Luke chuckled softly as he shook Priscilla's hand. "It's Luke... nice to meet you." He replied gently as it was quite clear to him that he must have interupted the young woman's thought process making her miss some of what he had said.

Swiveling his head back around the room the blind man's sonar swept through the room just long enough for him to identify the beautiful birthday girl. "See that woman over there?" He asked as he pointed in Raina's general direction. Remembering Raina's description of herself he quickly added in what was probably the best identifying mark. "She's the one with the bright red hair. That's Raina... she's the birthday girl."

((ooc: We now interrupt your regularly scheduled birthday festivities to thrash some X-Goodies. Please pardon our awesome levels of pwnage; it's a natural affliction common to Order and Kabal baddies. *grins* Continued from What Golden Doors?))

You know what was unsettling? Having a group of Order lackeys that had been steadily gaining on you suddenly turn tail and retreat. All he and Slade had done was drop a little shadow-piddling puppy onto the pavement at a certain high velocity. Though to be honest, that had been mostly Slade. Mostly, Chimera had been bleeding profusely at the time, thank you arrow-wielding-horse-woman. That was all nice and healed now: he'd pulled that pleasantly sharp stick of hers out of his shoulder on the way, and let an eye-rolling Slate heal him.

You know what he wasn't actually complaining about? Having a group of Order lackeys that had been steadily gaining on them suddenly turn trail and retreat. It was awfully convenient, really, as far as arriving at the Mansion was concerned.

Their black van pulled up in front of the Mansion's own impressive gates, and came to an unmolested stop. No pursuing baddies in sight. That was nice. That meant that they had plenty of time for stage two of the fun.

The driver's side door opened, and out hopped what could only be described as a crow man. He was completely covered in feathers that scratched uncomfortably under his casual shorts and T-shirt; the shape of his legs and feet were warped away from the human norm and towards the avian, ending in taloned feet. His hands, likewise, ended in claws. On his face, large black eyes and a beak had destroyed any trace of a human facial structure; his ears were a crow's, and hidden under the black feathers that likewise covered his head. His smell, his appearance, his nervous system, his rapid but awkwardly hopping gait; nothing about the crow man was recognizable as Calley, the humble Mansion resident and X-Men trainee. This was Chimera, the crow man.

Not even his voice was human: it grackled out over vocal chords never intended for perfect speech as he stared up at the Mansion's gates, clawed hands on his hips. "You know," he addressed his accomplice, "I think these are a little smaller than the doors. We might need to remodel a bit, to make the switch."

The way his beak gapped could not be mistaken as anything but a crow grin. Most people should be inside at Raina's party; with any luck, their little face lift of the Mansion's front gates would go unnoticed for a bit. With extra luck, the Order would descend again right about when the X-Fools came tumbling out.

As Slade had turned back from the injured Chimaera to bludgeon the car-stabbing order lackey, he realised once again the satisfaction would not be his to have. As he'd loosened the grip to check on Chimaera's well-being the order lackey had, due to pain and probably mild blindness brought about by highbeams to the face, lost balance and tumbled marionnette-esque out of the open rear doors. As Slade watched the kid bounce he really hoped the little f*cker broke something.

Grunting in pain he wrenched the black blade from his shoulder, as he tossed the now fading knife out of the back he saw the pursuing members either attending to the now very still lackey or veering off in the direction of 'home'.
"Good, that showed them..." Slade thought malevolently as the pulled away, returning his attention to the small wound in his shoulder. He clicked and wrenched as much of the connectives back into place as he could before rechecking over all the systems running through the damage area. Little seemed to be badly affected and his matter was slowly replicating, but he'd need his fellow engineers to give him a full check when he got back and his arm was still throbbing dully with pain as if the knife was still there. Flexing his arm he sat down on the floor of the vehicle uncomfortably, the rest of the journey would be dedicated to replicating matter. The more he did now to recooperate the more proficient he'd be later if it came to another encounter, and no offence to lackey boy but Slade doubted he was the most powerful denizen of Order Fortress Zulu...

As they pulled up to the mansion, a bastion for heart warming goodness and other unprofitable notions, Slade prepped his tool kit. Like preparing for war he was meticulous in his detail, these doors were going to fit, whether they liked it or not! As he stepped out into the bright sunshine he blinked softly and turned to look at the doors, Chimaera was already out and frowning at them. His feathered freind pointed out the sizing problem, Slade definitely saw it.
"Hmm... now for a normal engineer this would take careful planning and consideration."
Fortunately for both of them he was not normal. Transforming his right hand into his auto pistol he pulled Chimaera behind him. Taking swift and careful aim he slugged several rounds into the wall on the left hand side of the gate. Brick and mortar shrapnelled and splintered as his rounds drilled into the wall. As the debris settled around the target area Sladce took a swift glance around before hunkering forward and shouldering with full force into the damaged strip of wall.

