2012-07-15 New Players

Midnight. The Witching Hour. Outside the bright lights of New York, all seems quiet at the OmniTech manufacturing facility. Guards patrol the fenced perimeter, seemingly unaware of the presence of 5 figures running towards the main building. All five look rather out of place, dressed in costumes, rather than security uniforms. Also, one of them is too large and bulky to be a 'normal' human. A woman dressed in scarlet moves to the access door her compatriots are gathered around. She points at a keypad on the door, and a short burst of energy causes the keypad to fry out and opens the lock with a 'click'. The group slips inside, the scarlet woman's cloak billowing behind her. "Remember," she says to her companions. "Destroy the ware house and the computers. Avoid any human casualties."

The hulking man snorts in disgust. "Den tell them to stay outta my way, cherre," he says in a deep cajun accent. "I see any statics, dey gonna be bait for old Gator..." Nodding and chuckles from the others show that they share the man's sentiment

As her team spreads out to perform the sabotage, the woman in scarlet looks apprehensive, feeling suddenly cold and alone.

Midnight. Not a normal way to receive tips, via text, but the location truly sparked Kurt's curiosity. And when that becomes piqued? Well.. people are bound to follow the blue elf. Not too far distant from the fenced perimeter, Kurt perches in a tree, his tail settled loosely about him, his attention playing to the building before him, and the movements of the guards. Calling out quietly, he shakes his head in gesture with his words, "I don't hear anything out of the-" and there is a pause. Movement always draws the eye, and what is that running? Kurt stands on his branch to get a better view, "Look-"

Suited up, just like Nightcrawler, Talia is perched on another branch. Her feet and hands lined up in a row, gripping the branch beneath her, she scans the front of the building on a good, old-fashioned stakeout. When Nightcrawler points out the figures fanning out in the distance from the girl in red, a curious expression crosses her face. "That...can't be good news right there." She whispers, craning her neck forward to get a better look. "Do you know any of those guys?"

Colossus is standing at the base of the tree, leaning a shoulder against it as he studies the building. "There could be something out of the ordinary." he decides. "It is difficult to say for certain." Except.. "Was that a flash?" Pausing a moment to see if it happens again, he shakes his head. "Something is happening. I would suggest porting me inside, Kurt." He doesn't get nauseous when metal.

Suited up and iced up as well, Bobby's half way to dozing off. He's leaning against the tree too, arms crossed. When the others speak, he jumps a little and looks up. Shaking his head to clear it, he squints at the building. "That mean me and Girl-crawler are headed through the door?"

Beast was at the mansion when the call came in, so decided to tag along. Of course, looking somewhat out of place in one of the older costume styles. But he doesn't get out in costume enough to bother with a redesign. At least like the other X-Costumes, it's been upgraded to include the genecloak technology. Hank is crouched near Colossus, a datapad in his hand and running down the info on OmniTech. When Kurt alerts them of movement, Hank nods and slips the datapad away into a hidden pocket in his glove. "We should hit various entry points. So I guess that means I get the roof."

Things are definitely starting to hop inside. Gator starts bulldozing his way towards the warehouse, breaking through doors and setting off alarms. "Real subtle, bro..." says the man following him. "We takin' dis place down, Cinder. No need bein' quiet," Gator replies.

The alarms cause the Scarlet Witch to sigh in frustration. "Idiots...." she mutters as she and the other two start running towards the control room. Security guards appear and order them to stop. The Scarlet Witch gestures at them, sending out a bolt of chaos energy that causes the fire sprinklers above the guards to activate, creating unstable footing. The other woman elongates and stretches out, closing the gap between them and the guards, then wrapping herself around 2 of them. The black man standing next to the Scarlet Witch raises his hand to his temple, and the other 2 guards in front of them slump to the ground. "Can't keep this up forever, Witch," he mutters.

