13540/Into the Savage Land

Into the Savage Land
Date of Scene:	16 December 2022
Location:	Giant Clearing - Forest
Synopsis:	The X-Men travel to the Savage Land, landing at the outpost in Ka-Zar's protected valley, but find it attacked by 'bird people.' Rogue and Ororo visit the Lord of the Jungle's house and meet Zabu, his intelligent saber-tooth tiger, as well as a bird person captive, while the others fight off some dinosaurs and reach the village of the Fall People, a tribe of human hunter gatherers who live in the valley and may be able to offer information and aid. And Emma gets her Savage Land alternate outfit.
Cast of Characters:	Jean Grey, Emma Frost, Tabitha Smith, Rogue, Iara Dos Santos, Ororo Munroe, Roberto da Costa, Negasonic

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Jean Grey has posed:
Previously, on X-Men...

After contact with another powered inmate during a jailbreak at Rykers Island (the masterminds behind which are still unknown...), Dr. Karl Lykos was transformed once more into the pteradon-like SAURON. Fleeing in the chaos, authorities quickly lost track of him. Fortunately, the X-Men had a lead: as a medical student, Lykos had worked for one Dr. Anderssen, a then-colleague of Professor Xavier. The senior Anderssen had since passed away, leaving his daughter Tanya in charge of his work, conducted out of Tierra del Fuego Argentina, the southermost point in the Americas and gateway to the Antarctic.

The X-Men traveled to the research station. Tanya was missing, leaving behind a variety of clues: a photograph of her and Lykos together, computer files detailing her research, and signs of a struggle in her room. Something was off, however: this was not the kind of damage a terrifying dinosaur-man would cause, and with several feral mutants with excellent noses on the case (Rahne Sinclair and Iara del Santos), the only scents on hand were human... or at least, something close to human. Further evidence appeared in the form of Sauron's own arrival: after battling the team with his own legion of pteradon warriors and hypnotizing Rogue to attack her teamates, he demanded that Tanya be returned to HIM before fleeing the scene, threatening to invade with a larger force if his demand was not met.

Now, the team is in pursuit. Tanya Anderssen's files cover various surveys of the mysterious SAVAGE LAND, including evidence of a complicated network of cave tunnels connecting some of the outlaying islands, providing a potential land-route for an invasion of South America. Of course, the X-Men have a faster way: after clearing miles of outlying glaciers and the Larson Ice Shelf, the Blackbird soon crests the ETERNITY MOUNTAINS, revealing their destination below, the sprawling green oasis surrounded by ice and cold. Their landing point is actually in a fairly 'safe' and cleared area, part of the zone controlled by Lord Kevin Plunder, also known as Ka-Zar, Lord of the Savage Land. This is where most international access is obtained, including Tanya Anderssen's research team. Thus, as the gangway of the Blackbird lowers and the X-Men walk down into the jungle, they're met with an area full of modern canvas tents and small construction modules, as well as pallets full of supplies...

...well, except that the area is well and truly trashed, now.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would frown as the group would arrive, "IT seems like we're somewhat behind his schedule." She would note in light irritation. But they hvae the maps at least to aid in their pursuit, and they can hopefully track quickly. "And will Ka-Zar and Ms. Plunder be joining us on this occasion?" Or were they even contactable? It was always very hard to narrow them down. Or with anything really in the land of crazed dinosaurs. "And do be sure you've packed your all weather gear. It's going to get cold.." And then quite hot. She goes to head off the gangway of the Blackbird, moving to sweep her mind along to try to start scanning. They were here to save lives.. If there were any left to save. And if not.. Well.. Go to try and stop further ones from being lost.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
While she had been made aware that where they were heading was the Savage Land, Tabitha did bring a parka just in case. It's hanging neatly somewhere in the Blackbird while she otherwise bums about in one of her normal uniforms. two piece, black snythetic top with yellow padding at thc chest shoulders, and arms. Black leggings of the same material with yellow boots.

The only change in color are her glasses in rimless oval shaped lenses of clear red tint. And a little flash of red in the X-Logo of the buckle of her utility belt.

So many pouches slung over her tips while midriff gets a rare chance to enjoy being visible. That much time on crunches should not go to waist but it's winter back home and despite being a mointain girl, she does not enjoy the cold.

Flight ends and the blonde makes her way onto solid land. "Wow, this place looks like the aftermath of Coachella." she states and adjusts the glasses on her nose turrning blue irises purple. "Bands must have sucked. Right down to rich kids leaving behind uneaten food. Think we'll find some stoned influencers here?" she asks.

