Oil and Water

July 26, 2018:

Piotr and Illyana attempt to meet with Pietro and Wanda to discuss the strange enhanced 'Purifiers,' but Illyana and Wanda take an immediate dislike to one another…

Mutant Town, New York

Characters

NPCs: None.

Mentions: Jean Grey, Frenzy

Mood Music: [*\# None.]


Fade In…

The debrief with Jean and the other X-Men was not as painful as Piotr had feared. However the memory of killing the enhanced Purifier or whatever he was still hangs about Piotr. He knows that it wasn't the worst reaction in the situation and that others might have done the same, but he would like to think himself better than that. And so he's been moping. He might protest that he's working through his issues with art, but any of a number of the people in his life would shoot that down right quick.

Eventually he shakes himself out of it enough to do something productive. Granted it's something he has been putting off, but it should happen. He needs to find out what the Brotherhood knows about the Trask facility raid, and other possible facilities. He could contact Kitty, his partner in crime in all this so far, but he's not sure she would understand why they need to talk to the Brotherhood. And so Piotr finds himself texting his more morally flexible sister, who though she may be surprised that Pete is willing to sit down with the Brotherhood, is likely willing to support him. Or at least mock him and then support him.

Arranging a time and place is getting easier now. Piotr found Frenzy easy enough last time, so he goes through the same people now to put out word that he would like a sit down.

The city is darkening now, lights blazing all about to try and ward it off can only do so much. Piotr waits outside the chosen venue, checking his watch with a slight smirk as Illyana keeps him and the Brotherhood waiting for her schedule.


Moping.

The siblings have many things in common and it seems moping is another thing; though Illyana is all about making certain /everyone/ knows she's moping. Everyone.

Thankfully (for everyone) the demoness wasn't the one down-in-the-dumps this time. Instead it was Piotr. And while she did come right out to let Piotr know he needed to /stop/ moping, she did it gently. Or as gently as Illyana defines it. Something along the lines of, "Brother, don't be dumb it was either your life or theirs and yours matters more. Simple as that." There also might have been a bottle of vodka left with Piotr if her cajoling didn't work.

As for now - there's something to say about quiet entrances, for one they're safer, but Illyana isn't feeling quiet. She's feeling loud and boisterous and so, the demoness arrives on scene in the best way possible -

A mote of silver light suddenly appears next to her paladin brother and within one breath and the next that small spot of light expands into a familiar portal. From the depths of it steps Illyana, a glimpse of Limbo easily seen behind her. Once the blonde woman is through the portal it closes with a flash of light, bright against the darkening city.

"Brother." Illyana Rasputin says in greeting, as she turns her blue eyes upon her tall older brother.


The response that Colossus of the X-Men gets is slower this time than it was the last time he had occasion to contact the Brotherhood. But a response he does eventually get. It is a curt acquiescence, nothing elaborate, which isn't entirely surprising… but there's still a sort of mood in the air, a sense of shortness to the answering missive, that makes one really want a backup. Even if it's one's mocking sister.

They weren't exactly friendly before, but this is frigid. Something has changed.

Recent developments have driven the Brotherhood back to Mutant Town, and it is a small shop in the neighborhood which is chosen as the meeting place. Piotr and Illyana are given a few moments to rendezvous, to catch up, to wait.

Then a brief gust sends loose litter rattling down the street, tugging at clothing for half a second. When it passes, the familiar figures of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch stand about ten feet away.

The white-haired mutant regards Piotr a few moments, before his gaze flicks over Illyana. "What do you want?" Quicksilver leads off with his typical lack of ceremony, guarded, standing half in front of his sister in an obvious protective stance.


Already long on edge, since the attack on Hell's Kitchen and aggravated by a visit by a certain blood parent —

Wanda Maximoff shares most things, intimately, with Pietro, and his present mood is no exception. The twins blur into sight and presence out of nowhere, sister folded into a familiar, safe place at her brother's shoulder, partially covered by his taller back.

As for hers, it straightens taut the moment they are here. Small, imperceptible, but at the same time, speaking vast tomes to Pietro — Wanda's body locks up, muscles knotted, her teeth click together, and her blue eyes bleed red.

It is not Piotr who has the witch's attention; her gaze locks immediately and distastefully on Illyana.

Wanda does not know this woman, but by first sense, she loathes her. A miasma comes off her that nettles, burns, and suffocates. Her soul is venom. She is wrong.

Usually the more diplomatic of the two, Wanda has the warmth of a frozen razorblade, sharp and cold and ready to cut at first handling.


Any attempt by his sister to reason with him about the death of his opponent only gets grouchy grunts of 'agreement' with the occasional frustrated, "Illyana. That is not helpful." But the vodka left behind is not exactly refused.

When the answer comes back chilly, Piotr is not disturbed. He is sure to bring in backup. Because while he could withstand most things, Wanda is another matter entirely. It is good to have some magical backup of his own. Or at least a quick exit plan.

"Snowflake!" Piotr's usual boisterous tone returns momentarily at his sisters arrival. He doesn't say much more though, instead keeping his eyes open watching for an arrival he'll never see.

