1300/Winds of Change: Savage Lands Part Two

Winds of Change: Savage Lands Part Two
Date of Scene:	22 April 2020
Location:	Just outside of the city of Pteros, Savage Lands
Synopsis:	The X-men make it to the Savage Land, and collect the items needed for Hank to cure the dino-problem! Next-- Sauron!
Cast of Characters:	Emma Frost, Scott Summers, Henry McCoy, Jean Grey, Illyana Rasputina, Piotr Rasputin, James Proudstar, Marie-Ange Colbert

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Emma Frost has posed:
        If the Blackbird crashes in the Savage Lands, but it was mostly intentional, does it count as a crash, or just a 'sudden landing'? -- Philosophy and the X-Men, Chapter 4, paragraph 28.

The Savage Lands.

A decently sized island hidden next to Antartica, somehow kept lush and tropical, filled with dinosaurs and strange people, but mostly dinosaurs. Beautiful, mysterious, dangerous.

Thankfully no one has gone native yet. There are no X-Men in loincloths. ...yet. The day is still young.

With the plague of dinosaurs sweeping the world, it hadn't taken the X-Men long to determine the likely source of this terrible affliction: one Dr. Karl Lykos, also known as Sauron, because he's like the X-Men's five year old brother: annoying and obsessed with dinosaurs for reasons unknown to anyone. Unfortunately, he's also a geneticist and a psychiatrist who really should have probably lain on his own couch for a bit. And somehow he has access to lab supplies. Look, we don't make the rules here, because this is the Savage Land and there are no rules.

A trek across the Savage Lands' wilds has brought our intrepid heroes to the city of Pterons, a literal city in the middle of the jungle populated by mostly-intelligent Pteradons. They don't like humans. Or mutants. Or human mutants. Or really anyone besides other Pteradons, because they are usually at war with any number of the strange populations of the Savage Lands, because reasons.

Emma Frost has posed:
However, Dr. Karl Lykos, who wasn't a pteradon to begin with, but became one after he was bitten by one and then vampirically drained a few mut-- you know what, let's skip the history, because it really doesn't make sense and no one cares. Sauron is bad. He's the bad guy. He's kind of a jerk, and he's also a dinosaur, and he doesn't want to cure cancer, he wants to turn other people into dinosaurs too. We don't ask why. We probably don't want to know.

So here we are. In the jungle.

I hope you brought mosquito repellant.

The wild stone city of Pterons rises from the jungle floor, stretching up above the trees and looming over the nearby cliff falls into the river that has carved out a canyon from the inland sea to the north down to the mountains to the south. The buildings are tall, and have obviously been built to accomodate the bird-like dinosaurs, with perches and doorways in the highest reaches.

Dozens of pteradons fly in and out of the buildings. The jungle surrounding the city is full of less-intelligent dinosaurs, including a quintet of triceratops, docilely chewing on a few bushes like a cow might chew on cud. The herbivores seem oblivious to the presence of the X-Men for now. But they are necessary... as are many others in the jungle. Their blood will help form part of the basis for the cure and innoculation. The list of dinoblood still needed: triceratops, t-rex, compy, raptor, and stegasaurus. The rest? Already collected and safely back on the Blackbird, ready to be brought with the notes from Sauron's lab back to one Hank McCoy, a doctor of some renown, for him to brew up a cure.

Oh, yeah. And some Pteradon blood too. That might be a little messier.

Scott Summers has posed:
Things always get messy here in the Savage Land. Scott has -some- good memories of previous visits. But mostly: it was a mess.

Although, this time they didn't crash the Blackbird, which it is a good start. No, their nice super-sonic aircraft Scott has spent thousands of hours fine-tuned, is safely hidden behind a holographic cloak. It has Hank's lab inside, too.

So far no one has been bitten by anything poisonous, no one has been eaten by a dino and no one has had a major wardrobe malfunction. But Scott is quite sure it will happen sooner or later. He is a pessimist at heart, which is why he has backup plans for most major mishaps. It keeps the X-Men alive and he stressed out most of the time. This is a Summers life.

Hank's grocery list is getting shorter, and there are triceratops ahead. "Those are triceratops, right? Lets not confuse them with any other tank-sized and heavily armed dinosaur." He grumbles, looking at Hank. "I can't believe there is a whole city of Sauron-like people. When I saw it in the old map Ka-Zar gave us, back then, I was hoping it was a Savage Land style joke."

Henry McCoy has posed:
For his part, Hank had a lab kit at his side in a satchel - all the tools needed to collect a sample and store it until it got back to the Black Bird. The Beast had, even with his tiredness, looked forward to the trip. He was wearing his X-Man costume, complete with a jaunty white pith helmet. Exploring a savage place, don't you know! While he knew the Savage Land was dangerous, it was also exhilerating to him - it called to his animalistic side. As they had traveled through the jungle, he kept his locomotion to swinging through the trees - leaping from branch to branch.

