Morose

Agents of SHIELD - Concluded

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@BlueSky44@Kirah@Nallore@Natsu

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EARTH 257 - 5:50 AM Nov. 14th, 2021 - S.W.O.R.D. HQ, the Iron

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Stolen Ship

Amelia was a bit taken aback, seeing how the console... fought back against Oliver? She didn't know it, but she was witnessing the latest event in a series of oddities, where the technology in this world seemed to almost be sentient, almost alive. She glanced up on the monitor, seeing how Celestine had dashed out of the tree-line, making a run for it. The other ships' fired on her, throwing down a gauntlet more or less - and miraculously, Celestine made it to the ship Amelia and Oliver had hijacked.

"Y'alright, mate?" Amelia asked, her eyes a little wide, but realizing that their situation had taken a turn for the worst. The other ships hadn't known that Amelia and Oliver were in there. And now, they knew that Celestine had hurried inside. One of the buttons on the console began flashing red.

"Someone's hailing us," Celestine said. She was very impulsive. She closed her eyes and put a hand on the console, using her strange powers to patch herself in. "And... I told them we handled it and are going to bring the prisoner back in for interrogation."

"So... Are we going to do the entire trope where Ollie and I dress up in their suits and pretend you're our prisoner?" Amelia suggested, willing to hear the ideas the others had.

"Actually, I'm hearing frequency chatter that the others have escaped - I can patch in and coordinate an extraction point," Celestine suggested. Both of them looked at Oliver, waiting to see his thoughts on the situation and have him weigh in.

"I think either sounds fine to me, 'course that console seems a bit weird, it shocked Oliver," Amelia said. "Ya sure you can control it?"

"Well, that's because the console is alive," Celestine murmured. "His name is P.H.I.L."

Hallway Adjacent to Interrogation Room Z11 - Basically everyone now -

"It's... a long story," Bonnie admitted to Cass, as Cass asked where she had gotten the armor from. Greek armor was a little bit of an oddity. Bonnie had found the transformation necklace in a letter addressed to her, written in ancient Greek. She had managed to cobble together a translation using SHIELD's translation software, but even that hadn't been perfect. It was enough, though, for her to get a rough idea of the message. For whatever reason, the goddess Athena was interested in her. Thankfully, Cass also seemed to agree that now wasn't the time to talk about it - honestly, it never seemed to be the time to talk about the Greek goddess of it all.

Bonnie had been kind enough to grab the gear of those currently not with the group as well, making sure that no one's items had been left behind. Darcy was carrying most of it. "This stuff is so heavy," Darcy complained. "Oof, she is pissed," Darcy then commented, seeing Sparky shouting at some hot guy - Darcy then did a double take, realizing that she recognized the hot guy. His face had been on the news for years, making sure everyone in the Iron knew exactly who Ragnarok was. If anything made her question her choice to throw in with these people, it was seeing him. "Uh...."

Raynor winced. He knew a day like this was going to come at some point. But he had been naive, thinking that he could avoid it. The few times he had tried to tell Sparky he had either ended up being interrupted or just chickening out. And would she have even really believed him? He was the God of Lies. Telling her that she was adopted and came from a different reality was insane. "Sparks, we can talk, okay? Just not here!" Raynor insisted. "I don't want to die and I don't want you to die, so once we escape, you can yell at me."

Folly, meanwhile, had picked up the extra Muramasa blades. "Is this all of you?" she asked the group.

What If?

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Guinevere Stark

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Guin didn't know how to put into words everything that she was feeling, but primarily, she was tired. The humans were apparently going to nuke New York City, as that was always their solution. The last time they had sent a nuke, her dad had almost died diverting it into outer space. Maybe it had been foolish for him to even try back then - maybe New York's destiny was to be destroyed by the United States government. And if they managed to stop this nuke, what stopped the next one? What kept the government from sending a nuke the next time an Avengers level threat reared its ugly head? Was there a point in resisting Magneto if the humans were going to kill them anyways? "I'm fine, I'm just tired of all of this - of living in the fucking sewer and eating garbage... I should be in a penthouse watching Netflix and scrolling through social media, or in a lab running some sort of experiment... I'm not meant for this," she confessed to Pietro quietly.

"I know Guina... None of this is really what any of us expected at all..."

"The humans are going to kill us all - and if they don't, they'll just send a nuke again. The first one nearly killed my dad," Guin said.

