2/22 Game: Back In The Picture

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Starfish
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2/22 Game: Back In The Picture

Post by Starfish »

June 9, 2017


Bobby: Westchester was not the biggest town. It never had been. So, seeing so many people - and national press - jammed in this little town square wasn't comfortable. He looked up at the podium, picking out the government suits and the sentinels flanking the stage. The things stood with blank stares, making him shudder.

theGovernor: "....ushering in a new era in personal security. We can rest assured that an atrocity like the mutant attack this very community suffered last year can never, ever happen again!" Governor Aaron raised both hands, smiling into the crowd and for the cameras.

Sue: Sue eyed the stage and the sentinels with curiosity and trepidation. She could see the benefits but also the potential for it to go horribly wrong with the more prejudiced rich people buying small armies of them. She stood amidst the crowd, feeling a little safer with her invisible barrier against the world all around her. There was rarely a time these days where she wasn't hiding behind that wall, it had become second nature to her.

Sue: The Governor's comment made her eye twitch.

Tyrone: "Sooo.... Sentinel's again huh. Any hot dog stands this time?" Tyrone had forgotten to eat as usual.

Christopher: Chris just grinned to himself. All the faces were twisted and wrong. Somewhere in his head he knew it wasn't smart to have come along with the drugs still in his system. "Heh. Anyone else think he sounds like a chipmunk?"

Erik: "I don't know about you, but I don't like what they did to the place," Erik remarked, standing with crossed arms as he watched the podium. His eyes were fixed on the two mechanical monstrosities flanking the governor. "It's nice to be back here, but I'm not feeling the new decor."

Sue: "Nope, just you..." Sue rolled her eyes, adjusting her field to rummage in her bag and pull out some skittles, "Here." She offered them to Tyrone through a hole in her bubble.

Bobby: Bobby glanced sideways at Chris. The guy had been off ever since ... well, ever since Hope. He was fine now. Of course. He was always fine. But Hope still laid in that hospital bed, showing no real signs of recovery.

theGovernor: "With this step forward, we and the government of the great state of New York show real progressive thinking! This is not the false progressiveness touted by the Stark Administration, the kind of progressiveness that would allow mutants to run amok and destroy our cities."

Christopher: "Oh well." Chris shrugged. "Damn hotdogs do sound good." Chris moved almost as if he was drunk. "His body guards look nice and interesting though." He glared at the metal monstrosities, the drugs making them look more demonic than they actually did.

Sue: "Run amok?" Sue repeated with disdain, "He makes us sound like monkies."

Tyrone: "Thanks, I do like my junk food," Tyrone accepted the skittles with glee.

Bobby: "I don't remember running amok," he pointed out, scratching his chin and circling a finger in the air. "Think he got that part backwards."

Tyrone: "I remember running away from zombies if that helps."

Melati: "Is that guy for real?" Melati asked, frowning at the government crook posturing on the podium. She was leaning against a lamppost, one foot resting against its foundation, arms crossed in front of her chest. She didn't feel comfortable in her human shape.

Sue: "Yeah and I think he missed the whole part about last year being when we were busy being eaten by cannibals so we weren't amoking anywhere..."

Christopher: "Sounds like he wishes they'd gotten rid of us or something." Chris stated without really thinking.

Sue: "Of course he does... Why else would he be buying robots that can kill us?"

theGovernor: "With this ground-breaking legislation, New York and other states are paving the way to keep America safe for all Americans." He touched one hand to his ear, receiving the live feed from his assistant that the sentinels picked up mutant DNA in the crowd.

Sue: "All Americans, huh? Even the mutant ones? Gotta say, I'm feeling glad I'm British again..."

Tyrone: "Almost anything can kill. I personally don't see the problem. In fact can we get some of these robots for the school? They might be fun to play with."

Erik: "But then he wouldn't have a scapegoat to rally against," Erik pointed out without keeping his eyes off the stage. "Haven't you noticed that mutants win you elections? It doesn't matter if you're for or against us. All you need is some loaded language, and the fearful masses will flock to you."

