11564/Mutant Mud Pit

Mutant Mud Pit
Date of Scene:	12 June 2022
Location:	Breakstone Lake
Synopsis:	Xavier's builds a mud pit for tug of war down by the lake.
Cast of Characters:	Kitty Pryde, Monet St. Croix, Henry McCoy, Noriko Ashida, Samuel Guthrie, Tabitha Smith, Scott Summers, Zandra Mitchell, Jean Grey, James Proudstar, Bobby Drake

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Kitty Pryde has posed:
     Saturday! Saturday! Saturday!

     Come see the first ever Xavier's Mud Battle Extravaganza!
     Tug of War like you've never seen it before!

     You can buy your whole seat! But you'll only need the edge!

That's what the notices hung around the school and posted on the school's private social media servers said. Come Saturday, a section of the ground has been dug up, the sod moved aside for later replanting, leaving a big mud pit. A heavy metal contraption is in the middle of the pit, with a rope running through it, the core a high-strength steel cable, capable of withstanding above-human strength.

There are grills set up with burgers, hot dogs, brats, chicken, roast vegetable skewers, corn on the cob, and all sorts of other food being cooked. Coolers are set out with bottles of soda, juice, and water, and other beverages for the adult staff.

Music is playing as students gather. Some are lying out by the lake, others taking sailboats out. Still others are splitting up into some teams for the tug of war.

Kitty Pryde is just setting out some desserts at the end of the table. "Mom sent some pastries," she comments as she sets out Theresa Pryde's cooking on a plate.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
why is she here for something so puerile as this? Because seh's been told she must socialize over with her fellows. So Monet St. Croix is there, wearing a red and purple striped two piece swimsuit of a slightly darker hue than her skin. She's settled in over on a towel and moving to ensure that no one is too close to her. without using her powers, she's managed to within general M-Ness just ensure that she's got a field between her and anyone else about.
    She's not smug. She's just not sociable and is just there to be looked at.
    Vanity, thine name is M. Look, don't touch.

Henry McCoy has posed:
Henry McCoy wears a pair of tropical swimming trunks, emblazoned with palm trees and depicting a rose-tinged sunset in the backdrop. He's got an expansive lawnchair, his feet kicked up, the type who would be sunbathing if he didn't have a noted lack of exposed skin. He's set up a small battery powered fan to keep the worst of th summer heat at bay, along with a cooler full of lemonades, both spiked and unspiked. For his part, he's braving the rigors of grain alcohol today. A noble sacrifice indeed.

He takes a sip on his drink through a long, bendy straw, "Indulge, enjoy, cavort and revel, friends and students! Today, we sup from the sweet waters of repose, though tomorrow may carry dangers unknown and horrors most foul, but for now, bask in the joy of unmeasured time, without schedule or worry, free of care and free of responsibility. Uness Cyclops shows up, in which case, you never saw me here."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Having taken up Rogue's old responsibilities, there is no way Noriko can escape these types of activities, given she's one of the people who helped set it up (save for the adult beverages).  Faking a stomach ache comes with guilt, not just scorn, and Noriko must have decided she has enough because no one had to twist her arm into showing up for the activities.  But, there's food, so is it really a big stretch?

The speedster is still wearing her raglan shirt and some shorts from her time hitting balls on the field earlier, the sleeves bunched up at the edge of her gauntlets.  As soon as the word 'pastries' is uttered, Noriko appears next to Kitty, hovering over her shoulder.  "They look really good."  The speedster's blue hair is all a swirl from her flitting about, collecting food for her plate.  In the spirit of the festivities, she's ditched her shoes and socks somewhere, getting by on her own callouses and soft grass for now.

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie had just pulled up in his truck a bit ago, seemed he had something to do earlier in the day. So, now we find Sam walking out to see what's up with the old gang. He is wearing jeans and a plane black t-shirt, not having changed for the outing just yet, preferring to see whats up first.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabby is just Southern enough that the words mud and extravaganza sing to her blessed redneck soul. There might be a lack of monster trucks but that don't mean there's things that'll happen with mud and numerous fit and atheltic people in prime condition.

Like wrassling.

Hotdog in hand, lots of onion and mustard and ketchup with a beer in the other. The blonde woman in sandals on her feet, red cutoffs on her hips and a cropped teal tank top with XAVIER"S across the front covering a little neon pink bikini with bright yellow trim underneath. Why bother with sandals? She actually hates lake mud under her feet. Rolling in mud is fine but it still feels squelchy and icky between toes if you aren't used to it.

She's totally occasionally looking at M. Let the lady feed her ego.

The rest of the food. And it's location on Noriko's plate.

One day these women may face each other in an eating contest to see who has the Ironest Stomach under all those abs.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde grins at Noriko as she appears suddenly as the latest food is mentioned. "Help yourself," Kitty says, pointing to the Jewish desserts. "There's sufganiyot. Rugelach. Bourekas. You've probably had chocolate babka before," she says, motioning to each. For herself, she grabs a suyganiyot to nibble on the jelly donut looking pastry as she moves on to check on everyone.

