10711/In Search Of A Belle

In Search Of A Belle
Date of Scene:	12 January 2020
Location:	War Room - X-Men Base
Synopsis:	Rogue returns from outer space while the other X-men are still searching for her.
Cast of Characters:	Shadowcat, Archangel, Sunspot, Rogue

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Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty has helped gather what data they could on the attack on New Years that resulted in Tony Stark, Captain America, Rogue and Captain Marvel being displaced by portals. Hopefully displaced. The portal that a piano was only partially in was torn in half, much like one of Blink's portals does to something.

Though the science is more of Hank McCoy's area, Kitty has been providing computer support, crunching whatever sensor data she was able to obtain from JARVIS. So far, all four are still missing, the men through one portal, the two ladies through another.

Kitty has been at it all night. She's currently sitting in a chair, wearing sweats and a sweatshirt she's turned inside out, probably to hide a coffee stain on the other side rather than taking the time to go change. She gets up and trods over to the coffee pot. "Empty. Why didn't I make another pot?" she asks herself as she starts to do so. Lockheed is lying nearby on a console, just watching her through troubled eyes.

Archangel has posed:
"Because you probably have a million things going on at once, and apparently haven't had a shower." Warren responds as he stand in the doorway for a moment. He's dressed down, which for him includes a t-shirt that costs as much as Kitty's whole ensemble, and a pair of expensive sweat pants, and don't ask about the athletic shoes.

"You were at the party longer than I was." he admits to her as he moves to the side, tucking his hands in his pockets as his wings fold behind him to be unobtrusive. "Terri and I ended up on crowd control duty." What, he was on a date. Teachers can do that, shut up.

Sunspot has posed:
Roberto is aware the Avengers went missing. Hell, most of the world is aware. There is a lot of concern in certain circles some of the super-team enemies would take advantage of the situation. It is a good moment to invest in Insurance Companies.

Avengers missing, including Rogue, which makes it an X-Men concern too. So Roberto has been asking around since she got to the school earlier this afternoon. Which brings him down here, to the War Room. "Hey Kitty," he greets, "and... hello, Warren," he adds at spotting the winged mutant. "Do we have anything on Rogue? I am told you are on the case."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde gets the new pot of coffee started and looks up as Warren comes in. "I don't smell bad," she counters. Then does a surreptitious sniff at herself. "Too bad," she amends before giving him a tired smile of greeting. Really she doesn't, but it's pretty obvious she's been without a shower today. "There was a lot that needed controlling," Kitty tells Warren with a sigh. Her own arrival at the party was to see a stream of people fleeing in panic.

Kitty slouches to lean back against the table beside the coffee maker, apparently ready to wait there until the device has done its job and prepared her a new cup. "Roberto," she adds to greet him as he comes in. "Nothing yet. Trying to get a lead on the other end of a closed portal is like... ah... I don't know. Trying to predict where the other end of a strand of spaghetti is in a bowl of it the size of New York?" She shakes her head. "Some of the physics is... Hank stuff. Or Forge. Tony, you get the gist."

Kitty removes the band holding her pony tail to ruffle her fingers through it to try to help refresh herself, before re-securing her hair. "How are you both doing?" she asks. "I've not had a chance to check in like I'd have liked. Love having you both back here."

Archangel has posed:
"I get the feeling that there's not enough marinara in the universe for a bowl of spaghetti like this, Kitty." Warren responds and reaches up to scratch at his shoulder in thought. "What do we know about the person that did the teleporting?" he asks Kitty curiously. "If we know what race they were, we can determine what planets they may have and it could help with finding out where they went?" He's grasping at straws, but that seems to be all they have at the moment.

Sunspot has posed:
Roberto shakes his head. Since the Avengers got taken, he is quite sure all the big brains are in the case. "You will figure out something. It might be a good idea to ask Alpha Flight and other extra-planetary contacts, of course."

As for her question. "I am well. Juggling responsibilities with private life, not enough sleep. But usually happy times. I come visit here when I can. Which is not as often as I want. But you know," he shrugs.

Shadowcat has posed:
"Mmm. But with some cheese sticks to dip in the marinara," Kitty says, her lack of food that goes with her lack of shower showing through in where her thoughts end up. Kitty glances at the coffee pot. Still brewing, so she answers Warren with, "Mikonia was what she called herself. Came here seeking some stone. Spoke about melting the planet if she didn't get it, which would seem to make her extra-terrestrial that she thinks of us as a planet and not a country or city."

