Saph opted to take up the offer to grab some police equipment, grabbing a riot shield, and a large number of rubber bullet rounds. He gave Aiden a confident smile, and headed up to meet the NYPD escort.

Off they went, taking the express rout to the scene on the dime of the NYPD. The police lines needed that extra burst of organization, reinforcement, and confidence that only the X-Men seemed to be able to bring. He instructed Aiden to turn to channel 3 on the headsets they were given in the chopper.

"Alright, Aiden. We haven't worked together before, and you're just getting back in the swing of things. You remember from your assessment, though, I have high expectations. Meet them and we'll be fine. My current tactic is to have you dancing as much as possible. The colder temperatures and odd situation will confuse protesters enough to slow them down, and discourage them. Let me know if that doesn't work for you. Otherwise, listen to me, stay close, and don't get yourself killed."

They were the first to get dropped of in their respective helicopter. Sam and Sara were going further back. Saph, not exactly the type to hold back and wait, opted to open up the door, and hang out, surveying the scene from above, and speaking into his headset.

"Large concentrations! Well organised! They've got the police line falling back! Aiden, I'll clear an LZ for you. Rappel down so the chopper can get on it's way quickly!" He spoke up over the noise of the helicopter, giving a stiff nod before removing his headset, reaching down to his comm, and starting the uplink with the local META bots. There shouldn't be many mutants in this crowd, they would likely be very helpful, especially because they were tagged not to be scanned, as X-Men.

Without another word, Saph saluted his companions, and loosed his grip on the helicopter, dropping soundlessly into the air.

There was always the moment when your body realized it was in free fall, where your stomach jumped into your throat. To tell the truth, he liked that feeling. Tunnel vision kicked in as he focused on his power, and began to steer his fall, aiming for an behind the retreating officer line. This is where the line would stop if he had his way.

From below, Some cops couldn't help but cheer as they saw him rocket past their line, and drop suddenly to land neatly on his feet, a riot shield in his right hand, and his trademark Crowbar in his left.

"HOLD THE LINE!" He roared. Jesus... This was just like the riots, wasn't it.

Part of him was terrified at this thought... The rest felt like this was his chance.

A chance to get it right. No one died today. Not if he could help it.

He thought his heart would be pounding. Stress, anticipation, pressure, nerves.

It was easier to think about how his newly refitted uniform fit - well, not as tight in the shoulders as he'd found his old shirt size, and not as black as most of the new uniforms so he'd maybe be a tiny bit less likely to overheat and collapse at a really, really inopportune moment - than about what was going on, but somehow it wasn't really all that hard to think about that either.

Riots. Like what had gone on just before Cafas had convinced him to join the team. Had Cafas actually done any convincing, or had it kind of just happened? He attributed the decision to Cafas, but then again Cafas had kind of just fixed most of his life, so...

Had to say, though. Helicopters. Not a fan of flying in general, especially after Alaska, but that had been all airplanes. Sometimes airplanes that looked smaller than this helicopter. And definitely more... rickety.

Aiden had to swing his batons into his lap to sit comfortably-ish in the aircraft, and then his hands were busy settling the headset into place. Basically a super heavy set of headphones and mike. Nothing too unfamiliar there, other than the part where he hadn't played a multiplayer video game in literal years. This set cut out excess noise really nicely. If it weren't so heavy and clunky, he'd want a set for running.

Then Saphirus was talking, and Aiden's focus flicked away from the equipment to his partner and senior. "I'll be going after myself first if I suck," he retorted, adjusting the microphone a little bit more. The plan made sense, and was really the best use of him he could think of. His other thought was more like what had happened in his tryouts, but that was just being another body. If there was something more he could do, that was best. That was what it meant to be an X-Man a lot of the time. Do something in a way no one else could.

"If I disappear, I'm probably not actually dead," he said. "I'm not planning on another Alaska thing, though."

Urg, half-yelling into a mike was not easy on the throat. They were in the air, though, and Aiden's stomach was less thrilled about it than his throat was about the shouting. And then Saphirus jumped out of the helicopter.

