2013-02-18 XMN: Don't Lose Hope

Another day; more terrible news for mutants across the globe.

Boston, Massachusetts

Hope Charter School

This year has marked the inaugural school session of the Hope Charter School; a day school specifically designed to help the middle to high school aged mutant children in inner city Boston.

The school is small-only 76 students-but the community of staff, parents, and students is vibrant. Sympathetic supporters have lauded the schools vision, differentiation of instruction methods, and forethought of the Mutant Question.

It has not been without incident, however.

Widespread protests occurred, some claiming that federal and state monies should not be funneled to a specific segment of the population. Those were probably the most tactful. The worst sorts of picketers were just blatant scare tactics in fury at the way mutants are becoming more and more prevalent in society.

After the first few months, the protests died down. Principal Harris even thought that eventually the community would get past all the drama of the autumn and be able to settle and get down to business.

She was in an extremely vibrant mood this morning, until 2 o'clock when armed gunmen stormed into the school, intent on taking it hostage. Emergency calls and texts notified the authorities of the situation. The main stream press, and the X-men did not get notified until about 5 PM when it was clear what the demands were: The school was to be shut down by fiat, or it would be shut down by force.

The X-men, understandably, weren't thrilled. In the position to act, they decide to act.

The Blackbird floats high above the urban school in stealth mode with the setting sun in the view to the south.

Cyclops turns from his perch at the controls after fussing with some of the machinery. "Alright X-men. You know the drill: Roll call."

Armed gunmen? Shift has elected to leave his weaponry behind for this mission. There's a lot he can pull off without it. "Shift here," he replies. "Ready to roll." He casts a look Rogue's way, providing the subtlest of eyerolls. "And here I thought we were going to have an -uneventful- evening," he murmurs.

Kurt is dressed in his X-uniform.. high collar, 'layered look', though it still allows for easy of movement, his tail free to be used. He's seated in the co-pilot's chair for the trip, check and rechecking on any and all updates that come out of the school, his expression.. concerned for the children.

"I do not have to remind you all that there are children in there. It will be even more important than ever to use.. gentler methods."

Once they find their way, hovering over the school, Kurt unbuckles his harness and rises to his feet. "I will bring those who cannot get there to the roof. From there, we can find our ways in."

Rogue tugs on the edges of her gloves, constantly adjusting her newish uniform as a habit en route into a mission. Any nerves she might be feeling get brushed aside as she flashes a crooked grin and says to Shift, "Kwa', ain't you learned by now? No such thing as an uneventful evening with me."

And while she may be fooling around, a quick nod of the belle's head recognizes Kurt's instructions.

First real mission! She's been on a few others before, simple fetch missions that didn't thrust her right into the heart of a complicated situation. Mercury shifts in her seat, towards the back of the Blackbird, dressed in her red and white uniform, one thankfully designed to take into account her variable shape. "Ready," she says, trying to feel as confident as she sounds saying it.

Ugly business deserves ugly solutions, but even Domino is nervous about handling a situation like this with live fire. Switching from ballistic to taser shots already puts her slightly off of her game, but in some situations she just can't be too careful. Or too lucky. She's crazy, not stupid.

The sound of a weapon being prepared is followed through with a simple response, "Present."

Suppressors are employed and other non-lethal weapon varieties are supplemented into her gear in exchange for those even less friendly implements. Pepperspray bombs, collapsible batons, the ever popular polyfoam grenade... "I'll do what I can."

For once Kurt's mantra would be all too appropriate for the mercenary. 'Thou shalt not kill.' Today, he'll get his wish.

"Cypher reporting," the young mutant says quietly, clad in a gold-and black suit that looked like a great deal of gold circuitry. He was doing a last minute check of his inventory. Smartphone, check. Layout of the school schematics, check. Finding out what computer monitoring systems are available at the site... well, that'll have to be answered. But in this world, everything was run by computer software, and Cypher knew how to talk to them.

"Who wants to cover my butt today?" Doug asks, half-jokingly, half-seriously.

In a grey and black rendition of the X-Men uniform, Logan sits as far to the back of the aircraft as possible, looking decidedly frowny and displeased to be on the flight at all; but what else is new? At the role call, Wolverine offers a decidedly affable, "What's the matter, Cyke? Forget who we are?" which is to say not entirely affable poke at Cyclops. Still, it seems to amuse the Canuck, at least for a moment.

