2013.08.15 - YXM: You Can't Go 'Home' Again

YEARS AGO...

On the other side of a thick steel door, a voice can be heard screaming. much like some, is being tortured. But considering the pitch of the voice, it sounds much like who or what ever is being tortured is young and female. On the other hand on this side of the door is a man in a lab coat, and a HEAVILY armed guard.

"You know, I kind of love how that bitch not only has to watch this, but knows what it's for. It's kind of fitting considering what she did to us. Creating /THAT/ instead of Weapon X."

"Sir?"

"Are you new here?"

"Yes sir."

"Then I'll tell you this. Forget what I just said about Dr. Kinney. Instead, if I were you, I'd try to avoid being stationed near Lab 47 down below when these treatments are finished for good. Just in case you ever do have to deal with Weapon X-23."

Now...

In one of those areas that could be anywhere above a certain latitude in North America lies the remains of The Facility. This area tends to be on the chilly side, and has a look and feel like one of those places where there's a chill in the air until July, and like it might not be that uncommon to still see snow on the ground in June, even if technically that's not the case.

The area around The Facility is somewhat mountainous, but not too much so. In fact on one side, less than a mile away is a forest. The road leading into and out of the facility, or at least what once was a road, passes between two barren cliff faces, before opening into a small field.

But what about The Facility itself? From the outside it's a barren wreck. Once that looks not only like it was once a bland and boring three story tall rectangular building, but it also looks like it was ripped apart by explosions and then set on fire. The main floors even back that look up. But to those that can find the near collapsed entrance to the basement, where the real work was once done, they will find that while the majority of the facility down below is like that, there are still parts that not only look intact, but somehow are operational enough to still have power...

It is in that small field that the Blackbird is set down, and as the ramp extends so that its occupants can exit and see where one of their 'friends' and 'teammates' came from. Not that Laura Kinney herself looks comfortable, or even uncomfortable with being back here, let alone her classmates being here. Instead, as she walks down the ramp and looks around, the young 'clone' looks as emotionless as always. Even as she points right at the ruins of the building and says two simple words.

"The Facility."

Of course little do they know that they are not alone. Because somehow someone was tipped off, thus they are not as alone as they may think they are...

Not that who, or what is waiting for them has made themselves known just yet.

Friends are the people who're with you through the tough times. That's what Cessily's parents had taught her, not that they're models for behavior any longer. Still, the lesson stuck with the young woman, which has lead Mercury all the way to the wild frozen North. The silver girl comes down the ramp just behind Laura, dressed in her red uniform and apparently unaffected by the cold. "Ominous," she says, otherwise staying silent and vigilant.

Stepping out of the ship, Doug shades his eyes against the bright sunlight to inspect the Facility. Eyes dart, from his charges towards the instigator of the tour, trying to get a read off the young girl. Not that he'd have much luck, apparently, but even she had her mannerisms. "Well, Laura," the blond field instructor says. "Lead, kindly light."

Dressed in her X-uniform, Josie follows Cessily and Laura out of the Blackbird. She looks around with curiosity, obviously impressed by the natural surroundings, though she keeps any comments about it to herself. She gets more serious as he looks towards the facility, "Wow. Looks like it was blown up."

SCENE: Laura Kinney has set the pose order.

"We got incomin', boss," Birdy hisses into a communicator as she watches the Blackbird's landing through a rifle scope. She's perched precariously in the upper branches of the forest, with a hooded green overcoat wrapped around her ballistic armor. She tries to sweep her scope across the emerging Young X-Men, but between all the other trees in her way, and the limited range of motion afforded by wrapping oneself around a tree so as not to fall to ones death, she doesn't have much look.

"Figured--agh--figured I could pick one of 'em off," she grouses as she wriggles to little avail for a better bead on the group. "No good--sorry--"

"Hey, what're you gonna do," Sabretooth breezily replies as he slinks through what remains of the Facility's basement. "When you get enough space, tail 'em; if you get a shot, shoot 'em. Make my life a hell of a lot easier if y' get a couple, that's fer sure. An' whoever's left--"

He pauses briefly as his eyes pass over the smashed remnants of a human-sized test tube, and then, with a low growl he finishes, "--they're gonna be down here eventually, the way I figure it, so I'm gonna make sure they don't see me comin'."

