So, It Wasn't Exactly Diplomatic. School property. He should have cleared it with the higher ups. Waited for backup. He'd been tracking the kitty man for the past few hours. Triple homicide. Bad stuff. Tracked him all the way to a school full of children. Xavier's Sister School. Innocent mutants. Ashton was a tough guy. Gruff. Grumpy, at times when he didn't get his morning coffee. But he was soft when it came to kids. At least, to their safety. Suffice it to say, Bengal Tiger man wasn't going to add any more tallies to his kill list, if Ashton had anything to say on it.

Shinbo'd let him in. Ashton stalked the grounds, gun drawn and at the ready, occasionally checking his surroundings. Somewhere on the grounds, kitty man was on the prowl. He was ready for him. Ready for a lot of things.

Okay. Not so ready for a front lawn full of dead pigeons. Ashton lowered his gun for just a second. "Damn," He said, reverently.

Across the grounds, there was a scream. A man's scream, but girlish in nature. Another 'damn' left his lips, with less reverence this time. He burst into a sprint, towards the source of the sound.

The man was red, with black stripes. His bloodied mouth was open. Huge dripping fangs protruded. The guy looked feral, vicious. Dangerous. In his white wife beater and tattered blue jeans. They were the only few things human about him. His eyes. Oh god, his eyes. Aurum may have screamed at those inhuman eyes. It might have sounded more like a tasty piglet, actually. He couldn't recall. All he knew was tiger man's reaction.

Tiger man growled hungrily. His eyes focused on Aurum for a second, then hopped across the grounds to something else. His lips drew into a catlike grin. "Mrowr."

Aurum didn't like the sound of that pleased purr one bit. He didn't dare glance over his shoulder. Okay. He dared it. Aurum's eyes focused somewhere behind him as he took his focus off the raging beast of death.

Maybe he shouldn't have stopped by the mansion that day, after all...

Moments after the Detective had taken off around the corner, Gina emerged from around the corner, eyes trained on a thick, hardback book in her hands. She had been walking aimlessly all over the grounds, nose stuck in Les Miserables. She didn't notice the first dead bird until it came into her peripherals.

At first, she thought it was a rock, which made enough sense-- a rock in the lawn, not too uncommon-- she lifted her gaze, so as not to trip over it. But as she peered at it closer, she noticed that it was the rumpled, bloodied body of a bird. She gasped in mute horror, reeling back at the sight. Her eyes couldn't help but wander from the birds gaping wound to its face, its dead eyes closed and beak open. A hand fluttered to her mouth, as she was suddenly feeling squeamish.

What kind of... sicko... kills birds like that? Gina mused. Sure, there were plenty of pigeons around New York, but to kill them and just leave the there, littered like macabre Easter eggs in the Mansion's lawn? That was psychotic. It would have been slightly more understandable if they'd eaten them, though the notion was still a gross one.

Gina closed her book, sliding a bookmark into place. Her mind raced. What if it was just a power gone wrong, and so the teachers hadn't mentioned anything to spare embarassing the child? It could be nothing. But, even if it had been an accident, the teachers still would have kept them inside while they cleaned the mess up. So, it was to be assumed that nobody knew about the dead birds. And, if someone found Gina out here, with the birds, they might peg it on her-- she did have claws after all, even if she was as far from a killer as anyone could be. The best plan of action would be to tell an adult. Even if she was sorely tempted to go find the "bad guy", she wasn't about to go toe-to-toe with a nutcase. She turned tail and trotted towards the entrance, carefully stepping over the dead birds and trying not to look at them.

Oh man. Oh man, oh man, oh man. Today couldn't get any worse. After he'd gotten the call from Ashton, Shin had done nothing but worry. Worry, and tell the teachers to keep their students indoors, that is! But some of them hadn't answered their phones. Just awful. He took it upon himself to do something about it! He... was going to help Ashton.

It was a stupid choice he'd chosen, really. But then, he was a member of the X-men, and an honorary policeman, so even if Ashton hadn't specifically asked for his help, there was no way Shin could see him turning it down. And if he did, tough cookies. He'd feel crumby, but Shin wasn't going to back down from his choice.

