Cara Black (Shadowdancer)'s Story

As Robert had became an odd mix of excitement and nervousness as time went on, he gave Magneto and Professor Xavier a curt nod, having shook the later's hand which he stared at for a few moments, as well as giving a friendly short grin to Aidan before deciding on the team, thinking it was always nice to meet a fellow Brit abroad.
Replying to Joanna, Rob returned the smile and replied; "Well, probably you lot gonna teach me much more about being an x-men, even if I am the substitute today!" before turning round in shock as he realized who Kent was, with help from the man himself and Hideki; exclaiming; "Bloody hell, your that huge news big shot fella! Man,Kent Van Pelt! Huh, your mate over there's right your a giant in the news world! Man, my sis ain't gonna believe a word of what i say when I get home. Makes me wish I had a camera on me. Brilliant to meet ya pal, and sure, you can call me Robert if ya want. Heck, you can call me Nancy if ya want!", shaking the journalists had vigorously, gushing over his celebrity status, while giving a quick chuckle to Logan dragging the fella called Hideki away.
He then turned his attention, just like the others in the team, towards Jonathan. He nodded carefully and focused on the team leaders words, trying his best to remember each rule and not shake around in giddiness and worry too much, though puzzled with the looks he shot at Aidan and Cara, but seemed excited nonetheless, bellowing a cheerfully; "Yes Mr. Jonathan sir!" as he finished his talk, and followed after the team, with Jonathan moving along besides him. The team captain asked him what powers he possessed, and turned to the man with a smile that showed he'd be hopping to be asked soon.
"Great, glad you asked mate! I'll show ya!", he eagerly blurted, before, without warning, a pair of dagger-like blades popped out of Robert's forearms, and changed the blade his left arm to shape like a sickle.
"You see, like that Wolverine chap on the news, I bring blades out, but only two of them, and in my arms, and much, much bigger! Don't think there as tough though, his stuff can cut through steel, while mine, well, they are steel! Oh, and i got some metal floating about in my blood a lot so i'm a bit slower than some fellas.", he half explained excitedly, making the blades retract back in his arms with a smug smile plastering his face.

Jonathan

Jonathan flinched when Robert released the blades from his arms, then listened intently to his explanation. He noted it down in his mind and began to think of how exactly he could put Robert to use. While he had a good offensive ability, the man didn't seem like much of a fighter.
'I'll take what I can get,' he thought, then followed his team to the hanger.

When they were in the air Jonathan sat alone. Focussing his mind he attempted to push his power to his right hand. He stared down at it, eyes half closed with the concentration. Closing over his fingers he allowed his fear power to gather there. Flicking his fingers out quickly, palms facing up, her released the ability. A wisp of black smoke swirled into existence. Though his power took the form of this smoke when he used it to infect minds around him with fear it never really seemed much like smoke. It didn't move right. Instead of blowing around in the wind it slithered through the air. It's dark tendrils reminded Jonathan of oil, the way it pours to the ground. Just like oil his smoke also did not rise, as it should, but fell. It slipped through his fingers and twisted and coiled. There was a purpose to it.

He closed his hand shut tight then released another quick puff of smoke, and it too rose for a moment, then began to slip down past his hands. It was searching. Searching for a mind to plague. As it began to stretch farther from him it's inky form thinned and separated before it finally ripped from his hold and dissipated into the air, finally rising as smoke should. He watched it until it faded out of existence, then lowered his hand and turned to his team.

"Ok, our area is a good one. It is a solitary building a little distance way from other buildings except one. There's water on one side so unless the mutants have something that can work with the water we have them blocked on one side. We have to somehow keep them contained in this area. It might be difficult due to the layout but we'll manage it." He pulled back from them all again and readied himself. He would think of more specific organisations and tactics when they saw what they were dealing with.



Jonathan and his team finally got close to their drop point. He gave each of them a quick glance over. Cara, Aidan, Kent, Frenzy, and now the new recruit, Robert. Following his own rules he began thinking of pairs quickly.

"Alright, here's what's happening. Cara, you're partnered with Aidan. He can take more damage than you can, and his powers to bring things into existence could potentially help you. Frenzy, you're with Robert. Keep him safe. Kent, you're with me. I've got the least offensive abilities, I'll might need your protection."

He was happy with the pairings he made, but guessed that would likely not be entirely the same for everyone. However, there wasn't time to argue it and he wouldn't be changing his mind based on a team member's grievances with another.

"From what the professor got in Cerebro, the are both strong mutants. One has the ability to manipulate elemental forces, but he is believed to have more than this. The other has abilities relating to the astral plane and supernatural abilities. He's also a teleporter, so watch yourselves.
"The only ones who can defend the team against attacks like this are Kent and Aidan, but Kent will be our main shield. Our best course of action will be to separate them. The first is well suited to combat with his abilities, and will be the biggest threat as far as I can tell. If we separate them, put ourselves between them if we must, Kent can continue to shield one side with us fighting to assist him, while the others fight the least offensive of the two. We cannot afford to let them stay together."

He sighed and looked out onto the streets outside the building.
"To be honest I'm hoping this can be sorted without violence, but I get the feeling we're going to have to fight. Regardless," he said, his tone serious, "our top priority is keeping everyone alive. Deadly force can be used, but it's a last resort only."

Jonathan stared down at small group of people outside the building. Ghostly shadow beings seeped from the ground and headed from the group to the police and HMR soldiers. He narrowed his eyes slightly.
'There you are,' he thought to himself, a flutter of panic making his hands shake. The second man had the ability to summon astral beings. They turned and attempted to make a flee from the building with the distraction, but Jonathan's team were getting dropped off directly in the path.

Jonathan had another quick look of the group's formation.
"Cara, if we can't make them see sense then use your shadows in any way you can to try and direct the people away from each other. I'll help as much as I can. Keep the elemental away from the water. Help Cara if you can in any way Aidan. Frenzy, Robert, you to are going to have to be against those creatures that are being summoned if we need to fight and separate them. You'll need to keep that one contained. Kent, keep use protected from whatever the elemental throws at us. If you can't defend against it any more, tell us and I'll we'll move to more defensive positions." They touched down where their targets could see them, so they would know they could not escape this way.

