18333/X-Men: From Budapest With Love

X-Men: From Budapest With Love
Date of Scene:	15 June 2024
Location:	Semmelweis University, Budapest
Synopsis:	The X-Men (and Surge) attempt to keep the peace at an anti-mutant protest gone awry in Budapest. Bobby defuses the situation with the power of love (and ice) and delivers a weaponized brain freeze! Noriko puts an end to a dangerous car chase and enjoys a meal made of questionable street meat. Scott breaks someone's ankle with his kinetic blast, but it happens in a hospital, so that's convenient, right? Rogue soars majestically through the air with both Bobby and Scott. Jubilee steals a baby.
Cast of Characters:	Jubilation Lee, Scott Summers, Noriko Ashida, Rogue, Bobby Drake

---

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    No one would blame the X-Men for checking out a lead. Multiple sources indicated that there would be a large sale of Sentinel-based technology happening in Portegrandi but it turned out to be playground equipment. While this translation error could have been an excuse to stick around and enjoy Venice for a little while, the Blackbird's communications array signaled that there was a situation within its flight range. Next stop: Budapest.

    Several days ago, a young, unidentified mutant who lost control of her powers is currently fighting for her life in the intensive care unit of Semmelweis University Hospital in the heart of the city. Jovo Nagy, a local politician popular with anti-mutant groups, plans to make a speech in front of the hospital to garner support for his campaign. The "Coalition for Human Unity and Defense" extremist group has already announced its plans to provide support however they can, putting student protestors on both sides of the issue at risk.

    Several problems become clear to the team as they discuss the situation enroute to Budapest:

    * The stage is out in the open, making Jovo Nagy a sitting duck for anyone whose aim is true.

    * The hospital has a lot of mutant patients, including the unidentified minor who accidentally ignited her ninth grade class.

    * Jovo Nagy and his family are still driving through the city and there are some people who'd prefer he not arrive at all.

    * Local police are severely outnumbered by the C.H.U.D. extremist group and protestors on both sides.

    * The sun is still up, threatening to destroy anyone who might be a vampire.

    That last point was added to the group conversation by Jubilee herself.

Scott Summers has posed:
The situation report is received and from his seat aboard the Blackbird, Cyclops begins to speak over the sound of the Blackbird's engines as the X-Men seek out a suitable landing - or hovering - zone for the aircraft, "Rogue, can you see to the crowds and try to keep the peace with Iceman supporting? Iceman, if Jovo does arrive, we need you to keep ice walls up to prevent a potential assassination attempt, then defend it," and Cyclops cranes his neck, attempting to get visor covered eyes on a potential deployment zone.

He continues with his dispensing of strategic assignments, moving onto Noriko next, "Surge, if we get a position on Jovo Nagy's vehicle, do you think you could catch up to it and short it out? Keep him anchored in place and far away, hopefully. This will free up Iceman to help Rogue with the crowd."

The assignments are tossed out and while Cyclops speaks with his usual calm and confident manner, that he's open to discussion of potential assignments. Of which he comments of his own assignment, making it clear his own tactical placement, "I will take to the hospital as a layer of defense. Jubilee, can you stay on the Blackbird and make sure that it's kept primed and ready? I think our departure's going to be under pressure". Of course Cyclops is at the controls, managing the flight controls while he carries on with the planning session.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko Ashida isn't a full member of the X-Men, but by virtue of how she was originally brought to Xavier's school, she's known of their existence since then, and even helped out with some Sentinel related missions once in a blue moon, which is why she is here in the first place.  Plus she wouldn't complain about all the extra time she'd squeeze in to run around and see the sights.  Still, she's wearing the same colors as the rest of the gang.  Wouldn't want anyone to get the wrong idea.

"Yeah.  Easy."  Noriko shrugs, not seeing the myriad of things that could possibly not be outrun.  "I'll just head them off asap," and then...wing it!  She's got plenty of thought cycles to figure things out should anything pop up.  Right?

The speedster lifts her gauntlet to cover her mouth in a contagious yawn and then her arms and legs twitch into stretching positions.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue was seated up front within the Blackbird, dressed in her gold and green suit, her leather jacket slung over the back of her chair. She waits for the jet to get in to a preparation for landing, when she detaches her crash webbing, letting the straps snap off her body and slap back against the chair behind her. She rises up, moving in a fluid motion, snatching her jacket off of the back of the same seat. With Scott dishing out orders, Rogue nods her head simply a single time, her tall yellow boots swaying as she walks toward the back of the jet.

With jacket slung on over her shoulders, and her two-toned hair pushed out behind the back of the collar, the Belle waits for the Bird's door to pop open, and when it does? She silently takes flight, her arms moving in an almost swimming-like fashion, as she pushes out in to the air of the foreign city she's only ever heard of before.

"This should be fun." Her voice says over team comms, as her altitude ticks upward, and her eyes fall down upon the crowds in-question. "Look like a rowdy bunch. Can't wait t'say Hi." Her husky voice adds before she finds a flight pattern to carry her around a valuable birds-eye-view of the situation unfolding at street level.

