5119/The Aftermath of Headshots

The Aftermath of Headshots
Date of Scene:	10 February 2021
Location:	Breakstone Lake
Synopsis:	Paige comes to terms with a calamari incident.
Cast of Characters:	Illyana Rasputina, Paige Guthrie, Samuel Guthrie, Henry McCoy

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Illyana Rasputina has posed:
Violence begets violence. It's a rule as old as civilisation, older than it, predating the first writing or paintings that captured detail. Ugg raised a stone and smashed Throg. Throg smashed Ugg. Blood and gore ensued and it's been the same ever since.

Exploding women with tentacle arms may not be the strangest lot an X-Man will ever encounter, but it certainly counts among the least pleasant endeavours. However, a slap of a detached tentacle most definitely won't be the only horror to face. Viscera and brain matter on a person are just as bad.

The chosen method -- Mystic, not mutant -- spares Paige the hellish transportation through Limbo, one that's gut-wrenching enough for even well-adjusted minds and souls. Another matter to be hopped by arcane portal, which is as simple as stepping through existence from one place to the next. No harm, no foul. The dark sky and winter bite of Westchester is back around Paige, leaving her free to absorb the worst of it from the forest side of the lake. Illyana drops through a moment later, her firefly halo collapsing on itself and that wretched house, the corpses, and the insane mutant left behind. The Soulsword flicks into nothingness, banished from her presence with an equal ease, the blonde Russian not even looking back.

<<Stupid.>> A judgment in Russian falls with contempt as icy as the winds scouring Antarctica into a frigid desert, and just about as dry and harsh. "You need the blood washed off. The lake is cold but clean." Her voice adopts that matter-of-fact tone used for nearly everything, deathly factual, the same 'stab this, stab that' tone used in the rare moments she teaches combat.

Paige Guthrie has posed:
Paige is going to be an X-Man one day. That is not in question. She will have to fight for her life, her team's life, and see things that most normal people will never fathom. Today is one of those learning moments for her, that you can't save everyone. The scream of terror that was tearing through her lungs cuts out the moment Magik drops her from the portal and upon the snow covered ground of the Breakstone. As she lands, she wheezes out for fresh air into her lungs.

She is covered in blood. Coated in it. There is bits of skull and brain smashed against her chest and in her hands is a long tentacle that was once attached to a woman. She looks as if she was pulled out of a cheesy 80's horror film. She is also wearing a onyx and titanium covered form from use of her powers.

She can hear Illyana talking, though her voice sounds miles away. All she can hear loudly is the sound of her heart pounding within her chest, feeling her lunch rise upwards through her stomach. She glances down at the tentacle in her arms and immediately drops it as she takes a step back. She stares at her blood soaked hands, her eyes widening before she gives a loud, wretching choke, followed by a jerk of her head to one side as she hurls her lunch into the snow. "Oh God.. "

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie was out on a flight returning from a shopping trip in Salem center. From his vantage point of flying he sees the flash of the teleport. The young man swings wide to see what it was, around here there are lots of reasons for a flash of light near the lake, and most are no big deal, but some.. well it is best to check out. SO As Sam makes the wide circle, and spots Paige and Illyana he will come in for a landing and once close enough to see details, his reaction goes from the friendly smile it was to worry "What happened, Paige you you?" His eyes go from his sister to the girl who might as well be a sister and back.

Henry McCoy has posed:
It was a chilly afternoon - Henry was out for a jog. Dressed up in a Xavier's School sweatshirt and pants, he'd been taking a few laps around the lake. Nothing unusual for the furry blue professor, nothing unusual at all.

The appearance of a blood and gore-soaked Paige, along with Illyana, is very unusual. He sprints over in their direction, scenting the air for trouble. "What happened? Is anyone hurt?" He asks of both, eyes on Paige - studying her reactions. "Something happened." A frown.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
Illyana Rasputina, despite technically not even being eligible for high school, is, in fact an X-Man. Shows they take all the wrong types. Mind you, there's probably a story that has something to do with her metal-plated big brother and things Not Spoken Of (TM) among the adults and faculty that explain why she is what and where she is.

