11902/Commune Conundrum

Commune Conundrum
Date of Scene:	03 August 2020
Location:	Rural Colorado
Synopsis:	The X-Men save the day at a legal pot farm out West that's under siege by a Crimson Dynamo ripoff, a pair of villainous mutants and a bunch of guys with guns.
Cast of Characters:	Beast, Cyclops, Cannonball, Colossus, Pixie, Phoenix, Storm

---

Beast has posed:
The X-Men had picked up word of an imminent attack on a mutant commune out west and set off in the Blackbird to address the situation, grabbing the team members that were in the area as quickly as they could. As the vehicle descends to the ground there are about a dozen folks there, some holding guns, some possessing obvious mutations. The little compound they're in has a bunch of pre-fabricated buildings and a variety of trucks and farm equipment. It looks like a peaceful place in the middle of the woods. There's even a sign that says, 'Darwin's Delights: The Finest Colorado Cannabis'.

Hank McCoy will lead the way out of the plane, heading towards the folks waiting for him, "Hello there, I'm Beast."

The leader steps up, a matronly middle aged woman with green skin and gills, "Please to meet you, Beast. I'm Maryanne. We're a peaceful people out here, but we received word that some of our rivals who distribute cannabis illegally have been stealing from us. We caught one and turned them over to the police, but the cops cut them loose when they learned that the crooks were only robbing mutants. A contact that knows them has heard that they're going to try to take all of our stores of bud and, if they can, our plants." There's a look of concern in her face, "None of us have laser eyes or any of that. We don't even have enough guns for all of us. We can't protect ourselves and the cops are unwilling to. Please, help us."

Cyclops has posed:
"I suppose you're in luck. I have laser eyes." Cyclops says from behind Hank as he folds his arms over his chest. He's in pair of jeans and a solid black t-shirt, along with his combat visor. There's no reason to into full uniform and scare the locals. Tilting his head towards Jean, he clears his throat. Once he is sure they are all linked up, he begins,

<< What do you think? The X-Men don't usually get involved in squabbles like this, but they are mutants after all. >>

"These rivals of yours. Are they mutants as well or human? The last thing we need is any bad press from humans complaining that the X-Men are strong arming them over weed sales."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie walks out of the plane, looking about. He whistles softly looking around and says "It feels weird to see that much pot out in the open. Ah mean have stumbled across some patches in the hills, but when ya find that ya get the heck out of dodge." He will look around and says "If the illegal growers here are like back home, they can get pretty messy over it." He will tell them.

Colossus has posed:
    The plains to east give way to rockier terrain with looming mountains to the west. The big Russian looks about and in his mind's eye he is 16. The tractor is running and Illyana is in the wheat. He does what he must, and a man with kind eyes offers to pay for the damages and supply an additional tractor if only 'Peter' will come with them. The man made him a soldier, but he gifted Piotr with so much. Not for the first time Piotr wonders if it was all worth it.

     He was young, and for his age he was immense. He takes a few steps out of the plane and his chest rises and falls in a heavy sigh. How gray has Papa become? Does Mama remember the sound of his voice? The Russian kneels to the ground and presses his hand into the soil. He lifts thick, dark earth out and allows it to run through his thick fingers. It dribbles through his fingers.

    As he stands there is a flash of white light tinged with red. Colossus comes to his full height and he murmurs, "This is good Earth. It deserves to be tilled for better things." His deep voice is quiet and deep, but the tone is all that Scott needs to know from Piotr; that is a nyet.

    Just say nyet to drugs, mutants.

    Colossus shakes his head at the mutants. "I mean no disrespect." His tone is firm. "It is incumbent upon us, all of us, to be above reproach." And growing weed seems to be something deserving of reproach.

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn follows the others out of the plane, peering around in wide-eyed curiosity. She's wearing a white floral summer dress rather than a uniform, although she typically stands out with her hot pink hair and iridescent blue green dragonfly wings, that flutter softly as she peers around.

"Soo, someone is picking on mutants specifically and stealing their goods? I'm guessing it's a pretty violent mob or else you wouldn't have asked for our help specifically?" she frowns, thinking that over.

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey is likewise dressed down, in a fashion. In close-fitted attire black pants, a dark crimson shirt, and a short-sleeved black leather-like coat, she still cuts a quietly formidable figure. She links the minds of the team to allow for silent communication among them, with the woman's presence rising like a low burning flame in the backs of their mind. The kind contained behind an oil brazer's glass. Turn it up too high, and it becomes a firestorm.

"There are more possibilities than just those used for personal recreation. Medicine comes in many forms." She says gentle to Piotr as she comes up alongside the tall man before looking back towards the growers. "And certainly not something that warrants not protecting those in need."

