Neutral Zone

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

The Neutral Zone is at the center of the cross formation. The obstacles in this area will gun for all players equally - though the Danger Room is adaptive and may start gunning for showoffs. Power usage is forbidden here. The Danger Room will ‘timeout’ anyone who breaks the rules. Those with physical mutations need to obey the spirit of the rule as best as they are able. (Note: The Danger Room is fully capable of detecting psionic manipulation…)

Examples of obstacles in this area are best characterized by a ‘superspy’ theme. Laser tripwires, whirling blades, and flamethrowers are all common in this area. Additionally, a variety of the floorplates have been rigged to drop out from under players at various times.

[Matthew Craft]

Matthew is genuinely surprised when his sister fails to choose him for her team, but it's short-lived when he notes that there's a brief look of desperation in her eyes when choosing the second member. Not that it was obvious, but he'd known her long enough to tell when something was amiss.

Not choosing him is just part of an elaborate plan, of that Matthew is sure. Whether it's a plan for victory or something more intriguing than that, he hardly knows.

In the game, he knows that she knows he wouldn't consciously hurt her, and that his radiation poses no threat (a side effect of sharing the same DNA). Of all of the participants, he's probably the least concerning to her, so from tactical perspective it was a good idea. She was hoping to plant a weak link in someone else's team.

But to avoid him purposely with something else in mind...that was something he wasn't anticipating. He can only think of the situation between he and Laurie, something he's explained to Toni on a previous occasion. If she was scheming something regarding that...well, he just prays that maybe it'd work.

“Rogue?” Holding back the saddened sigh is hard, but Matthew manages to tone it down to a subtle huff. So much for his sister's plan, if he's thinking the way she usually does.

It would have been nice to get teamed up with Laurie. Hell, it would have been beyond nice. To say that they've had some reasonable interaction at all would be fantastic. He's left to the sidelines, in hopes that someone else would claim him.

Though in the next matter of seconds, he realizes that that particular dream is about to go unanswered. Discouraged (because everyone in junior high always picks the huge kid first) and convinced that he's about to get booted out of the Danger Room after the unexpected arrival of John and Rogue, Matthew let's his shoulders slump.

Though Ms. Ororo's proposal may sound interesting to most, it's not in Matthew's nature to go picking on people. But he perks up when Dr. McCoy's overly cheery and complicated voice booms over the speakers.

"If the other four teams are eliminated from play before any team collects all four flags, we win, and I take you both out for the most sumptuous repast of your young lives.” No later had that tempting announcement been made, did Matthew find himself in the proclaimed 'Neutral Zone', with only the shorter Tempero to keep him company.

"Great...so...I guess we go annoy someone now?"

[Tempero]

Alright, so he does not get picked. It is useless to say that "oh, well, life goes on", or that he did not expect it. It is really useless to think anything of any sort of comfort- after all, maybe two or three people in the room have actually seen his abilities at work, (And at least one of them had a rather unpleasant reaction for everyone... he reminds himself almost nastily) and he has not, as of yet, shown any real actual fighting skills.

And then he tries to sell himself some bull about how he did not fit in anyone's strategy, which he five minutes later actually identifies as a wagon of bull, and instead settles for a shiver once Matt and he are transported into the Neutral zone.

Of course, it doesn't help that his partner is probably thinking about that whole "icky" situation between him and Laurie, which Daniel does not really actually know of or understand, but rather simply knows is there.

He compliments himself for being so capable of detecting all the various little patterns of people's social lives, and then comments on how he himself has not had any real friends since he came to the institute. Was it that people on the streets were more hospitable than those here? Or was it that he has spent the last God-knows-how-big amount of time working on his own problems, and not really trying to do something about his social life that seems to be going downhill in a horseless wagon that's on fire, towards a sea of oil?

Option b), definitely. And now I'm standing here, looking like an idiot right next to Matt...whom I've met once or twice in the hallways...

Of course, the Danger Room's promise of "the most sumptuous repast of their young lives" is something to most certainly look forward to if achieved, so Daniel decides to get back into the game, and give it his best, and who knows, something might come out right. After all, he has not yet tried actually invading someone's mind, and if he succeeds in doing so, then their power is for him to manipulate. Might as well try it.

