Marvel, Rebirth:

IC: Lynae

"You don't have a large enough chest to wear the type of dresses I wear."

IC:

"Oh, so now we're going to be superficial. Real mature."

-Tyler

IC: Lynae

"Yes." The vampire playfully poked his chest and then motioned to her own. "See the difference?"

IC:

"If that's a veiled criticism of me, I won't hear it and I won't respond to it," huffed the young billionaire.

-Tyler

IC: Lynae

She shifted and laid her head on his shoulder, her lips close to his ear before whispering. "... Flat chest."

IC:

...

Alaric scooted back away, arms curled up and fists on his chin, pouting heavily. "I'm a late bloomer!"

-Tyler

IC: Lynae

The vampire sighed, scooting next to him. "Hey there champ..." She said softly as she put her arm around him. "It's okay.. 'The flower that blooms in diversity is the most beautiful of all.'... Oh wait... That's for a different talk.."

IC:

If there were ever a time for a record scratch sound to exist for everyday life, it would have played when Alaric snapped his head over to Lynae. "What kind of talk were you saving that reference for?"

-Tyler

IC: Lynae

"... For when you disgraced your ancestors by screwing up with the match maker?"

IC:

"In that case, welcome to every day of my life."

-Tyler

IC: Lynae

The vampire chuckled. "It's okay... I'll make a man out you... You'll need to be tranquil as a forest... But a fire within."

IC:

"Sounds deceptively masculine. I'm out."

-Tyler

IC: Lynae

"You're so boring." She pouted and sighed. "Oh well, every girl needs an effeminate male friend."

IC:

"I'm not that effeminate. I refuse to conform to any sort of stereotype. Even for you."

-Tyler

IC: Lynae

The vampire laid down on the couch and, in a very adult manner, stuck her tongue out.

IC:

"You continue to excel as a role model for post-adolescent maturity."

-Tyler

IC: Lynae

"Give me a break. I haven't been a kid in over 800 years and even then I didn't have what you modern people would call a childhood. Let me have my fun."

IC:

"You're doing it again," Ric chuckled, eyes never leaving hers.

"I mean honestly it was 'no Lynae you can't play with the peasant children! You'll get the plague!' Or 'you need to learn to sit properly or you'll get the plague!' Or 'if you don't sit next to the king's son you'll get the plague!'"

"Lynae, Lynae, Lynae! You're doing it again. And you're on TV. Second row of beds, third nurse from the back. Your hair looks cute." Lynae turned around, and in the split second she did to check for herself in the documentary Ric had sat bolt upright. "My mutation is hyperkinesis. I've never missed a throw in my life. I'm as strong as you. I'm as fast as you. I think at three times the speed of a normal human every second of my life. I'm in dire need of entertainment every second of my life or I'm going to go insane. Never take anything I say seriously. Ever." His speech picked up the more he talked, and when he finished he gave a quick sigh that dropped both his shoulders a second and raised them again, and reached out to give Lynae a surprisingly tender hug. "God , girl. Take it easy."

...

"If you don't," he whispered into her ear, "you might get the plague."

-Tyler

IC: Lynae

"... Thank you for ruining this tender moment by acting like my mother." She said with a grin as she hugged him back.

"But honestly... Like five of my uncles died of the plague so the struggle was actual... That's what they say now, right?" She asked Ric seriously, her blue eyes wide and actually kind of innocent for once.

IC:

The struggle was actual? Alaric mouthed incredulously, shooting a glance Lynae's way.

"The struggle is real," he enunciated. "Say it with me now. The struggle is real."

-Tyler

IC: Lynae

Lynae gave Ric a pout before she opened her cherry red lips and mimicked him. "The struggle is real." She repeated, her tone obviously one of aggravation.

"I never get slang right and when I do they become obsolete..." She huffed and looked at Ric. "Why are you all so confusing?"

IC:

"One of our endearing quirks?"

-Tyler

IC: Lynae

She sighed and stretched out so her legs rested in his lap and her body reclined onto the couch again. "I suppose... But I wish you all would slow it down a bit."

