Burn M-Town, Burn

May 31, 2015:

Fantomex and Traveler meet up to swap info, but then the Purifers attack at dusk while innocents burn.

Mutant Town - New York City

District X, also known as the less politically correct yet more popular coined Mutant Town is a very unique Burroughs located between Alphabet City and the Bowery of Lower Manhattan.

The business district is still busy even at dusk, and this is not even the clubbing area. There are shopping districts, moms and paps places, and big chain stories that brave the bad reputation of M-Town.

Characters

NPCs: None.

Mentions:

Mood Music: None.


Fade In…

In the last few days there have been some incidents involving mutant hate groups and high-tech weapons. Too many to be a coincidence. Fantomex has prevented an Intergang weapon trade, but then there were those laser weapons of mysterious origin. What is going on? He has not paid enough attention to this business, his thievery keeps him busy and now he is failing in his, er… super-hero hobby. Something like that. Well, time to make some phone calls and see who knows more. Hope is on his list of people to see, which brings him here, back to Mutant Town.

Traveler is actually changing to head 'out' tonight when her phone rings, and she answers it. E.V.A.! That gets a girly squeal, and some quick catchup, and a meeting place selected. That is what brings Traveler to the meeting place on a roof top in the business section, with a mutant or two flying overhead, one with wings and one without as they get to their destinations. It is dusk already, so still pretty busy below.

E.V.A. is not able to do much chit-chat. She lacks the social skills yet. Rant has not been a good teacher (she isn't called Rant for nothing). And talking to Fantomex is like talking to herself. But when the time arrives, they are both on the rooftop, the shiny flying saucer hovering a couple inches from the floor and Fantomex seated on the outer ring. "Bonjour, Traveller. You look well."

"Actually…slept today." No nightmares, for tonight anyway. "So Bonjour yourself." Evil British spelling of Traveler! Americanize you French bastard! In either case…

Traveler does walk over to E.V.A. to touch her side and say a soft, "Hello E.V.A. It's good to see you again." She treats E.V.A. as a beautiful individual, likely something E.V.A. isn't used to from outsiders. Though Traveler then looks up at Fantomex as she steps back, "Any news Frenchie?"

Oops. It is rare for Fantomex to slip into Briticisms, despite him being British. Maybe he didn't sleep enough. He will blame Satana on that one. Damn redheads are going to kill him. And of course Hope is a redhead too. Probably related to Jean, she has that kind of looks.

"Hmm. Have you heard of Intergang? They were trying to sell plasma weapons to our friends." He jumps down to the rooftop. "Very cheap too, which surprised me. Then again Intergang is not famous for their business sense."

Hope shakes her head, "I haven't heard of them. But yes, let's give them even more high tech weaponry." She groans at that. "I didn't realize there was another group with plasma weaponry," and she pats her own handguns, rather one of them. "I think this is going to make things more difficult." And she sighs at that. "I busted one of their rally or headquarter points. A lot of religious motif and military score cards," she says with a grunt. "Purifiers….they seem different, but…I know them, and this is only the start," she says with a sigh, speaking from her gut feeling.

Though of course, there is a sudden loud noise and a shaking of the building as an explosion goes off nearby! An outdoor shopping center in the M-Town business district. Concrete and bricks can be seen flying in chunks in the near distance, and Traveler's eyes widen at that. "No…no..no.nonono! There are children, families there!" And suddenly she is running, faster than she has before actually as she is already starting to feel her body change and adapt as she mimics Fantomex's powers to push herself to be faster and better to get to the innocent people sooner. She doesn't even think about her own safty or if there are more bombs there.

"Plasma guns are rare, they consume too much power, but AIM has… sacre bleu." The white-clad thief keeps his balance during the explosion, and walks to the edge of the rooftop to watch, frowning as Hope dashes ahead of her. A glance to E.V.A. "Oui? I am not a fireman… yes, I suppose you are right. They are going to take hours to get to the neighborhood. Lets go take a look." So E.V.A lurches forward and Fantomex jumps on top of her, both following Hope.

Traveler doesn't stop. Rather she keeps running until she gets to an unstable building roof top at the edge of the mayhem. Her eyes widen in horror.

Fire, destruction, screams.

Men in black robes with ceramic armor beneath it, white crosses over the robes carry laser guns and flame throwers. They are burning to the ground what was once a vibrant area for shopping. There is yelling from the Purifiers that have changed uniforms from their disguises before, "We are here to Purify this world for humanity once more! Do not hesitate!"

