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<IN OUR PREVIOUS ISSUE:>
It had been two weeks. It was not unnatural for someone in the summer to fall off the proverbial radar. It was less strange for a young person in the 60's to go off and explore their world.
It was less normal to miss classes several days in a row, and not check in when Warren was just recovered telling of mutants, even high profile and affluent ones, being taken and being heinously experimented on…to what end?
In the last two weeks two more went missing and as of 4 and a half days ago the sonic known as Echo was recovered from upstate New York. While conditions were not favourable the information relayed back to Vic and Erik was useful. Whoever had Lorna was moving her to have her change hands on Saturday at an address in Utica, NY.
Now was the time and the hour.
Seriously… who sells mutants? That's just rude.
Also why is there an epidemic all of a sudden?
More so, How many are missing that we don't know about?
The facility was in a secured warehouse district. For all the world it looked inconspicuous and like an ordinary compound for storing shipments. A large two story high warehouse buildings sat in a square shape surrounded by yards of shipping containers with access to a railroad track behind. It was rather an odd choice to transport a person as cargo.
On closer inspection there were several guards (maybe 6 in total) and three dogs trying to carry on looking casual, but they were expecting shipment. On arrival there were 8 cars parked in the lot that looked more bureaucratic than to impress. There was also two semi trucks pulled in, one with a trailer, one without.
"…I want eyes on before we attempt an assault. The last thing we need is to jump the gun and for them to retreat with Lorna sitll in custody before we can… Ah. One second." Erik is in full armor now, capte fluttering behind him in a way that defies the breeze. His helmet is tucked under his arm.
Erik cants his head to the left now, blue eyes thoughtful as he studies the approaching truck. "She's there. Now. Wait for them to park and exit the vehicles… ANd keep your heads down if you intend to advance."
A deep breath is taken and then Erik puts on his helmet carefully with both hands. He closes his eyes for a secon d as he feels the familiar weight fall into place. THen they snap open. Magneto stares out at the guards. "I absolutely need one alive. This is going to end."
"You know," Illyana murmurs, "I could make this very, very easy." It's pretty clear to her that Lorna must be in the trailer, and… well, she can make awfully big stepping disks. But where's the fun in that? Where's the -punishment- in that? That is HER Lorna, dammit — because Illyana tends to append possessives to people in her circle of friends — and people do not get to take her toys.
She's wearing a uniform today — an unusual thing for 'Yana. And it's not exactly something she does often. More to the point, it's not a uniform she's been seen in before. Illyana is not generally about stealth, but she doesn't want to be spotted, and certainly doesn't want to be identified by these folks, so she's dressed in black. Not skintight spandex black, but black jeans, black boots, black top, black kerchief covering her hair like her grandmother always wore.
"Just tell me where you want me to put the demons," she says, glancing briefly at Erik before her eyes return to the guards.
Vic is dressed in a white t-shirt and jeans. It's all the uniform he has, alas. At least it's urban camouflage. He's just a guy, like any other guy. He nods to Erik, trying not to stare at him. That's Magneto. It's Magneto and Magneto is his grandfather. Now's not the time, though. First Lorna, then The Talk. Illyana gets a quizzical look when demons are mentioned. "I, uh, can move fast and punch hard," he says, "and move things with my mind. Just tell me what you need me to do."
The guards seem to be shifting and the doors of the warehouse are shoved open with the usual drudgery and scraping of metal on metal that one comes to know and love of perfectly ordinary day doors starting to rust.
There was also a hint of ozone in the air that might be oncoming rain. The dogs started to bark as someone stepped out of one of the cars. The silhouette was dark and bald and walked with a tired arrogance that's been seen the world over.
The dogs did not like this guy.
"If you can put the demons directly atop the guards on the far side from us that would be stellar. Enkel." Magneto turns briefly to look at Vic and takes a deep breath. "I need the the VIP who just exited that vehicle. Hold him very still, at the least. Can you do that and fight? Making sure we can interrogate him is important.
