious battle between Logan and Sabertooth. David smirked at the siblings, “Thanks for the tour. You know you two make a cute pair. Now if you’ll excuse me I have to greet an old friend.” David said as he smiled in a friendly manner at Memory and Jonathan. He let go of Memory’s hand and stepped toward the fighting men. David called out, “Hey Logan! I brought you a souvenir.” Just then David in a smooth elegant motion lifted his gun and shot Logan in the head point blank. Logan fell backward onto his back, his body lowly beginning to heal the wound.

As Logan healed Sabertooth got a chance to catch his breath. “Who told you to butt in North?” Sabertooth huffed.

“You were losing. Also, let’s just say I owed Logan that one.” David replied. He looked over toward Vincent. “Wow…my have you grown! Our little weapon is so huggably, handsome! It’s good to see you.” David commented. He had seen Vincent after his creation. North thought Vincent to be very attractive. He was bi and praised anything that caught his eye.

Vincent then launched an assault on Sabertoot’s mind. He held his fingers to his head and Sabertooth fell to his knees in pain and mental anguish. Vincent called out, “Now’s your chance run!”

As Vincent relayed the revised plan, Ryan listened intently for his instructions. Unfortunately he wouldn't be able to stay and protect Vincent, but he knew he could trust Professor Vila, Philip, Hideki and Logan to do so in his absence. It was a good plan, a solid plan. Ryan felt ok about leaving and helping out front too. He was needed there. All the while, he kept an eye on the fight between Logan and the predator, making sure to keep his nose and ears on X-23. Something told him that his eyes would be misleading when it came to her, so smell was the best bet. Ryan slowly made his way over to Adria and hefted her onto his back in a traditional piggy back stance. "I've got her, you guys cover me from the rear. When Vince gives the signal, I'm getting out of here as fast as I can, I might lose you in the process. I'm heading straight for the infirmary. If you lose me, that's where I'll be headed." he whispered to Professor Fuyumi, Thantos, and Kyle. Ryan waited for the signal. He could feel Vincent tensing, it was about to happen soon.

All of a sudden, Memory, Johnathan, and a complete stranger walked into the room. Ryan almost did a double take when he saw Memory, he knew she was pretty, but that outfit was outrageous. Ryan felt his face get hot. That was one nice thing about having completely black skin, no one could see you blush. He almost considered... when this was over... "No. No way." Ryan thought realistically. There was no way she would like him. I mean, come on. Ryan had looked in a mirror when he brushed his teeth this morning, he knew what he looked like. Besides, he knew she was just friendly with him. There was no way it would turn into anything romantic. Ryan knew that. He had to focus. Just then, a gunshot snapped Ryan from his daydream. He wasn't having a good time there anyway, way too much fiction for his liking. That stranger had just shot Logan in the head. Sure Logan would be fine, Logan was the only one who healed faster than he did. Still, Ryan would have words for that man later. Except they would be his written with his fists. "Yeah," Ryan joked to himself. "It'll be a very strongly worded letter." He chuckled. Just then, Vincent shouted, "Now’s your chance run!" At that moment, Ryan blasted himself from his crouched position to the other end of the room, past the enemy mutants and out the only exit available. He saw the world around him blur as he pushed it's body to his max speed. He trusted the others to cover him, and those assigned to combat to be enough of a distraction that he could slip by. He was using his speed for all it was worth, trying to put as much distance as he could between himself, and by extent Adria, and the enemy mutants in the room. As he rushed past Memory and Johnathan, he whispered quietly to them, "Be safe. Vincent and Vila are going all out." He wasn't sure if they heard him, or if Vincent had had the foresight to include them in the planning stage, but he had to try and warn them about the hell that would be unleashed in that room if they stuck around. Ryan only slowed down when he put two staircases and a hallway behind him. He was still running, but not as fast as he possibly could. He was still on his way to the infirmary, but he was slowing down so as to give the others a chance to catch up. He didn't want to be alone with a wounded friend during an attack, but he needed to get her safe. So he did what he had to do, even if that meant leaving the others behind for a bit. Plus, he was tired. He'd just done... probably well over his max speed with someone on his back four about fifteen seconds. He was breathing hard. He'd had just enough of a break between fighting and running that he wasn't exhausted, but he definitely wasn't going to be much help right away. As he jogged, Ryan felt nervous. It was far too quiet in the mansion. Much too quiet for a full scale battle to be going on within its grounds. He didn't like it. He didn't like his odds right now. There could be any number of enemy soldiers near him ready to strike. His pace quickened slightly. As he ran, his thoughts went back to Memory and Vincent and all his other friends... his family, putting their lives on the line to protect him and this wounded friend.

"Please be ok..."

Feeling quite self-conscious as she tip-toed inside the silver room with trepidation, Memory cursed under her breath at the outfit choice. This was something that she would never wear normally - preferring for skirts that at least fell to the knees - and had been given to her as a joke by her friend years back, but it did fit the situation. In her experience seduction was a powerful tool for one to use, and something that she was very good at. It may not be the most dignifying thing in the world but it does get the job done. Pulling the jacket around herself a little tighter, she watched as the many eyes turned in her direction. One such pair of yellow eyes caught her attention for a second, recognising them as the eyes of Ryan who had helped Jonathan protect Ryan. There had always been a certain curiosity about the horned boy but Memory had never pursued it. Taking a mental to note to ask at some point, along with Hideki about his fireworks, if they survived Memory returned her attention to the present.

She regretted it instantly.

A gunshot rang out and Logan dropped to the floor not far from the siblings. This is all that Memory got to hear as her brother pulled M close and buried her head into his chest, gripping her body tightly so that she couldn't see what happened. Normally she would have protested but there was no way that she could now. They had just assisted in Logan's assault to a degree. They knew he wouldn't, couldn't, die but regardless they felt their hearts twist painfully.

"Now’s your chance run!"

At Vincent's call, Jonathan looked to him and nodded with tears in his eyes.Pulling Memory from his body J looked her straight in the eye, those chocolate orbs which wobbled through the tears, and swallowed the painful lump in his throat back to the depths of his stomach.

"Come on, we need to move." When she did not, he shook her by the shoulders gently. "Come on!"

Snapped out of her trance, Memory nodded stiffly and took Jonathan's hand letting him lead and pull her from the building. They managed only a few steps before Ryan, the black scaled boy who had aided Jonathan in defending Vincent before, rushed past them whispering something on the way but they didn't quite catch it. Assuming that it was a warning about the trouble they would face or a suggestion to move their asses, they followed both.

Although, Memory had to do one thing first.

"Hang on!" She called to her brother releasing his hand and stopping at a downed soldier, the same one that Jonathan had killed in fact, or rather will have killed when the full effects of his power kicked in and took this man from the world. Looking away in shame, Jonathan did not see Memory take the man's gun. Nor did he see her lift it up to aim. What he did see however was the girl he had come to know and love so well take three steps in front of him and, with the accuracy of a sharpshooter (from their gunman that she had been keeping skin contact with all the way to the danger room), strike the man's gun with one shot.

He didn't wait to see if she had managed to disarm him or not as he gripped her hand and pulled her away, Memory dropping the gun in disgust only seconds later.

