History Lesson (Danny, Toni/Matty, anyone!)

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

Dani looks sympathetic. "Bobby told me about this. Alkali Lake is where...." She trails off.

Josh nods. "Right. Alkali Lake is where Jean Grey, sacrificed herself so that the rest of us could live. I wasn't at Alkali, but I felt her fear and determination from here in New York... it was distant, but it was... awful. If she hadn't, half of the Institute wouldn't even be here anymore." An imperceptible look crosses his face.

"Jean Grey was a lot of things. She was one of the first X-Men, along with Ororo and Mr. Summers. She was a fantastic doctor, a world-class researcher... and she was also my mentor, which is probably why I was able to sense this event telepathically. She also was a telepath, and a telekinetic as well." As he talks, DR sims of Jean, Scott, Ororo, and the Professor, as they were shortly before Alkali, appear. Ororo's hair trails down her back, and Dani's eyebrows raise incredulously. Jean's hair is short and she is dressed, along with the others, in an X-Men uniform. "Dr. Grey and Scott were involved with each other, and he never recovered from her presumed death."

Josh smiles a little. "This happened over two years ago. All of us have moved on, but there's nothing wrong with honoring those who meant a lot to us. Without sacrifices, this school wouldn't still be here. Everyone ready to begin?"

>"Ready when you are..."

> “So, this is a history lesson? Are we just watching or do we have to…uh, participate?”

He looks at Laurie, nodding. "Both. If you'd rather not participate, I understand... but I would point out that this exercise counts for participation points for my Power Use class. If there's anything during the simulation that I need to talk about, I can freeze it. This is something new I'm trying... usually we do either academic or applied work. I'm trying to combine them."

"If there aren't any other questions, let's get started with the briefing." Josh steps to the side as Scott and the Professor disappear, and sim-Ororo starts talking.

"Colonel William Stryker attacked the Institute in fall 2005 after convincing the US government that we were a national security threat. His men captured Professor Xavier and Cyclops at a separate event, and took some of our students hostage." At this point, Jean starts talking. "Ororo and I had been sent to investigate a mutant, Kurt Wagner, which is why we weren't present for the attack. We met up with Logan, Bobby, Rogue, and Pyro in Boston, who had escaped the initial assault. I discovered that Kurt had been used by Stryker in the past, and was able to pull the location of the Alkali base from Kurt's mind."

Ororo continues. "We took the Blackbird to Alkali with 3 main objectives - find Scott, find the Professor, and free the children. We had to do all of this and escape. It wasn't simple, especially with the children in the mix." With this, the two women disappear.

Julian blows out a breath. "Are we finally ready to start? I want to fight something..." He sounds annoyed, but up until that point, he'd been watching the briefing raptly.

Josh nods. "Yeah. Let's close off the Danger Room." He gestures at the main doors, triggering it with his telekinesis. As he turns, he spots Heather.

"Wait. What are you doing in here?" He raises an eyebrow. "Oh, you're the new girl, right?"

[Veronica Devereux]

Veronica walked past Josh, and stopped in a stop near one of the girls. She gave a slight wave and returned her smile. She opened her mouth to introduce herself, but she was cut off by Josh's speech.

>"Right. Alkali Lake is where Jean Grey, sacrificed herself so that the rest of us could live. I wasn't at Alkali, but I felt her fear and determination from here in New York... it was distant, but it was... awful. If she hadn't, half of the Institute wouldn't even be here anymore." She shuddered. She wouldn't be able to stand the thought of feeling other people's feeling. I mean, it's that what a psychologist is for?

"Jean Grey was a lot of things. She was one of the first X-Men, along with Ororo and Mr. Summers. She was a fantastic doctor, a world-class researcher... and she was also my mentor, which is probably why I was able to sense this event telepathically. She also was a telepath, and a telekinetic as well." she jumped slightly as the holograms of said people materialized in front of her life. Jean Grey was so gorgeous, it was a shame she died. She fought the sudden urge to reach out and try to touch the ologram, to see if it was tangible or simply digitally produced lights.

> “So, this is a history lesson? Are we just watching or do we have to…uh, participate?” This came from the girl she stood next to. She shifted her eyes, and head, to face the girl slightly. She didn't look much older than she, and relatively friendly. She gave another smile, this only one half, the other half of her was paying attention to the conversation going on from the holograms.

