[Plot] Power to the People

[Will Stanton]

Armed with a baseball bat, Will slowly crept through the corridors of the Point, heading towards the staircase leading to the subbasement where Lippencott had holed up.

Seeing the coast appearing to be clear for now, he signaled everyone else to come forward.

[Robin Stanton]

Robin's close behind, clutching a hockey stick and peering down the staircase.

"Running into danger is much less fun if you can't do it with reckless abandon..." she whispers.

[Will Stanton]

"And now you know why everyone else is so brave. Consequences suck," Will whispered back.

[Victor Freud]

Victor peeked around the others, holding the loaf pan to his chest.

"... what's up with the scorch marks?" He asks. Oh, right, he wasn't around for that part of the conversation.

[Will Stanton]

"Laser beams. You don't want to get hit by those. Hopefully, Tosh can get them not to fry us, which would be...preferable."

[Victor Freud]

Victor blinked, and then looked at the floor and walls, and then back on the others.

"Why not just take some panels off the walls and use them as shields?" Vic was a "simple solutions" kind of guy.

[Emilie]

Emilie stood next to Victor with brass knuckles on both hands.

How did she get them? Where had she been hiding them? WHY did she need them?

All questions better left unanswered for now.

[Samantha McManus]

"There's something honest about real danger," Sam says as she passes Robin.

[Robin Stanton]

"Easy for you to say, you're used to having blood and guts."

[Leo Eskandari]

Leo trailed along silently, creeping through the shadows on all fours. He wanted to get the drop on anyone trying to sneak up on them.

[Shane Marsh]

"I'm with Robin, permanent harm is for the bloody birds," Shane said, heating a baseball bat of his own. . He was thankfully in his X-Men uniform.

[Samantha McManus]

"I am the bloody birds."

"Earn a scar or two."

[Victor Freud]

"Scars are considered identifying marks by almost all law-enforcement agencies." Well, there was Victor's stance on the matter.

[Robin Stanton]

"Yeah that tracks with the bomb-making skills alright."

"Okay, time to put Tosh's hacking to the test." she says and steps out in front of the door, hockey-stick raised as if she could somehow block lasers with it.

[Narrator]

So far, so good, at least -- Robin wasn't immediately incinerated as she entered the hallway. That had to be a plus!

[Will Stanton]

"Alright, Vic, get into position. We gotta blow this Popsicle stand."

[Victor Freud]

Victor nodded his head and, with the pan held against his chest, started to make his way quickly toward the looming metal door.

[Emilie]

Em stayed in position, ready to pounce anyone who may interrupt Vic. She did not follow him however, not wanting to attract undue attention to him.

[Leo Eskandari]

Leo sniffed the air as he listened, alert for any trouble.

[Samantha McManus]

"What's the matter, Quartermain?" Sam says to nowhere in particular. "Lose your nerve?"

[Victor Freud]

Victor looked back at Sam with a hiss. "Don't. Taunt. The villain. While someone. Is holding. The payload."

[Quinn Quartermain]

"I think you'd all best stop right where you are," Quinn's voice suddenly sounded, apparently out of nowhere. "I don't recall giving any of you permission to come a-knocking."

[Samantha McManus]

"Well you're not big on asking permission yourself, so we're trying it on for size."

[Shane Marsh]

"So you should leave while you can, unless you want you're arse in a bleedin' cast," Shane threatened.

[Leo Eskandari]

Leo strained his hearing, trying to determine a source for the projected voice. Or even just breathing or an odor not of the group.

[Drake Martin]

Drake stood with the main group, a police baton wielded in each hand. The Genoshan school system's mandatory self defense classes were, in part, for moments like this where powers were unable to be relied on. Powers he felt completely wrong without.

[Narrator]

"I tell you what. If you all stroll out, single-file, we'll pretend this never happened."


Leo couldn't tell were the voice was coming from -- it was bouncing off the walls and whatnot. Damn magicians, throwing their voices. His nose, on the other hand, could catch a faint scent of patchouli coming from...the ceiling?

[Victor Freud]

Victor hesitated for just a moment before he made a dash for the door. If Quartermain struck him down, he might also expose himself for the others to get their hits in. Or they might distract the invisible man long enough for him to get the job done.

[Leo Eskandari]

Leo slowly rose to two feet an, without looking up, walked right under where the smell was strongest. Suddenly, he punched through the tile, grabbed ahold whatever he could, and pulled down. Being extremely tall had its perks.

[Quinn Quartermain]

Leo's surprise attack worked, surprisingly! His arm came down with a handful of pant leg, and a magician dangling from it. Success!

Of course, that success was short lived, as Quinn clapped his hands together, shooting a fireball out at the chimeraboy.

[Leo Eskandari]

Leo, howling in panic, reacted by roughly flinging Quinn down the hall. He then immediately began ripping off his burning XU shirt and beating out his smoldering forearm. Without his regeneration, that was going to hurt.

[Victor Freud]

Victor would have to thank Leo later for running interference. If they got out of this alive that is. As it stood he slid into the door and immediately slapped the not-banana-loaf onto the door, spreading the clay-like substance along the seam.

[Quinn Quartermain]

Quinn *poofed* as he hit the back wall, and came running back in from around the corner.

"Alright. Let's see if we can't try a variation on the ol' 'sawing someone in half' routine," he said, a bit out of breath, but brandishing his sword.

[Ballinger Lippincott]

Victor would have to thank Leo later for running interference. If they got out of this alive that is. As it stood he slid into the door and immediately slapped the not-banana-loaf onto the door, spreading the clay-like substance along the seam.

A voice crackled over the intercom. "Mr. Freud, I hope you are aware that if you damage the mutagens inside this room, then no one will be getting powers back at all, yes?"

[Robin Stanton]

Robin wants to take the moral highroad, shout about that not being as important as saving the country from plunging into chaos. But the thought of not getting her power back, possibly ever, makes her freeze in place, even with a sword-wielding nutjob bearing down on them. "Uh..."

[Samantha McManus]

"He's been lying to us for months. Why would he start telling the truth now?"

She circles around Quartermain, looking for a gap in his guard.

[Robin Stanton]

"Yeah but... my power..."

[Quinn Quartermain]

Quinn was wisely keeping his distance from Sam, after what happened last time. He held the sword in just one hand, flicking his wrist to pop out a knife in the other.

"Honestly, after watching all of you bicker and argue and grump your way through life for months, it's going to be nice to cut you all down to size."

With that, he tossed the knife at Sam, it appearing to speed up in midair.

[Shane Marsh]

Shane rushed in to bat the knife away.

"You shouldn't play with knives."

[Samantha McManus]

"We all agree now. Congratulations?"