[IC] Outcasts Assembled (An AU X-Men roleplay)

[Posh Raven]

Throughout the heated argument, Clementine had stayed on the sideline, watching the trainwreck spiral more and more into chaos. Her brief smile had disappeared, however, when Noa decided to bring the siblings' dad into her argument with Duncan. That was her first mistake, and while her jab was meant for Duncan alone, the jab in actuality had turned into a shotgun shell, striking all three siblings at once.

Unlike Duncan and Errol, Clementine's reaction was immediate and visceral. Her heart pounded a surge of anger and hurt coursing through her veins. She could feel the heat rising within her, a dangerous reminder of her temperamental powers. The mention of her father was a deeply sensitive topic, a wound that never fully healed. Despite her father's despise and the resentment he held towards her for her mother's death, Clementine harboured a deep-seated need for his approval—a need that had driven many of her questionable actions.

Even after Noa was blasted out of the newly created hole in the armoured truck, Clementine bolted from her spot in the armoured car and went past Duncan in a flurry of red directly in Noa's direction. Whether Noa was getting up or hadn't recovered from suddenly getting slingshotted three parking spots away, Clementine stepped forward, her fiery eyes locking onto Noa with an intensity that could rival the sun. "Don't ever fucking speak about him like that again," she hissed, her voice low but seething with a fury only the sun could rival.

The thing was, it wasn't really Noa's fault, she got such a reaction from Clementine, but the multi-layered unresolved issues surrounding her relationship with her father was a topic that quickly caused untreated issues to explode into superheated anger. To make it worse, her connection to the sun only amplified her rage.

She turned away, the anger still simmering inside her but the immediate threat of her powers subsiding. Clementine knew she needed to calm down, to regain control. The last thing she wanted was to hurt the people she cared about, no matter how complicated their relationships were.

In that moment, she realized just how much her father's shadow loomed over her, shaping her reactions, her emotions, and her very sense of self. And as much as she wanted to break free from that shadow, an even stronger part of her desperately wanted her father to acknowledge her. She knew both sides were a part of her that she couldn't simply ignore or forget.

Clementine sat in Nathaniel's car in the back, crossing her arms, staring out the window deciding just to ignore everyone until she calmed down. Even Nathaniel's comment got the cold shoulder once everyone was in the car and Nathaniel's voice usually managed to get her to smile.

[AfroBandit23]

The humanitarian act was starting to get old. Although Errol didn't have the energy to debate with Duncan, he scoffed at his brother's words. The world already hates and fears them, why bother trying to prove them any different when mankind jumps at the chance to label them as freaks. Monsters. Other. One could only take so much unjustified hate and oppression for so long before they turn it back on their tormentors.

Duncan lived the luxurious life of being an X-Man, shielded away from the plights of mutants in that mansion. He didn't understand what it was like, to have the warmth of your own family's love turn to cold hate, to have those who you thought would always be there for you suddenly turn their back on you. To be ripped away from all you've ever known because you were born different.

If the homo sapiens believed him to be dangerous, he'd show them the true meaning of the word. Errol had no quarrel with harming those who would do the same to him given the chance. Mutants were the next step in human evolution, why should he have to bend over backwards to cater to humanity's fear. It's not his fault they're obsolete now.

*******

"Oh, shit." escaped Errol's mouth upon seeing what had just transpired between Duncan and Noa. He didn't expect this to go that far and before Errol could do or say anything else, Noa had been launched through the driver side door and out of the armored truck by Duncan's powers. "¿Qué carajo? I oughta give you a permanent stutter!" Errol exclaimed at Duncan as he shot out of his side of the car and rushed over to Noa.

"Cabrona, why'd you have to go and slap him?" Errol reached for her unexposed arm and lifted her off the ground. His attention quickly turned to face Clementine who had rushed over to Noa too, but not from concern, she too came to give Noa a piece of her mind. Seeing her defend their father with such loyalty and ferocity never failed to trigger Errol. "Back off, Clem. She was out of line but she's right. Dad's a low-life piece of shit. Why the hell are you so loyal to him?!"

