8075/Xavier's Halloween Party

Xavier's Halloween Party
Date of Scene:	30 October 2021
Location:	Back Yard
Synopsis:	The annual Xaviers School Halloween Night of Horrors (Or was it nightmares? Night of Nightmares makes it sound weird... but anyway) Enjoy reading it if you daaaaaaaaaaaaaaAaaaaaAAAAAAaaare *ghost noises*
Cast of Characters:	Rogue, Tabitha Smith, Jean Grey, Scott Summers, Noriko Ashida, Jubilation Lee, Remy LeBeau, Kitty Pryde, Roxxi Smith

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Rogue has posed:
It's the Halloween Party of the Century! (don't think about it)
The first area of the party is the patio and pool deck area right out the back of the mansion. Its here that parents and old people are setup on the patio chairs enjoying quiet subtle Halloween themed music while also enjoying wining and dining by hired catering staff... Its arguably the least interesting part of the party!

Once off of the patio area the pathways that normally wind the grounds are decorate in cob webs and spooky themed decor every which way! The main path that leads to the lake is intercepted by a hedge maze that now blocks the way! To make it through the hedge maze is to survive wondrous perils and nightmarish ghouls!

Xavier's has almost 100 people staying at it this year, so there is a lot of youngsters running about in costume either as part of the experience or just for fun. Some of their parents and families are here too, so powers are being discouraged unless they can be written off as part of the planned experience!

Those who survive the Hedge Maze end up in a misty filled graveyard that they then must navigate and survive the zombie horde there-in to reach the forest edge where the hay bales and pumpkin patch decorations begin! Screams are coming from the forest as the sign outside reads 'Beware the Pumpkin King' written in blooooooooooooooood!

At the end of the forest pathway of pumpkins and stray cats (don't ask) there is a huge pumpkin patch setup at the normally peaceful lake sitting area near the docks. This area is loaded with hay bales and pumpkins lit up to provide ambience. There are a number of school staff posted here serving food and treats to all who survive the 3 tests of terror to reach the Pumpkin Patch sitting area.

The lake is filled with red bloody water and bobbing pumpkins that are glowing with eeeeevil faces! But it hasn't stopped sea creatures from coming and going out of the lake waters to try and pull people in (its kinda warm tonight, oddly enough!)

Rogue is currently at the start of the 3 tests of terror, dressed in her blue and white Belle dress, part of the Faculty themed Disney Halloween attire (not enforced!). The Belle is holding a basket and offering people venturing toward the first test of terror some candy corn, and firing back snippy comments at those who tell her that they hate candy corn....

"Yeah, well, start brushin' your teeth more, Erickson, or your teeth are gonna look like these!" Rogue says at one of the senior students who is dressed in a skeleton costume shouting 'Cobra Kai' at people randomly...


It is a very festive atmosphere out here tonight, the sun is just barely down and the sky is getting quite dark! There is music everywhere and probably nearly 200 people on property total!

Tabitha Smith has posed:
As with the night she worked with the students to carve the Great Ugly Pumpkin Patch, Tabitha has surrounded said patch with a circle of tiki torches setup just far enough apart to make eerie flickering in addition to producing light and overnight a super-large pumpkin has added to said Great Pumpkin patch a superlarge pumpkin carved with a truly grizzled face. The Evil Great Pumpkin has arrived to haunt his patch?

Tabitha herself is wandering through said pumpkin patch dropping carefully sealed packs of candy around the pumpkins.

Jean Grey has posed:
The tradition of faculty group costumes continues! Where Rogue is the Belle of the Ball, the school's Headmistress avoids one aspect of costuming by once again choosing a thematic redhead: there is a sudden splash from the center pool, and from its... chlorine-y depths rises one Jean Grey aka Ariel the Little Mermaid.

She's gone full out, with the purple shell bikini and a long green sequins-as-scales dress with a tail-like fin at the end. "Welcome to Xavier's Halloween!" she shouts at some random people, who are probably a little surprised. If they're old folks, they're probably reconsidering how much they trust the school at this point. But Jean dun care! "Under the seeeea, under the seeeeaaaa...." she sings, not terribly well, lapping over to the edge of the pool before hauling herself out near where Charles is sitting with some of his friends. Although the end of the dress is open to her feet (or now it is, anyway), making the tail out of a frilled bottom, it's still pretty darn hard to walk in.

"I hope you folks are enjoying yourself tonight!"

There's small talk to do, but the excuse of 'oh I'm all wet and its cold' (it isn't that cold... coincidence or WEATHER POWERS?) allows her to eventually retreat to one of the various nearby outbuildings for... COSTUME CHANGE #1

See, Rogue and Jean are having one of their contests. So a few minutes later, she returns, now wearing... what looks like a burlap sack? It's supposed to be a sail tied around her with rope. This is a lot less glamorous, to say the least, but she wears it with the same big grin, heading over to catch up with Rogue at the entrance of the maze. "Wait up, don't start without me!"

Scott Summers has posed:
    From the exit of the hedgemaze, a metal on metal scraping sound screeches, and heavy clanging and clomping as a night dressed in full battle wear. A suit of armor of plate mail with chain mail beneath and authentic leather straps and sword at his side.

    The crest of the knight is a big red circular X over his left breast, and the man walks as if the armor isn't all that heavy, but it is restraining his movement quite a bit.

    A red painted stripe across the visor kind of gives away who it is within, while also making it hard to see the custom ruby shield within keeping his powers from shooting out of the helmet and being a nuisance.

    Stopping at the threshold of the maze, Scott stands with his fists pressed against his waist, cocking his elbows out as he surveys the land, and takes up his role of the acting bodyguard of the party.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko is well, where is Noriko?  She's wearing what has to be a wig, extensions, something, but it screams Jubilation mane in all of its cascading glory.  Atop her head she wears a pair of blood red Ray Bans, from lenses to stem, the insides having some kind of a flower pattern.  The second striking detail is that Noriko is wearing makeup, black lipstick with an iridescent blue hue, eyeliner, mascara, the whole thing, but no blush.

Okay, there are more things one doesn't see every day, like Noriko in a skirt, a little familiar dark short skirt some may have seen Jubilation wear before.  The blouse is low cut and dark, but comes across as a little slouchier on her than on Jubes.

Before Noriko and Jubes...or Jubes and Noriko enter the party (really just after, since Nori pulls Jubes aside), Nori pauses and flips her shades down, bearing a toothy grin.  "How do they look?"  Her fangs of course!  Authenticity is important!

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "How...the hell do you walk in these things?" Jubilee mutters as she moves next to Noriko. The vampiress doesn't seem to be having any issues at all, moving with a supernatural glidey kind of thing, but the point remains.

    Jubilation's hair normally falls about halfway down her back but it has been cut -- actually cut! -- so it frames her face at her jawline. It has been dyed electric blue. For makeup, she's not...really wearing much. Eyeliner has been applied to give the allusion that her eyes have a more Japanese look instead of Chinese, but that's about it. Her face, and all other exposed skin, is very pale, very porcelain, and oddly free of blemishes and she still has those four razor sharp fangs, two on top and two on bottom.

    Jubilee's outfit is a simple one. She wears a white raglan shirt with short blue sleeves. It has been cropped to expose her midriff, of course. On her hands, Jubilee wears a pair of large, grey mittens. Jubilation wears a pair of black parachute shorts with a rolled up waist to make them even shorter than they might normally be. Finally, she has a pair of black hightops with an electric blue sole, no doubt borrowed. For Halloween 2021, Jubilation Lee is going as...Noriko Ashida.

    "You look..." Jubilation, as Noriko, stares at Noriko, as Jubilation, and .... raises her eyebrows. "Well, I have a lot of confusing feelings right now, Nori. We'll talk about them later." Jubilation turns and looks out at the party, well underway. "This. Is. Awesome! Look at JEAN!"

Remy LeBeau has posed:
Seems everyone is gathering up at the entrance to the maze!

Remy LeBeau is no different. See, he had a plan: get someone to tell him what Rogue was wearing and see what was going on, but thankfully, it was already discovered she'd be Belle! So...he decides to get with this Disney thing, if to make her happy, and he arrives dressed in some old-timey noble wear with some avante-garde influence no doubt. He looks like he just walked out of olden day France in the time of King Louis (which one? Up to you!) .

So up he walks, dressed in shades of blues, whites, and golds, with a little bit of purples and reds in there too as he plays with a card in his hand.

