2776/The Bonfire of the Vain: Chapter 1

The Bonfire of the Vain: Chapter 1
Date of Scene:	09 October 2017
Location:	Morlocks Tunnels
Synopsis:	The Morlocks are about to get their revenge on the Hated One, but Laura happens by them, and gets involved.
Cast of Characters:	X-23, Gambit

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X-23 has posed:
When you're on the run from a shadowy organization that deals with subterfuge and assassinations contracts for the highest bid, you can never be comfortable being rooted to one spot. That's why X-23 has been changing locations, changing hideouts, moving in and out of the city. At the moment, she's setting up for the night in an abandoned underground tunnel. What likely was once a subway line, and had since been forgotten makes for a perfect spot to be left alone.

She understands alone, she's comfortable alone, and in not expecting any company she just goes about her business. Her prime concern is to pick a defendable spot, that's not vulnerable to any surprise attacks. She goes about gathering some debris to form a protective, hiding wall, to give herself better shot of not being spotted.

Gambit has posed:
It's not likely that anyone would choose to live in the subway tunnels if they had other options. However, there are stretches of subway tunnel that have been abandoned only to be repopulated by those who are no longer welcome on the city's surface. The Morlock Tunnels are a sprawling network that has been expanded over the past decades, as more and more 'undesirable' mutants find a home amongst their deformed and hideous brethren.

Deep in the tunnels, time passes differently than it does on the surface. There is nothing to separate day from night, aside from the activity levels of the Morlocks who roam the tunnels on their way to and from the foraging and hunting spots they've identified as the years have gone by. And, wouldn't you know it, one such foraging party can be heard off in the distance, scuffling in the direction of X-23's hastily built camping spot.

The smells of the Morlocks would probably normally be the first thing someone with X-23's abilities would detect. But here in the abandoned tunnels, pretty much everything smells like unwashed Morlock. The Morlocks in the group are being particularly noisy though, and appear to be having an animated discussion.

"I'm tellin' you, the tip was legit. He's here in New York, the lady said so."

The First Morlock is very large, if the sound of his footsteps is any indication. With a deep, rumbling voice, he sounds like a fairly formidable guy, though perhaps a bit on the 'dullest crayon' spectrum...

"Some lady just told you where to find the guy that we've been looking for, and didn't want anything in return? Sounds fishy."

The Second Morlock is much smaller, with light, quick footsteps. His voice has a snarly nasal quality to it.

"Caliban doesn't like this at all. Why must Caliban accompany you two to the surface if the lady told you where to find The Hated One? Surely Caliban's power is not needed, and Caliban can stay in the nice, safe tunnel and eat his soup?"

The Third Morlock is... Caliban.

As the trio gets closer, their voices get even more animated. Apparently there is a general desire to cause significant bodily harm to whoever The Hated One is, but none of them can agree what exactly the worst punishment would be for the poor guy.

The group passes by Laura's camp without even pausing. After all, Caliban registers her as a mutant so he probably assumes that she's one of theirs. The others seem completely oblivious to her existence as they continue on, heading toward their goal.

X-23 has posed:
Laura finds herself in a strange position, she had managed to successfully hide from this group of Morlocks, but she was left with a choice to act or not when she became privy to their intent. They are after a 'Hated One'. Does she follow to find out who it is? Does she break her cover to ask him about it? Does she take the opportunity to gain resources by bartering a contract with them? After all, she's one of the best in the world when it comes to eliminating targets, and she's done it for years. What difference would another contract make? A 'Hated One' couldn't have been a good person, after all.

Ultimately, these poor looking mutants might not have much to give, but they also don't seem like the sort that would work with Weapon X or the Facility. But better safe than sorry, she keeps crouched and out of sight, observing in silence, before lying down to rest. This 'Hated One' is no concern of hers, and the Morlocks likely couldn't get her much for a contract anyway.

Gambit has posed:
Several hours pass before the Morlock hunting party returns, but it's clear even from a distance that they've been successful in retrieving... something.

The First Morlock's footsteps are heavier, as if he's carrying some extra weight. He's also walking a bit slower, and seems to have developed a bit of a limp since the last time he walked through.

"The little guy put up more fight than I thought. Just makes me want to smash his stupid face even more."

The Second Morlock is practically skipping with excitement, his voice raised nearly an entire octave and filled with gleeful malice. "Plenty of time for that when we get him back to camp, Sunder. But you heard what Callisto said: She wants a turn with him first." He starts to cackle, but his laughter actually sounds a bit nervous.

