xp_logs | Something Slender This Way Comes

Alison, Clea, and Stephen put on a show for the Slenderchildren.

The group of black-eyed children closed in around the kids. Though there were no words, it was clear they had no intentions of letting anyone leave their world.

"I think we should be anywhere but here," Stephen decided, hands rifling through his pockets for anything that could be useful in this situation, "Not that you've not been great hosts," he told the horde of Slenderkids, "but I think ,my show is on, and I'd hate to miss what Joan said to Isobel this week, why I can hardly tear myself away from the box. Ahah," he pulled out a paperclip brandishing it at the Slenderkids, "also, don't make me use this."

Aaand that's it, we're going to die, Alison thought. Her powers on the fritz, surrounded by an army, but now they could at least clip their wills together and ship them off to the legal department so that when this was all over jesus when did she become so sarcastic in the face of certain death?

"So, if anyone has a plan of attack, this would be a great moment to enlighten the rest of us," Alison said, smile tight. She snapped her fingers, letting brief sparks fly from her hand. They weren't snuffed out quite as quickly as they had been, so that was at least progress.

Clea took a step back trying to think of any spell that might be helpful. "This is a bad nightmare."

"Well the best I got is we can somehow disable all the freaky weird kids and leg it," Stephen said with a false bravado staring in what he hoped was a menacing manner at the Slenderkids. " how hard can it be." he noted with what was perhaps a slightly forced smile.

Now all he had to do was put actions to his words, the mused as he glanced down at the paperclip in his hands. Not that scary by itself, but he had a prank spell that might work perfectly here, the teenage eyed the Slender children, if they let him use it anyway.

Her powers weren't quite working right, and to be honest this was a horrible place for a field test, but it was that or prepping their wills and Alison really hated lawyers. "What's the loudest noise you can make?" she asked quietly.

Stephen looked at her and grinned, "Cover your ears," he advised straightening the paperclip and throwing energy into it constructing the spell as quickly as he could within the metal cylinder. "Grenade," he called diving to the floor as the paperclip hit the floor and crumpled slightly, the shifting of the metal breaking the spell Stephen had created setting off a rain of sparks and load cracking noises, as if someone had set off a firecracker right in front of the Slenderchildren. "Awesome," he breathed.

"I have an idea." She whispered as she watched the rain of sparks in front of the creepy children. "Illusions." She focused on making copies of them in front of the children, for more confusion.

"Perfect!" Alison exclaimed happily. "Wait for your cue and bring them out. We're leaving." She had a plan, now, and it just had to work. Any other day it'd be easy, and there was no way she'd let some stupid backwards world keep her down like this.

She drew herself up, addressing the amassing and advancing horde as though it wasn't a swarm of eldritch abominations planning their own personal Fate-Worse-Than-Death. "Ladies and Gentlemen, you've been a wonderful audience!" She drew in as much sound as she could. She would only be able to hold it for a moment, but it'd be enough.

"But that was our last performance, so we have to bid you all farewell. Thank you, and good night!" On the 'good night', she threw everything she had at her powers and threw her hands forward. Maybe it was magic sound, or maybe she'd just overcome something within herself, but the most brilliant, blinding light ripped from the tips of her fingers. Thrumming with reds and blues and greens, golds and silvers and every color imaginable danced to an unheard cadence within a single beam of light aimed right at the heart of the amassing horde.

Alison thought it might have been the single most gorgeous thing she'd ever done with her powers.

The laser was significantly more solid than anything she'd done before, and sent swaths of the slenderchild army sprawling. It only lasted for a moment, but it was enough.

Alison didn't move for just a moment, breathing heavy, arms extended. Then... "Run!"

Clea turned to run and almost tripped on her own shoes. She didn't pause for the others as the illusions she cast started to flicker in and out of existence. "That was bloody brilliant Alison!" Clea yelled as she lead the way away from the creepy slenderchildren.

Stephen didn't need any encouragement, the freaky kids were enough to give anyone nightmares. Pausing only to make sure Alison took her own advice the teen legged it after the girls.

Alison laughed, the adrenaline in her system making her giddy. "That was the best. Made for one hell of an encore!" She could already tell that she was going to crash hard when they were out of this, but that would wait. For the moment, she just rode the wave of euphoria all the way to the exit of this strange world.