"I will handle the truck." Saying this Magneto lifts his hands. "Let's begin." That's when the truck holding Lorna begins to buckle. The sound of rending metal is ear numbing for a second as the cab and container begin to separate from one another. No need to bring the driver. Metal buckles and twists as Magneto turns his will to it.
Erik also turns his will to Lorna, to see if disrupting her magnetic field might cause her to… Wake up.
A quick nod from Illyana. She speaks to her demons — for all that they're a dimension away — even as she's opening the portal to bring them into play. "S'ym, grab Frankie. Keep him on a VERY short leash. I mean it." Since she keeps S'ym on a short leash himself, this should give him some idea of what she's got in mind. "Cause havoc. Keep the humans busy. Try not to hurt them too bad. I'm trying to be good this week."
At the far end of the compound, behind the guards that Erik indicated, a bright disk opens, spilling a pair of demons into reality. The first is seven feet tall, purple, wearing a leather vest and newsboy's cap, a fat cigar stuck in the corner of his mouth. The other is even bigger, green and formed of parts that were never intended to go together in those ways.
The purple demon taps one guard on the shoulder, grins broadly. "Got a light?"
"If I get my hands on him, I can knock him out," Vic offers, "but yeah, I can do that." He offers Erik a fleeting smile. He hold out a hand and the director lifts a few inches off the ground. He's not going anywhere of his own volition. As Vic advances, he draws the director toward him. The man struggles, but it's like he's held in a giant fist, and he ends up flailing against an impervious force.
A guard rushes him and gets a punch in the face that sends him sprawling several feet. He looks at the demons spilling forth, and he blinks a few times. That's… those are.. wowza.
Erik floats into the air as the truck is torn asunder with a final cry of dying, twisted metal. With the container now firmly in hand the Master of Magnetism, King Magnus finds himself ascendant over the facility. Directing the vehicle like a maestro conducting an orchestra Magneto lifts a gloved hand and gestures. The container floats over to land with a thump beside Illyana. The doors at the back spring open to reveal the container Lorna is in. It isn't made of metal.
Then Magneto turns his attention to the rest of it. The Director's car is first, levitating from the ground. Next comes any metal items that the guards are carrying. Key chains, belt buckles, guns, even glasses. Hopefully no one has a pacemaker, joint replacement, or fused spine.
Then the ground begins to shudder. There's something metallic underneath and the rumbling is ominous, like an earthquake. Vic is safe. Erik has no interest in the guards. He wants the director alive, in fact. The facility, on the other hand, is being torn open. Not destroyed. It's more like opening a tin can.
"Let's see if there is anyone in side, shall we?" To Illyana Magneto adds, "Thank you for your assistance. Enkel. Please keep these men contained." With the mass of metal overhead growing Erik pauses. "Open the container and check on Lorna. And then we need to see what they have inside here."
The exec with the swagger was walking, and now was floating. His head twist around and he wasted no time to bark orders. Seriously what was this guy's life like that this was not the first time he's been mystically assailed?
"Form up, open fire on anything that's not ours!" He likewise reaches into his coat while floating at Vic and was looking to draw a weapon. Funny thing about Telekenesis, it makes it very hard to turn around and aim with any great accuracy. "Protect the cargo."
The dogs went ballistic, but for whatever reason wanted no part in going near the demon and backed away. One or then ran at Vic, and the other two ran at Magneto floating in like he owned the place, or would in a moment.
Bullets were coming into play and the most stupid of the guards went for the large floating man. Apparently they were not too bright or has no idea what Magneto was about. One of them started firing at Vic as he was clearly holding their person in charge arrested in the air.
Lorna felt pulls at her magnetic forces but was, for other reasons, unable to wake up.
The bullets stopped almost abruptly as the guns were relieved from the 5 guards. Pants sagged as belt buckles were rent, and one guard started to choke as he tried very quickly to remove his dog tags in short order lest he get choked by them utterly.
The car was up in the air.
The driver opened the car to jump out. NOPE! The door closed and the poor driver clutched the steering wheel an d put his seat belt back on. Hey, it was all he could think of to do.
