10729/S.M.I.L.E. Time

S.M.I.L.E. Time
Date of Scene:	10 April 2022
Location:	Bushwick <Mutant Town>
Synopsis:	SMILE TIME
Cast of Characters:	Rogue, Megan Gwynn, Emma Frost, Tabitha Smith, Micola Maximoff, Jean Grey, Pietro Maximoff, James Proudstar, Noriko Ashida

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Rogue has posed:
It's a nice local faire in Bushwick today!

A nice start to the month of May! Lots to do, lots to see, even stacks of hay!

Crowds of locals wander by, coming to and fro, they wander up the paths, and down the roads.

The faire grounds are bumping today, with so many booths, stalls, and kids at play!

All of this has been put together by a mystery group known only as 'SMILE' Their posters and fliers are hanging all around the faire grounds, with that big happy mouth on the front, and S.M.I.L.E. in bold font beneath the lettering.

Colorful clowns are being silly for all the guests. There's even a petting zoo filled with lots of furry friends to feed, or offer handsy pets.

It's a festive atmosphere here this evening, the smell of cooked food, and the sound of happy music is strong on the warm wind that sweeps through the party grounds!

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn could simply not stay away from a fun, springy festival, especially with happy faces everywhere! What could be better? She giggles as she wanders about - or rather, buzzes about, eager to check out as much stuff in as little time as she can. "Ooh, so much to do, so much to see! Where do I even begin?" she exclaims, seemingly full of endless energy.

Emma Frost has posed:
No one likes clowns. There's nothing to be said particularly in favor for them. Much less with that lunatic in Gotham. With the group arriving here Emma's paying more attention for anything related to S.M.I.L.E. if only for her own sense of paranoia given what she'd read in the reports. An active relation to the wolves that lead to Tabitha getting another series of tetanus shots or not.>

Emma's simply going to fully guise herself in the mental cloak of someone more ordinary. Not particularly caring about whatever issues or ethics as she simply tries to make herslf not be particularly mentally engaging with anyone, if possible trying to subsume herself to anyone present that wasn't with the team that might be noticing her.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
It might actually be impossible for Tabitha Smith, The Mutant Demolition specialist currently calling herself Boom-Boom to actually wear colors that don't clash. Or at least require the tinted glasses she is usually known for.

Bouncing about mutant town, the blonde woman in some pastel yellow cordory jeans with a white jean jacket over a pink woolen hoodie keep the spring air off skin. a matching belt and choker in pink leather with helix paterened eyelets sling from a single belt loop at her waistband like it wanted to be a gunbelt. An X logo buckle clasping it together. while the choker is actually a lot more securely fastened around her neck though the X buckle is gone for a normal square and a little explosion shaped pendant dangling from it.

Even skittish as she has been with the last time she saw the acronym of the fair's organizers. It's not hard to get swept up in the atmosphere intended.

"Megan my dear, it's a fair. But keep your eyes peeled. So have some fun being all inquisitive and investigative. Just careful of the games. Totally gonna be rigged!" she offers as advice.

Luckily if critters get rambunctius, she did remember to bring some tranquilizer pistols. Safely holstered under that jacket.

And having had way more than just tetanus shots, rabies, lycanthropy, and a flu shot because it's probably due. Tabby moves to congregate herself around the stalls near the petting area and where they keep the critters.

Micola Maximoff has posed:
Micola might look like a carnie with her colorful tattoos and her hair, but she is definitely not one. "They have goats, Pietro!" the woman states to the man she's walking with hand in hand. He might not be so excited, but she is giddy. She's dressed in jeans, sandals and one of those white blouses with the red embroidery at the cuffs and collar. Her hair is held back with a thin headband.

Pietro's dressed a bit more casually today, which means he's sans his super speedy suit. That means he can't run away in the event she tries to get him to win her a teddy bear. Oh well.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean is here... in disguise!

Well, not really. But she's pretending this is just a casual outing to enjoy the faire and even collect her FREE MILKSHAKE from the ever-popular Mootant Town shakes. She signed up for their customer loyalty app and so she gets one for her birthday. She does not advertise this fact, but nonetheless revels in the feeling of satisfaction and savvy that comes from getting herself a sweet treat for zero dollahs. Nevermind that Xavier's checkbook. She is still a smart spender!

And so, Jean re-emerges with her big branded cup, sipping from an oversized straw. While this may blur the lines of an official 'mission,' she nonetheless sends the occasional mental PING to check in with a few familiar minds in the vicinity. <If you see anything weird going on... don't keep it to yourself.>

Pietro Maximoff has posed:
Indeed, Pietro is dressed for comfort, not speed. I mean, sure, those are some nice running shoes - but not like his normal attire. His finges are laced with Micola's, the man looking... happy? It's not the standard look most people associate with Quicksilver. Clearly, he's a pod person!

If there's something more than a festival here, Pietro's not been made aware. Yet.

"Yes, goats. With their devil eyes." Quicksilver offers, with a slight chuckle. "Are we heading into the petting zoo, then? Should I fish out some change to get some feed to offer over?"

Rogue has posed:
The atmosphere is very friendly and fun at the moment, for the telepaths that might be reaching out with their minds to feel for anything off. Right now people just seem to be enjoying the food vendors, the various craft booths, and places to spend money on this and that. Some people are even wearing the white tshirts with the SMILE logo on it. Some corner tables seem to be offering them out to people who give blood to those in need.

