Upon meeting the immaculate and stylish Ms. Grey, Paige was suddenly conscious of her weathered jeans and wrinkled hoodie. Pushing past her embarrassment, she smiled. "Sure! I've seen a bit of it, but a guided tour is always better." Paige turned to Laura, digging into her hoodie pocket and coming up with a small packet of Jolly Ranchers. Opening the bag, she offered one to the young mutant. "Piece of candy while we walk? My favorite are the cranberry and green apple, but pick any you like."
Studio
Kate jumped onto the office block, landing in a crouch. Holding her arms out for balance, she stood up and glanced around for something to potentially break her fall. She had to be fast- the security guards were coming.
Laura raised her eyebrow at the girl and her random, unsolicited gift of what she claimed to be "food". Laura had learned at a very young age that she should expect nothing to be given to her freely, not even so much as a piece of food. So this innocent gift made her suspicious. She clutched the thing between two fingers as she held it up to her eye to look closely at it. If it was poisoned, it would do nothing to her. She did not smell any traces of explosives in it. And it was likely too small to somehow be ued to suffocate her, and would be a highly inefficient way of doing so if that was the intent.
Thus, Laura deemed it safe for the moment, and threw the thing in her mouth after carefully removing the wrapper. Then she frowned as she attempted to bite into it.
"It appears to be stale. How long has this been inside the bag?"
Love is Love is Love
Studio
Kate wouldn't have gone more than ten feet before a whistle caught her attention.
"Gimme your hand!" Spidey called out as he swung past her, one hand holding onto his webline while the other was outstretched for her.
My various fanfics.
Studio
Kate didn't need to be told twice, and she grabbed Spider-Man's outstretched hand.
"Much obliged," she said, "how did you know I was here? Do you just swing around looking for people about to jump off buildings to get away from supervillain TV producers?"
Paige stifled a chuckle. "No no, you don't bite it. You just keep in in your mouth and enjoy the flavor." Tucking the bag back into a pocket, she glanced at the two women. "So, where's next on the list? And Laura, do you like horses? They have a stable!" While she was speaking, Paige began absentmindedly plucking skin from the back of her hand.
huzzaaaaaaaah
"Oh, you know, what would our lives be without a bit of way too much happening all at once?" Megan said, trying her best at this whole 'brushing worries off' business. "You just focus on getting some clothes that fit!"
Watching Power Girl go, Megan swiftly turned to Darwin and nodded at the Bio-Ship. "So... shall we?"
Toa of Anarchy
The guards burst out through the windows, expecting to catch Kate while she was still climbing, and let out a chorus of incredulous profanities as a passing spider yanked her away. Refusing to be foiled, the men pulled out their weapons, and there was a sound not dissimilar to gunshots aimed in the swinging spider's direction.
"Well, I thought we might have a look at the ground floor, so you girls can see how you'd be spending most of your time here." Ms Grey pushed the door open to the formal sitting room, where they could glimpse a few students lounging around. There was a girl lying on the sofa with her nose in an iPad, a girl sat reading and vigorously chewing gum, and a girl wrapped in bandages flirting with a pale, black haired boy. "Of course," Ms Grey continued, "We could have a look around outside first, if you'd prefer."
Stark's Place
Darwin gave Megan a sly look, shooting her a piece of thought speech. 'You mean let's go off somewhere by ourselves and get in each other's bodies?'
He'd wait to see her get it and burst out laughing in front of everyone with no apparent explanation.
Love is Love is Love
Studio
"Well, y'know-" Spider-Man stopped midsentence when he felt his spider-sense pulse at the back of his mind for danger, "Hang on a second." He tossed Kate effortlessly onto his back and swung high into the air, gripping his webline with both arms before taking a sharp turn at the next block to evade gunfire. "Like I was sayin'," he continued, "I was in the neighborhood. I mean, y'know, it's in the name. Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man."
My various fanfics.
Studio
Kate hugged Spidey's neck to avoid falling off. "I'm Hawkeye. Unfortunately, one of Godfrey's goons broke my quiver, so I'm up a creek without an arrow."
frustrated artist
"Bacon it is, Mr. Raccoon," Jarvis replied, motioning for everyone to follow him into the manor's reception room. "And there's no need for that, Ms. Rogue," he added, gesturing at the communicator in her hand, "Sir has asked me to set up a conference call with the others at Stark Tower."
