2593/Genosha Burns: Brotherhood's Back in Town

Genosha Burns: Brotherhood's Back in Town
Date of Scene:	24 July 2020
Location:	Hammer Bay
Synopsis:	Acolytes ambush the X-Men to try to get the shrunken Genosha... and Magneto!
Cast of Characters:	Victor Creed, Clarice Ferguson, Jean Grey, Neena Thurman, Piotr Rasputin, Lorna Dane, Logan Howlett, Emma Frost

---

Victor Creed has posed:
The goal is relatively simple: to transport the bubbles containing the sections of Genosha to Genosha itself, to come under the care of the remaining government of Genosha.

To that end, an escort has been arranged to ensure the safety, by the mighty X-Men heroes, via a portal by the mutant Blink. There would be a handoff in a building that has been in preparation since the discovery of the existance of the bubbles: a newly made fortress adjacent to where Magneto's stronghold used to stand, before it was shrunk into a tiny city and taken captive.

The building is mighty and intimidating, formed by a group of earth-moving mutants by and large, having the feeling of a gnarly earthen castle. Some of the rock is unnecessarily thorny and jagged, as if revealing the emotion of raw loss Genosha suffered.

--

Upon arrival to Genosha, the X-Men group is flanked and escorted towards the inside, only to immediately be hit by a strange sensation, a tilt of senses and perceptions. Eerie, and no doubt triggering of goosepimples for all. But that isn't unusual, really: Genosha is FULL of strange mutant effects, and reacting to every one like it's made by a pariah is hardly diplomatic! There are a bunch of mixed guards in the area, some 'unarmed', others clearly with guns.

A group of people are inside: clearly to meet and greet the arrivals, //clearly// interested in the bottles, fascinated by them: but of course they are! They contain Genosha! Their families and friends...

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
It was a great for Genosha, at least considering all that had happened in the past. Their return, even if still miniaturized, to where their homeland was.

This made Blink happy, barely able to contain a big smile on her expression as she opened the portal to bring them to Genosha from the mansion.

"We are so close now. It's about time our people recover some of our hope back." This she saying to those she is accompanying, the X-men and Lorna.

As they step to the other side and begin to be lead inside that attentive gaze returns though. She had her mission afterall, being a Royal bodyguard. To be careful of threats that could come to their people while they were still so vulnerable within those devices.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean winces at the sense of vertigo, using her mental abilities to resist the sensation as best as she can. She's wearing her X-Men uniform, of course, the green-and-white suit as she glances around at the other mutants present. She nods over towards Clarice, "Indeed. This will be good to get Genosha restored to where it should be." She sounds like she actually means it, too, but then again, she probably does.

Even if that means *grumble* Magneto gets restored as well, but that level of bad blood between Jean and Magneto probably isn't going to be wiped away overnight. Even with restoring Genosha to where it should be.

Neena Thurman has posed:
Divided loyalties?

Not at all. At no time has Neena Thurman, aka Domino, ever had a thought as to which 'side' she is on when it has come to all the political intrigue, the 'who and whom' shall run Genosha. When all is said and done,

She's on her own side, that is, the side of the mutants. Trust is at a premium, and those whom she does trust are few and far between. It's the devil that you know, the devil that pays up front and on time, is the one that she sides with.

After a fashion.

The message that that devil was threatened, however laughable it may seem given some hindsight (Mags, in danger for his //life//?), there is no way that the monochromatic merc can let it lie.

There, and it's sort of strange; amongst the guards standing to and watching the arrival is one that is a touch paler, but certainly that's nothing, right? In her leathers, and armed amongst the throng is Domino. She's speaking to another armed guard, her head down and the words softly spoken into an ear.

As the entourage approaches, Domino straightens from her lean, crystal clear blue eyes watching, and a black lipped smile begins to crack.

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
It is serious business, this, the repatriation of Genosha. Piotr knows this, and is ready for his part. He has recently made some changes to his field uniform, having added pauldrons to it, black like the rest of it, leaving his arms bare, save for a gold cuff on his left wrist. The large Russian has already taken the initiative to assume his metallic form, walking alongside the other X-Men and those assigned to help deliver Lorna and the rest of Genosha.

"The sooner we can return life to normal, the better. Though it is... not right," Piotr looks around, trying to get a feel for the atmosphere, but fails, and thus remains uncomfortable.