Kitty's wearing a black bikini top and then a pair of shorts, though the string of the bottoms can be seen over her hips just above the waistband of the shorts. She moves over behind Beast and leans down to give Henry a hug, one-armed to not get any pastry in his fur. "Thanks for all the work on the tug of war, Hank," she tells him as she gives him the tight snug from behind and then straightens again.

"So thanks to Hank, the tug of war rope will even out the sides based on Danger Room measurements of strength. So the teams can be anything and be fair," she points out. "No extra power usage," she says. "Unless it's funny, and then have at it."

She grins and moves over to check on the grilling. "Sam, we could use another cook!" she calls over to the Kentuckian.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix goes to slowly stand up over and glance over at the rope, and then at Kitty, "There are simpler ways to manipulate it than merely physics." Such her statement might make Hank stare over at her aghast, if he were to hear it. "And hwat is the point of it then if one is not attempting to ensure that they are able to take every advantage in such an exchange?" Everything is a competition for her. Something to be better at.
    "But very well, if we are to engage in something so frivolous I presume.." Oh yes, those are probably fighting words to many in attendance when it comes to ego.

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie smirks a bit and walks over closer, and says "Sure, I can work the grill." He will walk over stopping by Hank's drink bar and picking up a spiked lemon-aid for himself, and offering the man a nod. "What we have on the menu, burgers and dogs, or we have a bit more stuff for today?" He will ask, before heading towards the grill area.

Henry McCoy has posed:
Henry McCoy inclines his head, "More than happy to be of service. For my own part, I shall abstain from the tug, as I have a preference for neutrality akin to that of the Swiss and, in addition, I have every intention of celebrating with significant libations with the winning team, whoever it may be. I wish you all, however, the very best of luck and hope that those who fall short on this fine day may find comfort in the consumption of excessive amounts of kosher meat," he says.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Maybe.  I'll remember after I've reminded myself," Noriko says as she /politely/ takes only one of every single kind while her stomach is already pining for more with a premature grumble.  She sates it with a preview by popping one or two in her mouth and quickly replaces the missing items from her plate.  "I'll have to write her a thank you letter," she decides as she luxuriates in her latest bite, eyes closing slightly.

"Does it account for laziness too?"  Noriko chimes out at Kitty's explanation of Hank's fairness contraption.  She spots Tabby and upnods to the woman, then points to her own pile of food.  "Did you want some of these?"  she inquires as if open to renegotiating.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
"Oh, there's all sorts of stuff. Some vegetarian stuff too," Kitty tells Sam. Not that she thinks that's the direction he's likely to go when he gets his own plate.

Kitty moves over to the mud pit. She pulls out a stick that is as tall as she is, easily capable of being a good walking stick or even a bo staff. She reaches out and pushes it down into the mud. It goes down, down, down. Kitty pulls it back out and the mud is somewhere around 3 or 4 feet deep, enough to go up to most people's waist if not above.

"Oh yeah, might want to lose," she says with a laugh as she takes the stick down to the lake, wading in to rinse it off before returning.

To Monet, Kitty says, "It's all about having fun. Seeing your friends knocked into the mud is usually worth a few smiles," she comments.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabby grins as the rules are laid out and the mention of Babka is declared. It's not just Jewish Moms and Grandmas. When your ex has a bonafied Babushka you learn to love the twisted but delightful bread.

There will be comparisons made. And recipes stolen.

"Monet, the playing field being even means we don't have all the work being done by Anna-Marie, or Jimmy. I will however laugh my rack off watching you try and out pull either of them." she points out with a grin. That can't be good for the ego. "But this lets us see how well we can work as a team more than just brute strength. There's tactics in yanking heavy stuff through mud and a mis timed step or yank can have everyone falling on each others ass." she explains and chuckles her own hotdog wolfed down fast so she can have an extra excuse to chug her beer and reload after Sam's had a crack at cooking.

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie nods his head and takes a swig of his drink and heads over towards the grills. The young man, finds one that is not full yet, and starts up a couple beer can chickens to add to the food, and will add some kabobs that make use of the meat and veggies. He looks over to one of the newer cooks, and says "I'll handle anything with pork or bacon, and make sure you put it on the blue plates, white are for kosher, yellow for veggie only, blue for most anything else, red for burn your taste buds off.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Or me," Noriko scoffs at Tabby's assessment of the heavy hitters in the game of Tug of War.  Speaking of egos.  Looking at the field of mud as she makes her plate of food steadily disappear, she murmurs between bites, "I should have brought cleats."

Nori cracks open a soda and waits for the fizz to settle.  "So does that mean the teams are pre-determined?"  she asks Kitty eagerly, and then pops up next to Dr. McCoy, watching his reaction to try and determine the answer before having to wait for it.

Henry McCoy has posed:
Henry McCoy partakes of a few treats from the table, notably the kosher dogs, using a liberal amount of mustard upon them and, in deference to the others present, refraining from applying it by wielding the bottle with his feet. People can, Hank has discovered, get surprisingly tetchy about such things, despite his own rigorous hygiene.

