Ghost didn’t sound like...Ghost. This was not right. The X-Woman had a control over her powers, better than most. Hell, she even taught him a few things about being an elemental that he never thought he would ever have to learn. All that told him that the wind tossing around people wasn’t her actions, but that of another. How though? they happened across a mutant with the same ability? What about the fact that they didn’t have their abilities anymore? A coincidence. It was doubt, and something that the watermancer would have loved to have spared the time to think on; but time was the one luxury that he didn’t have in abundance.

He reached out, trying to get Ghost’s attention by taking her arm, but she felt...different. He couldn’t explain it, maybe it was the sheer lack of his abilities trying to take over the water content in her, but she just felt different, alien almost. The voice would make that point abundantly clear, however, as Ghost turned and faced him, a look of malice on her face.

>> "You should have cleaned up the city properly."

”...what?” He asked. That was definitely not Ghost’s voice. What, was she...possessed?

>> "You could have stopped all this before it even started!"

A hand was aimed at his through. The air pressure began to tighten as he could feel an invisible vacuum formly around his high. She, or whoever was in her, was going to suck all the air direct from his body. Already he could feel it happening so he needed to act fast. A shift, unheard apology was uttered as he didn’t shy away from the X-Woman, but instead closed the gap. Weakly he choked out a, ”Sorry…” then suddenly, and sharply, threw his elbow with as much force as he could muster into her stomach.

She controlled wind and air. She could take on that form and possess another. Therefore, if he could knock the wind out of her, maybe he could draw out whatever was within. And if not, well, if they lived through this he would have so much apologizing to do.

She saw it. That elbow was on its way. She could do nothing to stop it. Jorge had tugged on her hand and pulled her into it. Her normal response was to inhale and go incorporeal to avoid a physical hit, but she wasn't fully incharge of herself at this moment in time.

All the air whuffed out of Ghost's mouth, including a long whisp of something smokey. She made a feeble grab at it, but that hit had been solid and square and it took Ghost a moment to remember how to inhale again, let alone regain control of her limbs.

> "Funny, how you both seem to be able to manipulate others."

A huge gust of wind ushered the both of them toward the stadium door. Ghost stumbled, but tried to keep a hold on Jorge so they wouldn't be seperated.

"Power." She wheezed and slipped against the wind as it dragged them and quite a bit of unsecured detritus toward the stadium exit. The elemental tried again as they dug in together. "Power Vampire."

They needed an adapted or a way to pin him down or... something. Jorge's powers combined with hers were a pretty terrifying combination.

Jorge felt bad the second that he had done it. When he drove his elbow into Maya’s break basket, it was with enough practiced force to take down a much bigger opponent. He probably should have held back but given the fact that Ghost’s mutation could pretty much suck the air out of his lungs, he didn’t want to risk letting that power loose too long. Besides, if she were being possessed, then hopefully his action would expel whatever sway was being held over her.

She folded like a cheap suit, practically split in half over and under his offending elbow. The choking sound was hard to hear as she struggled to reboot her body’s ability to breathe. Jorge stepped back, at the ready in case she were to go on the attack again, his arms out as he pushed people away from her. But that was when he saw it, that slight wisp of...something...as it pulled away from her. And from that ethereal gust came the most malicious of voices.

>>>> "Funny, how you both seem to be able to manipulate others."

Dammit. His hunch was right. There was another player in on this. But what was the deal? And, worst of all, why did it sound familiar? It wasn’t like a voice from someone he interacted with all the time, but rather a voice he had just heard, as in the last few hours.

There was a gasp and Jorge turned his gaze back to Maya. She was still doubled over and reaching out. Quickly he was at her side, assuming she was safe to be around again now that the ghostly figure had gone. Looking between them, Jorge could make out a few more discernable details, a basic height, structure, and then it hit him -- the veteran. That guy who was grumbling back in the X-Jet. He was a mutant?

>>"Power...Power Vampire."

