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Max sat on his bed, impatiently tapping his fingers on his knee while the other hand propped up his head. James didn't seem to be getting back to him, which meant he either didn't want to speak to him or perhaps Max couldn't do it. There was a sigh as Max almost gave up. Interrupted by James voice finally giving him a response as well as an earful. Sure he probably deserved it, he turned his back on the Underground but it was for the sake of a mutant homeland. The connection stayed steady as he continued to respond in relief. "Look I dont exactly own a cellphone ok? Besides, I cant trust that anything and anyone I contact isnt going to be traced or tracked. I dont want to potentially put you guys in harm's way incase they do turn out to be just as bad as the Underground made them out to be. Regardless, I'm worried. As far as I remember we just rescued Wanda last September before this alternative reality happened and I'm worried that if Anastasia remembers this reality as well then she may try and force Wanda to bend the world once more. I don't know if anyone knows where she is but its definitely concerning. Look I couldn't stick around there any longer ok? Sapphire was a bitch, Veil seemed to play favorites, Havock was an insufferable ass, Sunshine loathed my existence and brought me into this mess, and for some reason Casper and Waverly couldnt even look at me. I had to leave, train, and control myself for mutant kind. I hope you can understand that. Oh and this isn't telepathy you dork. I'm not in your head nor can I be."

Max attempted to focus on James, his voice, his being, and concentrated on him. He began to try and conjure chocolate cake, a small token to the Underground to say Merry Christmas to them all and offer them something decadent that they otherwise wouldnt of been able to have. He could feel the difficulty of this task,pushing the thought of impossibility out of his mind and focusing on himself, James, and this cake. Nothing. He tried once more, eyes clenched shut as he pressed out into the world and once again felt nothing. There was a pushed air from his lungs as he relaxed and tried once more. He could feel something be created and it appeared by James' feet. Finally. "I made you guys a chocolate cake. Merry Christmas man, enjoy." Hopefully this would help ease tensions between them. Maybe James could help build the bridge between all these groups to form one mutant alliance with Max and Leighton.

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Leighton rolled her eyes as the valley girl's talked. If only they knew the struggle. Hell, she had been them mere months before. Talkin about mutants like they was some disease or virus. It was horrible to think about, but she also couldn't hide that art of her. She knew better now, or at least, she tried.

Leighton looked as the message pinged. So now she was supposed to do their bidding? Bringing them people to...what? Question them? Indoctrinate them? She hated this and she hated not having Max nearby to confide in, but she decided she would not be a pawn. It was time to be the Queen. She glanced around, eyes latching on to Jinx's. Was he following her? He noticed her too. She then saw the girl and Jinx dashed off. He was quick. she had to give that to him. She followed as Jinx moved to the girl. She couldn't hear what he was saying, but considering he wasn't being a team player, she doubted it was good.

Soon, she could feel the tension grow. She had no idea what he was thinking. Doing anything in a crowded store during the holidays was a surefire way to get spotted. It wasn't until she saw the girl retaliate against Jinx that she knew she had to act fast. She also couldn't help but like the girl now. Leighton glanced to see if anyone was taking notice before she swooped in. She held her hands up in surrender. She didn't know the girl's powers and she wasn't there for a fight. "Whoa, it's ok. I'm not here to hurt you or do anything you don't want. I don't know what his deal is but I assume he deserved it. My name is Leighton and I'm here to help. I won't ask you to trust me considering how that just went with him, but all I ask is that we leave this crowded place now and go somewhere more private, but not secluded. A small coffee shop maybe? My treat? Once there I'll explain everything and show you options. This is scary, I know. But we need to leave, now." Leighton held out her hand, hoping the girl would take it so they could leave together without Jinx interfering.

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Once she had satisfied the urge to be alone, she left her room and made her way to where the others were. As she did so, she began to think about future plans. She had, thus far, managed to gain some authority within the Hellfire Club, but that didn't come without strings attached. And was it truly a blessing? Either way, it served her well and it was the next step. She would have to move in on one of the others next. Reeva seemed the most likely candidate and it would be unexpected. Magneto was too brash, too unpredictable. She would be his own downfall.

Once in the room, she noticed the eerie silence that followed. Something had happened as she was gone. "Fa la la la la, and all that." She maneuvered into the room, allowing the others to continue their business. She sat down and pretended to be uninterested in everything. If it was important, they'd tell her. She was growing more bored by the minute, so anything she could do would be a welcome addition to her day.

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The Hellfire Club Headquarters -

Polaris glanced up, her dreidel ceasing to spin as Anastasia entered the room. She didn't trust the White Queen of the Hellfire Club at all. Her powers over morality manipulation made her dangerous, even more than most telepaths. Polaris' headpiece protected her from mental intrusions much like her father's helmet did, but even then Anastasia set her on edge. With her telekinesis, she could easily try to remove the headpiece and then control her. She shifted uncomfortably, watching Anastasia warily.

"Anastasia, dear, it's lovely to see you," Reeva said, plastering a fake smile onto her face. "You slept in quite late today... Are you sure you're feeling alright?" she asked, seemingly concerned. It was unlikely to be genuine.

Sage didn't move to greet Anastasia, continuing to monitor the progress Jinx and Ice Queen were making. She was also secretly sending messages to the Mutant Underground, hoping they would be able to get Desiree to safety. If Desiree didn't join the Hellfire Club, Reeva would kill her. Her powers were uniquely suited to be able to take down Reeva, making the Black Queen vulnerable. Reeva didn't allow herself to be vulnerable, ever.

