Smoke and Ash

July 07, 2018:

When the DEO cordons Hells Kitchen the X-Men find they have lost a student. Wolverine and Polaris go to retrieve him and find super-powered federal agents in their way. (Scene backdated to a day or so after Hells Kitchen firebombing) (emits by Nate)

Hells Kitchen still smoking ruins

Characters

NPCs: Photon, Battlestone, Chapel, Shaft

Mentions:

Plot:

Mood Music: None.


Fade In…

Hells Kitchen has been burning for hours, and many of the X-Men went to help. Unfortunately only a couple X-Men were actually in time to do some good. The bulk of Xavier's mutants were scattered. Some in other countries, or even other worlds.

Still, some went to help. Many teachers, and some students. They helped the firemen the best they could, and managed to rescue a few civilians. But a couple hours ago when the federal forces arrived in force they left the area peacefully along hundreds of other volunteers, most of them regular humans. Since most survivors had already been evacuated and the DEO brought plenty of resources to the table, arguing was somewhat pointless. Besides some local firemen and NYCP only SHIELD was allowed to remain, their expertise in dealing with terrorism recognized even by the zealous federal forces.

Hells Kitchen is being cordoned by the army. Through the smoke chocking the air of the all too hot night, military helicopters come and go bringing more men and supplies to the scotched neighborhood. Lorna and Logan have been put in charge of a small cluster of teenagers, a dozen older students with some training and useful powers. The kids are exhausted and most are pretty horrified by what they have seen.

Also, one of them is missing. One Aurelio Martin, aerokinetic. He was here not five minutes ago!


Surprisingly Lorna was handling the chaos and destruction around her fairly well, though she itched to do more. Being able to lift large pieces of concrete and fallen debris by the various support beams and steel structures that made up the bulk of city buildings was easier for her than others. Being asked to step aside was irritating, but Lorna didn't fight or press for more. This might look like a war-zone but it wasn't, nor was it Genosha, where people looked to her for direction automatically. Here she was just another scruffy looking young woman with a scowl on her features trying to herd teenagers.

At the moment, she was digging through the pack of supplies, making sure that one of the students drank some water to stay hydrated and trying to get another one to sit still and check out the gash they'd gotten from trying to pull someone from the rubble earlier.

It was a slow process for her to realize that they were down a number, green eyes flickering over the group and trying to mentally count.. how many were with them? She frowned, catching one of the students by the arm to ask where they'd last seen Martin. Only to be greeted with a shrug and an exhausted mutter.

"Logan?"


Unsurprisingly, Logan is wearing a scowl and is covered in grit from digging and cutting through the rubble trying to free people trapped by the devastation. He can't use his powers to lift buildings out of the way like Lorna, but he has some pretty handy cutters at his disposal that make quick work out of even the largest chunks of former-skyline. That is, until the 'powers that be' showed up and put a stop to their assistance.

Logan is standing in the midst of a group of government representatives that are 'in charge' of the situation. The exact opposite of the image of authority, he stands with his arms folded across his chest and a pungent cigar poking out from his gnashed teeth as he seems to be having a heated conversation. Logan is, after all, involved with SHIELD to a limited extent and is trying to leverage his status with them to convince the people around that he and his team are more than capable of helping out. That's when he hears Lorna.

Glancing over his shoulder in her direction, he ignores the Director spouting some nonsense and surveys his teammate and the students around. He can already tell from their body language that one of them is missing. His head lifts slightly and his nostrils flare as he sniffs the air for any clue to Martin's location. The huge assortment of other odors is making it damn near impossible to get a bead on it though. His bushy eyebrows furrow as he shakes his head at Lorna, "Tryin' to pick him up but it ain't easy." He glances at his group of students and thumbs in the direction of the supplies Lorna was fishing through, "Take five." He starts sniffing around the area trying to track where Martin may have gone.


