A Sinister Legacy [PART 2] [OPEN]

[astonishing_xmods]

WHO: Students and faculty of the Institute, plus some unfortunate SHIELD agents caught in the crossfire
WHAT: Sinster did something, ah... sinister... to Martha, and now the school security systems are attacking anyone and everyone that might interfere with his um... sinister... plans.
WHERE: The Institute
WHEN: STILL ON THE 25TH. TRUST US.
WARNING(S): Violence hooooo

As a reminder, there are THREE ways to be involved with this event:

1. Help the SHIELD agents on the front lawn survive against the school security systems! This will be combat heavy and will involve NPC assists from Nick Fury

2. Help protect other students, and those who can't fight, get to safe places! Not every section of the school is as automated as others and there are places that Sinister's infection of the security systems hasn't reached. This can be combat heavy or not at all, and will involve NPC assists from Storm

3. HELLIONS your girl No Girl needs help. Also the Professor and Logan. Your job is to head to the sublevels and break in to the most heavily secured area of the school and stop whatever is causing things to go haywire, and possibly stop Sinister himself from whatever he has planned. As usual, you will be assisted by Emma.

Comments

Cafteria --> Hallways

[now_i_know]

The world went crazy in seconds. Catherine had no idea about the exchange other than it was happening "today," and was spending her day like any other. In fact, she was going to get something to eat when suddenly the automated systems became live. Then came the screams of panic and fear. The boy that was sitting across from her was the first one to take a high-tech bola to the chest. Others at the far end were getting hit with suppression foam. The entire crowd scattered for the door. No... they were going to trample each other... Catherine tried to reach out to tell them, but was toppled over by a kid running into her. On reflex, her entire body became steel, which dulled the pain of getting face planted onto the ground.

"HEY WHAT WAS THE BIG--" She was about to shout, until she saw that the boy that had ran into her had taken a bola to the face. The sound of metal hitting metal came when she brought her hand to her lips in shock. No. Those things were coming fast. Could his neck take the sudden pressure?

Takakage. If anybody knew where to go, it was Takakage. She picked up the boy, who was limp but still warm, and looked for the nearest exit. Fortunately, one of the kids decided to make a new hole into the side of the walls, which other students had started to pile into.

Catherine muscled through. "Gangway. Gangway. This guy's hurt. Sorry. I'll pay for that later. Thank you!" Being steel and bionics was definitely useful for this at least. Some of the kids looked on and she heard murmurs that the medical ward would be likely to have fewer weapons. Though it wasn't her intention, Catherine started a small convoy of students heading towards there in the desperate hope that there would be some measure of sanctuary that way.

Though Catherine herself was mostly interested in the boy in her hands. Here's hoping he was going to be okay...

[endurancepoint]

Alex had been on the way to the cafeteria from the library when the security system suddenly went out of control. Nothing like your school coming to life and trying to kill you to really ruin your day.

Between the pre-cog portion of his abilities and a little probability tweaking, Alex was keeping just a step or so ahead of the security measures without breaking too much of a sweat. But just as he was about to round a corner, he got a flash of the group of students coming his way. Lovely, more probabilities to keep track of. Injured ones at that.

"Heading to the medical wing?" he asked as he rounded the corner.

[now_i_know]

Catherine stopped for a second as she heard the voice. Her stomach tightened and she was practically ready to jump out of the way of the incoming... whatever.

She was relieved, then, to see a familiar face. "Yeah. This boy's--" Her voice stopped short as she looked straight down. "Walk and talk. Walk and talk." And just like that she muscled past and continued to talk, not stopping to check if he was following behind.

"Yeah. This guy's stopped breathing for a second, but came around a little when I shook him." Sweat was beading on her brow over how tense the situation was becoming. "I figure if he ain't gettin' medical attention, then he might be in big trouble. Also, it should be the safest place for folks, yeah?"

She was hoping that the shouts from the other side of the hallway was okay. Maybe... maybe when this was done she should go check on them, too? But first thing was most definitely first.

