13271/The Little Pigs

The Little Pigs
Date of Scene:	14 May 2021
Location:	Salem Center, Westchester County
Synopsis:	Ororo takes the students to the Salem Center for trinkets; and they all leave either angry or traumatized.
Cast of Characters:	Storm, Faraday, Antigravity, SpyderByte, Gray, Nightingale, Ted Gammage

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Storm has posed:
History class went off without a hitch. But History class was taking a slightly new direction with Ororo's teaching. She was going to introduce guided meditation. Thankfully, there was a tiny little bazaar in town which has trinkets, clothing, anything that you can imagine from any religion that has goods for sale. Crystals, peace pipes, sounding bowls. Granted, most might think that half of what was purchased would be cultural appropriation; but Ororo checked with the vendors first. If they do purchase something of worth, the students will be met with the vendors who would be invited to some grassy area in the city to speak about the history and the worth of the object in the believers eye.

So as the students gathered one by one, Ororo gave them each a gift. Fifty dollars in odd bills, money borrowed from the Professor.

And to keep this as an after-hours school field trip, a shuttle arrived at the manse, students loaded into their respective places with Ororo in the front, conversing with the driver as they pull away from their home.

It takes no time for them to arrive at the Salem Center, Ororo stepping out of the car so that she could look each student in the eye before they choose to disperse and find something meaningful or small.

"Grand risings, students." She greets them, smiling, fingers laced in front of her faded black shirt. It was all too casual for a teacher, the jeans even had holes upon her thighs, knees and shins. "Remember the lesson we have had today." Ororo looks on to the gathering of those who'd buy, barter, or.. whatever, then gestures. "Find something suitable for you. Find something that calls to you. Find something that not each other picked, but one of your own choosing." Which means, do not rely on your friends. "It does not have to be an item that fits in the palm of your hand." She cups her hand, to demonstrate.

The dark woman now drops her arms by her side, giving -all- of them a severe look. Why, one could almost see a shadow looming over them, and in that area alone. "Follow my instructions to the letter. Or else." She pauses, then breaks out into the biggest smile ever! The suns rays even break out into a shine where the supposed shadow once was!

(EDITORS NOTE: Could have been a trick, but..)

"Go forth! And enjoy!"

Another call of darkness, and Ororo intones: "I want my change back too."

Faraday has posed:
Black jeans with the holes patched in purple and black plaid fabric. A long white shirt with a golden rearing tiger. A black jean jacket that looks like it was cropped with the aid of a wood chipper. This is what Indira is adorned in as she gets off the bus in turn and joins the class. She looks down at the money that she folds and pockets and then out past their teacher with her directions and warnings and fickle atmospheric lighting. She looks over the bazaar with something that seems vaguely wistful and a bit melancholy and several shades of uncertainty.

"...usually when my mom says here's money and go shop, it doesn't made me concerned that something will explode if I pick up the cup that isn't the Holy Grail." She mutters to no one in particular.

Antigravity has posed:
    "Ah'm not sure what Miss 'Ro wants us ta do. Ain't not gonna be anythin' there that calls ta me. All this stuff is new-age witch-craft mumbo-jumbo baloney." Rosie mutters from her seat, pressed up to a window as she watches the bazaar come into view. The small blonde was also wearing a black plaid shirt and red tank top underneath, all of her scars hiding as she steps off the bus and fastens a couple of buttons around her stomach so that the shirt doesn't fly open. She seems more aggressively down than usual, but looks over to Indy.

    "You make it 'splode, jus' blame me. Ah'll float up an' we'll see if we kin scare 'em off." she gives a grin over to her.

SpyderByte has posed:
As he joins his classmates, Jeremy wanders along after them in his usual slugging manner. He's wearing a long black trench coat, his chained pants and a long sleeved black shirt. He's probably going to be roasting. His phone is strapped to his arm as well so that he can speak through it. He has the fifty bucks in his pocket, but he isn't too worried about spending it quickly. If this mission is about a 'call', he is sure he will find it sooner or later.

Maybe an original Gameboy.

As he bumps against Rosie's shoulder after they exit the vehicle, reaching down to slide his hand into hers, giving it a squeeze. He'll glance over to look for Gray, offering up a smile as well, wiggling the fingers of his other and towards him.

