BY INVITATION ONLY X-MEN: ASH-WAKE ISSUE #2

[OrlandoBloomers]

He finally unscrewed the top of the bottle and it fizzed all over his side of the table, spilling onto his jeans.​

Or at least it almost did, the rising head of foam instead stopping when it reached the bottleneck as if impeded by an invisible lid. Monet shot Emma a look as the purple wisps around her eyes faded, all the smugness of 'see? Imagine I wasn't here' without the words.

She slunk back in her chair to nurse her own tea rather than drink then, digesting what had been said.

"…I'm reminded of the beggar children by the Seine." She blew steam away from the cup, eyes lidded sagaciously over the rim of the mug. "Ask them why they've their hand in your pockets and they'll invariably start to cry, and shake, and tell you all about the negligences of their parents and all the many cruelties the world's inflicted on them. In the meantime, their other hand's back inside your pockets."

A mild, pitying tut was the most she offered in the way of sympathy, and she dropped her gaze to her nails with a dryness as abstruse as her motives in all this. Which were only abstruse outwardly; she was here to be nosy and give her opinion. She thought that much was obvious.

"Can I give you some advice? The bleeding hearts are all offworld or in prison. You're dealing with the other telepaths. Answer the questions you're asked and don't bother trying to appeal to our emotions; You'll find precious little purchase."

She'd avoid stepping on Emma's toes as best she could, but she was here to give her impartial opinion as far as she was concerned, of both the arbitration process as a whole and Multi's account of himself. Whether it was welcomed or not.

"I defer judgment to my senior on this, but I'd like to point out one thing: You're not an X-Man. You're a fool. Your brothers and you both. Krakoa had a gate in every city; paradise beckoned and you ignored the call. Instead you played gangster, made life more difficult for others like you. And now not a one of you will ever see it."

The ease with which she gored their shared boyhood dream on the end of her metaphorical tusks might've drawn a raised eyebrow from some, but in her view the urchin was telling them what he thought they wanted to hear.

She wanted him to show them who he was.

 

[Orangewasp]

Shizune lowered her hand from the door, to instead grasp both her elbows in hand, rubbing them with a nervous energy as she glanced to the side and answered the part of that sentence she was okay with devoting any of her thoughts to

"...okay. I guess I just don't know what that means for me now. I'm not a prisoner? you guys didn't mind control the maid?"

Some initial confusion might've been afforded Magik at the question of maid, until she looked down the hall and saw her standing there. She was a good fifteen feet back, pressed against the side of the wall at the bend of the hallway, using all her previous special forces training to follow Shizune at a distance. It apparently didn't matter if Magik saw her, because she smiled and gave her an affable wave that looked wholly out of place on the former Orchis specialist, as she connected the term 'maid' and the lady's dress with what happened earlier this morning.

Magik hummed in reply, a flat "hmmm?" that signaled her confusion clearly, before she craned her gaze around to the maid.

She had no qualms displaying full subtitles with her expression.



"Could you... not?"

Magik implored the former Orchis agent turned maid, an exasperated sigh punctuating the rhetorical query as she recognized that Emma's handiwork was more than too much here in this moment.

"No, you're not a prisoner. If I catch the slightest intention of that, I would not stand for it. However..."​

The medbay was a nightmare.

Emma was doing everything in her power to concentrate, piloting a jet she wasn't even in at the fastest velocity she could while simultaneously still in the muck of this Orchis soldier's ruined mind. All well and good, except some woman dressed in a modernized shinto practioners robe was just dumped on the floor in front of her and was sobbing uncontrollably as Rachel and Magik stepped through behind her. She started to reach out to gently assuage her emotions, only for her to meet the same god damn lizard Rachel just had.

She was lying backwards farther than she had been in her chair, the rest of the room having witnessed a small blast of electricity sparking out from her head in a scatter of directions, her previously impeccable hair now with some very staticy frays as she stared wideyed at the ceiling.

"Okay then"

She chained down the Orchis woman's psyche; and then pushed a persona into her mind. She sat up like a vampire out of a coffin, startling the crying one enough that she stared up at her with fear and her hands clutched to her chest, before the other woman smiled gently as a she swung herself out of the medical bed and knelt down to pick who Emma would later learn was Shizune up to her feet.

"Come on miss. Lets get that blood off you" The woman said consolingly as she led her away.

If anyone looked at Emma in askance or took umbrage with an orchis soldier leading away a girl who's family had just been killed by orchis, Emma waved them off. "Its fine. I put a servile personality I keep on hand in her mind; for when the help used to need some teaching."

If anyone continued to look at her in askance after that she rolled her eyes and snapped at them as she kept the stress of worrying about kate at by piloting the landing. "What? Its not something I've done recently".

Yeah, this was going to be impossible to explain. Even adjacent to the fact they were associated with the perpetrators who slaughtered her family. Though those ones were currently ash. There was no gauging how someone like Shizune might've reacted to the fact a mortal enemy of mutants had been repurposed for housekeeping services, among other things, via psionic reconditioning.
​

So it was that Magik was in the hall with one of mutantkind's most prolific hunters and a recently hunted mutant who was looking at her in wary askance.

So it was a snap decision made on Magik's end, with the full intention of engendering trust of any kind from the girl. Especially if she was going to see Shizune stay out of harm's way.

"Yes, that woman is a psychic thrall to the proprietor of the premises here. She's also affiliated with Orchis, the same organization..." A pause, though not made for emphasis as it stemmed from hesitation. It was no easy task to simply tell someone that an insidious organization once thought eliminated had been involved in the deaths of her entire family.

