Dinner?

[Maggott]

Maggott walked through the woods behind the mansion, calling out for Eany and Meany. Once they got to the cover of the trees, he had unleashed them into the forest and they went bounding and slithering out of his sight. For a few moments, he paid attention to their gnawing and chewing on the trees and bushes, but he lost his concentration when he started thinking about the new arrival.

Stupid axed up doos. Who does that boykie think he is? He kicked at a rock on the ground and it skittered off into the trees, where it bounced off a trunk and fell back to the forest floor. Don't ruin this, Maggott. We humped halfway around the world to find somewhere to help us, and we can't destroy it in the first week.

He looked up, noticing for the first time that he no longer heard their loud eating. He walked a fast pace through the trees, looking left and right, calling their names.

"Eany! Meany! Girls, where are you?"

From his left, he heard a loud "Shhkkktt!" and a low rumbling "Brrrppp." He rushed in their direction, skirting a pine tree and pushing through two bushes.

"S'true bob, you two have the worst manners-" he stopped mid-sentence.

Eany and Meany were perched atop the still and lifeless body of a green-haired woman. Her stomach had a large hole torn straight through it, and her neat business suit was ripped and bloodied. Her beautiful face was scratched and dried blood was frozen in a thin stream from the side of her mouth. Maggott breathlessly stooped down and picked up Eany and Meany, who climbed atop his shoulder willingly enough.

"Girls, girls...what did you do?"

[Maggott]

A helicopter roared overhead as Maggott finished pulling the branches atop the woman's body. He gazed up through shaded eyes, watching the helicopter head towards the institute. Though he knew it was crazy, he couldn't help but think that they must have known what the girls had done and they were here for him.

He looked down on the mound of branches and leaves that hide the green-haired corpse. He had told the girls to climb to the trees above him and break off some thick and full branches, and they had done so willingly enough. He couldn't believe that they had just killed this woman for food...and even worse, what they had eaten from her would soon be within him as well. He felt like throwing up, but lacked both the sustenance and physiology to do so.

Her body was certainly covered up well, though the mound of branches itself might draw suspicion. He just had to hope none of the other students came this far out onto the property.

Maggott took one last look at what had been done and turned away. He licked his lips and took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.

"Alright, luvs, dinnertime." He lifted his shirt, exposing his stomach to Eany and Meany. Without a sound, the two launched themselves towards him, gnawing and burrowing into his flesh voraciously.

Maggott fell to his knees and gritted his teeth, choking back the howl of pain that would betray his secrets both old and new.

[Maggott]

Maggot put a now-blue hand to the forest floor and pushed himself up. He felt Eany and Meany squirming around inside his belly, but the pain had subsided as it always did. He stood and then bent back down to dust off the knees and shins of his pant legs, knocking the dirt and pine needles to the ground.

His whole body felt invigorated by the nourishment the slugs had given him - he could sense the new strength coursing through his veins...and he felt stronger than ever before.

Oh God, is it because they ate that woman? I've heard cannibals get a dead person's strength... Maggott noticed his breathing was becoming heavy and he was sweating. He tore off his jacket and threw it away from himself. Oh my God, this is sick!

Off in the distance, he heard the helicopter he had seen before flying by again. We have to get out of these woods. He looked around, trying to find his bearings. Which way did he come from? Where was the school?

He started running one way, then bolted the opposite direction. Boykie, you're panicking. Just slow down.

Then he heard the soft crunching of a group of people making their way into the woods.

[conduit]

Rayen followed Logan and Chamber, her footfalls going nearly silent as her practiced steps lead them deeper past the treeline.

Logan's breath rushed in and out of his nose. Heightened senses, she supposed. Very cool.

When she saw a movement in the trees, her hands grasped both men's arms. Rayen nodded in Maggott's direction.

[logan]

It was enough to Logan. His nose was working overtime, and it was pointed exactly past where the figure she pointed out was standing.

Quietly, unsure if it knew they were there, Logan tapped his communicator. "Angel, may need some support from the sky. Think we got a rogue in the wood... I also think I'm looking for a body."