A pair of clowns on stilts walk past Pietro and Micola as they walk together on the edge of the petting zoo. A few goats are standing amongst the kids there, trying to eat their dinner from the stacks of hay. Some pigs are even oinking around in a separate pen as they do pig stuff.

A ferris wheel rises up in the distance past a set of large tents where music and lights are flashing inside of them as there are laughs comingh from within, some kind of live performances sound like they're happening inside the tents, and people are passing out cotton candy to those who are going inside.

Rogue appears beside Jean, in a dark green tanktop, some torn black jeans, and her lips painted in dark purple. Dark eyeliner around her green eyes, and a black leather choker around her neck. She is also enjoying a mootant town milkshake!

"This place feels more like my kinda state faire." The Gothy Southern Belle says whilst moving her drink from one black gloved hand to the other.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would walk along and pass by Jean and Rogue for a moment, "Why yes, I'm sure it does." The blonde would have her arms crossed. Why exactly why she was here in this (to her, at least) wretched hive of children and clown based villainy was perhaps confusing to any others given her extreme distaste. Emma at least wasn't actively reading minds anymore.

"I do hope that this doesn't put my remainder of the plans for the day.." She would idly go to cut herself off then. Reproaching herself for just her endless griping at an event that she had come to with the others.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
There's usually a lot of fun to be had and Tabby does at least have some while mingling about. In fact she's even taking up a spot at one of the game stalls, throwing balls into holes for a prize.

Which Tabby is clearly frustrated when she sees the balls are just barely able to fit. Making most throws tend to bounce and circle rims before falling off but she finally does manage one at the back row and wins herself a rather human sized plush bear in green.

And since everyone else has their hands full. Tabby tracks down Jean and Rogue, palming the bear off on the Southern Belle and making like Rogue won it. "You left this behind! One more gift for the birthday girl's pile and once more unto the breach my dears!" she states and beams and bounces on the spot. Then a little more when she stops moving before she goes back into exploration mode. <<So far no maulings. I think the ponies are eyeing me but they might smell Jerome after I fed him this morning.>> she adds over the mind link. <<Hard part is not using my powers to cheat at some of these games.>> is added before she trots off with a victorious little strut.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn is dressed fairly casually today, in a short bright green dress and short black leather jacket. Doesn't really look like an Xman right now, and Yup, she's definitely here to have fun first and foremost. Hey, they're just clowns right? Clowns are fun!

She just pouts at Tabitha, making a face, "Awe, chillax, it'll be fun!" although she will nod solemnly to Jean, "Yeah yeah, eyes wide open, mouth shut, got it!" and of course she's making a beeline for the petting zoo. "Oooh but tgose baby goats are soooo cute!"

Micola Maximoff has posed:
Micola gives a look to Pietro as he comments on goats having devil eyes, "Well, they might have devil eyes, but they're adorable still." she points out to the speedster with a grin. "What about alpacas? They are like walking fluff clouds." she tells him. The pigs get a grin from her, "No, no need to fish out any change, I don't want to bully my way into the line of kids that want to feed the animals." she muses to that.

"More importantly...this place has so many deliciously bad things to eat." she grins at that. Food. One of the great joys of life. "Did you want to try any of the rides?" she asks him as she gives the speedy one a look.

James Proudstar has posed:
James Proudstar is sipping from an obscenely large Orange Julius which still manages to look small in his grip. He's walking with a fairly non descript group mutants some from the mansion some not. He speaks sotto voice. "Circulate, have fun. Keep your eyes open. If anything feels off let me or one of the others know. Do not engage. You're the eyes and ears." Jim smiles, "It's the most important part, kinda my jam, well a part of my jam. He hands them each some money, "Have fun, be safe."

Jean Grey has posed:
When Rogue catches up with her own milkshake, Jean looks back with a grin. "I thought you'd like it. Even if that's all a bit backward. Shouldn't you be taking me out?! And somewhere a bit nicer than the county fair?" Her attention drifts toward the animal pens, and she gives a quick laugh. "But really, it's nice seeing something like this in the city. We actually had things like this too all the time, back home. Not a lot of people realize, but once you get a little north of the city... most of upstate New York is farmland." Thus she refutes some of the 'fancier' image she might be stuck with, in comparison to her mud-wrestling, mechanical bull-riding counterpart.

Who herself isn't living up to her own image in that goth outfit! There must be a story there...

Both Emma and Tabby close in, and she looks back and forth, while taking a half-step nearer to Rogue. "I dont know," she tells Emma. "I kind of hope it does. You people can't ambush me with a surprise party if we're out fighting monsters!" Tabby's big bear gets an exasperated look! <<No maulings is good. It could be that this is just more... scouting, for whoever these people are? It's a great way to draw out a crowd, and doing it here, well... they're bound to get a lot of mutants who don't normally get a lot of stuff like this to enjoy in their normal lives. Lot of targets.>>

After a moment, she looks to Rogue, and then to the wheel they've setup. "Wanna try it? We can do some... uh, scouting from up there!" That's definitely why she wants to go up there! Not to grab some alone time away from the birthday clingers!

