Wind rushed past the Ranger as he rode his Hayabusa across the city. He had received a call from Flynn which he had missed at the time due to a meeting with some big wigs from his late parent's company. After listening to the voice mail he jumped on his bike and headed for King Pharmaceuticals. He did not head home first so he was wearing his business suit, a 1950's styled mobster look, a black suit with a 3 button jacket, a red tie, leather gloves, and black and white dress shoes.

He wasn't the farthest away, defiantly much closer than he would have been at home, so the travel time was fairly quick. Upon arriving at the grounds of the company he could see a large gathering. Some mutants near the building, a line of security in front of them, and all of them facing a third group. He rode the bike closer, moving around the people so that even if he was noticed in the area he did not appear associated with any one group.

The he saw a few he knew. On one side he saw Mettaliar and someone who was wearing the same belt as Wraith. On the other he made out Aura and Meld. And then, in between the groups he saw Hyde addressing the whole crowd. As far as he could tell if Aura and Meld were on one side and Mettaliar was on the other than perhaps he should gravitate to the side with Mett. Yet, Hyde was in the middle and he had called the Ranger.

The Ranger rode his bike to a nearby structure and parked it, stepping off he removed his helmet and then opened the compartment and pulled out his fedora. He set the helmet on the handlebars and placed the fedora on his head. He began walking back towards the crowd, and more specifically Hyde, and while doing so he reached into his jacket and grabbed the grip of his lone 9mm and pulled it out. He ejected the magazine and checked it's contents, tranq darts. If it gets hairy he is limited to just those rounds, no real bullets. He then slides the gun back into it's holster under his suit jacket, if this becomes a fight he only has this gun and his knife.

Having checked his armament he broke into a run, heading to Hyde. As he ran his power boosted his leg muscles and his speed increased to just beyond Olympic speeds, one hand holding his fedora to his head. As he approached Hyde he slowed to a walk, and breathing somewhat heavy walked to stand by Hyde.

"Howdy Hyde, what's going on here?"

Meld stood steadfast beside Aura, her face expressionless. So it would come to this: a grand battle of mutant against mutant. She felt a profound sense of sorrow deep within herself, thinking of such an occurrence. Why should it come to such an event? Why should mutant have to fight mutant when they should be united against the larger human threat? Why could the other side not see that all their actions were succeeding in doing were harming the human cause, hurting their people? If only they were able to see the truth of the matter. She let none of her thoughts pass across her face, however and her expression remained impassive and determined.

Having finally noticed that Ahorta had followed her to the scene of the battle, Meld inclined her head towards the other woman. She wasn't exactly a friend but the two of them had spoken before and she had some respect for the views and attitudes of the other woman, even if she did seem to be more than a little unstable. Nevertheless, she was sure to be a good person to have on their side of the battle. Unstable or not, Meld could tell that the other woman had the fighting instinct needed in such a conflict. "Glad to have you on our side," Meld told Ahorta with a brief, if cold, smile. Judging by the difference in numbers, they could use all the help they could get.

Meld also noticed Flynn on the opposing side, whom she had faced before, and the unknown assailant from the bank robbery she had engaged in recently. She hoped the conflict would not force her to attack Flynn, since she actually liked him although his speaking to her mutant assailant didn't speak well for some of his views, but she knew that if it came to it she would do whatever was necessary to ensure her side's victory. And it was safe to say that she wanted another crack at the man from the bank robbery. Aura had had most of the fun last time and she looked forward to the opportunity to have a little fun of her own.

Meld pointed a clawed finger at Ranger and grinned maliciously, silently challenging him. "Look who decided to make an appearance," Meld commented to Aura, knowing that she, too, would most likely like another attempt at their enemy.

As they flew, Shin tried to make heads or tails of Sam's message with Ghost. Try as he might though, he couldn’t. Whether intentionally vague, or left that way from lack of data, there was nothing to it other than a location and a demand. For the most part, they flew in silence. Shin’s ethereal hair trailed in the wind as he flew behind Ghost. She led them through the air with a firm grip on his hand, fought currents as they surveyed the city. Where King’s Pharmaceuticals was, they hadn’t a clue, yet thanks to the grouping outside the location and the trails of ice left by Cold Steel, they found it easy enough. Shin touched down foot-first in-between the crowds with cheer of victory.

“Yatta~!”

The silent severity of the moment set in a split-second later, and he lowered his arms. His head turned to glance at the Order as they piled up behind him like police cars at a car wreck. He caught sight of a familiar face amid the crowd. It was the giant Bacchus. He supposed it was time for another rematch. He tilted his head, and looked at the mixed nut grouping of X-s and Kabal. Tarin’s spirits caught his immediate attention.