Lorna frowned as she listened carefully to Mia, handing the girl a water bottle and settling her on a piece of what might've been a building at some point but was now just rubble. It looked mostly flat at least? Either way, she tried to settle Mia down with the other exhausted students, passing out the remaining water bottles in her backpack and pressing a few energy bars into the hands of the ones she knew had higher metabolic rates. "It's okay Mia, just get some rest, okay? We… we'll handle it." She murmured.

Her expression turned stormy as she glanced back at the gaggle of agents that mucked around Logan, and set her backpack down by the students. She hesitated in leaving them alone, but if one of their own was wandering the "exclusion" zone or whatever it is that they were trying to do to keep up a perimeter.. then there were going to be issues.

The green haired mutant stepped toward Logan as he was trying to track for a lead. "Did you hear Mia?" She asked, glancing back to the agents of alphabet soup varieties.. The Agent Johnson earned a look and she pursed her lips together.


Lorna frowned as she listened carefully to Mia, handing the girl a water bottle and settling her on a piece of what might've been a building at some point but was now just rubble. It looked mostly flat at least? Either way, she tried to settle Mia down with the other exhausted students, passing out the remaining water bottles in her backpack and pressing a few energy bars into the hands of the ones she knew had higher metabolic rates. "It's okay Mia, just get some rest, okay? We… we'll handle it." She murmured.

Her expression turned stormy as she glanced back at the gaggle of agents that mucked around Logan, and set her backpack down by the students. She hesitated in leaving them alone, but if one of their own was wandering the "exclusion" zone or whatever it is that they were trying to do to keep up a perimeter.. then there were going to be issues.

The green haired mutant stepped toward Logan as he was trying to track for a lead. "Did you hear Mia?" She asked, glancing back to the agents of alphabet soup varieties.. The Agent Johnson earned a look and she pursed her lips together.


He did hear the young mutant and had subsequently ceased the search with his nose. Instead, he was now standing with his hands resting against his hips and idly chewing on his cigar as he glanced around at the motley crew of federal employees meandering about. He's already looking for gaps in their perimeter and checking for any recognizable patrol routes. At this point he's ignoring Agent Johnson. The sound of his voice draws a sneer from the Wolverine. Officially if he lets people die because there aren't enough bodies to help out, that's on him. Of course that's not going to stop Logan. He's never been one to obey authority.

Looking back over at Lorna, he nods and emits something of a grumble under his breath as he considers the situation. "Kid may get himself killed with all these trigger-happy assholes running around," he says as he cocks his head in the direction of one of the squads. "We need to get in quick an' get him and his sister an' get out." He looks over at the group of students recovering from their efforts, "Can't leave them here though." Not only for their sakes but if there's a bunch of Xavier students around and suddenly the two leaders disappear it'll draw more suspicion.


The feds are still setting up the perimeter. There are holes if Logan and Lorna are willing to go through scorched buildings or rooftops in the dark. But this won't be true for long; they do have the numbers and the know-how. Also, it will be dawning in a couple hours. Already there are a few advanced drones up in the sky, invisible for most, but not to Logan's enhanced senses. Or possibly to Lorna's magnetic senses, since they are electric-powered.

The truth is they don't have long. At least Lorna does not have long. Logan *might* be able to ninja inside even when the federals finish the deployment. But most X-Men won't. Certainly young Aurelio won't be able to leave, much less in the unlikely case he finds his older sister alive.


Lorna grimaced, her lips confined to a pressed line of white in displeasure and stress. It wasn't an easy call to make, it leave the kids or go. "You can move faster than I can. You can also take a hit. Someone needs to get the kids out of here, and someone needs to find Aurelio.." She hated to admit it, but Logan would likely move faster in finding the kid. Though .. with her flight she could get him out..

Why couldn't there be a third option?

A sound of frustration built in her throat, "Go find him. I'll get the kids out of here." She murmured, eyeing the agents that were setting up the perimeter.


