15654/The Walking Dread

The Walking Dread
Date of Scene:	02 September 2023
Location:	Atlanta - Georgia
Synopsis:	The X-Men make a daring rescue of some key players in the madness of the Mutation Reversal Treatment! A hot night in Atlanta!
Cast of Characters:	Charles Xavier, Tabitha Smith, Logan Howlett, Remy LeBeau, Jean Grey, Scott Summers
Tinyplot:	The Ohio Mutant Conspiracy

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Charles Xavier has posed:
Following the events in Washington DC, Charles had setup an emergency meeting upon returning to the X-Men base. At 3 in the morning, the team had all gathered together to discuss what had happened, what had gone wrong, and what could be done to fix things. It was a somber event, but it soon turned toward what to do next. More-so when the social media post regarding the two kids was played on the big screen within the meeting chamber. The two kids claimed to be members of the 'Ohio Mutant Conspiracy', and immediate internet searches turned up very little save for a few social media pages with your typical teenager photos and videos. They seemed to fancy themselves a super hero team, like so many other kids created with their friends in this world where youth is near constantly inundated with super hero culture.

With this video from the two teens, coupled with everything that had happened thus far, it became quickly evident that a trip to the Center for Genetic Improvement in Atlanta was a step the X-Men would have to take afterall. It was a dangerous step, for a team already being sought by the authorities for questioning on what went down in Washington, but priorities were getting strained toward discovering the truth about this medication, about the mysteries behind the lab creating it, and the Doctor behind it all.

Now:
Atlanta, Georgia, a cultural hub on the US east coast. The Center for Genetic Improvement's main headquarters rests on the northwestern edge of the city. Hank had declared it not a potential site for the development of this 'Retro-active Mutagen' that the company was claiming to have. Beast had indicated it would require a much larger lab facility than what CGI's headquarters clearly held based on Hank's research of their facility, but time was getting short, and answers were needed.

The Blackbird is flying in deep-stealth mode, doing everything in its power to avoid detection by authorities searching actively for the X-Men.

As the Blackbird makes its way in toward the CGI campus it becomes clear that something has already happened on the site. There is clear flashing strobe lights all around the facility's main building, some kind of internal security alert, and even more concerning is a plume of smoke rising up out of the back of the building near a small helicopter landing zone where one black helicopter resides, not unlike those that the X-Men saw in Washington.

As for movement, the facility looks almost eeriely deserted, save for one clear indication of life, and movement.

A single vehicle is moving at high speeds out of the CGI parking garage, with the front end of its grill smashed in after it plowed right through the wooden gate that normally attempts to hold vehicles back.

From the garage, two more vehicles are exiting, one after another, these being black SUVs, that seem to be in hot pursuit of whoever is in the lead car!

Tabitha Smith has posed:
The sight out the windshield does not look all that pleasant to the eyes of Tabitha Smith, currently going by Boom-Boom. The strobing effect making her pinch her nose at her tear ducts under the yellow tints of her glasses.

"Ugh, that crap is worse than letting off a heap of flash bangs." she laments. Those tinted lenses aren't just for show after all.

With the Blackbird coming down, Tabby brings the plane in easy while stealth holds up so it's a soft drop for the rest of the team putting boots on ground. Yellow synthetic leather in case of the Booming One while black leggings and a midriff showing padded top in black and yellow do the job of uniforming with out being uniform.

"So umnm, like should we be following that chase scene?" she asks and while she might have range at least tries to see who might be driving the getaway vehicle.

It might be someone friendly. "I bet they don't even have getaway music playing."

Logan Howlett has posed:
Logan pays little attention to what is happening in the rest of the Blackbird. The conversations of the other X-Men, the thrum of the engines, the beep of the electronics - all of it fades into the background. His focus is elsewhere.

He sits with Jean, brow still furrowed with concern. The palm of his hand rests at her forehead, pushing a loose strand of hair away with the same look of a concerned loved one checking for a temperature.

The question goes past him unheeded, seeming entirely unaware that it was even asked.

