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"Normal is GONE! Normal doesn't exist anymore!"

Charles Xavier had a dream - that one day, mutants and humans could live in peace and harmony. To accomplish this goal, he invested his personal fortune in the creation of the X-Men - a team of the best and brightest mutants who could help spread tolerance and acceptance, who could fight battles for both mutants and humans. Cyclops, Storm, Gambit, Rogue, Jean Grey, Beast, and Wolverine risked their lives for that dream.

Erik Lensherr had a competing vision - one of mutant supremacy over humanity. If equality couldn't be achieved, then mutants would settle for superiority. The best friend and dearest foe of Charles Xavier founded the Brotherhood of Mutants - a team of the best and brightest mutants who could help dominant the human race through proactive and violent acts of terrorism. Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Toad, Mastermind, and Mystique fought to realize Magneto's dream.

But dreams are just that: dreams.

In a world plagued with prejudice and cruelty on both sides, mutants and humans alike, dreams are not enough. They didn't stop the tragedy of the O.M.E.N. sending sentinels to attack a school of mutant children - and they failed to prevent 7/15, a day that will live on in infamy from the human lives lost. There's blame on both sides and blood is in the water.

The Mutant Underground must rise to the occasion to meet the unmet need - to protect mutants and humans from each other. For years, they've been helping smuggle mutants across the border, sending them to areas where the mutant laws are lesser, where they can be free. Yet with the rise of the hate group called the Purifiers and the interference of a mysterious Inner Circle, that won't be enough.

It's time for action. And this time around, the X-Men and the Brotherhood won't be saving anyone.

It's up to you!

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The Mutant Underground Station wasn't much to look at. Located in an abandoned warehouse, hardly anyone had privacy. A few of the older members had snagged the best couches - all of them filled with holes and lumpy in every unpleasant place - and a pillow that wasn't covered in dirt was considered a luxury. They had had a late night last night, transporting a group of refuges to the Atlanta Station as part of a scheme to get them to Mexico.

"Break's over," Veil called out from the top of the staircase. Her voice was loud enough that everyone would be able to hear her. Breakfast had been skipped that day and it was about time to eat lunch. Usually Veil ran meetings in the morning, since people were enticed to come by cheap-ass coffee they had found in a food bank. This time, her way of ensuring attendance was holding the lunch food hostage - and they had scored actual meat that day.

"Havok's got intel for us - we've got a job today," Veil added.

"Super hot, too - but not as hot as Lorna was, ey ohhh!" Havok laughed, going over to the mess area and eagerly trying to grab a plate. Veil flicked her hand and a transparent purple force prevented him from grabbing it. "Veil, damn it!"

"Manners, please," Colossus scolded, rolling his eyes at the younger mutant. "Come everyone, food is good for body and soul. And we have mission." It was perhaps for the best that Colossus had his back turned on Havok, so that way he couldn't see the blonde mockingly mouthing we have mission! at Negasonic Teenage Warhead. Negasonic just rolled her eyes at Havok, but she smirked slightly.

"You guys are the worst," Veil said with a light laugh.

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Sunshine's stomach grumbled as she walked along the sidewalk. Summer had started to end, meaning that her life had become a bit more difficult. Kids had started going back to school, meaning that scavenging for food and necessities became hard - it was easier to spot the mutant kid when the only kids wandering around the city were truant. The lower temperatures of autumn and winter also meant that she really did need a blanket at night to sleep with.

Fortunately, it was only 80 degrees at the moment - the sort of weather she could work with. She opened up her bag and glanced inside - no cash, just granola bars. Wrinkling her nose a bit, her hungry stomach reminded her that she needed to eat - but she didn't want to have granola again... Not when there was a perfectly good strip mall in front of her! She whistled a bit.

"I am such an idiot..." she muttered, as she walked in the direction of the stores. She'd just order a sandwich and run without paying for it - or maybe there'd be something decent at the convenience store she could smuggle out. There was a nail place and Sunshine looked at it a little wistfully. Some people - they had time for that sort of thing in their life. Her heart turned green with envy.

"I deserve a goddamn sandwich," she mumbled.