It was noisy but quick, using his body as a battering ram and his hands as tools he rapidly ground the crumbling section to the floor. He felt the brick and cement scratch and rumple his chassis as he disassembled the structure, but ignored the mild aggravation. As he reduced it to nothing but a pile of debris and small rock-like remnants of brick; one of the gate doors, having lost its hinge connections, swayed and then toppled forward. Slade deftly caught it and laid it down besides the entrance. Now he could begin properly. Moving to remove the second part to the mansion's traditional gate he called to Chimaera,
"I'll get this down, then i'll set up the new doors. I need you to get the drilling tools though 'cause I'm gonna need to reassemble the left door's hinges"
The process was simple, now the wall had been 'resized' to meet the golden gate's needs time would be the biggest enemy to their plan. Slade just hoped the doors would be up before the order posse returned to wreak their vengeance. He clicked back on his tape, it had stalled after the shock of being stabbed and as it began to blare out 'Stir it up'. As he returned to dismantling the Mansion gates, Slade was back at work, where he belonged.

Garrett had made himself scarce prior to the actual fun beginning. His little present sat on the table with the others, small and trite compared to the other extravagances left for her to enjoy. He had thought of her, wished her well, and even helped set up. Beyond that, once people started actually enjoying themselves, he stepped outside and took a seat on the cold steps outside the large oaken doors of the Mansion. He just wasn't in much of a party mood.

The sharp cold of the evening only kept him clear and focused. His life had taken a turn of discomfort, so what was a little more? He looked at his watch. He guessed that Maya was more than likely working at the book store tonight. He missed her and having her there would have helped him take the leap of being social. Without her here, he just didn't have the courage to mill about amongst those inside. He also missed Neena. She had gone out of state on some business and her regular presence was definitely missed by one of her favorite students.

His head hurt. It had been hurting often lately, so much activity going on in there. Everything was lacking solidity and form. His life, his relationships, even his future. Blurry and hazy, like the dull static that plagued his mind. Secretly he wished he had found the other school, the one with the real Xavier in it. That man would have been able to fix his little problem. Now it would more than likely take long periods of time, maybe some meds.

Garrett's thought process was quickly interrupted by an explosion. Several explosions, actually. The sound of crumbling concrete and mortar came next, along with the whine of metal. Garrett stood and looked over to see what looked like a large robot tearing the Mansion gates apart. He frowned. What was it with this place? Was there a giant red X painted over the Mansion that could only be seen by satellite? No wonder he had to work on reconstruction when he had arrived, since apparently every few months a group of people came by and trashed the place.

The gates were apparently far more interesting to the robot, since the little fleshy man nearby wasn't. Garrett decided if he was going to do something, he had better get to it. He didn't have long to make a decision. First things first. He moved slowly backward and stepped into the foyer, looking at the partygoers. Another reason emblazoned into their heads to believe Garrett to be the ultimate bearer of bad tidings. Oh, well, it beat working on cleanup for another week. He walked into the room and spied the little boombox carrying music to the scene. Feeling like somebody's angry parent, he stood by it and pushed the Stop button. The room fell fairly silent and no doubt people would look at him. Just be clear and to the point. " Sorry to ruin everyone's fun, but there seems to be a large robot tearing the gates down. I think we may want to get in business mode." He smiled and nodded.

Luna's embarrassment was cut short quickly when the sounds of explosions were heard through out the mansion. She blinked before flailing, "I didn't do it!" She quickly yelled, making sure her fallen teddy bear did not explode accidentally. Looking up she frowned, nope wasn't her so... "Sorry, But I wanna see what's going on so bye!" She spoke to Sam and Leila in a fast succession as she darted towards the sounds of rubble and falling concrete. "Um... maybe I shouldn't go out there..." She muttered aloud, however thought that it would be interesting.

Letting her curiosity control her Luna ran through the party room towards the outside of the mansion only to be greeted by a- a- robot? Luna blinked as she backed away, and scurried into the party room towards Sam and Leila again, flailing her arms again her eyes wide in shock. "I-I have a bad feeling!"

