Marauders #3: Loose Ends

[Seer]

<< The Marauders had been at sea for two days. The first night had been outright celebration, full of drinks, dancing and copious use of the ship's state of the art karaoke machines (yes even Maxine managed to give a stirring rendition of The Sex Pistols' "Liar"). But the hours that followed had left many of our heroes with more questions than answers. And as night fell on their final night at sea before arriving in Capetown, the team began to finally process what had happened in Madripoor and what that meant for their own futures going forward. >>

<< Maxine and Simon had found themselves bonded in a way they had never anticipated. While they both came from similar upbringings, they were complete opposites when it came to growing up in Hellfire. Maxine had been a victim of one of the darkest chapters of Hellfire London, while Simon had grown up with relative ease. Still, he had been the one to save her in New York, after Talisman's "blackjackets" had launched a full scale attack on the woman. But after watching Simon fight for his life and succeed in The Arena, Maxine was beginning to realize that there was more to the fair haired young man she had met so many days ago. They found themselves in the nest of the ship, sharing whiskey. Maxine had taken to teaching Simon the ways of captaining a ship such as The Marauder, and they were beginning down the path of true friendship. The meeting of their minds however, had yet to be confirmed as each had a very different world view. Still, both were finding themselves ENJOYING one another's company. Could this be the start of a beautiful working friendship? >>

<< Meanwhile, Daniel Reed, the new Red King of Hellfire had found himself a bit infatuated with his personal "rescue" in Madripoor, Jun Zhao aka Bombshell, the woman who had captured his Bishop and nearly himself. Jun still did not know herself to be a clone, and had yet to know just how deep the machinations of Talisman were in regards to her "creation". He was spending time with her at the very top of the ship, on the deck just before the mast, sharing drinks, listening to music, and waxing poetic about life, something unfamiliar for Daniel, but something that came easy for Jun herself. Daniel knew he could not keep what he knew a secret for much longer, but he also had a solution for Jun, should she want it. Right now? He just wanted Jun to have a moment that was inherently hers, that wasn't implanted or fake. Just how long that would last remained to be seen. >>

<< And then there was Amanda and Brenthon. Immediately upon meeting, there was an energy between the two Romani that seemed to transcend everything going on around them. While Amanda remained singular in her focus to destroy the "interloper" as she called Talisman, Brenthon had no agenda. He was simply acting on instinct. Something had told him to trust Amanda. Something had told him that she was important to him. When he was around her, he could remember things, he could feel things about his life in between the one he spent in the mortal realm and the one he spent before coming back to "life". While she looked very different from the Romani he knew, he could smell the blood of her legacy, he KNEW where she had came from, and he knew her legacy. He found himself a bit infatuated. And he was thankful that she knew how to split her time between fun party guest, and deep confidant. When they first arrived on the ship, they leaned into joy. But now, as they found themselves in one of the many parlours of The Marauders, with drinks flowing, that it just might be time for them to explore exactly what the connection was between us. >>

<< The moon began to hang itself in the sky, full and opaque as The Marauder sailed through the water with a quiet and deadly reputation. Soon, they would be on land. Soon, they would face Talisman. But for now? They would face EACH OTHER. >>

<< And So We Watch! >>

 

[Brenthon]

The Marauder

<< The destruction of The Arena had been brutal and beautiful, much like the woman he now found himself in the company of. She liked to call herself "Amanda" but his soul knew her true name. >>

"Jimaine Szardos."

<< He could not fault her. Modern tongues seemed to have much difficulty pronouncing names they wished they could forget. For instance, he was born Boldizsár Meszaros, But when he awoke from his grave, when he was "rescued" by the slavers who would try to claim him in The Arena, he found them all but unable to muster up the ability to call him by name, so he had shortened it to "Beto". But his meeting with Jimaine had made him realize he had once gone by another name, one he had long forgotten. >>

"Brenthon."

<< The Romani knew the power in a name. And when she had called it forth for him, he took note of her. For many months, he had struggled, knowing there was a part of him, a side of his life he could not recall. Somehow, merely being in her presence, he could remember small, but deeply significant things. Who he was while he was in "slumber" was of the utmost importance to him. If only because he could sense that it was so much more powerful than who he was as a mortal. As Boldizsár, he had felt painstakingly out of place. Like a heretic. His own people had cast him out because they were afraid of what he might become, and yet...when he heard the name "Brenthon" he could sense that he just might have been someone who could have united them all. >>

<< Call it infatuation, or insatiable curiosity. But Brenthon could not help wanting to be by Amanda's side. She was a modern day connection to a people who had been long forgotten. And while she was a neophyte in terms of her time spent in the mortal coil, she could offer him insight. She could help him remember who he was. >>

<< From inside the parlour of The Marauder, the two sipped on flutes of hemlock at Amanda's urging. Brenthon downed his glass quickly, wiping his mouth on his forearm as he smirked, his intense brown eyes locking with Amanda's. >>

"Hemlock is fine...but a part of me misses pálinka (a fruit brandy of olden days). The modern stuff is a mockery of the drink, but back in my day, that sweet taste of tart apricot would send me spinning..."

<< He shook his head and laughed. >>

"I find I hate much of the modern world's comforts, but I try not to be such...how do you say... a "negative nancy?" Who is Nancy by the way? Nancy Reagan? Nancy Sinatra? I've researched both and found neither particularly negative. Forgive me, modern idioms are not really my specialty..."

<< Brenthon nodded to the bartender as he took another sip of his freshly filled glass of hemlock. It burned a bit, but it tasted like sweet, dry modern champagne, only much better. >>

"Tell me, chovani...what do you still hold dear from the old world? Besides the devastatingly dark and handome gyspy in front of you?"

 

[Domino]

The Marauder

Though she was thankful for the downtime, there was not a second that Maxine was not thinking about Jessica and Alek. South Africa was the first big lead they had gotten ever since forming this rag tag group of people who all seemed to have different motives but the same agenda - kill Kelly Shaw. She knew that Talisman was not stupid enough to unleash Jessica Marcus on the world, especially with Hellfire in such a state of flux, so she knew her sister was safe. But every second that Jessica remained out of her custody, Maxine couldn't help but to think of all the twisted ways Kelly might warp Jessica against her. For as smart and as powerful as Viper was, she was easily swayed by emotion or a compelling argument. Much of that had been cut out of the way with the death of Alice, but it hadn't brought her comfort. Alice was a mega bitch who deserved to die, but she would have much rather had Jessica grow under her tutelage than Kelly's. And then there was Alek. She had made a promise to both him and Ava, that she would protect them. Maxine did not like to feel like a failure. Much of this journey had started because of a promise to Ava. That she would find him. And she had no lead. She had no intel. Wherever he was, if he was still alive, was completely hidden from her and she hated it.

Perhaps that why she was distracting herself with Simon. Thankfully, it was mutually beneficial. She had never considered much of him, though she was intrigued. The very nature of his power made her question how he had managed to live such an ordinary life. How someone so close to Malice could have NOT fallen into her machinations. Simon had shown a quality about himself in The Arena that endeared him to Maxine. When the chips were down, when there was no other option, he was not afraid to fight. To shed blood. She could see a future of working together with Simon. But she was also aware of the fact that he had yet to deal with the fact that despite it being out of self defense, he had killed someone. Taken a life. And he was The Red Bishop, a position he had taken a bit too easily for Maxine's comfort. He didn't know what he was getting into, and while she understood his decision in the moment, Simon was not built for Hellfire. He just wasn't. Couple that with the fact that she had stared him in the eyes for two days straight and not mentioned a word about the death of his father? Well it had created the perfect storm for her.

Maxine was not a touchy feely person. She did not like to show emotion. But she really cared for Simon. He had saved her when there was nobody else around, if only for the fact that he didn't think it was right for her to go out like that. He didn't think about her associations. About what she had done, how many people she had killed. He had saved her because he felt it was the right thing to do. So right now? Knowing he was safe, and seeing how despite what he had just gone through, he was clinging onto that sassy and sardonic, incredibly endearing part of himself, she felt compelled to take him under her wing. Thankfully, he was a quick study, and it wasn't just his power. They'd spent the better part of the day sailing the open sea, Maxine showing him the controls of the ship, teaching him to steer, how to navigate, and because he was a blue blood of the highest order, she was not surprised to know that he knew his way around a boat, despite it only being one with sails.

"Easy does it. You see those coordinates? We're moving too quickly over there. It's rough water. Look over there..."

She pointed to the holographic compass map that hovered over the helm.

"That's where we need to be. So take us there..."

Maxine leaned back in her seat, taking a sip of her high ball glass of whiskey, exhaling deeply.

"I gotta say, I'm glad you stuck it to Sheeva. I'd be so bored otherwise. What with Daniel's head so far up Jun's ass and Beto and Amanda practically peeling each other's clothes off each other...metaphorically of course..."

[pausing]

"Did you ever think you'd be sailing across the world with a killer like me?"

 

[Discord]

The Marauder

The Red King was at odds with himself, despite The Marauders victory at The Arena. He had not anticipated what he had discovered about Jun and it had been tearing through him like jagged needles into his skin ever since. He had found an uptick in his ritualizing since arriving on the boat. He was counting steps, he was counting how many times he scrubbed his hands in the sink. He was counting the ridges and soft corners of every room that he entered. What he knew about her was manifesting physically on his body and in his life and he wasn't sure just how much more he could take. Jun Zhao was a clone of Amanda Soto, the now deceased Black Knight of Hellfire America. Amanda had been refined and educated. She was deadly but beautiful. Jun was the opposite. She was a brawler. Street smart. Rough around the edges, educated in pop culture rather than literature. He didn't know how to tell somebody they were a clone, let alone that every single memory they had was an implanted lie. That she had only been alive for at most seven or eight months.

There was a deep part of Daniel that related to her, though he would never let himself fully explore that. He had grown up with a father he could never please. One he was never "manly" enough for because of who he was and what he loved. He had crafted his own "clone" version of himself with his powers. A version of himself that his father and his family could love. And being that person had nearly killed him. It wasn't something Daniel spoke of to anyone...ever...but the idea of taking his own life was something that in his teenage years he had seriously considered. He was worried that when Jun found out her origin, she might want the same thing. She might not be able to handle that she too had been acting on a script for her entire life. He was not an emotional person, but he was also not a monster. Who Jun was could have been considered an absolute abomination. There were those who would view her as less than human. But she was more than that. She was one of them.

So he entertained her, trying to play off the last few days as being a man who simply wanted to get to know her better. All the while he was listening to see just how deep Kelly had gone in her effort to SELL Jun as a WEAPON, and what he learned just horrified him further. She had an entire history, and entire backstory, with friends and people and memories that just hadn't existed and never happened. Daniel was an omega level illusionist and empath, and was often considered to be a nascent reality warper just as his mentor Helena Quartermaine was. He had training he never spoke about, and he decided that if he was going to tell Jun who she was exactly, he had to be able to offer her something, even if it was just a cosmic consolation prize. They were hanging out on top of the ship, on a deck near the mast would be, looking up at the stars. They had both drank quite a bit of tequila, with Jun wanting to test how a lowlife from Lowtown could stack up drinking against a wasp of the highest order. Both of them were amused to see how evenly they stacked up. Laying back in the deck chairs, they both enjoyed each other's silences, until Daniel decided to break their silent covenant.

"I know we haven't talked about it yet, Jun. But do you remember in the arena...What I said to you? About how you don't belong? Did...did you know what I mean or is it news to you?"

 

[Magik]

The Marauder

<< Amanda helped to facilitate the mass transit of the dozens of newly freed mutants and meta humans, using her spells and teleportation abilities. They certainly came together to work toward a common goal seamlessly! After a while the need had been fully met. The Arena had been DESTROYED thanks to Amanda's powerful spell of fire and wrath, and a message had been sent. Amanda secretly hoped Talisman had heard...FELT the ripple effects of her spell destroying that stronghold. She WANTED the interloper to know that her time of smooth sailing was OVER and that a RECKONING was soon to be at hand!>>

<< But things weren't that cut and dry. For now, Amanda found herself once again on a course that had not been of her choosing or even in her imagination at the start of her latest adventure.>>

<< And then there was Amanda and Brenthon. Immediately upon meeting, there was an energy between the two Romani that seemed to transcend everything going on around them. While Amanda remained singular in her focus to destroy the "interloper" as she called Talisman, Brenthon had no agenda. He was simply acting on instinct. Something had told him to trust Amanda. Something had told him that she was important to him. When he was around her, he could remember things, he could feel things about his life in between the one he spent in the mortal realm and the one he spent before coming back to "life". While she looked very different from the Romani he knew, he could smell the blood of her legacy, he KNEW where she had came from, and he knew her legacy. He found himself a bit infatuated. And he was thankful that she knew how to split her time between fun party guest, and deep confidant. When they first arrived on the ship, they leaned into joy. But now, as they found themselves in one of the many parlours of The Marauders, with drinks flowing, that it just might be time for them to explore exactly what the connection was between us. >>

<< Amanda Sefton's latest globe trotting trip to Madripoor had changed the direction of her latest journey in ways she never would've imagined just 24 hours ago.>>

<< It was a testimony to how she HAD taken in all that her mother, the legendary, POWERFUL, gypsy Mother & Witch Queen, Margali Szardos, had taught her, not JUST about the WINDING WAY, but about LIFE, not only through her wise, ALL KNOWING eyes, but how to perceive and process the "modern world" and navigate the "western influence." And now, it seemed, Amanda's time to PAY IT FORWARD was upon her, as Beto, aka BRENTHON was now in front of her.>>

<< 24 hour hours ago, her magicks had led her to a lost soul, Simon Pratt. She heeded the signs, followed her instincts, and because she was in the right place at the right time, she was able to facilitate not only HIS rescue, not only the liberation of dozens of trafficked mutant victims, but ALSO a fellow romani, who was just as much in an uncertain place as Simon was, but on a level that spoke to DIRECTLY to Amanda Sefton, aka JIMAINE SZARDOS.>>

<< Her INITIAL thought at the start of all this was to help Domino and Discord rescue Simon and free the trafficked victims, and head her own way, continue with her own life. She KNEW Discord, and Domino, they all had connections to the Hellfire Club's London branch, but Amanda had always kept her distance from most of them, with the exception of Bretta, whom her mother had taken care of when she was a small orphan. Bretta's death still haunted Amanda, and she COMPLETELY disagreed with Domino and Discord's feelings about the fallen dark faerie.>>

<< BUT the revelation that all of this was tied to TALISMAN, a woman who owed a BLOOD DEBT to the Szardos clan, as well as unexpected encounter with Brenthon, had once again changed Amanda's course, and while the witch NORMALLY preferred to travel/fly SOLO, and come and go as she chose, things were no longer that simple. And if she WAS going to travel with the Marauders for this caper, she had to admit this particular vessel was NOT BAD at all when it came to style, luxury and accommodations.>>

<< Amanda hadn't been there for Bretta when the dark faerie needed her. She wouldn't make THAT kind of mistake again. And so, she left her LUXURY "Empathy" suite in Madripoor behind, choosing to remain with Domino's motley crew, the so called "MARAUDERS". It seemed SHE was with them, for NOW anyway.>>

<< Being at the TOP most point of the Winding Way afforded Amanda Sefton a level of POWER that put her in ELITE company with some of the most powerful magick users on the planet in this era, One of them she had a connection to that even SHE didnt know just yet, and Brenthon figured into THAT connection.>>

<< Whether they both knew it, or NOT, Beto and Amanda NEEDED each other in this time and space in MORE than one way. They had a SENSE of it, after their "astral riptide" experience at the now completely destroyed Arena, and they resonated with each other almost unconsiously due to their shared Romani heritage.>>

<< That was as good a starting place as any!>>

<< In her luxury cabin, Amanda had showered and refreshed herself, changing her look once more. She joined Beto in the secluded parlor for a drink, and conversation. >>


<< She wasn't certain about what QUALITY of Hemlock would be found on this ship. As a witch, she definitely had a taste for hemlock, but she learned long ago that not ALL hemlock was "equal" in quality OR effect. Her MOTHER was one of the few sorceresses, on the PLANET, who still followed the ANCIENT original "recipe", as created by HECATE herself. Hecate was not only the Goddess of Witchcraft, she was ALSO associated with plants, herbs and poisons, and many moons ago, before ANYONE on this ship was even a THOUGHT, Hecate had created the concoction that would become an elite drink of choice of witches and magick users for well over a millennia. The drink was utterly poisonous and FATAL to non magick users, although some SELECT mutants with INCREDIBLY hearty physical consitutions, such as Black Widow, and Rampage, had FLIRTED with the idea of trying a SIP of the infamous drink to see "what would happen", and then were was Persephone, goddess of nature and animals who, due to her immunity to poisons and toxins, was able to drink it unharmed.>>

<< BUT... mortal, earthbound concoctions never did much for Amanda, so she decided to at least TRY the supply of Hemlock on this vessel, and when Brenthon expressed interest in it, something told her HE could survive ingesting it, so she gestured for him to try a flute.>>

<< Call it infatuation, or insatiable curiosity. But Brenthon could not help wanting to be by Amanda's side. She was a modern day connection to a people who had been long forgotten. And while she was a neophyte in terms of her time spent in the mortal coil, she could offer him insight. She could help him remember who he was. >>

<< From inside the parlour of The Marauder, the two sipped on flutes of hemlock at Amanda's urging. Brenthon downed his glass quickly, wiping his mouth on his forearm as he smirked, his intense brown eyes locking with Amanda's. >>

"Hemlock is fine...but a part of me misses pálinka (a fruit brandy of olden days). The modern stuff is a mockery of the drink, but back in my day, that sweet taste of tart apricot would send me spinning..."

