X-Men Mission: Attica! Attica!

[x-dominion.livejournal.com]

The X-Men land on Ryker's, encountering four conspirators.



The Howard G. Hardman correctional facility was one of the newest on Ryker's Island. It was originally designed to be a new super-max facility before being converted to hold criminals with mutant or preternatural abilities. The George Motchem Detention Centre was in chaos, the riot entering its sixteenth hour. It was obvious that the riot had pulled in every available extra resource. The Blackbird made a sweep, hidden behind its stealth system. From their perspective, they could see the furthest most guard towers on the water's edge had been abandoned and four figures were moving towards the roof.

Rogue and Dominion took the fastest way down to the roof, leaping from the back of the Blackbird during a pass. She grabbed his arm as they got close, slowing his fall enough to land safely on the roof. The figure on the roof turned as soon as they landed, forced to step away from the explosives he was planting. The man was dress mostly normally in jeans and a black leather jacket, but over the whole outfit, he wore a long red robe and a deep cowl that hid his face. As they approached, he drew a pair of red steel automatics.

"Well, there goes the element of surprise," she grumbled mostly to herself. Rogue had wanted to ask Kane about strategy, the plan, anything, but she hadn't talked to him since the kitchen incident. Raising her hands in the air, she called out, "We come in peace! Take us to your leader. No need for guns!"

The answer was a sudden barrage of fire. A round clipped Marie in the forehead, sending her reeling like she'd been kicked. Where the bullets hit, they exploded into flame.

"Those are not ordinary guns." Kane shouted as he took cover behind an HVAC system. The shots were punching straight through the unit, as if it was made of tissue paper.

"No shit, Sherlock," she retorted, reaching up to her forehead gingerly. There was a wetness to her fingers, telltale sign of blood, but not as bd as it should've been. Invulnerability. She'd forgotten about that. Assessing the situation quickly,she decided that even though she still hadn't quite mastered her flight yet, she could at least try.

Narrowly missing shots fired at her, she zipped over to Kane's side. "Ah'm gonna try ta distract him. See if ya can get 'round or somethin'." The HVAC was obviously useless as a shield, but the corrugated steel was perfect for projectiles. Ripping a sheet of metal, she launched herself in the air. "That the best ya got?," she taunted him. She ripped another smaller piece and whipped it at his head,putting all her strength into it.


He spun, the cloak unfurling around him and then suddenly disappeared. The steel smashed into the roof uselessly. Kane rolled out, looking for him but could see nothing.

"Where the hell did he go?" Magic fire bullets, invisibility... what else could this joker have up his sleeve?

Rogue was equally confused. Without thinking, she landed on the ground, the metal useless in her hands when she suddenly felt a tightness across her neck. "Found him," she croaked out, trying to reach up to lessen his grip."

The figure blinked back into sight, the edge of his cape tight around Rogue's neck. Normally, she could have ripped it in two, but it's touch was like white fire travelling up and down her nervous system. Kane cross the distance in a heartbeat, but the Hood had time to raise his cloak before the punch landed. To Kane, it was like slamming his hand into a concrete wall. The blow forced the grip on Rogue's neck to loosen.

Coughing, Rogue fell to the ground, and tried her best to roll away, thankful for the distraction that Kane provided. Pulling her glove off at the same time, she resorted to her last trick: ‎absorption.

The second she touched his ankle, she knew it was a bad idea. As quickly as she touched him, she let go, her hand burning and her mind ready to explode.

Demon. Great.

"Feel free ta step in," she cried out to Kane,trying to get to her feet. ‎"Ah'm outta ideas."

Kane knocked one of his guns clear but the follow-up blow only caught air as the man levitated backwards, out of reach. He wrapped his cloak around himself and disappeared again.

"Great. I fucking hate invisibility."

"Motherfucker," she cursed, coming back to Kane's side. "Seriously buddy, all we wanna do is talk. Why ya gotta be this way?"

