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The club is busy tonight, and that is no surprise. There's been signs up for a few days about the "Boxing Day Party", with proceeds going to a charity. A small note towards the bottom of the signs notes, "Sponsored by Worthington, Inc." There's a long line outside, but the club's owner seems pretty arbitrary in who he's letting in, leading to an eclectic (and notably varied) mix of people within the blub. THe band has just finished a song, when Mr O'Rourke, the owner, gets up on the stage and addresses the microphone. He speaks with an Irish lilt, "I'd like to thank you all for coming tonight, and I'd like to introduce the bloke who got this together. Mr. Warren Worthington." At that point a handsome blond man in is early twenties, wearing a long jacket, steps up on stage.
*
Julie turns up, then, dressed in a skirt of poodle-skirt-like cut, leather jacket, and white sweater, …for the occasion she's got a pair of old boxing gloves dangling from laces around her neck. Because hey, it's Boxing Day! Her attention turns to the stage.
*
Lorna glanced over her shoulder toward Illyana, a laugh playing on her lips as she made her way into the club with Illyana at her side. They'd stood outside in the chill for some time before being let in. Two college aged girls? Getting into a club was easy. Especially as Lorna had donned a skirt that was slightly shorter than her usual fair. Though the knee high boots were more than enough to keep her legs mostly warm.
Her hair was pushed back with a thick headband and she quiets faintly as they enter and the stage is occupied.
"Oh man, Illyana, you'll never believe it, but I totally met him before."
*
Illyana's mode of dress tends towards the simplicity of the peasantry— a long, ankle-length overcoat, nattily fitted and in a grey the color of mild rain clouds. The high collar is turned up almost to Illyana's chin, making the sheet of her hay-colored hair and her intense blue eyes the only spots of color, once she doffs her earmuffs and scarf. She hands them off to the coat check girl, then her gloves, clearly resisting doffing her entire winter garb.
"Why would not believe you?" Illyana asks Lorna, one brow lifting at her friend. "You are not in habit of lying to me." Her heavy Russian accent gets a mild scowl from one woman, but Illyana misses it. Seeing Lorna's skirt getting some favorable attention, Illyana mutters something resigned under her breath and starts shrugging out of the heavy winter over-dress.
*
Warren speaks into the microphone, "Hello!" There is a moment of feedback from the sound system, and he winces, "Sorry." Speaking a bit quieter, he looks around the room, "I want to thank you all for coming out tonight. Boxing day isn't really something we usually do here in the States, but it's an old tradition over in the UK. THe idea behind it is that the wealthy, those who have more than the need, will "box up" their extra food and other things after Christmas so it can be given to the poor. This year, there's a lot of people would could use a little help." He pauses and looks around, and offers a brilliant smile, "But we all want to have a good time for the holidays, right?" He waits for the crowd to answer in the affirmative, then continues, "SO I figured, why not do both? THe party's on me, but we're going to be collecting donations all night. It all goes to charity tonight folks. SO have a good time, and please, be generous!" He steps away from the mike then to let the band move in and start up the music again.
*
Julie applauds! She clearly has no idea what this Boxing day is, but it doesn't seem to matter much. She glances around looking for the girl who told her about the party to begin with, while the house-lights are up somewhat for Warren's speech.
*
Lorna grinned back at Illyana as she wove her way between the crowds after the coat check toward the bar. She had /never/ worn something quite like the dress she was wearing now. She'd made it herself, sewn it up from a pattern her adoptive mother had given her for Christmas. With a few alterations to make it more fashionable.. Which had had her blushing the first time she'd put it on. But in the club? She fit right in.
"Well, he's kind of sort of really rich. I met him on the street when I was volunteering to help the displaced persons a while back." She scored a stool at the corner of the bar, and waved Illyana over to the one beside her. It was terribly easy for the pretty brunette to get the stools, a guy more than willing to give up his seat as his gaze swung over her and Illyana both.
*
Illyana shrugs out of her coat and hands it over, and slips off her over-boots. Her shoes are plain flats, with a low, straight heel, and her dress is a pale blue that'd be more appropriate for Easter— but it makes for a splash of serene, icy color in the crowd of milling plaids, violent tie-dyes, and earth tones that are so popular. The plain A-cut of the dress leaves her wiry, athletic arms bare, and the hem stops just above her knee. She'd be almost coltish but for how she walks, but where Lorna might gain some looks of speculation, the hawkish glare of the blue-eyed Russian tends to deter more than it encourages.