“… Hey slugger. What’d I say about that being an awesome trick again? Because, dang. Hey Streak, Luke, Sam. Can any of you fill us in on this, because…” He walked towards them calmly, like a master walking on embers. “No clue what’s going on here, but the mood seems angry enough… is that Slate up there on the steps? Huh.”

For an industrial chemical facility of its size King Pharmaceuticals was rather desolate, admittedly it had been early morning when Hull had first arrived so the regular workers would still have been a bed with illusions of normality dancing in their thick skulls. Time had passed though, as it does for all things, and Hull had yet to gore, maim or eviscerate a single soul and although he appreciated the ability to wander unhindered the mad bomber was becoming… restless. The initial symptoms had been very plain; nothing more than a grumbled word or two as he poked his skull around corners and under machines. The complex, as had already been mentioned, was rather vast and the former soldier possessed neither the time nor patience to inspect every square inch, he had in fact been relying upon his own… unique, charms to persuade one of the quotidian drones within the facility to direct him towards the truly volatile treasures, however for some reason or another it seemed that such a strategy was no long viable.

‘Whatever happened to customer service? If I had half a mind I’d be tempted to take my business elsewhere!’

After ten or so more minutes of muttered grumbling and an occasional slap to nearby machinery the twisted anarchist had made his weary way up to the second floor, traversing the narrow catwalks and releasing a weary sigh as the machines he had palmed seconds earlier began to collapse in a disharmonious screech of metal upon metal which could easily echo through to the outside world. ‘It’s just not the same… how am I meant to attain any sense of motivation when my environment is devoid of victims?’

A sudden whispered hiss of static from his appropriated radio caused the demented killer to pause, his ears perking as he brought the aged device to his ears and swiftly processed the message being conveyed to the KP security force. The message itself had been fairly brief, issued by an authoritative female who sounded far too full of herself for the foreigners liking , yet the frown which now decorated Hull’s features was caused not by the hubristic woman’s tone but by the information she had chosen to impart.

The intruder’s presence was not an issue, indeed their arrival was actually a hidden blessing for all attention would be drawn to them, case in point; the malevolent wanderer could already hear the rapid footsteps of the remaining security force as they rushed to the front gates to deal with the supposed threat. No, the mutant gang would not be a problem. The police on the other hand would; for they would arrive in far greater numbers and although Hull would normally enjoy nothing better than to play with the boy’s and girls in blue, his current shopping spree would go better if he were left alone. A distraction therefore would be necessary to ensure that the authorities had their hands full.

It really was no great leap of logic, even for the clinically insane, to deduce that the variable most likely to create the required distraction would be the mutants currently gathering outside KP. However as much as the macabre anarchist disliked planning he was loathe to leave his current predicament to chance, thus with an irritated growl the twisted traveler quickened his pace intending on divining some method with which to incite an altercation among those gathered outside. As he strode through the upper level corridors though his emerald eyes caught sight of a signed doorway which caused the killer to pause as a malicious grin rapidly launched across his features.

‘Finally, something… convenient.’

A sinister chuckle passed the bombers lips as he entered the chamber labeled “Laboratory Supplies.”

--

Approximately five minutes after his cursory foray into the realm of scientific ingredients Hull had managed to haul himself onto the main facilities roof which gave him a clear view down into what may as well have been entitled KP’s courtyard for it currently contained all of the so called “intruders” along with the local security forces. Sadly though neither side seemed to be willing to engage the other.

‘So much for violent youths, the media just isn’t good for anything these days…’

Muttering darkly about various nuisances the demented wanderer swiftly set up his apparatus, which consisted of nothing more than two metal poles firmly slotted into swiftly improvised holes and a length of flexible surgical tubing tied between them. In the center of plastic tubing was a hastily constructed pouch crafted from some time of felt material which had happened to be present within the supply room.

Once the improvised catapult had been erected Hull swiftly paced behind the makeshift weapon and held out both his hands, a mere second later and the rooftop was decorated with a various mishmash of corpses, bloated balloons and the odd whiskey bottle. The abrupt release winded the sadistic traveler temporarily, causing him to pause once more as he caught his breath, the moment passed quickly though and the former soldier soon returned to his hastily crafted scheme as he grasped the head of a nearby corpse and deftly separated it from the body before placing it in the pouch of the catapult. A few seconds were then taken to select a target, a somewhat lithe woman garbed in jeans and a tank top who was standing beside what was almost certainly her lover.

