Framing A Moose

The Gifted - Concluded

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Location: Mutant Underground - Dining Room
Skills: N/A

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Waverley's elbow rested atop the old wood table, with one hand resting on her bent rebar while the other lightly thumbed her forehead, where her injury had been. It was gone now, thanks to James, but it still hung fresh in her memory. She seemed lost in her own thoughts up until the moment Veil spoke, at which point she raised her head to look her way. As soon as she revealed she had a lead on where Sunshine and Max were, Waverley's lips parted, getting ready to volunteer as soon as she was done speaking. That time never came, however, as she was interrupted by a sudden gust of wind and a form appearing before them. Waves jumped to her feet, the useless bent rebar in hand, prepared to attack the intruder, but she sat back down with a relieved sigh when she realized it was only Quicksilver. Only Quicksilver. Those were words she'd never thought would enter her head unironically.

Her eyes drifted down to the box as the silver-haired boy explained what was inside. The way he phrased it sounded awfully tit-for-tat-ish to her. She was thankful to have the cures for the team, of course, but the way he immediately tacked on the information about the White House's vaccines being targeted by the Hellfire Club made it feel like a transaction. One she wasn't sure about. Before she could voice her thoughts, she was distracted by Casper, whose gentle prodding at the X-Men caused her to smile, having to stifle a laugh.

"Oh Professor, your head is looking extra shiny tonight. Pray tell, what lotion did you use on it?" she added somewhat hesitantly, doing her best to mimic the mocking voice that Casper was speaking with. The X-Men had been her heroes growing up, and in many ways they still were. But living as a street-level supergrunt in the Underground had certainly guided her to adopting a less idolizing attitude towards the privileged superhero group. For a moment she felt nervous about Quicksilver hearing her, but when she glanced to where he had been, he was gone. Seeing that, she looked over to Veil, the smile from Casper's comment still on her face. "Y'know, this really is above our paygrade. The Underground exists to protect those who can't protect themselves, right? Something tells me that the President of the United States might not fall into that category."

X-Men: Cosmic Crusades 👽

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Iris Rivers

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Location: Living Room -> Kitchen -> Living Room
Skills:

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"Wait...is one of your superpowers sparkle manifestation?! That's dope! I'll trade you my fire powers for it!" Iris chirped up like an excited child wanting to trade baseball cards, her attention suddenly diverting away from Annie and instead to Klara as she sprinkled sparkles all over the new goth. The goddess only kept her gnat-like attention for a few seconds, for as soon as Annie sat down to begin her work on Beth, Iris waddled behind, ready to help. She stood there, waiting to help a lending hand, but it didn't take long to realize that Annie seemed to have it under control. As she waited, taking a few huffs from her joint, she looked to Neil, who appeared to be at the end of a painful laugh. Iris had to cover her mouth with her hand to keep herself from breaking out into her own laugh, though the corners of her grin peeked out from underneath her fingers.

"Sorry dude, I'll try to be more boring. From now on I'll limit myself to talking about taxes, DMVs, and the US Postal Service!" she promised. Though only seconds after she said it, it was like a lightbulb went off in her head. "Be back in a jiffy," she said, before quickly limping off towards the kitchen. She came back not long after, intently inspecting the box which the game had come in. "Hm...no return address unfortunately...still, this box might be able to tell you guys something. Or maybe not, I don't know." As she finished speaking, she offered the box out to the group, for anyone who might want to take a look at it.

Ω Heroes of Olympus: The Next Age of Heroes Ω

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Location: Base of Mount Othrys -> Garden of the Hesperides
Skills: (RR: Stealth)

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Waverley's body went rigid as Emily tossed her into the spotlight, telling the group about their exploits in the forest that surrounded them. She shifted her weight to the right, sidestepping out from behind Em to give the rest of her companions an awkward wave. At first she was unsure about the sudden attention from the people who'd just seen her have a panic attack and run away, but as words of encouragement began to come her way, a bashful smile rose to her face as a blush warmed her cheeks.

