2014.01.03 - The Cuckoos's U-Man Birthday

The Student Center of the Academy of Tomorrow has only just finished it's celebrations for the New Year. Now it was time for a different celebration, and honestly one that less of the student body was interested in. January 1st was more than just the time that the whole planet rang in the New Year. It was also the birthday, so they claimed, of the Stepford Cuckoos.

Some of the decorations for the New Year's party are still up but some decorations have been repurposed for the small birthday party for the Cuckoos. Not many people have come though because the Cuckoos have a bit of a reputation for there holier-than-thou reputation and the fact that they very rarely get along well with the other students.

That doesn't mean they didn't dress for the occasion though, having ditched their normal conservative school girl from the Children of the Corn look for a more adult look in.identical white front clasp dresses with a high curved bust-line. Along the sides of the dresses and down the front are a row of gold box-spikes. The dresses' hem line end just underneath the mid thigh and at the bottom there are six garters used to hold up there black stockings. There shoes are three inch transparent platforms with a six inch heel. On this occasion they have all styled their normally straight blonde hair to be a bit more of a messy wild look to it and their make is dark and smoky. The only thing different about them in appearance is the color of the gemstone on their silver pendants.

|Elsewere: Unknown to the students and faculty of the Academy of Tomorrow|

"We don't have clear Intel on the power sets that many of the students have, we just know that they have them. We're sure that the Head Teacher has the ability to turn to diamond and there is some form of Telepathy on site. That's" a man in a full environmental suit said to the fifteen or so men dressed exactly like him. They were the U-Men, a TransSpecies movement the believed they could 'perfect' themselves by harvesting the superpowered organs of mutants and metahumans and implanting them into their own bodies. Some of those in attendance had already done so.

"There may also be aliens there, so check your gene scanners. The aliens will make us unpure so we do not want them," the leader said to the amassed U-Men, "They can be killed if necessary but not harvested!"

As weapons were being handed out the leader states "Also remember mutants and metahumans do not feel the pain of existence as we do, there nervous systems cannot comprehend it. So show no remorse as we harvest."

Wally West arrives at the school looking around trying to get the lay of the land excited to settle in for his new job as a teacher. He would be teaching the next generation of heroes he thinks, and teaching as best he could some of the best young minds in the country.

Wally heard there was a party going on today at the school a birthday for quintuplets. Wally made sure to some in his suit fresh from the cleaners to get the night of partying with Stark out of it. He also brought gifts for birthday girls, five matching white gold charm bracelets, it was a pretty penny but they he didnt go all out and he does now have 2 jobs and hero pay. "So where is the party? I'm new here and a bit lost" Wally is asking around to see if he could get show to where he needs to go.

When the party began she was busy attending to the catering staff that had arrived. She was hoping for a large turnout, but the girls had their reputation for a reason, much to Emma's dismay. Next to the tables of food is an empty one suggested for presents.

She herself was in a simple white short dress with short caped sleeves, with a detailed gold chain belt about her waist and a diamond shaped gold necklace.

Birthday parties are good intel gathering opportunities, or so 157 has been taught. Usually in the past, of course, he'd be outside observing by portal while one of the members of the team with an actual ability to socialize hung around and chatted with the guests. Today, though, it's all up to him. And so it is that, wearing the nice suit that Emma had bought for him before (and the fedora that seems eternally attached to his head), the boy is seated at a corner of the room, his bookbag at the side of the chair, socializing in the manner to which he is accustomed: staring in the general direction of people and watching everything they do. He did, apparently, understand birthday celebrations enough to bring a card, which rests in his lap. No gift, but a card, at least. Maybe the Cuckoos will even actually get it sometime today, if the fates align.

Being so much younger than them, Miles hasn't had much interaction with the Cuckoos in his time here at the school. They're about ready to graduate, and he's still in the middle school grades. Still, with Ganke away with his family on holiday still, he had little else to do except stay home and play video games, so party it is. Just about to step into the room with the party, he hears Wally asking for directions and calls, "Sir, over here." Then he steps on in, dropping a small box on the present table.

When the Cuckoos looked away for just a moment, Noh-Varr apparently showed up and taken a seat on a rather comfortable chair. He's not wearing his Kree uniform for once. He's instead wearing a comfortable green t-shirt with a thin casual white blazer unbuttoned over it. His pants are white as well, though his shoes are still the boots of his uniform, suggesting that he's wearing it under all of this. He's just relaxing for the moment, though he does wave a hand at the Cuckoos.

The reason Leo Luthor showed up really, was actually to just introduce Fern Fiddlehead to Emma Frost. Leo hasn't been attending the Academy since he came out publicly as a superhero with a government supported team: The Infinate. He has since been moved to private education, though he is still on the books here. He is currently dressed up in sylish, casual clothes, could pass as club gear. He also brings a present: He totally purposely got them beautiful designer dresses, all the same design, but each a different color (blood red, gold, royal purple, vivid green (glowy, ooooh), and a black/white mix). It is in a style they would approve of, and in their sizes.

Leo did at least warn Fern that it was the Cuckoos birthday party. When asked about them, Leo's response? "Five creepy ass sisters that like to bully each other in never having an independent thought. Well, except Celeste, she's actually nice and seems like a decent human being." Wow, Leo said something mean about a /female/. Weird.

In either case, Leo arrives with Fern on his arm as they say, and a peace offering in way of wrapped present. It works out. Though other than searching for a place to drop the package off - which he finds - his eyes are instictively searching out for Emma and he smiles a bit when he finds her. He has her...memorized.

Spending a lot of time at various shops Carter Hall was trying very hard to get the Stepford Cuckoos something. Because of their attitude and pranks, the fivesome were not going to have moments with Carter like others had. The Stepfords were not ones to turn to him for advice. And there were times they did anger him. Still, he didn't want them to think there was anger between all of them. There wasn't. So he was out trying to buy a gift. With Emma's help he wound up finding a gift, five of them, eventually.

Carter went to the party area and set down one semi-large package that was wrapped in pastel pink wrapping paper along with a dark pink bow. Now Carter didn't look like he was dressed for a party. A pair of black workout pants clung to him and a white tanktop was nestled tightly on his frame. Slung over his shoulder was a black duffle bag. Inside the bag was a particular costume. Ever since Halloween he wasn't one to travel to AoT parties without it.

As if meeting Emma wasn't enough to be nervous about, Fern is informed of the birthday a bit belatedly. She's grateful that Leo has a gift, she would have been mortified to show up empty handed. Having shed her coat, Fern's outfit proves to be a bit conservative. The best equation she could come up with for this meeting was meeting Leo's mother, and she wanted to look respectable. She wears a simple dress with a print that's mostly red, colorful without looking like some kind of test pattern. Knee high boots have a modest heel, plain black with an ornamental buckle or two.

