The Swan Song [Black Swan, Open X-types]

[Martyr]

HUMAN FORM
 WOLFSBANE in THE SWAN SONG 

---

  If she had been further away from it, she might have noticed all the signs. The intel was perfect. Too perfect. A rogue government agency had captured a mutant and was moving them to upstate New York to undergo untold horrors.

  For the X-men, the situation was untenable. It was abominable. Given the scant and second hand description of the mutant, Rahne could come to only one conclusion. The monsters had somehow managed to capture Dani. She would be transported there under the cover of darkness!

  It took a minor miracle for the mutant to slow down long enough to bring in any sort of ally into this. She did though.

  The X-men waited for the convoy to arrive as the sun slunk below the skyline. The convey was heavy. Far heavier than what would be expected for Dani. That should have also been a sign, but it could be attributed to warding off an attack. In its center was a Gamma-Class Mobility Tactical Truck, in theory meant to transport something like the Hulk. It was flanked by a collection of Humvees and Chevy Tahoes. In the sky were at least two helicopters. In another lifetime, she would be helping protect a convoy like this.

  Lights shown over a hill as vehicles approached. "Get ready." Normally, she'd include some sort of admonishment about hearts and minds, about the precious nature of life. If she was thinking clearly she would. Not when they had Dani.

  The trouble was that they didn't. Not really. Their true prisoner was something else, something worse for all of them.

Template adapted from Silv and Jaymi.

[Judi Strange]

---

"Oh there you were, heart made of glass
Fragile little thing, shattered too fast
Tried to pick the pieces up up up
And that's the way you first got cut cut cut"

---

    Normally Megan would be ecstatic, a new mission more team work with her fellow X-teams but she, despite her upbeat tone and excitement could read the room. She watched Rahne, how she stood her body language and knew this was not the time for the jovial.

She turned her dark eyes to the convoy, so much for poor Mirage, "Dani" she mentally corrected. It was best to see things as personal, the "humanistic" and not simply codenames.  "Ready," she offered softly. It may be a good time to test her magic, if it so arose but even if not she was sure she could whisk Dani out of there- Why was the American government so scary with its trucks, its dark uniforms- it's like they were LARPing villains or something.

    "Are we sure this is the right unit, it seems a bit much doesn't?" maybe it wasn't, maybe humans were this afraid of them, it made her heart sink a little that people could hate them so, for so very little people seemed to hate as a collective.

---

[heroesdreamer]

Dazzler was excited yet nervous, this was her first big mission with the X-Men and she really wanted to do well! Not only that, but there was one of their own being transported who knows where, and she was a friend of one of their members, so there was a lot riding on this going well. She was dressed in her special uniform that had been made to harness her abilities and her long blond hair was tied back out of the way, she was waiting with the others while watching the massive convoy make its way down the road.

As Pixie questioned whether it was the right convoy, Alison added "It does seem a bit much, but we at least need to find out if Dani is in there, plus even if she's not, who is? Some other being like us who's probably scared to death?" It made her mad that humans still seemed to see them, mutants, as horrible and deserving to be locked up and experminted on, so when she'd been asked to join, she eagerly accepted. "Also ready" she added, crouching down to prepare for when they would "storm the castle", so to speak.

[aquarius]

Jubilee had not been on a mission for a while, largely because she knew she was too emotionally compromised to handle any of the Apocalypse stuff, and with so many of their numbers either fighting him or controlled by him there had been few other opportunities to stretch her legs, so to speak. Tonight though? Well, she had a few new abilities that the Danger Room would only allow to test so far. This was perfect for her, not only to find out her new limits, but also to let off a little steam. Certain urges had proven stronger since her death, and whilst she was resolved to not consume blood from people, she was a little less reluctant to spill it.

Of course, the timing was not ideal, so close after sundown that she'd barely worked up the courage to head out the door. Still, she got there in time to join the others, wearing not her usual eye-catching outfit but similar in plain black. No doubt Rahne would have caught her scent as she approached, so she didn't even bother to declare her arrival, instead simply slipping out from the trees and slinking her way up to the small group of mutants.

[aklo]

Black Swan waited patiently inside the military vehicle as it headed for its destination. She sat quietly on the floor, contained within a force field that was somewhat less formidable than the one she’d just been in. In the back of this vehicle, various monitors and sensors seemed to track every move. She did not like this invasion of privacy, but she assumed she’d had little ever since they'd taken her prisoner

She was not quite sure what manner of being she was meeting next. She had, much to her chagrin, been captured by denizens of this world. A man in a metal suit, and another one in a clawed costume of unknown designs. She entertained their delusions that they could keep her contained for good, but also took it as an opportunity to learn more about them and this world, which seemed relatively stable compared to the others. For the moment being, it seemed the incursions had not yet reached this part of the multiverse. What that meant for her, she had not yet decided. Perhaps it would be a simple manner to conquer this world and usher in a new age for her sisters but perhaps not. Regardless, if there were others like the warriors she’d already encountered it’d not be boring.

