Players:
Summary: Rashmi and Lucas Magneto to the rescue. Jono escapes.
Note: Precedes "Voices" and "A Pound of Flesh"
Date: March 03, 2010
Log Title Not Dead Yet
Rating: R
Westchester - The Road Less Traveled
Far along Mills Road, a small, overgrown dirt path breaks off from the road, leading through the woods toward an old, abandoned cemetery.
Laying on the dirt road, bloodied and splayed, is a figure in a strange bodysuit. The material can't seem to be consistent. Some areas of it are bright hues, and the others in muddied black. No clear lines or definitions. And speaking of bloodied.. Jonothon's left leg is flayed to the bone, and his chest is a gory mess. No signs of life. Of course there usually aren't signs of life, but hey. James is near at hand, having made that phone call. What he's doing is of course up to him.
Some of the trees to one side of the road have been destroyed. First knocked down, then exploded. Wood slivers are embedded into nearly everything, showing that Jono was moving towards the road before he was brought down. There are no lights out here either. Kind of difficult to see details.
James is near Jono's unconscious, and seemingly dead, corpse. Sitting on his legs, his knees are pushed deep into the mud, his hands are loose on his lap, phone on the ground. He's gone past the OMG stage and has entered the 1000-yard stare potion of his freak out, face and claws covered in blood and gore—probably not his own. The hyena's ears, and body for that matter, sit motionless even as people approach.
Pelting through the overgrown path, Rashmi leads Lucas closer to the scene of the battle, eyes wide and panicked. Just ahead of her and to either side, a trio of softly-glowing spheres revolve in a tight circle, shedding just enough light to show the general shape of the land before them… and mark them as easily visible from above. "Lucas!" she cries as the fringes of the battlefield are encountered, blasted and splintered wood easily picked out, "This way! I… oh my God…" As James and Jono are finally revealed, the redhead skids to a halt, horrified. "What…"
Lucas slowly approaches, and when Rashmi stops, he moves in front of her, and he holds his hand out to hold Rashmi behind him. So chivalrous. Don't tell anyone. He's wearing his training uniform, his right hand on the cuff of his left glove to remove it quickly if he needs to. "Rash, Ah got James, you get Jono…" he says very quietly. He takes each step very slowly. "Jim," he says, hoping the hyena will here him.
It's quite sure that James hasn't noticed there is healing going on. Still looking bloodied, and that doesn't clean up, Jonothon's body is putting itself back together. Subtle, and difficult to see in the dark, but there. Otherwise, he doesn't so much as twitch.
Want to get some attention? Blow up some trees. Even people not directly interested in the woodlot fees will at least be curious.
Magneto soars in from above, a silent shadow from out of the clouds. This close to Westchester, an incident like this could be anybody, but is more likely to be… oh, yes. Look. Students. He drifts closer, intent on the scene. Students…
James' ears never move as Lucas speaks, lips quietly mouthing a cadence only he can hear. The light from the orbs cross his eyes eliciting a dilation. He tilts his head a little, mouth no longer moving. He looks up, sounding perfectly clear and clam, "Hi Lucas. I want to go home." His eyes stare through his roommates. His ears pick up others in the area, Rashmi…probably an adult not far behind. He's not sure…
Rashmi squeezes Lucas' hand tightly, as she draws in a shuddery, steeling breath. "…We'll get you home, James," she says slowly, releasing Lucas' hand to move tentatively to Jono's side, "Just… stay with us, okay? Oh god, Jono," she murmurs, looking over her wounds, trying to pull from her newly-gained first aid training to see if moving him is at all a smart idea.
Lucas sticks to the plan, and leaves Jono to Rashmi. He walks over to James, and subtly puts himself between the hyena and his girl. "Okay, Jim." He tries to help James up. "It's okay now. Let's go…"
There's honestly not much first-aid can do. Jonothon isn't bleeding. (In fact he doesn't have proper organs. Want to poke and see?) Whatever blood is there has already congealed. A mess, but there's no life leaking away. In fact, the only one who will be capable of knowing that the Brit isn't dead is Magneto. Lots of energy there, focus on that thin body at the moment.
Do they have things in hand? Magneto doesn't think so… he knows a bit about the boy called Chamber, after all. A moment of consideration, of concentration, and the ice blue eyes narrow within the slit of the helmet. "Students!" He's coming down, cape billowing. "Get away from the body! Now!" And if they aren't moving within, say, 1.5 seconds? They will be.