The squeal of metal as the warehouse was being ripped open was something else. Anyone in the area with sensitive hearing was not having a a good day. In the debris being pulled apart there was a hole in the floor as a security door ached and buckled and then exploded upward off its moorings.
"Any time," Illyana says, even as another group of demons is disgorged into the opened facility. These are smaller, in a noxious rainbow of colors, and they spread out to find threats and victims alike, reporting back to their mistress. The need for subtlety seems to be gone, and Illyana now strides into the parking area, her armor forming around her and her sword appearing in her hand. A helm appears on her head, large silver horns rolling out of the metal. A demon in chrome.
Vic nods to Erik. "Yes, Opa," he says. Those bullets are pulled away just in the nick of time. It's why he only gets grazed with one instead of shot somewhere vital. As the bullet rips his shirt and tears through skin, he grimaces. "I hate getting shot," he mutters. The guns go flying away though, so he relaxes, and with both hands, he starts grabbing at the air, gathering up guards, all five, plus the director, and he bunches them together with a gestures of bring his hands together, mashing them like trying to mold clay. This packs the gentlemen in quite tightly, and they'll all know each other a lot better when this is over.
Holding one hand in a fist, he gestures the other toward the dogs, lifting them off the ground. Then he pushes them away, far away, all the way over there, clear of the twisting metal and things flying around. Good doggies, go bite someone else.
Julie comes dashing up from where she's stashed the 'urban escape wagon, both to bock and make use of the railroad tracks' conveniently-provided gravel service roads. Cause planning. She angles right for the truck's now separated shipping container, crying out a reply to Erik, "I got her!" She's running with some of her homebuilt bolas looping in one hand, like she might be ready to haul off at anyone she sees looking like a bad guy in there. With the other, she takes an angle-grinder with no visible means of propusion, and there's a 'vrrr' sound as the disc spins anyway. She'll use this to go at any containment container's hinges, locks, or materials, whatever's convenient. l
The tearing continues. Doors, tables, anything that isn't prevented from leacing is being torn out of the facility. Magneto collects it all and floats toward the building, orbitted by the wreckage of the facility and vehicles. The driver, at least, is held aloof from the rest of the mass and not crushed in the middle of it like so much offal. It would be a terrible sausage.
"Confirm th contents of the container. Secure the director. Rope, perhaps. And then… Some of you may join me, if you wish. I wnat to see what they were doing here." So said Erik comes to the ground in front of the compound and proceeds inside. Time to take a look.
The world was a cyclone of metallic debris. The people were panicked and were not, as it were, powered persons equipped to deal with being assailed.
Warren who was flying overhead and preventing reinforcements from showing up with the potential support of others . For now as it has been quiet it can be presumed that this is going well.
As Illyana crosses the battlefield with the rainbow of demons utterly making the goons cry there is the sound of someone moving inside the trailer. The trailer being really the only structure really left in tact at present.
The VIP didn't address Vic so much as the man calling the shots, "And you all look so surprised when my people have concerns about your kind." He was the only one who was calm of the bunch, but that's why he presumably is paid more.
There was something inside that armoured truck that was moving that was a number of smaller pieces like… medical equipment. Something spinning quite fast like a dialysis machine perhaps?
Between the demons and Vic the dogs and the henchmen weren't moving. The compound wasn't secure as much as it was utterly disassembled at present.
S'ym and Frankie are making themselves as terrifying as possible. The guns were really no problems for them, if any even went off in their direction. The smaller demons are starting to round up people inside. Illyana props her sword on one shoulder. "Lead the way, Chief."
Vic gives the VIP an incredulous look. "You kidnapped my friends and family, and you drugged them, hurt them." His grip on the guy tightened just a little more. "This isn't 'concern' and you've got no right to blame us for our 'concerns' and coming to rescue them."
With a deep breath, he relaxes the grip. The men are still held off the ground and unable to do more then paddle at the air and/or cling to each other, but the VIP isn't getting quite so squished. "I could dash you into that twisted metal, but I won't. That's the difference between you and me, not powers."