<< He shook his head and laughed. >>

"I find I hate much of the modern world's comforts, but I try not to be such...how do you say... a "negative nancy?" Who is Nancy by the way? Nancy Reagan? Nancy Sinatra? I've researched both and found neither particularly negative. Forgive me, modern idioms are not really my specialty..."

<< Brenthon nodded to the bartender as he took another sip of his freshly filled glass of hemlock. It burned a bit, but it tasted like sweet, dry modern champagne, only much better. >>

"Tell me, chovani...what do you still hold dear from the old world? Besides the devastatingly dark and handome gyspy in front of you?"

<<She smirked a bit, at he cute he was in this moment, as he wondered about "Nancy" and the expression using that name, and she decided the hemlock on board wasn't TERRIBLE after all.>>

<< it was nice to sit and relax. She had a completely different itinerary planned for herself when she'd arrived in Madripoor 48 hours ago, and it had all been completely upended. Still, the dream "tall drink of water" in front of her would more than make up for SOME of the lost time.>>

<< She took time to look him over, listen to his voice, FEEL his manna with her own magicks.>>

Freedom is change, Beto. To be able to adapt and EVOLVE in this ever changing world is not only a gift, it's a NECESSITY, especially for those like US.

But << to answer his question>> rest assured, I never forget who I am, OR where I came from. Mother would have my hide if she even SUSPECTED that from me.

All that I am, all that I can DO, comes from my mother, and those who walked the winding before me, before HER, lighting OUR way.

My mother taught me how to navigate this world, but not be distracted or BLINDED by it. I play the game(s) that these mortals hold so near & dear, but I'm NEVER boxed in, NEVER without a plan or exit strategy of my own.

<< She drinks from her flute as she calmly looks Beto over>>

My mother always told me to be ready to receive a fellow romani. Rare as we are to find in THIS world, she always said I should be ready to receive, and if necessary AID a fellow romani.

Of all the things I expected to happen during my trip to Madripoor....THIS was not even in my wildest imagination.

<< A smile forms on her radiant face as she surveys the Gypsy King>>

But the BEST things in life are often the most unexpected, and it makes SAVORING them all the more important.

<< adding to her answer>>

I hold on to all that my mother taught me and memories of childhood. Never forgot the traditions, the teachings, the stories...even the stories that I didn't know to appreciate at the time. I hold on to the lessons I learned on the winding way. I hold on to me sense of SELF.

<< she paused>>

Although sometimes...I do wonder.....

<< she stopped herself. she wasn't about to go into THIS with HIM, no matter HOW intriguing he was, she couldn't just start revealing such intimate details about her thoughts, her feelings, the sense that she was connected to something or someone BIGGER, just as her mother had told...almost PREACHED to her many times as she grew up.>>

...nevermind.

<< shaking her head as she ran her manicured hand through her fair colored hair.>>

Perhaps YOU should meet my mother. I know she would find you simply charming, and perhaps SHE could help you find...whomever it is YOU'RE looking for?

<< Unware that she HERSELF had answers for him, just as he did for her!>>

 

[Brenthon]

The Marauder

Amanda: "Freedom is change, Beto. To be able to adapt and EVOLVE in this ever changing world is not only a gift, it's a NECESSITY, especially for those like US."

<< Brenthon smirked a bit, leaning back in his chair, before his face returned to it's signature smuldering brood. >>

"That is a bittersweet sentiment for me to hear, Jimaine. Because in my time? My people were teared apart by powers who wished for us to change. Everything we were, they hated. They made laws outlawing us in every way...from the top to the bottom. We had to choose either assimilation or death..."

<< Exhaling deeply, be began to describe to Jimaine a bit about where he came from and the time he came from. >>

"The four decrees. we were forced to settle. Denied the right to own horses and wagons in order to keep us from our nomadic way of life. Instead they gave us land and seeds and forced us to pay tribute from our crops like we were subjects of the crown. They changed what they called us. "Zigani" became "Ujpolgar"... "New Farmer". We were told to give up our old life, our old names..they took our boys to learn trades or to serve in the military. They made us REGISTER ourselves, allowing them to conscript us. We could not even MARRY our own kind. And even if we found someone "appropriate" to marry, we could not unless we became Catholic...Our children were taken from us and given to farmer families, so they could be raised as christians, away from us..."

<< Pausing for a moment, lost in thought. >>

"I did not want to change...not how they wanted me to. And yet...in another way, I was not allowed to be who I was to my own kind."

Amanda: "All that I am, all that I can DO, comes from my mother, and those who walked the winding before me, before HER, lighting OUR way. My mother taught me how to navigate this world, but not be distracted or BLINDED by it. I play the game(s) that these mortals hold so near & dear, but I'm NEVER boxed in, NEVER without a plan or exit strategy of my own."

"I too, learned from my mother. But it was not her gentle teachings. It was not her warm hands or kind words. It was her silence as my father beat me for being a boy who could read the cards, who could cast the evil eye in every direction. It was her disgust at my presence...and later, when I had killed her...an accident, I assure you...it was her memory that lived inside of me. Only quieted when I met a witch of the woods, who found me and showed me who and what I truly was..."

<< He sat down his glass of hemlock. >>

Amanda: "Perhaps YOU should meet my mother. I know she would find you simply charming, and perhaps SHE could help you find...whomever it is YOU'RE looking for?"

<< Brenthon leaned back and looked at the woman in front of him. Bewitchingly beautiful and hauntingly familiar. When he met her, he felt as if he was this close to seeing something about himself, to unlocking the parts of his soul that were hidden from him. But she was very opposite to him. She seemed well adjusted, she seemed as if she was raised in love and trust, urged to learn not just the way of her people but the magicks of old. Coming back to this realm, the few with gypsy blood left he had found in the world belonged to the lines of those who did assimilate. Those who did give up their heritage for safety. They didn't know their stories, their superstitions. They simply shared blood of a people they themselves helped the world forget. Amanda's physical appearance jolted him, but her very essence, her arcane aura, he could almost taste it. And it tasted familiar. >>

"The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb."

<< His mentor Almora had taught him that, and the woman in his nightmares showed him the sentiment's true meaning. >>

"You speak so kindly, if not a bit too frequently of your mother. She sounds like a lovely woman. But I don't think it is HER who can help me find what I'm looking for, chovani. I think it's you..."

<< This called for another glass of hemlock. He had found the spirits of the modern world, even the arcane variety were very weak compared to what he was used to. He had yet to find a man in Madripoor that could outdrink him. >>

"When we met...we both felt something so strong, but it was for different reasons. I have a part of myself, of my memory...that is missing. One that I can only very slighty recall when I am in the realm of dreams. I know...I was in a place outside of time and space. I get flashes of a woman, with violet eyes and a flaming white sword that resembles THIS..."

<< Brenthon cast his hand out as the crystaline gem embedded in his chest, the centerpiece of an intricate chest tattoo (one of many) began to glow, before the large (and yet short) blade of the SOUL DAGGER manifested in his left and dominant hand for a few moments before he called it back within himself. >>

"It's a part of her, but over my time.. "away" from this realm, it has also become part of me. Sometimes she has horns...sometimes sparkling eldritch armor. Sometimes she is more demon than woman. Sometimes she is a little girl. But she is always there. And I try to find her, because I loved her more as more than just a sister, but as...a savior of sorts. Sometimes I dream that I am falling through the glowings orbs of her home, endlessly. Falling through fire and brimstone and demons and death...and I wake up in a cold sweat. They are nightmares, but not because I am scared of what I see..it's something else..."

<< Pausing. >>

"You resemble her in a way. Though I find myself far more attracted to you in a way I do not feel for her. The way you weave your power, the complex sigils you manifest...the presentation. It is power...mixed with a pinch of whimsy. It is not as DARK as my own, but it...feels intoxicating..."

<< Once again Brenthon sat his glass of hemlock down on the table, this time taking his free hand, still warm from the energy of the soul dagger and he placed it over Amanda's. His thick and old world and deep accent bellowing through the room as he spoke. >>

"Or am I mistaken? I mean...I know that I am not, but it seems only fair to give you the chance to rebuke me. I have a history of destroying most things around me. It feels like fate. "Kismet" as they say..."

<< He leaned in even closer. >>

"Do you feel it, Jimaine? This energy...this pull towards one another?"

 

[Magik]

Marauder - Ship parlor

"The four decrees. we were forced to settle. Denied the right to own horses and wagons in order to keep us from our nomadic way of life. Instead they gave us land and seeds and forced us to pay tribute from our crops like we were subjects of the crown. They changed what they called us. "Zigani" became "Ujpolgar"... "New Farmer". We were told to give up our old life, our old names..they took our boys to learn trades or to serve in the military. They made us REGISTER ourselves, allowing them to conscript us. We could not even MARRY our own kind. And even if we found someone "appropriate" to marry, we could not unless we became Catholic...Our children were taken from us and given to farmer families, so they could be raised as christians, away from us..."

<< Pausing for a moment, lost in thought. >>

<< Amanda sat silent, and listened to the handsome, mysterious man across from her. There was a darkness about him, more than a mere aesthetic. There was truly a sense of loss and a NEED for reconnection, RECONCILIATION of some sort. She heard the pained reflection in his voice. Amanda...JIMAINE had never known such persecution or discrimination, even as a child. No one, inside OR outside of the close knit community she grew up in would DARE cross her mother, Margali Szardos, who protected them ALL.>>

<< Amanda gulped down the last one one flute of hemlock, before beginning her next one. She was feeling GOOD and relaxed, as she sat comfortably across from Beto, listening intently as he opened up to her.>>

"I did not want to change...not how they wanted me to. And yet...in another way, I was not allowed to be who I was to my own kind."

<< Again, this was not something Amanda could relate to PERSONALLY, but she knew her MOTHER had experienced this from when SHE was a little girl. it was one of the reasons why Margali was so protective of Jimaine, AND of any other child that she saw being singled out for persecution simply because they were "different." >>

<< Amanda looked upon Beto with sympathy as she continued>>

"I too, learned from my mother. But it was not her gentle teachings. It was not her warm hands or kind words. It was her silence as my father beat me for being a boy who could read the cards, who could cast the evil eye in every direction. It was her disgust at my presence...and later, when I had killed her...an accident, I assure you...it was her memory that lived inside of me. Only quieted when I met a witch of the woods, who found me and showed me who and what I truly was..."

<< He sat down his glass of hemlock. >>

<< Amanda's heart felt heavy for Beto. To hear that he'd been so ABUSED by the two people who should have been CELEBRATING the emergence of a talent, a GIFT. This was VERY foreign, and VERY disturbing for Amanda to hear. But then he mentioned meeting a "witch in the woods", and how this witch showed him who and wat he truly was.>>

That sounds like my mother....

<< She said softly, well aware of the "legend" that had formed around Margali Szardos in the Bavarian Alps in Southern Germany, surrounding the village of Winzeldorf, where Jimaine was born & raised, a legend that formed there, & spread even further across Europe, with time, as Margali had saved/raised/protected many children through the years, discerning, and NURTURING the special gifts of many of these children she cared for, helping them to find and/or continue their life's path>>

<< His mentor Almora had taught him that, and the woman in his nightmares showed him the sentiment's true meaning. >>

"You speak so kindly, if not a bit too frequently of your mother.

I do speak kindly of her. I know what she can do.

<< Indeed, Margali Szardos was ALWAYS more than she seemed. She interacted with, walked, danced, and even FOUGHT with powerful beings, spirits, FORCES, and consorted with individuals from earth and beyond/BELOW. She WAS Earth's Sorceress Supreme in a different time, but AMANDA didn't know just what that meant, who Margali and SHE had to be connected to in order for THAT to be possible.>>

<< Margali....and AMANDA...>>

"She sounds like a lovely woman. But I don't think it is HER who can help me find what I'm looking for, chovani. I think it's you..."

ME?....

<< She swallowed her latest round of hemlock down with a GULP as she looked at Beto with a bit of dismay>>

<< This called for another glass of hemlock. He had found the spirits of the modern world, even the arcane variety were very weak compared to what he was used to. He had yet to find a man in Madripoor that could outdrink him. >>

"When we met...we both felt something so strong, but it was for different reasons. I have a part of myself, of my memory...that is missing. One that I can only very slighty recall when I am in the realm of dreams. I know...I was in a place outside of time and space. I get flashes of a woman, with violet eyes and a flaming white sword that resembles THIS..."

<< Brenthon cast his hand out as the crystaline gem embedded in his chest, the centerpiece of an intricate chest tattoo (one of many) began to glow, before the large (and yet short) blade of the SOUL DAGGER manifested in his left and dominant hand for a few moments before he called it back within himself. >>

"It's a part of her, but over my time.. "away" from this realm, it has also become part of me. Sometimes she has horns...sometimes sparkling eldritch armor. Sometimes she is more demon than woman. Sometimes she is a little girl. But she is always there. And I try to find her, because I loved her more as more than just a sister, but as...a savior of sorts. Sometimes I dream that I am falling through the glowings orbs of her home, endlessly. Falling through fire and brimstone and demons and death...and I wake up in a cold sweat. They are nightmares, but not because I am scared of what I see..it's something else..."

<< Pausing. >>

"You resemble her in a way. Though I find myself far more attracted to you in a way I do not feel for her. The way you weave your power, the complex sigils you manifest...the presentation. It is power...mixed with a pinch of whimsy. It is not as DARK as my own, but it...feels intoxicating..."

<< Once again Brenthon sat his glass of hemlock down on the table, this time taking his free hand, still warm from the energy of the soul dagger and he placed it over Amanda's. His thick and old world and deep accent bellowing through the room as he spoke. >>

"Or am I mistaken? I mean...I know that I am not, but it seems only fair to give you the chance to rebuke me. I have a history of destroying most things around me. It feels like fate. "Kismet" as they say..."

