11526/Knock Knock Guess Who

Knock Knock Guess Who
Date of Scene:	22 May 2020
Location:	Metropolis
Synopsis:	Things don't work quite as planned when Jeremy is approached.
Cast of Characters:	Psylocke, Phoenix, Nightingale, SpyderByte

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Psylocke has posed:
Earlier in the day, Betsy had been approached by a student with a situation that needed immediate attention. There was a young man in trouble. A mutant at that. He was being bullied verbally as well as physically, to the point of broken bones. With a little bit of memory browsing, with Shannon's permission, Betsy had gotten what she needed to track down the young man.

Her next call had been a telepathic one to Jean, who was available despite the short notice thankfully. She filled in the other woman and asked if she might use the clues and Cerebro to try to locate the young man. It worked.

Since he was in contact with Shannon from time to time through her phone, Betsy thought it best to bring the girl along as well for this one.

Thus, they were on the Blackbird, Betsy in the pilot's seat, flying for Metropolis. "Since he did have that brush with the law previously, he is likely to be nervous. His parents as well. We don't want to have to mind wipe anyone so probably best to approach him alone first. See his story. We don't want him to get in trouble for using his gifts, and it might lead to that if they were aware of us approaching. For all we know, they might not even realize he's a mutant. There was nothing in the news articles about it so I suspect that part is not known."

Phoenix has posed:
For a mutant in trouble, Jean is *always* available. Even if that meant she'd been elbow deep planting a few new flowers which covered over the churned earth over newly sunken electrical lines around the mansion. More security upgrades.

Jean is in the copilot's chair, though Betsy has hardly needed any assistance there, which left Jean free to dry out her hair and finish making herself look presentable after a shower on the fly. Didn't do to show up to a potential student's house covered in dirt. When it comes to first impressions and making sure they counted, you bring an empath. "Shannon, what can you tell me about him and what you've experienced? Anything you think will upset him, put him at ease?"

Nightingale has posed:
     It was only Shannon's second time in the Blackbird, and it brought back memories of months past. It had been her first time out in the field, and she'd been completely clueless, and scared. How things have changed in just the space of a few months!

     Miss Braddock's remark is met with a nod of agreement. "He spooked pretty easily once already, when he got a pretty good idea I wasn't alone in the garage. That idea being he accessed my phone camera and saw Logan." She shakes her head, settling back in her seat, looking out the window in silence for a few moments. "It took a bit to get him to open up again. I know this is necessary, but I just hope it doesn't spook him for good."

     She tilts her head as she looks over at Miss Grey, considering the question. "When I finally did get him to talk to me again, his big thing was he just wants to be treated normally. He talked to me about my messages to him being the most normal part of his day. Doesn't want to be treated like a project or worse. And who can blame him?" She crosses her arms, drumming her fingers on her forearms for a moment. "I'm guessing he has no idea we're coming?" Pause. "Unless he's following my phone, which is a very real possibility." She sighs, slipping her phone from her little brown bag. "Your call, miss Grey... miss Braddock. I'm willing to message him, unless he beats me to it."

SpyderByte has posed:
Deodora Street is a small suburbian neighborhood just outside of Metropolis, but still within the city school limits. How unfortunate for him. If he only lived three blocks closer he could have gone to the 'better' school where he would be surrounded by academics. The only benefit for him is that he's one of the top students at this lower performing school. Sadly, being one of the smartest kids in school doesn't make you popular, especially around the meathead group.

The two story, four bedroom house is settled on a wide open manicured lawn surrounded by a white picket fence. It's light blue color and white shingles makes the home seem rather cozy. There is no car in the driveway, but there is a light on at the second story, far right room that faces the street. There is thick curtains that block out most of the visibility from that viewpoint.

Psylocke has posed:
"I don't want to scare him but I fear if he knows we are coming, he might go to ground." Betsy shrugs as she brings in the jet for a landing just outside the city and a private air strip. It belongs to her family so there will be no one spotting the plane. The landing is smooth, no major bumps.

