Post by Midnight on Feb 20, 2006 16:20:17 GMT -5
{Time: Today}
{Plot: House of M. In case you have not been reading the comics, here is a quick recap: Magneto has lost the war against ordinary humans for which he sacrificed the well-being of his children. Now he is forced to watch his daughter, Wanda, the Scarlet Witch, suffer a loss of control over both her powers and her grip on reality. Quicksilver, Wanda's brother Pietro, pleads with their estranged father to help her. Mutant leader Charles Xavier, who is unable to help the Scarlet Witch, gathers the Avengers and the X-Men to decide how to proceed. The heros are not convinved that killing Wanda is the only solution, so they travel to the mutant nation of Genosha to confront her, in the hopes of discovering what she wants. When they get to the island, Wanda is missing as are Pietro and Magneto. Then the World burns to white.
Basically, Wanda altered the entire world so that historic events took place in a much different way. Magneto stood up against the human oppressors years ago and became the ruler of the world. His family is called the House of M. Those who were looking for him when the world was normal were given their heart's desire to keep them from somehow remembering or acting up against the illusion. Mutants are dominent and oppress the humans. Different mutants rule different parts of the world, such as Storm ruling Africa. Xavier Institute and Xavier himself have never existed. There is the New Mutant Leadership Institute for training New Mutants in leading the world someday. SHEILD is the main peace-keepers and have their own trainees, known as the Hellions. Humans are called "Sapians" or " 'saps" and are pushed around, discriminated against, and generally mistreated. This is the general rule, although some Sapians, such as Tony Stark (Iron Man), enjoy prosperous careers. In this world, being a mutant is the best thing that can happen to you and you have almost no chance of success without that. Humans are starting to become extinct as mutants are now the majority.}
Marie Adams walked out of the sun and into the shadow of some crumbling apartment buildings, back alleys, shacks, and sewers. It was the Sapian quarter of New York City, known to most people by the name Hell's Kitchen. She shifted her backpack on her shoulder to hide the burn mark on her arm before she went to unlock the door to a dingy set of rooms that several other families stayed in as well.
A few greeted her from the living room, a sort of community room to the Sapian families. So many had been jammed inside this little crime-ridden area of New York that they had to stuff so many people in just one apartment.
Marie entered the room that the Adams family called their own and shut the door behind her. No need to call out that she was home; the room was just one room and both her parents were there. "Hey Mom, hey Dad," she smiled a pretty white smile and was received in a hug by her mother and a smile in return from her father who was reading the paper on one of the poor mattresses laid out on the floor. Marie was wearing a white tank-top and long denim skirt. Her dark brown hair tumbled down her back and brown eyes sparkled. She had freckles, but didn't like them, and nice lips that she did.
"Where did you get this?" Katie asked, examining the the burn on Marie's bare shoulder. "Nothing," Marie said automatically, even if the answer didn't suit the question. She pulled away from her mother, who had hurried to some drawers to get some burn ointment. Truth of the matter was, Marie went to a free public school where both poor mutants and humans could get an education. Like all the things that were supposed to be good for sapians, it had gone to pot. The mutant children never refrained from picking on the humans, and Marie's burn was actually something pretty light to get away with. It had been inflicted by a boy called simply "the Dragon." He had sharp claws and large leathery wings, and on top of that could breath fire.
Marcus Adams looked up from his paper, a grim expression on his face. He knew he could do nothing to prevent his daughter from being abused at school. Nobody would listen to a human's charges against a mutant, even one as low down as the kids that went to Marie's school.
"I wish you would take that ring off," Katie murmured, fingering Marie's hands while applying the burn ointment. A silver snake crept its way around Marie's finger, diamond-shaped eyes staring.
"I can't, Mom," Marie replied, tracing the serpent's silver path with her other hand. "Noel said she would help, and I know she will."
"Sweetie," Katie said, brushing Marie's cheek, "Noel has been gone for three years. She is a mutant now. What makes you think she will ever be able to or want to help us? She got out of this hell-hole, why would she care anymore?"
"She cares," Marie protested with more conviction than she felt. It had been a long time and they had not heard from Noel at all during those three years. But Marie clung to the promise made by a friend. "She cares."
