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A puzzled look took over Max as Miranda spoke riddles to him. Something about knowing this world wasnt his? He was a mutant, ofcourse this world belonged to him, well after the king ofcourse. Miranda gripped his wrists and the last thing he saw was a flash if purple in her eyes. All of a sudden images and thoughts began to flood his mind, people he'd never seen before suddenly being known, his parents love and support ripped and torn apart by a group of anti-mutant people, a whole new reality suddenly bursting into his head as his eyes held wide and a single tear rolled down his cheek for a moment before the 18 years of another life suddenly halted. Max blinked for a few seconds, his breath unknowingly held, and then finally released in a long slow exhalation. He held his hand up to his eye and wipes the tear away, composing himself once more as Miranda told him to blend in and remain calm. But...was this world really so bad?

With another bow to the Queen he said "Thank you for your time, now, if you'll excuse me for a moment." Max began to walk away from her, his father now close behind him. Right, how could he forget that his father was now his servant and that he'd follow him around, or...do as he's told. "Why are you following me? Why can't you read my mind? Go, find another servant of the Royal family and deliver the presents to them. The king is not to be disturbed and I need a moment alone. Now begone." Max quickly turned around and headed to the mens restroom, surely he may find some piece in there without seeming too suspicious. Max swung the door open and began to look and see if there were any others inside there. Ofcourse, to his luck, there were several people. Since when is a guys bathroom full? Max waited for a moment and the large stall freed up, he quickly took its place and waited for the rest of the people to clear out before going to the door and locking it.

"Ok Gray, you got this. Etativel Ihim." Max gingerly jumped up, crossing his legs crisp cross as he levitated there staring at the mirrors that lined the wall. "Tixere Es Teinevni." His eyes began to glow they're typical cosmic color as his hands flipped through the mirrors like pages in a book, constantly swiping until finally two images appeared, extremely blurred out, as if this universe was fighting back at him, hiding it secrets. His left hand swiped left as his right went right, the images now split between two mirrors, two potential candidates that are awoken like himself. Max moved the left image before him into the mirror right in front of him, focusing on it until the image shattered and blew away like dust. "Damn it. Ok. You got this, one more shot." He moved the right image to his forefront, closing his eyes and focusing on making it clearer, sharper. His eyes opened and there stood his potential ally. "Holy..." Max quickly dismissed all powers and landed back on his feet. Max slowly made his way back out into the party, and began to look around as he leaned against a wall alone.

---

---

Allison had her own opinions on Guin's relationship, but judging on what little she saw here, she figured it was a lot better in her own reality. "You guys are joined at the hip, but I don't think it's because you don't trust each other or something of that nature. I think you both are deeply in love and need each other. You have a lot of baggage back there and so does he. You bring out the best in each other. But back there, you are smart and resourceful. A lot more than the future wife of a prince."

She followed Guin out as she told Pietro what they intended to do. It went a lot easier than she anticipated. She found Oshea to fill him in too. "Sorry for acting a bit crazy there. The pressure, you know? Guin and I are stepping out for a little bit to her lab to look into something. I shouldn't be gone for more than a half hour." She kissed him, allowing herself to enjoy what she never had been able to do before.

She returned to Guin. "Ready when you are."

---

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Tinley kept quiet, knowing full well how wrong that felt. She would not stand up to anyone talking down to her, command or otherwise. But in this time, she had to play into the hand she was dealt and that meant being considered a second-class citizen, just above an ordinary human. She hated feeling like that or even thinking it, but if she intended to survive whatever this was, she had to play along. And she knew a few others were like her. So she wasn't alone.

She stood up, merely staring as Mystique bit into her again. She pictured ramming her fist deep into the woman's face and feeling immense pleasure from it, but she fought the urge. Instead, she checked she had what little gear was offered. "I'm ready." She followed her off the jet.

They remained unseen, but the door was locked. She had no skill set able to handle this, so she prepared herself for combat should the worst arise.

---

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Ana merely waved her hand away. "I would think leaving the child alone with a knife would be far more idiotic, but what do I know? At least I offered her a treat." Truthfully, she cared little for who watched the child. She really wanted to get on with it. The team-up sounded interesting, though she had not worked with any of these people much.

"Oh please tell me I get to hurt people? It will be so boring if not." She cracked her knuckles as she stood, eager to get training underway. She began thinking of all the ways she could inflict pain and misery on whoever crossed her from the shiny trinket at the end of the tunnel.

"Let's get on with it then. The sooner we get done, the faster I get to wear a crown like I was always meant to."

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Carolina giggled slightly at October, she did have a point unicorns were usually a symbol unity, though she really wasn't sure if an undead unicorn was actually that though. She leaned forward and kissed her wife once more, as Carolina watched Annie as she used her ability to make a bunch of cute adorable little penguins. They all scurried off towards where Wanda was at, and a few seconds later Wanda came over to them. Carolina quickly bowed her head and did a quick curtsey towards the princess, she wasn't really sure what to actually say.

"Good evening Princess Wanda, how are you doing?" She asked the woman as she kept her head lowered just so that she could make her happy, and she was in the presence of royalty now after all. "Would you like a drink, or something to eat?" Carolina offered, as she tried to relax a little bit and looked over towards Annie. "It is a really nice night to have a ball as well." Carolina pointed out and smiled a bit as well.

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As much as Cassandra disliked Mystique in the real world she was actually glad that the woman took her side on Agent Kingston's lapse in judgement. She looked towards Agent Digby and gave the woman a nod, Cass had met the Hulk in her world luckily he was on their side and not as an enemy. They needed to tread carefully now at this point, they didn't want Banner back big and green when he came back either she stopped and looked at Kingston for a moment and looked at him. Cass she made her way off of the Quinjet and made her over towards Tinley.