As Stephen ran he waved a hand at the ground behind him causing a fireball to sail slowly through the air to fizzle out at hte feet of the nearest Slenderchild. "Really need to work on that." he noted to himself as their...tactical re-establishment took them away from the children who had been so menacing before.

'Nica, Amara, and Bobby's power combine...

"Oh, fuck this!" Nica exclaimed as the darkness surrounding them resolved into shapes, creepy ass kids with all black eyes. She raised both hands, light flaring from her fists as she concentrated. "Amara, Bobby, we have to keep them away from the kids!"

"Of course!" It took Amara just a moment to shift in her flame form, another flare of bright light in the creeping darkness.

"Roger that," Bobby said in reply. He thrust out his arms, forming an ice club in his right hand and a shield in his left and taking up a defensive position. Once that was done he also threw up some ice barriers between them and their attackers, though he was careful not to overtax himself too soon.

The shadowy children shrank back from the lights but pushed up against Bobby's ice shield. They couldn't immediately climb over it, but Nica had seen that movie with the zombies all climbing up each other to scale a wall and she wasn't taking chances. "'Mara, flame wall on this side!" she commanded, pointing to the area she'd been covering. "I have an idea!" And with that, she pressed her glowing hands against Bobby's ice wall. Light was light, and the ice would work as a lens. Hopefully.

Nica's grasp of physics wasn't entirely off - the frozen wall started glowing with the light Nica fed into it, pushing the children back even further as they hissed and tried to shield their eyes.

Amara nodded at Nica's call, and soon jets of flame covered the area she'd been defending, frightening the shadowy children back from their position. With a bite of her lower lip she pushed the flame even further, lighting up the dark even more.

Seeing Nica's use of his ice walls, Bobby decided to try something he'd been working on in private. He'd started with just his pinky finger first, then another, and then his entire hand once; turning himself into ice, then back again. It had never been for longer than a few seconds but he'd been able to do it. Now he concentrated and attempted to make both of his hands ice. That way he could act as a moveable lens for Nica's powers instead of having to stand in one place.

"Hey Nica, what about - uh," he started, looking down and realizing he'd transformed more than just his hands. The adrenaline rush of combat and trying to escape must have pushed his abilities into overdrive, that's all he could figure as he saw that both his arms and his torso from the neck down were now made of ice.

"What. The. HELL?" Nica lost her concentration for a moment, the light faltering and the children creeping forward before she recovered herself. "Bobby. You're made of ice."

"I know right?!" He'd intended just that, only not to that degree, but now there was little choice but to roll with it. Freaking out could - and would - wait for later. "C'mon, we got this!" Bobby re-positioned himself to aim at the closest oncoming clump of children.

Amara had been too busy focusing on maintaining the flame walls she'd built to see what her two teammates were talking about as it happened, but when Bobby rejoined the fight, she took a moment to glance over at him.

"Welcome to the elemental form club," she said with a bit of a smirk. "Now let's get out of here."

"Right. Out of here. Good plan." Nica gave herself a mental shake and refocussed her light on Bobby's crystalline form, his various angles and facets throwing light everywhere. "Dude. You're a walking disco ball here."

"I totally meant to do that," he lied. Bobby moved his arms, frowning a little as he looked down at them and thought about how to shift back to his normal self. "I'll cover us while we get out, then I'll change back once we've clear." He re-positioned himself to best allow Nica to keep their assailants at bay, buying them more time to retreat and himself more time to figure out what the heck he'd done exactly.

Things go from worse to WORSE when Maya turns on Spider-Man, Rahne, and Tabitha.

"Stay behind me." Miles stepped in front of Ganke and the others to act as a barrier between them and these children of the corn. Of course they couldn't just open a portal to another dimension to save their kidnapped friends without encountering the level boss. At least Miles hopes these were the bosses. It would be hard enough taking these all down by himself, and he didn't think he could do it if they were any bigger. "Please let this be their only form," he prayed quietly.

"S-Spidey," Ganke stuttered. "Those . . . those are the things that brought us here. They, they . . ."

"Just stay back," Miles repeated, eyeing them more cautiously now. "I'll handle it."

Rahne was tired. She was scared. And she wanted to go home. And they were surrounded by people who didn't want them to leave. Surprising herself, and probably anyone who knew her, she bared her teeth as a low rumbling growl erupted from her still human form. They were going home, she thought, snarling as she tried to wake up that wolf-y part of her.

