Marvel, Rebirth:

IC: (Vince Jackson Jr.)

"Then I spit upon the graves of TRAITORS!" Vince said loudly. "Those who betrayed mankind!"

The crowd was screaming, "MUTIE LOVER!" at the top of their lungs.

IC: Tokiomi

One hour prior...

Tokiomi was doing something he shouldn't be doing.

Simply put, he was watching TV while driving. Driving through New York's downtown

Specifically, he was watching the Vince Jackson Jr show. Despite Agent Jericho calling him for work, he needed to see this. Specifically, he wondered what the ###### Yuri Alexandrov was doing on that show. Sighing as he watched the events of the show (and at the high amount of data being used), he activated a device of sorts.

"Send a message to Yuri Alexandrov, or his press agent, if the man is not available," Tokiomi said, talking to some sort of AI connected to his phone, "and ask him what the ###### is he doing on that show. Also text Vince Jackson Jr under the name '4' and tell him that he could be charged with hate speech if Yuri felt like it. Tell the General this too."

One hour later...

Tokiomi ahd just crossed the border into New Jersey. "This is going to be a long road trip..."

IC: Song"That's okay. I had to fly all the way here, so I don't mind having a chance to catch my breath."

IC [Nizhoni/Downtown Wichita]

Nizhoni decided it was going be one of those days.

It was a relatively swell Monday morning, but the woman had something against working on Mondays, and so always took them off. It was the advantage of being a relatively-high ranking member of a research project. So long as the papers got in on time, no one worried about what you were up to. In this instance, it was a good thing, as Nizhoni was patrolling downtown. It was the morning, the daylight, so she hardly expected much gang activity. All the same, when the night faded away, the day brought with it its own varieties of crime. Petty crimes were something that afflicted all times of day, after all.

She tapped her phone, slotting it into the loose belt around her waist with the various tools of the trade she brought with her. It switched to a police frequency in her ears, allowing her to listen in. A slow day, all in all. Maybe she'd just call it an early day, go home, take a nap. Watch a show. Do something other than sit out in the cold and wait for crimes that'd never happen.

Sighing, she reclined on the rooftop, hoping that maybe today someone wouldn't get freaked out by a person on the rooftops and call the police on her.

IC: Horace (Backstage of Jackson's Show, Talking to Yuri)

Horace's face was in a grimace, he, like Yuri, had also been invited onto the show and had entertained hopes of bridging the gap between mutants and mutant haters. Judging from Yuri's predicament, the odds of that happening were rapidly declining. Regardless, Horace had already been scheduled and it was too late to back out now. All the young man could hope for would be to convince at least one member of the audience that their prejudice was wrong and ill-informed.

That was when Horace noticed Yuri rolling on stage and decided to walk over to meet him. "General Aleksandrov," Horace greeted with a bow, he had a greet deal of respect for those who served the needs of others. "Its an honor to meet you, my name is Horace Hammer, and I guess I too was duped into coming here for a cordial interview. I do apologize for that vile man's conduct."

IC: Dante (Bus, Being Awoken by Gabe)

The young Italian wearily opened his eyes upon being poked by Gabe. The events of the past few months had left Dante rather fatigue, together with Alistair, he had been busy trekking all over the place in search of various magical artifacts. Be it Legendary Weapons or scrolls for Dante to study. Unfortunately the searches, with a few exceptions, had proven mostly unfruitful, and to compound the problem, Alistair had been forced to take his leave rather recently. Since then the Italian had been at a lost for where to had to next and the months of constant travel had only served to increase his ever lasting fatigue.

Hence upon being woken from his slumber, Dante could merely reply with a halfhearted, "Yes?"

IC: Gabriel

Gabriel moved his finger back. "Hi."

IC

New York was gorgeous at sunrise.

The clouds were pink and orange as the sun slipped over the horizon, sending yellow beam of light lancing through the city. Sitting on the edge of a skyscraper, his feet dangling over the streets far below, Cody Jackson took a deep breath, and smiled.

The crisp air bit his nose and lungs, waking him up almost as much as the sun did. As the rays of light played across his face, he felt energy begin to trickle into his body. It had been twenty hours since the last time he'd slept, but he didn't care. He just closed his eyes and let the sun give him life.