Rogue has posed:
Dressed in her gold and green bodysuit, thigh high yellow boots, and leather bomber jacket. Rogue steps off of the jet's ramp, her eyes covered by dark aviator sunglasses, and a green headband fluttering in the wind tied around the top of her head... the Belle just looks at the surrounding mess and frowns.

"Why can't people take care'a stuff? Why does everythin gotta get turned inta a damn disaster area?" She asks. Not waiting for an answer, the Southern gal just glances upward and starts to fly off.

Up in the air, Rogue is just on a wide perimeter scan from above. She's about a hundred feet up, and making a circle-back around over the team now, acting as a living birds-eye-view 'drone' for anything she might see while high in the sky above the jungle-y setting...

Iara Dos Santos has posed:
     Iara's in her black and yellow bumblebee X-Men trainee outfit, black sleeves ending at the mid-bicep and mid-thigh before grey scales extend outwards, sharky limbs and head surrounding an almost human, if large sized torso, with a utility belt and red rectangular belt buckle with an X in the middle just like Tabitha's, though her utility belt is sleek and has tiny pouches angled so as to not produce too much drag in the water... though the shark can no doubt tell the difference. She immediately springs forward ahead of the group, cutting off the side of the ramp and looking over the trashed area.

     "Huh." the almost emotionless looking shark face says as she looks over the area, squatting down to pick up overturned boxes and look over the landing zone. "Not just neglect, or dinosaurs. Check this out." Iara picks up a metal box with a scorch mark on it and brings it closer to the others, saying "See? Energy weapons of some kind. Someone with tech did this. Hydra?" Well, to be fair, Hydra's the only super tech supervillain group Iara's personally come to blows with. That wasn't actually using high tech to enhance their ninja skills, anway. Weird how many of those there are.

     Iara looks about, saying "There's like... tiny clawmarks too. Could be dinosaurs running around after or during the incident here or like... could be uh... people with claws that are holding laser weapons?" Iara really doesn't wanna get her hopes up that there could be non-mind-controlled dinosaur people running around, because life is sure to disappoint her.

Ororo Munroe has posed:
Clothing in tatters after taking a punch of lightning in the stomach unexpectedly (Who ever expects to be hit by lightning?) Storm has spent the transfer time in a form of meditative healing. She suspects the next leg of their adventures in Tierra del Fuego will be even more exciting than the first and gives herself time to prepare.

Freshly showered and dressed in a light jacket fit for jungle exploration. After a measured look at the others, especially Rogue who in some respects had the roughest experience among them, she nods to herself.

Her pales eyes open on hearing Monet's voice. "Heat will be welcome. Easier to deal with in my book. I don't think we can look forward to friendlies on the ground. Just saying."

She takes the ramp in slowly, giving herself time to take in the devastated camp below them. While the others descend she walks toward the camp that looks like a tornado had hit it.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto da Costa is dressed for adventure for once, wearing a black unitard with a yellow stylized X across the torso. Also black military style boots with yellow laces. He steps off the plane and the coloring fades to vanta black, with yellow highlights. as he takes in the sun, "This is why you have to tip your wait staff," He looks around casually, "Recon or... clean up?" He picks up an unopened box of twinkies, holiday edition so they're green with red filling and offers them to Tabitha, "Hungry?"

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean makes her way down, and the gangway goes back up behind her. She sets all the security systems at their more aggressive settings; they'll be gone too long to put it in aerial standby, so this will have to do.

"No response when I radio'd on the way in. Or the Plunder villa. It's a ways east of the lake, should be in range to answer comms at least, but who knows. Could be out patrolling? This valley is really just the gateway, there's huge regions beyond their influence. I've been going through Tanya's notes, too." She has a tablet, in fact. "All kinds of different tribes, 'beast people' of various kinds, primitive humans, even more unusual stuff. On top of the dinosaurs."

She looks around some of the damage, and then over at Iara. "Claws?" Probably EVERYTHING here has claws. "Doesn't exactly narrow it down, though I've never heard of a dinosaur with a laser gun. We didn't see any of Sauron's people using that kind of stuff, either."

From far above, Rogue's greeted with the wide vista of the lands before her. It's beautiful, really. The expanse of jungle. The clear lake not far off, with a supsiciously skull-shaped cave on the island at it's center. Indeed, she might also see the distant house Jean mentioned, beyond the lake, and beyond it, more mountains, a large and impressive river, and who knows what beyond that. There is life, too, birds and even larger flying things, skimming the trees here and there, although it's hard to say that any of it is unusual. This place is FULL of life.