Remy LeBeau has posed:
Remy's often silent when flying on the Blackbird towards trouble, because he is too cool for school (figuratively, like, if he was /actually/ too cool for school he wouldn't keep showing up at one right?), but not always. Sometimes he's silent because he's preoccupied, or consumed with his own thoughts.

Admittedly, usually the guilt-ridden silence is because his friends are flying into danger that's somehow related to his past and he feels responsible.

Of course, sometimes no amount of concern or self-absorbed guilt can withstand the unexpected zigs and zags of reality. Once the facility's in sight and there's evidence of... well, honestly, someone having done what Gambit half expected /their/ encounter with the facility to wind up being, he frowns thoughtfully. "...D'ya think we're late?"

Jean Grey has posed:
Somewhere on the agenda of that 3 am emergency meeting about mutant-killing chemicals and kidnapped teammates had to be an extra caveat for Jean. Was she OK? Or at least, stable enough, to do a mission like this? Considering what happened at the last encounter, where threats and provocations about said same missing member had provoked a bit of a 'fiery' response, and left one hired mercenary captain with his brain scrambled to mush. After that, she'd passed right out. It wasn't the first time it had happened, and no doubt, each incident had to be raising concerns with Charles.

Then again, who was going to be the one to tell her 'no'?

Because when she does wake up from that stupor in the medbay, she's immediately back on her feet, barging into the meeting even as she's pulling on another armored blue and yellow uniformed jacket. The last one, well, she never re-materialized it. So that's a write-off. Let's see how long this one lasts!

Still, even she thinks better of being at the controls. So for most of the flight, she's sat in the back with Logan, her eyes closed. It's only when they get near the facility that she comes to life again, rising from her seat and walking forward through the jet to check in up front. She leans over Scott's shoulder, while peering at both the Blackbird sensors and out the good old fashioned windows. As soon as they get more of a look at the site below, she lifts two fingers of her left hand to her temple in that ever-familiar gesture of telepathic focus.

"Fleeing car... two teens, two adults. Might be escaped victims? The trailing vehicles I'm getting nothing from, so that's probably more of these mercenaries with their psi-dampers." Which notably, very much didn't save Carmichael! "No one interesting at the building, just frightened workers. Keep on the car, get us over them," she confirms for Tabby. "We can drop on the vehicles, take them out."

Clearly there's no waiting for them to shoot first, this time around.

Scott Summers has posed:
Scott's full intent is to remain with the Blackbird, to run a reliable pickup and eagle-eye from above, depending on how well things go -- or don't go. Though he's dressed to tap in if he has to. Still, at this moment, he's not flying the Blackbird: this is coaching time for Tabitha. He isn't giving direct instruction, though -- except to make a subtle gesture to help cue Tabitha about this thing or that which she may be forgetting in all of the excitement.

But it's not like the Blackbird uses turn signals, so. This is more instruction about reminders of safety or not hitting certain obstructions. Getting close to a facility is a tense maze of power lines and other problems, after all.

"Give a warning order to the team before the ramp drop," Scott advises quietly. Gives the group a chance to power their ranged abilities to cover the ramp's use.

Charles Xavier has posed:
In Westchester:
Professor X is seated in a chair within the Cerebro chamber. With the headgear on, his eyes closed, he is focused on the situation unfolding in Atlanta, while also searching actively for Erik and Rogue. All around him he views Mutants across the globe, performing varieties of tasks, both mundane, extraordinary, and otherwise. His mind zooms in on the situation in Atlanta, as he can hear the active comms coming from the Blackbird, as well as sense his team's minds even from this distance. His eyes open amidst the swirling mindscape of activity all around him, and he stares at the situation unfolding Atlanta.

"My X-Men." Charles projects to his team. "That is the two children from the social media footage. They're fleeing from more of those Black Team mercenaries. Be careful, we know that these enemies will stop at little to get what they want." There is a pause then, before Charles adds further, "I have yet found no sign of Magneto, or Rogue. They seem to be off the grid." However that is accomplished, as hiding from Cerebro is no small feat. Unless you're dead.

In Atlanta:
The Blackbird is in full stealth mode, but that doesn't fully prevent it from being seen in the sky from those down below. It's descent toward the vehicles is achieved without being seen yet, though, and what those onboard it get is a front row seat to a number of armed individuals moving to lean out of the black SUVs with those same powerful plasma burst weapons that had been seen in Washington!

