X-Men Mission: Who You Gonna Call?

[x-dominion.livejournal.com]

The X-Men find their arsonist just as M-Squad finds them.



"And that's the house." Kane looked up from the piece of paper to the numbers on the house and back. It was a pretty ordinary suburban street; mostly quiet in the early afternoon, with most of the people at school or work. The last thing Garrison wanted was a crowd watching. The key was to grab the mutant - Ray Maxwell - and call for a quick extraction by Blackbird somewhere away from here, to give Xavier a chance to examine the young man and determine whether the 'arson' was another case of a young mutant not able to control his powers yet. It wasn't the optimum method, but the manhunt for the young man forced them to operate different than they normally would have liked.

"Okay, Piotr, Yvette, you guys take a walk around the back for me. If we spook this kid, and frankly, we're likely going to, I don't want him bolting past us. Paige, Laurie, Jean-Phillipe, we're going through the front. Laurie, I want you pumping out calming smell the second we're through the door. I got barbequed six months ago and I'm not looking to repeat it. Jan, you get to go first. Find a window or a vent you can get in through and locate the kid. When you do, stick with him and keep us updated as he moves."

"Got it," Jan said, already down to insect-size. Shrinking wouldn't be as much fun as it was without also being able to fly. It would be pretty awful to have to climb around to get in anywhere or just walk or run on a floor. Flying and being tiny, however, was amazing and awesome and allowed her to get into pretty much any place she wanted to go. "Let the breaking and entering begin!"

“Right, Come on Knuckles” said Piotr walking around at this stage still in fleshy form, that way if the kid saw him he wouldn't be as concerned, but the two still moved around so that they wouldn't get seen. Around the back of the Piotr gestured to Yvette to stand of one side of the door and he stood on the other shifting from flesh to shining metal.

The Albanian, dwarfed by the large Russian and by the giant hooded coat she was wearing over her uniform and hair (it was already shredding, but it wasn't like she was going to be wearing it again after the mission), nodded and took up her spot opposite Piotr. It was reassuring to have the big man there with her, she had to admit.

The rest of the team crept towards the front. They were wearing long coats with obscured their leathers enough not to be instantly out of place. They could have chosen normal clothes, but the leathers were fireproof, and he'd rather explain an X-Men sighting to the Professor than a death. "Wasp, is he in there?"

"Yep, he's here," Jan said, having found a perch for herself on a doorknob as there wasn't any furniture in the house to use as a hiding spot. "Or at least there's a guy here and he matches the description, so I'm guessing it's him."

Jean-Phillipe kept to the rear of the group at the front door, looking to Garrison for direction. Paige was the most durable of the group depending on her husks, and Laurie's power was more versatile, which left him arguably the most vulnerable of them.

Electricity didn't exactly do much to counteract fire.

"Let's move." Kane tried the door, and simply shoved lightly to snap the jamb and push the door open. He stepped back as Paige took the lead, and motioned to Laurie. "Start pumping out the soothing scents. Jean-Phillipe, wait here by the door." The sounds of the door breaking had sent the young man running towards the back door, and Kane spoke into his comm. "Coming your way Colossus. Just scare him back this way."

"Got it" Colossus said stepping up to the door and pushed it open, braking the lock in the processes. As the kid turned the corner and saw Colossus standing there from the door Piotr could see the fear on his face. "Boo" Colossus said stepping towards him & the boy ran back the way he came.

Laurie had immediately began releasing calming pheromones, her skin turning a light violet colour as her pores started to exude the scent. She followed behind Paige at a reasonable distance, ready to move closer should the need present itself.

A stone type husk had been an easy choice, a granite composition with minimal amounts of mica and a raised MOH, as it was fairly flame proof no matter the temperature. It did give her hair an entertaining spike punk rock look, though. "Hey there, chickpea," she addressed the startled pyro as he came tearing back in their direction. "We're going to need you to stop."

