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1/25 Game: Not So Holier Than Thou

Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 11:54 am
by Svartfreja
Tuesday May 9th. Right after [fic]Would you kindly?


<Archangel> The explosions had been amazing, the smoke easily obscuring the culprit as he did mach-one flybys. The winds caused by his wings added to the confusion. It had been a nice, peaceful anti-mutant protest concert, but with the holes in the ground caused by stolen SHIELD explosives and his own blasts, it could have been a war field down there.

<Archangel> Of course, he'd phoned in the threats as an 'anonymous' group, but he'd got bored waiting and once the first news choppers had shown up well...his finger slipped on the detenator. Oops. Oh well.

<Warbird> "Oh man..." well that was a helluva mess down there. "I'm gonna have to set us down further away than I'd hoped, there's too much smoke." She glanced over her shoulder at them, "Keep your eyes open, they're going to be pissed but we still have to evacuate them and there could be trouble. Watch each other's backs."

<Phoenix> Jean, as was her pre-mission ritual, was checking her nails. She sat, humming in the jet seat, squirming just a bit from the restraints and inspected each pink digit.

<Komodo> "Are we too late?" Melati asked, sliding off the straps of her seatbelt. "Don't tell me we're too late." She rose from her seat and peeked out the window. "Damn."

<BlackJack> "That is one visually stunning pink." Jack commented as he leaned over, only held back by his seatbelt.

<Warbird> "Unfortunately...." Carol found a spot to set them down and headed over to it, "I was just here the other day..."

<Phoenix> "Thanks! It's called sex on the beach." Jean grinned at the bunny, wrinkling her nose playfully.

<Komodo> "Oh, you have no idea how bad this is," the green-skinned lizard girl muttered through clenched jaws. "When we show up there now, take a guess who they're going to blame this on."

<Cloak> "Oscorp? No! Tony Stark, that's my guess! Am I right?" Tyrone grinned. "No? Its us, isn't it?"

<Threnody> Melody was sitting very quietly in her seat, her thin body locked, but every moment or so her eye would twitch, muscles in her neck would spasm, and her fingers would fire off tiny, concusive blasts that bounced off the seat infront of her.

<Obscure> "I'm ever thankful for my powers..." Sue chewed her lip, making the floor beneath her feet invisible to watch their descent.

<Archangel> He heard the jet before he saw it, smirking as he glanced upwards. Digging into the backpack he'd nicked, he pulled out the last grenade and took out the pin, dropping it right onto the stage through the smoke. The backpack - someone's from the school, who cared whose - was dropped and he pushed off into the smoke. He wouldn't have to phone this in - they'd see it on the news.

<Warbird> "Of course it'll be us..." Carol made the final adjustments for landing and there was a tiny bump as they touched down.

<Phoenix> Jean successfully ignored the conversation around them until they hit the ground, then sighed. Sometimes being a telepath really sucked.

<Komodo> "Congrats, you win the prize, kid," Melati flashed Tyrone an awkard smirk and patted him on the shoulder as she walked past him towards the back of the jet. "Alright, let's see what we can do, everyone."

<Obscure> Sue unclipped her belt and shielded up, making her way to the ramp as it was lowered. As an afterthought, she extended that shield along the ramp just in case anything came their way before they were even out of the jet.

<Threnody> A small blast punched a hole in the headrest of the chair infront of her, and Melody let out a small whimper.

<Warbird> Carol raised an eyebrow and turned around, "You okay there?" No holes in her jet!

<Archangel> Sirens were starting to be heard over the muffled sounds of things collapsing and the injured people. The stage had collapsed, and parts of it - and the ground - were smoldering and glowing as if melted, part of the stage looking glassy and steaming. There were small fires everywhere, and anyone who was ambulatory was adding to the confusion with panic.

<Komodo> "Bloody hell, this looks like a warzone." Melati slowed down as she descended the ramp, trying to see more than running or stumbling shadows in the thick smoke, confused and fearful cries coming from all directions.

<Threnody> "... Fine," she managed to get out between gritted teeth. So much death, so much energy.