Caliban seems to be the only one who isn't salivating at the prospect of The Hated One's imminent demise. His voice is as meek as ever, as if he actually felt somewhat sorry for the poor schlub.

"Why is it that Masque allows Callisto to treat one of our fellow mutants this way? Calliban doesn't understand why we can not simply drown The Hated One in the sewers, instead of making such a display of him."

Masque is quick to speak up, letting Sunder carry his burden in silence.

"This man's not one of our kind, not after what he did to us. It'll be good for the people to see him getting what he's due. Good for morale. Plus, it's been a long time since we had a proper bonfire..."

Masque laughs again, as the trio continues past Laura's hiding spot once again, this time headed back toward the deepest parts of the tunnel.

X-23 has posed:
Laura is already awake when the Morlocks return, not because she's slept her fill, so much as their approach alerted her to an awake state. For now she keeps hidden, observing the Morlocks and their new found prize. The so called 'Hated One'.

Then she gets a jist of what they mean to do, and she gets out of her hiding. She doesn't know this group, they might have abilities, they might not. For now she starts to join them, following them from behind, checking how alert they are to her presence.

Gambit has posed:
It's entirely probable that even the more dense members of the party (Sunder) would have eventually noticed Laura's presence, stealthy as she is. Apparently, however, this isn't the night for them to be on the lookout for strangers.

It quickly becomes obvious why: The further the hunting party gets into the tunnels, the more Morlocks start to meander in from adjoining passageways, becoming part of the procession. The procession continues to pass more small groups of Morlocks, all of whom are quick to join the procession when they realize what's going on.

The tunnels are very dark, but some of the walls seem to have cultivated some sort of bioluminescent algea, which some of the Morlocks have also gathered into jars, broken cups, and various other containers in order to make softly-glowing makeshift lamps. It adds just enough eery blue glow to everything to allow people to see their way around in the dark, but not enough for them to see each others faces in stark relief.

That's probably why none of them have any sort of stronger lighting, to be honest...

As more Morlocks begin to crowd around, the group gets progressively rowdier. They start to shout, bump into each other, and cheer with excitement. Many of them get veerrrry close to X-23, but none of them seem to notice that she's not one of them, not in all the excitement surrounding the capture of The Hated One.

For his part, The Hated One seems to be resting somewhat comfortably, dangling over Sunder's shoulder with his body pretty limp. He seems to be completely unconscious, which is definitely a mercy right about now.

All around X-23, scattered chants of "Burn him!" start to spring up. At first, they're kind of soft, isolated utterances. Soon, however, every single one of the dozens of Morlocks is screaming "Burn him!" every few steps in time with each other.

X-23 has posed:
The deeper they move into the tunnels, the less pleasant this crowd seems, and the more uncomfortable Laura is feeling being there. She gets a pretty good idea of where this is heading, and starts to move closer to Sunder, curious to catch a glimpse of the 'Hated One'. Check if she's had crossed paths with him on one of her many missions.

Being small, and so far very much ignored, Laura feels confident moving about as if she has every right being there. Not sneaking too much, as she moves towards the 'Hated One', and then tries to smack him on the cheek, see if she can get a reaction from him.

Gambit has posed:
"Quit it Rogue... s'not yer birfday anymore..."

At least, that's what it SOUNDS like the man is muttering in his obviously still-dazed state, but it's impossible to be sure with all the chanting going on around. The tunnels are echoing with the sounds of dozens of Morlocks screaming for the death of a guy who looks pretty harmless, and who seems more interested in going back to sleep than interacting with the young girl who just slapped him.

But that damned chanting is enough to wake up even a sound sleeper like Gambit...

Slowly, Gambit turns his head around, taking stock of his situation. The most pressing facts are that he's hanging upside down and being carried through a throng of dozens of Morlocks with 'sewage torches.' Next on the order of precedence is the fact that someone just smacked him.

In the dim light, Gambit's eyes try to focus, getting only a vague outline of the girl who's walking behind his captor. He tries to smile and give the girl one of his unctuous, allegedly charming looks, succeeding only partially.

"Hey there, p'tite... you wouldn't happen to know the fastest way outta this here..."

SMACK!

Someone standing to Laura's left apparently figured that Laura was playing some sort of fun game, and decides to join in, striking Gambit right across the face.