The frustration in her voice doesn't go unnoticed by the hairy runt. She could use something like this with what's been going on lately. And to be honest, he could use the backup. Not necessarily for his own well-being but that of Martin's and hopefully his alive-and-well sister. He could act as a bullet sponge if the situation called for it but that only does so much.

Logan looks at Lorna, "Don't go too far." He glances over at the agents and starts planning his infiltration. Luckily he's had decades of training so with the exception of the drones, it should be relatively straightforward. Going non-lethal is the hard part. "Odds are we're gonna need yer help, kiddo." Hell, cram 'em all into a hotel room. The X-Men can cover the damages they're likely to do in the absence of chaperones. He's not the best person to make decisions involving students, though. Not the best influence, you could say. With that, he gives Lorna an intent look and nods, then turns and moves towards one of the blown-out buildings with a speed he only rarely demonstrates. She'll be able to track him. Or his adamantium, rather.


Agent Johnson is quick to report Logan leaving, if not exactly in the direction he wants (that is, directly away from Hells Kitchen) but at least Lorna is doing so. Having Magneto's daughter around was making pretty nervous some of the younger agents. The older ones were already nervous because of Logan.

Hotels this side of the fireline are all packed with refugees, but the X-Men have some hideouts in New York. Also, Mutant Town is not that far.

As mentioned sneaking in is not too hard for Wolverine, picking up Aurelio's trail is slightly harder because the stench to ash, burning plastics and soot is so overpowering. There is termite underneath. Someone used a huge number of incendiary bombs. At least it was not mutant powers.


A sigh pulled at her lips and the green haired woman nodded, "I'll find you then." She murmured to Logan.

Lorna made to herd the students up from the rock they'd settled at, passing a key onto one of the older ones that wasn't falling over in exhaustion to a nearby safe house. She'd taken to carrying more than a few on her these days. Too many times had she run into a mutant on the street that needed a place to crash for the night or to get off the road quickly for one reason or another. With directions given and firm orders to stay there.. She made a show of getting the students up and out of the way, even going so far as to leave the sight of the agents. She made sure they were on their way, on the right street.. before moving.

Drones were easy enough to avoid once she was in the air, and flying up to a remaining building gave her the bird's eye view over the wreckage. It made her stomach fall. Even as she made to try to avoid those below to follow after Logan.


Logan is off. He's hurdling over and ducking beneath rubble while managing to make very little sound. For such a heavy man he can be rather light on his feet. He comes to a stop and crouches down amongst the debris as he smells and hears a few agents approaching. He's going to have to move fast if he's going to stay ahead of the wave of agents and relief workers. Getting back through them is another story.

Lights from the agents' rifles track along the debris Logan hides behind and then gradually disappear as they continue on their way. Once they are a safe enough distance away, he's on the move again. '47th Street near the park' is what the girl said. Not too far from here if you knew which streets to take. If there were streets anymore. The entire neighborhood had been reduced to twisted steel and crumbled brick and mortar. At least he knows the direction he needs to head in. He can at least pick up traces of Martin's scent now that he's grown used to everything else stinkin' up the area.


The firemen are still putting down fires in some areas, but some city blocks are now empty of all life signs, hollow ruins, still unbearably hot. All street lights are gone, so it is darker than any night in the middle of Manhattan has the right to be.

Not much of a problem for Logan, but most federal agents won't have easy to spot him.

47th Street near the Hells Kitchen Park wouldn't be very good directions either, but again that is where enhanced senses are going to be useful. Just a city block ahead and the boy's scent is in the air.

So is a glowing figure coming from the 10th Avenue, flying about ten yards high. A woman with silver skin (or maybe silver armor) and burning green flame for hair. It doesn't seem likely she has spotted Logan, but her fire does lighten the street.


Lorna looked down and took off higher into the air, staying only as near as her senses could track Logan's figure below, all the better to avoid drones and anyone else flying low.. Which, as it would appear, was thing that was happening nearer to the ground. Lorna squinted, watching the lit up woman below near to where she sensed Logan's skeletal structure. Lorna reached up as wind whipped around her in the night air.