Bobby Drake has posed:
It was an excuse to get out, stretch his legs, and see if the old costume still fits. black with a big ol red outlined x across his chest. Short sleeved top, short bottoms, boots that look a heck of a lot like sneakers. And a manbun. When it turns out the sentinels intel is a wash, he's more than up for an excursion out to Budapest! Do a little light press amongst the angry local mobs, prevent a young mutant from being assassinated. What could possibly go wrong.

At the impromptu mission brief aboard the Blackbird, Iceman is sitting with his feet up, knees bent, and arms laid atop him. Double thumbs up at his order set, "Can do, boss man." Once they break, Bobby claps his hands and rolls to the side out of his seat to follow along behind the others towards the ramp. Side bar to Rogue, "I think you and i have very different ideas of fun, but I'm going to make the best of this situation. Maybe stop by the bazaar after and pick up a magic lamp?" Jogging down the steps until he reaches the bottom, grinning. There he turns and makes his way forward towards the crowds, looking for a clear enough path to get him to where he can most effectively create barriers for both any attempts to assassinate the mutant AND acts safe guards to keep the crowds at bay if things get rowdy.

Scott Summers has posed:
"Surge, let's let Jovo arrive. He's the anti-mutant speaker and while letting him speak isn't something useful, if a mutant actively stops his arrival? It'll only fuel his cause. I think we're best off keeping hands-off and observing to begin with," Cyclops remarks with a glance over his shoulder and toward the rear of the Blackbird's cockpit area. "Iceman, get your feet off the seats," he remarks without missing a beat before the ruby quartz visor X-Man continues on with the assignments, "Surge, keep an eye on the crowd with Rogue. I'll be on the hospital interior. Keep our comms clear and call out if you need help. Surge, you're our floater. If one position gets bogged down or needs help, you're going to respond to it quickly."

The Blackbird begins to decrease in its altitude, likely intending to land soon. Meanwhile Cyclops continues with the discussion of orders, "If things get too hot, we withdraw. Remember this is foreign soil, so we don't want to be here when the authorities show up in greater force."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "What a ripoff!" Jubilation complains as Rogue and Bobby discuss the finer points of how much fun this is going to be. Jubes is on Rogue's side on this one. She swivels her seat to face Noriko and glares in her direction. "This is ... We're all the way over here in Hungary... that's, like, /practically/ Romania...! And I gotta stay in the car!"

    Hungary and Romania are not the same and it's not a car, Jubes.

    Jubilation, assuming that Noriko isn't going to make the connection just on that point alone, expands her complaint a little. "...It's Transylvania....Practically....Kinda....Almost.... And I gotta stay behind...!" she adds, both eyebrows hiked. "...This is so mid."

    "I'm playing with all the buttons and knobs!" Jubilation warns the rest of the group as they depart. She pouts a little more, dramatically flailing both of her arms in gentle protest.

    After getting the 'Jubilee' schtick that everyone expects from her out of the way, Jubilation leans forward in her seat towards Noriko. She kisses the tip of her index finger and then presses it against the speedster's lips. "Be careful," she whispers.

    ---

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    A temporary stage waits for Nagy's arrival in the plaza surrounding Semmelweis University Hospital. A backdrop for the stage has been assembled from large banners featuring several of Jovo Nagy's campaign slogans. They're all non-specific phrases that are known by the locals to represent anti-mutant sentiments, including 'Your Safety, Your Future' and 'Securing Your Future.'

    A diverse crowd of students, waving placards emblazoned with slogans of fear and distrust, chants vehemently against mutants, blaming them for societal woes. Another group counter chants with a pro-mutant message, though they seem divided on whether they're promoting a peaceful coexistence with humans. Among both groups of demonstrators, a mix of local residents, politicians, and interest groups converge, their voices amplified by megaphones that echo across the busy plaza.

    Two dozen C.H.U.D. members separate the protestors from the empty stage, each of them decked out in full-body fatigues, military boots and gear, and armed with assault rifles. They shove back any pro-mutant protestors who get too close, even hitting some of them with the stocks of their assault rifles. Anti-mutant demonstrators are generally left alone.

    Police maintain a tense perimeter around the hospital, their presence a stark contrast to the patients inside, mutant and human alike, who watch silently from the windows. Their faces are a mosaic of apprehension and resignation as they watch tensions outside the hospital increase by the minute. Things are not looking good.

    One of the police radios chirps and a staticky transmission reports on Jovo Nagy's current position. Ten miles away, a black town car speeds through the city. The windows are tinted over, but the license plate is unmistakable: THEFUTURE

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Yeah but-" what if someone takes out the speaker before the speaker gets there?  Are we also going to let people think we just let people die if they aren't for us?-Noriko never finishes her sentence because she's interrupting Scott and he keeps going.  He's got that flow thing going on.  Plus, she shrugs, thinking she can do it all anyway.

The speedster leans toward Jubes... "Jubes, I need you monitoring the chatter?  To make sure that family isn't getting targeted okay?" Noriko could care less about the politician.  Jubes would know this is all about the kids.  "How could you do that if you were frying like an egg-?" she says in a sing song way, silenced by Jubes' finger.  Her eyes widen slightly and her expression freezes against the cold finger.

