5205/Tensions Rising

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Tensions Rising
Date of Scene: 15 February 2021
Location: Mutant Care Center, Mutant Town
Synopsis: Violence sparks at the Mutant Care Center and a skirmish errupts between Friends of Humanity and mutants. When police get involved, Magneto appears to prevent the hostilities getting further out of hand than they already were.
Cast of Characters: Raven Darkholme, Nicole Adams, Ruth Aldine, Quentin Quire, Neena Thurman, Cable, Mortimer Toynbee, Jack Nolan, Karen Starr, Talia Wagner, Erik Lensherr




Raven Darkholme has posed:
The Mutant Care Center, funded by several businesses promenently supporting mutant rights in and around Mutant Town, is open for business! They're offering food, medical care, and housing for some of the mutants in the area and drawing quite a bit of press because of the seeming humanitarian nature of their mission statement. Lines of mutants are circling the block, already a raging success amongst the people of the community, their only shortcoming is a lack of resources. Since their grand opening two days ago, they've run out of food, medical supplies, AND beds every day since.

Yet every morning fresh supplies arrive and the mission continues.

This is in no small part to the funding they're receiving, but further so by the protection afforded them by members of the Brotherhood of Mutants. A brotherhood that has seen a swell in membership over the last few weeks with their overt actions against enemies of mutantkind.

Mystique, knowing that her presence would invite police action due to her very public assassination, is nowhere to be seen, leaving it instead to her second Mortimer Toynbee.

Likewise, there's a surge of individuals who have less than altruistic intentions. The Friends of Humanity have shown up.. they too have seen a swell of numbers. There's /at least/ two dozen of them. Though fewer protesters aside from them, they've come with signs all the same. Dressed in their trademark yellow/black clothes, they're sitting on trucks, vans, cars across the street chiding anyone who goes near the clinics.

Nicole Adams has posed:
     There was a reason Nicole detested the combination of yellow and black, and why it was--to her, at least--to be avoided at all costs. As she approaches the Care Center to offer her services as a volunteer, she herself is dressed in black slacks, black boots, a black turtleneck, and a black parka with a faux fur-lined hood. Like others who approach the Center, she too is chided.

     Smiling oh so sweetly, she chides right back, in universal sign language, before simply turning to continue on her way.

     "Idiotic bigots," she mutters to herself.

Ruth Aldine has posed:
There was no volunteering on Ruth's end. In fact, it was quietly hinted that students of Xavier's weren't allowed outside unless they've had an escort. Being who she is and usually who she hangs around, an escort is something that's easily shakable especially in terms of vanishing into the city.

Though today she was here; right outside the center. She herself parked upon the curb closer to where the line meets its 'maker' and various mutants filter inside. Her trusty Rotweiler wasn't with her this day; the only thing she brought with her was a cane to appear to navigate and a pair of Rayban's that she's stolen from Quentin's stock. A footstool gained from the Care Center was parked right there, providing a slightly warm seat a foot off of the ground. She faces the protesters, not so much as watching them, but enjoying the background noise of the minds, various conversations, happy scenarios as they come.

Quentin Quire has posed:
Quentin Quire is in a pink leather jacket with the words MUTIE SCUM written on the back, a pair of wraparound sunglasses tinted purple and his hair spiked up into a proper, old school punk mohawk. He gives his traditional double-finger greeting to the FoH as he takes a peek around the place. While he was Xavier aligned, he understood the Brotherhood all too well and, frankly, thought that, whatever methods might differ, sorting out their differences could probably wait until after they dealt with the bigots, one way or another.

"Hey, dead ends, remember me? Or maybe you only remember my sweet caboose?" he calls, slapping his bottom.

Neena Thurman has posed:
    Neena's keeping a low profile, or at least as low as she can. She's bundled up for the weather, maybe a bit more than needed with a heavy overcoat and a scarf around the lower half of her face. It's not like she's going to be able to completely go incognito, but still. And while she'd like to chide the Friends of Humanity back, she settles for a scowl, and balling her fists in the pockets of her overcoat, and giving them less than the time of day.

But then she catches Quentin's antics and has to muffle a snort... can't be showing mirth and amusement on the clock as it were. Or, well, while scoping out a potential cause to get involved in. Nope, for now it's strictly mingle, blend as best she can, and keep an eye out for the sort of trouble that always seems to pop up whenever people think mutants are getting too organized for their own good.

Cable has posed:
    Having ditched the Toyata after the attack at the school the other day, and having holed up in a mess of an apartment building, Cable's slowly been recovering from the shrapnel damage the van. The time traveller is on his feet again wearing another homeless stolen outfit over his body armor from the future. He is in line for the help from the care center, he needs a few stitches on his back quite badly, but he can't exactly do the repairs his body needs himself, he's got a wad of gauze and alcohol stuffed into the wound. "C'mon." The man snarls.

    It's obvious he's not carrying the large rifle he was weilding the other day, but he's certainly still carrying a few smaller guns beneath the thick heavy coat he's got on, and a few other tricks up his sleeve. The man is always prepared.

Mortimer Toynbee has posed:
"Come one, come all! Move it along now, c'mon, ain't got all day folks, keep the lines moving what have ya, no need to be shy," blares out Toad in his obnoxious English accent as he ambles around outside. He's dressed up a bit compared to usual, an almost militaristic outfit that puts on in mind of a World War 2 aviator with his heavy brown leather jacket with fur lining and the goggles on his forehead. Not to mention the holstered gun at his hip, no concealing it this night. He grins broadly as he moves up and down the line of fellow mutants, revealing a wide and not entirely white set of teeth, his tongue now and then revealing itself to wipe along his face with disturbing lengths. Important to moisturize in the cold weather mayhaps, nothing better than a layer of slime.