It is rolled into a large hangar then she works on shut down procedures. "We can track him if he runs of course. We won't be reliant on technology. I am not bringing my phone on this visit for obvious reasons. I do have a burner on me. Just in case."

She rises, dressed in black slacks and a lavender blouse. A short pair of black boots with a short heel are on her feet. Her purple hair is loose, falling to mid back.

As they exit the plane, there will be a rental car waiting for them. Only, the rental car doesn't seem to be the Mercedes she had requested. Instead, they have a van. Not just any van, a cargo style van. "Bloody hell. You have got to be kidding me." She finds the keys on top of the front left tire where it had been agreed, looking at the name of the rental company written there. "I will be having words with them when this is over."

Phoenix has posed:
"Logan? Well that isn't the best introductory face to see. No wonder he bolted." Jean remarks with nothing but fondness for the legendary grump. She has a permanent pass to harass him. It's in her wallet, honest. More seriously, she continues with, "Let me go first then. Shannon, hang back just until we know if his family is home. In the event that they're not mutant friendly, I don't want any unwanted attention turning your way."

Jean makes her way out after Betsy, pulling a black bolero jacket on over the white tank and black pants she had on. Simple, fast, and functional. Her hair is a molten contrast to the monochrome. She sees the van and gives a noisy sigh through her nose. "Illusions would be very helpful right now. But, we'll make this work. We always do. Let's just go there and be straight forward. While he can't hide from us, I don't want him to feel like he has to run either."

Nightingale has posed:
     "I don't use it very often, but I do keep my image inducer on me," Shannon offers. "I can use it if need be, but if he sees me without wings, that may raise more questions than it prevents problems." The remark about Logan gets a raised brow from the winged teen, and she chuckles, nudging Miss Grey very lightly on the shoulder. "Oi, no dissing the grump," she says. "Say what you will about him, he's got a heart of gold under that grouchy facade, and it'd be hard to ask for better to have at your back."

     For her part, she's still in the light blue jeans with ribbon embroidery, sensible white sneakers, and a ruffled, cream-colored cotton poet's blouse that is modestly laced in the front. Her pale gold hair is long and loose, except for her now-trademark light blue braid on the left with its tiny silver beads on the end.

     Miss Braddock's sentiment about the van is echoed in the raised eyebrow on the younger woman's face. "That doesn't scream 'trouble' much, does it?" she comments, her voice thrumming with notes of dry humor and sarcasm. Shrugging, she smiles a bit. At least it would fit all four of them comfortably, if need be.

Psylocke has posed:
"Well, since we are stuck with it, let's go kidnap a mutant," Betsy mutters as she moves to enter the driver's seat.

There is a GPS built in and they are able to make the trip to Deodora Street without incident. They roll quietly up in front of the house and Betsy gives it a once over. "Quite lovely."

She takes a moment to reach out with her mind, just a quick scan to see if there are people in the house. Her hope, there is only one person and that person to be Jeremy. If otherwise, they'll have to deal with it.

She slips the keys in her pocket and walks around to the sidewalk in front of the house, then moves toward the picket fence and the small gate at the front.

SpyderByte has posed:
Reaching out to touch Jeremy's mind is interesting. He's there, but there is also a lot of static and he is the only human in the house. They also have a big dopey dog and a number of gold fish.

As Betsy makes her way to the gate, a shadow passes by the window and the front porch camera 'may' have just turned a bit to face the sidewalk with a flashing red light.

Phoenix has posed:
"Oh good, you have one. One less thing I need to order more of." For now. Jean gives a singular nod to Shannon as she adds. "You're right about false appearances. So just hold back for a moment, you can roll down the passenger window so he knows you're there and could... run if you wanted, I suppose. Don't want him to think you're a prisoner in the back." One can see the choice words she has for the vehicle float across her face. As for Shannon and the van, no doubt that Jean'll be ready to shield both. Just in case.

As for the jibe about Logan? Jean just smiles, wide and knowing. She doesn't say a thing and likely doesn't need to.

