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(no subject)

Who: Billy Kaplan + OTA
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: The Blue Fish
When: Now!

( blue fish )

[...con... fetti? alright, that sure is a thing that just happened. Billy's used to teleporting, but it's never felt quite like this. so weird. everything about this is weird, weird, weird, and coming from him that's saying something.

Reaching around the back of his head, he pats awkwardly at where the augment rests, disturbed, and starts wandering through the halls of the ship. Might as well get acquainted, and maybe make sure he's not just super crazy right now. You never know, where he's from.]

( private; text to kate )

So are my powers busted or are you the only one here?

[Location spell went kinda haywire, whoops.]

( video; fleetwide )

Okay, so, ignoring that this is kind of awful and I hate that I apparently can't teleport myself home...

Any advice for first-timers? Can't say I've watched much reality TV back home. Um, barring that... what's some good places to visit off-ship if you've got like five cents to your name?

It's very, uh. Colourful here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

-- I mean, the universe didn't sound great. The two of you were princes. I think I might've been dead.

[ kate says it calmly. because that's just the thing, isn't it? ] Aside from him? I haven't met anyone who has been both from an alterna-world and known us from it. Which makes this really strange, sometimes.

[ she inhales. ]

The Scarlet Witch was here for a while. Younger, though. And definitely not aware of -- us.

[ and kate made a point to never come out swinging with i know your kids. sorta. ]

[That's a lot to take in, and a lot he could laser-focus on: them being princes means they were actual brothers, rather than the awkward on-again-off-again relationship by circumstance they have now, and princes also implies royal Magneto family, which sounds a whole lot like what he'd heard of the dreamworld Wanda had made back home before she retro-created them and erased the mutants. And... for the Scarlet Witch to be here, to have just missed her, not that it would have made a difference if she didn't know him anyway. Geez.]

Um. Can I just make it my official stance here and now that I really don't like alternate realities? Like, at all?

As far as I can tell? They pretty much always and exclusively suck. [ except there's something to be said for the world this captain america is from. it seems -- kinder, in some ways. emptier in others. ]

I've been keeping track. So far, after talking with familiar faces and trying to compare notes? There have been seven different versions of home represented here in the fleet.

[ which is small potatoes, really. but worth sharing. ] I can run you through them all. If you want.

Probably better to know than not.

[Ignorance is just gonna cause trouble and awkward meetings later, anyway.]

[ kate nods in agreement. that's her kind of logic. ]

Well. Currently, we've got you and me. Provided we don't figure out any sorta discrepancies between our stuff? That's one. And then there's Cap. His world sounds like it's a bit behind ours? As far as I've been able to figure out, him and Iron Man just now duked it out. [ y'know. ] The Black Widow is from that same world. Wanda -- she was too. Only none of them seem to know what mutants are. But there was a whole other slew of people from whole 'nother world where there were X-Men but no Avengers: Magneto, the Professor, hell...before me? Hank McCoy was the captain of this ship. And he was young.

[ and dating mystique, but that's a whole other story. ]

That brings us to three. Keeping up so far?

Geez. Trying my best...

[He crouches down and at last offers a hand out for Lucky to sniff, giving the dog some good scritches. Poor pup's been very patient while he and Kate had their reunion, and who can say no to such a good doggo?

It's a nice distraction from the oh holy crap of alternate realities Kate is compiling.]

[ she sits back, leaning on the heels of her palms while she watches him lavish attention on lucky. and he's a good boy (or else just an old boy) and luxuriates in every scratch and pet. ]

Good. Because things only get weirder. On the X-Men front, there's a whole other 'verse that's different from the one I just mentioned. Rogue was here -- younger, though. And I think Gambit still is. And then there's Kitty Pryde, but she's from some version of home where Apocalypse ruined everything. So that's two more versions.

[ kate's nose crinkles. ] And then there was a world where Bucky Barnes became Captain America and Steve Rogers became the Winter Soldier. Neither of them are here any more, but the Bucky who was used to captain the Heron. Now, the captain of the Heron is the actual Winter Soldier from the same universe as Steve Rogers and the Black Widow and -- and there's Sam Wilson, too, but I think he's still running around as Falcon.

[ so that's six altogether. ]

And you and me make seven. [ ... ] Eight, I guess, if you count wherever the hell Tommy came from before he disappeared again. The multiverse is hella represented, here.

Eight... god. That's too many, I'm getting flashbacks.

[at least they don't sound like the kind of hellscapes that America took them to. These realities sound almost halfway normal.]

I'll keep an eye out, and I'll try not to make things weird.

Speaking of making things weird -- [ kate winces. ] But you and I should probably swap notes. Make certain, you know, that we're actually on the same page.

[ she doubts they are. no one, as of yet, has come through here from their version of home while also hailing from around the same time. ]

Probably a good idea.

[Where to start, though... probably easiest to just, like, work their way up?]

Okay, are you on a team right now back home? Or gunning solo?

Solo. [ quick and earnest and honest. then, one step more: ] In Venice Beach. Maybe you haven't heard, but I'm a private investigator now.

[ a lop-sided smile. ]

Well. I'm almost one. Very very nearly one.

Okay, good start. Sounds familiar.

[Safe basis, whew.]

Did you see me and Teddy's new apartment? I texted you some photos.

[ a hum of agreement. ]

I think you mean my alternative to an AirBnB whenever I'm back in town. [ kate waves her hand. ] I saw it. It's gorgeous. Since when does this line of work pay enough to land yourself a spot like that?

[ and in new york! ]

[Huh... okay, then they're more or less on the same page. That's a relief.]

Um, since Roberto da Costa had an extra billion dollars lying around or something and owed us for being an asshole.

[honestly he's not even sure how rich Roberto is but that condo had to be disgustingly expensive to buy.]

He just...bought you a condo.

[ dot dot dot. ]

What level of 'asshole' are we talking about, here?

Drugged us and dumped us out in the desert because we wanted to try negotiating with SHIELD instead of going full-mutiny on them? I mean, there's no shortage of reasons. But that's the big one.

...Must've been some drug.

[ yes. yes, this is what she's taking from this conversation right now. ]

To knock out Teddy in Hulkling mode? That's an understatement. Also, did he forget that I can teleport and do location spells? What the hell did he think he was hiding from?

[it was probably just for show. Roberto liked to be flashy.]

His own desperation, maybe. [ which isn't an excuse. not exactly. but kate's taking the p.i. angle, now. she's trying to see it from roberto's pov -- even if just to understand how that could ever be a viable tactic. ]

But I'm guessing he didn't shake the pair of you for long.

No, nothing like that. I mean, I was mad at the time, but I get what he was trying to do. But that's how I ended up leading the team for a while- we were pretty much the only ones left.

[leader by default isn't something to brag about, but it did happen, so.]

[ -- she hears that implication. so, with a hand on his arm: ] Don't knock being the last one left standing. There's strength in that.

When you put it like that, it sounds kind of lonely.

[he's able to smile, though. it... hadn't been all bad. there'd been some reward in it, too.]

It usually is at the top.

[ is it any wonder she preferred to co-lead? kate likes the company. doubly so when that company is competent.

doesn't much hurt either if they're easy on the eyes. ]

Well... less to worry about here, at least. That's a blessing and a curse.

[because... because no team. but also, because no team.]

...Until some computer algorithm randomly names you captain of a ship, sure.

[ then it's the leader game all over again. ]