2020-??-??: What A Wonderful World

Players:

AddisonF_icon.jpg ArmandeF_icon.jpg BruceF_icon.jpg CamH_icon.jpg ConnorF_icon.jpg DaisukeF_icon.jpg DannyF_icon.jpg DarrellF_icon.jpg DJF_icon.jpg EnvyF_icon.jpg HeatherH_icon.jpg Hilde_icon.jpg JamesF_icon.jpg JeremyH_icon.jpg JerichoF_icon.jpg JordanF_icon.jpg KalindiF_icon.jpg RobinF_icon.jpg RobynF_icon.jpg Uatu_icon.jpg

Summary: Someone is listening to the pain

Date: Varied

What a Wonderful World

Rating: R

Special Thanks: Bruce player for the theme of the montage and Anubis for the idea of song to use.


Across time and space


Things on earth aren't what they once were. Pain is everywhere. People live on the hurt. It's the pain that drives them forward. It's their pain that sends them to do everything that they do. It's their pain that I see. It's their pain that I feel.

I see trees of green, red roses too

They were never given a gravestone, there was no time, there was nothing but a black mark among black marks, broken concrete and the imprint of a Sentinel's boot. Taking off his eyepiece, balaklava, and gloves, the man formerly known as Connor kneels down, running his hands through the black dust, almost as if expecting something more to be there. His head hangs, and then both blackened hands run up over his bald skull as the familiar wracking agony bubbles forth. Heedless of the danger, his head dips down into the ash, tears streaming down his forehead and around, turning it into inky darkness. Mourning not only their deaths, but his own, Volk sits back and draws out sadly on the ground… Happy Birthday…

I see them bloom for me and you

There’s just too much, there’s too much blood. Hilde kneels on the ground and tries to catch her breath, but the blood loss is causing her to feel dizzy. She narrows her eyes at her assailant, the puppet of the enemy seems distorted through her blurred vision. This can’t be it. This can’t be how Hilde will die. The woman shakes her head. No, if those kids escaped, if they got away from the Hound, if they’re still alive tonight, then Hildegarde’s regrets are few. She forces herself to her feet for a final charge, but she does not see the Hound’s final attack until it is too late.

And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

Failing your master isn’t an option, no, not when your master is Ahab. Jeremy lost the trail of the mutants he was hunting and Ahab had given him a strict order to find and destroy. He couldn’t find so he couldn’t destroy and now each lash that hit his back was a painful reminder of his failure. Jeremy didn’t know what hurt more, the lashes or the fact that he let Ahab down. Next time he would make sure to succeed, make sure that those ordered dead were dead by his hand, make sure that the results would please his master. Jeremy let out another scream as he felt the skin on his back split open. Each lash was reminder on how he should try harder to make the man he loved like a father, loved like an owner, happy.

I see skies of blue and clouds of white

"I'd really like to see you die," whispers Robin as she visits the makeshift infirmary, tone harsh and angry. She speaks to the unconscious Mystique, rescued from the public execution, "I hope you are listening to this, that you can hear me. I'd love to see you die, but even more than that, I know we'll need all the help we can get here." She looks down at the floor and hugs herself with her arms, "You played a part in ruining my life, the least I can do is give you a chance to make things better." With those words, she walks out of the medical area.

The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night

Now that he's awakened, the memories are there. And… they hurt. Especially one particular image. Kenta… being suffocated by DJ's own sulfuric hand. Suffocated and mildly damaged, due to the acidic nature. With that, DJ knows he needs to do. He needs to talk to Armande. He needs to explain to Armande why uncle DJ did what he did. That he wasn't in control. And… he needs to accept whatever punishment the child wants to deal. It's the only way he can get away from this. Everywhere he looks… he sees dead Kenta.

And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

He’s heard word that a certain ex-Hunter has been around, that he’s come back to their side and no longer a killer but Armande doesn’t buy that. DJ killed his father and that’s something that Armande can’t forgive. He watched the man murder the only family he had at age fourteen and not a day goes by that he doesn't miss his Dad. Holding his father’s guitar to him the anger floods through the young mutant. “Why does he get to live, he get to be redeemed. It’s not fair.” He says as lack of father in these dark times has really been painful on him.

