"There may be more to it," Slate replied, "but that does not preclude that the island is thinking. In fact, it is thinking more clearly than you are, Lodestone."

This was true, and the dazed telepath saw no reason not to point it out. The magnetic manipulator's mind was very... static-y, like an old radio out of tune. He had never quite encountered something like it before.

He was glad for Locke's backing on this issue. The earth manipulator felt it too; he wondered if Jorge did, as well, but could not currently read the man. He was having a bit of... trouble focusing, just now.

"Oh, the volcano?" He blinked, as the redhead continued talking. "Mabaodi says the volcano is going to erupt. Soon. It will be... a large one, I believe."

If the island did not want them going up there, that implied that they stood some chance of stopping it. This was not a natural eruption, any more than the island had naturally turned against them all. Slate gave himself another moment to rest, then wobbled his way back to his feet.

"I should accompany the mountain team. Mabaodi does not want us going up there; they will face the heaviest resistance, once it realizes that we have broken into teams. A healer is most useful while injuries are still treatable."

Not that he was particularly eager to get close to another volcanic eruption. Was this going to happen on all of his missions with the X-Men?

The older trainee eyed Locke as he objected to getting on the boat for a moment... For just a second, he was mad. He was a damned X-man! How could he let discomfort or fear stop him from saving lives?! Still, he took a deep breath... Maybe he was being a little too hard on him; beside, the way Rebecca was talking, it looked like he might be useful elsewhere.

Saph turned and eyed the wall of water before him; it distorted the world on the other side, but his eyes were locked on where he'd seen the boat. He knew why he'd become one of the X-men... Yeah, there was a large bit about proving to himself he was a good person, but in the end he did it so that he could save lives; defend people that couldn't defend themselves. "There may be some villagers left... If there are, someone has to help them. I'm taking that rout." He eyed Slate for a moment... Yeah, it was important to have someone to heal the heroes, but what if there were wounded villagers as well? They'd signed up for this, the villagers hadn't. He was a little disappointed in the man for opting to go toward the volcano. Then again, he couldn't say he was surprised... His reasoning was sound as well, it just didn't fit in well with the older man's somewhat self-sacrificing sentimentalism. At this point, he was starting to think he and Slate just weren't the type to see eye to eye.

"If we're gonna be on the river, we'll need someone who can get us up stream fast... Detective... you up to the task?" He really couldn't think of anyone else that could get them to the village out of the reach of the trees. With Locke, Slate, and Rebecca going up to the volcano, they could use the powerful elemental's help, too. He eyed Koga as well, wondering where he would be headed; the village seemed to be the most obvious option, though his knowledge might be useful at the volcano as well.

Koga glanced at Saphirus and thought at Slate hoping he would pass it along. " I'm not sure if the island is or can listen but best to keep stratergy quiet if possible. "I'd be more inclined to send Jorge and Locke with them. Water cools lava most efficiently, and if the island does decide to erupt Locke might be able to form a trench to guide the flow in a single direction. It will leave us with a hell of a run to the village until the island realizes what they are up to but I think we are up for it. the volcano has to take priority over the possible survivors, not much point in surviving if you win death by eruption." Koga grabbed a pair of tonfas out of his duffel bag and got ready to fight some mammals.

He glanced at the other members of the group, if they wanted to work this in a different way he was game for it, but he didn’t see Saph and himself doing anything up there that they couldn’t handle besides the pair of them could offer plenty of distraction in the mean time.Even with all of the adrenaline and madness going on he couldn't help but be impressed with Jorge's water dome. "move towards our goals on three?"

There was a science to Locke’s mutation. Not in the sense that he was moving throughout the periodic table of elements, or converting one gas to another. Instead Locke dealt with geology. The way that the earth stacked up underneath those trees was of importance to the teen. He would look at anatomy books in hopes of making his golems more efficient to move and maintain. Locke also knew a little about natural events that occurred with the earth. Growing up in San Francisco he would have to be an idiot to not know what caused a quake, and to not know the dangers of them was to ask for a death wish. Volcanos might not seem like they had anything to do with him. He didn’t live near one, and usually they are associated more with fire, but Locke had learned a little about them in his studies. Sometimes those earthquakes that Locke was so familiar with were what caused volcanoes to erupt. The fire that people thought of with lava wasn’t just liquid heat, it was liquid stone. Thankfully lava could sometimes be felsic, a fancy term meaning that it was made up of the same sort of materials that made up sand and quartz, both being a material that Locke could work with. If he could get past the scorching heat of over a thousand degrees. Forget about the fact that his lungs would collapse from the heat and kill him, he wouldn’t even be able to stand close enough to lava to do anything with it. This also was ruling out such hazards as air filled with a mixed cocktail of deadly toxins, the possibility of ash hot enough to burn through aircrafts, and tremors from the earth rushing up and out that he could not contend with. You cannot fight against nature.