Emma Frost has posed:
Splitting up from the rest, Emma goes to establish a group link with the rest of the team. She has a small flash drive with her as she goes about to find a workstation. A check confirms it has power and is connected to the internal network. Emma mvoes to put the flash drive in as the automated program goes to hack through the safeguards and start to download information over to the Blackbird.

<<There's quite a bit of research being done here. Many different kinds, in addition to what our dear Tanya was doing. They seem to be studying the entire area and the local cultures and have contact with some of the tribes. They have some level of communications wiht at least one, the Fall People>>

Tabitha Smith has posed:
The Twinkie is snagged. and chomped fast. Tabby and free sugar rushes sometimes are a good idea when there's possible need for much hefty plasma blasting. But not quite yet. "You know these were probably already a year old." To be fair. You can't even carbon date the age of a twinkie.

At least the extra preservatives and dyes help fuel the telepathic sweep that. "Anything with human thoughts or sentience is kinda ways off on what I can pick up?" she calls out as she starts looking around.

There's a grin as Jean explains a lot of the possible local lofe to be found. "Lotta bad guys and groups like coming down here for experiments and stuff. Mostly cause it's so international if anyone gets busted, there's too much whining about jurisdiction. At Australia usually," she states and shrugs. "I saw a few documentaries when I was a student. What?" she says with a little indignation. <<Beats dealing with sentinel tech and cyberized dinosaurs again. Or a bunch of us being hybridized because Sauron has a scaley fetish.>> She does occasionally look at Jean to double check her eye color.

It's a completely valid worry.

Rogue has posed:
With the wind rushing over her form in the sky, Rogue's covered eyes are scanning over what lies before her. She tosses her hair out of her face, and sweeps that headband back from across her nose.

"Think I see that Plunder place." Rogue says over the team linked comms / head games. "Looks kinda legit, for a place like this." She adds.

"Oh, for god's sake, there's a skull shaped cavern, or rocky mountain thing too... this place ain't foolin' around one damn bit." The southern gal's voice sounds out to the team who can hear her as she sweeps across the sky, not getting too far away so as not to get ambushed or leave her teammates more vulnerable.

Iara Dos Santos has posed:
     Iara looks up at Jean as she passes by, squinting at all this new information. "Beast people?" That's notable. With herself being basically a beast person it's definitely something to make a mental note for later. "Primitive man?" It's not an uncommon occurance where you can almost see the gears slowly turning in Iara's head as she gets an idea. That almost blank shark face slowly morphing into the human expression of a grin, the sort of smile she gets when she's absolutely, definitely, positively up to no good, twirling a hand as if leading someone to a very obvious conclusion she already seems to know... "So what you're saying Jean... is that you think this could have all been done by some kinda Homo?"

     There's a brief pause, Iara grinning as if she can barely contain a giggle with all the maturity of an eight year old, saying "What kinda Homo could've done this? Maybe Homo Neanderthalensis? Or Homo Erectus?" To this she's almost snorting as she contains her laughter at the words, and then absolutely has to follow up with "If it was Homo Erectus, the Homo Erectus must've been really firing off all over the place!"

     At this point Iara can't contain it anymore, and starts laughing hard at her own joke, doubling over and nearly breathless, just barely able to repeat "H-Homo... Homo Erectus!" before laughing more.

     Eventually she calms down, and then picks up a feather, saying "Anyway..." still catching her breath, "Think we... found our culprits. Bird people or somethin'. Lotsa bird tracks that start and end where they must've taken off in flight... Hoo... and so like... Watch the uh... Watch the skies for bird people... and there's some boots too, so they must've had a friend..." before she snorts, saying "Maybe they're friends with the Homo Erectus..." quietly.

Negasonic has posed:
    At Tabby's comment at Coachelle when surveying the scene after disembarking "You're thinking of Fyre Festival." in a light mocking tone. Not mocking Tabby, definitely mocking the Fyre festival.

    She absolutely pulled in any favors or goodwill she had to when it was the Savage Lands and a mission there. She won't admit it, but she wants to see Dinosaurs. What. They are fricking cool.

    She meanders over to look at the box Iara found "Little dinosaurs?" then looks around squinting at the brush. "Jean is probably right about everything here having claws..." she smirks though at Iara's joke. She doesn't even snark about it.