"Bonjour, Mon Amis."

The Cajun French of Remy escapes him rather smoothly as he looks at the costumes, namely Scott's, and he happens to laugh. "Hah! Mon Ami, I see you were not jokin' about de heavy metal." His eyes turn to Jean, and he couldn't help but burst into laughter. "How are you feeling in dat burlap sack, Jeannie? You havin' fun?"

He looks at the others and he just looks endlessly amused. "Halloween is a fun holiday. Always good to see de kids havin' fun an' the adults like Scott lettin' down his guard, no?" he smirks, though he looks at Noriko and Jubilee and he's just smiling ear to ear. "Appreciate de vampire and de switcheroo."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Near to where Scott emerges from the hedge maze, another person does as well. Though this person doesn't leave via the exit, she just steps through the foliage and out into the open.

Kitty Pryde gives a little "pshaw" sound, followed by a roll of her eyes and shake of her head as she utters the word, "Mazes," in a judgmental voice.

Kitty walks over to Scott. She is wearing a blond wig with a black headband tied around it, and a black karate gi edged with gold and a circular logo of a punching fist on the breast. As people get a view of her back, there is a coiled up cobra ready to strike, flanked by the words "Cobra Kai".

Curiously, Kitty is also carrying a broom with her. She walks over to Scott and looks him over. "Sir Summers," she says, and then begins bapping his leg with the end of her broom.

Scott Summers has posed:
    "Kitty... that's- HEY!" He says, lifting one foot to avoid being bapped, and then dances and lifts up the other and he very slowly and very labored shifts from one foot to the other, quickly clearing the exit to the maze and the shuffling sound of his armor is impossible to miss. He sounds like a marching band falling down the stairs.

    "Aaah!" He bemoans as he tries to scamper, -shuffle mightily- away from Kitty's broomly assault. "Have at thee!" He says, swinging a foot in a slow kick towards the broom's bristles. While trying to greet the others in his fashion, "Good Hallows Eve to you all as well." Scott says, sounding rehearsed and stressed at the same time.

    Kitty fighting unfairly. What a foe.

    He trudges in front of Rogue and Remy with a wave of his gauntlet, then past Noriko and Jubilee entering the party. "Good Eve fair maidens." Then still running past Jean and Charles and the others. "I've a beast from the east that pursueth me!"

Rogue has posed:
Rogue is handing out more of the candy corn when Jean arrives in her burlap sack. This gets a smirk from Belle as she just shakes her head side to side. "Already too self conscious in the shells, huh?" She teases the Headmistress before she notes the clanking of Scott walking closer. "Sir Cyclops of Sweaterville! Lookin' good." She says to him with a grin.

With Nori and Jubes closing in, or Jubes and Nori closing in, Rogue smiles at the sight of them as she throws a handful of Candy Corn at the duo. "Eat up!" She says, not expecting either of them to enjoy candy corn! Let alone in projectile form!

Remy's arrival has Rogue showing a grin and a nod. "So you never cease t'amaze when it comes t'findin' fancy clothin', Cajun." She tells him with a continued approving nod.

Rogue motions then to everyone, toward the hedge maze entrance. "Go on in, survive if ya think ya can." And then she smirks at Kitty. "No cheating'..." She warns the phaser!

Up on the patio the Professor is sitting with a large group regaling them with stories of his yester year!

Jean Grey has posed:
"It's called progression!" Jean informs Rogue. "The change in outfits tells a story. I've emerged from the sea, onto the surface world, alone and confused! And in a sack!" Gawd.

Still, if anyone thinks Jean is really going to rock a SACK for the rest of the party, they clearly don't know who they're dealing with. This whole bit is just a way to work in an extra change. Once Rogue is ready to go, she reaches to give one of the ropes holding up the gathered canvas a tug. Nothing happens.

"Hmm, hold on, wait a sec... I had this..." Tug, tug... WOOMPH!

The rope finally comes loose, and the canvas falls around her feet... for COSTUME CHANGE #2
She's really cramming them in.

Despite the prior sack outfit ending a bit below her knee, Jean clearly had a bit more hidden underneath, concealed in the folds. As the canvas falls, so does the hem of a long blue skirt worn underneath. It's a plain outfit, compared to Rogue's princess fare: blue skirt, lighter blue blouse, and an overbust corset worn over the latter. Completing the look is a huge blue bow...

... which she has to hasten to tie into place with a length of cloth she was concealing in her sack. "Tada! So, are we gonna do the maze, or are you just assaulting students with candy?" And then, as Sir Scott charges forward: "Oh, hi-"

And he charges past, causing her head to turn and follow his progress on whatever quest, before turning back to those nearby. "Huh. Good costume though. I like yours too, Remy. Very majestic!"

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabitha Smith finishes up with seeding the pumpkin patch with surprise bags of candy and heads back up toward the house where her outfit becomes more visible to those around. She is dressed as Cyndi Lauper from the heart of the Girls Just Wanna Have Fun days. While this is similar to how Tabby normally looks her incredibly big hair has been tinted reddish and her white winged sunglasses have had their lenses removed for wearing at night. It's a good copy of the full skirted red dress from the video that Tabby's flouncing around in. She grins upon seeing Scott, "Oh that is so you Scottie."

Roxxi Smith has posed:
     As the others begin or exit the maze or gather around to socialize, Harley Quinn suddenly runs from the back of the Mansion. Not HQ in one of her more recent outfits, A.k.a sparkly daisy-dukes. Not, this is old school, pre-break-up, when she still hung with the Joker's crew Harley, fitted bodysuit in red and black, with a jangly jesters cap to conceal her hair. She even carried an oversized hammer that seemed to weigh more than she did.
     As she drew closer, with the arm not lugging the hammer flailing, HQ exclaimed loudly. "Am I too late? The zipper got stuck!" No, that wasn't Harley, just Roxxi! With the same body type and generic bone structure as features hidden beneath white face paint, the two could have been twins. Even Muffins, tucked in her belt joined the festivities, wearing a tiny jester hat.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko just hisses at Remy.  Maybe because she can.  As for the flying candy corn, Nori lets Jubiko handle that one.  Tonight, all she has to do is act like she drinks blood, smile a lot, not eat anything, ugh.  "I don't think I thought this through," Noriko announces.

It's no secret that Noriko is hardcore about her Halloween outfits.  Last year she rolled around all day dressed as Sonic the Hedgehog with a homemade outfit that flared out when she was on the move.  "Is there anything red to drink?"  She looks at Scott and tries to think, what would Jubes do!  But the moment passes so she just ends up staring at Scott.

Remy LeBeau has posed:
"AH!" Remy fake startles at Noriko as she seems to hiss at him, and he chuckles. "It's a good costume, might even be thinkin' that your gonna be suckin' out all de blood de first chance you get. But don't worry, ol' Remy knows Van Helsing an' some of his little friends." Remy narrows those creepy eyes at her and hisses a little bit himself.

Otherwise, Remy turns to look upon Rogue a bit. "Every Belle needs her Prince if I do say so myself. How am I lookin', good-lookin', fit to take you to the ball?" Remy smirks at her. "B'sides, grabbin' what I'm unlikely to be grabbin' is what I happen to be good at, Chere." he gives her an approving look himself, before he looks to the maze entrance. "Not a problem, did some o' dis myself back in New Orleans. Always a fun time." But before he can move, Scott seems to approach! "Hallows Eve? Haven't heard that name in a while. Though he's moving ahead and Remy chuckles. "Well then, guess we're goin'." Remy winks at Rogue before he gets moving.

"Jeannie! That's like your third costume change, no? Come on, lets keep up wit' Scott and see if we can beat him. I like bein' a Prince." He laughs and gets a goin!

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde does her best to give Rogue a disdainful look appropriate for Johnny. "For Cobra Kai it's never cheating," she says, before breaking out into a Kitty-sized grin back at her friend.

The assault with the broom breaks off, leaving Scott unharmed and maybe with a slightly cleaner leg. "So, where does one get a nice cup of eye of newt or some pumpkin spice grog or... what is it we're drinking on Halloween anyway?" she asks, looking over towards the catered food.

She heads over that way, grinning at Jean's costume. "I'll see if I can't find you a fork for your hair," she promises on her way to the food area. Kitty grabs a glass of... something, and then turns to come back. Seeing the Harley costume, Kitty says, "If you end up getting abducted by Bats, we warned you!"