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna had been on pins and needles since the trade of the bottles over to her possession. Days ago, weeks ago, she wouldn't have been confident that they could establish any kind of safety on the island. But she'd been careful with diplomatic ties, Atlanteans patrolled the waters off the coasts, and Doom had loaned extra Doombots to help with clearing and preparation for the return of those that had been captured. Moreover, by fulfilling her promise to the Brotherhood that point of contention should be corrected... Even if it meant that now the X-men and their traditional enemies were on the same team.

But their people were coming home, and she was pleased to see the smile on Clarice's expression over it. A sympathetic look crossed the green haired woman's features, and she let out a steadying breath. She wrote off the odd feeling that prickled at her senses as nerves. After all, she was going to see her father soon enough, and everything was falling into place. Far neater than she could ever have hoped.

She wore a her green uniform, lined in darker greened and heavy plates of metal protecting her organs and framing her features in a headpiece. "We're close to where the Palace was...the epicenter of most things.. I also might have poured too much electromagnetic energy into the area.. It often causes people to feel off?" She offered, it was very close to where Jean had pulled her from the wreckage.

Logan Howlett has posed:
Logan is in the Wolverine suit: yellow, blue, and black with bulging biceps and forearms prominently displayed. It is a vision that has heralded the savior of some and the destruction of many others. Once he steps through the portal, his nose goes immediately to work. He'll murmur under his breath, almost sounding disappointed. "Smells good so far. Nothin' standin' out."

Even as they are escorted within the stone edifice, a steady inhale and exale is heard from the mutant. His eyes narrow.  A low growl rolls in Logan's throat as he catches a whiff of something. His head snaps toward Domino at the familiar scent. He murmurs, "Spot." in greeting. Then his eyes widen for a moment, "No.. You've got to be kiddin' me."

Emma Frost has posed:
The arrival of the X-Men and the bottles may get an ooh and ahh from those crowded around, desperately hoping, waiting for their friends and family to be restored. Genosha has been destroyed-- its salvation lies within those fragile bits of alien glass-- within, it might be restored, at least in part.

But a handsome man, noble in bearing, and well-known to the Genoshans steps forward. He is dressed for battle. His chest bears the glinting sigil of the Royal House of Genosha, dented and worn. Once Magneto's advisor, now Queen Lorna's... a tireless man who had been seeing to the rebuilding, the mourning, and the //souls// of those who remained behind at a fevered pace.

Fabian Cortez's eyes are filled with a mad kind of fervor, and he is not alone. There are others here, among the guards, scattered throughout the building and in position, known as...

The Acolytes.

Before the destruction of Genosha, their cult was considered banal and mostly tolerated with great amusement for their beliefs: that mutantkind is destined to rule the world, and that Magneto was a god-king whose martyrdom would propel homo superior to dizzying new heights... that in the wake of destruction would rise a new order.

They had been ignored until Genosha Burned.

Many of the survivors had found hope and solace in the cult's words, and the efforts of the surviving members of the Acolytes to assist Magneto's Heir with the rebuilding had not gone unnoticed.

He holds up one hand. The whispers and jostling in the crowd silences.

"MY QUEEN!" He calls out. "Welcome back to Genosha and your humble servants!" There is a small rise of cheering and clapping, but it is quickly silenced by another wave of his hand.

Fabian's eyes hold nothing but madness. A cunning madness.

"The Word told us the day would come when we would lie in ruins, when Magneto, HE who was the BEST of us, would fall to the designs of others. That these tragedies MUST occur that we might rise anew, refreshed, like a phoenix from the ashes of old. IT HAS BEEN FORETOLD that with HIS DEATH our suffering would end!"

His voice quietens, inviting those listening to lean closer. "The Word has never been wrong before. It told us of the greatest knight to stand at HIS side... whom we found aslumber in a cave, waiting for centuries for Magento to reawaken him. Only the true precense of our godking would bring him forth, and it did. The WORD HAS SPOKEN, and proven true."

"The Word said his heir would be both beautiful and powerful, that she would tear the oceans asunder for her people, destroying those that would enslave them!" His voice raises. "YOU SAW HER UPON THE SHORES OF HAMMER BAY! YOU SAW THE ONE TRUE QUEEN IN HER FULL!"

