wright_idea | SCENES FROM A HAT: This Post Will Self-Destruct in Five, Four, Three...

He's not sure what just happened, exactly. One minute he's walking along, enjoying the nice weather in the Nexus, and the next he's been grabbed and thrown roughly into a small room. It's only by some miracle of angle -- or perhaps his attacker has just been very careful -- that he hasn't landed on his left bad side.

He gets up, rushing to the door. Of course it's locked. Why WOULDN'T it be locked? You don't just chuck a person into a room unless you're trying to keep them there for whatever reason. Damnit.

A voice filters in, loud and blaring. "CONGRATULATIONS! YOU TWO HAVE JUST BEEN SELECTED TO SAVE THE ENTIRE NEXUS! ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS TO SOLVE THAT SIMPLE LITTLE PUZZLE IN THE CENTER OF THE ROOM AND YOU'RE A WINNER!"

Phoenix looks around in confusion. [Us "two?" Save the Nexus? What?]

The voice continues. "BUT REMEMBER: FAILURE TO DO SO IN THE TIME LIMIT MEANS THAT ALL OF THE NEXUS WILL BE SUCKED INTO AN ENDLESS OBLIVION! HAVE FUN KIDDIES! YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES."

It takes a moment for it to sink in. Then...

"WHAT?!"

He looks around frantically. It's then that he becomes aware that somebody else is in the room...

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Phoenix admires her calm under pressure. It reminds him a lot of Mia, who was also quite capable of keeping her head in these situations. Well, at least from his perspective, though it's hard not to admire the woman who both taught him the basics of the courtroom AND cleared his name in college.

He continues to listen to her story. "That is amazingly lucky. You have a brother, you say? Does he have the same powers as you, or does he do something else?"

He sighs. "You're pretty lucky, you know. I didn't have a lot of friends growing up myself. Well, less so after the fourth grade, whether I liked it or not." His mouth twists as he thinks back on tihs.

Phoenix shakes his head. "It's not your guys' fault, is it? And if you can control your abilities, I don't really see the point. It'd be a little unnerving, but no more so than hanging around a guy with a knife collection or something," he says.

Hmmm, that's how the pieces went together last time. What was it Mia said? Think outside the box...

The voice boomed. "THREE MINU --"

"SHUT UP."

"JUST TRYING TO KEEP YOU AWARE OF THE TIME. DICK."

Phoenix wonders if this nameless guy really has any right to be offended.

When you face off with people like Mountjoy, who can take over your body with just a touch, you learn to think under pressure. Because that's the only way you CAN think.

"Older brother. His name's Bishop. You might see him around the Nexus. About 6'6". Has the same tattoo I do." She makes a motion to her face. "His powers are a bit different. He absorbs energy from any energy source directed at him. Any energy based power. He can store the energy, like I do with light. And he can change the power into concussive force bolts, like I do. But he can also rechannel the energy into augmenting his strength, endurance and make him heal somewhat faster. Which I can't do, lucky bastard." She says it cheerfully enough, though she does wish that she could use that one.

"You'd think that, but...well, some people do give them reason to be nervous. Good reason, even. There are plenty of mutants who think that since they have powers and normal humans don't, it means that mutants are meant to rule." She frowns at the pieces. Yeah, she can see where this is going, too. "So, even though there are plenty of good, quiet mutants who don't want anything to do with that shit, a few bad apples and all..."

She falls back on her butt this time. Less from booming voice overhead than Phoenix's shout back. She raises an eyebrow and looks up. "Look, not like you have any reason to be upset with him, jackass."

Shaking her head, she gets back up. "Okay, this isn't working." Still no panic. Other than her shoulders tensed way the hell up. Still plenty of time.

Phoenix smirked. "Older sibling with the stronger power? Sounds kind of like Maya and her sister Mia. Of course, I didn't even know Mia HAD spirit channeling powers until..." He trails off a bit here, looking melancholy. "Well anyway, I kinda have heard that one before -- which probably means you also love the big lug anyway, right?" He grins.