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee grins up at Remy. "It's not a costume," she whispers, opening up her mouth so he can get a view of her very real, very sharp fangs. She's not dressed as vampire Noriko. She's a vampire dressed as Noriko. "'Course, you'd know that if..." Her eyes flick in Rogue's direction, linger, and then back to Remy. "...Nothing. Looking good, Remy! Um, my lord..." She fires a thumbs-up in his direction, making a point to drag out the pronunciation of 'my lord' instead of the usual m'lord.

    Jubilation grins at Rogue and swats away the handful of candy corn thrown in her direction. "Couldn't get him to wear the Beast costume, huh? Maybe next year, I guess..." She shakes her head at Remy and turns away.

    Jubilee's eyebrows rise as she catches sight of Roxxi. She jabs Noriko in the side and grins. "Look, look at Roxxi!" she announces, pointing at the girl dressed as Harley Quinn. Jubilee raises her hand in the air and waves to the other student before turning to face Noriko. "I need help," she says. "How do I..." She's struggling to do the method acting of this costume.

    "Hey, fuck-o!" Jubilee suddenly shouts, pointing a mitten at Remy. "You even /think/ about calling /Van/ Helsing, I'm going to /hit/ you with a /Van/!" Jubilation holds that point for a few moments before lowering her hand. "Like that?" she wonders, turning to see if Nori approves. She's trying to act like the speedster.

Scott Summers has posed:
    Scott escapes the Kitty attack mostly because she chooses to end it, not because of anything he does. Rolling his eyes within his mask, behind his safety shades, Scott gets the urge to check his watch.

    Timeliness is everything. Punctual People make the Best People.

    Fist balled and wrist up... "Oh yeah." He says, lowering his arm and turning to see who is closest. Jubilee, Nori, Remy and Rogue seem to be having a lively bite-y conversation, so Scott steps up to the redhead, "Um... you got the time ... peasant?" He says, trying to keep up his knightly appearance, and Ariel did dress less princessly at first after she got out of her canvas clothes. Right?

Rogue has posed:
Rogue watches as Jean toys with her burlap sack costume. "Careful now..." She warns the redhead. "Or ya might be given them all the most memorable'a costumes. The birthday suit." She holds her grin as her eyes sweep around the others, but shoot back to Jean when she reveals her next ensemble. "Oh, lovely. So lovely..." She says with a dry tone of voice as she gives the woman a once over.

"My second is down in the pumpkin patch. But I need Kitty's help puttin' it on. So stay tuned, Sugah." She tells the other woman before she regards the others again.

Tabi gets a wave. "You been killin' it down at the Pumpkin Patch, I've heard. Gonna put us all in a sugah coma." She notes Boomboom's costume and grins at it. "Is that ... uh... 80s, right?" Oh yes... they were so long ago!

And on Tabitha's heels, Jeepers the yellow Lab comes bounding up from the lake in his Candle Stick costume. The candles up on his back wobbling around as the dog runs at full tilt toward Rogue and the others at the head of the maze!

Rogue is looking at Roxxi and waving to her, throwing Candy Corn at her now too out of the basket hanging at her side. "Lookin good!" Rogue says to Roxxi. "You too, Muffins!" She adds for the hell of it!

Jeepers the Candlestick runs to the mouth of the maze and just disappears inside it after some of the students, seconds later there is shouting and laughing as the dog did who knows what to the kids within, or maybe it was the WOLF MAN!

Rogue follows after Remy then, marching along and smirking at him once more. "Well ya look pretty good, Mistah. So nicely done." She says with a soft smile as they near the maze. "I know my way through here already so I won't be helping nobody!"

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabitha Smith grins at Rogue, "Girls just wanna have fun! Even if it is old it's still my jam. And sugar comas are a good thing." She spins slowly in a circle to wave at various people. She calls out "Lookin good, Jean! You too Roxxi!"

As Tabby heads toward the tables with the food a pair of students in twin goblin costumes pick up the Great Pumpkin and move him to a different location at the edge of the pumpkin patch so the candle inside it provides more light.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko does seem to need prodding for once to notice something around her.  It takes a lot of effort and thought to maintain Jubileeisms.  "I feel like we should have practiced," the speedster admits.  "I mean I practiced."  Of course Nori practiced, but why is she suddenly wondering how Jubilation sips her blood?  These little details.

Noriko looks over to Roxxi and smirks.  She waves and smiles toothily (fangily truthfully) at Roxxi, her eyes sparkling.  "How?"  She looks to Jubes, turning just in time to catch Jubilation doing...whatever it is she's trying to do to Remy.  "Good," she lies with a big, warm smile.  "You could also maybe make fun of how his fashion sense is just another thinly veiled attempt to re-use his french on the ladies...or something obviously worse.  The French are always pervy."

Jean Grey has posed:
When Kitty offers her an assist, Jean holds up a finger to her lips to suggest secrecy and then grins. "No spoilers! That's the grand finale!" She couldn't possibly be hiding a full princess dress in that one...

Still, she gives a big laugh at Rogue's warning. "They already got their show with the mermaid version. If we were doing a full out pool-party like last year I might have stuck around in it, but it's probably just a little awkward to spend the whole night like that if I'm not in the water." Awkward when you can hear people's thoughts about you, anyway!

With Scott having forged a path through the labyrinth and now Remy making it into a bit more of a competition, she's ready to try it as well. And the blue dress is reasonably practical, as Disney Princess fare goes. That tail! So now, she makes on in in the company of the Belle and Beau. "Just don't spoil anything then. You can stand behind us watching us get lost and acting superior."

Is Scott coming for round two? Since THEY have to work, she advises Remy: "Maybe we can listen for Scott's clankings and follow that way."

Roxxi Smith has posed:
     Of course, a Harley Quinn entrance isn't complete without a bit of flare. Using the giant mallet as a bit of a counterbalance, Roxxi takes a good handhold of either end of the haft and performs a few aerial flips and twists before landing neatly on her feet. As she looks for a safe place to stand her mallet, a bombardment of candy corn comes flying her way via Rogue. Laughing, the teen tries to catch watch she can. "Thanks Marie!"
     "Oh Hi!, I'm Roxxi!" She blurts out eagerly to Kitty, waving frenetically as the other woman warns her about Batman. "I think I've seen you around." Obviously Bats didn't seem to be too big of a concern, or the teen was just that flighty. Spotting Tabby, more waves are doled out, "Thanks, I love your hair!"
     Roxxi moves to join Nori and Jubes, as they too get a few hyper waves. She does look a bit excitedly towards the maze, adding, "I hope it has mirrors!"

Scott Summers has posed:
    "Jean... I don't want to do it again..." Scott moans within his metal helmet and raises his arms as if giving a 'seriously' motion. But, the woman has a way with him. For some reason or another when she expects him to do something, he tends to do it. Maybe because she rarely ever asks for anything, or maybe because he's a simp. Or maybe because of their long time as students and teachers and super heroes together.

    Scott lowers his arms with a shuffle. "Alright..." Scott says defeatedly What he doesn't say is, 'On me x-men!' He says, holding up his hands with a motion he's obviously practiced several times before and starts to shuffle his way towards the maze once more and then quickly hunkering himself down at the entrance. Like a man about to run a race but in full plate armor. "GO!" He says and bull rushes into the entrance. Clanking all the way.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde smiles back to Roxxi. "Hey Roxxi. I'm Kitty Pryde, the school guidance counselor. Part time anyway, I have a job in the city as well," she says. "Sorry we haven't had a chance to meet yet, but we should catch up and see how you're settling in."

She pauses then, taking her broom to lightly brush Roxxi's leg with the bristles much as she did to Scott. Nothing hard or harmful in it, just moving the brush against her in a demonstrative way before stopping.

Over in the pool, the water suddenly starts to bubble in one area. Big bubbles as if there's a sea monster beneath the water.

Remy LeBeau has posed:
Remy just -laughs- in response to Jubilee's callbacks at him. "You have to catch me first!" Remy laughs like the devil and he gets moving. Though he looks between Jean and Rogue and he happens to make a sharp whistling noise, much akin to someone who were catcalling. "If there's birthday suits, I'm invited!" Remy calls out with a snarky laugh, more for Rogue than for Jean, though when the former catches up to him, he smirks at her.

"Wanted to make sure you knew I was bein' serious, chere. I'm a prince for you and you alone." He flirts with her ever so casually as they run, giving her a gentle nudge with his shoulder as they move. "If you know your way, den I should be followin' you." He laughs, and will make sure he does that. Unless she borrowed some of Kitty's powers when he wasn't looking and she can just walk through the hedge maze walls.