Pietro Maximoff has posed:
A sly grin to Micola, Pietro is looking quite amused. "Adorable when babies, yes. And alpacas spit." He shakes his head, walking along side her and taking in the sights. It's not long before he notices some familiar faces - not too unusual here in Bushwick. Those who are noted are given a polite nod, and a raised eyebrow. Did the pair walk into 'something'?

"No bullying. But if there is a spot or two open..." He chuckles. "Rides? Did you have a few in mind here?" He asks, bumping Micola's hip with his own. "Think they have fast ones?"

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko is here.  She swears.  But the speedster has always been prone to filling the gaps between moments with her own adventures, distractions, and curiosities to stay sane.  Her ice cream magically doesn't seem to drip, but does occasionally change into odd almost sculptures as if she were playing with her food.

For the moment, she doesn't make an effort to draw attention to her arrival, assimilating with her group as she appears in the peripheral of things.

Rogue has posed:
An uproar of laughter comes from one of the tents near to the petting zoo, followed by a bit of music coming out from within the flowing white and red striped carnival fabric that houses whatever show is going on inside it.

Outside the festivities are in full swing, with some people enjoying some of the cotton candy, hotdogs, and other carnival food.

Rogue spots Pietro in the crowd and waves one black and green gloved hand toward him, the Belle smiling with those dark purple painted lips. She looks over toward Tabi, and Emma, nodding softly. "This place seems... like nostalgia. Just like Jean an' I were sayin'." The Belle notes in her husky voice. Her eyes go to the Ferris Wheel, then over to Jean, who gets a grin. "Seems like a wise idea t'me, Sugah." She says in good natured fun. "I gotta hear more about Small Town USA Jean after all." She adds as a look is given to the others. "See if ya'll can't win us some birthday prices, would ya?" She asks in that sassy sort of way that is just all her own.

Another sip of her milkshake is taken then as she watches the clowns walking past Pietro and Micola. They end up passing Warpath too as one of them giggles insanely, and waves to the big guy who is nearly just as tall as the clown is on their stilts!

A loud cheering roar of laughter comes from one of the tents then as a pair of big, fat piggies, escape from the tents being chased by some of the Clowns that were inside the big top!

Behind Noriko a deep sad voice speaks up, muffled behind something. "Nobody cares about me..." The voice says. It's a huge elephant with a sign hanging around his mascot costumed neck that says 'I'm Irrelevent Elephant'. He walks past Nori, and TAbi with his huge shoulders slumped and his big floppy feet dragging.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
The Irrelevant Elephant gets a giggle out of tabith and a hug to try and end an emotional slump madated by management while Nori gets handed a napkin to make sure her icecream doesn't leave her icky sticky.

Investigation mode sometimes means having to put forward an image for the sake of cover. In Tabby's case, it's happy go lucky party girl. Megan gets encouraged to check the goats at the petting zoo but before the blonde can catch up she unzips her jacket a little more and extracts a metal hip flask to open and take a swig.

For those with the extra senses. It's actually just apple juice but it's the right color to look like it could be booze. But with the sway and rolling of a body that has been drunk waaaaay more than any twenty year old should that it can easily become muscle memory.

There's a bump of those shoulders against James on her travels and a wink. At his height it's practically against his hips before she moves on, slinking around the back of tents and stalls near the petting zoo to pretend she's throwing up and not waiting to use a port-a-potty.

But totally sneaking around and snooping and dropping eaves like she's dropping bombs. Spy stuff!

And she'd totally hit the emergency break on the Wheel if the Redhead and GothBelle roll to the top in one of those buckets. Give them some extra time privacy.

It's romantic.

The big top does get her attention as piggies squeal and run and get Tabitha following to see where the escape came from and where the porcine performers might have been held.

Emma Frost has posed:
As Jean has given them the impulse, Emma Frost would give a nod <<Pay attention to anyone paying too much attention. Carnival players will be multi-tasking on thier performance, keeping track of the crowds.. Anyone on too much alert that's paying attention will stand out. So just watch for them>> That particular telepathic bit passed along over to the others on the team has Emma return to her casual surveys of the area. Now she's going to try and follow her own suggestion..
    Letting Jean and Rogue have thier little sky ride over as Emma's not bothering to take up any of the food. THe White Queen is after a higher form of prey over than some of the toys and food being put out.

And Emma's just going to sweep her mind ahead, paying no particular attention to other things that don't immedaitely involve her or trouble.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
There are a lot of familiar faces in the crowds now, but Megan's totally focused on the cute animals right now, petting and scratching and talking to the various baby goats and lambs and chickens and piglets and other cute and cuddlies. Oh no, and there go a couple of piggies! She giggles and claps and cheers them on as they chase the cute piggies. "Go get 'em!"

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko watches the escaping piggies and resulting schtick and laughter.  "I don't get it."  Some speed related physical comedy is just lost on her.  She's probably focused on all the wrong factors, like forgetting the fact that she can just watch the fat piggies bounce in slow motion with exuberant braveness glinting in their eyes...or fear.

The speedster startles with a blur when the elephant announces his pain.  "True.  But you could care about you," she suggests as she seemingly deftly anchors the napkin with a little tuck into her vneck.  "Luckily Tabitha hugs everyone," she announces to the elephant after it just...happens.  The hug that is.  It certainly wasn't Noriko's first impulse.

"Thanks," she says in a casual aside to Tabitha right before the woman veers off on her mission.