"No.. and either we were told about this to prevent issues, or.." Kurt shakes his head in response to Talia's question, his eyes narrowing. "Not that I immediately recognize," comes slowly. He tears his gaze from the view before him and nods his head, leaping down from his perch to stand next to Colossus. He looks to the three 'remaining' and nods. "I'll bring you all through, then.. ja. I'll take Piotr in. All directions where possible." He looks to Beast and nods at the fence, "Unless you can do something about the fence without anyone's notice." Fenceline should be easy.. "Do you have the layout of this building, Beast?" He can't teleport into a place he hasn't been, or seen...

Or not.. as all hell breaks loose within, Kurt looks back at where they all stand and shrug, "Looks like it doesn't much matter. We have our diversion." Reaching to take hold of Piotr just before teleporting in, Kurt murmurs, "Hold on, mein freund.." and then louder, "we will be at the main building.."

When Nightcrawler takes Colossus in with a -BAMF-, Nocturne looks over to Iceman. She nudges her head back towards the front of the building. "That leaves us, doesn't it?" She smiles to him, nudging her head in the direction of the electrified fence. "Now I know you can't get over that fence before I do, can you?" She winks and then launches herself off of the tree. Bounding across the grass towards the fence of the corporation's perimeter, she races as fast as she can towards the danger at the front door of the building. With her rapier strapped to her waist, she takes one large, bounding leap forward, lands on all fours, and then boosts herself up on a path that will take her over the fence. Whether or not Iceman beats her to the punch while she sails through the air is another question.

Alarms go off and Colossus shakes his head. The police will be here soon which is a definite mixed blessing. They're as likely to be considered the criminals as the actual criminals are. "Be wary. Given where we are, and that we were called and not the police, we are likely to be facing mutants." And then they disappear and reappear and he immediately moves to put himself between Kurt and... whatever he happens to see that might be a threat.

"Oh, you're on, blue babe," Iceman replies, starting to run as Nocturne leaps. He jumps as well, creating an ice-slide to lift him up and over the fence. He waves as he passes her, cocky smirk on his face. He's just happy there's some action finally. He's pretty surprised when Nocturne is suddenly sailing through the air alongside him, picking up the pace so that he lands at the same time she does. "Good one," he remarks, starting to 'skate' along a quickly melting trail of ice towards the entrance to the warehouse.

Beast pulls free the datapad again, pulling up various building plans, schematics, and even video feeds showing the inside of the building. "Granted this isn't current details of the interior. But unless there's been a massive redesign of the set-up, it shouldn't be too different. As for the fence, I can easily leap that. Or Colossus can toss me over." Once Kurt and Piotr depart, Hank leaps up to one of the tree branches... and then over the fence, landing almost in a ball and then popping to his feet and heading for the building. A quick glance to Nocturne and Iceman earns a smile and shake of his head. Quickly making his way up the side of the building with a few strategic bounces and leaps and lands on the roof. Now to locate access.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Colossus and Nightcrawler port in right in front of Gator and Cinder. The huge man, with skin and a head like his namesake, skids to a stop. "You all bettah be here to help us. Cause metal ain't no thing to Gator..." He sets himself into a defensive posture, ready to fight.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Cinder on the other hand, smiles wickedly. "Time to light this place up!" Flame shoots out from his hands, splashing over the ceiling of the warehouse.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"Witch! We got others incoming!" the black man says. He concentrates and suddenly, the guards outside act as if they're just now noticing they're under attack. Weapons are drawn and shots are fired at the X-Men still outside.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The elongated woman, keeps the two guards completely wrapped up in her body. They're struggling, starting to suffocate.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"Ribbon!" Scarlet Witch shouts out. "Forget the humans! We need to destroy that computer!" Reluctantly, Ribbon frees the men in her elastic grip, letting them slump to unconsciousness. The three mutants press forward.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Piotr's warning certainly doesn't fall on deaf ears, and Kurt nods. The layout of the building is certainly appreciated, and he offers that quick, 'Danke' before he's gone. Once they land on the other side and Colossus moves, so does Kurt. Aaand, there it all goes. Jumping into the air, he lands behind Gator to keep the mutant occupied. "No, we aren't.. what are you doing in-" Now, there's a voice that sounds familiar, and he looks up and away from his target at hand, "Was zum teufel..?" Beat. "Wanda?"