"I will," Nori mumbles against the resistance awkwardly and then smirks before she unbuckles and gets set to stick to Rogue like her shadow.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue was keeping a wide perimeter on her flight pattern, making it a little harder to spot her, and with her speed pretty high, she's hard to really zero in on as she sweeps between nearby buildings.

She finds a particularly interesting place to perch, and soon is seated on the forehead of a big stone gargoyle, that is perched on the edge of a building's facade. With her legs dangling down on either sides of the gargoyle's stoney face, the Belle observes the tense situation down below. Leaning forward, her hands use the gargoyle's nose as a brace, as she stares at the situation with law enforcement officers getting a little rough with the rowdy crowds.

"Gettin' tense down there," her voice notes over comms. "Iceman, ya might need t'get ready t'turn this plaza place in to an ice rink. That'd make mosta these people completely rethink stickin' around." She declares, her booted legs swinging gently as she's enjoying her high-up vantage point on the situation below.

With one hand sweeping her white bangs out of her face, the other raises her phone up... She straightens her back, as she starts taking a video of the protests ebb and flow, recording it with the high-tech lense inside her oh-so-fancy device.

Bobby Drake has posed:
<"Hah, Surge is the jungler."> Are MOBAs still popular? Bobby would know, he's a hip guy in the videogaming world, but that's about as far as THAT goes. <"That makes me midlane."> He pops his knuckles, turning them inside out after linking them together so they pop in a rythmic cascade. It's more for show than anything. He definitely doesn't fit in, unless the current fashion in Hungaria (Or Romania) involves the current Iceman X-Men clothing trends. Regardless, he's keeping a low profile for now.

<"We're getting a lot of mixed messages down here from the pro-mutant groups, guys. Half of them look like they'll turn tail and run.. the other half looks like they're itching for a reason to throw punches."> It's an honest observation from the usually anti-serious Bobbert. There's a time for his brand of humor, and it will come, just right now calls for a more seasoned Bobby Drake to put some of his tactical experience into effect!

"Oh shit, a food vendor."

In a second, he'll put his tactical experience into effect after he samples some of the local cuisine. "Hey, can I get a langos? Extra sour cream, it's my cheat day." He's bobbing the big flat donut between his hands, glancing around and back at the tension building amongst the crowd goers. <"Yeah, just give me the word and it'll be Disney on Ice."> Head tilt to take a bit.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "I know, I know," Jubilee tells Nori. She understands what to do if she's the one stuck back on the jet. It's just not where she wants to be.

    -----

    Nagy's driver is taking an unconventional route through the city, choosing to avoid anything that would be too obvious or easily made into a dead end. After purposely going through a yellow traffic light just as it turns red, the car becomes more aggressive with its turns. Left. Right. Left. Left. Things are mostly smooth, but it's not long before Nagy's car picks up a tail. An unmarked white van screeches its tires and emerges from a nearby alley, now hot on the tail of the town car! The van's engine roars to life as it pushes forward and slams into the rear bumper. Nagy's car fishtails a little bit but the driver quickly regains control and continues on course! It's not much, but it's enough to cause some chatter on the police radio channels.

    Meanwhile, the crowds have lost their patience. "Bottle!" a voice shouts as one soars through the air. The sound of glass breaking against an unlucky face sends the crowd into an uproar. The shouting starts to get worse and the opposing groups being shoving against each other. C.H.U.D. soldiers step forward, strengthening their defensive stance in front of the stage. "Two minutes out," one of them can be heard commenting after getting a position update from Nagy's driver.

    Hopefully the crowd can focus once he gets on stage. If he ever gets there, that is.

    The hospital, luckily, seems quiet. Perhaps a little too quiet?

    ------

    On the Blackbird, Jubilation stops twirling around in her chair once the police channels start to go nuts. "<Uhhh, guys, I don't mean to break up the party, but I don't think the guest of honor is gonna make it. He's got a tail. Heading east on... Loportar...u....>" Jubilation tries, struggling with how to pronounce it.

Scott Summers has posed:
"Surge, if you think you can help with the plaza and keep an eye on Jovo's arrival, making sure he's not ambushed? Then by all means, do it," Cyclops answers back in his usual stern, neutral tone. He soon unfastens the restraints keeping him bound to the pilot's seat. He springs up to his feet and begins to move toward the rear of the craft then, following after the others as they likewise egress. As the team begins to split into their own assignments, Cyclops sees to his own.

It doesn't take him long to reach the rear of the hospital, which doesn't quite have the security that the front entrance sports. Which is to say none at all. They're mutant children inside. Of course a robust defensive deployment wouldn't be in the cards for them.

"X-Men," he pauses a moment, creating a break in their comm traffic, "and Surge, call out if you need backup". He pauses as he begins to move briskly up the steps leading into one of the hospital's rear entrances. A check of the door finds it unlocked and a sigh escapes the X-Man. He keys his own comm unit again, broadcasting to the X-Men (and Surge), "Rogue, keep me informed if you spot anyone making a move for the hospital. Iceman, try to keep lanes of escape open. If people want to flee, let them. The less innocents in a potential crossfire, the better."

