13203/The Reavers: Kill or Capture

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The Reavers: Kill or Capture
Date of Scene: 30 October 2022
Location: Bushwick <Mutant Town>
Synopsis: Donald Pierce goes all in to recover Josh to further a secret advanced cybernetics program. Trying to grab Josh in Bushwick goes sideways when Bunny, Gabby, Monet, Roberto, and Tabby show up and wreck borgs.
Cast of Characters: Joshua Foley, Monet St. Croix, Bunny Macleod, Roberto da Costa, Gabby Kinney, Tabitha Smith
Tinyplot: Reavers


Joshua Foley has posed:
"Are you sure this operation is worth the investment, Mr. Pierce?"

"I am. This thing's mutation could be harnessed to make cybernetic acceptance rates 100," Donald Pierce replies matter of factly into his cellphone. "And the target's location gives us the perfect opportunity for a field test of the prototype."

"Then proceed. But understand, the prototype cannot be taken and any losses you suffer may take... some time to be replaced."

"Very well," Pierce answers and hangs up. He tucks his cellphone into the jacket of his grey suit. "Arrogant bastard. He is lucky that he is useful."

Julie nods her agreement. She is dressed in the Reavers' nondescript black military fatigues. She checks stares out the window of the armoured limousine as it races through the evening streets of New York.

"Everything is ready," she reports to Pierce. "All teams are standing by. Sir, I still advise against taking Josh in Bushwick. The risk of interference is high."

"And so is the value of the data we might collect, whether or not we take him," Pierce snaps irritably. "We have been through this."

"Yes, sir," Julie replies, cripsly professional. Her expression is a little less so. Worried, maybe.

<Green light. Approaching target area.> Julie transmits to the others. Enhanced as they are, altered as they are, it is not so much a message as the sharing of an understanding. Immediate, clear, precise.

Black armoured personnel carriers painted with NYPD on the side in several locations near Bushwick turn in unison and cruise into back alleys, out of sight. Several pedestrians in Bushwick change direction at the same instant. High above, a blackhawk flying dark takes up station.

******************************

It is a dismal evening in Bushwick. Rain drizzles steadily, driving many inside. Those still outside hurry about their business or hang out under storefront awnings and in bus shelters to keep out of the rain. It is dark, the sun goes down early these days. In the windows of restaurants and a few shops, the area's colourful array of inhabitants can be glimpsed living their lives. Traffic is fairly light.

Josh stands in an all but derelict warehouse with his hands in his pockets. His clothes are street-stained, his white sneakers are anything but. He looks like he could use a bath. "Yeah, but how do I afford tools to start working if I don't have the money to buy the tools?"

"Not my problem," says Georgio. He is a huge man, at least 7' tall. Even sitting down he is a looming presence. The man's minotaur-like face only adds to the effect. "You want on my crew, that's the rules."

"Yeah, okay," Josh says and sighs. "I'll figure something out."

"Sure, kid," Georgio snorts. "This ain't the place for your kind anyway, Bushwick is our place. Why're you even here?"

"Only place I might be safe," Josh says with a shrug. He walks out of the warehouse into the evening and starts off down the street. He avoids eye contact with anyone, he learned quickly that was inviting trouble. His destination, an abandoned apartment building where he has been squatting, is three blocks down.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Mutant Town is Mutant Town. Monet can see the necessity of it's existence - Mutatns need somewhere to stay, to call thier own, and to have for themselves that don't wish to make the long journey to Genosha, even if it's most often done with teleporters. It's still so far away. She does, however, find the whole fact of social isolation and making an urban grotto quite disquieting on a personal level.

TOo many times historically that being cut off from things has only lead to making bad situations worse. But she can certainly understand the social and cultural necessity for it. So she keeps her thoughts on it to herself. Never speaking them, never sharing them.. A rare enough thing that she does not speak of nor share.

So on this day as she's going through Mutant Town, a large umberlla over her head, having been attempting to make an appointment wiht a tailor to have some things made to find that there's such a backlog that not even the St. Croix name being dropped multiple times can get through it, she's walking through the area intent on merely heading back to Xavier's..

Right as the assault helicopter makes it's presence known. And armored personnel carriers. She tenses. As with anything.. This is a bad sign. Monet goes to speak into her commlink <<Mutant Town, emergency>> Then she's rapidly striding towards the nearest armored personnel carrier.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Singing in the rain, just singing in the rain, what a wonderful feeling, I'm happy again~

    The area was familiar to Bunny; her family lived on the edge of it, where the rent began to spiral and the rooms were... well, it's New York City. There's a reason why there's a joke about the roaches.

    Pink hair french braided to keep it out of the way, wearing a bright blue helmet with little wings and a foam unicorn horn on it, a bright pink rain jacket (used) and blue leggings with purple storm clouds with little lightning on them. She's slowly skating (no-wake speed), her umbrella a riot of bright rainbow splotches.

    She gives a pause, dropping her umbrella a moment as she looks up to the cloudy, drizzling sky, her eyes narrowing a moment as she tilts her head -- and a raindrop gets right in her ear.

