X-Men: Darkest Days

[Madara: Mangekyou Master]

OOC: Thanks Ilyusha! I've been letting Basilisk have a bit of a breather from my PMs. Figure it'd be nice to ask you directly.

 

IC - Tengu - Washington:

 

The Eurasian agent swiped through the information on his tablet, as he took in the scene of the murder. "Nothing like being tasked with doing the cursory identification of the Brotherhood mutants at that New York attack." Tommy's fingers flew as he skimmed past the acid-burned face of the mayor of San Francisco, running through the list he had made out. He paused at a photo of the late President's family, eyes honing in on Nicole Binder. "Terrorists. Every single one of them."

[otter]

IC-Erin:

 

"...How am I supposed to respond to that, again?"

[Krayzikk]

IC:

 

After several minutes, Abraham's eyes once again found themselves on his chess board. Dusty, disused, untouched for years, fixed forever in the last move of a game he never finished. But perched on the stand next to it was a single envelope, still sealed. Almost as if in a trance, he stood and picked it up, wiping the dust away, and slipping it open.

 

Held inside was a single piece of paper, a chess diagram, with a single piece of notation written on the bottom. Coordinates for a move. His eyes moved to the board, tracking the path that the move would have taken, and its result. The opponent, his name forever lost to his memory, had found a way to beat him. That move would have captured his queen, leaving him with a single pawn. Defeat was a foregone conclusion, but a conclusion that he would have tried to fight, vainly attempting to force a draw, forestalling the inevitable. Failure was the only possibility, but he would have been forced to watch it play out, watch his moved dwindle, watch his last forces slaughtered, brought to the edge, and pushed beyond it.

 

Not unlike now.

 

The mutant wasn't sure how much time had passed when he finally set the envelope down, and brought the tip of his finger to his King's crown. After a moment's hesitation he pushed on it, tipping it over. It landed on its side with a quiet clack, rolling once, and coming to a halt.

 

But by the time it had, he was gone, the quiet click of the door as it latched the only indication that he had ever been there. His footsteps carried him quietly down the hall. He didn't know where he was going, or why.

 

A single King. Abraham thought silently to himself, staring sightlessly into the distance. Isolated. Alone. No reinforcements, no moves left to make. A slow, painful defeat the only option left.

 

Or surrender. No third choice, no happy ending.

[Eevee]

IC: LibertyNoel's face flushed as she realized what she said. "I meant that'd he write creepy messages in the steam!"

[otter]

IC-Erin:

 

"And yet you ended up implying voyeurship from beyond the grave. You shouldn't speak ill of the dead, you know."

[Snelly]

IC: Howard

 

"This is all very fascinating but, maybe we should get back on topic, hmmm?"

[Eevee]

IC: LibertyNoel gave Howard's hand a squeeze and nodded. "But just as a clarification, I didn't mean anything ill by what I said."

[otter]

IC-Luka:

 

"Abraham, we have a problem." If Abraham turned, he would notice a rather cross appearing Luka standing in the hall just behind him, arms folded and looking distinctly annoyed.

[Krayzikk]

IC:"What, perchance, would you be referring to?" Abraham replied, pausing, but not looking back. His voice, though detached as usual, held a distinct note of resignation. "Because there are several."

[otter]

IC-Luka:

 

"We're on the run from people who want to kill us-and sooner or later, we will be found. There's hardly any of us here, none of us actually have jobs here, so we're lacking in ability to support ourselves, and the new President is decidedly anti-mutant, which won't be good for any of us, be we X-Men, Brotherhood, or any other faction." Luka rolled his eyes.

 

"We need to come up with a plan, and fast, a sentiment I'm certain you'll agree with."

[Krayzikk]

IC:

 

"You're forgetting a few important factors. First of all, what our group actually consists of. A single father in the midst of a midlife crisis, a size changer with distinct annoyance toward humankind, a mentally unstable cannibal, a girl seeking out a home, an energetic toaster, a blood knight, and a few other assorted people. We have no resources, no real leader, and no goal."

 

"In short, you're asking me to solve an impossible problem, in a very short amount of time."