<< He leaned in even closer. >>

"Do you feel it, Jimaine? This energy...this pull towards one another?"

<< Jimaine's sky blue eyes widen at the sight of Brenthon's mystic blade, as she whispered...>>

By the dark moon!

<< The visions of this...WOMAN he mentions...the versions of her, especially the one who wore eldritch ARMOR, and the mystic BLADE!?>>

It....can't be!?

<< He asked her if she felt it...>>

I ...MORE than feel it. I....KNOW.

<< She couldn't help herself as she responded, even as she almost "FORGOT" to breathe in between heartbeats as she formed her response>>

My mother.... << YES, Margali Szarods, again, but THIS time, more than any other time before...she HAD to be mentioned>>...she used to tell me stories....a PROPHECY...one that I USED to think was JUST a story she told me to encourage me...to make me feel SPECIAL.

<< She reached out and took Brenthon's hand in her own, so that he could "SEE" her memories as clearly as SHE did.>>

<< FLASH!>>

<< A young Jimaine Szardos stands before her mother, who is cloaked in robes. Jimaine is unhappy that Margali will not let her daughter go with Kurt Wagner, her boyfriend, to the States.>>

Margali Szardos: You have BIGGER things to worry about, daughter. Your DESTINY dawns. Like me, and our foremothers before us, YOU are a woman, a SORCERESS on the Winding Way!

<< But Jimaine did not care about sorcery. She wanted to travel the world with Kurt. She protested, but her mother silenced her.>>

Margali Szardos: BEHOLD! <<The Witch Queen conjures an image, of a SWORD. >>

<< Brenthon would INSTANTLY recognize the sword to be the SOUL SWORD! He watches & listens as Margali continues to speak to her daughter>>

BEHOLD! a portent of the FUTURE!

<< Amanda is transfixed by the Soul Sword as Margali continues>>

Margali: This is the SOUL SWORD! This weapon is a threat, not only to MY place on the winding way, but to the MATERIAL WORLD as well!

Jimaine: But...

<< Margali silences her daughter once more>>

Margali: This sword, DAUGHTER, is a SYMBOL, the ULTIMATE [EVIL] EMBLEM of YOUR DESTINY!

Jimaine: My destiny...EVIL? But it...it's BEAUTIFUL.

Margali: Yes. As beautiful as the woman who CREATED IT from the DARKEST, MOST POWERFUL piece of her SOUL. BEAUTIFUL as HER foremother, OUR foremother....

Jimaine: You mean...

Margali: Yes. HECATE, the Goddess of WITCHCRAFT. ALL witchcraft, ALL MAGICK leads back to HER.

<< Hecate has blonde hair, VIOLET eyes. Much like Brenthon's Darkchilde from his previous MoE Timeline, OR Spellbinder, in THIS mainstream timeline!>>

....From that moment...I decided to obey my mother, and hone my innate magickal powers and skills. She trained me, teaching me not only the ways of magick for defense, offense AND utility, but also about plants, herbs, poisons, which Hecate is also associated with. She prepared me for my official journey through the WINDING WAY, a path that ALL the woman in my family have followed. I am now at the TOP MOST point of the Winding Way.

<< The Winding Way, a mystical path that ONLY a certain bloodline, and only the WOMEN of that bloodline could access? Jimaine Szardos, b.k.a. Amanda Sefton, is now at the TOP of the Winding Way, while her mother, the Witch Queen, Margali Szardos, is beyond even THAT, and has been for some time.>>

<< For Brenthon it seemed possible the Winding Way could very well lead to LIMBO, but he was about to hear/see even MORE.>>

That woman you described, with violet eyes, and blond flowing hair....I....I've SEEN her before. I've FELT her...somehow. I...DREAMED of her....and I.....

<< Again, Brenthon would "SEE" what Amanda/Jimaine had secretly thought, DREAMED of, more than once>>

<< FLASH!>>

Images of a woman, who's feminine form was completely cloaked in shadow, until mystic CHIMES sounded off, and a blue/violet ray of light flashes down upon her. The light flashes and fades....revealing AMANDA SEFTON herself, but she's wearing a version of that ELDRITCH ARMOR!

I've... DREAMED about her....somehow BEING her!

<< After they share that SECOND image of her as she'd seen herself in her dreams, she abruptly pulls away from Brenthon and stands up quickly. He was leading her someplace he had no business knowing, much less BEING. He was getting TOO close.>>

WHAT are you doing!?

<< she asks with a mix of distress and anger>>

<< She had let her guard DOWN, due to an OBVIOUS shared attraction and INTRIGUE between them. She had reflexively offered TRUST because of their shared Romani heritage, and the fact that he could see, even "SMELL" the true nature of her being, even in her blood. But THIS? This was TOO close, TOO MUCH. How could HE, a stranger KNOW anything about this....about HER, and this...WOMAN that her MOTHER had described to her, LONG before Beto was EVER in this particular time and place.>>

<< Jimaine....AMANDA didn't know but she didnt like this.>>

My NAME, stranger, is AMANDA. And that's ENOUGH for you to know.

<< She said as she attempted to collect and focus herself. The HEMLOCK had definitely had its effect on her, as it had Beto, but Amanda was understandibly taken aback now, and she wanted distance between herself and this beautiful stranger. She could cut off any metaphysical connection between them, and if he pressed harder, she could just LEAVE....the ship....altogether.>>

 

[Longshot]

Marauder - The Wheelhouse

Domino: "Easy does it. You see those coordinates? We're moving to quickly over there. It's rough water. Look over there...That's where we need to be. So take us there..."

Simon was a white man who grew up with the richest of white people - if there was one thing he knew how to do, it was to pilot a boat. Two years in a row, he had spent his summer vacation on a brigantine, travelling around the globe. It was meant to be character building, and it was, but mostly it was lonely and tiresome. Still, ever since Maxine had watched him kill Sheeva in The Arena (after letting him walk straight into the belly of the beast unattended), she had grown increasingly "maternal". It was a bit creepy, but also weirdly comforting. He had melted her ice cold heart, and he didn't want to rock the boat - figuratively or literally, so he pretended to follow her instructions despite them being a bit "sloppy'. He had thankful to be on the open sea and not a slave fighting for his life every night.

Domino: "I gotta say, I'm glad you stuck it to Sheeva. I'd be so bored otherwise. What with Daniel's head so far up Jun's ass and Beto and Amanda practically peeling each other's clothes off..metaphorically speaking of course..."

He moved the ship into position towards the exact coordinates Maxine had specified as his mind went to Jun for a moment. Daniel had told him in confidence exactly who and what Jun was, and Simon felt awful. How would one even begin to tell someone that they were not exactly human. That their life and all their memories were synthetic...not real. It made him very glad he was not the person who had to tell her. He set The Marauder into autopilot as he leaned back in his seat, grabbing the bottle of Lagavulin and took a swig.

"Well, I'm glad to spend time with you, Max. I hope i'm a worthy consolation prize."

Maxine smirked. She had smirked like four times tonight which meant to Simon that they were now in fact, best friends. Honestly, it just felt good to be with someone so strong who no longer viewed him as a novice, or somebody way outside of his depth.

Domino: "Did you ever think you'd be sailing across the world with a killer like me?"

"Ha!"

He laughed, passing her the bottle.

"Max...in the last seventy two hours, I pulled you from the ocean, restarted your heart on a pier in Brooklyn, fought hell hounds in the catacombs a mansion that was buried underground after a civil war broke out. Then I became The Red Bishop was shortly trafficked into a mutant trafficking ring where I had to kill a woman who was seven foot tall and had four arms...this is the most normal thing I've done all week."

Simon hadn't really had a chance to think about how absurd things had been lately, and he realized it was because...he had never had this much fun in his entire life. Despite it being messy and very dangerous, these last few days he felt like he was actually doing something in practice, instead of theory. He realized that the world didn't need another rich boy starting foundations. Sometimes the best way to help was to roll up your sleeves and actually do the work. He felt like that was what he was doing with The Marauders. And it felt good.

"That being said...i've had a hell of a time and I can't wait to see what happens next..."

Maxine's eyes seemed fixated on the sea as she handed him back the bottle. She was such an enigma. Hard as steel, he had watched her barrel through people like they were made of feathers, and yet every now and then, she showed a softness about her. He had been avoiding much personal talk with her, and he didn't want to piss her off, but Simon couldn't help himself, and he didn't know if he would ever have one on one time like with this Domino ever again...so he asked.

"So...Jessica Marcus. I've heard stories...I know she means a lot to you. You call her your sister. Is she -- your actual sister? And how did she end up under Hellfire control?"

"The odds of me dodging a fist to the head...."

 

[Wallflower]

Her entire world had dissappeared in a matter of minutes. Everything she knew, every bit of safety she had built for herself had been destroyed, by the very people she was now in the middle of the ocean with. She had never left Madripoor, though she had often dreamed of escaping. In fact she had been saving money to do just that, but she was finding that a girl like her, who grew up with skills not able to be listed on a resume was gonna need a LOT of cash to make sure she would never have to do what she used to have to do ever again. Now, she wasn't even sure if she had any money or a home to go back to. Daniel hadn't given her a choice to come along or not. He had bashed her in the head and threw her through the portal. When she woke up, she was being treated on some kind of fleet ship before being PROMPTLY medicated and tranquilized upon attempting to use her powers to escape. When she came to a second time, she tried to be more agreeable.

Daniel had done a 180 from when she had first met him. He seemed to look at her with a look in his eyes that she REALLY didn't like, but it was one she was all too familiar with - pity. Still, he had spent the last day and half giving her anything she requested, from food to accommodations to top shelf tequila. She decided that since she was a now a homeless unemployed former prostitute being held captive by mutants she would have sold down the river to pay her rent, she was at least going to be good and drunk before they tried to kill her. At the very least, they hadn't collared her so she knew if she needed to make a getaway, she COULD.

After a nice day, one of the first she'd had since she could remember, Daniel and Jun found themselves just below the Crow's Nest on the ship on one of the many decks it had to offer. This was the nicest place she had ever stayed in her life. Her apartment in Midtown wasn't bad, but this place felt like it could house an entire country comfortably if it needed to. She leaned back in her deck chair laying flat as she looked up at the stars, surprised to find that they did in fact look different here, away from the smog and neon sights of Lowtown. For the first time in twenty four hours, she let herself EXHALE, soaking in the breeze and the moonlight.

Daniel: "I know we haven't talked about it yet, Jun. But do you remember in the arena...What I said to you? About how you don't belong? Did...did you know what I meant or was it news to you?"

Of course he had to ruin it. Jun grunted and rolled her eyes, though she staid in her position in the deck chair, light brown eyes still fixed towards the night sky.

"Mostly I remember you KNOCKING me upside the head and throwing my body into a mystical portal..which I intend to pay you back for, by the way..."

[pausing for a moment]

"I didn't know what you meant, but it's something i've heard a lot. Back when...in my previous line of work. There were a lot of men and woman who liked to say that to me. Like it meant something. Like I was better than where I was, and all I needed was for somebody with money and power to say it. Like their speaking it would suddenly cause me to realize that I was worth more than what I was doing, and I would ride off into the sunset, knowing they had done their part in fixing some beautiful broken bird...after they paid to fuck me of course..."

Jun sat up in her chair and brought her knees to her chest. She hadn't been that honest in a long time. But she felt like at this point she didn't have anything left to lose, and whatever happened to her next, she wanted to be HERSELF during it.

"I'm not stupid, Daniel. I know who I am...what I've done. I wouldn't say i've made peace with it, but I had to survive. I didn't have the luxury of going to school, of working my way up the ladder somewhere. That doesn't happen in Lowtown. That doesn't happen to people like me. Voge was a slaver....and I...I helped him trap people because he paid me enough money that I could hopefully one day buy my way out of that fucking place. So to answer your question...I'm no better than any of those people who were killed in The Arena. I deserved to die as much as any of them...I did belong there. But you aren't stupid either. And you saved me. So...why?"

 

[Brenthon]

The Marauder

<< Their connection was so deep. He could barely finish his sentences before she responded. Her pulse was racing, their energy was clicking, so much so that it felt STATIC between them. He couldn't help himself. He had to press further, he had to KNOW what it was. He KNEW she could feel it, and the visions she shared confirmed it. >>

Amanda: "By the dark moon! I....MORE than feel it. I...KNOW."

<< She was so manic. She could barely even think to BREATHE before responding. >>

Amanda: "My mother...she used to tell me stories...a PROPHECY...one that I USED to think was JUST a story she told me to encourage me...to make me feel SPECIAL."

<< Jimaine grabbed his hand and he felt ELECTRIC as she SHOWED him exactly what she meant. >>

<< A young Jimaine Szardos stands before her mother, who is cloaked in robes. Jimaine is unhappy that Margali will not let her daughter go with Kurt Wagner, her boyfriend, to the States.>>

Margali Szardos: You have BIGGER things to worry about, daughter. Your DESTINY dawns. Like me, and our foremothers before us, YOU are a woman, a SORCERESS on the Winding Way!

<< But Jimaine did not care about sorcery. She wanted to travel the world with Kurt. She protested, but her mother silenced her.>>

Margali Szardos: BEHOLD! <<The Witch Queen conjures an image, of a SWORD. >>

<< The SOUL SWORD. It was like his. Even merely SEEING it almost caused him to manifest his own blade in his hand once again, but he held back with every ounce of his being, remembering how she had reacted to seeing it in the first place. Hers looked different than the sword that he remembered, but he could FEEL it. >>

BEHOLD! a portent of the FUTURE!

<< Amanda is transfixed by the Soul Sword as Margali continues>>

Margali: This is the SOUL SWORD! This weapon is a threat, not only to MY place on the winding way, but to the MATERIAL WORLD as well!

Jimaine: But...

<< Margali silences her daughter once more>>

Margali: This sword, DAUGHTER, is a SYMBOL, the ULTIMATE [EVIL] EMBLEM of YOUR DESTINY!

Jimaine: My destiny...EVIL? But it...it's BEAUTIFUL.

Margali: Yes. As beautiful as the woman who CREATED IT from the DARKEST, MOST POWERFUL piece of her SOUL. BEAUTIFUL as HER foremother, OUR foremother....

Jimaine: You mean...

Margali: Yes. HECATE, the Goddess of WITCHCRAFT. ALL witchcraft, ALL MAGICK leads back to HER.

<< The Gypsy had their own gods, though they were mostly folk legends. Brenthon himself was one of those legends. The King without a throne. The one who created The Shadowed Path for them to walk. To keep their secrets to keep them safe. But he was not unaware of other pantheons. Any fool who knew any kind of practical or eldritch magick knew Hecate. But he had never...."SEEN" her. And to see her, in his mind, caused every hair on his body to stand at attention in familiarity, for reasons he could not explain. >>

Amanda: From that moment...I decided to obey my mother, and hone my innate magickal powers and skills. She trained me, teaching me not only the ways of magick for defense, offense AND utility, but also about plants, herbs, poisons, which Hecate is also associated with. She prepared me for my official journey through the WINDING WAY, a path that ALL the woman in my family have followed. I am now at the TOP MOST point of the Winding Way...That woman you described, with violet eyes, and blond flowing hair....I....I've SEEN her before. I've FELT her...somehow. I...DREAMED of her....and I....."

"Dreamed her?! By Alako..it cannot be..."

<< And then he saw....HER! >>

Amanda: "I've... DREAMED about her....somehow BEING her!"

"Jimaine..."

Amanda: "WHAT are you doing!?"

<< She pulled away from him with hurt and ANGER. He snarled in response. No. She couldn't pull away from him. This was the closest he had ever been to remembering WHO he was. She couldn't go away. He had scared her. He always scared people. He could fix this. He could CALM things. She just need to LISTEN! >>

<< He REACHED for her, grabbing her shoulders, his intense and deeply brown eyes gazing into her sky BLUE. >>

"I'm looking for the TRUTH, dammit! The TRUTH!"

