The weather was akin to idyllic. Sunny, few clouds, not a stiff breeze or a rain cloud in sight. It was a lazy Saturday; most students were out and about, and the X-Men were out on a mission. Something to do with unrest down town. The mansion was a still pond, awaiting a freshly thrown stone.

Enter, Gregory Samson, sitting in the driver's seat of a large van stationed across the street from the famous mansion. He awaited something; a sign, maybe? The giant cockroach reached to the dashboard, pulling a cigarette from it, and reaching into his shell for a lighter. He wasn't typically a smoker, but something about what he planned to do lent the act a sort of poetic justice. A cloud of smoke escaped his maw, filling the cabin with a cloud of slowly dissipating murk. A small bug fell through the grate behind him, an he looked down at the little fellow, following it to where it had fallen from.

The grate separating the front compartment and the back was full of his little brethren. He let out a content sigh, and turned up the radio. He liked the song that was playing. It was fitting.

He'd sent in a new friend to set off the fire alarm before he began his task. That way the majority of the students and staff would head to the evacuation point. In the mean time, a few roaches had gone in with smoke bombs to make it seem as though a classroom had caught flame.

The sound of a fire alarm going off prompted the Roach to take one last drag from the cigarette, an reach over to grab an M32 grenade launcher from the passenger side. He tossed the little cancer causer to the side and hopped out the the vehicle, wandering on over to the back of the van and opening the door.

A cascade of roaches slowed out out. He let them run off of him, speaking to them all in a clicking, hissing, an whistling language.

With that, he turned, and aimed the weapon at the front gate of the Xavier institute.

Whump!

...

BRAAAKOW!

The high explosive grenade exploded on impact, effortlessly tearing the front gate open. The horde of roaches headed for the mansion's west wing, a small group separated and headed for the front door instead.

Roach was suddenly nowhere to be found.

Memo made some interesting friends at time, and the ones who reminded him they existed were the best. This particular friend had asked him for a favour, and a very serious favour it was.

A friend of this friend was kind of trapped inside this vaguely familiar place. Not the sort of trapped that required police, but the sort of trapped that could be well handled by some good mutant friends working together.

And Memo got to help out! He checked his phone again. Cause a diversion by pulling the fire alarm so that the trapped friend could sneak out with Roach's help. That was actually really easy. So here he was, not very far from one of the general exits, having wandered into the mansion without any sort of hiccup (he'd said hi to a bunch of people, and given this one group of kids a high five and freaked them out when his hand started gushing blood, but they found it hilarious once the shock wore off), and now he was staring at a little red box with a small handle, and a nearby sign announcing that messing around with it was Very Bad.

Memo pulled it, and then scurried out like the fire was RIGHT BEHIND HIM. His instruction text casually timed out and deleted, and the airhead mutant's mind was soon distracted by some super cool chalk patterns someone had drawn on the ground.

She was putting the finishing touches on her latest commission piece when the alarms started to sound. At first she just pulled her earbuds out, squinting up at the ceiling, then her door as the noise persisted. With a sigh, she stood from her stool and headed out of her room, barefoot and clothed in a baggy sweatshirt and shorts, down the hallway to Saph's, where she stopped in to pick up Eric on her way out. She would be a little bit behind the rest of the evacuating students. The little Roach had been playing pranks on her boyfriend more often than normal, and after one particularly bad trick he'd had his tablet privileges revoked and she'd purchased a hamster-ball-prison to put him in. Oddly enough, when she opened the door she found the ball sitting smack in the center of the room, with Eric twitching his antenna silently at her.

"Alright, looks like one of the kids probably set a room on fire again... time to go outside for a bit." She stooped and picked him up. Really, it happened often enough with a school full of mutant kids who were learning how to control their powers that it almost seemed normal now. She'd only been at the school a month or so, too! The artist headed back out into the hallway with the roach tucked under one arm, absently wiping some paint off of one cheek. It didn't take long before the first inkling that something was wrong started to creep up.

Mostly is was the sudden appearance of more cockroaches. A more than normal amount of them, considering the very thorough cleaning that Saph had led. She counted at least a dozen that scurried into the hall in front of her. They stopped, she stopped... a tense stare down began. Her heart rate spiked and she took a hesitant step back... the bad feeling shifted into fear whens he turned to head back down the hall and saw a wave of cockroaches skittering down the carpet, walls, and ceiling toward her. With a gasp she turned back and ran, hopping over the smaller gathering of roaches in order to flee. She glanced back as she ran, and the scene behind her looked like it was torn from a nightmare. In fact, she was honestly starting to wonder if she was dreaming. When she finally hit the stairs she took them two at a time as she headed down, missing a step at the bottom and catching herself on the banister.