Like a total - hm. Idiot or boss? Debateable, although not a debate he'd let either Saphirus or Sam, who got to hang out in the chopper a little longer and wasn't supposed to be drinking any more than he already had so far, hear in any way, shape, or form.

Aiden took the normal way down, thinking all the way that rappelling out of a hovering helicopter was something he both didn't want to have to do again and was something that would be infinitely easier with more practice, so he'd probably have to go and do it over and over in the Danger Room sometime soon.

And over, and over, and over. Or learn to fly. That would help too, but honestly would take a lot more work.

And he didn't want to fly. He liked being on the ground.

Like a meteorite, the man with the shield and crowbar hit the ground. Except unlike a meteorite, he was met with cheers and salutes, and didn't crack the pavement when he hit. Amelia was part of the police line. When she started hearing those cheers, she turned, just for a moment, just to see what was happening so she would be aware. Her eyes flicked up to where Mister Dramatic landing came come from, saw the helicopter and a line leading down from it, then flicked back to land on his face. Then, she found herself marching up to him and taking charge... even if she wasn't the senior-most officer on the scene. In the chaos, somebody had to, and she had dealt with X-men before. Amelia was the first to step forward and respond to the mutant man.

"Hello," she said tersely. The tone wasn't because she was mad at him. It was because she was stressed about the situation, and forcing all her nerves and emotions into a triangle in the back of her mind so that she could focus on how best she could help her people. "I've heard of you from Shin. Saphirus. And that's Aiden. Glad they could send some people to assist." The X-men didn't always need to be called in on police duty, but this was one of those occasions where it was a blessing.

Amelia's head jerked towards the nearest officer in charge on the scene. They were directing other officers, and doing their job best they could with the retreating police lines amid a raging riot that was moving dangerously and deliberately closer to where the Mansion lay. The officer was a balding, middle-aged man in a spotless and neat police uniform, fit enough for duty, but not winning any body building awards. He looked like your run-of-the-mill cop, but he was a good man. A little brash and bold, with a hit of ego, but sensible enough to listen. His kind was one she had gotten quite familiar with on the force. Sometimes, they didn't have the listening trait. "Officer Jenkins is in charge of this group." Amelia said briskly. "You'll want to meet with him. You know the drill, though. Contain and disperse the riot. Arrest inciters. If it comes to it... well. Time is important." She frowned. "If we have to make a stand and buy time for the national guard, that's what we will do." There. All three bullet points, ordered nice and neatly for the X-man. He could relay them to anyone else under his charge. He had comms. He could use them.

"My name is Officer Amelia Mellitus. I'll be aiding you in your endeavors." Endeavors. Such a big word, but she found herself using it in some sort of brisk professional tone. Her cop voice fit here better than it did outside, in day-to-day life, like dealing with unruly teens.

A quick assessment told him the situation wasn't ideal. The line had fallen back enough to regroup in order to hit the progressing rush of protesters. He had just seen it from above moments ago' this position would be at the head of the line in minutes. He would have to relay that to the senior off-

"Hello, I've heard of you from Shin. Saphirus. And that's Aiden. Glad they could send some people to assist."

Saph's thoughts were interrupted when a rather short police officer approached him, and started filling him in, a tense edge to her voice. He seemed off-put for a moment. Was she the senior officer? A bit young. Early twenties? Spoke with an air of authority, though. Maybe she was just... Really good? He pressed his communicator in to patch Aiden in on the conversation.

"Officer Jenkins is in charge of this group. You'll want to meet with him. You know the drill, though. Contain and disperse the riot. Arrest inciters. If it comes to it... well. Time is important. If we have to make a stand and buy time for the national guard, that's what we will do."

Jenkins. He was familiar with the man. Bit hard nosed. He had been there for the prior riots, hadn't he? He had some experience. Good.

"My name is Officer Amelia Mellitus. I'll be aiding you in your endeavors." That rang a bell.

Where did he know her from? The Mansion! He'd at least seen her on the security cameras... She was a mutant, then? He should say something "Yeah. Pleasure to work with you, Officer. I have a strategy in mind I think might be helpful, but time is of the essence. A large crowd has been diverted this way. From what I could see they'll hit the current protest soon..."