Erika

Erika ordered a group of security guards to form a group around her and ready their weapons. If one were to fall, the rest were to close in around her and protect her from harm. She didn't like having to manipulate people like this and having them die for her, but she would not let her children see the kind of hate that most other mutants had. Elliot, her sweet little six year old, and Olivia, only two years younger. She would not seem them harmed. She turned to three people on the floor and spoke to them with her power.

"I want you to destroy very camera on this floor. Every thing that can show we were here. Then find wherever the cameras record their footage to a destroy everything from today. Make sure no one will ever know we were here." Frowning she turned to her companion, Oliver.
"So, do you have any kind of plan for getting us out of here?" she asked him, a touch of desperation in her voice.

Sam

Sam stood with his nervous friend waiting on one of the men in suits to take them to an interview room. It had been over ten minutes of waiting. All around there had been slowly forming chaos and above there was slammed footsteps. Drawing his shield back closer around himself and his friend, Ethan, they waited.

The commotion above them grew louder, and soon others were also looking to the ceiling with frowns of concern and faces of worry. Then all of a sudden a crash sounded just behind them. They turned in a panic to a man standing surrounded by a group of dazed gunmen. The man charged up to Sam and Ethan, along with other people in the lobby, and kept them stuck there. Sam stared at the ceiling where a rugged circle had been removed, as if melted away. Seeing the power of this man, he kept himself and Ethan back.

From the quick conversation between the mad man and these new people, the X-men, Sam had realised that there was no way the man was willing to give up his hostages. Others around him jerked suddenly, and some began to form up together and hold hands - though only a few. At first he didn't realise what was going on but it suddenly dawned on him. There was a telepath here. They were likely giving all of the hostages instructions, but Sam and Ethan in Sam's shield were unable to hear it. Probably the main man that spoke to the crazed mutant. Magnus, was it? A codename.

He cursed quietly then stepped back and extended his shield until it was merely air, moving so that Ethan was removed from it, giving him the ability to understand hear the telepath. The shield was dangerously close to their captor, though Sam had no idea how his shield would react to the man's ability. He snapped it back to just outside his body and stepped in front of his friend, close enough to help him, but far enough away that Sam's shadow didn't touch Ethan. Now at least one of them would know what the hell was going on.

Sam kept his eyes on the mutant but tried to pay attention a little to the X-men team around them. He believed they were indeed here to help, so the first chance that Sam could get he would make them take Ethan. Sam was fine with his shield. Besides, he trusted they were here to help, but he wouldn't be letting them take him anywhere. Ethan could just use his power to get away as soon as possible when rescued. Ethan turned to Sam and reached to grab his exposed arm but hit his hand against the invisible barrier around the teen.
"We need to hold onto each other, everyone, so they can get us out of here, but..." Ethan whispered looking at where the barrier stood invisible.

'Perfect, I'm on my own either way.'

Robert looked somewhat smug when he followed the X-Men into their hanger and fly off to the HMC building, believing fully to himself that he had managed to impress the team leader, smiling to himself as he ended up lounging in a jet of some sorts, as he merely twiddled his thumbs, looking around at the rest of the group excitedly. His eagerness to go on this sudden mission he basically volunteered for, diminished and transformed into nervousness for a moment when he realized that there was a high chance of him dying due to being immensely under trained for this kind of dangerous heroism, especially since it seems there's those mutant 'protesters' who thoroughly enjoy destroying property and hurting to get the point across to not destroy property and hurt people who are mutants. He decided to quickly shake these thoughts out of his head as heard Johnathan begin to speak, listening intently at his every word, somewhat relived at both having innocent folks relatively easier to keep out of danger, as well as not having to put up with 'pewmans' as much, or at least that's what popped into his mind. He decided to keep his mouth shut, unsure of what to say, feeling a bit like he decided to take a swan dive into the deep end while wearing lead weights.

As they got closer to the drop point, Jonathan began announcing his decisions on pairings after having a quick glance at all the team members, to which Roberts gave him a grin and nod in reassurance. He paired Robert with Frenzy, one of the ladies that brought him to Xavier's Institute, and one of the members he knew of better compared to the rest, although admittedly marginally.
"Don't worry Jon, I ain't as fit and young as I used to be but I can take care of myself alright, hopefully you wont have to keep an eye out too much, eh, Frenzy?" He commented with a warm smile, trying to put himself at ease than the two he mentioned.
Jonathan then talked about who they would be fighting, who from the sounds of things were extremely deadly and dangerous, one with possibly more powers along with controlling the elements and one who sounded as if he some ghost powers along with teleporting abilities.
It seemed that Kent and Aidan were the power houses of the team, guessing from what Jonathan said, which somewhat surprised Robert from both of their appearances of being well groomed finely suited men, but merely shrugged to himself as he remembered you couldn't really tell who a mutant was from their looks. He also realized he had no idea what or where Cerebro is. He decided now wasn't really the time to ask. It seemed that the plan was for Kent to act like a shield for the team, no doubt for whatever mutant abilities he had, while each half of the team kept the two criminals apart from each-other until they were both subdued. Jonathan then added that he'd prefer things went peaceful as possible and that keeping everyone alive was the aim here, and deadly force was entirely only for a last resort.
"They sound like a pretty nasty pairing, i'm with you on the whole keeping them separate thing, definitely not going to be sunshine and rainbows if they stay together," Robert babbled, giving his own two cents on the matter, and added; "Well, good luck lads and ladies, this is going to be a busy day indeed. Definitely not what you expect to be doing on your holidays, that's for sure." He gave a small chuckle at his last comment, trying to keep the mood light.

