Naka hadn't been thrilled to not be in Rory's group, but she knew Miss Pryde was doing it on purpose. Naka felt comfortable around Rory and the two got along, but Naka hadn't really made much of an effort with anyone else her age. Putting her with Danny, someone with similar abilities, Naka had known it was on purpose. Especially after the more than a few talkings to the young mutant had had from the Headmistress. Depsit being at the Manor for 3 weeks, Naka hadn't managed to find her place. She acted up in classes, gaining her a 'class clown' reputation, and her illegal activites had gotten her more than enough detention, it was safe to say Naka was not a happy camper.

When she had been called upon to use her abilities in classes, that was when she acted up the most. Fear and anger mixed behind her perfect mask. She didn't know how to use her abilities, and they had never gotten her anything good. Some of the teachers had grown tired of her, she was sure, but Naka stayed true to the only way she knew.

Take care of yourself. No one else is going to do it.

When Kitty had insisted on Naka going, the young gypsy hadn't protested, she was trying to be good, at least a little. The ride to the museum was uneventful, and as they disembarked and were split into groups, Naka nodded a hello to Danny and Spencer. Miss Vaughn was their chaperone and Naka was at least happy about that. Miss Daisy had never grown impatient with the troubled teen, and being one of the few that didn't get on her case, Naka was naturally happy to be placed with her. The exhibits had been interesting, and Naka had insisted on going towards the wing containing the artifacts of ancient Egypt. Spencer had excused herself to find a bathroom just as Naka had ventured through a doorway into the exhibit.

A mummy lay enclosed in a glass case before her and Naka stepped closer to read the inscription. This thing was older than most of the artifacts in the room. As her green eyes scanned the room, she laid eyes on a huge jewel. The emerald had to be the size of her fist, it was held inside of a glass case, sitting atop a golden setting. As Naka reached out her hand to touch the glass, a rumble shook the floor beneath her. Her hand jerked back as she turned back to head towards the doorway. Even as she turned another explosion rocked an exhibit close by. The sound was enough to make Naka wince, but as the ornate, ancient Egyptian pillars near her crumbled, the gypsy ran for the exit.

The inscribed pillars crumbled with the vibration of the blast, sending a small chunk heading towards the young mutant. The huge piece narrowly misses her as she emerges, dust pluming from the room behind her.

"Miss Vaughn? Danny?" She coughed, holding the long sleeve of her jacket up to cover her mouth, the dust making her want to sneeze.

Freddie and Duncan

Why did he agree to this again? Freddie was by no means at all interested in the history of the world, so why on Earth was he giving a tour of a museum? Kitty. If he didn’t love that girl for all she’d done he might just kill her. Freddie looked at his little group, Duncan, Frankie and Harley. How fun. One wrong word and Harley might end up sending everyone into a rage. He had to watch himself with this one. He lead the trio of student down a corridor after the headmistresses speech. Where o where would they end up in the annals of time?

An hour later, Freddie and his group found themselves in at least one of the more interesting exhibits. “Who doesn’t love pirates?” He grinned as gazed at the almost perfectly preserved vessel that sat before him behind a large glass window. The four of them were alone in their exhibit when the faint feeling of a minor tremor became apparent. “Wait…that’s not an Earthquake….EVERYBODY DOWN!” As if on cue with his call, the lights went out, the shaking ground became more violent and a series of large explosion ruptured the building and it’s support. Instinctively, Freddie reached out with his hand, a low glow of golden energy circling it as he pulled Harley telekinetically from his standing spot and out of the way of the steel blast door that came down in its place.

Duncan wrapped Frankie up in his arms and shielded her with his body as a piece of ceiling came crashing down on top of them. It hurt like hell but he thought that he had caught most of the impact. He tried to absorb as much from the blow as he could, his veins lighting up as he did so. What a day to leave the mansion without building up his power reserves. Letting go of his friend and collapsing down onto his knees amidst the rubble, the Englishman began to take a few deep breaths as he tried to focus on manipulating and controlling the new energy, forcing it to reinforce any injury he may have sustained. Duncan could feel the warm liquid tricking down from his shoulder. What was it? Glass? Part of the ceiling? Something had pierced his shoulder but it was minor, nothing to worry about. He got to his feet with one final rough exhale of breath.

Freddie looked around as the dust began to settle, everyone in his group seemed ok. He pulled out his cell phone….no signal. “Fuck” He hissed. The blast doors were shielding the windows and exits, they were trapped. Lucky for them they had powers, not so lucky for them there were civilians. Drastic times….

A distorted voice came over the tannoy of the museum, for the everyone to hear.

“We live in a world where society has poisoned the souls of men. People like me stand up, arms outstretched and welcome the oppressed and the burned from hiding behind their closed doors. I whisper the secret in their ears and I have their hearts in my hands. Those who do not follow, whether they like it or not, whether they want it or not, we will pry their eyes open and force them to watch. They need to stop lying to their children and telling them that monsters aren’t real…because monsters are real. We do not hide in the dark like in the story books, we walk upright into the light and then drown that light in the tears of our broken brothers and sisters. There are no heroes, there is only those still addicted to the childhood notion that a man can be purely good in his heart. That, is a lie I will cleanse from our pallet. A lie that I will scorch from the plains of existence. Monsters. Mutants. I am W and I am your reckoning. It’s time for you to meet my brothers and sisters”

Across the museum, armed soldiers began to phase through the walls in a manner akin to Kitty. The building was surrounded.

As Mila looked around she saw as Spencer was across the room, her arms around around another girl in a protective manner. She could not tell who it was though it wasn't important, Spencer would keep her safe. She wondered why Spencer had been all the way on this side of the Museum but the thought was quickly set on the back burner as a voice began to sound out through the museum. Her heart sank as the man continued on his rant. This was certainly not a simple robbery. They were here to send a message.

Mila silently glided across the floor with practiced steps. She went over to an unconscious security guard, knowing the man was still alive from his faint groaning and squirming. "I need to borrow this..." She said quietly to the man, though certainly he couldn't focus enough to realize what was going on. Mila tore the pistol free of the guards holster, clicking off the safety. She was in a low crouch, her practiced instincts leading her. Suddenly as the man finished speaking armed soldiers began to walk through walls into the room. Mila quickly slide behind a large chunk of fallen debris, gaining a bit of a barrier between herself and the soldiers.

Luckily enough Mila didn't have to use her powers and reveal her identity. She was well trained in firearms and close quarters combat. She would keep her class mates safe. At least for as long as she could. Dipping out from around the debris Mila fired several rounds towards the soldiers. Most hitting body armor but a few finding their target. Two of the soldiers were hit,one in the neck and the other in the lower abdomen just below his vest. As the group then took notice of Mila's location they began to fire. Automatic rifles tore into the concrete slab of debris. She knew she had to move.

Looking right and left she saw a corridor a short sprint away. She knew they would follow her, leading at least most away from the rest of the group. Mila took several deep breaths, getting up the nerves to make herself vulnerable. Images flashed of her new friends she had made. She was doing this for them. To keep them safe. She didn't want her friends to be in danger. Finally summoning the courage she pushed herself off the debris pile and shoved herself into a fast sprint across the room. Running in a crouch as she blind fired at the mass of soldiers that returned fire in kind.

Most of their shots missed though a bullet grazed her side right before she dove through the door and fell into a tumble into the corridor. She grabbed at her side as she winced in pain, red staining her palm. She grunted as she pushed herself to her feet and ran further down the corridor before swinging into a room and hiding behind a wall. She panted softly, hearing footsteps begin to head down the corridor she quieted her panting. She quickly slid out the clip, checking how many rounds she had left. Four. She would have to make them counter. She slammed the clip back into the gun and held once more onto her injured side.

---

The day started just like any other, though this one surprisingly contained a lot more happiness than those previously.

Marlowe didn't quite fancy high art or history like many others did, but he could appreciate a good field trip when the necessity arose. But, it didn't mean that he knew where to take his charges, and so he took whatever suggestion they threw out at him. That wasn't many, so of course they came to a stand still in the dinosaur exhibit. Cro magnons hunted giant beasts behind thick glass walls, a little panel below explaining everything from their diet to how they lived. Like any cliche museum in New York, New York, there stood a giant collection of Tyrannosaurus Rex bones poised in the ever frightening position it would always be in: crouched low and roaring with its non-existent vocal chords. Of course, there were more that littered the area, but nothing that Marlowe wanted to pay attention to, especially since he was busy fiddling on his phone while he occasionally looked up to keep an eye on his students. Daisy's group kept close, or rather, they just happened to have the same idea and unknowingly bumped into his group. Though they seemed to quickly leave after a few glances and pictures.