>"We took the Blackbird to Alkali with 3 main objectives - find Scott, find the Professor, and free the children. We had to do all of this and escape. It wasn't simple, especially with the children in the mix."" At this statement, Veronica's face went pale. The kids? There were kids trapped in there? If she was there, she would have fought her hardest to release them. Even if she didn't know ho or where they were, she's destroy the damn until she found them.

>"Wait. What are you doing in here?Oh, you're the new girl, right?" She turned to face the direction that Josh was facing as well, and came face to face with a blonde haired girl, a little younger than herself. She looked new, but newer than her. She almost seemed lost.

[Heather Mosley]

Heather listened as the man talked about Jean Grey and her heroic actions and other people talked about different events. Keeping quiet, her eyes widened when he apparently directed a question in her direction. Hearing the blond girl talk, Heather stayed quiet and listened as another question was directed toward her.

"Oh... ummm. Yeah." Heather said, nodding slowly. "Is it... is it okay if I am down here?" she asked, hoping she hadn't done something wrong already.

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

> "Oh... ummm. Yeah. Is it... is it okay if I am down here?"

Not really. No one under 18 is supposed to be down here unless they have a reason to be and are accompanied by someone with authorization. He suppresses a sigh. Most of the newer students were inherently curious about what went on down in the subbasement.

“For now, yeah… if you’d like to watch, you can. But as a teacher, I probably should remind you that the subbasement is off limits for exploration. You can be down here if you’ve got a reason. I’ll let it go this time, though…” He softens the reprimand with a smile.

“What’s your name, anyway? You’re one of the new students, right?” There are so many of them I’m losing track. It made him feel old. The school was expanding quite a bit as word got out that it was a safe place for mutants to learn about their abilities. As he speaks, Josh moves over to the computer panel, altering the simulation to completely ignore the new girl - that way, she could experience and learn, but not be part of the conflict.

“Ready, everyone?” Josh waits to get nods from most of the group. “Alright. Danger Room: Begin program Ororo Oh-Five.”

He begins a quick walk down the hallway, heading north. “Do all of you know each other? This might be a good chance to familiarize yourself with each other’s powers.” Josh glances at the students walking with him.

After a minute or two, the narrow hallway opens up into a large room with high ceilings. Scattered across the room are large boxes and other bits of military equipment. As soon as the group enters the room, a huge explosion sounds across the base, accompanied by a reddish flash. Even Josh, anticipating the blast, stumbles.

Across the room, a squad of troopers start running into the room. Their leader crouches behind a crate. “More intruders! Stryker said to take ALL of them out! You have your orders, men.”

Josh presses his back to a column, and finds it difficult to shout over the gunfire. Instead, he resorts to telepathy, projecting his voice into everyone’s mind. Alrighty… these guys are stopping us from meeting up with Jean and Ororo. Disable them so we can move on! A particularly gutsy trooper rushes across the room at him. Josh slashes a hand out, catapulting the man backwards with his TK. The man hits a stack of crates, which smash into pieces.

Nearby, he sees Dani making a series of frantic hand gestures at Julian. The two crouch behind a broken-down Jeep.

[Veronica Devereux]

>“Ready, everyone? “Alright. Danger Room: Begin program Ororo Oh-Five.” Not quite sure of what he said, she looked around to see the room starting to morph again. She paid no heed to the girl who had just entered, not finding it completely important right now. She followed Josh as he walked down the corridor, which lead to a large door.

>“Do all of you know each other? This might be a good chance to familiarize yourself with each other’s powers.” She looked around at the people around her. She was walking next to the girl who had flashed her a smile earlier. She scooted closer to her, and waved."So, what's your name? I'm Veronica. Or Veri for short." she said wholeheartedly, ready to meet new people at this school. While she waited for the girl to reply, she nearly tubmled over when the explosion occured."What the hell!?" she yelled, not until after she realized she said that in front of a teacher.


>“More intruders! Stryker said to take ALL of them out! You have your orders, men.”
>Alrighty… these guys are stopping us from meeting up with Jean and Ororo. Disable them so we can move on![/i] After the last sentence echoed throughout her head, she opened the bottle of water she was holding in her hand. She twisted the cap off, and tossed it carelessly at one of soldiers, watching as it rolled on the floor and stopped at his feet. He looked at it puzzeled, which left him open. She clenched her fist and thrusted it into the air, watching as the water from the bottle shot up, hitting him square in the gut.

