Second Thoughts: Fight

[x-velocidad.livejournal.com]

Phoenix, Dominion and Nightcrawler arrive to save a foolhardy street thief from two mutant aggressors (but really, from himself). The conflict inevitably gets physical.

[Backdated to late Saturday night/early Sunday morning].


The High Line was pretty much deserted by this time of night, which made it good for anyone who wanted to do something without any witnesses: something good for both the purposes of the two assailants...and the redhead who had just come upon the scene with two other men, one bearded and one so blue he was almost hard to make out in the moonlight.

"Step away from him and leave now," Jean said.

"No one has to get hurt."

Eileen didn't reply, not directly anyways. If they were the cops then there would have been some sort of identifier with them saying "Stop, Police" or something similar. Therefore, they could fuck off. This guy needed to be taught a lesson. You couldn't just mess with people the way he did.

Thornn sniffed as several new scents filled the air, but she ignored it. They weren't of any concern to her.

And she wasn't about to let the newcomers stop them from giving the thief what he deserved.

"Alright, before the wave of moron washes over all of us, this is not a fight you want." Garrison reached back and flashed a badge. "Also, I'm the guy that can make all kinds of unwanted attention show up because of this fight. Why don't you give us the kid and we can talk about what you get in return?"

Badges were bad. Very bad. Shooting a spike of pain through Gabriel one last time, Eileen cut it off abruptly, which was almost as bad as if she had let it continue. "Justice," she replied. "He stole from us. We got it back, but he needs to learn a lesson!"

"Ow!" Gabriel cried out as the pain traveled throughout his body, then suddenly stopped. He'd let out a few tears from the pain, which he tried to blink away before looking toward Jean and her mutant comrades. "I—I still can't feel my legs," he told her after a second, a little stupefied. "I don't know..."

"It'll all be okay. We'll handle this," Jean assured him. He was breathing, coherent, awake, and she saw no blood. She would have to get a better assessment later but for now they had to focus on stopping his tormentors.

"So you've made your point, then," she then added, hands on her hips as she turned back to the two women.

"You hunted him down like an animal, then hurt him to the point where he can't move. He's young, stupid, and terrified. He made a mistake, he obviously regrets it. What more do you want? To kill him? Where will you stop? Where is the line?"

"And how many more did he make before this that weren't stopped and he didn't regret?" Eileen asked, "Fuck that. There's no justice unless you make it for yourself," which is what she was doing. She wasn't going to kill him though, she had morals!

"This is not justice", said a low voice from the shadows, where Kurt had been moving around unnoticed until he was standing almost directly over Gabriel. "This is torture."

"And where were you when he was stealing from us?" Thornn growled, turning on the strange man. Nobody had stuck up for them. Nobody had tried to defend them. They had to make their own justice.

And nobody would get in the way of that.

Thornn bared her teeth, growling again, and dove at Kurt.

When she struck at him, she found him no longer there - and then a booted foot collided solidly with the back of her knee.

"You should have turned him in, before doing this."

Thornn stumbled, letting out a pained howl before whirling around, eyes flashing dangerously. "Turned him in to who?! Nobody helps us. Nobody cares about us." And with that she dove again.

"You cannot win", he told her from yet another spot. "I have been doing this for a very long time... and you cannot teleport."

"Why don't you just mind your own business?!" She snarled, wild-eyed, any sign of humanity gone. "This has nothing to do with you anyways!"

"Give us the boy", he said calmly, "and we will be gone to leave you in peace."

"No!" It was an inhumane screech. "He deserves to be punished!"

"And he has been punished. Is it not enough?"

"No. He brought this on himself."

And with that she dove at the blue mutant once more.

"Guys, come on!" Gabriel wondered if maybe the electro-whatever had interfered with his brain, because the idea that a cat lady and a vanishing blue man were fighting over a necklace he stole and gave back was a little too real. And he been able to stand up and stop all of this craziness, he likely would have, but whatever the other woman had done to him was taking a while to wear off.

So instead, he stuck with words. "I gave you your necklace back. You brought the pain. Can we not just go home happily ever after here? What's the point of this?"

"You have a choice", Kurt said simply to Thornn, dodging again. "You can give me the boy or I will put you down and take him anyway. Do not think I could not."

Eileen wasn't the most physical fighter, but she smirked as she watched her lover in action. She was so amazing in her element like this. Good. "That's it!" she crowed, glad to see Thornn attacking the other guy. "Fucking pigs!"

