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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2021 18:51:59 GMT
Twenty six years.... Waylon Cole had spent twenty six years, his entire life, in the harsh and unforgiving servitude of a man everyone called The Baron. It wasn't just Waylon either, it had been his parents (they had given it all), his older brothers, his baby sister, and anyone that was just like them. The Baron had called them mutants and the entire town had turned on the mutants quickly helping The Baron and his muscle (M Goons as the locals had called them) separate the mutants from normies, they were forced to live in old mining homes on top of each other. Generation after generation before had lived and mined and died in Odd West Virginia. The town itself had been small when it had been settled in the Appalachian mountains, it had been named after Thomas Odd in 1920 a mutant who wanted to protect others like him, it lasted about ten years before it was took over by militant thugs and then again by the Baron. The mutants worked from dawn to late in the night miles and miles and miles underground, they were told it was for the resources but Waylon felt it was much more, his oldest brother had always bitched at Waylon to just shut up and keep his head down, Waylon wasn't like that. He wouldn't shut up and did what he could to help the younger mutants, the ones who just couldn't understand yet what grueling hell awaited them every waking morning. Waylon had helped a boy escape once and got braved to attempt it once again about a year ago, he had been caught personally by the Baron....Waylon never saw that girl again.... while Waylon was punished he was a valuable asset to the program. Today they found themselves eating lunch above ground, Waylon and his sister sat with some of the smaller kids sharing their crackers with them. His older brothers were on the night crews and probably at their small home asleep. Waylon leaned back against a post taking a sip of his deep earth tempered water canteen when a boy named Lukas came and sat beside him, "I'm not feelin so good Cole, my body hurts," Lukas was green (not sick but literally green) and covered in scales. Waylons sister approached them and touched the boys forehead, "You do feel warm Lukie, maybe they will let me take him to the sick house?" Waylon sighed and shook his head, "No they won't, not with production a day behind but listen come work near us and I'll let you rest for a while? Best we can do bud."Lukas understood and so did Waylons sister. Waylon laid back as the boy sat down beside him resting against Waylons shoulder, Cole cut blue eyes up to the smog covered sky where the sun cast a sea of shadow down on them... 'it can't always be this bad.... we deserve better...' he thought to himself. ( ERIK LEHNSHERR for the brotherhood! and CHARLES XAVIER of the xmen! can they save the mutants of Odd West Virginia? will the lines be drawn for the Cole family? find out!)
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Post by CHARLES XAVIER on Jun 9, 2021 5:57:58 GMT
In some ways, it had been a wonder that the group ever made it to Odd, West Virginia. The last six hours of petty squabbling seemed more than foolish as they approached the town that still looked in many ways like Charles imagined it must have when it was first founded. If it wasn’t for the barbed wire and the overwhelming feeling of hopelessness, it might have been quaint. Instead, it was sobering.
Charles kept silent the majority of the ride, using his abilities to scan the area for people, ready to divert their attention away from the two cars of uninvited guests. He beckoned Sean to take them towards what appeared to be a a watch post, fixed with a few guards wearing old soldier’s garb.
As soon as he allowed the guards to become aware of them, Charles rolled down his window and held up a hand. ”We’ve been sent to relieve you of your post.” he said, simultaneously projecting a belief of that into the man’s mind. ”You and your associate would like to take a walk in the woods for the next hour. Tell no one you’ve seen us.”
”Eloise,” he suggested before they left. She would likely benefit the most from taking on one of their forms for this mission. ”I think he would be happy to let you borrow his trousers and coat.”
From the vantage point of the tower, they had a good view of city. There was a chain link fence, and a steep path down to the mine’s entrance. Charles touched a finger to his temple. ”There are at least thirty, forty people underground right now.” he said, once Erik and Raven had joined them as well. ”Mostly mutants.”
That was important, because if there was only one entrance, it would take time to get people out of there safely. It would also be easy for someone who didn’t want them to get out to use that to their advantage.
Charles shut his eyes. ”More in the barracks.. sleeping, I think.. and there are a few above ground.” He swallowed a bit hard at the realization that most of the ones above around were children. ”The guards are scattered all over the place, and they are armed… I’m sorry, that’s all I can tell without getting much closer.”
At that point, he looked to Erik. While he wasn’t keen to admit it out loud, this wasn’t his wheelhouse. He didn’t have experience with strategizing, fighting, or.. liberating people from guarded facilities. While Charles rarely agreed with Erik’s goals, he was willing to acknowledge he may have had a better idea how to use their information and resources to their advantage.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2021 14:46:09 GMT
Heather didn’t know how the X-Men and their apparent counterparts the Brotherhood had gotten there in one piece. She herself had not been there on the flight, not with how difficult it would be to explain her mutation mishap or get stared at the whole time. Not in this present climate of society where she likely would have to be one of the ones liberated or hiding out due to how obvious her Nemesis form was. Least, that’s what she called it since it worked against her at times.
