Framing A Moose

The Gifted - Concluded

---

---

---

Location: Hellfire Bay
Skills:

---

---

"I-I'm fine, I'm fine," Waverley mumbled, the words inaudible in the plague of deafness she'd accidentally brought down on her team. She was lying, of course; she'd just lost her hand, of course she wasn't alright. She could still feel the heat on her cheeks, and the distinct absence of a part of her masked only by the pain caused by its departure. Still, she waved away Callie's worry with her good hand, struggling to get up to her feet. In the end, she had to grab onto Spark Plug's wrist, using the woman for support as she pulled herself up.

"P-Payge, I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can, we took care of the Children...b-but we lost the Marauder," Waverley shouted with both her voice and her mind as she held her bleeding nub, forcing herself to take deep breaths. It was odd. Even in such an drastic haze of pain, in such an intense situation, she had an absurd realization: even in a world where radio waves weren't the primary form of communication, she still played played the part of human telephone. Funny how one can get so used to something like that.

The Gifted - Concluded

---

---

---

Location: Hellfire Bay
Skills: Perception

---

---

"Children of the Vault?" Waverley repeated aloud as the words echoed through her mind in the voice of Reeva Payge. She didn't entirely understand Reeva's explanation, or how some sort of time vault was supposed to grant superpowers. Artificial evolution, perhaps? And Desiree...had she heard that name before? It didn't matter; they sounded bad, so she'd fight them. Hopefully she wouldn't have to kill them. That was a line she hadn't crossed yet, and one she didn't much want to cross, even if she had been shoved into the unfamiliar role of soldier. She shifted her attention back onto the fight at hand, watching the rascally bomb guy flop to the ground after an attack from Sunshine and Echo finish off the water guy. She gave a firm nod to Callie, eyes already on the stone guy. But they then flicked to the fallen bomber and got an idea.

"Gimme a sec and I'll be on it," she said, before taking off towards the fallen body. She kneeled over him, beginning to rummage through his things, looking for the source of his bombs. She smirked when she felt cold, cylindrical metal. She pulled it out, her movements quick, and she could feel her thumb slip over some sort of button. And that was the last thing she felt with that thumb. The flash of bright light drowned out her vision, and her mind emptied of everything except her powers going into overdrive, amplifying the waves of the explosion and those of her screams, turning them into one horrifying sound that deafened all those close enough to hear it.

When she came to, she was on her back, ears ringing, vision blurry. Her face was sprinkled with dark smudges of soot, and she coughed as she pushed herself into a semi-sitting position. It was only then that she saw her hand - or rather lack thereof. There, where her right hand should've been, was instead a stump of bleeding flesh, a gnarled and broken bone sticking out the end, reaching for something which was no longer there. She could feel her heart thundering away inside her chest, and her breath start to come in short, unsatisfying gasps. Her body began to tremble as her head began to whirl, growing dizzy as she laid there. On top of everything, she could feel herself being pulled harshly into a panic attack - a bad one.

The Gifted - Concluded

---

---

---

Location: Hellfire Bay
Skills: Sound Wave Manipulation, Radio Wave Manipulation

---

---

"Nuh uh," Waverley replied, as uncertain of the strange wording of the transmission as Harry. She was so caught up in the transmissions that she didn't notice Sunshine and Marrow until the latter spoke up, and even then she only greeted them with a distracted wave as the gears turned in her head. "Do you think Three in One and Reeva's telepathic channel is still active? Hold on, let me try; Hey Three in One, it's Waverley, Waverley Watts, with the Underground. Not sure if you remember me, I'm the one with the purple - it doesn't matter. If you can hear me, I need to know if you know anything about a vault. I overheard it in a transmission, and-" Waverley's verbal and mental message was cut off by the arrival of their strange attackers, her eyebrows furrowing. She'd been expecting crowds of rifle-wielding humans, not a stone giant, a water elemental and -

"Leo?" she said, her head tilting a bit to the side. She'd been obsessed with that whole series before joining up with the Underground. Part of her wanted to crack a joke about them needing air to have all four elements, but then she saw water form around Sunshine's head, and any intention of throwing quips was wiped from her mind. She reached out her hand to the waterboy, getting ready to send out an attack to follow Callie's lightning, but instead she felt manipulation of sound waves - not her own - beginning to lower his temperature. That was certainly a cool trick. She'd have to see if she could figure it out sometime later. She shot a glance over to Harry just in time to catch his protective rage, which inspired a smile from her as she shifted her hand towards the stone giant.