"Oh, um, I really did next to nothing. Em was the one to pin it so it wasn't able to sting," she added, soaking in the validation. Her smile wavered, however, when Nancy spoke her part. Her smile stayed on her face, though it was now accompanied by a brow furrowed with confusion and eyes that betrayed her attempts to hide the hurt the comment had caused her. She'd been so blindsided she'd simply forgotten to drop her smile.

"Um, thank you, I guess? I suppose I should've expected less..." She mumbled the second part. The word 'useless' had been thrown at her a lot in her life, often from cops and often followed by words like miscreant, thug, and a number of much less PC insults. But it stung much more when it was from Nancy. She'd never talked like that during training, or Karaoke Dodgeball. With the way she was acting, it was like she was drifting in a gray area between friend and cop. The thought dissolved into an unsettling tenseness in her head as they began to make their way up the mountain.

She followed a few meters behind Em and Marco stewing in her own anxiety. She usually didn't mind being the third wheel, as long as she could be everyone's third wheel, something that didn't seem to apply anymore. So rather than wearing her third-wheeldom like a badge of honor, she wallowed in it, soaking up the loneliness of being the Third-Wheel Club's sole member. She contemplated on inviting Niah into the club for a moment - she seemed to qualify, and she could write up the TWC's oath while Waverley made the t-shirts - but she was quickly pulled out of her self-pitying thoughts as the group waded into a radiant garden. Waverley seemed to light up, excited to see something borderline magical that wasn't trying to kill them. Her joy melted to horror, though, when she saw the massive reptile curled up around the base of the tree.

"Oh my God, is that the thing that froze Hermione? And why the hell are those apples so shiny?" she whispered, her voice in a low, hushed whisper to match the others.

Roll Request

If stealth rolls are required to keep from waking the slumbering beast, Waverley does have a stealth skill she can use

The Gifted - Concluded

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Location: In the Van
Skills:

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Waverley's gaze shifted back over to Sapphire as she spoke, her forehead crinkling in concern as she heard that neither Sunshine nor Max had made it back to the Underground hideout. She let out a worried huff from her nose, lifting her thumb to her mouth to lightly chew on her nail. It was a bad habit, but one she often took to when nervous. Where could they be? If they hadn't made it back into the Underground, then where could they possibly be? Then she felt the blood drain from her face.

"Do you think Max teleported her to the Hellfi-" just as the girl was about to string together yet another theory, she was interrupted by the loud crack of Glimpse's nose shattering under Jack's fist. She tensed up, her eyes going wide at the sudden combat, her body going still. Before she could jump into the fray herself, she saw Jack's hand speeding towards her. She heard the sound of the attack hitting her head before she felt it. In fact, it wasn't until she was on the ground that the injury began to make itself known, throbbing with intense pain. When she raised her hand to touch the wound, it felt like moving her arm through water, slow and weightless. And when she opened her eyes to check her hand for blood, her vision was blurry, and stars seemed to dot her peripheral. Even with the visual impairment, however, she could see the fuzzy outline of her hand drenched in bright red. She tried to push herself up off the floor, but the dizziness kept her grounded as she scrambled to get up. Her eyes turned to slits as she squinted, trying to understand what had just happened. Her vision sharpened a bit, just enough to see Jack trapped in one of Veil's forcefields, his hair all weird. "What's...?" she asked, her mind scrambling to put itself back together enough to think clearly.

X-Men: Cosmic Crusades 👽

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Iris Rivers

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Location: Blackbird Hangar -> Living Room
Skills: (RR: Survival Skills)

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"Oh, yeah, you got it!" Iris shouted down to Neil, ceasing her struggling to keep herself from swaying. It took a short while for anyone else to have another swing at getting her down, long enough for blood to begin pooling to her head, making her face go red. But eventually, a soft orange glow began to shine around her, severing the vines that held her. She let out a scream, one more of excitement than horror, as she plummeted towards the ground. When her fall was cushioned, the scream turned to a laugh as she sat up.