There were no calls today, no e-mails or text messages, so that meant that the smile plastered on his face refused to leave. Though the guard didn't have many sympathies and was stricken by a sour mood when he barked at Marlowe. Apparently, leaning against an exhibit aroused the man's foul mood, which brought on a curt lecture about how leaning against a large, 'fragile' pile of bones put it and everyone else at risk. Not that he didn't find that important, but Marlowe couldn't help the smile from growing. His desperate biting only served to stretch his lips further and the guard caught it. Of course, Marlowe didn't have time to explain himself, nor did the guard have time to reprimand him like the adolescent child he currently acted like.

The ground shook, sounding alarms inside Marlowe's mind. The exhibit he stood under creaked from the pressure before the shaking grew in intensity until a loud crackle, boom and then a groan sounded from behind him. The explosion caught him off guard, as it did with the man in front of him who was quietly staring above. Following his gaze, he could see the cracks running rampant along a few of the pillars situated on the second tier of the building. Acting fast, just as the one directly above them burst under its weight and came hurtling down, Marlowe, with as much force as possible without breaking any bones, push kicked the guard back. He howled, slid across the floor before rolling onto his side and clenching his stomach. Marlowe responded immediately afterwards, diving behind him to unknowingly tackle a little girl just as the pillar crumbled from the impact and the bones came cascading down. He clenched her tight, though his eyes widened from the sudden collision, as they slid across the marble floor the moment the giant bones came crashed into the floor.

On full alert, Marlowe stood up, patting the little girl off before sending her to her mother, and surveyed every inch of his surroundings. His group seemed okay—unshaken—though he did recognize one girl. She lagged behind from Daisy's group, though that seemed rather fortunate for the girl she was currently huddling. His eyes flickered to the exits and doorways; they shut tightly, sealing them in one area of the building with no room for escape. None of that concerned Marlowe. All that was required of him was to keep his group and the civilians currently trapped with them as safe as possible.

"I need everyone close, now," he barked, aiming his words towards his group members and the lone straggler. Marlowe turned his attention to Spencer as he continued, "Spencer, right? I need you to keep all of these civilians safe. Are you able to do that? Are you okay to do that?"

Before he could turn to the other girls, a voice boomed over head, words laden with tyrannical hate. Marlowe inhaled sharply, slowly lowering himself to pull back the jeans. Due to the metal detectors in the front, he could only sneak the knives currently circling his calf without alarm. Telling the guards they were simply screws was enough to let him through, and thank God. He unsheathed two of his largest, making sure he kept low to the ground.

The moment the soldiers phased through, his eyes darted to everyone currently in the room and immediately slid into cover. "Cover!" he ordered, pushing himself as far against the small display. He gave Spencer a look and gestured to the civilians huddled around an exhibit too small to keep all of them safe.

"Go. Now. They're our responsibility," he said, gesturing further as he looked over toward the other girls, "You all okay? Mila? Shit."

Marlowe only saw a few of the soldiers dispatch to chase after her, leaving a majority of them to deal with the four of them. Growling, he looked over at Rory and Morena, "Do you think you guys can handle them? At least until I can get Mila out of her situation." There was no time to reprimand her now, seeing as they were currently under more than enough pressure.

Luna Marionette

Luna ignored Alicia’s beckoning, she was struggling to contain herself as her eyes whirled around the room desperately searching for a way out, completely overlooking the humans trapped in the room with them. She sprinted across the room skidding to a stop by another steel door a low growl of annoyance rumbled through her throat. Focus Luna focus! You can get out if you focus...breathe...deep breath Luna forced herself to take a deep breath, wrinkling her nose as the sharp metallic scent of blood flooded across her senses, she felt the beast shift beneath the surface that insatiable hunger threatening.

She pushed it away as quickly as it came shifting closer to Alicia eyes grazing the length of her body quickly searching for any damage happy she didn’t appear to be injured and that the scent of blood wasn’t coming from her she shifted her gaze to River merely noting the discoloration of his shirt. “Just peachy” Luna answered her voice laced with sarcasm, she looked away from them for a moment her eyes scanning the room they were trapped in...she noticed a small vent above them but she was under no illusion that she would fit through it, she lowered her eyes to the steel doors. “You know what screw this!” She grumbled stalking over to the nearest steel door she crouched quickly before a horrific screeching echoed around the room as she scraped her claws along the concrete looping them under the steel door, with a grunt of exertion she begun to lift it at a very slow pace, the mechanism at the top of the door groaned in protest, refusing to bow to her will as she managed to get it an inch off of the floor.

Her head turned as a distorted voice flickered around the room, she continued to edge the door up by now she had it at ankle height but it wasn’t budging any further.

“We live in a world where society has poisoned the souls of men. People like me stand up, arms outstretched and welcome the oppressed and the burned from hiding behind their closed doors. I whisper the secret in their ears and I have their hearts in my hands. Those who do not follow, whether they like it or not, whether they want it or not, we will pry their eyes open and force them to watch. They need to stop lying to their children and telling them that monsters aren’t real…because monsters are real. We do not hide in the dark like in the story books, we walk upright into the light and then drown that light in the tears of our broken brothers and sisters. There are no heroes, there is only those still addicted to the childhood notion that a man can be purely good in his heart. That, is a lie I will cleanse from our pallet. A lie that I will scorch from the plains of existence. Monsters. Mutants. I am W and I am your reckoning. It’s time for you to meet my brothers and sisters”

The words that reached her ears, slandered everything they were...yet confirmed what she was. “Over my dead body” She spat, rather ironic considering that was most likely exactly what W wanted...new found anger lent her strength and she gave an almighty tug on the door hearing a satisfying snap above her head as she did, she dropped to one knee as she managed to get the door up just enough that people could get through, of course at the same time soldiers seemed to phase through the walls, Luna lifted her eyes to rest on them her lip curling back revealing elongated canines as she snarled in warning.

“Get down!” She hissed at the other two, as an arc of bullets was fired in their direction; luckily the fallen plane gave them a good amount of protection as the bullets thudded into the side of the metal. Unfortunately the door wasn’t as well covered, Luna held fast unwilling to allow their only exit to fade. “River keep them busy, Alicia get everyone the hell out of here now!” Luna snapped angrily, hissing as a few stray bullets clanged against the steel door in front of her showering her with sparks, her arms begun to shake as she lifted the door higher still, just enough that she could shift underneath it resting it on her left shoulder so she was facing the soldiers, she felt the shoulder joint object to the weight but hold steady, in honesty judging by the width of the door she could have probably shredded through it faster than lifting it her claws folded into the metal slicing through it as she gripped the door tightly.

Her ears pricked as she heard gunfire echo down the hallway to her left on the other side of the steel door, panic settled into her mind the others...what about the others? The gunfire had sounded close by...If I left I could get to them... Her eyes flickered up to Alicia and River, was she seriously considering it? her eyes switched from Alicia to the child that her friend had rescued earlier it was staring at Luna with wide fearful eyes that said one word loud and clear monster

Luna dropped her gaze, her breathing becoming heavier as the soldiers seemed to zone in on them, she growled as more shots were fired ducking her head against her arm as she felt multiple bullets zero in on her position, one grazed her leg another punctured her right shoulder passing clean through the other side in a spurt of blood and sinew, she lost track of the rest though they only seemed to glance her right side grazing the skin. She needed something to jam this stupid door open; she’d deal with these bastards...but not in this tiny room, not with the humans so close to the firing line. Since when do I care so much for them anyway She chastised herself. She lifted her head, her eyes scouring the ground around her until they focused on the planes broken wing,“The wing, pass me that piece of metal" Luna growled at the pair, signalling a sheet of metal protruding from the broken wreckage with a nod her head. “Please!” She called to them, sounding more irritated than pleading she refused to plead for his help.

Aurora Claudwell

Rory had been anticipating the trip to the museum with a mix of feelings. She had visited that particular museum before. Her parents had donated a substantial amount of money to the arts, and this museum had found itself on that lengthy list. Initially, she had been looking forward to revisiting this place from her past. A place that had managed not to change too much.

However, the closer the day drew, the more anxious she became. As she walked into the building, near to her friends, her features took on a distant, contemplative manner as she considered the strange dreams she had had the previous nights, always escalating in vibrancy and urgency. Initially, they had been hard to discern from the subconscious blur of sleep, but as the field trip grew closer, they became more definite. Screaming, crying, and earthquakes.

She felt as if she were on high alert when she stood within the entrance of the museum, unable to shake the feeling of doom that lingered just beneath the surface of her mind. Luna's words cut through her thoughts, "I can't believe you talked me into this..." It seemed to snap her back into the present. She lifted her hazel eyes and turned them on Luna with an amused grin. Yet, while carrying the distinct feeling that something was wrong here, she couldn't help but regret that she had persuaded her friend to attend. She wished that her friends were far, far away from this place. She felt a deeper surge of dread when Kitty called the groups, isolating her from Alicia, Luna, and Naka. All three. She hadn't even be placed with Daisy. She frowned. Of course they had been separated. Was there anything surprising there? "Should have figured we'd get separated," Luna echoed her thoughts, "Try not to have too much fun without me..." Despite her gloomy mind set, Rory couldn't help but smile back at Luna's flirtation. Rory had noticed the shift in her teasing behavior, but of course she didn't mind, so she didn't comment on it. "No promises," she playfully responded, waving to Luna, Alicia, and Naka before being sectioned off into her group.

