**A/N: I had to use a bit of "creative licencing" again. This was the second live-session role play the group did, as well as the first one that we tried doing in a moderately quickened pace since it was mildly action-intensive. On top of everything else, whereas in the Mixer role play the players split up in small groups and pairings - enabling them to more-or-less ignore everything else going on around them - the Danger Room session forced everyone to react to everything everyone else was doing. It was sort of chaotic.
Players got lost - one completely left the session due to his internet connection failing - and typing speeds hindered some as well, causing even more chaos as some people took so long to respond to an action that said action was already resolved by the time their character reacted. I had to read a full page's worth of role playing and try to re-organize it to make a more coherent narrative. It was tricky and kept me three days to accomplish.
This chapter is also the longest recap - second only to the prologue - at 9pgs and just under 5600 words. This is the longest Danger Room session we have to date at 28pages. However, we do have another session coming up that clocked in at 15pages, and so that's gonna be a long one too.
Anyway, not only is this recap so long because of how long the session itself was, but also because I included more dialogue this time around. There are just some passages that were done so well in-game that I just couldn't paraphrase them; they needed to remain intact.
So, without further ado, quick legal stuff yet again and then the recap! YAY!
Legal Stuffs again:
X-Men, Deadpool, the Danger Room, and the Xavier Institute are all the property of Marvel Comics. The OCs (Chayse, Nix, Lia, Annika, Draco, Luke, Kinney, Azatullah, Penumbra, Marjory, Willow, and Hedge) are all the intellectual property of the players that created them for our game.**
Nix entered the Danger Room, geared up to work out his anger and stress over injuring the young girl that morning. Flexing the powers he knew he had control over, he instantly lowered the ambient temperature to the point where everyone else could see their breath. As Lia entered she responded to the cold by increasing her own body temperature; radiating a heat of easily 100-degrees in a five-foot radius around her body.
More students slowly trickled in to the group session. First was Draco, then Chayse, followed by Luke, and finally one of the newer recruits walked in. He had been at the institute for only a few weeks and was still too awkward and shy to attempt the mixer the night before. Azatullah was only in the group session for two reasons. One: he knew he needed to utilize the institute's ability to help him train in his newly found powers of earth-particle manipulation (sand, dust, gravel, lose dirt, etc). Two: he was the son of Afghani mutant Dust and the institute's own Headmaster Logan; after finally convincing Sooraya that Azatullah would be able to train easier at the institute there was no way Wolverine would let him miss sessions.
Lucas Kinney was the last to enter the Danger Room. Believing that everyone that was going to attend the session was there, Nix started things off by apologizing to the group about his powers and hurting that girl. He mournfully admitted that he had pushed his training too far, and that he was determined to not let it happen again.
As he finished, Logan and Rachel entered with four new faces. Rachel introduced them as visitors from the Colossus Academy in San Francisco. Leading the new brigade was Noelle, who more frequently went by her codename Penumbra. The British girl who once saved Magik by using her ability to manipulate shadows had blossomed over the years, dressing provocatively; so much that even her uniform had a plunging neckline. Following in behind Penumbra was Willow. She was petite with a bit of a typical "California tan". Her most distinguishing feature was her naturally silver-white hair which made her deep, aquamarine eyes pop. She had blue streaks through her hair and had it cut in an asymmetrical bob. Bashfully slinking in behind the girls was Winston, the young teen was easily recognizable by his green hair and a slight green tint to his tanned skin. The final transfer Marjory towered over the others; the nearly six-foot tall teen had a Mediterranean look with olive-skin and an athletic build.
After the introductions of Penumbra, Will 'o Wisp, Hedge, and Lookout, Rachel announced that the session would be a team versus team "Capture the Flag" with no powers allowed. Slightly shocked about not being able to use his powers, Nix returned the Danger Room to a normal room temperature. Lia quickly followed suit, especially after no longer needing the increased body heat to keep warm. No longer being able to use his powers as means for attack; Nix raced out of the room and returned a moment later with an Inuit warclub in one hand and a harpoon gun in the other. Lia backed away nervously, terrified about what could possibly happen in her first group training session. Luckily, Kinney quickly tapped Nix on the shoulder and confiscated the weapons. Rachel confirmed that there would also be no weapons in the session.