"The same organization responsible for yesterday's events. I'm sorry."

Magik affixed her gaze, resisting the urge to look away so as to not betray herself in the aforementioned decision of truthfulness.

"You don't have to decide here and now as to what anything means. If you elect to grieve, that is your right. You might wish to leave, even. We'd understand. The only thing I must emphasize is that you, and your sword, are in danger. Not because if you leave here but simply that because Orchis exists."

Magik finally allowed herself a soft glance to the side.

"You weren't the only one we'd managed to save yesterday."​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"...Omega-level mistake might have been more accurate." A late, bitter correction.​

"That's not a thing. I'll decide what works."

"Yeah. I did." She lethargically replied as she stood up, offering no further elaboration unless stopped by either of them as she headed for the exit, destination uncertain.​

She might've pitied the poor girl, really. It was obvious she needed a pep talk. Someone to open up their arms and field all her worries and fears, stroke her on the crown and tell her it was all right. It wasn't such an unreasonable thing to ask.

She just wasn't going to find it in Monet.

"Call Betsy, Rachel. And stop speaking in paragraphs."

That done, she gave her no further attention as she slid into Pryde's chair, setting herself about the task of picking up what she'd been doing through context.

(*This is such a great team you've rounded up, Emma. So emotionally put together.*) The headmistress found herself hearing across the grounds, delivered as a compliment, yet ringing with sarcasm. (*This is how I know we're the X-Men. Who's bringing this kind of drama on the Summers crew? Juggernaut?*)

"Well, before you go off to mope like a sullen teenager; if ya consider me a friend, don't ever do that again. Got it?"

He took the last swig of his bottle before peering and noticing Monet still in her precarious position.

"Honestly thought she'd help ya."​

Monet shot him a tepid glare as the smell of beer and fried chicken assailed her.

"And just where are you going with all those snacks? This is a workspace, you know. I've no idea where that minifridge came from."

So haunted.

She was more than possessive of the mental faculties to carry out two conversations at once, should Logan have even deigned answer her reprimand.

The drumstick that somehow was just in hand slowly dipped out of sight, as if it ever existed.

"If ya wanted a drink, could've just asked--" Logan returned, seeking to match that energy before Monet abruptly departed. It provoked a meager frown from the Canadian before he then brushed past it without another thought, his eyes lingering over where Kate'd been moments ago with her work.

He could've taken to figuring out what her next step'd been, the same as Monet, come to similar conclusions with a plan of action for the next act of whatever Orchis had planned. But that wasn't why he'd made an impromptu appearance in the first place nor could he really say he'd be able to make as an accurate guesstimate as Kate.

It was with his own flourish he departed, another bottle in hand, deftly finding the path to the lower levels and maneuvering for the basement. At least the section he gauged to have been directly below where his intrepid student had been, before he paused for a cursory sniff.

A brief readjustment and Logan was certain he'd found Katherine Pryde seeking seclusion after the abrupt spat she'd had with Summers.

"Hey, kiddo. No judgments here from me or the like, just wanted to check on you after ya close call. I brought a drink if ya needed it."
​

This was how Logan was the first on the team to get a look at the armory; Another new addition along with the holding cells down here; it was arrayed with the tools of the trade; rifles, pistols, explosives, weapons more alien in nature, and a small collection of blades and batons. His eyes were quick to notice that one of the stands in that last section was empty, and he felt the familiar feeling of something phasing through him as a sword appeared in his vision from through his neck

"You sure you're not here to bench me too?"

She said it with dull amusement, but with a vein of genuine anger not usually present in her voice. she waved the sword through Logan a couple of times trying to tickle his nose with the tip before she walked around to the front of him and took a seat on the bench that took up the middle of the room. She put the sword down next to her and held her arms out to the side, then lifted her shirt a bit past her midriff to show what had been a bloody, cauterized mess was back to being unmarred skin on a gymnast's build .

"Tadah. like I was never shot. I'm fine. I'll take the drink though."

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Shizune lowered her hand from the door, to instead grasp both her elbows in hand, rubbing them with a nervous energy as she glanced to the side and answered the part of that sentence she was okay with devoting any of her thoughts to

"...okay. I guess I just don't know what that means for me now. I'm not a prisoner? you guys didn't mind control the maid?"

Some initial confusion might've been afforded Magik at the question of maid, until she looked down the hall and saw her standing there. She was a good fifteen feet back, pressed against the side of the wall at the bend of the hallway, using all her previous special forces training to follow Shizune at a distance. It apparently didn't matter if Magik saw her, because she smiled and gave her an affable wave that looked wholly out of place on the former Orchis specialist, as she connected the term 'maid' and the lady's dress with what happened earlier this morning.

Magik hummed in reply, a flat "hmmm?" that signaled her confusion clearly, before she craned her gaze around to the maid.

She had no qualms displaying full subtitles with her expression.

View attachment 262157

"Could you... not?"

Magik implored the former Orchis agent turned maid, an exasperated sigh punctuating the rhetorical query as she recognized that Emma's handiwork was more than too much here in this moment.

"No, you're not a prisoner. If I catch the slightest intention of that, I would not stand for it. However..."​

"Could I not what oh holy shit" She muttered, startled as the woman stepped out from around the corner now that she was being addressed directly. She repeated the previous wave for Shizune, but otherwise kept her distance, face locked into that same expression of gentle calm.