Jean gets a bit of a laugh. "Ah, a good idea. Knowin' him, he won't be actin' too quiet. Armor looks heavy, we should be faster than him, but he's been doin' Danger Room no doubt." He gives a thumbs up to Jean though. "Long as we beatin' Scott, don't mind workin' with ya."

"No catch phrase? Shame on you, Mon Ami." Remy teases Scott as he rushes forward. "To me, my X-Men!" he calls out with a laugh.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Despite trying to method-act as Nori, Jubilation can't help but smile at Remy's antics, extending it towards Rogue as well. "Got it...Got it... Make fun of the French..." Jubilation mutters back at Noriko before smiling widely and leaning towards her in a flirty sort of way.

    "Mirrors?" Jubilee questions, smirking at Roxxi. "No thanks." She shakes her head and pauses, as though she might say something else but holds it back. After a moment to think of her next move, Jubilee suddenly becomes... blurry. Thanks to her vampire gifts, her movements are briefly sped up, blurred, as she turns her head a few times, left, right, left, right. "Okay!" she announces. "I'm back! Sorry, had to go eat all the food!" She didn't. She can't even eat. But, that's what Nori might do, right?

    "Quick, quick, go compliment someone!" Jubilee whispers to Noriko before giving her a quick peck on the cheek. Going as each other for Halloween is exhausting.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabitha Smith waits until the party of x-Men has had time to get into the maze and lobs a handful of little bombs up above the hedge maze and counting down 3, 2, 1 before the trio of loud booms goes off blasting wind down through the maze from above.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue journeys in to the maze after Scott and Jean, shaking her head at Remy's words. "Oh no, I'm not makin' this easier on any of ya." She says with a grin before looking back at those behind them. "Ya'll be careful now, there's some mean creepy monsters in this maze!" She affords a warning.

When the groups eventually do make their ways to the center, the Witch is standing beside her glowing green caldron and issuing out her riddles and questions. To those who pass the questions, the Witch gives out green and orange cupcakes with chocolate cake, along with the green fizzy glug beverage from her cauldron brew!

Rogue ends up barely remembering the answer to the question but gets her treats and smiles brightly as she sees Jeepers her Candlestick dog running past her in the maze. "Yep. He's gonna tear this place apart..." She says of the party dog. "Better than jumpin in the pool like last year though." The Belle says as she bumps shoulders with Remy and makes it toward the maze back pathways.

THE WOLF MAN HOWLS IN THE MAZE!

Roxxi Smith has posed:
     Roxxi turns her artificially blue eyes towards Kitty. "Oh, you are!? That's so neat. I'd love to catch up, wait." She paused, expression and tone a little dubious. "You aren't a psychiatrist or anything, are you?" She asked, starting to pluck at the argyle sock hanging from her waist.
     However, the gently bristling strokes of the broom soon distracted her. Giggling merrily, Roxxi asked, "What's that for? You're a karate girl, not a witch, right?" She asked, more out of curiosity than anything, obviously not bothered by it.
     Roxxi watches wide-eyed as the X men enter the maze. Her excitement only grows as Tabby loads the 'canon.' She seems a tad crestfallen that Jubes nixes the mirror idea, but as with anything, it doesn't last long with this girl. She tries to snake an arm around one of Nori's as she begins heading for the maze. "Let's try it anyway, even without the mirrors!"

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde replies to Roxxi, "No no, not a psychiatrist. Actually my degrees are in English Literature. And Computer Engineering." Because those two go together like chocolate and peanut butter. "I suppose people seem to find it easy to talk to me though. And we needed someone in the job. I went to school here myself when I was younger," she says. The costume might make it tougher to tell her age than normal, but one could imagine Kitty being either a student herself, or just graduated in the last year or two.

As Roxxi asks her about the broom, Kitty stands up a little straighter and puffs her chest out. "Hey, I'm from Cobra Kai," she says. Kitty brushes the broom against Roxxi's calf again. "At Cobra Kai, they always tell us to 'sweep the leg'," she explains.

Jean Grey has posed:
"My hero," Jean supplies, fully embracing her inner Disney Princess and even fanning her open hand over her chest as if she had developed a case of 'the vapors.' Scott's earned it, for Maze Run #2!

Plus it would be kind of a third wheel situation with just her, Rogue and Remy.

What she may not account for (and she really SHOULD know better) is how seriously he takes the whole thing, including the full 'team assemble' routine, just minus the actual team language in favor of the watching parents (maybe Remy didn't get the note - but fortunately, Charles probably routinely mindwipes all his 'cherished guests' after every one of these!). It's no surprise that Scott takes it pretty seriously, however, and quickly sets a pace with his clank-clank-clanking into the hedges. She was right about the noise, anyway!

"Wait up, brave knight!"

Jean can't quite keep that pace, and as it turns out, following the noise ahead of her actually leads her on a wrong turn a short ways in, because... well, obviously. First, Tabitha bombing them all creates a bunch of distracting noises. Second? Well, it's a maze and as-the-crows-flies positioning isn't always that useful. Well, unless you can actually fly. But she's being good about not cheating! She goes down a short path, hits a dead end, and turns back. Rogue and Remy have gotten a bit ahead of her, but then Jeepers comes by doing the zoomies and she follows him - right to his owner! Well, and then right past them, but it gets her back to them just as they've reached the cupcake witch. She's a little out of breath.

"Oh wow, you really went all out with this..."

But here's the real trick. As the Witch faces Jean with her questions (they are Disney trivia), she holds out her hand with a cupcake and declares: "Eat this magic cupcake, and you will be a real Princess!" Did Jean hack Rogue's maze-witch?!

She reaches for the cake, and takes a cautious bite...

Scott Summers has posed:
    At the center of the maze, Scott stands guard, waiting for the group to catch up and he has Rogue go first, and she succeeds in her question and he shrugs his shoulders. "Oh, that seems easy enough."

    Stepping up next, the fearless leader puts his hands on his hips again and asks for the riddle to be given to him.

    The riddle is something impossible and gives Scott a reason to be upset, not heard in his voice, but shown in his motions as he throws his arms up and actually paces back and forth twice before being given a curse. "That's not possi-" Scott pauses mid thought and turns to look at the other X-men in the maze. "Don't guess wrong..." He mumbles and starts to waddle away his armor clanging sourly.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Why?" mirrors? Nori asks to Roxxi.  She's distracted.  She's not even standing like Jubes.  Noriko is completely stuck in her head and it is obvious.  The speedster smirks at Jubes' blurry little trick.  "Oh yeah?  What did you have?"

"What?  Oh...yeah."  Why did they make Halloween so hard this year?  "Roxxi.  Uh.  Mirrors are the best.  Don't listen to her.  She's just cranky when she doesn't get her food."  Noriko looks over to Jubes and arches an eyebrow.  Does Nori think that's a compliment?  No, she looks like she's at a loss, and then suddenly she finds the girl's arm snaked around her gauntlet (she really can't part with them, even for the Jubilation outfit, something that was lamented thoroughly).  "Sure!"  Because that's what Jubes would do!  "Come on Nori!" she calls out over her shoulder as she's escorted away.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabitha Smith collects a glass of punch and a snack from the table and heads into the hedge maze finally with them in hand. While she doesn't actually keep one hand in contact with the right wall, she moves through the maze as if she did have a hand on the wall. She calls out to nobody in particular, "Anybody know how many correct paths there are through this thing?"

When the ghost boos at her, she instinctively tosses a small bomb at it then backs off to avoid the explosion before continuing through.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue looks back over her shoulder at Jean to grin at her. "I asked the Professah for a bigger budget this year and since he had some friends comin' in from outta town, I think he wanted t'impress'em. As if he needed me t'go to /this/ length to do that though. But hey, I've had these ideas rollin' around in my head for awhile, and we got a lotta capable folks around here..." She states before sipping her green apple cider.

With Jeepers running by, Rogue smirks and shakes her head. "Not that way, that's a dead end." She hears the dog start to bark and growl before it runs back the way it came dragging a ghost cape with it... soon to be followed by a student shouting. "That's my costume!" to the fleeing dog.

Jeepers the party dog!

