ALWAYS OPEN X-Men: Eve of Apocalypse

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"Gotta walk through a fire for what's important..."
Raelyn Todd​


The scent of strong metals hit Raelyn rather quickly, and it came to no surprise when seeing Magneto float down the stairs. The woman fought back an inward sigh, there were no X-Men versus Brotherhood of Mutants at this given moment- simply... two groups of mutants working together for a change. If not for the circumstances, Raelyn would be grateful for this chance. Of course... the circumstances were dire, but she was hardly going to cause any grief. That wouldn't solve matters. Plus, Magneto wasn't a terrible being- if only he wasn't against humanity so much... putting it loosely, but still.

"There was a rest period," She explained when Magento brought up the news, "My phone kept alerting me with the news and..." She sighed softly whilst following after the other mutant into the living room. Her sharp hearing easily picking up the on going news coverage on the TV. Raelyn brightened when hearing how Captain America stopped mobs of both humans and/or mutants alike- from attacking. "This is just what we need right now." Raelyn hummed happily, something good for a change. Well, she thought it was good at least. Captain America calmed down what could've been a bloody, and horrific fight.

The wolf mutant paused though at Magento's words and she found herself sending him a small but reassuring smile. "I'm sure they won't, but if something were to happen, surely we can talk things out. We're all civil beings." She remarked, soon being brought back to the topic at hand.

"Yes. It's about the assassination. We both know this was a frame-up, and I'd very much like to know if there's anything I can do to help... please." Raelyn threw in, she really hoped so- she wanted to do what she could. But if she was asked to go about her normal routine, then... that would be okay. Besides, the worst Magento could say was 'no'.​
 
Matthew Michael Volt

Location: Xavier's School
Interaction: Xavier Mansion, Laboratory.

Screams.

Matthew didn't process his own movement from the bottom of the stairs to the area the cells were situated, his heart in his throat as two entirely different frames of thought played out simultaneously. The lights felt more intense, the walls almost distorting as memory threatens to overtake him. The screen flickers back to reality, repression is one hell of a drug and Matthew would abuse it to its fullest extent as his system boots back into survival settings. "Shit, what the fuck happened?" He questions harshly and slams his hand on the control panel for Envy's cell door, the edges of memory blurring things just a little more. Mystique's cell opens with the unspoken command and it would take a good deal of work to get them to shut once again. He wouldn't be apologizing for it.

No, instead he hesitates in the doorway as it processes that there was absolutely nothing he could do to help in this situation. He wasn't a doctor but that… there wasn't any coming back from that. Right? Thoughts flickered through in rapid fire. One hell of an NDA, kill switch? Blue stuff, altered twin, could it have killed her? Is she dead? Need help, need answers. "BEAST! We need you!" He shouts towards the lab itself, an underlying hiss of static to his words. Some part of him recognizes that he was just in the way and he distantly steps back from the carnage. Electricity occasionally arcs on the patches of his bare skin, the faintest hint of pixelation as he's forced to try and maintain a solid image while his panicked thoughts ran on in a frenzy.
 
'Stop overthinking this, girl. You've used Cerebro before. Of anyone on the planet, you're the most qualified to use it effectively.'

Jean tries to give herself a pep talk, out of the corner of her eyes looking towards Ororo. Her hands raise and she crowns herself with the Cerebro interface unit. The helmet slips onto her easily, settling against the back of her neck. What you hear when you first put on the helmet is your own heartbeat in your ears. The helmet was designed to minimize outside distractions, which is why the light in the room also dim as Cerebro prepares itself to be utilized.

A slow and deep breath is drawn in, and she then runs the initiation program. A moment passes, and Storm would see Jean's whole body tense up. She lurches forward, her hands gripping the edge of the console white knuckled. Jean's blood pressure and heart-rate spike. Her body tries to cope with the sudden influx of sensory inputs. She grits her teeth to fight for control, to help her calm herself. If she had time, she would have done a test run to get used to Cerebro once more. But time is one thing they have little of. Her heart begins to slow (peaking at around 132 BPM) to around 90 BPM, which is much safer. Her blood pressure is still elevated… but there's a lot going on right now and all.

"I'm okay…" she whispers through gritted teeth, to let her friend know she can continue on her quest. The hard light image of the globe is projected into the large room. The continents are scrawled along the 'surface' of that globe. Tiny red pinsized dots begin to populate the world, the mutant population now being spawned. The globe turns so now the Americas are facing Jean and Storm. And Jean continues to work to calm herself as she searches. The area over where Washington D.C. is seems to glitch a moment, and Jean whispers "Many mutants gathered… many strong emotions… we'll come back to that…" The globe now begins to spin slowly, the islands of Japan now facing the women. Dots start to populate the islands, of course more dots are shown in more densely populated provinces. Eyes closed, Jean focuses on Japan. But she switches her tactic… and she focuses on Wolverine. No… on Logan. Her mind draws on pleasant memories… her body pleasant sensations. The globe tilts upwards, and then downwards a little to focus on various places along the islands.

