XMEN THE MAFIA - Day 1 : Bloody reflections

Tox alternated between chomping at her gum and working her lower lip with her teeth as she paced in front of the doorway. She was beginning to feel frustrated and annoyed that her fellow prisoners were not taking the hint.

Why are we still here? We need to get moving.

The sight in the storage room was quite disturbing to Tox, and was not something she wished to see again. She and her fellow mutants needed to move to a safer place, needed to fortify, needed to organize and get themselves to Canada. This was the worst possible time to be sitting around doing nothing. They needed to get safe and get answers.

Only…who would lead them to safety now? Tox assumed Jubilee was supposed to take the escapees across the border, and now she was dead. That was just the way it was. And yet instead of trying to select a leader and move forward, everyone was moping around in a church.

Restless, her lip now worried to shreds and her gum tough and flavorless, Tox made her way to the bell tower. Up and up and up the stairs she went, all the way to the top where there was a tiny room, painted white with a tiny window on one side. She leaned on the windowsill and looked out on the world below.

~*~

“Here comes a convertible! Ohhhh, Tox, it’s perfect, it’s coming right underneath us!”

Tox grinned at her little brother and gestured for him to lean over and get ready. After making some rather impressive yet disgusting sounds in the back of his throat, he leaned over the railing of the bridge as far as he could and released a huge ball of phlegm over the side. He missed, hitting the car’s taillight instead of the pretty blonde passenger he was aiming for, and stepped back with a forlorn expression. Tox gave him a comforting pat on the head, then turned around to watch for the offending car to come out on the other side of the bridge. Spotting it after a second, she quickly aimed and sent a gob of spit straight at the passenger seat, more than 300 yards away.

It smacked impressively against the side of the woman’s head. Tox and her brother collapsed into helpless giggles at the sight.

~*~

Shaking her head clear of silly memories, Tox pulled herself back to the present. There were decisions to be made, things to do. And Tox would feel a lot better if she had something tougher than gum to spit.

While she was thinking of gum, it was passed time for a fresh piece. She brought out one of the packs in her pocket. The wind somehow caught the paper wrapping as she pulled it off, and Tox watched as it swirled down to the snowy ground.

Shaking herself out of her funk, Redd stood up and stretched. Nothing was getting done sitting here and besides, her ass was almost numb from the hard floor. A couple of simple twists and she popped her back and neck.

"What we need is a plan since it looks like our guide is... out, so we need to figure out how to get out of this on our own." Redd snorted softly "Yeah like any of us know how to get to Canada from here." Looking around she could see little activity. She knew she wasn't a leader. She knew she didn't *want* to be a leader. Time to find someone who could take charge and get shit moving. There was that girl who had been pacing around looking pissed.. she looked ready to get the hell out of here. Good place to start at least.

Redd walked up the stairs slowly, being cautious. There was a murderer loose and she didn't want to run into them, or scare someone into thinking she was it. She made sure her boots made a soft amount of noise as she walked to the door of the belltower. She tried to brush some of her hair out of her eyes and motioned to the tall woman. "Wassup? Got any extra gum?"

Tox's muscles twitched in nervous reaction to the sudden intrusion, but otherwise she gave no sign of how startled she was. It occured to her that it probably wasn't very smart to be wandering around by herself right now, but it was a little late for such musings. Deciding the danger wasn't immediate, she pulled out her newly opened package of gum and tossed the small redhead a piece. Patting her pockets to reassure herself, she felt the outline of three more packages of gum. She would need to get more.

The presence of another mutant made Tox all the more aware of her surroundings, pulling her mind out of itself, and she shivered at the cold that gnawed at her. Reluctant to take her eyes off the stranger in front of her, she nonetheless couldn't help but look over her shoulder and out the window. On the other side of the street was a small strip mall and Tox wondered if they shouldn't get provisions soon. It was getting dark and they couldn't stay camped in that church forever; they had no food for one thing and for another it simply wasn't safe to stay in one place so long.

She snapped her head back at the sound of a pop behind her, only to see Redd carefully tucking the pink gum back into her mouth with her tongue. Annoyed with herself for letting her mind wander when she was so vunerable, she stepped away from the window, unsure of what to do next.

It was then that her stomach decided to growl noisily, reminding her of their current predicament. Tox blushed and bit her lip.

I have spent so much of my life being involuntarily silent. Now it seems a time has come that someone needs to speak up and I find I cannot. Ironic, isn't it, that one whose talents lie largely in making noise for others, cannot seem to find the appropriate noise to make now?

My mind stays blank, even when two of the women with me get up and leave, one after the other. I can hear them as they climb the stairs. I can hear their muffled voices although too much material lies between us for me to make out the words.

