2013.03.17 - Gene Therapy, Part 1

Victorious Therapy. The front of the building was simply a four story office building located in Brooklyn. It looked like any other office building in the city, with its fancy signage and advertising buzzwords slapped up on the windows telling people how cutting edge they were. They advertised how they were a great place to get a massage or rehabilitate from an injury. There were also suggestions that they offered the greatest "new wave therapeutic methods and treatments" around, whatever those were.

There was a six foot high metal fence surrounding the building, and there were three entrances. There was the front door, of course, which would allow for easy access to the main part of the building. There were also a couple side doors that would lead into the utility rooms. The western door was labeled with the number one, while the eastern door was labeled with the number two.

This night, however, was not going to be a good night for Victorious Therapy, for multiple groups had made plans to visit the facility, each with their own agenda for the place. The real question was, what would happen when those groups collided inside...

Working the underworld is ugly business, which is why Shift doesn't often speak of what exactly he 'does' with his fellow X-Men. He'd made it a point to wash his hands well of the blood he'd earned in the subway restroom, after tying up Marco Ruban, one of Brooklyn's drug traffickers who had stepped in to fill the shoes left by Michael Slean some months ago. They didn't need to see the blood in his fingernails.

The police would have a mess to clean up, but Ruban would live to give testimony, and perhaps, even go so far as to spill the beans on the trafficking operation standing in the way of mafia boss Jimbo Jackson from earning his rise to power over the famed borough.

Jackson owed him a favor. That favor helped to lead him and his teammates to Victorious Therapy.

"Dis company is a former 'asset holder' of Stream, whatevah dat means," the Ghanaian tells his teammates. He wears a pair of unremarkable blue jeans, a pair of black P.F. Flyer high tops, and a black leather jacket over his grey t-shirt, all in all an inconspicuous outfit to conceal his X-Men Uniform beneath. Shift studies the building closely as they draw near, considering the marketing messages displayed with a furrowed brow.

There is a good chance that there will be little traffic around the facility, it being St. Patrick's Day and such. The main drags of the City were seeing all the traffic; the bars are standing room only, and the tourists continue to file into the city every hour for revelry.

That makes things just a little more quiet.

Quiet.. quite is good for the green fuzzy elf.

Yes.

Green.

Nothing like taking the day to extremes?

Kurt stands in the shadows, keeping to the walls, really, glowing yellow eyes looking in windows here and there for a good entrance. The fence is absolutely no issue for him, or really any of those accompanying.

"I have absolutely no idea what it means." Stream..? "Bis yetzt." //Yet.//

Well, Heather's not one who gets down and dirty in the streets all the time, but she's just been invited to join the Titans and is trying to find a niche to help out with. What she lacks in investigative skills, she makes up for by having contacts who can feed her information. So when one of her friends told her about all this going on, she immediately poked her nose into things. Now, she is perfectly capable of being sneaky when the need arises. She's no super invisible stealth goddess, but dressed in her black latex stealth outfit, she approaches the location she was told about.

Taking a moment to make sure her cellphone's ringer is off, she also pulls out the small yet powerful handgun that she carries when on bodyguard assignments. A Glock 36 might be penny ante stuff to some, but it's still a 45 caliber that she can fit in a fannypack.

Having spent some time watching and trying to make sure there's no activity at the entrance she plans to use, she starts moving slowly towards it, her firearm discipline making sure she keeps the weapon pointed upwards to avoid aiming it at anything she may not -want- to shoot at. Of course, she is perfectly prepared to try to -talk- her away out of any conflicts if she can. She's good at that, assuming any guards she encounters like women...

It's just another night on the job for Bill the Maintenance Guy. Just another easily forgotten face and name that makes up a small workforce that is tasked with keeping everything up and running for Victorious Therapy. What should have been just another punch in-work-punch out ordeal, Bill's not his usual self today.

Bill had gone to a bar and had a few too many drinks. His unexpected company stole the show. Drinking, talking, laughing. The real Bill is no more to this world, replaced by an identical copy from the very creature which had seduced him. No one ever said it was a pretty or glamorous life.

The fake Bill arrives from the western entrance, idly adjusting his glasses as he goes. Keys, identification, plain brown uniform, he's complete and ready to go.

No business could go throwing about claims such as this one without catching the attention of a certain metamorphic terrorist.

Dressed in her combat uniform, complete with a dark green hooded tunic with white trim, Rogue tries to keep a low profile. She's getting used to very X-Men mission being some form of black ops and is ready to provide muscle if things get out of hand or jerry rigged mind-reading if it comes to that.

"Stream? Never heard o' them," the southern belle replies in hushed tones to Shifts intel and inquire, "They known on the streets or um, shadier places?"

She quickly looks around and if no one is watching and no cameras are trained on their location, she glides over the fence with a feathery landing, "What's the plan, boss?" she asks, presumably of Kurt.

Mercury's slightly skittish when she comes up behind Rogue. When she started bugging Nightcrawler to come along, she had the best of intentions. Things would go well. It'd be exciting, and actual field op based on information she herself had gotten! Now, it seems like less of a fabulous idea.

The chrome girl's not exactly stealthy, even with her dark red costume. "I could go through the window," she offers. She almost sounds like she's in class. "We just need to get to the computers, right?"

A beat up old van with maybe sixty percent of what was a local florist's logo still spraypainted across its dingy white flank sits a few blocks away from Victorious Therapy's offices. Inside, the Winter Soldier - sporting a fairly plain green jumpsuit with 'JOHN' embroidered on its nametag and a matching baseball cap - has been scurrying from tinted window to tinted window, trying to keep as good of an eye on the area as possible while considering(and re-considering) his approach.

Between the tint and the distance, he's definitely had better surveillance posts; it doesn't take KGB training to know that hanging around in a sketchy van with tinted windows is a /great/ way to attract attention, though, so the distance is an unfortunate necessity. As it is, he was lucky to find the thing parked in a garage a few blocks away and still functional; once upon a time, it was a roving Soviet surveillance vehicle/supply depot.

The growing group near the front of the place rather naturally demands his attention as they gather, but by the time Rogue decides to take the easy way over the fence, his eyes have already been drawn to the murky figure moving near one of the other entrances. It's studied and considered for a few ticks before he decides to gather his equipment - what little remained safe over the years, anyway - and slip out into the open to investigate; soon enough, he's making his way towards the door Heather is advancing towards, carting a white box wrapped a neatly tied red ribbon over his right shoulder.

Since he's totally just a flower delivery guy, he doesn't make any great effort to stick to the shadows, or anything--although he /does/ steal the occasional glance towards the black-clad Heather with the intention of keeping his pace measured so that he won't make it there until she's inside.

Jamie was hired by a client as usual. Her husband is one of the people who has visited this place at times, and she was very curious about what was going on in this place. So of course he took the money and set out to investigate. Rule of investigating is to gather some intel and all of that wonderful stuff. So he went looking around the costumes he has and settles on, nothing. Cause seriously Costumes are just lame!

But anyway he gets to the place and starts looking around. He spots 'Bill' entering the place and decides to follow him in. He uses all of that nifty stealth school that he learned when his Dupe was Kung Fu Training! So he follows the maintence person from afar and gathers a small rope that he has. This way he can try and grab the door with it before it shuts. The hook on it's gotta be helpful for stuff like that, right?

The building is mostly unchanged from the vantage point of the X-Men who are looking for the best way in through the front door. They were still awaiting on a battle plan from Shift, from the sound of things. If anyone was watching the side doors, they might notice some figures moving about, but they would be very difficult to spot from where they currently were set up.