"I did a quick search, managed to find some info on Clint, i'll try and find out more and talk later." Cassandra whispered to her, and started to make her way towards the back of the Banner residence and stood outside of the door for a moment looking over towards Logan and Mystique. "So do we bash in the door or no?" Cass asked the two of them.

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Maria listened to Novikova and nodded towards her girlfriend and leaned in slightly and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before turning her attention towards Lance and Runa, as he closed the door in front of them. "Novi says that the girl is a possible Asgardian and she could be a threat." Maria said towards Sapphire, as she glanced towards them she didn't like the idea that Runa was a pretty big threat and that they could possibly tip off Bruce now as well. She looked at the others in front of them, she wasn't sure if they should bash in the door now or not.

"We can go in, but it's really up to you though." Maria said as she ran a hand through her hair, and started to reach for her bow as well just in case things did end up getting a little dicey. Maria then turned on the radio as well, to inform that the other team as well to, since they needed to know. "Novikova took a quick look at the girl, and says that she's possibly Asgardian."

Abercrombie should be here, Niah thought. She could have gotten them through the door easily. A spike of irritation at the waste of potential crossed her mind, she pushed it away quickly. This wasn't the time or place. "I can understand your nervousness, Mr. Banner." Niah started her mind racing. A part of her wanted to be impulsive and knock them out with a couple of ICER rounds, but that wouldn't help their case any. Maybe the trigger happy Agent Kingston had gone for back up though if she could stall Abercrombie might show up and be able to mind control the two into sleeping.

"Could you answer another question for me?" She dug through some insane possible questions that she could ask the young man. Maybe something to make him think his father was a criminal? "Do you know where your father was on December 3rd?" She would fear going off script, but it wasn't like they had one. "It would greatly help us if you knew."

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James didn’t bother responding. This was why he refused to commit full time to this team―a regular inability to plan, follow through, and adjust on the fly. It made his head hurt and he often forgot why he bothered coming at all if no one cared about protocol. Why be prepared and make the job easy? He let out a soft sigh and refocused. He still had a job to complete.

He followed the group outside, making sure the wire was recording and adjusting the taser. On his way out, he stopped by his briefcase and pulled out the bypass tools he used when he picked up a junk car for parts but there wasn’t a key. Windows could be recycled too; no point in breaking them if he didn’t have too.

When they reached the back door, James pulled out the four piece kit and promptly dropped them in front of the door, muttering a long string of curses under his breath as he worked at the door lock. It took longer than he would have liked but he did eventually figure it out, the door clicking as he put away his tools. He stepped away, allowing someone else to take point. Stealth in an enclosed, quiet place was not his forte. He was a crowds type of guy.

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Antoinette smiled and nodded at Princess Wanda before following the penguins lead back to her friends. She swayed from side to side as they walked, exaggerating each step as they went. She beamed proudly at her friends, mission accomplished.
”They are quite brilliant,” she agreed before they started to disappear one by one and Antoinette’s eyes returned to her normal, non-glowing shade. She looked at the princess, smiling.
”I find there isn’t enough dancing at these things. Well, less structured dancing.” Antoinette looked back at the dance floor in a dream like state. Her mind drifted to penguins again and she thought of how they might dance. Probably not like how Disney portrays them though.

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Michelle gave an obedient nod to Agent Darkholme, message recieved, and a cheeky wink to Cass in return. Michelle propelled herself out of her chair with gusto and followed out, only stopping at the locker for essentials and to drop off her most precious book. Shotgun loaded with night-night rounds, a kevlar vest over her otherwise civilian clothing, a black "I work in security" cap and sunset aviators. Bad-ass Status: Certified. Michelle resisted the urge to chamber the first round, she'd save that +2 to Michelle's persuasion check for later. Michelle hopped off the jet ramp, landing with an exaggerated knee bend.

"Superhero landing."

Michelle circled round to the back where Mystique, Tinley and Kingston where already waiting by the now unlocked door. From here it wasn't very clear how successful the front team were, the door was closed but they were still talking. Michelle wanted to let them gain entry first, even if that meant a breach, with the focus on them it would make a clean shot easier. If they could talk their way in even better, let them ride with the crew, make them feel part of the squad saving the world from another massive threat because, truthfully should everything go to plan, they were. Michelle checked her watch, while Dr. Banner wasn't present the objective was really uncomplicated, get the boy in the jet, however it wouldn't stay this way forever.

"They've got 5 minutes to establish a rapport with the hostages," Michelle whispered, "failing that, I'm not going to ask so nicely."

---

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Ayita sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. She was paired with Big Brother Richard again. It wasn't that it was bad, but he was overprotective at times. At other times she was his weapon for better or worse. "A hidden blade no one expects." That were his words when she had demanded he let her handle herself. "You are capable, I don't deny that! What I deny is you putting yourself in needless danger. I can regenerate bits of myself. You can't. That's the end of it." Of course she hadn't accept it as the end of the topic. Not that pushing had done any good. Her brother was a cunning and sly bastard, but when he was riled enough he would roar. Running her fingers through her auburn hair, the amber eyed woman sighed in annoyance.

Richard's snake eyes shifted to study his sister and Gambit divided up the teams. He didn't see a problem being on the same team as Ayita thought he didn't doubt for a second that whoever he was supposed to be would be just as protective. Especially from how his sister was listening and not suggesting. If there was a need the Ayita he knew would speak, and not just for snips and comments like she had been. It was different, and not bad in the slightest.

So they would be making the exit, the Adder smirked slightly. He enjoyed the actions but until he knew where they stood an exit was the best place to be. Turning that charming grin on Bobbi, the very confused man chuckled. "Darling, I don't have repeats because then they would get boring. It take an exceptional woman to keep my attention." Giving their comrade a wink, before returning his attention to the matter at hand. It seemed Casper was a unstable one, this bomber-jacket woman a bit of a cocky little princess, and Jack someone he could relate to.

