8763/Mobbed in the Streets

Mobbed in the Streets
Date of Scene:	12 August 2019
Location:	New York Public Library, Manhattan
Synopsis:	In NYC a protest turns violent, very quickly, and Lorna is pulled into the crowd. Sam, Doug, and Josh help save the day!
Cast of Characters:	Cypher, Polaris, Elixir, Cannonball

---

Cypher has posed:
Doug started off the day by posting a message on the school's social media network. 'Going to NYU to study at the library for class, anybody want to meet up there?'

...But before getting to the library, he was stopped short by a mob, clashing groups of angry protestors -- 'Mutant Rights are Human Rights' versus 'Clear And Present Danger' - whose latest banner is pictures of Magneto's floating fortress taken where it's floating off the coast.

A protestor on the steps of the library is holding a megaphone and speaking into it -- "Leaders of the mutant community remain *silent* about the persistent threat of Mutants using their powers to attempt to dictate the internal actions of sovereign nations! Magneto doesn't care about mutant rights! He only cares about *imposing his will*. And their *silence* equals their *complicity*. They MUST be held to account and *condemn him openly*!"

Doug pinches the bridge of his nose with a gloved hand. "Uhhh, boy. Of course, today of all days..."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna hadn't wanted to go out anywhere. She had been swamped with phone calls, meetings, phone conference calls... anything and everything to sit down and meet with the powers that be. Her father had never been particularly seen as 'approachable' and with his actions regarding the fortress outside of US waters.. she was trapped with the flack. Everyone that had a tie to power, politics, or businesses tied into Genosha wanted to meet with her. They wanted her assurances that Genosha was not in fact that war. That the island nation was going to remain out of the 'invasion' as it were.

They all wanted to know: what was Magneto's youngest daughter going to do regarding her father's most recent actions?

Lorna lacked answers. She didn't know what she was going to do, other than try her best to keep Genosha out of the direct line of fire. Which often meant long hours trapped in video calls, or meetings. As she had more or less all week that Magneto had flown his fortress to where it now rested. When he had stopped, she'd barely had a night's rest before people were calling and demanding answers again. She still had none.

The green haired woman was exhausted, and barely able to snag a few hours rest, even while at the Mansion. A few students wanted to go study, or more frankly, wanted to get out of the school proper. And Doug's post had been tempting. So, barring anyone else to drive them, Lorna had pulled around the car, and promised to play chaperone to the two overachievers that actually wanted to go out. They'd parked some blocks away, and were now just approaching the library's steps. Lorna froze at the sight of the chaos, her lips pursing into a thin line as she swallowed thickly against the bile in the back of her throat and promptly turned the two students back the way they'd come. "Oh no. We're not getting caught up in this.." She muttered, pulling the black cap lower on her head and hoping it would do something.

Elixir has posed:
"Yep, that's about right. Most days since Mags got here," Josh says to Doug. The gold-skinned mutant walks up and stops beside Doug. He adjusts how his backpack sits on his shoulder. The pack looks a little out of place with Josh's dark blue suit and gold tie. He runs a hand through his hair.

"I was here anyway so I was gonna drop by and say hi, but... Wanna go in through Building C?" Josh asks. He looks around out of habit and newfound paranoia and spots Lorna. Josh waves with a smile before putting one and a hundred together and coming out with a problem.

"Oh crap, it's Lorna," Josh says to Doug.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie is walking up from a different direction than the others. He has one of the college's catalog in his hand. He is looking around to try to find Doug. He looks over the area and the protesters and sighs softly frowning a bit in thought but he does start to walk over towards the others.

Cypher has posed:
"...You look different." Doug says to Josh, rearing back and squinting at him. "...Oh. You got a haircut! Cool." He gives him a light push with his left hand, and then says, "Yeah, that is definately Lorna, and two students... and the guy on the steps is about to notice her. Come on Josh, we're needed." He starts to head in that direction.

