2016-10-16 - Ambush Mystery

It's been a minor tip. A large investment made over to a genetic engineering company startup. Apparently by a subsidiary of what as far as anyone could tell was one of Shaw's innumerable shell companies. So the X-Men were sneaking in the old fashioned way with a small team.

Jean was quietly telepathically monitoring as she, X-23, and Jubilee quietly crept towards one of the warehouses that had suddenly been bought out just days before in a New Jersey suburb.

.

Laura is dressed casual for the occasion, just incase of improv. This could turn out to be nothing and a trespasser is easier to explain away than a commando. At least, that had been the rationale given to her. She's moving along in a half crouch around the warehouse with Jubilee, searching for an inconspicuous way in. She wanted this to go as quietly as possible.

Jubes is in uniform for the 2en time in a month and she still looks good. She waits with the other time waiting for the order to go

The trio go along quietly, Jean sweeping ahead psionically as the trio came up to one of the doors to the complex. Quietly telepathically speaking to Jubilee <> Everything was electronic, which the disruption of was Jubilee's specialty.

Sniffing towards the building, Laura would not be picking up anyone inside. They had gotten there before anyone else had since the sale.

Laura waits by the door when she notices no other way in. She sits in a flat footed crouch on the side, signaling for Jubes to do her thing frying the locks and cameras. She's done enough work with her to know it'll be a snap, especially with noone else in the immediate area to worry about.

Jubes fires a few sparks and the camras and then some sparks at the locks. She then grins and whispers, "I always feel like we could be wearing face mask or something when we are sneaking around. I feel like we going break into a bank. She grins at that.

The trio slips in, Laura scenting ahead, Jubilee watching her back, and Jean sweeping along telepathically <"I'm not picking up anything. Laura, find us thenearest computer and get into the system. Jubilee, help me search for any sorts of samples or physical records." There are long, long winding shelves filled with things in storage - some useful, most not. A few computers scattered around. Mostly just a generic dilapidated warehouse.

Laura isn't the first choice that the X-Men should make for messing with computers, but she knows enough. She snorts lightly at Jubes' commentary about masks, suggesting,"I've a domino mask...don't know why Nightwing calls them that. They don't have white spots, not rectangle either."

Laura isn't the first choice that the X-Men should make for messing with computers, but she knows enough. She snorts lightly at Jubes' commentary about masks, suggesting,"I've a domino mask...don't know why Nightwing calls them that. They don't have white spots, not rectangle either." She sits at a comp and gets to work pecking away to bring up the command promp screen. From there, she's able to soon open up the network to whomever. The X-Men should have free access.

Jubes looks at all the samples and files, "man this going take forever." She walks over, "what are we looking for away?" She takes out a file and starts reading, "man if this ends up just being a place to store out of date files I am going be so mad. I could be watching netflix right now."

The team of X-Men have snuck into a warehouse belonging to a genetics company just seemingly bought out by a shell corporation of Sebastian Shaw. Jubilee has efficiently disabled the electronics security, Laura is hacking into the computers to start a general download of the database, and Jubilee and Jean are starting to quickly sort through some of the inventory. Jean sends a telepathic request to Monet  The super-intelligence of the ALgerian mutant would be able to find -anything- useful in the mess that was someone's manual file system.

Monet didn't actually WANT to be here but when you were as intelligent, powerful, and all-around perfect as Monet was, there would always be others wanting your assistance. Such is the problem with perfection, Monet supposed. She had these tickets to a Hollywood Gala dinner on behalf of her father, but no... being in a run-down warehouse was almost as good. < I'm coming. > she sends back, heading into the warehouse and thumbing through the files.

Laura sits off to the side on lookout while the smart one does her thing. Laura has no delusions of being comfortable with computers, but she did succeed in following the crash course she'd been given on how to open up networks through the command prompt screen and manually deactivate firewalls. She hopes it's that simple with these old machines, anything more than that and she's a fish out of water. So that leaves her there watching the door like an owl waiting for a mouse.

Jubes places another file back and sighs, "Couldn't we just burn everything down I mean I can use my powers and make it look like an eletrical fire." She picks up another file hoping it not more taxes from the the 80's.