With his target selected Hull grasped the pouch with both hands and swiftly backed up to the opposite edge of the roof, doing his best to keep his intended victim within his sites. Then, once he had run out of ground he fired his macabre missile.

His former composure that he once had as he stood outside the KP building faded, now was not a time for working on emotions but rather planning, he had to send members of his team to help support Garret and the other man that Slate mentioned what was his name, it started with an ‘S’ that much he knew but he couldn’t place his finger on it, nor did he think it was important to remember a name when people were ready to release a virus that could wipe out over half of the earths human population. Looking around Sam picked up on Streak and was glad to have him by his side, he was after all someone who knew the layout of the labs or so he said him and Nika… where was Nika anyways…

Turning his attention to Alex who just arrived on a bike his heart gave a quick throb as his general concern for her grew, he wanted to say nothing but the words escaped his mouth before he could catch them, “You shouldn’t be here…” his face turned back to David who just arrived and he looked back to Alex and gave her an apologetic look and then continued on his planning he could worry about apologizing to her for being rude later seeing as his team and from the looks of it Tarin and Lee who just shown up were about to get into a fight with the order and from the looks of it Calley.

‘Calley…’ thought Sam as he gazed at his smiling features that somehow came off colder than Sam cold ever be. Heartless or backstabbing he didn’t know the words for it but after Calley explained everything he had done the missing pieces about the fight between the order and the mansion on the grounds made sense. But why Calley was doing it he could not guess, maybe he was evil? Sam never really got the chance to get to know Calley that well seeing as he rarely saw the shifter around the mansion.

He shook his head as he spotted Fade and Luke who was more than willing to share banter with the shifter for clarification on why he was doing what he was doing. As he continued to listen silently his eyes shifted around as more and more people showed up or crashed into buildings and then went shirtless. He saw Aura who waved to him but chose not to wave back. So many things were happening at once he couldn’t process them all, a shoe being thrown, a man who he had fought Private Dancer with before randomly getting hit by said shoe, a man asking him what the situation and assignment was like he knew who Sam was. Unfortunately Sam couldn’t return the answer seeing as his mind was racing.

So much was happening he felt a tad overwhelmed bending his knees slightly as he watched Tarin talk to someone who he couldn’t really see but then started to fade in the way a ghost in the movie slowly appears. He paid it little mind as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he tried to regain his composure. One breath then another that's all he needed.

Opening his eyes Sam watched as a one after another of the security guards for the labs started to leave the building and separate the order and all who opposed him. His mind started to race as he thought about the best way to enter the building the main entrance was blocked off by so many mutants and guards… so why not make your own? Sam thought as he breathed again looking at all the members of his team who was there.

Streak, Alex, Fade, David, Lee Tarin, Luke, Shin, Ghost and about a dozen other people who he didn’t know were now ready to rip at each other’s throats. Frowning slightly he looked around, he had no power to order anyone around other than the team so he didn’t expect to count them into the equation but if they decided to help it would be greatly appreciated.

He took a breath and called out his, “Attention All Members of the X-men!” he didn't give it much time and continued, “you are not to kill anyone I repeat not kill anyone!” he looked around for conformation hoping they would give it to him from that point he looked over to where the bulk of the team had gathered and said, “Luke, handle Calley for me…” he knew Luke was already pretty upset with the shifter and deemed it appropriate for Luke to try and distract Calley long enough for the rest of the team to enter the building. “Shin, I need you to make sure everyone who isn’t apart of the team remains safe for the most part, that means on our side and theirs I don’t want any deaths, try to organize everyone out here!”

Looking over Alex he said, “You aren’t a member but I would like you to help Shin as well try to get everyone to help if possible…” looking back over to David Sam said, when I get us in there I want you to find out where they are keeping the samples, it will most likely have high security, I’ll get you access to a computer if needed.” Glad he was well aware of Davids ability he looked over to Streak and continued.

“Streak you’ll be leading us into the labs once I make a side door Fade you’ll be coming with us and Ghost,” Sam looked to ghost and said with a smile I need you to through me as hard as you can at that spot over there!” Sam pointed to the side of the labs where the security guards and the other members of the order were not a place that was relatively unguarded. “After you throw me there I want you Streak and Fade to follow go it?” he asked as he looked around for conformation as his body iced up and he raised his hands in the air and formed what looked like a large ice drill he stood there waiting for ghost hoping everyone would follow his orders and to the non members of his team the request.

