AoA: Look at the Alternatives

October 12, 2017:

Rogue and Lorna commiserate over how twisted the AoA world is.

Triskelion

Characters

NPCs: None.

Mentions: Jean Magneto Emma Frost

Mood Music: [*\# None.]


Fade In…

Lorna came back after a long day off the Triskelion proper for most of the day. Her day had started with an argument with Magneto. He'd very seriously, and very pointedly lectured her about using her powers to attack Emma Frost, the secretary of Education. Lorna defended herself that the woman had abandoned her, Jean and Nate to War's powers and that she wasn't trustworthy. For all Lorna knew, the woman could've worked for that evil Summer's boy.

Of course, then Magneto had managed to guilt her. Her powers had destroyed the street in her fury, and he had sent her down to the city to repair and apologize to the citizens there. Which… she had done. And with more than a little guilt.

Now, smelling of sweat, rust, and covered in dust and grime from the city. Lorna returned. She entered the shared conference room that had been designated as a 'X-men' spot. And peeled off her jacket on her way toward her room. Slight and barren as it was. She'd managed to stock up with booze she'd hoarded from Captain Jones. A luxury that few in this world had, as she was beginning to learn.

*

Rogue was just kind of doing what her team mates asked her to do, but otherwise? She Was mostly hiding with her hood up and her jacket all up on her body. She didn't even so much want to even LOOK at this world Magneto… knowing that he was married to Rogue here and that they had a kid together?? Nooooo. She wanted to go HOME!

Especially since she was out of f'ing cigarettes now. It was killing her!

Rogue stepped out of her room as Lorna was walking toward her own. "Hey." Marie said at her. "You okay?" She'd ask her friend. "Ya look a bit… worn?"

Rogue had her hooded trench coat in her right hand was preparing to put it on over her shoulders.

*

Lorna heaved a sigh, dragging her hand through green hair as she spotted Rogue and flashed Marie an exhausted smile. "Tired. I.. got into an argument with my-not-father. Apparently attacking Emma Frost was bad. Because she's Secretary for Education in this world." Her lips thinned. "The bitch left Nate and Jean and I alone to face War. She knew something was coming and split." She growled, looking mildly pissed once more.

"I … sorta wrecked the street though. And just got back from cleaning up my mess." Her lips twisted. "Somehow it feels like Magneto sent me to go clean my room after I knocked shit off the shelves. How fucked up is that?" She rolled her eyes.
*

Rogue sorted out her coat while Lorna talked and put it on over her shoulders, then adjust the cuffs on her wrists before smiling at the green headed one. "Ya mean my not-husband did something mean and manipulative?" She asked, smirk visible on her lips. "Why Ah find that downright impossible t'believe." And that statement was laced with thick sarcasm.

Rogue sighed and shook her head, she walked over to a counter in the room that had bottles of water on it and she picked one up, inspected it for a second and turned around to look back at Lorna.

"Ya know it's weird, I only know Emma Frost… vaguely… back in our… place in time?" Rogue wasn't sure how to phrase all of this weird science shit.

"She seemed nice enough though. But here? She's a bitch?"

The top was twisted on the water and Rogue took a drink. "I don't give it. Why does everyone here suck?"

*

Lorna shrugged and dragged her hands through her hair as she followed after Rogue, throwing her jacket over a rather plain looking metal chair and sinking down into it. At least with Magneto close to the head of state, she could sense where the designs had been influenced not only by cheapness and ability to survive anything.. but also in the balance of how much iron was all over the place.

She'd never been surrounded by so much metal that actually sang to her senses. It was strange and vaguely disconcerting.

"And yeah, she's a bitch. A cold hearted one. Didn't so much as flinch with me screaming at her. She basically just sat there and took it. Then asked if I was done. And admitted that she abandoned us and walked off." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair till the legs tipped back and she balanced on the back two.

"And hey, I mean, at you're not batshit crazy and been manipulated by everyone that hates your guts and likely kicked out to die on the streets alone.. which half your powers? Or dead. I mean, you could be dead like Jean here. Course, everyone seems to love Jean here too."

*

Rogue would listen to all of this while leaning back against the table/counter's edge. She smirked at it and just shook her head. A moment later and she pushed off the counter and walked over to sit on the edge of the chair beside Lorna, sitting her bottle down on it and putting her elbows onto the table.

"Ah just don't unde'ahstand why we're here… Part'a me thinks we're still in the Dange'ah Room back at home, and this is just some kinda… BUG with the damn alien technology that operates the whole thing."

Rogue would look to her left over at Lorna and just show a grin. "But we ain't that lucky, huh? This -has- t'be real. Cause its shit level is off the charts, and like I said when ya got back t'us…. We're always gettin' ourselves neck deep inta something ridiculous."