>"Great...so...I guess we go annoy someone now?"

At least we share the sentiment... he thinks, pulling up a smile on his face. He could pull one up no matter how depressed he really was. It is a talent.

"I guess...Although we might want to decide on at least some sort of strategy first? I mean, it's surely going to pay off, compared to just running into a zone and doing whatever...I could boost your power and/or your control over it, and I could also copy it onto myself, or something..." he says, talking lightly, happily, as if this was the best thing that could have happened.

[Warren Worthington III]

(( picking up from Blue Zone ))

> " I should point out that Hank is a big fan of traps that test agility. Hopefully he kept in mind the power-ban in the central zone… but this is Hank we’re talking about. Let’s move as fast as we’re able. "

Warren nods at the reminder as he bolts through the opening gate. Normally, he doesn’t have much trouble with agility traps… but that’s when he’s in the air. Landbound, he’s not much more nimble than any other reasonably athletic guy his age, and he really hopes Hank has scaled down the Neutral Zone traps to keep that in mind.

But looking around as he makes his way out of Storm’s fogbank, he’s not at all sure. The room doesn’t really look like anything in particular, just a jumble of machinery and scaffolding and stuff scattered randomly around… any part of which could be, and probably was, a trap. He doesn’t see Danny or Matt immediately, which is good; on the other hand with all the junk he wouldn’t necessarily see them. Oh well… at least my enhanced senses are exempt from the “no-powers” ruling… it’s not like I can turn them off. I’ll probably see them before they see me. Unless, of course, the Danger Room concealed them somehow. It’s best not to take anything for granted.

He checks behind him briefly to make sure the other two are in position, then sprints along the wall to his left. It’s tempting to try and look in all directions at once, but he’s learned better over the months – if you assign someone a job, you have to assume they’re going to do it, otherwise you waste your efforts and undermine their confidence. Warren’s back is being watched; it’s his job to keep watch ahead.

They’ve covered perhaps half the distance to the Green Gate when he spots their first surprise; a half-dozen innocuous-looking garbage cans sprout machine-gun turrets when his team gets in range, which spin to target them. "Get cover!" he shouts instinctively, diving behind a pile of junk and rolling into a half-crouch as a hail of gunfire erupts above his head, then risks a look behind him to make sure his team is OK.

[Nikkolas Blagetovich]

The Neutral Zone was just as vast, if not more vast than the Fantasy Zone. It was full of junk, things that looked like nothing more then trash cans, and other piles of junk. This room would be ideal for Magneto, except for the whole 'no-powers thing'. All this metal stuff around was just eerie, it brought about a feeling of home (Russia) for Nikk.

Nikk watched the directions that Warren had ordered him to watch. Besides the random piles of scrap piles that were laying around, this place was pretty bland, Nikk liked the Fantasy theme much better. Nikk didn't want to be the one to fail his team, or be eliminated. He wanted to shine, especially in front of Warren and Miss Munroe.

"Get cover!"

Without even looking to see what was going on, Nikk dropped to the ground and crawled for cover. As he was crawling, he noticed that the 'trash cans' were actually death traps trying to eliminate them. He found his way behind a large pile of scrap. The blasting sounds of the death trap thrash cans were loud and sounded like pop corn gone seriously wrong. He stayed ducked down safe behind the scrap pile and looked for his team mates. He spotted Warren, who was looking around too, he changed his angle to hopefully spot Miss Munroe.

[Warren Worthington III]

In retrospect, Warren realizes he ought to have picked up something to use as a weapon in the Neutral Zone.

Not that he’s at all sure what he could do with a sword or lance in this situation, with machine-gun fire pinning him down into a narrow trench between two metal rails, but he should have thought of it… who knows, maybe Hank had planted some kind of magic weapons in there for his team to use? Well, I can’t afford to start being indecisive now. We’ll just have to get by without it.