The image freezes, and then that part of the glowing globe begins to enlarge. To the point the only thing shown is Japan. The image moves upwards, their focus going south. Then stops on a small island in the southern quarter of Japan…

"I think…" she whispers

The image pauses, and then one island in particular begins to expand as she focuses herself. Now she feels a bead of sweat drawing down her cheek, but she stays on her work.

"I think.. yes… Shikoku…" the island she focuses on is indeed Shikoku, considered the smallest of the Japanese mainland islands. Then focusing more, it highlights what seems to be a city. Jean whispers "Cerebro.. identify please.." After a moment glowing words emerge under the image, saying

++'Zentsuji, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan'++

Jean nods as her eyes open, and the image moves towards the western part of the city. One of the red dots flicks to a blue color, and Jean leans back in the chair, motioning "There he is.. in Japan just like he said.." There is relief in Jean's voice, but she also sounds winded. "I won't go any further, all we needed to know is that he's there and not here." Now the image before them fades slowly. Jean motions to one of the small buttons on the console, the intercom "Let them know.. Logan isn't in this hemisphere. They should hear you in the lab…" After a few moments more she sits up and takes a deep breath. A hand reaches up and wipes a bead of sweat off of her cheek with the back of her hand. "Gimme a sec.. I'll get to D.C…"



And in D.C.
Captain America and the police rep talk, Cap leaning down slightly so he makes sure he hears it all. The rep motions towards the building, and then the surrounding barriers. Cap's eyes follow where he points. Cap nods, and firmly pats the man on the shoulder. "That's a good plan, Chief. I'll join your detectives." The man nods and moves off, speaking into a walkie-talkie as he does.

Cap looks along the crowds still there, just making sure no one is trying anything. The shout from a reporter catches his attention, and he looks towards him. Captain America dislikes reporters. Sometimes it feels like they twist whatever you say so it benefits a certain perspective. He strides towards the barrier, however, some of the police walking along the barrier to make sure everything is in order. And as he approaches, a few more reporters move towards John Carter, holding out mics and phones towards Cap.

"I'm speaking now not as a representative of the police or any Capitol enforcement agency. This is how I feel, no one else." He pauses, his steely gaze drifting along the reporters. "Good men and women were murdered here today. In an effort to assassinate a convicted man. There is zero justification for this kind of behavior. And everyone watching this… do not act towards another based on what happened here." He looks like he's going to continue, but he's cut off by another reporter. And not wanting to be rude and speaking over the man, he falls silent and listens. "Cap! Cap! What do you say about the reports that it was the mutant Wolverine and this is justice for mutants?"

Now Cap scowls a little, and he motions to the reporter with his finger. "When you can start that statement with 'he has been positively identified as' and not 'reports say', then I'll have a comment. As for justice… Mr. Gyrich was on his way to receiving his sentence after being found guilty by his peers. That is justice. This wasn't justice, no matter who is responsible." As he turns he says "Tell people the truth about what happened here today. Not what serves your corporations or ratings." More reporters try to yell out questions, but he keeps walking towards the main building now.
 
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The chaos unfolding before Scott as Envy's condition deteriorated rapidly, shock registered across his features, he quickly assessed the scene, his training as a leader kicking in amidst the pandemonium. "Mystique, step back from the barrier, now!" Scott commanded, his voice firm, directing her to move away from the potential danger and to prevent any further complications. He turned his attention to the control panel Matthew had slammed, noting the settings and preparing for any required overrides.

Matthew's shout for Hank was crucial, but Scott knew he needed to manage the situation on multiple fronts—not just the immediate medical emergency. "Mystique, I know it's pointless to ask if you knew what just happened. That face... Tells it all... Is there anything else you might now that could help us? Anything?" Scott's tone was urgent but controlled, trying to glean as much information as possible to prevent another such incident or understand what had been done to Envy.

Scott kept a close eye on Envy's condition, ready to assist Hank the moment he arrived. "Everyone, stay alert! We need to control the immediate area in case there's something else is about to happen!"
 
Hank Mccoy
Hearing the scream from Envy caused the scientist to rush up from his chair and rush over. Matts yell only made him speed up. However when he got to the grusly scene he paused. H..how could this happen, maybe a...kill switch from her master caused by capture. How did he not see that. Dammit. Hes got to work, sort through the shock later

He gently moved Matt further away, the lad seemed appropriately freaked out. "everyone please stay back, whoever did this mightve made it viral in nature, we need to keep away until we can get protection to analyse it" he said in a hurried but focused matter. However despite his words he got closer to the body to try to get a better view. The features where changed and all, eyes red, lips a dark blue...something cyan in some of the blood.

Hank turned around to Scott and Matt quickly. "i need some equipment, gloves, masks, stuff to gather a sample of her blood, something isnt right there, Mystique I'd recommend being careful...honestly i would say that we should get her somewhere else" he stated, he knew he should try to get everyone safe but figure it out. "What caused the reaction Scott?".​
 
Matthew Michael Volt

Location: Xavier's School Laboratory
Interaction: Scott, Hank, Mystique.