"You don't know that..."

"Yeah, I don't," Guin said, but privately, she couldn't help but wonder if they were on the wrong side. She didn't believe that Magneto was good - she hated him, he had killed her family - but humanity didn't seem much better either. Maybe it would've been better to walk away and let everyone kill each other. She waved slightly at the Thing, not really in a mood to talk anymore - even with Pietro.

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Jade Cornish

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Jade wasn't shocked to see that apparently the Thing had survived all of this - and to learn that Thor and the Hulk had as well. It was grim to know, though, that even their resistance against Magneto hadn't been enough. She knew she was an egotistical person, but even Jade was finding it hard to believe that they could succeed in their mission when those three powerhouses could not. A moment's reflection though comforted her - Thor and the Thing weren't known for being geniuses. And the Hulk was a complicated case. The answer was likely not brute force here, but strategy - and she excelled at that.

All they needed to do was devise the optimal strategy and enact it. She would need to catalogue all of the powers and abilities available to them amongst this group, as well as those of their opponents. Some of them in this tunnel would likely end up having to sacrifice their lives - Jade herself knew she was unlikely to leave this city alive - but that was acceptable. She didn't come here to live.

The Gifted - Concluded

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@Nallore@BlueSky44@Achronum@Trainerblue192@Kirah

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Genosha: August 3rd, 2021 - 9:20 AM

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Veil

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Location: The Grove
Skills: N/A

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Quiet Council

Autumn Table:
- Magneto
- Reeva Payge
- Selene

Summer Table:
- Veil
- Caduceus
- Spark Plug

Spring Table:
- Esme Frost
- Polaris
- Moneta

Winter Table:
- Mr. Sinister*
- Mystique
- Destiny

* not actually a mutant

Reeva smiled, pleased to see that the Quiet Council was now whole. "I am sure you will all serve Genosha well," she said, in an attempt to reassure Spark Plug in particular. With the Summer Table, the heroes of Genosha, now seated, Reeva commanded the attention of the room. "The Marauders have been dispatched to replenish our supplies and should return by sundown this evening. We've solved the physical problems from the attack... as much as they can be solved," Reeva paused, doubtlessly thinking of the 198. "But we still have a threat to Genosha that must be addressed - the emotional and spiritual trauma. Our people have lost their hope and we must restore it. I'm open to suggestions from any table on what we can do," Reeva finished, before taking her seat once more, her eyes sweeping over the rest of the Quiet Council.

At the Autumn Table, Magneto was silent - emotions were never very much his area of expertise. In the past when the Brotherhood members had a crisis of faith, he had used force and fear to 'inspire' them into action. Selene was twirling a strand of her hair around her left index finger, before reaching underneath the table and grabbing... a human skull? No one seemed to say anything, even as Veil's jaw dropped.

"His name is Nick Damiano, dear," Selene said, sensing Veil's confusion. "He's my emotional support skull."

Veil was fully convinced that Selene was insane - she reminded her of a popular DC Comics character, Harley Quinn. It baffled her that no one else here seemed to be concerned? She glanced at James and Callie, very clearly non-verbally asking them if they also found this weird as hell.

"How about we give them drugs?" Sinister suggested, completely serious. "We could even turn them all into Hounds. A mind-controlled citizen is a happy citizen after all."

Polaris' eyes flashed. "No!" she said firmly. "They're fucking people, we're going to treat them with dignity. It'll take time, but morale will bounce back, we just have to be patient and committed." Sinister smiled sickeningly at her.

"How's Havok, by the way?" Sinister asked.

"Perhaps we hold a gala," Esme Frost suggested, cutting off Sinister and Polaris' conversation. "Let everyone dress up, hire Saucier to cater, have dancing and fireworks and music," Esme said. "Jumbo Carnation's here, I'm sure he would design for us if we asked, Fashion Week isn't for a few months."

"Oh, I love a party!" Selene said, clapping her hands together. "A fetish ball will lift everyone's spirits. Perhaps we can even invite some of the humans, make a day of it," she suggested, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. Irene directed her gaze directly at Selene, although she didn't say a word.

"... That's actually not half bad," Reeva said, looking a little surprised. "Shall we vote then on the proposal? All in favor of a Hellfire Gala, raise your hands..."

