”and you thought that was a good idea?” the icemancer rolled his lone eye at the rambunctious Irishman as he finished explaining everything to him. Normally Sam wouldn’t want to get involved with the kids fights but it could lead to an international incident and well, Sam just didn’t want to give Eve any more paperwork than she already had and he’d rather not get chewed out for not getting involved. There were too many ‘hands-on’ teachers in the mansion and well this was more up his alley then most of the other instructors.

Hefting the large bag of gems he had gotten from Sam months earlier he threw it on the floor as his voice rose, ”Ya gonna help me or not. Cause I’m sure SUPER would love to help out with the situation. Just figured since, ya know, we’re both students here you’d want to help me. Plus she’s a diplomat. I’m going with or without ya.” he said puffing out his chest and staring the icemancer down while his eyes turned to slits. Carrick was ready to swing on someone. He’d probably get his tailed butt kicked but the self-defense teacher would know he was in a fight. Heck the whole mansion would know before it started.

The growling subsided. It wasn’t often Carrick felt this aggressive but they had the Princess and technically it was his fault. If he didn’t try to cheat the pawn broker and then the weird people who tried to get the gems that he used to cheat the broker she wouldn’t have been abducted after one of their dates

Basically, he felt guilty and now was trying to put a team together to rescue her. Without calling his Moms that would clue them in on some of his hobbies he knew they’d frown upon.

Sam scratched the back of his neck and looked over to Gawain whom he just got out of a danger room session with. ”She must mean something to you.” he finally said grinning. Carrick avoided everyone’s eyes at that point and looked to the nearest window. They hadn’t talked about what they were. She wasn’t supposed to date let alone someone who looked like him.

”Good for you kid. What do you think Gawain? Can we help him save his girlfriend our or should I ask your wife? Who’s on kid duty tonight?” the icemancer teased. One of them specialized in extractions. It wasn’t his wife but Sam could make do. He was sure either of them would want to stretch their legs.

”I don’t care whose helping, I just want to make sure she’s safe.” he said reaching down and lifting the bag. It was heavy but it was fine, he was still pumped from adrenaline after the phone call. ”Got less than an hour to meet them. They said not to bring anyone but I’ve seen enough movies ta know a double cross. When I sees it.” he said frowning hefting the bag once more then heading to the nearest window.

Kidnapped Mansion student was one of those things that immediately required all the X-men attention. Mirror wished it would happen a lot less than it did. This time, it was Carrick, back as a student and wreaking havoc around the school, who told them a girl had been kidnapped. The Atlantean princess, out of all people. The diplomatic implications were already giving him a headache.

Sam seemed equally worried about the whole thing, but more cautious.

>>”She must mean something to you. Good for you kid. What do you think Gawain? Can we help him save his girlfriend our or should I ask your wife? Who’s on kid duty tonight?”

"Becca, apparently." Gawain sighed. At least it was an easy day, with the heart-shaped eyes that he had just gotten rid of during the DR session "I'll go gear up."

>>”I don’t care whose helping, I just want to make sure she’s safe. Got less than an hour to meet them. They said not to bring anyone but I’ve seen enough movies ta know a double cross. When I sees it.”

"Well, at least you are learning." the mirrorwalket noted. He was glad the kid did not try to head out for the rescue all alone. "We'll get her back. What's with the bag? What do they want from you exactly?"

Sam wasn’t as curious about the bag, he recognized it. It was full of gems from the princess. Sam decided to get ahead of it before Carrick responded, ”Gems. From the Princess... younger me apparently had a job...” he didn’t say any more but just kept his head down. If he could go back in time and kick his own *** he would have. He earned it with the headaches he gave him around the mansion.

Carrick being curt as always had a smug grin on his face, ”Ah yes, payment for sexual favors the oldest profession! Concubine right?” Carrick shook his head, ”Bet that’s fun ta explain ta people eh?” Carrick asked as he opened the window and kicked his feet out.