"Logan, looks like there's some enhanced agent or something flying around near you. She's lighting up the whole area. Have you picked up anything for the kid?"


Right around the time that Logan saw light reflecting off the rubble surrounding him, Lorna's voice fills his ear. He pulls himself up onto the remains of a collapsed wall and peers towards the source of light. He is careful to stay in the shadows as he narrows his eyes. This just got a little more interesting. He reaches up and holds a finger to his ear, "I'm on his trail. Not too far away but I have to get through her."

Maybe some sort of distraction would make his job a little easier. He drops down from the wall and moves to flank around to the west while holding his ear again, "Think you could make some noise towards 9th?" Anything to keep her from noticing him with her glowing light. He ain't too keen to find out what else she's capable of.


The flying woman slows down, hovering over the ruins of the crossing of the 47th and the 10th, the greenish light illuminating the carbonized remains of the trees and the ash-covered playground.

Photon. Or Lady Photon. An alien from the planet Acura. Why is she on Earth and why she is part of Team Youngblood is highly classified information. Internet cape-following webpages compare her powers with Starfire's.

She probably can't see in the dark.

But she is not alone. Logan almost fails to hear them over the sounds of the city, the crackling of flames and the groaning of ruined buildings. Two persons, on a rooftop. He also hears the safety of a high-power rifle going off. The gunshot sound would come a fraction of second after the bullet. A bullet aimed for his head.


Lorna watched, stretching out her senses for bits of metal to twist or jerk around in the direction Logan had asked, "Yeah, sure.. one distraction coming right up." She muttered, her hands out stretched as directed a nudge or two of metal bits far below her. She didn't really make a lot rattle around, but just enough to hopefully draw attention..

That is until she heard the sound of gunshots below. "Logan!?" She cursed under her breath, dropping lower in the sky toward Logan's position before she thought better of it and threw her senses out toward the gun men. A scowl pulled at her lips, "There's at least two guys up there, do you want me to handle them or do you got it?"


Logan sits tight for a moment, crouching down on a street corner just out of the radius of Photon's light. He is waiting for the sounds of Lorna's distraction so he can make it across 10th to get closer to the docks and hopefully move further up the neighborhood without worrying about lady light.

Just as he moves to stand up and cross over the street, his senses pick up the familiar sound of a firearm's safety being disengaged followed by a shot. Almost instantaneously as his brain registers and recognizes the sounds, the bullet impacts just behind his ear. The force of the shot sends him off of his feet and he twists over himself in the air and lands in the middle of the road.

He growls as he pushes himself to his feet and scans up the building to the rooftop from which the shot came. Ducking back around the corner where he was previously, he taps his ear and snarls, "Keep 'em busy until I can get close enough to return the favor." He leaps up against the side of the building and slams his fists agains the brick surface as the air is filled with a dull *snikt* sound. He begins pulling himself up the wall using his claws as leverage until he gets to the roof so he can approach his target from a better angle.


"Still moving," murmurs one of the figures on the building, and then he jumps.

Logan does not need to go far, since the man, lands just a few yards from him on a three point crouch that cracks the pavement on the impact.

He is a powerfully built man, easily a foot taller than Logan, dressed in blue and white Kevlar, red armor pieces over it, on shoulders, gauntlets and boots.

Battlestone, one of Team Youngblood tactical leaders. Rumor is he has been a soldier since the 40s. Rumor is he was killed and this man must be a clone. White hair, pale, yellowish skin, Logan can smell death on him, as if he was half alive, half dead. "Halt!" He commands. "Hands up, mutant, and…" he pauses, recognizing Logan. "Impossible, you should be long dead."

Meanwhile the second man in the roof is moving quickly, easily avoiding the holes on the scorched building, easily going down using the firescape and windowsills when the staircase comes apart. He is a large dark-skinned man in tactical armor, carrying dozens of weapons, a skull mask hiding his face. Possibly a skull tattoo.