The feral mutant's gaze, his face yet unmasked, turns to Nightcrawler as the half-smirk at Scott's expense notably darkens. "Gentler for the kids, sure." *SNIKT* The set of claws is only out for a moment, but the point they make, no pun intended, is entirely clear. The fate of the hostage-takers? Well, that just depends on them.

As Cyclops turns and begins heading toward the back hatch, the hollow look of his visor falls upon Logan and his comment.

"I wish."

He turns to the others with a hand on the lever of the hatch. "Cypher, I recommend having Dom watch your six. You'll probably stay put on the roof and running our intel after Nightcrawler gets things set up." His head switches to the other side, "For those of you who need a ride on German Air, Nightcrawler will be ferrying. For the others with the training, you can follow me. Rendezvous on the roof."

He undoes the lever and opens the back hatch, unveiling the reddish sunset and the blackening surrounds of night. A large and loud gust of wind fills the cabin just before Cyclops tilts his body out and begins to take flight.

A few hundred feet into free fall, Cyclops' arms and legs spread, revealing a wingsuit similar to what a base jumper might wear. He glides through the air, heading towards the roof of the building and at the last second pulls a cord that lets out a small chute. The device allows him to slow enough to land and roll onto the roof. Just as he gets to his feet he's shrugging out of the suit and pulling out six small video cameras. Pressing the power buttons, he warms them up for Doug, and waits for the others to arrive and get ready for orders.

Dressed in his gunmetal gray X-Men uniform, complete with silver and red trim, Shift checks the crash webbing upon his chest until it's time to go. After checking within his utility pouches for the sedative-filled darts taken from the armory, he finds himself, indeed, ready to go.

Releasing his crash harness brings upon him the severity of the situation, if Kurt's warning didn't do so already. All humor drains from his face, and with a simple motion, his mis-matched eyes are concealed by the hood that is a part of his shift-able uniform.

Following through after Cyclops, Shift merely jumps out of the back of the plane, his body curled into a diving formation. There is no chute, no technological failsafe. Halfway through the fall, he flattens his body out into a spread-eagle, taking stock of his position. A brief re-direction and he curls up into a dive again, until striking the roof with an altogether silent -poof-.

One cloud of black smoke later, and Shift reforms into a crouched position. He immediately begins scanning the area for signs of rooftop ventilation shafts, taking stock of their various sizes.

"Unsere Kinder," Kurt murmurs. //They're our children too.// If he can help keep the horror from their view, then that's what he'll do. Straightening, he gives a long look towards Logan, yellow eyes studying his friend, one of his best friends. "I know you will at least try," he offers before looking around, his gaze landing upon Domino. He lingers there a moment, a hint of a sad smile tinging his face. He's got the feeling she'll try, too.

Holding his arm out, the Amazing Nightcrawler pauses for a moment to allow anyone who wishes to grab a hold. He draws a deep breath before announcing, "Express, going down!" which, coming from a mutant that looks very much like a demon? Perhaps a little disconcerting for any who may not know him.

Once all are there, all ashore that's going to shore?


 * bamf*

As the command is given, Rogue makes one last check of her gear and says, "Who needs trainin' when ya got talent?"

As easy as diving into a pool she drops out of the hatch. For a few brief moments Rogue is free -- free falling through the air at least. The windstream blows back her hood, her auburn locks trail behind her, and a bright smile dances across her features. She plummets as fast as gravity will take her until it looks almost certain she plans to let herself collide with the ground, but at the last moment, she flips around, extending her arms and slowly levitating herself to the roof, touching down with the gentlest footfall she can manage.

As the junior member of the team, Cessily is absolutely not trained for diving out of the blackbird, even if she'd want to. The young mutant draws herself up and walks quickly to Nightcrawler's side, putting her hand on his arm and ready to go through the teleport.

Dom's response to Cyclops is a simple salute with one of her batons before she straps it onto her bicep, flexing the limb to check for excess tension. With the Blackbird unbuttoned she climbs out of her seat, clapping a hand against Cypher's shoulder along the way. "Looks like I'm your guardian angel for this run, kid. Tell me what you need and I'll make sure you've got it."

As much fun as a wingsuit is, they can be hard to work with when the body beneath is covered in bulky equipment. While teleporting tends not to be any easier on her internal organs, it does provide the fastest way to the roof for initial recon.

"Down to Hell if we don't change our ways!" Dom jokes while laying a hand upon Nightcrawler.


