Mabaodi was pleased. It was in harmony after ridding itself of the pests that rooted through resources, killing creatures and harvesting the life Mabaodi bore. Mabaodi felt no pity for the demise of the pests-- only shame for Mabaodi once being so close to the pests.

Mabaodi was happy now, but Mabaodi was so small.

Mabaodi could change that. It was bubbling in Mabaodi's heart now; hot and churning and almost ready to create more body for Mabaodi.

The pests once said it would be tragic for pests all around the Earth Mother, but Mabaodi did not care about that anymore. It was good for Mabaodi, and that was what mattered.

***

Rebecca was still suffering from sadness and anger, but sitting in her seat on the X-Jet, those emotions took a backseat to excitement and nerves. The trainees were summoned and most of them had responded to the call. It was Graduation Day.

Well, potentially at least. Rebecca was trying to remain optimistic.

They were on their way to an island miles off the coast of Australia. She remembered being told it was called "Mabaodi Island." It was a small landmass apparently housing one primitive but peaceful tribe of people.

At least, it did at one point, but according to reports, all evidence of the tribes had seemingly vanished. A team of officials was helicoptered onto the Island to gather information and attempt to make contact with any human life the could find. It was not long before radio communications went silent as well.

Cut to the current day, and the X-Men had been called to inspect the island and discover what was causing the rash of strange disappearances.

EXCEPT the mission was being handled in a very particular way. The trainee class of X-Men was developing well enough that it was decided that Initiation time had arrived, and for their test, a team of X-Trainees were being sent on the Mabaodi Island mission alone.

There would probably be a back-up plan ready in case of failure, (or at least Rebecca hoped so,) but until then, it was on them.

The X-Jet was closing in on its destination, if the map on a nearby screen was even close to being accurate. Rebecca looked around at the other trainees, clinging tightly to the shield she was given in the Crystal Tower mission. "Sae... dae you all feel ready?"

Koga sat in the Jet, on the edge of his seat, His laptop had all sorts of information saved on it about the island in question, he didn't want to chance the blackbird's connection being sketchy as they were flying fast and he had much to learn, they didn't get much warning, 'Its graduation day, You've got a mission, get what you need and get on the plane. Koga Opted for his duffel bag, It was packed full of every toy and tool he could think of over the years that might be useful on a mission. It was heavy. He planned on leaving it on the plane, and going back to it if they needed it. With the utter lack of information they had to go on, they could be walking into anything, a plague outbreak, a super predator, a Tribe gone primal, or something simple as major communication errors.

Koga looked over to the sassy redheaded scotch, for the first time since getting on the plane his eyes were scanning over the layout of the island via satellite images. or the shreds of information about the secluded tribe that lived on the island...or lives on the island, they might be ok. could just be a communication issue, how great would that be, go to an island help fix a satellite dish and go home an x-man. not that the tribe was actually that advanced, they apparently only communicated via boats that stopped off on the island typically dropping off or picking u[ items for trade. at some point someone noticed that the tribe members were missing or silent or hiding.

"We have to be ready. Unfortunately, for jusst about anything, The issland is pretty ssmall, sso, whatever the isssue iss, it sshould be apparent, fairly quickly. Sso, long asss we work together, I doubt there is much this group can't handle." He glanced around the plane, yeah, this team of trainees packed some major fire power. " I haven't met all of you, My name iss Ryuichi Koga, you can all call me Koga. My mutation iss Reptilian bassed, I blend, wall crawl and consstrict. and while my xgene doessn't pack asss much punch asss a lot of yours doesss, I make up for it by keeping in tip top shape and learning everything I can to give us any possible edge. Should we go around the room really quick and let everyone else know who we are working with?"

He reached down and plopped a back pack that was next to his duffel bag down next to the red head. "I believe everyone Elsse'ss abilitiess sshould be well ssupplied on the issland. There iss probably going to be a lack of metal however, sso I took the liberty of raiding the office for you. the main back is paperclipss, the ssmaller one iss metal tackss and sstapless." Yes he had managed to take a peak at the other trainee's files while in said office to see who was making the trip.

The view was beautiful. Odd, huh? Most people who flew their first time freaked out or something, right? He felt fine... how could he not? They were going so fast! He felt everything breeze past the craft's hull; every cloud was filled with stuff. The sleek hull cut through that stuff in a way that felt spectacular; he couldn't describe it to the others in the plane if he wanted to.

He fiddled with some metal marbles in his hand as he thought; he'd picked up recently... they made decent non-lethal projectiles for him, and it helped that they had a metal manipulator on their side, even if she was a little green.

She showed her green-ness again by asking the somewhat hesitant question: "Sae... dae you all feel ready?" He chuckled a little... She was a good kid, and she was skilled enough with her mutation... Poor girl needed to work on her confidence, though. He realized briefly that his chuckle might be taken in the wrong way, though. It was more an endearing thing.