She slips onto a seat next to Lorna without so much as a 'thank you' for the fellow at the bar. "Oh, yes— I think I know him," Illyana says, after a beat. "Is named Warren. Friend of friends, I have seen him upstate many times," she tells Lorna. She gives her a curious look. "Would have thought you'd have met him, too." She eyes the girl wearing boxing gloves, not understanding that reference, but then smiles at Julie in a friendly enough fashion a beat later.
*
Julie decides to drift on toward the bar, herself, while the band plugs in. Tucks an envelope in the pocket of her jacket for the moment, and as she comes closer, spots Lorna and waves, increasing her pace and giving her apparent friend a smile. waving toward someone behind the bar, "Hey!" she says, her accent saying 'Brooklyn,' "How's about a draft? Schaeffer or whatever you got!"
*
Warren steps off the stage and takes a drink from one of the waitresses who is working the crowd. He takes a few moments to say something to Mr Rourke, then starts working his way across the room towards where he thinks he recognizes a few faces in the crowd. It takes him a bit though, as he tries to stay to the edges of the dance floor rather than crossing it directly.
There are two men behind the bar. One smiles pleasantly at Julie and pipes up< "Sure thing, miss!' Before moving to pour her drink. THe other one, though, is being a bit less attentive to patrons, instead off to the side having a hushed and seemingly serious conversation with another man."
*
Lorna orders a club soda, a short skirt perhaps as daring as she was willing to venture for the day. She shifts on the barstool, and blinked in surprise at Illyana's news. "Wait, you mean at the Institute? Geeze! I had no idea Illyana. That's.. just wow. Huh.." She leaned back in the stool, trying to find him in the crowd and failing.
"I met him completely by accident and—" Further conversation breaks off as Julie comes along, eyeing the other woman for a brief span of time.
"Hey.. I uhm.. I forget your name. Sorry."
*
Julie comes over, a moment later, said cup of beer in hand, the boxing gloves just hanging by laces around her neck, she transfers it and re-introduces, "Dizzy," she says, "Or that's what everyone but cops and nuns and my Mamma call me." Glances Illyana over. Says almost apologetically, "Not much of a story why, really. How we doin?"
*
"Vodka. Cranberry juice," Illyana tells the bartender, trying to sound like the mature sophisticate Lorna is, and which Illyana visibly is not. Still, she at least lacks Lorna's self-consciousness about her appearance; whereas so many others are wearing the most trendy of dark tones or violently clashing colors, Illyana's attire is almost blindingly simple, and focuses attention on her arms and face, though she might not have realized it beyond 'Blue is a good color' and 'no complex buttons'.
She rests her clutch in her lap, the bartender waving off her money, and looks at Julie when the girl approaches, now unsure of herself as the woman abruptly joins their conversation. Warren passes in her line of sight, and she waves at him with an arm-flapping awkwardness— and completely fails to notice the faint hints of red in the vodka before it's mingled with the juice. She takes a sip when it arrives.
*
Warren smiles when he sees that wave, and manages to close the distance to the girls, finally. Getting close he says, "Illyana! Good to see you. Ran into your brother recently. Very different sort of party that night." He chuckles and smiles again. Then he remembers Jule and gives her a smile as well, "ANd it figures I'd run into you at a charity party. Hope you girls are having a good time?" He pauses, and reaches up with one hand to tug at his collar, "Warm in here…" Then the music comes to a sudden halt and there is a crash of a glass hitting the floor. On stage the band has frozen, and is staring across the room where a man has turned lemon yellow as his hair stands up into porcupine-like spikes.
*
Lorna hugged her club soda with both hands, sipping at it as she watched Illyana order her drink. "Does that actually taste good? Cause it sounds really bitter.." She murmured, "Let me try a sip?"
Then the brunette was leaning towards Julie, "Okay, Dizzy, right. So, how is it that you—" She trailed off as Warren comes over and she glances between the blondes.
"Yeah we're having a good time. Just got in. I had no idea that you knew Illyana! It seems the world is way smaller than I was led to believe." She smiled, crossing her legs again.
Then the glass was shattering and she frowned, brows creasing. "What the heck?"
*
"Da, and loud," Illyana agrees with Warren, nodding. She sips her vodka quickly, taking few sips, then wrinkles her nose and hands it to Lorna when requested. "Is not as good as I thought it might be," she confesses to her friend. "Should not drink unless celebrating or mourning, anyway. Piotr says, is bad habit," she admits.