Sue: "It's frustrating that they make so many generalisations that all of us are bad when in reality it's mostly them and a few bad eggs... I hate politics, I don't know why I'm studying it...."

Melati: "We used to have our own robot, before some assholes stole her," Melati pointed out, turning her head to look at Tyrone. "And we can't even call the cops, because it were the cops who did it."

Bobby: Bobby glanced at Chris again, edging through the crowd to his side. "Um... you feeling okay, dude?"

Christopher: "That's life missy. More corrupt you are the further you go. Just look at my dad, rich billionaire, he's prolly already bought hundreds of these guys." Chris just laughed it off.

Christopher: "Me? Yeah I'm fine, girlfriends in a coma, government apparently wants me dead. Don't sweat the little things right?"

theGovernor: "Ever since the mutant phenomenon came to the attention of your government, those on both sides of the issue have struggled to define humanity, mutantkind, and how best to peacefully co-exist." Aaron smiled at the nearest camera.

Sue: "It would be totally awesome if someone would develop a power that made everyone tell the truth...."

Melati: "Yeah, you know who gets really shafted by these things?" Melati asked, thumbing towards one of the machine on stage. "Security guards. Oh sorry, your job just got stolen by a toaster."

Sue: Sue couldn't help giggling at Melati's comment, "Have I ever told you that I love you?"

Melati: Melati flashed Sue a toothy grin. "I prefer it when you show it."

Christopher: "Heh wonder if that's how you stop the things. Just chuck a loaf of bread at them and they stop and toast it all for you."

Sue: "We could totally test that if I hadn't already eaten my sandwich on the way down here...." Sue pouted.

Bobby: "I know, but..." He watched Chris, shifting his weight. This wasn't the time or place to ask a dozen questions though. Leaning and craning his neck to make sure Lehnsherr was in sight, he finally turned his attention back to the stage.

Melati: She glanced over her shoulder, frowning at Chris. "Dude, are you high?" she asked. "Damn, why didn't I think of that. I totally should have smuggled some booze."

Sue: "You mean you didn't? Damn, Mel, I'm disappointed...." Sue tutted and shook her head.

theGovernor: "With the leaps in artificial intelligence technology, sentinels can now do what humanity has been struggling to do - level the playing field." He paused for applause, still smiling.

Christopher: "Heh if only. I'm a healer, it only lasts a few minutes on me if I try."

Christopher: "Woo suck that humanity! Now you're level with trash!" He called out sarcastically.

Sue: Sue's eyebrows went up and she vanished from sight as those nearby in the crowd looked over at Chris, "Dude! Not cool!"

theGovernor: Aaron's smile flickered as he hoped the cameras had missed that jeer. Unfortunately, several were already swinging around to scan the crowd and he could see the headlines already.

Bobby: "Shit, dude!" Bobby grabbed Chris' arm, edging up beside him and giving the people around them his best apologetic smile. "He has Tourettes..."

Christopher: "Shit, fuck damn cunt!" Chris did a pretty convincing twitch, just to get some laughs, mostly only from himself though.

Erik: "Am I the only one who finds it ironic that he's hailing intelligent machines as the saviour of mankind?" Erik remarked, a smirk curling the corner of his mouth. "They're replacing themselves against an enemy they think is out to replace them. Beautiful."

Bobby: Bobby finally took in the guy's glassy eyes. "Fuck, dude, are you high?"

Christopher: Chris pulled his arm away from Bobby and moved away. "I told you I heal. Even the strongest stuff can't stay in my system."

Sue: "They're idiots, we already know that..." Sue sighed in her invisible bubble. "Plus there's the part where mutants already showed up the machines... and they probably use mutant developed tech to build the damn things. Talk about double standards."

theGovernor: "But fear not!" he called, trying to pull attention back to where it belonged - him. "Fear not," he repeated more quietly when most of the lenses swung back. "Law abiding mutant citizens have nothing to fear from the sentinels."

Melati: "Wow, calm down!" Melati stepped to Chris' side, looking over her shoulders to see if anyone around them was taking notice.