"I have a visual on them - Jinx and Ice Queen have made contact with the target," Sage announced. "Jinx's nose appears to be broken."

"If you have nothing to do, Anastasia, you may wish to go... play with Ice Queen and Jinx. They do not have nearly the same level of competency as you do when it comes to these things."

Macy's -

Jinx's job on Desiree's voice had been quite thorough - she wouldn't be able to make a sound. It was like in nightmares, where no matter how much you wanted to, you just couldn't scream. Should she trust Leighton? Or should she try to break her nose as well? Out of the corner of her eye, Desiree would be able to see that mall security was on its way over. It was a crowded mall - someone had seen her punch Jinx and break his nose. And without her voice, how would she convince them she had been the victim?

It was time to make a choice - which was the lesser of the evils? Jinx? Leighton? Or mall security?

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Veil's phone vibrated again, featuring another incoming message from Sage. This one was longer, yet she didn't have a chance to immediately decode it. She forwarded it and the previous message to Spark Plug, fully intending on going with the team to deal with this, but also hoping that Spark Plug might be able to decode the new one from Sage while she dealt with Sapphire. Her friend seemed... broken. She shivered a bit from the chill in the air, yet she continued to keep Sapphire invisible to give her privacy.

"I grew up at Xavier's - I was a student when Jean Grey became the Dark Phoenix. I can believe a lot of things," she said quietly to Sapphire. "If you want to tell me, that's cool. It doesn't have to be now. But... if punching something would help, Sage texted. The Hellfire Club is up to something. Probably nothing good. It could be a way for you to let off some steam..."

Veil glanced up, seeing Glimpse and Moonwalker enter the room. Glimpse had Moonwalker outmatched when it came to fights, yet Moonwalker's compassion and empathy exceeded that of Captain Britain's heir. He was incredibly sweet, coming and sitting down in front of her, asking if she was okay. She didn't know if Sapphire was comfortable with being seen at the moment. "Magneto's palace...?" Veil considered things for a moment. "I wouldn't be surprised if that did exist. Magneto's always had a flair for the dramatic. But... It's worth looking into. Can you go ask Casper for more information? See if it's something real or... well, it is Casper."

Veil brushed some hair out of her face, but it fell back into place a second later. "I'm fine. Thanks for asking. Just got word from our contact - we've got a mission. Hellfire Club."

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Casper returned James' kiss passionately, getting little tastes of what he had eaten for lunch. He held onto him tightly as James rested his head on his shoulder, only to then jumped slightly, startled by Waverley's sudden appearance. How long had she been watching them for? Had he been in a more jovial mood, he might have teasingly told Waverley that just looking would cost her $20. But now wasn't the time. Everyone was in so much pain. He needed to make sure that the people closest to him were safe. The door swung open to reveal his brother and Jack instantly lied to all of their faces.

"Maybe don't do this..."

"Jackie, I know that you're feeling heartbroken about Lexi. But we're going to find your daughter, I promise!" Casper swore. "How hard can finding a little six year old mutant be anyways? You're a detective! James is super smart! And I've got the rockin' bod that gets us access to anywhere we need to go!"

"... in front of Waverley," Ben finished. He wondered why he even bothered.

James then had the good idea to point out that they ought to tell Veil before they went anywhere. Maybe Veil knew something about Lexi - she was the leader of the Washington D.C. Underground station, she had a personal relationship with all the other station leaders. She could put out a description of what Lexi looked like and get information back quickly. She also could call Xavier, ask him to use Cerebro, and spare Casper from having to speak to his father. "Let's tell Veil, we can pack some stuff, and we can road trip to New Orleans... Or where were you sexually active about six years ago, Jackie? We should start there. Do you remember who Lexi's mom was?"

Casper then blinked, seeing the dead rat appear on the ground. "...Is that Sunshine's pet?"

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Sunshine glanced up from her empty Capri sun, having sucked all of the juice out of it. Her granola bar had similarly been devoured. Her stomach was aching with hunger, yet she didn't dare take more than just that. They didn't have enough food for everyone to be fed appropriately. If she ate more food, then someone else in the Underground wouldn't get to eat at all. Going on a mission would help to distract her from being hungry - and maybe she'd be able to steal some food while they were out. Could she convince Sapphire to call her agent friend to get them some chicken fingers?

"What's the mission?" Sunshine asked Spark Plug, getting up and throwing her garbage in the trash can. She had no idea if it would be something as simple as a supply run - which meant food, a bonus in her book - or if it was something more complicated, like rescuing mutants in trouble. That was also pretty fun. She liked using her powers over disease to make Purifiers ill. They so easily gave into a fever, succumbing to the ground and vomiting their guts out.

Of course, her secret ambition was to get a working bow and arrow. She had perfect aim. And she liked archery, having gotten to try it once when she and her found family had gone "camping." What really had happened was they were avoiding the cities and ended up finding a summer camp that wasn't in use during the winter, letting them have access to the cabins and archery range and all until the ranger found them and drove them out.

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"We've got a mission, it sounds like. Veil needs your help with something. She didn't mention what, but she said it was time sensitive," Waverley said, head tilting up to look at Jack as he appeared in the doorway. With that, she prepared to leave the group, one foot stepping in front of the other to continue down the hall to her own room, when Casper spoke, and Waverley stopped. Her gaze turned back up to Jack, though there was a look of confusion that had been absent a few seconds prior. Jack had a kid? She had no idea. It sounded like she was missing. But for how long? How long had Jack been splitting up time between her, the Underground, and his day job? The thought gave Waverley a whole new respect for the private detective. She opened her mouth to speak, only for Casper to pull her attention to the dead rat lying on the floor. A look of mild concern took up residence on her face.