His windsense picks up Nikk and Ororo, who seem to have found cover of their own, and paints him a picture of the net of bullets above them. He could probably weave his way through it, but not while staying on the ground, and the other two wouldn’t stand a chance. Of course, Ororo could just call lightning to blast the thing into scrap if she could use her powers – but that’s not the point.

He squirms forward along the trench, swearing as bits of metal catch on his wings. Ordinarily he'd use his TK-aura to protect himself, but for now he just suffers with it, careful to keep his wings and his butt down, and paying careful attention to the ground beneath him – this would be the perfect place for a trap panel of some sort, and Warren is prepared to catch himself against the rails if he encounters one. So it takes him a split-second longer than normal to notice the baseball-sized object being launched towards him. Grenade?!?

His instinct is to slap it away with a wing and take the resulting bullet or two… but he hesitates for a moment, unsure whether that counts as power-use. That’s long enough for him to realize two things: first, that the grenade has been joined by two others, launched at Nikk and Ororo; second, that the gunfire has stopped – or at least paused – presumably to allow the grenades safe passage. He grins fiercely then, realizing the Danger Room has just provided the weapon he needed – at least, for someone to whom trajectory analysis is as intuitive as it is for Warren.

He responds immediately, rising to his feet as the trajectory-calculating part of his mind works out the necessary vectors and shouting "Move move move! I’ve got this!" There’s no way to do this without his wings, he realizes, so he just hopes that using them as limbs doesn’t count as power-use and jumps into the path of the nearest grenade, swatting it out of the air with one hand and slapping the next-closest one with a wingtip.

He’s already running when he hits the ground, scanning the area ahead of him for new threats; he’s only vaguely aware of his windsense reporting the first grenade colliding with one of the machine-gun turrets, the second colliding with the third, the resulting ricochet taking out two more. The explosions behind him are oddly satisfying. Take that, Neutral Zone!

[Tempero]

As Daniel awaits Matthew's response, he cannot help but notice some certain amount of background action from the zone itself, but credits it to simply the constant movement of something. After all, it has to stay active, no?

And then it is when he hears the distinct words,

>"Move move move! I’ve got this!"

that he realizes that a team has already infiltrated the zone. That was sickeningly fast. How could they possibly be so fast? he wonders as he shoots a quick glance and Matthew. "Perhaps one of us should stay here, watching?" he runs even as he says those words, and it does not take him long to find Warren running in the opposite direction. He only then figures out that, yes, Warren has an always useful mutation, while his is not all that, but then also figures out that, yes, he can use his mutation, and Warren cannot. And since no one else of our enemies is allowed to use their mutations, and Matt and I are, that means that I can invade anyone's mind, and they are not allowed to defend if they are a telepath...at least in theory. he thinks, and decides against waiting for a suitable target, since Warren is still there.

Let's see...wings...frail bones or something like that...it would probably hurt if I borrowed it...but, he is used to balancing with the wings, right? So, if I cancel his mutation out, he'll be thrown off-balance. he quickly steps up in some small distance to the left and in front of Warren, and focuses in on his mind. <Hello, Warren...sorry about this...> he sends a quick message, and then focuses on finding his mutation, or rather the most heavily populated area when it comes to mutated genes, and soon finds it. To work then.

He focuses hard on the genes, and then starts thinking about their disappearance, about how they are useless. And soon enough, he starts sensing that the mutation is going back into its dormant state. He can simply feel it. And so, a small amount of red light starts glowing around Warren's sillhouete. Danny only vaguely becomes aware that there are several ways in which Warren might lose his wings, not all of which are necessarily quite painless, but it does not matter really. It has always been like this- whenever he uses his mutation, he most definitely is not the same personality...or, rather, seems a bit more un-friendly in his actions. He has only used his mutation to repress powers in the Danger Room sessions before, and therefore does not remember this odd feeling of control he has right now.

((If it perhaps seems a bit G-modey, please do tell me ))

[Ororo Munroe]

Storm follows carefully on Warren’s heels into the Neutral Zone. The area was somewhat dark; the garbage cans and general styling reminded her of some of the seedier back-alley sections of New York she’d visited on occasion. New York doesn’t usually have blades and flamethrowers popping out of walls, though.