Once he settles back in, he casually gets out a pair of bongos and, mildly buzzed and content, adds a bit of rhythm to go along with the music playing.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix gives a look over at Katherine, "What is the point of it if one is not showcasing their.." Never mind, this is one of those 'emotion' sorts of things after all. So there's a shrug from her as she goes to hover up in the air to make sure she's not at risk of contact with the mud. Her skin is flwaless after all. No sense risking it over a spa treatment!

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde shakes her head in reply to Noriko. "Nope, people can form whatever teams they want," she replies. There's a pause by the Jewish girl at the coolers to pull out a beverage, and having finished the one pastry of her mother's, she grabs a Nathan's hotdog, putting some chili and cheese on it as she carries it with her moving back through the throng.

The music has a voice speak overtop of it. "And now time to drop something with a little more beat," it says, and the music starts up with something that is kind of infectious to hear. It makes one's body want to move. Well, many people's bodies anyway.

Kitty turns to look over towards where a little DJ booth was set up. "You know, I never expected Hambone of all people to be this good of a DJ."

Scott Summers has posed:
The extensive grounds of the school are always nice admittedly, but even more so when it comes to the summer. The open field, the lake, the extensive woods -- all can be put to excellent use. Some of those uses are even fun, something that even Scott Summers has been known to engage in from time to time. When it is appropriate. For instance when one is all caught up with work. Which is why the dark haired man is only now padding his way across the field in the direction of anyone else, the brim of his ballcap keeping the sun out of his eyes.

Of course those ever-present ruby quartz lenses help a fair bit with that as well.

Zandra Mitchell has posed:
    Zandra has been taking the opportunity to explore the lake, lurking invisibly beneath the surface like an unseen predator, making things a little more interesting for the students who've decided to take the sailboats out on the water. She might've even been somehow responsible for the capsizing of at least one of the vessels, but if she was, it probably wasn't on purpose, and nobody saw her do it, probably.

    Now, though, she comes splashing up out of the water, streams dripping from her turquoise one-piece as she runs up barefoot to scope out the food service.

    "Hey, y'all! Have the teams been picked for the tug-o'war yet?" she asks anyone who happens to be in earshot as she edges toward the red plates with an inquisitive air.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would go to let out a sigh over, "So it turns into all things being equal the group that has the better leverage." That's how these things go. All muscle mass being equal, then the group that has a longer reach, can maintain a lower center of gravity, and that can get a better grip over in the mud for things. That's just basic physics.
    "Ah, I wasn't aware you came to tehse sorts of social events, Mister Summers."

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"Plenty gets showcased Monet our bodies do all look good in mud. It's still fun and there is the whole thrill of victory. Making someone else go splat and get dirty and all that. That's got to appeal to an ambitions young woman. Even evenly powered you might still prove that you are superior." Tabby tries to tickle the dark skinned woman's ego.

There's fresh grilled foods claimed the moment Sam has some lined up. There is definitely bacon claimed in her burger and chomped.

"Mmmm, bacon!" she purrs in a fake French accent.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Most of those in attendance have little idea that far above, way up in the sky, the Xavier's School gathering is being observed. A winged shape soars on the wind, carrying a rider who looks down at the people far below.

The winged shape tips over and begins to dive down towards the figure with the ruby quartz glasses that catch the light. Beneath is a payload that is intended for Scott Summers as he is dived bombed from two hundred feet up.

The diving aerial intruder takes aim at him, and then Lockheed lets go of the water balloon and flares his wings to level out. On his back, Scruffles the kitten is perched, gripping a little cloth saddle with his claws, though there's a little safety belt about the cat's midsection to keep him from falling off. He has a tiny pith helmet over his head but that leaves his ears exposed, and little goggles over his eyes.

Jean Grey has posed:
With the party rocking out back, Jean finally makes her way out. Perhaps some of that infamous adulting has kept her busy, but now she's ready for fun, and even for the summer weather (and maybe for any inevitable shenanigans), wearing her familiar green two piece top and gold sarong skirt, flip flops, and sunglasses pushed up over her forehead. By the time she's hiked down to the lake, DJ Hambone's beats have reached her, and, perhaps unconsciously, she's swaying a bit. Annnnnd...

She's brought treats!

Well, it's just a tray with a big pitcher and some stacked plastic cups. To keep balanced as she dance-walks her way, the tray is actually just floating alongside her. Much better balance that way! "Hey! Anyone want fresh made lemonade?" Eying the team lining-up: "Oooh, what's alls this?"

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would glance over at Jean, "Ms. Grey. A pleasure you could make the festivities." Someone is over in kissup mode now it seems. Or maybe just the whole brain drain event of the mass soul exodus was something she was trying to make her own sort of amends for.

Kissing up was likelier though.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko tosses her plate and zips away to carefully wash up her gauntlets.  Then she reaches to put on her newly acquired gear, a hockey mask and a pair of swim goggles she's wrapped around them.  It's all she could do at such short notice, but this is a prototype.  The speedster zips back out to try and inspect what is in the floaty pitcher/tray/cups combo.  It's much more fun to try and find out ahead of time.