Sue: "I'll believe that when I see it too." Sue decided to take advantage of having a currently invisible head to boost herself up above the heads of the crowd around her. Being short was a pain.

Bobby: "Look, I get it. You're pissed, it hurts... I know, but this'll just make things worse," he tried, hemming Chris in with Mel's help.

Erik: "Of course not," Erik commented the governor's speech with dripping sarcasm. "The same has only been said about any law made to limit the freedom of its citizens."

Erik: "Is he all right?" Erik turned around to see what the commotion was about behind him. "Perhaps someone should take Mr. Nord out of here. Give him some breathing space."

theGovernor: "Why, today, there are mutants among us!" He pretended to scan the crowd, raising his hand again to shade his eyes while he searched faces. "Yet they have nothing to fear!"

Tyrone: Tyrone finished the last of his skittles, "Well I'm still hungry, want to come with me to get some food Mr. Nord?"

Sue: "There's always going to be an excuse when they go against their little promise too," Sue frowned, glancing back at Chris, "I would but I think I should be here... maybe I can write an essay on it for my course..."

Bobby: Bobby'd had his differences with Lehnsherr, especially where Lorna was concerned, but there was something to be said for a headmaster who wasn't unconscious. Poor Chuck. "Yeah, I think so," he said, nodding at Erik and then at Tyrone when he popped up.

Erik: "Oh, I'm sure we don't!" Erik turned to face the governor, his voice raised to carry his words to the podium in the front. "You mean, as long as we're law-abiding citizens, correct?" He spoke loud enough to turn the heads of the crowd.

Bobby: Or, not. He winced.

Sue: Sue was glad she was still invisible.

theGovernor: The legislators and city officials on the platform behind him started whispering and his hand jerked up to silence them. "I mean what I say - law abiding citizens have nothing to fear, friend."

Melati: "How come when I do something like that I get into trouble?" Melati hissed, as she stared at their headmaster calling out the governor.

Tyrone: Tyrone portalled back, munching on a burger, "I left Mr. Nord at the burger joint around the corner; I think he's starting on a fast food bender. Did I miss anything?"

Sue: "Our eminent headmaster just pulled a Chris."

Bobby: "I've got a bad feeling about this..." Bobby started searching his pockets for his phone.

Erik: "Of course you do." Erik nodded, the other spectators moving out of the way as he slowly stepped towards the front. "It's only too bad that the law doesn't treat humans and mutants the same. Already we're forced to have our blood tested and be branded by your government."

Tyrone: "What did he do? Schedule the governor in for paint ball target practice?"

Sue: "Nope... just that." She pointlessly waved an invisible arm in the direction of the headmaster while he made his move.

Tyrone: "I think paintball practice might have been better."

Sue: "Probably less inflammatory..."

Erik: He held out his arms. "So any mutant who insists on his human rights already is breaking your laws. Now I wonder, how long until the simple fact of being born a mutant becomes a crime?"

Sue: Sue facepalmed, "Bobby... do something to shut him up, for the love of God..."

theGovernor: "Well, aren't you well spoken, friend?" Consciously copying this mutant's pose, he spread his arms. "I see what you're saying, yet here we are, peaceably assembling as promised under the Constitution." He gestured at the two silent sentinels. "Do you see them opposing your right to that? Or to free speech?"

Melati: "Yeah, somehow I think this is not the kind of the speech this crowd came to hear," Melati pointed out, looking around at the people around them becoming agitated. It didn't take long for the first slurs to rise up among the gathering.

Bobby: "The hell am I supposed to do?" he hissed, although he was already texting Darren, Phil, and Fury for good measure.

Sue: "I don't know, be creative! I don't think turning his head invisible will help matters..." Sue stepped down off of her invisible box to move closer to the others.

Erik: Erik lowered his arms, his eyes firmly on the man up on stage. "Not yet." He was speaking calmly, but with determination. "But this is why oppression always happen in small steps. So the people are too busy cheering as they give away another slice of freedom, until it's too late to fight back."

