Morose

What If?

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Jade & Guin

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The first thing that popped into Guin's mind as qualifying as a weird time was 4:20 PM. But she also didn't really think that the Brotherhood of Mutants had a large amount of people religiously doing their weed at 4:20 each day, so she didn't mention the suggestion on the time. If she were being honest, there weren't really any weird times. Maybe if Pietro knew Magneto's sleeping schedule, they could catch him cranky and off guard - but could they really afford to wait for the old man to go to bed? They were running out of time. "I don't think there's any magically weird time to really pick though - it sounds like it's now or never."

Jade nodded, listening to what everyone said. The plan was coming together inside her mind. "We'll need to break this mission down into components. We will need one group to perform a direct assault on the headquarters, drawing Magneto's forces. This will help the rest of us sneak in through the entrance we had already identified. Once inside, Thalia and Quicksilver can act as our scouting party, combining control over time and speed to move rapidly throughout the complex. Ideally Guin and Carolina will possess two of Magneto's heavy hitters, allowing us to use their strength for our own. We then converge on Magneto's location from three paths and eliminate him."

"Whoever's doing the distraction will have to be buff as hell... Honestly, maybe a good task for Thor, Thing, and Banner," Guin suggested. But something was bothering her. She didn't know why the thought was popping into her head, but what if they defeated Magneto and the government sent a nuke anyways? What if they decided to just wash their hands of the city and its mutant population? Her eyes darted over to Pietro for a moment, before her thoughts turned to her father and all of those they had already lost.

"That would work - I imagine you three boys could buy us plenty of time," Jade reasoned. "Once Quicksilver and Thalia complete the scouting, I think we should divide the groups as so. Thalia, Edus, and I will comprise one team. Lance, Carolina, and Pietro can work together again. And the last squad will be Mary, Cass, and Guin." She did her best to divide up by power types, and using her limited knowledge on who would work well together. "Any objections?"

The Gifted - Concluded

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@Nallore@BlueSky44@Achronum@Trainerblue192@Kirah

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Genosha: August 3rd, 2021 - 12:50 PM

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Veil & Casper & Sunshine

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Location: Various
Skills: Mediumship

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Outside the Hospital...

"Maman might be able to help us with the entire parenting thing - I mean, she got me to adulthood, which was no easy task, so she has to be really fuuuuuu-fudging good at it," Casper said. He grinned a bit, seeing the way James was rambling slightly at Bee about the hard light picture. It was super cool; but he found James' rambling to be the cutest and most attention grabbing thing in the room (aside from their little baby boy!)

Bee blushed, not used to so much attention. People tended to overlook her mutant power, as it didn't have much in the means of weaponization. "Oh, thanks. Um, as far as I know I can only make cubes... But I can do all sorts of sizes - from about the size of a piece of candy all the way up to the size of a horse," Bee said. "And yeah, I actually can turn 2D things into 3D, as long as I sorta have an idea in my head of how it would look in 3D..."

"If you took a picture of yourself holding a cube, and then had a picture of that picture, and so on... Do you think anything weird would happen? Would you eventually break reality or something? I don't know how that would work, but I feel like there should be some sort of fun easter egg there," Casper suggested. Bee's powers were super interesting - and as much as Casper loved being able to see Ben, he wished he had been born with a power like hers - one that wasn't terrifying and horrific.

"Uhh.... No, I don't think so?"

Outside the House of M...

The rain wasn't letting up yet. The storm clouds weren't covering the entire island, but those in the main portion were definitely affected. Hopefully the Green Lagoon had some means to block out the rain, as it exclusively had outdoor seating - the tropical island's fair weather never really necessitated a closed off roof. But then again, there were mutants who could control the weather on the island - maybe one of them would come on by and stop the rain soon?

No one came across Andy and Zarina though. They were alone together.

Halfway to Bar Sinister...