Robert then made his way to the side, to peer over at the building, look somewhat paler as he saw the strange astral creatures heading towards the police and soldiers, transfixed somewhat on their ghostly forms as he began to mull over his decision to tag along.
"Ah well, too late to turn back now. We have a job to do, even if i'm not an X-man.", he mumbled to himself, as he noticed a pair of figures making a run for for it from the building.
Jonathan the suddenly gave orders to the team, telling Robert and Frenzy that they would have to face off against the astral beings if they were going to be able to separate the mutants, much to Robert's dismay. He merely sighed to himself before taking a deep breath and putting on a brave smile.
"Well, best get to it then! Last one there is a stinking pewman!" he called out cheerfully to the rest of the team, when they disembarked in front of the two mutant foes, making a pair of scimitar shaped blades pop out the sides of his arms with a grunt, his eyes focused on the two criminals.

Cain, Kyle, and Fuyumi

Cain listened and observed carefully as Andy reacted to what was said to him. Things were growing worse. Andy was only more paranoid and afraid than before. Cain decided that he would do something to try to turn the tables a bit. “Andy you will soon see that those men are not as powerful as you think.” Cain replied to Andy. He then stretched his hand out toward the HMR guards and drew their weapons out of their hands and into the air. The guards were taken by surprise with the sudden happening. The guns were then disarmed magnetically by Cain.

Fuyumi thought to act next. She phased through the ground and resurfaced partially beneath a couple of the dumbfounded guards. Grabbing their ankles the dragged them beneath the ground and phased them into another locked room. She came back and repeated the process as the other men attempted to run away. It looked as if the HMR guards were being dragged into the depths of hell. She then rejoined the X-men once all the immediate guards were removed from the immediate area.

Cain focused on Andy, “See now, there is no one here that will hurt you. You are free to escape or come with us. Professor Xavier can help you if you give him the chance.” Cain tried to speak calmly in an attempt to bring Andy down from his paranoia.

[OOC: Granted this happening could serve to make Andy Freak out even more. I know he's supposed to die so it is still plausible for another gunmen to enter and snipe him from a far. Just throwing a suggestion out there.]


Aiden, Frenzy, Kent, Evan, and Vernon

Jonathan and his team finally got close to their drop point. He gave each of them a quick glance over. Cara, Aidan, Kent, Frenzy, and now the new recruit, Robert. Following his own rules he began thinking of pairs quickly. "Alright, here's what's happening. Cara, you're partnered with Aidan. He can take more damage than you can, and his powers to bring things into existence could potentially help you. Frenzy, you're with Robert. Keep him safe. Kent, you're with me. I've got the least offensive abilities, I'll might need your protection."

The team listened closely to Jonathan’s instructions. Kent replied to Jonathan, “Sounds good to me. I’ll keep you protected.”

Aiden simply gave a smug smile, looking towards Cara. “It seems we’re mates now. I say it’s a rather charming fit don’t you agree?” He was pretty pleased with Jonathan’s choice. Aiden was certain that Cara wouldn’t slow him down.

Robert then replied to Jonathan, "Don't worry Jon, I ain't as fit and young as I used to be but I can take care of myself alright, hopefully you won’t have to keep an eye out too much, eh, Frenzy?" He commented with a warm smile.

Frenzy gave a spunky smile. “You’ll be just fine Rob, I know it. One doesn’t live with blades in his forearms all his life and not be able to handle himself in a world full of mutant haters.” She then gave him a playful nudge on the arm.

Jonathan had another quick look of the group's formation. "Cara, if we can't make them see sense then use your shadows in any way you can to try and direct the people away from each other. I'll help as much as I can. Keep the elemental away from the water. Help Cara if you can in any way Aidan. Frenzy, Robert, you to are going to have to be against those creatures that are being summoned if we need to fight and separate them. You'll need to keep that one contained. Kent, keep use protected from whatever the elemental throws at us. If you can't defend against it any more, tell us and I'll we'll move to more defensive positions." They touched down where their targets could see them, so they would know they could not escape this way.

Vernon, Evan and the other rescued mutants were suddenly cut off in their escape path by the X-men team. The group halted in their retreat. “OH COME ON!! What’s this?!” Evan exclaimed. He stopped and placed his hands on his hips impatiently.

Vernon could feel the spiritual energy emanating from Jonathan. His eyes fixated on the young mutant. “That man, it’s like the very spirit of fear emanates from him, like he’s brought death with him.”

Evan gave a curious look at Vernon. He was used to Vernon picking up on strange things spiritually as he encountered people or places. However this was amongst the strangest of reports Vernon has given on spiritual activity. They had little time to further ponder on spirits so Evan shook it off and refocused his attention on the X-men. Stepping ahead of the group he spoke, “Alright blokes what do you want? If you would kindly move out of the way, we would like to be going home and away from all of this bullshit.”

One of the mutants with the group looked quickly at all of the X-men team. “I think they’re here to stop us!! We can’t let them! Traitors!!” The young man shape shifted into a panther and lunged at Jonathan. Frenzy intercepted and with a sucker punch. Her steel hard fist sent the panther spiraling to the ground. He was unconscious and reverted back to human form.

Evan the frowned. “You lot are a twisted bunch you know that? How could you be mutants and want to turn us in to those mutant hating sods?! You’re gonna pay for what you just did to my little friend there and then you’re gonna get the hell out of our way!” He then stomped the ground causing a large piece of glowing concrete to levitate about shoulder length in the air. He then motioned as if throwing a shot put causing the glowing concrete to hurtle towards the X-men. Kent quickly erected a spherical shield that caused the projectile to explode like a bomb on impact.

Frenzy was shocked by the explosive power Evan wielded. “Whoah… This may be harder than I thought.” She said as she entered a fighting stance.

Vernon then created his beam sword.

[his beam swords look like this.]



Vernon kept his eyes lock on the group but spoke to Evan. “Evan we should try to talk this out with them as opposed to using violence.”

Even quickly replied, “A bit too late for that love. Be careful this lot ain’t as weak as they appear to be.”

Aidan grinned widely. “Those two are in love… That’s why they’re such a deadly pair. Oh how novel!” He chuckled.

Vernon pointed his bean sword at the X-men and conjured a few more shadowy spirits. “Keep them busy, I command you!” The shadowy imps darted at the X-men. “Evan we should take the group and go now!”


Oliver

"So, do you have any kind of plan for getting us out of here?" she asked him, a touch of desperation in her voice.