As far as she knew some higher-up had pulled some strings to set her relocation into action. It seemed in many ways this world was not so different from the others. Those with power made the rules, and if that were the case she may as well install some rules of her own. She stared down at the device around her wrist and hands that restrained her and flexed slightly. One thing was clear in her mind, this Anthony Stark was not much of a leader to her, despite his insistence on being one. The tight metallic clamp strained under her might. She smiled quietly as she considered her options. Perhaps she’d break free of her restraints and escape once she reached her destination, perhaps not. It all depended on whether this ‘President Osborn’ was worthy of her services.

[Martyr]

Were

WOLFSBANE in THE SWAN SONG

---

Wolfsbane shifted into her transitionary form between woman and wolf. It provided aspects of both. She had the mobility of a human and senses like a wolf. 

Looking back, it was telling that she could at this point neither detect Dani with her heightened sense of smell nor feel her thoughts through the psychic link they had shared since their earliest days as New Mutants. She told herself that this was due to some sort of dampening field if not simple proximity.

"There it is!"

The caravan darted past the assembled team.

Wolfsbane was ready. She leaped to the closest Tahoe.

"What the hell was that?"

Before the agent inside could get an answer, she moved to the next one and the next. With a final leap, she gripped the very edge of the Gamma-Class Mobility Tactical Truck.

How exactly she planned on ripping open something like this was step eight or nine. In her anger, in her panic, she wasn't thinking that far ahead.

<<CHERUB, DO A SWEEP.>>

Meanwhile, one of the helicopters bathed Wolfsbane in blinding light, declaring over coms:

 <<YELLOW WARNING POSSIBLE HOSTILE ON GROUND. APPEARS TO BE MUTANT.>>

Template adapted from Silv and Jaymi.

[Judi Strange]

---

"Sealing spell and rudimentary magic skills. don't let me down!"

---

    An audible gasp escaped the fae and Gen-Xer. “They’re on us!” She called down the line to her team. Rahne was bathed in the golden light for the escort chopper, in response Megan hovered only slightly, she’d not go until it was called by the lead on the mission. As such her dark eyes shifted, as she listened for the command with came readily as ‘Bane left on the tahoe.

She launched herself in a darting, direct arc making her way to the truck proper. If she passed a truck nearest to it she’d pivot and blast it with her dust letting it wash over the vehicle and it's air intake. These men, they were doing their jobs as far as she knew. As far as she hoped, to them Dani was said to be dangerous, they were misled and she’d not hurt them if she could help it. “Have a unicorn or six,” She offered with a smirk.

They had the angle, but she wasn’t sure if she could keep pace, as such the primary goal as the truck and getting in it. Abandoning the car to the fate of whatever the dust pulled from the occupants minds to distract and calm them she would beeline for the primary target. “Mind the chopper is not taking pictures,” she yelled over the wind of the desperate flight to gain entry.

Pixie's Theme song: Icon for Hire:
Heroes: Magik | She-Hulk | Pixie
Villains: Spiral | Typhoid Mary | Loki | White Rabbit 

[heroesdreamer]

Dazzler had seen Jubilee, or rather, absorbed her sound, and she was about to whisper something when Wolfsbane transformed and leapt toward the large truck, where they were assuming their target was being held. "She's spotted!" Alison hissed as a helicopter trained its light on her, and when one of the others warned about making sure pictures weren't being taken, Alison knew what she had to do.

Concentrating for a few moments, she absorbed the sounds around her, including the rumblings of the convoy, and focused on the copter currently following Wolfsbane. She shot off into the air, aiming for the front of the copter while hoping to simply distract them from the young woman who was trying to get to her friend. "We need to stop the truck, see if Dani's inside" she yelled into her communication device, hoping that they could free Dani with minimal damages. Trusting the other members, she shot past the window of the copter, giving a little wave to the pilot, before blasting to the other side.

[aquarius]

Spotlights and cameras? That sounded like something which Jubilee could cover incredibly effectively. Two helicopters, two hands. Pointing at each as she sprinted forwards, a stream of brilliant energy surged forth towards each of them, doing no harm but blinding those aiming the spotlights. She made no effort to conceal herself as the origin of these energy streams - if their cameras were aimed by others then she WANTED to be their targets. Experimentation had already shown her nature to not permit photography to capture her image.