As Jack made it to the central area of the island, it would begin POURING. The rain was coming down aggressively and there was no sign of it stopping. The mutants he would see were going to take shelter, with some of the kids shrieking a little bit about the rain. Usually rain didn't last long on Genosha, as someone would come around and cause the weather to clear up, but it seemed no one able to manipulate the weather was there at the moment. Thunder boomed ominously.

Now, is that any way to talk to your father, boy? Mister Sinister's voice chimed into Jack's mind. You should be more appreciative - without me, you wouldn't be here. Your little girl would never have been born. Not that you've been much of a father to her, but oh well - I blame your mother's genes for that.

Hellfire Bay...

Luckily for Moneta and Renegade and Mongoose, the rain hadn't yet reached Hellfire Bay. Storm clouds were gathering up ahead though, the light dimming from the thick blanket of clouds developing. Renegade glanced up at the sky and sighed. She hadn't wanted to tell Moneta about this precisely because she knew this was what Moneta was going to say - that she was going to argue and make her feel guilty about all of this. It was her life and Ellie just wanted to focus on her own needs - but as ever, being a mother didn't just stop...

"Ugh, did I ever mention your moral righteousness is annoying as shit?" Renegade said light heartedly. "But convincing... I'll tell them. Not today, probably not tomorrow... But I will, once I'm ready. For now, this'll have to stay between us, okay?"

Magda Eisenhard Memorial Housing Complex - Max's Room...

The small group were now assembled in Max's room - it didn't have all of the same trappings and whatnot as it had before all of the destruction, but it was still his room all the same. Of course, the biggest difference had to be the corpse of a teenage boy on the bed. Ben's body had been preserved after his death, and he was dressed in what looked like an academy uniform. There were no obvious signs of how he had died - likely the fatal wounds were hidden with makeup or concealed by the clothing.

"Woah, you've got an acheron?" Pixie said, picking up the strange puzzlebox Doctor Strange had sent to Max so long ago. "Where'd you get one of these? These are rare af," Pixie added, fiddling with the box. It was currently in its open configuration. "Always wanted one of these, but Mum never let me have one."

"It's too bad you're gay, she'd be perfect for you," Sunshine whispered to Max, before snickering slightly. She was standing now near the door, with Marrow having an arm looped around Sunshine's waist. "Anyways, when are you going to... you know, un-dead him?" Sunshine asked. She wouldn't admit that she was invested in seeing Ben alive again, but she was. Even though they could rarely see him, he was one of them - always there, always part of the group.

"Kinda feel like you need a place with a better aesthetic for witchcraft than this," Marrow suggested, glancing around the room. "This is just a little... college dorm-y."

"I'm sure Max knows where this needs to happen," Veil said curtly. She knew Marrow and Sunshine were happy together, but she also just couldn't stand them sometimes. They were always poking at things and right now, Veil didn't think it was time for that. There was a dead body on the bed and countless others on the island. Now was the time to be serious. "Do you need us to get James and Casper for you?" Veil asked.

X-Men: Cosmic Crusades 👽

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Guin Stark

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Location: New York City Streets
Skills: N/A

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Everything was absolute shit.

Guin used to think the idea of the multiverse was cool - that it would be fascinating to see what different worlds looked like, glimpse what sort of person she could have been. Of course, she had expected to find out that one of her counterparts had been a rockstar, another had become a hermit, maybe even one had started a surprisingly successful TikTok channel. But she had never considered that a reality could be this bleak and this grim. In this new world and in the world Wanda had designed, she was Quicksilver's prisoner. It made her wonder if that was true in every world - even her own.

Her father was dead here, and even though he wasn't technically her dad, it still hurt to see him straight up ignore her in favor of yelling at Pietro and the others. Everything about this reality, she hated. Where was her agency here? Where was her ability to make choices and make her own destiny? It made her want to scream and punch something - so she did. Guin punched the brick wall, her hand instantly smarting and stinging. "Motherfucking piece of shit," Guin cursed, wringing out her hand and regretting the impulsive decision.