Landing gracefully next to Scot, he peers over at the dinosaur in question. "Yes, indeed. Three horns, bony shield plate. They are on our list." He nodded to Scott. "Hopefully they are a bit more docile than the strictly carnivorous beasties."

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean grins, "Well, Sauron-like only so much as they're also pterodactyl humanoids... bit unfair to make them all sound as jerkish as Sauron is, after all." She's in her standard X-Men uniform, white and green and black as she hrms, looking over at the triceratops.

"What, Scott, don't tell me you never wanted to ride one when you were a kid. I think everyone did." She seems to keep it a bit light, radiating optimism in stark contrast to the Summers' pessimism. Probably why they make a good team, after all.

She does, however, start sending peaceful thoughts towards the triceratops. She's not used to working with animals quite this /big/, but well... she can communicate with animals, and she was, until a bit recently, a dinosaur herself, so knows the thought process a bit better than most.

Hopefully they don't think she's a predator...

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
By definition, mosquitoes are life-draining, tiny monsters that latch on and never let go. So basically like a thirsty would-be girlfriend. A proper citronella candle and a wish aren't enough. Dousing everything non-organic in permethrin and people in picaridin go a long way to turning back midges, and the formulation in question involves flinging tongue-of-salamander and scale-of-Makulan dragon into a suspiciously large pot with a Heraclean roc feather for good measure. Sprinkle some very nice, high-quality sandalwood in there, everything comes out pretty much like petrichor. It goes on like sunscreen. It probably doesn't involve demons or human sacrifice. Illyana can actually do nice things once in a while.

Right? Hopefully, as she pulls up her boot slightly and adjusts for the almost flat, narrow black clasps. The slender front plating wants to show off a rainbow profusion, and she keeps flattening it. "Compsognathus runs about 35 kilometers an hour," the Russian announces. No sign of the sword yet, a positive state of affairs all the same.

Illyana glances after Jean into the woodlands surrounding them, her eyes already narrowed and her shoulders rolled loosely. Angel's not with them, so someone has to make the bad decisions flapping around in the sky, right?

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
"Go to Savage Lands, they said. It will be good time, they said," Piotr snorts as he disembarks, stretching his neck. He has managed so far to avoid needing to go into his metal form, though the mosquitos are not helping the cause, the trouble with his field uniform, exposed skin, which has been slathered in mosquito repellant. The Russian looks up at the pterodons, "Perhaps they are the geese of dinosaurs, though, in which case, they are the worst." His dry tone makes it hard to tell if it is a joke or serious.

Piotr looks to the triceratops minding their own business at the moment, "The trouble is that if they do turn, they will likely be meaner than bull or sow with piglets. So we had best be careful." He takes a few more moments to absorb the surroundings.

James Proudstar has posed:
Jimmy Proudstar would probably be kind of flattered if they thought him a predator. He has been a hunter since he was a small child, and the opportunity to track and tag new types of prey was most appealing to the young Apache warrior. Of course, tracking Dinosaurs is often a fair bit easier than some other animals because...there just isn't hiding tracks of that size. And so, perhaps paradoxically, Jimmy's mission doesn't involve wrestling a T-Rex (That's probably Piotr's job, he likely has experience after all), but rather looking for signs of the smallest and slipperiest creature on the list...the relatively tiny Compsognathus.

He's pretty sure he's going to end up wrestling a T-Rex.

"All right. I'll be on the comms while I go hunting. Let you know if I find anything else on our list." He doesn't depart from the group just yet though...not without the "go" from the team lead, anyway.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
"Oui, Monsieur Summers, I believe that is on the list. I do not think we can simply... politely request a sample from it, though. Unless all prehistoric creatures can speak as Mademoiselle Grey could." Marie offers; the school seer may not be the most experienced hand to ride the Blackbird tonight, but she /does/ provide a rather unique set of gifts and is desperate to prove her worth to the school.

Not usually the best of combinations.

So she's staying near the center of the group, clad in a fairly standard trainee uniform and keeping green eyes wide open. Her cards hang from their usual little pouch around her wrist, and one of them is withdrawn pre-emptively, the redhead summoning forth five golden goblets to float around her as a makeshift shield. At least until she needs them to serve another purpose.

Goal #1? Collect some blood, save the school (and the world, she supposes). Goal #2? Try not to die.

Emma Frost has posed:
The smallest of the triceratops, a young one by the look of it, begins wandering in the direction of the X-Men, snuffling along the ground and occasionally gnawing on grass or other plantlife there. It's so adorable. Maybe someone can smuggle it onto the Blackbird and bring it back to Westchester as a pet!

Or maybe not.

A rustling in the trees is all that's heard before a pack of raptors leap out, attacking the separated baby triceratops with slashing toe claws, hissing and snarling. Despite Jean's soothing to the other triceratops earlier, they are now braying in panic, one rearing up as the raptors, their first bit of prey already fallen, turn on the loud herbivores...

