#freedevent002

Having spent most of her time since she returned to the X-Men post-M-Day in the mansion, it was no surprise to Lorna that she was more than a little rusty in the fighting department. However, she blamed her current predicament on the fact that she couldn’t get her damn mutations to agree.

“Hey-”

“Fuck-”

“Shit-”

As punches flew, Lorna quickly lost track of which words were hers and which belonged to the crowd of people that seemed to be steadily surrounding her, egging on her attackers, with many even joining in, not even having the courtesy to come at her one by one. Luckily, her current utilization of her nexus status meant that their blows easily bounced off of her, but that didn’t make the situation any less irritating or tiring.

A gap was once again formed in the crowd as she kicked yet another attacker into their midst, the short gap following allowing her to rest her hands on her knees.

“This is fun and all, but is there any chance, that we could take a break?” She asked between pants, before another mystery attacker leaped onto her back.

“Apparently not.” She growled, throwing them off of her and turning to punch another incomer.

it had been a long few days. everyone had felt it. and things were, amazingly, starting to get boring for zachary. so it was time to show his face. there had been hundreds of thousands- maybe even approaching millions- of dollars of property damage and looting, dozens of people in icus across the city and even a handful dead, along with the hundreds of people with minor injuries. 

but even blood was getting boring. people seemed to have ignored, or perhaps forgotten, the fact this was for mutants. he wanted to make things better. maybe he’d been a little heavy handed- but then, daken had taught him that the best entrance was a big one. 

he found his way to times square. most people were ignoring him, a youngish teen, in decent clothes, keeping to himself? in all this panic, that was practically a saint. until the people causing the fuss over a woman’s handbag noticed him and stopped, coming over. 

‘boss?” one of them said, folding his arms over his chest.

‘yes. it’s time. take the fight right to them.”

“Jeez, is there anyone left in this city who isn’t a bad guy?”

When you search for the cause of this, the strange figure, the one who’s given you this power boost, who’s orchestrated the explosions and the attacks... At first, you find nothing. It’s not like there’s a block- since his words, you’ve found there are few blocks that can hold up against the might of all four of you. He’s just... not there. 

But you breathe, as one, and you focus, and... he’s there.

It’s hard to get a read on him, even now, with your powers- there’s something not blocking you, but confusing things. The picture in your heads is almost distorted, like a fuzzy TV screen, the cable not quite connected, and then you all breathe again and it’s clear.

He’s young- surprisingly so, given what he appears to have masterminded. He’s powerful, too, Omega level for sure. You reach out and- there’s a name. Zachary. You feel like you saw this boy, a few months ago- Cerebra telling you of a new mutant emerging. But when Bobby and Kitty went to fetch him, he was already gone.

What happened to him is beyond you, however, and as you try to delve deeper- to find his motives, his plan, his next step, you get a cold feeling in your minds, and hear a voice clear as day. 

“If you want to know what’s really going on, maybe you should find the person who found me before your friends did.”

As soon as the three explosions took place, the panic and injury sent psychic shockwaves throughout the state. Despite being trained to block out stray thoughts, such intensity, especially by that many people, could affect even the most trained of telepaths: the Cuckoos were no exception. As the five were in the library, each reading a different genre of novel, the shockwave hit them and they immediately closed and/or dropped their books to touch their temple.

All: “Ughh....”

The Cuckoos groaned in pain, feeling the psychic strain of all those peoples’ trauma. Instinctively, Christian immediately shifted to diamond form to silence the wave, and milliseconds later, the rest of the Cuckoos followed suit as if they were on automatic. Taking a brief moment, the Cuckoos simultaneously shifted back into their normal forms, regained their composure, and adjusted their psychic shields accordingly.

Psychically reaching out, their echoing psionic voice echoed into the nearest mind, with Sean leading the charge.

“Shit, fuck- goddamnit.”