2010-01-30: Megachiroptera Umbragenix

Players:

Owen_icon.jpg Jared_icon.jpg Rashmi_icon.jpg Mike_icon.jpg

Summary: Owen goes Bats, but fortunately there are people there for the Bat to chow down on who can help.

Date: January 30, 2010

Log Title Megachiroptera Umbragenix

Rating: PG-13 for blood and violence and curfew-breaking


Xavier Mansion - Ramsey Dormitories Lobby

Time: 12:01am, January 30th

The lobby of Ramsey Dormitories has two elevators at one end of the wall along with the entrance to a cafeteria. On the wall are three pictures that say 'In memory of'. One is of Douglas Ramsey, another of John Proudstar and the last one is of Jean Grey. There are several couches and tables down here for students to relax. Large windows in the front and sides allow for a lot of light in the room.


Owen has been keeping to himself for most of this Inferno. As much as he would like to be out helping his friends and being supportive, he's been scared. He's been keeping to himself when not in class or the Danger Room. And ever since word of Leo reached him, Owen's fear grew. Tonight, he was set to go ask Mr. Summers to lock him up. Overload was getting far too close and he didn't want to think about what would happen if the Bat got loose. Sadly…fate was not on his side.
He was just making his way through the lobby when the first pain struck. Owen doubled over with a grunt an knocked over a table. DarkForce swirled around his fuzzy form and soon hid him completely. The sound of tearing clothes cut the silence and soon after, a monstrous scheech. Familiar to some and terrifying to others. When the DarkForce cleared, the Bat stood in the Lobby. Dressed in nothing but Owen's bright purple UM shorts and the tattered remains of an Xavier school t-shirt, the big monster seemed to be searching for prey…

Normally one would be in bed asleep after curfew; normally one would not be a robotic teen whose brain (and indeed, most of whose mechanisms) existed largely off in a different direction from three-space, and who has "downtime for maintenance and backup" rather than sleep as such. Mike Drakos is, however, a robotic teen of that make and model, and he's escaping his room because his roommate is snoring. He may deny it but the guy could hurt the ears on a stalk of corn.
Mike has been sitting in the lobby watching out the window, playing his radio to himself, just thinking.

Jared has been fuming about being on lockdown, not the school its self, but that he personally is locked down and not allowed anywhere even near the edges of school grounds let alone outside of them. Doubly galling is the fact that the very reason he is on lockdown is the one that makes him want to go out so much. As it is, he has just been sublimating his frustration into working out more, which is great for his abs but not so great for his sleeping cycle. Dressed in grey sweat pants and a black tank top he is headed back to his room to try and get some sleep without waking up his room mate after grabbing an apple only to find himself face to face with a very angery looking Owen. "Um…hi? Any chance you want a nice granny smith dude?" He asks holding up his apple.

One would, also, normally consider the return of two of the thralls of the Inferno a perfect segue to a good night's sleep. Seeing Robyn's eyes light up as Jordan staggered into the kitchen, heartwarming enough. Hearing news of James' recovery, likewise comforting. And yet, sometimes sleep seems to take a holiday of its own. Which is what brings Rashmi wandering into the lobby, nightgown and Xavier's sweats whispering, copper hair unbound and doing a fair impersonation of a bridal train. Emerging into the Lobby proper, she spares the stalking Bat little more than a passing glance at first… Then the subtle cues catch up with her sleep-addled brain, and she stops dead in her tracks, eyes wide and fixed. Something is Very Wrong Here.

Due to the nature of Mike's …Mike-ness…he's pretty much invisible to The Bat at first. The massive creature, once called 'man-bat' by a mansion comic book fan, sniffs the air a few times as ears swivel about. It starts towards one of the elevators. Prey are in that direction. But then something more tasty presents itself. Jared. The bat rounds on the student and gives the closest thing it has to a grin before screeching at him. A winged arm is drawn back and he takes a swipe at Jared with sharp claws. The blow's got about a ton of force behind it too.

