Mutants & Masterminds: The Indigo Children - [Second Phase: Alpha Segment] Operation: CR-SI27

[jameson (ST)]

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010, mid-morning

Despite the weather, which was sunny and unseasonably warm, with a pleasantly cool breeze from the ocean, Jamie and Jordan were both more somber than usual. Moravian Cemetery was peaceful and serene, as one would expect of a burial place. Jamie and her brother, for one this day he took his form from that which was born with, stepped away from Isaac, leaving the new puppy in his expert, perhaps superhuman, care. Together they walked across the lush green to their mother's grave. The tombstone marking this date, one year before.

Behind them Isaac stood with the dog. The little puppy would pull at the leash one moment before chasing its tail and then rearing up onto Isaac's leg. He looked after the two freinds, knowing their pain, as he casually pushed the dog down and gave the command, "Off", to help remind the dog that jumping up on people would not be acceptable behavior.

Nearby, fifty yards away at most, Melissa stood by the grave of her own mother. She crouched, placing the flowers, early lilacs, down and brushed some stray grass clippings away. Her father had said he would come, but as usual he was too busy. Melissa's mother had loved the springtime, and so each year for nearly a decade Melissa had made every effort to come to her grave on the first beautiful day of spring, such as today, and place flowers, and remember her mother.

[z-Isaac Ward]

"Ya can't do that," Isaac told the puppy.

"Can to!" the puppy said and jumped up again, planting his paws on Isaac's pants.

With infinite patience, Isaac lowered the puppy to the ground again. "You shouldn't," he answered softly but firmly. "Two-legged members don't like it when you greet them like that."

The puppy cocked a head. He was just young enough that working against his instincts was a fairly long uphill battle. Isaac just smiled, content to work on the puppy until he got it.

[Tharra of the Katjaa]

Jordan had spent over an hour getting his appearance right. When you had consciously design how you grew and mature physically, it was hard to determine how you would have grown and matured naturally, but he thought he was close. It seemed appropriate for this day, a day both long and short in coming.

Jordan and Jaime held hands as they approached the simple rectangular slab of dark granite marking their mother's final resting place, taking comfort in each other. They were still and silent for a long time. One year. It had been a whole year since their mother had loss her second battle with cancer, and even if their were settling into life without her, standing here, their loss was a palpable thing.

Eyes brimming with tears she resolutely refused to let fall, Jaime stepped forward and knelt next to the headstone, brushing it clear and placing a meager bouquet at the base. The flowers came from the small garden that their mother had had in the backyard that Jordan had little skill and less luck in maintaining, Jaime only slightly more so. But it was something they had done together, something their mother loved doing when she was too sick to do much else.

Jordan moved up and crouched next to his sister, putting a consoling arm around her shoulders. He took a deep breath, chest tight with the effort of composing himself. "We miss you, Mom. A year... God, only, already. So much has happened... I wish you were here with us still. Jaime and me are doing okay, despite some... trials." His hands tightened on Jaime's shoulder, teasing and fond and melancholy. "We still have the house and Jaime is still enrolled in private school. Jaime went to her first rave and got drunk, which I'm not all the happy about. But because of it, we also met new friends, friends like me. It's... nice, having friends who can understand. It... helps."

Jordan chuckled. "I know you won't be thrilled, but Jaime finally convinced me to let have a pet, a dog." Jaime stifled a choking sound. "It's a puppy still, but I'm not sure which one is more in love. Admittedly, Isaac - he's one of those new friends I mention, he's 'good' with animals - is mostly the reason I let her have it. She's even doing her part too. Hopefully, she still will in six months." Jaime sniffed in protest.

Jordan let out a long sigh. "As for me, I might miss heading out to LA, but I'm glad I stayed, despite the Pulse - Right, you don't know about that - well maybe you do, but, whatever. It was bad, really bad, you'd have been working major overtime. And... there's people... I don't know, chasing us, people like me. Still, I'm glad I stayed. Stacy turned out to be a bitch anyway." Jordan closed his eyes, running he hand over the simple epitaph:

First, Last, And Always, A Mother

Forever Missed

"Whatever happens, we'll be back next year, Mom."

"Mom..." Jordan could feel Jaime trembling under his arm, heels of her hands roughly scrubbing away her unshed tears. "I love you and miss you, I love you and miss you. I swear, I'll be better. Jordan tries, and I'll try hard too. Though she has a really different style taking care of me." Jaime managed a giggle at the vast understatement, but it trailed off into a hesitant silence.

"You should know - I hope you understand - I'm... I'm gonna try to find my birth parents. You'll always be Mom, I just want to meet them..."