And then, the Force Ghost of Tony Stark appeared in front of her again. She opened her mouth to shout at him, only for his attitude to have almost completely changed. She blinked slightly, unable to fully process what he had said before he faded out of sight, slipping back into whatever sort of in-between he had been trapped in. Her eyes watered and Guin clenched her fist. "I -" she started to say, assuming Tony could still hear her wherever he was, when Pietro showed up.

As Guin looked at him, a memory flashed through her mind - one of searing pain, as a metal shard went into her eye. She remembered feeling like her head was on fire. And she remembered the person who did it - Magneto.

"I-I just needed some air," Guin said, her voice unsteady. It was all too much, all too much happening just at once. "This world... It's the fucking worst."

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Runa Baldurdattir

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Location: New York City Defenders HQ
Skills:

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Runa considered Strange's words for a moment, an idea forming in her head. If Stark was scattered across several universes, there was one artifact she knew of that existed simultaneously in all realities, serving as a nexus point - the M'Kraan crystal, the home of the Phoenix. Runa had really never had a proper conversation with her grandmother, but the staff that she wielded had been made by the Phoenix. Perhaps her grandmother would be willing to pull the pieces of Tony Stark together and make him whole. "It is probably best to stay together as much as we can... I agree then. We can begin at Stark Tower."

"Excuse me, I need to retrieve Lance - could someone similarly go fetch Guinevere and Pietro?" Runa asked. They did need to get a move on. Her mind kept thinking on the M'Kraan crystal - when she had a spare moment, she intended to divine to see where it was located. In their home reality, she was fairly certain it was with the Shi'Ar, but perhaps it was somewhere more accessible here.

"Lance? What is it?" Runa asked, entering the room Lance had gone into.

🌠 Once Upon A Time 🌠(Concluded)

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Megan Pendragon

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Location: Atlantica
Skills: N/A

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"That's the entire point - how can you begin to compare and contrast if you never look? You have to start somewhere," Megan reminded her brother. She had always been incredibly curious - and now that she could remember her early childhood, she knew that it had been true then. The bits and flashes of Camelot she had put together a coherent story of the little girl that Megan had been, and the odd woman she had grown up to become. It was strange, thinking about the fractured pieces of her identity. Last week, she had been Dr. Megan Pendragon, Medical Examiner. Now, she was that; but also Megan Mordred, Princess of Camelot. She hadn't had any interest in finding her biological parents, but now that she remembered being that little girl in that castle? Now, Megan couldn't help but feel... happy... to know them again.

No sooner than Ariel had offered to show them the prison did word come that they council was willing to hear them out. Megan sighed slightly - another time. Meeting with the council was regrettably more important. Innocent people were depending on them. Megan had never fancied herself a hero, but she couldn't deny the heroic inclination within her. Excalibur's weight was more than just physical.

Ω Heroes of Olympus: The Next Age of Heroes Ω

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☀️ Nancy Parker ☀️

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Location: Camp Half-blood: Big House
Skills: N/A

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Nancy sighed slightly. The Greeks seemed really concerned about finding a god to help in the quest and varying strategies to lure one out, but Nancy knew enough about the gods to know that when they truly needed one, one would be there, if for no other reason than the fact that this quest would directly benefit the Olympians. That wasn't what really made her sigh, though. No, it was - as Zeke whispered to her on his way out - that everyone in this room seemed to be incompetent to varying degrees. Nancy wanted to sit this out and not set her old wounds on fire, but she was forced to come to the conclusion that that would not be an option. This group needed more than just a guide to Las Vegas, someone to point them in the direction of the Lotus Hotel - they needed a leader.

