Desperado
Training Mutant
Former teacher. Former husband. Former agitator. Former slave.
Posts: 29
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Post by Desperado on Mar 21, 2012 22:49:10 GMT -4
Well, clearly Jacob was a bit more stressed than he thought he was. He was also clearly out of his league. No surprises there. So, he did the graceful thing and stood up and got out of everyone's way. He didn't understand the conversation, didn't know what the Hell these people were talking about.
Half an hour ago he was going insane being dead. Now he wasn't so sure if he hadn't just arrived. It was entirely possible that all of this was just a bizarre ghost dream or something. It made about as much sense as any other dream he'd had.
"There is no water in this air." And now he was quoting The Incredibles. Yeah. Dead dream seemed most likely.
I mean, it's not like people just come back from the dead, right? That was actually really depressing to think about. But if he realized he was having a dream, wouldn't that cause him to wake up?
"You know what? I don't think I'm gonna think about things anymore." He turned to the girl in the yellow jacket. "You wouldn't happen to have seen someplace that might have at one point sold Excedrin, would you?"
"It may be real, but it's not right."
"Then how should it be?" He looked up, sticking his hands in his pockets, a look of frustration on his face. Looking back at the girl in the yellow coat, he said, "Next time I ask a question that doesn't have to do with food, water, or painkillers, kindly punch me in the face."
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Post by Hank McCoy on Mar 21, 2012 23:35:34 GMT -4
Think, McCoy.
He didn't have to be a psychologist to know that none of the people in this improvised flash mob knew what was going on.
He didn't have to be a telepath to realize that almost all of them were frustrated, confused or downright scared.
He didn't have to be a rocket scientist to deduce that their arrival was some kind of cosmological event - although having read a decent amount of physics research and quantum mechanics and M-theory and fractal dynamics and reasonably complex mathematics did contribute to his ability to postulate that they were experiencing something much more than a common hallucination and even more likely a tangible phenomenon of concordance ideology at minimum - if not outright verification of the existence of parallel universes representing something higher up the chain of theoretical complexity.
He only had to realize that the Bobby he saw now was older than the Bobby that Hank knew - and that their little haphazard group was comprised of individuals whose interpersonal knowledge was as evident as it was incomplete. None of them wanted to be here. None of them were prepared to be here.
Something had moved them through time and space and brought them together in a place where none of them belonged.
At least, that's what it looked like. No way was he going to bring it up and then turn out being wrong except the most obvious question he could think of.
If something or someone had caused them all to leave the where and when they came from....
"Who brought us here...and what do they want?", Hank wondered aloud.
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Post by Kitty Pryde on Mar 22, 2012 17:40:24 GMT -4
Kitty tried to block it all out. She tried to ignore the way Bobby was looking at her, the way Jubilee spoke with so little hope, Desi’s non-sensical comments, but she couldn’t ignore the questions.
Then how should it be?
Who brought us here... and what do they want?
She tried to ignore them, tried to block them out, but they kept repeating in her head, getting louder every time until she just couldn’t take it anymore.
“How should I know?!” she snapped suddenly, looking first at Desi then at Hank with a hard, angry glare. How was she supposed to think with all this chattering? How was she supposed to figure it all out if they just kept pushing her? Bringing her eyes back to Bobby the anger faded. Rubbing her hands over her face, she pushed herself back to her feet and walked over to where he stood. Slipping an arm around his back she resisted the urge to just hug him, instead offering him a shoulder to lean on.
“We should look for some food and water while it’s still light. Maybe figure out where we’re going to stay tonight.” Baby steps. One goal at a time. Food. Water. Simple things to focus on. She could think later.
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Post by Bobby Drake on Mar 22, 2012 21:55:45 GMT -4
With sunken eyes, Bobby looked over at the Chinese girl. She was irritable. She always said stuff like that when she was frustrated or scared. His tongue, too thick and swollen in a parched and dry throat didn't call her Jubes, and the Icicle comment only mildly irritated him. Using his powers to make ice had worked...for a few days. But insomnia, dehydration and starvation had taken their toll. He honestly wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to freeze anything again. His mind, fuzzy and disjointed, wasn't exactly sure he remembered how.