Oliver smiled nervously, “Sure, I’m pretty sure we’re soon to be in the clear. Give me a moment, my garden needs tending.” He said and gave her a wink. Pulling out a few seeds from his pocket he blew on them as if giving dice a lucky blow before throwing them. The seeds tumbled towards the entrance of the building. They immediately grew into large venus flytrap like plants that were very much alive and aggressive. The reinforcements for the HMR would now have trouble reaching them for battling the plants. “We can escape through the back room. I’ll have a hole knocked through the wall.” Oliver replied.

Grinning to himself about Frenzy's earlier comment, giving her a reassuring thumbs up as they X-Men sized down their new opponents, hearing one of the would be escapees exclaim "Whats this?!", though before Rob could blurt out proudly of the name of the mutant vigilante group, he was disappointed as it seemed the man was more worried about Jonathan than the rest of them, to the extent he felt a bit disheartened and little out of the mood to do so.
Still, Robert held his ground along with the rest, even though, he was pretty puzzled with their leaders words, or he assumed was the one in charge, having a gut feeling something was wrong, but was definitely met with surprise as one of the opposing mutants leaped out and transformed into a panther, only for Frenzy to knock them out cold with a single punch, sending them tumbling along the ground.
"Nice one there Frenzy!" Robert called out, obviously impressed with her strength, as well as quite pleased he had someone much more powerful than himself to be partnered with, especially in what seemed like would boil down to massive conflict soon.

As one of the opposing mutants bellowed their frustrations at the X-Men, disgusted with the idea of the vigilante group of selling them out to the well known anti-mutant corporation, which Rob completely understood with their anger, after all he would be exactly the same way if he though some mutants were about to just hand over him and his friends over to some filthy pewmans, but he wasn't here to fell sympathy, he was here to do a job. Still, he had to at least let the man know they weren't intending to just gift wrap them.
He took a deep breath, only managing to bark out; "Oi, lad, your mate started on us before we even said anything! Besides we're-", before being entirely shocked at the sudden attack with explosive concrete, that was thankfully blocked by Kent and his shielding abilities.
"Bloody Hell! They don't give you much chance to chat do they? Cheers Kent!", he exclaimed with a sigh of relief, obviously shaken by the sudden attack, nodding in agreement with Frenzy and adding; "Yup, im definitely in way over my head here, hell, you wouldn't even see my head."

Rob then stared in puzzlement and bewilderment as the other man, the one that seemed worried about the presence of Jonathan, suddenly conjured a beam sword of sorts, leaving Rob to ponder at what on earth was his mutant power? Was he the elementalist that was using more than just your typical earth, water, wind and fire combo? Before he could wonder more on the idea, he then heard Aiden's words of them being a couple. "Eh? They're sweethearts are they? What, are they like Bonnie and Clyde or something? Ah, forget it, no time to ask, looks like we got to beat the sense into them." Suddenly, the beam swordsman suddenly summoned some more shadowy creatures to his said and commanded their attack on the X-men, though it seemed their master was more intent on fleeing than fighting. As if on cue, the British tourist suddenly flew into action against the spectral imps, exclaiming; "Looks like it's my turn to then!", suddenly slashing wildly with the scimitar like blades jutting from the back of his forearms, hacking at the impish beings, hoping to himself he would be able to keep up with these monsters, and hoping even more that Frenzy wouldn't have to step in on him being reckless.

Aidan, Frenzy, Kent, Evan, and Vernon

The dark imps from the astral plain attacked the group. Frenzy countered as a few leaped at her. Knocking an imp to the ground it seemed to disappear upon heavy impact. Another appeared in its place unfortunately. Whether or not it was the same imp or not was unknown. Fenzy glanced over at Kent and he seemed to be knocking the little shadow creatures back with force energy rather easily. Jonathan seemed to be holding his own as well as Robert. Aiden looked as confident as ever. He simply said the word and the imps that attacked merely transformed into stuffed animal versions of their previous selves. “I wish it was that easy for me.” She muttered to herself as she prepared for the next wave of imps. They seemed to be growing smarter as they rushed her.

They began piling on top of her in an attempt to weigh her down. They were a little heavier than she had realized before. ‘Can they alter their density?!’ she thought as she struggled beneath their weight. The imps on the bottom of the pile began to scratch at her. However luckily for her she had steel hard skin so it had no real effect on her. As an imp reached out to scratch her she grabbed its arm and brought it close enough for her to deliver a compact power punch to it. That imp knocked many of the others away freeing her from the pile up.

Robert soon called out to frenzy for help. "Hey Frenzy mate, mind helping me out? I definitely ain't in my prime here. Too many roast dinners I bet.", he called out to his assigned partner, just managing to hold off a pair of attacking spectral goons as he got back upright.

Frenzy quickly looked over to see Robert being slightly overwhelmed by the shadow creatures. She took a sprinter’s stance and charged over toward her comrade barreling through any imp in her way. With all the momentum she stockpiled she punched the air just short of the imps and the force knocked them backward. “Sorry Rob! I got a bit bogged down a moment ago.” Taking a moment to reexamine what she just did, she added, “Man I haven’t knocked something back with the air force of a punch in a long while. Didn’t know I still had it in me. See you’re bringing out the best in us Rob!” Frenzy said with a pleasant smile. She helped him up.

As the shadow creatures attacked Aidan decided to take matters into his own hands and raise a little battalion of his own. He looked at the ground and activated his power. The atmosphere began to feel heavier. “I will have concrete warriors to fight my battles.” He said, his voice taking an ominous and ghostly sound. Mounds of concrete rose from the ground and fashioned themselves into the likeness of Chinese Han soldiers. The makeshift soldiers then became animated.

The concrete soldiers attacked Vernon, who retaliated with his beam sword of astral energy. He wondered what exactly Aidan’s power was. However he had little time to ponder on it. He knew that obviously he could animate inanimate objects, and those objects were now trying to kill him. He slashed at one of the concrete warriors decapitating it. However it continued to attack. One arose behind him and struck him from behind knocking him down. ‘They won’t stop until that man is subdued.’ Vernon thought to himself. Evan caught Vernon’s eye and knew that Aidan needed to be taken down.

