Escape (Open to Any.)

[Terra Moonscar]

>"What my partner here means is that we're here to offer you a place at our school. We teach mutants how to control their abilities properly, as well as all the normal subjects. It's a place that's safe - and there's lots of kids your own age there. What's your name? I'm afraid I forgot to ask."

Terra stared at the man with a timid expression as he asked for her name. She began backing away slowly from the group of people surrounding her, the woman was the core of her fears. This woman appeared so violently in Terra's eyes, and if she was planning to make a 'fur coat' out of Sherridan, then who knows what this woman would do to Terra.

>"As I recall, I merely asked you for a quiet, very pleasureful dinner in a restaurant, a public place where hardly any harm could come to you, whereas these kind persons invited you immediately to come to their own home, where everything would be alien to you and well known for them. The suspicion is purely yours, and you may direct it any way you wish."

It was true that these people had invited Terra immediatly to their home, but for what reason? Why was young Terra so important to these people? Also, what methods of violent conduct would they use to get what they desired. It was also true that Terra hadn't eaten recently because of her everlasting-run-from-the-police, and dinner sounded just peachy right about now.

Terra smirked, closing her eyes and concentrating as much as she could on that tightening grip on her stomach. Instantly, the ground beneath her feet shifted, pouring a large waterfall of dirt, mud, and rocks upwards toward the male and female. She then spun around, sprinting in the opposite direction.

"Up yours! Hurry Sherridan, let's get outta' here!"

[Toni Craft]

"Let us not result to unnecessary violence twice in the same night, hm?" Toni shoots Sherridan an amused look.

“Unnecessary? Darlin’, you weren’t there when they were waving their guns around like the metallic penis-compensators that they are.” She crosses her arms as best she can, her metal plates screeching and grinding together. “I only knocked ‘em around a bit. You would’ve made squishy human shishka-bobbers out of them, no? While no doubt scrumptious and nutritious, I’m sure the wee ruffians would much rather just deal with their assortment of broken bones rather than — oh you know — death.”

Toni doesn’t like him. The man is more like a weasel than a cat, and she hates cats as it is… The entire situation would be resolved very quickly if only she would be allowed to punch, maim, decapitate, impale, or otherwise incapacitate him. Hell, she’d be happy with just giving him a wedgie and leaving him to hang up in a tree, just as long as it got him out of her face.

The amusing line of thought is abruptly halted when Toni is knocked off her feet and given a mouth full of sand. "Up yours! Hurry Sherridan, let's get outta' here!" Trying to knock the dirt off her body, she quickly jumps back up and climbs over the upturned brick walkway.

“Phe-...peh-...thhhiiibbbb.” Even in her hard, iron form sand still sticks itself into every orrifice it reach, including her mouth. Toni’s armour plates grind the dirt between one another, making a loud terrible grating noise. “Yeeeuck! I swear, this park is made out of campfire ash and dog poop, and it certainly doesn’t taste nearly as awesome as it sounds.”

The kid is running away at breakneck speed, and Toni rolls her eyes. “Do they always have to run? Would it kill them to just stay put and let us actually help them for once? Do you think it would go better if we mentioned we had a hottub? Kids love hottubs, you know.” She scratches her metal head and turns to Josh, “Catching the fast peoples is your job, darlin’. I’ll take the kitty cat, but don’t blame me if ‘accidentally’ cut his tail off for a souvenir.”

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

> Now, I truly do not intend to ruin the speech, but I must poke a hole or two, albeit tiny, in these words. You speak of ethics, yet your first move is not open conversation but the use of your power.

Arms folded, Josh looks across at Sherridan, mouth curving into a sardonic grin. Does she really not recognize this heap of purple prose? I mean, come on. If this guy came up to me in the park and started talking like this, I’d be seriously weirded out. “Can you stop talking for a second? Right, use of my power - telepathy, a form of conversation. Private conversation, which can’t be interrupted by people who twist honest words."

>Your first actions, before even meeting the girl, are to send those men into the hospital for possibly a very long time, instead of just incapacitating them.

“I didn’t do anything of the sort. If you’d actually been watching, you would have seen that I only tried to shield her from the bullets. She’s a teenager, and they had automatic weapons.” Josh slows down the last phrase, as if Sherridan had difficulty understanding the concept. “I didn’t see you trying to protect her - but that’s about par for what I know about you, Sherridan Kaine. For all we know, they were your associates, and this is all a ploy.”

