[ It was a dark and stormy night. Stop me if you've heard this one. ] ( Stop! I've heard it! ) (No, that's totally new on me.) (Really.) (I've heard it. And if we decide to get jumped by Sabertooth again, I volunteer to be hostage. Again.) ( Haha. ) (Ohgodnotsabertooth*cringe*) [ We find Our Mutie Freaks fixing their dinner. The X-men are off saving the world again (this is something they seem to do every other week or so) and so it's just you kids here at the mansion tonight. ] [ It looks like it'll be a dull and uneventful, if dark and stormy, night. The rain against the roof and walls makes a soothing noise, and the occasional peal of thunder seems to be just far enough away to not be too awful loud. ] [ So, let's see what happens! Session Start. ] * Max is, shock, already there! He left his room (OMG, and stuff.) and is sitting at a table, nose buried in some paperback or another. He's idly munching from a jar of anchovies, and his hood is already down (another shock!). * Claire is fixing dinner! Dinner being some microwavable stuff, unless Eric feels like cooking. But Eric isn't here! Alas! ;_; [Eric had dinner earlier, and left some leftovers for the rest of you.] * Daegal is heating up a largeish pot of ravioli, along with a saucepan filled with... wait for it... TOMATO SAUCE. ( Oh noes! Tomato sauce! ) * Alex is munching thoughtfully on a salad. With actual dressing. ( Cannibal. ;-; ) * Miya is already seated on the back of a chair, quietly eating steamed rice (where did she get that?) with pork and vegetables. * Harry is doing his best to make up Eric's absence with his standard set of vegetables, fruits, coldcuts, and other things which he doesn't waste time assembling. He's black haired and green eyed today! * Claire sits down with Spaghetti O's. Good enough. Man, I don't see how you can go through books like that, Max. * Daegal dumps the contents of the pot into a strainer, dumps the ravioli into a big bowl, and drowns it in tomato sauce. He then plops down at the table with a fork and knife. [The lights go off and then back on as another peal of thunder sounds.] * Max is, by the way, nowhere NEAR Daegal. * Miya glances out the window at that. I-it's ... *pause at the thunder* ... uh. A t-talent. Oh. It's good to have talent. * Harry says, not actually seeming to care, "Huh. Who'd think this place would have power troubles. Couldn't spend the extra cash on a generator?" Kinda an odd talent, but still. ( ...deja vu. ) * Claire eats Spaghetti O's and whatever leftovers Eric left... uh... over. * Daegal digs into his ravioli diligently, but with surprisingly good table manners for a street vigilante. The more observant of you might notice a couple of bracelets on his right wrist made up of what look like various types of bullets. * Claire also blinks at the lights, and sighs. "At least I've got my Gameboy." Th-this one is about uh um a futuristic uh um er h-h-house of uh ill um re-repute. Ill repute? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Y-y-yes. * Harry smirks a little. He means a ho house. * Alex has apparently taken, by the way, to wearing an oversized walkman-sort of thing, and a pair of headphones around his neck, along with whatever outfit he's wearing. ...oh, a brothel. * Harry chuckles and says, "Yes, thank you for taking the delicacy out of it, you two." * Max freezes with an anchovy halfway to his mouth. "Y-y-y- ...sure." * Miya blinks. "Huh?" Pause. "Oh." She goes back to eating. Had some'a those back in the neighborhood... shut 'em down by takin' pictures of all the guys caught goin' in and puttin' 'em in the local paper. * Alex sighs and finishes off his salad. * Harry looks over at Daegal, and shakes his head. "No job too small to be a vigilante about it?" Demand went away, supply went away. S'like that economics idea. With women wearin' no clothes. Th-th-this one's uh um more uh. Nah, that wasn't me. Regular cops handled that one. About um r-reproduction than uh. That. (The title, if you're bored enough to check, is "The Handmaiden's Tale".) Only time I got involved was when they raided a couple of them... got around needin' a warrant. I'd walk in, 'cause a commotion, cops would 'conveniently' be nearby with a fully-armed SWAT team to respond to the ruckus. * Max just ... blinks. ...sure. T-that's uh. * Harry licks his lips, and says, with a small chuckle, "Then I go back to the 'no job too small' commment." * Alex heads over to the sink and washes up his salad bowl. I-i-i-illegal. *slurp anchovy!