He may stick out like a sore thumb within a hospital setting, given his form hugging glove of blue and yellow colored accessories, but Cyclops' ruby quartz visor seems to draw as much attention as his attention. He moves through the corridors, keeping his focus on his surroundings and those within it as he reaches up to rake his brown hair back, before that same hand lowers to press two gloved fingers to the communicator built within the combo utility belt and bandolier that he wears. His words are first a response to Jubilee, "Understood, Jubilee. Surge? You're up. Stop that van. Rogue and Iceman, maintain positions and readiness."

The updates are dispatched and Cyclops begins climbing steps, hoping to reach the hospital's rooftop in due time. Not only to allow him a vantage point, but to also position himself as something of a counter-sniper-puncher.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Mmm, it's like Scott reads Nori's mind without all those invasive mind powers.  Nori secretly appreciates his logic, only offering, "Yeah."  Noriko perched herself on top of a building along the perimeter in case she'd have to tear out of there.  She smirks knowingly when Jubes calls in the tail and Scott ping-pongs her an order to chase it.  "Will-do!"  She almost sounds chipper, or it could just be that it's faster.

Noriko uses the rooftops to get over to the area reported quickly, or at least she starts that way and her velocity kicks up and jumping is just slowing her down, so she spends a little time riding gravity's forces down a fire escape first.  She won't be able to hear Scott at these velocities, but hopefully she won't need to.

As she makes her way to intercept the van, Noriko just lets herself kind of breathe...electrically speaking, allowing herself to absorb the electricity in her surroundings, causing electrons to hop and skip their way back to her along the particles faster than she can move.  When she gets to the van, Noriko simply matches pace with it and reaches down delicately to finger-zap the back, left tire with a CRACK and localized FLASH.  Vans aren't known to be so fancy, so Nori reckons she ought to take it out old school.

Rogue has posed:
Fromher vantage point upon the dome of the gargoyle, Rogue continues to take a video record of what is unfolding of the view down below. She has a growing look of concern upon her face, as she stops the recording, and slips the device back in to the inner left pocket of her jacket. "Gettin' hot down there, like a line dance interrupted with hip hop music." she quips, before her right hand reaches out, the gloved fingers trailing up the side of the building, as she stands up on top of the statue's head. Her green eyes look around the rooftops of the plaza's perimeter, listening to Scott's words across their comm network.

"Good luck, Surge. Lemme know if you need help." She offers further, before she nimbly jumps from the medium sized gargoyle statue, over to a larger one, this one easily three times the size of the previous.

From here, Rogue's emerald hued eyes continue to scan the horizon, the green bandana wrapped around her brow whipping in the wind that perpetually ruffles her voluminous locks of hair.

Bobby Drake has posed:
It's the between action situations that bother Bobby most. That cusp right before they have to do something and knowing when it's time to let the ice start to rain down... The remainder of his snack is handed to someone beside him, "This is delicious." Who takes it, even though they neither know how the man handing it to them is, nor really wanting a half eaten cream cheese covered flat donut.

<"Bottle..."> Bobby sees it flying, then sees it smash against someone's face. "Well that's not good." That is precisely the not good kind of things that turns a volitile protest into a riot. Thankfully, Scott sees it, as well as Rogue. He hasn't started freezing the parade grounds, yet, but it's definitely starting to get colder around him. Priming his powers for when things turn upside down.

<"I don't think we should let this guy get here, boss.. This guy comes in preaching his crap and these people are going to go ape shit."> And they're going to be caught in the middle, possibly defending these CHUD dudes from an angry mob of human/Mutant sympathizers.

"Everyone chill! Love is real!" He shouts, cupping hands around his mouth. A glance sidelong, nodding, brow furrowed, to the person behind him. Trying to get a more peaceful chant started. Obviously theres' a snowballs chance in a microwave this'll work, but he has no reason to make everyone hit the ground...

Yet.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
The van:

    "Uh, boss?"

    A streak of blue hair appears in one of the side-mirrors of the white van tearing through the city. The driver looks back and forth from the mirror, the road ahead, and the other man in the passenger seat. "We've got... I don't... I don't know what we've got," he admits in Hungarian, probably.

    Before the passenger has a chance to check it out himself, perhaps wonder why a mutant would be actively helping Jovo get out of this jam, he's hurled out of his seat and into the dashboard. Always remember to wear your seatbelt, people. The explosion of the van's tire sends it lurching forward a car length before it loses control and crashes into a khlav kalash cart on the sidewalk. Greasy brown meat sticks and canned crab juice go everywhere.

    -----

Hidden in the crowd:

    The bottle is the last straw. The shoving gets worse. The screaming is angrier. The C.H.U.D. detail in front of the stage starts getting antsy. Things are going to erupt at any minute. From the skies above, the crowd must look like a wriggling mess of worms, as absolutely everyone is going wild.

    Except for two people. Two guys, both wearing non-descript sweatshirts and jeans are ignoring the pandemonium. Each of them carries a long, plastic case by a handle. They're keeping to themselves and, although they're not the only people traversing the crowd, they're the only two that appear to be going somewhere specific: the hospital's main entrance.

