Will It Ever Be Enough

October 12, 2018:

Frenzy returns to Mutant Town on the order of Magneto and speaks with Lorna.

Characters

NPCs: None.

Mentions:

Plot:

Mood Music: [*\# None.]


Fade In…

Wanda is safe.

Pietro is not.

Nor is New York City, specifically Mutant Town.

Neither is Frenzy.

Failure is never something tolerated by Magneto and here she has failed.

In her mind Frenzy’s life now hangs in the balance. She must only wait for the verdict from on high.

That doesn’t mean she can wallow in self-loathing. Nor in a bottle. No matter how much her brain screams at her for a drink. No matter how much it kicks up an extreme physical craving for the harsh burn of whiskey.

As such, Joanna Cargill finds her way back to Mutant Town, specifically to a safehouse that is used by the Brotherhood. She’s dressed in scarlet and blue, and as she walks her carmine cape snaps sharply behind her. Between her height, the crack of her cape and her purposeful stride, most move out of her way.

And when a few don’t, Frenzy simply turns a look on them to get them out of her path.

She moves to bring herself over to Lorna Dane, youngest daughter of Magneto and once near the other woman, Frenzy speaks, “Lorna.”

Her voice matches her expression, tight and closed-off, allowing very little to show in the way of true emotion.


The only official orders that had come through to the Brotherhood from Magneto had been to protect his youngest daughter. Her return from Genosha had been bathed in the light of Exodus’ presence and teleportation, with news that Pietro was somewhere in New York.

Those that could be spared had been sent to track what rumors there were. The rest of the Brotherhood members were given to the same patrols as they’d been doing in Mutant Town, protecting the border and searching supplies for the base. The base which was now slathered in several feet worth of steel that Polaris had salvaged from husks of burnt out cars and metal scraps.

Lorna currently, had returned from another fruitless search, another patrol of the Mutant Town’s borders and was currently fusing together wires and Christmas lights to add to the mixture of bald light bulbs and open wires that made up the lighting in the base. Without the main grid for power, she’d managed to construct haphazard generators, and with the use of her powers, created batteries to keep things running.

The dimness of the twilight outside was as much a morale killer as their otherwise unchanging circumstances. The small twinkling lights were a small measure of comfort and productivity for those that remained and had not fled.

The green haired woman was bent over, kneeling on the ground as she pulled and twisted power through the newly constructed wires, rainbow lights flickering to life beneath her hands. A glance was spared upward as Joanna approached and addressed her. A blink, a furrow of her eyebrows followed, and Lorna paused in her work. As the current de facto leader of The Brotherhood in New York, she had grown used to people addressing her as ‘Polaris’ more or less. ‘Lorna’ caught her attention far more.

“What is it? Is anything wrong?”


The twinkle and flash of those Christmas lights gives an almost surreal quality to the area. It’s enough to cause Frenzy to feel a momentary jarring sensation.

Something like vertigo washes through the woman and it causes the Bruiser of the Brotherhood to turn a look over at those small festive lights. She stares at the strands for a silent moment until finally Lorna speaks.

Her questions bring Frenzy back to the present, back to what’s important and what she needs to do.

The question of whether something is wrong pulls a twisted look from the woman. That expression of hers holds notes of bitterness, anger and even loss. What she says, however, doesn’t necessarily touch upon the emotions just displayed.

“No.” She states and then, “Nothing new is wrong.” She continues to speak and her next words hold a formal cast, “I’ve returned by the command of Magneto. To make certain the Brotherhood continues to run as it should.”

And here, with that message delivered, the woman’s stiff posture fades by a hair. She looks at Lorna and then those nearby, before her attention returns to the green-haired woman.

“And you? Any news?” A hopeful question, however there is little hope to be found in Frenzy’s own heart.