    "Nyeeeeeg! Why why why WHYYY ah GAWD right in the EARHOLE!" she protests out loud, making little hops on her skates, umbrella switching hands so she can hop with grace and balance, if not poise.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto da Costa was out cacthing some sun, it's a celver trick on a day like today flying above the cloud cover to soak in the ambient sunshine, even if it means a soggy return trip. BUt the rain sizzles off his energized form as he descends intent on checking progress on the MutantTown project before heading back up to Westchester. Let's be honest, flying is cool and Berto luxuriates in the ability doing lazy barrel rolls and the sort of mid air gymnastics that would make a lesses athlete dizzy as he rolls and twists. He comes at Buschwick off the ocean, high, letting his vanta black form give him cover as move closer with the fading day and the gray clouds overhead. He narrows his eyes at the Blackhawk and tries to recall if any if the NYPD has a blackhawk assigned to the 78th precinct and doesn't think they do but he does have a connection, "Sam, is there a blackhawk Helicopter assigned to Bushwick?" he does know that flying dark is a violation of FAA guidelines.

    So, Roberto helpfully lights up like a spotlight shining brightly on the blackhawk, he is behind it forcing the vehicle to turn to fire on him, "You boys need some help?" He offers over an open channel?

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney had spent a lot of time in Mutant Town herself. While she was currently actually living in either Gotham or Happy Harbor or... or where ever she was crashing at any given time, she knew people here. Off and on having helped or received help. The short, dark haired young woman was a familiar enough sight that most people left her alone even if she might seem an easy target to unsuspecting sorts.

An umbrella is hoisted overhead, tucked into the crook of her elbow as she balances some grocery bags from one of the local bodegas that made AWESOME tamales. It was cold out. It was tamale season. Fuck yeah.

While she's not WITH anyone, she does spot a familiar figure down the street when she spies Monet. Who then... takes off like a bat out of hell. Curious, suspicious, and sniffing at the air she narrows her eyes at the host of vehicles going by. NYPD but suspiciously those vehicles all smelled of fresh paint. Plus, just any number of cops in that large an arrangement was bad news anyway.

"Aw man, I really wanted tamales," she sighs as she pitches the bags into a doorway out of the rain. Likely to be scavenged sooner rather than later

Then she tosses the umbrella as well leaving it to sit spinning on the sidewalk. A quick tuck and roll has her wet, cranky, and under one of those personelle carriers grabbing onto the undercarriage to hitch a ride to where ever they were going.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabby wasn't too far from Mutant Town. So when an alert pinged on her comms she was at least already in Manhattan, she just needed a little time to navigate traffic on her bike. But get through she does, hopefully not too late. Mostly by cutting through alleys and side streets which totally exist in New York City.

Pulling up and seeing a armored bersonel carrier, and a helicoptor being all menacing and not a good idea. Tabby does a good head swivel to see if anyone else is stepping up besides Monet. Seems to be the case.

The blonde had at least started taking to wearing emblemless parts of her x-Suit for protection when she's on her bike. Black leather one piece with padding in yellow at the shoulders, biceps and sleeves. Yellow boots.

"Hey, umm. Does someone want a mutant riot? Cause that's how you get a mutant riot!" she assks. Nothing seems to have exploded yet buy she's only just arrived.

Joshua Foley has posed:
The black limousine pulls over to the curb. Doors open. Donald Pierce and Julie step out onto the wet sidewalk. It takes Josh a moment to notice but when he does his heart sinks and he freezes.

"Josh... Don't. It'll be worse," Julie cautions. She meets Josh's eyes for a moment, then looks away. Josh swallows hard.

"Come now, Josh. It is time to do your part," Pierce says. "I know you hate 'them' as much as I do. Want to save humanity as much as I do. Your condition is... Unfortunate. But perhaps you can redeem yourself."

"It's not my fault!" Josh protests, eyes watering. "I don't want... I don't want you to..."

"Of course not," Pierce says soothingly. Patronizingly. "You won't be treated like the subjects. Your service will be recognized."

Josh shakes his head and takes a step backwards. "I don't believe you," Josh says. "Fuck that!"

Josh turns and bolts down the sidewalk.

"Pathetic," Pierce mutters. He starts to climb back into the limousine. "Julie, take it from here." The limousine starts to pull away.

Joshua Foley has posed:
Julie nods. She looks down at her hands for a moment and sighs.

<He is running. Capture. Activate the prototype if there is interference.>

A man in jeans and a black hooded jacket steps out of the flow of pedestrians and stands in the sidewalk in Josh's way. Another identical looking man starts cutting across the street from the other side of the road. They move ridiculously fast. The one in front of Josh lunges at the young man and tries to tackle him. Josh throws himself sideways and smashes through the glass window of Harvest Cafe. There are shouts of alarm inside.

The windows of the APCs are all blacked out. They do not move and nobody comes out of them. The helicopter holds station.

In one of the of APCs, Garth kneels beside a suitcase sized piece of equipment. He pulls a vial with a plug on it out of a pelican case and slots it into the device.

"We don't have the order," one of the others protests.

Joshua Foley has posed:
"When it goes to shit, and this will go to shit, there won't be time to fuck around," Garth replies.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Going up towards the first of the APC's, Monet goes to ball her fists, "YOur kind arent wanted here." She doesn't bother over with any sort of warning or threat. Just a statement. She isn't remotely strong enough to lift such a heavy thing, it's well mor ethan she can do more than budge it.. But, she can still inflict some damage on it. The name of the game is induce panic. In the abscence of Mighty Woman..