Well.

At first.

But one of the raptors sniffs and glittering, intelligent eyes look towards the group of X-Men. It rears up on its back legs and hisses, then chitters.

That draws the attention of its pack, who all now look towards the smaller, less armored X-Men, cocking their heads and chittering amongst themselves. Mm. This food looks easier to cut.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean blinks, a look of horror crossing her face as the poor widdle baby trike gets mauled by the raptors. Her gaze hardens as she levitates into the air, unleashing a telekinetic wave at the raptor pack eyeing the X-Men as she scowls, "Damnit!" So much for bringing a triceratops home with them...

As it is, she gets a mental link going with the X-Men, so they can coordinate instantly. Well, except for Illyana with the girl's natural mental shielding, but then again... she tends to be best as a free agent anyway.

Scott Summers has posed:
For the mission Scott has chosen a dark blue and gray outfit with a black X on shoulders and belt. Short-sleeved, as the Savage Land is hot like a tropical dinosaur-ridden paradise. Subdued, as they might need stealth to go into the city.

The rumor is there are alien machines keeping the weather warm. Maybe Sauron has found spare parts for his lab from some kind of alien supply depot. Or maybe he buys in AIMarkt. Those science bad guys somehow always find the super-tech they need for their crazy plans.

"Jean, maybe you can separate one of the dinosaurs from the herd, that little one seems close," because extracting blood from a dinosaur? Not that easy! So, Scott was formulating a plan when the raptor pack interferes.

On one hand they will have all the triceratops blood they need. And no one will take a baby triceratops to the mansion. Yes, he knows how -you- think without telepathy.

On the other... "take them out, people. Hard and fast. Before the raptors draw the attention of the city-dwellers to us." He is backing down, because flashes of red force energy are not supposed to happen here. But if one of the dinos comes too close to Marie or himsef, he will blast it to dino-paste.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
The question to Jean goes relatively unanswered while the raptors in a hunting pack decide to make mince paste of a baby triceratops. That could have been her ripping its throat out with her fingers and a knapped stone blade in not too long ago times, so the even expression on Illyana's face is altogether unsurprising. Her pale, icy gaze lifts upwards to the trees, measuring for any motion among the disturbed denizens of the city. No need for them to quite understand what she's capable of.

Alas, that impenetrable shield around her mind is fairly unbroken. Estimations of what needs to be done come fairly quickly. Her gloved hands flex and she ghosts in behind her brother, so much shorter and slimmer than Piotr. <<I still say we tip them,>> she opines in dry as dust Russian, and then pulls on a vine of all things off one of the shorter bushes. It'll work perfectly well for her purposes, tugged between her fingers, tested for tensile strength. Nothing like going lazily au naturel. Not /that/ way. The actual natural, have some leaves bit of fun.

Henry McCoy has posed:
Nature happens - ever so savage in this jungle. Beast crouches low instinctually as the raptors bolt in and attack. A wince of sympathy for the tiny triceratops, but ... it is the way of things. "Hunting is part of the world, Scott - fights are common. Just... let's try to avoid too much time spent on this. I am sure the sounds of a protracted battle will earn attention." That said, the Beast sprints forward before vaulting into the air.

His trajectory has him clearing the raptor between him and the dino baby, a claw of his lashing down over the beasts back. Tucking and rolling, he skids to a stop next to the downed triceratops, quickly reaching for his lab kit.

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
Piotr watches stoically as the raptors slaughter the baby triceratops, "Tragic, but it is the way," his tone lacks the aforementioned stoic demeanor, a little bit of sadness audible in it. He speaks to Illy as she stands behind him <<They are not cows, and it does not work, they just stand up after. Though I hope you need not teach me such trick, as it means things have gone wrong!>> The larger Russian laughs quietly as the raptors turn on them, flesh turning to steel. "But now the work begins."

Piotr runs forward and grabs one of the raptors, it's claws showing an exercise in futility as it fails to puncture the metallic hide of Piotr. With minimal effort, he snarls and flings the raptor at a nearby tree, hoping to take it out of commission for a little while.

James Proudstar has posed:
Mission circumstantially postponed, Jimmy surges forward, putting himself between Scott and Marie-Ange, and the pack of Raptors. It does partially block Scott's line of sight but it also gives them another line of defense. A very proactive one, as he rather casually backhands one of the raptors that lunges at him, sending it flying several dozen meters off to his left, collapsing in a heap in the foliage there somewhere. That doesn't seem to give the others pause though, as they move to try to circle 'round. He doesn't seem particularly worried about it.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
Marie had learned that dinosaurs could be cute! Just look at Gabby. Cutest little compy that the French girl had ever seen. A baby trike also seems like it would be a perfect choice to provide the sample, too. "I can see about providing a distraction for its parents, oui?" Marie suggests, extending a hand as the cups float towards the group of triceratops, high enough above the herd to be seen and focus the bunch, the sun glinting off of them in just the right ways to distract the dino-eye. It seemed that everything was going to go just fine.