<< I have never shopped at a bazaar before. Haggling is acceptable by the way. >>

Gray has posed:
Not really a fan of group activities, most of the time, Gray is still eager to grasp at any excuse to get away from the school for a while. He steps off the shuttle, arms lifted and hands clasped behind his head as he steps to the side to wait for Jeremy. Oh, sure. He should probably split off on his own to find something, but... well, that's probably not the best idea. His expression is carefully blank, a mask that he's obviously hiding behind in the wake of everything that happened yesterday. His clothes are probably familiar to anyone that was there when he first arrived at the mansion, though at least the warn, jeans and faded black t-shirt are clean, "Pretty sure I ain't gonna find nothin'..." Not that would be school approved, anyway.

Nightingale has posed:
     If there was one sort of shopping trip that Shannon -did- have a weakness for, that had never once been spoken of to any of her friends whatsoever, it was one just such as this. Candles, crystals, incense, herbs, mortars and pestles, censers--all were there, in a wild and wonderful array of colors, metals, textures, smells, sights, and sounds. There were the citrus-like notes of frankincense overlaid with the rank bitterness of myrrh. There were the sweet, light, woody notes of sandalwood, coupled with a sharper, more pine-like aroma of cedar. There was even the gentle, honeyed sweetness of honey amber resin.

     And among all these trinkets and trappings, in her pale blue paisley sundress, and flip-flops with daisies on the toes, the winged healer in training seemed right at home.

     "I wouldn't worry too much, Indi," she replies, hanging back a little bit to walk a bit more alongside Ted. "I think she's just curious to see what each of us goes for when left to our own devices. I'd take advantage of the momentary insanity and just enjoy the shopping!"

     Indeed, for her own part, she's already gone and found a lovely brass censer with three little feet on the bottom for resting on a flat surface, plus a trio of chains for hanging or carrying safely. She's also found some charcoal for burning incense, and has begun to gather together a collection of resins, woods, and herbs for the creation of incense, plus a lovely little white marble mortar and pestle and a book on blending incense.

     It seemed that might be the end of her shopping, with the addition of a couple nice crystal necklaces, but nope. As she turned towards another seller, with her prior purchases in hand (a bit over budget, but still, she was quite happy to cover the difference!), she stopped dead in her tracks. A cedar flute, almost Spartan in the simplicity of its design, lay gleaming in the late afternoon sun. She could not help reaching for the instrument, pale blue eyes gone wide as dinner plates.

     "Oh. Wow. Forget budgets, this is coming home."

Ted Gammage has posed:
Ted has "Dressed up" today. In this case it means he's wearing a newer pair of jeans, heavy boots and a henley shirt with the top button undone. He looks around as he walks beside Shannon, noting her exuberance and chuckles, "Ah'd give you my budget if they'd let me." He pauses, looking at crystals and takes a deep exhale, "None of this...uh, how'd she say it? Speaks to me?" He taps lightly on a crystal dangling from a cord and makes it sway then shrugs, "Not even ah whisper," he notes. He's more of a simple guy, needing only a bit of outdoors if he's going to clear his head. He glances to the others as well, hoping to glean some ideas of what to buy, even though they were told friends wouldn't be much help in the exercise. "Y'all think we're gettin' graded on this?"

Storm has posed:
It was the Bazaar that had no name. Out in the open, a place that brings certain joy to the shoppers who are willing to part with their money for trinkets they'd have to go deep into the cities to find. The rare gems, the stones and small, metal chests to keep the charhoal in. The salves that were created by thine own hand which includes florida water for a good blessing and coconut oil with aloe for moisture. While the kids disperse, Ororo does as well.

Hands alighting on a few things here and there, stopping to inspect something, putting it down until she gets to a suspicious looking booth, well out of the way from the bazaar. No one was in attendance, but that did not stop Ororo from looking. Especially once she spies a curious looking case, which was opened by the dark woman...

"Pshhhhh..." The leader of The Little Pigs mutters from his stoop. The crew of them were well in the middle of the shopping area, some holding snacks made of crystals, habanero stained fruits sprinkled in seasoning salts, peach rings and other tasty goods. "..Maaaan, how did I fucking know those hoity toity mutherfuckers would be here."

One of the members looks up, then back down to his food. "You mean those rich kids?"

"Yeah, those fucks. Honestly, we don't never see them out by themselves so this is prime time to teach these mutherfuckers a lesson.."

"Nah man, I'm eating." Another member mutters.
"C'mon Slice, be reasonable.." The other calls out.