Beast has posed:
"They do have a couple of mutants in their number, their leader Chlorophyll and his sidekick Gasbag, who can control his size by changing the gases in his body, as well as exude certain dangerous gases through his mouth. But what's more concerning is that there are a lot of them and there are rumors..." Maryanne takes a moment to breathe deeply. "They may have bought a tank from the deep web."

There are murmurs of concern from the other commune dwellers. They'd heard about it, but not from Maryanne's lips. One of them steps forward, a younger man with owl-like eyes, and says, "This is everything we own. They want to kill us and take it. Please help us."

Cyclops has posed:
"They bought a tank?"

Scott rubs the back of his neck as he glances over to the rest of his X-Men, brows furrowing from behind his visor. He presses his lips together in a thin line, then gives a glance to the others.

<< Okay guys. Let's play this cool. We'll head over their way and put eyes on the situation. The last thing we want to do is have a fight with anyone. Pixie, you can teleport us in, Jean, mask our presence from them. Hank and I can speak with them and try and meet a peaceful resolution once we figure out who's in charge. Sam and Pete, I want you partnered up and watching our backs. The moment you find something out of place, let us know. >>

As he gives a sharp nod of his, he turns his attention to Maryanne. "We'll talk to them and see if we can find a way to solve all of this without conflict. For now, I'd suggest you take your family and leave the area for a bit, just in case."

Colossus has posed:
    Piotr's left hand rises and it cups Jean's cheek if she will allow it. It is a gentle gesture and fill of respect. "If you say so." Colossus replies. He does not argue with Jean as a rule. His chin moves forwards and down in a small, short bob. Her saying it is the right thing is enough for him. Out of respect, he pulls his melancholic musings about his parents from the fore of his mind, sheltering her psyche from his own regrets and recriminations. The touch is brief and not all romantic. In many ways it was for Piotr and not her. His white eyes settle on Maryanne. His chin tilts slowly. "I will shield you from this tank." There is a casual confidence that is too kindly to be disdainful in his deep, slightly metallic voice.

    Colossus looks over to Cyclops and lowers his arms to cross them over his chest with a faint scrape of nigh invulnerable metal. "You should consider a purchase. I hear it is good for eye pressure."

    His gaze swings over to Cannonball. "Can you carry me aloft and launch me?" That is what the terrain needs, a screaming Russian being rocketed by a hick at Mach 7000.

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn glances towards Jean and nods slowly, thoughtfully. Of course, she doesn't experience drugs as intensely as others but.."Wow, that's really mean. I guess they can be used for lots of helpful medicines and stuff too. You'd think they'd just start their own plantation, but I guess some people are just lazy."

Megan does blink a couple of times at the 'tank' thing though, "Woow, are you kidding? A tank? Where'd they get that from? I mean, I guess they're serious about killing you guys, this isn't just some night time raid.."

Glancing at Cyclops, Megan swallows and nods. She'd rather not fight a tank, nope. <<Okay, but I'll need like, a map or something so I can visualize where we're teleporting into, since I haven't been there before..>>

To Colossus, she just smiles, "Nice to know we've got a tank of our own!"

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie nods a bit as he is listening to the goings on "It it a messy thing where it is illegal, least here they keep things a bit more controlled, and should be able to have carried heavier. He will say over to Piotr. He hmms, and nods once to Scott, but will look to the others "The other side have anyone that can fly that you know of?"

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey reaches up to pat a hand gently against Piotr's steely arm and gives him a smile that speaks volumes. It's quick and silent but full of understanding. Maybe for more than just misgivings about questionably legal substances. And there it ends as she turns back to the business at hand.

<< Understood. >> Jean replies to Scott's mental orders. << So long as there's nothing dramatic, I can keep us shielded. Just no one go being dramatic. You know, unless we need to be. >>

She gives a pointed glance to Piotr and Colossus at the talks of setting up a joint US-Russian space program but says nothing outloud about it. To Megan she just flashes a grin and says, "Never leave home without one."

Beast has posed:
"Okay," Maryanne says to Cyclops with a thankful little smile. "We'll catch up with my mom and the children. This is our home and our livelihood, so anything you can do to protect it would be truly wonderful." With a smile she tells Piotr, "Thank you so much! I can't tell you how good it is to hear someone is going to be standing up for us." She turns towards her folks and says, "Alright ramblers, lets get rambling." The commune folks start heading towards their vehicles, piling in. Some wave to the X-Men, the guy from before calling out, "Thanks guys! We'll get out of your hair and let you do your thing."

Beast looks towards Scott and nods, <<That sounds like an ideal way to handle the situation. If we can convince them that violence isn't going to be a good option then they'll hopefully rethink their approach.>>

Cyclops has posed:
<< They bought a tank. I'm assuming we're going` to have the shit hit the fan pretty quickly. No need for these civilians to get caught up in any of that. >>

Scott waits until the others are out of earshot, then looks to the rest of his team. "What do you think, Hank? You seem to know these people. Are they trust worthy? Just want to make sure we're not being led into a trap and we're about to poke innocents."