"Hey! He's awake! Everybody smack him!"

People start to crowd around, as if the idea appeals to them mightily.

SMACK! Another guy gets a shot in.

"Ooh! I have a better idea! Let's hit him with rocks!"

X-23 has posed:
Laura tilts her head, studying Gambit as he mutters of a Rogue and a birfday, it doesn't really help her learn much about him. But then he starts coming to, and even speaks to her, she opens her mouth to say something when he gets smacked a second time. Looking aside, she sees the Morlock who joined in the makeshift game, and then looks back at Gambit, "they call you Hated One. Why?" The quiet question she keeps for Gambit's ears and hopes the other would not notice in the commotion, is followed by another smack to Gambit's face, can't stand out of the crowd now, can she?

Gambit has posed:
"Ow! Dammit!"

Nothing ruins a fellow's attempts at being charming like being slapped repeatedly in the face. This doesn't mean that Gambit isn't still giving it a shot though, despite mostly just getting progressively more angry.

Struggling and squirming, while still draped upside-down, he doesn't seem to be making much progress getting away from the iron grip of Sunder. Indeed, it's possible that Sunder doesn't even notice that Gambit IS struggling...

However, some of the other Morlocks that Sunder came with are a bit more aware of what's going on around them. The especially hideous Morlock known as Masque reaches out and grabs Laura's arm after she smacks Gambit a SECOND time (seriously Laura? We thought you were the good guy...).

"ENOUGH! All of you! This piece of filth is going to suffer plenty, but only when our LEADER has given the command!"

The crowd quiets down, for a bit, and people stop trying to hit Gambit with rocks. Instead, they settle for smacking him every time that Masque isn't looking.

Fortunately for Gambit's face, but unfortunately for the rest of his body, the procession soon arrives at a cavernous section of the tunnels where even more Morlocks are waiting. It appears to be some sort of hobo camp, set in the middle of a tunnel section that has been haphazardly enlarged by the Morlocks until it's roughly the size of a Winn-Dixie. Near the center of the camp, some Morlocks are busy breaking apart pieces of wooden furniture, and adding old rags and newspapers to make an enormous pile of combustible material.

And there, overseeing the building of the bonfire, is none other than the Morlock's leader, Callisto.

X-23 has posed:
Not knowing about the Morlocks much, Laura doesn't really know their leader is Callisto, or anything much about their leader. She does glare at Masque when her hand is grabbed, but in order to keep from escalating the situation, doesn't attempt to slash Masque for the effort. Instead she just prys her hand free and continues walking with them, quipping at Gambit, "they call you 'Hated One'. They are going to kill you."

Is she going to help him? She doesn't really have any reason to, but she is curious about his reaction to being told something like that. If anything, she can give him credit for taking punishment like a champ so far.

Gambit has posed:
Before Gambit has a chance to reply to the only halfway sympathetic stranger in the place, he's ushered off toward Callisto. The other Morlocks continue to crowd around, but all at a safe distance as if they're concerned about... whatever is about to happen.

"HA! You got him! Bring 'im here... Sunder, you beautiful hunk of man!" Callisto looks positively radiant in the pale blue light, her face illuminated almost as much with joy as it is from the glow of the bioluminescent algea.

Sunder takes the compliment without much reaction, other than a broadening smile on his sweet, simple face. "He tried to be fancy at me, but I konked him good on the noggin!"

Callisto leans up and gives Sunder a kiss on the cheek. "Good boy. I knew you could do it... EVERYBODY LISSEN UP! Sunder is better than all of you, right now!"

She walks around Sunder to look at the burden he's carrying, manic glee apparent in her one remaining eye. She grips the man's throat while he struggles in vain to get away. Leaning forward, as if she were about to kiss him, she suddenly bites Gambit's lower lip so hard that blood starts pouring all over both of their faces and onto the ground.

While Gambit screams in a... very manly fashion... Callisto laughs and orders Sunder to carry Gambit off to the place she calls 'The Fridge.' Meanwhile, the crowd breaks out into cheers and chants once again.

All except for on man, who has remained quiet for the most part. Caliban's vision doesn't seem to be better than anyone elses, but he's got a unique ability to sense the form and function of someone's mutant genome. Quietly, he begins muttering to himself.

"Pretty pretty.... pretty pretty... pretty pretty..."

Meandering through the crowd, he continues to mutter, eventually attracting the attention of Masque, who has learned to always pay attention to Caliban when he's acting weird as shit.