Christmas lights didn’t necessarily mean much to Lorna, she was Jewish (kind of sorta) and had never been big on the holidays but it had mattered to Marcos. To other X-men in the mansion. Those memories had been mixed, but now were tinged with the hazy film of nostalgia.

At least the Genoshan war had prepared her for creating off grid necessities and maintaining a defensive border. This wasn’t new to her.

Nor was the concept that she was spending the week of her birthday in an apocalyptic-looking city. Last year had been the world Apocalypse ruled once. Now it was demon infested New York. The chilly, twilight dimness that surrounded the city was almost the same.

Distractedly she sent the newly constructed wires and lights up to the ceiling, little hooks of steel twisting out to hold the lights and add to the heady mixture of light bulbs of different watts and colors.

The news that nothing ‘new’ was wrong relaxed her shoulders as she stood, her shoulders easing somewhat as she rubbed her hands against the sides of her jeans. That Magneto had sent Frenzy back to run the Brotherhood more or less had her lips twitching in faint amusement.

“Of course he did.” She murmured, nodding her head slowly as she glanced down the steel-lined corridor and back.

Lorna could read between the lines of why her father had passed along such orders. She wasn’t the twins, or him.. Her only interest lay in the protection of Mutant Town and those within its borders. Polaris was a symbol again. A figurehead. Just as she had been in Genosha to keep the masses happy.

For some reason, people seemed to like her. It would be enough until Pietro and Wanda returned. It had to be.

A sigh pulled from her lips at the question about what she’d heard or not, and a slow shake of her head followed.

“No. Nothing. Other than what Exodus told me in Genosha. Pietro is somewhere in New York. But we haven’t any clues beyond that.” She grimaced, a hand reaching up to twist at the new metal pendant that hung from a silvery chain around her neck.

Lorna’s green-eyed gaze swung back toward Frenzy, her eyebrows furrowing faintly with concern clearly etched upon her features.

“How are you holding up?”

-—-

Frenzy’s gaze strays briefly away from Lorna, to watch the lights rise upward, but at the other woman’s soft words the Bruiser of the Brotherhood shifts her attention back to the green-haired mutant.

Almost there’s a twist of sympathy to Frenzy’s features. She’s been with Magneto long enough to understand some of the emotion upon Lorna Dane’s features.

But with that understanding doesn’t come words, only silent empathy, as Frenzy waits for Lorna to continue to speak. The mention of Exodus and Pietro’s possible whereabouts brings a nod from Frenzy, “Yes.” She finally says, “I’ve been advised similarly. We will find him and we will bring him back.” Frenzy finishes resolutely, her voice firm and as she speaks her dark brown eyes drop to the pendant that Lorna fidgets with.

And while she might have a question, about the new locket, it isn’t asked. Lorna is, after all, a daughter of Magneto.

Rare is it for an Acolyte to question one of the Blood.

No matter that Frenzy has been given more latitude under the Twins. Old habits, especially right now, are hard to overcome.

It would have been easy for Frenzy to fall to silence then, to revert to her normal pattern of behavior when on duty. Only before she can do just that Lorna asks that last question of hers. A typical sort of question asked during times of hardship.

How’re you holding up.

An automatic response immediately jumps to Frenzy’s lips and for a second she can’t speak. There’s the strong need to say ‘I’m fine’, to refute all she feels, but the words stick stubbornly behind closed lips.

And in that silent moment there’s a glimpse behind the soldier facade Joanna Cargill often wears. It allows for a small window into the private Hell that are currently Joanna’s emotions.

Guilt.
Anger.
Fear.
Despair.

Her eyes bare all, in that breath of time, before all of those terribly powerful emotions are tucked back behind a professional mask.

“My concern is for Pietro and Wanda. We must find him and learn what has happened. He would never abandon Wanda like this.”

“Is there anything I can do for you?”

-

Lorna caught the subtly that was the other woman's slight expressions. The minor ways that Frenzy showed sympathy, though she wasn't entirely sure what it meant. After all, the green haired woman was still struggling with her own emotions.