<< He couldn't handle this kind of emotional response. He HATED when people let their emotions get the best of them, or rather didn't express them in violent and brutal ways and instead became HUFFY and SULLEN. But he didn't know why. Suddenly, he was pulled into a memory, one that for BETTER or WORSE, Amanda would experience WITH him. >>

<< FLASH! >>

The Masters of Evil - Club XS

<< He could see her in front of him, and it made him sick. She was a goddess. She was a Dire Wraith. Persephone was supposed to be the culmination of what The Masters of Evil could be. And yet here she was - an enchanted gem on her forehead to help her cull the well of emotions she was unable to deal with. Brenthon was reaching his limits with these goddesses. Alessandra galavanted around the place, begging, expecting to be worshipped because of her title. But Brenthon was Evil Incarnate. It was his duty to test the limits of the wraiths - a secret covenant he had agreed to with Darkchilde. >>

<< He had trotted Aphrodite in front of them on purpose, romanced her publically and garnered her favor within the coven to prove a point to the Siren that she was more than out of her league, and to teach her a lesson. There was always somebody out there who could replace you. If you wanted to serve as Wraith in the greatest coven in the universe, you needed to constantly prove yourself. And watching Persephone from across the room, sitting there, wearing her gem like some kind of badge of honor, well...it PISSED the incarnate off. And he was about to test her in a way that only The Gypsy King could. The DIre Wraiths were the leaders of the coven, but The Incarnates were the embodied virtues of the tenets they lived by. Pride. Greed. Wrath. Envy. Lust. Gluttony. Sloth. Each was empowered as an avatar of sin, and each of The Incarnates acted as the checks and balances of their kind. Brenthon was The Avatar of Wrath. And he had the right kind of "passion" for the job. >>

"You dare to show your face in our spaces, Persephone?! Airing your Scarlet Letter so brazenly in front of our coven? As if it is not weakness? As if it is not an INSULT to us all?!"

Persephone: "Back the fuck off, Brenthon! You KNOW what happened to me! This is none of your business!"

"I am an Incarnate, Persephone. ALL business is my business. You do not NEED such a thing. You need to FACE this. EMBRACE it. Use your pain and lead it into your STRENGTH!"

<< Brenthon FLEXED out with his power as the gem on her forehead began to burn a bright black, a signature of his power as it began to BURN THROUGH Persephone's very BRAIN. >>

Persephone: "BRENTHON!!?! NO!!! STOP WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?! ARE YOU CRAZY!!!"

"Yes, Goddess...I am. Now FIGHT or DIE!"

"Persephone...."

<< His skin to skin contact with Amanda had let him remember another time when he could not handle the emotions of those around him. But almost as soon as his consciousness of that time came to him, it started to fade, but he could not forget Persephone's face. And at the very MOMENT he saw her in his mind, he... FELT her. HERE. On this EARTH. His power was CHAOTICALLY flowing through him now. Something about being close to her, their Romani magick mixing between them, The Winding Way somehow blending with The Shadowed Path, he could not control himself. He struggled to find the words as they found themselves all but GLUED to each other!? >>

"Jimaine...Amanda...I'm sorry...I...I just....I NEED ANSWERS!>>

<< His own mind went blank. Black. Absolutely. Amanda however, would have a very different experience as she was PULLED into a memory of Brenthon's. One he did not remember. One from a time he didn't remember ever being a part of. This was Amanda's experience as she watched Brenthon's once expressively deep and mysterious brown eyes turn a solid white before getting a bird's eye view and some insight as to WHO Brenthon was and what exactly it was that he was doing HERE! >>

<< Limbo. A VERY different Limbo. One that is desecrated and torn apart by the Techno Organic Virus. The jagged terrain is black with gold circuitry, resembling more technology than dirt. We see Brenthon standing across a woman in shadow in what we recognize as what used to be Spellbinder's Castle. A sparkling white pentagram separates them as they speak. >>

Woman: "I have seen you so many times, you sweet old man. Watched you wander through the valley, even reached the foothold of my castle. But you've never come this close. Never entered my Inner Sanctum. You always jump to another place."

Brenthon: "All I have known is Ororo and The Trinity. No matter where I jump, even as they shift from friend to foe, I know them. And in a place like this, such comforts are hard for me to let go of. I wasn't able to track you like I could them...but then again, I never had this with me."

<< Brenthon removed a hauntingly familiar pentagram locket, bathed in mystic flame, with five small circles at the end of each point, one of which was filled with bright crimson blood. The woman's haunting blue eyes widened with disbelief before returning to it's once steely resolve. >>

Woman: "That soul...it belongs to the woman who came before me. She was the one who brought me here. To protect me, she said. Until I could come home. But I never did return home. I have never left this place. The virus that consumed her waking world soon infected mine. Her problems became mine to inherit. Leaving would destroy the only home i've known..."

Brenthon: "I promised her...I promised Ororo, that I would return this to her. That I would not let another woman be claimed by this place because of Belasco...Surely you can understand that. I know you can. I smell the gypsy blood on you. You are Romani..."

Woman: "I am Nightshade... Queen and Sorceress Supreme of Limbo. And nothing else. Not any more. The survival of Limbo is dependent on my never ending focus on it's livelihood. I have been Nightshade far longer than I ever was Alexia. Still....I could never turn my back on my predecessor...or a man who has worked so hard to get here."

Brenthon: "For as long as I can remember, I have fought to escape this place. Falling endlessly into stepping discs, looking for the right circumstances, the right time, the right WOMAN to send me home."

Nightshade: "You are gypsy, Brenthon. The Gypsy King. A King with no throne. No home. I can send you where you need to go, but it will not be easy. You are displaced...We who have ruled Limbo? We are connected. We are an ambient force. Where Darkchilde RAISED you...trained you. That place no longer exists. You will have to return to the body of who you were in HER place of origin..Is that something you are willing to do?"

Brenthon: "I have come this far, Nightshade. I made a promise..and I no longer fear death. Limbo has shown me there is no TRUE death. We will all be here...forever, in many different masks and forms. Still...I seek liberation. I seek the opportunity to finish what I started. I owe it to her...I am The Darkchilde's most dedicated disciple. I would gladly sacrifice my flesh to help her sister.."

Nightshade: "You are a curious one, Brenthon. But it has been so long since I have had any adventure here. Anything that is not just survival. I will send you to her -- but I want you to remember. Nobody is truly free from Limbo. Though I hope you enjoy the fresh air. Goodbye, Gypsy King. And Good luck."

<< Nightshade holds out her right hand as she calls forth her Scythe of Sorrows, a weapon she crafted after losing everything she ever loved both on Earth and Limbo. Covered in a black spectral haze, the signature of Nightshade's power, she manifests her power, swirling perfectly together with her mutant power, until everything becomes CONSUMED in her shadows. >>

<< Fade to Black. >>

<< GASP! >>

<< Brenthon inhaled DEEPLY, swallowing air as he became aware of where he was and what he was doing again. Amanda and him were exchanging gazes, their eyes locked onto each other. Her energy, everything about her, it was so intoxicating. It was the closest he had felt to home in so long. He didn't know what had just happened, but he also didn't care. He couldn't take this exchange any longer and neither could she. It either needed to be severed...or scratched. And Brenthon couldn't fathom a reality where he had an itch he couldn't scratch. >>

"Amanda..."

<< He closed the gap between them as his lips met hers, KISSING the sorceress passionately as the stubble on his face rubbed against her cheek as he pressed further. She could fight this, and likely would...but he had to show her. This wasn't a trick. This was REAL. This was KISMET. Destiny. Fate. This kind of energy needed to be EXPRESSED. >>

 

[Discord]

The Marauder - Crow's Nest

Hearing Jun speak was a kind of pain that even an omega level empath like Daniel had rarely experienced. It was equal parts horrifying and intriguing. This woman, who had only been alive for about a year - if that, seemed so introspective. The false past that been implanted into her she had taken, fought with philosophically and spiritually, and had an understanding of. These memories that were given to her, despite how fake they were, had given her a moral compass, a deep understanding of who she was and why she had made the decisions she had. And it was a watershed moment for Daniel Reed. He was somebody who had lived a full human life, and who had used his powers to create the person he wanted to be perceived as by others. Who was he to tell her that she wasn't real? How much of him was real? He had done the same thing she had - taken his life experiences, hid what he didn't like and focused on the path ahead. He was out of his depth here. He couldn't tell her she was no more human than him. But he also couldn't not tell her what he knew of her origin. Even if it blew up in his face. Even if she screamed and hated him. Even if she didn't believe it. She deserved to know.

But not interrupting her as she waxed poetic about her life with the kind of insight that most people who had lived for decades didn't have after he inquired if he she knew what he was talking about when he saved her from The Arena was abjectly painful.

Jun: "I didn't know what you meant, but it's something i've heard a lot. Back when...in my previous line of work. There were a lot of men and woman who liked to say that to me. Like it meant something. Like I was better than where I was, and all I needed was for somebody with money and power to say it. Like their speaking it would suddenly cause me to realize that I was worth more than what I was doing, and I would ride off into the sunset, knowing they had done their part in fixing some beautiful broken bird...after they paid to fuck me of course..."

Talisman was truly the worst. On one hand, he understood it. She could create a weapon so easily and deeply programmed that unless you knew what you were looking for, you would never find it. But her fatal flaw was her pride. He had seen many scientists and doctors and leaders and rulers of Hellfire rise up over the years, and Kelly Shaw was truly one of the most capable and severe women he had ever met. The things she could do without hesitation were just unspeakable, but she always had to let the world know she was responsible. Why else would she have chosen to use the duplicated DNA of Amanda Soto in this weapon if she didn't want it traced to her? Talisman wanted the world to know who she was, and also apparently, wanted to know what it felt like when the entire world was AGAINST you.

"You hold on to so much pain...so much that doesn't BELONG to you..."

Jun: "I'm not stupid, Daniel. I know who I am...what I've done. I wouldn't say i've made peace with it, but I had to survive. I didn't have the luxury of going to school, of working my way up the ladder somewhere. That doesn't happen in Lowtown. That doesn't happen to people like me. Voge was a slaver....and I...I helped him trap people because he paid me enough money that I could hopefully one day buy my way out of that fucking place. So to answer your question...I'm no better than any of those people who were killed in The Arena. I deserved to die as much as any of them...I did belong there. But you aren't stupid either. And you saved me. So...why?"

His power told him she couldn't handle it, but The Red King knew that there was no other path but honesty. It was not a comfortable path for The Red King, but he felt it his karmic duty to let her know her origin, despite never once in his life ever letting karma guide his decisions before. He grabbed his phone, and from it, he produced a picture of Amanda Soto at the most recent Blackout Party and handed it to her.

"This is Amanda Soto. She was The Black Knight of Hellfire America. Her codename was Cobra. She was not born a mutant, but made to be a mutate at the hands of her Queen, Dr. Kelly Shaw...better known as Talisman."

He watched her face as she looked at the picture. She wasn't getting it.

Jun: "Daniel...why...why are you showing me this...That's not..."

"Come on, Jun. Look at her. You're gonna tell me she doesn't look familiar?"

Jun: "This feels racist."

"Jun. Stop. I'm not showing you this as some kind of prank. This was a real woman. A real woman who happens to look exactly like you."

Jun: "What does she have to do with me?"

"Amanda Soto was a felon. A criminal. A drug addict. A murderer even. She was serving time in San Quentin when Talisman found her. Offered her a new life in exchange for her loyalty...and complete control over her DNA. It was either death...or whatever Talisman offered her. It didn't seem like much of a choice. Months of painstaking work went into her transformation...from Amanda Soto...to Cobra. Every part of her was altered. She was manipulated on every level until she was an empty shell for Talisman to fill. Kelly changed her whole outlook...her entire personality. She went from murderous crackhead to literary professor. To deadly assassin/romance novelist. She had a whole new life that was never hers...but it was one that she believed to be true....she even died believing it..."

Jun: "Daniel stop it. You're freaking me out. What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that who you think you are. Everything you've been through? All these self inflicted wounds you like to tend to every second of the day...it's....I don't want to say it's not real, because I believe that it's very real to you...but I have every reason to believe..."

[flatly]

"Jun Zhao didn't exist until Kelly Shaw cooked her up in a lab. Your memories...your history...it didn't happen, Jun. I'm an omega level empath..my power borders on the ability to warp reality...Everything around you? It's been crafted. Crafted by her.... Jun... you're a clone...."

 

[Magik]

Marauder - Ship parlor

<< She pulled away from him with hurt and ANGER. He snarled in response. No. She couldn't pull away from him. This was the closest he had ever been to remembering WHO he was. She couldn't go away. He had scared her. He always scared people. He could fix this. He could CALM things. She just need to LISTEN! >>

<< He REACHED for her, grabbing her shoulders, his intense and deeply brown eyes gazing into her sky BLUE. >>

"I'm looking for the TRUTH, dammit! The TRUTH!"

<< He couldn't handle this kind of emotional response. He HATED when people let their emotions get the best of them, or rather didn't express them in violent and brutal ways and instead became HUFFY and SULLEN. But he didn't know why. Suddenly, he was pulled into a memory, one that for BETTER or WORSE, Amanda would experience WITH him. >>

<< Amanda immediately struggled against Brenthon's grip. It was not like her to be caught off guard like this, and unable to quickly turn the tables, but there was something SIGNIFICANT happening here, another sign of the deep, and undeniable connection these two romani had.>>

<<FLASH!>>

The Masters of Evil - Club XS

<< He could see her in front of him, and it made him sick. She was a goddess. She was a Dire Wraith. Persephone was supposed to be the culmination of what The Masters of Evil could be. And yet here she was - an enchanted gem on her forehead to help her cull the well of emotions she was unable to deal with. Brenthon was reaching his limits with these goddesses. Alessandra galavanted around the place, begging, expecting to be worshipped because of her title. But Brenthon was Evil Incarnate. It was his duty to test the limits of the wraiths - a secret covenant he had agreed to with Darkchilde. >>

<< He had trotted Aphrodite in front of them on purpose, romanced her publically and garnered her favor within the coven to prove a point to the Siren that she was more than out of her league, and to teach her a lesson. There was always somebody out there who could replace you. If you wanted to serve as Wraith in the greatest coven in the universe, you needed to constantly prove yourself. And watching Persephone from across the room, sitting there, wearing her gem like some kind of badge of honor, well...it PISSED the incarnate off. And he was about to test her in a way that only The Gypsy King could. The DIre Wraiths were the leaders of the coven, but The Incarnates were the embodied virtues of the tenets they lived by. Pride. Greed. Wrath. Envy. Lust. Gluttony. Sloth. Each was empowered as an avatar of sin, and each of The Incarnates acted as the checks and balances of their kind. Brenthon was The Avatar of Wrath. And he had the right kind of "passion" for the job. >>

"You dare to show your face in our spaces, Persephone?! Airing your Scarlet Letter so brazenly in front of our coven? As if it is not weakness? As if it is not an INSULT to us all?!"

Persephone: "Back the fuck off, Brenthon! You KNOW what happened to me! This is none of your business!"

"I am an Incarnate, Persephone. ALL business is my business. You do not NEED such a thing. You need to FACE this. EMBRACE it. Use your pain and lead it into your STRENGTH!"

<< Brenthon FLEXED out with his power as the gem on her forehead began to burn a bright black, a signature of his power as it began to BURN THROUGH Persephone's very BRAIN. >>

Persephone: "BRENTHON!!?! NO!!! STOP WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?! ARE YOU CRAZY!!!"

"Yes, Goddess...I am. Now FIGHT or DIE!"

