Forest Fright

[blauerdamon]

Forest Fright

what's up?

In the early afternoon on Saturday (3/1), the Xavier Institute is attacked by an unknown mutant who manipulates the surrounding foliage, trapping the X-Men and one of their students in a forested maze. The situation is quickly brought under control, and seems to be the result of a messy international custody battle. The incident doesn't even make the local news thanks to the X-Men's quick response.

the incident & volunteers.

Shadowcat is out for a brisk walk in the wooded area surrounding the mansion, something they’re very familiar with. Strange, then, when they notice that the path is trailing off, and the number of trees has grown hauntingly dense. They can no longer tell which direction the mansion is in, and before they can come up with a plan of action, woody vines erupt from the forest floor and entangle them.

Meanwhile, Empath is out on one of the verandas enjoying the afternoon and keeping tabs on a couple students who are messing around with their powers on the lawn. Suddenly they hear the distressed shout of their teammate from beyond the treeline. One of the students, Veronica Milanović, is a firestarter who’s always eager and never in great control of her powers. The second she hears the scream, she takes off into the forest.

Empath narrowly catches up with Veronica. She overzealously uses her powers to light several of the trees on fire, which causes the foliage to react violently, attacking both student and teacher. Empath and Veronica work together, with them helping Veronica to finally get her fire powers under control for the first time.

White Queen rushes outside, where more and more students have arrived to check out the commotion. The forest is visibly overgrown now, with thick trunks making it hard to enter. White Queen makes quick time by telepathically tracking Shadowcat to navigate to the thickest part of the forest, where they find Shadowcat knocked out and bound in vines. They work to free them as the team finally regroups.

When the X-Men corner the source of the trouble, they catch a glimpse of a normal looking man with a black moustache. Rather than fight, he makes a run for it, using his control over vegetation to assist his escape. Once he’s gone, all of the trees return to normal, and the overgrown plant life recedes. It’s like nothing ever happened.

Well, besides the trees that Veronica set on fire.

resolution.

Later they learn that the man behind the forest’s eruption was Thomas Cassidy, an Irish mutant who was mistakenly convinced that his niece, Theresa Cassidy, had been sent to Xavier’s in secret. It seems like he’s in the middle of a very messy custody battle over the girl, and had plans to steal her away from the American school.

He escaped the scene of the crime, and his current whereabouts are unknown. He likely returned to Europe.

code

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MORNING

[blauerdamon kurt wagner ⚔️ nightcrawler]

MORNING: Manny & Emma

[frost_queen Emma Frost ♕ White Queen]

By 11:30am Emma is seated in the kitchen, two espressos ready on the table, her phone decidedly tucked away as she waits for Manny to arrive. It's not an uncommon ritual for them on Saturdays - they've been off to yoga and back, and after getting cleaned up they'll share a quiet espresso and a little gossip.

Honestly, the gossip is practically ready to overflow from her, but she wants to be mindful of the fact that technically, nothing has really been resolved with her and Scott. So she should mostly keep her mouth shut, and hopefully steer the conversation in other directions.

MORNING: Manny & Emma

[empata Manuel de la Rocha (Empath)]

While it's impossible to really be late for this sort of informal get together, Manuel is so punctual and predictable most of the time that the couple of minutes he leaves Emma sitting by herself are noteworthy. It's clear he's been walking at a brisk pace when he enters the kitchen and he slips into the seat across from her with an apologetic smile.

He looks down at their mugs, still sitting together and untouched, and shakes his head. He reaches for one, but waits for her to do the same before lifting it into his hands. There's still steam coming off of it, so he's not that late.

"Forgive me. You didn't have to wait. I was...intercepted."

MORNING: Manny & Emma

[frost_queen Emma Frost ♕ White Queen]

"Intercepted?" Emma could, of course, look, but these chats are a little more entertaining if she doesn't just get all her answers on her own. She does indeed reach for her mug as Manny does, her own smile forgiving and reassuring. She can deal with a few minutes tardiness, particularly because she's been a little up in her own head all morning.

"And the clock was ticking, but you arrived before I gave in to temptation." She takes a slow, content sip.

MORNING: Kurt & Emma

[frost_queen Emma Frost ♕ White Queen]

After a late awakening and a little bit of fussing around her room, Emma emerges in a silken robe, hair done up in heatless curl rods as she pads her way into the kitchen for a cup of coffee and then into an east-facing lounge to slowly start her morning.