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Nocturne dips her head sharply as the guards start to open fire on her and Iceman. Again, she bounds through the air, this time landing on part of Iceman's ice, and slides down it a few feet to give her some momentum. Rushing forward as fast as possible, she bounds to the left and right, trying to keep the gunmen guessing. Approaching one of the guards, she leaps once more and then hip-slides past him on a route towards the black man that's controlling them, kicking up a light spray of water as she does so. "I've got this guy!" She calls out to Iceman, all the while trying to avoid the gunfire. The Scarlet Witch distracts her for just a second, causing her to gasp a little. She grits her teeth and jumps in with a flying kick to the black-skinned mutant. "Let them go, man! Keep 'em out of this!"

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"Iceman, we have fire here." Colossus says over the team channel. An ice controller is as good as water when it comes to fire. "We are not here to assist you, no. But if you choose to leave, we will not hinder you." He understands their motivations but doesn't agree with their methods. "We should not fight amongst ourselves. Please, just go."

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"Woah! We're the good guys here!" Iceman yelps as he's shot at, forming an ice-wall between himself and the guards to block the shots. He perks up slightly at the news over the channel, looking around for the source of the fire. When he finds Cinder, Iceman grins and projects a blast of snow and ice at the other mutant's back. "Hey, cool off!"

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Beast dodges some annoying gunfire, relieved to make it to the roof. Though takes a few quick steps back at the burst of flames find an exit from their spray across the ceiling inside. "Great." Hank growls to himself, as he finds an access panel and yanks it open, poking his head in to get a quick survey of the warehouse, it's contents, and any of his teammates or their foes inside. Beast shakes his head at Bobby's voice as it carries. "Never change." He mumbles to himself.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The ice wall keeps the gunfire off everyone's back. The guards outside start running to get in.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"Dat ain't a choice, boy," Gator says to Colossus with a snarl. He leaps at the metal mutant, trying to grapple and get those powerful jaws of his around Colossus' neck and shoulder.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The ice hits Cinder in the back, chilling him. But steam starts to rise and the rater evaporates as Cinder quick melts the ice. He turns to face Bobby and smirks. "Cool off? Wicked burn, bro. Not as wicked as my burns, though..." And a gout of flame is launched at Iceman.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Beast sees the warehouse scene below him: Gator trying to slam into Piotr, Cinder and Iceman trading quips and thermal blasts.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The black man that Nocturne hits, goes tumbling down, shaking his head. The guards slumped down are still KO'd. Scarlet Witch turns to face the blue-skinned mutant and gestures, sending out a hex-bolt to hit the young woman. "Ribbon! Get to those damn computers and blow them up!" she shouts.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Ribbon elongates down the corridor, leading with the top half of her body, the legs following later as she scouts to find the control room.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Perfect! Though now, the fire suppression systems are in full gear, and it's raining on hero and.. anti-hero alike. Kurt's yellow eyes have to be dragged from the sound of the voice that sounded so much like Wanda in order to address Gator boy, though now, he lifts his head to look at Colossus, ready to leave the Cajun mutant to the Russian. "Leave now.. before you do more damage. To us all!"

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Catching T’s advance through, the blue elf's eyes widen to see her attacked- and hit! This.. this is apparently exactly why he probably shouldn't have had her come with them, and Kurt calls out, "No!".. though there's the last person that has to be taken down. "Stop this now!" is quickly followed with, "Beast.. one's looking for the control room.."

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Acting fast, Nocturne's own fist coalesces into a ball of brimstone-smelling crimson energy, but before she can bring it to try to negate the blast sent her way, she gets tagged. The hex-bolt explodes around her and she flies back across the slippery floor into the plexi-glass rotating door that has somehow managed to avoid damage at the entrance. The security check rings out with the impact and turns, locking her inside. Slamming her back into the plexiglass, she lets out a half-shrieked, frustrated grunt as she tries to find a way to pry the door open. She gives it a few kicks, and is only met by a wobbling 'bonk' when she does so. It's designed to keep intruders out, but since she's stuck in the wrong wedge, it's definitely keeping her in. --+"Wanda Maximoff stop this!"+-- She calls out in Romani, the native language of the gypsies of Wundagore. She grunts, bringing up a foot to try to get some leverage and pull the door open. --+"These people are not bad, they are friends! Call your people off!"+--.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"That was the choice you were given." Colossus points out then moves forward as Gator leaps forward. Grabbing the man's wrists, he drops to one knee then uses his strength and Gator's momentum to throw the other mutant over his shoulder. "We should not be fighting." he repeats though when push comes to shove...