Giving a long stretch, he takes the information that he would have got from them before they left to pass it on to Pixie for her to do her thing when she is ready.

Colossus has posed:
    The lingering touch is enough for Piotr. His lips part and he simply nods to Jean. His word is a simple one but laden with respect, gratitude, and admiration. "Spasiba." Whether for the smile or the reassurance that came from it. There is another slight tilt of his chin downwards before it rises. The Russian nods to Sam. "Fantastic." He agrees.

    His pale eyes are devoid of pupils, and he settles them on Maryanne. "Thank the others. I would protect you no matter what." It is to Hank that he turns his attention. "How much money does selling this stuff generate?" He asks incredulously. It just sunk in that rival pot farmers bought a tank,.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie looks over to Pitor, and says "For Illegal grows, it can be hundred of thousands of dollars, to millions. Mind you people I knew back home were not on this scale, most of them were maybe a couple extra thousand a month to help feed their families." He will look around the area, and does keep an eye skyward for other flyers, or mechanical eyes in the sky.

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn grins and nods to Jean, "I'll remember that next time! Guess I'll need to brush up on my geography too!" she makes a face but nods to Scott as he passes the location information over to her, and falls into silence for several minutes as she pores over the location marked on the map, and other details like landmarks that might prove useful.

"Right, just say the word, I got this covered.." she nods to Scott, but shivers at the thought of fighting a tank still. Hopefully it's just one tank.

"Oh, yeah, I totally hope we're not running into a trap..But they seemed kinda sincere?" Megan is no mind-reader however.

Phoenix has posed:
"I know it's not easy to leave home when it's in danger," Jean remarks as she watches the locals depart. "But at least with as many of them gone as possible that reduces the chance of casualties. Before we go, I'll do a quick scan of the grounds to make sure no one is hiding out and planning to be a hero - or ambushing." She's been doing this long enough. You never write off a backstabbing.

"If we're lucky, their seller robbed them and sold them a dud tank. But when do we ever get that lucky?" She mutters rhetorically before stepping a few feet away so she can more easily concentrate of doing a cursory scan of the nearby properly. "Gimme two minutes, Megan, and I'll be set."

Beast has posed:
After the residents have departed in their vehicles Beast looks back at Cyclops and nods, "They've been trying to do everything legally. Their rivals have been stealing from them and threatening them with violence and the local authorities are staying out of it. Plus, I doubt innocents buy illegal tanks."

With a look at Colossus, then a nod at Sam, Hank shrugs his shoulders, "A farm this size? Based on what we saw from the air, I'd say there's a few million bucks worth of stuff growing out here. Plus whatever they've got stored in these buildings that they haven't transported yet. I neglected to check the deep web for the cost of a tank, but I imagine they'd probably go for less than a million dollars."

When he looks up Sam will pick up on a small quad drone, just at the range of his vision. It's over the plant fields at the moment, but heading towards the main compound.

Out in the direction the drone is coming from Jean may perceive some human minds. Minds will ill intent.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie will point out the drone "Looks like someone is keeping an eye on things. I can't make out the make or model so no clue on the range of it, but I think a mile or two max for normal drones?" He will ask. He hmmms, and says "So you want in the tank or in front of it when we see it ?" HE asks Piotr.

Storm has posed:
    Storm disembarked from the jet slightly after the others, hanging back and listening to Maryanne and the others talk about the situation at hand with a frown on her face. Once the plan has been elaborated, she nods.

    "I agree that we should attempt to resolve this peacefully first, and begin with speaking to this 'rival' for ourselves. Getting involved in business squabbles over -cannabis- is the last thing we need, whether mutants are involved or not."

Cyclops has posed:
"Four million dollars, Hank. That's how much a tank costs at bare minimum." Scott says as he clears his throat. "Either way, let's head on over and keep our eyes and ears sharp."

Speaking of eyes being sharp, he tilts his head over towards Sam's warning, then looks over in the direction he calls out. "Well, there goes the element of surprise." There's a hint of annoyance in his throat. "Megan, teleport us in. Everyone, stay alert and ready."

At the sight of Storm, he gives a bob of his head. "Sam and Pete are going to be on recon duty. If we get into trouble, lay down a cover to blind them so we can exit smoothly. I want us all on the same page. Unless they attack us first, we aren't lifting a finger. Got it? We're not going to hurt civilians."

With that, he gives a motion to Megan.

Colossus has posed:
    "That is a great deal." Piotr softly agrees with a soft metallic whistle. He adds, nodding to Henry. "Soviet surplus has been used for many deeds no doubt because it is so inexpensive." Piotr's sense of humor can be subtle too.