 * Bamf*

Hit the ground running, or at least securing the rooftop. Not that there isn't time to mutter under her breath. "..God, I hate teleporting."

Nodding at Cyclops' command, Doug shift over to join Kurt in taking the Bamf Express, offering a small smile at Domino's words. "Just keep me from getting shot, that's all I ask," he says, the black humor in his voice transparent.

Once they were in position, Cypher nods at the others who pick up one of Cyclops' cameras. "Just keep things in position, so I know where you are," he says softly. And perhaps be in a position to do something about it. Nodding to Domino, he offers a soft smile. "They'll likely be holed up at the library or the cafeteria, so let's just get me to the nearest terminal, and I should be able to hook up to the main network, and we'll see what we can do." There is a quick look at Scott to see if he agrees - the largest room in the school would be the easiest place to gather up everyone.

Despite the derision, Logan does take in the plan-- even if he doesn't entirely look like he's paying attention, the deceptively diminutive X-Man hears every word. Every nuance, even. All he offers in return is to the Elf, "Do what needs to be done." He agrees, after a fashion. Following the others out of the Blackbird is one time Wolverine wishes he /didn't/ have the training-- but he does. Even plenty of experience leaping out of aircraft into hostile situations. At least out here, no one is firing at them with flak and machinegun emplacements, right? Small comfort, considering the children's lives at stake far below.

With remarkable precision, Wolverine guides himself to the rooftop, nearly dead center, detaching his chute and wrapping it into a tight bundle as he lands. Bettern to let the things drift off and give away their position. His own procedure is much like Shift's, with the added step of a pensive, patient sniff at every opening on the roof-- even those too small for anyone but perhaps gas-shifted Shift to get through.

The more he can tell about the kidnappers within, be it numbers or armament or general disposition? The happier Logan will be. A whiff of a collection of kidnapped children? Well, that would be just ideal, too. "They've had a lot of time to barricade themselves up in there." Wolverine notes gruffly, "Gonna have to be surgeons on this one, till the kids're clear."

"Here we go," Cyclops says as he approaches Nightcrawler with three cameras and Shift with the other three. "We need these set up, 2 per floor. Cypher, you'll use this." He hands Doug a small tablet that is hooked up to the cameras. "You'll be our eyes." He now also takes the time to answer Doug's earlier question. "They could have congregated them. Or they could try to keep them separate to make sure they can't be stopped in one fell swoop. One thing is for sure, they won't be expecting us."

Cyclops gaze seems to hang on Shift a bit longer, as if to say, Yes I know you can't hold these when you phase into gas. Yes I expect you to get creative.

"Cypher and Dom will find a place to lay low towards the top of the building. Dom, be ready to snipe from the top down to the exits if need be. The rest of us work in teams of two. One clears the room, one protects the kids. Nightcrawler and Mercury take the bottom floor. Wolverine and Shift will be on the top floor. Rogue and I have the middle. Quick and to the point folks. You see, you incapacitate. No words. No time for negotiations. We use surprise and efficiency."

Cyclops looks to Rogue, "Knockouts only, Belle."

It is with a quiet smirk that Shift meets Cyclops' gaze. He reaches into the pouches on his X-Men Uniform, and quietly tucks the cameras away into three separate pouches. His masked face then snaps toward Logan, and follows the Canucklehead toward whichever entrance he indicates. "Listen for my signahl," breathes the Ghanaian, before poofing into smoke.

Seems the pouches are doing that carrying job for him, their unstable molecules holding the gear in place, much in the same way that the skin-tight uniform phases with him to prevent unfortunate wardrobe malfunctions. It takes a lot of focus, but the gaseous mutant disappears into the nearest ventilation duct, paying careful attention to keep the gear from knocking into any walls and making abrupt noises.

Once inside the third floor, a face forms within the cloud and looks about, noting that the hallway he'd floated into is empty. The cloud drops to the ground and Shift reforms, quickly backing against a nearby wall and peering toward that vent. "Ready," he whispers, trusting that Logan's keen ears will hear the call through the ductwork.

As soon as Logan is inside, he breaks off down the hallway, quickly reaching into pouch number one to retrieve the first camera.

Nightcrawler puts a hand upon Cessily's to quietly reassure the girl. "Deep breath," he suggests quietly. And when Domino, Doug join in, he can't help but smirk at the quip offered. "Until our death beds, we can change our ways." Extreme Unction means the way is still clear!

