7264/A Shifty Time in Mutant Town

A Shifty Time in Mutant Town
Date of Scene:	18 April 2019
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Mystique offers Lorna and Rogue some information while holding onto a death switch. The two are not receptive.
Cast of Characters:	Mystique, Polaris, Rogue

---

Mystique has posed:
It's a quiet day in District X this day, which is a bit unusual for such an unusual place. There are people walking on the street, and the cafes and sidewalk restaurants are sufficiently busy. Everyone seems to be minding their own business, whether it's on their cell phone or buried in their own world with their eyes down and watching the sidewalk in front of them. It's that time of day when the sun is low enough to let the cool air start to take control, but light enough to see the friend next to you quite easily.

Polaris has posed:
A lovely day to have spent out and about with a friend, Lorna had asked the Southern Belle if she wanted to join her for a day out and somehow the two had ended up in Mutant Town. One way or another, Lorna always found herself drifting through the district whenever she went into the city. The green haired mutant was well known there, not only for her public position as 'Princess of Genosha' but also for her volunteer time in the center of the bustling hub of mutant life in the big city.

The two had just been stopped (again) for autographs, a few little girls with brilliantly colored eyes and unique jewel toned skin had asked after they'd spotted Lorna on the corner of the street. That now done, the two were left to their walk through the district once more. A glance around had Lorna humming under her breath as she swallowed a rising comparison to Genosha's cleaner streets.

"Are you getting hungry? I'm getting hungry. Where should we go?"

Mystique has posed:
Standing in a doorway is the blue beauty, watching the crowd gather around Lorna with a smirk on her lips. She crosses her arms and legs as a shoulder leans against the cool stone. Nobody seems to notice her quite yet, and she is taking advantage of that.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue is here as she'd been bored at home and was eager to get out and do something, Lorna was as fun as someone can get when it comes to heading out onto the town with, royalty after all!

So with her leather jacket on, a pair of dark lensed designer aviator sunglasses, jeans and a tshirt, Rogue's booted feet carry her alongside Lorna through the troubled district. She just keeps her hands in her jacket pockets and grins each time Lorna has to sign an autograph. When she's asked who she is? She just shakes her head lightly and replies with 'Security'. Simple and short. Sadly her own celebrity status as an Avenger isn't as strong as it was last year, how quickly people forget!

The question makes Rogue look over to Lorna from behind those shades. "I could eat." She says, then glances ahead of where they are. "There's a Kenny Rogers Roasters around here somewhere, some good ol' southern style fried chicken." She declares, then grins mischievously at Lorna, for whatever Rogue-reasons she may have inside her wild mind to do so.

Polaris has posed:
A glance was spared down the street again as the 'WALK' symbol flashed at the crosswalk in front of the two and Lorna stepped into the crosswalk with a sort of confidence that came with powers that involved controlling metal. Particularly when most vehicles ran on large amounts of the ferrous materials. She shrugged as she Rogue offered a place with 'southern styled fried chicken'. It wasn't like Lorna had any inkling as to what that could possibly entail.

"Sure, sounds good. Think they have milkshakes? It's the weather for some. Oh I could go for a chocolate one right now." She drawled, pulling out her phone to check the time on it once before she tucked it away into her jean pockets.

"How far off are we from it?"

Rogue has posed:
Rogue hasn't noticed Mystique, she hasn't really thought much about Mystique in the years since she last saw her in fact. She'd run away from that woman shortly after the San Francisco event with Carol Danvers, and that was four years ago this summer.

Standing at the corner street with Lorna, Rogue just grins at her royal friend. "They totally have chocolate milk shakes. Kenny wouldn't let us down like that, Green Peace." She flashes her another grin then. "I'm gonna make you get the waffles'n chicken plate though, so get ready for that. Cause its the best damn meal you'll have had in ages."

She pulls her phone out of her pocket, but pauses before she looks the place's location up. "Its there." She says, pointing down the street. "That park, its on the other side of it. I remember the statue in the center there." She glances to Lorna. "Come on."

As Rogue crosses the street, it leads them both right past where Mystique is just all casually leaning.

Mystique has posed:
Mystique watches the two walk by, stepping down some steps to fall in behind them. She keeps a polite distance for a large part of the walk, but what fun is that.

Eventually she steps closer to where the other two are and whispers, "Chicken and waffles isn't what you're craving today...." She smirks again and stops walking.

