Evil That Men Do (2)

July 10, 2015:

The X-Men and Ozymandias team up to face a perceived threat in Africa.

Lwak, Africa

Characters

NPCs: Warlord Wakinda, Insurgents, Mother Matubesi, The Company, Senator Dixon

Mentions:

Plot:

Mood Music: [*\# None.]


Fade In…

(CITY HALL, 7TH FLOOR) — SALEM, WISCONSIN:

TWO WEEKS AGO:

Senator Dixon grasps his hands, twisting the skin against sinew and bone, pacing the floor of his temporary office as he waits for the call that'll seem as if it'll never come. As the phone rings, a look of trepidation crosses his features, skin palming and nearly drawing pale, his bottom lip trembling as he reaches for the phone to answer the call.

'Yes. Yes. Do it. All of them. I don't care how it's done and I don't want to know. Just get it done!'

LWAK, KENYA (Village Outskirts)

ONE WEEK AGO:

The screaming cries of their mothers are the only thing that they're forced to remember; each teenager, standing in a row, bottom lips a tremble as the men who create a near better part of Warlord Wakinda's army straps what could be a poor mans protective vests upon their slender shoulders. They stood in a row, chins forcibly held high, eyes bloodshot red from lack of sleep and mistreatment, the fear already left them and there was nothing left but the dark. The dark and empty that cools their souls into acceptance, their fates left to the deities that they worshipped and the thoughts not upon their mothers, but themselves.

'I'm going to live and go back home.' Used to be their first thoughts. Now..
'I want to die.' Became their mantra.

As the men outfitted the teenagers with pistols, machetes, semi-automatic rifles, Warlord Wakinda remains perched upon his horse. His face cut to ribbons through rituals of old, blood from a lion stained upon his shirt and marked within those rigid fits of skin, even melding within the white of his left eye to give him the sclera effect. And it was daunting. Brown shirt stained, large fingers grasping the reigns as he gives a nod towards his General, flipping one leg from his horse to approach the largest stolen soul. Calsus, aged twenty.

"You will fight as my brothers, you will die as my brothers, all of this will soon be ours!"

The men surrounding the stolen children cheer and create havoc, all the while one of the teens, the smallest one, breaks down into a soul crushing cry.

INSIDE THE VILLAGE (TWO DAYS AGO):

A group of thugs from the outskirts of Lwak corner a man, sticks raised high as they start the first sets of raiding earlier against the orders of Wakinda; looking to start the job earlier to receive praise and congratulations and a job well done. Little did they know?

ONE DAY AGO:

Michael stares towards the lake in alarm, the water slowly drawing itself upright and into the air in a deliberate motion, wavering and falling with hard splashes though no current this hard has touched it since. Each time the water rises and falls, he notices something that only a trained eye can see. Each touch down into it's natural state allows the salt lines that mark lakes edge seem to grow wider, the lake itself, large body that it is, shallow.

'Dr. Curich!' Michael sets off into a run, dragging the man by the arm as hard as he could..

'Call the X-Men, we're too late!'

PRESENT DAY: (Even though it's not so present.)

The blackbird was promptly fueled and at the ready, Jean for once manning the controls, a woman on a mission and intent to save the small nation of innocent souls on a fast track to extinction. With those gathered that was called upon, even a few stragglers who came to the meet, she powered up and set it to soar at a blazing speed towards Africa?

They touch down, only to be met with panicked villagers, most in their houses while others remain outside to look towards the sky. The visibility was harsh, the air dry, dust blows along with it from crops that faded into nothing after the water itself has been drained.

"To me, my X-Men." Jean calls out, her foot pressing hard into the dried ground, her gaze upon all those gathered. It was time to give their marching orders.

"The situation is dire." She starts off, looking towards them all. "Connection with Professor X has been established on the way here." A hand lifts, tapping towards her temple. "There's a mutant in our midst and we need to find them as soon as?"

Before her words were cut loose, a loud whistle cuts through the air like a well sharpened knife, the missile itself planting fifty yards from where the blackbird landed, exploding dust and fire all amongst the carrier.

The extinction has begun.