And Traveler, leaps! It is something she would have never done as her normal self, but even as she lands and rolls from that three story jump, her body absorbed impact and is already healing damage. Her guns leap to her hands and she shoots one Purifier in the face with her plasma gun, instantly killing him before he lights a trapped mutant woman on fire. Surviving mutants that aren't trapped are trying to run and flee, one teleports away to escape the chaos and death, even though she was badly injured.

One mutant is rock-like and seems to be charging through a flame thrower and chunks breaking off with laser guns as he charges some of the Purifers to try and protect survivors.

Crazy people to do that in the middle of New York. This would be a good moment for Iron Man or Superman to come down from the sky and be heroic. No? Well, then Fantomex will come down from the sky and be murderous.

He lands in the middle of the Purifier group, guns blazing. When the zealots react, he jumps away, but misdirects them into believing he is still there, letting them to be burned by their own laser weapons while he targets another group. The heavy custom-made handguns are powerful enough to punch through their armor weak points, and he is a crack shot gun-fu fighter.

Traveler is not as good at the misdirection as Fantomex, and the chaos in her own mind is almost blinding as she did not THINK before she copied his powers!

Some the explosions she sees are not the explosions that are there, the dead different faces, the scenery altered a bit. Memory…flashback, the Purifiers cloaks changing to brown ragged cloaks, and the flamethrowers to rifles. She has to shake her head to try and operate, to shoot again, blasting someone's leg from out under there. She then moves with a grunt to push with her shoulder on debris that fell on the mutant woman she saved, to try and free her.

Since Hope is copying Fatomex weird and varied powerset, one of the first things she manages to do it link up with E.V.A.'s techn-organic mind. Suddenly her reflexes become superhuman, as she has access to the flying saucer nervous system. Also, she is connected to the vast information flows E.V.A. navigates constantly. Quite the shift in perceptions.

And Fantomex (and E.V.A.) notice too! « What are you doing? Get out of my/our minds » multiple minds, planning, moving and calculating in parallel. And Hope is interfering, interfacing through E.V.A.

Fantomex falters, and a laser blast goes through his chest, shearing him. He shifts part of the pain to E.V.A. and puts six bullets through the Purifier's head, then jumps behind a burning wrecked car. Seeking cover.

E.V.A. is trying to keep Hope out, but panicking. The flying saucer is deep down an 12 year old kid, and she is not used to this kind of thought mind-merging mess.

And perhaps not the emotional involvement in the violence that Hope can have, the pain, the suffering, the anger, the rage….all of it, wrapped together around a heart that bleeds for those innocents suffering. And the memories…the constant violence she has experienced, the confusion of having multiple brains, multiple thoughts in her heard! « I…I can't. I…, » panic as well. Hope is forcing herself to move though, another grunt and the woman is freed as she claws and crawls her way out from beneath the rumble. Traveler then moves to grab her, helping her to her feet even as she keeps shooting with one gun. Each shot is instinctive rather than calculated, she operates…differently, not logically. But the whispers are there: 'Never kill in hatred Hope.'

Hope is trying to keep that cooled, but the rage and pain…. « I…can't think. I can't control this! Help! » She has never copied anything quite like E.V.A. and Fantomex, let alone in such a dangerous situation. She almost trips, but the other woman helps balance her and they keep moving until some cover is obtained and Traveler can set her down where she will be safe enough.

Fantomex spares a second to eyeroll. Why is the crazy redhead asking -him- about her own powers? Well, he is clever, handsome and stylish, but not omniscient. Also, about to get shot, so instead of responding, he reloads his guns. Meanwhile E.V.A is flickering between invisible and visible, stumbling away from Hope and scratching a side against a building, whimpering in confusion.

Redheads will be the death of him, indeed.

But it's E.V.A.'s pain and injury that causes Hope to start to pull herself together, drawing a deep, shaky breath and the hurt woman asking if she is alright. People….-NEED- her, that means she has to -GET- it together. « I…can do this…I can do this. Mission, freak later, mission first. » Panic being shoved down and to the back of her mind where there is a lot of dirty and nasty emotions and pain.

Traveler pops up and starts shooting again, working on her concentration. She is starting to process the information being filtered through her rather than struggling against it which should cause less trauma to E.V.A. and there is as if there is a voice to try and cox Hope through it within her own head.

Fantomex is keeping cool himself. All the three brains trying to block off E.V.A.'s panicked impulses and send back calming waves. Injured and distracted, and without being able to amplify his misdirection, Fantomex is not as dangerous for the Purifiers as he was ten seconds ago. But he is still a deadly marksman super-soldier, and he shots and moves, shots and moves, leaving behind dead or injured Purifiers and drawing them away from E.V.A.

