Marvel, Rebirth:

IC: Richard

As he changed he song he was going to play in his room, he readjusted the strings to the right tuning for the song. Though not generally a fan of the metal genre, he did like to play it from time to time if it satisfied him. "Alright. Time to rock it out." He stood up from his bed and began the song.

This was Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, but this wasn't a place to train musical talents or whatever. This was a place of refuge to any mutant who wanted to control his/her powers; in this case, his fire powers. The only downside of it was that in order to actually use his powers, there had to be a fire. Naturally he could just do so at a fire station and asked where they do the simulation for a fire, but the world generally hated mutants. So that option was out.

But lately in he world, there just happened to be more reforms to allow more mutant 'rights'. Though people still persecuted them, it has gotten lesser over the years.

As he wailed on the riffs of the high notes of the song, the sheer feeling of him being on a stage flowed through his mind. The sound of the screaming fans at his feet in café stages, or concert stages rippled through his lobes.

OOC: This is the song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kluNKscgQb0

IC:

"Lightsabers are not yet scientifically possible, and tasers are far from lethal. Unless you have a heart condition, which unless there's a painful talk coming up, I don't." The former Weapon ticked off points on her fingers, not at all bothered by the absurdity of her statements.

"Any danger you pose is not from an astromech droid."

OOC: Posts for other characters coming in the morning.

IC:

"I can turn it into a battering ram. Artoo's hardheaded."

-Tyler

IC:

"I'm aware of all of these things." The technopath commented, without any particular inflection. He didn't bother glancing back at the door, either; his eyes were potentially fixed on any one of half a dozen monitors arrayed in front of him, each displaying one piece of information or another. Not that he technically needed them, but it was easier than keeping it all in his head.
 

"Your comrades are outside. Three are departing with the English teacher, one is in her usual perch, and the fifth seems to be communing with the trees. The Danger Room is through there. Try not to break it."

IC:

"You couldn't lift an Artoo. Even I don't want to try lifting an Artoo."

IC:

Jonathan knitted his brows. "This might be just an observation, but do you spend more time with machines then people?" he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something machine-like about Alex's personality.

"And thanks for the update, not sure if my comrades even care about me, though Tali seemed to have stuck up for me for some strange reason."

"Do you want to use the Danger Room with me? I was thinking of killing some Phalanx... you were able to destroy those things, sometimes I'm not even sure how, or do you just want to watch me fight through your all seeing cameras?" Johnathan paused.

"You take out their mother-computer or something?"

IC:

"It's all that chocolate cake you force us to eat for breakfast. It's turning us into puny baby women." Brooklyn nodded matter-of-factly and took Rebekah's hand. When they reached the escalator, Brook hopped up and sat on the rail, and held up her free arm as though she were surfing. Bekah stared for a long second before scooting over curiously to the rail and sitting up on it, raising her other arm behind her.

With a muffled "oof" both girls landed on their feet, and Brooklyn led her across the expansive floor, through entire jungles of clothing, until they found entire square yards devoted to shorts and cut-offs of different colors. Rebekah blanched at the sight of them.

"Don't be that way! It's summer clothing!"

-Tyler

IC:

"No..." Sierra stumbled back a few steps, stunned. This had to be some kind of sick vengeance for all the times she'd pretended - no, lied - about what was wrong. Heart hammering in her chest and feeling nauseous, she shakily asked, "Christine?"

IC:

Emerald eyes flickered towards Sierra now. "Why does everyone keep calling me Christine?" she demanded, her voice still a bit husky.

"Do I even know you?" she lifted a brow clearly confused on what was going on. 

"I'm Matt Summers..."

IC:

Asa Thurman was impossible to wear out.

Daken Akihiro had always been in the habit of waking up all at once and shaking the sleep out of his system, catlike; this morning he snapped to attention at the feel of slim, strong fingers running through his mohawk and ruffling it tenderly where they slipped. The killer-for-hire let her have her fun for a few seconds and then turned his head to his left, looking at her proud face, soft with semi-consciousness and afterglow, one blue eye smiling at him. The covers were largely pulled to her side of the bed, and wrapped around her up to her shoulder blades. Daken's lips pursed, and then stretched into a thin smile.