Today was going to be a good day.

Standing to his feet, Cody zipped up his leather jacket and pulled his gloves on. They had no fingers, which made them pretty useless in terms of keeping his hands warm, but they were excellent for punching people. Hopefully he'd get to punch some people today.

That sounds terrible, he thought with a wry smile. I only punch bad people.

He pulled a piece of green cloth from his pocket and shook it out: a balaclava. Two holes for his eyes and one for his mouth. He pulled it over his red hair and over his face, warding off the morning chill. The mask protected him in more ways than one.

Shaking his arms out, he stepped to the edge of the skyscraper and looked down. A hundred stories below, the streets were coming alive. He smiled behind his mask, green eyes sparkling, then jumped.

He flew through the air like a bird, his leap propelling him across the street to the next building over. Stretching his left arm out, his hand caught a window sill and he pulled, bracing his feet against the wall for a split second before pushing off again.

He wasn't Cody Jackson anymore. He was Zephyr.

IC: Lynae "You can come in, you know." Lynae called out to the woman standing outside of her door. She was sitting on a couch in her room, a glass of red liquid too thick to be wine in her hand.

IC:

"I don't mind," Sam replied, retrieving a few things from the refrigerator that Krystal was positively sure she couldn't eat. Like the seven sticks of butter and the vinegar, "I suppose you know where I work?"

Kristen took the journal, giving it a quick look-over. She hadn't mastered the now-difficult art of handwriting either. She was terrible at using her left hand, and she had a habit of breaking the writing utensils with her prosthetic.

Well, they do say that practice makes perfect...

"Thanks Doc," Kristen said softly, standing up out of her chair, "I'll be sure to do that."

OOC: You seem to be wrapping up, Auron, but if I'm wrong, let me know and I'll push this back a big more. :pIC:As Kristen prepared to leave, Dr. Thomas was more than likely preparing herself for another drought of visits. As her glance at her schedule had shown, few students were willing to talk about their problems, though one needed only to consider the Institute's recent history to know that many of them hid deep seated traumas and fears. Many of them had gone through Weapon X's captivity first hand, and most of the others had suffered in the time when the school had lacked a headmaster and was, in truth, barely held together by a handful of X-Men remnants. Though the time had lacked physical attacks, they could all see the strain on the remaining staff members' faces in that time, as they sought to keep Xavier's dream intact.And when that time had ended, they all did their best to forget about it. Some students left, those that had somewhere else to go, but the rest stayed, trying to put the past back in the past where it belonged. They didn't want to think about it. The majority of her visitors were those who like Rene, had been pulled aside.Which was why it was surprising when, for the third time that day, there was a knock at her door. A crisp, meticulous set of three knocks with nearly identical timing between them.

IC: (Vince Jackson Jr.)

Vince raised his hand, to calm his people, to let them allow him to speak. It was an odd, no-astounding power he had. They quieted down within a second, the last raspy screams dying down. Standing up, he glared at them, his audience, with a subdued kind of smile.

"Now, let me thank Mr. Aleksandrov's agent, first and foremost. And Mr. Aleskandrov himself, the mutie lover that he is, for not hitting me, like so many other guests do when I expose THE TRUTH. Now, we have another guest before we close tonight, a rare kind of guest at that. HERE, ladies and gentlemen, we have a RICH mutie, Horace Sun-Hammer, of Hammer Industries. OR, one of the most PRO MUTIE corporations in AMERICA!"

The spot light went to the side.

"Please, don't throw anything at him. Yet."

IC: Julia

"I'm sorry," Julia mumbled. "I don't want to be mad at you, John, but you've changed. A lot."

IC: Krystal - SHIELD Helicarrier -

"Yes." Krystal replied. "It would be hard not to know, especially with all the explosions..."

IC:

"Then we can go without fear of losing the way," Sam said, nodding, "Onwards!"

With that, Sam returned back to her working-space.

IC Peter"Hah..." Peter put down the phone and dialed another number. "Hello? Registration office? Yeah, there's a new student who would like to register. Okay, I'll take her to you." Putting down the phone, he gestured to Song. "Come this way," he said, walking towards registration.