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"Dude," Iceman makes a face. "Your jokes suck!" he calls, not backing down. With all the water, he's confident he can win. Hands forward he fires off another blast of snow and ice to meet the flames, steam rising from where they connect. "Leave the comedy to the professionals or I'll have to put you on ice."

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"Gotcha Fuzzy Elf." Hank calls to Kurt, as he drops into the access hatch on the roof. Grabbing the edges with his gloved hands. He mentally recalls the design plans for the building, swinging his body and leaping. Making his way across the ceiling along any available pipes and ductwork. Locating where the other mutant likely went and swinging and leaping down, dropping into a crouch and then charging down the hallway after Ribbon. Hoping to catch up to her and tackle her before she makes it to the control room. <<Iceman... don't make me hurt you.>> Hank chuckles over the com.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Beast tackles the stretchy woman, knocking her down. She stretches her head behind to look at Beast and smiles. "Well, let me say hi properly..." her body starts to coil around Beast. "By giving you a great big hug..."

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Gator tries to grab onto Piotr, but the wet environment makes the metal skin nearly impossible to grab onto. He lands into a bunch of boxes, smashing them. With a roar, Gator jumps up and grabs a nearby forklift, hurling it at Colossus.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The warehouse is filling with steam, making it hard to see inside. But Cinder still pours on the flames at Iceman. "Oh and your ice jokes are so much better....How about if I turn up the heat?" Cinder grits his teeth and starts pushing his power, sweat coming off his brow.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"--You are protecting our oppressors!--" Wanda spits back at Nocturne in Romani. She starts running down the corridor, trying to get to the control room.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The black mutant stands up and looks at Nocturne. "Try blindsiding me now, bitch! Better yet, go blind..." He looks at Talia and all of a sudden, she can't see anymore.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">At this point, all the guards are running away; this is a battle that's not worth $50 grand a year...

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Kurt catches TJ's slide across the floor, landing in the 'out' direction of the 'in' door.. or is it the 'in' direction of the 'out' door? Regardless, he breathes a sigh of relief that she's seemingly unharmed. And, for the moment, out of trouble.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"Why can't I ever be 'Captain Blue' or somesuch?" Kurt offers up a complaint over the com, but it's half-hearted. The attack, however, that comes against Talia when she's in a position that she can't defend herself drives said fuzzy elf forward, and he suddenly disappears, only to reappear just above the black mutant.. and as he lands, gives him a flying kick into the kidneys before he leaps forward to follow the direction the man will (hopefully) fall to grab him and teleport him rapidly, appearing and disappearing, filling the warehouse with the sounds that vaguely resemble firecrackers in the distance.. and the acrid smell of sulfur. "Stop." *bamf* "This." *bamf* "Now!"