"Dude.  Do you get paid to do this?"  Noriko practically wonders aloud who is this Irrelevant Elephant even for?  "Like what's the deal?"

Micola Maximoff has posed:
"Yes...but when they aren't spitting they are wonderful." Micola tells Pietro with a chuckle. Her golden gaze does track after the clowns, not too sure about the laughter that comes from them. The Greek woman then turns back when Pietro is nodding to folks and she gives a wave, "Hello." she offers with a smile to the others.

"I'm not sure if they have any really fast rides, they might have the Gravitron or other things like that. I'm willing to try some with you." she chuckles to that.

"Unless we want to see what's going on in the tent that's so fascinating?" she offers.

Jean Grey has posed:
Well, Jean and Rogue have a plan! Possibly a saucy one. Does it mean abandonning the mission? Well... at the moment, it's still a little hard to tell what the mission IS. And, legitimately, they might get a better view point from up there. And if there's troulbe, well... they can both fly! Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

Thus, Jean looks back, offers a hand, and soon leads the way off merrily toward the bottom of the ferris wheel. There is no doubt some dubious carny running the whole thing, and from him, a pair of tickets can be acquired. Then it's just a matter of waiting for the next seat to come swinging around and the prior passengers to disembark. The hanging seat is rather a dubious affair, not even the kind with a cage, just a bench with a bar to hold the riders in as they're dragged skyward. Its the true county fair experience, where there's always just a TINY chance of a horrible, agonizing death!

Once they're squished in beneath the bar beside each other and start to rise, Jean kicks her feet and giggles. "Here we goooooo!" She pauses, then tries to sound serious. "Uh, keep your eyes sharp for any trouble!"

Pietro Maximoff has posed:
A nod. "Clearly. So long as they are not in spit mode, yes." Pietro chuckles. Everything happening around him is noted. Much like Noriko, most things are moving in super-slow motion for the speedster. It certainly allows for him to take in all that is going on in the fair, good or bad. So far, nothing too out of the ordinary that he can spot.

A wave to Rogue. "That's Rogue, a friend." He offers over to Micola. "Perhaps the Graviton if they have one, yes. You don't dislike fast rides or get motion sick, do you?" He asks.

James Proudstar has posed:
James Proudstar watches the young ones disperse. Dissolving into the crowd in that way street kids have and others have to learn. He nods and walks on his own. Tabbi gets a nod and a smile. He circulates through the fairway taking everything in, the sights, the sounds, the smells. He notes micro expressions on the barkers. Watching as he wins and loses. Most of his winnings are handed off to small children. He does keep one for Hank to analyze. No, seriously, it's for science. James takes it all in without the filter of nostalgia, growing upon the reservation these sorts of thibgs weren't partof his lived experience.

Rogue has posed:
"I get paid noooothin'." The Irrelevant Elephant says back to Nori as he starts to round a corner, only to run face first with a giant mascot Lion with its mouth open and a big smile on its plushie face! A sign on his chest says 'I'm the Laughing Lion!', and he just points at the Elephant and starts laughing hysterically with a booming Lion-like laugh! Point laugh, point laugh, point laugh!

The Elephant lowers his head even more "Nobody likes me." He says just before Tabi offers him a hug.

Rogue and JEan are off to the Ferris Wheel, navigating the food lane that goes toward the big tents. Its beyond them that the other rides are visible too with flashing lights and thumping music!

Rogue leans back in the Wheel Car, and grins over at Jean. "Yeah, this is gonna show us where all the shenanigans are goin' down. I'm sure'a it!" She says back to the redhead before sipping her drink again. "Look, over there, I see Oh, wait... No, that's just a dumpster. I thought it was Piotr." Ha ha.

The escaped piggies run past a dias that has a sleeping Tiger mascot on it, with a sign saying 'I'm the Tired Tiger' The clowns chase the two pigs that run toward where Megan is, one of them dropping something behind it as it runs, the Clowns not noticing.

It's a shoe. A blue and white shoe with the laces tied and slightly chewed up.

One of the clowns on the stilts walk toward the tents row with all the food, his head leaning back as he raises up a torch that he blows on, causing a SPOUT OF FLAME to fire up in to the air with a WOOSH!

Out of seemingly nowhere, a pair of white painted faced clowns show up to Pietro and Micola, offering them big fluffy cones of cotten candy! Their happy smiley faces are painted on with black around their mouths, though the black is filled in with red. The long lines going in to the Big Top itself are all holding on to either blue or pink cotton candy cones, while others are chomping on bags of popcorn that is also being handed out by other SMILEY clowns.

Emma Frost has posed:
And Emma Frost is quiet. She's being rather thoughtful. And then upon seeing all the 'SMILE' clowns over that have popcorn ready.. Well, they present a target. At least.. She attempts to engage in some surface level thought skimming. At this point, the former White Queen of the Hellfire Club isn't particularly expecting trouble. But, appearances must still be kept up. And she's still maintaining a telepathic facade and illusion about herself of someone that's not remotely important at all.
    THe type that is to be if her little trick works that's just dismissed as something to ignore, so unspectactular.

The others are having thier fun. Emma is here at least for the facade of business. The circus isn't really quite her thing. Life is too close to it after all to really offer any sort of escapism. but now Emma hopefully has some minds to read in minor passing.. Presuming, of course that she actually is able to!