IC: Krystal

"I'm thinking that...maybe some time off from magic would be good..." Krystal covered her mouth for a second, a wave of nausea overwhelming her. "...for both our health..."

Ic:

Trinity didn't remember falling asleep, but she remembered waking up. She woke, curled up in the armchair, a blanket thrown atop her body. She sat up, looking around the house. Nobody was up. Not yet. Just her.

She tossed the blanket off her and stood up, frowning as she realized that she still wore the jumpsuit... The one with the symbol that Aella didn't like. She quickly tore it off her, angrily throwing it to the ground. Not as if that got rid of the last one of the symbols. The one on her. That could be fixed easily. She just needed to find Tera.

"Tera!" Trinity exclaimed, jumping atop the sleeping woman, "wake up!"

-

"I- I- I'm going to- to sit down..." Sam said, heading back to her quarters, preparing to send all the fluffy animals se found back where they came from. She was physically exhausted... But she couldn't stop practicing magic. That's what she had done for the entirety of her life... What could San ever do without magic?

IC: Krystal - Helicarrier -

 

​Krystal and Sam had teleported a couple more times before ending up back on the Helicarrier where they had started. By a matter of luck it seemed Sam had finally disabled the magic that had been teleporting them at random.

 

"Let's....never do that again..." Krystal said as she refrained from puking.

IC: Marauder

As the agent walked the halls of the Helicarrier, a door was open. As he walked by he pierced into the room and saw Krystal about to vomit. He stopped in his tracks and walked in.

"Hold that in Krystal. Fury needs us...and he is ######."

IC: Krystal

Krystal's lupine-like ears flinched toward the direction of the older agent who was now speaking to her. It seemed for the moment her stomach was done fighting her.

"I believe what I heard was 'report to the Helicarrier in exactly two hours'. Well we're here, and it hasn't been two hours. I think I have time to deal with my stomach yet." Krystal for one didn't see a point in doing anything until she got more orders.

IC: Marauder

Thankfully he had a barf bag in him, in case his flying turned bad and his bowels weren't agreeing with him. He handed the bag to her.

IC: Krystal

​Krystal hesitantly accepted the bag. "Thanks...though I think I'm okay now...now that the magical teleporting is over..." She glanced at Sam.

It was also about now when Krystal noticed there were bunnies hopping absolutely everywhere around the room.

IC: Marauder

"Wait, did you say magic? And why are there bunnies here?"

For some strange reason, he wanted to pick one up, and take it as a pet.

IC: Krystal

"Yeahhhh...the magic had side-effects."

IC: TLAW-001 Vivus

"Bunnies? What-how.....?" After a moment of utter confusion, he shook his head, "Never mind. Magic is still one of those things I don't understand fully."

IC: Mikhail

"We currently need to acquire clothing."

IC:

Daken was having fun.

"Sure about this?" Nate asked in an odd tone of voice, as Daken flipped through several wallets on the glove compartment and found one that suited at least five of the cover stories brewing in his head. The police scanner was crackling with activity as the pyrokinetic's situation escalated more and more - she now had a dozen cops at her throat and a hostage in her grip, and given her dossier Akihiro was willing to bet she had no idea what to do with either of them. A cop squawked something from his iPod about guns being drawn, potential mutant suspect. Great. Both sarcastically and non-sarcastically. Truly great.

Angela laughed loudly.

Moving double time, Daken plucked a bottle of pills from the glovebox and gave them a test shake, throwing himself back into his seat in the Hummer and buttoning up his leather jacket. Nate tossed him a nondescript black cap and he hooked his finger around the back. Asa was slumped down in her seat, and Angela's gaze was trained on him expectantly. Nate's eyes were narrowed and a little suspect, and for good reason; Daken had been hotboxing the car with pheromones to try and keep everyone sedated while he worked.

"If I don't come back," he said quickly, pushing open the door with his foot, "remember me." He leaned over the driver's seat and kissed Asa hungrily for a few seconds and then, almost as an afterthought, he tilted Nate's head by the chin and pulled him into a kiss, too. He let Nate squirm for a couple seconds and then hopped out of the van backwards with a wink and a haphazard salute. He was moving before he'd even touched the ground again.

