Location: Junk Yard - Fargo, North Dakota Skills: Strategy, Audiokinesis
Nancy looked at the word Niah had written helplessly. It looked more like it said Bleyemma and she had no idea what sort of monster that could be. Of the Roman demigods, she had one of the more severe cases of dyslexia. The letters just flipped and jumped around - and math, that was practically impossible for her, as she had dyscalculia as well. She could deal with Roman numerals a bit better than the standard Arabic numbers, but she still came away with a headache at the end of it all. "Eight? Two for both of you and four for me, then," Nancy asserted smugly. There was a bit of a crazed look in her eyes, a maniacal sort of excitement as taking on more than a handful of cyclopses.
Suddenly, there was a gigantic drakon that swooped in out of nowhere and Nancy's heart started pounding, until she realized it was a Mist Illusion Madalyne did. "Fuck, that's gnarly," she said, shaking her head slightly. The drakon wasn't going to last very long, so to her the best strategy was to go and kill the monsters. It'd be better they did that than wait for the monsters to find them and attack them. "Let's kill these assholes."
Nancy cleared her throat as she walked forward, channeling the spirit of her idol - Joan Jett.
🎶 "I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation Living in the past, it's a new generation A girl can do what she wants to do and that's what I'm gonna do An' I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation Oh no, not me An' I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation Never said I wanted to improve my station An' I'm only doin' good when I'm havin' fun An' I don't have to please no one An' I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation Oh no, no, no, no not me, oh no, no, no, no not me I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation I've never been afraid of any deviation An' I don't really care if you think I'm strange I ain't gonna change An' I'm never gonna care 'bout my bad reputation Oh no, not me, oh no, not me Pedal, boys! An' I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation The world's…" 🎶
Each time she sustained a note, every time she punched the chorus, another one of the cyclops died. Their heads exploded like pressurized pumpkins, monster guts spraying everywhere before the cyclopses crumbled into sand. By the time Nancy came to the ending note, four of them had fallen, leaving just another four - two for Madalyne and two for Niah as she said before. Nancy twirled her twin imperial gold daggers, looking at the cyclops with a challenge clearly written across her face.
Jinx's body was on display at the funeral home in New York City on December 20th, 2020. He didn't have any living relatives. Pyro had been the honor guard of sorts for his body, sobbing along to Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time as he drove Jinx's corpse from D.C. to New York City. The viewing hours started at 9 AM and concluded at 5 PM. Pyro had stayed there for an hour at the start, delivering an impassioned and thickly Australian eulogy for Jinx. He put a cinnabon on top of the coffin, as that was one of the few things he knew Jinx liked.
At noon, Emma Frost and her girls, the Three-in-One arrived fresh from vacation. They stared at Jinx's body in silence, before placing black roses on the coffin. The next visitor was Magneto at roughly 3 o'clock. He dropped the crumpled badges of the officers who had shot down Jinx inside of the coffin, blood staining the brass.
The last visitor for Jinx arrived at 4:50 P.M. Her hair was tucked underneath a baseball cap and she had sunglasses to hide her eyes. She wore a hoody and frayed jeans, looking like any American college student. "Ti glupi dečko, kako si mogao biti tako neoprezan? Ti si mutant ... Trebao bi biti bolji od ovoga! Prokletstvo Jink! Zašto si morao umreti i napustiti me? Da li je to zato što sam bio zao? Uh, ako je ovo neka vrsta trika, poželećeš da te policajci ubiju!" the Scarlet Witch shouted. The pieces of furniture in the room went flying as she took a stick of gum and placed it inside of Jinx's cold, stiff fingers. "Rest in power."
He was buried next to his mother, his mother's ring inside the coffin along with the other trinkets left behind by his friends.
Leighton's body was taken to the morgue in Washington D.C. and held there for a week. The official report ruled her death as due to asphyxiation. Anastasia's crooked cops declared that Jinx had been the murderer. The report leaked to several news stations, with right-wing newscaster Benedict Ryan using Leighton's death to increase anti-mutant rage in the country. The medical examiner hadn't run a DNA test on her and Leighton's parents fed into the narrative, hiring lobbyists to push for another consideration of the MRA by Congress in Leighton's name.
She was cremated and then buried at her family's home in Boston. Her mother did not invite her sister, Emma Frost, to the funeral, blaming Emma for her daughter's death.
There were other personnel changes for the Hellfire Club. Warlock left to join the Mutant Underground. Sage was exposed as a spy, fleeing before Reeva and the others could capture her. In early February, Emma Frost invited Selene from the New York City Hellfire Club to come and work on the Genosha Project with the DC branch.
Of course, it wasn't the best time to be a mutant. A mysterious disease had emerged on February 11th, dubbed M-Pox by the media. The disease only afflicted mutants and the symptoms ranged from ordinary to bizarre. Hives, rashes, failing powers, headaches, vomit, internal bleeding, and more - all refusing to go away no matter what medicine was administered. The death toll continues to mount and while S.H.I.E.L.D. supposedly has a cure in progress, it has not been made available to the public.
Anti-mutant newscasters such as Benedict Ryan have been calling for the movement of mutants into controlled quarantine camps, worrying that M-Pox may mutate and be transmitted to humans. 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.