Once everyone was in the reception room, Jarvis excused himself to prepare some snacks. Just as he left, the painting above the fireplace clicked and whirred, sliding back and to the side to reveal a similarly-sized flatscreen monitor. It powered on, and the manor guests would see a slightly-above eye level view of the Stark Tower penthouse, with Tony and everyone else there visible and as audible as if they were all in the same room.
Tony grunted faintly at Wesleigh's question. "If we're on the same wavelength... not much, admittedly." He paused to take another gulp from his glass of green sludge, the manor feed simultaneously switching to an above eye level view of the reception room while its guests filed in. "Dad used to be a member, though he left after a while; old man never did get past the 'crust', as it were." Another pause, another drink. "The head honcho - Sebastian Shaw, FYI - tried to get me signed up a while back, too. Said he wanted to do some... 'job-building' in the middle of District X, care of a nuclear power plant, and he needed investors. I think you can guess how well that went." Yet another gulp. "Hey guys," he said abruptly, now facing the (hidden) camera to the manor. "How was Queen's party?" His tone was nonchalant, but everyone would easily tell from his face that he was concerned about what had happened. Peace. Pace. Sanity. Check out my DeviantArt! ^_^
Love is Love is Love
Studio/Streets of New York
"And not a hardware store for another sixty blocks," Spider-Man muttered under his breath. "I might have an idea. Keep your eye out for a construction site or something. Somewhere I can bend something into an arch."
My various fanfics.
Streets of New York
Kate's face broke into a grin. "If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, you're officially my new favorite superhero."
She glanced ahead. "There!"
Vampire Hunter
Rogue, Reception Room
"Uh, okay," Rogue put the Justice Avengers communicator back in her pocket and followed Jarvis to the reception room and looked at the flatscreen monitor that appeared out of the painting.
"It was nice until the chaos started," Rogue sighed and shook her head. "Where do I start... Well, apparently, Lex Luthor and Godfrey are besties now... There was an attack from a group claiming to be the Brotherhood of Mutants, but are not even mutants at all. In addition, they had things and knew things that only a few of us here and the villainous Ultra-Humanite would know, and the Ultra-Humanite should still be in a coma."
Rogue looked like she felt guilty for something, and quickly switched to the topic of the Hellfire Club.
"So this Shaw fellow wanted to build a nuclear power plant in the middle of Downtown New York?!" Rogue processed the information. "And in the middle of Mutant Town, even?!"
"Well, certainly many of the mutants in Mutant Town could do with a good job, but I'm still offended that he thought a nuclear power plant was the best way to bring jobs to Mutant Town," Rogue replied, having taken umbrage with the Hellfire Club's rather misguided actions.
edited 8th Sep '16 10:06:36 PM by GameGuruGG
Wizard Needs Food Badly
Stark Tower
Access listened to Stark describe what he knew about the Hellfire Club. These people wanted to build a nuclear plant- in District X? That was- odd, but not strictly illegal that he knew. So, no solid evidence one way or the other yet. Damn!
At least Power Girl seemed to be OK now. That was a relief.
"So... what now, guys?" he asked The Question and Sandman. "Do we still check them out by ourselves?"
edited 9th Sep '16 6:28:52 AM by Sijo
Screw the Lion!
"I agree with you lass," Rocket said to Rogue. "Building a nuclear plant in the middle of a city would be a logistic nightmare, with all the real estate needed and it being a huge arse bullseye of a security risk. Oh hey, thousands of new jobs for everyone! Now ya need to figure out the proper amount of wages for them to afford all the homes they initially lost from building the plant in the first place," the raccoon said sarcastically.
And then to Access through the comms: "Actually, I'm willing to help you investigate the Club once I pick up me jetpack from the hotel and change out of this tux," the bounty hunter offered. "Me and Pyko were investigating them on our own in our free time between the Weeper, the Rose, the Sentinels, and a bunch of other things," he said, tapping each finger as he went down the list.
"Well before, I did it with reckless abandon. Now I can't control myself!" ~ Jesse Cox, 2014
Paige shrugged. "I'd like to see more of the school area here and meet folks, if that's all right. I don't know too many mutants, after all, and perhaps Laura would prefer to be introduced before the class crunch begins? Knowing a familiar face can be a big help in getting settled in a new place. Then we can stretch our legs outside." She turned to Laura. "Unless you're feeling the need for some fresh air?"
Stark Tower
Access silently grumbled. Just what he needed, another weirdo self-proclaimed detective- and this one a raccoon from outer space!
But oh well- for all he knew, it was for the better. He should have the technological edge, at the very least. And hey, if he had heard about The Club, they *definitely* had to be up to no good!