Murmuring begins then among the people of Genosha, glancing back and forth at each other.

Fabian looks Lorna in the eyes. "I'm sorry, my queen. I am sorry for what we must do, for you, and for our people." He reaches out with his powers, boosting those Acolytes within range of him. "DO NOT HURT THE QUEEN. THE RACE TRAITORS..." he smirks towards the X-Men. "Let them burn. We must fulfill the prophecies. We must KILL MAGNETO."

And the battle has begun.

Victor Creed has posed:
That 'weird' sensation gets stronger. It's part of the ground: something about the /ground/ is weighing down, but it isn't exactly gravity. It's some sort of energy-eating quicksand: and they are all on it. As if this were planned.

It probably was.

It's making it nearly impossible to use much of any powers at all, and it encourages everyone to /kneel/. The mutant in charge of creating it is visually apparent, now: he's with Cortez' group, and is clearly channeling into the ground. He's an older male, short cropped gray hair, and is gripping into the stone at his feet, to create that area of repressive, soul-sucking earth! The effects are clearly meant to force the X-Men to listen to every single monologued word...

And maybe also make them all sitting ducks!

To make matters /worse/, one Sabretooth has appeared out of the side back entrance, and has strolled up behind the Acolytes in a relaxed saunter -- and immediately centers his gaze on Logan, entirely distracted, and bares his teeth immediately at his old enemy, talons erupting to full length from his fingers as he joins the earth-squatting, channeling mutant protectively - and enjoying for the moment the boost from Fabian.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
When Fabian steps forward it makes Blink cast a look towards Lorna, raising a brow. Unexpected appearance? And that look on his face bodes nothing good...

Not that Clarice would actually expect THIS. An attack from their own people? Yet the further that speech goes on the more tense she becomes and ... what is this feeling to kneel..?

She shakes her head as if trying to clear it but is soon being drawn into combat and ..., finds her portal failing to manifest for more than the split of a second. "Well, shit..."

Time to go old school then, and show there was more to Blink than just being a taxi service! She draws a knife from under her coat, her eyes narrowing. She was ready to kill if that was what it took to keep Genosha safe, adopting a defensive posture near the Xs and Lorna. "Protect Genosha!" she calls out. "This is all our people they are trying to doom to death!"

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean doesn't kneel. She's not going to give Fabian the satisfaction, though the fact that she's /talking/ instead of mentally communicating is a telltale that she's having some problems with her powers, "You've made a grave mistake on this, Cortez." She smirks, "Because in your haste to be the scorpion, you didn't realize you were, in fact, the dog of this story." What that means, she doesn't clarify, though she shouts, "X-Men, keep the bottles safe! That's the priority here!"

Then she ducks and makes a dash towards the edge of the circle, using her fading telepathic powers to send a quick burst to the X-Men, << I suspect our dampener problems are going to end very shortly, here, but play along with it. >>

Neena Thurman has posed:
As they arrive, each is given a lingering look by the albino merc, and at Logan's greeting, coupled with his reaction, her gaze stays a couple of hearbeats longer, as the smile shifts a little crookedly lopsided. She doesn't say react to the statement, really. He could have meant anything by it, including the fact that she's there! Her response could be considered cryptic, however once her greeting is out of the way. "Hey, old man," before she follows it up with, "keep your mind open."

Is it a hint? Probably.

Once she acknowledges the compact mutant, blue eyes flicker around the room, looking at some of the different.. acolytes. She's not sure which of them are 'in' on, well, what she'd heard, but right now, she doesn't trust any of them.

It's a strange feeling in the room, absolutely, though. Black brows beetle down and her jaw shifts, the cheek muscle tightening in reaction. And as Fabian begins the monologue, she can feel the power sucking that 'luck' thing down, almost feeling like it's puddling at her feet.

Thing is, Domino only relies on her luck for that one in a million shot, not her ability to move, to aim, and to be all around quite briliant. With the unfolding of the plan, (all bad guys need their monologue, after all!) Domino takes one, two steps back before she kneels on the ground, making a show of it. It's not a heartbeat after, however, that she's pulling out both pistols that she keeps holstered, and aims one each at an acolyte without taking a glance at Victor. Going for the headshot!

She's got a job to do.