February 16th, 2021 - 4:20 PM
Mutant Underground:
Casper - mild symptoms
Spark Plug - moderate symptoms
Jack - severe symptoms
Max - severe symptoms
Glimpse - severe symptoms
Magik - moderate symptoms
Hellfire Club/Misc.:
Anastasia - moderate symptoms
Emma Frost - moderate symptoms
Vulcan - mild symptoms
Legion - severe symptoms
Morgan - mild symptoms
Mild Symptoms: Headache, some splotchiness of the skin, fatigue and exhaustion Moderate Symptoms: Difficulty breathing, dizziness, vomiting, blood shot eyes, prominent veins Severe Symptoms: Vomiting blood, trouble walking, bleeding from the ears, extreme skin discoloration, general looniness
Shaw Industries Building: Penthouse Suite -
For once, Magneto was on site at the Hellfire Club Headquarters. He didn't show up very often, usually busy running the Brotherhood. However, the Hellfire Club was nearing completion with Genosha. The infrastructure had been set up, supplies were being transported to the island currently, leaving only a few tasks left. They needed to first establish the government of their new nation and who would be its leaders. They also needed to get international recognition of Genosha. So far, Reeva and Emma had been entertaining key members and officials, although creating relations with some of the more steadfast anti-mutant ones was difficult.
Selene, Reeva, Emma, and Magneto had taken over the main area of the penthouse. Emma wore dark shades to mask her eyes and she wore a rather modest outfit, rather than the usual revealing pieces she favored. "Thank you for coming, darlings. Magneto is in charge of this operation, so I'll let him take the floor," Emma said. Her voice sounded a bit tired.
Magneto had the shapeshifter Mystique at his side. "Serval Industries invented a device in 2017 that could be used to artificially give the X-gene to a human. We need it. We can use it on political hold-outs to ensure their support for Genosha, as they themselves will become mutants," Magneto explained shortly. "Dr. John Watts invented the device. Mystique believes that the device is currently owned by Advanced Idea Mechanics. Polaris will lead the White Queen and Pyro on this task - Dr. John Watts and an AIM scientist are at George Washington University. Bring them back here alive. Emma will then use her mutant abilities to have them build the device for us." Sinister wasn't present. He spent most of his time in his lab working and while he had a position within the Hellfire Club, he wasn't a mutant. No one fully trusted him. Magneto and the others would rather steal a device than ask Sinister to build one and be further indebted to him.
Polaris was standing near the door ready to go. She had on a leather jacket with metal cuffs, with boots that had metal toes. Her entire ensemble looked like it came out of Hot Topic, but with all of the metal on her, she could effectively fly. "And if something goes wrong?" Polaris asked.
Pyro was chewing bubblegum as he lounged on the couch. He wasn't part of the Hellfire Club, since he was actually part of the Brotherhood. However Magneto had brought him to D.C. for this job, trusting him and Polaris to get things done. He didn't know Anastasia well enough.
"Cause a panic. Invoke my name - the humans will think that the Brotherhood has come for them," Magneto explained. It was easy to forget that he wasn't all brute force and violence - he was calculating too.
George Washington University: Streets -
With Mr. Jaws biting the earlobe of Mr. Stabby Stabberson, Stabberson's hood fell back. He was bald with an eagle tattoo on the top of his head. He was wearing some sort of mask and special goggles, the sort that Iron Man or one of the Avengers might have had. Horrifyingly, he only had one ear - there was a vicious scar where the other one should have been, looking like it had either been cut off or burned off.
Zarina had driven him back slightly, forcing the much larger and physically imposing man to take a few steps back. He tried to disarm her blade with his strange knives, but it was to no avail. Stabberson then ran backwards, causing Zarina's blade to fall down. He threw one of his knives at her, missing pathetically. He threw the other knife and hit the hilt of Zarina's sword, sending it clattering down to the ground.
Stabberson held his hands up and his knives flew back to him, as he advanced on her again silently. Sirens were wailing as the police arrived on the scene. A bystander must have called them after Stabberson started attacking Zarina.
"DROP THE WEAPONS NOW, MUTIE!" the cops shouted at Stabberson. Six of them opened fire before Stabberson even had a chance, four bullets hitting him. They didn't phase him though. He must have been wearing kevlar or something.
Veil
Location: George Washington University: Lisner Auditorium Skills: N/A
Life was never calm for the Mutant Underground. James and Sunshine had gone with those afflicted with M-Pox to the mutant friendly clinic in order to get them some medicine. Sapphire's skills and James' healing weren't enough for the disease. After each healing session with James, the disease would simply return with a vengeance. Their only hope was one of Sapphire's old friends from Serval Industries, an egotistical yet brilliant bioengineer named Dr. John Watts. S.H.I.E.L.D. continued to claim they had a cure in progress, but it could be months before it was available to the public... And Warlock, Glimpse, and Jack didn't have that long.
The group with her consisted of Sapphire (as she was friends with Dr. Watts), Moonwalker, Havok, Feedback, and Echo. She was sitting near the back of the auditorium with the others, one hand tangled in her own hair as Veil listened to the Q&A panel. It was nice to see a woman in STEM, but Veil couldn't also help but be disappointed with Dr. Hansen. If a cure for the X-gene was ever created, it wouldn't be long until it was forced on mutants unwillingly.