Running was the word of the day, shortly followed by doors. Shin ran from his office in the mansion, through the hallways, to the mansion's front doors. He burst out of the entrance, and

Nearly ran over a gargoyle. He skidded to a halt on wet grass, stopping a few feet from her. Shin double-checked to make sure it wasn't one he knew. Nope. This one appeared female. He opened his mouth to take in a breath, then quickly exhaled his message. "Danger. Go inside. Now." That taken care of, Shin ran a quick curve around her, focusing for a few seconds, drummed up a barrier platform, hopped on, and took to the air. He flew towards the scream that permeated the air shortly after he'd taken flight.

Henrietta liked wandering the grounds at the Mansion. It made her feel at peace and she had continued to feel this until kept coming across people she didn't know. She was starting to wonder what was going on when she came across a large red man with stripes sizing up another man. The other man looked, well, defenseless and actually screamed.

Of couse, all of Henri's insides screamed at her to run. For a moment, it looked as if the tiger man might attack the other guy, but he was looking at her now. "Crap." Henrietta's brain informed her that this would be the perfect opportunity to avoid the situation, but still her legs wouldn't move. She glanced at the man whom she had previously thought was going to be mauled. "Go somewhere safe!" Even if I get eaten alive...

Without thinking, the girl stood her ground.. Her hair floated out of her ponytail as if she was in water. It began to extend, though she wasn't quite sure how to control it. It just seemed to do it when she was terrified, which she was.

Kealey had been taking a walk. This time of year in the Mansion was hard, difficult, impossible, and pretty much any other adjective a person could apply to a situation that was outside a person’s normal skill set. Finals, springtime, hormones, and pretty much everything else had made her grumpy and mildly irritable, and the blond had found that fresh air and spring weather were a balm for her mood. Then again…maybe it was the relative emotional silence that came with distance from a large house full of teenagers.

Everything was great, everything was quiet, until someone went and ruined it by screaming. Despite the terror in the sound, the blond plopped her fists on her hips and turned in the direction the sound had come from, ready to hunt the person down and give them a piece of her grumpy mind for ruining the silence…then the other emotions hit home. Terror…people were terrified on the Mansion grounds.

Suddenly, Kealey realized she was running, and was suddenly glad that she’d grabbed her running shoes on her way out of the Mansion. The emotions helped guide her, and as they intensified, she found her own flight or fight reactions kicking in…especially when she realized what the other emotions were. They were feral…they were ferocious…they were…barely human. A snarl formed on her face and Kealey had to push the emotions away with a shudder.

So many things didn’t add up, and on she ran. Aurum was there…why was Aurum there? And there was a student who was doing something insane with her hair. Kealey had run across this girl a few times in the mansion…but couldn’t remember her name. Not in the split second that it took recognition to set in. There was the source of the emotions, a man with the most curious stripes. The girl was brave…but almost definitely out of her league.

There was malice here…so much malice, and that was the first thing Kealey attacked as she took in the scene with all her powers. The malice dropped quickly, but left all the predatory, animalistic things that were also there. Suddenly Kealey felt completely out of her element, and like she was trying to get a firm grip on a greased pig. The emotions felt slippery and wrong…foreign and she just couldn’t mess with those. The man growled again and Kealey’s eyes narrowed, focusing more but not having much luck. So Kealey did the only thing she could think of. Bending, she picked up a rock and threw it at the back of the tiger man’s head.

”Why don’t ya pick on someone your own size?” she said…and boy was she scared. Sure, a plan would have been nice…but one worked with what they had, when they had it. Hopefully this would buy her time.

Gina tore onto the front entrance, nearly getting flattened by a skinny Asian guy as she went. She took a step back, noting that he seemed as equally flustered as she. The boy spewed a cryptic warning at her, before darting around her.

"Danger. Go inside. Now."

Well, duh, Gina wanted to counter, taken aback by his abruptness. The fact that he knew of the dead pigeons, or what had killed the pigeons, kind of defied the purpose of finding a teacher to tell.

"What about you?!" she demanded, as the boy hopped onto a triangle and flew off. But he was already gone, racing towards a scream that was a good distance off. Gina was more worried about him. She had claws, she could defend herself, but what about him?

A well-behaved girl would have taken the opportunity to dart inside and hide in the safety of her dorm room, but not Gina. She had to do something, and it wouldn't be spectate. However, if it were dangerous, chances were that the teachers wouldn't want her outside.

At a loss for what to do, Gina turned her gaze skyward. She then noticed the roof, and a smirk touched her lips. Now, there was a thought. Gina sprung into the air and sailed a few, short wingbeats to the roof, landing gracefully. She could be stealthy up here, make sure things went alright, and intervene if need be.