”About as easy as explaining why your bringing them to a hostage exchange.” ”They were a gift iceman, a gift I can do what I want with them... Ya got five then I’m going.” Sam waited for Gawain before trailing after Carrick.

All Gawain knew about the Atlantean girl was that she was royalty, according to most of her teachers she was a pain in the ass, and that she made gemstones out of her blood. If he had to guess which part made her a lucrative target, it was probably that last one.

>>”Gems. From the Princess... younger me apparently had a job...”

>>”Ah yes, payment for sexual favors the oldest profession! Concubine right? Bet that’s fun ta explain ta people eh?”

Gawain, halfway to the nearest mirror to grab his gear, froze and turned to stare at Sam.

"You did what now?..."

>>”About as easy as explaining why your bringing them to a hostage exchange.”

>>”They were a gift iceman, a gift I can do what I want with them... Ya got five then I’m going.”

"Sam, what the f***?" Gawain protested "That is just wrong on so many... you know what, we don't have time for this. I'll be right back." Gawain returned a few minutes later, ready to mirrorwalk Sam to a point where they would be close enough to monitor the exchange. "Here is what I don't understand" he muttered "if they want gems, and they already have the princess... why the hell do they need the kid to bring more gems?"

”I don’t want to talk about it. Apparently I still have a lot to apologize for. Should have put a bell on him.” Sam said surprised they didn’t ban his younger self from the school. Where his older self taught. Sam was pretty sure he could get away with blaming Gawain but he was pretty sure he/she already had their hands full with a kid on the way.

”Got your stuff? Great let’s go!” Sam said eager to change the subject hoping there wasn’t more questions later.

Carrick flew to the exchange and caught the two X-men in a reflection after the five minutes passed. The shifter wasn’t waiting. He said five minutes and he meant it. When he flew by a skyscraper he saw them for a few reflections before disappearing again. ”I’m here, alone and got the bag! Where is she!?!” the area was silent for a few minutes.

Sam noted Carrick’s tail thrashing wildly behind him as he paced. Sam whispered, ”Guessing they don’t know what they have.” he said figuring the simplest answer. ”Take me top side, I’ll keep an eye out above you take below. I’ll create a ice mirror near the kid if anything goes wrong. Keep in mind we got to watch him too. Can’t have him shift if he gets too upset. Especially if the Princess is around.”

Carrick growled as he paced the alley between the two buildings, why was he here first. They picked the place. ‘fight?’ he ignored the voice in the back of his mind. There was nothing to fight. That was until a shadow started moving. ”Ya ain’t getting nothing till I see her! God help ya if she isn’t here.” his cat like eyes watched the figures move in the shadow. He wondered silently if they thought they were invisible.

”I can see ya hiding next ta the building!” the figures moved forward into the light heavily cloaked and covering their faces. ‘Fight!’ he swallowed his rage not wanting to make it worse for the Princess.

Carrick made it to the meeting place, an alley between two abandoned buildings. Something felt off about the whole thing, but the young griffin was too upset to think much about it. He probably had a huge crush on the girl. Gawain sighed.

>>”Guessing they don’t know what they have. Take me top side, I’ll keep an eye out above you take below. I’ll create a ice mirror near the kid if anything goes wrong. Keep in mind we got to watch him too. Can’t have him shift if he gets too upset. Especially if the Princess is around.”

"If he beasts out, we're f***" Gawain noted, walking Sam through some half-broken windows up to the top of the fire escape, before he headed back down. The best he could hope for was an exchange where everyone kept their side of the bargain. Some stones for the princess, and they all go home, to hunt the creeps down another day.

>>”Ya ain’t getting nothing till I see her! God help ya if she isn’t here. I can see ya hiding next ta the building!”

"And we know you have been lying to us" a smooth voice noted as a few people draped in cloaks appeared around the corner. Gawain swore under his breath. Culty people. Jesus Christ on a bicycle, he hated culty people. "Why would we want your little bag of goodies, when we have the one who can make them?"

"Sam. We're f***ed."