The comfortingly cool breeze gusted stronger for a moment, making Jordan's eyes water for just an instant. As he surreptitiously wiped it away with a finger, he looked to the side, seeing Melissa Archer kneeling over another grave. He watched her until she looked his way then gave her a little wave and a somber, understanding nod.

[Shirayuki]

It was viryually rote by now, coming to her mother's grave, laying flowers, always alone. Her father lscked the time, and inclination as far as Melissa saw. She hummed a few bars of a lullaby her mother had sung to her often and rose, only then noticing the others.

She nodded and walked over, for once her face not a cold mask. She waited a few moments, paying her respects and then spoke "Not the best place to meet friends. I'm sorry for your loss."

"How have you been?"

[Tharra of the Katjaa]

Walking over, Melissa recognized Jaime and Isaac from the training exercise in Tess' Danger Room, but not the handsome man with them. Not at first, not until she noticed the way he stood next to Jaime, saw a vague familiarity in the tilt of his head and the arch of a brow. Then she was able to hazard a likely guess at his identity.

"We've been doing okay, thank-you for your condolences, Melissa," Jordan said, confirming her guess. He sighed, kneading Jaime's shoulder consolingly. "It's just been a little rough the last few days. This is the first year since our mother passed away. But Isaac came with us to keep us company, along with Jaime's new puppy." Jordan looked back the way Melissa came, any lingering resentment he had for losing out more than one audition to her buried under their mutual grief. "Who are you here to visit, if you don't mind me asking?"

"My mother as well," Melissa said with a sad smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry..."

"No, no, it's alright," she assured them, waving away their concern. "It's been some time now."

"Still, you have our condolences." They stood in companionable silence for several moments, the sound of gusting wind broken only by the growling and tugging of the rambunctious puppy, until Jordan gave a snort. "Y'know, our mother's funeral was only the second funeral I ever attended and the only one for whom I cared about. I'm not even sure what we're supposed to do, other than stopping by to pay our respects. Do we start traditions for this time? Do you want to, Jaime? Something more than just coming by each year and laying some flowers on Mom's grave?"

[Shirayuki]

"I sing to my mother." She didn't know why she said it, perhaps she just wanted to be helpful.

"She used to sing to me as a child, so I see it as fair."

The young actress, for perhaps the first time, really was at a loss for words, and could only stand there. She'd paid her respects, and interred her sorrow for another year. Only the resentment of her father remained now, and compassion for her acquaintances.

Click to reveal..

Melissa's notice +7

(21:27:00) ChatBot: (Shirayuki) rolls 1d20 and gets 4.

11 total

[Tharra of the Katjaa]

Jaime considered Jordan's proposal, nodding at Melissa as she shrugged self-consciously. Jordan had a good voice, but she had no illusions about how'd she'd appear on American Idol. Besides, they mother choice of music different from hers - Jordan listened to nearly anything.

"Aww, that's sweet. But, um, yeah, I don't think that'll work for me," Jaime said. She chewed her lip than looked up at Jordan. "Maybe, instead, do you think we could have... a picnic, next year, Jordy? Y'know, sorta like sharing a meal with Mom, we could talk, like we used to - it's stupid, isn't?"

Jordan chuckled, giving his sister a toght, one-armed hug. "It's not stupid, Jaime, not stupid in the least. I like the idea." Jordan looked over Jaime's head at their mother's headstone. "Hear that, mom? Next time, we'll bring a meal. I even finally learned to cook, after all the time you tried to teach me."

Jordan looked over his other shoulder at where Isaac was hanging back with the puppy, nodding his head sharply. "C'mon, Isaac, join us. Melissa and us have said good-bye to our mothers, and you've been good enough to accompany us. Is there anything you want to do, in remembrance of yours?"

[z-Isaac Ward]

Isaac had been talking to the puppy. It wasn't necessary to counter boredom; Isaac rarely got bored. If he wasn't doing something, he was sensing the world around him in its fullness. He would live in the moment, enjoying it. So the conversation with the puppy had been instructional. Like most babies, the puppy had some instincts. Beyond that, he needed to be taught to have dog manners as well as human manners.

Isaac spoke with a patience he'd never have granted a human. "No, there is a difference between being inside a human kennel and outside. The rules are different."

The puppy stared at him for a moment; Isaac waited for a spark of comprehension. The puppy suddenly dropped into 'play' stance and barked, "Play!"

"Yeah, we're making progress," Isaac said with a smirk. His musings were interrupted by Jordan calling him over to join them. Rising, Isaac led the puppy over. He was frowning by the time Jordan finished his question.

"I don't know," he said, shrugging. "She's dead so she wouldn't care either way."

Jaime frowned. "But... crap, this is one of your weird Isaac things, isn't it?"