"Aw, dude, that was fun." She then looked back over to Ed, casually adding in, "I'm telling you guys, fire is never a good idea. You should just hire me on as a fulltime gardener instead!" as he rolled the dice. Suddenly they were back in the living room. Iris got to her feet, immediately looking to the table to find her still-smoking pot. She yoinked it up and shoved it between her lips, before looking at the other X-Men all gathered there, silently scanning the room. Her eyes eventually landed on Mira.

"I guess this means we lost, doesn't it?...Best two out of three anyone?" She asked, her lips twitching as she tried to fight back a grin. Eventually she couldn't hold it back anymore, and her lips stretched wide in her usual mischievous smile. She wordlessly stepped up next to Annie, wordlessly getting ready to help her with any first-aid she might need to do.

Roll Request

Iris would like to use her Survival Skills skill to help Annie with any first aid stuff she might do

Ω Heroes of Olympus: The Next Age of Heroes Ω

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Location: Somewhere in the Forest -> Hunters' Camp
Skills:

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"Oh, uh, wow, I don't know what to say...Thanks...but I think I'm okay. Go ahead and hold onto it, since you're better with stabbing and shit," Waverley insisted, holding a hand up to politely decline Emily's offer. "Besides, giving me a stinger that could kill with the smallest graze? I'd probably get myself killed in days." She quickly sauntered over to the giant boot's giant aglet. She began to fiddle with it, before it, and the rest of the boot, began fading away, leaving her lips jut out in a second-long pout before she began walking alongside Em back towards the Hunters' camp. She listened Em, letting the silence fill the space between the girl's words and her own response. When she finally spoke with a small, seemingly grateful smile.

"On the road, making family is a fast process. Takes maybe a fortnight or so, sometimes less. So yes, I think of you all as my kin...but that doesn't necessarily mean I fit in. I'm glad you do, and I'm glad you've found a home, but for me, I don't think that's New Rome. I can't fight, as anyone can see, and I'm not really good with authority. I'm not a soldier if we're to be completely honest...all I do is sing, wish, and let the universe do the rest." She said, before letting out a soft laugh, her shoulders relaxed, something not common for the anxious girl. "Longest I've ever lived in one place since joining the vagabond business, but even after all this time, I'm still homeless." She paused for a few more seconds, before furrowing her eyebrows together and looking back at Em. "Wait, hold on, say that again...there's such a thing as a dragon?"

After short while the Hunters' camp began to come into view between the array of trees that made up the forest. Waverley, who'd seemed calmed all the way back, suddenly tensed back up, her breath hitching in her throat. She'd never try to claim that the post-panic attack confrontation of those who'd witnessed it was as anywhere near as bad as the panic attack itself, but it certainly wasn't pleasant. Her pace slowed a bit, allowing Emily to take point as they arrived back at the camp.

The Gifted - Concluded

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Location: In the Van
Skills:

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Waverley gave a small nod when Veil voiced the soundness of her theory, her lips twitching up into a smile. As much as she tried to hide it, she could feel the joy such validation caused bubbling up inside her, causing her to lightly bounce on her heels. The excitement simmered down, though, when others of the mutant Underground begun to file in. She stood awkwardly to the side as Echo embraced Veil, sharing quiet words, only some of which Waverley could understand. For once, she was glad that she hadn't paid much attention in her high school French class. She already felt intrusive, and she didn't even understand what they were saying. Thankfully, and also disgustingly, Callie served as a distraction, beginning to nibble on Waverley's locks.

"Um, Callie, bud, let's maybe try practicing a little personal space, yeah?" Waverley suggested, leaning away from Spark Plug as she chewed on her hair. As soon as the blonde pulled her mouth away from her hair to vomit, she took a large step back. "Especially when you're vomiting your guts up." Her attention then turned to Sapphire, perking up as Veil asked the woman to go fetch James and Luna, seconds prior to Luna coming into the picture.