Jorge wrinkled his nose in an annoyed manner. ”Dammit,” he growled.
‘
The wind started to pick up as the Veteran once again solidified. He looked more tired than before, but the rage behind his power hungry eyes was more than energized. Breathing heavily, he looked between his hands as they struggled to remain corporeal. Once they had, he rolled his wrists and watched as they elongated and liquified into whiplashes of water. A cocky smile on his lips, the Veteran whipped his arm, spraying water but maintaining of the liquid to make it snap like a real whip.

“You know, I used to hate what I was…” he grumbled through gritted teeth. A sneer pulled the corner of his lips. “...but maybe I was wrong. Maybe I needed to be what I am...to show you all how to really use your power!”

Another crack and this time he aimed his arm towards them. Jorge grabbed Maya around the waist and pulled her away, snarling as the whip snapped at his back. The water could be just as sharp as leather but it was a good thing that the Veteran didn’t have full mastery just yet.

People started to scream. they ran for whatever hiding they could find in hopes of escapes the psychotic mutant. Jorge, meanwhile, kept Ghost behind him as they started to back away. ”Maya...please tell me you have some ultra common weakness that can be easily exploited, Kryptonite-like weakness?”

The wind started to pick up, carrying heavy drops of water. It seemed that the Veteran was playing mix and match with his new abilities.

Jorge cursed and as much as Maya would have loved to chide him, she wanted to breathe more. Was there a way to flex or something she didn't know about? Because not being able to breathe was awful. Clearly the elemental needed to work on her hand-to-hand more.

"I calls 'em like I sees 'em." And Maya did have some experience with power copiers, as the adoptive mother of Jude. Meanwhile, the "'em" had been working on putting himself back together. He sounded very real and very present all of a sudden. Ghost whipped her head around to gawk at a man, one they'd helped earlier, who was now growing water whips where his hands had been.

She was lucky that Jorge was more more prepared to deal with that sort of thing than she was. He picked her up like she was luggage and they were late for their flight. She was surprised more than anything. And then a little embarrassed to be manhandled, but now wasn't the moment to insist on girl power. Now was the moment to be glad that her teammate had the wherewithal to grab her 'round the hips and carry her rubbernecking self away. At least getting grabbed this way let Maya get her fill of looking.

The vet whipped at them, by Jorge's flinch he hit, but he didn't seem to have the best control. The hand that hit lost form afterward and he lashed out again with the other hand and it came just shy of Jorge's heels.

> ”Maya...please tell me you have some ultra common weakness that can be easily exploited, Kryptonite-like weakness?”

Did he realize he was talking to her butt? Or did it just not matter in this moment?

"Fire." That was the easiest answer of all time. Fire ate air and it loved her incorporeal form more than anything. If there was an open flame, it would always lean toward her trying to get a lick. "Incorporeal form is almost pure oxygen, but... we can't do that here, around other people. And I don't know what introducing your powers does to that weakness."

This was definitely not good news. Keeping Maya slung over his shoulder, Jorge did his best to extract them both form the situation. While the madman with mutant powers wasn’t anyone you wanted to leave alone, it was important to note that the man’s answer was point at the two of them. If they could get away, lead the veteran away from the crowd, then maybe they could think of something to put a stop to his mad chase. however, that seemed unlikely that they would get away completely unharmed, a fact prove when the detective felt the whiplash of water strike him across his back. It wasn’t firm enough to cause agonizing pain, but there the old man was getting the hang of his new abilities alarmingly quick.

They needed to move. While it would be easier if Maya would run on her own, Jorge didn’t have the time to test if he could set her down on her own yet. He had elbowed her pretty hard in an attempt to knock control of the Veteran out of her. It did, but at the cost of having someone who could move freely on her own. She would be fine, but until she could run, she was his responsibility. What he wouldn’t give for an adult-sized papoose now.

But there had to be something. What could they possibly do to know this mutant-vampire for a loop? He was getting the hang of their abilities, but they needed to take advantage of it now before he achieved any kind of mastery. While it seemed impossible that would happen soon, Jorge didn’t want to risk it. The guy had already proven himself capable of understand what was happening to him, and it was a gamble that Jorge wasn’t willing to bet against.