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"Is he here?" the White Queen asked, wearing a glittering white pantsuit. Her ankles were crossed in front of her and she telekinetically stirred her martini idly. Across the room, three triplets looked on anxiously, their gazes switching between the White Queen and the Black Queen. Of course, in a room like this, any conversation could be taken care of telepathically. Yet the Black King was out at a weapons expo and would not return for some time.

"Yes, Sage just informed me - he's arrived," the Black Queen answered, setting a tablet aside.

The elevator doors opened and the White King came into the room. His eyes were narrowed as he looked at the five women. "This had better be important, Emma, Reeva," he said gruffly.

Emma Frost smiled, rising from her seat. A file that had been sitting down next to her was telekinetically raised and flew over to Magneto. It had metal clippings on it, allowing Magneto to levitate it as he flipped through, his eyes narrowing. "I see. What's your plan?"

"The usual. Kill him and take his seat," Emma said with a shrug. "He's an enemy of the Inner Circle."

"He is the Inner Circle," Magneto corrected. He was hardly ever present at the Hellfire Club. The Brotherhood of Mutants took up too much of his time.

"He won't be for much longer," Reeva promised. "The girls and I can handle everything...All I need is your agreement to turn a blind eye, the both of you."

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Leighton lifted her hand to her face and scanned, immediately spotting the inconsistency. "You call this a French tip? My housekeeper could do a better job and she's eighty years old." She glared invisible daggers at the woman who was doing her nails. Some Asian woman she didn't bother learning the name of. Why bother anyway? Leighton rolled her eyes. "Speako English? French tip. Supposed to look good, not like I put my hand in a stone grinder. Fix it. Now!" She handed her hand back and the woman got to work. Quite quickly too. She began speaking to the woman next to her in Chinese or Korean or something.

"Nuh uh. No talking, because I know you are saying something rude about me in your native tongue. Customer is always right. You screwed up my nail. Now you fix it!" Leighton wouldn't have been caught dead hear normally, but she had precious little time to go anywhere else. Having been to Washington only recently for Cheerleading, as well as scoping out a possible college/internship program, she wasn't aware of the hot spots yet. And this place had 4 1/2 stars, though she couldn't see why.

She glanced up, noticing a girl looking in the window. Poor thing. Probably couldn't afford decent tail treatment if her outfit was anything to go on. She glanced back at her hand, seeing it slowly turn into something halfway decent. "Much better. Now hurry, I have other things to do than waste my time here any longer."

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Sapphire walked into the room, her hair was her typical brown in color, until she heard the conversation that was taking place. The shift was quick, and the temperature surrounding her dropped rather quickly as she walked over, and Havok would feel a cold hand on his shoulder "Watch what you say Havok, maybe you need to cool things down just a little bit," she said, glancing over at Veil. It was understandable why Veil would want to talk about the mission first and foremost, and she was perfectly fine with that. She also was used to not eating too much, so this worked for her, and she was curious as to what the mission even was.

She smirked slightly at Havok's response to what Colossus had said, after all, it was kind of funny, and she left Havok where he was, heading over to Veil, giving her friend a smile as her hair switched back to brown. It was slightly dizzying for her to do that, but she didn't so much care as the air around her went back to normal. It always was nice to see if she could freak someone out randomly. Sunspot had been in the area and had seen what had happened, giving Demetria a bit of a grin at that, while Cannonball had chosen to stay out of it and just meet up where Veil was. "So, what's the mission Veil?"

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Callie was out lounging on the couch as she looked up at the ceiling she had just gotten up from her brief nap she sat up and stretched out a bit when she heard Veil's voice. She turned her attention towards her, seeing her coming down from the flight of stairs she perked up when she announced that they had a mission set up already for today. She was certainly very curious about what she had in mind as Callie started to make her way over towards the group. Smirking slightly towards Sapphire as she set her cold hand on his shoulder as she leaned herself up against the table. "You might give Havok blue balls if you keep doing that to him Sapphire." Callie said with a laugh.