Yeah, this was going to be impossible to explain. Even adjacent to the fact they were associated with the perpetrators who slaughtered her family. Though those ones were currently ash. There was no gauging how someone like Shizune might've reacted to the fact a mortal enemy of mutants had been repurposed for housekeeping services, among other things, via psionic reconditioning.
​

So it was that Magik was in the hall with one of mutantkind's most prolific hunters and a recently hunted mutant who was looking at her in wary askance.

So it was a snap decision made on Magik's end, with the full intention of engendering trust of any kind from the girl. Especially if she was going to see Shizune stay out of harm's way.

"Yes, that woman is a psychic thrall to the proprietor of the premises here. She's also affiliated with Orchis, the same organization..." A pause, though not made for emphasis as it stemmed from hesitation. It was no easy task to simply tell someone that an insidious organization once thought eliminated had been involved in the deaths of her entire family.

"The same organization responsible for yesterday's events. I'm sorry."

Magik affixed her gaze, resisting the urge to look away so as to not betray herself in the aforementioned decision of truthfulness.

"You don't have to decide here and now as to what anything means. If you elect to grieve, that is your right. You might wish to leave, even. We'd understand. The only thing I must emphasize is that you, and your sword, are in danger. Not because if you leave here but simply that because Orchis exists."

Magik finally allowed herself a soft glance to the side.

"You weren't the only one we'd managed to save yesterday."​

The look Shizune gave Magik was bewildered, as she tried to reconcile who was by her admittedly short account a very nice lady with...

An older woman with gray feathers protruding from much of her body was facefirst in the dirt outside the home's porch

Wolverine's sternum exploded in mid-air as another suit made itself known; this one coming from above and intercepting the mutant missile like an anti-air round, pile-driving its foot into his spine to take him straight into the earth with a resounding crash. Much like the other, this one's leg was visible, splattered with logan's blood as it wrenched its foot out of the man's back. It turned to face Rachel, content for now to ignore the others and trust its allies to handle them, its eyes becoming visible as they flared with a red light that coated the former phoenix. Its voice came out cold and distorted as the light faded, along with its cloaking as it seemed to let it drop of its own volition to stalk its way out of the crater in a confident march for her.

"We got an Omega boys and girls. Looks like this trip wasn't a waste of time after all."

"This isn't a war anymore, scum."

They both got to see it as the armor used Rachel's momentum against her with his own punch, smashing her down towards the ground, only to be blindsided by a tackle from the other foe to send her careening towards the lake.

"You could call it a war when you had your little country. This is just cleanup now."

...that

She turned back towards the maid, suddenly deeply conscious about how this top did nothing to hide the soft blue feathers going down the back of her neck and shoulders; she normally wore clothes that covered them, to the point that it'd been a decade since she'd gone swimming. It pulled at a familiar pit of self loathing, a reminder that she wasn't ever going to have that normal life she was trying to reach for, and that she was always going to have to be afraid of people like this.

Shizune mumbled an excuse as she quickly slipped through the door, slamming it shut with her back as she fought back the well of fear and mourning she'd spent the afternoon trying to avoid thinking about.

Marcelina, for her part, scratched her chin with a doeful frown as she watched Shizune go. "Miss Frost asked me to keep tabs on her. That might be a little more difficult now that she knows." She shrugged and gave Magik the affable smile that was becoming apparent was the exact same every time.

"Can I get you anything in the meantime?"

 

[TheVaultDweller]

".....I'm fine." Not exactly true, but she would be soon. "It was just...shite, I'll explain later. When all the rest are around." Alice paused, trying to think back before giving up. "What's your name again?"

That didn't sound overly convincing but Hisako thought it best not to push the issue. Whatever had happened would come out and they could tackle it as a group. Better that way.

"Hisako Ichiki!"

Her Armor fully manifested around her and she struck a pose.

"Armor!"

It vanished just as quickly and Hisako landed back on her feet with a soft 'thump.'

"I saw you with Rach but didn't get a chance to really talk. Glad you're here with us though. Another person on our side to help kick Orchi butt is always pretty welcome."

 

[C.T.]

"Hisako Ichiki!"

Her Armor fully manifested around her and she struck a pose.

"Armor!"

It vanished just as quickly and Hisako landed back on her feet with a soft 'thump.'

"I saw you with Rach but didn't get a chance to really talk. Glad you're here with us though. Another person on our side to help kick Orchi butt is always pretty welcome."

"Right. I'm Alice." She kept her return introduction short and blunt. "Oh yeah? Well I guess somebody has to be glad about that. Doubt the rest of them are feeling glad I'm here."​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

<*This isn't about what I want. If you want to stay here, I will allow it. Orchis knows enough about you to know of these brothers of yours; there's a chance they know more. There's even a chance that psychopath was telling the truth, and that they have your brothers. If they do, we will be working to get them out of there, just as we would any other mutant.*>

The illusion disappeared, and Multi saw they weren't on the porch anymore; they were in the kitchen, seated at the table with Emma blowing on the top of a cup of tea to cool it before she took a sip and gave the boy an appraising stare. There was a drink in front of Multi as well, whatever his preference happened to be

"But that woman was defenseless. No weapon, no ability to hurt anyone again that day. The entire world is filled with people who hate us, and killing them all is a fools endeavor as much as it would be heinous. We're willing to take you in. What I'm not willing to do is give a fourteen year old the chance to kill his way through his demons. So, Multi; what do you actually want?"