“Yeah, Wanda couldn't tell us anything to go on. When I went to visit..” They wouldn't let her see her sister.

“She was asleep.” Her voice was clogged sounding even to her own ears. Her conversation crawled to a halt as emotion welled in Frenzy's eyes and in her expression before it was stomped down.

Slowly, carefully, Lorna reached up a hand to gently rest on Joanna's shoulder.

Hard as the whole situation had been, she still flashed a faint smile, strained as it was. “The best thing we can do for her is get Pietro back from whatever did this. Like you said.. he wouldn't willingly leave her. I'm here to help as much as I can.” Never mind that whatever had happened had taken out the twins..

The question on whether or she needed anything seemed to throw the youngest of the siblings off for a moment, before she dropped her hand and stepped back.

“A reset button?” She joked weakly, her voice dry and wreathed in bitterness. “Sorry,” A strangled laugh escaped Lorna as she dragged her hand through green locks that had grown long and curly down her shoulders.

“I'm…” The lie of ‘fine’ died on her lips as she met Frenzy's gaze and she fought the urge to sigh. Neither of them were really fine.


Lorna lays her hand upon Frenzy’s shoulder and it’s like a rock. Tension vibrates from that sympathetic touch and it continues until Lorna drops her hand away.

Still, there’s something potentially close to gratitude for that gesture, but even that isn’t expressed verbally. Only the briefest flash of emotion across her stoic expression once more.

“We will get him back.” She agrees, because truly there is no other answer here. “And then we will find out who brought this plague upon New York City and they will be punished.”

Lorna’s mention of a reset button and then her subsequent apology causes Frenzy to raise a hand upward. “There is no need to apologize -” She begins, but the rest of what she was about to say stalls when Lorna now reveals her own struggles.

While she doesn't necessarily reach out to the other woman, like Lorna so recently did, Frenzy tries to offer some comfort with her next words. "We have both seen much. We have likewise been through much. We have the strength to figure a way through this as well. It is but a matter of time."

Though neither of them are the most patient of people, sadly.

"Come. Let us finish the task you were doing here and then we can perhaps try and determine where the epicenter of these demons come from. If we know that, then we can come up with a plan to determine what started all this madness and keep our people safe."


The meeting of emotions, all unsaid, and unshared could be read in the two women’s features. In their gaze. A mutual understanding of loss that said ‘Not everything is fine.’ Brief as it was, in the beat of silence it was a comfort all on its own.

A small twist of her lips, a short exhale of breath and another nod follows Frenzy’s words that they both had struggles, issues, and that they would get through it.

Eventually.

That eventually would be something she’d gnawed on for days. Lorna had stayed in the dim light of the twilit Mutant Town. Part of her worried that the lack of sun would edge her closer to a manic state. She’d spent so much time in Genosha and in its tropical climate last year, that she’d more or less completely missed winter.

The darkness made things cooler. And while steel was great for defense.. It wouldn’t help so much come winter. Heat would become an issue if things went on much longer.

“I was just getting some more lights up on the ceiling. It’s not better lighting, but it's something. We have enough fuel and alternative batteries to keep going for a few more weeks before I need to try recharging them.” She glanced up at the twinkle of the lights above, her lips twisting into a faint grimace.

“Last year if this had happened, I would’ve been lost on what to do. Being in Genosha.. I know supplies that are needed, how to ration supplies and maintain a defensive parameter.” She rubbed her hand against her features, turning those green eyes toward Frenzy.

“But there was a goal in mind. It was only for so long. After this, is done.. We have to return all of what’s here to some kind of ‘normal’. People will want to go back to their homes.. And a good portion of those don’t exist anymore. I know what my father would want. For everyone to flee to Genosha. Abandon Mutant Town here in New York. It would be one less slum filled with mutants to the politicians.” Her lips twisted and she crossed her arms as she leaned back against the steel of the wall behind her.

