xp_logs | Genosha - In The Balance: Chemicals Between Us

An escape attempt, you say? Of course there's an escape attempt! Marie-Ange, Lexington, Doug, Clarice and Scott provide an explosive distraction.

"If you say roger, copy that, or use military time one more time I will find a way to .... " Marie-Ange's voice was far harsher than they'd been hearing for the last few days. No sweet, nice Catholic girl mixed up in the wrong crowd now, not while no one else was looking. "Just keep watch in case anyone is coming. " She unzipped the front of the hideously clashing orange jumpsuit, wiggled one arm down the leg of it and plucked out a keycard. "Please, no one ask where this was." She said, before swiping it through the door once, then again until the light flashed green and the door clicked.

Lex grunted in acknowledgment and kept his eyes peeled. He was low to the ground, ready to spring forward and take out any guard unfortunate enough to stumble across them. His face pulsed with fire from the broken bones, and he had a hard time keeping himself focused. The others were probably not fairing any better, he thought, they're counting on me. I can't fail them again. He redoubled his attention on the corridor and let his eyes lose focus slightly to help him assess movement. "If you say so-" he almost said sir just to stick it to her but realized his corpse might become the distraction if he finished the statement.

Scott turned his back on the others in the group; he carefully scanned the passage behind them for any guards who might stumble over them as they worked. "It looks like we're clear," he told the other escapees. He noted Lex's careful observation of the corridor and nodded as he stepped through the door. Glancing around the room he looked for something they could use in their escape, his eyes light up at the sight of the collection of chemicals. "These should do nicely," he muttered as he stepped over to examine the chemicals. He paused and plucked at his jumpsuit as he turned back to face the group, "We should probably try to get ourselves some less conspicuous clothes, does someone mind going to look for some?"

Doug wordlessly took the keycard from Marie-Ange. Lex's military background, and Marie-Ange's time with the Assassin's Guild, meant that he and Clarice were the most likely ones to fill Scott's request for something less...orange. He caught Clarice's eyes and cocked his head down the hallway. If they'd found a closet full of cleaning supplies, they could probably find a closet of janitor's uniforms somewhere nearby.

Nodding at Doug, Clarice followed carefully and quietly. "Orange really doesn't flatter anyone," she murmured, the words feeling hollow. She had sung like a bird in her interrogation and she felt bad for it. No, more than that. She felt like a failure. She tried to push the feeling away though as they looked for something to wear. She could feel sorry for herself later. Now, she needed to get out of here with the others. Alive.

Trial and error with a few doors led them to a changing room with sets of overalls hanging on pegs. Scott and Lex were about the same size, so Doug plucked two of the same size and draped them over a bench, along with a slightly smaller one for Marie-Ange. He found one that was roughly his size, and then froze in the middle of the room holding it and looking at the floor.

Clarice was the smallest of the group and these overalls were all apparently for men. She grabbed the smallest she could find and skinned into it without a second thought, pausing long enough to roll up the ankles and sleeves, then paused, realizing that Doug wasn't moving. "Everything okay?" she asked, kicking herself at the stupid question. Nothing was okay and they both knew it. She meant right now, specifically, with these coveralls though, not in general.

Doug hadn't felt that intense surge of body modesty in...years. Maybe not since Day Zero and the attacks on New York. He sometimes thought Emma had just...'forgotten' to put it back because it didn't serve her purposes. But when Clarice unthinkingly skinned out of her jumpsuit, he abruptly turned his back, feeling an intense shame. The interrogation hadn't left a mark on him, but that didn't stop him from feeling intensely dirty at the memory, as if it had left some indelible stain on him. "Fine," he lied, not feeling like he could talk about it as he changed into his own overalls.

Marie-Ange was balancing on a metal set of shelves, clinging to one with one arm and grabbing at bottles of something with another when Clarice and Doug returned. She almost immediately hopped down, tossed the last plastic bottle to Scott, and plucked the overalls out of Clarice's offering hands. "Not orange. Excellent." One-piece jumpsuits did not allow for modesty. She simply stripped down and kicked the orange abomination to the side and pulled the overalls on over her underwear bottoms.

Scott caught the final bottle and nodded his thanks to Marie-Ange turning back to the pile of chemicals spread out in front of him. He carefully tipped the bottle allowing the chemicals to carefully mix with the slowly drip into the mixture in front of him. "That should just about do it, wouldn't you say?" He looked up noticing Doug and Clarice for the first time, "The overalls, thanks" he said as he backed away from the chemicals and took his pair from Doug's outstretched hands.

Lex looked away from the corridor long enough to assess the placement and volatility of the chemicals before changing into his overalls. His head throbbed and burned, making it hard for him to figure out just how big the fireball would be but it looked like it would be big enough. "Yes," he coughed out through the pain, "not sure how big it'll be though." He looked around the room for anything to set the chemicals alight, his eyes settling on a flashlight lying on a shelf nearby.

He picked it up and flicked it on. A soft beam of light played across the floor for a moment before he turned the flashlight off and smashed out the glass. "I recommend everyone be outside of the room before we do this."

Scott nodded and walked out of the room gesturing for the others to follow him, "This should provide a little distraction to the guards," he stated, "Let's see if we can use it to get the others out of their cells."

"Make a big boom," Clarice offered encouragingly before filing out of the room.

The chemicals were all heaped in the center of the room. Lex poured a line outward to the door to give himself more time to get clear. "I recommend we start running," he growled, and flicked the switch on his flashlight. As the filament sparked a few times he set it on the line and stepped back. It raced towards the center of the room and turned the mass into a great pyre with a plume of fire that was big, maybe a little too big. Lex didn't know if he'd have time to get clear. "Holy fuck!"

He threw himself to one side as the initial blast washed against the wall across the hallway. His hair was singed. Laughing and choking he said, "Well, I hope that was big enough?"

Marie-Ange picked herself up from the protective huddle on the floor and dusted off her overalls. "I hope you do not talk like that to girlfriends." She said. "Doug, give me the keycard please. We need to open the cells. Everyone is certainly awake now. And possibly deaf."

"I don't need to." Lex's wolfish grin looked like five parts pain to three parts crazed amusement.