Invasion!

[nightcrawler]

Kurt smiles warmly and lets out a sigh of relief as Tobias lowers the gun and tosses it aside. The boy may have come across as a reckless youth with no cares, but Kurt knew better, call it a gift of a divine sort, but Kurt had a way of reading others and finding the good in everyone. Killing was not Kurt's nature and in some stubborn foolish way, he refused to believe it was in anyone else's either, after all, all had some good in them after all.

With a smile, Kurt shakes his head and laughs at Tobias' statement about becoming a priest or something, but to be honest, stranger things have happened...I mean, look at Kurt, a devil in appearance but an angel at heart. "Ve shall see Tobias, ve shall see," he said in agreement to the boy's new found attitude, however, this was quickly interrupted by Ororo's voice and then...well...the next part was kind of weird. Teleporting was second nature to Kurt and while when he was still learning his power it had left him dazed, this new sensation was......startling to say the least. It was like everything around him just stopped being and then *POP* he was gone and back in the blink of an eye, of course, he was in a totally different place but you get the general idea.

The sounds of Ororo unleashing all sorts of mother nature hell against their foes and the sudden screaming of German left Kurt a bit dazed, his knees buckling some, forcing him into a crouched position on the floor. He closed his eyes tightly, the noises around him echoing in his ears and a slight sickening sensation rising from his stomach. Finally, reality snapped back into place for Kurt and he made some sense of the hastily screamed German coming from Damien in front of him. "Ve...," he said shaking his head and trying to pull himself back together, "...ve find the younger children and get them out of here. You and I are ze only ones who can get zem to safety the quickest," he said as he opened his bright yellow eyes and looked up to Damien. Kurt reached out and put a large reassuring blue hand on the boy's shoulder, "Ororo and Tobias can handle things here....you and I have other pressing matters to attend," he said with a firm voice now, trying to establish some sort of authoritative role for Damien to rest safely against.

[Damien Schwartz]

As he realizes what he has done, Damien slumps onto the wall, in a daze. His powers are at a well developed level when it comes to transporting himself. When transporting others alone, it is a much greater risk. He needs to exactly know what the target destination looks like, and then he has to have his target creature or item within his sight, and possibly not moving.

And he is under stress, and terrified. And he just has teleported and possibly almost killed the only person who can teach him how to control his powers better. He stares at the other, speechless, thinking about everything that is happening. "I-I am so sorry...that was dangerous..." he mutters, still completely insecure as to what degree of control he has his mutation under after all those practice sessions.

And then the hand lands on his shoulder, and it feels good, helping him calm down slightly. "Kurt, I..." he starts, looking down to the floor. "I'm not sure how safe it is for me to do that...I mean...it is dangerous..." he mutters, closing his eyes as the slight headache from fleeting memories appears. He no longer remembers the places his roommate has been to.

[nightcrawler]

Kurt lets his hand slip from Damien's shoulder and a weak smile spread across his face. He knew the boy was worried and afraid, Kurt's own nervousness showing just slightly as well, but times like these had no place for open fear. Lives were on the line here and Kurt along with Damien had a chance to use their abilities to help those around them, sure it might have been rather cruel to force Damien into something like this, but sometimes, we all had to make sacrifices, even if we didn't want to do so.

"Standing by and not doing anything is even more dangerous. If ve do not help ze others, then they vill be taken prisoner and you vill have to live vith that forever," Kurt said, guilt tripping Damien somewhat, even adding a sigh in there to get his point across. Kurt knew this would be a losing battle and that fighting was only going to prolong the inevitable, so fleeing with the others, the younger ones who could not defend themselves was the only option. "Ve all must do things ve do not like Damien....," he said as he turned from the boy now, leaving Damien to his own devices, "I have faith in you Damien," he added as he glanced back over his shoulder, his slight smile hidden. Kurt knew Damien would make the right choice here, he just prayed that the boy could remain calm enough to focus himself.

With a *BAMF* and the usual cloud of purple black smoke, Kurt was gone, reappearing on the banister of the first floor and then *BAMF* he was gone again, off to do whatever he could in order to save the ones he cared about. Damien and Tobias were still just children, but the powers they had were too valuable to let slip away and no matter how much Kurt or the others may have hated subjecting the two boys to this incident, they were not really left with any other options.

[Damien Schwartz]

He is already half-way done with the decision, and what the other says not only helps him cross the other half of the way, but also go to a leaping jump. He has been practicing allot, right? And Kurt would not put him up to this if he feared that the boy would mess up at a point.