Landing on the roof is easy, and rolling his head back, he looks to see where the Blackbird isn't. "It is such a pretty plane. Too bad no one ever sees it." He looks back to Domino, and the smile grows. "You will get used to it, leibchen. Soon, you will wonder how you managed without it." Beat. "Right, Cypher?"

He pauses, however, before Cyclops, yellow eyes flickering towards Logan's landing style, and waiting, holds his hands out for the cameras. "Javohl," he murmurs. His gaze moves towards Cessily, and he gives her a long, considering look. Extending his hand, his voice is soft, "Let us go, fraulein." This won't necessarily be comfortable for her!

Teleporting across the roof in a single *bamf*, Kurt and Mercury disappears down the side of the building to look in a darkened upper window for access into the building, eat your heart out Spiderman! He grins, and within the span of a single heartbeat, he's in and working his way to the first floor, keeping to the dark shadows where he can blend. "We're point, Mercury.. I will need you to try und blend in with the others here while I take on their captors, alright?"

Rogue takes a deep breath and pulls her hood back up. She listens carefully to Scott's plan and seems compliant as she stays grounded and in formation with him as they set out to deploy. Despite things starting to get serious, she can't help but remark cheekily to Cyclops, "What kind of a lady do ya think ah am?" She doesn't wait for a response as she quickly adds without levity, "Got it, Boss. We play nice."

Cypher tries to not -groan- at being reminded of the last time he had to call Kurt and beg for a teleport out. Especially at the ribbing he took afterwards. "Right, Kurt," he says with a smile that totally contradicts the body language he was sending at the German mutant. The type where you just -know- the other person is plotting your slow death. Next Danger Room session, Herr Wagner...

The tablet taken, Doug activates the cameras, keeping a look out, situating himself in a position where Domino could keep an eye on him -and- the entrance.

"Shift in position," Doug says, sounding off as each camera activate.

Mercury's gotten bamphed before. It's still a bit queasy-making, and she looks slightly wobbly as she winds up down at the first floor with Nightcrawler. He's been doing this for ages, so the young woman nods in acknolwedgement. "I'll go up into the vents," she says, and stretches herself out, flowing up into an air duct and disappearing. As she slides through the duct work, Cessily gets to peek into the various rooms. While Nightcrawler takes out the captors, Mercury slides into the classrooms, rounding up students and trying to quietly herd them to safety.

Wolverine's only immediate response? He pulls his mask tight into place and gives one singular nod. He's got it, he'll work with it... or he doesn't give a shit. It's always a little hard to tell when someone's giving the clawed mutant instructions. In this case, it looks like at least passing cooperation is in the cards, however-- he's already at the edge of the roof as Shift disappears down and inside, slipping along and eyeing the outer walls of the structure around one corner, before setting himself up in a rather particular spot.

When he hears that murmured signal, the Canuck simply drops like a bag of bricks off the side of the ledge, seemingly unprompted as far as anyone else could tell, and catches himself on brickwork with adamantium claws. Like a hot knife through butter, those claws relieve a window opening onto the third floor of a side stairwell of its locking mechanism. From there, it just takes a gentle nudge to open his way in, the stocky mutant all but utterly silent as he drops into a deft roll, coming up in a crouch-- sniffing the air-- and then turning to quietly close that window back; even if it's not quite such a tight seal, anymore.

Wolverine sets the miniaturized camera Shift left with him up on that staircase, and then ascends, quietly choking out a man with an AK enjoying a cigarette. Logan borrows it and takes a drag once the guy falls, murmuring into his comm, |"Not even holdin' the perimeter right. These guys are flamin' amateurs, we need to find out who's fundin' and directing 'em."|

"Do you really want me to answer that question?" Cyclops asks Rogue with a lopsided grin before jabbing a cable in her hand. "Hold this."

Cyclops swings over the side of the building and slides down the side, coming to a stop at a darkened room on the second floor. His visor, set at one of its lightest settings and pierces a circular hole in a window where he can then unlatch it from sticking his hand inside. A moment later, he's in. "Let's go, Mississippi," he calls to Rogue via the comms as he unhooks the cable from his belt and spies the door in front of the darkened room.

Shift's first camera is deployed nearby one of the other staircases, concealed just beneath a large, red EXIT sign. He skirts the hallway in the other direction, noticing the shadow of a man armed with another AK up ahead. With a frown, he poofs into smoke form again, rises up to the ceiling, and creeps around that bend.