Sure, he'll engage the guy, but there's no way he'll let any of them go. The guards remain subdued.
Julie is able to find Lorna is out cold, hooked up to a couple portable machines and it seems they're intent on keeping her sedated. She's strapped to a very nice gurnie for transport and seems to be well hydrated and taken care of. There is a centrifuge machine and some other equipment there connected to her with IVs and whathave you to keep ehr sedated. THis is not unlinke what Kaleb described to Julie what happened to him only the scenery was much nicer.
"You're right. You should be afraid. Yo ushould be afraid any time good men have the power to overturn filth like yourself. Mutantkind has proven both physically and morally superior to your own. I've come here with the power to crush you beneath your own weapons of war without even lifting a finger. And you are left whole. Can I say you would do the same? You who already attempted the use of lethal force only moments ago?"
Magneto laughs darkly and then takes a deep breath as he continues to descend. As the debris moves away it is clear that there's an undergound facility to be seen. He's torn open what appears to be a converted bomb shelter, perhaps. Illyana gets a brief nod. "Would you like me to assist you down, my dear?" There's an available piece of metal to stand on if peole would like an elevator for the fifty foot drop.
Julie hrms, she shuts off some IVs, since that seems to be… how to sedate someone, Why they have a machine running and… doing something, well, she's not sure yet, "Hey, Lorna, how's it going, guess who's here? she says, trying to be reassuring, while there may or may not still be gunfire or such outwise. She hrms, about the collar there, saying, "Hrm, I don't like the look of that, under the circumstances. Hope it ain't just the latest thing…" She undoes whatever's keeping the gurney and machine from rolling, pops that collar off by whatever means seems handy, at least if it's that easy. She lets out a whistle between two fingers, and holds out a hand, back to where she's parked. A parking brake handle pops, and wheels, of their own volition, start backing up toward the stricken container.
Illyana regards Erik's speech solemnly, nodding when appropriate. Then she waves her sword at the VIP guy. "I'm the nice one," she notes. "They're with me." She points the sword at the demons before peering down into the hole. "I got this," she says, summoning a disk to simply teleport herself to the bottom.
Vic glances to Erik as he speaks, and he tilts his head, considering the words. Though he's not one of their kind, and that brings a little sadness to those big blue eyes. He looks over at Julie and co, but he doesn't make his way over. He's got a job to do, no matter how badly he wants to see his auntie, and he keeps the guards quite secure. "He's right, you know," he tells them. "We're not looking for trouble, we just want our family back."
Julie rips the choker off and down the container Lorna's gurney was rolled. She groaned faintly, eyelashes fluttering open and shut. Her fingers and toes twitch, but she doesn't wake up either. After all, the machines that had kept her sedated for around two weeks had just been turned off. It would take time. There were bandages on her arms from where blood had clearly been drawn.
Or perhaps, rather, where other needles had been inserted. Her hair was shorter in places where samples had been taken too. But other than that, Lorna looked relatively untouched. No blue skin or new metallic limbs here.
It had been Mistral's assigned job to fly recon over the area — a job she's trained for, given how well-suited her powerset is to it. In airy form, she's essentially silent in flight, and has the option of blending in invisibly — at least to normal sight — with the surrounding air.
Now, the slender young blonde mutant ripples into 'ghostly' visibility, as she swoops down into view. On spotting Lorna, looking relatively intact and unaltered, she stops, hovering a few feet above the gurney and… looks upward for a brief moment as she crosses herself.
"Julie? She is all right? Everyone, the way is clear outside, but it will probably not remain that way for long. We should hurry."
The VIP whom seems to have no name yet just smirked at Magneto. Man this guy was unflappable. "You tell that to the ones that burned that apartment building with people still inside. You tell that to the parents of OUR people that wind up injured when you all decide to execute your will on the world. We're not the animals here."