She smirked when Havok imitated Colossus from behind his back, she certainly wouldn't want to piss off the big guy that much, but she didn't want to point it out. She just laughed a bit before turning her attention over towards Veil and Havok wondering what sort of intel he could have gathered today. "So other than him checking out random women, what sort of intel do you guys have?" Callie asked, it was certainly a lot of fun to tease Havok just a little bit.

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Havok scoffed, rolling his eyes at the antics of the two women - though Negasonic seemed to be enjoying them, at least briefly. The mutant teen was holding a finger up as she typed away on her phone, likely texting her girlfriend who was attending Xavier's Institute up in New York. "Sapphire wishes she could give me blue balls," Havok quipped.

"Havok, there is young one!" Colossus complained, sighing. He then saw his mentee texting and he shook his head. "Phone will rot brain," he scolded, taking the device away from Negasonic.

"Are you all finished?" Veil asked, maintaining eye contact with Havok. He sighed and nodded.

"Sorry..."

"Heard but not accepted," Veil said briskly. She then stood on a stool, that way everyone could hear and see her. Some of the refugees that had come to the meeting were sitting down. In the corner, two little kids were playing tag and giggling. It brought a slight smile to her face, seeing that life went on. "Sage at the Atlanta Station managed to intercept some Purifier communications and gave them to Havok on last night's drop off. From what we can tell, it looks like they're intending to raid Skyrise Apartments - they're known to be mutant friendly. Any mutants will probably be flushed out just in time for the police to come due to an anonymous tip."

"We need to evacuate everyone we can from the apartments before that happens. Sapphire, Spark Plug, Colossus, Havok, and I will be going. Sunspot and Cannonball are remaining behind to make sure that we're secure. Negasonic, you're on training duty today - make sure our refugees are prepared."

"Any questions?"

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Sunshine glanced in through the glass window of the nail salon again, meeting Leighton's eyes. Her nose wrinkled a bit in disgust, recognizing her type. Not only was she privileged enough to get to waste money on her nails, but she also had an attitude about her that Sunshine couldn't quite stand. She clenched her fists for a moment, debating whether or not to give her a literal migraine - but her stomach grumbled.

Inside the nail salon, Trish Tilby of CBNC News was on the screen. She was standing outside of Congress in Washington D.C., speaking with an aged bald man in wheelchair. In the background, protesters for and against mutant rights shouted and waved signs aggressively at each other. "Professor Xavier, can you tell us about what just happened with regard to the Senate's Mutant Affairs Committee?"

"Well, currently I have been discussing with Congress about potentially creating a Mutant Rights Act of sorts."

“What about reports of increasing mutant terrorist activity, such as the Brotherhood?” Trish asked.

"We know of these potential threats, however many need to understand that is a minority of sorts when it comes to the mutant population as a whole. There are also those who seek to prevent the Brotherhood and others from accomplishing their goals."

"Tắt đi, cô gái," one of the nail salon workers said, rolling her eyes at the screen. A petite looking girl jumped up and grabbed the remote, changing the channel to sports. Outside of the nail salon, Sunshine was still battling with her stomach. There was a sandwich shop a few doors down and the aroma was incredibly enticing. She glanced down at her hands, little wisps of green appearing. It'd be quick, she promised herself, in and out...

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Leighton's attention was taken away from the atrocity that was her nails onto the television screen. She fought the urge to express her distaste for what she saw. Mutants were nothing more than freaks and troublemakers, as far as she saw. After all, wasn't most of the danger that the world faced rooted to them and their own? People with powers, fighting other people with powers. Where did it end?

Thankful that they turned that trash off, but unwilling to show it, she snapped her free hand and pointed at her nails. She didn't want to be there any longer. She had other errands to run. She felt eyes on her and returned her gaze through the window, seeing the girl still standing outside. The poor thing was probably jealous of her. Who could blame her?

"Poor thing can't afford proper self-care, it seems. Probably going to go crawl into whatever hovel she calls her home. So sad. Can you speed it along please?"

