2618/New Threats, Old Allies

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New Threats, Old Allies
Date of Scene: 28 September 2017
Location: Unknown
Synopsis: Summary needed
Cast of Characters: Thor, Vision, Scarlet Witch




Thor has posed:
With an apparent invasion in full swing and after rebutting an attack not distant from their own headquarters, the Avengers have sent out calls to allies, former or inactive teamates, and some of their affiliated teams all across the country, coordinating their efforts against the global scale threat. The battle at the United Nations was a victory for the team, if only a temporary one, but it's given them a chance, working with other heroes throughout the city, to shore things up around Manhattan and in some of its neighboring boroughs. Still, the present lull seems only that, a pause with worse yet soon to come.

Of course, a sense of doom and gloom is not one for Thor to take up himself. The resident Asgardian is, as ever, in high spirits, and has made every effort to uphold his team in the same. And today, as soon as he hears (or merely senses, one can never be quite sure) an arrival at the mansion, he descends with great eagerness, ready to see what new warrior has come to their cause.

Vision has posed:
It has been well over a year since the synthezoid bid his farewells, however temporairy, to the Avengers and vanished without a trace. No messages or emails or even the odd tweet. He was just gone, supposedly off to find himself but no one really knew what that meant or entailed except maybe Captain America. The Lonely Android was just there one day and gone the next

And for that time he lived as someone else. An identity he spent much time preparing. One that was inscrutible. He lives as a human, as best he could, to help himself learn ABOUT the human condition. But a year is not a lot of time in the scope of things. Still, he had a 'life' for wont of a better word. Neighbours. Friends.

But then the alien's came. One of their forces cut a swathe through his neighbourhood. People died. The Vision did his best to protect him but it wans't enough. And after the initial attack he used his abilities to help find and rescue survivors.

Then 'The Call' Came in. Leaving his neighbours, whom still think the human he is pretending to be is lost amid the wreckage of most of his house, The Vision has returned to the mansion and only minutes after Thor he dexcends from sky, his yellow cape billowing behind him.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda was there for the recent battle, and it's definitely left her a bit shaken. The woman has spent a great deal of her life first fleeing violence, then being used as a tool for it, and found her place in the Avengers to do good. After a trip of self discovery of her own, one with some perception-changing results, she's finally come home only to find herself immersed in something terrible. Waging all out war on the streets of the city she's made into her home, witnessing the dangerous collateral damage her own abilities can do? It's all a bit shaking.

That's the context that's colored her own time at the mansion, where she's been staying recently, in lieu of own apartment, so that she's close and ready if her friends should need her. But it has made her, in contrast to cheerful, encouraging Thor, a bit of a ghost in the building. She's seen around, coming and going, out in the back yard in the mornings doing her yoga or later in various meditations, but generally she's quiet and keeps to her own business.

The security systems make it pretty obvious when they have a visitor, so she comes out to the balcony above stairs down the foyer and looks out to see who it is, and smiles a little at the sight of one of their own now returned. "Well, well. Good timing, stranger. Seems like we could definitely use you, right about now."

Thor has posed:
Past the main security at the property gate, the mansion grounds are welcoming, and Thor has sailed down to throw open in the main doors of the mansion in anticipation of their arrival. He doesn't wait, he's just too excited and thrilled. And while Wanda has a mild, friendly welcome to offer from further inside, the Asgardian is a... bit more direct.

"Friend Vision! It has been too long. How fare thee?" Indeed, the mighty fellow is quite happy to walk up and bear-hug his synthentic once-companion, perhaps even more enthusiastically than he would most, with little fear of doing the artificial man harm by his excitement!

"I recall thou did depart upon a great quest of self-discovery? How fared this journey?" Stepping back, he glances off toward the distance. "Many times I myself have sought out the mysteries of the universe, the questions of creation, traveling far and wide through realms familiar and distant in search of such answers. I hope, in some portion, the answers that thou sought did reveal themselves."