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky

James knows the look on the man’s face all too well—the look of someone who just lost his loved ones to armed men who hate. The victim is held high as the Hunters point and laugh. The man pleads. The hyena growls. The pair vanish. Light follows darkness. Then the sound of the man being dropped on the floor of an old barn, “You’re safe. Someone will be here soon. Wait for them.” James turns to leave, eyes glowing as he readies to teleport back. It’s a regret he shares often—but never with the man he needs to tell the most, “Your family… I’m sorry I wasn’t faster.” There’s an explosion of electricity and ozone as the hero-in-hiding returns to the world that hates him.

Are also on the faces of people going by

Envy clutches the fresh wound on her shoulder. “Damn you. Why won’t you die!?” She attempts another slash with her sword, but it appears that this mutant cannot be injured. “It was you, wasn’t it? Pride? Lust? My beloved Wrath? You killed them all, didn’t you!?” She charges at the man, grabbing hold of his wrists when he attempts another attack. “You won't take me, not alone. You can join me in Hell!” She attempts something she has never done before, using the minerals present within herself and her enemy to crystallize the two of them. Envy catches a glimpse of ruby surrounding herself and the Hunter before she drifts off into nothingness.

I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do

Returning to his corner of the tunnel, Jordan stops. On his pallet, he notices a box. The box is opened. The first picture he sees makes him smile. Him and Robyn in their Alpha Squadron uniforms. The next… confuses him. It's himself. But he's solid white, and in a really revealing costume. More pictures come and go, and he's getting more and more confused. Himself working alongside people he's known to be villains. A wanted picture with his face on it, and the label MLF at the bottom. Another picture, labelled Redemption. And himself… much older than he is now, in a nice looking costume with an A on the belt. "An Avenger? Me? What… what is all of this?" And at the bottom of the pile, a note. ~Jordan, you've missed so much of your life. You've died countless times and come back each time. You don't know it, because they're all keeping it a secret from you. You deserve to know the truth.~ He looks up, face contorted in pain. There's only one person he trusts. But how can he trust even them… when he sees pictures of them both. From 2014. He doesn't remember any of it.

They're really saying I love you.

Taking down document after document on the wall, Robyn looks at what every piece of information has cost him, and that it probably cost him the most important thing to him in the world, Jordan. Hidden underneath the layers of papers are eventually unveiled several pictures of happier times, including many of him and Jordan. What did he let himself become that he was using his own boyfriend as an expendable solider. Was he any better than Ahab or those he was fighting? He didn’t think so but he was gonna change, but how to tell this Jordan…how to come clean with what happened? Picking up a picture from ten years ago with him and Jordan in Micky Mouse hats in Disneyworld, Robyn feels the tears just pour out of him. Why did he ever let himself become so cold?

I hear babies crying, I watch them grow

As he stands at the wreckage of what was once his school. The place where he met his husband. The place his children went to, Jericho stands in shock. A cough to his side causes him to turn. A living body. Barely alive… Jeri pours on his speed, wishing beyond hope that he had his son… Jared's power. He lifts debris off the head of the man, only to reveal his husband. Tears stream, unwilling as he moves to lift the man. As Christopher speaks, Jeri begins to wail. He heard the words. And more… he felt something. Something clicked inside him. He was truly and finally awakened. But, awake or not, nothing stops this pain. His bloody face turns in the direction of the city. "You. Will. Pay." He says, in the coldest tone he can muster. He wasn't broken by Genosha. He wasn't broken by Nanny. He won't be broken by this. No matter how much it hurts.

They'll learn much more than I'll never know

“He’s been responsive to the conditioning.” A female voice says as Danny lays there strapped to a table, various wires and tubes hooked up to him. “An Omega Sentinel, and he’ll be completely under our control?” A second male voice asks as a surge of pain causes Danny to cry out as his body is being altered. “Yes, he’ll be completely ours and no longer human. He’ll be part man part Sentinel and all weapon.” Says the female voice again with a hint of glee behind it. The process has been hard and agonizing but once they’re done with Danny he will be rebuilt in their image.

