On the wooded edge of the chain link perimeter Geo looked in at the target in the distance. He stretched his muscles in preparation for the task at hand as he took in the last bits of fresh night air he'd be getting for the foreseeable future. The elemental knew as soon as Becca said 'subterranean' he was going to be the man for the job. Of course he was more than happy to the occasion and display his skills for the team. Stepping back he cracked his neck as he felt out the angle he'd be plotting their descent.

"Alright ladies. Grab that cool air while you can." Thrusting a hand at the ground the earth began to churn. "It get's wicked stuffy down there." Pushing out his other hand the ground began to part, sections at a time as Geo slowly built a tunnel wide enough for him and the two other X-men to make their way through. Once he had burrowed down roughly six feet he looked in turn between Agnes and Raine before his bare feet trod into the sloped tunnel.

It was a slow moving process. It was a lot to try and make a tunnel sizable enough for a group of people let alone the fact he wanted an open escape route. The whole point of the mission was to rescue some mutants this twisted lab had locked up for Gods knew what. They had no idea what they were walking into and the last thing Geo wanted to do was leave everyone trapped underground because he went and got killed. Hardening the dirt on the edge of the tunnel as well as a stone support beam every dozen feet or so ensured the structure of the tunnel. It was always a strange place moving slowly through the ground when he moved so freely when submerged himself.

The scent of freshly turned soil was ripe in the air as the dwindling light began to be an issue. Taking a moment Geo reached into a pouch on his sleek black uniform and strapped a tactical light to a patch on his chest to give them light. It was something he had to adapt into his uniform as it's regular use became apparent. Just as the pack that was strapped to his pack had been. Though the amount of dirt they he had to work with was far from an issue so he instead had stashed the mirror Becca had given him for them to keep in contact with Jesse and Doc. He continued on for quite some time, careful to maintain the same angle until he could feel the base of the elevator shaft. It was still ahead of them. Roughly twenty feet, but he could feel the absence in the earth as he felt ahead with his senses. As he shift the last section of the next stretch of tunnel he stomped into the ground erupting a stone pillar into existence to hold the structure. Heaving a loud breath he turned back to the girls.

"Target's just ahead. Once we're in try to maintain cover as long as possible." He tried to sound like he thought Rebecca would in these circumstances. He never fancied himself the leader type so he went with the best example he knew. His gravelly voice tried to carry the same certainty that hers always did on the matter.

"Remember we're here for the mutants first and foremost. This is a rescue mission. Any last questions before we go in?" His eyes went between Zero and Combatant as he bounced slightly on the balls of his feet. The adrenaline of the mission starting to work in the anticipation before their start.

It was almost serendipitous that Agnes was participating in this mission. So many years ago, it was a similar mission that had brought Agnes into the X-Men family. She had been traveling the world, trying to right whatever wrongs she came across while hiding from S.U.P.E.R. and their various agents. She had come across a facility very similar to this, one that had been kidnapping and holding mutants against their will. It was a monstrous place and one that Agnes had taken it upon herself to bring down. However she quickly learned that she had bitten off more than she could chew and found herself quickly overwhelmed. As much as she would never admit it, if it hadn’t been for the X-Men that day, she would have easily found herself dead, or worse, captured.

Five years later and now she was getting ready to descend upon another one of these facilities, but this time with a team in tow. Secretly she was glad for it because for all the skill that she possessed, even she was not stupid enough to make a mistake like this again.

Standing outside the perimeter, Agnes took a few short, calming breathes. It was in preparation of what was to come. She was part of the team that was going in to rescue the mutants inside, which also meant that they were going to be facing some opposition. Agnes bounced in place a few times, loosening up her muscles as she made herself ready for the fighting that would come.

Dressed in her traditional combat gear, Agnes went for a more streamlined look in a tight-fitting catsuit of the deepest black. Her feet were adorned with black tabi boots, and her arms were adorned with gloves. As a matter of fact, every square inch of Agnes’ skin was covered, except for eyes, in order to prevent anyone from getting a hold of her and her soaking up their combat experience. With the kunai wrapped slid into sheaths around her waist and emblem of the X-Men attached to strap across her chest, the woman looked like a force to be reckoned with.