…Usually.

> "Get cover!"

She can’t say she’s very surprised when the garbage dumpsters sprout machine guns. What surprises her a little more is that there are six of them. Hank! Don’t you think you’re being a little rough on us? Ororo mentally curses the observation booth, which she suspects is masquerading as a pair of windows halfway up an apartment building down the block, judging from the slight blue blur inside. She throws herself towards a pile of equipment, hearing the whine of the automatic weapons tracking her.

“What now, Warren?” Ororo shouts over the din. They were effectively pinned down. Normally, a few bolts of lightning would have taken care of the turrets, but that wasn’t allowed. The no-power rule had already slowed their progress. “Any way to go around?”

> "Move move move! I’ve got this!"

The next few seconds happen all at once. Warren springs from cover. Wow. That takes some confidence in your abilities. Even more impressive, Warren manages to swat two grenades headed their way back towards the guns. The quadruple set of explosions brings a smile to her face, until she hears a small tink tink tink. Ororo looks down. Hm? A small silver ball is blinking next to her feet, and her eyes widen. Another grenade? "Heads up!"

With a booted toe, Ororo kicks it away from herself, Warren, and Nikkolas, and begins running in Warren’s direction. A few moments later, an explosion issues from across the room, accompanied by the sound of shattered glass. “That was close…” She glances over at the other two. “Everyone okay? I’m not enjoying the no-power rule, honestly…”

Nikkolas seems unscathed, but Warren suddenly begins shouting and doubles over. "Warren, were you hit?" Ororo runs towards him to get him under cover. How strange. Even if Warren had been hit with 'bullets', they were all holographic. The Danger Room kept track of simulated injuries and took players out of the game when they would have fallen unconscious or been 'killed'.

[Warren Worthington III]

((OOC: Danny – sorry for the vague response, but I’m not really sure how your power works. Looked at your app but it’s not described there – at least, I don’t think you’re using the “weaken someone else’s control” power you described there, are you?))

The explosions behind him are oddly satisfying. Take that, Neutral Zone! But the satisfaction is short-lived. He’s barely on his feet again and moving towards the target gate when he hears Danny’s telepathic “voice” in his head, and a moment later he’s brought to his knees, screaming in agony.

The feeling is indescribable, though vaguely reminiscent of the worst of the “treatments” his father’s doctors had tried on him to get rid of his wings… except back then the process involved several days or weeks of low-grade suffering, whereas this time it all seems compressed into a matter of seconds – and without painkillers. " Gaaaah!" It’s like every muscle in his body is short-circuiting… no, more like the bones themselves are being systematically fractured and re-knit. He's aware of a burst of agony in his wings, before he's no longer aware of them at all... just a numbness between his shoulder blades.

Damn… what was that? Warren tries to stay aware of the mutant abilities of the Institute students, but this is a surprise… he hadn’t thought Danny had any kind of ranged offensive capabilities. Unless… is he using some refined version of Matthew’s radiation blasts? That thought, especially when he realizes his skin is glowing red, would be enough to make him ill if he didn’t already feel like vomiting, but he forces himself to stay conscious and rational: he hadn’t sensed any kind of projectile or beam attack, the strike had come without warning. That didn’t sound like Matthew’s power.

At first he thinks the blurred vision and the way everything drops into near-silence and is a sign that he’s blacking out, but after a second he realizes his senses have merely been reduced to human normal. That confirms his initial speculation: apparently Danny has developed a new variation on his powers. Today’s lesson, he thinks through gritted teeth as he tries to crawl out of the kid’s line-of-sight, don’t ever assume… you know… what the enemy is capable of…

>"Warren, were you hit?"

"Tempero... I think... some kind of power-suppression, maybe? I'm not sure what it's doing to me." The pain is starting to recede now... perhaps it was just the transition that hurt so much?... but the obvious conclusion he's been avoiding now presents itself without distraction. "Did he... are my wings... OK?"