She goes to lift up her fist, and moves to bring it into the engine block. WHAM! The first blow shatters the front end of the car. The second COLLAPSES it, the engine exploding over in fire. Then M is up and over the hood, tearing the top end of the carrier off and moving to then each and every individual inside pick them up and hurl them away like bowling pins. That done, everyone inside emptied out, with likely broken bones and concussions.. But not maimings or cripplings.. Is hopefully down for the count and the next in line getting the idea

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    The limo is what caught the brightly colored girl's attention as she brings her umbrella up again, her head tilting as she skates a little backwards, her toes digging in.

    You won't be treated like the subjects.

    She feels her heart drop.

    She swallows nervously, and then she closes her umbrella with a snap and begins to skate out.

    "AN' HERE'S WHAT ONE 'A THEM CAN DO!" she bellows the best she can in her thin voice, a gasoline rainbow flash covering her skin as she skates across the wet street, uses her umbrella to help hook around a street light and brings both feet up to try and crunch the back of one of the black-clad men, bright, heavy skate wheels introduced to someone's lower back and maybe a spleen.

    "Someone grab tha heroes! These fellas are Bad News!" she not only yells out, jumping to conclusions, but she has a flash of the last time she encountered any 'subjects'.

    She's not going to just standby and let that happen again!

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto da Costa frowns and nods to the voice in his ear, "All points, the good news is the bad news, these arent NYPD official." Then back to that open channel, "Set it down and You won't be hurt." He is still hovering above the blackhawk, shining the light down on Blackhawk. "You've been warned."

Tabitha Smith has posed:
There are other vehicles and Tabby picks one of her own. The blonde grins and hmms before she saunters her way over too the blacked out drivers side window before anyone else can pile out.

There's a rap of knuckles against the tinted, reinforced glass. And a smile like she's pretending to be one of the myriad of sex workerrs that might have already cleared the streets. Not Mutanttown's first. There's a point of her finger over at Monet smashing up one APC while she yells a warning to the people inside the one she learns against.

"See that. Now imagine that inside your ride here. And a lot more on fire!" she yells and places a finger on the glass and ignites her finger in plasma, conentrating a tiny stream at thhe glass as it starts melting. "I don't even need to do things this way. Y'all mofos need to turn your ass around or we go straight through armor like a blowtorch on ice!" she keeps a very, very wicked grin.

And this is her dialing it down. At least the X-Suit turned riding gear is good for small arms and shrapnel and the like."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
It only took a quick scan of radio frequencies for the earbud in Gabby's own ear to pick up the one Roberto and the others were chatting on. Perfect. While it wasn't Xavier standard equipment anymore (Thank you, Bat kiddos) it was perfect for this task. Her voice comes over the radio cheery and chipper to hide the rather quietly boiling angter she was feeling rise up as she hears the conversation a short bit down the street.

With these senses she heard a lot of things. Usually she tried to ignore it, but in this case, it was good to know.

< Can confirm, not NYPD. Fresh paint on these vehicle's logos. Hi Berto been awhile. I'm disabling this carrier, > she informs only to hum quietly, <Brake line connected to the... *Snikt* Not anymore...>

A few more suspicious punches and small scrapes of metal being properly adjusted from the carrier is taken care of while a few puddles of rainbow slick start to float out along the already damp street. Satisfied with whatever adjustments she made she rolls out the opposite side to kick-jump to her feet.

Joshua Foley has posed:
<Unit 02 non-functional>

<Unit 03 engaging close proximity target>

<Unit 01 aerial target. Deploying drone, evading>

<Covert units under attack>

Julie lips press into a thin line. <Unit 4, move in for recovery. Activate the device. Unit 5, 6 cover.>

Joshua Foley has posed:
Unit 02 is definitely non-functional. When Monet pulls open the roof, she finds it is not full of cops. Instead, it there are six identical blonde women in black fatigues with assault rifles. Monet tosses them. They are heavy for people, but nothing to her strength. Each of them twist in the air so their feet are aligned with the direction of travel. Three start shooting mid-air. The bricks of nearby buildings crumple under the weight of their impacts as they absorb the impact, then drop to the ground from two storeys up, still shooting at Monet. Two of the others happen to find windows in their path and disappear through them as the glass is nowhere near strong enough to support their landings. The last is not able to turn in time, careens off a fire ladders and tumbles to the ground. He limbs twitch spastically, then her eyes flare blue and she goes still.

Bunny hits the man that lunged at whoever was running. There is no crunch. It is like hitting a sandbag filled with metal shavings. "Mutie bitch," the man snarls. He tries to backhand Bunny.

Joshua Foley has posed:
Just then she sees the person who had been running stand up among the broken glass shards from the cafe window. There is no mistaking it, it is the guy from the lab. He has not really seen her. He looks terrified.

Josh jumps the window sill and tries to run. The man that was running across the street intercepts Josh, grabs him by the belt, spins and hurls Josh across the street into a wall across the street. Josh crumples in pain. His face and hands turn golden in splotches that do not fade.

Nobody in the blackhawk answers Roberto on the radio. A small drone drops out of the belly of the helicopter. Then the helicopter banks and rotates sharply, pulling sideways to the west and exposing its side to Roberto. The side door flies open to reveal black hair men in military fatigues. One is standing at a .50 cal machine gun, the other is shouldering a Stinger. They open fire on Roberto!