"Good morning, Asa," he droned, leaning over and kissing her cheek. Something stirred on the other side of him; another boy, about the same age as Asa, grumbled in his sleep and reached for the covers, kicked around his ankles. Daken and Asa both laughed.

"Good morning, Nate," Daken repeated, leaning over and kissing the archer on his cheek. Nate Hawkins grumbled and rolled over. Akhiro decided to let him have his rest for once and flipped his head back over to look at Asa.

"I'm feeling good this morning. Feeling fresh. Think I should talk to my brother?"

IC:

"So, how'd your tour go?" he asked, when they were being escorted back onto the helipad.

"They had a really pretty lamp in the break room. Kind of a diva, though."

Dominik Lord smiled and threw on his beanie and sunglasses. "Well, I had a productive enough talk with the leader of the free, affluent, inclusive white man's world. I think. What do you want to do now?"

-Tyler

IC (Remus)

Remus, having grown tired of the various secret service agents trying to slip a leash on her, had slipped into something more comfortable. Well, in this setting anyway, being a wolf had it's advantages elsewhere. Now the only type of person who'd try to leash her was the kind the police wouldn't miss overmuch. She trailed behind Lord and his associate, Shiloh. Her uniform, despite the lack of insignia was drawing more then a few nervous glances from the escorts. She smiled at that, it was a feral thing.

IC: Shiloh

"Do you want to build a snowman?" All Shiloh got was a raised eyebrow. "It doesn't have to be a snowman..." 

Shiloh cleared her throat and got serious. "What if we got ice cream?" 

IC: "Alyssa Lowell."

She shook Tera's hand, her relatively gentle grip belying her apparent strength.

Her gaze turned to the others. "This is entirely voluntary, so I have to ask you all one question."

"Are you in?"

Ic:

Trinity stopped what she was doing and just replied, "yes! Only if there are cookies! Lots of cookies!"

IC: Aella

"I'm in as long as you feed me cookies and all my friends have to be there."  

IC:

"I'll buy you some ice cream," Dominik agreed mildly. His soft hands flew to his facial concealments and pushed his beanie forward, disguising his distinct shock of honey hair. "Least we can do. Too much starch and too many empty suits in that building for comfort. Remus, ice cream?"

The wolf growled in the back of her throat. She's growing fond of me.

"Ice cream it is," Dom said, and smiled brilliantly for a second before he stepped into the armored car.

-Tyler

IC (Remus)

Remus growled again. Roughly translated, these growls meant: "It had better be chocolate with chips in or someone's getting bitten." 

IC:

"Wise up, Card. You should know me by now. There's no one I can't charm." Dal smiled ruefully and sat down in the parking lot, kicking at the shards of the fire axe. "###### you, Tali. Now I need a new toy. You two...Alex let me get away with anything, you know."

IC

"I wouldn't count on it." Lilliana retorted as she walked in front of the group right as the cab pulled up. She must have looked odd, having traded in her pencil skirt and button up shirt for a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that hung off the shoulder.

She quickly got into the front of the cab, eyeing the others to make sure they knew that despite the costume change, she was still a teacher.

IC:

He smiled at Card - a little dangerously; as any Ultimate would tell you, Dal's smiles were always dangerous - and pushed himself to his feet with his elbows. He walked over to the cab, playing with the shoulders of his shirt and knocking off a few pebbles that had stuck to the fabric, and then slid into the cab across from Lilliana, kicking his feet up on Tali's knee when she stepped in.

"So, may I interest you in a quick bite to eat while we're out? Perhaps a drink from The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia?" he suggested, fearless and brazen as ever.

-Tyler

IC

Lilliana looked him over before beginning to laugh and laugh hard for that matter. After wiping her eyes, as a few tears had escaped her while laughing, she smiled.

"You are quite the joker... Asking me out! Haha, no." She replied icily before turning forward again.

