2013-02-10 Mutant Capture the Flag

[Westchester]- Xavier Institute - Rear Grounds The rear grounds of the Xavier Mansion tell of its dual purpose. French doors open from the cafeteria onto the spacious patio, offering a splendid view of the surrounding mountains and forest or a perfect place to catch the sunrise. Marble tiles form a smooth, even surface that's perfect for relaxation. Indeed, that's the primary purpose, as shown by the several sets of elegant patio furniture set at regular intervals. Just beyond the patio and to the left is a large, Olympic-style swimming pool with a paved deck area around it. Further out, the full size basketball court dominates, demonstrating the other use the area has been put to. While their teachers may enjoy lounging on the back porch, the athletic field gives students a place to work off excess energy and just generally be children. On the far side of this section of the estate are the horse stables, organic herb and vegetable garden, and the greenhouse. The front grounds lie south of here, just around the corner of the mansion itself, and the rest of the grounds are enclosed by the trees of the forest. The pool house is nearby, offering changing rooms, showers, and storage space. --

It's a lovely winter's day. Snow is on the ground, crackling now that the sun has had it's chance to warm and partially melt the casing of the snow. Lighter weights can actually walk across the top with the barest amount of cracking underfoot.

Winter usually means that more time is spent indoor than out, for some anyway, and now is the time when that will change. Taking advantage of the day, the drama teacher has turned gym teacher for the afternoon. Of course, this will have real life applications, like everything Herr Wagner does.

Lesson: Teamwork.

A game of capture the flag.

The flag has been posted, one on each side of the rear grounds. Each team knows well where their flag is, and exhortations are made to protect said flag.

Kurt is looking official, at least in the fact he's got a whistle dangling from his neck. He is also a player, though he's going to be hanging back and allowing his team to make the decisions. It's a matter of utilizing abilities and strengths and playing against the known weaknesses of the other side. Or just learning them. That too is a valuable lesson.

"Right!" the blue elf calls out. "Two teams.. und team captains know where their flags are." Everyone else is in 'center field'. "You may move your flag, und you may have someone guarding the flag. But if the flag-keeper is closed upon, they may NOT pick up the flag and take it elsewhere."

"No teleporting it out!" is called out.

Kurt nods his head, a grin showing pointed teeth creasing his face. "You may utilize trees, however.

"I will give you five minutes for Captains to pick their teams, und then," Kurt holds up his whistle. "I will blow."

Scott Summers watches the proceedings from the comfort of a parka and a chair. He looks relaxed, sitting back in the chair with one jean leg lifted over the other. Almost like a professional football scout, Scott has a small notebook of paper in his pocket along with a pen if needed. He's quiet and almost ominous in the background.

"Should've gotten you a nice striped shirt, Kurt," Iceman, all iced up and ready to play, teases his friend a little. "I'm sure we have one or two around here somewhere," he says. "Great idea with the game, by the way," he adds. "I'm more into freeze tag," yes, he jokes. "But this is the kind of stuff I've been wanting to get these kids doing. Get them working together and training."

Warren was good for his word to Piotr; he started some seminars for the students about Business and presenting oneself in interviews, especially for those kids who will be graduating soon or looking for summer/after school jobs. They aren't every-day classes, but he's at the school a couple of days a week now and he was there when Nightcrawler grabbed him to join their Capture the Flag game.

"You sure about this? I mean, flying's kind of a cheat..." is offered, but he certainly owes Kurt one as he dragged him to that science thing the other day. So he's also out back, his coat on and looking a little overdressed for the sport.

Some things never change. Dom's up, mostly keeping to herself, and very likely nursing a bit of a hangover. Some other things -can- change, however. She's actually dressed casually today! It's still all black, but there's not a scrap of armor nor a single weapon to be had anywhere upon her person. Getting a vault installed in her room has made gearing down a low-risk option. How she managed to get talked into joining the others out back? That's still a matter left open to debate. "Glad to see you back on your feet, Blue," she sides to Kurt.

Ruth Aldine had a pretty useful power, to others who were not her. For herself, they seemed to get her into more trouble than they were worth sometimes. The other students, even instructors, didn't typically like it when she peeked into their minds without permission. Of course, she didn't think she did it on purpose, but explaining that was difficult. Explaining a lot of things sometimes became difficult.