    For someone that admires Jean so much, his quiet words reflect his own quiet uncertainty. It is not this adventure that has him so lost in thought. "Nyet, Jean. The leaving is easy. It is the staying away that is the trick."

    Pulling his shoulders up, Piotr looks to Cannonball. "In the turret." he tells Sam. The big man's head pivots to regard Ororo. The look that crosses his feature is almost full of gratitude as the one he gave Jean earlier. He cannot have been completely wrong if Ororo shares some of his concerns. Though he does not need to breathe, his shoulders and chest rise and fall as if in relief.

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn blinks up at the drone and sighs, "Well...So much for catching them off-guard, but then again, if we're gonna try for a peaceful resolution I suppose we don't need to be sneaky. Either way, they'll be ready and waiting for us.."

To Scott, Megan nods and when he gives the motion, she lifts up her arms, "Sihal Novarum Chinoth!" a glowing pink platform appears at everyone's feet, rapidly rising to engulf them all in a brief flash of light as she teleports them instantly to the intended location..

Phoenix has posed:
<< There, from where it came from. >> Jean is talking in their minds right over the last few words of Sam's alert about the drone, like she picked up his recognition before he could even say it. She doesn't look directly at the area, but there is a pressure in her words like the magnetic draw that turns a compass needle. << Numbers unknown, but there are people out there. They are not friendly, but they may not be armed. Possibly scouts. >>

She looks over towards Scott as he starts making orders and then over towards Megan. Reaching out towards the pixie, Megan would become aware of a pulse of pink light and a crawling, fire-warm sensation where her clothing touches her. The dress changes as fabric molecules rearrange themselves to form a rendition of her uniform. "Dresses are terrible in possible firefights." She remarks with a wink. Weird, but faster than running back into the jet for a wardrobe swap. And then it's teleporting time.

Beast has posed:
The drone will keep approaching, its pilot trying to get eyes on the commune's defenses. As it's not a military grade model its camera is merely good and not great. Still, it'll pick up on the plane in the yard and the handful of figures standing around.

As they're teleported to their destination it's pretty much in the middle of another little group of trailers and pre-fabs. There are two people visible, facing away from the X-Men at a table with an old military radio and new looking laptop. The radio operator is chatting into the handheld microphone, "The people just disappeared! Where'd they go, bro? Find them!"

The guy on the laptop is using what looks like a video game controller, probably the guy steering the drone, "I don't know what happened. It's like they turned invisible. Can anybody on the commune turn folks invisible, dude?"

Dude replies to Bro, "Naw. They just got super eyes and breathing underwater powers."

From the radio's speakers come the words, "It's not like they'll stand a chance against our secret weapon, anyway. It can see thermal signatures and Gasbag can flood the whole compound with some gnarly fumes."

Cyclops has posed:
<< Well, we found the bad guys. >>

Scott folds his arms in front of him as he stares at the Dude and Bro from behind, then gives a glance over towards the others.

<< Subtle, aren't they? Jean. Put them to sleep. >>

They may as well take care of this quickly without too much noise. << Soon as they're down, Sam, I want you and Storm in the sky to do a fly over and see what it is they are talking about. See if you can find a tank. Pete, you and Pixie are together. If things go crazy, I want you to teleport Pete right on top of them. Literally. Like a fast ball special, but .. vertical. >>

Tilting his head to Jean and Beast, he bobs his head. << Jean will keep us safe with her telekinetics if they do that gas trick. We'll be back by dinner. Everyone, stay safe and stay in contact. >>

Colossus has posed:
    Well, it is likely for the best. 600 pounds of Russian flying at the speed of sound might have caused issues. 'Some other time, tovarisch." Colossus says with a nod to Cannonball. The metal man moves over to Pixie and holds out his left hand to her. "Looks like you are my dance partner, Pixie. I will try not to step on you, da?" As he speaks, he not-at-all-subtly places himself between Pixie and the direction that the others have indicated the approach is coming from. He wrinkles his nose. "This field smells like Illyana's room from time to time." He says with a certain ill-at-ease feeling in his gut.

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey looks to the pair that are talking and their radio companion with a gaze almost bordering on sympathy. Poor things have no clue what they're up against. It's a familiar motion to wave a hand towards the speakers, stretching out her influence with the easy pervasiveness like smoke through the cracks in a door to first will their emotions to calm under the impression of a heavy, wet blanket before snuffing out conscious thought like a cheap birthday candle. Naptime, fellas. Hopefully neither are resistant to such things.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie will move to the back of the trailer if there is a door there, and will open it slowly to look around, to see if anyone is around. If the coast is clear, he will step out and hold the door open for Storm, keeping his eyes out for anyone about outside.

Storm has posed:
    Storm nods at Scott's plan and the wind starts to pick up as soon as Jean puts the two young men to sleep, swirling around her and lifting her into the air above the area.

