Baltimore: Deployment

[Juggers]

The impact of what felt like a big, shiny wrecking ball caused Cain to stagger. Two steps to the left. Two steps was enough. It was just barely enough. He thundered past Forge mere inches from where he was standing, the rush of displaced air causing the mans long, black coat to flutter in his wake.

The Juggernaut crashed headlong into a hardware store, a plume of dust and brick spouting out into the rain-washed street. The window glass however, had long since vacated the premises.

He stopped, turned about and stomped back out into the rain, trailing debris and caked in dust.

A metal giant was waiting for him.

"Another tin man," Cain cried gleefully, "you're gonna wish you 'adn't done that." He said and closed the gap between them.

[tingrin]

"I wish to correct you," said Colossus. "I am not made of tin. This is organic steel. There is a very important difference."

He squared his shoulders and stood his ground. He knew that the Juggernaut could very likely send him flying several feet in the opposite direction, but he was prepared for that and knew that there would unlikely be any damage from such a trip.

Probably.

He brought his fists up in a rather quirky way, not dissimilar to the sort of pose that 1920's boxing posters always showed.

He was one step away from saying "Queensbury Rules?"

Except he knew nothing of such matters. He was just gearing up to punch the Juggernaut as hard as he could possibly manage.

Oddly enough, as the Juggernaut got into punch range, Colossus lashed out with a well-aimed right hook and caught the big man on the jaw.

There was a resounding 'THWACK' noise.

There was a pause.

Then the Juggernaut rubbed his jaw, stared at Colossus and said, with a very cross look on his face:

"Ow."

[logan]

Logan had no time to think, which was precisely the way he liked it. The more you thought, the less you trusted your instincts. Logan knew his instincts worked, and strongly disliked second guessing them.

He grabbed Conduit by the hand, and took her with him as bolted towards the alley. This needed to end now, and he knew she could do it with less interference.

“Fry these assholes, I’ll cover ya!” He said, not stopping to really get her opinion on the matter at all. He knew what needed to be done, and so did she.

Logan let go of her with view of the alley, Dead Man and Jane clearly visible atop a dumpster, both laughing like fools at the chaos they were undoubtedly creating. Could it be more obvious who was causing undead and giant plants?

The two controlling mutants must’ve caught a whiff of the doom that was coming their way, because they focused heavily on blocking Wolverine and Conduit. Logan was busy chopping the plants off as they grew, stopping only to slash a zombie that tried to approach. It was getting heavy with enemies…

[forge]

Forge had been spared by Colossus, he knew that all to well. He owed the big Russian his life, quite clearly, and would be happy to express this to the man – were he not already squaring off with Juggernaut now.

Bandero had also read the files of the Brotherhood, his perfect memory an gift in situations like this. There was an unfinished option on his cannon that he thought would provide a possible asset in dealing with such invulnerability, but it couldn’t be done by itself.

Looking around, Forge’s eyes caught onto an overturned police car. He narrowed them back at the fight between the giants, and then bolted towards the debris.

Holding his hand against the vehicle, his power began to alter the insides of it, taking what he needed to pull of the stunt that he desperately hoped he’d not have to use. While he did that, he dug around the inside of it with his free hand, looking for a glimmer of hope.

In an overturned pair of Styrofoam coffee cups, he found it.

[conduit]

Rayen stared wide-eyed at the two mutants, unsure whether she was more horrified that one looked dead and the other was green, or that they were capable of producing zombies and giant plant beasts.

Then it dawned on her. Logan wanted her not to shock something, but someone.

"I..." she stammered, unable to take her eyes off the pair. "Logan?"

[logan]

Wolverine didn’t bother ducking the punch thrown by the super-powered zombie, instead choosing to simply chop its arm off. Doing so, it was easy to then take it’s head.

Half turning to Rayen, he could see the look on her face… she was somewhat peaked, and definitely looked a bit hesitant at the prospect of taking human (or mutant) life. They didn’t have time for this.

He spun behind her and braced her roughly around the waist with his left arm. With his right, he grabbed her wrist, and jerked it up, guiding it towards the Brotherhood duo.

“Do it.” He insisted. It sounded almost more like a demand than an encouragement.

He didn’t have time to consider the repercussions of pushing her into it. He only had time to consider what would happen if she didn’t.

