Wait, what? They were retreating? Just like that?! Maya thought she might have missed some of the action... on second thought, she hadn't. And no offense to the X-team, but Steel and C.J. were not really threatening enough to send a whole bunch of bad guys running. Especially with Sam shot. It was just... not right.

BOOM.

From her point of observation Maya couldn't really tell what happened, or who blew up what; but she could see people flying on both directions, and silently thanked everyone and everything she was in a patch of ice instead of an actual mirror. It didn't shatter.

>>”Maya, Cafas, get over here A.S.A.P. kinda hard to protect myself while I’m trying to reinforce those walls of ice!”

Get over there. Right. Protect Sam. Riiiiight.

Maya moved from the patch of ice onto the ice wall, and ran around to get a better look at the enemy. The little girl was hit by the blast, disoriented and moving away, and the rest was busy retreating too, except for one that she couldn't see at the moment. That was never a good sign.

"What do you think is in those crates, boss?" she yelled across the ice ring as she got to the cart. She was not a fighter, but she could always cause some distraction. Stepping out of the ice wall she walked towards the crates. She really was curious. Both about the crates and about which bad guy would make a move first.

((OOC: Cafas has been skipped, with his permission. For the moment, posting order is removed. Post if you can. I'd like to wrap this up soon.))

Kaitlyn had knocked them for a loop. Good girl. But she was a little disoriented, stumbling around. With a sigh, Lenna moved across the pavement to scoop Kaitlyn up in her arms. "Good work," She said coaxingly. "We'll take the rest from here."

She turned to the others.

"Gerrid of that ICE WALL," She shouted in her best grisly faux-voice. It wouldn't do if their escape was foiled by that idiot with the ice.

Turning, she carried Kaitlyn towards the ice barrier. Her aura would have no effect on its current status. She'd just have to settle for letting the others tear it down. She gave them plenty of room to do the job. Lenna stood ten feet away from it, eyes on the X-men. She didn't fight them. Her arms were full.

They'd have Hell to pay if they tried fighting her while she was carrying an injured 10-year old.

Focusing on Kaitlyn for a moment, the woman wrapped the cape around her like a blanket. Capes were one of those things that were difficult to wear, and got in the way more often than not. Hopefully making it a blanket would eliminate that problem.

Hopefully the others could tear down that wall ASAP, too...

Lenna glared at their leader, Cold Steel.

Someone spoke in Kealey’s ear and she turned her head, almost losing her handle on the emotions she’d carefully gathered up and tugged on. There was nobody there.

For a moment, Kealey’s heart jumped into her throat and she wondered if she was dealing with someone who was invisible. Then she concentrated. There were no emotions anywhere near her, somehow the voice was traveling. She hadn’t heard the sound inside her head, it had distinctly whispered in her ear…that meant.

Kealey’s blue eyes narrowed in the direction of the fight and the crates. ”I’m helping plenty, thanks.” she muttered, not caring if she was heard or not. She scanned the whole area, eyes fixing on each and every person and measuring their emotions. There were more….ah ha! On top of the crates. Kealey snagged those emotions and completely eliminated them.

Then. Something exploded.

The shock wave was mild at Kealey’s distance, but the shock of the event jolted Kealey’s concentration away from the emotions she was holding onto.

She blinked, shaking her head for a moment before widening her stance slightly and refocusing on everything she could feel. Kealey’s eyes closed. Someone was straining, Kealey recognized Sam after a moment and amped up his concentration in hopes he’d have an easier time.

Someone was disoriented….Kealey frowned and clenched her teeth. Who was it? She didn’t know. Oh well, she decided, everyone confused was better than…

Abruptly the emotions faded to almost nothing, and Kealey’s eyes widened. That’s what she’d felt before…they had an adapted. Kealey tested the vague emotions, just to be sure and confirmed her beliefs she could barely budge them.

”Sam!” she called out, ”We’ve got a problem.”

Chaos was not Kealey’s specialty….and after she’d alerted Sam that there was a problem she went to work, organizing emotions into something more workable. Sure she was probably calming the bad guys too…but she had to start somewhere.