"Yeah! And that includes the in-laws!" she added, before snapping her fingers, her index pointed outward at the hulking warrior as her thumb stretched up to the sky. She amplified the sound, blasting it out towards him, causing deep cracks to form in his stony skin, hopefully deep enough for Marrow to dig into. She pulled her middle finger back to her thumb, readying another snap, but then the mischievous one began to pop around, plopping down bombs with every hop. Waverley took a step back, mentally shifting from the simpler, more concrete feeling of sound waves back to the softer, more subtle feel of radio waves. As soon as she opened her mind to try and feel the bombs, she was bombarded by an undecipherable mass of transmissions. Figuring out more about the bombs would be like trying to pick out a single quiet conversation in a loud, condense crowd.

"Echo, do you think some of your boys could try catching the dimension dooring demigod while I figure out what's going on with these bombs?" she asked, her voice low in hopes that their foes wouldn't hear. She tried to focus her mind, reaching out for the bombs again, but even with all her focus, she was having difficulties.

The Gifted - Concluded

---

---

---

Location: Magda Memorial Housing Complex -> Hellfire Bay
Skills: Radio Wave Manipulation

---

---

Waverley, like most everyone in Genosha, awoke with start by a voice that didn't belong to her or her dreams. She attempted to slam her hand down on the source of the noise, hoping to quiet the voice, but this only ended with the palm of hitting her temple, waking her up further. She sat up with a groan, seeing Kris across from her similarly getting up. It took a moment to wrap her head around the words that rippled through her mind, but when she did, she let out a huff.

"Uh, yeah, me too," she said after she heard Stareyes' check in, "Waverley here, ready to...do whatever, I guess. What exactly is happening?" As soon as she asked, an image was implanted in her mind: the beautiful Hellfire Bay. She supposed that was where she was meant to be. She through on her hoodie, a pair of jeans, and her tennis shoes, keeping her back to Kris as she did; they were friends, but she didn't feel they were 'changing together without feeling weird,' level of friends yet. As she followed Kris out, she grabbed her new gadget - a sleek metal baton that looked much more high tech than her usual rebar. It was a gift from the kids at Akademos, a baton that converted vibrations she sent into it into raw, concentrated power. She'd experimented a bit with it, but if things went south on the bay, then this would be her first time using it against actual people.

She stepped towards the apartment's exit - the quicker she could get to the bay, the better - but she stopped when she overheard Harry at Max's door. It would appear that walking wouldn't be a necessity. She followed the two out of the apartment, sticking closer to Harry than Max.

"I see you're all dressed for the occasion," she joked with a smirk, used to Harry making her feel underdressed - she was sure she could be dressed up to the nines, and she'd still feel like it was her laundry day standing next to him. There was tension in her glibness, though. She hadn't had to fight a real fight since coming to Genosha. Callie was already waiting outside for someone to get her where she needed to go, and Waves gave her a small nod before Max begun on his spell. Waverley held her breath as he did his somatic motions, always tense when he performed his strange arcane magics. Luckily, the first try sputtered out with no ill effects, and the second one was a success. With a sigh, she stepped through.

"Gimme a sec," she mumbled as she found herself at Hellfire Bay. Without wasting any time, she reached out her mind, and was immediately pummeled by a massive wave of indecipherable waves. She visibly winced at the mental onslaught, but managed to focus her mind, the words becoming a little clearer. "Something...something about the Vault?" she voiced. "There's at least five I can make out. Maybe more."

The Gifted - Concluded

---

---

---

Location: Magda Memorial Housing Complex
Skills:

---

---

Waverley was surprised when Havok begrudgingly apologized. She'd expected him to blow up, storm off to a room that wasn't his like Max had. It was a...welcome surprise. She relaxed a little, her lips curving up into a small smile as she gave Havok a encouraging pat on the arm. "You're fine, dude," she reassured, before tensing up at the familiar sight of Max doing magic down the hall. She whirled her head over to see exactly the boy was up to, only to get a look at his newly crafted sign. Part of her wanted to chew him out for using his vastly dangerous and unpredictable powers so frivolously, but the more wholesome (and powerful) part of her just wanted to make a sign of her own. So instead of charging after Max, she got to work rummaging around the apartment.

"Oh, that'd be dope!" she called back to Casper from the kitchen, gathering the stuff she'd need to make her own DIY sign. She came back, holding up a freshly torn piece of paper from her notebook up to the door of one of the rooms as she began to write, talking as she did, inserting herself into Casper and James' hypothetical restaurant plan. "Maybe we could name all the foods after the Mutant Underground members! The Ben Egg-toplasm Surprise, or the Kingston Coffee, or Sunshine-y side up eggs, or Echo and Veil's French Toast? I know they're technically from Canada, but that's kinda French!" she added, before stepping back, revealing her sign.