>> "Alright ladies. Grab that cool air while you can. It gets wicked stuffy down there."

Combatant said nothing in response. She wasn’t much of a conversationalist and that fact was even more apparent when she was out in the field. Unless she was giving an order or trying to knock an opponent off balance with banter, the young woman didn’t say much, even to her teammates. Half the time that painted her in the picture of a ***** but considering that there were more important things to attend to, she was willing to accept the moniker. Besides, it usually meant that she wouldn’t have to participate in the Secret Santa.

She had always found Geo’s abilities impressive. As the man moved the earth for them, she watched as an elongated tunnel was formed, beneath the chain link fence and leading downward, towards the structure. When enough space had been crafted, Agnes moved in, bringing up the rear to watch their backs as they moved into the earth.

This was Geo’s element and he worked like a master artist in his chosen medium. Earth moved easily around them, forming the tunnel but braced with stone to keep it from falling over. While it may have seemed almost too big for the three of them, it wasn’t just for them, it was for those poor souls that they would be rescuing from this hellish place. Agnes was ready to wring the necks of each and every person in that facility that allowed this to go on, but she knew she had to reign herself in…

>> "Target's just ahead. Once we're in try to maintain cover as long as possible… Remember we're here for the mutants first and foremost. This is a rescue mission. Any last questions before we go in?"

She had to smirk under her mask. Geo was trying so hard to sound their like their redheaded, stick-up-the-*** leader, Impact. Though Geo wasn’t an exact copy of the woman, he did manage to maintain some of that matter-of-fact attitude that Agnes loathed from the woman. Still, she had somewhat more respect for Geo than she did for Rebecca so she wouldn’t snicker too loud. Besides, they needed to keep their head in the game as they were deep in enemy territory now.

She nodded her head to Geo. ”No,” she grunted. Again, she was a woman of few words.

While Geo moved heaven and earth for them, Zero found herself bouncing on her toes much like Combatant. Unlike the ninja, she was trying to psyche herself up and empower her fighting spirit.

It was one thing to run across an injustice. It was another thing to go in and pick a fight with it. Yeah. That was Combatant's style, but Zero hadn't actually been on a lot of missions. Like honest to glob organized missions. Mostly she had been trying to do her best to stand up for what was right when things were wrong.

Today, here and now, they had gotten a clue that something was real wrong.

Also, how cool was it that she was hanging out with a mother loving ninja!?

She took a long last deep breath as instructed and tried to emulate the contained violence that Combatant oozed with her every step. Zero wasn't feeling it exactly, but she tried.

Her suit reflected Geo's light softly in the dark of the tunnel, but once he extinguished that, they'd be full stealth mode.

"No questions." Well. None that they could answer while they were still underneath the facility.

When Zero'd heard about the clue, she'd known exactly which team she wanted to be a part of. Stealth? Information? Sure. Those things were important. But what was most important were the people who were living in this hell. She would 10/10 pick what felt like the more dangerous path if it meant saving someone.

Zero readied one end of a gravity tether just in case.

"Let's do this thing."

Geo looked between the two girls. Their simple responses leaving him with a conflicted conclusion. Either they understood him fully or he was just beating a dead horse. Rebecca made it look easier. Shifting uncomfortably the elemental shrugged before turning back to the wall.

"High ho high ho it's off to work we go." The earth began to break away again as he moved his hands out in front of him and continued to chip away at the tunnel. He adjusted their angle slightly as they went, assuring the reached the correct point of entry. As they drew closer he could feel the void in the dirt head, the pillar of absence rose up to the surface far out of his field of sense. Beyond the base of the elevator was an even more extensive void which stretched further than Geo could sense, their target. Of course they would try to hide their labs so far below ground.

Monsters like these people always made Geo sick. Having been with the X-men as long as he had this sort of situation had popped up time and time again. It was easy to get lost in a sense of anger for the people that were behind these warped facilities. As the final section of the tunnel moved out of the way a sleek metal surface was revealed. Giving a satisfied nod Geo brought up two large pillars on the the far sides of either end of the steel structure to assure the tunnels stability.

