109/Alchemax Descends on Chinatown

Alchemax Descends on Chinatown
Date of Scene:	25 February 2020
Location:	Chinatown
Synopsis:	Logan, Jean, Laura, and Rachel have an unpleasant run-in with paramilitary in ChinaTown. They discover the existance of Laura's clones and flee before police arrive.
Cast of Characters:	Gabby Kinney, Logan Howlett, Jean Grey, Laura Kinney, Rachel Summers

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Gabby Kinney has posed:
If there was one thing Chinatown in New York was reknown for (besides being occasionally shady), it was having the best Chinese takeout in the city. Naturally. In addition to that, it was just at the tail end of Lunar New Year so there were quite a few deals going on trying to clear out the surplus of such goods as rat luck charms, and moon cakes. So many moon cakes.

It's the perfect time for a visit to grab some good grub and enjoy a balmy February evening--No serious it's actually kind of nice weather out for once.

Logan Howlett has posed:
"Came in here back in the nineties," Logan grunts. He steps into the chinese restaurant and holds the door open for Jean. "Damn fine soup dumplings." His nostrils flare at the delicious scents, and the short, thickly muscled mutant peers about the place. He's dressed in a pair of battered jeans, sturdy boots, a white shirt and a leather jacket. The motorcycle the two rode down here on together is parked outside.

"And the ever-lovin' short-rib...," he growls, practicaly salivating. He pauses then, and he squints at a sign on the wall, declaring new ownership sometime in the past year or two. "Those dumplings better be the same recipe," he grunts.

He rolls a muscled shoulder and makes his way further in to find them a table.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean accepts the opened door, "Always been more of a Pad Thai fan, honestly, but thanks for the lift down Logan." She grins at Logan, the redhead wearing a green silk blouse and blue jeans, and a brown leather jacket over that.

Though at Logan's comment about the dumplings being the same recipe, she tilts her head a moment. Then she grins, "Same chef back there, even with the new owner, so I think you're safe, 'bub'." Okay, she can't help but tease a little as she lets him lead the way to a spot.

Laura Kinney has posed:
     And it was for the food that one Laura Kinney was here. It took /ages/ to convince places that yes, she wanted it /that/ hot, no, she wouldn't sue them or demand a refund, and yes, she knew what she was talking about. As such, she's just stepping out of the door of her own hole-in-the-wall of choice, well folded brown paper bag in one hand giving off steam that somehow manages to give her some breathing room in the crowded streets. To Laura, it's not a violation of the geneva conventions. It's /delicious/. Blissfully unaware of the presence of people she's definitely not trying to avoid for reasons, a bench is located next to a brazier being run by a food cart for a bit of extra warmth, and the teen digs in.

Rachel Summers has posed:
    Jeans, teeshirt, and Carhart coat are the basic outfit choices Rachel has made for today. But either way, she has been out and about wandering the city. Hands in her pockets to keep them warm, she just had some feeling that she needed to be in this area. Sometimes her psychic shit is a mystery even to her. The lure of whatever the hell it is has drawn her here... though it might be the sense of so many mutants that she senses in that area.
    As she approaches, she shakes her head like a boxer trying to recover from a stiff jab. "Fuck." she mutters to herself. "Stop letting yourself get into hound mode you loser." she says to herself.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
The food, the evening, the chatter of locals in some dialect or another of Chinese. This was prime Chinatown even if some were under new ownership. It seems as if it's set to be a good night of good food and company (or lack thereof in some instances.)

The chatter of Chinese gets a bit more enlivened though. Some locals start to dip away into shops and businesses, or just into their own homes, as a loud rumble of approaching trucks disturbs the pleasant sounds on the street. A few uniformed men weilding guns slung over their shoulders, but not drawn, stride down the sidewalks in front of military humvees attempting to squeeze down the narrow streets. Except they were lacking the noticable identifying unit markings of actual military.

A few on the backs of the vehicles scan around looking at faces searching out... someone. Or some thing.

Poor Laura apparently looks like someone.

The guns weilded by the men are suddenly drawn and shouts go over radios about 'Finding one of the targets' and 'send reinforcements to our location'.

"GET DOWN ON THE GROUND!" One foolish man declares to Laura.