    She isn't dressed for adventure, she is dressed in her field kit. Sturdy. Durable. Able to take a bullet in a pinch. You know. Practical. She really does need to get more style worked into it, but the gloves are nicely reinforced.

Ororo Munroe has posed:
Packing paper from a torn open crate flutters as Storm rises in the air and floats toward a path that carves its way through the dense trees circling the distant lake. She squints against the slanting sunlight, tracking Rogue while listening to the conversations below. To herself, she ticks off a list of the other's remarks- no radio contact, energy weapons, claw marks, and in the distance, a cave.

Her eyes lid for a moment and visibly glow. Below Storm, the world shifts into roiling light currents as she reads the jungle's energy levels.

Rogue's feisty commentary earns a brief smile. Iara's laughter comes to her faintly, making her snort.

From her vantage point she can detect both animal and human presence. <<There are animal tracks and hunter's tracks leading to the legit huts further in.">> she broadcasts to the others.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean continues tapping through the tablet, answering Iara: "The theory is that this place was some kind of... genetic labratory, an evolutionary test ground, for some prior civilization or power. Aliens, ancient gods, wizards, you know, that kind of thing. It's probably why Dr. Anderssen Sr. was doing research here, and might have been what attracted Lykos as well. And Charles, for that matter. They're all geneticists, so this place is basically a gold mine." She looks around. "But, short answer, yeah. Cat people. Dino-people. Bird people." Her brow knits at the joke. "I'm not sure what the binomial designation is for some of them. But there's evidence of pre-/sapiens/ hominids, yes, along with humans separated from modern contact."

The fact that the young woman gets a bit distracted by her own joke deepends Jean's frown. "Let's keep this serious. This is a dangerous situation." Still, somewhere in there, Iara has added useful information: BIRD PEOPLE.

And a 'friend.'

With that their most apparent lead, she turns her attention skyward, and thinks, rather than shouting up at the two aerial scouts. <<You two see any bird people?>> Both Rogue and Ororo spot the island, although Jean dismisses this one. <<Kar-Zar put that place off limits. Not sure what the deal is, but it doesn't really sound like an aviary, and it's too close. The valley is mostly supposed to be friendly, so if this was some kind of hit-and run, they've probably fled beyond the outskirts. The huts you see...>> Jean needs a moment, both to parse the data from Ororo's thoughts and check the tablet in front of her... <<That might be who Emma found the notes on, the Fall People. They're a human hunter-gatherer society. Friendly, usual human differences aside. Lord Plunder counts them as allies. Think we stop by?>>

She takes a moment to focus her mind closer to Rogue's, following her vision into the distance. <<Otherwise, its downriver, into the wilds.>>

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto da Costa frowns at his phone, "Well, AIM still has a presence here. There's also a few black market pipelines running good in and out Hunh, Kevin is good at tracking them down but there's apparently an ongoing operation transporting black market via one of the outlying islands." Roberto lines it up with Tanya's map. "We might need to pass these along to Kevin."

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma lets out a sigh, "Best to make progress towards them. They'll have some information on the survey team they can share. I fcontact's already made. There may be some survivors from the expedition as well that went to them for safety. And if any of the raiding parties hit here, they'll have gone after the Fall People next for being the nearest outpost of civilization and allies of the forward base here."

All the more reason to go in that direction. "I can confirm something is out there, at least. I can't make out anything further." They're too far away and she's going off a map - she can't just scan that far off and read minds. "Can a flier get a better survey of the area?"

Tabitha Smith has posed:
There's some jokes that are so bad that they cycle back to funny. Luckily Tabby is also just far enough into the LBGTQ+ life to see how bad it can be out of contect but. She's also can't help but catch the laughs and giggles.

"Iara, No, Homo Sapiens Superior!" Sauron was a mutant last time she checked.

Tabby does try to force herself to get a bit more composure. "That was so wrong." she has to admit. Her inner twelve year old supressed.

And it lets her help Emma in keeping the psi sweeps going. She avoids making radar or sonar sounds while she joins the others in trudging.

And for her it's a trudge. There will be much soaking of feet when she gets home. There is a pause a moment and Tabby starts swivelling her head. <<Guys, umm, heads up we got something coming. Don't feel human.>> she warns kinda franticly.