Suddenly, the soldier's entire head is shrouded in a suffocating darkness. The soldier chokes and stammers for a few moments, clawing at his throat as the smoke quite literally fills his lungs and chokes the air out of him. When the soldier finally collapses, a little trail of black smoke rises out of the unconscious man's mouth and nose, rejoining the blob until it solidifies once more.

Down the hallway he goes, smacking another camera up in a place he could best guess would help to provide Cypher with a good scan of the area. Moments later, he's rejoining Logan while sticking the comm back into his ear. "Not much firahpowah on de third floor."

With Mercury in the ducts, it frees Kurt up to take to the ceiling, keeping to the shadows, and with multiple *bamfs*, makes his way down towards where he believes one of the 'holding rooms' would be before setting a camera. The other for the floor is set near the front door, looking into the main hallway. Glowing yellow eyes study the layout, where everyone is before he smiles, and it's not a very pleasant one. "Children, women and the injured," he whispers. "Come at those who will fight back, schweinhunde."

He catches noise down a side hallway; coming back from the restroom.. and immediately the elf is on him. With a *bamf*, he disappears from his perch and lands directly on top of the gunman, but doesn't remain long enough for his weight to push him down. No.. instead?


 * bamf*bamf*bamf*bamf*

Taking the man for a ride; quickly and easily incapacitating him, the only 'real' noise is the sound of the rifle falling to the floor. No doubt, however, the man will be missed- eventually.

"Maybe Ah do, Boss. If ya got the gumption to tell it straight," Rogue replies as she takes the cable serves as human ballast for her fearless leader to slip in, musing quietly as she watches his technique. "Not bad. Something tells me he ain't a stranger to sneakin' about."

When the call comes to follow, she stows the rope and flies down through the path he's provided. When she lands she pads carefully behind Cyclops, not unfamiliar with skulking about herself. "Ah got your back," Rogue whispers, "Just holler when it's time."

Cess guides several batches of children out the hall before she runs into the first issue. Two gunmen inside a classroom with a group of eighth graders. Mercury flows up to the grade, looking down in it. If they see her, it goes bad and a bunch of kids get it. That'd put anybody's heart in their throat, even if they don't have either, anymore.

A thin silver strand flows down the wall, dropping behind a bookcase and then moving around the edge of the room, until it's behind the gunmen. It rises up quickly, forming a silver girl who sends tow club-arms out to knock both of the gunmen hard in the head. "Don't worry," she tells the kids. "The X-Men are here!"

"Logan in position, he has engaged. Shift has engaged," Cypher reports. "So has Nightcrawler. Hostiles neutralized."

As he speaks, watching the tablet, Cypher works on his smartphone, hooking up to the school network, and scanning through the system for access to any terminal that would have a video cam hooked up to it. If he could just discretely activate them... every single one of them, he might be able to switch and give the infiltrators more -specific- rooms to aim for...

"Mercury has found a room with hostages... she's engaging," Doug notes absently as he continues to work on the idea. If the idea succeeds, he could probably actually -tell- the parties where to go.

"Tag a couple others up here somewhere. Or patrollin' through." Wolverine offers to Shift, keeping low to the ground as he moves back out onto the third floor proper, "Probably checkin' classrooms." A nod indicates several doors ajar down the locker-lined hall, "Still some kids up here, too. Maybe a teacher." How does he differentiate? Wolverine's nose is like a canine's, something of a time machine; fresh and near is different from old trails, and fear? Fear stands out.

Wolverine creeps his way down along that path, coming to the last open door, and slips inside, bisecting the assault rifle of the surprised terrorist within, before palming his skull and bouncing the man roughly off the chalkboard; which splits, violently. This one has enough fight left to take another swing, and Wolverine grins grimly as he wades in. It doesn't last long.

There's a nod towards a locked closet in the back of the room, however, along with a hand gesture. Hostages hiding. He moves back to secure their flank, leaving the contact to Odame.

Cyclops gives Rogue a serious nod to let her know that it's go time. He maneuvers the radial dial on his visor, setting it for a stun setting. A split second later, he's opening the door slowly. It's clear once he does, that they entered through a storage closet into a classroom. The far wall is one of those 'false walls' that can be opened to make two small classrooms into one giant one.

Scott closes the distance in a few short, silent, strides before lifting his hand up to the wall's handle and looking back to make sure Rogue is ready. Once he's sure she is, he gives her a nod and begins to slowly open up a crevice along the corner and slips in.

