[hr][hr][center][img]https://i.postimg.cc/FKJKRczH/the-gifted-591b350cc9ba7.png[/img][hr][img]https://i.postimg.cc/pdwQ7PHw/giphy.gif[/img][/center][hr][hr][center][@Nallore][@FantasyChic][@BlueSky44][@Achronum][@Trainerblue192][@KazAlkemi][@Framing A Moose][/center][hr][center][h3][color=f7941d][b]Washington D.C.: September 9th, 2020 - 7:40 PM[/b][/color][/h3][/center][hr][hr][center][img]https://i.postimg.cc/WpKJC0mt/image.png[/img][/center][hr][hider=Battle Map - you all need to list your coordinates in your post!!][img]https://i.postimg.cc/3r1Bnwnj/hellfire.png[/img][/hider]
	Emma shook her head at Anastasia. [color=E0F6FD]"I wish I knew more, but such is life,"[/color] she told her simply. She could understand that they were frustrated - she certainly was picking that up in spades from Jinx - but she knew very little more than they did with this situation. Her guesses right now were based on instincts and that wasn't how the White Queen of the Hellfire Club liked to make her decisions. Strategy required cold, impersonal logic. 

	Veil wished that they had a telepathic channel of sorts to communicate with, as Tome had a lot of questions. But with Jinx standing practically in the elevator as he went to greet Glimpse, she didn't dare make the noise of scratching a writing instrument against paper. The mistress of invisibility held her breath, trying to increase their odds of avoiding detection by Jinx. Of course, he wasn't the one to be scared of - that was Emma Frost. Veil recognized her and knew that she was a telepath. If they were lucky, Emma wouldn't detect the presence of their minds in the elevator, but then again, since when had the Mutant Underground been lucky? She could only hope that Glimpse was shielding them psychically. 

	Requiem's vocal hypnosis succeeded, causing Glimpse to take a seat on the couch despite her inherent resistance to mind control from her telepathy. Emma didn't seem to notice that there were invisible mutants in the elevator - though if she had noticed, would anyone be able to tell? Her facial expressions were enigmatic to the extreme. 
	
	[color=E0F6FD]"Jinx, dear, do fetch Miss Braddock a drink,"[/color] Emma beckoned, wondering why the mutant had decided to go stand in the elevator. He was a little bit of an oddball. [color=E0F6FD]"Now darling, as Requiem said... Why are you here?"[/color] she asked. The evening was taking an interesting turn. She had to wonder if this was some ploy of Sebastian's. 

	Havok was on the side of the elevator furthest away from Jinx and he knew that Veil would be able to keep him covered. The sooner they were in and out of this place, the better - especially since he didn't see Sebastian Shaw anywhere. Moving silently surprisingly well, as if he had been born for stealth, Havok moved out of the elevator and spotted a set of filing cabinets to his right. That seemed promising, so he slowly crept over towards them. If people got talking loudly enough, he could potentially open them up and steal some files without anyone noticing. [hr][center][img]https://i.postimg.cc/tgt3H7qw/image.png[/img][/center][hr][hider=Battle Map][img]https://i.postimg.cc/dQ9900Ck/morlocks.png[/img][/hider]
	The Purifiers were a ruthless invading force. Coming out from the training grounds, they took out several Morlocks without mercy, including Membrain. It was Membrain's abilities that concealed the entrance to the Morlock hideout and with the illusion gone, the Purifiers spilled into what had once been a safe haven. Including Blink and Glow, just six Morlocks were still in the hide-out awaiting evacuation. They were going as fast as they possibly could, but only so many people could run through one of Blink's portals at a time. 

	[color=D48FFF]"GO!"[/color] Blink shouted at the remaining Morlocks, hoping that they would be fast enough to finish the evacuation. Glow sent orbs of light swarming into the air, hitting most of the Purifiers in the face and blinding them. She missed three of them however and those three opened fire on the Dancing Lights' creator - she was dead before she even hit the ground. Stray bullets hit the two Morlocks closest to Blink, ending their lives as well. 

