8263/Undercurrents: Warning Signs

Undercurrents: Warning Signs
Date of Scene:	11 July 2019
Location:	Women's Hall, Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Rogue, Wanda and Josh find a student has overdosed in Xavier's on a strange new drug.
Thanks to:	Josh Foley GM
Cast of Characters:	Elixir, Scarlet Witch, Rogue
Tinyplot:	Undercurrents

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Elixir has posed:
Josh had spent a big chunk of the day moving into a free room in Xavier's manion. Thankfully, Wanda was there to help him as he brought in his few possessions. The room was far from looking like home yet, but it was a lot nicer than his apartment in Bushwick.

"Well, man I'm starving, wanna grab something in the kitchen?" Josh asks Wanda.

He heads out of his room towards the lobby.

Anyone within earshot of the lobby hears the screaming for help. Nadia, a 16 year old girl with pleated blonde hair, blue eyes and a way with electricity runs out of the women's dorm wing.

"Help! Sarah's /dying/!!" Nadia screams. She looks half wild with panic and tears are running down her face. Sarah is her roommate. Both were young, much too worldly and had all kinds of trouble before joining the school.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda Maximoff places the boxes with the plates and other kitchen items into the closet since he has a fully stocked kitchen now. "Yes, though I did say I'd treat for lunch. But you can keep that one as a rain check," the auburn-haired woman tells him. She follows Josh out of the room, glancing about the hallways that are only just beginning to become familiar to her now that she has visited a few more times of late. "This probably will be a better study environment," she says as if agreeing with an earlier statement by Josh. "If you can resist the urge to get dragged down to a game of basketball or over to the pool you mentioned," she tells him.

The sound of the girl's cries causes Wanda to whirl around, hands coming up, ready to act in those first moments it takes to realize what the situation is. Wanda looks to Josh even as she tells the girl, whose name Wanda doesn't know, "Quickly, take us to her. What is wrong with her?" she asks, ready to dart forward after the girl if she begins leading the way.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue steps out of her room at the sound of screaming, more-so she leans her head out of her room, her white bangs dangle down in forth of her as she looks to the source of the voice. When she spies Wanda and Josh both, she steps out of the room fully, wearing jeans shorts and a powder blue teeshirt with a dolphin on it, Rogue starts to walk down the hall toward them, confused look upon her face.

"Whats goin' on?" She asks, already following the others. "What happened?" Rogue asks then in her southern flavored voice, her green eyed gaze going from one person's face to the other, hoping to get any information at all on this latest life and death situation in this drama-filled school.

Elixir has posed:
"She started twitching and she's turning /blue/ and this wasn't supposed to happen!" Nadia gets out in a rush to Rogue, Wanda and Josh. Then she acts on Wanda's urging.

Nadia sprints down the plush red carpet past three doors until she gets to an open one. She looks in and then looks to the adults desperately. "Oh my god, I'm sorry," Nadia says on the verge of breaking down. Several other students poke their heads out of their dorms at the commotion.

Josh sprints down the hall after Nadia, arriving last.

Inside the room, Sarah is lying on the floor. The young brunette is lying on her side in the middle of the floor in yoga pants and a loose t-shirt. Her face and hands have turned blue. She twitches a bit, staring forward blankly. A very keen eye will notice one of the beds has the blanket heaped over something the size of a football. The room has a weird pungent odour.

"What the fuck?" Josh says when he catches sight of Sara.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda's eyes scan the room even as she is moving over to Sarah, moving around the far side so she won't be in the way for Josh. The lady Avenger crouches beside Sarah, but it seems like someone far more suitable for helping her is here. "Josh, can you help her?" she asks, eyes lifting to him as he enters the room.

Likely figuring if it is something physical that Josh can help, Wanda focuses on her magical senses instead, wanting to rule out there is anything mystical that is the source of the problem. Her hands move over Sarah, sensing not just for magic, but probing the girl's health to try to determine more fully what the problem is. She may have noticed the scent and the lump on the bed, but leaves that to others to check on while she checks the girl's condition directly.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue waves at the other students poking their heads out of their rooms. "Stay inside your rooms." She urges them, but she knows full well known of them are going to listen, they're all gonna follow behind to see whats up, or to get a look at it or to record it with one of their 'devices' that they refuse to ever let go of.

So when she comes around the corner after the others, she spies the girl on the floor and her dark brows lower down over her eyes in confusion. "Is she chokin' on something?" She asks to anyone, then looks to Nadia specifically. "What was she eating?" She asks further whilst stepping around and into the room further, trying not to touch anyone.

She too looks to Josh, he's the 'doctor' around here of sorts. "I know how to do the Heimlich and CPR, but I'm probably not the best for that sorta personal contact." Especially in a tshirt and shorts right now.

Elixir has posed:
When Wanda uses her abilities to check Sarah something is definitely not right. There is a trace of magic throughout her body, like a bitter aftertaste, ghostly as the remnants of magic in alchemical concoctions usually are. Bitter and very, very strange, like magic in a foreign tongue. Whatever it is, it is concentrated in her brain and affecting her deeply.