The pistol that Kane had knocked away flew back into his hand by some kind of invisible force and they were forced to take cover as he scattered his shots across the roof.

"I'm really starting to hate this guy." Kane muttered, wishing he had his own firearm right now.

"You and me both, sugar," Rogue responded, wincing at the noise. "Do we have anythin' to throw on him? Maybe take away the invisibility thing?"‎

"If we weren't on a roof, I'd say hit him with a truck. A big truck." Kane shot a look and ducked back as a bullet whined off the concrete by his head. "A very big truck."

"Ah'd be happy for a bag of flour," she grumbled, crouching down as far as she could. "That always works in the movies."

"Alright, I say I act as a big fat target, you ambush him once he takes the bait." Before she could say anything, he moved out, zigzagging across the roof, bullets just barely missing him as he drew the Hood's fire.

Rogue sighed. "Didn't we try this already?," she said to herself, waiting for her opportunity. With the Hood's back to her, she lunged, zipping through the air as quickly as she could so the momentum, plus her strength, made for one hell of a wallop‎Her blow staggered the Hood and he stumbled forward. Kane immediately switched direction and roared back, trying to end the fight with a savage blow to the head. The blow connected but he turned his head at the last minute to take it on the cloak which limited the damage.

***

With the rest of the team out, the Blackbird skimmed low over the roof, giving Roulette and Bevatron a chance to leap out before it cleared the airspace. The figure that they were closing in on had been working, planting something on the roof. He raised a weapon as they got close. He was clad in what looked like an armored tactical suit, trimmed in deep purple.

Jennie ducked and rolled as she hit tarmac, coming up into a crouch and tossing off a red disk in one fluid movement. The disk splashed against the weapon and it jammed with an audible click.

Jennie's disk was followed closely by a low-intensity jolt of electricity, meant to cause their opponent to drop his weapon. Jean-Phillipe closed in behind it, not wanting to give him an opportunity to recover, and trying to get a better look at what he'd been planting on the roof.

The electricity struck the man, but he seemed to ignore it. With his weapon jammed, he raised his glove instead, and a beam of energy cut a groove in the concrete close to Jennie.

Jennie leapt away, rolling and coming up in a graceful crouch. "Cover me," she said to Jean-Phillip and she arced another disk towards the man. He managed to dodge, and another beam of energy pulsed towards her, she ducked under it and tossed to successive disks, one hitting the man in the helmet, the other in his wrist. There was a screech as feedback built up and a small pop in his glove as the wires overheated.

Jean-Phillipe knew that sound, and he switched from hurling bolts at the other man, and with a pulling motion, reached out toward the shorting wires in the gauntlet, twisting and supplementing the current to turn it back on the masked antagonist.

The electricity jumped between them and the figure shuddered as it ran through him. But JP didn't anticipate his response. He tossed something that looked like a rubber ball, but when it hit him, it splashed, covering him in a thick tarry unctuous material.

"Merde, how many gadgets does he have in that suit?" Jean-Phillipe recognized that whatever the material was, it was certainly designed to be nonconductive. He managed to keep his hands free, and the material seemed to char and solidify if enough current was run through it, at which point he could flake it off. But it was slow going, and in the meantime his mobility was seriously hampered.

"Ugh, he's crawling with white luck," Jennie said grumpily. "Hang on, lemme see if I can give him a wedgie or something, distract him or something so we can get closer." Jennie punctuated this with a flung red disk.

The man ducked under the disk barely, forced to scurry behind the cover of a low wall. As he reached it and ducked behind, the air started to shimmer oddly, as if something had been done to it.

"Are you serious?" There was planning for eventualities, and then there was whatever level of overkill this person had clearly gone to. Jean-Phillipe finally freed himself from the trapping gunk that had been thrown at him. This was becoming highly annoying - they couldn't seem to pin their attacker down, but neither could he press any real advantage against Jennie and Jean-Phillipe covering each other.