"How did you- I-" Ray stopped and seemed to reach for something. A plume of flame washed over Paige's stone form, licking at the edges. His eyes grew wider as she simply shrugged it off.
"That's enough, Ray. We're here to help you." Kane said, getting close enough to grab him if he tried another blast of fire. Fortunately, the effects of Laurie's powers were already apparent. "We're going to take you to someone who can help with controlling your powers." Mentally, Garrison omitted the fact that the Professor would be checking whether or not the fires were intentional, and if they were, he'd be turned over to SHIELD.

"I don't understand."

"Don't worry. We'll--" He stopped as a siren split the house, and rushed to the window to see a van with M-Squad marked on the side pull up. The side doors opened and, very awkwardly, all five scientists stepped out. They were festooned in equipment, staggering slightly under the weight. The one, Sidney Lutz, had a red bandana tied around his forehead just above his glasses, and was making 'hoo-rah' noises as they waddled towards the house. "Okay, out the back. Now!"

The X-Men turned, all but dragging Ray with them. However, as Laurie reached for the back door, it exploded inward as a flashbang grenade went off right at their feet.
Yvette shrieked, a high, pained sound, and flung up her hands to protect her light-sensitive eyes and staggering back into those behind her. Her hair sharpened into into long spikes instinctively, ripping through the hooded coat and threatening to injure anyone she bumped into as she tried to get away from the bright light and noise.

Jean-Phillipe staggered and lashed out blindly toward the door with his power, enough electricity to stun anyone that might come through. After all, one didn't use those types of things in advance of a polite social call.

Laurie staggered back, barely managing to keep her feet as she was temporarily blinded by the flash from the grenade. She shut down her powers instinctively, not wanting to impede her fellow X-men.

Piotr stumbled back blinded. If he knew where the rest of the team was he'd be trying to get between them and anyone else. Still in steel form he wasn't likely to be hurt buy anything they threw at him. But with he ears ringing and the world around him as nothing but dark spots in a world of white he decided to stay still so he was less like to crush anyone, Particularly Jan.

"Get Ray clear." Garrison yelled. He'd been far enough back to shield himself from the flashbang, and went through the door with his enhanced speed. He blurred past two men in black fatigues, and caught sight of several others coming in on the house in military precision. He skidded to a halt, ripped a barbeque out of its concrete base and launched it, scattering three men on the right and exploding the fence outward.

From the left, M-Squad was starting to come around behind. One of the men leveled a weapon at him, but Kane sidestepped, grabbing him by the shirt and firing him like a baseball across the yard to skip off the ground and slam into the back fence. Two men approached him from opposite sides, and while he easily dodged the clumsy taser, an object slammed into his shoulder. He looked up to see a man on the roof, lowering a bazooka like weapon. Kane gathered to jump for him, but suddenly catapulted sideways. He tried to raise but couldn't get his legs to respond properly. The object on his shoulder had slammed probes through his leathers, and crackled with electricity every time he tried to move. He thumbed the comm, hitting the emergency button. The mansion had to know.

The light and noise disoriented the still-tiny Wasp and she sailed through the air on a path not directed by her wings. Unable to see, she wasn't sure which way she was moving anymore. It was only when she hit something solid and began to drop that she knew which way up and which was down. Even then, moving anywhere could be dangerous as surely there were blinded teammates moving around, and that alone could be dangerous, plus some teammates were very sharp or unusually heavy. Jan chose up, doing her best to avoid hitting the ceiling.

As the others found their bearings, Paige had already taken their mutant cargo under her mineral wing and was ushering him towards an outside wall. The group was somewhat worse for wear, but Laurie's quick thinking had at least got Yvette down and taking in the Prozac Smoke before she hurt anyone. "Colossus, hole in the wall at your three o'clock! Sparky, phasers to stun, behind you! Let-" she yelled above the confusion, just as a bespectacled Squad member came through the door, yelling something that sounded suspiciously like "Activate!" and punching a large button on his chest. While a flash bang may not have taken Paige out, whatever the hell that was did.

Waves of... something, a combination of high pitch noise and a hammer to head, knocked her to the ground with a scream as her husk crumbled away, tried to reform, with a putty like consistently, and fell away again, until everything went black.