"Um, a, a nothing, a hot dog," Nadia stammers out, seizing on Rogue's question. She is nearly vibrating with stress and concern. She steps into the room and sidles to where she has her back to the bed. "Then she fell down!"

Josh kneels beside Sarah and puts a hand on her face. "What the... Oh man, she's fucked up," he says. His eyes are distant and his cheek twitches. "No, this like bad. There's something like, eating her fucking brain!"

He closes his eyes and a golden glow rises around his hand. It is gentle though and he frowns in concentration. "Yeah, I don't like this," he says with a glance to Wanda.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda frowns and leans closer, her hands moving up to and spending more time over Sarah's head while Josh's hands are beneath hers, touching her face. "There's some magic involved in this. It's... strange," Wanda says, shaking her head at the sense of it, and not trying to put more words to it.

She does hold her hands up away from Sarah though, head turning more like she's listening than looking. Wanda stands up quickly then, and if Nadia having moved near to the bed puts her in Wanda's way, the student will be gently moved aside as Wanda pulls back to the blankets to get a better look at the object she's sensing that has the same kind of magic resonance to it.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue's arms cross over her stomach to keep her bare hands and forearms out of the way of brushing up against other people involuntarily. She listens to the utterly unenjoyable diagnosis that something is eating her brain and it just makes her scrunch up her face into further displayed disgust.

"What?" She asks to Josh before her stare sweeps over to Wanda. When the Scarlet One speaks the words 'magic' and 'strange' Rogue's eyes go wide again. "Lets take her to the Sanctum. We can bring her through the portal in Kitty's closet." They probably don't know anything about that portal through the magic mirror in Kitty's room, to Kitty's room in the Sanctum.

A look is given to the kids in the hall (not that show) and she waves her hands at them. "Shoo! get out of the way!" She tells them, trying to clear a pathway already it would seem.

Elixir has posed:
Nadia tries momentarily not to be moved, but yields under the gentle firmness of Wanda moving her aside. When Wanda pulls the blanket back there is a black purse lying there unzipped. There is a lighter and a spoon with burnt residue on it. A square of tinfoil. The orange plunger end of a syringe pokes out of the purse. Nadia bursts into tears.

"Rogue, I need a sec," Josh says vaguely. The glow continues. "What the hell happened to her? Wanda this stuff is like... strong. It's still hurting her while I'm helping her. Can you slow it down or something?" he asks. Sarah starts sweating especially near Josh's hand. The pungent smell inxreases. What is in her?! Don't touch her skin..."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda glances to Rogue at the mention of moving her, but only for a moment. "She took a drug, it must be tainted in some way," Wanda says. Her fingers swirl to lift the items with her power and move them over to where Josh can see them, though she is careful not to touch any of them or let them contact another, just in case.

Wanda turns from the bed to kneel back down beside Sarah. She extends her fingers over Sarah's head and chest. "I can do some healing, but I lack your control, Josh," Wanda tells him. She frowns for a moment, eyes flashing with an intensity as she thinks. "You'll guide my magic. Your ability and mine, together, but you need to be the one to guide, it," she tells Josh.

She looks up to him, and he has only a few fleet seconds to decide negatively if that plan doesn't work for him. After that Wanda reaches out, her fingers gaining a nimbus of scarlet energy as she touches Josh's face, fingers along his cheek and temple. Anyone with the right angle might see a flare of the red light in his eyes before it fades. As Josh draws his next breath, Wanda's chest rises and falls in time to him.

Wanda reaches out her hands to his. Her fingers are again wreathed with visual signs of her chaos magic. Her hands move to rest atop Josh's, and he will be able to feel her power. It's there, and he can control it while it flows from her hands down into his. "Heal her Josh. I know you can," she says in a tone of confidence.

Rogue has posed:
When it comes out that there were drugs being down, Rogue freezes in the doorway. She then turns and looks down to Sara, then over to Josh... then up to Wanda. "Drugs?" She asks, before finally her eyes go over to Nadia. She waits to get eye contact with Nadia and she starts to walk toward the girl, getting uncomfortably close to her... very uncomfortable considering everything that the southern belle is capable of and how everyone in this school is readily aware of those abilities there-in.

"You brought drugs into this house?" She asks the girl who's not on the floor dying from them. "I'm not too familiar with the 'hotdog' drug. Why don't you enlighten us as to what its supposed t'do for ya, huh, Nadia?" She says in a super serious tone of her usually husky hued voice.

She motions down to Sara. "This the kinda high ya'll were hopin' for?" She asks. "Where'd you get these drugs from?" Is her final question for Nadia.

Elixir has posed:
Josh looks to Wanda then smiles a bit and nods. "Alright, let's do it."

Josh's eyes widen at the red flare in his vision and then he feels Wanda's physical presence in the same way he feels his own, and right now, Sarah's. Wanda can feel Sarah's animal panic and pure torment. Josh and Wanda's combined senses give them each the half of the picture they were missing. The drug is partly alchemical, magical, and Sarah has a lot of it. It aggressively attacks the brain, altering neural pathways. Josh could feel that flushing it suddenly would be traumatic, and healing Sarah would just start the attack over. But with Wanda's red magic snuffing out the energy bound up in this drug, Josh makes headway. But Wanda can feel through Josh that Sarah's brain has been altered as well as damaged. And Josh really does not know how to handle that yet.