***

Cyclops and Firestar went out the back of the Blackbird after Dominion and Rogue. The fiery mutant swooped to the rooftop with Cyclops, landing at a run. The figure was hovering above the roof, blasting at the concrete with golden bolts of concussive force. He was clad in a yellow and gold armored suit and was surrounded by a corona of light.

Scott had ground to a standstill, rubbing at his eyes and staring again. "I'm not seeing things am I?" he asked hte younger woman, "There is really a floating golden man up there right?"

"All I see is a really cute light show," Angel replied, a bit flippantly, as she stared down the other mutant with a raised eyebrow.

The figure turned, seeing them for the first time and raised his hands. Golden bolts of light lanced out at them, forcing them to try and scramble away from the concussive blasts.

"See, I think you made him mad," Scott pointed out as he twisted away from one concussive blast and countered another with one of his force beams, "you know men don't like being called cute, it's a very manly lightshow."

As they were barraged Angel took off into the air, leveling her hands with their attacker. "Such a fragile ego," she called down as she shot off a rain of fireballs at the same time Scott fired.

The figure didn't respond. Instead, as Cyclops fired a beam at him, he twisted in the air. The beam bent, smashing into Angel as she charged from another direction. A flare burst in front of Scott, dazzling him as if a flashbomb had gone off directly in front of his eyes.

"Ok so maybe not so cute," Scott allowed rubbing his eyes before directing a furious...squint at the floating man. He could still barely make out blobs where shapes should be, he'd lived through flashbombs before but the watering eyes never got easier. "Firestar, you ok?"

Angel tried to dodge but it was no good - she was driven into the ground, twisting to keep from whacking her head. Thank god the leather took most of the impact but still. Ow. "Yeah, Angel groaned as she picked herself up, blinking furiously. "That wasn't cool, man."

"I think maybe we might have underestimated him," Scott admitted his eyes flicking around furiously. His powers were basically out of the game at this point, he couldn't use them without risking their enemy taking control and twisting his beams. "Firestar, you're going to have to drive him down out of the air. It's the only way we can double team him."

"I'm on it." Angel kicked back off into the air, flying up fast and looping up around and flying straight down at the enemy, gathering energy and throwing down one large fireball.

He zipped sideways, faster that she expected. As the fireball went past, he fired another beam through it, this was nearly incinerating Scott as it went past his ear.

"Arrgh, not what I had in mind," Scott yelled as he dived behind a nearby hunk of wall for cover. The X-men's eyes were drawn to the nearby debris left behind by the impact of one of the beams, "hmm," Scott mused to himself, "bend my beams will you. Angel, watch out," he called before lofting a a fist sized hunk of debris at their gold armoured opponent.

Angel wasn't stupid -- she flew high up and out of way, hovering out of reach for a moment as her mind reached. What now?

The chunk of concrete hit the Lightmaster off the shoulder, throwing off his aim. His blast went wide, scything through the air ineffectually. The golden face turned back towards Scott, firing away at his covered position.

With Lightmaster focused on Scott, Angel flew straight down into the path, her flame shield up. The impact knocked her off kilter a bit, but it at least had the desired effect -- providing Scott with cover.

As Angel cleared the path a barrage of concrete flew up at Lightmaster before Scott dived for cover to avoid the return fire. "I think I made him angry," he noted wryly.

Angel reoriented herself in the air as she tracked Lightmaster's movements. "Well. It's always more fun when they're angry." And she dove back into the fight.

***

Blink and Marvel Girl teleported down to the roof, coming up behind the figure that they had spotted. The figure had been planting something on the roof but backed away as they landed. Fire started to grow in the air around his hands and body as he watched, waiting for them to approach.

Well. That was almost impressive. "Two options, Red," Clarice called, giving warning, "You put that fire out and go quietly or I'll cut you into pieces. Your call," it was only partially a bluff. Prison riots weren't her favorite thing.