Matthew had dissociated slightly after his call for help, his mind blurring the images from now to back then and all the uncomfortable places in between. For as callous as he was in the Brotherhood, all the harm he'd caused had been carefully planned. His crimes were premeditated and he made the time to brace for the outcome. People got hurt, of course, but never died from his actions. What happened here... someone they were responsible to look after died in their care.

As Scott checks the control panel, he'll find a very long string of errors that had triggered a forced opening of the cell doors and an override of the alarms for them. Something was very clearly broken within the programming itself, possibly impressive once one got over the annoyance of it being quite frankly fucked. More than likely it was fixable by the one who broke it... If he could be convinced to even set foot in the basement again after this.

Hank could probably note his fur standing on end as he encroaches on Matt's space, or the faintly familiar look of something dangerous when cornered as Matthew registers someone too close for comfort. And as he gestures towards Matt, perhaps some base survival instinct that screamed bad idea - a warning sign, DANGER: HIGH VOLTAGE, would keep things clear. Do not touch. He tears his gaze away from the bloodied cell, belatedly realizing he was still in the way.

Hank's request for items swims in his mind for a moment before he stiffly nods and goes to grab them from the medical area of the lab. He tries to ignore the brightness of the fluorescent lights and the monitors that he could swear were displaying his panic in real time out of the corner of his eye, but looking at them straight on, they were clearly turned off. He searches through the drawers and cabinets, some distant conversation happening around him that he was the subject of but not party to playing in the corners of his mind. He collects vials and syringes... He feels a phantom pinch in his own arm as his gaze lingers on the elastic ties and the various sizes of the needles. He'd never actually been struck by lightning, but he could feel its intensity shooting up his arm. He slams the drawer shut a little harder than necessary, breaths carefully measured as his skin flickers with static once more.

His stomach twists violently and he rushes to the sink to throw up the whole two sips of coffee he'd had this morning. That's what he was forgetting in the kitchen... And he forgot to pick up another bag of coffee beans while he was out. Fuck. The idea of drinking coffee now has him heaving up nothing. It felt like an eternity but was really only a minute or two. He grips the edges of the metal sink tightly, feeling his charge starting to dissipate to a safer level. Once he was at a point where he wasn't going to really hurt himself with the water, he rinses out the sink and swishes a few mouthfuls of water around to try and get rid of the lingering ick out. He breathes out a heavy sigh once it's all said and done, his shoulders sagged in defeat. Couldn't even deal with the monster in his head, and he was really thinking of joining a fight against Apocalypse? He picks up the stuff he'd dropped in his haste, checking to make sure nothing broke but not lingering too long on it lest he take another trip down memory lane. He grabs whatever protective gear was around, gloves, goggles, splash apron and brings the whole bundle back to Hank.

"Here. I'm gonna head up and let the boss know what's going on." He says quietly, a far cry from the sarcastic bluster he'd had this morning. "I can keep an eye on Mystique if you want her out of here for the time being. I doubt Magneto will be too thrilled with the cells not working," he shrugs, working on getting his mask back into place despite it sounding more like a hollow act, "but I've hit my limit of fucks to give today." He glances at the still living Mystique, figuring it was something of an experience listening to herself kick the bucket.
 
Xavier Mansion, Laboratory...

Mystique sank back against the wall. In the times the X-Men encountered her, she had never looked so shaken. "O-okay, settle down," she demanded, despite having not quite done so herself. "Sometimes, spies on risky missions come equipped with an L-pill... You know, cyanide. But she didn't die willingly, by the sound of it, meaning her handler might've had a killswitch. Maybe those blood samples you took last night will help." It was worth nothing, prior to getting attacked, Hank had found foreign bodies in Envy's blood sample, but not hers.

As they discussed the mystery at hand, the intercom chimed, the light indicating a signal from Cerebro's chamber lighting up. "Storm to Cyclops," Ororo called, oblivious to the tragedy. "We found Logan. We were right; he is still in Japan. Jean is still using Cerebro. Continuing to monitor her."

Following behind Matt, Mystique made her way upstairs. She gave him some space and silence.


Xavier Mansion, Foyer...

"As a matter of fact, we could use your help," Magneto answered, having immediately sensed the opportunity to utilize Raelyn's keen senses. "We suspect the killer and their handlers are still in Washington; hopefully, they left behind a scent trail. The other X-Men are gathering proof in Logan's favor." He glanced to his left, noticing Matt and Mystique returning from the basement.

"Speaking of... Havoc." His eyes narrowed, brow knitting as he scrutinized Matt's expression. "What happened, and what is she doing up here?"

"Envy's dead and the cell doors broke," Mystique sighed. "Look, I'm the least of your concerns right now. I'm not going anywhere."

"Dead?" Magneto echoed in disbelief. He looked to Matt for answers, fury giving way to worry. He knew none of the residents here would slay someone in X-Men custody, regardless of how tempting it may be.
 
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