"What?" Nix cried out, "I can't even use those? What the hell am I supposed to do? Talk the problem away? Do I look like Deadpool? Christ!" Resembling a toddler throwing a tantrum Nix plopped hard on to the floor with his legs and arms crossed.
With a huff, Kinney walked up to Nix, arms on his hips as he scolded, "You don't have to talk the problem away, but don't be afraid to use your head."
Enraged, Nix blasted back at his teacher and team leader for the session. He raged about how he had used his head already that day, and because of it a girl was in a coma in the infirmary after suffering a hemorrhage. He confessed that he was now terrified to use his telepathic abilities, and had really hoped that he could have used the training sessions to master his powers. Finding out that he was so restricted, he was completely at a loss and snapped at Kinney.
Lucas barked back at first, but quickly took on a soothing voice as he told Nix that using his head also meant to focus on strategy, thinking things through, and never underestimating the power of a good headbutt.
Agreeing with Nix that the students should be able to use their powers whenever they were capable of being supervised – since training their abilities was the purpose of the school anyway – Rachel decided to recant her earlier decision, allowing powers to be used.
"Still," she added, "No weapons against other students." She then confiscated Draco's khukuri before directing him to join the team of new recruits so it was five versus five. As Draco crossed the room to join his new teammates, a large maze with walls that reached the Danger Room ceiling formed.
Annika raced in to the Danger Room just before her mother left to start the session. With a scolding look, Rachel confirmed that nothing started quite yet and that Annika could be on Kinney's team. With a nod to both Kinney and Logan, Rachel left to start up the session and watch from the observation room.
Draco sadly watched Rachel leave with his khukuri, and then turned to Logan to ask about how he'd be able to use his powers. He formed a kunai in each hand to demonstrate his mutation, and then pointed out that if he couldn't use weapons he wouldn't be able to use his abilities since that was just creating "more pointy things." Logan responded by extending his claws and reminding Draco that he too had "pointy things" as part of his mutation, but that didn't mean he'd use them. With a smirk, Draco replied that Logan's "pointy things" were impressive, but his packed "a bit more bang." With an eye roll, Kinney broke up the banter by extending his own claws before sarcastically calling Logan "grandpa." Azatullah – who had also inherited Logan's claws – slowly backed away from the whole confrontation and looked down at his scarred up knuckles. Being raised as a passivist, he quietly hoped that he wouldn't have to unsheathe his own.
After a brief stare down, both Logan and Lucas turned towards the students and explained the simple rules of the session: the flag is hidden in the maze; find it, capture it, and don't get caught by the other team in the process. The teams then split up as Logan walked his squad to their maze entrance.
Now being able to use the powers he was confident with; Nix shook off his self-doubt and walked over to Annika, calling her "Doll" in the process. She coldly warned him to never do so again and began stretching, showcasing how she was always completely serious while in training.
More of his confidence dwindling, Nix walked over to the corner to brood. Lia whispered to Annika about Nix's guilt over losing control earlier, and then advised that Annika shouldn't be so tough on him. Finally noticing how down he seemed, Annika walked over to Nix and playfully punched him in the shoulder before offering to take him out to dinner after the session so they could talk about his problem.
Lia sighed at her roommate, "You call that not being tough?" Nix just chuckled and reassured Lia that it was alright before taking Annika up on her offer. Before the session officially started, Chayse walked over to his best friend to verify that he'd be up to training. He pointed out that they had one more person on their team, and so it would just even out the teams if Nix wanted to sit out. Lia quickly disputed Chayse's claim that they'd be alright without Nix. Pointing over to the opposing team of new recruits she commented that even with the extra person they may still be outmatched.
The new recruits had all worked together before at Colossus Academy, and so they already had a bit of an advantage over the hodge-podge team Kinney was leading. Penumbra, taking her normal position as squad leader, called out that they should start with Formation A. She then stepped in to the shadows, disappearing. Willow and Marjory agreed. Lookout created a force field around the opposing team, and then quickly caught Willow as she entered a trance and fainted. With a loud, primal roar, Hedge's skin bubbled and his body contorted as he grew larger and larger; flames shooting out of his eyes and spikes growing out of his skin.