Bill the Maintenance Guy is able to get inside perfectly fine. Inside the doorway is a guard, armed with a pistol and a baton. He just nods at Bill when he enters. The room is a giant utility room, easily twice as large as a building of this size needs for it's power needs. Bill will continue unmolested for the time being, unless something happens to change that, and have free reign to explore or move about as he pleases. Or at least normally he could. Madrox catches a door and enters, and the guard speaks up. "Hey there, uhh, Bill? You got a tailgater. He a buddy of your's you're bringing in for a poker game tonight or something?"

Heather will have no trouble getting inside either. Her entrance leads to the same type of utility room that Bill entered, with another guard standing there. However, the guard isn't expecting a woman like her to enter, and so he steps back and levels his pistol at her. "Hold it right there missy. You're going to have to leave, or I'm going to have to call the police". His voice is deep and firm. He wasn't planning on messing around here.

The Winter Soldier will see Heather go inside, and be able to take further steps based on what he observes and hears.

The responses from Nightcrawler and Rogue earn a glimmer of mirth from beneath Shift's furrowed brow. "Stream. Jocelyn. Our missing student." Well, that should be a decent enough answer. Seems the young girl, chief suspect in the murder of four individuals in a Detroit gym, is somehow connected to Victorious Therapy.

In the shadows, there is a quiet sound of air poofing into displacement. Shift's clothing falls to the ground beneath him in a neat pile, and the mutant advances with his teammates now in the form of black smoke. Carried with him in that cloud is a tiny earcomm, a piece of C4 with remote detonator, and nothing else. These objects pass through the chain link fence in darkness, and remain right where they belong when he re-forms on the other side; in his ear and one of his uniform's pouches, respectively.

Quickly, Shift pulls the mask up and over his face, concealing his identity in gunmetal gray that leaves all but his mouth and nose covered. With Rogue's question toward Kurt, their most experienced, he also looks toward the teleporter with a blank expression, thanks to that concealing mask. "What do you think dey would do if a bunch of masked people came through de front door?" he asks quizzically.

You never know. It might shake things up a little, ditching the covert style for something a little more balls-first. Wouldn't be Shift's first time being loud and noisy.

"If it were just computers, we'd have Cypher hack in," Kurt offers to Cessily. Everybody and their mother is online. "There are some things that are better left to on site recon."

"Ach.. our missing.." Kurt shakes his head, "Ja."

The green elf isn't in a position to know what the other doors are doing, but rather, he's got his vantage point to head in 'his way'. "We don't go in the front door. Besides, it will give any security less of a 'home court advantage' if we are quiet und in a place //other// than the entry." Grinning to the others, he looks specifically at Rogue. "Take my hand. The others can get in themselves." Beat. "Quietly." He imagines that the doors and windows are set to alarms, so.. standard operating procedures? "I will meet you in the office-" and he points to a window. Once they know the interior layout better? "Denn, we'll use the building inside to our benefit."


 * bamf*

It's only a momentary pause, but Heather breaks into a smile as she reaches up and peels the black hood off of her head, "Good job. Glad I don't have to go all the way to the inner offices before I get challenged. It's about time I did one of these tests at a place where the guards were paying attention." She reaches to holster her weapon and reaches for her phone all casual-like... as if she had no worries in the world, "Let me just log this.." she pauses to look at the guard's name on his shirt, if it's there. If not, then his badge number, "I am going to recommend you for a commendation too." She adds as she slowly moves a little closer, her movements involving that hip-swaying walk she's used to nearly hypnotize men before. She has -no- idea that the Winter Soldier is approaching. She's just trying to worm her own way inside. This is what happens when you're not working with everyone else and have no idea anyone else is involved, right?

The computer network happens to be a point of interest to someone else here, as well. Unlike all of the others trying for a covert entrance, Mystique can simply stroll right on in and start making progress. Child's play. Which seems fitting, as it would seem as though there's a child on her tail...

Bill turns around and passes a quick glance back at Jamie, his expression shifting an instant later. "Oh hell, yeah. I'm sorry, completely blanked out there for a minute! Didn't mean to close the door in your face, Tom. It's been one of those nights, better watch how much I'm throwing down."

Lucky, lucky Jamie... Then again, if he had the slightest idea of who it is that's bailing him out he might start to think otherwise. Bill attempts to lead the way, suddenly more interested in the basement area than an office terminal. A sub-level like this one will have answers of its own. But, first things first. He'd happily lead Jamie away from the guard, down the hall, to somewhere with better soundproofing.

"Over here's the vending machines and restrooms in case you need a breather. Got a coffee machine over here, it's old but it works. And over here--"

Bill suddenly cuts off and tries to catch Jamie by the neck, aiming to roughly back him up against the nearest wall.

"--We have an unaccounted for guest."

Don't let the scrawny appearance fool ya. Bill's fast, and strong!

Rogue nods as Shift lays out the info and whispers, "Huh. Ah'm assuming that ain't no coincidence. Ah hope ya aint lookin' to find someone who don't wanna be found." She looks down at her hand, making sure her glove is in place before she nods to Nightcrawler and takes a deep breath and says, "Alright, nice and quiet. Elf express" She cautiously reaches over and takes the offered hand. It's likely not the prospect of briefly jaunting through some other dimension and emerging in God knows where that has her nervous. But, she's an X-Man, or at least playing the part. She can cope.


 * bamf*

Mercury presses her lips together tightly, looking serious. Did she get in way, way, wya over her head? It seems likely. "Office, right," Mercury says, oozing into a puddle which spreads towards the window and through whatever cracks it can find.

Coordination between so many different operators(or groups of operators, in the X-Men's case) who aren't aware of one another going into their shared mission would be difficult even under the most favorable of circumstances; add in the covert natures of their approaches, and it becomes nigh on impossible.

Which is probably why, just as Heather is working her mojo on the guard, the Winter Soldier fires a silenced shot from his Stechkin APS pistol, right at the guy's gun hand. The door is propped open a bit by his right thigh and, and his right arm is sticking through the crack; the flower box the gun was concealed in is already littering the pavement outside, along with the tissue paper and baby's breath that cradled the weapon(and handful of clips).

"Identify yourself," he coolly requests of the model/bodyguard, then; provided that the guard doesn't go on the attack, he'll point the gun at Heather for good measure. Rather than hang around outside any longer - silencers aren't /perfect/, after all - he slips all the way in, too, leaving his left hand against the door to guide it to a gentle close.

See he managed to get his way in, but he wasn't thinking there would be an armed guard, stupid Jamie, very stupid. But hey Bill is vouching for him. That is a very strange thing indeed because he has no clue who the heck this Bill person is. "Yeah he was showing me around. He lost a bet so well I get to see this place." And then he starts to follow Bill.

And Bill turns on him, curse his inevitable betrayal! But once slammed against the wall, he uses that to make a dupe. One that just goes to tap Bill on the shoulder very casually, "You know have two of them to worry about. So unless you want a lot more of me hanging around I suggest you let the other me go." See very simple way to get out of this. Plus usually the sudden appearance of a another person takes those silly normal people by surprise! Though with the way Bill moved he's not normal.

"Yeah, well. I need to have some few words with her," replies Shift to Rogue. Kurt's response earns a quiet grin from Shift. Damn. Quietly. Business as usual. One day they are going to let him blow something up.

Looking up, Shift spies the office window as indicated by the incredible Nightcrawler. Then, his eyes stray upward to the rooftop beyond. Noting Cessily going about her own way in, Shift decidedly takes a few running steps forward, leaps into the air, and then poofs into black smoke once more.