David watched in awe as everything developed, he had no idea what was going on, but was figuring it out as time went on. As people arrived, it was obvious battle lines were being drawn, everyone was ready for what seemed to be one hell of a battle. He took a few breathes to contain himself, he could recognize Meld and Aura over there, but why? Then he saw the two from the Thunderdome, and he really started to worry. The big man, David couldn't remember the name, was his concern, he didn't necessarily hate the man, in fact he respected him a little, but he had seen just how strong he was, and didn't want to get in his way.

David looked down and started chewing on his nails, his mind racing on what was going on. He new they would be trying to get into the building, that part was obvious. He decided to try and get a jump start on things. Closing his eyes he started using his powers to hack into the building's computer systems from afar, downloading whatever he could, basic blue prints and the layout flooded into his mind, though he couldn't seem to get into any of the more protected systems. He struggled to hack into the security, it was hard though. He heard Steel's request, and was already getting to it.

He couldn't though, the higher security systems were not hooked into the mainframe, they were kept separate, making it impossible for David to get into from here. The good thing was he was able to pinpoint where he could hack in. He came back to reality as Steel was preparing himself. "I can't get in from here, but I know where the security area is, once I get in there I can get into the entire security system and find those samples." He said it as if it would be easy, he wasn't much of a fighter, true he had training, but these guards were heavily armed, and his power didn't help him in combat.

There were a lot of people here he didn’t know. And a lot he did. His attention narrowed down, though, to two.

Past the buzzing flies that were preaching peace—one who was wearing a drama queen hat, the other who was wearing a costume the color of an unhealthy bruise and managing to shout his name with megaphone-capslock in a scpheal of color-barf—there was Luke Jacobs. And there was Fade.

As the crazy girl’s shoe swatted a fly, Calley’s grin doubled in force.

>> "Alright, I don't give a damn who you are, crazy kiddo. You're on our side, or you aren't, no pity parties, I'm sick of this."

“Who the hell’s having a pity party?” Calley cheerfully spat at the little X-girl. “I’m just laying out a few facts, since your team, Fade, is a bit dense to notice them on their own. Wouldn’t want ‘em thinking they had to pull punches with me. After all, this here is going to be an even better brawl than the last one, isn’t it? You remember the last one, don’t you? I remember that you were rushing off with Tricity and the others to fight, while I was setting bugs in your pretty little Mansion. You probably didn’t see me then, but you might remember me from a few months later—I came in late to those X-Men Tryouts you were helping to judge. I’ve really go to thank you for that, Fade—you let me on the team. Good job.” He was applauding, loud and slow, as he started walking down the steps towards her. He ignored his newfound teammates. Meld, Aura, and the colossal bike crasher. Teammates. Right. He trusted them enough to turn his back on them—that was all he was committing to, just now. Given his mutation, it wasn’t much.

Fade was red headed. An inch shorter than him. Just about the same age, or thereabouts. Had the same East Coast accent. He stopped well within her personal space, just to see if she’d stab him. Just to see how much it would hurt; whether she’d hold back, or go all out. He’d been stabbed before; a few times. Like that time during the Haywire outbreak, when he’d been trying to get out of a riot. And he might have picked the wrong people to spy on, that other time. When was that, New Year’s of 2012? Now that was a party. His human form died, then. Hadn’t done much to stop the rest of him.

>> "Come on, kiddo, you got any bite or are you just all bark?"

...But it was 2009, wasn’t it?

His cat-confident steps faltered for a second. Fortunately, he was already in her face; he covered his brief confusion with a Cheshire smirk. “Bark.”

>> "I never heard about you killing two men but I understand how you feel. I've killed before and I hate having to descend to that choice. Even if a person is a "bad guy" they have a right to live. Those deaths will haunt you for the rest of your life but that doesn't mean you have to let them control your existance!"

A right to live. Something about that hit on a sore spot. Calley’s head turned away from Fade, ignoring her with a certain cocky confidence. Yeah, he’d died. Once. But there had been hundreds of times he’d died, and didn’t exactly stay down. From what he knew of Fade, she didn’t have what it took to kill him. Literally. Out of the people here? Cold Steel could do it, maybe. Or Ghost.

He jerked his head away from the air elemental, pretending he hadn’t spotted her arrival. What, was this shame? That was cute.

>> "We're going to get in there and we're going to complete the mission. I don't want to hurt you Calley and I'll regret it if I do, but if you stand between me and this mission then you're the one deciding your fate. Not me."

“Damn straight I am,” he said quietly. He had no doubt that the blind man would hear him.

Now Cold Steel was barking orders; ordering Luke to fight him. The brawl was on, and it was raining heads. Hallelujah.