MONTHS AGO...? YEARS AGO...?

SOME TIME AGO.

Alarms go off all through The Facility. Explosions rock the whole base, lab complexes and all. People are rushing like mad men, trying to find a way out.

Few if any find them.

An explosion rocks a special locked chamber, one that was rumored to contain a ton of fetuses in strange 'artificial birthing chambers'. A chamber that had already been destroyed not too long before that by a girl with claws...

One of the people rushing out is a scientist, who flags down a guard near Lab 47, forking over what looks almost like an armored gas canister.

"Quick! Take this! It's the latest batch! If they can recover any of the other things, we'll need it to..."

But before he can finish, there's another explosion right next to them.

In the aftermath, once the fires die down, the explosions stop, and things are assessed, the canister is never found by the recover teams.

NOW.

"It was." is said as Laura 'leads' the group as instructed towards the building by simply walking towards it. "After I eliminated Weapons X-24 and up before they could become active, I set off the self distrust, and.... Dealt with anyone who got in my way as I tried to get to Dr. Kinney...." Not only does the clone let her voice drift off as she says that, but she almost stops mid step, as she fumbles with the words that best convey who that woman was, or at least the closest thing she could of been, even if while here she never could be allowed to think of her as that.

"My mother."

It doesn't take long to get inside the building though, especially since there are no doors. In fact, it's as soon as Laura enters that her claws come out, and she pauses, sniffing the air before clawing at a wall, revealing a previously hidden entrance to the lower levels. One that is mostly unblocked and easy to navigate.

She doesn't comment on the 'ominous' thing though. Not as she winces as she passes what looks almost like a body on the stairs, but in fact, if one were to pull out a light and shine it on it (since Laura isn't using one) they'd find that it's just a pile of debris.

"I was created in the lower levels. I was trained there. And lived there. It was all I knew for years."

"Blown in?" Cessily suggests. It looks a bit more like it's collapsed than that it exploded out, not that Mercury's an expert on that. The mention of Laura's mother puts a frown on Cessily's face. "Laura, you..." she steps clear of the clone's swing, then looks back to Doug and Josie quickly. "...You don't have to do this. We could still go back home and just leave this. It's all blown up, there's probably not anything here anyway."

"Cessily," Doug murmurs, reaching out to touch her shoulder, and shake his head when she chances to look at him. "If she's going to look for a new future, she's going to have to put-" His eyes traverses the grounds of the Facility. "... ghosts to rest."

Pausing, he glances towards Josie, with a small frown. "Though I admit, I'm not sure if you're not too young for this. Then again, old enough to fight..."

Josie nods a little to Laura's explanation, and asks softly, "Did you find your mother? Did she get out?" Then she adds to what Cessily says, "But we're with you, no matter what." She looks up to Doug then and says, "I'll be ok. Besides, you might need me. If I hadn't snuck along when they went to rescue Nightcrawler that time, they'd've had real trouble unlocking all those locks in time. And anyway, not letting a friend do something like this by herself," she adds.

"I--hh--"

A crosshair dances back and forth across Josie's back as the rest of the team enters the Facility; just getting that much meant bending around the trunk to get a better vantage on the young mutants, but with nothing but her legs to support her, Birdy is having one hell of a time keeping her sights steady. When her window finally, fully closes, the personal assistant/sharpshooter wastes no time in re-stabilizing herself against the tree with a low sigh of relief.

"--lost 'em, Mr. Creed," she mutters before taking in a deep breath and squinting down to look for a way to the ground. "Gimme a few--I'm on my way!"

Birdy is talking, but Sabretooth isn't really listening; it isn't just the test tubes and medical areas that're distracting him, though, it's the way the place smells. Like chemicals. Like blood, like--

Like him, and not.

Even though he's doing his best to stick to the out of the way corners of the lower levels - dark rooms, the heaps of scrapped equipment, and so on - the Young X-Men might still hear growls echoing throughout the basement the lower they go and the further they explore.

THEN.

In the effort to salvage what they could, in the aftermath of the destruction of The Facility, it's backers restored power to some small sections of the lower levels that were undamaged. But at the same time they also added a few... Extras.