While she doesn't have a death grip on Leo's arm, she's apprehensive enough to have a fairly good hold, and she lets her eyes wander quickly as the pair enter. She's surprised to see at least one familiar face among the students gathered, although, as she thinks about it, she seems to recall him saying something about it when last they spoke. But he speaks so oddly that she doesn't always completely process everything. While it's a little unsure, her smile is still present and warm, and it only takes her a moment to spot Emma as well. Without thinking about it, Fern's free hand drifts to smooth her skirt.

If the Cuckoos were enjoying there birthday party, it was hard to say. But that was par for the course for the Cuckoos, emotions seemed to be something that all those lesser people had. They were so last year.

But turning 18 was a time of changes and that seemed to include the Cuckoos as the fist big weirdness of them happened. They split up.

Celeste went over to Leo and Fern with a smile on her face. Which was when the second bit of change about them was revealed. When she spoke it was with an Estuary english accent... somewhat similar to Emma Frost's actually, "Hello, Leo! Thank you so much for coming I know you don't approve of my sisters so that makes it ever so nice that you came."

Sophie actually approached Miles of all people, "Well then, you must be Mr. Morales, Ms. Frost has told us all about you." she said in that same accent as her sister.

Phoebe made a beeline to Noh-Var and said, "Hello sir. Thank you for coming to our -eighteenth- birthday." She had this sly little smile on her face as she did so.

Irma went over to Carter and said, "Mr. Hall, my sisters wanted to apologize for causing so much trouble of the last year and we hope that you understand that it was just some growing pains, we're not used to social interaction and can lash out at times."

Esme went over to 157 and said, "Well well well, it's the boy with the interesting mind and familiar tone of speech. I have to admit I didn't expect to see you at our party. I assume you're here on reconnaissance?"

|One block away from the Academy|

Two large vans filled with the U-Men have parked away from the Academy, for you see, they can't see it. Emma's Obfuscation field was keeping them from finding it.

"I told you it's just down that road."

"We've driven down that road twice! It's not there!"

"Oh for the love of. We were warned about this," the man speaks into an internal com system between the suits, "All U-Men hit your synaptic triggers. Set Conscious minds to OFF"

Wally nods and goes where he is told by the young man "Thanks, I'm new here by the way nice to meet you."

Wally then put his bag full of jewerly box on the table where the other gifts were and Wally set about introducing himself to people. First He went to the young man Miles and Sophie. "Hello you two, I'm a new teacher here Mr Wally West, nice to meet you both."

Wally looking around notices something "And you lovely young lady must be one of the birthday girls! Have a happy birthday and great new year too!" Wally says offering a handshake.

Once more people began piling in Emma was pleased. Even if the ratio was mostly teachers to students, but it made since as they were teacher's pets. But not everyone particularly thought of her girls as fondly as Emma did.

She caught a familiar mind in the room and moved to approach Leo and his assumed date, Fern. Emma quickly caught up with him, and kissed both of Leo's cheeks in her oh so European greeting. She smiled to the pair, "So glad to see you, Leo. And this must be Fern, I've heard all sorts of things about you from Leo and Millie. The redheads are always popular, aren't they?"

With a smirk she reached out to touch at the top of Celeste's head, "Happy birthday darling. I told you all you had friends, rule number 1. Ms. Frost is always right. Always."

Telepathically, she asks the girls |"Different dialect. Trying on something new?"|

"Query: I assume you are here on reconnaissance. Answer: Affirmative," 157 says in his slow monotone, looking up at Esme. "Celebrations and large gatherings are useful for obtaining knowledge of relationships among various observation targets and discovery of new information sources. It is also possible to use such events to establish links to information sources for future use." A pause, as he looks around the room. "However, low probability that this event will provide significant sources or information. Subjects 'Five-in-One' appear to have minimal number of relationships." He looks up at Esme again. "Notification: This one has been instructed that it is proper to bring a card to a birthday party. Providing card." He holds out the envelope.

If opened, the card turns out to be folded notebook paper, with nothing on the front. Inside is written, in very nice handwriting, "In accordance with established etiquette of species human during event birthday, this card states that this one wishes students 'Five-in-One' a Happy Birthday. Notification: It is not possible for this one to actually wish. Yeweseisisel."

Miles blinks in surprise as Sophie comes over, but he recovers quickly, "Hey, Happy Birthday! Yeah, that's me. Um... call me Miles." Socializing with girls isn't one of his strong points, but luckily as he's grasping for something to say, Wally comes along. He looks up to him and says in answer to the introduction, "Hi, sir. I'm Miles."

"This is a milestone in American human life. So I made sure to get a gift that would further your growth as individuals." Noh-Varr smiles at Phoebe, then reaches into his blazer and pulls out a small crystal ball, about the size of a pool ball. It doesn't look like anything special, until he explains... "This is a Telepathic Puzzle. At least, that's my best translation for what it is. I received this as a gift on a planet in another dimension. It's something an exclusively telepathic civilization uses to relax and practice throughout their lives."

He holds it up to his eyes, staring through it intently. "I'm not telepathic, so I cannot say what the experience is like. But this sphere is a highly advanced psionic device, nearly magic, we had it in the Concept Dungeons. It's one of the few surviving items. It is like... a Rubic's Cube, for your mind. You try to pry the secret from the increasingly difficult puzzle, and it makes your mind stronger the more you use it. It remains unsolved by anyone."

And Leo? He blinks when Celeste grabs his attention, but he actually smiles a bit at her. "Hey there. Happy birthday," and he sounds sincere. He wouldn't sound like that toward the other sisters whom he finds threatening and highly annoying. "I had to stop by for multiple reasons, but definitely to wish you a happy 18th. Welcome to adulthood, don't worry, it sucks," his tone a bit teasing. He actually leans down to kiss Celeste's cheek.

And he actually hands the bag of gifts to a passing stupid, "Put this on the gift table will you? It would be appreciated," he says with a perfect smile to the younger student going past who is quick to want to please a senior student. He then looks back at Celeste, "I did not put names on the gift boxes, you can choose randomly or bicker over which one likes which best. Honestly, bickering isn't always a bad thing, it does show growth," he says with mild humor. He's teasing Celeste a little bit, but gentle-like.

Then more seriously he states, "I'd like to introduce you two. Fern, this is Celeste Cuckoo, one of the five sisters, the cool one. The others are Sophie, Phoebe, Irma, and Esme." He totally said that on purpose. "I can only really tell Celeste apart to be honest," the last part whispered toward Fern. He can be a bit bratty at times toward the other four sisters at times. "They are all eighteen years old now."