But everything changed when the Raptor Nation attaacked.

Poor Marie. The girl practically has 'victim' written all over her in bright pink sharpie. With an audible gasp, the cups she'd summoned vanish into the ether as she's startled, and the card is hastily tucked back into its pouch. The younger redhead sticking close to Scott and Jimmy rather than charge ahead into danger. She's probably, prooobably been given instructions not to do anything stupid and has no natural inclination to go out and do the opposite of what she's told.

She should have known the initial plan would've been a bust though; the Five of Cups is a card that foretells failure and dissappointment, not success, and the loss of a potential pet certainly qualifies.

Emma Frost has posed:
Chittering angrily, the raptors regroup as a pack, racing towards the X-Men. By that, mostly Jimmy and Piotr, who are out front and ready to punch some raptors in their raptor faces. Hissing, claws out and ready to slash, the raptor pack leaps and attacks!! The flying Jean garners some interest from one of the pack, but she is too high to reach. He might slash at her should she drop lower.

The triceratops howl and trample off into the jungle, leaving the dead baby behind. Circle of life and all.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean sends out, << Piotr, James, watch the left flank. And we do still need a raptor sample too while we're here. >> She buries any sadness she feels about the trike baby getting mauled, as well... they do have a mission to do.

She does stay up a bit too high for the raptors to leap and grab her, at least, as she continues coordinating. Also mentally reviewing the other dinosaur samples on the list.

Scott Summers has posed:
Linked by telepathy, Scott sees the X-Men can handle the raptors. Well, Illyana is not linked, but he is quite sure she can handle anything short of a T-Rex without much trouble. "Jean, make sure Hank is not interrupted, please. Tarot, find a card that offers some defense, please."

Marie is here because Hank wanted someone else un-dino-ed beisdes Jean, for some kind of scientific control purposes. Keeping her safe is part of the mission. "Think you can handle all of them, Warpath?" He asks Jimmy, offering his help.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
Being good simply requires an awful lot of effort, at least in the standing back business. Illyana twists and winds that liana with a purpose rather like rolling up the Christmas lights from the end of the season, spooling it around her hand. Leaves flicker against the supple length of vine until, presumably, she has no more to play with. Not without tearing out most of the rainforest, which she simply isn't interested in doing. Giving the raptors a fair chance to bother Jimmy and Piotr is only fair, though she murmurs in warning to Scott and Marie behind her, "We're going dark. Warn Jean."

The especially long whip coiled up the length of the Russian's arm serves no evident purpose other than makeshift climbing gear. Maybe. It has a purpose, surely? She uses the other hand, unimpeded by the natural coiled weight, to sketch a mostly invisible glyph in the air. Coalescing sparks fall inward, ripping the natural acoustics of the jungle out of the air, compelling resonance to skew completely, churning sharply around a central point that travels rather than ends up staked. The end result of the spell is unclear unless someone's really all about echolocation or tramping around in the woods. Because those raptor cries and chitters suddenly aren't anymore.

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
Piotr is not worried at the moment for his own safety, as the raptors jump out at him and Jimmy, who gets a nod as he is in the fray with Piotr. A raptor tries to reach out for Piotr, leaving faint scratches on his metal skin to minimal avail, while another jumps on him from behind, catching the large Russian off guard and to his knees at the moment.

The metal X-man takes a moment to recover before grabbing the first offending raptor by the throat and using it as an improvised flail to clobber the other one, then taking a moment to grab it with both hands, and bringing it down on his metal knee to render it no longer a threat. The Russian nods to Jean after getting the message and begins looping over to the left a little to keep that area under his watch.

James Proudstar has posed:
"Yeah, I think I've got this. Pretty sure they can't do much damage." Jimmy doesn't sound bored, but he does sound confident, though that's the last they'll hear since Illyana's silence spell goes up a moment later. He looks it too, as the next Raptor that leaps at him gets brawny arms wrapped around it, wrestled about until he can pull out one of the autoextractors that Hank was kind enough to provide, and moves it about until the indicator for a suitable vein lights up, before jabbing the not-so-poor Dino in its' neck and pulling out a suitable sample.

Notably, he doesn't pay much attention to the -other- Raptor that lurches forward and tries to clamp down on his thigh, though there's a grimace that speaks at least of discomfort. No blood seems to be getting drawn from Jimmy, but the second Dino does come away with most of Jimmy's left costume leg from hip to calf (and leaving behind some red welts from the teeth but nothing that looks serious), until Jimmy punts it away, followed closely by the one in his arms getting tossed in the direction its' fellows have gone. Savage Land makeover has officially begun!

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
"Oui, right away!" Marie replies, quickly rifling through her deck. The Tower comes to mind most readily, but while it's walls would provide defense it stands tall enough to be a beacon for attacks, especially with Pteradons looming in the air. It also rules out a lot of her larger summons in her deck. However...