Another sigh pulled at her, tugging her shoulders down. “I'm in a mood. All this darkness isn't helping…” She paused, considering Frenzy.

“How long did you work with my father? Before..”


“Something to do is better than nothing.” Comments Frenzy gravely, “There have been many times on many campaigns where all you can do is wait. Waiting is the hardest thing to do. It’s the bain to many a soldier’s existence.”

“It’s what can drive us to rash action. Or to such inattentiveness that we are a danger to ourselves.”

With that lesson given, Frenzy pauses as Lorna speaks again. About returning people to their homes and the trials that entails. The tall woman nods in agreement, but holds her response until Lorna is finished saying all she needs to.

“I cannot say what your father’s will is in the respects to Mutant Town.” At least, not so openly to Lorna, “But I will say that some might go to Genosha, but the majority will stay here. Whether their homes stand or are demolished, they will stay. It is then our job to help them find their life again. You, I, Pietro and Wanda, we can all help them rebuild their homes. That would be the goal to put your mind to.”

Once the Twins are rescued, of course.

Her talk of being in a mood brings a slight side-eye from Frenzy. Moods. How she understands that. “Come.” She states, “Let us walk then. You are likely not the only one feeling the darkness pressing in. If the people see you they will feel better.” As, hopefully, she will too.

And with those words said, the Bruiser of the Brotherhood steps away. She only pauses long enough to make certain Lorna follows.

And it’s as the two walk that she finally answers that last question. “Many years.” She states solemnly, “He found me when I was lost. When I had no other place to go beyond the field of war for the highest bidder. And while there’s purpose to a mercenary’s life, it’s only about the dollar, not about bettering the world. He showed me there is more to life than just fighting for money.”


Lorna pushed off the steel plating that covered the wall behind her, the lights above sparkled faintly against the smooth, reflective surface as she moved. Her steps were light, lighter than someone covered in metal should be. Her powers always at a constant hum to lift her partly into the air for such a dear feat. When she stepped loudly it was typically for a purpose.

“Waiting is the hardest. It's why I keep going out on patrol unless there's something for me to do here..” She breathed, her gaze falling side long at the other woman. Lorna had never been patient, and it hadn't been hard for those around her to pick that up. Not even when she had been pregnant had she wanted to sit around waiting.

“I don't get why they would stay… Guess I never felt that attached to a place. Not when so many people want our kind out and are working to make it harder and harder for us.” Her lips twisted at the thought. It was the same question that had returned to her over and over again throughout the years. Why stay?

She moved alongside the older woman as Frenzy spoke, her head tilting to the side, causing green locks to spill over the metal studded leather jacket.

“People look at me as a symbol and see what they want to see.” She drawled, her voice dry and half amused, half annoyed. It had started on Genosha and continued when she'd left. Magneto's daughter. Heir to his powers. A member of the X-Men. A middle ground. A mutant. A troubled young woman. She had a lot of labels these days.

She fell silent walking along the steel lined corridor. Her gaze sweeping from side to side, before resting on Frenzy again as the woman told her how she'd come to work for Magneto. For the father that she still struggled to understand and come to terms with.

“And now you're here for Pietro and Wanda. They're the ones actively carrying out those ideals now.. Do you…. Do you ever doubt it? The cause? That maybe my father is… Not necessarily wrong, but that it won't matter in the end? That it won't make a difference..” She kept her voice low, soft. Careful to not let others over hear her.


“They stay because this is home. They fight to continue to call it home even as it tries to kill them. It’s home.” Frenzy says quietly, her voice showing a tinge of some kind of emotion behind it.

The wry tone of Lorna’s isn’t missed, when the green-haired mutant speaks of being a symbol, and it causes Frenzy to turn her head slightly and look down at the other woman.

“Symbols are always needed.” Remarks the woman, “But in the end it doesn’t matter what everyone else sees, it’s what you do and the question to ask yourself is this; Do you like what you see? If not perhaps then it’s time to take a hard look at what you want, versus worrying about what others think.”

