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Post by Cyclops on Apr 25, 2008 22:54:57 GMT -5
Cyclops listened to one student and then the next and nodded his head to affect the appearance of caring. "Thank you Diesel, thank you as well Frostbite those were some fine reports. Hardly devoid of emotion and certainly not at all distracted with any evidence or information, quite helpful actually." Scott's voice was not at all jovial, he was obviously disappointed in them and his sarcasm was biting. "Since you want to be treated like children, I can treat you that way."
"I will say.." Scott looked at them, "that you," at each of them in turn saying "All Of You, have exactly NO right what-so-ever to know what happened out here. You know what you need to know, there are certainly details out here that you don't need to know - don't DESERVE to know - no matter how friendly you might be with someone. I would think that if you knew what a friendship truly is you might not be so eager to find out things that your friend doesn't want you to know about."
"We teachers are aware of Ember's situation and her condition. If it hasn't occurred to you kids yet, let point it out to you. She doesn't want to even know about these things herself- let alone want for anyone else to know." It was a simple if precise estimation of what had happened to the young fire-bender. "She couldn't cope and her mind is protecting itself. It's shell shock- a state of post traumatic stress disorder, and I've seen it before. There are certainly ways that can be implemented and have been attempted before with varying degrees of success."
"I have had friends and students, dear friends mind you, who have had to go through this sort of thing and I will tell you all that nothing heals like time. She will be fine given time, I fully believe it." Cyclops mind raced back to his beloved Jean, and he continued to speak. "I have seen something in her nature, beneath all that her upbringing and her powers have polished over. She is made of strong stuff, that's why I asked her to lead her team until a replacement teacher could be found."
"As for this prying into her business in the guise of 'finding out what happened' let's call it what it is. Being nosy. Before the fight out front of the school Wolverine fought Sabertooth out here, and yes, your friend was involved. Sabertooth has a way of hunting that is better not to speak of, but from the looks of it Wolverine nearly layed down his life to stop him, but as we all know he just kept coming for her. So Wolverine didn't leave her to fend for herself , and neither have Emma and I." Scott said shaking his head solemnly.
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Diesel
Acolytes
Ian Larks
Posts: 492
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Post by Diesel on Apr 26, 2008 2:05:15 GMT -5
Ian's stance slackened slightly, but not completely. He did have a few things to say in response, and at this point he will be damned if he didn't have his say. "Teach, how can say we don't got a right to know what happened? It happened to us damnit. Not to you or Ms. Frost. You guys weren't there this time, and it was the first time anything like this ever happened to me or anyone else I bet. We deserve to know how and why it happened to us in the first place. Call it what you want, nosy or not, but you can't tell us we should be satisfied with what you and Frost told us. When my ma sent me here, I don't think she expected me to fight blue people and giant tiger dudes," he said evenly. "You know what, when it comes to Spitfire, I mean Aideen, I ain't surprised that she got PTSD now. Of course she couldn't damn cope with what happened, and it shouldn't have even happened to her. I saw the imprints in the snow and the shredded bits of her clothes. She had to go through that, a seventeen year old girl who did nothing but give up herself to keep the rest of us safe. Maybe Wolverine didn't leave her but it seems everyone else did. C'mon Teach, who are you kidding. When we all went outside after the fight and in the hanger, were you really wondering what the hell happened to the girl who mysteriously brought Mystique to us and then disappeared with a giant sadistic Tiger dude in the woods till the end of the fight, or what happened to your two bros? I get that it was cool cause you know shes alive and just a student and was there and all and they weren't. But at what cost?" Ian said at this point just looking away at this point, as images of the scene with the imprints and shredded clothing flashed in his mind, and seeing Spitfire at the hanger. The look on her face was one he hoped he never saw on anyone. Cyclops was right on one thing, she probably wouldn't want them to know. But it's not like anything can be done about it now. Spitfire was all covered up to, turtleneck and all. God knows what marks and bruises she was hiding. "God damn, Me and Lorelai just wanted to find out where it all started cause it made no sense to us. We didn't mean to find all that, if I knew ahead of time I wouldn't even had gone looking to see that. I hate knowing that my friend had to go through that. And it disgusts me that though many people saw her run into there with a giant tiger following closely, no one, not even her own leader, did anything. They just let the girl go on and do that. I know she's strong, but that's just screwed up. I tried to help her, and I would have still helped her if I was able," he said with an equally solemn face. "Just cause Spitfire is made of strong stuff, that doesn't justify her going through all that. We got this far because we wanted to know what the hell happened. Some discoveries I coulda done without knowing, but oh well. Now we're just left with more questions I think," Ian said as he looked back at the object in the ground and then back at the Headmaster.