James stands, tightly crossing his arms over his chest as if it would fall off. Never occurs to him to get his phone. Instead he just sorta goes where's he led. Not every day you get to 'kill' your friend. It's pretty obvious he's in shock, only partially here. The shout comes as a surprise, head tilting to find the source in a zombie-like fashion. If Lucas doesn't move him, he'll be surely moved by the other voice.
Rashmi leaps away from Jono's side at the sound of *that voice,* unable to put a lid on the strangled, panicked cry as she darts toward James and Lucas, pushing them away as she looks up over her shoulder with wide, terrified eyes. Jam'z, once, could have killed her, and that made her afraid. L'kyss, once, caged her in the bowels of Hell, to await tortures unknown and unspecified, and that made her afraid. But Magneto's appearance, eyes slitted behind his helmet, cape billowing as he descends from the skies, could engender terror in the hardiest of souls… and Rashmi grew up in New York City, a favorite site for the Master of Magnetism to wage his war on humanity.
Lucas looks at Rashmi's fear as she moves he and James away. He lets her, and then slips out from her grasp, putting himself between Rashmi and James. He widens his stance, holding his ground in a fearless display of confidence, the gloves coming off to reveal the two brilliant, glowing nuclear reactions that are his hands. He's away from Jono's body, but he's standing his ground to protect his friends from the old man.
Magneto lands beside Jono's body, the air rippling around him. A gesture and the young Brit is hoisted into the air, suspended on, apparently, nothing at all. "Get back to the Institute, gentlemen, lady," he says, without looking at the threesome huddled together on the path. "I shall deal with Mr. Starsmore."
The smell of Fear. A very motivating factor for someone who's part Hyena. There's a snarl, and the zombie-like creature swiftly turns on a foot to put himself between whatever is threatening his teammates, his clan. Bloodied claws bared his head darts around as if he was 'here' the whole time. It's instinct. His, not the 'beast' as he calls it, "What's going…Oh Fuuuuuuuu." His eyes meet Magneto's helmet. Funny…he didn't remember being in the middle of a DR session. Memories or recent events seep in, but he holds his ground. Mag's is a good guy…right?!
Sandwiched between two (rightfully) overprotective males, Rashmi has to squirm a bit to give herself room to move to one side, just enough to peek out from around Lucas' shoulder, eyes locked on the floating, wounded telekinetic. "What, um… what… are you going to do… um… sir…?"
Lucas scowls a little, "OR," he suggests in a tone that's not really suggesty, "You float his ass back to the mansion WITH us so we don't have to fry you for kidnapping, Maggie." He tenses a little, ready to roll.
Lifted, Jonothon doesn't appear to do anything. Maybe he really is dead. Yet wounds are close to closing beneath their mess of ruined flesh and costume.
"No, young man. I do not believe I shall do so. Not yet, at any rate." Magneto levels a look at James. "I believe young Mr. Starsmore has been the guest of Mr. Sinister of late… and that is a situation nearly guaranteed to downgrade his social graces--what there were of them--to near zero."
A flicker of his fingers and the ripples expand outward, shoving all three students gently--but implacably--back along the path. "Go home. Tell your headmaster I want to talk to him. Do it now."
James drops his guard, he has a pretty good idea of what the current events are since he's 'been away.' He's looking really tired. He'd offer more than the form of a walking corpse that just recently reanimated…but it's been a long day. Expecting more isn't something that's under his control. He follows his teammates back.
Rashmi places a hand on Lucas' shoulder. "Lucas," she murmurs into the blond's ear. "…Don't… we have to get James back. And… It's *Magneto.* If he wanted to, he…" Shaking her head, she looks up to the floating, billowing sometime-supervillain. "Sir… please… just… don't hurt him, okay…? He… he really means a lot to a lot of kids…" Tugging on Lucas' gloved hand, she tries to coax him to come back to the mansion, spheres spinning rapidly in their tight orbits to either side of her. "Please… he's our friend. No matter what Mr. Sinister's done…. please."
Lucas doesn't move, even as Rashmi tugs on his shoulder. His fiery hands still warm and ready. He watches Magneto leaving anyway, and he finally just kicks the ground, "Fuck!" He shakes his head, and begins to glove his hands. He's pissed. He yanks away from Rashmi as he picks up the gloves from the ground and puts them back on. "Damnit."
Speaking of the one with a concerted lack of social graces.. the energy patterns Jonothon sports (Unseen by most) begin to form up along their proper lines. They strengthen and that costume he wears begins reshaping itself to brighter hues. Blue and red. A plain costume to be sure, but nothing like the muddled one moments before.