--------

In the hospital:

    Doctors and nurses are doing their best to keep everyone inside calm, but there's only so much they can do. People rush down the halls, trading one vantage point for another, in hopes of getting a better view of the problems outside. Elevators on most of the important floors are becoming packed. There aren't many, but some doctors and nurses end up resorting to the stairs to get to their patients on other floors. "Istenem! Istenem!" one of the doctors shouts as he bursts into the stairwell and comes face-to-face with Cyclops' red visor. He doesn't stay and chat.

    Unknown to all of them, two gunmen are approaching the main entrance to the hospital...

-------

On the outskirts of the crowd:

    Things are getting ugly. The shouting is getting louder. The shoving is rapidly going from simply bad manners to the edge of violence. One man glares at the chilly, man-bunned stranger trying to get a chant started. "That doesn't even rhyme, bro!" he says in Hungarian, probably.

    Somewhere, a finger slips across a trigger and the sound of a single gun shot echoes around the plaza. People begin to panic and push forward, unsure where the shot came from. The C.H.U.D. soldiers step forward and lower their guns. "Stay back!" one of them shouts in Hungarian, probably.

    People in the middle of the crowd begin to fall, succumbing to the weight of the people behind them like it's a Walmart on Black Friday...

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko whistles as she watches the van lurch forward.  She hop-skips her way up to be alongside it and then sprints forward to drag the cart vendor by the back of his shirt just a few steps out of the way as she reaches for some of the flying meat with her free gauntlet and leaps up to get another stick in her mouth.

The speedster makes the quickest work of her snack and then rubs her gauntlets off on the vendor's shirt much to his slowmo dismay.  She blurs off after the politician's vehicle, working on her last meat stick leisurely as she keeps an eye on things.

Rogue has posed:
Moving from the right side of the main gargoyle head, to the left, Rogue dances around the horns protruding from the top of its stoney head. She graps hold of the left horn, as she swings around to shield herself from the winds, and spy down at the situation bubbling over, boiling over.

"Ya'll, things are gettin' worse." She states, "I'm headed back up to the sky, get a better spot to see where I can help out."

She takes to the skies once more, this time landing up on top of the building's roof ledge, and darting around the edges of its bulky corner decor.

When a gun shot rings out, Rogue does not hesitate, she just shoots off the roof like a bullet, headed toward the general direction from which the sound came from. She's not hiding her position anymore, either, making herself an easy target, should any would-be snipers wish to take a shot at her, as she flies across the plaza.

"We got a shooter. I'm scannin' for them..."

Bobby Drake has posed:
"It rhymes, you're just not saying it ri-"

BANG

Chaos...

Bobby instinctively flinches at the sound of the gunshot and looks around sharply, <"Okay, it's abo-"> He's shoved forward by someone behind him and falls down beneath the stampede of the suddenly rushing bodies massing in several directions. In almost every situation where someone is hurled to the ground in a mob, the best tactic is to curl up and cover the head, which Bobby almost certainly should do.

One second he's there and then, likely Rogue, sees that he's gone.

Only then people are falling on their asses all around where he had been standing. Waving their arms trying to keep their balance when the ground beneath their feet becomes a sheet of incredibly slick blue-white ice. Then he reappears, Red/Black costume on a figure comprised entirely of that same blue-white with sharp angles of his features. Anyone who gets too close to the line where he was, near the middle of the crowd, find their progress is stunt simply because the ground is impossible to traverse without looking really really silly.

Without a running start he can't create a sledge for him to slide across, but he does wave one arm out wide, in an arc out ahead of him, creating a solid sheet of ice that segregates CHUD from protestor should the armed militants decide this it the perfect time to shoot. The other points off in the other direction, cracking the ice sheet in the ground to spray up cold, but not frozen, jets of water to deture that back of the crowd from pushing forward.

"This is not cash-money guys. E-" Crack, someone hits him with a half eaten fried donut covered in cream cheese.

Scott Summers has posed:
The doctor bursts into the stairwell and Cyclops comes to an abrupt halt. The panic and urgency is almost universal. Enough so that Scott simply steps aside, presses his back to the stairwell's wall, and allows his nickname to permit the doctor's passage. Slim stands there for a moment, exhales a breath of relief, and then begins to move up the stairs faster. He runs up, utilizing the handrail to grand him stability along with his speed. The notification from Rogue earns a double click of his comm, but not vocal response. He signals his understanding and keeps running. By the time he's reached the rooftop, he's taking a few quick breaths to get himself under control.

One of the shooters he spies immediately. They're not very adept at the whole being inconspicuous thing. Cyclop's hand rises up and in a second he determines the angle and distance, aligning his sight on the shoot. A minor blast will do the trick for now. At least enough to take one potential shooter out of commission.

A segment of ruby light flashes from his visor and across the distance, slamming not into the shooter, but his rifle. The barrel is impacted by the beam of light and it squeaks with the sudden angle that the barrel bends. The follow-up optic blast is far less powerful and summarily drives the wind out of the shooter as it slams into the man's gut from rooftop to rooftop.