[conduit]

Rayen heaved breaths, adrenaline kicking through her body so fast it made her dizzy. Oh hell. She was actually going to do this...

Logan didn't know about what had happened seven years ago... but those were friends, she reminded herself. Innocent people.

These two... they needed to die.

With a scream and ended in a choked of shriek through clenched teeth, Rayen pulled current from the nearest source- a Sentinel busying itself with zombies a few yards away- and directed the current through her body.

The force jolted her back into Logan, shoulders thrown back as she accelerated the voltage, sending a shock large enough to kill a crowd of men at the two in the alleyway. It was more than she had anticipated, but she couldn't risk failure.

[Juggers]

Cain waggled his jaw a little and shook his head; that had really hurt. He growled and straight punched right back into Colossus' face. The big mans head snapped back and then nodded forward again. Pete put a hand to his temple and shook his head as if to dislodge some cobwebs.

The Juggernaut smiled; an eye for an eye.

Then it was on.

There had been many fights through the long ages of man. Some were elegant affairs, all posture, skill and grace. The martial artists of the far east made beauty out of battle. The Samurai had honed their skills with the blade to perfection, sometimes practising a single strike for years to perfect their art. They lived and died by a code of honour.

Some were brutal tests of strength and stamina. Boxers slugged each other, guarded and slugged again until one or the other was beaten into submission. Wrestling was much the same; there was a science to it, the biology of locks, throws and holds. It tested ones knowledge of the enemy as well as the strength of ones body.

Yes, there had been many, many fights.

None, however, had ever been quite like this.

A metallic clang was followed very shortly by the form of Colossus spiraling into a car. He shook himself, stood, grabbed the car and hurled it back at his opponent.

The crash and tinkle of tearing metal and breaking glass echoed down the soggy street and the Juggernaut vanished beneath the hurled vehicle.

A lamp-post sparked and broke as Cain ripped it from the ground and swung it like a club at his foe.

Colossus caught it, bending the metal in two before flinging it back at the Juggernaut.

All the while the thump, crack, smack of blows as each strove to better the other.

The Juggernaut spiraled into the hardware store for a second time, emerging moments later carrying a refrigerator under each arm. He launched one, then the other at his metallic enemy, blasting him back across the street.

Peter ripped a parking-meter from the pavement and bashed the Juggernaut over the head, dropping him to one knee.

The Juggernaut, from his new position grabbed the ankles of his enemy, dragged him off his feet and flung him bodily into the long suffering store.

Back and forth, back and forth.

And the storm raged on unabated.

[forge]

Forge stared at the battle, jaw slack. He’d never seen anything quite like this. He’d never even heard of anything like this.

The clangs of their fist-falls and the tear of metal could be heard for blocks. He looked back at the Sentinels, realizing they were doing nothing to interfere. Maybe it was because it had little to do with them… likely it was because there was nothing they COULD do. Forge doubted the stun-darts they’d used on Logan would stop either of those guys.

He cast a glance over to Wolverine. The bastard had his sister THICK in the middle of battle. And though the hairy asshole could definitely handle combat, that wouldn’t stop Conduit from being killed.

Stop it. Stop, Forge. Just concentrate on your work… concentrate.

[Juggers]

Cain surged back, his fist once again connecting solidly with the metal-skinned X-Man. There was a satisfying clang and Peter spun away, catching himself on the last unthrown car. It was a police car. On its roof. He figured one of the stupid plants must have overturned it in its quest for food.

"How'd ya like that tin man?" The Juggernaut chuckled. "You should sod off back to ya mansion, leave the fightin' to the big boys!" The fact that Peter was seven feet tall seemed not to matter to Cain.

Colossus' reply was to smash one of the already-abused refrigerators over the Juggernauts head, finally breaking the appliance in two.

He followed up with an upper-cut that lifted Cains' helmet clean off his head and sent it spinning away across the pavement.

The Juggernaut staggered back.

He stopped, shook himself and ran a hand over his shaven scalp. Then he looked up, looked Pete square in the eye.

"You 'ave to be fuckin' KIDDIN' ME!" He bellowed, and charged.

Colossus braced and prepared to receive the impact, digging his heels in as far as he could.

Nothing however, could stop the Juggernaut.

A metallic boom reverberated around the streets and alleys, rattling windows in frames (those that remained unbroken) and dislodging a few loose bricks from the unfortunate hardware store.

