sound_and_fury:

Cassidy Summers pads, barefoot, down the sidewalk in the small town of Fargo, Georgia. He just got here a few minutes ago, having hitched a ride with a trucker not far from the destruction of the facility. Though he has only pants a tattered shirt to his name, and despite the discomfort he feels, Cassidy keeps moving through the streets, looking for a hospital.

Something is wrong with him, and this time, Doctor Milbury isn't here to tell him what it is.

He tries to stop and ask for help, but each person he passes by looks at him in shock, or fear, or most commonly, disgust. They cross the street to get away from him, or they quickly hurry by, pretending they don't see him. Why are they so mean? He just needs to know how to get to the hospital.

 

( Read more... )

shattered:

Melinda remains distant from her classmates, for the most part. Truth be told, she doesn't really feel like she deserves to be here with them. She knows rationally it's nonsense to feel that way, but she can't help it.

So it is that, once again, at lunchtime, she sits outside, away from the others, watching the fountain while she eats her sandwich.

nextgen_baddie:

3:00 am EST Somewhere in  Hills of Southern Georgia....



( Read more... )

shattered:

Melinda doesn't really feel comfortable in her room. She's never gotten along well with her roommate, and she seems unable to get it changed, so instead she sits in a quiet, isolated corner of the mansion, doing her homework, away from where others might bother her. Math has never been her strong suit, but she's focused on getting good grades. She can't be sent out of here. She needs to remain with the X-Men.

ng_xavier_staff:

After their island adventures, the X-Men had been allowed several days to rest.  But then, Anastasia Summers, Rose Logan, Chris Pym, Christina Frost, John Allerdyce, and Melinda Dynar had all been called into the Professor's presence once more.

"Firstly," he told them when they were all assembled, "I must again apologize for my actions and how they endangered you.  Under Krakoa's influence, I all but sent you to your deaths."

He frowned, still ashamed at his failure to protect his charges.  "But you all performed beyond my wildest expectations, especially considering how few of you had ever worked together before.

"But I would like to see you working together again.  Reviewing your files, you all possess a unique variety of skills and talents, many of which are otherwise lacking in the field team.  Skills that are desperately needed now.  Ever since the Apocalypse-incident, mutant manifestations have been on a steady increase and we will not be the only ones to notice this.  Mutant activity in general seems to be on an upswing and this must be responded to.

You six would make an ideal team to assist with this situation, acting as a specialized investigative field team.  When necessary, you will be able to intervene and bring individuals here or otherwise offer the Institute's support.  When necessary, you will be able to act like another team of X-Men and combat threats as necessary.  And... when the situation requires it, you are uniquely qualified to investigation less wholesome things, seedier aspects of the world, by skill and power, and to deal with those as well.

You could be a powerful force... an X-Force, for good."

wild_rose:

By startling coincidence (yeah, right), all three squads had ended up at the cave at nearly the same time.  "Funny meeting you here," Rose muttered.

This was... wrong. Extremely wrong.  An island out to get them?  Missing X-Men?  A brand-new team being put together to go find them?  It all added up to one horrible, horrible possibility.  She'd been told the story often enough growing up, even used the place in question as a staging ground for Danger Room scenarios.

She looked over to Chris and Anastasia, eventually taking in Christina, Melinda, and Joey as well.  She was worried about him.  The others had survived mostly unscathed and she was healing, but he'd taken some hard knocks.  She'd have to keep an eye on him.  Dammit.  How she felt about him... major distraction right now.  And yet, she wouldn't trade him for all the edge it might offer.

"Okay, hands up, this remind anybody of anything from X-Men History 101?"
 

nextgen_misc:

With the speed of the Blackbird, the six X-Men were able to reach the island, located in an otherwise empty stretch of the Pacific Ocean, in almost no time at all. The island looked as though it had been untouched by man for centuries. Thick jungle had grown without limits and a towering volcano could be seen rising from the center. A thick swampland dotted one end. There was no sign of life, no sign of the Blackbird that had brought the other team.

There was an almost sinister feel about the whole thing.

ng_xavier_staff:

John Allerdyce.

Melinda Dyars.

Christina Frost.

Chris Grant-Pym.

Rose Logan.

Anastasia Summers.


To me!

The mental summons went out, calling the six to Professor Xavier's office.  Urgency, unusual in the usually composed founder and headmaster of the Institute, colored the psychic call.  This was not a summons to be refused.

nextgen_misc:

The citizens of Nova Roma were responsible residents of the Amazon Rainforest. They didn't waste resources, they used every part of everything, they worked with the land instead of clearing it and they recycled everything they could. They had learned these methods thousands of years ago from the local tribes not long after establishing their settlement.

Citizens from the colony would venture out into the jungle on a daily basis to gather the herbs, plants, fruit and other items they needed. Wood was gathered from the forest floor instead of chopping down trees whenever it was possible.

Today the citizens that ventured out did not return.

shattered:

It's like a whole new life, Melinda thinks to herself, looking out the window of the cab as it pulls up to 1407 Graymalkin Lane. Across the ocean from her family, her old life, her life of ignoring the truth of who she was... and a chance to repair some of the damage she has done.

Her parents had a hard time hearing what had happened. Her brother had listened... and told her that he loved and supported her, but had no idea how to help her beyond that. Her mother had cried. Her father had just been angry... not at her, but at the situation. And late at night, she had heard him sobbing in their bedroom. They all told her that they didn't blame her for what she'd done.

But that didn't matter. They might not blame her, but... they didn't know. They didn't know what it felt like to kill people... and worse, to remember enjoying killing.

She had to come. She had to try to wash this stain on her soul clean... even if she didn't think she ever could.

She gathers her bags from the cab's trunk and heads for the front door. A short time later, a student guide helps point out her room, and opens her door for her, letting her in.

Melinda steps into the room, bags loading her down.

shattered:

Melinda takes a deep breath. She's ready to call her parents and let them know that she's alive. But there's something she wants to do first. Something she has to figure out.

She moves to the office door labeled "Professor Charles Xavier" and gently knocks.

shattered:

Melinda has been cleared for getting up and walking around, and wants to see the grounds. She's walked through the living areas, the kitchen, all the areas where she has clearance.

She steps outside. The jumpsuit they've provided her helps cut down on the late-winter chill, but she doesn't notice anyway. She still feels frozen through to her soul.

If she still has one.

She walks through the frosted ground, hearing the grass crunch under her feet. And it reminds her of the sound of her own body, turned to glass, shattering into deadly shards... and the blood running over it...

She stops walking, realizing she's come to a small lake on the edge of the grounds. And she stares at it, a thin sheet of ice, barely more than frost, covering it. And she considers...

shattered:

She's been sleeping a long time. Exactly how long, she's not sure.

But her dreams have not been peaceful. She remembers the pale man with the red jewel in his forehead. She remembers the blue and gray man.

She remembers the blood. The slaughter. Slashing and cutting. Hunting and killing.

And, worst of all, she remembers enjoying it.

The glass shards flash. The blood flows. The blue man laughs, a deep, booming laugh...

Abruptly, she sits up, screaming, tears running down her face, her sheets soaked in sweat. She doesn't know where she is. Strangers are all around her.

She looks at the people nearby, and screams again, terrified.

nextgen_media:

"We interrupt this regularly scheduled program to bring you this breaking report. It seems like a giant, what can only be called a citadel, rose from the very ground itself and covered almost the entire area of Central Park just moments ago. The monstrosity seems to be composed completely out of stone and there are no discernible entrances. What appears to be people on flying robotic horses circle the citadel. Who built this and to what end has yet to be discovered."