Ayita rolled her eyes at Richard's flirt and Anastasia's comment about wearing a crown. Oh, feeling like royalty was well and good. But honestly? It would get boring. The grit of life was the interesting bit, even if it was dangerous. She understood her brother's lavish nature and could sympathize with why he didn't settle for a single lady. He wanted someone who could keep up in all aspects of his life and none of them could. It was the same for her and Damon except she wanted to roam the world, but she wanted to do it on her terms.

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"Oh, I am doing quite well, this certainly is a nice sort of party isn't it? Though I'll be honest, I never did care much for these sorts of gatherings, they always seemed more like a hassle than anything, however, I do enjoy them somewhat at least..."

October gave a slight curtsey to Princess Wanda too. "Perhaps you would care to dance with the princess, Annie?" she suggested, smirking slightly. Annie needed to get a date already.

"Oh please, I am not much of a dancer," she responded to October with a bit of a laugh, looking over at Annie. "Though dancing would be at least somewhat amusing, and more entertaining then being a bit of a wallflower and doing nothing at all now that I think about it."

"Alright, if you say so Aly, just be careful, okay?" Oshea said, giving her a smile as he returned her kiss.

"Just don't do anything rash if you can't help it Guina okay? Be careful, and as I said, make sure your guards are with you, and if you need anything, do not hesitate to call me. I don't really want to get a call about some explosion at the lab or something," he said, adding the last part with a bit of a grin.

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Gambit nodded, seeing that no one really had any questions for him. He had anticipated to get one from Anastasia - she was going to be a pain in his ass one day, he knew that, but it was something he was looking forward to. He didn’t want weak willed people in the Thieves Guild. “Très bien, on y va,” he said, before heading out of the meeting room and through a set of double doors, emerging into a large open space with padded floors. Various weapons were placed up against the wall to his left, with dodgeballs up against the wall to his right. Grabbing his staff, Gambit took off his coat and tossed it to the side, before crossing the training room and waiting for his team to join him.

“Now remember…. Don’t go and maim each othah, n’est-ce pas?”

"If Chrysi was in the room you definitely would have to worry about that..." Mary said softly when she walked up behind him. Her sister was definitely known to be more of a fighter, Mary tended to try and avoid those sort of things entirely when possible. "Hey Remy, mind if I sit this out?"

"Mon amie, are ya a member of this guild?" Gambit asked pointedly

"Well yeah, but you also have to remember that we shouldn't really have to be fighting or anything like that if we do our job correctly."

"Since when did ah die and make ya the leader? Goldie, you're trainin' - same as everyone else."

"I don't need to Remy... And you know Chrysi is the fighter more than me, I kind of hate that sort of thing..." she grumbled somewhat, looking at the ground.

"Goldie, ya are a member of this team. The team trains togethah. Now chin up, practicin' to spah might just save your life."

"If the team trains together why aren't you dragging Chrysi down here yet?"

"Don't worry about ya sister. That's my job chère."

"So, you're saying I have to be a murderous psychopath in order to get out of this," she muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Gambit asked, though he heard her.

"Nothing..."

"Mon amie, go take a walk," he said harshly.

"Whatever you say Remy," she said with a shrug, before she walked out of the room. Though she had gotten her wish, not having to do the training thing which she found to be dumb and pointless, so there were some upsides to that. To her it felt like a lot of their conversations ended badly now a days, and only about half the time did Chrysi screw up the conversations. It wasn't the best, and honestly she kind of hated it, and it made her wonder what it would be like if they weren't in the Thieves Guild.

Meanwhile, when people started leaving the room, Jack moved Lexi's headphones gently so he could talk to her. "Hey Lexi, I've got to go do some work and see about finding your uncle, okay?"

"Les drogues?" Lexi asked, pouting slightly that her show had to stop.

"Maybe, I hope not honestly... But hey, you can stay right here and keep watching your show okay?" he said with a smile, getting up and setting her in the chair, before giving her a small pile of candy too.

Lexi started wiggling, trying to get the chair to spin. "Okay...."

"I'll be back Lexi," he said, giving her a slight kiss on the top of her head before he went off to try and find Casper.

---

"Definitely depends on your perspective about things. In my mind they definitely deserve it," she said with a sort of evil looking grin. There was a reason she was considered a psychopath, and even she lost count of the number of bodies that she has left behind throughout New Orleans. She was always careful though, and none of them could be traced back to her, no matter how hard people tried.

"Anyway, not too sure what it is that you think about this world, I like it this way but... If you were potentially interested, there is something that could be done to give someone back their memories... Ever heard of the infinity stones? The Red Guard has one that could potentially bring someone's memories back, even those lost when the world were rewritten. Where that stone is? It just so happens to be in the base that the guild is heading towards... In Baton Rouge. Though that would only be if you were interested in the idea, might take you a bit of work to even get to it."

There was the sound of a door opening and Jack walked outside of the casino, his face turned pale when he saw Chrysi standing there, but he walked over to Casper, keeping one eye on Chrysi. "Hey Casper... I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings or anything, I didn't mean to. Just kind of under pressure or something, and was already having a bit of trouble with people arguing over what to do with Lexi or stuff like that... I'm sorry... So do you mind coming back inside? And tell me what's going on with you?"

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"Calm down Diggby, we need to take this quickly and quietly." Once James unlocked the door, Mystique nodded her head slightly, before entering inside of the house quietly. They seemed to be in a kitchen area of sorts, and from where they were they couldn't immediately see the front door. She motioned for the others to follow her inside, and she continued onwards. Wolverine was waiting for the others to go on ahead, choosing to stay back and be behind the rest of the group.