Most of them had left the room now, as Nancy turned to her newly sworn co-praetor. "This isn't fair to you. I'm sorry." Danielle deserved to have an experienced co-praetor with her, now more than ever. "I'm not ready to stop serving Rome. Can you handle things solo?" Nancy asked, before motioning to Danielle to walk with her. She made her way back to her living quarters, grabbing her things and throwing them into a bag, and slinging it over her shoulders. "You can trust Alexandra, if you need support," Nancy said. "She's got a good head."

It was odd, the sort of steely calm that had settled over Nancy. She had always claimed she'd have to be dragged back kicking and screaming to return to the Lotus Hotel and Casino. Maybe it just hadn't properly settled in yet what she was going to do.

But she felt that she had to - without her, the Greeks were doomed to fail, and Mads and Niah's efforts would be in vain. The people of Rome would be in danger. She couldn't ignore this call to arms.

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🌈 Leda Storm 🌈

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Location: Camp Half-blood: the Van -> New York City Sidewalk
Skills: N/A

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Leda could tell that Arthur had no idea what she was talking about, but it didn't bother her. She had always been a bit of a daredevil, a thrill seeker. And Arthur was young, probably still sleeping with a nightlight and afraid of what monsters (probably real, if she were honest) were lurking under his bed. Maybe this quest would help him find his courage though, and he'd start to come around to the life of a demigod. If he didn't... Well, Leda figured that way would only make him miserable. This was their lot in life; they had to make the most of it.

"Yup, these things have a way of working themselves out - like, wouldn't be surprised if we run into some sort of monster or whatever that drops an item that helps us breathe underwater," Leda explained. "Quests are sorta like video games that way. Well, the quests that you survive are - you usually end up finding exactly what you need when you need it, and probably not a minute before that." She realized after she said it that it probably sounded a bit grim to everyone. "Not that anyone is going to die - we'll all be fine, it'll be fun, you'll see," she promised.

When the van came to a stop not too far from the Empire State Building, Leda hopped on out, and grabbed the bag and cash that Argus offered her group. Leda opened up the bag of drachmas and tossed the cash inside, before closing it up to consolidate it. "Think it's a bit of a walk, but doable to get to the harbor from here," Leda said. "Should probs save the money if we can for later."

Star Crossed: a Star Wars Story (BlueSky44 & Morose)

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Raynor Blake, Jedi Knight

25 pts (Light-Side)

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Raynor didn't answer Shocky when she asked why he wanted to have her around - he found that it was easiest to lie by just subtly telling the truth, and he didn't know how to apply that to this situation just yet. Saying nothing wouldn't be noticed too much anyways, particularly as it was time for them to go meet Jarothe for the evening's meal. If Shocky asked him again - or if Jarothe asked - however, he would have to come up with some sort of reasoning. If he hadn't been a Jedi, he would have just said that he thought Shocky was attractive - but such things went against the Jedi Code. The Jedi Order was clear - there was no emotion, only peace.

"Of course, thank you," Raynor said, following Shocky out of the hangar. He did wonder what sort of food Jarothe had picked out for them - the Jedi Temple tended to not have the most imaginative options, just ensuring there were options edible by all species, but otherwise it was easily repetitive and bland. Raynor didn't even know what his favorite food was. It had never even occurred to him to really consider that he might actually have preferences.

Ride or Die for the Republic (Morose & Kirah & Nallore)

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Raynor Blake, Jedi Knight

21 pts (Light-Side)

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"You also don't seem to have much of a sense of humor," Raynor noted. Droids often were a little stiff, especially ones that were frequently wiped, as they didn't have as much time to develop personality quirks. But Raynor had a feeling that this was likely as quirky as Emzie would ever get - that this was the droid's natural and true personality. It could be fun to mess with Emzie for a while, but eventually, it'd grow old.

He mentally shook himself. Focus. Clear your mind. Raynor's lightsaber arced through the air, slicing one of the droids in half. Another droid fired off a shot at the same time though, a cosmic stroke of misfortune, and the blaster fire hit Raynor in the right arm. He winced, only barely healed from the injuries that had landed him in the bacta tank in the first place. "Dammit," Raynor cursed.