When he'd gotten closer to the site, Daken slipped on the cap and slipped the Adderall prescription in his pocket. Leah Kaida. 21. Street thief. Pyrokinetic. ADHD out the wazoo. Sharp, but slow to trust. Pheromones necessary. But first, the cops. He sidled up to one and put his hand on the guy's shoulder; they were at a height and Daken had twenty pounds of muscle on him, but he turned around like he had the stick of authority in his ###### and barked what it was Daken had going here.

"Look, you're dealing with a mutant with the capability to burn this entire city block to cinders!" Daken warned, straining to be heard over the sounds of police barking orders and the distant whirring of helicopters. "And anyone in it! Listen, my name is Jake Brand, I work with the WSU Clinic. Leah's my patient - she suffers from extremely high-functioning ADHD and bipolar disorder, and I know how to work with her! Please...people could get hurt."

There were some things, he had to confess, that natural charisma and method acting couldn't buy; when you needed that little final push to get past a police blockade, there were pheromones. The police parted for him after seeing his expert(ly faked) credentials and he slowly took steps forward, pheromones spilling out the entire way and hands raised. Leah's hand tightened around the gun with every step he took, and the hostage under the crook of her arm was half out cold from the way she was holding him. Wrong. All wrong. She's no burglar. But...

He smiled soothingly and took another, final step forward. "Leah? It's Jake. From the Clinic."

"Jake?"

"Yeah, Jake," he said softly. "You know me. The Clinic, at Wichita State. Come on, let's put the gun down. Let's talk about this." Put the gun down. Put. The. Gun. Down. "We'll get this mess sorted out at the station, and by morning you'll be back at the Clinic. We can talk, we can get you what you need, help you out where we can, and then it'll all be over. No more cops. No more hostages. No more stealing to survive or breaking laws for meds money. We'll talk you back to your friends. At the Clinic. Come on, Leah, it's Jake. We're friends. I've worked with you for months at--"

"The Clinic," Leah sighed softly. It's working. I'm working. The gun fell to the ground with a loud clatter, and her grip on the cop slackened enough to send him sprawling to the ground, half-conscious, gasping for breath. "Sorry, Jake. I..."

"Sssh," Daken warned her softly, taking a few cautious steps forward to avoid being turned to shrimp fried Akihiro and holding out the bottle of ADHD meds. His pheromone secretion held steady. "Sssh, it's alright. I know. Here, take two of these. They'll calm you down. We'll head to the station, get this sorted out, and I'll bring you back with me at the end of the night. Kay?"

The second she gave her cooperation, she was in a cop car, hurtling back to the station with a power inhibitor around her neck. Daken insisted on following behind with another pair of cops and filled out all the paperwork, made all the calls to the other expert(ly faked) psychologists at the WSU Clinic (really just a special little coven of technopaths who had made their hope at Oscorp and lived for telephone hijinks). Sure enough, by dawn, Leah Kaida was released into the custody of "Jacob Brand" on good faith (and more than a few extra pheromone tricks) and allowed to go on their way.

When they had tracked back to the Hummer, Angela and Nate were snoozing, and Asa was getting there herself - it must have been her turn at watch. When she saw them in the rear view mirror, she jerked up in her seat and the motion woke Angela up, too, hand on a gun Daken had left in the backseat. Upon seeing who it was, she let the gun slip out of her hand and opened the door for Daken. Leah slipped in first; Daken had given her another 40 milligrams of Adderall to keep her calm until they were driving. Nate was still snoozed out. Daken patted his cheek a couple times and then ran his other hand through Asa's hair affectionately. "Everyone meet Leah. Leah, meet everyone. Asa, Angela, Nate. I'm Daken. Welcome to the good life."

"Heya, kid. Back to New York?" Asa asked through her smirk. "Can't wait. I've already been here too long, Daken. I'm not a Little House on the Prairie kinda gal."

"Not yet, Asa. We leave tomorrow." Daken was quiet for a second and then chuckled to himself. "Oh. By the way, almost forgot. One of you is gonna die today."

Silence fell over the Hummer.