As they parted ways, her worry intensified. She tried to remind herself that dreams were only dreams. Murmurs of the subconscious. Still, she would have felt calmer if she were able to see her friends and know for sure that nothing bad was happening to them.

She tried to enjoy the displays, but she had seen many of them before, and her leader didn't seem too impressed by them either. Thoughts plagued her, such as, 'Should I text? Just to make sure they're okay?' She shook that notion away. That was silly wasn't it? If something happened, she would know. Guards would take action, the leaders would be notified...something that would tip her off.

And suddenly, as she was distractedly skimming an educational placard before an incomplete set of bones, it happened. She felt the familiar tingle along her spine that urged her to move. To her, it felt as if time slowed. The explosions sounded like long, drawn out rolls of thunder, consecutive and extremely loud to her sensitive ears. As the building rocked and groaned, she sprang faster than the human eye from the center of the room to the edge. Before the explosions even ended, she was positioned safely on top of a sturdy display. She had an explicit view of the scene unfolding. Earthquake, her mind supplied. She felt a tremor of that familiar dread, doused with a sense of eerie foreknowledge trickling beneath her skin. At the numerous screams of fear, the sense only grew.

She slipped down from the display and descended into chaos. Mostly, the civilians were terrified. They didn't know how to handle a crisis. But then, did she? The voice boomed across the loudspeakers, seeming to be much louder than necessary to her alert and heightened senses. At the conclusion of that friendly speech, the numerous guards appeared. Rory's first instinct was to blast through them and get to her friends. To Luna, Alicia and Naka. The urge was nearly overpowering. She couldn't, wouldn't allow them to be harmed. Before her minds eye, she saw the faces of her mother, father, and her small sister. Her brother before he had disappeared in the flaming night. The pain felt sharp and new. No, she wouldn't allow this.

The sound of shots sliced through her mind like a razor, and she was suddenly alight with fury. She took Mr. Faraday's question as permission to spring forward, at a speed that would challenge a bullet, and connected with the nearest soldier. A shot fired, and missed. Her greatest strength was her speed. In her aggressive state, she was blindingly fast as a clawed hand reached up and pierced through the trigger hand of a guard. There was an agonized shout as the weapon clattered to the ground. Within seconds, the unfortunate man was flipped around in front of her body, a human shield as she pushed forward to disarm three more of them in a few fluttered blinks of an eye.

Spencer

It felt like eternity before Spencer was even able to process the words falling out of Professor Marlowe’s mouth. Protect the citizens. Spencer’s eyes fell on them in an instant, and as the words of her Professor drummed through her mind, fear enveloped her with a brewing intensity. “Um,” she stammered, sweat beading on the back of her neck. She felt so utterly exposed in that moment, as every pair of eyes locked just on her, looking for answers.

What was she to do? Build them a fort made of ice in hopes that no bullets come in contact with it? No, she wasn’t to use her powers in a scenario such as this unless it was life-threatening. And apparently being shot at didn’t classify as life-threatening.

She attempted to swallow but her mouth was so terribly dry. She felt sick to her stomach, even though she hadn’t had a single thing to eat all day. Adrenaline was coursing through her veins with every passing second, and as the gunshots sounded, her inability to think clearly increased tremendously. She wasn’t equipped to deal with so many people at one time, let alone keep herself safe for that matter.

Why hadn’t the professor offer to take this position? Surely he was more adept than she was. He’d had more years of this than she had, and could better control his emotions, so why hadn’t he done it? Why did he hold the student of a mere three weeks responsible for the lives of eleven innocent civilians? Perhaps because he was busy with other means. He had other things to take care of, and by the looks of it, these students seemed to be doing an excellent job at fighting back. Especially Rory, who flung herself at anyone with a gun. She was so agile, it made Spencer wonder what her ability was.

The other girl, Mila, had fled. But not because she was overwhelmed and scared – no, she was fighting back, too. Mila was shooting. This was nothing new to Spencer, so why did it feel so fucking real? Like this was the first time she’d been put in this position?

Spencer awoke to the sound of screaming. It was mommy. Rickie, who lay next to her, with his head burrowed in her side, was trembling. She reached for his arm and held him close, his chin resting on the crook of her neck. “Shh,” she cooed. “It’s okay.” But it wasn’t. Spencer knew that. There were guns, she could hear them, but she tried to cover Rickie’s ears before he heard them, too.

A gun went off. Rickie wailed. The person in the other bed stirred. Spencer cupped her hand over Rickie’s mouth and implored him to stop. If daddy heard him, they’d be in so, so much trouble…

“Shut the fuck up!” growled the person in the bed adjacent to theirs. It was a man, and he was angry. Spencer pleaded as Rickie tried his best to stop, but he simply couldn’t. The guns had scared him too much.

There were footsteps nearing their room. Daddy had heard them. And he was carrying the gun. He burst through the door, and all three of them jumped. The man settled back into his bed, though, knowing that this wasn’t abnormal in their household. He wouldn’t have to know the pain.

“Who’s cryin’?” he slurred, taking a swig of whatever alcohol he held in his hand. He swayed to the bed slowly, and then all at once, resting the gun on Spencer’s leg just above the covers. Her leg throbbed. The gun was so heavy. “I’ll give you something to cry about.”

“Daddy, no, please—” Spencer cried as the gun was pointed at them.

In the dark. Always in the dark.

Jerking her head to the sound of a reverberating bullet, Spencer whipped herself around and swept a gun off the ground, aiming it where the man currently stood and pulling the trigger. It was so abrupt, that she hadn’t even noticed the man collapsing, hauling her own ass up with her eyes suddenly narrowed.

“Yeah,” she answered to Professor Marlowe. “I got this. Everyone, get up! Follow me. Don’t you leave my side until we’re out of here, got that? Let’s go.”

Going in the direction that Mila had gone through, Spencer pointed the gun directly ahead of her, easing her way down the hall with tentative steps. Had she not been absolutely alert, she might not have noticed the gaping hole in the wall just to the side of her. A statue that had previously been implanted into the wall had fallen to its death, leaving behind an opening that could very well lead these civilians to safety.

“Stay back,” she told them, to which they obliged. Crouching down to eye level of the wall, she spotted what she believed to be sanctuary on the other side. It, too, had been wrecked, but not as badly as they’d gotten it. Plus, she didn’t see any soldiers which was a serious plus.

But the hole was far too small to fit even a child through it. If Spencer was going to get them over there, she was going to have to find a way to break through this. Unfortunately, the only way she thought that to be possible was to use her abilities. “Fuck,” she hissed. Referring back to the people all huddled together, she instructed them to stand behind a beheaded statue, and stay there until she said otherwise.

They were reluctant in doing so at first, but giving the lone man there a gun seemed to calm them down a bit. It was a good thing they didn’t know how little time Spencer actually had. More of those phasing soldiers were coming. Not only could she feel it, but she could hear it.

Spencer went to the opening with her palms pressed firmly against the wall around it. She closed her eyes and took a breath, transferring whatever ability she had to her hands that would then branch off to the wall. It took time, and it took patience – which she had very little of. Her powers worked with little time to spare, and using a block of cinder, Spencer smashed down the iced portion of the wall, managing to widen the wall a bit. It was a tight squeeze, but it would have to do.

“Come on,” she urged, and one by one, the civilians scrambled through. She followed after and was immediately greeted by a line of soldiers with their guns raised. They weren’t going to hesitate to shoot, for that Spencer knew. She could take them all at once, but what were the odds that she missed one before it was too late? She couldn’t risk that.

She was running out of options.

Alicia started to think about Rory and if she was okay or not and what was happening with her other classmates that were in their other groups and hoped that they were all okay. Alicia looked at River noticing the blood from his shirt. She knew that it would get worse if it wasn't treated soon then the loudspeakers came to life hearing distorted voice saying.

“We live in a world where society has poisoned the souls of men. People like me stand up, arms outstretched and welcome the oppressed and the burned from hiding behind their closed doors. I whisper the secret in their ears and I have their hearts in my hands. Those who do not follow, whether they like it or not, whether they want it or not, we will pry their eyes open and force them to watch. They need to stop lying to their children and telling them that monsters aren’t real…because monsters are real. We do not hide in the dark like in the story books, we walk upright into the light and then drown that light in the tears of our broken brothers and sisters. There are no heroes, there is only those still addicted to the childhood notion that a man can be purely good in his heart. That, is a lie I will cleanse from our pallet. A lie that I will scorch from the plains of existence. Monsters. Mutants. I am W and I am your reckoning. It’s time for you to meet my brothers and sisters”

Alicia didn't know this man, but knew that he was bad and had something against her kind, just as the message had stopped armed men started to phase through the walls similar to Headmistress Pryde, They started to open fire on them, Alicia noticed Luna going to the door again using her immense strength to lifting up the heavy metal door hearing her friend yelling for help to prop the heavy door open and get as much of the innocent people out of the room. "I'm on it!" Alicia yelled looking to River worried about him. "We will get it looked at once we are out of here." Alicia said.