The blonde blinks and turns to the sound of the glass breaking, and one brow hikes at the fellow with the hair and yellow skin.
"You see— Piotr complains too much. 'Do not use powers in public, Illy'. 'Do not do magic in public, Illy'. See, no one minds!" she says, waving a hand at the fellow.
*
Julie is being all festive and such, greeting Lorna, the Russian lady with a fancy drink, the rich handsome guy, when the music stops, something breaks, the band stops and stares, Julie follows their eyes to someone turning into a porcupine. She considers this a couple of moments, concludes, "Aw, for cryin out loud." She sets her beer on the bar, with a slosh, her eyes dart around the room, and reaches into the pockets of her leather jacket, and from each produces… A roll of nickels. Ducks. It's then she realizes she wore two boxing gloves tied by their laces for the occasion. She drops one roll of coins into each. She unslings them from her neck, and then what Illyana says seems to register "What?"
*
Warren looks over and curses, "Damn. Maybe it's not so different a party after all…" No one seems more freaked out by the suddenly yellow man, who is looking at his newly spiky hands and screaming. Then a few other people around the room start undergoing similarly radical transformations. Including Warren. He arches back for a moment, and his already muscular chest seems to undergo in a few moments all the benefits of a year of heavy weightlifting. THen he doubles over and the back of his jacket stretches strangely before it completely bursts open. Not one but two pairs of gorgeously white-feathered wings suddenly spread open, knocking over a couple behind him. He stands up panting as his shirt and jacket fall in tatters around him.
*
Lorna gapes, at first Illyana and then Dizzy. She set the drinks aside, standing off the bar stool as people moved and screamed and chaos started. As Warren bent double and white feathers sprung up from his back she stared.
"Holy! Oh my God! What the-" She glanced at her roommate.
"Illyana, can you do anything to help clear the room?" She called over the din, rolling up the sleeves of her dress. She wasn't sure what she could do exactly, though her gaze scanned the crowd, and ran her senses through the room. Noting the multitude of metal from the nails in the floorboards to the cheap necklaces that hung off some girls' necks.
*
Julie is spinning one of those gloves by its lacings, changing the angle to be almost horizontally-over her head as she stands. The glove on a string starts turning into a blur when she releases it, suddenly both boxing gloves are spinning ever-faster around a common axis toward Screaming Porcupine Guy. Who hopefully will find himself thudded by a pair of high speed boxing gloves. "Alley-oop, girls, time to go!"
*
"A moment."
Illyana holds a hand up at Lorna— then is suddenly, violently sick off to one side. "Oh. I don't— Lorna, I don't feel good," Illyana groans, gripping the side of the bar for leverage. She tries to get to her feet and staggers, face flushed and thoroughly miserable looking. "I— I don't— something's wrong. I need to get somewhere safe. Limbo, must get—"
She stomps a foot on the ground. Once. Twice. Several times. Each time she does, a pool of yellow light appears and expands, until the floor is covered for fifty yards with pale energy. Illyana takes two long steps, falls over—
And the roof and ceiling vanish, revealing a purple, empty sky overhead. Impossibly tall trees and asymmetrical mountains loom in the distance. The air smells of petrichor and ozone. This is not Earth, despite the entirety of the club (sans the roof) coming along for the ride.
Illyana heaves again, and falls onto her side, curling up into a ball as she hauls along Warren's entire charity for a ride to Limbo.
*
The yellow man's screaming is silenced by a flying glove to the face. His head whips back and he goes down to the floor. But there's plenty of screaming to go around. In the chaos, the suspicious looking man who was talking with the second bartender mounts the stage, grabbing the mike, "Good evening, and welcome to the real Party…." Which is about as far as he gets before the roof is gone and the whole places is literally facing a new reality. Warren Flaps into the air air, hanging above everyone's head and calling out, "Be calm." There's a hesitation in much of the crowd. Warren's appearance always gets attention, and the extra wings don't hurt the image any. He yells again, "Be calm! We've been drugged! But the effects shouldn't last…."
The man on stage grabs the mic again then. Which is apparently, somehow, still working, "That's right folks! What you're feeling right now? That power? That rush like nothing else in the world? That's Vigor. And you can keep feeling that way…"
*
Lorna had experienced an overwhelming rush of power when her father had shoved his own strength into her. She had been able to /feel/ the Earth's magnetic field, known she could've pulled on it just as easily as she pulled on metal around her. So she knew what the symptoms of over-charged mutants looked like at least. She'd also been to Limbo along side Illyana and knew about magic.