He hates himself for the terror in his voice, and in his heart, but he just can't bring himself to ask if they're still there at all. It's just temporary, he tells himself as he crawls back to his feet. I can handle this.

[Nikkolas Blagetovich]

Blasts went off all over the place. Nikk did not like this neutral room and its no power rule. It was very hard for him not to just use his powers to communicate with Miss Munroe or Warren. English under normal circumstances was hard enough, all of this stress was coming down on him, he felt as if he was going to snap at any moment. Not only were the trash cans firing bullets at them, but now hurling grenades. This Hank is one twisted individual, I really must meat him. This is just...amazingly done and well thought of!

"Move move move! I’ve got this!"

Just when he felt things were getting worse, he heard Warren yell-things did get worse. Nikk peeked around, seeing him batter two grenades back at their owners. He is truly gifted. Nikk wouldn't ever think about hitting back something like a grenade back at its thrower, though Nikk also didn't have wings, but none the less. He was starting to get nervous, his captain was in danger and Nikk was helpless to do anything about it. "I must get over there." He hauled ass, crawling like he never did before to reach Warren and Ororo. He felt savage crawling around like this, and his facial expression showed it. "Ve need to get out of here." He said grudgingly.

“Everyone okay? I’m not enjoying the no-power rule, honestly…”

Ororo seemed to really keep the cool under all of this pressure and stress. Nikk tried to do the same. He was not hurt, scratched, or even bruised, just annoyed with this stupid room and the helplessness it brought upon him. "I am fine, sank you. Dhis room....is annoying." He sneered, looking at this massive junk yard, or at least what he could see of it.

"Warren, were you hit?"

Nikk did a double take looking at Warren. He let out a scream of pain. Nikk didn't think he was hit by a bullet or anything, but he hadn't really been paying that close of attention. If he could use his power, he'd of been able to tell what was wrong with him right away. Yet another reason why he wanted out of this hell hole.

"Tempero... I think... some kind of power-suppression, maybe? I'm not sure what it's doing to me."

Nikk listened intently to Warren as he explained what he though had happened to him. Danny? Oh, he is so lucky we're in the Neutral Zone. His roomie was using his telepathy, or whatever it was, to cut off Warren's mutation. Nikk was sure once they escaped into another room where he could use his powers, then he could stop what Danny was doing and hopefully quickly reverse it. He was Rasputin, and he'd be damned if anyone else would be blocking his team's path to victory by the use of telepathy. Nikk was convinced he could help Warren once they all got out of this zone; he knew But, this would require them actually escaping the Neutral Zone.

"Did he... are my wings... OK?

Nikk felt his heart drop when he heard Warren ask this question in complete horror. Nikk bite his bottom lip slightly and looked at Warren with a slight look of worry. His once beautifully white wings were now starting to become discolored and the features fell off at a rapid rate. They looked like wings that an angel of darkness would have. "Um, vell once ve get out of dhis room, I vill be able to help you. I vill sever his link vith you and shield your mind. I strongly advise you fight him vith your vill, use your mind to resist his power; resist him vith every fiber of your being." Nikk wondered if Warren would try to push Danny out, block himself, if even a little, to his power. "But, they've looked better?" Nikk worried that Warren would break down on some level; they were his wings, like a hand or a foot to him. Nikk couldn't believe that his room mate would sink to the level of torturing another peer, he'd get him for that.

[Ororo Munroe]

As Warren clutches his stomach as if sick, Ororo desperately tries to figure out what’s going on. His screams tell her something horrible is going on - she hasn’t ever heard Warren yell like that. Too, a strange red aura surrounds him. That’s certainly not normal. The younger boy’s shouts of pain tug on Storm’s heart.

“What on earth…” She looks helplessly around, trying to figure out what was going on. About the same time Warren is able to speak, she spots Danny a short ways off. In her estimation, a positively creepy look is spread across his face, and the pieces begin to fall into place. He didn’t. This is a training exercise! That’s completely out of line - and dangerous!

> "Tempero... I think... Did he... are my wings... OK?"

