Jailbreak - Search Party 2 - Sunday evening

[x-penance.livejournal.com]

The second search party comes across an odd alliance: two Brotherhood members, a bank robber and one of the Nasty Boys.



The purple housecat stopped in the middle of the street, confused. She had tracked the scent of the Bad Mutants this far, but after turning a corner she found she couldn't see them anywhere, though the scent was non-existent at the far end of the street. Narrowing her eyes and lashing her tail in thought, she circled back and began sniffing at the doors of the buildings, glad she'd opted for the smaller housecat form so she would be less obvious if the Bad Mutants were looking for people chasing them.

When she'd determined which building held the strongest trace of the Bad Mutants scent, Catseye loped around the side to the back alley and shifted into girlform, signaling Sam above her. "I think they went in there," she told him, pointing. "It smells like soap and water and Bad Mutants."

Sam shut down the thrust to his power so that he could try to make a somewhat quiet landing on the roof of the building Catseye had identified. "Want to come up here with me, Bobby? We'll flush them out from the top and then pick them up down there." He knew Garrison would stick with Catseye to take care of her until they had their targets out in the open.

Bobby Drake angled his projected ice chute up, giving him a ramp up to the top of the building where he stepped of the ice softly next to Sam. He was pretty sure the pounding of the rain on the roof was enough to silence him even if he jumped down, but he didn't really want to blow his first mission back with the team. "I could always make it a bit chilly in there through the heating ducts if there aren't any civilians around." He turned back to the alleyway he had just risen from. "Do they know which ones we're tracking?"

"Nope. Catseye hasn't sniffed any of them before, so it's guess work." Kane went back to his cell phone for a moment, nodding as he did so. "Alright, federal marshals and state troopers have already been to this town. All the civilians were evacuated to a temporary shelter twenty five miles from here." Law enforcement and SHIELD had decided not to take any chances, getting as many people out of the radius of the escapees as soon as possible. Fugitives normally could be dangerous, but mutant terrorists were nothing short of catastrophic in scope.

"Be careful how you make them break. If they're in there, it's to dig up clothes other than bright orange jumpsuits with inmate on them. If they're smart, they'll scatter and we're short handed." Kane moved himself nearer to the front, keeping a building between him and the large front windows. He motioned for Catseye to back away, and wait on Sam's signal.

The country boy moved to the side of the building opposite from Garrison, looking down from the top so they could see any escapees. He nodded to Bobby and crouched in preparation for a quick takeoff. Since they weren't sure who they were following, he wasn't sure how short their reaction window might be.

With the nod, Bobby quickly placed his hands on either side of the metal ventilation shaft at the top of the building. Closing his eyes he began projecting the cold radiating from his hands down into the building bellow. At the same time, he tried to calm his mind, focusing on the battle that was soon to come. As the metal began to frost, and slowly ice over, a smile came to his face. "Shouldn't be long now."

Garrison knelt down, waiting for the purple cat to pass him. "Stay back now, Catseye. When they come out, you stay back here behind me, and if any come your way, I don't want you to try and stop them, understood?"

"I understand," she replied with a nod, moving back behind Garrison. "I am not allowed to get hurt because I am not supposed to be here." She thought it was a sillystupid rule to not be allowed to stop Bad Mutants, but she didn't want Garrison or anyone else at the mansion to get into trouble, either.

Hearing movement inside, her purple eyes lit up. "They're coming!" she hissed.

Clement Wilson may have been in custody for years, but he had not forgotten how to use his gifts. He cracked his neck as he looked towards the other two mutants. "I'd suggest you cover your ears but I feel that it won't matter in a moment." When the two men looked at him strangely he added, "Just stand behind me." Surrounded by washing machines, which he'd thoughtfully put into operation the moment the air started getting cold, he had built up a massive charge. Opening his mouth he released some of the energy in a test burst.

"Well, shit." Kane said, flattening himself against the wall as the entire front of the laundromat exploded outward in a whirling cacophony of glass. The particles whipsawed through the empty street, ringing and chiming as they struck other buildings and the ground. "Guys, I think they've been flushed." He said over the comm.