Tabitha stepped up right next to (perhaps a teeeeeensy bit in front of) Rahne. A bomb bubbled up in her hand. "We're not helpless, you know," she said levelly. This was actually a situation where she could do something.

If the kids were at all put off by the threat the group of teens presented, they didn't show it. They dove in to attack.

"Why are we fighting?" Maya asked, stepping forward toward the strange children with a smile. "There's no danger here."

"Crap." Miles leaped into battle himself, hoping to call the children's attention to himself and spare the others. If he could get off enough venom blasts, then maybe he could end this early. But if Tabitha played her normal impulsive self, and if Maya kept approaching . . . what the heck was she doing? His spider-sense rang loudly in his head. "Gank, pull everyone back!" he ordered, ducking a swing from one of the kids. "That means you, too, Ma . . . whatever your name is!"

Maya's eyes had changed, her pupils had expanded greatly, submerging her normal brown with complete blackness.

It gave the glare she sent Miles an alienness even in this place.

Maya insinuated herself amongst the attacking slender children, choosing a side. She would not abandoned her family and home a second time, nor would she allow the threat that these people who had once been people she knew now posed.

Silently she stepped in time now, matching her movements to those around her effortlessly.

Shocked at seeing Maya abandon them, Rahne's growling trailed off for a moment but then she didn't have anymore time to think about it. The creepy children in front of her lunged forward and she stumbled, going down under their combined weight. She shrieked in anger and terror as their little fingers - disjointed and broken but still working - bore down on her. Rahne kicked and managed to catch one in the stomach before she heaved, bucking, sending them flying.

Teeth bared, she scrambled to her feet and felt that familiar twist in her stomach. Instead of fighting it, Rahne welcomed it, longing for the protection her wolf-self would give her. She pushed, for once forcing it along instead of waiting for it to take it.

This might have been record time for going from bad to worse. Even though she couldn't have been here for long, Maya had fallen under these creepsters' thrall. Miles swept one of them off their feet and then kicked another in the face in one clean, practiced motion, and spared a brief glance over his shoulder to make sure that Ganke and his cadre hadn't also been bewitched. Though they all appeared normal, the distraction was enough that even with the warning of his spider-sense, he couldn't avoid one of the children slipping past his defenses and enveloping him in a tight hold with much more strength than she appeared to have.

Great, not only were they a violent zombie hivemind, but they were super strong, too. That's really what he needed today.

Tabitha wasn't sure where to throw some bombs. She tossed some to the side of the weird kids, making as much noise as possible. "Maya, get away from those creeping creepers!" she shouted.

Maya's gaze briefly settled on Tabitha before darting back to Miles as the easier to deal with threat - physical things seemed understandable on a level she hadn't noticed before and she stood back, watching as her new friends moved in.

She would observe for now, until she understood.

Miles knew he was going to hate himself for this, but the only way to break out of the lock without tearing off the kid's arms was to gently (per his own definition, at least) headbutt his captor and slip out of his grip that way. Ganke yelped, calling Miles's attention to another of the weird kids shambling its way towards his friend. Miles could probably close the distance in time but that would mean leaving the other weirdos open. Good thing he'd thought to replenish his web fluid the previous night. He threw out his hand and pressed down on the lever concealed under his glove, releasing a stream of the sticky gunk from his wrist-mounted spinneret that leashed the kid to him like a misbehaving dog.

The children that had been harassing Rahne suddenly paused and pulled back slightly, watching silently as the girl dropped to her hands and knees. The clothes tore as her limbs shifted and grew, bones popping and fur exploding - but there was a look of panic in Rahne's eyes. The transformation was sluggish and weird. It was normally instantaneous but something was ... wrong. Something was wrong

Rahne's head snapped up and the human scream that had been building inside of her exploded as an eardrum shattering howl of terror as she stood up on her back two legs, towering over the Slender children in a weird hybrid, terrible form that was part human but more animal. Long, fur covered limbs stretched out with in unnatural angles and they all ended in sets of terrible claws. Her head tipped back and she howled again before launching herself forward, nearly mad with the horror at what she'd become.

Tabitha froze when Rahne took off. She only took a second to gape before she took off after the other girl. "Rahne! Wait!" She reached out, only to see a half-formed bomb still in hand. She shook it loose and kicked it toward the weird kids, mouthing a count-down before it popped loudly.