Ahh, Memo! Quite a useful fellow! It was a happy plus that you often didn't have to worry about his well being on missions. He made a note to keep the man around.

The security system's power line was conveniently chewed through by a ravenous pack of cockroaches right around then. The cameras blanked out. Presently, people were freaking out on account of the large wave of cockroaches harassing the people at the fire alarm evacuation point. Security started gathering over there to protect the students.

As Roach climbed over the east wing fence, grenade launcher clutched to his chest by his secondary set of hands, he hummed the tune of a favorite song of his. Within moments he was sneaking into the kitchen through an unlocked window.

Once inside, the first thing he did was walk over to the fridge, and start digging through it.
What was this? Most of the meat was missing! grabbed the appliance, shaking it as if some meat would magically appeared, and then tossed the current contents about the room, pausing when he noticed an old package of deli cuts tucked into the back.

He set about making a sandwich. "God's away... God's away... God's away on business... business~" He waved the knife around as he sang, pausing as a large cockroach crawled in and spoke to him. "Oh? Not in the room? She'll likely have him, then! Find the girl, and see if you can bring her here! That would be splendid."

He went back to making his sandwich, stopping when an alert looking gentleman entered the room, staring at him warily. "Ah... One of Kazimierz' men, I assume?" He held up two hands, as if to say he meant no harm.

The man spoke up. "We will defend the people of this mansion... You're picking the wrong fight if you think you can beat us."

"No need to worry, friend! We are all on the same side, here. I am not here to hurt any of our kind, you have my word. I am merely here to rescue someone being held against their will. And to make a nice sandwich."

Kaz's minion watched a little longer, and then turned to leave. They had one priority. Protect mutants. This man was not attacking mutants. This wasn't his fight.

"There's a good lad. Tata!" Roach waved, and held up his completed masterpiece, taking a thoughtful bite. Could use more mustard... The trupperware lid was a good inclusion, though. Looking around... This room really could use a remodel."

Loud crashing noises would be heard coming from the kitchen.

The horde of bugs edged down the stairs after her. She watched in mute horror as it crawled across the walls, herding her in one direction specifically. Given that her options were limited she hurried along, attempting to remain a few steps ahead of the bugs as she went.

It wasn't long before her options ran dry. Soon she found herself back into a hallway with one lone door at her back, and a sea of writhing cockroaches pressing in at her from all sides. Not wanting to let them approach any closer, she backed into the door around the same time a ruckus started up within the kitchen.

The door swung in partway and she froze, eyes wide with disbelief. There was the object of her nightmares, the target of all her anger... tearing the school's kitchen apart as if it were normal. She didn't know about the explosion or the broken gate... the music she had been listening too as she painted had been loud enough to drown out everything except the shrieking fire alarm.

Terror froze her lungs for a moment, swallowing her in a cold, submerged feeling as she mutely watched. Her legs trembled, she started to have flash backs. A panic attack was lingering, threatening to overwhelm her. The many shifting bugs were temporarily forgotten, until they started to creep into the kitchen past her feet. When one crawled over one of her bare feet, she snapped out of it and tensed to make a break for it.

Her instincts urged her to run, so she did. Without hesitation she turned to face the throng of bugs, slamming the door behind her and threw herself into it. From where she currently was, she knew there was one place that she would be safe. One place he couldn't get her. Shelby ignored the roaches as best she could as she trampled through, brushing them off of her as she ran. They bit, just like Eric had when she'd first captured him, but she didn't have the luxury of being able to dwell on it.

She cursed internally for leaving her phone in her room... She had a few prominent people who had worked with her on the case on speed dial, and this was definitely a situation worthy of a call.

When Shelby barged into the room, Roach already had the fridge over his head. He tossed it onto the nearest table, which promptly collapsed in on itself.

"SHELBY! Sandwich?" He reached over to the counter grabbing a piece of his old ham, provolone, and tupperware lid sandwich before pausing and pulling it back. Oh, or is it Heidi, now? Wonderful to see you! How is my little artist do-" She ran out toward his bugs. He sighed. "So excited to see me."

He took another bite of his own work of art, tossing the rest into the dishwasher, which was pulled out, torn open, and laying on it's back. Water was spewing from it's connection.

The cockroach King wandered after her. The bugs that slowed and bit at her parted as he walked, humming happily as he grabbed his explosive weapon from the counter on the way out.