Then for the other way, but Leo is distracted by Emma's presence, and his smile actually...widens a bit. He returns the airy kisses with a relaxed demeanor which may make the Cuckoos blink as Leo often has difficulty letting people physically close to him without tensing, but he seems...more relaxed now. "Miss Frost," remembering they are at school and not forgetting his promise. "Happy New Year. I was just introducing Celeste and Fern. This is Fern Fiddlehead, my...," and he searches for the right term, "significate other." That one works well enough. He feels a little silly with the term 'girlfriend'. Though he does clarify quickly, "Not public knowledge, but I know the Academy is discreet." Ya, that would prove PR awkward for both him and Fern and even Hammer and his Father. AWKWARD!!! "Fern, this is Emma Frost, my headmistress and teacher, and also a family friend." Of course Fern knows Emma is far more than that to Leo, but by way of introduction it hopefully clearifies to Fern that appearance must be kept.

"You should be apologizing to the others. I do appreciate it though," Carter smiled at Irma. He gave a wink to the Cuckoo, "I'm a teacher I can take that sort of thing. Ever hear rumors about this student by the name of Quinten? I don't envy those Manchester folks at all," a shudder ran through Carter. Dark eyes looked at Irma, "I hope you like the gifts you and your sisters get. Any plans now that you're the big one-eight?" Seeing the girls separate was a little off putting. They just, they never did that. So seeing the five of them split off was just wrong, five shades of it. But then again maybe it was needed. If they each divided off maybe they could have evolved into individuals instead of the collective hive mind. There was a lot to ponder by the action of the Cuckoos.

Knowing nothing about the Cuckoos, save for what Leo hastily hissed on their arrival, Fern is pleased that one of the birthday girls has come over to greet them. She waits, letting Leo and Celeste exchange their greetings, only speaking after the introduction is made. "It's a pleasure to meet you, and happy birthday, Celeste." She's barely got the words out when the original reason for her invitation from Leo steps over, and again, Fern doesn't try to interrupt their greeting. But when Emma's attention turns to her, her smile broadens, but isn't quite as relaxed as Leo's. "Miss Frost, it's wonderful to meet you. I hope they've said kind things," she smiles, "Leo speaks very highly of you." She's as perfectly polite as Leo was to her own mother, and she tries not to give that desperate 'oh please approve because it means everything to Leo' vibe. Around a telepath. Right.

In Emma's mind the girls unified voice spoke. Despite being separate they were still one in their mind |"Last night when you were asleep we downloaded from your mind all the relevant facts about being a legal adult and what that will entail. Your specific affection and dialect of speech seems to be a side effect of that occurrence. We like it though."|

Sophie smiled as she shook Wally's hand, "A pleasure to meet you Mr. West. My sisters and I look forward to seeing what we will learn from you."

She tilted her head slightly and said, "Your mind is very quick, Mr. West."

And to Miles? Sophie leaned down and kissed the boy on the cheek, "And thank you for coming, Miles. It's very appreciated."

Celeste blushed when Leo kissed her on the cheek. Yeah see, she sort of has a thing for the boy and if she wasn't 'playing nice' Fern might have to be afraid of what the Five-in-One will do to romantic rivals. Well... that would be if the dislike that Leo had for Celeste's sisters wasn't shot back right to Leo from them. They had no desire to have their sister with a Luthor.

Celeste however smiled and said, "Oh. Well.. uh congratulations for the both of you."

She did frown a bit and say, "And don't worry Fern, I'm sure Ms. Frost will 'approve of you', especially if 'it means everything to Leo.'"

Esme chuckled at 157 and his card, "Oh you might find this party more interesting than you think Yeweseisisel. It's only just beginning." That was... ominous.

Phoebe smirked at Noh-Varr as she took the telepathic puzzle, "Mr. Noh-Varr we are the Five-In-One we are the most powerful mind that has ever existed. I give it a week before we solve it. And that's if we get distracted or bored."

Irma nodded to Carter, "We've made some apologize here and there, but most of the students thought it was a real haunting and don't believe us."

Irma thought for a moment and said, "As for plans, we plan to take over the world of course....that's a joke by the way."

The girls then thought to Emma in unison again, |"This party is exhausting. We're not sure how long we can leave our personalities in overdrive like this. Being... normal is not well for us."|

|Outside of the Academy of Tomorrow|

The two unmarked vans pull up and the men start to unload, they move quietly and discretely taking out the actual campus security before alarms can be sounded. When they reach to just fifty yards from the student center the leader says, "Remember... just the metahumans and mutants. We are the U-Men, we will be perfected."

"Hey, no going in my head with out permission, I believe Ms Frost should have told you about me. but if she didn't then it's ok, just keep anything you found in there to yourself ok." Wally says with a warm smile

When Sophie kisses Miles on the cheek Wally nudges him with his elbow and gives him a smile and a nod that conveys the sentiment "NIIIICE"

Wally then moved on making his way over to a ground that Wally notices contains Emma and another one of the Cuckoos. "Hey everyone happy new year and happy birthday to the enchanting young lady" Wally says offering handshakes all around. "Good evening Emma nice to see you again. Just wanted to say thanks again for the opportunity, and for the night evening in london."

Emma turned her direction to Leo and Fern, her brow quirking at the term, 'significant other'. She couldn't help but let out a soft laugh, "That term always sounds so...unaffectionate. And fret not, I never discuss with the paparazzi. But the little snakes will always find out, one way or the other. Just hope it's in a more positive light."

She was just glad she wasn't introduced as 'Just like a mother to Leo'. Because she would have laughed far too loudly. But then when Celeste isn't terribly subtle about her telepathy she wraps an arm around the young girl's shoulder, "Oh Celeste, you and your sisters are always so straight to the point. And you look absolutely beautiful today, couldn't be prouder of my girls."

But the conversation continues, ''|That isn't appropriate girls. That is the sort of thing you get /permission/ for, at least from my mind. We've discussed this. And just do the rounds separately, you'll get it done faster that way. Then I'll give you my gift.|''

She shares a smile with Wally, "Not a problem, Wally. Glad to have you."

"Statement: You might find the party more interesting than you think. Analysis: Possibility exists. Observation: Students 'Five-in-One' currently operating separately. Students 'Five-in-One' continue to display abilities useful for the gathering of essential information. Replication of these abilities would greatly improve capabilities of units of access denied." 157 remains seated, watching the people who came to the party. "Information required: Difficulty of separate operation with comparison to uniform operation. Frequency of separate operation as compared to uniform operation."