"Take a shot every time a human talks about mutant issues like they're some sort of authority," Havok murmured under his breath to Sapphire. He leaned back in his seat and accidentally kicked the chair of the girl in front of him. "Oops, my bad," he apologized to Andy.
"I think we should move on and take another question," the moderator interjected, cutting off the brewing argument between Dr. Hansen and Dr. Watts.
"Franklin Sykes, fourth year, public health," the next student introduced themselves. "With the M-Pox crisis killing hundreds of thousands of mutants across the globe, what solutions are there to prevent further loss of life?"
Veil sat forward in her chair. She hadn't ever attended college. She hadn't particularly liked taking classes at Xavier's school, finding them boring, slow, or just filled with annoying people she didn't care for. She was a hands on learner, always doing better when she was moving and actually doing something rather than reading about it. However, as the conversation turned to M-Pox, she couldn't help but listen. Her people were suffering. That was the entire reason they had came here - to get help from Dr. Watts.
"Honestly? The FDA needs to waive their usual procedures and allow Extremis to be given to patients now," Dr. Hansen said bluntly. "Extremis works. It cures everything, from the common cold to cancer. It's the key to better, healthier living. Imagine, if you will, how much better the world would be if we could lace the water supply with Extremis... We could become effectively immortal."
Dr. Watts chuckled. "Yes, let's just get rid of all precautions and start injecting people with your untested breakthrough. That's one way to save mutantkind - just kill them all with medical malpractice."
Dr. Hansen glared at him. "Sometimes, you need to take a leap of faith - and my serum works. The results from human trials are incredibly promising."
"I'm sorry, are we here to talk science or religion? If it's the latter, then I'll leave you to your hokum."
"Dr. Watts, let's keep things civil," the moderator told him sternly. "We'll take another question now."
Veil raised a bit of an eyebrow, before elbowing Sapphire slightly. She was sitting on Sapphire's left, whereas Havok was on Sapphire's right. "Your friend is a bit of an ass, isn't he?" she whispered to her. She hadn't really met Dr. Watts and she already knew that he thought he was the smartest person in the room - and that an idea someone else had was automatically horrible as it hadn't popped into his brain.
Sunshine couldn't help but be skeptical of the mutant friendly clinic. Humans rarely had pure intentions when it came to mutant outreach. The building was relatively unassuming and as she stared at the doors, the van they had taken parked out front, she expected a trap. She had the bow Jack had gifted her for Christmas slung over her shoulder and her quiver of arrows was hooked onto the loop of her pants with a carabiner. The wild child actually had her hair braided back out of her face and while there was some dirt on her nose, she looked stronger and more confident. "I still don't like this. Purifiers could be hiding here. And the nurses and doctors could call the cops on us," Sunshine pointed out, turning around to face the group.
James was the only other person there who wasn't sick. Casper had a mild case of M-Pox which he continued to deny, insisting that it was just the common cold or the flu. He was actually clean at the moment, though Sunshine doubted his sobriety would last long. He was a bit of a fuck up. Spark Plug and Magik weren't too hot, but the bad cases were Jack, Max, and Glimpse. Sunshine figured Max was being punished by the universe for being a complete idiot. Glimpse likely was getting some karma for how privileged she was her entire life. Jack, maybe the universe was mad at him still for abandoning his only child. "I say we send Max in first as a test - if he comes out alive, it's safe. If he doesn't, well, it was just Max," she suggested with a shrug.
Casper stepped out of the van. He was wearing pink flip flops, a skirt covered with sequins that went down to his knees, a black fur coat, and a Betty White tank-top. His fashion sense was definitely hobo-chic. His nails were painted pink and he had applied a sparkly eyeshadow, claiming it made him look like one of the fae. On his cheek was a splotchy red mark that he had tried to cover with glitter to conceal it, only making it more noticeable. "Don't worry so much, Sunny-shine," he said, shaking his head. He regretted it as it only aggravated his headache.
"I know everyone there - they're good people! Like Doctor Chan? She pulled a toy soldier out of my asshole once and didn't even ask how it got there," Casper testified. He hesitated for a moment, leaning up against the van. "I don't even remember how it got there, actually..."
Ben was sitting on the hood of the car. Only Casper could see him though - it was super taxing for Casper to be constantly channeling Ben. Ben had sulked and pouted for being yelled at by the others back in December for about a week. He only returned when Casper made him an offering of waffles with nutella, refusing to let anyone in the Underground touch it despite their low food supplies. (Sunshine had eaten the waffles later when Casper wasn't looking and said another ghost must have taken them). "I do. I'm trying to forget, but ghosts can't have alcohol which makes it harder," Ben grumbled.
"Anyways, come on, you guys are gonna love everyone here!" Casper gushed. His face looked a little bit gaunt as he opened the doors to the clinic and walked up to the receptionist. "Hiiiiii, Linda. Six M-Pox treatments, please?"
"Casper, we thought you had OD'd and died," Linda, an older woman with smile wrinkles and coarse hair said. "I'll see if Dr. Chan can come and see you all - you remember where the back room is, right?"