He crept out slowly, and saw the boy, he was looking right at them.

"Don't move!" Logan said, raising his voice only a little above talk volume. "Just stay right there - and you'll be alright."

[chamber]

Chamber stood behind them both, blazing like fire in the subtle darkness of the tree cover.

As Logan hollered for the figure to stop, Jono sidestepped away from them towards the yard again, hoping to stop whoever it was if they tried to bolt.

Unfortunately that would mean vaporizing them... but if it was what Logan thought, was there a reason to take chances?

[angel]

The x-communicator went off just as Warren put his phone down on his dresser, and he didn't have time to reflect on the phone call that had just finished before he was out the window and in the sky.

"Yep, I'm up here." Not that he could do much from above if anything went wrong, but he had already seen them and wasn't surprised to see that it was the same guy he'd seen in the area before the cops had come.

"That guy's been out here since the cops came." Frowning, Warren hung in the sky above the woods, his eyes scanning for a body. He tried to keep an eye on the guy, as well, in case he managed to get past the others and someone needed to tackle him.

Wish I'd had a chance to talk to techno-guy about some kind of weapon. He'd done archery at some upper-class summer camp that his parents had taken him to once, but he wasn't sure how it would work in the air. Still, right now he was pretty much useless if anything happened - as had been shown by that chick in Baltimore. Well, it wasn't like he couldn't fight - also demonstrated by that chick in Baltimore - but he needed something that he could use to give him, and the X-Men, an upper hand. Why not take advantage of the aerial position?

"Can't see a body from here, sorry guys." He didn't move from his spot, but rather moved his attention back to the guy that had apparently decided that the woods were a nice place to have a tea party.

[Maggott]

Maggott froze as all three of them spotted him at the same time. Even through the dense foliage, he could tell they could easily see him - His white suit and now-blue skin made him stand out brilliantly in the forest.

"Don't move!" Logan shouted to him. Maggott clenched his strengthened fists, but obeyed the order. If it was just Wolverine, he could get out of this. He didn't know if the girl's could eat Logan's claws - Maggott had heard they were indestructible - but he knew he could they could certainly chew him up a bit before Maggott threw him into the treetops. But the other two, he hadn't heard much about them...

More importantly, did he even want to fight these people? I came here to be friends with them, teammates...not enemies!

"Just stay right there - and you'll be alright."

Maggott saw a shadow fall across the forest floor, melting and forming out of the canopy's shade. He looked up and saw Angel circling overhead.

Oh, girls, we're in for it now.

[logan]

"Just don't try anything, bub." Wolverine said, noting the clenched fists. "For all we know, you're wrong place at the wrong time... all we want is for you to just stand there, and don't make any crazy moves."

Logan looked over to Chamber. "Cover him, I'm going to keep trackin' the scent. Rayen, probably a good idea if you stayed here. Could be more of em' back there."

Then he slowly followed the scent, staying well clear of Maggott as he started circling around him.

"Don't know if you know much about Chamber, guy... but his blasts disintegrate any matter." He said casually as he was sniffing.

There was a familiar scent here... but it was very faint within the deep smell of blood.

[Maggott]

Maggott looked to his right at the fire-faced fellow. Maybe he could really do what Wolverine said...Regardless, Maggott knew he couldn't take all four of them. He'd only fought another mutant once before, and though that man was now dead, he wasn't anything like the X-Men.

Then he noticed Wolverine edging towards where the girls had killed the green haired woman and he panicked. Turning away from the fire-face, he spread his arms.

"Where ya going, Wolverine? I'm right here!"

[logan]

Logan eyed the mutant quizzically, an eyebrow raised. He was getting a bit nervous. Passing a glance back beyond the light blue mutant, and then back to him, Wolverine said simply. “I think you know the answer to that.”

He continued stalking towards the smell, getting very close to the pile – enough that his nose wrinkled with the stink of all the blood. Anyone could have smelled it from here.

Logan’s attention was turned fully to the pile now, his defenses seemingly lowered. It showed a lot of trust towards Chamber, but he knew the chatterbox would be there when it counted.