All in all, this allowed the young woman to keep her head cool as chaos reigned.
She rushed over to her roommate's side, eyes wide as she checked on Illyana's pulse. "Hey, hey, shh, I'm here. Okay? I need you to keep everything together in there Illyana. Okay? Don't freak out." The last thing a club of transported club goers needed was to be attacked by Limbo because its Queen was freaking out.
Green eyes narrowed and Lorna reached up with both hands, snarling the metal locks together and pushing chairs by their legs to further lock everyone in. No one was going to wander off and get eaten by Limbo's less kindly residents at least.
As Warren flaps higher, her brows shoot upwards, her gaze lifting to follow him. Yet the man on the microphone gained her attention. His words made her frown and she turned her focus onto him. The microphone and stand snaking out with a metal scream to wrap around him and hold him still. Her hands held out and aiding the gesture. Doctor Strange's focus ring gleaming on her finger.
*
Julie has an impulse for the occasion of chaos in bars. When all Hell breaks loose, get behind the bar… All Limbo breaking loose would be new, but she goes with it anyway. She fairly vaults behind there… says to her hapless barkeep. "Hey, buddy, can you make change?" Pops up again to look for Lorna, says, "Maybe all the change." Looks the man promising power over but good, then up at the sky and all while fishing through her pockets. "Aw, Jiminy Cricket," she complains. Assuming she must of course be on drugs now, too, like all those helpful educational films about 'reefer' said. Also Warren's got wings. That's weird enough. She grabs something from under the bar, and pops her head up to say to Lorna, "Hey, maybe you should get back here, don't worry, I got a …" She looks at what proves to be a cocktail strainer and tosses it away. "Plan."
*
Illyana looks waxy-faced and exhausted. Even though the vigor has given her powers more scope, it is not enough to offset the sheer, monumental effort in hauling fifty or more people— and an entire club— into Limbo. Her eyes flutter, barely open, and she scrabbles weakly on the ground. "Oooh… never moved so many at once," she swoons, trying to prop herself up on one hand and a hip. She presses a palm to her brow. "My head— Lorna, my head hurts," she whimpers, clearly dazed and staggered. "What is happening here? Why do I feel so sick?"
*
It's not just the man on stage, or the Angel in the sky. About a third of the people present are manifesting some sort of power, and most of them have very little control over them. Unfortunately the man on stage is different. He's had plenty of access to Vigor, after all. When the metal tries to wrap around him t stops about four inches from his skin in all directions, pushed back by an invisible field that has nothing to do with magnetism. He continues on, "I know you all brought money. But why just give it a way when you can have something in return. A taste of something so much more…" People are scared, but some of the crowd looks thoughtful. .
Warren swoops down from above t, trying to land a fist to the man at the microphone's face. But instead he just glances off.
*
A glance was spared for Dizzy and Lorna turned her attention away from the stage, though she could sense the metal bouncing off the intended target. She gritted her teeth, turning her focus to her roommate. "Take her back there, Dizzy. She's been slipped something. Really glad I just had club soda." She grumbled, sliding her hands under Illyana and trying to lift her upwards.
"Shh, it's okay Illyana. You got a bad drink. I'm gonna take care of it. Okay?" She hoped at least. How was it that the magnokinetic with little control a few months ago, went to one of the mutants in the room with the most? Ironic.
"What's your plan? Because if it doesn't involve you watching my roommate, I have stuff to do."
*
Julie meanwhile, grabs various things that may happen to be behind the bar, hastily, crab-walking around toward the stage, and the end nearest Mr. Drug-pusher. Looks around all the way for anything connected to the band's PA system. Discreetly extends a hand… All the dials…go all the way to the left. Click.
*
Julie says to Lorna, "I dunno, but it better be good." She pipes up, "Hey, buddy, think fast!" She chucks a bottle of creme de menthe at Mr. Microphone, in hopes syrupy green minty flavor helps, maybe."
*
Warren recovers in midair after bouncing off the dealer's invisible shield. He lands for a moment to regain his bearings.
Meanwhile the dealer smirks, and goes to continue talking to the crowd, only to find that the microphone no longer works. He looks nervous now, and keeps glancing up to the strange sky. but he turns his attention to Warren, "What about you, Mr. WOrthington? You've got plenty of money. Like what you're feeling> I could keep you supplied, see that feeling never goes away." Which results in Warren laughing hysterically.