Veil hesitated for a moment. She didn't know if a party was going to really help things - but then again, maybe it would. Maybe a night of fun and dancing would boost the island's morale. It wasn't like it would be that very day anyways, it seemed like the sort of event that would need at least a week's worth of planning. Maybe the change of pace would do everyone good. And it was hard for her to see the harm in throwing a party.

Veil raised her hand, voting in favor.

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Casper & Sunshine

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Location: the Green Lagoon
Skills: Mediumship

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Shockingly, ghosts were capable of crying - everyone's kind remarks caused Ben to get teary eyed, as he wiped away his ghostly tears. "Tell Max thanks, I'm glad to see him too - and that he's looking cute today," Ben said. "Tell Echo for me that Ghost Hawaii is boring compared to Ghost Vegas. And tell Jack his butt is looking cute today."

Casper crinkled his nose, mostly at that last comment. "Eww, Ben, that's gross. I get why you think Max is cute, but Jackie? Really? He looks like someone put a hot dog through a taffy stretcher machine thingy and glued on some Mr Potato Head eyes!" Casper protested. "By the way, Max, Ben says you look cute today - and Echo, he says Ghost Hawaii sucks ass." Ben sighed slightly, more or less used to Casper's less than stellar translations - it was one of the worst parts of being a ghost. He could only really communicate directly to Casper, unless Casper had conjured him.

"Soooo anything fun in those cards?" Casper then asked, a little bit curious about Max's tarot cards. Casper had grown up in New Orleans and had gotten a few tarot readings done, as it was very much a French tradition and French magic had a home in that city, particularly in the French Quarter. "Can you do a reading for me?" Casper then pressed, easily distracted and now fixated on the subject of tarot.

Sunshine pulled away from the kiss with her wife, raising a bit of an eyebrow at Andy and Zarina. Those two were being awfully quiet - well, not really Zari, Zari seemed to be incapable of shutting up. But she wasn't saying anything that anyone else could understand. So Sunshine, feeling still a bit raw from everything that happened and eager for a distraction, decided maybe it was best to pry a little bit into those two. "So, are you two friends or...?" Sunshine trailed off.

"Babe, you can't just ask that," Marrow said, chuckling lightly.

"Well too late, I just did, so spill the tea you two," Sunshine requested. "I heard Magneto adopted you both basically, so you're sisters or...?" she trailed off again. It reminded her slightly of something one of her cellmates in juvi had been obsessed with - some show where two characters who were very much in love and dating were suddenly declared to be cousins.

🌠 Once Upon A Time 🌠(Concluded)

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Megan Pendragon

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Location: Atlantica
Skills: N/A

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Everyone else had emptied out from the room, loving her alone with Arthur. Megan wasn't certain whether to interpret her brother's gesture as him being confident in her or him being worried. Her thoughts were so scattered, racing around in her head constantly. She wished she could have had more time to prepare for this - even though deep down, she knew it would still be awkward. She couldn't study for a meeting with her biological father. And she realized that her biological mother would likely be making an appearance soon too. She listened to his explanation, noticing that he outlined what Merlin had wanted - and not what he and Lady Guinevere wanted. She didn't know how to interpret that statement - should she take it in good faith? Or should she assume the worst?

Megan swallowed slightly. She wanted to rush into a safer question - like asking Arthur about his medical history, so that way she would know if there was anything in her family history she needed to be aware of. But she tried to force herself to live in this moment, as uncomfortable as it was. "What did you and Lady Guinevere want?" she asked him, her mouth dry.

"Your mother and I always wanted to keep you safe no matter what, even if it meant that we would have to send you away which is the hardest decision we had made."

He seemed like a good person. Megan was having a hard time accepting that her biological parents were... nice? It would have been easier to process if she had been told that Captain Hook or someone was her biological father, as much as Megan knew that personality traits and skills had nothing to do with genetics. "I... Okay. What do you want to know about me?" Megan asked, feeling uncomfortable and not knowing what to ask or how to proceed.

Arthur started to think for a moment as he looked over at his daughter. "What do you do for fun, and what do you do for a living?" He asked, wanting to actually try and get to know his daughter some more.

"I cut open dead bodies," Megan answered reflexively, before pausing slightly, "... so I can determine their cause of death. That's for work, not fun - I mean, I love my work and I do have fun, I just... get paid to do it... For fun I watch horror movies and fence..." She stared at him, expecting to see a look of horror on his face.