She then ran towards the wrecked replica plane grabbing a heavy piece of the metal wing, dragging it over to the metal door and jammed it under the door. "Your good to go Luna!" Alicia said noticing the bullet wounds in Luna's shoulder and leg, it made her angry that these men had attacked them for no reason, the brown haired woman made her way towards the boy she saved earlier. She then noticed the boy's mother had been shot in the back they were hiding under one of the displays the boy looked fearful at Luna. "Don't worry shes friendly. We are going to get you two safe." Alicia said.

Just as she said that Alicia felt a barrel of a rifle touching the back of her head. "Got you now don't move." The armed man said, Alicia turned her head slightly to look at the man, he was about to fire the trigger. Alicia slowly stared to take off one of her gloves, and used some of Daisy's training and quickly disarmed him, the rifle rolling towards River, Alicia used her bare hand touching the man's face her vision suddenly faded. Alicia got a few glimpses of her hosts past, nothing useful. "Go and get through the door I got your mother!" Alicia said through the much older man's voice, Alicia made sure her body was well out of the line of fire. "Everyone get out of the room now and help those who are wounded! Alicia yelled to the remaining civilians they did what they were told and went through the small gap.

Alicia then took her host's side arm and started to open fire on them managing to shoot down at least two of them.

River

As the rifle slid over to River he could finally see more hope for him in this fight. He quickly got down and grabbed the weapon before moving behind cover, a standing marble pillar at the side of the room. Where the hell where all these guys coming from? They were phasing through the walls, showing mutant abilities but they were attacking mutants? This didn't add up at all. Was this some kind of technology they had developed? Judging from the assault rifle River had been graciously given, these guys were packing some high level heat. He removed the clip and slid it into his pocket before duplicating another and loaded the rifle, now ready for the battle raging all around them. He noticed how a few bullet rammed into the pillar while more lead flew past and hit the wall in front of him. River had been useless up until now and it was time to help out in any way he could. The pain in his side was killing him slowly but that was a problem for another time. Unless he could step up and fire some bullets, the enemy would kill him long before the wound would.

Their assault gear was made of some heavy stuff. Bullets hitting their chests and bodies would surely hurt them, but it would require more than one go and he'd be left out in the open for too long. Breathing out, River revealed himself and sent a short burst into one of the soldiers, aiming for the upper part of his torso and managed to plant bullets by his collar and throat. Good, that worked. Before he left himself a sitting duck, River moved back behind cover just in time for the hail of bullets to miss. This was exactly what he wanted to avoid. He didn't want to kill anyone, he didn't want to end a life because of self defence. What exactly had he become now? He was no better than the people trying to kill them. Clenching his teeth, River's hand shook slightly while gripping the rifle. If he'd get out of this, it would a rough night to sleep through. With a deep sigh, River had to accept the situation for what it was. He peeked behind cover and noticed another three soldiers heading for him and the other mutants. They were so many.

River moved from his hiding place and raised his rifle, pulling the trigger for full auto and returned the hail of bullets once given to him, quickly shifting targets from one to the other before emptying the clip and rolled behind a smaller marble altar with a display on top and reloaded his gun. All the moving around was making his wound worst and he couldn't keep this up forever. Another three guards had fallen but he was nearly out of this fight at this point.

This particular museum wasn't exactly her favorite, as Art preferred art museums, obviously. But history was as important as art. She was silent on the bus ride there, sitting with Freddie and holding his hand as she drowned out chatter with Deadmau5 blaring in her ears. It wasn't until he gave her hand a squeeze that she realized they'd arrived. There weren't that many students, the trip being an optional choice. Out of their nearly one thousand students not even twenty wished to attend. She cut Kitty a side look when the Head Mistress announced they'd be breaking into groups, a light frown on her face. Why? They were hardly enough to fill a small classroom. It seemed silly to her but she complied anyways and dragged her group to the WWII section where she quizzed everyone in her group lazily. She wasn't exactly enthusiastic as she looked over everything. She zoned out, her vision blurry as the thought of war forced to remember again her own past war and the war she waged on herself now. She was soon tore from her thoughts by the shaking and loud boom of an explosion. Her ears were still ringing as she immediately threw herself over a young girl who had separated from her elder sister to listen to Art speak.

As she stood back up her anger boiled and bubbled at W's words until it was visible. At first when her glow surfaced it was dark red, revealing her scathing anger and frustration. A hard and thin layer of light solidified over her form and provided a body shield for her, eliminating the need for her to flinch against flying rubble or squint to avoid getting the settling dust and debris in her eyes. The child she was shielding had been snatched away by her sister who was afraid, now seeing that she was in the company of mutants. Art managed to keep her cool enough that her glow dimmed, watching as her students made an exit for the civilians while fighting back against the soldiers that had materialized through the walls. Whether they were humans who hated mutants or Uncle Tom mutants, she didn't care. They were going to die. Bullets smashed against the light coating her, not even cracking it as they clattered to the ground in failed attempts on her life. She'd jump into the fray soon enough but she figured that now was as good a time as any, if not the best, to scout X-Men potential in the students.

Luna was an absolute beast and Art was looking forward to seeing her in the Danger Room. It hadn't been a favored place of hers until she was chosen to lead the new X-Men. As a student, she was hardly there. Her first session had lead to twenty-four of her classmates with various broken bones, third degree burns, and four of them comatose. She wasn't allowed to fight other students after that. She would fight with Logan instead and even then, she was hardly there. After her memory was altered she was never there again. But, not many were. After one's first session they were only ever allowed back again if they had been chosen to train as X-Men. And there weren't many added to the team. Charles always stated that he wanted a team - Not an army. The young mixed Professor intended on honoring his wish by remaining extremely selective with the X-Men recruits. Only they would be taught advanced combat, learning to amplify and apply their powers in ways they'd never imagined. Why? Because she wasn't going to recruit people she didn't trust and she wasn't going to have vigilantes in their midst. Funny though, seeing as the X-Men themselves were vigilantes to the government.

But...  It was good to see how they coped in a true dangerous setting. River didn't seem to be quite as battle savvy. She knew he was good with firearms. She slipped away, though hardly far, watching as the three worked as a team to save the civilians as well as each other. Luna used her strength to pry open a steel door. Impressive. Alicia seemed more of a support type. But she could well enough hold her own against humans. River having a weapon now showed her his potential and she silently made note of the actions from them all. River, though, she could see would need a hell of a lot of condition training. One wound, not even from a bullet, was starting to slow him down. Weak..., she thought to herself before cringing. The darkness in her was rising. But she wasn't going to force it down this time. It was hardly a good time for any meditation or yoga anyways.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped out into the line of fire and gave a sharp and high pitched whistle to draw attention to her. The humans were gone. It was only her, her students, and the soldiers now. They came for death and they would have it. Letting herself be taken over by the warrior in her, the hidden beast, she began to frown. Her face contorted and an expression of rage took over. Concentrating, she could feel every individual photon of light in the room trying to gravitate towards her, almost as if desiring to mesh with her being. She pushed them away and instead coated her students in light. "Now, we fight." While she would have loved to make each of the soldiers suffer for hurting her students, destroying a museum, putting innocent lives in danger, and simply being fucking idiots, she knew she had to end it quickly. They had to find the others. She walked through the rain of bullets as more soldiers came, counting out thirty-five. "How about we even out the playing field," she sneered as hands of light materialized and began to snatched and toss away the guns of the soldiers. "Guns are for the weak anyways," she scoffed. Gone was the usual kindness, love, and gentleness in her voice. it was replaced by all of the sass, attitude, and scathing hatred and superiority possessed by her alter ego.

No sooner had his gun been taken away did a soldier run at her and grab her by the shoulders. He was met with the heel of her palm connecting heavily with his nose, effectively breaking it and pushing him away as she delivered three quick blows to his chest with her elbow, pushing him further away and probably cracking a few ribs with the sheer force before lifting her leg high and kicking him in the stomach, sending him to the ground. Another came behind her and attempted to attack with kicks but she dodged them all. As he was in a squat position she used it to her advantage, stepping up onto his thigh with her left and bring her right knee to his neck while driving her knuckles into his face. He fell and another came, throwing a punch. She grabbed him by the wrist as she sidestepped it and pulled him in, grabbing his shoulder and began rapidly kicking him in the stomach while forcing him to bend and meet her foot. He strained to breathe as she released him only to deliver a spinning kick to his sternum. The wave of soldiers continued, two charging her at once. She grabbed one and bent him over, driving her knees into his ribs twice before kicking out backwards at the one who had come from behind, returning soon enough to slam her elbow into the side of the other's face, snapping his neck as he fell to the ground.