The figures in the black exo-skeleton suits take aim at the fleeing car up ahead, and begin to light up the early evening with brilliantly bright glowing spheres of blue-green light sizzling through the hot Georgia humidity toward the car up ahead!

The lead vehicle, occupied by 4 people, swerves wildly when the plasma rounds begin slamming in to the driveway around them, one clipping the back end of the car, and completely chewing through it, leaving a 'bite mark' out of the back corner of it!

The lead vehicle, a tan colored sedan, drives over the curb leading out to the campus front-gate, its front tire leaping up in the air in a dramatic display of evasive driving trying desperately to keep control of the vehicle while underfire!

The X-Men are arriving just in the nick-of-time, so it seems...

Tabitha Smith has posed:
While she does not have the greatest amounts of experience as a pilot. Tabby has been doing her best to pay attention when someone offers coaching and stuff. The FAA or DMV or whomever probably won't ever actually certify a mutant while the whole mess with the current legislation is going on.

But she'll take any chance to fly.

Stealth goes out the window as soon as you can look up and out one. Radar might be fine but eyeballs work fine.

"Well lets get these Smokeys off Bandit's trail first." she suggests as she kicks in the VTOL mode. Flying low enough to throw a heap of jet wash over the roofs of the chasing vehicles.

Pushing just ahead between the kids in getaway mode and the 'fine' folks tailing them and throwing plasma. she looks up at Cyclops then back at the others. "Boarding ramp coming down if anyone wants to take a few potshots at the mercs. Or like scoop the kids up." she says over comms so it reaches people's ears.

Especially since planes make a racket in flight. Doubly when a door is open.

<<Prof, they probably kept doped up in a room that's built with that funky psi blocking tech they have in their helmets. We should probably snag a few so we can get sneaky and rescue the fam. Add some inhibitor collars and we can probably walk right through any door.>> so she might have been planning a break in herself. Or considering it.

But that'll be later. Eyes on the prixe Boom-Boom

Logan Howlett has posed:
Logan watches Jean rush off to to her team-leading job, brow still furrowed with concern that may look more like gruff annoyance on the man's habitually dour face. He's listening to the discussion of what to do next, though he says nothing. This particular broth has more than enough cooks to speak of.

Rising to his feet, he moves towards the rampway in heavy silence. One hand reaches out to clasp the railing, keeping himself steady as he stands and waits for it open.

Remy LeBeau has posed:
Remy's got a lot of nervous energy simmering, looking for some sort of outlet other than bad jokes, and then Charles is being so kind as to beam an answer for what to do with that nervous energy right into his brain. Thanks, Professor.

Once the Blackbird's ramp is lowered a trio of kinetically charged playing cards are thrown towards the campus gate as the fleeing car approaches. The front grille's already banged up, presumably from some creative driving on the way out of the parking garage... or, really, because it's a getaway car being driven by two kids. So they could probably use a little help making sure the gate's as ill-suited to car stopping as it can be.

Further cards are thrown towards the pursuing vehicles not to hit them but to explode in front and foul up their aim, because those plasma weapons sure don't seem like they're going to leave very much of the car after a few more hits.

"...I'm gonna have Eastbound and Down stuck in my head now, and it's all your fault Boom-Boom." not that he sounds /entirely/ upset. After all, a certain amount of banter is called for when rescuing innocent mutants from pursuers armed with strange science fiction guns. He remembers /that/ much.

Jean Grey has posed:
No sooner than she tells them to bring the plane down, Jean turns and starts backward through the jet. However overwhelmed she was earlier, adrenaline and purpose carry her now. "Careful about getting too close," she points out, as Tabitha will no doubt remember their ability to shoot back from the last encounter, if they don't remind her sooner! "We can cover a bit of vertical distance just fine."

Stalking through the jet, she makes a direct line for the rear facing ramp as it begins to yawn open into the night sky. The road below is full of swerving vehicles and flashes of that plasma fire thrown back at them. One, aimed accurately up into the opening doors, she meets with an upheld hand, causing a flash of energy to intercept it in the space between road and jet. That particular flash of telekinetic energy is a more friendly pinkish purple, with none of the fiery VFX. So far, so good.