"Persephone...."

<< His skin to skin contact with Amanda had let him remember another time when he could not handle the emotions of those around him. But almost as soon as his consciousness of that time came to him, it started to fade, but he could not forget Persephone's face. And at the very MOMENT he saw her in his mind, he... FELT her. HERE. On this EARTH. His power was CHAOTICALLY flowing through him now. Something about being close to her, their Romani magick mixing between them, The Winding Way somehow blending with The Shadowed Path, he could not control himself. He struggled to find the words as they found themselves all but GLUED to each other!? >>

....another time...another PLACE. you....you're not FROM here, not of THIS earth, or even this TIMELINE!

<< She could have freed herself from his grip. Maybe she SHOULD have, but her instincts told her he meant her no harm. He was DESPERATELY searching, and something ABOUT HER triggered that need even more!>>

"Jimaine...Amanda...I'm sorry...I...I just....I NEED ANSWERS!>>

<< His own mind went blank. Black. Absolutely. Amanda however, would have a very different experience as she was PULLED into a memory of Brenthon's. One he did not remember. One from a time he didn't remember ever being a part of. This was Amanda's experience as she watched Brenthon's once expressively deep and mysterious brown eyes turn a solid white before getting a bird's eye view and some insight as to WHO Brenthon was and what exactly it was that he was doing HERE! >>

<< FLASH!>>

<< Limbo. A VERY different Limbo. One that is desecrated and torn apart by the Techno Organic Virus. The jagged terrain is black with gold circuitry, resembling more technology than dirt. We see Brenthon standing across a woman in shadow in what we recognize as what used to be Spellbinder's Castle. A sparkling white pentagram separates them as they speak. >>

Woman: "I have seen you so many times, you sweet old man. Watched you wander through the valley, even reached the foothold of my castle. But you've never come this close. Never entered my Inner Sanctum. You always jump to another place."

Brenthon: "All I have known is Ororo and The Trinity. No matter where I jump, even as they shift from friend to foe, I know them. And in a place like this, such comforts are hard for me to let go of. I wasn't able to track you like I could them...but then again, I never had this with me."

<< Brenthon removed a hauntingly familiar pentagram locket, bathed in mystic flame, with five small circles at the end of each point, one of which was filled with bright crimson blood. The woman's haunting blue eyes widened with disbelief before returning to it's once steely resolve. >>

Woman: "That soul...it belongs to the woman who came before me. She was the one who brought me here. To protect me, she said. Until I could come home. But I never did return home. I have never left this place. The virus that consumed her waking world soon infected mine. Her problems became mine to inherit. Leaving would destroy the only home i've known..."

Brenthon: "I promised her...I promised Ororo, that I would return this to her. That I would not let another woman be claimed by this place because of Belasco...Surely you can understand that. I know you can. I smell the gypsy blood on you. You are Romani..."

Woman: "I am Nightshade... Queen and Sorceress Supreme of Limbo. And nothing else. Not any more. The survival of Limbo is dependent on my never ending focus on it's livelihood. I have been Nightshade far longer than I ever was Alexia. Still....I could never turn my back on my predecessor...or a man who has worked so hard to get here."

Brenthon: "For as long as I can remember, I have fought to escape this place. Falling endlessly into stepping discs, looking for the right circumstances, the right time, the right WOMAN to send me home."

Nightshade: "You are gypsy, Brenthon. The Gypsy King. A King with no throne. No home. I can send you where you need to go, but it will not be easy. You are displaced...We who have ruled Limbo? We are connected. We are an ambient force. Where Darkchilde RAISED you...trained you. That place no longer exists. You will have to return to the body of who you were in HER place of origin..Is that something you are willing to do?"

Brenthon: "I have come this far, Nightshade. I made a promise..and I no longer fear death. Limbo has shown me there is no TRUE death. We will all be here...forever, in many different masks and forms. Still...I seek liberation. I seek the opportunity to finish what I started. I owe it to her...I am The Darkchilde's most dedicated disciple. I would gladly sacrifice my flesh to help her sister.."

Nightshade: "You are a curious one, Brenthon. But it has been so long since I have had any adventure here. Anything that is not just survival. I will send you to her -- but I want you to remember. Nobody is truly free from Limbo. Though I hope you enjoy the fresh air. Goodbye, Gypsy King. And Good luck."

<< Nightshade holds out her right hand as she calls forth her Scythe of Sorrows, a weapon she crafted after losing everything she ever loved both on Earth and Limbo. Covered in a black spectral haze, the signature of Nightshade's power, she manifests her power, swirling perfectly together with her mutant power, until everything becomes CONSUMED in her shadows. >>

<< Fade to Black. >>

<< Amanda shuddered as she struggled to hang on to her own sense of self and awareness of when/WHERE they are. The impressions, the visuals of that eldritch dimension, and the woman she saw lingered in her mind's eye.>>

That place...that...DIMENSION! I've seen it before, in visions from my mother....and I feel as though....I've BEEN there before, somehow, in....in my own DREAMS!

<< again, that image of Amanda HERSELF, in an aspect QUITE SIMILAR to Spellbinder (or Magik)!>>

The Winding Way....it LEADS there! My mother was RIGHT after all!

<< Amanda whispered, more to herself than to Brenthon. This revelation was VERY important to her.>>

<< Indeed. Margali Szardos had ascended to the TOP of the Winding Way, LONG BEFORE Jimaine was born, and long before BRENTHON knew of Darkchilde in his timeline. The Witch Queen HAD been to Limbo. That's how she KNEW Amanda's connection to "The Trinity", and her ULTIMATE destiny, one that had become that much more CLEAR now during her contact and exchange with BRENTHON, this mysterious GYPSY KING.>>

<< But there was something else. She now knew who Brenthon REALLY needed to see/make contact with in THIS world.>>

<< GASP! >>

<< Brenthon inhaled DEEPLY, swallowing air as he became aware of where he was and what he was doing again. Amanda and him were exchanging gazes, their eyes locked onto each other. Her energy, everything about her, it was so intoxicating. It was the closest he had felt to home in so long. He didn't know what had just happened, but he also didn't care. He couldn't take this exchange any longer and neither could she. It either needed to be severed...or scratched. And Brenthon couldn't fathom a reality where he had an itch he couldn't scratch. >>

"Amanda..."

<< GULP>>

Beto...I know now....

<< She replied breathlessly as she looked into his dark eyes with her own unwavering gaze>>

<< He closed the gap between them as his lips met hers, KISSING the sorceress passionately as the stubble on his face rubbed against her cheek as he pressed further. She could fight this, and likely would...but he had to show her. This wasn't a trick. This was REAL. This was KISMET. Destiny. Fate. This kind of energy needed to be EXPRESSED. >>

<< She knew what he needed from her, and she could help him. But in THIS moment? She inhaled and relaxed her body as she accepted his whole embrace and his kiss. She closed her eyes as she allowed herself to be enveloped by him as she RETURNS his kiss!>>

<< But this wouldn't be just ANY casual encounter.>>

<< Chimes sound off as she wraps her arms around his tall, strong, masculine form. Her fair hair begins to flow upward as several "ribbons" of mystical enchantment flow around the both of them, and in that moment, as they let themselves go, giving in to EACH OTHER, they find themselves in a SECRET place, one only accessible to Amanda, and certain other magick users past and present.>>

<< it is a PLACE we have seen BEFORE. When the Six encountered the Olympians, and faced Circe. It is the place where HECATE originally cast the curse of the RED MOON. This mysterious, enchanted forest is also the place where Hecate revealed Alison Marble's destiny as HARBINGER.>>

<< And now, safe from all prying eyes, and minds, Amanda & Beto can relate to each other on ANOTHER unspoken level.>>

<< She knows where she must guide him in HER world, but for NOW, in this enchanted place, their bodies and minds MERGE in the way as old as time itself.>>

 

[Domino]

The Marauder

Simon: "Max...in the last seventy two hours, I pulled you from the ocean, restarted your heart on a pier in Brooklyn, fought hell houns in the catacombs of a mansion that was buried underground after a civil war broke out. Then I became The Red Bishop and shortly after was trafficked into a mutant combat ring where I had to kill a woman who was seven foot tall and had four arms...this is the most normal thing I've done all week."

Maxine laughed loudly, a somewhat rare occurence. Perhaps it was because she was a well worn battle axe and was used to the kind of crazy and often traumatic situations she had been placed in and placed herself in over the last decade, but to hear it in short order from someone like Simon, really put things into perspective for her. The last week had been crazy, and it was only going to get more dangerous, but to have somebody around her that wasn't..for lack of a better word "broken" like she was - it actually brought her great comfort.

Simon: "That being said...I've had a hell of a time and I can't wait to see what happens next..."

"That's both troubling and comforting to hear, Si."

Her eyes fixated out onto the dark and surprisingly calm sea in front of her. Maxine had always loved the ocean. Before she had been broken and rebuilt to be a weapon of destruction, she made sure to visit whatever body of water she could as a girl. in the summer, her parents would take her to Barfleur. Her father would take her crabbing, and they would finish the day with a bowl of fresh mussels. It had been a long time since she had thought of the kindness of her father, but she knew why. Simon's was dead and he still didn't know. She passed the bottle back to him.

Simon: "So...Jessica Marcus. I've heard stories...I know she means a lot to you. You call her your sister. Is she -- your actual sister? And how did she end up under Hellfire control?"

She watched his body language shift from open to defensive, sure she was about to slap him upside the head. And she wanted to initially, but she held back. She wanted her enemies to fear her, and they should, because there was good reason behind it. Maxine was a battle tank. She could take an incredible amount of damage and give it back tenfold to anyone who crossed her. But she didn't wan't....[internally groaning] people she cared about to think she was just some kind of avatar of violence. She didn't always want people to think she was capable of only death. Only violence. That was a mantle she took on for survival reasons. In this moment though, she suddenly realized...she was past that time in her life. She HAD survived. She still flippantly took the bottle back from Simon and took a long swig, wiping her hand on her arm as she sat back in the captain's chair, her icy light blue eyes seemingly to glow against the shadows.

"It's...complicated. Listening to you, I realize you don't really know that much about me...and normally? I like that. But I figure...you've joined me on this "mission" almost no questions asked..it's rare for me to experience that kind of loyalty...so know that you've EARNED this information and I do NOT give it freely...SO...betrayal of my confidence in GIVING you that information is punishable by DEATH..."

Old habits died hard.

"From a really simple biological standpoint? No..Jessica is not my sister. I came up in a time where Hellfire was burning like wildfire all over the world, but specifically in the states...The American branch was gaining a lot of traction and my father...desperately wanted a piece of the action. You've seen the hell hounds, and the tyrants down in the catacombs...those are all biproducts of MysTech, which...may have been long and dead before you ever entered into the orbit of The Six...but when I was a girl...they were everything. A blending of magick and science and a few other abjects horrors thrown in...."

She was silent for a moment, reflecting on her life as she continued.

"There was a summit between the London and American branch in which an alliance was formed. Their Inner Circle came to London to "teach" ours what they knew, with the idea that London could help grow Mystech's influence with the promise of part of it's profits. That somehow Mystech was the answer to all of Hellfire's problems. That visit was the first time I had ever met Christopher, Adam, Helena, Diana and Kelly...the original Kelly, not the one I plan on killing."

She spoke deeply and openly, another rare occurence for the former black knight.

"I was too young to know the details, but I was already being kept prisoner by my father in our family home. I was thirteen, I was rebellious, and my mutant power manifested....which sadly...resulted in me taking my mother's life..all I do remember is that my father, Christopher and Adam all thought I was an excellent candidate to be exposed to the T Virus. I was taken prisoner yet again...experimented on by the americans, and then they left...and my life fell even further into despair..."

She thought back to that time for a moment. Word had spread that Hellfire America was under new leadership. That the legendary James Marcus had been killed. That this new Inner Circle was one to be reckoned with. Her father had been both so nervous and excited at their arrival. He was even being nice to her. Unshackling her. Dressing her up, taking her to the party on his arm. Parading her around them. She was too young to know why back then. Naively she believed him to have a change of heart, or worse, that deep down he was actually proud of her.

"The details of that descent belong to me, and I choose not to share them because if there is one thing I hate more than weakness, it's pity. Suffice to say that what I went through under the hands of men who I should have been able to trust was something I will never forget...and naively I thought it was an experience that unique to me...and then I met Jessica...my predecessor...the first success in their quest of using the T Virus to create weapons...."

That moment had changed her life completely. It was something she could simply never forget. And she didn't want to. What happened with Jessica had given her hope. Something she never ever remembered feeling in her life up until that point.

"The stage was set for the rebllion of Hellfire London. My mentor was murdered by two women who more than the others, profited off of my exploitation. And when they were about to be stripped from existence at my hand, Rebecca fucking Everhart pulled her last trump card, one GIVEN to her by Talisman. Jessica Marcus. She was like nothing else I have ever fought in my life. Her power was INCREDIBLE...but there was something louder than that...and it was her PAIN. We fought each other tooth and nail and we almost took each other out, but in the fallout of that...we....."MET" each other....saw each others lives...FELT each other's pain in way that I...I honestly don't think i'll ever be able to accurately describe in a way that makes sense to anyone but the two of us..."

Her mind went back there.

<< FLASH! >>

somewhere in between life and death....

<< There are many realms of existence and time in the multiverse. The Six has visited but a few of them and yet have seen more than many ever will. In a place outside of time and space, Jessica Marcus and Maxine DuPont have been thrown into each other's consciousness. Right before Maxine was to be warped into oblivion, she began to relive her life. Her earliest memories of pain and betrayal, and in contrast Jessica was dealing with the fact that she ma have inadvertanly failed her father and fell short of becoming the "Queen" that she wanted to be. Feeling as if they are falling off of a cliff at incredible speed, they soon realize that they are falling through the mind space of one another, thanks to the emotional and psychic feedback that had been released by Daniel moments before the explosion. >>

<< Falling. Forever. Both aware of each other. Both inside of each other's consciousness. They fall together, gaining an insight to the path that has brought both of them to this moment in time. Images begin to become clear. >>

A Memory...

:: A child with wild green eyes watches in the lurches as a Woman in White stands over a beautiful bassinet. She surveys the woman with the wild curiousity she would soon become known for. ::

"What is Aunty Diana doing?"

:: an infants scream FILL both Jessica and Maxine's ears as the young girl's eyes widen, not in horror, not in disgust, but with a morbid fascination as she watches The Woman in White MURDER her baby brother. Silence ::

<< Falling >>

Maxine: "Your brother....she killed your brother."

<< Falling >>

Jessica: "She killed my brother..he was weak...but he wasn't hers to kill."

A Memory...

:: a young dark hair girl sits in the living room of a palatial british estate playing with a doll. She looks for the most part happy, but there is still a darkness about her. As she moves about the living room, bumping into tables and almost knocking a vase off a shelf, a man with no face reads a newspaper, his fingers gripping TIGHTLY at each HINT of movement the young girl exhibits. ::

"Daddy! Daddy play with me! I'm a MONSTER! And you have to run from me or i'll get you!"

:: placing his scotch glass down on the table he folds up his paper, places it on the table next to him and crouches down from his recliner to face his daughter. She smiles thinking that he is finally going to give in and have some fun with her! ::

<< SMACK! >>

:: the young girl's face is assaulted by her father's hand as she is thrown back several feet by the force of his slap. Tears well up in her eyes as she stares at her father in horror, completely shaken and unsure of how to act. Her father's thick and deep voice sends chills down her back and in turn chills down Maxine and Jessica's back as he eyes his daughter with disdain. ::

"I am the MONSTER, little girl. And you will NEVER run away from ME!"

<< A single tear begins to fall from Maxine's face. >>

Maxine: "He hated me...."