Polaris has posed:
A blink and Lorna gave Rogue the side eye as the other woman spoke of her simply having to try the 'chicken and waffles' a dish that had never occupied a single thought in Lorna's mind. Hell, she'd never even heard of it. A green eyebrow hooked upward and Lorna tilted her head to the side. "Chicken and waffles... for dinner? But waffles belong entirely to breakfast." She teased, and grinned as Rogue dug out her phone to look up directions. That settled the two crossed the street without incident and Lorna hadn't even noticed the blue skinned woman leaning against the nearby building.

Not until the woman was invading their personal space. The magnetic fields that crackled around Lorna constantly warned her more than the softly whispered words, that someone had invaded their personal space far more than a person simply going their way on the sidewalk would.

Lorna yelped, jumping slightly as she twisted on her heels and spun around to face whoever it was that had come up behind them.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue has to laugh softly at Lorna's response. "You gotta shake things up Princess, break outta societies 'rules' for foo--" Rogue cuts herself off as they're both approached, and similarly to Lorna's reaction, Rogue spins around to look and see who it is, but she knew that voice already, it was all too familiar in fact.

Rogue looks at the mutant, in her mutant-form, here in Mutant Town no less! Slowly her green eyes grow a bit more tense and her muscles clench up. Mystique's smart enough to sense a punch is coming though, and its a punch from a woman who absorbed Carol Danvers by her request!

Her right arm snaps up and out to send a punch toward Mystique's nose!

Mystique has posed:
Mystique steps to the side, avoiding the punch quite easily as she was anticipating this. The smile never leaves her face as she steps back to a standing position and says, "Whoa there, let's not be too hasty."

She holds up her hand and reveals a deadman switch being held with her thumb, buried in the palm of her hand. "Now, keep those powers and feelings locked away for a moment. Just here to talk...not be belligerent." She takes another step back and smirks again, "Especially when all those lovely fans of yours are still so nearby...."

Polaris has posed:
It took long, drawn seconds for Lorna to register what was going on, who was standing before them and what that all meant. Much less that Rogue was now gearing up to punch the blue woman with a real knock down drag out fist that would no doubt leave a mark. Which is exactly when Lorna sucked in a sharp breath and stepped backward as Mystique spoke in those calm, too even, tones for the situation.

The was a sudden crashing down of cold fear that spread down Lorna's spine as Mystique held up her hand and spoke. Green eyes narrowed, and she rolled her shoulders back, her hands closing tightly into fists as she tilted her head to the side and sent her powers out in a silent arc. Searching, searching for anything that might feel like a bomb to her senses. A multitude of city life, electronics, cars, the bustle of people all around her. The plane in the sky. The beat of electrical wiring in houses.. It was all around her and sorting through all that information to find a proverbial needle in the haystack.. or this case a bomb or several.

Still, her expression darkened, as the Princess of Genosha stared at Mystique in that imperious manner that was all too like her father's.

"I can disrupt the electrical signals from that to whatever you have planted." A bluff. A poor one at that, given who Mystique was, but Lorna was going to try. "What do you want?"

Rogue has posed:
Rogue didn't have the intention of killing the woman, she might've a few years ago, but the X-Men had helped take that kind of murderous rage mostly out of her, mostly.

When she throws that punch--and the very nimble woman dodges it-- Rogue hops back and keeps her fists balled up, each one wearing a special kind of glove, they're mesh and able to let her hands breath in warmer weather, still soft though to the touch. Rogue's eyes dart down to the switch that the woman claims is an explosive trigger.

This just makes her scoff and huff out a laugh. "Why on Earth would you sneak up on us, just t'threaten us with a bomb." She says/asks. "What the hell do you want?" Rogue echoes her green haired friend.

Mystique has posed:
Mystique looks at the Princess and shakes her head with an audible sigh, "You obviously don't know me at all...but you will, you will. I've done my homework on you, Princess of Genosha, studied you quite a bit so trust me when I say you won't find the bomb and I've taken precautions against your abilities. By the way, nice to meet you, people call me Mystique."

She looks at Rogue and smiles, "I'm here to help you, to give you a heads up on something your dear little Professor might be interested in." Mystique looks around again and takes a deep breath, "Try to be nice and they just want to hit you..."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna stared at the blue woman that had the ability to be whoever she wanted.. and was a wanted criminal... and was still choosing to stand so blatantly in Mutant Town right on the street.. Confront both her and Rogue. She swallowed hard as the other woman waved off her bluff without batting an eye and she struggled to figure out what logically she should do. To start shouting and cause a scene would only start a panic.. But staying on the street? Someone, even here in Mutant Town, was bound to start noticing something was up.