Casper nodded. "How could I forget the secret mutant only spa?" he quipped. He kissed Linda on each cheek. "Thank you for not being a Karen," he told her earnestly.
"Are you stupid on purpose?" Sunshine asked Casper. He must not have heard her though, as he headed to the back of the clinic. There was a large examination room back there with enough seats for everyone. Ordinarily, people would've been seen individually but the Mutant Underground weren't ordinary visitors.
Magik took a seat, her eyes bloodshot. She was resisting the urge to vomit, even as the room seemed to be spinning around her. Like Sunshine, she didn't trust this place at all. She hated institutions. It reminded her of the detainment center she had been kept in when she first came to the United States. "I don't like this," she muttered. She shot a glare at James, as if her having M-Pox was somehow his fault.
Location: Mojoworld - Machine Room -> Hallway Skills: Superspeed, Hand to Hand Combat, Archery
Watts didn't argue with Belladonna's proposed plan. "I'll scout," he said curtly. He pulled the hood down on his suit and tapped his watch, injecting himself with more of the speed serum. His eyes glowed faintly red as Watts dashed out of the door Sapphire had destroyed. It was good that he had this to focus on - since otherwise, his mind would have been tearing itself apart over Andrew's clear brain damage. He knew that Andrew shouldn't have gone through that machine - he knew it. Watts was mentally kicking himself for allowing Andrew to make decisions when he clearly was ill qualified for them. Watts dashed off at top speed.
Arthur could hear people coming closer to them. Spiral was frustratingly a no-show. "You have the intellect of an Ewok," Arthur told Andrew roughly. "This is life and death... Bad men are coming. Very bad. They get near you, you shoot - you shoot them dead." He did hand motions to accompany his instructions. He wasn't sure how much Andrew was understanding, but he hoped that he would get the message across. It would be better to be killed than captured by Mojo in this situation.
Watts sped back into the room. "There's a few guards coming down the left hallway. I could hear movement from the right but I didn't see anyone. If I were to guess - and I'll be right, as I always am - the left is our best bet. The right hallway likely has the majority of Mojo's forces," Watts explained. "Now hurry up. Sapphire, you need to babysit Andrew as we move," he added. Sapphire did have a medical degree and Watts doubted Andrew particularly liked him at the moment. Besides, Watts also easily had the best powers of the group - he was able to do just about anything, as long as he could tolerate more speed serum pumping through his veins.
The emerald archer left the room, three arrows ready on his bow. He went down the hallway and turned to the left, seeing a couple of stormtrooper looking guards in front of him. He didn't say a word as he let the arrows fly. One of them missed, but the other two were kill shots, the guards dropping to the ground. Arthur didn't feel a bit of remorse. At best, he had just liberated two helpless pawns - and at worst, he had killed those who eagerly served Mojo. Two more came around the corner and Arthur saw a blur dart out in front of him, and a second later, Watts stood there, his eyes glowing red. The guards were unconscious at his feet.
Location: High Rise Apartment Building Skills: N/A
Megan snorted slightly as Tinker Bell insulted Isabella's intelligence - maybe the fairy wasn't that bad after all... or was Tinker Bell a pixie? She couldn't really remember. It had been ages since she watched Peter Pan. She tended to stay up all night listening to true crime podcasts or watching videos of paranormal investigations. She had been an insomniac for as long as she could remember, never getting more than just a few hours of sleep a night. Her blood was at least fifty percent coffee at this point. Megan would have voted to leave Isabella in the magic circle a little bit longer, but Tinker released her.
"How about we leave before Maleficent turns us all to stone?" Megan suggested. "We can keep her book. I'm really curious as to how magic is practiced... If Maleficent doesn't keep tidy records and notes and record her observations, then I'm going to be disappointed." It was what any good scientist would do - record procedures, leave detailed notes and records, and then organize it all appropriately. She skimmed through the book, seeing spells on all sorts of topics. Some covered elemental magic, some were summoning spells. The latter ones struck her as a bit Lovecraft-esque.
The Hub - San Fransisco: February 14th, 2021 - 11:20 A.M.
Interrogation Cell 72-A...
Thane di Angelo was booked, his cell guarded by two armed agents. The helmet Matt had placed on him had been removed and no atmospheric precautions were taken in the holding cell. Thane remained in his prison uniform with magical bonds. In addition, the SHIELD agents added handcuffs and chains locked into the interrogation table. The interrogation room was rather empty otherwise, with dark blue walls and a one way glass wall facing Thane, the sort common in police stations. The door to the holding cell was adjacent to Thane.
Interrogation Cell 72-B...
This holding cell was available for Dalisy. Its set up was identical to the one used for Thane, with the exception that no guards had been posted outside yet (as no one had been placed there). Matt or Niah would be able to request the guards looking after Thane to get some to come stand outside of Dalisy's cell.
Dominika Novikova
Location: the Hangar Skills: N/A
Novikova let out a sigh of relief, as Maria replaced her glasses. She felt guilty, needing them when her wife needed them as well. She missed being able to look at people without the endless rush of images. She couldn't even be intimate with Maria without the glasses. "I feel wonderful," she told Maria dryly. She always had a bit of a straight faced, dry sort of humor - dark, too. The new guy, Oliver, was making some fair points - they needed some sort of way of evacuating the city or moving elsewhere. "There's a million people in San Fransisco, evacuating them all would be impossible - especially the crazies who will stay behind to try to get pictures of aliens," Novikova pointed out to Oliver bluntly.