[EDIT: I tried to edit my post as much as I could, on request of Lady Syn]

OOC: Calley/Slade, whichever gets this first... instead of replying in this thread would you mind starting a new one at the gates and posting a link? Everyone can finish up here and head over there... just doesn't make sense really for Raina to start it I'll delete this little message once you do

Raina was having a lovely time trying to avoid Flloyd and enjoy her guests company when Seizure came in. She was excited to see him and went to say hi when he informed everyone that a large robot was tearing down the gates.

Raina blinked and stood there thoughtfully for a moment. At first she thought he was joking but his face looked far too serious. Then she thought of the bots that prepared the mansion and fixed it when they first arrived. Had one gone rogue? Then of course... thinking of robots her mind instantly jumped to stalkers.

"There's a bunch of bad guys out there I think, they have a robot dude and the doors are smashed! What do we do?!" came Luna's feminine voice.

"...eh?" Raina looked up. "The doors are smashed?" this was still all rather confusing and she ran to the window. She couldn't really see much and it was far away from the doors. But she could hear that awful metal on metal sound. "I think she's right!" she exclaimed.

Leila's heart started racing, her eyes darting everywhere. "Sam, what's going on?" she whispered, this was so Deja vu, once upon a time, she had been with Sam when some Robbers had attacked the Café. "What's going on?" she repeated, an edge to her tone as she watched Luna take off, yelling as she did so.

Leila's hands grasped at Sam's. What was happening? Luna saying the Doors were smashed, robots? Bad guys? "Sam, this isn't normal, even in this place, is it?" she asked, realizing she was clutching at him a little too hard. Plus, she was a little too close, considering they weren't a couple. "Sorry." she breathed, letting go of one of the hand, but clutching at the other, just because she knew she'd be safe with him.

Leila's eyes darted until she found Raina, who was glancing out of the window, confirming Luna's shouts and warnings. Now Leila had gone haywire. She couldn't do anything! What if she was in the way? What if someone she hardly knew yet would try and save her and get killed? What if it was Raina, or Sam? Sam.... She couldn't help but feel bad, she shouldn't be here.... This wasn't right, oh no!

"Leila" repeated Naveed. "Pretty girl." he watched her walk away. "a little young." he made a face and turned his attention back to Streak and took a big breath. "So you and my sister eh? I have to admit it's a little surprising... but you did work hard to protect her at the camps." he said. "I mean, I wont make it easy for you, but I'd rather see her with you than a mutant hating cop" he added. "Mutants should stay with mutants right my friend?" he gave Streak a slap on the back before turning his attention to the others. He shook his head and walked toward Raina without giving Streak a chance to clear things up.

"Sounds like trouble sis, and just when I thought this was going to get boring." he waved to Flloyd. "Come on man, Let's go check it out. Raina should stay and enjoy her birthday party I'm sure we can handle this!"

Streak listened to Naveed talk. He could only agree with Naveed about Leila. She was very pretty. Unfortunately he thought that Raina and him were a couple. It was not something that Streak had even thought of, he was flattered that Naveed would have approved of them being together. Shawn was about to object and straighten things out when a commotion started out side and Seizure walked into the room. Naveed also walked off before Streak ould get a word in his own defense.

Just then his phone rang. He answered it. "Hello?"It was Johnathan. "Streak. We've got a problem at the front gate some robot and large bird are tearing apart our gate." Johnathan said on the other end from the security room and looking at the video monitors in front of him. "Again? Can't they stop tearing down our our build long enough for us to have a party? Seiz has just crashed the party so I get right on it John thanks." Streak flipped the phone closed stood up and looked around for anyone that would be very useful. He dashed into the nearest empty room, closed the door and got ready to do any fighting.

Streak walked back into the living room in silver and made his way through the crowd to Sam. "Ice up Sam. It's time to rock." Streak said to him. Without saying another to him he found a couple of other xmen and said, to Siezure and Luke in turn. "Let go guys. We get to protect the party and the mansion." He didn't figure he needed to say much to them. After saying a little bit to them, whether they participated or not was up to them, he took the mic from Seizure. "Everyone stay here. We've got everything under control. We need to you stay here so that we can make sure you don't become a casulaty. I don't know what's going on. However. However..." He said speaking a little louder so that no one would interrupt him. Being in charge of security he was inclined to make sure his job was done right. Streak's biggest concern would be making sure that the younger students would stay safe and unharmed. "We don't need anyone getting into anything they're not ready for so PLEASE stay here." With those last words Streak set down the mic and walked outside.

Sam’s ears picked up on the lack of music as one of his favorite songs were cut short to see Garret by the music, ‘well you defiantly know how to get everyone’s attention’ thought Sam as the room fell silent, ‘wonder what’s up?’ Sam got his answer all too soon.