And yet the school's social outcast found herself out here in the middle of the snow about to play a game of capture the flag. She couldn't even 'see', nevermind that she typically 'saw' better than everyone else around her. But she wasn't fast, strong, or resilient, or even had any particularly useful powers aside from knowing where everyone around her was at practically all times.

So she's in more or less the middle of the field, wrapped in large, light-pink jacket and mittens with fuzzy brown interiors and hugging her torso as if she were afraid her core body temperature might plummet. "The gym. Sorry. The gym would have been warmer."

The teen turns her blind-folded face towards the leader of the X-Men, Scott Summers, giving him a mild frown. The 'look' lasts barely a second before she turns away, prepared to do her 'captainly' duties. "I will choose Drake." Snow, duh! "Shift will choose Wagner. I will choose Domino, he will pick Warren. Yes. Sorry, the teams are chosen. Sorry. You will be chosen last. Yes." And with that, 'team captain' Ruth Aldine turns towards her flag and side of the field and moves more towards that part.

"I thought of that. If I were not playing, I would have. I think Logan has one in the back of his closet." Kurt takes a step back now, the smile still easy on his face. "You're idea of freeze tag is a little too cold for my liking. My feet were cold for a week after the last game."

To Warren, that grin turns into a laugh. "We all cheat, mein freund. The trick is now how to use our cheats to our benefit and their detriment." It's the way the game is played! Domino's appearance brings Kurt around and he offers something of a half bow. "Activity und the fresh air does wonders." But don't think for a moment he's forgotten! "I dislike sitting still."

Blindfold's announcing, however, gains the blue elf's attention, and yellow eyes swing around as she finishes up so very matter-of-factly. "That will take some getting used to," he murmurs before turning back around to the gathered. "Two minutes.." He looks at his watch, his gaze flickering back towards Scott. This is the easiest venue for keeping an eye and giving everyone the space to truly stretch and 'do their thing' without too much concern.

Looking around again, watching as the players start to take their marks, as it were, and the measure of their other team, Kurt takes a step back and blows his whistle in a long burst.

GAME ON!

The moment he does that, however, Kurt takes a leap straight up, calling out for his friend to grab him, "Warren!" They've worked on timing, many.. many.. many times.

As Blindfold takes charge and decides things in her matter of fact way, Scott slowly removes the notepad from his pocket and lays it on his lap. He scrawls something, a note, and brings the notes back into his pocket once more. He then buries his hands to protect them from the cold.

"Who knows what scary things lurk in Logan's closet," Bobby chuckles. "I did say boots were reccomended," he points out. Domino's appearance gets a wave before Bobby grins at Warren. "Dude, I'll be sliding so it's not that big an advantage. Blindfold's statements get a blink before Bobby tilts his head to the side. "Alright..." he trails off, still getting used to it himself. Moving to get into position, Bobby turns a smile Domino's way. "Ready to kick their butts?" he asks. And once that whistle blows, the Iceman adjusts his armor and glances to Blindfold. "So what's your plan?" he asks, wanting to see what the student can do.

Warren smirks at Shift as he and Kurt are placed on the same team. Not to underestimate the others, but they have a history of working well and training together. He looks to the others and offers an earnest, "Good luck," before waiting for the whistle. Once it's blown, he's also leaping into the air, his wings outstretched to help catch the air. Even as Kurt calls his name, his arms are outstretched to catch the elf in a Trapeze-style catch and pull him up as he quickly scans the area to see where the other team's flag might be hidden. Having 'Eagle Eyes' tends to help in these sort of training exercises.

"Okay, that's a little creepy," Dom mutters as Blindfold simply picks out the teams all on her own. Is that legal..? Eh, doesn't matter. She's gone toe to toe with Kurt before. She's probably got a better idea of how he works than he does of her own abilities. He's fast, agile, and has a flight-capable partner at his disposal. Shift is quick, too, but she's spent the most time around him. The girl with the blindfold she doesn't yet know anything about. Could her powers effectively prevent the other team from reaching their flag simply by knowing what their play might be?

With the question passed her way, Dom grins back at Bobby. "We got this. You're our Jack of all trades, you can cover ground quickly and can handle offense and defense. They're going to come in fast from above, you stand a chance to block their entry. I'm slower on foot but they'll have a hard time taking me down, I can press the initial assault. You," she hesitates while looking at Blindfold, "you can ..see them coming, right..?" Wow, that feels so awkward. "They're on the move, we should focus on defense first and send one in for the attack."