The only person she seems to specifically wait for is Logan, glancing to him as he steps up. "You take the lead one?" she suggests, quite confident a whole SUV full of mercs is nothing he can't handle. "I'm going to see if I can't extract the friendlies."

Then she does the typical thing, and steps off the ramp into the open sky, dropping with gravity for a moment before she 'catches' herself. With that telekinetically-driven flight, she loops around, briefly in front of the merc SVUs to draw what fire she can, before zooming ahead and closer to the fleeing vehicle. <<Hello? My name is Jean Grey. I'm with the X-Men, and we're here to help you. If you're able to, ah, get out, I can lift you up to our plane.>>

Scott Summers has posed:
"Let's do an in-action primary pilot exchange," Scott says to Tabitha, in his familiar (sometimes insufferably calm?) deadpan tone. That's all the warning she gets! "You're needed. Go. Right now," Scott says, firm, with a small flex of head to indicate for her to go back with the others! That comes with some expectations, here, too: that she'll handle the control tradeoff properly like they've trained inside the program before, without him just seizing controls from her or something like that.

Scott may seem like he's being overly calm -- though he's mostly just got on his Mission Face, so his concern for the team isn't as easily read on his expression. Only confidence in their success.

Charles Xavier has posed:
On the ground, the VTOL wash causes the soldiers to all recoil and cease their firing at the fleeing sedan, many of them retreating back in to the confines of their unmarked SUVs. The mixture of the jet wash, and the hailstorm of explosive playing cards cause the SUVs, themselves, to swerve off of the chase and ultimately come to a halt.

Within moments, the vehicles begin to open up, with every exit on the SUVs (even their back hatches) opening up to let mercenaries pile out, each one armed with a rifle of either plasma-throwing or bullet-throwing capabilities. Most of them look straight up now too, right at the Blackbird!

Plasma and bullets begin flying up toward the X-Men jet, just as Jean (and presumably others) begin to exit the vehicle!

The SUVs have come to a stop now, and their soldiers are actively engaging with the X-Men's jet, and those who are disembarking it!

Up ahead, the sedan with the 4 passengers was in the process of preparing for a heroic (and what would've ultimately been sstupid) attempt to smash through the gate, until Gambit's cards effectively obliterate the obstacle, peeling the metal and wire fencing apart, allowing the car to pass right through it, even with one of their tires badly damaged by the curb-check, and smoking tendrils rising up out of the back of the vehicle where it had been shot by super-heated plasma spheres!

But, it is Jean's intervention that causes the tail lights on the car to come on, and the vehicle to slam on its brakes!

It idles, the shadows moving around inside it clearly engaged in a discussion, before the doors begin to pop open, and one by one four bodies exit the vehicle.

"X-Men!" The young teenage girl shouts, waving both of her hands as she jumps up and down. The teenage boy on the other side of the vehicle comes running around to join his friend, his eyes locked on the Blackbird, and the SUVs, with the soldiers firing upon the notorious Mutant Jet.

The other two passengers climb out of the front of it, a man and a woman, both looking confused, and unsure of what to even do next... They exchange looks, and the man with the long blonde hair just raises one hand up to wave toward Jean.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
There isn't exactly a rearview mirror to judge distances but she does at least hover her eyes over the altimeter. What she does need to do is make sure trat those that can't fly on their own and maybe are jumping out don't miss their targets.

That doesn't happen since Cyclops figures a better hand on the controls is needed.

So up and out of the seat she goes when Scott gets the controls flipped to him. She does have to remember to undo her seatbelt first in her maybe rush to go blow things up but that takes only slightly more time than it did establishing the boss as the pilot.

With a short job to the loading ramp, Tabby mostly hangs onto a nearby support handle without heading down the ramp itself.

This allows her to join Remy in sending down explosive ordinance in the path of the pursuing vehicles.

Mostly by rolling bombs down off the ramp and under the wheels where they can be made to explode with enough force to pop tires and shred anything else underneath. Hard to drive on rims.