Only adding to his feel of military important was the baton twirling in his hand as he steps along like a police bobby. Though it hardly looked standard issue, some sort of heavy powerpack at its base showing it had the capability to put out some juice. Other Brotherhood members patrolling about showed themselves equally armed, and now and then eyes could be seen glittering from rooftops, brighter and sometimes more animalistic than a normal human's would be. Now and then Toad ambles up to the waiting line as well, more often than not to one of the prettier females, or failing that anyone who looks like they have some cash. "VIP line over this way now, got a bit of change on ya? C'mon now, Uncle Mort take care of ya, good stuff this way, go see my pal there." Toad was Brotherhood sure, but he was also an opportunistic slimeball at heart. Never miss an opportunity.

Jack Nolan has posed:
SHIELD has no official position on the Mutant Care Center or the Friends of Humanity. At least not publicly. As such they are not officially here for the protest.

However Jack Nolan is not currently active with SHIELD, as he has taken some of his leave time in order to deal with 'personal' issues. It's hard to mistake him for anything other than a mutant, as he towers above most of the others around him, and looks about as inhuman as you can get. Not wearing or carrying anything that could identify him as a SHIELD agent, he has opted to spend his off time providing security for the Care Center, even if they don't ask for it, or need it.

He's currently standing on a roof above the crowd in line, looking down at the rapidly growing Friends of Humanity protest like a gargoyle looming over the area it protects.

If things pop off, this will make the news. And if it makes the news, there's no way SHIELD won't see him. But there's an old saying, better to beg forgiveness than ask permission.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Starrware Industries has been a supporter of this outreach program since its inception. Slowly but surely, the contributions have been increasing as well: Though there's some level of hard to get that she has to play for appearance's sake, Karen Starr has yet to turn down a request for more money.

    With the rather public show of force from the Friends of Humanity, she's begun to believe that now is the time to make things a whole lot more public. The result of this intention is the arrival of no less than what appears to be an overloaded eighteen-wheeler.

    It comes trundling up the avenue, the Starrware logo plastered on the side as proudly as can be. When it comes to a pause, even the people in charge of the Care Center are likely to be flabberghasted, as there was most definitely no announcement.

    The back of the truck rolls quietly open, and standing there, hands on her hips, is the somewhat-zaftig form of Karen Starr, the arguably eccentric CEO of Starrware. Clad in a horrifying salmon-pink, pinstripe pantsuit that simply must be made from corduroy, she is striking her best heroic pose, waist-length platinum-blonde hair falling in a straight truss, eyes hidden behind the cokebottle glasses as they reflect the light.

    She speaks, and as she does, unseen speakers blast her voice a little louder than they ought to. "GREETINGS. My name is Karen Starr and I heard that you were running short on supplies! I figured it was time to start making special deliveries to ensure that you're topped up, and so that nobody goes cold, or thirsty, or hungry."

Talia Wagner has posed:
Patterns on repeat. The worlds turn. The details differ but the players in the show so often the same.

Nothing about the rising escalations really surprises Talia Wagner.

Using her image inducer she trails half a step behind Quentin Quire, appearing as a fairly girl next door blonde twenty something. She has her hands stuffed in a puffy black faux leather jacket, in style for the season this year. Cute winter boots on her feet. Designer jeans. Etc.

When Quentin slaps his ass and taunts the Friends of Humanity she snorts a laugh and shakes her head. Looking around slowly at the people manning the Mutant Care Center and then over towards the Friends of Humanity. "Keep your head on a swivel Quientin. Those whack jobs have a tendancy to get really violent as you know."

She is looking for the usual suspects really, besides the one she came with. When Mortimer speaks up though, well she zeroes in on him now and cocks her head "God.. some things never change. I'm going to go talk to Toad Quentin." and she heads off that way walking with a bit of purpose in her stride towards Mortimer Toynbee and his self importance and scamming.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
The people, seeing the truck roll up with fresh supplies, breath a collective sigh of relief. It's usually mid-day when the resources dwindle, but Starr Wares has assured that they canc ontinue to offer food and other services for well into the evening. The problem, now, is still physical beds. There's quite a few homeless, after all. This is New York, but besides that, there's not a lot of /jobs/. Certainly not welling paying jobs. There's families here, mothers and fathers with their children. Some obviously mutants and some not, but the big point of the care Center is that they never ask.

They'd serve human homeless just as well as they'd serve mutants.

At least until the gene testing equipment arrives, right?

The gross amounts of derogatory commentary being hurled at the amassed gathering of mutants and their lovers is mind boggling. "GO BACK HOME." is a classic. Along with one who's been at every rally and recognizes Quentin, "Oh, this mother fucker here..." Flexing his shoulders forward until one of his friends puts his arms around him from behind to hold him back, Laughing the whole while, "He aint ready..."

Speaking of ready, however... Jack might note, from his elevated position.. that there's a contengency of FoH approaching through the alleys. About the same number as present again. They're coming out of abandoned buildings, out of cars/vans/trucks parked further away. Laughing and high fiving each other as they approach.

The counter movement is growing.

Nicole Adams has posed:
     "WE ARE HOME!" Nicole shouts back over her shoulder, really starting to grumble. At her feet, a few loose bits of gravel, glass, and general detrius begin to rattle and dance on the pavement, only calming down when she takes a few good, deep breaths. Calm. Must remain calm. Squaring her shoulders, she marches right up to the incoming semi, plastering a smile on her face. "Hi there. Need an extra pair of hands unloading some of that stuff?"

     It felt strange, being on the other side of these protests, but in a good way.

Quentin Quire has posed:
Quentin Quire can sense the incoming militia, so to speak, and makes a quick psi-alert to any mutants nearby. <<Friends of Humanity starting to stream in like the vermin they are. Don't think they're here just to trade obscenities with me. Well. Not just for that, anyway. Strap up or crap up, fellow freakies.>>

Quentin does take the time to give a very Italian greeting to the guy who calls him a motherfucker, involving scraping his knuckles under his chin and then giving him a good old fashioned Degeneration X crotch chop.

Ruth Aldine has posed:
It was a lot to sort through, Ruth remained still all the while until she started to twitch. Her head darting a little bit to the side, turning an ear towards the crowd of protestors to focus, her lips pursing tightly and then..

Quentin!