As the guard doubled over from pain, another one rushed up behind him to aide him. She rolled her eyes and waved her hands at him, sending a small gust of visible wind at him. The wind wrapped around his waist, and tossed him into one of the nearest crates, knocking him unconsious. She turned her attention back to the doubled over soldier. She brought both of her arms up in front of her face,holding them in the form of an X. Immediately, the water shot up in two seperate streams, wrapping around the man's appendages, cutting off his blood flow. As this was happening, she used the water to lift him up, raising him close to the ceiling. Ignoring his plea of letting him live, she dismissed the water, watching as the man plummeted towards the ground, hitting it with a sickening thud.

[Heather Mosley]

>Not really. No one under 18 is supposed to be down here unless they have a reason to be and are accompanied by someone with authorization. He suppresses a sigh. Most of the newer students were inherently curious about what went on down in the subbasement.
“For now, yeah… if you’d like to watch, you can. But as a teacher, I probably should remind you that the subbasement is off limits for exploration. You can be down here if you’ve got a reason. I’ll let it go this time, though…” He softens the reprimand with a smile.
“What’s your name, anyway? You’re one of the new students, right?”



Heather was about to say her name, but she noticed the man turn away and start some sort of program. Instead, she moved behind a couple of boxes to stay a little more out of the way, considering she wasn't even supposed to be down here.

Heather's eyes drifted to the other blond in the room, who was currently fighting against another man. Her eyes moved across the room, simply surveying what was all in the room at the time. The next thing she new, a man came flying into a box of crates. And she noticed another man had landed on the concrete ground with a sickening thud.

"Wow." she mouthed.

[Tempero]

Danny blinks as the environment becomes active once again, and quickly ducks behind a box, settling on just watching what happens around. As soon as the battle starts, he blinks, triggering the "mutation vision," as he calls it, watching around. Josh glows the familiar light blue, and Julian has a very similar shade, while Dani and the new girl, Veronica, are completely unfamiliar-- gray and a mixture of cobalt and white.

Not sure he wants to experiment with new powers just yet, Danny decides to go for Julian-- he doesn't have the telltale teal signifying telepathy, like Josh has. He reaches out with his mind and establishes a link with Julian. Sorry, Julian, I'm going to copy your power for a second he sends the message, and then immediately proceeds to connect with the mutation, aware that Julian would probably not appreciate it very much and fight it. Luckily, the telepathic link with the mind is quickly canceled, and the one with the mutation is established.

An outline of green light, surrounds him, and Danny winces a little as he feels the lack of control over the ability. Of course, he's got a pretty good handle on copying powers, but he has to train with them as well to become proficient. And Danny hasn't dared touch telekinesis, since Josh is the only one he can think of for that ability most of the time, and that always seems to be a big taboo.

Focusing strongly, he first tries to make a field around the body of the guard who's falling from the ceiling, previously propelled by Veronica, but manages only slightly to ease the fall-- just enough for him to survive, but keeping severe injuries. Considering that he's not able to focus better under the conditions, it is a good thing that even that is accomplished, since he feels that otherwise the thrust could have just bounced the man back up to the roof.

He shifts focus to two of the guards who have not yet been targeted and thrusts his hands forwards, knocking them back into the wall. Moving a hand to the other side, he picks up another one and slams him into a corner, and then quickly lets off on the mutation. As the green glow fades, so does his possession of the telekinesis, and he crouches back behind the box.

A quick glance back at Josh, as if trying to figure out if he's doing well enough, would be appropriate right about that moment, but Danny holds back, instead just settling on watching his "teammates" and what they do with the rest of the squad.

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

As Danny glows a greenish color across the room, Julian feels his brief mental connection. He tosses a man into the wall with his telekinesis, and dodges between crates. Without any telepathic skills, he's unable to fight the brief intrusion, but isn't exactly happy about it. "The things I do for the good of the team..." He mumbles this under his breath, and Dani shoots him an amused look.

"Tempero copping a mental feel?" She bats her eyes at him, and as Julian works his mouth furiously to respond, hastily continues - "Just kidding, Jules. Let's get going, though..." Under cover, she extends an arm in Julian's direction. After a moment, he disappears completely.

A whisper behind her ear startles her. "Nice one, Moonstar." Dani jumps, and Julian flashes into being for a split second. "Quit interrupting my concentration, you idiot! Now go get rid of those guys." She eases further behind cover, trying to maintain the illusion.