Logan Howlett has posed:
Logan grunts in reply to that, nodding a bit. "Good. I was gonna be pissed. Can't get dumplings that good outside of China. I mean, I assume." He and Jean are inside the establishment, so don't see Laura outside on her bench. He finds a booth for them and slides into it, reaching out to snag one of the menus. He glances over it when his eyes narrow a bit. His nostrils flare a few times. Jean has seen that look before. He's picked up an odd scent. Laura, in this case. Someone he hasn't smelled in awhile.

"...That can't be right," he grunts, setting his menu back down. Then the trucks come. He glances towards the door as his ear twitches. "Military trucks. The fuck?"

"We got trouble, red. What're they thinkin'?" He rises to his feet and calls back towards the people working in the place. "Get back in the kitchen! Stay down until I tell ya otherwise." His tone is a hard thing to argue with. With that he is on the way out the door, waiting for Jean if she is coming.

Laura Kinney has posed:
     ...Oh, he's going to regret that. Something clicks inside Laura's head, and she's back to combat mode in an instant. "Easy. I'm going to bend over and put the food down." The things she does to win a fight. And she'd only just gotten a few mouthfulls too. The black haired teen bends over, one hand empty, the other containing the carton. Her movements are slow and steady, but only until she can grasp the throwing knife tucked into her boot...
    It's about now that the chaos starts. The closest soldier is the recipient of a Number Twenty-Five with Chicken, EXTRA EXTRA Spicy, straight to the face. His partner is the recipient of Laura's throwing knife straight through the throat. It's a good thing she hadn't worn Logan's jacket tonight, because she gets the feeling she's going to get shot at least once. The now howling in pain merc is spun around to use as a human shield, pulled backwards into an alley before suddenly dropping to the ground with a thud, limp and boneless. His pistol holster is also suspiciously empty.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean sensed the thoughts of the men as a aberrant spike in the feel of the ambience. The mental equivalent of someone scratching nails on a chalkboard while trying to listen to Yo-Yo Ma.

"I'll keep them from coming in, at least until everyone is out the back." She glances around, and does two things. First, she telekinetically jams the front door so it won't open very easily.

Second, she looks into the mind of one of the soldiers that isn't directly involved in the fighting, trying to figure out the reason these paramilitary people are here... "Logan, they are looking for 'escaped property' apparently. Some kind of medical experiments... can't get too much more than that right now." Her eyes narrow as she sees the fighting, and puts two and two together. Okay, so it might be 4.3, but still, it rounds down right?

Rachel Summers has posed:
    Military unit with soldiers and trucks. While everyone reacts like real warriors... she just freezes. She stares there for a moment, standing right across the street from where Laura was being confronted.
    She stares in a frozen moment of terror and trauma. She was just thinking like a hound.. and then the soldiers showed up. It's all too much for her. And then Laura goes berserk, with extra sauce.. and Jean might start to -feel- the panic rising in some stranger. A stranger that she might recognize the feel of telepathically. All of this going on and for now, Rachel is frozen in place. Stupid trauma.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"You idiots! Fall back, that is not-!"

It's all one of the men in the truck can get out before Laura moves into action in response to the overzealous foot soldiers. The one that receives the knife to his neck may have been the more fortunate one as he merely keels back hacking, choking on the blood while clawing impotently at the knife at his throat doing the worst thing possible by yanking it out. If he wasn't dead before he surely would be now. The guy who got 25 with chicken to the eyes? Wails as if his entire soul had been sent to hell as he falls to his knees screaming and slapping his face to rid it of the burning that sets his vision watery and the completely black with the sudden swelling of reaction to the level of spice in the dish.

"Fuck! That's 23-Prime!" Whatever that meant. The yell gets the other soldiers to spill out of the truck. Some charge forward to attempt to help their comrades. Some lift their guns. Some just take the hell off running the opposite direction because they are NOT paid enough to deal with *that* one!

The man in charge pushes out of the door of the humvee barking orders to reestablish some kind of control while pulling his own gun out. "She still bleeds like the others! Put her down and move on!"