Sam crouched at the ready listening in to the exchange either way he was pretty sure Carrick was going to ruin it. The kid had a mouth and the motivation to do something stupid which was why he was glad him and Gawain tagged along. He heard Gawain curse over the ear piece then added, ”Bright side, we know she’s alive.” he said as calmly as possible wishing that made things any easier.

”Kid, keep them talking. Maybe they will tell us... you got to be kidding me.” Sam said as he watched Carrick pull the device from his ear and place it in his pocket. ”We’re ****ed.” Sam finally agreed. ”Gawain, change of plans, move to cut off their exit. We need at least one of them to question.” he didn’t care about the others. By the end of the night they’d either be mauled by Carrick or being turned over to the authorities.

Carrick should have come alone, all he had from them so far was two people chirping in his ear doing nothing. If he wanted that he would have brought his headphones so he could ignore the guys and gals in robes. Sniffing the air he started to growl and bared his teeth making it clear he didn’t like the situation.

‘Fight!’ the familiar voice he often ignored in the back of his mind shouted. They had something of his and he wanted it back. Carrick was tempted to beast out. He wanted them to pay to feel pain. They took the Princess and now they were using her to create more gems. He knew what that meant. They were hurting her and they all needed to pay. His eyes turned to slits.

”Ya want the goodies because ya didn’t have them before.” Carrick said through his bared teeth. ”Ya didn’t have it before and it’s an easy take fer yous just got to get past little old me.” he said tossing the bag of gems in front of him. ”Dumb cult ****ers!” he roared and took to the air before the bag dropped towards the closest guy who was doing the talking.

”Gawain, move in. Try to keep him from killing anyone!” Sam said quickly as he ran along the roofs till he was off to the side of them. There he leapt and blasted at the nearest unaware robe wearer who was already aiming their hands at Carrick who was now on top of the leader yelling curses and punching him in the face.

The princess was alive, and now they knew she made the gems. Which answered the earlier question. The hostage exchange was definitely off now. They moved straight on to a rescue situation.

>>”We’re ****ed. Gawain, change of plans, move to cut off their exit. We need at least one of them to question.”

"On it." Gawain moved through some of the mirrors, trying to get close enough to one of the hooded figures to drag them into a mirror. It was a good place to stash people.

In the meantime, Carrick was doing his own thing, abandoning all plans. He roared and pounced on the nearest cloaked guy. Gawain kept an eye on him, hoping against all hope he wouldn't shift. He could relate to the whole 'hating the cultists' thing, but the kid was dangerous when he wasn't himself.

>>”Gawain, move in. Try to keep him from killing anyone!”

"Okay, how?!" Gawain snapped back, finally jumping out of a mirror to the side of the cultists, across the alley from Sam. No surface was close enough to pull one of them in, so they had to do this the hard way. "Make me some damn mirrors!" Drawing his bow, he shot at the nearest figure... and the arrow, hitting dead center, pinged right off. Of thin air. Gawain swore as the figure turned towards him. There was chanting and hand signs around the group and one of them actually... had a lighter or something?

"Watch out!"

The arrow of fire was meant for Carrick. The woman who turned towards Gawain had something else in mind. She chanted and gestured, and the ground began to bubble and burn...

Fire surged up around him as they rolled Carrick trying to get the guy off balance. Bronzed wings snapped out and came back harder they lurched backwards away from the flames the chanting stopped from under him when Carrick threw a fist hard in the guys mouth. The shifter roared as he split a knuckle. It wasn’t from the pain but rather to distract and get everyone’s attention. He had questions! ”I’ll kill every last one of ya! Tell me where she is and I’ll leave ya be!”

‘Fight!’ he wanted to. He wanted to hurt these people. They had the Princess and who knew what the hell they were doing to her. It was his fault. He punched again and again the man collapsed under him. His hands trying to get Carrick to let go of his robes. ‘FIGHT!’

Like hell he was about to let go. His eyes turned to slits as he almost lost himself in a trance the fist coming down hard in the guys face.