But six hours later, she had eventually regrouped with her allies and friends with additional faces among them to where they were now. And to say the least, Heather’s danger sense was acting up more than usual. There were so many potential dangers in one location, not helped when Xavier went through where mutants and perhaps their sympathizers were being kept. It sickened her stomach to see such a place, unable to stop her mind from wandering with what could have been if she had been caught in her home country. Did Australia have such encampments? Was her brother in one? Had the Camerons been targeted when she left? There were many unknowns, and deep down she was afraid to have them answered.
Shaking her head, the blond tried to push such thoughts aside for the time being and focused on the task at hand.
Once she had settled her mind, her danger sense seemed to settle as well once they had begun to assess the situation. Like liquid, her body began to ripple across her form, smooth metal turning to thick, rounded scales as a second pair of arms extended from her side and her mass enlarging slightly with muscle in addition to her wings becoming slimmer. As her body morphed to the potential dangers do too did her mind quickly become filled with how to use said new additions...
‘Underground, potential moving of debris or cave ins, strength and additional arms will come in handy...
Enclosed areas, slimmer wings to avoid getting caught up...
Scales, extra durability and blending into my surroundings, avoid getting caught and sneak some people out from the fight...’
Yes, that should do nicely.
She had to be prepared for anything, even the unknowns. She would follow what her body felt best, what her instinct felt best for this mission. Whether it was Xavier or his old friend Erik leading the charge didn’t really matter, as long as they were able to help the mutants there and any others kept here against their will. “Ready to move when you lot are.” She confirmed, anxiously awaiting to make their move.
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Post by SEAN CASSIDY on Jun 9, 2021 20:36:55 GMT
"so if we lose, we all get to be slave labor. cool," sean muttered to himself, driving well above the speed limit. it had been a long trip and while normally fairly optimistic sean wasn't entirely confident. what intimidated him was not knowing just how many mutants they were going to try to free. it could have been hundreds. the task was daunting, to say the least. and the people keeping the mutants there had to have some advantage over their workers. not knowing what that could be put a pit in sean's stomach.
"maryland. hah, i saw it first. suck on that." the license plate game had gotten old several hours ago but it was an excuse to break the tense silence and sean was all for that.
"so... maybe like fifty mutants total? more? and humans with guns. and a 96% chance we'll be crushed by the ground caving in once we're found," he recapped. "how many guards can you knock out?"
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Post by RAVEN DARKHOLME on Jun 10, 2021 16:05:13 GMT
Raven felt anger, she couldn't help but feel anger, there were mutants in an awful situation and that angered her. To think the humans could be so cruel to her kind, then again nothing the human did surprised her any more. After all humans had always been cruel to her, feared her so it didn't surprise her that these humans were treating mutant as practically slave labour and she was going to do something about it. However seeing the X-men in the same place as her would make things more complicated, it made her re think whatever plans she had come up with. Raven felt akward around the X-men as she had jointed the Brotherhood instead of staying with the X-men. Yet she would help these mutant by any means she deemed fit, if she didn't have to obay Charles Xavier anymore.
She looked to them with a look of ange for a moment as they disgusted there plans.
"Were not going to get anything done while talking, we should just make the Mutants come to us, they should take down there captures and revolt."
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Post by ERIK LEHNSHERR on Jun 11, 2021 6:04:02 GMT
After parting ways in Cuba, Erik had not expected to ever see Charles again. A part of him had, in fact, feared the idea of it - a fear whose reasons he had no wish to explore. And yet, between acquiring Cerebro and learning of this town, and a rather nightmare-inducing journey to West Virginia, operating with the so-called X-Men was not... terrible.
At least, not yet. Erik had no delusion about the tentative peace lasting; it was not a question of if he and Charles would disappoint each other, but when.
All the same, seeing the ease with which Charles managed the minds around them, the smooth way he earned them access to this bleak and desolate place... Erik could recall what had always drawn him to his once-friend. There was a simple beauty to what he could do; it was clean. Pure.
Unfortunately, this was no time to be impressed. Particularly not considering what they knew so far about the town - especially not considering Charles' assessment of the situation. Beneath the helmet, Erik's expression darkened considerably. Somehow, despite their inherent superiority, the mutants of this place had been subjugated. Used for a purpose far beneath them. His hands curled into fists at his sides, steely gaze meeting Charles'. Understanding the acknowledgement there.