It was a ice cold bottle of Dr. Pepper.

He'd developed something of a sweet tooth. Helped keep him awake. Keep him from having to dissemble his boys.

Keep him from the nightmares.

He didn't touch the bottle at first, nor did he acknowledge Monet suddenly taking a seat.

Clasping his hands together, he looked down at the table itself.

<"...My brothers. I...Don't know if it's fully accurate to call them that. We all met by circumstance. One was old enough to be our grandfather. None of us share blood. But we were all taken from our homes. Our parents either couldn't afford to keep us, didn't want the headache, or just weren't around."> Multi sniffled. <"...I guess my power activated when I was very little. My golems ..They wrecked up the house. My parents couldn't control them. I don't blame them for giving me up. I was too much for regular people to handle. Still hurt all the same to be handled off to cold uncaring scientists and doctors. Who only wanted to use me for.."> Multi licked his lips and Dante lowered it's head.

<"...I was there until I was 12/13. My big brother, the lab staff called him 'Zeke', he lead an escape. We thought it'd be smarter for us to split up. Go our own ways and try to lay low. I didn't want to but I had to put on a brave face."> Mutli scooped up Dante and set it on the table. <"Zeke gave me Dante. I added all the metal bits and prongs. Made him one of my Additions. We agreed to meet again..In the closest place to Paradise we could find.."> He rubbed at the deep gouges around his neckline. <"...Obviously. It didn't work out. I committed petty thefts, robbed people, and ended up getting myself shot at one point. I would have died if it hadn't been for Al's connections. For a time I thought about trying to go big or go home."> He held his hands far apart. <"I mean REALLY go big. Try to approach someone like uhm...The people on the streets called him 'The Big Man.' Al wouldn't go for it. I didn't admit it but him getting hurt was largely why I didn't do it.">

He wiped at his eyes again.

<"...You asked me what I want. I thought it over.">

He finally unscrewed the top of the bottle and it fizzed all over his side of the table, spilling onto his jeans.

<"Dr Pepper. Always does that to me. No other soda does.">

He took a large swig.

<"....I don't want to be alone anymore. I want to know when I can stop walking. When I don't have to fight.">

His entire body seemed to tremble, and tears started to well up again.

<"...I want to live long enough to see my brothers again. I'll be an X-Man if that's what it takes. To finally have a family that'll last.">

He finally unscrewed the top of the bottle and it fizzed all over his side of the table, spilling onto his jeans.​

Or at least it almost did, the rising head of foam instead stopping when it reached the bottleneck as if impeded by an invisible lid. Monet shot Emma a look as the purple wisps around her eyes faded, all the smugness of 'see? Imagine I wasn't here' without the words.

She slunk back in her chair to nurse her own tea rather than drink then, digesting what had been said.

"…I'm reminded of the beggar children by the Seine." She blew steam away from the cup, eyes lidded sagaciously over the rim of the mug. "Ask them why they've their hand in your pockets and they'll invariably start to cry, and shake, and tell you all about the negligences of their parents and all the many cruelties the world's inflicted on them. In the meantime, their other hand's back inside your pockets."

A mild, pitying tut was the most she offered in the way of sympathy, and she dropped her gaze to her nails with a dryness as abstruse as her motives in all this. Which were only abstruse outwardly; she was here to be nosy and give her opinion. She thought that much was obvious.

"Can I give you some advice? The bleeding hearts are all offworld or in prison. You're dealing with the other telepaths. Answer the questions you're asked and don't bother trying to appeal to our emotions; You'll find precious little purchase."

She'd avoid stepping on Emma's toes as best she could, but she was here to give her impartial opinion as far as she was concerned, of both the arbitration process as a whole and Multi's account of himself. Whether it was welcomed or not.

"I defer judgment to my senior on this, but I'd like to point out one thing: You're not an X-Man. You're a fool. Your brothers and you both. Krakoa had a gate in every city; paradise beckoned and you ignored the call. Instead you played gangster, made life more difficult for others like you. And now not a one of you will ever see it."

The ease with which she gored their shared boyhood dream on the end of her metaphorical tusks might've drawn a raised eyebrow from some, but in her view the urchin was telling them what he thought they wanted to hear.

She wanted him to show them who he was.

Hmm.

The point Emma was going to make herself, if not with so hard a hand. She took a sip from her tea before she added a few words, but just a few.

"You will be allowed to stay here regardless of your answer Multi. But as M says; I think you know what question I want answered. How you answer it and our other questions decides whether you'll be here as a boarder or something more."

She otherwise leaned back a little farther in her chair, aware of the tone she was setting letting Monet speak so much more than her and nonetheless doing nothing to change it as she watched them both for now.

 

[TheVaultDweller]

Hmm.

The point Emma was going to make herself, if not with so hard a hand. She took a sip from her tea before she added a few words, but just a few.

"You will be allowed to stay here regardless of your answer Multi. But as M says; I think you know what question I want answered. How you answer it and our other questions decides whether you'll be here as a boarder or something more."

She otherwise leaned back a little farther in her chair, aware of the tone she was setting letting Monet speak so much more than her and nonetheless doing nothing to change it as she watched them both for now.

<"A fool?">

Dante went limp and fell onto the table alongside the soda.

"...I....guess....you're....right."

Multi's voice sounded incredibly hoarse, and it sounded as though he could barely raise it above a whisper.

He glanced over at Monet and offered a small smile.

"You....see.....right....through me...."

