cape_kore | one. | Day 82

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one. | Day 82 | Video

[ The video shows a very large, very blue eye blinking directly into it. Almost as soon as it appears, the camera pans out to show Julian's face, and then it seems to hover directly in front of him. His shoulders are down but the camera is directly in front, held by his telekinesis which also happens to be holding the gauntlet it's attached to. Julian walks along like this is completely normal. Once it reaches what he thinks is a reasonable distance, the Town Center with its fountain can be seen behind him.

His expression is a sardonic smirk, and his voice is a drawl. He doesn't sound panicked. ]

So, Cape Kore. My 'new home'. That's cute. What is this, like Survivor for mutants? I see the cameras. You guys aren't subtle, whoever you are.

[ The camera comes closer again, and something bright and metal taps the face of his watch. ]

Who's even on the other side of this thing? I'm fucking talking to myself, aren't I. What a joke...

[ He rolls his eyes, and for a moment looks like he's about to turn this off. Then he appears to think better of it. His face hardens, and his lips compress into a line. ]

Whatever. This is Hellion, I'm with the X-Men. If anyone's out there, sound off. I need to get off this ride, and one of you is gonna tell me how, right now, or I'm going to take every one of those little cameras and grind them to dust.

Start talking.

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Yeah, it's weird.

[She doesn't trust him much, but he had offered to cook for her, so there was that.

Her eyebrows go up. Last she knew, Magneto was dead or something on Genosha, not out trying to take over the world again. Maybe things change in the future.]

Nope. I wouldn't be if they paid me. I like alternate universe adventures and all, but I prefer mine with Elwood and headless T-Rex's. As for X-Men? There's you. And there's me.

The Prof and Mags that are here? Weirdorama. Their O5 includes Banshee and Mystique of all people. Oh, and Alex, and dude, just no. And they gave Frost to the CIA. Totally weird. So, you wanna come back to my place for a beer, or you wanna stand around here gabbing about how neither of us is in Kansas anymore?

[Headache. She hates having to revive her damned powers.]

[ Is she for real? How can they be the only two X-Men here? Why the hell does the Professor not count? And Magneto. He's an X-Man back home, or at least he is these days. He's part of Cyclops' weird little army of the future anyway, so he's pretty sure it counts.

He eyes her, not totally trusting her. ]

You don't even like me. You know that, right? At home, we're not friends. I don't know what the hell we are.

[ She's a vampire, he's the student no one wants. She's the only one here from his world and she has no idea about any of that.

Alec had told him he wouldn't find people here that he knew. He'd brushed that off, but now he's thinking again. ]

I don't know where else to go. I'll come with you.

I'm Logan, Jr. I don't like a lot of people.

[She turns and heads toward her place, leaving him at her back. It's a show of trust that not everyone would get. She hopes he picks up on it.

The two wolves are waiting for them at the door. At least they didn't take the carcass in the house. She shakes her head and bumps open the door. They boil into the house and jump on the couch, finding their usual spots.

She opens the fridge and pulls out a pair of beers, and puts one on the kitchen table, sliding into the seat with a heavy sigh and takes a sip from her beer.]

Have a seat, TK boy. We're stuck here, we might as well be semi civil.

[ She could probably just paffsplode him if he did anything edgy. Huh. It's been a long time since he's seen Jubilee's powers. Firework-like paffs, that's what they'd been like. Before M-Day when everything changed.

He puts that out of his mind when the wolves appear. He's all kinds of unsure about them, and he gives them a wide berth as he follows her inside. It's weird, being here with her, but he does sit. He doesn't know what to say. He has no idea how to talk to her. He feels defensive, caged somehow. Like he always does when he's around people he thinks are judging him.

Even when they're not. His hands are kept in his pockets. ]

I'm being civil. [ Sulky, but civil. And then after a few moments: ] Some kid with a bad attitude said there was a barrier all around this place. That true? And if it is, why the hell hasn't Magneto broken through it?

If the guy who's here is really him.

God, if it was only that simple.

[It's tired and frustrated.]

Firstly, the Mags here? Isn't as well versed in his powers as ours. I mean, I don't think this one's going to be threatening to stop the world on its axis anytime soon, or ripping... anyway, he's young. Like... just post World War Two young. Meaning, he hasn't gone through anything and learned his powers as well. Plus, I just don't think they're that strong yet. You know, or should, that mutants grow into powers, and he hasn't done that yet.