His anger about Aideen's case diminished slightly and was replaced by disgust and sadness. He briefly wondered if Frost got Spitfire to talk about it, but if she did it surprised him how lightly they were all taking it. Whatever, as far as he was concerned, if Cyclops is gonna look out for only his bros, then whether Aideen likes it or not, Ian would look out for her. She deserves to have someone give a damn and not brush it off.
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Frostbite
Paragons
Lorelai Kavanagh
Can you handle the cold?
Posts: 563
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Post by Frostbite on Apr 26, 2008 14:22:12 GMT -5
At Cyclops’s cutting words, Lorelai stood back a bit, her slightly narrowed eyes relaxed the tiniest bit. Normally at this point of being reprimanded for speaking like this, she’d back off, but it wasn’t like they found what they found on purpose. She knew that all they wanted was just to find out what started it all, but finding out what happened to Aideen was just another consequence of seeking the intended knowledge. She listened as Ian spoke, and nodded because what he said was right, and once he finished, she interjected again. She crossed her arms over her chest as she began, her fists clenched beneath her arms and the cover of her windbreaker, “You can’t really expect us to be satisfied with the little bit we were told,” she said, bolder than she expected in the face of authority.
“If you all really did care so much like you said you do, you all would’ve done more than just recognize and acknowledge Aideen’s strength. And Nightcrawler? He was actually there for the fight, and he was her team leader on top of that. I don’t remember seeing him do anything really, since I was actually conscious for the whole thing. I think it just comes to show that we,” she paused, letting free a hand to point to herself, Ian, and Guardian, and figuratively students in general, “Have only ourselves to count on, and the teachers….not so much. They’re nice, but seemingly not as reliable as we all might’ve hoped. Granted, I know we’ll all have to fend for ourselves one day, but I didn’t think we’d have to do it so soon while at a school where we’re only learning how to deal with our powers, and obviously we have a rather decent enough grasp on them, but still, we should still be able to rely on the teachers, even a little bit,” she finished, closing her mouth and tucking her hand back underneath her arms.
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Post by Cyclops on Apr 26, 2008 22:36:16 GMT -5
Looking at Guardian, Cyclops saw that he was keeping quiet and for that he was thankful. Two children with worries and concerns were enough for him to handle, Scott was a great leader but not the best with kids.
"Alright, I know what you are both thinking and the truth is that the girl took on more than she could handle. She wasn't asked to lead Sabertooth into the woods, she didn't mean for it to get that far out of her control and it might have gone further still if she didn't have some help from above." Scott knew of Haven's interaction and wasn't sure about disclosing it at this time, but seeing the looks on the kids faces he decided to keep going "Apparently Haven didn't want her only friend in the world to have to go through what she'd experienced with Sabertooth" He took a moment to reach up and wipe his mouth and chin with a gloved hand, telling secrets was not a classy thing to do, but here they all stood in the middle of the wilderness next to a huge crater after a tremendous fight and he just didn't want to lose any more of 'his' kids.
"Not one of us here would have expected any kind of attack of that nature by the Brotherhood, but it's a given that at any moment we will be attacked. Listen kids you might not want to face the truth, but it'll get right up in your face any chance it gets- the truth is that we're mutants, we are feared and hated. We either stand and fight, or turn and flee." Cyclops checked his tone, he didn't want to sound too preachy or too militant either "I would have died that day for any of you and I will lay down my life when the time comes, but until that moment I will fight with every fiber of my being for the right to exist, and the right for all of us to exist. That is what Aideen did and that is why I know she will be fine, she's a fighter not a quitter."
"As for how it started or where it started or when or what exactly happened, it doesn't matter quite as much as the fact that almost everyone survived it." His voice nearly broke as he spoke of those he had lost in his lifetime "I've seen many of my friends die, I have seen some return from the dead. I know the ultimate sacrifice, and I have seen it in the eyes of my first love as she died in my arms. I am not calloused towards death, and I'm not longing for it either, and by no means am I afraid of it. To be a mutant in this world is to know you are different. So I'm sorry if you didn't anticipate the fight of your life being thrust upon you, but I know I would rather hold my destiny in my own hand than leave it to another, unless that other was family- like we are here."