"No! This is the bullshit I be talking about man.." The leader, Slice stands up from his lil bench perch, gesturing towards the wayward students. "..These are -the- most entitled fucks I've ever seen in my entire life. They don't KNOW what it's like to live like we do. Half of these bitches in that house o'er there are prettier than you, Stacy." He points out to another member, who.. well, lets just say wasn't the best looking mutant ever. Her face was riddled with thorns, so much so that her eyes were barely open. Thankfully, her ears were larger than normal and she could rely on those as well for movement. "That's mean, Slice.." Stacy murmurs, nearly wanting to cry.

"But where's the lie?" He asks, then takes those few little steps back. He bends, picking up a solid rock, then hurls it at the gathered students from Xavier's with precision. He doesn't even stop to see where it lands, he just sits back upon his perch and begins to laugh.

Faraday has posed:
"Hmf. Haggling. In my family, as soon as you learn to talk you learn to negotiate a dollar." Indira gives a lopsided grin before she looks back to the stalls. "Know what you're paying for and what its worth. If you don't know, don't buy it, you'll probably get scammed. Don't grab the first thing you see. The bazaars I used to be taken to were crazier than this. At least this one just has a hint of weed in the air and not fish stewing in a hundred percent humidity." She shoves her hands in her pockets to pull out some thin, matte finish gloves with a rubbery tone and pulls them over her hands in turn. "Off to battle we go."

She starts to make her way out towards the aisles of stalls. Most she passes. She looks at the people at the stall and the person behind it, less at the wares up for sale. It was if she were shopping the people as opposed to the goods. She doesn't hear the rock in the noise of the stalls. All she feels is it smack into the back of her shoulder. She whips around with a ferocious glower fixed on the nearest person, only to see their shock and surprise and gritting her teeth as she takes a step back with her hands balled at her sides.

Antigravity has posed:
    Rosie gives a grin to Jeremy, and over to Gray as they begin to walk.

    "Dunno, if there was fish at least it'd cover the stench of /patchoulli/ everywhere." Rosie lilts as she walks, her eyes drawing upwards as if asking forgiveness just for being there -- when the rock hits Indi!

    Someone is hitting the school students, and the sophomore turns around and immediately grabs her backpack and lets go of Jeremy's hand, adjusting the mass of the fabric and raising it up like a shield, her eyes narrowing a moment as she steps forward a little to put herself between the thrower and the others.

    "HEY! Who's tossin' rocks?"

SpyderByte has posed:
Giving a sway of Rosie's hand, followed by Gray's once the trio come together, Jeremy gives a bright smile as they head through the bazaar. When Indi gets pelted by the rock, he pauses and glances over towards her, then slides his hand out of Rosie's. He gives Gray's a squeeze before letting go.

As he shuffles around to face off with the other group, he tilts his head to one side, then reaches out with a hand and gives a twitch of his hand, seeking out their phones to connect to. Time to see who they are.

<< We should not fight. >>

He says to his fellow friends.

<< We should walk away and alert Miss Munroe if they pursue us. >>

Gray has posed:
The fingers wiggling in Gray's direction get a shrug and he laces his fingers with Jeremy's easily enough. That hint of weed? That's what speaks to him and it's a fight not to go hunt down the source. At least it is until Indi is hit by that rock. He tries to hold onto Jeremy's hand, "I second getting the fuck out of Dodge." He, for one, does not look like he's some entitled snob. Not unless someone assumes that his rough look is an aesthetic choice.

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon smiles at Ted, leaning in to gently nudge his shoulder with hers, wings fluttering behind her before settling flat to her back with a little flick. "That's fine, too, if you don't find something. Still fun looking aro...."

     What started as an amiable conversation between friends and classmates ended very quickly, with the -thwack- of stone against flesh as the rock is hurled at Indi. Thankfully, one of the vendors close by has gnarled walking sticks for sale, and on instinct Shannon moves a little closer to that particular stall, just in case.

     "I'm inclined to agree with Jer on this one. Let's at least try to get out of here first and get to Miss Munroe." She purses her lips slightly, a few very unladylike and un-angelic oaths regarding the Little Pigs' parentage, bathing habits, and bedroom preferences escaping her--in a few different languages!

Ted Gammage has posed:
Ted makes a snort, "Maybe ah could find a horseshoe. Could be some sorta barn-chic meditation," he suggests in a slightly amused tone. He too is about to continue making really dumb jokes, but hears the sound and catches the motion.