"I guess." Isaac was content to let it go at that. The concept of remembrance was alien; he missed his mother and did so every day; why did he have to make a big deal out of it now? "She's not buried in this cemetery anyway. She's at one of the crematorium boxes over in Oak's Peace."

Click to reveal..

Isaac's Notice check (+5) (1d20=4) = 9

[Tharra of the Katjaa]

"Then we'll drive over to Oak's Peace," Jordan offered with a sincere, if crooked grin. "Coming here, talking to our Mother, I realize, we don't do this for her, but for us. This," Jordan said, patting the headstone, "is only a symbol, something to talk to that represents our mothers. A small gesture to tell ourselves, we remember and miss them."

Jordan straightened the collar of his jacket then walked over to Isaac, crouching nearby to scratch the puppy behind the ears and earning himself a playful nip on the finger. Jordan arched a brow at Isaac, but didn't seem annoyed at the bite. The pissing in the house on the other hand... "So what do you, Isaac? Oak's Peace? Or we could do something else in memory of your mother, all our mothers, really. Did she have a favourite movie you watched with her over and over? A boardgame you played? We could do that instead."

Jordan stood up and glanced over his shoulder at Melissa, giving her a charming grin, now that he wasn't competing with her in an audition. "Would you care to join us?"

Click to reveal.. (Shifty - I mean - Shifter's Eyes)

Notice Check: [15 +10 Modifier -15 DC = +10] PASS.

Jordan currently possesses Extended Sight and Hearing

[jameson (ST)]

"Play! Play! PlayPlayPlayPlay! PLAY!" the little puppy was now all riled up by the additional people around. Barking his little head off and pulling at the leash. He'd quickly got himself all kinds of tangled amongst Jamie and Isaac's legs. Jamie was giggling trying to disentangle herself from the puppy and his lead.

Jordan looked at Isaac, waiting for his reply, and then to Melissa, "Would you care to join us?", she asked the other woman, seizing the chance to bond not only with others who had gone through the pain of losing a parent but also those who knew what is was to be categorically different from the rest of humanity. Melissa was about to reply when Jordan held up a forestalling hand. "Shh, I heard something."

Sure enough, off in the woods, Jordan could hear the sound of something moving through the underbrush. The others looked that way, even the puppy, as the sound got closer. The crunching of twigs and the rustling of leaves was accompanied by a faint cry of, "Help me! Somebody?"

[Tharra of the Katjaa]

Jordan sucked in a breath through his teeth. With his sister here, he would normally have been inclined to refrain from stepping into someone else's trouble. But he also didn't want Jaime to learn a callousness for others - it's not that he was immured to the cries of others either, it just his own family took precedence - nor did he want his mother to be disappointed in the son/daughter she had raised. Yes, he knew she wasn't really here, but it felt disrespectful all the same. Besides, you don't attack somebody in a graveyard. I mean, really?

"Jaime, stay here with the puppy and if you see anybody that you don't like the look of, or we're not back right away, I want you to head for the car and call Pete to come get you," Jordan ordered. "It's probably nothing, but better safe than sorry."

Jordan glanced at his fellow Indigo Children. "Guys, someone's calling for help. I'm going to check it out. I don't want to tell you what to do, but I can't just leave this alone."

Letting them make they're own decisions, Jordan headed in the direct of the faint cry, his pace fast, but not running, no point in heading into the situation blind. If there really was trouble, that could simply result in him getting in trouble too. And there was always another option to diffuse trouble - often direction recognition could cause predators to retreat to find other prey.

As Jordan approached, he raised his voice to carry over the distance. "Hello? Are you okay? I'm coming to help."

[Shirayuki]

Melissa nodded, joining in. "Don't go off by yourself, that's one of the first things you learn here in New York."

She smiled. "Besides, I believe I was going to treat everyone to coffee, It'd be a shame to miss that."

[z-Isaac Ward]

Isaac remained where he was, wondering why Jordan was looking for trouble. The puppy was trying to follow; Isaac bent down and simulated a nip by poking the puppy. "Wait and be calm," he ordered, his tone making it clear that something was up. The puppy instinctively hunched down and fell silent.

Isaac glanced at Jaime, making sure she was staying put, too.