* Not really legal... but who likes havin' their kids walk by a ho house on their way ta school? * Daegal nods at Max. "Definately. But hell, my workin' with the cops in the first place is illegal." * Miya picks at her food most studiously. * Harry goes back to his easy-to-prepare food and mumbles something. * Max looks so totally out of his element it's comical. He's just kind of staring at Daegal like he'd put on a tutu and danced the lead in Swan Lake. You know, Daegal, I thought heroes were supposed to obey the law. * Daegal snerks. "I ain't a hero. I'ma street vigilante. Bad guys fight dirty, so I figure fightin' back a little dirty ain't uncalled fer." Yeah, right. * Max winces and turns away from Daegal suddenly, ducking his head back into the book. I mean, hell, if you're fightin' the Red Skull or someone, kick 'em in the nuts. Sure, it's dirty. But it works. ...that's not right. * Alex winces in imagined agony. Sure it is. * Daegal GRINS. "Then you really wouldn't like the ultimate technique of my sensei's school." * Claire shrugs. "I would." I can just picture the public service announcements now, Daegal. "Give evil a swift kick in the nuts!" * Miya lets out a little groan. "Not that again, Daegal." * Daegal mock-pouts. "Aww... okay, okay. No more about the ultimate technique." * Daegal goes back to eating his ravioli. * Miya giggles a little, glances at Max, and goes back to picking at her food. * Harry chuckles to himself. * Max finishes off the jar and starts drinking the oil. * Max also flips up his hood, obscuring his face again. * Alex flinches away from Max's nasty-ass cocktail. * Miya wrinkles her nose a little, but she finishes her food and hops down. * Miya heads over to the sink and starts washing up. * Daegal finishes off his ravioli and wipes his face with a napkin. "Hey, lookit this. Big Blue pulled these outta me and let me use his mini-drill ta make them into little tchotchkas." *jingles his bullet bracelets* * Miya glances over. "Um, cool?" Into little WHATs? [ The lights dim and then go out. Hank's voice comes over the intercom; "Okay, Hank. If you're hearing this recording, it means someone's severed the generator's mainline." ] Tchotchkas. It mea- aww hell. ( ...well, we've never been HERE before. ) Aw, crap. * Max shrinks into his sweatshirt even more, even though it would seem to be impossible at first glance. ( Hey, some of you haven't. Shush. :P ) That doesn't sound good. * Daegal stands up in his seat. "Definately ain't good. Either the lightnin' hit just wrong, or..." * Eric comes walking in, carrying a glowing ball of plasma as a light source. "Eh, who turned out the lights?" * Miya blinks a few times, looking around. Somebody severed the generator's mainline. I'm assuming that's why we have no lights. Didn't you hear the anouncement? That wasn't lightning. Um... * Harry blinks a few times, in the darkness, and looks away from Eric. "I'm gonna put some of my nonexistant money on it not being lightning, yeah." This place looks eerie as hell by... Eric light. I can go get candles? Or flashlights? I think I know where the flashlights are. ... bad idea. If someone cut the power, we shouldn't split up. Right? Never works on Scooby Doo. * Max 's glasses glint from under his hood as he looks around. Eh, yeah. It ALWAYs works on Scooby Doo. It always works on Scooby. That's why it never works anywhere else. But only if they've got a brilliant trap at the end of... THE CHASE! Miya, c'mere and kick me in the ribs a coupla times. I'll play flashlight. I think Eric's got it handled, Daegal. Um, no. I'll just get flashlights. Okay? Hurry, Miya. * Eric throws Miya a flashlight. "Eh, or you could just use this." * Harry rolls his eyes. "Whatever." He starts to get darker and darker, even in Ericlight. * Daegal shrugs. "If you wanna." *pauses* "Just be careful. Lotta nasty folks that don't like the X-Men." * Miya catches it and vanishes in a flash of white light - stark contrast to the dark area she was just standing in. You now have photo eye. Gah! Point it the other way, Miya! * Alex shades his eyes. * Harry thanks god he wasn't looking at Miya. He grabs a bit of the food off the table and starts eating. Sh-she's gone. Teleports. Eh, yup. She