"Our priority should be to subdue the guards. Beginning with however many Charles can... disconnect." That his first words agreed with Sean's idea was likely a surprise to them both. "Begin with those nearest the entrance, and work outward. Heather and Mystique will make the initial breach, and instruct any mutant they find to exit immediately. Charles, I would suggest that you receive them. You're more... personable. Sean can remain with you to help you protect them from any guards who might slip past the rest of us. Unless, of course, he feels he would be more useful on the inside..." Though he felt his plan was sound, he had no intention of undermining those present. Straightening his back, he added, "I will attempt to draw any fire to me, and can act as cover for Heather and Mystique."
Though there was confidence in his tone, his gaze inevitably returned to Charles, inviting any additional input he might have.
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Post by CHARLES XAVIER on Jun 15, 2021 6:35:14 GMT
Charles found himself giving a reaffirming nod when Erik looked back down at him. As little as he normally agreed with the man on, it was a good, solid plan, and he couldn’t think of any reasons why it wouldn’t work or any way to improve upon it.
“Be careful.” he added, to Raven and Heather in particular. ”There are more mutants than humans inside, but they won’t be expecting this.” And all of them were aware of what could happen when untrained mutants were caught by surprise. Heather, of course, was the most well suited for that and Charles could tell she was already preparing for the possibility of needing to rescue people from a cave in. ”We also shouldn’t rule out the possibility that any of them are working along side those in charge, by force or otherwise.”
They had all been thinking it, why would people who had a biological advantage stay somewhere where they were being mistreated? While Charles wasn’t getting any immediate signs from the minds of the workers to indicate they were anything other than unhappy with their current situation, it was best they remained prepared for any possibilities. Including that they could be met with more opposition than they anticipated.
”I could subdue all of them, but not at one time and not without doing the same anyone else in the area.” he explained, in response to Erik (and Sean)’s question. That type of power required proximity but Charles could effect many minds at once, so long as he was giving them all the same, simple command. ”We’ll follow your lead. The largest group of them will likely come after us once you have their attention.” And as long as Erik could attract them- something Charles had full faith he would be able to do- he could prevent them from becoming a threat.
As they headed closer towards the mines, Charles’s attention went back to the small group of kids eating lunch, and the young man beside them, evidently a caretaker or at least someone he could tell was genuinely compassionate towards them. He wordlessly projected a thought into his head. ”Gather the kids and stay hidden, away from the entrance to the mines.”
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Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2021 22:30:49 GMT
'Gather the kids and stay hidden, away from the entrance to the mines.'
Waylon jerked his head up from his lunch looking at sissy, "What?"
"What?" she responded also sounding as confused as Waylon, "Did you say something?"
"um.... Nooo?"
He looked around and knew she was telling the truth, plus the voice sounded funny and male, but also in his own mind. Something clicked and it was like a feeling Waylon hadn't ever felt, something was happening and he could just feel it.
"Sis take...take the kids and head over to the east gates," Waylon said as he stood up ushering the kids and some of the older adults to get up, "Waylon what's going on?"
"Just listen! Once you git them at the east gates go and git Jeb and Jack tell them to come to the mine entrance, all of you come back....I can't explain it but I think somethin big is gonna happen, hurry!"
Waylon didn't know if he could communicate with what of whoever was in his head but he closed his eyes tight and tried to talk back but with his inner monologue, 'hey... mister you there? I uh... I ain't never talked from inside my own head before but... Are you here to save us? I can help! I know this place like the back of my hand, there is a central tower post near the entrance of the mine....they gotta kid in there that don't know better mister and they will force him to hurt y'all by hurtin' himself that's their biggest defense and the only one like... Me... Like most of us here that works with them.... don't hurt him...I'm waylon... By the way.... Um... My brothers and sisters can help too..."
_____________________________________
....in the mines....
The Baron was surrounded by his mob of goons, not all of them of course but at least four of his best, he was twirling a candle prod in his hand as he watched over the mutant workers. It wasn't his first time dealing with the beasts and knew that through fear and control these mutants would do everything he told them. Taking Odd over was the easiest job the Baron had took on! And he was once a high ranking German Nazi solider!
A little girl, no older than ten, who looked like she wasn't doing anything but holding her hands out in front of her (in fact she was lifting dirt with her mind moving it out of the way) found herself on the wrong end of the cattle prod, with an electric popping sound the Baron struck her on the calf with it.