Once she'd had a little longer to get a decent look at the copters, she'd be able to focus her pafs a little more precisely and take out the spotlights entirely, but for now a broader, non harmful spread was the best way to avoid unnecessary injuries. What else could be done in the meantime, though?... Jubilee couldn't do an awful lot without getting a lot more violent than she wanted, but given the alternative was to leave a comrade in illegal custody, such things all too often involving experimentation or worse, she did what little she could think of to slow things down at least.

Continuing her sprint towards the truck in front of the main transport, she drew close enough to lash out at the tires on one side with her claws which she was still getting used to having. Between their incredibly sharp nature and her enhanced strength they'd surely be able to shred through them and force the vehicle into emergency manoeuvres, causing a chain reaction for all behind it, slowing the rest of the convoy down and buying them more time to do their various things.

As soon as that was done, she returned her attention to the helicopters. They were likely to be the most trouble at first, so needed hindering as much as could be managed.

[aklo]

Another new development was upon her. Outside her "cage", commotion came. Her senses, alight by the quiet peace of a military-esque transport picked up on it. The flying machines...'helicopters' as they came to a stop. Through the small slit in the back of the convoy, she could make out its searchlight targeting whoever or whatever was causing the stir outside. She thought perhaps she heard faint yelling in the distance, a feminine voice.

Black Swan smiled. "It appears we have visitors," she spoke to no one in particular, though assumed that her captors had audio sensors of some sort strung near.

Suddenly a thump sounded on the vehicle, something landing or striking it. She considered standing up to investigate--though curiosity caused her to remain in place. Who would possibly wish to interfere with her travel? Before she could attempt the answer another sound came, a clawing sound somewhere at the side of the vehicle. Attacking the tires, perhaps?

Whoever the newcomers were, it was clear they wanted in. Black Swan bit her lip as she stood from her sitting position and placed a hand to the forcefield meant to contain her.

"What a strange world I've found," she said to herself.

"I wonder, what do these people fight for. Do they think they'll find hope here?"

[Martyr]

Were

WOLFSBANE in THE SWAN SONG

---

Between the lightshow of Dazzler and of Jubilee, the helicopter that had previously been shining its light on Wolfsbane, veered hard to the right and then to the left as the pilot tried desperately to see. Pixie was doing something similar with the vehicle transporting Dani Moonstar, blasting it with pixie dust. Much like Mirage herself, Pixie's powers caused those affected to see and hear things that weren't there. Here, it was usually pleasant things, in keeping with the girl's nature. Sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows everywhere.

One of the ways to ensure a successful operation like this, transporting a dangerous mutant, was to consider and counter every contingency and situation. This was, admittedly, very difficult given the sheer array of mutant powers. One very obvious safeguard would be to not allow the driver of the transport truck to open it herself. Rahne was hoping they hadn't thought that far ahead, that either of the pair now following phantom fae would have the key that would unlock her soulmate.

The main target took a hard right, scrapping against one of its own escorts. While the ground had managed to disable one bird and their main target, there were still a half dozen more on the ground and one in the sky left to deal with. Rahne however was focused almost entirely on what was before her. It was this focus that kept her from seeing the danger until it struck.

If it wasn't enough to just hit the planes, Jubilee had slashed out one of the massive tires used to help haul any number of heavy hitters around. When coupled with the driver's current disorientation, it spelled disaster. The vehicle soon careened into a couple of its transports before flipping. Wolfsbane herself was hurled off the side.

"AAAACK!"

The transport flipped over and over. In the aftermath, the forcefield that had kept the occupant encased flickered then ceased entirely.

The other vehicles were already scrambling to contain any damage.

Template adapted from Silv and Jaymi.

[Judi Strange]

---

"Sealing spell and rudimentary magic skills. don't let me down!"

---

    It was of course exciting, terrifying and many other -ing adjectives when the vehicle flipped, Megan cast a quick glance back to Rahne, she must be beside herself with worry! Her powers were a bit on the softer side so as the truck skidded to its sparking halt and the force fields seemed to give of the ghost the Lion of Wales would in order of business check on the driver, then seek entry either through key and Lock or if must be a quick teleport spell to seek their missing friend.



They had to hurry, there would be assuredly more men, more guns more trouble the longer they waited. Seeing the driver as safe as possibly she ventured the teleport dropping into the shambles of the truck holding area bathed in a pink and red glow that lit up the place like a rave.



“Ms. Moonstar, ma’am we're here to see you home are you ok?” she called as her eyes adjusted to the change of the light and she sought their fellow, their teacher and for some even more special perhaps. This if course all said on her open com systems so the others would know where she'd gotten to and hopefully provide Ms. Sinclair with relief knowing her teammate was safe, perhaps even let her hear her first words.