There was disagreement in the ranks. The 4 men in just their patrol gear were so ready to be done with the demons and the crazy chrome lady with the sword. Had they information they'd likely give it up but that is precisely the reason men like that aren't given information.
«UNDERGROUND»
The room was not as dark as one might image it could be. There were lights and a switch though with the building above flying around like the Wizard of Oz it was dark. There was also the sound of someone down there.
When the disk's light that Illyana was on breaks the darkness it seemed to be two someones. One of the persons looked to be around high school age and the other maybe 8 years old. The teenager was trying to hide the kid behind one of the crates that was there. Judging by teh accommodations present they were not there for long and likely were being readied, likewise, as transport cargo with Lorna.
He asked "Who… Who are you?"
Magneto descends into the darkness, not even favouring the VIP with a glance. He removes his helmet as he is dropping into the darkness, revealing auburn hair once more. Blue eyes stare intently as the passage passes in front of him, counting te seconds.
"We are your rescuers," Erik states clearly as he steps off of the makeshift elevator and moves toward the teenager and young boy. "We came here to free those they've imprisoned. You… May call me Magneto." That statement is made clearly in a soft, authoritative voice. "We're not going to hurt you. AIs either of you injured? Is there anyone else down here?"
Erik is already turning to look around, his lips pressed together to form a line as he studies the crates surrounding them.
Julie has got Sophie… and a dialysis machine of some kind, in position, twisting a finger in air to turn, then straighten out, the steering wheel, as the somewhat city-battered Chevy wagon rolls up behind the cover of the container from the railroad access, under power of Dizzy's weird Vrrr sort of sound effects. Glances up, "Sophie? I think they been keeping her sedated, but what do I know, I'm a mechanic, not a doctor." She indicates the little dialysis machine, "I dunno what this is doing, so I'm boosting it." She pops the tailgate and heaves that in, with some effort, along with the ambulance gurney, which conveniently folds, since in this day and age, ambulances *are* station wagons. She glances back for anything else that might be of import, that way, then down toward the ruin of the warehouse. "Hey, there, Lorna, we're getting you out of here." She winks, to the air. "Changing cars before Schenectady, I got some escort arranged." She winks. Then takes out a little green flag, and waves it around toward a bright glint up there in the sky. "I think maybe they got it covered, but glad you're here. Gestures at the dashboard as she goes, and the engine of the car actually starts. "I better jet, who knows how long before she comes to."
Illyana forces her accent to the background — no point in scaring the kids by seeming like a creepy evil Russian, right? In this day and age, sometimes you have to choose which hated minority side you want to force into the light. Speaking of forcing sides into the light, she summons another disk and kicks the rainbow demons into it. "Hey, kids. I'm Illyana. What say we get you guys outta here, huh?"
"No one's an animal here," Vic tells the VIP. "Except the dogs, and they're better people than most people, most of the time." He walks toward his captives so he can keep them close, and he starts drawing them along beside him, away from the hole, and the provokable Magneto. "There's just scared people doing what they think they have to do. Some of them are going about it the wrong way." He shrugs a shoulder.
Still in 'ghostly' airy-form, Mistral hovers on watch until Julie has Lorna safely loaded into the car, then snaps a salute to her ace driver friend. "I'm going to join the others, then. Be safe." And with that, she ripples back into airy invisibility, and swoops down to just above where Illyana is talking to the kids. She remains quiet and unseen, imagining that the sight of a 'ghost' or a voice out of nowhere might spook the young ones.
Above ground Lorna seemed inert and mostly unresponsive. She didn't look unhealthy, dehydrated, bruised, or otherwise disheveled aside from not being dressed at all as she had been when she was stepping out for her date that would be hard pressed to have gone more poorly. That said Dizzy's vehicle all but galloped over to obey her whim for it to do so and loading her into the car would be a challenge with the equipment cart, but without knowing what it did and how it was sustaining her? Not a bad way to go bringing it.
The teen didn't budge from the child who seemed to hug the older boy out of general fear though the curiosity was really dawning on her. She pointed to Illyana and whispered to the teen, "She's super shiny." It was something less terrifying to focus on. They were strange like these kids were, or once were perhaps.
