Players:
Summary: Erik runs a Danger Room session where July has to lead Robin and Lily to rescue some children from an alien attack.
Date: August 25, 2009.
Log Title Kids and Aliens
Rating: PG
Xavier Mansion - Danger Room
A product of Shi'ar technology, the room generates apparently solid, realistic imagery by manipulation high-resolution force fields and holograms. The walls and floor appear as a steel room until a program is turned on. Overhanging the room in the center is a control Room managing the room's mechanisms to oversee the exercise while ensuring the subject's safety.
With all the other teachers out at various things, it comes down to Erik to teach a Powers class for once. Not that he lacks in powers, just for some reason none of you have had the class with him before. He is waiting in the room for you all to arrive, wearing slacks with sensible black tennis shoes, and a button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
Since it's a power class, July arrives with her usual blue-and-white squad uniform, looking around at the Danger Room, "It never ceases to amaze me…" she mutters to herself, before finally finding Erik. "Hey. I'm the first to arrive?" she asks, blinking. She was sure she'd be one of the last, since it took a bit long to find her boots.
Lily arrives a bit behind July, with a terrycloth robe wrapped around her. Underneath it is pair of Speedo briefs, and no other clothes, hence the robe, since Lily is nowhere near being comfortable just running around essentially naked. But if she's going to be swimming, clothes interfere with the scales' efficiency. Ahhh, the joys of life. Ick. At least, thank all that's holy, she's not got anything in the way of curves, or she'd never EVER swim. EVER. Ack.
Robin and Blank arrive a few moments after Lily does. Apparently, they were running a little bit late, as Robin is almost sprinting to catch up with the others. She crouches down and puts her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath once she arrives. "Sorry, I got caught up in something," she says, smiling apologetically. She is wearing sweatpants and a tight long-sleeved shirt. The shirt hardly seems suitable for any kind of training, but it will do.
Erik nods to July as she comes in. "Well, first besides the teacher, but that's pretty standard." He smiles before he looks over to Robin and Lily with a raised eyebrow at the attire. Not that his is any better, but he looks comfortable in it at least. "Today we're going to run a simulation for an attack on the city with little or no preparation before hand. July, I believe you're the most experienced student here?"
July snaps her head back up to attention as she's called the most experienced in the trio, "W-what? Uhh… yeah, I guess." she rubs the back of her head, "If you could two skirmishes being 'more experience." she giggles a bit, smiling a bit embarrassed, rubbing the back of her head.
"Considering it's two more than I've had? Yeah, that's experienced." Lily says, grimacing slightly. Thank goodness she HAD come in her Speedo. Though she really hated the idea of running down the street without the robe, even knowing this wasn't really the City. Dammit. Maybe she'd cheat and keep the robe this time.
"Well, my experience consists of being kidnapped recently and sometimes running away from bullies in high school," notes Robin. She and Blank cross their arms and glance at each other for a moment before looking at Erik. Robin has been trying to get in as much training time as she can since getting kidnapped, with the hope of preventing it from happening again.
Erik nods. "Well, congratulations, you are in charge." Erik says to July. "What do you think is the most important thing you need to know about your team, first off?"
July blinks softly, "Uhh… But I don't know if I have the tactical experience to l—" But then she's cut off by Erik's question, "Ummm… Their limits and abilities?"
Erik nods. "Exactly." He says, jumping pose order to confirm this because he is a teacher. He looks to the other two then. "So, sound off."
Lily grimaces. "If water's involved, let me at it. I can dive and swim like no one's business. Fighting … not so much. No extra strength or anything, so I can only deal with people with normal abilities. Anyone with extra strength or speed or whatever, and all I can do is yell for help."
Robin raises her eyebrows and says, "I dunno. I can take control of Blank at any time and perceive as if I was her, but in order to do so, I need complete concentration and I'm vulnerable. If I don't take control of her, she will do her best to protect me. If she is killed, I'll fall unconscious, and when I wake up I'll feel like I was dead. I, um, I have no combat experience. I can also teleport Blank back to myself no matter where she is sent to." She shrugs and says, "I don't know what else to say."
