X-Men: Fight the Future

[Phalanx]

"Your resistance is noted," one of the Phalanx said.

Its arm shifted into some sort of directed energy cannon, and the dozen soldiers opened fire on the X-Men!

[Bobby Bowen]

Bobby has learned a few tricks in the years away from the school.

His left arm formed into a circular shield, visibly hardening and becoming more dense.

[Robin Stanton]

"Such..." Robin body contorts into a C-shape as she dodges a shot aimed at her torso. "...rude..." Her head ducks down between her shoulders to avoid another blast. "...boys." Finally her head pops back up and her whole body follows in a smooth arc, landing in a puddle in front of one of the Phalanx before shooting back out as one giant fist punching the wannabe-Borg.

[Aiden Mitchell]

Aiden used an open hand to deflect the first energy blast fired at him and then a second as he advanced with superhuman speed towards the neqrest Phalanx. He tried to turn it and put it in a hold so he could use it as a not quite human shield.

[Artemis]

Artemis' armour took several hits, leaving some nice scorch marks that made her look like a total badass. At least in her opinion. "Ooh, neat trick! But now let a pro show you tinker toys how it's done."

The repulsors in Artemis' feet fired, the mechanical form hovering high above her teammates as both arms shifted into energy cannons and began to return fire as she spun around in place. And of course her energy blasts were pink.

[Narrator]

Bobby has learned a few tricks in the years away from the school.

His left arm formed into a circular shield, visibly hardening and becoming more dense.

The blasts would send him sliding backwards, but they wouldn't chip through his shield just yet...

"Such..." Robin body contorts into a C-shape as she dodges a shot aimed at her torso. "...rude..." Her head ducks down between her shoulders to avoid another blast. "...boys." Finally her head pops back up and her whole body follows in a smooth arc, landing in a puddle in front of one of the Phalanx before shooting back out as one giant fist punching the wannabe-Borg.

Robin made contact with a solid blow on the Phalanax...but would find herself stuck to it. And beginning to be absorbed by it.

"Mutant candidate for collective assimilation located."

Aiden used an open hand to deflect the first energy blast fired at him and then a second as he advanced with superhuman speed towards the neqrest Phalanx. He tried to turn it and put it in a hold so he could use it as a not quite human shield.

The Phalanx in question was grabbed for a moment, but two additional tentacle-arms shot out from behind to attempt to break the hold, trying to gain the leverage advantage.

Artemis' armour took several hits, leaving some nice scorch marks that made her look like a total badass. At least in her opinion. "Ooh, neat trick! But now let a pro show you tinker toys how it's done."

The repulsors in Artemis' feet fired, the mechanical form hovering high above her teammates as both arms shifted into energy cannons and began to return fire as she spun around in place. And of course her energy blasts were pink.

Artemis' energy blasts were the most effective so far, sending the Phalanx scattering as they attempted to get around and outflank her.

"Your technology will be absorbed and become part of the Phalanx. You shall be a select."

[Bobby Bowen]

Bobby sprung at the Phalanx grappling Robin, not pulling any punches. He formed his right arm into a dense blade, slicing at the borg’s neck.

[Aiden Mitchell]

One tentacle wrapped an arm and so Aiden looked for a gap in the carapace/armor to shove a knife hand into searching for some kind of necessary cabling or component to grab and RIP out.

[Artemis]

Artemis' energy blasts were the most effective so far, sending the Phalanx scattering as they attempted to get around and outflank her.

"Your technology will be absorbed and become part of the Phalanx. You shall be a select."

"If this is the best you can do after having a twenty year head-start on me, I sincerely doubt it." Artemis flew out from over the team to the outer perimeter of the fighting, doing her best to force the assailants to fight a battle of two fronts.

[Samantha McManus]

Samantha had burst into a flock of ravens as the Phalanx opened fire, and they wheeled overhead before coming together into a thick slab of muscle and horn, crashing an aurochs down into the midst of the cyborgs.

[Phalanx]

Bobby sprung at the Phalanx grappling Robin, not pulling any punches. He formed his right arm into a dense blade, slicing at the borg’s neck.

That worked, with Bobby's attack slicing into the Phalanx's neck, sending it tumbling to the ground.

A second Phalanx approached the fallen one, and began absorbing it.

One tentacle wrapped an arm and so Aiden looked for a gap in the carapace/armor to shove a knife hand into searching for some kind of necessary cabling or component to grab and RIP out.

No internal cabling to speak of; it was all external. Aiden could get a good grip on that, though, and ripping it to shreds did send his Phalanx to the floor, for now.

"If this is the best you can do after having a twenty year head-start on me, I sincerely doubt it." Artemis flew out from over the team to the outer perimeter of the fighting, doing her best to force the assailants to fight a battle of two fronts.