"A wise man once said the best defense is a good offense, non?" she suggests, drawing forth the Ten of Swords; a card that's had special meaning to her of late, but one which also allows her to summon as many blades as depicted.

...times like this, she thinks she should have studied fencing.

Instead, the weapons float into defensive positions around the group; hilt towards them and braced against the ground, pointy bits turned upwards and towards their potential predators. A barrier of blades that the psychic student is quite prepared to lash out with -- a fact that one raptor that decides to try and leap forward while Piotr and Jimmy have their hands quite literally full finds out by becoming a dino-kabob as one of the blades shifts a couple feet to the right to intercept it.

Henry McCoy has posed:
There's no dilly-dallying from Hank in this. He's running against a few clocks - either the raptors will spin on him, or the triceratops will trample him in an effort to protect their young. Not a pleasant situation in either case! He quickly collects several vials of the blood from the downed triceratop. As the vials fill, he tucks them away in his pouch. As he turns to make his way back to the his companions, there is a problem.

\Instinct takes over, with Hank dropping suddenly onto his butt - narrowly avoiding a face full of raptor teeth. So much for his pith helmet, though. The raptor tears it away, screeching silently in frustration. The Beast bounds upwards, leaping into the boughs of the tree above.

Emma Frost has posed:
Hello darkness, my old friend. The sound of silence reigns over the group, with raptors snarling and snapping soundlessly as they are tossed about, shishkabobed, and otherwise handled.

But the problem with silence is that though you cannot be heard, nor can you hear the incoming sounds of others.

The smell of blood and viscera has brought a breeding pair of large t-rexes into the area of silence, howling at each other soundlessly as the stomp onto the scene.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean, fortunately, has been keeping her awareness up... and those thoughts resonate with her as few dinosaurs do. She immediately flashes the image of the tyrannosaurs to the others. Though she does two things...

First, she sends a message to Hank to stay near her if he can...

And then, she sends a telekinetic bolt right at the lead T-Rex, looking to just clock it upside the head with her full telekinetic might. Because, well, frankly these things can take it.

And if they can't? Well, they did still need a T-Rex sample.

Scott Summers has posed:
"That is a good idea..." comments Scott to Marie. He was using his teacher voice just before the silence spell goes up. There is a frown of disapproval, as this is not a maneuver he has in his list. He will add it tonight, though. Looks like the blonde Russian learned another spell and 'forgot' to write a report.

Still, he is not really bothered (merely annoyed - but that is normal) since the telepathic link is up and running, so speech is not necessary. << Stay watchful, folks. They can't hear us, but we can hear them. Why is the ground moving? Oh. Great. >>

Half a second to think. << Piotr, Jean. Maneuver 35. Jimmy, cover Hank. Marie, with me! >> He grabs the French girl's hand and pulls her out of the T-Rexes way, making sure there is a wall of Russian steel between them and the huge carnivores.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
Silence crashes down on them and the invisible barriers present smother any sounds of conflict. It might also serve to smother those inbound things, but one isn't good friends with an archer without getting used to looking up. Now, however, the time of the lianas comes to bear. Illyana darts for one of the nearer large trees and tags the terminal end of the liana in place around the trunk. The other end of the vine comes with her as she hurtles herself through an open portal laid almost flat at ground level under some bushes, it remains open while she stands within the circle, pinning down the other half of the vine with -- it's really best not to look. Either way, though, tripwire.

Tripwire that a tyrannosaur generally might not look for when charging in, nor particularly care about because it's just another bit of greenery until yanked taut in a game of tug of war. Say, with a pile of Limbo demons behind her versus a giant rooted tree in the rainforest.

It's all waiting until the one /not/ bolted by Jean shows up, and then T. rex is overthrown. But then, Rasputins are legendary for toppling kingdoms and empires.

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
Piotr tosses down the broken raptor and looks around and hangs his head in frustration as he notices the two t rexes show up, <<Crap>> he mutters in Russian and stretches his arms. The large Russian says over the bond to Jean <<At least one of them isn't Blob this time. Just do what you have to do.>> He snorts and begins positioning himself between the two T Rexes, and tries to make himself appear as big as possible, which is miniscule to the two of them.

James Proudstar has posed:
Jimmy grabs one more Raptor that leaps at him, and while the sharp-toothed maw doesn't reach him, those slashing foot-claws do, tearing a few slashes into the shirt of his costume before there would be a *snap* but for the silence, and the Raptor again gets flung into a couple of its' fellows, with the remaining Raptors starting to get the idea that discretion is the better part of valor, and maybe they shoulda stuck with the Triceratops.

Part of Jimmy is saddened by the death of the creatures, though at least they'll likely be returned to the jungle. He idly wonders if the natives here try to utilize every bit of the animals they slay in the fashion of many of the Native tribes of North America. Ah well, an academic query for another time. Raptors handled for the moment, Jimmy turns to move closer to Hank, and catches sight of the two T-Rexes bearing down.