Like Betsy, Jean does a quick scan to get her own reading before she steps out and moves to approach with the other psychic. Her eyes follow the fleeting shadow and camera. << Well, he knows. >> She passes in silent communication to Betsy.

Nightingale has posed:
     "Think he knows...?" Shannon's voice trails off as she follows the direction the other women are looking. Security camera, trained right on the van? Yeah. He knows. Her wings ruffle in something approximating a shrug. "Think I should message him, so he knows who's out here?" She holds onto her phone, waiting for a yea or nay before acting. Too, she takes Miss Grey's advice and rolls down the passenger window, keeping her wings tucked in a little more tightly behind her.

     And now, the waiting game began.

SpyderByte has posed:
There is a ping on Shannon's phone!

The camera continues to watch those who get out of the van, the red light blinking off and on. There is also a doorbell camera set up for another angle. Rich people have nice stuff and thus they need to protect it.

Psylocke has posed:
"Let him know you are here, certainly. So he knows he has a friend nearby. Who is not being kidnapped either." Betsy sighs as she walks up to the door, giving a smile to the camera as she reaches out to ring the doorbell.

"I'm not certain if you have a microphone. I suspect you do. We just want to talk. We are friends of Shannon's. As you can see, she's with us."

<< I didn't think we would have an element of surprise. The question is will he exit out the back in rapid fashion. I hate it when they run. >> She realizes what she said and continues silently in her telepathic conversation to Jean. << I blame the phrasing of that on the van. >>

Phoenix has posed:
<< No one will ever know. >> Jean responds with all due solemnity. << ...that also sounds a bit ominous. >>

She lets Betsy speak first since she's heading this operation while she keeps a low level watch over Jeremy, skimming the ambient surface emotions to judge how he feels without digging deeper to spark an alarm. She does tack on to the other woman's words with a smile, "We asked her to hold back since we didn't know if your family or neighbors would be concerned seeing her. If it's safe, I'll let her know to come over."

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon's eyebrows go up as she hears the ping on her phone, peering down at the screen. "Jig's up, miss Grey. He knows I'm here." Her fingers dance lightly across the screen of her phone as she taps out a reply.

     <<It's okay, these are friends who just want to talk. I'm safe in the van. Please, would you be willing to talk to them? It may help clear up a lot of the things I haven't been able to say. Besides, I was kind of hoping to say hi, too.>>

     Nibbling her lower lip, she hopes it's enough, crossing her fingers and sending her message into the aether of cyberspace. "Here's hoping..."

SpyderByte has posed:
The camera swivels on the porch, facing the pair. The light just blinks silently.

The telepaths can sense a wave of fear from Jeremy from within the house. The panic is overwhelming.

Shannon's phone starts pinging, over and over again.

They can hear footsteps thumping from inside, heading upwards. He's obviously running for the stairs.

Psylocke has posed:
"And he's running." Betsy sighs slightly but remains where she is standing, not moving from their position. No trying to get through the door. This isn't the police coming to call.

She reaches out with her mind again, scanning the area. No one nearby seems to be paying attention to the van or the people at the house. << I don't think we have witnesses. So perhaps we can have Shannon come up here. If I feel someone look our direction, I'll throw an illusion their way. >>

"Mr. Statton, we are not here to cause you harm. Shannon was concerned for your safety after your last meeting. We just wanted to be sure you are alright. And to talk to you about options for people like us."

Us. Not him. Not Shannon. Us.

Phoenix has posed:
"He is." Jean confirms with a quiet sigh. "Poor kid's terrified." She likewise remains where she is, though her eyes do look up towards the room where he seems to be going.

<< I can hear her phone going off from here, they're definitely talking. No one else is home, so we'll have to risk it. I don't want him flying into hysterics and doing something stupid. If he does, I'll calm him, but that's a last resort. That'd burn any bridge that might exist. >>

Jean casts a look back to the van and reaches out to Shannon's mind, lingering just briefly so the girl knows she's there before saying, << Shannon, come on out. He's panicking. Maybe he'll come talk to you. >> Better to speak quieter mind to mind than yelling down the sidewalk.