<<Pretty hungry too, so uhh, get ready to not be chomped!>> Boom-Boom pings out roughly where she senses the presence, whatever it is and her own location relative to it. <<Man I could eat!>> that hunger feeling maybe having a knock on effect in the novice telepath.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue does end up near to where Storm is and she offers her a smirk. "This place is a real jungle, huh?" She jokes, having felt awkward around Ororo since she had her mind taken over, and was forced to attack the woman that she respected so damn much. Storm had been one of the X-Men who had been most openly vocal about NOT letting Rogue join the team, back when the Southern Belle had first arrived at Xaviers. Charles had just up and decided that Rogue would be joining the X-Men, after he'd vetted her and heard her side of what had happened with Carol Danvers. Thus, ever since then, Storm had known that Rogue was always trying to impress her, or show her that she deserved to be on the team, even if it was nearly five years ago now... some things never die easily though!

"I don't see any dino men up here, but it's not like there isn't a billion and a half places for'em t'hide out here." Comes Rogue's response as she starts to fly off to the north. A cold wind rushes across her from the distant mountains, up here the wind streams all are kind of wild in this vastly differing types of biomes.

"I'm headed toward the Plunder Place. Though, way further up ahead, I can see some giant ass tower that looks kinda sketch."

Rogue is not far from the Plunder homestead at this point, swooping in on it to get a closer look.

Negasonic has posed:
    Ellie kicks a rock with her stompy boot. When Rogue declares she doesn't see any dino-men, well Ellie declares with more than a tablespoon of salt. "I am very disappointed about the lack of dinosaurs so far." she is too, though she makes it sound like teenage boredom.

    When Tabby notes there are incoming hungry somethings "Oh thank god.... today ...we fight.. then we eat Tabby!" okay she had to. It has a This is Sparta vibe to her declaration but she starts a slow, very slow leak of a charge, looking around as she steps closer to Tabitha.

Ororo Munroe has posed:
Storm brushes back a lock of white hair from her eyes as she picks up speed and altitude. The jungle exhales moisture on the currents of heat rising from the trees. Below her she watches Rogue move toward the Plunder place.

Rising even higher, she catches sight of a river sparkling in the sunlight, leading to a mountain pass where it carves its trail through their barrier.

Yet, oddly, nothing moves in the terrain below. Then, simultaneously with Tabitha's warning, she catches sight of the treetops waving as something moves below them. <<Absolutely, something this way comes!>>

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto da Costa frowns, "Homo Erectus was separated from dinosaurs by millions of years. Also skull shaped geological formations aren't that unusual." He tilts his head at Tabby, "You just ate a whole box of twinkies!" Berto pulls on his corona effect heating the air around him as he prepares for battle, "Give me a direction I can lay down some cover."

Iara Dos Santos has posed:
     Iara grabs the sides of her head in mock surprise, saying "Oh no! It was a Homo like us!?" before she sticks out her tongue at Tabby, and then trudges along with her. She sticks her nose up to keep her sniffer alert for anything creeping up on them... not that three psychics could let much creep up on them, but she does it to feel useful anyway. With no significant water nearby, only small streams and such, and wanting the companionship, she walks alongside Tabitha, but then looks to Negasonic, saying "Hey, hey! No killing unless we have to! Or can't control ourselves or whatever!" She then thinks, saying "Wait, don't kill any mind controlled friends either! Warhead!"

     At the call something is coming, Iara figures it's gotta be some kinda carnivore if the psychics don't know what it is... So she grabs a big nearby rock and holds it up, equal parts primitive weapon and shield, ready to chuck it at a big predator and hopefully make somebody a less appetizing target... "Shit, I just realized..." Iara says towards Tabby, "I always smell like fish, like, not dead fish but a little briney, y'know? That's gotta attract a Baryonyx or worse, a spinosaurus if it's nearby, I didn't even think about that, shit shit shit shit shit..."

Jean Grey has posed:
The group splits up a bit! Its always more fun that way.

Some begin the hike (or in Iara's case, swim) toward the nearby village. There's distance to cover there, but they make good time. Of course, even in this sheltered valley, the Savage Land gets its name for a reason, and it's who Tabitha tips them off to one of the more infamous dangerous of this jungle. After she gets that mental sign, others calling to the more typical senses quickly follow, like the sounds of snapping foliage and pounding earth, their lizard scents, or the calls of smaller animals as they scatter.

It bursts out of the treeline near Tabitha and Negasonic, making all their dino fantasies come true: a large, scaled, bipedal predator. They're likely to think T-Rex. And it certainly looks like one, although a proper paleontologist would reocgnize some features marking it as a lesser member of the tyrannosaurid family. In this case? The distinction is pretty moot! It bowls at them at speed, chomping with that huge fanged maw. No fire breath, at least...