He hoped it would not take the furry too long to get his gear.
Freelance Worrywart
Stark Tower
Wesleigh nodded ad Stark's contribution and mulled the problem over. Again, her mother had never joined. Dad probably hadn't either but wasn't exactly around to ask any more. She looked at the vid screen when Rocket spoke and smiled.
"Any help you've got would be welcome, Rocket. Have you and Pyko picked up much so far?"
Screw the Lion!
"Its a start," Rocket said to Wesleigh. The raccoon then tapped onto his computer to bring up some data. "The most important piece of information is that the Club is actually made up of two very distinct layers. The first layer, the Outer layer, is its "public" face, so to speak," he said, making air quotes as he said public. "Its an elite social club, but really its not all that different from any sort of gathering of high society types, just with more diversity in conversation topics, a really edgy name, and members include scientists, philosophers, artists, basically those who are well-studied as well as well-off. If any individual members have anything nasty in their closets, its entirely on them. Trust me, I've made background checks on several of them and the worst offenses were tax evasion. By the way Stark, your dad was a member of the Outer layer," he added.
"However, that is where we come to the second, Inner layer," Rocket continued. "This layer is the one where all the rumor and conspiracies involving the Club ever since its inception are warrented. From me and Pyko's limited research, it seems the club has been involved in moving and shaking various important events since the late 17th century of you planet's calendar. Exact connections are tenuous, but there is enough legit frequency once you shift through the all the crack theories to find an actual pattern. They've been stepping up activities since the turn of the millenium, but again, its all tenuous. Hell, the only reason I investigated the Club was a random connection to the Sentinel project.
"The only pieces of information I have that are concrete is the Inner layer has at least eight members and the Outer layer has absolutely no idea the Inner layer exists," Rocket went on. "My theory is at some point the Inner layer established the Outer layer as a front, and if any of the Outer layer is involved, they're either members of the Inner layer themselves or unknowing and unwilling patsies and, potentially, victims."
edited 26th Sep '16 6:19:17 PM by UdtheImp
"Well before, I did it with reckless abandon. Now I can't control myself!" ~ Jesse Cox, 2014
huzzaaaaaaaah
"Yes, that's what I said." Megan replied, staring in abject confusion at Darwin's statement, until she took a few seconds to connect the obvious dots. You could tell she had done that because her cheeks suddenly went from green to full-blown red (seemed like shame was a recurring emotion in humanoid creatures).
Megan raised her hand, lifting up Darwin by the back of his shirt as she tried to avert her eyes from anyone's gaze. "We'll just be... we'll just be on our way." She mumbled as fast as possible before scurrying into the ship.
King of Lame-Style
"so to summarize, most of what we already knew" said Question, pulling up his mask slightly as he lit a cigarette pulled from his pocket "Didn't know about the nuclear plant plan, makes me think what would he mask by that, it is a logistical nightmare... either the plant was a front for something or he wants something in the X district." He mused out loud. "any how thanks for the info rocket, it'll be good to work with you again."
The graceless warrior, wielder of the edgeless blade, prophet of the old religions, writer of fluent nonsense, saviour of soul and song.
Vampire Hunter
Rogue, Stark Manor
"...They're interested in mutants," Rogue said after only a bit of thought on the various revelations about the Hellfire Club. "I know what the Sentinels are."
"They are robots specifically designed to hunt mutants..." Rogue explained to the ones there. "Those things wrecked up Xavier's School, and it was only with the benefit of Oliver Queen's deep pocketbook that the school was able to rebuild!"
"As for District X, the majority of its residents are mutants," Rogue continued her idea. "That's the only connection I can think of between their plan for District X and the Sentinels."
edited 11th Sep '16 8:24:26 PM by GameGuruGG
Wizard Needs Food Badly
As Kate made her grand escape, Morgan rushed to the window and tried grabbing at her. If she'd had sleeves, he might've succeeded, but he failed to grab so much as her pinkie. From within the office, there was the sound of guards bursting through the door. Morgan looked back to shout "Head her off at the windows! Don't let her get away!"
Xavier smiled one last time as he gave a farewell nod. As Paige left the office, she soon met Ms Grey and Laura just as they were heading downstairs. "Oh! Ms Guthrie, right? I'm Vice Principal Grey. Laura and I were just about to tour the ground floor and the grounds. Would you like to join us?"
edited 5th Sep '16 9:43:52 AM by LizardOfAus