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon calls out to the two outside, as she glances down at her phone. "He thinks one of you is a Sentinel!" No. No, no, no. This wasn't good. She taps out quickly on her phone.

     <<Which one? There aren't Sentinels here.>>

     She fidgets in the back of the van, her wings tensed, her feathers ruffling. She had to think fast, and somehow, no solution seemed to be a good one. Now she was going to have to go out on a limb.

     Miss Grey, however, beat her to it. She goes very still for a moment, not used to dealing with mind-to-mind contact. She lets the message she received flit across her mind.

     <<RUN! IT'S A TRAP! SHE IS A SENTINEL!>> <<RUN>> <<RUN>> <<RUN>>

     Focusing on a feeling of acknowledgement, she attempts a reply to miss Grey. Whether or no it is heard, however, is anybody's guess--she's no telepath. <<Understood.>> With that, she slides the van door open and steps out, not bothering in the least to hide her wings. Her gait is steady, her demeanor concerned, but for the most part, calm. "Jeremy?" she calls out. "It's Shannon." She pauses, smiling a little bit. "Okay, you guessed it right before. Nightingale, just like my family calls me. Please, we'd just like to talk to you." She grins a little bit, lifting her chin towards the windows a little bit. "And it wouldn't hurt if there was any of that Korean ramen left over from earlier!"

SpyderByte has posed:
The phone of the winged girl in the van will continue to ping as Jeremy is obviously grabbing his 'get out' bag. All the lights go out in the house at once, save the red blinking light on the camera that continues to track the pair out front.

The phone pings again! << The purple one >>

Then, something happens.

There is a back porch that connects the second story and Jeremy can be seen diving out the folding doors, sliding down the stairs as he looks to haul across the backyard. He has a backpack slung over his shoulder, his hand clutching his phone as he heads for the neighbor's backyard.

Psylocke has posed:
"What?" It isn't one of her more eloquent responses but Betsy is caught off guard by that revelation. A Sentinel? She looks at Jean curiously then back to the van as Shannon begins her approach. "I am completely unsure why he would think one of us was a Sentinel."

Then there he goes, like a shot out the window and heading for the stairs. Immediately Betsy turns to start that way.

"Perhaps Shannon will have better luck speaking to him before he runs too far. If I chase him, it will just..."

She stops talking and sways in place, hands going up into the air as she blinks rapidly a few times. She takes a step. A second. Bumps into a rail and goes down in a heap. Very unusual for the normally graceful martial artist.

"I...seem to be blind. I can't see anything. Perhaps he is more than a technopath."

Phoenix has posed:
There's that split second reaction where Jean hand starts to raise and it looks like she wants to stop Jeremy in his tracks before he can get away. Betsy's unusual behavior stop her, and she looks to the other woman with growing concern. Then Betsy goes down, and that settles it. Jean turns to her, crouching down to put a hand on her shoulder and prepares to help her up. "Well I'm not leaving you here, and we can't stay here either. I'm not taking the chance a neighbor saw this and thinks something is up."

She'll help hoist Betsy up once she's ready and looks to Shannon in the meantime. "I'm not going to chase him, not like this. If he truly doesn't want to come, I wouln't force him, but that doesn't mean we wouln't keep an eye on him either. Let's find a quieter place to reconvene and see what's gone wrong here, then we'll go from there. I guess I'll be driving."

Nightingale has posed:
     "He thinks it's you, miss Braddock. I'd better go after him." Shannon wrinkles her nose. "This could get messy." The winged girl might be a decent runner, but let's face it--she's a better flyer. All that stops her is miss Grey's imperative that she hold back. Grimacing, she looks down to her phone instead, trying one more time to get through to Jeremy.

     <<There's no Sentinels here. They're teachers.>> Pausing, she thinks for a moment, and pings again. <<Please come back, let us talk to you? We'd be willing to keep some distance if it helps, but please, please come back?>>

     A glance is sent towards her two teachers, and she shrugs. "I'm sorry, but I had to mention both of you being teachers. Hope that helps things a bit."