Kurt Wagner has a pair of swords criss-crossed on his back, his cutlasses taken out to be used for the first time since he's returned to the X-men. It seems an appropriate time. Everything he's learned about this situatio has been heartbreaking - there will be no winners here today, just those who survive. The thing that the X-men can do is try to maximize the number of those survivors - and make sure that the ones responsible for this horror pay the price for it.

He starts moving quickly, trying to guide the villagers outside of the carnage, "Mr. Grey, some shielding for the evacuees…and the rest of us…if we could?" he calls out to Nate, drawing his blades as he teleports himself to search the village for stragglers, BAMFing to and fro…

Lunair is one of the X-people riding along. She has her sleek, high tech looking power armor on in light colors - likely so she doesn't get too hot, though it has a black visor that folds like the ones from Metal Gear Rising. Someone has done her homework. For her part, she listens. And quietly prepares herself. No weapons in the Blackbird, but if someone asks, Lunair will be totally helpful.

Else, she slings one of those odd staves with a cat carved at the end over her back and takes a long, slender laser rifle with her. She can fly in the power armor.

Nate is learning to pilot the Blackbird. It is cool, even though the plane is not as fast as he is when flying. Unfortunately if he can't pilot it, he gets bored. Fortunately, Rose was also onboard. Trip was alright.

Not knowing Lwak, he is not sure the arid weather is normal or not. But the panic of the population is noticeable enough, if the reason is not immediately apparent. That is, until the missile hits the ground.

"I'll see if we can intercept the missiles… or take out the shooters." States the young man, taking Rose and flying up until he stands a hundred yards up. « Mindlinks anyone? » He offers to the team, while looking for the attackers.

GAME: Shayera Hol has set the pose order to Shay, Kurt, Lunair, Nate, Ravage-Candy

Rose is hoisted up in the air, the flight on the blackbird one that she simply ignored, much akin to Psylocke's (or anyone elses) driving. Keep busy, and it does not matter. But now it is in Nate's grasp, gaining a view from above to inspect and look down upon the village as well as take a deep breath in, deep breath out…

«Open and here. I have a vantage and directive. Luna, I need a jetpack. Toss high and 10 degrees west. I'm going in.»

It takes a lot for Rose to allow others behind those steel reinforced walls of her mind, but this is her team now, these are her people, and they asked for her help. «You guys find the mutant. I can take the opposition.» Pausing she looks up to Nate and finishes zipping up her reinforced suit, the sheen of scale maille reflecting off the light from the sun where it contours down her sides, adding heartiness to coveted vitals. The half mask encircling the white iris that flashes and starts to poan and zoom the horizon from where this militaistic approach has come from.

"Let me go on three." She speaks to Nate now, the H&K pistols now drawn. "One."

Reaching behind her the swaords are locked into place, daggers checked. "Two."

Tightening her high and tight pony tail of platinum. "Three!"

Jetpack better be tossed her way, arms go up and she is slipping from Nate's hold to plummet several yards towards the ground and closing while searching along the skyline, that bionic eye scanning and feeding…

Another whistle cracks through the air near the blackbird, only to be stopped by the shielded efforts of Rachel and Brinley. The shield was vast enough by their combined efforts to allow Nate to fly through with Rose in tow.

There was no need for Jean to give orders, the team leads already knew what to do. With Nightcrawler already off preparing the evacuation, Jean lifts a finger to press against her temple to focus harder upon the voice within her head.

"Fan out X-Red!" She calls out. "Mana! Keep your shields up and evacuate the citizens with Amphere! Leave no one unprotected! Rachel, cover the other end of the village and make sure no one is present! Storm! Follow me!"

AT THE OUTSKIRTS:

Warlord Wakinda laughs as he hears the sounds of the screaming villagers, dropping down from his horse, his rifle at the ready as he motions his General forward.

"Send in da chil'ren. We cannot afford to waste our man on silly villagers."

The children were soon ushered forward and pushed towards the frontline, rifles aimed at the back of their heads as one fires into the air to send them all running.

Tears were in their eyes, their guns held awkwardly, joining the fight against no will of their own, preparing to die for someone elses cause.

