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...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"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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