~~~~~~
Noel Rich blinked her large snake eyes, trying to keep the focused and open. As far as appearances went, only her eyes gave away the fact that she was a mutant. Her skin was a dark brown color and her hair flowing dark brown down her back as well. A century ago, people might have persecuted her for her skin color. Three years ago it had been for genetic differences. Now no-one could persecute her. Puberty had kicked in, giving her powers that merely the possession of lifted her up out of Hell's Kitchen and into the world. Although it was traitorous to say it, she believed that humans and mutants were not actually all that different. One day she was a human and persecuted and discriminated against. The next she was a mutant and part of the elite majority around the world. The physical changes had been small, but their impacts were great.
Laurie Garrison leaned back to scan the faces of the people sitting behind her and Noel stuck her tongue out at her. Laurie glared at her and sat straight again. Noel hadn't been in the habit of sticking her tongue out until her mutant powers manifested. Her tongue was now black, long, and forked. Far more fun. Noel's powers were interesting and she assumed they had evolved because of her love for snakes and possibly the presence of the pet boa constrictor she had in her room in Hell's Kitchen. She now had ultra-violet vision, a forked tongue that could be used to smell, poisonous fangs, and she was very flexible. The flexibility had come gradually and doctors said that eventually she might actually be able to transform into a snake. The thing that people usually attributed to snakes for no good reason was a sharp, clever mind, capable of deceit and quick thinking. Noel had that before she became a mutant, but now it seemed impenetrable to telepaths as well.
She tugged at the standard-issue yellow and white uniform, waiting for the headmistress of the New Mutant Leadership Institute to finish with her long speech. Noel wasn't really here to become a future leader of the world, which is what everyone expected of those in the NML. She was there to save the sapians, a completely traitorous notion. But she had been one until she was fifteen, and it was wrong for them to be treated in the ways that they were. She had promised her best friend that she would save them, and she intended to. Her snake eyes blinked.
((Midnight, or Marie Adams, never became a mutant because her life did not give her the circumstances under which she would have invited the darkness into her life.))
{Plot: House of M. In case you have not been reading the comics, here is a quick recap: Magneto has lost the war against ordinary humans for which he sacrificed the well-being of his children. Now he is forced to watch his daughter, Wanda, the Scarlet Witch, suffer a loss of control over both her powers and her grip on reality. Quicksilver, Wanda's brother Pietro, pleads with their estranged father to help her. Mutant leader Charles Xavier, who is unable to help the Scarlet Witch, gathers the Avengers and the X-Men to decide how to proceed. The heros are not convinved that killing Wanda is the only solution, so they travel to the mutant nation of Genosha to confront her, in the hopes of discovering what she wants. When they get to the island, Wanda is missing as are Pietro and Magneto. Then the World burns to white.
Basically, Wanda altered the entire world so that historic events took place in a much different way. Magneto stood up against the human oppressors years ago and became the ruler of the world. His family is called the House of M. Those who were looking for him when the world was normal were given their heart's desire to keep them from somehow remembering or acting up against the illusion. Mutants are dominent and oppress the humans. Different mutants rule different parts of the world, such as Storm ruling Africa. Xavier Institute and Xavier himself have never existed. There is the New Mutant Leadership Institute for training New Mutants in leading the world someday. SHEILD is the main peace-keepers and have their own trainees, known as the Hellions. Humans are called "Sapians" or " 'saps" and are pushed around, discriminated against, and generally mistreated. This is the general rule, although some Sapians, such as Tony Stark (Iron Man), enjoy prosperous careers. In this world, being a mutant is the best thing that can happen to you and you have almost no chance of success without that. Humans are starting to become extinct as mutants are now the majority.}
Marie Adams walked out of the sun and into the shadow of some crumbling apartment buildings, back alleys, shacks, and sewers. It was the Sapian quarter of New York City, known to most people by the name Hell's Kitchen. She shifted her backpack on her shoulder to hide the burn mark on her arm before she went to unlock the door to a dingy set of rooms that several other families stayed in as well.