[endurancepoint]

Alex keeps pace beside her, mentally working on configuring all of their probabilities at the same time. It was hard enough when it was just him, but as long as he's right next to Catherine, he should be able to manage it.

"It should be safe yes, but it might also be better protected, so getting to it might be tricky."

His words are a little clipped, as most of his concentration is focused on the probability field around them. He finds it's easiest to push the security features toward 'malfunction' rather than try to alter their trajectory. So he prioritizes the safety of Catherine and the student she's carrying over his own, which occasionally leads to him narrowly dodging an energy blast at the last millisecond.

[now_i_know]

Had she known, she'd be grateful. For right now, however, she's so focused on getting through to the medical center that she barely registers the fact that the shots were mostly concentrating at him... at first. By the time he's had his third or fourth (who's keeping count, really) near-miss, she suddenly starts to wonder why she has had none of the near misses. It's... not enough for her to actually ask out-loud, but it was a curiosity.

Rather, her first concern was with getting this boy to safety. "If this place is too dangerous, maybe we should take him somewhere else?" The words fall flat at the end, however, as she could not think of any other place to go.

[endurancepoint]

"He needs medical attention, doesn't he?" It was less of a question and more of a statement.

Alex glanced over at Catherine, wondering why she'd say that when she'd been pretty set on the medical wing in the first place... and then winced as some sort of energy beam grazed his arm. "Ouch. Miscalculated that one." Pressing his hand against his arm, he brought his concentration back under control. He was probably going to sleep for three days straight when this was over, but that was still a long ways off.

[now_i_know]

((Sorry.... I totally dropped the ball on this.))

Catherine eyed her for a second. "What are you do--." Ah... the boy stirred. Good. That fact alone meant that there might have been time to save him. Whatever else was going on? Could wait. Though she suspected that Alex was doing something to get them through.

Doubt clearing from her head, she turned her attention to Alex. "Yeah. I think there's lots of folks needing help. I'm going to break ahead. Maybe take a few of those shots off of yah." In the next instant her body took on a metallic hue. Some of the blasts were going to hurt, she knew, but a few of the physical ones would bounce right off of her, right? Hopefully.

Just a corner and a block to go, she kept reminding herself.

[endurancepoint]

Oh for the love of... Alex sighed with resignation as he followed after Catherine, trying to keep the distance between them as short as possible. Flux happy humans and their ever shifting probabilities. Her going metallic presented a new set of variables... but it did mean he could prioritize the more robust aspects of the security. Let the little things through to bounce off her skin and focus on the ones that could actually blow holes in them.

"Just because I don't have a flashy power doesn't mean I need to be protected," Alex muttered as a he pushed a laser from 'functioning' to 'system failure'.

[the_saner_one]

Yuui stopped for a moment at the sight of the small group of students heading in his direction but started moving again at the sight of the unconscious boy, sweet god he hoped the boy was just unconscious.

He's hurried but takes great care not to look too much in rush or panic, it won't do to scare the children more than they already are. He gives the girl a reassuring, if tight, smile and nods towards the student in her arms.

"How was he hurt?" He hasn't seen any other signs of that the serious fighting has reached this area so far but who knows what has been going on further down. And in a situation such as this there were any number of ways someone could get hurt.

[now_i_know]

When Catherine saw the teacher, she wasn't sure to be grateful or hostile. After all, this was their own defense systems that was attacking them, right? Still, the fact that he smiled and showed concern meant that he was there to help. Hopefully.

"I didn't see it, but one of them whil-a-gigs flew out of the side and nabbed him in the face." She stopped to look down at him, the rope burns were pretty gruesome. "I took them offa him to see if it would help with the breathin' but if I'm honest I don't like how shallow it is."

She turned to look over at Yuui. "Some other kids went the other way, though. I heard some shouts from that direction, but I'm not sure if that was from them or from everything else. This whole place is going straight to heck, if you know what I mean."