A deep snort rose from her as she finally lifts her head to turn upon her stool towards his direction, a hand lifting to wave towards Talia as she presses on to speak to one of the Brotherhood members, that same hand attempting to wave Quentin over if he sees her.

"Yes, hello!" She calls out towards Quentin, at least over the distant shouts and naysayers.. her words, or what would have been her words immediately drowned out by the appearance of the truck delivering goods. His mental nudge gave her pause, and then a shrug, her hand dropping to the middle of the staff to push it inwards to collapse and rest atop of her lap.

Neena Thurman has posed:
Neena's doing her best to keep casual, or at least keep up the appearance of being casual, milling about without getting too deep into the crowd, making usre she's got room to maneuver if things go south. She's got a bad feeling about this, because... well, okay, because she's jaded and cynical and gets a bad feeling about most things.

But usually her doom and gloom don't -actually- speak in her head. Or, if they do, they must be in her own voice, because she stiffens at the warning, sighing and rolling her shoulders, pulling her hands out of her overcoat pockets, undoing a couple of buttons so it's not quite so snugly done up and she can get rid of it easily. She makes her way towards the arriving truck, angling to wind up between it and one of the alleys the crowd of vermin are going to be coming out of. No reason to make it easy for them to get at the goods.

Mortimer Toynbee has posed:
"Hello hello what has this ole bird brought Mr. Toynbee now?" Toad's eyes glittering greedily as he spots the truck rolling up. It was important to hand out supplies sure, to see their job done right, but everyone expects a bit of grift. Wouldn't do if all the charity went off without a hitch, that would look MORE suspiscious. Frankly he was doing the Brotherhood a favor seeing the cash go back to HIM instead of some other mutant outside their organization. So he reasoned at least as he justifies his scamming a dozen other ways in his head as he starts directing some of his group to the truck, keeping the crowds back who start to surge towards the open tailgate and keep things orderly, staff beginning to move stuff inside...most of them to where it belongs though every tenth box or so goes to another room guarded by one of Mort's more trusted confidantes.

Karen though, now there was real money. A billionaire here? If Toad thought he could pull off a kidnapping without being seen he'd probably have tried it then and there Mystique be damned. He files a note away in his mind to watch for her and starts to puff himself up and slick his hair back to make an approach when a familiar shade of blue catches the corner of his eye.

"Eh? What are you doing here now Myst-no wait, you ain't the ole firecracker. Whatchu looking for then lassie? Toad's the name, reasonably priced goods be the game. What are you looking for hmm? Mort has probably just the right medicine for ya," Toad sleazily drifting up closer to Talia as he speaks, making no attempt to hide the way his eyes are drifting, or his tongue as it waggles outside his mouth.

Alas his bribe-taking/harassment is cut a bit short by the psychic messaging, Toad breaking into a scowl and a roll of his eyes, several Brotherhood members casting glances at him. He merely jerks his head in response, no verbal command. It was almost like they'd been expecting this as they move off to set points around the street setting up a loose perimeter. Very loose really. Almost too loose some might say.

Cable has posed:
    Cable spies the detris and debris being thrown and can't take any more, stepping out of line with a snarl on his lips, and his hood pulled up over his head, "Back. Off." The man snarls, a hint of a telepathic order snuck into his words as he balls his fists at his side and he leans forward. Large, but not grossly so, just, a bigger man. He has a presence about him that he's seen war, more than most ever have, and he's come out of it every time. That look on his face, it means this time wont be differnt. A look towards Nicole and those at the truck, Cable nods, meaning he'll make sure they're all safe, even though there should be some security already, but there's always need for another 'mutant bouncer'.

Talia Wagner has posed:
Talia slows her approach when she picks up on Quentin's psi-alert about the incoming FoH Rats to bolster the protestors. "Ugn." is her very articulate response out loud.

She responds with her telepathy, just to Quentin not on broadcast. <<Lemme know if it is about to get violent or if they are just here to yell and scream at us more. Also where the fuck do these people think everyone is from. I imagine I am literally the only one here who has another home to go to and wants to go there.>>.

As she was stepping up to Mortimer, she manipulated her image inducer, giving a brief flash of blue and very distinct yellow eyes before going back to girl next door normal human appearance. Which is probably why she threw him a bit like that there. That or maybe it was the way she walked up to him. Honestly hard to say.

"You know you aren't some old British dude Toad, ole bird, Mr. Toynbee." taking a bit of a piss about his persona and act there. No introduction yet as she glances around at the Brotherhood moving in a loose perimeter. "Welcoming trouble eh?" then back to him. "My names Talia. I need you to pass a message along to your boss for me... mostly because I assume you're not her what with the side rackets?"

Jack Nolan has posed:
That's not looking good. Jack can see the numerous Friends of Humanity emerging from the literal woodwork, "They're planning something." He muses to himself, though he can't do anything, at least not yet. He has to wait until these guys make a move first, before he can jump in. Because if he jumps in, well it just helps reinforce their views.

Not that he thinks he can break their views, but if they're going to do what he is certain they're going to do, he will break some of their bones.

Karen Starr has posed:
    After letting out a long and arduous cackle, Karen takes a step forward, and is lowered on the small cargo elevator on the back of the trailer. When it's finished, she's standing on the ground near Nicole, and she steps her way off of the lift.

    "Sure enough!" she announces, her voice coming from the speakers despite that Nicole is a mere few inches from her. "Please head inside and get the proper authorization from the administrator to volunteer!" With that, of course, the volunteers that are already present are free to start taking things from the truck, which Karen leaves them to.

    For the moment she is just there, prominently existing next to the altruistic delivery that, for some reason, she felt the need to oversee in person.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Those Friends of Humanity coming up from the alleys, laughing and jeering as they approach, make right for the contengiency that were already present to much skepticism. "Who the fuck are you lot?" One of them, someone with authority who'd been sitting on the tailgate of an F-150 holding a shotgun like a walking stick beside him. "I don't remember them sending any more reenforcements." Another says, the guy who'd been insulting Quentin moments ago.