Arthur looked at Megan with a surprised look when she opened up that she cut open dead corpses, but then learning more on the cause of someone's death was a bit interesting. "I'm happy that your work does make you happy." Arthur said, he wasnt sure what a movie was but he knew what fencing was. "What is a horror movie?"

"It's... " Megan paused, about to repeat the word movie before realizing that was probably most of the problem. "They're stories about people going through terrifying situations, like being stalked by a serial killer or possessed by a demon or hunted by witches. They're like plays, except you can watch them whenever you want. Most of the characters in them die horrible bloody deaths."

Arthur wasnt sure what to think if he would actually like watching a horror movie or not, and with the description that his daughter made it was a source of entertainment. Plays were always pretty common and had gone to a few as well in the past, but none of them were really about murders or anything like that. "They sound pretty interesting."

"... You don't think I'm a freak?" Megan asked, surprised.

Arthur smiled and shook his head towards her. "I don't think you are a freak at all, i'll support you no matter what, thats if you want me and your mother around that is."

"... I... I'm not there yet, for a family relationship... I don't know if I ever will be... But... Friends, maybe?" Megan suggested. "Also, I'm gay, if that's going to be an issue."

Ω Heroes of Olympus: The Next Age of Heroes Ω

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☀️ Nancy Parker ☀️

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Location: Camp Half-blood: Praetor Tent
Skills: N/A

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Nancy slept without any prophetic dreams that night. On the one hand, it was nice to get some peaceful sleep - on the other hand, it made her feel useless. No dreams meant that she wasn't being called to anything. Even though she hadn't been in the prophecies, she had expected on some level to still play a role in events, beyond just keeping a watchful eye over the Legion. The thought only served to bring an edge of horror to her feelings. Part of why she hated her gift of prophecy was that she didn't want to become the old crone the Legion would drag out for predictions and advice - but now, she felt she may as well have been a hag, left behind while the others risked their lives.

Maybe she ought to get used to it, she wondered glumly, aware of Joanie asleep on top of her head. She was going to join Diana's Hunt and become frozen at age 18. Her friends would grow old and leave her behind, moving forward in their lives as she remained eternally stuck. Maybe it was better that it happened already - to make it less painful later on. She heard Mads moving, getting up and getting ready to get dressed. Nancy didn't want to move. She wanted to freeze this moment, to avoid getting up and seeing her two best friends go off - perhaps for the last time.

Her love for them was painful and raw.

"Off, Joanie," Nancy muttered, pushing the sleeping dragon off of her face. She got up and got dressed, putting on a black turtleneck and frayed jeans - one of her more contemporary outfits. "... Are you heading out now or do you have time for breakfast?" Nancy then asked Mads and Niah, not looking them in the eye in order to hide the fact that her eyes were watering with tears.

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🌈 Leda Storm 🌈

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Location: Camp Half-blood: Poseidon Cabin
Skills: N/A

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Leda woke up from the dream to soft, gentle kisses pressed up against her neck - something infinitely better than a nightmarish battle underneath the sea, where Oceanus' forces had claimed Poseidon's Trident. She knew that it was something they'd have to deal with - 'twas the nature of demigod dreams. But it wasn't something they had to deal with today. Today was going to be fun and exciting, maybe involve falling into a minor monster's trap, and then some greasy food on the side of a road somewhere. Hopefully Arthur wouldn't get too grossed out with some sneaked kisses between her and Kiera every now and then - but then again, Leda wouldn't exactly care if he did.

The domestic bliss was shattered though as Leda heard the screams of a rather angry satyr - Coach Hedge. She rolled her eyes slightly. "What a bloody buzzkill," she murmured, giving Kiera a kiss on the neck before getting dressed. She figured that he would be in the Poseidon Cabin quickly enough, but not so fast that a speedster couldn't make a quick getaway, allowing Leda to speed off to the Iris Cabin and pretend she hadn't spent the night having fun with her girlfriend. She didn't see why it mattered anyways - it wasn't like she and Kiera were going to get separate hotel rooms during the quest, unless Coach Hedge was counting on Arthur to be a chaperone.

Roll Request

Super-speed back to the Iris Cabin before Hedge catches her!