Maybe that was what the problem was. All that they had been doing upon landing was to fight against the island in one way or another. Be it by reversing the quicksand, fighting off boars, or swatting at birds. Locke wasn’t going to be able to take down or stop a volcano from erupting, not if the process was already underway. The lava needed to go somewhere and the pressure was going to have to be released. Locke nodded his head to the plan, acutely aware of the danger that he was facing, perhaps more aware than others. Koga seemed to think that Locke could easily make a trench to divert the lava, but that still would require him to be in the danger zone. Given the choice though, he would rather risk death with his feet on the ground instead of in the air.

His mind was turning over possibilities. Would Cervantes be able to use the water at all so close or would he be super steam and not able to do anything? The last thing that the Californian wanted to do was to dry up the detective. Molehills and ditches were easy enough for Locke to do, it was what happened whenever he failed with a Fluffy, but he hadn’t tried to make a trench deep enough to lead anything away. But what else could they do? Once the volcano blew, the lava had to go somewhere. Slate, do you think you can connect my mind to the island’s? I’m kinda just talking to a hand with it. Maybe Jorge and I could lead the lava down and out? It’s pissed that we’re here right? Why not give it more space?

Jorge was doing his best to listen to the team try to decide what to do, as well as keep his bubble up and maintain his form. There was just so much happening at once that the detective couldn’t afford to have his attention split into so many different ways. But what else was he supposed to do. Struggling to keep the dome spinning and lashing away animals and plants with its speed, the detective focused on the group. All of them had good plans, and with their variety of powers, there just had to be something that they could do to figure out what was going on.

But the answer came sooner rather than later. Slate, the telepath, connected with something on the island itself—it was alive. It wanted them off and it was going to do whatever it took to complete this. Obviously some were having a hard time believing that the island could do anything other than breeze at them, but it was steadily becoming a fact.

Worst of all, though, was the volcano. If there were villagers on the island, if it was alive and attacking, then the volcano was going to be its greatest weapon. It could simultaneously attack and threaten them into action or inaction. Jorge fought a volcano once before and it nearly left him dead. He was not relishing the idea of doing so again.

But considering their resources, both he and Locke were definitely the best options to deal with the lava flow. As much as he would have liked to aide both Saphirus and Koga at the village, he had a real idea that his best chances at offering assistance were volcano side.

He nodded as he counted down in his head. He had to make his voice heard.

He shifted as quickly as possible, melting back into his uniform so that he reformed fully clothed. The only problem was that as soon as he did, he felt the crushing pressure in the back of his head. This water dome was a lot of water to control while he was in human form and he knew that he could only take the pressure for so long. So, he had to talk fast.

Growling and holding up his hands to maintain the bubble, he shed off some water to alleviate the pressure in his head some. Unfortunately this allowed the stray coconut or two to make it through. Thankfully they fell helpless to the ground.

“I’m better use at the volcano,” he muttered. He glanced back to Koga and Saphrius though. “If you two get into the boat…I can give you as hard of a shove as I can down river. That should get you to the village as fast as possible. Once there, you two can start helping people, maybe draw the island’s attention to you so that the rest of us can make it to the volcano. Locke and I can do what we can once that lava starts flo—“ Grinding his teeth, he stopped in mid-sentence as he felt driven to his knee. This really was a lot of water and decisions should be made now!

Planning was taking longer than the team could afford judging by Jorge's struggling, but it sounded like squads were basically ironed out. Jorge would send the boat team into the village in hopes of finding any survivors, and the other two teams would travelling up to the heart of the problem which, sadly, was the heart of the active volcano.

Rebecca allowed the last comments to be made, but time was running out. "Okay, Koga and Saph up th' river; Jorge and Locke up th' mountain, stopping and diverting as much lava flow as possible; Slate and Ah... well, we're less than fireproof, sae we're keeping off the ground."

It would have been so much easier if she was not the lone flier of the team. Slate, you've got options! Ah carry you on th' shield, Ah find a chunk o' ore in th' earth large enough for you tae ride, OR you can take your chances with the unpredictable magma veins on th' ground. How fun for you. She could vaguely sense ore nearby, and it would not take much time to unearth. He could try holding tight to her shield, but... we'll, that was going to be a much less comfortable ride, to be sure.

"Best of luck, everyone..." Deep breath and a prayer. "Break."

((OOC: Saph/Koga thread!))