"Uh, yeah, that's Fred, I think. I...do not know how he got out. Honestly, I don't think I want to know," she mumbled, before squatting down, grabbing the vermin by the tail. As she stood back up, she held it at arm's length. "I'll put him away. I have to head to our room anyway," she said, before looking back to Jack. "I didn't know you had a kid. Is she missing? If you want, I can look around online for something. If you give me a name, a description, anything really, I can scrounge around the internet and see if anything useful turns up."

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"Just prepare for a fight, and possible rescue some people." Callie told her when she felt her phone going off and pulled it out and stared at the text that Veil had sent her. She went over and leaned herself over the table and started to look it up online doing a rather quick google search for the weird looking alien cypher. She then, managed to easily find what it read and quickly typed it out in English so that she could easily understand it. 'MACY'S ICE QUEEN JINX AND INNOCENT' Callie instantly did recognize the name Ice Queen was the name that Leighton had given herself. "C'mon lets head back to the training room." Callie said as she turned and left and made her way towards the training room.

"So, managed to decipher that weird alien mumbo jumbo, and it says and I quote. 'Macy's, Ice Queen, Jinx, and innocent.'." Callie said looking at the others who were now slowly getting into the room. The second name Callie didn't recognize at all, and she wondered why the Hellfire Club was after an innocent person. "Ready to head on out whenever your ready Veil." Callie told her.

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Luna watched Cayden walk into the room and head over to Veil, going on about some barmy talk of Magneto’s Palace and Casper having been there. Luna didn’t quite trust Casper, he seemed too much of a loose cannon but of course Luna couldn’t say much. Her opinions were scrutinized enough as it was. She crossed her arms and waited out Cayden appealing to Veil’s gentle side before Veil informed them that they had gotten word of a mission involving the Hellfire Club.
Before she could ask the specifics, Cayden requested a high five. Luna hesitated a moment but gave into the boy’s request. Cayden was a good kid, he was a good balance for the Underground she thought. As she watched him go to find Casper, her mind wandered a bit to Casper’s other half James. Normally he was up bright and early but she hadn’t seen him today yet.
After that, Spark Plug came in and gave them more information. ”A little shopping perhaps,” she noted. ”If the Hellfire Club is involved, perhaps they are trying to recruit this innocent. There is an obvious connection there, especially with Jinx in the vicinity. He has known ties with the Brotherhood and Casper’s new friend Magneto. That is, if Casper’s tale of being at Magneto’s place is valid.” The only thing was, Leighton, or the Ice Queen as she was calling herself, was there and she was team Hellfire now. If they went in there, would she hand the innocent over or would there be a fight.

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Cayden took his orders from her in stride and rocked back on his heels. ”Well if you are certain you are alright,” he said and stood back up after squeezing her foot. His face split into a grin when Veil talked about a mission, it didn’t matter that she said Hellfire club, all he heard was mission. ”If you need a hand with that as well, let me know.” Cayden was always eager to go out and help in any way he could.
He turned around and held his palm up to Luna for a high five, she eyed him but returned the high five. Cayden grinned and headed out of the training room and back out to find Casper. ”Hey Cas!” Cayden called out as he looked from room to room. He did say something about his brother so maybe he went to go find Jack.
Cayden had always found Casper’s name entertaining. It was like Casper the friendly ghost, although Casper didn’t seem to like seeing the dead so much. Cayden was rather used to the concept of death and the spirit world. There had always been a lot of talk back home with his grandmother. The dead were powerful and Cayden didn't necessarily fear death but he did have a healthy respect and wariness for it.
Cayden came across Jack, Casper, James and Waverley and smiled brightly at all of them. "Hey guys! Cas, Veil wants to talk to you. Also, apparently there is some mission with the Hellfire club going on," he added.

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James stared at the rat for a long while, even as Waverly picked it up. He knew Max didn’t mean it as anything. It probably was supposed to be a chocolate cake. It just meant… Fuck. Max tasted power in the other universe and now he wanted to branch out in this one. Technically, Max still remembered all that training, all that experience, from the other world. James knew because he did too even if he wished he didn’t. Before this stint with the Underground, James wouldn’t have considered himself particularly superstitious but staring at that rat dangling from Waverly’s hand, James felt like it was an omen of things to come.

Fuck.

On one hand, I’m relieved to hear that. I fucking hate telepaths. On the other hand, you pulled a warehouse fire. A dead rat just appeared in front of me. And Casper. And Jack. And Waverly who believes… Actually, nope. Not going there. But I appreciate the sentiment all the same. Kind of nostalgic, huh? James sent back mentally. He frowned, that voice in the back of his head growing a little bit louder. He really would hate to miss this opportunity. “Listen. Things are… hectic around here. The mission to distract Magneto and Polaris and them went… went really bad, Max. And almost everyone involved in that mission is standing in this building. Why don’t you call me tomorrow at sunrise? You know I’m normally up for a jog and we’ll have more privacy. Maybe we can talk about meeting up face to face considering… considering the bullshit we went through together? I still owe you for finding Casper in the other world when you were bone dead tired anyway and I’d love a chance to repay that.” James turned his attention back to the group around him. Waverly needed to get rid of that rather than handing it over to Sunshine but he really didn’t need her knowing where it came from.