From there, there's a quick screech-hiss of his optic blast, sending one gunman at the far end of the room flying. Another within arms distance attempts to bring up his assault rifle to bear on Cyclops, but the weapon is ripped from the amateur's hands with little effort, turned, and used to strike the would be terrorist across the face. Cyclops reaches up and manipulates the gun, emptying the clip, disengaging the body of the gun and letting the pieces and the ammunition fall to the floor.

There are two gunmen left in the room and scattered on the floor are two classrooms full of children, bent down on the ground and praying for their lives.

With a quick nod, Shift pads along the hallway behind Logan. Letting the Wolverine enter first, Shift quickly moves in behind, bum rushing the second soldier with a tooth-borne, silent snarl. The sound of the soldier's gasp is paired by the crackling of hardening flesh, the thud of bootsteps, and the cocking of an AK-47. However, before the soldier can fire a shot, Shift slams his hardened body into the soldier, knocking the wind right out of him.

A quick motion to his belt, and out comes one of those darts. Jabbed into the soldier's leg, it injects its sedative and guarantees that he'll be out cold for a solid six hours.

"Nap time," breathes the Ghanaian, before moving off toward the closet. Flesh still hardened, he reaches for the doorknob and gives it one solid yank, ripping it free and letting the door swing open.

"It's alright," he says, while the flesh begins to soften beneath his uniform. "We ahre here to help." Looking toward the teacher inside, who has her arms around two of the most terrified students, he says, "Everyone keep quiet and come outside. Dere are more of us. You are all going to be alright."

Ushering the teacher over with a calm hand on her shoulder, he instructs her. "Move toward de wall facing de door. Create a line and be quiet. We will free de oddah's now."

Kurt's keeping an ear out for the movement of the kids; no one can keep teenagers quiet for very long, for whatever reason. There is always the ever escalating 'shut up!' fight that comes, or the 'get the hell away from me' gripe. And that doesn't include the 'What the hell?' loud inquiry.

Keeping to the shadows, he catches sight of the lunchroom.. the cafeteria. Looking in the door, the first place his eyes move is to the rafters, just above the drop ceilings before he gets a count of how many are in the room- with weapons.

It truly is 'go-time' for the elf too. Looking up, takes a deep breath and murmurs a prayer the moment before he-


 * bamf*

"Pick on someone your own size, ja?"

Okay, not too witty, nor does it strike fear in the hearts of the gunmen, but the fact that a blue *DEMON* just appeared in a cloud of.. *sniff* brimstone?

Guns are levelled by the others, but not before Kurt pushes down with his feet, having landed atop of shoulders. Grabbing the stricken man with his tail, he teleports up again, taking the terrorist with him, only to have him land on top of another of the armed assailants in the room.. who is looking up, searching all over for the devil and his friend.

Making sure it's more.. unconscious (not dead!) weight that falls, Kurt grabs the guns that have come up 'available' and the smile .. isn't a kind one to the other, now only, remaining gunman. "It is up to you, mein freund.. do you feel lucky?"

Lacking Cyclops' tactical skill and finesse, Rogue goes for the direct approach, taking advantage of the surprise his attack creates charging in. She grabs a shocked terrorist and flings him across the room like a child's toy. As the other terrorist tries to raise his weapon, his companion arrives, colliding with him and rendering both men into an unconscious heap on the floor. Rogue dusts off her hands and says, "Nice moves, boss, but ya missed a couple. I had to clean up your spare."

Even in the midst of enjoying an easy victory, Rogue notices the crying children and kneels down, saying softly to a particularly upset girl, "Don't worry, Sugah. My partner there, he's a big hero and he promised he was gonna get you and your friends out safe, and heroes don't tell lies, do they?" The girl shakes her head and Rogue continues, "We're gonna play a new game, alright? It's called Cyclops Says. Everyone gets in a line and holds hands and ya do what ever my partner says. You're the captain. Get everyone all rounded up."

Mercury's not the consumate battler Nightcrawler is, or the others. No, the girl of metal does what she can, as she oozes from room to room. It's not as fast as Nightcrawler, thus she winds up doing the cleanup. It's okay, somebody has to take care of the kids, and Cessily's a lot closer to their age than the others. "Come on, down the hall," she says with wide gestures. "Keep quiet. Head straight out. Don't worry, the X-Men are here." Because the X-Men are other people. They can't possibly be her.