Tabitha Smith has posed:
The shoe drops and there's a worry about the other one as she dooes her best to sneakily sink down on a knee, tie up one of her own shoes and then slip the one on the ground into her jacket which is then zipped up so nothing falls out. This gets a very, very icky dry heave for Tabitha stomach. The shoe isn't empty but if it gets left out in the open it's gonna cause a panic.

That includes tranq guns.

<<I think the pigs ate someone. You know pigs are a great way for disposoing of bodies  right?>>she thinks into the mind link. A bag of the popcorn is snagged and nommed on with a smile at the clown offering it. Then goes right back to trying to sneak around to presumamly the back stage area of the big top.

The popcorn at least tastes great and despite the queasiness of her current storage solutions. Tabby is feeling very, very happy and hungry. This might be a familiar feeling of sorts. <<Wow, you know, Jean, Anna-Marie. You two should totally bust out the gifts I left for you tonight. Go and dance or something. I can dogsit Jeepers so he's looked after and fed and walked. And wow this popcorn is good!>> she states while doing her best to sneak in back. She might not be blitzed but maybe something is messing with her. Hard to tell considerng her defaullt brain chemistry.

Micola Maximoff has posed:
Micola gives a look towards where the pigs are running for freedom, "Well, they'll never catch them." she chuckles to that. Pigs were so hard to catch once they escaped. She gives a smile, "I'll have to remember names and faces." she tells Pietro. "And no, no motion sickness or anything like that." she tells him as she's turning to look towards the rides.

That's when the clown pops up and she jumps a little before the cotton candy is offered. Sneaky clowns! She gives a smile to them before looking to the fluffy treat and then to Pietro, "Do we trust clowns?" she whispers to him.

James Proudstar has posed:
James Proudstar watches Jean and Rogue covertly take to the sky with a small smile.

    There's a drill every feral trained at Xavier's, at least the one's who've taken Logan's advanced class has done. They stand in a room, buffeted by scents identfying each but one beyond all others, the coppert tang, the sweetness. <<Blood.>> He frowns and fills his lungs, looking around. Jim begins a search pattern turning into the wind trying to figure out where the scent is coming from.

Pietro Maximoff has posed:
Pietro's eyes go to the scrambling piggies - a slight shake of his head. Sure, he could catch them - but that would be undignified! "So many names, yes. I will remind you and of course, introduce you should we get into conversation." At least he's polite, right? A look to Jean, as she'd greeted him too, even without speaking.

"Good for the motion sickness, that would make running around with you a bit more difficult." He teases - blinking as the clowns all but appear. That's not right. A look to Micola, and a quick whisper. "Take, don't eat."

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean is having a legitimate fun time riding on the Ferris Wheel, almost like it was a real date! It's definitely a dose of that more small-town charm, and it provides a unique perspective on all the fun shenanigans going on beneath. The clowns, the various strange animal mascots. The running piggies...

<<Wait, what?>>

If there's a mental equivalent to a double-take, a classic movie record-scratch moment, that's basically what her thoughts do. Sure, despite the surface level fun, she's been alert and aware, maybe even suspicious of what is happening. But pigs disposing of bodies is definitely a little past the threshold of expectations here. And more than that...

<<Tabby, are you alright?>> Jean can get a sense that at least something is off, even without any kind of special information. Then there's a quick confirmation to James. <<Alright. Keep on the scent... and keep on Tabby. We don't want people getting separated.>>

And now she makes a point of picking out Pietro again, even if she's allllll the way up there on the wheel. <<I didn't mean to interrupt your own outing but... it sounds like there might be something unusual going on. Not that I need to tell you to be on your toes.>>

Aside from just playing overwatch from atop of the Ferris wheel, she reaches out again with her mind, more intently. Despite the silliness of it, there IS some small advantage to be had from the loftier position. Rather than being IN the sea of thoughts, she's now above it, like a boat on the water, looking for the bigger patterns, the proverbial waves.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would let out a mental sigh over <<Jean, darling, do try and work a bit more on paying attention>> That's sent just to Jean and is purely in a teasing tone from the blonde haired telepath to the redhead. Emma's maintaining her own scan over as she's starting tos hare more data.

<<James, please do keep us updated and in the loop as you find things. Tabitha, stay alert, and well done>> Emma's now going to sweep her mind along more aggressively. Now she's going to more openly read minds if she can. Mentally seeking thsoe if possible who are hostile, who are on alert, and those whom are dangerous. Or sorts of things from the crowd that are excited, that are confused, that are scared.. Emma's quickly sending her own flows of data over to Jean.

To the others, Emma works at assembling a mental diagram of the area. Presuming James lets her, in turn she is passing along rough sensory data, sensations and conclusions while then feeding her own thoughst to the pattern. Giving the mental location of Tabitha, James, and the others in the crowd as seh's also adding to it each 'clown' that she's tkaen note of or seen by the cloud.

<<Noriko, be on standby please if Tabitha requires backup>> request. Jean's the one in charge here.

Rogue has posed:
Pietro and Micola are both given a pink and light blue puffy cone of cotton candy. The clowns make some silly, arguably annoying, noises before they skip-- and carthweel-- away! The line of people waiting to get inside the tent is long, but its moving quite rapidly.

James' scent sniffer will lead him toward where he saw Tabitha going... she was the strongest scent of blood that he picked up on.