She would not be stopped, swatting away the soldiers like flies. Limbs were broken, ribs were cracked, skulls were smashed, and necks were snapped as she fought. It took all of her will power not to rip out their organs and bones to beat them with. It took even more will not to simply blast holes through their heads. She stuck to hand to hand combat, outmatching all that approached her even when they charged her in waves. "Faster! We need to find the others!" She barked the order at the students as she gouged a woman's eyes out before pushing the screaming human away from her in disgust, stepping on the head of a man who had grabbed at her leg, driving her heel through his temple with a few stomps that didn't end until he was merely convulsing. Truly, no fucks were given this day as she quite literally roared, her muscles flexing as her hands curled into fists and colored lights flashed around her. Her blue hair and tan complexion were stained with blood, much like the rest of her body and clothes. She wasn't exactly drenched in it though. She wiped away the blood from her tattoos and grimaced as she turned to watch her students finish off their fights.

She would not aid them for now.

Freddie/Duncan/Frankie

As soon as the first soldier passed through the wall, Duncan was immediately before him. It was days like this that the Navy college was training him for. Using his superior mutant strength, the young man pushed the attacks gun upwards, wildfire spread across the ceiling until the gun landed on the floor. Grabbing the soldiers right arm, obviously the man’s more dominant one, Duncan bent it in an inhuman manner, the bone protruded freely from the skin as the boy plunged knee after knee into the man’s gut. Truly, Duncan’s was a brutal fighting style. Flinging himself backwards, the mutant pulled W’s soldier with him, smashing his masked face across the cold marble floor; a pool of ooze soon enveloped the man’s skull. It wasn’t blood, what on Earth?...

Freddie watched as Duncan and Frankie finished off the enemies that had appeared in their section of the building. They were both well trained, obviously being trained by the royal navy had done wonders for them. Frankie was graceful with finesse like a ballet dancer. She didn’t kill, her strikes were all on pressure points, collapsing enemy attacks with one move or stunning them with her powers. It was actually quite beautiful to watch. Duncan on the other hand was vicious. It was strong style, no holds barred, a real physical style of violence. Yet in spite of that, each strike and hold was thought out, he was planning three steps ahead with each move. A great tactical mind lay behind those grey eyes. It was quite sinister but also very efficient.

With the last of their enemies down, Freddie was about to raise the steel door that blocked their exit when Frankie called to him. “COACH!” She yelled. “Look at this!” She pointed out the dark ooze that was flowing freely from the unconscious or dead bodies on the floor around them. The Sicilian looked at then closely. He closed his eyes and lost himself in memory, he had seen this before, back when he was a student himself. Where was it? Come on Freddie, think. He opened his eyes and got to his feet after kneeling down to examine the bodies. “Stand back” He pushed his students behind him and raised his left hand. With a flick of his wrist, the steel door flew off its mount and through a far wall, revealing Nia and her group of students. “Go now, get to Professor Torres” Freddie brought up the rear as Duncan, Frankie and Harley joined the other group. The Coach strode up alongside Nia and placed a subtle hand on the small of her back. He was glad to see she was ok but now wasn’t the time for mushiness. “They’re LMD’s Nia” He spoke softly into her ear.

Elsewhere, in the Ancient Egypt section of the museum, Daisy lay unconscious in a pile of rubble, a dark eyed young man picked her up into his arms and carried her through the cloud of smoke, he could hear a girl calling ”Miss Vaughn? Danny? He had seen the girl with the other two just before the explosion. He approached her with Daisy in his arms. “You’re Naka right?” He said. “Listen, you need to go. I’ve got your teacher, I’ll get her out. Go through that hole in the wall there and follow the corridor. You’ll find your other friends, you need to get out of here” The boy swiftly disappeared back into the dust cloud from which he came, with Daisy in tow.

It was only a matter of moments before Naka surveyed the scene. She knew how to keep herself safe, usually, it came from living on the streets for the past two years. Her ears still ringing she moved forward only to find Miss Vaughn in the arms. He spoke her name and the gypsy nodded as he carried off her teacher. All around her Naka could hear gunfire and the sounds of people screaming.

With one more look back, she slipped into a crouch and made her way through the hole that had been made in the wall. A cough escaped her as she moved down the corridor and stayed to the wall. Her foot caught something as she fell to the wall. The body of a young man was crushed in rubble, her booted foot had caught under his crooked arm. A gasp escaped her as the teen backed up in horror. Thoughts of her friends in the same position as the crushed boy came unbidden and caused the fear to freeze her in her tracks.

A curse escaped her as she forced her legs to carry her. A set of stairs appeared at the end of the hall and it was the only way she could go. As the teen took the steps two at a time, she only paused when the clatter of gunfire came too close for comfort. The sound of booted feet hitting the stairs echoed up the stairwell, and the fear threated to paralyze the girl. If her friends were down there and hurt, this man was the only thing standing between her and them, as far as she knew.

It's now or never

Her hand gripped the cool metal railing and the girl concentrated for moment. A dark green sprout shot along the underside of the railing and soon began to spread. At first it would be but an annoyance to the man climbing the stairs, the young mutant out of sight, but as the vine sprouted more off shoots, they wrapped more solidly around the legs of the man. By the second landing he was rooted to the spot, a shaking and terrified Naka concentrating to smother him before her made a sound. The sprouts thickened and as the man tried to fire off a shot, the gypsy grew angry, thorns digging through his clothing now.

It took a full minute to no longer hear the man struggling inside his vined cocoon before she carefully picked her way down the stairs.

Gingerly, she pushed the door open to see groups of people filing past. Some of them looked familiar, when green eyes searched, Naka held her breath as she moved back low to the ground, she needed to find the others. The man had said to follow the hall and here she was, in the WWII exhibit. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of a group that seemed to contain people she recognized. Keeping close to the wall, she moved closer, hoping she was right.

Luna Marionette

Luna lifted the door off of her shoulder as Alicia shifted the metal underneath it; she allowed it to rest on the metal sheet inwardly grimacing as the metal groaned in protest. It wouldn’t hold long, she turned just in time to watch Alicia disarm a soldier before touching him, she was aware of her friend’s abilities but that didn’t stop the uneasy feeling rise within her. She heard River open fire on the remaining soldiers drawing their attention away from the door; she moved aside allowing the civilians out into the hallway though she didn't follow them out she remained in the room. Rory had crossed her mind a few times since they had been attacked, she knew her friend could handle herself, she believed in her abilities which had helped her quell her worry however. Luna hesitated momentarily as a high pitched whistle caught her attention and stung her ears she turned to watch Professor Torres thankful their teacher was seemingly unhurt, she shifted impatiently as she felt a sheen of light cover her, her eyes alight with anticipation as she watched Professor Torres move into the hail of bullets disarming the soldiers with minimal effort, hands of light snatched the weapons away with practiced ease.

Luna crouched low to the ground casting Alicia’s body a glance to check it was OK before she flicked her gaze back up to the professor noticing the soldiers beginning to flock to her she thought it was as good a time as any to jump into the fray. As a soldier turned towards the door she propelled herself over the metal sheet she had been using as cover instantly dropping to the floor as he tried to aim a sidearm at her she slid along the ground and straight through his legs hearing bullets slam into the concrete behind her.

She dug her claws into the ground to stop her sliding as she slashed her claws across the backs of his knees severing the ligaments causing him to howl in pain and drop to his knees. She leapt to her feet growling as he fired a hand gun desperately over his shoulder, she dodged the bullets with ease grabbing the gun and yanking it from his grip before bringing the butt of the gun down towards the man’s face with enough force to crack his protective headgear, she kneed him in the back of the head a satisfying snap ringing in her ears. He’d barely hit the floor before she had sprung to the next soldier, discarding the gun as she moved dropping to the floor she avoided a high kick nimbly swinging her leg in an arc underneath her she knocked the soldiers supporting ankle out from under him causing him to lose his balance and fall back onto his backside as he hit the floor Luna’s claws swung up towards his face puncturing his lower jaw and snapping his back head in a spurt of dark goo, as she ripped her claws free she tore half of his helmet away from his face sending it skittering across the floor as she moved onto the next soldier.