Taking off out the Danger Room door and door the silver corridor, their boots making clicks and thumps as they slapped the ground hard, the "wonder twins" headed straight for the Professor outside. This plan for the most part worked until they were faced with the elevator door. As those metal doors slid open and revealed the two like a prize on a game show to the soldier behind it, Memory yelped in panic making the the man turn quickly. He lifted his gun but it was moved away from them, aimed in a safer direction, With M's palm colliding with the barrel. J caught the man's arms and moved in close, their eyes a mere two inches apart.

Then he whispered one word.

"Clementine."

The man's grip on the gun lessened and it was dropped into M's waiting hands then discarded to the side, Jonathan retaining eye contact with the man as he refused to voice and narrate the happenings within this man's dream-world in front of his sister. The information got a little... kinky.

Throwing him into the elevator, they clasped hands once more and ran.

"Who the hell is Clementine?!" Memory called to her brother, a little short of breath for running so long with barely any stopping.
"And what the hell kind of dream did you put him into?" This made J roll his eyes.

"Remember, M, I can manipulate their hopes and dreams too. He was hoping to see his girlfriend Clementine and... get it on," Jonathan scowled at the way that came out in his southern accent, the sound of it just seeming somewhat wrong to him.
"so I just manipulated it and amplified his wish to do... that with her."

"Naturally..."



Finally they made it outside, the crisp air catching them off guard. After a quick scan into the mass of fighting figures and bodies littered across the ground, both siblings found the Professor at the same time. This time, however, it was Memory that lead.

"Professor Xavier! Vincent sent us!" Dodging body after body, power after power and mutant after mutant they eventually reached the Professor, both siblings gaining injuries along the way. Memory now had a cut above her eyebrow from a stray piece of wood and Jonathan was grazed by a bullet on the right side of his abdomen. it wasn't deep and didn't bleed too much and for these reasons he ignored it, even though it hurt like a bitch.

Thinking back to whom had been left behind when they left, Jonathan grimaced in a new form of pain. He had left Vincent, the one he practically considered a brother, and Kyle. The thought of his name brought the memories of his pleasant flirting and hand-holding back to J's mind. Shaking his had, thinking better than to reminisce in battle, J returned his mind to the fighting.

That's when he heard it, the loud metallic thud. Or rather, a group of metallic thuds all striking the ground simultaneously. In a synchronised, and rather scarily similar, way the siblings flipped their heads around to the large metal men standing three stories tall not that far behind them.

"Ho-ly fu-"

A hand slapped over his mouth and cut off the rest of his word. He eyed his sister in exasperation but she only tutted.

"Jonathan, you should know better. There could be kids watching."

Giving Memory a quick confused look, not entirely understanding what she meant, he suddenly felt like there were many eyes all upon him now. Shaking it off, he returned his own eyes to the Sentinels.

"We're doomed."

"So you think that just because they promised they'd leave you alone that they actually will?!" Cara looked offended. "Stinger I thought you were smarter than that. Even Toad wasn't that stupid." She never dropped her eyes from Stinger's throughout the conversation.

Stinger was a tad put off by Cara’s opinions regarding her decisions. However given Cara’s tone and frustration it really showed that in some way Cara’s concern for Stinger. Perhaps it was a lingering comradery from when they worked together. It made Stinger feel a little bad about her choice but it was a little too late to turn around now.

"So hard for nothing?! You've abandoned the cause! You have achieved nothing! You've joined exactly what we were fighting against! The humans are winning and you are aiding them!" Cara shouted back angrily almost being caught off guard in her moment of distraction as Stingers arms outstretched towards her. Cara's eyes shot open for a moment before she flipped herself backwards escaping the majority of the shock but catching a nasty case of static as she jumped, almost sticking her landing Cara pushed her arms out forwards and landed low, sending one of the metal hand rails that had now become dislodged up and towards her opponents.

"Perhaps enough toying?" She smiled, as the pole was deflected. "Shall we get down to it, devochki?" she smiled devilishly at the two mutants. Cara seemed slightly perturbed by Frenzy's sudden withdrawal. "Aww, looks like it's just me and you after all." She jumped from where she stood flipping herself in the air and jumping into a shadow, re-appearing behind Stinger and giving her a swift kick in the ass. She pulled her jacket from her shoulders and threw it to the side of them away from the fight. "I do hope you've kept yourself in good shape."

Stinger was becoming increasingly annoyed with Cara’s besting her. She turned around and delivered a kick aimed at Cara’s torso. “Let’s just say I’ll never let myself go Cara. So yeah I’m in good shape!” Stinger elegantly back flipped backwards twice to gain a little distance from Cara. She began to twirl around swiftly causing a tornado of bioelectricity. When her twirling stopped the tornado quickly shot in Cara’s direction. “Of course I don’t trust the government for a millisecond. But if a girl knows how to play her cards right, and keep her wits about her she’ll do alright. And I plan to grit my teeth and survive to the very end I do!” Stinger replied in a snappy more serious tone.

[Danger Room]
After Vincent began his psionic assault on Sabertooth’s mind the other students ran. Ryan carrying Adria first, then Memory and Jonathan. Kyle flew swiftly behind. He didn’t want to leave but he trusted that Vincent had a good plan. Kyle turned to Hideki, “Look after the young headmaster will you? And I better not here about you getting your ass handed to you later!” Kyle teased Hideki.

Hideki laughed and replied, “Yeah okay. Don’t get too distracted gawking at Jonathan out there and forget to fight!” Kyle smiled sheepishly and flew off.

Professor Fuyumi patted Vincent on the shoulder as he assaulted Sabertooth, “Do be careful Vincent. Call for me if you need and escape route.” She said. She then gave Philip a quick kiss on the forehead and dashed out of the danger room, phasing through the wall of the danger room.

Agent Zero was shocked to see the level of pain the weapon could inflict on Sabertooth. He was strong however Zero knew that this display of strength was only the tip of the iceberg. The weapon was capable of far more. He was being held back and David wondered how Xavier managed to conceal Vincent’s true strength from Vincent himself. David needed to help Sabertooth, however he knew that he couldn’t bring much harm to Vincent, Trask would have a bitch fit if that happened. He then fired a few gun shots at Vincent knowing that he would cease his mental assault on Sabertooth.

Vincent stopped the bullets after releasing Sabertooth. Sabertooth recovered quickly and lunged at Vincent. Hideki quickly blasted Sabertooth backward with a light based plasma blast. Philip hurled a few time bombs at David. They landed around David and began to set off around his feet destroying much of the ground around David. Vincent wondered why X-23 hadn’t acted yet. David hopped out of danger and tossed a thermite bomb at the group. Vincent was able to conceal some of the blast damage but the group had still gotten knocked back by the force. David was highly trained and knew his opponents well. He knew just how far to go.

Logan had finally recovered from being shot in the head. He slowly sat up and looked around noticing the scene unfolding. He then tackled David and pinned him to the ground Claws extended and pointed at David’s chest.

[Outside the mansion]

The fight was going strong outside. Pietro sped around knocking out soldiers in a flash. Fuyumi had joined the group she phased some soldiers partway through the ground and left them there, She weren’t hurt but they were stuck. Kyle was glad to see daylight. The sentinels appeared and began to target mutants. Pietro quickly zipped over toward Magneto. “Yo pops we’ve got a serious problem…”

Magneto turned toward the sentinels and he was not worried in the slightest. Four sentinels wasn’t difficult for him to handle. However Trask being well aware of Magneto’s advantage over the Sentinels ordered many soldiers to close in on him causing him to be preoccupied with them. He would not be able to help the group so easily. Charles greeted Jonathan and Memory. “You all have done well.” He said as they reached him, not without battle wounds. “You two have fought bravely thank you for all that you’ve done.” The professor said to the two siblings.