Kinney reassured Lia that they'd be fine as long as they "play smart." Nix, breaking a little out of his funk, reassured everyone that he'd be fine as long as he was able to focus on his ice powers; the ones he had near-perfect control over. Kinney smirked and told Nix to "freeze the hell out of this place." Happy to oblige, Nix again dropped the temperature of the room until everyone could see their breath linger in the air. His fists turned in to ice and the encasement increased until his whole body was made of ice. Snow started to swirl around them.
Meanwhile, Penumbra instructed Draco to keep a look out for the flag while the rest of the team kept the others busy. Lookout passed the unconscious Willow over to Logan as she followed Hedge, Penumbra, and Draco in to the maze. The three began their search for the flag while Lookout kept the opposing team trapped inside a force field they had yet to realize was around them.
Kinney started yelling out orders. Luke and Nix were instructed to keep the other team distracted with rain, snow, ice, anything the two of them could throw at them. Annika was directed to do whatever she could to slow down the other team; martial arts or telepathy, it didn't matter. Chayse and Lia were told to move as fast as they could through the maze in order to find the flag, with Chayse having the extra duty of keeping Lia safe.
Getting chilled by Nix freezing the room around them, Lia powered up in to her obsidian form, creating a heat aura around her in the process. Pumped and ready to go, the team raced towards the maze entrance. Nix quickly took the lead, only to slam full-force in to the force field Lookout created around them.
Annika, Chayse, and Lia raced to Nix's side as he recovered. Lia stared at the entrance of the maze and wondered what literally knocked Nix on to his back. Holding out her hand she felt an invisible wall. Nix then created a small spiral of snow pressing against the spot that Lia pointed out, showing off the wall blocking them. Lia quickly asked Chayse if he could phase through it, but before he could answer Monster Hedge showed up in front of them, taking a deep breath as if he were readying to spit fire.
Kinney pushed his squad behind him and extended his claws, preparing for battle in case Hedge could somehow break through the barrier blocking them. Readying for the attack, Nix repowered up in to his ice form, creating a harpoon in his hand in the process. In a panic, Azatullah pulled further from the group and cowered.
Concentrating too much on the wall and Lia's question, Chayse didn't notice Hedge. He focused on phasing through the force field, easily getting through since Lookout didn't create it too thick. He turned to let the group to know that it was passable, only to finally notice their battle stances. He whipped back around as Hedge released his fiery breath. Utilizing his superior reflexes he dodged the flame, but still felt its intense heat as it whizzed past him. Thankfully, the force field also acted as a shield as the flame smacked against it and dissipated. The blast revealed that the invisible wall nearly reached the ceiling.
Now knowing that it didn't somehow suppress powers, Luke quickly teleported to the other side of the force field and behind Hedge in an attempt to distract him from Chayse. Upset that the rest of the team was supposedly forgotten, Kinney yelled for Luke and Chayse to return and find a way to get the rest of the team past the force field. Before Luke could comply he felt something wrap around his waist. Penumbra pulled on the shadow, but Luke teleported out of the tug just in time. Appearing on the other side of the force field, he was quickly accompanied by Chayse and the two awaited Kinney's next order.
With new determination Kinney told his troops to "take down Hedge." With a smirk and a nod Luke used his mother's ability to manipulate weather to create a mini tornado outside the force field, again using it as an unintentional shield. Annika and Lia each grabbed one of Chayse's hands and told him to phase them all through. Nix powered up his telepathy, the tell-tale diamond skin already forming.
Although Chayse warned Nix against using the telepathy so soon after his incident that morning Nix continued. Ignoring everyone Nix used his telepathy to try to find the person responsible for the force field in an attempt to disable them and get the field down. Fearing that he'd again lose control, Kinney quickly grabbed Nix's shoulder and shook him out of his telepathic trance.
Startled, Nix returned to normal and violently shoved Kinney back, slamming him against a wall.