NOW.

"You have to do this." is said as Laura continues down that hidden staircase, before pushing open a door into a hallway. One that /appears/ to be mostly intact, and strangely enough has power. Or at least some minimal lighting. Enough so people can sort of see where they're going, but where things and people very well could hide in the tall shadows. Where large chunks of debris litter the floor.

"You need to know."

All though at that one question, the clawed 'clone' glances away, as if to hide her expression as she answers a certain something.

"I encountered my mother outside."

Pause.

"Where I killed her."

All though as she hears that growl, X-23's body language changes, as she lowers herself into a combat ready stance and she pops her claws with a *SKNIT*

"We are not alone."

Cessily looks back at Doug, eyes narrow, brow knit. She's sorely tempted to reproach Doug right here and now. The impulse gets released. "Of course we're here," she agrees with Josie, following Laura down the stairs. The murky, emergency lit hall seems no less ominous to Mercury than the shattered frame of the Facility from the outside.

Laura's revelation elicits a gasp from Cessily, a pained stare which doesn't go away even with the clone's warning.

It didn't take much to register Cessily's displeasure, but Doug's attention is mostly on Laura, as she moves along. Nodding at Josie, the young man follows, trusting in X-23's direction and mood.

The low growls causes the hair on the back of Doug's neck to stand up, as he listens carefully, moving as X-23 moves, before she stops, unsheathing her claws and announcing that they were not alone. Taking a deep breath, Doug glances about, assessing their situation and room in order to determine what the best plan was, if there were to be any more like... like Logan and Laura.

Josie's eyes widen a little at Laura's answer, but she just says, "Oh." There's no judgement in the word or her expression, she just seems to be starting to click just how bad Laura's life has been. She blinks again as Laura says they're not alone, looking around and going as silent as she can manage while keeping up with the others.

That awful, rumbling sound cuts off a moment after that sound reaches Sabretooth's ears, and the blonde mutant's eyes narrow. He's lurking in a dark observation room, at the moment; there's a conditioning room on the other side of the two way glass, bare in contrast to the chaos of upended tables and chairs in the savage's lair. Rather than make a move and risk drawing his attention just yet, Creed paces, flexes his fingers in agitation and listens for signs of approaching intruders.

Yesterday, when he and Birdy were staging for this operation, he was sure that it'd be an easy day's work: look for intruders, intercept, blah blah blah, get paid; now, as the last echoes of unsheathed metal ring in his ears, he's not quite sure whether to take what's shaping up to be a gaping hole in the intel provided by his employer personally, or take it in stride and embrace the unexpected with a smile--and adamantium.

There's a sniff of the air as Laura tries to figure out where the potential source of that noise came from. After all, if she can smell who or what caused that...

That is before she starts down the hallway, in the direction of that conditioning room.

Only as they head that way, Laura scowls and leads the group right past that closed door. She remembers this part of the building. She knows what could be up ahead. What some of the rooms they passed by are used for. What they could be used for if repaired properly.

She just doesn't know who could be here.

Or why they're here.

"Be careful..."

Mercury doesn't worry too much about Doug's thoughts, insteady walking down the hallway after Laura. "Because I wasn't going to be otherwise," she says. As they move, Cessily's arms stretch out into long blades. At least she doesn't go 'SNIKT'. Her head hunchse down a little as she tenses, watching and incredibly on edge.

Josie, on the other hand, stays solid, relying on the mobility of arms and legs for the moment, or perhaps just trusting she can change fast enough if needed. She follows along, looking around and listening as best she can as she does. "Who would be here?"

"We're here," Mercury reminds Josie.

Cypher follows quietly. Because it was his responsibility, and Laura was playing point, Doug situates himself in the rear guard, counting on his SHIELD training to help protect him. He certainly wasn't going to -ask- Josie to cover, and Cessily... well, was on the edge as it was.

The layout of the Facility wasn't going to make things easy for him to assess anything... but the surprising condition of some of the rooms causes Doug to ask, "Laura... you checked the compound out earlier. Did you see if anything was still working?"

I don't recognize "dug".