does that. I um k-know. Oh. I thought that was the flashlight. S'why we call 'er Teleportia, Mistress of Space... when she's not around to hear it and kick me for sayin' it. What? No we don't. * Eric chuckles. "So, anyone up for Glow in the dark basketball?" [ Yes, we do. ^^ ] Be serious, Eric. Well, I do. And we really shou- what Claire said. Okay, when Claire and Daegal call for people to be serious, something is VERY wrong. Eh, if ya say so. I don't know what yer gettin' all worked over, though. So someone cut the power. [ Something gives a dull thud just outside the kitchen. ] I'm up for going back to my room, because-- Shit. * Max stiffens. * Alex jumps and turns to face the frickin' outside door. Oh, for the love of... * Harry mutters, finishing, "I left my knife in my other skin." ... shit. I'll check it out. Rest of you stay here, keep your eyes open. * Eric makes a floodlight and holds it up lit. "There, that make ya feel better?" * Claire jumps up with a start, and doesn't come down. She stays a foot off the ground. [ For the curious, a look through the windows should provide you with a source of the noise. ] * Max totally doesn't move. * Alex is so very, very not curious. * Harry looks out the window! * Claire looks through the windows. * Daegal creeps out forward, but glances out the window. Shit, dude, keep away from the windows. * Eric takes a glance at the windows, but doesn't actually go to them. * Miya reappears! On the other side of the room, again in a white flash of light. Her right arm is full of flahslights, and her left hand's holding one. Which is on. For the record. [ Harry sees Samantha, who he's met by now. She has a set of deep gashes on her stomach, and bruises on her face. She isn't moving. ] What are they going to do, kill us-- shit, Sam! ... ohshit. The people upstairs. Shit! * Miya blinks a few times. "What? What!" * Alex runs straight out of the kitchen, heading upstairs for Delia's room. (Is the window obviously openable?) Um, Alex! Wait! Everyone stay her- dammit! * Claire curses. She holds out her hand. "Miya! Give me a flashlight!" * Miya tosses one to Claire. * Max is doing his best impression of a mannequin. * Claire catches it and shines it at the body. (Sometime before I break the window anyway? ^_^;) * Miya dumps the rest on the floor, save two, and dashes after Alex. "Wait!" Eh... fuck. ( There's a door leading outside in the kitchen. You could, y'know, go out there? ) (Thank you! Jesus.) * Daegal runs out the door to Samantha. "Everyone stay put! I'll bring her in!" * Harry takes a step, but Daegal beats him to it, and so instead he just looks very dark skinned and angry. Okay, so... we got problems, eh? * Max finally breaks his pose and grabs a flashlight. * Daegal gets to Samantha, scoops her up, and runs back towards the door. [ Everyone that's taken the full tour knows that there's a medical bay on one of the basement floors. ] (He, however, resists using it to read.) [ Nothing interrupts Daegal's trip. He gets rather wet, however. ] Let's get'er down to the med bay. * Claire nods. * Daegal pulls off his shirt, and holds it over the wounds on Samantha's torso. "Agreed... shit, where're Alex'n Miya?" * Harry eyes Daegal, snorts, then resists glancing at Eric. "Alex ran upstairs. Miya followed." Alex ran off, Miya chased. I'll get them. No. You hurry to the bay. * Claire runs off! Or floats off. * Eric rolls his eyes. "Moron. She can teleport. You can't." Shit... no, do- dammit, hasn't anyone here ever seen a Friday the 13th movie?! * Harry shakes his head and steps forward, saying forcefully, "_I_ will take her to the bay. You all follow her. Stick together." I *know*. ( Harry? Forceful? Holy shit. ) * Daegal nods at Harry. "Once we get her down there and set up, we can lock her in and go lookin' for Alex, Miya'n Claire." * Max still looks a little paralyzed. * Daegal heads for the medical bay. * Harry looks at Daegal. "I said you all. You don't need two people to run a medbay." Yeah, but we also don't need you gettin' jumped on the way there. * Claire is gone gone gone! * Harry growls at him and follows, yelling, "And you'll do so much better!" * Eric rolls his eyes. "Take good care of 'er, I'm goin' after the others." * Eric summons the equivelant of a hover board, hops on, and zooms off after Claire. ... fine. Take 'er. Meet up