The older kid looked from to Illyana to Magneto and extended a hand as if to shake it. Getting too near the magnetic field lightening started to arc between his fingers and he drew his hand back quickly. Well the kid tried to be polite. And that seemed to answer the big question. "We don't know who they are. They said… they said they were gonna help us. We've been here about a day I think. Got grabbed a couple days ago. We're not in Trenton are we?"
"No. You're not in New Jersey." Erik shakes his head slowly and then squints slightly , studying the boy. "You can control electricity?" He asks then, arching a brow as he does. "We can take you home soon," he promises then. "Illyana, you might - be better suited. Could you escort them up? I am going to check the trucks. We'll take you home shortly if you would like."
With this Erik sets himself about the task of opening up crates and trucks to look for others who might be being restrained. Perhaps the way Lorna is. It's important to be thorough, after all.
Illyana raises an eyebrow at Erik briefly, but nods all the same. Perhaps he doesn't know, in order to get the kids to safety she's going to have to take them through Limbo. "Okay, guys," she says, crouching so she's down on the level of the younger boy. "Here's the deal. I'm going to get you out of here, but I have to take you through a place that looks kind of scary. We'll only be there for a second, but if you want to close your eyes, that's okay. I'm going to take you to people who'll make sure nothing like this happens to you again, and take you home." She pauses before adding, "And we're near Utica, I think. Not -too- far from Trenton, but not that close, either." She waits for the boys to close their eyes (or not) and then takes them away from this horrible place, briefly to one that is at least on a par in terms of horribility, and then to someplace much safer. Possibly even Trenton.
Vic stands off to the side with his fistful of bad guys, keeping them away from the rescue efforts, though he watches from afar, looking wistful. Surely freed prisoners would be more fun to hang out with than these rubes and their jerk of an employer.
Julie hrms, looking over the collar-thing she took off Lorna, as she opens the car door. Considering if she ought to just smash it in the door-jamb, but instead tosses it, along with her grinding tool, on the seat before getting in. Kisses that green flag she was waving and puts it on the dash. "What, me worry, baby?" Pops the car into gear and makes for the railway access road, turning for one of her planned routes to the rally point…. steadily gaining enough speed to make some distance and then, raise a bit of dust gaining more, minutes later. Along the way, eventually, there's a couple of honks as she turns off onto streets near the highway, and exchanges little salutes with a fellow in leather on a motorcycle, who closes a gate behind her, then follows at a distance.
The teen seemed uncertain responding to Magneto looking worried, "Sort of. Accidentally started a fire with it. Got in a lot of trouble after." He looked around and said taking a deep breath, "Thank you Mr. Magneto." The kid looked like an average clean-cut kid. He was at least raised with manners.
The younger child listened to the pretty shiny lady. He bit his lip and nodded. Now the younger child wasn't from Trenton but New York City and really that just made things easier. Try as they might those kids did noooooooot look. Nope No looking! not one bit. Nopenopenopenopenope.
Vic was a wonder at keeping people subdued and the dogs seem to stay where they were left penned in. Vic would be able to discern that the 'rubes' as he put it are hired guns. The guy in charge was also not the guy in charge and just runs transport.. He might know more and it was likely but he stopped talking.
Julie is able to successfully get Lorna off property.
Erik and Sophie are able to find that the only persons of interest to them are the two kids and Lorna . This is a way station for a sort of reverse underground railroad not helping free people, but likely one of a few hidden depots to move persons. There was no other manifests denoting where at this time though there was a memo signed with initials A.S. which could be useful latter. There was also a receipt for payment that was being couriered back from Edward Pendergast whom was the point of contact that was holding Kaleb.
No other answers were immediately found this evening in the dark with the building scattered to the four winds, and likely no more were to be had.
This was not Lorna's bad luck. Not with five total missing persons across two continents. The mood of the globe was shifting, and maybe it was the war, but something seemed up. Oh, Earth, you do not disappoint.