    Cannabis or not, this illegally acquired tank needed to either be returned to a rightful and legal owner, or destroyed. In either case, it shouldn't be here.

Beast has posed:
The guys Jean moves to send off to dreamland? Yeah, they just fall asleep, slumping in their seats. Never stood a chance.

There's nobody to see on Sam's end of things. Apparently everybody's on their way to the commune.

From the air it's not hard to spot the folks moving in towards the friendly commune. There's a couple dozen guys, each packing an automatic rifle of some sort. Except for the guy with the build of a beachball. His green skinned friend seems to be the leader, based on the fact that he's talking into a radio. Which the folks back at the drug thieves' compound can hear, "Dude. Bro. You got eyes on again, yet?"

Amidst the group on their way to the commune is a taller figure. About ten feet taller than the next tallest person, as a matter of fact. It's some kind of armored suit with a dark red paint job. There's a Ukrainian flag on one shoulder that looks like it's been painted over a hammer and sickle. The faintest shimmer of energy can be seen surrounding the robotic battlesuit.

Cyclops has posed:
<< Good job, Jean. >>

Scott makes his way over to pick up the radio, then cleras his throat as he talks into it. "Good evening. This is Cyclops of the X-Men. Your friends are safe, but out of commission. We have control of your drone, which we plan on grounding very quickly. I will give you all one chance to stand down and return back to your homes. Failure to comply will be met swiftly and embarrassingly for you. So, how about we just call this a day and end things peacefully?"

Taking his finger off the radio, he looks back to the team. "They're obviously going to do something stupid. The plan still sticks. Sam and Storm, plan on using distance. Pixie, drop Petey on top of the tin man. Jean, Beast and I will do our part in taking out the rest of the ground soldiers."

With that, he plucks up the controller and takes the drone out of the sky, sending it crashing straight into the ground. BANG! He may as well drive his point home.

Beast has posed:
"X-Men? This is Chlorophyll. If you don't get out of here my girl in the robot armor's going to slice your heads off." The leader of the villains says. Then he seems to forget his radio is on and hot mics as he yells, "They're back at our place, guys! Tear them apart!"

The systems on the robot armor are complex, but powerful. It's primary weapon is a 25mm autocannon built into the right arm. The left? Well, a sickle like blade emerges from behind a grasping claw and crackles with electricity. On the right shoulder is a fly by wire missile system. Finally, a heavy machine gun lives on the left shoulder. Powerful servos move the legs at surprising speeds. This thing may have been built for fighting mechanized infantry units, based on it's armament and speed.

The guys with it haul ass to try to keep up, but fail to do so. Except for the green guy. He runs like a cheetah, except only on his hind legs.

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn grins at Jean as she transforms her civilian clothes into her blue and gold uniform. "Thanks! Should be helpful against tanks.." as they reappear, she glances thoughtfully over at the people in plain sight, holding her breath as she waits for Jean to put them asleep and nods to Scott, moving to step beside Pete and grins. "Sounds fun!"

Megan has always been a fan of Colossus, even though she's not too fond of his sister in all irony. But this should be interesting.

"Just say the word.." But until they have to pull out the big stops, maybe a little searching is in order? "Soo where should we go first?" She peers towards the trailers thoughtfully and takes a step forward. "I guess..We should figure out who their leader is, right?"

But looks like Scott has a plan already and once he talks into that radio, there's really no point in hiding. Annd that giant armoured guy does NOT look like fun! She grabs COlossus' hand and gets ready to teleport..

And since it doesn't look like they're gonna back down, she nods to him, "Okay, here we go!" and in a flash they vanish and reappear in the air several hundred feet above tin man in the air.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie will take to the air not lessing the sound of his rocketing roar. He heads up into the air, and starts a circle around the group, making sure he is loud and visable. He will then head right towards the green fellow. HE plans on plowing through him, and the rest of the goons, as he hopes to get the suit targeting him.

Storm has posed:
    << It seems the rest of them are one their way already, with some sort of mechanized armor suit. Looks to be at least a couple dozen of them in addition to the suit. >> Storm reports to the rest of the team, presumably through Jean.

    She nods, and stays in the air upon Scott's command, waiting to see if the group will do the smart thing and stand down. But then she notices Colossus and Pixie getting teleported into the air right above the battlesuit. Welp, there was the answer!

Colossus has posed:
    Once upon a time Piotr leapt out of a plane. As he plunged past a teammate, that teammate was shocked. They expressed concern that he could not fly. His answer: 'Da, but I land like champion'.