Across the room, Josh looks on appraisingly. Nice move, kids. Standard troopers weren't much of a problem for him - but showing off wasn't really the point. This was the student's exercise, and he trying to allow them to do things on their own. A man pops out from behind cover and levels a rifle at Dani. She gasps in surprise, but Josh yanks the weapon out of the man's hands with his telekinesis. Quickly, she herself disappears, and the man mysteriously collapses to the ground.

Nice one, Moonstar, but try not to get so centered into your illusion that you forget what's going on. I sometimes do that with my telepathy, and it's not a good idea. He catches her mental assent as she moves across the room.

Danny's doing pretty well, too. Generally, power-copiers had it rough unless they were experienced with a friend's abilities. Rogue had similar troubles until she ended up with Template's abilities.

Josh makes eye contact with Danny across the room. Danny, you're more than welcome to copy my TK during training exercises... just keep in mind, I'd rather not get any power boosts. His tone is slightly amused as he thinks of the fiasco in Bobby's room the previous year.

[Laurie Collins]

"So, what's your name? I'm Veronica. Or Veri for short."

Laurie smiles back nervously, opening mouth to answer and-
“More intruders! Stryker said to take ALL of them out! You have your orders, men.”
-everything pretty much goes to hell. Laurie throws herself behind a nearby column as Veronica ruthlessly disposes of one pair of assailants, Daniel starts glowing, Dani disappears, and Julian throws people around with his telepathy. What am I doing here? My pheromones are useless, anything I do is going to effect everyone, us and the soldiers, and I think I fail if I just make everyone go to sleep and pull out some tea and a book to wait for the X-men to find us… There’s an explosion of gunfire and she shrieks, ducking down to the floor and covering her head as fragments of concrete shower down from where the ricocheting bullet landed. She freezes there for a moment, practically shaking as a wave of nervous nausea washes over her. In any other fight she’d been in- the Institute invasion, the Times Square riot, or even breaking out with Rahne in the future- her only thought had been how to get away. Now she’s supposed to go charging in against her natural inclination and with no extra adrenaline rush to survive-she knows logically that this isn’t real after all- and the end result is complete frozen inertia.

I can’t do this. I’ll just watch, I’ll just- but suddenly something clicks in her mind about what she just saw and she widens her eyes, skirting the battle until she’s next to Veronica. “Your mutation, when you tossed that guy…was that wind?” she shouts, trying to be heard above the din of the fight and losing a little of her shakiness as a plan starts forming in her mind.

[Veronica Devereux]

She held her breath as she watched the man fall, only to barely be saved but dying. She didn't mean to hurt him that much, but she did drop him from pretty high up. She looked over her shoulder to see the girl she was talking to earlier hiding behind a column. Veronica returned her attention to another small group of soldiers, about three was what she counted, were heading toward her. She rolled her eyes and held her hand out, palm down, like she was holding a bowling ball. She felt the wind around her shift slightly, adjusting to the fact that a part of it was forming around her open palm.

She giggled as the soldiers stopped dead in their tracks, as if they had just seen a mutant. It was, in fact, worse than that. Veronica made a clicking noise with her tongue, much like the "Tsking" sound grownups use to scold young children. She raised both of her hands, using her left to center her aim at the group of armed men. She lifted both of her hands up behind her head, and thrusted them forward, which realsed a burst of air with a "pow" sound, which caused her to slide back into Laurie. She stumbled, but managed to keep both her and Laurie standing up.

>“Your mutation, when you tossed that guy…was that wind?”
She gave the girl a smile and nodded, trying to reply to her over the sound of gun fire and yells."Yeah, it was. Why?" she asked, motiong her head back towards the three guys, who were planning on how to take her out. They did not, howver, notice the ball of air she had hurled at them. One of the men looked up and shouted something, but all three of them were hit in the center of the group, sending them sprawling across the concrete floor."Alright!Veronica, point one. Stryker, a big fat ZERO!" she squealed enthusiastically, then bursting into a fit of giggles. For her Danger room, she was having some fun.

[Tempero]

>Danny, you're more than welcome to copy my TK during training exercises... just keep in mind, I'd rather not get any power boosts.

He sees Josh, and smiles ever so lightly, and ever so briefly. Er...yeah...thanks... he replies and then turns his focus back to the battle, rather unwilling to tap into that. Josh's power is...special. It is definitely one of the taboos Danny set for himself as soon as he became able to do some higher level copying. He knows that Josh has powerful TK, and that his telepathy is not far behind, and he has definitely seen what the slightest of boosts does.