[jameson (ST)]

Jamie chewed her lip, "What do you think it is?" She looked at Jordan and Melissa as they headed off toward the treeline and then back at Isaac. A look of comprehension grew on her features and then contorted into one of confusion. "Why is it that you helped me but you won't go with Jordan to help whomever is in trouble?"

~~~~~

Jordan and Melissa walked to the treeline together in silence. Jordan wasn't exactly straining to hear but Melissa still couldn't hear the sounds. The trees were about sixty yards off and as they got closer Melissa soon heard it too. It sounded like somebody was trying to run through the woods. Jordan could tell that the person was breathing heavily by now, and was making as much noise out of simple exhausted inability to be quiet as because of the thick and untended undergrowth.

The pair reached the treeline but could not see more than a half dozen yards into the wild. They could hear the repeated calls for help however, and the sound of somebody pushing laboriously through the trees and bushes within.

[z-Isaac Ward]

"First, someone should stay with you," Isaac said flatly, his eyes skimming over the treeline where Jordan and Melissa had disappeared. "Second, that person doesn't mean anything to me."

"But that's so callous! Why don't you care?" Jaime asked, whirling to stare up at him.

"They're not my pack," Isaac said. "You are. Given the choice, I'll stay and guard you over helping some stranger."

"That's... horrible!" Jaime exclaimed, staring at the guy she thought she knew.

"I'm not what society calls a nice man," Isaac said bluntly. "I've never claimed to be."

"Then why did you help me and Izzy?" Jaime asked.

Isaac was quiet for a moment. "You and Izzy reminded me of my sister," he answered, his voice low. "You're Becky's age. And once I'd helped you, it was just natural to draw you into the pack."

[jameson (ST)]

Jamie scowled. "But ..." She scowled some more. "What if that person out there is your sister?" Isaac gave her a level look. "OK then, what does it matter, he or she is somebody's son or daughter. Maybe somebody's brother or sister, maybe even somebody's parent."

"I told you," he said still scanning the graveyard, looking for other trouble, "I'm not a nice man."

"Yeah, well..." Jamie huffed, flabbergasted by his apparent indifference, "What happens when you find your sister and she doesn't like the 'not nice man' that you've become?"

[Tharra of the Katjaa]

Jordan looked over his shoulder, seeing Isaac standing protectively near Jaime. It was reassuring, Jaime's questioning of Isaac's morals making grin inside. Now to live up to Jaime's expectations.

"Melissa, stay behind me, okay?" he suggested, giving Melissa a concerned look. At her tight nod, he turned to face the thick copse of trees once more and the frantic rustling therein. He focused inward, focusing on muscle and bone, enhancing them to his recently rising potential. Melissa saw Jordan shudder and flex, seeming subtly more formidable, more solid.

Thus fortified, Jordan pushed forward through the heavy brush, making no secret of his presence, not wanting to frighten the damsel or dude in distress.

"Hey! We're here to help, we're almost there, don't panic."

Click to reveal.. (Jordan+)

Shifting Roll: [18 +15 Modifier -15 DC = +18] PASS.

Shifting: As Jordan Johansson Build, except no Quickness and +4 to Strength and Constitution.

[z-Isaac Ward]

"She doesn't have to like me," Isaac said simply. "I love her, that's what's important."

"It doesn't matter to you that your sister may not like you?" Jaime said, her mouth dropping open.

"I'd like her to," Isaac said, his hard eyes remaining on the tree line. "But its more important that she's safe and happy. That's what I need to know - that she was adopted by people who make sure that she's fed and clothed and gets to laugh everyday. And sometimes I think that she's better off without me. I live in a warehouse when I'm not crashing with Tess. I'm tactless and brutal. I can't emphasize with others and social norms are things that happen to other people. I love who I love, and that's as far as it goes.

"A large of part of that is that I'm becoming an animal. I'm aware enough to know that I'm not really able to be human, not like you are. The same gifts that let me become more than just a thug, the talkin' to animals and stuff, are the same that are making it impossible for me to care about those I don't care about. I learned a long time ago that I can't make the world my pack; no one can handle that burden. So I'm doin' the best I can, Jaime. If you ask more of me, you're going to spend a lot of time being disappointed."

[Shirayuki]

Melissa prepared herself for anything, ready to call forth a defensive barrier of ice, and a howling storm to hide them if the need arose.

[jameson (ST)]

Jordan felt the temperature drop, he skin breaking out in goose-flesh. Behind her crystals of fog began to form on Melissa's skin as she drew on the mutant powers that were her gift. Together they pushed through the underbrush and into the forest. The pair quickly moved into the deeper forest where the the undergrowth was less thick. The two quickly oriented on the calls for help and within minutes located their source.

A young man, short and slight, dressed in what looked like a hospital gown, was stuck in a patch of briars. The thorns had cut him in places but the two quickly saw why he was stuck. The left side of his head was shaved and there was a large incision with wires protruding from the sealed up wound. An IV line dangled from one arm. He was barefoot and filthy. "Oh god, please help me!"

[Tharra of the Katjaa]

"Holy Shit!" Jordan exclaimed at the sight of the young man tangled up in a thorny bush, then proceeded to repeat the swear in every language he knew it in. The guy looked like a refugee from surgery. The wires coming out of his head made him shudder. They reminded him of one of his greatest fears concerning the nature of his shapeshifting capabilities.

Jordan looked over his shoulder at Melissa, telling her with his eyes to keep an eye out from the guy's pursuer or pursuers. Then he slowly approached the young man begging for him, holding out a hand soothingly.

"Bud, we're here, we're here to help," Jordan said, keeping his voice confidently engaging. "Calm down, stop wriggling, you're just making it worse. We'll have you out of there in a minute. We need to get you to a hospital, okay?"

Jordan approached carefully, using his boots to tramp down the briars. They caught at his pants, but didn't do more than cause bloodless scratches. "Okay, if you can, stop moving, you're just ripping up your feet more. I'm going to get these vines off you, then carry you out, okay? Here, how about you tell me your name and how you got here, while I work."

Using his surprising strength and impressive physical fortitude, Jordan worked on the briars, bending them, then snapping them, careful not to tangle up his trailing IV any further. Most of the thorns broke against his skin, but some stabbed at him annoyingly. Though he kept his eyes on the young man and the briar vine, his earns were tuned to their surroundings, in case anyone was pursuing this guy.

Somebody's going to be missing this one, methinks. A hospital might not be the best option. Those wires... Maybe Tess...

[Shirayuki]

"Only if we truly have to, and we need to be ready if we bring him anywhere familiar, as they could already be on his trail." She was thinking to the other night with the mystery man and Tomoe.

She smiled at the young man, and tried to calm him down. "Just relax, and tell us what you remember."

[jameson (ST)]

"UGH!!" Jamie cried throwing her hands up in frustration. "Don't you want to try and be better? If not for yourself then for your sister?" She seems genuinely confused, and clearly frustrated. by Isaac's nonchalant attitude toward his own admitted savage nature. "Accepting yourself for what you are is all good and fine, but trying to better yourself is important too Isaac. And-" Jamie was cut off by the a sound like three rapid coughs. Her head turned toward the forest where Jordan and Melissa had disappeared. "What was that?"