    There are no words of clever banter. He's older now. Xavier gave him so much, but he did another thing. Piotr's a soldier. He lowers his arms and plunges down. Plummets at ever-increasing speeds. A errant bit of light casts a sheen over his form, glinting from jaw to ankle as the red and yellow clad mutant hurtles through the air. He doesn't have perfect aim, but Piotr is trying to clip one of the hips and maybe just break it with impact. He isn't certain where the figure is in the armor. It is a female, so likely just the torso. Still, he tries to be careful. As careful as one can be as a living projectile. As he nears, his low voice can be heard to say. "Privyet."

Cyclops has posed:
"I do enjoy a fastball special. Logan is going to be jealous."

Scott watches Piotr go plummeting from the height and into the large armored beast, then clears his throat as he starts forward.

<< Storm, blanket the place in fog to blind them. Jean, tell me where to shoot. Sam, back up Petey. >>

With that, he reaches up to tap his visor, continuing forth into battle as he gives a crack of his neck.

<< If we're going to do this superhero thing, we need a battle cry. Whoever comes up with a good one I'll buy a beer for at Harry's. Sorry, Megan, you get a Shirley Temple. Google her if you don't know who it is. >>

As soon as the plan goes into motion, he'll blast out with his optic beams in an attempt to knock the beach ball leader out. Cut the head off a snake, so they say.

Beast has posed:
There's a good degree of noise as Chlorophyll opens fire on the flying mutant that's careening towards him. Of course, he doesn't know that the bullets won't do anything until it's almost too late. Still, he's quite quick and manages to dodge. Mostly. His gun arm is torn off of his body, lost along with his weapon. "Damn! I liked that gun!" The villain yells before he grabs onto a nearby tree with his remaining hand. Its leaves begin to turn brown as the mutant gang leader's lost limb begins to grow back.

The armor's pilot is caught offguard by the metallic Russian projectile. When Colossus strikes the leg of the battlesuit he... well, he almost slides off it. The energetic shimmer around the armor glows a bright red for a moment. A shield or force field of some kind. The suit turns rapidly to try to lash out at Colossus, it's sickle arm slicing towards him, electricity crackling! "Suck it, metal man!" can be heard from loud speakers built into the machine.

The guys on the ground start firing their weapons in the direction of Cyclops, Phoenix and Beast. They're not well trained and the guns probably came from the same defunct Soviet weapon factory as the robot, but there's a lot of firepower out there.

Beast springs into action! Running on all fours towards the bad guys, using trees for cover until he runs right up the side of one to get above the villains to brachiate into a good position to drop down on them.

Gasbag is slammed by the optic beam and sent flying backwards. As he travels through the air he seems to inflate and literally bounces off of a tree. He's about twice the size he'd been and is now floating through the air, apparently unconscious.

Colossus has posed:
    Force fields. Force fields suck. Colossus is thankfully faster than he looks. Still, he just was dropped from height and he struck and all but bounced off. The energy scythe catches him twice. Once with the electrical shock, which if he were not all but invulnerable to electricity would have been a horrible end. Still, electricity arcs and crackles off of Piotr's form, catching nearby cannabis leaves alight from sparks.
    The stave of the scythe is what lifts Piotr back up off his feet and sends the metallic colossus skidding through the field like a skipping stone on a lake. There is a clank as his form strikes a stray rock, shattering the rock into powder. Colossus spits out a filthy word in Russian.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie did not mean to take an arm off. He will alert the others though. "Seems the fast one has some heck of regeneration. He does turn his path moving to his the suit on the opposite side that Colossus did. He skims low to the ground trying to take the things legs out from under it as he shoots past before starting to make a U turn to come back around.

Phoenix has posed:
As bullets begin to fly, Jean switches from the sandman offensive to the shieldwall defense. So much for a peaceful resolution. The brilliant rose glow of her powers pulses into existence, spreading out in an arc in front of Cyclops to protect him so he can focus on firing. She'll guide him as she can, telepathically trying to track their opponents. The glow of her shield could likely be seen even through a rising fog, but the disadvantage of giving away their position also gives the other X-Men the chance of having the fire aimed away from them and towards an obvious target. << Excelsior? >>

Storm has posed:
    "You got it, Scott." Storm's eyes turn white as she focuses on the moisture in the air, causing it to condense near the ground and form a thick fog localized around the mechsuit and the ground units.

    She frowns as Colossus hits what looks like a shield, then focuses again, this time on chilling the air around the armor and causing the water to condense and then freeze instantly into thick sheets of ice that will hopefully weigh it down!

Cyclops has posed:
<< Is everyone sold on Excelsior? We'd have to remove the E and make it just an X with a dash. X-Celsior. We could change the name of the New Mutants to that, actually. I think you're on to something, Jean. >>

Scott, led by Jean's telepath continues to pick targets out of the crowd, looking to aim at the bigger guns. Thanks to Storm's thick smoke screen, they won't see it coming, nor will they be able to aim proper.

<< Pete, Sam, looks like Storm is giving you guys some support. Try and take that thing down quick. Jean, if you get a moment during all of this, you may be able to put the pilot to sleep. >>

It may not be the most fun way of resolving things, but at least it won't waste time.