<Phoenix> Jean was happy to hang back with the timid rabbit man, exchanging a glance with Jack before they descended into hell.

<Warbird> "If you're having containment issues, hit me with it, I'll be fine." She got to her feet, running a hand through her hair to follow the others down the ramp. "This is going to be a nightmare..."

<Obscure> "I'll get to work on putting out any of those fires I can... clear some of the smoke..." Sue headed off across the park.

<Threnody> Threnody looked horrifed, and managed to glance around to see if anyone else had picked up on the agent's comment. She'd wanted to keep her method of 'feeding' private!

<Komodo> "Can anyone see anything?" Melati asked, pacing around the ground and turning around repeatedly as she scanned their surroundings. "We can't be that late after the attack - maybe they're still around."

<Archangel> A couple of seconds later, a recognisable shadow was visible in the smoke. Warren could see the outline of the jet and the...glows? of the people within, landing a few feet away. His eyes were whited over by the membranes that protected his eyes in flight and now protected them from smoke. "Only me! I-it's only me!" His white feathers were a little dirty from the smoke, poofing a little.

<Warbird> "Hard to see anything in this smoke..." She did hear the sirens, however, "I'll do a flyby..."

<Cloak> Tyrone whistled to himself as he stepped out of the yet, "I take it we're getting the wounded to safety again? I'll look around and bring any I find back here." With that he created a portal and disappeared.

<Obscure> Sue blanketed as much of the smoke as she could with her invisibility field and pushed what she couldn't away from their immediate area with her force fields.

<Threnody> Okay, no reaction from anyone, good. Even the famously open mind of the X-men might have balked at the idea of one of their members treating distater sites as an 'all you can eat' buffet. She got herself under enough control to unbuckle and disembark, walking stiffly.

<Warbird> Carol lifted into the air to check the layout of debris and civilians, "This is looking really bad, you guys... I'm going to meet up with the local law enforcement - I can see lights."

<Komodo> Melati's eyes narrowed as she peered at the familiar shape coming out of the smoke. "Warren?" she asked, stepping closer. "What are you doing here?"

<Archangel> Warren blinked, out of pure habit - he didn't need to with the nictating membranes, after all. "Any i-idea what happened? I mean, I was just out flying and... I heard explosions and saw smoke."

<Archangel> Keep up the lies, you were out getting air. "Just o-out getting air, Melati." Warren gave her a nervous look. Good boy.

<Komodo> "Did you confuse this event with a pro-mutant concert?" Melati asked as she reached the winged boy's side, giving Warren a quick once over to make sure he wasn't injured. "You better watch out - these people here don't think too highly of us."

<Obscure> "There's a lot of fires, you guys..." Sue was smothering as many as she could but she didn't have much concentration to spare between trying to redirect the smoke and keep herself shielded enough so she could easily breathe and see where she was going.

<Archangel> "No, no, I just - I mean there were explosions, Mel! I couldn't just... ignore it, there's people hurt in there. They need help." He rubbed an arm worridly. "Come on... I-I saw the police and fire arriving, I'm sure they could use a hand, right?" He flared his wings slightly. "Come on, we just arrived, right?"

<Warbird> "Uh, whatever you're doing stay away from the park entrance right now," Carol's voice came over the comms, "I have guns pointed at me... I'm going to try to calm them down..."

<Komodo> "Watch out, though," Melati warned Warren as they made towards the colourful flashing lights. "The attackers might still be around. Did you see anything when you got here?"

<Archangel> Nothing. "Nothing. Just... a lot of s-smoke. And... there's... there's fatalities, Melati. I..." He swallowed, picking up Carol's words. "I didn't know what t-to do." He finished in a small voice.

<Komodo> "You decided to help," Melati said, while trying to find Carol in all the chaos. "That's good enough in my book."

<Obscure> Sue put out the last of the major fires that she could see and focused on clearing more of the smoke, "Please tell me there are people coming to help the wounded."

<Komodo> "Yo, chief, what's the matter?" Melati called out to Carol, who seemed to be caught up in spat with the cops. Before she could get closer, however, a flying bottle hit her against the side of the head. For a moment the whole park spun before her eyes. "There they are!" someone angry shouted.