[otter]

IC-Luka:

 

"Y'know, Quicksilver managed to pull us all together, one way or another, with his charisma, as his father had before him. Now, the way I think about it, we've got equal charisma teamed up and eighty times the brainpower. So we just need to find something to convince everybody to work together again, so that we can find a good way out of this mess. That'll be phase one of the plan, by the way."

[AuRon the champion]

OOC: I hate car rides.

 

IC:

 

Christopher frowned. Supervillians weren't a common sight from where she was from. Most of them were dead. But still, she listened to what Alec said, putting names to faces, or appearances, seeing as how some didn't have a face.

 

"So Leech turns powers off, right?" She asked Alec, "So, as a result of my shapeshifting, I don't have a base form to return back to, like Mystique did, or Chris. So... Why am I still here?"

[Krayzikk]

IC:

 

"Correction; Pietro gave them a target. Their unity came from a shared desire for conquest, or hatred, or belief in a greater good. The first two are all but gone, and the last one... The last one never existed." The suited man turned around to look at Luka, and for the briefest of seconds, there was a crack in the smooth veneer that coated his face, and then it was gone. "What you need right now is a leader, preferably one capable of performing miracles.""What you have is a tactician."

[otter]

IC-Luka:

 

"Well, you could always write up the tactical plan that'll help us survive the Enforcers. The others'll rally behind you because you were basically their saviour, and you will become the leader. If you need it, I'd be willing to help...I just want to make sure we all make it out of this with a semblance of sanity and life left in us."

[Snelly]

IC: Shiloh

 

"I think it's a bit late for the sanity part..." A feminine voice said as Shiloh poked her head out of her room, they were in fact standing right outside.

[otter]

IC-Luka:

 

Luka frowned, turning to Shiloh.

 

"Is the toaster still here?"

[Krayzikk]

IC:

 

"My tactical analysis? If they find us, we're dead." Abraham paused for a moment, mind working for the first time in weeks to churn out a plan, or a semblance of one. "Our forces consist of a middle-aged man with control over fire and ice, and questionable effectiveness, a size changer, an unreliable devourer of people, you, Shiloh, and myself. Plus Asura and Dana."

 

"In contrast, the Enforcers can muster forces of extreme size, and they are angry. After their failure, they will also be building up their forces to prepare to find and crush us. Even discounting missiles, because they would cause civilian casualties, they are better armed, better organized, and better equipped then we are. They outnumber us at best five to one, and fifteen to one is more likely."

 

"Running is the only option we have if they find us. Otherwise, we will eventually be overrun."

Edited March 31, 2013 by The Snark Knight

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

IC: "Consider, did you, that his offer was genuine?" Song suggested, "Such a sum might be paltry to someone older than the Roman Empire, he might think nothing of losing such funds. And to be honest I have failed to see any results from Shaw's actions other than the loss of many soldiers." She turned to the aforementioned Black King, "If I may be blunt, someone else providing strategems may turn out for the better."

 

 

IC: Hammer ignored the screaming, holding Kirsty fast, but not uncomfortable tight. He didn't want to inadvertently crush her. For the same reason it was not her who went to help Walter, but Ragger Muffin. A fold of cloth unfurled from her body and bound the broken arm like a cast, before more strands flickered out and hoisted Walter up gently.

 

Rhino stopped in his progress, turned steadily around with his horn raising sparks from the pipes as it scraped against them.

 

"Yous two keep calling me names and my knuckles is gonna have words with your noses. Words like 'crunch' and 'ow'. Capiche?"

 

 

Alec only answered the various questions once he was sure Rhino had turned back and gone to the front of the group. "I can cover all three of you with one answer. No idea. I can however, try to find a better one to yours," he said, tapping Hannah on the shoulder. "Hey Leech, why'd you bring us here?"

 

"Well, technically we only needed you. But Caliban was unable to determine which of the mutant signatures was yours so we just hoped we'd get lucky."

 

Alec froze in his tracks, more visibly scared than when he'd noticed Rhino, "Caliban? You brought Caliban along on this? Holy...I mean for the love of...he's not right in the head anymore man!"