The crew consisiting of Ravager, Nightcrawler, X-Man and Armory would run into the un-friendly fire first, while the evacuation preparations begin.

NEAR THE OPPOSITE END OF THE VILLAGE:

A small mercenary force supplied by The Company begins to gather, ten men in total, armed and armored to the teeth with bandanas covering their faces. They stand near a Humvee, and once they hear the racket of a mini war break out, the leader signals the crew, one holding a device as he grunts out his commands.

'Leave the villagers, they're doomed.'
'Straight for the asset?'
'Yes, Extraction is a go. Lets move out!'

VILLAGE OUTSKIRTS:

What Rose could see, high in the air is a slight sight to behold. There were children, rushing towards the other X-Men, tears in their eyes, their expressions panicked, a row of large men aiming pistols towards them at their six. The rest of the criminals in Wakinda's band, fifty in all gathered around him in their own prayer. Rifles were waved high into the air, their warcries unleashed, turning and running towards the front line, guns and machetes held high as they brace themselves for carnage.

"IT IS A GOOD DAY TO DIE, MY MEN!" Wakinda cries out, his perch soon taken upon the horse he rode in on and approaching fast.

Kurt Wagner starts trying to gather the villagers, although, of course, his appearance isn't the greatest help in this matter. When he retrieves a lost child, however, left behind in the rush, and returns her to her mother, that seems to break some sort of tension and they begin to allow the devilish looking mutant to guide them towards safety, even as he occasionally BAMFs off to check other nooks and crannies for those who might be left behind.

«Can we try to keep the wholesale slaughter to a minimum? Warlords here often use forced labor - those on the other side may not have much choice in what they're doing. Let's try to retain our humanity if we can.» he says along the telepathic link, although he suspects he'll be saying last rites over too many people this day. But, then, wasn't even one too many in circumstances like this?

Removing disconnecting player Ravager.

Ravager leaves back to FRP Room #3

Ravager arrives from FRP Room #3.

There's a jetpack for Rose. Lunair is not cruel to her friends. She genuinely seems to care, even if she's awful at showing it at times. « You got it, » But yes, she'll get Rose her jet pack and she will - blink at Rose. Well, blink inside of her helm. At Kurt's words, there's a twinge. Actually, she needn't chuck a jetpack at Rose. It appears nicely and neatly in perfect grabbing grange. She's thoughtful that way.

Nevertheless, she is going to be flying, watching for targets and asset alike. « Hey, I see a dude on a horse. Those are usually reserved for the wealthy, yes? » Well. She has a hard time communicating, but it is a target. Possibly. She's switching to nonlethal weaponry. Sleeping dust.

Nate lets Rose drop, rusting she knows what she is doing, even if it is something pretty crazy. It will be something crazy for sure, and sadly he is going to miss it, because he can see the enemy advancing. Which starts with a large mob of underaged but armed boys. « I see them. Child soldiers » there is a flash of anger, he tries to clench when Kurt reminds him the X-Men rules of engagement. Fiiiine. « Luna, do you have any incapacitating weapon at hand. I can give you cover. We gotta find the handlers too. Take them down. Broken bones allowed, I hope? »

Ozymandias arrives from FRP Room #3.

GAME: Shayera Hol has set the pose order to Bird, Bloo, Loon, Naynay, Redrum, Oz

Change my attempt…. Good intentions…

«I make no promises.. Priest.» Ravager states as she coasts through the air, the H&K's now fitted to wrist holsters that swivel them in and out of her grip with triggering mechanisms for quick draw at hand and no holsters necessary, what lines her waist though is by no means a small arsenal of clips, grenades, and zip-lines with grappeling hooks. She came locked and loaded and with one intent. To get the innocents out alive.

The innocents.

Crowned hopeless. The article read: 'Living Wasteland'

«Nate…Children…» Her tone changes. But I will not hide you through this. I want you to help!

The jetpack is grabbed and strapped on in a twist through the air, lacking the acrobatic ease, flailing limbs as her haste steps up.

«They're holding guns to their heads…» Limbs tied, skin tight..

The jetpack kicks on when she is aimed and the throttle bursts her into a space between the kids and the men, a kick up of dust and sand in a wave as her body crashes in, asshole over elbow to draw a body sides line between them.