"Novikova - you were fired," Hill told her bluntly. "You shouldn't be here."
"I'm here as an Avenger actually," Novikova told Hill. She stood up on her two feet, staring down the newly appointed S.H.I.E.L.D. director. "And unless you want your relationship with the Avengers to go down the drain like what happened with the X-Men, you'll let me stay. I'm not letting my wife go up against the Black Order without real backup. Sorry, new guy, I'm sure you're talented and all but you're fresh meat." She had turned her head to look at Oliver with that last comment.
".... Fine. I'll arrange for Thane di Angelo to be sent to Cardiff. I need to go inform the council what's going on - I expect updates, Agent Reed," Hill said. "Don't make that mistake."
Bonnie Chase
Location: the Hangar Skills: Perception, Intuition, Blessing of Athena
Bonnie mentally filed that fact about Niah away - Dalisy seemed to be telling the truth and it seemed too specific of a thing for a skrull to know. However, Sparky hadn't noticed that Raynor had been replaced by a skrull. No one had noticed that Roman had been a skrull at first either. They couldn't be too cautious in this situation. They also still had the problem of the Black Order, the Terrigen Mists, Oliver, Thane, and the Inhuman Royals. Bonnie hadn't had a chance to process the vision she had had earlier when Corvus Glaive tried to kill her. "I have a plan," Bonnie announced.
Flynn seemed to have been spot on when it came to Hill and Tinley. From what she could tell, Cass was in charge - although Bonnie had no idea if that was temporary or permanent. "Thanos wants his son dead. We could get a Life Model Decoy, specify it to look like Oliver, and fake Oliver's death. His Black Order also doesn't care about casualties, so we need to go somewhere pretty much deserted, somewhere far away from cities and human life... like the ruins of Attilan on the moon. Oliver can send a message to Thanos - maybe have it play in Cardiff or see if he or Tempest can get it to transmit to Thanos' ship - inviting Thanos to come face him on the moon. We go to the moon, we fight the Black Order, and Oliver switches places with his LMD at superspeed. As long as the LMD dies in an explosion or something, so the body can't be recovered, Thanos should buy that his son has been killed and leave."
There were a lot of assumptions in her plan. It also was asking everyone there to risk their lives that way Oliver wouldn't have to go alone. They couldn't let the LMD just die any sort of death, as stabbing the LMD would reveal that it was a robotic double. It needed to be convincing and real - the fate of the Earth depended on it.
Strange wasn't phased by Sparky's small temper tantrum. She had been going through a lot that day, so he let it slide. "It's a magical artifact - and you, my dear, are no sorceress," he told Sparky frankly. "The plan you proposed Dr. Chase is feasible. My magical wards will prevent Thanos and the Black Order from finding Oliver here... and as a guardian of this world and dimension, I strongly suggest moving the son of Thanos off world until the threat is neutralized. The moon is an apt location."
Location: the Great Hall - Slytherin Table Magic: Pocket Sneakoscope
The first years had been fairly evenly sorted into the four houses. To no one's surprise, Charlie Weasley was sorted into Gryffindor. Nymphadora Tonks, Beatrice Haywood, and Chiara Lobasca were placed into Hufflepuff. Each house received about ten first years - some had a few more, some a few less. The dormitories were enchanted, able to magically expand to match the size of the incoming class. The food was about to be served, but Headmaster Dumbledore stood at his podium, candles ablaze around him as he waited for everyone to quiet down.
"Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts, especially to our seventh years who are nearing the end of their journey and our first years, who are at the cusp of theirs," Dumbledore began, the Great Hall hushed. "I would like to thank everyone for the bravery and courage they displayed on the Hogwarts Express earlier today. The conductor was one of the escaped Death Eaters disguised via polyjuice potion and he was killed." Dumbledore paused, letting this news sink in. "Rest assured, there is no place safer in the wizarding world than Hogwarts. I would like to thank our prefects and Professor McGonagall for the session they conducted with the first years... but let us move onto happier subjects. We have a new professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts this year, Professor Bhengani - would you care to say a few words?" Dumbledore asked, stepping back from the podium.
Professor Bhengani nodded, standing up from her seat between Professors Sinistra and McGonagall. Her elegant robes swept the floor as she walked up to the podium, Dumbledore taking his seat in the headmaster's chair. She didn't need an amplifying charm to boost her voice - she was confident and clear, loud enough to be heard by the 200 some students in the Great Hall.
"I am Nomvula Bhengani," she introduced herself. "I have been teaching at the Uagadou School of Magic for six years now. It's an honor to be invited as a visiting professor to Hogwarts - and perhaps the food is not as bland as I have been told. At Uagadou, we practice wandless magic - so consider this a notice for my students. There will be no wands in my classroom." She had a strong and steady smirk on her face, a smile that seemed to dare and challenge each student in the crowd.
