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It would be about fairly early afternoon. the Streets of New York were still bustling with the ongoing activity and life of the citizens. People were still honking their horns at each other and yelling…just getting from point A to point B of the ever exciting and never dull moment of life in this -very- loud city.
Meanwhile, in Avengers Mansion, Batman would be walking about rather casually, yet his casually stern and deadpanned expression is basically universal in terms of appearance at this point. He would be reading the news actually….and maybe thinking about how to put a Batcave closer to the Manse, or even beneath it….and was also taking that time to think about something that happened to him the other day, and was in the process of thinking of engaging leads.
"You know, if I were anything but a trained intelligence officer with a fair amount of field experience, I wouldn't suspect that this isn't the regular brooding Batman but rather the introspection of someone making rather big plans." And with that, Carol waves over at Batman, wearing her typical red and blue uniform, though she doesn't have her domino mask on right now. "What's on your mind Bats?"
Hope has been out and about in the city for a change, burning off some energy and some of the restlessness that comes from being unable to make progress on getting back to her time. She makes it back to the mansion eventually, though, hands in the pockets of her jeans. Finding others inside, she pauses, looking between them. "Uh…hey," she greets, an awkward smile flickering.
Batman would be wearing his black and Grey batsuit with armored additions, and for now at least, his cowl was up to cover his face. He does turn his head to Carol, but doesn't seem surprised at all that Carol was there. "Captain Marvel." he says in greeting in that naturally deep version of his voice.
Though at her question, Batman would turn to face her "The other night I encountered two people who were in the use of web-slinging and organic webbing. as well as pursued by a mystery woman whom I haven't even heard of before that night. I recognize one of them..I believe she calls herself White Widow, and I already know about that…the other two, a woman wearing webbing for an outfit and the other going by the name of Hurricane. Judging from the Language they spoke, both were Korean." he says of his investigations, then looks to Hope as she makes her entrance.
Batman gives her a light nod, before looking back to Cpt. Marvel "It's disconcerting, but not something I can't handle."
Captain Marvel shakes her head, "Wow, well, I've heard of the Spider-Man person, but the White Widow? That's a new one on me. And Korean? That's interesting." She hmms a bit, then glances over towards Hope and gives her a friendly smile, "Hi there, I'm Captain Marvel… or Carol, if you prefer. It's not like we're in the field or anything."
"Hope," the girl introduces herself, stepping further inside. "Just Hope." But the talk of things encountered on the street draws her attention more. "So it was a chase between powered people?" she asks, moving to sit on the arm of the nearest couch, as if she's got every right to be included in the conversation.
Nodding faintly to Carol, Batman would nod only once. "As have I, and done extensive research on his abilities. These two were -very- similar to him. I was planning on speaking to him to see what he had to say about the matter. from my intel, he's fighting the 'good fight'. Both were helpful in detaining their pursuer, who apparently was named Hurricane."
He glances then to Hope, and he echoes the name as if to commit it to memory. "Hope." hm. He then answers her question "After stopping an apprehending a wild police chase, I went to a few more places where crimes were commited, mostly mugging and an armed robbery. The White Widow was there at all of them and apprehended the felons alone. Alls well that ends well, but I want to know who that one was. She used organic webbing, and I have no idea who she is." he says as if he's going to be doing investigations later. "Regardless, here on downtime Carol, or just getting ready to head out?" he asks curiously. he asks the same thing of hope apparently enough.
Carol gives Batman a wry look, "To be quite honest, I was just leaning towards kicking around the mansion for the evening in case some aliens decide Earth would make a great parking lot. But after all the excitement with Vietnam, I thought relaxing around here would be a great change of pace." She then grins, "I figured you'd be punching some muggers tonight. Since that's your raison d'etre, no?"
"Does it matter who she is if she's doing good work?" Hope tucks one leg up beneath herself, looking between the others. "Do you have to know who she is for it to count? I mean…I'm just saying, I'm pretty sure a lot of the crappy things that happen in history start out with people keeping lists of other people."