“It’s not Fred. I’m not certain that rat existed up until just now honestly. It was apparently supposed to be chocolate cake, warehouse fire style.” James explained, hoping Jack and Casper would get the message and understand his hesitancy to discuss the issue directly. He grimaced at Waverly’s question about Jack’s child. “That’s...probably something we should explain later. The situation is delicate right now and Veil needs to know how to plan accordingly.” James thunked his head against Casper’s shoulder with a groan. “All I wanted was a little while to cuddle. No rest for the wicked, huh babes?” He grumbled into his boyfriend’s shoulder before going to hunt down Veil but he paused before pulling his boyfriend along. “Did you two want some time to talk alone about… everything? I can handle catching Veil up alone if you guys need.”

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"So if I told you that Scarlet Witch rewrote reality to make mutants the majority of the population and made Magneto king. And then some of us banded together to get reality back to normal, and the reason why Havok took off was because I-I-I-" she stammered out, somewhat panicking at the thoughts rushing through her head at the moment. "The reason he took off was because I killed Polaris in that universe!" With those last words she looked away, the cold around her started going haywire again.

This was not something she was able to easily talk about. She left a few major things out, namely the fact that she was a SHIELD agent and the one upside was that she was together with Freddie Flynn there. But... None of that really mattered. At the end of the day she essentially murdered someone, even if it got rewritten and fixed afterwards. None of it mattered, nothing mattered, since that was going to stick with her, for a very long time, despite everything going on. It was never going to go away after all.

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Jack let out a bit of a sigh given everything that was more or less going on around him at this point. He didn't think that it was such a big deal, especially since as far as he knew, no one else really seemed to notice the House of M reality unless they were actually involved in it. Which meant that if they had a different mission that was going on and was actually important, then nothing really mattered for the moment and they needed to focus on that. Anything relating to House of M and what happened there, it could be pushed to the side.

"Casper just stop, okay? It's fine, we have a bunch of other stuff to do right now, that's not that important. We can figure that all out later, just... Not right now..." he said, shaking his head at his brother before turning to look at Waverly again, and he wasn't really wanting to even think about the dead rat that appeared and the fact that apparently it was an attempt from Max to actually send them something else. "Don't worry about it Waverly, let's go see what Veil wants," he said, before he started walking down the hallway towards where the others were.

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As she came into the training room with Spark Plug, Sunshine was instantly struck by how cold it was. She could see her breath in front of her face and she shivered, holding her arms. It was the middle of December in Washington D.C., so the chill was far from abnormal - but she had thought that the princess and James had set up some heating systems for them. Maybe they had failed. She wouldn't have been surprised if the princess' stuff wasn't up to par. Sunshine shot a dirty look at Glimpse. She probably ruined James' design or something. "Why do rich people always have to call themselves royalty in their mutant names?" Sunshine grumbled. She wasn't thrilled at the idea of seeing Leighton.

Veil sighed. She didn't have a personal connection to Jinx, yet she still felt a bit responsible for Leighton. "Yeah, sounds like it. The first message gave an apartment complex. With them moving to Macy's, they're either trying to abduct this person, kill them, or recruit them... I'm not happy with any of those options." The information with Casper and Magneto didn't concern her as much as it perhaps should have. Magneto was a member of the Hellfire Club. Casper hadn't come and found her yet to explain what he had seen. Sage, at least, was giving them concrete facts.

She fell silent, hearing what Sapphire had said. Of course, no one but Veil could see Sapphire right now. Sapphire hadn't asked her to remove the invisibility that was giving her privacy. "... Casper apparently experienced that too," she murmured. "I believe you, Sapphire. And I know this is horrible timing, but we need to leave to help save someone from the Hellfire Club. If you want to stay here, I get it. We'll talk about this more on the way if you'd like... Is it okay if I make you visible?"

Sunshine shivered as the chill intensified even more. It took her a moment to realize what was going on. She couldn't see Sapphire, but she had heard her scream something about murdering Havok's girlfriend. Her mind couldn't piece much else of it together though, as Sapphire had been so quiet and she had been busy thinking about whether or not she'd get the chance to smack Max over the head too at Macy's. "Could we stop by the Food Court after we kill Leighton?" Sunshine asked. Her stomach growled.

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"Maybe Fred crawled on out here to try to comfort Jackie in his time of need. Separated from his child, it's a tragedy," Casper suggested. He hadn't seen the rat there a few seconds ago, but he also wasn't the most observant of people. It did amuse him to see Waverley hold the dead rat by the tail, knowing that the rotting carcass of Fred was in her bedroom constantly. You would have thought she'd be used to it by now. "Wait, Veil wants to talk to me?" Casper asked Moonwalker, confused.

"Are you sure I couldn't interest her in a conversation with someone more... essential?" he asked. There were tons of people at the Mutant Underground with way more helpful abilities. Besides, he wanted to stay and help his baby brother right now. Alexis was missing! James then revealed that Max had been the one to send the rat. He was pretty sure that was a threat then. "So... Right when Veil is sending us on a thingy with the Hellfire Club, Hellion Numero Uno (that's Spanish for that dumb bitch Max) decides to send us a dead rat that isn't even named Fred... I think he's threatening us and Ben agrees."

"Hey! I do, but at least ask first," Ben sulked.

He then sighed, seeing that Jack had made up his mind to prioritize dealing with the Hellfire Club over finding his kid. "I'm just... I'm worried about my brother, babe. Believe it or not, I'm probably the sane one of my siblings," he admitted to James, planting a worried kiss on his boyfriend's forehead.

"Yeah, that's not right," Ben commented.

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Desiree was being faced with a choice.

