Something is out there, certainly, but not the answers he's searching for.
This place is morbid. A feeling Piotr Rasputin is all too familiar with now.
The small trio of X-Men, who have come to investigate this site in hopes of finding out some semblance of truth to clear their friend's name, have been cautiously exploring so far. Staying out of sight, as being shooed away by authority figures wouldn't help their cause.
Currently, Peter is quietly piloting the rental skimmer boat they've used to get through the swamp, to see the end of the End. There's a tense feeling in his stomach. Not fear. Just dread.
Jubilee is quiet, and dressed appropriately for staying out of sight. Unusual for the girl, she is wearing a black tank top and black jeans. Not even a design or anything on the shirt. Her hair is pulled up from her face, and she sits on the skimmer boat staring out into the woods. Luckily, due to her relationship with Wolverine, she has some survival training. Wolvie would not let her get away with second best. She shivers uneasingly, the feeling in the air is one she does not like.
It was a long boat ride from the nearest dock, and the locals there looked at you like you were crazy, headed into the swamp unescorted, but money speaks, as it often does.
Whispers of Swamp's End have permeated Louisiana, and seeing the town now, with good reason. There's a preternatural stillness in the air, as though the deaths there still lingered, and the feeling that something is watching from the swamp is inescapable.
The buildings themselves are relatively intact. Some minor fire damage, here and there, but for the most part, it appears only the church burned entirely. There are maybe four or five SHIELD agents, seemingly taking readings on some device. One of them is Jasper Sitwell, whom the older X-Men have met on occasion. Occasionally the SHIELD agents look up suddenly and stare into the swamp, as though they, too, feel they are being watched.
Jubilee shivers again, she does not like this feeling. She looks at Collosus and Shadowcat, and quietly notices, "You two know that man?" she refers to Jasper Sitwell.
Jubilee has no clue what the SHIELD agents are talking about, but it does not sound good, she looks to Collosus and then to Shadowcat. Waiting for some order to follow. Privately to herself, she hopes that she can be of some use to her fellow X-Men, it would suck if once again she had been unneeded. There are days Jubilation is fine with her lot in life, and quite content being the behind-the-scene person. But there are others, when like any normal young adult, she wishes the spotlight would be on her.
Sitwell steps back from the machine, exasperated. His communicator beeps, and he waves to the others to keep working.
"Hello ... no sir ... No we're stil running tests. The results still don't add up with what we ... Huh. All right. Thank you."
He clicks the communicator off.
"Gentlemen, we have a problem. Autopsy confirms our initial results. At least five families in this town had mutant children. That means a major portion of this burg carried the X-gene."
"So what does that mean?" says one of the agents, not taking his eyes of his scanner."
"It means that this wasn't a mutant on human attack. It was the other way around."
He stands perfectly still. Alert. Almost Wolverine still. The man is obviously a trained professional. His eyes fall on the X-Men's blind and linger, and at first it seems they've been spotted. But then there's a sort of churning from the swamp, some small movement, and it commands his attention.
"Commander," says the SHIELD to Sitwell, who has now drawn his gun. "Permission to investigate?"
Peter's been listening closely. As much as possible while concealing three mutants in a boat from government agents.
A hand raises up to shush Jubilee as it seems maybe they've been spotted.
Then, a whisper. "I think they're about to investigate US. For now, we should hold back. Let them give us the information we're looking for until we have to show ourselves."
A human attack on mutants disguised as the reverse. The words that come to mind to describe that are unrepeatable.
Jubilee frowns, she does not say anything. She just uses her small size to hide herself even more.
As for her thoughts, she is thinking about those machines the SHIELD agents are holding. and if anything alerts the agents to the X-Men presence, it would be those machines... and not her comment.
Kitty is already gone, vanished into her ninja stealth mode, having nodded to Peter. The old teamwork still surprisingly sharp.
Which means Peter can shift into Colossus and throw the stealth to the wind - or lack of it in this still swamp. Nodding to Jubilee as well, trusting her to be on guard without being told.
He pulls the boat around and heads toward the disturbance - if they get hassled later, let it be after they owe their lives to him.
Jubilee nodded back, she prepares as her piffs dancing in her fingers softly. she knows that Kitty will do the stealth thing a lot better than Jubes could.
Comments 112
This place is morbid. A feeling Piotr Rasputin is all too familiar with now.
The small trio of X-Men, who have come to investigate this site in hopes of finding out some semblance of truth to clear their friend's name, have been cautiously exploring so far. Staying out of sight, as being shooed away by authority figures wouldn't help their cause.
Currently, Peter is quietly piloting the rental skimmer boat they've used to get through the swamp, to see the end of the End. There's a tense feeling in his stomach. Not fear. Just dread.
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Whispers of Swamp's End have permeated Louisiana, and seeing the town now, with good reason. There's a preternatural stillness in the air, as though the deaths there still lingered, and the feeling that something is watching from the swamp is inescapable.
The buildings themselves are relatively intact. Some minor fire damage, here and there, but for the most part, it appears only the church burned entirely. There are maybe four or five SHIELD agents, seemingly taking readings on some device. One of them is Jasper Sitwell, whom the older X-Men have met on occasion. Occasionally the SHIELD agents look up suddenly and stare into the swamp, as though they, too, feel they are being watched.
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"...I'm telling you, this is the same thermo-readings we got last week. Whatever was here was giving off some sort of electrodynamic force."
The agents' voices reduce again to mutters as they observe their readings, then escalate again into disagreement.
"...don't care what you say, I've never seen a mutant read like that before. It's not the strength of the signal, it's the wave. That's mechanical."
"Yeah, but what's that," says another, pointing to something on the screen."
There's a long silence.
"Fuck if I know."
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"Hello ... no sir ... No we're stil running tests. The results still don't add up with what we ... Huh. All right. Thank you."
He clicks the communicator off.
"Gentlemen, we have a problem. Autopsy confirms our initial results. At least five families in this town had mutant children. That means a major portion of this burg carried the X-gene."
"So what does that mean?" says one of the agents, not taking his eyes of his scanner."
"It means that this wasn't a mutant on human attack. It was the other way around."
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"Either way, this thing is nothing but ..."
He stands perfectly still. Alert. Almost Wolverine still. The man is obviously a trained professional. His eyes fall on the X-Men's blind and linger, and at first it seems they've been spotted. But then there's a sort of churning from the swamp, some small movement, and it commands his attention.
"Commander," says the SHIELD to Sitwell, who has now drawn his gun. "Permission to investigate?"
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Two agents go into the swamp. Leaving three with the machine.
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At least some good news, if humans had done thus... Scott can be found innocent, and be returned to Jean.
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A hand raises up to shush Jubilee as it seems maybe they've been spotted.
Then, a whisper. "I think they're about to investigate US. For now, we should hold back. Let them give us the information we're looking for until we have to show ourselves."
A human attack on mutants disguised as the reverse. The words that come to mind to describe that are unrepeatable.
Reply
As for her thoughts, she is thinking about those machines the SHIELD agents are holding. and if anything alerts the agents to the X-Men presence, it would be those machines... and not her comment.
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Sitwell doesn't hesitate. "Reynolds, follow me! Watanabe, call back up!
And they're off and running, following the sound of gunfire.
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Which means Peter can shift into Colossus and throw the stealth to the wind - or lack of it in this still swamp. Nodding to Jubilee as well, trusting her to be on guard without being told.
He pulls the boat around and heads toward the disturbance - if they get hassled later, let it be after they owe their lives to him.
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