February 17th, 2021 - 1:10 PM
Casper Theriot
Location: the Glitter Factory
Skills: Mediumship
Casper bowed his head slightly, clasping his hands together like in prayer. "You won't regret this - at least, not immediately, I swear," he promised. He didn't remember dating Christian Frost. That wasn't really too surprising. Before James, Casper had only ever dated people if he needed a new drug hookup or if he was tired of couch surfing. He hadn't exactly been an indoor cat. In fact, he was pretty certain that he had once accidentally slept with one of Jack's boyfriends - or had it been the other way around?
He pranced slightly into the room, pecking James on the cheek with a kiss. Casper loved the Glitter Factory. Every twenty minutes, glitter came down from the ceiling like confetti. The strobe light was always going, enough to give anyone with even mild epilepsy a seizure. And the boys - no, the men - on the poles had such fine chiseled abs, you could get lost in them for days. He couldn't help but wonder how James would feel about having a threesome one of these days.
"Keep your mind out of the gutter," Ben reminded Casper, but his heart wasn't really in it. While he was a ghost, Ben was still a gay man - and he never admitted it, but he enjoyed the Glitter Factory as much as Casper did.
Sadly, Casper didn't get to enjoy his surroundings very long, as Echo came running from the dressing rooms, screaming like Admiral Ackbar. "What do you mean it's a trap? Like, the prices for the booze here are outrageous and it's a trap? Or that you thought you had fallen in love with a stripper but they're just using you for the money and it's a trap? Or that your long lost lover was back there and you thought you ended things but they've come back for child support and they're suing you and it's a trap? Or..." Casper rambled.
He could hardly see the hooded figure stumble out of the dressing room. He didn't need to see them though. He heard the gunshot go off and a second later, Casper found himself on the ground unexpectedly. He felt his chest, knowing that it was burning or something, and he pulled away his hand, finding blood - glitter fell down from the ceiling and people started to scream as they ran for the emergency exits.
Havok stumbled, losing his balance after Champion shocked him. His hair was standing up like he had just stuck his finger in a socket - which, he guessed, he basically had. As he tried to regain his balance, Havok ended up crashing into Veil. Veil fell forward from the sudden impact, scraping up her knees as she hit the ground - it was a miracle that her cloak of invisibility around them all held up. "What the hell was that for?" Havok whispered angrily, trying not to ruin the mission. "You could've gotten us all exposed, kid."
"Calm down, Havok," Veil said softly, getting back up to her feet. She brushed her hands on her jeans. Her palms and knees were red, but there was no harm done overall. They were inside the lobby of the building. It was a little after lunch time, so they needed to move quickly and hope any bureaucrats returning would stay out of the way. Veil knew the room they were looking for - room 97 - and she pursed her lips slightly.
Thankfully, they were lucky. She saw a visitor's map next to a bench on the far side of the lobby. She quietly moved across, trying her best not to let her feet click-clack on the tile flooring. The floor reminded her a bit of a chess board with its black and white pattern, and it was hard to believe how ornate all of the decorations were around her. It screamed wealth. Veil picked up the map and to any bystanders, it would have looked like the map just disappeared. "This way, it's in the east wing, room 97," she whispered to the group, before heading down a hallway that led to the east wing.
She just hoped that everyone could hold it together a little while longer. Tensions were high. Sapphire was having some sort of traumatic response. Havok was being an ass as usual.
Sunshine
Location: Ronald Regan Airport -> Mutant Underground: Entranceway
Skills: N/A
"You're not useless... At least, not totally useless," Sunshine corrected him once she had caught her breath. She stood to her feet and frowned. She felt on edge. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing up. It was so incredibly quiet here, quieter than it had ever been. No one answered Max's calls and deep down, her gut was telling her that they were alone. She poked her head into the dining room and into the training room, seeing nothing. Maybe everyone was upstairs asleep, but in the middle of the day? It didn't sit right with her.
"No one else is here," she told Max, frowning. "Maybe... Maybe Jack did something to them."