Breakstone Lake echoes that tormented cry for a little further and longer in the range of human hearing, then not. Paige's distress shines on the mirrored surface, icy and cold, but not frozen over. It hasn't been that bad a winter, not yet. Snow fringes the banks enough to make a walk hazardous and vomiting on the slurry of ice and mud that much less concerning. It all sort of blends in, in the end.

With deliberate care telegraphing her efficient movements, the Russian takes Paige's arm above the elbow. She draws her several steps to the side unless it's going to be a matter of a fight, in which case the hidden strength might come to play only to keep them from falling. A certainty in a wild, chaotic world, her calloused fingers and steady grip do not fail. "Water," she repeats. "Seven feet this way." One step, two step, a dance that gets them straight to the lake if Paige assents to it. It doesn't matter she's holding a gemstone and metallic skin arguably worth more than half the school; rarefied, pure titanium stocks are not in question. Maybe a question for later by someone more enterprising than the Witch-Queen of Aglarond. Err, Limbo.

Frost-fair eyes still glow with that incandescent light of her domain ruled, a fair and immediate warning for anyone to stay well back. No cloven hooves, no horns, no reason to call in every last salvo they have, but she projects that cold, imperious state with only the black-barbed crown of her costume present. "Fool sniped a target she held." Pity it has to be in English, but it's as clinical as Charles might wish to be, but rarely is.

A nudge. "Now in the water, Paige. The other way is magic, and you may not like it."

Paige Guthrie has posed:
The touch to her arm causes Paige to flinch violently for a moment before she finally pulls herself back into reality after her heaving of her stomach contents into the snow. She gives another spit, followed by a wet cough. "Fuck." She says in a rare display of curse words. (Sorry Ma.)

"Water." She parrots Illyana before she gives a shake of her head to snap out of it. She shuffles along with her, stepping into the cold water, though her thick hide doesn't let her feel it. Her blood coated clothing clings to her as she steps further in as the gore begins to wash off. Now chest high, she lifts her hands upwards, then grabs at the side of her head and gives a hard yank as she shreds the skin like paper.

Blonde hair and blue eyes is once more revealed, as well as soft white skin as she shucks and yanks away at the blood covered skin, a bit more frantic now, letting it float down the frigid cold water currents. "Ffff. It's so c-c-cold."

The sight of Sam and Henry's approach causes her chin to lift upwards, her teeth chattering, but it seems that Illyana has it well in hand in explaining what happened. It's really that simple. There is also a long colorful tentacle arm on the ground.

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie will pull his jacket off, waiting for Paige at the edge of the water. "Where were you guys?" He asks. He looks over to Paige, and says "You going to be ok?" He wants to rush in and hold her, protecting her like he did when they were all young and some school bully or something tried picking on her, but this is not Johnny Cabbot who he can go punch in the face, no this is just somethign he can try to be there for her for.

Henry McCoy has posed:
Russian works for Henry, the man nodding to Illyana. "Who did? And where, Illyana?" He wonders, already shucking the sweatsuit to be offered to Paige once she's done rinsing and washing. His fur will protect him, of course! "You're not hurt, are you Paige?" He asks, giving a nod to Sam.

"Tensions are ramping - is this in response to the anti-mutant protests in the capital?" He wonders.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
Good as her word, Illyana reaches into open space with her free hand. A brief glimpse of a wall of white fluffy towels on shelves should be familiar, hidden away in the girls' washrooms where the student body needs some means to wash and dry themselves. She blindly grabs two and pulls them through the portal, though the faintest distorted etchings reveal an overlay of the infernal realm she calls her own. Dark lilies and flame-touched irises bloom with abandon, imparting a faint spiced scent on the otherwise inert terry-cloth pulled through. Big, plump towels fluffed within an inch of their life by the dryers await, held at arm's reach to Paige. Her gaze is mildly averted for no particular shame of her own. Sorry, but that was left on the killing floor years ago.

"Nyet, not Kelly or his like. Cable Summers, some incarnation of him. He was on a roof shooting six, seven people. He claims they harvested mutant body parts for their powers." Her tone is bleakly dubious on that front, but there's a rainbow tentacle on the ground earning a quick jerk of her head. Her expression remains neutral, nonplussed entirely about what she is saying. "He did not recognize us. Only because last time he harboured Hope and came to the school, I did not invite him as an honoured guest." You know, quotation marks ought to be put around that last bit.