As the shooter is left gasping for breath, Cyclops spies the pair beginning to move toward the hospital. This earns a quick call-out over the comms, "One shooter incapacitated. Two shooters heading for the hospital lobby. Iceman, can you intercept?"

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Fuck this," is the prevailing attitude of the C.H.U.D. soldiers (in Hungarian, probably.) As the stampede of people closes in, the order is given to take them down. The rifles are lowered. The safeties are switched off. Shots are fired...

    Into ice.

    "Aw, I fuckin' knew this would happen!" one of them announces in Hungarian, probably. Secretly, deep down, every one of these men wishes he was a mutant right now.

    People begin to drop like flies as the ground beneath them turns to ice. Some of the would-be protestors try to proceed anyway, but the frozen ground proves to be too much, turning their proud, tough-guy walks into a cartoonish, desperate attempt to keep their footing. One by one, they all fall down and begin to...

    ...laugh. The absurdity of this moment is enough to disrupt the hatred between the demonstrators. Even the accidental shooter is laughing with the others nearest him on the ice. Perhaps Bobby is right? Perhaps 'Everyone chill! Love is real!' wins the day.

    From her vantage point in the sky, however, Rogue might know better. Across the plaza, a flash of sunlight reflecting off of a sniper scope passes across Rogue's eye line. A third shooter is perched on a nearby office building, setting up a shot for the one causing all this trouble: Bobby Drake!

    Meanwhile, reports of the situation have reached Jovo Nagy's driver. Although the van that was tailing them has mysterious stopped, Nagy's driver makes a right instead of a left and, in doing so, reschedules the speech.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko keeps pace with Nagy's driver without alerting him to her presence by just rapidly circling the vehicle at an absurd rate, so when he takes a detour, Noriko has to swing her trajectory out a little to avoid it, allowing her to round her way toward the fray.  But then as soon as she sees everyone slipping and sliding around on ice and water, she uses a light pole and her gauntlet to swing herself into a 180!

"NOPE!" Noriko actually yells, but it comes out in a blip.

Rogue has posed:
With the ruby red blast from Cyclops' eyes, Rogue turns her eyes toward it, seeing the red beam streak across the sky toward its intended target down below. She glances down again, spotting Bobby's handy-work, and comms in over the team network. "Keep it up down there, Iceman. Looks like you gottem completely confused."

She's got a small grin showing, when a glint of light knocks it from her visage. She turns her eyes toward the north, and spots the glint of a sniper lense.

There's no time to even report it over comms, as Rogue twists her body around in mid-air, and increases her speed forward at a tremendous degree!

The sniper, peering down their scope, suddenly finds the barrel of their weapon bent backward, before the sniper's backside is grasped by the fabric of their pants, and cast backward hard across the roof's surface, with the intention of rolling them like a bag of bricks away from their little nest.

On her feet again, upon the roof, Rogue places her hands on her hips, and slowly begins walking toward the sniper. "You got any other friends hidin' up here?" She asks in English, not even considering this person probably speaks some other weird language she is not familiar with.

Bobby Drake has posed:
Bobby is caught up in the sudden shift of ferocity into frivolity, laughing with the slipping and sliding protestors. "Everyone get down." He gaffaws, completely unawares that he's got a sniper scope aimed at him, ready to end his reign of icy terror once and for all! The automatic weapons chip away at the ice wall he'd erect infront of the C.H.U.D.s, but as soon as it chips and flings off huges sections of ice, it's transmuted into water that splashes across them as if under the living authority of the mutant who created it.

Soaking their clothing.

Soaking their hair.

A giant seltzer bottle spraying off the side of an ice wall.

Truly, love conquers all.

<"On it."> He says, running up a small ramp of ice that pushes up between several fallen protestors. From that heightened position he jumps into the air and creates ramp of frosted ice from the ends of his hands, sliding over head in the direction of the hospital. Teethered to his construct by the costant flow of ice emitting from his wrists.

At the front of the hospital he drops down and peers inside, "Hello! Big scary super powerful mutant, guys. Better come shoot me or something..." Will that be enough to draw their attention to him, rather than to their intended target? Does he realize that Rogue just kept him from having a canoe shaped hole in his head? Probably not.

He doesn't speak (Probably) Hungarian, afterall.

Scott Summers has posed:
The return to the stairwell is halted. An idea comes to Cyclops and it freezes him in his tracks. "Cyclops to X-Men - and Surge - I've got the two gunmen," he announces through their shared comms. He abruptly turns back and begins to run. Cyclops sprints forward, his brown hair shifting with the wind as he runs toward the roof's edge and a glance down finds the necessary trajectory and speed that he'll need as he pushes away from the roof's ledge. He leaps away from the building, tucks, and rolls within the air. He falls swiftly and only a few scant yards from a several story drop onto concrete his hand moves to his visor. A long blast is given, slowing his descent just enough to permit him to land heavily before the two gunmen.