It's surprisingly restrained if rather loud and bright. If they want to get out of the way, they'd have to divert way off the roads and not aim at the Blackbird, Jean, or the people trying to escape jean is working on levitating.

Remy LeBeau has posed:
As enough mercs to seemingly overthrow one of the major criminal gangs of Madripoor pour out of the SUVs, Remy's forced to admit some small mixture of admiration and sympathy for the poor bastards. That could /not/ have been a comfortable seating arrangement, and now they're going to have an angry Logan dropping on them.

Oh, sure Remy hasn't caught up with Logan in awhile and isn't sure if he's in a particularly bad mood, but there's an assumed baseline level of Canadian grumpiness to factor in.

For his part Gambit's working through playing cards at a fever pitch... which, when he thinks of that term, immediately has him making a mental note to bring a baseball sometime. Just to change things up. Can't be getting too predictable after all, not when these mercenaries are trying so hard!

It just wouldn't be fair not to show appreciation for all their efforts. And so he continues to fling cards towards the trailing SUV to keep plasma fire as sporadic and unaimed as possible.

He's got a feeling once Logan's doing Logan things on the ground, he can be a little more focused on not making sure their ride's not shot out of the air... plus, if /he/ was a plasma-gun-toting merc and Logan was suddenly nearby, he knows /he'd/ consider a new profession. Baking maybe. No one ever gets killed making muffins.

Logan Howlett has posed:
Logan gives a sidelong glance to Jean, remaining in his head for the moment instead of speaking. There's a nod and the man squares his shoulders, gazing down the ramp as it opens and the cars become visible. There's a mere moment's pause, looking like a hesitation but in reality he's just calculating his own trajectory.

Then he's in the air, arms thrown out to his sides as his claws pop with a visceral *snikt*. He lands atop the car, plunging one hand down into the roof to anchor himself while the other shreds a broad enough tear for him to reach down through. The mercenary has no chance to even draw his weapon before he's yanked free of the car, tossed to the asphalt.

It mightn't be non-lethal, but it's not definitely fatal, right?

Jean Grey has posed:
The mental exchange is perhaps enough for some brief introductions, but the pleasantries can wait. In fact, the only reason Jean didn't rush to pick up the whole car is the fact it might have been a bit tricky to put the car IN the jet (and probably would have made the whole thing an easier target for the dudes with the guns). But the people?

The people, she can do.

<<This might just be a little disorienting, but don't worry, I have you. I'd say 'hold on,' but...>> Yeah, it doesn't really apply when there's nothing to hold on TO. Indeed, one could almost say that it's nothing that holds on to them, as her telekinetic grip encases them and starts hoisting them into the air. She does it gently, as far as these things go, but there's really no getting around the fact that it's bound to be a bit strange, the first time.

For most people, gravity is a constant.

As she lifts them, Jean flies in closer, so that eventually she 'joins' them as a group, allowing them to speak the not in-your-head way as they hover in a lose formation. From a practical standpoint, it's also easier to keep them safe like that, as her non Phoenix-y telekinesis is a lot more limited in breadth and scope. "This is a little dangerous, I'm sure you know. They're going to be shooting at us, but my friends are helping with that."

She gives them a smile. "You ready?"

The return trip is tougher. By herself, Jean is not only smaller area to shield and a more maneuverable target, but, well... these days? She doesn't fear for her own life. It's a consequence of not feeling it even fully belongs to her, any more. On the upside, that makes charging through a hail of plasma fire something she can do without thinking about.

But these people ARE something to think about, to care about, to worry for. And so she doesn't just blitz her way back. She waits on the team, for them to engage and 'suppress' the dickwads with the guns. And certainly, a rain of explosions in card and time-bomb forms Remy and Tabitha respectively, and a close up, in your face Wolverine? Those are things you don't ignore! "Alright, here we go!"

As the team engages, she focuses the full of her ability on that telekinetic bubble enclosing the group of them, as she flies back toward the jet. <<As soon as we have everyone onboard, we book it. These assholes feel like the 'send for reinforcements' kind.>>

Scott Summers has posed:
"Ready to pickup, but there's a lot of fire still coming at us from the side here," Scott warns. He'll need to go into an evasion if the attack continues to stay on the jet, with those nasty weapons. He'll keep the Blackbird as even as he can to accept any that are being rescued, and evade as needed, to use the engines and their angle to put pressure on any enemies on the ground, and NOT on the friendly targets!