Colossus blasted backwards, through a wall, through another and ended up flat on his back in a sweet and sour smelling kitchen.

Mr. and Mrs. Chang peered down at the fallen metal giant, eyes wide at the second titanic man to invade their home in less than an hour.

"Yeah," Cain said, coming to a stop, "that's what you get!"

He dusted himself off and turned his attention once more to the conflict at the gate.

For some reason the geek with the gun was still stood on the street.

"You gonna wish you'd legged it," the Juggernaut rumbled.

[forge]

Once again he was face to face with Juggernaut, and once again he had that sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach. He was going to die.

While the Juggernaut offered tactical corrections to him, Forge had finally completed his hook up. The car had a few cables running out of it and into his gun, and he’d successfully packed in the crunched up Styrofoam where he needed it. But he’d only have one shot.

The biggest man Forge had ever seen was now charging at him. Nothing stopped the Juggernaut, Forge recalled sorrowfully… but had to take his one chance.

Raising the cannon, he thanked God Colossus had knocked the helmet free. The trigger was squeezed.

Out of the end of the cannon came a shot of the stickiest napalm on record. It was the equivalent of burning tar, only hotter, and completely enflamed. To Forge it looked like a giant flaming loogie, as viscous as a greasy peanut butter.

The shot was true, and it plastered directly onto Cain Marko’s ugly mug, covering his head in a pasty, sticky fire.

Forge dove clear of the charge, sacrificing his cannon as he did so, and rolled out of the big man’s way. Maybe he'd live through this after all...

[deadman]

The Dead Man had never been so happy. Not only was he causing murder and mayhem on a multitude of levels, he was able to do it quite openly and quite thoroughly. He could only imagine the horror, the nightmares, that this day would cause so many.

Better yet, he actually had company. The beautifully skinned Jane had provided a perfect accomplice for his activities, and proved herself every bit as delighted at her own chaos as he was! She was breathtaking. He’d never felt that way about anyone, living, in all his days… and here, standing next to him on this dumpster, creating an orgy of mayhem… well, it was the closest thing to sex with a live person Dead Man had ever had. They were creating something, even if it was destruction. In a way, it was like conception. It was… orgasmic.

Yet two X-men seemed to want to cock-block. Here was the furry one known as Wolverine, and some racially confused side-kick, and they were trying to get at them! The Dead Man laughed and cackled, and sent more undead their way. Jane seemed to share his concern – and amusement – and sent more plants… but Wolverine was amazing! If only he could realize his TRUE potential. Dead Man made a note to keep Wolverine as a personal guard when he animated him.

But the girl.. wait, the girl! She was drawing a surge of electricity… a LOT of electricity… and…

In the first act of genuine compassion in his entire life, Dead Man shoved Jane off the dumpster, to the rear of it. At the same moment he raised his steel walking cane into the air, becoming a veritable lightning rod.

Electricity exploded into him, lighting up his flesh and sending a shower of sparks in every direction… he jerked and shimmied, and was raised a foot off of the dumpster, sizzling and vibrating with the current's god-awful power.

His eyes would’ve exploded were they normal, yet for some reason they continued to stare forward, unblinking and red.

[conduit]

Horrified by what she was seeing, Rayen's knees weakened beneath her. If it weren't for Logan she'd likely have gone to the ground. Shorting out the connection, it snapped back to her and nearly knocked them both off their feet.

She hadn't realized the soft shocked sounds leaving her lips until Logan shook her a bit. Dazed, her eyes trailed over to the fight between Forge and Juggernaut.

Rayen paled.

She had no time to react as the Sentinel she'd depowered lost its balance, unable to shift its weight without its basic control functionality. It seemed the operator meant to say something over the strange tinny PA but had no chance before the machine careened towards Rayen and Logan, towards the ground.

[Jane]

Even during her brief, stupid stint in the world of powdered joy, Jane had never felt like this. She'd never done anything like this, either, nothing this big, this destructive - it was wrong, she knew in a very small back portion of her brain, and sick, but the fact that she could even do something like this was mind-boggling.

A power trip mixed with a real trip was obviously a dangerous thing.

It seemed as though she couldn't regenerate the plants quickly enough, though. Not that it was tiring her - quite the opposite, really; but they took a while to put together, of course, and to 'train,' if you could call it that, and that stupid kid with the little green things kept fucking burning through them.