[She sips her beer.]

Secondly, we used an accelerated nuclear explosion on the damned thing and all it did was rip it open for a moment and then collapse on us. It's not that simple.

[ If he were post-war, Magneto had gone through some things, Julian thinks. The kind of things that would make him opposed to being locked in a bubble dimension, or whatever the hell this thing is. Part of Julian thinks it could just be one of Legion’s personalities having another fit. That doesn’t really work, though. The rest of the X-Men should be here if that were the case, and Julian wouldn’t know anything was wrong.

Despite that… ]

So he wasn’t lying, then. The bratty kid. Well, that’s just great.

[ He glances around. ]

How come you live here? Do we all get a house or is this some kind of scavenger hunt? I don’t like…throwing questions at you.

[ He eyes her. The fact that she’s the closest thing to someone he trusts in this place does not make this any better. But she is, so he has to deal with that. She’s still an X-Man, a mutant, and that still means something to him – even if it doesn’t mean as much as it once did. ]

I don’t know who else to ask. Talking to the Professor is weird.

[She snorts.]

Which bratty kid?

[She feels the need to ask that, since there's a few of them here.]

When I arrived, Logan lived here with the pups. I moved in because he went overprotective again, and now that he's gone, I'm staying. Need someone who knows how to cook and it'll be cool.

[Because she can't cook. Ugh. She's mastered the art of dialing up Dominos though.]

As for the houses, they were here before we showed up, from what I understand. I don't have all the answers, but I've been laying low lately.

Dude, ask. You'd be getting the fifth degree from me. S'only fair.

The bratty kid called Dil-something. [ He's not going to do Dilandau the favor of remembering anything more than that.

He leans back, drinking beer. It's really fucking weird to him that he's wishing Wolverine were here. Much as he hates to admit it, he doesn't know what to do, and he wants to get home.

The second part of that looks impossible, and he can't even kick some supervillain's ass to make it happen. ]

So...what do you do here? There's no one showing themselves to fight, you're living alone? What do I need to know?

No one showing to fight at all. Which, let me tell you, sucks. I need a good brawl.

[She's not joking.]

Right now, we're all about survival. If you can swing a hammer, or know how to cook, people need those skills. Then, there's the hunting group, so if you know how to do that, volunteer there.

Be careful in the woods. There's weapons emplacements, robo-bears, tigers, and a few other nasties in there that would take down pretty much anyone. If you destroy enough of the equipment, they will knock you cold and replace it.

I break the camera in the bathroom on a daily basis.

I live here with the pups, and that's it. Unfortunately, Dominos doesn't deliver and there isn't a sushi bar in like a hundred miles or so.

So what do you eat, pop tarts?

[ At least it's not blood. God, it's weird to think of her eating normal food. He's so used to vampire Jubilee that the original model is unusual. ]

I'm not scared of robots. Unless they're sentinels, they can kiss my ass. [ Bravado, mostly. He lost his hands to a sentinel. He'd destroyed Omega Sentinel, and he'd refused to fight with another sentinel came to Utopia. It's fair to say he has issues. ] Geez, this is like Utopia all over again. Self-sustaining. I'll talk to the hunters, I guess.

[ A pause, thoughtful. He's wrestling with this, but in the end he decides to just ask, because the worst she can say is no. ]

Can I stay here?

Logan charred stuff. And the Magneto that's here - not ours, unfortunately - has offered to teach me.

[Latkes. She wants them. Right now.

She cocks her head to the side.]

Don't see why not. If you can put up with the pups, then you're welcome. I'm not sure if anyone else will end up here, but mutants stick together.

Yeah. Not the Professor or Magneto, though. They're sticking together elsewhere.

[ Which is all nice and cozy. He doesn't know if there's a story there, if she's awkward with them or if they're awkward with her. They can't be if Magneto is offering to teach her.

But whatever. He knows her, and she's the only one he knows, and even if they've never been friends, he trusts her enough that he thinks she won't betray him right away. That's more than he can say for anyone else. ]

Thanks.

I lived alone for a while. I can cook stuff well enough that we won't starve. [ Though probably not much more than that. He didn't live anywhere pleasant. ]

Hey, if you can cook, you're more than welcome to stay. I always lived where there were other people to feed me. And credit cards.