One of them begins to blurt something out in Hungarian, probably, only to catch an optic blast like a punch from Mike Tyson himself to the sternum. This sends him stumbling back with a loud grunt of pain. His stumble doesn't immediately result in a fall either. His feet his ice, sending him scurrying and scrambling across the icy surface.

Meanwhile Cyclop steps forward, adjusting the angle of his body so that it easily steps aside the barrel of the second gunmen's rifle as he thrusts it forward. An optic blast erupts from the visor as he angles sideward and glances down with a stern, determined expression etched across his chiseled features. The sound of the blast is decidedly less cringe-inducing than the crunch that follows it as the ruby blast of kinetic energy slams into the man's ankle. The blast results in a startled shout of pain as the now broken ankle gives out, Cyclops wrests the rifle from the man's falling hands, and a quick blast of ruby kinetic energy focused on the weapon's barrel finds it bent as well.

The rifle is discarded with a clatter onto concrete and ice. Following those rapid feats accomplished in quick succession, Cyclops takes a step forward to begin moving from the hospital.

Skrwik!

He nearly slips on ice, his boots shuffling beneath him as they seek purchase and fail. He doesn't fall, but it was a near tragedy.

Cyclops plants his feet now and reaches up to signal the X-Men, "We're approaching our point of withdrawal. If there is no immediate danger, begin withdrawing to the Blackbird, X-Men."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    The sniper stares up at Rogue in horror, unable to answer or even understand her question in English, probably. He puts both of his hands up, showing them empty, and pleads his case to Rogue in an incomprehensible language. Hungarian, probably. He's young, no more than eighteen years old or so, with a baby face and wide eyes.

    Down below, commotion in the lobbby drowns out any chance of Bobby's negotiation tactics from reaching the right ears. People waiting to see a doctor, still with their broken bones and makeshift bandages and fingers kept in plastic baggies with ice, have become inspired by the way the crowd outside decided to just stop and laugh. No one needs to die today. The shouting continues to get louder as people approach the hospital's main door. They shove the shooter out of the lobby to face Bobby Drake's judgement! The shooter holds his hands out and starts shouting in Hungarian, probably.----

    "<Yeah, that's a good idea, guys... I think they're gonna give us a parking ticket soon...>" Jubilee announces over the radio, agreeing with the sentiment that it's time to get going. She stands from her seat and looks carefully out the Blackbird windshield, making sure to avoid the deadly beams of sunlight that peek through.

    ---

    In a city like this, it only takes two turns for a car to disappear entirely. In that way, Jovo Nagy's car is long gone, probably on its way back to his campaign headquarters to regroup or something. It's not going to get there. A small object on the town car's rear bumper begins to beep. It starts off slow at first but quickly speeds up. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep beep. Beep beep. Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep. Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep. When the beeping stops, the blast rips through the car with devastating force, shattering glass and tearing metal apart. In an instant, Nagy's car comes to a smoldering halt just a few yards from the hovering Blackbird.

    Inside, Jubilation's eyes widen. "Holy shit!" she shouts. There's not much time to think before Jubilation gets moving. She drops down from the lowered staircase and into the cold embrace of the patch of shade underneath the Blackbird. To protect herself from the sun, Jubilee's added a bright yellow hoodie and a baseball cap to her wardrobe. It's not perfect, but if there's any chance to render first aid, it has to happen right away. There isn't more time to come up with a better outfit.

    "<Uh, yeah, definitely hurry up... something happened here... I didn't do it, but they're not gonna buy that...>" Jubilation announces over comms before she makes a break for it. Jubilation steps out of the shade and runs as fast as she can to the burning wreck. As soon as the sun hits her uncovered legs, Jubilation cries out in agony. It's not a long run, but it's enough. By the time Jubilation reaches the mangled town car, she's a bit of a smoldering mess, herself. The exposed portions of her skin-her legs, hands, and cheeks-are charred to a crisp with little wisps of smoke flirting with the air. Still screaming through the pain, Jubilation releases a cluster of plasmoids against the side of the wreckage to create an opening for herself to get inside and begin first aid. As soon as Jubilee spots the twisted bodies of Jovo Nagy's driver, wife, and Jovo Nagy himself, she knows she's too late. Jubilation closes her eyes and activates her communicator. "<We gotta get out of here, guys... Elvis, uh, has left the building and they're gonna think it was us....>" Jubilee warns. Just as she's about to open her eyes in preparation for the searing pain that awaits her when she runs back to the Blackbird, she hears an unusual sound from inside the wreck.

    Jubilation Lee stares at the source of the noise, wide-eyed, and falls in love with it.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue stares down at the baby face of the sniper she'd just disarmed. She has no idea what he stammered back at her, but she did just nod her head at the sight of his unfiltered fear. She even smirks at him. With the command to pull back, Rogue turns to walk back to the ledge of the building.

She kicks the rifle off the building, sending it tumbling down toward the concrete below, before she launches up in to the air once more.

Look out, Bobby. You're about to get Rogue'd.

The Belle latches her hands on beneath Iceman's arm bits, hoisting him up off of the ground, to pull him in close. "Heya, Sugah." She says in a sweet tone of voice, as she begins to fly back toard the jet, carrying Bobby like a would-be adult man bun baby.