"Thank you, Professor Bhengani!" Dumbledore said, as Professor Bhengani took her seat and he resumed his place at the podium. "Now - tuck in!"
Suddenly, a magnificent feast materialized on the long tables. Facing the Head Table, the tables in order were (from left to right): Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor. The feast food was the same sort of things that the house elves prepared every year, although it tasted divine so the lack of originality could be excused. There were beef, lamb chops, steak, potatoes, meat pies, sandwiches, and salads. Pitchers contained most sorts of juice as well as water.
"Fucking ace, I've missed steak," Paige said. She was seated next to Barnaby. Merula was unfortunately across from them. It was hard to avoid her at times. Paige took her fork and jabbed it into a piece of steak, before flinging it onto her plate. She scooped up a huge helping of garlic mashed potatoes and then placed some roasted carrots on her plate (for her health, of course). She started to dig in, only to notice that Merula was hardly touching her food.
She looked at Merula for a moment, contemplating asking her what was wrong. However upon further reflection, Paige realized she didn't particularly care and she went back to cutting up her steak, cramming her mouth with the juicy meat. She liked her steaks medium well, stemming from when she was a little girl and actually liked pink. She thought the pink meat was better.
"They forgot to have vegetarian food again..." Liz Tuttle sighed. She was sitting on Barnaby's other side, grabbing sandwiches for the bread and putting all of the fillings on a separate plate. She then took the potatoes, roasted carrots, and the salad, making her own sort of meal.
"Do you want me to go fight the house elves for you?" Paige offered seriously, talking with a mouthful of steak. She couldn't help but be excited. She had an endless supply of steak in front of her, Merula was being quiet, and they were getting the chance to study wandless magic that year in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Their last few professors hadn't even tried to teach them it, but the applications were endless, especially when it came to Curse Breaking. What if she got trapped in a tomb and lost her wand in the dark? Maybe Dumbledore would give them some pointers on wandless magic in their private lessons, that way she could really impress the new professor.
"No way! It's totally grody by the way, house elf enslavement. We force them to work for us all day and the horrible abuse that they suffer, especially in pureblood households... I think I've lost my appetite," Liz complained, setting down her utensils.
"Of course you'd not get why we need house elves," Merula muttered sourly, rolling her eyes.
"Oh go on, Merula, tell me more about why you're okay with the systemic abuse of house elves and other beings," Liz challenged Merula, fire in her eyes.
"Can't we talk about something else?" Barnaby asked. He was extremely conflict adverse. It was a defense mechanism for the abuse he had experienced growing up. Whenever things got bad, he would run off to his room and cuddle whatever cute magical creature he could fine. He loved crups and had even raised a few kneazle kittens on his own.
Merula got up from her seat. "Hogwarts is really going to the dogs," she spat, grabbing her plate and heading down to the front of the table where the first years were sitting. She shoved one of the first years over roughly, before taking a seat. Merula was eating her food angrily now, as if she was punishing it.
"Urgh, what is her damage..." Paige asked, shaking her head.
"She's horrible, that's what. And she can't handle being challenged on anything," Liz explained. She still hadn't touched her food, despite her stomach growling. "But enough about that tosser... Paige, you need to tell us what Dumbledore wanted," Liz insisted. She then spotted Eliza. "Flame, you too!"
Paige thought on her feet. The best lies were those that were partially true, right? "He's trial running some new class, he wants me to be in it," Paige shrugged. "I dunno why he picked me," she added.
Location: Hotel Valhalla - Floor Twenty One: Runa's Room -> Floor Five Skills: Staff Fighting
Runa nodded, not too sure whether or not to be concerned that Klara had gotten bored with killing people. It was the sort of thing she expected a psychopath to say. This entire afterlife was bewildering and when she had woken up that morning, all she had been planning was a fun day at the beach relaxing... not going to two different viking afterlives and discovering her father was the god Balder. She perked up slightly as Nadia mentioned shopping. Yes, it was stereotypical but Runa actually really enjoyed shopping. It was fun to see everything sparkling and new, to discover new outfits she hadn't thought of yet.
"Shopping sounds fun, but erm, I don't have any money," Runa admitted. She guessed that she could probably trade some of her rings and necklaces - did vikings value wiccan jewelry? That was a question she hadn't anticipated ever having. She followed Nadia, wondering also if there was some sort of credit system at Valhalla. They took the elevator down to the fifth floor, opening up into a mixture between a bazaar, IKEA, and a gift shop. Her eyes widened slightly, seeing the large assortment of items. There were weapons, armor, and even ships on sale.
She followed Nadia to the weapons area, staring at them all. There seemed to be an infinite number. She drifted over towards where the staves were located. She actually had learned how to fight with a staff - her karate instructor had taught her. Runa had really enjoyed her karate lessons - even though the white kids at school would mock her for them ruthlessly. It was cool for them to learn martial arts, but when Runa did it, it apparently was something silly and funny, something to ridicule her for.
Runa reached out, putting her hand on one of the staffs. It had an open circular top, with runic inscriptions carved all over it. It glowed very very faintly. She picked it up, before stepping away from Klara and Nadia. Runa rotated the staff through the air, spinning it around her own body as she turned. She then powerfully cut through the air with it, the staff ending by her side. "...I like this one."
