A Kick in the Teeth

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A BATTLE IN PHOENIX

Yesterday, Professor Charles Xavier was contacted by a journalist operating in Phoenix, Arizona. She introduced herself as Hayley Adeyemi and explained that, according to her sources, a contaminated batch of Kick had made it to the streets and was causing chaos throughout the city. The drug, which typically produces a mental high in anyone that takes it and amplifies the powers of any mutants that take it, has been a problem in the area for years now, but this is different. This batch seems to amplify powers to an uncontrollable degree and to have hallucinogenic properties, leading to disastrous outcomes. There have been at least two incidents of mutants lashing out in volatile and unpredictable ways and both are now in custody. While she's tried to get interviews with the mutants in question, she's currently being denied access and the authorities have been openly hostile with her. She's also attempted to get the word out in the local mutant communities, but has been met with skepticism and distrust. So, instead, she's reached out to the X-Men. With this information, Charles began making plans to send the Blue Team to investigate.

Unfortunately, before this could happen, the situation escalated.

On Sunday afternoon, Charles receives another call from Hayley Adeyemi. This one is frantic and telling him of a situation unfolding in downtown Phoenix. A young woman seems to have taken the drug and is now causing catastrophic damage in the form of violent storms. Devastating winds. Torrential rain. Lightning that strikes anything that tries to get close to her and thunder that seems to shake the very earth. Someone needs to intervene or people are going to be killed. Charles agrees to send the Blue Team out and with Illyana Rasputin on hand, they're able to arrive in a matter of minutes. Fighting their way through the storm to reach the woman and get civilians out of harm's way, the team is just beginning to turn the tides and subdue the out of control mutant when a unit of sentinels descends from the sky.

Apparently, Hayley wasn't the only one making calls.

Immediately, the machines close in on her, their booming robotic voices ordering her to halt and stand down. Seemingly directed to neutralize and detain only the threat, they ignore the X-Men. Unfortunately, they're soon caught in one of the woman's electrical storms and begin to malfunction. The sentinels are no longer acting with restraint, turning on the X-Men as well as nearby civilians. Some attempt to detain. Some attempt to kill. In the midst of all this, the mutant they'd come to help is shot clean through, her powers getting even more out of control as she bleeds out. It's absolute chaos.

As the fight continues, several civilians and members of the team are detained by the sentinels and pulled into containment cells in their chests before they take to the sky and depart the fight to take them into custody. Kurt Wagner puts in the call for backup from Gold Team. Together, the X-Men are able to bring down the rampaging sentinels, but it's a bittersweet victory. The mutant woman they'd come to help succumbs to her injuries. The city is wrecked. Some of their own are in custody at best or missing at worst. And, already, the media is starting to swarm.

It's going to be a long day.

Use the form below to determine your character's role in the mission!

NOTE: For Gold Team, skip the Initial Strategy question, since they are not there for that part of the encounter. Additionally, Gold Team arrives after the departure of the sentinels that are capturing targets and there for cannot be captured. (But in future missions...)

<b>CHARACTER:</b> Character's name. <b>INITIAL STRATEGY:</b> What were your character's aims during the initial conflict with the mutant high on Kick? Were they trying to reach and calm down/restrain her? Were they trying to help evacuate the area? <b>SENTINEL STRATEGY:</b> What were your character's aims during the showdown with the malfunctioning sentinels? Were they trying to fight, protect the locals/the city, or just get the heck out of the way? <b>OUTCOME:</b> How did the confrontation work out for them? Did they take down a sentinel with impressive efficiency? Were they hurt? Were they captured and taken away? <b>MISC:</b> Anything else?

THE AFTERMATH

There's nothing else they can do for the unfortunate woman now, so the team reluctantly splits up to do what they can...

Paige Guthrie, Remy Lebeau, Warren Worthington, and [Character 1] remain downtown to help however they can. They clear debris, aid first responders, search for the missing and the dead, and the like. They also have to play nice with the media, who quickly arrive on the scene to capture the aftermath and try to get an interview from the heroes of the hour. Or the mutant menaces, depending on which station you're talking to.

Jono Starsmore, Laura Kinney, Kitty Pryde, and [Character 2] investigate the source of the contaminated Kick. After finding out the woman's identity (her name was Mona Elswick), they're able to find where she lived and investigate her home. There, they find contacts (who all swear up and down that she wasn't a mutant) and are eventually pointed to a two-bit drug dealer who insists he got the Kick dirt cheap from a 'guy in a real nice suit', but swears he doesn't know anything more than that. For now, it's a dead end.

Kurt Wagner, Sam Guthrie, Anna Marie LeBeau, and Scott Summers track the sentinels that fled the fight. For better or worse, the sentinels do keep to protocol and bring those they captured to the nearest Mutant Detention Center (in isolated Komatke, Arizona), where mutants are detained following capture by sentinels or other authorities.

Anyone that was captured has since been collared (preventing them from using their powers) and is waiting in a cell while the situation is sorted out. Anyone that was not registered ahead of this event is undergoing interrogation (with trained agents, including a telepath) and an assessment of their powers. Congratulations, now you're registered! But at least your teammates are here to bail you out.

A BATTLE IN PHOENIX ⮾ THE AFTERMATH ⮾ OOC

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