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Post by Gris on Feb 17, 2021 4:46:42 GMT -5
"Rachel!" Kate echoed in her mind as Pryde woke up startled, looking around without aim. She felt normal again, at least as far as the circumstances allowed, her connection with Kate had been a little too close for comfort for a while. "I... sorry, we... you are safe" Kate meant well, but she wasn't specially talkative and had struggles of her own. "We don't have to 'talk' about that, not now at least" Pryde thought back, finally focusing on the situation at hand.
"We're back from... whatever the fuck that was" Pryde uttered, clearly not bothering herself with etiquette. She did want to dismiss parts of what happened as a feverish dream, but it was clearly something that happened. "Everyone accounted for? Thanks to whoever dragged me out of there" she admitted without much fuss. "Is she okay?" Pryde wondered about... well, one Elizabeth, the one she had been holding on in that strange realm. Her eyes went back to, as weird as it was, the Elizabeth she first met at the party, trying to guess if she had an answer for that mess but without voicing a question in particular.
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Post by UrbanBlue on Feb 17, 2021 11:09:22 GMT -5
"My brain is awhirl both with the possibilities of what I just saw and the immense pain I'm in right now. I'm going to need some time to heal before I deal with anymore discombobulated crap like that."
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Post by OurLadyWar on Feb 17, 2021 11:48:06 GMT -5
Elizabeth started as if woken from a dream -- or maybe it was a nightmare -- and took in the room and its events in a muted, somber state. Her stomach and mind were spinning from all the different transformations, confrontations, and finally revitalization. The lab was different, even if the man looked familiar. To Pryde, Elizabeth nodded. "I think so. Not sure I'm qualified to say."
Back to the man, Elizabeth squinted her eyes while she rubbed at her head. "You... you look familiar. How long were we out?"
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Post by phencerx on Feb 17, 2021 12:34:48 GMT -5
"Well that was a bloody terror." Peter removes his eyepatch and places it back in his pocket. Looking around to make sure everyone made it out, he takes note of everyone's current condition. As much as he wants to go guns a blazing to get answers as to what the hell just happened, he knows that everyone involved in their recent ordeal are in no shape for another assault at this time. Nor does he know if anyone would truly back his play.
Still though, he now has a better idea of everyone's abilities and has already started formulating how best to use them if this line of "work" is going to continue. Peter pushes down the desire to press them for more information about their abilities and decides to take on a softer tone.
Looking to Pryde and echoing Elizabeth, "Aye luv. We do appear to be out of whatever the hell that was." Then to McCoy, "Spot on lad. We could all use a kip right about now."
Elizabeth seems to have this new gentlemen engaged so Wisdom turns his attention to Frost. "We need to have a serious chat about your definition of fair play. How about you go get Shaw so we can debrief while everything is still fresh."
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Post by mcr on Feb 17, 2021 14:55:45 GMT -5
As the doctor continues his physical exam, he moves about the room, grabbing medical supplies, and reading print-outs from the various machines hooked to his patients. He finally motions to have McCoy, looking a bit battered, seated on one of the beds. He holds up an IV and medical bag, explaining:
"Morphine. Unfortunately, I have not yet developed an instant cure for bruised bodies. These are wounds only time will heal. But I can at least dull the pain. You will also need an x-ray and ultrasound to determine whether you are suffering from any internal injuries, as I'm sure you know Doctor. We may also need to get you to a better equipped facility for a CT, but based on your ability to stand upright, my initial assessment is that won't be necessary? Please lie flat?"
The man's accent appears forced, clear to Wisdom's and Betsy's ears that he has received many years of formal schooling in the Oxbridge tradition installing a uniform dialect in its students. His assistants wheel over a large machine hooked up to a monitor from one of the other patients.
Answering Betsy's question, he speaks:
"I am Nathan Millbury. You may have seen my great-aunt's portrait hanging in the foyer."
He moves, with an almost effortless grace, to Quicksilver, retrieving and eyeing an antique gold pocket watch from the boy. The contraption slides open, revealing several intricate moving parts with multiple faces, ornate hands ticking down various increments of time. Eyeing Wisdom's armor, he continues:
"Four days, eleven hours, and nineteen minutes since this one went through. Although why he asked for this trinket rather than something sensible I do not know. By my count, I suppose that leaves the lot of you missing just about a day and a half?"
Although he states this as a matter of fact, the time you feel missing feels both longer and shorter than that. Returning the watch to his own pocket, he muses cryptically:
"I also knew James quite well."
Chuckling at the irony, he added:
"You look just alike."
Meanwhile Emma answers Wisdom:
"Mr. Shaw left a few hours after you went through. We feared all hope was lost. I must confess - the girls and I, we could feel you slipping away from us before you suddenly returned. We're not sure how. I might be better able to answer you if you can tell me what happened?"
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Post by OurLadyWar on Feb 18, 2021 12:35:55 GMT -5
Hearing the misplaced and displaced time left Elizabeth with a gutted feeling. "A day and a half..." She echoed, processing those lost hours and trying to ignore the hunger and thirst that suddenly had settled in upon realizing how long they had been gone.
