Issue 1 Downtime

"SHIT!" Derek's attention turned almost immediately, as he poured himself into throwing up a crystal screen to shield the X-Men and the brainwashed crowds, trying to make the crystal structure as strong as he could to hold up under the machine gun fire.

Murphy let out something between a growl and a roar as she jumped towards War and his goons, trying to land on the nearest armored foe she could reach.

Stephanie worked with Murphy, flanking the group and shifting into her hulking half form and pummeling goons left and right, but reserving her claws and fangs for only dire need.

Derek Scott wrote:"SHIT!" Derek's attention turned almost immediately, as he poured himself into throwing up a crystal screen to shield the X-Men and the brainwashed crowds, trying to make the crystal structure as strong as he could to hold up under the machine gun fire.

War looked down at the defenses that Derek was putting out and snapped his fingers. Two grunts stopped firing long enough to pull out heavy weapons. They aimed for the growing shield and fired.

Hannah Murphy wrote:Murphy let out something between a growl and a roar as she jumped towards War and his goons, trying to land on the nearest armored foe she could reach.

Hannah landed on her opponent and took him to the ground. He actually proved significantly stronger than expected as he tried to grab Hannah by the throat and headbutt her.

Stephanie Kaltiera wrote:Stephanie worked with Murphy, flanking the group and shifting into her hulking half form and pummeling goons left and right, but reserving her claws and fangs for only dire need.

It was when she encountered her first opponent that Stephanie found out that something was wrong with this situation. He blocked her first attack with his machine gun and though it promptly shattered he followed it up with a round house kick.

Shit!

Madrox took to the air and fired his palm lasers at the incoming rockets with all the precision he could muster.

Murphy reeled for a moment, before opening her jaws wide and raking her teeth across the henchmen's face.

Stephanie snarled, catching the roundhouse before it connected, and violently hyperextended the clearly unusual minon's knee.

"We can't let him keep us pinned," Captain Britain said, adding her shield to Derek's.

"If I move my shield forward, can you bolster it?"

Madrox and Derek:

Rockets are not the easiest of targets to hit, but Madrox manage a glancing hit on one. The rocket still hit the growing (now combined shield) but at an angle that took away most of it's penetrating power. The second rocket hit the shield(s) at full force.

The other goons continued to fire down at the town square with War looking on.

Hannah Murphy wrote:Murphy reeled for a moment, before opening her jaws wide and raking her teeth across the henchmen's face.

The henchmen grunted as teeth cut through fabric and fleash. With blood streaming down it's face the goon threw a blind punch at Murphy's head.

Stephanie Kaltiera wrote:Stephanie snarled, catching the roundhouse before it connected, and violently hyperextended the clearly unusual minon's knee.

The goon's knee cracked as Stephanie hypextended it. Apparently not that perturbed the goon drew a pistol and opened fire. Though it must be said that standing on one leg while the other was held by a werewolf didn't make for perfect aim.

Madrox increased his speed and flew in an evasive arc towards the rooftops, firing his repulsors at the gunmen.

Stephanie dropped the limp and ravaged limb but not as quick as she would've liked, and as hard of a shot the mook had, he was also less than three feet away. A bullet tore into Stepahnie's shoulder, thankfully, it seemed, missing anything too vital.

Still hurt like hell though.

She roared and tried to bat the sidearm out of his hands as she pounced on him and sunk her teeth into his dominant arm deeply.

"I can back you up, Cap." Kyra said, adding her support to the shield "Just like in space."

"We can't play defense here," Derek grunted as he tried to shift the crystal formations out, siphoning the useless inner surfaces out to be re-used in the expansion. "Gotta hit that guy hard before he hits us any harder."

"Right, and if we pen him in rather than vice-versa," she says as she shifts the shield outwards along with Derek and Kyra, trying to herd things where they could deal with them more capably, "...we can force his hand."

"Mine's not as flexible as yours," he said. "You make a push, I'll follow you in and shore it up."

Madrox:

Madrox took one of the gunman out a shot to the head. Another of Madrox's shots broke a gunman's arm. After stumbling backwards that gunman began firing at Madrox specifically.

Stephanie:

Stephanie knocked the gun away and body armor cracked as she bit down on that same arm. Stephanie could taste blood as her teeth broke skin. With his leg released the gunman would have fallen over if not for the werewolf with it's teeth digging into his arm. The gunman tried to punch Stephanie in the side of the head with strength above peak human.

War for his part was not liking what he was seeing and the few unengaged gunmen began targeting the three heroes trying to use their shields together.

"I'll put a TK shield inbetween, keep the crystal from taking damage."

Murphy blocked the punch with another blast of concussive energy from her jaws.

"I can keep it up for a while... can you do anything to him? Shut him down, cut him off, anything?"

Hannah Murphy wrote:Murphy blocked the punch with another blast of concussive energy from her jaws.

The blast of concussive energy made the gunman's hand make a rather interesting cracking as it slammed back against the roof. The gunman tightened his inhuman grip on Murphy's throat trying to gain some kind of advantage or at least moment to catch his breath.