Before Lorna can move to help Logan Photon flies up to intercept, her body glowing brightly. "Polaris, we shall fight tonight!" She shouts, her voice clearly accented, strange. A stream of bright green plasma surges from her hand towards Lorna.


Lorna looked ready to bolt or.. or something. Either way trying to do things stealthily wasn't going to happen it seemed, not as the two shooters dropped and confronted Logan, and … Miss light-show flew up to intercept Lorna's path. Distraction of twisted metal or not. A curse pulled from her lips, and Lorna held her hands up before her. "Woah, woah, woah. Listen, I'm just here to get one of our own. He went to look for his sister against orders. We just want to grab him and get out of here. I'm not looking for a fight." Anything else was cut off as the woman shot a stream of plasma her way, and Lorna scowled, a throwing up a magnetic field between her and the glowing woman, flying evasively to keep out of range and not tire herself out.

"HEY! Back off! Geeze, don't any of you talk before you fire? Trigger happy much?" She shouted back, snarling as she tried to avoid the plasma. She was confident she could bat away Alex's plasma blasts.. but this? She wasn't entirely sure of their composition… and didn't want to get into a fire fight over the ruins with some light up woman, who was sure to draw attention to them.


As soon as Logan makes it to the roof of the building, he pushes himself to his feet only to be met with a hero pose. As the man confronts him and orders him to stop, the Wolverine clenches his hands into fists, his claws still out and ready for blood. The man's stench reaches Logan's nostrils and he scowls. There's something half familiar about the scent but the stench of death overwhelms anything he can grasp for identification.

"Too bad for you I'm still here." Out of his peripheral vision he sees something light up the sky as Photo fires a blast towards Lorna. He fires a glance back at Battlestone, "If yer here to kill people tryin' to help then I've got bad news." He lifts his hands and slides his claws over one another, letting the sound of grinding metal making his point for him.


"Claws," grunts Battlestone, standing up and circling around Logan. "That is new. I remember you, 'Lucky Jim' Howlett. They said bullets couldn't kill you and it seem it is still true. Monte Cassino, May of 1944." Regardless of Logan's response, Battlestone lounges for him, he is very quick, and if he connects Logan is going to discover he is most likely ten times stronger than him.

The skull-faced man is moving behind him, trying to come from the opposite direction than Battlestone. "Wolverine," he sneers. "Coming for that kid with the wind powers? We found him first." He smells of Martin's blood.

He is Chapel, Team Youngblood's weapon master. He was a special ops soldier and handpicked to become a super-soldier, taking one of those serums that leave many more dead and insane soldiers than superhumans. Many of Youngblood's fans mistakenly compare him with Captain America. But those more in the know compare him with Deathstroke in skills, attitude and the dead count.

Meanwhile Lorna finds Photon's blasts are indeed very similar to Havok's. Plasma responds well to magnetism, fortunately. As Photon is powerful enough she can feel the heat even through the shields, and the alien woman is unrelenting. "You knew you would risk battle if you came here," she shouts. "Or would you rather surrender without a fight? Aren't you the daughter of one of your race's foremost warriors? So fight!"


Lorna snarled, flinging plasma around her and away, no doubt leaving it to hit rubble and already ruined buildings behind her. At least she couldn't be responsible for the damage this time, right? Still, her anger was short, worry for the student she'd lost being her main driving factor for the moment. "I came looking for a kid, he's young. Scared. He's looking for his sister. Mutant. That's all. I didn't come looking for a fight." She shouted, repeating herself even as heat rose on her cheeks and anger tinged her voice.

And people said she was unstable.

"If surrender gets that kid out of here and safe, fine. If you refuse to let me get him, then I'll fight you." She gritted her teeth, and as she spun in the air, released a scream of frustration along with a sharp magnetic blast at Photon.


Logan is no stranger to bullets and those stories were right. If he had a nickel for every time he's been hit by a bullet, he'd have at least 12 nickels. But this guy knows him from all the way back in the war? He must remember Battlestone's smell from the battlefield, but he can't be sure. And he doesn't give a shit at this point.