"Pretty pretty..."

"Pretty pretty..."

It soon becomes clear that Caliban is headed straight toward Laura, his enormous eyes locked on her, his pale face turned totally blue by the light of the Morlock's strange lamps.

X-23 has posed:
Leave it to X-23 to throw some confusion into something that should be pretty clear for all parties, when out of the blue she refutes something Callisto said. First, there's the fact no Morlock would dare defie Callisto, for the most part. Second, this isn't really an open mic session. Still, as soon as Callisto announces that Sunder is better than everyone, Laura speaks out, "Sunder is not better than me." Maybe she's lucky and her speaking voice isn't loud enough to register, then again, when Callisto spoke, most Morlocks likely quieted down like good minions.

But regardless of whether she was overheard or not, now Caliban is making his way towards Laura, muttering 'pretty pretty' like a bird looking at its own reflection. Slowly turning to face Caliban, there's really no doubting she is the most 'pretty' person in this area. It is full of Murlocks after all. "Deadly deadly..." she adds to Caliban's words, just so no one accuses her of false advertising, and perhaps to make some people have second thoughts before they decide to bathe in her blood or whatever it is these crazy Morlocks do.

Gambit has posed:
Realizing what's going on, Masque finds something to stand on in order to make him taller than everyone else in the Morlock's Camp. He points directly at the tiny little terror who has dared to speak up, and in doing so proven herself to be either A: Terrible at disguise or B: Super confident in her ability to get out of here alive.

"Brothers and sisters! There is an outsider among us! Capture her quickly! She must be an agent of The Hated One sent to free him from the Bonfire!"

At this point, pretty much all Hell breaks loose almost immediately. The Morlocks might all be hideous, and many of them might be a bit soft in the brainpan, but each and every one of them has some sort of unique, often gross, mutant ability.

Just about every single one of these hideous, power-having mutants is now converging in on Laura like some sort of intelligent zombie horde with superpowers.

She's probably wishing she'd put a bag over her head right about now.

X-23 has posed:
Laura is remarkably calm for someone surrounded by a bunch of ugly mutants beset on killing them. "I am not an agent," Laura rebuttals Masque's attempt to label her, "I am a weapon." Probably not helping, considering the Morlocks still think she's with the "Hated One."

Still, she tries to delay them by a distinct *snikt* letting her hand claws out, as she looks all around her, swivelling on an axis like a ballet dancer while keeping her arms and therefore claws outstretched. "I just want to watch," should they give her a moment, she'll stay put. If they'll still come at her, Laura will start a lethal retreat by way of cutting her passage back to the tunnel she's came from. She wasn't lying about being a weapon, she carries very little regard to life. Normally she'd not harm a single one of them, but if they're coming after her, she's ready to enact a second Massacre right here and now.

Gambit has posed:
A strange thing happens when Laura extends her claws though...

Normally, after the claws tear through the skin the wound heals up pretty much instantaneously. This time, however.... that doesn't happen.

"Bad lady scare me."

It's the voice of a child several years younger than Laura. A strange, greenish, lumpy-looking little boy who is cowering well out of range of Laura's claws. His hand is outstretched toward Laura, and he's putting off some sort of energy that is cancelling out her mutant abilities. Doesn't work on the claws, obviously, but everything else is shut down.

"Good job, Leech! Now everbody, GET HER!" Masque continues to point and shout, clearly not a fan of intruders being present during what was meant to be some sort of giant Morlock Celebration.

The mutants start attacking, which causes Caliban to recoil in horror. "No! Pretty pretty!"

He retreats from the fray, putting his hands over his head and rocking quietly while muttering the phrase "Pretty pretty..." over and over again.

One of the mutants attacking Laura is a Drain Dweller who is covered in a sticky, tar-like substance and a bunch of small pieces of trash that have gotten stuck to him. He seems intent on grabbing Laura with his sticky arms.

Another is an elderly woman who extends one of her decrepit, plague-racked hands in Laura's direction. One touch is enough to fill anybody with a lifetime's worth of cooties, especially if they're currently having their healing factor negated.

Some have tentacles. Some have spikes. Some have both. Some have other things. Each of the Morlocks is pretty pitiful on his or her own. But together, they're basically an entire carnival of horrors, and surprisingly effective.