with us fast as you can. * Daegal hands Samantha to Harry, then pulls Max along. "C'mon, we gotta go find the others." * Harry nods at Daegal, and takes Sam. "Right I will. Good lord, man, you know the thing's upstairs and you go with me?" * Max shakes his head. "N-no! No. Uh. I will um go with uh Harry." ... fine. * Daegal runs after Eric and Claire. (You're, like, #1 or #2 on the Scary List, no way I'm heading with you!) * Harry smirks, and says, "Then let's go, Max." He gets moving. (And I'm #3.) ( This is the first time we've met in-session! How can I already be #1 or #2? =P ) * Max follows after Harry, holding two flashlights for him to see by. (Daegal - it's EASY.) (Can we take the mental conversation in here, so that it's actually in- session conversation?) (Fine by me.) * Harry walks along. ~Keep an eye out all around, Max. Is there anything you can do that doesn't involve being big, if Mr. Slashy shows up?~ ( Yes. ) ~Um. S-slow him down.~ [ You go through the living room and into a hallway. Max needs an unarmed defense roll at -2. ] * Harry is now fairly dark, except for his jeans. He's seemed to completely lose his shirt. ~Hey, it'll give me a shot.~ [ A hand shoots out of one of the doors, splintering wood and grabbing for Max! Max falls down at just the right moment, however, and only gets off with a light scratch! ] ~!!!~ ( Told you I shoulda come with. =P ) [ Initiative! ] ~There's that damn panic, again, Max. Try thinking in words, not all of us are telepaths!~ * Harry looks back. ( Best surface thought ever. ) ( !!! ) [ The door gets knocked off it's hinges, and a tall, heavily muscled man with claws comes out behind it, lunging for Max, as he's nearest! ] [ Max scrambles out of the way in time, but the man takes another swipe at him! ] [ Max gets his gut cut open! ] (Bleed GREEN!) (GREEEN!) (Hehe!) ( Okay, if you bleed green, you are WAY too hardcore a trekkie. :P ) * Max bleeds red, but his muscles are green. And he screams bloody hell, too. (Do I get to take my one chance at not dying now? ^_^;) [ The man smiles. "You kids're makin' this way too easy on me." He then lunges for Harry. ] ( Nope. It's still his turn. ^^ ) (... Hooray.) ( Jesus christ. ) (Glad I've got extra defenses.) (>_<) ( Dare I say it? Christ on a hypercube. ) [ Harry turns hard in time to absorb the blow to his arm, although there's still a gash there! ] [ Meanwhile, everyone appears behind Harry in a flash of golden light and the sound of a choir of angels! ] * Harry now thanks god that Max got knocked out quick, because if Max thought he was scary before, he's frightening now. He looks like a rockish standing were- lion. Or a demon. Take your pick. He growls, "We'll see how easy it is NOW!" (Still a blackish color, too.) ... knew it. *charges into melee as soon as he can* [ The man sanding there (I'm not describing him again) grins, revealing long fangs. "Bring it on, kid." ] Holy shit, which one is the bad guy? * Miya lets out an eep at what's going on, shining her light and trying to identify who's what. * Harry roars and tries to stick his arm through the guy. ( ...Christ. Is there anybody in the universe that has more than +45 init? ) [ The guy sidesteps. "Nice try, junior." ] ( Quicksilver? ) ( No. ) ( Captain Marvel? ) (Miya's power: She goes first.) * Harry rumbles in an annoyed tone, "Give me time to get in shape." [ "Nah. I'm gonna kill you now, so you won't stand a chance later." ] [ Order: Miya, Badguy, Daegal, Harry, Eric, Claire, Alex, Max. ] [ It is currently Eric's turn. ] * Eric bunches his fist and puts it forward, pushing a beam of phased plasma straight at the, um, freak that said he was gonna kill people. That's bad. (I love stunning attacks. ^^) (Like, are my guts still intact? ._.) ( Phased plasma? What the hell, I haven't even started playing USS Make Shit Up yet. -_- ) ( Sure they are. This is a PG-13 comic ) [ The man moves out of the way as soon as Eric points his hand, and the beam impacts against the wall behind him! ] * Eric frowns. "He's fast." Holy crap, I've never seen anybody move like that. [ Claire, go! ] * Claire looks about for something to throw at the man, and finds nothing. So instead she just looks at him, sending a telekinetic blast his way. [ The man takes a hit to the face, moving with the momentum of the blow and turning it into a backflip, which he lands from