"Pardon? Yes. Many are confused by it." Ruth manages to answer Kurt's softly-spoken comment even while facing, and walking, in the opposite direction with no real way of having heard it. Whether he hears her or not is all up to how good his Vulcan ears really are. Blindfold doesn't turn around until she's firmly on 'her' side of the field, doing so after Bobby asks his question.

"No. I cannot work with you." She 'looks' right at Iceman. Then her head swings in Domino's direction."Sorry. I cannot keep up with you. Yes. They will come from the sky." She says in simple agreement with with the other woman, nodding her head. "I will remain here. I will retard progress. I will try, I will fail. You must succeed before I fail."

And it's as simple as that, for once the whistle is blown, Blindfold begins to back away, moving closer to their own flag's location. She had no quick ability to manuever across the field, so the smaller the area she had to cover, the better. She doesn't say whether they will succeed or not in this game. Maybe she doesn't know.

Kurt believes in pushing forward in whatever manner is possible. Ever forward, until, of course, one can't. Then, there's nothing wrong with a regroup, a move to the side.. and then, ever forward.

Kurt is caught easily, and looking down at the ground beneath the pair, he mutters, "No teleporting is really tying my tail behind my back." He's there for the ride for a few beats of his friend's wings, and finding a likely place to let go, he will. Not before, however, "They will send someone forward. It is only us. I can find it from here, und you need to keep them off ours.. all without showing them where it is." Letting go now 'behind enemy lines', he calls out, "Good luck, mein freund," before he hits the ground and rolls, gaining his feet quickly and easily.

Scott watches as the melee ensues and smiles softly to himself as both teams begin feeling each other out. He knows all about Kurt and Warren, having served with them for quite some time now. Domino and Blindfold seem of extra interest to him and it's clear he's interested in seeing how they 'play with others.'

"Well," Bobby shrugs as Blindfold speaks. He then offers a hand to Domino. "Want a lift to wherever you're going? Hang on, point the way, and the Iceman express will get you there," he says. Should Domino take his hand and give a direction, Bobby will take them both up on an ice slide.

"Kurt..." Warren starts but the elf has already dictated their plan. There's a brief grumble as the other lets go and tumbles to the ground. Pausing briefly in the air he looks at Bobby and Domino before dive-bombing them. It worked for the birds and Tippy Hedren.

Hearing that one of the team is destined to fail doesn't sit so well with Domino. "We'll see what happens." They've got a lot of time to make up for, though. Quite a lot of time. She takes Bobby's offered hand and points the way. Maybe she can make up for some lost time by getting a lucky guess as to where their flag is hidden. "Get your turbos in gear, we've gotta fly!"

And now they're being dive-bombed by an Angel. "Incoming, eleven high!" God, what she wouldn't give for a paintball gun or -something- to work with! She's not exactly in a dangerous situation here, it's all up to the random graces of The Lady now.

"Any chance of getting a snowball or three back here?"

Now on the ground again, Kurt begins his approach. He's not staying still for a moment; even without teleporting, he's moving quickly through, yellow eyes searching both high and low. One thing that has to be trained out of a person? It's not natural to look up. And for a man who is as comfortable on the ground as he is in the trees? Up and down are the same. He does look up, however, to see Bobby's on the move, as is Domino.. and working together. Good.. though last night's downtime might have helped with that one.

Warren's buzzing catches the elf's ears, but he's not so much interested in watching. A pointed grin does crease his face, however. Perfect!

Blindfold's head immediately turns in Kurt's direction as he lands. After all, without his teleportation, he's much easier to keep track of, though how she's 'spotting' him without eyes is anyone's guess. She doesn't even using a walking stick like all blind people should!

She doesn't even more towards him, but a snowball aimed right for his face launches itself out of the snow around him anyway. Almost like someone had scooped a hand into the snow and chucked it towards the blue demon's face. Then another. And another, and another, all from different directions, a veritable mini-blizzard! Not exactly up to Iceman's stuff, or any more than a troupe of little kids could do, really.

But maybe it'd prove distracting enough for the moment.