OK, now, that CANNOT be an acceptable use of powers. Mike has met many of the students here but only really KNOWS a handful by sight and Owen? Not one of those. Knocking over stuff? Also not accepted behavior, even here at Mutant High, so Mike stands … and then realizes that the guy has really truly turned into a werebat, and that he's attacking another guy… Mike moves. He'll try to intercept, deflect that blow, or pull Jared back if he can. And while he runs…
The first thing he does is turn on his headlights, well, eye-lights, on high-beam. They're not as bright as real car headlights, but they may well blind this Megachiropterae Umbragenex if it has eyesight like most bats. And since the hearing is almost certain, and because it may bring help, he starts playing one of the three samples he keeps at all times: a car alarm. BWEOOOOP BWEOOOP BWEOOP

Jared trys his best to smile at the large hungery looking man bat. Now, what was it he remembered about the few times Owen has gone like this before? Oh yeah, call Leo…too bad Leo has all the light of a disconnected christmas tree bulb at the moment. As the creature pulls its arm back its obvious what its gonna do, which is why Jared quickly throws himself down and twists to clamp his legs around one of Owen's. If he gets his feet in place the plan is to twist, see if he can use the surprise, the fact that knees bend, and the movement of the swipe to try and nock him off his feet. Sensing Rashmi at least Jared calls out, "Stay down and be careful, he does not have control over himself when he is like this."

When the bat-thing moves in for the attack, half a dozen glowing spheres of force shimmer into being around the dark-skinned redhead, spiraling in front of her as she stumbles off to one side… and only then realizes the lunge hadn't been meant for her at all. "Then we have to keep him busy until someone can keep a hold on him!" The spheres skate a circle around her once, twice, and then seem to explode outward, each taking a different arc to blur toward the bat-thing's back, each with the potential to strike with the force of a speeding car.

The Bat had been expecting resistance. The prey always fought back. That was annoying. It didn't expect so much though. Tripped, smacked by a robot, and slammed into by glowing balls. The Bat let out a pained screech and went crashing into the wall. It lingers for a moment, dazed and in pain thanks to Mike. Suddenly, jaws open and a concussive blast of DarkForce energy is fired at Mike. He's been ID'd as the biggest threat at the moment. Rashmi and Jared are still just tasty treats waiting to be eaten to him.

Darkforce, now that's a new one. Mike catches it in the chest, and with a CRUNCH, is lifted up and back slamming into the floor and sliding back against the chair where he was originally sitting. He's strong, yeah, but robot-strong, not battle-suit strong and the blast leaves him stunned and a bit dented. Not to mention scratching his paint. Insult to injury!

Jared does not give himself time to let the ringing in his ears stop, not with something as strong and hungery as the manbat Owen going. He moves quick, first out of arms rech, then trying to get behind Owen. "Its Owen, his powers tap the Darkforce and its kinda over loaded. Leo is tapped out, unless we got another Lightforce user in the school I don't know we just got to try an wear the dude out…without anyone getting killed."

"Oh, well great," Rashmi groans, the spheres speeding back around her, orbiting, one detaching from the back of the 'train' to streak toward Owen's jaw. "Mike, are you okay?!"

The Bat seem quite satisfied that Mikr was hit, digging claws into the floor. It screeches again and swipes at Jared a he moves but isn't hard to get behind. This fight would be going much better for the Bat in the air. One huge wing serves as a shield against the sphere, knocked away with some effort. And then the Bat jumps. With several mighty flaps it's flying in the room and debating the next course of action.

The car alarm continues to go off, of course, as they are notoriously hard to shut off. Even the non-sentient kind. Meanwhile Mike yells at Rashmi, but nothing comes out as he lacks a voice - it wasn't standard equipment - Am I Okay? I have a HUGE DENT in my chest! I don't have darkforce coverage on my comprehensive policy, how can I … wait. What? Oh. Back to reality Mikey.
Temporarily ignoring the question as he doesn't have time: the thing's first prey seems to be trying to restrain it. Maybe he can help? So Mike scrambles back to his feet but it'll take a moment to get moving back into the affray.