Predator had woken up that morning, bothered little by vague, nebulous memories of a half-forgotten dream. By the time he had gulped down his second cup of scalding-hot tea the nightmare had fled completely from his mind. After his morning routine of six cups of tea, Predator felt invigorated enough that he could mosey around to getting dressed. So doing, he fell back into bed for another five minutes of snooze. Eight minutes later, he was out his bedroom window and climbing up the rotting brick of his apartment building, dressed in his usual orange robes. He quickly scaled the side of the building, the bronze claws on his fingers and toes easily digging into the soft mortar and slightly harder brick until he reached the roof.

At that point, he was just planning on taking his morning survey of the city, walking around the rooftops and generally scaring everyone who saw him. He did this about once a week, or so. It gave him immense pleasure to remind himself who exactly was in charge in this city. The humans were terrified that he could climb well, and that was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to frightening abilities. Two weeks ago, he wouldn't have been able to move about across the rooftops as swiftly as he did, due to a gaping side wound, but he had recovered almost completely in that time.

He just began to climbe the rather large, metal building next to his when something flying through the air caught his attention. He took a second to focus on it, ignoring the incredulous looks of the people on the other side of a nearby window, and what he saw nearly made him fall in surprise. The strange object in the air was a human head, and one that had obviously just been ripped off of it's body. Of course, that piqued Predator's curiosity, and once he reached the top of the building, he couldn't help but travel across the rooftops towards the site. It took a good amount of strength to hurl something that far, more than a human could do. And that meant mutants. It looked to Predator that the humans were getting into a bit of trouble with some mutants, and he wanted to see what was going on.

When he reached the area of confrontation, Predator was surprised. It was King Pharmaceuticals. KP had some sordid rumors whipped up about it and it's creator, but they had wound down after a while. It appeared that at least a few of the rumors were true, for it seemed to him like a mutant on mutant fight. He heard only snippets of the shouted conversations, but what he did hear told him enough about which side was which. A man farther away from KP shouted, and Predator strained to hear.

"-killing two men but I understand how you feel. I've killed before and I hate-" "-is a "bad guy" they have a right to live. Those deaths-"

Predator didn't quite catch what the other man said, but it was obvious what his intent was as he stalked up to one of the first guy's... teammates?.. and invaded her personal space, angrily throwing words in her face.

It was obvious to predator that the mutants farthest away from KP were the traitors to their own kind, the human-huggers. He spat in disgust. The other shouting man and those around him, however, seemed to be more to Predator's liking. As he looked closer, he saw that not just Meld, but both Aura and Isabel were there. Looked to be some party. Predator didn't want to reveal his position too early, as you can never guess what a mutant's powers can be. His surprise entrance could help to turn the tide if the battle went bad. Also, if there was one thing the gaping side wound had taught him, it was this: don't run into too much danger if you don't need to... or if it's fun. Hey, life can get pretty boring sometimes.

People. There were lots of people showing up now. Tarin hardly knew any of them, so he narrowed his field of concentration down to the ones he did. Sam, Shin, Lee, Luke, that was it, those were the people he knew and the people he was most concerned with taking care of when the proverbial shit hit the fan. They were standing by Luke now, who accepted their help graciously and by Sam who started barking out orders to who could only be the X-men. The spirits further materialized and Tarin felt better about the group’s odds, there sure were a lot of them compared to those who seemed eager to guard haywire from the assault.

Lee asked if he really thought he could handle all of the spirits he’d managed to pull forth and Tarin shrugged his shoulders and grinned at her, “I guess we’re going to see, aren’t we? Feels good though.” He said, still staring straight ahead at the most immediate threat, Calley.

Simply put, the kid had gone completely nuts. Tarin didn’t really know him to begin with, but anyone who talked this way, with that kind of look on his face was nuts. Never mind the fact that the kid was trying to protect something that could kill half the human race.

Tarin ignored most of the banter going on, he had enough to concentrate on with all the spirits he was trying to wrangle. For the most part they were cooperative if a little eager to get to work on that whole vengeance thing that Tarin had promised them.

Out of nowhere, something flew from the sky and hit his wife. Hit. His. Wife. Something wet and…wet splattered Tarin after the contact and as he was checking Lee to make sure she was alright, realization of what exactly had hit her dawned.

“Holy hell….” Tairn muttered, looking at the practically liquefied head that had just made contact with his wife. “Lee…are you alright?!”

“It’s on.” He said, glaring up at the roof and sending two of the spirits in the direction the head had just come from with instructions not to play nicer than was absolutely necessary.