Charles Xavier has posed:
With Jean being in the air, along with the Blackbird, the members of the Black Team have quite a lot to shoot at. The rumors and gossip of what had happened to Captain Carmichael had already spread through their ranks, and the Phoenix may not have been known by that name, but the woman herself had already been fingered to be the likely cause of their Captain's death (though his ultimate death hasn't become public knowledge.)

Weapons fire, both plasma and regular lead slugs, fly through the air toward the X-Men who descend from the plane too, but they're all able to get to the ground before fire really begins to focus on their presence!

Logan gets the bulk of the initial fire-redirect too! The Wolverine's arrival on the scene, tossing that soldier aside with ease, has a focus fire of soldiers around the SUV all turning to aim toward him, 5 soldiers in total begin to fire upon him, two of them with the plasma weapons, three with standard automatic weapons.

Tabitha's bombs fall primarily around the second SUV, causing a pair of their mercenaries to get tossed in to the grassy lawn near to the illuminated 'CGI' sign and the flower beds that surround the base of it! The other four mercs on the second SUV all begin to lay fire toward Gambit and Tabitha now, Gambit getting a first hand look of what it is like to have powerful energy shot AT him, for a change!

Jean's efforts with the four passengers from the sedan is as graceful, and trained as ever, with the group being lifted in to the air with mixed results visible upon their faces. Pipe-dream keeps close to Rewind, his expression not unlike that of which Cyclops' might be in a similar situation, stoic and restrained, though concerned. The two adults seem just plain concerned, but confident that this is what they are ultimately in need of in this dangerous moment. The man with the long blonde hair looks to Jean. "I've been looking for you guys for a long time. I've had no idea how to reach you... I have a lot to say, but I know now probably isn't the best time." He says, looking toward the ground where the combat is still taking place. "Not even remotely..." He adds.

Rewind, is just all smiles, her hands up in the air as she's lifted with her group toward the X-Men's jet. "This is awesome! This is so freaking awesome!" The teen is shouting, glee rich within her voice.

Soon the four are being deposited in to the Blackbird's open jet, each one helping the next to aid them in settling in to this strange new vehicle...

On the landing field, to the north of the CGI HQ, the black chopper's rotar blades are starting to spin to life, as whomever is piloting it seems prepared to take to the skies themselves now.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Just because most X-Suits are good for small arms fire, doesn't mean Tabitha is bullet proof. She's more a hefty blunt force kind of durability. So when incoming fire starts heading towards herself and Gambit up on the Blackbird still she winces and makes an awkward look.

"Screw it! Imma show them how to really work some plasma!" she growls and starts sending basketball sized bombs. This time directed at her psionic commands. The energy behind them glowing a shade between blue and purple as she concentrates on leading the bigger blasts. Right into the path of the vehicles swerving and trying to line up their own shots. <<I'm amazed we don't have air support already. Someone wanna reel Logan back up?>> that might have been open mind link, but obviously that's going to be Jean.

All this as the bombs fly and Tabitha starts a countdown. "Three... Two... One..."

BOOM!

Logan Howlett has posed:
Despite being able to heal, Logan doesn't function best as a bullet sponge. It still hurts to be struck, burnt, and pierced by all manner of gunfire. He does his best to dip to the side, evading the brunt of it even as flesh is torn up and rendered into bloody pulp. That doesn't stop him from baring his teeth, howling like a berserker from a bygone era.

The claws come down again, this time piercing the shoulder of one of the mercenaries through the roof. Not dead, but with tendons severed and muscles torn there's little he can do but lay there and scream in pain.

That's when Logan is suddenly moving through the air, held aloft by invisible forces that once more deposit him on the ramp. Claws still dripping with gore, the explosion draws a frown for him.

"Had it," he growls, still breathing heavily with shoulders hunched. More angry than grateful, it seems.