The Belle takes a right, then a left and ends up at the exit of the maze, where she turns around to watch the others as she takes a bite of her mini cup cake treat, orange frosting on the tip of her nose now.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Everything," is Jubilee's answer for what food she had. It's an easy response, one that requires no thought. Jubilation slits her eyes as Noriko is carted off by Roxxi, because that's...what Nori would do. And then... there she is, standing at the entrance of the hedge maze watching the other two disappear into it.

    She frowns and slowly follows into the hedge. Jubilation doesn't seem to be concerned with catching up, instead forging her own path. Left, left, right, left, PUNCH!

    Anyone going into the maze after her would not have to worry about the Wolfman pop out, which now lies motionless on the ground.

Remy LeBeau has posed:
Remy laughs at Rogue. "What, ya can't help your favorite Cajun out of a tight spot? I thought we had so much more than that." Remy couldn't help but laugh, though he keeps moving even still, until they make it to the center, looking at the witch as she hands out her riddles, a smile on his face as he easily answers it correctly.

He gets treats!

He looks at the candlestick dog and he laughs. "Ah, I missed that dog." He smirks, before he's moving for part two! "Ah, who could forget. One o' de best laughs of the year." He laughs as he bumps Rogue's shoulder right back and they get moving!

The wolf howl is a little disconcerting.

"Did you put Rahne up to dis?" Remy looks at Rogue with an extreme amount of amusement in his face, though he does look on as Jean moves up so she's not third wheeling, plus he's low-key kinda happy about it. He totally just stole the 'x-men' tagline from one of the other X-Men about. They talk!

Totally.

With Jeepers apparently having stolen a costume, Remy smiles. "Dog after my own heart. Run mon ami!" Remy smirks, and seems to keep moving. He keeps with the crowd though, though he notices Jubilee punching the wolfman and he looks on for a moment, tilting his head. "Well...thats one way to handle de problem."

Jean Grey has posed:
At a moment where it's just the couple of them at the center of the maze... Jean cheats. Plus? It's hard to do the special effects, otherwise.

Biting into her cupcake, twinkling motes of 'magic' begin circling around her, just like they would in a Disney movie. Maybe not this actual Disney movie, but she's playing kind of loose with that stuff. Still, she's going full magical girl, with the light show growing in intensity as it surrounds her, only to fade away and reveal...

Duh! COSTUME CHANGE #3.

The 'magic' fades and she's left in a full-on pink princess gown with big puffy sleeves. "In case you need this for your cupcake," adds the Witch, and holds out a fork for her. Then the woman then casually resumes her grilling of the newly-arriving maze-goers with her bizarre riddles.

But Rogue has run off, and Remy with her. And the dog is no help.

"You were through here before, right?" she asks Scott. "Remember the way through?" She has her code of honor about what she'll cheat on, apparently.

Roxxi Smith has posed:
     It takes a moment of staring at Kitty before she gets the joke. She then laughs brightly, mid-pulling Nori, to exclaim, "I love that old movie!" Ah, classic Karate Kid reference and a physical gag all in one. "Oh, good. I don't like psychiatrists. You have the /best/ costume." The pseudo-Harley assures Kitty.
     "Noooo, the mirrors like the ones at the other haunted house." Roxxi explained to Nori. Well, at least her tone suggested it was an explanation. "And the Jogn guy fell in. That was fun!" She babbles on, not quite realizing that Jubes has trailed so far behind them.
     The witch and her Disney trivia are puzzling to Roxxi. She does her best to answer the questions, but dressed as Harly Quinn, it's a safe bet Cinderella was never her role model. She trudges on, rubbing at her nose, and pulling Nori.

Scott Summers has posed:
    Scott was about to flee, when his legs tighten, and his waist and whole self stands just a little bit tighter. Rogue's dog, Rogue's other dog, and Rogue seem to be having a good time, but the leader, seems like he's having a personal issue."

    "I'm sorry, hmm?" Scott asks, turning around quickly to face Jean as she asks her question, not giving a look towards Jubilee beating up wolves, or dogs running away with capes. "Mmm. Yes." Scott says, and he lifts his shiny hand up to point in a direction. "That way princess. I'll. I'll catch up." He says, looking back and forth, the helm shifting constantly and actually looking nervous for a moment.

    Should Jean finally turn to leave, he'll press his back against a hedge and start bending his knees and scraping the back of his gear up and down and up and down rapidly-

    Scott STOPS, half bent and looking like he's grinding on the plants, and gives Jean a wave when she looks back. "Be right there." Oooooh.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
In the pool more of the bubbles come to surface, a large volume of water disturbed, and there are even flashes of light from down below. Then suddenly the water bursts out, though it's a tiny splash as Lockheed launches up from below where he was blowing fire into the water.

He banks and gets some altitude so he can shake the water off his wings, the comes in for a landing. Kitty takes a seat, grabbing a plate of food for herself, and setting out one with a meat-heavy content for the dragon on the small poolside table next to her.

"Have to keep my strength up. The All-Valley Karate Championship is next week!"

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"I have no idea what you're talking about!"  Now Noriko has simply resorted to saying everything in a cheery tone. "But it sounds just so great."  Just so great.  "What other haunted house?"

The speedster looks over her shoulder for Jubilation again.  "Hey wait.  We lost Nori," she means Jubes, but Noriko is still at least keeping that up.  The concern that wrinkles her brow though seems genuine.  Suddenly, Noriko stops and digs her heels in.  Ugh.  The Heelys activate and Nori starts to roll (yeah she wore them with the skirt; it was necessary) along with Roxxi.  Her eyes widen and she freezes, trying not to move because right now she's on her feet.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabitha Smith stops in the center of the maze to answer the witch's riddle and get her treats before continuing through the maze. Catching sight of Scott rubbing on the hedge she asks, "You okay there Scotty?"

Rogue has posed:
Rogue can hear Tabi shouting inside the maze of foggy horrors. "There's one right path through the whole thing!" She shouts back over the sounds of other mayhem and mischief going on within it.

The sound of 'thriller' comes on in the graveyard behind Rogue and it causes her to turn around to watch the Zombies chasing after a group of kids winding their way through the paths toward the lake and pumpkin patch. Rogue just observes and takes a bite out of her cupcake. "Get'em." She says with a full mouth whilst watching.

She feels a rush of movement beside her, her tied back hair flowing gently over her shoulders. Kitty rushing past. "Cheater!" Rogue says before taking a sip of her drink. When she looks back to the maze, she just shakes her head. "I'm going down to the pumpkin patch!" She calls out to whomever can hear her. A glance is given over to Remy then. "I gotta get Kitty's help with my second costume." She says to him since he survived it with her, and maybe her cheats ...

The two start down the winding graveyard path now as the Zombies hobble this way and that way chasing some of the students and younger guests to the school tonight!

Jean Grey has posed:
"Oh, great. Let's- er, OK?"

No doubt, Jean expected a knightly escort. She needs a protector against the Wolfman (or the savage Xaviers School students assaulting the Wolfman and his compatriots as they try and run a spooky holiday maze). She waits a moment, looking back, but then starts ahead on her own at his urging. "Alright." She really isn't sure what's going on. And yes, she makes it a short ways before casting a curious glance, only to spot her supposed champion rubbing against the hedge like a bear trying to scratch itself. Weirder things have happened to the X-Men, but it's still kind of a strange sight!

And thus, onward, walking bravely and idly brushing her hair with the fork as she goes. With Scott's instructions and a bit of sleuthing, she's finally able to make up toward the other side of the maze, finding sweet freedom from the ghouls and goblins and mischievous school children.

But now she's facing zombies, alone! "Rogue?!" she calls. A few circle her, and she raises her voice: "I warn you, I know how to use this!"

The fork is brandished, no longer as a mere haircare tool, but as a weapon! Jab-jab!

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    When the cardboard cutout wolfman on the ground cries out in pain, Jubilation's eyebrows rise in surprise. "Oh, oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she cries out, rushing forward to try and help the person in the wolf costume. She has dropped any pretense of talking like Noriko at this point. Jubilation leans down to try and help the poor guy up.

    "I...I'm sorry, I didn't know!" she cries out. "I thought you weren't real!" Jubilation stops, blinks, and finds the time to mutter to herself: "...That doesn't sound very good..."

    Back to the downed costumed actor, Jubilation tries again. "...I mean, I thought you were /cardboard/!" she shouts, hands waving in front of herself.

    Jubilation hears what she just said, realizes it, and shakes her head /again/. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, you're, you're not cardboard..." Jubilation is striking out over here.