Erik raises an eyebrow as he looks at Robin. "Will Blank come back if she is killed?" He asks curiously, before he looks to July. "And I have broad control over the Magnetic and Electromagnetic spectrums, including manipulation and re-arrangement, the creation of force-fields and electrical blasts, and personal physical enhancement."
July blinks and rubs the back of her head, "Ok… this is what I have to work with, then." she says, looking a bit lost at being a 'squad' leader, and then she look at Erik as he makes another question.
Lily frowns slightly at Erik's recital of his powers. Sounds an awful lot like some of the stuff a certain someone else could do, to her. Well, at least if that certain someone else got it in their mind to cause trouble, they had Erik around to help deal with him … though that might prove to be one hell of an interesting fight. That Lily would happily hide somewhere safe to get away from. Since no one asked her anything, she just stayed quiet for now.
"She's been killed before. I hope it never happens again, but… it probably will. It's just a really horrible experience. I can't be awake without her around, though, so I'm out as long as it takes for her to come back," says Robin, answering Erik's question. She shakes her head and says, "I hope the simulation can't kill her?"
Erik ponders for a moment. "I'm not sure. The Simulation isn't set to be able to kill living humans, but I am not sure about Blank. I have an override, however, so if it looks like it will, I'll kill the sim." He looks to July. "Ready?"
July blinks softly, "Wait. You're participating too, Mr. Anderson? I thought you'd be only watching." she blinks again, looking at her teacher, confused.
Erik shakes his head. "The simulation is going to be a little bit hectic. I was going to sit out, but you might need someone who is a little bit more combat qualified. Besides, sometimes you are going to have to lead teams with people older and more experienced or powerful than yourself, and deal with our mountain like egos."
Lily snickers softly at the 'mountain of egos' comment, and grins. "Ahh, most of you aren't that bad." She says.
Robin nods, smiles at Erik and says, "Okay," when he assures her about Blank. She puts her hands on her hips and looks around, just waiting for something to happen.
July rubs the back of her head at her current predicament. 'I think I'd prefer sitting over the summer studying than this…' she thinks, before shaking her head and sighing softly, "Very well, I guess." she nods.
Erik nods. "We're not. But the point is when he was a hot young buck, Professor Summers had to deal with getting Logan to do things, even though Logan had decades more combat experience." He smiles. "Leadership doesn't necessarily mean picking the strongest person and making them do it, it means picking the best person to be a leader and them having everyone else fall in line." He nods and leans over to a wall, plugging in the program. First the street layer appears, and then it all goes to hell. Rain pours down in gushes against the mute-ants, as some kind of alien army assaults the city. You are in a semi-business area, near what seems to be an Elementary school.
"Hot … young … " Lily dissolves into giggles at that, but quickly sobers when the simulation starts. Since it's raining, she hauls off the robe. Wet robe will NOT help things. Lacking anything in the way of offensive powers, she quickly glances around for what her eldest brother calls an 'equalizer' … something to bean people with.
Robin and Blank exchange glances again and she looks up towards the sky. "Rain?" she says, sighing. Why is it always water? Since it turns out her breasts are made primarily of tissue paper (actually, made completely out of tissue paper), the wetness doesn't really help her situation in that respect. But she tries not to think about that, and instead focuses on the issue at hand. "What should I do?"
So the simulation starts, and July is at a loss, apparently. She looks around, apparently with no clue with what to do, and then she looks up, toward one tall building, two-story. "… I need a better view." she says, before looking at her friends. "Watch out, we're going up to get a better view." she says, and then she wraps her arms around her friends and stretches up, going all the way to the top of the building, releasing them once she reaches the top. "Ok… what the hell is going on here…?"