"Heidi, you know you can't run from me~ Here I am, in the safest place on earth for you, walking undisturbed by those who swore to protect you!" He was practically singing his speech. "I am your greatest nightmare, girl! You will never be safe!" He let out a happy laugh as he picked up the pace, the gait turning into a skip, listening to the roaches as they gave away her path. "Shelby! How is your art progressing?! I think I'll eat one of your toes! You don't need that to paint, do you?"
He rounded a corner, where she seemed to be trying to get into a room.

"Give him to me, Shelby! Your life could be so good if you just stopped resisting me!"

"Heidi, you know you can't run from me~ Here I am, in the safest place on earth for you, walking undisturbed by those who swore to protect you! I am your greatest nightmare, girl! You will never be safe! Shelby! How is your art progressing?! I think I'll eat one of your toes! You don't need that to paint, do you?"

#$%&! @#$%!@#$%!@#$%! She cast a wary glance behind her and picked up her own pace. Little wounds decorated any skin that was bare, and she could feel a few of the nasty creatures in her sweatshirt, biting at her where she couldn't get to them. She stumbled around a corner and hurried toward the door that led to the observation room.

"Give him to me, Shelby! Your life could be so good if you just stopped resisting me!"

"You can go $%#& yourself right off a tall building, you psychopath!" The door opened and she lurched in, turning and slamming it behind her. Quite a few of the bugs got in with her. The auto lock on the door gave a mechanical whir as it activated. She was busy attempting to knock off any of the insects still on her, while keeping the hamster ball clutched to her chest.

She hovered in the middle of the room then, skirting around any attacks from bugs while she kept a wary eye on the door. She sincerely hoped that it would keep him out... considering it was the only secure and locked door she knew about within the school. If not... well, then she'd just backed herself into a corner.

"Ouch! Knock it off!" She swatted at a roach on her calf, flinging it away. She was hesitant to actually squish any of them on purpose, considering that Eric was intelligent and apparently had a family of 700... how many others were the same?

"You can go $%#& yourself right off a tall building, you psychopath!"

"Heidi, that statement doesn't make any sense! You're acting crazy!" She disappeared into the room, and he danced after her. She would be cornered, right? That would make this a pretty short chase, which was somewhat disappointing. He walked on up to the door, and froze in place.


It was metal? The giant bug reached out to knock on it, the clanking sound confirmed it. He stared for a good solid moment, slamming the door with his fist as hard as he could. Nothing. He passed his weapon to his chest hand and attempted the pry the door open with his incredible strength.

Nothing.

"Clever girl... This is that Danger room isn't it? Very clever..." He stepped back, and grabbed the grenade launcher up again, stepping WAAAAY back, and aiming it at the wall next to the metal door. "But are the walls as sturdy?!" THUMP-BWOOSH! He stumbled back a bit, waving away smoke. As the room cleared up, it became clear that the wall behind the sheet rock and wallpaper around the danger room was also thick metal. He growled, and turned to the nearest smart roach.

"Get in there... There has to be ventilation. Get. Eric. Back." He turned to the door again, slamming it with his fist. "YOU'LL NOT MAKE A FOOL OF ME AGAIN, HUMAN! HELL AND YOUR WORLD WILL BE ONE IN THE SAME!" He then turned, and headed back toward the kitchen, reloading his weapon, and shot a large hole in the wall of the eatery, strolling out of it, and into the side yard again.

His bugs would get Eric back. She would pay. He couldn't stay any longer, though. The X-Men would get word of this, and be on their way soon.

She flinched at the first knock, skirting back a step. Then there was a louder noise, like him slamming something against the door. It earned a bigger jump from her, and her heart rate sped up again. Would he get through?

"Clever girl... This is that Danger room isn't it? Very clever...But are the walls as sturdy?!"

The next sound she heard was deafening, and shook the whole room. She scurried back as fast as she could, falling over when she stumbled, and crawled back the rest of the way until she was pressed into a far corner of the room. A silence fell shortly after... she waited with terrified, baited breath. Another bang, like he'd smacked the door again. Apparently she was safe still... for the moment.

"YOU'LL NOT MAKE A FOOL OF ME AGAIN, HUMAN! HELL AND YOUR WORLD WILL BE ONE IN THE SAME!"

Tucked in that room by herself, with Eric clutched to her chest, she didn't hide the face that his words got to her. She paled considerably and blinked furiously to rid her eyes of sudden tears. He was a monster... she was 100% sure of that fact.... and now, well... now she didn't even feel safe in the school, literally surrounded by people who were fully capable of protecting her if need be.

What was she going to do? What was the rest of her life going to look like?

... how long was the rest of her life even set to be?