Normally she'd be up a bit earlier than usual, but she'd felt like indulging, so she's not surprised in the least that she's not alone when she steps into the room.

"Guten Morgen, Liebchen."

MORNING: Kurt & Emma

[blauerdamon kurt wagner ⚔️ nightcrawler]

Kurt was staring out the window, listening to the bubbling sound of the coffee maker doing its job, thoughts off somewhere north with Scott. Emma's voice jolts him out of his trance, and he brushes his worries away under a metaphorical carpet so that they won't stick out so much. She can probably still catch fragments, but it's the best Kurt can do on short notice.

"Ah, Emma, you look as lovely as the morning sun."

MORNING: Kurt & Emma

[frost_queen Emma Frost ♕ White Queen]

With a little hum, Emma goes to seat herself across from Kurt, watching him for a moment. Even without getting a clear view of everything that had been on his mind when she'd arrived, it's not difficult for her to guess his mood (and probably the reason for it).

"Such a flatterer. You're looking darling as always, but worry is dragging you down a bit." This is said gently but directly. "Is the view outside helping at all?"

FOREST MAZE

[blauerdamon kurt wagner ⚔️ nightcrawler]

AFTERMATH

[blauerdamon kurt wagner ⚔️ nightcrawler]

AFTERMATH: Kitty & Emma

[frost_queen Emma Frost ♕ White Queen]

All the adrenaline is pretty much gone already - ultimately, this little... adventure had been mild, thankfully. A mere annoyance that will likely be forgotten by their trip to Genosha. Even so, Emma is feeling a little fussy over Kitty, not liking that anyone had managed to knock her out.

Once all the children have been wrangled and reassured and everyone has settled back into the mansion, Emma has forced Kitty to rest in one of the comfortable sitting rooms while she fetches her a cup of tea, which she's currently returning with.

"I'm going to talk to someone about setting up better perimeter sensors," she complains as she reenters the room.

AFTERMATH: Kitty & Emma

[passingthru KITTY PRYDE]

Kitty's brain is just as much a tangled pit as the forest was. A sense of pervasive shame for being caught in the way she was. (Never being caught was supposed to be her One Thing. How could she possibly fail at her One Thing?) She's indulging in a moment of self-pity. But she's still thinking about next moves at work. The alien technology of the Demutanator. How to request birth records from Alaska. It's enough that she tries to bring her mind back to the present when Emma comes back in the room so as not to grant her an instant headache. She flops her head to the side of the sofa and concentrates on the plush feeling under it.

"I can't believe they got an entire maze in here. That's so annoying. What was that going to do anyway???"

AFTERMATH: Kitty & Possibly Everyone? (Open++)

[passingthru KITTY PRYDE]

Now that they are safe, and the miscommunication had been better communicated, Kitty sinks back to the cool ground near some of the scorched trees, surveying them with a tilted head. Everything was fine. The mission had been successful, of course, beyond her embarrassment. One issue remaining.

"If Scoot notices these I say we just tell him we had a campfire that went a little insane." She decides.

AFTERMATH: Kitty & Manny & Open++

[empata Manuel de la Rocha (Empath)]

Manuel, who is currently standing alongside Kitty with a bandaged forearm and hand but is far less scorched than the plants Veronica had unleashed her powers on, nods curtly in agreement. No good can come from validating Scott's tendency toward excessive overthinking. Even if the world seems to be conspiring to do just that.

"Perhaps a training accident?" he suggests, exasperated by this mess they've been left to contend with, "That's not...entirely untrue."

AFTERMATH: Manny & Kurt

[blauerdamon kurt wagner ⚔️ nightcrawler]

Kurt casually walks up to Manny. Even without empathic sense, a knowledgeable observer could see the perfectly performed ease in Kurt's walk, the way his tail sways gracefully. He puts this on for media appearances, looking as delicate and handsome as possible. Under the surface is concern and... admiration?

"So," he says, coming to stand next to Manuel, looking at the burns on his naked skin. One beat. Two beats. A pause that's a little too long. "Do you think it will scar?"