And I think to myself what a wonderful world

Running down a corridor the shouts of ‘failure’ ‘loser’ ‘worthless’ ‘no good’ and other demoralizing words follow Daisuke. It’s all his father’s voice but no matter how far he runs, he can’t get away from the voice. As he rounds a corner, he sees his brother handing from the ceiling from his neck, the noose cutting off Shuya’s air supply. Stopping in his tracks, Daisuke just stares at the man who was once his brother. Shuya’s eyes snap open and choke out the words “All mutants must die. Join me Daisuke, join me.” A hand is placed on his shoulder as he turns to see the face of his father. “Yes my son, all mutants must die”. His father’s hands wrap around his neck and Daisuke starts to struggle, right before he blacks out, Daisuke wakes up with a sharp intake of air before breathing hard. Just a dream…it was just a dream. Shaking, Daisuke reaches for a cup of dirty water, hating the fact that he still has nightmares after all these years. Too much pain inside him that just keeps resurfacing as things get worse.

Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world.

Despite the rubble and destruction around him, Bruce seems concerned with only this one small section of the chaos. He kneels next to a woman, the corpse of his sister that he had arrived too late to rescue. He shakes his head and pushes Jack’s hand off of his shoulder. “No, they told me she would be safe here. Those bastards. They saved themselves and left her here to die. I won’t forgive them. The X-Men will die for this, every one of them will die.”

I see trees of green, red roses too

<Do you see this?> There is silence. He is only communicating in her mind. <No, of course you don't understand it.> Kalindi crumples the paper in her hands and shakes her head, still using her demonic tongue as she speaks to her adopted father, Umbalificos. <I had a small part in the death of this man, it was my order to be there,> she says, rubbing her face lightly. A few more moments of silence pass and she speaks again: <No, of course you don't understand it,> says Kalindi, tossing her crumpled citizenship papers to the ground of her dark dimension and teleporting herself back to Earth.

I see them bloom for me and you

The Hounded Mutant smiles as he plays with his toys. He's seeing just how many he can handle at once. Three mutants are running in circles in front of him. Every time one starts to run away from him, they suddenly turn around and go back. Cam laughs every time it happens. Ever since Ahab has taken him, he's taken pleasure in the less fortunate. And that means anyone, to him. "Little children can't run away when Big Daddy wants them to stay near." Ever since he learned how to change another person's path, whether they want to or not, he's been able to capture runaway mutants just as bad as any of the other Hounds or Hunters. Even better, they see what's happening. And it tears them apart. Cam adores it.

And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

It’s been nice to see Jesse again but he’s still miserable at the camp. It’s been over a year since his brother died and he’s at the small area at the back of the camp where they’ve managed bury those of have died. Standing by the marker stone for his brother, Darrell drops to his knees and weeps. “I was supposed to watch out for you, I was supposed to protect you. You’re my little brother you weren’t supposed to die…I was.” He says as he cries into his dirt covered hands, leaving streaks of muddy tears on his face.

Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world.

A chess piece rests perfectly balanced, barely wobbling as Heather examines the piece that Volk had crafted from trash and debris. Heather pinches it between her fingers, contemplating the meaning that the universe must be conveying to her from this symbol offered to her. She is not a piece on the board, she is a player, that's what she has always told herself. But now perhaps it's not true. She clutches her hand around it hard, the material already compressed beyond what even she can press, feeling the pressure on her palm, tears welling in her eyes at the pain. If she must be a mere pawn, so be it, if it is Ahab's will…

Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world.

Addison looks up, singing the final lyrics again. “And I think to myself… what a wonderful world.” One of the nearby mutants tilts his head. “Oh, it's nothing. Just something I used to do with he who watches.” He says, laughing. All of the constant pain and anguish going around him, coupled with lack of sleep and lack of rest has caused the man to be quite literally off his rocker. He walks on the ceiling back to the main room of the gathering areas and smiles to the face he sees there. “It hurts. Truly, it does. But I deal.” It's all said with compassion and love, despite it all.

The other mutants in the room simply stare. But, unseen amongst them, Uatu nods. I know, Addison. I have seen all that you have. But I have not felt it.

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