Eventually, they'd come down a hallway and would be able to see the front door, and Mystique glanced over at Tinley. "Alright Abercrombie, time to make up for your little argument earlier and see if you can prove yourself useful. See if you can use mind control on the pair and get them to surrender quickly," she said quietly, nodding her head towards Lance and Runa.

Lance didn't shut the door entirely, hesitating a little bit as he opened the door to look at Niah. "Um, he was here, like he always is, I mean... Generally he doesn't tend to get out and about, preferring to stay at the house... Usually he leaves about once a week generally to run errands or do other things, it kind of depends..."

Sapphire was able to easily see behind him, and she noticed the group that had entered the house, leaning towards the others slightly so that Lance and Runa couldn't hear her, "Keep stalling for a little longer..." she whispered softly to them, before straightening back up again fully.

---

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At the announcement of the teams, Bobbi breathed a small sigh of relief. She wouldn't have to work with the crazy, volatile sister. That was a bonus. She wondered what exactly her team would be doing. Being small she tended to be rather sneaky and could fit into small spaces. She had her strength and a great deal of experience behind the wheel. She couldn't quite grasp what it was they were to do from the people in her group but at the statement that there would be a training session the young woman glowed. She lived for a good fight.

She popped up from her chair and began to follow people out of the room when Richard spoke to her. She raised her eyebrows, still surprised he was giving her this sort of attention. She glanced at his sister to see if Ayita could tell her brother was acting a loon. She seemed to have her own things to worry about so Bobbi did as Bobbi generally did. She would spar with him. Verbal, physical, it was all the same.

"Get boring, Ri-shard?" she tossed back at him, flicking her hair over her shoulder and giving him one of her famous lopsided grins. "Den y'all mus' nah have many tricks hidden in dem..." She paused to look him up and down, to stop at his groin before meeting his eyes again, "sheets." She lifted her hands and wiggled her fingers at him. "Maybe one day I'll show yeh a trick or two, cher." She winked as she swept past him and followed Gambit into the training room.

The air around her was electric and she felt her breathing quicken in anticipation of their mock battle. This was further incited by the brief argument between Gambit and Mary. Ever the little pacifist. The twins really were polar opposites. Not waiting to be told, Bobbi reached her arm into the spaces between space and grabbed for her trusty, beloved hammer. She had some difficulty but eventually, her fingers alighted upon it in that invisible space. She pulled the beautiful, master crafted sledgehammer into the room and swung it experimentally with a large, feral grin on her face. "à vos ordres, mon capitaine!" She turned green eyes upon her group's leader.

---

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She rolled her eyes slightly at Pietro. "Since when would I do something rash and cause an explosion?" she asked him. "But yes, yes, I'll have Leo and Fortes come with us," she reassured him. She didn't truthfully feel the need to have bodyguards and found it annoying that they followed her around, but it was less annoying than Pietro hovering over her constantly or asking that she not leave the Palace without him. Giving him a quick kiss, Guin then nodded at Allison, indicating that she was ready and she left the ballroom with her.

Outside of the ballroom, Guin's bodyguards were more or less already there, having been on stand by to escort her if needed. "Miss Stark, are you leaving the grounds?" Leo Luwoye asked. Her other bodyguard, Fortes stood next to him silently.

"Yes. Loose follow, please. Miss Andrews and I are going to the lab," she told her bodyguards. She would have ditched them if she wasn't completely convinced Pietro would freak out and drag her back here. She still wasn't sure if Allison was telling the truth or not - though her intuition was telling her to trust Allison. There were so many questions as well then as to what to do about the world. For some people to achieve happiness, others were likely suffering. She had seen the treatment of humans at the hands of mutants first hand - she hated it and didn't take kindly to it, despite marrying into the family that perpetuated it.

But she could also see opposing argument - that maybe this world was better for enough people and that reality was such a flimsy concept that... who was to say who should suffer and who shouldn't? Was there any meaning to the way things were is how they should be?

Shaking off the thought, Guin headed with Allison to the garage, getting into the back of one of her cars. Fortes was her driver and once everyone was settled, Leo got into the shotgun seat and the car pulled out, driving them from the Palace to Stark Tower. Guin smirked a little bit at Allison in the back seat. "Were you calling me dumb here?" she teased. She knew that most likely wasn't Allison's meaning, but the words did hit a bit of a sore spot. She hadn't dreamt of being a princess. She was born to Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, growing up as just another kid of humans in a world ruled over by mutants. While she loved her mother, she was always closer with her father, working with him on little projects since before she could walk. Her dream had been to be just like her father - to make the world a better place through technology, like Tony and also like her grandfather, Howard. "I'm more than just Pietro's fiancée - no matter the reality," Guin said. Maybe it was a promise to herself or just a statement for Allison.

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Casper wasn't too sure of what to make of Chrysi. She reminded him a lot of his sister, Val - she was pretty sweet and kind at first, even seeming approachable, but she had a vicious streak to her. When they were kids, Val had almost severed their brother David's vocal chords during a fight over a sock monkey. He couldn't help but wonder who Chrysi's anger and violence was directed towards - who had taken her sock monkey and threw it into the pond. Of course, he hadn't told either of them that Casper had been the one playing with the sock monkey, trying to take the toy with him for a swim... But neither David nor Val figured that one out and it was so long ago that he wasn't about to fess up to it.

However, he had heard of infinity stones before. His father told him about them. Ben's face paled slightly - he had heard stories of them as well, stones that represented an aspect of existence and allowed the user to control it. "Time..." Ben whispered.

"Space..."

"Soul..."

"Power..."

"Reality..."

"And Mind..." Casper whispered.

"The Incident happened because of Loki and just two of these stones... What's the Red Guard and why the hell do they have one? Also..." Ben was cut off by Casper, but they were on the same page at the moment. They both had the same final question. "How the hell do you know where an infinity stone is?" Casper asked.