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"--but it doesn't have to be this wa--" Nocturne fires back in Romani, and then suddenly falls back against the wedge of plexiglass behind her. Her yellow eyes blink rapidly trying to understand what's just happened to her. Effectively trapped in a box, blind, she starts to panic. Slamming her elbow back against the glass, she pushes forward with one of her own, concussive hex-bolts. It shatters the glass in front of her, and she blindly covers her head with her hands, trying to crawl her way out.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Colossus flicks a quick glance behind him at the others fighting. If he moves, the forklift is likely to hit one of them and hurt someone so he stands his ground, batting the piece of heavy machinery off to the side just enough to deflect it, where it smashes more boxes as it passes through the wall of the warehouse. The impact on Colossus though sends him flying backwards toward Cinder.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><<Oh, Beast. Don't get jealous that I'm quipping with the bad guys. You know you're still my main mutant,>> Bobby calls back over the channel. "Hey! My jokes are awesome, matchstick!" Bobby counters. As Cinder pushes, Bobby gets an idea. He lets the fiery mutant start to gain ground and then suddenly stops and dives to the side away from the flames. Rolling and landing in a crouch, he lifts his hands and launches a frigid beam upwards to turn some of the water falling from the sprinklers into a rather large snowball in hopes of burying Cinder under it or at least distracting him. Of course he isn't aware of Colossus' flight path yet.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"Well, I always did love a woman who was flexible." Hank offers, and then groans at himself. "Spending too much time around the popsicle again." Hank whispers. "Come closer." Hank twists in the grip of her coiled body, able to contort his agile body somewhat well himself... reaching a leg over his head and trying to grab for her neck with his prehensile foot with plans to drive her head into the wall. "But I hate it when they're too... clingy." Beast growls, gritting his teeth.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Iceman turns the falling water into a snow dump on Cinder. Of course, the mutant just melts it away, but them the Colossus express hits him. He gets slammed into the wall along with Piotr, and the pyrokinetic goes limp.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Mindscar screams in pain as Nightcrawler's teleport attacks pummel him. He's not a main combatant and he falls down as well. With Mindscar down, Talia's vision is suddenly clear again.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Ribbon tries countering Beast's moves by wrapping her limbs around his wrists and ankles. His foot does connect and slams her head into the wall, but's only slightly dazed, still trying o keep Beast under wraps.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">With Piotr down, Gator turns back to his main objective. He charges into the stacked boxes of mutant scanners, smashing through them and sending wood and technological debris flying.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">As the Scarlet Witch sees Ribbon and Beast in their grappling match, she halts. Everything's gone south because Gator jumped the gun. Stupid oaf...However, the smashing sounds mean that part of the mission was a success. So, Wanda takes the better part of valor and runs the opposite way down a corridor, heading for the outside and escape. She flings hex-bolts at doors in front of her, unlocking them or blowing them to shreds as Chaos dictates.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Kurt lets his opponent drop from his arms as he checks on everyone else, his attention landing on Talia first. "Leibschen?" He's torn; run to Talia, after Wanda, or- and he catches Gator. The decision is made, and it's a quick teleport before he grabs on to the cajun, and he offers grimly, "Who is going to pay for all that you've broken?" It's in a clench-teethed answer that comes, "We are." and he teleports with the mutant straight up, in anticipation of that snow to drop the Gator in. But-- oops? It's gone?

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Like a fog of war suddenly clearing, Talia can see again, and the first thing she sees is Mindscar unconscious after an attack by Nightcrawler. It suddenly makes sense to her. "I'm okay! I'm okay!" she calls out to Nightcrawler, scrambling to her feet as he teleports off. His long, wet, black hair whips about to try to get an idea of where everyone is. Catching sight of the Scarlet Witch fleeing, she takes off after her. Bounding over debris, she calls out to them. She can't see Piotr, but he's made of steel. He should be fine, right? "Hey guys she's getting away! I've got her!" She leaps, grabbing a lighting rig to vault herself down the corridor. Trying to line up a shot, she raises her fist to throw a bolt of her own at Wanda, but stops herself. Conflicted, she takes chase.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Colossus climbs to his feet, checking on Cinder just long enough to make sure he's not seriously injured. For the moment he just watches Gator smashes machine parts. Non-feeling, insured machine parts that'll be used against his people. Ambivalence, thy name is Piotr. Kurt's actions solve his dilemma and he turns away to see if any actual people need help. X-Men having priority, of course. Hearing Talia, he rushes out of the building to see what the situation is.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Bobby grins, drawing back a fist and preparing to launch an attack...only to end up stumbling a bit as the Colossus express takes out his target. "Hey...I was gonna hit him," he jokingly pouts. "Fine! I'll just take your bad guy," he says, looking for Gator and smirking when he finds him. He starts to do something else only for Nightcrawler to BAMF him away. "Oh c'mon," he frowns, lifting a hand and making some more snow to soften the landing since he's pretty sure Kurt doesn't want the Gator to go splat.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Ok, maybe he's a little rusty here. But just because Ribbon can coil around him, doesn't mean she's got the same level of super strength. And hey.... while she's busy fighting him, she's not completing whatever his mission was. Hank lets Ribbon wrap around his wrists and ankles, and then offers a light feral growl.... stretching his body and limbs with all the strength he can muster. He does catch sight of Wanda before she runs, and growls over the Comlink when Talia spots her. "Good... don't let her go."