She'd have to think long and hard about how to combat that at a later date, but thinking, even short and easily, was now quite out of the question for Jane.

She and the Dead Man had wordlessly worked out a system. She killed the cops and civilians by the truckload, and he reanimated them and brought up a co-attack while some of her plants concentrated on the X-Men. Though none of them had died yet, it was apparently working quite well; at the very least, they were at stalemate.

Much to her frustration, though, two of the X-Men were closing in: a guy she'd thought was named Wolverine (she'd seen him on the news) and some token minority chick - and no matter what she did with the fly traps, both of them seemed (not easily, which made her smile) to be able to keep the vegetative onslaught at bay. Dead Man wasn't having any better luck. Apparently zombies didn't work when you sliced up their heads. Who knew?

She still couldn't stop laughing. It got more and more high-pitched and nuts the longer she went, lapsing from true laughter into shrill, manic giggling after about ten minutes.

The same distant part of her mind that was still logical started talking again, and though Jane shoved the voice away, she couldn't help but notice, even through her hazy stupor, that the girl who'd blown the crap out of anything electrical a while before was now being shoved at their dumpster.

Before she could think, Jane felt the peculiar stomach-rising sensation that was falling, and then she was on her back on the ground, the wind knocked out of her and pain barely registering. Her back was sticky, much of the skin scraped off to expose nerve endings, not that they were working properly right now.

Over the dumpster, she saw a brilliant light, and heard a thump, and then silence and dark.

Oh no.

In a rapid switch from the invulnerability she'd experienced seconds before, Jane was terrified. Something was there, on the other side of the dumpster. Something had fried Dead Man.

Run run run run run run run said her conscious mind, and she was really in no state to deny it.

Half sliding on the slick pavement and hail, Jane darted inside the first door she saw, finding herself in a destroyed Chinese buffet. Where was the truck? Where where where - oh, that's right.

Vaulting above an overturned table in a feat of gymnastics she'd never have attempted if still possessed of her whole mind, Jane ran at top speed out the huge hole created by Colossus just a few minutes before.

Now she was out on the street in the thick of the chaos and with an admittedly much better view of what her plants were doing to the assembled forces. And the Juggernaut's face was on fire.

Not good.

Jane absentmindedly told one of the fly traps to eat Forge before she ran behind the remains of a news van, shaking all over, but still high as a kite.

[logan]

It was all Logan could do to roll the two of them free, the gigantic machine smashing the concrete to cracks where it hit – where they’d been laying half a second earlier.

Of course, there was no guarantee it wouldn’t have careened to the side and crushed them, so when they came to a stop Logan had both his fists on either side of Rayen – his claws buried into the concrete. His adamantium skeleton could’ve supported the weight of the colossal construct, if he was braced as he was at that point in time…

Turned out it was an unnecessary precaution that simply left him on top of her, the two face to face. He looked at her for a very brief moment, then worked his way to his feet, helping her up as well.

The zombies had all fallen into lifelessness, collapsing where they had stood.

It was time for them to get the hell outta dodge.

[Aurora]

Finally, Jane had stopped. Aurora had been flitting back and forth behind her as she ran, waiting for her to stop. She could have just grabbed her and lifted her into the air, but she didn't want to startle her. Those things tended to scare people.

Aurora seemed to appear beside Jane as she came to a stop, descending from a few feet above ground to touch the floor. "I can take you to the truck," she said hurriedly. She spoke weakly--ugly blue and purple bruises around her neck were a sign of the damage. She swallowed, and her eyebrows tilted in a pained expression which she tried to hide.

"Pyro and Miss Frost are already there."

[Juggers]

The world suddenly filled up with white hot pain.

While it was true that nothing could stop the Juggernaut, the Juggernaut still felt pain. Getting hit hurt, getting shot hurt and getting set on fire really hurt. It was just that over the years Cain had become inured to the pains of battle, his natural resilience and stubborn nature over-riding the sensible nerve impulses to stop getting hit.

Now his face was on fire, and it really, really hurt.

He roared in pain, clawed at his face in an effort to rid himself of the flaming goo and only succeeded on setting his hands on fire too. Things, Cain decided, had been better.

He tried to get a look at where the gun wielding geek had gone but only succeeded in stepping on something crunchy and metallic. Cain hoped it was the X-Mans gun.

The world continued to be a haze of flames and searing pain.