Nightfall makes for a great ascension. The cloud is carried by Shift's leaping momentum and goes flying upward and upward, skirting the lip of the rooftop and into one of the ventilation ducts designed to remove heat and odors from the building to improve air quality. Separate from the central air and heat, a pair of smoky eyes at the head of the cloud are able to see their way around a bend and into the office from above.

The earcom makes it through the vent in the ceiling easy enough, but the C4 is a bit large to just pass right through. The roiling tufts of smoke drop about halfway, taking the general form of a man hanging from the vent by his arms. Up inside the ductwork, the smoke solidifies into a hand and -yanks-. The vent pops its screw and opens at an angle, and the rest of Shift, C4 and all, drops to the floor where he reforms into normal, man-shaped form again.

Noticing the other X-Men gathered there, he smiles and stuffs the C4 away in his pouch. "You never know."

The X-Men are able to make their way up to the fourth floor, where the offices are located. The timing is such that they don't witness any of the outdoor activities. Cessily, in her liquid form and going through the cracks, will possibly notice a whole lot of serious power cables running through the building, with their destination being well below ground. The office that the X-Men make it into is dark, and is your typical office. Interestingly, the more technologically-inclined will notice there are no ethernet cables hooked up to the computer in the room. There is a file cabinet, a desk, and some management books on a bookshelf. The office is otherwise pretty non-descript.

Outside the office, from what the X-Men can see, the fourth and top floor is your typical cube farms. There are various worker bee desks with the usual pictures of family, witty corporate slogans, and the occasional Dilbert cartoon taped somewhere that management is likely not to see it or understand it. There is a light source, however, coming from a pair of connected offices in the northeast corner of the office. The lights are on, and the quiet sound of a couple computers being used can be heard. There are also a couple of security guards roaming the area, each armed with a pair of pistols and wearing body armor. They have not yet noticed the X-Men.

The guard that was about to respond to Heather drops quietly. He actually didn't have much pain tolerance, and the shock of actually being shock causes him to pass out. He's a wuss. That leaves Heather and the Winter Soldier in a huge utility room together.

Meanwhile, Jamie, Jamie, and Bill are having a nice conversation and figuring out where they stand with each other. Nobody comes to break up their little discussion quite yet. If things get too loud, however, they very well might find themselves with some friendly neighborhood guards, and they might not pass out from a single strike.


 * bamf*

Kurt and Rogue appear in a cloud of sulfurous .. smoke, which dissipates reasonably quickly. The green leprechaun is on the move once again, making his way to the shadows. Always keep moving! "Ja," he whispers. "I understand. I also understand you can make very small," and here, his pinches two of his three fingers down in gesture, "for very small explosions, ja?"

Hint.

Turning his head towards the light sources; Kurt doesn't know the layout quite that well yet, but.. he'll take a guess that beyond the door, it's free real-estate, as it were.

"I'll check the lit rooms mit Cessily, und you und Rogue," Shift, "take out the guards." Quickly. Quietly.

"Cessily?" And once again, though it's towards the student now, his hand is outstretched.

Up the walls, through the cracks, every little crevice she can find. The other X-men may notice the metallic ooze forming around the bottom of the window, which flows until it covers the wall, at which point it bulges outward, forming the student known as Mercury. "Yes, ready," she says, taking Nightcrawler's hand. "There's a lot of power conduits here. Way more than I'd expect for an office."

The suppressed gunshot makes Heather whip around with to face the door, "What the hell?" she whispers angrily. "Who the hell are -you-?" she asks. And then as Winter Soldier asks her basically the same question, she rolls her eyes. "Put that thing away before I take it from you." she says with a gesture at the handgun. "Seriously... " Her blue eyes narrow behind that little domino mask of hers. "I had everything under control, and you come in here doing your Wil Smith impression... shooting first, shooting later, and when everything's shot, trying to ask a question or two." Still barely above a whisper, though she doesn't really seem -frightened- of the weapon pointed at her. She looks down at the guard and unless she gets shot, she will bend down to try to at least apply some pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding. Also, trying to take his ID badge, any keys, or pass cards he might have on him.

She's already said what she's planning to say to the shooter, and since the guy didn't -fatally- shoot the guard, she doesn't feel like she needs to put him down or anything. Obviously the shooter could have killed the guy if he wanted to. But, she's got her back to Winter Soldier, as she stands up with whatever she was able to retrieve off of the guard's inert form.

Once that's done, she turns back to face Winter Soldier, one brow raised as if waiting for a reply.

People tend to have a range of responses to getting thrown back against a wall. After a few dozen times one can pretty well figure out the full set and be prepared to act accordingly. Having a duplicate of this 'Tom' come up behind Bill doesn't fit onto the list anywhere.

Bill's response might be unusual, as well. He slowly grins, takes one step away from the caught Jamie, then--

--there's a trio of them standing in the hallway. "But isn't three a crowd?" Number Three asks, the voice as perfectly copied as can be. "You both seem like the resourceful type. Perhaps we might be able to assist one another. Come, time is limited. We can talk while we move."

Like snapping fingers Jamie #3 is once again back to nondescript old Bill, just for the sake of keeping up cover so long as it's an available option. He has a lot of territory to cover and little time to do so. Fortunately, Bill may now have himself a secret weapon at his employ. Still, they -must- keep moving.

"I have received rumors that this company is using harvested genetic material removed from other mutants against their will. If you wish to assist me in finding proof of this then deal with them accordingly, help me search." Because really, why else would another mutant have tried to infiltrate this place? Bill has a very good feeling that Madrox is in the same boat that he is, with the possible exception of how he might choose to 'deal with it' if they have their proof.

Bill intends to find his proof.

Another deep breath once they are inside and Rogue regains her bearings. She moves slowly and carefully, keeping to the shadows, years of training coming to bear as she sneaks up on a guard. Years ago, ambush was her best tactic in a fight and its not a strategy easily forgotten. She lurks behind a corner, waiting for the guard to pass. When he drifts by, she steps out and says, "Sorry, Sugah, but it's past your curfew." The guard spins around with surprise, reaching for his weapon and Rogue strikes out, a single sharp blow that knocks him out cold. "One down, boys and girls," she whispers into her comm and slides back into the shadows.

"Not /everything/ was shot, comrade," the Soldier evenly corrects in Russian-accented English; he lets both his eyes and the barrel of his 9mm linger on Heather just long enough to make his point before looking to the guard... who Heather /also/ decides to search. Since she's closer, there's not much he can do to beat her to the punch, so instead he gives her a second to actually find something, then sharply sucks his teeth to try and get her attention.

The gun - at least for now - is pointing at the ground, rather than being holstered--not that he /has/ a visible holster on over that jumpsuit.

"He will live," he promises, tilting his chin towards the bloodied guard. "Don't concern yourself with him." After a beat, he cants his head towards the door he came from and offers, "Whatever you /are/ here to do, whomever you are, you will probably want to do it quickly; I am not certain, but we may not be the only people interested in these offices, tonight."

With that, he begins creeping away, sticking to whatever bits of cover he can find as he tries to investigate the room; before he can get too far, he wonders aloud, "Perhaps another pair of hands would make your job easier, da?"

Madrox blinks as there is now three of him, that wasn't expected at all. He looks at #3, "Fine, you lead the way. So what should I call you anyway?" He assumes the person isn't really Bill. And then when Bill says what they are doing here Jamie just blinks. "Just tell me what I need to do. I was only hired to find out what someone was visiting here for. Did not know about the mutant thing."