"Cyclops, you need extract?" She asks, as she-- and her passenger-- are soon to land in the field outside of the jet, Rogue seeing Jubilee rushing back up inside of it, along with the burning wreckage beyond the jet.

"yeah, we should get outta here, asap." The Belle further states, as she glances toward Bobby. "This is gonna look bad if they figure out it was us." She murmors, turning to search for Scott.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko has her own little jog back around to the car, going fast and kinda taking the scenic route.  It's the sound and sight of some kind of fireball that makes Noriko's feet shuffle to recover from the brief disconnection between the kinetic motion of her body and her mind caused by shock.  There's all these sounds of shooters and now explosions, but all Noriko's mind can think about is the family in that car, the thought burrowing into the back of her mind.

Getting back to the Blackbird feels like it takes forever, and Noriko straps herself in with ghostly quietness about the whole ordeal.

Bobby Drake has posed:
The gunman rushes out the front doors of the hospital and right into the loving embrace of our Frosty Lord and Savior, Iceman. "Hey pal.. is that a heckler & Koch UMP9? Don't you find it a little..." He pantomimes climb, making firing noises with his mouth that sounds a lot more like farting than machine gun fire. Things are turning a little crazy on comms and the gunmen is raising his weapon to point it in Bobby's direction. He turns his white-blue ice face to the side and holds two fingers up to his ear. <"What now?"> The other hand is held out in the attempted assassin's direction.

Steadily firing a stream of incredibly cold energy along the barrel of the weapon towards the internal trigger assembly. The firing pin pops when he attempts to pull the trigger. The screws crack when he shakes it and the whole gun falls apart in small icy chunks in his hands. <"Oh, okay. Yeah I'm on my way.">

He claps, "Alright, huge fan of this whole..." Hands waving at the assassin, ducking back out of the way of a swung fist. Once. Twice. Left and right, bobbing his head like a boxer without ever really stopping his mouth from moving. ".. Boondocks Saints thing you've got going here, but I need to skidaddle..." Another thrown punch, Bobby weaves, then extends his finger out to poke the assassin between the eyes. "Boop."

And gives him the most intense brain freeze, super chilling the upper pallet of his mouth so the blood vessels rapidly expand creating such an intense pain that he crumples on the ground at Iceman's feet. Just in time too because Rogue is flying over head and Bibby is extending his arms up for her to catch him, where he swings up into her arms and craddles.

"Yeah. You ever feel like we walked right into a trap, that probably wasn't set for us, but now that it's sprung it's like a mid-season finale? I hope we get a second season, I'm still miffed about Firefly." Head on Rogue's shoulders.

Kicking his feet where the hang down over her elbow once he's resumed his more human form.

Scott Summers has posed:
"Rogue," Cyclops answers promptly and without hesitation. His few penguin-like steps allow for him to shuffle off of the ice without busting his tailbone. Once he's freed of the ice field, Cyclops begin to move faster. While so many are still laughing at the plight they've found themselves, Scott Summers is beginning to run down an alleyway. "I'll be moving down a side street heading west. Meet me for pick-up one block over."

It's with practiced precision that Cyclops is picked up. Rogue sails by overhead and Cyclops hops up, an optic blast toward the ground beneath his feet provides him with a little more umph and clearance from the ground. What he doesn't account for is that when Cyclop's outstretched gloved hand connects with another gloved hand, he's carefully swung out and around.

"Whoa-aaa!" Cyclops actually breaks from his usual stoic, self-controlled manner at the surprise over being easily swung like a pendulum until he's left having to cling to Rogue's back. He takes care not to touch skin, despite much of his own being covered.

From Rogue's back and against the rush of wind, Cyclops calls out, "Hey, Iceman."

He keeps himself clinging to Mighty Woman's back with one hand, while his other moves to key up his comm unit. The growl of wind impedes on his broadcast back to the Blackbird and Jubilee, but his voice cuts through clear enough, "We're inbound, Jubilee. We're leaving the moment we're all aboard and getting out of this airspace."

Ever dutiful, Cyclops watches the buildings flash by around them. He watches for those who may attempt to take parting shots at the withdrawing X-Men and remains prepared to meet fire with optic blasts while he clings to the back of the Southern Belle.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee's run back to the Blackbird is not quite as painful as it was before. This time, she runs back with something underneath her hoodie, held tightly against her chest with one arm and supported by her other hand. After climbing the stairs, Jubilation hurries over to the cockpit, still cradling something underneath her hoodie. She screams in pain as she passes through any troublesome beams of light, and shakily uses one hand to hit the buttons and flip the switches that ensure the Blackbird will be ready to take off once its pilot returns.

    Her second order of business is to grab one of the Red Cross pouches she brought with her and run into the bathroom.

    When the others make it back to the jet, Jubilee has already claimed one of the bathrooms and locked the door behind her.

    "I got a little cooked but I'm fine!" she'd insist through the door. "I just need some darkness..."

    And, in the privacy of the bathroom, Jubilation stares at the little baby boy staring back at her.

    "I think I'll call you Shogo," she whispers.