A Sinister Legacy—[Part 5] Take Notes

[astonishing_xmods]

WHO: The sick and the recovery team
WHAT: Research theft and retrieval of the ill
WHERE: Sinister’s old mansion, outskirts of London
WHEN: Late afternoon
WARNING(S): Violence and sickness

The estate was built away from the city proper and not quite on the river, but a bit back from the water, discretely screened by well-tended trees and away from the prying eyes of tourists. The canal that led to it was maintained enough to look picturesque, but not entirely functional; it’s barely wide enough for the boat to fit—one way only—and shallow enough that the bottom occasionally scraped up alarmingly against the boat’s hull.

Some stubborn bursts of the propeller got them through, though the way back out might be more challenging.

Behind a bend they found one of the service tunnels, disused for some time but at least not collapsed. Once it was used for coal and other cargo delivered by water—including the kind that came in living mutant varieties. Nowadays it was kept securely chained and padlocked to keep out tourists and teenagers.

A snikt put an end to that.

The trip through the tunnel was uneventful, short, but dark; it was flashlights only here, all the way up the stairs that led to the mansion’s interior, the door to which Logan also handily opened. The mansion itself had…seen better days. Much better days. It’s terribly dusty, with a large amount of furniture removed and covers thrown over the rest, blank spaces on the walls where paintings were removed for storage elsewhere, along with a number of books. Some remained, as covered in dust as the rest of the furnishings.

Logan pulled off the sheet covering one of the remaining couches, sending a small cloud of dust into the air. He swatted at it with the same irritation as a man chasing away a swarm of flies, which at least made Kurt laugh. His condition had worsened significantly after the escape, and he was grateful for the chance to sit again.

It was Logan who spoke.

"Find the lab or find a place to rest; we don’t have time for sightseeing."

((OOC: The mod account will comment every so often if important details are discovered; otherwise feel free to assume the layout of the mansion on your own.))

Comments

[knowledgeandshadow]

[Patchouli was silent, for the moment, simply considering how to best use her ability to break down that door is it became necessary.]

[endurancepoint]

[So that was what tough guy's power was. Wood. That could potentially hurt a lot. Alex let Carlyn do the talking, focusing instead on supporting her power with his own. He'd only tried something like this a couple times before and it was a really weird probability to work with.]

[nasty_surprises]

[Alex's power bolstering Carlyn's was beginning to have an effect, at least where George was concerned. He had reformed...slightly from his puddle-like shape, but not so much that he'd be easily identifiable if he got a chance to escape again.

...or noticable if he decided to attack.]

Mister Sinist-

[Ramrod smacked his hand on the table, knocking several sheafs of paper onto the floor.]

George!

[Nope, back to being a puddle of tar-mutant.]

Sorry, boss!

[diabhal_beag]

... Yeah, it might be good to talk about that now, because, again, the X-Men are sort of coming, and if we already know what you know, it... Miiight hurt less.

[knowledgeandshadow]

Is that name familiar to you at all, Carlyn?

[If anyone knew that, the girl that used to work for SHIELD might.]

[martyrerkomplex]

[It was when the passage behind the bookcase was revealed that Krista had to stop, the dust from the misplaced books and the rubble of the wall making its way into her weakened lungs and doing its damnedest to get back out again. She coughed and coughed, clinging to the wall for support as the others moved forward.]

[By the time she got herself under control, it was too late to catch up. The doorway was blocked off with living wood, and she could barely hear the others' voices.]

[No one with them had a power like that. She backed away from the wood door a few steps, then turned and broke into a run, aiming to find someone who could help her break it down.]

[teufelskerl]

[Blocked doors, however, weren't an issue for all of their backup.]

[With a sound all of the Xavier's crowd would recognize and a burst of dark purple smoke, Nightcrawler appeared behind the Nasty Boys, crouching down on top of a table as he landed.]

Here you are. I see you've been busy wizhout me, meine freunde...

[He flashes an amiable smile in the Nasty Boys' direction, in spite of his body ready to strike and the tired lines on his face.]

You know, with zhe secret passages and zhe blocked off doors, it's almost as if you've got something to hide down here.

[nasty_surprises]

[Ramrod shouts, flinching forwards and away from Kurt's voice, befoee turning and brandishing his staff at the other mutant. The formerly inert fibers in the staff coiled and grew, stretching outwards into rapidly lengthening spikes and transforming what was a nondescript staff into a sharp mace.]

Shut up! All of you shut up!

[Kurt was closest, so he swung at him first.]

[teufelskerl]

[Still smiling, Kurt dodged underneath the blow. Better to have this man's attention on him than on his companions.]

[Before Ramrod could try again, he was gone in a puff of smoke -- then reappearing just behind him, dangling from a support beam overhead. He reached down to try and grab the staff away from him...]

[But his hand disappeared before he could touch it. He flickered out and in again, a look of shock and confusion on his face as he reappeared a few inches away from where he'd been and had to catch himself to keep from falling.]

Was--?!

[Smoke began to leak everywhere, accompanied by strange sounds and a faint purple glow. He tried to step back, away from friends and foes alike, but kept phasing out and in, out and in, every few seconds, with increasingly obvious panic and no control over where in the room he ended up.]

[endurancepoint]

[Oh. Shit.]

Mr Wagner!

[Alex shifted his attention to Kurt, half-closing his eyes to make the probability vectors more visible, trying to find the bundle that made up the German mutant. But they were flickering around the room so quickly, each time he found them they'd vanish before he could even pick them apart to find the one linked to the destabilization, and he'd have to find them all over again.

He shouts across the room in German, hoping he can get Kurt to hold it together a couple seconds longer.]

Mr Wagner! Focus! I'm having trouble finding you!