"Frosty ammo comin' up," Bobby sing-songs, pointing a hand over his shoulder. Some perfectly formed snowballs form as a frigid beam launches from his finger-tips to provide Domino with ammo. He knows he could probably stop Warren on hos own but he's just playing transporter right now, trying to let Domino and Blindfold shine more.

To Scott, it almost seems like the opposite of what one might expect. Domino, the mercenary, is working well with Iceman, or attempting to. Meanwhile, Blindfold-the newest recruit to the school-seems to partition herself off. Her age might make one think she'd be more likely to be open to working as a team.

Warren also knows what Bobby can do so he's looking out for it. He also knows Domino's a crack shot. He's willing to take some of the attacks if it means being the distraction. Of course, if a couple of those snowballs can be caught and tossed back, more's the better!

Dom may do best on her own, but she does understand tactics. When, -somehow,- Bobby makes some rounds for her -while keeping them in motion,- she snags the first two while trying to keep her balance in order. The first is a direct shot, the kind that most people can see coming, especially when they're looking right at it! The second is thrown purely by instinct, not from knowing where Warren is going to wind up but as to where he -might- end up placing himself after dealing with the first projectile. Fire, forget, hope for the best.

"That way!" she quickly points out, having to latch onto Bobby's shoulders for support. "Gah, this is -crazy,- how do you make it look so easy?!"

--- ACK!

SNOW!

Kurt yelps at the first snowball that makes contact, leaping into the air and doing a handspring. Each move, however, still gets him hit with the snow, and pausing for a moment, blinks yellow eyes. There's no one.. and Bobby..

It's only a moment, however, before Kurt moves on, resigned to being pelted with the balls, keeping his head down; though it will slow him a great deal. Or at least more than he's really happy about.

Of course, Blindfold knew right where her team's flag was. She also knew right where the enemy flag was, but her primary concern was keeping her own out of Kurt's hands. So she doesn't do anything obliging like looking towards it or pointing at it. That'd be next to useless, as she couldn't outrun Kurt with it anyway, and taking it from her person would be the next best thing to easy money or making toast.

"LOOK WHERE THE LEAVES HAVE FALLEN. YES. UNCOVERED BY THEM NOW." Well that's just great. There's only like... a dozen or more trees around the grounds, right?

But as Kurt keeps moving, there's a sudden ceasing of the snowballs, right before a telekinetic impact is sent for the blue mutant's ankles, followed by a larger snowball right towards the back of his head. "Sorry. Pardon? No. I would prefer it if you would stay put."

OOF.

Forward, ever forward doesn't seem like it's working for Kurt at the moment. With Warren taking to the friend(lier) skies, and doing his thing for the team, at least he knows that there's some time that can be made up. And.. he can't help notice that the snowballs have stopped hitting him. A bit of a reprieve, though in the back of that blue, fuzzy head is a thought.. 'Uh oh?'. X-men don't give up. They change tactics.

Moving forward again, ready to take to the trees again, Kurt is finding himself in good spirits once again. That is, of course, until he finds himself virtually tackled. He can't predict something he can't see, and his feet fly out from underneath him as he jumps and flips forward. That forward motion, of course, is aided by a larger snowball aimed for the back of his head.

Down Kurt goes, then.. in the snow, before he shakes his head, and runs a hand over the back of his head before he even considers regaining his feet. "It is a good thing that I like snow!"

Blindfold's declaration strikes Scott as both odd and remarkable. He'd read her files when she came to the Mansion, but really they only created more questions than they answered. Precognition? Telepathy? The slope and range of those powers held thousands of different levels. From her file she could have been anyone. Scott bites his lip as he watches her, considering some of the possibilities.

Bobby smiles when Domino grabs on. "I'm just that good, Dom," he replies. Which of course translates to a lot of practice. He wasn't always so good on his slides. He doesn't seem bothered by any snowballs thrown his way, just maintaining the slide as he follows Domino's directions. "If you need more ammo, let me know," he offers.

Blindfold's call gets a slightly confused look from Iceman and he turns to watch for any dive-bombing Warrens. "What do ya make of that riddle?" he asks Domino.

When he hears Blindfold call out a location of the flag, Warren pauses...which means getting pelted with more snowballs. But there's one on the ground with Kurt...and two up here dealing with him. Those odds seem pretty good to him but just to be sure, he quickly swoops down and lands, grabbing the flag from its hiding spot and taking to the air once again.

