cutting_edgex23 | For Cass and Stitch

For Cass and Stitch

We will need help.

Laura told him that, and Julian--because really, she was the only one that knew what was going on. At least he hoped she did--set them down on a rooftop.

How the hell they were going to get reinforcements here, he had no idea.

"Hey, don't do--"

But she'd already cut through the locking mechanism on the door, slipping through without much of a sound.

Ten seconds later she was coming back through, accompanied by--was there a restaurant in there?--some people.

Mutants? This is getting weirder by the minute. And it was pretty damn screwed up already.

"Laura, what the--"

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Cass steps out through the door and right past Julian without giving him a second glance. There shouldn't be any hostiles around here, X had been in the area after all, but it never hurts to check.

Her eyes sweep back and forth, but she stands almost completely motionless.

A second figure appears, scutling rapidly on to the rooftop on all fours, snarling and gabbering am mile a minute in something that could almost be Japanese being spoken backwards.

Stitch is far less subtle in his investigation of their sorroundings than Cas; ears twitching and swiveling at the slightest noise, nose snuffling furiously.

"Julian."

X's voice calls Hellion's attention away from the newcomers.

A little bit, anyway.

"Stitch. Cass."

Apparently this counts as an introduction.

"We should go now."

Edited 2008-04-29 03:28 (UTC)

Cass nods her agreement. Then she remembers to lift a hand and wave at Julian.

Hi new person!

It's a few seconds before Stitch's attention comes to rest on Julian. And his facial expression.

The alien snickers.

Julian glares at the little blue thing. Then he looks at Laura.

"Okay. But when this is over, you are not getting out of explaining this."

X looks blank, then nods once.

"Okay."

She reaches down to snag Stitch, gesturing Cass over.

Julian is going to have to carry them both.

He, meanwhile, looks like he can't believe he's doing this.

While Julian looks slightly miffed Cassandra looks curious. How is this going to work? They don't really have a lot of telekinetics back home.

Stitch dangles in uncharacteristic stillness. He's not sure what's going on either. But apparently this guy is their wheels.

"He is telekinetic."

X obviously feels like this answers every question.

Julian, meanwhile, tucks her under his arm, using his mutation to float a couple inches off the floor.

The green glow around them is particularly scenic.

"So, you coming?"

He holds out one hand to Cass, prompted by X.

Cass, of course, eyes the hand for a moment in evaluation before she nods. Then she wraps her fingers loosely around his and waits.

Stitch grins in delight despite his undignified position. He's always been a thrill seeker. And this looks as though it might have the potential to happen very fast.

Fast is a good word for it.

Part of it is that they are being 'escorted' by Julian Keller.

Part of it is that this is not a joyride, and Cessily does not have the time to wait.

X and Julian are both clearly very worried.

"It will not be long."

X's voice is short, sharp.

"We will go through the window." Subtlety is for another day. One that matters less.

The only hint of Cass' rising tension is the slight tightening of her hand around Julian's. Other than that she's settling into the zone, getting ready to do what needs to be done.

She also approves of X's choice of entry points. Windows are good.

The grin gains an edge as the distance between the group and the window closes. Stitch flattens his ears and narrows his eyes.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAW!"

X tucks into a ball as they hurtle through the window, dropping into an almost-empty room.

One lone guard looks at them, jaw dropped.

It doesn't last.

The alarm blares out, the guard says something--Perimeter Breach in Building One. All Security Personnel Report--into his comm, and--

X and Julian, at least, shift to cover each other's back. X remembers to let go of Stitch, too.

Just in time for a squadron of guards to show up.

With guns.

The ball Cass rolls into is rather similar to X's, and they roll to their feet pretty much at the same time. Cass notes the lone guard and decides someone else can handle him so she's already headed in the right direction when the guards arrive.

Her fist snaps out in one long, smooth punch and there's one less guard aiming guns at her friends.

Stitch drops to the floor in a clatter of claws, growling loudly as he too charges. Stitch, while fast and agile, is nothing like Cassandra. Which is a few gaurds may get off a round before he closes the gap between them.

One gun he can dodge with ease. Three and it gets tricky. An entire armed squadron? Not so much.

The experiement hits the closest gaurd headfirst in the midsection with enough force to send him sprawling.

"Hey!," Julian yells. "Stay close!"

Sadly, no one is listening.

Not even X. Though she keeps an eye on him all the same. He is her teammate.

But right now most of her attention is focused on the enemy.

snikt

And then she is moving, adamantium claws slicing through gun barrels like they aren't there. They could slice through armor, too, but--

She is trying not to kill anyone today.

Cassandra approves of X's restraint. She demonstrates this approval with a spinning kick that catches three guards at the same time. There's even a moment spared to flick a batarant into the back of the hand of a guard trying to draw a bead on Stitch despite all the other guards in the line of fire.

The tackled gaurd is layed out with a punch. Helmet or no, that's gotta hurt.

Which lets Stitch's immediate attention transfer onto the guy howling in pain and clutching his hand, weapon fallen at his feet. He too is quickly silenced by a small blue projectile colliding with the side of his head.

Julian, in between hitting guards with TK, is also doing his best to keep a shield up between himself and the vast array of weaponry in the room.

He's also trying to keep some on Laura and her friends, but by and large they are too fast-moving and far away.

It sucks.

X backhands one of the guards, hard enough to knock his head into the wall. He goes down, tripping up the one next to him.

A flying kick takes that one out, giving X an aerial pivot-point to launch herself off, moving back toward Julian.

They need to clear out this room and buy themselves some space so that she can track Cessily.

This feels too slow.

But she is glad Cass and Stitch are here.

It is--easier.

And more sensible.

Sensing some of X's urgency Cassandra picks up the pace. Of course rushing makes her a bit less precise. She still steps among the guards, and they still go down after one touch, but instead of a simple nerve strike or blow to the head the need for speed leads Cass to break bones and dislocate joints.

The effect is mostly the same: men go down and they don't get back up, but this way is noisier and messier.

Noisy and messy is kind of Stitch's style when he's not pressed for time. The most recent recipient of his attention is still clinging to consciousness when an iron grip seizes him around the ankles.

And proceeds to use him as a make shift flail against several of his compatriots. There is a terrified shout which cuts off abruptly as one guard’s visor becomes very well acquainted with another's knees.

X dives under a blow from one guardsman, rolling onto her back and kicking his knee out with an audible pop.

She uses that momentum to get back on her feet, slicing through another gun barrel or two before delivering a quick series of punches to someone that has gotten much too close to Julian's back.

Julian, meanwhile, sends a sharp burst of TK, taking out two guards that had a bead on Laura's back.

She casts him a quick look, taking the time to reassess the terrain.

He grins. "No need to thank me or anything."

X doesn't reply (not even with a withering glare), just turns to continue clearing the ro--

SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

The noise is piercing, the pain is almost blinding, and Laura goes to her knees, hands covering her ears.

A tall statuesque woman strides forward, smirking broadly, her hand held high. Some sort of device rests in her palm.

"I do so love telekinetics. They're so overconfident." The screeching sound which somehow makes it hard to breathe, much less continue fighting, only increases in intensity as she gets closer. "Mind powers are useless when you can't form a coherent thought."

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