Erik: "We have seen you fight back, mutant freak!" The man stepped out of the mass of people right in front of him, his face hard with anger. "You won't stop until we're all gone!" Erik stumbled backwards when he was grabbed by the collar of his jacket. Another one tried to push him to the ground.

Sue: "Oh crap..." Sue raised barriers on either side of the headmaster in an attempt to stop further members of the crowd from joining in.

Melati: "I felt something was missing at this rally," Melati said, moving forward in an attempt to reach Erik. "Now I know what it is - the rioting."

theGovernor: "Now, now! The man does have a right to speak!" Sensing things quickly spiraling out of control, Aaron's desire to appear compassionate warred with his desire to cut and run. The very human state police on hand started to wade into the crowd.

Tyrone: "You're right I haven't been to a rally without rioting since I left home. This feels far more familiar."

Bobby: "Oh, shit - this sure escalated quickly!" Bobby shifted to ice, throwing up an ice shield to block a few projectiles members of the crowd were lobbing their way. "I know, you'd think they'd learn not to have these yay humans! rallies!"

Sue: "I just want to make it very clear... THEY STARTED IT!" Sue boosted herself up again, becoming visible but remaining inside a safety bubble as she tried to shield members of their group from projectiles. It was much easier when you could see where they were coming from.

Erik: "Let go of me!" Erik struggled against those trying to keep him on the ground, trying to get back on his feet. He knew he was at risk of getting trampled as the mob mentality took over. "You really don't want to do this!" With no other choice, the magnetic force pushed back the crowd.

Sue: Sue redoubled her shields to keep them back from Erik while he got to his feet, looking around for an escape route for the others.

theGovernor: "Everyone, calm down!" The governor was backing up himself though, and that's when he saw the movement from the corner of his eye and the electric whirring started as first one and then the other sentinel surged to life. Electronic eyes flaring, the sentinels moved forward, steps synchronized. Each reached over its shoulder to free gliders.

Sue: "Uh oh! We have a bigger problem!" Sue vanished again to hide from the sentinels, at least her powers worked on all spectrums of light.

Erik: Standing up, Erik tried to get his bearings, reaching up to touch the bleeding wound on his brow. He had turned around to see if the others were unharmed. "Quick, we have to..." The loud mechanical sound made him look over his shoulder.

Erik: "Unlawful power use detected," both machines droned in unison. "Cease all hostilities immediately. Do no resist arrest."

Bobby: "Oh... fuck..." Bobby didn't wait, hitting one of the sentinels with a wild blast of ice that knocked the thing backward from the stage, into the trees behind the dignitaries. That's when the screaming started in earnest.

Sue: "No one's being hostile except the humans throwing shit! Stupid robots! ... BOBBY!" Argh! Not good! She was suddenly reminded of an episode of Family Guy with a robot hall monitor. Now is not the time for jokes, brain!

Erik: "What if I intend to resist?" Erik asked, raising his hand to restrain the other robot within a magnetic field.

theGovernor: Powerless to do anything but hide behind his podium, the governor watched one sentinel fly backward past him, knocking aside the District 42 representative before it landed in a tree with an explosion of leaves. "Stop resisting them and they'll stand down," he screamed. It was too late. The remaining sentinel saw the raised hand and raised its own, releasing a shockwave of energy, followed by a cloud of choking gas.

theGovernor: It was too late. The remaining sentinel saw the raised hand and raised its own, releasing a shockwave of energy, followed by a cloud of choking gas.

Melati: "Don't tell anyone I said that, but that new headmaster is alright in my book," Melati told Sue, staying close to benefit from her force-fields. "Well, the time for camouflage is over." Her clothing ripped in some places as she changed into her natural reptilian form.

Tyrone: "*cough* Note to self *cough* bring a gas mask *cough* on the next fi *cough* field trip. We have them right?"

Erik: Erik's magnetic shield stopped the shockwave, kicking up dust and debris as it wrecked the area around him, but did very little to protect him from the cloud of gas that engulfed him a moment later. He instantly covered mouth and nose with an arm, but could already feel it in his eyes.