Psylocke has posed:
"That's fine, Shannon." Betsy's voice is calm. Her emotions are not. She isn't in a full blown panic as some people might be but she is certainly surprised and yes, slightly frightened. As she feels Jean's hand, she grasps onto the other woman carefully, using that assistance to stand.

"I lost my scan of the area for a moment." She does reach out with her mind, which is working just fine. It's just her eyes. It's like they just shut down, which she could expect if she had a blow to the head or the like. But just off like a switch. So strange. "Still no one looking but I would appreciate that help back to the van." Her steps are cautious, careful. Then she gets an idea. "May I try looking through your eyes, Jean? That might give me something to work from at least."

It's a slow trip to the van, either way. Even if she looks through the eyes of another, that perception is from a different location, different appendages, everything is off. It lets her 'see' but isn't perfect for personal locomotion.

SpyderByte has posed:
<< I just EMP'd your 'teacher!' Why do you think she hit the ground? She's not a human! She has robot eyes! >>

So, that's nothing you hear everyday I am sure. << It's broadcasting everything! Her eyes are broadcasting! >>

The skinny kid isn't a great runner by any means. In fact, he is stumbling about through the lawn with the weight of the backpack dragging down his shoulder. He may have mentally prepared for a zombie apocalypse, but he wasn't physically ready for one.

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey bolsters Betsy to help her stand, mulling the question from the other psychic with a faint furrow in her brow. "It may work. Just, tell me if I'm looking around too fast for you." There's a reason first person movies haven't gotten off the ground too much. Jean's mind links with Betsy's, though it takes a fair bit of her concentration to help keep the focus on just her sight and not clogging things up with a thousand thoughts running through her head. It is not easy to shut up your brain in times like this."There."

Jean turns to look towards where Jeremy is bolting. She's not pursuing, still intent on getting Betsy back to the van. This is no time for a cop chase, even on foot and burdened by oversized backpacks. "Don't go after him, Shannon. Chasing him will just make him more scared and we don't need him bolting like a deer into traffic. Give him space, give him time to calm down. Right now I think *not* pursuing him is our best chance to eventually talk to him."

Nightingale has posed:
     Fine. Miss Grey says not to pursue Jeremy, she won't run after him. But that won't stop her from trying to talk him down from where she is. She's tapping furiously on her phone. <<This is news to me. Will you let just me come over there to talk to you? Please?>> It was a long shot, but she crossed her fingers, turning to miss Grey. "I'm trying to ask one more time if he'll just let me go over there. If he accepts, I'll keep an 'ear' out for you, and you let me know what you want to say." She knew by now that miss Grey could reach her mind if she chose, so it would, hopefully, be a workable plan.

     In theory, at least.

     But no plan survives first contact intact....

Psylocke has posed:
"If she can get through, hopefully he will talk to her. I am not sure why this is happening. Unless he has some sort of telepathic or optic powers as well." Betsy is still trying to figure this out. She uses Jean's sight but it still takes a bit of trial and error. Her own telepathic blocks are there as well, hopefully keeping her own mind from screaming in Jean's head.

When they get to the van, she carefully slides inside. All thanks to not being completely blind. "This went about as poorly as possible. Well, unless he starts shooting fireballs out his arse toward the van. That would make it infinitely worse."

SpyderByte has posed:
<< Who are these people? Why did you bring them here? Why is her eyes broadcasting? I can see the data! It's live streaming. Continous feed. I don't know where it's going to but her eyes are not normal. They are not normal computers. They speak a different language. >>

The phone continues to ping away one after the other. By now, Jeremy got winded and he's bent over, hugging his knees and leaning against a tree. He didn't make it very far. To be honest, most third graders could catch up to him.