'Waverley + _______'s Room

Come on in!'

A rather big smiley face took up the bottom third of the paper, and matched Waverley's own grin. "Perfect. I'm good with rooming with whoever. Now, to this Lagoon?" She offered, before seeing Valkyrie's state, her smile faltering. "Er, unless you don't want to, Z. We can eat here if you'd prefer."

The Gifted - Concluded

---

---

---

Location: Magda Memorial Housing Complex
Skills:

---

---

Waverley's lips jutted out as she waited for an answer to her lunch inquiry, dropping her arm from her stomach when it seemed no one was going to comment. For her, the decision was pretty much made up for the time being, and the idea of food was much more appealing than the idea of continuing a discussion in which she had already decided her side. Much like Veil, Waverley tensed up at Max's magic, though for different reasons. Part of her prepared to lash out with a sonic blast in case this was when Max finally snapped, but when the magical light instead created some sort of shield around the inner walls of the apartment, she relaxed. So much so she snorted a little at James' joke.

"I think there's a spell for that...try Accio Viagra," she added, unable to fight of the smirk that overtook her face. It faltered, though, when Havok began pointing fingers at those of them who'd awoken early. She stepped towards him, hoping to cash in on any good will she'd earned by checking on him earlier to calm him down. "Dude, if you really think you're in a country of enemies, treating your friends like shit is probably a bad call," she warned, before letting out a sigh. It seemed like a decision had been made. With a hopeful tone in her voice, she added, "Soooo...a yes to staying, and a maybe to food?"

The Gifted - Concluded

---

---

---

Location: Magda Memorial Housing Complex
Skills:

---

---

”And what exactly are we hoping to find by snooping? Some singular big secret that’ll prove that this place is evil? And are we gonna be content if we find nothing?” Waverley asked, rattling off the hypothetical questions one after the other. Rather than taking a seat anywhere, she had opted to instead alternate between anxiously pacing around the living area of their new home, and forcing herself to stand mostly still, inevitably fidgeting and chewing on her nails as she did.

”I just think…I just think it’s worth giving this place a try. At least for a little while. Who knows, maybe we learn that we can help most here, right?” Waverley continued with a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. Despite the subtle suspicion that she’d felt upon waking up in Genosha, the suspicion which still itched away in the pit of her stomach, she wanted to believe they had a future in Genosha. And while the root of that desire was Sunshine’s vehement endorsement of the place, it had only grown with the ceremony. She’d always told herself that doing the right thing for its own sake was all that mattered, not fame. But after a taste? She had to admit that she could see the appeal. Sure, the spotlight terrified her, but she loved…well, being loved. It was an exciting new feeling for somebody who’d been a nobody to most everybody they’d ever known. It was…addictive.

”Whatever we decide to do, though…we should do it together. We’re still the Mutant Underground, even if we aren’t super underground at the moment,” she paused for a moment, before lowering her hand to her stomach. ”Also…anyone else down to discuss this over some lunch? I feel like I haven’t eaten in, well, five months.”

The Gifted - Concluded

---

---

---

Location: Carousel
Skills: Radio Wave Manipulation, Perception

---

---

Waverley pulled back a little as Havok spun around and begun his rant. She’d assumed that his rage had been one of humiliation, but it sounded like it was more one of worry. As he quieted, Waverley let out a deep sigh, nodding her head in solemn understanding.

”I…I get what you mean. If you’d told me a year ago that I’d share an area code with the Magneto, I’d have…”she began to say, eyes shooting to Magneto, though she was quickly distracted by the trio of blondes who collectively blew her a kiss as they walked past. The action caused blood to flow to her cheeks in a ferocious blush, a wide, dorky smile spreading across her lips as she lifted a hand, replying with an awkward wave. She stood there like that for a few seconds too long, her hand limply raised up. She was pulled back to reality by Callie’s voice, seeing her standing there with her and Havok. She cleared her throat as she did her best to shake the daze off.

”Right, yeah, what Spark Plug said. It’s not like America is any safer…or morally superior, for that matter. Only difference is here, there’s a chance we might be able to have some amount of say in how things are done. So let’s just…see how it all goes, and worse comes to worse, we can dip and put the ‘underground’ back into ‘Mutant Underground’,” she suggested, giving a warm smile and a half shrug to Havok.