"Listen cow if you can move zee dirt wiz your power then you can also lift wiz your handz!" He barked at the girl as she started scooping up dirt with her hands but this only angered the Baron who grabbed a shovel and shoved it into her hands and chest, "Idiot! Uze zee shovel!"
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2021 13:27:06 GMT
“Getting shot at, what a wonderful time.” Heather muttered, mostly to herself. She was no stranger to it unfortunately. It was how she got her abilities awakened fully, much less left in the present permanently mutated state that she was right now. As these thoughts crossed her mind her body was already shifting once more, durability becoming invulnerability in anticipation of gunfire.
But, she would endure for the sake of saving those within.
As they got ever closer to the town, the young blond couldn’t help fidgeting as her danger sense felt like it was in overdrive. So many dangers, so many possibilities of being unprepared. And she had no control over what her body deemed the best actions. This was her first real big mission as well as an X-Man since coming to America and joining the team as a mentor. Yet, she had never really acted in operations like this. But, perhaps that was why she was determined to join in on this, because old habits die hard of saving and helping individuals no matter what the situation. Her status as a lifeguard was probably taken to new heights of not just tackling water situations, but stuff like this even alongside those who would essentially be their enemies. Working together was probably tense enough as it was without this situation heightening their differing views. Especially for Xavier and the man called Erik.
Now, with a plan in place, Heather gave her wings a test flap, seeing if she could still lift herself. Effortlessly, her wings still held her up, nodding to herself as she hover in place for a moment before landing. “I can offer you extra cover to, Mystique was it.” Heather assured the blue scaled mutant, resting a hand on her shoulder as silent comfort when seeing her visible anger. “We’ll get as many people out as we can.” It probably wasn’t that reassuring since it left it open that some lives would not be saved, and unfortunately they likely wouldn’t. Turning back to Erik and Charles she added, “We need to get moving. If anyone picks up anything or anyone acting oddly it may tip them off before we get too close.”
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Post by SEAN CASSIDY on Jun 17, 2021 2:47:16 GMT
"follow charlie, scream at some guards. got it," sean confirmed, offering erik a thumbs-up.
he stayed close to charles as they approached the mines... and he knew charles's "mind talking" look like the back of his hand. "you found someone," he concluded. "can they help? are they able to get outside?"
--
it didn't take long for commotion to begin. "what? why would we go to the mine entrance?" jack asked incredulously. "what's going on?" it was something, but no one seemed to know any more than that. he glanced at jeb before sighing, his heart pounding as he nodded and took off toward the mines.
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Post by RAVEN DARKHOLME on Jun 18, 2021 10:20:40 GMT
Raven frowned a bit as her deceleration was ignored, part of her thought that no one here cared about her brothers and sisters like she did. Raven crossed her arms a bit as plans were discussed, it seemed she would have to team up with the woman called Heather. Raven eyed up the other woman for a moment as she uncrossed her arms a bit as she took a deep breath. "Well if that is the plan, then I guess I will have to along with it." Raven didn't like the idea of getting shot , but she could avoid some bullets, but she agreed with Heather they should get moving. "Yes lets help out those mutants."Raven though did think about punishing the humans for hurting her fellow mutants like they had been doing. "Lets get to this then."
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Post by ERIK LEHNSHERR on Jun 18, 2021 19:27:09 GMT
As Charles began to give his warnings, Erik allowed his awareness of the metal to expand. He could feel the fences, could feel the guns carried in the hands of the humans, could feel the ore which ran through the rock of this place. Rusty nails in the wood that braced the tunnels. The shovels of the workers. The sense of it grounded him. And, though he was angry, he found himself settling into that place of balance Charles had once shown him. That place he had learned to find more easily, in the years the followed.
Unfortunate, that Charles could not easily influence only the guards, but it was something they could work around. Erik nodded grimly, fingers flexing in preparation.
"Get used to it," he grunted in response to Heather's comment about being shot at; he'd lost count of the number of guns he'd faced, the number of barrels he'd stared down. Had forgotten all but the first, and the one in Moira's hand.
He forced his thoughts away from those memories and into the present moment. He only paused as Sean questioned Charles' apparent contact with someone on the inside... but Heather and Mystique were correct in that there was no time left to linger. "Behind me," Erik said shortly to the pair, before striding forward toward the entrance.
The guards beyond the threshold scrambled to raise their weapons, but Erik sent them flying with a wave of his hand, contorting the guns in the process. They hit the wall behind them with a sickening thud - he curled his fingers, two flashlights extracting themselves from the crumpled forms and flying to his hand. He tossed these to Mystique and Heather; he didn't trust that they could rely on the overhead lanterns in the depths of the mines. Before moving into the tunnels, he gave a quick scan of the area aboveground. His presence was already drawing attention. With a swish of his cape, he stepped further into the open.