He follows "Bill" some more. Cause hopefully Bill knows where to go to get the evidence. Of course Jamie would like to any evidence to the proper authorities. So well he may have a problem with this Bill if he decides to do things differently.

"Ja," answers Shift. The raising of one cheek might suggest that beneath the mask, he just fired a wink toward Nightcrawler. Teaming up with Rogue, however, he notes Cessily's remark and adds, "What, are dey building de Death Star in here?"

Of course, he didn't need to say what he was -really- thinking. More power than was necessary for a four story office building? Like we haven't seen -this- line of crap before. Something's up, and Shift can smell it. "Come on, Rogue," he whispers. "Time to see de 'Shift Choke' in first person."

Those pouches made of unstable molecules sure to come in handy. As they leave the office, Shift once again poofs into a cloud of black smoke, only this time he takes the low route, skirting along the edge of the wall and the carpeted floor with his gear safely in tow.

Around a corner, he catches sight of a resting boot. One of the guards is standing there, sending a text message. Shift climbs up the wall behind the guard, and then, like a demon of some sort, he bursts forward and surrounds the guard's head in his gaseous state, forcing his way down nostril and throat alike and into the guard's lungs.

How awkward is for a person to admit that he's gotten familiar with what the inside of a human's lungs feel like just before they stop trying to breathe? Shift has pulled this trick so many times that, by the time the guard is falling to his knees, the African mutant is already retreating up the man's trachea. The last tendrils of smoke seep from the guard's nostrils as the head strikes carpet, and in the blink of an eye, the black gas becomes Shift again.

"Sweet dreams, Deputy Andy." Shift backs into a corner, raising a hand to press against his earcomm. "Two down. Scrubbimg de perimetah for stragglers."

That said, Shift begins to quickly and silently skirt the perimeter of the cubicle-farm, looking for any other guards.

One guard is indeed down. The other guard says something into a walkie-talkie. Rogue will hear 'You there?' followed by 'Hey, answer me. We got a poker game in ten minutes, so long as the bosses don't find out'. Yep, these are some quality guards. Then Shift takes out the second guard. All that is left are the individuals in the offices. Meanwhile, Kurt bamfs, taking Cessily with him, into one of the lit rooms. They end up behind a man working at a computer terminal. He's a middle aged man with a brown ponytail reaching down to his mid-back. He turns and just stares at the sight of the two mutants, unable to utter anything other than "Huhwha?" before the two will be able to take some sort of action.

Shift and Rogue won't find anyone else on the floor, however. People aren't working late it seems.

An ID badge and passcode are found by Heather. Then the Winter Soldier makes his offer, and it is up to them how they proceed. They will both notice, again, that there is some serious power being generated in this room for the building.

Bill and Jamie will make their way downstairs in their search. The basement level of Victorious Therapy is a scientist's initial happy dream. There are several computers for data analysis, various experimentation equipment, vats with some sort of liquid crusted over the edges, and just about anything else that one could imagine a mad scientist having. Oddly enough, there are no locked doors to impede their search, which may strike the unlikely duo as unusual. However, the smell of a cocktail of illegal drugs fills the air, which may suggest some other poor life choices. There are a few more security guards on this level, and they would be none too pleased to see some intruders entering their domain. The guards haven't seen the intruders yet, but if the two don't hide well, it won't take them long to be spotted.

The moment Kurt bamfs in, he's swinging at the guy in the chair, ready to give a right hook to the jaw to knock him out. It's quick, easy.. and something that'll leave a mark come morning. Grabbing the guy once he's out, Kurt bamfs him into a corner (for good measure AND to get him out of the way), and nods towards the computer in gesture to Cess as he checks the guy for his ID and whatnot. "I am certain the others have the guards, und we are free to take a quick look." There's a reason the guy was working late, right?

"Office is clear, und we have a computer online." Which means they might get access to alllll that stuff that may need all that extra power!

No idea how things are going downstairs, but the Xers have things well under control upstairs! (So far. Knock wood.)

Snorting (very ladylike I might add!) at Winter Soldier's words and his offer, Heather just shakes her head, "I'm guessing you're investigating much the same thing as me." Yes, she's making an assumption. "That, or you're some assassin sent here to make their CEO beg for his life before putting him inside an Iron Maiden or some such."

She lifts the card key and such and says, "I think we can avoid shooting folks more if we have these, wouldn't you agree Wyatt Earp?" And she figures.. what the hell, and as a sign of cooperation, she hands the items gathered from the guard to Winter Soldier before reaching and pulling out her little pocket .45. "But, if shooting is unavoidable, I might as well jump on the bandwagon, what do you think Bucko?" she asks... Winter... Solder aka Bucky...

Maybe this place is using mutant DNA to further its own ends. Maybe not. It's a pretty good way to hook a wayward mutant in a hurry though, isn't it?

"You may call me Mystique." So sayeth the Bill of Maintenance. "Now tell me, why would a business such as this one require such a large sub-level filled with so much equipment? I want you to spread out and gather as much information as you are able. If you come across any guards that are not me, deal with them as you wish."

Just like that Bill is now a female security guard, complete with short red hair and a service pistol at her hip. Should be real easy to tell her apart from these other guys.

It's helpful having other genetically superior resources at her disposal. This kid is like a personal army, ready to duplicate and roll out. Most useful. It frees Mystique up to search for any vulnerabilities within the facility, as well. Anything which might make for a satisfying explosion with some proper encouragement. The authorities can sort through the rubble once she's done with this place. In the meantime, there's research terminals with her name on them.

"My, what -have- you humans been getting into..."

"Pretty nice moves, Kwa," Rogue whispers as she watches him deploy the soon to be patented Shift Choke. As the all clear comes across the comm, she relaxes a little and says to Shift in response to the guards' comm chatter, "You reckon we ought to head down and join in the poker game? Ah ain't played a decent hand in ages."

She's killing time as she waits for news that the team has what it's after. Every once in a while che glances over her shoulder to make sure they don't have any unexpected visitors.


 * BAMF* Well that can be disorienting. Cessily's arms form firm clubs, ready to smash away with blunt force trauma, until it's clear that her elder has it covered. Since the fighting's done, it's time for the investigation. Cess shoves the chair out of the way and reformers her fingers to start searching. "Let's hope!" Mercury says. Shepokes at a few things. "Awesome, it's all logged in," she says. She doesn' tknow exactly what that means, but from what Kitty's said it's pretty dang irresponsible. "Brogan....steady...." she mutters. "Theyv'e got a list of 'assets' here," she says. "And something called 'Successful Mutant!' This is some serious, serious stuff!" Cess reaches into her pocket and produces a USB key. "I hope it'll let me copy all this. Want me to print it too?"

The badge is accepted and clipped to the Soldier's jumpsuit's breast pocket(or just slid inside of said pocket if there is no clip) before he can get too far away. "I couldn't say," he, well, says as he squints at the plethora of machinery down here. The Soldier is no engineer or electrician, but even he can tell that a therapy center probably doesn't need this degree of infrastructure. Crouching beside a sizable power relay, he adds, "I don't know what it is you're here to investigate." Bracing his left hand gingerly against the machinery, he glances in Heather's direction long enough to note the .45 before squinting at the machine, a soft humming sound building in the air around him.

"Perhaps you are disgruntled customer," he flatly jokes. And then, far more gravely: "Start looking for an entrance; I'm going to try and blind them. Do not kill them, if you can help it."

Heather will have four, maybe five seconds before the noise surrounding the Soldier builds to a high-pitched crescendo--and then fades, giving way to a brilliant burst of electromagnetism from around his left hand. Once that's taken care of, the Soldier will do what he can to work his way towards Heather--and perhaps even a way deeper into Victorious' offices.