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Cinder's got some broken bones from the impact, but he's fine, otherwise. Just KO'd. Likewise, Mindscar is showing a bunch of bruises and is unconscious.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Gator lands in the snow, and is stunned, but he gets back up and is looking to get back into a fight, snarling a challenge at Colossus.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Ribbon's not physically as strong as Hank, but it's her elasticity that's been letting her keep up with him. He's able to stretch out, but she's still wrapped wound his limbs. There’s a look of pain on her face though, as if she's being stretched past her limits (pun unintentional) by Beast. He's not fully stretched out yet, another surge of effort might put her out.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Wanda continues to run, going through the last door and into the night air. She’s headed for the rear gate house, now abandoned once the huge battle started. She looks behind her to see Nocturne following her, and the Scarlet Witch pauses in her escape, summoning forth the chaos energy and launching it at Talia. "Back off!" She shouts. "I'm not worth the bad luck you're going to get by tangling with me."

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Bobby's called it. Doesn't want the Gator to go *splat*. "Cover him with ice, please!" is requested by Kurt as he turns about to check on Piotr. The place is a mess, and they certainly can use the outside eyes to know what is going on. As much as he doesn't want to leave those.. anti-good guys behind when the police arrive, and they will, his first responsibility is to his team.. and he calls out, "Talia!" Straightening, he begins his path down the corridors, rapidly teleporting out the way the Witch, and Nocturne has gone. He finally lands and reaches out to grab Wanda in the next heartbeat.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"--I'm not trying to TANGLE with you. JUST STOP! We don't have to fight we're both from Wunda--" Nocturne calls back in Romani, bouncing on one hand to try to get over the Hex-Bolt. It hits her, but this time it doesn't stop her. Her super-costume disappears and she's in a skimpy, black bikini. When she lands, however, she finds the pool of water that's spread from the sprinkler systems is also a six-foot deep pool. Water splashes everywhere. Nocturne, much to her surprise, had no intention of landing in water. She flails. "OH MY GOD!" She sputters in frustration, swimming for the edge. "Mom I'm gonna kick your a--"

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Colossus shakes his head again and heads for Gator. They should have let him go splat. On his way, he picks up one of the security doors that Wanda blew off its hinges and starts folding and twisting it into bat shape. He'll wait to see if Iceman can entomb Gator sufficiently that he can't break out.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"Sure thing, Nightcrawler. One Gator Pop coming up!" Iceman chimes cheerfully, taking up another ice-slide so that he can circle around Gator. As he does, he starts firing a frigid beam at the other mutant in hopes of putting him in a block of ice.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Beast's joints are starting to ache, but the look on his wrestling partner's face gives him a good idea that she's about to either give up or pass out. So Hank rallys all of his remaining strength to thrust his arms and legs akimbo from his body... trying to pull Ribbon past her limits. "Hopefully... you're not like my old Slinky." He straightened it you know.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Gator struggles in the icy assault. Unfortunately for him, he acquired a few other traits from his namesake. The Ice build up, cooling Gator down rapidly and sending him into a state of torpor.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Ribbon screams as Beast pushes her past her limits and she collapses from the pain. Slowly, her body starts to return to it's normal state.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The effect of Wanda's hex-bolt is startling enough to give Kurt an advantage. His hand grabs her wrist and she glares at him. Her eyes start to glow, preparing to unleash chaos on him...

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">And then Wanda lets her energy bleed off, causing such effects as hair standing on end and the the remaining fires in the warehouse burning blue. She looks at Kurt, eyes pleading with him. "Please...let me go, Kurt..."