"Cassie, this is bad. We can't let the Thieves Guild get their hands on an infinity stone... I don't even what to think about what could happen. And you KNOW that it's bad when the ghost is scared!" Ben insisted. Casper just nodded slightly at him, biting his lip and fidgeting slightly. He didn't want to believe that Jack, his baby brother, was a villain in this world but... If he was part of a group trying to steal an infinity stone, a group that this psychopath was also in, then maybe it was true. Maybe Jack wasn't the person he thought he was.

"As for which stone it is..."

"It has to be mind or reality," he mumbled to Ben. The ghost nodded in agreement. Casper was about to ask Chrysi another question when his baby brother showed up and he couldn't help but groan slightly. "Jackie, I love you but I'm in the middle of a conversation here. And I can't tell you what's going on because you're maybe a super villain now - which makes sense, your hair looks FANTASTIC and villains always have better hair."

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Runa relaxed, a bit relieved when Lance moved to close the door and that he was picking up on the potential danger of the situation. Midgardians didn't just show up with a ship, come up in a large force, and then inquire as to where a doctor was. It spelled trouble. It reminded her of the tales her uncle Thor told - of his work with the Avengers in defending the realm of Midgard against Loki. Was Loki behind this? It seemed likely to her. It was also his style, with the exception that someone else had been installed as king and not him... Her nerves shot up again as the people asked where Banner was on December 3rd.

If these people were police, why hadn't they led with that? Her false memories of this world informed her that people were expected to present symbols - badges - in order to certify that they were tasked with upholding the law. She was completely oblivious as to everything else going around her for some reason, more of just focused on what was directly in front of her - her boyfriend and the door he had almost entirely shut. "What master do you serve?" Runa asked the agents, her voice a bit soft. She winced slightly, realizing that in this world, she wouldn't phrase something like that. At least her accent seemed more or less the same - that was a comfort. "I mean... What authority do you have to come ask questions?" she corrected, hoping that Lance wouldn't be alarmed at that. The fairy tale was quickly turning into a nightmare, but she wanted to draw it out even still. She didn't want to see the hatred in his eyes when he found out what she was.

"Lance I think we should call your father..." Runa whispered to him. "This doesn't feel right..."

---

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Novikova internally winced, seeing Maria reach for her bow. The situation was escalating and she needed more time to decide what to do. She twitched her fingers slightly, before trying to remember everything she could about Australia. They had earthquakes from time to time, right? She had to imagine that it wouldn't be that unusual if an earthquake occurred... And if she ended up being fired or made an outlaw from the Red Guard, well... Her visions never lied. Lance had the same soul as her best friend, Sparky. She had already set the world on fire in order to bring Sparky home safe.

Why not do it again?

"I'm so sorry," she whispered to Maria. "I shouldn't put you through this again," she told her girlfriend. She took a breath and started to focus on the ground below them, attempting to feel the earth like an extension of herself. She couldn't get a good grip on it, but after another few centering breaths she managed to encase the feet of each and every Red Guard member in earth, preventing them from moving. "Sp-Mr. Banner, we need to run now or you and your girlfriend will be killed," she told him. She held out a hand to him, hoping no one started shooting.

"We don't have much time. We really need to go."

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James followed along, pulling the taser gun out just in case. He didn’t know what the file meant by “Magic” but it likely meant she could weaponize it against them. In his experience, two thousand volts usual solved that problem.

That’s when her heard Novikova. He rolled his eyes. Of course this was her fucking plan. Another betray the team to establish rapport and leave the heavy lifting to the rest of them. Complete bullshit frankly if he didn’t admire the tactic so much. It was just becoming predictable. She’d take the jet, they’d track her, surround the victim, tag and bag.

“She’s doing her betrayal act again.” James murmured to Mystique, holding the taser up at Runa. If he saw her twitch as much as a muscle, James wouldn’t hesitate to light the girl up. Should help with Novikova’s charade at least.

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So much had changed in such a short while since he was gone. Not only did he now have a new reality to consider, but now there were penguins wobbling about, THE Scarlet Witch was interacting with others and then suddenly the penguins vanished. Everyone seemed to be having a good time and acting quite normal, then again, so was he before he was given this new life. Max leaned the back of his head against the wall, eyes closed, as he began to think on the new developments. "What's if this is all a test? A way to prove my loyalty to the court?" That didnt make sense, he used his powers and found out there were indeed others like him. He tapped his finger against his arm, as they lay crossed on his chest. What to do, what to do.

Max opened his eyes once more and began to look about the room. Searching for his target to see if they were free, as well as how they were currently acting. It wasnt too difficult to find them again, having not strayed too far from where they previously were. Max watched them like a hawk, yet attempted to seem as if he was just observing the party from afar. It would appear that his target was being accompanied at the present time, making it more difficult for him to approach. Max began to think of what the possible odds were that of all the people in the world, all those that were awoken, he found one at the same party he was at, then again, his powers were always efficient. He decided to wait a bit longer before introducing himself, perhaps an opening would form, if not he would have to make one.

Niah froze as the earth wrapped around her feet. What was Novikova doing? She stared at her stunned as she spoke to Banner. "Novikova?" Her eyes darted to Sapphire. What would she do to Novikova for betraying them? Not to mention Mystique and even the King if it got to him it had happened. It wasn't a far leap for her thought process to decide which side of the fight she would land. It would be bad...very bad, but if Novikova was serious about this betrayal Niah would find a way to help her even if subtly.

Her eyes widened as she sensed more feet and people beyond the door. There were too many to be Banner returned unless he had brought home a bunch of friends too. Niah doubted it, it had to be the rest of the team. Kingston had gotten them and snuck in through the back, as she expected but now with Novikova doing this, it could be problematic. "Don't do this. The others will stop you. You can't hold us all." She said tilting her head slightly towards the house. She prayed that Novikova got the hint, but that was all she could do.