Kasumi turns in her sleep soon her body jerks as her eyes shoot open she sits up in her bed. Her eyes looks around she is in her room. She lets out a few gaps of air what was this about was it real was it fake what? She runs her hand down the back of her neck as she closes her eyes. Soon Kasumi brings her hand back as she sees sweat on her hand. It was more like a nightmare to her. Yet she can not think about that she has something more to think about the Haywire it has to be took out she knows it.

Soon Kasumi jumps out of bed she runs as she takes a shower a super hot shower she gets out of the shower she drys her body off. Soon Kasumi walks back into her room as she puts on her paints and bar Kasumi brushes her hair putting in bun with jade green hair sticks. This is her first real fight. Kasumi nods to herself kasumi gets under her bed she pulls out a box. Kasumi looks over the white box she opens it the box smells of leather Kasumi looks over the black catsuit soon Kasumi slips on the black cat suit it has no arms it has a high neck yet it is backless much like a halter top. Kasumi moves some in it. She slips on some socks as she gets a pair if black knee high boots on.

Soon Kasumi looks at herself in the black catsuit she is not use to seeing herself like this but she will not stand by and do nothing! She can fight to with what she has been working on bettering herself in so much in such little time Kasumi soon nods to herself. She turns her back as she walks to a black case people did not know about her. Something that her and her father use to train on she closes her eyes as she opens her eyes again. She opens her case a pair of silver sai's are there.

They were use only to train but today she may need them. Kasumi sits them to the side she soon gets out the belt as she buckles it around her hips she nods as she slips the Sai's in the cases. It was a thing to keep her in shape and her speed up as far a fighting with them she has no idea but it will be better then with bear hands she thinks to herself.

Soon Kasumi walks out of her room she looks over her shoulder as she soon walks as she feels her own heart pounding in her chest. This might turn out to be bad. Yet she did not care soon she calls a Taxi she tells the man were she is going he looks at her with some what a deer in the head light look yet he nods and starts to drive.

The team was antsy and quite frankly, Fade did not enjoy all of this standing around taunting each other. To make matters worse, she did not come for battle and stand up, Calley was annoying the hell out of her and she just wanted to push him out of the way. It was time for the big kids to play. Luke had spoken up again, but only added more fuel for Calley to continue his monologue. This was not the time for a 'guess how I tricked you' moment.

"Alright, this isn't Scooby Doo. I don't give a damn how you've been tricking us. You just told us you aren't a friend, OK, so you won't be sneaking around anymore. Can you please just stop the I'm Awesome Parade and do something already?" Of course, she did not mean to get him to target her in the battle, she just wanted everyone to shut up and get their act together.

When he stepped up to her, trying to intimidate her, she raised an eyebrow and narrowed her other eye. His barking comment actually was very smooth. Whether he was a dumb narcissist or not, he was good at making a sly come back. Quickly opening her mouth, she slammed it shut, making a little click noise as she bit the air. He still had no bark, but Fade had a gnarly bite.

Ahead of her, there was someone in the way of the battle: a hippie. Shocked, Fade just stared in confusion. Who's the Ghandi? It seemed like everyone just ignored him and Fade had been temped to do so and it took her most of her energy to keep from saying some kind of comment about him pissing off. She had no battle with him, so no need to even address him. She had, however, seen how he had turned visible. Another invisibility person? And this one passed around a peacepipe? Strange world.

He had turned to speak more to Luke and that gave Sam enough of an opportunity to speak with Fade and the rest of the gang. No killing? That was a given, but it was probably not a good idea to announce to the enemy, that only decreased any fear the opposition had of them, or intimidation, as Fade knew that the other side was not scared. Understanding her placement in this battle, Fade nodded her head and turned invisible.

Keeping her eye on Calley, she bit her lower lip. Honestly, couldn't she just run up behind him and strangle him? No, there were things more important than him. Given the time she had, I mean, Sam still had to be thrown, then she could move, she had what? 10 seconds? Finally, she had given in. It was time to get this show on the road and everyone was too busy throwing insults at each other. Miss Shoe Lady was the closest to beginning the battle, so Fade took the initiative.

With swift speed and undetectable sounds and smells, Fade approached Called and stood behind him for a second, enjoying how easy it was for her to sneak up on people before she threw her hands on his shoulders, her claws digging into his shirt, coming deadly close to drawing blood before she stepped to the side and threw him backwards on the ground and away from Luke. Moving in front of him, she stood before Calley and Luke, her head tilted to the side and her eyes currently a dangerous shade of black, until she blinked of course. "Green means go. Now get yourself out of your pull ups and just try to regain yourself."