With this said, he turns back, gesturing within, and glancing up at Wanda as she looks down upon them from above the foyer. "Lady Maximoff, 'tis good to see thee about. Shall we celebrate the return of our companion in some fashion? It seems only fitting that he be properly greeted."

Vision has posed:
Vision has barely walked in through the front doors (instead of phasing through since that could be considered rude) when a massive pair of arms wrap themselves around him. Even if his biometric sensors didn't identify the man hugging him by the familiar pressure applying itself to his dermis he would recognize the asguardian anyways. "Greetings, friend Thor Odinson." he intones, accepting the hug as it is given, though of course not really returning it. When he is set down the synthezoid idly brushes off his uniform and smooths his cape, an action that seems very unconcious. Is it an emulation of huma behavior or is it truly something he has learned.

"You are correct that I left on a journey of what would be philosophically described as Self Discovery, thought it would be a misnomer in truth. I already know /who/ I am, do I not? I was just trying to ascertain /where/ I belong, and how." he tells his friend, offering the faintest of smiles, though completely sincere.

He slowly turns as Wanda walks towards them and that faint smile becomes slightly less faint."I believe my timing is better than 'good'." he tells her and offers his hand. "It is a pleasure to see you again, Wanda Maximoff. I hope you have been well." he says to her, then looks between both of them. "If only the circumstances could have been more.. pleasant.." and his voice becomes sligly more monotone when he says that, indicating his displeasure in the situation.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda descends the stairs with a certain grace, her smile edging just a little more into prominence at Thor's typical display and the reaction it seems to draw from their synthetic friend. Moreso as the latter offers a hand, which she accepts with a further curious quirking of her lips. It's interesting to see the mannerisms he picks up! All that said, some sadness does return to her eyes at the rest of what Vision says.

"I've been... well, you can imagine, with everything happening," she answers, not easily hiding the strain of all of this. "Although if you'd asked me a week ago, I'd have given you a better answer. It seems we've all been off learning a bit about ourselves, and I'd only returned a short while earlier, myself." Glancing between the two men, both large and by some measure not quite human, she finally draws back a step, as if a little overwhelmed by it.

"I'm not really in the mood for parties, Thor, or for celebrating, even if it's well-deserved, having someone back. But I wouldn't mind if we could all just talk and catch up a little bit. Talk about our travels, maybe? Something to take the mind elsewhere from here, for a little while."

Thor has posed:
"Hmm." It seems Thor has to puzzle that one a moment, how the artificial man's journey of discovery might invert the trope a little. Or rather, he seems to puzzle it a moment, and then... brushes the difference aside. Thor cannot be bothered worrying over such little details!

"Fair enough," he thus concedes, whether he fully marks the difference or otherwise. "What is important is that thou didst seek greater knowledge and understanding, the answers of the many realms. It is a most worthy goal. Hopefully, thine efforts were suitably rewarded, thine understanding broadened by the experience. That is the important thing."

Turning slightly to glance between the two, who both are obviously more sensitive to the hardships of the invasion. It is almost always the case, as he, by his very nature, always stands in some way above or beyond such earthly things, sworn as he may be to protect it. "Lady Maximoff, thine performance in the battle prior was most exemplary, doubt not. But aye, we may save such talk for the proper time. If celebration is not to your liking, then we may speak of travels or other things."

Vision has posed:
Vision nods slowly to the Scarlet Witch, as if understanding what she is saying, his face set in a more neutral though not nessacirly robotic expression. He looks around the foyer, as if thinking then says. "There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered. It sounds like a quote from someone. When she backs up a step his neutral expression turns to the faintest of frowns.. confusion perhaps. But he doesn't comment on it, because he really doesn't know what to ask.

