December 18th, 2020 - 3:20 PM
Dunkin' Donuts - One of the terrified employees brought over the entire tray of Boston creme doughnuts, kneeling on the ground and offering them up. His head was bent down, exposing the back of his neck, and every muscle in his body quivered. His pants were clearly soiled, likely out of fear. "Th-th-these are all we have, s-sir," the employee stammered.
If Jinx were to look back, he wouldn't see Morgan anymore - they had vanished. The interior of the Dunkin' Donuts was shifting in illumination, shades of red and white. The police had finally arrived on the scene, although Pyro didn't seem to care at all.
"WE HAVE THE PLACE SURROUNDED, COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!" Pyro was laughing diabolically, not even phased by his wound. It helped that Anastasia had stitched it up with telekinesis. His attention momentarily waned from the fiery hydra he had created and the flames became wild and untamed, setting all of the bathroom stalls ablaze. The smoke was getting thick, making it difficult to breathe but it didn't bother Pyro at all. Leighton was sequestered behind an ice barrier that was six feet tall, though her only option for escape was a window about ten feet up. It was tiny, by no means big enough for Pyro but Leighton or Anastasia could conceivably wiggle on through... if the window hadn't been painted shut and jammed.
"This is even better than when Emma took me to Disneyworld!" Pyro cackled. He sucked in a big gust of flames and breathed them out like a dragon, trying to melt Leighton's barricade but it didn't work. The maniacal mutant then got another idea. He transformed some of the flames into a gigantic serpent and directed them over the barricade. The flaming beast coiled around Leighton, pinning her arms and legs.
"I TOTALLY STARTED THE FIRE! IT WAS ALWAYS BURNING SINCE THE WORLD'S BEEN TURNING!" Pyro shouted gleefully. The sprinklers in the Dunkin' had activated, but they were nothing compared to Pyro's flames. They couldn't quench them. "You know Jinxy, me and my bro Quicksilver used to jam out all the time! You should kick it with me later."
Veil
Location: the Old Underground Hideout
Skills: Invisible Energy Manipulation (Cloaking)
Veil maintained the cloaking cover as Feedback entered the van. She turned in her seat and reached on back, putting a hand on Feedback's shoulder and she squeezed it comfortingly.
"I'm so proud of you, Feedback," she told her softly.
"And not just because you ordered McDonalds," she added, hoping that a little bit of humor would help to lift Feedback's spirits. She couldn't imagine being presented with the choice to bring a loved one back from the dead. It must have been like reopening a wound that had barely begun to heal.
What happened next took Veil by surprise. Suddenly, they were trapped in by a gigantic dome, a patchwork thing made out of concrete and glass. Warlock's voice was booming and vicious, the sort of scream that a trapped animal would produce. Her eyes widened as Warlock threatened to kill them all if they didn't tell him what they had done to the Ice Queen. She opened the door of the van and jumped on out. Everyone was still invisible, so they had that advantage up against Warlock at the very least. Her brother had produced some sparkling light and Veil's heart was pounding like a stampede of rhinos. She didn't need Glimpse to tell her what Warlock was thinking - he had just said as much himself.
"Glimpse is right, Spark Plug, stop it," she agreed quietly.
Sapphire took the direct approach, lashing out with ice at Warlock. The already chilly area was incredibly frigid now, enough to give everyone a severe case of frost bite. Her best friend was extremely claustrophobic. If they didn't get Sapphire out of the dome, Veil doubted she would stop attacking. Warlock may or may not listen to reason. It was a gamble then. Should she trust that Warlock would come to his senses and stand down... or should she take it into her own hands to ensure that he did?
Veil eyed the glass Spark Plug had shot with lightning. She conjured up two discs of pure invisible energy, like two frisbee sized force fields, and she threw them at the glass. The discs bounced off of the glass without doing much damage, only now they were heading right at Warlock. In the blink of an eye, the discs whizzed over his head. Any closer and he would have been scalped.
"Shit - Warlock, are you okay?" Veil shouted. She let out a breath and everyone became visible again. Now, with all of her concentration, Veil repeated the trick. Her force field discs slammed into the glass, their power drastically increased over the previous ones, and the ballistic glass shattered.
"Sapphire, make an ice slide and get out!"
Casper Theriot
Location: Mutant Underground Hideout - First Floor: Entranceway -> Second Floor: Cayden and James' Room
Skills: Mediumship
As James guided him up to the second floor like a proper gentleman, Casper was hopeful that Ben would emerge in Cayden and James' room to join in on the conversation. Ben had never vanished before in Casper's lifetime when he was sober. From what Ben told him, it was more interesting to follow Casper around and provide essentially a director's commentary track than the options usually given to ghosts. He felt ashamed for a brief moment. He had seen ghosts for ages and he never really had asked Ben where he went when Casper wasn't summoning him. He had no idea what the afterlife was like for Ben.
"Wait, Princess Luna is in your mind?" Casper's eyes widened, a fierce protectiveness growing within him as he put his arm around James' shoulders possessively.