When Battlestone lunges at him, Logan makes no effort to dodge the attack but instead lunge right back at him, pulling his arm back to take whatever hit Battlestone throws at him and then throw one of his own. He doesn't anticipate the level of strength, though, and when Battlestone hits him, he immediately goes flying backwards towards Chapel. Stunned, but only for a moment, Logan throws his arm towards the pavement and lets his claws sink in to slow him down so he can control his 'fall'. That's when he looks over at Chapel and smells blood. At once he is lunging back into the air, this time towards Chapel. "Where is he?!" he yells, saliva trailing out from the corner of his mouth as he snarls, swinging his claws through the air to try to stab the man, although not fatally. He's gotta get information.


Lightning quick, Chapel draws a serrated fighting knife and a large handgun, parrying the claws with the knife and trying to shot Logan at the chest. Amazingly the knife does not shatter, standing the adamantium claws with a screeching of metal against metal. "What do you think we do to dumb intruders?" He asks rhetorically, stepping back, shooting. Gun fu-ing Logan with deadly grace.

Setting him up for Battlestone to punch him again.

A score yards above Photon seems disappointed by the lack of… something in Lorna's attitude. Why is the green haired woman being reasonable instead of giving her a good fight? Circling around Polaris, but not shooting again. "Would you truly surrender? What a strange attitude for a human. Yet my commander seems to believe this is a good resolution."


Lorna exhaled a breath, her chest rising and falling in short spasms as she whirled to keep the glowing alien in her line of sight. Her lips pursed into a thin line as she watched her opponent warily. Green eyebrows furrowed as the woman didn't shoot and instead seemed to… relent? Listen? Partly listen, it would seem. "I'll surrender if it means that the kid I'm looking for is returned, and returned safely. He's worried about his sister, and disobeyed direct orders. But he's just a kid." She held her hands splayed wide before her as she spoke, swallowing thickly.

"That's all I'm here for." She repeated, trying not to rise to any bait or criticism.. whoever their commander was.


Logan isn't quite the level headed person Lorna seems to be at the moment. Taking a bullet meant to kill does that to you. Smelling the blood of one of your students on a lunatic does too. 'Dumb intruders' doesn't sound like something a government-sanctioned representative would call people in the area, so Logan is now working under the assumption that these are some sort of super powered scavengers, mercenaries, or worse.

Wolverine takes the shot in the chest and doesn't seem to notice. The resistance of the knife briefly registers as something of interest but it's quickly filed away for later as he takes another swipe at Chapel with the claws of his other hand, aiming to take the gun out so they can go hand-to-hand. As he swipes, Chapel's gun fires off again and the bullet pierces Logan's arm, sending flesh and a spray of blood into the air. Unfortunately for him, Logan's been shot before. And it doesn't stop him.

"Guess I'll return the favor then, bub," he growls as he relentlessly swings his arms, his claws arcing through the air with the intention of putting the hurt on this guy.


Chapel seems to anticipate Logan's every move, ducking, rolling, parrying, jumping on the hood of a burned out sedan. And shooting. Shooting. He is not that fast or agile, he might be slightly superhuman, but nowhere close to Spiderman. Yet the skull-faced killer still he manages to stay an inch ahead of the old mutant warrior's claws.

Then Battlestone charges from behind, trying to pin Logan's down while staying out of reach of those deadly claws. "Give up, mutant. You are not allowed here, and we are federal agents."

Up in the sky Photon looks annoyed as she is being used as spokesperson for someone else, maybe someone speaking to the alien woman through a communicator, although Lorna can't see any electronic device in the silver form. "You will be allowed to see him," she explains. "But you will be detained along him."


Between Logan and Chapel are flying bullets and endless swiping claws. Logan takes bullet after bullet, each one that is aimed directly at him will connect. The skin explodes open with a spray of blood but they all result in a dull 'tink' sound as they connect with the adamantium skeleton beneath.