"And YOU. How DARE you show your face here?" The man on the steps shouts into the megaphone. "How can you countenance your father's actions? Civilized people don't dictate terms with heavily armed flying fortresses! Only warmongers and *tyrants* do that! We will not kowtow to a madman's vision of eugenic supremacy!"

The two sides of the crowd are starting to jostle, toeing the line at each other, shouting. "We have the *right* to defend ourselves, our lives, and our families!"

"Get ready." Doug says, "They're about to start throwing stuff. She will not be amused."

Somebody hucks an open water bottle. "Oh boy. Here we go-- you remember your Danger Room sessions on 'being caught in the middle of a rioting mob'?"

Polaris has posed:
Lorna had had to deal with protests getting out of control before. Usually when things started to get dicey, she made sure to wade in on the safer side of things. She'd been smacked with a slushy before up side the head. Which in turn made those that supported her father's reign even more enraged on her behalf. It had not been something she'd wanted to repeat, much less with two students in tow. As soon as the voice on the megaphone sounded over the crowd she cursed, and shoved the two students with her in the direction they'd come from.

"Get to the car //now//!" She snarled, and twisted around to put her back to them and face the crowd.

But it wasn't just thrown things this time. Rather a few of the other more enraged, and likely scared, people there turned around to grab her by the wrists before she had so much as blinked. Within seconds she was being yanked and pulled into the crowd as people shouted, and screamed to be heard.

Elixir has posed:
"I remember a lot about moving out of the middle cause it's the worst place to be," Josh says.

"C'mon, let's get to Lorna and make sure nobody does something really stupid, you know?"

Josh starts moving toward Lorna when she gets grabbed.

"Something stupid like that," Josh says with a wry grin to Doug. "Hope you don't have a weak stomach."

Josh's body glows gold. People around him start to look ill and hold their stomachs. He pushes past people trying not to vomit with a bit of a smirk, trying to get near to Lorna.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie frowns and seeing all thats going on. Sam sees Doug and Josh able to head to help Lorna, he will actually start to make his way towards the guy with the bullhorn, trying to look like someone who is rubber necking, and banking on the fact he can pass as normal to get closer to the guy.

Cypher has posed:
"...That's a neat trick." Doug says. "Level *up*, golden boy. We need to put you on posters." He looks around at the crowd, and then grabs Josh's arm. "Follow me." He instinctively navigates the surges and patterns in the crowd, rapidly reaching Lorna in the heart of it, before he reaches out to start pulling people off her. "Hey, hey! Let her go!"

As the crowd struggles around them, pro and anti-mutant protesters clashing together, the man with the bullhorn forments the chaos. "Hold her accountable! No mutant dictators! No mutant dictators!"

His name is Fantastic Freddie, and this handsome young man has a secret -- he's here to start trouble, and he's not human either. His mother's name is Amazing Grace, his uncle's name is Glorious Godfrey, and his family has a knack for causing chaos that would make Loki grind his teeth in envy.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna was struggling, both to keep her powers in check and not unleash them violently on the crowd around her, as well as try to keep herself in one piece. The hands clawed at her hair, pulling and jerking. Her hat long since lost. She was kicked and punched, thrown this way and that as she tried to keep her hands up and protect her face. Her thoughts raced as she struggled to think amidst the chaos and act. If she wasn't so exhausted, so very over worked, perhaps she'd have handled things better.

As it was, she was barely holding herself upright when Josh and Doug reached her in the middle of the chaos and pulled people from her physically. Lorna was clearly worse for wear. Her shirtsleeve ripped off entirely on one arm. Her lip busted, and likely a myriad of bruises covered her figure. Green hair hung about her shoulders in tangles.

With the breath of an instant the boy's rush had given her, she inhaled sharply and with a magnetic burst, twisted around to press on every little minute piece and bit of metal on those that surrounded them. "Enough!" She snarled.