The Gifted - Concluded

---

---

---

Location: Carousel
Skills: Radio Wave Manipulation, Perception

---

---

Waverley quickly stepped back almost as soon as she called out her name, cringing a bit at the disjointed chants that followed her pathetic attempt at a grand introduction. Luckily, within seconds, the attention was off her and back on her team. The rest of the introduction went without a hitch; well, without many hitches. There was Casper's so-called 'cannonball' and Warlock's witchy hijinks. Waverley thought about joining the former, only to remember how little she liked being in crowds let alone riding them. And he latter...well, the latter admittedly caused a small smirk to break out on her lips. It wasn't awful to see Havok be the butt every now and then. Maybe it'd do something to his attitude. Still, she shook her head in disapproval; Havok or not, it was a dick move on Warlock's part. They were a team, and needed to act like such, especially in such uncharted waters.

There was one more hitch in the introductions, one that particularly distracted Waves: Echo calling his name out to the crowd, before attempting a shameful retreat from the stage. Waverley made a motion to go and stop him, but saw that Veil - along with her abilities - were coming to her brother's rescue. Before Waves could give another thought to trying to help the two, Magneto stepped up with Reeva's mention of tokens. She practically jumped as the ex-terrorist (or hopefully ex-terrorist) launched these tokens at them, small bits of meteorites for every one of them. Her mind instinctively reached out, caressing the thing for any signs of signals, but she found nothing. It was surreal. The people who Waves had grown up learning to fear from the news, the people they'd once fought, now stood with them handing out awards in front of a roaring crowd. It was like Waverley's biggest dream had a baby with her worst nightmare. Still, it wasn't enough to stop the idea of putting them all together to make a Sokka meteorite sword from shoving its way into the forefront of her mind. She raised her head to voice this thought, only to see Havok quite literally throw the gift away and run off their little podium.

"Shit, someone should probably go check on him," Waverley said, shooting a glance out at Polaris once more. She wasn't sure what exactly she was expecting of the ferrokinetic, maybe to either help catch her ex or find the precious space stone, one of the two, but she didn't entirely expect either. It was made clear pretty quick by Waverley's actions that when she had said 'someone' she meant herself. She felt about Havok the same way she had about Sapphire; he could be kind of a dick, but he was still family. In a lot of ways, he reminded her of her actual brother; a semi-charismatic douchebag with a temper. She gave an awkward wave to the Quiet Council, then curtsied (in her jeans, mind you) to the crowd of chanting mutants, before quickly vamoosing from the stage. It didn't take long to find Havok. When she did, she grabbed gently onto his arm and did her best to stop him in his tracks with her limited physical prowess. "Dude, are you good? If this is about what Warlock did up there, we can have a talk with him later. That was a dick move on his part, I'd probably be fuming too."

The Gifted - Concluded

---

---

---

Location: Carousel
Skills: N/A

---

---

Stepping out onto the stage at the Carousel was like a nightmare for Waverley. It appeared as though her newfound confidence was limited to assault and other stupid decisions, and did not stretch to protect her from good old fashion stage fright. The presence of the Quiet Council didn't help; they were all people she'd long since learned to fear, so feeling their eyes watching her and her friends was unsettling to say the least. And somehow, the strangely dressed stranger somehow managed to be even more intimidating, an impressive feat given her company. It was moments like this (and many others) that Waverley found herself jealous of Veil's ability to disappear. She did her best to do so mundanely, sticking near the back and hoping to become just another face among the Underground. She watched as her friends went up and did their things, clapping along, snickering slightly at Havock's fuck up.

Then, right after James stepped up to say his part, there was an undeniable path for her to the forefront of the stage. Her mind immediately went haywire, trying to figure out if she was expected to go up now, or if the pathway left for her was simply an accident. Her body eventually made the decision for her, putting one reluctant foot forward, then another, then another. Her hands were nervously clutched together in front of her, her legs threatening to collapse out from under her from the nerves. She stood quietly in the front for a solid few moments, frozen in place, staring out at the crowd of strangers. Or, well, mostly strangers. Seeing Polaris in the front row was...oddly comforting? She was by no means a friendly face - their only interaction had left Waverley traumatized - but she was a familiar one, which was more than could be said for most everyone else there. Waves let out a deep breath, her shoulders sagging a bit as she forced herself to relax.

"Uh, Waverley...Watts. Waverley Watts. Or Waves. Sometimes I go by Feedback? It's, like, my superhero name...or whatever. Really anything is cool, I'm cool with anything," she said, before giving a small, demure wave.