[diabhal_beag]

[What Carlyn wouldn't do to have something as simple as a gun right now. But instead, since her power isn't working adequately, it's time to try another tactic - namely, running in and striking at this 'Ramrod' fellow's knee.] Not now, not now!

[knowledgeandshadow]

[With that Patchouli brings her own powers into play, by flinging bolts of psychic force at Ramrod's head.]

So much for things going smoothly...

[teufelskerl]

[Kurt heard his name as if from a distance; he redoubled his efforts to slow down, stop-

His form lingered in each place a breath longer than it had been, but smoke continued to billow and fill the room.]

[nasty_surprises]

[George, who until now was doing his best to emulate a piece of the background scenery, flowed into action in Ramrod's defense. One of his hands stretched and extended into tendrils to grab Carlyn and fling her away, the fingers of the other blending and melting together to form a shield that he threw up to protect Ramrod's head. The bolts hit him instead, still knocking his arm back and into the other man's face, but not knocking him out.

Ramrod got back up swinging, this time for Patchouli.]

[long_live_the_queen]

[The wooden door bends, like it was about to give way, before the living fibers regenerate back on themselves in a desperate attempt to hold steady.]

Open this fucking door!

[Whoever was outside didn't like that, apparently. Kaede smashed her telekinetic vectors into the door again, severing the new wood as it grew in. But the door held--just.]

[diabhal_beag]

[As George suddenly moved into action, he successfully grabbed Carlyn, tossing her aside... But it seemed she wasn't done, landing on her feet and charging right for him instead. She knew for a fact she wouldn't likely LAND a punch on him, but distracting him to distract George so that door could be broken open, THAT sounded like a plan!]

[knowledgeandshadow]

[Patchouli was of course quick to use her power to bring up a psionic forcefield, trying to deflect the blow that was flung at her by this Ramrod.]

[endurancepoint]

[By this point, Alex has backed himself into a corner of the room to be out of the way. His skull feels like it's about to split in half, but he doesn't want to think about what it means if Kurt stops poofing around the room. It doesn't help that he can count on one hand the number of times he's poked at probabilities connected to people's powers. And trying to find a mobile probability that keeps relocating every few seconds?]

Come on, Mr Wagner. ... Kurt. You can do this. Just focus on this place. I just have to find the right probability, nudge it just a bit. But I need you to stay here long enough for me to find it and push on it. Stay with us, Kurt.

[Alex forces his vision to narrow to just the probabilities around the room, ignoring the physical bodies and objects they cling to. It's like watching a million fireflies zipping around in a massive swarm. There, that cluster, there for only a few seconds, is Kurt. And now the cluster is over there. Alex mentally grabs for the cluster, trying to sort through it as quickly as he can. But then it's up by the ceiling and he's chasing after it all over again. But each time, he gets a little closer, sorts through a few more fireflies that aren't the one he's looking for.]

[teufelskerl]

[Kurt's voice comes from a half dozen places at once, bouncing all over the room with the rest of him. It's becoming difficult to see him, with the smoke boiling away from his skin.]

I—hear you—

I'm tryi—

[His voice stops.

His teleportation stops.

The last place Kurt's body appears at is over the desk Ramrod had been standing over; he hits it, then slides bonelessly to the floor.

He doesn't answer again.]

[nasty_surprises]

[The tarlike mutant flinches back, swiping at Carlyn's arm as she charges at him. He ducks—down and down until his forehead is nearly level with the floor, flowing around her to the side before surging back to his full height, this time trying to grapple with her.

Ramrod's staff bounces off of Patchouli's barrier without effect, but the man's noticed something.

Namely, that the distinctive sound of Nightcrawler's power has stopped. He pulls back, looking around.]

We...killed an X-man? Shite, we—we did it, we did it, ha—!

[In his moment of gloating, he's forgotten to maintain the door...]

[long_live_the_queen]

[The door finally shatters in a whirlwind burst of wooden shards and silver resonance, the pieces vainly struggling to knit together. Kaede staggers through, panting; using her power that much and so quickly had eroded away whatever healing progress had been done.

That didn't stop her from being a combative little shit as usual, though.]

Something funny, asshole?

[Kaede didn't know what had happened yet. But there were enough thought-colors in this room to make her dizzy and irritable.]

[droppedbucket]

Along with that there is a loudly growling feral girl, poised and ready to leap. She moved out to be in front of the little group she was with, ready to attack.

Although there is a moment of confusion, glancing about the room, What was going on? The growl stopped for a split second but then doubled at seeing Kurt. Something was wrong..even if she didn't know what.

[knowledgeandshadow]

[Patchouli is starting to weaken, but she has still has fight in her despite how weak the virus has left her. Her barrier fades after deflecting the blow, and she redirects the psionic energy into two more bolts which she promptly lets fly... Right in her attacker's face.]

[martyrerkomplex]

[For a moment, on stepping into the room, she struggles to take everything in. The moment she sees Kurt, though, she stepps in front of Kisume.]

Stay there for now, please.

[It's the man who's crowing about killing an X-man that she directs her powers towards. She has no emotional connection with him suitable for subtle manipulation, so she goes with a powerful rush of emotions straight to his brain (guilt, regret, grief, self-hatred), like a thief giving up on lockpicks and deciding to just take a crowbar to the door.]

[endurancepoint]

[It's like taking a hard right hook straight to the face, except it's his brain. Because Alex had been right there, looking at the cluster of glowing probabilities that made up Kurt, when they suddenly changed. Changed from the lively, active, wonderfully confusing combination that make up a live being, and became the simple, inert ones of a thing, an object with no spark of life to it. He's seen it happen before, but never so close, never when he was looking right at the person and nothing else.

Alex crumples to the floor silently, hands clutching at his temples. The pain from using his power so intense he can barely see what's going on in front of him.]