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Michelle wasn't going to argue with Mystique's "quick and quiet" plan, it guaranteed the capture and thats what really mattered. Building a relationship with the target could trick them into hoodwinking his own father into cooperating, while an excellent idea, guaranteed nothing.

Then the house shook and with suspicious timing, Novikova gave up her true motives. Michelle heart began to race, she couldn't shake the feeling something wasn't right, but then she never could. She trusted these people with her life which meant even though she trusted them to get the job done, she believed what they said when they said it. The little gears grinded in Michelle's mind as she tried to weigh it up under time pressure. Fortunately for her, someone beat her too it. Kingston, despite his occasional boneheadedness, saw the situation as it really was, the gambit. This reassured Michelle, and put her doubts at ease, despite the unprofessional behaviour on the jet, Novikova wasn't involved. She knew that Novikova knew we absolutely didn't want either of them dead so to tell them they were going to die? It was a ploy, if it weren't Tinley would have said something by now.

Her heart back in the game, Michelle's mind set about how best to play her part. She now played the part of a bad guy, a killer, and in her hands she weilded a weapon that despite its somewhat futuristic aesthetic was still easily recognisable as a pump action 12 gauge boomstick. Michelle took cover in a door way and raised the rifle to her chest. Safety off, coils hot, finger on the trigger.

"Too late, motherfuckers." Michelle spat as she chambered an ICER round menacingly with an indiscreet pump.

The scene was set.

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Carolina looked towards October for a moment and smiled a little bit at her wife when she suggested that Annie dance with Princess Wanda it was a good idea. She hadn't seen Annie dating anyone in a really long time either since they had opened up their art studio together and eyed Wanda for a moment. "Annie you should dance with her, it would be a really great honor to as well." Carolina suggested and smiled to her friend as she looked over at the other end of the room for a moment seeing Max there by himself wondering why he was leaning up against the wall.

"Oh, another lovely idea could mess around with the other guests, like making them trip while they dance with their partners. It would be really funny and entertaining to see." Carolina said giggling a little bit, it would certainly be really funny and great to see some reactions as well and maybe get a little more excitement in the room as well would be just as fun as well.

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Cassandra looked towards Michelle for a moment and shook her head slightly she wasn't sure what to think about Diggby, she wasn't apart of her team in the real world. As she watched Kingston starting to pick the lock to the back door, a few seconds later they were in the room now, taking out her ICER Cass took a step into the room. As she made sure that she was as quiet as possible, she looked at the rest of the team that were there. Then she could feel the ground shaking ever so slightly, the only person that she knew in the team, or her team anyway that could control earth was Novikova.

She probably knew something or was in the same boat as she and Tinley were as she heard Kingston making his comment, Novikova would burn the world for those she is closest to if she could. Cass bit her bottom lip and moved over towards Tinley for a second, she wasn't going to drop her cover just yet in front of the others. "I think Novikova is on the same boat as we are, maybe she knows more than we do. But we need to do something make the others fall asleep instead maybe, but it's your call to make we will loose our cover though if we act now." Cassandra whispered towards her, as far as Cass knew Tinley was still her field commander in the real world and took a step back from her.

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Maria looked over towards Novikova for a moment wondering what she meant by again, and gave her a confused look, then she could feel the ground shake ever so slightly and felt the ground swallowing her feet. She tried to move her feet but she couldn't as she tried to break free looking over at her girlfriend at her sudden betrayal. "Novi, what are you doing?" She asked as she tried to get her foot free as she looked over at Runa asking who they were working for and then over towards the rest of the team. She then turned her attention over towards Novikova, she'd do anything to help her though.

"Novi, tell me whats going on? You know you can tell me." Maria whispered to her, she wanted her to trust her at least. Maria then turned to look at Runa to answer her question. "We work for SHIELD, all we need is Bruce Banner and that's all." Maria said, she wasn't going to kill either one of them, unless they did something.

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Not really realizing, Anotinette had already started swaying to the beat of the music echoing through the grand hall. She looked back at her friends and smiled at the mention of dancing with the princess. She laughed and shook her head.
”Oh one does not have to be good at dancing to dance. Here, I will show you,” she took Princess Wanda’s hands and twirled them both around in a circle. Antoinette had no true skill with dancing. She simply loved the movements and swaying to any sound that resembled music. She could make dancing come alive in her art pieces, the real thing was just something fun she enjoyed. There was no need to be proper all the time and what better way to let loose then in front of friends.
She laughed and bounced around Wanda and smiled brightly at her. ”Dancing reminds me of the freedom of birds,” she informed Wanda.
Carolina’s voice caught her attention for a moment though and Antoinette looked back to her best friends. ”That would make quite the statement. I don’t think people like tripping or making an embarrassing scene at these sort of things.”

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Allison followed Guin closely now, aware that she had her bodyguards with her. She would have to be quiet about what she said. Surely they were close to the royal family and if they got word of anything out of the ordinary then she may be in danger. Especially if she was supposed to be a socialite on business for them. So she got into the car next to Guin. She picked and chose her words carefully.

"Definitely not dumb. You know what I meant. It's different over there. Way different. And speaking of that, if I am right then there surely are more like us. I know I saw a few of them at the party that I recognized. Hopefully, your lab will show us the truth."

She wanted to believe that Guin was better here, and given the fact she had Oshea back she wanted it to be true, but she knew this reality was wrong. And if it was wrong then she had to find out how to get back. And find the others.

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Tinley scoped out the scene. She couldn't tell much from inside, but she had a feeling if she disobeyed the order, there would be hell to pay. If she got them to stand down, there could be less violence and chaos. So she nodded and crept along to the door. She peeked around the corner. Once she was satisfied, she let her mind go and latch onto their brains. The boy was easier than the girl. She had a powerful mind working against her.