Deirdra watched with an irritated frown as an ice wall appeared. As she turned her face back towards their opponents, her blond hair swung in an arc. The woman turned the rest of herself around so she could face her enemies. Slowly, a smile spread across her face as she cracked her knuckles on each hand. To no one in particular, she announced. “I could use a good fight.”

Moving with an odd grace, the half scorpion woman brought her tail around to knock the man who had made the ice shield. She wasn’t using toxins, just force. He had reinforcements coming towards him though, and she wasn’t sure if the blow would connect. Her eyes narrowed as she waited to see what would happen.

The earth moved beneath Kaitlyn's feet like the floor of a small raft in a hurricane. Each step that she took required all of her attention, and it didn't help that the pirate guy was distracting her, shouting something about an ice wall. She didn't see any ice walls, pirates, or even her own team; just a bunch of colored, fuzzy blobs of different shapes and sizes that made her head hurt when she looked at them.

One of the colorful blobs was moving towards her, and then her feet stopped touching the ground. Someone was carrying her. Telling her that she did a good job, that they would take the rest of something. That voice was so familiar... who did it belong to? Kaitlyn could only see the vague outlines of the two-headed mutant's masks. Who did she know had two heads?

No. Never mind. The person carrying her only had one head, one mask, and one mouth saying something about another ice wall. Unless it was the same ice wall. Probably, because ice walls sounded like an uncommon sight. The child craned her neck around to look for the wall that everyone was talking about, but this only revealed a bunch of moving blurry blobs and made her head hurt. She closed her eyes for a few seconds.

Lenna! Eyes shot open again and strained to focus in on the fuzzy mask-blob. "Lenna?" That was her name, right?

Probably.

As time went on, things were getting marginally less blurry, and she could see that there was some sort of glassy barrier growing a few yards from where Lenna was holding her. She tried to point at it, but her cape was in the way of her arms. It must have gotten wrapped around her while she had her eyes closed. If she'd known the stupid thing would get in the way so much like this, she wouldn't have worn it.

"Whatsthat?" she slurred, directing her unfocused eyes towards the ice.

The retreat command given, the opposition took it upon themselves to block the escape route with an ice wall. That event did nothing but annoy Roger, instead of freely retreating however they pleased they now had two options; make a hole in the wall or go through the X's.

Lenna scooped up the little super hero and gave the order to remove the ice wall. With their little explosion queen out of commission Roger decided he would handle it. It wouldn't be as fast as if it was hit with a powerful blast might be, but microwaves are rather effective against ice so it shouldn't take long.

Though, someone had walked out of the ice?! That is not an everyday sight, but she was moving toward the crates. That would not do. Roger stepped away from Lenna's field, expecting that sense of fear to come back. It didn't.

Roger made sure his tie was straight and his mask was secured before he addressed the girl who had snuck through the ice. "I wouldn't advise getting any closer. It could prove hazardous to your health."

With that said he rotated his hands, which were at his side, to point his palms at the girl and let loose microwaves. He hoped the sensation of being on fire would drive her away.

Idly Zephyr observed the blonde woman's features as they flickered, first with surprise, and then confusion as his words crossed the distance and reached her ears. It was an amusing sight really yet the elemental found only the faintest ghost of a grin tugging at the edges of his lips as he watched the perplexed gamine glance behind, and then before her as she sought him out. It was curiously really, how seldom people perceived their surroundings in all four dimensions. Perhaps he could give the blonde a hint? Just to see what she would do next, after all it was dull just sitting around.

Lifting a listless arm the elemental blasely twirled one finger in a slow circular pattern while his azure eyes remained fixed on the young gamine still seeking his position. He was being careless he knew, his abilities required neither physical movement nor even line of sight, yet he found himself unable to muster the motivation necessary to craft anything more. Slowly at first, little more than a whisper, the air spun in a loose orbit around the blonde, completing one revolution and then another, and another, gaining speed momentum with each and every cycle.