Lifting her mask/goggle combo up, Noriko answers to Jean, blurring into focus, "Tug of War!  Mud pit style.  You playing?  Is it /just/ lemonade?"

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie looks over to Tabby and offers her a smile, and says "Bacon cheese burgers are here, and will probably make a few chicken clubs when the chicken is done as well." He offers of his plans on cooking. He is munching a bit of bacon himself it is good to be the cook.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"Jean you spiked the lemonade? Woman I could kiss you for this!" Tabby states and giggles towards the incoming redhead. "Rogue'd be so proud." she says and mock sniffs and wipes a non existant tear from her blue eyes and dark lashes.

"Sooo, we gonna draw straws for the teams or we gonna be like normal school rules and let two captains pick and see who picks me last." she says and chuckles. "Ugh, middle school sucked. Glad I dropped out!" she adds after maybe a light flashback to a crappier time in her life.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde waves over to Zandra as she emerges from the water. "Nope, not yet. People can form up their own teams," she says. "Though a few people are apparently planning to fuel up on food first. Or maybe trying to put on an extra pound or two for an advantage. Help yourself!"

The young Jewish woman doesn't say which she is as she takes a bite of her kosher dog. "Wonder where Lockheed is?" she asks aloud, not having realized he was outside already. Or divebombing Scott with a water balloon.

"Hey Jean!" Kitty says as she spots the redhead, waving over to her. Kitty moves over to say more quietly, "I had no idea Hambone had such good taste in music. Maybe we found a career for him?"

Kitty calls back to Tabitha, "Maybe we should do the ladies against the gents?"

Scott Summers has posed:
Clearly Scott needs to get himself a good PR firm. Change up his image. He's not all hard work and detention and constant vigilence. There's occasional room for some other things in his life. You know, after the work and duty part of things are taken care of. "I am full of surprises Monet," he comments quietly. "Besides, social bonding is important for good team morale," he points out mildly. See? There is a perfectly rational reason to have fun now and then.

To all intents and purposes it seems that the X-Men field leader is entirely oblivious to the aerial bombardment he is about to receive, the schemes of their resident cat and dragon seemingly coming to fruition. But that would overlook that tenant of Mr. Summers; CONSTANT VIGILANCE. The watter balloon descends, plummetting. Closer and closer. And when it is still a good fifteen feet up and still off to his side he flicks his gaze up ever so slightly as a bright bolt of red energy leaps from his eyes, slamming right through the balloon which bursts and delivers it's wet payload to whatever unfortunate happens to be nearby.

Acceptable collateral damage in Scott's eyes apparently.

Zandra Mitchell has posed:
    "Ooh, I'll have some!" Zandra pops over to Jean's side as she arrives with the lemonade, fishing for a plastic cup. "What's it mean if it's spiked? Does it have pepper or somethin' in it?"

    Her eyes turn to Tabby as she talks about the team selection process, her brows rising curiously. "Is that how they pick the teams in normal schools? It sounds like fun! I only got to play on a team when I was in softball, but those teams were just whoever signed up."

    Smiling at Kitty's explanation, Zandra quickly shifts from collecting lemonade to grabbing one of the bacon burgers that Sam has cooked up - then makes a point of trying to consume the burger and lemonade as swiftly as possible, lest she run out of time before the tug-of-war begins.

Jean Grey has posed:
"Hey Nori." Jean is somewhat accustomed to the zip-in, zip-out energy of the young woman, so her sudden appearance is met with a ready smile. "Tug of war over a mud pit?" She looks around suspiciously. "I don't see Rogue, where's she hiding?"

As for the lemonade, which everyone has just apparently declared to be 'special,' she gently tsk-tsks. "Just because some of you are proper grown-ups doesn't mean I can just carelessly contribute to the corruption of the youth! This is a respectable educational institution and I am its very responsible administrator."

Or so she claims!

Eventually, the floaty tray floats itself over to a convenient tree stump and settles there for anyone to help themselves. "But sure, I'll jump in if you need another," she declares, hands coming to rest on her hips as she looks back and forth between the people potentially gathering to play. Kitty gets a quick grin. "Right? Gotta remember him for the next school dance."

When the water balloon goes off overhead? She can't help but smirk. "Good shot, slim."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would lgance over, "I feel that it is appropraite in whatever circumstance that Mister Summers be offered up first." She's not wanting to be the one that's on the team that's up against James, after all. So that means ensuring that the men are divded and conquered first if tehr'es going to be some sort of competition so the results can be preordained.
    Thoughts of tactical neutralization on her mind, Ms. St. Croix geos over for the food and moves to take out something to munch on.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"Uhh, is Iara here? Big built wereshark would go a long way in our favor!" Tabby doublechecks as Kitty makes the gender based suggestion of a solution to the problem. "Hambone has clearly been cribbing of Alison. Wise move!" she states and catches enough of the beat she even gets her hips shaking and abusing those red cutoffs of hers.

