HEAVY IS THE HEAD: Part One, SINISTER LEGACY Fallout

[astonishing_xmods]

WHO: The Students and Faculty of the Xavier Institute
WHAT: Charity work in District X, but things are getting bad again
WHERE: District X
WHEN: Thanksgiving Weekend
WARNING(S): Violence, language, etc

So this was Christmas, and War was Not Over. The soup lines, this time, were alongside official Vaccine Centers, cures to the Legacy Virus being handed out alongside plates of hot food for the needy. Once more, winter was bleak in the world of mutants living in forced squalor. Attitudes were not particularly bright. People were no longer dying in the streets from illness, but were conditions really any better? War with Genosha was imminent. The National Guard was already standing post around the community, enforcing curfews, treating the area now more than ever like an internment community. Xavier's students were allowed to move around freely, but only with special ID badges that marked them as such. It was the same all over the country.

This wasn't Mutant Registration... it somehow felt worse. And it didn't help that the Mutant Liberation Front was still very active in the area, and many of them entirely blamed the X-Men for Renko's apparent 'death'. There were antagonistic forces around them, and desperate faces looking at them for some kind of hope. And if they couldn't get it there...

There were whispers, a lot of them, about fleeing to Genosha. About joining the MLF and working alongside Genosha for 'true' mutant liberation. About kickstarting this war on local soil. And really...

... was there anything the X-Men could do to stop it? Should they stop it?

Comments

[romancing]

[ Koishi lets out a gasp of surprise, her only instinctive reaction being to put her hands up to her neck to shield herself. A tendril sways wildly, intent on hitting whatever's closest to her. ]

[green_eyed]

-Parsee responded as well, lunging again, leaping right over Koishi to try and claw at anything she could get her hands near. There wasn't a lot of strength in her right arm, but the claws were still sharp.-

[thenewbrotherhood]

[Vanisher brings up his second blade to block Parsee's claws while the other gets caught up in Koishi's tentacles, grabbed in such a way to where it would did in, but not cut, and his hand was bound. For a brief second, he felt incredibly, painfully vulnerable.]

[romancing]

[ She winces--it was a little like tugging on her hair, but considering her neck was almost the knife's target a few seconds ago, she's not complaining.

Koishi flips back onto her feet, keeping a hand on the first tendril to steady it. She shoots Parsee a look over her shoulder that says get ready, as she sends another tendril out in an attempt to bind Vanisher's other hand. ]

[green_eyed]

Gotcha now! -She knew he wouldn't be able to teleport in time, both of his hands bound, and her already mid strike.-

[thenewbrotherhood]

[She was right. He couldn't teleport himself. But he sure could take both of them with him as Parsee's claws dug in, and in a blink, they soon all three found themselves well above the skyline of District X, and plummeting fast.]

[romancing]

[ .........whelp

Koishi flails uselessly for a few seconds, scrambling to grab a hold of something, her hands grasping at air. ]

Parsee...!

[droppedbucket]

[Kisume had been running about, trying to find the best place to leap in and help...but this was DEFINITELY where she needed to be. There is a very loud sound, almost a scream as she quickly dug deep into herself, reaching out and gathering as much water as she could, to try and slow or stop the fall.

Mind you, it was SEWER water but it was the best she could do on short notice..and it was the most she could get a hold of with her powers. It's a fairly large amount, A lot more then what she would normally be able to do but she's shaking with the concentration.]

[green_eyed]

-Nothing Parsee wasn't used to, at least. She quickly grabbed onto Koishi, holding her tightly as she let the jet of water break their fall and carry them down safely to the ground.-

[thenewbrotherhood]

[Juuust great. Three targets now. All of them morlock freaks. He really had his work cut out for him... maybe retreat was a better option for now.]

[romancing]

[ WELL THIS IS PRETTY NEW TO KOISHI which is why she's surprisingly silent while clinging to Parsee. She's sort of in shock. ]

[droppedbucket]

[There is a lot of relief showing in the feral's face at the fact Parsee and Koishi are okay..from the fall at least. She lets the water goes back to the sewer and she stops shaking for now...other then the growl that's not going to stop anytime soon.