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Max turned the corner of the strip mall, his mustard yellow coat hung off his shoulders, flowing in the wind breeze as he walked. As the heels of his shoes clacked against the sidewalk, the news could be heard in the background of one store. Xavier, why didnt he come for me? I could be a great X-men.. I can help the cause." Max shook the ideas out of his head for a second. He noticed a girl staring at the tv as well, seeing flecks of green smoke emit from her hands. A mutant? Was she with the Brotherhood? No, there was no evidence to think that, perhaps a mutant without control of her powers. He began to walk towards the comic shop, making sure to walk in front of this new girl and whisper "Careful, someone might see." as he continued to press forward and enter the Comic shop.

Entering the shop, Max was filled with both joy, and anxiety. He wasnt here for leisure, rather, he was looking for an outfit. After all, every good superhero had to have an outfit, and Max hadn't quite figured out what his would be. He walked passed bookshelves of comics, trades, and other assorted things. Max's fingers began to dance across the spines of comics until they finally landed on one with a magician on the cover. She wore a tail coat top with white formal gloves, top hat, fishnet stockings, and a black domino mask that covered her eyes in white. Perfect Max looked around the store and hid behind a bookcase out of sight. "Aus Atnemitsev Ogniffe" The domino mask lit up as an array of cosmic dust began to lift off the page, it swirled up to his face, covering the area around his eyes and the bridge of his nose to form fit the domino mask, finally the spell set and Max had a new black mask to conceal his identity. "Every hero needs a costume and secret identity. This mask should do the trick while still being fashionable." He repeated the process once more but this time with the cotton formal gloves thinking once more Perfect

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James hummed as he weighed his options. His stomach reminded him of his hasty departure this morning, woken up as his Uncle went on one of his tirades against mutants. Bunch of lousy freaks, goin’ round causin’ trouble. We oughta lock ‘em up and leave ’em there! The prickling over his skin started and he itched, like hundreds of ants were crawling over him, and he just wanted to scrub, scrub until his skin burned clean and all of it was off. Not that he could do it with his ability. He recognized where that train of thought went and bolted with a rushed goodbye and love you.

James shook his head and flipped open his wallet as he walked down the strip. He chuckled ruefully as he realized he once again left his debit card home. Guess it was cash today. He really needed to remember to put things back when he used them. He rifled through his bills and decided lunch was possible but it would use up what he had on hand. He glanced wistfully at Dunkin Donuts. The sugar rush was exactly what James wanted but it was a gym day and the sugar crash would make working out awful. So, Subway it was! And a quick trip to Dunkin for a black coffee. Yeah, a six inch and coffee. Perfect.

“Good afternoon!” He said cheerily to the flashy man breezing down the sidewalk and into the comic shop. Never quite his thing but apparently it has an appeal to the higher class. Good for them. Everyone deserves something that makes them happy even if it seems a tad odd someone with money would find something so simple entertaining. James shrugged and said hello to another person, a woman standing outside the nail salon, on his way to Subway.

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Callie looked towards Havok and rolled her eyes towards him a little bit, but chuckled at Colossus's protest, it was rather entertaining and then the big man snatching up Negasonic's phone. He was certainly an overprotective father figure of the Underground as she rubbed the back of her neck as she looked up at Veil as she started to give their mission details and started to nod a bit. She really hated Purifiers and wanted to make sure that they wouldn't bother them anymore. But she knew if she attacked them directly then it would just simply prove their point mutants were dangerous.

"Just two questions really, does this place have any security guards since some apartments hire those from time to time, also if we run into any Purifiers or local police?" Callie asked as she looked towards the others who were going, and cracked her neck a little bit she was getting herself ready now. And then looked towards Havok and smirked just a tad. "Maybe we can find you a girlfriend while we are there to." Callie teased, once more. "But other than that i'm ready to go whenever you all are."

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Sapphire looked over at Havok, not too thrilled about all of the comments he was making about her, and he wanted to make him suffer a little bit for even thinking about making comments like that! At least enough to make him think twice about repeating it. Her hair shifted white again, her lips turning blue as she walked once more over to Havok. "Don't make me frosty," she said, her icy blue eyes glaring at him as she put a hand on his arm. He'd instantly feel a wave of cold hit him, and she smirked slightly, as what she had done was give him frostbite, before she pulled away from him, turning to look at Veil.