Thea has been working her 'regular' job more than usual lately, so it's probably time to check in at the mansion. Make sure nothing is going on that requires her special skills, maybe catch up with some folks, that sort of thing. Blonde hair is loose over her shoulders, the blouse a vibrant cobalt blue tucked into a black skirt, heels to match. She'll find her way in, and head for the usual haunts of the folks in the mansion. "Hello, the house!" There's a chuckle in her voice, even as she moves towards the kitchen.
Batman -almost- smiles at Carol's wry comment, to the sharpest of eyes it almost seemed like the corner of his lip threatened to curl, but alas, to no avail. He was a hard nut to crack, as instead his standard deadpan expression is all she really gets. "hm. pas tout %<224> fait(not quite), though it's on the agenda in the later hours." he says in a little French of his own, before glancing over to Hope as she gives her opinion.
"Every action matters. In that instance, she may have been doing right, but it could have been situational only. Unless there is an absolute certainty that she is, for lack of a better word, one of the 'good guys, I will keep my investigations going." he says. Then Thea enters, though Bats doesnt respond to her loud greeting, instead giving her a light nod. He looks then to Carol "That being said, the investigation can wait for now. I plan to have a moments rest." which in Bat talk means he's going to check out everything in the Mansion.
Carol glances curiously at Batman, "Well, yeah, but I do think we have a job where some secrets are pretty good. Trust me, slightly-but-not-quite-former spy talking here. Still, it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep tabs on them just to make sure they stay on the side of the angels." She grins at Batman, "Did you want a tour guide? I actually helped build and refurbish most of this place, when money was a little tight at the beginning." Then she waves over towards Thea, "Hey Thea, how's it going?"
"You're gonna run out time to sleep if you're keeping up with everyone with powers," Hope shrugs, hopping off the arm of the couch as the topic of tours comes up. Thea's arrival is met with a small smile and a nod, hands back in her pockets. She may be around, but that doesn't mean she's had a chance to meet all the residents yet.
"It goes. Change of seasons bringing in a rash of different injuries to the ER. It's interesting." She beams at Carol, before brown eyes sweep over the unknown gentleman and give a polite nod. She's used to not knowing all the face, but making note of biosigns. There's even a wave, before her hand brushes along her skirt. There's a smirk at Carol, a mischief in brown eyes. "Clearly, I need to come around more often. New faces every time."
Did anyone bother to tell Batman that Carol had a mini-her? Well, not an exact duplicate. After all, Kamala's own burkini inspired uniform is far more conservative than most females, but the blue and red is nearly a mirror image of Carol's own uniform - with a flowing scarf to boot. But she still doesn't have an official Avengers membership. But being an Inhuman does have some advantages. So does the newly powered. And being polite and setting a good first impression as she waits for Jarvis and smiles at the kindly butler. After some brief talk and those big pleading brown eyes, she was finally given a visitor's pass.
After finding her way to the kitchen, she pauses as she comes up short. It's still so awe-striking to be in the same room as your idol. Standing there for a moment, Kamala starts to approach, and then she notices the man in grey and black, and the Pak-American stops cold for a moment. "It's you! I mean, it's really him!" the young woman says as her eyes grow larger than normal but she's immediately moving next .. well behind Carol.
"It's really him. I mean, we debated if he really existed at my club meetings and and.. he's really real!" A little wave is offered to Batman. "Hi." she finally finally notices the other two women, but it's to Carol that Kamala asks in a not-quite-sotto voice. "…does he really tie muggers upside down and drink their blood? I totally said no way, but it's for a bet."
Batman nods a few times to Carol "I know the feeling." though not the same situation as Carol…he's had his time. He does seem grateful for her words, even if his deadpan expression doesn't allow it. At her offer though, Batman would speak again "That would be appreciated. I don't know this place as well as I should" he nods faintly once again.
Looking then to Hope, Batman would shake his head "I already don't sleep." then he looks to the exchange between Thea and Carol, nodding faintly to Thea at her wave to him. "Greetings." is all he says on that note….and theeen Kamala enters. He keeps his expressionless gaze upon the Pak-American girl, though does seem amused to the sharp eye. "I'm not a vampire." he says simply "But I do tie muggers upside down." he says most likely to stoke the nerdism he's sensing.