Koga speaking up broke the tension, there.

"We have to be ready. Unfortunately, for jusst about anything, The issland is pretty ssmall, sso, whatever the isssue iss, it sshould be apparent, fairly quickly. Sso, long asss we work together, I doubt there is much this group can't handle. I haven't met all of you, My name iss Ryuichi Koga, you can all call me Koga. My mutation iss Reptilian bassed, I blend, wall crawl and consstrict. and while my xgene doessn't pack asss much punch asss a lot of yours doesss, I make up for it by keeping in tip top shape and learning everything I can to give us any possible edge. Should we go around the room really quick and let everyone else know who we are working with?"

Kid was on the ball. He placed his marbles in the bag he'd opted to place on his belt, and spoke up.
"I'll go next, then, if you don't mind. My name's Saphirus. They call me the Masochist... My right side absorbs kinetic force. The left side dishes it out... That prolly makes me the hard hitter of the team. I've worked with most of you before, but just to be clear... If I ask you to attack me, don't be shy. Also, I'm the guy that's gonna be jumping from this jet without a parachute. So.. Yeah... Go me."

Something about having a girlfriend he loved, a solid chance at finally making the team, and being in a freaking hyper-sonic jet made him feel a little confident about life, and himself in general, at the moment. He wondered if he sounded full of himself.

Oh well.

"Slate Swartz," the blue-eyed Italian said, extending his hand to each of them in turn. He made sure each of them shook it, no matter how long he had to hold it in front of them, quietly meeting their gaze. If anyone still chose not to, well. That would be poor team work.

"I am a healer. Physical injuries only, so please try not to become poisoned. It would be inconvenient." He stated, his voice a calmly explanatory monotone.

I am a 'physic healer,' as it were. His introduction continued, inside of the skulls of those who had shaken his hand. You should all be able to communicate with me now, within approximately a mile's radius. Simply think very loudly with me in mind, and I should hear. Unless I am incapacitated.

"As I have minimal successful field combat experience, I will be relying upon the rest of you should a fight occur. I thank you in advance. Please do not worry about protecting me, however—I am fairly durable."

The mission was an intriguing one to him, particularly in its lack of structure—the senior X-Men had not left any of the trainees in command over the others. This was clearly something they intended the trainees themselves to work out, before touching ground; another part of the graduation test.

While Slate was not the most experienced as an X-trainee, he did like to humor himself that he knew something about Faction leadership. As such, he considered himself an ideal candidate for this position.

A true leader, however, had no need to come out and say what they were: a true leader simply made everything fall into place.

"Have we considered our first course of action?" He asked. "Koga, how feasible do you think it is for us to land near the site of the village?"

The young lizard's perusal of the aerial terrain had not escaped his notice. Koga would not be a bad candidate for leadership himself, in a few years. He had yet to learn the powers of delegation.

Slate himself had brought a light backpack containing water, food, a Swiss army knife, and his Blackberry. Also, he carried with him a telepathic link to Katrina in New York City. The key problem on this island was its halt in communication with the outside world; that should not be a problem, with him around.

....As Katrina was taking her SAT exam today, however, he would try not to distract her with trivial matters.

Jorge was honestly surprised. He really didn’t think he was going to get called in for something like this. He knew that technically his status with the X-Men was that of a trainee, but he had figured that maybe he was not someone they would call in to work with the rest of the trainees. Not that he was above them or anything like that, but they were the future and obviously better trained as X-Men. This was their life. Jorge, on the other hand, was just an old cop.

But, he had to admit, he liked the idea of still being helpful. The X-Men were an establishment, they offered superpowered youths the chance to use their abilities for good, but they didn’t always have the control they needed. Sure, they trained a lot but training and field experience were two different things. Jorge was only glad that he could be here to at least offer his assistance to them.

Though, he did consider it a bit odd that they were going on a live mission, just trainees. He wondered if maybe the leaders thought that it was a benign enough situation that it they should be able to walk away from with only a few scraps and cuts and their diplomas in tow.

At least, that is what Jorge hoped.

>> "Sae... dae you all feel ready?"[/color]

Jorge turned. He was dressed in his X-uniform, the leather jacket with sleevless vest underneath that allowed him easy access in and out whenever he shifted into water form. Brushing his hands across his black pants, he checked the many pockets, to make sure he had supplies such as a compass, GPS, and various other instruments that would be waterproof and useful for the mission. As he did so, he listened intently to everyone else:

Rebecca, the redhead, looked familiar. He thought for sure that he remembered seeing her with Agnes many a time…

Koga, the lizard boy he met from the mission against that living building. The kid was very talented from what he had seen so far…

Saphrius…seemed familiar. Maybe it was because he had only ever met him in passing at the mansion the there was something about the man’s stature that was familiar. Either way, his powers would be of help…

And Slate. He met the boy on the mission to Hawaii, though he didn’t get to talk to him for long. He knew his abilities, though he still had to blink a little in surprise when he heard the kid’s voice in his head. Weird, but definitely useful.