Reaching into the left pocket of his hoodie, he pulled out the singular screw he'd brought with him and laid it on the table. Helped keep his hands busy if he focused his power and let the screw slowly spin.

"....My brothers.....They knew...*cough cough* life....outside..." They'd been taken when they were older. Multi had been handed over when he was little more than a toddler. "...Paradise...peace...*cough cough*. sounded delightful to them...." He shook his head and continued watching the screw. "....Not to me...." He made a dismissive gesture towards Emma, a flippant wave of the hand. "....That card....you gave Al... *cough cough cough* and offered me...? Keep it....I wouldn't last....Go to school? Go on *cough cough* dates...? Get a JOB...?" Multi wheezed and covered his mouth as he had a small fit.

"If they...made it to....Krakoa...*cough cough* they'd probably have been so....happy. I would have..." He closed his eyes and tried to clear his throat. As best as he could. "...Hated it." He held his left hand around his scars and traced his thumb over them. "....When it came time...to decide.. *cough cough* what I was....Going to do....I did this...instead. Stupid....I had Furio rip the rope down..." To choose between a life that likely would have seen him reunited with his brothers and live together without threat of harm and to live as freely as they wished or...to simply take what he wished? Who was going to stop his golems? Regular people couldn't. Not without packing some serious firepower.

He could do whatever he wanted.

The screw started to weeble from side to side.

"Earlier....you said...*cough cough cough* agh..." He winced. "...That woman I..." He didn't actually say the word. "....got rid of. She was defenseless.....I don't... *cough cough* agree. The ghost girl....when she...*cough cough* took me over...Told me...about Orchis..." He shivered. It wasn't clear if it was because of the pain of talking or remembering that very brief possession. "These....people....are....fanatics...aren't they? If that *cough cough* twofaced....prick....of a merc...was lying? They'd just....take me out back....and shoot me, wouldn't they? I'm nothing without my golems..." He frowned. "Just...a kid...."

"...If there's....anything...after the end...." Multi glowered at the screw as it continued to flop. "....she should *cough cough* be grateful that it's over...I smashed her partner's....face....into...mush and he's....Still alive. You think his friends....care? I doubt it...." He balled his right hand into a fist. "....If every person....I beat up....intimidated....*cough cough* shook down....knew who was behind these metal....nightmares...ruining their lives? Just some punk kid...?If they....had a gun to...*cough cough cough* my head...? They'd shoot me....nine times outta ten. They....wouldn't care that I couldn't....fight back."

The screw stopped moving.

"....I'm not sorry. She *cough cough* deserved....what she got...All of them do. If I get my hands on that...merc..." He covered his mouth again and coughed, leaning back in his chair. "...you asked me what I want.....the truth is....." He rested both hands on the table.

"....I don't know."

 

[TheVaultDweller]

"Right. I'm Alice." She kept her return introduction short and blunt. "Oh yeah? Well I guess somebody has to be glad about that. Doubt the rest of them are feeling glad I'm here."

"Pleased to meet ya."

That next sentence got her a touch concerned, if only a little.

"...Why's that? I mean, nothing about you screams 'ah get the hell away from me.'"

She rubbed the back of her head.

"I mean not yet, anyway."



"Sorry, that was a joke. An attempt at one."

 

[C.T.]

"Pleased to meet ya."

That next sentence got her a touch concerned, if only a little.

"...Why's that? I mean, nothing about you screams 'ah get the hell away from me.'"

She rubbed the back of her head.

"I mean not yet, anyway."



"Sorry, that was a joke. An attempt at one."

She blinked and shot a look over at the other girl, trying to gauge if Armor was fucking with her. That was not the feeling she was getting. "You...you really don't know who I am?" Alice questioned, surprised. She had been sure Summers or Frost would've had them all aware. Ensure they were at least a little wary, no matter what she said about what side she wanted to be on.​

 

[Orangewasp]

"...Omega-level mistake might have been more accurate." A late, bitter correction.​

"That's not a thing. I'll decide what works."

"Yeah. I did." She lethargically replied as she stood up, offering no further elaboration unless stopped by either of them as she headed for the exit, destination uncertain.​

She might've pitied the poor girl, really. It was obvious she needed a pep talk. Someone to open up their arms and field all her worries and fears, stroke her on the crown and tell her it was all right. It wasn't such an unreasonable thing to ask.

She just wasn't going to find it in Monet.

"Call Betsy, Rachel. And stop speaking in paragraphs."

That done, she gave her no further attention as she slid into Pryde's chair, setting herself about the task of picking up what she'd been doing through context.

(*This is such a great team you've rounded up, Emma. So emotionally put together.*) The headmistress found herself hearing across the grounds, delivered as a compliment, yet ringing with sarcasm. (*This is how I know we're the X-Men. Who's bringing this kind of drama on the Summers crew? Juggernaut?*)

"Well, before you go off to mope like a sullen teenager; if ya consider me a friend, don't ever do that again. Got it?"

He took the last swig of his bottle before peering and noticing Monet still in her precarious position.

"Honestly thought she'd help ya."​

Monet shot him a tepid glare as the smell of beer and fried chicken assailed her.

"And just where are you going with all those snacks? This is a workspace, you know. I've no idea where that minifridge came from."

So haunted.

She was more than possessive of the mental faculties to carry out two conversations at once, should Logan have even deigned answer her reprimand.

The drumstick that somehow was just in hand slowly dipped out of sight, as if it ever existed.

