Riots SUCK. (Open!)

[my-soul-itches.livejournal.com]

San Francisco was rioting.

Megan tried to pull herself back to consciousness, looking around in a daze for her friends. There was Julian, and he looked like he was holding his own--but no, they got him, too. There was Jean-Paul, trying to fly away but even he was dragged down by the weight of the protesters. Where were Victor and the new guy? Where were Ali and Santo? She couldn't see them above the crowd around her.

And Doctor McCoy. She dimly remembered him trying to shield her from the Humanity NOW! jerks that held her down and attacked her. He should still be close by, right? No, wait--there he was, in the middle of riot cops with... were those tasers? She thought they were.

Okay. She was on the ground and being overlooked for the moment. Too far from her friends to 'port them to safety, and not sure that it would be a good idea with the police involved. Too scared to lead anyone back to Graymalkin Industries. Too concerned for her grandparents to 'port back to Wales and let them see her like this.

Megan squeaked with panic as she saw a guy in a Humanity NOW! shirt notice her, eyes widening at the sight of her hair, ears, eyes, wings--everything that marked her as a mutant. She pushed herself to her feet, fighting back nausea, as he pointed and started to yell, and...

"Sihal novarum chinoth!"

With a rush of magic, she 'ported herself back to Hogwarts and just barely held back from puking all over the stone hallway.

"I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay," she muttered to herself, trying to convince herself that it was true. She wiped at her nose, smearing more blood on her face, and wiggled her wings experimentally. They hadn't been broken again. That was something. As for the rest of her... her bright yellow shirt was a ruin, spattered with dirt and blood from her nose, mouth, and a gash on her forehead. One side of her face hurt from where a really big guy had punched her with his really big fist. And her head really, really hurt from where she had knocked it falling down onto the pavement.

She briefly wondered if leaving Hogwarts to go rejoin the X-men in San Francisco had been such a great idea after all. Getting beat up several times (twice by anti-mutant jerks), having another part of her soul stolen, and helping to fend off an invasion of religious zealot aliens as well as crazy, scantily clad women all pointed to "maybe not."

"Okay. I can do this." She swiped at her nose again, leaving yet another streak of blood across her hand and started forward shakily. Not that she really knew where she was going. It had been a long time since she had been here, after all, and she hadn't known her way around very well then, either. "A little help?" she called, hoping someone would hear her.