"Hey!" Mercury snaps. She stretches over to break up two middle-schoolers who'd been shoving and being obnoxious to either other. "Hey, you're both mutants, boys. You have to watch out for each other, not fight, okay?"

"Wolverine has engaged. Shift has engaged." On and on, Cypher calls out names. Even directing those to other locations once he has managed to access working cam eyes.

Gunfire echoes behind him, as Domino catches a few patrolling terrorists heading to the roof. "Thanks, Domino," he notes quietly, even as he flinches a bit at the sound of bullets striking home. "If you care to, there's one more group in the room below us. Want to take care of it?"

These poor bastards just weren't prepared for this. Wolverine would feel bad for them, almost, if they hadn't taken a school hostage in the first place. Part of him doesn't want to leave them for the cops, hate like this can kill again.. but they haven't hurt any of the kids yet, that he can see or sniff, and that buys them a modicum of mercy. Not that it's much comfort to the gunman who catches Logan's nose next, as he slips off further down the hall as Shift guides the children out, meeting the terrorist on his way out of another room.

This newest target? Is more focused on coffee stolen from the teacher's lounge than handling his rifle properly, not yet aware the perimeter has been breached. Trusting Odame to get the hostages to safety frees Wolverine up to do his damndest to make this goon shit his pants. He greets the guy with a broad, strong, too firm grip around his throat, and the little mutant veritably /slams/ the other man up against the wall. The resilient brickwork doesn't give an inch, but the Canuck takes a moment trying to shove his quarry through anyway.

Then? Logan's fist slams forward for the bridge of the man's nose, crushing it in the instant before a pair of his trio of claws snap out to either side, cleaving into brick as if it were so much soft cheese. "Rest of you scumsuckers are already down. You value your face, you tell me who put you up to this, right flamin' now." It's all but snarled in the man's face, as the chokehold is loosened just enough to allow him to speak-- if he's smart.

"We're equal opportunity. Didn't want you to feel left out," Cyclops says flatly looking back to Rogue. As she kneels down to talk to the class, Cyclops radios in to Cypher. "Cypher, this is Cyclops. The second floor is clear. Waiting on confirmation to lead the students out through the back hall." He looks back at Rogue and is happy she came. He'd never been able to handle the emotional aspects of the job. Good thing for teammates.

The perp in Logan's grasp shakes his head in fear, "It-it was a guy named Jennings. Out of Atlanta. Oh please don't kill me, oh God please." If he didn't shit his pants, he might have pissed them. "He gave us the guns and the money! PLEASE!"

While ushering the children out behind Logan, room by room, Shift comes upon one gunman who was missed.

"Hey!" cries the soldier, whose rifle is ready and taking aim.

"Hey back!" cries Shift, and goes charging for the man dead on. A series of gunshots echo, filling the hallway and bringing terrified screams from the children.

Fortunately, Shift is good at playing decoy. The bullets pierce his uniform and pass right through his body, peppering the wall with holes. The Ghanaian leaps into the air and tackles the soldier to the ground, dart in hand.

However, instead of plugging the soldier, he takes advantage of the man's shock, and brings the dart down close to his eye. "Your buddy over dere is in a world of hurt," he growls from behind the mask. "Let's play a little game called, 'who talks first'." A crackling sound is issued while the African musters his anger (not very difficult to do, here), and with the hardening of his flesh comes a cry of pain as his hand digs into the soldier's shoulder. "Make it fast," he starts, but then hears Logan's charge spilling the beans.

"Too late."

There are children watching. Much as Shift wants to bash the bastard's face to hell and back, he simply lowers the dart into the soldier's neck.

"Enjoy prison."

Gunshots? Kurt's head raises to the second floor, yellow eyes widening. He takes a moment to cross himself before coming to land next to the pair that are out cold. "Now you must decide," and he advances.. a little faster than a stalk. More like a run, a jump, a quick teleport before he lands on the remaining man's shoulders. Instead of teleporting again, the acrobatic elf pulls backwards, flipping the man such that feet go flying overhead.. not once, but twice.

Dropping his hands into a handspring now, he pulls the man with him and flips him that third time, having him fall into a flat of lunchtables, which collapse under the sudden weight and pressure. The man is only human; nothing special, no mutations.. and one that believes that having a gun gives him enough power. He's out. Not getting up, but still breathing.

Taking a deep breath, the blue elf looks around, and exhales in a sigh. "You all will be okay.." and he's off in search of Mercury.