Carol actually says, "Well, I learned more about home construction, wiring, and flooring than you'd ever think, let me tell you… and hey, I'm half-Kree, I don't need that much sleep because of genetic modification. You don't have that excuse. I don't think." She grins at Batman, about to say something else…
But then cracks up laughing at Kamala's comment, "Geez, no. At least, I don't think so." She then eyes Batman, "Maybe we should get some Italian sometime. High garlic content. If you can eat it and you don't explode, you're in the clear."
Hey, look, someone almost her own age! Hope perks up a bit when Kamala steps in, though the gushing reaction to the grump stalker dims some of that…hope. "If you don't sleep, it actually makes you go crazy, you know. Like, really, literally, crazy." Helpful, Hope. Very helpful.
Thea idly comments aside to Carol, looking distracted. "No, he doesn't." Have that excuse- or any sort of Kree/power/alien/what have you weirdness in his biosigns. "Yes, lack of sleep can cause all sorts of interesting biological changes and reactions. I sometimes see it in the residency doctors." There's a glance at Carol, a quick, bright smile. "Did you ever hear back about meeting up with those…friends of yours?"
Finally, satisified that Batman isn't going to like - drink her blood and steal her powers, Kamala seems to relax. "Bruno owes me a milkshake once I'm able to have them again." she murmurs, before lifting her gaze towards Hope, and the young woman around her age earns a bright smile from the Pak-American, because she's always thrilled to meet other metas in her age bracket. Stepping out of Carol's shadow for a moment, she straightens the front of her burkini with the lightning bolt design and bobs her slightly to the redhead. "Salam." she greets Hope, "I'm Miss Marvel…" she starts to say, and then looks to Carol as if for reaffirmation that it's okay if she both uses that nickname and if she can share her real name.
Batman doesnt seem too worried about his lack of sleep apparently….and no, he doesn't have Insomia. His eyes do look to Thea at her comment of 'he doesn't' but doesnt take anything personally even if he doesnt have a pinpoint idea of what she meant. Sadly, no mind reading. He doesnt answer Hope.
Though at Carol's words, a small grin does form on his face…Batman style. "I'd be happy to." he says faintly and straight to the point..guess Bruce Wayne has plans. "As did I, though I'm not a master of flooring." he states simply, before turning his attention back to Kamala, another small smirk to the young woman when she seems to visibly relax around him.
Carol shakes her head at Thea, "Not yet, but with everything going on right now with them, I'm pretty sure they've been too busy to get back to me." She hrms a bit, and looks over at Kamala, "Hey, I think Ms. Marvel is a great name for you Kamala."
And then it registers that Bruce actually called her bluff about eating Italian sometime. She blinks once, and looks over at Batman, "Ah, well, I… um, yes, how about tonight then? There's a few places around here that are pretty cozy. With high garlic content." She looks a little impish at that, as she relaxes a little from the fact that, well, he actually agreed to it.
|ROLL| Kamala +rolls 1d20 for: 3
"Hope," Hope replies to Kamala's introduction, smile faint. "Nice to meet you, Miss Marvel. Kamala," she adds when Carol fills in the other version of the girl's name. Looking around the room, she tilts her head slightly, letting her own powers feel things out. Interesting. A room full of heroes, but not a room full of mutants, at least.
There's a look of disappointment and a bit of frustration. "well, things happen. Maybe soon." She will offer a smile all around, a wink at Carol. "I just stopped by to see if anyone was in need of my… skills. But clearly, everyone is in good healthy and hearty consitution. So I'll check in again soon. I have some other… rounds to make." A wave, before she'll head for the door.
Oh. Well. Kamala looks to Carol in a moment of chagrin. She has a secret identity! But well, it's fine. Because Carol trusts them. So Kamala should as well. "That is a pretty name." comes the responds to Hope, before suddenly it dawns on her that Carol asked Batman out. There's a slow, owlish blink from Carol to Batman and Kamala kinda takes a few steps to be nearer to Hope, because there's a very important question to ask the redhead. "Is everyone dating everyone that lives here?" she asks Hope quietly. "It seems that way." The superhero community is far more frisky than the young woman ever thought!