He ponders the mark. "M... I'm guessing mutant? I'm a little afraid to ask what warranted the two of you getting that mark," he says, pretty sure he's not going to like the answer.

Phoenix scowls. "People who decide they've got the power and the right to fling it around? Yeah, I've heard that one before too. And I've seen a lot of lives destroyed with that attitude," he comments tersely. "There's always a few assholes willing to do that, human or otherwise."

He stares at the pieces more. Think outside the box... wait. He starts arranging the pieces in a way that doesn't seem like it should work. He may be totally off on this, but...

"Yeah, well, he's also taller. Life's a bitch." Entirely too chipper about that. But then, Shard's died and come back. You learn to roll with the punches. "Anyway, it's a pretty common thing that siblings either have complimentary powers or powers that don't work on each other at all. I can power him up, but he can't use his powers on me. And yeah, I love the big ox."

She reaches up, touching the tattoo for a moment before nodding. "Yeah. When I come from wasn't great. Humans had made these robots called Sentinels to quell the mutant 'threat'. Well, they quelled it all right. Put mutants into containment camps and branded them. All children were tested for the gene and placed into the camps if it came up positive. The marks meant we couldn't leave the camps and hide among the populace. Not even the kids."

His work gets her interested, leaning forward to watch. Hey, anything that could work at the moment, right? Once she catches on to what he's doing, she helps out. Even if it's just to offer a piece that looks like it might go in the right place.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what they do. People are assholes all over. Human or not."

Phoenix chuckles. "Bet that must've annoyed the hell out of him during sibling fights. But it's good to hear you guys are close," he says.

He pales a bit listening to this. "That sounds way too disturbingly like what I learned about the Holocaust," he comments. "That's just sick. But I suppose that fits into the assholes part of things. You just have to figure out where the non-assholes are."

He continues futzing for a little bit. The announcer suddenly blares again.

"ONE MINUTE! YOU HAVE ONE MINUTE LE -- AW, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO WAIT A LITTLE LONGER."

The disappointment in its voice is obvious. Phoenix and Shard have figured it out.

Shard snorts and shakes her head. "You probably know as well as I do that siblings don't need powers that work on each other to hurt each other plenty."

She watches him pale and nods. "At least nobody was actively trying to kill us. Which was at least better than the Holocause in that respect." She smiles a bit, though. "Both humans and mutants got sick of living under Sentinel rule, though, so there was a rebellion. Both sides working together. Mind, it's the only time before or since that I know about that it's happened."

Helping as much as she can, Shard finally sits back and looks up as the speaker comes on again. And she laughs. "They're always so surprised when you can actually do it."

Phoenix grins. "Yeah, probably the case. I don't have any siblings myself, but I can imagine."

"Well, I guess there's always a silver lining to every cloud, as they say. It shouldn't have happened, but at least humans and mutants can list one instance of unity, huh?" he says, looking contemplative.

Phoenix smirks. The doors open, seemingly reluctantly. "Looks like we've got no reason to stick around here anymore," he says.

"I'd say you didn't miss out on much other than bruises, but it's not so bad, really." She laughs a bit and nods. "Even if it's one that, with any luck, will never happen in the timeline now." At least, she hoped Bishop had stopped it.

Shard pushes herself up, bending over to stretch out her hamstrings as the door opens. "Thank God. I mean, nothing against you, Phoenix, but I'm definitely ready to be out of here."

Phoenix scratches his head. "Time stuff? Makes my head hurt. But if it's dealt with, that's all good, I suppose," he says.

He grins. "None taken. Good working with you, Shard." He holds his hand out.

Shard snorts, grinning. "Believe me, I know what you mean. I lived it and it still gives me a headache."

She takes his hand, shaking it firmly. "It was good working with you too, Phoenix. I'm sure that we'll run into each other around the Nexus again."

SCENES FROM A HAT: This Post Will Self-Destruct in Five, Four, Three...

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