HIKE!

[Ironclad]

Mason at this point already had his six shooter in his hand, Brock's words and the look in his eyes whenever he looked at Aideen made something in his stomach turn. Those last words to her made him reach down to take out his six shooter. The Acolyte girl beat him to the chase and pounced on top of him and the Ice Girl. He kept his gun in his hand and stood by stoically as ever ready to act if needed. That's one hell of a move for the Ice Girl. I woulda thought she was cool with Fox, but hell everybody lies, and everybody changes. Acolytes have become a messier team since back in the days when I went against them, he thought remembering his days as a Paragon.

Mason was tired of Brock, and tired of watching his friend and teammate go through this day by day. He glanced over at Aideen, the girl who almost unintentionally he considered Second in Command on his team. She was a true warrior, almost unreal at some points. Mason never met anyone with such control and precision in their every movement down to the control of her emotions. He knew her well enough to know that's exactly what she was doing now. She was distancing herself from everyone to keep that control and not let it deter. While he had to admire her for maintaining that type of control, he hated it when she distanced herself from him and the team. They all cared a great deal about her and each other and no matter how well tuned the team was with each other, there were some stuff that they probably would never get past with each other.

Being the kind of guy that was always on guard and aware of his surroundings, Mason managed to keep his eye on the scene and watch Aideen gain control of the Stallion that looked like it could stomp all over her if it so chose. Yet somehow she managed to calm the horse down almost naturally. He kept his eyes on her as she came over, looking her over carefully and instantly seeing the veil that she put to distant herself from others. "Burns! Make that candy of yours into beer or soda, some kind of a drink so it can sink in the ground," he said in a hard commanding voice, keeping his eyes on Ember for a moment longer before he turned his hard gaze to Kelly and waved Ariel over. "Mato, dismount and report," he said to the Native American with a nod.

[Wolverine]

Logan looked at the Corsairs as they gathered together and was proud of his girl. She was quick and clever, her suggestion made sense, at least it would if Burns would be able to pull it off. Mason was cut from the same cloth as Cyclops, a natural leader, but he seemed to have been cut from the ragged end of the cloth. He was gruff and far more cutthroat than his boyscout of a team leader, Logan liked him. TrueSpirit seemed a good kid and Ariel, well, that skirt was still finding herself. It was funny to see people come to accept themselves and learn what, to him sometimes, seemed so obvious. But Wolverine had been around for a while and he'd seen some things that left indelible marks in his mind.

He turned his attention to the two Acolytes and having seen the damage they'd done to Rumble he chuckled a little inside. The girl was something else. He recognized some of her fighting techniques and realized she had picked up a lot more than a bad reputation from her time with the Brotherhood. The boy was more force than finesse, and he knew the two of them worked well together. He had seen them do so in Limbo and it looked like they still were...and it smelled like it too. They had the scent of each other all over them. "You two..." he said to the young lovers "..collect up the equipment and put it away in the storage locker in the back of the cafeteria. If them other kids wanna keep playing you wait till their done to stow their equipment before you can go....Now go on, get movin."

Looking over at Brock he saw him with his face a bloody mess and he fought hard to hold in a smile. He knew he didn't catch it all in time and felt the one corner of his mouth twitch up into a slight snarl of a grin. He wasn't about to waste time lecturing him, that wasn't something he'd bother with. "Words are for poets and politicians boy, I wouldn't waste my breath on ya. Wouldn't do no good anyway, yer too stupid to know when ta quit." He knew Rumble for a while now, and there was a funny sort of respect he had for the kid. He didn't like what he did or what he stood for, but he gave the kid credit for not changing and for being who he was. "Chesty make sure he gets to Beast." It was going to be a very bad day for Brock if he ever crossed Wolverine. Now that Aideen was more than just his favorite student, it looked like that day would be coming far sooner than he wanted it to.

When the two Hellions were out of earshot he said to the remaining Corsairs "Don't touch him anymore, he ain't worth it. Don't let him taint you, you're supposed to be better than that. This place is a school after all, and you all are supposed to be the best and the brightest. You are Cyclops kids, you're supposed to be setting the bar for excellence...giving these younger kids sumthin to aspire to. There's better ways to handle him, you guys are smart you'll figure it out."

He really hoped they would too, because if he had to 'handle' Brock there would be little question how he would do it. He didn't have to worry about being tainted, he had done the most unspeakable things... another act of ultimate violence wouldn't make a difference for him and his soul, but for this promising young team of Corsairs it certainly would. "Alright yer free ta go...Ember you owe me some time I believe, how about a run?" he asked her and turning to the Shaman said "TrueSpirit, thanks, but we won't need the horse."

[TrueSpirit]

In a customary respect and in dictation to his place on the team, Mato dismounted and listened to Wolverine, for anyone who possessed the soul of the Great Warrior's animals should be given and immense amount of respect. Mato had watched the whole ordeal as he rode up with Aideen, standing by silently with his eyes moving between the spirit animals and waiting to act when the threat became great. Mason's cheetah was growling and standing on his haunches, looking ready to pounce and attack while Ariel's wild mustang pawed the ground and snorted in anger. Diesel's wild dog growled just the same for awhile until it stopped completely and stood straight, circling in a disbelieving sort of manner when Frostbite's llama trotted up beside her, looking as proud and amused as Rumble's Hammerhead shark.

A porcupine was always considered a rather troublesome animal, and the porcupine within Haven was no exception. The rather small porcupine had it's spikes straight and deadly with it's little teeth baring and spitting as Haven launched herself at her teammate and the Hellion. As expected, the Snow Leopard took control of the situation, growling at the three animals in a way that left no room for argument. Throughout all that, Stoney's bull and Kelly's Platypus stood on the side, one looking ready to act and the other looking content and dreamy.

Mato didn't need to glance at the Cougar to know what Aideen was doing. One look at her face and he saw the lightness gone from her eyes and the face of a soldier in place of the relaxed and gentle face she had just a moment before. He often wished that she would trust herself more around the team, but that was not for him to ask.

With a bow to Wolverine, Mato placed a hand on his Buckskin. "Come my friend, our adventure is finished," he said softly and the two of them glowed for a moment. The Buckskin disappeared leaving Mato with only the bridle in hand. He turned to Aideen and gave her a small smile. "Until next time," he said and placed one hand on her shoulder to steady her and his other hand went on the stallion. He waited for Aideen to bid the Stallion farewell before the both the two Corsairs and the stallion glowed a brilliant gold for a moment as the stallion faded into a mist and moved itself into Aideen. It normally left her breathless and dizzy, so when the stallion disappeared along with the gold glow around them, Mato's other hand reached out to grab her waist to steady her and allow her to catch her breath. He held her steady and when he was sure she was alright, he let her go.

Wordlessly, Mato took the bridle from her since she still had class time. He bowed again to Wolverine and walked off with his team, taking the man's words to heart. The Corsairs were a strong team and very powerful, but the team was one of Justice and Truth. The Cheetah led side by side with the Cougar, corralling the Great Grizzly, the Wild Mustang, the Hart, and the Platypus into a powerful force that got stronger together and against corruption. Time will only make them stronger if the path they stay on remains true. A straying path, Mato felt was not in the Wise One in the Sky's plan for this eccentric group.