Jared shakes his head as he realizes that Owen is getting ready to take off. He trys to leap forwards to try and grab it and drag it down missing and turning the fall into a roll. "Damn, Rashmi, see if you can force it down! He is too manuverable in the air…" That and he can't get in to get his licks in if he can't reach Owen. Sure he likes Owen, but at least this gives him a chance to hit something that at least looks demon like.

Rashmi scrabbles toward the nearest piece of cover she can find—not that the back of a *couch* is all that effective when hiding from something flying above, but there's the unfortunate necessity of her powers needing some room to work with. Turning around, keeping her eyes on the airborne bat-creature, her spheres sweep out and up following Owen's movement to rain punishment on his left wing-arm from beneath. "Isn't there any way to get *through* to him?!"

The car alarm is noisy and this prey is fighting back to much. The Bat does not like this. He circles the room and fires another DarkForce blast at Mike. The flying space is too cramped too. Especially with all th spheres flying at him. He avoids the first two strikes but the next brings pain. The Bat falls a bit but recovers half way to the ground. It growls before swooping low at Rashmi and attempting to grab her by the arms with prehensile feet.

More darkforce! Expecting it this time, but not quite sure what to look for, so Mike's attempt to dodge evade (no car puns!) the blast is only a partial success, and he's clipped and sent spinning to crash into a wall. Another dent, and two more scratches, and not yet close enough to grab Batso.

Jared sees the Manbat swooping and starts yelling waving his arms. "Hey, hey you! Big black and ugly! Why don't you come here and eat me instead. Look at me, big tasty and lots of life force!" After a second he says, "Gods, I can't believe I just said that." He keeps jumping around trying to get Owen's attention off Rashmi. "Damn it, if we have to feed him to make him stop I am at least the best choice to be the food."

It's sort of like the movies; when the scared girl is grabbed hold of, and she flails at her attacker without much thought as to how to hit or where. Like that, except in most movies the girl doesn't have six arms, each holding a bowling ball, and capable of striking on an elliptical plane. So while Rashmi may be hauled into the air by her wrists, and while her scream may be satisfyingly terrified and piercing, that still leaves half a dozen telekinetic spheres free to batter at the bat-thing like large, heavy, angry, and *very fast* bumblebees.

The good: The Bat caught one and was all set to carry her through a window and off to a painful end. The Bad: The spheres. The Bat takes several hard hits, jerking and thrashing in the air. Eventually its grip slips an the Bat accidentally throws Rashmi towards the robot boy. Then Jared's got it's attention which is good and bad. The Bat rears back and then dives to tackle Jared and pin him down. If able, the Bat will push the boy's head aside and then sink those dangerous teeth into his shoulder to start drinking his LifeForce.

Mike is not the softest surface to land on. He 's probably less bad than the window or floor, so he's delayed again from restraining the beast by the need to at least try to intercept the girl. Seat belts. The bat needs seat belts so its passengers aren't thrown clear so easily.

Jared does not put up much of a fight, its not like he has time to dodge out of the way either. "Ok, plan B!" he calls out to the others. "He eats enough he will go to sleep and wake up as himself…I think. Just hope my powers won't take too long to deal with any blood loss."

Rashmi, likewise, is not the most forgiving of bodies to land on anything composed of anything other than feathers. Her flight path could very probably be mapped handily by the Dopplering of her shriek, ending in a strangled croak as the impact knocks the wind right out of her lungs. While Jared's plan may be on par with some of her more stellar tactical decisions, she's very much in no position to give her opinion. For the moment, taking in a full breath occupies her attention completely.

Since the Bat has some prey, it's a bit happy. Rashmi and Mike get wary looks but the Bat continues to suck the LifeForce out of Jared. Claws cut into Jared's arms and the Bat drinks deep.

The clang of landing on his back under her weight was probably muffled by her shrieks; the car alarm abruptly cuts out as something dislodges inside. OH great, Now my speakers aren't working even, Mike thinks, as he tries to find "up". It's probably the direction away from the hard flat. Now which direction is that?

Jared's skin keeps trying to heal despite the teeth in it, trying to push the intruding material out. Too bad growing skin is not as strong as manbat jaws. "Oh this is gonna suck. Hope to hell this will not leave me in a place like the one Leo is in." Pinned the way he is, there is no way he is getting out, just hope his powers keep him alive.