"What?" Nix screamed, "Where am I supposed to get a handle on this if not here? If I can't learn this damn thing this morning will repeat itself! I can't handle that! I see her face, Lucas!" His voice dropped as he took a step away from Kinney, releasing his teacher's uniform. "I see it… I hear her thoughts… God…" Nix slumped to the floor, tears spilling on to his cheeks, "She was so scared… I can't get it out of my head." His body shook as he thought about the girl and fought against weeping in the middle of the session. "I gave a twelve-year-old girl a hemorrhage this morning. If my mother hadn't been here to fix the problem, she'd have died. She's still in a coma in the infirmary, and it's my fault."
Kinney knelt in front of Nix, wrapped an arm around the teen's shoulders, and reassured him that they will work on the telepathy thing so he'd never again hurt anyone like that. He followed up that a room full of other students wasn't the right venue and Nix had to be patient. Finally understanding, Nix relayed over that the force field was Lookout's power, but there was some sort of interference preventing him from mentally attacking her. The thing that concerned him the most, however, was that Hedge didn't seem to have a mental signature.
Just as he expressed his concern Lia called out that something was happening to Hedge. While Nix was having his mini-breakdown the wind from Luke's mini-tornado had whipped around Hedge; scattering him as if he were made of smoke. Luke picked up the wind, but made sure to avoid his three teammates on the other side of the force field. He grabbed a hold of Azatullah and teleported them by the scattering Hedge, claiming that the two of them will keep Hedge busy. Azatullah had different plans and slowly slinked away unnoticed as he started to traverse the maze. He desperately attempted to find the flag in hopes of ending the session without too much confrontation and fighting.
Annika called out that she'd be going after Lookout and that Chayse and Lia should go find the flag. Chayse phased and started to literally run through the maze, completely ignoring the walls as he passed through them. Lia almost instantly got turned around in the maze, immediately losing track of both Annika and Chayse.
Using her telepathy to try to get a bead on Lookout, Annika threaded through the maze with ease. Making sure Chayse and Lia were doing just as good, she sent a mental question over to Lia. Although she knew Annika was communicating telepathically, Lia still responded aloud that she was beyond lost, but Chayse seemed to have been doing well for the brief moment she had sight of him. Annika nodded acknowledgement even though she knew her teammates couldn't see her. She then tried to mentally locate Chayse so she could direct Lia through the maze and to him.
Getting Annika's relay that Lia was lost, Chayse instantly stopped and looked at the maze wall in front of him. He mentally told Annika to stay away from the walls and to warn the rest of their team to do the same. He then touched the maze wall and focused. It kept a few minutes because of how massive an item it was that he was trying to charge, but slowly a lime green glow rippled out from his hand as it filled the maze walls.
Annika was a bit too distracted to relay over Chayse's message. She finally found Lookout; and was promptly punched through one of the maze walls. With a groan and a crack of her neck Annika stood back up and started punching at Marjory. The two begin a battle of fisticuffs, but Annika had no clue exactly how outmatched she was considering Marjory's super-human strength and durability. Lookout easily took the punches and quickly grappled Annika in to a bear hug before slowly squeezing the girl in to submission. The battle did seem to distract Lookout enough to drop the force field still preventing Kinney and Nix from entering the maze.
The force field was disabled and the strange monstrous Hedge was completely whipped away by Luke's tornado. Kinney whispered a swear as he realized that Monster Hedge was nothing more than some sort of illusion. With new resolve and no longer anything physically preventing him to continue with the session, Nix created a sheet of ice much like the kind his father frequently moved around on. Blasting an ice path in front of him, Nix quickly wove his way through the maze. As he left Kinney's heightened field of hearing, Nix whistled and commented about the glowing green walls.
Startled, Kinney switched focus to that of the green glowing maze, instantly knowing that it would not end well. Shaking his head in exasperation, he raced in to the maze; Luke following close behind with his tornado in toe.
Logan also instantly knew that green walls were not a good omen for anyone, and told his team to watch out.
"Is green bad?" Penumbra cocked an eyebrow at her instructor.
"You could say that," Wolverine grumbled and backed away from the maze, placing the still unconscious Willow against the far wall to protect her.
Nix found Chayse easily enough; slamming right in to his back. After quickly recovering, he asked what was going on. Chayse - already a bit fatigued from charging such a large mass - responded that he was ready to blow the maze, but he wasn't sure where Annika or Lia are; let alone the rest of the team.
