86/Stopping by Breakstone on a Spring Afternoon

Stopping by Breakstone on a Spring Afternoon
Date of Scene:	20 April 2017
Location:	Breakstone, New York
Synopsis:	Summary needed.
Cast of Characters:	74, Deadzone, Phoenix

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X-O Manowar (74) has posed:
It's a painfully beautiful day in Breakstone--one that looks so photogenic it could be staged.

It's not, of course. It's just that idyllic here.

Among the small groups of pedestrians and tourists wandering through the small cluster of storefronts in the town's center are several mutants, those looking less conventionally human in holographic or telepathic disguise.

They're students from Xavier's School, and they're out for the day on recreational leave.

Deadzone has posed:
Following the students, not because she is actually with the group but just because she can't stand to be at the mansion at the moment but also needs to be around something familiar, Tatum scowls as she walks. Fingers in the pockets of the cargo pants that are borrowed from another student until she can get some clothes of her own, Tate looks in the windows that are passed and rolls her eyes. No, nothing in these shops that would interest a goth. Not even a relatively colourful one like Tatum.

Phoenix has posed:
"Remember, don't let your buddies out of sight, and, obviously-- no you-know-whats in front of the you-know-whos, unless you want to find yourselves uploaded to you-know-wh-- hh, actually, let's just put a blanket moratorium on all of that, //please//."

Not one to let a little thing like recently returning from (presumed??) death in space keep her down for long, Jean Grey is hovering near the rear of the student party, so as to keep an eye on as many of them as possible while running through another round of precautions.

Once finished, she casts a glance towards Tatum in time to catch rolling eyes, waits a tick, then offers, "Are you from-- around-- "

A brisk, circular hand gesture as she smiles and tries not to let the nerves show. Someone said something about another world-- didn't they? The past few days have been a bit of a blur.

"I'm just saying, if you //wanted//-- you might like checking out the city, if you haven't," she concludes.

X-O Manowar (74) has posed:
The sun offers a warm glow to all in the area, whether casually walking, riding bicycles, having picnics, or otherwise lounging in the light.

Until, that is, the sunlight begins glowing far too brightly. Wait--it's not the sun--it's another source of light, some object increasing in size as it burns through the sky, hurtling at incredible speed...

...and it's headed directly for the Breakstone town square!

Two dozen feet in front of a mutant who'd only just begun exhibiting her gifts two weeks ago (she looks like nothing so much as a five-and-a-half-foot-tall cockroach) and was, only moments ago, enjoying an ice cream cone, the plummeting object slams into the ground, creating a small crater and a lot of dust and airborne debris.

In the center of the crater is a bipedal figure that slowly stands to its feet. "I have come for you, monster. You cannot hide from me."

Deadzone has posed:
Tate glances over to Jean and offers a smile, which sadly doesn't reach her eyes. "Nah. No point going down there. It's all the same. Just not the same. It's not *my* New York." She watches the teens and takes a deep breath. "If you want.... I can nullify the students. Make it so no accidents happen?" There are times when being a Null is useful.

The sun starts to get too bright, the goth lifting her hand to sheild her eyes. "Oh goody. It's another disaster. It must be Wednesday." She arches a brow at the man that shows up and seems to threaten the new girl. Her jaw clenches. "Bad day to get on my bad side, asshole," she mutters.

Phoenix has posed:
"No need," Jean quietly replies. "Better to let them practice restraint on their own." Following a beat, "Or subterfuge," is tacked on, accompanied by a smile almost as half-hearted as Tate's. "Whichev-- "

The falling, glowing-- person-- in the sky cuts her off and draws a double-take, after which she begins weaving her way through the students. A wave of fire rolls over her jeans and Dazzler shirt along the way, burning them away and leaving a form-fitting green and gold uniform in their place before vanishing. The idea is to get herself positioned in front of them and whatever's coming down-- only it's coming down so quickly that by the time the uniform is in place, the figure is already threatening one of the students. Her students? A student-- a child.

"This is clearly a misunderstanding," she says to Tate and the stranger both in a taut voice. "That's why you're going to put your hands up, Jolene's going to back away - quickly- and you're going to-- I don't know, ascend mysteriously and find an //actual// monster, somewhere."

Since this //is// a glowing stranger rambling about monsters in front of a bunch of teenaged mutants, she tries skimming the surface of his thoughts while delivering this offer, just in case he decides not to handle things diplomatically.