IC: "Only way to have fun around here," Zachary shrugged, "Unless you're going to burn the place down when you're plastered. Then no fun."

IC:Mornings, like sleeping, were a blessing and a curse.In an unusually pensive mood, the dark haired girl pondered the nature of that fact as the sunlight crept inexorably up unto her bed like a predator waiting to rouse her from her rest. On one hand,mornings were the beginning if a new day. Breakfast, coffee, daylight, social interaction. On the other, it was a disruption in a great limbo of peace and restfulness.On the other other hand, sleep wasn't always a pleasant place to be in her world.Dragging herself groggily towards a sitting position, she pushed her hair out of her face, squinting in annoyance at the sunlight in front of her, ceasing her glowering to stand, and slide on her slippers. For once, her penthouse-mate was being incredibly quiet. Which meant she was either asleep, or plotting something. Her bet was on the latter."Brooooooooook, where are you?"

John Harken- Middle of nowhere Nebraska

IC: "We are currently in the middle of a very empty part of the state of Nebraska. Where is the place that you escaped from?"

IC:

"Thataaway," Trinity said, pointing towards where the car had come from, "Where are you from?"

IC (Rachel Thomas)

The door had hardly closed behind Kristen when someone knocked. Startled, Rachel pulled her files into a neat stack, and got up to open the door. Thus far, this day was turning out to be anything but ordinary.

IC (Rene LeBeau)

"Didn't I tell you, Dal? This place is the best."

The two mutants were seated in a charming little cafe only a few miles from the Institute. The colour scheme, Rene noted, was light browns and deep reds, and the coffee was served in adorable little white cups. He sipped patiently at a double cappuccino while his best friend in the whole world wrestled with how to possibly take a drink of his mocha without getting whipped cream all over his nose.

He grinned, flipping his hair back. "And the coffee is just to die for."

OOC: Think you missed this, Silvan, though it was in a big block of ICs (maybe I should start using colours for characters) so reposting

IC: Before Harken could get an answer, his radio flared to life again. But this time with words

 

"Permission to approach?" Persephone asked

 

IC:When the door opened, the doctor was met with a second unexpected fact.Standing at the door to her office was one of those who had made their escape at most a half hour before, whom she had made a note to track down later. But it turns out that it wouldn't be necessary; one of them, at least, had come to her. The student standing in her door was easily identifiable by name, though frankly, he hadn't been seen often enough for sight to come from anything but his school photo, taken almost a year ago.And a lot had changed since then. Slightly taller, the Technopath had abandoned his geekily humorous clothing in favor of a more formal style of dress. At present, that amounted to suit pants and a deep maroon shirt, a golden "x" upon his lapel, and a brass chain around his neck, though what lay on the end was not visible. What was most telling from a psychological standpoint, however, was his posture.In short, he carried himself carefully, as one might in unfamiliar territory, or around a potential threat. But at the same time, there was an inherent almost ill at ease quality, as if coming might not have been wise. And to top it off, a deceptively cheerful smile of dry amusement."Morning, doctor. I recall that you wanted to chat."

IC: Krystal - SHIELD Helicarrier -

Krystal followed Sam wordlessly, leaving her book behind in the lounge, she was quite done with it anyway. When they arrived Krystal observed the work space and looked around carefully.

"Odd...I thought there would be more craters."

OOC: Oh, thanks, I missed that.

John Harken -Middle of nowhere Nebraska

IC: "I'm from a giant flying ship." Before he could continue Persephone's call came over his comm unit. Keying the talk button, he replied. "Permission granted, everything is quiet so far."

IC:

IC: Seeing as Harken was sure she wouldn't scare the strange duo away, Persephone approached, keeping her stance carefully modified to appear non-threatening.

"Hey there," she said, "I'm with him."

IC: Shiloh

"So you did..." Shiloh spoke, her voice not portraying any emotion. Her eyes were a different story however.

"Hello brother." That's what she spoke out loud, but her mind was sending a different message.

No warning...no warning at all You just upped and left while I was sleeping! Didn't even leave a letter. The ######!? Rene could tell you, hearing that in his mind was far worse than it would ever be spoken out loud He could feel the frustration with every syllable.