" Sorry to ruin everyone's fun, but there seems to be a large robot tearing the gates down. I think we may want to get in business mode.

Sam didn’t know how to respond his first reaction was anger pure hatred to the ones that would damage his home in the slightest. Not while he was here nothing would happen to his friends or the house that so generously took him in. The next feeling Sam felt was the one to protect everyone here; he already decided that he would gladly be a shield for anyone of these people. Sam’s gripping on Luna faded as he was thinking what to do.

"Sorry, But I wanna see what's going on so bye!"

Sam felt his hand leave her small wrist as she booked it to the door to see what was happening. Sam had already lost her in the crowd. Sam started to chase after her as he felt a hand on his, and some one close…really close. It was Leila.

"Sam, this isn't normal, even in this place, is it?" "Sorry."

Sam turned to her and smiled, “yeah it isn’t normal but it will be okay I promise!” Sam said with a big smile sounding as convinced as he could. A little surprised by the timing but Sam’s body leaned in to Leila and kissed her. Sam pulled back a second later, “Don’t be sorry.” Sam leaned in again to steal another kiss but was cut short as Streak popped in the room.

"Ice up Sam. It's time to rock."

Sam let go of Leila’ hand and said, “I’ll be back promise, and keep an eye on Luna for me?” he smiled as he iced his body only leaving his head iceless. Sam walked to the nearest window and opened it and jumped from it forming an ice slide to meet Streak and the others at the main door, all while singing, “Here I am Rock you like a Hurricane…” Sam by all means felt like rocking!

Everything happened fast... one minute Luke was chatting with Priscilla and then all the party fun ended. A voice he immediately identified as Seizure announced there was trouble out by the gate and immediately murmurs and slight shrieks of fear rippled through many of the party goers. Some of these people were kids and there was no way Luke was gonna let something happen to any of them.

"Let go guys. We get to protect the party and the mansion."

"Right behind you Streak." Luke said quietly as he slipped off his jacket and tossed it over a nearby chair. Coats weren't made for combat and even though it might be a little chilly outside, Luke was going to be able to move much better in just his jeans and T-Shirt. Leaving the sunglasses on for now the blind man moved smoothly in Streak's wake as they got ready for game time. Obviously Luke was one of the weaker X-Men mutants when it came to powers but he had a good mind and that was what he would put to use.

"Seiz... Sam..." He greeted quietly as the X-Men began to move together, "Is it just two out there?"

((ooc: *crow salute* Yes 'um, fish lady, ma'am!

Continued in Raina's B-Day Party, Part III: Special Delivery.

Bring it, X's. Bring. It. )

Luna looked shocked at the sight of everyone gearing up. She wanted to call out to Sam however stopped as he formed the ice on his body. Frowning as she didn't want to be taken care of, Luna decided that she would join in too! "I'm not being left out of this!" She exclaimed as she rushed through the party room towards the mansion gates towards the battlefield. "Bring it guys!"

Leila grinned, "Well then, that makes me feel a little better about livi--." but her sentence was cut short as her lips met Sam's. Forgetting about the surroundings, she kissed him back, only to have to stop. "I'm not sorry, not anymore." she grinned at him, wondering what this meant. Was it just a friendly, protective kiss? As if this would be the last time they saw each other? Leila's heart leaped an other knotch, making her breath stop for an instance.

"Good luck," she whispered as Shawn came by, squeezing Sam's hand tightly, she watched him set off, still a little overwelmed by the Ice. "Good Luck Sam," she whispered again, though this time only to reasure herself that her new friend... if that was the only thing they were.... was going to be alright. Damn it, she couldn't even help out! Not yet, anyway. In the near future though, she would.

With a sigh, she fallowed, if she wasn't going to fight, she'd watch in the background.

Priscilla grinned at the man and was just about to greet the birthday girl and wish her a great day when a voice she knew from a morning not too long ago, "Sorry to ruin everyone's fun, but there seems to be a large robot tearing the gates down. I think we may want to get in business mode." Before Priscilla could even process the information, she got lost in the mass of people reacting and panicking and moving. Needless to say, Priscilla was lost in the crowd.

For some time, Priscilla stumbled about, trying and failing to avoid people moving every which way. She inevitably found a way into the wall where she stayed for a bit, 'Shit. What the hell is going on?' she thought as she was bombarded by the barrage of people. Deciding that if the mansion was under attack she should hlep out, she slowly began moving in the general direction of people she recognized... which brought the grand total to two. Maybe she'd find a way to be of service.