gracefully. "Not bad." ] * Harry continues staring at him, still holding Samantha over one shoulder. Think so? Good. Then you'll love my next one. * Claire narrows her eyes at him, trying to hold him still. [ Something goes 'thud' behind the man. "Nice try, girlie. But you're still dangerous, so I think I'll get you next." He grins maliciously. ] [ Alex! ] ( Get Daegal! He's more dangerous! ) * Alex ejects the tape from his player and starts fumbling through the tapes, trying to find something that will help. * Miya lets out a tiny breath. [ Max, go! ] * Max doesn't actually move at all, lying on the floor like he's dead, but vines erupt from around the man and then shoot towards him, trying to trap him. [ The man takes another backflip, avoiding the vines narrowly. ] [ Miya! Go! ] * Miya drops her flashlight, letting it clatter on the ground as she runs forward and jumps into the air, vanishing in a flash of white. * Miya reappears behind Sabertooth! And above, and she's falling to make a neat kick firmly into his back. [ The man takes the kick! As he falls forward, he reaches around, grabs Miya's foot while she's bouncing off his back, and slams her into the floor. ] [ He then gets up, and ducks into a room. ] * Miya lets out a shout, scrunching her eyes shut as her teeth are jarred. Once the man's off of her, she's back on her feet and looking around. * Daegal charges after the guy. [ Once Daegal gets into the room, there isn't anybody there. ] * Miya rubs at the back of her head. * Max doesn't move a muscle, but he's pushed into a sitting position by a large leaf. "O-ow." * Daegal looks around hurridly, trying to figure out how the guy got out of the room. * Harry watches him go and rumbles, "For christ's sake..." He looks down at Max, and sighs. "Can someone pick him up and we can get them patched?" Where'd he go? Um, I'll take Max down to the hospital place. Max, do you want to go to the hospital place? No splitting up! * Claire gathers next to the others and thrusts out her hands. "Here, I'll give us some time to plan." Mmmhmmm. So, eh, now what? * Harry rumbles, "Yes, no splitting up. And what plan? Sam and Max are bleeding here. We have to get to the medbay." We're all going there, and then we're gonna seal the place so that bastard can't get in, and then we're gonna hunt him down. [ Daegal finds a hole in the cieling. ] (.... Sam and Max. Oy.) ( ...Sam and Max! Hee! ) * Daegal points up. "And he's in the ceilings." Yeah, we should get to the medbay. So let's stop standing around, get everyone who needs to be in the medbay there, and then deal with this fucker. * Miya picks up her flashlight and creeps over to Max, shining it on him. "Well, um, we should do something about all of the blood." * Claire sighs and drops her hands. "Alright." * Harry nods, and shifts Sam on his big completely non-human shoulders. * Eric raises an eyebrow. "Harry?" * Daegal scoops up Max and starts to the medbay. "S'okay, kiddo. Gonna be fine. The stuff in the medbay's gonna fix you up good's new." * Harry rumbles, "More or less, Eric. More or less." * Alex heads for medbay after Daegal. * Eric heads for the Medbay. * Miya scampers after them, still rubbing at the back of her head. * Max is hauled. But doesn't seem to be happy about it. * Claire follows, cautiously. "He's after me now." I won't let him get you. He's after all of us. And yeah, what Miya said. Eh, yeah. Next time he shows up, I won't hold back. You'd think the Prof could afford a better security system... * Harry says, "That's why he cut the generator. Gotta wonder how, though." Then there should be backups. And backups to backups. And maybe some better security around the main generator. * Harry rumbles, "Works for me. What the hell was that guy?" This guy is like a ninja, straight out of the movies, man. Chuck Norris, even. And maybe a coupla lessons telling us about the psychos who hate the X- Men enough to raid the mansion, and how ta beat 'em... I don't think there's a security system capable of stopping him. The question is, why us? He's gotta have powers. Nobody without powers moves like that. A _mutant_ ninja, then. He's scared? Um... Eh, he didn't try takin' all of us at once. Smart, not scared. Maybe he's one of those guys that hate the X-Men and wants to make us suffer so they'll be sad? He's been pickin' us off in small groups. Why