Silence keeps the single word he instinctively speaks from being heard but those that might be able to read lips can probably guess that it would not be comics-code approved.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
This was the often hidden part of Marie's powerset; most folks around the mansion know of her prescience if they know of her at all. It's what she responds with when asked what her mutant ability is. Using her cards as guardians? It's not a trick she pulls out nearly as often. For one thing? It requires a lot of her attention to keep up with. For another, if her cards are going to be coming alive, it's typically a reaction to violence, which she tries to avoid in the first place. Usually.

<< Oui! >> Marie responds, a little more prepared for it this time when Scott grabs her hand and yanks her out of danger's path; the blades remaining in their position for the moment until they're better positioned, then once again they relocate at their mistress' command -- fanning out to the rear of the group, now, as she puts her faith in their fearless leader's ability to cover the front and, if necessary, pull her scrawny self out of danger. << Covering our rears. >> is added, just to make sure the group knows what's going on.

Plus, it's easier not to scream soundlessly at a pair of towering Tyrannosauruses that, sorry Jean, makes her previous-transformed teacher seem remarkably more like Barney the Dinosaur by comparison.

Emma Frost has posed:
Well. That was relatively simple. One of the massive carnivores goes night-night as Jean zots him. The other trips over Illy's tripvine and tumbles to the ground, tiny arms of no help in the attempt to get back up. The female tyrannasaur flails helplessly on the ground for a bit, snapping large jaws at anyone or anything that comes near it while she attempts to regain her footing.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean looks at Piotr, << Well, I think we don't need Maneuver 35-Yeet at this point, thanks to your sister. >> She looks a bit relieved at that, as she stays hovering in the air, keeping her mental awareness up to try and make sure no threats are approaching. Which does, really, take up most of her attention.

Henry McCoy has posed:
<<Dare I ask if we can hold her down for a moment?>> The Beast asks over the telepathic link, dropping down in the midst of his chums. Another set of vials are pulled free, along with an drawing device - the needle quite large. It does have to pierce a dino-hide, after all!

Then again, there's an unconcious big boy right over there, Hank.

<<Keep her tied up!>> Pun most definitely intended, Hank starts bounding towards the felled tyranasaurus. Never, ever, did he think he'd be doing this in his career. Wonders never cease!

Scott Summers has posed:
Well, that works. Mostly. << It can still stand, I don't see anything obviously broken, so don't get overconfident. >> Warns Scott. Always worrying a bit too much.

On the other hand, checking Hank's list, that is three out of five. So very nice of those hungry dinosaurs to come to try to eat them so they don't have to search the jungle for them. << Hank. Have you finished? I'd like to be out of here before whatever thinks it can eat Tyrannosaurs comes here to have a snack >>.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
The tripvine stretched out widely has as its anchor multiple demons piled up behind their queen, vermillion, violet, magma-streaked black, and golden hands -- or claws -- all seizing the tripwire. The chorus of their shouts and cheers is strangely absent, all the better considering one of them probably has a side-splittingly loud squeal. When the dinosaur goes down, the thickened liana has served its purpose and the twang may be enough for the collective weight of assembled Limbo helpers to resist. But it does fling Illyana out of the portal -- which snaps shut -- and sends her impressively going straight along no controllable trajectory whatsoever.

The benefit of a silence spell is no one can hear you swearing about tractors. Tumbling end over end, hopefully Piotr is fast enough to catch her before she smacks into a tree.

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
Piotr breathes a sigh of relief. He knew some day he would be yeeted again, but it is not this day! The larger Rasputin nods to Jean and gives a thumbsup and gives another one to his sister, but as he turns to do so, he sees her in her predicament and bounds over with the hustle and worry of an older brother tries to get into position and reaches out, barely grabbing Illyana by her waist as she flies by, causing the two of them to spin a little from the inertia, and hopefully preventing whiplash.

James Proudstar has posed:
Jimmy leaps into the air, about a dozen meters, and comes down atop the fallen-but-still conscious T-Rex's head, giving it a hammer-blow with interlaced fists to try to at a minimum render it senseless. He's not TRYING to kill it, but he's not exactly a T-Rex fighting expert yet, so it may be too much, or too little, though he's inclined to err on the former side.

Unfortunately that move does leave him out-of-position to catch any flying Snowflakes. Thankfully Piotr is on the job.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
<< This will leave the Compsognathus and Stegosaurus, oui? >> ...someone has been paying attention, from the sounds of it. While she tries her best, there's really no disguising the fear that's audible in Marie's mental 'voice'. The dinosaurs were frightening enough when they were roughly human-sized and actually her friends transformed. This... was on an entirely different level.