He looks To Thor and raises a hairless brow because the big blonde nordic male seems to be puzzling over somthing.. It shows.. Thor is not anything if not emotive, after all. He offers an affirming nod, though. "Yes. I do believe my experiences have been educational, Thor Odinson, if not any less confusing now than they were when I set off on my.. quest." he tells him, putting it into a word that even an Asguardian could understand. "But you are correct. I was rewarded greatly though I feel I still have much, and always will have much, to learn."

He pulls his cape around him, like a cloak.. this is his version of standing 'casually'. "The battles are still fresh in our minds, so I can understand why celebration may not be somethig for which you are prepared for, Wanda Maximoff. The experiences are too.. fresh." he looks between the two. "My travels were not as far as you might think. Not in the geophysical sense. I required a change in contextual location. A paradigm shift, if you will, from living above and outside humanity to living within.." he then looks down slightly, as if in thought. "I cannot say I was.. pleased.. with being forced out of my quest. But I also cannot say I would have made any other choice. People needed me. I did what I could for my.. neighbours.. and then came here as as quickly as I could."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
"Oh, so you were trying to, hmm, blend in a bit?" Wanda wonders, working her way around Vision's particular way of describing his trip and approaching something that seems like the vernacular translation. "I suppose I can understand that. There was a long time, where Pietro and I... all we really wanted was to be overlooked, not to stand out, the way we always did. Where a normal, boring life would have seemed very luxurious. Though I realize it's not all quite the same thing."

Since they've settled on just talking, she turns slightly and heads along toward one of the downstairs halls, to find somewhere a little more comfortable for it. Although presumably it matters little enough to Vision, and she hasn't a clue if Thor even gets... tired or uncomfortable? So maybe it's just for her! "Did you enjoy it then, at least before you had to come back? I'm sure it must have been hard, having to abandon things. Even if a choice is the obvious one, that doesn't always mean it's easy to make."

Thor has posed:
"A homecoming is always a happy thing," Thor agrees with Vision, in a fashion. "Without knowing the good cheer of close companions, the peace at the weary end of a long journey, the comfort of the hearth, it is harder to grasp the meaning of our great struggles. There may be joy in battle," at least, if you are one of his ilk, there always is, "but finding purpose requires more." This is him at about his most philosophical!

When they have found a place to gather, some den or recreational room with couches, even the mighty Asgardian seems happy to kick his feet up, proof that he does enjoy such comforts as much as any. "Lady Maximoff, I do recall thou speaking somewhat of thine travels, upon thine own fresh return. Something of thine parents? It is something thou dost speak of often, thine family. I hope that all is well in that."

Vision has posed:
Following both the asgardian and the mutant witch, Vision seems to glide across the floor, listening to them both with that intense care he always seems to affect when people speak to him, like every word is important. He looks to Thor first. "Yes, there may be joy in some battles, Thor Odinson, but that wholly depends on the reason for said battle itself. This battle, this invasion, seems to serve no purpose that I can acscertain as of yet as I do not know all the variables. Thus I cannot find anything enoyable about it." he says matter of factly.

Vision then looks and nods slowly to Wanda, affirming her hypothesis on his actions as well as sympathizing with her plight. "To blend in.. To be 'overlooked'... is to be accepted by whatever group or population you find yourseif residing within. It is a strange thing, wanting to be accepted as 'one of the group' to the point of literally being overlooked and ignored, but it is somewhat liberating as well. Is that contradictary? Being accepted by not being seen?" he asks. "Of course, why you and your brother would wish to be overlooked and why I would want to be overlooked are somewhat different on the surface but I would feel safe saying that the core of the reasons are similar." he tells her.