Striding to the far wall Geo plunged his arms into the wall of dirt. Pulling the material onto his flesh, adding to the structure and hardening the material around him he pulled two hulking stone arms back out. He flexed the stone limbs for a moment, pieces of stone crumbling away as the cracked surfaces ground into one another.

The steel wall peeled back easily for him. His stone hands crushing through the structure in a wide arc as he pulled off a large section. Giving them a wide entrance. Shining his light into the elevator shaft Geo was partially relieved to see the elevator was not at the bottom. It would have made a lot more noise to get through than Geo would have liked.

He dropped a foot into the bottom of the shaft, his feet meeting the concrete base as he assessed their surroundings. The doors leading to the labs stood on the far wall opposite their entrance. As the girls made their way in Geo slowly began to pour piles of fine dirt into the room along with them. Just as much as he could muster while maintaining his stone limbs so it didn't amount to much but it was enough to get the job done.

The elemental could have easily bashed his way through the second pair of doors though that would have created too much noise. The last thing he wanted was their targets to get a heads up to their arrival before they were ready to go. Sand worked its way between the door, slowly build as Geo clicked off his tactical light leaving them in darkness.

As he forced more and more sand into the opening he used the leverage to slowly work the door open. A small thread of light came from the other side of the door though slowly expanded along with the opening. Once there was enough room for Geo to get his hands inside he pulled the doors open the rest of the way. On padded bare feet the elemental stepped up into the doorway, quickly falling into a crouch as he looked through the opening.

The long hallway was lined with stainless steel, fluorescent lights hummed overhead magnifying on the reflective surfaces. It was a stark contrast to the dismal dark tunnel and it took Geo's eyes several moments to adjust. The hall stretched out on either side of them, coming to a 'T' at each end. There was no security on sight as of yet, but Geo wasn't going to wait around for someone to show up.

Signally the all clear back to Combatant and Zero the elemental stepped into the hallway, watching vigilantly as the rest of the team entered the facility.

>> "No questions. Let's do this thing."

The sound of her how hard she rolled her eyes would have been enough to alert any passing guards that something was about to happen. Thankfully it seemed that they were be fortunate enough to escape notice but if Zero had muttered any further excited clichés, Combatant’s irritation would surely alert their targets to the heroes’ location. In the back of her mind she kept her serene sensibilities and just took a calming breath. It was time to get into work mode.

>> "High ho high ho it's off to work we go."

”Oh god…” she muttered harshly. Agnes momentarily lamented the team that she had been paired up with but realized that this at least had to be better than working with Shivs and Impact. On the one end, she would be even more irritated with working with the team leader and on the other, she would have to deal with dodging sneak-attack hugs at every passing second. Truly it could have been worse, but not by much.

Cracking her knuckles. Agnes took a step back as Geo dug his arms into the earth and started to pull in the earthly substance into his body. When he removed his hands, they were thick and jagged as stone (impressive) and it was this advantage that he used to begin ripping through the metal wall in front of them. He did so slowly and carefully as to not draw too much attention to the fact that this super-secret facility was currently being broken into. While Agnes appreciated a straight up fight, they were here for more than that, there were lives on the line.

Agnes remembered the last time she had broken into a facility like this. The horrors that she witnessed as she snuck around, the pain and trauma that was being caused to mutants all in the name of “progress”, it was just sickening. Humans could get so jealous over what others could possess that they dedicated places like this to putting gifted individuals under their control or, lacking that, ripping the powers out of them completely. It was enough to churn the stomach but, despite that, Agnes remained the calm and collected shadows she had always been.

As the entrance was made, Geo was the first to step out, followed by Combantant and their comrade, Zero. Standing in the elevator shaft, Agnes could feel the cool air cycling through and across her skin. It was a momentary relief compared to what was to come. As her eyes drifted upwards, unable to spot the elevator carriage high above, she snapped her attention back to the doors that Geo pried open with his stone-covered hands.