The piggies that escaped have disappeared around a structure near the park, and the clowns chasing them with them, also vanisshing!

"Wait, what?" Rogue asks from her perch up on the Ferris Wheel. "Pigs are what?" She considers bailing already, but surely there's a mistake about that. Tabi says weird things all the time, right?!

Emma and Jean both doing their mind sweeps now are likely picking up mental imagery that they don't like though. But still...

There's so much happy everywhere, no sadness. The people here are all having fun!

So, much, fun..l.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Boom-Boom doesn't have the enhanced senses or telepathy that other mutants have. She's just got bio-electrically charged plasma at her disposal. Not so good for anything investigative but fine control is handy for ingress in case she finds any locks or doors.

<<Umm, I feel waaaaay too happy for soaking my front bumpers in human blood. I should be throwing up. Still wanna but I just don't feel bad about. Maybe I shoulda given this thing to Nori if she can keep from stuffing it in her fridge at home. Jubilee desrves a cheat day on her diet but this is maybe kinda more important. But we kinda need to know who owns it. God I hope they're alive.>> she states, might be the spiked popcorn she's munching on but what ever is in her system has her all endorphined like mad and thinking a mile a minute. This is probably not a good thing for a woman trying to slow her brain down.

It goes double for what happens next.

She's caught by a very very disturbing site, it's flashed to the link. Pigs eating people blitzed on whatever. Clowns whipping people that try and get loose. The image of those being eaten very happy getting very  mixedfeelings from Tabitha the same happiness. <<They are definitely eating people guys! Umm, we're on, gamefaces. This is like sssooooooo nasty!>> When she's actually caught and scooped up Tabby starts kicking up a fuss. "Heeey you know if you want make up tips I'm yourgirl but. Maybe you guys wanna gget some better feed for the pigs. At least stop watching old britch crime movies!" she states and struggles to kick out even as she feels way to happy of course one thing that always makes her happy.

The people outside the tent can hear it. The X-men on the scene can probably easily figure out what's just happened.

There's BOOMs as Tabitha tries to free herself and avoid being pig feed. Luckily her own powers can provide a rush that suits the blissfull state she's been drugged into.

"Ruining plans? AIN'T I A STINKER!" she yells and charges more and more plasma around her.

Kinda bright in the big top!

James Proudstar has posed:
James Proudstar filters out the localized scents, there's always blood in large crowds but he closes in quickly, wrankling his nose, <<It's the main tent. That's where the smell is coming from.>> The blood, tabby's disappearance. There are times being a one man Apache Brute Squad is a plus as James sets his feet and heads for the main tent, undeterred he moves through the crowd bellowing, "EVERYBODY /MOVE/" At the people. James considers the situation pulling a rag from his back pocket. <<Jean, please just broadcast 'oxenfree' to the crowd. I'll explain later.>> James stays ground bound for now watching to see how the clowns react.

Jean Grey has posed:
"Tabby... she saw a half eaten foot," Jean answers Rogue, high above. And just like that, there goes the romantic mood! She focuses.

But crowds are always hard: all the brain power in the world is only worth so much against the raw overwhelming mental bandwidth of humanity en masse, especially when emotions are high, as the carnival-like atmosphere promotes. In a way, its a kind of shield. All the laughter, all the giddy feelings, the twisted elation. But there is something beneath it, and slowly, bit by bit, Jean peels through it all. High above the crowd, where no one is going to give her funny looks, she raises both hands to the sides of her head, touching fingers to her temples to focus.

"There's... something, beneath the smiles... oh, oh no." Her skin loses a bit of its color.

<<Emma, are you- I think its coming from inside those tents.>> Soon, she's reaching for the others, to relay the information - perhaps slightly mentally censored, down to the basic facts. Yet as she reaches Tabitha, she's getting more of the same, from a different, and far more personal angle. <<Everyone, converge on the tent!>>

She and Rogue are still up top, still clamped in, but... c'mon, that's hardly much of an obstacle. She looks to the goth'd-up Belle, to the bar, and upnods. Why do with her brain what the other woman can do with a mere flex of her arms? "Get down there to back up Tabby, flatten any of them that are still standing," she says.

The last part is telling. Because Jean doesn't waste any time with what comes next. There's no 'covering this up' with simple mental subterfuge. People are being EATEN. She goes hard: having found the minds, she reaches out simultaneously, cutthing through the false emotions and down to the basic neural functions. It's the off-switch. And she flips it.

Emma Frost has posed:
Any sort of real formal coordination here goes by teh wayside as Emma gets far, far too much information over from what she's picking up with deep scans (along possibly with the just as unfortunate Jean). The sensation of the 'coercive' pressure of something addled, like drugs or phermones strikes her right at the time as she misses hte obvious. There will -always- be those upset at a carnival. Crying children, people sick. . Eveyrone here is so happy.

SHe's cursing at herself. Sloppy, sloppy. Tha tis not sent over the link. At what she picks up she spends half a second wretching and puking before she shuts some of those emotinoal centers of her brain off with her telepathy. Easier. So much easier. She gives only the very, very minimal elaboration while also going to pass it along to their other allies; Pietro and Micola.

<<Backup Tabitha, anyone who is available>> WIth active hostiles and people being devoured, Emma goes to focus on rescue and retrieval and damage control.