So now it was time to learn a bit more about each other. While he was sure that all X-Leaders had extensive dossiers on team members, what they could do, and what they were weak against, it was still a sensitive subject to bring up. It was hard to share your weaknesses with others. However, their lives depended upon it now. So what was Ghost’s kryptonite?

>>"Fire...Incorporeal form is almost pure oxygen, but... we can't do that here, around other people. And I don't know what introducing your powers does to that weakness."

”Pretty sure water beats fire,” he grumbled.

Turning a corner, he stopped long enough to turn back, setting Ghost back down onto her two feet so they could survey. People were scattering, screaming, trying to get away from the odd golem made of water and twisting air as he lumbered through the room. Head turning left and right, the watery head of the Veteran zeroed in on the pair of them and grew an elongated, twisting smile.

“Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum,” the Veteran spouted in his gurgly, bubbling voice. “I smell the blood of two government mutant sellouts!”

Jorge rolled his eyes. ”That doesn’t even rhyme!” Spotting an emergency exit, Jorge tugged Maya along. ”Come on! Everyone is running the other way. We can lead him out through here!”

Yes water beat fire. But only if it had a chance to extinguish it. Explosions, as far as Maya had seen, were all pretty instantaneous.

"Jorge. I'm talking like dead-dead." She didn't want to even try it, just the thought made her sick to her stomach. Or maybe that was just the transition of going from a sack of potatoes over Jorge's shoulder to her own two feet again. Behind Jorge, the crowds seemed to be funneling out the exits and it broke her heart that these people were experiencing yet another trauma so close to the moments they'd spent in fear for their lives in the days previous.

> “Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum...”

And what a lame purpose, too. What was this even revenge for? Helping?

Maya jumped and... oh. Right. No ghostform. Jorge tugged her along on her feet while she tried not to feel useless.

Why was everyone else running the other way?

"Jorge." He was on a mission to keep them safe, but he wasn't seeing the whole picture. For once, Maya was glad she could see things properly with her solid eyes. "Jorge! He's using the wind to usher all the people away." And gathering an awful lot of water on this side.

"Are we leading him or is he leading us?" She splashed through a turbulent puddle as they ran.

This was certainly not in the plan. Not that there was any kind of “Happy” plan when it came to dealing with people in a crisis, but there was definitely a difference between a rescue mission that went “good” and rescue mission that went “Jorge and Maya Tried”. It seemed that whenever the two of them were stuck in a mission together, something was bound to go wrong. However, unlike dealing with streets full of dimensionally-altered zombies, this was a little different -- namely that they were the only targets.

He pushed on, still trying to lead Maya away from the noise of fleeing people. Wind whipped around his face, flaring his hair and his clothing, while water started to rise higher and higher at his feet. It had been such a long time since he had to face the elements like this that he had almost forgotten that without his abilities, he should fear them. He couldn’t just convince the water to not drown him this time.

>>"Jorge...Jorge! He's using the wind to usher all the people away."

He nodded. He was catching onto that. They moved through a hall and stopped for a second, feeling the water moving deeper around his ankles.

>>"Are we leading him or is he leading us?"

”Honestly…” Jorge said with a breath. ”Probably a bit of a both. But so long as people are getting out and away from them, then I think that we’re good.”

After all, that’s what it takes to be a hero, right, sacrifice? Jorge always had a bit too much of that in himself. He shot a glance at Maya. The maddening chuckle of the Veteran was growing louder as he followed their position. They were running out of room to flee. Besides, heading outside probably wasn’t the best option. Too much wind and WAY too much water to manipulate. He shot a glance to Maya.

”Keeping him indoors might be our only chan--” he stopped. Too much wind and water. The guy was getting a quick handle on their powers, but given how much Maya and Jorge see and experience and how many years it took to understand and live with them, there was only so much that the Veteran could take. ”Maya, do you think if we lead him outside that the surrounding environment will be too much for him to process. We can, but we had years of experience. I think that’s our only way to stop him.”