"You will both stand down and surrender to the Red Guard. Do not make any sudden movements. Do not reach for any weapon or display any power or we will use force. And that goes especially for you, lady. Any wrong move from you and I will make sure the boy pays for it." She went inside now, hoping the others would follow.

"Got them. The girl is fighting me harder than he is, so keep an eye on her. Whatever needs to be done, needs to be done quickly."

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Ana followed the others into the training room. She had never been one for combat training so this was going to be a treat. Though what was the point if they couldn't maim each other? How would they learn? "Question then. Are we using powers or no? Is it weapons and fist only? Just wondering. And if we can't maim are we allowed to shed blood? Just wondering what the limits are?"

She glanced around the room, eyeing all the potential victims she could practice with. "Anyone willing to train with me? I won't bite at first. But if you're good we can negotiate." She was eager to prove herself, eager to show she was meant to be here and she was now more eager than ever to ensure she got the crown jewels at the end of this. She would have her cake and damn well eat it too.

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"Oh, so you are channeling the God of Mischief tonight?" October teased. "Perhaps I burn this place to the ground then. Fire can be so cleansing."

Wanda giggled slightly at what Annie was doing, giving her a bit of a smile. This certainly was an interesting thing, that was for sure, but she was enjoying herself all the same. "I could definitely get behind the idea of messing with the guests a bit, it would definitely be much more entertaining then sitting here doing nothing else. Dancing is fine and all, but causing a bit of trouble would be much more fun."

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When Allison and Guin get to Stark Tower, they'll find that they aren't exactly alone in the room that they enter, but that isn't much of a surprise really. It is a building owned by the Stark family, it is understandable that there would be someone else in the room. Over sitting at a computer of sorts was none other than Howard Stark the founder of the company. He glanced up when they walked into the room and gave them a bit of a smile.

"Hey there Guin, I didn't expect to see you here right now. With you spending all your time at the palace now a days... Wasn't there a party that you were supposed to go to or something? Thought it would last for a few more hours."

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Rogue had been fairly quiet up until now, letting everyone else do the talking, and she let out a bit of a sigh at the argument between Mary and Gambit. Once Mary had walked away, she walked up to Gambit, shaking her head slightly. "Don't you think you were a bit hard on her?" she whispered, keeping it somewhat quiet so the others wouldn't really be able to hear her.

"If I ain't hard on her mon amie, then she'll be in for a world of hurt when I'm gone. I ain't gonna live forevah."

"I know, but remember, she's the exact opposite of her sister. Sometimes I can't help but wonder if she shouldn't be in this sort of life."

"That's up ta her ta decide chère."

"I know," she said, giving him a smile, before she turned to look at the others in the room. "Powers can be used, but ya need to be careful, and ya can shed blood, just not enough to cause someone to need to be in a hospital. Got it? And I'll spar ya," she said with a smirk. They were a few people down, Mary having gone off somewhere, Chrysi had left before the meeting even started and Jack had gone to look for his brother.

"Ya wanna take Richard, I'll spah Ayita?" Gambit asked Bobbi.

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"How do I know there is a stone there? That is an excellent question... Probably helps that in the real world I don't exist... But to be honest, don't you find it odd how a SHIELD group would have a crown? It's essentially just a bit jewel, so why on Earth would they have it unless it was much more than it seems. I questioned it, did a bit of, persuasion if you will, towards it, and learned the answer. It's the only thing in Louisiana that can help you out to get people to remember. The only question is, do you want to? Oh, and fun fact, the Guild doesn't actually know what it is that they are after..." she said with a smirk.

Jack was a bit confused as to what Chrysi and Casper were talking about, and honestly he was surprised that if Casper was talking to Chrysi that his brother wasn't dead yet. "What are you talking about Casper? I'm confused..."

"You should be, honestly, why don't you go away already."

"I came out here to find Casper..."

"Well honestly, you found your brother congrats, now get the hell out of here."

"You can't tell me what to do."

Chrysi rolled her eyes at him, and despite being several inches shorter than Jack was, walked over and was easily able to shove him into the wall with a bit of a crack as his head hit it, "Not going to ask nicely again, I need to talk to your brother alone, so deal with it and get lost."

Jack put a hand to his head where it had hit the wall, and it came away with some blood on it, "...I'll see you in a little bit then Casper..." he muttered, before he went for the door to head back inside.

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"How do I know I can trust you," Lance mumbled slightly at Novikova, looking at her, but he glanced back at Runa, who would see him pull his phone out and dial his father. Sapphire glared slightly at Novikova, wondering what the hell she was thinking, and if this was a trick or not. There wasn't much that she had to go off to determine that, so she settled for just glaring at her.

"What are you doing Novikova?" she hissed at her, still glaring at her, easily freeing herself from the rocks that encased her feet.

Back inside, Lance could hear the phone ringing on the other end, but stopped, the phone dropping from his hand as Tinley's control and instructions took over his mind completely. He turned to look at the members in the room, saying nothing at all.

"Stand down Diggby, that's an order... Nice job, seems like you might not be completely hopeless at all," Mystique said to Tinley with a nod before she walked over and picked up Lance's phone off of the floor. Glancing down at it, she noticed something, that the phone had been picked up, and someone was on the other end. Putting the phone to her ear, she listened to see if the one on the other end answered, the person on the other end turned out to be Bruce Banner himself.

“....Whoever you are, you’re going to regret this. Put my son on the phone NOW.”

Moving the phone away from her ear, she tossed it over to James, "Why don't you talk to Dr. Banner, let him know of the situation it would seem. Looks like the boy managed to get a call to him, so guess we need to improvise a bit."

Outside, Sapphire proceeded to break the rock off of the feet of everyone else now. "You better not have been trying to pull a fast one on us, hope you were just trying to trick them," she commented as she opened the door the rest of the way, hearing the group inside now and she walked inside where everyone else was. Lance was still just standing there quietly, staring blankly it would appear, almost like he wasn't really thinking at all.