A strange and muffled sound sound, suspiciously like Alice Cooper's "Feed My Frankenstein", seems eminate from beneath his cape. The Vision frowns and then reaches into a small pouch on his belt and withdraws.. a cellphone? An actuall honest to god cellphone. Since when does Vision need a cellphone? He checks the display and frowns slightly, thenholds up a hand to indicate he needs a moment, then thumbs it on. "Hello Mrs. Kellerman." he greets the caller, his voice seemingly changing. It is a bit deeper, yest softer, and more.. inflective. "Please calm down, Mrs. Kellerman. Yes yes, I am alright. Are you alright?" he pauses a moment. "I am pleased that you were not harmed... No, I was not home but I have heard my garage and kitchen were collapsed... No I was not there, I was away visiting my family... No, Old Mrs. Grund must be mistaken, I haven't been home since the morning before the attack... Well you know what a gossips she is, yes?" he looks a bit exhasperated. "No, I do not know when I will be back... The traffic back into the city is horrendous... Oh, you found her? Could you please watch over her until I can return? Thank you Mrs. Kellerman.... Yes yes, I will call again soon. Good bye."

He thumbs off the phone and tucks it back in the pouch. "Apologies."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
When they've found a place, Wanda displays just a moment of her natural witchiness, her manner of sitting down including a brief moment of free-floating before she settles cross-legged over a cushioned seat. "I don't know if it's quite as simple as all of that, but it's definitely part of it," she answers Vision after a moment spent thinking on his way of describing it. "Or, right, contradictory is a good word. At first, it's about our most... basic feelings toward group and community, where are, sadly, full of all kind of negative animal. Being ignored means avoiding standing out, and it's only good because people treat those who are different so poorly. But it's still a stretch, from, well, avoiding ostracism to really feeling apart of something. One is a lot easier than the other, but still sort of isolating."

Of course, she has to smile as she reflects on the whole thought, and point out the obvious. "I imagine the ugly animal half of it isn't much of a problem for you, though." When after that his phone rings, she watches the whole exchange with what is first simple curiousity, but what seems an increasing sort of... delight, in watching the artificial man play out his alternate persona. Which concludes, after he's hung up, with her raising her hands to give him a quick round of applause. "That was pretty good. Seems like you've moved a little further from not standing out toward acceptance, too, if you've got friendly neighbors checking after you."

She also has to glance back at Thor, thinking a little on how Vision expresses it but adding more emphatically herself: "I don't think I can ever be like you, ever enjoy it, whatever the purpose. I can grasp the necessity, of course we all do. But if it was within my power to end it all, I would." She flashes him a little smile. "Even if it'd be terribly boring for you, big guy."

Thor has posed:
"I would never care to be forgettable," Thor has to offer in his own little rebuttal of his acceptance-seeking comrades. "'Tis not acceptance, but merely a means to avoid a confrontation that must yet be reckonned with, and either new bonds of friendship formed, or an enemy made. Yet I understand the fears thou dost both share, and know well that humans are over-eager to take offense over the most small and trivial of differences. It is one of the failings of thine kind." He is blunt enough in that assessment! "Yet sometimes, the looming confrontation is perhaps one better fought upon another day. Fleeing those that wouldst have done thee great harm, or forced thine hand in defense and in such great destruction... 'twas a most unfair set of circumstances." He nods toward Wanda in this, knowing her own unfortunate history well enough, and not branding her and her brother with cowaradice for escaping such difficulties as they did.

Of course, Thor too is in a way fascinated by the phone conversation they become privy to, grinning a bit at Vision's feigned normality. This may be something he knows a little about, since Tony does at times press the Asgardian to try acting a little more 'normal.' Thor's attempts at fulfilling such requests are usuall nothing short of hilarious, and probably not a fraction as convincing as Vision's impersonation. "It seems thou dost grasp well the human parlance of the day, friend Vision. A most convincing performance." Though, there is a brief concern, "Did thou leavest some companion behind?"

This story may have to wait, however, as something seems to catch the Thunder God's attention, though not anything visible or tangible to the other two. "Ah, many pardons, my good friends. I must answer a distant call, and by it, perhaps glean some knoweldge of our current foe. I shall return in due time. Again, I bid thee welcome, friend Vision. And you, Lady Maximoff, are as ever a pleasure." And with that, he rather casually calls Mjolnir to his hand and whirls it about, greating a rift in space that serves as a method of egress.