Despite the brutality of her actions as she slashed her way through the soldiers there was a refined structure to how she moved from one enemy to the next with obvious room for improvement her take downs could be cleaner and a lot faster, she was leaving herself too open to counter-attacks depending heavily on her reflexes to pick up the slack, it was all a rather unnecessary risk, at least there was thought behind each move which suggested she was in control of her actions, she hadn’t submitted to her rage. The strange ooze that seemed to spew forth from the soldiers wounds repulsed Luna as it soaked into her clothes and doused her hair staining the blonde locks a peculiar color. She leapt at one of the last soldiers impaling him on her claws as her fingers sunk deep into his belly gripping his throat with her other hand she spun round slamming him into the wall with enough force to break probably every bone in his body as well as cause the damaged structure to crack dangerously, it wouldn't take much for it to crumble in on itself a smile flickered over her face as she released him and he crumpled to the floor, she wiped her hand on her jeans as they were already covered in the dark liquid anyway.

The smile quickly faded as she felt another soldier approach her from behind, she turned sharply ready to engage him when a loud metallic clatter erupted around the room strong enough to disorientate her as it assaulted her sensitive ears causing her to recoil from it. She hissed angrily as the man collided with her lifting her off of her feet and propelling them both through the wall behind her as the structure caved into the other room in a flurry of dust and debris.

Luna brought her knees up to her chest digging her feet into the man’s abdomen as they went through the wall, she grabbed at the material covering his shoulders and as her back painfully connected with the floor she propelled him over her head sending him flying across the new room and unintentionally impaling him on a large dinosaur bone that had already tumbled to the ground during the tremors. Luna continued to roll back onto her feet, pulling her lip back in a snarl as she brushed herself down. “That ought to teach him” She grumbled, putting a hand to her left side her fingers slid across the moist material with ease thanks to the lubrication of the dark liquid she was covered in, she winced as her fingers jabbed at a bloody shard of glass embedded in her side with a small grunt of discomfort she tugged the offensive item from her flesh before tossing it to the side. Her ears pricked as Freddie’s voice echoed out of the messy hole she had left in the wall of the WWII section, looking over her shoulder at the room she had burst into. She could see that she was now stood in the dinosaur section of the museum, her eyes glanced over the messy piles of bones that were strewn across the floor.

Luckily on the way through the wall the soldier and herself hadn’t passed through any piping though she heard the angry crackle of electricity from the few black cables that had been ripped from their places some being torn completely by the action. Luna took a step towards the hole looking over the combined forces of Freddie's and Professor Torres groups, about to regroup with them when she caught Rory’s scent she was rather attuned to it...not that is was ever to be mentioned, she knew it was strange. She stopped and turned around heading further into the new exhibit her eyes searching the area around her instantly alert for danger as she hopped further into the room, catching Morena's scent as well as traces of the others who had been there previously. "Rory? Morena?" Luna called, she was close to cover should the response be a hail of bullets.

---

The day, so far, fluctuated across a spectrum of time.

Worry gnawed his perception to a near grinding halt; the group around him could probably feel the anxiety rolling off of him in waves.

And then it stopped completely—a calm—before everything went into full overdrive. He was staring intently at a tablet in the center just in front of the archway to another section, a frown stretching his lips lower at the sullen words. Next thing he knew he was face first near another display, nursing a lightly bleeding noise—bruised, not broken. Everything after that was a muffled mess of explosions and words before he was standing stock still in front of four soldiers, with the rest of his group preoccupied with their batch of gunmen.

Something coursed through his veins, like a switch that turned on every sense in his body and overwhelmed him with panic, adrenaline, and a sudden urge to flee. It ripped through him before the bullets ever could and glued his feet to the floor. Harley could feel the toxins leave his body and stain the air with their contagion; he could smell the sudden difference all too well. Now, as it spread across him, he could only feel the urge to do one thing: get away from Duncan, Frankie, and Freddie as fast as his legs could take him.

The men before him dropped their weapons, hunched over, and waited for his inevitable move, like a pack of starved hyenas desperate for anything. That was his cue. Harley spun and ran down the wide expanse of exhibits and artifacts that littered the room. For a second there, he let him quietly bask in the Indiana Jones feel of it all, before reality hit him square in the jaw. There were still people there and though they were frightened and huddled in blotches around the halls, they would rise up like vicious dogs if he were to get close enough. Even with the shock and panic shaking through him, he knew better than to risk the lives of innocent people.

Eventually, though, he did have to stop. A group of people were currently staring at him wild eyed, some pointing at the soldiers behind him. His eye caught the door to an opened janitor's closet and without thinking he slid in, leaving the door ajar for the four to pounce on him. Harley stood stock still as they eyed the group of people hungrily, the moment going over in halves and quarters of the time it actually did. It was slow, their sudden disinterest as they all snapped their necks in unison to face him, eyes gaunt and stricken with bulging veins visible behind the helmets they wore. They dove, smashing themselves through the doorway in a fight to get to their prey and Harley stood there, eyebrows suddenly furrowing as his gaze hardened. It was slow at first, their bodies attempting to push themselves through and successfully doing so, albeit at a sluggish pace, but they calmed down. Or at least, that's what it looked like, and Harley made no move or indication he had done something, but the air changed drastically in that split second.

The soldiers stood, inching themselves out of their predicament and stood as stock still in the hallway. Harley finally made his move, the soldiers parting as he exited. They switched places, Harley observing from outside whilst they waited within the tiny space. And Harley shut the door before audible howling and roars could be heard from within. The door shuttered under a sudden weight; loud bangs could be heard from inside; gurgling and snapping all in unison under a cacophony of fleshy sounds and desperate cries. Until blood pooled from within, inching its way from under the crack to soak Harley's white and blue converse shoes.

Checking for any survivors wasn't necessary. When the sounds stopped, so did their heartbeats. His blood running cold was enough of a signal for him to turn toward the group of huddled people, catch their eyes for a moment, and then shamefully turn away.

Harley caught up with his group the moment Freddie gestured for them to head through the now open doorway, a track of blood visibly following him down the hallway. He didn't speak, just cast his eyes downward before stepping up toward Art and Frankie as Freddie approached the blood spattered teacher. If he looked up, he'd swear he could see her in some war torn battlefield in the middle-ages, shouting a blood curdling call to action. The notion sent shivers down his spine, but he made no indication that he acknowledged everyone else. With his abilities still volatile from previous use, any further stimulation could bring down the building, that how fearsome the mutants around him were.

The mess that Art was observing, the battle her students were still locked in, didn't register for him and they couldn't, lest he have another issue arise. Harley had been lucky he was far enough away from Frankie or Freddie or Duncan when it happened not a few minutes ago.

He wasn't quite sure now.

River

Soon after the bloodshed had begun, and River picked up a gun, he felt his energy quickly leak out of the open wound in his side. Once the soldiers had been dispatched in the large, open room where he had fought alongside his classmates and Professor Torres, it was time to take care of his wound. River wasn’t quite out of this battle yet, and he didn’t plan to lay down and let that wound be the end of him. Agreeing to the help that was given, River clenched his teeth at the immense pain aching through his body once Torres removed the debris and cauterised the wound. River’s body tensed, his teeth and fists clenched at the battlefield aid he was granted. No time for a hospital bed to treat this wound.

Luckily, no internal organs had been damaged. Well, there was no way to know for sure but he didn’t feel like he was falling apart on the inside and that was at least a plus. Once the wound had been closed, painfully, he’d notice how the hole wasn’t very big at all. How could so much blood come out of an opening that small? With little time to dwell, River had to get a move on. Everyone was either evacuating civilians or searching for each other and he had to do his part in looking for his friends. Once he was back in action, it was easier to move and the pain wasn’t enough to slow him down.

Preparing the assault rifle, River started towards the doorway, seeing how black goo was enveloping the fallen soldiers. This was new. "The hell’s next…?” He thought, keeping his eyes open for an impending ambush. Sure as it was, a guard appeared and pulled a sidearm at River. The assault rifle was nowhere to be seen, he was wounded and had apparently been in a battle before approaching the young gunslinger. Hoping to spare at least one life, River released a bullet aimed at the man’s gun which effectively disarmed him but the battle didn’t end there. Given the rather short distance between the two, the guard charged forth and managed to tackle River to the floor. Pulling a knife from its sheath, the soldier attempted to impale the young man but quick enough with his reflexes, River managed to hold up his hands and grabbed the man’s forearm.

“Just die, kid!” The man shouted, easily about the win the contest of strength, would it have continued. River moved his hand ever so slightly, just enough for the knife to come in contact with his skin. A duplicate appeared in his other hand and he quickly shoved it into the soldier’s throat and pushed him off. This was getting seriously heated, he needed to get his shit together and stop being so distracted. Unless he killed them, they’d kill him. No exceptions were about to come his way. Once up on his feet again, River continued down the hall, grabbed his rifle and searched for Luna who had been with him before. No wait, where was Alicia? Damn, the chaos was tearing everyone from place. After a short while, he located Alicia. Shit, was she dead!? Her body was nearly hidden, but after a short train of thought, River understood that Alicia had used her powers. Well, the best thing to do was to cover her until her mind found home again. River picked up his pace and sprinted over to Alicia’s body, kneeling down next to it and kept on guard with his rifle ready.