She darted across the roof, lightly, towards where she'd thought the noise had come from, and then crouched low, her breath coming out shallowly. There was a small partition around the edges of the roof, which was sloped ever so slightly. And, every seven or eight feet, a small hole used for drainage. Excellent. Gina lay down against the wall and peered through one such hole, assessing the scene that unfolded below.

(( OOC:Posting order is now: Me, Me, Me, Henri, Kealey, Gina. Or rather, Ashton, Aurum, Shin, Henri, Kealey, Gina. ))

The scene unfolded like a paper crane: with tons of wrinkles. As Ashton got on the scene, he noted many things. It turned out, it wasn't a woman. It was a punk lawyer and a teenager. And, he noted, as she arrived. A blond. Lots of people. Too many, for the type of danger they were facing. The type of danger it was his duty to handle. The type of duty they were interfering with. Were these people X-men? Because they sure as hell were excellent at getting on his nerves!

A hand dropped to his breast, under the jacket, and found his firearm. He held it up in front of him at the ready. This was a touchy situation. He couldn't aim the gun, with them crowded around the target like that. He was good, but that? That was on a whole other level.

"Everyone, get out of the way." He shouted. "Detective Drake, MRC. I'll take it from here."

Yet another person arrived on the scene, almost on cue with his words. An Asian on a triangular platform.

What was it with these X-men? They seemed to have problems with both authority, and common sense.

Common sense. It dictated he follow the girl's orders and run. But common sense was not manly. It was not something pertaining to men. Men didn't let women get mauled by tigers. No matter the odds stacked against them, or the odds turned in womanly favor. Aurum didn't budge, as the girl stood her ground. Instead, he turned to stare the tiger man directly in the eye. He glared.

Tiger's eyes were focused on the girl with flowing hair. Then, something changed. The malice that had been present before dulled. No. That wasn't a good thing. It left behind the feral side of him, removing any shred of humanity he'd had left.

The wonderful thing about tigers, is... absolutely nothing. This tiger's top was made out of rubber. His bottom? Springs. He bounced, he trounced, he flounced, he pounced towards hair girl, one word on his mind: Fun. And as he bounced, and trounced, and flounced, one word escaped Aurum. "Run!"

He threw himself in front of the tiger like an imbecile.

Yeah. Like an idiot.

An idiot, that's what Aurum was. Shin didn't like it when friends threw themselves to tigers! Or straight into the lion's den! It was really unthoughtful, and rude!

Pouting aside, Aurum really was in a bad situation. And students these days were really bad with their talking back.

Ashton was there, with his gun. And Kealey. Why was Kealey there? Shin absolutely wanted Kealey somewhere safe and warm. And Henri? What the hell? Who else was going to show up to get in the way of him... and he supposed, Ashton, from doing their jobs?

He wasn't going 'cop mind' here. Cop training and dealings weren't rubbing off on him and his heroism here, no way. It was just that everyone was in their own sorts of danger, and friends don't let friends do stupid things stupidly.

Stupid, stupid. "Baka." Good god, had he just sworn under his breath in Japanese? That was completely out of character for him. Desperate times often called for desperate measures.

Desperate times... aw, hell. Nobody else could go as fast as him (45 miles per hour, here. If they were bragging). Nobody else could bridge the distance between Aurum and the tiger... except maybe Ashton, with a bullet, but that was stupid. Too many people close by. It was on him. To do something stupid. And maybe get himself mauled by a tiger. So, he did.

The purplish-pink platform pushed towards the lawyer and the tiger. Shin scooped himself forwards, in a football retrieval maneuver. He'd seen this in anime shows. The hero flew in, all cool, to rescue the endangered friend from an enemy attack. Scoop them up, and fly them to safety. It usually worked 100% of the the time on television!

This wasn't television.

While he succeeded in scooping a protesting lawyer up and flying him to safety, he failed to notice the tiger's true aim, the girl.

Bouncy trouncy, people. The tiger was still on the move. It didn't even notice the teensy rock that pelted the back of its head.

(( OOC: So, here's the plan. Shin picked Aurum up, and off to safety, but he left Henri to goggle wide-eyed at the tiger, out of her league. Everyone should respond to that. In my next post, I want to trade places with Henri (with Ashton), because all of my guys are idiots who throw themselves in front of a tiger in the same thread. Nobody should get in the way of such glorious foolishness. It's too good to pass up.))