"No more Mr. Nice Spider," Miles vowed. Tabitha's bomb had driven a couple of the children back and provided Miles with the opening he needed. In a blur of black and red, he pressed a hand on each of the kids, wincing a bit at each static zap as he charged each one up with his own time bomb of bioelectricity. When the venom blasts went off, shocking them all with bursts of green electricity, they were eerily silent, as if they were incapable of making sound or, even worse, incapable of feeling pain. Still, they had their desired effect, and they fell to the ground, paralyzed.

That left only Maya.

Maya had spent the time watching, gaining knowledge of what to do and when, she avoided Miles's zaps now and Tabitha's bombs - a burst of speed bringing her close to snap several punches into Miles's solar plexus before flipping herself backwards out of his reach.

She would not allow them to leave - she would stay here, stay home.

"Maya, NO!" Tabs skidded to a stop and turned to tackle the other girl. "What are you doing?"

Maya was silent, the whites of her eyes the only thing that differentiated her gaze from that of the previous Slender children. She avoided Tabitha easily, her movements smooth and professional, at odds with her experience till now.

She aimed a sharp, hard kick at Tabitha's ribs as the other girl moved past, sending her sprawling across the ground before turning back to Miles - her original target.

She never reached him. A furry blur exploded out from under a pile of children, sending them flying. Deep down, Rahne had to keep reminding herself that she was still her. There was no wolf mind and, no matter how horrifying she found herself right now, she had to keep telling herself that she was in control. But she turned some of that fear outward as she slammed into Maya and they went down into a heap.

Rahne's head snapped up, avoiding a punch - barely and thanks to her powers - and her eyes narrowed. Maya's scent was wrong, something was happening to her but the only way ...

A punch did land this time and Rahne shook her head to clear it. "Enough," she growled, not aware she'd even spoken or that she even could. And then she returned the punch. With her in this weird half-way stage, she was stronger than she normally was and she felt Maya go limp under her.

How many Hail Mary's will cover this? she thought hysterically.

Maya's blow had left Miles stunned. His spider-sense had been screaming at him nonstop, so between that and exhaustion from taking down the creepsters, he had no way of saving himself from Maya's onslaught. He made a mental note to anonymously send thank-you gifts to Tab and Rahne, though. He pulled himself back to his feet and would have stumbled had Ganke not materialized at his side to stabilize him. Miles nodded in gratitude and Ganke, his face still ashy but with some color slowly returning, wordlessly nodded back.

"Hold her hands behind her back," he instructed Ganke so he could web her wrists together with makeshift handcuffs. "You, uh, Wolf Girl? Can you carry her? We gotta get the others and get outta her now before they wake up and regroup."

Could she? Rahne carefully stood, still trying to feel out how to move now that she wasn't running on adrenaline, and hooked a hand-paw-thing under Maya's stomach. Making sure not to cut her friend, she slowly maneuvered her up and over her shoulder. Okay, this could work, as long as Maya stayed unconscious. Rahne's head tilted at Spider-Man as she rejoined the group. "You ... smell funny," she growled, not understanding what the familiar scent was under all that latex stuff and too tired to really figure it out.

And Maya's scent plus the smell of that webbing stuff ... ugh, what was that? It smelled awful.

Even though Miles's face was hidden by his mask, he and Ganke still shared a look of concern at Rahne's comment. "Must be all the kippers and blood pudding I ate earlier, me lass, wot wot."

Tabitha could only stare at the costumed kid. He was definitely trying to hide something, but now was not the time. "Run now, smell later, let's move!"

Topaz is not a hero. Kane, Haller, and Kurt - thankfully - are.

One minute the landscape was quiet, if not entirely creepy. The next they were surrounded by large, faceless men wearing suits.

Topaz stamped down the initial reaction to turn and run - panic wasn’t going to help anyone here - and gathered magical energy in the palm of her hand, taking a step back and aiming.

And she hit the closest Slenderman with a strong blast.

"Why are we fighting Tim Burton villains?" The one that Topaz hit staggered, and he stepped up with a blow to the chest. It was like the impact of a car, hard enough to flatten him.

Explode him, however, was not expected. The figure went to pieces, limbs fleeing off like a video game with a weird super gravity function. There was a brief pause at the unexpected response.