Evan bent down and picked up a leaf on the ground and from it began to grow a long vine like whip from it. He quickly managed to whip the vine toward Aidan wrapping it around his neck. Aidan immediately began to lose focus on his concrete creations as he was being strangled. The concrete began to crumble apart and Vernon was saved. “Thanks Evan.” Vernon said with a tired smile. He continued, “We can’t keep this up. We’ve got to get out of here!”

The shadow creatures began to feel overwhelmed with the resistance the X-men provided. They began to back away and regroup. Vernon grew concerned. He wasn’t sure exactly what they were doing but he had a feeling he was losing control over them. The creatures in an attempt to overcome the X-men suddenly jumped into a pile of themselves. They began to literally smash together and eventually reformed into a large ominous shadow being.



The large creature was quite tall and frightening. It loomed over the entire group emanating an icy aura. The swat team and the police officers that were before fighting off imps looked over in horror as they saw the big astral being towering over them at about 11 feet tall. However they were still busy defending themselves with other small imps that Vernon had summoned. Those imps all seemed to fear and take down to the large being. Vernon looked on at the astral being with a frightened look.

“Nice work Vern. That ought to take them down.” Evan said excitedly as he turned toward Vernon. He still had Aidan constricted with the vine whip. Aidan managed to focus enough to conjure a blade and cut himself free from the whip.

Vernon replied with all of his focus being placed on the astral being, “I didn’t order them to do that… That beast is not under my control. I cannot control him as his will to destroy his enemies is too strong. He wants us all dead.”

Evan began to look exceedingly worried having seemingly lost his focus on the X-men and their opposing them. “Can’t you send him back?” He glanced over toward Vernon and peered back at the Astral being.

Vernon tried. He held his right hand up in the air toward the astral being and shouted. “Ungrateful Beast! Get back into the Earth!” A large ball of purple energy shot from his hand toward the chest of the being. The being’s chest expanded as if it were about to explode and disperse. However it immediately returned to normal and let out a terrifying shriek of anger. “I can’t send him back. My power isn’t strong enough to force him, he’s simply too strong willed.” Vernon responded.

“Then we need to get the hell out of here!” Evan replied. Then he turned toward the X-men team and added, “And you blokes had better get the hell outta dodge too else you want that thing to kill you lot too!”

Vernon quickly interjected, “We can’t just leave it to terrorize the city! We have to stop it. I’m responsible, I can’t leave this undone. Evan please…”

Evan cringed for a moment, but he knew he couldn’t leave without his conscience kicking his ass later. Nor would Vernon let him live it down. “Alright… fair enough. So how do we sort this thing out? I mean it’s too strong for you to banish, but not too strong for us to beat? Help me out Vern.” Evan replied.

Vernon smiled with pride. He was most glad that Evan made the right decision. “Thanks love. We can take it down but we’ll need help from them.” Vernon replied as he turned to face the X-men team. He looked directly at Jonathan. “Your power, I sense it has something to do with fear correct? Don’t ask how I know, I just feel it does. Anyway, you may be able to overload it with that emotional power or at least disrupt his will power enough for me to banish it back to the astral realm. The rest of us can work on weakening it with physical attacks while you use your ability on it.”

Evan added, “So what do you lot say, temporary truce? You help us take that thing down, then we turn ourselves in. Well?” Evan had no intention of turning himself over to the authorities as he knew Vernon would simply teleport the two of them away to safety when possible. The only reason he hadn’t done so now was because they had more people they wanted to help escape. The creature took one step closer toward the group breathing heavily.

Frenzy turned to Robert and sighed. “This day just keeps getting better now doesn’t it. I am so sorry Wendy got you roped into all of this.”

Kent placed a dome of shield energy around the creature in an attempt to capture it. The astral being began to rapidly strike the dome with heavy and loud hits. Each blow boomed loudly with the power of its strength. “That dome won’t hold for long. Especially with the way that thing hits! Jonathan, you’re the team leader, it’s your call.” Kent said as he turned toward Jonathan. His hands were outstretched as he focused his energy in keeping the being locked inside the dome.

Frenzy glared at Aidan. “Isn’t making things happen your department Mr. Author?” She said with an obvious attitude. Getting rid of that creature seemed right up Aidan’s alley.

Aidan returned her glare with a snide gaze of his own. “Well dimensional travel and transport aren’t quite on my skill list. I could turn it into a nice stuffed animal for your room lass, but that would require more effort and energy than I’m willing to expend on this little favor for Charles. Therefore the answer is no.” He completed his reply with a smile only a stuffy English gentleman could muster.

Frenzy turned to Vernon after rolling her eyes in annoyance. “Can we banish him to the Astral realm as well?” To which Vernon smiled and chuckled at the thought of her gesture.

Aidan, Frenzy, Kent, Evan, and Vernon

Aidan looked on pleased with himself as Robert examined his new and temporary wings. “Glad to have lightened your loafers Robert.” Aidan said as Robert flapped his wings in testing. As Robert began to lift into the air Aidan remembered some crucial info that he should have told Robert before allowing him into the sky. “Oh mate, I probably should have mentioned this earlier but, try not to get too far away from me. My power has a limited range of influence. Wouldn’t want your wings to fail and you take a tumble no wouldn’t we.” He called out to Robert in a rather nonchalant manner.

Kent looked over at Aidan with a raised eyebrow, and back toward Robert flying in concern. “Oh that was a pretty big piece of info to leave out. No wonder the professor is reluctant to involve you.” Kent said as he shook his head in disapproval.

Aidan looked surprised by the information given regarding Charles’ reluctance to involve him. “Charles WHA-?“ Aidan began to reply in offense. However he stopped short and quickly recomposed himself before continuing. “Oh dear…. That is troubling now isn’t it?” He was obviously miffed.

Robert took off and began taunting the Astral beast. Things seemed to be working well. The Astral monster seemed to focus its attention entirely on Robert. It seemed quite upset by Roberts Taunts and even angrier with the slashes being taken to it, it let out a loud growl. The beast attempted to slash at Robert with its large claws however Robert was quick an agile causing the beast to miss.It managed to land a punch but Robert Seemed to bounce back and continued to pester the large creature.