Running straight for the window Lemuel Krug launched himself into the air, letting his wings carry him into the sky. With a little luck he would get to tear something apart, and from the looks of things, something might be an X-man. He cackled as he flew straight up, keeping a sharp eye out for anyone lying in ambush.

At the same time Katu moved forward to cover his brother-in-arms. They had fought for the same cause once and he could not wait until they took up the banner of Magneto once more. Looking out he saw a shadow move across the street. "Ruckus, I think they've got us surrounded." He looked to the other man, and found him deep in thought. Now is not the time to be waiting, he thought, absorbing the ambient electromagnetic energy from the washing machines.

Catseye had shifted into her smaller cat form when the window had burst to avoid the explosion of glass and other debris and had followed Kane's lead in getting herself against the wall. She watched one of the Bad Mutants flying up above and every muscle in her body tensed in anticipation of shooting off after him so she could pounce when he landed, but she remembered that she wasn't supposed to be hunting because her job was to wait and not try to stop them. Instead she let out a frustrated growl and tore her gaze away from the flier so she could watch the other two.

Wearing a yellow Hawaiian shirt he had just stolen from one of the laundry machines and his orange pants from prison, The Corruptor stumbled out behind them. He kept his temporary allies in front of him as he looked across and noticed that they were not alone. "You guys had better not get me killed."

Although initially shocked by the sudden blast from the window, Bobby Drake was able to stumble towards the side of the building, quickly getting a glimpse of the two mutants at the front of the pack. A chill ran through his veins as his eyes filled with rage. "It's the Brotherhood!" He quickly began materializing a chute underneath his feet, not waiting for any signal from Sam or any of the other team members around him. Drake was functioning on auto-pilot, remembering the days that he had spent in their captivity.

"We don't have enough people to split up!" Sam yelled after Bobby. His choice was torn between stopping Krug from escaping and reigning in his own team mate. He knew about the grudge that existed between Bobby and the Brotherhood but this also wasn't going to be the time to settle that. The only thing Cannonball could do was rely on his speed, he whirred out in a long arch, streaking by the winged escapee just close enough to shoulder check him before heading back toward the rest of the team. He could only hope to put him in a tailspin long enough to delay his retreat.

"Great. Now Iceman's gone nuts. Love this situation, really." Kane stepped out from his cover, and tossed the road divider he'd hoisted directly at the group, forcing them to scatter. The concrete barrier smashed down, nearly trapping the Corruptor underneath and smashed end over end through the front of the ruined building.

"Don't suppose any of you want to be smart and surrender, eh?"

The Corruptor rolled to his side, shaking of debris as he forced himself up to his feet. "I suppose you guys wouldn't be smart enough to forget you ever saw us?" He caught a glimpse of Garrison and briefly thought about trying to begin to extend his influence towards him, but knew that it would be next to impossible to concentrate long enough to have any effect. He continued to look around for targets, as he tried to by time with the other escapees. "Can either of you two do anything about Captain Crap Tosser or the Blue Blur?"

Ruckus stepped up and looked at the iceman moving towards them. "I can handle the Iceman. I'll leave Captain Crap Tosser to Katu." His gift swelled inside him and he screamed, sending out a shock wave to shatter the chute the man was riding. It exploded as the powerful blast struck it.

As his chute exploded underneath his feet, Bobby didn't notice that he was crashing downward until he hit the ground with a thud. But he didn't rest there long before he shifted into his ice form and quickly began charging towards Ruckus again, already forming ice crystals around his hands. "I'll never let you bastards get away from the jail you belong in!"

Katu looked between the charging iceman and the bastard who hurled a concrete divider at him, the latter was blocking his best route of escape. "Smart and surrender don't belong in the same sentence." He ran straight at the man and released an immense blast, trying to strike the man and bring the wall he used for cover down on top of him. As the electricity arced away, he grinned and shouted, "Follow me!"

Katu's charge hit the wall, causing bricks to explode in all directions. But Garrison was no longer there, showing just what his enhanced physical traits really meant. The Canadian had taken two quick steps, moving with his preternatural reflexes, and bound off the roof of a car to close the distance with Katu in a blink. The Brotherhood member had only a moment to process before his hand was suddenly locked in a vise-like grip, and the small bones began to crack and break.