"Mystique, I like it, it's cool, better than Multiple Man." He starts to snap his fingers after he says that, and each snap makes another Jamie Madrox. He settles on a nice even dozen of dupes, and sends them to start scouting out the room. Hey maybe he'll find something good down here, like some one's Firefly DVDs or something. His has been lost sadly.

Jamie Prime decides to hang back and stay with the Mystique lady. He watches as she changes into a female guard. "So can you like do anyone? That is great there. Heck if I had that power I would just morph into celebrities and give TMZ tons of material."

After skirting the perimeter, Shift comes back to Rogue's side. "Hey, thanks," he offers quickly, before considering her suggestion. "Not a bad backup plan." He quickly gathers up the guard's clothing and begins putting it on himself. You see? Skin-tight X-Men costumes do come in handy, they aren't just drawing cheats.

After adjusting the belt to fit his smaller waist line, Shift gestures with his head toward the lit office containing their counterparts, and quickly moves out. While going, he examines the guard's stolen gear to see what he has to offer in the form of weaponry. You know, is the guy carrying an old-fashioned billy club, or is he packing heat? That sort of thing.

Once inside the office, Shift notes Mercury at work on the computer. "Do you see anything related to Jocelyn? She's six-foot-six." Of anything, the girl's nearly obscene height might be something easy to note in whatever statistics Mercury is able to come up with.

The Ghanaian's brow furrows. Did he hear something odd? Nah...

The data is copied fairly quickly. It's a newer machine. However, there is no printer in this room. The printer is somewhere out in the cube farm somewhere, but Cessily and Nightcrawler can print it off if they like. The information the X-Men will gather is:

A summary of the company's shadier deals. It turns out it is run, internally, by a couple of individuals named 'Brogan' and 'Steady'. The file has a list of 20 individuals they have been tracking and are marked as 'company assets'. Jocelyn Stream's name is among them, and is the only one marked with an 'X' in the 'Successful Mutant' category, which has a link to her internal bio. It indicates that while they can't confirm their treatment enhanced her, they wanted to make sure they had her available at all times, and specifies the order for the death of her parents. A falsified birth certificate order is listed for her, as are various other false documents that would indicate she was born almost two years earlier than she has been presented to the public. There is also a formula for what was used on her. It has not worked on any other test subjects, all of which have been 'discarded'. There are also many lucrative contracts listed for 5-9 figures for false enhancement processes on unborn children that never have panned out. Troublesome families, again, have been 'dealt with'.

Just as the file finishes copying, the power dies in the upstairs office. The man in the other office that had light swears and stands up, only for there to be a crashing sound as the guy falls over something in his office.

Mystique will find similar information to what the X-Men find. However, she will also find a lot of information about their illegal drug smuggling operation. Information that could be worth a lot to the right hands, or could break a company. The power down in the basement doesn't go out. Jamie's duplicates will find a lot of drugs, some cash, and a lot of guards who apparently are mostly doing a good job of imitating guards. They know they're supposed to guard, but for some reason, after sampling the merchandise, don't seem to have a clue how.

At that point, Jamie and Mystique are going to hear approaching footsteps, as Winter Soldier and Heather start to make their way to the basement. There is going to be a meetup soon, unless one or the other group manages to hide from the other.

Kurt steps up to stand behind Cessily as she begins the searching, watching over her shoulder. Yellow eyes widen as the information comes, and he keys in his mic, "We're in the system, meine freunden.. und thereis something called 'successful mutant'. Das ist nicht gut.." Nodding his agreement with the young student, he follows it up with, "Ja, bitte."

When they enter the office now, Kurt steps to the side, pocketing the ID and such, giving Shift the chance to see the screen.

"Wunderbar."

That doesn't last long, however, as the lights go. Looking up, those glowing yellow eyes are easily seen in the darkness. "Can anyone else see?" Now there's a hint that the green elf isn't blind.

"If those cables lead anywhere, Cessily, there is a good chance that all that is dead too." Kurt can't teleport there, sadly.. if there's anything. "Shift, Cessily.. could you follow them down?" On the off chance.. "Rogue und I can hold here for your word." Then, they fight through whatever it is to join their comrades.

Well, stealthy is a subjective term. And one that applies to Heather less than it does to most other sneaky sorts. Sure, she's okay compared to most normal folks but she can't blend in like Kurt, can't change color like Mystique. She's not even a real spy. She's a model who has some bodyguard training. "Okay, so what are we looking for?" she asks, speaking up to a harsh whisper at about the worst possible moment for Winter Soldier's preferences. Sure, she can pick up on when things are going crazy. She can even figure out when an ambush is coming, but.. sneaking around -without- drawing attention? That goes against the grain. She -likes- attention.

Well hellooo, data. Mystique's hit absolute paydirt, and much like an unknown mutant several levels above her, it comes down to making some copies for herself on a USB drive. Having copies is simply good business practice, her memory may be amazing but the digital proof is where it's at.

Then there's the sound of footsteps.

"We have company. Watch yourselves." False green eyes narrow and dart back to the stairwell an instant before the metamorph plucks the USB stick and re-absorbs it into herself, silently leaping back from the terminal in search of cover. In another instant she's got a 9mm Springfield XD in her hands, hiding however possible while keeping an eye out for the new arrivals.

If only the other guards were more useful down here. One CB radio, one call, and she could have herself -another- small army to control. Naturally, these boys are like all other humans when one gets down to it.

Completely useless.

Rogue is bantering quietly with Shift when they join Cessily and Kurt in the office and then, out of nowhere, the lights go out. "Unless one of y'all tripped somethin' on the computer, Ah'd say we got a problem. Ah'm blinder than a bat in this darkness."

She looks around for any signs of guard activity as she listens to Nightcrawler's orders, frowning slightly as she's held back in reserve. Eventually see says to Kurt, "Alright, boss, just give the word and we can make our own path. Although ah reckon the cleanin' crew will end up cross with us."

"You're successful?" Cessily suggests with a faint smile. As soon as the lights go out, she stretches an arm out, reaching for the key and ynaking it free. "Got it," she says, "I think. We'll see if it all transferred," she says. Mercury makes a face at the floating eyes. "I..... if the power comes back on while I'm in there it'll be bad all around. But...." Mercury swallows hard. "I can try." Mercury finds an outlet, thankfully dead, and despite all her instincts, begins to ooze her way into the wiring conduit.

Every muscle in the Winter Soldier's body tenses when that question is asked, and the one-time spy instinctively presses himself against the nearest wall.

It's a good(?) thing the lights aren't off down here; it means that the silent glare he levels on Heather before turning his head away to look for hostiles might actually be seen.

Given a few seconds without obvious guards, he'll slowly work his way the rest of the way down the stairwell, leading with the Stechkin the whole way. In fact, the gun barrel is poked through the doorway at the bottom before he even glances inside, and if it's clear, Heather will get a deft, two-finger signal to follow after him, provided that there aren't anymore unforseen interruptions or alarms.

Jamie prime hears what Mysti says, cause well he's right by Mysti when she says it. He is able to communicate with his dupes thanks to their shared mental link and all that. "My other mes have found a lot of money, and drugs as well. Seems they were during a lot of things there." He tells his new shape shifting partner. Preparing for the new people coming the dupes start to make more dupes.