Elixir has posed:
Josh lets himself be towed along by Doug. He tries to keep any sign of how much focus this is taking from showing and act cool and collected. People are vomitting now around them and the smell of bile and stomach acid does not improve the atmosphere.

"Lorna, we got..." Josh stops and watches people dragged by an invisible force away from Lorna by their belts, backpacks, phones in pockets, keys and more. Some rip through clothes or hurtle through the air when people let them go. "...You. Huh."

Out of the two of them, Doug is by far the more dangerous combatant and fighting is not Josh's first instinct. Especially not after what he saw in the school bus at the Museum of Natural History. So instead he trusts Doug will rout any stragglers. The glow around Josh fades and he crouches down in front of Lorna blocking her view of others and smiles.

"Nice work, you're clear," Josh reassures Lorna and holds out a hand to help her up. "Your students are scared, let's go get them out of here."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie will get pushed away a bit with the others, but still making his way towards Freddy. Once he is near the man he gives him a once over looking for any signs of him being part of friends of humanity or other mutant hate groups. He is not chanting but does try to act surprised at the pull from Lorna's powers. He will even reach out to help steady Freddy if the man starts to fall over.

Cypher has posed:
Freddie does have a tattoo -- a tribal arm-band and barbed-wire, except that in the center of it, there's an Omega. It's Greek, you know? He looks up at Sam, and then he's about to say something, when his megaphone shorts out from the electromagnetic pulse of Lorna's powers. He looks at it and then he grins at Sam, before he shrugs. "The people will be heard, man."

He holds his hands up at Sam, giving a shrug, and a douchey grin at the trouble he's caused. Lol! Oopsie!

Doug looks around at the crowd, and then at Josh. "We make a good team parting this crowd," He says, before he moves to more gently take Lorna's other hand in his own techno-organic one, having lost his glove. "Come on, the car is this way--" He glances up at the crowd. "That guy's here to stir the pot." He narrows his eyes. "Lorna, Josh... he's *evil*."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna took the hands that reached up to help her stand more firmly on the ground, her breathing ragged as her gaze swept around them as the crowd filled more with people that were scared of her and less daring to reach out and grab the green haired woman. At least, those that weren't currently running away with nausea gripping their stomachs that is. She flashed Josh and Doug a pained smile, but otherwise, seemed intent on getting out of there. The damage had been done, people would complain. But up until her magnetic blast, there was no cameras working around her at the moment.

"Yeah let's just get out of here.. I wanted to avoid all of this.." She muttered, and as Doug spoke of 'evil', her eyebrows furrowed. "Huh? What? Who? Evil how?"

Elixir has posed:
"I know, right?" Josh grins at Doug. "And nobody bleeding even."

"We'll make you all pretty again once we're out of here," Josh assures Lorna. He backs away toward the car with Doug, keeping Lorna behind him and his eye on the crowd. Josh takes a deep breath and lets it out.

"Yeah," Josh says after Lorna's question. "Sam gonna be okay in there?"

It was hard to imagine that Sam would not be. Nobody could stop that man once he got going, he was like a better looking Juggernaut. But Doug had a way of seeing things Josh could not match.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie looks to Freddy, and says "You might want to get back a bit, if your going to get your message across, right now might not be the right time, you do any speeches any where? He will ask the man, and pulls out his phone "You should get a pick of you while your here, showing them running away ." He knows he is fanning it a bit but is trying to get a pic of the man, his tat, and find out where they can find him later.

Cypher has posed:
Freddie just grins, and shrugs. Overconfident, he says, "I know who you are, man! I don't even need to do this -- but it's so much fun." He lets Sam snap a photo, and then says, "They lean on you, you lean on them... it's all grist for the mill--" He snorts, and grins. "In the end, whether you know it or not, you --" He gestures to the crowd, "--Them, Magneto himself -- you all serve the will of the Omega." He holds up two fingers in a peace sign and makes duck face for the photo, before he turns to bounce. "Be seeing you bro!"