"Firstly, I owe Joanna an apology. I am sorry to see she is not with you."

Reading the twins body language and especially Wanda's interest in his own sister, Piotr takes a tiny step forward and tries to speed up his usual pounding laconic timbre.

"But, more importantly, I wished to discuss the events at the Trask facility. There were a few surprises that day. Perhaps you were ready for them? Perhaps not. We wish to help those that Trask is using, and shut him down in the process. Perhaps this is something we can agree on?"

Perhaps.


Wind tugs at her clothes, her hair, enough to muss a few strands of her perfectly pin-straight hair into her face. Idly the demoness pushes the strands back behind an ear as her gaze flicks from Piotr to the newly arrived.

Her blue eyes land upon Pietro first and when he offers that opening gambit, Yana's lips twitch towards a smile. "Rudely to the point." She says, "How refreshing." And while most would likely say that in some kind of sarcastic way there's only amused honesty from the blonde young woman. She really does find it refreshing.

But then Illyana lays eyes upon Wanda and the world turns to molasses and for a beat of her heart, Illyana is lost in what she sees.

Then Piotr speaks which grounds Illyana back into the situation at hand. Her blue eyes sharpen and re-focus and while she's aware once more of what's being said, that doesn't stop her from keeping her gaze locked upon Wanda. Nor the thin-lipped smile that blooms suddenly upon Yana's face when Wanda presents that (not so) welcoming mien. "Pretty sure you have that backwards, brother, it's she who owes you an apology. A shame too that she isn't here, I was /so/ looking forward to meeting her. Perhaps another /time/." And while her words have the typical snappy tone that she often speaks with, there's a note of distraction buried within her voice.

It can't be helped.

Still, when Piotr steps forward, Yana likewise moves. It's a light step to the side, to allow her to peep around Piotr's large frame, and while her steps are lighter, quieter even, there's still the faintest sound with her footfalls. It's a click-clack like quality, much like the sound of cloven hooves upon concrete.


Rudely to the point, Illyana approves. "And not for your benefit," he replies instantly, arch and arrogant, though the return fire sass seems more like a reflex than active malice.

But Pietro's head turns a little to the way Wanda winds up taut behind him. He tracks the direction of her gaze, looks at Illyana, and then sees the way Illyana is staring right back at his sister. Pietro touches her across their link, an attempt to calm her with his own presence, but he knows when she is this worked up that calm is not in the cards.

He sort of glances at Piotr, in a universal 'are you seeing this' sort of way.

There is the matter of the actual business they were called to discuss, too. Quicksilver looks impatient at Piotr's patient insistence on the niceties first. "Yes, yes, I'm certain she's not up crying or taking it personally or anything," he dismisses. He clearly wants to get to the actual point, and for many of the same reasons Piotr likely now does. Illyana's taunts about Frenzy are also grinding his nerves.

The name 'Trask' tenses the speedster. Blue eyes narrow. "We will agree on the ends," he says shortly, "but clearly not on the means. You wish to mount more rescues? Do you also commit to the destruction of the facilities and the perpetrators afterwards? You understand that simply extracting victims, without putting an end to the reason for their suffering, will just make it harder for anyone else to come in and finish the job? If you cannot commit to what a 'shutdown' truly entails, well." He glances again at Wanda. "We will have a difficulty, here."


All along their soul-joined link, Wanda's energy knots like the neck of a noose. Pietro reaches out to her, and her response is a familiar one to him: his sister is beyond soothes, pushed past that place the moment of their arrival. She does not reject him — never has, never could — but her presence is as much tolerant as it is immovable.

She does. Not. Like. This.

And she especially does not like the way Illyana smiles at Pietro. The Scarlet Witch's eyes burn with warning light, a few of her long fingers reflexively curling — the veritable weapon loaded and aimed, safety off.

Fortunately, Piotr intercepts at the right moment, drawing attention away — at least diverting enough that some of that burning-bright red fades from her eyes, cooling back to a mirror of a human's irises.

The brothers speak briefly on Trask, and for that the Witch is still silent, listening even if she does not share Pietro's glance. Her full attention, in some sort of necessity, does not leave Illyana. The read coming off her is so putrid the witch refuses to pull a sliver of her attention. And especially so when she speaks.

"They cannot commit to a parley without making threats," finally speaks the Scarlet Witch, her voice low and dissonant, its sound fragmenting and flanging into tritones.

Her red eyes burn, fixed on Illyana. "Take care, broken child. Threaten ours once more, and I will make time forget you."


Maybe without realizing it Piotr's hand is lifted slightly off his side, his palm facing Illyana as if expecting to hold her back at any moment. It's not something he meant to do, more of a natural reaction to the tension in the air. He lets out a soft exhale of air through his nose when Illyana starts in with the taunting. "That is not helpful." Comes a whispered 'rebuke' of sorts.

He catches Pietro's look and offers only the smallest raise of his eyebrows in acknowledgement. Crazy magic sisters, whadya gonna do? Gotta love 'em, right?

"That also is not helpful." Piotr likewise scolds Wanda, though with no more vigor than his own sister. He would just like to make it out of this without collapsing reality or releasing hell if possible.