Joshua Foley has posed:
The response from the APC near Tabby is the backdoor opening. Six short, stocky men in fatigues spill out of the vehicle and open fire with assault rifles towards Tabby without saying a word!

The engine of the APC above Gabby roars to life. The vehicle accelerates sharply to the end of the alley. Presumably the driver tried to turn. The front end of the APC collapses. The brake lights turn on but the vehicle does not slow. It ploughs through the backend of a UPS van driving by and slams into the front of an independent hardware store across the street. Thankfully it was closed. The backdoors open. Six redhaired women exit the vehicle, take up formation and start moving down the street away from the limousine.

A final APC comes roaring out of a nearby alley. There is almost palpable fwumph. A man standing in shock watching fight at the cafe screems. As the APC passes his green scales suddenly vanish and reveal a normal human face. Then as the APC gets about 30ft away, The scales ripple back into place. The man rolls on the ground in agony. The APC is driving directly towards where Josh is laying on the sidewalk, slowly picking himself up.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Oh, this is going to be fun. Monet St. Croix goes to speak to her comm <<Noted. Give status updated as needed. They have a greater goal in mind>> The fact she hadn't even bothered to confirm they were hostile before attakcing -may- have rubbed someone hte wrong way (not that a few seconds of difference would have changed anything).
    As she sees the Blackhawk raining down fire, she warns <<Air support!>> She can't fly up and hit it - that would make her an open target. Fortunately, Roberto's powers make him perfect for engaging this sort of thing. The only one better might be Cannonball. Making sure that the individuals she had beaten were not dead or crippled,s he would move on towards the next group. She can pick out Josh's panic and the fact that he seems to be specifically targeted.. But then the machine gun fire is blasting down over and at her as she's having to duck and fly away from it! Those guns would hurt her badly in sustained fire.
    And that the final vehicle is going towards him all out. she gives a warning <<Unable to intercept in time, the child appears to be a specific objective>> She's in no position to intercept.. She has to protect herself first! That means going to yank up part of the hood over to use to protect herself, using it like a shield and flying out of line of sight!

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    WHACK.

    Bunny gets backhanded, after realizing her skates had sunk in funny. She had landed, and was skating backwards from the guy when he wheeled around and hit her.

    She stumbles, bringing up one arm to stop her from hitting a brick wall, but she grips herself, looking to the guy who hit her, a welt rising on her cheek before she turns. Like MOnet she sees Josh trying to push himself up.

    Unlike Monet, she's a dumb kid who is just trying her best.

    So Bunny does what she does best -- she moves -- err.. skates. The vehicle before crashes, and a bunch of redheads jump out. She uses her wheely good advantage to push off the ground, skidding along as she grinds a bench on her skates to get her around some of these bad guys, and she moves for the kid in the sweatshirt.

    "Geddup Geddup Geddup Keep Moving!" the little shield bunny begins, turning around to skate backwards and make sure she's in line to take any ordinance for Josh Foley!

    "We stall for enough time someone's gotta show up!"

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto da Costa is already going evasive as the drone is released. The sudden movement of the Blackhawk doesn't even surprise him as the door swings open Berto is already targeting the tail rotor with a blast. At the sight of the heavy ordinance he drops the bright spit light and kills propulsion going ballistic as the cyborg technology struggles to go cope with the absence of lumens and pick up the target.
     Berto twists in the air and reignites about ten feet off the ground. Taking out the stinger missile with a blast before rounding on the blackhawk. His eyes open for the drone.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"Rude!" Tabby exlaims as men pile at the back and open fire at her. The blonde had to scrample and get behind another parked vehicle. Never one to like wasting plasma she makes, she creates a decently sized bomb and rolls it around the opposite side of the carrier vehicle the diminutive ben climbed out of.

<<So, hi guys! Like anyone notice these guys all look alike.>> she keys herself into the communications with everyone else. <<Think we like have more clones being all nefarious and not awesome like Gabby!>> she chimes in while detonating that plasma orb.

BOOM!

The APC catches enough force from the psionically directed blast to knock it about and try flatten all six of the little armed people shooting at her and through that car before any scattering. Mostly with Tabby using more solid spots like an engine block for cover herself.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Redheads. "Good thing dad isn't here," Gabby mumbles to herself well aware of Logan's penchant for redheads. She'd stopped a short bit away to watch the whole scenario unfold while reaching up to pull up her hood. Then her hands are stuffed into her hoodie pockets while assessing the situation.

Limo not far off. Who the hell brings a limo to a military-themed kidnapping? Bigshots who think they're safe. The location is noted in her mental map of things for now but unfortunately has to dub it 'secondary' to the actual issue at hand. Especially when the APC roars by leaving the assortment of redheaded clones there.

A little pang is felt at the issue of it all. After all it was a subjec that hit close to home. < Clones. Dammit. Yeah, I know I'm awesome Tabby. Just wish I could help these guys. >

For a moment she opens her mouth about to speak, to offer them freedom if they decide they want to bail on Limo Guy and his gal. That hadn't worked in the past though. Some part of her had started to get a bit jaded in situations like these as she grew up. With a sigh and another tug of her hood, she launches into a run to leap up at one of the redheads from behind the formation.