His soft green eyes look around the room at the bodies of the unconscious or perhaps, dare he say it, dead men. They were the ones who had intruded on the Institutes's property. The Institute, which has been his home now. It is also the home of the only people he loves any more, and it is a safe heaven to oh so many other confused mutant teens.

He cannot let all of that go to waste, just because he refused to help at a crucial moment? Perhaps it is not so crucial. Perhaps I am just glorifying the situation to my own game? he wonders for a few moments before Kurt turns back and surprises the German youth with words believed to be nonexistent.

> "I have faith in you Damien"

He stares blankly at the blue man while he is still there, wondering why in Earth had he sad those words. No matter the reason, they become the driving force with which he manages to set his body in motion.

Damien closes his eyes, breaths in and out a few times to calm completely down, and then opens them abruptly. His right hand raises to level with his eyes as his mind races over the facts about his mutation, and the fingers snap, making him disappear completely with just a slight *plink* as a remnant of his prior presence there.

As he appears at a place where he thinks most students will be, his thoughts race to reach a conclusion how many kids he can transport. This should not be a question. I have to transport them all. Fourteen teleportations for every five minutes, each one can hold up to...ten people plus one. If I do not go with them, I can make sure that at least a considerable bulk is teleported in the first few trips. Where to go? Oh! I know!

And he snaps his fingers again, disappearing along with a group of bewildered students. As he reappears in the mansion, he takes a deep breath, preparing for a very tiring day.

[Tobias Smith]

Tobias sighs while Kurt laughs then vanishes, and he turns his attention to Storm. During her entire display, Tobias stands stark still, and stares at her and the destruction she causes. One second a van stands there, and the next all that remains is a smoldering crater. The boy's jaw drops, and he mutters a profanity or two under his breath when he finally realizes that he is on campus with people that very well could reshape the planet....and he is one of them.

...Sweet...

Tobias snaps out of his sense of awe in time to notice that one of the 'clearly-unprepared-but-nonetheless-terrifying' soldiers that wasn't hit had managed to sneak around her, and was milliseconds away from unleashing a full clip into her. With another swear, Tobias almost immediately feels the pressure rise, as adrenaline starts coursing through his system. With all the action frozen, Tobias jogs toward the would-be-murderer, and mutters to himself, "Thou shalt not kill......the Commandments never said anything about kicking ass.

He reaches the soldier, and pulls off the man's helmet. The soldier is in his late twenties, stern face, crew-cut, and has a look of both fear and anger on his frozen face. Tobias reasons he believes he is about to take out a threat to national security and be a hero, when actually the next thing he'd know would be waking up in an infirmary after a concussion caused by blunt trauma to the back of his head. Tobias hits him in that aforementioned place to cause that desired effect, then turns his attention to the helicopter.

It was an interesting sight, seeing the chopper stuck mid-flight with all of its propellers frozen. It almost looked like a toy...an over-sized, deadly, toy. With the extra energy pumping through his veins, Tobias feels he can keep the time stopped for possibly two minutes...that is, in "stop time." He jogs over, feeling the pain rising from a dull throbbing to full pain with every passing second. He takes the time to bash each one of the nearby soldiers with crippling blows, then looked up at the rappel lines leading up to the chopper.

Now, Tobias isn't quite physically fit, but by using the soldiers as large stepping stones with many grips, he makes his way up, keeping himself from clutching his head with pain. Knives were stabbing from inside his skull, and he is on the brink of starting time again. Before that happens, he is going to take care of something. He looks around the interior of the chopper, and notices a sheathed knife attached to the belt of the pilot. He grabs it, and cuts the already-taught lines that the soldiers were descending. With the last few seconds, he just barely drags the pilot and copilot from their seats, and pushes them over the edge of the helicopter doors. They remained in mid-air, and Tobias collapsed into the pilot's seat as time started again.

The soldier aiming at Storm collapsed, the soldiers rappelling down fell at least a story to add to the hits Tobias delivered them, and both the pilot and copilot weren't sure what happened when they hit the ground. Tobias sat, drenched in sweat, panting horribly, and clutching his head as this all happened. Thankfully the vehicle was in a hovering position when he arrived there, and he did not need to adjust he controls. But after a few seconds of panting, Tobias clutched the controls, just praying to keep it steady, but also looking wide-eyed at all the controls, dials, and measures. He then says the one thing that could summarize the 'What was I thinking?' moment he was living in.




"....Fuck...."