Ω Heroes of Olympus: the Hidden Gem (Nallore, Morose, Kirah) Ω

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☀️ Nancy Parker ☀️

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Location: Mount Rushmore, South Dakota
Skills: N/A

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Nancy thought for a moment, wondering just how much trouble the Legion would get into if they all went up to Mount Rushmore and raided the den of a dead dragon for gold. What would the mortals perceive through the Mist? She chuckled slightly at the idea. Whatever it was, it would have to be absolutely insane - which made Nancy want to see what happened, preferably with a cold slushie to sip on as she observed from a distance. "Aww, we can't ride Air Niah the entire way?" Nancy joked, holding onto her friend as Niah brought them safely down the mountain.

When they reached the bottom, Mads told them her plan - a fancy restaurant and a nice hotel. Nancy hesitated for a moment. She had lived inside of a fancy hotel before - and it had been incredibly traumatic for her. She hadn't set foot in any sort of hotel since. The thought of sleeping inside of one made her stomach churn. She'd rather a shitty motel, if she were being honest - or maybe an RV or a trailer or a tent. Any of those sounded like good options to her. "Um, maybe not a swanky hotel... But a fancy restaurant could be fun."

Agents of SHIELD - Concluded

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@BlueSky44@Kirah@Nallore@Natsu

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EARTH 257 - 7:30 PM Nov. 14th, 2021 - Genosha

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The Healing Gardens -

"Got you some help, doc," Cerebella said, coming in from the opposite way the others had left. With her were three people - Sage, a woman in a bright yellow coat with tinted shades, Prodigy, a sharp looking Black man with tinted yellow shades and a yellow coat of a different shade than Sage's, and Dr. Banner, a shockingly youthful looking man who seemed to be in his early 30s at most.

"Thank you, Cerebella," Dr. Reyes said. "Not to make you a messenger pigeon, but if you could go find Charles next, I suspect he'll want to be here."

"No worries!" Cerebella then ran off the way she came.

"Rough night," Sage mused, as she got to work on some of the unconscious Avengers.

"What happened here?" Banner asked, helping out as well. He glanced over at Flynn, recognizing him as just Firestorm. He didn't recognize Oliver or Matt though. "Are you two new to the island? I'm Doctor Banner - but you can call me Bob," he said, holding out a hand to either of them.

"You're kicking off some mad psychic feedback," Prodigy noted, staring at Flynn with his head tilted. "What did happen exactly?"

The Waiting Grove -

"Oh, I am seeing many things, child," Destiny said. She considered her words carefully. Knowledge of the future could be dangerous, tending to create self-fulfilling prophecies. In her experience, there wasn't just one future - there were many, with some common events but often varying and spinning out of focus in a chaotic spiral. "They are nearing their end. What happens will break them apart, triumph or fail, it will not change. Their group will be forever fractured, their bond never the same again."

"Uh... I'm not seeing anything nearly as ominous as that," Eye-Boy said, laughing awkwardly. "There's this... this red stuff though that's sticking to them, it almost looks like magic - and it's extra bad on those two," Eye-Boy said, pointing at the Maria and Amelia from Earth 666.

"Do you think they are cursed then, comrade?" Colossus asked Eye-Boy.

"I... have no idea. This is kinda above my pay grade," Eye-Boy said, falling silent as Firestorm and Wolverine came back on over.

"If it's magic, we can deal with that, non?" Gambit reasoned. "We have to have someone on this island who can handle magic?"

* * *

Bonnie nodded slightly at Cass' words - she had to believe that there was a way to fix Flynn and Amelia, to bring them back to them. She couldn't give up hope that they could help their friends, especially as it seemed more likely by the minute that one by one, it would happen to the rest of them as well. Her mind flickered briefly towards thoughts of their home reality - had Fury or Hill sent anyone else after them? Was anyone else looking into that anomaly at the Raft? Would SHIELD go to the Avengers or the Fantastic Four or someone for help?