X-O Manowar (74) has posed:
"I don't know what you are," the figure in the crater says; as the smoke clears, his blue-and-gold armor, covering his entire body, becomes visible. "But I know that.../thing/...needs to die. Its people killed mine. I will have vengeance."

The armored man raises one arm, and a length of lightning emerges from his hand, forming the shape of a hilted sword. The energy that comprises it crackles about its 'blade'.

"You can stand with humanity or against it," the man adds, his face visible within his helmet. "Make your choice quickly."

Meanwhile, Valerie--the girl in question--has scrambled back several feet, falling on her back but still fearfully dragging herself away from the man.

Deadzone has posed:
With a crook of a finger, Tatum gestures to the students. She says nothing, but her intention is clear. Behind me. She feels her jaw clench again, waiting to see what this one will do.

Looking around for something she can use as a weapon, Tate hates the fact that she has none of her gear from her world. Stupid new Earth.

When the armord figure speaks about killing Valerie Jolene, Tate groans with derision. "Listen, creep, no one really likes cockroaches, but that don't make her a killer." She starts to try and maneuver herself towards the young girl.

Phoenix has posed:
Not even a week back on Earth, and //someone// is telling Jean that one of her students is something less than human.

"So-- "

Fire erupts from Jean's eyes and chest, clinging to and crackling about her. As her feet leave the ground, she floats so as to place herself between Valerie and the stranger, while Tatum sees to the other students.

"-- //none// of that, then?" she asks with narrowing eyes while folding her arms across her chest. "**Look:** this is a child you're threatening, not a thing. A **child**-- do you even understand that, what it means? You can't be //that// thoroughly brainwashed-- she has parents who love her, just like //you// probably did-- human ones! Shocking, I know!"

By this point, Jean's expression is twisted up as she steadily races away from diplomacy in favor of outright anger. Her hands are thrown up in frustration at the end; coincidentally, the fire surrounding her briefly brightens and roars.

"I don't where you think you are, or what you think you're doing, but this teenaged girl and her very human parents haven't killed //anyone//. Believe me or don't, but you're not get any closer to her without coming through myself and Miss-- " Slight pause.

"-- O'Neal."

X-O Manowar (74) has posed:
The armored man tenses, his lightning sword still crackling and popping with energy that's barely holding its shape.

"Human parents? Is that the lie they've been telling you? Gods..." His eyes look in the distance for a moment. "The infestation is even worse than I had thought. Her kind are murderers. Slavers. They cheated me of a life with my family."

The man takes one step forward and points the tip of his blade in the frightened girl's direction. "And so I will cheat this Vine /thing/--this alien from a cruel, far-off world--of its life in turn."

Deadzone has posed:
Tate licks at her lips, her eyes always on this man that is threatening the kids. She kinda wants this to turn into a fight, but with Jean getting angry, Tate isn't very lilkely to get a chance to get a swing in.

Lifting a hand, she pushes her nullification field over to the stranger. "Let's see what you're made of, shall we?" she asks, mostly to herself. After all, if she can't turn off his abilities, then they know what he isn't.

"The only person whose been off this planet around here is you, me, and the glowing fireball lady, so I think you should find a fact checker for that fake news of yours."

Phoenix has posed:
As the armored man speaks, there are several moments where Jean should be compelled to dig a bit deeper into the man's story to see if there really //is// a misunderstanding waiting to be sorted out. For one thing, he seems pretty specifically aggrieved, given the talk of slavery and his family. Not to mention the word 'Vine'-- though, given the speed of culture, there's no real telling //what// new terms for 'mutant' have bubbled up from the depths of the Internet.

Of course, there's that stuff about Valerie Jo supposedly being an alien...

All of these things //should// be more than enough to prompt a step back and a moment taken to try sifting through his thoughts. Instead, she feels heat between her eyes and the fire wreathing her forms into a taloned limb that swipes at the stranger, seeking to grasp him about the torso and draw him off the ground with her.

It is, at least, possible that she'd be gentler if she knew what Tate was up to, but so it goes when you're pushed into action with a woman who arrived on Earth the same week as you.

"You're //delusional//!" she hisses, eyes ablaze with the effort of trying to capture him with her telekinesis. "Madman-- who sent you?! Who //taught// you this, this //insanity//?!"

X-O Manowar (74) has posed:
While he seems ready to spring into action, X-O Manowar finds himself suddenly hesitant for two reasons.

First, his energy blade begins to flicker and then sputter out as the one woman approaches him. He looks at his hand in surprise and asks quietly, "Shanhara...?"

Second, a fiery set of talons wraps itself around him and lifts him into the air. He cries out in a combination of pain and further surprise.