"Holy shit," Josh breathes at the connection. "It's some kind of /magic/ drug, you know? So strong. I think we got it now...."

Sara takes a ragged, gasping breath. She is still out and sweating hard but she starts to breathe and regain colour.

Nadia blanches when Rogue comes up to her. If there was anywhere to flee she would.

"I'm sorry, it was her idea, it was supposed to be like down! Twigs said it was the same just better..." Nadia trails off and goes even paler. "No, no, no I mean, not from him, you can't, it was my fault!" she gibbers.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda keeps the magic energy flowing, allowing Josh to alter the drug itself within Sarah's body. She can feel what he's doing. Feel what he's feeling. Wanda's lips fall open for a moment and she draws a deeper breath, the first time she's been out of sync with Josh since that light touch to his head. Though after that breath, she falls back into the same rhythm as he.

Wanda doesn't need to move her hands to follow his. He wishes their hands to move and they do, together. The red aurora flows from Wanda, through Josh's touch and into Sarah, until finally she draws a breath. Wanda's lips pull back in a smile, her eyes looking over to Josh to shine the smile to him. "So much control," she murmurs softly.

When Josh is finally done, Wanda touches his hands softly for a moment longer, sharing that smile before pulling her hands back. She looks over to Rogue's interrogation of Nadia. "This could happen to someone else if we don't stop the source," the Avenger tells Nadia, her expression turning more stern finally.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue isn't satisfied with the answers that she gets from Nadia either. So she continues to walk toward the girl who is just a couple of years younger than her (?) hoping to back her up against the wall where she'll then reach out with her bare hands to put one on either side of Nadia, so that the younger girl is locked between a lot of bare Rogue flesh, able to absorb the girl if she were to brush up against her.

Wanda's words speak over from behind Rogue's shoulders and she keeps her green eyes on Nadia just staring right at her.

"Who's Twigs?" Rogue then asks with a slight, but definitive, uptick of her chin. Her voice is calm, but ice cold. "Tell me, where I can find'im, Nadia."

Elixir has posed:
Josh rocks back on his heels when he finishes with Sarah. He half registers Wanda's touch and look, his pupils are pin pricks. He flares golden and then shakes his head.

"Oh ho, ho wow," he says as the afterglow of the drug fades with his self-healing. He gives a low whistle.

Nadia cringes backward until she hits the wall. She flinches like she expects to be hit, like she has been hit before, when Rogue reaches out.

"H-h-he's this guy, he hooks us up, at the Sailor, he looks like a tree," Nadia stammers out quietly. "Up, down, whatever... He said he had something new, said it was safe," Nadia continues and the tears starting falling again. She bawls. "I'm sorry I didn't know it was too much, she always does way more than me!"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda reaches over to Josh, touching his arm softly, her eyes expressive as she is feeling enough of what he is to understand just how that was for him. Though now that Wanda is no longer focused so much on the healing, Nadia's words are being caught and processed far better. The name that she missed before, is caught this time.

Wanda repeats, "Twig? At the Sailor in Mutant Town?" She looks over to Josh meaningfully. "Is he into dealing?" Wanda asks, as if she and Josh are familiar with him. "I think we need to pay him a visit, as quickly as possible." Wanda will wait to see if Josh agrees, and if so will look to Rogue to say, "Anna-Marie, are you feeling up for a trip as well?"

Rogue has posed:
Once this information is relayed to her from Nadia, Rogue continues to just stare at the girl up until she hears Wanda pick up on the tidbits that came out. Its then that Rogue glances back in that direction for a moment, but in-doing-so she notes that both of the girl's cell phones are laying on Nadia's bed...

A split second later and Rogue's angry green gaze is sweeping back over to Nadia's face only a handful of inches from her own. "I'm going to recommend you be expelled for this." She tells Nadia then as she drops her hands from the wall and frees her from the 'Rogue cage'.

The southern belle then turns to Nadia's bag and snags both of the phones. "I'm giving these to Doug too, so he can search them for anything else related t'this."

With both phones in her hands, Rogue looks up to Wanda and shows her a soft smile. "Why yes. I think an outtin' sound like a mighty fine idea. I feel like choppin' down a tree t'day."

Elixir has posed:
Josh fairly gapes. He looks stunned. He shakes his head.

"He never said shit to me!" Josh says, heat rising in his face. "I know he parties, but dealing to fucking /kids/?"
Josh bites off the rest he has to say.

"I'm in," he says. "First someone help me get Sarah to..." he leaves the last hanging but it's clear he means somewhere better equipped than the Wellness Centre.

Nadia collapses to the ground sobbing when Rogue moves her hands away. Nadia's eyes go wide in panic and she moves as if she thinks she is going to beat Rogue to her phone. But she shrinks back when Rogue turns around with the phones in hand. She curls her knees up under her chin and cries quietly, face against her knees.