Her hands had a sort of icy mist to them at the moment, and she just held them up, looking at her. "What? I was cold," she said simply with a slight eye roll. She had been paying some attention to what was going on around her, the others making inputs on things, and she just nodded her head, acting like nothing had happened. Spark Plugs questions did make sense in her mind, and at the moment, she was just waiting for Veil to answer her questions about things. Hopefully she wasn't going to get scolded or anything.

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Veil shook her head slightly at Spark Plug. It was a good question and they were lucky - the apartment complex they were going to couldn't afford security guards. "No guards and as long as we make good time, we should be able to get there before the Purifiers... Police in the area are likely getting paid under the table, so I don't think they'll show up until after the Purifiers go through there," Veil explained. "However, we should be prepared for a small force of Purifiers - no more than a dozen or so at worst."

"I like where your brain's at, Spark Plug, but my heart belongs to the mutant mistress of magnetism - HEY OW!" Havok swore, as Sapphire gave him a vicious case of frostbite. He tried to just shake it off and if there was one thing Havok hated, it was being cold. Veil was starting to get a headache from all of this. Could people not stop acting like children for one second? She took a deep breath to focus herself.

"Sapphire, Havok, if you two can't behave, then decide which one of you will be staying behind and swap out with Cannonball," Veil said bluntly. "The rest of you, head to the cars. We can take one to get there." Veil then nodded as Colossus motioned for people to follow him, turning out of his steel form as he grabbed a plate of food and ate it quickly, before going to the garage. They had a bunch of old junkers in there and Colossus squeezed himself into the driver's seat of one of them.

"Sorry, Dairy Queen," Havok said with a sigh, before following after Colossus. On his way, Veil stuck out her hand and the ground shimmered, tripping Havok. She smirked slightly and whistled innocently as she went into the shotgun seat of the car, leaving Havok, Spark Plug, and Sapphire to take the back.

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"Vâng, cô ấy là rác đường phố đột biến," one of the nail artists said, as Leighton's nails were finally finished up. Another one glanced up and raised an eyebrow, seemingly a bit surprised at the first.

"Làm thế nào bạn có thể nói cô ấy là một dị nhân?" the second one asked.

"Tôi có một món quà cho biết ai là người đột biến. Đoán nó trong gen của tôi," the first replied, laughing and not realizing the irony of what she had just said. She motioned for Leighton to follow her and she rang her up at the front, giving her a 10% discount due to the original error on the French tip. There was a reason they were highly rated - excellent customer service. There was also a little jar with mints in it that customers could take and that helped as well.

Meanwhile outside of the shop, Sunshine rolled her eyes as someone advised her to be careful, that someone might see. "Na eísai prosektikós," she said with a sigh. She had half a mind to give him a major headache with her powers, but she caught the people in the nail salon staring at her and she moved forward quickly. The Subway was definitely her end game goal, but still, the guy had irritated her and while she was starving, Sunshine was still a vindictive bitch.

She entered the comic book store, the bell jingling to announce her. The woman behind the counter glanced up and gave her a smile. "The Archie stuff is in the back," she said and Sunshine nodded, heading there - only to find Gray hiding behind a bookshelf where no one could see. "You look really dumb," Sunshine said, crossing her arms as she stared at him.

Down the street inside the Subway, it wasn't too busy even though it was lunchtime rush. There were two employees on duty and a young woman with a blonde ponytail smiled, looking at James as he came inside. "What bread?" she asked, getting ready to serve him. There was a group of four men sitting in the back corner, chowing down on some footlongs.

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Max looked up at Sunshine while still wearing the domino mask. "Well it's not finished yet. Figured I'd start with the mask, then I'd get either a suit, top and bottoms, you know, something to be proud of." He slowly took the mask off and began to fiddle with it in his hands as he spoke to her. "I may look really dumb but you seem really agitated. Especially if you're coming into here just to tell me how I look. So, what's got you twisted up? Was it the news story that was playing on T.V.?" Max seemed both genuinely interested in what she had to say, yet also distant. Beginning to flip through the comic for any more inspiration on a potential heroing outfit, almost speaking to the comic rather than her. He flipped a few more pages as the woman still loomed over him, not wanting to make a scene as the clerk stood at the counter, Max stood up to face Sunshine eye to eye.