"I think I have him in my beard. I have him in my beard, don't I?"

Haller didn't have the wherewithal to quip back. While he'd been confident enough to assure Charles he'd be functional, his telekinesis was mirroring his returning emotional state and appeared to be in the process of re-segregating itself into macro and micro applications. Defense was normal, but offense was resulting in some strange borderline bleed. Not that anyone particularly cared whether the demon he blew apart was also being partially immolated.

"Chunks," Haller muttered with a hint of Jack's twang as he drew his arm back to queue up a telekinetic punch. A portion of the Slenderman's blank face sizzled in the invisible blow as the rest of the skull liquified. "Pocket dimensions. More chunks."

Topaz, similarly, didn't bother letting Kane know he did, in fact, have Slenderman in his beard. She whirled as another Slenderman came down them, and she blasted two more of the demons. "Bloody little..." She couldn't finish that sentence, couldn't think of an insult strong enough to describe the monsters in her closet

Kurt, not having the ability to break the Slendermen to rather disgusting pieces as the others did, was just punching and kicking them with all his strength, teleporting around in a mad melee.

"How many of these things are there?"

"I'm happy so long as the answer isn't 'enough'." For all their freakish appearance, they weren't the strongest foes individually. Kane shrugged off a few blows as he worked through them, tearing away limbs and cracking heads. The problem was that there seemed no end to the damned things and they were risking getting mobbed.

Haller snapped up a shield to intercept a Slenderman coming up behind Kane as the man grappled with the two in front of him. With prescient timing, the other X-Man chose that moment to turn a duck into a capture-and-throw which sent his attacker directly into the brand-new barrier, where it burst with the force of a bug against a windshield.

Before Haller could rationalize the result as intentional a pair of long, black-clad arms snaked around him to trap his arms as a previously unseen Slenderman pulled him into an embrace. The reflexive blast of telekinesis was only narrowly checked by a warning pop of flame by his ear -- his current power-bleed meant close-combat might take some of his own skin with it.

Kurt, noticing Haller was in trouble, kicked the nearest Slenderman in the face and teleported to attack the one pinning his friend. He was curious to find out if they had breakable bones, and tried to lean the answer by bending its arm backwards.

They were like roaches - except twice as disgusting. Topaz blasted off two more, making an annoyed noise as she put up a shield around herself only to have another press against it. "Disgusting," she hissed, and the shield moved to wrap around the Slenderman, constricting it. She grimaced as it exploded in the bubble.

"Great, I'm fighting supernatural Jack Skellington cosplayers." He snapped one's neck with the blade of his hand and shoved him back, forcing the others to swarm around their fallen brother to reach Kane. "We do have a plan here, right? Beyond waiting for this tidal wave of suck to finish us off?"

Not die like chumps before we find the kids we're supposed to save? Haller thought, followed by the resigned feeling that he would be seeing Cyndi again shortly. Fortunately it was hard to air adolescent bitchiness while being hugged to death by a demon.

There was a pop near his ear, and suddenly the pressure around his left side relented. Haller twisted his neck to see that while Kurt hadn't actually broken the thing's arm, something else had given way: more precisely the Slenderman's sternum, which seemed to have dislocated right down the middle. The Slenderman's grip hinged open like a door, allowing Haller to twist free.

"Thanks, Kurt," Haller managed, stumbling free. He raised a hand, eyes shading towards green. "Watch out."

It took the merest glance at Haller's eyes before Kurt let go of the Slenderman and hastily removed himself to several feet away.

"All yours."

The instant Kurt was clear the Slenderman began to bubble. In the few moments before it disintegrated completely the thing both looked and sounded like oil on an overheated skillet.

Satisfied, Haller lowered his hand. And then, because Kane had a point, he called, "Topaz, any idea where we can find the missing? Can you do a tracking spell or something?"

Topaz was a lot of things, but a fighter wasn't one of them. She was trying to stay focused on not drowning under the onslaught of Slendermen, and couldn't quite stop herself from snapping at Haller, "Yeah, sure, I'd love to try and do a trackin' spell right now. You wanna cover me?"

A telekinetically-assisted jump took Haller over the Slendermen and to Topaz's side. A shield snapped up around them, invisible but for a smouldering ring etched in the ground. Immediately the demons tried to close in, but got no further than the ring -- and then began to smoke.