Scott Summers has posed:
     Having been left behind and is furiously rubbing his bottom and back against the hedges, Scott is close to moaning when Tabitha appears in the center. He goes deathly quiet as she answers her question and gets a treat, and finally spots him, trying to look like part of the decoration, but moving too much.

    "Yeah." He says within his helmet and closes his eyes desperately wanting to scratch an itch.

    With a bit of force, despite the student being near he pushes backwards to try and scratch deeper with the plants only to fall through.

    "WHOA!" He shouts as he falls backwards into the bush. And through.

    Appearing beside Jean and landing more on his shoulder, before heaping himself on the ground. Scott slowly gets up to his feet. "Princess..." As he pushes up to his knees and sees Jean trying to fight off Zombie with a fork.

    He so wants to be in character, but that itch, and having just broken his fall through a bush with his neck. He slowly gets to his feet. "I'll save thee!" And he steps up to his feet finally and tries to scoop up Jean in his arms and carry her away from the zombies running to the safety of the main party area. (If she'll let him)

Remy LeBeau has posed:
"Dats why we don' punch first an' ask de questions later."

Remy walks up to Jubilee and gently puts a hand on her shoulder. "You're alright, you're alright, just go take a breather a minute, they'll be alright." He mutters something about them maybe needing to go to a hospital depending on how hard Jubilee decided to punch the poor fool, though his eyes turn to Rogue with a little bit of a smile.

"You got another costume? Heh, I hope it's de big an' fluffy gold one that ol' Belle wears 'fore she dances wit' de beast." Remy gives her a knowing look. "Mind if I come wit' ya? Or is dis a girls night out kind o' situation?" He asks of Rogue, and he seems to laugh at Kitty as she sprints by. "dat seems 'bout right."

"How long you think dis gon' take them all? I give 'em at least ten minutes, tops." Heh ears Jean's voice howl through the night as they start moving to the graveyard path. "Think we should be helpin' Jeannie? I dunno where her knight in shinin' armor is hidin'." Oh! There he is! Fight that itch Scotty!

Roxxi Smith has posed:
    Roxxi isn't entirely sure what's going on with Nori and Jubes, but being unsure of something has never stopped her before. The Not-Harley peers at Nori-lation. "Uh, Westchester High, with that John guy, and some of his friends. Oh, and there was a giant spider!" The last, she tapes onto the end, like a cherry on top.
     Roxxi too stops, to peer over her shoulder for Jubi-ko. "Oh. I thought she was right there.." Which, clearly the other teen was not. "Heeeyy Jubbiilation!" Roxxi suddenly yells loudly from the middle of the maze.
     She didn't get long to ponder the situation, however, as Nori's begins to glide. She bends at the waist suddenly, to peer at the wheeled footwear. "Oh, super neat!" The teen exclaims, taking a few skippy steps to keep up.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabitha Smith stares in the direction Scott fell through and just stands there before walking toward the exit. She calls out, "Glad you're okay," in Scott's direction as she walks away to find her way down to the pumpkin patch again. She's got more work to do with the pumpkin patch in a bit after all.

She calmly chomps on her treats as she walks, ignoring anyone else who tries to jump scare her because she really shouldn't be bombing the actors. "Don't forget to come check out the Great Pumpkin Patch before the Great Pumpkin takes his leave, folks."

Rogue has posed:
Jeepers comes around the corner where the Wolf Man is laying and groaning, only to quickly bite down on the man's ankle and start to tug and pull on it while growling like a good guard dog / Candlestick come to life, should!

Rogue has posed:
Rogue drops her cup and napkin in to one of the waste bins setup on the path then turns back to Remy. "Stay here and make sure everyone gets out okay, yeah?" She says to him. "You'll like my costume, I'm sure of it." She tells him further before she turns around and starts to run down the pathway herself, passing Tabitha as she tells others to make sure to make it to the Pumpkin Patch area which Rogue is headed toward.

"Kitty!" Rogue shouts out in to the dark. "Where'd you go?!" But is soon vanishing down the Pumpkin Patch pathway.

The Zombie walkers are running around in the Graveyard area attacking students who are throwing stuff at them now as things are a bit out of hand at this point! But not TOO bad!

Inside the pathway to the Pumpkin Patch there are screams from people being scaredified by the creeping Pumpkin King too!

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde pops up near Rogue. "Sorry, had to grab the, you know. For your costume," she says, pulling out a can of something and flash Rogue a grin. "Though, ah really, there's just something... so... so wrong about this," she tells her friend.

Kitty lets Rogue lead the way to somewhere out of sight to help with the costume change.

Jean Grey has posed:
Perhaps all is lost for our landlocked princess, a fork being a dubious armament against a proper troop of zombies. Although, as they've seen what happened to the Wolfman and with some of the student zombie resistance that seems to be forming, they're just a touch worried that everyone here is crazy and she'll actually stab them. Thus the zombies establish a... perimeter of sorts, from which to menace their redheaded victim, while being just a bit of out stabbing range. "Braiiiiiiins-"

And then, a crash! What is this? An itchy protector, falling through a convenient hedgewall!

"You're from the wrong franchise, but I'll take it!" Jean declares with a laugh, makes another warding jab at a nervous zombie, and then corrects herself. "Er, I mean, my hero!" Again, she goes for the full overdramatic fairytale princess act, readily swept up in his arms.

"Onward, to the pumpkin patch!" She holds out her fork like a cavalry captain raising their sword for the charge. "I hear some people in peril!"

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Why is everyone named John?"  Noriko doesn't really put two and two together immediately.  Her attention is kind of only half on Roxxi, and when the Heelys kick in, it goes down to zero, because the girl stiffens up and goes right into the next waiting attraction, a ghost that pops out to booo at her.

Noriko is quick enough of course to step to the left, but she puts too much oomph into it and pushes off into the hedge where she gets stuck and ever so quickly extracts herself in a blur.  The jig is up.  There's a frown on her face and things all in that hair...which is now in the hedge.  Nori's blue hair has been nearly black to hide under the wig.  Her actual hair is also full of twigs and things though too.

"I'm going to find her," Noriko simply says to Roxxi when she steps out of the hedge.  She reaches back in to grab the makeshift wig and takes off to run the maze, forgetting to take off the Heelys as she starts to slide, catch herself, start, run, it's a bit of a mess and that first hedge isn't the only casualty.  "Jubes!"

Scott Summers has posed:
    Carrying someone in your arms isn't easy. Wearing a full suit of armor, isn't easy. Doing both, Scott is getting winded, so he cheats slightly and is about to heft up Jean on to his shoulder like a caveman might, but quickly thinks against that idea.

    "VERILY!" He says, starting to huff his breath as he trudges along, armor shinking and shuffling as he marches on towards the pumpkin patch. "Your kind heart knows no limits my fair princess." He says, not really being the Prince Erik to her Ariel, but, having fun with being a knight none the less. That's what Halloween is about, no?

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Having had a run in with Tabby just before the party while she was doing a few things on her own, the pumpkin king and zombies wisely do not attempt to startle the bomb lady again on her way back to the Great Pumpkin. She takes up a position beside it leaning against the heavy thing as she calls out, "Silly string! Hey don't forget there's candy hidden in the pumpkin patch guys."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Startled, Jubilee jerks forward a little as the hand comes down to touch her shoulder. She reaches both hands back over her head to grab at the wrist, as if driven by some dark instinct, and moves like she might do some kind of throw, but that's not what happens. Jubilation catches herself from even making contact with the Cajun.

    "I didn't mean to," she explains up at Remy while the wolfman groans on the ground. She might have hit him kind of hard.

    Jubilation looks down and gently frowns, recalling the feeling she got when she saw the others go into the maze without her. Perhaps the task of pretending to be Noriko really drove a point home for her.

    Huh... Jubilee shoves past Remy and takes off into the maze, trying to locate the speedster for some urgent reason. "Nori!" she calls out. Left. Left. Right. Left. '...dip your finger in everyone's drinks...'

    "$$^#1084 off, witch!"

    Left. Right. Left.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue rushes in to the forest with Kitty off to the side of the hay bale-lined pathways that the Pumpkin King is patrolling with Tabitha's candy stacks looking to pre-occupy people while the King might jump out to spray them with the orange silly string!

Once in hiding, Rogue just laughs at Kitty. "Hey, at least its not as cold as last year. Storm is here this year, takin' care'a us!" She says as the two prepare for her second costume.