Aurora Claudwell

Rory seemed to disappear into what she had become in those moments. Her dark waves of hair flashed around her shoulders with each twist that brought a heel to a solid temple, and each strike that sent her claws through a piece of fabric that might as well have been paper thin. She was aggressive, as if the fight was purely personal. On some level, it had become so with the threat to the only home she recognized. Was it fear that pushed her forward? That turned her into a predatory creature?

She had been left alone in a grouping of half a dozen soldiers with the disappearance of Mr. Faraday who had gone to rescue Mila. Another mutant had been sentenced to crowd control. This battle had been required of her, and she tore into it with crushing speed. She felt automatically at the advantage with that point alone. What made her even more opposing was the odd intuition she felt. She sensed a hit coming before it landed, jerked out of the way with long moments to spare. She seemed to be natural. However, what her speed and intuition couldn't make up for was her lack of experience. Somewhere in her passionate dance with guns and claws, Rory dissolved into her furious emotion. The footwork and fighting style that she had only recently undertaken increased in sloppiness. It would be hard to tell at how fast she moved, but her kicks became inaccurate, her lunges a little wide. It was a matter of time before one swift foot caught the ankle of a fallen foe.

Ideally, cats always land on their feet. Rory, the exception, tumbled to the ground with a sudden "Oomph!" A soldier was upon her in seconds, and it was at this moment that she noticed the strange ooze replacing what should have been blood seeping from the three straight claw marks on his cheek. He wouldn't be able to overpower her, of course. But from where she sat, it was obvious that she couldn't outrun a bullet. She glared at the male as the cool barrel kissed her forehead, shiny with a thin sheen of sweat. "You're quiet the handful, girlie," he growled.

Her heart raced beneath her heaving breast, breath high and elevated. She scrambled for thought, for solution. The only truth she knew was that would kill her. He would. She had to do something!

Her hand shot up, fast as ever. She wrenched the gun to the side. The discharge of a bullet rang in her ears like thunder, particularly devastating to her heightened senses. She let out a horrid scream as she felt an angry force of pain ignite her shoulder, but her body was still in movement. Propelled forward by some animalistic momentum, she flipped the soldier hard into the solid ground. The gun clattered uselessly to the floor the instant her claws sank into his throat. His body gave a twitch, a last pathetic reach for life. The sounds of wet gurgling tapered off until he laid still amidst the several other corpses of his brothers.

For what felt like a long moment, Rory sat still, claws drenched in the strange fluid of her enemies, her own shoulder dripping with red. Each breath came into her lungs tensely, and left with a painful shudder. It may have been the sight of her own blood that reminded her of her own mortality. That recalled to her the human parts of her being. Somehow, she felt as if the weight of each of their lives were resting on her back. How could she possibly stand when she felt so heavy?

Her ears twitched when she heard the distant calling of a familiar voice, "Rory?"

Her hazel eyes lifted from the mess of bodies and bones, as if looking to the sunrise. "Luna?" she tried calling back, but her voice came out as nothing more than a strangled mumble. She staggered to her feet, wincing as her shoulder shifted uncomfortably. She lifted a hand to steady her arm, keeping it as still as possible. "Luna!" she called louder. Her eyes searched through the mess of the museum, eager or frantic, until they finally landed on the familiar face hovering amidst the fallen displays. She let out a breath of relief and darted to her friend, who seemed as golden and beautiful as ever despite the mess of ooze she was covered in. She only paused when her arm gave another painful shift. Her face twisted in pain as she clutched to her wounded shoulder. "Are you okay?" she questioned in a strained tone.

Alicia took cover behind a pillar as she was being shot at by the soldiers, when the armed men stopped to reload she used that time to return fire, she watched as Professor Torres came into the fight watching her teacher easily take out each of the men with her powers and disarming them and using hand to hand combat. She noticed that the men's blood looked more like black goo, suddenly one of the soldiers snuck up behind her holding a knife in his hand. Alicia grabbed the man's hand and twisted his arm roughly hearing a sickening snap, she reached for the man's side arm and shot him several times until he fell down.

When the fighting finally slowed down Alicia ran back to her body seeing River guarding it, she quickly set her weapons down on the ground to let him know that it was her. "It's me River don't shoot." Alicia said kneeling down next to her body, she set her hands on her own face and transferred her mind back to her own body and quickly woke up the man she took over fell unconscious. "Thank you for watching over my body." Alicia said standing up looking towards the hole in the wall Luna had made and looked towards River. "Lets go meet up with the others, she looked towards Professor Torres as she took out the last man in the room.

Luna Marionette

Luna’s fingers curled into her palms as she caught the sharp copper scent of Rory’s blood it overpowered the smell of her own blood with ease, she felt another snarl escape her throat, canines on full display. Her eyes narrowed as her heightened hearing picked up a barely audible mumble, she was more than sure it was Rory so she moved in the direction the noise had come from the scent of blood growing stronger with each step. Her direction was confirmed when she heard Rory’s voice call her name, definitely louder this time. She practically bolted towards it awash with panic; she nimbly slid across the exposed back of a fallen display case laid face down on the floor, landing lightly on the other side continuing on, her chest rose and fell in quick succession as her breathing grew heavier, her eyes practically glowed with anticipation as she came to an abrupt halt between a few destroyed display cases, feeling a presence dart towards her she jolted to face it, her eyes quickly focusing on Rory.

She didn’t do a good job of hiding her relief at seeing the dark haired beauty before her and despite the urgency of their situation a smile flickered onto her face as Rory reached her; the relieved smile faded rapidly however at the sudden flare of worry that flooded through her as tense golden eyes instantly dropped to rest on her companions injured shoulder before flickering back up to her face. Luna had done well to contain her temper up until now...but as soon as she watched Rory’s face twist in pain, her self control waned dangerously. An angry snarl was Luna’s immediate response to Rory’s question her eyes set firmly on the olive skinned students wounded shoulder. She was just about able to determine the scent of gunpowder residue over the overpowering scent of the other woman's blood. “Those -!" She growled before quickly asking "Did it go straight through?” her voice somewhat strained as she shifted closer to Rory to inspect the wound on her shoulder with her eyes.

Although her aggression was quite obviously not directed at Rory, it was currently apparent in every aspect of her being. She was almost at that level where the line between friend and foe became blurry, it was probably best it was just Rory with her at this moment she stood a better chance of calming her or...avoiding her. Where the hell is everyone else?! “Where is everyone? Why are you alone? Hurt anywhere else?” Luna fired off each question in quick succession, her voice was rather abrupt and demanding, hinting even more so that she was rather pissed off.

She listened for Rory’s response as she took a step back from the dark haired woman, her eyes dropping to the floor apparently in search of something, she focused on a soldiers corpse nearby resisting the urge to merely tear him apart to sate her rage she quickly moved over to him so she could inspect the material on his shoulders when it was apparent it was pretty clean she ripped a shred of it from his body armor kicking his lifeless form away from her with a small grumble once she was done. She shifted back over to Rory, now holding a small fistful of rags she wasn’t a first aid genius but she wasn’t stupid, the bleeding had to be stopped and pressure was a sure way to ease the flow for now. “Pressure” She grumbled her voice barely lifting above a low growl, as she pushed the rag towards Rory’s wounded shoulder ignoring the slight cave man impression her actions had most likely given.

Shouldn’t have separated us into groups, whose stupid idea was that? And they shouldn’t have left her alone... Luna was in fact more angry with herself than anyone else - minus the soldiers- which was a new development. However, her current train of thought was not helping to calm her down, neither was the fact that Rory was in pain and she couldn’t do anything about it, it was fueling her frustration. She had to think of a way to help she knew a few of the others were only a short way from them, Freddie and Professor Torres were there should they move towards them?

She forced herself to take a few deep breaths the tips of her canines had crept down to rest on her lower lip forcing her lips to stay slightly parted to avoid them cutting into her skin as she gritted her teeth, raking her emotions back into check Luna felt a small flicker of guilt at her rash behavior, now wasn’t the time to come across all sentimental but...“Sorry...” Luna murmured an apology to Rory her eyes set firmly on the other woman’s wounded shoulder. “I didn’t mean to...” Luna continued just about managing to sound human, her brow furrowing for a moment as she felt an awkward fluster rise to the surface of her cheeks, diverting her gaze she ceased her speech and pushed the sentimental feelings away. Looking back the way she’d come she shifted her focus back to the dire situation at hand...

“We should get to the others, Professor Torres and Coach are just through that hole in the wall...I can come back to find Mr. Faraday and the rest of your group” Luna told her, flicking her gaze back to rest on the hazel eyed student momentarily she wasn’t sure she would be allowed to, she hadn’t actually been sent to scout for the others... “You can lean on me if you need to” Luna offered as she shifted around to Rory’s good side, not perceiving the multiple ways her last line could be taken. She was prepared in case she was taken up on the offer of support; she wasn’t sure how much blood Rory had already lost neither how many of those asses she’d had to fight off so the offer seemed legitimate to her.