*
Lorna made sure that Illyana was safely tucked behind the bar, a towel that looked clean was settled under her head. "Shhh, it's okay. Rest." Then Lorna was peeking over the top, her lips pursed as she glared at the man on stage. She exhaled, shaking out her hands as she /focused/ as well as she could.
She'd practiced flying in Limbo and had gathered it easier to do so than on Earth. There was less fighting against her ability to move. A step, and Lorna was floating upwards and to level herself upwards near Warren. Her green eyes narrowed into a glare at the dealer on stage.
With both of her hands lifted she pushed on the metal that was on the man's person.
*
Illyana scrabbles around, trying to get some energy into her system. She groans, and sags limply against the counter, clutching the wet cloth to her brow. She reaches for an unopened bottle of water and starts chugging it frantically, her body telling her she's desperately low on essential nutrients. Then, for some reason, a beer follows— then another, gorging herself on anything with calories she can find.
And beer is an excellent (if catastrophic) source of caloric energy.
*
Julie ahas slightly, and finds a stack of circular plastic serving trays right under the end of the bar. Sets them on the bar in a stack with a thunk and climbs up after them. Glances nervously to Warren, then between Lorna and 'her roommate' as both take some refuge. She winks there, takes one of the trays in hand, and speaks up brashly. "The management apologizes for any inconvenience," (she points to the force-fielded man she just threw a bottle at,) "Everyone be cool and table service will be ….Ah, there in a minute." She glances around between the people she's already encountered, not really knowing who any of them are. Or exactly what happened.
*
A force field is not much good against something that is already inside it. The dealer gets a shocked look on his face as he is flung backwards by his belt buckle and the change in his pockets. He hits the ground. Which is significant, as he does not hover slightly over it. The distraction has downed his field. AN opportunity that warren pounces on, quite literally. He Makes a wing-assisted leap and comes down with his knee in the man's gut, and a fist that connects with his jaw. He says simply, "THat's for ruining my party!"
Across the room people are getting a handle on new powers. Or not. One man keeps sending out crackling bits of electricity into the air around him. Another is crouched on the ground holding her head and yelling, "Be Quiet! Why is everyone talking at once?"
*
Lorna releases the push on the dealer's clothes and metal bits as the force field falls and Warren tackles the man from the air. She turned her gaze to the mutants struggling with their powers and, not for the first nor the last time, winces and wishes she had different powers.
Her eyes squeeze shut as she struggles to think of what to do, floating above the chaos as she was. No roof, plenty of metal.. unknown powers of untrained, now drug addicted people. Many of whom likely never have had powers before.
The idea struck her as she glanced at the dealer being attacked, force fields.. Didn't the Earth have a magnetic field that protected the planet from asteroids? Why couldn't /she/ form one too? Smaller, not as strong, yes.. but maybe it would work?
She'd never tried it before, had no idea what she was doing, but she could sense magnetic fields and manipulate them.. So why not?
The dyed brunette floated back down to the bar top, her hands out stretched as she forced her own power into something else entirely. Each little spark, each panicked individual with powers that caught her attention? She found the metal on them amidst the sea of little objects, and she drew closer to each one, trying to expand the magnetic fields to encompass each in turn.
Even as sweat beaded upon her brow and she struggled to spread her powers out in something she'd done before.. it seemed to be working.
*
"YES." The voice booms from every direction at once and Illyana floats skywards from behind the bar. Gone is her very pretty dress— burned away by the forces corcuscating around her. She is nude, but not naked, clad in the glimmering eldritch power of Limbo itself. This is not a girl. It is a force of nature. Elemental as a hurricane— as an earthquake.
"LET US ALL *HIC* BE SILENT." Illyana swings an arm imperiously through the air, which throws her yaw off a little bit as she tilts sideways. Her hair billows around her in a golden halo, her eyes empty black pits emitting crackling bursts of purple eldritch power. The air around her is warped.
She is visibly more than a little drunk. Realizing the world is tilted, Illyana aims her palms at everyone and makes a shifting gesture, as one would adjusting a painting.
Limbo— all of Limbo— moves fifteen degrees to the left to correct itself to Illyana's perceptions, knocking almost everyone to the ground.
"THERE. NOW IS STRAIGHT." Illyana's flight dips precariously fifteen feet and she tries to correct, but ends up knocking face first into a table.