POint she leaves to James and Noriko. THe two will handle things far more quickly on their own without micro-management.

    Then Emma is going to break over into a run and doing as James asks, mentally broadcasting that word to everyone in the area. She's missing something, but now is not the remote time to ask why. She's shut down enough parts of her brain that she's just acting. Getting ready on her own end tos tart to be available to shut down anyone in the area.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko is really caught up in critiquing the clownwork, to herself.  She mumbles a stream of critique too fast and jaded to make out as distinct words.  When she hears the boom though, she's there in a flash.  "What the-"  "That's some fucked up clown work right there," she points out with a fresh ice cream cone.  Noriko seems to think Tabitha has it covered, because she lets her handle it.

"Tabs you have the best one-liners," she encourages casually from the side lines briefly.  "I think I can eat this and help at the same time."   Of course she knows she can, of course she wouldn't let ice cream get in the way of the mission, but it's fun to let people think so.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue pushes the metal bar up and forward off of she and Jean's laps. She then stands up and shoots off in to the sky without another question. Descending down toward the Big Top tent's roof, she spies the open hole in its peak. The Belle just twirls as she descends through it, avoiding the wires and ropes there-in. She sweeps down out of the sky...

James' efforts are heroic and bold, but everyone in the tent who sees him are just laughing at him, some even throwing kernals of popcorn at the big man! They seem to all just be having the times of their lives! With hundreds of people in the tent, it's quite a show too.

Quite a show indeed.

Tabitha is placed down on the ground just in time to have two pigs rush at her, their snouts covered in crimson.

Rogue lands between Tabi, and one of the pigs, kicking its face so hard that the pig just squeals and goes tumbling over on to its backside, end over end!

There are several more Mutants on the ground who are all laughing as they continue to get chewed on by the animals that are being used in this disgusting display.

Two of the clowns see James, and both brandish knives, as they charge at him!

And then it happens.

The telepathic shutdown from jean occurrs, and everyone who isn't an X-Men just locks up, goes quiet, and drops.

Except the pigs. They still have to be stopped.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
The fight back is probably not that impressive. Tabby's plasma charges soon fade and there's giggles as damn those are some good drugs and the clowns with the whips manage to put said whips to use on Tabitha as she liteally has the fight taken out of her as the chemical cocktail .

And into the pigsty she goes looking around with a very pleased look while on hands and knees staring at some of the pigs that trot around scrambling for their next mouthful of feed. Which involves a Boom-Boom in a mess of dirty soaked blood marinade on the menu.

There's more thoughts on the mind link but it's mostly sensations. <<It's all good. I'm fine now, really! No probs>> $e$eAnd she's the one that brought a bunch of tranq guns clunking under her jacket just for exactly this. If she wasn't so messed up she'd be worried about the pigs sniffing her very, very as much as the humans that aren't dead. One gets kicked and Tabby just smiles up at the Goth Rogue completely oblivious to the second one that rushes and clearly wants to make a meal of the blonde covered in much.

The shut down doesn't take Tabby but with any agression covered by those drugs she might as well be. She's be mortified at the slaughter, she was even when the drugs started kicking in but now maybe she wants bacon. So instead she's stuck wallowing like the pigs while at Rogue's feet.

This would probably look way sexier if it wasn't kinda gross and gory around the collar wearing ladies.

Emma Frost has posed:
A few more moments of focus from Emma Frost, going to be there to reinforce Jean's telepathic commands, coordinating with Rogue.. And making sure to dissassociate herself just enough over from the actions of Tabitha and likely very shortly James just to ensure that she has fewer memories of the horrors that she'll be wiping from her own mind as soon as possible.

Emma is then going to the minds of each clown in turn that's left on the ground dropped and is going to hpoefully try and quickly improve upon it by giving them each spasms that if it works would have her be removing their ability to walk at at all and hopefully leaving them fully parlyzed. Able to breathe, enough control to not cought up and die in their own vomit catching up in their lungs..

Presuming she can shut them down and make sure they're not going anywhere anytime soon even if Jean stops dropping them.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"This little piggy went to market," Noriko starts off, demonstrating just how off kilter she is when she is completely sober and /not/ so horrified off her game.  Perhaps it's a defense, swinging for the opposite side of the spectrum, callousing herself, but how could she is the evidence of her damage.

ZAP!  Noriko slaps the top of one of the pig's heads like it's a bongo.  It's plenty of time to deliver the burst of electricity through his body.

"This little piggy went...where do the other piggies go?!"  Noriko calls out to no one in particular.  It's not like her parents sang it to her when she was a baby.  She kind of pauses for a moment when everything gets shut down, checking to make sure she's not going that fast is she?  It's a speed perception double take...When she sees the pigs moving at the same rate though still, she snaps back to the right judgement.

She's trying not to breathe through her nose.  The stunnning should make it nice and easy to mop up with tranqs.

James Proudstar has posed:
James Proudstar acts to protect the innocents. Grabbing clowns, piling their unconscious forms to create pens. Penning the pigs with the bodies, letting the pigs take their due as the mutants are pulled to safety. Leaving the clowns for the feast as the others worry about slaughtering pigs. He pulls the victims to safety making sure the pigs cannot escape from the abbatoir. Once the mutants are safe James returns to help with the slaughter.