Artemis was successful in drawing some of the Phalanx away; less successful in actually doing much damage, as the Phalanx were absorbing bits of the mall to replenish anything she was shooting off.

Samantha had burst into a flock of ravens as the Phalanx opened fire, and they wheeled overhead before coming together into a thick slab of muscle and horn, crashing an aurochs down into the midst of the cyborgs.

Sam's attack was successful in scattering a few more of the Phalanx, because big sharp horns are not recommended for use with most modern machinery. Another one jumped on her back, however, and began to try to envelop Sam, looking to absorb her and infect her with their Transmode Virus!

[Robin Stanton]

"Oh god, they're even grosser on the inside!" Robin exclaims, one arm extended to a nearby handhold and trying to pull herself free to little avail. Until Bobby sliced off the entire head and she pops free along with it, slingshotting herself into a wall along with the head.

"Blech. All slimy, like stepping into a bog..."

[John Hino]

John had armored himself when the enemy appeared. Then he made a series of hand movements while muttering something in Japanese. After that, he charged the nearest Phalanx and stomped the floor hard. Cracks of energy raced ahead before the floor violently erupted under the Phalanx.

[Narrator]

John had armored himself when the enemy appeared. Then he made a series of hand movements while muttering something in Japanese. After that, he charged the nearest Phalanx and stomped the floor hard. Cracks of energy raced ahead before the floor violently erupted under the Phalanx.

The floor exploded in a burst of light and energy, sending the Phalanx tumbling to the floor below as things cracked and shattered.

[John Hino]

John leaped down after it and landed on top of it before grabbing it by the head and pulling.

[Narrator]

John leaped down after it and landed on top of it before grabbing it by the head and pulling.

Brutal, but effective!

[Robin Stanton]

Meanwhile Robin is still trying to detach the dead head from her hand, shaking it around with a noodly arm, banging it on the ground, until she finally falls on her butt and braces both feet against the severed head and extends her legs until something gives. Her arms naps back and whaps her in the face while the Phalanx head goes flying and smacks right into the gun of one of the other Phalanxes.

[John Hino]

John sprouted wings of darkforce and flew back up through the hole he made. He circled once and dove for another Phalanx, strafing it with ice breath.

[Narrator]

Both Robin and John's attacks were successful, and it looked like the X-Men had the Phalanx on the run!



"You have performed impressively here, but in the overall scheme of things, X-Men, this is a minor setback.

Initiating Phase Two."


With that, Robin would feel her Engine getting hot, signals being sent into her brain. The X-Men must be destroyed!

All around the teams, people in the mall started breaking off, grabbing whatever they could find, and shambling towards the team, as whatever "Phase Two" was started hacking into their future tech.

[Robin Stanton]

Robin looks confused for a moment, then her eye starts twitching, which ripples out across her whole face until it snaps into a scowl, elongated arm rapidly withdrawing until it's a more reasonable shape. She opens her mouth and all that comes out is a garbled, almost electronic screech before she leaps. Splashing against the outside of one of the glass elevator tubes she rapidly soaks into it and with a loud creak it tears out of the ceiling, the tube whipping around and in the process hurling the (thankfully empty) elevator cabin at the group of X-Men.

[Artemis]

Artemis wasn't too upset about the lack of gooey explosions as the result of her strikes, if she had thought things would have gotten so hectic she probably would have tried to construct a weapons pod or two before they left. And while she could have landed and let those servo motors power her punches she didn't dare get within arm's reach of these things, lest she find out how real the threat of being absorbed was. The change in the combat was a little more obvious from above than in the thick of things, seeing gawking onlookers suddenly pause before beginning to push forward toward the fray.

Robin hadn't attracted her attention until the elevator tube was ripped from the ceiling and the car sent tumbling through the air. She boosted her repulsors and flew to try and meet it mid-air; if she couldn't stop it, maybe she could at least slow it's descent enough that it flew over the heads of her allies rather than crashing directly into them.

[Samantha McManus]

Samantha shifts wildly to fight off the attempted infection, finally turning into a snake and quickly slithering between the legs of the retreating Phalanx and barely avoiding what Robin is throwing at the team.

That's the point at which she reaches out to Robin's mind for a single thing.

The pink girl's middle name.

[Robin Stanton]

Sam's mental probe cuts to the core pretty well. Even though she's currently inhabiting an animated elevator tube, her name still rings true as for her identity and her middle name even more so, carrying the connotations of the dreaded full-name-call from a parent. Sam still finds herself cutting through some chaff of fake middle names Robin has claimed to have in the past. Danger. Q. Batman. Punchem. Crisscross. Bananarama. Like her Dad's, her mental defenses are borderline silly and not the most effective in the world, leading Sam to land on the correct one without too much trouble. Robin Louise Stanton.

In response the elevator shaft briefly hesitates, the cables that had unfurled from it's "mouth" flopping to the ground.