A figure steps up beside Rachel watching the commotion with a little lip smacking chew. A small girl with a mask nudged to the side just a bit as she eats a decorative moon cake. It's like some kind of expressionless kabuki mask. "Oh they're screwed," she assesses with a nod, then turns to flash a reassuring smile at the apparently shocked bystander. "Don't worry, it'll be over in a minute. My sisters and I will get this. You should maybe take cover though."

True to her word a figure jumps down from the rooftops to land on the back of the truck. Long white hair trails back over her shoulders as she slices through the canvas of the vehicle to drop down inside. The screams aren't pleasant.

Logan Howlett has posed:
Why is everyone with Logan's blood so violent?

Don't answer that.

Logan's nostrils flare again as he steps outside, his mind reeling the odd scents from the little girls. What the hell? The short, thick man snarls and strides into the mess of things. Claws slide from knuckles with the clear sound of metal on metal.

*SNIKT*

He slashes out, cutting the rifle in half of the nearest man before he delivers an adamantium-coated knee to the man's stomach in a leaping movement, landing on both feet again. "I try not to kill anymore," he snarls. "But whoever this is doesn't seem to roll the same way." He swings out again, cutting another gun in half before he leaps up, delivering his forehead to the man's mouth, shattering teeth, but not killing. "I'd retreat, numbnuts. But you military types've never been known for your smarts, huh?"

Laura Kinney has posed:
     Having relocated to a nearby roof thanks to a fire escape, Laura pulls a bandana from her pocket and ties it over her nose and mouth. Don't need EVERYONE getting a good picture after all. Situation... Lots of hostiles. Resources: One remaining throwing knife, One Glock 18 with extended 33 round magazine. One round chambered. Yeah, this can work. Her nostrils flare behind the improvised mask, picking up a familiar scent in the riot of smell that is Chinatown. Logan's here. And... That's strange. Very strange, and will need some investigating after. Meanwhile, she's got idiots to deal with. Like the ones who decided to follow her into the alley. Oh, and that one who looks like a leader. Bit far for knives, and she /does/ want to keep this one. She'll just shoot him in the face, then deal with the ones in the alley. Laura takes aim and fires, before shoving the pistol into the back of her pants, popping claws, and dropping into the alley. Right onto some poor bastard's shoulders. Cue wild gunfire and screams from the alley, before one merc comes running out, rather literally disarmed.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean comes out after Logan does, long hair flaring out a bit as she channels her telekinetic powers. Her first task is disarming the remaining soldiers, which she does by yanking the rifles out of their hands, then crunching the barrels with her telekinetic strength. Nothing //too// outlandish, but there's no chance they'd be able to fire right now. She then pauses, looking for someone that is more in 'charge' so she can get an idea of what exactly is going on here... and doing a deep mental dive into their head when she spots them.

Rachel Summers has posed:
    Now, it's not like Gabby has any reason to realize that Rachel's not really home mentally. In her mind, she is watching her own team hunting down and gunning down innocent harmless mutants who simply refused to surrender. But..
    There -is- one thing that reaches through her haze like a white hot knitting needle. In fact, it makes her cringe in pain... not the sort of pain anyone might .. well some might understand.
    When she was five.. she watched as hounds and Ahab and Sentinels attacked the mansion. That was when her mother died. Soldiers attacked her mother... her mother who is standing before these soldiers. The fact that she is not truly in danger right now is immaterial. The good news is that she can sense the psi energy flowing from Mom to the leader. In her head, she is a five year old girl once more as she screams. And when I say scream... I mean a blood curdling scream augmented with telepathic power so that it resounds inthe heads of everyone present. Those wihtout training or psi-shielding might find themselves having a difficult time fo it.
    And then she draws attention by manifesting the Phoenix Force. Not full power, or full size. But it's there on the sidewalk... about six feet out to either side of her as she panics and can't help but let that power out.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
By now the locals have completely abandoned the streets. Even those that were known for defending their turf had decided this was not a fight that they wanted to be involved with. It was better to hide and run than deal with potential military apparently fighting crazy killer mutants.

