xp_logs | Genosha: Onwards To Victory: New Plans

Jean's team falls back from the destroyed labs, and reunite with some old friends.

The Genegineer's labs were solid sheets of flame, held back only by Jean's telekinetics and John's pyrokinetics as they fell back through the ruined hallways. Entirely labs were consumed by flames and small explosions, equipment blasting apart. Whatever the outcome of today was, Genosha would have to recreate their research from scratch, as nothing could survive in the inferno behind them. Kane tracked around the corners, gun at ready.

"We're clear. Now what? No Genegineer - he's either dead or escaped."

The building shook just as Betsy and Sarah exited the elevator. Voices. Betsy listened and turned down another corridor and found herself staring down the business end of Kane's gun. "Don't shoot." She held up her hands. From what she remembered and having Sarah fill in the rest, Betsy knew she was persona non grata. "The Genegineer..." She hesitated. "Essex is gone." Her eyes remained focused on the gun still aimed at her head. "Seriously, I'd like to keep what's been a rather shit experience from being completely ruined with a bullet."

Angelo stepped forward, but keeping safely behind Kane and his gun. "They did the mutate thing to you?" he said quietly. "I don't see any tattoo on your forehead."

"Essex? The doctor who used to teach at the school? He's the Genegineer?" Kane put up his pistol. Betsy was a telepath, and his gun was slightly less useful than a banana if this was an elaborate trap. "If he's gone, how the hell do we reverse the mutate process? They blew up the fucking labs!"

Maddie studied the adults, eyebrow raised. Apparently they all knew this purple haired woman, and some guy named Essex and maybe that was why they were currently all brain-missing the obvious. "Uh, hey, adult types," she piped up and waved her hand to try and get their attention. "The prison." The "duh" was kinda implied. "I mean, that's where they took all of our people to become all Mutated. There's a lab by the prison. It's probably even still standing."

"That is a good suggestion, Maddie. Hopefully they have left everything in tact there." Sooraya managed to give Maddie a brief smile. Every explosion had weighted a little heavier on her, a lesser chance of her friends and many other innocent people being turned back to normal. She shifted her eyes to the leaders, waiting to see what their next move was.

Jean's attention never left Betsy, and she took a step closer, studying her, keeping the younger ones behind her out of reflex, though she got the feeling she was telling the truth. She moved completely differently, not the same as the woman in the Citadel from before. More like the person Jean knew, for better or worse. She didn't know how much she knew of what she had done to Haller. Sparing Betsy a faint sympathetic look, she glanced toward the rest of the team.

"If Dr. Ryan's still alive she can help us. If not... Essex and Ryan couldn't have been the only two people running those machines. We'll find someone," Jean said. But she still couldn't get it out of her head. Essex... He helped convert their people, hundreds of others into slaves...Why? Then again, after this point...she didn't try to presume to think of him as much of the man he pretended to be but what he was. The wolf.

"You mean we found someone in this godforsaken place who isn't an asshole or bugfuck crazy?" Sarah still ached from the return of her powers, the bones ripping through her from the inside, and from the slow burn as her healing factor took care of all the damage she had collected without it. It might have made her slightly more irritable than usual.

Artie shrugged, tracking Betsy's movements. He'd heard everyone's reports at the safehouse so seeing her wasn't the shock that it must have been for the others but it was still hard to believe. He found himself checking her height, the length of her arms and the distance between the features on her face to see if it really was her. Everything matched. This was better and worse than the alternative, all at the same time. [[Let's go,]] he said, signing slowly and carefully for the idiots around him. "So, Mr. Kane, you either use that gun or let her help. I mean, if she's really evil she would have already made you shoot yourself, or us." Nico shrugged; they were wasting a lot of time. "Better get to the prison and check if we can fix our friends, right? I don't like this any more than you."

"Thank you," Betsy said with feeling once the gun was lowered. "The good doctor was kind enough to tell us the process to reverse the Mutate process won't be difficult. And yes, the facility by the prison is where we should go." A flash of memory assailed her thoughts. She saw children lined up for the Mutate process, crying, terrified of her. Betsy exhaled, leaning against the wall. "Nathaniel Essex orchestrated all of this for his own reasons. Taking your powers were never apart of his endgame." She looked up to find Jean staring at her. "I think I can help with getting your abilities back, if you'll let me."

"I don't think we have another option..." Bishop paused for a moment. "That's been happening a lot this trip."

Callisto, hovering behind him, smirked dryly, jamming her hands into her pockets.

Kane sighed, once again wishing for an ordered world. "Let's move then. I for one would like to have the ability to jam a car up Moreau's ass again."