It totally gives new meaning to her Marvel/Iron Man/Captain Marvel and Unicorn Island story.
But as Thea is leaving, there's a blink of confusion. "Who was she hoping to meet? Is she an alien?"
Batman kept his attention on Captain Marvel as they spoke over the details of their apparent date night tonight. "Tonight works. I happen to know a nice italian restaraunt that may suit both our fancies." his smirk still there. hey, no qualms about going on a date with a beautiful woman. Oh Bruce you.
Batman does nod to Thea as she makes her way out. "Nice to meet you." he says with a straight face and in that deep voice of his, before he turns to Kamala "To my knowledge, this is the only possible one." he references he and Carol. "and I haven't the slightest idea."
Carol gives Kamala a wry look, "Hey, I am single, thank you very much." She looks a little confused at the everyone dating everyone comment, then looks towards Batman, "Sounds good. I should probably get ready for that before too long then. Since, well, I don't think either of us are planning to go in costume?"
"Pretty sure not," Hope answers Kamala, though she's looking between Batman and Carol as well. Less with excitement and more with speculation. "Tony doesn't really date, he's busy designing things and…not dating. I'm pretty sure Cap doesn't know how to talk to girls. Everyone seems to want to date Bucky, but he's kind of damaged goods and doesn't seem all that interested himself." Hey, there's tactical value in knowing what people's relationships are. "Hard to keep track of who's here on any given day, though."
"Oh, I thought he and Scarlett were a thing." Kamala shrugs her shoulders, as she listens to the rundown and giggles a little. "Uh. Yeah. I think my parents would put me in a box and shipped me back to Pakistan to stay with my family until a suitable husband was found if I brought any of them home." she admits with a small roll of her eyes, and then blinks at Carol. "I didn't say anything!"
Batman looks between Carol and Kamala with a small, amused look on his face. "Likewise. should be interesting, regardless." He then looks to Hope, taking note of how observant she was of other people's relationships….it's something he would do. Can give an edge, in some situations. Then he glances to Kamala, giving her a small nod at her words. He had fairly good knowledge of that particular culture, be he wasn't too much of an all-knowing expert on it.
He then put a finger to his cowl's temple, then seems to act like he's receiving a transmission…which he was. Having a communications line with the police department, he tends to hear when crimes are going on and the like. "Hmph." small things…guy stole car, guy get's arrested. crisis averted. Batman though remains silent for now.
Carol blinks at Kamala, "Wait, Bucky and Scarlett?" She looks a little surprised by that, then grins, "No problem, Kamala. Though if it helps I can always provide a signed certificate of approval for a would-be boyfriend for you. If he passes muster, anyway." She hmms, looking rather strict for a second. That might not be an easy thing to get…
"I…don't think Scarlett and anyone are really a thing," Hope shakes her head to Kamala, though she doesn't explain why. Then again, Hope's definition of 'a thing' may be a little different from most these days. "If you're looking in this house for boyfriends, though, I think you're gonna be disappointed," she adds with a wry smile, lowering her voice to a faux whisper: "Everyone's old."
"I wasn't…" Kamala starts to say to Hope and then smiles at Carol. "Who said it was a boyfriend?" she asks playfully, and then shakes her head. "I am.. yeah, I'm teasing!" she's quick to add, because part of her may have been worried about getting struck down there for a moment, while another part of her shakes her head more violently. "I just got my powers, I have no idea how they really work - or what else I can do. And there's school.. and still helping my family and a whole new family and and.." There's just no room in there for a boyfriend at the moment, before she asides to Hope in a small giggle, and her own whisper: "Anctient, really."
Batman simply crosses his arms and watches the conversation play out, taking note of Carol's strict nature on apparently Kamala finding a would-be boyfriend…and apparently small gossip on Bucky and Scarlett. So this is how conversations normally played out when multiple people were assembled? Vaguely noted. or so he thought.