Erik blinks as he is given a Super July Stretchy Transport Hug, as he is brought up to the top of the building. "You know I can fly, too." He teases as he gets soaked. The panorama is depressing. You are clearly on the Island of Manhattan (why is it always Manhattan?), and it is under siege. Burning, cinders…no Sentinels, but lots of soldiers fighting in the streets. Not noticing you, a detachment of soldiers enters the school you are on. Screams are heard.
Eeeeeep! Eep! What a way to fly. Lily yelps a bit when they get stretched up on top of the building, frowning when they get a better look at the mayhem going on. "You sure we can't get Logan in here?" She wants to know. This seems like a bit much for three kids and one teacher.
Robin flails her arms a little bit in surprise as she's brought up onto the building. She looks down toward the ground and frowns, "Oh, geez, this is really freaky." She just has to tell herself that the screams in the school aren't real and not to freak out. Blank, on the other hand, is freaking out quite a bit.
July makes one logical assumption. Firearms = metal weapons, and she has to save that school. "Ok, alright, uh…" 'Think, July, think…' "Alright. We can't let those soldiers take that school. I'll distract them, uh… Mr. Anderson! Try to remove their weapons, destroy them with your powers, anything! If all else fails, see if you can create a localized PEM!" She sighs. Ten seconds of being a leader and she got a migraine already. "Robin, Lily… I want you two to try to help all the students out. Can you all do it?"
Erik nods. "EMP, I assume." He says with a nod. He moves to the edge of the building and holds out his hands up. It's magnets, there are no flashy lights, but a lot of angry cries. "Ok, it looks like only the larger weapons are metal, the smaller ones must be some kind of plastic."
July nods to Erik as she approaches Robin and Lily, "Very well. It's us now, girls." she says, hugging them tight and stretching back down, away from the commotion of the angry space-orcs. "Alright. You two, head inside through a back door, or something, and get everyone out. I'll keep those troops from going in."
Lily nods sharply. "No problem." She says, and then eeps again as they get stretched to the ground. "Thanks for the ride." She glanced over at Robin. "Can you send Blank to the front to act as a third to get the kids moving?" She wanted to know. "It'll go faster."
Robin seems a bit surprised again at the stretchy transportation, but is a lot less panicked about it than before. She frowns and shakes her head at Lily, "Blank just follows unless I'm controlling her. I can't control her without having to stop myself."
Erik looks to July. "Do you want me to work with you to distract the soldiers?" Erik asks her after he watches Lily and Robin fly away. The two other girls find themselves at the back of the school, in an Alley way, currently deserted. But there are bootsteps going by in the main street.
Lily sighs. "Ahh well, it was worth the thought. You take the classrooms on the left, I'll take the ones on the right. Deal?" And then she's heading inside, mentally bracing for the usual range of reactions to someone like her.
Nodding at Lily, Robin says, "Deal." She heads in after Lily with the spectral Blank in tow. She takes a look around once she has entered the school, trying to figure out where to be going now.
July watches the two girls disappear on an alleyway, while listening to Erik's offer, "Actually… I'll get their attention, see if their armor is metallic too, and try to get them out of combat. Slam them against each other, toss them against walls, anything. But… try to keep yourself out of sight. I want them to think I can do that." she says, nodding. She hesitates for just a second, sighing, "Here I go!" she says, taking off running toward the mob of confused aliens, taking the chance to wrap her arms around one of them from afar and toss them against the others.
Erik nods and moves to follow her after them, holding his right hand out in front of him. Bolts of plasma that start to fly off toward July are deflected concavely up to the sky, while Erik moves his left hand to begin a wave designed to effect the armor. Inside the building the two girls split off and find a soldier in each of the classrooms, menacing the children; fortunately their backs are turned, at the moment, and lots of chunks of wood (equalizers) lie around.