Seeing how he is still on the lower-level mutation list, he does not want to risk taking on a strong one like that. One of the other taboos is Warren and all other physical mutations. He does not want to go through the experience of feeling his whole body alter, but also he is under the impression that his concentration would burst and then who knows what would happen.

He looks at Laurie, on the other side of the room, and then suddenly realizes that he is the closest to the remaining few guards. All right, so I am the person with the least potential do immediate damage, and yet I'm closest to the danger...not good...If I copy Laurie's power, I couldn't control it, and the pheromones would just make everyone...what...nervous about doing well? Yeah, that's it. And Julian would probably slam me into the wall if I tried that again. Josh is...no. I can't see Dani, so it's useless if I can track her mutation...I think...can I use it on her if I can see just the mutation? Oh, and Julian's invisible too... Water and air control? Crap crap crap crap.... the thoughts stream in the span of a few moments as his hand reaches down and grabs one of the stray planks from the broken boxes.

So...new approach... he thinks as he steps out from behind a box and slams the wood into the back of one of the guards' heads, quickly ducking to grab the gun and then get back into his hideout, hoping that he did not just put himself in immediate danger. If Bobby were here, it would be easy... he thinks, disgruntled that the one power he has been getting rather good at is always inaccessible.

He notices Laurie and Veronica talking, and it hits him. Laurie could get rid of everyone in the room. He sneaks along the wall, behind random boxes, making sure he doesn't get noticed, and then comes so that he is parallel to the girls.

Hey, Laurie, I'm going to give you a bit of a boost to the control you have on your pheromones, as well as a slight jump in its potency...[/color] he sends her the message and then seeks out the mutation, hoping she doesn't resist.

If it succeeds, both should begin glowing slightly green, and she should feel the control and extra power...perhaps. There is always a slight chance that something will go wrong.

[Laurie Collins]

"Yeah, it was. Why?"

We really should have listened to Josh and taken some time to actually find out each other’s mutations Laurie thinks wryly, ducking some more debris and scrambling to come up with a concise explanation of her pheromones and how she’d like Veronica’s help in using them while dodging bullets, while also trying not to be unnerved by the fact that Veronica is giggling about killing people. Well, simulated people, obviously, but it’s still pretty disturbing…or maybe I’m just being ridiculously sensitive again? I- another burst of gunfire distracts her from her mental ramblings and she’s gathering herself to explain when she hears Daniel’s “voice” in her head.

Hey, Laurie, I'm going to give you a bit of a boost to the control you have on your pheromones, as well as a slight jump in its potency...

For once she doesn’t even jump at the telepathy, too focused on making this work, and shoots back across the connection:
Thanks, but even with increased control I won’t be able to decide where they go and they work perfectly well at their current strength. Could you boost Veronica’s wind mutation though? Then she could make sure I don’t get any of you guys by accident. Then, realizing she’s just gone blank on Veronica in the middle of the conversation, whirls back to her, rushing out “Okay, no time to really explain but I’m going to start emitting pheromones, I need you to make a wind that’ll take them away from us and towards the soldiers. Daniel’s going to help.” She hopes that was at least semi-clear but doesn’t have time to check, whirling back to face the soldiers and yelling, “Julian, Dani get behind us!”

Which leaves the question of what to do next. I could wait till I’m certain everyone is out of range but that might take too long…and what am I even emitting anyway, fear? But that can go wrong like during the invasion, sleep takes too long and both of those would be really bad if one of the others got caught in it…oh! Her mind having seized on answer she acts without giving herself time to doubt it, concentrating on obedience and doing her best to keep her voice from shaking as she calls, “Um, okay, stop attacking us! And drop your guns! Please?”

Please let this work…

[Veronica Devereux]

>“Okay, no time to really explain but I’m going to start emitting pheromones, I need you to make a wind that’ll take them away from us and towards the soldiers. Daniel’s going to help.” She felt her open slightly."Ok, either I've finally cracked, or she's lost it. Maybe the Danger Room gives off radiation, and maybe, like, we're all gonna-" she squealed as she felt several bullets whiz past her. She ducked, although the bullets had already passed. She stood back up and glared at one of the soldiers."That's not very nice, Mr. Evil-trying to kill us all-psycho-gun wielder dude!" she called out to him, not sure what calling him a very sad, second grade name was going to do.