"You get all of that, Aiden?" The trainee had finally made it to the ground behind them. Saph waved him on over, and turned to make his way to Jenkins. They had a minute or so to prepare before things got too intense. "Officer, I'd appreciate if you accompanied us. Jenkins is always easier to communicate with if we have someone on the force as a buffer."

He met Jenkins and talked strategy. Freezing them out seemed like a sound one. Still, they were armed with molotov cocktails, bludgeoning weapons of various shapes and sizes, and most dangerously, some small arms. This was going to be dangerous. He was also sure to share the picture of the head-inciter that Cafas had showed him. They had reason to believe the crowd might be under this man, a possible mutant,'s influence.

"We will likely be breaking lines to secure inciters. I request that Officer Mellitus here be given free range to act with us." He would have to get up to snuff on her abilities; the older mutant was sure to ask about them before the... uh... Stuff hit the fan.

And boy, was it about to hit.

Before he knew it the riot was almost upon the line again.

They were all solid for now. How long would that last? Only time would tell.

Random person knew his name.

Even if she looked vaguely familiar in a super vague kind of way, not okay not okay not okay! Worse than the whole riot situation. Yeah. It really really was.

... Pause. This was not the appropriate time for jumbled priorities. That would be for later. And then he could work out a code name so that people wouldn't just know his name that was clearly the reason for code names why hadn't he realized that before?

Aiden evened out his breathing while Saphirus discussed the situation with the head honcho cop, and double-checked the volume on his music system. Being officially integrated meant that he'd actually be able to hear any radio communication - yay technology - and that there weren't any stray wires to get tangled, but it was also kind of awkward to set up because none of the controls could be too easily accessible. Plus everything temperature-sensitive had to be insulated.

He had so much appreciation for the people who designed the thing, when he had the time and inclination to be openly appreciative of anything. Right now... there. Mission playlist, song one, ready for trial run number one.

Aiden drew in another breath and blinked sweat out of his eyes, even if it just got caught in his eyelids. Silver lining was that he was going to make the heat go away. He just had to make it to that without freaking himself out over the awkwardness of -

Nope.

He didn't need to have a sign on his hand saying 'Don't think about X.' He just had to recognize it and divert. He'd had practice avoiding painful things. Now he just needed to avoid embarrassing things. Just focus, breath, and, on Saphirus' signal -

Music on, best foot forward. He didn't need anyone's opinion or critique. He just needed his power to agree.

And as the trainee stepped out towards the roiling mess of riot, he let Evening Star's Kingdoms open his list, stepping in smooth loops and spiralling outwards. Snow sprang up all through his path, thick drifting flakes accompanied by a marked drop in temperature.

So far so good. Next step, full snow, and then maintaining it until it was actually safe to stop, not slipping up prematurely.

>>"Officer, I'd appreciate if you accompanied us. Jenkins is always easier to communicate with if we have someone on the force as a buffer."

"Affirmative." She said. Jenkins was going to LOVE having a rookie pull "rank" on him and lead with X-men. This was one of the reasons she had not joined the X-men in order to join the police. Moving up the ranks due to her own skill sat better with people than being raised because she was an X-man. Hard work got respect. The X-men worked hard too, sure, but... they hadn't all gone through hours and hours and thousands of hours training in a classroom to learn laws, regulations, and proper situation handling methods. And they never battled regulation. Still, this was no time to focus on that since SHE HAD WANTED to help him. So she merely said "affirmative", and stopped finding fault with anything and everything, since apparently her whole gimmick these days was knowing better than everyone else. Maybe she was just frustrated there were riots, period, and wanted to lash out at any thing she could.

They all talked about what they were going to do and what was important for a minute.
Jenkins hadn't liked it, when the X-man had said Mellitus would be working alongside them, but things were hairy. He liked her initiative, even if she was playing above her rank. "Fine," he said. He might let her have it later, if things went south. If.

The other X-man started ice dancing. Jenkins watched for a moment, then started giving directions to his men.

Amelia looked to the X-man with the crowbar. She would follow his lead.

Jenkins begrudgingly let Ami on board, and Aiden started his dance. Saph secured her an ear piece for better communication.