"Huh? You're really going to look a gift army in the mouth, bro?" A big guy, clearly of some asian descent, says with a toothy grin. Patting both hands against his chest, "We heard there was a rally against this bullshit, communist, nonsense and had to come see what we could do..." His point made, Doug (tailgate) inclines his head, but doesn't look completely away.

One of the newly arrived, a thin guy with a headband on, scoops up a broken bottle from the sidewalk and twirls it in his palm with an unusually deft hand. He catches it by the neck of the bottle and hurls it directly at Nicole like a throwing knife. "Eat shit, freak." His friends, the ones he arrived with, all start laughing and loosing weapons. Lengths of chains, spiked knuckles being fixed over their fingers and one dude even has a damn sword. "Whoa, hold on.. what are you doing?" Tailgate stands up with a grunt, glaring. "Th-"

These newly arrived Friends of Humanity don't screw around shooting the shit with their compatriots. They rush right at the back end of the gathered mass of mutants headed towards Karen's trucks. Some of them head towards the loose parameter of Brotherhood mutants, some go right between the cracks as if they knew they'd be there.

Suffice that, Doug (tailgate) isn't going to get upstaged by no upstarts. "Fuck..." Glancing around at his friends all staring at him. "What the fuck are you waiting for, /GO/." And then they, too, are running in behind the second group. Screaming obscenities, threats. "Son of a bitch.."

Nicole Adams has posed:
     Nicole looks up sharply, glancing around. Where had that voice come from? Was she losing her mind? Rubbing her temples, she tries to think for a moment. <<Who are you? Why are you in my head?>>

     Unfortunately, she never sees the bottle incoming.

     While she is distracted, both by Karen, and by Quentin's mental messaging system, the broken bottle goes sailing through the air, squarely at the left side of her face. She only has time to gasp, as the jagged edges of the bottle score three lines along the left side of her face, from ear to chin. Bright red trickles down her face for a few seconds.

     But, just as quickly as the wounds are opened, they begin to seal themselves, swiftly staunching the flow of blood, until not even so much as a scar is left.

     Turning to face the one who had thrown a bottle at her, she just stares him down. "THIS is why I broke ties with my family. I feel sorry for you, filled with hate like they were."

     She is not, however, keen on remaining a target, backing up slowly towards the Center, and whatever cover or concealment she might find therein. IF she can reach it in time....

Quentin Quire has posed:
Quentin Quire reaches out and grasps Ruth's hand, giving it a squeeze quickly because displays of emotion were for losers so he had to minimize the display even as he wants to reassure her that he won't let her get hurt, regardless of what's going on. Most of their connection to one another was unspoken, as one might expect for a pair of telepaths.

"LOOK OUT EVERYBODY, THE DAM ON SHIT LAKE JUST BROKE AND HERE COMES THE FLOOD," he shouts. He hits a button on his waist and his phone starts blasting the Dead Kennedys as he holds his hands out to form a pair of psi-pistols in his hands.

"I'll be your huckleberry, you dim-witted primitives. THESE ARE MY BOOMSTICKS!" he cries, blasts erupting from his weapons mingling telepathic shock with physical force hard enough to punch them backwards like people shot in a Michael Bay movie. One of the good ones. Wait, are there good ones?

Cable has posed:
    This is just great, other telepaths. <<Hey, other telepaths, Thanks for the heads up, but just shut these f*****s down instead>> Cable thinks quite loudly towards Quentin as he pushes forwards away from the crowd of mutants, and drawing his pistol from the holster within his coat and keeping his finger just above the trigger.

    Stepping forwards into the 'army' Cable drops his hood showing off the near quarter of his face that is metal, Cable levels his pistol in a sweeping motion before the crowd. "Back the f**k up you turds!" growls the man hoping again to stem the tide of fecal matter that is humanity.

Ruth Aldine has posed:
The quick squeeze to Ruth's hand was all that she needed as far as reassurance. Just after, she rises with the quickness, the abrupt stand knocking the tiny stool over. She steps upon the curb, immediately moving behind Quentin as he makes his proclimation.

"Look out everybody, the dam on shit lake just broke.." She murmurs.

As he begins to fire his telepathic bullets, she fires her own. Her fingers pressed to her temple, her chin lowering, her lips pursing in concentration as she tries to find an errant mind within the crowd of angry attackers.

"Boom." She says quietly, as one of them falls in the midst of the trample. "Boom." Another one down.. and another..

While she wasn't quick on the update, she was doing her work.

Cable's mental telepathy hits her and she stops, looking up and around. "Oh. Pardon. The guy with the guns is here. There will be screaming." Ruth announces, then rounds to step towards Quentin's side. "If they get close, yes, they will die." To at least -try- to prevent that, Ruth draws her hand back, and rushes forward with a wave of said hand, throwing out a telekinetic rush to try to knock a good portion of rushing humans down.

Neena Thurman has posed:
Neena sighs out as things take what seem to be the inevitable course of action when it comes to humans and mutants. Or humans and humans. And mutants and mutants. But this is no time for dour introspection on the ills of society. She can indulge in ennui and reflection later. For now, there's a far simpler priority... although part of her recoils at the idea of doing this for -free-.

But someone's got to teach these assholes the error of their ways. Or at least the finer points of physics in regards to kinetic energy.

She jolts into a practical blur of motion, running alongside the truck, leaping up to take a few sprinting steps along the side before leaping through the air. The first hapless goon is going to get a kick to the face.

He's going to be feeling pretty lucky... after all, a kick's not that bad compared to what Domino sweeps out from under her overcoat.

Who brings a shotgun to a charity drive? She does. Okay, so does that asshole in the pickup bed. But that doesn't count, he's just some maladjusted idiot. She's a -professional-.

