[ Video, Action ] Deuce of Clubs

[touchofrogue]

Who: Rogue and you! Yes, you.
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Marsiva
When: Saturday afternoon

[A is for Unintentional Broadcasting (or action, if anyone's there)]
[When Rogue wakes on the Marvisa, the video picks up on her suddenly convulsing. It has been months since she has experienced her powers in full, and her mind is thrown into sudden, loud, throbbing pain. She is surprised that the internal chaos is not as bad as it has been, and after a moment she realizes why: she only has three psyches left, and they are all more or less friendly. After taking a few moments to settle down, Rogue sits up. She is woozy, distracted and disoriented. She goes to stand and overbalances, the missing appendages on her back throwing her off enough that she trips on a sheet and falls gracelessly to the floor.]

Oh for the love of -[she can hardly believe it, she reaches to her back to confirm: her wings are gone.]- what in the Sam Hill--

[At this point, the Network decides that further following Rogue Walking Around to Get her Bearings will be boring, and shifts to something else. Later, she comes back to the communicator not only to answer any return comments that her embarrassing swan dive might have drawn, but to address the fleet as a whole.]

[B is for Delibrate Broadcasting]
[While the communicators aren't set up like Luceti journals, Rogue gets the general idea. She sends out a video post.]

Uh - hi. My name's Rogue, an' I guess I'd like ta speak to the Welcoming Committee. I'm hopin' to get a little bit more than the 'Lost in Space' vibe up here. Speakin' of... anyone have any idea how to turn this music off? I swear it's killin' brain cells.

[A pause. Her gaze shifts downward, and she seems to be bracing herself before she looks back up and addresses the camera with a small smile and a wry, if slightly hopeful light in her eyes.]

Guess I should throw some names out there, just to see if anythin' will stick. Anyone ever hear of... a group called X-Men, say? [A gloved hand reaches up to wrap around a deep green crystal pendent hanging from her neck.] Or a place called 'Luceti'?

[Another awkward pause. She's got a LOT OF EMOTIONS right now, okay, and she's not sure what else to say or do. She kind of hates throwing her hopes out to space like this, but what other choice did she have, really? She gives the camera another quick, small smile.]

Thanks.


[Rogue stretched. She was standing on a narrow railing in the Hospitality Deck - just standing. She hadn’t tried walking yet. She was still not used to this strange feeling of being without her wings. Her balance was off when she moved, when she stood… it would take her a few days to get used to it, maybe longer. She’d get used to it, though. If there was one thing all her experiences had taught her, it was that you could adapt to anything.

Her wings. Her wings were gone. She'd been left with two narrow scars running a lurid red down her back. She could access Logan and heal them, easy, she thought. But right now they were a physical reminder that she hadn't lost her mind completely. She could use that. She felt… oddly adrift (ha ha, and she couldn’t even blame Kurt for that). Even when she’d come into Luceti, Kurt and Kitty had been there. She didn't know what to do. She was alone and afraid... and already lonely.

She took her first step forward and wobbled, much to her frustration, and then another step. She didn’t fall - not yet - but it would be all right if she did. Rogue knew how to fall. She’d just take it one step at a time.]

Comments

B - video;

[unbearablynaive]

Thank you. I'll try not to be overly concerned.

[Still, if she knows Steve...]

Are you familiar with the Avengers, then?

B - video;

[touchofrogue]

[Oh thank God, that makes it so much easier.]

Yeah, you could say that.

[...and so much more complicated, actually. How did she even begin to explain... and the different versions of different worlds... and /sob, public video, she was so not all about this.]

Uh - there were some - from different worlds - at the place where I was held before.

B - video;

[unbearablynaive]

[He raises his eyebrows at that admission and its stumble in her voice.]

Not another reality show, I should hope? I've heard of a "castle" that was similar as well. It all sounds very confusing for the participants.

B - video;

[touchofrogue]

[She laughs a little.]

No, not a reality show. Not a castle either. A village. [She paused, but she'd said the name already so-] Luceti.

[And now we run into a wall called: Rogue's Ingrained Aversion to Talking about Other People's Business. She decides to try some more information first. After all, Vision could be a villain. He was red.

...yeah, right.]

How do you know them, exactly?

B - video;

[unbearablynaive]

[She had mentioned that name before, so he'll note that it's yet another of these strange places or forces.]

Bruce Banner and Tony Stark worked on my programming, and Thor's thunder brought me to life.

B - video;

[touchofrogue]

[This silence is the sound of Rogue's brain stuttering.]

--oh.

[...yes. That's really all she's got right now.

That and a zillion questions that she doesn't really have any business asking, especially over an open network.]