stop now? There's rarely a difference between smart and scared. Fear is a very good reaction. He is SO not scared... No kidding. It's more like he's excited. Eh, whatev. So, he's enjoyin' himself. Makes sense. Not when I get my hands on him he won't. Break his goddamn jaw, see how big his smirk is then... Assumin' ya get there first. ~_^ Well, I for one am scared. Just 'cuz he said he'd go after you? Be scared. Only an idiot wouldn't be. But use it, let it make ya smart. Look what he did to Max, Eric! To Sam and Delia! * Miya takes a breath. "He won't get you, Claire." * Daegal frowns. "Hell, I'm fucking scared, and I regularly get shot." * Harry says, a little overloudly, "Yeah. What the hell is with you, Eric... and Delia? Does someone have her?" Max wasn't ready for it. Sam and Delia weren't either. She's, um, in the hospital place. I put her there. We found her in her room, cut up real bad. * Miya nodnods. And we may not be ready for him either. Think about it, he got to all of them without any one of them waking up enough to scream. We *are*. And do any of them really know how to defend themselves? * Harry growls, "Sam does. Get over the machismo already." Ain't hard to take out someone who's asleep. But it shows he's damn sneaky. Max wasn't asleep. He even realized when Miya teleported behind him. If you think about it, I'm the only one who's hit him and come away unscathed. Of course he'll come for me. * Eric 's fist glows fine red. "Machoism nothin'. They got their butts kicked 'cuz they weren't prepared. I'd get my ass handed to me if I wasn't ready either." The glow dissipates. "Panicing isn't going to help us any. And that's what I see starting right now." * Miya rubs at the back of her head. She doesn't say anything this time. [ You reach the medbay! ] ( Rawk! ) * Daegal does whatever it is that opens the door. ( You have to sing to it. ) [ Daegal opens the door! Inside is a row of beds surrounded by odd machinery. One has Delia on it, and it looks like she's being operated on by some of the machinery. ] * Daegal gets Max over to one of the beds. * Harry thuds in and lays Sam down as gently as possible. He only looks more demon-like in the light. Black and tough and heavily muscled in the upper body, chest, everything. His arm's also healed up. * Miya skitters after Daegal and checks Max's gashes, then starts getting the machines to work. * Eric gets down from his board, which vanishes. He looks over the machinery and makes sure it's working correctly. * Claire stands near the center of the room, looking over the patients. She shudders a bit. * Miya does the same for Sam. She looks... calm. Well, relatively. * Daegal eyes the ceiling... [ It's all working fine. And the cieling here is concrete, too, which means your new friend won't be dropping in. ] * Claire eyes the floor. (We think, anyways. :P) * Harry doesn't try to look Sam over, because his hands are big at the moment, and says to Miya, saying, "I think she's gonna be alright." Um... yeah. Okay. Once we finish setting this up, we need to seal that door so the guy can't get in here. He's not gettin' in through that ceiling. Then we find him and kick his ass. * Miya washes her hands and walks over to where Claire is. * Eric nods. "Eh... Yeah." * Harry says, as his body morphs a bit into a more human form, "Daegal... all we have to do is wait him out." What about the others? Jai, Other Alex, the guy with the water powers whose name I can never remember... Daegal's right. There's still AD up there. Jet. ... his name's Jet? *scowls* No wonder I can never remember it. Um, I can... * Harry closes his eyes, then says, "We've got a teleporter. And we're under attack. We need to get a message to the big guys." I can go check. I can teleport real fast. I don't want us splittin' up... but I ain't in no position to give orders. *eyes Miya* Use yer judgement, kiddo. I can go look in their rooms, get them and bring them here if they need. I know where... um, where Jack is, too. Miya, go for it. Don't be afraid to get back here, though. And stay on yer guard. ~_^ * Miya nods. And she looks up - way up, like always - at Daegal. "I am." Flicker and gone. Be ca....reful. And yer right, Harry. But with no power, how we gonna call 'em? *blinks as Miya blips out* Stay safe, kiddo... [ So what happens next? Stay tuned to find out! Session End. ]