"Ow!" the petite Queen of Limbo complains. "Who put table here?"
*
Julie watches as Mr. Microphone is taken down by Mr. Rich Guy. Experimentally sort of bonks herself in the head with one of those serving trays, thoughtfully. Cork and plastic, she decides to whip the things, Frisbee-like, with uncannily-flat trajectories to spang off the heads of anyone seeming to be running wild of any control, or just suffering at the very moment, though only one or two at a time. Possibly, Illyana tilting everything causes the serving trays to…not tilt at all, but Dizzy *does* and she feels it with a lurch. She finds Lorna again, and says. "So's you know, we could all be on drugs."
*
Julie flops, holds up a finger, "Can anyone get a beer in this place?"
*
Warren is already on the ground when the world shifts under him, so doesn't have far to fall. But most of the people in the room don't have that advantage, and take a tumble. A few of the people who were somewhat panicked already wind up floating just a bit off the floor, held in a barely visible magnetic distortion, and a few more take serving trays to the head. Some people, affected by the drug or not, are crying. THis is rapidly becoming a lot to handle.
Warren flaps his doubled wings and launches back into the air. He stops just above and in front of Illyana. One thing the Vigor- alteration has allowed him to do that is beyond his normal capabilities: Hover. He says to the drunken Queen. "Can you get us back?"
*
As the world tilts, Lorna's own magnetic fields correct. Thank God she'd been in Limbo before with a teasing roommate. Not a drunken one, but she'd take what points she could as she struggled to hold up the fields around the few on the drug that had clearly been losing control. Powers licking up and dissipating within the fields that dampened the damage from spreading to the non affected populous.
Sweat gathered on Lorna's brow and she held her hands out at either side, struggling to stay focused in the chaos and hold the fields up.
"Illyana, please. Put the ground back. People are scared." She breathed between clenched teeth.
*
Julie nods, pointing in a precise direction, after pausing on her back.Points precisely. "Don't ask me, but 'Up' was right *there* a second ago. This is what I get for talking to strangers, but I know that."
*
"Back? Sure! Back where?" Illyana asks Warren. "Back to Earth? Why Earth? Heard about AsgARd," she hiccoughs. "Odin— king of /poop/ heads!" she declares, wavering drunkenly as she tries to fly and ends up going sideways, crashing through two more tables. Weirdly, she doesn't seem terribly hurt by this landing, blinking up at the sky. "Let's go to Asgard! We'll show Odin how it is," she says, struggling to her feet, barely covered by the eldritch power crackling around her. "C'mon, you and Me, and Lorna— ooh! We will get my brother, he will help! Piotr ALWAYS helps. And Strange! Get whole TEAM, go to Asgard, kick Odin in his a—" and she tries to fly, makes it four feet up, and then faceplants into the ground.
"Lorna! Who put floor here?!" she demands, slurring her words.
*
Warren is less than encouraged by the response. He winces as he watches Illyana's crash landing, then looks to Lorna, who apparently has a better idea of what's going on than he does. He's still not entirely sure where they are. flys over and offers her a hand up., "I think Earth would be just fine. I mean, going to Asgard is one thing, but do you really want to bring this many people along for the ride? WHy don't we get all these nice people home first?" He looks to Lorna again and comments, "I've seen this Vigor stuff in action before. THe effects don't last that long. I'd really like to be back on Earth, and out of sight somewhere, before that happens."
*
"Back to Earth Illyana, please! I'd rather /not/ deal with panicked people in a place that I've never been to before." She grumbled the last part, green eyes flickering toward Warren as he floated down near her. She continued to keep her arms extended, magnetic pulses that kept the fields up around said panicked powered people, still held up.
It was exhausting.
"Great, so, now all these people have seen who knows what, are gonna have to deal with shifting realities and powers going haywire.. Gosh darnit. I'm going to be in /so/ much trouble." She bit her lower lip, blinking back the sting of sweat from her eyes. She'd never held up her powers for /anything/ this long.
"Any bright ideas?!"
*
Julie does seem to adjust. She limbers herself up, glancing at the sky, the room full of confused and spontaneously-mutating people, and clearly assumes she must be among several hallucinating. She doesn't seem to be, to others, yet eyes the ceiling as though she's convinced she is. "That's right, all kinds of regular people just came for a bit of fun and here we are, and end up messed around on who-knows-what…" Eyes the ceiling again, Or where it should be. Still purple. Warren, still looking all multi-winged. Heads for those doors.