"As for second guessing what happened in that battle, you shouldn't do that. It's not fair, it's not right and since I wasn't there I can't say for sure why Nightcrawler did what he did or didn't do what you think he should have. I have never had to fight my own mother as he did that day, so I wouldn't be so quick to judge the guy" Scott said looking at Lorelai "however, when it came time to do what had to be done to save everyone... he did. Without hesitation and with no questions asked." His voice began to rise "And Yes! I believe this crater is the result of the bombs that my friend Kurt, Nightcrawler to you, carried. AND I know he's dead because I told him to take those bombs and save the school and everyone in it. Would you second guess me and my decision too? Sometimes difficult choices have to be made, and a moment is not enough time to make them in."
"After the fight, well that was chaos as after most fights, and the only way to deal with the aftermath is to sift through what remains. That is what I'm doing, what all of the teachers are doing. I may seem cavalier about it all and if that's what you see you've misread me. I am not going through this with an attitude of uncaring, but since I've been through it so many times what you see is a lack of panic and a precision that comes from practice. If I could count the times I've been through this kind of thing I'd waste a day." He measured the look in their eyes as he continued.
"Ember is being watched and she has the day off, but that's not good enough for you two. Well children there is no place better for her right now, and nothing can be done for her just yet- you have to trust me there." Scott said reigning in his emotions and settling his voice "So now that all of the cards are layed out on the table, and you see that I'm not anything more than a man trying his best to do what has to be done, can you say I've failed you? As for Emma, she wasn't even here- she was in Manhattan at the time, but rest assured she is doing what she can for all of us and she wont rest either until everything is fixed- fixed as best as we can fix it. That's a promise, you have my word on it."
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Diesel
Acolytes
Ian Larks
Posts: 492
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Post by Diesel on Apr 27, 2008 12:42:28 GMT -5
During Cyclop's long explanation, Ian lapsed into a silence and listened carefully to everything he said. Ok so the guy was right on a couple of things, and it made Ian remember that he had been fighting as a mutant for a long time. He wasn't any less upset about what happened to Spitfire, but he was calmer about it knowing that the teachers had to have known something if he knew all that. Ian was still convinced that Aideen wouldn't say a word to anyone, so it would have to take some initiative from Cyclops' end to find out. After thinking about some of the stuff that Cyclops said, it made sense to trust him when it comes to stuff like battles since he kinda lived them all. It didn't make it suck any less though that it all happened, and even though they were all alive, everyone seemed to have scars from it. Well, Ian had no plans to abandon anyone, and if being a mutant meant having to go through all this crap whenever someone throws a tantrum, he'll deal if it meant keeping his 'family' safe.
"Na Teach, I doubt anyone expects you to be a God or somethin', though with everything thats happened I wouldn't be surprised if there were a bunch of Gods," Ian added as an afterthought before continuing with his point. "If we're all a family and everything, well I guess that's what we were doin, looking out for our family when we came out here. I want Spitfire I mean Aideen." He really had to remember to only use her nickname around people who were more familiar with it. "I want my friend back, and we owe her cause she's probably the reason we're still alive. All I know is that following the trail from the woods led us back to this thing," he said pointing at the weird crater thing. "This thing here doesn't look like any bomb I ever seen or anything that usually results of one. Unless all the TV shows are lying to me. "If this thing is the reason why nothing is back to normal or harmony, well kid or not Teach I wanna help," Ian said with a set face as he looked back at his Headmaster. He wanted things to be okay to him and he actually found himself wishing that Aideen would threaten to light him on fire again.
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Frostbite
Paragons
Lorelai Kavanagh
Can you handle the cold?
Posts: 563
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Post by Frostbite on Apr 27, 2008 17:01:40 GMT -5
Lorelai grew silent as Cyclops spoke again, and listened intently to all that he had to say. A lot of it made sense, and hearing him speak in a more understanding tone lessened her anger, and her balled fists loosened up. What the headmaster said cleared a lot of things up, and when it had come to Nightcrawler more she had not known about had been explained, and she had glanced at the ground for a second before hearing that the possibility she had come up with was similar to Cyclops's; hearing that she pursed her lips, continuing to listen.
When he finished, and then Ian spoke, she shook her head. "I never assumed you a god, sir, nor anyone else. But I see what you mean, like with making do with what's left and then trying to find everything else out, and you're probably right, I mean I know I'm still a bit off because of what happened but I now trust you know what you're doing. You've dealt with it more than we have, and yeah, we were all looking out for each other all familylike, and we did do all we could though it wasn't all that we might've wanted," she murmured, leaning against a part of the rock wall that had neither blood or the warm green rock near it.