As soon as he seems to be getting close enough to Chapel to dig into his forearm, Battlestone slams into him from behind. Logan lands on the pavement face first and the force of the impact cracks the street and manages to tear some flesh from his nose and forehead. He snarls out again and tries to shove his elbow back against his attacker's rib cage. He may not be as strong as Battlestone, but the metal on his bones makes up for it. "Federal agents my ass." If these guys are the government's idea of law enforcement, Logan may have to reevaluate his opinions about a few things.


Lorna really regretted not studying up on US laws as much as she should have. Though politicking in Genosha had given her a rather crude crash course in international law.. America was tricky at the best of time. Much less when in a militarized zone where a crisis had just occurred. Lorna nodded, exhaling a breath as she closed her eyes briefly. Here goes that whole testing of her beliefs thing.

Wouldn't Scott be happy that she wasn't attacking a federal agent?

"Okay. I surrender then."


Battlestone grunts in pain when Logan adamantium-reinforced elbow hits his side. Yes, that definitely cracked one rib. His retaliation is smashing the mutant face against the concrete. Chapel 'helps' by reloading his handgun and aiming at the smaller man's head. "I know I didn't miss my shot," he comments. "Just… how quick can you heal, freak?"

Photon, now hovering on the air, would be the wrong person to ask about the laws. Youngblood has a large team of lawyers for the cases they are not perfectly scrupulous with law-enforcement procedures.

Which is quite often.

Chapel should not have shot Logan without warning. But he will deny to have done so, and demonstrating otherwise is going to be quite impossible. No witnesses.

At least Photon is not shooting Polaris after she surrendered. "Follow me," she demands, "your companion is still fighting."


Lorna pursed her lips, glancing down finally at the fight below her and wincing. Her fingers itched to ruin their weapons below and leave Logan free. Instead she slowly reached up to press against her own communicator. "Logan, I'm surrendering to find the kid." She broke off from adding anything else thought she partially wanted to add. 'Do what you got to.'

There was no particulars of a plan Lorna even had. But her one and only goal was finding the kid. She hadn't the senses Logan had, the blood and gore below a mess to her sight beyond her magnetic senses.

Though as she turns to follow Photon, she drops her hands back to her sides, her fingers curling to effectively jam the guns below, knowing them inside and out to her senses more than anything else at the moment.

"Okay.. Yeah, following."


Logan's not an unreasonable man. He would've been content to have a chat with this 'team' to find out Martin's whereabouts and would've even gone with them willingly. He also would've been assassinated if he wasn't protected. And that's what pissed him off. When he's pissed off he's difficult to reason with.

The impact of his elbow into Battlestone's side draws a grin across his bloody lips as he appreciates the sound of a cracking rib. Then he gets a mouthful of concrete as his head is slammed back down against the street. When he lifts his head back up, his face is practically covered in blood but his white teeth stand out in contrast as he grins in Chapel's direction, "Faster'n you, bub."

When he hears Lorna in his ear announcing her surrender he curses under his breath. He really wants to kill these assholes, but it's going to take too long and he needs to know where Lorna is being taken. In all likelihood Martin is dead. He doesn't need another death on his watch. "You ladies ready to go then?" that feral grin is still on his lips as blood drips from his nose and chin, forming a small puddle on the street. The skin is already starting to recover and grow back, demonstrating to Chapel how quickly he heals.


Battlestone was going to try to pound Logan into submission. Possibly helped by a few bullets-to-the-face by Chapel, but he stops and rolls away when Lorna surrenders. Logan can't hear any kind of communication between Photon and the men, so whatever they are using is very quiet.

Does Youngblood have telepaths in the roster? Webpages say yes. Three of them. Including the unholy powerful Psilence. Lorna might be able to feel one of them worming into her mind, trying to determine if she is sincere in her surrender. Nate Grey's training might come handy this time.

A vehicle is coming, sounds like a souped-up military Humvee. As usual Logan will hear it first.