But it was all too sudden, too much. She felt trapped within herself, the urge to speak overwhelming now that she couldn't say anything at all. She just wanted to get out, she wanted to go home. Back to the place they had so suddenly wrenched from her, from everyone in the Lotus Apartment Complex.

Desiree looked between the new woman--Leighton, the mall security, and the man whose nose she had just broken without a thought. She felt guilty, eyeing him from the corner of her vision.

And what did the guilty do best?

Grabbing Leighton's hand, she began to tug the girl toward the mall's entrance. The sooner she got to her car, the better. Security could only do so much when she left the mall.

Looking back at the girl, Desiree reached into her pockets and dangled her keys in front of them. Hopefully, she'd get the hint, since oral communication was no longer an option. God, was it permanent? She couldn't think of that at the moment.

Leighton was thrilled when the girl took her hand and led her to the parking lot. Security was closing in and she didn't want to explain what happened. The girl wasn't speaking, which was concerning, but they could deal with that later. For now, she needed to get the girl far away from Jinx.

Once outside, the girl took her keys out. Leighton nodded, being sure that the girl wanted to drive. That was fine. "Yeah, let's get out of here quickly. We can go somewhere else if you want and I'll explain everything once I am sure we're out of danger." And that was another matter. How was Leighton going to explain all of this in a matter of minutes?

Nodding, Desiree began weaving her way through the parking lot, trying to remember where she had left her car. In the distance, she spotted the beat-up sedan and began speed-walking toward it. She should never have gotten out of her car in the first place. But she supposed it didn't matter anymore. Actions had consequences, and she was realizing it now more than ever.

Dropping Leighton's hand, Desiree finished guiding them to her car. She unlocked the vehicle and slipped into the driver's seat. She sighed, pushing out the air through her nose so as to make a sound.

Reaching into her purse, she sought out her phone. Opening the notepad, she quickly typed. 'NEED ANSWERS' and flashed the screen at Leighton. As she waited for am explanation, she stuck the key into the ignition and began to creep out of the parking lot.

Once safely inside the girl's vehicle, she waited until they were pulled out more before she finally spoke. "Ok, there's a lot to explain. My name is Leighton Brooks and it was only recently I discovered I was a mutant. Since then, I fell in with a group called The Mutant Underground, which is an underground resistance movement dedicated to helping mutants. However, in that time I also found out of a group called the Hellfire Club which is run by a group of four, one of which is my aunt. So I joined up with her because she promised she was looking out for mutants and humans alike. Since then, I have grown less sure that peace is their ultimate goal. I remain in that group because I believe I can do the most good in it, even if it doesn't seem like it. The reason why I and that guy, Jinx, knew who you were was that we were told to find you and take you in."

"But knowing this group, they most likely would have made it seem harmless at first and then made you join or worse and I don't want that on my conscious. So once we are safely away I am going to see if I can get in contact with the Underground and have you stay with them. At least until you can make your own decision or leave entirely. You should have a choice as I did."

Desiree heaved a sigh through her nose as everything was explained, nodding along and following to the best of her ability. She could hardly believe any of this. Just yesterday, her worst fear had been the purifiers. Now, she was being hunted by a group of mutants. She was still unsure about this 'Underground'. The man whose nose she had broken had also brought it up. But, she supposed it was her best bet. At least for the time being.

'Gotcha. I'll follow your lead.' she typed out swiftly. And with that, she began the journey to the underground.

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Ana gave Reeva a warm smile that didn't quite meet her eyes. Soon, she figured, she would no longer be a problem. But up until then, she would have to play nice. "Of course. Holiday stuff and all that, slept quite late last night." Which wasn't technically a lie. She was planning holiday things, just not in the sense of Holly Jolly. She gave a sideways glance at Polaris before she made her way over to a chair and sat down.

Both Jink and Leighton were out in the field and, judging by the sounds of things, were not doing a good job. She figured Jinx would muck things up but Leighton had some potential there. Still, what good would it be for her to jump in and save them? They needed to learn harsh lessons about all of this real quick if they had any hopes of staying in the Hellfire Club when she eventually took over. "Keep me updated on the situation, but let's let them figure it out for themselves." Ana ignored the fake compliment. She knew her skills, knew her worth. She didn't need validation from some her.

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Meanwhile, as Desiree drove to their destination, Leighton pulled out her phone and shot off a text to Max.

"Hey Max, quick update. Got a mission from the higher-ups to find a girl named Desiree and bring her back. Jinx tried to get her away from me, which I took to mean bad times. So I found her and we are together. I'm taking her to the Underground to have a safe place so she can make a decision for herself. I don't know about you, but I'm not helping the HC take in another person against their will. Can you contact Veil and tell her I'm on my way?"

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When James revealed that the dead rat Waverley held in her hand was not, in fact, Fred, Waverley's face pulled into a disgusted grimace, as though it was less gross when she had thought it was Fred. And in a strange, nearly explainable way, it was. Sunshine's consistent anthropomorphism of the carcass had seemed to rub off on Waverley, leaving her with slightly less aversion to Fred than she might feel for the average dead rat. But this vile creature in her hands was not Fred, and upon learning that fact, she released her tentative grip on the thing's tale, letting it fall to the ground, before lightly kicking it away from herself with her foot. Wiping her hand off on her jacket, she looked back to James as his sentence, which didn't make much sense to start with, devolved into a jumble of random words that made Waverley wonder if he was having a stroke.