<Phoenix> Distracted by the horrible sights around them, Jean barely had time to throw up a telekinetic shield around herself and Jack when the scene turned ugly.

<Cloak> Tyrone reappeared next to the jet with two wounded people, "I..." he paused for breath, "It's bad out there lots of people are," he stopped, unable to continue.

<Archangel> The sudden bottle made his wings flare. And so it starts. 'Scuse while I get the popcorn, will you, old boy? Oh wait... you can't hear me. Hah. He turned. "Hey! W-we're just trying to help!" They didn't think they had done it... did they? The answer was made clear when another bottle hit his wing, making it suddenly flare harder.

<Threnody> Melody wrapped her arms around herself and looked around the ruin, filled with smoke and the groans of the dying. She was already starting to regret tagging a long, single deaths, the energy released, the final passing thoughts of the dead, it was okay in small doses. Not like this, confusion, anger, sorrow .... so much sorrow, like a deafening wind blasting her ears and eyes, the power swelling through her, singing through her veins. It was perverse that, with so much death, she'd never felt so alive.

<Warbird> Carol held a hand up to the cops to signal them to shut the hell up for a sec. "Apparently they're under the impression that we're the terrorists and they think my SHIELD credentials are forged. Also they're pointing guns at me and that always pisses me off." She gave the cops a significant look along with that statement as a hint to lower their weapons.

<Archangel> "But we're kids!" Warren ducked another missile, wings curling to protect his face and silvering a little for protection.

<Obscure> "Wh-uh oh!" Sue shielded herself and turned invisible as something was thrown at her too. "Why are they picking on us?! I just put out fires!"

<Komodo> "I can't say the locals on this end are much friendlier," Melati replied, reaching up to activate her radio as she shook her head, hoping to clear her vision. "Hold up a second, you idiots, we're only trying to help you!" She was just in time to raise her arm to block someone swinging a piece of wood at her.

<Phoenix> Since Jack was one of the most obvious - and most defenseless - of the mutants there today, Jean nodded to him to head back to the jet if he wanted and covered his escape. Then, she used her power to shield everyone around her. "Oh my GOD! You people are so stupid! We're trying to fucking HELP!"

<Cloak> "Probably because now the fires are out they can see us now? Well, I was going to bring people back to the jet for help, but I guess I'll be making the longer trip to the nearest hospital," Tyrone sighed and, with that, disappeared again.

<Warbird> "You know what, you can keep my ID, I'll come back for it later. After I'm done saving your ungrateful butts." Carol took off again, heading back to the others. "Good news. They didn't try to shoot me." She informed the others over the comms, "But I see you made some friends."

<Archangel> Warren's reaction to someone swinging something at him was instant - he caught the swinging arm by the wrist and turned, slamming his more-steel-than-feather wing into the man, putting him on the ground with a broken arm. Oh wow, good boy! Didn't know you had it in you. "Oh hell... I-I'm sorry!"

<Obscure> "Hospital's probably best... there's way too many to fit on the jet." Sue wrinkled her nose and made it back to the others over the heads of the crowds.

<Komodo> "You know how charming I can be," Melati replied, simply punching out the nearest guy who tried to brain her with something.

<Threnody> Melody was a million miles away inside her own head, too focused on trying to sort the thoughts and energies of the dead to notice the angry humans. They noticed her, the thin black girl in the mutant uniform seemingly staring into nothing, defenseless. A large piece of rubble was picked up and thrown, it's aim was true and it connected with the side of her head.

<Phoenix> Jean brought the injured humans she'd gathered to Tyrone's makeshift triage teleportation area, floating them gently to the ground with the promise they'd get more help.

<Warbird> "Hey! Not cool!" Carol landed between the students and part of the angry crowd that had surged up around them, fists and eyes glowing bright with energy.

<Threnody> Her reaction was instinctive; she was being attacked and needed to defend herself. An explosive blast of energy fired off from her body with no input from her, like a second bomb going off, knocking the crowd back and scorching everyone in the vicinity.