Evan turned to Vernon and Jonathan, “It’s now or never mates. That bloke can’t keep that up on his own for too long. What are you two waiting on?” Evan was confused as to why Jonathan hadn’t used his supposedly terrifying abilities on the creature yet.

Jonathan replied, “I have to get in close to it. Well I have to actually touch the creature to use my power on it.”

“Oh now he tells us.” Evan replied with a tired sigh. “Alright, well if it’s close you need, then it’s close you’ll get. We’ll all help you get there. I’ll start by helping our mate with the wings over there.”

Evan sprinted closer toward the creature and knelt down. He placed both hands palm down on the ground and focused his powers. He caused a large formation of rock and dirt to rise from the ground and knock heavily into the creature. The creature of darkness staggered for a brief moment and took its focus of Robert to barrel toward Evan like a raging bull. It got close enough to quickly backhand Evan sending him flying into Aidan. The two collided with great force and hit the ground.

Aidan began to lose focus on sustaining his power so that Robert could continue to remain airborne. Robert would surely experience some difficulty staying in the air as long as Aidan wasn’t focused enough. Evan picked his tall frame from atop Aidan and began to apologize, offering him a hand to get up. “Sorry Mate, I didn’t see that one coming soon enough. You alright?”

Aidan quickly accepted Evan’s hand and assistance getting up however he was so rushed he practically hopped up on his own. “I’m fine! However our jolly mate up there won’t be if I can’t keep focus. So thanks but nix the prattle and all will be fine.” Aidan replied in a rather short manner.

Evan cringed a little. He understood why Aidan was so short with him but he still didn’t care for the man’s rudeness. “Touchy little twat aren’t we?” Evan muttered to himself.

Vernon and Jonathan decided to make a dash for the Astral creature. Kent and Frenzy accompanied them so that they could keep the two protected. The creature, still being attacked by Robert swatted viciously at him and then focused priority on the group rushing him. He opened his mouth wide and a dark purple energy crackled there. A ball of hot Astral energy shot at the group. Kent quickly shielded the group with a smaller rounded barricade as they pressed forward. The group took a second blast that destroyed the shield causing Kent to drop to his knees panting heavily.

“Don’t Stop! Keep pressing forward!!” Frenzy shouted. She knew this was a do or die situation.

Evan rushed forward to join the group and caught pace with Frenzy. “You’re a strong man by the looks of it. Think you can launch me at that thing?” Frenzy said as the two sprinted a short bit ahead of Jonathan and Vernon.

“I think I can manage that. I hope you got a good plan miss.” Evan replied.

“Oh yeah, I do. Ready when you are.” She replied.

Roberts actions delayed the creature from firing another blast sooner. This was just what Frenzy needed. Evan knelt down in front of Frenzy with his hands cupped and ready to boost Frenzy into the air. She took a running start and after placing a foot in Evans hands she was hoisted in to the air at the creature who was now struggling to charge another shot. It’s mouth wide open almost ready to fire a blast when Frenzy reached its head. She clasped her fists together and delivered a hammering blow to its head, forcing its mouth closed at the moment it would have fired. Frenzy landed and sprinted off to the side to avoid any potential effects of the blast about to occur.

The creature fired the ball of hot energy in its own mouth, causing a large internal explosion in the creature’s head. The creatures head was blown clean off and the screams and shrieks of all the dark minions the head was comprised of could be heard as the beast dropped to the ground. It may have been decapitated but it was far from dead. It thrashed violently on the ground causing the concrete to smash up around it. Now the problem remained how Jonathan was going to get close enough to touch the creature without getting slashed.



Police commander Greenhill, Saw the happening and decided to help the group of mutants out by using his own mutant abilities. He was a telekinetic and a fairly strong one. He used telekinesis to force the creature still long enough for Jonathan to touch it. The other police officers were too busy fighting off imps to notice Hunter Greenhill’s use of powers on the creature.

Vernon smiled pleasantly, “So he was a mutant after all. I’m so glad he helped us and just in the nick of time. We almost lost this awesome opportunity your friend gave us. Well do your thing Jonathan.” Vernon said in a winded tone.

Jonathan took off his gloves and shook his head nervously as he approached the subdued creature. “Here goes nothing.” Jonathan said as he extended his hands and placed them on the creature. Jonathan began to glow of a dark purple hue. The creature let out what sounded like a thousand shrieks at once. At that moment Jonathan seemed to experience a dark feeling overcoming him. He was seeing all the many different fears of the creatures. It was if each creature that made up the massive beast was an individual soul of sorts, a shadow of someone once alive. Those fears became immediately exposed to Jonathan like a flood of information. Jonathan was ready to exploit those fears. His eyes were closed and a slightly sadistic and satisfied smile crept across his face. He was enjoying torturing the creatures with their own fears.

Vernon seemed a little worried as he watched the happening, waiting for the creature to become vulnerable enough to banish back to the astral realm. He knew he needed to Banish the creature now or risk Jonathan losing complete control of himself. Vernon held out his hand and fired a beam of energy at the creature causing it to expand and disperse into the many creatures it was made up of. Each creature was then sucked into small wormholes back to the astral realm leaving not a single creature behind.

Jonathan fell backward and Evan caught him before he could hit the ground. “Be careful not to touch his skin directly. You’ll get hit with his power and go into a death inducing coma.” Cara warned. She had been assisting the police and HMR soldiers fight off the imps during the battle with the big beast.

“Thanks for the heads up.” Evan said nervously. Jonathan began to come to and opened his eyes.

“That was scary.” Jonathan said.

“you alright mate?” Evan asked as he helped Jonathan up.

“Yeah, somehow… thankfully.” Jonathan replied.

The HMR were too worn down to pursue the mutants. They simply gave a warning and opted to retreat. They planned to report that the mutant fled among the commotion and that the HMR was responsible for taking down the creature. It would be a win for them.