Meanwhile the Zombies are still hording around the graveyard. Jeepers is still dragging the Wolf Man around for a little while longer before he gives up when some young kids walk by, instead choosing to run with them as they call out his name! This Frees the Wolf Man to go back to his duties, grumbling of course!

Near the Pumpkin Patch pathways, Hambone is sitting with two of his friends just eating a bunch of the candy that they found from Tabitha's hiding places, watching the madness of their foggy filled school yard.


'Don't fear the Reaper' can be heard playing now on the speakers around the yard.

Roxxi Smith has posed:
     Roxxi just watches Nori-lation wide-eyed. She doesn't say much or move until the other teen has headed back to seek out her girl. Left suddenly to her own devices, there isn't much left to do, but rub her nose again, and try to find the exit. It doesn't take her long. While she might be as flakey as a freshly baked biscuit, her spatial acuity is pretty on point.
     Once out, the teen puts balled fists to her hips and looks about. "What's next? Oh, the graveyard!" She hurries along, eager for the next spooktacle.

Remy LeBeau has posed:
"Looks like I'm on babysittin' duty then." Remy smiles at Rogue a moment. "I got you covered, chere." She tells him that he'll like her costume, and Remy seems to smile at her. "I certainly hope so, Cherie." He winks at her, and she's sprinting off down the path with a call for Kitty. "Hate watchin' her go, but love watchin' her leave." Remy is incorrigible. Though his eyes turn to the others as he looks at his watch.

He starts self-dealing some cards as he waits ever so patiently. "Ey Jean! Scott! Jubes! Noriko! Hurry up so I can get a drink!" He calls out, crossing his arms over his chest.

The song 'fear the reaper' comes on and Remy seems to bob his head. "Ah." he nods in approval, nodding in accordance to the beat as he rhythmically stomps his feet.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabitha Smith stealthily tosses a time bomb on a long fuse inside the Great Pumpkin to give herself more than enough time to exit the splash zone before it goes off and snatches up a pack of candy before calling out to Rogue and company, "I think I'm gonna call it a night. Happy Halloween everyone." She's almost all the way up to the house before Great Pumpkin goes flying everywhere. Hey! She did warn people the Great Pumpkin was gonna go away.

Jean Grey has posed:
Thus the pair makes their approach to the pumpkin patch, Jean acting very bold and brave and still waving her fork about. Whether she's the damsel or the fantasy warrior princess in this particular moment isn't entirely clear, the storyline having broken down a little. But nonetheless, she urges Scott onward, to heroic action, to the defense of the weak and imperiled, to victory against the forces of-

"HEE HEE HEE, I'M THE PUMPKIN KING! NOW SUFFER MY WRATH AND TASTE MY STRING!"

Shakespeare, it's not. Not even Community Theater Shakespeare. Some of those guys are great! But what it is, is one of these poor, mistreated actors getting their chance for a bit of revenge, as the pumpkin-themed horror leaps out from a tree and unloads, double barrel, with his cans of festively colored silly string. It gets all over Jean, and she squeals in surprise, flailing in her protector's tiring arms. "Eee!"

Fortunately she doesn't 'accidentally' reflexively blast the guy to constituent atoms. That's harder to mindwipe.

A bunch of it is aimed at Scott too, and the dastardly pumpkin villain seems inclined to take advantage of his armored target's weakness, aiming for the helmet and covering a bit of the re-themed visor. A classic supervillain move! And once he's done, he's off to deliver more gooey vengeance to the school populace.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko knows that the faster she goes, nearly the safer she is...if she wasn't on these damn Heelys.  She keeps spurting and activating the shoes at just the wrong moment, perhaps something in her gait.  The temporary dye in her hair is running and now Noriko is starting to get a little exasperated.  She's lost.  She's run this maze a thousand times already.  The witch gives her cookies and a drink.  "Uh...thanks.  Did you see a girl with blue hair?"  she shoots out quickly.

The witch points, unamused, silently.  Noriko takes off and lands into a hedge behind Jubilation, or off to her side, depending on which way she's facing.  "Jubes!" Nori calls out even as she's crawling out of the hedge in that skirt, her arms stretched out.  "Jubes I'm no good at being you.  I'm exhausted.  I can't even think of one nice thing to say let alone twenty seven."  Of course she's pulling the number out of thin air.

Roxxi Smith has posed:
     Just about to enter the graveyard, she spots Tabby as the slightly older woman heads for the mansion. The Teen stands on tiptoe to wave her a goodnight, "Oh, bye!" She says, obviously disappointed.
     But, she not out of the woods, er, maze yet. As the Zombie hoards press in, Roxxi has a moment of panic. It's not a long moment, but it's long enough for Tabby's pumpkin bomb to go off. Screaming loudly, she pushes hard at the closest Zombie and makes a run for it.

Scott Summers has posed:
    Scott stops in his tracks, letting himself and his charge get absolutely covered in silly string. Looking to Jean from behind his helmet's lowered visor, Scott's voice rings out in his own head. "Sorry, this is gonna get messy." Scott warns.

    Twisting and putting Jean on one shoulder with his arm holding her secure to him, he uses his now free hand to lift his visor and

    ZZZZZZZRT!

    A pumpkin behind and beside the pumpkin explodes, showering the area in chunks of pumpkin exterior, and innards with seeds and guts raining down around the pumpkin king. "Happy Halloween ya filthy animal." Scott says, lowering his visor and putting Jean back on her feet. "You good to walk, or shall I be thine steed further?" A smile is cracked that time, and she could hear it.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation turns the corner and spots the Noriko in the hedge, arms outstretched. Wide-eyed, she rushes over to meet the speedster, grabbing at her forearms to try and help her up. "Can we go back to normal?" Jubilee replies. "I'm not good at being you either! I think I knocked a guy out and I cursed at a witch!"

    "And your shoes don't even have wheels on them!"

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabitha Smith happens to notice Roxxi waving since she paused to glance back and watch the pumpkin explode. She waves back then disappears inside the house.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Yeah.  Let's go back to normal.  I think I flashed a few people in this skirt and none of them were you."  Noriko stops and laughs a little when she actually process what Jubes said.  "You cursed out the witch?!  I could tell." Now on her feet and somehow not on wheels, Noriko looks down at the Heelys.  Then, quickly, she takes them off, holding them out for Jubes.  "I don't think I can handle your wheels anyways...Wanna go get comfy?"

Rogue has posed:
The activity resumes as Kitty comes back out of the woods followed by Rogue in her second costume. One blue foot steps over broken pumpkin pieces followed by the next as the Belle is replaced by the well that's not a beast!

Rogue is painted head to toe in blue body paint with textured surfaces over her more private places! Her brown hair is gone and replaced with slicked-back red, and yellow contact lenses giving her some very piercing eyes.

She steps out of the woods, catching a few eyes in the form of someone that most know around here, though she hasn't gone around in this level of undress for quite some time... Rogue just smiles as she walks, with a nice sway to her hips. Following after Kitty she looks to Scott, Jean and Remy as they arrive down the pumpkin strewn pathway.

"Deception." Rogue says to Jean in particular. "Beauty and the Mystique." She flashes a big grin at the other then standing there in the blue bodied buff.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee laughs and shakes her head. "Yeah, you gotta either watch out for that happening or just not care when it does," she replies with a fangy grin. She looks a little bemused as Nori seems to be proud of her cursing out the witch. "I heard you be nice and enthusiastic about the maze, before!" Super proud.

    "Yeah..." She bends forward and unstraps the high top kicks and bounces on one foot to take the other off. She makes quick work of the other one and completes the exchange with Nori. With her Heely sneakers held in her left hand, Jubes reaches out with her right hand to guide Nori by the gauntlet back to the maze's entrance.

Rogue has posed:
Jeepers runs past Noriko and Jubilee with a Zombie plastic foot in his mouth, his Candlestick backpack wobbling side to side as the super party animal goes! A Zombie can be heard shouting 'Where'd that damn dog go?!' in the background somewhere.

Roxxi Smith has posed:
     Roxxi does not go for the pumpkin patch. Instead, she turns back around to head for the pool area and food. The zombie barrage and Great Pumpkin exploding had put a slight damper on her mood. It doesn't take long though, for a full plate of snacks to boost it once more. Taking a seat, she spots Rogue-stique come out of the woods, trailed by Kitty. Waving ecstatically to the pair, the teen then shoves a handful of chips in her face. Ah, now that's better.