"Got it," Haller said. He glanced at Kane. "I guess this makes the plan 'thin as many as you can while we figure out where we're going'."

"This is not a very encouraging plan." Kane called back, as a dozen Slenders swarmed over their brothers at once and leapt on him. He went down under the crush of skinny arms lashing and clawing at him. Every so often one would be thrown back violently, but more swarmed over to replace them.

Kurt was in much the same situation, and every time he teleported out from under the pile, he soon got swarmed again.

"I do not think they are thinning", he noted dryly.

"Oi, you lot are the professional heroes. You got a better plan, I'm all ears." Topaz held out a hand, closing her eyes and trying to focus past the chaos around here, trying to pin point the kids. A moment later, a ball of light formed in her hand and shot up, sliding past Haller's shield as if it didn't exist and shooting off past the fight, coming to a halt at a spot about twenty feet away and circling. The kids were there...somewhere. But where?

Fighting Slendermen is death to one's appetite.

Billy's hands crackled with energy, but for the moment, they hung loosely by his side, his gaze locked on the nearest of the creatures. It stood several yards away, straining against the translucent blue bonds that held its feet. As Billy continued to chant, the light inched its way upward until engulfed and began to tear at the Slender. He nodded in Rogue's general direction, not breaking eye contact. "Or what would serve as eye contact, if this thing had eyes," he thought.

Rogue had been waiting for her turn, lightly floating to get out of the grasp of these...things. Slendermen. Something like that. An apt name, to be sure, which didn't help the creepy factor. Dodging those outstretched arms was weird, but frankly, there was nothing about her life that wasn't weird. At the sight of Billy's magic, Rogue swooped down, and with a primed punch, put all her effort into the nearest baddie.

She wasn't expecting the sudden explosion and the ....goo that would come out of it. "Oh god," she groaned, reaching up to brush the sticky substance out of her face. "It tastes as bad as it smells....."

"Merci, Rogue, I shall take your word for it," Jean-Phillipe murmured as he did his best to keep his distance and blast their attackers with electricity. "Because they smell atrocious." Rotten eggs and...something else he didn't care to think on. And he had smelled some truly noxious messes working at the docks before coming to the mansion. The air around him crackled and sizzled with the amount of energy he was putting off.

Jean recognized the name from her wanderings around the internet, but she never thought she would meet the creature (or creatures) in real life. She had managed to avoid becoming splatted by some small miracle, and made a sympathetic face.

But that didn't last long as a Slenderman tried to wrap itself around her but she floated up out of the way, and slammed two of the creature's heads into one another telekinetically.

"What do we do? I don't want to kill them but I don't know how to stop them otherwise."

"They don't seem to share your restraint," Billy called up at Jean. One down, he shifted his focus to the next, a luminescent force snagging two tentacle-arms as they lashed out at the flyers. "I wouldn't hold back."

Rogue grunted in approval, as she hit another one, her entire uniform now slick with slime. "Besides," she added, staying well in the air away from the creatures, "once you pop, you just can't stop?" Shaking her hand in the air, she watched in fascination as a trail of goo hit the wall. "And once you're dirty, you may as well go all in."

It became a challenge trying to get past the cadre of strangely well-dressed faceless creatures, and Jean was getting frustrated. "They may not but that's not who I am. No matter how---" she resorted to punching one in the face, grimacing as she shook out her hand. "---annoying they are. They're still alive."

No sooner than she spoke then a pair of Slendermen yanked her from the sky and started to dogpile her. Letting out an angry growl, she released a burst of telekinetic energy that sent them all radiating backwards.

"Just go down already!" she said.

Finally, she decided to try plan B and switched to her telepathy, aiming a telepathic psi-blast at the creature---Or at least, that was her goal. Instead, she found a black hole of nothingness that threatened to drag her under. It was like being stabbed right between the eyes.

"ARGH!"

Crying out in pain, she quickly disengaged but found unconsciousness starting to consume her as she dropped to her knees.

"Merde." Whatever it was Jean had tried, it certainly hadn't worked, and Jean-Phillipe poured on the power in an attempt to keep the disquieting figures away from his teammate. Where a regular person would have been smoking from the amount of current being run through them, the slendermen only gave off wisps of oily smoke and kept coming.