That's an idea from Jubilee that Jean is more than tempted to voice agreement with. As Monet goes to start to search through things with them, Jean goes to speak out, "I'll consider it. And good work Laur.."

That's when there's a sudden flash of light, accompanied by a hole opening up in existence and several people suddenly apparating through it. A dark looking bald elderly man wearing thick rimmed lenses and a dark bodysuit, the first supervillain the X-Men ever fought, the Vanisher! Grinning broadly as his group appeared out of the portal. "X-Men!"

"THE MARAUDERS WELCOME YOU. TO DIE!"

Blasting through the portal as Vanisher teleported right back out again, the Marauders went to charge at the spread out team from out of nowhere!

Going to swing over towards Jubilee, grinning morbidly, the living mirror man PRISM!

A green haired woman in a swirling bodysuit let out a cackle as she looked at Laura, "Scream for me, little dearie!" As VERTIGO went to make the ground seem to swirl up around the mutant girl in extreme dizziness!

Going to blast over towards the searching Monet was the living whirlwind starting to throw razor sharp calcium disks at her blitzing out of his body RIPTIDE!

And charging towards Jean was the malevolent psychic entity MALICE catching her by surprise as Jean yelled out, "AMBUSH!"

Laura saucer eyes, having had no way to see this coming. This was as subtle as the Spanish Inquisition, and almost as colorful. She knows what Vertigo can do, and as quickly as she can make her move so too can X-23!

When your footing becomes uncertain, look for alternatives. She wants her down on the ground, so down she goes but not in the way she intends. She hits the ground to roll towards the savage lands mutate in combat fashion before her power can properly disable the combat bred and raised mutant that she is. As soon as her roll completes she'll clear the remainder of the distance with a bound to combat slide and take her feet out from under her thus making her kiss the floor much like she intended Laura to do.

Jubes eeps as the group shows up, "hey we were here first come back tommrow." She then sees the mirror mutant come after her and she throws the file she reading at it's face. She then fires a set of fire works at the charging mutant.

As Riptide's spikes tear through Monet's outfit, they nevertheless don't so much as scratch the teenager's invulnerable skin beneath. "One would think that doing an ambush would be a little more quiet. Battle Cries don't exactly seem subtle for a sneak attack." she says as she holds Riptide in place with a telekinetic field until he stops swirling around, as she casually flies up to him. "On the plus side, you decided to attack me instead of one of the more fragile people here, like Jubilee." she says before pulling her fist back and punching Riptide through a wall.

Monet then gives a thought request to Jean, < I'm pretty certain that even Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum can handle this stellar display of an ambush - should I keep looking for the files, Miss Grey? >

Jean is focused on psychically holding off Malice, even as the psychic demon blasted her on the astral and physical planes, Jean having to focuswholly on erecting a psychic shield about her mind as the pair faced off, firing off mental bolts at onea nother!

As Jubilee goes to blast over at Prism, he grinned maniacally, the energy from her blasts hitting over his form, being absorbed. "Thanks for thesnack. Let me give you one back!" Going to blast back out at Jubilee with her own energy right back over at her!

In facing off with Vertigo, as the ground seemed to shake about X-23, Laura stabilized and focused herself, bracing on the ground, making sure of her presence.. Then counterattacking. Slash. Slash. Scream. Claws covered in blood. Standing a moment later over a mostly disemboweled corpse.

Riptide went to chargein over at Monet, stopped cold over then as her telekinetic field immobilized him in place. Eyes wide then, even as his thrown daggers that could cut through anything just skipped off her body to no damage whatsoever. "no! She's like made out of adamantium!" Then a PUNCH from her sent him flying through the side of the building right out the other side to lay still!

Jean, going all out to try and hold off Malice, went to try and hiss <> Then another thrown out <> Not lecturing anyone on thebrutality of their methods. In an ambush in close quarters, they would win however htey could.

Laura looks down at Vertigo as she's dying, and takes the moment to give her parting words,"I can read...you are clone like me. You died twice before, stop doing wrong." Then silences her with a blade through the eye.