Eyes settled on him. Well, he guessed it was his turn.

“Jorge…” he answered. He didn’t have a codename yet, as a matter of fact he wasn’t sure if he really wanted one at the moment. What could he possibly be called? Aquaman? Captain Liquid? Wetfuzz? It all sounded too odd to the older detective’s ears. Instead he shrugged and decided to move on. “Water manipulator and shifter,” he announced. “I can take a good amount of punishment and I can get in almost anywhere if needed to. Plus, I have about 20 plus years of police experience. I hope I’ll be of use.”

He glanced out the window and saw the island from the briefing approaching. They were almost there…

Becoming a trainee for the X-Men had been unbelievable. Locke had had to wander around in a Danger Room created desert and fight some form of pissed off scorpion on the way to getting water. Graduation from the trainee program was within his aim, graduation from high school already obtained. After years of dealing with emotional baggage, or at least acting as though he had, the teen was making his way not only into adulthood, but a new life.

Not nearly as frightening as the precursor of this ceremony.

Before even setting one foot on the jet Locke had been pale and shaking, looking very much as though he had just watched Samara’s tape and the long haired ghost was crawling out of the television. He was going to die before ever getting a grade in college. In his seat the entire flight, Locke had not moved an inch, looking much like he was carved out of the stones in his battered, duck tape repaired backpack. His knuckles had turned white with the tight clenching of the arm rests. As they were drawing near Mabaodi, his grip grew tighter, and the Californian felt a greater pressure on his chest. People died in plane crashes. Planes disappeared, they were torn apart, they crashed into mountains or oceans and all that would remain was a little black box that said what had gone wrong. Screw the fact that more people died from a car crash. The way he figured it, his odds of surviving a plane flight were nil. It was of very little (or no) comfort that he was sharing the trip with a mad man who he had to save from a gun fight, and a detective who was less effective at finding out who his stalker was than a disobedient nine year old. Ever the skeptic, Locke was looking at things with, to say the least, a unconvinced eye. At least if they crashed into the ocean Cervantes might be able to keep them from drowning.

”Locke,” he said through gritted teeth. He wasn’t angry at anyone, just trying very hard not to either vomit or groan. Jets were nearly as bad as boats, and once again the world was totally flat to him. He couldn’t even see half of those on the jet with him. No contact with the ground meant that Locke’s earth sense was turned off and he was not a happy camper about that. Resolving the disappearances he’d be alright with because it meant that he’d be where he was meant to be. Both feet planted firmly on the ground. ”I‘m not going to do us any good up here. Earth stuffs,” he offered as an explanation of his mutation.

Something that Saph had mentioned, in a brief moment that might have been a joke cause Locke to do a double take. "Wait, we're jumping out of this death trap?"

Koga initiated a group introduction, which was actually a very good idea, regardless of how elementary school it might have felt. Despite all being X-Trainees, there were plenty of unfamiliar faces in the X-Jet for her, and if they were going to be a team, it would be a great benefit to know one another.

Koga was Gina's... would they be boyfriend and girlfriend at this point? Well, regardless, she knew his deal: reptilian (obviously) with various reptilian abilities along with an apparent knack for preparation, which was good. It also made her worry that she should have been brushing up on more mission intel as well, but it was too late to dwell on that.

Saph was also someone she knew well enough, thanks to their time as a pair in the Crystal Tower mission. He was useful, experienced... and apparently planning to get all gung ho on them and leap from the jet onto the island. Fantastic. At least he was confident.

Then it was onto the teammates she knew less about. Jorge was someone she had vague memories of when he brought her unconscious body back from Ag--her ex's house after the Malachi Incident. She held her tongue when the thought crossed her mind to let him know that he had been the brave white knight rescuing her in her dream that day. No need to make the mission awkward. And hey, he was an extremely accomplished policeman! That certainly counted in favor of the team.

Slate... was someone she flat out had never met until they stepped onto the X-Jet. It was not great hearing the phrase "minimal successful field experience," but there was at least plenty of good news when he started speaking directly into Rebecca's head. The voice sounded distant and scratchy, like he was coming through on a phone with terrible reception, but she could possibly chalk that up to flight interference or something. Regardless, a psychic on the team was great, but a healer? That was just peachy keen. They just had to make sure to avoid getting poisoned.

On an island. With Australia-level animals.

Moving on.

Locke was also an unfamiliar (extremely sick-looking) face. From what she heard, he was the (no pun intended) greenest of them all in terms of field experience, but in his favor, he apparently controlled earth, of which there was plenty on the island.

Koga offered Rebecca a cache of office supplies in an attempt to look out for her when they entered a relatively metal-free zone. She smiled, thankful for his consideration, but she held up her round shield. "Thank you, bit Ah think Ah'll be fine."