Warren’s wings were still there - but were quivering oddly, almost spasming. She’d never seen anything like it, and the idea of what he was going through made her slightly ill. Ororo’s mouth presses into a thin line. “They will be.” She stalks across the short gap, using the angle between Danny’s body and the turrets. If Hank wanted to hit her, he’d have to shoot through Danny to do it.

Effortlessly, Storm reaches him, and her eyes are icy. If there was one thing she’d learned from training with Jean - and later Josh and Jake - in the Danger Room, it was that a good physical impact was enough to break just about anyone’s mental concentration, telepath or not. Storm clenches her gloved fist together and drives it into Danny’s jawline with brutal force.

[Tempero]

((To answer your question, it is Danny using his mutation to degrade, rather than supercharge Warren's own; I am not sure if I have hinted towards that in the bio or not...sorry ))

He is only vaguely aware of the others coming around Warren, he himself being torn between keeping focus on Warren's mutation, and a fierce inner debate as to whether this kind of use of his power was supposed to hurt that much. Finally, he realizes what is going on, almost at the same time as Ms. Munroe starts walking over. He repressed Warren's mutation, but it had been active since he was born, and it had already modified all of his body structure. Which means that in the same second his mutation was gone, he was a normal human, and therefore all of his bones got their density back, and his wings were, theoretically, just dead weight now. Human bones got denser over life, which is long enough to avoid any pain. This was as if Warren was hit by all of his years of life compressed into a few seconds.

And then he notices Ms. Munroe. His mouth opens to say no, but all it does is make a better position for the punch. Knocked off-balance, Daniel falls over, and the link is severed immediately, which means that all the pain Warren just went through is going to come back in reverse. In the process of falling onto the ground, he bites his lip hard, but doesn't pay attention to the blood trickling from it as he stands up and takes a few steps back. If the machine guns do not eliminate them, at least he can take Mss. Munroe's mutation...or try.

He looks at her, and for a moment there is that slightly evil look in his eyes again, but quickly is exchanged with one that most closely resembles something among the lines of "this is not all serious" accompanied by a doubtful seed of "it didn't hurt that much, right?" as he reaches to her mind. And again, he gives her the same message he gave Warren, <Sorry...>, before reaching out to her mutation. He severs the telepathic link to her mind, and focuses on the mutated genes. This is a fully developed power, so he will have to use her control as well as his. So no power suppressing this time.

His own skin starts glowing a slightly yellow glow, the color his "mutation vision" would see Ms. Munroe as well. He then tries to see if he has succeeded, trying to raise a wind that would blow in the opposite direction of their heading. Just a test.

[Warren Worthington III]

(( OOC: KK. It would probably be helpful to write up something in there about how Danny's new powers work, so folks know how to respond IC moving forward. I think we're fine for now, though.))

Warren tries not to flinch at the look on Storm’s face before she – er – storms off in Blackburn’s direction, or the tone of Rasputin’s voice as he closes the distance between them. They all have that tentative tone that people use when talking to terminally ill patients, though that might just be the sudden surprise. Worry about it later. he growls to himself, concentrating on getting moving again. He’s still half-blind, half-deaf, strangely heavy, and numb behind the shoulder blades… but at least he’s on his feet again.

He hesitates for a moment, not sure if the team should go help Storm deal with Blackburn. It seems incredible that it’s been only a few seconds since he dealt with the grenades; it feels like hours… still, the Danger Room isn’t likely to stay quiet for too much longer now that they’ve stopped moving. That’s why he hadn’t wanted to get pinned down in fights… but that was before Blackburn had revealed a devastating ranged attack that Warren couldn’t see coming. Maybe they’d do better to take him down now, and risk the increased Danger Room exposure?

Warren knows that indecisiveness is worse than the wrong decision in crisis situations; he has to make a decision, even though he’s not really sure what the best course is. "Rasputin, I want you to – Aaaaaaaargh!" The decision is promptly taken out of his hands as the red glare fades and the pain resumes, sharper than the last time, driving him back down to the floor. He can barely think through it, let alone give instructions.

[Tobias Smith]

((Picking up from the Red Zone...))