Pixie's Theme song: Icon for Hire:
Heroes: Magik | She-Hulk | Pixie
Villains: Spiral | Typhoid Mary | Loki | White Rabbit 

[heroesdreamer]

Dazzler turned back, ready to pass by the helicopter again, but thankfully the spotlight was trying to find her. She was still trying to keep the light off of her friends but she did see the truck careen and flip over. "Oh no!" she yelled, hoping that Wolfsbane's friend was okay and she began running back that way, only to see Pixie head inside. Breathing a sigh of relief, she then turned her attention back to the helicopters, as they were already beginning to track back to the truck.

Waving her arms, she amplified her voice and said "Over here!", gaining the attention of the pilot and she shot into the air again, swerving to the right and away from the truck. Keeping her sound at a safe level, she yelled "Hey guys!", shooting off a bit of energy as she landed on a nearby hill, ready to crouch down and hide if needed. She just needed to draw their attention away enough so Pixie and the others could rescue the person inside, then they could simply disappear and retreat back to the school.

[aquarius]

Jubilee had seen these vehicles a few times before, or ones very like them. Heavy duty transports that features in multiple Danger Room scenarios. They were virtually impossible to crash, even with a disabled tyre.

Sadly, that 'virtually' proved significant. Possibly the driver was inexperienced and easily distracted by everything going on, but whatever the reason they lost control in a feat that Jubilee couldn't help but be a little impressed by, even as she cursed under her breath at the shifting of their luck. With the vehicle stopped though, they just needed to hold a perimeter for a minute at most until they could get Dani out of there and make their escape. This meant she could focus on the helicopters fully. Even better, Dazzler could do the same, so Jubilee focused on just one of them.

A second or two watching the nearer of the two closely, and Jubilee sent a blast of brilliant energy through the centre of their spotlight, shattering the bulb and taking it out of commission, before broadening the blast into a harmless sphere of blinding light containing the helicopter, hopefully forcing it to remain stationary. Regardless, none in the vehicle would be able to see any of the mutants on the ground for now.

[aklo]

Though Black Swan could not see precisely what events were taking place outside her confinement, she was able to make some infer much based on what she already knew. The pathetic forcefield that chained her, the primitive war vehicles that escorted her, and the strangers causing all of the commotion outside.

Bright lights from the flying vehicle…the ‘helicopter’ flashed fell over her transport for a moment, and just as quickly vanished, followed by the sudden silence from the helicopters whirling blades, followed by distant shouting, and strange murmuring coming from the “cockpit” of the transport which carried her.

Then the vehicle lurched violently to the side, before slamming into something and flipping. To any normal being such a turn of events would spell extreme harm at best or even certain death at worst, but Black Swan was no hapless victim. Using her superior strength and mobility, she allowed her body to move with the flow of the turbulence, falling and flipping and propping herself off of the forcefield itself until the vehicle miraculously landed upright again. However whatever technological marvel held the forcefield in place was now badly damaged, evident by its sudden flickering, followed by a mechanical whir as the concentrated energy field powered down entirely.

It seemed testing her mettle against these defenses would no longer be necessary, as her possible assailants had already done the job for her.

Casually Black Swan strolled to the back of the now inoperable vehicle. She extended her right hand, and with a seemingly small but imperceptibly powerful push dislodged the military-grade steel, sending it flying haphazardly outward to land on the ground with a thud.

Black Swan hopped down from the back of the vehicle and regarded her surroundings, taking in everything. Looking upward she saw one of the helicopters, seemingly disengaged from their current route, and strangely frozen in place by some energetic field. Then she turned to lock eyes with each of her assailants within vision, regarding them with a cold and calculating curiosity.

Her attention shifted for a moment as the driver-side door of her transport opened. The occupant clumsily fell to the ground, disorientated, the smell of blood permeated the air as they grasped for their radio…a head injury perhaps? However, she was also mumbling incoherently to herself.

“Don’t bother,” Black Swan called to the driver coldly. “I do not expect this confrontation will last long.”

Black Swan did not know why these strangers had attacked them. This arrangement was conducted in secret, however, it was conducted between the leaders of this world. A rebellion? A case of mistaken identity? Would-be thieves looking to score? The reason did not matter, she only needed one of the perpetrators alive to receive the answer.

Nearly she heard quiet moaning and rustling on the ground. It appeared one of them was already injured, or at least close to it.

A slight smirk crossed Black Swan’s lips as she moved with a tremendous degree of speed and fluidity towards Wolfsbanes position. Grasping for her throat, Black Swan would attempt to restrain it in a vice-like grip and hoist her up above the ground. Judging by how so eager this one was to put herself in danger, she seemed to show promise as a fighter.

“Who do you fight for, warrior?”

Depending on the mutant's forthcomingness, Black Swan would begin to prod her mind, searching for any clues as to her and her partner's goals.