A glance was spared toward Rogue briefly, and Lorna shifted her stance, one hand settling on her hip while the other reached back to her pocket for her phone. She made no obvious attempt at hiding it, even as she kept her gaze trained on the blue woman in front of them.

"Right, most people that want to talk don't do it while threatening the safety of others around them. And before you flick a switch, I'm calling down my security so they don't jump you." Blink was her security, normally, and the woman wasn't there.. But it certainly never hurt to call and leave a running message when backed into a corner that might end badly..

Rogue has posed:
Rogue has to exchange a look with Lorna after hearing this declaration from Mystique. She hated it, she was already hot under the collar with no small amount of rage, this woman had tricked her into harming Carol and it left her in a terribly shitty place for years, until the X-Men helped her out of it.

After Lorna speaks of her security, Rogue looks back to the woman who she ran away to live with and mentor under in her early teenage years.

"Oh really?" She asks, sarcasm and annoyance in her tone of voice. "What could you possibly know that he'd wanna hear? All you do is scheme, plot, and manipulate others t'do your bullshit for you." She spats back at the blue faced woman.

Mystique has posed:
"Well, most women who want to talk to you don't get a fist thrown at them by Rogue, but there it is, so I'll keep the deadman switch on me." She chuckles, but doesn't make any movement towards the two as she watches them both, her yellow eyes practically never blinking. "You go ahead and call your security, dear, I'm sure they'll be very effective."

When Rogue accurately accuses her of being a manipulative bitch, Mystique gasps and presses a hand to her chest, "Muah? All I've ever done is protect Mutant rights in a world that would see us violently ended while you...did homework? I don't know what you do at that ridiculous school, but whatever. Tell Charlie that there is a military camp up north, a bunker underneath a mountain that the Canadian government doesn't even know about. A private facility, and what he'll find there will be worth his while." She smiles a bit and raises a finger, "And he'll owe me...." She smirks again and tilts her head, "Can you tell Charlie that?"

Polaris has posed:
Lorna scowled at Mystique but kept the phone up, whatever number she'd dialed, it was going through though she didn't say anything immediately. Not as Mystique waxed poetic about what a true hero for mutant kind she was. Lorna's scowl deepened as she stepped closer toward Rogue and glanced toward the other woman at Mystique's 'tip'. "Sounds like a trap to me. Sound like a trap to you? Yeah? Cool. That or Mystique's just trying to get us to do her dirty work and wants that place cleared out for whatever reason." She spoke as if said woman wasn't even there for the moment. As if there wasn't an impending threat against the population of Mutant Town with that switch in Mystique's grip.

Finally, Lorna lowered her phone, though didn't click it off as she tucked it into her back pocket. Her gaze swinging from Rogue back to the blue skinned woman still before them. "Next time why don't you pick up a damn phone like a normal person? So far she can't punch through one."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue just keeps her eyes on Mystique's own, she hears the woman's offered information and when Lorna responds to it, Rogue certainly has internal emotions that run along the same lines and lead to the same conclusions as that of Polaris' own, but for a moment longer after Lorna replies, Rogue lingers there, without a response.

She does chime up though after a second or so of thought. "Its cause she can't do nothin' unless its overly dramatic and full of 'flare'." She talks about Mystique as though she's not RIGHT THERE. "Her ego is larger than her catalog of personas she can change into."

Rogue does lower her fists then. She tips her chin up and lets her aviators fall down to the tip of her nose as she stares at Mystique now. "They're gonna want more information than that, ya know." She tells her. "Cause, I mean, I don't know if you're aware this? But not a single person on this planet trusts you, and most just flat out want ya dead."

Mystique has posed:
Mystique points at Rogue and says, "Yeah...that kind of thing doesn't work on me." She takes a few steps back from the women and says, "Take the information and save lives, or don't and face the consequences." Mystique shrugs and smiles, although there is no joy behind it.

"So you're a princess, huh?" She shakes her head a bit, looking the woman up and down, "Thought you'd be taller." She throws the deadman switch at Rogue and Lorna before ducking back down an alley almost immediately, "BoooooooooM!"