Miles blinks again, at the kiss, looking almost speechless. He does manage to say, "You're welcome..." This is almost enough to distract him from the sudden familiar buzzing in the back of his head. He does notice, however, hand going to the back of his neck as he starts to look around in confusion. There couldn't be any danger *here*, right?

"I also promised that once you turned, eighteen, I'd take you into space. I will keep that promise." Noh-Varr assures Phoebe, as he just kind of rests his arms behind his head, staring up at her from his seat. "Let me know when the cake begins."

And face palm. Quite literally, from Leo, at Celeste's words. "Celeste....," a gentle warning. Privacy of personal thoughts. Poor Fern, he really doesn't tell everyone the Cuckoos are telepaths, but maybe he should warn them so they aren't traumatized. He then looks apologetic toward Fern. "Sorry." Yep, he totally should have warned her they were telepaths at least. "The girls are...unique, and forget the concept of 'privacy' at times." And he isn't too happy about that, just like the last time, and the time before that. He expects better of them.

"Are you going to get a Pinky to help you out Brain?" Carter asked knowing the reference was going to be lost. He thought on Irma's earlier words, "When you live in a world where a stage magician can actually turn people into rabbits it's hard to believe what's real and what's an illusion anymore. Remember this because it might save your life one day," the words carried a knowing weight. Sometimes a well-placed bluff was more powerful than super strength. Despite people being able to leap tall buildings in a single bound they were still a gullible lot.

Fern doesn't have the luxury of knowing that the Five-In-One are telepathic, no more than she knows that Emma is. Leo is as good a secret keeper as she herself is. So when the words in her head are spoken almost verbatim by Celeste, the young 'normie' actually loses a shade of color, before it returns in a flush of pink blush. "Thank you," she says softly to Celeste, taking the young woman's words mostly in stride. At least Emma was kind enough not to comment on them directly. However, Fern has no ability to hide her thoughts, so unfortunately they're there for the picking by those who are able.

She looks up to Leo, shaking her head gently, "It's alright. I'm sure there's no harm meant." Fern did at least sort of know what she was getting into, coming to the Academy, and if not everyone is very 'culturally polished' she can take it in stride. She deals with 157 fairly well, and he would be the poster child for 'not culturally polished'. With a wish to just smooth is over and let the moment pass, Fern looks to Emma, her smile taking a grateful cast. "It's alright," she repeats softly. While she's just this side of mortified, she pushes that aside, but might hold just a little bit more tightly to Leo's arm.

When Wally made his way over to Carter and Irma, a smile was given to him by the fellow teacher. "Walter. Happy New Year to you as well," Carter said giving a firm handshake back. It was good to see another staff member about that wasn't the Headmistress. "We should get together soon Walter, talk about how we're going to torture the students with more homework this year," he gave a smirk knowing a comment like that wasn't going to phase Irma. The other students were a different matter.

|"We only took facts, no details or memories. We didn't think you'd mind. And we did it from you because you are the person who's viewpoint we wish to emulate."| The girls thought to Emma. It was there way of being complimentary.

Before Wally left he stated, "I didn't fully read your mind, just sensed the thoughts. I am sorry though Mr. West. Our nature makes telepathic communication more natural so we tend to sense thought patterns more naturally." Then she felt what Celeste was feeling and she said, "Excuse me, Miles."

Esme smirked at 157, "I'll tell you, we recently completed a mission where one of us went to the North Pole and the rest stayed. We maintained perfect contact with each other the whole time. We are both individuals and a hive-mind. We are quite frankly... perfect beings." Esme then felt what Celeste was feeling, "Excuse me, odd little child."

Phoebe smirked, "Well Noh-Varr you implied more than just space travel. But for now I'll take what I can get." She then felt what Celeste was thinking and said, "Excuse me, sexy boy. I've got to handle something."

"Actually, Mr. Carter, I do get the reference," Irma said with a small smile, "Though we sort of think of Esme as our own personal Pinky, she's always messing with our lives."

Irma considered Carter's words for a moment and said, "That is a fair point, Mr. Hall. Something for us to remember." Then she felt what Celeste was feeling, "If you will excuse me, Mr. Hall. Our sister needs us."

Celeste squeaked out a quiet, "I'm sorry," to Fern and Leo and turned away from them both, she was trying not to sob at her embarrassment. She hadn't meant to read Fern's mind. None of them understood. The Cuckoos were beings of thought. They had to actively try not to read minds, it was as hard to them as it was hard for others to hold their breath under water. Why couldn't they understand that they did there best. Because, the only people who understand them, are themselves. |"We are the Five-in-One, sister"| the girls thought to themselves |"But we have learned more than people think"|

The other four Cuckoos had approached their sister, Sophie and Irma putting a hand on each side of her shoulder and they looked at Leo Luthor with a small frown and cold eyes. That's when they all spoke together aloud. And did the third weird thing for them today... they apologized, "We are sincerely sorry for both our sister's behavior and our behavior to you in the past Leo. We have never been very good at social interaction, especially with non-telepaths. But we have been unjustly rude to you in the past. And Celeste should not have read Fern's mind out of jealousy."

They all lowered their head for a moment and looked back up, "We do truly wish you and Fern all our best and thank you so much for attending our birthday. Even though we know you hate all of us but Celeste."

And.... that probably had the chance to be an amazing moment if it hadn't been for the fact that that's when the U-Men busted into the student center. Twenty-Five men in blue containment suits, utility belts and all carrying some sort of futuristic type guns burst through the doors and windows, "Mutants and Metahumans. We are the TransSpecies Movement, The Third Species, Homo Perfectus. You have the honor of becoming part of our ascension into the germ-free world of the future by donating your super-powered organs to us. We are not your enemies. You will live on in us as part of the perfected human race. We ask that you surrender and accept or help. Resistance... will not be pleasant."

All the U-Men cock their guns at that statement.

In a moment Wally West is gone and a red blur is running through the intruders snatching this weapons and piling them up on the far side of the room.

Once They are unarmed the Red Blur stops to reveal it is The Flash. "Now you do not come into a school with weapons you do not threaten students in this school and you do not Interrupt someone's 18th birthday. I suggest "the third species" just turn around and wait outside for the police before "homo perfectus" end up on the endangered species list"

Emma was about to interrupt the teen drama that was unfolding before her eyes when something wrong happened. She lowered her brows in concern for the first time to anyone present she looked genuinely shocked, "The field...they shouldn't have gotten through it."

She reached out towards the security staff, as they were all currently passed out. Great she'd have to fire her current staff and make significant improvements so this doesn't happen again. What a way to start the year.