As Logan pinned David down David smiled almost joyously. “oh…. Logan! I didn’t know you were that glad to see me again! I take it you weren’t too fond of my greetings gift. But you didn’t forget that I owed you that shot right?” David joked. He and Logan used to have a very particular relationship. The two would often joke and make bets with one another when they both worked together. One could say they were friends whereas Victor and Logan were rivals.

“You know bub, that was a REALLY cheap shot!” Logan said his adamantium claws ready to strike.

“Logan… How dare you? I never take cheap shots.” David replied, a sarcastic smile painted across his face.

“Whatever, You didn’t owe me shit before, but after that little stunt you do now. And I intend to collect on it right now…:” Logan definitely didn’t want to kill David, there was still hope left for him in Logan’s perspective. He planned on wounding North since he knew that David could heal almost as good as him and Sabertooth. If Professor X had to rate the speed of self-healing abilities, Wolverine would be ranked the first and fastest, Sabertooth second, and David North Third. Logan could take far more than David due to the Adamantium grafted onto his skeleton. David and Sabertooth couldn’t heal fast enough to survive the process of receiving an adamantium skeletal grafting.

Just then X-23, with her steel toed boot, kicked Logan hard in the ribs launching him backwards. He hit the danger room wall and fell to the ground next to Vincent, Hideki and Philip, who had been previously knocked back by David’s thermite bomb.

David was a little surprised as X-23 then helped him up. She was seemingly the quiet angry type in his eyes. As she protected him his look of confusion converted over to a look of enlightenment. He didn’t know that X-23 would react this way on his behalf. He then said to X-23, “Were you waiting for me to get here before you made a move? Sabertooth had been struggling quite a bit you know. Well whatever, Victor is always too pigheaded to receive help and be grateful about it.”

Sabertooth standing after receiving an explosive fireworks like blast from Hideki replied, “Fuck you North. Kid’s little sparklers hurt a hell of a lot more than I thought they would.”

Vincent breathing heavily said to Logan as he looked up at X-23, “So she finally moves… Just great.”

Logan began to stand. “Yeah… just my luck. Ah…. Little demons has a kick like mine… “ Logan began to realize that this girl was most likely like him. “Avoid her she’s dangerous on another level. I hope I can trust you all to handle Sabertooth and David?”

Vincent, Philip, and Hideki stood as well. Vincent eyed their opponents and replied, “Yes. We’ll make do. Be careful Logan.”

“Can’t promise that.” Logan said as he rushed at X-23. He punched her across the face knowing that she could most likely handle a jaw breaking punch from him like Sabertooth could.

Vincent spoke to Hideki and Philip, “Hideki, Philip, you two take David. Leave Sabertooth to me. If it gets too tough escape.”

[Outside the Mansion]

Cara was hit by stinger’s electric tornado attack. It seemed to have greatly hurt Cara as she screamed loudly. Stinger didn’t like having to go this far in fighting Cara but it couldn’t be helped they were now enemies.
When Cara looked up Stinger had turned serious, this fight could definitely turn out badly. “And what do you think they will do once all mutants are dead or in slavery?” Cara asked through gritted teeth. “You will be redundant; they will add you to the slaves or just kill you.” She slowly pulled herself to her feet. “Or worse, they will turn you into a puppet.” Her shadow on the floor began to change, branching out towards Stinger, slowly creeping along the floor until their shadows met.

Cara took control of Stinger’s shadow causing her adversary to raise her arms dramatically before bowing down, making jerking movements much like a string puppet. “Get used to that feeling Stinger. That is all you are aiming for now.” Cara pulled Stinger into walking towards her; despite her weakened state Cara was still able to win the fight for control of movement.

As Stinger stood almost a foot from her Cara relinquished her control. “Could you do it Wendy? Could you watch our race die? Could you watch me die?” she was looking directly into Stinger’s eyes, almost staring into her very soul.

Stinger struggled to get free in vain. She felt helpless as Cara’s words sank deeply into her conscience. She knew in truth she couldn’t watch Cara die. She couldn’t feel content with mutants suffering at the hands of fearful humans. She hoped at least that she could run away somewhere where she could live quietly and at peace leaving all of it behind. But that was a delusion. “NO I COULDN’T AND I CAN’T OKAY!! I’m just so sick of it all!! All the fighting, the deaths, the fear!! It’s just too much and no matter who I follow, the end of the tunnel just never appears before my eyes!!” Stinger actually began to sob. She had completely given up fighting Cara.

The Sentinels moved in on them programed to ignore the weapon-x mutants. Ace attacked the arm of one sentinel with her shadow scythe. However the armor of the sentinel was much stronger than any of them had anticipated. Ace then thought so that Professor X could hear, ‘shall I help Cara or will you, I need an answer soon it doesn’t look like she will be standing long with Stinger as her opponent?’

The Professor replied, ”Don’t worry Ace. I will have a word with Stinger and tell Cara to stand down. Stinger seems to be in a better place to listen now. Please take care of the sentinels. Magneto seems a bit preoccupied at the moment handling those soldiers without seriously hurting them.” The professor smiled at Ace. The professor telepathically contacted Stinger and Cara. “Cara, this is the Charles Xavier. Please release Stinger, she won’t attack I’m sure of it. You need to take it easy now. Your body is being pushed to its limits, your teammates and I fear you won’t last long if you continue this way. I shall talk to Stinger. I think I can get through to her now that you’ve reached her heart. Rest now.” Charles spoke gently to Cara.

Charles then telepathically spoke to Stinger, “Wendy, This is Charles Xavier. Please listen to me carefully. You heard what Cara has spoken to you and she speaks through much wisdom. You cannot trust weapon-x not to betray you. They mean no mutant good and will eventually aim to hunt us all down. There will be no running. Join us, support a cause you know to be right. Even if it’s not to fight for it, just believing in that cause once again can and will save yours and many other lives. I’ve seen it happen before. What do you say Wendy?” Charles asked. He sounded like a nurturing father.
[OOC: I’m assuming Cara released Stinger.]
Stinger felt much better, she replied, “I’ll trust you and believe in what I did before all of this mess. Geez you sure know how to make a girl ruin her mascara…”

Fuyumi looked at the sentinels and let out a heavy sigh. “If I have to see more of these again today, whether fake or real, I’m going to have a heart attack.” She then dashed toward the sentinel. Once she reached the foot of one of the large machines she tried to phase it into the ground. The sentinel’s left foot began to sink into the concrete. Fuyumi phased back through the ground to the surface. The sentinel struggled to pull it’s foot out of the ground. Fuyumi hoped that it would tear its foot off trying to pull it from the ground but it was too strong, it only ripped up the concrete and it was then free.

Kyle flew by and toward a sentinel. He dodged the lazer beams that shot at him by flying in swift loops. He managed to get close enough to one of the sentinels heads and he gave it a sucker punch knocking it off center. The sentinel next to the now staggering sentinel blasted Kyle back with a laser blast burning a large hole in Kyle’s shirt and sending him falling towards the ground.

Ryan had almost slowed to a complete stop. He was really only walking now. He was listening for the sounds of enemies in the mansion, but there were strangely none at all. He was concerned. This is insane! Ryan thought. It's like Vincent and the mansion itself are the only things they targeted! They said they were after Vincent which would explain their presence in the danger room. Is there some other motive? Why are they targeting us? It was at that moment that four, very large tremors shook the house. They seemed to come from outside the house. What on Earth? Ryan wondered. What could possibly make that?