<Obscure> Sue arrived and lifted her invisibility field from herself, throwing up a wall to protect their rear.

<Phoenix> "FUCK!" Jean's reaction was just as involuntary, the flames rising to protect her from this attack.

<Warbird> Carol absorbed the energy that came her way which only succeeded in enhancing the glow and interfering with their comms.

<Komodo> Melati instantly shielded her head when the force of the explosion kicked up the debris around her. "Fuck! What was that!?" She ducked as she spun around, trying to make our the source of the detonation. "I knew they were still around."

<Obscure> The instinctive defensive response from Melody only enraged the crowd further. Clearly it was these mutants that had caused the destruction. Sue strengthened her wall, putting her hands up to maintain her focus.

<Archangel> The explosion made him instinctively curl a wing around him and whoever was near him, the energy hitting the now fully metallic feathers and sliding off it harmlessly. "I don't think it was them - um. They d-don't look friendly... how are we supposed to help now?"

<Cloak> Tyrone was hit by the blast from Melody as he was reappearing to transport more people, "Ow! Watch it!" he bellowed.

<Phoenix> The raptor rose above Jean's head and screeched at the crowd, the sound deafening and echoing inside the minds of the attackers - and her teammates.

<Komodo> "Yeah, try to convince them now that it wasn't us," Melati muttered when she spotted Melody in the centre of the destruction.

<Threnody> When the smoke cleared, Melody was sitting in the center of a new crater, blood slowly trickling down the side of her head, her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and muttering inaudiably.

<Warbird> "Is she okay?" Carol glanced over her shoulder, only turning her head and keeping her eyes on the crowd.

<Obscure> "I have no clue how her powers work..." Sue extended a small prodding shape towards Melody and gave her a gentle poke or three.

<Threnody> "-exam on monday I revised so hard please mommy I don't wanna fucking mutant scum should have known cold it so cold I can't feel my chest-"

<Archangel> Ow! Jesus, bird, keep your voice down, some of us are trying to enjoy the show! Warren winced at the scream in his head, hands over his ears defensively. "Jean! S-stop it!" The bird's pretty though... bet she could be real destructive if she wanted to, huh. He watched the attackers and gathering crowd reel back, both from explosions and scream.

<Komodo> "All I can tell you is that she won't be if we don't keep that crowd away from her!" Melati sped up her run, bolting across the field of debris to intercept the angry mob that had formed around Melody.

<Phoenix> Jean's hands were clamped to her own head - she had enough trouble on her own, right now, trying to get her powers under control.

<Obscure> "I can do that easily enough, maybe I can get her back to the jet..." Sue offered, giving Melody another gentle prod, "Unless she gets up.... Hey... hey... wakey wakey lady..."

<Komodo> "Look! She's one of them!" Someone in the crowd shouted, quickly joined by others. "They're trying to kill us!"

<Archangel> Warren was torn between helping Melody - but then she had Melati and Sue - or helping Jean, or even the people who were recovering from the scream and... Jean was... on fire? But apparently not in pain? Oh. He headed for Jean. "Jean? Jean, you okay?"

<Threnody> Mel's head snapped towards Sue, but her eyes were still rolled back, and she started to scream, making all the humans take a step back.

<Melati> "No, we're not!" Melati yelled back at the angry crowd as she punched a guy in the face. "We come in peace, you fuckers!"

<Cloak> "Yes... I'm sure punching him in the face will convince him of that," Tyrone said before covering his face with his palm.

<Phoenix> She heard her name and jerked, looking up and around in terror. The raptor's wings snapped outward, lashing out at Warren and anyone foolish enough to get too close, then curled in around her protectively.

<Warbird> "Yeah, way to drive home that message..." Carol shook her head, deciding to try and take control of the situation. She whistled loudly, "I am a government agent! Back the fuck off!"

<Threnody> "I hear them I feel them we're not ready to go we don't want to go not yet not yet not yet not yet-" As she spoke, the rubble around her started to move, to shake, and people started to emerge from beneath it. People with thier heads caved in, half their bodies burned away, limbs ending in blooded stumps.