Asgardians.

Vision has posed:
Vision would grimace if he were able.. Okay, he /is/ able. He actually looks, somehow, to be embarrssed. By bother Wanda's clapping and Thor's compliment of his 'acting' ability.

But before he can answer teh asguardian's question, looking like he really DOESN'T want to answer it, he is saved bt the big blonds attention deficit disorder and wishes Thor a quick farewell as the god (little g) opens a rift in space-time and steps through.

And thus two remain.

"I am not sure if I have moved that much forward." he tells Wanda as the rift closes. "Mrs Kellerman is a delighftul later-middle aged widow who believes I am.. someone else. Some/Thing/ else." he shakes his head. "All of the people in the neighbourhood I have chosen to reside in think I am someone else. Unlike you are Pietro, I have to work rather harder to fit in. It is not just as simple as not using my abilities in public, after all." he wryly motions to his face, that red face and thw yellow gem set in his forehead. "I used to think I was not lieing to her, or my neighbours, but that I was instead participating in a capaign of misinformation as a form of protective camoflage. But now.. She really was worried. As were other neighbours, even the elderly gossip who lives next door to me. I made sure they were okay when I left during ths attack, but I never revealed that Me and my... other persona.. were one of the same. I feel..." he frowns even more.

"I believe I am feeling guilt. Yet at the same time I feel relief that they /don't/ know who or what I truly am. Again, it is contradictory. Paradoxical."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
"Bye, Thor." Matching his casualness, it seems that in as much time as she's spent back at the Avengers Mansion, Wanda has gotten used to Thor's methods of coming and going. As well as their abruptness, as whatever extra-planar emergency often calls him away. In his defense, she does point out, "At least the last time he did that, it was to show up in the middle of the battle and sweep a bunch of their army away in a whirlwind." So there are upsides!

Her attention turning back as soon as the flashy exit has concluded, she smiles in an understanding fashion at the explanation Vision gives, and then shakes her head as if forgiving him of the deceptions he's forced to undertake. "I've had to lie about who I am, what I am, many times over. Lie and worse than that, really, back in the old country. Granted, I often didn't care as much for those people as you might for your new-found neighbors. But I..." The woman has to pause and think about it a moment. "I can't speak for them, as to whether they'd approve, if they knew. But your intentions aren't bad." Which, with how she says it, she seems to value above the rest.

"Guilt is very human," she says of the last. "Something above the more selfish animal instinct. Which again you... probably don't quite have in the first place." A little laugh. "In some ways, you get off easy. "I think it will be alright. You can go back when things are settled some. And it will be up to you if and when you ever share more with them. Hopefully if you ever do, they'll understand. But even not... well, dissappointing, even hurting others sometimes, it's unfortunately another very human trait."

Vision has posed:
Vision silently listens to Wanda, processing her words slowly, carefully, trying to find how and where they fit inside the greater 'picture' that is 'Him'. He then lets out a long low sound that is easily translated as a sigh. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions... Did you know that know one knows who originally penned that?" he asks. "It is believed to be a corrupt parapheasing of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux who said 'L'enfer est plein de bonnes volontés ou désirs.' which translates into 'Hell is full of good wishes or desires'..." he stops himself, realzing he is prevaricating, then grimaces once more.

"It may seem I get off easy, but being a synthetic life form, that 'I did know better' is no excuse for misleading people who have invested their care in me. if I choose to reveal my secret to them.. he shakes his head. "This is not how I predicted this epxeriment to unfold.." he finally says. He then straightens up. "I believe I will retire to my quarters. They must be quite.. stuffy.. after being closed up for so long. We will speak again soon, Wanda Maximoff. Get some rest. After the past few days, you have earned it." and with that he turns and silently glides away, then up and through the ceiling like a ghost.