For some odd reason, Ryan's thoughts flew to Memory. He hadn't known her for very long. They'd really only sort of "met", recently. She was nice. She'd smiled when she met him, when he'd fumbled over his introduction. They both were. Nice that is. She and her brother Johnathan, they were kind and understanding when they met him. Seen him. They were good people. Come to think of it, he never seemed to see her without him. They must be very close, just like a family should be. Ryan sighed. "Family," he said longingly. Must be really nice, to have someone to trust your entire being to. To know will always have your back, no matter what. What was she doing now? He wondered. Last he'd seen, she was still back there with Vincent and the predator. Come to think of it, she showed up wearing... What on Earth was with that outfit? She looked... No Ryan, she's way out of your league. Plus, she's five years older than you. Besides, she must have worn those clothes for a reason. She wouldn't just jump into battle looking like... she did... unless it had a purpose. There's no time for thoughts like that. Drop it. For your own good. Still, he couldn't help but worry. Was she ok? Did she run away? Did she get caught? Was she in trouble? What if?... What if?... NO! There's no time for thoughts like that. I told you. She'll be fine, she's with Johnathan. Her brother loves her. He'll have her back. He'll protect her. That's what brothers are for. Not you. Ryan sighed again, there was no room for him there.

Just then, Ryan heard the noise of footsteps. It was odd though. There were a few short ones, in rapid succession, followed by silence, then more. They repeated just like that. They had far too long a period of silence to be any regular kind of footsteps. Ryan's whole body tensed. He picked up his pace, running again, and fast. It frightened him. What could be in the house with him? What kind of thing walked like that? How could it be getting so close with so few footsteps.

"Finally found you, everyone else is on their way." Thantos gasped. Even though it was quiet, Ryan almost shouted when he swore. "Jesus! Thantos! You scared the shit out of me!" "We left just in time four sentinels just showed up." "Shit! Sentinels? In the Danger Room? The sound of them landing came from outside? How many are there? No time, talk while we jog, I'll slow down now, I'm sorry I moved so fast, I had to get Adria out of there." "We need to hurry and get back. Their gonna need us." "First thing's first, we need to get Adria to the infirmary. Secondly, if there really are sentinels outside, they're gonna need us there. We report to Doctor Xavier, as planned. This way!" Ryan jogged with Thantos down to the infirmary. Ryan felt they could afford to take it a little slower since there were two conscious people escorting Adria as opposed to one. He felt bad he had to go so fast in the first place. Thantos looked dead tired, but he kept up like a real trooper. However, escorting Adria was important. It had to be done. They laid Adria in one of the beds the second they got to the infirmary. They called for some help and turned to leave immediately. The nurse tried to get them to stay and recover from their injuries. "No time ma'am," Ryan shouted, already leading Thantos out the door and back to the front door. "We're just a little tired, they need us out front!"

They headed down the hallway and to the front door. Ryan stopped before they reached it. "If there are Sentinels out there, we need to be prepared. A games and all that. You ready? If so, lead on. We're in for the fight of our lives. Only one way to know for sure if we're ready." Ryan held out his fist, waiting for Thantos to bump fists with him. They hadn't been friends for long, but they were close. Ryan knew Thantos would cover his back, just as he would cover Thantos's.

"Ryan... are you wearing the metal shoes?"

Ryan nodded in reply, "Yeah. We were gonna practice that thing."

"You wanna practice it now? I could throw you at one of the sentinels."

"Are you sure?.. We've never tried before."

"Yeah I'll be able to throw you and your gonna hit that thing hard!" He reached out and bumped Ryan's fist.

"Alright if your sure let's do it!"

Ryan threw open the doors and lined himself up with one of the sentinels. Thantos was looking for a strong anchor. This push wasn't gonna be easy. Finding one he nodded to Ryan who jumped up into the air. Burning steel Thantos pushed against the piping in the house and against the metal base of Ryan's boots throwing Ryan through the air (launched at an accelerating 15 feet per second approx speed at contact 40 mph). After about five seconds Ryan makes contact with the sentinel. Dousing the burning steel Thantos steadies himself against the fatigue. That worked about as well as I could have hoped.

Having caught his breath Thantos grabs another vial off of his belt pulling the cork off and downing the contents. Seeing Magneto surrounded by a group of soldiers. He starts burning pewter and runs to help him. Reaching the circle he lowers his shoulder and charges the group dropping three of the soldiers in the group. "Professor! Use these!" He throws a handful of coins towards his professor. Continuing forward he feels something hit his shoulder. The pewter strengthening his body he continues forward grabbing the soldier and headbutting him to unconscious.

(ooc I got permission to do the dialogue between Thantos and Ryan as well as throw him at the sentinel.)

At Thantos's direction, Ryan flung open the doors. Quickly scanning the battlefield, he saw everyone who was out front helping the teachers. Oh great, they were all watching. Shaking off the pressure, Ryan lined himself up with the closest sentinel. He wanted to take out something threatening while not pushing Thantos too hard. Here's goes nothing He said in his head, praying that Thantos didn't miss. At Thantos's signal, Ryan jumped into the air, whipping his tail around to rifle himself and "hold himself still in mid-air" so Thantos would have an easy shot. In mid-air, Ryan pointed his feet towards his friend... and brand new propulsion system.

At that moment, it felt like a giant hand had connected with his feet and slammed him forward. The G-Forces alone would have killed a normal human being. Luckily, Ryan wasn't normal. The one thing that had ostracized him for his entire life, was now saving it. His body was strong, his bones were dense. He body absorbed the impact and carried it forward. Fists first and spinning. Ryan rocketed through the air, gaining massive speed. This combination was perfect. All of Ryan's physical strength combined with all of Thantos's might. Ryan was gonna hit that thing and hit it hard with his reinforced fists, fueled by Thantos's push. All it needed was a name. Something to describe their powerful combination and what it did. Screaming against the wind, Ryan shouted with all his might, "Perfect Combustion of Manly Souls Cannonball Attack!" He couldn't tell if anyone heard, he hoped no one did, but it didn't matter, it was a perfect name for a perfect combination. That giant hand at his back pushed him hard, and continued to push him until he hit the sentinel. It was like no feeling he'd ever had in his life. Nothing else has come close. At one moment he was blasting through the air, his body compressing from the back, feeling like his feet might go through his body. Ryan felt himself compress for a moment, almost to a breaking point. His body felt squished, and for a moment, he couldn't breathe. His mind cried out in agony. This sort of punishment should be unbearable. His nerves and muscles screamed in retort. His bones and scaled fists, however, could take it. He felt the metal give, his body decompressed, and he could breathe again. The Sentinels chest caved, forming a massive pair of craters. The mighty sentinel began to fall.

Ryan had been flung almost upwards by Thantos's push, so when the sentinel began to topple, forced back by the impact, Ryan, literally, came out on top. Whipping his tail around, and generating momentum, Ryan spun his body around, kicking the sentinel as hard as he could on its chest, forcing it down and giving gravity an unneeded boost, far faster than the sentinel could regain it's balance. He shouted again, roaring out the name of his next attack, "Get the Hell Away From My Precious Friends Kick!"