Everyone else gave their introductions, so now it was time to come full circle and introduce herself. "Ah'm Rebecca. Codename Lodestone. I, well," she held up her shield again since it was the de facto evidence of her ability, "Ah control metal. Oh, and see metal." Might as well be open with every aspect of her power in case it came up on the island.

She looked at Saph and smirked. "Ah'll be going chute-less too, bit Ah'll probably land a little softer than you." She patted her plated belt; her preferred method of falling was to float gracefully, and she was willing to bet Saph had no intention of sharing her methodology.

Parachutes were handed to those who required them and the mission objectives were repeated for the team: Investigate the disappearances, Investigate the strange activity, and if and only if possible and necessary, put a stop to whatever the source of the problem was. They were still being designated as trainees, and as such, if it was possible for them to diagnose the problem without running headlong into the problem, it was advisable to alert support.

The door opened and the island was pulling closer. Rebecca looked at the other initiates and nodded. It was go time.

Rebecca's leap out of the jet got her adrenaline pumping, even when she knew she was in control of the metal on her body. It was hard not to get excited when she was leaping out of a FREAKING SUPER-JET.

She would make it to a gentle landing no the sandy shore, but not until after some moron hit the island like a comet.

Gaining her balance, she waited for he rest of the team to float in. "Sae... plan time?" Rebecca was not going to immediately jump in with a plan because there was really no reason for one of the less experienced members of the team to play leader. Come to think of it, who would take the lead? Maybe that was something they should have prepared in the air? Ah well, they had time to sort things out. From the look of things, there was not much in the way of pressing matters on the beach.

***

Mabaodi was under attack! Someone had struck Mabaodi. It was not hard to understand that it was pests again. It was like last time-- pests could not leave Mabaodi to be at peace!

The last pests were tiny and weak and Mabaodi handled them easy. The new pests would be the same. Pests were cocky to hit Mabaodi so hard, but the sand was Mabaodi too. The sand was slow, but Mabaodi could make the sand quick. The sand would listen if Mabaodi asked for quick sand...

((Okay, from this point, until we split into smaller teams, we are on a "post a day" system. No posting order; if you haven't posted yet on any given day, you can post, just check to make sure no one else is in mid-post. If everyone posts during that day, you can post again! If you don't post during that day, your turn is forfeit for said day.

Savvy?))

He recognized most of them; in fact... all but one: A youthful looking man who had opted to shake every team member's hand in turn. He looked down at the offered limb for a moment, and shrugged; it was a bit odd, but some people considered it impolite not to greet everyone in such a manner. He shook the man's hand, and got to assessing the team.

Locke was a good kid; a kid who'd helped get him out of a tough situation a while back... His golems would be useful. Rebecca was like a multi-tool, her powers allowed her a wide range of abilities, though as Koga pointed out, metal was scarce on the island. Also, she still seemed to lack the edge of a hardened veteran. Koga, though. Koga and he had worked together a few times, now, and he'd never been anything less than impressed. He saw him fitting into the leadership role nicely.

And then there was detective Cervantes. The man looked at him with a vague familiarity, and he smiled widely, and nodded his way. He remembered the last time he'd talked at length with the man... He'd broken into his apartment, as the Judge of course, and had a nice, lengthy talk.

To round things off, there was- I am a 'physic healer,' as it were. You should all be able to communicate with me now, within approximately a mile's radius. Simply think very loudly with me in mind, and I should hear. Unless I am incapacitated.

Oh... Oh @$%^! His jaw clenched, though he did his best to remain calm... A god damned telepath! And he was in his mind, too! His mind flashed to the hand shake, the eye contact. Of course; either one could have established a link, if he even needed to establish one at all. He hated telepaths normally, but this one had just spoken into his mind moments after he practically lived through doing something as the judge in his head!

... You saw. He knew the drill; he'd been around the streets long enough, and interacted with enough of his kind to know that he'd hear. He also knew through being told that his mental defenses were laughable as best; psychics referred to his type as 'open books.'

What now, then?

The mission progressed as if nothing were out of the ordinary; the island rapidly approached, and he gladly joined in the planning; he would most likely be the first to arrive on the island, even if he jumped last. To tell the truth, he couldn't wait for it... This was bound to be the rush of a lifetime.

--------------------------------

This was the rush of a lifetime! The wind brushed back half of his hair, and pushed back half of his face, just like on those high G astronaut training machines! The other half was eerily still, though, and the lack of wind resistance against it was tough to get used to; when he'd first jumped out he'd started spinning erratically, and he was damn near half way down before he managed to right himself.

"WOOOOO-HOOHOO!" His voice was lost in the sky, but he sure as hell heard it!

He was sure his fellow X-men, looking down at him, expected a rather loud, dramatic landing. Unfortunately he would disappoint; As he neared the ground, his body instinctively turned, and he landed on his right leg in a roll against the sand that looked as if he'd gone for a short tumble.