X-23 has posed:
Laura notes the anomaly of the wound not closing up, so blood keeps trickling down her hand, she's used to pain. No amount of torture could ever equal the torture she got daily at what was her home. If one wants to break or scare her, pain would be the wrong approach. So she doesn't flinch, though she will be concerned later if she gets a moment to consider what just happen. This was the first instance where her healing factor didn't kick in immediately.

Laura looks at the child who apparently just negated her powers, realizing it's his doing thanks to Masque, but she only quips as a warning for those who come after her, "a weapon is not a power, a weapon is." A more philosophical mind might ponder or even hold a discussion with Laura, these Morlocks are out to get her, and boy do they get her. Turns out skills honed over years stay even when her healing factor is negated. Because she doesn't back off, she just asseses the situation. Tar person is not to be touched, plague lady doesn't seem like a good candidate either. At least not with her powers shut down, so she takes on the ones that make sense, leaping over spike dude and knocking him into tar person. Stabbing a few others along the way, before trying to trip another into plague lady.

She honestly was just going to watch if they'd leave her alone, but they pretty much forced her hand, so she protects herself. " The one who kept muttering 'pretty pretty' and walked away did catch her interest, so she tries to carve herself a path towards him. He seemed like he would potentially not harm her, violence didn't seem to be his thing.

What about the 'Hated One'? Probably best concern about that guy later.

Gambit has posed:
The Hated One has his own problems to deal with right now, and the mostly consist of getting trussed up like a Christmas pig, and dumped in a place that the Morlocks call 'The Fridge.'

Sunder and Callisto may not be the best in the world at tying knots, but they're definitely tying a LOT of knots, which will probably be good enough to keep Gambit occupied awhile. Especially since Sunder has 'konked him good on the noggin' once again, which has probably given Gambit a concussion. At the very least, it's rendered his vision very fuzzy.

But why doesn't he just free himself with some of those fancy pinkish-purplish explosions that he's so well known for? We'll have to learn the answer to that next time.

Meanwhile, back out in the Morlock Camp...

When Caliban sees the claw-wielding Swedish Murder Machine heading toward him, he does the appropriate thing and runs away. There are plenty more Morlocks to get in his way, and even though some of them are armed only with rocks and rusty old umbrellas, they're still a pretty effective barrier.

"Get her, you turds! Get her! She's going to get away!" Masque is clearly not loving this whole 'cut people up and escape' thing that Laura is doing, and definitely wishes that she would cut it out. So far, none of his people have been able to get their hands on her though, and Masque certainly isn't planning to go near her claws.

It's only when things seem most dire that the sound of a pistol shot rings out. Over near the entrance to The Fridge, Callisto has re-emerged, holding an old Glock. "Out of my way! I'll get the little surfacer!"

In the Morlock community, 'surfacer' is a pretty strong insult.

X-23 has posed:
"I won't harm you." Laura calls out at Caliban while her approach makes him escape all the more, "you said pretty pretty, why?" She asks, as if she was having a casual conversation, and not strategicly cutting her way through people, while tossing other people, in the way of still other people she dims too dangerous to engage with her healing factor disabled. She figures she can still salvage this and get these pesky Morlocks off her back. Else, she'll really need to push it and make a run for it. Her current assessment is that getting to Caliban may lead to a more peaceful, quicker resolution. It's an educated guess. Or a wild gamble. One or the other.

Gambit has posed:
From her vantage point near the fridge, Callisto continues firing rounds at Laura, even though she's running the risk of hitting some of her own dudes. With each miss, she curses, making the majority of her dialogue inappropriate for logging.

Caliban breaks into a full-on run when Laura gets too close, heading even deeper into the unlit, dank-smelling tunnels. Laura is truly a paragon of courage if she follows him in there...

But the rest of her options aren't that great either. She can stay and eventually get shot to death by Callisto, or snatched up by one of the Morlocks. Then can't all miss EVERY time, after all.

Back in The Fridge, Gambit is trying very hard to say something clever and insulting, but barely manages to babble incoherently before Sunder gets tired of it.

"Bored now. Time for nite-nite." Sunder raises his massive fist, and brings it down on top of Gambit's head. Like a light, Gambit goes off almost instantaneously. Here's hoping he doesn't freeze to death in The Fridge before the Morlocks have a chance to burn him to death in the massive bonfire they've got planned for Our Hero.

But what about Our Heroine? Will she manage to catch Caliban? Will she turn tail and run? Or is this curtains for her, as well? We'll all have to wait until the next log.