A moment of pause, dust settles and Ravager rises from the smokescreen of arid land with those semi-automatic pistols kicking up divets at the men's feet who hold the guns. "That's a warning motherfuckers!"

The pistols snap and rotate back away from her hands and the swords are drawn from her back, another metallic sheen in the sunlight.

Should I… Could I?

Ozymandias finally arrives at the battle and quickly analyzes the situation. Children soldiers marching toward other heroes. Ozymandias moves his hand towards his knockout gas, but doesn't want to take chance that the wind direction is going to change and take out the other heroes too. He decides to throw some smoke bombs between the children, and the soldiers in attempt to block them from forcing the children to advance. He switched on his infrared lenses as his hand goes quickly to collapsible bow, and quickly extends it.

Ozymandias quickly loads an arrow, aims, and fires at Wakinda.

'My baby! Someone help me find my baby!' The woman screams out, letting out another as a puff of hellish smoke lands next to her with her child in tow. She snatches the baby from his arms in a fright, holding the child against her, her arm snaking out to try to wrap around Nightcrawler's neck in a hug. Everyone can see this, and everyone soon jumps on board.

Brinley's evactuation efforts prove true as well, a family of six hiding beneath her shields, the children in tears but yet they rush on, and once their cleared the area and breach safety, they begin to run to join the others. Joshua has a problem, two doe eyed little boys cling to his leg, refusing to leave his side. But anything else was the better. Their parents as well stick close to their children, quite possibly taking up room beneath the shielding, yet staying close to make sure that the little fans of Joshua remain safe and cared for.

OUTSKIRTS:

It was hard to miss Warlord Wakinda, his scarred features, covered in blood, the only one upon the horse riding with a machete and gun, wide grin across his face, his thoughts already upon the reason as to why they call him the Death God of Lwak. Prematurely.

OUTSIDE THE VILLAGE:

The men were immediately startled as Rachel lands in between them, but they were trained. Startled or not, the guns raise up, two of them skirting back a few paces and pulling the trigger on their semi-automatic rifles. Screw talking, screw it all. They're going to fire and they're going to fire.. NOW.

*-KLACKATKAATKAKT!-* They were aiming for the kill..

But little did they know, their asset was fast approaching from back and above..

OUTSKIRTS:

"STORM! Wait!" Jean cries out, turning in a blaze of fire to follow behind her friend, only stopping a few paces as she sees exactly what fired towards them to begin with. It broke her heart to see the children, and yet as the others dash into the foray; Ravager, who cuts off the men behind the children in a shocking blow that sends pistols and weapons flying.. Lunair, who spots the Warlord Wakinda, Kurt.. who bamfs around to save the others..

Her hands clasp together as her entire being melts away into psionic energies, taking what was left in the air.. the residue of minds who were creeping and afraid, now safe thanks to X-Red. And breathes it in.

The red being draws back her hands as the guns fly away from the children, a sweeping hint of force blowing the children closer towards Nathaniel's direction.

« Take care of them Nate..»

When it comes from Jean, who knows what that could mean.

Ozy's added bomb to get the children out of line of sight from the men at their backs prove fruitful, what was even better.. was the arrow that *THWIPS* towards Wakinda, planting right into his chest.

But the Death God of Lwak continues to move, his machete raising upright and pointed directly towards Ozymandias. "I COME FOR YOU!" His voice booms.

Shouldn't have shot the man. It's about to go down.

A few soldiers have tried to cut the villagers off, only to find themselves facing off with a German devil of which they could not imagine. Kurt does not kill, it's true, even if he cannot claim the title of priest which Ravager so disdainfully gave to him. He wasn't good enough to be a priest. A priest would lay down his arms and plead with these men to find the mercy in their hearts.

Kurt offers them the mercy of his feet in their faces and his blades severing the weapons from their hands.

He dashes among them in bursts of sulfur and violence, lashing out and vanishing before bullets can find him, providing more than enough distraction to keep those soldiers away from the fleeing innocents, making himself the last line of defense, their safety first and foremost in the mutant hero's mind.