He came to his feet, and stumbled around a little bit before- CRACK!

A release of force into the sand put his energy levels at a much more manageable state, and also made a fair sized divot in the golden beach. "Aw man... That's never gonna get old!"

He waved to Rebecca as she came in for her landing, grinning widely, his teeth chattering against his will. Even though the sand had been a perfect landing space for his ability, his ankle still protested a little bit as he walked... He was sure it was just a temporary ache, though. It wouldn't affect his performance on the mission...

"Sae... plan time?"

His eyes snapped to Koga, and his teeth audibly chattered again before he could stop them. His whole arm and shoulder were buzzing with energy. He hoped he would need it, because otherwise it would be quite a waste!

Apparently no one had ever told him to be careful what you wished for...Was it just him, or was the ground feeling a little soft?

The time had firmly pressed upon them. They were nearly on top of the island now so it was time to get moving. Parachutes were handed out but Jorge waved off that he wouldn’t need on. He could get there faster in his water form and be more ready should stuff go down the second they landed.

After greeting with everyone, Jorge had a better idea of the group gathered. A lot of elementals mixed with couple of powerhouses and a couple more stealthy/defensive abilities. It was a good mix of people. Jorge had a feeling that despite their varied abilities, they could compliment each other fairly well, so long as they all got along.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spied the man named Saphrius again. He really did look familiar, didn’t he? He really couldn’t place where he had seen the man before but there was just something about him that looked almost as if they had met a couple of times. Of course, if the man lived at the mansion, then that could easily explain why; Jorge practically lived there himself because of Gemma. It was fairly possible that the two had crossed paths a number of times. But no…there was something else about him. Even the way he smiled at him seemed to denote that there was some history but Jorge couldn’t pull up the memory.

Same goes for the telepath. He definitely looked familiar and from fairly recently too. Of course they had gone on the Hawaiian mission but he felt like he saw him somewhere else too. Somewhere…that involved a fairly large and silly looking coat…

Wow…maybe he really was just getting old.

Shaking the thought away, he focused on the task at hand. The door was open, the rush of air of was deafening, and it was time to descend.

***

It was interesting to say the least. Falling through the air as only rain could fall. Jorge plummeted down towards the ocean, his body a liquid mass that held a bubble of his clothing safely inside himself. Water split into droplets but they all rotated and hovered around the large mass that had the vague humanoid shape of a man. A pair of deep blue eyes stared out of what could only be assumed as his head while he watched the churning ocean draw closer and closer to his rapidly approaching vision.

Then, with the grace of an experienced directly, a long, water arm shot out and summoned water up from the ocean to met him half way. Like a fireman slide down a pole, Jorge, in his water form, grabbed onto (melded with) the column of water and eased his descent down into the massive blue ocean. It was always such a beautiful sight to behold, watching the cascades of colors that shot up through the spray of water that launched into the air.

Once Jorge reached the surface of the water, he disappeared, momentarily becoming part of the ocean. All sight lost of him, it looked almost as if the detective had been washed away, but after only a few minutes wait, out of the tide came a watery humanoid dressed in Jorge Cervantes’ X-uniform. Water became more solid, more opaque, until it was the color and density of human flesh. Fully formed, Jorge stepped towards the group that was already beginning to gather.

Hoping they could come up with some plan to figure ou—

Why was the sand moving? Or…was he just sinking?

Were they suppose to have codenames? For all his creativity Locke had never thought up a codename for himself. The best that he had to offer was what Saph had called him when they had first met. Earthwalker noticed that nobody wanted to correct him about his suspicions that they were jumping out of the jet. So much for the theory that the mad man was spouting off prophecies of doom that in the end were false. Such a belief was proven true when Rebecca talked about her own plans of jumping out without a parachute. How a belt was going to prevent terminal velocity from being terminal Locke had no clue. As much as he wanted to be out of the air and on the ground, he’d rather that the jet landed. Let his feet carry him out of the jet through a ramp instead of a high speed blind jump. Detective Cervantes also chose to not use the device meant for a safer landing. Then again they were over water, and maybe his powers were like Locke’s. He didn’t get hurt when he fell onto broken glass, or had to hit the ground hard. Some instinctual part of his mutation manipulated the workable materials away from where it would hurt him. Not that it was going to do Locke any good now. He needed the contact with the earth to be able to manipulate it, and in this jet, all there was for him was the rocks that he had brought himself.

Locke’s inexperience in being sent someplace was becoming apparent. Others had prepared tools for each other, were more relaxed about flying, and in general gave off an air of confidence that Locke wasn’t foolhardy enough to try to imitate. His being inducted into the X-Men as a trainee was still recent enough that even he, who knew how incredibly useful his powers were, had to question why he was being sent for graduation. Either they were desperate for more trainees to send or someone thought that he was qualified enough. The only way that they would find this out would be on the ground.