IC:

Dallas grinned, too, and turned to Tali. "See? Told you I could make her laugh. That's step one." But his smile had grown sharper, a little more serrated; his electric blue eyes were dancing.

"You have a girlfriend, Dallas," Card said severely, maybe trying to defend Lilliana - or keep Dallas from working his magic in the middle of an enclosed space. Dal's eyes widened. It made his eyes pop even bluer.

OOC Stalling...

IC Tokiomi

"We going or not?"

IC:

There is that one little part where I'm not alex...

"Isn't that how it's supposed to work?" She bemoaned, trying to get comfortable in a cab with three other people in it. It wasn't exactly possible. Especially when Dal was... Acting like this.

IC:

".... And here I was, thinking maybe, just maybe you cared about me enough to not make the 'ugh' sound about me. Well, consider me proven wrong."

Dallas smiled and leaped - sudden and catlike and almost lazy - across the seats (he never buckled in) landing in Tali's lap with an oof and kissing her forehead with raucous, irritating cheekiness. "Don't you turn against me. I think you might be the only person who wants me in this cab right now."

-Tyler

IC:

Jennifer nodded to Tokiomi before moving forward. She moved as slowly and silently as possible while sticking close to the walls, her yellow eyes flashing constantly behind her glasses while she searched for traps. She suddenly slid to a stop when she could make out the bodies of the two Hydra agents moving away from her down the corridor. 

She aimed her gun at the two soldiers and cocked her head at the others, silently asking if they should attack. She then pulled the trigger on her silenced pistol five times at the back of one of the soldiers. If we can take them down maybe we can steal those uniforms... put a few of us under cover...

IC:

After knocking out countless push-ups John finally got to his feet, his skin now coated with sweat. Even a mutant with healing factor had to stop after a certain number and let his muscles mend. He grabbed a bottle of water off the dresser and began to chug it down quickly. When finished he put it down and sighed. The light in the room caught three dark red scars on John's knuckles. Scars from where his claws had been cut out by the Hand. At first John had felt like part of him had been torn out... but now he felt different. 

I deserved it for all the innocent people I've killed... Those Enforcer's didn't have to die... Kristen's arm... what was done to me is karma, and I deserved it all. While being one of the founding members of the new generation of X-Men John had thought he was helping people. Yes, he'd saved lives, but how many had he taken as well? 

IC: Shiloh

"I want rainbow sherbert."

IC:

"Ave, Imperator!"

It was a cloudy day when Romulus made landfall back in New York City, but warm, and humid besides. As such, he skipped the jacket and wore a deep oxblood shirt with matching Nikes, black, slim-fitting pants, and a pair of Prada sunglasses tinted the color of wine. Blood-colored, hair styled into a high pomp, and wearing his amiable grin, Alaric told Lacey to be ready with the pancakes and stepped out of the back door of the car. When the flood of soldiers became a trickle, and then slowed to a stop, Romulus stepped out, as Alaric knew he would - a careful commander, friendly with his men but cautious to lead from the head. The Imperator preferred all eyes on everything. He could understand that well enough. Ric called out his greeting and opened his arms widely, as if an old school friend or relative had stepped from the Lear.

"How was Africa? Dismal, I take it?" he yelled, to be heard over the dying din of the jet. "Well, no fear on that count. Lacey's in the car with a few simple briefings and some pancakes. I made them myself - the chocolate might not have cooked all the way into the batter, but I wanted to escort you to the Mansion myself."

-Tyler

IC (Romulus)

Romulus smiled at the familiar hail. Romulus descended the ramp, the very picture of friendly affability. "That sounds excellent Alaric. Ourrations can sustain life, but that, I'm afraid is all they do." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "It is good to see you again." He waved to the city. "It is good to see New York again. Africa has a certain beauty to it, but the snipers rather ruined the view." He let his grin settled into a slight upturn of the mouth. "If my reports are correct, I should think we will need more then a few briefings. I've kept myself informed of developments with the club." He paused for a moment, and suddenly his smile was wider then ever. "You outplayed us all! My heartfelt congratulations. I confess, I did not see the consolidation of your power coming. Well played, Alaric. Well played." 