Jean Grey has posed:
Exploding pumpkin ward off any foes (and leave one more thing for Charles to sort out). They do not free Jean of her own battle damage, and as she is set gently back on the ground, she holds up her arms to show off just how thoroughly she's covered in the stuff, and then reaches in to pull away the strands of it most immediately impeding her vision. Then she picks a little out of her hair with the fork. FORK!

"I'm fine to press on," she tells Scott, still in more dramatic tones, although as she finally gets enough of the string clear to get a good look at the situation, including the smoking crater at the center of a former and now thoroughly exploded pumpkin, she breaks into a laugh. "Guess we'll have to blame that one on some firecrackers..."

She may already be planning the mental cover up!

Finally, they've reached the promised pumpkin land, beyond its strange guardian, and Jean looks around a bit. The others, she assumes, would probably have mostly ended up here eventually, assuming they haven't been eaten by zombies or gotten permanently lost in the maze, never to be heard from again. But she can't spot Rogue until-

"I don't think I remember THAT Disney movie," she calls back, putting one hand on her hip above her overly voluminous skirts, while the other points an accusing fork at Rogue-slash-Mystique. Her eyes narrow. Maybe she's actually trying to double check just to make sure it isn't REALLY Mystique pretending to be Rogue pretending to be... "It's quite the outfit, though. Very good, uh, paintwork."

Remy LeBeau has posed:
Remy continues along with Scott and Jean, smiling at the pair of them as they continue down the pumpkin pathway. This must be some kind of surprise, though the look he gives Jean makes him seemingly smile. "Atta girl, keep him on his toes, gotta keep goin', even as you two seem to have fought this trail to de bitter end." Remy chuckles somewhat grimly, though what his eyes seem to find is Rogue.

But not in the way he imagined.

Covered in blue paint (minus the private bits!) Remy can't help but put a hand over his heart and swoon! "Do my eyes deceive me, or has your natural beauty gone on display as a treat to ol' Remy's eyes?" He grins at her as he approaches. "Does dat mean I need some fur to be a good beast for you, no?" and yes, Remy is not holding back the admiring gaze he places from head to toe.

Incorrigible.

"I don' know about you, but that better than Disney." Remy was struck!

Scott Summers has posed:
    "That wasn't a Disney movie." Scott says, pulling up next to Jean with his hands ending up on his thighs and his posture so that he can catch his breath. "This is heavy." He says to no one before he waves his arm before himself and giving Rogue a thumbs up. "Nice costume Marie. Not at all suggestive or weird."

    That has got to be one of the weirdest costumes he's ever seen anyone wear at one of these things. She's her mom, she's herself, she's ... that's going to need some therapy by someone.

    "Down boy." Scott tells the Cajun, "At least not in front of the kids."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue looks past the trio as they arrive at the Pumpkin Patch, she grins at them and shakes her head. Her eyes go up to Roxxi back at the pool and she waves back at her. Just as she does this Jeepers runs over to where Roxxi is and offers her the plastic Zombie foot. There after and the dog finally sits down with a heavy huff and his tongue lulling out to the side as he slips on to the grass to lay down... tired!

Rogue looks back to Jean and Scott. She shakes her head. "We were gonna do a female version'a Hank.... but the fur was too hard t'work with. So we improvised. Besides... it looks hot." She says as she glances down at herself. Naturally there's a lot of students around too who are looking as well... but hey.

Rogue smiles at Remy and walks toward him before she taps on his chin with one blue finger. "Don't act like I don't know what you think of Raven. Don't need t'be a telepath to know that." She laughs softly then as she pulls some silly string off Jean and Scott which is stuck all over their shoulders. "Well then, you all ready t'get some food and relax?" She asks as she pads on bare feet toward the dock over the blood red lake water, stepping up on to the wooden dock on them blue toes.

Roxxi Smith has posed:
     Roxxi can't help but giggle at Remy's reaction to Rogue. Given the way the man acted around the belle the last time she'd seen the pair, the teen wasn't surprised. At least he seemed to have most of his memories back. At least, as far as she can tell, from her distance.
     The 'Not Harley' starts to pull the paper backing of one of the cupcakes, as Jeepers runs up with the foot. Laughing, she reaches down to grab it. She's about to throw it, but the tired pooch flumps down tiredly. Instead, she just places it on a nearby lawn chair. If the adults return to the poolside and food, Roxxi will smile brightly around her mouthful of whatever.

Jean Grey has posed:
"Yeah seriously, who dresses up like their mom?" Jean echoes after Scott. She can appreciate the craftsmanship of the costume but still chime in on the weirdness factor. "If I did that... well, it'd just be me wearing a pair of glasses, so pretty boring actually. But still!" Hand on hip! Head shaking! Fork waggling! All the vague disapproval.

"And you, jeeeeeez." Remy!

But that's as far as it goes. With a grin and a shrug, she relaxes some as the blue lady approaches to pick off some of her double dose of silly string. "You should see the other guy," she remarks, grinning. "Scott definitely traumatized him. These people you hired are troopers." Or future mental patients.

At Rogue's suggestion, her gaze swings over to their final destination, and soon she falls in step beside her friend, down toward the dock at the Lake of Blood, where they can finally end their ordeal of Halloween challenges and terrors and kick back for some snacks. There's still various student chaos going on, but on the whole, it doesn't seem like the place will burn down. "I'm amazed you managed to dye the LAKE."

And then, standing there on the dock, she reveals her once last great costume transformation as she turns around so her back faces Rogue. "Help get the zipper? I still got some of the Mermaid stuff underneath."

Remy LeBeau has posed:
"Can you blame me, Chere? Though I only had bad thoughts of Mystique when she was pretendin' to be you." Remy was laying on all of the charm! The tap to his chin seemed to make him smile softly. "'Sides, can't wear only paint an' think I'm not gon' look." Remy winks at Rogue as he walks with her, though his eyes look at Scott and Jean then, laughing at the latter.

'What! Can ya blame me?" He gestures to the entirety of Rogue. "'sides, you got Scotty, go and...I dunno, flirt and jump in the blood lake." Remy winks at her a moment, though he looks at Rogue. "Seriously though, Cherie, you managed to put on the greatest Halloween party I ever been to. You should be proud of yourself."

Jean's question about the zipper and Remy holds his hands up and away. Not joking about that one, lest her incur Scott's wrath. But he looks at the pool.

"I'm gettin' in. Been too long since I had me a good swim."

Scott Summers has posed:
    "It is a great costume Marie... but..." Scott trails off to look towards Jean and visually with the helmet miming and up and down glance, "You could pull it off." He notes casually before turning back towards Rogue and Remy, "Yeah. We can blame you. I think we are." With a curt nod of his helmet again.

    Scott then turns without further questions and starts to march towards the dock. "Don't be upset if I don't get onto the dock... I'm not going to risk falling in and ruining this metal getting it rusted." Not to mention he'd drown rather quickly, but that's exactly what he's not saying or thinking about. He's truly worried about the metal rusting.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue laughs from the dock as she helps Jean with her dress. "I asked around in town and there was a performance arts troupe that wanted to do somethin' for Halloween that wasn't on stage. I offered them... well. I told them the situation and they wanted in. I may have made it sound a bit more prestigious.... than what its turned out to be." She says with a grin before she eyes Remy heading for the water.

"There's monsters in there." She warns him with a blue skinned grin. "So be careful." She then moves toward the dock patio outside the lake house where more adults / faculty members are sitting around chairs with the barbecue running and cooking, while students run the Pumpkin Patch and other parts of the yard still in full swing.

"I already got next year figured out too." Rogue says as she sits her blue butt down on the edge of a chair. "Its gonna be a hell of a ride...

The party continues on, Roxxi is joined at where she's seated with by some other students who have some more drinks. Jeepers is quick to interact with all of them. The Professor and his crew up on the patio by the back of the mansion continue to tell old people stories while enjoying their own space. The Wolf Ma howls in the Maze, the witch cackles, the zombies all moan for brains, and the Pumpkin King laughs and laughs and sprays his string.

From one of the shadowy corners of the pumpkin patch, a man in black steps out between some well crafted and nice carved illuminated gourds. He lifts a hand up and pulls his Reaper mask up to reveal his face. Aged in to his mid fourties, with white in his beard, the man looks around at the party and then at those at the dock. He just stares for a moment before he lowers his mask again and mixes in with the crowds....

The last bars of that song come to an end... and Monster Mash starts up in its place!