"Yeah. Hope you guys didn't all bring overnight bags."

-Tyler

IC: Krystal

Krystal shrugged. "I don't understand it either, but apparently teleporting leaves bunnies behind."

IC: Aella

I groaned softly as I felt something bouncing on top of me. A high pitched voice was chatting excitedly along with it. As I slowly came to I realised I had my arms around something soft and warm...I opened my eyes abruptly, it was Tera! I recalled last night how we had both passed out on the couch. We'd fallen asleep rather quickly, exhausted from yesterdays' events.

Trin was jumping on top of us, trying to wake Tera up. I just lay there, feeling my cheeks getting very hot, though I wasn't completely sure why. I wanted to slip my arms away before Tera woke up, unfortunately with Trin's endless bouncing and how my left arm was quite stuck under Tera's weight that didn't seem likely.

IC: TLAW-001 Vivus

"I feel like that should violate things like the law of conservation of mass. Then again, I don't even know if magic operates under the laws of physics. My creator never elaborated on magic. I'm an robot slash android slash something, I was made by a scientist, not a sorcerror." Vivus took another look at the bunnies and turned back to Krystal. "Speaking of which, what will we even do with them? We can't just leave them here after all."

Ic:

"In trying to send them back," Sam informed.

OOC: Nick Fury post to follow later this evening, but I didn't want to hold things up by waiting to bundle a short post with a long one.

IC:

It truly was a testament to Tera's ability to sleep that Trinity's initial impact didn't do anything more than make her shift, ever so slightly, in her sleep. The woman was fast asleep on the couch, head on a pillow, and the blanket pulled up almost past her head to the point that only the very top of her head was visible from the outside. The second jump, on the other hand, caused her to shift more, a quiet groan signaling her slow return to consciousness. Lazily, she yawned, slowly blinking open one eye to take in her surroundings.

...

Where was she, again?

What little she could see past the blanket wasn't familiar... She didn't normally have a young girl yelling her name... And were those arms wrapped around her torso...?

A blink later, her mind was slowly bringing itself online.

"Oh. S'you. Hey, Trin." She said groggily, voice muffled by the blanket and pillow. A lazy glance to her side explained why someone was hugging her, though Aella seemed very much embarasses about it.

"Mornin', Aella. Decided y'needed a stuffed animal after all?"

IC:

Sixteen months ago. New Orleans, LA. Earth-1610 - "Ultimate Universe."

"Green, you're eighteen minutes late on a status report."

"Oh. Right." Dallas took a heavy swallow and licked some powdered sugar off his finger with a mischievous grin - Shadow might have smacked it off his face if he hadn't been speaking to the other X-Men through a walkie talkie. "1:18 AM. Showstopper here, on a roof at Decatur Street. If you'll look to your right, you'll see the Cafe du Monde, home to the world's best beignets and a mean cup of cafe au lait - René would love it, I bet. Anywho, if you'll crane your heads out the window and look to the left, you may catch a glimpse of one of the Cafe du Monde's former staff members, all of whom have inexplicably up and joined the five thousand strong robot horde currently plaguing the French Quarter--"

"The terrain is noted, Green."

"Just making sure we've gotten our money's worth. Always wanted to see the French Quarter. The music, the sights, the people, la cuisine, a pretty girl sur man bras...want to drop by with Jules and me when you move off of Bourbon Street? One beignet and you'll be grinning like you were never even kidnapped and irrevocably brainwashed by a cult of mutant assassins." Zack Summers whistled to himself in quiet amusement; the walkie talkie masked the sound in white noise.

Dallas took a pensive look up at the full moon and then checked his ammunition, a little on edge despite himself. A Phalanx patrol had tried to move through Decatur about thirty minutes ago, but Showstopper had put them in a bottleneck and picked off all nine of them before they had a chance to put something in to the hivemind. That wasn't what bugged him about this particular corner of the Quarter, though. All reloaded? Good to go.

"Anywho. John Howlett got hit with cat scratch fever about four hours ago. With Wild Card AWOL across the Multiverse, he generously decided to take one for the team and keep our 'tourists eaten' quota at the same disturbing high it's hovered at for the past eight months. Haven't seen him since."