"Damn right I look good," Vinnie agreed, striking a pose before she handed the hat back to Gordon. She then headed off with Sophia to room 10, the last room that they were assigned to search. Vinnie glanced around, a bit exhausted from how thoroughly she had searched the last room just to not find anything. Sophia handed her a swimming cap and Vinnie instantly became focused on it. "In my scientific opinion, the stretchiness is.... 28," she said, pulling on the swimming cap and sending it flying across the room. She skipped on over and grabbed it, stretching it out again and placing it on her head. She then took it off again, pulled all of her hair back, and did her best to try to get all of her hair under the cap.
"Sophia, maybe I was a hat model!" Vinnie called out. "I keep having the urge to try on hats. Is that a job? I feel like that's a real job. I also don't feel like I'm the sort of person for a serious job like... You must fill out this spreadsheet or the orphanage will be bulldozed to make room for a yoga center! Grr! That doesn't seem like me. Maybe I'm unemployed and just go around protesting things... I feel like I could shout and wave a sign," Vinnie rambled, forgetting entirely what they were supposed to be doing. "What would I protest though?" Vinnie thought for a moment. "Maybe for women's rights? I'm a women - a woman... FREE THE WOMEN! FREE THE WOMEN! Yeah, that feels almost right!"
She ceased in her practice at shouting as Sophia came out of the bathroom, looking worried. "Are you pregnant? Because all you need is a coat hanger to take care of that," she told Sophia seriously. Sophia had something small in her hands that she couldn't see. Maybe she had gotten a pregnancy test from the vending machine of requirement. "Or if you want to keep it, we can lesbian co-parent, as long as you weren't impregnated by a space zombie."
She arrived in the galley, where Raynor was continuing to drink rum and watch in amusement as Zarina completely geeked out over her creation. "Well I'm glad that we don't need to get you anything for your birthday now," Raynor told Zarina with a smirk. "And after you make Zoomy a pet, see if you can make a girlfriend for Gordon."
"What if Gordon wants a boyfriend?" Vinnie interrupted.
Raynor was about to answer when Sophia shared her discovery - a note cryptically saying they will kill you. His eyes narrowed. They could refer to his fellow amnesiacs, but he figured it more likely was whoever was responsible for sending them here. "Okay, vacation's over kid," he told Zarina. "If that note was hidden in a suite, it's safe to say there might be more in the other areas on this... ship or space colony or whatever."
Vinnie looked pale, terrified at the prospect of people they didn't even know trying to kill them. "Can I, um, suggest we keep with the buddy system? If we're alone, well that's how people always get killed in the movies... They think they're safe and BAM! A saw goes through their neck."
Rebecca sighed slightly, but she had to concede Jason's point. It would be healthier for Arthur and Andy if they were allowed to process their grief, rather than having their memories altered. She was surprised that a child of Ares could have such wisdom and grace - perhaps she had misjudged Jason's emotional range earlier from his altercation with Demetri. "No, you two are right... If Arthur asks for a magical remedy, I'll give it to him... But I won't offer it." Arthur might not even have the emotional maturity to make an informed decision anyways. The daughter of Hecate sat down at one of the tables in the galley as Lauryn got up and left for the engine room, leaving her alone with Jason. She cusped her hands, before looking at Jason.
"My mother is... complicated," she started, feeling that he was owed an explanation of sorts. "She's a titan. In the first war, she sided with the gods. It was in the second war that she sided against them with the Crooked One..." Rebecca's words drifted off. "She wasn't worshipped like the Olympians. It's relatively recent for the children of minor gods to be recognized at Camp Half-blood... She's the goddess with three faces. She isn't a force purely for good or for evil... My mother believes that everyone should forge their own path and make their own choices, even if the result may be death."
Rebecca fell silent, not really sure what she was trying to tell Jason. Was she trying to apologize for her mother killing Mona? No. Rebecca understood what her mother did and why - and if Rebecca looked deeply within herself, she would have done the same thing in her mother's position. She would have made the display of power to demand respect.
🌈 Leda Storm 🌈
Location: Argo III - Upper Deck -> Third Deck / Engineering Skills: Sword Fighting and Agility
Leda huffed slightly, annoyed with the son of Zeus again. She was fairly certain that Alannah or Lauryn had already mentioned how long their travel time was going to be - hypocritically, Leda had already forgotten that fact. It didn't stop her from being irritated with Demetri though. "Yes, you have to wear a toga - it's considered rude if you don't," she told him, trying to keep a straight face. "You also have to quack five times up at the sun, spin, and then kiss the ground." She couldn't help but snicker at her own joke. She shrugged at Mary, giving her an expression that said something like players gotta play. "If it makes you feel any better Mary, at least Zeke isn't here."
She then flashed the peace sign at her friend before leaving with Kiera.
The engineering deck was an interesting choice. Leda would have preferred to stay up on the top deck, that way she could feel the breeze as they fought. She loved open skies. "I have to warn you, luv, I've been training for three years," Leda told Kiera with a smirk. She pulled down on her pendant and it transformed into her glowing Celestial Bronze sword, Ultraviolet. Its color matched her mood. Currently, it was a playful pink.