Jessica: "But...he was your father! He should have loved you like mine!"

<< FALLING >>

:: Images continued to flood the two women falling into nothingness. A young Jessica can be seen experimenting on wasps and dragons flies in her room. She couldn't have been more than 10 years old. In contrast, a young Maxine can be seen experimenting with technology, attempting to code and program at a young age as well. ::

:: Many images are shown of Jessica and her father James. Maxine can see his cold and calculating ways. His excitement at looking at her DNA under a microscope, happy that her cells are assuming dominance over his experimental strain of the T-Veronica Virus. He was a depraved man, but it appeared he did love his daughter. ::

Maxine: "He loved you Jessica....but he used you..."

Jessica: "What do you mean?! Stop!"

<< As images of James Marcus holding Jessica's hand, experimenting on her multiple times. She doesn't seem to mind, but the Jessica looking at it now seems unsure..She had looked at those times with her father with the type of nostalgia that a girl remembers summer camp with, but now...something felt off. Something didn't feel right....and then Maxine's experimentations began to playin front of them. >>

Maxine: "Do--don't look, Jessica. Please, don't look!"

<< The Black Knight barel wanted to look herself. It was already an ordeal that replayed in her mind roughly every second she was alive, but it was her own private pain. It was hers to control. As long as she could KEEP her secrets, she could carry on. She couldn't be exploited by her emotions. Nobody would have a one up on her. >>

Jessica: "Oh my god...Maxine...."

:: Flashes of a screaming and crying youn girl with a shaved head in a straight jacket throwing herself against the walls of her padded cell can be seen. She seems to be screaming for hours, unable to stop herself, desperately pulling at her jacket, trying to get anybody to listen to her...to help her. ::

<< FALLING >>

:: Her RAPE at the hands of the orderlies and a number of other sexual abuses flash before them as Maxine has started to cry with unbridled passion. ::

:: Jessica and Maxine's experimentations play again, this time at the same time. For every soft gaze and hand squeeze that James gives his daughter is in turned countered with an act of abuse and pain from Jean Luc to his. Everytime Maxine was pushed to the limits, every time James stopped when Jessica asked.

<< Two people, used and experimented on in the most opposite of ways. ALL of it came FLOODING into their minds as the pace they were falling seemed to speed up. >>

Jessica: "He used you...He hurt YOU! He took what DADDY did and he made it...he made it BAD!!! I HATE HIM!"

Maxine: [lost in tears] "James used you too, Jessica. He loved you...but you were a project."

Jessica: "His greatest project...and I failed him. I ruined EVERYTHING."

<< In that instance, Maxine used every bit of strength she had left in herself to reach out her hand towards Jessica. >>

Maxine: "I'm sorry he's dead..."

Jessica: "I'm sorry he hurt you...."

<< Jessica began to reach out her hand as well. >>

Maxine: "We can change it....we can do better, Jessica."

Jessica: "...We HAVE to do better. We have to!"

<< The two rocketed into the void of darkness, their hair blowing WILDLY from the velocity and speed, both in such an elevated state above pain and insanity and betrayal. A state that allowed the two women to see each other for who they really were, to see how similar their stories COULD have been. An understanding and a bond had occured between them in this moment that might last in reality, but would leave inexplicably and always PSYCHICALLY linked, having experienced each other in a way that nobody ever had. >>

<< As the two fade into the void, their hands touch and grab onto one another. They have been raised differently and had different experiences but they had found commonality, and with their fate up in the air, they decided they would fall...TOGETHER. >>

A few solitary tears began to drip down Maxine's eyes as she recalled her encounter with Jessica, though her face remained stone cold as always, her voice never breaking as her light and lilted french accented voice came out of her decidedly different body.

"She'd gone through the same thing I had. Maybe her wounds weren't physical. Maybe some would say she had it better than I did. But I saw a woman who had lived her life in stasis. The only time anybody ever paid her any kind of kindness was to use her for their own benefit. We were their prototypes. And the second they infected us with their virus, they STRIPPED of us our humanity. We became commodities, and while we were used in different ways, we share a bond that I can't walk away from. This bullshit with Talisman? She doesn't care at all what happens to Jessica. She's so easily able to use her as bait because everyone still views her as an object. A thing to possess. And I can't let that be what happens to her..."

Maxine squeezed the bottle of whiskey so tightly that it shattered in her hands. Exhaling deeply, she pulled another from the bottom cabinet and popped the top off, taking a long swig.

"Jessica is Mystech's greatest professional achievement and their worst moral failure. She deserves a life. She deserves to touch grass and fall in love, and think for herself, and do what she wants. And I...I will never be able to rest my soul until I know that she has that chance. However that happens, even if I have to die in order for her to have that freedom...I don't care. So in all the ways it DOES matter...she is my sister. And...I need to send a message to Hellfire, especially now. The weapons they created will be the ones that destroy them. And I mean that, Simon."

She handed him the bottle back, her eyes still glassy with emotion, and yet she was still able to smirk.

"So...we can settle it then, right? My parents were abjectly worse than yours."

 

[Wallflower]

The Marauder - Crow's Nest

The Marauder - Crow's Nest

She was getting more than pissed off. She was furious. They had entered her territory, destroyed everything that she knew around her and now were trying to tell her that she...wasn't real?! That EVERYTHING that she'd gone through in her life was some kind of scheme? From some BITCH she had never met? Jun was a lot of things, but she was no fool, and she was not about to be drug even further down from where she was born. She had become Voge's slave, she wasn't about to be Hellfire's.

"Daniel, stop it. You're freaking me out. What are you trying to say?"

Jun couldn't stop looking at the picture. Of "Amanda Soto". This woman who looked exactly like her. But different. Like if Jun had grown up with money. she knew this was fake. She KNEW this was some kind of ploy from Hellfire, she just couldn't figure out WHY. Why go through this kind of trouble? She had heard of their machinations before and seen them first hand. Archer Fairchild was a staple in Madripoor. She had watched his men blaze a trail through Madripoor. But they didn't do things like this. Archer had been an orphan himself, and there were always stories of how he spared the lives of those who could be of use. He didn't kill mutants who weren't a part of their world. So why was Daniel doing this?! And why wouldn't he...

"Just shut the FUCK UP!?"

Daniel: "I'm saying that who you think you. Everything you've been through? All these self inflicted wounds you like to tend to every second of the day...its...I don't want to say it's not real, because I believe that it's very real to you...but I have every reason to believe...Jun Zhao didn't exist until Kelly Shaw cooked her up in a lab. Your memories...your history...it didn't happen, Jun. I'm an omega level empath...my power borders on the ability to warp reality...Everything around you? It's been crafted. Crafted by her...Jun...you're a clone."

"You shut your fucking mouth, Reed."

She lashed out with her power in a spectacular way, warping her pheremones in an intensity that were almost unable to be denied as she PARALYZED Daniel with FEAR. From within her garments, she pulled out a hunting knife, one she kept on her at all times, as her skin began to shift to her more reptilian form, before promptly JAMMING the knife into the hand that Daniel had closest to her.

"I don't know what kind of sick and perverted HELLFIRE games you're trying to play, but it's not gonna work on me. Especially not after I watched you destroy everything fucking thing I've built for myself in seconds!"

Jun slinked over his body straddling him as she pulled the hunting knife from his hand with ease and raised it over her head with both hands.

"You may be an omega level empath...but I'm an omega level SURVIVOR...and I have NOTHING to lose anymore..."

She leaned in and licked his face with her now forked tongue as her now yellow, snake like eyes began to glow under the moonlight. She felt stupid for feeling safe under Voge's command. For whatever reason, Jun really felt like he was her ticket out of her former life. Now, it was all gone, and Hellfire was attempting to bring her into the fold, in the worst way possible. She was not a prisoner. Not anymore. If she was going to work for anyone else again in her life, it was going to be herself, and if she had to carve her way through The Marauder, she WOULD.

"Do you think I survived the arena just to be some OTHER man's toy? Think again, Daniel. And say a prayer...because I may have let more than a few men and women desecrate and BRUTALIZE my BODY...but NOBODY....NOBODY tries to do that to my mind and survives."

She brought the knife down with FULL FORCE, fully intending on plunging the blade straight this heart.

 

[Longshot]

The Marauder

Maxine: "it's...complicated. Listening to you, I realize you don't really know that much about me...and normally? I like that. But I figure...you've joined me on this "mission" almost no questions asked..it's rare for me to experience that kind of loyalty...so know that you've EARNED this information and I do NOT give it freely...SO...betrayal of my confidence in GIVING you that information is punishable by DEATH..."

Simon smirked as he pulled the collar of his shirt to the side as she handed him back the bottle.

"Please go for my femoral. If I gotta die, I'd like it to be bloody..."

He took a swig as she began to recount her story. These kinds of things always made him a bit uncomfortable. Everybody had their shit about growing up, but Simon never won the game of who had it worse. Despite his familial problems, he had lived an incredibly charmed life. Hearing what Maxine chose to share, it made him feel both honored...and sad. He was a rich white kid who had grown up with immeasurable wealth and a silver spoon in his mouth who's power was to bend luck in his favor. Maxine had been grown up in captivity and brutalized on all levels, and her mutant power was to decay things with her touch. How could he ever possibly hope to understand or relate to who she was and what she had gone through? And what about the mutants that couldn't pass as human? Those with mutations like he had seen in The Arena? It was something he had been carrying with him since he came into the mutant world.

Maxine: "She'd gone through the same thing I had. Maybe her wounds weren't physical. Maybe some would say she had it better than I did. But I saw a woman who had lived her life in stasis. The only time anybody ever paid her any kind of kindness was to use her for their own benefit. We were their prototypes. And the second they infected us with their virus, they STRIPPED of us our humanity. We became commodities, and while we were used in different ways, we share a bond that I can't walk away from. This bullshit with Talisman? She doesn't care at all what happens to Jessica. She's so easily able to use her as bait because everyone still views her as an object. A thing to possess. And I can't let that be what happens to her..."

Instinctively and against his better judgment, he placed a hand over hers, deciding it must have been his power that kept his heart still beating as she didn't pull away.

"It won't, Max. We'll get her back. I promise."

Max: "Jessica is Mystech's greatest professional achievement and their worst moral failure. She deserves a life. She deserves to touch grass and fall in love, and think for herself, and do what she wants. And I...I will never be able to rest my soul until I know that she has that chance. However that happens, even if I have to die in order for her to have that freedom...I don't care. So in all the ways it DOES matter...she is my sister. And...I need to send a message to Hellfire, especially now. The weapons they created will be the ones that destroy them. And I mean that, Simon."

Hellfire was like the metaphorical T Virus. It infected everything it touched. Turned it. Perverted it. Made it so it only could be satisfied when it was feeding on something. But he knew all these things. So why did he say yes to becoming Bishop? He didn't know. It was impulsive. It made him think it might actually help him understand his mother better. But listening to Maxine's story, there was a part of him that didn't want to know her. Didn't want to know exactly what she was capable of. He pulled his hand away and wrapped it around the bottle, taking another long swig.

"I believe you."

Maxine: "So...we can settle it then, right? My parents are abjectly worse than yours."

Simon smirked again.

"I mean, jury is still out on that one. But after hearing your story, I'm not sure I want to do the research required to refute your claim. You win."

He rested back in his seat as he looked at the water, and the bow of the ship cutting through the waves as they moved silently through the water. It brought him a peace of mind he hadn't had in a long time.

"Still, I appreciate you sharing that with me. Ever since I got into this world of mutants and mages and four armed ladies, it seems like nobody is capable of sharing what's really going on with them. It's all cloak and dagger, like you get some kind of prize for being the most fucked up and not dealing with it --"

[pausing]

"No offense."

Maxine: "None taken. Yet."

"It's just that...why do mutants always want to suffer in silence? Why aren't we out there screaming?! Ever since The Purifier Event...I've been trying to follow all these rules, trying to follow the lead of mutants around me, but nothing works. I still have this....pain in my chest. I wake up and I can't breathe...and I don't sleep without seeing their faces..."

Unfortunately, his mind couldn't help but race back to those moments, replaying something he had replayed everyday since and was afraid would replay in perpetuity in his brain for the rest of time.

New York City - Several Months Ago - The Purifier Event

< Ava returned to the car with a young girl in tow and backed it up several feet away. She was told to stay put. Simon looked at the young girl who was obviously very scared and afraid for her life. Simon was unsure of what to do. It looked like Ava and the others needed help but he couldn't leave a girl this scared alone! >

Simon: "Hey there...what's your name? I'm Simon..."

Little Girl: "I'm...Katie..."

Simon: "Nice to meet you Katie. Do you like to play games, honey?"

<< The little girl nodded. >>

Simon: "Me too! Here...what I need you to do is face that back window behind us, okay? And don't look back. You can have my phone...I've got all the games a kid could ever want to play..Just focus on the games okay? And I will make sure everybody is okay over there..."

"What the HELL!? PLANES!?"

<< He saw the entire thing as projectiles hit..THE BUS! They attacked the bus with the CHILDREN in it! >>

"Oh my God...oh my GOD!"

<< Simon looked down and saw that Katie was obviously jumbled by the impact, and sacred. But Simon smiled and reassured her that things were okay. >>

"You're doing great, kiddo...Just focus on that game there. Try and beat my high score..."

<< From the wreckage he saw that both Ava and the Blonde Woman seemed to have survived and were now faced with trying to rescue these children. Simon HAD to try and do something? But what? His powers weren't trained like the others. He decided that things usually went wrong when people disobeyed orders. He didn't want to do something that would make these children suffer more and he didn't want to do something stupid that left Katie by herself. All he could do now was WATCH with abject HORROR at what was unfolding. >>

<< FLASH! >>

< The wind and the rain was almost BLINDING as he charged through it. Instinctively his powers kicked in allowing him a clear field of vision and path in front of him as he made his way through the scene. >

"AVA! AVA I'm here!"

< He went over to here. She looked like she was about to lose it. Pass out...she was so drained. He didn't want to speak to her. He didn't want her to chastise him for getting out the car. There was no time. She knew that he would rather her be safe..but there children's LIVES at stake. >

"I'm going in..."

< Simon made his way into the wreckage of the bus. The flames were dying down, but the scene before him was singlehandedly the most horrific he had ever seen. Children. Dead children. Who had suffered in the most unbelievable ways. This was inhumane. Whoever had done this was a monster that Simon wished nothing but the WORST of deaths upon. >

< He made his way towards where he saw the woman in silver head before she was knocked out. He gazed at his surroundings just trying to find one pair of eyes that were alive...one kid that he could help. Then he spotted a pair of eyes in the back. She was so scared, her voice and body so weak. This was the girl that Sharon had been trying to help before she was knocked out. >

< The mutant knew how his powers worked on himself...his power instinctively guided his movements and reflexes in this case, it made him the best person possible to attempt to get this little girl out of the bus and into safety. As long as he SAW something headed his way, he would be able to avoid it. >

"Shh...honey..shh..I got you..please just hold on for me, okay..."

< His piercing marble green eyes began to water up. This was horrific. This was life altering and this was something that Simon could have never believed in a million years would happen. He barreled his way out of the side of the bus and placed the little girl down beside the woman who seemed to be helping Ava with the children. He took a look at Ava and looked down at the ground, completely drenched in the rain. >

<< FLASH! >>

< He didn't have the chance to save any of the rest of them. >

<< BOOM! >>

< The blast was incredible as Simon was BLASTED back and into the air. He closed his eyes and hoped for the best as the bio-electrical current that moved throughout his body, instinctively guiding his movements sprung into action in tandem with his ability to manipulate probability as a green haze surrounded his body, landing him in a position far removed from the debris flying and the harder concrete. Still he landed with a thud having the wind knocked out of him. >

"Ugh...what..Oh my GOD."