On the other side it was revealed to be a T-shaped hallway with flickering fluorescent lights and a cold, prison/medical feel to it. It made hair on the back of Agnes’ neck stand on end. Geo was the first through and immediately summoned the other two to follow. Agnes knew her part of his. Of the entire group, despite what some may think, she was probably the stealthiest. The second she received word to advance, Agnes had already stepped through the door, dashed across the hall and impossibly nestled herself into a cross-sections of shadows provided by a trashcan, a downed light, and other various shadows combined. Agnes was trained to hide and stalk her targets, and it was something she excelled at.

Nestled safely in the shadows, all-together unseen unless looked at hard enough, Combatant pressed herself flat against the wall and crouched low, waiting for the next move. There were no guards yet but, if some were foolish enough to pass by, she would ensure that they went down as silently as possible.

After settling into his observational position, Doc had opted to focus his current attention on the blue team's current position and endeavors.

He got a ping that the team had arrived at the marked location, the elevator shaft.

"Greetings Blue team! Glad to see you arrived safe. You did, didn't you? Ohgodtellmeyoudid." He cleared his throat. They were fiiiiine. Three green flashes in the elevator shaft on his hand drawn map told him that.

A other flashes told him much more.

"Reading two potential combatant in the fourth room down to the right of the elevator shaft. Five at the room at the end of the hall... Oddly, no readings yet down the other side of the hallway. I have given my friends free reign to disable lights in the area that might assist our Combatant in the more quiet conquests. I will attempt to get a reading from the other wing as quickly as possible."

He paused for a moment, chittering into another mic, trying to get to the bottom of the information outage on the wing of the sub-levels to the left.

"No signs of the captives yet. I will get back to you as soon as I see anything."

Hearing from Doc was jarring after their silent tunnel intrusion. Zero was on high alert, ready to jump at shadows when suddenly cheerful Doc. It was jarring and would have been excuse enough for her to end up on the ceiling, except that was where she was supposed to go.

Zero tossed her tether up and then tapped herself. Her hair changed direction first and she dropped down to the ceiling which was now her floor. Lights fizzled and sizzled ahead of them and Zero shuddered at their friendlies inside, Doc's roaches, that were making it happen.

The security cameras had, in some cases, found a roach parking in front of the lense. In other cases, Zero was able to approach from behind and pull wires until the recording light shut off. Either way, by the time the team was done, there were obvious holes in the internal security of this facility.

Afraid to speak despite their precautions, Zero pointed left and right, right and left and shrugged into the dimness from her spot crouching behind her latest security feed victim. Geo and Combatant's guesses were as good as hers as to where they were supposed to go.

Doc's voice breaking the radio silence caught the elemental off guard. Once the initial shock was aside a slight smirk formed on his face at the excited voice. As the team fell into place Geo kept watch on the far side of the hall, opposite the girl's entrance. He had a mental picture of the facility falling into place as Doc fed them the information he had collaborated. His small brethren became more apparent as he spoke. Small brown specs moving against the glistening surface and making their way over the security cameras and into the light fixtures.

As soon as the mention of combatants was heard Geo shifted mentally. Letting his stone limbs deteriorate into sand that hovered around him with a quiet hiss as the grains sifted over one another. They were trying to go for quick and quiet, hulking rock limbs were far from subtle that was for certain. But with the sand he could move quick. Touching his earpiece and speaking in a hushed voice Geo responded to Doc.

"Thanks for the heads up Roach. We'll see if we can get a visual." Removing his hand from the earpiece he looked over to the team. Raine was already going to work, unplugging security cameras and using her unique abilities towards a team advantage. He felt a bit of pride in their youngest member. They grew up so fast. Agnes of course was already well to work, making herself as hard to notice as possible. A deadly snake just looking to strike. They elemental looked between the halls. The far right was where the trouble was. They knew that. But the left was still up in the air. They weren't here looking for a fight. They were on a rescue mission and if they somehow alerted the forces before they were properly in place it could mean doom to anyone being held against their will.

"We start to the left, watch you're step because we don't know what we're walking into." The lights started to flicker over head, clicking off one by one as it slowly shrouded them in darkness. That would work to their favor but at the same time it only meant it was a matter of time until they had company of the unpleasant variety. The sand floating around him formed close to him, moving in sync with his steps as his bare feet padded down the hall to the left. Moving along the wall Geo came to the end of the hall where it branched off in either direction. Poising himself up at the corner Geo stole a glance either way down the hall. Both ways were lined with several doors. The elemental heaved a slight sigh. Why couldn't there ever be a door with a neon sign that said 'Mutants in Here'.