Jean Grey has posed:
The en masse 'cutting the puppet strings' maneuver is impressive, to be sure, but it IS very much at the limits of what Jean can do... at least before she starts getting the stellar munchies. So after her hands fall from her temples just as the clowns (and pretty much everyone else) fall to the ground, she gently slumps down into the comfortable embrace of the still lightly-swaying Ferris wheel seat. Tired. But she has a nice view!

Plus, she's not so far out of it that she can't offer some commentary: <<Hog wrangling... didn't you win a ribbon for this once?>> Yes, that's for Rogue!

Otherwise, she trusts that the others are very much capable of handling some animal-wrangling and mostly leaves them to it. <<It's a lot of wounded... victims are going to need serious triage, probably more than we have resources for. Emma, can you call EMS, handle some kind of plausible story for it?>> She's so tired she has to outsource the brainwashing!

Rogue has posed:
"Very funny!" Rogue answers Jean about the ribbon comment. "I won a beauty pageant back at the Caldecutt CountyFaire! Jealousy doesn't suit ya well, red, makes your freckles stand out!" She counters as she kicks another pig away until it runs toward one of James' makeshift pens.

AS she turns around she sees the other X-Men mopping up whats left.

"Jesus Herbert Christ, it stinks in here!" Rogue shouts then as she looks around at the mess. "What the hell are we gonna do about this?" She asks, everyone.

Outside there are some sirens in the distance, somehow the Police may have heard about this situation...

Pietro and Micola likely.

"Grab any evidence ya can, and lets ... I dunno... get outta here. James, get Tabi!" She motions to the still very happy Mutant girl Boomer.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Blissed out, placid, and completely passive. The fact that right now. Being fed to pigs now being stunned, kicked, and otherwise kept from feeding further seems to not bother her at all, like she'd welcome it. Resistance long sapped out of the very messy blonde woman that drops to lay in herside and then roll on her stomach, limbs sprawled like she's making a gore angel.

The bulges of that severed foot and shoe. Keeping it is probably redundant beyond identification putposes. The tranq dart guns, shoulder holsters and a double in the small of her back showing as well. All the mud and blood soaking her clothes and now her hair.

Even the mind link Tabby was included on gives nothing but happiness and acceptance leaving her mentally in the same state as all the other victims.

The second pig that rushes her shoving it's snout to try and find the best spot to start chomping and eating and being icky and no pigs are the ones to be eaten not the blonde. She is not food. But the pig does find something to eat.

The severed foot Tabby found.

The jacket is torn at and the shoe and it's contents are yanked out.

It must have had a piece of the original owner and wanted left overs.

In her current state she might as well be a ragdoll. Just covered in viscera and someone's intestines. Moving her is gonna suck.

Tabby clearly won't mind right now what happens to her.

Emma Frost has posed:
Then Emma Frost is going to rub at her temples <<Of course Jean. I'll tend to it.>> Why does she get left with all these messy things. <<I'll ensure that it's sent annonymously and there's sufficient emergency services on standby and detox available. And I'll speak with charles on ensuring they have access to proper mental health aid.>> Emma's shutting dwon large parts of her brain to try and handle this.

Even as the authorities are on the way and sirens are going. <<Let's get out of here. And I propose that we never, ever go back to any sort of carnival ever again. This one was enough for me>>

Then she's taking a breath as she assesses Tabitha's mental state and sees teh girl. 'What in god's name'.. Is all she can muster out before she goes to puke once more to the side. "Tabitha, we're going to have you taken for a medical extraction and decontamination. Please just come along with me. BUT!" Emma would hold up a finger, "... Please don't touch."

James Proudstar has posed:
James Proudstar sorts through the victims letting the authorities find the carnivorous pigs feasting on the unconscious forms of their captors if they haven'tbern killed in the pen by now. He sorts through the bodies looking for the famaliar and not finding any. James walks over to Tabs and lifts her gently, the scent of blood and offal coming off her is nauseating but the downside of super senses is everything is nauseating. He's gotten quite good at holding it down. His voice is quiet, "You did good, sleep tight." And with Tabby in tow James lifts off the ground and heads for home.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean is done, for sure. She sways lightly in the wind, and slowly goes round and round. And round again. Because her mental short-out of the whole carnival definitely also got the carny running the wheel, and it just keeps going and going!

And although the sirens are closing in, Emma seems to have the situation mostly under control. The situation isn't pleasant, but there's no more that can be done. Definitely not by her.

Thus, rather than flying off herself, she beams Rogue a very particular message about the rest of her birthday plans, and resigns herself to be rescued from her wheely predicament and carried home!

Tabitha Smith has posed:
There's no real resistance to being made to move and not be practically face down in dirt blood, organs, and now Emma's hurl splashing about. The safest way to clean the girl up is probably going to involve strapping her to her van's roofracks and driving through.

And Pay extra for the wax, polish, and undercarriage work.

Jimmy's lift and carry is as accepted as it was when she was shhoved into the mess in the first place. At least she is technically being led out and doing what Emma wants.

But Tabby, she'd be stuck if she didn't have a little help from her friends!

Eventually she'll doze off hopefully clean and sober. Now if only it wasn't just loading her up on dopamine and endorphines and taking away any aggression or asertive ness.

A good blackout would have been so nice for Boom-Boom right now. But nope, she's gotta deal with being consious the whole time.