B - video;

[unbearablynaive]

[He grins at her expression, though he holds back laughter.]

I admit I do keep unusual company.

B - video;

[touchofrogue]

[Oh, buddy, you don't know the half of it. Tony Stark had been her friend, almost like a father in some strange reality - and Thor had almost been a brother in law.

...and she couldn't tell him any of this. It wouldn't be right, it wouldn't be fair. She missed them, suddenly, missed them with a physical ache that made her breath catch. Now she'd lost any chance of a return - they were truly gone.]

...I'm hopin' that you came from the end of whatever was goin' on that got you made. An' that it ended with all the Avengers okay.

[She could say that, at least. Let her sound like a fangirl or something (though her voice was perhaps a bit thick for that). She didn't care. It was worth asking.]

B - video;

[unbearablynaive]

[That, at least, he can smile and reassure her about. Yes, Dr. Banner was still missing, but that was entirely by his own choice.

Pietro wasn't all right, but he also doesn't want that to get to Wanda unless the time is right, so he'll leave that unmentioned.]

Yes, I did. There have been some disagreements, as one would expect, but we are all in good health and preparing for the next crisis. There are still threats out there, and it's possible there always will be - but for now, we are at peace.

B - video;

[touchofrogue]

That's good. [She let out a quiet breath.] I'm - real glad to hear that.

B - video;

[unbearablynaive]

Sometimes a brief peace is all the more welcome when one knows it may end at any time.

On that note, however, I will say life in this fleet has been relatively straightforward and with minimal danger.

B - video;

[touchofrogue]

[On the one hand, that's reassuring. On the other hand...]

Oh no. Why would you say a thing like that?

B - video;

[unbearablynaive]

[That gets a bit of a grin.]

Because I don't believe "tempting fate" is anything more than attaching a meaning to coincidence.

B - video;

[touchofrogue]

Well, [a touch of good humored grump in her voice] I hope that belief's comfortin' to ya when it starts pourin' out of no where.

B - video;

[unbearablynaive]

I'm certain it will be. Or perhaps you could say I'm hedging my bets and hoping the next encounter will be no worse than the last.

B - video;

[touchofrogue]

[...okay, hold on--]

Next encounter with what, exactly?

B - video;

[unbearablynaive]

Anything that one might find in space, I suppose. We've encountered one race of alien life already. There are others out there. As with any other life, there are bound to be friendly and hostile groups.

B - video;

[touchofrogue]

That's very diplomatic of you. [An observation, slowly drawled. Nothing mocking about it, just a certain sense of... filing it away.]

So this last encounter went well, huh?

B - video;

[unbearablynaive]

[ACTUALLY IT WAS PRETTY TERRIBLE but it could have been so much worse.]

There was danger, and in the end it was not what any of us had suspected in the beginning. But we contained the threat, and what we learned was enough to help those left on the planet. They won't have to live in fear of this threat again.

B - video;

[touchofrogue]

[That's pretty vague, Vision. Rogue takes a moment and sorts through it to then try and focus on the most relevant part:]

So... what was the threat, exactly?

B - video;

[unbearablynaive]

[PR is a delicate, finicky beast at the best of times.]

A city was ripped from the ground and raised thousands of feet into the air, with the intent of dropping it and causing an extinction-level event.

B - video;

[touchofrogue]

[Rogue took a moment to process that. It was almost a ludicrously simple weapon, although it was an incredible demonstration of power.

Honestly, it sounded like the kind of fit Magneto would throw on really bad days. Terrifying, but ironic, with a flash of poignant statement and... shit, when she thought of it that way, it kind of reminded her of someone else, too.

One hand came up to loosely grasp the green pendent she wore.]

Oh. I see. An' just, uh, who exactly, was gonna drop that city?

[It didn't sound like what he really wanted, he'd likely find it...wasteful, but at the same time... she had to know.]

B - video;

[unbearablynaive]

He was named Ultron. [Slight emphasis on the "was".] I don't suppose you'd be familiar with him?

[She does seem to know of the Avengers, after all. But then, so do a lot of people.]

B - video;

[touchofrogue]

[Ohgoodit'snotLoki.]

No - I've never heard of him.

[It take's a moment's replay to pick up on the 'was.' And frankly... she's not that grieved about it. Anyone trying to drop a city on the world and kill everyone was probably better off dead.]

Guess I won't have the displeasure.

[...unless he shows up here. In which case, hey, at least she's got a name.]

B - video;

[unbearablynaive]

[If Ultron shows up here, Vision is going to sit on him until he behaves.]

With any luck, you most certainly won't--and I advise caution if you do.

Though I must ask, did you have a suspect in mind?