"I'm Max, Max Gray." He said as he extended his gloved hand out for her to shake. His tone shifted as he spoke in almost a whisper so that no one around could hear the pair. "So, what's you're gene? What can you do?" Intrigued filled his eyes as they shifted towards her hands, recalling the green mist that surrounded them prior. Whatever she was capable of, he had hoped it wasnt able to permeate through his gloves. His eyes danced back up to hers as he gave her a polite smile, wondering why she was so willing to expose herself in the public eye when people like the purifiers existed out there

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Leighton didn't understand a word the women were speaking and that suited her just fine. Her nails were done and she double and triple checked them to be sure. She got up and followed the woman to pay, and was met with a discount. "Now that's more like it. Here." She handed over her credit card (or rather her parent's credit card) and waited to be rung up. Once that was over, Leighton helped herself to a few mints, popping one in her mouth as she turned and exited the nail salon.

She turned and started making her way to the boutique here. Nails complete, she needed a new outfit. After that, she'd find a decent hair salon and get touched up and everything would be set. Hopefully, this boutique had the latest brands. More often than not she found little boutiques held nothing fashionable. It was no wonder they struggled.

Before she entered, she noticed the security system on the door. Trask Industries. That name was broadcasted all over the television and social media for its Mutant detection. Honestly, it annoyed her how often she saw it. The fact this boutique could afford it though gave her some satisfaction. So she entered.

And was met with alarms.

She turned around and stared at the machine. For a popular security system, it sure had its faults. "Stupid machine must be broken. Excuse me! Anyone? Your machine broke and it is rather loud and annoying. Cease it at once. I require service."

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“May I have a six inch cold cut on wheat please?” He asked the woman. He pointed out a few toppings, cucumbers and tomatoes drowned in chipotle and spicy mustard, and paid as he talked to the employees briefly about the weather and their day. The cookies next to the counter presented a tempting offer but the coffee prevailed. Sure, he could order Subway coffee but why do that when a perfectly good Dunkin was within a few seconds walking distance. He thanked the employees, wished them a great day, and headed back out of the store.

Stepping back outside, James felt himself wishing for the cooler weather back home again. This time of year, Astoria chilled comfortably just under 70. Acclimating to the heat in D.C. was taking longer than he liked. Maybe he should get one of those little spritz fans travel ads always showed. He chuckled at the thought, heading to Dunkin as the absurd idea settled itself in the back of his head.

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Callie looked between Sapphire and Havok, and just simply smirked at the two of them but she didn't say or do anything right now as she just stood there and watched the show. Then Veil answered her question, as she turned to look over at her and gave her friend a nod, at least they wouldn't be dealing with any security then. "So just a bunch of xenophobic gene haters we have to deal with sounds like a walk in the park then." Callie said, as she grabbed herself a little bit of food as well and quickly started to chow down on it, then she set her plate down so that whoever was responsible for the cleaning would deal with it.

As Callie walked down over towards the vehicles she took a moment to look over at her car and smiled towards it, she took a lot of time and care on it and customized it as well. She usually did work on a few of the cars there as well, as soon as Veil and Colossus got into their ride Callie followed shortly after them. She didn't like the idea to much of being cooped up in the back seat, but they didn't really have much choice at the moment. "Ready to get the show on the road." Callie said as she took the closest seat to the door and strapped herself in.

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"Yeah, so not sorry for that, sorry Havok, but you totally deserved it," she said with a smirk in his direction. He totally did deserve it in her mind, and the guy needed to learn not to get on her nerves. Sapphire ended up shooting a glare at him when he called her a name, the man really needed to learn that some people thought his nicknames were idiotic and he really needed to grow up. She almost sent another blast of cold at him for it, but decided against it, figuring that Veil would make her stay behind if she did.