My whole life has been spent in a comfortable world of love and laughter and acceptance. It wasn't until a short time ago that I realized how different the rest of the world truly is.

Symphonies and cantatas rocket through my mind; arias and fugues replay themselves with crystal clarity but I am careful, so careful, not to make a sound, not to create even a comforting image of my mother and father.

Although I cannot force my legs to move, the mantra I have replayed through my head since this nightmare began urges me to do otherwise; over the songs I'm wishing I were playing it whispers, "Keep running, don't stop, don't pause, don't hesitate. Keep running, don't stop, don't pause, don't hesitate..."

I feel as voiceless now as I once used to be.

/ooc - where exactly are we? I know that Jubilee died in the church we were supposed to meet in, but then why weren't we there? I mean, are we hiding in the church or what?

Redd grinned widely at the way her bubble had made the girl tense. She did enjoy being a bitch, but maybe now wasn;t the time or place. "Sorry 'bout that.. how about I return the favor, sounds like you're needing more than gum to munch on.. I could go grab some food if you will keep a watch out. I saw that strip across the street.. got to be something left to eat around." She thought to herself "There, see.. Mom always bugged me to take initiative to make friends, and it wasn't too hard. Hopefully she won't be a bitch about it.."

"Oh, my name's Redd by the way." She twitched her head to move hair out of her eyes and looked up at her companion. "Whatcha say? I could go for some grub, what little I had in me I puked up downstairs earlier. We're going to need to eat before we can move on, I would think"

/ooc Jubilee died in a storage room of the basement of the church. I was under the impression that we were all hanging out inside the church building and that the mutants had initially gathered in...er...the main part of the church, where the services are held.

One thing I'm not certain of is if Storm is still with us :X. I'm guessing something would have been mentioned if she was, I thought she had to go off with Wolverine.

I'm just kinda winging it while we wait for a mod character to show up and hold our hands O_O. But seriously, I want us to go get some supplies, Tox needs more gum and we need food and whatnot.

Mods, smack me if I'm out of line :D

/ooc - I could turn into a cow, and cook myself. Although most people would probably find that disgusting. lol.

Tox grinned sheepishly, inwardly cursing her transparency. Then she frowned at Redd's suggestion; mutant or no, her companion was awfully small and while she seemed tough enough, Tox was uncomfortable with the thought of her going out of the church on her own. Still, they needed food, all of them, and Tox could do with a warmer shirt. Biting her lip in indecision, she looked out the window, then back at Redd, torn.

Finally coming to a decision, she bounded down the stairs, beckoning for Redd to follow with a wave of her hand and a smile and heading for the lobby of the church where a few of the other mutants were hanging out.

Following Tox down the stairs Redd glanced around trying to remember how many of them there were.. should be easy enough to get a little something for everyone. And a little extra for herself just in case..

At the church entrance she stopped, glancing around. "Ok, so like any requests?" she grinned, teasing. She noticed how Tox shivered as a gust of cold air blew in through the door's cracks. She zipped up her jacket and eyed her for a second. "Merry X-Mas or something.." She handed the girl an oversized red energy jacket like her own. "Hope you like the color and stuff, yeah I know it kind of doesn;t go with your whole tank girl cammo vibe but.. ehhh" she shrugged "you'll get used to how it feels kinda slick but it doesn't breathe so you stay warm."

"Now keep an eye out for any weird activity, and if something happens.. like.. get everyone the hell out of dodge, I'll be fine" She grinned up at Tox all hair and teeth swimming in an oversized red jacket and dissapeared.

The two women returned; I could hear them thumping all the way down the stairs. They blew into the lobby like whirlwinds; I rose as they came in. The red-haired one asked if anyone had any requests, and I finally found my voice.

"I'd like to come, if I may."

In my shaken state, I forgot to move my mouth, something I'd gotten into the habit of when around others to make them more comfortable. I blushed a bit, but then remembered everyone here was a mutant... we were all outcasts.

Marcus realized that many of the other’s were complaining about being hungry. He knew that he could produce food for them, but felt that most of the others would find that disgusting. And no one had any money, so he decided to act. He left the church when no one was looking, disguising himself as a dog, and wandered the streets looking for a restaurant. Eventually he found a small pizza place. He waited for someone to come out for awhile, and started considering a new plan when the delivery boy came out the back to throw a bag of garbage away. Marcus suddenly said to the startled pizza boy “You look pretty strong, would you mind helping me with something for a sec.?” The pizza boy gladly decided to help with whatever this beautiful lady needed. Marcus led the pizza boy into a near alleyway, and to the kid’s surprise, knocked the kid out. He then took on the pizza boy’s appearance and hid the unconscious body. As he went into the store, he was told scolded by the boss for taking so damn long to take out some trash, Marcus was about to apologize when the boss added that he had an order that needs to be delivered. The plan couldn’t be working any better, he took the pizzas, and drove back to the church, he dumped off the food, and quickly returned to the pizza place, hoping that the kid had not yet awakened. Just so that he would limit suspicions, he took all the money from the kid’s wallet, and made it look like the kid was mugged.