On his way out, Sabretooth's foot catches on something small and metallic that rolls a short ways across the floor before clinking into the scrapped remnants of a coffee maker. His brow knits as he hunches down to feel - and sniff - around; his fingers brush across blood-soaked armor, then trace the line of some poor stiff's arm until they hit metal. Running his hand along the object's surface doesn't give him any great insights into what it may be, but lifting it tells him that it's got a decent enough heft that it certainly couldn't hurt to bring it along.

Hurt him, anyway.

He cracks the door open, gently sniffs at the air, and then with a barely checked snarl, he nudges it the rest of the way and slips outside. All six feet, six inches of him hunch down low as he creeps after the young mutants; if it weren't for the container he's gripping by one end like a club, he'd just about be on all fours. If it ever seems as though one of them might look behind them and make him, he'll duck into a room, or behind cover until it's clear.

Eventually, the intruders are in view--and they appear to be children, except for the one in the rear.

Who, despite appearing to be a bit older than the rest of the group, is not the Canadian runt he'd come to expect; one of the girls still smells infuriatingly like him, but peeling that onion will have to wait until she has less backup on hand.

And so, the next time Sabretooth emerges from cover to evade the Young X-Men, he immediately surges towards the group, swinging the container in a vicious arc at the back of Cypher's skull; the soft *SHNK!* of his claws sliding from their housings and into the container mid-swing is about the only noise he makes.

And when Victor Creed 'peels' that onion he may be in for a surprise.

But will he find out tonight? Who knows.

But as that door opens, Laura catches a smell. One that causes her to spin around, right in time to see that swing.

But before she can warn Doug, she notices what is being swung, despite the low light.

Worse, as that container is punctured, and a redish gas starts to escape with a loud hiss the female 'clone's eye go wide, before she shouts at the others, "Trigger Scent! Get out of here!"

That is before she tries to lunge to the side, hopefully past Doug, so she can take a swing at Sabretooth.

"GO!"

"Cypher!" Mercury calls. Look at her, all pro and using code names. "Who..." she asks, as the container gets punctured. Woah! Sabertooth! Because going up against him is clearly a great plan for three Young and one Junior X-men. Still, have to try. The metal girl leaps forward and takes a swing at Sabertooth's arm, even as 'trigger scent' gets spewed out all over. Having no context, Mercury instead calls to Laura, "I can't get poisoned!" Not by a gas, anyway, what with the not actually breathing.

It was only a split-second glimpse of -something-, but it was enough to save Doug from being outright cold-cocked by the container.

Still, even then, the young X-Man loses his balance, smashing against a wall, and then staggering to try and re-gain his bearings. That he was almost certainly getting the beginning of a concussion disoriented him, and he can't quite grasp the significance of Laura's cry -or- warning, at that moment.

And knowing that he couldn't -do- much in this condition, the first thing he could do was -retreat-, stumbling forward to try and get around X-23 and Mercury until he could regain his bearings...

Josie spins around at the sound, and her eyes widen... then, suddenly, she's water, and losing her physical shape as she flows forward. Of course, without absorbing water to use, her slashing of water only hits Sabretooth (assuming she hits at all) with all the strength of an athletic 14-year-old girl. Then she's flowing past at Laura's yell, flowing a short distance down the hall but pausing when she notices Mercury isn't running.

The first thing Sabretooth does? Whip that container into Laura's face--hard. He doesn't think much of the gas jetting from the little punctures all over its surface; even if it's toxic, it isn't as if he has anything to fear from it.

The second? Stare at the claws that Laura is trying to gut him with. He jumps back in time to spare himself the worst of it, but that still leaves him with stinging cuts across his torso--not that he notices them much, what with those claws. Similarly, when his evasive maneuver leaves him in prime position to be stabbed in the arm by Mercury, he just snarls and bats wildly at the silvery mutant rather than howl with pain or recoil from the possibility of further stabbings, even as blood soaks into his torn costume.

At that point, then, it shouldn't be a surprise when Josie's water whip mostly serves to put a sharp-toothed smile on the mutant murderer's face.

"See," he rumbles as he tries to circle towards Laura's blindspot, "them two, they're smart: they get themselves in too deep, an' they run." And then, after flicking his tongue across his teeth, he lunges, going for Laura's gut in the hopes of tackling her to the ground--and making it that much more difficult for Mercury to hit him without risking hitting her teammate too.