Besides the man she had jumped in front of, there was now a woman involved, some guy who called himself a detective, and a man she recognized as Shin flying on a triangle. Really? What was with all the people all of a sudden? The brunette blinked as if confused for a moment, but shook her head and held her ground.

She would've continued holding her ground if the man behind her didn't dive in front of her, practically giving himself to the tiger man. "Oh my god! Are you insane?!"A logical question. Of course, she had done the same for him, so maybe they were both insane.

At this point, Henri felt kind of irritated that the guy she was trying to protect her had now blocked her off and almost committed suicide, intentional or otherwise. She probably would've yelled at him some more if Shin didn't pick him up and fly him to safety. Unfortunately, now the tiger was practically on top of her. She really hoped that all that practice-falling with Mr. Stein would pay off and she wouldn't be crushed on impact.

Seriously? Seriously?.

The rock bounced off the back of the tiger-guy’s head and was treated with about as much respect as a gnat. This was ridiculous…who could just ignore a rock when it pelted them in the back of the head? Kealey stomped her foot and growled, looking around for something else to use since apparently this guy was immune to rocks…there really was nothing and now Aurum was putting himself in harm’s way.

Kealey didn’t know what to do. The detective showed up with his gun, and the blond ignored a fleeting thought to let him know that projectiles seemed a bit ineffective against this guy when a figure on a triangular platform swooped in and snagged Aurum right up off the ground.

”Nice!” Kealey shouted, then scowled again as the tiger continued to approach the girl.

”Officer, if you’ve got a plan, I’d put it into action.” she called to the man with the gun. That meant he was in charge, didn’t it? ”And I hope your bullets do a better job getting his attention than my rock did.”

Gina took in the state of things-- numerous people, all of who were throwing themselves in the tiger's way in an attempt to stop him. Good God, what a snafu, Gina grumbled, shifting. She could get so busted for being out here, so busted, but she couldn't help but feel there was something she could do, despite the cluster of people that were already involved. The creature had claws, as did she, the creature had fangs, as did she. Sure, the tiger-guy seemed a little bit more far-gone than she was, but they were fundamentally, physiologically similar. None of these other people seemed to have that going for them. It was unfair to assume that they didn't have some other power going for them, but this was Gina's rationale.

Her stomach clenched as one of the men threw himself at the tiger in defense of the girl with the animate hair. That idiot! She held her ground, though, because as if on cue, the Asian boy on the flying triangle swooped in and pulled him out of the way. What about the freaking girl? Gina let loose a stream of swears that were uncharacteristic of her personality as adrenaline suddenly surged into her veins.

She wouldn't be able to pick her up and carry her off, that was for certain. She was slender, yes, but she was also a good deal taller than Gina was, so probably too heavy for her to lift. If she couldn't move the other girl out of the way, maybe she could redirect the tiger's attention. Man, she'd really wanted to stay hidden longer than this.

"Hey, you!" Gina shouted, at the top of her lungs, "Yeah, I'm talking to you, you ugly overgrown hairball! Why don't you pick on someone your own size!"

For someone who was probably going to be in serious trouble for being out here, she should have chosen fighting words that were a little less cliche than that.

"Yeah, stupid, I'm talking to you!" she reiterated, gaining a little more courage. She stepped up onto the roof's edge, taloned feet curling over the edge of the roof for balance, "You think it's cool to pick on people without claws!? You pansy! You're nothing but a bully and a wuss! You hear me, fluffy? A bully and a wuss!"

Good God, she was going to be so busted, if she didn't wind up dead or mauled by this tiger-guy.

So busted.

Shinbo was so busted. He'd saved the guy, but left the girl. A curse left Ashton's mouth harshly. He focused on the girl. Drummed up a mental image. And then, the girl wasn't where she'd been before. He was in her place. Under the pouncing tiger. With his gun jammed in its mouth.

"Freeze, dirtbag." He announced. "Unless you hate living."

The tiger's whole body froze as the feral fury was replaced by fear.

The tiger man might have been able to take a few insults and stones without breaking any bones, but bullets wouldn't only hurt him. Things had just got real.

Real. Stupid!

"Shin, you idiot! The girl!" Aurum beat against Shin's chest for a blurred second, then stopped. Realization had hit him. "AND JUST HOW THE HELL ARE YOU HOLDING ME!?"