Of course, she couldn't help but snicker slightly as Veil tripped Havok, seeing her friend have a bit of fun was definitely a good thing. Once getting to the car, she rolled her eyes slightly, seeing that she'd have to get into the back with Spark Plug and Havok. She was fine having to sit next to Spark Plug, it was more of Havok that she had the problem with. In her mind, he needed to stay far away from her right now. Sapphire wasn't letting her powers down though, the air around her was still slightly cold as she got into the car.

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"Yes, it is walk in park," Colossus agreed with Callie. He turned his head and gave her a metallic smile. "Havok, behave yourself or we will have problem," he added, already expecting more trouble from the hula hooping mutant of doom. Havok groaned. He missed Lorna and this wasn't helping, but Veil just snickered slightly in her seat of the car. Once everyone was buckled up, Colossus pulled out of the garage and headed onto the main road.

The car in front of them had a purifier logo on the bumper. Colossus had shifted out of his metallic form, but it still caused Veil's stomach to twist with nerves. "No powers until we get to the apartment complex." Havok sneezed slightly and shot Sapphire a look. He was definitely certain that she was making the car cold on purpose. It made him want to jump out of his skin or use his own powers to warm the place up.

Thankfully, the drive wasn't too long and Colossus parked a block away from the apartment complex. It was off of a main road, but there was a nice amount of sidewalk and trees. The sun was shining and it was hot and humid - but that's normal for this area. Inside the parking lot are the residents cars and then beyond that parking lot is the apartment complex itself. There are easily 20 units there. Most of them look cheap and rundown.

"We'll split up into two groups. Havok, you're with Colossus. Spark Plug and Sapphire, you're with me."

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Sunshine wished she had a piece of gum so that way she could pop it in Max's face. Unfortunately, gum cost money and she didn't have any of that at all. "I'm annoyed with you, that's why," Sunshine said. It didn't help that she still found the entire get up to be annoying. Superheroes wore costumes like that - but just because you had powers didn't make you a hero.

It was somehow even more annoying that he was genuinely trying to be nice. "Your power I take it is to make awful masks?" she said with a sigh, before she turned towards the counter. The worker still couldn't see them. Sunshine held her palm flat in front of her and blew, gray smoke seemingly appearing out of nowhere. It hit the worker in the face and she blinked rapidly, before clutching her stomach and she stumbled to the bathroom.

"I'm Electra James," Sunshine introduced herself. She could hear the store employee vomiting. "I can make people sick."

James continues to have plenty of luck. Dunkin Donuts has the usual sort of people - there's even a few cops in the back, chatting with each other idly as they eat a bagel and enjoy a cup of coffee on their break. As he heads into the Dunkin, he'll be able to hear the alarms now coming from the boutique, and the cops start to stand up. They don't pay him any attention but they're reaching for their radios and weapons - apparently they're about to go and respond.

Now, at the Boutique...

The alarms are blaring and the lights are flashing. The system is designed to coordinate a police response. The patrons in the boutique look up, staring at the girl in the doorway who triggered the alarms. None of them had triggered them - she had to be a mutant. "Your type is not welcome here!" one of them shouted, grabbing a hook used to retrieve items hanging up high and holding it like a weapon.

"Get out, mutie sc-sc-scum!" another customer squeaked. The employees were backing away slowly. They didn't get paid enough for this - who knew what this girl could do? There were mutants on television who could manipulate metal, turn into flames, control people's thoughts...With the day to day abuse customers gave them, they were not going to defend these assholes from the mutant kid.

One of them, however, had a bit more nerve than the others. "Sweetheart, if you want the alarms to go off, step outside - they'll deactivate once the police show up and restrain the mutie."

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Leighton had never in all her life been treated with disdain. She may have been sure that store employees talked about her in hushed whispers behind closed doors, but never openly at her. She had money to spend, after all. Not only were the employees and other customers angry...they were afraid. Of her? "You've got to be joking! I'm not a mutant! I have no powers or abilities! I'm not one of those freaks on the television and I resent being called such! You've got some nerve insinuating such! I've got half a mind to call my family's lawyer and sue your business into bankruptcy for discrimination!" She could hardly think with the alarm blaring off.