She stifled a sob with her sweatshirt sleeve, too terrified to remove her eyes from the door. She was unaware that he had left already and that there was an army of bugs moving on her location.

She swatted away another of the cockroaches already in the room with her after it nipped at her calf.

The ventilation in the control room was fairly simple to navigate for Viktor, who chirped orders to his fellow, much less intelligent bugs. They maneuvered through the cooling system, finding themselves quite chilled by the journey, but otherwise not worse for wear.

Viktor stopped at the edge of the control room access. The boss had been clear, he was not to put himself in danger. He was to send the unenlightened to get their brother. He clicked away a long script, and the many bugs who had followed him streamed out of the ventilation system and into the room Shelby occupied, quickly surrounding her. The ones that could fly darted at her face in an attempt to get her to let the hamster ball go.

They would be relentless and brutal, and the second the ball fell they would work to try and get it open, with Eric's guidance, of course.

Viktor peeked carefully from the vent opening as the bulk of the forces made their way in. Hopefully all of them could leave alive, but he wasn't unrealistic enough to know that she might kill a fair number of them. That's why he sent the ones he didn't like as much first.

The sound of quiet scuffling reached her ears around the same time that Eric started reacting in the hamster ball. She barely registered the vent, the same one Eric had tried to escape through, just as the army Roach had sent after her came streaming in. She was up on her feet in a second, skirting back toward the control panel. They were on her in a flat second, some flying at her face while others streamed up her legs.

With a shriek, she tried to cover her face with one arm, while cradling the ball with the other. One awkwardly places step back and she stumbled over the chair, hitting the floor with a hip as she fell. The insects immediately converged on her, swarming en mass when she fully landed. She struggled to keep her hold on her hostage, but quickly had to abandon the ball in favor of keeping the roaches from biting at her face any more than they already had. A few of them branched off in order to set about getting the lid off the hamster ball, while the rest kept her huddled on the floor in a ball.

As quickly as it started, it was over... Eric was free and the horde of bugs were scuttling back into the ventilation system. Shelby was left alone, with a few dead bugs scattered about here and there. She was covered in bites, bleeding bite wounds, some more pronounced than others, and she was still too terrified to leave the room. Roach had gotten what he wanted, ultimately... but his threat was still ringing in her ears.

The mission had been a bust; someone had made a protest out to be a riot, when it was only a few instigators causing problems; they'd contained them quickly and easily. When they got the alert that the mansion's fire alarm had gone off, he'd thought it just another routine situation; one of the kids had accidentally started a fire, or some delinquent had pulled the alarm to get out of a pop quiz.

When they heard from Kaz's security forces that the mansion was under attack, his heart skipped a beat.

Without even thinking, he got to flying back home.

The first thing he saw was the front gate, twisted and broken, laid upon the ground.

He made it back before almost everyone else, stopping to talk to one of the security men, who informed him who had attacked. That was when he panicked. First he went to the room. Eric was gone. Shelby was nowhere to be found. He hurried toward the evacuation zone, stopping when he saw the destruction in the kitchen. "Son of a...SHELBY!" He turned and ran down the hall, quickly noticing the mess outside of the danger room.

Within seconds he was inside, where he saw her. She was alive. A gasp of relief escaped him as he ran to her and wrapped her up in his arms. She was hurt. Many small bites. "It's okay, I'm here. I'm here." He'd let it happen again.

That monster had attacked her again... And here... The mansion had been attacked. They'd gotten so comfortable in the years since the wedding, but were they ever really safe?

In the time since the attack she'd calmed down quite a bit. Being alone and in a silent room tended to do that to a person. No one else to join in on the hype. She'd had a lot of time to think on the situation, and what she really wanted to do about it.

When the door to her little hideaway eventually opened, she turned to see who it was. Turns out It was Saph. She'd sat herself down in the only spinny chair at some point, and had been absently inspecting a few of the bites on one arm. They hurt quite a bit, and had bled a little... but they were not nearly as bad as the chew-hole Eric had left on her. When he embraced her tightly, she winced and patted his back slightly. "Hey, I'm okay... really... that hurts though." She pulled back slightly so she could look up at him, tugging her sleeves down again.

"...So.. yeah, that happened." She sighed, and glanced at the few dead cockroaches scattered around the room. Then she filled him in on everything that she knew had happened, starting from the beginning and sparing no details.

"...suffice it to say... He wasn't to happy with the fact that he couldn't get in here." She touched at her bottom lip, which had started to hurt while she was talking. Looks like the few flying bugs that had gone for her face had managed to leave a few wounds there, too. Her lip was bleeding. She really didn't want to know what the rest of her face looked like at this point.