, curses Shift in his native tongue when the lights go out. The sudden darkness has him as blind as Rogue's proverbial bat, and it will take a few moments for him to recover his night vision. Then, he remembers the stolen security guard's clothing! He fumbles around the belt for a moment until he comes up with a flashlight, and clicks it to life. "Batteries," he quips knowingly, and shins it around just in time to see Cessily in blob form slipping into a power outlet.

For a moment, he's taken by surprise. Soon enough, however, a grin curls his lips. Similar mutations and all that.

"I will try de elevatahs. You'll know which one I've taken." Spinning on his heel, he rushes toward the bank of disabled elevators in the cubicle farm beyond. Fortunately, this is one of those old, rehabilitated buildings with the old school, analog floor indicators. He finds one labeled 'B', and with an anger-driven glare, musters the ability to harden his flesh into a stronger matter state. With all of his might, he bashes through the center of the doors, ripping them open and plunging into the shaft beyond. One crackling, hardened hand reaches for the guide cable, only to keep him centered while the other shines down into the shaft, watching as the elevator's roof steadily approaches.

At the last possible moment, he releases the cable and relaxes his body. When it collides with the roof, his flesh poofs again into smoke form, letting the lit flashlight clatter upon the elevator's roof while he pours down between the shaft and the car, then through a slit in the elevator doors. Unfortunately, the plastics are left upon the roof as well. At least he'll know where he left them.

Reforming into human form just outside of the elevator doors, he quickly scans from side to side, looking for hostiles. Unless any are seen, he reaches up to his earcomm and murmurs quietly, "Testing. Merc, you still with us?"

Things are very much not clear for the Winter Soldier, as when he peeks through, he's going to see Mystique, in a security guard uniform, and a bunch of Jamie Dupes. Most people would say that does not count as clear. Mystique is at the computer terminal, getting the data. This section still has power, so things appear to be operational. The whiff of drugs is strong in the air. Who knows what exactly they're making down here? Mystique and Jamie will likely see that gun barrel, however, if they're paying attention.

Cessily will make her way down to the basement, and will need to work her way through some non-power cracks in the foundation to get there once she finds electricity. However, she'll be able to get to the basement and see what is going on in Jamie and Mystique's room if she wants.

Shift will be able to make his way down through an elevator shaft in mist form and get to the basement as well. He's not in the same room, however. He's a room away from the rest of the basement action. He'll likely hear the sound of people moving about.

"Stupid ruddy...". Upstairs, there is the sound of a cell phone being dialed. "Yeah! I need power back, pronto! The silent alarm is going to be triggered, and the cops are going to show up soon. We don't need that publicity!"

"Take hold of my tail," Kurt offers, and lifts the green appendage up. "I assure you, this is not a case of blind leading the blind." He can see without any real problem! While there's light outside, that is.

"Cess.. can you follow it along the outside?" Before she's completely gone, that is!

Still, Kurt's got a secondary idea, too. "We'll find the stairwell. We have radios, und when you are.. whole again, check in, und we'll give our position." That way, they're not just standing there.. waiting.

Shift's plan of heading down the elevators isn't a bad one, obviously. He hasn't seen half of the real-estate on the floor simply by merit of being a teleporter. Now, with glowing yellow eyes in the darkness, he begins to make his way out and towards a likely looking door for the stairwell.. and down.

"What?" asks Heather as she gets that death glare from Winter Soldier. But as he peeks through and sees all that activity, she reacts to the guys's gestured instruction easily enough. At least she doesn't ask what he wants her to do. Of course, it's not clear, so she may or may not get a gesture to move forward. Even if it's a -hold up- gesture, she likely misinterprets it, and just presses herself to the other side of that same door before she nods and gestures inside.

That done, she just steps in through the door, weapon pointed at the ground (and safety on, duh!). Yup, Winter Soldier might -want- to put a bullet in the back of her head, but she just kinda steps in and pauses, blinking a bit. "Uh, hi." she mutters to the group of dupes. Then she mutters back towards Winter Soldier, "This is so not clear..."

If Mystique wanted to, she could probably take the first shot at Winter Soldier and Heather. The former looks to be painfully oldschool (that's a Stechkin, isn't it!) The second looks like she belongs in an adult magazine, and..well. -Rowr.- Be a real shame to have to shoot that one. So she'll let someone else do it for her.

Multiple Man's update is met with a determined grin from the redheaded officer, though it doesn't last. They've been spotted by their 'prey.' The anticipation is like a drug in her system, one which she allows to exist. Welcomes with open arms, even.

She doesn't have the time to outline her plan to Madrox, the time to strike is now. As she bolts for cover, two shots are taken from her sidearm. They're both aimed toward the human guards. They won't see the shooter, they'll only know that they're being shot at.

"-Guards!- We have intruders, south stairwell!"

The hive is stirred. Madrox is given the order, hissing "Run!" under her breath as she takes her own advice. Let these guys duke it out, it'll give Team M&M a chance to slip right on out!

Another sharp breath is drawn and Rogue gently takes hold of Nightcrawler's tail, "Slow and steady, elf, and make sure you give me some warning if you need to stop. Ah don't reckon we're making a comedy here." She measures each step carefully as they find the stairwell and begin to navigate it. The sound of guards gathering suddenly draws her attention, "Sounds like we got company coming, boss. We turnin' tail or takin' 'em on?"

Mercury oozes her way down the conduits, dangerously, nerve-wrackingly close to the electrical lines. One slip and....well, at least they're dead. For now. She's quite relieved to get to the basement and ooze her way out onto a ceiling through the gap around a light fixture. "Two people," Mercury resports in a hushed voice. "They're talking about drugs and...I think one of them is Multiple Man?" she says, uncertain. "And some woman." Cessily stays clung as a flat mass to the ceiling, hoping desperately not to be noticed as she spies. "They just figured out somebody was in the stairwell."

When Mystique makes the show of shooting her guns, the very drugged out guards start firing in the direction of the doorway where Winter Soldier was poking his gun barrel out. Yep, things just got hot in there. Jamie is also going to get shot at, because they don't recognize him either, and have decided that hey, they can shoot anyone they don't recognize. But not the lady guard, for some reason.

"....so not clear.." mutters Heather, and then gunfire erupts. "Oh, this is gonna su..." *thump thump thump* a burst of rounds strikes her dead in the chest and exit wounds splatter bits of her on the door and maybe on Winter Soldier if he's not in enough cover. She topples over and somehow, she's still breathing, "Ow... " she mutters, the wounds already closing. This is an effect Winter Soldier can see plain as day, "I hate getting shot." she adds as she starts dragging herself behind cover.

The Winter Soldier pulls himself out of the line of fire once he confirms the presence of hostiles in there. His eyes flick towards Heather, who does indeed get a quick 'hold on' gesture - two fingers jabbed towards her, then towards the door, and then finally wagged back and forth.

When she 'complies' by walking right through the door, he slowly exhales through his teeth and steps out into view... just in time to be met with a spray of her blood.

She may have been a stranger - and a little bit of a liability - but she probably didn't deserve to be cut down so brutally as that, and it takes the assassin a moment to shake the shock of it off so that he can actually squeeze off a couple of rounds before ducking back behind cover.

"I am not a fan," he tightly replies. "Comrade, your wounds--" His eyes flick towards the rapidly closing holes in her chest, widening once he realizes what he's seeing. "--are--" Beat; his eyes narrow. "Take point."

With that, he steps back out, squeezes off another burst in the hopes of dropping - or at least deterring - some of the guards, and rather than retaking cover, he tries to just make sure as much of Heather is between he and the guards as humanly possible.