Lorna laughed softly as she settled her chair back into the proper position, grinning a sardonic grin in the redhead's direction. "Yeah well, if only we didn't have world travelers already on the roster, I would agree with you. But we've got Logan, and Nate and what not." She ticked those two off her fingers and shrugged.

"Honestly, I don't know if it's that bad a world though. Think about it. There's no more hatred for mutant kind. Mutant Town is the best part of the city. We've got a President that's a human, and a VP that's a mutant. That would never happen in our world. No matter what the Professor or my father want or try to do. It's not going to happen. Sure most of the world's population had to die off.. and horrible things and shit. But in general?" She arched a brow and shrugged.

"I'm just sayin'.. If they can beat back the shreds of Apocalypse's crew, they've got a good shot at much better world."

*

"Yeah, maybe…" Rogue said with a grim tone to her voice while she sat back in her chair and drug that bottle of water down onto her lap. "But I don't think all the people who died would agree with ya on that." She glanced at Lorna and gave her a little smirk.

A headshake later then and Rogue would release a sigh. "Eithe'ah way, we don't belong here. We belong in our world, for bette'ah or for worse… It's our place and it needs us t'be there. Lotsa people there… need ya, ya know?" She'd raise her bottle up for another sip from it.

"So that remains my goal. T'get home. Get away from this place… before Ah go'n do something stupid like marry a man ninety years old'ah than me." She'd pause and look at Lorna with a smile. "Or make you hate me."

*
Lorna shrugged, "This is Nate's world. What if we were brought back here because he belongs here? What about that? What if the prelates did something to bring him back and we got caught here by accident?" She arched a brow and leaned back in her chair again.

"Don't get me wrong, I want to go home. I miss the internet, and having cheap food and booze whenever I want." Granted she wasn't 21 yet in their world and couldn't purchase said booze, but she hardly counted that as an issue.

"I'm just saying that this world isn't always going to be complete shit." She cracked a smile at Rogue's last comment and broke out into laughter.

"Don't try to have sex with the old man, and I think we'll be cool." She snickered once more before breaking off thoughtfully.

"Do you think that was what caused them to fall out?"

*

Rogue would gently nod her head to that. "Seems possible, I guess… some kinda time vacuum tried t'suck Nate back here, and it took all'a us with it too?" Rogue grinned as she could just hear Hank McCoy's groan at her attempt at explaining science.

The southerner would look over to Lorna when she talked about booze and cheap food and it made her sigh, cause that sounded great to her right now…

"I figure its somethin' along those lines." She replied about the fight between their alt-selves. "Step Mom tryin' t'but in on something between daughte'ah and fathe'ah too. That kinda crap neve'ah goes well for nobody involved!"

*

Lorna nods along with Rogue's comment about suction time vacuums and grinned faintly. "I think it's the best bet we've got. Though War seemed surprised that we were here. Though it sounds like Magneto didn't expect him either." She shrugged once more, leaning back on her chair all the way once more to tip it onto the back two legs.

"Okay. So let's say that this version of me was already more unstable than I am. Say something shitty happened to her. I was raised by the Danes and they were pretty solid. Not my parents, but solid people." She was mostly talking to herself now.

"So she already was raised less than stellar maybe. Or didn't manifest her powers till later. Crazy runs in the family. Her best friend starts grooving on a man that she thinks might be her father. Maybe that would be enough to set her off she was already dealing with shit."

*

Rogue was seated in a metal chair to the right of Lorna was who was doing that terrifying 'leaning way too far back in chair' thing. The southern gal just nodded her head two small times to what Lorna said while taking a sip from a bottle of water.

"Seems reasonable enough t'me, Green Peace." She said over to Lorna with a warm smile. "Really though, we just gotta find out where alternate You is here… we're they're hidin' ya or where ya've done and run off'n hid yourself at. If we can pull that off? We'll get some damn fine stories, I think, about how messed up this place really is. Which I'm guessin' is way more messed up than that nerd son'a mine shit…"

*

Lorna shook her head, propping her hand up with her chin. "That's the thing. If you here, hadn't severed this world's version of me's powers in half.. I could find her. Anywhere in the world. But neither she, nor Magneto are connected to the Magnetic fields here anymore. It's why he's getting old. My father explained it to me once, years ago. Back when the Savage land shit-show was going down." She pursed her lips, seeming content to more or less balance the seat with her powers.

"I can't imagine she'd stick around. Unstable or not. And since no one around here knows her. Besides Pietro and Magneto that reinforces the idea that she's not in the city." She paused, freezing up for a moment. Then sat up, dropping her chair on two legs.