So far so good. He wasn't foolish enough to think everything was going to go as planned. He advised Jenkins to gather as many dumpsters as they could and lock them in place at the sides of the street in order to narrow their lane of interaction with the crowd. They'd found four, which lowered the profile of their line, and freed up ten or so officers to make a contained capture squad; they were used to break the line, grab a particularly dangerous agitator, and pull them behind the line to be detained.

He set up two officers with sandbag shotguns to pick off anyone who tried to climb up the dumpsters. This would prevent anyone from slipping through the line. He patched his own comms into the general area channel for the NYPD; he could keep Aiden and the others informed from there. He also set up a lookout on one of the corner rooftops in order to point out their main suspect or any other inciters.

While that was going on, he got a few people to help out in hitting him. He would need a good reserve of energy if he wanted to be helpful in this.

"twenty seconds! Rooftop is calling out molotovs on the front line! Eyes up Aiden! They might target you!"

The riot line was closing in fast. They looked like they weren't going to slow. They were going to his the line hard. It was getting chilly. Good. Anything would help at this point.

"Ten!" The roar of the crowd of humans was all too clear.

Saphirus looked back to Ami, and gave a quick nod. He hoped she was ready for this. "Anything you can to disrupt the crowd. Trip people up, look for anyone with guns, they're priority one."

Saphirus lined up on one of the sides, holstering his crowbar and grabbing a hand full of rubber bullets from a bag at his side. 5 seconds. He flung the bullets into the crowd at leg level, causing the charging line to falter just a bit.

They they hit as he grabbed his melee weapon again. Here it went. The lines were 3 thick, with standbys waiting to jump in. The rioters on the other hand, were much more densely populated. They had to rob the momentum from the line, and spot the inciters in order to disperse the riot itself.

Saphirus and the cops worked around him, but Aiden kept his attention focused on two very different things: his music, and therefore his movement, and the mob that was, for now, nervously edging away from his sphere of influence. Whether from discomfort or concern over what might be involved, at least it was working so far. He had some of their attention, and they weren't thinking purely about rioting.

His in-helmet speakers rolled into the next song, and Aiden picked up the pace. The snow was getting heavier now, and as he worked it grew only thicker. The last flecks of colour vanished from his body, and here and there when the snowflakes gusted together he had a hard time fully distinguishing himself from the background. Sometimes it felt rather eerie. Most of the time it sort of just was, like how fresh snow covering things just... was.

He didn't stop moving as his music faded out, replaced by Saphirus' very much not especially melodic voice. He let a hand drift to his throat to trigger his own microphone. "Really, fire? Do they have to start with fire?"

Joking aside, though he kept moving as planned Aiden prepared to draw the batons at his hips. If he needed them, he couldn't wait until he was swallowed by the crowd; he wouldn't have space. He had to be very logical about this, and not fall into the trap of feeling his way through it. That just muddled things and then he'd have to deal with not wanting to hurt people.

So, logic. If he drew them too early, would it change anything?

Oh sh- that was something flying through the air at him. Logic flew out the window and Aiden just reacting, barely getting a baton up in time to swat the thing down. It smashed against the pavement and burst into flame; Aiden backed up, though it didn't burn particularly hot, and then moved around it to take up his position again, the edges of the snowfall slowly drifting after him. At least the crowd was as hesitant to walk into the dying flames as he was.

She put the ear piece in without preamble, glancing around to keep aware of the situation on-scene as she did so. Officers were moving dumpsters, as directed. Someone was detained. Chaos was reined in a small bit, but it still reigned. They were doing what they could.

The call came for molotovs. 20 seconds. 10. Amelia nodded at Saphirus when he spoke to her. "Understood." She said. Her power could do just that. Trip people up. Temporarily disable. It was almost like someone had read him the cliffnotes.