"Got it," Nix created more ice and raced through the maze in an attempt to find anyone – or the flag – sending out a mental radar as he went. Annika quickly sensed him and telepathically asked if he was doing any better; only to be quickly cut off as she screamed in pain as Lookout gave her another tight squeeze. Nix quickened as he skated towards her location.
Feeling faint from the lack of oxygen in Lookout's grasp, Annika desperately swung her leg out to clip Marjory behind the knee. She hooked and pulled back, forcing Lookout to collapse. Still stuck in Marjory's bear hug, but the grapple loosened, Annika began wiggling to try to break free completely. It wasn't long before Nix rounded the corner and sent a blast of snow at Lookout.
The snow was just enough distraction for Annika to break away from Marjory, only to quickly turn back around and start kicking the girl in the abs. While still attacking her opponent, Annika telepathically asked Lia how she was doing.
Lia mentally yelled back that she wasn't doing well at all. She was beyond lost in the maze, had no clue where anyone was, and was getting really nervous about the glowing walls. She punctuated her concern by screaming out loud for anyone to come and fetch her. Quickly calmed after shouting, Lia then mentally asked Annika for any kind of direction.
Smirking at her young roommate's distress, Annika mentally told Lia to just steer clear of the walls because they were about to blow. She quickly added that help was on the way, and then told Nix to fetch the young Brazilian-American. Nix headed back through the maze towards Lia's mental signature and telepathically told her to try to find his melted ice trail so she had "breadcrumbs" to follow.
"I don't see any water anywhere," Lia called out with a heavy sigh, hanging her head before backtracking. It kept her two minutes, but she did eventually find a portion of Nix's melted trail. Looking up and down the hallway she wondered if she should follow the trail left or right. Heaving another sigh, she headed to the right and hoped she chose correctly. Thankfully, not even a minute later Nix caught up with her. He mentally called out to Annika that he found Lia.
"Hey, kid! Long time no see," Nix chuckled, "Your friend is looking for you. Your boyfriend misses you too. Won't shut up about you." He grinned at Lia blushing, causing a deep glow behind her obsidian skin as the lava bubbled just below the surface. "Let's go back, hold on tight!" He paused a second before scooping Lia on to his back, "Just don't burn me, kay?" Lia pursed her lips and huffed, making Nix chuckle again. She quickly powered down to prevent hurting Nix as she climbed on to his back. As he skated back towards Chayse as fast as he could, she grumbled about Chayse not being her boyfriend; only to pause a moment and ask Nix what he thought.
Nix chuckled and a moment later they arrived beside the Cajun. "Here ya go, one Volcano Girl neatly delivered. So, you guys ready to kick some ass?" Nix started up a swirl of snow around him.
Annika - having finally managed to knock Marjory out thanks to Nix's snow distraction - ran up to the group just in time to answer Nix's question with a "Hell yeah." Chayse neared fainting and so he instructed Nix to encase everyone in an ice dome to protect them from the explosion. As Nix started to form the dorm around them, Lia cried out that they were still missing "the skittish Middle Eastern kid."
Somehow Lucas managed to miss his squad as he passed through the maze and ended up running in to Logan and Penumbra instead. He quipped about making a wrong turn somewhere before preparing to spar. Penumbra calmly crossed her arms before telling Kinney to back down since he was outnumbered three to one. Lucas simply replied that those were his kind of odds, only for Luke to disperse his tornado and descend next to him. With a smirk Kinney added that it seems the odds were gathering in his favor.
"How about these odds?" Penumbra smiled as Wolverine started to replicate in to three, "You see, my power is to create duplicates of others."
Kinney calmly told Luke to take Penumbra down while he would take on the Wolverine triple threat. Luke quickly agreed and formed a tiny thundercloud overhead, striking the floor next to himself with a bolt of lightning. At the loud clap of thunder, Kinney growled and charged at the Wolverine triplets.
Meanwhile, around the center of the maze Azatullah was cautiously snaking his way through, eyes peeled for the flag. He nervously wove his way round corners, making sure the hall he was about to enter was empty; anything to avoid having to fight anyone. Along with watching for the other students and the flag, he readied himself for whatever the green glowing walls meant.
