Sooraya, Steven, and Sentinels [Steven/Open]

[Sooraya Qadir]

Normally, she would not be able to do such a thing, be out here alone. However, she was a bit of a special case.

For one, she had reported that she was to be out here, away from campus, and alone. No one had been able to go with her, but... Sooraya was a member of the X-Men, and fully able to take care of herself, should a situation arise. It had taken a bit of reassurance, but... She was here.

Thank goodness.

As much as she loved the school that was her home, it was good to be away, from the hordes of other mutants that she did not know, from the memories of times long past that threatened to crop up at inconvenient opportunities, to the odd, very slight changes that threatened to trip her up and confuse her.

In short, despite the fact that she enjoyed where she was, and wouldn't have made a different choice... She needed to be a way for a short time.

That was why Sooraya found herself where she was, stepping lightly along the street, a small bag of previously bought items in her bag. Just a few books, some notebooks...

Being out here reminded her of why she didn't like being out, though. While no one was inclined to think of her as a mutant (most people didn't think others were mutants, unless something was visibly different), the stares and looks from how she was dressed were not things that she ever enjoyed repeating. She was not a terrorist.

Before Sooraya could attempt to calm herself down, dismiss her thoughts and continue on with her walking, something felt... off. She stopped, lips pursing, and turned, squinting off into the area by town, but away, far enough so that she had to attempt to see.

What was...? A sinking suspicion growing in her stomach, the trepidation of another 's' forming, Sooraya dropped her bag, body shifting into sand in one single whiff, startling a scream out of a nearby person, and she was off, moving as fast as she could.

The only reason a sentinel would reveal itself is if it were after someone...!

[Steven Vandergraf]

You know that saying, "If I didn't have bad luck, I'd have no luck at all?" Well, right about now Steve felt like the poster boy for that adage. He had already had a barely survivable encounter with a Sentinel once (See Videogames and Deathbots) and he really didn't think he needed to find another one so soon. "Crap crap crap! Run run run!" he hollered to himself as he ran down a street and rounded a corner, a giant robotic death machine not far behind.

And as if to respond to his feelings on luck, as soon as he turned the corner Steven knew he had just made what might be one of the worst mistakes of his life. About fifty yards ahead, the street was filled with shoppers. 'God why do these things have to keep attacking in public places?' he asked himself as he continued to run. He may not have had the power to fight a mutant-hunting machine from Hell, but he could not let this thing hurt anyone.

"OUT OF THE WAY! RUN AWAY NOW!" Steve shouted to the crowd, who had already seen the robot and heard the commotion before he turned down this street. Most all of them began running in every direction away from him, but some people had been knocked over or just about trampled in the chaos. Crapcrapcrap gotta think fast what do I do?' His power were definitely not a fraction the strength of X-Men like Professor Grey or Jean Grey or pretty much anyone last named Grey, but he could do something!

Steve's eyes changed in color, becoming yellow as a similarly colored glow appeared around the two nearest people in his way. Steve knew they wouldn't like the next part but it was better than being crushed or blasted by the Sentinel. He could at max hold about five hundred pounds with his powers, so he would only be able to get two or three people at a time, but he could grab and throw them clear very quickly. The first two people went in opposite directions; the older man went into the open door of the cafe he had fallen near while the little girl went clear across the street where The Couch Emporium was having their annual front stoop sale where all coaches on their patio were half off.

This continued as Steve ended up throwing about a dozen people total. You couple, down that alley. Hipster, dumpster (like you could stop yourself). Elderly couple, open bake shop door. Unfortunately the next guy wasn't very lucky - he ended up going through a storefront window because there wasn't much other choice to get him out of the way. Steve didn't use his powers in excess very often, so this was a bit tiring for him. It's funny that he go tired doing this; it had in the past made him wonder if there was like a muscle or something in his brain that did this, but he couldn't afford to think about that now. The last four people, a nuclear family (Dad, Mom, Son, Daughter) all got themselves pushed down the alley next to them as Steve finally cleared the path in front of him.

Unfortunately, the Sentinel had finally gotten him (sort of). A hand blast from the mechanical monstrosity hit very close to Steve's feet and sent him off them proper. He got tossed about ten feet, hitting the ground hard and having the wind knocked out of him. Coughing vigorously, he began pulling himself to his feet in a slight daze, with only one thought on his mind; 'Help me.'