One of the men mentioned the police and she didn't want to be tangled up with them. It would be a thing, possibly on the news. Her family would disown her. "Fine! You just lost a valuable customer and you will be hearing from my attorney!" with that, she ran out of the door and into the street. She could feel heat rising into her cheeks. It had to be a malfunction. She was not a freak! She was never recruited. She never showed powers. Her parents weren't either and, as far as she knew, no one else in her family was. And yet she was treated like a criminal. The nerve! She would get revenge on them. Just wait.

She looked across the street as she made her way away from the boutique. She saw a Target and, as much as it pained her, she could hide out in there. She ran quickly, but as she got to the sidewalk she tripped and fell. She got up quickly and looked at her knee, cursing the now cut on it, but she still ran and made it inside the Target safely. She was met with a warm, smiling greeter and she couldn't be bothered. She made her way down the aisles, checking over her shoulder.

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James turned his head at the sound of the alarm after waving hello to the cashier greeting him. He would be the first to admit that he had a tiny, miniscule, virtually non-existent tendency to stick his nose where it didn’t belong and it took a good portion of his self control not to stick his head back out and find the source of the sound. James stepped quickly into line as the officers stood and looked about ready to jump into action. It would probably be better to make himself scarce after his coffee, just in case.

James chatted briefly with the cashier, again commenting on the business and asking about the alarm. He didn’t find anything much, the alarm only recently set off after all, and ordered a small iced coffee. He thanked them and made his way out, throwing a quick glance to see where the alarm was coming from before hurrying back he originally came. It seemed the alarm came from a Boutique. A robbery maybe? Again, his curiosity reared its head but he waved it away firmly. The cops were involved and he didn’t need to get caught up in that. They’d probably be checking for mutants and he fit that bill real easy. He hurried away from the strip mall the way he came and made a mental note, that would likely be forgotten before he found his way home, to check the news later that night,.

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Max's eyes widened at her display of power. His hand moved back to his side, glad that she hadn't used her powers on him. "Nifty ability, I'm sure that can come in handy a lot, though I cant help but feel the display on the clerk was a little unnecessary." he back off a bit realizing what hed said and stuttered out "N-n-not that I-I'd want the display on me." he sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. If this was how all mutants were, maybe meeting any heros may be more of a let down. No, they couldnt all be so standoffish. "So, can you only cause illnesses? Or can you also remove the ones you've caused? Be a shame if the clerk was stuck back there for her shift, employees get enough issues from guests and the last thing they need is this." Max smiled at her as he realised the clerk was now gone and the coast was clear for a small display of magic.

"Well, you showed me yours. I suppose I can show you mine, which by the way, no, it is not just creating these 'ugly masks' as you call them. Max shrugged his shoulders back, letting his coat fall of them and onto the floor. He tugged at one sleeve end, then the other. "Nothing up my sleeves. Alutsif Igam" He pressed both palms together, slowly pulling them apart. What could be described as cosmic dust and energy, shades of blues, purples, blacks, and pinks, flecked with white dots that looked like stars in the distance, began to appear in between the palms of his hands, extending into a rod-like shape as he slowly moved them apart. Once it was as long as his bodies width, he gave a cocky little eyebrow wiggle at Sunshine before turning his hands so that his right was atop his left, and the rod was now longitudinal. "As far as I can tell at the moment, my powers are that of conujuration and potentially evocation. If we go by the D&D schools of magic. I created the clothes I'm wearing now." Max let his bottom hand go, causing the energy to expand the length from his hip to the ground, and then finally materializing. A beautiful cane now stood where the energy once was, Deep black coloration with a silver metal tip at the bottom and an Ivory wolfs head on the top where his palm rested.

Max's amusement quickly vanished as he noticed the policemen responding to something. His gaze grew wide as he quickly crouched down to hide, motioning for Sunshine to do the same. Sure, not all cops were bad, but he wasnt about to risk another hunt for a minor display of his natural abilities. His crouch became more of a kneel as he placed his left knee onto the ground, holding the choke of the cane in his right hand. "Electra, theres policemen behind you. Hide." he whispered in a harsh voice, concerned for both their well beings.