"Mutants - you are free. There are friends waiting for you on the outside. Leave now, if you wish to seek safety... or stay and join me in taking down your oppressors!"
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Post by CHARLES XAVIER on Jun 19, 2021 23:09:15 GMT
”Erik,” Charles warned, shooting him a look when he said that they ought to get used to be shot at, as if to ask if that had really been necessary to voice at this time. It was a reasonable concern, and one that was present at the forefront of everyone’s minds, Charles included, though he was doing his best not to dwell on it as they approached the mines entrance.
He was bombarded with questions from both Sean and Waylon and he held up a hand. ”Yes,” he said out loud to Sean. ”Give me one moment.”
”Waylon, you’ve been very helpful. My friends and I are going to try and get everyone out of the mines safely.” he assured.
”Children are being evacuated to the eastern gate.” he explained to Sean and Erik. ”There’s a young mutant who can send pain signals to others being kept in a watchtower so they can keep people from getting out of line.. I’ll try and find them before they find us.”
He stayed behind Erik and started scanning minds around them as guards on the outside became aware of their presence. Effortlessly, Erik was able to lift the ones with weapons, and Charles only cringed slightly at the wave of psychic pain as they were thrown into a wall. Then Erik made his speech. While the attention was on him, Charles picked out a couple of guards with non-mental weapons, who crumbled to the ground in a deep slumber before they were able to retaliate against the mutants who were flocking to figure out what was going on.
—
Jeb groaned when he little sister shook him awake, the young woman clearly flustered and going on about Waylon acting all strange and how they needed to get to the mines. ”What the hell did Waylon do this time?” he muttered. He got up, shaking his head when Jack looked to him for answers. ”I don’t know nothin’ more than you do.” But they were about to find out.
The commotion was already visible from their front door, a circle of miners, guards on the ground, and a group of people that sure hadn’t come from anywhere around there in the center of it. Jeb had seen power struggles in the town a few times now, and more riots than he could count, but this was different. ”Waylon,” he called when he spotted him. ”Come on, lets go.”
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2021 0:12:34 GMT
“Maybe we should not give reason to make it common place.” Heather retorted lightly towards Erik. She had to admit, the man certainly had an aura about him that made him just as powerful as his ability she had heard about, a sort of charisma that came with a hardened will. Yet, she couldn’t help note how grim and crude his outlook truly seemed to be on life, part of her wondering if there was no sort of happiness for such an individual.
Something she would ponder later.
As Raven became visibly calmer, the metallic avian female gave an encouraging smile despite the grim situation. “We do what we can for those trapped here. The priority is saving their lives,” Her eyes briefly focused on Erik’s back, “Not causing a bigger fight. Not right now.” As naive as she may have sounded, Heather’s words came from an individual who sought to save lives, even human ones. She was no police office or EMT or doctor, but being a life guard was serious business in her opinion, unnerved by the fact the two Brotherhood members did not seem to mind carelessly taking lives. What would that accomplish in the end? Sighing, she decided to let the matter rest as Erik announced for them to move, taking flight after the man but staying slightly ahead of Mystique as promised, those bullets that strayed from Erik’s grasp ricocheting off her metallic skin of which she did not flinch.
Once inside, she veered away to take out some guards off to their left, letting out a feral growl as she knocked them back with enough force to disarm and daze them. But flinched as she heard the thuds not far from her, turning to see the crumpled forms just as she caught the flashlight. Pushing aside her personal beliefs on such an act, she quickly took flight once more, switching on the light for a better view beyond the dim lamps and dive bombing guards along the way, “I’ll circle around to the mine, let me take out some guards to lessen some tension on us.” She projected her thoughts towards Xavier, letting out a screech-like sound like that of a predatory bird as she tore through the guards drawn towards her that didn’t draw focus towards Erik. Not that there were many not already focused on the man as it was.
As she drew closer, her metallic form soon began to alter its color and texture, matching her surroundings as she landed closer to the mine, switching off the light as she did so. She would let Erik make his big statement, her priority was helping those deeper in the mines, especially for any that might be held back by the guards out of fear. “I’m going deeper inside, take this.” Heather didn’t give Sean much warning to where she was as she handed her teammate her flashlight which would only get in her way if she needed all four of her arms to handle any bracing or additional weight. With that, the woman slipped inside past their tense allies and going further in, tucking her wings closer to her back as she side stepped around the mutants moving past, only revealing herself as she knocked down a few other guards to remove them from blocking any mutants further in.
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