The albino merc has made her targets plain, possibly freeing up the others for the more important matters at hand. She'll have her hands full for this fight.

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
Piotr is now aware of /what/ was off, specifically. This is not good. He does not go on the offensive quite yet, though he does notice his skin softening and his strength sapping. The Russian sees Jean falling back and gives a nod regarding the bottle. The urge to kneel is strong, but Colossus is stronger. The telepathic message, though, comes through and agaisnt his instincts, goes forward, positioning himself between Lorna and the bottles alongside the others to keep the Acolytes from getting the bottles.

"You have chance to give up now," Piotr bellows, standing to let his full size come to bear, "We do not need to fight, and you do not need to try and kill." The Russian is willing to fight, and if anyone gets close, they get a punch.

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna came to a stop as the assembly drew to a alt before they could secure the bottles with the various pieces of Genosha trapped within. Particularly as Fabian stepped out in front and started to speak, the greeting was as expected... But as he continued it was apparent that all of this was something else. Something far more than Fabian's usual grandstanding. The bad feeling everyone had was getting worse, and her own was as bad as a stone sinking through her gut as he continued.

"No! Stop!"" Her hands snapped out as she reached for her powers, and found her grip on them slipping through her fingers like sand in a sieve. Which is exactly when Senyaka's energy whip came out and smacked her from some distance away. The green tinged energy whip knocked her back, with a paralysis, and promptly put the Queen of Genosha out of the combat. She was awake, eyes blinking, and aware... but unable to move either.

The mutant was wrapped in head to toe black and red, not unlike a ninja with only his eyes visible from a distance as he formed a secondary whip to lash at anyone else that came barreling down the path. He was silent, without any kind of mockery, or talking. Perhaps he'd gone a bit against Fabian's orders, but he didn't particularly care either.

The crowd was now a mixture of panic, and a few angry people started to shout from various points. And rocks were thrown down at the royal congregation, a few chants of 'Down with Magneto!' could be heard, just as a woman in an Acolyte uniform walks through. The general feeling of the crowd goes from panic toward openly rebellious where she remained, she nodded to Fabian as the chaos built. As Jean gets to the edges of the power dampening area, she'd doubtlessly feel the mental presence of said Acolyte.

Logan Howlett has posed:
Devious zealots using powers to force him to listen to a monologue, that's a new one on a long list of things that piss off Wolverine. The veins his arms bulge as he takes a knee against the force, trying to suck him down. His jaw clinches, his teeth exposing in a snarl.

Logan doesn't seem surprised someone else who is on that list emerges: Victor Creed. His nose had already warned him. He was already making connections. Instead of his usual reaction to his nemesis, his gaze remains on Domino. Reinforced by Jean's message, he offers a nod to the mercenary.

In a battlefield like this one, Wolverine knows his role: distraction. He roars a battle cry, unleashes his claws, and drives them into the ground. In a rapid crawl, legs pushing against the ground as his arms rake for extra purchase, he charges toward the earth-squatting mutant. Slowed down, he doesn't expect to make it toward his quarry anytime soon, but he does hope to keep the mutant's eyes on him and off someone else.

Logan contradicts Piotr's offer of amnesty with a loud, "I'm gonna decorate the ceilin' with ya, BUB!"

Emma Frost has posed:
Bullets fly from Fabian's rifle towards the X-Men-- he's not a bad shot, either, but it's not a mutant power, just good old-fashioned practice. He does step back into the crowd in the room, using them as cover. Tactics. Who wants to hurt civilians? Well, Fabian doesn't either, but he's not above doing what he must to see Magneto's death.

It allows him to focus on sending his gift out to those in need of it on his side. He catches sight of his sister, smirking to himself as she riles the crowd both within and without the building proper.

No sign of Exodus yet, but Cortez was not expecting him. Despite his pleas prior, Lorna had never done those few things to command his fealty... and as such, it was likely that Acolyte would leave the others on their own. A pity for the Acolytes, but probably good for the X-Men. Exodus cheats.

Victor Creed has posed:
The mutant channeling the dampening zone starts to spread it, to chase the evading X-men, with a low, soft laugh. They think to escape? Then it may seem apparent what he is doing: trying to separate the Xmen from the bottles! Other Acolytes step up; one of them, a brunette in a purple and pink camouflage, releases electrical blasts from the side, selecting Piotr as looking conductive to zap: as well as not moving. Easy, big target....