Magneto actually doubts he could do any permanent damage to Jonothon Starsmore, given the nature of the latter's powers, but he isn't about to say as much to a bunch of students. "I'll keep him alive," he says. "Tell your headmaster that I have him…"
His voice stops and his attention snaps back to Chamber. "Go!" And with that, he's up, up and going further up. When in doubt, distance is good—especially distance from persons younger and more inexperienced than oneself.
James keeps his posture slouched and despondent. Guided or not, he keeps walking up the path, remaining silent. His head snaps up towards Mags as he leaves, senses loosing tract rather quickly. He puts his head back down and starts walking again. Yep…it's Emo time.
Bobbing her head at Magneto's not-at-all-reassuring reassurance, Rashmi turns to hurry after Lucas and James… Only to have the command set her into motion like a whipcrack, hurrying to chivvy the other two down the path, whether successfully or not. The best place in the world to be, after all, is where *he* isn't.
Lucas remains one step behind them, taking up the rear. It's either protective, or angry. Hard to tell. He makes the trip in silence.
The air grows colder and that brings Jonothon to wakefulness. Eyes open and he finds the sky stretching above him. There's confusion to start, for there are memories of pain and laughter, and now.. sky? Eyes shift from brown to flame as he attempts to move. Doesn't quite yet realize that he's floating. "Bloody.." Yep, even talking! But then he has a face right now, not to mention lungs and vocal cords. (Just been told that Jono has a teleportation device on him. Not thought activated, so Magneto might be able to 'spot' that. Could be lost in Jono's power output though. Very easily lost, but hey, it's metal and he's wearing very little metal.)
"So, Mr. Starsmore. Back among the living already?" Magneta gets a little more distance between himself and the young Brit; they're currently two or three hundred feet up and moving laterally toward the nearest large body of water—the lake will do. "Do tell why you had fisticuffs with the young man sporting the fur, and do be polite about it." He leaves the 'Or else' unsaid.
Finding that Magneto is the one holding you up isn't exactly the way Jonothon wanted to wake up. But then who wants to wake up like this? "Wanker." Totally right about not having any manners. And regardless of everything known about the man, what he does next is not at all in his files. Doesn't move, but psy-fire forms around him as he mentally grabs for Magneto's helmet. Not to remove it, but instead wrench it down. Roughly, violently, trying to pull Magneto down and backwards. Even if it means Jonothon himself calls. "You just have to put your nose in other people's business, don't you?"
Plenty of people try to mess with the helmet, and given that Starsmore is some sort of psi (reports vary as to exactly what kind), Magneto isn't completely surprised that Jonothon goes after it. He is a bit startled that the Brit tries to push it down over his eyes (what, is he twelve?!)
It doesn't matter much, of course. Magneto is floating on his own power, and so is Starsmore; shoving the helmet down shoves the helmet down… and nothing more. And since Magneto is sensing everything through the magnetic lines of force he's manipulating, he's got a good idea of how much energy Jonothon is shedding. Ergo, his 'grip' tightens. "Idiot." He shoves the helmet back up. "Of course I'm interfering. So what does Essex want this time? Samples? Supplies? Deeds done? Speak—I have no patience to spare on you."
Well, it does work as something of a distraction. And since Magnus would expect a psi to pull the helmet off, he does the opposite. The grip on him tightens, and Jonothon uses the second the helmet earns him to activate that device telekinetically. Doesn't have to move physically to do so, see. Magneto pushes that helmet back up and the Brit is already winking out. There's a grin as he disappears, and he'd be giving Magneto the bird too, if he were able to move.
The entire electromagnetic spectrum. THE ENTIRE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM. Magneto feels Jonothon slipping out of his grip and he roars, wordless, and he *fucks* with the energies the younger man is slipping away on. Jonothon may very well get away anyway--he does have a half-second lead on the Master of Magnetism--but it is going to be a very bumpy, unpleasant ride, because at the least? Magneto wants to rip a hole in space-time and throttle Jonothon's skinny neck.
And Jonothon will pay for that half-second lead. Already feeling terrible thanks to the rough days he's been leading since his change, the Brit collapses immediately upon appearing at the 'home' location. Magneto would surely be smug to learn that the man does nothing but feel miserable for a while.
Smug? Not really. Magneto does light up the sky with a wicked version of the Aurora Borealis as he vents his frustration to the world. And while spectacular, it is also debilitating—for miles around, radios, television sets, and other electronic devices either stop working or suddenly blare, "ESSEX!" at full volume.
The police are busy that night, and electronic stores have a spike in their sales that lasts *weeks*, all because so speaks… Magneto!