Still, she's getting a taste of 'real' action which will help to prepare her for times to come... because she was way too focused on trying to guard against anything that tried to sneak up on them to be able to catch the flying Illyana properly, not to mention having the right card for the job already prepared! There were lessons to be learned, and in the meantime? It's a good thing that Piotr /didn't/ forget to hug his sister today.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean grins down at Piotr, >> Oh, you liked it the first time, admit it. << She then floats down and lands near Marie-Ange, giving the younger girl a reassuring smile.

>> Correct. A stegosaur shouldn't be too hard to find, but compys might be a little difficult to pin down. << She keeps the mental link up, just to help coordination, as she glances curiously over at Hank, wondering if there's anything they're missing.

Henry McCoy has posed:
Nerd-mode activated! <<That would be classified as Siats meekerorum, Scott. They were part of a larger species categorized as carcharodontosaurs. Discovered in 2008..." Beast comments with a grin - piercing the scaly flank of the woozy Tyranasaur. He's definitely not trying to kill any of them - simply collect his samples as needed. Once two vials are full, he tucks them away and sprints back to the others. <<Three down, oui. The Stegosaurus will be... difficult, with the armor. The Compsognathus will hopefully be a bit more managable." Hank grins, dusting himself off.

<<I suggest we make due haste and get out of the area while the big couple shake off the beating.>>

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
Illyana isn't moving at light speeds, but the big hand reaching out to arrest her forward momentum is much appreciated. She smirks down at the tyrannosaur tipped over by her handiwork only after being wrapped up safely from trouble, glomping hold of Piotr's arm in a defensive curl as old as the siblings' relationship itself probably is. She was likely clinging to him like a burr from the time she could coordinate her limbs to do so. Albeit in this case, the madcap laughter briefly seen -- not heard -- from her is such an oddity and out of the blue, it could be distressing. Someone has replaced the Russian doom-harbinger with a happy person. It's all wrong.

Her thumbs-up won't be necessary as yet, though her odd vantage gives her an opportunity to check nothing comes from above. Ha. Sibling hug. No one expects the Illyquisit-- wait, no, friendly hug.

Scott Summers has posed:
Scott nods to Jean, hearing Hank's report. While the good doctor takes care of the Tyrannosaur, Scott can take raptor blood samples himself. << Correct, Marie. And Jean is right. Finding compys might take us a while. I am hoping James can help track them down. It would be best to finish this stage of the mission before nightfall >>

It would also be best if they leave the scene of the crime before the pteradons notice someone has knocked out a couple Tyrannosaurs. Anything can happen in the Savage Land, but even here Tyrannosaurs are usually not punched into unconsciousness like they just did.

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
Piotr exhales as Illy appears to be alright, though a smile does come to his face to hear the rare laughter of the his baby sister as he sets her down, "You scared me!" He mouths, the joy of the silence spell. Once he is reminded he calls out over the bond <<Da. Best to keep moving, but I will keep the stegosaurus busy, the spike bits will probably hurt me less?>> Such great confidence. For while it may not scar him, the force probably will hurt like hell.

James Proudstar has posed:
Jimmy moves over to hand his Raptor-sample to Hank while he's got the chance, and nods towards Scott, <<I'm on it, now that the warm-up's over>>. And with the sample handed off, he crouches low and starts scanning the ground, taking a minute or two to do a swift circuit around the area, using both his superb sight and scent-detection (specifically looking for anything that kind of reminds him of Gabby circa a few days back). He's silent for a spell (no pun intended), then nods, <<Got a trail, I think. Leads deeper into the Jungle>>. Maybe not a bad thing with the City of the Ptero-Men still in line of sight.

Either way, he takes point, moving through the jungle with ease and stealth that belies his size as he hunts his quarry, though it's unhurried enough that the others can keep up with him.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
<< I will keep my eyes open for them as well... the cards allow me to do many things, but locating tiny dinosaurs is not among them. >> Marie laments, tucking the card in her hand back into its pouch as the swords that it had produced vanish into the air, as, for the moment they're no longer needed... though she's pretty sure that it won't be the last time tonight that she needs to summon the cards to her defense.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
The silence spell is useful only for certain respects, but not actually anyone telling the loose cannon what the heck is going on. She forms a little dinosaur face with her hand and hops it along, point of her fingers in a duck billed-point. It jostles and looks around, skittering ahead of Piotr. Then she swoops her left hand in an arc to smack down on her wrist, index and middle finger in a vee, to give the clear idea of someone riding a dinosaur's back. Hands rise in a questioning shift, then she points at Jimmy.

Evidently someone should be dropped on a compy... or a stegosaur. Was she old enough to be totally all about dinosaurs, or was that childhood obsession with turnips or something? It was Siberia, it could've been evil lake monsters lying in the abyssal depths of a failed continental rift. She nonetheless offers that strategy without preamble. Elegantly enough, she upnods Marie-Ange for her choice of sword-cards. A lengthy look there, and she adds a sharp little bounce to her step. Well then, off to cause trouble. Here hungry monsters, as the tilt of silence ends up unwoven.