“There’s no point in living a lie.”

At Pietro and Wanda’s names the Bruiser briefly bows her head, “I do not doubt the ideal.” She says slowly, her voice thoughtful, “I never doubt Pietro and Wanda.” She continues, “But there are times that I too feel doubt. It is only natural. To those that say they never doubt I call them liars. It is our nature, as high-thinking creatures, to look at a problem and worry at it.”

“And whether we make a difference now or later, we must fight. If we sit idly by then we are just as guilty for allowing the world to turn against us as the humans are for doing it.”

And realizing that her tone might come off sharp, Frenzy pauses a moment, marshalling to soften her tone. “Do not let fear overcome you, Lorna. Even if you yourself cannot see the good you do it is there. I promise you. It is there.”


Home. It hadn’t really meant all that much to her. She’d been shipped from her adoptive parents’ house to Xavier’s. The time she’d spent at the Mansion had been a constant struggle. Between desperately wanting to fit in and believing in the dream that humans and mutants could someday live together.. And questioning it every minute she was there.

The dichotomy between wanting to be separate from her father’s actions and her own belief had left its mark. She didn’t want to be like him. And yet as she’d grown older, she’d found herself believing in a great many things he did. Just not.. Wholly.
Pietro and Wanda had been the first to respect that she desired something different. The first to not stand up and demand she’d choose a side.

Frenzy’s words brought her gaze low as she stepped, a faint furrow of her eyebrows following as she crossed her arms in thought. She had been a symbol in Genosha and had used that to help those around her. It had been the last time she’d felt useful. Like she was accomplishing anything of value. She had had a goal. Clearly written out and plain as day. She’d believed in what she was doing.

These days she simply felt tossed from side to side, reactionary. Defensive. She hated it. She chafed at the bounds, the limitations, and demands that others had for her.

It wasn’t until the other woman was finished that Lorna lifted her gaze upwards, her eyebrows arched as she considered.

“I don’t doubt that we have to do something. Sitting still.. Doing nothing, isn’t going to help anyone. I just.. I feel like I’m not doing enough. That it’s never going to be enough. Genosha.. Isn’t enough.” She made a sound of frustration at the back of her throat, pushing her hair back from her features as they twisted with restrained rage and annoyance at her own inability to articulate what it was that gnawed inside her.

“Nothing will ever be enough. There’ll always be something wrong. Even a few months ago, I told myself that Genosha.. A mutant homeland would be the dream. The ideal. But it’s here and it’s not.. It’s not enough.” She muttered, her voice thick.

“And I feel like sitting here, protecting Mutant Town.. It’s … it’s just something for the now. Not the future.” She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling, a grimace pulling at her expression. Slowly, she shook her head and a bitter smile twisted at her lips. “Like I said.. I'm in a mood.”


Silently Frenzy listens to what Lorna has to say.

Her frustrations. Her worries. Her fear.

Because it always comes down to fear when it truly matters. Fear of change, fear of not succeeding, fear of losing oneself, of losing those things they love.

Fear.

“You are letting fear command your thoughts and your hands. This is a mistake.” Frenzy begins, her dark brown eyes moving to look at Lorna’s expression.

“Instead use it as as a guide. When you feel the prickle of alarm know that this is your subconscious way of telling yourself to pay attention. To review a situation far more carefully than what you normally would. To be mindful and to always do your best.”

“If you do that then you will succeed in what you do. Whether that ‘succession’ is what you had originally envisioned it to be or something else.”

“Helping the cause isn’t just about protecting those around you, or the home we’ve built, or seeing the full picture for the future and knowing exactly what needs to be done. Mostly it comes down to doing what’s needed at the appropriate time.”

“Patience -” She says with an ironic smile, “Is typically what’s needed. Patience, planning and then action.”

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