Bitterly, an answer flashed into Bonnie's mind - no. She didn't believe that Fury or Hill would go for outside help unless absolutely forced to. SHIELD's relationship with superheroing groups was fragile at best these days - the time when Fury could control them was long gone. He had tried it with the Avengers, he had tried it with the X-Men, and it never stuck. The only superheroes he had at his beck and call were the Secret Warriors...

They would have to save themselves.

"You can make coats appear?" Aero asked, a bit surprised. "That's such an oddly specific power - can you make other things appear, like bags?" Amelia then added. Neither of them knew what Cass' full powerset was, thanks to Amelia losing her memories. And as Aero had asked if someone could make a coat appear, and Cass offered to do so, it was logical for them to assume that Cass had some form of power that involved summoning coats.

"Sooo... Are we going to go find this Chuck person, then?" Darcy asked.

"I doubt it'll take him too long to just come and find us," Raynor said. "Chuck is too nosy for his own good. Could never just let people exist on the island, had to make sure they were following his rules. If I had to guess, he's getting wheeled over here by Erik as we speak," Raynor finished. He didn't really know how he felt about seeing Magneto and Professor X again in this reality. He had thought he'd never see these versions of them again when he had left - he thought he had left this entire place behind - and now, he was parading these people through a nightmare of his own making.

"He's a psychic, he must be able to hear us thinking, so..." Bonnie got a slightly wicked smile on her face. "If I am possessed by the goddess Athena, the goddess of wisdom, well... She's a goddess of thought then," Bonnie explained. She shut her eyes and whispered to herself. Athena, please, if you can, boost this....

CHARLES XAVIER WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!!!

"...Did it work?" Darcy asked.

Then, in all of their minds, they would hear an echoing voice - the voice of Charles Xavier -

"Wait. I'm coming."

The X-Men of Earth-257

• Firestorm
• Syphon
• Eye-Boy
• Wolverine
• Colossus
• Nightcrawler
• Cerebella
• Manifold

What If?

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Jade & Guin

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Jade raised an eyebrow, noticing the rather shoddy splints on the speedster. "It went that well, then?" she posed. She wasn't entirely surprised to learn that Carolina, Lance, and Pietro had ended up into trouble - trouble that cost the speedster his arms. The main thing that concerned Jade was she didn't know if Pietro would really be able to participate then in the next phase of their plan. If his arms wouldn't be healed, as Jade suspected, then that would be a significant damper on their ability to move quickly - unless, of course, Pietro could carry people with his teeth as he ran. "How long does it take your arms to heal typically?" Jade then asked, going right to the point.

The others then showed up, looking a little worse for the wear. But at least, it didn't seem like the young Stark was possessed by Sabretooth anymore; just a little clawed up. "As Cass said, we found the opening we need in their defenses," Jade said. "We also confirmed that our presence here in the city and the government's plan to send nukes has been leaked to Magneto, which is unfortunate but not surprising."

Guin was relieved to see that everyone had made it back mostly okay. Her eyebrows knitted with concern, seeing Pietro's injuries. She was used to seeing him hurt, but rarely his arms - usually, something happened to one of his legs. He had been avoiding fights for most of the time they'd been trapped in this city, rather than running into them. What the hell happened? she mouthed to him, tilting her head. What exactly had happened with Lance, Carolina, and Pietro while they were gone? Were they attacked by some sort of book demon?

"We didn't encounter anything useful - well, I managed to switch with Sabretooth and found out that he really doesn't demand the same sort of respect and fear he used to from people, which is interesting but ultimately not suuuper helpful," Guin said. Her wounds still ached and she knew that they were going to scar. But that was fine. She was honestly a little surprised at herself for thinking that she'd be around long enough for them to scar. Odds were, they were going to die in the next 24 hours or so.