"Ah, did that pr..um, person jus' hit you with a rock?" His first instinct was to toss it back, but it'd probably go through something so he calms a bit. And as they start talking about retreating, so to speak, he wordlessly nods and kind of puts his big, generally unbreakable body between his friends and the tossers. He also apparently caught at least one of the things Shannon says as he gives her a side-glance and quirks a brow.

Storm has posed:
Jeremy could easily tap into their phones; as the phones that they all held in their pockets were the standard touch screen cell phones that most would buy when they're offered for zero down or a hand-me-down from a cousin or a sibling. Their contact information as well as any emails were accessible, and some free games that have been maxed out at their current level because they could not afford to buy out of the free trial.

He would get a full profile, probably a glimpse into to all of The Little Pigs lives.

Slice, the Leader of the Pigs, cracks up, his ringed fingers straightening to clap against each other as if he had seen something incredibly funny. "Look at those bitches.." He says through tears, his head shaking, arms twisting around his middle as if he were to burst at any second.

"See? They won't do shit.." Slice stands, picking up another rock which was soon tossed towards Stacy.

"C'mon, ol girl.." Slice says, goading the young girl. "..get one of those pretty ones you hate.."

Stacy catches the rock, unsure.. but angry at Slice. She knows that if she doesn't do it? She wouldn't have the protection that most of the Little Pigs give her. So she stands, her nearly closed eyes upon the rock, then towards the crowd of students, which was soon assaulted with another rock that was thrown, but not with precision. Stacy couldn't see that well.

"Well?" Slice says, arms akimbo. "The fuck? Fuck'em up!"

The rest of the members of The Little Pigs, stand from their perches to begin searching the ground for more rocks to throw, and once they find them, they lob them, much to the anger of bystanders, vendors, and most definitely the students alike.

Faraday has posed:
As her foe is not forthcoming right in that moment, Indira glances towards her fellow student as discussions turn to departing. She stands a little straighter and lifts her chin as she squares her offended shoulder. Her dark eyes speak nothing but defiance and the air around her immediate person seems to tighten with a building charge as she says, "No. You can run from a pebble. I'm not. Cowards who hide behind rocks don't deserve to win."

She looks ready to keep shopping as they were instructed though it's likely anything remotely enjoyable about the process is gone. Then more stones fly. Still, she doesn't run from the pebbles. She runs /towards/ them, letting long and tones legs guide her once she spies the directions in which the rocks originate.

Antigravity has posed:
    "Ah already don't like this." Rosie mumbles to herself, and then she lifts into the air a couple of feet to keep up with Indira's speed. She moves her backpack around, one hand guiding it to catch stones as she goes.

    "You wanna throw stones?" she growls, and as she lands briefly, she touches on a nice, big rock.

     And the rock floats up at her command, and she *launches* the bicycle sized boulder at the little pigs!

    "Let's throw rocks then! Ah ain't seein' any glass houses, do you?"

SpyderByte has posed:
When Jeremy gets struck in the head with a rock, a gash forms along his forehead, trickling blood. He lets out a loud wince, clutching at his face for a moment. "Ow." He actually says outloud, looking visibly upset. He takes in a deep breath, then lunges forward with one of his hands, then squeezes his fist tightly together.

*BANG*

The phone in Slice's pocket suddenly explodes outwards as the battery found itself ruptured by an overwhelming surge of power. There was a flicker of heat for a moment as the processor and logic board revved up, followed by the lithium ion battery catching fire.

The rest of the phones start to warm up next. One by one.

As blood drips down his face, he narrows his eyes. << Burn. >>

Gray has posed:
To hell with this! Gray's carefully bland expression first shifts to fear and then into a scowl as rocks sail towards them. Oh, sure. The urge to veil and run is there, but there are people throwing /rocks/ at his /friends/! He can't just abandon them. Instead, he steps up between Jeremy and Rosie, reaching out to grab for their arms, "Let's get out of here." But Rosie rises out of reach of easy arm grabbing and the skinny teen makes a small disgruntled sound in the back of his throat, only for it to turn into a pained sound when he's struck by a rock. This time, he does veil, a quiet snarl of anger coming from right behind the technopath, "Jeremy. Get out of the way." Of the rocks. And he takes off at a sprint in the direction the rocks are coming from. No one hurts his friend!