Paige Guthrie has posed:
Once the blood and gore is washed off to the best of her ability, Paige steps back on to the snowy bank, trembling, reaching out for those towels to pull around her body. At this rate, she doesn't even care if she's as naked as the day she was born. Right now, she is trying to stop the replaying of events in her mind. The sound of the bullet. The crack of a skull. The splatter of a body. Those are the types of sounds you only hope to hear in a movie when you know it's fake.

Chattering, her breath comes out in frosty puffs as she takes the clothing from Hank and Sam once she has patted herself down as best she can, followed by wiggling into the tracksuit that practically hangs off her. He's huge! Sam's jacket is thrown over as well. At least with the long pant legs, she can tuck them under her feet.

"Th-thanks g-g-guys. Ah' didn't know it was C-C-Cable. Ah' nevah' s-s-saw th' shooter."

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie frowns as he listens to this. He does turn his back as Paige comes out of the water. Once she takes his coat, he turns back around and says "Going to have to have words with him, next time Ah see him." He speaks of Cable. He moves closer and puts a hand on Paige's back "You ok?"

Henry McCoy has posed:
The Beast frowns a bit. "Tentacles are his mutant power?" He says, disbelieving the other man's claims. "Odd. Could it be one of the mimic's we've run across? I know James mentioned running into a version of himself while you were present, Illyana." Henry's mind is doing all the wonderful mental gymnastics of a man presented with an impressive puzzle.

A nod then to Paige, offering a gentle smile. "As Sam asked, are you all right?" A smile then to Illyana. "Thank you for getting her out of there."

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
A shake of her head leaves Illyana standing with here hands closed at her sides. Bad sign? Take it as you will.

"Three people emerged from a house to test their powers. Someone shot them with a high-powered rifle from the roof." Basic facts, neat and tidy. She doesn't mince words. "Explosive charges blew off the front door and four more people ran out the front. He shot at them too. This is where Paige met them, da?" She looks to the Guthrie girl for confirmation on that, her own details sharply annotated and going against the grain of her preferred laconic take on things. Oh well, sometimes she has to open her damned mouth, and that means a measured response to Hank, offering the basic details he needs. "Cable. I saw him up there. Quentin assisted him after he said the people stole their powers. I kept two, they are alive."

Paige Guthrie has posed:
Nodding her heads, Paige chatters out. "Yeah. I was having lunch with some friends down the street when we saw the explosion. While they went to call 911, ah' went out to make sure everyone was okay. That's when ah' saw all the people running for their lives. Once they started yelling at me, that's when th' gunshots happened. When we were trying ta' get to cover, this lady.." She trails off, glancing down at the tentacle. ".. her head just.. blew up.. Cable shot her, in mah' arms, when ah' was trying ta' get her to safety."

There is a frustrated edge to her voice, misery being replaced by anger. "He just executed her! She was .. she was terrified for her life. She was confused."

She gives her head a shake, glancing bakc down at her hands for a moment before she leans in against her brother a bit.

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie looks down at the tentacle and then over to Hank "Think you can find out anything from it, and." He pauses and looks around to try to find some gore that fell off Paige before she got in the water. He will ask. "Think you could see if those match DNA wise? If someone is stealing powers or body parts might tell us something." He puts his arm around Paige holding her, but the thought showing perhaps the police training has helped a bit with investigative thoughts.

Henry McCoy has posed:
The Beast looks to the now immobile tentacle. "Yes, I think it will require some investigation under the microscope." A shake of his head. "Good idea, Sam." The man commends. A nod to Illyana, still a bit of a frown. "Quentin was assisting Cable to murder people?" He frowns even more. "Dear lord."

To Paige, he takes a deep breath. "Breathe. You did what you could, we'll have to sort out if this is the real Cable, or an imposter. I an hoping the latter, of course. And we'll speak to Scott and Jean about Quentin's involvement."

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
"Subduing. He did not kill. Did you hear him broadcast anything?" This question, critical as it is, goes to Paige. Illyana doesn't explain anything beyond that, her hands slipped into her back pockets of her jeans.