"We agree that these facilities can not exist. They must be destroyed." That sounds like an agreement. "However, we do not wish to murder everyone there simply because they have chosen to work for a terrible man. I understand that you do not see it that way, but we can not agree to that loss of life. I believe you at least tried to mitigate this with the first facility you hit?" Maybe? It's an olive branch of sorts that Piotr is trying to separate their approaches without separating the two groups completely.

"But during the attack there were powered individuals there." Piotr's words again slow, showing careful deliberation as he chooses them, even if it must inadvertently antagonize Pietro that anyone could possibly talk so languidly. "This was not expected. And we still do not know the nature of these enhancements. Did you know about them? Or know why they would align with Trask or the Purifiers?"


The rebuke from Piotr is heard, but ignored for a few more seconds as Illyana turns her serpentine gaze back upon Wanda when the other woman speaks. Whereas others might scoff, or show outward anger, Illyana does neither. Instead her expression lightens to something akin to a grin, "Oh please try." Illyana taunts, "Time has already forgotten about me, but you … you're like a beacon within the darkness of the ethers. Shining so bright and pretty, just waiting to be snatched and gobbled up. Compared to you I have nothing to fear."

And with those words of warning given Illyana cuts her blue eyes back to Piotr and here her expression turns just a fraction softer. "But my brother chastises me, so I suppose I must play nice now." Her attention shifts once more and turns to Pietro and Piotr, "As long as I know who or what I'm looking for I can pull the victims out. Or even the would be jailers. Perhaps even snatch a few of the powered individuals away for dissection to see what makes them tick."

She's definitely helping here, yes?


Though Pietro wants to keep most of his attention on Piotr, the lion's share of it is forced to remain on Wanda and Illyana as they snipe back and forth. His blue eyes move between sister and sister, briefly take in Piotr's automatic gesture of restraint — you too, huh? is briefly Pietro's expression at that — and then he edges a little more firmly in front of Wanda, trying to block line of sight as the Witch makes her counter-threats. As if that would help.

Piotr's words on the fact that people who have chosen to work for a terrible man, should not be judged alongside the terrible man, narrow Pietro's blue eyes further. He hesitates a moment, as if about to listen to the reasoning, but a memory floats back to the surface of his mind. It is not a standard for the weak to bear. They burn her because you let them.

"You can't just destroy the facilities," he says coldly, "and not destroy the equipment that runs them. We held back the first time for the sake of the mutant captives. Not for the sake of the people who chose to forward Trask's cause. Save them if you wish. We will not."

As far as the powered individuals? Pietro listens, though he looks about to bust a vein at how slowly Piotr is talking. He can feel his sister about to lose her shit any moment. "No," he says. "It was the first we saw of them. We know no more than you, though you can be assured — we will find out." Will they share, however? That must be a question forever left unanswered, because that's when Illyana makes her reply to his sister.

Quicksilver's hair-trigger temper snaps. He is in both their faces between heartbeats, bristling, hackles up.

"Enough. Take your sister home and teach her manners, Rasputin. She is in dire need of the lesson. We are finished here."

He turns heel and moves to take Wanda away. Drag her, if he must.


There are no blinders that can exist to a woman whose sight transcends the trappings of reality. The Scarlet Witch sees all and none in dimensional intersections beyond which the mind can conceive and sort. Permutations that stress and break her own sanity.

Talk of Trask, as this was intended, is forgotten for her. It seems distant, needless to her even to discuss it — why should they, when a threat exists here? Someone, like her, that is tainted and should not be. Someone whose very soul is a taint on the Witch's perceptions.

All that seems to keep the Scarlet Witch from boiling over is the patient, careful exchange between the two brothers, and Wanda ignores most of the words under the crippling deluge of Illyana's soul —

And Illyana's threats.

Happily, nicely, the sorceress asks for punishment. And, an instant later, the witch is gracious to oblige. Her eyes bleed over into unnatural red. Scarlet streams from her fingers.

Fortunately, with his speed, Quicksilver reacts first. Reacts before she can. Him in the way is the only thing that keeps her scarlet at bay.

The Scarlet Witch needs to be dragged away.


Violence is nothing new to Illyana Rasputin.

For her whole short life she's literally been surrounded by it.

When Wanda reaches that point of no return Illyana sees it and it makes her smile broaden again. And while her humor is quite high that doesn't stop Yana from calling forth *some* protection. Bands of segmented gleaming armor appear over one arm, covering from shoulder to fingertips. Along with that appearance of that Eldritch Armor a sword is likewise called forth, but too late, or perhaps too slow is more appropriate as Pietro drags the Witch off.

Only after the Twins have left does Illyana banish her armor and sword, turning to address Piotr, "That went better than expected." Which is true, it could have been so much worse. "What say I get us home?" Which is a completely rhetorical question as the blonde sorceress calls forth a portal, "Wouldn't want to antagonize them. I can even grab us something to eat - chinese?"

Her voice may be light, almost sing-song in its inflection, but there's a hardness within her eyes and a promise to revisit this situation.

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