To be blunt and honest, there is only one way to describe Laura right now, and her actions, and the absolutely inhuman snarl, all of that and more...

It's as if Laura Kinney is no more. Instead it's as if she is an inhuman ball of pure inhuman homicidal rage, one that does not care what happens to her. Unfortunately, the container does smack the clawed girl upside the head does snap her head around in a way that looks like her skull /should/ be cracked open. And she's lunged at. And as she falls, she falls backwards, trying to kick up at Victor as if to knock him away rather than to let him on top of her, while at the same time she tries to slash at him with her claws.

If there is /any/ part of her that is still rational, that part probably is relieved that Josie and Doug are running. But at the same time, with Cessily still attacking, that very same part may be trying to keep all of her focus on Victor, rather than Mercury. After all, if he focus even shifts a little...

Victor's a big, hairy (smelly) distraction, a guy that draws all the focus and attention when he's in the room. He certainly has Mercury's. She's moving as he rushes Laura, her arms reforming, lashing out like tentacles to try to grab Sabertooth's ankles. Sure, it's like a fifth-grade move, but this is a fight in a dark spooky lab and Mercury will do whatever she can to win, grad school tactics be damned. She is distinctly not keeping her eye on Laura. Friend. Teammate. What's to worry about?

Slowing down as he gains enough distance, Doug tries to gather his thoughts. Right. Two plus two is... uh... something like four. Close enough. Trying to get a look back at where Laura was, he notes that her body language has shifted, from being controlled uncertainity to pure homicidal rage combined with instinct and training. Shaking his head, he glances at Undine, trying to gather his wits. What was it she'd said...? Trigger scent...?

"Undine..." he calls out, trying to get his wits straightened up. "Get in their noses. Either of them. Both of them. I don't know, just -stay liquid-."

Undine would probably be making a face at Cypher's suggestion if she had a face right now, and there's only just a moment of hesitation before she flows back into the action. A blob of water, all she needs is contact with them, and she can flow right up and, if they stay close, get in both their faces, and into noses. If they seperate, she stays with Laura, since she seems to be the one who needs to stop smelling anything at the moment.

A slash here, a stabbing there: not so bad for a man with Creed's genetic gifts. Indeed, those injuries are mostly gone by the time he and Laura hit the floor.

It's when the girl with the infuriatingly familiar scent thrashes and struggles and, most of all, continues clawing him that things begin to go south. This close, with as much reach as they give her, it's difficult - if not impossible - to avoid her claws; the best he can do is pay those cuts back with vicious strikes aimed at her face and hope in whatever presently dwindling part of his psyche is capable of it that that is enough to discourage her from trying to unseat him.

When liquid metal tentacles slither around his ankles, he claws frantically - at the ground, at Laura, at anything he can use for purchase - as the sudden pull combined with Laura's thrashing make staying on top of the clone an increasingly unlikely prospect. Screwing with his leverage is one thing, though; pulling him away completely is another, what with adamantium bones adding a good hundred-plus pounds to his already massive frame. Still, as long as he has an enraged clone in his face, the best he can do to deter Mercury is kick his trapped legs around; he doesn't dare look away, lest he catch a claw to the neck or something.

Given all this, it hardly needs saying that he doesn't register the dribble of water that, at some point during the fracas, flows up his body and into his nose; with so much sweat and blood flying, Undine may as well just be another fluid.

MEANWHILE, OUTSIDE

"I told him we shoulda put the stash closer," Birdy grumbles to herself after exhaling a puff of smoke. She's parked maybe three quarters of the way to the Facility, seated on a gun that's nearly as large as she is. "Whatever," she rationalizes. "He's probably fine in there. All that growlin'. I bet he's havin' a ball."

BACK INSIDE

Moments after Josie enters his nose, Creed halts, briefly, then sputters and coughs; the fact that there's a little bit of blood mixed in with the spittle only registers in that it makes him that much more eager to claw Laura's face off.

And as Laura tries to get Sabretooth of of her, things get stranger. Sure she is being struck repeatedly to the face and head. And yes she's being hurt. A lot. But her healing factor is kicking in. But not fast enough as her face is rendered a bloody pulpy mess, with only one eye intact for the moment for her to see with. And yet despite that, there are subtle signs that her healing factor is kicking in, even as more and more damage is piled on.