The voice in Hope's head…..her father's…her memories. The discipline. What is, is. A saying, a philosophy, an oath. And Hope is changing…her mind is becoming more organized, but she she starts to gleam, and become more liquidity and unstable, then hardened into something metallic, though still feminine. The clothes are still over her metallic body.

Traveler still is all there, but her efficiency in processing the information has dramatically increased! She is then moving out from her cover, and she is charging! She leaps into the air, barely dodging a flame thrower attack even as she lands on a guy's face, blasting her gun at another guy, her other gun quickly and inhumanly in her other hand. Grace and beauty, and completely in-human.

« I am fine now. E.V.A. calm down, we are in this together. I am your friend, it is going to be alright. I promise. » Comfort, her own ways of care and comfort as she thinks of E.V.A. and Fantomex. « Fantomex, are you alright? I'm providing some cover fire, in your direction. » Ya…when Hope stops copying these powers, she is likely sooooo passing out.

E.V.A. calms down when Hope becomes pretty much her twin. Confusing leaves pass to wonder, since it is the first time she sees someone so much like herself. And Hope connects also with Fantomex' minds, drawing fragments of memories of his past. His training in the bizarre lab-universe called the World. The merciless conditioning he broke by becoming the flamboyant adventurer-thief he is now. He breaks the link, then. Too distracting!

He takes another laser wound to his ankle. Now he can't jump and dodge, so instead he starts shooting methodically, killing any Purified in sight and ignoring the return fire which is poking his body full of holes.

Hope's own body is healing with the liquid metalic form that is E.V.A.'s, but it is not magically instinctive, so the breaking of the link was likely for the best. It leaves…Hope in…awe…but she is moving, trying to work with E.V.A. to provide cover fire to Fantomex.

The rock-like mutant is down, some of the Purifiers dead beneath him, but the people he were protecting escaped. The good with the bad, this taken in and processed. That is when Traveler is running and leaps into the air, shooting even as she seems to almost 'fly' for the barest moments. She then lands near Fantomex, back to his protectively to cover it.

Alright, there is a retreat being called for now, for survivors to pull back! The Purifiers are leaving, but…that doesn't make the situation magically better by far.

Fantomex is in no shape to follow them. It is strange enough he is still standing. Backup internal organs are working overtime while his nanites repair all the injuries. "You are trouble, Traveler." He comments grumpily, looking at her silvery skin with obvious surprise. Guns get back to their holsters, and he leans against a shattered wall. "I need a minute," more like a couple days, "to pull myself together," he admits. "So go looking for survivors. I am not going to bleed off here, lasers… cauterize wounds."

But Traveler reaches out to Fantomex, even through the mask, she caresses his cheek with her silvery hand, concern in her eyes. "I am very sorry Fantomex." And she shifts closer to kiss his forehead. "I'll do as you say."

« E.V.A. keep me updated on his condition. Let me know if you need me immediately. I will be back as quickly as possible to assist with bandaging his wounds to assist with healing. » And then Traveler is gone, she is moving and systematically searching and trying to help, guns put away once she is assured the Purifiers are all gone. Helping others right now is more important to her than going after the bad guys…not that she could do it solo..once the powers wore off, she would be out cold. But she is saving people, and as things start to calm down, some others are coming out of other businesses and are starting to help. Mutants helping Mutants rather than shooting each other in gang wars and other violence.

While Hope saves lives, Fantomex limps back into E.V.A. and she sneaks back to a rooftop, still keeping within Hope's reach if she can. Fantomex is going into a regenerative trance in a tank of water, but E.V.A. opens a communication channel with the techn-organic Hope, so they can talk.

When Traveler can feel herself fading, she is also soon retreating to E.V.A. as she knows she will never make it to the apartment. During this time though she is speaking to E.V.A., trying to see things through E.V.A.'s eyes, to share things with her…to be so connected with someone, Traveler has never felt this before, not at this genetic level.

And when she finally gets to E.V.A., she finds Fantomex in the tank and sighs softly…. « Is he going to be fine? » The worry is there, the feeling of guilt at him being so badly injured because of her distracting him.

« I will be fine, mademoiselle. We Frenchmen are difficult to kill » That is Fantomex voice, sounding amused. E.V.A. feels like about to berate him for taking it so lightly, but keeps quiet. And as she feels Hope about to fade, she swoops down and grabs the girl with her insect-like legs, taking her inside herself before she faints.

And as E.V.A. brings her inside, she can feel Hope fade away to blackness and then disappear from her consciousness, though there was a soft smile of amusement as if she knew Fantomex was purposely making light of the situation. And then she is comatose for a few hours, completely unresponsive.

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