"Zandra, back in the day of my twelfth year and earlier. Teams in schools were often chosing by picking the kid most liked or popular and then they'd take turns picking based on their personal preferenses. This is how you discover pariahdom." she admits and shrugs her shoulders.

James Proudstar has posed:
James Proudstar makes his way down from the mansion. He yawns and stretches, James is covered in dirt, hands, clothes. He's been working the beds, setting up vegetable and flower plots for the summer students and finishing the general planting and mulching. He is dressed for the outside, jeans and a rugged work shirt, gloves in his belt.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty starts getting a head count. "Ok so we got... Noriko, Monet, Tabitha, Jean, Zandra, and myself. And then, Scott, Sam... ah, there's James. Hambone. Tommy. Kurt. So six on six," she says, looking around to see if that works for everyone.

Her kosher hot dog is finished up and Kitty takes a few swigs from her drink before walking over to examine the thick rope, with the steel core so it shouldn't snap. "I'll volunteer to go at the front," Kitty says, though eyeing the mud pit as if she maybe thinks she's taking one for the team to be in the spot most likely to get pulled in.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Put me wherever coach," Noriko says casually to whoever as she steps down into the mud pit.  "Oh!"  She sheds her shirt, revealing a black bikini top.  The shirt gets tossed by the speedster which amounts to it shooting off like a rubberband toward the college apartments building.  Then she pulls her hair back.  "Tabby!  Come put war marks on me.  These suck for that," she gestures with a wiggle of her gauntlets.  She must mean with the mud.  Never mind the fact that if she uses her terrifying hockey mask/kid goggle combo no will see any of it.

Zandra Mitchell has posed:
    "Oh, I think I read about pariahs in Sunday school," Zandra muses to Tabitha between mouthfuls of cheese, bacon and burger. "I thought that was where you had leprosy or bleedin' all the time or somethin', though. Where your skin's all messed up. I woulda reckoned you'd be one of the ones pickin' the teams. You seem real nice."

    Whatever that lemonade might contain, she's certainly imbibing it quick enough that if there's anything wrong with it, it's likely to hit her hard and fast. Surely her faith in the responsibility of her educators isn't unfounded, though.

    Soon, what's left of her cup and plate are set down, a rock placed on top of them to keep them from blowing away, freeing Zandra's hands up to give a wave of recognition at James' arrival before preparing to take up her bit of the line. "Which spot do y'all want me in?"

Tabitha Smith has posed:
There's an oooh as Tabby gets ready to do the warpaint thing. There's herself done first. Luckily she eschewed makeup of her own for this so the end result is Gene Simmons from KISS.

Nori gets it next and in deference to the fact that the two cannot touch she does her best to not get herself zapped and drained for long. The closeness does charge the Japanese girl but Tabby grins and bares the proximity. There's food and carbs and a recharge of her own soon! But the mud warpaint that will be seen on the mask is fangs and a widows peak. "Team Jubes! All the way!" she states and grins and steps back with a wobble and a few blinks. " Flarkingworth being badass!" she exclaims and offers her team mates any of their own designs while she can before getting in place on the ladies end of the rope.

Those while folks are distracted she does bake a little sweeping gesture and there might be a little glow here and there either side of both sides of the field of battle.

Scott Summers has posed:
Hey, he's not entirely above showing off a little when the occasion calls for it and Scott flashes a brief smile Jean's way as he finishes padding over to the grill area to quickly collect a hotdog and drink for himself. The battle lines might be in the middle of being drawn for Tug-Of-War but he needs to keep up his strength. Still, he does his best to eat a little more quickly then his normal sedate pace -- manners people! -- so that he can join 'the boys' as they prepare for battle.

Glancing over towards their field of battle -- decidedly messy as it is -- Scott eyes the rest of the team before his gaze falls on Kurt. "Mudpit. Very dangerous. You go first," he says without breaking that stoic facade.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would glance over at Scott for a moment before she shrugs, "There's no reason you shouldj'nt be in the front, M ister Summers. You're the best tactician of them after all." Monet is meanwhile going over to glance at the mud on the 'girl's' side of things. Then she'sg oign to casually start to move to pick up some scattered things. Some random rocks, straw, and other bits and is then going to drop them over on one side of the pit.

Bobby Drake has posed:
Ever the strategist, Bobby Drake manages to slip into the area late enough to not be able to be allocated to a team, but early enough to not miss any of the sights when whatever hapless group ends up seizing defeat from the jaws of victory, or some such. He stays a bit towards the fringes, _just in case_ there is still a chance someone might try to duck out. But for the most part, he is there to watch and cheer on whichever team loses. Because they will definitely need it more.

Jean Grey has posed:
With Kitty's declaration, Jean makes her way forward to join the forming line. But first... she strips! Ooh la la! Or at least, she unties the sarong and, along with her sunglasses (they're fancy!), sends them float-float-floating away to the sideline to keep safe. After that, she boldly steps in behind their apparent leader! "Let's do this!" Seems she doesn't mind taking one of the other 'dangerous' spots up at the front.