Bzzat! Zap!

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn continues to hover in the air, watching the firefight down below. Oh hey, those guys have guns but they dont all look heavily armoured. Maybe she can thin the crowd a bit. To Scott she makes a face. <<Yeaah, I know, I only get sugary non alchol or low alcohol drinks, not fuun! Umm, I'm gonna try and thin out their ranks with some faerie dust! Otherwise I'll stay out of the way in the air.>>

And she is careful to get in behind the baddies but still above them while they're focused on what's in front of them. Her wings flutter more rapidly until they are a mere blur of speed and pink sparkly faerie dust, using her hands to redirect the powerful hallucinogenic dust to fall over the bad guys in a glittery pink shower.

Beast has posed:
"Yeah, metal jerk!" The woman in the suit yells at Colossus as she lifts her autocannon towards him and opens fire. The 25mm gunfire slices through the pot plant and trees alike, tearing things apart with ease. That is until there's a collision on her other leg. The forcefield lights up again, not as bright this time as before, and the armor almost goes down. It spins around in a circle, instead, its autocannon still blasting rounds through the flora. "What the hell was that?" the pilot asks as she whips around from side to side to try to get line of sight on Cannonball.

Chlorophyll continues holding onto the tree for deer life until his arm finishes growing back. "I'm going to kill the crap out of you!" He starts running in the direction of Phoenix' glowing shield. His men continue to fire at it, not realizing they're wasting ammunition.

As the fog starts forming around the guys on the ground they become more hesitant with their shooting, but continue to press on. The armored suit on the other hand? When the ice starts forming around it it begins to melt it, steam starting to fill the air. The pilot comments, having also left her mic on, "This thing was getting hot as hell. I was afraid I was going to need to bail for a second. Oh damn, am I talking through the speaker? What's the thing to turn it off again?"

There's another haze joining the fog. Purple haze. The burning plants are releasing their pungent scent and intoxicating fumes into the air. Added to that, Pixie's awesome dust is joining the fight. The guys in the midst of the action soon begin tripping, the mutant's dust combined with the cannabis in the atmosphere working together to get them severely mellowed out. The group of them begins wandering off into the pot fields, tossing their weapons aside. One of them says, "I can't believe you're here Santa! I'll never shoot anyone for drugs ever again!"

Colossus has posed:
    That is a hefty round. Robust. The ones that strike colossus flatten and deform. Others ping and ricochet off him as a metal muscle cords and flexes. There is a soft rumble as Colossus roles to his feet. He runs over, and this time does not seek to barrel through or strike the armor. Instead the metallic mutant attempts to grab the leg of the armored suit. Then merely tilt and pivot himself to fall onto this back, and hopefully take the armor down with him. "Timber." Another single, simple one word utterance as the nigh invulnerable mutant makes his attempt.

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey keeps her primary focus on keeping that shield up, the light of it pulsing and rippling as the bullets hit and drop away. It shrinks slightly as she withdraws a fraction of her focus to reach out her mind and her other hand towards the pilot to try a similar tactic to shut them down mentally. Using all three aspects of her powers simultaneously is a more challenging juggle, and the sheer concentration it takes is etched onto her face. She's a practiced pro, though, but it does slow her reactions down.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie comes back again aiming for that hip joint. He is skimming the ground again just inches away from it. He takes it as fast as he can, and will try to hit the guns of the quit and disable them. With Pitor holding on, maybe they can tear the armor off the person a bit with pressure up high and holding it steady

Storm has posed:
    Storm frowns as the ice just melts instantly. Hmm...she considers hitting it with lightning, but doesn't want any of the others to get caught in the crossfire. But having heard the voice on the loudspeaker, it gave her an idea.

    She focuses on the air around the mechsuit, suddenly raising the temperature drastically, but concentrating on keeping the area where she thinks the cockpit is low enough to avoid actually hurting the pilot. Hopefully, it's enough to cause engines to overheat, which will no doubt already be hot just from running.

Cyclops has posed:
As he continues to blast his optic blasts through the fog, Scott is focusing most of his attention on the large mech suit. That thing is sure tough!

<< Good work, team. Storm, once you are done, try and blow the smoke and pixie dust away from us. We can't lose our heads in all of this. I think the battle is pretty much over now. The leader is running straight at us and he doesn't look pleased. Hank? That one is all yours. >>

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn blinks and darts away from clouds of plant spores and dust and fog. Pixie dust wont hurt her but it's hard to see in and causes trouble for the others. She does her best to flutter her wings to blow it away from the Xmen and clear the air a little.