The breeze had barely begun to grasp the woman's clothes and hair when her head snapped upwards abruptly and Zephyr found himself staring into what appeared to be a mirror image of his own sapphire gaze. The elementals lips twitched upwards for the merest of moments, a sense of expectation rising within him as his finger continued its idle motion before something settled upon him with all the subtlety of wet concrete. His hand paused, his grin faded and his breathing ceased as his thoughts and emotions were rapidly scattered and extinguished.

The quiescence lasted a handful of seconds, each one measured by a steadily subsiding pulse. Before any true damage could be done however the elementals autonomic functions reset themselves and his lungs once more began to take in air while the rest of his body remained motionless while his thoughts spiraled futilely.

An explosion shook the ground, its violent vociferation echoing through the air and the hessian blinked, an expression of confusion flashing across his features before he shut his eyes and shuddered. He wasn't entirely certain what had happened to him but it had been distinctly uncomfortable, a sensation of ennui which surpassed the desire to perform any conscious action, hardly the best frame of mind to have during an altercation, even a faux one such as this. No, he would have to do something about the woman's thrall or whatever her ability was.

Opening his eyes Zephyr's argus gazed swiftly focused upon the blonde gamine as she began to shout a warning to her groups leader before turning to face the other Order members with an expression of utmost concentration on her features. The elemental raised a brow, apparently he had been forgotten, quite careless really, especially considering she didn't know what he was capable of...

Unlike the gentle breeze the hessian had initially conjured, the column of air he crafted now was neither quiet nor slow; it was a roaring torrent which coalesced directly behind the blonde in less time than it took to scream. Indeed by the time the girl began shrieking she had already lost her footing on the earth and been launched a modest thirty feet into the air with a trajectory which easily carried her past the bounds of the dock and into the dark waters which surrounded it. The splash, and sudden silence which came with it, were immensely satisfying

"Gerrid of that ICE WALL,"[/color]

Sighing despondently the hessian shifted his attention away from the water front and looked down at the remaining 'combatants', noting with idle interest the pale panel of ice which had risen to barricade the docks natural exit. The source of the gelid barrier was not difficult to locate and Zephyr pondered for a moment how durable the ice coating was for his fellow elemental before dismissing the thought. Things were beginning to get out of hand, damage control was needed if he wanted the entirety of his commission.

Summoning another surging column of wind the azure eyed mercenary winced and faltered momentarily as a sudden pain spiked between his temples. A curse escaped the British hessians lips as one hand shook down a sleeve to reveal a watch while the other delved into a pocket and withdrew an alabaster container utterly failed to rattle. He glared briefly at the empty capsule, cursed once more and then returned his attention to the target below, summoning yet another gale and gritting his teeth against the resulting pain in his skull as he propelled the ice elemental away from the docks without regard for direction or destination. A hand was then swept impatiently towards the frozen barrier followed by another, more vehement curse, as a blade of compressed air sliced through the walls base at an angle and caused it to topple forwards.

It was time to leave.

Well flight turned out to be not so fun in Cafas' book He had one moment been standing, then, spontaneously, after what could only be described as a completely mixed up and confusing series of events in his current memory, He had taken to the air. Several yards later he hit the ground, and failed to take any cushioning actions. Instead his hair started to glue itself to his head with blood. Bummer that. He returned to consciousness a few seconds later to a blurry world, with indistinct edges and fuzzy voices. Pushing himself off what gravity dictated was the current ground, Alchemist blinked, then again. It took a moment but sight and hearing were returned in their full capacity.

Motherf....

He took a moment to check what was going on. There was a nasty crash as an ice wall toppled, mirror was standing near some guy who was pointing hands at her, and CS was in flight. The scorpion lady apparently the culprit, if her proximity to his last known location was anything to judge by. Well, a flying leader wasn't much of a leader at all, so that had to be stopped. Although he was left mystified as to the reason the wall fell. all things considered the base had been strong enough to hold it without constant reinforcement. Well, time to deal with the threat. The concussive force that had launched Cafas into the air had kindly launched what looked like a crow bar his way. On close inspection it was in fact a crow bar. Nice and thick, bout 4 foot long, steel, and straight but for the tip. He could work with that. Hefting the steel rod C.J. turned his attentions to the scorpion. He'd have to at least distract her enough to get her off of C.S. momentarily. He decided he'd try and kite her over to Mirror, at least that way he'd be close to back up, and vice versa.