X-Men: Cosmic Crusades 👽

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Runa Baldurdattir

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Location: the Woods
Skills: Asgardian Magic

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Runa was thankful for Pietro's assistance, moving her out of the path of his counterpart. It seemed his counterpart had been easily fooled by her magics, but the same couldn't be said for Sabretooth. He seemed more formidable of a foe than the other Quicksilver anyways and Runa quickly devised a plan in her head, fiddling with her raidō rune, the rune she had the best connection with and provided her strongest magic. At first, nothing happened. But then, on the second attempt, Runa managed to horizontally display Klara, Pietro, and herself by 500 feet, Sabretooth and Quicksilver no longer in sight. She wasn't satisfied though - they needed to be farther away, ideally a few miles.

Runa shifted them again, this time they appeared still in the trees, and nearby there was an entrance to some sort of bunker. She didn't take much time to ponder it, switching the rune she was concentrating on to the laguz rune. It was a water rune and Runa cast a simple spell based on it, removing their scents so that way ideally Sabretooth's trail would run cold. "I removed our scents," she whispered to Pietro and Klara, quiet enough to make sure no one else could hear. "We should keep moving."

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Guin Stark

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Location: New York City Alleyway
Skills: Telepathy, Telepathic Attacks

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Guin noticed that Annie had reinforced her telepathic manipulations with an actual concrete illusion. For a brief second, Guin realized that Annie could've been an excellent spy - SHIELD would have loved to recruit her. But that thought was cut short as Lana demanded they stay away from her brother and then shocked her, every inch of Guin's body pulsing with dangerous electricity, as she was flung backwards. Not only was the electricity physically painful, but a memory played out in front of her - in this memory, she watched as Pietro snapped Lance's neck. The scene physically disgusted her. But she didn't have time to crumble and dwell on it.

She really didn't want to get shocked again.

Lance evidently knew Lana, somehow, and had gotten into a screaming match with her. Good. That would distract her at least. "Go the fuck to sleep," Guin telepathically commanded. Her command echoed throughout Lana's mind and Lana became visibly drowsy, swaying some on her feet. Guin pushed more though, not letting up her psychic onslaught, and Lana collapsed to the ground, fast asleep. "Ugh, finally," she muttered, secretly proud of herself for doing a classic telepath trick. She peered her head around the corner of the alleyway and saw that there was a sketchy hotel not too far from there - and looking down the alleyway, she could see the vague impression of a doorway, almost completely hidden to the naked eye. She figured that had to be where Lana had come from.

As much as she didn't like Lana (due to being attacked), she wasn't going to leave her in the alley defenseless. But she also got the impression that whoever else was behind the door Lana had come from would react similarly to her presence. "One of you help me with her, okay? There's a hotel nearby - we can get a room there for her, one for us too."

What If?

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Guinevere Stark

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Guin was mildly annoyed with Mary speaking to her like she was a child who couldn't process information. Of course she knew that humans couldn't be in NYC due to the virus, it had killed her entire family. She knew it was airborne, she had been heavily involved in figuring out Magneto's plan in the first place. The more she thought about it, the angrier Guin felt, and it didn't help that her back was majorly fucked up thanks to Sabretooth. She felt like screaming and rushing off to be by herself for a moment, so that way she wouldn't be tempted to strangle Mary, but there was nowhere to go. She was stuck.

"I hate it here," Guin muttered under her breath. Maybe it would be for the best if the government did send nukes, maybe Magneto then would finally put her out of her misery. Guin set off ahead of the group for the nearest tunnel entrance, opening it up and hopping on down. She didn't really want anyone to talk to her, mostly since she only really wanted to scream at people or curl up into a ball and cry - either option would do. She didn't have a good outlet for all of the complicated feelings threatening to overwhelm her.

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Jade Cornish

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Jade wasn't very impressed with the group that they had found. They seemed rather shellshocked, which was a given considering everything they must have gone through, but there was evidently a reason as to why they had been unsuccessful at fighting Magneto. They were child soldiers - and not even good ones. Jade sighed. At least they might be able to get some information out, but she wasn't going to hold her breath as to it being useful. The stakes were incredibly high here and the aid in the city was just lacking. Maybe their energy would've been better devoted towards another strategy, but it was too late now. They couldn't change course.