Mortimer Toynbee has posed:
Toad doesn't like being talked down to or told what to do. Ironic given his usual lot in life but, that was coming from people far more dangerous than him. Talia hadn't shown any such degree of ferocity and Mortimer was a bit more full of himself than usual today having been set in charge as it were. As such he doesn't jab her so much as poke at her stomach with his baton, the electric charge thankfully kept in the 'off' positiion at least. "I don't know you from a hole in the ground which is where you'll bloody well wind up you keep talking me what I ain't ya crazy bird. You wanna pass a message along why don't you write a fookin letter, cause lest you haven't noticed I'm a bit busy," he snaps at her, complete with a literal clack of his too large, too many teeth at the end before his attention is again diverted to the oncoming attack such as it is.

"Oh noooo, the humans are attacking! The humans are attacking the mutants!" he calls out rather loudly. And mayhaps a bit flat some might say. Toad hadn't earned his spot for his acting, that was Mystique's job. The red light of camcorders operating are in a few windows around the street catching sight of what's coming as the Brotherhood puts up what seems like a half-hearted defense and while other mutants step forward to help that first surge goes by nearly unopposed, the mostly Asian rioters getting through with seeming ease and aiming right for those in line. In fact if anything it was like the Brotherhood members might be getting in the way of other mutants, blocking them from attacking those initial aggressors. Completely by accident of course. Women and children seem unfairly singled out, one mutant with a mermaid like flipper is tipped out of his wheelchair, anyone that looks like they'd be PERFECT for a viral video of inhuman tolerance seems targeted first and foremost.

Toad goes to jab at Talia one more time with his baton before he flashes a grin. "Scuse me, work to do," he sing-songs at her before he belts out a cackle and leaps into the fray, his baton humming to life as he turns it on. "UNHAND THEM SCUM!" Toad calls out dramatically pointing his baton at two 'Friends of Humanity,' one holding a smaller woman, the other punching her in the gut. He almost seems to hold the pose a second or two longer than need be, as if assuring someone got the shot before he leaps at them and begins smacking with satisfying 'zzzzzzzzap!' sounds.

Jack Nolan has posed:
"Here we go." Jack mutters a little bit as he tilts his head for a second, popping his neck. He steps off the ledge he had been watching from and drops to the ground. Though specifically he's aiming for Doug's truck. Not the bed, he doesn't want to crush Doug, but he is going to crush the cab of the truck and render it inoperable. He stares directly at Doug, the massive stone dragon-like creature daring him to raise that shotgun at him, "You've got exactly one chance to make the right decision, dude."

A lot of the mutants that are being attacked by these bozos can't defend themselves. They're just trying to live their lives, and survive day to day, only to get assaulted by these bigots. Jack is going to teach them a lesson, and this right here is Doug's teachable moment.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Karen can only do so much. The idea that a violent riot would break out in, basically, the space of a moment- as if it had been preincited, in fact- was not at the forefront of her mind. In fact, she'd hoped that a major display of support from an influential wealthy investor might have dissuaded violence, at least so direct.

    To be so very wrong this time made Karen wish she wasn't here in salmon.

    "WATCH OUT!" she calls, her voice booming unhelpfully on the speakers and making it difficult to determine who she was speaking to that wasn't everybody, and resulting in Nicole- who the warning was for- being beaned by a bottle. Luckily, she regenerates. So that's good.

    "THEY'VE GOT GUNS! POLICE!" the speakers boom out again, and there is a slight modulation to them- as if their volume is just too loud to handle: Of course, it's actually Karen's voice, just an octave or two too high to be comfortable, and some certainly might find it just a -touch- disorienting. Nothing like a Canary's Cry, as it were, but enough that drawing a bead on a fleeing mutant might be difficult- and not that anyone's tried it just yet, but anyone within just a few feet of Karen?

    Well, no matter how expert the marksman, they're just /impossible/ to hit. Really strange, that.

Talia Wagner has posed:
Talia is keeping half an eye on the Human's first dumpster fire while she is talking with Mortimer. She steps back a touch from the poke at her stomach and looks to be about to say something but then the arriving Human's First Reinforcements show up and have a bit of an unusual interaction and then go from Zero to Sixty like that. Well TJ breaths in really deep and slow there and lets it out with a weary sigh. "Of fucking coursecourse." god the young woman sounds extremely tired for someone who looks to be in their early twenties.

Just weary AF.

Of course Quentin and Ruth start 'blowing' them up with their Psychic powers. Oh, look Cable makes an appearance as well. Somehow she is positive this is her Grandmothers fault though. I mean sure definitely indirectly of course. But if she had to place a bet...

When Mortimer goes to poke in her direction again she responds though "Toad. Tell my grandma to find me or I am going to find you and blast your fucking arm off!" that last bit is a harsh, her tone and body language absolutely threatening despite the image inducer. It also doesn't look to be entirely show because she doesn't seem cowed by the poke in her direction either.

She also doesn't seem to be buying his acting. He is just so bloody awful at it.

She does point her hand at one of the Human First he is engaging. She purposefully picks one of the reinforcement 'Human Firsts' though and blasts him with a violent purple Hex Blast. Making sure it is close enough to nearly take Toad in the arm before it flattens the asshole threatening the mutants.

If Toad looks she blows her fingertips like a smoking gun, then points at her eyes and then points at him.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
That first wave of Friends of Humanity hits the back of the mutants, some of whom don't have mutantions that would be of any use to them in a fight, some who are just mothers trying to get food for their children.. Some of whom are children. They're surprisingly nonlethal, but they're making a pretty big show of tossing them around. Getting the rest of the rabble good and fired up seeing their brethren jostling about of mutie scum!

It stirs the pot.

Then the spoon falls down between the stove and the cabinet.

The asians, about dozen of them, slip into the crowd of mutants. They don't out right vanish, that would be crazy, but they do... disappear. Some by pulling off their Friends of Humanity coats and revealing regular clothes beneath. Some by rolling into open storm drains.

In less time than it took to stir up the hornets, half the hive is just... gone...

There are somet hat get dropped by Ruth and Quentin's brain magic, of course. And Cable is facing his own problem as a few people are running right at him with the intent of smashing him with a baseball bat or tire iron...

