Animal Crossing

[enduring_pryde]

"Do you know how long it has been since I've done my own grocery shopping? About eight years ago, when I was in grad school." She smirks and takes a cart. "That was an interesting time in my life. I was working at a bar as a bar tender. There was leather involved in addition to a fake tattoo. First time in my life I ever lived alone too." Kitty had lived an extensive life since they broke up and she wanted to make sure he knew how much. Grad school, living in a giant bullet in space for two years. Living on a spaceship. Being engaged to two different guys. There had been two other boyfriends in there too. Seth and Bobby. Seth was insane and Bobby broke up with her because he came out as gay to her. The 'lets be friends' talk was interesting.

England had a way of giving her a chance to reflect. In all honesty, she had one hell of a crazy fucked up life. There was a whole period of time where she thought she had to live that way. It really had a way of sucking a person in.

Comments

[goawayleavemealone]

He follows her through the grocery store, listening attentively.

"Oh just my bloody luck I missed your leather phase," Pete jokes. He's not surprised it had taken her that long to find hersf living alone, what with jumping from one x-group to another and then back.

He'd lived alone since leaving his parents' homes, and hadn't had roommates until he joined Excalibur. It had been an adjustment to say the least, but it had been nice to have people around, despite more than one if them driving him up a wall. Leaving had also been an adjustment, but one that was good for him. One that allowed him to pull himself together without having to worry about hurting anyone else.

As much as he missed Pryde - and even the other members of Excalibur - he knew it was what he'd needed at the time.

[enduring_pryde]

"There are some videos of me in those days on YouTube. Look up Belles From Hell, in Chicago." She smiles. "I told you what I like now, but what about you? Anything different from what you used to like?" He had a bulkier look now. It was quite appealing.

There suddenly is an odd scrapping sound from the back room accompanied by a yelp. She looks at Pete.

[goawayleavemealone]

He rolls his eyes a little. "Braddock's got me on this high protein, high veg, low carb diet," he grumbles. "Not that I don't sneak some things sometimes, but...much as I hate to admit it, it's kept me from dying. That and cutting back on the smokes has-"

He stops when he hears the noise, frowning, and heading for the door to the back room automatically. "What the hell..."

[enduring_pryde]

She is accompanying him to the back room when a stampede of humanoid animals come pouring out of the warehouse door. There are felines, canines, even a couple of rhinos, water buffalos, and a half other dozen other kinds. She instinctively grabs Pete and phases them both.

[goawayleavemealone]

He watches the herd of animals stampede past, eyes wide, mouth open.

He doesn't know why he's even surprised.

Because of course.

Of bloody course.

Once they're past, and Kitty lets him go, he fishes out his phone and texts the team group chat.

"stampede of half human animals in the Tesco's in Mayfair. Pryde and I are gonna follow."

"Right," he says to her. "Thanks for that. Let's see where the hell they're off to, aye?"

[enduring_pryde]

"Huh. Looks like my welcoming committee has arrived." The animals disperse and some stay in the Tesco's, chasing and terrorizing customers--including a lionman who has the poor stock kid cornered against a wall--while others go out the main doors, chasing people and breaking into the other business.

"What's your call, boss?" She nods."Sounds good. And check back in that stock room for some clues to how they got here in the first place later." But right now they had around 50 half human/half animal hybrids to contain.

[goawayleavemealone]

Pete nods. "You check the stockroom, I'll start getting this lot rounded up."

He looks around quickly and grabs a can of beans from a shelf, throwing it at the lionman to get his attention.

"Oi, Simba!" he calls. "Over here!"

The other hybrids turn as well and he grins, lifting his hands and igniting his hot knives. "That's right, you lot. Fresh meat, right here."

[enduring_pryde]

She heads to the stockroom and the first thing she comes across is a body that has been trampled. "Poor kid," she says and goes to look deeper. The receiving door is wide open.

She goes back into the main room and begins looking for any human stragglers.

[goawayleavemealone]

Turns out, most animals don't like fire.

He's got them cornered, hands ablaze and at the ready. "Now that I have your attention, can any of you speak English? Can any of you tell me how you got here? And what you're doing here?"

He doesn't want to hurt these creatures. It seems like they're acting out of panic and fear, and he needs information more than he needs carcasses on his hands.

Hell, he needs a stab wound more than he needs dead carcasses on his hands.

He waits for any sort of answer from any of them.

[enduring_pryde]

She finds a family and helps them get out. There are a few other people she has take her hand and they get a human chain and she phased them and gets them out.

As for the animals, they react poorly to the fire. There isn't a way to reason with them.

[goawayleavemealone]

Pete rolls his eyes and pulls one of his hands back, turning the hot knives off and pulling his phone out, dialing quickly.

"Alistaire, I need an extraction team right now."