Unfortunately that makes Josie getting into her nose tricky. And potentially bloody.

And yet Laura does snarl as that is done. The snarl is the same inhuman one, as she manages to get just enough room to pulls herself a little freer free of Old Mr. Creed, if only for the moment. Unfortunately his added weight, especially due to that adamantium doesn't give her as much as she'd need to be completely free.

Of course then again, that does mean that she has enough room for there to be /ANOTHER/ set of SNIKTs, and her foot claws come out, and she tries to kick as Victor with those claws. For his sake, hopefully those claws don't go too high.... Or too low. Not if he wants to avoid having certain parts regrow.

On the other hand, with her arms free for the moment....

Laura slashes at Mercury and Udine?!?!

Yes. She does. In fact it's almost as if she's paying more attention to them at the moment, at least with her hand claws. Heck, its almost as if she's just trying to take swipe after swipe at the water girl to somehow get her away...

He's down, and there's no way Mercury could go head to head with Sabertooth, that's just not how she rolls. She can, however, help restrain him and screw him up as he fights Laura, which seems to be her plan. Her stretched arms lash and try to wrap around is kkicking legs, enough so she can use her other arm to actually attack. Her plan's hampered as two claws go slicing through one of her arms. Another few inches and Cess would be in big trouble! Even though in this case she can morph her body and seal the slices back up, she still winces isible, distracted and shocked, "Laura!?" she demands.

As Mercury's arms revert due to her inattention - freeing Creed in the process - she gets a look at Laura for the first time, snarling and feral and even more terrifying than she'd ever been in mercury's worst nightmares. "Oh no. nonono," she sputters. Mercury backs up a step, then turns around, looking for something.

Undine, luckily, is immune to claws in her current form. Or, rather, she has no form to slice. Water flows around claws as easily as anything else. As Sabretooth sputters, she sends a blast of water pressure with the force of her fist up his nostrils. Then she focuses on the raging Laura, trying to rinse the blood from her face and find her nostrils so she can block off her sense of smell. Unlike with Sabretooth, she's careful not to come even close to drowning Laura.

There wasn't much he could do, at this point, nothing unless... how to clear the scent from the room? Or was there a -different- trigger to bring her out of it?... no, the best way to get rid of it was to clear the scent. Which meant...

These old laboratories had fire hoses, didn't they?

And Doug goes off, looking for one, forgetting for the moment that -he- had the scent on him as well, didn't he?

She heals like he does.

And she fights like he sometimes does--like when he's been pushed too far to continue lying to himself anymore.

But sometimes, Creed swears he can feel bone giving beneath him, and those claws--there aren't enough of them, not that he minds; sure, he's losing ground every time more of Josie goes up his noses, and sure, Mercury is somewhere, restraining him, but it could be worse. There could be six claws to punish him for his divided atten--


 * SNIKT!*

Well. That explains where five and six went; thanks to Mercury releasing him, Creed rolls off of the feral clone as soon as Laura's foot-claws aren't stuck in his thigh anymore, and hacks up a lungful of water. Blood gushes from the puncture in his leg, but he still tries to scrabble back to his feet despite the coughing and the mounting injuries; given the mess the fight has made thus far, it'll be a slow - and awkward - process, though.

And as Sabretooth gets off of her, Laura is trying to get back up. But after everything, that isn't as easy a thing as one might imagine e. After all, how heavy he is, and the fact he has unbreakable bones...

And Laura doesn't...

Odds are a few bones did break and give, at least for her, but with everything else they just haven't registered with her, more than likely due to her raw rage.

All though that rage is slowly subsiding, thanks to all the water up her nose. But not that quickly. But it's enough that she's not fighting as much. Not trying to claw Cessily anymore. And not as much to Josie.

But Doug was right, even if he did rush off. Odds are the scent is on him. And on Cessily. And their hair. And their clothes. So if she does get up, and she can breath freely again...

Speaking of Doug, there is a fire hose nearby. A big powerful looking one. Behind some broken glass. The hose itself appears to be intact. Thus it should be easy to pull out and use. Right?