Sue: Sue screamed as she dropped from the air, becoming visible at the same time as her force fields failed. She landed badly and collapsed in a heap.

Bobby: "Shift, fuck, shit, fuck, not again! Not again!" Bobby melted back to his human form and dove for Sue to help her up. "You okay? We gotta go like get the fuck out of here, now!"

Tyrone: "I'm not sure her leg is supposed to bend that way. Sue... you ok?"

Sue: Sue let out a cry of pain when she tried to stand up, shaking her head and flopping back down. "I think my leg's broken..." She was not going to look at it.

Melati: Melati coughed, her eyes watering and making it even harder to see anything through the cloud of gas they've been hit with. "The hell is that stuff?" She stumbled towards Sue, trying to make out where the robots were.

Christopher: Chris was slowly making his way back to the place when he heard the commotion, he took off running as fast as he could, running into people and things to get his powers up. His body turning into a glowing purple target. He saw the sentinel Bobby had blasted starting it's way to moving and hit it as hard as he could, fists bursting through the brittle metal.

Erik: "They're suppressing our powers." Erik retreated as he could feel the machine break from its invisible bonds, his grip on the magnetic parts of its machinery slipping. "Unless someone thought to bring along anything to stop these things with, we should see about getting out of here right now."

theGovernor: Now he was more worried about his human constituents, so Aaron slid off the stage and after a second of indecision he helped one of the older female representatives down as well. To his left, one of his sentinels was disabled, steaming with extreme cold, until something purple slammed into it. With another yell, he fled.

Sue: Sue's eyes watered with the pain in her leg, "I can't walk on this...."

Melati: "I'll remind the next time I'm being forbidden of keeping a bazooka in my room," Melati called back, crouching down by Sue's side. "It looks pretty broken, too. Don't worry, we'll carry you out of here."

Sue: "Awesome, can we do that before we're all trampled?" She wondered which of them was going to attempt to lift her. At least she was skinny.

Christopher: Chris glared at the other Sentinel. This was pay back, these things had fucked with the people he cared about and he was going to prove he could take the fight back to them. He popped a few more pills quickly as he made his way to the other machine. Chris fully planned on enjoying this, he didn't even realize the hand that had broken through the first machine was bleeding.

Bobby: "Yeah, no worries..." Bobby picked her up, as carefully as he could. It looked like people were evacuating themselves pretty efficiently anyway - they'd all seen this shit on TV before. "Let's boog--" His words were cut off by the concussive blast that struck the ground a few feet to his side.

Sue: Sue shrieked and curled closer to Bobby at the explosion of concrete, yelping as that jarred her leg.

Melati: Melati shielded her eyes and ducked, steadying herself against the shockwave. "That's it, you bloody toaster," she snarled, taking off towards the robot. "Now you get turned into scrap metal."

Sue: "Mel! You don't have powers! Don't be stupid!" Sue wriggled, frustrated about her inability to go after her until that, again, jarred her leg painfully.

Bobby: "Fuckity fuck fuck!" Bobby circled in place, torn, but common sense won out and he bolted, running for the edge of the square.

Sue: Sue hung on tight to Bobby, as he was moving pretty fast, and tried to tuck her legs as close to him as she could to prevent her broken leg being hit by anything and making it worse.

Melati: "Perhaps, but this lizard still got claws!" Melati leaped towards the Sentinel, ready to slice into its armoured shell. Looks weren't everything, though, and while she still retained her physical mutation, the power-suppressing drug had taken its toll on her strength and speed. A lesson painfully learned when the machine simply blasted her out of the air.

Tyrone: Tyrone ran after Bobby and Sue, looking over his shoulder at Mel as he ran. Unfortunetely he didn't see Bobby stop ahead of him and bumped into the two of them.

Sue: The impact withdrew another scream from Sue, "For God's sake!"

Melati: Melati quickly caught up with the others, albeit involuntarily, as she smacked into some tables and benches and tumbled to a halt on a pile of rubble. "...on a second thought, let's go with Sue's idea." She coughed up some dust.