Lily has precisely zero compunctions about knocking the crap out of the soldiers, but after spotting a second one in the second classroom she checked, she wanted to make sure it went quietly. Didn't want the lot of them converging on her and the kids. So she got the sturdiest hunk of wood she could find and worked the door of the classroom closest to the alley exit open a tiny fraction. Waited a moment to make sure no one had noticed, then rushed in an swung at the big soldier's head like she thought she was Sammy Sosa trying for a home run with the bases loaded and the Cubs down by three.
Since Blank is almost completely silent when she moves, Robin stops and closes her eyes, taking control of the puppet. Blank picks up one of the chunks of wood and then runs up to try and smash the strange alien soldier across the head as hard as she can. Since her footsteps make no sound, she is stealthy like a glowing ninja.
July runs toward the aliens after tossing one of them back into the group, while Erik deflects their shots. She can't help but wonder, while running toward the fray, if she'd do something like this if it was a real life situation. A blast flying past near her head quickly brings her back to the now and then as she gasps, and then she attempts to disarm one of the remaining orcs with working weapons, tossing the guy back on the group while keeping their weapons, starting to shoot some fire back while still running, this time away from them.
Both of the soldiers in the classrooms go down with giant chunks of wood to the back of the head, sprawling out and leavign the two girls in control of a group of frightened to death schoolchildren. July is cutting a path through the area, and is definetely working at being a distraction as more are coming over. Erik keeps fending off blasts with the strategic application of shields, but it is still plenty hot.
Yay. Soldier taken care of. Lily restrains the temptation to kick the goon in the face, dropping the piece of wood for the moment to deal with the kids. "Hey, everbody. It's ok. We're gonna be ok, all right? We just need to get you out of here. I need you to be /really/ quiet, though, ok? And I need you to be willing to follow me. I'll get you out of here to somewhere a bit safer."
Robin opens her eyes and releases control of Blank. She looks at the schoolchildren and says to them in her most comforting voice, gesturing towards the puppet, "Go with Blank, she'll protect you and get you all to safety. Come on, be brave for me." She decides this will be the fastest way to do this and help other children in a timely fashion: she can teleport the puppet back to herself once the kids are in a safe place. She closes her eyes again, and Blank gestures to the children to follow.
July has no idea how the girls are faring in the school. She only hopes she's doing better than she is, being used as a moving target. As more start pouring in, she starts panicking. 'Shit shit shit… soon I'll be overwhelmed…' So she decides to keep shooting with one hand, the other moving to stretch, trying to get a goon and toss it back against their friends. She /has/ to keep them occupied. But she also has to keep herself alive.
The schoolkids seem all to eager to follow the freaks who are helping them, rather than the ones who are trying to kill them. The re-enforcements arrive and pour in to the street. Erik falls back to July's position, and sends a pulse out that knocks out about half of the re-enforcements. The problem in the school is manifold, however, as the back door is now blocked by a soldier's back, precipitating a stealthier exit.
Lily heads the kids towards the back door, only to stop in her tracks. Crap. Soldier. Dang, dang dang. Now what? She grabs another piece of wood, just in case, and then glances around. There were soldiers out front, and now there were soldiers back here … wait. Roof. There'd been a door up there. Which meant /somewhere/ around here was a door that led to a staircase up there. She just hoped it wasn't LOCKED, or they were in big trouble. Her skills did not run to breaking and entering. She started checking the doors, looking for ones with locks or marked for Maintenenance or Janitors or the like. C'mon roof access!
Blank stops when she sees the same thing that Lily does. She too had intended on using the back door as an escape route. The major disadvantage of being Blank is that she doesn't have the same kind of communication abilities as Robin does. That is, she has none whatsoever. She can, however, listen. She runs up to Lily and gives a big shrug as if to ask, "What do we do now?"
The Situation in the street is growing by equal measures worse and better, depending on how you view it. Half the soldier's are gone now, but the largest and meanest looking Orc you've ever seen, which may not be hard, comes roaring out in to the street with a honking big gun. "July, take out the boss! I'll hold them off!" Erik grunts. Hero time for July, it looks like. Inside July and Blank do find a door leading up to the roof, with the sound of soldiers not far behind them. Time to go.
