"That's my boy," Emma mutters quietly to herself as she sees Wolverine has picked up some hint in the air.
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"Time for you to let out the wolfhound."
Emma re-confirms any details in a mind scan, before telling Wolverine:
"Hey Logan, you're familiar with Big Sur? The driver dropped Nitro there."
Emma scans the minds of the revelers in the bar to see if the owner of the pickup is around.
"Do we have any stats on how soon after a big bang Nitro can go again? Generally I love guys with a short refractory period, especially if it is followed by a good bang. But this is a bit of a special situation."
After a while Emma frowns, "He's not being very deliberate on the mind horizon. Probably laying low and resting after that blast. I can't pick him up yet."
"This would be easier if we could figure out where he's going."
"Time to be heroes then," Emma smiles enigmatically.
Emma Frost's eyes narrow for a moment, annoyed at the paranoid red-tape. For a moment the Sentinel pilot has an overlay of what the sensors tell him, and what his mind perceives, then he registers Wolverine in the appropriate area.
14 d10 Logan, I think I've thrown him off your trail. Do your thing.
Emma echoes a thought in the little girl's head: See how your mom doesn't like us? Bad things happen to good people, even us.
"Honey, nobody deserves to have their right to live - or live the way they want to - taken from them. Sometimes bad things happen to good people, people like your friends. Where is your mommy? She must be so worried for you!"
Emma unlocks her full area sweeping ability - seeking out minds in all states, even unconscious ones. She tries to get as dense a result as she can manage to an area at least twice the radius of the impact.
"Scott - get us over the impact area, I'll be able to find any survivors as well as the bad guys if they're still there."
"Sure," Emma turns and leaves next to Wolverine. "It's not like we didn't get into a load of trouble when we were kids." "Hey! Scotty-Too-Hotti! Is there something on the agenda? Since we're already here, I think its high time we take the Blackbird for a inspection flight. I was thinking Miami Beach."
Emma's good-natured response is, "Both, actually. They're mostly really still teenagers, in the sense that they're still grappling with who they are and what they are becoming. But the crime is real, you cannot script that without it going horribly wrong when you least expect it." Almost on cue, the television announcer speaks in panic:
"Ah! Ah yes..." Emma smiles, then turns a little sour as she addresses Cyclops: "Can you tractor beam us or something and land us somewhere safely? Preferably close by."
"Does your friend have the facilities to hold him - and more importantly the willpower to withstand the ravings of that lunatic?"
"What did you have in mind, Logan?"
Emma, displaying one of her mean streaks, slips another thought of faithlessness into Crusader's head. Forgive me Father, for I have sinned.. Team
Total Effect
"Careful! We got to move quickly. You guys are too young to die!" But in the corners of Crusader's mind another sliver of uncertainty festers: Death? Heaven? I've... sin... I won't go to heaven!
16 1d10
"-" Emma smiles wordlessly at the Crusader, but in his mind flaring thoughts vie for attention, louder and bigger than any other thoughts, .
17 1d10
"Grownups who have imaginary friends are stupid."
12 d4
Emma Frost grits her teeth for a moment as she pries into the mind of the Crusader. She seeks some weakness in his thoughts that her teammates can capitalize on.
17 1d10
"What knight would raise a weapon against a lady!?"
18 d10 "You should spend your time fighting each other to determine who is worthy to serve me!"
14 d10
"Heh, right you are - seems there's four minions left. Though they share two braincells among them."
"From what I can tell, there's two more of these minions, and then one Crusader." Emma smirks, then turns to the boys, "What? You're going to make a lady go first?"
Emma Frost steps forward to reveal herself, catching them off-guard and taking advantage of their misconstrued but still existing sense of chivalry. "Oh my - don't you know that you're supposed to drop your weapons when in the presence of a lady?"
14/d10/d10
"Hey Logan, get your claws ready - there's two Crusader groupies coming this way. Looks like there's still four feds up and thinking - but they don't look like they'll be much help in their current state."
Emma concentrates a bit to get a feel of who is where, and how many of them.