"Black armor, blue silk. Technological aspect. Blue portals, kind of like Blink's but for the color," Kitty adds. "Red skin, and an oddly shaped jaw, and a ridge of spines," she says, motioning to where the spines were. "And armed with a rifle of some sort with different settings. I didn't recognize a species," she says. "Hank and I've been focusing on the tech part trying to trace the portals somehow by what Stark Tower's sensors picked up."

Archangel has posed:
"Stone? Diamond district was 20 blocks west." Warren comments with a smirk. "I wasn't much of a help that night, not sure what I can do to help here. Me and outer space.." his voice trails off, a memory of the last time he was in space washing over him. And for a moment, his skin pales, almost allowing that blue palor. But he recovers and snaps back to, frowning. "No type of alien I know of."

Sunspot has posed:
Roberto shakes his head again. The description of the alien doesn't sound familiar. But his own experiences in space have been limited and accidental. "Have you contacted the Starjammers?" Is all he can offer. "Do we know why did this alien take the Avengers anyway? Maybe they had a 'stone' of some kind they had retrieved recently in one of their missions."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty finally is able to fill up her coffee cup. She adds two cream and a sugar before trudging back to retake her seat. "Yeah, my last trip wasn't for the best either," Kitty comments to Warren. The tale of the group that went to the Moon to investigate a crashed Cybertronian ship from the 50s is well known enough. They barely were rescued before their air ran out, when solar flares disrupted Blink's ability to portal them back.

Kitty gives a little shake of her head after she's settled back into her seat then. "I don't think it was her intent. Just a combat tactic. She had four portals to hide behind. Used one to get in the way of the piano Rogue threw at her," Kitty explains.

She motions with her hands to show something in motion. "She laid Tony out, and Cap was protecting him. And she whooshed one of the portals and it shot across the room towards them so they went through it. Then the piano throw, and doing the same to Rogue and Carol," Kitty says. "So it was portaling them away from the battle, not really a kidnapping. She wanted this stone whatever it was. If she does just want a nice diamond though, I'm sending her to you two. Together you can probably give her the Hope Diamond, right?"

Archangel has posed:
Glancing aside to give Roberto a wry grin, Warren comments. "I think someone here has diamond envy. Boyfriend not find a big enough rock?" he asks in a teasing manner to Kitty before he listens to the recap of the story. "She wanted to get them out of the way. To make it easier to find this stone she was talking about. That could mean that it's in the Tower's vaults?" he shrugs his shoulders. "Or she's off her rocker crazy and came to the wrong place."

Sunspot has posed:
Roberto smirks, "if she was threating to melt the planet, diamonds is not what she is going to get from me," more likely another flying piano. "I am quite sure the remaining Avengers would have checked it out, but it might be worth a shot to ask them. Them of the other guests in the party. Perhaps one of them has an alien stone."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty gives a wry chuckle and wads up some paper to throw at Warren's head. "I'm plenty happy with Peter's jewels," she says, adding a stuck out tongue towards Worthington for good measure. "I don't know that she knows where this stone was. Tony was... ah, Tony. So she attacked. It's possible it's something in Stark Tower, but nothing I've heard of anyway. Tony either didn't know what it was, or was playing dumb. Either a possibility. Though, if it was something they had, I'd hope Pepper and JARVIS would enlist some security, from the other Avengers. Or even, us," Kitty muses quietly.

The young woman holds her coffee in both hands, savoring it like another woman might said diamond. She takes a sip and sighs, then types for a few seconds to start up the next simulation trying to decipher something from the energy signatures of the portals. "I'll try to make sure they are running that angle down," she says. "On the good side, if they survived the trip, Rogue is at least with Carol. I mean, she can't take Rogue into space, but at least she could go get help, Carol could, and return for her. If they are both free that is."

Archangel has posed:
Catching the paper ball out of the air. "What you do with Peter's jewels is none of my business." He lobs the piece of paper over towards the trash can then sobers in thought. "So. We have an alien that took out the big three on the Avengers, and one of our hardest hitters." Sticking his hands in his pockets, he frowns, casting a look over towards Robert. "My play would be to be setting up for an invasion. After all, with Superman gone, and the heart and soul of the Avengers just removed, we're looking pretty thin and vulnerable at the moment."

Sunspot has posed:
"I really didn't need to know about Parker stones," snarks Roberto. Warren's words make him lose the smirk, though. But then he shakes his head slowly. "But then she wouldn't have portaled them away by accident. Of course maybe it just looked accidental."

And Superman got killed in a fight with Batman. Probably not an alien. "We should really ask Alpha Flight for more intel. Carol is one of them, after all."