Nightingale has posed:
     Enough was enough. Shannon's wings flare outwards, and as she takes a few running steps towards the Piggies, it looks as if she might run into the group--or the boulder hurled by Rosie.

     The Piggies could only wish they were so fortunate.

     At just the moment her wings began to beat the air to lift her skywards, she aims for the first of the Piggies who has their phone burning in their pocket--Slice, as it happened to be. She reaches out and grabs him beneath his arms, carrying him skywards with her, spiraling higher and higher. "You might want to consider calling off your goons," she growls softly. "You picked the wrong bunch to be throwing rocks at. We were ready to walk away."

     Higher and higher the pair flew, till they could just be spotted from the ground. Her grip on him was quite secure, but she shook him to and fro a few times. "Call them off. NOW."

Ted Gammage has posed:
Ted just sighs, feeling a few rocks hit against his back. Its just that, a sensation of contact with no pain. When he sees Jeremy bleeding, he grumbles out, "Jer, y'all ok?" softly to him before he turns to see a boulder and some of the other students lunging forward to battle, "Aw...damn," he mutters and turns to stalk forward, fists clenched, calling back calmly as he can, "Gray, can y'all make sure Jer's ok an' get safe? M'gonna try to defuse this."

Storm has posed:
WOO! Mayhem!

This was all going down rather quickly! The people of the bazaar pretty much clear the path, running out of the way to get away from the hooligans. Some were hiding behind benches, others were already on the phones dialing 9-1-1 because some school kids seem to be in a rivalry. Whether it was told that it was a bunch of mutant vs mutant violence due to proximity, was anyones guess. The Little Pigs were locally known, and they were a terror for the parents of the schools they actually do attend because instead of being the bullied, they're the bully-ers.

So, Indi was running towards them, and the Little Pigs were already squaring up. Their fists were cocked, ready to throw punches until the heat of Slice's pocket catches his attention. He was already patting and fanning the flames as he dances.. until Shannon picks him up and begins to fly high!!

The boulder is soon tossed, but one of the Pigs wasn't looking. Their eyes were on the sky, but one of their friends saw..

"Look out!" Stacy cried towards her fellow Goon (which was his actual name!), and as she shoulder checks him out of the way, the boulder knocks her clean upon the ground, twisting her in a way that -shouldn't- have happened.

And the scream that comes from the teens mouth was horrifying.

"What the fuck!" Goon cries out, scrambling from the ground to crawl towards Stacy. She saved his life! And now.. his pocket was heating up, but with the adrenaline, he did not feel a damn thing.

Up in the air was a different story; Slice was flying high with Shannon by a trail of smoke that was once his cell phone. His mom was going to kill him! But the higher they went, the more Slice began to struggle, struggle with attempting to reach into his pocket to grab the burning device, not only to toss it but..

"I ain't calling off shit, bitch." He spits out towards her, his grin near psychotic. In fact, it was clear then and there.. he was ready to test her meddle. He was willing to see how far she'd go. So, he begins to squirm. Hard, legs kicking against the ground, shoulders twisting back and forth, he even tries to headbutt Shannon even though they were so far and so high into the air.

It was clear, he was ready to die for his ideals.

But was she ready to live with the trauma of theirs?

Faraday has posed:
The gloves are coming off as Indira runs, but something gets to the Pigs before she does. A boulder.

Well, that happened.

By that point Slice has had his change to get into the sky. Stacy is clearly not in a spot to fight. And Goon, well, he's about to have a bad day though she can't see it. "Idiots." She hisses through her teeth as she seems to decide that they're of no threat to her. Lightning crackles around her left fist as it remains curled at her side, while her right hand points a finger to Goon. However, the strike doesn't come. Instead, she says sharply, "Don't move her! Her back may be broken."

The hand that is coiling with power points behind her and there's a discharge of power that cracks a hole in the pavement the size of a baseball and sets up coils of acrid smoke. "Stand down!" This spoken to her own fellows. "This went too fucking far."

Antigravity has posed:
    Realization as the horrifying, awful scream of the teenager in pain -- someone not so different from herself -- well, that rattles the little blonde teenager, and she kicks up the speed on her flight to try and lift the boulder off the spiney teenager.

    "WINGS! MISS ORORO!" she cries out in horror, and she lands, hard, tumbling top-over teakettle, her hazel eyes wide as the color drains out of her face.

SpyderByte has posed:
As the rest of the phones that were heating up power down, Jeremy gives a few blinks of his eyes. He stares at the crippled girl for a moment, then finds his hands trembling. He hestitates, then breaks into a run towards them as he follows after Indira's path.