"Acknowledged. Be wary; Howlett has a history of obsessive behaviors. If that aspect of his psychology remains, he could potentially fixate on the group, or an individual."

"We need to get him a girlfriend, then. No harm done."

"I'm still grinning from that!" A voice shouted, as if she wasn't sure the comm was working. "Can't you flipping hear me or am I talking to myself!?" That was Ashley being Ashley, though; they all let it slide.

"He has a girlfriend," Ashlynn reminded them pointedly. Dallas and Alec laughed over the walkie talkie.

"And you're welcome to him," started the chronokinetic, even as a curious sound crackled behind him. Something at the base of his spine gave a little chill, and he looked around for any Phalanx on the streets or balconies. "Did anyone have their walkie on just now? I thought I got some static." The others gave their denials, and Dallas blinked and concentrated. Instantly, two things hit him - his empathy was swamped for a second, caught in a quagmire of animal instinct, rage and power and want. And John Howlett roared behind him. That explains that.

"Scratch that, X-Men," Dallas said quietly, looking at the knife he'd been using to dice up the beignets. For some reason, he was laughing bitterly. "Looks like it was on my end. Showstopper out."

"Green, don't you da-"

BZZZT!

*****

Present day. Westchester, NY. Earth-8038 - "Jean Grey Needs Therapy Universe"

The raindrops attacked the window with a mob mentality.

Dallas Brett Green had been in his own little frozen reality cocoon for about forty minutes, but finally the stifling quiet and anxiety was gnawing at his head; tooth marks of darkness punctured the corners of his eyes. He took a few deep breaths and then reached over and pulled on some pants and a gothic looking concho belt. Movement. I need to move. What he really needed was a cocktail, he decided, and stood up. Tali stirred in bed when his weight left the mattress and sat up, wrapping a blanket around herself while the Ultimate X-Man strolled over to the fridge and pulled out a bottled mocha frappuccino, chocolate syrup, and a can of whipped cream.

After a second's worth of thought, he reached up into the cabinet and pulled out a straw with one hand and a a bottle of Ritalin in the other. The chronokinetic took to grinding up three pills between his fingers, letting them slip through his fist into the coffee, shaking and pouring into a large to-go cup. Cocktail.

Tali stood up and flicked on a lamp by their bed, walking over to him as he sprayed a heavy dose of whipped cream on top of the coffee, spritzed some down his throat, and then drizzled chocolate syrup copiously over the drink and took a large sip. Tali draped her arms over his shoulders and kissed the side of his neck. She didn't say anything, but as Dallas met her eyes they said everything she meant.

Dallas took a deep breath as he felt the cold drink pour down his throat and into his chest; chilling his sternum and raising unbidden goosebumps on his bare biceps. "I'll be fine. Just go back to bed."

Tali stood still.

"It's freezing in here. You're gonna catch a cold."

Tali stood still.

"Go to bed."

Tali stood still. Dallas' hand clenched around the to-go cup, and he took a sip.

"It's a full moon," he explained. Outside, the rain scrambled to find a way into their sanctuary.

She nodded, her grip tightening slightly as she kissed his neck again. "John?" she asked, green eyes full of concern.

"John," he confirmed, taking a sip of his cocktail and swishing it around in his mouth for a second before washing it down. He could feel himself calming now, feel the milligrams ground into the coffee connect with the caffeine and fire up to calm him down. His eyes were focusing in, taking in the details; the tooth marks were patched over and bandaged up in his field of view, and in his eye he could correctly pinpoint Tali's concern as a deep, warm peach color. Her lips felt like secondhand smoke in his lungs - heavy and overwhelming, and a little bit sultry. He caught her hand dangling off his shoulder and ran his fingers through hers like the little raindrops, squirming down the glass; his lips met her nails, and his kiss was like cotton candy, all sweet and enticing and spun to the brim with little white lies.

This is my happy place, he thought, her arms growing heavy around his shoulders - dangling like a Christmas ornament above the blurred line between fugue state and very certain death, Dal had found his peace long ago. "It was just a memory."