Those near to Karen, where their initial attack was aimmed find themselves bewildered when EASY shots miss. Swinging a bat actually goes OVER a mutants head. TWICE... its' frustrating.

But not as frustrating as Doug is right now. Nearly falling off his own damn truck when Jack lands on the ho- ....-od. Spinning to see a dragon? Like a whole ass dragon. He's standing with a shotgun, "What the fuck..." Again. Because dragon.

Also he totally raises his shotgun.

Domino kicks someone in the face and sends them rolling along the pavement, but it's her surgical shotgun reveal that draws the lions share of attention. "This bitch has a gun!" "Yeah, well so do I!" CLICK... CLICK... "Is it loaded?" "Yeah, it's just jammed! GET HER!"

The police are here.. the news are here too, but the police are here. A sargeant sits watching with a frown, glancing over at his small unit of NYPD. "Alright, let's get in there. We have to neutralize this situation /fast/ before the mutants have a chance to start getting violent. So beanbag rounds are authorized." Said, racking one into his shotgun. "Let's move! If they don't put their face on the pavement, put it down for them!"

The group of 14 Officers move in. Not necessarily TARGETTING Mutants.. but... they are the most dangerous of the two groups.. and they have far more numbers.

Mystique made sure of it.

The sargeant, who remains with his cruiser, grins to himself.

Quentin Quire has posed:
Quentin Quire keeps himself interposed between Ruth and the crowd, letting the blind girl lean against his back and shoulder while doing her own psi-zapping. One of them gets close enough to take a swing at him and Quentin seizes his mind, turning him around like a puppet and making his pants fall down to expose him, "SEE, SMALL DICK ENERGY, DEFINED!" he says, kicking the guy physically in the butt and making him sprawl onto the pavement with his bare rump in the air.

"Did somebody just call for the cops? NO PIGS ALLOWED!" he shouts back. Something about Quentin just thrives in a riot, the chaos and violence and disruption singing to his perverse excuse for a soul as he ratchets up the music, the Dead Kennedy's howling from his belt - TOMORROW YOU'RE HOMELESS TONIGHT IT'S A BLAST

Ruth Aldine has posed:
There it was. That nagging feeling. Ruth attempts to suss it out, but she really, really can't. So much so that she was visibly twitching after that row of TK that she blasted off.

The arrival of the cops made it no better. "Beanbag rounds." Ruth says aloud, her 'gaze' leveled towards the cops that begin their approach.

"No pigs allowed, sorry!" She screeches! Both fists raised into the air. She wasn't exactly going to Jersey Shore towards the cops, but she was amped up and ready. Someone probably slipped a few uppers in her chicken tenders. "Quentin! Is this now, yes, the point where we say foop twelve?!" Ruth does not swear unless prompted, Ruth also doesn't charge off into the fray but..

There she goes, feet beating the concrete.

"FOOP TWELVE!" Ruth screams out, arms flailing, right towards the closest cop she could come into contact to try to do a leap/tackle/wild girl flail. All guts and no brains!

Cable has posed:
    Cable's teeth grit as the wave washes upon him, like a spoon turned right-side-up in a sink and the water just starts going everywhere!

    The man out of time steps into a rusher with the tire iron, dropping his orgainic shoulder into the man's solar plexius and twisting backwards and away, his hand flairing out and snatching the tire iron from his grip. Cable has equipped the 'tire iron'. The pistol remains in his metallic arm, while he lifts his forearm up above his head while a bat comes crashing down towards his head, the wood splintering on his wrist and tearing that sleeve of his coat enough to show off the terminator style arm.

    "F****R!" Snarls Cable as he spins with the iron in hand to bring it into the bat wielders man's stomach and turning to face his third target with the pistol and tire iron held between them. "Make your pick."

Nicole Adams has posed:
     So much for volunteering and charity work. Nicole forces herself to take several more deep breaths in a bid to remain calm. However, what little control she'd managed to learn over the past decade was quickly eroding. Once again, debris around her feet began to rattle and shimmy, and this time, to rise into the air, in sync with rising emotions.

     First, it's a pale-faced look of panic, which quickly melts into outrage, then outright anger. With each shift in emotions, the debris around her rises higher, and begins to swirl in a sparkling, nasty ring close to her body. Thankfully, there does seem to be some space between her and people in her vicinity--and hopefully will remain so for the moment!

     She takes one look at the FoH goons that remain, and has only two words for them.

     "BACK OFF!"

Neena Thurman has posed:
Domino sighs at the familiar sound of yet another gun pointed at her malfunctioning and jamming. She at least takes pity on the guy. She's firing beanbag rounds, and she aims for center torso.

The rest she lets rush in, meeting their charge with a duck and a sweep of her leg, a swing of the shotgun practically like a bat. She's not going for graceful so much as quick, painful strikes to make them reconsider this.

"I think you guys might want to run... I mean, I'm just going to kick your asses, who knows what anyone else here can do?" She stands up and casually lifts her shotgun to her shoulder with a bright smile. "I mean, c'mon... you -really- wanna risk spending the rest of your life as a sentient gummy bear or something?" She jerks her head towards Quentin's antics, "That guy? He can do it. Totally. I swear to god, I've seen it."

Mortimer Toynbee has posed:
Toad delivers a few zapping thwacks of the baton before his opponents seem to vanish like so many others do from that initial run. Except the one he was fighting doesn't hide so much as get blasted several feet away by Talia, the force of the blast felt like a large truck passing by too close for comfort. Mort looks back at the young woman and his bulbous eyes narrow with suspiscion. There was little doubt her message would get passed on now.

That was for later though. The two he'd been fighting, the one still conscious grabs his buddy and hightails it into the shadows leaving only the true-blooded Friends of Humanity behind. Toad takes stock of the situation. Him and the Brotherhood were there to keep things escalated. That no longer seemed necessary as he could spy so many other mutants attacking not only the Friends but also the police. Walkies had been handed out though seen little use, what they do see now is little more than 2 beeps in quick succession. It was enough signal, half the Brotherhood members who were there pulling back, the ones Toad and Mystique didn't want to lose. The other half were the cannon fodder who'd been told their loyalty to the cause would not be forgotten and that they were the most valuable members of the team. Precisely what you say to someone you're throwing to the wolves.