Being the first time she had ever been teleported was a new experience for Jean. To suddenly be from one place to another was quite disorienting, and she felt her stomach drop the moment they landed. Luckily she wasn't going to throw up, she had a stronger stomach than that, and maintained a poker face. Didn't want the guy on fire to see her greenness. Fighting an opponent was something she'd rarely done. She still wondered if they'd made the right decision bringing her.

"It's kind of hard to set anything on fire without your head. I'd listen to her," Jean said with a shrug, really hoping she was bluffing. She didn't kill.

"Purple bitch. Never fucked one of those." Scorcher said and before they could say anything, he raised his hands like a conductor. Two massive plumes of flame erupted on either side of the two X-Men and as he brought his hands down, the waves of fire crashed towards each other, with them in between.

Both sides? Unique. Clarice didn't really have time to respond though as she put up a portal to catch the fire on her side as a shield, trusting Jean to put up a TK shield on the other. She wasn't keen on getting burned again. The other end of the portal opened behind their guy. Was he impervious to the flames he controlled?

Jean quirked a brow at the guy's language, reflexively throwing up a TK shield. She wasn't used to keeping out fire, however, so she had to really concentrate to keep the flame and heat out. On the plus side, she was learning how to do new things with her powers.

"I think it's just you and your hand tonight," she said, shoving the TK shield outward in an attempt to knock the guy down, sending him closer toward the flames. It was just meant to scare him. Or at least that was the goal.

The flames washed over the man, but he ignored them. Instead, he directed the flames down and under their feet, the concrete was suddenly heated as hot as a stovetop, scorching them.

Their boots were strong, but the heat was still stronger. Teleporting them both behind him, Clarice shook her head, "You're boring me," she informed him, making a tiny portal on his hand. "That's one. Want me to continue entertaining myself?"

Eyes widening, Jean let out an audible gasp, and covered her mouth with her hand as she saw the blood spray from the place where the man's finger used to be. The ground sizzled, and a foul smell rose up as the blood splattered across it.

Sensing a potential powder keg, she lifted the man off the ground and encased him in a telekinetic bubble that made the air thin, hoping to knock him out that way. She had considered a psi blast but she didn't want the guy to have an aneurysm. Doing something that complicated while she was upset would probably not go well.

"What the hell was that, Blink? I did not sign up for torture."

He clutched his hand and snarled. While he was trapped inside the telekinetic bubble, it also served as a shield. Under them, the concrete suddenly blazed white hot and exploded, pelting both mutants with flaming shards at high velocity. The tiny fragments acted like shrapnel, motes of fire through uniforms and flesh, embedding in them and blazing like phosphorus in the wounds.

"And I didn't sign up to get crispy-fried!" Clarice retorted with a scream. She fucking hated mutant prison breakouts. If Jean didn't take this guy down, she was going to do it her way and he might live through it, but he wouldn't like it.

"Gee...," Jean shot back through gritted teeth, picking herself up off the ground after she got over the initial shrieking. She'd managed to deflect some of the shrapnel with another shield but some of it still hit. Parts of her skin was burning, and tears were running down her face but she was also currently very pissed off. She pulled out some of the larger pieces of burning debris before they could do more damage, and she did the same for Clarice, what she could see anyway.

"I wonder why he did that? Because he was already insane and NOW HIS FINGER'S MISSING! "

She'd take rage over a ton of pain. Otherwise she was going to focus on wanting to say few choice words. They needed to treat their wounds. Some would be third degree. Hell, most.

Eyes locking onto Scorcher, she telekinetically ripped one of the prison doors off it's hinges, shooting it at him. It started to bend around him with a shriek and whine of the metal. Sure, he'd get loose, but it'd buy them some time.

"Is that all?" He hissed and the metal door started to glow cherry and then white before it was blasted off him as super heated liquid, forcing them to scatter to avoid more damage. "I think both of you bitches owe me a finger."