Still, one dino versus the X-men? No problem. Or it seems that way, until Jean, who's pulling up the rear, calls a warning: "I- there's more!"

And she's right. With disturbing sophistication (and stealth - was the 'stompy' one a decoy? a distraction?) two more leap out at the other side of the group, one going right for Jean, who whips a tree trunk in front of her as a defense, only for it to get bitten clear in half. Another goes for Emma, targetting the soft 'flank' of the group, while the 'decoy' lead goes right at Tabitha and co.

Far away: Rogue lands near the Plunder residence, which is somewhat like what one would expect, a multi-tiered home crafted of natural materials evoking images of Tarzan or the Swiss Family Robinson... albeit the luxury version of the same concept, developed with time and craftsmanship and on a larger scale. It seems empty, but not damaged. Abandonned? Well, maybe, until Rogue hears a snarl nearby.

Emma Frost has posed:
But wait! Ther'es more! if only Emma had some way to protect herself physically or turn into something to give herself enhanced strength, to make her perfect and invulnerable, like some form of.. Wait, nevermind, she does not hvae that particular ability! Her psychic powers can work against animals, but rarely as effectively as other things. And when she only has a few seconds to try and defend herself, they're not particularly useful. She goes to dive to the side, hitting the dirt hard to try and get out of the immediate line of nom that it will have.

"Darlings, please do explode it and send it after the weaker prey here." Emma can only try and stay out of the way here and leave the actual beating up to the more physically (and explosively) accomplished members of the away team.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
There's an eyeroll at Iara and the continued. But with everyone getting ready for a fight she looks around and then at the direction of the presence she detected. "Berto, it's probably just psychic back and forth. I'm new at this. Sometimes it's hard to separate their feelings from mine."

With the sound of the dinosaurs charging their way, and one at her and Negasonic. Tabby snarls back at the creature and lets one of her bombs fly. It's loud and it's hard hitting but by now Miss BOOM might have had justy enough experience on how to give a large creature l;ike this enough headache to make it thing twice.

"No killing the Dino's blame the owner, not the dino!" she states.

Thankfully there are no dinosaurs with powers. Fire breathing or otherwise. That was the last Sauron caused problem. Though to be fair. It was probably the most awesome Tabitha ever was.

Rogue has posed:
After landing at the Plunder Palace, Rogue places her hands on her hips to stand there and observe the location. "Mmm. Nice." She softly says to herself before her eyes look over to the sound of the growling noise. "We got a bird man down here." She tells those still able to hear her. Her eyes spy the Sabertooth pinning the bird creature down, and it causes her to smirk at it. "Nice teeth." She tells him as she steps toward him, waiting for him to move before she reacts.

Her booted right foot comes up to push the tiger back down, knocking it on to its side, and then jamming her boot down to pin IT to the ground. "Not here t'harm ya, less you don't give me a choice." She warns the creature, not that it can understand her. Her eyes go to the Bird Man, and she looks it over. "Ya'll need any help?" She asks it, assuming that it could even understand her.

Ororo Munroe has posed:
Storm twists in the air, looking back she gets a bird's eye view of the menace advancing on the 'troops' on the ground. She faces a decision. Forge ahead to join Rogue or blast into the fray behind. Counting on their abilities and numbers, she forges ahead to join Rogue.

The grounds of the beautiful rustic lodge are witness to the aftermath of a dire struggle. Rogue has already separated the Sabertooth from its prey, spread-winged on the ground and stands with one foot on its still very much alive form like a great game hunter. Looking between it and the downed bird man, she shakes her head sadly, "It looks like Sylvester won this round."

Then, scanning the house, "Do you think anyone is home?"

Negasonic has posed:
    Negasonic notes "I never said I was going to kill any dinosaurs.. I just wanted to play with Dinosuars Iara..." she smiles though and pivots about, turning on her heel as she assumes Iara and Tabby have the distractor.

    She totally heard Emma's asking for someone to explode the nice one trying to eat her and send it on it's way. That slow draw of power amps up and the air around her has this bit of mirage and heat shimmer as she takes two running steps towards the large beast and then launches herself right at it's middle. Putting her shoulder into it as the blast shield snaps into place and she rams it.

    This is honestly the less lethal method, giving it a smackBOOM vs. launching a sharp boom at it.

    It is also the closest to rough housing with a T-Rex one can get. Awesome. Not that she would admit it.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto da Costa opens up with a full barrage of plasma blasts on the third Dino, before switching to targetting trees creating a rough barrier to approach for the larger animals. He lifts into the air hovering five feet for more mobility.