IC:

"Who, me? Nah, it was nothing, you know...all I do is drink." Alaric beamed and looked out at the city, covered by the mid-morning clouds, and then back to Romulus. The emperor's eyes told him he clearly wasn't buying it, and he allowed himself a wider smile. Ric took Romulus' hand heartily and began walking the length of the tarmac, throwing his arm around the Imperator's shoulders as if they were long-separated brothers. "Not a lot of other developments in the club lately, though. Lynae and Annie would skin me alive if they knew I was making flapjacks instead of raising donations for the gala, and that's about it. Interesting stuff is all happening outside these days."

-Tyler

IC (Romulus

In hindsight, the plan was so very clear, it was testament to Alaric's planning that it had gone as flawlessly as it did. It was not often Romulus was outplayed, though at least now, he could fondly remember he was allied with someone capable of outplaying him. It had been too long since he had worked with a true equal. "As they say, no news is good news. When I left, I half expected New York to be a crater when I returned. These have been...interesting times, as the chinese would say." Romulus paused for a moment. "Ah, how rude of me. I forgot to congratulate you on your newfound relationship with Madame Rosewood." Really, that was just a detail, at the end of day, considering the wider scope of Alaric's plan as Romulus saw it.

IC:

"Lynae?" Alaric's smile brightened his entire face. "Such a cutie. Not drinking a lot of blood these days, though. I keep telling her it's bad for her pallor, but you know. This whole gala thing has her worked up. Anberlyn, too - she's almost gone full hermit. Gone are the days where baby sister would start throwing tantrums and bikers would start dying. All she does now is dress shop. Like I said. A bit quiet."

-Tyler

IC: Shiloh

As Shiloh sat next to Dominik another important question arose. 

"What kind of ice cream do you like the best?"

IC:

"Vanilla," Dominik said after a moment's hesitation. They were in a mall food court, Remus nearby keeping an eye on both of them, and Lord put his hand to his mouth in thought. "Only kind we could afford when I was growing up, and my part of Chicago was not very Baskin Robbins friendly."

-Tyler

IC: Shiloh

"Me and my brother couldn't afford...well anything...so yeah we kind of had to just look cute and hope someone would give us money...or you know...just steal the ice cream."

IC:

"Well, you're a cute pair. I wouldn't have bet against you. Look at those eyes." Dominik smiled and looked at the paper menu in his hand, still hiding his mouth behind a curled fist. "I might just adventure a little...Rocky Road is calling my name. I've never had it, might never have it again. What's the harm?"

-Tyler

IC (Remus)

Remus, in the course of her sharp-eyed vigil, had determined that the security guard was sick in the bathroom, no one cleaned the floor and at least half the food in the mall was more oil and fat then actual food. Suffice it to say, her nose was about to die. Remus made a mental note to add another air freshener to go with the one around her neck. Having the senses of a wolf *hurt* sometimes. 

IC (Romulus)

"I am impressed." Romulus took a notepad out of his suit and wrote a series of numbers on it. "This is the security code for my safe at the International Bank on Park Ave. Within it is a bottle of wine that has outlived your current paramour. Consider it a token of my esteem." He handed the note to Alaric. "I thought you would have had to Anberyln by now."

IC: Shiloh

"You brave soul...I guess I'll have to add sprinkles to my sherbert so you aren't alone in this trial." 

IC:

"Kill her? Lynae?" Alaric actually looked surprised at the suggestion. "She's actually a bit of a sweetheart. I know, I was shocked too. A year of my life I avoided her like the plague, didn't want anything to do with her, but turns out she hasn't even tried to go for my neck once. Less likely to bring about doomsday than the last few girls I've slept with, too. Not a redhead, but that's survivable."

IC:

"Don't get smart," Dom chuckled. "I bet if I asked you to foot the bill for this, you still wouldn't be able to afford anything."

-Tyler

IC:

Sierra closed her eyes and tried to choke back the urge to gag. "You're supposed to be dead."