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Guin's bodyguards assumed positions by the elevator, as she walked over to her grandfather on the top floor of the tower. Stark Tower looked more or less as it always did, and Guin gave her grandfather a hug. She was rather close with her paternal grandparents, having learned a lot from her grandfather and father about engineering. They taught her just about everything she knew. "Yeah, there's a party going on Gramps - it's Hanukkah," she explained, before she slipped off her heels and set them down on the desk by Howard's computer. She didn't want to be in fancy shoes while working lab. She'd much prefer to be barefoot - safety hazards be damned.

"Ally and I were just going to go down to my lab," she added. Guin paused for a moment. While she didn't feel like this information could be trusted in the hands of the Royal Family just yet, especially if Allison was right, she didn't see the harm in letting her grandfather know. Besides, he was older and had more experience than she did. It couldn't hurt to get a second opinion, given the stakes that were hinging on the results.

"Gramps, I could actually use your help with this," Guin began. "Allison's been... Well, I'll let her explain what exactly. I need to run some brain scans, try to figure out if what's going on is just a psychiatric issue or if it really is fundamental warping of reality, with her just somehow retaining memories of the original world." It all was boggling the mind, and Guin left out the part where she had had a dream resembling what Allison was detailing. Thankfully they were out of earshot of the guards, as while Leo and Fortes were fairly quiet around her, she didn't doubt that they gossiped with the other staff at the Palace.

"Where's Dad and Mom, by the way?" she asked, a bit curious since she hadn't seen them at the party. It made sense, sadly, that they wouldn't have been invited - they were human.

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"...I don't think not existing in the real world has anything to do with anything," Ben commented, a bit confused by Chrysi's explanation and Casper nodded in agreement. It did seem a little bit odd to him that SHIELD had a crown, but Casper never really paid too much attention to that organization. Maybe they wanted to have one in order to have a SHIELD sponsored version of Ru Paul's Drag Race and then crown the winner with it? It seemed a plausible enough explanation to him.

"I assume persuasion means sloppily killing people," Casper commented. "Yeah, think so... I REALLY doubt she's just going up to people, asking about their kids and their lives, and then begging for information," Ben muttered, trying to kick a soda can on the ground but his foot just went straight through it. The ghost groaned a bit in frustration, as if he had been hoping that in this new world, he'd be able to actually kick things and make contact.

However, he didn't know if he wanted to make everyone remember the real world. He had heard the description of the crown - le diadème d'Athéna - and figured that it had to be the mind stone. The Goddess of Wisdom and Battle Strategy? It seemed a bit too obvious and on the nose there. The mind stone wouldn't make the world go back to the way it had been. And if people were happier here... why force them to remember pain? And if they were sadder here, why give them to knowledge that their happiness had been stolen from them? His eyes darted towards Jack. He trusted his little brother to do the right thing - in his world... but here? Here he just didn't know. Sure, Jack been a con artist but this was organized crime - this was a Legion of Evil!

That all went out the window as Chrysi shoved his baby brother against a wall and Casper could hear a slight crack. Without even thinking about it, he lunged at the redhead, swinging his fist at her face only to miss as Chrysi sidestepped. Throwing another punch, Casper missed once again - it was almost comical.

"Dude, stop trying to hit her, you aren't going to hit at this rate.... Like a goddamn Stormtrooper..." Ben muttered.

"No way! No one hurts my baby brother!"

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Novikova heard Niah's plea for her to not do this - but it was the phrase the others that clued her in. She changed her gaze slightly, looking past Lance and Runa, and she finally spotted the rest of the team down the hallway. She was strong, but she wasn't strong enough to fight all of them. Her control over metal might be able to stop Wolverine, but it would take all of her focus. She was paralyzed for a moment, trying to decide what to do after this potentially fatal miscalculation. She heard Agent Diggby load her icer with a signature curse word and the color drained from Novikova's already pale face.

Fortunately, though, Sapphire provided her with a decent explanation. She relaxed slightly, her toes uncurling in her shoes and the tension leaving her, as she released the earthen hold on everyone. "I figured since Abercrombie wasn't allowed to come, I might as well trick them into complying, knock them out and get them on the ship," Novikova lied. "But apparently, we weren't informed that the secondary team would be coming," she said, allowing a bit of venom into her voice. "And watch the way you look at me, Popsicle. Ice shatters easily when hit with a rock." Had Sapphire been someone she knew from the real world, a trusted teammate, then she might have felt a bit guilty about threatening her. But any ties she had to Sapphire were fake, just an illusion. The ones to Sparky/Lance, Abercrombie, Bautista, Reed, and Smith? Those ones were real.

As for Runa, her nightmare was just worsening. She had wanted to run to Lance's bedroom and find her sling ring, in order to get them as far away from the Red Guard as they could, but suddenly, someone had a grip on her mind. It wasn't strong and total, but enough that each suggestion Tinley gave to her was incredibly tempting to follow. Combined with the threat against Lance, someone she cared for deeply, and Runa felt a bit like crumbling inwards on herself. Her life in the real world had been hell and now, this all seemed to be a cruel joke. Maybe Loki really was behind all of this.

She did know that the silver haired girl was lying about pretending to betray the others. Maybe she would be someone that could help get Lance to freedom, if not herself as well. Maybe it was strange, caring so deeply for someone when her entire history with him was a lie, but it didn't change the way she felt. "When I am freed from your grip, sorceress, I'll have your head and ensure the roads of your city run red with the blood of you and those you care for." Runa figured that since Tinley was inside her mind, she would be able to hear that thought. She heard picked up a few things in the means of threatening individuals from her brother, Forseti - the God of Justice and Retribution. He tended to lean on the retribution side of things.