Archangel has posed:
"We're assuming it's accidental. I'm not ready to buy into it." Warren's always been a doubter, even more so since everything that happened to him. Though he nods at the mention of Alpha Flight. "Them and SHIELD. Aren't they supposed to be the whole 'we know everything' organization?" he asks with a shake of his head. "Time to put their mouth where our tax dollars go into."

Sunspot has posed:
Roberto wasn't there, so he has no firm idea. But if Kitty said it looked accidental, he leans towards accepting the assessment. There isn't much he can do to help the investigation, since he is not tech-wizard or has any unique contacts the X-Men don't share. "I suppose I can't do much from my corner. But keep me up to date, please," he says to Kitty.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde gives the two men collectively a nod of her head. "I don't think she had any clue who she was facing. Thought, why appearing where she did, is a good question. Could just be it being a high tech center she went there thinking she'd get more results than... I don't know. Montana? But, could be she was trying to weaken us, indeed. Oh, she mentioned something about the "armies of Titan" having sent her," Kitty says. "Though, nothing unusual showing up about the moon by that name, though it wouldn't hurt to get someone capable to go have a look see."

Kitty pauses a moment and then says, "So, um, Superman? His body wasn't in his tomb. It's being held by some spy organization, maybe trying to clone him or... well, you two can guess the kind of advancements someone might try to get out of a Kryptonian body. Anyway, the Justice League were tied up in dealing with that," she says.

Archangel has posed:
"So he pulled a Jeanie, huh." Warren gives a little grunt. Sore spot? Oh yes, yes indeed. Frowning to himself, he pulls his hands out of his pockets to fold over his chest. "What can we do, Kitty?" he asks her, getting to the point. "Because right now it sounds like a whole lot of nothing. You need to pool resources to throw money at something, that's one thing, but this sounds like an exercise in futility." He's feeling useless and it shows, he's never been one to hide his thoughts on things.

Sunspot has posed:
Roberto gets himself a cup of coffee, adds a spoonful of sugar. "Not a problem we can just toss money to make it vanish," he comments. "I suppose we are in the waiting wagon, Warren. If you need help for a Rogue-rescue team, give me a call," he offers, heading out with his coffee cup.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue had arrived back at the gate to the mansion. She'd told Carol to drop her off near by in Breakstone Forest before Carol would fly the yacht they'd stolen up to Alpha Flight's station and throw the prisoner they had into a cell up there.

Using her access codes, she made her way through the mansion and down to the base. Wearing a bodysuit of dark blue with crimson red, form fit to specifically her size with some strange space technology, and a light EVA space helmet held in her right hand, Rogue wanders the hallways of the X-Men base, on her way to her locker down here to stow the suit and get a change of clothes.

She's run in to nobody as of yet... not even upstairs. "Zombie apocalypse..." She mutters to herself.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde does a two-handed shrug towards Warren at the question about Superman. "I don't know if he's alive. His body was taken, and a sophisticated fake grown and put in its place. And they figured out who is responsible, but... I don't know his fate," she says. "It's possible, yeah."

Kitty glances towards one of the monitors, looking to see if the latest simulation trying to trace where the portal ended up has finished. Lockheed suddenly jumps to his feet though, flapping his wings in what could only be called an excited manner, and he darts out the war. Soon Rogue has all the purple space dragon she could hope for, excitedly flying around her and landing on her shoulder.

Kitty rises to see what caused the reaction from the empathic dragon, leaving her coffee cup behind though only with a regretful look towards it. As if to say, I love you, coffee cup, and I will return for you. She heads over towards the door and looks out, spotting a familiar face if not the attire. "ROGUE!" Kitty says, rushing out to her.

Archangel has posed:
"Sorry, Kitty, don't mean to ruffle your feathers. Just this stuff sometimes..." he waves his hand around the lab and frowns. "It's just all too much sometimes." Warren admits. "I nearly ruined a date with Theresa cause we got to talking about how evil our uncles were and I totally forgot her alcohol problem." he sighs. He was about to say more, when they're suddenly interrupted by Lockheed's dancing, and then darting off. Then Kitty's dashing off and yelling Rogue.

But she isn't dressed like Rogue was. If anything, she's in a suit similar to the thing that ported her, and he's immediately shifting into his blue skinned, metal-winged, much more angrier form. "KITTY DON'T!" he yells at her as his wings move to spread out and fill the hall. "She might not be Rogue!"

Rogue has posed:
The suit is definitely not Rogue's usual affair, nor is it even her usual colors. But her hair is tied up into a bun on the back of her head and her white bangs are loose on the sides of her face, so it definitely looks like her!