Iara Dos Santos has posed:
     "PORRA!" the brazillian shark-girl shouts as she chucks a rock at the nearest dinosaur's nose, connecting and giving it a bloody snout as it charges them, and then dives out of the way as a second chomps down where she was standing, Tabitha's blast connecting with the one that chomped where the shark was seconds before. "Not a baryonyx or spinosaurus!" she shouts as she tries to find another rock, "Not my fault!"

     She grabs another rock in time for one of the dinosaurs to chomp at her, shoving the rock into its mouth as it bites down and then Roberto blasts it, definitely distracting the dinosaur as Negasonic hits the other one hard...

Jean Grey has posed:
Dino Combat Engaged!

Clearly there is something to their tactics, as Jean and Emma are somewhat more vulnerable targets, at least when taken by surprise or without their powers for defense. Poor single mutation Emma. Indeed, without the telekinetic log defense that Jean puts up, her attacker reaches her first, snapping at her with those jaws. She leaps away, but it catches some piece of (presumably expensive) clothing and yanks her back, opens its jaws again, hungry!


At the front, the 'lead' makes the easiest target, as it comes straight for Tabitha and Iara. Whether they've ever encountered powers like these (the Savage Land is a weird place!) or not, it doesn't seem ready for their projectiles, getting clocked in the snoot with a flying rock. Its head swings on its flexible, thick neck, but then snaps back around, snaps at the air, lunges forward- and catches a full BOOM from Tabitha. The one-two topples it over. One down!

Back to Emma, who's about to be eaten when Negasonic comes flying across and hits the thing at full speed. They both go flying, the creature flailing somewhat inelegantly in the air, before the number of trees it smashes through slow its momentum enough to come bouncing to a halt. Two!

The last falls under a more collective assault, trying to eat Jean but catching a shield, and then going for Iara but getting a rock instead of a fleshy meal, before Roberto drives it back under a hail of blasts. It keeps its footing, but quickly seems to reconsider what's going on here and turns to run back into the jungle, giving a sharp shrieked cry. The other two are scrambling back up, but after hearing that noise, likewise turn and melt back into the trees. Prey are supposed to be easy! No sense risking life and limb for a meal.

Elsewhere, at the Luxury Treehouse, Rogue has found another creature, albeit one that is not quite clearly so bloodthirsty. It flattens its ears as she lifts that foot to push it free, but rather than snap at her.. sniffs?

"Mrrrowl," says the cat, looking from Rogue to Ororo and then toward the fallen creature. "Grrrrr."

The bird-man doesn't seem in the best shape to answer either of them! The house, meanwhile, seems undamaged, but closed, and none of the commotion brings any reaction from inside.

Back with the others, things fall quiet after a few moments, Jean going to check on Emma, who is mostly undamaged. "Well, looks like we got the official Savage Land welcome... oh, spoke too soon." Because at that moment, she, Tabitha and Emma alike will register the approach of more human intelligence, and not long after, the emergence of a small human party, dressed in loincloths and simple bandeaus. They have weapons - spears and bows - but keep them low, and a few seem focused in the direction where the dinos have fled more than the group of people. "Strangers, this is a dangerous place," greets a man at their fore, surprisingly in English! "... but you seem fit for its challenges. What brings you here?"

Rogue has posed:
What Storm says to her, causes Rogue to look up and over to Ororo first, then to the fancy homestead. "I dunno...." Rogue responds. "Doesn't look like anyone's home." She adds before the sound, and sense, of being sniffed draws her eyes down to the big cat.

She drops her foot off of him, and just watches his reaction. "I think this big fella is domesticated too." She says then, smiling a little. "You like the Flintstones cat?" She asks the Sabretooth. "Did they throw you out the front window again?"

Rogue turns to the Bird Man, and steps over to them. "What about you?" She asks as she draws in a breath and eyes them over.

She looks to Storm again. "Better let the others know, somethin' is up here. Looks like maybe the residents had t'rush out somewhere..."

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma is not particularly happy, even as she dies to the side and gets stuck in the mud. This is not the way she wanted to go out. It's almost worth it to not be around for not having to live through the dignity of looking like this and the knowledge that she can't simply wipe the memories away from everyone with Jean present lbocking her. She's going to flail over as her extremely expensive and durable field outfit is destroyed, leaving her in some shreds of a corset and leather tha tsomehow give her some coverage still. She pauses to then stand up while tearing off the shredded bits so they wouldn't get in the way.