One arm goes around her neck, the other reaches down to thumb off the safety of the gun she held. Using the woman as a shield she grips the others wrist to squeeze the trigger while twisting to send the spray of bullets at the other redheads.

There's a quiet, "Sorry," that comes from her that might get lost in the fray.

Joshua Foley has posed:
Monet:

Bullets rattle and ping off the door. Any other door might have been poor cover, but being from an APC, it holds up. Monet is able climb out of line of sight. She catches a glimpse of the three blonde women in the alley turning and running. When she climbs aobve the roof of the four-storey building beside her, Monet has a clear view of what is unfolding below.

Roberto:

As he predicted, when Roberto went dark the men shooting from the helicopter lost all track of him. They fire at where they thought he was going, tracers and the stinger missle's exhaust light up the night above him as he arcs away into his fall. The helicopter loses rotational control. It starts to auto-rotate and descend towards the ground, trailing smoke. From his vantage point, he can see everything below as well.

Joshua Foley has posed:
Tabby:

Bullets ping off the concrete and the car Tabby takes cover behind. Snap. Zing.

The plasma rolls.

The roar is incredible in the alleyway. It takes a lot of force to physically lift an APC, and Tabby measured it well. The APC leaps sideways. The entire team moving up the side of the APC is swept up and crushed against the wall of a building. Fire washes down the alley in both directions. The car Tabby is behind absorbs the heat that washes past her. A dumpster rolls down the alley and skids to a halt, its contents burning.

Joshua Foley has posed:
Bunny, Gabby, Monet, Roberto:

Bunny's move is prescient. A group of redheaded women who jumped out of a crashed APC half a block up start shooting at Josh as they retreat. Bullets pepper her shield. Then someone leaps and lands in the middle of them. But there is another issue, the last APC is roaring towards where Bunny and Josh are. As it gets closer, Bunny can feel something strange, like her shield is weakening, it is starting to slip from her. Josh gets to his feet.

"You?!" he says, in shock. He sees the APC. "Run!" Josh turns and starts to sprint down the street.

Joshua Foley has posed:
The red head squad reacts quickly, but not quickly enough. Which is good, when Gabby gets a hold of the one it is like grabbing a machine dressed as a human. She is heavy and solid under the skin. Bullets spray in an arc around the squad. A few go through but most riccochet. Bullet holes in fake skin revealing metallic muscles underneath. The five who are not grabbed react fast enough to each get an arm in front of their faces. Then they all start to raise their assault rifles and fire towards Gabby, unconcerned about the welfare of her shield!

The limousine accelerates out of the area, leaving the confines of Bushwick.

Julie is still standing in the middle of the sidewalk where the chase and fight started. She watches Josh get tossed. The attack on the other units. She continues coordinating.

<Julie, get in here> Garth insists. <Julie!>

Julie drops off the net. She does not move, other than to look down again. A tear rolls down her cheek.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
With her shield up and ou tof the line of fire, Monet can quickly get back into the melee. She goes to hover, moving to quickly react. She goes to amongst the various members of the X-Men setup a quick tactical group meld, attempting to rapidly pass information from them to one another. Calling out to Roberto <<I'll handle the helicopter, you give support to those on the ground>>

She attempts to try and pass along information and coordination to the various mutant members of Xavier's present, even as she's flying up towards the tumbling helicopter. This is going to hurt..
    Even as she goes up to try and catch it and brace hard iwth it in midair to attest it's momentum. It's on fire and raining debris, which doesn't make it easier. Blade chop into her skin, fire sears off chunks of her hair, and debris peppers her. But better her than the buildings below, ro civilians.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Redheads. It's always the redheads.

    The pink-haired girl keeps her shield up, but she feels it weakening. She hisses slightly -- she's been working so hard at keeping it longer! it should be going.

    It should be staying strong and --

    She pauses.

    'I saved you' sticks in the back of her mind like a bad idea, and she turns to see Josh, her eyes going wide as she cries out:

    "YOU'RE ALIVE!"

    There's a THUNK when a chunk of her helmet is taken out. She snaps her head to the side, gets down, and skates after Josh.

    "Let's keep it that way this time! I'm Bunny!" she introduces herself.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"You'd shoot at your own sister!?" Gabby blurts out with a voice suddenly filled with rage. Sure, shoot at her all they want, but that they'd sacrifice their own so quickly---That just. Wasn't. Right. Not much about this situation was at all though.

The woman is held in front of her acting as a very good shield with all that metal beneath her synthetic skin. Which is great for her as she waits for just the right moment to bolt out to the side and away.

You know, when their bullets are about out.

Target abandoned she dodges low, planting a hand on the ground to pivot off of sending a double-legged kick into another of the redheads so she's thrown back into one of her fellows. Like dominos they begin to tangle up with one another making it all the harder to work as one unit.

Claws pop out, and she slices without hesitation to take off entire arms. Even if they weren't metallic she never really cared about someone losing a limb. A bullet or two catches her in the side, completely ignored--Or just unnoticed?--as the blood blooms over her hoodie. It doesn't stop her regardless.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Luckily Tabitha herself is not susceptible to heat and flames or other sources of plasma. And her uniform has enough microarmoring and unstable molecules that it should survive the rush of flame and any flying debris in the alley.