"And I want to help too. I hate things being so out of whack to the point it's set everyone off. Were it just me, fine, I'd deal because it's only me so it'd be okay, but not when it affects everyone else," she added, looking from Ian to her headmaster, uncrossing her arms so that her bare hands were exposed to the open air again, hanging at her sides.
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Guardian
dead/inactive
Aleksey Nevski
There are worse things than burns
Posts: 116
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Post by Guardian on Apr 27, 2008 17:56:39 GMT -5
Guardian stood there the whole time listening to what the headmaster had to say. He didn't say a word. He wanted to help his teammates, Aideen, Wolverine, and Nightcrawler, but he knew he couldn't at the moment, not after what had just happened. He had to solve his problem first. Trying to solve another problem at his current state might cause further problems. There was only one person who could help him deal with it.
"Headmaster, sir, when do you think Ms. Frost will be back?" He asked. "There is something important I need to see her about" he said in a low shameful tone. He really wanted to help with Aideen's problem as well but he couldn't at the moment.
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Post by Cyclops on Apr 27, 2008 20:30:53 GMT -5
'A God? Should I tell them I've been a god, if only for a day or two in another dimension...no, that would blow their minds. Asgard was an entirely different topic saved for another day, and who knows how they would react, besides I decided to be only a man and I'm thankful I did.' Scott thought.
"Good so a family we are" he said looking at them all "so let's see what we can come up wi-" he stopped as Guardian spoke asking about Emma.
"Well Guardian she is at the school, why? You don't feel comfortable asking for my help? It's alright, I'm not offended, I realize I might not be the warmest guy around but I do care. If you don't mind me asking ...what's the problem?" He hoped the young dragon boy would tell him since he knew Emma's plate was full. Plus he was here, and what kind of Headmaster would he be if he didn't ask.
"Maybe we can work on that as we put our heads together out here on this giant crater, and to tell you kids this thing is beyond bizarre it's unlike anything I or Beast have seen. It's swimming with life but it's solid rock, it looks like...like..." his words trailed off as his mind wound itself back to thoughts of Asgard and magic- 'but I have seen something like this. This looks like magic, I know there's lots of types and if Beast can't figure this out with technology, then maybe we should look outside of that particular box. Hmmm, I wonder....'
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Diesel
Acolytes
Ian Larks
Posts: 492
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Post by Diesel on Apr 27, 2008 21:09:24 GMT -5
Ian looked down at the weird rock thing as Cyclops addressed Guardian. It looked like something out of a music video from the 60s with all the stuff moving inside of it. In fact it looked kind of like a lava lamp. "Whoa... that looks like something someone would see if they were on a major acid trip..." he quickly looked up at Cyclops realizing he said that out loud. "Not that I would know or nothing.... just guessing," he said sheepishly.
Ian knelt down next to it and ran his hand over the smooth warm glass-like surface. "Whoa this is some trippy stuff. Like a lava lamp or something. I'm still convinced the stuff inside those things inside are real. Its like a soap opera in there sometimes or something at times," Ian said with a dazed voice before shaking himself out of it. "I wonder how deep this thing goes in the ground..." he trailed off as he contemplated digging around the edge.
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Frostbite
Paragons
Lorelai Kavanagh
Can you handle the cold?
Posts: 563
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Post by Frostbite on Apr 27, 2008 22:24:53 GMT -5
Seeing that Guardian now had Cyclops's attention though a thought he had spoken was left incomplete, Lorelai followed Ian's example and moved to examine the green rock stuff. She focused on a spot higher up and looked at it, narrowing her eyes a bit in focus as her head tilted slightly as it did when she was curious. Hearing Ian's allusion to what the inside looked like, she looked to him and snickered, and then looked to the headmaster to see his reaction to that.
She looked back to the warm, somehow living rock in front of her and ran a finger over it, over where she could see something move inside it. Smirking a little, she even poked the rock a bit, just to see if whatever was inside it would be affected by it. "Hmm," she wondered aloud. "What's in it? Normally rocks don't live and have stuff in it that moves around, and they're not really warm either," she said, poking it again before looking to the edge of the green rock she was near to see if there was some sort of crease, or if the green rock and real rock were melded together.
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Post by Rogue on Apr 27, 2008 22:42:45 GMT -5
Meanwhile, flying over the forest...