---

One of the robes was covered in ice and pinned in place by the time he leapt from the rooftop, ”Working on it!” he said turning and raising a small wall of ice in one of the alley’s where the cult members came from. Lowering his hand and landing on an ice slide he turned back towards the group. He spotted the damage Carrick was inflicting on the guy who probably regretted calling off the trade. Flames flicked from his hands but died down the further they went.

An arrow streaked by. Sam’s armor redirected it. He'd have to ask about that one later.

Several blasts of blue appeared from the direction he pointed creating reflective surfaces for Gawain to jump through. The temperature steadily dropped the more he used his powers. Gawain would have been used to it. Carrick and the others would have noticed the change. Several thermal images appeared as Sam started to feel for everyone there.

They were outnumbered.

>>>"Watch out!"

Sam was about to respond to arrow of fire heading towards Carrick when one of the robes threw something in the air catching his attention it vanished and created a bright light and a loud crack. Sam only realized it was lighting after he was blasted off his ice slide. ”Move!” he was alive but quickly regretted speaking as his body locked up from the shock. Watching as the ground in front of Gawain turned to flaming asphalt

---

>>>"Watch out!"

Carrick heard and got distracted as his body moved on it’s own, ‘flight!’ when he ducked one of his was struck creating a sharp pain and a small localized fire. ”Fer **** sakes!” he dropped the robed man he was pummeling and started the ol’ stop drop and roll trying to smother his wing.

This was... not going great. The fire hit Carrick, but Gawain did not have time to make sure the kid managed to put it out. Sam made some ice walls and yelled some more, but then there was a flash of lightning and he fell of his ice slide. These damned cultists were packing some serious elemental powers. The asphalt was busy turning liquid under Gawain's feet, and it melted the nearby ice. The mirrorwalker swore and jumped, feeling the burn through his boots.

"I really hate cults!" he yelled at no one in particular. Making it to the nearest slab of ice he merged into the reflection... and then immediately jumped to the next, as things started melting around him. Alright, so being in ice mirrors around these people was a bad idea. "Ice mirror's not gonna work!"

There was more chanting and gestures, and... some of the cloaked figures were holding things in their hands. Were they channeling their powers somehow, or was it all for show...? Gawain made it to the next actual window before jumping out again, bow at the ready. Arrows couldn't ping off of everyone, could they...?

Maybe the chanting was a thing.

"Carrick, roar!"

A fire escape was nice enough to redirect Sam onto a dumpster where he twitched for a moment before locking his body up and thickening the ice protecting him. It was a little late knowing he’d be feeling all of this in the morning but he knew he knew he had to get back up and fight through it. Sitting up slowly he focused on saving Gawain first he was the closest so when the asphalt started to spit more fire he blasted it with a beam of cold of his own reversing the bubbling and melting of the asphalt.

”I want to live in a world where they just drink the kool-aide and not bother anyone.” he said grunting and pushing himself up. Someone threw something up Sam blasted whatever it was and it fell back to the ground in a loud crack. One of the robed members flew through the air. ”Heard!” Sam replied as he rolled off the dumpster and got to his feet.

No ice slides or ice mirrors? Fine. Sam felt like hitting something now. ”Carrick might have the right idea.” Sam said as he dodged a jet of fire from the nearest cult member. Sam fired back with an uppercut when he closed the distance.

----

Carrick growled, ‘FIGHT!’ his head was pounding but the fear that he had over the fire subsided when he rubbed it on one of Sam’s melted ice mounds. At least they were doing something. Carrick heard so much about the X-men he figured they would have had this whole thing wrapped at this point.

>>>> "Carrick, roar!"

‘Roar!’ he listened to both voices agreeing with them. He was angry and frustrated and scared, he let out all his emotions and all the air in one burst. Louder than he ever had before and aimed at the cult members. A few of them dropped what they were holding and covered their ears as hard as they could another one tried to run.