Because he wanted to actually be alive, Locke wasn’t ashamed to ask, ”How the hell do I put this on?” The parachute had complicated straps and some sort of harness thing that Locke didn’t know what to do with. He had to have help getting into the parachute and being instructed on how to not die in the jump. Earlier he had been too preoccupied with worrying that he was going to die in a jet crash to pay much attention to the instructions given to him. At the time it had seemed more like an “in case of emergency” sort of lesson.

Saph took his leap out of the jet and Locke winced. ”Oh the ground isn’t going to like that,” he muttered. Locke always had the habit of attaching emotions to the earth and stones he worked with. For something that was so willing to let him work with it, it probably wasn’t happy to have a crater taken out of it. At night Locke still could remember seeing what happened with Saph’s powers when it met a head. That was just from the impact of a couple of bullets, falling from a high speed jet might cause Saph to very well break on through to the other side of the world, Locke figured.

((ooc: Anyone who wants the thoughts Slate heard revised/removed, just shoot me a PM!))

Slate did not know very many people on this team. In fact, he knew exactly one: Detective Cervantes. They had worked together on Slate's other mission, to another island. It had been brief. Both the mission, and the working together.

However, he was rapidly learning about those around him.

Locke, for instance, was terrified of flying. It was like a persistent itch at the back of Slate's mind, that made him wonder for their structural stability.

Do not worry, Slate stated, for Locke's mind only. The Blackbird is an exceptionally safe aircraft. The last time I went on a mission, it lost one engine in midair, but we were still able to land in relative safety. Besides, we are not even landing in the jet: we are parachuting. I am sure the jet will be fine.

He himself always found tangible, practical examples to provide the best reassurance.

Rebecca had no such technical concerns, though her own inexperience seemed to make her more hesitant than she had need to be. She had an ability useful for offense, defense, and leaping from moving aircraft: in short, she would be fine. (...Though he did not quite catch what she meant to imply, with her fleeting thought about 'Australia-level animals.')

Koga was prepared to the point of being unnecessarily so. Slate found this agreeable.

Cervantes viewed both himself and Saphirus with vague tinges of recognition, beyond knowing them as teammates. Perhaps being an officer of the law made one... what was the polite phrase? Paranoid.

Or so Slate would have assumed, if he did not have a certain doppleganger running around the city wearing his face, and if Saphirus had not more than recognized Jorge.

>> You saw.

Yes. Yes, he did. It had been a very loud thought, from a very loud mind.

>> What now, then?

'What now'...? Slate parroted with a blink, speaking only in Saphirus' mind. Ah, you refer to blackmail. That is a good point.

Slate took moment to consider this privately, idly pulling on the straps of the parachute that someone had handed him; then, just slightly, he nodded to himself. He had come to the only reasonable conclusion.

My apologies, but I fear I do not have time to properly consider my terms for you now. Can we delay this discussion until after the mission?

Also:

...Do you know how to put a parachute on?

----

Quicksand.

A natural phenomenon, prone to occurring wherever a fine substrate—such as sand—was saturated with water. Such as from an ocean. Given such a state, a sudden agitation or shock can initiate liquefaction of the mixture.

Quicksand.

Slate squiggled his way free of the colorful silk that had descended upon his head, and turned resigned baby blue eyes towards Saphirus. The man who had punched their super-saturated landing point.

"Officer Cervantes, if you could dry the ground somewhat, I suspect Locke would be able to stabilize it for the rest of us," the telepath took pains to say outloud, his gaze still on Saphirus.

You remind me of a subordinate I once had, he stated dryly, for the Judge's mind only.

The subordinate in question could only be trusted with smashing missions, and did not wash his hands after using the bathroom. Giant's Bane was not a role model to aspire to.

Koga shook Slate’s hand and carefully made sure not to squeeze it too hard, he certainly did not have any pent up emotions that was ignoring or letting go of. The Age of Sebastian was therapeutic in that he spent years helping Katrina get safely to the man before him, She loved him and that was that, he put his grade school crush on Katrina carefully and gently where it belonged. He was estatic to be with Gina, still for the life of him, he couldn’t quite see what Katrina saw. It didn’t help that he wore the same face as that obnoxious Tiger. He doubted however that Slate would know a thing about him.

Koga wasn’t what any physic would consider an open book, he certainly wasn’t immune to having his mind read however. His black orbs carefully studied Slate. ~don’t mind me. meeting the better man can be a hard pill to swallow. Its all personal baggage and today certainly isn’t about that. Lets make this mission a success shall we?~

Koga glanced around the room astounded but not to surprised hear that Saph would not be the onlyone jumping without the parachute. Magnetic Manip, Kinetic Manip, healing and telepathy, water Maip, Earth Manip, Stealth and reckon. They were what gamers called the perfect group, one tanks, three casters a healer and a rouge. If he had glasses on he would have pushed them up the bridge of his nose.