“...well you did say you wanted to spend more time in the infirmary” Luna piped up again, having hopefully started moving towards the hole in the wall with Rory in tow. “Getting yourself shot just to spend time with Mender is a little over the top though” She finished she didn’t smile, though her lip twitched ever so slightly in mirth, this was neither the time nor place for that quip...Yet again it was Luna, she was notorious for saying things at the wrong time. Her eyes persisted to dart around the exhibits searching for danger at every turn, each sense on high alert for any signs of more soldiers or any of the other mutants.

- Mila }|{ Spencer -

Mila slowly steadied her breathing as she rested against the hall, hearing as the soldiers were nearing closer to the room in which she hid. She remembered her training. It was difficult not to after so many years of restless training. She counted the foot steps in the hall, there were four soldiers; not nearly as many as she was hoping to distract away from the rest of the group. Though it was a welcome though knowing she didn't need to handle that much.

Though she remember she only had four rounds. She was a good shot but not good enough to get four expert shots off before they returned fire. New strategy. She would wait til they got close, jump the first one and use him as a shield. Figure out the rest from there. Mila took a slow deep breath to settle her nerves as the steps came ever closer.

And then the steps were just outside the door. Swinging herself through the open door, noticing the startled surprise through the mans mask. Before he could raise his gun in defense Mila slammed the heel of her foot into the side of his knee. He cried out as he fell to his knees, Mila quickly tooking him by the nape of his vest and hiding behind his body.

Mila tore away the assault rifle the soldier had and began to blind fire down the hall until the clip was empty and there was no longer returning fire. Mila peeked up over his shoulder and sighed in relief as they were all in a pile on the floor. Releasing her hold on the nape of his vest he fell down with a lifeless thud.

Mila then unclipped the assault rifle from off his shoulder and exchanged the clip, loading another round into the chamber. Down the hall she heard a rather loud bang, but it didn't sound like gunfire. Mila quickly hurried down the hall, aiming down the sight the entire way down ready for anything to pop up. She got to the hall where she heard the noise and peaked around the corner to see Spencer ushering citizens through a hole in the wall.

She turned the corner and and hurried to catch up with them. As she came to the hole in the wall she looked past the group of citizens as a group of soldiers entered into the room with their phasing through the opposing wall. Luckily enough she noticed a fire extinquisher on the far wall just behind the line of soldiers. Taking no time she lined up the shot and released a round that expertly soared between a random teenage males parted legs and into the center of the canister.

The extinguisher then exploded and sent shrapnel tearing through a handful of the soldiers and throwing the rest to the ground from the concussive blast. Before they could recover Mila climbed through the hole and moved in front of the group of citizens to fire several rounds into the mass of groaning soldiers until they were motionless. The assault rifle letting off hollow clicking sounds as it tried to fire a round but nothing was left in the chamber.

Mila dropped the empty gun to the floor with a clatter. She sighed and turned around to flash a soft smile to Spencer, as if trying to give her some sense of confidence that she wasn't terrified. But she was terrified. She couldn't let them know that though.

"They are everywhere, aren't they?" She joked playfully with a laugh. Her adrenaline left her disregarding the wound on her side and the blood that stained her shirt.

As Mila sprung into action before them, Spencer hurried the civilians behind a column near the closed-off portion of Indian artifacts. "Stay put," she told them. They all nodded. Turning to the crumpled soldiers, as well as Mila, Spencer walked stiffly, her gun raised. She didn't bother to shoot anyone, however, mainly because she didn't have anyone to shoot.

She glanced up at one who'd done all of this just as she began to speak, her voice noticeably strained. It didn't take long before Spencer spotted blood seeping through Mila's shirt. She'd been hit. When, though, she didn't know. "You're hurt," Spencer stated, practically gliding toward the girl. Without making an effort to ask, Spencer swept the girl into her arms, gently laying her on the ground.

As everything around her stilled, Spencer knew that there wasn't much time. Taking in a deep breath, Spencer hesitantly raised the end of Mila's shirt - just enough so Spencer could clearly see the wound. She'd been clipped by some sort of gun, but fortunately, it wasn't deep. Even if she couldn't fully heal it, she could stop the bleeding and lessen the pain.

"Stay still for me, okay?" she instructed, placing her palms over where she'd been shot. Allowing her eyes to close, Spencer gritted her teeth, centralizing all of her energy solely on where her hands were placed. She could feel the warmth of the Mila's blood beneath her palms as she did so, the scent of it suddenly filling her nostrils.

Spencer tried to think of the issue at hand, but with every inhale, memories flooded her mind. Spencer was on the verge of panicking. The smell was so fucking strong... She inhaled sharply, and immediately realized her mistake as she began to cry out in anguish. Her fingers trembled on the other girl's hip as memories flooded through her head.

Daddy smells like blood again. I wonder whose it is...

It was her blood. Hers.

Claw at her arms, crack her nose, beat on her stomach- blood, blood everywhere.

"Stop... stop..." Spencer weeped. "Stop! Don't touch me!"

Yelping, Spencer flung backward, her head all but smacking against the ground. Her mind was running on adrenaline at that point, her pulse racing as genuine confusion washed over her. She wasn't anywhere near that god awful place. She was in a museum. With Mila. With citizens.

Shit... Mila.

Eyes widening in alarm, Spencer scurried to the girl, her side now caked with ice. "Jesus," she whispered, picking at the layers of frost from her skin. Brushing it away briskly, Spencer found that Mila's wound was almost completely gone, for a small scar had taken its place. The remaining bullet pieces had managed to get caught in the ice that'd previously been on her skin.

Spencer had done it.

She'd healed Mila.

"I-I'm sorry for freaking out like that..." she murmured, helping the other woman up. "I'll, uh, I'll explain later, I guess."

She wouldn't, of course. But surely the idea comforted Mila some.

Mila didn't protest when she was helped to lie down, knowing Spencer would try and help the wound. Though as she began to seem to zone out and become terrified she looked up a bit worriedly. Chilling pain shot across her side though it soon was overcome with a gentle tingle. She looked down at her side and noticed how it was covered in a sheet of ice. By that time Spencer had come back to her senses and hurried back to her side. Gently brushing away the frost.

"It's fine." She assured with a soft smile. "No need to explain. We all have secrets." She took her hand gently and used the help to her feet. Pulling down her shirt to cover her flat stomach.

Mila looked over at the group huddled behind the debris. "They should stay there until we can get the exits opened once again." She suggested. "Right now we need to get back to the rest of the group." She then lead the way out of the side room and down several halls until she found a large group of peers and teachers.

Aurora Claudwell

Rory saw the shift in Luna’s manner through a blur of pain. Luna’s bestial snarl seemed strangely appropriate, even complimentary, when paired with her golden eyes and fangs. She was like a graceful, mythical creature. Perhaps it was the similarity in their mutation, but Rory understood her fierce rage. She did do her best to calm her, though.

“I’m not sure,” she strained the words from her lips. Her dark haired head gave a shake, “No…no, I’ll be fine.” Her words were meant to be reassuring, but she had trouble speaking them without the tension that was indicative of her pain. Her efforts didn’t seem to be entirely fruitful. She watched with wrinkled features as Luna tore the cloth from the fallen soldier. She accepted the torn clothing without question, giving another wince as it pressed to her bloodied wound.

She wanted to speak, to try and sooth her friend, but the pain was blaring through her body and dizzying her thoughts. She was grateful when Luna murmured a hushed, “Sorry…I didn’t mean to…” Her tone had softened, and she sounded more akin to the Luna with whom Rory shared her dorm room. It reminded her of the nights they’d spent whispering into the dark hours, saving her from more than one night’s nightmare. If it hadn’t been for the pain, she might have smiled then. She hoped her eyes shared the sentiment enough as she answered, “I know. It’s okay.”

At Luna’s prompting, Rory gave an unsteady nod of her head in agreement. Words were beginning to escape her. Her breathing had become rather ragged and shallow. The pain seemed to develop a new sharpness as the adrenaline wore off. She was damaged, and exhausted from the round of endless sprinting and phasing that she’d endured. At Luna’s offer for support, she was nothing but grateful.

She leaned into her friend’s side, thankful for her strength. Each step felt as if it took enormous effort and time. She’d never felt so slow before.

“…well you did say you wanted to spend more time in the infirmary.” The comment was unanticipated. “Getting yourself shot just to spend time with Mender is a little over the top though.” For a moment, Rory was quiet. She tilted her head to give a taken-aback, sidelong glance at Luna. In was only at the subtle twitch of her companion’s lip that Rory’s own shapely mouth spread into a weary smile. Her body shuddered with laughter. It came out sounding tight and it was rather short-lived, ending with another grimace of her features. “Hilarious,” she teased in retort as they staggered to the opening in the museum wall.