✘ | 006 | VIDEO

[wecanavenge]

[Spam for Wanda]

[Perhaps he should have pressed Brown for more details, but the simplicity of the situation was that he did not trust her. He did not trust many people on this ship, and he certainly didn't trust some human to have the best interests of his - of Wanda in mind. They were both children, still, and didn't matter to him that they had both been through things most children hadn't; but so had he. And he remembered being that age, too, even after everything he'd survived.

They were still children. And children needed looking after. If he hadn't believed that, he never would have pushed to train Alex and Sean and Hank. And Raven. He didn't want to think about her, now.

No, no he wanted to think about Wanda, and the last conversation they'd had. Months ago - months, and that was his failing, he was sure. He hadn't contacted her, he'd avoided her, because Anya still filled his thoughts, still featured in his nightmares. She was the daughter he had memories of, the daughter who had drawn pictures for him and taken her first wobbling steps into his arms, and laughed when he tickled her.

But she hadn't looked so different from Wanda, really, and it was easy to take those memories (memories that weren't even his, but memories he refused to let fade, memories he did not want to lose, even though sometimes he desperately did), and imagine that Wanda's father held them, too. Which made him wonder, constantly, constantly, what had gone wrong. What would he have done in that world, if he'd had his powers and Anya was a mutant? He still can't conceive of a situation where making his daughter a prisoner, abandoning her to the childhood he'd had, would ever be an option.

His stomach clenched at the thought, and not for the first time, as he made his way to Wanda's door. She didn't want to see him, but he had to know what was wrong with her. So he knocked.]

[Video]

[And here is flood!affected Erik, who escaped the Holocaust, who was never tortured or experimented on by Shaw. He can't really control his powers, but he's kind of a chill guy, now, and that isn't actually a problem. He only sort of notices the dampening effect that's on him. So when the video flicks on, he's smiling, looking fairly pleasant and very very curious.]

Hello, I'm Erik Lensherr. I'm a graduate student at Yale, pursuing a degree in genetics. And this - well this isn't the vacation to Hawaii I'd been hoping for, but I'm not certain I can complain, really. The view is utterly spectacular. [He pauses, looking around the room - because this Erik has never been to Charles' mansion upstate.] Are all the accommodations as lavish as this? It's much more than I'm used to, really. I'm afraid I could get used to it.

((OOC: Yup, Flood!Erik had Shaw picked out of his life, so he's actually a very chill, easy going guy. He'll be your best pal for the next few days. And then hate you for it.

Comments

WE ARE THE BORG. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.

[wedonot]

[Hey, that's Charles' house. Sort of. I mean, he hasn't been there in like, forever, but he recognizes the room, and what are you doing there, strange Yale grad student named Erik. :|a

Clearly the best solution to this? Is prying. Telepathically. Gently at first, careful not to get caught as he sifts through memories, and he's still clicking on the communicator to talk, because srsly wtf.]

That's my parent's house. Why would your room here be there?

GDI BORG GET OUT

[wecanavenge]

[Welp good job Charles, Erik notices absolutely nothing. :c]

I'm afraid I have no idea. Who are you?

RESISTANCE IS FUTILE, I TOLD YOU.

[wedonot]

Charles Xavier. I've been studying Biophysics at Oxford, I just got my doctorate a month or so ago.

[And then ohhhh my god. At first those memories don't really make sense - because who's able to bend gates, really? - but at the same time, it's familiar, and there are more of them and oh my gosh. :DDDD]

Are you interested in any field in particular?

SIIIIGH

[wecanavenge]

You must have a year on me. Once I've defended my thesis, you'll be speaking with Doctor Lensherr, PhD in evolutionary genetics.

I'm sorry :c

[wedonot]

That's fascinating. I'd be interested in seeing some of your work.

[And he's shutting off the network feed abruptly. c:]

I always believed I couldn't be the only one in the world.

[spam]

[scarlet_discord]

[Wanda looks out the spyhole and every muscle tenses. Weirdly, the light out in the hallway starts to flicker a little. She quietly orders Fozzie to his crate but leaves it open. When she opens the door, her expression is cold, wary and haunted, and the lights in her room are flickering a lot and swaying.]

[She tries to keep her voice even. Of course he's here, of course he would have a boundary set in front of him and immediately push it over. Of course.]

What do you want?

[spam]

[wecanavenge]

[His eyes flicker up to the lights above him, just for a moment, before the door opens. He isn't afraid; he doesn't intend to be unless she turns her powers on him. She's cold, she's afraid, she looks almost like she did when he first met her. Then, he'd thought the whole situation was ridiculous. He hadn't been to Sanitarium Island then, though.]

Why am I meant to stay away from you?

[spam]

[scarlet_discord]

Well, if you're asking then obviously Charles didn't send you. [Her tone is pure bitterness. She steps back from the door to let him in; some of her neighbors are nosy. Once she has the door closed she draws a deep breath.]

When I came here, I was placed under a power restriction, same as you. No matter what happened my powers were not increased. I was kidnapped, I was beaten, I begged, I threatened, I was terrified all the fucking time, and yet the answer was always "no". No matter how badly I needed them for my own personal security.