One scarred hand reached up to caress his jawline, Tali's body moving a little closer against his back as she started to feel the cold a little more. "Memories hurt, but...He isn't here anymore."

"As far as we know," he said darkly. "Rebekah swore she wouldn't come back without his pelt as a coat. She's never failed before, but I never saw a coat."

"If he isn't dead... Remembering it in the middle of the night isn't going to help."

"And what will?"

"I don't know, Dal... I wish I did, but if I could get the idea that the Phalanx might still be out there out of my head I would..." Some of the scars that served as an ever-present reminder of them made contact with a few of Dallas' tattoos as she gripped his hand. "We'll deal with it when it happens..."

Showstopper spun around slowly and sat up on the counter, holding up the blanket that was Tali's only protection against the cool air with three fingers. He took a long, searching look into her eyes, swept her scarred form up and down once, and sipped at his coffee, making a bit of an abrasive sound as his straw sucked at the bottom of the to-go cup. "You deserve better in a relationship, you know. I can't be what you need in a guy. It's not who I am."

"If you're not, I haven't noticed." Tali shivered once. "What do you think I need in a guy?"

"You really haven't noticed? Ha. I'm a sociopath. A time bomb threatening to go off violently and spastically at the very first hint of a trigger. I'm a pathological flirt, liar, and street fighter. Undiagnosed bipolar disorder and a faked raging ego complex to hide a total disenchantment with life in general, bordering on thoughts in the suicidal quadrant. Inability to form basic human connections beyond the others. You need someone to help you heal. I'm a human razor blade. And that's just what I saw on the first page I stole from Doc Thomas' office."

"You may think that. You're probably right, Dal. When i knew you back in 1610... But now... You realized that I need somebody to help me heal. Maybe the human razorblade just needs somebody to blunt his bite."

"And you're that girl," he suggested, with more than a small hint of skepticism.

"No, I'm not," Tali admitted. "I'm just a constant reminder of what you were." She held up her arm, the scars for the first time bearing resemblance to those caused by a razor. "But until you find her, I'm here."

Dallas put the cup in the sink, straw still dancing around in a little circle, and looked up at Tali's outstretched arm. The wind was howling outside, like a wolf at the windowpane, and the raindrops beat like angry wet fists on the glass. The weather was awful, and it leeched into the room with a cold that permeated into the floor, the counter, and even their skin; Tali's skin was even more goosebumped than his was. With a deep breath, he took her arm by the elbow, pushed her fingers through his hair, and then slowly let her slip into his arms, holding her by the small of her back and lifting her up into his lap.

"What I was," he repeated. "And what am I now, Tal?"

"You're not Showstopper. Showstopper left a woman to die, and would never say that his girlfriend needed a better boyfriend than him. You're Dallas Green, and you're improving." Tali stared into his eyes, her emerald ones trying to use them as electric blue peepholes into his soul.

As soon as she looked at him, Dallas felt absurdly guilty.

Why am I tearing this girl down? He'd left her to die a long time ago, left her in techno-organic captivity for upwards of two years, and that was hardly the start for a long-term relationship. But she knew that as well as he did - why was he treating her like she was stupid, and couldn't comprehend him (comprehend herself!) in the least? All Tali was looking for was affection. The poor thing had been starved of anything but torture (actual torture!) for two years; how could he blame her for being excited to wake up next to him every morning? Or want to go out and do couples ######? Good God, he'd practically forced her to admit she knew it would never work out!

All she wanted was affection. And he'd practically held up his palm and let her walk into it.

"Jesus, Tal..." His head dipped, and his forehead held up against hers as his hands slipped from his sides to hers. "I'm sorry."

Tali smiled and looked down. Six cuts, ripping through inked flesh and a paler color than the rest of his skin, stretched from Dallas' left pectoral down to just above his waist, and from there another six had ripped him from one hip to the other. His scars formed a jagged sort of L-shape, and when Tali curled up in his arms they pressed against hers softly.

-Tyler

IC: Aella

"M-Maybe.." It came out as a squeak as I tried to use my voice for the first time that morning. I cleared my throat a bit, "In my defense you're very comfy." Sounded like a good enough excuse.