With that, the mutant otherwise known as X-23 charges over at Prism. She means to see if her can absorb adamantium, somersaulting through the air at him with her toe claws out ready to slash at his face! She bares her fanged teeth as she crashes down at him ready to rumble, meaning to tear him up a little less messy like...

Jubes ferowns, "oh right mirrors guess that makes sense. She does not back down and charges forward pretending she X-23 for a moment. She then jumps and lands on her hands on the mirror mans shoulders, "Hey I hear trump needs a new mirror for his bathroom you be perfect for it." She then licks her tounge, "Hey Monet I can handle my self." She then swings her legs down in a double feet kick sorta like a jump kick but using her body weight for force.

Now, in terms of sheer psychic power, Monet is not at Jean's level, although she did get taught by Emma Frost in how to use her psionic powers.

That isn't to say she's particularly weak in psionic battles. Not at all. < You know, back when my sisters were impersonating me, Miss Frost did a psychic battle with them and they did manage to knock herclear across a car. Then in a later fight, she used what she called a psionic lightnign bolt. Really hurt too. Channeled all the ambient psionic energy into the air, and straight through the target, which in that case was me. Well... my sisters impersonating me, at least. Anyway, she did teach the trick to them, and then to me. > While Malice is in battle with Jean on the psychic and astral planes, Monet sends a psionic lightning bolt right through Malice.

< I'd like to think I'm a very good student at stuff like that. Plus pack more of a punch than my sisters, dear as they are to me. > Monet pauses after the blast hits Malice - dirty fighting but effective fighting. < By the way, Miss Grey, the psychopath is killing some of the attackers. I mean our psychopath, not one of the attacking psychopaths. >

This is what teamwork is. Jubilee goes to leap up and over into the air,the sudden flip of her as she evades the blast being shot down over at her as she goes to leap up and over, landing over on his shoulders, flipping down him and then kicking him in the back of the knees in a move that Logan would be proud of. That isthe setup for Laura launching her way over into the air in a fastball, adamantium claws goig up and out.

The claws slash Prism through the gut, even as Jubilee's blow leaves him unable to dodge as Laura literally shatters her way through him like a sledgehammer through glass, and he screams as he disintegrates to millions of pieces.

It is for Malice that the fallout is the most brutal, as the demonic psychic being is in full battle with Jean whom is on her last legs, focused on full defense. So when Monet goesto join in thecounter attack, charging up a bolt of psychic energy that is full force lightning going to blast out and over at her, Malice is literally blasted THROUGH.

The demonic, malevolent entity screams as she is disintegratedon a mental level, body erupting to shards and dissipating over the astral plane as Jean slowly, slowly and painfully stands up. "Thank you, Monet." She is breathing heavily, blood flowing out of her nose. She assesses the bodies, the screams fading.. "Let's get out of here." She turns to Monet and to Laura, "And thank you. We wouldn't have made it through without you two." Jean is herself breathing heavily as she signals,"They'll either be back here with another wave or the authorities will. We won't find anything here." It was a setup. Then she quietly offers to Laura,and to Monet. "And you two proved yourselves. I'd like to offer you both a place in the X-Men. If you want it."

Jubes frowns at the mess, "man was all this really needed." She taps a toe of the pile of glass shards on the ground, "I mean I feel dirty now. We just killed a bunch of people." She frowns more at Jean, "I mean a simple choak hold would of stop her" nodding at the smoaking body on the ground, "seems that was a little over kill."

Laura blinks at Jubilee as she wipes her hands off with a handkerchief, a little annoyed at a splotch that got on her shirt. She points out to Jubilee,"She could have widened radius. Her powers more potent in small area, but can be widened. Would've gotten you hurt."

Monet puts her hand to her chest. "I didn't kill anyone." She peers at the hole in the wall. At least I'm relatively certain I didn't. And my relatively certainty is equal to most people's absolute assurance."

Jean Grey nods and frowns, "Regardless, we all did what we have to. They ambushed here in close quarters to try and kill us.. And this setup was purely to lure us in." Jean might not be the master tactician that Logan or Scott were, but the pieces are fairly simple. They were lured here to kill a small team. Her face is set in a frown as the group gets to the Blackbird and vanishes.