"Fuck," Rogue cursed, trying to dodge her way over to Jean. It seemed like every slender she killed was only replaced with three more, and with Jean down for the count, this was getting harder and harder.

"Billy, keep zapping them! Up it if you can!" She weaved her way to Jean and put herself into a defensive position.

Three Slendermen followed Rogue. Two tried to flank her, one throwing incredibly flexible punches, while the other went for her legs to tangle her up. The goal was distraction, as they had perceived a weakness in the unconscious Jean and were closing in like lions for the kill.

The third Slenderman had weaseled its way past Rogue and had wrapped itself around Jean's throat. But the sudden lack of air only served to kick in Jean's fight or flight reflex (and reminded her how much she disliked stretchable foes who liked to try to crush her to death), and her eyes snapped open as she telekinetically uncoiled the creature, slamming it against the wall.

"Well. That was...a stupid plan," she coughed.

Seeing as how Rogue had no idea what Jean had done, all she could do is nod as she tried to disentangle herself from the Slenders. "Anything that knocks you out is a bad plan," she responded.

Billy tugged on the creature's arms, lifting it high into the air. It writhed, trying unsuccessfully to get back to the fray. His eyes scanned back and forth, and seeing one of Jean's assailants go flying away from the mix, he sent a jolt of lightning its way, before turning his attention back to his own target. "Let's see how you like this," he muttered, securing the flailing legs and drawing the creature spread-eagle. He hummed a little tune as he tightened the grip and continued to tug until..."Pop goes the weasel."

"That is...disturbing." Jean-Phllipe was not one to argue with results, or precisely one to quibble about methods, but Billy's humming while enacting a draw-and-quarter did unsettle him a bit. Billy calling some lightning allowed him to add his own power to the mix, though, and current arced between several slenders in a clump.

There was nothing. No sign of consciousness. Even animals had them, despite Jean's inability to read their minds. There was always something to suggest life. Except for now. In a way they reminded her of the psi-parasite, mindlessly driven to consume or destroy. Billy was right. They wouldn't spare her the same courtesy, because they weren't aware of the concept. They weren't alive.

Sometimes she had to learn things the hard way.

Three Slenders were circling her, and just as their arms slithered out to try to grab her, Jean directed them to wrap around each other, until they were a ball of tangled black and white. Eyeing some of the remaining slenders who waited around the edges of the opportunity to attack, Jean narrowed her eyes and directed the ball toward the group in a move that resembled the opening scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark and the boulder, as the rolling ball collected other Slenders along the way.

"Rogue, throw me yours if you can. I'm taking out the trash."

Once she had collected the remaining stragglers not engaged in battle with a fellow X-Man or student, she wrapped them in a telekinetic bubble, and squeezed it until it popped in a spray of sticky clear goo that splattered against the inside of bubble that left her with a sour look on her face. It was almost satisfying, but incredibly disgusting.

"I'll never look at a plain black suit the same way again."

"Or eggs," Rogue added, wrinkling her nose. "And Jello." The slime was starting to dry up amd was inevitably getting sticky. She didn't know how long it would take her to wash this all off.

looking around, she saw that even though they hadn't by any means made a serious dent, there actually were less than before, thanks to Jean. "I'm ready to move on. Anyone else?"

"Let's not talk about food, kthx?" Billy grimaced at the thought. He let the lightning fade, scanning the gelatinous remains across their battlefield. "Yeah, onward, I guess. And watch where you step?"

"And this is why I am glad to have incorporated my dock boots into my uniform," Jean-Phillipe said, pointedly not looking down.

It's all fun and games until someone gets demon-y.

Internet memes coming to life should be a freaking Supernatural plot, not reality. And yet. She really couldn't be all that surprised. Most days, their lives weren't too dissimilar and it wasn't in the name of ratings. "Hit 'em hard and let's get our kids back!" Clarice snapped as they emerged from the portal, her sword out as she charged the first Slenderman she saw and knowing that the X-Men were right with her.

Megan had been weirdly silent and focused just before and upon entering the portal. Suddenly all she could think about was a certain corner of Limbo. "Get in, get the kids, get out," she said, more to herself than to the group, bringing herself to the present. This wasn't Belasco's realm - as evidenced by the thin, faceless figures in business suits that inhabited this world instead of demons. She didn't know what would happen once her dust hit their creepy, white skin, but she'd find out. Her dust was already at the surface of her skin and she let it go, fanning it with her wings away from the X-Men and towards the Slendermen.