<Archangel> We come in peace, shoot to kill... For some reason, Warren had to stop a sudden snort of laughter as he got to Jean, and then covered himself with his own wing. "Hey! I-I'm not trying to hurt you - i-it's me, Jean, it's Warren, you need to calm down or it's going to m-make everything worse."

<Obscure> "Oh shit!" Sue remembered these things. "Stoooooop! Not them!" She hated zombies so so much.

<Melati> Melati hesitated when the angry mob did the same. "Oh come on, this isn't happening, is it?" Everyone backed off when the bodies started stirring.

<Phoenix> Jean looked up at the blonde guy. She recognized him, but she was still trapped in a haze of fear and her own power. "W-w-warren?" Blinking rapidly, she reached out to the white wing and petted it with her flaming hand.

<Cloak> "Seeeeriously? Zombies! That is totally awesome!" Tyrone shouted with glee, "That wasn't the inner voice was it?" he asked Sue.

<Obscure> "No it was not!" Sue cringed, "I really reallly hate zombies..."

<Archangel> ...Not that they could, as he watched a dead man claw his way from under some rubble close by with morbid fascination. He suddenly realised there was a flamy hand petting his wing, and that there was... no burny. That was good. He could - right, definitely no burny. "Y-yeah, it's me. Come on." His other wing curled round her a little, eyeing the... phoenix? warily.

<Melati> "Just so I get this right," Melati said, turning around as she tried to assess the situation. "We're not only suspected to be terrorists and wanted dead by the same folks we're here to help, but now the living dead are after us, too?"

<Cloak> "As long as they don't say 'Brrrraaaaaiiiinnnnssss!' I'm ok," Tyrone grinned.

<Threnody> "-not yet not yet not yet not yet-" Melody just repeated the words over and over again as the zombies got to their feet (or as close as they could manage) and started to lumber about, those who could still speak calling out the names of thier loved ones.

<Phoenix> That was when Jean saw the zombie. "AAAIIIIEEEEEEEEEE NOT THE FUCKING ZOMBIES AGAIN!!!" This time, when the flames rose up, they engulfed Warren as well.

<Obscure> "Argh!" Sue shielded herself from Jean out of instinct. Happily, this also protected her from the zombies. "For God's sake, STOP WITH THE ZOMBIES, WOMAN!"

<Warbird> Carol barely resisted the compulsion to facepalm. "This couldn't go worse if it tried..."

<Melati> "This mission is beyond fucked," Melati muttered to herself as she shoved one of the walking dead away when it shuffled a little too close for comfort.

<Archangel> The flames rose, and Warren drew in a sharp, panicked breath, wings suddenly flaring - until he realised there wasn't any heat. Oh. Well. He swallowed, trying to convince himself it wasn't time for him to run screaming, instinctively shielding both him and Jean. "I... don't think she can? Wait - Melody! People need to be evactuated! Get the... dead... people to help!"

<Cloak> Tyrone looked over at Carol, "Seriously you had to say that? They're bound to say braaaiins now... either that or 'rabbit stew'."

<Phoenix> "Dead people don't help anything! EVER! Haven't you seen any zombie movies?! OH MY GOD!" The flames were in no way receding, and a few of the nearest shuffling corpses started to go up in flames as well.

<Obscure> "Noooo, that's not going to help! No one wants to be evacuated by zombies! Are you fucking insane?!" She flailed at Warren.

<Melati> "I like you, other Mel, but if you get these things to gnaw on me I won't be buying you any more drinks anytime soon." Melati used her tail to swat another trio of dead shufflers away.

<Threnody> "-have you seen my blue umbrella?" was all Melody said, the exact same time that an elderly lady with a iron girder pircing her stomach did so as well.

<Obscure> "Toooo creeeeepyyyyyyy!" Sue vanished from sight.

<Archangel> "Look, if we're running from them, the people will too. That'll get this place evacuated pretty damn quick, right?"

<Warbird> That was more than a little bit creepy. Carol, however, wasn't overly afraid of anything much and she attempted to herd the mob away from the zombies and her kids.

