X-Factor Casefile: The Sting: Conference

[x-invisiblegirl.livejournal.com]

The X-factor team gather to figure out just what they're dealing with.

The conference room was comfortably set up, the woods and earthen colours presenting a comforting and soothing aura, and aura which set off against the gloom hanging over the room’s occupants. They were a bruised, battered, and bleeding bunch who looked as if they had just been through the wringer, which in fact they just head.

“So, someone want to tell me, is that kinda thing normal?” Sue piped up from the chair near the door she had collapsed into as soon as they arrived. She didn’t intend to get up until someone forced her to. “You know the whole normal humans suddenly spouting mutant powers, or the whole cutting up mutants thing?”

Warren, having completely missed out on this recon mission, was predictably confused.  This superhero business was more work than he thought it would be.  He just wanted to flex and show off muscles.  "If that's normal, then I don't want to be here on an off day," he stated.  Looking around the room, he could see the exhaustion in people's faces, which he supposed was to be expected.  Most concerning was the fact that Jessica was tired. And he'd never seen her tired. Not even after an entire weekend of debauchery.

"What did we learn here?"

"That bad guys fight back." She smirked at Warren before sinking into the chair and curled up into a ball. She wasn't bleeding but she had the migraine the size of the entire United States. Lorna lifted her head and looked at Sue. "And no, I don't think that is normal. That shouldn't be normal."

"Good, I can't say I really like the idea of people randomly turning on my with stolen mutant powers, that seems like something out of a nightmare or horror movie." And if there was one thing Sue didn't like it was horror movies.

"No fucking kidding." Jessica added from her position leaned up against a nearby wall. They'd had guns and knives, the usual fair. While neither was really a threat to Jessica, she'd been flying around like mad attempting to protect her less invulnerable teammates. She rolled her shoulders carefully, knowing that she'd be covered in bruises tomorrow. Not to mention the fatigue she'd felt after ripping a massive piece of equipment away from the wall and hurling it toward their enemies. Sure, she hadn't really been aiming to squash them, though she wouldn't have minded a little accidental squashing at this point. "The question is, whose fucking bright idea would it be to cut us open, take our parts, and play Mr. Potato Head with them?" She asked.

"I wish I knew," Bobbi replied, rubbing her lower back and knowing there had to be an ugly bruise forming there. Thankfully that was the only real injury she'd walked away with, apart from some scraped knuckles, but that was more a sign of the injuries she'd inflicted on their assailants, so she didn't mind that one bit.

"We need to find out, though, and fast." Even with her degrees in biology Bobbi had never seen anything like that, and never wanted to again if she could help it. They needed to stop who or whatever was behind this, though, that much was clear.

"Whoever it is had to have the scientific know-how to put an operation like that together. There can't be that may people in the country capable of that level of surgery and research. Maybe 4 or 5, I can run them down and see who seems suspicious," Sue piped up, "You know, after we deal with the bunch of Mr Potato-head's who decided that they want to kill me. At least I hope they've just decided that they want to kill me." The blonde' hand fell to her side unconsciously, being used in one person's experiments was more than enough for a lifetime thank you.

Lorna was silent for a few moments in deep thought. "Whoever it is, they would have connections." She looked at her teammates. "And no one is playing Mr. Potato head with anyone. Ever."

Warren had been listening to the group, and his internal horror‎ was growing. This was so far out of his comfort zone, he might as well get a passport. "I can work with connections. Figure out what our next step should be. This needs to stop."