The roar was... deafening. Gawain covered his ears, and was sure he was in for a splitting headache later on. But so were the cultists. Some cowered and others tried to run, chanting and whatnot abandoned. Good. Fighting through the ringing in his ears, Gawain moved to intercept the dearest one, dragging him into a window's glass reflection before he could do anything. Hopping out, he glared at the man.

"I'd stay there if I were you, if the glass breaks, you break."

Gawain turned, trying to get his bearings. Cloaks, ice, fire, roar. "Sam?"

There was a ringing in his ear, even with the ice armor on the sound managed to reverberate though his armor and he had a flashback to a very close call he had in his life. One he tried to forget about. Sadly for everyone around him he didn’t forget. The cold moved with the roar and he felt his thermal sense dissipate for a moment.

Was it due to the air movement or because he lost focus Sam didn’t bother asking but managed to drop one cult member followed by beaming another two. ”New plan!” Sam said yelled trying to fight the ringing in his ears by, ”Don’t let them think!” he shouted. He’d have to pat Gawain on the back later for the idea.

One of the cult members staggered back after the roar and picked up what looked like a fish bone. Carrick didn’t give them a chance to chant. Shouting with a hoarse voice and pouncing on her pinning her to the concrete his hand was on her throat. There was a wild look in his eyes as he growled at his prey. ”Where is she!” he couldn’t yell his throat hurt so his voice cracked. ”Please."

”Kid!” Sam watched the thing unfold and started running only to be grabbed by a hand that burned to the touch. Sam turned back around and escaped the grab and pivoted under the cult member with the messed up face curiosity of Carrick. Sam turned behind him and dislocated his shoulder then brought him down to his knees holding him in place. ”Don’t do it!”

>>”New plan! Don’t let them think!”

"Shouldn't be a problem." Gawain muttered as he drew another arrow, hoping that not all of them had an invisible force field. Cultists were dumb. Usually. He shot the arrow at someone's knee, more as a warning than anything. Carrick was not being so friendly. He was on top of another person now.

>>”Where is she! Please."

>>”Kid! Don’t do it!”

If Carrick lost control of his beast from, this scene was going to get a whole lot worse. Gawain was not sure what to do: pursue those who fled, or try to stop Carrick. "Ice him!" Sam had a better chance at cooling the kid down. Literally. "Carrick, we've got them! Stop!"

Even if most of them got away, some were down and one was in a mirror. Plenty of people to interrogate.

The icemancer dropped the arm of the cult member and took both hands and was about to blast the winged wonder into the next ice age. Frostbite could be healed, Sam knew about Carrick’s history and doubted he was looking at a lot of option at the moment. Another death would have meant less.

"Carrick, we've got them! Stop!"

----

Pointed ears perked at his name and he moved his hand from the woman’s throat. Pupils dilated and his hand dropped to hers and smacked the hand that held whatever she was holding. Once it was out of her hands he opened his wings and flapped a few times. Trying to scare her off. It worked. She ran and he took to the air after her hoping with her trying to run away she’d lead him somewhere useful. Sam and Gawain had some people. If anything they would catch up or be the ones to rescue her.

Carrick’s body hurt. He’d be fine. It was the princess he was worried about. ‘Hunt!’ ”Hunt.” he agreed to himself trying to make sure he was still in sight after the cultist. ”Ya can’t escape! Take me to her or I’ll drop ya in the ocean!” he forced a yell suddenly feeling revitalized from the chase. His pupils turned to slits again as he followed her.

---

”Carrick!” Sam yelled after he took off. ”Tell me I wasn’t that bad as a teen!” he yelled and then blasted the guy who he released to aim at the kid. Fly boy didn’t give them a lot of options and it was starting to irritate Sam. ”Bad time to be sober... worse time to be them.” he said as he turned to the next closest who wasn’t running.

Sam shed his ice armor, ”Leave him, either he finds out where she is before us or we track him down later. Want to start interrogating? I’ll clean up.” the ice armor and Sam ran in opposite directions. Sam started to combat another cultist as his armor tackled one who tried shooting flames from their hands.