"If ya wanted a drink, could've just asked--" Logan returned, seeking to match that energy before Monet abruptly departed. It provoked a meager frown from the Canadian before he then brushed past it without another thought, his eyes lingering over where Kate'd been moments ago with her work.

He could've taken to figuring out what her next step'd been, the same as Monet, come to similar conclusions with a plan of action for the next act of whatever Orchis had planned. But that wasn't why he'd made an impromptu appearance in the first place nor could he really say he'd be able to make as an accurate guesstimate as Kate.

It was with his own flourish he departed, another bottle in hand, deftly finding the path to the lower levels and maneuvering for the basement. At least the section he gauged to have been directly below where his intrepid student had been, before he paused for a cursory sniff.

A brief readjustment and Logan was certain he'd found Katherine Pryde seeking seclusion after the abrupt spat she'd had with Summers.

"Hey, kiddo. No judgments here from me or the like, just wanted to check on you after ya close call. I brought a drink if ya needed it."
​

This was how Logan was the first on the team to get a look at the armory; Another new addition along with the holding cells down here; it was arrayed with the tools of the trade; rifles, pistols, explosives, weapons more alien in nature, and a small collection of blades and batons. His eyes were quick to notice that one of the stands in that last section was empty, and he felt the familiar feeling of something phasing through him as a sword appeared in his vision from through his neck

"You sure you're not here to bench me too?"

She said it with dull amusement, but with a vein of genuine anger not usually present in her voice. she waved the sword through Logan a couple of times trying to tickle his nose with the tip before she walked around to the front of him and took a seat on the bench that took up the middle of the room. She put the sword down next to her and held her arms out to the side, then lifted her shirt a bit past her midriff to show what had been a bloody, cauterized mess was back to being unmarred skin on a gymnast's build .

"Tadah. like I was never shot. I'm fine. I'll take the drink though."

"Jus what else didcha get from Stark and co., Frost..."

Logan'd mutter before noting the absence of the blade, finding it protruding from the neck immediately. A brow barely raised, a sense of bemusement radiating from the mutant that dissipated as swiftly as it'd come.



As Kate followed through with her little joke, even with the discontentment in her tone, Logan couldn't help but crack a smile.

"Nah, could never make ya do what you didn't want to. Nor could anyone else. Aside that, though, seems like you haven't lost your sense of humor in these tryin' times either."

Back to normal, for the most part, for Katherine Pryde. Aside the mounting sleep deprivation and the gnawing obsession Orchis forged within her.

"Glad yer good anyway," He opened, giving the drink over before glancing behind to find a bench nearby to seat himself as well. That is, so he could launch into a sappy self-admission that encapsulated his view of Shadowcat. "World'd been worser fer it without'cha, kiddo. But that's never going to happen, though."

Not while he was around. That was true for any of the X-Men but especially those he had a rapport with.

"I'd say sorry bout Rachel but I don't like apologizing fer others' foolishness. Could've gone bout it better but she cares, in her own wrecking ball way. So..."

He finally allowed himself to give the room another once over from his seat, giving into his curiosity.

"Want ta work off the frustration with some long-overdue sparring before we get our heads back in the game with Orchis, and the kids?" He eyed the companion sword to the one Kate had, in its place in the stand.​

 

[Orangewasp]

...that

She turned back towards the maid, suddenly deeply conscious about how this top did nothing to hide the soft blue feathers going down the back of her neck and shoulders; she normally wore clothes that covered them, to the point that it'd been a decade since she'd gone swimming. It pulled at a familiar pit of self loathing, a reminder that she wasn't ever going to have that normal life she was trying to reach for, and that she was always going to have to be afraid of people like this.

Shizune mumbled an excuse as she quickly slipped through the door, slamming it shut with her back as she fought back the well of fear and mourning she'd spent the afternoon trying to avoid thinking about.

Magik recoiled, as the consequence of her unbridled honesty manifested in full, chewing the inside of her lower lip before a disconsolate sigh finally slipping out seconds after the door slammed shut.

Illyana herself, personally, would never have appreciated being lied to. But maybe the weight behind the truth would've been better conveyed, gentler and in due time. To be so accommodating and magnanimous like that was a challenge for Illyana Rasputin.

"I'm sorry." Illyana finally let out, speaking at the door with the assumption Shizune would hear her. "If you need someone to talk to, I'm here. We all are but... I won't lie and I'll tell you what you want to know."

She started to turn away from the door toward the maid before remembering something from earlier, looking back quickly.

"I didn't lie about your outfit, honest."
​

Marcelina, for her part, scratched her chin with a doeful frown as she watched Shizune go. "Miss Frost asked me to keep tabs on her. That might be a little more difficult now that she knows." She shrugged and gave Magik the affable smile that was becoming apparent was the exact same every time.

"Can I get you anything in the meantime?"

"She's no fool and she suspected something regardless." Magik returned, her expression as cold as her words were towards the maid, forgoing any response to the perpetuity of the woman's smile.

"The only thing I would desire from you, and for you, is that you'd disappear. Or, if you could find it in you somehow... be better than the person you were before. But I have my doubts."

Magik started down the hallway, eventually moving past Marcelina, throwing in an addendum as she passed by so as to actually address her question proper, "I'd like to be kept abreast of our guest and her well-being. That's all."

Now was her turn to go sulk elsewhere and smolder over her own mishap.​

 

[OrlandoBloomers]

"Right, thank you for that."

