[Action] Fourth Wall

[selfhelp]

BILLY KAPLAN will be either a) flying/teleporting around or b) wandering through the chaos just wondering what the hell is going on; he's never seen this in Luceti before, and it's definitely something to look at. He'll be watching for familiar faces, definitely, or just poking at interesting-looking people.

EDWARD ELRIC is, surprise! Back from his kidnapping. Sort of. Temporarily. And he's trying to get himself home, but who knows what he'll run into on the way... eh-heh.

ASCH is in Good Spirits, mostly unruffled because he's been through like five years of this madness and refuses to get his feathers ruffled. But he will anyway, because he's like that. You might catch him outside as well, if he decides he's had enough and tries to drown himself in the lake or something. (This is entirely possible.)



[ooc: please put who you want to ping in the subject line or something, this is a catch-all! And Ed's just back for 4th Wall, his real return will be a few days after this. |Db]

Comments

[eyecondition]

[Why would anyone want a different option? Everyone's happy working with the Professor.

Join us, Billy.]

Oh.. Sorry, don't you have X-Men where you're from? I didn't mean to assume.

[selfhelp]

[He's already got like a hundred mutants to look after except that he ditched the X-Men anyway so he's got his hands full already 8D;]

Oh, no, we do. But I'm already part of a team where I come from, and I wasn't going to leave them or my home to join up.

[selfhelp]

[That reaction makes him nervous, bro.]

Uh- yeah. He got here about a month ago. I didn't even recognize him at first... he looked just like Nate.

[eyecondition]

[Suddenly, suspicion.]

You're not part of the Brotherhood, are you?

[Does this face look more like the Cyclops you're used to, Billy?]

[supersoldiered]

You're sure it's Jonas. It's absolutely not Nate?

[It's a different kind of tension from the Cassie thing. If Nate is here masquerading as Jonas then it's an issue. If Jonas is here even without Nate, that's just as much of an issue.]

[selfhelp]

[...Kinda does, yeah. As does the attitude. And what kind of mutant does he take him for, sheesh.]

I don't even know if the Brotherhood exists anymore. If they do, they're pretty under-the-radar. I'm with the Young Avengers.

[selfhelp]

[This face.]

I think I know Nate well enough that I'd recognize him, Eli. Anyway, why would he fake that?

[eyecondition]

[He takes Billy for the kind of mutant who's not an X-Man. How can you not be an X-man?? Seriously he's still stuck on that.]

Never heard of any 'young avengers.' I guess that means you're from the future.

[supersoldiered]

You have to listen to me, Billy. If there's anything you remember when you go back home, remember that we can't trust Nate anymore. He's lost it.

[selfhelp]

[The X-Men are jerks, no one likes them anymore. :C

Billy thinks of Rogue's response to hearing about his mother- and how she's too young to be one yet. Yep...]

Either that or a future alternate universe- we haven't figured it out for sure just yet. My guess is the latter. But the future is the only part that's for sure.

[selfhelp]

[Good god, it's like this whole conversation is a series of blindsides. And Eli's words bring a very dark picture to mind.]

...Kang?

[eyecondition]

At least that means there's a future to look forward to.


...How are things for mutants in the future, Billy? Are you safe outside of the Institute?

[supersoldiered]

[And this is with him deliberately leaving out the bad stuff. HAVE FUN WHEN YOU GET HOME, B.]

Not yet. But he's trying too hard to keep it from happening.

...He killed Jonas. After we couldn't save Cassie.

[selfhelp]

...Um.

[Wow, that is an extremely loaded and uncomfortable question to ask jksdhkjdhf THANK GOD ROGUE KNEW BETTER. Though he understands why Scott would be the one to ask. It's kind of his thing.

Billy just has no idea how to answer without causing a huge problem for everyone, oi.]

Look, I can't lie- it's been rough. And it's never been good. There's been fighting, and the general public is kind of- [Unsupportive? Homicidal? Evil? Ugh.] ...I don't know. But the Institute's protected now. Mutants are basically safe as long as they stay in the area.

[selfhelp]

["Leaving out the bad stuff" after saying Cassie and Jonas died omg Eli plz 8| ]

Oh god.

[Why is today full of awful? Seriously. Just. Why?]

That's why... oh my god. When he first showed up, I called him Nate... I thought...

[Shit. Shit. How could Nate do that!?]

[supersoldiered]

[He's leaving out the play-by-play where Billy's the catalyst for everything. He's also leaving out the lederhosen.]

I told you we deserve to be here. At least. I do.

[selfhelp]

[The lederhosen was the only good part omg.]

That's not... what Nate decides to do, evil or not, it's not like we chose for him...!

[eyecondition]

[That's not the answer he was looking for. He wanted to hear that their work all meant something. That by the time Billy grows up in the future, mutants and humans dance around together and hug. Or something cheerful and Brady Bunch-y like that.]

It's just going to keep getting worse?

We do good things, Billy. We're helpful, and more patient than they deserve. Why can't they see that?? Why can't--

[Wait. No. Stop. Billy's just some kid from some future long after Scott's dead and buried. It's not his fault. He takes a deep breath and holds it for a ten-count.]

I'm sorry. I just.

Your generation's supposed to have it better.

[selfhelp]

[Billy chews idly at his lower lip, trying not to look as worried as he feels. He knows it's lousy news, and he can't even say that he's experienced the full spectrum of human-to-mutant hate, only observed it over the years and read about it in the archives. But it's certainly taught him a solid lesson in human psychology if nothing else, something even his mother couldn't totally hammer into his head.]

It's been like twenty, twenty five years, tops. It seems like a long time, but people don't even change that fast.

[It would be wrong to call them lucky, but in a lot of ways they're fortunate to even get protection at the institute. At least they aren't all dead after M-Day. But he can't even count the number of ways that such statements are terrible and empty.]

[eyecondition]

[Ohgod telling Scott about M-Day ]would be a bad, bad thing.]

I want to be married in twenty years. I want to be a father. I don't want my kids to grow up having to hide themselves. [He sighs heavily.]

I'm sorry. Don't mean to unload on you. I'm sorry we couldn't give you a better world to grow up in.

[supersoldiered]

The day we put on costumes and tried to fight crime, it became our fault.

[selfhelp]

[What about telling him how Jean's died like twelve times and he has like four children from the future hanging around, would that be better.]

It's okay. I know it must be frustrating... that's why I really hope that it's just my universe that turned out this way. You guys deserve better than what my future's got to offer.

[selfhelp]

...We were just trying to help people.

[He can't help but think that Eli has a point, though. Would Cassie be okay if they hadn't formed the Young Avengers? What would have happened to Nate? But they would never have met...

It's not like they can change the past. But now he desperately, desperately wants to change his future somehow.]

[supersoldiered]

We were just messing around. Like kids. We wanted to be cool.

[selfhelp]

That's not why we started the team! It's not why we kept trying no matter what!

[Maybe they took it too far, though. Maybe they tried too hard. Cassie wanted it just as badly as the rest of them did, she wouldn't die for their egos...]