Millbury provided a momentary, yet alarming distraction. Her cheeks flushed as he mentioned her father and their likeness. A shadow of sadness passed behind her eyes. Seemed everyone knew her father well at one point or another. They were lucky to have as much time as they did with him. It was an opportunity she missed, just as much as she missed him. "So I've heard, sir," she murmured, but her stomach growled louder than that.
She drew her hand across her stomach as Wisdom demanded Shaw. "And perhaps something to eat," she cleared her throat, the dryness having settled in, "or drink."
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Post by UrbanBlue on Feb 19, 2021 12:05:18 GMT -5
McCoy lies flat and lets the doctor do his work.
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Post by phencerx on Feb 19, 2021 16:28:46 GMT -5
Clearly annoyed at the news of Shaw's departure, and still a little hot from their encounter, Peter lights up a cigarette and takes a long drag while looking Frost right in the eyes. "So you're telling me that after sending us on a suicide mission, that wanker just went out for a jaunt? A real prince that one is."
At that moment, he notices McCoy laying down to be treated and looks over to Pryde. "You might want to let the doc check you out as well."
Turning his attention back to Frost, "Alright. Let's talk, but know that this is going to be some quid pro quo because we've got some questions for you as well. Starting with her." Wisdom points over to Elizabeth's double. Pulling his flask out, he takes a long swig and tosses the flask to Elizabeth. "Here you go luv. This will set you right as rain until they get us something to eat."
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Post by Black Sam on Feb 19, 2021 16:59:11 GMT -5
Azazel had BAMFed in and out of the room where the others were being treated, not bothering to excuse his absences. He'd returned to his gentleman guise soon after their return; the red devil-man perhaps one of the strange memories from the otherplace they'd just left behind.
He returned once more in time to hear Wisdom calling shots. He stepped up behind him to lend his own weight to the Brit's demands.
"Yes, I think some answers would be good for everyone."
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Post by mcr on Feb 19, 2021 18:14:28 GMT -5
Emma fails to acknowledge the edge in Wisdom's voice, perhaps from fatigue or simply because she was used to being underestimated:
"I speak for the Hellfire Club. Well, the New York branch. Dr. Millbury speaks for London, in the absence of a present leader, I suppose, since we're in his house after all. 'That wanker' you're referring to is an agent, a valuable one, much like yourselves, and my girls. But no leader. Not one in a position to answer your questions."
Dismissing the triplets, she adds of Betsy's double:
"As for her, I apologize for the deception. Irene's visions of a mutant extinction were first brought to our attention almost two decades ago, when she was a young girl living in Austria. Since then, we've been taking every contingency to prevent that from happening, starting with the more prominent members of our Club, our Inner Circle. Betsy's father was among them. She - you - are all integral to our backup plan."
She slumps back:
"Besides, it wasn't a total lie. Like my girls, she is one of Nathan's patients. And she was taken, some time ago, that much is true, as were two of my girls. But we do not know by whom, or how. There is much we share in our lack of answers - believe me, I would much rather you have found one of mine, but they appear to have vanished off the face of the earth. And if there were things I possessed the ability to tell you, I would. This was the only lead we had. Moreover: tell me honestly, would you have gone on a mission of such uncertainty if we had told you - any of you - that the girl we wanted you to rescue was Elizabeth Braddock's long lost "twin" - the spitting image of the same woman who stood in your presence but whom none had ever met, seen, or even heard of before? A secret hidden from her by her own family? You were reluctant enough as it was."
Meanwhile, Millbury makes his way to Pryde and Betsy. Hearing the latter's stomach rumble, he snaps his fingers and some of his attendants immediately rush off, likely to the kitchen. He grabs a couple of beakers and medical vials and fills them with water, dispensing them among you. Examining Beast, he finds something peculiar in his clothes:
One of the capsules of Pym Particles has made its way back with you, attached to a plain white card bearing the words: "Eat me."
Handing it to Hank, he shrugs:
"I believe this belongs to you?"
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Post by Gris on Feb 20, 2021 6:54:17 GMT -5
They were missing more than a day? How was that possible? What kind of place had she ended up into when she fell unconscious? Pryde didn't have answers for all that and it seemed that the Hellfire Club didn't either. Or they were withholding them, either way she had no way of knowing everything about what happened. "Kate, maybe it's not the best time, but things got weird back there" Pryde thought. "You know I normally don't mind our... situation, but that felt strangely intimate and I think I deserve to know. Who's Rachel?" she outright asked.
"My memories are scattered, we prevented the future once was, so the life I had is no more" Kate confided. "I'm not even sure I was a future you if left unchecked, I'm not sure of much anymore" she did sound lost, but her inner voice grew in confidence. "I am sure that I loved Rachel and that she loved me, I can kind of remember that we met in extraordinary circumstances... but as a dream that fades after awaking, it's out of my grasp for now" she added. "Sorry if that made you feel uncomfortable, I guess I reached for a time and place that felt safe" Kate sounded nostalgic, but also confused.