Luckily she parked her bike well out of the way in a different alley. And an APC while heavy totally isn't a sentinel so well within her blast power.

rThere's a peek up and around the now burning car and a dry heave when she sees the damage. <<This is so gonna look bad. Mutants massacre in Mutanttown. Headlines for days." she states and frowns while she looks around for more trouble. Roberto and Monet seem to have the helicopter. Though she winces at Monet lacking some finesse in her hurry to catch it.

And another near barf averted when Gabby starts slicing bits of what otherwise would be ginger girls. She might have been unprepared for the carnage this time around. But that can be fixed with booze later.

That says, she does keep her head on a swivel for anyone else that might be causing a stink, putting some of that beginner level telepathy to work to scan for anything maybe hostile. This may be more difficult than expoected since New York.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto da Costa nods in appreciation, <<Obrigado, the copter is coming down of its own accord. Watch out for the drone.>> He smiles and then is pure motion as delight races through the meld, Berto accelerates to his top speed moving quickly among the traffic catching up to the APC and disappearing under the vehicle. He grunts and shoves it upwards, using its momentum to balance the load as he shoves the vehicle skyward, pushing it up and to the right, so that as it arcs it misses the building and lands squarely in the already flaming dumpster.

    "He winds up breathing a bit heavy as he hovers in the air before Josh and Bunny, "Ola, my name is Sunspot. We're here to save you."

Joshua Foley has posed:
Monet:

The men inside the helicopter have grabbed onto whatever they can to avoid falling out of as it rotates. The pilot tries to control the helicopter but can't. The shaft from the turbine to the tail rotor binds since the tail rotor cannot turn. Alarms go off, there is a burst of smoke then fire gouts from the engine.

The helicopter is no higher than 500ft when Monet intercepts it. There is so much inertia and the tanks are full. But the helicopter is slowing and with the engine gone, there is no auto-rotation to make Monet fight against torque, too.

"What?!" Josh yells incomprehendingly. He sprints to the end of the building, then turns into the alley in front of him. "Josh!" he shouts back, then looks in front of him. "No, no no".

Joshua Foley has posed:
Roberto, Bunny, Tabby, Gabby:

There is an 8 foot barbwired fence 20 feet ahead that blocks the alley in front of Josh and Bunny.

Roberto rockets towards the last mobile APC, the one heading towards Josh and Bunny. Inexplicably, Roberto starts to go ballistic again as he gets closer to the APC. He feels his powers slipping from him, pulling just out of reach.

Across the street, Julie folds open a panel on her arm. She touches a button. There is the sound of a small explosion inside the APC.

Like a surge of adrenaline, Roberto's powers come back to him in a rush just in time to keep him from road rashing across the ground. The tossed APC arcs gracefully toward the burning dumpster. Just as it is about to disappear into the alley between buildlings, the back door open and a lone figure jumps out, lands on a roof in a roll, and comes up running.

"Please don't let them take me!" Josh says in a panic to Roberto.

Seeing a few limbs poking out from behind the APC does not help the image for Tabby.

In the street, bullets riddle Gabby's hostage, who shakes with every impact. Then her eyes flash blue and she goes limp. Gabby gets the jump on the five redheads left standing when their bullets run out. They are really fast, but they are not the clawed mutant. Metal arms cannot stand up to magically-enhanced claws. A mix of blood and some greenish fluid flow from severed limbs. Metal muscles and wires are underneath mixed in with flesh. These women seem to feel no pain and try to strike, swing and grapple until incapacitated. Then their eyes also flash blue and they go limp.

Josh looks past Roberto and sees Julie standing on the sidewalk. Watching. Julie gives him a sad half smile. Her eyes flash blue and she crumples.

High above, the drone peels off and heads east.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix is struggling with the helicopter. She has ot control it before it kills both those insie and anyone that it might blow up on the street. She goes to dig her arms hard over into the metal, going to try and yank over along one of the landing skids to brace herself, even as bits of the blades go to chop over into her, digging and slashing her hard. There are chunks of blood, skin, and bone going up from the impacts, even as she forces herself to hold on despite the pain, shutting off parts of her mind to ensure stability.
    She manages to hold the helicopter together enough to now start ot drop. Drop.. Drop.. Drop.. She moves to then nearly fall towards the ground, even as she also reminds herself to make sure there's no explosion. This is done as she hits the ground with it and drops ot skidding along by smashing her fist over into a nearby fire hydrant, redirecting the water over towards the helicopter.. A nd no doubt leaving any crew still in it blasted hard by it.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Bunny just gives a small smile to Josh, she's trying to be reassuring, even though their last meeting didn't go very well (and kind of ended up with Josh presumed dead).

    However, she has a bone to pick with the facilities that are after Josh, coming to a head when she hisses a curse at the barbed wire fence. She looks at it a moment. "I can bubble if I get to the top but --"

    And then she's blinded by the lights!

    She looks to Roberto.

    She looks to Josh.

    And she points at Josh.

    "They're evil mutant hating scumbag science labs of death and they're after him. I'm a nobody." she states, "Make sure he gets out!"

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabby hmms and sees the drone. "Nope, you no fly!: she yells and directs her plasma as a stream to try and take it out of the sky. It might have some nice networky type information to give to the nerds back home.

Nerds love network info!