Koga grinned at Rebecca and her shield, if he had noticed the shield he might have offered the bag as another option for ammo.. “That looks quite a bit more effective than paperclips and thumb tacks.” He so needed a code name….How could he have gone all these years with out realizing he needed a code name? perhaps he was always just trying to get people to purnounce the names he had correctly for the time being.

“Current point of entry putss uss at one mile ssouth of the village proper, there are asss of a month old ssatellite rendering, three other visible encampments. Firsst coursse of action according to the handbook.” Yeah, there was a handbook. “ iss to asssesss the ssituation, we can hardly resspond to a problem, without knowing what the problem is or itss causse. Until the initial asssesssment iss made, I recommend we sstay within sshouting disstance.”

He could have told them twenty eight reasons the village was placed where it was, the preferred dress and couple hundred cultural facts about the people. Those were not important however. One fact that did seem a boon to know was however. “The nativess do sspeak Englissh.” Do, he was being positive here, no need to break out the dids just yet.

And they were jumping out of the plane...Saph, Rebecca and Jorge made their exits. No team break? Koga hoped out of his Chair and went to Locke, He read something in his file about having an earth affinity He didn’t get to go too deep into, nor did he want to, but he assumed he had some issues with being off the ground.

“Locke, I Am going to help you get into your Chute. Sslate follow along closse.” Koga grabbed Locke’s Chute and pulled him to his feet, they didn’t have time for pleasantries, and much like a band aid it was a good idea to pull it off quick. Koga helped get all of Locke’s straps into place as,

He watched to make sure Slate was getting his in place as well. “Thesse Chutess are the ssame kind they usse in basse Jumping, we are dropping from a lower altitude sso the ride iss going to be over fairly quick. Count to ten, at a normal rate and pull your Chute. One onethoasnd two one thousand and so forth. The ssooner we jump the ssooner we are on ssolid ground.” He grabbed the back pack that Lodestone turned down.

“ Locke hang on to this, if anything goes wrong, Rebecca will be able to guide you down safely. Other than pulling the chute at ten one thousand, Hold onto it.” He pointed out the only pull string on the parachutes, base jumpers only got one try.

~Slate, You should be able to survive the fall if anything goes wrong with your chute, so if something goes awry, walk it off? Please let Rebecca know any assistance to Locke via the back pack will be appreciated.~

He quickly put his parachute on, “Gentlemen, letss do this!” He grabbed his duffle bag and waited for the other two to make their jumps. Giving either of them the encouragement or push they required.

Rebecca was busy dusting herself off from the landing, waiting for the paratroops to make their own touchdowns when she realized it: her feet were being gobbled up by the ground. They had landed in quicksand!

But... that made no sense! They had intel! Freaking intel! INTEL PREVENTED THINGS LIKE THIS.

Still, there was no point in getting mad at bad fortune. Thankfully for Rebecca, she was better equipped for the problem at hand than some of her teammates. The sand was not pleased, fighting as hard is it could to hang on to her ankles, but her magnetic strength was strong enough to lift her out of the mess so she could hover in the air.

Saph was also sinking into the ground, and she doubted his power was going to help him progress out of it. Rebecca floated her shield over his head. "Grab that an' Ah'll pull you out! Or... at least keep you from sinking more." She did have some weight limit for her magnetic ability, and the sand was adding to that problem.

Slate was logical, and he was smart enough to know how the team could deal with quicksand, thanks to a water manipulator and an earth bender. That was not her biggest concern.

"Koga!" The lizard-boy was finally floating down close enough, and he was the one who gathered the most intelligence on the island. "You studied. Did you hear anything about quicksand shores?"

Rebecca looked into the dense jungle between them and a large, ominous volcanic mountain. "Things are already getting weird."

***

Mabaodi was not happy anymore. One of the pests was out of the trap. Pests were supposed to behave and die in traps.

The pests would not get in Mabaodi's way. The island was Mabaodi. The plants were Mabaodi. The animals and even the dead pests... they were all Mabaodi now.

Mabaodi would stop the pests.

The pests would fear Mabaodi. All at once, every creature under Mabaodi's control would bellow. Monkeys would screech, snakes would hiss, large beasts would howl, and the dead pests... they would moan.

***

A shiver ran up and down Rebecca's spine. The jungle she was looking out into seemingly replied to her, unleashing a cacophony of noise. Yup. Definitely weird.

((Okay, now that everyone's on the island, a little bit of information so you can all post a little more freely. Everything on the island is now ready to go against our beloved X-Team, from the animals to the island itself.

Mabaodi Island is alive. And it is in control.

STR 0 SPD 0 MEN 10 STL 0 SEN 10 MSTR 45 MC 20

More info as it is discovered. Good luck.))

His mind would go completely silent as Slate mused over blackmailing him. It was taken care of, for now; he would address it at a better time. Whether or not openly telling a man who routinely hunted down and killed criminals that you were going to blackmail him before walking into a mission in which your life may or may not be in his hands was a good idea didn't come up even once.