AFTERMATH: Manny & Kurt

[empata Manuel de la Rocha (Empath)]

While Manuel has been keeping a stoic face for the benefit of the students, now that they've been ushered out of the area and the situation is dealt with, the pain he's in is visible on his face. And also audible in the string of quick, incomprehensible Spanish expletives he's murmuring through gritted teeth.

All things considered, though, the burns aren't bad. There's redness and some visible blisters, areas where the skin on his forearm and hand is tight and shiny, but it could be much worse. None of the damage had even been inflicted by Veronica directly, but rather by the thrashing plants she'd set ablaze, and he'd made a point of reminding her of that before she'd departed with the others.

Still, he is not enjoying himself.

When Kurt approaches, he pulls in a steadying breath and gestures with his good hand for the other man to walk with him instead of stopping to chat. He wants to get inside and get this tended to. Even through the sharpness of his pain, though, his empathic sense latches onto Kurt's concern for him (which makes sense) and his admiration for him (which doesn't immediately). But it's a curious distraction and a welcome balm for his ego after getting knocked around by semi-sentient bushes.

"...It had better not," he retorts a bit too sharply, then adds more evenly, "What do you need, Kurt?"

AFTERMATH: Kurt & Kitty (Saturday Night)

[passingthru KITTY PRYDE]

The thing about having promised Emma she wouldn't work on Saturday night was that Emma would definitely later know if she'd worked on Saturday night. It had sounded like a reasonable idea at the time, but when late afternoon stretched past dinner time, and then to the evening hours, Kitty had run out of things to do. There's only so much Housewives a girl can watch, and every time she sits down with a video game or book, her brain wanders.

If her mind wanders, so must she. That's how it goes, generally. But Kitty never likes to be alone with it. She dives through the walls and the floors, delighting in her ability to do that again, but looking mostly for someone to interrupt. Most people are probably tucked away in their own work and worlds, and she doesn't seek them out. Kurt, though. He'd had to respond to a crisis today. He must be worried about Scoot, too, at least a little. Maybe he needs an extra eye. There's the benefit that he won't kick her out, almost guaranteed.

That's about all the time she gives this decision. She hurtles her phased form through the rooms of the house until she's right above Kurt's. Since she's a polite and considerate person, she keeps her eyes closed and announces, "It's me!" when she's sort of near the ceiling fan in case he's doing anything embarrassing in here.

AFTERMATH: Kurt & Kitty (Saturday Night)

[blauerdamon kurt wagner ⚔️ nightcrawler]

Kurt's used to Kitty, but still possible to startle. The most embarrassing thing he was doing was studiously listening to a YouTube video on Solitaire strategies. He immediately rolls over his furniture until he's beneath her, ready to catch her in his arms. "I have you, terrible feral kitten."

OOC 🌳 ETC

[blauerdamon kurt wagner ⚔️ nightcrawler]

OOC 🌳 VOLUNTEER SLOTS

[blauerdamon kurt wagner ⚔️ nightcrawler]

Re: OOC 🌳 VOLUNTEER SLOTS

[empata Manuel de la Rocha (Empath)]

...May I take Character B for Manny~?

Re: OOC 🌳 VOLUNTEER SLOTS

[frost_queen Emma Frost ♕ White Queen]

Cannnn I grab C for Emma? She's just going to use some brain tracking to get the job done, if that works~

Re: OOC 🌳 VOLUNTEER SLOTS

[passingthru KITTY PRYDE]

ok i big debated but I decided it would be fun to let Kitty get surprised for a change let's let her be kidnapped, character A please!

[My rationale is she was like deep in the Find Maddy sauce on her phone on this walk and by the time she could have phased out of the vines she was unconscious whoops but also if anyone else wants this please say lmao]

Re: OOC 🌳 ETC

[passingthru KITTY PRYDE]

I'm still debating if to offer the child one of the volspots but I LOVE this and would love to thread w everyone! I have a v slow weekend so let's WRITE.

Re: OOC 🌳 ETC

[frost_queen Emma Frost ♕ White Queen]

THIS IS CUTE AND I AM EXCITED!! After I do my morning video games I'll be hitting this up 🥰 lmk if you want Emma!! thank you Meggie!!!!!!

Re: OOC 🌳 ETC

[blauerdamon kurt wagner ⚔️ nightcrawler]

Thank YOU for helping me! ♥