"Tell her to get out, that's just plain rude, or we'll be calling the Thought Police on her." His father was the most powerful telepath in the world after Jean Grey. Casper had some bad experiences with telepaths messing in his mind.
"Oh right, you don't remember it Cay-Cay... Well, I'll give you the easy to understand version. The Scarlet Witch is crazy. She has waaaay too much power and rewrote everything in the universe, kinda like those episodes of a TV show where all the characters suddenly are in this make believe fantasy world. Magneto was king there, because I guess Wanda wasn't that creative? I don't know. My dad was dead, one of the best parts of that reality. Umm... Oh, Jackie and I worked in a secret basement of a casino for some thieves! There was this psychopath blonde girl and another psychopathic ginger girl. I guess it wasn't a great year for women's mental health? James, anything you wanna add babe?" "Oh and I'm fine, I'm more worried about Ben... He's probably off sulking that he can't taste Nutella. He never got to try it when he was alive."
Sunshine
Location: Mutant Underground Hideout - First Floor: Training Room
Skills: N/A
A rip in the fabric of reality opened up, as three mutants jumped on through.
Magik had started coming into her own recently, wearing large black spikes in her hair that contrasted with her long flowing black locks. She had on a skimpy black armored top with spiked shoulder pads and her left arm was covered in shiny silver armor, holding her Soulsword. Her brother
Colossus still wore his X-Men uniform, perhaps clinging to the glory days when he had worked in the elite all mutant squad.
Negasonic had grown out her hair, wearing it up in a mohawk of sorts, and she was wearing a black and yellow uniform with an
X on it.
"Hey, Loser," Negasonic greeted Jack.
"Sunshine," she then added. Sunshine, Magik, Negasonic, and Feedback were the youngest mutants in the Underground. They tended to end up clumping together at meals and such.
"This is bad time," Colossus observed.
"Magik, Negasonic, help me unload supplies, da?" he prompted, before leaving the training room. He had a large sack over his shoulder, as did Negasonic and Magik. He was making his way upstairs to the supply room.
"Do I need to kill someone?" Magik asked Sunshine.
Sunshine shook her head. She had managed to calm down slightly, no longer crying. She untangled herself from Jack's hug and stood up to her feet, holding her head high. She didn't know what she wanted from Jack at this point. It was still shocking enough to know that he was her father and that she actually had blood relatives who cared about her, something she never thought was in the cards for her.
"Nah... Marshmallow here is my dad," she told Magik.
"So you can't hurt him unless I say so, got it?" Magik tilted her head. Negasonic was busy texting on her phone, not paying attention.
"I don't see the resemblance." "So? He can change his face. He probably doesn't actually even look like this," Sunshine pointed out to Magik. She really really liked Magik and for whatever reason, it was important to her that Magik didn't try to murder Jack in his sleep or stuff his pillows with spiders and snakes.
February 16th, 2021 - 4:00 PM
George Washington University - Located in downtown Washington D.C., George Washington University was just a thirteen minute walk from the Lincoln Memorial and half an hour to the Capitol building. As it was in the midst of the capital of the United States, there weren't very many green spaces on campus. It was more a collection of buildings amidst crowded streets, with bakeries next to a law auditorium for instance. Most of the students at GWU were there to study politics or international relations, so the lack of a traditional campus experience was definitely made up for in terms of connections. About half of the graduating class that year were the children of government and military officials, not just from the United States but from Europe and Asia as well.
Its
Lisner Auditorium, a tall grey stone building, was even considered a historical landmark. Flyers and posters around campus reminded the students that Dr. Maya Hansen, one of the top scientists at Advanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M.) was there to give a talk at 4:00 pm. Food and refreshments were complimentary and all students were encouraged to go ask Dr. Hansen questions about her latest breakthrough in genetic engineering.
Weather wise, it was a rather chilly day in D.C., with a high of about 46 °F and a low of 27 ° F. It had been snowing on and off throughout the day, with plows routinely going through the streets to try to keep the roads clear. The cafes had given up on using their outdoor seating options, the metal tables and chairs covered in a fine layer of snow at least six inches thick. It was about two hours before sunset, so lighting at the very least wasn't much of an issue.
Of course, it wasn't the best time to be a mutant. A mysterious disease had emerged a few days ago across the world called M-Pox. The disease had only been around briefly but the death toll was already sickening (no pun intended). And while S.H.I.E.L.D. was supposedly developing a cure, it hadn't been released to the public yet. Hate crimes against mutants had spiked. The news reported on them hourly, showing horrifying footage of two young children in Arkansas hanged on a swingset, all because they were mutants. In D.C., mutants were vanishing and later found turned into stone, with an X carved into their forehead.
Coming around the corner near the entrance to the Lisner Auditorium, a
masked man carried a strangely glowing blue knife. He wore a long black jacket that looked more like a cape and had thick gloves on, the sort that a blacksmith might own. Covering his eyes were what looked to be night vision goggles, making it hard to tell what he was looking at. The students walking by gave him a wide berth, rightfully terrified by the stranger with a knife.
The man hadn't noticed Kristina or Andy. He was walking straight towards Zarina.
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