Another Acolyte, a badly bleached-blonde next to the one with electricity, starts to try to use telekinetics to push Jean back into the nullifying area. "You forgot to bow," she suggests, mockingly.

--

Soooooo, Victor almost changed up his whole 'plan' to murder an acolyte, and almost went after Logan. That almost did happen. It could still happen. Particularly because having Fabian Cortez ramp up Victor has some gnarly and unpredictable results. Even Victor wasn't really prepared for it entirely. Maybe he'd meant to be more subtle. At least, more controlled.

What ends up happening as Victor takes in the ramp-up from Fabian... and can't really handle it. He roars, falling quickly into a berserk, back arching, both hands spread up and out: a feral battlecry of rage from a creature that is angry. So, so angry. There's only carnage to be hand, blood to spray. The nearest item is the mutant at his feet, and Creed turns on him, lashing him flat, and is on him like a crazed lion, biting and ripping.

The Acolytes next to Creed all immediately turn on him for this, and he's lit up with a mix of aggressive powers and bullets, a concentrated attack - but it isn't one aimed at the X-Men, at any rate. Just at the tiger that went crazy in their own Acolyte ranks.

The dampening field slides sideways and whips through the floor, and ends entirely.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
Victor's presence here doesn't go unperceived by Clarice, a brief stare his way..., and then that telltale rage... Oh boy.. So glad she wasn't on that side of the room.

Not that she is safe at all with all the bullets wheezing past, powers being thrown about freely. Quite the battle royale it would seem..

Yet her target is simple to select, gaze immediately going to Senyaka when she downs Lorna. She launches herself at a dash, moving rather quick and using all that agility of hers to evade the first throw of the whip.

A knife is thrown through the air at the 'ninja' as she reaches down to her belt for another.

It was time to dance.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean feels the telekinetic shove from the Acolyte, getting tossed back into the circle... and that's when the power dampening effect ends. And her powers are back to full strength. She just /stops/ immediately, hovering slightly in the air as she resists the telekinetic shoving from the Acolyte.

And then Jean's voice echoes in the head of the Acolytes, << Now, children... the element of surprise is gone. I suggest you yield, now. >> Raising a hand, she sends a telekinetic wave to knock back the electrical one and her bleach-blonde buddy.

<< Logan, take out Senyaka and free Lorna, Piotr, stay close to the bottles for now on defense, Clarice, headshot Cortez. >> Not that she's advocating killing Cortez, but Clarice has the best chance to just take him immediately out of the fight as she feels more comfortable coordinating now that her powers are back online.

Logan Howlett has posed:
What's more distracting than a feral raging beast? Two of them. He reinforces Victor's battle cry with his own, a roar that rattles from his metal rib cage. When the field drops, it has the effect of releasing a stretched rubber band. Logan catapults into the air in a lunge. Claws out, he catches two of Victor Creed's assailants in the back of the skull. Metal erupting from their mutual faces, Victor gets the blood bath he likely wants.

Logan lands with a foot planted in the back of each of his victims. Claws retracting to free them. Jean's message is received. He crouches and bounds again. His new target the figure wrapped in black and red. Another blood-curdling roar of challenge erupts from his throat. "Let her go, pal. You've got bigger problems to worry about now!"

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
Piotr is concerned as Lorna is suddenly effectively removed from combat, and secondly by the Acolytes not accepting his terms of surrender (though Logan's efforts probably did not help). He feels a bit weaker, but soon that is not his concern as he is sees the electrical current coming from the Acolyte. Regrets are had as Piotr braces, but the force is stopped? No doubt by Jean

Piotr bellows in anger and again works to keep all of the Acolytes away from Lorna and the bottles, though his skin might not be as strong as it was, it handles bullets well enough as some bounce off, especially as his powers return to full.

Lorna Dane has posed:
Senyaka danced back from Clarice and her knife, the energy whip lashing out at the teleporting mutant as he moved with practice grace and ease. He alternated between them, the green lit whips cracking with each movement. All this of course, put him closer to Logan than to other X-men. He does respond to Wolverine beyond a cracking of his whip, and a faint narrowing of his glowing eyed gaze between the folds of fabric wrapped around his face.