“Well I thought I’d never see the day.” Kent said as he watched the HMR leave in disbelief. “Well since the HMR gave us a pass, I think we can overlook Evan and Vernon’s transgressions right team leader?” Kent addressed Jonathan.

“Oh of course. Besides I personally don’t have it in me to even attempt to stop these two even without the other escaped mutants around. We’re good for today.” Jonathan said as he was slightly out of breath. He picked up his gloves and placed them back on his hands.

“You know you all are welcome to come meet professor Xavier at the School if you’re interested. He can be considered a friend indeed. You as well, Police Commander.” Kent said. He wanted Evan, Vernon, and the police commander Hunter to speak with the professor. They would benefit greatly from the professor’s assistance.

As Rob continued to fly around the colossal astral beast, continuing to slash and taunt around the monsters head, he began to wonder what Aiden and Kent were arguing about, seeming puzzled at their sudden annoyance at each-other. He shook his head out of the distraction thinking to himself; Ah well, if it was important they'd give a shout out, surely.
Luckily, things were going swimmingly for Rob, seeming to grab the shadowy creatures attention, and despite his tubby and un-athletic body, was managing to swoop away from it's slashes, growling furiously as Robert continued to flit around the creature with surprising speed and agility to even Rob.
"Ha look at ya you big dumb horror movie reject, ya can't even land a punch on me!", the British mutant tourist gloated before the astral beast did exactly just that, knocking him backwards with a well placed fist, wheezing out a lungful of air as he bounced off put was met with even more pleasant surprise when he found he was pretty much completely fine.
"Huh, guess having metal in your body has good points then! Anyways, lucky shot there mate! Let's see you do that again! Doubt it with your rubbish aim. Bet you couldn't even hit a skyscraper if you had a go!", he babbled cockily, continuing his slash and dash tactics.

Continuing on with the distraction plan, Rob was wondering what was taking the other X-men, though he was technically not a member and neither were the two foes who joined up to help stop the shadowy monstrosity, to take down this ghostly thing already. Before he could whine about it however, he realized the astral beast had switched his focus to Evan who cause dthe very earth to shake, and was met with a backhanded strike that probably made the poor fellows body shake as he was flung into Aidan, though it seemed they too were luckily weren't too injured. As they colided however, Rob found himself wobbling and descending slowly for a few moments flapping manically to stay airborne, realizing after a few moments that if Aidan was struck about too much, he'd have a nasty reunion with the ground shortly after. He gave an immense sigh of relief as his wings were back under control before once again flitting around the monsters head swiping at it's brow before continuing on with his dance of slashing, dodging and retreating, Chanting out; "Who are ya? Who are ya? Who are ya?".

As the astral beast swatted away at Robert, its attention suddenly shifted to Johnathan, Vernon, Kent and Frenzy all rushing for him, before opening its jaw wide and firing balls of energy at the team, leaving Kent exhausted from summoning up shields against them.
Realizing things could of been much worse for them down below, and could easily turn worse, Rob focused once again at distracting the beast, slashing at under it's jaw and bellowing; "Oi, eyes one me tall, dark and ugly, you utter stupid pile of sh***! You might as well just give up now, you'll be a pretty messy corpse in a bit I bet!", doing his best to draw the beasts attention back on him, slashing around the monsters face with his 'sword', focusing on his eyes and praying it wouldn't fire another energy blast, though his heart sank as he realized it was already preparing another one.

The british wannabe x-man then was met with the sudden sight of Frenzy hurtling in the air to over near the creature's head, who seemed almost ready to blast her, but it and Rob were both instead startled as Frenzy slammed her fist down on the monster's mouth, it's jaws violently closing shut around the dangerous ball of destruction, to which Rob's eyes opened wide before realizing he had to scarpper quickly. Rob hastily flapped away from the astral beast, testily shouting out; "Bloody hell, next time give a word of warning will ya? Could of got blown up along with-". His words were cut short however, as the great monster's head was blown apart, it's body collapsing over as thousands of screams from the minions that helped form the beast echoed out, causing Rob to be flung aside, narrowly managing to avoid spiraling down into a painful landing. Rob clasped his ears in shock as he saw the creature somehow still survived, saying aloud with a look of panic on his face; "That thing's still alive? How?! We blew it's bloody head off!". He look onward, bewildered by the astral beast's resilience as it thrashed wildly on the ground in pain. Suddenly the headless creature stopped thrashing, leaving Rob in much confusion as he peered round at the other mutants for an answer, which Vernon seemed to give, commenting on one of the police officer having mutant power, to which Rob stared at the officer with even more added confusion. Now why would a fellow mutant join a task force specifically made to detain and capture mutants? Sure there could be the whole, 'for the greater good' angle, or the idea of stopping the bad ones more easy and keeping an eye out for the good ones, but it all just seemed very odd and unreasonable to Rob.

Before he could whine about it however, Rob, along with the other noticed a great purple hue of light emit from the astral beast as Johnathan touched it, giving thousands of ear splitting shrieks as Johnathan continued on with, well, whatever it was. And it definitely seemed to be working. Vernon then sealed the deal by firing a beam into the beast, splitting it apart into the smaller dark minions they were before, launching them all into portals back to the realm they came from, until none were left. Rob gave a sigh of relief as the deed was done with Johnathan collapsing into Evan's arms and Cara warning of his powers side effects, who had previously been combating the imps along with the HMR forces, and did a good job of it too from what snipits Rob saw when he was in the air. After some small cocky gloating against the HMR who decided to leave them be and announced a warning to them, and deciding against shaking Johnathan's hand at the second, Rob wandered over to Aiden and Frenzy to give them a pat on the back, shouting out; "Good work you lot, man that weird monster shadow thing didn't stand a chance! Good work on those wings Aiden, man were they a right laugh to fly about with, cheers! And quick thinking there Frenzy, that was pretty brilliant how you made that thing eats it's own energy ball. Ha, you should of seen it's face!"