Tobias vaguely thinks of the Pink Panther theme, as the door to the Neutral Zone opens. Before stepping through, he looks back, pausing for Toni to catch up. Anybody is better than being stuck with Sparky in that cartoonish hell. Then again, he can still see good ol' Pyro through the door in the wall that he had painted. He was not going o try and ask how he painted a doorway, and had literally ripped through space to come to the door. If the start of the program sends them to the center of the zones...he essentially got himself and Toni across 1.5 football fields without a power and...

DONT THINK ABOUT IT! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON'T THINK ABOUT THE FUCKING PHYSICS. BREATH! There is no spoon, there is no spoon...dont think about the physics, don't think about the physics, don't think about the physics... Whether he knows it or not, he and Toni are on the same mindset. Already, he dislikes her less than he dislikes everyone else for a few reasons: 1. She's a smartass, like him. 2. She loathes that god damned Cartoon Zone. 3. They both are trying to not think about the physics.

As she catches up, Tobias slowly peeks out into the Neutral Zone, his face apathetic again, still attempting to ignore that he just totally fucked up space. Fucking up time was a different story, he did that on a daily basis. But fucking teleporting?! GOD DAMN IT! STOP THINKING ABOUT IT! He sighs, and shakes his head, before glancing out at the alley that waited for them. The Pink Panther theme is still playing through his mind, as he looks out at the 'Superspy-themed' area, thinking it was way too empty. Sure, the other Craft person was there...but still, no worries. How hard was it to kick some ass and just get to the next area?

Again, he glances at Toni, himself stilll ready to go out, then glances again back to the Red Zone. "Fucked up...that place is just fucked up. So then...er....Toni, care to lead the way?"

[Warren Worthington III]

Fortunately for Warren, the pain recedes even faster than it came, taking the nausea with it. He notices right away that his eyesight is no longer blurry and his ears no longer feel stuffed with cotton; with a profound sense of relief he realizes he can move and feel his wings again.

The most unusual feeling is when his telekinetic aura re-establishes itself… he doesn’t really think about it much except when it’s intermingling with Josh’s TK, and when that happens he’s usually too distracted to pay attention to his experience of the aura itself. He’s aware of it now, though, settling around him like a second skin, and wonders how he’d ever taken it for granted… he’d say he feels naked without it, but the truth is Warren feels entirely natural while naked, whereas his aura’s absence feels profoundly unnatural in retrospect.

Well… at least it was temporary, he thinks, climbing to his feet again, and looks around to get his bearings again. Rasputin is behind him, and while he can’t actually see Ororo or Blackburn he can feel the shape of them behind a tall metal barrier. There’s something unusual about it, though… Ororo’s the same as ever, but the wind-currents around Blackburn are disturbed, uneven; they shift when he moves. It’s a little like the pattern around Ororo, except more tentative… Oh Lord. He’s got her powers. Yet another thing he hadn’t realized Blackburn could do, forcibly borrowing the abilities of others. Good thing for him he didn’t try that on me; who knows what would’ve happened to him?

Before he’s quite figured out how to respond to that, he hears a whooshing sound and sees the Red Gate at the far end of Neutral Zone slide open. This just gets better and better. So much for the advantage of speed. Not that it’s a complete surprise – Smith is a speedster, after all, and Warren had always expected it would be more of a matter of endurance with him – but he really didn’t need to be reminded of it now.

For just a moment he panics – too much is going on, too quickly – but only a moment. Oddly, what calms him is the memory of Strikeback’s attempt to assassinate him and Josh in Paris: that had been a series of real life-or-death struggles, with the odds stacked against them, and they’d made it out alive. This was just a game, and with better odds at that. Of course, it’d be easier with Josh… but my team aren’t slouches, either.

Of course, that doesn’t mean he has any intention of losing – especially not after all he’s already been put through. "Storm, Rasputin – I’m fine, let’s move it!" He runs back towards the Sci-Fi Gate full-tilt, counting on his team to follow and hoping they’ll get out of Blackburn’s range, whatever it is now, before he can quite bring his stolen powers to bear on them.