Rashmi rolls off Mike's back, still struggling to fill her lungs, the effort creating the single most godawful froglike noises heard by man, bat, or autokinder. Her arms shake as she pushes herself off the ground, force spheres wobbling erratically as they circle above her head. One seems to take a half-hearted swipe at the bat, but ends its arc far short of the creature.

Eventually the drain on Jared's lifeforce slows. And while it doesn't leave him like Leo…it should leave him tired. Bat shudders and suddenly some rather unpleasant sound can be heard. The transformation back is slow but it's painful to watch. When it finishes, a fuzzy Owen is left laying on Jared in nothing but short. "Owwww…." he groans.

Cannot give mouth-to-mouth to Rashmi. Cannot tell which way is "up" … oh. Head turned sideways. Will it turn correctly? Mike sits up, grasps his head between his hands, tentatively pushes, then >TWISTS< and with a pop CLANG, it re-seats itself facing forward on his shoulders. He puts his legs underneath himself and stands up fairly gracefully after all that, checking to see that Rashmi is able to resume breathing on her own, and if she accoplishes that, he'll walk over to Jared and Owen to see if Jared is recovering all right. Owen, he'll say nothing to… but that's not spurning, it's that he actually cannot say anything at all at the moment, not even to play samples.

Rashmi manages to look up right in time to watch Mike… reseat? Unbreak? Perform a chiropractor's worst nightmare? Whatever one would call it, the sight leaves her looking more than a little green. "I'll… be all… right, Mike…" she croaks, able to take at least short, serviceable breaths. "Jared….?"

Jared coughs a little, damn gaping neck wounds. "Living. Tired. Talking like Shatner." After a second he reaches to make sure that Owen, still sprawled on top of him is alive. "Owen lives." Jared does try to sit up, but quickly decides that is a very bad idea. "Oh yeah. As bad as getting hit by the buss."

"Ah live…the rest of ya'll better be livin' too," OWen groans out. "Sorry, Jared but movin' hurts right about now so ya'll got a fuzzy blanket…" he sighs. "Everyone's okay, right? Bat didn't kill anyone?" pause. "Where are we?"

Mike makes a show of checking his pulse. His eyes light up in alarm and he checks again. Nothing. ONOES!

Jared coughs again. "Yeah, the people alive before you went hairy are still alive. No problem Owen, furry blanket is ok, just got to make sure I get to tell my boyfriend all about it first. Just…gonna lay here till someone drags me away."

Even green in the face and trying to breathe like something less drastic than a hypertensive marathon runner, Rashmi manages to throw a creditable Look of Infinite Patience Mike's way. "…Alive… but… definitely need… Medical…" Raising her head, she very definitely glares at Owen. "Can never… get decent… sleep around here…"

"Ah'm all hairy now," Owen counters, touch of humor in his voice. He gives Mike a glare and then pouts at Rashmi. "Why ya'll lookin' at me? Not mah fault," he teases. "Ah second bein' dragged away."

Everyone's a critic. But Robot Williams wasn't built in a day, right? So having his chest and shoulder "stove in" like that definitely hurts, but it's more of a dull throb than anything else so it must not be urgent. There was a request to be dragged away from Jared, a declaration of blankethood by Owen - and Mike resists the urge to see if he really is flat and spread out like a blanket. The two of them are, however, easy enough to pick up if he treats them like a single unit lift. If they don't complain he'll do that, and dump them off in their respective rooms before going over to the repair machine.

As Mike drags the boys toward their rooms, Rashmi leans against the wall, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. When she's convinced she can speak without sounding too froglike, she pushes off the wall. "Mike… Thanks. I'm sorry I got you hurt… again. And Jared… you sure you'll be all right?"

Jared whinces as he gets picked up. "Might as well just take us to the med bay. At least there we can make sure we are as Ok as we are gonna get there." Jared voice is a little hoarse and a very tired.

Mike changes direction. Medbay it is. After all he was going there anyway. Rashmi can lean on him a bit on her way over.

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