<< Why didn't you just call me ahead of time? >>

Phoenix has posed:
"Well, we were going in ---" Don't say it, Jean. "Without much of a plan, so it's not unexpected. Now we know what we're dealing with. It's not too often a student runs *from* us. Gotta love the moral hard road. Let me know if anything changes, okay?" She makes sure Betsy is settled in the van before looking first to where Jeremy is and then back to Shannon. "What is he saying, Shannon?"

Nightingale has posed:
     Well, at least Jeremy had stopped running. There were times to obey the rules, and times to break them. Shannon took one look at miss Grey, and purses her lips. "He didn't say yes, but he's also stopped running. I'm going to try and talk to him. It may mean telling him about the school." Keeping her hands and phone in plain sight, she started off towards Jeremy, at an even, normal pace.

     "Jeremy? Please, if you're willing, stop and rest a moment. There's a lot I have to tell you." She smiles somewhat apologetically, glancing down at her phone. "You're right, maybe I should have called ahead. But I was an idiot about it, and I'm sorry for that."

     If he doesn't run, the winged teen takes a moment to continue. "Remember I mentioned there might be a safe place for people like us? That's where we came from. It's a school. If there's something wrong with the teacher's eyes, you probably just helped us all out as a whole... but probably the teacher, too. I don't think even she knew. You might have just saved her."

     Yeah, miss Grey probably wasn't going to be too happy with her saying so much, but at this point, honesty was probably the safest bet. It was something that Jeremy seemed to have appreciated before.

SpyderByte has posed:
Trembling and leaning against the tree, Jeremy's dark eyes watch Shannon approach him. He edges back a bit, his breathing heavy and quick as his chest rises and falls. That was quite a run for him. He really needs to get out of the house.

Her phone pings again: << I don't think I saved anyone. You shouldn't have come here. >>

Ping: << My mother doesn't know. She already hates me for ruining her life. >>

Ping: << But she is all that I have now. I just want to be normal. >>

As his eyes track back towards the other two adults, he hunches into himself a bit more, like a small, timid dog. << I cut the connection, but if I turn her eyes back on, they will broadcast again. >>

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey watches Shannon walk off without answering and the headmistress lets out a low sigh. "The running seems to have stopped, so I'm going to see what's going on. I'll keep the connection up."

She turns from the van, now that Betsy's secure, and begins a slow walk over towards the teens. "Hey, Jeremy? I'm Jean Grey. Sorry we spooked you. Shannon said you were in trouble, so we came at a rush." She gives him a small, apologetic, and maybe even sheepish sort of smile. See? No animosity for blinding her friend. She also stops several feet away, giving him space. "We want to talk to you, if that's alright. If now's a bad time, we can always meet up later too, whatever's comfortable for you."

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon just smiles as she glances down at her phone buzzing away, and shakes her head. "I disagree. You found a problem, and you've also given us time to solve it. Thank you for that." Okay, so this wasn't the most conventional means of communication, but hey, it worked.

     "Sounds like you love your mom a lot. Kind of like me and my folks. Don't know what I'd do without them." A warm smile is spared for miss Grey and miss Braddock. "Or without them." With miss Grey here, though, she lets her take point. This is in her wheelhouse.

SpyderByte has posed:
Squinting his eyes, Jeremy lifts a hand up to knuckle at them for a moment. He still look shaken up.

<< Of course I love my mother, doesn't mean I'm not scared of her finding out about me. >>

He watches Jean approach, edging around the tree again. Her phone now pings.

<< Life isn't comfortable for me. This is definitely not comfortable for me. But, if you want to talk .. we can. Neutral territory. Pizza place. It has an old arcade back room that no one uses. >>

There's another ping.

<< Your friend is a slave to the signal. She is broadcasting through her eyes. She has computer eyes. Hard to trust any of you if your own systems are compromised. >>

Psylocke has posed:
Betsy is still monitoring things through Jean so she hears those words. It makes her frown, reaching up to touch her eyes. The lids slide closed automatically to protect her but she is now wondering what the hell is going on.

How are her eyes not her eyes? Was this something to do with the body she was put into? << I will make myself scarce for the meeting so he doesn't feel threatened. >>