I dealt with it. I didn't like it, but I recognized that all the other Inmates were under the same thing, and that none of us get special treatment.

[The lights are swinging more wildly now. Paint actually starts to flake from the ceiling.]

I'm still dealing with it.

But then some jackass came along and decided that one particular inmate should get special treatment. Should get all his powers back. He doesn't care if that's fair to me or the other Inmates. He doesn't give a shit about the fact that this guy has a multi-world history of bullying people with his powers. He gets the full compliment. The rest of us can go fuck ourselves.

[The vanity mirror cracks suddenly.]

I tried to convince myself that the two of you were nothing like the Lehnsherr and Xavier from my world, but I was wrong. You throw a fit about the power restrictions and he runs to your rescue like a clucking mum. Tries to get you special treatment. Thinks you should be spared what the rest of us, including your fellow mutants, have to go through.

You know, I used to wonder how Charles Xavier, supposedly a good guy, could stand by and watch while my father put me through that Hell. But he did. Year, after year, after year, and he did nothing. Now I know. Now I understand. You mean more to him than fairness, than Barge safety, than all the rest of us put together. He'll fucking let you get away with anything, here as there.

You're both too much like the men who ruined my life. Especially him. Of course I want nothing to do with you.

[spam]

[wecanavenge]

[He listens. His eyes flick to the mirror when it cracks, run over the peeling paint. He lets her get it all out, but he stopped processing after kidnapped, beaten, begged. She isn't the one making things shake in her room; the hinges of her doors are trembling, the knob turning one way, then the other. Anything metal, anything with a magnetic pull in a close radius to him is positively shaking.]

Who attacked you?

[And despite all that rocking metal, his voice is calm, frighteningly so. He's processing the rest - Charles asked for his powers back, that's news, but that isn't important right now. Someone attacked her, and she'd been helpless because of the same limitations on him. The hinges behind him are creaking, trying to twist out of their positions, but his so. fucking. limited here.

He isn't looking at the things her powers are doing any more - chaos magic, he's seen her refer to it that way, and he doesn't understand it, not completely, but he doesn't need to to know she's dangerous. That isn't important, though, not now, not to him. He is angry, he is so angry, because here is another mutant who had her abilities ripped from her, who was attacked, tormented (he can see the gun, eins, zwei, drei, and he couldn't do anything), and he can't do anything to help her, now.]

[spam]

[scarlet_discord]

[The ongoing damage settles down a bit as she stares at him incredulously for several seconds. In the silence Fozzie whines softly.]

A man I went to for protection flipped out and kidnapped me instead. He's not here anymore. He graduated right after that. As for attacks, which one do you want to hear about? Velociraptors tried to bite off my face. A crowd of ninjas beat me down and dragged me off to Zero. We had goddamned zombies. Assailants I could normally deal with in a matter of seconds. But I wasn't some special snowflake. I wasn't the only person suffering because of being depowered. Every Inmate with any abilities beyond bog standard human has to tough through the same goddamn thing.

But Xavier disagrees. He's not advocating for an across the board repowering. He's not even advocating for his fellow mutants. Just for you. [The lamp starts swaying slightly again.] He doesn't care if it's fair. He doesn't care how his monumental bias might cause problems down the line. You're his friend, so you get a pass.

Again.

[hourglass_twin]

You know what this place is?

[wecanavenge]

A Barge, I was told. For the redemption of certain...criminally inclined peoples.

[hourglass_twin]

I am no criminal.

[wecanavenge]

I did not say you were, friend. Maybe it's that you're only visiting, as well.

[hourglass_twin]

What is the purpose of having us 'visit' against our will?

[chlorophylliac]

I wasn't put in a room like that at all. [She picks up the communicator to do a little panning shot around Ivy's greenhouse cabin, then sets it down. She's very neatly put together and clearly a bit nervous of being on camera, but she smiles awkwardly.]

I don't dislike it, and all these plants have been wonderfully taken care of - but I think I could have used a few more creature comforts, you know?

[wecanavenge]

[That gets a quick smile.] A chair, at the very least. You're welcome to take some of mine, I really have more than enough furniture here.

[chlorophylliac]

Oh no, that's fine. I have a chair and a bed and that's really enough for me.

May -- I ask if you have a title for your thesis yet? My PhD specialism was in plant hybridization, so you could say I've dabbled in genetics.

Totally thought that was Jim Gordon in that icon

[wecanavenge]

'Comparative evolutionary genomics in humans: An analysis of rapidly evolving and changing genes in the human species.' A slightly different genetic pool, but I would be interested in a comparison of the two.

CORRECT he later goes on to whine at batman that he forgot his wife's name.

[chlorophylliac]

That sounds fascinating, Mr. Lensherr. I do hope it goes well.

[demigoddess]

Really? You could get used to this?

[wecanavenge]

I only meant the accommodations. The rest - maybe with time, but I wouldn't call it easy.

[demigoddess]

I'd still rather be in Hawaii.

[wecanavenge]

Hawaii will always be there. But a chance to stand among the stars themselves? That is very new.

[demigoddess]

Well sure, if you've never been in space before. [ Shrug. ]