	Tears were pouring down her face as Blink let out a scream as she tried to do something beyond her capabilities - to have two sets of portals going at once. She wanted to send the Purifiers far away, to the middle of the desert or something like that. Instead, the portal she threw at them cut them in half at the waist line, killing the invaders as their bodies dropped to the ground. Horrified at what she had done, Blink just stared, speechless. She had sworn to never use her gifts to kill - to never become like the monsters that made up her family tree. 

	[color=D48FFF]"Oh, god..."[/color]

	Back out in the tunnels, Sunshine was staring at the small, ash like remains of Erg with horror. Her first real family had been taken away from her by the Purifiers. And just as she was about to get a family again, they were slaughtered. Tears welled up in her eyes as she ran towards Erg's remains, shoving aside the pieces of scrap metal from the Sentinel. [color=#DAF7A6]"No, no, no!"[/color] she shouted. [color=#DAF7A6]"Regenerate!"[/color] she ordered, hoping that Erg secretly had that talent and would be able to come back from almost nothing. 

	He remained dead though. Charred pieces of him littered the ground and Sunshine's chin wobbled. She was trying not to cry - only little kids cried. She wasn't a little kid. She could take care of herself. She didn't need anyone... [color=#DAF7A6]"You're not dead,"[/color] she mumbled, curling into a little ball as she sobbed, mourning a friend she had only known for a brief time. This was her curse then - to have her family taken away from her over and over again. How was she going to break this cycle? What was stopping the Purifiers from always coming away and taking away her chances at happiness?

	As for the brothers, Casper was barely conscious. He had already had one hand on his wound so when Jack took his other hand, he looked a bit like he was expecting someone to arrest him - he had his hands already behind his head. [i]"Stay awake!"[/i] Ben kept on reminding him, but Casper was only able to mumble things in response. His phone still didn't have any signal as well, so he was completely unaware that Jinx was trying to sell him drugs at the moment. 

	Ward spat a bit of blood out of his mouth, glaring up at Jack. [color=199046]"Fucking mutie scum!"[/color] he shouted. He stumbled for a moment, before running at Jack and he punched him - only for Jack's elasticity to kick in and send Ward flying backwards. He was badly bruised, but the Purifier wasn't down for the count just yet. [color=199046]"I could do this all fucking day..."[/color] he muttered, getting back up to his feet slowly. [hr][center][img]https://i.postimg.cc/5yqyXQGW/image.png[/img][/center][hr][hider=Battle Map - make sure to list your coordinates each time!][img]https://i.postimg.cc/661LJZKc/mutant-undergrounds.png[/img][/hider]
	[color=B0B4B0]"Correct - you must only ring bell,"[/color] Colossus confirmed. Even though he wasn't moving forward to attack them, only fighting defensively, he was still listening to all of their plans. His face was expressionless and neutral, but he was rather proud of them. Sometimes when people did this exercise, they never figured out what the point of it was. They just rushed in blindly as individuals, not understanding that at its core, this was a team building exercise. The only way to defeat a [i]colossus[/i] was to trust and work together. 

	Even though Callie had hit him and gotten him to stumble, he largely hadn't moved from the one ~safe~ spot in the ice. Of course it wasn't ice at this point - it was incredibly hot and humid in Washington D.C., so all of the ice had melted and turned to water. There was now just a puddle in the training room which would still prove to be a hazard, but not nearly as dangerous as the ice had been. 

	Moonwalker nodded at James, just as they could hear Negasonic sarcastically go - [color=E33B19]"You guys are [i]fantastic[/i] at this!"[/color] - and he then charged forward at Colossus. He grabbed Colossus' legs and tried to topple the giant, only for Colossus to shake his grip off. However, he was distracted at the moment - James would have an opening to ring the bell. 

	Waverley would intercept a nearby radio transmission - [color=6B576F][i]"Black King, we're on site."[/i][/color]