Pushed on by the barked commands from their leader the soldiers redouble their efforts by chasing Laura into the alleyway... and finding it temporarily empty. They take up position intending to start checking hiding places when she comes down into the midst of their number sending them firing wildly. Friendly fire takes out what few Laura herself doesn't. As for the man in charge? There's only enough to glean from his mind of 'Have to find the sisters' before a bullet lodges itself in his brainpan scrambling his thoughts among other things to oblivion.

The men who had stayed by the vehicle find themselves confronted by Logan himself. There's fear there, oh yes. Even from those that didn't outright know his reputation were afraid of the short angry man coming at them with literal knives popping out of his hands. A few smart ones scatter, or attempt to, but again the orders... And guns rise to shoot toward Logan.

Just as one of the men is about to pull the trigger he's abruptly knocked down by the body of another soldier that was kicked out of the door of the truck by a booted foot belonging to one of those odd kabuki-masked girls. The white haired one who then leans out to shout, "We've got what we need! Come on!" This spurs the shorter dark haired girl in a mask, and body armor that was clearly specifically made for her, to run toward the truck leaping up onto the side with a clambering climb to hold on to the exposed railing on the back of the truck. Which was a good idea since it's suddenly shooting into reverse careening back over some of the guards who were already down right past the alley that Laura was in.

And... oddly... those girls didn't smell like much of anything. They smelled too familiar. They smelled like Laura...

And the Rachel *screams* causing that truck to just lock into one direction until it plows into a light post with smoke billowing out. The white haired girl inside goes down. The smaller dark haired girl goes flying back along the sidewalk. The soldiers drop. If there are any left to drop.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean was probing into the commander's mind... right when he takes a bullet in the head. Which causes her to scream in agony from the psychic backlash, the telepath collapsing to ground as her nose is bleeding just a little bit from the severed connection.

Her eyes are a bit glazed over, but she looks over and sees a very familiar sight... Fire and Life Incarnate... Now and Forever... a mental question crossing Rachel's mind, in that familiar way that she would remember from another time...

"Phoenix?"

Logan Howlett has posed:
Logan is trying very hard not to kill anyone, but everyone keeps dieing, anyways! He snarls as he punches one of the remaining men hard in the stomach, sending him to the ground. He swings down to cut the man's rifle into pieces, before he turns his attention towards the truck.

He's about to yell for Jean to stop the truck when the Phoenix flares up and the truck crashes. He covers his eyes and gapes at Rachel for a moment before he catches himself. He turns towards the truck and makes his way over.

"HEY! YOU! What the hell is going on?" Those claws from his knuckles, or his scent, are hard to miss.

Laura Kinney has posed:
     Laura likes to think her mental shields are pretty good, but the psychic scream still sends her reeling, the teen taking a moment to lean against a HVAC unit and recover. Shaking it off, claws are retracted, and she hurries towards thr truck. Only to be distracted by the downed girl, who looks and smells so much like a younger her. Taking a knee she checks the girl's pulse, looking up at Logan for a moment with a flash of green eyes. "I do not know."

Rachel Summers has posed:
    Okay. So Rachel let that out, and Jean is on her butt too. But seeing Jean go down doesn't do any better things for Rachel. She starts stalking towards the crashed truck with the full intent to -destroy- everyone in it. They attacked, her mother went down. Just like the last time... that hasn't happened yet. Stupid time travel silliness.
    But Jean can -feel- the seething rage pouring off of Rachel as she approaches with absolute murderous intent. As far as she knows, she just lost her mother again. Nevermind the fact that she could figure out the truth with a single glace, even a scan. But for now she isn't thinking that way. She's still in her own PTSD universe... and those are Ahab's hounds... deserving of no mercy, no holding back. They need to die... and she is ready to make that happen, in broad daylight... in front of hundreds of witnesses. Oops?

Gabby Kinney has posed:
There's no resposne from the girl in the truck other than a groan. Her head lifts slightly with a shiver, and she pushes to sit up. The mask is cracked revealing one red eye and skin too pale to not make her an albino. It's all the paler from the track of blood running down her face from where she'd hit the steering wheel hard enough to break the mask in the first place. "None of your--" A look is fixed on Logan only for her head to jerk around to the side seeking out the other girl. Practically throwing herself from the truck she lands wrong, twisting an ankle, then presses on in spite of it. "Get away from her!" she snarls out with every ounce of rage that one might expect from Logan.