[Aiden Mitchell]

Aiden dropped the Phalanx and stomped on it's head to make sure it was as permanently disabled as was possible. That was when things started to go awry and he leapt to assist Artemis by helping to catch the elevator.

[John Hino]

John landed just as a magic stone club crashed in through a window and soared past the retreating Phalanx to deposit itself in his reaching hand.

"Oh, now you show up," he groused before moving towards the enthralled crowd. He tapped a metal garbage receptacle with his weapon to make noise and called out, "Go! I'll hold them off!"

[Samantha McManus]

"Okay, anybody who can jam wifi, we're going to need that," Sam says as she shifts back to human.

"I think I can confuse a few but we need that signal shut down!"

[Narrator]

"I'm on it!" Calvin said, his hands full of, uh, 'borrowed' electronics from the store downstairs.

"Just give me five minutes!"

*CRASH*

..."Four minutes!"

[Narrator]

John landed just as a magic stone club crashed in through a window and soared past the retreating Phalanx to deposit itself in his reaching hand.

"Oh, now you show up," he groused before moving towards the enthralled crowd. He tapped a metal garbage receptacle with his weapon to make noise and called out, "Go! I'll hold them off!"

There were a lot of people, and presumably John didn't want to hurt them TOO badly. He could hold some of them off, but the crowd was getting larger, and larger...

[Samantha McManus]

"Okay Robin, you know this isn't you, aye? Can you eject that blasted social media thingy?"

[Bobby Bowen]

Bobby ran up to John’s choke point, elongating his arms and shaping them into solid barriers, to prevent the infected civilians from advancing.

“I’ll buy the first round of the future liquor, assuming we survive this.”

[Robin Stanton]

There's quite a bit of resistance to the idea of that from Robin and the elevator cables lash out to grab Aiden by the ankle and pull him towards the mouth of the elevator-worm.

Must... smash... X-Men. The goopy-robots said so!

[Samantha McManus]

Sam frowns.

"...Robin Louise Stanton, what did your mum teach you about table manners?"

[Aiden Mitchell]

There's quite a bit of resistance to the idea of that from Robin and the elevator cables lash out to grab Aiden by the ankle and pull him towards the mouth of the elevator-worm.

Must... smash... X-Men. The goopy-robots said so!

Aiden hit the ground and was dragged down towards the elevator-worm thing. His hands crackled with energy s he tried to decide whether or not to blast the thing or punch the thing since it had been an ally only a few moments ago.

[Artemis]

With Aiden's help, the two had managed to stop the elevator car from smashing into their allies, though Artemis found it much heavier when the man was drug across the floor toward the waiting maw of the shaft. She let it drop to the floor, splintering the tile beneath it with a crash as she prepared to rush in and help. Unfortunately she hadn't realized just how far back the kinetic force of the elevator has pushed her. Before she could fully power up her repulsors the crowd was upon her with their makeshift weapons, and she disappeared beneath their mass.

Muffled under that grunting mound of mind-controlled innocents came a high-pitched electronic whine that grew in volume until vibrant bolts of electricity arced over and through the crowd, rendering everyone within ten feet of it immobilized. Unconscious bodies slumped to the side as Artemis lifted herself to her feet.

"Looks like I'm on crowd control too."

[Bobby Bowen]

“Welcome to the party, then.”

Bobby pushed back, his arms shifting into plow scoops, knocking the advancing civilians off their feet.

[Robin Stanton]

No shifting at the table! is the immediate, almost kind of pouty response as the elevator whips Aiden back and forth, smashing him into floor, ceiling and nearby columns.

[Samantha McManus]

"And you take your Engine off at the dining table, young lady. You can InstaFace your food all you like on your own, but we're going to sit down and have a civilized meal!"

Sam does her best to lace every word with weaponized guilt.

[Aiden Mitchell]

No shifting at the table! is the immediate, almost kind of pouty response as the elevator whips Aiden back and forth, smashing him into floor, ceiling and nearby columns.

Aiden is fortunate that he's durable, but he was getting pretty irritable after the third, or was it was the fourth? Maybe it was the fifth time, you start losing contact at a certain point, being smashed into something. Energy started to crackle from his body more as his irritation built and Robin would feel like Aiden was staring feel quite warm to the touch.

[Artemis]

"Thanks. Heads up if capsaicin has any adverse effects on brass." Artemis' arms shifted in shape, hands disappearing into her forearm as they transformed; one into a 6-barreled microgun and the other into a 3-barreled rotating grenade launcher, both already spinning up. Sure, the ammunitions were police-grade pepper balls and C2 gas grenades, but it would still be unpleasant to get shot with. She just hoped that the influence over the mob wouldn't overpower their instincts to avoid pain.

[Bobby Bowen]

“Thanks, but I should be good.”

Bobby returned his view to the crowd, keeping an eye for odd movement.