Jamie starts running when the shape shifter tells him to. Hey it's a good plan, run, running works, it was good enough for King Arthur in the Holy Grail it's good enough for Jamie Madrox. So he runs, and so do the dupes with him. Of course with the dupes running that does hopefully make things a little more confusing. Just so many running bodies in one area, may make it tough to decide who to shoot.

But the guards start shooting, not caring who is in their way and that means some of the dupe start getting shot as well. Which makes things tough for Jamie prime, as Dupes start to die, he starts to feel it. Of course he staggers and falls thanks to that, Jamie fall down.

As soon as he's clear, Shift peers down the hallway with a frown. As a former addict and criminal, he'd been involved in the drug trade on both ends. The smells are hauntingly familiar. "Meth..." he murmurs under his breath in English, for there were no other words for it in his native tongue. The rest come out in his own native language.  A frown takes his lips and he hesitates fearfully. 

For a moment, he stands there frozen in place, biting his lip. He'd been clean for how many months now? The temptation to turn and -run- was strong... but he was an X-Man. He was more than what he once was.

Voices coming from the room beyond draw his attention. Quietly he creeps forward, but the urge to shift into smoke form is halted. If the odors in the air were demons from his own past, what might happen if he were to become the air itself? Would it present a danger to him?

Now, he's sweating.

"Basement levahl," he reports quietly over the earcomm, whispering in deadpan to conceal the fear from his voice. "Dere are voices, just beyond de elevatah banks. Advanc-"

And then, gunshots and shouting.

One of the stray bullets whips right into Shift's ear as he peeks around the corner and into the main room. Instinctively, his head bursts into black smoke and the bullet passes through, but not without destroying the earcomm in the process. His teammates will be met with static, but as soon as his head has reformed, Shift is moving in. Mercury had reported the presence of a Multiple Man, but as far as he's concerned, the chief concern are those guards. Without a word, he runs toward them, ignoring the bullets that slip through smokey holes in his torso with each 'impact'. The guard is taken by surprise, naturally, and he grabs the gun-wielding hand with his right while spinning around the guard and wrapping his left arm around the guard's neck in a choke hold.

While struggling with the guard, he forces the guard's gun down toward the floor, and manages to fire off a couple of shots. The bullets spark as they skip across the cement. Eventually, the guard 'shoots' himself in the foot, and doubles over, screaming in pain. Shift rips the gun from his hand, and with a quick boot to the face, the guard is put 'out of his misery'.

Three guards are cut down by Winter Soldier's attack. These guards aren't all that bright right now, as one might guess. They keep firing at pretty much anything that moves at this point, however. One of them seems to take a keen interest in Heather, and starts firing as fast as he can at her. It's a target that keeps popping back up. It vaguely reminds the guard of that obnoxious dog in Duck Hunt that everyone wanted to kill at some point or another. Shift's guard, of course, get goes down, leaving a couple guards left. It shouldn't take too long for them to be dispatched, right?

Rogue and Nightcrawler are making their way down the stairs, slowly. But, they're going to hear footsteps real quick, if Mystique is heading up the stairs. That's if she abandons Multiple Man to the guards, Winter Soldier, Heather, and Shift. Regardless, everyone is going to hear the gunfire now. It's pretty obvious.

Nobody has notices Cessily up there, oozing around, yet. That's probably a good thing for her, given the chaos!

Outside, sirens start to blare.

"Slow und careful. I won't let you stumble."

Gunfire?

Kurt takes a deep breath, the exhale sounding concerned. "Shift und Cess are down there.." he begins. Then, however, comes Mercury's report and he lets go whatever breath was held. "Gott sei dank..". So far, so good. Even with gunshots.

"We keep going. If we meet resistance.." Well, that'll come when it does.

As they descend, however, there's a bit of light that begins to shine. The power's not out downstairs, which is a good thing. Let there be light!

"Do not engage, Cess.. stay out of the fighting." As if Kurt needs to spell it out?

The absolute carnage, however, that awaits them at the bottom.. he can smell the iron in the air, the gunpowder stench.. and the brief burst of communication from Shift before .. nothing.

Still, Kurt's got the idea.. but before he moves, there's.. Heather. With a shirt front coloured in blood red, and them shooting.. and shooting... "Cess.. get out of here. Meet back at the rendezvous.." Ah, for organization!

It could very well be that Kurt passes Myst.. but right now? That gunman has to stop shooting, and now.


 * bamf*


 * bamf*

Kurt disappears and reappears right beside that crazed guard that shoots at Heather. Grabbing the gun, he teleports straight up, lands on the guy, and beans him on the head.. and flips him over.

Kurt's an elf on a mission, however.. and his job now is to get his team out of there, and safely.

"We've got enough for the time.. fall back to the rendezvous.."

"Take... point." mutters Heather. "Easy for you to say." she adds as she levers herself up to a seated position. Another round strikes her shoulder and she just grunts while glaring. The fire from -that- guard ceases, but she shakes her head, "Okay, stand back a sec." she says to Winter Soldier as she stands up quickly, reaching to grab the door. She wrenches quickly and the hinges give way. She steps through the door frame, the metal fire door carried in one hand before she crouches and sets the door before her, knob side up, using the knob to hold it while she makes it into half cover for crouching behind, "Is this point enough for you?" She asks as rounds strike the nice solid metal fire door shield.

Mystique may be selfish and manipulative and only in it for her own ultimate victory, but she's not done with Madrox just yet. He's proven himself to be useful, if inexperienced. He could prove to be useful to her again. Soon. When Madrox Prime goes down she stops short, grabbing him in one hand and taking shots behind them both for cover.

"On your feet, child!"

One hell of a time for motherly instincts to kick in. Right after that point, she hears..bamfing. Catches sulfur on the air. "Nightcrawler..?" she whispers to herself.

She has what she came for. Escaping this place won't be difficult for her. Yeah, sure, it's her fault that the humans are attacking, but now they're attacking her own flesh and blood. That's generally not a good idea.

"Pull yourself together and get out of here, I will find you later!" Up to Madrox if he wants out of the fight or not, though. Mystique has a responsibility. Selective crowd control. See a human, kill a human. She's got plenty of ammo to spare.

The sound of wild gunfire and the fact her fuzzy friend is not bulletproof is enough to make Rogue's course of action clear: she flies ahead, a green blur sweeping by anyone lingering in the stairwell and, diving into the midst of the guards and starts sowing chaos, slamming a super-strong foot into the floor, sending shars of concrete flying and hopefully creating a little shock and awe.

"Ah know it's been a while since ah had a proper date boys and this is quite a dance," Rogue says making sure to draw as much attention as she can while the less bulletproof members of her team coordinate extraction, "but seein' as how ah'm pretty much invulnerable, y'all might consider surrenderin' and everyone walks out of here in one piece. Your call."

An actual, real life X-Men fight! And she's part of it. Sort of. This is way different than the danger room. More dangerous, absolutely. Less for her to /do/ though, since she knows Kurt would be all over her if she dropped down and got into the fray. So instead, Cessily bubbles back into the ceiling, trying to track ahead of the group and spy down to see what's going on and warn them.

One moment, people are spraying bullets everywhere in a frantic attempt to kill or maim one another; the next, black smoke billows through the room, and then things start to get crazy. Not one, but two newcomers are flickering in and out of the room, and one of them appears to be--green. Heather doesn't give him a ton of time to contemplate those new wrinkles, either, because before he knows it, she's got herself a shield and is making good on his instruction. The best answer he can offer her is a clipped, "Yes," as he puts his head down and follows her in.