Emma's mind was heard by each in the room, |"I believe we have ourselves some very unpleasant intruders, and I assure you they mean harm. Non-powered guests please make your way to your dorm rooms or to the danger room, both have panic mode. If you have special talents please help take down these men and try not to break my school."|

157 probably could understand, on some level. Which is probably a bad thing, if you think about it. Regardless, any response he might have had to the Cuckoos claims of perfection is dropped entirely as the U-Men burst in. Quietly, remaining seated in his chair, 157 pulls up his bookbag (with clear effort) and sets it on his lap, thinking quickly, though his expression remains as blank as ever. . o (Analysis: Twenty-five targets detected. Targets armed. Stated purpose: Removal of organs of mutants and metahumans. High probability targets will cause death of subjects while removing organs. Low probability that targets will permit this one to leave without harm despite non-mutant, non-metahuman status. Additional analysis: Allowing harm to students and staff of organization Academy of Tomorrow will negatively impact probability of information retrieval from Academy of Tomorrow. Priority: Defend information sources.) He thinks fast, unlike how he tends to speak, but even so, the Flash has already handled the weapons in /this/ room. He stands, walking over towards Emma. "Notification: Linking present location to location designated 'danger room' for purposes of evacuation." And suddenly he's speaking rapidly--alien words, numbers, mathematics, all at a blistering pace. After a few moments of this, there's a flash and a sucking sound, and an opening appears next to him, leading to one of the rooms Emma had designated as safe.

As soon as Sophie excuses herself, Miles is gone. Literally, only the slight shimmer giving away his position as he blends into the background and slips quickly under a table. By the time the U-Men are bursting in, he's shed his outer layer of clothing and is invisibly pulling his mask over his head. Coming out from under the table, he leaps to the ceiling before becoming visible again, now as The Spider, immediately shooting webs out to try to tangle around the U-Men. "Man, did you guys ever pick the wrong party to crash."

Not that anything was explained to Leo, he just assumes Emma would have taught them the level of control she has. But he can sense something is wrong in Celeste's heart rate and breathing and frowns, "Don't worry about it. It's not like you are revealing she's really a sex changed man, wow...would /that/ be awkward." Yes, he made a jest. But then Leo blinks, "What, wait?" The jealousy part. Leo just thought there was sexual attraction there, nothing else. So ya, the sisters accidentally revealed more than they likely intended.

"Anyway, hate? Definitely not," and Leo is sincere in that. They can be rude and annoying to him, but he doesn't hate them. Sebastian Shaw though? Another story altogether. But any further explanation or smoothing over is interrupted as the doors are bursted in. Leo reacts instictively, his TTK shield raising about him and Fern will feel the touch on his arm tingle and shift. His mind is working fast. Flash is here, what? Not important right now, unsure of his abilities, he wants to think. He projects to Emma and the 5-in-1, < I'll provide what cover I can. Keep Fern close. > And he says very quietly, "Fern, assist Emma with whatever she says." And then he's mentally laughing, < How many superheroes you got here? Man, and they call these secret identities? Emma, I would be rolling on the ground laughing if it wasn't for the morons here tonight. > That was mostly protected toward Emma that time, though the 5-in-1 could likely pick it up and the familiarity that Leo has with Emma, the closeness he feels toward her. Not likely to help Celeste's jealousy. But he does move, to shift to stand in front of the girls which means letting go of Fern. And there is the odd thought that wow...if he could only dissect both 157 and Noh-varr imagine the information he could learn...ah, ethics, damn them.

Carter ran off to the door room like the cowardly mouse he was, or at least pretended to be. The second he got to a dorm room he closed it tightly. Pulling off his clothes he dropped the bag. From the bag he pulled out a familiar helm. Putting on the helm he kept digging around. Next came the straps connected to wings then he put on a pair of hunter green pants along with a brown belt. Red boots were stepped in. Hilting a knife that went in a sheath on the back of the belt, his old friend, a mace, went on its spot upon his belt. Dressed as Hawkman carter pushed through the door room window and flew around the building onto to crashing into the party area like the U-Men had. Seeing the first intruder that crossed his sights Carter let out a ferocious cry then swung at them hard with the Mace he freed from its spot. His muscles rippled and there were a few scars upon his body. Clearly the man had seen combat. "The last person I heard that talked about superiority was Hitler and look what happened to him!" Swinging the mace again Carter was hoping to hit another one of these Homo-Perfection folk. "Flash! Good to see you! I've heard a few good things."

Looking towad Miles Carter gave a nod, "Spider-Man, good to see you're here too!" Apparently someone hadn't told Carter there were a LOT of Spiders in New York. He only thought there was two. The original and that Fantastic Spider. Since the Red and Black clad one wasn't bearing a four it had to be the original.

While Fern isn't telepathic, her sense of empathy is alive and well, and her distress at Celeste's embarrassment shows on her face and in her thoughts. Clearly it wasn't malicious, just as she suspected. The new side of the Cuckoos, in the form of an apology, would be far less shocking to Fern than to those that know the sisters, but there's no time to thank them for it before the excitement begins.

For a moment, the surprise of Emma's voice in her head surpasses the surprise at the intruders. She's no stranger to people talking in her head, she just hadn't expected Miss Frost to do so. At once, Fern looks to Leo, clueless about dorms or danger rooms but trusting him to know what to do. Bereft of any talents, she's probably the least equipped to handle this, even among the youngest untrained students of the Academy. Still, she's not completely without resources and chutzpah. She's just far more likely to get hurt than most here.

As Leo shifts his stance, Fern doesn't attempt to hold him back. He can't effectively protect anyone, herself included, if he's hindered, and at his soft words she looks to Emma. But the Headmistress will surely have her hands full protecting her students, so Fern quickly glances around, looking for anything that she might at least take up and attempt to use as a weapon if any of the party crashers come near her.

After The Flash had pulled all the weapons out of their hands, discarded them in a corner and gave his little speech is when he would notice the small beeping noise. Imbedded into his gloves are twenty-five small little hooks... they look like... taser prongs. And that's when all twenty-five of them go off at once. All on the Flash's hands. Seems their weapons are booby trapped.

And then the U-Man leader shouts "Backups!" and all twenty five draw a second tube from their back, which expands out into what looks like the guns they had earlier, "And get the speedster, but don't damage his leg muscles to badly, we need to be able to graft them on to one of us."

Three of the U-Men turn and fire their guns at the Flash's legs, the payload of said weapons seems to be seven very sharp scalpel like blades.

At Emma's instruction of getting the heck out of there many of the students are running for 157's portal. Sure its weird, but it's better than being killed or worst by rejects from a SyFy original picture. Some of the meta and mutant students however stay convinced that they can help. One girl forms a disc made of light, another girl draws a set of Tarot cards, one of the boys stands up and throws one of the student center tables at the U-Men as if it weighed nothing. What use they would be would come later.