July opens her eyes wide at the 'boss' that arrives. "Great. Boss time, no extra lives, and no walkthrough at hand for strategies…" She mutters to herself, frowning as that… thing comes rushing toward her, "And, like any game, the most powerful team member, who's an NPC, leaves the hero's party to take care of 'other business'." Then frowns, having no other choice than to fight, and she decides to level the ground a bit as she expands, bigger, stretching taller and buffer too, to give a mean impression on the guy.
Lily glanced at Blank, then whispered "Find the staircase to the roof." And takes off to do the same. Fortunately, they find it … and unlocked to boot. Lily lets out a relieved breath. "Tell Robin to get over here." She tells Blank. "It's the only way out." And then she starts urging the kids up the steps.
When Lily tells Blank to tell Robin to come, Blank just up and vanishes. One second she's there, and then next second, not. She has teleported back to Robin, whose eyes open. "Oh, geez, gotta go, gotta go." She starts off towards where Blank had left Lily, making sure to check for danger before entering any room. She also takes special care to peek into some of the other rooms on the way, to see if she can spot any more kids. The more people rescued, the better.
Da Warboss immediately takes a couple of potshots at July as she puffs up, which Erik does his NPC duty in deflecting before he is back to holding off the rest of them so that she can have her fight. The stairs up to the roof are steep and many, but they manage to come out on to the roof to find it blissfully empty. Their student communicators crackle as they come out on the roof. "Do you copy. Any students, do you copy? We are airborne…" Meanwhile, July is now in close combat with Da Boss.
July decides to trade some blows with the big guy, but that quickly doesn't prove as effective as she hoped, since, while she appears stronger, she actually isn't. But she keeps trading blows, but also trying to immobilize it, wrapping her arms around the guy after disarming it.
Lily gives her communicator a suspicious look. "Anemone here. Identify yourself." Not about to just blather where she's at just 'cause someone's on the X-frequency. It's hackable, after all. Everything is, if you've got the tech to pull it off.
Robin comes up the stairs with Blank and pauses to catch her breath. She had to run in order to catch up to everyone else. She looks at the communicator but lets Lily handle this, since the only thing Robin is capable of responding with at the moment is some indecipherable panting.
"This is Cyclops, we're in the jet. Give us your location, and we'll come to extract you." The radio blathers back. The Orc may be big and strong, but he is definitely slow, and he is wrapped up. But he is, as stated, strong, and begins to stretch out…
July gahhh's as the guy starts to stretch out, "Aahh… nnnooo…" she groans in distress as she does her best to keep the guy tied down, but then she decides to to knock the guy out. She stretches up, taking the guy with her, going several feet up in the air befor doing a pile driver type of moveemnt, to bring the alien back down on the ground hard, head-first.
Lily blinks at the communicator. Glances at the kids behind her, mentally counting heads. Looks at the communicator again, and shrugs. Then gives Cyclops the best directions she can to where they're at. And makes sure he knows they have visitors both friendly and non.
Robin blinks a few times and pants, "How are they going to fit?" She still has problems remembering that the Danger Room isn't real life, and the things that happen here are not real. Blank seems to be doing her best to comfort the frightened children.
The Orc is not immune to critical damage to the head, it seems, as he goes unconscious with a sickening thud and July is left relatively clear in a field of orcs. Fortunately the jet comes swooping in at the last minut, landing on the roof, and offering the group a quick escape, assuming between Flying Erik and Stretchy July they can make it up two stories.
July pants hard, having been the first time she actually made herself BIGGER like that, but she manages to reach the top of the building, "I demand… a big tub… so I can just melt in it and remain like that for HOURS!!" She says, panting, shivering softly, her body already a bit softer than normal.
"Duct tape?" Lily quips. When July arrives, she grins. "I like your style." She says.