[Jubilee isn't ashamed of that. Not at all.]

They're... not ours. The Prof isn't sure what to think of me, and I'm pretty sure I pissed off Mags by making a joke.

[She shrugs.]

I'm actually pretty okay with them being elsewhere. We don't see eye to eye on more than a few things.

[ Julian eyes her, thinking how much that's not a surprise. Jubilee ruffles feathers, anyone who's ever met her knows that.

Then again, so does Julian. ]

Yeah? What kind of things? If I shouldn't trust them, I'd like to know why.

Mmm, more Mags than the Prof. I was trying to help him out and said something to piss him off. Not sure what, but when he heard Logan was gone, he stepped up and offered to teach me to cook. Which is cool with me. He'll regret it, but whatever.

[She taps her temple.]

I let the Prof in to root around a bit, and he's not nearly as nosy as our Prof. He only took what I gave him and didn't go looking for more.

It's easy to piss Magneto off in any world. [ AKA he does it basically every time they speak imagine that. ]

And maybe Xavier's not as good as our guy. He's a hell of a lot younger. Less experienced.

[Jubilee just shakes her head. Julian doesn't know.]

You've been around him? Or Frost? They create pathways that you really have to concentrate to keep them out, especially in those of us that have natural shields. They're subtle little paths. It's so they can snoop and spy when needed. He found the ones our Prof put in my head. He can run around anytime he wants. He hasn't. I can tell. Especially since he isn't as subtle as ours.

[Advantage to having been an X-Man for a long time.]

C'mon. Let's go find you a bed and stuff. We might end up stealing things, but... eh, you're an X-Man. You'll get used to it.

Frost was my mentor. I know what it's like to have someone in my head.

[ And he knows about shields, but he doesn't think there's much of a point in mentioning that. It's a standard class at the school. Jubilee should know that, even if she's from an earlier period. She's probably taken those classes herself. ]

But maybe he just ain't as free with that crap as the guy we knew. He's from the sixties, it's not like anyone was proud about being a mutant back then. Anyways, you should be glad. I would be. Would you want to know your future?

[ He's not just saying that to make a point. He does know her future. Whether she's interested in it or not is something he should keep in mind. But when she suggests finding a bed, he nods, and finishes his beer. Whatever this house is like, it's got to be better than his dorm room. ]

[She raises her eyebrow at him. Frost was one of her teachers as well. As well as most of the X-Men. Advantage of being the only student there for a while.]

He announced to the entire place that he's a mutant and can read everyone's minds. If anything, he's freer with that info than ours.

[She snorts.]

Every time I run into Bishop I hear about my future. It gets old after a while.

[Jubilee hasn't been up in the attic. But it isn't as bad as it could be. And there's already a couple of mattresses up there.]

Well, that'll help. I'll get the broom and help you clean up.

[ Bishop. Julian eyes her. God, there’s so much she doesn’t know.

Well, he won’t tell her. She’s right, it gets old. And there’d be too much to explain, a long story lacking in happy endings.

Except maybe for one, but the jury’s still out on the full consequences of what Hope and Scarlet Witch did to the Phoenix. All in all, he’d probably have an easier life if he didn’t go into any of it. ]

So the Prof’s weird. I can deal with weird. Do we even know for sure he’s from the same timeline as we are?

Hell, I don’t even know if you’re from the same timeline as I am.

Forget it, I’ll check out the attic. [ He pauses, standing, and then looks at her. ] …Thanks.

He's not. His original group is Sean, Alex, Hank, and Mystique. Not our Prof in any way shape or form.

[Then she smiles.]

You're welcome. Anytime you wanna train, I've been staking a place out not far from here. I'm up before dawn most days.

[ He almost makes a vampire-related comment in response to that, but forbears. Dickishness needs to be restrained while she’s sharing a house with him. ]

Yeah, I tend to never see dawn if I can help it. I’m not hearing there’s a hell of a lot else to do here though. I guess I’m up for training. A Danger Room would just be too much to ask for, right?

Usually I see dawn from the opposite side, but Logan trained it into me to get up early, the jerk.

[It's said with fondness. She misses him.]

Man, I'd give just about anything for a Danger Room. I mean, we almost broke the barrier, if I had a Danger Room to train in? We might be able to break out of here.

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one. | Day 82 | Video

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