Leda loved sword fighting. It also happened to be a useful skill for the modern demigod trying to stay alive, so she practiced quite a bit. She swung her sword at Kiera, hitting Kiera's blades - and in a bit of a sneaky movement, she kicked at Kiera and knocked her to the ground. Leda pointed the tip of her sword at Kiera's neck. "So, whatcha gonna do, Water Girl?"
☀️ Nancy Parker ☀️
Location: New Rome - the Augury Skills: N/A
Nancy shook her head slightly, staring at the shrine in the painting. She had no idea why there was a shrine to her father in Tartarus - all she really could figure was that it must have fallen down the pit somehow. Maybe someone had been angry with him - there was no shortage of people in Roman Mythology harmed by Apollo - and had decided to chuck the shrine down the pit. "Maybe someone yuuted it down the pit?" Nancy suggested, trying to use the lingo of the current generation. "Tartarus is part of the Underworld, so we have to get to the Underworld first... There's an entrance somewhere in New York City we can use," she recalled. A cross country road trip with her best friends sounded totally bitchin' - unfortunately, Leandra and a bunch of random Greek demigods would be involved as well.
She wished someone would gag her with a spoon.
Nancy put her flask away, after securely closing it. She didn't want to have nectar sloshing all over her clothes. There was so much they didn't know - why the gem was important, why there was a shrine to Apollo, and even the precise identities of all the demigods involved in this. "Coffee sounds like a tubular idea," she agreed. "I say we get some grande or venti coffees, tell the Fourth Cohort Centurion that we don't need her to build traps after all and to focus on the landing pad for the Greeks. We should still do the War Games... It'll be a good distraction. And maybe we can find records somewhere of a shrine to dear old dad in Tartarus."
Guin rolled her eyes at Pietro. "Bleh, Happy and Pepper made me take etiquette classes. I've done my best to erase everything related to high society, including ballroom dancing," she explained. Her boarding school also required them to know proper decorum, as everyone there was the child of some famous dignitary, celebrity, or public figure. She knew how to walk like a princess, which fork to use first, and what sort of comments were appropriate at a dinner with state officials. With the exception of the House of M reality, she had made a point to never use that information. Rules and manners were suffocating.
"What do I want to do now... Hmm..." They had a sort of rough schedule of events. They had done the first dance, meaning everyone could start dancing now. They still had toasts and the meal and everything planned. There was the bouquet toss and whatnot. And then, once they were thoroughly exhausted of being around other people, Pietro and Guin would get to run off into the sunset for their honeymoon. "Something spontaneous. Like... say, how about you go pants everyone at superspeed and see if Cap wears boxers or briefs?" Guin joked.
Her smile faded as Wanda rushed over to them, saying something in Serbian where Guin only caught the word here and then pulled Pietro away from her. She knew that Wanda had been on the straight and narrow for a few months now, but seeing her still put Guin on edge, her body tensing up. Guin saw Pietro's face pale and her brain went into overdrive, putting two and two together. She glanced around, seeing the shadow of a person outside of the reception area.
"God damn it, this is why we shouldn't have Wolverine do the fucking security," Guin cursed. "His bones are freaking metal... What could possibly go wrong..." She walked over to a waiter, grabbed a glass of champagne and dumped it out onto the ground. Guin then smashed the glass up against the side of a table, making a makeshift weapon out of the jagged remnants. By some miracle, she didn't even cut her skin. A reasonable, logical person wouldn't have done what she did next.
But Guin was impulsive and a bit reckless.
"HEY, MAGNET BRAIN! YOU WEREN'T INVITED TO MY WEDDING, SO LEAVE OR GET FUCKED!" Guin screamed, marching in the direction of the shadowy figure.
Neil Spellman
Location: the Reception Skills: N/A
Neil glanced up from his hand of cards as Sara gave his hand a squeeze. He smiled quietly at her. She looked so lovely - the backdrop of a wedding only accentuated her beauty. For a brief moment, he tried to imagine bringing Sara home to meet his aunties, maybe even going back the New York Sanctum to introduce her to his parents. Would his cousin Rebecca approve of her? He hoped that she would. His family was strange compared to ordinary people, but so were the X-Men at the end of the day. And while he hadn't thought about it before, it did matter to him that his family liked his girlfriend. He'd just need to make sure that Sara's first experience with them was something more tame - certainly not Feast of Feasts...
"So now that everyone's played, Allison gets to judge and decide who wins. The winner gets the black card kinda like a little trophy or a counter to show how many rounds they won.... I think you play until someone has won seven rounds. And um, after Allison goes, it goes clockwise as to who'll judge next so... That'll be you, Thor. Oh and after you play a white card, you draw a new white card," Neil explained. He admittedly was super curious to see how the game would go with Thor as the judge. Would he censor out the swear words? Would he understand most of the stuff in the deck? Neil had to guess most of the historical references would go over his head. He doubted they taught about the American Civil War in Asgardian schools... or however Thor had been educated.
Did they even have to go to school on Asgard? Or were they just born fighting?
Neil's jaw dropped, hearing the bride yelling about Magneto while carrying a broken champagne glass. "Um, so we might want to pause and... uh... Magneto is here, I think. Or Quicksilver finally drove Guin crazy."
Achronum
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