<Phoenix> While the flames didn't burn the walking corpses, their flesh began to slowly dissolve, flaking away in the flames. One was still heading straight for her and Warren, and Jean screamed and flailed, nearly climbing her teammate like a tree as the corpse staggered their way.

<Phoenix> Jean and Warren got a front row seat as the the man's skin sloughed away and he bled particles of ash into the air, rising like smoke from the flaming corpse.

<Phoenix> Jean's scream reached nearly semi-sonic levels.

<Obscure> Sue decided there were more fires she could put out now and started smothering the flames on the zombies.

<Melati> "Too bad they'll probably send the rescue teams running, as well," Melati remarked, struggling to make sure that none of the undead stumbled too close to any of the survivors. "We have to buy them some time at least."

<Cloak> "Ok... so now we offer cremation services for their loved ones?"

<Melati> "Guess I spoke too soon," Melati remarked, watching the incinerated bodies tumble to the ground. "This mission gets more fucked by the minute."

<Archangel> "Th-that's not fire, at least doesn't feel like it and ow-" He winced at the continuing shriek and flared his wings, as he was climbed, for balance. Gripping her tightly, he pushed up into the air, struggling for a little bit with the extra weight. Maybe if she was away from the zombies...?

<Obscure> The flames on the zombies vanished as they were bubbled by Sue's powers so at least that was one less thing to worry about. Now if they could just get everyone to calm down...

<Phoenix> Jean screamed again and clung to Warren, the raptor cocooning them as they rose into the sky.

<Archangel> "H-hey, it's okay, taking you away from the zombies, and I've got you. It's impossible not to have you right now." He got the feeling that, if he let go, she'd still be holding on. Had to admit, the... phoenix-y thing was pretty though. "Jean... do you think you could... move Melody away from the dead people?"

<Melati> "Anything would be helpful at this point, because I think I can see someone with a gun," Melati called towards the others, quickly followed by a loud bang ringing through the air. "Yep, definitely guns."

<Obscure> Sue surrounded the group with a force field in case of stray shots. "I'll cover us against guns and stray projectiles but I think now would be the time to beat a hasty retreat..."

<Warbird> "Not until I get my ID back." Carol scanned the crowd, trying to make an assessment of their chances of getting back to the jet in one piece.

<Melati> "Then let's at least pretend to have the situation under control." Melati picked up the nearest shuffling dead body and hurled it at one of the civilians with a gun in his hand.

<Threnody> "Never did get my hotdog, she said she'd get me a hotdog," the corpse said as it hit the gunman.

<Archangel> Jean stopped screaming, which was good. What wasn't good was the fact she'd passed out, a fact Warren noticed because the flames had suddenly gone out. He checked the girl, but she was fine, just... unconscious.

<Warbird> "Alright. We're going to have to get out of here somehow. Get back to the jet... I'll meet you there, Komodo knows how to start the take off procedure."

<Melati> "Question - if we make a break for it and take Melody away from the not so dead people, would they go back to being just dead people?" Melati asked, looking over her shoulder to see if the way back to their jet was clear. "If yes, everyone here should be better off without us around."

<Warbird> "You tell me," Carol glanced at Melati, "Just... one of you pick her up and get her out of here."

<Cloak> "So... it's retreat time, then? Portal time?" Tyrone offered, "I can get us there, but someone will have to carry Melody."

<Archangel> Warren took Jean back to the plane and headed back over to the group, using his wings to make space and skirting around the ambulatory dead people. "...Maybe? I don't know, c-can't say I've met many zombie queens." He grinned worridly. "Um. Jean's unconscious. A-and I heard one of the radios...they're saying a mutant phoned in a bomb..."

<Melati> Melati looked at Tyrone and nodded. "Alright, let's hop to it. Everyone gather around!"

<Obscure> Sue reinforced her shields so they could organise better without worrying about getting hit from behind.

<Warbird> "I'll meet you at the jet. If I lose another ID, Fury's going to start charging me." Carol lifted into the air, "I'll be right back."