He stumbled about, thrashing wildly, hoping that he would find something to rid himself of the clinging fire. His fist connected with a wall, tearing away brick and cement. His foot crumpled the front of the police car and he stumbled into a lamp-post, toppling it into the street.

"I'm gonna fuckin' kill you!" He bellowed, desperately trying to peer through the blinding flames.

Then an important fact filtered its way into his mind; he was running out of air. The fire gobbled up the oxygen before he could inhale, burning it hungrily away before he had a chance to breath. The world started to take on a slightly dreamy feel.

The first inklings of panic started to set in.

Cain thrashed and bellowed and roared and tried everything in his power to extinguish the fire clawing at his face and stealing his air. Even the Juggernaut had to breath.

He stumbled and fell to his knees, everything seemed to swim and dance in shades of orange, red and yellow.

Then the world up-ended and he pitched forward into the street.

After a few moments Forge walked carefully up to the prone giant and cocked an eyebrow, "I guess oxygen deprivation stops the Juggernaut, bit-"

Then a hand closed around his ankle with bone shattering strength.

"Gotcha," Cain gasped hoarsely, and though the fire obscured his face you could tell that he was grinning. He stumbled to his feet, Forge dangling from his grasp and then whipped the smaller man around his head in a wide arc. There were more breaking bone sounds.

"Set ... me ... on ... fire ... " The Juggernaut whispered out, almost exhausted. He continued to shake Forge around like a rag-doll for a few moments more before bring him down in an overhead smash. The impact with the street would probably have been fatal.

As it was, the fallen lamp-post intercepted the killing stroke. It intercepted it at about hip-height. There was a sickening snap, followed by a wet tearing sound. Had it not been raining quite so hard and the pain in his face not quite so intense, Cain would have felt the hot, wet spray that suddenly washed over him.

For some reason the man he had been holding suddenly felt alot lighter. Unfortunately for the Juggernaut his head was also feeling alot lighter. The world had shrunk to a small, hazy tunnel, at the end of which there was nothing but heat and pain.

And no air.

He took two, stumbling steps forward and toppled over into the hole in the street. He landed face down in the rank smelling sewage accompanied by a gaseous hiss as the fire was doused.

Darkness closed over him.

And then the street fell in.

[forge]

Forge’s reality disappeared beneath the cruel demon known as agony. The beast consumed everything around him like a raging fire, forcing his world to narrow it’s once magnificent scope all the way down to that of his left leg.

His mind didn’t register that the leg had actually just been torn off. It only registered that the leg was seriously damaged… maybe even on fire.

He couldn’t see. He couldn’t hear. He was nothing but the complete and utter pain. He didn’t even register the fact that he’d been screaming, or the fact that his consciousness was slowly fading away to nothing. He only knew the pain.

Then he knew sleep. But even there, the agony insisted on it’s cut.

[Nightingale]

The whole thing happened too quickly for her to do anything about it, too quickly for Angie to do anything but watch. Jane and Dead Man had been blasted with... something - no, wait, it was only Dead Man, because there was Jane running out and away. Juggernaut was back up and fighting with some big metal guy, and a guy with a big gun was....

It was all too much. She couldn't put it all in words, couldn't describe the chaos that she was seeing. Juggernaut was down, the guy with the big gun was down, Dead Man was... She ran from her place, ignoring the Sentinels, running over to Dead Man through the piles of bodies left where his zombies had fallen along with him, and tried to ignore that sign. It should have been obvious what had happened, but she refused to believe it, and Angie darted over to place both hands on Dead Man's no longer pale and unmarred skin.

She felt... nothing. There was no life force left in there that she could connect with, nothing to give her energy to - he was... The Dead Man lived up to his name. In a manner of speaking. She started to laugh hysterically at the thought before her brain caught onto what was happening. "Shit!" She looked around in a panic, irrationally trying to find Catch-22, not knowing what to do and where to go and how to fix what had all gone so horribly wrong.

Juggernaut. The thought came to her as if from an outside source, and her head whipped around to see the hole in the street where the big mutant had been, the rubble that was the aftermath of the fight, the broken body of the man who'd done that to the Juggernaut. Picking her way through the rubble, Angie dropped to her knees, bending down and leaning into a gap and straining to reach him, stretching out so far that she almost fell in before finally coming into contact with Cain's skin. She felt her life force trickle into him, then pour as she managed to get her hand to flatten so that her palm was touching him, and she spoke.