>And then your lovely partner comes up, trashing on the group of people I affiliate with, consequently directly threatening me with what could easily prove to be a painful torture leading to an untimely death. Not to mention the rather prejudiced remark regarding my fur, despite the fact that she herself is a mutant as well.

Josh looks annoyed. “I have no answer for the final one, besides that you really need to learn the difference between a genuine threat and, well, everything else. Taxidermy? Give me a break.”

> "Up yours! Hurry Sherridan, let's get outta' here!"

All of a sudden, the earth begins rumbling, and dirt, concrete, and grass explodes out of the ground. Reflexively, Josh wraps himself in a telekinetic shield, and tries to extend one in Toni’s direction. The attack is too abrupt, however, and Toni’s annoyance and anger radiates telepathically as well as verbally as she gets pelted with debris. After a few moments, the assault dissipates, leaving him mostly untouched, and Toni somewhat worse for the wear.

>“Catching the fast peoples is your job, darlin’. I’ll take the kitty cat, but don’t blame me if ‘accidentally’ cut his tail off for a souvenir.”

Josh grinds his teeth. What the hell? She just attacked us! Without provocation! Terra seemed able to switch between childlike fear and teenage recklessness in a hearbeat. She certainly wasn’t the innocent victim in all of this. Add in Sherridan’s penchant for long-winded monologues - that were somehow able to persuade, despite being transparently one-sided - and he had had enough.

“That’s it!” Josh shouts as he throws a hand out at Terra, yanking her off the ground by the collar with his telekinesis. He deposits her gently on the ground next to the group. His eyes are cold, and he jabs a finger at the girl. “YOU - stop running away from us. This isn’t a marathon. Two, I protect you from bullets, and you attack me? Not cool at all. Three, think for yourself. Doesn’t this guy come off as just a little sketchy?”

He rounds on Sherridan, stabbing with his finger. “YOU, stop twisting the facts. Yes, we could have been a little less enthusiastic, but her life was on the line. I didn’t see you jumping to the rescue!”

Finally, he turns to Toni. “And YOU. No more threats, even if they’re obviously comical. All Sherridan is going to do is start pouting again.”

He smiles sedately, and looks at Terra. “If you’re so hungry for dinner, I think we can all sit down for a nice meal together, courtesy of the X-Men's expense account. In a public place. Then you can get all the correct information and make an informed decision.” Josh exhales, his anger suddenly gone. “Doesn’t that sound good to everyone?”

[Terra Moonscar]

(Hm...bump? It's been a few weeks. :/)

[Hector Vidal]

I'd suggest you go ahead and post, terra - we laugh at strict posting order! "Hah, hah, hah!"

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

(Please do, Terra. I would have posted to move it onward but I was the last person to do so.)

[Terra Moonscar]

Terra screamed as she was lifted into the air by some invisible force by the male who simply extended his hand outwards towards her figure. She listened to him calmly as he spoke, in fear of being thrown around like a featherweight.

>“YOU - stop running away from us. This isn’t a marathon. Two, I protect you from bullets, and you attack me? Not cool at all. Three, think for yourself. Doesn’t this guy come off as just a little sketchy?”

Terra merely scowled, crossing her arms and gazing away from the male who seemed to believe he had the utmost authority here. Him using his powers against the young girl had only caused her to become more distant from 'his group.' Listening to the rest of his blasphemous orders, the young girl rolled her eyes and coughed.

"If you're done with your little speech, can Sherridan and I go now? Or maybe I should propel you and Miss. Thang here fifty feet in the air!"

Terra attempted her best to sound intimidating, but it came out rather weak. Her empty threats made no sense obviously due to the fact that she had no current control over her powers only made it worse. Inside she trembled with fear, wondering what these two would do to her if she did not comply to their requests. This whole time Sherridan had spoken calmly and showed true kindness, while the others had merely shouted and rebelled against her.

[Sherridan Kaine]

Sherridan sighs as she takes off, and runs after her, but is not overly surprised as she is plucked from the ground and brought back around to the Institute's prime Telekinesis boy. He's still young, and it sometimes seems that certain subtleties escape him.

Granted, Sherridan himself is not much better at certain times. After all, he is a serial killer sociopath. But he doesn't leave tracks. Ever.

Turning around, he walks back to where the TK Boy is giving the whole group a lecture. An ephemeral smile runs across the blond man's lips at the commands, and then stays there for another few seconds once the offer for dinner is given.