"Great, now she's yelling in riddles," Domino mutters under her breath. Leaves have fallen, trees, stick with the trees. Eenie..meenie..miney--

Moe.

"Bank left--too far--there, -that one,- go!" Sing a little song, say a little prayer, do a little dance, and all shall be revealed.

Flag.

Also, Warren. They were -so close,- but he got to it faster. Darned flying mutants...

"Ammo," Dom tells Bobby in a low tone. As soon as she's got something to throw she lines up the shot, following Warren's motions, winds up, and -pitches.-

It's not about distraction or discouragement anymore. Dom's aiming for the 'kill.' She wants Warren to drop that flag so they have a chance to slide right through its path and catch it out of the air.

"Thank you for obliging." Ruth manages to sound at least a little gracious as Kurt lies in the snow, at least to rethink his tactics for a moment. "I dislike it intensely. It makes my feet cold." At least the rest of her team seems to be faring moderately well, from what she could tell from the thoughts and images in that direction when she pings her mental radar in that direction. At least they hadn't been knocked off their ice-ride. Yet!

And then she's walking in Kurt's direction, her arms still wrapped around her torso as if she couldn't quite get warm. Provided he hasn't done anything unexpected yet and allows it, she crouches down next to him after she's reached his location, wrapping both arms about her knees as she does so. She reaches out a finger and to try and tap him on the shoulder a few times, like someone trying to get another person's attention.

"They have spotted it. They will succeed. Yes. In time. Sorry. I want to talk about the one with the black eye." She holds up a hand to cover where her left eye would be briefly. "She is in danger. Yes. Herself."

Kurt puts both hands in the snow on either side of him, ready to push himself up and back on his feet, ready to shake the snow off himself before it starts truly melting and getting him wet. And cold. Yellow eyes, however, watch the progress of a certain team captain as she approaches, and at the poking, finally, pushes himself up. "The future is always uncertain, fraulein.." he begins, but then.. stops, his expression shifting. "Was?" Looking back, it's certainly a distraction, but if it's in earnest or a technique meant to play on the fuzzy elf's need to protect his friends, he doesn't know.

Preferring to take it as the latter, Kurt gains his feet, shaking his head. "She's fine with Bobby..". Losing time!

Scott reaches into his pocket and produces his StarkPhone as he watches Blindfold. He jabs at the keys, apparently sending out a text message. He snaps the phone together and watches intently, trying to decide who he's rooting for.

"Here you go," Bobby offers up a hand to Domino, sliding slowing as he focuses on better ammo this time. Slightly smaller snowballs for easier throwing. Once the ammo is handed off, it's right back to focusing on the slide and getting ready to swoop.

Flying above the treeline, Warren is keeping an eye on Bobby and Domino but is also looking for another place to hide the flag. He sees the snowball getting handed off and he sees it being thrown. However, in turning to try and avoid the 'missile weapon', he misjudges just a little. Instead of the snowball getting him where he hoped, it smacks him right in the jubblies.

Maybe Domino was aiming there anyhow for that 'kill shot'?

Either way, he doubles over, the flag dropped as he tries to somehow protect his soreness and land without killing himself at the same time.

Success! Er--oh dear. Dom might wind up getting in trouble for that shot. All's fair in love and war though, right? Now all she has to do is hang onto Bobby and make sure they're lined up for the retrieval. "Up! Right three degr--ah, you got this."

Yoink!

"U-turn, back to base! Won't take Condor long to bank around for another pass!"

Frosty's handling transportation. Dom's handling cargo transfer. Finding them is easy, just follow the trail of ice. As already discovered, Warren has them beat on speed. "You any good at evasive maneuvering, kiddo?"

Blindfold stands as Kurt does, with a frown on her face, putting her mittened hands back under her crossed arms for warmth. But she shakes her head. "The future will happen." Ruth tilts her head. "Not with Bobby. Not at this time. No. She is in danger. She is the culprit. Sorry." The student looks down at her booted feet, kicking some snow off of her toes and then scuffing little designs into it. "The game may continue, if you wish it." A pause. "Stay out of the trees, it is a long way to fall."

She unfastens one hand from its protective covering to poke a finger in the direction of the overhead limbs with an innocent expression. As if she just hadn't threatened to make one of the teachers of the school fall out of a tree and possibly get injured.