The crowd shifted their focus toward Piotr, or at least those that were angry certainly did. Rocks, clumps of dirt, and even pieces of garbage are chucked at the Russian. Shouts of "Down with the X-men! Traitors!" Follow, and the brunette in Acolyte armor, dented and bruised as her brother's lingers in the back.

Though the blood and crazed carnage of Logan and Victor scares off another good chunk of the crowd, there's a sizable amount of innocent refugees turning their focus on the X-men.

Emma Frost has posed:
Cortez takes a few potshots from within the crowd towards Piotr and Clarice. He throws a heavier boost of power at Senyaka, then focuses his eyes on the bottles.

Another Acolyte, a large bulky man, pulls up a chunk of masonry from the floor and hurls it at the bottles, trying to smash them. Another throws a sizzling line of lightning. While they aren't pulling punches, it's clear where their focus is.

Victor Creed has posed:
Creed took a massive beating, he's down on the ground now, but is spitting out bubbly blood rage while waiting for his healing factor to make him able to go tear things up again. He's collapsed on his chest on top of the mutant that he'd attacked, in a smear of injury. He's getting to his knees slowly, then drops back down: some of the mutant attacks were really severe, and one can only take so many bullets in the brain before needing a second.

--

Piotr is guarding the bottles, and may notice something slippery moving in the air. It waits a moment for the rocks flung to draw Piotr's gaze. An invisible SOMETHING attempts to slip by him. Not quite invisible. "I don't know which bottle he's in, sir," hisses the invisible mutant into his headset worriedly. There's a pause, and then one of the bottles appears to be lifted by NOBODY ... and tries to /sneak away/, bouncing through the air in invisible hands!

--

Both electrical and bleach-blonde yelp as they are thrown back. The second of the two uses her powers to try to hurl a bottle, though, as if to make a point she's still very effective even when thrown across a room. The electrical acolyte starts to charge up, channeling, clearly readying a big blast.

A shot from Domino ends the electrical issue, though, and she drops, her friend reacting in horror.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
The return of powers is a relief for Clarice, bringing a wicked little grin out of the 'elf', "Good luck.." she tells Senyaka. She knows there is a locomotive on the way called Logan, making the assassin-turned-bodyguard jump back from her engagement with the ninja, arm coming up and she pointing it towards Logan. "Heads up!" she tells him... Because yes, a portal appears right close to Logan with the exit being right above Senyaka. She -does- like that trick...

She turns her head to look over the crowd, to spot Fabian... Headshot him?! And then a bullet grazes past her shoulder, tearing through the fabric of her coat. A flesh wound mostly..., but she finds Fabian in the crowd..

She begins running, a portal forming in front of her and she disappears to blink right into the fray, appearing close to Fabian from behind as she attempts a vicious elbow to the head. Cheap shot! But she isn't here to fight honorably.

Jean Grey has posed:
The problem with being invisible physically is that... well, mentally, you're pretty visible. Jean narrows her eyes, as she focuses her telekinesis and... /none/ of the bottles move. At all.

Which is probably rather awkward for the invisible mutant as he starts pulling and tugging and pleading at the now-immobile bottled city to move. While this does occupy most of Jean's telekinetic attention, so she can't exactly do too much more... but she can coordinate a bit.

And that's when Domino takes another shot, blasting off the bleach-blonde's kneecap as the pain is probably going to make it a bit TOO hard to concentrate right now.

Oh well, perhaps she can get a job in the Genosha City Guard...

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
Piotr sees something move, letting the bullets from Fabian bounce off like an irritating fly. His concern, though is the bricks and whatnot being thrown at him, causing Piotr to reflexively shield his face until the large chunk of masonry comes flying in. In a flashback to his past, the large Russian plants his feet and lowers his shoulder to take the masonry square on, leaving a few broken bricks and marks where Piotr's feet dragged on the ground.

When Piotr sees the bottle that had been separated, he looks to where he can vaguely see the shimmering and tries to grab and subdue the invisible-ish threat. "See, you should have surrendered, now you have problem," Piotr says as pins the invisible threat calling out to Jean, "I think it is bedtime for this one." Hopefully to keep that threat out of play for a little bit.

