mouthy_merc | X-Mansion - Westchester, New York - Late Thursday Evening/Early Friday Morning

Cyclops	He was staring at the locket, like he'd done a hundred times before. Jean. Himself. Smiling. In the wake of all that had just happened, there settled an entirely new level of bitter on the memory. Dammit, Nathan... he closed the palm of his glove around the locket, locking it tight.
Wolverine	"Slim?" No noise to give away his approach, just the name that gave it away immediately. "Guess you guys got your asses handed to ya too."
Cyclops	Scott pressed his finger against the locket. His hand dropped to his side. "It was a surprise attack. A blitz." With a thoughtful sigh, he turned, eyes fixed on the figure in the shadows. "According to Hank, the Sentinel pilots were somehow infected by nano-sentinels. It turned them into human-sentinel hybrids... monsters." He kept his eyes carefully away from the devastation. "They destroyed everything."
Wolverine	Logan crossed his arms over his chest, looking down as well. "Not everything."
Cyclops	"We're hurt bad, Logan..." That was-- a lot of smoke. It'd been a while since the mansion had been hit as bad as-- this. "You've got wounded. The kids went against the Purifiers and took casualties. All our telepaths were taken out, including the girl Deadpool brought." He began to walk, finally, categorizing every little detail of the aftermath in his neat little mental inventory. "On top of that, our only healer right now-- Elixir-- was injured by a falling wall. He's unconscious and probably will be for days."
Wolverine	"Unleashing nano-sentinels like a virus..." Logan trailed off, shaking his head. "You really think Cable'd go that far?"
Cyclops	"He had access to the nano-sentinel samples." And all of this had been a little too... convenient... not to remind him of Nathan's particular brand of meticulous planning. "He's a capable scientist. And we have no idea what his agenda is, here, Logan... it's Cable. He's proven himself to be dangerously unpredictable over and over again-- we have to assume the worst."
Wolverine	"I guess so," Logan replied, watching Scott closely.
Cyclops	"I've got Bishop on his way to ONE headquarters. To brief them on what happened." He strolled through the broken doorway, narrowly avoiding the pieces of a chair in his path. "Regardless. It's time to up the stakes."
Wolverine	Logan started at that, following after him. "Wait, do you mean...?"
Cyclops	"It's time. Our backs are against the wall." The stairwell was still intact. Scott pressed his fists together, desperately ignoring the weight of the locket in his hands, and kept his face carefully blank. "The future of our race is in the hands of a mutant who just turned on us. Who could've killed us all."
Wolverine	"Yeah, I know..." Logan voice was almost soft at that. "I just never thought you'd have the stones to pull the trigger... Chuck never even woulda come up with this plan."
Cyclops	"These are desperate times, Logan. The kind you're at your best in." He crossed his arms; the corpse of one giant Sentinel robot - if it could be called a corpse, considering its origins - laid squarely in the center of the mansion, sending large gouts of smoke into the air. "You know what to do." He'd made his decision. "Assemble the X-Force. The target is Cable. You're to take him down and get that child back by any means possible."
Deadpool	You know, this was probably why Deadpool wasn't allowed in on this massive crossover event in the first place. "Are you serious?!" Deadpool asked, hands on his hips. "How many times has this happened and you've been proven wrong?!"
Yondaime	Arashi could only stare at Scott in disbelief. "But he's your son!!! I haven't known Nate as long as the rest of you but he always has a reason behind things!" Yes, he was defending him, shut up.
Cyclops	Scott's head swung over. Who in the-- "Deadpool," he said, grabbing the name of the one he recognized, "I don't remember asking you." To come here, either, but it seemed they were stuck with the mercenary. Again.
Deadpool	"That's because you didn't ask," Deadpool informed him politely. "And, I swear, this is gonna end in my punching you in the head for being an idiot."
Scott	"You're one of my son's favourites; you should be very glad I'm not locking you up right now!" Why wasn't he, again? Right. Theresa. He'd have to talk to her about at least keeping a leash on Nathan's pet psychopath. One of Scott's fingers was pointing. Then he turned on his heel and strode away, expecting Logan to follow.
Yondaime	Oh yeah, he'd just hit one of Arashi's buttons. "Don't walk away from me! Nate is your son isn't he!?" Arashi demanded and began to follow Scott.
Scott	Those words weren't allowed to mean anything, right now. "I'm responsible for the future of the mutant species," Scott replied, stalking down the ruins. "And I don't need to explain myself to you."
Yondaime	"Just like your son," Arashi sighed and shook his head. "You also have a responsability to your family don't you? Your family is part of the mutant species that you and Nate are always going off on, isn't it? Yet from what I've seen you're all hell bent on killing each other!" Arashi paused and thought back to the younger mutant he'd seen when they first gotten to the mansion. "For being so concerned about your species, you don't take care of each other that well."
Scott	"Mutants take care of mutant business." It was the line he was going to have to rehearse if Tony Stark came calling. And that was enough of an answer, as far as Scott was concerned. "And I don't have time for your concerns right now. Nathan's made his choice." And gave Arashi his back, just to drive home the point.
Deadpool	"Which is just your way of saying it's okay to pull this shit again, huh? That big on killing him?" Deadpool asked, grabbing Arashi's arm to keep him from starting an actual fight. "Whatever helps ya sleep at night, right?"
Yondaime	"Why did I agree to coming here again?" Arashi growled and watched Scott and Logan walk away.
Deadpool	"Because you didn't want me to end up dead or something?" Wade suggested quietly, maybe moving a lil' bit closer to the husband type person.