When the Spider is on the scene the U-Man leader shouts, "Hey that one can turn invisible! I call dibs!"

When the Spider shoots his webs he does manage to catch a few of them that are taken by surprise in his webs, they start shooting their guns to try to cut there way out but there not going anywhere before they expend their payload.

With the additions of both Leo Luthor and Hawkman on the scene one of the U-Men said, "The blonde rich boy is reading.... as alien and meta? Um, what do we do? The book says that we can't add alien because they are impure and will only lead to more germs. But he's a meta?"

The U-Man leader stammers a second before aiming his gun at Leo and firing, "Uh, just um... take him alive. I'll consult with the leadership after we leave." He then mutters why to himself, "Why are there so many super heroes here?" In regards to arrival of Hakwman as well.

The Stepford Cuckoos all smirk at the same time, there eyes begin to glow white, "Don't worry Ms. Frost, we are the Five-in-One. It will be easy for us to."

Then doubt and a bit of fear appears on there face, "They have now higher mind? They've... turned it off. That's why they seem so stupid they are thinking like animals. We can't stop them?"

The U-Men still standing fire their weapons at everyone still around, the scalpel like blades flying in all directs trying to hit whoever they can.

The Flash yells out in agony as all the tasers go off on him and he is momentarily left a tensed seizing heap.

Wally grits his teeth and wills himself to start fighting the the current coursing through his body to try to pull the taser prongs out of him.

Flash after a several moments he manages to pull out the prongs and get back into the action in time to create a pair of high powered wind vortexes with his arms to attempt to neutralize the blades being fired by the u-men "Not today, not on my watch. YOU WONT BE HURTING ANYONE TODAY!!"

With half a smirk Emma thinks to Leo, |"Well darling, you do know how I like my secrets. There is much to my school, and sadly tomorrow a new security staff, AGAIN. This is a disaster. And do be sure to punch their faces in, I'd quite like that."|

Emma was then heading to the computer panel form the side of the wall, sending a warning on the intercom for all students and staff throughout the school to head to dorm rooms and alerting the right authorities. While doing this she telepathically speaks to Fern directly, |"Yes I'm a telepath very interesting I know, discuss later. For now one of my students has entered a portal to my panic room, get in there or stay behind me. But if you wish to fight..."|

She opened one more panel on the side of the wall and took out a police baton. Emma hurried over to Fern and handed it to her, "Regardless, welcome to the Academy of Tomorrow. At least we keep it exciting here. Aim for the breathing tubes."

At the girls' proclamation that their minds are intentionally inferior Emma turns to diamond and struts towards them, "I know just what to do with men who think like animals."

"Activating defenses," 157 says, quietly. He speaks rapidly again, and while the first portal remains up, another portal forms between him and the scalpel-shots, an exit appearing pointed back at some of the U-Men. While that one remains up as a sort of shield, he continues speaking, and periodically, other portals open up, interrupting shots headed for one target or another and sending them out through exit portals back at the U-Men. He can't block everything, far from it, but he's managing to provide at least some additional defense for people around the room. Of most note, one pops into existence to redirect some shots that were headed towards Fern's general area. She's proven to be an effective resource, so she gets special protection.

Miles Morales glances to Carter, "Hey, thanks, but..." He jumps off the ceiling towards the ground to dodge the projectiles, "I'm just The Spider." Another flip. "I know Spider-man, though," twisting in the air, "cool guy." Touching ground for just a moment, he bounces towards a U-Man, trying to knock him into others like a bowling pin, even while he uses the hit as leverage to kick out towards another's weapon. There's little actual skill or training in his movements, he's just fast and agile enough to accomplish almost whatever acrobatic move his imagination comes up with.

Flash will just have to handle things himself, he's supposed to be a full-fledged hero after all. But when the U-Men start to talk about him and he realizes there is a scan going on, he moves with inhuman speed. Any great amount of violence he did before Fern missed, too fast and he took the criminals away first. But this...just the barest touch to the glass-like helmet and it shatters and as Leo's hand reaches forward he grasps the man's jaw through the mask and CRUNCH!!! He crushes the man's jaw right there, sprewing blood and everything else that the mask mostly keeps inside. He wil live, but he will never be able to put his jaw fully together again, he will never live a normal life. "Some secrets aren't meant to be spoken," he says quietly beneath his victim's silent scream. He will take all the scanners away from them for examination later, first to take care of the immediate threat then the evidence of his partial alien nature.

Leo is then saying even as he holds one of gun he took from his own victim within his hand upward and starts dissembling it with his TTK. "Who is next?" The words are spoken darkly, dangerously. Match is...pissed. Not only threaten Emma's students, but Emma, and Fern. He wishes he could just tear them apart for threatening him and those he cares about. The sheer level of violence that emits from Leo may shock the Cuckoos sisters as normally he is very calm and collected at the Academy.

What matters is not Leo taking all the U-Men down, what matters is that they are taken down with little to no threat to the students, Emma, and Fern. So, he is purposely trying to draw their attention to him as the biggest threat. Intimidation, threat, bruality...though the violent act itself was instinctive to protect his secret, all of it is being used to weave a larger than life image which will hopefully give the other heroes openings for attack.

Hearing all the talk about impurities and how he saw the breathing tubes made Carter think of an instant weakness. Emma's message just confirmed that. Taking his mace he went down for an overhand smash toward the dome. This was a feint because he was hoping to see the hands went up. Pulling out the knife from behind Carter slashed at the tubes, particularly the one that went from the suit to the dome. He presumed that would have caused direct exposure if it was cut. In his mind this was the headshot for these Homo-Imperfect guys. "My mistake Spider! Clear Flash out of the danger zone!" he cried out to the Spider.

There's almost no surprise when Emma's voice is in Fern's head a second time, and the little redhead watches the blond as an unexpected option is given. Fern actually smiles as she reaches out, taking the offered baton in her grasp, but it's not the warm smile that usually graces her lips. She may not be special, but she still doesn't like when people try to hurt others like this. While running may be her smartest option, it's not proven to be her choice in the past. "Breathing tubes," she repeats with a brisk nod, the smile gone quickly, replaced by a determined scowl.

She turns, and in that moment one of 157's portals opens right beside her and redirects three scalpels that might have found purchase in her all too human flesh. She recognizes the phenomenon as something she's seen before, and she hesitates, glancing around for the boy. But first she spies Leo and his... feat. She grimaces and turns away from the sight, her uppermost thought "Guh... gross...", but it doesn't dim her determination. One of the suited men passes in range, not seeming to pay her the least attention, and she pulls back the baton, holding it very much like a baseball bat, and swings for his glass helmet first.