Before things could escalate however, Nathaniel had arrived. Examining him, he wore a three-piece suit and despite his messy hair, still managed to look somewhat smart and presentable. What an uppity looking tool. Of course Duncan was familiar with a guy like this. After he ushered the group over to his car, Errol stayed behind for a few moments to check on Noa. "All things aside, getting knocked on your ass by Duncan is pretty embarrassing." he knew Noa was physically fine but something else was bound to be hurt "How's that Loxley pride doing?" he playfully asked, gently nudging her chin with his fist, not before erecting a small electromagnetic barrier around his fist to protect himself from Noa's skin.

Making his way over to Nathaniel's car, he watched as he ordered Noa into the front seat and raised an eyebrow as Nathaniel handed her a hoodie. Was it his? That's a little forward, right? Errol wondered if this was something Nathaniel tried with all the women. But that wouldn't work on Noa... right? Errol caught his internal thoughts, ridding himself of them with a shake of his head. She was a grown woman, she could mess with whoever she wanted to.

Nathaniel's eyes then landed on Errol, he folded his arms and eyed the man down through his black shades. A bitter "Truce?" left the lawyer's lips and Errol rolled his eyes and responded with an equally bitter "Whatever." as he entered into the backseat, foolishly placing himself in the worst seat. The middle. Once he realised, it was too late.

The lawyer entered the driver's seat muttering about redheads, Errol's temper quickly flared as he realised Nathaniel was talking about Clementine. Balling his fists tightly, small yellow sparks crackled from Errol's hands. However, they subsided when he apologised to her. Upon hearing that they were going to Jersey, Errol threw his head back and sighed "Fucking Jersey. Imitaciones baratas, de mierda y que dan mal nombre."

[Sunfrog]

There was nothing he could have said to make her heed his warning at that moment, so there seemed to be only one natural conclusion to their confrontation. His rebuttal of her accusations only left her with less respect for him as his self-righteous attitude became evident yet again but it wasn’t enough to anger her. She could tolerate most of his unfiltered ramblings until he had threatened her for simply trying to protect Clem, which was evidently not up to his standards.

Despite facing off with someone known to be more powerful than herself, she showed no sign of apprehension. She didn’t display any markers of feeling threatened by him, believing him to be too sanctimonious to cause any real damage should he choose to follow through. Still, there was little she could do to defend against his oncoming attack which happened almost as quickly as she could perceive it.

With an aching groan, she pushed herself into a sitting position and looked up at Errol standing above her. The worst of the anger had subsided from her tone and expression but she wasn’t exactly pleased with being launched across the parking lot either. She had said all that she needed to say to Duncan for the time being but no doubt another issue would crop up in due course.

“Because he’s a dick.” She muttered as she got back to her feet with Errol’s help, her gaze briefly catching Duncan’s with a glare before being drawn unwillingly to Clem who soon made her own thoughts known. After everything they had witnessed leading up to this moment, she was thankful that Errol was beside her when Clem approached. Considering she had been supposed to protect the youngest sibling, it was beginning to seem as though it was others who needed to be protected from her.

Noa wasn’t oblivious to the fact that she likely struck a chord with all of the siblings at the mention of their father, even though Duncan had intended to be the only casualty. Before she could try and diffuse the situation, Errol took upon himself the role of mediator, though he wouldn’t exactly win any peace awards for it, instead reinforcing the notion that Giovanni was a piece of shit.

Errol’s teasing earned him an unamused look from Noa but it was no more than a minor irritation compared to everything else that had just transpired. “It was less embarrassing until you said it.” She replied, gently brushing his hand away and walking past him towards the group that seemed to converge beside a secondary vehicle, continuing her answer to his question about her pride as she did. “It helps if you don’t have any to begin with.”

Her attention was quickly drawn to the newcomer, to whom she could now put a face to the voice. She couldn’t say for sure what she was expecting but he certainly didn’t seem like the type of person she and Errol associated themselves with. Perhaps they were associating themselves with the wrong people because the look certainly suited him well, at least it did until the comment he made over the phone earlier came to the forefront of her mind and suddenly he was just another of Duncan’s uppity goons.