With their collective six as exposed as it is, he focuses most of his efforts on watching for whatever guards might be left in Heather's(and Shift's, and Nightcrawler's) wake, squeezing off the occasional shot here or there as necessary. "That smell," he hisses as brimstone fills his nostrils, "the smoke--be careful for chemical weapons!" Shift will likely get a bullet sent his way, too, provided that he remains corporeal long enough; he /might/ not be a guard, but he's definitely a stranger, and that's good enough right now.

At this point, getting information has taken a firm backseat to getting out without getting himself or Heather killed; he does what he can to not shoot the actual computers, but accessing them is a distant dream.

Jamie takes a moment and manages to get himself under control after some of his dupes have died. He looks at Mysti as he does some quick deep breaths, not too creepy there. "It's tough when I feel them die sometimes." He manages to catch himself and focus on the remaining dupes that have managed to get close enough to him. With the focus they are all reabsorbed back into him. But after that he listens to her advice and just starts to get the heck out of here.

Fall back? Fall back!? Not so fast. The masked Shift has one more firing guard to take care of. He does so with relative ease, for while the antics of Rogue have the guard completely and utterly distracted, it doesn't take much for Shift to bum rush the guy from behind. A sucker punch to the back of the head with a molecularly hardened fist?

The guy goes down with lights out for a few hours.

However, Shift isn't about to go out that fast. He's got some work to do. Amidst the chaos being wrecked by Rogue, Multiple Man and the others, he quickly bursts into a cloud of smoke again, just as the bullet fired by Winter Soldier passes through him. The cloud races at rapid speed back toward the elevator bay, slipping through the doors, along the shaft, and back to where he'd stowed his C4.

Moments later, Shift and his C4 are climbing through the HVAC ductwork. He separates the plastics into small pieces and begins placing them in strategic locations. Unless something drastic were to take place, given enough time, he'll have the place wired to blow at a moment's notice.

It isn't bad enough that Mystique discovers that her son is down here. Now there's another voice calling out that plucks at her subconscious mind. Her -daughter- is down here, too.

Any rational thought disappears. A fallen guard's sidearm is picked up off of the floor, then the metamorph simply goes to town. The security guard's visage falls away, leaving nothing but blue skin, red hair, and glowing yellow eyes behind. She's got that whole synthetic black 'tactical chic' look going on, complete with exposed arms and middle, but the absolute murderous rampage that she's embarked upon might happen to draw slightly more attention.

Brass rains from the ejection ports. Computers and lab equipment get peppered with shots. This is not a good time to be a human inside of Victorious Therapy. It only takes her seconds before the two guns run empty, smoke pouring from their carbon-fouled bores.

"Children, get out of here, now!"

This time the word 'children' isn't just a term of youth or endearment. Those pupilless yellow eyes actually..show..concern.

'Fall back' doesn't mean 'run away'. It means.. retreat. But, orderly, and with deliberation. The fact that Shift is 'falling back' and planting C4 in his wake? Not necessarily a bad thing in Kurt's book. He just wishes that the loss of life was.. less.

That bothers him a great deal, even after discovering what the building occupants were doing. After all, it's evening, and the chances are good that the actual perps aren't within. So, they're harming rent-a-cops.. and small time crooks while the big baddies are free.

The sound of an increasingly familiar voice catches his ears, however, and glowing yellow eyes attached to a GREEN furred elf turns, and calls out in surprise, "Mother?"

'Children'.. Children? Well, it is a term she uses, so he's learned. "I'm going.."


 * bamf*

"But not before.." and Kurt smacks another guard, landing on top of him and flipping him backwards into the wall. ".. it's safe for me to do so.." and to give the others a chance to scoot.

"Rogue! Are you done?" Kurt won't leave before she does. "Schnell!"

With her teammates out of the way and most of the violence diffused, Rogue takes the opportunity to showoff and mess around a little, "Mighty gentlemanly of y'all," she says in an even more drawn out drawl, "Ah'm fit to blush from all yer kindness, but as ah'm a proper lady, ah'll have to take my leave." She blows a playful kiss off her hand and turns to make a dramatic exit. . .but then a hail of gunfire takes away her audience in a brutal massacre and draws her attention and she turns an angry glare towards the source.

"Dammit, Shift! They were givin' up! Weren't no need to. . ." she begins with misdirected anger and her jaw drops as she sees Mystique standing there with two smoking barrels, "Mama?!? What are you. . ." she exclaims with the anger morphing to a mix of concern and confusion.

She freezes as she tries to figure out what to do but since all the orders are telling her to go, she gives in and complies. "Alright. Ah'm outta here." She flies straight up, leaving the signature X-men sized hole in the building's infrastructure as she busts through each floor until she clears the building.

Mystique's rage cuts through the chaos and demands that he stick close to his door-wielding companion, lest he be shot. He thus doesn't /see/ the havoc she's wrecking on all that juicy, sensitive data, but he certainly hears it when her bullets hit glass or aluminum rather than flesh or structure. Being forced to stick to cover does, at least, give him a chance to fish a fresh clip from his jumpsuit; he even squeezes off a couple of rounds in Mystique's general direction, but they are hopelessly blind, and intended more to dissuade her from sticking around and destroying any more equipment than she already has.

It's not the smartest response, given his desired outcome, but it's what he's got.

When she hits empty - and doesn't reload - he grabs Heather by the wrist and squeezes to make sure that she follows his lead in remaining still. Let the other parties take their leave - and their drama, from the sounds of it - as they will; all that matters is avoiding their notice while they're here.

/Especially/ Rogue's; he definitely does not want an X-men sized hole through the center of his body, and he has no clue whether or not Heather could survive /that/.

When the coast is finally clear, the former KGB agent will slowly poke his head out from behind the model to case the scene, then scurry out of cover to snatch an undamaged(or lightly damaged; he can only afford to be so picky) PC so that he and Heather can find a way out.

Whether or not they'll see one another again once they're clear is uncertain, but he at least owes her that much.

It's amazing how far one stick of C4 can get you. Each piece plugged with a simple remote detonator, Shift's last task lies upon the roof. Once there, his smoke form rises until its perched upon a radio tower, and that is where he attaches the cellular relay pack, well out of sight. It's doubtful anyone will notice it sitting up there unless, for some unforeseen reason, some mechanic comes to do work on the old radio tower.

Now, Shift will have the ability to blow the whole operation from anywhere in the world, with one simple phone call.

Can you hear me now?

There is one last task at hand. Reformed into man-shape at the edge of the rooftop, Shift can see the flashing red, white and blue of approaching police cars. There isn't much time left. With a running leap, he dives off the rooftop, poofs into smoke, and goes lazily floating down at a shallow angle toward the X-Men's secret rendezvous point.

With a sucking sound, air is displaced upon landing, and Shift appears from the cloud of darkness. "I've got de whole place ready to blow at any moment," he reports to the group. "Now let's get de hell out of here and watch how dis shakes down."

Everyone makes it outside, in some form or another, Heather following Winter Soldier out, and everyone is able to evade the cops. However, if the building is supposed to go up in a great ball of fire...it doesn't. Everything was wired correctly, and the charge isn't a dud. The explosion...just won't happen.

Meanwhile, inside the building, that man who was up in the office? Just sits there, focusing on his building. There is a faint blue light radiating around his body, which fades just at the moment the bomb should have blown.

"It seems that there is a minor flaw in our plans," he says into his cell phone. "I will need to deal with the police, and then we will take further action against these vigilantes". With a snapping shut of his cell phone, the man walks through his darkened office building, pausing to glance at the Rogue-sized holes in his floors and ceilings. "Action will be taken".

To Be Continued...