Gideon Rede wrote:Madrox took one of the gunman out a shot to the head. Another of Madrox's shots broke a gunman's arm. After stumbling backwards that gunman began firing at Madrox specifically.

The android took evasive action and fired back, even as a single bullet pierced his synthetic skin only to impact his metal frame.

"I'm trying." Kyra said, renewing her assault on War's shields.

Touching War's mind made Kyra feel like she was walking through a river of gore. It made it hard to find a hold on War's mind. Her attacks certainly did gain War's attention as he looked for a gap in the shields that were pushing together towards the building he stood on.

He smiled as Madrox's opponent collapsed to the ground leaving so few of his gunmen left.

"My turn then," War said.

Kyra would feel the surge of blood lust and anger as a two handed sword appeared in his hands. He charged towards Stephanie with more speed than should have been possible while wearing armor. When he got in range swung the two handed sword not caring if it hit the thug she held in her jaws or not.

The hood had come off during Gideon's charge letting the entire team see who they were fighting.

For the moment, Madrox just stood there staring.

Gid... no...

Stephanie's jaw dropped quite literally as she saw who charged her, releasing the goon just before he was cut in half by the sword swing. She moved out of the way, but barely, aided mostly by the sword's deceleration inside the goon, and got a viscious-looking wound on her arm that sent a spray of her own blood into the air with the henchman's. She snarled in pain, grabbing her arm and spun to face him head on again.

"Gid...what...what the hell are you doing?"

Gideon wasn't about to not take advantage of stunned X-Men. He turned and the sword became a spear that he threw at Madrox.

"Removing the weak links," Gideon said, "Until only the strong are left, Stephanie."

His eyes flared as he tried to increase the pain Stephanie was feeling to debilitating levels while another weapon formed in his hand.

It worked--Steph gripped her arm protectively and let out a yelp like an injured puppy.

Madrox backflipped under the spear and caught it before flipping back to his feet. He then threw it into the ground between Gid and Steph.

"Hey! Your fight's with me old friend, or have you forgotten my promise."

Gideon picked up the spear and as it changed to a sword raised it towards Stephanie's neck.

"You can't fulfill your end of that bargain anymore, Madrox," Gideon said, "En Sabah Nur has made me stronger and faster. What chance do you think you have against his horseman of war?"

"You're apparently not the first War he's made," Captain Britain said, pressing her advantage along with Derek and Kyra to try to isolate Gideon.

"You ever think to ask him what happened to the others?"

Steph remained very still, her head held up by the point of the sword at her neck, gritting her fangs in pain.

Kyra did as she'd been taught, and used the emotions she was picking up from War to strengthen her attack, although she was finding it difficult to get a grip on his slippery mind.

Gideon Rede wrote:Gideon picked up the spear and as it changed to a sword raised it towards Stephanie's neck.

"You can't fulfill your end of that bargain anymore, Madrox," Gideon said, "En Sabah Nur has made me stronger and faster. What chance do you think you have against his horseman of war?"

"Why don't you face me and find out?"

"Or are you so that afraid of your own weakness that you need to hurt her to deny it?"

"Several have been given the honor," Gideon said, "I think I'll be the last, Captain."

Turning the blood lust right back against Gideon worked though likely not quite as Kyra intended. Gideon looked up at Madrox and smiled as he drove the point of his weapon forward towards Stephanie. He also threw the other blade at Murphy without looking. The blade thrown at Murphy split in mid-air forming a light cloud of psychic blades. Gideon was intending to seriously injure but not outright kill his two targets.

"I know my strength," Gideon said, "And I think you don't have much time to waste, X-Men."

Damnit!

Madrox rocketed for War and landed in a somersault, going straight into a superhumanly quick and powerful kick.

Kyra took her frustration, using it to fuel her mental assault as she sent bursts of emotional static into Gideon. Doubt, guilt, and self-loathing were all apparent, along with another range of emotions that she sent at him from all angles, waiting for one of them to take hold as she tried to get underneath the War persona to try to disrupt his attack at the source. The fact that he was facing people he'd known and been close to didn't have to only work against them, so long as she could find the right place in his mind to make the emotional connections.

Stephanie yelped as the sword impaled her already shot and bleeding shoulder, but without the mental onslaught he'd used previously intensifying the pain, it wasn't as debilitating. A low growl rose in her throat and she tore herself free from the sword messily before dove at War, rage in her eyes.

Madrox found himself blocked by a psychic shield, but Gideon had not expected Stephanie to still be in this fight. He tried to step inside Stephanie's charge and slam a super powered fist into her solar plexus.

Kyra's mental assault caused War's defenses to quake. Apocalypse had done an excellent job brain washing his horseman, so the seams for the War persona were almost flush with Gideon's mind. However, as Gideon fought his friends the seams were becoming more obvious.

Kyra found the seams, and the cracks, and pried at them, pulled at them, tried to separate Gideon from WAR.

Madrox didn't let up for a second as he attacked the barrier hoping for an opening.