Unable to help himself Toad's tongue snaps out and wraps around one Friend of Humanity's neck, dragging him in close for a clobbering of the baton across his face before Toad releases. A pile of bribes in his coat, mission achieved, he takes two big jumps for a head start and then starts vanishing his own way out of the area.

Jack Nolan has posed:
'What the fuck' is a response that Jack is used to getting. So is getting guns pointed at him. He knows he can take a shotgun blast to the chest without a problem, but he'd still rather NOT get shot. So he reaches his claw up and grabs the barrel of the shotgun and wrenches upwards, bending it away from himself and rendering it useless, "So you wanna shoot mutants, huh?"

He snarls, showing off his fangs, before he hauls back and slams his fist forward, aiming to knock Doug for a loop. Once he has that so-called leader taken care of, he hops off the remains of the truck, looking for another FoH member in order to stop them. He'll grab them and slam them into the ground. He's restraining himself, aiming to hurt these guys, but nothing lethal. He doesn't need the paperwork that goes with killing somebody.

Talia Wagner has posed:
The young blonde appearing woman just looks dispassionately at Mortimer as he narrows his eyes at her like that.

She also just keeps watching him too, noting the one dragging his blasted friend away. Then Toad making his fade along with a portion of the Brotherhood. "God damnit." she sighs. Again much too tired for her appearance.

She leans dodging a knuckle draggers tire iron and follows it up with a Hex Blast dead center on his chest sending him flying now. Then she starts walking angling away from the center and the line of cops.

In Telepathy to Quentin and Ruth <<Should probably wrap things up and head back to school. Clown show, swear to all the gods of the verse I am going to break Toad's legs when I see him later>.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Sergeant, leaning against the car hood, grins for a half second longer. Watching the police fan out, small in number sure, but armed. One pops a Friend of Humanity in the chest with a beanbag round, but most of the humans are well aware that statistically speaking, it's better to surrounder! Their numbers have cut in half. It's the reason Doug didn't want to engage in an all out assault... at least not yet... not during the afternoon when there were so many mutants there to complicate things. He's growling to himself, at his own pride, for letting another group of FoH send his people into a fight they couldn't win.

Then he's getting his clock cleaned.

The shotgun goes off as he falls unconscious to the ground, but...

"Shots fired!" BAM... a beanbag strikes a teenager who looks like a half alligator right in the chest. Mutants, statistically, know that surrendering may not be particularly safe for them. So they're more likely to fight... proof in Quentin and Ruth, not necessarily attacking police /yet/, but they're making threats as if they might!

In the polices defense, this situation could go pear shaped fast.

And they were given orders.

By a Sergeant that's gone.

It's not as if Mystique had disappeared, she just became someone else in the chaos and head inside the Center to blend in with the civilians who were smart enough to rush inside where it was, relatively, safe.

The narrative is what's important. The perspective people see. Mystique has practiced the art of manipulating the perspective... and she's got full control of the narative. Mutants will be flocking to the Brotherhood banner after this. Today, is a good day.

Nicole Adams has posed:
     BAM!

     Once the beanbag shots were fired, the report was like a shock of cold water to Nicole's system. It was enough, emotionally speaking, to set her back on her heels a bit, and let the ring of debris that had been whirling around her like some strange, glittering wheel, drop to the ground, inert once more.

     This was getting ugly, fast.

     She had to get to safety.

     Turning away, she grabs the hands of a couple small children who were trying to push their way inside and relative safety, helping them to make their way into the relative shelter of the Center. "Easy there, kiddos, I've got ya. Just stay close."

Erik Lensherr has posed:
The magnetic field in the street shifts. A low hum building in the sky, the source of which becomes obvious when the street lights literally bend in against both sides of the street. The complaints of tires dragging against their breaks as vehicles are pulled closer to the descending figure lowering down from the sky. Clothed in a slate gray mesh armor with red lines and side webbing, a heavy Spartan Style helmet rests on his head with a white beard and long white braid are visible down the center of his back.

One booted foot touches the concrete, then the other other, and both hands clad in gauntlets that look as heavy as sledge hammers are extended outwards to yank the shotguns out of the hands of police officers. Yank bats, chains, and batons out of the hands of Friends of Humanity. The silver blue gaze of the former Ruler of Genosha turns to survey this chaotic mess.. Mutants fighting humans, police fighting both, and all for the watchful eye of camears positioned above them in helicopters sent by the news.

"STOP.." Clenching his fists, one of the lightpoles cracks the pavement as it comes loose and slams into the ground, then another, and another, forming a lattice barrier between the shotgun armed police and the fleeing mutants. "No..."

Any weapon pointed at him is pulled away, dissassembled, and thrown in different directions without him even having to look up. Anyone who attempts to impede his approach is met with the radiating force as they collid with a protective barrier of magnetic energy that pushes whatever piece of metal, no matter how small, away rapidly.

Until he's standing out in front of the police, "You are not arresting my people today. You may leave... but you do so empty handed. Gather your bigots." Glaring at the Friends of Humanity. "Who started this.. and be gone from Mutant Town..." Silver-blue eyes snake back towards the police, "This is not a request."

"It is your /only/ warning."

Cable has posed:
    Cable's eyes barely shift while he's aiming a gun at a man who holds a length of motorcycle chain as a weapon, with two of his buddy's around the mutant having been disarmed and staggaring at the sight of the gun.

    The report of the shotgun blast is enough to send Cable deeper into his mental foxhole that has kept him alive this long. That mantra he was taught and he has since taught others.

    Don't Stop Fighting.

    Don't Stop Fighting.

    Don't Stop Fighting.

    Cable's cheeks flinch around his mouth as he betrays a thought of war and of survival.

    The idea of not shooting doesn't even enter his mind as he's already pulled the trigger and the slide of the gun catches the stop and his metal arm just absorbs the recoil with barely any movement.