"Chocolate cake? Warehouse fire? What are you-" she began, before she heard Cayden's voice. She turned her head to look at him, a confused expression still decorating her face from James' words for a few moments, before a small smile took over. "Yeah, she said to be prepared for a fight and possible evacuation, right? I was just on my way to grab my rebar." As if reminded by her own words, Waverley turned on her heel and began further down the hall. But as she passed by Casper, something he said stood out to her, causing her to turn around, smile gone from her face.

"Max? What about Max?" she asked, her voice tense, containing a cold edge unusual for the normally warm, soft teen. It was an edge that came out whenever the topic of Maximillian Gray came up, which was understandable, considering their past. Her mind quickly began to pick up the bits and pieces of the rest of Casper's statement she'd subconsciously heard, placing them into a cohesive narrative in her mind. She looked from Casper to James, eyebrows furrowed. Did he send the rat? Is he sending death threats to us now?"

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Callie watched Cayden high five Glimpse, before walking off to go and fetch the others, the temperature in the room was still really cold and jumped slightly when she heard Sapphire voice, killing Polaris in some other universe she didn't know about. Though she couldn't really see her, looking over at Sunshine as she spoke up. "Because they like to inflate their egos or something maybe." Callie said giving a slight shrug, still she didn't care for Max or Leighton since the two of them decided to join the Hellfire Club after they had tried to kill them by sending Vulcan and a houndyfied version of Magik after them. "But no, no killing her if we can find her and whoever she found." Callie said to Sunshine. "But we stop by the food court later." She told her.

"I'll go and get one of the cars prepped the sooner we leave the better we can find them, just text me any new details if anyone wants to come with me they can." Callie said, figuring that Sapphire and Veil wanted to talk privately together on their own looking over at Sunshine Callie gave her a slight nudge for her to come and join her. "Lets get going." She said as Callie turned and made her way towards the surface and where they had the vehicles that they used.

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"Wait...what does Waverly believe? Actually, that may be a topic for another day if shes right in front of you. I know...I know we didnt exactly have a chance to talk after we all had our missions. I'm sorry that yours may not have gone smoothly, I don't know what happened with you guys but perhaps you could tell me tomorrow? We need to find neutral ground, some place crowded and public so that the telepaths have a hard time combing for us and the techno-geeks cant spy as easily. It wouldnt do to have me meeting you with whose over me right now, and I doubt the underground has the resources to spy on you if you left for a while. Meet me at the mall tomorrow morning, its sure to be packed with all this holiday shopping going on making it easier for us and harder for them."

He waited a moment for a response, making sure James would agree to meeting up before ending their connection. There was a sharp vibration against his thigh, the sudden sensation coupled with no sound startled Max as his hand quickly reached for the spot. It'd been so long since he actually had a cellphone, and his mind now preoccupied with this thoughts on WandaWorld that he'd forgotten the Hellfire Club purchased him one. He would need to make sure he left it behind before meeting up tomorrow. As Max opened up his phone he read what Leighton had sent, wondering if she knew about this other reality. And if she didnt, would she believe him? He didn't want to message back, he was afraid that Sage would read the message and rat them out. Afraid of what might happen if the Hellfire Club found out about Leightons betrayal. He let out another soundless sigh as he concentrated on Leighton and Veil. Managing to connect all three of them together so that they may speak freely to each other without interference.

"This is Max, don't worry it's not telepathy and I can not enter your thoughts or mind. You're safe. I've opened up communication between Leighton, Veil, and I so that you two may speak freely without the use of technology. Don't need any hackers or mutants to get a hold of the information about to be shared in here. Before you start Leighton, I have a question for the both of you. I just need a simple yes or no answer and we can move past it to the more pressing matter. Do either of you two recall a reality that took place in which the world was reshaped by Wanda Maximoff?"

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Deception

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Jinx tilted his head back as he allowed the blood to pool backwards so it wouldn't spill onto the floor. It wasn't so much considerate so much that he didn't believe Reeva or Emma would appreciate the spillage of mutant blood in a mall. If they could gather wolverine's healing factor, imagine what they could do with his blood...if anything at all. He gave the two girls a death glare as they made their way out, the new mutant seemingly having chosen a side which in Leightons best interests, better be the same side he was offering. He was about to leave the mall, head home to get fixed up, until a guard stopped him. Apparently they needed to escort him to first aid, help patch him up, as well as ask a few questions about the assailant. "Oh, thank you so much. Please lead the way." Jinx gestured with his free hand for them to lead so he could follow.

Once inside the room they began to ask about the attacker, what she looked like. They wanted as much of a description as he could loan them. "Sorry if it's all a bit hazy man. Honestly I'm feeling a little woo-woo-woozy. She hit me real hard, I think she broke my damn nose! Do you have any ibuprofen, or something for the pain? Anyways, the description of her..." He didn't want to blame the mutie in case she did noin them, so he thought back on some of the attackers from the Mutant Underground. Ice bitch was too blonde to be either Leighton or the newbie but the invisible force field lady had the same hair as her so perhaps he could use that to his advantage. "She was about ye tall. 5 ft 5 or so? She had densely thick curly dark brown hair, fairly pale skin, and her eyes were like this blueish color? It was a bit hard to see past the hair and hood. I'm not even sure what she wanted because luckily you guys showed up in the nick of time."

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“I know, Casper. It’s good that he has a big brother who cares so much, huh?” James said, mentally agreeing to meeting Max before the connection frayed. He’d have a private conversation with Veil over that. He wasn’t going to do anything without discussing the problem with her but Max was a problem. His ability to do these things in conjunction with the power he displayed in the other world worried James and staying on friendly terms with him was important. He’d rather not have someone else start teleporting things and people into the new hideout.