Kurt listens to the prognostication, such as it is, with a frown creasing his face once again. "Okay.." and he's set into one of 'those' moods again. Of course he wants the game to continue, however; it's a game and a training exercise all in one. Learning what each can do under various circumstances. And this is one of many to come.

The warning about the trees, however? That's met with a lopsided grin. "I won't fall."

Rolling his head towards the sky, he can hear the commotion, and with a muttered oath, does just that.. quickly and deftly, Kurt does take to the trees. Rising into the canopy, he jumps from tree to tree, somersaulting to cross the distance before stretching to catch the branch, balancing himself with a tail. He is at home up there as much as on the ground- if not more.

Bobby cringes as Warren gets hit. "Dude, Dom..." is all he says. Having Dom holding onto him helps focus on the task at hand though. He slides where directed and lets out a whoop of victory when Dom gets the flag. "You sure? You nailed him right where it hurts...and I'm not talking about the wallet," he says, casting a quick sympathetic look in Warren's direction before speeding up his slide. "Babe, I'm the best. Just hang on tight and we'll go on one hell of a wild roller coaster ride."

Warren manages to find a somewhat clear space before he falls...with style...the rest of the way. Once his feet are on the ground, he falls to his knees and stays doubled over, unable to focus on anything for another few moments. He's going to be out of the game for a short bit but he calls out, "Go Get 'em, Kurt..." even if his voice is tight with pain.

"It wasn't intentional, I swear!" Dom says in her defense. The downside to being on the opposite side of this woman is the inevitable pile of bad luck waiting around every corner. A quick glance is passed over her shoulder, watching Warren land behind them. "That's gonna set the teambuilding back some. Whup--!"

Don't look back. Eyes forward. Firm hold on the chilly mutie in front of her. Retain balance. "Whooooah..!" Don't fall, don't let go, -don't fall!- "I'd be having a ball right now if I wasn't too busy being terrified..."

The warning is ignored, and Nightcrawler goes bounding away. Blindfold is left alone on the ground, and simply turns and begins walking away. She doesn't have to face the blue-furred mutant to know where he is, anyway. Right in the middle of one of his deft jumps she'd send another telekinetic buffet of force, like a strong push more than a blow, trying to knock him off-target. She's not trying to hurt him, per se, though a fall might do just that, simply hinder the drama teacher.

And then she simply kneels down next to a bush... and subtley lifts her team's flag, unzipping her coat, and stuffing it inside. Well, she did tell Kurt to stay out of the trees. She was honestly trying to be helpful! Then she begins walking away from her side of the field and towards the 'enemy' portion, right for the pair on the big slide, her hand held up and waving largely.

She stops before actually crossing the invisible boundary line in the snowy field, still waving her arm. After all, they both needed to be on her side of the field to win, right? Provided they see her signaling and angle towards her, she'll unzip her coat, produce the flag, and set it on the ground for Domino to reach. Hopefully Kurt wouldn't do anything troublesome at that time.

Like reach her before the other duo does.

Where the hell has Shift been, anyway?

There is a certain strategy called 'hide and wait'. It's something Shift has gotten used to recently, and has, in fact, paid off before. When the game began, the African had simply disappeared behind a tree, and many of the others seem to have forgotten about him.

Behind that three, he'd sunken into smoke form and spread himself out thinly across the snowy ground. It's similar to a trick he'd pulled with Bobby before, where his gaseous state became impacted inside one of the Iceman's massive snowballs. That thin, cloud of smoke, all but having disappeared between strands of frozen grass and in tiny pockets of air between snowflakes, suddenly bursts out of the ground -right in front of- one of Bobby's ice-slides.

"Surprise!"

Kwabena reforms into human form in mid-air, and grabs right onto that ice-slide from beneath! His arms and legs wrap around it, struggling to find purchase in the slippery ride beneath Domino and Iceman.

WHOOPS!

Up in the air, many, many feet above the ground, there's a turbulence that Kurt simply doesn't expect. It pushes him to the side, and curling into a ball so that it doesn't get purchase on a greater area, he can see the ground coming up to meet him. Not a good sight, and the elf is forced to untuck, and use whatever momentum he's got to try and work it to his best advantage. Like a cat, he's at least facing the right way, and reaching out with his tail as he passes a likely branch, grabs on before he pulls himself up and around.. very much like a gymnast grabbing at an uneven bar and spinning around before coming up on top.