    His mechanically assisted aim is true, the bullet will not miss its target unless...

    The bullet, his gun, nearly half of his body is being pulled by the arrival of the mutant above and Cable mutters only two words.

    "F**k. Me."

Ruth Aldine has posed:
-SO- close, so close Ruth was to actually attacking a cop but Talia's telepathic message drew upon her good graces and causes her path to slow. Her arms were dropping as she slows into a jog, people were scrambling and some were disappearing and making their escape. It was time for Ruth to go too.

It was then that the world begins to erupt, shotguns were flying and with a twist, one flew just past her head and out of the hands of a cop who had taken aim behind her. She stops and turns once more, her mouth dropped, her hand lifting to point yet thinking better of it.

Oh shit. -He- was at the school earlier...

"Ooooooh no..." Ruth says, beginniing to jog backwards and out of the way, finally turning to take off into a slight run towards Cable. And that was only because he looked to be coming apart at the seams.

"No no no no no.." She says, her hands reaching out to press against the bigger man if he didn't swat her away, using her telekinesis to keep him from sliding towards oblivion. It was almost like holding up a goddamned wall. "Pardon, it is okay! I got you! Yes!"

Neena Thurman has posed:
Domino's busy beating up humans... at least until her shotgun's suddenly got a mind of its own, though hey, the sudden jolt has her ducking under a punch she didn't see coming.

But then again she also didn't see Magneto coming, and boy does this seem like a good time to let that shotgun go, watching it fling off down the alley as she starts quickly making some distance between her and Magneto. She tends to carry a lot of metallic objects, that usually have pins in them and get very... touchy if magnetic fields pull those pins free. Plus, hey, Magneto's here... he's got this handled. He's totally known for his self-control and reasonable temperment. Lookit him being so calm and reasonable now! This is fine. This is going to be juuuust fine.

Jack Nolan has posed:
The chaos seems to be reaching a head, as shots are fired repeatedly from the cops. Jack knows that they're using non lethal rounds, but that doesn't mean it won't severely hurt somebody if they hit someone who doesn't have skin like his.

He moves to intercept the cops, figuring that if he gives them a big and scary enough target, they'll focus on him, not on the other mutants that are starting to flee. But he never gets the chance.

As he steps into position, the metal wall of light poles rises up between the cops and himself. And then he sees the man. Magneto himself. What is he doing here. Jack doesn't know the answer, he can only guess at the motivations of the former ruler of Genosha. But he did stop the violence, though it was through force. The SHIELD agent doesn't move, however, still standing in defense of the weaker mutants, just in case.

Talia Wagner has posed:
Talia was walking away, planning on making an escape in the scrum of the chaos. Her message delivered through Toad unless he proved forgetful later.

Then she hears Magneto yell stop and the crack of pavement and lightposts slamming into the ground. Her shoulders tense and then slump in that order as she turns on her heel and looks back towards where Magneto is demanding that the Police and Human First leave Mutant Town now. Well this is going to make amazing b-roll for the nightly news like everywhere. This whole event is going to be perfect for recruiting for the Brotherhood as well.

Of Course.

The young woman just stares across the way at Erik not running or ducking. Pretty much everyone is disarmed after all. Helmet is on though so no chance to Telepathy him right now. Though honestly what would she even say.

So she just stares, watching to see how this all plays out now.

Erik Lensherr has posed:
The police don't bend to Magneto's demands immediately, but what exactly are they going to do? What could they possibly throw at him? He stands in front of them with his arms crossed, a stoic, unmoving object against their... well they're not unstoppable. Not to Magneto.

Slowly, they begin to back away. In theory, he's not commit any crimes except obstruction of Justice and given the narative? A man like Magneto has a lawyer that would eat that up in court. Police appearing to side with aggitators attacking a group of mutants at a shelter?

Doesn't necessarily scream appropriate use of force.

Besides, hard to arrest a man who can destroy the cuffs and use them as a weapon with nothing but a flick of his fingers. So both groups, police and Friends of Humanity back away before the omenous figure the Master of Magnatism represents. Then, once it's clear they're retreating, the light posts pull up from their barrier and straighten, and settle back into the ground where they'd been pulled from.

Magneto turns to look over his shoulder at the mutants staring at him in awe and those who had stood defense against them. He dips his head, but says nothing, as he begins to levitate off the ground with no outward movement. Carried skyward.

Cable has posed:
    The sudden appearance of someone trying to help /him/, him of all people causes Cable a shock and he's feeling a familiar embrace and he looks down, thinking that he almost sees the red hair of his daughter, but... then the raven haired Ruth comes into focus.

    His pain is real, his fight against the very make up of his phsyical structure is real, but, the fight for him, that's something that he hasn't felt in a long time and so he holds onto Ruth, in a grateful way, in a way that he wants to protect her from the horrors and fears of this world, present and future.

    Then it all abades and Magneto is gone. On his back and with only his organic half working as expected... "Th-thank you." He mouths before rolling his head unconscious.

Ruth Aldine has posed:
Nani?

With Magneto suddenly gone and Cable on the ground unconscious, Ruth's bottom lip pokes out, sucks right back in, then soon she begins to scratch her head.

"Uh.." She looks left and right, now scratching at her neck and soon her forehead as she tries to think. Best possible outcome?

Tucked in the supply closet of the Care Center.

<<Talia, Quentin, pardon. I will see you both at home. Yes.>>

Annd.. in a show of cheated strength, Ruth gathers Cable up by his ankles and begins to drag him backwards towards the Care Center, sure that the loud grinding sounds was the poor unconscious mans back against the concrete.

Jack Nolan has posed:
Jack watches Magneto fly up into the air, and frowns a little. Great, now he should definitely report this, but if he does so he'll give away his participation..He does hear the sound of metal on concrete, and looks over to where Ruth is dragging Cable towards the center. He quickly moves to help, grabbing his legs to haul him upwards with not-cheated strength, "Lets get him inside." Then he'll worry about helping clean up.