Emma Frost has posed:
It isn't too long before Jimmy's tracking picks up the trail, and a jaunt through the jungle leads them to a clearing by a branch of the river. Along the shore is a plethora of tiny, chicken-like compys, as well as a trio of stegasauruses and a couple of tall, beaky-dinosaurs walking on their hind legs enjoying the water.

When the X-Men break into the clearing, Jimmy in the lead, the compys jump up, scattering about and swarming him, chewing on him!!

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean almost sighs a bit, and telekinetically grabs one of the compys that decides to have Jimmy for lunch, yoinking it off of him. She then telekinetically ferries it over by Hank, "Here you go."

Look, she's tired, she's sweaty, her hair is a mess, and she's been traipsing around in the jungle on her birthday. She is Done. And frankly, when she catches Sauron, so is he.

Henry McCoy has posed:
Little, scrabbling in the air - but fierce! The Compy is admired for the briefest of moments, Hank carefully taking a sample or two from the little one. "Well... I wish they all were so compliant." Not that the little dino has any say in it. He nods to Jean, grinning. "Thank you, Jean." A glance to Jimmy. "Shake them off - don't try to hurt them." He ponders. "Anyone bring jerky? We can toss it to the side to distract them from our friend?"

Scott Summers has posed:
Scott follows James without hesitancy, but keeping a wary eye on the flanks and the ground. He is mildly surprised nothing attacks them until the compy swarm decides to go piranha on James. Which fortunately is not going to work well for them.

"And stegosauruses there too, looks like the mission is a success and with a couple hours to spare," he comments. Still grim. If today we were lucky it is because tomorrow they will be doubly unlucky. "I'll help Jean herd the tiny guys off James.," he nods to Hank and Piotr, "you go for the big lizards, please."

There is some zap-zaps-zarp sounds as he hits the compys with low-power, pulsed blasts. Trying to knock them off James.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
No, no matter how nice the water looks, it will not be appropriate to go swimming in there. A coelacanth or a giant dinosaur lurking in the mud might decide she looks tasty. The blonde Russian raises her hand, a portal blossoming directly in front of her, giving reason for that pale blue-white shine around her. "Free ride to stego," she offers, though understandably not everyone wants to trust the teleporter for a tranpsort to the docile, giant dinosaurs with brains the size of a walnut. Because, like dogs, they probably don't have the spatial awareness to look up. All it takes is a jump to Limbo.

And it's going to be one to remember. The Queen's happy for once.

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
Usually it is a bad idea to play with portals; however, Piotr knows Illyana is excited, and they need to deal with these giant critters. With a sigh of resignation, he nods to his younger sister and goes into the portal at full speed, finding himself falling down towards the stego. In steel form. He has had better ideas.

When Piotr falls he instead tries to fall insted of being directly onto the back spines, to fall adjacent to them, and by sheer luck and hope, he is able to grab ahold of one as he falls, fortunately not ripping it out, but the stego is /not/ happy. The metal mutant uses that swole patrol power to pull himself up onto the shoulderse of the dinosaur and begins to use what he thinks is a sleeper hold to hopefully render the dino unconscious in short order to get the blood sample needed.

James Proudstar has posed:
"OK, got a nest, just need t- whoop!"

Jimmy staggers back under the wave of Compys, flailing a bit in disorientation and discomfort. Ever been gnawed on by a cat? Imagine that times a couple or three dozen. The Compys aren't breaking any skin as they attempt to gnaw on Jimmy, some might even be breaking teeth if they try too hard, but it's still mildly painful and annoying. However, even as he reins in his momentary flailing to start plucking the creatures off and dropping them on the ground, they come away with more bits and pieces of his costume. Until by the time that he and others have managed to clean them off, his suit is basically a wreck, with a thin tattered strip of the shirt running from right shoulder to left hip, the left leg mostly gone save for a few tatters above the boot, and his right calf and shin mostly exposed, but hey, his gloves, belt, and boots are mostly OK! And the mask. Just about everything else remaining still has at least a couple small holes in it from Compy-bites.

"You know...I thought people were joking when they said this always happens in the Savage Land...." There's a tiny trace of amusement to it. Costumes can be replaced easily enough, and aside from really wanting a shower, he's none the worse for wear.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
Compys, check. Stegosaurus? Well, about to be checked off more likely than not. It looked like this one was going to be a success without too much more need of Marie's gifts, though she's going to keep her hands free and ready, just in case something awful ends up showing up again...

...and right on cue comes the one thing that she doesn't really have a card to defend against; one Jimmy in a properly Compy-tailored costume that shows off far more than it started off showing. Politely averting her gaze, the French mutant nonetheless turns as red as her hair as a result. That could have been her, she reminds herself. ...at least he doesn't /look/ hurt? Or, she didn't think he did. She's not looking again to make sure, though.