Something burning flew. The ice boy managed to knock it aside. She was thankful the baton hadn't burst the bottle and shattered the molotov liquid inside all over him like napalm. It seemed to make the crowd pause for a moment. They did not want to walk through fire. But someone in the front line was ready with another molotov, and she didn't expect Aiden (his name was Aiden. Saphirus had spoken into the comms.) to block it as easily a second time. When the arm came back, a pair of ghostly semi-transparent blue hands appeared in the air in front of the man, directed by her will. They took hold of the man's sleeve, and tore the throw of the arm off course. The molotov shattered, spreading more fire a few feet from where the first had landed. That gave them more breathing room. It would have hit Aiden if the aim had held true. In a perfect world of movie grade drama, her eyes would have met his and there would have been a brief moment as they acknowledged each other from a distance, before they turned their attentions back to the action... but this wasn't a perfect world, so the ghost hands caught the man who had thrown the second molotov by the wrist and behind the shoulder. From a distance, she forced him against a wall. Her arms were raised as she directed her creations. If anyone looked, they would be able to connect dots.

Someone in the front line of the riot shouted something, and the line shifted. Someone rushed forward with a fire extinguisher, of all things. She raised it so that she could do the sensible thing, and try and put out some of those fires. Amelia tore her focus away from the man against the wall, just in time to catch a man in a red Metallica t-shirt and worn blue jeans bank around the patch of fire to come at them, flanked by two of his buddies. The hands vanished. A ghostly solid blue foot caught a leg right from under him. He went down, but the others kept on the press. And the woman started to fight the fire with extinguisher spray.

"Really, fire? Do they have to start with fire?"

"We could always ask them nicely to cut it out." He grunted over the comms. Things were escalating quickly. Two molovs soared Aiden's way, one dangerously deflected by Aiden himself, the other redirected by the young officer. Saph had his own trials to deal with. They'd started to move heavily toward his side. That, coupled with the focus on Aiden lead him to believe that they might be targeting the X-Men. It made sense, since they were marching against the mansion... Still, two molotovs in rapid succession aimed at the same person?

It was a pretty well organised effort. Almost suspiciously so.

Make that three. Another person in the back hosted and lit another bottle, flinging it with all of his strength. Saph knee capped a charging man, and then popped the crowbr into his shield hand, pointing at the missile in mid air, locking onto itm, and steering it into oneof the dumpsters, which quickly filled with flames. A man trying to climb it fell backward into the crowd in a panic.

He heard someone call an order, though it wasn't clear enough to discern the words. Three men engaged, trying to target Ami, it seemed, as a woman set out to extinguish one of the molotov fires.

She stopped one up with her power, an interesting set of blue floating limbs. Two more remained, though. He reached into his bag, launching some rubber bullets at the two men, causing one to crumble from pain, and the other to pause.

"Observation, spot who is calling out those orders! We'll hop out and detain them!"

He listened to a response over the line, and clicked back into their line as someone started tossing bricks at his shield. "Officer Mellitus, tall, black hair, tan shirt, sun glasses! Tell me if you spot him first!" The opposing line was getting more brave, closing in and throwing more projectiles.

One man stepped up and pulled a small pistol. Saph's heart skipped a beat as he fired into the crowd of cops. One of the bean bag gun cops hit him center mass and he dropped like a sack of bricks. Luckily, none of the officers were hit, though some shields took considerable damage. They were lucky the newer riots shields the PD picked up were bullet proof.

"Would they hear you if you tried?"

He wasn't going to have time for snark for much longer, even if his ability to heal more or less kept him from getting tired. He could still get dehydrated, and stopping to get a drink wasn't really helpful. At least it wasn't hot near him anymore; the air was soundly into not-melting territory now.

As another ball of humanly trapped flame smashed to the ground, Aiden edged his sphere of influence a little to the side, seeking to keep himself away from the flame while also using the puddle of fire as a barricade continuous with the snow no one wanted to enter - yet.

They were starting to push forward, though, with one woman approaching with a fire extinguisher. He couldn't get close enough to her to interfere, not without approaching the fire. Tsk. The other group, a couple of guys -

Downside to local blizzards. He really couldn't see very far, even if the snow only extended to about fifteen feet. By the time the snowflakes stopped falling, his vision had already been obstructed. He could hear his comm just fine, but outside noise was a little bit muffled as well. Plus he had music playing through it, but that was set up to not interfere with outside noise too much.