Monet was leaning forward with elbows on the table, having heard all the boy had to say, clearly deeply weary of his coughing fits and breathless cadence judging from how vigorously she was massaging her temples by the end of it. She slowly broke her stare from him to shoot Emma a solemn, pleading look, trying to discreetly pass the buck back after stealing away far more of her thunder before than she'd really intended, even if she became aware it was happening as she was doing it.

"I'm bored. Does Stark still have his Negative Zone prison? Or shall I just drop him at the front lawn of Graymalkin and let them take care of the rest?"

 

[TheVaultDweller]

She blinked and shot a look over at the other girl, trying to gauge if Armor was fucking with her. That was not the feeling she was getting. "You...you really don't know who I am?" Alice questioned, surprised. She had been sure Summers or Frost would've had them all aware. Ensure they were at least a little wary, no matter what she said about what side she wanted to be on.

Armor idly scratched the side of her head.

"I mean, we didn't exactly have a big pow-wow session. Least not to my knowledge. We got here, we went on our missions, and that.." Armor mumbled. "went about as well as I expected when I goofed things up..."

"...Why, are you like some kinda big deal or something?"

 

[C.T.]

Armor mumbled. "went about as well as I expected when I goofed things up..."

"Ugh. Don't even get me started."​

"...Why, are you like some kinda big deal or something?"

Big deal? No, I was just part of a group who massacred hundreds of Morlocks, outcasts even among mutants. Twice. Sure it was no Genosha, but still. Not a big deal at allllllllllll. She didn't say any of that and shrugged. "I wouldn't put it that way. Let's just say I was a shitty person making shitty choices for shitty reasons on behalf of even shittier people…and I'm hoping to try to make amends for what I can make up for, because Krakoa gave me back something I never thought I'd ever get back."​

 

[TheVaultDweller]

She didn't say any of that and shrugged. "I wouldn't put it that way. Let's just say I was a shitty person making shitty choices for shitty reasons on behalf of even shittier people…and I'm hoping to try to make amends for what I can make up for, because Krakoa gave me back something I never thought I'd ever get back."

Armor nodded.

"I see."

She seemed to give it some thought, mulled it over...and then shrugged.

"As long as you're on our side and you're doing your best, I can't complain. It's great that you're here."

She glanced around and exhaled through her nose.

"...To be honest, I wish I was half as dedicated as you are. I went on the mission to Japan and ugh..." She ran a hand over her face and shook her head from side to side. "If it hadn't been for Rachel and Logan...."

"I'm just glad we made it back in one piece. Put it that way. I came out here, try to get some air, not think too long on my mistakes."

There was a moment of silence.

"...As you can guess, that last part hasn't worked out too well."

 

[C.T.]

Armor nodded.

"I see."

She seemed to give it some thought, mulled it over...and then shrugged.

"As long as you're on our side and you're doing your best, I can't complain. It's great that you're here."

She stared in silence for a few moments with her face shifting between confused and flustered. She wasn't quite sure what to say to that for a bit. "I…um…appreciate it. Thanks." She got out eventually. Hisako's earnestness was an unexpected thing but very welcome change to the last couple minutes just before.​

"I'm just glad we made it back in one piece. Put it that way. I came out here, try to get some air, not think too long on my mistakes."

"Yeah, same here."​

"...As you can guess, that last part hasn't worked out too well."

"…Same here again. At least you're not the only one screwing up. If that helps."​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Hmm.

The point Emma was going to make herself, if not with so hard a hand. She took a sip from her tea before she added a few words, but just a few.

"You will be allowed to stay here regardless of your answer Multi. But as M says; I think you know what question I want answered. How you answer it and our other questions decides whether you'll be here as a boarder or something more."

She otherwise leaned back a little farther in her chair, aware of the tone she was setting letting Monet speak so much more than her and nonetheless doing nothing to change it as she watched them both for now.

<"A fool?">

Dante went limp and fell onto the table alongside the soda.

"...I....guess....you're....right."

Multi's voice sounded incredibly hoarse, and it sounded as though he could barely raise it above a whisper.

He glanced over at Monet and offered a small smile.

"You....see.....right....through me...."

Reaching into the left pocket of his hoodie, he pulled out the singular screw he'd brought with him and laid it on the table. Helped keep his hands busy if he focused his power and let the screw slowly spin.

"....My brothers.....They knew...*cough cough* life....outside..." They'd been taken when they were older. Multi had been handed over when he was little more than a toddler. "...Paradise...peace...*cough cough*. sounded delightful to them...." He shook his head and continued watching the screw. "....Not to me...." He made a dismissive gesture towards Emma, a flippant wave of the hand. "....That card....you gave Al... *cough cough cough* and offered me...? Keep it....I wouldn't last....Go to school? Go on *cough cough* dates...? Get a JOB...?" Multi wheezed and covered his mouth as he had a small fit.

"If they...made it to....Krakoa...*cough cough* they'd probably have been so....happy. I would have..." He closed his eyes and tried to clear his throat. As best as he could. "...Hated it." He held his left hand around his scars and traced his thumb over them. "....When it came time...to decide.. *cough cough* what I was....Going to do....I did this...instead. Stupid....I had Furio rip the rope down..." To choose between a life that likely would have seen him reunited with his brothers and live together without threat of harm and to live as freely as they wished or...to simply take what he wished? Who was going to stop his golems? Regular people couldn't. Not without packing some serious firepower.

He could do whatever he wanted.

The screw started to weeble from side to side.