That part of his life felt like a dream.
And just like that, a jolt of memory struck him. Kitty Pryde, Desperado, Jubilee...and only by the way the other guy was talking did he have one last guess. "Hank?" He squinted his eyes at him. "Are you the real...McCoy?" Dizziness grabbed hold of him again, and he found himself leaning into Kitty a little more than he intended to.
He realized that everyone was talking at once. Hank was asking the most important question, but it didn't seem like one that had an easy answer. Kitty had the most practical idea of them all and he heard something in her voice that he took as either concern and sympathy for him, or fear of finding out the answers to Hank's questions.
Or both.
Covering his mouth a little, Bobby coughed...registering surprise that dust didn't come out of his lungs. "Convenience store," he muttered, pointing at a partially collapsed building a few blocks down. "Slurpee..." He tried to smile, but with cracked lips it was too difficult and only made the pain in his head more stabby.
He nodded his head in that direction.
Couldn't hurt to check it out.
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Post by Jubilee on Mar 23, 2012 8:48:58 GMT -4
They were just going to stand and argue in circles about why they were here, who they were, and thoughts on those subjects. Rubbing her hands together, Jubilee could feel the potential in her fingers. The readiness to explode, bring forth light and colour. Useless here.
Pushing herself to her feet, she dusted off her butt and her jacket as best she could. One of them came up with something, Bobby. She nodded, taking his point as he pointed down the street. "Water, at least," she agreed, thinking that it was doubtful any electricity of any sort was still running. Although, maybe Bobby could refreeze the slushie mix? That'd be cool. "Good spotting."
Turning, she started to walk down the street towards the half-ruined convenience store. Now Bobby had pointed it out, she could see it. It was like her eyes had been veiled with dust. The group would follow, or not. It was up to them, or she'd bring something back, if there was anything to bring.
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Desperado
Training Mutant
Former teacher. Former husband. Former agitator. Former slave.
Posts: 29
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Post by Desperado on Mar 24, 2012 0:08:51 GMT -4
Jacob rocked back when the Princess snapped at him. He already felt bad enough about asking the question in the first place; her reaction just made it worse. And after the conversation about getting water and watching the girl in the yellow coat just walk off without responding to him, he was starting to feel pretty useless and unwanted, too.
Maybe he was still dead. Maybe this was Hell, and he was being punished by being forced to realize that he was a complete piece of dead weight. Except I'm not. He was once a teacher, someone who shaped the minds of students (though, admittedly, he had no idea what shape that was, but he'd heard no complaints), and he was once married to a wonderful woman.
Oh, God. Larza. He had just realized that he might never see her again. The woman he had wanted to spend forever with. Not like that would be likely to happen even if he did see her again. Now he was sad as well as angry, confused, scared, and frustrated. And suddenly he was very tired. He was especially tired of being all those things. He'd felt those emotions for far too long. He very much wanted to go home and curl up on his couch with a good book. Unfortunately, that was just not an option.
And right then and there, he made up his mind. He waited until a good point in the talks, and said, "You guys go ahead. I'm gonna find us a place to sleep." Then, he turned around and began walking towards the largest building he could see.
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Post by Hank McCoy on Mar 25, 2012 0:15:17 GMT -4
“How should I know?!”
Man, Hank thought, Princess does not like me."
"Hank?" Bobby squinted his eyes at him. "Are you the real...McCoy?"
"You know it", Hank nodded with a wry grin that was just a little smug. He too doubted there was any electricity to be found and the general state of things made him doubt that what remained at any deserted store would prove very useful. Something in cans, maybe.
"I'll help scout for lodging", he offered. He moved to catch up with Mr. "Punch me in the face".
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