Logan Howlett has posed:
When Blink offers the space-folding yeet, Wolverine absolutely takes her up on the opportunity. His legs curl underneath him as he lands from his latest bound, and he propels himself through the portal.

His momentum, gravity, and three hundred pounds of angry Canadian do the rest. He barrels into Senyaka from the unexpected trajectory and crushes him into the ground with a roar. The two tussle after the impact, adamantium claws narrowly missing to sink into the ground. Senyaka taking advantaging of the close proximity to sap some of Logan's lifeforce and heal from the trauma of the impact.

Lorna Dane has posed:
Senyaka only saw Logan in the instant before he came flying from above down to crush him, bones and all, into one massive pile of gore and bones. His energy whips vanished, but via the contact through Logan's feet, a crushed and ragged hand curled around his ankles. Sickly yellow green light colored it, and sucked the life force directly from Logan, healing the smashed and broken body beneath him.

It was all rather gross.

Meanwhile, Anna-Marie Cortez kept to the back of the crowd, egging them on to throw anything and everything that they had at hand toward Piotr. One of the mutants in the crowd, of which was being whipped up, blinded by emotions out of their control, started boo'ing the X-man. And chucked broken piece of pipe that had likely come from the ruins that still surrounded the earthen-fortress around them.

Emma Frost has posed:
Cortez barely has time to acknowledge the 'pop' of Blink's portal behind him when her elbow drives into the back of his head where his ponytail is. Take that, evil Daniel Radcliffe!

He crumples to the ground, which has the immediate effect of powering down many of the Acolytes who were relying on his boosting abilities.

Victor Creed has posed:
Sabretooth drags himself up, fixated on Clarice for the moment. With a lot of effort he's up, and then once moving, things are easier. He launches towards the group near Clarice, taking down a fire mutant: a feral, wild assault that appears, perhaps, to be entirely related to protection of Clarice. There were guns aimed at her that are now scattering from the gory and monstrous Sabretooth that comes into their midst. He snaps at an acolyte that was trying to assist Cortez, and they ...go the other way.

Creed stays active, though really, he looks like he took a big beating, possibly some really cooked insides from his encounter with a close-ranged pyromaniac sort that has since been disposed of.

--

The powering-down is a big signal. Sure, some of them still are fighting, but to lose one's leader is extremely demoralizing. How can they be losing this crusade?!

The mutant Piotr grabbed is fragile, and is easily rendered unconscious, and becomes visible. Others make last ditch-efforts at the bottles, but it's disorganized and desperate.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean's voice resonates in Anna-Marie Cortez's head, << You have a choice here. Either you calm them down, or I'll /make/ you calm them down. It's up to you. >> At least she's polite enough to give Anna-Marie the choice... particularly as Fabian's sister can look down and see a gleaming red dot on her chest.

And then she sees Domino smiling over at her, giving the Acolyte a saucy wink. Jean also smiles slightly, focusing more on protecting the bottles... and wrapping things up. And Anna-Marie can either make it easy...

... or make it REAL easy.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
When Cortez goes down it's a HUGE relief for Clarice. She knew how dangerous this mutant is, both with his power and charisma that could make battles go one way or another... And she can feel that flow of the battle changing. Sabretooth joining up makes her quip. "What took you so long, old man?" sure, lets forget all the shots Victor was taking...

She dodges out of the way of an acolyte and throws a punch out to the man's gut, pain lancing up her arm at the wound she has there. Ufff..

But while danger persists so will she continue fighting, some 'blinks' heard over the battlefield as she moves around to make sure the attackers get discouraged from continuing this desperate attack, often in the form of kicks or punches.

Logan Howlett has posed:
Senyaka is likely surprised by 'how much' lifeforce the runt has, and maybe even more by his familiarity and resistance to pain.

Figuring that a ground-pound is going to end in a stalemate, he grabs two handfuls of Senyaka's wrapping, coils his legs, and rolls backward in a classic sacrifice throw. When he has the angle he wants, he thrusts out with both legs and launches Senyaka high into the air in a long arcing trajectory.

Keeping with his own momentum, Wolverine rolls to his feet and calls out, "Set!" hoping one of his teammates will deal a finishing blow.