Sherridan sighs as the young damsel in distress offers a threat so clearly notwithstanding that is painful merely to listen to it. So, yet again, I must mediate and take the greatest benefit for myself...this is too much like the business meetings...

He tries to escape those when going around at night.

"All right, let us all cool down a bit, shall we?" he proposes and then allows about a minute's time to pass in silence. His words, in this case, are not just a casual attempt--- the time lapse between his sentences shows that he really does mean for everyone to cool down. Although, Josh is showing serenity right after his little vent.

"Quite honestly, I find the proposal for dinner quite alluring. As I stated before, there is a delightful restaurant in the vicinity, and their specials are nothing short of divinely delectable. Allow me to pay for the meal. After all, I seem to be the target of most emotions around here. Perhaps a sumptuous meal in everyone's belly will make us see things more clearly."

Even as he says these words, a thought forms in his mind, and he entertains himself with it for a moment, toying around with the possibilities.

[Terra Moonscar]

(M'kay...tired of waiting you guys. It doesn't take even five minutes to write out a simple reply for this topic. And it's been more then a month now, I believe. Thanks.)

[Terra Moonscar]

>"All right, let us all cool down a bit, shall we?"

Terra's eyes narrow as she gazes toward the cat man in disgust. Just whose side was he on now? Not only did these people act so incredibly rude to her, but then threatening her by using their powers? Just who were all of these people and why do they want Terra so badly?

>"Quite honestly, I find the proposal for dinner quite alluring. As I stated before, there is a delightful restaurant in the vicinity, and their specials are nothing short of divinely delectable. Allow me to pay for the meal. After all, I seem to be the target of most emotions around here. Perhaps a sumptuous meal in everyone's belly will make us see things more clearly."

The young girl listens to his words closely and scowls with even more annoyance. Her expression softens as she attempts to calm herself before overreacting and causing the earth to split again. It is time for the teenage girl to make a choice. Dinner was no an option for it would only lead them to more hostile arguments and uses of their powers. Shall she go with the feline, or would she go with these other two? The stress overwhelms Terra as she backs away slowly, placing her head in her hands.

"I...I don't know! This is all happening so fast..I need time to think! I'm sorry.."

Terra turns away walking in a rather fast-paced speed. She doesn't look back until she realizes the thought of how she would be able to contact either of them if she did make a decision in the near future. Facing the three once again, she speaks.

"Look...is there any way I'd be able to find ya' all...?"

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

> "If you're done with your little speech, can Sherridan and I go now? Or maybe I should propel you and Miss. Thang here fifty feet in the air!"

Josh's eyes flash. Don't fuck with me. I've lifted cars, blown holes in the sides of buildings, and deflected missiles. Fifty feet? Try me. It'll be hard to fight us if I throw you into the stratosphere. He finds his telekinetic field ruffling his hair and his jacket before he reigns himself back in. She's just a kid. A snotty punk, but a kid.

> "Look...is there any way I'd be able to find ya' all...?"

Josh frowns. "The point of this was to bring you to our school. I'm a little concerned about your powers - you don't seem to have very good control over them. It's irresponsible of me to let you go wandering around New York when you could drop Manhattan into a sinkhole." He pauses for a second. "But, I don't have much choice in the matter."

He pulls out a business card, which is emblazoned with the X-logo, and offers it to Terra. "This is a way to get ahold of us. If you need help, hold down on the logo until it starts glowing."

[Terra Moonscar]

>"The point of this was to bring you to our school. I'm a little concerned about your powers - you don't seem to have very good control over them. It's irresponsible of me to let you go wandering around New York when you could drop Manhattan into a sinkhole."

Terra listens to the male's worries and sighs heavily. Why must everyone think she is going to cripple the city? Even though she did that to a school cafeteria already, it wasn't like anyone was going to push her around here, like they did there. She just needs some time to get away from all the madness and relax for awhile, wherever that place would be. However, once she makes her decision things would change...for the better, or the worse. Was this man going to allow Terra to leave willingly, or is he going to force her to go with him and the female.

>"But, I don't have much choice in the matter."

Obviously not. Well, that is somewhat of a relief to the girl that he wouldn't bind her my invisible chains again. She notices that he begins digging around upon his inventory and pulls out a card.

>"This is a way to get ahold of us. If you need help, hold down on the logo until it starts glowing."

"Thanks, I guess."

Is the only thing Terra could manage to say. She accepts the card and pockets it, nodding toward the others and turning the other way once again. Terra walks out of the park silently, all of these choices and decisions bobbling inside her head. Which one would decide her fate?