Whether she hits it or not is a matter of range and speed as she adds extra streams, one from each of her fingers to chase with a firey trail behind them like an anime missle swarm. <<So 'Berto, Monet. How fast can either of you fly? This thing is getting away fast!>> she asks over the comms. They might have better luck catching it than her. <<How you holding up Gabby? Sounds like we might need to call up some X-Force peeps later for this.>> she asks. The girl's probably fine but cloning woes can be a pain.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto da Costa frowns and shakes his head as his powers seemed to slip away, before returning in the nick of time, he looks about for answers, but then someone (Something?) catches his eye as they exit the vehicle in the air, and he moves to be level with the nearest roof, so that he can fire a quick grouping of blasts at the retreating figure, <<we got a runner on the rooftops, can someone keep an eye on the victims?>> Berto is reluctant to leave the area until Josh and Bunny are protected. He watches the figure for as long as he can. Sanpping his head around to track the drone and judging his chances for each.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
< I'm fine. Looks like they're just empty shells of some kind. > What Gabby doesn't say is that it makes the slicing and dicing so much easier. Though she'd left quite the mess behind.

Straightening up she fishes out a phone from her pocket to hit speed dial on a few numbers. "Yeah we'll need a cleanup on this ASAP," she agrees while striding toward where Josh and the others were gathering. The figure of Julie is regarded in the street where she had abandoned it just frowning in thought. "Seems that we might have someone on the inside. Just a bit." Or, Josh did, rather.

Joshua Foley has posed:
Monet:

The helicopter lands heavily, but in a controlled way, avoiding any number of casualties and collateral damage. The men inside are doused with water from the fire hydrant. They ignore Monet's grotesque injuries and start extricating themselves from the wreckage to try and scatter.

"Oh my gawd, are you okay?"

"Someone call an ambulance!"

"Dude, lol, it's raining chicks and helos"

Voices from nearby Monet.

Tabby:

Tabby catches sight of the drone just in time. Her plasma arcs into the air and catches the edge of the small octagonal shaped drone. It starts tumbling and falling to the ground.

Bunny, Roberto, Gabby:

Josh looks pleadingly at Roberto for a moment, then frowns.

He says to Bunny, eyes downcast. "Why are you helping me? They'll try to kill you."

The man who jumped from the APC Roberto tossed is running. He jumps from building to building over an alley. He is on foot, the only way he can escape Roberto is if Roberto loses sight of him.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would force herself back up to her feet. The men will be dealt with. Now she has the rest of her team to catch up on. She pauses a moment to let the water spray over her to stop the small fires that had left second and third degree burns over her. She moves to grab some remnants of cloth from somewhere and starts to tie it over the bits of her that were bleeding, taking it and pulling it into shreds to bind herself.
    <<Status update>> Going to fly up and into the air to try and get a better view while going to reestablish the mindlink.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Bunny shifts herself slightly in front of Josh, and she looks back over her shoulder before she unclips her helmet and tosses it to the side, breathing out as she looks up to the poor guy.

    "'Cause it was the wrong thing leavin' you behind. An' I'm gonna be payin' on that the resta my life." she states, and the smaller mutant readies herself to take additional blows, her skates moving back and forth on the pavement as she wipes one muddied glove across her nose and under one eye. She's crying.

    "I'm so friggin' happy you're alive, Josh."

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto da Costa moves into the air following the man, as the rest of the team gets back up on their feet <Lost my powers as I was coming up on that last APC, then the effect died off. There's a runner from the vehicle, we should use caution. Gabs and Tabs can you keep an eye on the kids?>> He raises up and moves after the runner, taking a sweep of the area to make sure there aren't anymore threats on the ground. Using his blasts to shepherd the figure, keeping him moving towards more open roofs and making him easier to corral, while not approaching to close for the moment. The blasts are lower effect, mostly light and heat, flash without the usual punch.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney lifts a hand to offer a thumbs-up toward Roberto when he asks that she and Tabby keep an eye on the kids. There's admitedly a little bit of glee at the fact that she wasn't being lumped into that as well for once.

As she passes by she stoops to scoop up one of the guns. It's checked, safety taken off, and she tucks it in toward her side holding at the ready in case it was necessary. Just in case.

A grin is flashed over her shoulder toward Josh and Bunny when he asks such a question. "Hey, a few years ago, it was me in this situation. I was part of a series of clones another group made that escaped. And you know what?"

"Giving in isn't the way to stop them. Fuck them. Fight them. Being free is worth it. Stopping whatever the hell they're doing is worth it."

Her lips purse tight, before she continues. "My sister told me. They can bring us into this world, but they can't OWN us. They need to realize that and if that means we team up to teach them the hard way... Then that's what we do."

A bit softer she adds, "You're okay now, you got friends to help. You aren't alone."

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"WOO! Got it!" Tabitha seems pleased with the shot. Enough she even jogs over to collect the downed drone and drag iit back hopefully it's not too heavy or big. Depth perception and bad eyesight really mess witha sense of scale.

Whether or not there's a camera functioning, sheb grins. "Oh baby you're gonna tell us so many sweet nothings!" she declares and heads back to the group with the busted thing if she can. <<Got a toy for the nerds. Mindlink joined! Watching the kids with ma mind!>> she states and adds her own telepathic fun to Monet's side of things, helping to at least increase the range between what the two can cover. <<We should see if we can make that limo crash. It is still around right?>> she ponders.