He does glance to Kamala a moment. "Wise." is all he comments, even when she fixes a seeming blunder in her words, which she reveals is only teasing. He glances between she and Hope a moment….he wasn't even middle-aged! A sigh at that.
Carol glances wryly at Batman, "Kids today, right? No respect for the older generation." She actually winks at him with that, then looks back over towards Kamala and Hope, "Well, hey, find a nice guy or girl, as long as they treat you well and you respect each other, but you got plenty of time for that."
Hope shrugs innocently to Batman's sigh. "Hey, you could have anything under that mask. Every wrinkle known to man. Not judging," she adds, holding up her hands. "Old never stopped Nathan from kicking ass." There's a flicker of something other than good humor when she mentions Nathan, a quiet, mourning sort of regret, but she pushes past it. "How'd you get your powers?" she asks Kamala, tilting her head. "You're not a mutant."
"Not a mutant.." Kamala agrees. "How did I get my powers?" she asks, and glances towards Carol, before she speaks up. "My grandmother was secretly an alien and came to Earth and started a life with my grandfather before having my father. My father was in a secret experimental program in World War II and they gave him some super serum that made him all stretchy before having me, and I fell through a magical portal on the way to school one day and suddenly found myself before a beautiful golden Goddess that asked me if I wanted to be a hero and if I could be anything I wanted to be, what would I be. So I decided to be a superhero!"
She is /so/ so bad at this.
Batman side-glances over to Carol, giving her another smirk "Kids will be kids." he says as his smile fades as quick as it arrives. Looking then to Hope as she makes her statements on what was under that cowl of his, and Batman shrugs faintly. "I don't have wrinkles." he states with his arms crossed, though when Hope asks Kamala her question, Batman listens closely.
at least he was until she said something about a Golden Goddess. ahh…huh. Batman seems to blink a few times at that bit. "Interesting." is all he offers on that note.
Carol… blinks. Then blinks again. Then whispers sotto voce to Batman, "We have got to teach that girl how to lie better. She is pretty adorable though, isn't she?" With that, she grins, looking rather amused by Kamala's origin story.
Manhattan is never silent. So the sound of a motorcycle - a hawg, as they say - isn't at all out of places even as it gets louder and louder till it sounds like it's literally out front. The sound falls silent abruptly and a few seconds later Bobby wanders up the walk then, spotting people assembled - Avengers assembled? - heads in that directly. Tee-shirt, jeans and motorcycle boots bring the obvious assumptiong that the bike belongs to him. Or he's a fan of James Dean. Or both. "Hey people." Glancing Batman up and down, he adds "Don't you sweat in that?"
"Are we…playing six lies and a truth?" Hope quirks a brow at Kamala, though she doesn't seem to be holding a grudge about it either. If anything, she looks amused. "I mean, you can just say you don't want to talk about it. Because I sort of believe the last part, about wanting to be a hero. Which is the important part, anyhow." Bobby's arrival draws her attention, and that sharper look that usually comes when there's a mutant around, as she feels her way through a new power.
"You're asking.. and the truth is.. I'm not really sure." Kamala admits. Because she's not. The young woman sighs. "All I know is that I'm not a mutant. There was no serums. Or gamma bombs. But maybe aliens." She handwaggles at that. And like Hope, Kamala is glancing over at Bobby, but probably for a different reason.
The bad boy look is so cool. She just doesn't know how cool Bobby really is.
Batman nods to Carol a few times. "Not everyone has that talent, but we can try surely." he replies to Carol whispering to him. Though his head turns a litlte bit in the sound of the motorcycle, honing it in further to hear Bobby's footsteps. and at that latters question, Batman would stare at him and answered after about 1 second of thought. "No."
He turns his head then to Hope as she speaks with Kamala, listening to her explanation a moment, before just turning his head back to Carol.
Carol grins, "Well, I don't think it could hurt that much at this point…" She shakes her head, and then gives Bobby a smile, With that, she waves to Hope, "Nice to meet you, and Kamala, stay out of trouble." She winks at the Pakistani girl, then moves to head upstairs and the living quarters, humming "Love Me Do" under her breath.