[N.P.C]

Alice Kruglinkski

Alice had never really understood why the teachers and upperclassmen insisted on such weird “emergency drills” at Xavier’s… at her old school, they just sent everyone outside to hope the building was burning down. (Well, no, she’d never actually wanted it to burn down, but it was fun to pretend sometimes.) But when the gunfire starts and all the freshmen start running into the evacuation tunnels, she begins to understand.

She’s the first one to reach the end of the tunnels, of course… she’s always first. Running fast is what makes her special, after all. But waiting for everyone else to catch up is boring, so she runs back to join them… then back down the tunnels again... and a few more times before they all finally collect to wait for a grownup. Of course, they all tell her to stand still, like everyone always does.

This time she doesn’t listen, though, because she’s so hyper she can’t really calm down. It’s taking the grownups forever to get here, and she’s tired of waiting, and it’s always like this with her when she gets excited she just goes faster and faster and it’s hard to sit still. So she runs outside to see what’s going on… then shrieks and runs back down the tunnels when she sees the courtyard being overrun by strange men with guns. But when she comes back, a lot of kids are missing!

" Omigodwhathappened??? Whereiseverybody?!?" Of course nobody can understand her, she’s talking too fast… she repeats herself slowly, and tries to be patient about waiting for an answer. Really she does. But everybody just takes too long! Doug says something about the German kid, the hunky one with the spiky hair who was dating that creepy redheaded girl, teleporting some kids away, and Mr. Wagner, who’s actually very nice even though she was scared of him when she first met him because he’s all blue and monster-looking but not like Dr. McCoy who’s also blue and monster-looking but not as scary and Alice is scared now… she’s never teleported before, and she’s not sure she wants to start.

So she runs back up the tunnels to the courtyard again, this time zipping past all the soldiers and running from one hiding place to another (she’s pretty sure she’s going to take the codename “Zip” when she’s older and gets a codename like the older kids do; she was going to be “Streak” but then that awful older boy said those things about her having to take her clothes off and now she thinks she likes “Zip” better anyway and especially after Suzy made that comment about her talking a blue streak which really isn’t fair because it’s not her fault everybody else listens slower than she talks!), not sure what to do.

She wishes she’d been practicing with her powers more because then she could like high-speed karate-punch them or take all their armor off and paint them blue or something like that and take care of them all but she’s tried things like that in practice sessions and she just gets all uncoordinated and runs into things and that’s no good so she doesn’t try, but what’s she going to do?

Alice sees Miss Monroe (who’s also very nice and not really scary at all except now she kinda is with the glowing eyes and the winds and the lightning and the BOOM and the van explodes) and then that new creepy Goth kid starts moving and WOW he’s even faster than she is, she’s never met anybody faster than she is but he is, she can barely follow him and he takes out a whole BUNCH of soldiers like almost all at once and then he zips right up the rope (and Alice hopes he hasn’t already taken the name “Zip” because nobody said you can’t have the same codename as somebody else and there’s already another Alice at the Institute anyway but she thinks it would be kinda rude to take his codename if he’s already using it and besides he’s zippier than she is so really he DOES kinda deserve to use it not to mention he’s older) into the helicopter and the pilot goes flying and that’s so cool! So she decides she wants to say hi so she zips up the rope after him and it’s not so hard really because she’s always been athletic and she doesn’t weigh very much and she sits down next to him and he says a naughty word but she ignores it and waves.

" Wowthatwassoawesome! Youjustbeatthemallupandzippeduphereandthatwassocool! AndI’mAlicebythewaybutyoucancallmeZip Imeanifyoudon’talreadycallyourselfthatandareyouwearingeyeliner? WowIneversawaboywearmakeupbefore Anywayandnowyou’repilotingahelicopter that’scoolsowherearewe going?"

[Tobias Smith]

Tobias isn't quite sure what to think when out of nowhere, he hears a high-pitched voice pretty much compact two entire sentences into less than four syllables. He has a look of disbelief and confusion on his face, and blinks to make sure that he isn't hallucinating. He glances at the hyperactive freak child, at the ropes he clearly just cut, the girl again, the grounds, the girl once more, and the ropes one last time, which had finally fallen to the ground.

All the while, he sputters, "How'd...what just....I-I dont.....did you just.........HOW MANY GOD-DAMMED TELEPORTERS ARE IN THIS PLACE!? Of course, his brain finally deciphers the long string of nonsense and decides that this is just some young, hyperactive, extremely fast little girl suffering from A.D.D. However, in the back of his head, a little voice says, Stopping. Time. Not super-speed, not teleporting, I'M JUST SCREWING WITH THE TEMPORAL CONTINUEUM...or something....