"Oh, and could you please get Sunshine too while you're at it?" She didn't have anything she actually needed from Sunshine, other than to make sure she was okay. But she figured that was enough. She then looked over to Luna, watching her mentally assess Jack, before pulling away with an answer. One that made her jaw drop. "Wait...September? He's had a mental worm in his brain for..." she had to pause a few seconds, quietly mumbling numbers as she did the math. "...for five months? That's...fucking not good at all. Can we fix it?...And what would Mister Sinister want with Sunshine? Is he trying to clone her?"

X-Men: Cosmic Crusades 👽

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Iris Rivers

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Location: Blackbird Hangar
Skills: Pyrokinesis

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"Wait, what? I thought ten thousand bucks would be, like...a hundred times what I'd need! Gods, why does everything have to be so expens-" Iris' words and rhythmic banging were interrupted as a pair of monkeys pulled her to the ground. As soon as they were on top of her, she began to wildly swing her hunk of rubble at them, spitting out a number of curses with more positive words like "adorable" and "lovable" sprinkled in as well. But with one bright flash of light, the pair were thrown off of her, allowing her to crawl back to her feet, somewhat wobblily so due to the knife wound in her leg.

"Ey, thanks for the assist Stark. I owe you a plate of cookies when we're done...but you have to share them with everyone," Iris said with a smile, before her attention was snagged away by Ed. She tilted her head to the side when she heard the man mention something about a song written by monkeys, but before she could inquire further, Bethany rolled, and vines crept forth from the ground. Iris looked uncertain when Ed suggested she use her fire, but she gave an reluctant thumbs up.

"Right, yeah, totally...need something torched, Hellfire's ya girl," she awkwardly replied, her enthusiasm wavering. She didn't love being asked to use her powers. She much preferred to be the freeloader of the X-Men, living rent free in a mansion and paying for it with positivity, wisecracking comments, and the occasional world-saving mission. But she clapped her hands together and stepped forward, taking a deep breath. "Alright, I guess it's time to face down my arch nemesis - actual responsibilities. Upsilon-AGH!" before she could give her powered delusion any commands, one of the vines curled around her, yanking her up high in the air. She felt like a beehive hanging from a tree.

"UPSILON, UPSILON, GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!" she screamed out as she hung upside down in the plant's grasp. Perhaps it was her heightened heart rate and intense emotional state, but blue flames began to whirl around her without a second's hesitation. Unfortunately, as the flames wrapped around the plants, they seemed to be less effective than one would've hoped. For perhaps the first time in the history of fire versus plant battles, the plants were winning. Her eyes flicked up to the fire dancing along the green vines, barely scorching them, before dropping her eyes back down to look at Upsilon on the ground. "Seriously dude?! You burnt down half of Oregon, but you can't even take out a vine? Don't tell me you're having performance anxiety!"

Ω Heroes of Olympus: The Next Age of Heroes Ω

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Location: Somewhere Alone in the Forest with Jinxing
Skills: Musical Mystiokinesis, Combative Magic, Singing, Guitar

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Waverley stumbled back as she watched a small forest of vines burst forth from Emily's thrown seeds, wrapping around the pit scorpion and holding it down in a tight grip. As Emily rushed forward, sword in hand, Waverley pulled out her own weapon, a small baton crafted from imperial gold, and she held it out in front of her. She visibly cringed when she saw it. Still she held onto it, though, right up until the moment Emily took a breather and spoke to her.

”Uh, stabbing's not really my thing...but I guess I could go ahead and sing. I don't know if I can kill it, but I can try. Let’s just hope it doesn’t going awry,” the young probatio replied, shoving her blunt weapon back into her belt. She then swung her hand out in front of her, summoning her real weapon: her instrument. The massive church organ stirred as its musician called it to her hand, inching toward her slowly, before quickly picking up speed until it was flying through the air. Admittedly, an organ flying through the air at her made Waverley clench her eyes shut tight, flinching backwards. But as it flew, it morphed, shrinking back to its guitar form, landing snuggly in Waverley's hand. It stung, like a baseball thrown too fast, but it was better than being crushed by an oversized piano. Waverley's eyes flickered open, and as soon as she saw the guitar in her hand, she got into a playing position and began to play.