Diz pauses there, whatever she might actually have found on the other side,when she looks back to see Lorna straining at something. Comes back. "Cripes. How bout I call this in, I just wasn't here, capiche?"
*
"Earth! Da! Can do Earth! Will bring us to BEST Earth." Illyana floats skywards and flings out her hands, drawing on all the power of Limbo she can muster. Eldritch power coalescence, a pool of yellow light spreading out from under her feet in a radius to envelope everyone— the entire club, the chairs, tables, the patrons, the booze, everything.
And then reality lurches sideways and clear blue skies snap into existence. The air crackles and there's a violent rush of wind, as the oxygen of Limbo vanishes in a sparkle of light as reality obliterates it. People are still scared, still frightened, but the return to normalcy— the bright sun, the clouds overhead, the mild, warm weeather… the surf, lapping nearby….
Wasn't it late in the evening not ten minutes ago?
And why are there palm trees in view?
"RIO!" Illyana sings— laughing, she collapses sideways, ignoring her lack of a stitch of clothing as the powers that girded her fade away absent her home world. "Who wants to go swimming?"
*
Warren's eyes widen at the transition. ANd at the fact that he's suddenly facing a very naked Ilyana. Facing Piotr after this is going to be interesting. He steps forward to try and catch her as she falls, and sweep his wings around her to shield her from the view of the rest of the room. He comments, "This is going to take a lot of explaining."
*
Lorna had never sworn in her whole life. Not once. Not when she'd broken her big toe while playing kickball with the neighborhood kids. Not when she found out her parents had lied to her about where she'd come from. Not even when she'd discovered her powers. But as Illyana shifts them to sunny Rio and the magnetic fields shift from Limbo to Earth?
Lorna swears.
"Shit!" She groaned, falling to her knees as she struggled to change the magnetic fields she'd used to surround the panicked individuals inside the club. She was /not/ going to explain this to anyone. Nope.
"Illyana, you have to put everyone back where they belong. Not in Rio." She screwed her eyes shut against the sparkling sunlight.
*
Julie is caught reaching for whatever phone's behind the bar before she lurches again and grabs something to steady herself in the confusion. Glances back again, "Upside-down and sunny." She's visibly thinking hard by now, though, and picks up the phone more out of curiosity than anything. Looks back toward the Vigor dealer wrapped in mike stands, then around again at the hapless Vigor-afflicted people and bystanders. "All right, assuming anyone *else* don't feel like they're hallucinating, where is this? "
*
Illyana leans on Warren, eyes fluttering a bit as the last of Limbo's power leaves her— the petite queen now just drunk on alcohol, instead of at least being also drunk on power. "Oooof…. Lorna, I feel dizzy," she complains, blinking rapidly. "And" she blinks, hands on Warren's chest, and feels her way around the slabs of muscle on his torso. "And is like wood carving, you are /very/ handsome," she gushes up at Warren. "But, I am dating someone, so" she reaches up and *boops* his nose.
"Why do we have to go home? Is /warm/ here," she tells Lorna.
*
Warren blushes at little at Ilyana's reaction. Not to mention nudity, but keeps his wings mostly blocking her from view. Trying to assess the situation, he looks down the beach to where an unmistakable statue sits on a nearby mountain. He blinks and answers Julie, "I'm pretty sure we're in Rio de Janeiro. But at least I can get people home from here." He looks at Lorna, "I'm not sure she's up to trying to move us again. And frankly, I'm not sure I trust her aim at the moment if she is. I can just charter a plane. Oddly, I just booked a house down here for a few days." He looks to Julie and nods towards where he was standing when things got weird, "Would you hand me what's left of my jacket so I can put it around her?"
Everyone else along for the ride, whether subjected to the drug or not, seems rather thoroughly confused by this point. But at least most of the powered people seem to have gotten themselves under control for the moment. At least until the drug starts to wear off and withdrawal sets in.
*
It was a very, very good thing that those that had been in a panic wore themselves out. Lorna had very little idea of what to do to contain their powers otherwise, and she'd spent what control and what power she had on holding them in those magnetic fields for as long as she did.
She sagged, letting her powers drop as she fell back from her position on her knees to the floor.
A glance was spared toward Warren and his fluffy white wings that blocked Illyana from view.
"Is she okay at least?" She breathed, exhaustion pulling at her limbs.