... plus some of her new teamates are already covering themselves in mud!

"I say maybe you and Tabitha in the middle," she suggests to Zandra, if they're talking tactics. "Even if Nori can't use her speed, I figure those guantlets will still give her a heck of a grip- so she can take anchor. Make sure that the rope doesn't slip away from us, no matter what!" Of course that can be a dangerous strategy when there's mud at risk...

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde joins Jean and shimmies out of her shorts to reveal the string bikini's bottoms beneath. No need to get her shorts all muddy. She tosses them aside to where Lockheed has landed, still with Scruffles clinging to his back. Scruffles just sits there looking at everyone, not really knowing what went on with the water balloon and Scott. The young cat just knows he enjoys the wind in his fur.

Timmy undoes Scruffles from the little saddle and removes it from Lockheed as well, before moving to take his spot on the boy's side.

"Summers, you're going in the mud, I hope you realize. Just remember to keep your eyes closed when you wipe it off those glasses."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix goes to take her position over along the end over and then moves to start to dig her feet in. Whereupon the rocks that she's taken her time to put in and the wood would in theory allow for a better braced position and let her dig in her legs more to anchor herself solidly. In a game of equal strengths it's all about the leverage. In her case.. Being taller!

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie looks over and makes sure the food is off the grill, so nothing is left to burn, and then he finds a place to sit down taking his boots and socks off, and emptying his pants pockets as he does not want to have to look through the mud for his car keys, or his brand new badge later. He then stands and pulls his shirt off tossing it on top of his shoes.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
When you run a school, you have to be as tactically mind as a field commander. So tabby flicks out a two fingers aat her temple salute and gets in place. Shorts and tank are ditched in the pile that everyone elses is in and leaves Tabby in enough neon pink everyone else could need sunglasses.

When the contest behins Tabby puts her back into it and a lot like the others on her side, she's as toned and muscled as the rest of the women. If not lightly more. That stupidly high calory diet of hers needs to go somewhere when she's not blasting so the gym and the danger room work to doi those bodies exceptionally well.

She does however put her sneaky side to work though.

There's a bow kiss too all the boys and then...

BOOMS!

Little ones but those bombs she laid down on the mens side go off beside them left and right splash mud up and all over as much of them as possible. High enough to even account for nearly eight feet of solid James Proudstar.

Splash damage is a skill and Tabitha has been well versed in dirty play for years.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko grins as Tabby brings Jubes' presence into the activity.  The least ra ra school spirit, team sport person lifts a gauntlet fist and shouts, "Team Jubes!" in response, like a rally cry.

Then suddenly, overhearing, Nori's head snaps toward Jean.  "Who says I can't use my speed?  If I don't use my preconfigured ability to generate force, they'll win by a long shot, the power thingy is counting on it!"  Noriko may or may not know how this thing works, but she's going to act like she does...because she's an Ashida...for now.

"What is anchor?"  Noriko asks through her hockey mask fiasco, ankle deep in mud.  She does, at least, walk to the rope.  "Why are we trying to keep the rope?  I mean if we let it go, we won't be the ones in the mud," she mentions to Jean.  Her tone sounds sincere, kind of confused.

Zandra Mitchell has posed:
    Zandra is already down to her swimsuit after her earlier swim in the lake, so she doesn't need to shed anything before taking up the fourth spot in the tugging order for the girls' team. She's a bit above average height - in fact, she might even be the tallest on their side.

    "Oh, so whoever loses the tug-o'-war is gonna end up goin' in the mud, huh? That sounds like fun! Maybe we should all be tied to the rope so whoever loses can't help gettin' pulled in."

    Of course, given how the odds are looking, there might be something slightly masochistic about that suggestion, but she doesn't seem concerned at all with the prospect that she might end up going in.

Bobby Drake has posed:
Slipping over near the seemingly unattended food, Bobby stands ready cool to things off before the burn.

Plus it gives him a good view of the participants. So much view, so little time...

Scott Summers has posed:
"Good generals don't lead from the front. At least not when mud is involved," Scott asserts quietly. He's probably kidding. Maybe. "Either way, Kurt is our lead. You wouldn't want to mess up his pretty face, right?" he asserts. Like others, he pauses off to the side of the battlefield, slipping out of his shoes and socks and leaving them aside. Like some of the others, he too peels off his shirt. The jeans stay though. No bikini bottoms here! That done, he strides out towards the muddy field in time to be showered by the little explosions. "I thought we agreed no powers," he says midly, arching a brow in that oh so subtly disappring fashion before picking up the rope and preparing himself.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde can't help but snicker as the boys take some extra mud. "Hey!" DJ Hambone complains, wiping mud from his cheek but just smearing it further. "Actually, that's kind of nice and cool," he says after a moment's consideration. Not that he needs it much. The ability to change his body temperature by a few degrees is Hambone's secondary mutant power!

Kitty gets hold of the rope. "Totally expecting us to win and me not get sent into the mud, ladies," she says to those taking up positions behind her. SHe's ready to pull when the signal gets given.