Bobby: "Running is a fucking good plan!" He babbled an apology to Sue for the rough ride and spun around when Mel joined them. "Babe, reach in my pocket!"

Sue: "This is exactly the kind of reason I don't like field trips!"

Tyrone: "Hey... at least field trips here are more exciting than back home, this sure beats Wigan Pier."

Erik: "Be grateful for your thick skull." Erik remarked, taking a detour from their retreat to limp over and help up Melati. "Has someone seen Christopher?" He looked back towards the town square.

Christopher: Chris could feel his strength dwindling as he tried to get to the other one, the concussive blasts just pissing him off as he absorbed some of the energy, not realizing it was actually hurting him. "Fuck off you piece of shit!" He rammed a punch into the robot only managing to leave a bloodied print on it. "Fuckers..." He took a hard punch to his chest sending him onto his back.

Melati: "That's not the time to ask me to reach into your pants, Drake." Melati winced with each step and was determined to make things more difficult for her and Erik by trying to slid out of his grip and walk on her own.

Bobby: "Phone, somebody get my phone - since we kinda sorta really fuckin' need some help here!" There were sirens wailing into the square, but the sentinel was closing in on them. It had stopped blasting and the dust was starting to settle, but he couldn't see much past the machine headed their way.

Sue: "I feel so useless..." Sue complained.

Bobby: "Well you'd be less useless with your hand in my pocket!"

Sue: "Telling me which pocket would be an excellent start!" Sue hinted, "And I don't swing that way."

Christopher: Chris couldn't get up, he couldn't even move. He didn't know what was going on but his body wouldn't move. He just stared up into the sky as his vision blurred and he started to hallucinate thanks to the drugs before he passed out.

Erik: "If the lady won't mind, allow me..." Erik had stepped up to Bobby's side and wiggled his hand into the man's pocket, fishing out the phone.

Bobby: Bobby's expression said it all, but he really couldn't complain, and besides, the sentinel that had stopped just feet from them and seemed to be staring them down took all smartass commentary right out of his mind. "Um... it stopped..."

Melati: "Guys, we have to find Chris." Melati struggled to get out the words, making a face with each breath. She walked bent over, one hand on her side.

Sue: "I wish I could help there..." Sue gave Melati an apologetic look, "Are you alright?"

Erik: The phone in hand, Erik stopped, looking right at the machine in front of them. "I'm open to suggestions," he said without taking his eyes off the Sentinel.

Bobby: Looking past, he gasped. "Oh, motherfucker, I think we found him..." Bobby nodded across the square to a pile of debris, a motionless body, and the other sentinel.

Melati: "I don't know," Melati answered honestly and gave Sue a pained grin. "With my powers, I stopped paying attention to my injuries. How do you tell if you're dying again?" Her look darkened when she saw the scene ahead. "Oh shit..."

Sue: Sue turned her head to follow his gaze, "Craaaaap...." she winced at a twinge from her leg.

Tyrone: "Oh damn I'm really regretting having that burger now.... I think I'm going to throw up!"

Melati: "Do you think it's too late to apologise for calling it toaster?"

Tyrone: "Oh God..." and with that Tyrone barfed all over the Sentinel.

Tyrone: "It might be a bit... upset."

Sue: "Ew... just.... ew....."

Erik: "As much as I appreciate the effort, I doubt this will accomplish much." Erik said, watching the police swarm the place as more and more flashing lights lit up the area. "We just might have to accept we're outgunned."

Tyrone: "So... if I get a criminal record from this, does that mean I'm ineligible to run for president?"

Melati: "Maybe we should call and let the others know that our field trip will be taking a little longer." Melati winced as she struggled to raise her arms, while the cops closed in on them. The press was in hot pursuit to feast upon the chaos and mayhem. "So, does that mean the X-Men are officially back?"

Bobby: "Well..." He sighed, watching the cops and trying to look harmless. "We got trauma, drama and property damage, so I'm guessing that's a yes."
"The secondary penis slides into view. And they all lived happily ever after."
Kieron Gillen
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