((ooc: Permission for Fade's hits given OOC, for the record. )

Fade darling snapped. Literally. He grinned as those teeth flashing so close to his face, and didn't flinch a hair. Why should he? Dull teeth; omnivorous teeth. What? Was he supposed to be scared? Kitten had her milk teeth all in.

Kitten was snapping at a tiger.

Heh. And kitten disappeared, on her Cold Master's orders. That was one way to get out of a fi--

There wasn't any warning. Not that his dull human sense were fit to pick them up. He'd underestimated her. And the ground rushing towards him was the price for that. Kitten had gotten him good.

>> "Green means go. Now get yourself out of your pull ups and just try to regain yourself."

What hit the ground wasn't a scrawny teenager. It was something Luke would be quite familiar with: Calley's tiger form. One of them. It was, to put things simply, the largest Bengal tiger Calley had ever seen.

Said tiger was behind his little kitten. She'd so kindly placed herself between Luke and Calley, and ever so graciously turned visible again. Now now, who was underestimating who?

His counterattack was quick. While she was still speaking, he was leaping. His goal: a friendly pining to the ground. And, possibly, just as friendly teeth around the back of her head. Even if he succeeded, he wouldn't hurt her. Not really. He had nothing against her: just a point to prove.

...And that sneak attack of hers? That had been hot.

They looked to be out numberd, but how many of them were good in a fight remained to be seen, but Frosty was certainly the commander of the operation, she considerd going for him, but even if she tried she had a feeling she would just end up fighting somone around him anyway. Things were getting tence and Aura twitched with delight. She would prove her wirth to the Order today, she would do everything in her power to stop those layed out before them. The spirit army of whatever it was, she watched as somthing strange and unsanitary looking struck one of the X-men's team, and Spirit boy sent two of his pals to go find the thrower, he cared for the girl who had been hit, that was ifnromation she could try and use, certainly more so if the ghosts proved immune to harm.

Aura lisened to Luke, trying to glean the words for any useful information, it did not seem like their would be any however. Aura was hoping the action would start soon, she still had not chosen a target, then meld pointed out Ranger to her, and she smiled, he would make a good target, still she was unsure, somthing new might be fun as well, she continued scanning, her eyes looking at the targets like a hunter. She was quite ready to get started, This dance would hold the most beauity she had seen in some time, and Aura was simply happy she could enjoy it. She saw shin as well, she remmeberd him from the library, she had seen his power, but knew littile of it's limits. Calley began to move, and Aura decided it was about time as well, he seemed particulerly intrested in picking on this fade woman, whose name became apparent as she went insiable. Thne the two began fighting, and Aura began to Move into a run, her arm formed swords on both her her hands, the five inch blades, heading for ranger bealiveing him to be apart of the X-men's forces, Her blade struck in a quick slash aimed at his midsection, she kept the other blade back for defence unsure what hyde would do when the fighting really started. Aura smiled happily, this was her purpos to fight.

(OOC: GModing approved by Calley for this post.)
(OOC: Note: Due to Luke's sonar ability, I wrote that he could see Fade even when she's invisible. If necessary I can re-write that. Fade, PM me if there's an issue with this.)

IC:
No killing? That was an easy rule for Luke to follow. In fact, it was a rule that he always used on himself as well. The only time he'd broken it had been in Paris before he had a better handle on his sonic blast ability. He had lost control and... well... that particular ghost would probably be haunting him for the rest of his life. Luke would follow CS' orders to keep Calley busy but he wasn't going to be the one to throw the first punch. No, Luke was a defender. He either defended himself or other. To blatantly attack someone and throw the first punch was definitely against his stand on violence.

Unfortunately though it seemed as though Fade had no such compunction. Without the slightest warning she suddenly moved forward and slipped behind Calley. Luke had no clue how in the world that girl had gotten behind the younger man without his realizing it but without any sort of provocation she grabbed Calley by the shoulders and then threw him away from Luke.

"Damn it Fade!" Luke barked, stepping to the side so that the smaller woman was no longer between him and Calley, "We defend people! Let them throw the first punch!"

Maybe it was a stupid way to look at things but it was how Luke had always justified his actions. Sometimes it put him in a bad spot because he had to wait and simply react instead of act but it was still what he felt was right. However before any more could be said about the situation Calley suddenly shifted. In the place of the young man Luke had thought he knew was the large tiger that he had met once previously. Cursing under his breath Luke's hand reached back for his staff even though he knew it was useless.