"More people should have that super power." Bobby quips with a grin. And the world would be a better, less smelly place. Especially in summer. "So, Steve around somewhere? I heard he was putting the band back together and thought I'd swing by on the way to… not here. I'm Bobby, by the way."
"I haven't seen him today," Hope shakes her head to Bobby. "But that doesn't really mean anything. I'm pretty sure most everyone has their own place away from here, for when they don't really feel like sharing." She does not, but that's a complicated discussion. "I'm Hope," she adds, raising a hand to wave briefly. "And this is Miss Marvel. And I'm pretty sure he's Batman," she adds with a thumb toward the man in the cowl.
There's a wave offered when Hope introduces her. "Hi." Kamala greets before she glances towards Hope. "Hey, how did you know I wasn't a mutant, anyway? Is that your power, to detect other people's abilities and how they got them? That's pretty nifty." she admits before she glances towards Batman. He still makes her just a little.. OH! "Hey! I remember now! Do you have a daughter?" she asks Batman suddenly. "I met a girl version of you a few nights ago!"
Batman nods a few times to Carol as she starts heading out, before the Dark Knight turns his head back to Bobby. "If only." he quips back in that ultra serious tone of his. and he nods faintly as Hope introduces him, "I'm Batman." he says flatly.
Then Kamala definately gets his attention when she mentions Batgirl. "That would be Batgirl. and No, I have no children." and that is all he offers apparently. Though he does seem pleased she's making a name for herself. He does touch his cowl's temple again though, and it looks like he's listening carefully to something. "Tell them I'm on my way." he looks to the others. "Duty calls." he moves past them easily, cape enshrouding his form. and once he was out the door, grappling hook fired into the sky, and up up up he went!
the Bat is back on the job it looks like.
"Hey." Bobby greets in response to the intros, looking from Kamala to Bats and back. "Batman. Batgirl. Is there a Batboy?" And then Batman heads off too and he lifts an arm to sniff at his armpit. "Nope, it's not me. One of you must need that super power. So you can detect mutants?" he asks Hope.
"Sort of, but not really," Hope smiles faintly to Kamala, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm a power mimic. Docs called it pluripotent echopraxia. But it only works on mutant powers. So, process of elimination, when there's a room full of people with powers but I can't actually 'feel' any of them, then they're not mutants. It gets a little more complicated if I'm in a room full of mutants, though."
"Only at Yankee Stadium." comes the response to Bobby about a 'Batboy'. Kamala grins at her little joke. "Oh darn it, I forgot to ask him about the girl that called herself Eggplant." she murmurs and frowns, before Hope speaks up. "Wait, you copy powers - but only mutants? So you can't copy my powers? If you're in a roomful of mutants, can you copy them all, or is it like.. an automat, where you can only pick a few?" she asks curiously before frowning at Bobby. "Are you saying we smell?"
"So you're a mutant then?" Bobby asks, peering at Hope curiously. "Do you know what a power is when you copy it or do you need to just sort of… do stuff still something happens?" After a moment, he adds "And have you run into others around the city? Or… not here?" Kamala gets a look of pure and utter innocence. "Would I do that?"
"All of them. At once, even," Hope answers Kamala, shrugging. "I sort of know what they are, and I can copy them at full strength, but every power has a learning curve. Some of them steeper than others. So I'm careful about it. And it wasn't like I was able to get a lot of practice growing up, so." At Bobby's other question, she smiles crookedly. "Yeah, there are mutants all over the place here. Kind of nice, really."
"All over the place." Bobby agrees. "Here and… not here." He'll have to ask the Prof about her once he gets back to the school. "So, you're all Avengers I guess? You two and the two that took off? Who's on the roster now? Last I knew, the government said hell no and we were disbanded."
"I'm not sure there's a real roster," Hope answers Bobby, looking around. "Seems like people rotate in and out pretty regularly. But the government's not funding this. The money men on the team are. I guess that makes for more freedom, but I'm betting it'll make things complicated down the line, too. Still, seems like most people are trying to improve the world, so."