The tide was turning that was for certain. The U-Men are little more than rich religious zealots who have entirely too much money and very little sense. Four super-heroes, Emma Frost and the trained students of the Academy more than make it entirely too much for them to handle.

They came here expecting a 'cattle farm' and instead found the 'Running of the Bulls'

The one long black haired goth girl with the tarot deck held out a card, it was the Two of Swords. With a moment of concentration a blindfolded woman wielding two swords appeared in front of her and started attacking the U-Men (Tarot.) The blonde with the light discs was throwing them at the U-Men, as each one landed even near one bad luck would go their way. Guns misfired, they would trip. One actually, fell over and accidently smashed his face mask on Hawkman's knee (Roulette.) The other super-strength man with the blonde hair (Beef) was tearing the weapons out of the U-Men's hands and crushing them, his own strength giving him his own degree of invulnerability.

Flash's vortex and 157's portals were doing a lot of good to make sure the students could actually get into the panic room that Emma had sent them two with out being harmed. But it wasn't perfect. Two blasts of scalpels got through, one hit Celeste the other hitting Sophie. The two girls fell to the grown by the pure force of impact and their other sisters immediately fell to their knees to check on them, scared at the very idea of what would happen if one of them died. And confused for a different reason they weren't sharing right now.

The Spider was something the U-Men weren't expecting and it showed, he easily bowling pinned the one U-Men into a group of others and his rebound kick knocked another down with no problem at all. You could almost say his movement was Amazing or Spectacular. Perhaps it was just Ultimate.

The U-Man leader was in utter shock at the pure brutality of Match, "All U-Men who can hear me! Fire at the blonde rich kid!!!!" he said in a panicked voice as he threw a flash bang grenade at Leo, hoping that perhaps that would be useful some how.

Hawkman's efforts were great as well, cutting the breathing tubes to a bunch of zealots who refused to remove their containment suits was a strong blow. One shouted out to the rest, "They are filling our lungs with germs!! They are beyond evil!"

And when Fern smashed in the one's face mask he screamed, "NO! I can't be allowed to breathe the air! It still has germs! I'm not perfect yet! No! No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Wally stops spinning his arms like turbines and in a wilding whipping red blur any u man with in 20 feet of him found their glass helmets smashes into pieces as the Flash went around punching them with unthinkably fast strikes. "Breath it in boys breath in the irony that you are soooo perfect that you can't handle the air."

In the middle of all this chaos Emma did catch Leo's damage to the one U-man. The brutality did not phase her. In fact, /all/ of her students present were surprising her. She picked each of them for a reason.

To Miles specifically she thought, |"You're doing excellent, Mr. Morales, but starting tomorrow after school we are going to tighten up your martial arts. I have a few contacts that could help."|

As for Emma herself, this was the greatest offense, to threaten her students and to do so in such an invasive and barbaric way. Emma herself was a skilled enough warrior, as her shining diamond form fought through them, targeting specifically the weaknesses in their suits. Her face was as cold as her exterior looked.

Calling out a target...that's like an invitation to 157. As the U-Men turn to fire on Leo, 157 doesn't have to protect the room at random...he can just protect one target exclusively. He's not able to stop the flash-bang, but as the scalpel-fire comes at Leo, portals open one after another, grabbing up scalpels from each side of Leo as they come in, and spewing them back out at the U-Men. When the fire is distributed, 157 has some trouble gathering it up. When they're targeting one target like that...barely any slip through at all, easy enough for Leo himself to handle. More importantly, the firepower of all the U-Men firing at Leo ends up redirected right back at them, coming from unexpected angles. Beside. Behind. Above. Even below. Portals open and close rapidly as the kid keeps up his constant alien mathematics "chant."

The Spider shoots webs to bind those he bowled over, and then glances up towards Flash at Hawkman's order. But, seeing that the older hero has already recovered from his need for help. |"Awesome!,"| he thinks back to Emma, but his mind is already back on what's happening here and now. Leaping up and over the U-Men to avoid more of their projectiles, he starts shooting web after web out to try to grab as many breathing tubes as he can, and *pulls*.

Damn it! Leo projects toward the Cuckoos, ''|Get Fern and get your sisters and get out! If you aren't use in the battle full on, think of what you can do, I know you girls can keep it together otherwise Emma wouldn't have such faith in you! You can do this!|'' To think Leo would be giving them a prep talk, that and it's taking everything in him not to yell at Fern to run because it would make her more of a target and he can't afford to do that, so he uses an alternative route, one for the 'greater good'.

Still, his plan did work, Leo certainly became important to the others, least the leader. He just actually moves to swat that flash bang away toward one of the other U-Men, and even if it goes off it won't blind him completely that a few blinks wouldn't fix. The portals opening save his clothes from being shredded. Hey, that's kinda nice. Still, he will wait for a few to gather about him, he's hoping to surround him before he bends his knees and acts like he is dropping tot he ground. In reality, it's to help with concentration, touching his bare hands to the floor helps with concentration as he actually sends out vibrations out across the floor toward the U-Men. His vibrations are more than that, they actually are meant to travel up along the bodies and start taking...apart things with force. Their guns, their equipment....it isn't a gentle or pleasent sensation, it batters and bruises the body, as if beating it with vibrations...actually, Flash would likely grasp the technique if he concentrated on it because of his own ability to vibration even through solid objects it would definitely not be beyond him. The fact he gathered them around him, was not to risk an innocent being caught in the vibrations he is sending out.

Seeing all of those turn toward Leo Hawkman went behind then, and grabbed one cutting the tube. From there he went to another guard hoping to cut that tube. His eyes went over t the rest, "Who wants some!" he challenged the Homo-Imperfects. His eyes looked over them as he bore a knife in one hand and a mace in the other. "Come on!" he said trying to turn many toward him. His eyes looked toward them ready to fight them.

As Fern staggers backwards from her successful hit, looking for another target, she hears the yell about the blonde rich kid. Still, she doesn't worry about Leo, although she's not entirely sure about the extent of his abilities. But she's seen the Five-In-One go down to the floor, not knowing exactly why, and she may know now that they have the whole mind thing going on, but it did register that the girls had said they couldn't do anything to the attackers. She drops low and moves forward, aiming more for one of the men close to the Cuckoos than for the girls themselves.