She turned back to the girl."Pheremones? I don't see why I couldn't do that.. I guess.." she replied, her words jumbled and her mind puzzled. She'd never heard of someone using pheremones before, but hey, it was a mutant academy, anything was possible. She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath, one she didn't know she had been holding. She held her hands out in front of her, palms up, like she was about to start the macarena. She clasp her hands together and opened them, creating a small spehrecial ball of wind. She felt the wind forming and molding, growing slightly larger each second or so. Her hair flapped around her face, whipping her cheeks here and there, it was like she was in a wind tunnel, or something.

"Ready when you are, hun'! she called to the girl, spreading the ball of wind out alittle further, giving her the room to do whatever she needed to do. "God, let this work." she prayed in her mind, waiting for the Laurie to start her power. As she waited,she halted the grow of the ball, which was now the size of two watermelons end to end.

>“Um, okay, stop attacking us! And drop your guns! Please?” She let out a laugh at the girl's command to the soldiers."i don't think they're gonna stop just by you asking them, you may have to be forceful!" she teased, edging the girl on.

[Tempero]

>Thanks, but even with increased control I won’t be able to decide where they go and they work perfectly well at their current strength. Could you boost Veronica’s wind mutation though? Then she could make sure I don’t get any of you guys by accident.

Danny shrugs, but then realizes that Laurie probably can't see it. Alright, if you say so... he sends the response, and then goes back to the confines of his own mind, as both of them stop glowing.

He looks at Veronica, and reaches out with his mind. Hey, I'm Danny, nice to meet you. What I'm going to do now is give you a boost to the control you have over air, so you can be more accurate with directing the wind towards the soldiers. I'll keep the telepathic link open, in case you have any questions. he sends her the message and then seeks out the mutation. The greatest accumulation seems to be about her hands, but that is probably because she is using the mutation through them.

Focusing slightly, he adds some control to her already high level, careful not to overdo it. Apparently, control becomes more cumbersome when it's boosted over the highest level the mutation allows, and that is not hard to do for Danny. If he should end up adding a full focus of control boost to Josh or Bobby's power, for instance, it would probably make it harder for the two to actually effectively use them, to a point. Too must things to pay attention to.

Danny himself never managed to understand his own power. He wishes frequently that it were just as simple as telekinesis, or telepathy, or perhaps even something as insignificant as high-jumping. But no, of course he has to have the one mutation that would probably end up being deemed most complex. And he can't even use it properly, of that much he's certain.

Snapping back from his musings, Danny simply tries to relax and wait for Laurie to orchestrate her plan to fulfillment. It seems rather unlikely that a leader should come from such an unexpected source, but when he thinks about it, Dani and Julian are perhaps a bit too wild to lead, Veronica's very new to the whole thing, and he is...well, Danny.

[Laurie Collins]

"i don't think they're gonna stop just by you asking them, you may have to be forceful!"
Laurie doesn’t reply, still concentrating on the output of obedience, but she feels her mouth quirking up into a smile, nerves slowly being replaced by anticipation of all things and, without even quite realizing it, she increases the intensity of her emission. The soldiers halt in place suddenly, shots ceasing in almost perfect unison leaving the chamber a stricken sort of silent, dripping pipes, settling concrete, and then the guns drop to the ground, clattering like a hail storm in the quiet.

“Kick them towards me.” Laurie’s voice is still soft but there’s no please tacked on this time, no incongruous questioning tone, and she even manages not to jump a moment later when half a dozen guns slide across the room to her feet, even if she is thinking rather squeamishly about accidental firing, ricocheting bullets, blown off feet. Instead, keeping the obedience pumping out and hoping Veronica doesn’t stop with the wind any time soon, she whirls back to the group. Her triumphant expression is made somewhat ridiculous as it looks more like the amazed glee of a kid who’s just built, like, the best block tower ever and wants to show it off than an X-man who’s just proved her mutation but Laurie is blissfully unaware of that, just shrugging a little at Vanessa. “Don’t always need to be so forceful.”

“Yeah, great, really impressive Collins. Now what do we do with them?” The smile drops from Laurie’s face as she turns back to the cluster of soldiers who are still staring blankly at her, awaiting orders. “I…um…” she stammers, slouching a little under so many stares, “I don’t know.” She admits finally, looking back to Veronica, Daniel, and the rest.