Jean Grey has posed:
"Hmmm, well... I don't know how we're refffing this exactly, but try your best not to cheat TOO much," Jean advises Noriko. Who knows how those gaunlet things work! "But we want to hold on because if we lose the rope, that's also a loss! It's like giving up! You can't just give the fight up in the middle because there's a chance of getting dirty!"

Perhaps there's an inspirational message in there somewhere?

Soon, though, it's time to tug. Jean claps her hands together as if warming up her grip, sets her stance a bit wider, and then re-establishes her hold on the rope. "C'mon, get ready gals! Tabitha, stop playing around, you're gonna get us dislqualified! Do it for team Jubes!" Apparently it's caught on. "Heave, ho!"

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would go to lean in and move to brace, ready to tug on her end. "The point is to ensure that we have advantages tethered to ourselves." She would affirm while going to brace her feet in. With the small rocks she had already packed in to it. She's digging in at the 'heave' part and going along with the 'ho' while evaluating where to precisely put legs, ankes, the angle that she needs to lean in, and the momentum..
    Shame that Rogue's not with them.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"We yank on the rope so they boys splat forwards not backwards! Anchor is the back of our line and the end of our rope. Usually the biggest but all things considered the only way to tell that with us is to look at our chests." Tabby explains with a deliberate bouncing of hers.

The splshing of mud gets a laugh. The bombs on her side go off with all the force and splash of a bubblegum pop. Just brown.

Tabby's feet dig in and her sandals get as much traction as possible as she digs down for something more solid and less chance of being between her toes.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"But I thought the point was to not end up in the mud..."  Noriko seems to feel like all of this isn't wrapping up into a nice little package to her liking.  She wrinkles her nose at it.  The speedster wraps the end of the rope around her gauntlets.  If the rope moves, it's taking her with it.  Didn't take any powers to think that one up, she thinks to herself with a smirk.

"Uh," Noriko arches a brow at Tabby, but when Jean mentions to just try not to cheat too much, this seems a little easier for the speedster to parse.  She's ready for any eventuality now.  She's doing this barefoot.  No way is she going to ruin a pair of kicks for this.  She kicks each foot down deep into the mud to literally 'anchor' in when things get going.

Zandra Mitchell has posed:
    As the heave-ho begins, Zandra doesn't strategize - she just leans into the tug, throwing all of whatever she can muster into it. All things considered, she might not be that big of a contributor - she's fit, but, well, she's on the very natural end of the fitness spectrum. One of the folks that the compensator that Dr. McCoy designed is meant to support.

    "Let's git 'em, y'all!"

    There is a bit of a pool forming at her feet already as it starts - trickling along the line. Luckily, she has very good traction on slippery surfaces. Hopefully it won't spread enough to sabotage anyone else who's involved in the tug-battle. At least, not unless things get into a stalemate.

Bobby Drake has posed:
Finding that there is not nearly enough action on the pitch, Bobby strokes his chin idly as he looks over the participants, wondering just who, strategically, should have a few small patches of ice appear under their feet. For most entertaining effect, of course.

Scott Summers has posed:
There is some definite positive reinforcement going on the girl's side as the signal is given and the two teams start striving against one another. Coiling the rope around his arm, Scott braces himself, not immediately yanking as hard as possible. But taking a very tortoise-like approach. Slow and steady wins the race. So he digs in, makes sure of his footing and braces himself, trying to draw the line back with him. Inch by inch if needed.

"Alright gentleman. Lets give it all we've got. And if we lose? You'll all be joining me in the detention hall," he says.

Fear. Fear will keep them in line. Fear of the Detention Hall.

He's probably kidding. But it's always hard to tell. Darth Summers would make a wonderful straight man to someone.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
This is why Scott only has kids from alternate realities. Monet St. Croix considers over, narrowing her eyes as she takes in the opposing team (since she can't use 'enemy'). Looking for the weak link over in them. Then she looks over at Bobby, over at Scott, over at Bobby. Narrowing her eyes ever, ever so slightly over at Bobby. Then over at Scott once more. As if deciding which of them was the weaker link in the chain that she should eliminate..

Kitty Pryde has posed:
As the tugging begins and the rope gets pulled first one way, and then the other, Kitty's feet end up right on the edge of the mud pit more than once. She pulls hard, helping her team tug the rope back away from it further.

But then the boys pull them back forward again. Kitty plants her feet at the edge but the rope continues moving for the boy's side. Soon she's standing upright. ANd next thing she knows, Kitty's pulled forward and pitching into the mud headfirst.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Of course the joke has to be made when the contest is on. "Heave Hos!" she orders from her spot in the middle and her muscles flex and tenses as bombs fail to cheat and distract cause escalation gets risky with those powers. Being that close to Noriko might bolster the speedster but Tabby losing oomph probably does not help.

So when Kitty finally falls across the line and into the mud, eventually Tabitha splats down in there as well as the pit between teams becomes tangled up with arms, legs, other body parts and rope.