Doug narrows his eyes. "Yeah, I can just see it written in his every action. He's here to seize problems and make them worse. It's... religious."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna shook her head as she glanced back in the direction of the man that had pointed her out and truly got the chaos going. She couldn't see him from her angle, not as she hurried along side Doug and Josh toward the car, and tried to avoid the various other people that were just //there// and inconveniently in the way. There was trash, shoes, a few wallets, and discarded cans of things all over the place as people cleared out or pushed aside.

"Oh great. Lovely. Religious fanatics. We need to get to the cars before someone snaps a picture of me and it gets to my father. I don't want to give him more of an excuse to be pissed off with New Yorkers." She muttered under her breath as she continued through the bustle of street.

Elixir has posed:
"That would be seriously shitty," Josh agrees with Lorna.

"Honestly, God needs to get back with the lightning and pillars of salt, you know?" he snarks to Doug.

When they reach the car, Josh gives a thumbs up to Sam and then squishes into the vehicle.

He grins at the two students in the back. "Mind if we hop in?"

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie will take the picture, but is frowning at the man and says "Who are you who is this Omega, you don't look russian." He says as this does not fit the type of thing the one omega he knows of does. He will move a bit making sure he is between Freddy and as many people as he can.

Cypher has posed:
"Sorry dude." Freddie shrugs. "You'll find out about the Alpha Male someday!" He grins, and hops off the stage, away from the crowd.

Doug pinches the bridge of his nose, and helps Lorna inside. "I'm gonna go get Sam." He says to them.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna settled into the car with a barely concealed wince, everything was slowly coming home to roost in terms of bruising and just how much of a physical beating she'd taken in those few beats that the crowd had had her in its grip. "Thanks Doug.." She mumbled, sliding into the seat with a glance spared for the two students who had at least listened to her when she'd told them to run.

A glance out the window revealed that New York traffic had hardly let up even with the mob's chaos. Sirens echoed not too far off, and would doubtlessly be there soon.

"Might wanna hurry in getting Sam." She offered as the door slipped shut as Doug went off. Her gaze swung back toward Josh.

"Spare Wanda some of this when you tell her, yeah?"

Elixir has posed:
"Oh yeah," Josh says with reassuring smile. "She's got enough on her plate."

Josh glows where he sits. He is not touching Lorna, but she feels the same liquid warmth inside as when he took care of the cut on her hand. The pain and soreness stops, the bruises fade, Lorna's lip returns to its prior perfection. The glow fades and Josh winks at Lorna.

"I'll tell here it wasn't much of a thing," Josh promises.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie frowns and seems tempted to go after the man, but does not. He turns to see if his friends have got to the vehicle, and seeing Doug heading towards him, he will move to meet the other half way once in near he will ask. "Ok, know any gods, calling themselves the Missiah, or a new group based on the Greek alphabet? He will ask

Cypher has posed:
Doug gives Sam a puzzled look. "Why would you ask me? I was raised LDS, remember?" He shakes his head, and then grabs his phone -- he has augmented many of the X-Men's phones with EMP-resistant measures, hazard of the lifestyle -- and he texts Josh and Lorna. 'Go on ahead. We'll meet you at Evo.' Then he glances back at Sam and then at the crowd. "Come on, let's get outta here."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna exhaled a breath as Josh agreed to limit just how many details he planned to share with Wanda. Lorna did not want to worry her half siblings, or anyone really, and having her old sister caring suddenly meant that Lorna didn't want her worried either. It was a reflexive action, one born of a young woman that had been raised by a pair of humans that didn't really know what to do with her.

As Josh reached out with his powers and she felt the warmth of his powers unspool the knots and pain, bruises, and damage done she closed her eyes briefly. "Thanks." She reached up, touching the no longer split in her lip, and wiping off the blood there she checked her phone as it dinged in her pocket.

"Guess we're going on ahead." She murmured, waving her hand as she turned the engine over and directed the car forward under her magnetism.