He then over heard Johnathan deciding to let Evan and Vernon off for fighting against them which Rob wearily agreed with a grunt, obviously tuckered out from his own part in the battle, and seemed surprised but still on-board with Kent's decision for them two and the police officer to meet with the professor.
"The fellas got a point, uh, fellas. I only been around these folks today and I sure learn't a hell of a lot already. Plus him and that Erik chap seem like they would definitely know answers to pretty much anything to do with mutants. Heck they let me hang about so I don't think they'd whine much about it.", Rob blabbered at the newcomers reassuringly, wondering if they'd come along with them.

Magneto, Logan, Quicksilver, Philip Klein, Hideki Matsuzaka, Jean Grey

The wreckage and rubble from the collapsed building surrounded the X-men team. They were saved Alice the once monstrously sized mutant now reverted to her original form. Logan was the first to come out of his slumber. Covered in debris he sat up and looked around. This was a disaster zone and there were siren sounds for miles. He began looking about frantically for the others after he shot to his feet. He may have been able to survive a building dropping on him but the others couldn’t.

He found Hideki partially exposed from the rubble and pulled him complete to freedom. “Hey kiddo you alright? Stay with me Matsuzaka…” Logan said as he held the young man.

Hideki groaned and then opened his eyes to see Logan’s concerned face. Hideki smiled through a couple of coughs. “I guess I’m alive after all. I knew you’d save me Logan.” Hideki said in a exhausted voice.

Quicksilver and magneto approached the group and Logan quickly filled them in on what happened since they separated. “Magneto I thought you were injured. You should be back at the jet.” Logan inquired.

Magneto narrowed his brow and replied, “I’m FINE. I’m of better use here than sitting in that jet waiting for you all to get yourselves killed. Now allow me to free the others so we can leave.” Magneto fussed. Logan didn’t complain however Quicksilver was annoyed that his father refused to take it easy. Magneto lifted the rubble off of the others and they were freed. Everyone seemed to be fairly alright. Quicksilver rushed back to the X-jet and piloted it so that he could pick the team up from the wreckage and take them back to the X-mansion.

Once Magneto, Logan, Jean, Alice, Hideki, Phillip, Oliver, and Memory were onboard the jet Quicksilver piloted the jet into the sky. Logan, using the com link, contacted team two. “Team 2, come in. This is Logan, are you ready for extraction? We’re headed over.”

Aidan, Frenzy, Kent, Evan, and Vernon

Kent listened, pressed the com link and replied to Logan’s beckon, “This is Kent of team two reporting in. Yes Logan we are more than ready to go home. Our jet is still intact so we will head back on our own. Thanks and see you at home.”

Logan replied with a grin, “Copy that Kent. Oh and it’s good to hear you consider the mansion home again bub. It’s great to have you back. You’ll keep the rest of us sane.” Logan was honestly glad to hear Kent’s voice. It seemed like everyone was generally alright. At least someone had a success today, he thought. After a few minutes of travel the speedy jet arrived at the X-mansion.

All of the other teams returned around roughly the same time. As the team members de-boarded the jets they all looked like they had been through hell. They all faced considerable danger today. Professor Xavier greeted the group and saw a few new faces. He had seen them while he used Cerebro to monitor the various situations however this was a first meeting between him and the newcomers. “Welcome to some and welcome back to others. I am proud of your bravery and decision making today. You all as individuals did exceptionally well in such distressing situations. For those of you who do not know me, I am professor Charles Xavier and I welcome you to the Xavier and Lensherr School for Gifted Students. You must all be tired. Feel free to utilize this place as a safe haven for as long as you require. I will soon hold a briefing meeting once everyone has had a day to rest and revitalize. I will update you all tomorrow.”

Cain was still quiet and brooding since Andy’s death. Vincent saw Cain standing there in silence as if the world was sitting atop his brain. He gave Ryan a proud smile for his valiant leadership ethic out and the field and a pat on the shoulder before approaching Cain. ”Hey… I know what happened out there and I wanted you to know that if you need me for anything I’m here for you. You did the best you could out there and there was nothing more that you could have done.”

Cain looked up toward Vincent and embraced him in his arms. “Brother…” He said as if exhaling for the first time in an hour. Vincent returned the embrace. It was nice to bond with Cain. The two hadn’t interacted much since their meeting. Cain stepped back from Vincent and replied, “Unfortunately there was something else I could have done to make sure that young man survived, yet I was weak and couldn’t bring myself to do it before it was too late. I won’t make the same mistake twice.” He said he reassuringly place his hand on Vincent’s cheek. Vincent was concerned with the state of mind his brother was in.

Scott and Jean hugged each other and kissed, simply being glad to be reunited. Scott hated being split up from Jean on their first mission since her return, however orders were orders. Logan stood not too far away watching the two of them. His face displayed a somber expression. Hideki walked up behind Logan and wrapped his arms around him. “Hey Wolverine, it’ll be alright. I’m here for you. We’re a mess let’s hit the shower.” Hideki couldn’t help by attempt to flirt with Logan.

Logan, smirking, slowly peeled Hideki’s arms from around him and turned to face him. “Yeah let’s Shower… in our own separate rooms.” Logan chuckled. He began to take a few steps away. “That imagination of yours seems to be working pretty vividly so feel free to imagine I’m there. That should do the trick Kid.” With that Logan exited the hangar. Hideki huffed at his failed attempt at Logan.

Everyone filed away to their quarters and the guests were shown to rooms so they could rest for the night. Xavier decided to stay awake and monitor the mansion for activity over night in the event that one of the guests weren’t so honest about being neutral. Erik wanted to watch in Charles’ stead but Charles refused. He knew Erik pushed himself very far today and needed rest.

(OOC: Hey sorry for the lazy post. I had a lot of ground to cover and instead of hitting all of the individual teams situations and characters with personal references which would have taken a lot of time, I met half way on it. So you can assume all teams are back at the mansion. The guests would be Robert, Vernon, Evan, Alice, Aidan and Niles. (Maybe Keith is Daimoa is still with us.) So it’s still night time that same day, Feel free to have your characters interact and mingle as everyone ponders where to go from here. Cain will soon start openly speaking to others about starting his own team. If anyone has any special ideas post them in the OOC. I’d welcome them.)