Here goes nothin'.

The metal manipulator held the steel crowbar in both hands and charged the scorpion woman, not exactly sure how to handle the situation. How thick was the exoskeleton? How strong? was it possible to trip her? He settled with hitting her on the less armoured still human part. C.J. pulled the bar up, over his shoulder and swung as hard as he could, like slogging a high bouncing cricket ball. He was going to hit ‘er for six. Either that or he'd be out for a duck. He jumped and aimed for the scorpion woman's upper back, having come from slightly behind her, and let out a roar, partly to intimidate, and partly to ensure he was breathing out on the strike. He hoped he could land safely.

"We're handling it," Lenna answered Kaitlyn gently, pressing a finger to the girl's lips. "Shhh, you hurt your head. Don't wear yourself out."

Her eyes turned back towards that glassy wall, with a vengeance. There was fire in them. "Hurry up!"

Things were happening now. Fighting, launching, pain. They were happening fast, but not fast enough.

Then, things sped up. The wall came tumbling, tumbling down. Lenna glanced back at the others, and shouted 'Move it' in her best falsetto. She stepped over its icy remnants, away from the battle they did not have to fight.

Everyone else had better follow, she thought.

Over the course of a few moments, the dam broke in the fight. Everything started happening at once, and Kealey did everything she could to hold it all under control. She failed. It wasn’t because of her powers, it wasn’t because of distractions, it was because all of a sudden she was sailing through the air.

How had that happened? One moment she’d targeted and laid the emotional whammy on the bad guy sitting on top of the crates. The wind had started blowing, and now she was sailing through the air. It couldn’t have been more than a few moments, seconds at most, but everything had slowed down. The ground fell away as she soared higher and higher, and Kealey knew that if she hit the ground from this height she was in serious trouble.

The scene of the small battle got further and further away as she sailed through the air and the blond wondered if anyone would be able to get there fast enough to save her. Kealey’s upward descent stopped now and as she started to descend she took a fateful glance down at the....water below?

There was water! She had a chance! Kealey started taking deep breaths, trying to fill her lungs with as much air as humanly possible. Then she said a prayer and held it just as she hit the surface.


The impact hurt. The impact definitely hurt, and the shock of the cold liquid made Kealey gasp as she went under. She tumbled as she sank, and for a moment she struggled to figure out which way was up.

Then she saw the sun.

Up Kealey swam, thankful for the swimming lessons her parents had insisted on when she was a little girl. She was anything but an expert swimmer, but she could doggy paddle just fine. She needed air, her vision starting to darken on the edges…her head broke the surface.

Kealey gasped, and sputtered, and tread water for a few moments, simply trying to catch her breath. She wasn’t all that far from the docks. Hopefully someone would come look for her…but until then. The blond sighed and started working her way in that direction.

Though Deirdra wasn’t facing in the direction from which the assailant was coming, she had a feeling that something was approaching her quickly. She glanced over her shoulder in time to see a pink-haired young man running at her. He was holding a metal bar and the blond felt herself tense up in anticipation. Depending on where he struck her, she would be in quite a bit of pain. He had crouched lower to the ground, which made her guess it would be somewhere that wasn’t protected by her outershell. It looked like it would come at her back.

Knowing that if the kid had enough strength he could wreck her back completely, Deirdra began to turn her body around and bring her arms up. If one of her limbs was broken, at least she would have a chance to recover better than if her spine was snapped. The bar continued to travel towards her. She got her arms where she wanted them when the strike hit. In return, the woman whipped her tail around to smack him away. As her tail went around, she let out of shriek of pain. It felt like something shattered in her forearm.