 

Leech strode over to the wheelchair, pulling a few of the blankets aside to reveal a face bone-white in colour with cheekbones you could use as skewers and odd protrusions, almost like a helmet, around his face. He murmured unintelligibly until Leech put the blankets back over him. "He remains placid as long as I'm suppressing his powers. I brought him with us so I could keep doing so and not risk unleashing his...other selves upon the Morlocks I left behind. And we needed his location powers to find you and the others."

 

"...what others Leech? What are you doing?"

 

"Its quite simple Alec. We're going to break a few friends of ours out of prison."

Edited March 31, 2013 by Lord of Adders Black

[AuRon the champion]

IC:

 

"A prison break. A mutant prison break?"

 

Christopher rubbed her eyes with her hand, sighing.

 

"Alec, I get the feeling that we're going to end up killing everyone in the long run if we do this," She whispered into his ear, looking at the Morlocks nervously.

[Zulu Yankee Kilo Echo]

OOC: Erm Adders, Shaw's been standing there the whole time. He followed Cambion into the library.

 

IC: Zack

 

Zack rubbed his forehead. So many things were happening that he just couldn't fully process it all. He swore under his breath.

"Let's just get...whatever this is over with."

Edited March 31, 2013 by The Zytrix

[Snelly]

IC: Shiloh

 

"He's in the kitchen." Shiloh said in answer to Luka's question, before turn her attention to Abraham. "Now what are the chances of the Enforcers find us here? Good, bad, unknown? And if they find us, cause I have a feeling they will discover this place sooner or later, how long do we have till they do?"

[otter]

IC-Luka:

 

"Good, we have a talking toaster, somebody who can animate technology of all kinds, we have an excellent tactician, and we probably have somebody skilled with making improvised explosives somewhere. Let's make sentient bombs and have the toaster train them not to blow up until we're as far away as possible, and not until a high ranking Enforcer or other such person who harbours anti-mutant philosophies is in the room."

[Snelly]

IC: Krystal

 

Krystal had been very silent as the Morlocks guided them through the sewers, she couldn't help but look at her arms and hands, just looking normal again, human. It was something she never expected to see again.

 

She knew it was only temporary of course, Leech's power to disable mutant abilities was something else, to the point that it even removed physical mutations. She found herself glad to feel a normal again, even if it wasn't going to last.

 

Of course, even Leech's power couldn't disable her lycanthropy, a power that despite being quite similar to her mutation was separate. She still felt the animal inside her, though it was a lot more pacified that usual. She knew if she wished she could transform into her lycan form, her instincts were still like a wolf, at least on an unconscious level.. She sighed, even like this she'd never be truly normal, such was her fate.

 

She continued to walk with the group, not particularly caring about her bare feet. Shoes were something she hadn't needed for over two months, she was used to being without them, though she found the ground a lot more unpleasant to walk on with her now softer, less padded feet.

 

IC: Shiloh

 

"That sounds horrifically cruel...to the bombs."

[otter]

IC-Luka:

 

"But the bombs would like to explode."

[Makuta of Time]

IC: White Lightning

Jack had just realized that he could not activate his powers. He felt different, as though he wasn't himself. To him, his powers made him strong and kept the 'Ripper' out. But with out it, well, things could get a bit messy.

[Snelly]

IC: Shiloh

 

"I'm also concerned on the psychological effects it would have on Bob. He wouldn't take having new friends meeting an explosive death very well..."

[otter]

IC-Luka:

 

"We could alter it slightly, have the bombs be radio-controlled, and the radio-controllers would be what you actually animated."

[Snelly]

IC: Shiloh

 

"That would be acceptable, though I'm starting to wonder why they'd need to be animated in the first place, with radio controller we could just detonate them ourselves."

[otter]

IC-Luka:

 

"I was thinking to have the radio controllers hooked up to hidden cameras, so they could see when people came in, because we'll be too busy running and be too far away to effectively utilize them ourselves. After that, they needn't worry about the bombs, and they can play around with any radio broadcast to their mechanical heart's content."

[Light]

IC: "I think blowing up people won't work," A voice said. Nate walked in, changing his view from his hands to the other people in the room. "Currently, there's seven billion of them and just a few of us. And the more we blow up, the angrier they get."