"Ta, that sounds good," Jade commented, the annoyance and lack of faith somehow hidden in her voice. The Stark kid led the way into the tunnels, Jade noticing her body language that very much radiated angry - not surprising, but didn't boost her opinion of this group at all. They had a speedster and still hadn't managed to defeat Magneto - a waste of resources if Jade had ever heard of one. "Are there more of you or... is this it?" Jade asked, doubting that they had anyone waiting in reserve, but willing to be pleasantly surprised.

Agents of SHIELD - Concluded

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@BlueSky44@Kirah@Nallore@Natsu

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EARTH 257 - 5:40 AM Nov. 14th, 2021 - S.W.O.R.D. HQ, the Iron

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Tree Line

Amelia had gone over the edge, beginning to fall down what would have been a straight drop - only to, at the very last second, manage to grab onto the side of the cliff. Her grip wasn't incredibly secure, with small rocks falling from the area near her handhold. She only had one hand firmly grabbed onto the cliff, keeping herself from falling to the ground below. Oliver shouted down at her that she needed to fly up to him - but Amelia had never flown unaided before. She didn't know if she could do that. She knew she could glide through the air more or less, but fly?

"Alright, mate!" Amelia called up to Oliver. She wasn't scared, even as the adrenaline was pumping through her veins. This was the sort of thing she loved to do - to take risks and try something new. And beyond that, if she knew one thing about herself, it was that she was born to fly. Amelia took a deep breath, before kicking downwards with her feet, hoping to propel herself up with the air currents, and pushing up quickly with her hand.

She shot up into the air (15 on a d20), landing safely on the ground by Oliver. The aircraft opened fire, deadly laser blasts firing at the two of them. Luckily, Oliver would manage to grab Amelia's hands and phase the two of them, the blasts passing harmlessly through them (19 on a d20). Celestine, meanwhile, had ducked down for cover, somehow avoiding getting hit.

"Into a ship now, yeah?"

Outside Interrogation Room B9 -

"Uh, yeah, I think they would arrest me," Darcy said. "Kinda figured helping you all would mean a career change. Maybe I'll pick a fun new name - like Jane Foster, that'd be fun." She quickly identified that this Celestine person though seemed to be the Jerry of the Parks and Rec TV Show, given how they had messed things up by summoning one of the aircraft. "At least two, maybe more," Darcy chimed in helpfully, giving a count on how many people were in each craft.

Bonnie pinched the bridge of her nose, irritated with the information Niah gave about Celestine. She honestly had to wonder if she was surrounded by idiots sometimes, between Sparky's refusal to take care of herself and Celestine's insistence on making everything harder than it needed to be. She hadn't even had a moment to spare to dwell on the memory rewrites they had all just experienced and whether that was something they'd need to be incredibly focused on solving quickly - they had no idea if more of their memories would be rewritten and if so, when. For all she knew, they could have less than a day to solve that issue.

She definitely wanted a raise after this.

Bonnie moved with the others to the evidence lock-up, gathering her own things. She put on the necklace she had been given and activated it, her clothing transforming into Greek armor, complete with circlet. It wasn't really her style, but armor was better than no armor, even if it felt like Magical Girl Armor.

"Woah! You're like Sailor Moon!"

"... Huh, did not expect that to exist here, interesting," Bonnie said absentmindedly, before following the dagger with the others.

Hallway Adjacent to Interrogation Room Z11 - Basically everyone now -

Suddenly, Raynor's dagger Lyting rushed at him and he grabbed it with his right hand, feeling the surge of energy coursing through his veins. It took him by surprise for a moment, his eyes glowing with a soft golden light, before he understood. He hadn't noticed it when he first arrived here. Back on Earth-666, he was Raynor, an Asgardian from another dimension; here on Earth-257, he was the God of Light. Flynn called from up ahead that Sparky was there and a sense of shame mixed with urgency filled him.

He was a different person in this world - but she wasn't.

Raynor rushed forward, eventually coming into view of the fight going on. "Everyone has a fucking gimmick these days," he cursed. Not only were these two members of the Iron Legion, but they had swords - because of course they did.

Folly instantly recognized the blades. They were re-forged, stolen relics from Madripoor. "Those are re-forged Muramasa blades, they can cut and kill anything," Folly warned. "Even me."

"Great, just fucking great," Raynor complained, before flashing his palms open, sending blasts of light straight on at the two Iron Legion warriors. His aim was fantastic and the warriors were temporarily blinded, their helmets not being able to filter out that much light and struggling to re-calibrate.