~~~~~

"No ... no hospitals. They'll find me there. Not safe." The young man stopped struggling and allowed Jordan to free him. "They're coming... I couldn't get away." His eyes went wide, "DUCK!" The reaction was instinctive and Melissa and Jordan both ducked over. Melissa threw herself full on to the ground and a burst of rifle fire passed through the space she'd occupied a moment before.

[Tharra of the Katjaa]

"FUCK!" Jordan shouted, instinctive fear at the sound of gunfire making his heart pound painfully as he climbed back to his knees. A quick survey of his companions showed no injuries and the coppery smell of blood didn't permeate the air.

"Mel - M! Get, bring on the snow, and run back the way we came!" Jordan yelled in a sharp whisper, grateful for a few hours of training in Tess' Danger Room. "I got the guy. I'll be right behind you."

Jordan scooped up Wirehead in his hard, surprisingly strong arms, carrying in front of him, almost like a baby, so that his was between him and his - now, their - assailants. "Hold on, we'll get you to safety, 'kay? No hospitals," Jordan said with a confidence he hoped was genuine, aching to run ahead, but not willing to leave Melissa behind.

[Shirayuki]

Melissa nodded, her entire body incased with a film of ice in an instant, and moments after a howling blizzard roared around them, one that only her friends and the new comer with Jordan were strangely unaffected by.

"I really hate guns you know."

She was likely the least inclined to violence in the group, instead preferring to hide and sneak away under cover of the blizzard.

[z-Isaac Ward]

“That was trouble,” Isaac said, his face turning toward the trees where Melissa and Jordan were last seen. “Take Puffball and hide by the cars. We’ll find you.” Isaac wasn’t sure that this was a good idea.

“Wait, now you’re being noble?” Jaime shouted.

“I’m helping your brother because you'll hate me if I don’t and he dies,” Isaac told her.

“Why didn’t you go with him in the first place?”

“Because we didn’t know it was dangerous then!” Isaac shouted as he ran for the trees.

[jameson (ST)]

"That doesn't even make sense!!" Jamie yelled at his back as he took off towards the woods. Already winds were thrashing the trees to and fro and snow was starting to filter out on the winds. At her feet the puppy was yapping and pulling at the leash, trying to follow Isaac.

Jordan hoisted the injured man into his arms and started for the cemetery, following Melissa as the blizzard seemed to part for the two of them before swallowing the world up again directly behind them. Despite the load, Jordan had no trouble keeping up with Melissa. A few more shots popped over the howling winds before the two hit the shrub barrier between the woods and the cemetery proper.