These boots are made for walkin'
And that's just what they'll do
One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you

As Waverley's fingers danced along the strings of her guitar, resulting in a melodic rhythm filling the air. As she played, she poured her wish into the music: she wanted the gross bug thing dead. She didn't care how it was done: a massive can of Raid, an enormous rolled up news paper, or - or a giant boot, which was what began to form. It stitched itself together above the creepy crawly, starting with the thick metal toe, followed by the gargantuan leather body. Within seconds, it was a full boot, just as oversized as the pit scorpion. The shoe dropped down forcefully onto the creature, delivering a crushing blow to it. But even after the scorpion was pinned under the weight of the boot, it twitched and struggled, trying to escape its botanical prison.

The boot sat there unmoving as it struggled, causing Waverley cringe as she played, looking on apologetically as the creature writhed in pain. She'd been hoping for a clean kill. She hated seeing anything resembling an animal suffer, even if it was a monster. The universe seemed to hear her pity in her music, for, within a few seconds, the boot flew back up into the air, and fell once more, this time flattening the monster with one final strum of the strings from Waverley.

"Woah...was that me?......Nifty," she mumbled, breathing heavily from the encounter. Most of her combat experience was from training, and while this wasn't her first showdown with a monster, it was most certainly her first showdown with a big monster.

The Gifted - Concluded

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Location: In the Van
Skills:

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"Yeah, I get that. It's not for everybody," Waverley commented, continuing to comb her fingers through her her purple hair. Making casual conversation helped make it feel less like she was suspiciously watching her teammate, and more like she was simply engaging with her friends. And it seemed to work externally as well, as no one appeared to notice her staring. The conversation got less casual, though, when Veil dropped the bomb on what had happened while they were gone. Waverley wasn't sure she'd heard her right at first. She took her eyes off of Jack for a second, looking over to Veil with her eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"Magneto?! The Magneto?! Oh man, holy shit, this is fucked! This is super fucked!" Waverley mumbled out, slumping back in her seat. They'd had run-ins with some baddies, but Magneto? Magneto was a certified super villain. If she'd told her seventeen-year-old self that she'd be part of a team going toe to toe with Magneto, she would have laughed...and then had a panic attack. Even as it was, she could feel one coming on, but before it good dig its claws into her, she began taking deep breaths to sooth herself as they pulled into the Underground base.

It made sense why they staged a kidnapping. But why Sunshine? There were easier targets they could've taken.mThe new kids, Casper, Waverley herself, all of them would be easier to kidnap than Sunshine "Ready-To-Stab-A-Bitch-At-Any-Given-Moment" James. Not to mention the fact that they had her father do it. If it hadn't had been for Waverley waking up while Jack was doing the deed, they might've assumed the pair just went out for ice cream, and might've just waited for them to come back. Something...something didn't fit. But as she watched Veil step out of the van, followed by Callie, it snapped into place. She quickly followed the two out, gluing her eyes back on Jack through the car window as she did.

"Guys, guys, I got it," she spoke quickly, wanting to get her theory out before Jack got out of the car. If he was still tethered to Frost, she didn't want him to hear her crack the case. She huddled up close to Veil and Callie, before promptly backing up a few feet when Callie hurled blood onto the cement floor. "...We probably shouldn't've let you drive like that. But that doesn't matter. What does matter is this: I think they took Sunshine because they're afraid of her. I mean, think about it: she wouldn't be the easiest to kidnap, and using Jack to kidnap her wasn't a great idea in terms of raising suspicion either. The only reason to do it would be to...to make sure Sunshine didn't try to escape! To make her feel safe, so she wouldn't run back to the Underground and disrupt their plan! There must be some aspect of her power they're afraid of...but what could it be?"