Pleading for peace is nice and all, but it tends to end in someone in pieces. The universe is cruel that way. Lunair is sympathetic to the kids, at least, even if killing doesn't bother her. A part of her is fearful of that, a part of her doesn't seem bothered in the slightest. Nevertheless, she has been asked nicely and Kurt seems like a good person. So, dust it is. How odd. But somehow, it seems wise to have them laying down and out of the fight.

Because a part of her really does sympathize. « The guy on the horse is really, really important. » She observes. She remembers Ozymandias, and Ozy is shooting horse guy. So now there's time for- hmm. He's probably not exactly normal, on account of just kind of accepting the arrow in his chest. So maybe a laser shot to the neck should do, yes indeedy.

Nate shields Lunair from the bullets, shooting a few force blasts at the ground near the adult troops, mostly to keep them from aiming right before Rose gets them. When Jean tells him to take the children, he groumbles, "now I am the babysitter, for fucks sake…"

There is not much he can do, anyway. Try to keep them caged with telekinesis, and disarm them when they pull knives and small handguns to attack him. Suicidal troops are pretty dangerous, but Nate is pretty much invulnerable to anything the child soldiers can try.

The children are behind Ravager, where she has planted herself tritely between and ushered her threat towards those who sought to -force- them into acts unspeakable. Her jaw is set in a manner, teeth flashed in a humanistic feral setting. No smile, no frown, just determination. Those who feel and parte dwith weapons upon her crash landing are left alone, those who remain standing raise their weapons and open fire, others charging in with machetes to try and eliminate the interruption and press on. Just one girl, should be easy..

Ravager spins to face her back to her attackers, bending over she grips a fallen man to add weight and returns the thrusters of the jetpack to life, the flames shooting out towards the onslaught of men, the added weight of fallen anchor and body making her spin full circle while the heat shoots out and incinerates a gap, the swords in hands slamming down into the earrth then, pinning the man she used as an anchor as well as keeping her from taking off.

Others rise and charge, the large throwing bldes that rested paralell at the small of her back drawn and launched.

One. The man is taken in the shoulder, sinning to hit the ground and drop his weapon. Tendons making his limb useful. Uselless and severed.

Two. Unleashed into another, hitting him in the hip, femoral artery in danger there as his run to persue the children is now brought to a quick writhing stop.

Another. one man raises his AK and aims for the back of retreating children, seeking to keep them on course, but in a rotated flash the H&K pistols are back in Ravagers hands and that man falls. One bullet and it ricocheted off his rifle and into his eye.

«Never harm children. Nate, the soldiers!» A creed her own, taught to her, passed down the line.

Fuck the rest. but she is sorely outnumbered here, a grenade puuulled but the pin is in place… She'd pull it standing amongst it if she had to…

Ozymandias uses his superspeed and acrobatics to quickly get passed the children. He makes sure he used one of the soldiers to break his fall. He stomps of the man's back, breaking it. Seeing the one that they call Death God of Lwak charged at him, Ozymandias drops his collapsible bow, his enhances reflexes reach for his Zulu style shield and his assegai. Ozymandias shouts in Bantu to the charging Lwak, "Please, do not disappoint me!" He transform his assegai into a mystical version of itself, while keeping his shield remains titanium. When the laser from Lunair attacks his Lwak, Ozymandias charges the Death hoping to block his machete attack and stab him with his mystical assegai.

SAFE ZONE:

'We're safe!'
'We're here Mother Matubesi!'

"Gather around my people!" The Matron Mother calls out, the older, dreadlocked woman gesturing her kin closer to surround her, keeping near the water banks of Lake Victoria, sadness within her eyes as her hands begin to slowly clap. Her people settled near their feet, as Matubesi begins to hum an old hymn, her way of prayer to those who fight for them.

The voices of those saved by the X-Red and Nightcrawler begin to carry, echoing as a battle cry to fuel the fight.

Lightening thunders and booms through the sky, Storms surgical precision alighting the vehicle on fire?

OUTSKIRTS:

The men continually try to fire, but their weapons were reduced to nothing but hunks of metal in which one actively throws towards Rachel. But, the cracking peel of thunder that strikes the vehicle causes them to leap and scatter for cover, while three of them, the bold, withdraw their own larger than life knives and begin to attack Red Phoenix. If they cannot shoot, they will try to cut.