"War knew me here. He said I was stronger than her. And the other one, that one that Jean met in the Astral plane. She mentioned me by name too. That means they've seen her at some point."

These thoughts and revelations just rolled through Rogue's mind. She lifted her right gloved hand up and stroke her white hair out to the left side of her face and then just shook her head.

*.

"Maybe she's lost her mojo the, and is just tryin' t'live a normal life somewhere?" She'd give a glance over to Lorna and smile at her in a mischievous way. "They got Wal-Mart's around here still? Maybe she got a legit job! We should go lookin' around… Maybe she'll be the greeter!" She was just trying to tease her friend a bit to lighten the mood.

Rogue would then nod at Lorna couple quick and small times. "Seriously though… I'm sorry, for… my alt-universe self. I really wanna punch her on both'a our behalves."

*

Lorna rubbed her forehead and laughed, "You know, I don't think I've seen any. You'd figure it'd be the one place that would survive an Apocalyptic event." She shrugged and dragged her hands through her hair. "They're like cockroaches, right?" She grinned weakly and shook her hair out, giving up the attempts to untangle the green locks.

"And hey, to be fair.. Lorna here did try to kill her, if we can believe Pietro. So that's kind of an issue." She pursed her lips. "Maybe I'll find her and she'll lose her shit and try to kill me." Her lips twitched in grim humor.

*

Rogue would grin at her and she'd slowly nod her head. "That and McDonald's yep." A headshake later and she leaned forward again and laid herself down on the table with her arms stretched out. "This place is soooo boring." She uttered with a groan. "I have t'stay hidden in here so I don't run inta anyone I don't wanna meet, like your not-Dad!"

Rogue turned her head to the side then to look over at her, she smiled. "If you don't got no damn powers left here, then I ain't gonna be worried about you attackin' yourself. Cause you'd clearly when in a fight against… yourself."

Rogue closed her eyes and let out a whine. "Thats the most confusin' sentence I've eve'ah had t'say before. I haaaaaate it here!"

*

Lorna couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her at Rogue's comments. "Yeah, well, he's old.. wheelchair bound. Leader of the X-men at one time.. Sounds like kinda the Professor. But you know, married to a what, thirty-something year old you?" She made a face, and shook her head. "Nope, sorry, I can't even tease you on that. It's too gross."

She exhaled a breath. "There's no TV, no movies since like the 50s I bet. And no internet. Nothing published book-wise I'm guessing in the last few decades either." Lorna's nose wrinkled.

"I mean, I told Darcy I was out in the city trying to 'find myself' and that was just as awkward and strange to say? And yeah. I know I could take her, at least powers wise." She blinked, propping her chin up with her hand and settling her elbow on the table.

"You know, this version of you took half of Lorna's powers, her memories.. and still married Lorna's father. That's like straight up Oedipus shit, right?"

*

Rogue had her head down on her arm while she stared at Lorna who talked about all of this, but that last part… that last part made her turn her head and bury her face between her arms, her brown/white hair falling around her face to conceal her.

An embarrassed and disgusted whimper/groan could be heard muffled from beneath the hair and arms shielding the southern belle's features.

"Wake me up when we're back home." She said, voice also now muffled. "I had tickets t'go to a hockey game with a cute guy who worked at a vet clinic… I don't even like hockey, but I wanted t'go on a date with him."

Rogue whined again. "Now it's creepy wheel chair husbands and 30-something year old me who's beatin' up on my friends and boffin' their dads. This place is the woooooorst!"

*

Lorna made a sympathetic sound as Rogue buried her head in the pillow of her arms. Slowly getting up and coming around to the other side of the table. "Hey, shh, shh. We'll get back home. And you can go back to dating cute boys. My father will be a genocidal maniac that no one has seen or heard from in years. And we can go back to ignoring that I'm his kid. And get three hundred TV channels with nothing on. Sit back with a mountain of chips, chocolate and booze. And we can get you some smokes." She patted Rogue's back in a sympathetic way.

"C'mon, I've snagged some booze that Magneto had around here. I've got it in the poor excuse they call a room here." Really it was more like a broom closet. "We can get drunk and talk about all the things we'll do when we get home. How's that sound?"

*

The first part of what Lorna replied with just started to make Rogue muffle-laugh at the rundown of silliness… that still also sounded really appealing! Rogue lifted her head up after she was patted on the back and the offer was booze was given, she turned her head and her green eyes peered out between the strands of snow-white hair that framed her face and was all messed up across it.

"Now you're talkin' my language, Greenie." She said, sitting up then and moving to stand up. "Alcohol is the greatest thing t'find eve'ah." For a second, Rogue wondered about Jamie 2. Was he still down in those tunnels beneath Xavier's looking for stuff? Oh well.

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