"Fucking pigs. That's a new one." Kane calmly put his badge away. Kurt could more than handle the feral. The mouthy one seemed to be the one in charge. When Kane moved, he blurred. While he did not have the superspeed of Pietro, his reflexes were obviously beyond human limits, and before Eileen registered him moving, he had an arm bar on her from behind, locking her up painfully.

"Now, can we all calm the fuck down?"

"You're right, we weren't here. He made a mistake. You made your point. This can all end before there's blood shed," Jean said, trying to go for tact rather than violence if at all possible. Though it was clear from the rapidly disintegrating situation that ending the night without someone's teeth getting kicked in was not going to happen.

Seething, Eileen struggled futilely, the physical was not her forte. Not at all. Grunting, she didn't say anything, just glared at everyone and everything. Damn it.

Gabriel figured this was probably as good as it was going to get. The blue dude and the cat lady were occupied. Jean and her friend were taking on the crazy one. And he had the full feeling back in his legs - had for a little while, actually, but he had been looking for the perfect escape moment. The perfect way to avoid either death or jail.

He scanned his surroundings, zoning in on the nearest staircase. He'd need to hop the chain, but while he was running sped up, he didn't anticipate his problem. And then he'd bolt home, lock the door and send Jean some very apologetic texts. His need to survive this experience (and stay free) outweighed his loyalty.

Time to move. He jumped to his feet and started toward the staircase, attempting to power up as he went.

If he'd paid more attention, he'd have figured it out sooner: The crazy woman's powers hadn't just affected his muscles - they'd hurt him from controlling his speed too. Which meant that when he leaped in the air to hop the barrier that well-meaning park officials had placed to keep miscreants like him out, he wasn't moving nearly fast enough.

The last thing he'd recall was his legs getting caught on metal, throwing him off balance and sending him tumbling down a few stairs before he hit his head on a railing and passed out.

By the time it took Jean to be able to sense the fleeting panic coming from Gabriel and his attempt to escape, he had already taken off. The burst of pain, followed shortly after with the little signal like a light switch to the mind that the boy had succumbed to unconsciousness told her that Gabriel had messed up...again. But she was used to helping wayward souls. He wouldn't be the last. She inwardly facepalmed, however.

~I'm going to go check on our attempted escapee. Head injuries aren't fun. You okay here, Dominion?~ Jean thought to Garrison, meeting his gaze.

"Oh, I think we'll be fine. After a chat about appropriate levels of response." He jolted Eileen's arm slightly, making her stiffen up. "Like killing people is not an acceptable response to having shit stolen. And, in return, breaking all the bones in your arm to practice origami isn't an appropriate response to you pissing me off."

Oh fuck. This had gone from bad to worse. "Thornn!" she called, looking for her girlfriend. They were screwed. So, so screwed.


The fight comes to a close, and Jean brings Gabriel back to Xavier's.

Thornn whipped around, a feral growl slipping off her lips when she saw the man holding Eileen. Without a second thought she abandoned the funny-smelling blue man, diving at Garrison.

Her reaction caught Kane flat-footed as Eileen struggled against him, and he was forced to give up his hold on her to meet Thornn's charge. He sidestepped a swipe of her claws and countered with a punch strong enough to send her tumbling down the street.

With a rumble in the back of her throat that wasn't nearly as impressive as her girlfriend was capable of, Eileen reactivated her powers, shooting jolts of electricity to the strange looking guy that Thornn was fighting. She was over all this. So much drama for the necklace. She just wanted her girlfriend and to be done with it all.

Thornn picked herself up, shaking, her head snapping around as she blinked rapidly. This was bad. This was really, really bad. "Eileen!" Her voice was high pitched, slightly panicked. They needed to run. Now.

"Crap, crap, crap - I hate electricity!" Kane said, shielding himself as the arcs grounded against himself. His skin was adapting fast, but he wasn't looking forward to a week as a black rubber man like the aftermath of his fight with the Fury.

Kurt was paying more attention to Gabriel than to the two women now, but he glanced up.

"Dominion, are we going after them?"

Both women were running hard and a crowd was started to form. With a sigh, Kane shook his head.

"Too many chances for collateral damage. Let's make sure the kid is alright. Phoenix?"

Crouched down over the man, Jean was checking his eyes with a flashlight. She kept a small one on her person at all times after the many times she had been caught without one. It often came in handy. "Pupillary reflex is normal...his eyes are reacting to light with no hitch or delay. I think he'll be alright but the unconsciousness coupled with the head injury has me worried. And I don't think he'll stay in a hospital. I think we should take him back."

"I say we take this as an object lesson. Let's get the kid home."