Beast has posed:
The armored suit is hot to the touch when Colossus grabs it, enough that it'd roast an unprotected person. Thankfully, Piotr is invulnerable enough that he can safely ignore the heat and take the armor down. It's scythe swings around, trying to do some damage as the pilot yells, "Dammit! I think metal balls over here is stronger than this thing! Crap, was that not the speaker button I turned off? What did I turn off? Air filters? I thought this thing just smelled like weed. What's this one do? My Russian sucks. Samorazrusheniye. That's gotta be speaker." That switch is not, in fact, for the speaker system. "Why am I getting so tired all of the sudden? Jeez, I'm..." The talking finally stops as the suit begins to rapidly heat up in Colossus' arms.

Pot smoke fills the air now. The guys that got faerie dusted are still kind of wandering away. Possible to do good deeds. One of them says, "I thought you were dead, Uncle James! You'll be happy to know I just quit dealing drugs! I'm on my way back to school to learn to be a veterinarian, just like you always wanted for me! It's a long walk and I'm really tired, but if I lay down the fire's gonna catch me so I gotta keep moving and find my college again."

The armored suit gets slammed directly by Sam. It's forcefield flashes one more time before it quits completely. Once it's gone it's obvious the whole front of it pretty much is just cockpit. The pilot inside is sleeping, wearing a full suit and helmet that's now starting to smoke as the armor's heat begins rapidly increasing.

Beast has been in the fight the whole time. Jumping from gunman to gunman doing all sorts of cool aerial kicks and flips and clawing guns in half and throwing people and stuff. Unlike being green, it might just be easy being blue. His eyes are starting to turn red for some reason, though. Hopefully Xavier's doesn't drug test its teachers.

When told to take the leader out, though, Hank is all business. He runs and leaps through the air to pin Chlorophyll to the ground. The plant man is strong enough to shrug Beast off, at least for a moment. Then the blue mutant just up and drop kicks him it the face. The green head falls off and rolls along the ground, eyes going wide as he ends up beneath a cannabis plant. Already the body is beginning to regenerate as Doctor McCoy picks up the heads to stare at it, "I apologize for literally knocking your block off. You're much softer than I thought you'd be."

The severed green head, which is not bleeding by the way, starts yelling, "Put me back on that plant! I'm going to grow back and kick your blue ass up and down this pot farm you jerk!"

Colossus has posed:
    Well. That's bad. Piotr knows he is hot to the touch. He can rip through the armor, or so he thinks. He would unfortunately scald the reprobate inside. "Windrider! It is too hot, can you help?" Colossus' voice carries, deep and faintly metallic.

    Colossus attempts to heft the armor overhead a little as is to give Ororo a target. As he does that, his left shoulder starts to smolder and smoke. Colossus' metal form is immune to this level of heat, but his outfit is having issues.He spits out another mutter Russian swear.

    "I am getting pants." He decides, apropos of nothing. Nobody wants to see a buff Colossus in the plane. Frowning, Piotr adds. "Please hurry. My clothes appear to be on fire."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie will make a circuit to pick up gassy boy. He will bring him back to the rest of the groups, "Might want to put a bubble around this guy in case he starts to fass out.

Storm has posed:
    When Storm sees that the pilot is unconscious, she quickly switches tactics and kicks up a cold wind as well as lowering the temperature once more. Not too fast, though, since that might cause the thing to break apart and fall on people. At the same time, the wind begins blow the gases and pixie dust away from the group, as per Scott's request.

Phoenix has posed:
With the gunmen down, Jean relieves some of the pressure on her increasingly fuzzy brain and drops the shield. There's a silent wave of black and purple smoke and silver fog that rolls into the void it leaves behind. Even her mental signature in the links between them is hazy, like trying to focus on an image through rippling water but all that can be made out is a fleeting rush of brilliant orange. Was that a goldfish?

"I'll carry him." She says towards Sam as she reaches out, reforming a smaller shield around the Balloon-Man to bring him closer. "Should go find those guys wandering off so they don't get lost when they come out of it. They went... thataway."

Cyclops has posed:
"Good work, team. We'll contact the authorities to pick these guys up. Let's take these two." Scott says in regards to Gasbag and the plant guy. "We'll make sure SHIELD handles them responsibly. They got their hands on some interesting tecnology adn I am sure they will want to know where and how."

Once he is sure that everyone is situated, he gives them a sharp nod and motions them back to the Blackbird. They will need to clear their head for the flight home.

Though, if a bit of product goes missing, who would know?

Beast has posed:
The team is able to work together to keep the gases from messing with anybody too much. Beast gets a moment of looking like a total badass as he emerges from the billowing smoke holding the severed green head in one hand. Until he speaks to it, "I think perhaps your powers could be better put to use if you were to refrain from dealing drugs illegally. Imagine all the good you could do as a crash-test dummy." As he gets close to Scott he'll toss the head over, "Here you go, Cyclops. I feel a strong urge to raid the pantry coming on."