"Aaaaaagh!" she yells but bursts out laughing while she rolls about and tries to not sit on anyone that might actually complain about a mud soaked blonde and her one hundred tweny ish pounds on them.

Jean Grey has posed:
Truthfully, Jean is far from physically imposing. Of course, like all of them, she keeps up on her various training routines. She logs her Danger Room hours. But when you can fly the TV remote (or a tray of lemonade...) over with your mind rather than standing up to get it? Well, theres a certain cost to that laziness!

And so Jean strains, strains and pulls, but she's clearly losing ground, especially as Kitty starts inching forward ahead of her. Of course, where physical power fails her she... Cheats horribly? No, not this time! She saves that for a certain historic rivalry. No, Jean has a different talent to draw on. The boys may have Scott and his terrifying threats of detention, so Jean goes the other direction, encouragement and inspiration! "Come on ladies, give it your all!"

... and a few moments later, "Heave, ho... C'mon, you heard me! HEAVE, HOS!" Ok maybe she's getting just a little bit competitive and scary herself.

Unfortunately, she's no Taskmaster Summers. And as Kitty starts to tip over, Jean starts stumbling soon after. "Kitty, keep it together, hold on, nonono-"

And then, with a great muddly SPLOOSH, Jean goes in after her.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix goes to dig her hands over in then and she goes to try and call out in just a few too many places, "mister summers, you have something over on your nose! It looks like.." Whatever sort of half-snarked comment she's going to call out over about to try and trigger Scott's OCD is in turn picked off as she's the one that's tipping over as well, a great flailing over in her ankles..
    As she's the next to tumble being heaved over into the mud, going along the trigger right after Jean!

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko is pretty athletic as is, and at 5'7" she's no slouch for a girl.  With her feet planted and anchored, she is not going to be giving up her position very easily.  But then...

"Nonononono, hold on hold on hold on," Noriko tries to wiggle out of the mud as she can feel the rope squeezing at her gauntlets and rip them off...not completely though.  She ends up face first in the mud, having not let go.

Zandra Mitchell has posed:
    "Wuh-oh," Zandra describes the girls' situation as their frontmost member goes falling forward into the mud-pit. She can't remember if this is a single-elimination deal, but losing one member on the tug-of-war team is tantamount to total collapse - and when Tabitha and Jean tumble in as well, things look even worse. She was, after all, fourth in line...

    "Waaaahhhh!"

    *SPLOOSH*

    Zandra becomes the fourth victim of the mud-pool, the bright turquoise of her hair and swimsuit soon replaced with brown. She doesn't take the defeat passively, though - getting up quickly on her knees in the muck, she uses her hydro-kinesis to send a wave of the slop that the majority of the girls' team has fallen into splashing toward the feet and legs of the boys' team. It might be improbable, but maybe it'll give anyone still standing on the girls' side a chance of sending some of the male tuggers into the pit with their footing suddenly slick.

Scott Summers has posed:
The only thing greater than any OCD Scott might have? His sense of discipline! Now, he's not falling for that.

Unfortunately not everyone can say the same. It looks like the boys are going to win this one. But not, apparently, without getting a little muddy themselves. As Kitty starts the chain reaction the rope goes slack on the other side and that effort to heave them into the pit suddenly meets little resistance. Kurt might be able to cling to a ceiling, but as his footing starts to go the fuzzy blue elf abandons his comrades in arms, bamfing away before he ends up covered in mud. Which, of course only makes things worse.

For all his attemtps at caution, sometimes there are circumstances on the battlefield that even the best general can't compensate for fast enough. And in his moment of triumph?

Shamefully, muddy humilation. His feet shoot out from beneath him and Scott goes down with much of the rest of the proud, male defenders of Xavier's -- feet, legs and backside absolutely brown from the messy field.

"My precious dignity, stolen by a traitor of a circus acrobat. Et tu Kurt," he says, shaking a hand at the aether.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
They got Scott to fall over in to the mud. So that counts as a win. Monet St. Croix slowly goes to get up and lets out a grunt. Then she's going to offer ehr hands over to each of the tumbled girls in tow. Starting over with Jean, then going over to Kitty.. Working her way in reverse order from the ways that they had fallen. She has a passive look in her eyes that's at least a litlte more engaged than her dim irritation

Tabitha Smith has posed:
A muddied Cyclops is a minimal victory and sometimes one must take the brunt of things to succeed. This case being women in tiny swimsuits all soaked in mud. Monet's hand is taken and accepted and eventtually Tabby's up on her feet. The KISS Demon style mudpaint on her face ruined and a hand works to make sure not too much more mud coats her but that ship long sailed and for now she's also a brunette.

"Okay. Now that this is settled. Next time we get Rogue" she states and chuckles <<And not turn her powers off but act like we did!>> she adds mentally while the telepaths are all on her team.

Bobby Drake has posed:
And just like that, Bobby Drake gets the best of all worlds - he watches the muddening, he avoids getting mudded, and he probably actually snuck in a little bit of a prank along the way undetected. Score One for the Iceman.