"No--no!" he calls. "You will not have me!" The armored man strikes at the Phoenix limb...at least, as best one can. His eyes are wild and his teeth are gritted. "Never again!"

Deadzone has posed:
Tate smirks as her power takes away the strange man's sword. Yeah, that's right. But as Jean takes the man up, she sees the anger in the Head Teacher of the Institute. "Jean.... Babe.... No need ta kill him. Just get in there and unscramble his noggin instead?"

Even as she tries to talk sense into the Phoenix, she pulls her power back so as not to affect her with the null field as well.

Phoenix has posed:
The first strike draws another hiss from Jean, laced with pain. However, as her hands extend and her lips curl back, she **squeezes** ever tighter, taut fingers drawing increasingly closer to one another.

Amidst the desperate promises from the stranger and Tatum's appeal to rational thought, intermittent jabs of pain - of armored muscle colliding with semi-solid fire - and the grim certainty of what would happen if she were to let him go drown the world out in an endless roar. Blood begins to trickle from her nostrils; a beat later, she grits her bared teeth.

And then - through the haze of violence - she catches a glimmer the fear and pain rolling off of the stranger's psyche, forcing a sharp gasp from her lungs. Her eyes snap towards Tatum-- and then the students, and then, very quickly, back to the stranger with a slow nod.

"I-- " she murmurs, only to swallow before the shaking in her voice can become too obvious-- and grimacing shortly afterwards, thanks to another blow. The pressure relents, the burning limb vanishes, but given this person crashed a school trip with a sword, she tries to maintain //some// hold on him, still grimacing.

"-- need you to..."

Her psyche extends towards his - into it, if able - forcefully, because she wants to try and set up a rapid-fire exchange of information to defuse things here and now. This means driving slices of Valerie Jo's life - chatting with students, answering questions in class, flying around at lunch - into the stranger's memories while simultaneously digging around for ones involving his family and bugs. Even if she //weren't// looking to rifle through his life's trauma, it'd be a disorienting experience, but as it is-- it's likely to be unpleasant, if successful.

Brief, but unpleasant.

X-O Manowar (74) has posed:
Dropped to the ground like a sack of wet laundry, X-O Manowar gasps for breath until Jean enters his mind.

His memories are spliced into a psychic montage alongside those of Valerie Jolene. Family. Friends. Peace. Struggle. Pain. Joy. Comfort. Love. Loneliness.

The man's face is awash with a spectrum of emotional expressions. He reaches out with one arm, blindly, as if for support. His other hand goes to the side of his helmet.

"I--I--" he spits out, still struggling for air. He manages to look at Jean, at Tatum, at Valerie Jo. His gaze seems to gain focus. His thoughts similarly cohere. Pain. Loneliness. Suffering. Resistance. A world radically different from that he knew.

"No! Never!" he growls, and launches himself high into the air, taking off into the clouds so fast that he breaks the sound barrier as he disappears into the distance.

Deadzone has posed:
Seeing that Jean is *not* going to back down, Tatum takes a deep breath and gets ready to blast the area with her null field, like an EMP for powers. "Jean! WE! DON'T KILL!!"

And then, before she is able to send her orb, Jean seems to see reason. Tate can see the change on her face. Tatum is ready with her power if it's needed, but keeps it to herself.

Watching carefully, Tate starts to smile, encouraged that maybe they have found an ally, but then he flies off -- faster then she can send her field to catch him. She grunts, the tension still inside her, but takes a deep breath and turns, offering her hand to Valerie Jo. The girl turns to human looking and hugs Tatum tight. "Well, nice to know life is the same no matter which Earth I'm on.

Phoenix has posed:
Jean just hovers there until the stranger leaves and for a little while afterwards, still recovering from her shotgun blast of alien slavery and exploitation to the brain.

"I-- am very sorry," she tentatively murmurs after that silent spell, while descending towards Tatum and letting the flames sputter out. "To, well, all of you, honestly," she adds in a louder voice while looking around at the students. "I don't-- he was a very confused and hurt man. Very hurt, very angry-- he won't be, uh, back."

Once that's out - and once she's close enough to drop her voice - she says to Tate, "And thank you for holding things together-- you, just, leapt right into action, knew what to do," while starting to reach for her shoulder, then thinking better of it and just wrapping her arms around her stomach. "That man was-- he's been through a lot. No family, alien abduction..."

A beat later: "We ought to find him, once he's had a chance to-- recover, some. For his own sake, if nothing else."