She sourly goes, "Thank you." A low grumble from her as she goes to reestablish mental contact with the others. <<how are things going?>> The others present within ivsual range are given a glare, "Not a word." Or she'll wipe it from their minds and put something far, far worse over in the place of it.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
The attacking disnosaurs totally get some blasts. It's not really a good time to be a dinosaur right now. But they end up out of action soon enough. Dialing in blasts enough is pretty easy not just Boom-Boom but Negasonic and Sunspot.

"Ugh, I could still eat." she mutters aloud. A hand on her rumbly stomach.

The warning Emma gets only gets Tabby putting every shred of her psychic power into committing the sight of the White Queen in her current state to memory. And a huge grin on her lips as well.

Boom-Boom really can be a simple creature sometimes.

Ororo Munroe has posed:
"Domestic?" Storm regards the Sabertooth intently for a moment before going to help the Bird Man to his feet. "If the Tiger is domesticated then maybe it was protecting the family property?"

Extending a hand to the injured man, she addresses it, making a very large assumption that she'll be understood, "First, are you alright? Second, are you supposed to be on this property?" He accepts her hand albeit reluctantly with an eye on the Sabertooth. He clambers awkwardly to his feet.

Keeping an alert eye on both Sabertooth and Bird Man, Storm asks, "Think we should go in or just leave it alone? I'm for a quick look if you are. But I doubt anyone is home if they didn't investigate the ruckus."

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto da Costa smirks, "Seen you in less." oh, those classic hfc parties. He watches the dinos fall back but keeps himself oriented towards them still floating in the air. He glances at the new arrivals, raising an eyebrow. "Maybe they know something?"

Negasonic has posed:
    Ellie takes a moment to peel off a glove and pet the unconcious dinosuar. "Who is a good dinosaur. Chomp chomp motherfucker." she says it softly with the defeated foe off in the treeline. Then she pulls on her glove and starts to meander back out into the clearer area with the others moving to catch back up.

    She will definitely not admit to petting a dinosaur. Though part of her is disappointed it wasn't smol and awake. Though that would probably be even bitier. Alas.

    She starts to trickle a small slow as she can manage charge again though as she moves, just in case the noises attracted more.

Iara Dos Santos has posed:
     Iara wraps an arm around Tabitha as she smirks, saying "Come on, I'm thinkin' the fall people live near a waterfall, which means fish, and fish I can catch super easy and are super good for you, so we'll get you some food rapido. Let's catch up to the others..." as she makes her way towards where the others have gathered around the sabertooth and injured man...

Jean Grey has posed:
-----At Ka-Zar's House-----

Rogue's conversation with the cat... yields some surprising results. When she asks if he's been thrown out the window, the creature shakes his head. "Mrrph." Released, he straightens up, and then walks past her, pushing in to rub his flank against her legs as he passes by. Pretty friendly for a murderous prehistoric beast!

More than that, when Ororo suggests that he might have been protecting the place, the creature turns back and gives a sharp: "Mrr!" An agreement? Does he UNDERSTAND them?

Indeed, the beast turns around to face the bird-man as Ororo helps him up, clearly focused on what's going on, "grrs" again, coming in to butt his head against the back of those bird-legs, jossling the birdman as he stands. Clearly less friendly.

As for the bird-man, surrounded and harassed by the cat, while questioned by the women, as well as somewhat bruised and battered, it finally lifts its human hands to protect its beaked face. "M-mercy! Only came as chief commanded! To search this place-"

"Grrrrr," says the cat.

-----Back on the Jungle Trail-----

No one says much to the natives at first, who stand around watching with curious expressions as Emma fusses and the group checks out its injuries. "If you need food," the leader speaks up, since both Tabitha and Iara are talking about it, "there is plenty in the village. You must be friends of Ka-Zar, to wear such strange things."

Jean is happy to speak up in the end, to take up the diplomatic side of things. "We are... although we wonder, do you know what has happend to the Lord of the Savage Land? Or his village? We came there first, but found it had been attacked."

"Sky raiders. The Aerians," declares the Fall scout leader. "Usually, they are no threat here. But someone has organized them for war. Come."

Jean seems ready to accompany them, but lifts a hand to her forehead as they start to gather. <<Hey you two, how's it going out there. We're heading to the village. Apparently, these bird people are a known problem.>> And considering they have a hostage, now. <<Think maybe you want to bring him along?>>