“Come on. Let’s walk and talk.” James said as he followed Jack. “The rat wasn’t a death threat. He meant to send a chocolate cake but Max’s control over his abilities have always been… tentative at best. Generally being prepared for a worse case scenario is best while in his vicinity.” James sighed as he explained. “He means well, he really does, but an optimistic attitude and a heart of gold don’t count for much when the consequences of your actions worsen the situation. That being said, he’s far more powerful now that he used to be and if I know Max, he’ll try running before he can walk again. Hopefully, I’m wrong.” Something occurred to him and he turned to Casper.

“Do you know what the date is? I’m not sure when the Prin- I mean, Wanda brought us back.” James corrected himself, a bit of the old world slipping out.

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Thankfully, just more or less talking things out somewhat did actually seem to help her somewhat. Her mind was finally starting to slow down regarding everything that had happened in House of M, though she hadn't expected Veil to just say that she believed her. Though based on her words, it sounded like Casper might have said something like that, relating to the entire thing. Sapphire's brain was just trying to calm down, and she started to take several deep breaths, just focusing on her breathing in order to stop her heart from racing.

"I really did not expect you to say that you believed me at all," she said softly, looking her friend in the eye as she listened to what she was saying regarding needing to take off somewhere in order to help someone. "Alright... I think I'll be fine now Veil... You can make me visible now... And thanks, for just letting me get that off of my chest... So, what's the plan and I'll be honest, I'm kind of looking for a fight. Punching someone, or something, would probably be helpful to me."

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Jack expected that Casper wasn't exactly going to drop the subject regarding Alexis anytime soon. Of course, since his brother knew him decently well, he probably would be the only person in the Underground who'd actually be able to tell if there was something wrong with him. Jack was a bit of a con artist after all, so he was able to hide what was going through his head decently well from others. Though he knew that Casper seemed to be wanting to discuss the entire thing, but he certainly was not.

He headed downstairs, leaving Casper in the hallway with James and Waverly, figuring that he might see about what was going on with the others now. Walking into the training room, he glanced over at Callie and Sunshine, "Hey there rookie," he said towards Sunshine with a slight wave before looking over at Callie. "So, what exactly is going on?" he asked either one of them, he didn't really care much for whoever answered him, since he wasn't even sure what the mission or whatever it was was.

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Luna hadn’t noticed much of a temperature drop in the room when she had first entered. The weather difference in Britain compared to here was on the chiller side so she never minded the cold much. She did notice it now as it seemed to drop drastically and she could see her breath. Luna shifted, worried the heat had shut off and was about to leave until she heard Sapphire freaking out but couldn’t see her. Instinctively, Luna started to reach out with her mind, on guard but quickly pulled back and shut her eyes for a moment. Veil was in control it seemed and knew Sapphire was here so Veil was probably keeping Sapphire invisible. Relax Braddock, Luna chastised herself mentally.
She watched Sapphire come back into existence, opting to remain in the room with them rather than go off with Spark Plug and Sunshine. Luna had found Sunshine’s comment amusing since she was from a well off family, considered royalty of her own and yet her name made no indication towards that. She focused back on Veil and Sapphire. ”Did I hear that Scarlet Witch rewrote reality?” Luna didn’t mean to pry but it was kind of hard not to and with how Sapphire was reacting, there was no way she was blowing smoke. ”That would explain Cayden saying Casper was at Magneto’s Palace,” Luna noted. So why did Sapphire and some of the others remember this reality but not her.

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Cayden chuckled at Casper’s surprise and nodded. ”You are part of the team Cas. It isn’t that weird she wants to talk to you,” he said and clasped his shoulder. ”I did also kind of mention what you yelled at me before you took off to find your brother… Then she sent me to come find you but it seems you, James and Jack all know something,” he noted. He looked at the three of them before Jack left.
He looked at Waverly still holding the dead rat and twisted his mouth. ”Ya, maybe you should put that down,” he noted. They had all been seeming to talk about Max as well and chocolate cake and the dead rat. Cayden’s eyebrows furrowed with confusion that didn’t cease as they all started to move off. That was maddeningly unhelpful but at least they were heading down to go and talk to Veil. Maybe all would be explained then. ”Oh, it’s the eighteenth, of December,” Cayden offered up helpfully when James asked what day it was.

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The Hellfire Club Headquarters -

Polaris glanced at her phone and frowned deeply, before placing it back in her pocket. "I have to go," she told those present, before leaving the room and taking the elevator without another word. She didn't give an explanation as to where she was going, but that wasn't uncommon. Members of the Hellfire Club were not required to give a detailed itinerary of their comings and goings. Additionally, Sage had discretely bugged all of their phones. Every message went through her and everyone's location was monitored.

Speaking of messages, Sage scanned the text that Leighton had sent to Max. She discretely deleted it from her records without a second of hesitation. "Ice Queen has the target," she informed Reeva and Anastasia robotically. "Jinx is still at the mall. I'm not sure why they've separated."

Reeva nodded her head. She tapped her fingernails rhythmically as she thought. "Have Pyro tail them, please," she requested. "I'm afraid I don't have anything else to suggest for you, Anastasia. But I'm certain that you have a busy day ahead of you with important people to meet and greet, so I won't hold you here any longer. Be safe - and take a coat. It's rather chilly."