As he mumbled to himself about needing to find the flag, Azatullah managed to miss seeing a scraggly young teen boy with green hair and a green tint to his skin. The boy was just as oblivious to Azatullah's presence, mumbling to himself just as nervously as he cautiously crawled along the floor. The two collided, Winston accidentally tripping Azutullah as the Muslim boy tumbled over the kneeling teen.
Suddenly the walls all exploded with a deafening blast, Chayse quickly phasing inside the igloo Nix had formed. The four teens huddled inside as Nix reinforced the dome. Lia struggled to keep her powers in check; her body temperature naturally rising to keep her from getting chilled inside the igloo, but at the same time the radiating heat began melting the ice.
Annika asked if anyone could see the flag now that the maze was down. Lia snapped back, "Little busy watching the room explode around us!" Annika laughed at her roommate's reaction and reassured her that "it's nothing."
Luke teleported away from the walls and behind Penumbra just as the maze exploded. Kinney, on the other hand, embraced the shockwave from the blast. The absorption of all the kinetic energy powered him up as the wave accelerated his dive towards the Logans.
As the walls around Azatullah and Winston exploded, the Muslim boy pulled his adversary in close, covering him with his own body. Winston curled in tight as he cowered under Azatullah's meat shield. The explosion died down quickly enough, and Azatullah grumbled as he rocked back in to a kneeling position in order to let Hedge out from under him. He started asking if the green-haired kid was alright, but his voice faded as he fell forward in a faint. His back was peppered with shrapnel from the walls and covered in his own blood.
Collapsed back on top of Hedge, the shrapnel slowly crept out of Azatullah's skin; pushed out of his body by his muscles as they mended themselves. About a minute later Azatullah arched his back with a groan and a loud crack. He cautiously stood back up among the rubble around him, and then grumbled about always being the one to get hurt. He looked down and saw that Hedge hadn't moved. After quickly checking that the boy was only unconscious, Azatullah scooped him up and started to fireman carry him out of the debris.
As the dust began to settle Nix released the highly damaged ice shield. He scanned the now-open room, but he couldn't find the flag. With no walls separating them anymore, the small group was able to hear Luke also state that he couldn't see the flag anywhere.
Angered at Chayse taking such extreme measures in order to "help" his team, Lia whipped around to the Cajun and started yelling at him.
"Caj, did you blow up the damn flag too? Really needed to overdo it, didn't you? You friggen hot-headed, no brained, O-P-ed, swamp-head."
Chayse just shrugged and asked Lia why he was so hot-headed. He had powered up the walls to take them down so they could see the flag easier, and since he only charged the walls the flag should still be in the room somewhere. Luke teleported to a point right around the center of the maze, assuming the flag should have been around there under the rubble.
No longer having to worry about an opponent, Penumbra melted in to the shadows, catching Kinney's eye. He whipped around to the Logans, "She has it, doesn't she?"
Chayse huffed that the whole point of blowing up the maze was so they could find the flag easier, but all he could see was Annika's mom in the corner. Lia cocked her head to the side and asked what Rachel was doing in the Danger Room, "Wasn't she supposed to be watching from the observation room?"
Kinney bellowed out that Phoenix was the one with the flag. A moment later the room filled with laughter as Penumbra rose out of Rachel's shadow and commented on the woman's lovely belt: the flag.
The quartet each yelled out. Lia was concerned about the other team winning, Nix gave a bit of an "oh shit" at the realization of the flag, Annika ordered Noelle to stay away from her mother, and Chayse directed Nix to freeze the shadow manipulator.
Before Chayse's group had the chance to properly react, Penumbra reached out for Rachel's belt; only to be stopped by one of Luke's lightning bolts zipping between the two of them. Both Phoenix and Penumbra dove away from each other as they dodged the lightning. Rachel smiled at Luke's quick reaction time and precision, Noelle – on the other hand – glared at her adversary.
A heartbeat later Nix managed to freeze Penumbra's feet to the floor, preventing her from dodging Annika's attacks as she started swiftly kicking at the Brit. Lia knew she wouldn't be fast enough to help in hand-to-hand combat, so she powered back up one last time. With some concentration she was able to create softball-sized fireballs and started whipping them at Penumbra. Unfortunately for her, Noelle had already quickly crumbled under Annika's barrage, leaving only Lia's roommate as a target for the fireballs. Annika cursed a little as she dodged out of the way, causing Lia to blush and sheepishly call out an apology. Annika laughed and told her that it was fine and that her hair needed a trim anyway. She then blew the singed ends of her hair to stop the burn.