Melissa left the blizzard to run, dumping snow and howling winds on the heads of those chasing this man. The three broke out into the sun and saw Isaac running toward them, Jamie was nowhere to be seen. The injured man looked at Jordan and then at Melissa, still clad in a sheathe of ice that acted like plate armor, "Indigos ... beware..." he managed to breathe before passing out.

[Tharra of the Katjaa]

Great, more GiBs, Jordan thought with disgust, praying he wouldn't get shot in the back. His arms full of unconscious Indigo (presumably) he pointed pass Isaac with his sharp jerks of his chin. "Go! Go! Go! More GiBs. We can't go to a hospital - call the Sanctuary."

Jordan almost staggered to a stop when he noticed someone missing, but kept moving as he stopped worrying about who might be behind them and looked forward, nostrils flaring as he search for signs of his sister. "Where's Jaime?!"

Isaac prowled at Jordan's side, only refraining from turning and going after the GiBs coming after them due to the fact he didn't know how many of them there were. And his packmate was ahead of them. "Cars," he grunted, keeping an eye in blizzard swirling at the brush-line, hands knotted into fists and phone-free.

"Right, cars," Jordan agreed. He nodded at Melissa on his other side. "Let's get outta here, so we can figure out what to do with this guy."

[Shirayuki]

Melissa's Blizzard was still in full effect, blanketing the hole area in snow, driven by madly howling winds. "LEad the way, I'll keep us covered until we're on the road." It was a risk, causing a blizzard over such an area, especially with the potential for accidents, but it was their only hope to escape.

Inwardly she hated herself for being so selfish. She knew the ones she should really blame were the ones chasing her and shooting at her.

[jameson (ST)]

Jamie popped her head over the car and her eyes went wide as she saw her brother, running back carrying some kind of hospital patient. Isaac and Melissa trailed him as the forest behind them shook with gale force winds, snow and ice coating the trees and spitting out from among the branches. The staccato of occasional gunfire echoed through the area as their pursuers caught glimpses through the blizzard. "Jamie, open the back of the car!" Jordan called. She nodded and fumbled for the keys finally getting them in hand and desperately pushing the button. The car stubbornly failed to respond the RAV-4's lights didn't blink nor did the locks disengage. Melissa fished her own keys out of her pocket and tried her car at the same time to similar effect. "It's not working!" Jamie cried in a panic, the puppy beside her barking, picking up on the teen's anxiety.

[Shirayuki]

"I thought this EMP mess was done." Melissa grumbled. She looked at the others. The downside to this power is that It will give our movements away in the long run. I can leave and give you all time enough to get out of here and hail a taxi."

She shook her head. "Dammit that won't work. If these guys are halfway efficient they'll note which cars move and which don't. Simple enough to trace ownership and where we live from that."

"So, do we press on and damn the consequences, or stand and fight, or do any of you see another way out of this?"

"Fighting was obviously the thing she least wanted to do.

[z-Isaac Ward]

"How many?" Isaac asked Jordan.

"No idea!" the young man retorted, looking down at the insensate man in his arms.

The decision was easily made for the feral. "Then you go on," Isaac ordered. "Get Jaime and him and the ice-girl out of here. I'll rally a few friends and lead them away. I'll catch up." Before they could reply, Isaac was already turning back for the ice storm, his strong body crouched low as he ran.

[Tharra of the Katjaa]

"Isa-shit!" Jordan didn't even finish the step he took in Isaac's direction before looking at Melissa and Jaime. He hefted the dead weight of the unconscious kid and ground his teeth. Plug-head was defenseless and Jordan wasn't going to let Jaime get near to whoever the hell was after him. "Okay. Jaime, open the back, use the actually key. We're getting out of here."

"My car didn't start, Jordan. I tried it, just in case," Melissa informed him.

I really didn't expect it to, but still, that's inconvenient. "We're going on foot. I just want to wrap this guy up in a blanket or two - it's cool, and it'll disguise him a little too." Shaking a little, it took Jaime two tries to get the key in the lock. Jordan shifted Plug-head - Unfortunate, but I've got nothing better right now - and patted his sister's shoulder. He was nervous too, but didn't want to feed his sister's fears. "Calm down, Jaime, we'll get out of this. We go out of The Pulse, safely enough, right?"

"Ri-right." Jaime gave her brother a tremulous grin as she pulled the back hatch open.

Jordan grinned back, then settled Plug-head in the back and carefully wrapped him head to toe in the blankets he kept in back as part of the emergency kit. He fluffed the blankets out here, tightened them there, trying to make it look like anything but a person wrapped in blankets. It would have to do.