When Lockheed's wings draw her attention, Rogue turns around to see the dragon come up on her, her eyes go wide and she starts to laugh as he finds a place to land on her shoulder.

So by the time Kitty and Warren come around the corner they find her with her non-helmet-holding hand up stroking the side of Lockheed's neck and rubbing her face against the side of the Dragon's own, sharing affections with the little purple fella who doesn't suffer the wrath of touching her skin like you 'normies' do.

When Rogue realizes Kitty and Warren are there, she opens her eyes and smiles at them, then waves the helmet at them. "Heya, folks." She states at them. "Made it back! I don't even know what day it is! But ya'll don't look fifty years olde'ah."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty'd given a curious smile at the mention of the date with Theresa. Though that's a question that will have to wait for another day as she follows Lockheed out. Kitty is about to join Lockheed in the excited welcoming back, when Warren puts himself between them and takes on a more cautious approach.

Kitty slows her joy for the moment, realizing it's probably safest. "Rogue, what happened? How'd you make it back?" she asks, eyeing the outfit. She doesn't look like she thinks it isn't Rogue, but she gives in to Warren's caution just the same. Wouldn't put it past Mystique to try to sneak in with such a ruse, after all.

Archangel has posed:
When Lockheed shows that he trusts that Rogue is Rogue, Warren's wings relax, but he's yet to shift back to his normal Angel form. "How'd you get back here?" he asks her as he watches warily, the neurotoxic wings at the ready, just in case. He realizes he just echoed Kitty though, so he goes quiet.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue gives another little finger scritch to the underside of Lockhee's chin before she looks to Kitty and Warren's mutual questions. She knows they have every right to be wary of her. Mystique has impersonated her before, likely more times than Rogue cares to even know...

"We stole a ship." She says, then pauses and corrects herself, foreshadowing her explanation with a big smile. "Charmed a ship out of a... well t'be honest, I'm not really sure WHAT that thing was. But he said he had a lotta wives, and one'of'em was a real bitch. So he gave her pride'n'joy yacht t'us just t'spite her. How about that?" She glances down at herself and then puts her free hand on one of her hips and the helmet against her other and does a little pose.

"Turns out I fit right inta her stuff too. For the most part... Which makes sense, cause that - whatever he was - seemed a bit 'ya know' toward me. A little 'eager' if ya get my drift." She glances over at Lockheed and gives him a quick peck on the side of his cheek then looks back at them.

"Think fast!" Rogue then uses both her hands to toss the space helmet to Kitty. "I recorded some'a the trip on this. Our return t'Earth is all inside'a that thing's memory banks. We had t'do this thing where we skipped around star systems, chargin' the jump drive thing? Took daaays. But hell, the ship had a jacuzzi and was /stocked/ with food. So it was nice!"

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde catches the helmet and looks from Rogue to Warren for a moment. "Seriously. Who else could get sent across the galaxy and get more action from an alien than-" Kitty says, but trails off rather than finish the thought.

Lockheed returns the loving, nuzzling against the woman who either he is quite fond of, or just is glad to have his primary source of cheesy poofs returns. Probably some of each, though mostly the former. Kitty checks to make sure Warren's ok with the answer. "Glad to have you back. We've been trying to track where the portals could have ended up. But... well, I'm not even going to try to explain the physics because I was pushing to keep up," she says, shaking her head.

She looks down at the helmet. "I'll get it loaded up," she says of the recorder. Of course it'll go on an isolated system at first, the ace hacker always security conscious. "So Carol's ok. Did you see Tony and Cap? They had a portal move over them too," she says.

Archangel has posed:
Warren finally stands down, shifting back to his normal form as he relaxes his posture. "Hell of a way to start a new year. You didn't even get a kiss." he says with a smirk as he folds his arms over his chest. With Kitty handling most of the questioning, and information gathering, he's going to be quiet for the moment.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue watches Warren shift back and she offers him a slight grin. "Story'a my life." She says in a super dramatic way. "Guess I've had some memorable ones though, huh?" there's a bigger grin shown to the man then before her eyes trace back over to Kitty. She tips her chin toward the techie girl in a nod. "Carol and I were it where we were. No sign'a Cap or Tony... they ain't back yet, I take it?" She draws in a breath then. "Hell, if they end up on a planet like us, they might be in more trouble. Havin' Carol on my side, made things way... easier, ya know? Guess I bette'ah call'er, let'er know the other two are still out there somewhere..."