"Earlier....you said...*cough cough cough* agh..." He winced. "...That woman I..." He didn't actually say the word. "....got rid of. She was defenseless.....I don't... *cough cough* agree. The ghost girl....when she...*cough cough* took me over...Told me...about Orchis..." He shivered. It wasn't clear if it was because of the pain of talking or remembering that very brief possession. "These....people....are....fanatics...aren't they? If that *cough cough* twofaced....prick....of a merc...was lying? They'd just....take me out back....and shoot me, wouldn't they? I'm nothing without my golems..." He frowned. "Just...a kid...."

"...If there's....anything...after the end...." Multi glowered at the screw as it continued to flop. "....she should *cough cough* be grateful that it's over...I smashed her partner's....face....into...mush and he's....Still alive. You think his friends....care? I doubt it...." He balled his right hand into a fist. "....If every person....I beat up....intimidated....*cough cough* shook down....knew who was behind these metal....nightmares...ruining their lives? Just some punk kid...?If they....had a gun to...*cough cough cough* my head...? They'd shoot me....nine times outta ten. They....wouldn't care that I couldn't....fight back."

The screw stopped moving.

"....I'm not sorry. She *cough cough* deserved....what she got...All of them do. If I get my hands on that...merc..." He covered his mouth again and coughed, leaning back in his chair. "...you asked me what I want.....the truth is....." He rested both hands on the table.

"....I don't know."

"Right, thank you for that."

Monet was leaning forward with elbows on the table, having heard all the boy had to say, clearly deeply weary of his coughing fits and breathless cadence judging from how vigorously she was massaging her temples by the end of it. She slowly broke her stare from him to shoot Emma a solemn, pleading look, trying to discreetly pass the buck back after stealing away far more of her thunder before than she'd really intended, even if she became aware it was happening as she was doing it.

"I'm bored. Does Stark still have his Negative Zone prison? Or shall I just drop him at the front lawn of Graymalkin and let them take care of the rest?"

Emma continued to regard Multi with a solemn look, even if her mental reply to Monet was tinged with amusement

<*If only dealing with the problem children was as easy as out of sight out of mind.*>

She let Multi talk; a vocal, rambling young man despite the difficulty for him. A recent development, if her time in Al's mind was accurate, born of the change in circumstances and confronting thoughts he never really had to. She put down her cup when he was finished and clasped her hands in front of her as she leaned forward.

"This is the dilemma you've left me with, young man. You want sympathy for what was done to you as a child. It is sympathy you deserve. No child should ever lose that time. You want to feel powerful. That is objectively true, your mutation is powerful. You don't want to be hated for what you are. That is all anyone can ask for in this world."

Her tone started soft, almost motherly, but it sharpened as she continued.

"Yet you hurt others for your own gain. Did you feel sympathy for them? You rejected the mutant community rather than embrace it. why ask for what you won't give yourself. And yes, you are powerful. But not as powerful as you think."

Once again they could all see the street. Once again La Cerva was pulling its hand back with the rifle. And then it stopped. The woman continued hobbling away as Penance burst through the door next to them with Kate in hand and Alice stumbled out after them. None of them had reacted to the bleeding corpse on the ground because there was no corpse.

"You wanted to do it. So I let you believe you did it." Emma said quietly. "So that you would get on the damn plane without a fit, and you and my girls could get out of danger. Because you are not the only powerful one in the world, Multi. And I would hate to see what would happen if someone less altruistic than I got their mind on yours."

The scene faded away, and Emma stood up and placed the card on the table.

"You don't have to decide right now. But here are the options you have. You can stay here as a guest. We will keep you safe until this Orchis business is sorted, and then you can be on your way. You can take this card and leave, just as I offered before; except if you do that, the moment you step out that door? You won't remember you're a mutant. You won't remember how to use your power, and I'll make sure no other telepaths can ever bring it back"

She clasped her hands behind her back as she turned to leave.

"Or you can put your gift to use; we'll train you to use that power you're so fond of as your own, and how to make sure it stays yours, and no one elses. And perhaps make a decent man out of you in the process. If that's what you want, be in the control room at the center of the academy in two hours. Come along, Monet. We have another stop."

and with that, she left.

 

[TheVaultDweller]

"W-What??"

Multi shook his head. The attempt at raising his voice incredulously hurting his throat.

"No...no..*cough cough* I..."

It'd all felt so real.. He never would have been able to tell the difference.

"I...Thought...It seemed so..."

He was at a loss for words as Emma and Monet moved to leave.

The screw didn't move again.

He glanced at the card.

A life without his powers? To make his golems? He'd just be another kid. No way to stand out from the crowd. He wouldn't even be aware he had the capability to be more than that ever again.

He hated every bit of it.

Grabbing Dante and the screw, he raced out of the room.

The card left behind.

 

[TheVaultDweller]

"…Same here again. At least you're not the only one screwing up. If that helps."​

"Eh, in some kinda weird roundabout way? It does!"

Hisako looked around and whistled softly.

"...To be honest, until I heard the shouting I was just throwing rocks. Seeing how far I could pitch them using my Armor. Sounds kinda dumb to put it like this but I'll just come right out and ask: you wanna go throw items of varying sizes across the water and see how far we can throw them? Might be more fun than just sitting around lingering on our screwups."

Or...

"...You can come with me and we can talk to the girl we saved on the Japan mission. Kind of hard to get a good read on someone when you're in the middle of fighting for your life and all that."