The Gifted - Concluded

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@Nallore@BlueSky44@Achronum@Trainerblue192@Kirah

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Genosha: August 3rd, 2021 - 9:10 AM

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The island had taken a few days to rebuild. A nation of mutants, they were able to reconstruct most of the structures and heal the wounded. Telepaths were able to provide private therapy sessions to those in need, particularly those who had lost a loved one in the attack. In the southern portion of the island, not far from the Broken Baths, Genosha's first graveyard was established. The 198 were buried and memorialized. The mutant nation had survived its first tragedy, its first holocaust. Things were going to be different now.

To that end, the Quiet Council was restructured. Twelve mutants in total would sit at its table. The Winter table, for those mutants with more criminal and unorthodox pasts; the Spring table, for those would walked in both the human and mutant worlds; the Summer table, for the true heroes of Genosha; and the Autumn table, for the elders who blazed the trail.

Autumn Table:
- Magneto
- Reeva Payge
- Selene

Summer Table:
- Veil [invited]
- Caduceus [invited]
- Spark Plug [invited]

Spring Table:
- Esme Frost
- Polaris
- Moneta

Winter Table:
- Mr. Sinister*
- Mystique
- Destiny

* not actually a mutant

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Veil

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Location: The Grove
Skills: N/A

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Veil had received a telepathic summons from Esme, the only surviving Cuckoo, to come to the Grove. She hadn't been the only one. Callie and James had received a call as well. They had eaten breakfast with the others, promising to meet up again afterwards. Veil didn't know what the Quiet Council wanted - they had already spent the last few days doing everything they could for Genosha. She kept thinking about how Jack had been resurrected and whether that was possible for Kristina, although she was aware Max was spearheading that project - an attempt that didn't involve Sinister was worth a shot, provided he didn't burn down the island.

Arriving at the Grove, Veil couldn't help but think it was more beautiful than any other government center she had seen. Seated at four tables, with a yellow X embossed in the carpet in the middle, were some of the most infamous mutants: Magneto, Selene, and Reeva; Esme, Polaris, and Moneta; Sinister, Mystique, and a woman Veil didn't recognize. She wore blue, alien-like robes, and a horrific golden mask. Veil could see her own face reflected in it. One of the tables, with its back to a gorgeous waterfall, stood vacant.

"...You wanted to see us?" Veil said tentatively. She stood in the center of the tables, looking directly at the 'head' table where Selene, Magneto, and Reeva sat.

Reeva rose to her feet. She was in the middle, with Selene and Magneto on either side of her. "Veil, Caduceus, Spark Plug... Take a seat," she said simply, gesturing at the vacant table. "After the tragedy... it is more important now than ever before that the heroes of Genosha have a place on this Quiet Council."

"I came up with the themes~!" Selene said giddily. "We're the Autumn Table, for those of us who are leaders of mutantkind. You'll be the Summer Table, for the heroes. They're the Winter Table, for the eeeevil ones, pfft. And then the Spring Table, for the mutants who haven't gotten bored of doing business with humans yet but don't quite fit into the entire hero brand. I tried to make them a little spicier, but I was outvoted," she finished with a sigh. "Think of it... Winter Sluts, Autumn Whores, Spring Hoes, and Summer Bitches..."

Mr. Sinister started to snicker. "Oh, I've missed you, Selene dearie. Your theme party in 1931 was to die for! You remember it, hmm, Raven, Irene? You two never missed a sapphic soiree."

Veil blinked, not really too sure what to make of all of this. They had just lot 198 people not that long ago and here, in the governing body of Genosha, a bunch of maniacs were... cracking jokes? Esme, Polaris, Magneto, and Reeva didn't seem to be amused in the slightest. Mystique had her feet up on the table in front of her and the mysterious Irene didn't move a muscle, and her mask hid any chance of a glimpse at a facial expression. If anything, Sinister and Selene's behavior was a motivation for Veil to accept the offer.

She wanted Genosha to work - she didn't even realize how much she needed it to work. "... Okay," Veil said. "If only to keep you under control," she added bluntly, looking at Sinister before taking a seat at the Summer Table.

"And you?" Magneto asked, looking at Spark Plug and Caduceus. "Will you join our number to help your fellow mutants?"