The surrender was real, though the squirming telepathic presence made her pause on her way to where ever it was she was going. Shields mental ones at least, slammed down. They weren't as impressive as a telepath's but Nate's training had given her something. After having Malice play around in her head, she'd grown used to recognizing another's presence in her mind at least.

"Get out of my head." She snarled, her lips peeling back as she articulated her thoughts in verbal tones. Green eyes snapping toward the glowing woman floating before her.

"Tell your telepath to stay out of my head." She called, her arms crossing.


Logan slowly rises to his feet now that Battlestone and Chapel have backed off. He wipes a stream of blood from his jaw with his forearm which is almost as bloody as his face is, never taking his eyes off of Chapel. He's memorizing that scent so he can track him down later and have a word.

Glancing over his shoulder as the sound of a humvee fades in from a distance, Logan reaches up and taps his ear and speaks as discretely as possible, "Don't trust 'em." He doesn't say anything else as he takes a few steps out into the street and peers down the road towards the approaching vehicle and awaits whatever fate these assholes have in store for him. His claws have disappeared back into his forearms for now, but his pulse is still racing and he's ready to stab one of these 'agents' at a moment's notice.


"If you have surrendered you can't tell us what we can or can't do," points out Photon, trying to use logic herself. "Keep going to the ground," she points. "Join your companion." Photon herself is staying in the air, keeping watch.

The Humvee is driven by a man in a red and white uniform. In his 30s, he has strawberry blonde hair cut short. This is Shaft, the archer, overall leader of Team Youngblood. Although usually they deploy in 5-8 member squads. Sending the whole team to New York is unprecedented and dangerous. Some of them are suitable only for black ops.

Like Chapel. Shaft is glaring Chapel first as he steps down his vehicle, even before looking at Logan. "No one died? Good," is his greeting. Chapel smirks. Battlestone looks serious, if his cracked rib is bothering him he is able to tough it up well.


Lorna glared, anger turning hot in her chest and tightening her chest as she struggled to bite back the first, and second responses that came to mind. Anger was easier than freaking out that someone was daring to mess with her head.

"Stay out of my head." She growled again, her hands clenching into fists at her sides. Logan's words went unanswered, though she lowered down to his position, settling beside him with a crunch of boots on pavement.

"They've got at least one telepath.." She grumbled softly, arms crossed as she looked to the gathering of Youngbloods.


Logan isn't too impressed by the lot of them and regards each of them silently. As he looks at each one, given Lorna's disclaimer about one being a telepath, he has a few choice thoughts in his head directed at each one of them.

When the Humvee arrives, Logan stands aside and watches the group engage with one another, trying to pick up on the team dynamic as much as he can. Mainly he's trying to get an idea of whether or not whole damn team is full of psychos. When Lorna touches down beside him, he glances over and nods in her direction and gives her a look to make sure she's alright.

The wounds on his face have more or less healed over and the gunshot wounds littering his torso have spit out all of the bullets and are also nearly sealed up. His clothes, on the other hand, are torn up and soaked in blood. His arms fold over his chest as he waits to find out what they're going to do. As Shaft steps down off the truck, Logan's eyes follow to size up the apparent leader.


Shaft says nothing, gesturing the two mutants into the back of Humvee. Chapel and Battlestone remain behind; Photon follows the vehicle to the western side of Hells Kitchen, where the DEO is settling some kind of camp.

They are not told much. Black-clad 'cape-killer' armored troops handcuff *and* collar them with nulifiers, muting their mutant powers. They are tossed into an improvised detention area where they find a scared and somewhat bruised Aurelio Martin. He never found his sister.

He never will. Her remains won't be identified until mid-August, when the ruins of the building she lived will be cleared. One among the eight thousand killed in the bombings.

As for the mutant trio, Shaf will be adamant they will be released at dawn, given a warning and a small fine. Last thing he wants is serious conflicts with the X-Men when someone has just killed thousands of American citizens.

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