Someone is ready to defend..]

[green_eyed]

-Parsee re-situated herself, still cradling Koishi, panting just slightly. They were a lot wetter, thankfully not any smellier due to the flush being largely clean water from the drinking lines, but not a single injury to speak of. In fact, having some of the blood washed off helped improve her mood.

And she still smiled.-

You're outnumbered, Vanisher... You can be anywhere, but you can't be three places at once.

[thenewbrotherhood]

Filthy morlocks are like goddamn roaches. You stomp one, and two others show up...

It's bad form for an assassin to leave his mark breathing, but it's also bad form for an assassin to get caught... Gotta admit, you have me at something of an impasse, Green Eyes.

[romancing]

[ Those sort of insults manage to cut deeper than a non-mutant saying them, for reasons Koishi can't quite understand. She slips out of Parsee's grasp, taking a step forward. ]

You won't be leaving.

[droppedbucket]

[Kisume's situating herself in between Vanisher and her clan mates, growling. She didn't like how that sounded either but she wasn't about to try and say anything. Likely it would make no sense.]

[green_eyed]

I have... a lot... of scars, thanks to you. Ugly, big scars. For a long time, I could barely stand to look at myself.

I look at you, so pretty and normal... I can't help but feel jealous...

-Green, sickly green psionic energy started to pour out from her, seep around the four of them like a creeping fog, leach right into Vanisher's mind...-

[thenewbrotherhood]

[He could feel it. Those tendril like holds in his mind. The same ones she'd latched onto him that time in the Institute's tunnels. Again she was trying to pierce his head, rip it apart, make him do something stupid...

But he'd had some work done since then. If she kept pressing, she'd find herself a very... very unpleasant surprise. Doing his best to look intimidated, he goaded her further.]

You got the ugly part right, but you didn't need my help for that...

[romancing]

[ The psychic tension in the air was almost unbearable. But Koishi doesn't let the discomfort show on her face, standing her ground and readying herself to start mentally probing, if need be. ]

[droppedbucket]

[There is a slow movement forward as Kisume was trying to keep that threatening look and growl going. She wasn't going to move too far, just in case but for now..Something was going to happen. It was a matter of time..]

[green_eyed]

-And Parsee kept up the pressure. If Vanisher had another trick up his sleeve, she was completely unaware of it. For as much psychic power s she had, she wasn't all that focused at using it...-

[thenewbrotherhood]

[Therein lied the 'rub'.

It was a last resort, to be sure, but Vanisher had lived through too much to die here in the dingy streets of a mutant ghetto at the hands of morlocks. Once Parsee's power got deep enough, where she normally went to start really playing with someone's perceptions and feelings, she'd find it.

The telepathic boobytrap. A psychokinetic bomb. Mastermind had helped plant one there years ago, after they'd both escaped SHIELD custody. Just in case Xavier ever tried to go after him. It's a shame to waste such an effective psycho-killer on a worthless troll like this, but hey... Live and fight another day.

The sensation would come in the form of massive psychic feedback, enough to cause an aneurysm on most people. He'd be surprised if she survived it.]

[romancing]

[ Koishi has the sinking feeling that something is horribly wrong, but calling off the fight on conjecture and mild psychic pressure alone--

She starts mentally pressing, herself. If he has any negative memories she could bring to the surface, she tries. ]

[droppedbucket]

[There is a stop in the growling, as she glances back to see what was going on. She isn't as sensitive to psychic energies so she's a little bit in the dark at the moment.]

[green_eyed]

-Unfortunately, Parsee didn't see it coming, and when the psychic backlash hit her, it was enough to send Parsee off her feet and screaming, clutching at her head. Like a severe migraine happening all at once. She could feel blood trailing down her lip from her nose, and down her jaw from her ears... Which of course meant Vanisher was free to move again.-