Maybe. Maybe not. For if that hose is pulled, something else is revealed. A bomb. One that is behind the hose, and nestled in such a way that the removal of the hose relieves the pressure from a trigger, revealing a timer that starts to count down from 30...

Mercury pounds down the hall, catching up to Doug an skidding to a halt at the hose. "Perfect!" she declares, grabbing it and yanking it out by the nosle. "See if you can get it started?" she asks him, ready to pull the hose down the hall and aim it. in moving the nose, though, she's revealed the bomb and its ticking time. "BOMB!" Mercury calls. "Undine! Laura! We need to go NOW!" Beacuse ther'es no way to get confused about a bomb, unlike a frenzying clone.

And as Mercuy grabs the hose, and runs off, the timer starts, and Doug's eyes widen. Even with his head being what it is..

And thought translates into action, as Doug -runs- for the entrance, where they'd come in. Skipping the shouting, as Mercury had that already covered, the young X-Man's head is already clearing, perhaps as a sign of all the blood adrenaline flowing already...

Of course, if Undine lets go, to run, will Laura stay sane enough to run too, or will she just attack Sabretooth again? Not really scared of a bomb for her own sake, she stays with the clone, keeping water over and in Laura's nose while trying to push her to her feet and urge her to run. She can ride along if Laura gets running.

Cessily goes to: Global Anywhere Rooms.

The upper half of Sabretooth's body is all flayed flesh, gushing blood and pearly white fangs bared in a savage smile; without Josie trying to suffocate him, he doesn't have to worry about coughing up God knows what every so often, which makes the struggle to regain his footing a little more manageable.

Good thing, too; one of the kids hollered something about a bomb.

"Be seein' ya around," he hisses in a strained, ragged voice. His eyes are, initially, fixed on Laura, but they flick to - and linger on - Josie soon enough. For good measure, he boots the no doubt empty by now canister towards the two girls, then hobbles--walks--jogs off to find a way to the surface before it's too late.

Even before that canister is kicked towards Laura....

Before it has a chance to bounce off of her foot...

She's moving.

It's slow at first, despite the prodding from Josie, the shout of bomb from Mercury, and Doug rushing past.

But slowly you young 'clone' starts to build up speed. It's more of a wibbly wobbly jog, or even a lope, than a true run. But she does move.

Towards the stairs.

Up the stairs.

But considering how slow she's moving, she's not the first one out. Odds are even Sabretooth gets out before she does.

In fact, Laura is all but throwing herself (and Josie if she's still hanging on) out the door as the bomb goes off, and a fireball shoots out the door after her, sending her flying to the ground.

And when she hits the ground, it isn't that far from the fire either.

Nor does she get up and move, even if she is breathing.

Fortunately The Blackbird isn'tn that far away, and isn't damaged at all due to the blast.

Rubbing the base of his skull as he picks himself off the ground, Doug glances at the others to see how they were doing. "Everyone okay?" he says, feeling his heart pounding in his chest, as he tries to get his head in some semblance of working order. Attention, especially, is paid to Laura, as if to see if she's back to herself, but with his head in the shape it is, it's left to the others to tend to the young clone.

When the whole goddamn building goes up in flames, Birdy bolts to her feet and struggles to heave that enormous into position... for all of maybe five seconds before realizing that if the building is cooked, the quarry probably is too.

Creed, probably not so much, but that's less immediately impportant.

Holding her weapon close in an awkward embrace, Birdy high-tails it back to the forest to head for she and Sabretooth's rendezvous point.

Josie changes back into human form after the blast. "I'm fine, but I think Laura's really hurt. And, might wanna rinse off before she wakes up, if any of us still got that smell on." Though, Josie is likely scent-free.

And the X-Men fly back.

And strangely enough Laura doesn't wake up at all on the ride back.

But it might be a good idea to hover over the lake and have everyone jump in it when they're close to the mansion, and have someone else who can fly take over getting it into the hangar.

And then maybe take a shower.

Or two.

Nice hot ones.

Away from Laura.

Who for some reason will still be unconscious even when they arrive, even if she's probably near totally healed by then, if not completely healed.

Thus it might be a good idea to leave her in the medbay too. At least until she wakes up.