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">It's what Kurt had hoped, the Gator and cold-blooded thing.. but that's not got his attention. He's distracted by Talia, her sputtering and the fact that she so very, very nearly cursed out.. well.. who? His hold on Wanda now stays firm in his three fingers, and as the energy begins to course through his body as the conductor, his hair flies as if he's got that 'bad hair day' on a dry, cold winter's day. "No, you should come with us before the police come. I wouldn't wish that on anyone." He smiles tightly and his voice lowers, "I'm sorry.. but this won't hurt." Now, begins the multiple teleport-bouncing back down the hall to where everyone else is. Time for clean-up; as best as they can, anyway!

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">It takes Nocturne a moment to get out of the water as the edge of the hexed pool of water is uneven and gravelly. On all fours, she climbs out and coughs out some swallowed water. Checking quickly to make sure 'the girls' are in place, she grabs her rapier from the pool and stands up on her two feet. When Kurt -BAMFs-, she lets out another squeaked, frustrated grunt. "Okay back the //other// way now." she comments, digging her bare feet into the gravel to launch herself back over the pool of water. A bit of a mutant ping-pong ball this evening, she races down the hallway with her sheathed rapier trailing behind her in one hand. She skids to a stop, watching Colossus and Iceman deal with Gator. Soaking wet, she whips her hair out of her eyes. "This is driving me crazy, you guys got him taken care of?!?"

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Piotr glances over at Talia briefly then double takes and gives her a second look. "..." No, not going to ask. "Beast?" he asks over the communicator. "Report in please." Otherwise, all present and accounted for and he starts counting bad guys. "The police will be here shortly. We should leave and let them take over."

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Iceman tops off the ice block with a little ice-bow on top. Coming in for a landing, he flashes a grin, leans an arm against the block, and holds two fingers up in a V-for-victory sign Piotr's way. He glances over when he notices Piotr's double-take and ends up whistling at the sight of Nocturne. "Wardrobe malfunction?" he teases, ready to run for it.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"Coming!" Beast coms back and untangles himself from Ribbon, feeling a bit bad that he hurt her. Moving to his feet, and picking her up in his strong arms and carrying her back towards the others. "So, what are we going to do with them?" Hank asks of the assembled Brotherhood members. "Or her...." Hank offers with a soft grumble at Wanda. A moment later, Beast offers a cough and his eyes go a bit wide when Talia walks in with her new bikini look. Hank stammers just a little bit unsure what to say. And then just moves to place Ribbon on one of her knocked out companions. Beast glances at Iceman and gibbs-slaps him.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The teleportation does shock Wanda momentarily, but she gets her bearings soon enough after reappearing in the warehouse. She hears the question Beast asks and smirks. "Turn me over to the police? Put me in the hands of our oppressors? That's the 'heroic' thing to do, isn't it? That's justice. I'm sure it won't hurt too much when the carve into me to find out how my powers work." Wanda turns away, unable to look at the assembled X-Men.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"I don't want to leave any of them here," Kurt begins and ends there, however; his words aren't because of Wanda's taunts. "Leaving proof of mutant-misdeeds only fans the flames." But, the chances are very good there are CCTV cameras all over the place, up and out of the way of the sprinkler systems. "If we take them, can you erase the film, Hank?" That way, at least no faces will truly be seen.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Kurt still has Wanda in hand, and twisting around, he grimaces at the sight of Talia, though he shoots a warning look towards Bobby. "Down, Bobby.. she is still my daughter." After a fashion. According to DNA. "I'm sorry I don't have.." Ah ha! The black mutant's shirt!