Yet again, Cafas was in flight. His blow seemed to have done some damage, but not as much as could potentially result from being smacked with a giant FREAKING scorpion tail. His landing was not at all pleasant, although he was impressed with his ability to land on his front after being thrown backwards. Winded, and with a nasty suspicion his chin was bleeding nastily, Cafas lay on the ground. He made an attempt to get up, it was a painful process, but he managed. "Right, that does it, when I'm done with you your face won’t be recognisable even to you, and you'll be behind bars." So he had some anger issues, he'd deal with them later His metal bar was lost, but he had plenty to go with, like, 90kg of Cafas at a full sprint perhaps. It was enough to knock most people flat, he didn't see why it wouldn't injure a scorpion woman.

Alchemist dropped his shoulder for extra impact, the classic shoulder ram. He made sure he was at full speed, headed where he wanted to be, got as close as possible and launched himself even harder forward. He knew he'd likely be hitting solid exoskeleton, and that would hurt at the very least, but he was mad, no one made him bleed his own blood. The uncalculated risk however, was that if she moved, he was gonna land flat on his face again.

Sam’s concentration over the wall had broke, he was hit, the tail knocked him back as he heard Kealey, even with the ear piece she could be heard, something was wrong and Sam was a little to preoccupied to get there in time the question was where was everyone else? Maya could have been there, Cafas well Cafas was closer to him than anyone else, noted from now on support would have someone there to protect them if it could be helped. ”Fill me in!” Sam said worried that she was injured.

Taking a few steps back and eyeing the scorpion woman who had attacked him he sighed slightly wishing he didn’t have to fight his eye shifted quickly as he looked away from the woman and he slammed his foot onto the dock and focused on the ice wall again. Sure there were more important matters at hand like worry about the woman with the barbed tail who just attacked him and… his eye traveled up as he spotted someone sailing through the air over toward the water, someone who he didn’t know could fly... it took Sam a second to realize that it was Kealey. Her blonde hair streaked in the sunlight as she was flung out into the waters.

Sam had to act, could Kealey swim? He wasn’t sure but he didn’t want to risk finding out, his teammate’s safety was his top priority now even if they were here to stop what ever these people were doing. Sam’s focus on the ice wall faded and his concentration on his surroundings grew however before he could focus on everything around him completely and gauge what was the next best move Sam felt light on his feet and within seconds he too was flying through the air.

His eyes closed and reopened as the ice armor around his eye vanished so he could get a full view on the direction he was flying it seemed flying to the water was a reoccurring theme one that he to was experiencing. Trying to stabilize himself so when Sam hit the water it wouldn’t hurt as much however, before he actually tried to turn his attention was brought back to the ice wall that he created and right before he hit the water and skipped once then twice the last thing he saw before he went under the water was the ice wall falling apart.

"Get. Moving. Stop. Fighting." Lenna said, to whoever was still engaging in battle. The ice wall had fallen. They needed to leave. Had she been unclear when she'd explained the game plan?

Okay. Maybe it was just one person fighting. The others were actually following her orders. Kaitlyn was hurt. She didn't want Kaitlyn to get injured further by these graveyard stuffers. They had to go. If Deirdra didn't follow, that was on her head.

Lenna nodded to Mr. Mask, turned to where the air elemental was, and said "Now." She held Kaitlyn tight against her chest, and barreled forward, over the collapsed wall's remains, away from the battle.

She really hoped any people left fighting would leave, as per her orders. If they did not, she'd have to explain it to Lori. She did not wish to do that.

This whole operation stinks... Lenna frowned to herself as the Orderlings made their retreat.

Deirdra grinned viciously at the young man who threatened that no one would recognize her face. “You need to control that temper of yours if you ever hope to beat me. And besides, this face is a gift to all mankind. You aren’t going to do a thing to it.” With a quick sidestep, the woman avoided the ramming and made a small grunt. It was hard to move that much body quick enough.

The order had been given to back off. This fight was over, whether the pink-haired kid realized it or not. She turned and looked back at her opponent. “Sorry, I have to go. We’ll have to finish this some other time. Keep practicing. I look forward to running into you Xs again.” The blond gave a wink and then scuttled up the side of a nearby wall, waiting for everyone to move out.