[otter]

IC-Luka:

 

"And we have no time to attempt negotiations that won't result in our being shot once we allow them to come near us," Luka replied, rolling his eyes. "We're going to be running for a long while, and destroying some of their higher-ups would buy us useful time as they attempt to recover from the blow. If you haven't noticed, after all, we humans - yes, I did say we - are quite like other social animals in that, when our leading figures are killed, we will rather aimlessly mill about for an amount of time, even if there is a successor figure."

[Light]

IC: "That was Pietro's strategy. Look where he is now."

[Snelly]

IC: Shiloh

 

"It may be better to simply run away, instead of blowing them up and provoking them further. Besides, who says it will be the higher ups that get blown to bits? They might send in their swat team in first. Killing some of their men will probably result in them chasing us twice as hard, and if they weren't gonna shoot us on site already, they definitely would after that."

Edited March 31, 2013 by A billion cats

[otter]

IC-Luka:

 

"Pietro was in this to win, to take over. Look where he is now," Luka echoed the last phrase. "He did not plan for other eventualities because he did not have the foresight to think that he would be attacked for what he did. However, ours will be on a much smaller scale, we are going to make sure we have other plans, so that we are ready for eventualities, and after that, we're in this to survive, not to try and take over a country." Luka shook his head in exasperation.

 

"If you would take but a moment to think, you would have come to the same conclusion that we've got better chance if only because we aren't planning on hanging around for it." After that, he turned to Shiloh.

 

"That's why you play the waiting game. If the higher-ups never come in, the bombs don't go off. Assuming you can make the radio controllers smart enough for that."

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

Footsteps could be heard, pounding like bass on the floor outside James' apartment and growing closer with every heartbeat. The exhausted supersoldier did a half swivel, while Howard, Noel and Erin performed a much more energetic, military-style rotation, taking up a semi-circle foundation closer to the door and leaving the intruder nowhere to take cover. The door was kicked open right in front of Howard's face, and the young businessman was remarkably quick on the uptake, taking a defensive position--

 

Right in front of a man dressed in a full Darth Vader getup, complete with respirator and everything. His chest and shoulders shook with every shuddering breath, and his gloves reached out before Howard in a Force Choke. Iron Man would have none of it, however; before the powers of the dark side could be used to full effect against him, Howard had reached out and punched Vader right in the face. The room froze.

 

"Ow! Goddammit, Stark!" Vader yelped, his voice clouded by interference and machinery. From his waistband he drew a Hasbro lightsaber and pressed the button; the toy lit up red and collided with Howard's head. There was an "ow," several audible curses and the thwack of hard plastic against skull as the Dark Lord lowered his lightsaber and popped off his helmet. The face of the man beneath had a giant, slowly fading red spot from where Howard's fist had made contact.

 

"I hate you."

 

-Tyler

Edited March 31, 2013 by Tyler Durden

[ZTG]

IC: Hannah"Prison break?" Hannah asked, "And how are we suppose to help if our powers are shut off? Isn't that kid of the point of asking mutants for help? Using their powers?"IC: GeminiAfter drinking his beer, he tossed into the trash can and wiped some of the beer off of his face. He walked amongst the mansion, until he finally wen up stairs. He kept on walking and saw that apparently, some of the others were outside of a room, and some were still in their rooms,"Hey is it a party in here or what?" He asked dryly, heading towards Abraham's door, which to some, seemed to be the main point of interest.

[Eevee]

IC: LibertyNoel stood there in shock and then grimaced. "You're...alive?! And you didn't tell us!! I might hit you again for that." She said with a grumble, slightly hurt that he didn't tell them sooner. All her grief had been for nothing.

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

"Yeahhhh...I couldn't say anything, or Fury would rip off my head and use it to play a game of wallball with The Powers that Be," Brando said, removing the chest plating and armor from his Vader costume and revealing his regular clothing underneath with a half-pleading grin. "You know how he gets when someone leaks. Good news is, uh...I'm back! Gag order's lifted, and you've all been folded into the chain of command. Now, uh...do you want more good news or some bad news first?"

 

-Tyler

[Eevee]

ICNoel crossed her arms, still a little angry about being lied to. "Bad news I guess." She shifted a little and her armor clinked, echoing in the silent room.