/ooc - I wanted to have a little fun with my powers, I hope i didn't disturb your plans for anything. You can still leave for food to.

Redd had stepped about half way through the door when she heard the soft voice say she'd like to come too. She turned around and shook her head (forgetting she was invisible, she tended to do that) and said "Nah, it's way too dangerous for us to be out and about and such, besides no one will see me or be able to.." she snapped they were all looking around and made herself visible again. "Umm sorry, I forget sometimes. Anyways, it's probably safest if I.." she trailed off as she watched someone come walking in carrying boxes of pizzas, her eyes getting wide until she realized it was one of them.. then she got pissed "Like what the fuck were you thinking? Did you lead anyone back to us? Did you even think to *check*? ARGH!" She stomped her foot and glared.

I looked at the redhaired lady and then at the pizzas. My stomach growled uncomfortably.

"Well, what's done is done," I said softly but firmly. "If he did lead someone back, we may as well meet them on a full stomach."

Staring down at the wreckage that once was Jubilee, Jon's head swam. Visibly he swayed, and he put a hand on a crate for support. Eyes distant, he forced himself away.

The vision of her dead body stayed with him, mingling with memories of his wife. How many more had to die? What was the point?

He looked around, searching for clues. Sentinels? No way, too small of an area. And they wouldn't have stopped with the X-Man, the Sentinels would have decimated the church with them inside.

Someone had spoke of a traitor amonst them...he couldn't recall who. Glancing around, he didn't recognize anyone. Jubilee had been the only one he would have known here after Storm left, but now she was dead, dead like his wife, and countless numbers of his friends. Man, he needed a smoke.

Unsure of the others, he sat down, out of sight of the death. A rolled cigarette came out of his pocket, not exactly the smoke he wanted, but it would have to do for now. He needed his wits around him now, if there was a traitor...or traitors. This much damage, more than one person had to be involved. Squinting in the gloom, he noted the damage all over the room, and again the image of Jubilee's body fluttered in his mind. Why? Why her?

Blinking the tears away, he decided he needed to get to know these people...either to find the killers, or to make some friends...either way, to ensure his survival on the trip northward...

"Well.. yeah.. I guess.. might as well eat" Redd continued to glance over at this guy holding the pizzas and glare as she walked over with everyone else who started diving in to the still warm and goey pizzas. "Thank goodness, no damn fish or fungus on this one, just good old cheese and sausage.." Dhe glanced at someone grabbing a supreme slice and was like "What? So I don't eat fungus, you can do whatever the hell you want I don't care, jeeze" She settled a couple big slices on a red energy disk and walked over to a corner to sit on some crates and eat.

"This is messy buisness" Razor said with more than a hint of annoyance,
"were supposed to be amongst friends.. so much for the legendary X-men, they bleed and die just like the rest of us.." he spat and turned from the basement chamber in disgust.

He noticed all the movement in the outer antechamber, but couldnt make out the conversations. *Just as well* he thought, and preceeded into the chapel where a few of the others were sitting or standing or in some cases pacing nervously about.

Razor slowly survayed the room, *this room is hardly a bunker, if we were attacked right now 90% of us would be goners* he thought intently, then with slow concerted effort he willed the metal armor encasing his body to crawl up and over his face and head, then follow down his hands until no flesh remained visible. *if something happenes I will be prepared* he thought
Like you were when the sentiels came? His eyes pinched at the thought , remebering the rainy night when the nightmares became real, and he stood frozen in shock, when he should have been fighting *Coward* he cursed at himself, *that should be you lying down there* he told himself.
Razor knew that when it finally did come down to it, no one was really prepared, no matter how hard they may try.

"Of course I wasn't followed", Marcus stated, "you think I would have lasted on all my missions requiring espionage without knowing when someone was on to me?"

I made what I hoped was a placating gesture with my hands. "Please," I said, "We're all a bit out of sorts here. Let's not get snappy. We don't know that much about each other and we're all under a great deal of stress, so it's not unreasonable to make assumptions."

I reached for a slice of pizza, ignoring the redhead's grimace as I settled on a vegetable-laden one. Biting into it delicately, I did my best to seem calm and self-assured...

Redd looked at Marcus being all angry and indignant and just shrugged "Thath nawth mayth ppawnth" she finished chewing and swallowed then repeated "That's not my point.. it was that *I* could have gone and done it with zero worries about that bug oh well, it's not like anyone knew or anything, or anyone asked." She took another large bite and eyed everyone silently..