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
See, Piotr did not play a lot of sports growing up, but it is not hard to figure out how to do goalie things when you are trying to stop people form throwing stuff. At that, Piotr bats away the pieces of pipe, brick, stone, etc. Sadly, it stops him from going on the offensive, but he can at least do his best to avoid letting the bottles be destroyed, as Piotr can take a hit.

Then it pops into his head, Piotr looks down and picks up the chunk of pipe and begins smacking some of the debris away in the air, ideally towards unpopulated areas.

Lorna Dane has posed:
Anne-Marie Cortez was not only a telepath and pushing people in her mind control limits, but also an empath, and had quite enjoyed sparking their rage and anger. Her features however twisted as Jean's words echoed in her mind. The woman shot Jean a glare, looking quite willing to go to fight the woman on the telepathic field of battle.. until the little red dot on her midsection registered. She froze, and still enraged... cut her powers from the crowd. Like strings from a puppet, several innocent people dropped, while others, suddenly found themselves confused, and lost as to why they had a brick or rock in hand. Her threat was over and she put her hands up. Ticked off but not willing to die yet either.

Meanwhile Senyaka was still in the process of actually trying to heal bones and important organs, when Logan grasps and chucks him into the air. He went flying without even a sound. A ninja to the end.

Victor Creed has posed:
'Teammate', Logan?

Not really.

"You dropped this," Creed snarls at Logan, emerging from one of Blink's portals in her wake, to lash out (hard, with claws) at the ninja and bat him back at Logan's feet.

Creed's not in good shape, he squats low where he is, panting, covered in blood and burned clothing and flesh and shaking still from the edges of fury. And glaring at Logan. It's been a while since they weren't directly on opposite sides.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
With Senyaka being uh..., alley-oop'ed..., it means that Clarice is free to go see to her Majesty, blinking up to appear next to her and dropping down on one knee. A nod is given up at the helping X-men, in gratitude then her attention focuses on Lorna.

"Are you well?" she will ask. She shall aid with the efforts of getting Lorna back up to her feet if she is back to wakefulness and takes her help, worry on her eyes.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean lowers herself to the ground, glancing at Victor with a nod, "Thanks for the assist." She sounds a bit wary of Victor's motives, but well... he did help out, so she's appreciative of that, at least. Then she looks over at Domino, nodding over towards Anna-Marie.

Neena then smirks and slaps the literal cuffs on Anna-Marie, "Come on, I'm sure Genosha has some /great/ dungeons that have been re-enlarged, maybe you and Fabian can have adjacent cells!" Snickering, she shoves Anna-Marie not too gently and urges her out of the room.

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna was trying to get back feeling in her muscles, and moving. She'd made her toes wiggle at least by the time the fighting had been over. Which is about when Clarice came rushing over to her. A look of focus followed, and the prickling feeling, like that of a limb that had fallen asleep followed as the purple haired woman helped her to stand.

"I'm awake. But moving is hard.." She'd been paralyzed, not injured. She stood like a wooden board, incapable of being flexible, but slowly was regaining movement. "The bottles?" She asked. Her eyebrow furrowed sharply as she heavily leaned on Clarice.

Meanwhile Senyaka was a pile of.. broken bits.. and while not //dead// he wasn't going to be getting up anytime soon either. Anne-Marie was carted off by Domino.. and that seemed for the most part, the clean up beyond the other odds and ends of Acolytes that had lingered to betray their vows, and break loyalty with Magneto.

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
"Now, now," Piotr says as he begins picking up the fallen formerly invisible threat, and stands by the bottles, though hands off the body to another to be secured as a prisoner and checked for possible medical issues. The large Russian relaxes his posture as the fight concludes, "That... could have gone worse." Piotr notes and stretches his neck, then looking down at his torn uniform, and mutters a few curse words in Russian, "I thought new design would be more resilient, I was wrong."

Logan Howlett has posed:
Logan stares at Creed for a long while. There's a fleeting moment when he's entertaining the idea of finishing off Sabretooth for good. Veins bulged in his neck and arms, his teeth grit and audibly crunch. It takes every ounce of willpower for him to do the honorable thing. He sheathes his claws. There isn't room for words. He turns and walks away.

Sparing a glance for Piotr to ensure the orbs are secure and a second for Lorna to make sure she's alright, Logan heads back the way they came in.

"I'll be waiting outside." comes out more angry then he intends.