As the sentinel crashed to the ground, Ryan fell on top of it, absorbing his impact. He crawled up to it's face as quickly as he could, dodging the flailing limbs. When he got to his destination, he looked down with grim pride at what he had accomplished. This once mighty weapon was no more. He pulled his fist up, high into the air. He then slammed his fist down as fast as he could, forming yet another crater in the softer parts of the Sentinel's face. One last time he shouted the name of his attack. "Just Who The Hell Do You Think I Am? Punch!" He roared. He felt the metal inner workings give out, and stop whirring. He got up, dusted himself off, and jumped down from it's face. When he landed, he found himself to be rather woozy. Flying that fast, and striking something that hard, twice, had taken quite a bit out of him. He knelt down for a moment, trying to regain his senses and his balance. He surveyed the battlefield while he rested, waiting for the world to stop spinning. Noticing Thantos in the midst of combat, he flipped him a super cheesy thumbs up. "Let's never do that again!" Ryan shouted.

“It won’t appear if you fight for the wrong side Stinger. We will win this war! The humans will lose!” Cara was careful to keep her voice down. It seemed that although she had joined Xavier’s little band of mutants she still did not completely share his vision of peace between humans and mutants. Stinger was a little surprised. “Come on; let’s move before those sentinels see us.” She said gesturing Stinger towards the mansion. Her breathing was getting heavier and her hand was now covering over her now profusely bleeding wound.

Stinger followed Cara, it was good to feel like she had her old friend back, somewhat. She was concerned to see that Cara had sustained some serious wounds. Stinger knew that Cara was always one to push herself too far, when Stinger would have long fled a fight that was getting too tough for her liking, Cara would fight until Magneto would drag her away. After a few feet Cara collapsed onto her side. Stinger knelt down beside Cara, “Dammit Cara, you push yourself way too hard!” She was about to help Cara up when she realized that the Sentinel was approaching. She quickly stood to her feet and blasted the robot with an electric charge, however her powers were ineffective against this particular model of sentinel as they were heavily insolated and immune to electric attacks. “Oh… shit this is a problem…” Stinger said as watched the Sentinel loom over her. It was programmed not to target members of weapon X so it ignored her and attempted to target Cara.

Cara made her move taking hold of its shadow she used all of her remaining strength to corrupt the machine into turning its own gun into pointing at its ‘hips’ just before it fired. The resounding thud as the third sentinel crashed to the earth. Stinger had breathe a sigh of relief. “Saving my ass must be a pastime of yours Cara.” Stinger said with a smile. She then noticed Cara had passed out. She knelt down beside Cara again and began to try to awaken her. “I need to get her to a doctor.” Stinger said as she began to pick Cara up. “I suppose I should find the infirmary in here…”

As Kyle fell from the sky after being blasted by the sentinels Scott rushed over to catch him. Scott made it just in time to intercept Kyle from hitting the ground. Kyle looked a bit stunned but he was alright. As Scott held Kyle in his arms he asked, “You took a pretty nasty blast, are you alright Kyle?”

Kyle looked at Scott with a squiggly little grin an wrapped his arms around Scott’s neck to give him a big flirtatious hug. Kyle could never pass a rare opportunity to be flirty and this close to the handsome and oh so serious Scott Summers.

Scott blushed nervously and sighed. “What am I going to do with you?”

Kyle giggled mischievously, “For starters you could help me find someplace private…”

Scott quickly interrupted, “Too far Kyle. Never mind, help me subdue those soldiers surrounding Magneto.” He let Kyle down and Kyle began to hover slightly above the ground once more.

More sentinels dropped down from the sky, the X-men would have serious trouble taking out this amount of them. Magneto knew that he’d be able to handle them with great ease but he had to get rid of this continual flow of soldiers. As Pietro knocked them out they wouldn’t stay down. Scott noticed the large group of sentinels that landed at knew that they had to help Magneto available to handle them. Scott blasted a soldier back with his optic blast and he realized that the man sparked. The soldiers that attacked Magneto and Pietro were robots made out of a non-metal alloy. This was another clever trick of Trasks to subdue Magneto while he sent the sentinels to deal with the others.

“Those are Robots! Magneto, Kyle, Pietro, Fuyumi, don’t hold back they aren’t human!” Scott warned them.

“Leave the sentinels to me. Cyclops please handle the toy soldiers.” Magneto spoke in a tone that indicated how tired he was of Trasks games. He levitated over to the mass of sentinels and as they attacked he erected his electromagnetic shield to nullify the sentinel’s blasts. “Fools will create weapons of even more foolish quality.” Magneto said as he waved his hands back and forth, the air seemed to ripple as he used his powers. The Sentinels began to slam into one another. He then mad a chopping motion causing the heads of several of the sentinels to decapitate and fall to the ground. He simply crumpled the others up. And hurled them at Trasks’ temp base.

Trask ordered everyone to pull back and retreat. He then spoke to David and Victor on his head piece. “David, Victor, We’re leaving. Collect the Weapon and X-23 and let’s get out of here. I’ve sent someone to retrieve Alexander. Frenzy can’t be found and Stinger seems to be with the enemy. Do NOT leave without the Weapon! That’s an order!!”

Charles found Frenzy waking up from her earlier encounter with Sam. She spoke to her calmly. “Hello Joanna. I am Charles Xavier. I sensed that you desired to speak with me. You comrades are currently leaving. Do you still wish to meet with me? I will let you go if you must.”

Frenzy sat up and responded, “I’d rather talk with you actually. Oh… your student, the one with the wind based abilities, he’s one tough contender I’ll give him that. You run one mean operation Xavier. I’m interested in hearing about this place from your perspective. When I listen to Trask go on about the X-men I feel like I’m sitting in on one massive propaganda session. I like to be fair.”

“Very well Joanna. I like that very much.” Charles then sat with her and began to explain his mission and mindset. He explained why Magneto changed and his vision for the future. Frenzy now seeing Charles’ vision, joined the X-men.

[inside the Danger room]

X-23 stumbled back some from the hit Logan gave her and shock it off. Her helmet had a very nice crack in it. She pulled it off and let helmet fall to the ground. Long black hair fell free. She had some build that was the same as Logan and Lady Death Strike. The two fought swapping blows equally. Logan was confirmed in his suspicions that X-23 was a copy of him. Perhaps Weapon-X still had his DNA copied to create a clone. That program sickened him. To Logan it was the most inhumane thing yet they persecuted mutants for being inhumane.

Vincent Took metal form and attacked Sabertooth. He delivered a swift punch to sabertooth that Sabertooth dodged by flipping over Vincent. Sabertooth kicked Vincent in the torso and sent him into a wall. He then pounced Vincent and pinned him to the wall. Vincent was well able to lift the pressure Sabertooth placed on him while in metal form. He punched Sabertooth in the jaw knocking him down. Vincent backed away, keeping an eye on Sabertooth.

“Why don’t you stop hiding behind that tin can metal skin and show me your REAL strength? Common, I know it stunts your Psionic power greatly. Show me what your Telekinesis can do, the telekinesis that even out does Charles Xavier. Well what do you say Vince…?” Sabertooth taunted he really wanted Vincent to focus his attention on him so that David could sedate him. Vincent then swapped forms and Sabertooth leaped with great swiftness at him. A few inches from Vincent’s face Sabertooth had stopped in midair by Vincent’s telekinesis. Sabertooth hovered in the air suspended by Vincent’s telekinesis. Vincent then slammed him into the danger room wall crushing him under the telekinetic force.