"We left before entering the house. Go back and look for a lab," suggests the blonde sorceress. Her fringe of bangs falls over her face as she descends the slope to the water again, dipping her booted toe in the brackish icy lake. Swishing it around shouldn't remove any muck or blood in quantity but it works. "Ask the survivors. Maybe Quentin and Cable brought them back. We evacuated after the headshot." She's supremely unbothered by those facts laid out like so many cards, but the frosted blue flames in her eyes grow somewhat. "Quire may be reckless but he used restraint to end the threats. I observed him killl no one. Cable..." She shrugs. "One confirmed, da?"

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie hmms and nods his head a bit to this in thought. "We will need an address of where it happened. I might be able to find out some things through police channels have made a few friends, but maybe not as still a cadet." He offers in thought. If we find out who did it we can find out if Cable was right about stealing powers, and maybe get to them and stop them, before cable kills any more of them.

Paige Guthrie has posed:
"Nuh uh, ah' didn't hear him broadcast anything. Ah' don't think ah' even saw him... ah' can't remember. That whole.. situation was a blur. Ah' just remember seeing you outta th' corner of mah' eye and calling out for you during all the gunshots and explosions."

Paige lets out a heavy breath, then rubs a hand over her face. "And if you all can.. like.. omit me.. puking mah guts up .. ta' Mister Summers and Miss Grey, ah'd appreciate it. Ah' just got into th' training program and ah' don't wanna mess it up."

She uses her foot to scoot some snow around, kicking it towards the 'yuck' on the ground to cover it up. Hide her shame.

Henry McCoy has posed:
Henry's eyebrow arches. "It's a natural reaction when facing such brutality, Paige. Nothing to be ashamed of. And nothing that will mess up your training." The man assures as he taps at his chin. It's clear he's sorting things out, running things over in his mind. "If we can speak to the ones who were captured, it would help as well." He nods to Illyana.

"Regardless, we should get in out of the cold. He gingerly scoops up the tentacle, after burying it in the snow to help clean it off a bit.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
For a time, Illyana doesn't respond to them though she hears the conversations. Those lapses to silence are par for the course; if anyone else on campus were bound to win a contest or vow of silence, they'd be fighting a hard battle to beat the Rasputina scion.

A blink and her fiery eyes dim to normal. "The two guests can be convinced to speak." Phrasing, Illyana. She smirks slightly at Henry, the sharp edge of her lengthened mouth curving in a wicked slant. All kinds of wrongness there. "Are you not carrying that for calamari? I'm disappointed. Logan might be convinced to see if it's edible." Those rare indications of her dark sense of humour sometimes surface, and she doesn't apologize for that either. "I wonder how it goes with a good marinara sauce."

Paige Guthrie has posed:
"Jesus, Illy. Ya' gonna make me throw up again. Ah' can't even imagine eating someone's arm." Paige says as she covers her mouth again with the long sleeve of Hank's tracksuit. She starts shuffling off towards the school, cheeks puffed out again.

"Ah'm heading back in. Ah'll see you guys later. Ah'm gonna need some therapy after the last couple of days ah've had." Does the X-Men have that type of thing in place? She jokes, but it falls flat from her lips.

Henry McCoy has posed:
A glare at Illyana. "I hardly think sardonic humor is necessary here, Illyana." Henry offers, with his tentacle in hand. "I need to get this to the lab as quickly as I can, to make sure we can narrow down the genetics invovled.

He nods to Paige. "Speak with Kitty, or perhaps Jean." The man suggests, turning towards the mansion as well. "Let me know if you want to bend my ear, as well."

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie will let Paige get a few steps away and makes sure some of the head gore is gotten in one of the towels, and will take it to Hank, and a few things planned to help Paige, but for now, looks at Illyana and simply says "Probably better with Fava beans." It seems Sam is more used to her than most, and even if she is not joking, Sam justifies it as she is.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
"That's how you know the point of living." Illyana steps back from the water and stretches out her gait, heading for the woods. It may not be the glossy boreal forest of her native lands, but it will do in a pinch to vanish.

Besides. Two guests need to face the hospitality of the Demon Queen of Limbo.