Not. Even. Once.

Yes.

He had to admit he was impressed with officer Cervantes' show of strength; it appeared he'd underestimated the man's abilities during their meeting. He made a note never to do so again; Perhaps staying at least ten feet away from him or any water source would be enough... No... If you thought ten feet was safe, twenty was more advisable; that ruled out his apartment as a meeting place from now on.

His focus landed on the earth manipulator... He hadn't looked so well on the jet; might as well check on him after what was probably the worst ride of his life.

"Locke, you feeling alri- The... Hell?"

In mid sentence, the soft ground became more than just soft. He looked down, and quickly tried to pull a foot free, sinking a bit deeper in response... Quicksand? Seriously? What was this an old captain planet rerun? He immediately went still to slow his sinking, and reached up to grab Becca's sheild... Atta girl, newbie. She was getting better at helping her team mates already. One hand pulled while another sent a small, measured burst of energy to his foot, and he made some progress in lifting himself from the quicksand. Even as he worked, he could feel the telepath's eyes on him.

"Officer Cervantes, if you could dry the ground somewhat, I suspect Locke would be able to stabilize it for the rest of us," Great. He wanted to be team leader all of a sudden, too. Saph could give it to the man, he had an ability that made leading easy, and his decisions in high stress situations seemed to be clear and well thought out...

That wasn't what made a leader, though.

You remind me of a subordinate I once had. Ohhh... That tone. That way of speaking that widely expressed how much better he thought he was.

You don't know me. Spending a moment in my head won't change that. Kindly @$%^ off.

That was it; a real leader didn't think himself better than the people he lead. A real leader commanded respect through camaraderie. A real leader wasn't a snide @#$%bag, and they sure as hell didn't do their best to passive aggressively point out when other people might have made a mistake; I mean... Who the hell knew that punching a beach would turn it into quick sand?! Was that even a real thing? Apparently.

His eyes found Koga as he pulled himself up a little more... He could get out of the quicksand on his own, mind you, but if punching it made it do this, he didn't want to risk putting enough energy into the ground to force himself all the way free; not if it might endanger his team mates. Rebecca was asking the chameleon the question on his mind. Before he heard and answer, a sudden chorus of sounds from the forest drew his attention.

. . . Something wasn't right.

"Lots of objects... I can't make out what they are... They're headed right for us, and there's enough of them for me to feel it." That was worrisome; he only felt large masses moving from more than a handful of yards away. What ever they were, they were moving fast, and they would be here soon; his sixth sense only went so far.

His first move would be to get in front of their healer as soon as the ground was solid again; as much as the guy put a bad taste in his mouth, he was a team member, and he was the only one who didn't have some form of innate ability that directly helped him out in a fight. Also, losing him took away the option of getting healed.

That would be horribly inconvenient.

Jorge growled a little as he attempt to pull himself free of the quicksand before it had too much of a suction on him. Unfortunately this quicksand lived up to its name as he quickly found himself unable to dislodge from the mass of loose, yet compact, material. The detective sadly didn’t have much experience with this particular, natural deathtrap so he really wasn’t sure as to his option. He could go water form, but wouldn’t the sand just slurp him up like some sponge? He couldn’t risk it.

The sand definitely felt wet though. Maybe, if he could pull the water from it…

>> "Officer Cervantes, if you could dry the ground somewhat, I suspect Locke would be able to stabilize it for the rest of us,"

Jorge nodded in response. That was the thing about telepaths, they always had the inside track into your mind. He would have taken the time to wonder if the thought was actually his own or something Slate put in there, but now wasn’t the time. Instead the detective closed his eyes and attempted to focus on the sensation of water all around him.

The ocean didn’t help.

The larger mass of water beside him tended to garner the most attention from his powers but he pushed past that sensation and focused in on the signals of water he was getting far below them, deep inside the sand. Once he had been able to identify that that was the source he was looking for, he moved into action.

Ceasing all struggling, Jorge carefully open his palms in front of him and reached out, seizing control of as much water as he could from below the sand. Gritting his teeth he connected the droplets, pulled them out between the granules and effect immediately became apparently. Snaking out from the very sand were wisps and intertwining columns of water that swirled and snaked around one another. Slowly all the moisture began to collect near the detective who managed to push it above the ocean nearby which was far enough away to not saturate the ground again.

Eyes opened, he kept pulling water away until he began to feel the sand around him become as a dry as any desert. It wouldn’t last long though, since the ocean was lapping waves onto the shore again and any and all of his work would be for naught.

“Better get moving guys, I got more water coming in,” he said as he felt water pushing its way back into the sand. It was odd. Almost as if the water itself knew what it was doing and was not about to be denied killing them. Jorge began to wiggle out of the loose, dry sand, slowing getting his legs free, but he knew that they wouldn’t have much time...