The team was moving well enough. While Zero took to the ceiling to disrupt some of the camera’s, Geo himself was watching and getting ready to make his move. Agnes herself was pressed against the shadows, stayed low and waited for the opportune moment to move. As much as she preferred a straight fight, she knew that by drawing too much attention to themselves, that would put the entire rescue operation at stake. No, she would have to reel in her bloodlust and simply be on guard for whatever would happen by their way.

There was a small chirp from her earpiece and Agnes pressed her hand to her ear. She listened as their resident surveillance bug gave them the rundown on the situation. She wasn’t far from battle, but again, that wasn’t the main goal tonight. Still, it was good to know where the bastards were concentrated so that she could keep an eye on their rear be able to disable whomever she had to.

At the note that the bug’s allies were shorting out lights to keep her in the dark, she grinned and whispered. ”You always got my back, Doc.” Of the entire team, Doc was probably one of the few that she truly preferred. The giant insect helped her out more ways than his hat-wearing head could ever imagine; not that she would ever admit to that.

With a note that he would keep an eye out, Agnes turned to the left, the area that had not been scoped out just yet. Geo agreed that it was probably best to head in that direction:

>> "We start to the left, watch you're step because we don't know what we're walking into."

The light continued to click off thanks to the Doc so Agnes turned and faced in that direction. The second an area became shadowy enough for her, she slipped across the hall and slid into it like a hand slipping into a glove. Agnes’ was practiced enough that she practically vanished in the darkness. She would only be noted if looked at closely enough by the sparkle of her sapphire eyes. Remaining in the shadows, she watched as Geo took the lead, stopping at a corner and spying the various branches that could be taken. It was clear that he didn’t know where to go from here.

The hall darkened further and Agnes dashed into another shadow. Her back pressed against the wall, she gestured to Geo that she would check which direction would be best, but before she could fully convey her meaning, one of the doors opening. There stepped out into a hall a rather regular looking security guard. Closing the door behind him, the man took a few steps before he stopped and lifted his head to look at the flickering lights.

“…the hell…?”

He barely got the words out before Agnes suddenly dashed across the hall with clear goal. What followed was a shadowy moving with such fluidity and grace that it could easily be mistaken for a dance of sorts.

Remaining low and closing the gap between them, he wouldn’t be alerted to Agnes’ presence until her elbow was driven deep into his stomach, causing him to double over in undiluted pain. Normally he would have been able to scream or exhaust all his breath with a single burst, but Agnes was practiced. As the man was doubled over, she covered his mouth without pause with one hand, and wrapping her free arm around his throat, controlling the flow of air he received. Without pause she pulled him into the shadows, holding him tight until he finally stopped fighting against her and went limp.

Carefully, and silently, she laid him down onto the ground and dragged him into a shadowy alcove that was perfect for hiding unconscious bodies. Quietly she crept on and waited for Geo to continue exploring.

Kinda cool. Kinda gross. Zero thought as her team leader and some dirt made their way down the hall. Whatever Impact saw in him (years ago, yeah right) it prooobably wasn't his power. The gravity girl skipped along the ceiling, finding no reason to crouch or dart or slink. The hall was dark. She was more concerned about not tripping over a light fixture so the skipping, while fun, was also a safety precaution.

Agnes was Zero's polar ninja opposite. She moved like silk and when a door opened, the girl was on the unfortunate soul who walked out like peanut butter on marshmallow fluff. Except​ more brutal. So maybe like screaming on a death metal band. But quieter?

Zero hopped over the door topper to pop into the room that already unconscious guy had just evacuated.

Just out of reach of a bank of monitors, a man was carefully aiming a removed shoe at a roach. Normally, she'd agree. Gross. But today, those bugs were allies.

Zero tossed a tether at him and tapped the ceiling at her feet.