Tobias sighs, wipes the sweat from his forehead, and looks at the girl again. He shakes his head, and mutters in a tone not unlike Wolverine, "Okay, buckle up, don't talk, DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING, and, so help me god, CHILL! Relax, sober up...I think I saw some sedatives in one of the packs...Christ..." Tobias re-concentrates his focus on the controls, and puts on the headset the pilot was wearing previously. He nervously looks at all the switches, and finds one marked, "COMM." The oddly-dressed young man flips it, and hears static flare in the ear piece before silence fills it in. Adjusting the microphone, Tobias thinks about all of the war movies he's seen in the past, and says the first thing that comes to mind.

"Mayday! Mayday! Uh...Class Four, possibly Class Five Mutant in the Forward Courtyard. Requesting all available units to fall back! Mayday!" Truth be told, Tobias has no idea if he made any sense at all, or what might happen because of his actions, but, still, it might drag some of the bastards out of the school.

[N.P.C]

Captain Maria Kennedy, US Army
At the secondary operations center, all is chaos as Captain Kennedy desperately attempts to re-establish contact with all units after Storm destroyed the primary operations van. Everybody seems to be in trouble… several tactical squads are reading compromised vital statistics… casualty rates are climbing. I knew we weren’t ready to pull this off yet… why’d Major Fury go along with this, anyway? We’re getting slaughtered!

> " Mayday! Mayday! Uh...Class Four, possibly Class Five Mutant in the Forward Courtyard. Requesting all available units to fall back! Mayday! "

She’s startled by the unfamiliar voice and checks the comm channel and snaps back "Airborne Charlie-Foxtrot-Seven, identify yourself! " More calmly, she adds
"Repeat: airborne Charlie-Foxtrot-Seven, identify yourself, provide clearance code and advise as to pilot status." Whoever that is he’s either forgotten all their communications protocols in the heat of battle, or he’s an enemy combatant – they’d been warned that one of their targets could take over bodies, so anything is possible.

Her ops board indicates several ground troops in visual contact with that chopper, and she calls over their circuit for visual confirmation of CF7’s status… but before she gets a response, she receives Major Fury’s abort order, and Portal’s objective-completed signal, and protocol is clear. So she calls over all open channels: "All units, abort! Repeat: all units, abort! Stand by for mission override authorization signal… " and enters the appropriate authorization key before strapping herself down for transport.

[N.P.C]

Alice Kruglinkski (aka “Zip”)

> " How'd...what just....I-I dont.....did you just.........HOW MANY GOD-DAMMED TELEPORTERS ARE IN THIS PLACE!?"

"WelltheresMr.Wagner hestheblueonewiththetailandtheGermanaccent notDrMcCoyhesbluetoobutnotailandcantteleport andtherestheotherkidwiththeGermanaccentbuthesnotblue whyarealltheteleportersGerman?"

> " Okay, buckle up [..] I think I saw some sedatives in one of the packs...Christ..."
Alice buckles up before Tobias has quite finished asking her to. "Youwantsedatives? Areyousure? Imeanbecauseyourepilotingandeverything thatmightnotbesuchagreatidea ohyoumeantocalmmedown dontyou theydontreallyworkonme Imetabolizethemtoofast butfineIcanjustsithereandbequiet hmph!"

Alice sticks her tongue out at him, too fast to see (she hopes), and settles down as much as she can, watching him carefully and (mostly) silently as he explores the controls. Several time she reaches out as if tempted to press some button or ask “what does THAT do?” but pulls her hand back in a blur before she actually touches anything… this guy is faster than she is (well, sorta) and older too, even if he is kinda mean.

[Tobias Smith]

Goddamn it! Damn you efficient military protocol! DAMN YOU TO HELL! Okay...deep breath...They're pulling out. That's good...but I'm stuck in a military helicopter with a hyperactive speed-freak and I don't know how to fly it...the military are leaving, and if they find that their chopper is still hovering, they'll probably blow it up...okay...fine............shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit! Okay, stay calm...breath.......Jesus...God...I have no idea if you can hear me, or if you even listen, or even if my faith is in the right place. I know you don't make miracles happen that often, unless you count mutations as miracles. But, if you could find it in your infinitely-large heart, please help me. Okay, you help those who help themselves, I'm trying to help myself, so...help me!