“You wanted a taste now you have it.” Vincent replied rather coldly. His exherted so much telekinetic force onto Sabertooth that he was actually smashing him into the metal walls of the danger room.

Meanwhile David nimbly dodged Philips time bombs. Hideki after timing things just right blasted David with his ‘fireworks’ but because of David’s suite, which refracts light energy, the blast of explosive colorful sparklers bounced off in multiple directions. Causing Philip and Hideki to dodge about.

David stopped and smiled at Hideki. Hideki took notice and it reminded him of the look Aidan O’doherty gave him the day before, one that shows someone has claimed something as their own. Hideki didn’t much care for that look. David then spoke smoothly “You know, you really remind me of myself, handsome with a power befitting your natural flare. Too bad my suite refracts light Matsuzaka, that would have been a pretty good shot, much like this one.” David then quickly pulled out a small energy plasma gun and shot Philip in the chest.

Philip fell backward and Hideki was startled. “Boomer!!” Hideki called out. Philip sat up and his skin seemed to glow. He stood and held his hands out and a undirected blast of pink energy shot out from Philips hands. David was knocked backwards a bit. He hit the ground shocked to see and feel that Boom-Boom had a power that their intelligence hadn’t warned them about, energy absorption and redirection. Philip didn’t often use this ability due to lack of control but this time it came in handy and he got lucky enough not to hit his teammate.

David noticed that this was his opportunity to sedate Vincent. He with the flick of the wrist pulled a sedative gun as he lay on the ground and shot a well-placed tranquilizer at Vincent’s neck. Vincent fell to his knees releasing Sabertooth from his telekinesis and the passed out. Philip and Hideki tried to run toward Vincent but as soon as their backs were turned David launched chords around both student’s necks and constricted them from behind. Hideki and Philip pulled at their leash like constraints struggling to get free while Sabertooth grabbed Vincent and darted out of the danger room doors. Leaving the mansion all together. Logan was so deadlocked with X-23 that he couldn’t pursue his predatory rival. David cut the constraints on Philip and Hideki and dashed out of the danger room. He shouted to X-23, “X-23 let’s move out! We got the weapon. Logan hope to see you soon old friend.” Sabertooth and David were nowhere to be found and Vincent had been officially kidnapped.

Ryan stood up, the world had finally stopped spinning. Quickly surveying the battlefield, Ryan noticed he was very over extended. Rushing back to the rest of the X-men, Ryan pushed as hard as he could. He'd had a good long rest and was ready to move and fight as hard as he could. Luckily for him, running on all fours was so much faster than on two legs, Ryan never understood why everyone else stuck to their bipedal running. Looking over his shoulder, Ryan was glad he'd decided to move. A large number of sentinels had descended upon the Mansion and Ryan wouldn't have wanted to be there when they did. Luckily for him, Magneto had decided he really didn't like the sentinels just landing wherever they pleased. In fact, it appeared he took exception to that and forcibly ejected them from the premises. It was terrifying, but Ryan became very aware of just how glad he was that Magneto was on his side. Remembering Vincent, Ryan called out with his thoughts. Professor Xavier, can you hear me? How're Vincent and the rest of them in the Danger Room doing? we left them with an advantage in numbers, but you can never be sure.

Unfortunately, Magneto had stopped dealing with the foot soldiers, which it turned out were just non-metallic robots. Nothing he could do really. Not if they were synthenoids. That, however, was just perfect for Ryan. Time to really let loose, now Ryan didn't have to worry about killing them, which he was very concerned about when fighting the human men. Ryan ran as fast as he could, still on all fours, joining Scott, Thantos, Kyle, and the others in dispatching the rest of the foot soldiers, Ryan pounced on the nearest synthenoid, knocking it to the ground and landing on top of it. Ryan raised his fist high in the air, claws snapping out and plunging his clawed hand into the depths of the machine, rummaging around until he felt something important and ripping it from the machine. The thing sparked in his hands and the robot stopped moving. Ryan crushed the component in his fist. He heard others grouping up behind him, preparing to get him in the back. Ryan lashed out with his right foot, kicking the robots as hard as he could, sending them flying, luckily he'd aimed away from the others. They landed a good distance away, right under where magneto had dropped a sentinel a few moments later. Leaping from his position on the ground to a new target, Ryan landed on two robots at once, slamming their heads together and smashing them completely. Ryan locked his hands together and raised them above his head, slamming them sideways into the chest of an oncoming soldier, knocking out his chest cavity completely which was hurled into another soldier and exploded. Whipping his entire body around, Ryan lashed out with his claws, turning himself, temporarily, into a bladed tornado quickly taking out another four approaching soldiers. Slightly winded, Ryan then jumped back and joined Scott, Thantos, and the others who were working on the foot soldiers under Magneto's directions. "Damn there's a lot of them. Plus, they don't go down as easy as the humans do. Guess we'll have to fight smarter, not harder. Any idea how to take down a big number of them all at once?" Ryan asked. "I'm only any good one on one, not when there's so many of them."

Thantos watched as Magneto destroyed and crushed the sentinels. 'Really glad that hes on our side' Thantos extinguished his pewter and reached his hand out iron pulling the coins he had thrown earlier back to his hand. Turning to face the incoming robotic solders he held up the handful of coins and smiled. ' If their not human then i don't have to feel bad about this.' Tossing the coins into the air Thantos flares steel and sends the coins flying into the approaching wave of synthenoids. A crunching sound can be heard as the coins force their way through the bodies of the synthenoids.

The coins reach the back of the wave of robots. 'Not down yet?' Thantos quickly flares iron pulling the coins back through the robots. The second wave of coins crippling and collapsing the robots as Thantos looks around for Ryan. Seeing him across the battlefield he pushes himself off of a fallen coin landing behind him. "You alright Ryan? You seam a little tired. I didn't throw you to hard did I?"

Jonathan froze.

The words were repeating in his mind over and over and over again. For a second he almost couldn't believe his ears, determined that his mind had played a trick on him and that his sister in her honey sweet voice had not just asked him this question but in fact a much more innocent one that could easily be answered. To his dismay, this undying hope was shattered by her next words.

"Come on, Jonathan! You have to use your power!"

He stepped back from her, his heart aching slightly in worry and fear.

"Just this once, Jonathan, please!"

His eyes snapped to the sky as an army of sentinels dropped to the ground with an earthshaking thud from every metallic set of feet touching down. He knew that he could help the X-men with his most powerful and uncontrolled ability. He knew that with concentration and effort he could easily help them, buying them time at the very least. However, Jonathan did not trust his ability. The talent of bending reality to your will comes at a price, this like this always do. Jonathan's price, at least as far as he believed, was a small part of his soul every time. Each and every use of this ability always left him feeling a little more dead inside, as if it were so unnatural and wrong that his very soul shed a piece of itself in shame whenever he dared use it.

And now Memory was telling him to use it on something as big as a sentinel?

'Is she insane?!'

"You are so much more powerful than you think, Jonathan," She called at him griping the shoulders of his top and dragging his face down closer to her own until her warm minty breath blew onto his pain filled features.
"I know you can do this." With an upward wave of his arms, Jonathan removed her hands from his and pushed her back slightly.