Click to reveal.. (Disguising Plug-Head (Disguise Roll)

Roll: 4 +15 Modifier = +19

That done, he focused his attention inward on bone and sinew, skin and muscle, altering minor details until he was a new person, a broad-shouldered, six-foot-seven blond. He looked older, his face a handsome, battered, pugilist's face. If nothing else, it would make his cargo seem that much smaller, and more attention would be focused on him, rather than the two much smaller women with him.

Click to reveal.. (Shifting Roll (Disguise Roll)

Roll: 18 +15 Modifier -15 DC = +18 PASS.

Disguise Roll (Minor Details Only): 8 +35 Modifier +5 Circumstance Bonus = +48

"Okay girls, let's go. We're heading through the parking lot - try to stay behind as many SUVs and Minivans as you can, then we'll cross the street and take the first turn we can." Jordan settled Plug-head over his shoulder, and started off, keeping Jaime ahead of him.

"Remember, the best disguise it attitude. Just walk along as if you know exactly what you're doing - glance around it bit - we've heard some pops, but we don't know they're gunfire, right? That's it. We'll get out of this and Isaac will find us, 'kay? He has a good nose and so do his 'friends.'"

[jameson (ST)]

Isaac loped across the green like some kind of hunter or warrior in days of old. The treeline was closing, snow and ice evident, when a handful of figures in black fatigues broke out from the undergrowth and into the open. Isaac couldn't have contained the feral grin if he had wanted to and increased his speed hitting the man furthest right in a low tackle that brutally slammed them both into, and through, the hedges at the edge of the clearing.

~~~~~

Jordan, Jamie, and Melissa began to walk as calmly as possible for the the main road, the disabled car behind them. Jamie had already verified that he phone was off, and would not turn on. She cursed, she didn't want to buy another new phone.

"Watch your mouth Jamie," Jordan snapped, somehow managing to be irritated at his sister's potty mouth even at a time like this. The bundle over his should, the young man whom he suspected was like him, stirred and groaned. Jordan shifted the burden and cleared the wrapping around his face, "Hey, you awake?"

"Don't go that way," he said nodding, "Ten more, and a vehicle." His voice was weak, barely audible to Melissa and Jamie.

[Tharra of the Katjaa]

"How do you - duh! Right, nevermind." You're fucking Mystique, and you wonder how he can tell there are more of them without seeing them? Take your own advice Jordan, stay calm and think. "Thanks for the heads up, umm... Hmm, what do we call you?"

Inside the cloth cocoon, Jordan could feel him shift self-consciously. "Tel-Teleperceptor."

"Tel-!" Jordan bite off the rest, feeling a spike of shame rise up. The first time he had really noticed the name on the Network was when someone had mentioned not seeing him for a while and he had thought the whole MiB thing was a hoax. "Teleperceptor, people were worried about you on the Network. I sorry that their fears were valid, man. I'm Teresias. Okay, girls change of plan. This way."

Jordan smoothly turned down their parking section, moving parallel to the still distant Richmond Road, heading for another section of the graceful, landscaped grounds. The wrought-iron fence and thick hedge would hopefully prevent anyone outside the cemetery from following their movements. He was slightly concerned that the same barrier might also limit their own movement, but if need be, he was pretty he could find a way through - or over - it.

"So, TP, can you lead us around your pursuers without being seen? Are you up to it?"

[z-Isaac Ward]

Isaac didn't pause to see what the others were doing. Instead, he rammed the head of his captured agent into a convenient log, knocking the man out. There wasn't time to see if he was alive; Isaac was already in motion, ducking deeper into the trees and starting to circle.

"Hey!" he hissed to a squirrel chattering at him. "Cut me a break here!" The squirrel nervously fell silent as Isaac passed under him, his beady eyes wide and his tail twitching. Isaac circled wide and came back to see the other four men circling up around their wounded. Three kept watch while the fourth was checking the downed man; Isaac felt neither relief nor annoyance as it became clear that he was still alive. Instead, he watched and waited to be sure they were more preoccupied with their fallen than with capturing his pack or the others he'd been around.

[jameson (ST)]

"I'll try," the young man croaked. He wasn't looking well, whatever they had done to him was bad. His eyes rolled up into his head and the whites began to glow. He pointed to the road, "There are 6 waiting where this section exits to the main field." He hand darted back and to the left, "There are none that way you can cross through into the next area and try to escape there." His head wobbled, and he looked back the way they had come, "Your freind, he is in danger, they are going to surround him. There are four he sees, and four he does not."