<< SHANNON! HELP! >>

The voice comes through the winged girl's phone loudly, the volume cranking upwards. << SHANNON! SHANNON! SHANNON! >>

If a phone can scream panic, it's doing a great job of it. As he slides in next to Indi, he reaches out with his powers, sucking in a deep breath as he draws in the world's network into himself. He locates Ororo and sends a ping to her phone: << We're in trouble! Take your first left, 150 feet. We need extraction! We need EMS! >>

As his breath comes out in a choked sob, he squeezes his hands tightly to try and keep himself calm. All around him, phones and machines are fritzing out as his emotions spike.

<< HELP. HELP. HELP. >>

An electric billboard has come to life now, flashing the words in bright hypnotic colors. Someone is going to have a seizure.

Gray has posed:
Dropping his veil when Ted yells at him to get Jeremy out of there, Gray skids a little as he puts on the breaks in his dead run toward the Little Piggies, flailing a little to keep his balance as he nearly falls while pivoting to run back to his roommate, "C'mon. You're hurt, too." And he desperately wants to get out of there! Preferrably without further bloodshed. He barely waits for the technopath to acknowledge him before he's grabbing for his hand and trying to pull him back in the direction of the shuttle.

"You can do your thing as easy from the bus as here, man." And maybe there's a first-aid kit he can plunder there.

Nightingale has posed:
     Though it looked for a moment as if Shannon might actually drop Slice, Jeremy's call, blared out as it was on all audible frequencies and visible as well, reaches her first. She growls dangerously low at Slice, going nose-to-nose with him in the air for the space of a heartbeat. "The difference between you and me, is I. NEVER. WOULD. That takes more cojones than you will ever have."

     With a good, healthy shake just to drive the message home, she makes a rapid descent to the ground, letting Slice drop a few feet above the dirtiest, most kicked-up, muddy, beaten-up area of dirt in the fair area she can find, making damn sure he face-plants right in the mud--with the only injury being to his immeasurable pride.

     She comes backwinging to a landing next to Stacy, kneeling down next to her. "Hey there," she says, her voice now gone soft and low. "I'm just going to check and see what's going on, m'kay? I promise it won't hurt you any more. Just stay completely still." She rests her hands briefly upon Stacy's back and sides, only partially reaching in with her gifts. Her brows furrow deeply as she witnesses just how badly injured the younger teen really is.

     "Jeremy, Ted, I'd get Miss Munroe to either put a call in to Josh Foley or Dr. McCoy, NOW. Advise them of spinal and hip injuries, I don't dare risk moving her."

     Opening her eyes, she smiles a bit to the spiny teen. "We're gonna get you some help, okay? Hang in there."

Ted Gammage has posed:
Ted, at this point, has decided most everyone's gone crazy. Phones are exploding, Shannon's carted a guy up to drop him from the sky. Rosie...did she kill someone? Ted is really no good in situations like this, it takes a moment to calm his mind. He's glad Gray seems to be taking his advice. At this point, Jer's got the call for help in, so he goes to see what he can do for the injured. He stomps up a bit closer, stopping himself from asking how bad it is, and making sure that no more rocks are going to stat flying.

Storm has posed:
Goon doesn't know the trouble he would have been in if Indira didn't have a heart. He was wise enough to not move Stacy; after all, he was a fan of Dick Wolf and the long running Chicago Med television shows that aired on TV. But he wasn't cool under pressure, no. He broke out into tears while clutching the hand of Stacy that wouldn't grab back, he was even trying to tap her lips to get her to stop screaming, shushing her all the while.

Stacy was a wreck, there was no doubts about it. The rest of the little pigs were scattering away in the crowds as more and more people reveal themselves from their hiding spaces, a look of shock and horror on their faces. Some were cupping their mouths, others were crying. Couples held the lesser ones who couldn't deal with such a sight and ushered them away from the scene.

And Jeremy's cry for help didn't go unnoticed. For not too far away on the busy street, someone actually looks up at the flashing sign, ignoring the green light, only to get rear ended which sends the car into oncoming traffic, and into another car that tries to swerve around it.

Maybe someone did have a seizure! But it was certainly having an effect on the surrounding areas.