As the lingering few fell to the ground to try to rise, the blast of water hits them at their sides and they go flying!

THE MUTANT IS REVEALED!

Or was he?

But nevermind that, Brinley and Joshua are in for a surprise as a force of insurgents descend, drawing their way around the huts.. Managing to sneak away and around from the fighting few and begin to open fire. Joshua was the first target, the being first seen, rifles aimed and fired as three insurgents head towards Brinley, machetes risen, warcries abound..

"Go to Rachel, Storm." Jean tells her. It was obvious seeing the children had bothered her, and feeling Nathaniel's discontent, she shakes her head and lets out a sigh. "I'll get the babes, just go!"

She leaves Storm to do what she must, the red being flying down towards the battlefield..

« X-Man, break shield, I got them! »

Little did she know, the children had already spotted her, their eyes wide as they see a ball of fire blazing towards their position.

Wakinda charges towards Ozymandias, the shield of their mothers land presented which presents a cool grin from the Warlord. "MY BROTHER!" The man howls out, machete high into the air, drawing it down which slams hard against the shield..

'URG!' The Warlord cries out.

Lunair's shot was true, knocking Wakinda from his horse, the man landing upon his back as his steed rushes off and away from the fight. His body begins to convulse, one hand desperately clasping for his neck as his back arches terribly. His soul was burning, everything within him ran cold and it shocked the fear back into his heart (which, naturally, was upon the other side of his chest.) He was an anomaly of sorts!

Ravager isn't fairing any better, the men are descending upon them, and she's prepared to go out in a blaze of glory, the ticking tock of the grenade within her hand ready to go at any second once the clasp is released..

Ravager gets a flash at her back and a sudden whiff of sulfur as Nightcrawler manifests next to her, having finished escorting the villagers to safety as best he can. With the innocent attended, he can focus now on helping his teammates in the fray.

"Pardon me, fraulein, I hope you don't mind a little priestly swordsmanship," he says with a roguish grin, flicking one of his cutlasses to send an incoming grenade flying away as he starts to kick and slash, his blades going low as he does a cartwheel, momentarily flicking one sword up and actually fighting with his foot as he sweeps low with the other blade, taking out a few tendons and giving him and the one-eyed warrior woman a little more room to breathe.

"By the way, I do not have the military training, but I think you are supposed to throw a grenade after you pull the pin, ja?" he reminds, teleporting quickly to the otherside of her with a flashing BAMF and kicking another soldier in the face…

Lunair does not want to see her friend blown up. Lunair likes her friends like she likes her coffee. Unexploded. But she's looking out to Rose now. She's going to make sure Wakinda stays down. Anomaly or not, Wakinda is an awful Warlord - even if there are dozens lined up to replace him. « Main guy is knocked down, » She notes. « … Ravager? » There's some worry in her thoughts. She's on clean up duty, white motes dancing around the end of her laser rifle.

She is not harming children, but neither is she going to play especially nicely to minions of a warlord. Most are non-lethal shots - meant to sting, warn and punish. But her eye is on Wakinda should she need to finish him off. And she likely will, unless someone stops her.

"Thanks, Phoenix," states Nate, leaving the kids with Jean, he flies to help Rose, finding Kurt is already helping her. "She always does things the hardest way," he notes to the teleporting mutant, charging through the soldiers and pushing them back easily with telekinetically enhanced strength. There will definitely be broken bones, he is not being gentle.

Ozymandias takes the Warlord's hand, and starts to break his fingers. He whispers in Bantu to the man, "My brother, I want you to know that it is not me that it hurting you." Ozymandias will moves on to break the man's left wrist and forearm. "I want you to know that it is your ancestors that you have shame that are hurting you. If this work, Ozymandias will slam his shield down on the man's knees to break them. "I want you to know that when you are sitting in jail, not being able to move that the children of this precious land are to be cherished and protected. Ozymandias leans in and strokes the Death God's head and whispers, "And I want you to know that I am the only immortal that decides the life and death of the people of this land. Ozymandias brings his elbows down on the man's clavicle shattering it in multiple places.