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Whistles, double-takes, Nocturne slicks her hair back over the top of her head and gives a pointed, frustrated look to Colossus and Iceman. "Dude!" It's the 'not cool' dude. Yeah, she doesn't seem to know what else to say. She's been officially Wanda'd. She gives a weak laugh and rolls her eyes, just going with it. She opens her mouth, closes it again, and then just shrugs to the three of them. "There's a...uh...pool out back, //suckahz//." She cocks a thumb towards the rear exit, where she's just come from. That's about as much of an explanation as they're going to get. Beast, however, gets a wide grin when Iceman gets smacked. That grin completely disappears when she sees Wanda turning away. She swallows hard and gives Nightcrawler a pointed look.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Talia then clears her throat and calls out to Wanda in the near-Serbian sounding dialect of the Wundagorian Romani. "--You're going to get yourself killed if you keep this up, and they're going to come down on us all. It'll be war. Can't we just go somewhere and talk this one out? I know things are bad, but...--" She points back to the destruction behind them, flattening her lips.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Colossus stays out of this conversation as if not participating somehow will absolve him of responsibility from letting the Brotherhood escape justice. Though he already had offered them a chance to just walk away so his sympathies are obvious.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"Ow! Hey! What was that for?" Iceman frowns at Beast. "You don't have to be jealous. I'm sure you'd look good in a bikini too," he jokes some more. "Sorry," he offers to Nightcrawler, far more apologetically. "Sorry," again for Nocturne. "Well it's not like we have an X-brig or anything..." he trails off, not sure about what they should do either.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"I don't think we should just let them go. That's basically approving of their methods here. There are better ways to deal with Mutant Issues than to vandalize property." Beast pinches the bridge of is nose, but offers a long drawn out sigh and nods. "I'm on it. Just give me about 10-15 minutes to take care of things." Beast offers a growl at Wanda. "You're just lucky you and your little playmates didn't seriously injure anyone. I might not be so forgiving." Hank turns to head to the control room. Hank offers a snort-growl at Bobby, but smiles as he turns his back to head towards the control room.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Wanda stands next to Kurt, not fighting his grip on her arm. "You'd better make a decision soon," she says. "You said you had no facility to hold us. Your choices are to let us go or turn us over to he police. If you're worried about us seeing our release as approval, you shouldn't bother. We understand that you don't, just as we don't approve of you doing nothing while humans equip themselves for a war against mutant-kind. You've won here. Savor your victory and let us part now. Unless you'd rather stand around talking about philosophy until the police arrive to apprehend us all."

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">No, no X-brig, and Kurt is caught. But, the police will be here soon enough, and they have to make that decision. And soon. "We can take them as far as the woods and give them the chance to get their wits about them again." Here, Kurt looks at Wanda pointedly, his tones still firm, "You cannot do this again. It does not help anyone. If anything, it will harm us all." Looking about at his gathered friends, he believes he knows their feelings on the matter; the same as his. "We gave you the chance to depart before any of this happened. Now, we are giving it to you once again. Will you take it please, and don't do something like this again?" Go and sin no more?

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Kurt looks to the departing Beast, and he nods slowly. "Danke, Beast."

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"It's all good, Iceman, you can be my wingman anytime." Nocturne smirks, offering the icy mutant a small, slender pair of knuckles to bump. It's a quick, sidelong comment to the rather serious conversation that's being had. Now that she's had a chance to breathe, of course, she calms and stands on the sidelines. Sighing, she looks to the pile of baddies and turns her back on Wanda, heading towards them. She ties her sword around her bikini'd hip and plants her hands on her wrist, looking them over. Pursing her lips, she tsks and looks back to Iceman and Colossus. "Hey, Bro-sephs, you gonna make the girl do all the heavy lifting?"

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">A moment's silence after listening the conversation and then Colossus shakes his head. "I can not approve of letting them go. Even if this one gives her word, and we believe her, she can not speak for the others. And I am not sure I would believe her if she did. She parrots what she has been told without giving the issue real thought. And the others? The strong one obviously would never agrees."

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Iceman bumps knuckles with Nocturne and flashes a grin. He lets out a breath when they reveal what they're going to do. He has a feeling its not the best idea but its better than giving them to the cops as far as he's concerned. "Colossus can get the overgrown handbag," he chimes in reply to Nocturne, moving to pick up Cinder.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"It's obvious that there are things each side disapproves of, but must allow," Wanda says to Piotr. She helps gather her teammates, taking them outside of the compound with the help of the X-Men. And as her group starts to limp away, licking their wounds, Wanda looks back down at the facility, a sad and longing look on her face. She wipes away the tears in her eyes, then goes to follow her compatriots as they escape into the night.