Slice was still attempting to get Shannon to drop him, but she doesn't. That worked against his better judgement as he falls -nearly- upon his face, but was helped at the last minute and dumped into the mud. Hurt pride, you got that right. He was already calling her names as Shannon flew away to render aide to Stacy.

As Shannon nears the broken girl; she readily flinches. It was to the point now she couldn't feel any pain if she tried. Her adrenaline was working overtime, the thorns in her skin were visibly moving up and down in response, "I didn't want to do this!" Stacy cries. "I just wanted to fit in! I just wanted to fit in! I want my mommy! I want my mommy!"

It was a shame; like most sixteen year old girls in the face of trouble, they're reduced to toddlers.

And where was Ms. Munroe?

Staring into the little trinket that she had picked up; nearly missing the sound of her phone until the urgency of the cry rattles her bones. She takes in a sharp breath, her head whipping back as she drops the trinket, and flies at a low, breakneck speed to the area of supposed damage.

Landing upon her feet now, she takes a deep breath to survey the scene, her teeth gritted to keep her nerves calm. How in the world did she let this happen? Why wasn't she watching them? All areas of doubt were soon squashed as she gestures to the rest.

"Get to the van." She pulls out her phone now, immediately shooting off a text to Jeremy. "NOW." She booms out, then approaches Shannon at a kneel. "You stay with me. Tell me the damage." She was already dialing Dr. McCoy. She wasn't aware she needed to call Josh Foley.

Faraday has posed:
Indira can do nothing. She can't make boulders disappear. She can't heal. She can't call emergency services at incomprehensible speed. She gives her hands a violent shake to try and banish the current that makes the veins and nerves in her hands glow through the skin and then fumbles in her pockets to yank those gloves back over them like she was holstering guns.

"We don't get to fit in. Not even with our own, I see." The growl of cruelty escapes her before she can likely check the words, but neither does she apologize in their wake. She just yanks the fifty out of her pocket, balls it into a fist, and tosses it down at Goon's feet. "And nothing's going to fix that. Certainly nothing here."

As Ororo orders them back to the bus, she just wheels on her heel and stalks past her cohorts and for the bus without another word.

SpyderByte has posed:
<< Call Josh Foley! Call Elixer. Too late. I'm already doing it. I'm doing what you want me to do. >>

Jeremy's voice pings out on all their voices as the young Goth is looking even more panicking. He lets out a deep wheeze, then throws his hands outwards, gripping his fists together as his entire body /rocks/. His nose spurts blood as he lets out a loud squeak of pain, crumpling down to his knees as he clutches at his head. One of the geneators nearby 'sparks' as everyone's phone gives a flicker and then shuts off.

Those who were holding their phones upwards to record the situation suddenly find their phones inoperable and refusing to power on. The billboard is killed. Lights are flickering out all around them. Everything has a connection and he just yanked the Holy plug out of the wall. It's also nearly killing him as he pushes himself to the deepest parts of his powers.

"Bu.. bu...." His lips mumble as he clutches at his phone, the only one that's still powered on and glowing hot.

<< He's on the way. >>

It's the last thing he gets out before his eyes roll upwards and he tilts to the side with a thump.

Antigravity has posed:
    Rosie did this. She did this. She sees Ororo approaching, and the sixteen-year-old who threw the last rock is reduced to shock, watching the scene unfold in front of her. Her breath is stuck in her throat, tears stinging at her eyes. She's shaking. Little pebbles are orbiting her in lazy circles. Her lips move, trying to form words, but nothing comes out. She looks between where Stacey is, and where Jeremy has collapsed.

    She looks to Gray, and then she stumbles to her feet, and turns.

    She disappears into the crowd, throwing the overheating phone off to the side as she bolts away from the other students, gripped by panic.

Gray has posed:
"JEREMY!" Now it's Gray's turn to panic. He catches the Goth as he falls, some instinct causing him to bring his veil up as he struggles for just a moment under the other's weight, "Come /on/ man. Don't do this to me." He looks over at Rosie just as she bolts, part of him thinking that she's got the right idea. Instead, he gets his friend out of the way where he's not going to get trampled, shaking badly, and leans in to give the unconscious boy a kiss on the forehead before he steps back, yelling for help, "JEREMY'S UNCONSCOUS. /SOMEBODY/ HELP HIM!" He doesn't drop his veil, keeping it firmly in place as he weaves his way through the crowd after the fleeing girl, "ROSIE!" If she's going to run, he's going to follow her and /hope/ that someone finds where he left the other boy, even though it hurts to leave him behind.