Rogue scanned over towards her destination. Emma informed her that the dragon student Guardian, would be this way. And Cyclops was there too. Maybe he got to the boy before she did and is calming him down. Marie was ready for whatever would come, however she did ponder on what Guardian's capabilities were. She wandered away from those thoughts, and began to be thankful her ability to fly was functional. Losing her powers was a downfall for her both physically and mentally. Sometimes her mutant ability to absorb other's powers, energy and memory, was an advantage. At to be honest, she did take it for granted. Once she was nearly drained of her own energy and powers (including the flying ability) Rogue felt useless... back to square one when she first discovered her mutant gene existed. Thankfully, day by day, Rogue was growing stronger, and her powers seemed to be returned gradually.
After several minutes, she came to the cliff and saw Scott with a dragon, Guardian, and two other students she did not see before. The kids seemed upset and Scott as well. Something was going on. Sighing softly, she slowly descended from above and landed near the threshold of the clearing and the forest.
"Hope Ah'm not interruptin' anythang," she said softly but authoritatively. She remained cautious as Emma advised her, hoping the dragon boy didn't feel crowded in or bothered by her presence. Seeing more students made her happy. Learning who they were and their abilities was always a fun and interesting part of interacting within a school of mutants. But for now that could wait. For now, Scott needed to be informed of LIMBO and escort Guardian to Emma, pronto.
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Guardian
dead/inactive
Aleksey Nevski
There are worse things than burns
Posts: 116
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Post by Guardian on Apr 28, 2008 19:31:28 GMT -5
While the other two were analyzing the green crater, Guardian thought the green was from some sort of moss growing in a newly formed habitat, but then again he knew moss didn't shine. Looking at the Headmaster for a while, Guardian wondered why he didn't know about the earlier incident in the kitchen. Maybe it was a good thing the Headmaster didn't know. Aleksey liked it here in the school, it was the only place he was allowed to interact with others without them stabbing a pitchfork into him. "Well it's not that I mind discussing it with you sir...it's that I don't think you would be able to hel..." he broke off as he saw a woman fly down from the sky. Strange, thought Guardian, for she did not have anything holding her up in the air, nor did she have wings. However, she didn't look as if she meant any harm to them.
Guardian kept looking at her in great curiosity. "Who are you?" he asked her. He turned his head to the Headmaster, maybe for an answer, then back to the strange woman.
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Post by Cyclops on Apr 28, 2008 23:54:53 GMT -5
Cyclops looked over as Rogue touched down, he felt a strange sense of relief at her arrival. 'And why not' he thought, 'It's always good to have back-up!' With the slightest of smiles Scott waved Rogue over to introduce her to everybody.
Calling out to Frostbite and Diesel, Cyclops said "Hey you two come on over here and meet someone." He turned to Guardian and said "Guardian, this is Rogue. She's One of the X-Men and the new team leader of the Paragons. She'll be filling in here as a teacher for a while."
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Frostbite
Paragons
Lorelai Kavanagh
Can you handle the cold?
Posts: 563
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Post by Frostbite on Apr 29, 2008 14:28:45 GMT -5
Lorelai was continuing to examine the green rock stuff while mentally asking herself questions she couldn't answer though she came up with possibilities that sounded even a bit odd even for her to come up with; random things came to mind that were probably wrong. She remained silent in her reverie, until Cyclops called to her and Ian. Looking away from where she had been staring and continuing to poke, she stepped away to see a woman there, standing near the headmaster. She walked over as he explained to Guardian who she was.
At hearing her name and position, Lorelai looked on her with curiousity, she took the information in. So she was an X-Men too, and the new leader of the Paragons? That was good, took some of the mental strain off of poor Aideen, who she hoped was relatively okay. But, the woman's name, Rogue, made her wonder what her powers were. Sure, some of the codenames given were easy enough to guess, like hers was, but some left her not fully knowing. Either way, she tuned down her thoughts as she looked to Rogue and smiled a little. "Hello," she greeted, waving a little.
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Diesel
Acolytes
Ian Larks
Posts: 492
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Post by Diesel on Apr 29, 2008 15:36:20 GMT -5
Now that he had calmed down a bit from his level of anger, Ian didn't mind listening to his Headmaster and got up with the blue haired pipsqueak to see a new lady of some kind. She looked cool and Ian noted in the back of his head that all mutant females must have some kind of gene that makes them attractive as well. He walked over with Lorelai and gave a slight grin, since his emotions were still running high from the previous events. "What's up Teach? Who's are you?" he asked curiously, since he didn't catch what Cyclops was saying to Guardian.
He was a bit wary still, but figured if Teach thought she was cool, she must be. Maybe shes one of the new teachers or something, since she looked too old to be a student. "Whoa where did you come from?" Ian asked, wishing he paid more attention to his surroundings when he wasn't so focused on one thing.
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