Several men are burned from her jetpack attack, two stabbed, one with a bullet in his brain, entry via eyesocket. There are ways to make someone vicariously… Nevermind. Ravager is being mobbed by the angered while others tried to rush past after the children, now under protection, but she is not looking back, she is trying to simply keep from having to. Sometimes not knowing is best.

In the moment Ravager simply knows what has to be done and just as thumb tucks into the grenades pin the aid she called for arrives, the mental concern from Lunair heard and for a moment that leer offsetting a sneer softens. «I am fine Lunair, the calvary sent answers to my prayers..» On open mic mind here, Nightcrawler and all of them can hear it. A small smile as thumb withdraws from the pin, though it now forms reinforcement to her fist as Kurt takes on one she spins to cover his back, slamming her fist into the jaw of another that charges in.. Over and over until something *cracks*. Rage issues.

Nate's words and the forceful blow that clears the wave further back has her rising, flipping that high pony away from her face with a huffed exhale, that mismatched gaze scanning.

"I have never heard you complain about how I do things before, /dearest/." Ravager states to Nate with a small smirk, launging that grenade towards Luna.

«Hut-hut-HIKE! Luna, alee-oop that to their heels!» Some are fleeing towards Ozy and the Warlord, or away, whickever. That will put some pep in their step!

OUTSKIRTS:

Nightcrawler to Ravagers rescue! The blue demon bamfs to and fro, some of the warriors break out into runs at the sight of the woman who harnesses a demon within her grip, as the others take action to try to fight back. Some were turned upside down and felled, attempting to scramble and run away, tripping over bodies as they go.

The field was clear as Nate's shield was dropped around the children, the glowing being that is Jean scoops them up in a ball of TK to fly them off towards safety. VILLAGE EDGE:

Rachel's fight, it goes much smoother than Ravager and Nightcrawler's, the men surrounding Rachel moves to attack only to find their blades sliced in two. But still, they press on. Until something strange happens, with the crack of lightening in the sky and the stench of fear was in the air surrounding the two engrossed in battle, the men collapsing one by one, the other set to begging for the very thing that he's deprived of.. Storm arrived just in time for a treat.

VILLAGE PROPER:

Brinley manages to catch an insurgent with an arrow to the knee, dropping the man cold as she loads up another. She has time, of course, though it's Joshua that also answers the call to action. Bolts fly, bodies drop, guns are tossed into the air and one of them? They lose a shoe.

MEANWHILE:

The Warlord remains upon the ground, a whithering mess of tears as Ozy kneels to his side.

"Brotha' you can unnerstand.." His hand was taken..

*SNAPCRACK*

Ozy dismantles the man, bit by boring bit, snapping bone in places that causes the man to scream out in pain and sheer horror. And no one, not even his own, can stand the sound. They begin to disperse, disengage the battle. Warlord Wakinda is down, and there was nothing left to fight for.

The grenade, however.. was batted towards Lunair's way. What ever will she do with it?

Kurt Wagner finds himself breathing heavily, a hint of sweat in his fur after the workout of throwing down with these soldiers. For all his talk of doing thing the right way, he wasn't entirely gentle himself - there's blood on his blades, just not heart's blood. He has no objection to putting men in the hospital to think about the consequences of their sins.

Kurt looks to the others, knowing this was only part of the mission at hand. He could only hope Jean and the others were successful…or, at the very least, that the crisis could be averted with as little loss of life as possible.

In the meantime, Kurt does walk amongst the fallen, finding those who have lost their lives and, drawing a rosary from his pocket, kneels and prays over each. No, he's not a priest, but he's as close as you're going to find out here…

See. Lunair has one great problem. She was raised in a lab, a hospital room, things that do not get much outside contact. And so suddenly she has a grenade and she's told to… alee… oop? There's a wave of confusion from Lunair for those paying attention to the mental channels. She doesn't know what that /means/. There might be a brief tinge of horror to those around her. That only lasts for a second, as even Lunair figures out what to do with a ready grenade. To the heels of the soldiers! It's more motivational than intended to be outright lethal.

