Issue 1 Downtime

Gemma was angry enough that shifting wasn't an issue, so she took a few hops to get herself into the air and sailed out towards the Point, circling around to see what could be seen from the air.

The lighthouse was still intact---or, at least, it appeared to be from whatever it was Will was doing, at the very least.

As it was, too, on the boundaries of the campus, it was very close the massive web of thorns and vines that surrounded the entire complex.

Scattered AROUND these vines and walls were a surprisingly large and grim number of bodies.

Gemma swooped a little lower to take a look at the bodies, keeping an eye out for any vines that might want to add a large dragon to the pile. She shook her head sadly and scooted back to the coast to see if she could find what they were looking for.

Gemma wasn't attacked--apparently, having made their presence known to Will, they were safe(ish) now.

The crystal, if it was still intact, would likely be inside the lighthouse proper.

She circled a couple of more times and then landed in front of the lighthouse and warily approached the door.

It's a happy go-lucky door. Nothing nasty could be behind it at all, right?

Gemma tried the door. Her claws weren't exactly dextrous, but it was at least worth a shot before she dragged someone else out here to open doors for her.

The door wasn't locked, or anything like that. I mean, she was an X-Man. X-Men have access to the lighthouse. That's perfectly logical, right?

After a bit of fiddling, Gemma moved in through the open door, looking around and trying to figure out where to go "down".

There was a trap door here.

Was there a trap door in the real lighthouse? It had been a while, but there was certainly a CARPET or something. And normally don't lighthouses only go up?

Gemma nosed the carpet out of the way curiously before trying to dig her claws into the edge of the trapdoor to pull it open.

Darkness. A LOT of darkness, which is odd, considering it was in a lighthouse.

Plus, you know, there's always the fact that light should be coming in from above. But it didn't seem to be doing that at all here--like light was just being blocked out entirely.

Gemma tilted her head to the side and her cheeks burst into bright flames, trying to add to the light to see if she could see into the trap door.

Nope!

Well, "nope" is a bit harsh--there was definitely a LITTLE more light, but not as much as expected.

Gemma frowned and stuck her head deeper into the trap door, sniffing and snuffling as she took in the scents of the place and tried to gauge whether her bulk would fit through the trap door.

It likely would not fit--it was a small door, and she was a large dragon.

It smelled...well, musty was perhaps the best word.

"Well, poop," Gemma said, puttering a little flame out between her lips. She shifted back and dangled her legs through the hole, lowering herself down slowly. Once she made it all the way to where she was hanging from her hands, she'd shift back to dragon.

Here were the ruins of the base of the lighthouse, and what had been the crystal computer and ASHLIE's base of operations. It was clear that something had smashed this some time ago, but enough were potentially intact to collect.


Outside, the ground shook.

Gemma looked around as the ground shook. "Not good," she said as she began trying to transfer some of the loose crystals up to the trap door.