[enduring_pryde]

"We have one casualty in the stock room. Receiving door is wide open. There might be some prints on the outside. And we gotta check CCTV. All the customers that got stuck in here have been moved to safety."

[goawayleavemealone]

Pete nods to her and into the phone, adds "Get the coroner too."

He hangs up and turns to Kitty. "Check Cctv first and then the prints?"

[enduring_pryde]

"CCTV I can definitely do." She raises her eyebrows. "So MI13 gets full jurisdiction on this? Over any local authorities?" Given, hello, animal-human hybrids. Off hand, she only knew a few different groups who could do that, unless something else sprang up. But hybrids were advanced science. Plus so many of them would take a bit of time to make.

Suddenly, and without any warning, the beings all began to shriek and were on the move again. Though this time they weren't rampaging and seemed to be running away from something, despite there being nothing present. "Pete, we gotta get one of our fliers here."

[goawayleavemealone]

"Al knows to notify the local brass to stand down," Pete tells her. "And...yeah. I'm fair certain this counts as an MI13 issue-"

He stops when the Hybrids start running again, watching them. "Right. Meggan would probably be good in this case. Maybe she could read their emotions, get us some more information. He pulls his phone out again to make the call, still watching the hybrids go wild.

[enduring_pryde]

"Let me see about catching one for a sample." She phases and jogs over to one of the slower ones--although they were all faster than a normal human--and grabs one of the buffalos by the shoulder. She keeps it phased. It keeps trying to bob out if her grasp but it's not going anywhere while she uses her phasing to hold it.

"Yeah, good call." She calls back. "Oh you're strong, but not so strong. I've dealt with stronger."

[goawayleavemealone]

Pete watches her, tilting his head and frowning a little as he holds his phone, transfixed.

Right. She's still amazing. Should have seen that coming.

He shakes himself loose of his thoughts and calls Meggan.

"Meg! Hate to take you away from your tiny genius, but we've got a situation and Pryde and I could really use you right now."

[enduring_pryde]

"Biochem isn't my forte but my bio-engineering work isn't too shabby. Al is going to flip when he sees them." The group was out of sight, except for the one she caught. It starts crying as if its in pain.

[goawayleavemealone]

Pete nods. "Meg, meet us at Whitehall." He hangs up, just as the extraction team shows up, guns at the ready.

He lifts a hand. "Stand down, people," he orders. "Let's get this one into the truck without jostling it too much. No tranqs, no guns."

He follows the team out as they help Kitty get the Hybrid out of the Tesco's and turns to the frightened clerks standing out side. "Right. Sorry for the mess. We'll be in touch with a clean-up crew in the next twenty-four hours."

[enduring_pryde]

They are in the middle of getting the being moved when it starts seizing. "Got a new problem," she says loud enough for Pete to hear. It starts whimpering. "Who's a medic? Anyone a field medic? A tranq might actually be a good idea."

[goawayleavemealone]

One of the extraction team dashes up, pushing some of the other team members aside, just as Pete gets to them.

Pete watches as the woman takes the hybrid's pulse, and pulls a a tranquelizer gun out.

"Do we even know if that'll work on him?" Pete asks, watching.

[enduring_pryde]

The being starts writhing and crying louder. And yet there is no immediate cause for infliction. "I'm going to say it's being controlled by mental or frequency. Check for a collar." But there is none apparent. The seizing gets worse.

[goawayleavemealone]

"Brain implant, then," Pete says grimly as the medic injects the tranq and the hybrid begins to stop writhing.

"This isn't good. Mind-control hybrids on the loose in London."

[enduring_pryde]

"Unfortunately. Poor being." She looks at Pete. "I'll get the store security footage. And later I can start looking at the city's footage too."

[goawayleavemealone]

Pete nods. "Meet you at Whitehall?"

[enduring_pryde]

"Yeah. Just do me a favour and get my laptop from your place and being it to Whitehall. Also gonna need that kit to dust for prints." Now she was thinking there might not be any, but someone had to open the door. Plus she was going to check the shipping and receiving log. "If I need to take any evidence, should I just let one of these fine folks bag and tag?"

[goawayleavemealone]

Pete nods. "I'll get the laptop on my way in."

He turns to the field leader for the extraction team. "Pick five of your team to stay with Pryde to bag and tag, the rest of your team needs to get our very large friend to Stuart back in the lab. I'll meet them there."

He turns to Kitty nods. "A'right? See you in a bit."

[enduring_pryde]

She gives him a salute. "Thanks. See you later, Director." Kitty heads back to the store to get into their security system.

[goawayleavemealone]

He watches her, feeling vaguely confused.

"Why...why issat...what issat hot?" he mutters to himself, before shaking his head out and heading off to grab her laptop and then hit the offices.

"Right. Time to get to work."