Right now, Rosie needs him.

Nightingale has posed:
     "It's going to be okay," Shannon murmurs to Stacy, reaching out to hold her hand. "Tell me if you can feel me holding your hand? Don't move anything, just tell me if you can feel it." Next, she reaches down to very lightly squeeze Stacy's toes, looking back up at her for any sign of response. "Could you feel that?"

     The girl's utter, complete terror got to Shannon, and she lets out a soft sigh. Reaching out to squeeze Stacy's hand very gently, she offers a wry sort of smile, talking softly to keep her somewhat calm and a bit distracted. "Sometimes in the heat of the moment, people can do some crazy stuff they're not too proud of after. I'm not proud of how I treated your friend, even if I never would have dropped him, and I am sorry for it. I can't change what I did. You can't change what you did. But both of us can make sure we don't let ourselves act like that again."

     With a very, very gentle squeeze of her hand, she asks, "Tell us where your mom is, maybe we can find her for you, and get you some help."

     Turning back towards Miss Munroe and Ted, she gives them both a very shamefaced look, and a light sigh. Clearly, she was -not- happy with herself. But professionalism takes over for the moment, as she rattles off what she can in reply. "Shattered spine, her hips are crushed. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a good bit of internal bruising as well, from the impact she took. If we could get both Dr. McCoy and Josh Foley...."

     One look as she hears a thump on the ground not too far off, coupled with the sudden loss of connective technology in the immediate area, tells her all she needs to know. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she just sighs a little, shakes her head, and murmurs, "Son of a gun, he beat us to it. Overextended himself again, too." Turning to Stacy, she smiles a little bit. "Help's on the way... oh, ruddy heck...." She hears the ruckus as Rosie flees the scene, and calls out. "ROSIE?!"

     This was going to be a -very- long day.

Ted Gammage has posed:
Ted's phone flickering doesn't really draw much of a reaction from him. Honestly, he's probably already cracked the screen of this one anyway. As the Teacher returns to them and takes command, he seems relieved. It's short lived as he sees Jeremy drop to the ground and Rosie run off. "Rosie!" he starts, but sees Gray chase after her, so with a sigh, he does move over to Jer and heft him up carefully.

Storm has posed:
There was a feeling of fear that washed over the crowd that remained around the scene; with their phones going dark, most of the power shorting to the bizaare, those that know, know..

It was time to close up shop and get going. Most marveled at how calm the vendors were, how they didn't pick up items and smack them around. Sometimes, the Salem Center is wrought with the Strange, and it was just a basic Tuesday for them.

The rest of the crowd quickly disperses as they hear the sirens, and with a hand reaching up to place upon Shannon's shoulder, Ororo gestures towards Rosie's direction. Was she telling the young woman to retrieve her?

Either way, they all, except for the adult in this, needed to get gone.

The X-Men make strange bed-fellows, there were a few of them on the force that are actually privvy to the inner workings of what happens to the Salem Center. So one the first cop approaches, he immediately turns upon his heels and marches right back to the squadron that gathers. Time to do damage control.

With the students parting in their respective ways, some listening and others not.. Elixir finally arrives on the scene. His escort was another, Mimic, who only came because he thought the fiasco at Salem Center would be too great for his friend to handle.

"Here. Help her quick." Ororo instructs, moving away to allow him to do his work. It was then that she now approaches the squadron, both arms outstretched, not in greeting but in surrender.

She can explain..

THREE DAYS LATER:

Stacy was fine! She was happy; there was nothing in the world that could change her mind about how lucky she was and how she needed not be associated with The Little Pigs anymore. Her mother had given her five dollars; the candy shop down the way debuted their new chocolate covered raspberries and she was itching to try. With her Demon Slayer kimono billowing behind her as she skips, her hello kitty headphones on, she waves even though none wave at her back, but.. who the hell cares!

Not Stacy.

The world was all right to her because there was a mission. A mission to get the best treat that money, well, five dollars could by.

She stops at the corner, waiting for the light, her knees bending and lifting quickly as she performs a tiny dance, one foot now stepping out over the curb to land into the stre..

*FWOMP*

Stacy flies. She had never seen the world twist upside down and right again just as it did.

She had never seen the car that came out of nowhere to clip her as she stepped off the curb.

And, she will possibly never have the chance to have those once in a lifetime chocolate raspberries.

And it was all thanks to Slice.