Muscles coiled and with all the speed and agility of the natural animals, Calley Cat lept toward Fade with paws and claws outstretched. The silence as he lept at Fade, mouth open, was far more unnerving than any roar that could have been uttered.

"NO CALLEY!" Luke yelled, his instincts kicking in. Suddenly focusing his sonar down into a tight beam, the power kicked up to maximum changing from the normal sound wave into a powerful sound blast. With the speed of sound to aid it, there was no change for the leaping feline to get away. The two met mid-air and immediately the tiger was thrown sideways, away from Fade and the rest of the X-Men. "We're not here to hurt you or any of the Order!" Luke barked as he now moved to step between everyone and the very dangerous feline, "We're here to destroy the Haywire. I don't want to hurt you!"

The threat was unspoken but there just the same. As much as Luke might not want to hurt Calley he was willing to do it if it was absolutely necessary. It was tearing him up inside but at the same time he recognized it was something that had to be done for the good of all. "I don't want to." He muttered again, more to himself than anyone else.

((OOC: Godmoding approved by GB))

Sam seemed to be giving orders, but she was only partially listening to him. Most of her attention was on her husband, worrying about his control over all of those spirits he had made corporeal, as well as Calley and everyone standing behind him.

But then Tarin spoke, and Lee turned her entire attention on him, seeing him grin in response to her question. It felt good? Lee glanced behind her, and shuddered slightly, both at the look of the spirits, and the sheer number, before turning back to Tarin. He actually looked confident as he stood there, even with the sunglasses covering his eyes. Lee hadn't ever seen this degree of confidence on her husband's face when he was using his powers before.

She could only hope that he was right, hope that he did have good enough control over the the spirits he had made visible.

Lee was just turning back to look at the people closer to the building, people who had, at some point, had what looked to be security officers join them, when at the last moment she saw something quickly heading toward her. Even if she had had more energy, Lee doubted she'd have been able to get out of the way in time. As it was, she had barely been able to even just tense her body up when, with a wet, splatting, yet crunching sound, it hit her left shoulder.

Damn had that hurt! Tears had sprung unbidden to her eyes from the pain as air hissed sharply in. She stopped well before her lungs were full, though; as her chest expanded, the pain only increased. It hurt like hell, but at least it wasn't the worst pain Lee had felt; nothing like when her collar bone had been broken, or when she'd been cut with that knife in Columbia.

And then Tarin was there, right in front of her, asking if she was alright. She started to nod as she tried blinking those damn tears out of her eyes, but quickly stopped as she saw blood splattered across Tarin's shirt and face.

Panic starting to rise up in her, Lee turned her eyes down to look at where she was hit. Her shoulder was absolutely covered in blood. But it didn't feel like she had been cut...unless it was just the shock from the impact....

And that's when Lee saw it. Laying on the ground near them, difficult to make out at first what exactly it was, Lee saw a head laying there. Just a head, nothing more.

Looking back up, Lee saw that Tarin was already reacting. In fact, quite a few people were reacting. The girl who had been yelling at Calley seemed on the verge of fighting, Luke was making his way forward now, and Calley was no where to be seen.

And then there was the tiger that had suddenly appeared, as well as the girl who was running toward them from the building, what looked like pink sticks, or something, in both hands.

Damn it, Lee needed more energy, and she needed it now!

Tarin wasn't going to be happy with her, but this was what they had come here to do. He wasn't going to like it, but she didn't have powers that would let her stand back like he could, she needed to get up close and personal in order to be any help.

"Love you," Lee said, her voice quiet but full of feeling as she started to step forward.

Before she had gone even two steps, though, Lee saw the giant of a man up by the building step forward and grab one of the security guards.

And throw him.

What the hell, Lee thought as she saw the man come flying in hers and Tarin's direction. She'd already been hit with a head, she didn't need to have the whole damn body thrown at her, too.

At least this time, Lee was able to get out of the way and wasn't actually hit since she had seen the body coming at her. Wincing as the man hit the ground, it only took a second for a plan to form in Lee's head. She needed energy, but couldn't exactly take it from Tarin or any of their allies, and here was someone who she could take energy from that had been delivered right to her. And, what she would do to the man would harm him far less than that throw had.

Stepping forward quickly, Lee noticed that the man was unconscious as she knelt down. That would make it a bit harder for Lee, but she had done this before. Putting her hand on the man's bare neck, Lee started siphoning as she watched the people in front of her, close to the building. Hopefully she'd be able to get enough energy before she had to do too much more.