~~~~~

Isaac was satisfied. Two of the four GiBs were picking up the limp fifth, and the other two where covering them, watching, weapons ready. Isaac hoped he could catch up to Jordan and the others quickly and quietly. He stood and was about to begin a flanking move toward the road when he heard a voice behind him, "I'd stop if I were you."

Isaac turned, and found himself facing four more GiBs, weapons ready. "You attacked my men," the man in the middle said, "without apparent provocation. So I have to assume you are helping the fugitive. Cooperate and we won't have to hurt you."

[z-Isaac Ward]

A person would have berated themselves for not hearing the guys, or worried how it had happened. Isaac wasn't consumed by such conflicts. To him, he was cornered and outnumbered, and there was only one appropriate response.

He surged forward, his gray eyes on the man speaking. The retort of the weapons were loud, but Isaac ignored them. He felt two stings, even as he finished his rush and collided with the man, hitting him like a hammer. Before anyone could react, Isaac delivered another crushing blow to the man's throat, intent on taking him down fast.

After all, if he took out the Alpha, the others would break.

He did take down the Alpha; his head snapped back and the man crumpled. Isaac turned the momentum from his lunge into another strike, aiming for the next closest member of the pack. The falling Alpha impeded his attempt and his fist fell short of the intended reciepent.

Click to reveal..

Lots of rolls, see rolls 213 - 230 in the dice roller.

Isaac's status: Toughness -1 Init 15

[Tharra of the Katjaa]

Just as Teleperceptor warned about the danger Isaac was in, Jordan drew to a halt, his sharp ears hearing the sharp retorts of gunfire. Jordan glanced over his shoulder, then toward the main road, the way blocked by unseen GiBs, and chewed his lip in indecision.

"Shit."

"Jordy, we can't just leave Isaac back there," Jaime protested, sticking close to her brother, her own eyes going back and forth.

"And I'm not taking you back there - I don't trust them to not shoot first and ask questions never," Jordan countered, looking for another way out. He hefted the nearly unconscious Teleperceptor in his arms then froze as his eyes fell upon a mausoleum. An idea began forming, a bad one, but it was all he had at the moment that didn't involve abandoning Isaac. "Okay, I'm going back for him, Jaime, but I'll need you to stay here, and keep an eye on this guy. Follow me, girls."

Jordan stepped off the path, moving towards an ornate, gothic mausoleum. He put TP down on his blanket wrapped feet, getting Jaime and Melissa to steady him, then rolled his shoulders. Using sheer bulk and strength, he pushed at the heavy door. At first, it held firm, but a grunt and a moment later, it gave way with the scraping of stone.

Jordan picked TP up again, looked around to make sure no one was looking, then waved Jaime inside. "C'mon, sis, move it."

Jaime approached warily, giving Jordan a doubtful look as she tried to glance inside from a distance. "You want me to wait in there? Aren't there, like, bodies and stuff?"

"No, not anymore, they keep urns in here, nowadays. I think. Just get in." Suiting action to words, Jordan ducked low and entered the mausoleum, finding it dusty, musty, and indeed, body free. Thank God! Just as he was settling Teleperceptor on the central bier, Jaime got up the nerve and followed. "Good. Sucks I know, but better than waiting in the open, sis. Now, I'm serious, you wait here. If the GiBs come this way, hide in a corner, don't say a word and let them take him, got it?"

Jaime swallowed, then nodded. This was serious. "I... I got it."

Jordan gave her sister a commiserating grin then move back to the door, sliding it closed so there was only a crack that Jaime would barely be able to slip through. "Me and Isaac will be back soon, I swear. Keep trying your phone, maybe their jammer will go down."

Jordan turned to Melissa, something almost like pleading in his eyes. "Can you stay here with her? I'm gonna run back to Isaac and I don't think you'll be able to keep up and... I'll feel better with someone else staying with my sister." Jordan's head snapped around at another pop of distant gunfire. He turned to go, tossing over his shoulder, "Gotta go, if you follow, stay low key and try to toss up another blizzard to cover our retreat."

Then he was off, a huge man running through the cemetery more than twice as face as an Olympic sprinter, willing to back up the man that had defended his sister when he wasn't there. Fuck, I hope I don't get shot!

[Shirayuki]

Melissa nodded. "I will provide cover for you, and with any luck it will be enough to keep others at bay from us here."

She was one of the least capable fighters, and it made sense to leave her in support.

She nodded and the blizzard obscuring them intensified. She herself stood against the Mausoleum, her Ice armor and grey outfit helping to hide her somewhat, and she waited. If someone came near she'd handle things. if not she'd be patient, Trusting in her friends to handle it.

The winds whipped and scourged the park, driving snow to pile up as the temeperature dove colder and colder. She was focusing on making the area inhospitable for those who weren't with her, hoping to help in at least some small way.