And she does not stop the revenge between Ozy and the Warlord. Lunair is not the cultural boss of everyone. But yes, Lunair is aiming to scare, not hurt. Much.

"I always complain when you play with /live/ grenades," notes Nate, smirking at the white haired girl. The warlord men are fleeing, so he makes a quick telepathic scanning for surprises, and verification everyone in the X-Men made it alive and well. It would also be good to know why were these guys here. But it is better to leave Warlord Wakinda mind-scrubbing to Jean or Rachel.

Ravager still does not look back, instead that mismatched gaze of cold and digigrade emptiness sweeps over the plateau of desert littered in bodies. One man stands and staggers, swaying in his solitary stance to stare at Nate, Luna, and Ravager, raising his hands and dropping his gun, speaking in a language she did not know, although the readout and translation was being sought…

"No.." Ravager stops the translation search and she raises one of her pistols. "Translate to dialect just affirmed. /Run./" When it was given she spoke the language back to the man, that one word followed by a flick of finger over the trigger of her pistol. Pull it? No. But he was running with the same stricken fear on his face the children he once pursued did and her hand shook. She wanted to pull it, she would if it was not for…

Nate's words have her drawing in a deep shuddering breath with a smile that is fighting to win out over that dark desire…

Then Kurt. He saved her. She was told he took one of the bombs away, far away before it went off. Luna… The grenade goes off and some of the men flip end over end, there goes another shoe and a geyser of terrain.

Ravager drew in a breath, lifted her chin and clicked on the safety. "There's a lot more to complain about." She states with a small smile. "How's the rest of the team?"

Self-Inflicted. His perdition.

After Ozymandias finished dealing out his justice everlasting, he uses the Justice League: Avengers communications to contact the African Security Force, and United States Africa Command about his current location and the status of the village. He calls over his shoulder to no one in particular "It will probably take them anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to arrive."

Apart of him wants to hunt down the fleeing men, but he forces his need to conflict down and goes to check on the children.

It was a long and tiresome battle, but the X-Men and Ozy were victorious. Authorities from the neighboring city soon began to give aid, arresting Warlord Wakinda and the people they've managed to capture, bumping the charges to terrorism and attempted murder. Murder as well.

The villagers and stolen children alike (who were mindwiped) return to their homes to try to pick up the pieces of what was lost, who was lost and why, some mourning over the dead while others rejoice over the fact that the threat is now quelled, and life can begin anew.

Worthington Industries took the lead on the rest of the cleanup while the X-Men went home, carrying a new mutant in their midsts, safe, sound, asleep.

X-MANSE:
One week later:

Jean walks along with Sven, holding a set of papers in her hand. The atmosphere was relaxed as children often wave and smile, laugh and play as they pass the two. "I think that now, since you've had a chance to recouperate, your training can begin. But like most, it'll require work, the most mundane." She smiles towards him, stopping to lean against the double wooden doors, her hand soon reaching over to knock upon the surface as she lets out a sigh. The door was soon pushed open as she rolls away from it's surface, stepping inside. "Tell me, Sven.."

The Professor sits at his desk, a welcoming smile upon his face as he holds the teacup upright to greet and toast the two who enter. And he continues..

"..are you fond of landscaping?"

LWAK, AFRICA:

One door opens, and this one closes. The man stands in front of the Matron Mother, his gaze kind and easy, save for the large African that stands at his back. The brimmed hat was soon pulled from his head as a show of respect as he waddles forward to take a seat upon the couch.

"Tell me, Matsubesi, is that it? What would you do for your village?" He lifts a hand, then draws himself to a stand, making a home of the house that -she-lived in.

"Have you ever heard of what happens to fish if they're caught and trapped and forced to survive in the dark?" He starts, turning on the faucet to draw the water to a sputter, his hands dipped in to wash and clean. "They adapt. Their scales sometimes fall off, their sight goes, even their eyes peel from the socket. And they're no longer what they're used to be."

"They turn into monsters." He pauses in thought. "I used to be that type of person who had bills to pay, family to worry about, etcetera etcetera.. But you get my drift. Or not. But now, I'm going to let you answer. What are you willing to do to see your legacy thrive?"

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