< Realizing what had just happen THROTTLED him back to reality as tears welled up in his eyes. All of these children..all of them still trapped inside the bus were dead. Simon was confused and angry. He had yet to be filled on The Purifier threat and all he knew was that Ava and her colleagues were trying to save kids from a bus. He didn't know if this was an accident or intentional or what..but none of that mattered at the moment as he saw Ava in the distance. >

"AVA!"

< He called out to the woman. The rain was slowly beginning to fade as Ava's strength had reached an all time low and the fire was EVERYWHERE, now cascading up and into the building that housed the orphanage. >

"A fucking ORPHANAGE?!"

< The sign became engulfed in flames as he watched Ava scramble to her feet. He ran towards her a few feet trying his best to avoid the flames. >

< Simon winced as he saw Ava collapse to the ground. He instinctively began to run towards her, dodging flames as he went until he reached her side and scooped her into his arms. The second their skin touched a chill ran through Simon's spine. He didn't know the others in attendance with Ava..but he had assumed they had perished along with the children. He didn't know what to do...so he knelt down and cradled Ava in his arms, holding her as tight as possible. >

"It's okay Ava...shhh...it's okay...."

< He looked at the building encased in flames and the surrounding fires that threatened to destroy the entire neighborhood. The rain was all but stopping. Simon was so gripped by wanting to make things right that he didn't notice his abilities permeating around him. All around the scene flickers of green swirling orbs and trails began to circle throughout the area around him. One blasted right into a nearby FIRE HYDRANT as water began to BLAST from the hydrant, dowsing a large part of the flames...as his energy signature hit the sky, the rain that had once subsided began to POUR like never before. Still he sat there...his intentions on making Ava feel better..making SOMETHING out of this situation go right.. both his and now Ava's body surrounding by the humming yet ethereal electric green energy of his ability. >

< The energy swirled around the area and through the bus..which was now finally not on fire thanks to the INCREDIBLE amount of rain pouring down.. >

< Flickers of Simon's energy signature drift towards the body of an unconscious and burning Sharon Kelly as it seems to enter her body and SHOCK her awake. >

< All of this...incredible manifestations of what somebody like Simon was able to accomplish if he could only tap into it and learn to control. Effecting change in a primed weather pattern, serving as a psionic adrenaline shot to the chest for Sharon..the random explosion of the fire hydrant. Still Simon couldn't open his eyes..he didn't even know what he was doing..he just knew that he couldn't bare to look at the aftermath of a situation like this. Ava seemed inconsolable as the rain barrelled down upon them. Cameron had told him help was on the way..but WHERE WAS IT? Why had this been allowed to happen in the first place...and WHO/WHAT was responsible? >

"It was the first time I'd ever come face to face with people who hated mutants like they did. It wasn't outright aggressive. It wasn't in your face hateful. It was a response...to their radicalization. Someone took all their unfounded fears and capitalized on them, to the point of which they were willing to KILL. And they did. Those motherfuckers burned forty kids alive to prove a point. And, maybe I *am* soft. But that's not something I'm ever going to get over, Max. I watched them burn. Watched them die. And the shitty part is? All I could do was think about myself. I grew up so far away from those kids. I ate caviar while they starved. I studied French as they looked for a sace place to exist. I'm not some kind of savior. There's no reason I should be alive more than any of those kids, but here I am. And what the hell do you do with that? I spiraled."

His eyes began to get glossy but he wouldn't allow himself to cry in front of Maxine, especially not after what he had gone through. Still he had felt the familiar panic of PTSD, something he just realized he hadn't felt since linking up with Maxine. He hadn't even thought of Ava in days.

"Been spiraling pretty much ever since. Tried to start some shit in the city to help, it failed. Mostly just tried to drink myself to death. And then I saw you in a bar with the woman who broke my heart...and I followed you. And here we are. And a few days later we saved hundreds of mutant slaves and are about to go lay the smack down on a woman who by all accounts seems to be like one insufferable cunt..."

He made a "cheers" gesture with his face as he once again handed her back the bottle which had only one or two good swigs left in it before exhaling deeply.

"But let's end the feeling session with this. I don't judge people. It's not my place to say whether or not anyone is a good person..but I do know in the last six months you're the only person who hasn't treated me like I'm an idiot. You don't question my motives, you don't try and shape me into some kind of "soldier". You trust me. And you have a good cause, Max. Maybe you don't have all the answers, but you're on the right path, and you've got the strongest right hook i've ever seen in my life. So wherever this takes us...I'm with you....Captain."

Noises sparked throughout the Marauder, signs of life. He didn't know where this journey would take them, but he was glad to be on it, and he was glad to be with someone like Maxine Dupont.

"To The Marauders...Take it to the head, boss.."

He gestured for her to finish the bottle.

 

[Discord]

The Marauder

Jun: "You shut your fucking mouth, Reed."

He watched as she shifted into a more durable, reptilian like form, which only proved his point. The mutations that she had were in no way related. A pheremone snake? It didn't exist. She was a conflation of gifts, though NONE of that distracted from the very real intense and BURNING pain he felt at her stabbing through his left and dominant hand.

"AAAAAHHHH blooody fucking hell! The Queen MUM! FUCCCCCCKKK!"

The Red King had suffered worse injuries in his life, but this was a memorable one.

Jun: "I don't know what kind of sick and perverted HELLFIRE games you're trying to play, but it's not gonna work on me. Especially not after I watched you destroy everything fucking thing I've built for myself in seconds!"

"There's no games, woman! I'm trying to HELP you! Can't you see that?!"

Daniel had always been very smart. As a boy, when he first exhibited signs of being a "poof" as his father called it, he was immediately sent into therapy. To be honest, Daniel actually enjoyed the process but not as a means of healing who he was, rather, he made sure his parents blew through as much money as possible and bled dry enough quacks in Westminster until he felt comfortable using the tools that they did, combined with his own powers to enforce the results that he wanted for himself and the people around them. As an empath, he was born with an inherent understanding of his feelings that many other empaths didn't have. He had an awareness that was unshakeable. But he found that listening to those paid to understand him gave him the tools to learn how to ask certain questions to trigger specific emotions. It was not his most honorable set of skills, but it was one The Red King used when the situation was required, and this time, his intentions were noble.

Jun: "Do you think I survived the arean just to be some OTHER man's toy? Think again, Daniel. And say a prayer...because I may have let more than a few men and women desecrate and BRUTALIZE my BODY...but NOBODY...NOBODY tries to do that to my mind and survives."

He watched the violent intensity of her eyes as she intended to bring the knife down at the center of his chest and end The Red King's life, and he was eternally grateful that he was not a person controlled by their emotions like she was. Rather than fight her power with his own, he QUICKLY popped her at the center of her forehead, right in between her eyebrows with his free hand, hitting a pressure and trigger point that caused her body to completely relax, dropping the knife from her hand and slumping over on top of him. He was not a man who felt like he need a gun, or a knife or high energy blasts to fight. He had toppled stronger men than him without brute force an Jun was no exception. He throttled her back over into her own chair as she looked at him wide eyed.

"Enough Jun. I need you to relax."

And then he used his power to force it. In her mind and line of vision, everything would go black. She would feel herself cradled as if she were in the womb, perfectly calm, perfectly coherent as he stood beside her, using his illusory powers to get her back to where she needed to be.

"Nobody can control you. Nobody wants to control you. Breathe in and out. You are safe here, but you need to help me show you what you know is true..."

Jun: "I'm scared..."

"There's no fear here, Jun. No reason to be scared. Just let me help you..."

The nature of The Red King's power was intricate. In technical classification, he was a psionic of the highest order, and would be able to stand toe to toe with the likes of someone like Rose. Both had incredible psionic gifts, but were not inherently telepathic. However, a lot of the skills that they employed in order to use their powers were, while subconscious, classified as telepathic. The telepathic feats were biproducts, ingredients if you will, of the abilities they inherently had. Daniel's illusions were world class, and that was because, often times, like an entity like Barbas, he pulled them from the subconscious.

"I need you to go back, Jun. I need you to go back to the first thing you remember. Some people remember their birth, the first time their mum ever smacked them... Jun, what do you remember? Tell me..."

 

[Wallflower]

The Marauder

Black. Everything around her was black. The only thing she could see was herself, floating among the darkness in the fetal position. Her mind told her this wasn't right, but she felt...safe. She felt warm. There had never been a time in her life that she could remember where she felt peace like this. So she didn't fight it. And she wasn't sure she could if she wanted to. Mostly, her mind felt eerily clear. Devoid of thought. Or rather hyper aware of her thoughts as they came to her. As if she was able to view them objectively as they passed through her psyche. And then his voice filled the space as Daniel Reed appeared just outside in her peripheral vision.

Daniel: "Nobody can control you. Nobody wants to control you. Breathe in and out. You are safe here, but you need to help me show you what you know is true..."

"What I know is true..."

Her peace started to fade for a moment.

"I'm not real...he said I wasn't real..."

"I'm scared..."

She had been so angry at him. Because when he said she wasn't real, she couldn't believe it. The things she had gone through, all the trauma she had experienced? Those memories...that pain, it could only be from a life that was lived. But this was so much paump and circumstance to go through to try and betray her. Daniel's power, he could have made her his slave easily if he wanted to. He didn't need to go through all of this. She wanted to trust what he was saying, and in the warmth of the Black Hot Room, she found herself willing to try.

Daniel: "I need you to go back, Jun. I need you to go back to the first thing you remember. Some people remember their birth, the first time their mum ever smacked them...Jun, what do you remember? Tell me..."

[dissonant voice] "Be not afraid, my sweet girl. You were created with purpose. You are life born outside of every law they tell us is absolute. You are a revelation. A herald of something new. And you are MINE."

"That voice..."

It was deep and alto in it's timber. Both comforting and frightening. And though her mind began to replay the earliest of her days she remembered her days at the orphanage, watching westerns and picking the pockets of tourists to feed herself, the sound of Daniel's voice somehow allowed her to go deeper, to the very edges of her memory, to places she didn't know existed.

"The first thing I remember...is her."

The Body Shoppe - How Long Ago? Unknown.

<< We see Jun in what appears to be a high tech medical bed, unconscious and hooked up to countless machines tracking her heart rate, her blood pressure, her DNA sequences, the type of technology that seems as if it could only exist in a science fiction novel. She appears to be the same age as she is now. Sitting at her bedside, watching with both wonder and horror, is her genetic counterpart, Amanda Soto aka Cobra. >>

Cobra: "She looks just like me. I have to admit, my Queen...this is a bit more difficult than I thought it would be to see..."

<< Across the room, we see Dr. Kelly Shaw aka Talisman - The Black Queen of Hellfire at a control desk of sorts, furiously swiping away at a number of holographic screens in front of her, all in a language she created from scratch to protect her work. Her cobalt blue eyes meet Amanda's brown with a signature smolder and smirk. >>

Talisman: "I'm surprised, Amanda. Normally, you are quite pleased with the kind of work I do here. In fact, you are one of a very select few that have ever come to The Body Shoppe and simply bared witness. This is an honor, dear. Don't forget that."

Amanda: "I just have so many questions. She's here alright...alive and breathing. But...does she have a soul? Is she human? What is she going to think when she wakes up? Does she have emotions? Does she have....feelings?"

<< Talisman moves from her control desk and walks over towards Amanda, her stilettos clinking against the unknown metal that makes up the floors of the body shoppe as the two women find themselves on opposite sides of Jun's medical bed. >>

Talisman: "The concept of a soul is antiquated. A tool used by religion to control. We operate on higher levels of understanding than that. Damnation. Salvation. Those are simply words and tools used to make sure those of civilized society don't murder each other in the streets. Furthermore, I've disproven it, haven't I? Created life where there was none. If I can do what was thought impossible, well then, surely possession of a soul is the least of our worries, here..."

<< The Black Queen placed a hand on Jun's hand as she gazed at Amanda pervasively. >>

"She's as human as you are, Amanda. I took you in when you were set to die for your crimes. Took you here. Rebuilt you. Cured you of everything that was destroying you. Made you better. Stronger. I created a catalyst for change, but do you NOT feel as if you have agency over yourself? You have emotions. You have feelings. None of which I crafted. None of which I control. She will be the same. She is our accomplishment, Amanda. A feather in both of our caps. But rest assured, I have no plans in making an entire army of women with your face. But right now, we need to show the world what we can do. Who we are. What we are capable of. You've done that in the states, she will do so in her new home."

Amanda: "Where is she going?"

Talisman: "Madripoor."

"I could hear every word, Daniel. I felt confused. But I also felt...chosen. She made me. Without her I wouldn't exist..."

Daniel: "And that's a heavy thing to know, Jun. But it's no less human than any of us. Without our parents, we wouldn't exist. We are all just very real consequences for very stupid behavior. You are unique...but you're just as much like the rest of us. But it's interesting that this would be your first memory. The things that have been done to you run very deep. The work? It's intricate and precise at every level i'm able to even perceive. But you have no master, Jun....not even her. Tell me, what comes after that?"

She was so calmed by his words, but a part of her subconscious clung to the idea that this was his doing. That he was preventing her to do what she really wanted to do. But that struck a chord for her. Daniel was right. As a survival tactic, Jun liked protection, from anyone, both male and female that could provide her that. Or did she? If everything she had gone through had been programmed how could she possibly be human? The way she acted...how she felt about things. Was it a programmed response? Her mind was taken another place.

<< FLASH! >>

The Body Shoppe - An unknown amount of time ago

<< We see Talisman sitting across from Jun in plush leather chairs, in some kind of conference room, or...patient's quarters, Jun couldn't be exactly sure. The space was familiar...relaxing...and yet somehow anxiety inducing. Coming here again it made her realize that she had experienced a life here. The life that was given to her by Dr. Shaw. >>

Jun: "I've been training for days, always hooked up to all kinds of machines. I've played nice, now it's your turn. What exactly am I getting out of this?"

<< Talisman's cobalt blue eyes smulder with intrigue and pleasure. It was fascinating to see in person. When she plucked the real Amanda Soto out of prison, she was a dried up prostitute who had filled a fair share of disgusting men in the greater Los Angeles area. The system may have saw her as a criminal, but Kelly saw her as a hero. The less disgusting men in the world, the better. They were by far, her least favorite species in creation. She was the daughter of the woman that Cameron King had killed when he was fifteen years old, because the mainstream version of her had died and left him an orphan. Talisman really didn't believe in family, but she believed in protection. In diplomacy. And science. She wanted to be a trailblazer. She wanted to change the world. All of that would cause a stir. She would piss people off. People would want her dead. So she had never once looked a gift horse in the mouth since arriving at this timeline. She was simply too good of an opportunity to let go to waste. >>

""You dear, are of my creation. One of my greatest assets. Today may be the last day we remember each other as we are. Can we at least we enjoy it?"

Jun: "I am enjoying it, Talisman. But you've been so vague. Everything you've been teaching me and everything I've been learning...I mean I have an idea, but I just can't wrap my head around the logistics."

"Just fascinating..."

<< Talisman had done a lot of cool shit in her life, but to watch one of her experiments live and in real time and to be so pleased with the results? It was exhilirating. This version...she was unique. Developed an entirely different personality than her predecessors. Even if it went down in flames, Kelly wanted to watch and observe the show. Her genes had turned out to be positively delicious in the way they were so amenable to being dissected and observed and played with. She almost didn't want to let this one go, but she was ready. >>

"The brass tacks are as follows: I want to change the world. In order to do that, I need a shit ton of money and protection. At a level that is not fathomable by the human race. That means I cannot afford to be narrowminded. Whatever revenue streams are available to me, I want them. Whatever alliances I can build, I will make them. You are a solution to one of those alliances. A very important alliance. The work you do will help secure a future in a brave new world. And rest assured, I'm not being hyperbolic...I mean exactly what I'm saying. You just need to trust me. When you wake up tomorrow, you will be exactly who you need to be. And you will have a good life. I promise."