<Cloak> Tyrone created the portal straight to the plane, "Ok everyone through, Cloak's emergency evacuation service is now available."

<Melati> "Alright, other Mel, time to get out of here." Melati said as she crouched down to wrap her arms around Melody and lift her up. "Let's turn this lost battle into a tactical retreat."

<Threnody> Melody didn't resist Mel, she'd stopped muttering now and was just drooling gently.

<Cloak> "I really should charge a toll... if I had a dollar for every person who went through my portals..." Tyrone muttered to himself as he popped through into the plane, "Oh hi, Jack! Forgot you were still here."

<Obscure> "I'll go through last - Gonna keep the shields up to cover our tactical retreat." Sue gave Mel a small smile.

<Melati> "Thanks for covering our rears," Melati told Sue as she carried her drooling package towards Tyrone's portal. "Just make sure you don't get yours gnawed on the way out."

<Obscure> "It's okay, invisible ass is hard to chew on."

<Archangel> Warren dropped through with barely a ruffled feather, going and checking on Jean. Now all he had to do was get rid of the weird headache and try to work out why he couldn't remember the last couple of hours...

<Obscure> Once she was sure everyone was through, Sue turned and hurried on through the portal, herself. "Okay, let's get out of here..."

<Melati> Back in the jet, Melati carried the still unconscious Melody to an empty seat and gently put her down. "I think we can all agree that this show was pretty much a bust." She leaned back and wiped her brow to clean up some dust stuck to sweaty skin.

<Obscure> "It was a clusterfuck." Sue flopped back into her seat.

<Archangel> "What the hell happened though? This was a peaceful protest... who'd want to do this?" Warren straightened, looking at the others. Oh, Warren... you have so much to learn, little boy...

<Melati> "Sadly, I can think of too many people who would do such a thing," Melati said, putting both hands on her hips as she stretched and bent her back, her tail swishing from side to side.

<Warbird> Carol had pretty much had to wrestle the cop for her ID, fortunately she had no trouble winning there, and she landed at the bottom of the ramp. "You're not the only one," she informed them, as she entered the jet and hit the control to close the ramp on the angry shouts outside.

<Melati> "But the highlight of tonight is that, regardless of all those other people with good reasons to do this, it's going to be us who'll catch the blame for this," Melati added with a twisted grin.

<Archangel> As it damn well should be. I do my job good. "That's wrong." Warren said quietly. "The X-Men have done s-so much to help and now this happens?"

<Cloak> "Yes... but... there were zombies!" Tyrone said gleefully under his breath.

<Warbird> "Honestly? I think that might have been the plan all along." Carol took her seat and started the vertical take off as quickly as she could. "To give us the blame, I mean..."

<Melati> "And I'll be damned if you aren't right about that," Melati remarked to Carol, chuckling as she passed Tyrone. "Well, at least someone here had a fun night out."

<Warbird> "I had kind of hoped we'd have more time to learn to deal with this crap first..." Carol muttered, shaking her head as they lifted off the ground.

<Archangel> "What, make us catch the blame? But... why?" I even dropped the backpack. Hah, looked like I didn't have to. Ah well, it'll add to the evidence. I deserve a raise.

<Obscure> "I can think of plenty of reasons for that..." Sue wrinkled her nose.

<Melati> "I hate to break it to you, but we're not the popular kids on the schoolyard," Melati told Warren, tilting back her head to rest it against her seat. "Actually, we're the smelly mutated ones."

<Archangel> "Thinking I'm getting that idea..." Warren sighed a little, sinking into a seat that was designed for wings.

<Warbird> "That's the thing though... you guys are actually pretty damned popular." Carol informed them as she turned them back towards the school. "And that's the problem for a lot of people."

<Melati> "Guess no one likes upstarts." Melati chuckled as she leaned back and put her feet on the console.

<Obscure> "We're not upstarts, we're underdogs." Sue protested, "And the British love a good underdog... Next time the school blows up can we move it to the UK?"

<Phoenix> Secured in her seat, and gently drooling on her uniform, Jean snorted once and started to snore.

<Melati> "No." Melati protested. "I know what your weather is like."