She glances over to Lockheed then and grins at him. "You're a lover as ever. Feels like I ain't seen ya in MONTHS, fella." She then snickers and looks back to the other two. "So what is today? I'm guessin... a week and a half since New Years?"

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty's looking like she's seen better days. In fact Rogue can probably deduce how long she's been at work trying to find them. She's even got her sweatshirt on inside out, something she does when she gets a stain on it but won't make time to go change.

She finally moves over, and gives Rogue a tight hug if allowed. "God I'm glad you're ok. Been praying," she says. "Yes, if Carol can... I don't know what she can do, I mean, space is a huge place to search. But she has allies and... anyway, yes, let her know they are still missing," Kitty says.

She lets Rogue go and steps back. "Warren, we're half-way there at least. And you didn't even have to buy the Hope Diamond," she says, trying to add some levity back in. "Ah, speaking of... did Carol have any idea what that Mikonia woman was looking for, what stone she meant? I have a feeling whatever it is, we need to keep it out of her hands."

Archangel has posed:
Warren chuckles. "I'd buy Rogue the Hope Diamond anyway." His tone is light for the moment, giving the Southern Bombshell a wink. "I'll let you two get to discussing things, since I'm better off if you need money for something."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue is happy to hug Kitty again and get to share a moment with her best friend once more. Some part of her didn't actually thing she'd make it back here, even with Carol's help. She'd told Carol to just fly off and go find help, and though she knew Carol could've, she didn't. She'd insisted on staying with Rogue to get her home even if it meant inconveniencing herself. Thats Captain Marvel though, willing to help at all costs of herself.

Rogue smiles between the two of them, she looks at Warren. "Is the Hope Diamond big?" She asks, having heard of it, but never seen it before. Its not the kind of thing thats ever been on her radar before. "Now I'm curious, ya better buy it for me just so I can see it." She teases Angel with a sly grin.

Another look back to Kitty though. "I didn't ask her that stuff, we should probably call her back in once she's settled. She might be able t'answer things like that. Truth is... I didn't hear none'a that stuff that night. I was at the back'a the crowd when it all started, I thought it wa gonna be another borin' Tony speech, about how great whatever it is he's doin' is, so I sorta tuned out until gunfire got my attention."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty smiles over to Warren, clasping his shoulder lightly. "Thanks for everything," she tells him. His support, his and Roberto's definitely was good to have as things were looking bleak in what turned out to be the moments before they took such a turn for the better.

"I'm actually not sure how big it is. It's cursed too, I think, so might want to hold off on that thought actually," Kitty tells Rogue. "Or maybe I'm confusing my curses." Kitty rubs at her face, and then her eyes. "I probably should shower," she says, eyes searching about her as if she's starting to run on empty after being up working on simulations all night. "Going to have Hank check you out? Good idea with the whole, alien planet thing," she suggests.

Kitty nods about Rogue having missed Mikonia's statements. "I only caught part of it, mostly heard about it after. Was looking for some stone. Ah, sent by the armies of Titan. Guessing that didn't have to do with the moon in our solar system though if she portaled you off to some other planet in the galaxy."

Archangel has posed:
"Rogue, darling, I'm not Cajun enough for you and you're not redhead enough for me." Warren responds with a chuckle. "I'm gonna let you two get reacquainted and brainstorm, and go get some rest and try to remind myself to pull my head out my ass at somepoint. You two have a good night."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue offers a big grin then to Warren, she raises a free hand up to wave it at him back and forth. "Bye now." She says in a southern sassy sort've way. "And let me know if ya ever met a Cajun worth my time." Oh yeah!

Back at Kitty, Rogue moves to hook arms with her so they can walk together. "Ya look all manner'a fright. Been that worried about me bein' gone, huh, Sugah?" She says to her friend. "Hadn't thought about Hank, though I did just spend a buncha time on an alien yacht that has been used for god knows what purposes. So maybe /I/ better shower up and check in with the good Doctor myself."

"Its good t'be back here though, but dang it if I ain't worried about Cap'n Stark now..."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty loops arms with her bestie. "Ok Warren, thanks again. Great having you back around. Like told times," she tells the X-man who predates herself on the team as well. She smiles over to him and then nods to Rogue. "Ah, yes. Someone's space pleasure yacht? Definitely good to get checked out," Kitty concludes.

She gives Rogue a quick side hug before letting her go. "And I'm going to go clean up and... maybe an hour nap. Will give the latest sim some time to run and... and I can't even think straight. So yeah, I definitely need an hour or so of sleep," she says.