<< Most of that was true. This clone had a role to play in building Talisman's empire. If she could infiltrate the Madripoor market and make a name for herslef, she would find many possibly beneficial relationships. And a lot of cold hard cash. She had sent Camille there a few months ago, running a shell operation when she found out just how much was up for grabs in Madripoor. And Kelly wanted in. With who would soon be known as Jun Zhao rather than #Patient295, she could infiltrate the other side of Madripoor. The abhorrent and rich. >>

Jun: "Then I guess i'm ready. I do trust you, Dr. Shaw...I'm just a bit scared."

"You have nothing to be afraid of, Jun Zhao. None of my creations do. But if you're ready...let's go."

<< FLASH! >>

Madripoor - The Docks

<< Among the fog of early morning in Madripoor, we see Talisman walking along the docks. Following several steps behind, is Jun. It was a memory she forgot she remembered. She remembered the wet heat. She remembered how the dock wobbled as she walked along it. In the distance was a giant blue man. Tullamore Voge. >>

Tullamore: "Certainly stable, she looks, Black Queen!"

Talisman: "Now, now, Tullamore. The terms of my agreement are quite clear. I've programmed her with enough trauma to last a lifetime. I will not stand for you inlficting any more on her. She is to be taken care of. And if a slimy oversized blue hand deigns to lay a finger on her, I've programmed exit protocols that will leave this entire city in a crater."

Tullamore: "So serious, Dr. Shaw! I She is a beautiful thing. She will repay the investment in dividends. I am not stupid. No harm will come to the girl under my care. But you will also make good on your word."

"Yes, I will send you over any vagrant I might find in my travels, and your clients have free reign of my services at The Body Shoppe. Alterations. Adjustments. I can craft whatever kind of gladiator you need. And of course, I'm still waiting for my cold hard cash."

<< Tullamore nodded as he handed two briefcases to two of Kelly's power suit clad "Blackjackets", who were actually a bunch of nanites in formation. >>

Tullamore: "Cash is never a problem for me! And as long as your product is as good as you say, it will never be a problem for you."

Talisman: "Whatever you say, Yoda. The transfer is complete. One thing before I go. This one is special. I tested hundreds of versions before her. She was the best one. Don't forget that."

<< Talisman turned to Jun, gripping her on either side of her shoulders. >>

Talisman: "Alright Jun. This is it. Are you ready?"

Jun: "I'm ready, Talisman. I trust you."

Talisman: "More than you should..But I digress. My daughter, you are about to make waves. I'm not one for sentimentality, but I can't help but to already miss you. I will leave you with this. One day, you m ight decide that everything I've done for you wasn't enough. That I hurt you instead of helped you. When that day comes, I will face you however, and wherever you choose. I will answer for my actions if you require it. Do you understand?"

Jun: "No...not at all really. But I know this means something to you, so i'll do it. Because you've done so much for me. See you on the other side, Dr. Shaw."

Talisman: "Good luck, Jun."

"She wanted me to feel so special. Grateful. But I was a transaction to her. She's so careful with her words. She twists things. Gets you to trust her. Or just trust that she knows more than you. I loved her, but I also hated her. Even when I couldn't remember her, I always just fell in line in front of whoever seemed like a bigger badass than I was. I loved being second string. I crave protection."

Daniel: "You were a transaction to her, Jun. And we all crave protection. But sometimes, the things we believe are keeping us safe...are actually the monsters we need to worry about. Some of us have to be our own protection. But we don't have much time to much deeper, Jun. I'm keeping you calm, but there's a well of anger inside of you. I'm worried that when we leave this safe space, you will bring harm to yourself or one of us....The Marauders..."

She could feel reality all of the sudden moving closer to her. They were leaving this place. Jun was scared, but she had moved from not trusting Daniel to appreciating what he was trying to do.

"I will be angry. Righteous. Likely violent. But I deserve more than a little grace. I was manipulated. I was given pain that will live with me always for no other reason than to add to my synthetic "backstory". Rest assured, my anger holds no space for you or any of the Marauders. In fact, I'm grateful. I would have never seen this otherwise."

If she had a score to settle with ANYONE, it was Kelly Shaw. What she had done was unforgivable, and perverse. But it was also not that simple. She had a deep respect for the woman who had given her life. Still...the only way she could figure out how she felt about Kelly, was to see her in person. Daniel had given her a gift, and while she knew it would not last, that tomorrow she might wake up a huddled mess, she would rather have known than been left in the dark. She was a clone. Maybe she was real..maybe she wasn't. Maybe when she saw Kelly again she might turn into The Terminator and kill all the people she just promised she'd leave unharmed.

Daniel: "You owe me, nothing. We are clear to return home. Remember, however you feel tomorrow, I need you to know that I am on your side. However you want to deal with this I will do my best to lend support."

She felt spectral winds on her face as they moved closer and closer back to their current reality. And Jun realized in this moment, she was ready for it. Even if she fell apart, she'd be doing it as herself.

"I can't predict how I might feel about it later, but for now, I appreciate it, Daniel. I will never trust anyone ever again so I can't say that I trust YOU. But I do trust your intentions. In case I never say it again."

Daniel: "Only one way to find out love, let's go home."

Somehow, the next thing she knew she was in her bed in The Marauder, sitting up in a dead heat. As she looked out of her port side window, she sky was a brilliant pink and orange. The sun was coming up. The first day of the rest of her life was ahead of her. And it terrified her.

 

[Seer]

Into The Morning...

<< In such a short time, The Marauders had become a team. For all their differences, they came together in the spirit of widening their focuses. Each of them had desire to be different than they were. Somehow, that spirit had allowed them great success. They had destroyed The Arena and were well on their way towards a final confrontation with The Black Queen. And now, in the latest hours of the night and the earliest hours of the morning, many of The Marauders were building relationships with each other. They had hit the ground running and this was the first time they'd had a reprieve since linking up with each other. >>

<< Brenthon and Amanda had were like magnets. The immediate connection between them had been intense and emotional. Even visceral. Tonight, they had finally given in. They had a connection to the same world. They had a side of themselves that they didn't remember. And both of them realized that their destinies were intertwined. The Gypsy King had always been a man of passion. Brenthon loved having a physical body again, and he liked to speak with it. Transported to a place of privacy and eroticism, Brenthon and Amanda deepened their bond. It was simply beyond their control. They knew they both belonged to other people, but they could not help but to give into their temptations with each other. They made a carnal connection in the grove, among nature, and they cradled each other in their sleep. Both getting one of the deepest night's rests of their lives. >>

<< Maxine and Simon had found themselves at the helm of The Marauder, sharing a bottle of Maxine's favorite whiskey. Simon had stumbled across Maxine and Ava talking in hushed tones in Danny Donnelly's bar. He followed Maxine out of said bar for reasons he was still unsure of. Since then, they had been on a mission of vengeance. They were going to kill Dr. Kelly Shaw. Tonight, both had let down their walls, and their mutual trust was affirmed. Simon wasn't sure exactly why he believed in Maxine so much, and Maxine couldn't help but to vomit at how easily she found herself caring about his feelings. >>

<< Tonight, they formed a true partnership and truly became friends. But how long will they remain on the same page? >>

<< Daniel Reed, The Red King, had discovered some terrible news in Madripoor. Jun Zhao, the voluptuous "Bombshell" was a clone of a dead woman. And she didn't know it. While Daniel had supreme control over his emotional state, something about Jun found him wanting to help. It was a new feeling for Daniel, but he was leaning into it. >>

<< Jun was understandably upset, but surprisingly receptive, thanks to the timely interception by Daniel. He brought her to a state of balance, and blended the edges of reality around them to show her who she was. And it was for no other reason than that he felt she deserved to know who she was. The two acknowledged that they weren't sure how to trust one another, but thanks to Discord's intervention, there was now a path forward. >>

<< At 0500 hours they arrived in a dock near Cape Town, South Africa. An old manufacturing plant had been purchased in the surrounding area a few months ago, and it's address was tied to a number of slave sales invoices that The Marauders had gotten their hands on on in the last twenty four hours. Kelly Shaw was sure to be there. One couldn't hide from The Black Queen easily, and so the group found themselves taking a more mortal approach to things, touching ground in a near by town and securing transportation to the compound. They would soon find out just how much of a friend or a foe they were to Dr. Shaw. There was an ominous feeling in the air once they gathered in the jeep, the wind blasting them as the vehicle made it's way deeper into the countryside. >>

<< Our Marauders have come a long way, both personally and professionally. But would their bonds survive a face to face altercation with the silver tongued Talisman? There is only one way to find out. WATCH! >>

 

[Magik]

Cape town- On the way

<< The day after.>>

<< Amanda Sefton sat in the large, supped up jeep, now wearing a battle outfit she magicked up for herself (and she filled out that costume quite nicely ) . Her (now) DARK hair flowed upward in the open air as she zoomed along, and she sat next to Brenthon. Her appearance was slightly altered, mainly her hair (now dark) & her eye color, courtesy of her magicks, making it even impossible for any locals who lay eyes on her to recognize her - her spell would even prevent Talisman from recognizing her by mere eye sight alone. Everyone in the jeep knew it was her though, by her design. >>

<< The sorceress and the gypsy king BOTH seemed refreshed, settled, realigned and most of all, OPTIMIZED. A very good thing, considering the last, and most harrowing part of this whole caper would soon be at hand.>>

<< The shared a true meeting of the minds, a connection of SOULS, and satisfied a deep-seated need for comfort, touch...and PLEASURE. Sure, Amanda could ALWAYS find "play mates" when she traveled and jet set around the world, but last night was something all together different for her. Her real story, and HIS real story had a surprising, and IMPORTANT connection, one that would eventually lead them BOTH away from the Marauders, but only AFTER this caper at hand was complete.>>

<< Even though Amanda and Beto had "come together" in ultimate privacy in the "enchanted forest", it wasn't hard for others on board the Marauder, namely Domino & Longshot, to figure out just what they'd been up to, but not even THOSE two could fathom what last night meant to Amanda & Beto, and the new path of journey that opened up for both of them because of it.>>

<< As they all traveled along, preparing for what was to come, Amanda spoke as she ran her gloved hand through her flowing dark hair>>

I can BLOCK Talisman's mystical alarms as we approach her stronghold, and make it seem as though we're just part of the natural environment moving around the immediate area of her stronghold. I've also taken the liberty of scrambling the perceptions of anyone we've encountered thus far, so that SHE can't glean anything from their minds eye or memories. Does anyone have any intel on the schematics of her dwelling? Most magick users make sure that the physical space they operate out of is MORE than what it seems. She will undoubtedly use the very environment around her stronghold to strike at us, And for those of you who are.... << glances at Simon and Daniel>> more physically vulnerable to environmental extremes, my spells can transform your bodies to whatever state is needed to help you to survive.

<< Although this was not remotely on her itinerary when she first set out for her most recent adventure, NOW She wanted this...more than ANYTHING. Talisman had MUCH to answer for where the Szardos clan was concerned, and Amanda was JUST the witch to bring the fight to her! And she knew she was in like minded company. Domino & Bombshell ALSO wanted a piece of Talisman too, and with Longshot, Brenthon, and Discord rounding out the group, they had a diverse but potent array of abilities represented to reach that goal!>>

 

[Domino]

The Marauder - En Route

Well, Amanda was certainly looking delicious in her battle gear. She looked good as a brunette. And as she listened to the woman immediately get to work, it certainly made Max a bit hard. She'd had her fair share of women like Amanda in her life. It was a phase she had long moved past, but she never didn't feel turned on by women like her. Maxine address her and the other marauders with a stern and cerebral tone, though her soft french accent made the orders sound a bit more delicate.

"Thank you for the preliminary defense, Amanda. But let's not forget we are dealing with a woman who possess omni sight. The second we touched down, she likely got a lock on us. She can see all that is currently happening, down to the very moment you ignite a spell or use your power. She is the biological mother of the current Keeper of Time. Her wandering eye is not to be underestimated. Her vision is 20/19. That being said, she may be anticipating us, but slowing down her knowledge of that definitely helps, especially if she isn't looking at the right places. So good work. As to schematics..."

Maxine moved to the center of the convoy as she pressed a button on her watch, causing a holographic set of images to manifest around her, visible to the rest of the group with a set of detailed maps and other kinds of plans and intel reports.

"She's keeping somewhat of a home base in what used to be an oil refinery plant. It was a long forgotten Hellfire asset that was still on the property books for the black court. They'd actually won it in a game of poker and never did anything with it. While I am sure Talisman has retrofitted it with her own security, both magickal and otherwise, these are the most recent blueprints. Thankfully for us, the general layout of the plant is relatively straightforward, though I doubt we will even need to come up with a path forward. My guess is that in the next few minutes, we will be attacked...and Kelly will bring us to HER...Which saves a lot of strength for later if we were to say....let that happen."

She moved through the blueprints, showing them their quickest path to get to the facility before making her true intentions known. This was going to be a gauntlet. They needed to conserve their strength. They had no idea what they were about to walk into, and The Black Queen had proven herself a very crafty foe. Playing her game for a minute might give them the opening they needed to STRIKE.

"Sometimes the path to victory is a straight line. I say the second we are attacked, we put up a good show..but we let her take us in. She's not gonna kill us. She's been taunting me for days. She wants my audience I just don't know why. And I'd rather save my strikes for when it really counts."

Once again, she tapped on her watch as the holographic images began to shift around her. A number of detailed intel reports as well as sales invoices pop up on the screen. They are invoices of the selling of mutant children for money. The image of two familiar faces also began to hover in the background.

"When we get there...we have two distinct goals. Our primary goal is any and all children we find there. Their safety is our concern. As many as we can send on their way back towards The Marauder, the better. Next, I want us to be on the lookout for two specific captives...."

She swipes in the air, changing the screens in front of her to the pictures of two people. People she had promised to look out for.

"Aleksander Hallbjorn. He was...The Red Knight of Hellfire America. I made a promise to him and the woman he loves to support him. He will likely resist you and want to fight his own way out. Ignore him. Secondly, this is Jessica Marcus..."

Tapping her watch for a final time, Maxine eyed the group as she paced back and forth, her arms gripping the rest straps of the convoy. She was sick of The Black Queen getting the run on her. She wasn't going to let it happen again. Especially not with Jessica. She wouldn't allow it.

"While our goal as a team is to take out Talisman and destroy this facility, my personal goal is to free Jessica Marcus. Whether or not she chooses to go with me is her business. I want to get her to the end of this and offer her something...different. So keep that in mind as we navigate through this. Amanda, Daniel and Jun, your powers combined will give us our best chances to enter the facility as hidden as we can possibly be as well as to placate any extractables. How you worked together in The Arena, we need that again, but air tight, and with Jun to add another layer to your own powers, it should be a cake walk saving whoever needs to be saved. Simon, you'll be going with me. With your luck and my technical skill, we should easily be able to carve a path towards Kelly. Beto? You're my wildcard...you fill in as you see fit. Your skillset is diverse, it makes you able to assist in any kind of combat situation we might, magick, physical, spiritual and otherwise. I trust your judgment. Outside of that? I know each of you have an axe to grind with Talisman. To that I say? If you get the chance to get your licks in? TAKE it."

She turned and faced the driver's direction, nodding to herself before turning back to the group.

"We are about to breach the property line, which is when I anticipate things will get sticky for us. But I believe we are in sync with our goals here. Now I have a hell of a lot of practice crafting operations like this, but i'm open to suggestions. Anybody seeing anything i'm not? Now is the time to say it."

Maxine smirked.

"Confrontation imminent, so go quickly."