Remy LeBeau has posed:
Remy keeps his position on the lowered ramp, if only to provide steadying hands to usher the rescued kids and adults into the jet proper, rushing them just a touch, because.. well, plasma fire. Also the helicopter, but... that's a problem for Future Gambit and his fellow Future X-Men several seconds ahead in time.

Because the cajun's starting to take those plasma bolts a li'l personal-like.

And... well, now that the civilians are up and safe in the Blackbird it's really only proper to make sure those mercs stop firing. And so he stops peppering exploding cards out at random... because Logan's on the ground and Tabby's about to bring a lot more boom than he can manage from up on the ramp.

Plus, it's now /the future/!

And that means he's got a moment to notice that helicopter spinning up its blades. Oh.

Well hey... that's... a thing.

Jean Grey has posed:
It's a relief, not just of mental load, but of emotional weight, when Jean is able to set their guests down aboard. "I'm sure we'd love to hear all of it, and very soon," she tells Crowne. There's definitely not a lot of time for complicated chatter, and yet even then, she does have one thing to ask them immediately, once they're 'safe': "We're looking for two of ours, a woman with dark hair with a light streak in it, and a man with white hair. Did you see them anywhere, at the facility where you were?"

It's as much as she has time for. She could go rumaging through their own heads faster, maybe, but an in-control Jean still avoids that kind of un-invited, rough, and sometimes dangerous psychic access.

Besides, she still has her team to worry about!

Once the guests are stowed, she moves back toward the ramp. And for once, her and Tabitha are very much on the same page. "I've got him. Leave them a nice going away present, hmm?"

As for Logan? The man has his own demons, and working them out on these chumps is a win-win, in her mind. If there weren't a pressure on them to go, she... But they ARE on a clock. Both to get the hell out of dodge, and more immediate and literal tick-tick-boom from Tabitha.

Logan makes it up right ahead of the 'boom' part. "Sorry," she tells him, more quietly, before looking back over her shoulder to shout back to Scott: "Punch it."

Charles Xavier has posed:
The ticking time bombs, the distant reds and blues of Atlanta emergency services headed toward the campus, and the threat of the looming danger that their teammates face, not to mention the overall clock ticking on the upcoming Senate vote. It leads to a heavy amount of stress falling across all involved in this ordeal.

And then the bombs explode! The front lawn of the Center for Genetic Improvement's Georgia headquraters is lit up like a weapons testing grounds! The incoming Police and Ambulances, Fire and of course News outlets, get a hell of a view of a massive explosion on the horizon....

Inside the Blackbird: Crowne steps over toward Jean, a hand instinctively up on one of the grab-bars to keep himself steady inside of the jet, his hair whipping around his face as he tries to keep eye contact with the Phoenix. He glances toward the other three, Roberta helping Adam and Peyton down on to the side benches to settle in. They all shake their heads at the descriptions.

Pipe-Dream calls out. "They have our friends! Three more, our age. They kidnapped them back in Ohio. They're not taking volunteers anymore, because they never have gotten enough! They're kidnapping Mutants to test their damn drug on them." The teen boy angrily spouts out, his own stress clear on his demeanor. Rewind places a comforting hand on Adam's back, before she looks over to Jean and the other X-Men. "We've got it." She says, pulling her backpack off now, and holding it up. The bling-covered school bag is unzipped, and the young girl pulls out a polished resin box labeld with the 'CGI' logo. "We got their drug..." She says, offering it to anyone who'll take it.

Crowne looks back to the X-Men then, and nods his head once. "I'm Crowne Clarington," he says, offering his hand to Jean. "I'm one of the lead research scientists, tasked with the mutagen delivery system... And I don't want any part of this anymore. I got a lot to say, if you're willing to listen. I think I know where they might be holding your people too, and the other kids."

In the Helicopter:
The pilot watches as the Blackbird makes its hastey exit, his own vehicle rising in to the sky in the aftermath of the explosion on the south lawn. The chopper lifts up toward the clouds, and a man's voice speaks over the headset. "Chezman here. Tell Bachland they got Clarington and the FDA woman, but everyone else inside the building has been neutralized. All teams fall back on Site A. Repeat, fall back on Site A. They're going to be headed our way."