"You can't ask me to do this, Memory. Not you. You know what happened last time." He replied in a haunted voice as the memories of his last use of this ability returned. Memories of the dream, memories of the boy. Mostly though, there were memories of the almost puppet-like qualities that this eight year old child version of Jonathan Moore possessed, following every command that J gave him and never once showing any signs of independent thought. He had created a mindless being from his own dreams and the guilt he felt having to destroy was almost too much to bear, even now. Thankfully, the creations from his dream appear and disappeared similarly to how the figures and objects in his victims fear-filled worlds came into existence, breaking away in the wind like dust or smoke.

"J... I- I know this is unfair to ask of you. I know that I shouldn't but we have no choice. There are creatures of death in metal suits dropping onto top of us and the only one who can actually do any real damage to them is currently fucking busy! Now do something!"

Closing his eyes reluctantly, Jonathan finally did as she asked. Focussing on an image within his mind - the image of a large crack ripping through a sentinel's body which had landed not far from their position - he concentrated on bringing into existence. It did not work. Trying again, he concentrated harder. Trying one last time, he gave a pathetic whimper and gave up.

"Memory... it's not working. Usually I have to be asleep for this to work but... I would need complete calm to concentrate but it's not working. I-I just can't... I can't do it... I'm sorry..."

Her eyebrows pulled close together and she moved in close to him threateningly, their bodies mere inches away. She was trying to intimidate him lightly, making him at least keep trying. Her powers were useless in this situation with the soldiers being robotic and the outfit that she had chosen was hardly one designed for fighting in. She lifted herself onto her toes to move in closer, just to make her point more.

"Jonathan, I know that you hate this power... I know that you never want to ever use it again... but we are running out of options. We are losing this battle and all of the others are currently busy trying to stop these things. You have the ability to at least stall them until Magneto can finish them off and we need you. Now help us."

Their eyes connected for a moment and Jonathan gave one stiff nod before moving her out of the way. Taking a deep breath to calm himself slightly and closing his eyes once more, he allowed his power to resurface and attempted to at least do some damage to the metal creatures terrorising his family and friends. Focussing hard on that same image of a crack ripping along one of the sentinel, he tried to let his daydream come to life.

For a sickeningly worrying moment, Jonathan and Memory waited as one of the large robotic men located them and started in their direction, its palm raised to fire. It seemed to them that nothing would happen, especially for Jonathan. He had never shown anyone this ability before except Memory and only a few people knew he possessed it - those being Vincent, Xavier, Magneto and a few other professors - and it appeared that this would continue. Then, however, the sound of metal breaking open reached their ears and the ground-breaking footsteps of the sentinel ceased. Jonathan opened his eyes and looked up at the monstrous mechanical man with his sister. A thin crack in the sentinel's face which was sparking and flaming dangerously had opened up and a wide grin spread on J's face before the creature began to move yet again.

Jonathan took a step back staring up at their pursuer, panicking greatly about whether or not they would survive. Taking his sister's hand, they ran, as fast as they could as far as they could which ended up leading them into the middle of the fight with the robots Magneto had been fighting. The half-siblings turned simultaneously to see the sentinel that Jonathan had damaged (if you could really call that little scratch into it's armour damage) crush in on itself before being tossed to the ground unceremoniously by Magneto, their saviour.

Each taking a sigh of relief, they fled for safer ground away from the robots but close enough to lend assistance if needed.

(OOC: I am so sorry to everyone that you have waited this long for something so... crap. I'll do better in my next post, I promise.)

Black Jack

During the battle, a figure stood on a branch, hidden within the leaves of the trees, just watching. With freshly polished black dress shoes, perfect, unwrinkled Armani black dress pants, a white button down silk shirt, with an equally unwrinkled black Armani suit jacket, with a beige trench coat, left unbuttoned, Travis made no move to help in anyway, even to those whom were suffering. A student, so he assumed, ran onto the property during the middle of the fight, taking Frenzy away from Cara. His eyes passed over Trask and his team, while keeping an eye out for just one.

He had worked with Trask in the past. Being a high bidder for his skills, he couldn't say no. He, himself, had done some things that others would consider, morally wrong, or disturbing. To him, it mattered but little. He did what needed to be done, and in his eyes, he didn't do anything wrong. Perhaps pushed the limits a little over the line. Others have said to him he was a savior, being able to erase any unwanted memories, such as deaths, bad break-ups, vicious attacks to name a few. Trask was not one that Travis would want to work with on a regular basis, regardless of the money he threw at him. He preferred to be able to choose his clients based on what they needed, and if they left the message correctly. Travis was a bit of a perfectionist, his clothes a good example. No wrinkles, perfect size, fit, and even the creases down the front were perfectly straight.

His eyes scanned over Xavier and Magneto. Travis had passed by Charles many times, and had even gone to a few of his speeches at the white house, explaining the Mutant Phenomenon. Travis respected Xavier. He approached situations with calmness, and logic. He did what he could for mutants, even making a school for them to go, be themselves, and control their powers. He had the best intentions not only for mutants, but for the future of the world as well. But no matter how good the intentions are, they are always met with setbacks, and those that won't/will never agree. Travis was positive that if Xavier saw him, he would recognize him.

Early on in his life, Travis agreed with a lot of what Magneto said, and did. Humans and Mutants would never learn to accept one another. Sure, there would be the odd few that would accept the other, but it wouldn't be enough. War would still break out. Many would lose loved ones on both sides, and today was a prime example. Trask, going all out just for one, would demolish the school, kill who needed to be killed, just to get what he wanted, not caring who he stepped over to get it, be it friends, foe, or his own flesh and blood. To prove his own point, Trask had brought his top guns. X-23, Agent Zero, Sabertooth, Frenzy, Stinger.

The battle was growing bigger, enveloping most of the Xavier Campus. It even got so close to Travis, that he took this time to teleport, vanishing from his spot in the tree, to inside the mansion. Specifically an office. The one he was watching for had not come outside, so they had to be still inside. The windows had been blown out. Glass, dirt, rocks and parts of the wall covered the floor. Glass cracked under his shoes as he scanned the room, never taking his hands from his pockets. He had studied a map of the Institute before making his way over to the school, and by the looks from outside, and the office, he was on the east side, an office most likely owned by one of the teachers. The room was useless to him, and so he vanished once again, this time appearing in front of an elevator shaft. The door opened, and Travis calmly walked in. The Doors shut, and it began it's decent downwards to the lower levels.

The elevator stopped, and just as the doors began to open, Travis teleported out, reappearing in the Control room. Below, in the danger room, he could see Vincent, Wolverine, X-23, Agent Zero, and a few of the students fighting with each other. At least the weapon is still here.. Again, the one he was looking for was not present in the Danger room, so he left, vanishing as quickly as he arrived.

Adria

She was taken to safety from Vincent, and rode the back of Ryan to the infirmary. While she was out, the battle continued. Vila had continued to hold her position in the Danger Room, while Aaiyah and Alexander dominated the surface. Agent Zero ended up taking Jonathan and Memory hostage, making them take him to the Danger Room. Cara and Stinger went neck and neck, while Logan couldn't give up a change to give it to Sabertooth. Xavier seemed to help those on both sides of the fence, while Sentinals made their entrance, tying Magneto up with their presence.

Adria didn't like what she was feeling while she was sedated. Like being in a vivid dream, she could feel something tugging at her core, her subconscious desperately trying to latch onto it. Even though she ran, she didn't move. There was darkness everywhere around her, and the only light was herself, and the white orb that she could not catch, no matter how hard she tried.