The Road -

Desiree and Leighton would be able to make it to a small strip mall without too much issue. There were a variety of stores there where they could find a place to talk. There was a nail salon, a Wendy's, a Chick Fil A, a Dunkin Donuts, a mattress store, and a UPS Store. The parking lot itself wasn't too crowded, but the snow was starting to come down hard, making it difficult to see the outlines for the parking spaces. On the bright side, Desiree's voice would (finally!) return to her.

The Mall -

The nurse running the First Aide room nodded sympathetically, grabbing a dose of ibuprofen and filling a plastic cup up with some water. "Here, this'll help with the pain sweetie," she told him. She had a name tag on, giving her name as WANDA. Unlike Jinx's (ex?)-best friend, she had freckles smeared all over her face and her hair was hidden by a hijab. The security officer on duty wrote down the description Jinx gave him, before handing him his card - it was just a generic one for mall security. "Give us a call if you remember anything else, okay, son?" he said. His name tag said PETER.

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Sunshine huffed in annoyance. It seemed stupid to let Leighton and Max and all prance around perfectly alive and well. They had joined up with murderers, thieves, liars, and worst of all, the rich. The sooner those two were out of the picture, the better mutants everywhere would be. At least they were going to stop by the food court. Her hunger was just about the only thing as important as her rage. "Fiiiiine," she grumbled. Sunshine dragged her feet slightly as she followed Spark Plug up to where the vehicles were kept.

A sudden, sharp pressure filled Veil's head. Her initial response was panic as Tome's voice filled her mind. He had apparently connected her with Ice Queen as well. Even though he claimed he couldn't hear her thoughts or read her mind, Veil didn't trust him. She shut her eyes tightly, just in case he was going to try to sensory scry. Telepaths learned to do that back at the Xavier Institute. "One moment, everyone," she told those gathered around her.

Sapphire reappeared, as Veil stopped keeping her invisible. She was keeping her mental concentration on having her mind be blank, worried that she might betray herself or their location. She raised a single finger to those gathered around her, unaware as to what they were doing as her eyes were still shut. "Tome has established a magical connection with my mind... and Ice Queen's. He's asking if I know a world reshaped by the Scarlet Witch," she told her friends.

Sunshine stopped in her tracks instantly, doing a sharp about face. She had been about to go aboveground. She was frozen in the entranceway, before she made her way back into the training room. Spark Plug could wait. The Scarlet Witch had reshaped a world? Would that... Could that... She avoided making eye contact with Jack, not even acknowledging his greeting. Tears started to form in her eyes in spite of herself. "D-Do you want me to knock you out?" she asked Veil, sniffling as the tears began to fall, gross and heavy.

"I'm not going to acknowledge the connection," Veil said. "I don't trust them enough to speak with them this... intimately."

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Casper nodded, completely in agreement with Waverley. He couldn't believe that Max would send them a dead rat by accident. It was definitely a message, a threat that Max was going to come for them and decapitate them all while dressed in stylish corporate garb. James was far too easy and forgiving when it came to Max. "Have you ever seen those videos of Russian traffic accidents? That's what Max is - one big ass accident that'll get a million likes but god forbid you ever see one in person or it'll traumatize you," Casper argued. "Even if he didn't mean to send us a death threat, the fact that he's got reach into where we live, shit, and eat means that he could send a nuke by mistake next time." He wasn't going to bring up the next portion of his argument, not in current company. Max had been the one to kill Waverley's mom. What if he killed James' relatives next? Or Veil's undoubtedly extremely Canadian parents?

"I actually do agree with you on this one. He's like the Scarlet Witch... Just I'm not sure if he's crazier than her or not," Ben commented. He was walking along with James and Casper, trailing just a few inches behind him. He could have walked on ahead, but he hated passing through people. It felt weird.

Casper walked down the staircase, trying to remember what the last date he remembered was. He wasn't really a big person when it came to keeping track of a calendar. The last time he had done that was when he had been counting down the days until his first date with James. "Does the eighteenth sound right to you?" he asked James. "I kinda forgot that calendars were things until now, going to be honest...." his voice trailed off. He could hear someone crying in the training room. There were a lot of voices in there. It must have been where people were assembling for the mission.

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“I’m less afraid of him dropping something in here and more afraid of that he’ll just start plucking us from our beds, honestly. He can find anyone as long as he has a little information on them and his teleportation magic in Wanda’s fantasy was powerful. He found Casper in New Orleans while we were in New York and then he dropped us right outside like it was nothing. Since we have no way of defending ourselves against that, maintaining a working relationship with him may not be a horrible idea especially if it buys us time to figure out a defense.” James explained. He sent a thankful smile to Cayden for the date. “But we have bigger fish to fry, though I’m not convinced it’s coincidence we have a Hellfire related issue and Max reached out at the same time.”He chuckled at Casper’s comment and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“That’s fair babes. I only really pay attention because of system maintenance but I think the last date I remember is the 10th? Or the 9th but I think the 10th is right.” Which means that they lost around a week and James very much intended to figure out what exactly went on those days. He didn’t like walking around with a giant hole in his memory filled with an entire other life. His head prickled uncomfortably at the thought, the panic starting to press at his temples again. He squeezed Casper’s hand a little tighter.

The scene that met them in the training room made James tense, hand going instinctively where a gun should be as he scanned the room. Veil was standing in the middle of the room with her eyes shut and a finger held out and Sunshine was watching her, sobbing. He forced himself to relax and bolted to Sunshine, immediately wrapping her in a hug even though he knew he’d probably get hit for startling her. “Hey, hey. What’s going on? DO you need to get out of here?” James asked her softly.