"I don't like people shooting lightning at me." He said, with a predator's grin as he efficiently shattered the man's hand. The injury wasn't life threatening, but hand injuries were some of the most painful to experience, and it would take a superhuman effort to concentrate enough to use his powers. "Cannonball, Iceman is going to get himself killed any second now."

Sam slammed into Ruckus from behind before he gave away his arrival by speaking, "Bobby, keep that bird grounded, please. Garrison... good thing I move pretty quick, right?" He smirked for just a moment while his eyes traced the area to evaluate the scene. He didn't want to stand still for more than a moment but he also couldn't simply dart off this time.

But Bobby wasn't about to be held down. He had already turned and had begun chasing after the departing Katu on a new ice chute underneath his iced over feet. "They aren't going anywhere on my watch!" His eyes locked in front of him, Drake had lost focus of everything except for the tunnel vision focused on the back of the Brotherhood member.

Bloodhawk saw his comrade held by powerful hands, with the iceman coming up behind him, and knew he had to act. His only problem was trying to decide who to hurt. With a powerful screech he tucked in his wings and dived towards the man of ice. He hoped to knock him off his ice slide and launch him into the other man. As he approached his target from behind he threw open his wings and struck.

With a lurch, Bobby flew to the side, forgetting about Bloodhawk had not been a good idea. Drake tried to form another chute under his feet, but it was already too late for that. He cast one final glare at Bloodhawk before he came crashing into the side of Garrison, letting out a slight groan in the process.

"Fuck, that's cold!" Kane actually yelped as Bobby slammed into him. The fall had cost him his grip on the Brotherhood member, who immediately reeled back, clutching his ruined hand. Kane has about to push Bobby off, but instead suddenly shoved the young man in the opposite direction, as a concussive charge split the ground where they had just been. Obviously Ruckus was back on his feet.

"Where's the ratfaced one in the Hawaiian shirt?"

Catseye had been watching all the Bad Mutants with the practice of a skilled hunter, her small form apparently going unnoticed by them in the midst of the X-Men attack. So she knew where the one in the Hawaiian shirt was when Garrison posed the question. He'd been moving towards Garrison and Bobby when they'd slammed together, and the catgirl thought he might be waiting out Ruckus's charge to make sure they were caught mentally off-balance before attacking them himself. When he moved, a second after Garrison spoke, she shifted into BigCat form and slammed into his side like a linebacker, trying to trap him underneath her bulk. She let out a mew (or as much of a mew as a cougar could make) in response to Garrison's question, tapping her paw on Corruptor's back as she sat on him.

Sam was left without a choice, since Bobby hadn't grounded Bloodhawk, no one else would be able to chase him down fast enough to stop him. With a blast Cannonball was off. Catching up wouldn't be the hard part but finding a way to put the guy down so the others could get to him without risking killing the winged mutant would be.

"Catseye, I'm going to-" Garrison had ducked another blast from Ruckus as he edged towards the girl's position. Her perch on the Corruptors' back made her a too difficult target for Ruckus to blast, but the dodging Canadian was fair game. He watched Sam chase off Bloodhawk again, but before he could reach Catseye, electricity started to dance along the nearby fence, skating along the links towards them. "Shit! Get clear, now!"

He tossed himself to relative safety as she bounded in the opposite direction as the electricity grounded at the end of the fence and into the infrastructure of the small restaurant next door. It arced along, the flash just momentarily illuminating the propane tank at the back before it sketched its outline in energy, and exploded with a thunderous crash.

Drake pushed himself up off the ground, grabbing the side of his head in the process. "Ouch!" His first inclination was to go after Katu or Bloodhawk again, and his eyes immediately dashed after them. But in a few seconds his moral voice took hold in his head once again, and he quickly sprinted towards the building. Placing his hands on the ground be began forming as thick of an ice wall as he could around the buildings, hoping that it would buy them some time or that the melting ice would extinguish some of the fire. "Anybody got a visual?"

Katu limped onward, forcing the pain in his hand down as he focused on escape. Screw the others, he thought, Bloodhawk and I can make our way out while they deal with them. There had to be a vehicle nearby that he could hot wire. As he turned the corner he saw exactly what he was looking for, an old blue Ford Tempo.