Once Kurt's got his purchase, it's a little thing for him to start back, following Blindfold, leaping out of the trees to take a grab at the flag that is now being waved.

Scott leans forward with momentary worry as Warren plummets to the ground. Once it's clear that everything is okay, he relaxes again. As Shift materializes, Scott chuckles to himself and shakes his head. Surprise is right.

"Hey, don't be afraid. Even if ya do fall, I'll catch ya," Bobby offers to Domino. And then there's a sudden shift. Bobby yelps, tossing some ice and snow reflexively. "Dude! So not cool!" he exclaims, the ride getting bumpy. Even as Shift grabs onto the slide, Bobby and Domino keep moving along. "You might wanna let go before that breaks!" he warns, heading towards Blindfold. Of course the new Shift-spooked angle means it's probably going to be a crash landing into the snow for Bobby.

Warren finally gets back to his feet but rests his hands on is knees for a moment before very carefully straightening. Ow. Wincing, he blinks and looks about as if trying to gauge where things are at and what he could do. He finally takes to the air towards Bobby, Domino, and Shift. If anything, he can try to help get his team's flag back...or distract them enough to give Kurt a shot at getting the other team's flag.

There's the creepy girl. There's the flag. There's Kurt. -There's Kwabena.- He's on the bottom of their ice slide, quite possibly the most vulnerable place for everyone involved. If he pulls his stoneskin act and breaks the slide... There's nowhere left to go but down.

Kwa's a fast learner, Domino isn't wholly prepared for this two-pronged ambush. How does one retaliate against the unexpected? By doing something unexpected. "Read my mind," she tells Bobby before letting go, planning to jump down and beat Kurt to the flag--

Except that she slips on the ice.

"Aw, fudge--!"

With some serious momentum built up the albino tumbles through the air, flag in hand, completely at a loss for control. Fortunately (for at least one person involved,) there's a soft, fuzzy blue thing to break her fall down there...


 * FOOMP*

A plume of white powder billows out from Dom cratering Kurt into the snow. With the cloud settling around them she's got her one hand up in the air, flag still clutched within her palm, almost delicately held out within easy reach for Blindfold to pluck it from her fingers.

"So that's where he's been..." Blindfold murmurs to herself as Shift makes his rather sudden reappearance. It was rather difficult to the read the mind of smoke, after all, and she'd just assumed he'd... left or something. But she knows Kurt hasn't been fooled for long, and that he's coming for her from behind! Or rather, for the flag she'd just set on the ground. Kurt's fast, but so is a flying Domino-shaped meteor which crashes into him, apparently. Like a Bugs Bunny cartoon, the pair bury themselves sliding into the snow until all that's left is an arm up waving the flag.

Ruth bends down, picks up her team's flag, then turns slightly and plucks the opposing flag right out of the mercenary woman's hand. Then she touches the two together. "Game... over?" She looks a little uncertain, but she at least gives Domino and Kurt a hand up out of the snow. The dark-haired precog pauses as she helps the former to her feet.

"...Be careful when you die."

And then she's walking away, assuming class has been dismissed. She's in fact walking towards Scott Summers as he reclines on the sidelines, holding out the flags for him as if he were the referee for the whole event. Whether he takes them or not, she sets them in his lap, or tries to.

"They will miss you when you're gone. Yes. Sorry. You could not avoid the consequences forever."

With that, the girl known as 'Blindfold' is heading indoors. Where, hopefully, her next class will be nice and warm and not snowish.

"I actuahlly find it very cold!" cries Kwabena, amidst the struggling of his arms and legs against the impossibly slippery ice slide. The African cranes his neck in an attempt to see where they are going, but then his vision is being pounded by ice shrapnel!

Domino sure knows him well. There is a brief moment where Kwabena manages to catch hold of the slide with his legs, and a crackling sound forms when his bottom half does that stoneskin act. Then, just as predicted, there's a snapping sound, and the ice slide cracks in half. Of course, Domino has already abandoned ship, and poor Kwabena doesn't know this.

"Yeaaaaahh!" cries the African as he loses his grip completely and goes plummeting to the ground. He thinks enough to tuck himself into a ball, and when he strikes the ground, he actually -bounces- once before sliding to a halt.

Covered in snow, ice, and dirt.

"Dat's gonna leave a mahrk."