Not once had she done anything with her powers for that long, nor had she done anything /like/ it. The idea had been an impulse, and she was beyond trying to figure out /how/ it had worked. Much less why.
*
Julie doesn't seem very sure what to do about all this, but amid the general confusion and such, decides to look at the rest of the room. She hrms, starts spinning glasses off of tables with little flicking motions, eyes Warren again, still not sure his role in all this. "Ah, sure, buddy." She actually isn't sure who's coat may be which, but just takes the first thing she finds and returns, tosses it over. "I think somebody spiked the punch bowl, here." Points a finger to Mr. Obvious Suspect on stage. Looks to the others. Says more lowly, "So that's all that stuff does? Sounded like they'd be levelling Yonkers by now, from the news. "
*
Illyana shrugs into the coat when it's passed over to her, but only with grumbling resentment does she button it for a semblance of modesty, at Warren's gentlemanly insistence.
"Is stupid to wear coat on beach," she complains, still leaning heavily on Warren for support. She frowns in concern at Lorna, staggering towards her friend, and then collapses to her knees in front of the green-haired ferrokinetic. "Lorna! I saw you doing thing in Limbo, with the—" she makes a series of unintelligible hand gestures. "Magnetic things! Was VERY IMPRESSIVE. Cannot see it on Earth." She squints at Lorna, then picks up Lorna's wrists and tries to wiggle the woman's hands for her. "Do thing, let us see if I can see it now," she slurs.
She looks back at Julie, then waves Lorna's hand at her, as she seems to be one of the only partygoers not freaking out, panicking, or collapsing on the beach. "Hello! How do you like Rio?" she inquires.
*
Warren can't help but smile as his torn up coat ends up backwards and secured through jury rigging, but at least covering all the important parts of Illyana. WHich is when Warren finally folds his wings. Julie's comment gets his attention though, and he frowns. Walking closer to her, he answers softly, "THe does were likely small, and the fact that no one here was actually planning on taking the drug probably makes a difference. But they're also not desperate yet. It's when it starts to wear off they'll be most likely to really wreak havoc."
He moves to the stage, then calls out, "Alright everyone, a lot has happened in the last few minutes…" He spreads his wings for a moment and gestures, "Obviously". Then he looks around ,"BUt I think if we all work together where, we'll be alright And I promise I'll see to it that everyone gets home. Why don't we start with getting everyone who was affected together, alright? Come over by the stage…" THen he calls over towards the ladies, and a few of the unaffected people who seem less panicked."
*
Warren calls, "I want everything behind the bar dumped. Every drop. We should hurry." Before anyone has a chance to realize why, and get the urge not to. THen he goes to the semi-conscious dealer, and starts rifling through the man's pockets, intent on finding any additional drug he has on his person.
*
Julie bounces a bit, tentatively, at Illyana's question. "Feels kind of upside-down and sideways, but it's all right, I guess." She glances around the room. "Cause they spiked the punch. I'm pretty sure it's wearing off now, and everyone was hallucinating," she says, a bit defensively. Eyes Illyana a bit suspiciously. "How do you like New York, did a building just come down on top of where this was or what?" She eyes Warren's wings like someone still doubting her senses in general. Tentatively tries to touch one if it's in reach. Well, wow.
*
A wince pulled at her lips and Lorna leaned back against her drunken and possibly very high roommate. "Hey, Illyana, let's not try to and say we did instead. Hmm?" She arched a brow upwards, her head pounding.
She'd most definitely get in trouble with Miss Frost for all this mess if things didn't get cleaned up properly. A glance was spared toward Julie and Warren in turn and she reached up with her other hand to rub her temples.
"Lets just round everyone up. What I wouldn't give to have Jean or the Professor or /anyone/ else here.. Ugh." She stood up, still exhausted from spending so much effort just minutes before.
Clean up. Clean up. Everybody clean up..
She patted Illyana on the shoulder, she wasn't explaining to Dizzy, Julie, what happened. Rather she was gonna get rid of all that spiked drink.
She flexed her fingers, and a table leg—ripped out at some point or another came up to her hand. A few steps around the bar, and she was working on methodically smashing every bottle she found.
*
Julie looks to Lorna momentarily about all this, and comes behind the bar to start the dumping, not sure *who* was affected by any of this. Caps, however, do start spinning off bottles, one by one, in rapid succession, with a wave, a little faster than she can upend the bottles into whatever drain is handy, even if it's not connected anywhere presently, "What a waste of hooch," she comments.