Gabby is just begining to lightly swat at Laura's hand with a light gesture. "I'm fine, I tucked and rolled," she explains. "Can't feel pain anyway--" Which causes her to pause when she spots the other girl who was bleeding. Instantly she sits up and tears her mask off revealing a younger version of Laura with scars on her face the only real difference in their appearance besides age. "Bellona! You're bleeding!"

Logan Howlett has posed:
This is SO much. Logan just wanted some damn dumplings. He opens his mouth to say something to Gabby and Bellona when he sees the Phoenix Force striding towards him. No time for this right now.

"Laura. Get the kids out of her. Don't take shit from them. Just get them somewhere safe. Now. We'll catch up later."

He turns towards the Phoenix Force, then, claws out. "HEY!" He waves his hands, trying to get the attention of the beacon of unmaking/making. "Over here!"

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean was, fortunately, not knocked that far for a loop... thankfully the training from the Professor was good for something there. And then she sees... well, a decidedly punk rock sister(?) of hers getting ready to murder everyone and, well...

Jean then telekinetically lifts herself up, flying over towards Rachel, placing her hand on the other woman's shoulder, speaking to her, and the Phoenix, directly into their mind.

<<It's okay. I'm here. I'm right here.>> She doesn't know who Rachel is, exactly, but the Phoenix is unmistakable... and she does still have a rapport with the entity.

Laura Kinney has posed:
     Laura's gaze flits between the now identified Bellona, the younger girl, Logan, and the approaching PHoenix. That's bad. Very bad. But Logan's going to buy her some time. That's good. Okay, time to move. "Sorry." The albino clone is thrown over Laura's shoulder in a fireman's carry, while Gabby is grabbed by the wrist in a steely grip. "There is a subway tunnel evacuation access one street over. We are going there and exfiltrating the area. I have a first aid kit in my backpack." No arguments, just moving in that direction.

Rachel Summers has posed:
    Hand on shoulder... mental connection... Rachel Summers inclines her head and just as she is casually back-swatting Logan with a flaming wing (Yeah physical and psi damage. SOWWIE LOGAN!).. she turns to face Jean. Seeing that face before her, there's unreasoning rage and pain in her eyes for just one more moment. Just long enough for Jean to get a download of it all in the brain. Before the stormclouds break.
    Rachel's childlike innocence returns and she regresses to the five year old who thought Mom was dead.. but who now see her.
    Ladies and gentlemen, this is what a Glomp feels like. The aura fades away like it was never there, and Rachel hugs Jean like she was trying to pull her -into- herself. No words, just sobbing.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Bellona pauses as she realizes the potential danger that was approaching in the way of a firey phoenix walking toward them. A half step is stumbled back before she's caught up by Laura. She doesn't protest. It seems Gabby might, at first, at least until Laura rattles off the plan earning a sharp nod of acceptance. Running alongside she adds, "We know where the access is," she explains with an extra boost of speed to her step to ensure she doesn't fall behind.

Logan Howlett has posed:
Logan takes that swiping apocalyptic wing on the chin. Literally. He goes flying from the force of it, crashing through the front window of a Chinese Medicine shop. Glass riddles his body and scatters across the sidewalk. Somebody inside sceams. Logan is left in a heap, a steaming pile of burnt flesh and bloody meat. He is out cold. He WILL heal that, but it will take him awhile. For now he is three hundred pounds of unconcious Wolverine.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean just cradles Rachel close, not knowing exactly //why// the other woman just glomped onto her, but she doesn't argue with it, particularly as she can tell a Phoenix Host when she meets one.

Since she had the job herself until not too long ago, anyway...

So she is going to figure out how to get Logan up and moving before the cops show up, take this new person with her back to the Mansion, and... oh, yeah, how //do// you ride a motorcycle?

Typical X-Monday.

Laura Kinney has posed:
     Okay, they're playing along. This is good. AT the entrance a quick kick with a toe claw pops the lock, and the trio are free to descend into the blackness. Fortunately, Laura can see in the dark. She navigates to a side tunnel that connects the subway tracks themselves to one of the tunnels that carries pipes and cables. THey'll be safe here, and she can get some basic medical treatment done.