He fell up with a cry of “Whoa!” and pinwheeled his arms. The shoe went flying into the hallway. The roach scurried away.

Zero timed it so that she dropped her tether right before he fell against the ceiling. That meant that he fell from somewhere between 8 and 10 feet off the ground. Needless to say, he was disoriented when he hit the ground. And completely incapacitated when Zero landed with both of her feet into the soft part of his belly.

Rookie mistake.

He gasped, gagged, and became sick in a fountain of spew.

Zero fell back against the monitoring station in an attempt to avoid getting his sick on her.

The elemental barely registered the gestures Agnes had thrown in his direction before their cover was nearly blown. Instinctively he went to try and respond but their dependable combatant already had the situation well in hand. It was eerie to him how quick and deadly she worked at times. Made him happy that she was on their side.

The man was taken out with barely a peep and dragged into the darkness before anyone had a chance to miss him. Geo moved into the hallway, taking a defensive stance towards the opposite end of the hall. Moving backwards behind Zero as she made her way through the open door on the ceiling. There was a cry from the room, the deepened voice told him it wasn't their newest member but the noise was not what they wanted.

Turning to the room Geo watched as Zero came to a landing on their second victim. Her execution was well timed but the practicality left some to be desire as the contents of the man's stomach was forced from him. The elemental winced as he watched her stagger out of the way from the freshly erupted guard laying unconscious on the floor. It wasn't the smoothest transition he had seen but she got the job done. Giving her a smile and a thumbs up he made his way through the door.

Now the room was clear Geo moved his way past the victim to the console that ran along what appeared to be their monitoring wall. It was filled with screens that seemed to be having issues with their feeds. Several had gone to static while several seemed to be getting some up close and personal shots of some creepy crawleys. The guard walking out into the hall must have been going to check on the interference. They probably arrived just in time to stop some red flags from being raised.

A small map off to the side of the console held flickering lights that seemed to indicate the cameras locations. It held a vague lay out of the floor they were on. The hallways read out just like Doc had recanted to them via the coms, though the area that they were still fuzzy on was clearly mapped out.

"Okay we have a floor plan." He signaled over his shoulder to Raine as he examined the lab. At the opposite end of the hall was a large room that seemed to contain several rooms within itself. "If you were a mad scientist isn't that where you'd keep the test subjects?" His eyes flashed over the girl for a moment before turning and stepping back over the guard. Glancing out into the hallway he made sure the coast was still clear. He couldn't see Agnes off had but he knew the stealthy warrior was no doubt stalking in the shadows. Bringing a sandy finger up to his ear he turned back into the room and spoke into the communicator.

"We have a potential location on the targets in our dark zone." It was more dangerous going in without any intel as to what they were up against but if there was a chance the mutants were there they had to take it. "Blue team's moving in to try and get a visual confirmation."

There was no need for her to join her teammates in the room. She was a tactician, yes, but right now her job was to ensure that everyone one of her group was safe. Sticking to the shadows, Agnes moved through them with ease, melding into the darkness, and keeping a close eye not only on the door but on the hallways, other doors, and the blinking lights of the cameras with insects crawling over the lenses. She was here to ensure that no one ended up getting hurt and to do that she had to separate herself and remain vigilant.

After disposing of the guard that she had taken out, Agnes listened as Zero slipped in through the door. The resounding THUD, gasp of pain, and upchucking made the young warrior sigh and shake her head a bit in dissatisfaction. She was going to have to reel Zero in for some stealth training later because that was unacceptable. However now wasn’t the time to chastise so she stayed in silence, outside the door, monitoring their surroundings.

Only a few moments passed before the doorway was opened again and Geo, the team leader, stepped out. Agnes didn’t reveal herself to him, instead opting to remain in the darkness and keep watch. However, she really didn’t have to reveal anything about herself because her team knew her ways. They knew that even if they couldn’t see her, she could see them.

>> "We have a potential location on the targets in our dark zone…Blue team's moving in to try and get a visual confirmation."

Geo was talking into his intercom, Agnes guessed to the rest of the team so that there was a clear idea of what they were going to be doing. They had some fresh intel on where their captive mutants may be located. Agnes took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders, preparing herself for what was to come. She had been to facilities like this before and knew that captive mutants were assets and would be well protected. Everyone hoped that there would be too much opposition, that they could get in and get out quietly.