Luke scanned for where Rachel had run off to, but as soon as he caught sight of her his vision was blurred by rainbows wrapping around him; causing him to see only streaks of color.
"Aww, forgot about me already?" Willow chirped with her head cocked. In all the confusion no one had noticed that she had woken up and strolled over to Penumbra. The petite girl cradled her teammate and stared Luke down.
Luke shook his head and when he reopened his eyes he now saw roughly three-hundred copies of Rachel scattered throughout the room. He had no clue which one was the right one to teleport to. The dizzying impact of so many copies racing around him only increased with the added confusion of now seeing fifteen revolutionaries and three skinny Santas stuffed in the room as well.
Willow giggled as she watched Luke collapse under the headache-inducing overstimulation of so many people crammed in his line of sight. After observing the interaction, Kinney noticed that the triple Wolverines were back to just one Logan. Realizing that Willow was the one who could create illusions – the fake Hedge Monster and Penumbra's bluff of creating duplicates - Lucas cried out for Chayse to watch out for her. He quickly added for someone to "grab the friggen flag already."
Chayse scanned for Rachel and noticed her close to Azatullah. He cried out for his teammate to grab the belt, confusing the shy boy. Seeing that Hedge was also with Azatullah, Annika cried out that she was after the flag, and then sprinted towards her mom before Hedge had a chance to wake up and win the game for the other team.
She didn't need to worry; Azatullah soon understood what was being asked of him and he reached out. He managed to grab the flag just before Annika reached them. Rachel turned to congratulate the boy, angling herself just enough that Annika ended up slamming smack in to her mom instead of stopping short. With a groan Annika asked her mom why she was always in the way. Huffing and stomping, Annika left the Danger Room, upset with herself for not performing better during the session.
Kinney congratulated his team as Azatullah handed the belt back to Rachel and again checked on Winston. Noticing Hedge collapsed in Azatullah's arms, Lia sprinted over to help carry the green-haired boy in to the infirmary. As she passed Chayse she shook her head and again called him a "hot-headed swamp brain."
Chayse shrugged back at her and cried out "what did I do now?" When she ignored his question he shifted focus to Nix who had nearly passed out from all the excitement of the day. He offered a shoulder for Nix to lean on and chuckled at his tired best friend, "You're gonna be out cold tonight, aren't ya?"
Nix laughed back, "Ice pun there."
Now that the game was over, Luke's vision returned to normal. He stretched and rubbed his eyes before teleporting out of the room and in to his dorm.
Logan scooped Lookout over one shoulder and walked over to Willow who was still cradling Penumbra. Unsheathing one claw, he broke the ice around Noelle's feet and scooped her up on to his other shoulder. He congratulated Willow for being the only member still awake at the end of the session, reassured her that the rest of the Colossus Academy crew would be fine, and finished by telling her to relay over to "That worthless spawn of Deadpool's" that he was going to get a talking to for his disappearance during the session.
**A/N: Yep, Draco was the player who left the session towards the beginning of it due to internet issues... the thing is that none of the players seemed to notice. Using Creative Licencing I just tagged on that last bit of Wolverine talking to Willow so that Draco's unexplained disappearance was at least acknowledged.
I was also struggling how to figure out the relationship between Azatullah's parents Wolverine and Dust, considering Dust is Sunni Muslim and therefore would be HIGHLY unlikely to have any pre-marital sex, let alone enough of it to conceive a child. Add in that there were at least four players already that were the result of one-night-stands, and I was hard-pressed to determine that Azatullah was yet another result of a "single moment of weakness". Since Azatullah wasn't played much in-game I didn't write about him in the prologue and figured I could just state that his powers were the earth-particle manipulation; completely ignoring the claws and healing he inherited from Logan. However, after reading this session I realized I couldn't ignore his parentage... so perhaps I'll go back and edit the prologue to include how Logan and Sooraya ended up together... {sigh} **