Tobias sighs, wipes the sweat and hair from his eyes, and quickly makes the sign of the cross. Slowly, and nervously, he grips the controls of the helicopter, and gulps nervously. "Our Father," Tobias tilted the control the the left, and the chopper began to move. "Who art in heaven," He pulled up, and the helicopter tilted back wards and began to rise. "Hallowed be thy name," Tobias was panting, chanting nervously, and tilted forward slightly to correct the angle, but too far and the helicopter continued to rise but now headed toward just above the roof of the Institute. "Thy kingdom come," Tobias grabs another control stick, and the vehicle begins to rotate. "Thy will be done," An emergency light begins to blink, as Tobias attempts to aim the helicopter at another van at the other end of the school grounds. "On earth as it is in heaven," The helicopter is actually at the right angle downward and was now basically a missile heading towards the secondary ops van. "Give us this day our daily bread," Tobias removes the headset, and presses a button that said LOCK, which locks the controls in place. "And forgive us our trespasses," He looks around for anything that can help him and the girl. "As we forgive those who trespass against us," It is only about half a minute now until contact. "And lead us not into temptation," Nothing...there's absolutely nothing that can help them, though Tobias stands awkwardly, unstraps the girl, and heads toward the open door. "But deliver us from evil," The helicopter was about a story above the ground, and seconds away from impact. "Amen." Tobias flinches...

...and the impact doesn't come. Despite nearly doubling over due to exhaustion, the pressure, and the weight of the girl, Tobias stumbles out of the helicopter and begins falling legs first towards the ground. The girl is frozen in his arms, but he holds her protectively, as time starts.

Pain rockets through his body, and a few bones in his legs and hip snap. There is an explosion due to the collision of van and helicopter, and he feels the heat, force, and at least two pieces of shrapnel pierce his shoulder and leg. Tobias took the brunt of the fall and covered the girl from the explosion. How he was not dead, he didn't know. He'd probably survive...despite when he opens his eyes his vision is blurred, which he deducts is due to his contacts probably falling out.

The boy can't move, and he can just barely speak. He can't see very well, but he can make out the shape of the girl. "H.....Hey.........'Zip'.....run.........find....find Ms. Monroe....or....one of the blue guys........someone......help........none of th.....the.......guys......guys in black............tell.....tell them.......tell them Tobias.......big explosion.......back of school.........lots of blood........hard to.......awake.........go.......n.....no............now....."


Tobias finds it hard to breath, and has no energy left. His entire body hurts like it has never hurt before, and he struggles to stay awake. He chooses not to speak anymore, but to save what he does have. The boy's clothes are slightly burnt, and stained with his own blood. His body is battered, beaten, but his mind is still sharp. So...you work in mysterious ways...I didn't have the energy...but then I felt it...last second...a sliver of energy that I could use...Amen, amen...very sneaky God...very sneaky...but, I'm not coming up there yet...haven't made my mark. But, tell Dad I said 'Hi', will you? Thanks God, appreciate it.

[N.P.C]

Alice Kruglinkski (aka “Zip”) and Logan (aka “Wolverine”)

The girl is gone for a while… a few seconds? A few minutes? It’s hard to be sure while battered and pierced and losing blood in the middle of a high-school turned war zone.

And then she returns, panting heavily, out of breath. "I’mreallyreallysorrybut (gasp)IcouldntfindMissMonroeoranybodybluelikeyousaid(gasp)lookedinherofficeand teachersloungeandherroomintheattic(gasp)eventhoughwe’renotsupposedtogoupthere(gasp)andthekitchenandEVERYWHEREbutIcouldntfindher butIfoundMrLogan wellactuallyhefoundme butanywayhescomingfastashecan IhopethatsOK pleasedontdie pleasepleaseplease "

She kneels next to his body, trying ineffectually to stop his bleeding by pressing down hard where the shrapnel pierced him, and equally ineffectually not to cry. . "IdontknowCPRoranything IshouldlearnIreallyshould Iwill IwillOK Imreallysorry justpleasedontdieOK? " Astonishingly, her voice gets even faster as the seconds pass, accelerating into a completely uninterpretable high-pitched buzzing whine before finally being cut off by another voice, gruff and deep and familiar.

"Oh, kid… I toldja to keep your head down. Awright… ‘sOK, Alice, he’s gonna be OK. Follow me, an’ try ta stay outta trouble?" Logan cuts some shards from the boy’s clothes and wraps some of the more obvious wounds, tying a tourniquet around Tobias’ knee to stop the bleeding in one leg. Then he slowly lifts the injured teen, careful not to exacerbate his injuries, and lopes steadily towards one of the access gates towards the medbay.

((OOC: Dropping off this thread; picking up inInvasion -- Concussed and bleeding welcome ))