A few greeted her from the living room, a sort of community room to the Sapian families. So many had been jammed inside this little crime-ridden area of New York that they had to stuff so many people in just one apartment.
Marie entered the room that the Adams family called their own and shut the door behind her. No need to call out that she was home; the room was just one room and both her parents were there. "Hey Mom, hey Dad," she smiled a pretty white smile and was received in a hug by her mother and a smile in return from her father who was reading the paper on one of the poor mattresses laid out on the floor. Marie was wearing a white tank-top and long denim skirt. Her dark brown hair tumbled down her back and brown eyes sparkled. She had freckles, but didn't like them, and nice lips that she did.
"Where did you get this?" Katie asked, examining the the burn on Marie's bare shoulder. "Nothing," Marie said automatically, even if the answer didn't suit the question. She pulled away from her mother, who had hurried to some drawers to get some burn ointment. Truth of the matter was, Marie went to a free public school where both poor mutants and humans could get an education. Like all the things that were supposed to be good for sapians, it had gone to pot. The mutant children never refrained from picking on the humans, and Marie's burn was actually something pretty light to get away with. It had been inflicted by a boy called simply "the Dragon." He had sharp claws and large leathery wings, and on top of that could breath fire.
Marcus Adams looked up from his paper, a grim expression on his face. He knew he could do nothing to prevent his daughter from being abused at school. Nobody would listen to a human's charges against a mutant, even one as low down as the kids that went to Marie's school.
"I wish you would take that ring off," Katie murmured, fingering Marie's hands while applying the burn ointment. A silver snake crept its way around Marie's finger, diamond-shaped eyes staring.
"I can't, Mom," Marie replied, tracing the serpent's silver path with her other hand. "Noel said she would help, and I know she will."
"Sweetie," Katie said, brushing Marie's cheek, "Noel has been gone for three years. She is a mutant now. What makes you think she will ever be able to or want to help us? She got out of this hell-hole, why would she care anymore?"
"She cares," Marie protested with more conviction than she felt. It had been a long time and they had not heard from Noel at all during those three years. But Marie clung to the promise made by a friend. "She cares."
~~~~~~
Noel Rich blinked her large snake eyes, trying to keep the focused and open. As far as appearances went, only her eyes gave away the fact that she was a mutant. Her skin was a dark brown color and her hair flowing dark brown down her back as well. A century ago, people might have persecuted her for her skin color. Three years ago it had been for genetic differences. Now no-one could persecute her. Puberty had kicked in, giving her powers that merely the possession of lifted her up out of Hell's Kitchen and into the world. Although it was traitorous to say it, she believed that humans and mutants were not actually all that different. One day she was a human and persecuted and discriminated against. The next she was a mutant and part of the elite majority around the world. The physical changes had been small, but their impacts were great.
Laurie Garrison leaned back to scan the faces of the people sitting behind her and Noel stuck her tongue out at her. Laurie glared at her and sat straight again. Noel hadn't been in the habit of sticking her tongue out until her mutant powers manifested. Her tongue was now black, long, and forked. Far more fun. Noel's powers were interesting and she assumed they had evolved because of her love for snakes and possibly the presence of the pet boa constrictor she had in her room in Hell's Kitchen. She now had ultra-violet vision, a forked tongue that could be used to smell, poisonous fangs, and she was very flexible. The flexibility had come gradually and doctors said that eventually she might actually be able to transform into a snake. The thing that people usually attributed to snakes for no good reason was a sharp, clever mind, capable of deceit and quick thinking. Noel had that before she became a mutant, but now it seemed impenetrable to telepaths as well.
She tugged at the standard-issue yellow and white uniform, waiting for the headmistress of the New Mutant Leadership Institute to finish with her long speech. Noel wasn't really here to become a future leader of the world, which is what everyone expected of those in the NML. She was there to save the sapians, a completely traitorous notion. But she had been one until she was fifteen, and it was wrong for them to be treated in the ways that they were. She had promised her best friend that she would save them, and she intended to. Her snake eyes blinked.
((Midnight, or Marie Adams, never became a mutant because her life did not give her the circumstances under which she would have invited the darkness into her life.))