[conduit]

Rayen watched the interchange, feeling her pulse speed up. She wished to god they weren't in the forest, and for the first time made mental note that MAYBE, carrying a power source at all times wasn't a bad idea.

She walked over to Maggott, even managed to smile a bit, if grimly, and walked to his other side. There. Triangulation. Hadn't she learned something about that from the earth liberation kids on the res?

[Maggott]

Maggott knew exactly what was happening as Logan turned his back to him and the girl moved to a different position. He'd been in enough fights in South Africa to come in contact with military-trained fighters.

I wish I knew this girlie's power, he thought as he looked directly at her. ...Hopefully it's not reading minds.

He looked over to Wolverine, who had found the pile hiding what the girls had done. From far away, or from the air where Angel was, one wouldn't be able to distinguish it from anything else in the area. But from where Wolverine was standing, there would be no mistaking what was beneath the branches.

[logan]

A few branches tossed aside, and Logan stared at the source of the stench. The green haired woman couldn't have been more than a couple days dead. Possibly even just one.

He examined her for a moment.

Whoever she was, she died an awfully shitty death.

Standing, he turned to look back at the blue mutant. He purposefully didn't cast a worried look at Rayen. If this guy could rip apart this girl like this - what's to stop him from hurting her? She was defenseless out here... but he didn't know that. So Logan gave him no sign of it.

"Okay, bub. We're going back into the school - and you're coming with us. I think you've got some explaining to do. You gonna come peaceful like, or try and find out what's behind door number two?"

Life would be so much easier if he'd choose door number two. Generally speaking, though, life wasn't easy.

(( OOC: Okay folks, we need to get time rolling at the mansion. There are two many things all piled up that need resolution. I want to move this whole thing back to the mansion. If Maggott chooses to do it peacefully, then after your post Dave I'm just going to put them in a room in the sub-basement for questioning. But I'd like to advance the time an hour or so, so we can get everything else running. ))

[Maggott]

When Logan tossed the branches aside, Maggott thought he was going to die. Everything he had dreamed about was crashing down.

He felt the girls rumble inside his belly at Logan's threat, but he kept them inside.

You're not coming out for a long time, girls. Ever if I can help it.

Maggott looked back at the girl and the fire-faced fellow once more, then hung his head and closed his eyes.

"Okay. Let's go."

((OOC: that jump is okay with me.))

[conduit]

Rayen tensed a bit at the tone of Logan's voice. Nodding to Chamber, she turned a bit towards the mansion, ready to clear the way for them to lead Maggott back inside.

Feeling a familiar pull, she looked back into the trees. There was something there... something that shouldn't exist among trees. Unless there was a powerbox... but she couldn't sense linear current.

Shuddering, she pushed the feeling aside.

[Sabretooth]

Sabretooth sat in a treetop, watching the group evacuate the forest. There had been a tense moment there when the bird-boy flew overhead, but the tree he had concealed himself in was dense enough to hide his form.

Idiots. Sabretooth had enjoyed the show immensely. The African believed he was a murderer, when in reality, it was his little freaky creatures that scared Sabretooth off. He had just been getting tired of playing with his new toy - it was never as fun after they died - when the two little pieces of crap slithered out of the brush.

He had taken a swipe at one, hoping to kill it or at least scare the things away, and the other had lunged at him and bitten his arm. He glanced down at the hole in his coat and the healing wound beneath. The creature had really taken a big chunk out. Just wait till I get my jaws on you and your owner.

When the African had started calling for his pets, Sabretooth had launched himself into the trees. He watched as the slugs rooted around the body, accidentally covering themselves with blood, then as their owner reacted in horror. He was about to jump on all three of them when he heard and smelled something else entering the woods.

Soon, he knew the scent before he saw the face. That little runt, back again. He was still ready to jump down and bloody his claws again when he saw the runt had company. It's a fucking party out here, he had thought.

Sabretooth could barely stifle a laugh watching the boy take the blame. And it wasn't so bad that he couldn't kill them now - he'd have fun with all of them very soon. The day was getting late and the night was always a better time for slaughter anyways.

Sabretooth licked Lorna's blood from one claw and smiled.