“And who the fuck are you?” She asked rudely as she took the hoodie from him. It appeared as though he knew her somehow but frustratingly she didn’t have any idea who he was.

Even in her annoyance, she didn’t protest much. Clearly he wasn’t a total stranger, having called Duncan, so she could at least afford him a minute degree of trust for now. She pulled the hoodie over her head and pulled the hood up before taking her designated seat in the car and grabbing a pair of aviators. Sliding down into a slumped position in her seat, she dug her hands into the hoodie pocket and sat in silence now that the adrenaline had largely subsided.

After settling down into the seat, she felt something against her heel and reached under the seat to move it so that she could sulk in peace but upon finding that the offending object was a bottle of whiskey she didn't hesitate to unscrew the cap and take a swig before resuming her initial position. "Ces connards seront ma mort." She muttered to herself.

[Plurp]

X-men: Outcasts Assembled #2

_______________________________________________________________________________

Emergency broadcasts were sent across the city. Social media platforms offered their users in the New York area the opportunity to declare that they were safe. News providers ran with footage captured by store security cameras and phone recorded videos from civilians. Commentators offered theories, explanations and speculations regarding the sudden outburst of violence in the Big Apple. Three police officers had been killed in the line of duty and four more were treated for serious injuries. At least one bystander had come in harm's way. Footage of mourning families could be seen on the largest news networks. At the centre of it all: Mutants. Activists were organizing protests, politicians condemned the violence and the government promised a forceful response. The perpetrators were to be hunted down and the mutants were to be put in line.

The journey to the location had been one liberated of chatter, instead loud country music played in the car, only once interrupted by a European song about the wish for a Pina Colada. Upon having moved past the initial few barriers of the construction site and into the tunnel connecting to the subway line, the car passed through a long stretch of mostly finished tunnel with insulation and reinforced walls before reaching the damp and dusty final destination. Without electricity to power the industrial lamps, the only source of light stemmed from the car.

At the end of the rocky, brownish-grey tunnel, stood a massive technological and metallic construction. Every surface was covered by a thick layer of dust. Small pools of water had formed on the ground. The numerous cables leading to the construction had carefully been moved to avoid the water. The construction itself was a large drill used to pave the way for an expansion of the New York City subway system in the Bergen County of New Jersey. For 43 days, it had stood idle and mostly unattended following the bankruptcy of the company heading the construction efforts. Tracks had yet to be lain but the ground had been stabilized and two yellow excavators stood in a line on the left side. On the right stood a few containers, two full and one half-filled with various pieces of equipment gathered from the site. The luxurious car - contrasting heavily against the dust filled surroundings - was parked a bit further back.

The air in the tunnel hung heavy with the scent of damp earth, rock and metal, a tangible reminder of the site's abandonment. Shadows danced across the walls, cast by the white-blue light filtering in from the car's headlights. The silence was broken by the occasional drip of water echoing through the cavernous space.

Five people had gathered by a set of four cheap, white and foldable chairs with a matching table, all located by the containers. On top of the table laid two plastic bags with various hastily purchased vegetarian or vegan foods along with a couple of water bottles, a half empty bottle of whiskey and a flask of rum.

The lawyer hovered over the plastic bags with arms firmly planted on each side of the table. His gaze rose from the food to meet the others and his hand instinctively rose to brush a few strands of hair back, then he spoke with a low voice and matter-of-factly tone "This is all we've got and I don't know for how long we'll have to stay here. I'm not going to rent a truck on my name for you lot, but that's probably the best way to get out of the city once the worst of this shitstorm you've created has blown past. For now, I suggest that we wait - and if you think you'll ever have to rely on each other again, I suggest that you start taking that into consideration before you do or say anything further."

After throwing an eye towards his car, he continued "I'm only going to keep her running for a little bit longer, until then, we should find a good light source and a way to keep warm. Maybe this mutant affliction can finally be put to good, non-violent, use for a change."