Agnes, on the other hand, preferred a straight fight. Moving through the shadows, she followed Geo and Zero’s lead, keeping an eye on their backs and preparing for any and every eventuality that could possibly come their way…

Zero had to resist the urge to brush the sand off of Geo's shoulders. It was literally everywhere and it just rankled her so much. Didn't he get skin abrasions? How could he have that touching him ALL THE TIME? She could hardly stand to see it tip off the back of him when he signaled for her to come closer and see.

The map, once explained, became her sole focus. She was a decent hand at memorizing things when she put her academic brain to it. Just like blocking in a play or shoot. She memorized where she thought they'd need to stand.

> "...isn't that where you'd keep the test subjects?"

"No, I'd stick the decoys there and put the real ones in boring desk jobs." Nothing said brainwashing like Corporate America. "Kidding." Kind of. Raine tried not to think about what she might do as an evil genius. She had to graduate college first.

Zero popped a tether on herself and walked up the walk before swapping over to a ceiling tether. They'd been over the reasons why Combatant should stay on the ground already, but Zero still wished she had a friend who would have commiserate about how the smell of vomit was still clinging to her hair. Eugh.

"This way." Her whisper came down from the darkened ceiling. Zero started in the wrong direction, having memorized the map from the floor's perspective. Once she realized she stomped her foot. Grr. "No, Sorry. This way, actually. For real this time."

Agnes was nowhere to be seen when he reentered the hallway. No small surprise. Her stealthy was an important asset in case they were to get spotted in the hall. All eyes would be on Geo and Zero while the most vicious threat lurked in the shadows. He knew the message was heard though, she was an effective soldier if nothing else. Geo waited outside the door for their latest member to make her way into the hall. The elemental watched with a smirk as she started to move in the wrong direction before correcting her mistake. A chuckle almost escaped the Senior members lips before he turned and lead the way down the rest of the hall.

His feet silently padded along the steel floors, only the faint sound of sand shifting against the surface emanated from him as he moved. Some of the sand clinging to his body slipped free, hovering about him coiled at the ready to react as his eyes came across the door at the end of the hall. It wasn't a cake walk though and they were fall from free and clear. There were several doors they had yet to pass and an endless number of possibilities as to how the mission could go wrong. There was a law about things going wrong. Maurey's law? Murphy's law? Whatever M-name it was there was still the possibility of the proverbial crap hitting the fan and it kept the mutant on alert. It was the quiet that worried him. The lights had gone out, cameras were a mess and there had so far been minimal consequences for their intrusion. The X-man couldn't help but feel like there they were still in the calm before the storm.

He slid past the first door with no problem. Geo's eyes stayed glued to it as they crossed it, moving to the next when he was convinced they were in the clear. The second door came along a similar way. It wasn't until he was sure that he and Zero had passed the second entry that he fully turned to make way for the final door that possibly held their captives. It was a plain door, like the rest the only difference a small electric key pad with a card reader that seemed to be hooked up to the door. Not necessarily a huge issue but it was enough to make their stealth approach all the more difficult. As Geo turned his attention to the small pad he almost missed the sound of a door behind him opening. There was a beam of light, seemingly from a flashlight that erupted from the door as it came open. A guard strolled out, seemingly unaware of their presence until the beam panned far to the right casting the earth elemental in it's light.

"Hey! Who the hell are you!?" Geo froze, taking a moment to access where they were at. The man hadn't noticed the other X-men in the hall, Zero on the ceiling and Combatant...who knows where. The man was fixed on the elemental for a moment, pulling out a gun along his flashlight and training it on the mutants chest. When his eyes and the light started to wander to see if there was anyone else in the hall Geo made a loud abrupt step, catching the guards attention back to himself.

"Hey buddy, I'm just looking for the ice machine. Wouldn't happen to be able to help a brother out?" Geo's eyes watched at the man's hand slid down towards a radio set on his belt. The elementals stone heart picked up a few beats as they grew close to having their element of surprise shot to all hell.