IC: Song

"Okey-dokey!" Song said cheerily, following Peter with a small bounce in each step. "I hope they let me keep my kitty. She doesn't like me now, but she will when I'm Sierra."

IC

Rene smiled, a little awkwardly. "Hey, sis. Good to see ya."

I know. I wasn't thinking. I just needed to... no. I'm sorry.

IC

Alexander Smith had been one of the last people Rachel would have expected to show up at her door.

"That's true, Mr Smith," she replied. "I'm glad you accepted my invitation. Come have a seat."

IC:"You'd have come calling eventually." The technopath remarked drily, slipping into the room with quiet steps, and sinking into the chair in front of her desk. "Though I must be honest, if you want to make an appointment with my parents to discuss my future, you won't have much luck."

IC: Shiloh

Shiloh didn't do much beyond a slight shrug, staring back at her brother. In her mind however she was quite talkative.

right you weren't thinking...I needed you! I bet you never even heard about what happened on Genosha, I was shot!

IC (Rachel Thomas)

"Your future is your own, Alexander," the counsellor replied, taking the seat opposite the technopath. "I wouldn't ask your parents to make a decision for you any more than I'd ask your peers to make a decision for you. Your choices are your own, as are the consequences."

Her eyes softened. "But I do believe you know that already, don't you."

IC (Rene LeBeau)

"What? Are you okay?" Rene blurted out. To Dal or Dominik, it would look like a non sequitur, but the kinetopath had simply forgotten for a moment that their conversation was being held in their minds. They hadn't spoken for a long time.

How? Are you okay? What were you doing in Genosha? Where even is that?

IC: Shiloh

I'm fine...that was over a year ago...it's off the coast of Africa...somewhere...Enforcers blew it to bits... Shiloh looked down at the floor, avoiding eye contact for a moment. I just wish you'd been there...

IC:To say that the pause that followed seemed an eternity would be an understatement. It seemed to stretch on and on, a period during which two people opposite each other studied the other very carefully. It is often said that the eyes are the window past every facade, deep into the soul, into the truth. And if that were the case, Alexander's facade was very different from its foundation.Two years ago, that window had been clear, bright with curiosity and worry, all at the same time. Just under two years ago it had been bright and shining, the happiest those eyes had been for a long time. A year and a half ago, that light was dim, angry, and in truth, more than a bit helpless. One year ago they had been dead to the world, the eyes of someone who'd seen too much. And now, when the facade fell away, it was hard to say what they were. There was pain, there was grief warring with a flicker of life, there was a quiet wealth of things unspoken, and of things that should have remained unseen.The facade had changed, but down in the foundation, beneath all else, there was a teenager, battered, beaten, and almost broken."I don't understand the question."

IC (Rene LeBeau)

I wish I'd been there too... Shi, I didn't want to leave you, honest. There hasn't been a day where I don't think about you. I was going to go back for you, but the Brotherhood disappeared. I didn't know where to find you.

IC (Rachel Thomas)

"I'm sorry," the counsellor said with an awkward smile. "What I meant to say is that I did have a few things I wanted to talk to you about, but there must have been a reason for you coming here. Is there anything you'd like to talk about?"

IC:"It'd probably be easier just to start with what you wanted to discuss." A pause, followed by a slight shrug. "My own topics are less pressing, and more than likely, not all that critical."

IC: Shiloh

I...didn't know where to find you either... Shiloh looked back at Rene, her blue eyes starting to shimmer. Her aura of frustration and anger slowly turning into sadness.

Shiloh then did something rather uncharacteristic. She stood up, walked over to Rene, and gave him the biggest glomp he'd ever suffered.

"I...I wasn't sure I'd ever see you again..." Her muffed voice said, as her face was planted in his shoulder.

IC (Rachel Thomas)

"I'd like to hear your thoughts, Alexander. Indulge me, please. Mine can wait."

IC (Rene LeBeau)

Rene hugged his sister back tightly. "I missed you so much. I promise it won't happen again."

IC:A pause, as the technopath pondered the request, quickly followed by a sigh. "You've read the documents pertaining to me, I know because they're on your computer right now. Last viewed roughly a week ago, along with every other record pertaining to the most recent iteration of the X-Men.""So, to preface the answer to your question, I'll ask one of my own. How much did you read, and what do you know?"