"Come Beast, no telling what he'll get up to if we don't mellow him out. We're here to stop the Crusader, not bring the entire plane down." Emma quickly crosses the bridge - the high and frigid winds at that altitude shake her only for a moment, then she is across.
"Don't worry Logan, you won't be lonely for long."
"Wolverine's making his way to the cargo hatch - he'll be opening it any moment now." Emma barely concentrates to pick up the jarring predator's instinct of Wolverine from the self-righteous madmen.
"Excellent, let's get airborne."
Emma laughs, crystal and clear, "Since when are you a man of subtleties, Logan? ...I suggest we keep the Feds out of it before they interfere and get themselves in over their head."
"Parachute?"
"Then let's not waste time. I'm still jonesing for a fight after suppressing all that anger against that dick."
"hmmm... do you suppose Crusader is for or against the mutant act? I can see arguments going either way. Or has your old friend told you anything about whether Crusader has got a wholly different agenda?" Emma considers a moment. "We can take it up with the plane, if you'll take my help. I don't fly so well, but I can make sure others don't fly so well too."
"There's only so much grief I will take from that Dick. Dickerson I mean." She sighs, then adds, "Let me make a call, it's always worth being a step ahead in the game - and some things just require a bit of digging to unearth." She dials up a number on her cellphone, "...Harry? Yea, you got it... I'm calling in a favor... don't I always? ...(laughs) yes, I will. Okay, this probably doesn't come as a surprise for you, but I want dirt. Dickerson. I want some concrete video evidence or something on him... yea, you do what you do best. Thanks Harry."
She turns to Wolverine, "He? Ach you know men, don't want to commit and get angry when their toys are taken away."
"I suggest we move along with the proceedings right now, if we allow things to get derailed by an interruption, then we just give those who vehemently oppose the bill a small victory."
"I found that whenever push came to... shove, that you were right behind me," Emma retorts. "I trust this won't be changing, yes?" She surveys the majesty of the place - the architecture has seen much of grandeur and the beauty of the human spirit, such a pity about all the politicians then... she chides in her thoughts. She surveys the gathered congressmen. So much that happened before a rolling camera was carefully instantiated show - but she knew more than one of these politicians was eager and opportunistic to strike at any chance to get ahead in the game, and many shady deals were borne in the shadow of a camera. You don't need to be a mindreader to know that, just keep your eyes open. With an enigmatic smile, she addresses the hall capturing the attention of politicians and journalists alike, "I trust the proceedings today will not be unduly interrupted again. These Hallowed Halls are a place to celebrate and protect the sanctity of the human spirit; these Hallowed Halls are a place where Truth is searched for and revealed."
"Is cause you boys don't take the time to find somebody's sweetspot. Just a little push, and everything becomes so sensitive."
"So. Mr Dickerson. I trust that you're glad that you're in the safe hands of the police and other mundane security forces right now. That punch by Dr McCoy there had the impact of a tank shell. Entirely sufficient to destroy the average wall and penetrate most heavily armored tanks. Still, the security forces have small arms and possibly even some assault weapons. Surely that will go a long way in subduing this innately non-compliant, non-US citizen who would be in no way obliged to act under any act carried by American legislation." Emma sighs, her mind expanding as she mentally evokes memories of his childhood in Titaniumman
, effect die 1d10
Emma Frost tries to discern the motivation of this visit from Titanium Man.
"As Doctor McCoy points out, there is incentive for superhumans to desire legislative closure," Emma's voice has a calm authority, "in fact, most of us with aberrant abilities do not have what you'd call a super power; be it because it is uncontrollable or just plain too mundane to be a super power. But what all of us need is a safe haven. Protection from persecution and if desired the option to learn to harness the given talents effectively." She pauses before continuing, "What is irksome are attempts to ratify legislation which are a two-pronged assault on superhuman identity: victimizing superhumans, and putting authority over the use of their powers into somebody else's hands. ...we are here to address these very issues to come to a mutually beneficial consensus. The terms and stipulations are so vague that they serve nobody but lawmakers; a year or two from now a court may find the act to empower governmental authorities to commandeer any superhuman and force them to use their powers to their own end - or brand superhumans that do not wish to comply as criminals. We are humans first, and powers second."
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