Bloodhawk road the thermals being tossed up by the flaming building, making sure to keep one eye on Katu so he didn't get caught off guard. He screeched twice, trying to signal a full retreat for the others, but he didn't think they'd understand. They hadn't served with the brotherhood after all.

The flames turned Sam back, he'd have to allow their retreat. With Bloodhawk's altitude a fall would be far too dangerous for both of them and, more importantly, he had to make sure the rest of the team was in good shape. They would get another chance sooner or later to make sure this turned out right, he figured.

Ruckus was the last to move towards the alley where Katu had gone. He didn't like relying on the man, but if it got him away from the accursed X-Men he couldn't complain too much. He readied one final blast, aiming it at the group in an attempt to scatter them even further.

Bobby noticed the break from his position of forming ice at the side of the building. When he noticed the attack preparation, he saw a final chance to redeem himself for his earlier blunders. "Kane! Heads up! The screamer's making a break for it!" Hoping that he had been heard over the flames, Drake decided to try and give his teammate a bit of a leg up, moving one hand away from the ice wall formation, and began making a small ice rink on the ground just in front of Ruckus.

Too busy watching for the other X-men to move, Ruckus completely missed the iceman's move. He ran straight onto the ice and began sliding out of control. "Fuck!" It came out in a blast wave aimed at random, reducing the wall nearest him to dust and rebar. As he continued to slide, he knew he was in serious trouble and looked around desperately for any means of escape. He would not let them take him back, it would destroy him.

He did not expect that a gumball machine would be the instrument to end his jailbreak, as it crashed into the side of his head, and spewed a rainbow arc of candy and coins on to the street. The man blinked once before his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he dropped to the street unconscious. Kane set the stand back down. "Like Ted Williams said; wait, wait, wait, and then quick, quick, quick." He clicked on his comm. "Cannonball, I don't see any of the others. They get away?"

"Ain't no point in chasing them, at least. By the time we tracked them down they'd be out of the safe zone and it'd be no use." Sam wasn't far out from the group and landed by his team mates moments after he finished his transmission. "We ought just take what we got and try again another time."


Catseye had shifted back into human form, swaying a little from the hunger pangs that hit her stomach. She headed over to the X-Men, stopping near the ruined gumball machine on her way and shoving gumballs that had spilled out onto the street into her mouth and pockets, hoping the rush of sugar would alleviate some of her stomach pain. "We get to do this again another time?" she inquired hopefully after hearing Sam's comment, words muffled a little from the gum. "This was fun!" She held out a handful of gumballs to Sam and Kane, but narrowed her eyes at Bobby. "None for you. You didn't listen and split up when Sam said not to."

Sam nodded his thanks to Catseye and took two gumballs, handing one to Bobby as a symbolic gesture. "We all make mistakes, Catseye. We can talk about it later as a team when everyone has had a chance to relax and get settled back in to make sure it doesn't happen again." He made sure his tone reinforced that he was only explaining how a team should work, he didn't want Catseye to think he was angry.

Bobby barely felt the gumball touch his hand. He was still staring back through the smoke that was still flickering from the fire as it died out. Back in the direction Katu and Bloodhawk had disappeared through a few minutes earlier. "But not everyone's mistakes allow two members of the the most despicable groups on the planet to get away." Looking down, Bobby saw the red ball in his hand. Twisting his lip, he froze the ball and quickly cracked it in his hand. "I'll make sure that I don't let that mistake happen again..."

"Alright, any one who actually uses 'despicable' unironically in a serious statement needs an emo break. The official term we use in the Bureau is 'shitheads'. Basically the same thing, but means everyone doesn't automatically compare you to Sylvester when you use it." Kane clapped the man on the shoulder, hard enough to nudge him forward. "We got some of them. The rest I'm sure we'll get a shot at soon enough, eh?"

Kane hoisted the unconscious man up over his shoulder without any effort, reaching for his phone to call in the Federal Marshals and SHIELD, to let them know what happened before quietly disappearing. "So, unless any one is just dying to run some socks through the spin cycle, how about we go home?"

Sam gripped the Corruptor by the back of the collar. He wasn't able to carry the man as easily as Kane could move people around but he managed with a little effort. "I think we have all our baggage. Wouldn't rightly want to leave anything behind." It wasn't much to lighten the mood but he had tried.