The girl Rogue was talking to moves her head up and down in understanding and the simplicity of a direct task gives a channel for fear and she busies herself rallying her classmates. Rogue walks over to Scott and says out of earshot of the students, "The rugrats ain't hurt but they're shaken up. Ah'd recommend gettin' 'em out of here and back to their families soon as we can." She inclines her head as she thinks she reads something on the leader's features, something she wants to correct right away, "Are ya smirking? You better not be. So help me, if ya say anythin' to anyone about me bein' nice to those brats, you'll be wearin' your visor on your tonsils." She tugs her hood up in a huff, full bravado back in effect.

Gunshots! Mercury's head jerks around, her whole body flowing and twisting afterward. Guns. She's been talking a lot about guns today. The young students in her charge collectively gasp and many pick up their pace. Cessily turns and starts moving back towards the sound. Who on the team could actually take bullet close up? Not being privy to the detailed records of all members, she's not sure. The young mutant rushes up the hall, just in time slide into the doorway of the lunch room. "Nightcrawler!" she says. "Are you okay? I've got all the other students on this floor out."

"Do you really have to ask?"

In a flash Domino's on the move. 'Covering the geek' might be one of the most universally boring jobs when it comes to any sort of mission, but it always manages to be one of the most critical. The X-Men have this place stormed, most of the opposition already removed from the playing field. Cypher'll be okay, there's time for a little cleanup work. Lucky her.

Having hovered around Cypher gave her a good idea of the floorplan of this place. She knows where to go, what doors and stairs to take, what part of the building to look for. As one of the gunmen starts to round a corner, he takes a knee-high armored boot under the chin.

Dom sweeps around the corner, suppressed pistols chirping twice each as their high-voltage payloads are sent into the small cluster of baddies.

An instant later and she's back up against the wall across the intersection, pistols held up beside her head. "Cypher, reading any more?" she radios in before the kicked man starts to stir, earning himself a shock bullet of his very own. "We've got shots fired, does anyone need some fire support?"

"Everything's all clear, Domino, thank you. Cyclops, the back exits are clear. You've taken care of most of them, the rest should be easy," Cypher answers, taking a deep breath. "No casualities," he says softly, as he checks once again. "Gunfire came from Shift's hostile, and he's taken care of them."

"Kill ya? What if I was just to beat the ever lovin' shit out of you?" Wolverine inquires with a predatory show of teeth, getting back in his quarry's face, keenly aware just how scared the terrorist is. "How are you gonna get back in touch with 'Jennings', bub?" The tones are those of a man with little patience for waiting, and this guy's already halfway to putty in his hands. "Tell me everything, make it quick."

"J.. just by cell, I swear! Just a phone number, just Jennings!!!" The poor thug looks like he's about to break down in tears, "Just take my phone, just take it man, it's yours." Wolverine does just that, plucking it from the pocket of BDU pants, and dropping the amateur terrorist to his knees; the guy practically folds limp on his own accord.

Logan robs him of consciousness with an adamantium-braced kneecap to the face anyway, the man teetering to the side and hitting with a thud, losing a slow but notable trickle of blood. He'll live.


 * "I got us a line on the guy behind this attack."| Logan offers to his team, doing a final sweep of the third floor. |"Gettin' the last group on three clear, then the roof for evac."| He does just that, 'unlocking' a maintenance closet and swinging the doors open. The first impression of fear in the students and teacher hidden within is terror, the certainty that death has found them, but ominous looking or no.. Logan's words are reassuring. "Back way out's open. Go, quick, you'll see a line of the other kids. Cops have the perimeter locked down." And they'll be storming in in no time. Wolverine paces their path to the cleared stairwell, but heads up, rather than down and out.

Cyclops smirk doesn't leave but he doesn't add anything. "Roger that, Cypher. Moving to the back door."

One by one the X-men lead the school children out or allow them to get out through their own means. Through cover of darkness, they're able to stay relatively hidden, if quick, allowing the students to leave out in front of them as they double back around the building. They'll need to get back to the roof where the Blackbird is landing, but that should present no difficult problem.

Cyclops leaps up the ramp and gets comfy in the pilot's chair. "Alright, crew. Good work. Let's get out of here. Stay low and out of eyesight."

Once the last person is on board, the Blackbird lifts off high above the building before hitting the afterburners to the north. No one can probably track their route to the south, but Cyclops is just that sort of annoying, adding 15 minutes to the trip home.