"Empty shell or not, I guess i got yet another nefarious type lab to BOOM to dust." she states and sighs withb resignation. "I think it'll be five now. Think if I hit ten I get a free shake from Moo-tanttown Milkshakes." she says playfully. "We're mutants. Getting shot at and stuff is like Tuseday for most of us." she explains and reassures. "So like, yeah, no killing..." she looks to the bodies she and Gabby left behind. "If we can avoid it. This time, kinda not so much."

Joshua Foley has posed:
Roberto, Monet:

The first couple shots from Roberto turn the running figure, after the third, he takes cover. He leans out from behind a large HVAC housing and raises an arm with no hand on. A blue pulse shoots down his arm and flies through the air towards Roberto. He ducks back behind cover and out of sight.

By this point, nobody else can be seen. In the distances, sirens start up. Emergency lights flare up around Bushwick as the authorities start to respond. The limousine is long out of sight.

Tabby, Gabby, Bunny:

Tears start running down Josh's face, mixed in with rain. He looks away from Bunny and wipes at the tears with a wet, grimey hand. If he was cleaned up he might be kind of cute in that skinny blond basic kind of way. Right now he is a wretched 19 year old at the end of his rope. Splotches of gold cover parts of his face still.

"You had to, they would've killed you. All of you," Josh says miserably. "And enjoyed it. They're gonna be so pissed about this. You don't even know. They'll hunt you now, just like they're hunting me."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would grunt over, in pain then and move to look in that direction. She goes to if she can try and put out a sense in the target of -DIZZINESS-. Stomach exploding over from nausea, disorientation. Bladder. Trying to give the man a version of a psychically induced seizure even while he's fleeing if at all possible. Presuming she can, she treis to nudge him to the point of collapse os that Roberto can hopefully get him up.

And there's some sort of karmic justice as far as she's concerned it it works to give hte man a full on overload.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto da Costa shifts but gets hit by the blue pulse, and Tabs and M can feel the pain, but his power sucks it in, with just a bit of feedback. He shivers and shakes it off dropping to a rooftop. He shakes his arm like it still stings. ""Okay, that was surprising." But Berto sprints after the man, coming around the corner to find that hole in the rooftop HVAC, "Okay, that was surprising, He's gone to ground this might be a bit much for the boys in blue to take in, anyone feel like going borg hunting?"

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "... I don't care. Being hunted is better than being alone... but in all honesty, being around a bunch of people is probably better than being alone too." she states, looking at the group, and she reaches out and offers a small wave to Gabby.

    "Uh. I'm Bunny." she mumbles, embarrassedly, and then offers a small smile to Josh.

    "I've got a place I can hide you if you want. I'm not with these guys... but... I mean... I kinda do owe you for saving my life and everything."

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabby watches the young man well up with tears. "Hey, it'll be fine. Don't even know? Pfft. Do they know?" she asks back and looks at the busted drone. "C'mon, you at least need to get off the streets." she states and nods her head.

<<How you guys holding up?>> she queries and grins.

"There's always borg hunting. Resistance is Futile!" she adds over comms.

To Bunny and Josh Tabby keeps her smile. "Being hunted sucks. Their turn to feel fear and and all that stuff. You kids wanna hide out there's a mutant friendly school in Westchester. Knock on the door, tell 'em Tabby sent ya!" the address is even dropped telepathically to the pair. "No one gotta feel scared unless their assholes. We can make sure of that."

Joshua Foley has posed:
Monet through the pain and nausea, Monet finds the mind of the runner. It stands out. It has a sheen to it. Like trying to find a mind in a rock or a computer. But there is a mind there. Its flow is precise, severe, regimented. Monet sends the surge, the mind goes dark. There is an audible thud in the vents below Roberto. Moments later a blue flash and an acrid smell.

Monet lands. Her wounds are... horrific. Josh gasp and runs over, out of sheer reflex. He grabs Monet's shoulder to steady her on her feet.

"Are you okay?"

Monet feels a sudden warmth spread out from her shoulder where Josh touches her throughout her body. It drives out the pain, nausea, dizziness. A golden glow covers her body. Bleeding stops, bones reset and knit together, skin closes and covers over without a scar. The splotches on Josh's face grow to cover all of his skin, giving it a uniform shiny metallic gold sheen. The glow fades, and the warmth recedes.

Josh steps back from Monet in shock and looks at his hands. The gold colour young man looks at Bunny, Tabby and Gabby.

"Oh my god, it's true," he says, stunned. "I'm a mutant."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Going to pick her way through things, Monet goes to narrow her eyes. Dammit. Too late. She goes to take a moment to retch, forcing herself to stand up as she's there in all her glory. Broken bones, burnt off hair, internal injuries, third degree burns over large parts of her body, and mostly still upright thanks to her using her telepathy to shut off parts of her brain responsible for sensory perception and keeping herself on an adrenaline high sos he doesn't feel it>

Then Joshua is going to come towards her even as she's guiding Roberto through the area, in a very, very slow and awkward sort of manner. "You don't.." Then he comes over towards her and she looks flummoxed, "What are.." The words die out as she feels.. Fine. Fine. So good. All the blood falls away. The bits of muscle and bone showing. Broken ribs. Speared through intestines. It all goes to fade away as her body is back to it's natural state of total perfection>
    "Thank. . You." Like the good boy he's shown himself to be, Joshua is given a kiss on the forehead.