There was someone in the snow. There were footsteps that were less muffled, more crunchy, as someone ran towards him. If Aiden were inclined to swear, this would be about the time; instead, he set his teeth, drew his batons on the next arm movement that allowed it without ruining the snowfall, and met fist with metal-cored wood.


His opponent, a large, hairy individual crammed into a coat that wasn't quite big enough and restricted arm movement more than it protected against cold. "Got some company. Doubt he'll be able to land anything, though." Braver than trained, and hindered by the coat as well as his poor footing. Aiden did train with the x-men, after all, and some of the most combat-experienced of them.

Saphirus handled one of the three men, leaving Amelia to handle the last. The rubber bullets had made him stop, but they had not taken him down. He grumbled, and rubbed at his chest absently. He was a large man, bulky and rotund, built like a barrel, with heavily muscled arms. He wore biker leathers with a winged angel on the breast. Whether by mutation, M, or simple brute strength, he had not fallen.

"Lady cop." He grunted. His voice was piggish, if any term could describe it.

"Stop." Amelia told him. "Stand down."

He laughed. Then, he rushed at her. He was actually going to assault an officer. And he was planning to punch her, too. Stupid. The intelligent thing to do would be to draw her sidearm and fire. When an officer's life is on the line, that's what they do. They had gotten bad press about it a lot, recently, and she was still fairly new. Anything she did, they would scrutinize, and she really didn't feel like being under anyone's scrutiny. Trick shots to limbs and knee caps were great and all, but largely ineffective when a life was on the line. The ghostly limbs vanished as her focus yet again shifted, this time to drawing her sidearm and sidestepping the man's charging punch. As he passed her, she brought the gun down like a club on the back of his neck. He lurched forwards as her blow hit... but she was still a small thing, and he had size advantage.

Saphirus was talking in her ear. He spoke in the background of her mind as she fought the big man. The description, she compartmentalized and memorized as she dodged the man's retort. He ran at her with a punch again. As she dodged, she made space. Then, when his guard was dropped the moment after, she bridged that space and got in. When he tried moving again, she used his body as a lever, turning with the attack and using that attacking force against him to send him toppling to the ground. He hit his head as he fell. A knee landed on his back a moment later. Zip! She zip-tied his wrists behind his back, using several ties to lock him in place. Her gun had been holstered at some point during the exchange.

"Stay down." She advised him. He grunted, face a grimace of embarrassment more than pain. Her knee pushed down harder, and she used minimal force to show him that his arms were vulnerable, and the best course of action was to take her advice, lest something happen they'd both regret. He struggled for a second, and then... gave in. As she stepped away, an officer with a shield moved forward to haul him away. Her eyes scanned the crowd, searching for the man Saphirus had asked her to search for. The exchange had taken a minute, and she had not spotted him yet.

Aiden was dealing with some stuff. Amelia was dealing with some stuff. He also had some stuff to deal with. The crowd had lost any sense of reason. More gunshots were heard, but Saphirus couldn't see where they were coming from, and his sixth sense was too overwhelmed for him to really tell what exactly was going on in the crowd. Someone threw a bottle his way, and he easily caught it with his shield.

He took a moment to step forward toward the crowd, putting some stored energy into a shield push, which momentarily collapsed the crowd before him. They took a moment to recover, and he got a chance to look back and check on Officer Mellitus. She had it handled. Good.

Aiden said as much as well. He trusted the rookie to handle himself if he said he could. That left him to look for their target.

His eyes darted about, and he caught a glimpse of someone who fit the description. He was pretty tall, and one of the few people in the crowd wearing shades. It wasn't even that dark... "Everyone, on my two O'clock, see him?"

He lost sight again as two big guys rushed in. A quick body shot to one had him collapsing, and then two officers pulled him behind the line to make an arrest. The other one got a shield to the face, and then fell back in frustration. Someone tried to climb a dumpster again, but was instantly shot down.

"Mellitus, he's back a bit far; I can jump in if you can make an opening for it... Aiden, hold the fort!" He knocked a snarling man in the knee cap and put him out with a punch to the face with his crowbar bearing hand, and then switched hands to toss another hail of rubber bullets into the crowd.

His arm was already tingling with power due to the persistent pressure from the rioters. He was ready.