Logan still wasn't sure what a Slenderman was but that didn't matter. They had some of the kids and that wasn't gonna be allowed. He could get Rogue to explain it to him better after they got them back. He charged into the grey void on the other side of the portal with a roar and claws drawn, slashing at the first faceless grey thing he saw. Limbs fell off easily then the whole thing collapsed into a grey puddle of egg-like consistency.

Sooraya had gone into sandform as soon as the strange figures had appeared. Something about a combination of magic and brute force had been mentioned and after Megan dust had covered one of the creatures legs, she lashed out as sharply and hard as could with a tendril of sand...

It passed straight through the leg, turning the limb into a kind of jello on the flour... the ooze slowly spreading out.

Oh now that was gross. Ew. Clarice didn't have a lot of time to dwell on that though as she sliced through a Slenderman with her sword, already turning to face another. She couldn't take them down alone, even using her portals to slice and dice wasn't enough brute strength per se, even if it did damage. But working with everyone they had a chance. Magic and muscle.

It was going to take more than dust, that was for certain. A group of Slendermen were closing in on Megan, unaffected by the dust alone. A glowing dagger was in Megan's hand before she consciously thought about it. It slashed through the empty face of closest Slenderman like it was nothing, draining its essence right out of it without leaving a mark. It collapsed like a column of smoke. The others were unnervingly undeterred. She struck again and again until none stood before her.

Megan's chest ached where a part of her soul had been removed by Belasco. The pink glow of the dagger reflected in her all-black eyes. She remembered how powerful she'd felt in that other world - like this! Nothing could stop her.

It felt like overkill. The ease Logan had slicing through all the blank faced Slendermen that came at him. There was grey clinging to his feet and seeping through his shoes. The sulfur smell wasn't going to be easy to get out.

The Slendermen converged on him in a group and while they still fell apart with a quick slice their numbers were about cause him trouble. He slammed his elbow back into one and instead of falling back it latched on. He moved faster, swinging around to discourage any others from holding onto him too. He finally managed to slice off enough of the one clinging to him to send it into its puddle form.

Sooraya finished off her Slenderman, then spotted a small group of three bearing down on what might have been one of the missing children. Thinking quickly she formed a kind of three pronged propelor and shot forward while turning around her, creating a razor sharp sawing blade. Staying to to avoid the child, she neatly beheaded the three of them.

Collapsing they did not though and Sooraya roared back, this time forming into a long thin whip to target their hands...

Being in another dimension, Clarice had no idea how her portals would work. Would they send a Slenderman to one of her storage lockers? The arctic? Or just over there? Better not to risk it. Twisting, she sliced the head off another Slenderman, "There can be only one," She snarled. They were running out of slendermen. That was good, but they needed the kids back.

The fight was easily lopsided. The Slendermen weren't lasting more than a few seconds under the combined onslaught of the team. "Where're the kids? Anyone got a sense of direction in this place?" Logan would be no help there. A low level buzz of a headache was making his head throb and normally his sense of direction was pretty good. In here, he barely tracked where they'd come in from or where everyone else was.

Bits of Slenderman continued to drop to the ground, immediately turning to goo, as Sooraya neatly severed bits of the them with razor sharp whips of sand. It was not something she ever have used against a normal living being, but here it seemed to be the only thing that work.

Spotting another couple of Slenderman, she sped over, forming multiple small whips this time, but still as razor sharp as the first ones. One Slenderman spotted her and turned to face her, but nothing they could do, seemed like it could effect her in her sand form.

It was not long before these Slendermen were piles of goo as well.

Piles of goo and ash and the bleak landscape of Askew world spread below Megan, as far as she could see. And in the distance, a trickle of Slendermen approaching them, like stray ants. She thought she saw a flash of color in her peripheral vision - was that the kids? She focused in on it and before she knew it, she was there. It turned out to be nothing. Ahh, but she moved so quickly when she freed the magic in her soul! She flew up into the air again, feeling boundless energy. At the same time, she felt the terrible burden of long-buried memories that came flooding back to her. It was too much. Her chest ached, and she was having trouble staying focused.

Then, suddenly, they appeared out of nowhere. "I see the kids!" shouted Megan from the air. "C'mon, this way!"