The water that engulfed her body put tremendous weight on her body from being compacted into a specific shape. Like her own power had turned against her, her eyebrows furrowed together, her lungs being rid of what air it had, and was replaced with little mouthfuls of water from her sudden gasps. The temperature had dropped, and for the first time in a long time, she could feel the coldness.

It was an odd feeling to feel life slipping from your very body, an experience Adria hadn't felt before. She`s had her fair share of wounds and blood loss, but nothing like this. It was suffocating. With her skin turning colors, Adria ran as fast as she could to the white energy orb. Slowly, but surely, she began to get closer, and eventually, what felt like years, she reached out to it. Her finger tips barely brushed it, and the next thing Adria knew, she was coughing up water, her lungs gasping for breath.

"Mission is complete."

Adria could hear Agent Six, but she never got the chance to see her. Her head pounded and her lungs hurt. She was bruised up on her side from the fight, but luckly, she didn't have any broken bones.

Adria + Black Jack

Travis had teleported to many different rooms, on the lower levels and top levels. He had no luck looking for who he wanted to, and their was only a few places left. The Infirmary was close by, so instead of teleporting, he simply walked. As he got closer, he could hear the sound of water splashing onto the floor, and someone coughing, like they were just saved from drowning. He only knew of one that could manipulate water at this institute, and that ment he was on the right track. The Infirmary door was slightly Ajar, Travis stopping in front looking through the crack.

"Mission is complete."

Pushing the door open, Adria looked over, ice blue eyes meeting Travis's brown ones. Before she could ask who he was, or where he came from, he disappeared, and reappeared beside her, his hand covering her eyes. "Been a long time Adria," he began, closing his eyes. "Sleep.. You'll feel better after."

Adria couldn't ignore what he said, her eyelids feeling like they had bricks hanging from the lids. Within seconds, she was out again. "Let me see what you've seen.." Travis whispered, the memories of the last few months playing for him like a movie on a big screen.

Cara’s eyes flickered slightly, the sounds of the battle were still raging around her but she felt somewhat distant from it all; her head was pounding and her ears ringing heavily. “W… Wha…” she groaned her senses still not quite back to what they should be. It took some time for her to realise that Stinger was trying to pick her up.

Slowly her surroundings began to become slightly clearer although still fogged over, if it wasn’t for Stinger’s brightly coloured hair she would have blended in with the now greying skies.

She made an attempt to speak. “St… Sting...” the words sounding weak in her throat. Perhaps she was more hurt then she had earlier thought. Eventually the fog began to lift and the resounding throb in her head brought her into reality the sharp pain in her shoulder quickly following.

She sat up quickly; slightly alarming Stinger who tried to keep her still but Cara just shrugged her off, pulling herself weakly to her feet. “No.” she managed, her voice croaking. She could see the battle still raging around them, Magneto was dealing with the sentinels the massive metal men crumbling beneath his power and the weapon x attackers seemed to be retreating. That was good news; Cara had no intention of becoming a puppet any time soon.

She turned over to look towards the mansion, Jonathan and Memory had retreated back towards Magneto evidently running into trouble with a sentinel, Ryan and Thantos appeared to be dealing with the remaining soldiers and it looked as though another two mutants had arrived, one being the Art teacher Vincent the other Cara didn’t recognise but it looked like the mad mutant Ace knew them, who could tell if that was good news or not.

As Cara took in her surroundings her other senses came back in full swing, the crunch of sentinels crushing together and falling to the ground deafening her, the taste and smell of blood and sweat filling her nose and mouth making her wince. The pain in her shoulder and head was intense and followed with an aching that hit to her very core.

She stumbled under the weight of her own senses for a moment looking as though she was about to crash down once more but managed to hold on, pulling herself into a proper footing, she drew the knife from her boot and began to look through the bodies.

There wasn’t many bodies remaining most of the losing soldiers having retreated at Trask’s orders, it seemed that Cara was the only one actually aiming to kill on the mutant side. ‘Pacifists!’ she grumbled to herself in her thick Russian accent. Eventually she found what she was looking for, a radio. She picked it from the corpse and checked to see if it was still working. There was a slight amount of crackling through the speaker but it was definitely still operational. It could be the lucky find they needed.

She turned to limp quickly back towards the students collecting the four of them together. “Are all of you ok?” She asked as she approached. “Why are you all out here? You should be inside where it’s safe!” she told them all hurriedly, checking the four of them over for injuries and ignoring her own.

“Are all of you ok?”

Jonathan and Memory turned quickly to the weak voice which had just managed to get the words out from behind them, the badly injured figure of their music teacher limping with great difficulty in their direction. Before either could react, she was speaking again.

“Why are you all out here? You should be inside where it’s safe!”

As Cara, or Shadowdancer (which Memory liked more than Cara's real name), began to check everyone over, inspecting their injuries and wounds while ignoring her own pains, Jonathan made an attempt to stop her and search observe her own. For the most part the siblings had received only minor cuts and bruises. Cara however looked like she had just been in a war, which was fairly appropriate in the current context. This is what had been brought upon them, a war, and Jonathan was going to make it to the bitter end with Cara in one piece if it killed him.

"The conditions inside aren't much better, ma'am." He spoke softly in his husky Texan voice trying desperately to have a look at her wounds while she continued to ignore them. His first aid skills were fairly basic but something was better than nothing.

"It was Vincent who told us to come outside. And..." He looked her up and down, grimacing slightly at the damage to her body. "...if you don't mind me saying, you seem to be in greater danger out here than ourselves." A tremor vibrated through the ground as yet another sentinel dropped with a clunk, the multicoloured body crushed into a crude ball shape, making Jonathan Memory have to stop for a moment and regain their balance. Reaching out his hand to help his teacher, Jonathan pulled back suddenly taking a full step and back and looked to the ground.

'I can't touch her skin... I can't help her without my gloves...'

Memory, realising her half-brother's dilemma, took the role herself. Her first aid skills were also quite basic but she knew all of the essentials. All she needed now was somewhere safe to look over their professor's wounds. With her honey-sweet voice and a reassuring smile on her face that few could usually resist, Memory spoke softly to the woman only four years older than herself.

"Our injuries are minor, unimportant. You've been through a lot more. We need to get you somewhere safe to take a look at your wounds." Glancing around, she tried to find some place to the take her. Seeing nothing, nowehere, she returned her chocolate eyes to the woman.

"Please let us help. You are in no fit state to fight."

Maxx paused her annoyance and nodded, impressed with Ace's dramatic entrance. However, annoyance returned quickly as she was addressed 'Sparky'.

"I guess you can say I was bringing you a gift. But it seems like you and your pals here have seen better days. You told me you worked at a school, not a war zone." Grey eyes scanned the wounded, the tired, the determined, and the defeated. Extending a lending hand to others was not a general habit of hers, but these were fellow mutants. Besides, who else would be bake off against, all of the other cafe's were too cookie cutter. "Just tell me what you need."

There was a woman, who Maxx guessed was one of authority with the tone of voice she spoke to some of the others. Her appearance was a little rough for wear, and there was nothing special Maxx could have done for her physically, but maybe she could offer her services another way.

"If you can get her inside, I can help to keep any straggling speds away from you, assuming you can patch her up." Maxx offered before turning to Ace and shrugging uncomfortably. Maxx was out of her element, and couldn't wait to sleep and then pull a gig, followed of course by a nice stiff margarita.