"We have to get out of here. Dead Man is dead, everyone else is gone, the Sentinels are..." She trailed off, not knowing what else to say. The pain of the burns was leaving him, the injuries starting to heal, and she left it as long as she could before she darted away. Knowing the likely result of his making his way back out of the hole, Angie ran, as fast as she could, but she was stumbling from the exhaustion that had set in after what she'd been doing all day. She drank the last of her sports drink as she ran, throwing away the bottle, and pulled out the last chocolate bar that she had, taking one bite and feeling like she was going to throw up. The food and the drink were a false sense of strength - they helped, but not enough to make a difference in a situation such as this, and her body refused to accept anymore.

A familiar voice spoke in her ear, and Angie looked up with wonder written all over her face to see Aurora. Grabbing hold of the woman without any qualms, Angie closed her eyes and held on tight while she was taken back to the truck. She hoped that she'd done enough for the Juggernaut, hoped that she wouldn't need to go back there and try again, because she had almost nothing left to give.

[Exit Nightingale]

[angel]

Minutes later, Bobby had brushed Warren away from him, claiming that he was fine. He managed to stand, leaning against the side of one of the cars. His arms pushed him off of the window, and as he clutched at the car to steady himself, he staggered along it's side.

Now that the battle was coming to a close, with the Brotherhood beginning to pull back as Aurora collected them one by one, Emma was drawing back the false strength she'd supplied Bobby with. The effect of the sudden draining from a body rushing with adrenaline to a body forced to the edge of it's capabilities and exhausted was staggering.

Bobby stumbled into sight close by. He was hunched over, and his arms were reaching out in front of him, as if searching for something to steady himself with. His eyes were barely open, and his eyelids fluttered to stay open that small bit. His face was pale, and he was drenched in a cold sweat that matted his hair on the back of his neck and made his leather suit stick to his skin.

But the most noticeable thing about Bobby was the way that he shook. His jaw trembled as though he was cold, though Iceman was never cold. His legs shook under his weight as he swayed where he stood, and his arms shook terribly as he grasped for something to hold onto.

A dry sob escaped his throat as he sunk to his knees and then onto his side, shaking hands trying to pull him back onto his hands and knees. He was breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling harshly.

Flapping his wings and surveying the site with eagle-like eyesight, Warren wondered what was going on. He'd just been watching Bobby, had been speaking to him only minutes before, but his friend had disappeared on him, and he'd taken to the air. Spotting a familiar figure stumbling and then falling, a panic rose up inside him, and Warren's wings slowed as he approached the ground, landing softly. "Bobby... Are you alright, man?"

Bobby heard the familiar voice, and looked up. But the face was swimming in front of him, he couldn't see it clearly. He reached up a hand, reaching out to Warren. His lips moved as though he was trying to speak, but no sound came out. He shook worse with each passing moment.

Warren's father may have been a pharmacist, but Angel had no medical training. Bending down and sliding his arms under Bobby's body, he hoped to whatever higher power there may be that it wasn't a spinal injury - he knew enough to realise that moving him was bad if that was the case. Still, he couldn't get help here, so Warren would take him to help, and hope that he didn't make things worse.

"Alright buddy, I've got you - told you I'd have to come save your ass. And speaking of ass, I thought you were working out and laying off the twinkies - you weigh a ton!" Ah, humour. The last defense of the panic-stricken.

Once Bobby was safely in an ally and friend's grasp, the last shred of the false sense of strength Emma had given him disappeared. His head fell onto Angel's shoulder as he blacked out, and all of his muscles went from tense to released and relaxed. Even the shaking of his limps stopped.

Panic gripped him as Bobby stpped moving, and he almost fell out of the sky as he stopped flapping his wings in shock. Realising what he was doing, Warren recovered, and his sharp eyes soon saw Iceman's chest moving rythmically, as his friend breathed slowly. Unashamed of the tears that had formed in the moment, Warren increased his speed as he headed toward the X-Men that he could see starting to gather. Unable to touch his communicator, he yelled as soon as he thought he was close enough. "We need help - Iceman's down. Not sure what happened, I found him on the ground. He was fine a couple of minutes ago." He slowed and landed smoothly, still cradling his friend in his arms, and folded his wings behind him.