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Casper & Sunshine

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Location: the Green Lagoon
Skills: Mediumship

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At the Green Lagoon, the atmosphere was still heavy. Most of the mutants on the island had just been traumatized to varying degrees, and while the damage to the island had been repaired, the damage to the psyches of its inhabitants was another issue entirely. Dazzler and Lila Cheney were providing live music at the Green Lagoon, but not enough the musical-light show was enough to really cheer everyone up. People were still just going through the motions, trying to process everything.

"Thank you, that was Homo Superior, an original single by me!" Lila Cheney said into the microphone. "Up next is Dazzler's hit song Beautiful Dreamer!"

Alison Blaire, the Disco Dazzler, then began to sing:

🎶 "Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me
Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee
Sounds of the rude world, heard in the day
Lulled by the moonlight have all passed away
Beautiful dreamer, queen of my song
List while I woo thee with soft melody" 🎶

Casper was sitting with some other ex-Mutant Underground members, picking at his waffles. He was a little upset that James had left to go deal with some sort of mysterious summons from the Quiet Council, but Casper also knew why he hadn't been asked to go. He didn't really ever do quiet. The loud music at the Green Lagoon, while not exactly his style, was much more his speed - as was the can of whipped cream that the bartender, the Blob, had lent him. Casper had already injected basically all of it into his mouth.

"Freddie, hit me again!" Casper called out.

"No, you're cut off, Theriot!" the Blob shouted back, manning the bar. He had been a major foe of the X-Men in years past - but here on Genosha, he had cultivated a real love for bartending.

Casper sighed, pushing around the waffles on his plate with his fork again. "I hate it here," he grumbled, whining under his breath.

"No you don't," a ghostly voice said behind him and Casper dramatically threw his plate into the air - the plate came crashing back down, hitting the table and shattering into pieces, but Casper didn't care. "BEN! YOU'RE BACK!!!!" he screamed ecstatically, tears pouring from his eyes.

"Uh, yeah, I'm back, wheee?" Ben said. "How long was I out for?"

"Uh, you know me and time, Ben, we aren't friends. Maybe a few days?" Casper guessed. He didn't exactly look at the calendar on Genosha.

Sunshine rolled her eyes at Casper, even though she was secretly happy to know that Ben was back. She couldn't see Ben unless Casper allowed her to, but he had been a constant in their lives - it had been weird to think that he wasn't there. Just knowing that he was back, albeit invisible, was comforting. Marrow, meanwhile, raised an eyebrow. "Is he talking to himself?" Marrow asked.

"He's talking to Ben, his dead boyfriend," Sunshine answered, before downing a shot of tequila. She coughed instinctively, the alcohol burning her throat. Day drinking had become common on Genosha in the last few days. Marrow couldn't help but chuckle at her wife.

"Someone's weak," she teased.

"Shut up," Sunshine groaned, but she couldn't help but smile slightly. She was ridiculously in love with Marrow. Marrow had one arm around her and Sunshine felt so incredibly safe and secure. She couldn't imagine her life without her - and if it hadn't been for Genosha, they might have never met.

"Make me," Marrow invited.

"Fine," Sunshine obliged, before pulling her wife in for a deep kiss.

🌳 Hotel Valhalla: & the Gods of Asgard 🌳

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Runa Johansson

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Location: Loki's Cavern
Skills: N/A

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Runa nodded as Nadia asked her if she was alright - she really was. She was proud of herself for having freed herself from Loki, for not needing to be rescued by the others, for them not sacrificing the world on her behalf. Seconds later, Nadia tried to attack Loki, only to be knocked backwards. Her father knocked Loki down in turn and Runa was hopeful that they'd prevail - they seemed to have the upper hand here. Loki then kicked her father and rose to his feet. There was then a blinding light and Runa covered her eyes instinctively - when she opened them again, Loki and the other goddess were gone.

"No.... No, no, no, no, no..." Runa stammered. It wasn't supposed to end this way. Loki didn't have her as a hostage. He wasn't supposed to go free. The entire universe was in danger now with him on the loose. And then her father broke somber news. Runa didn't know that other mythologies existed, but she didn't doubt that he was right. She didn't want to imagine what Loki and a goddess of chaos were up to together. "... If she's Greek, surely the Greek gods can help us?" Runa then asked softly. Maybe together they could be strong enough.