She launches up at the man, not swinging the police club this time, but reaching to grab an air tube and use her own weight as she drops to the floor in a bid to pull it loose. Her concern, though, is for the sisters, and she skids to a stop, trying to look at them all at once as she pants, "Are you alright?" She's only just met them, doesn't know the entire story of Leo's dislike of them, but they weren't mean to her. Which is how she ended up with Justin Hammer as a friend, come to think of it. Innocent until proven guilty.

At Leo's thoughts, all five Cuckoos thought at him, |"We've enter a suggestion into the NYPD dispatchers that there is a terrorist attack here and that they need to send SWAT and all officers to the scene. The U-Men will be arrested the instant they are stopped."|

Celeste and Sophie were both fine some how, the scalpels that would have hit them seemed to have only shredded parts of their dresses, which has some modesty issues now but neither one of them are even scratched or bleeding. In unison they say to Fern, "Thank you Fern, we appreciate your concern but it seems that we are alright. We have no idea how, but we are fine."

The U-Men are pretty much decimated at this point. Between the three students helping, the Spider, The Flash, Leo Luthor and Hawkman they haven't a chance. Emma Frost in her diamond form punching them from here and back. Hell, Fern Fiddlehead is taking them to school and back.

Police sirens are in the distance, they will be here soon to take these speciesists away.

Flash heres the sirens coming. "Ok time to clean up. I'm done playing around."

The Flash disappears for a moment before with a gust of whirling wind he is back and and moving through the u-men any of them not engaged directly by someone else is getting taken down and hog tied for the police to pick up.

"Ok Last folks you if you are dealing with one of these bozos finish them up now and tie them up for the police to carry away!" The FLash Says tapping his foot rather bored. "Hmmm" he says to himself. "first day on the job better give a little extra to make an impression" The Flash says to himself before proceeding to go around cleaning up as much of the mess as he could with out interupting other people.

Before the proper authorities arrive Emma wades through the group to grab the leader specifically, punching his helmet and grabbing the edge, pulling him close to her face, "If you or your kin ever approach my school again you /all/ will suddenly forget how to breath. That or I'll just let Match over there beat you all into a pulp. Either way, we are off bounds. And your superior will be contacted by me directly. Nighty night."

She head-butted him, still in her diamond form. Which would immediately make him go unconscious or worse. She lets him fall to the ground as she returned to normal. This was going to be a long night. She first looked to Leo, 157, her girls, The Spider, Fern, and her staff, speaking loudly, "You all have made me proud tonight. This is the sort of threat that wakes me up in the night. While tonight they seem like a joke, tomorrow they will be worse and grow so much more in number. This is what we train for, this is the threat that threatens us and everyone we love. Be strong. Be brilliant. Be the force of tomorrow."

She makes eye contact with everyone still standing in the room before moving to talk outside to the authorities. Crashed parties always did make her cross.

The battle's nearly wrapped up, but 157 keeps on redirecting whatever he has to...until one of the remaining U-Men finally seems to spot the small, unassuming kid and realize he's responsible for some of the stuff going on. He aims for 157, even as the boy drops his bookbag into a portal, opening the exit portal above and starting it looping through, gathering speed. The man fires shots for 157, but another portal opens in the way, redirecting them. Diving out of the way of the redirected fire, the man smugly takes aim again...only for the bookbag, full of schoolbooks and travelling at very high velocity, to smack him directly in the head and knock him out good.

"Notification: Perfection is an impossibility." 157 looks around the battlefield, seeing things wrapping up, and steps through a portal, emerging over by Emma as she finishes her speech. "Recommendation: Interrogate leader by any means necessary to gather information on objectives, methods, and headquarters of organization. Eliminate organization."

The Spider turns towards one of the last of the enemy still active, only to see him knocked out by a flying book bag. He looks to 157, "Cool moves." He spends some time webbing everybody up, and then jumps out the window that Hawkman came smashing in earlier, swinging away. Cops and Spiders don't really mix, and he's getting out of there before he's caught on scene. He'll sneak back in when things calm down.

"Fern, can you work with the Class representative in seeing that the younger students are settled in? You have a calming influence, it would really help right now. I apologize for the upset, but this is something that needs handled." Leo is then moving to gather the sensors from the U-Men, so that they will not be seized by police, nor their information. He's protecting himself, and the students here.

Carter looked at Emma shocked. A single thought ran through his mind, "I like my boss," his mind said in the confides of his skull. Cutting through a few more hoses he smiled at her. Breathing hard he looked to the U-Men as people were getting exposed to air. "Cops or us. Go with us and you'll get exposure," a ferocious smile was given to them. One that came at him he just answered by tossing his mace.

Glass shattered as metal collided into the glass down. He looked to the others, "What's it gonna be?" the knife gleamed as he looked at them readily. And just to add an emphasis that loosing one weapon wasn't a bad thing he grabbed a downed U-man then threw them into a wall -hard- and with ease. "As I was saying...us or the cops. Your choice," Carter wasn't going to back down until necessary...he loved a good fight.

Fern eases a measure, relieved to hear a positive response from the girls... she has absolutely no idea which two those were, but she nods, "Good, good." There's more than a little adrenalin coursing through her system, and her thoughts are speeding in a way that she hopes to never grow accustomed. It might not be her first time at the rodeo, but she's going to be twitchy for a couple hours.

Blinking rapidly, her head swivels, and it seems to be all over but the shouting. Fern straightens, feeling a pinch on her leg, eyes dropping to spy a rip in her tights, a shallow cut across her knee that barely bled, the sight bringing a deep frown. "Darnit." The police baton is still in her hand, her fingers not yet having gotten the message to unclench, and when Emma speaks she turns to face her, having entirely missed the woman in her diamond form. Fern may not be part of the school, but the words still make her smile, and she looks around for her 'significant other'. Karma will get him for that choice of words, later, when Fern tries to process everything that happened and throws up on his precious Guccis. She nods to his instruction, looking for someone who looks like they know what they're doing in the aftermath.

The Academy of Tomorrow experienced the first threat to its existence. Unlike other schools in the state of New York it was honest about who they were and what they were about. Emma Frost had been good about hiding it from the prying eyes. The Obfuscation field should have been enough. No one should have ever been able to figure out how it stayed hidden from it's attackers. Yet the U-Men did. And that was going to be a question for another day.

And now as both super-heroes, staff and students told the authorities what had happened, that question would linger. How?

Back in their dorm the Stepford Cuckoos were confused about a lot of things, but they were away from prying eyes. The Five-in-One were now however the Four-in-One as the had split one of their sisters off from there perfection and asked her, "Why did you tell them?"

|Elsewhere|

A man sits at his desk in his corporate office. His name is John Sublime. He has gotten to experience the entire event today through his connection through the U-Men. When he saw the Cuckoos fighting against them, he considered how they survived and... he just laughed."