"No, no, it didn't made me uncomfortable, it was just... a surprise, I guess" Pryde thought back, not wanting to ponder about how it had been the opposite, how part of her found it comfortable. "We will be fine, we are fine. Lets see if this people can shed some light in all this weird stuff" Pryde finished, letting things go.
"So" she said out loud, "did you know about... this?" Pryde asked Elizabeth, gesturing to... well, the other one they found.
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Post by OurLadyWar on Feb 20, 2021 11:02:11 GMT -5
"Obliged," Elizabeth murmured, taking the offered flask from Wisdom, the chap she had been affectionately calling "the geezer" in her head. Everyone was a geezer to a teenager, no matter how young or old their soul was. She may have daintily pinched off sips of champagne at the long since ended party, but she drew on the flask like she was from the working class. A long suck and a sharp burn, and she barely winced as the warmth settled. The flask was handed back nonchalantly, but that alcohol suddenly curdled in her stomach as she learned just what her father had been up to. He was always so proud of the Braddock line, but even to preserve mutagenic life... she never thought he would have "shared" so freely. Elizabeth would have been too young to tell and the fire burned up any chances of her father being forward with her when she got older. Everyone is always so envious of the young, but they forget when you're young... no one tells you a damn thing. When you're older, when you're older, when you're older... and then they're gone, and all you are is older.
Elizabeth folded her hands in her lap after curling a lock of pale violet hair behind her ear. Whatever sustenance Millbury was scrounging up was probably the kind of food most people would never see without a few commas in their accounts, but all Betsy wanted was a plate of some fried comfort food and a brew. Maybe she was biting off more than she could chew, but she needed to know what happened to her father, to her family. Even if it meant more secrets like this would come to light.
An exhausted smile was passed to Pryde. "No. No, I did not know."
Then, to Millbury. "Sir. Perhaps you could tell me some more about my father sometime... when you are not so otherwise pre-occupied."
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Post by phencerx on Feb 22, 2021 14:55:45 GMT -5
Peter shakes the flask after it's handed back to him and notices just how large of a drag Elizabeth took. So it seems the princess isn't so prim and proper after all. Another note to add to the file he's been mentally collecting on this new team. After pondering over everything that Frost had just dumped on them, he lets out a sigh and takes a seat across from her.
"Savvy move on your part then presenting him as someone more important than he really is. Fair enough on your reasons for misleading us on the actual target of this mission, but that was your one freebee. If you're going to expect me to risk my life for your little errands, you're going to need to be upfront with me from here on out. Everything turned out hunky-dory this time, but it could have just as easily been a major cock up."
At this time Wisdom is putting all of his focus on Frost, looking for even the slightest of tells. "But since you seem to be the lady in charge, let's get down to the brass tacks. Your portal took us to a right nasty realm of existence fronted by Morgaine le Fey on an Alice's Adventures In Wonderland trip. There's still something that doesn't sit right with me though. The boys you sent before were clearly her thralls, but something about it didn't seem like just magic controlling them. I'm guessing there's another shadowy figure behind it all, but the mission was to get the girl out and I think sticking around any longer would have risked us to the same fate."
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Post by Black Sam on Feb 25, 2021 12:10:31 GMT -5
Azazel listened, keeping his thoughts from showing on his face.
"I am agreed with Mr. Wisdom," he said. "There is room for us to help one another. What are your next-steps, Miss Frost? As they say in Russia: 'a word is silver, silence is gold.' Earn my trust and you will have my loyalty. As for this team-that-is-not-a-team... that will take time. I prefer to work alone, but it seems that whoever or whatever is behind all of this..."
Azazel rolled his shoulder and splayed his long fingers in a shrug.
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Post by mcr on Feb 25, 2021 18:25:52 GMT -5
Millbury stiffens at the mention of Morgana's name:
"Indeed? Morgan le Fay? That's a story I've not heard in quite some time. Though I would be foolish to dismiss her legend as purely the stuff of fantasy, I must admit that the idea troubles me. I would be eager to learn more of your journey and return."
Emma interjects:
"We knew things like these were risks when you took this project on. What was it you said: 'We are the result of incalculable actions and reactions? Trials and errors, genetic mutations, unknowable combinations? Chaos?' And we aim to manufacture it. We stick to the plan. To change chance in our favor. "
Emma's outburst was perhaps a rare display of candor:
"If this was truly the work of some fairy tale witch, we will find someone to debrief you and get a sense of how this happened and why. Once our guests are stable, I am sure you have no objections to staying in your spare rooms, Doctor?"
Millbury silently nodded, continuing his examination of his patients. ====================================================== - Meanwhile -
Death's bony hand removes a bishop from her side of the board, waving it tauntingly before handing it to the knight. Sweating profusely, he takes it and watches in astonishment as it turns red in his hands, crying in surprise as it begins to burn. He drops it onto the other board, where an unseen hand places it. Death repeats the move on the second board in answer. ===================================================== [[OOC: That concludes the main Issue 1. I will be updating the Reference Sheet with Lines of Experience for everyone. There might still be a side scene or two - if you want one, let me know what you're thinking. I am also still working about the next Issue, so if you wanted to weigh in on what it could be, let me know. I will try to get it started by the end of the weekend.]]
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