"Well, I hope things work out better than they did last time. It wasn't the government that made things go belly up." Bobby looks around at the grounds then up at the mansion. "Nice digs. We didn't have anything like this. Not that it would have a difference."
"The last time?" Hope asks, picking up on the word choice with a curious tilt of her head. Usually she's the one throwing around odd mentions of things being out of time or place.
Returning after a few moments, Kamala looks apologetic. "Sorry, had to call Abu and Ammi and let them know I was going to be a little late and that I would have ifthar in the city." she explains as she considers the other two anew.
Bobby gives Hope a curious look. "You hadn't heard? There was an Avengers before. Sponsored by an agency that wasn't part of the American government. Which pretty much pissed them off it seems and they ordered them disbanded. So no more Avengers." When Kamala returns, he gives her a questioning look. "Ifthar?"
"Huh," Hope muses, brows rising briefly. "Interesting." That doesn't sound like what she knows about the avengers, but then there are all sorts of things here that are just a little bit off from what she thought she knew. "Well, they seem to be doing all right now, at least."
"Well.. I don't think I'm an Avenger - I think Carol is just kinda.. sponsoring me?" Kamala asks, trying to figure that one out for herself. "Ifthar, it's a meal past sundown. I'm currently having our New Year - so I fast during the daylight hours." she explains before handing Bobby a bar of soap. "Since you were worried about the smell."
"They?" Bobby asks, focusing on the word. "Not we? You're not an Avenger?" Grinning at Kamala, he takes the soap. "Thanks but I'm good now. Could have used it a few weeks ago though. There's not a lot of camp grounds in Kansas. I knew I should have gone around it for one more interesting but avoiding an entire state adds at least a week to travel time. Not that I was in any hurry."
"I'm…sort of just visiting?" Hope answers Bobby, reaching up to rub a hand at the back of her neck as she looks between him and Kamala. "It's complicated. But I needed some help with things that I was only going to really get from the Avengers or the Fantastic Four, but getting Richards to focus on anything is like herding cats, so. This was where I ended up."
"…well, I hope you find whatever it is you need." Okay, totally not meant to be a pun on the redhead, as Kamala offers a warm smile to her, swift to be supportive as she touches Hope's shoulder. "Yeah, it seems the Four are always off.. adventuring or something."
"Herding cats. That sounds accurate." Though not of Richards, not that Bobby's met anyone from the FF. "Things with mutants usually are complicated." he agrees. "What is it you need? I might know someone who could help with it."
Hope looks between the pair for a moment, as if considering, then takes a deep breath. "I need to time travel back to my own time," she finally answers. "So. Complicated."
"…time travel. Like HG Wells?" Kamala almost asks if there's Morlocks in the future that eat mutants and that's why Hope finds it refreshing to be around so many mutants now. "That's.. complicated. But very nifty." the young woman offers, giving Hope a reassuring smile. "And since you're here.. and until we get it uncomplicated - well, you should enjoy the time while you are here." she offers quietly before glancing towards Bobby. "You make it sound like there's a drama a week if you're a mutant. Just because you don't bathe." she winks.
"Time travel." Bobby repeats, looking closely at Hope. Doesn't look crazy. Probably not as crazy as other dimensions and he knows of at least one of those. "Well, I'll ask around and see if anyone knows anything about that kind of thing. I doubt it though." Grinning, he shakes his head at Kamala. "Oh, no. The drama's because not because we're mutants but because the humans aren't. They're usually the ones who don't bathe too."
"I don't know what an HG Wells is," Hope admits to Kamala, shrugging. "But yeah, time travel. By the way, it upsets your stomach something fierce, and if you're traveling with someone who's in control of the travel, don't let go of them, because you'll end up falling out of the time stream in different places, and that's a long wait to catch up with each other." She smiles ruefully back at Bobby, shrugging again. "Not an easy problem to solve, like I said. Which is why I'm here. Hopefully my people back home will figure it out, but if they can't, then I've got to figure out what I can here."
"Did you fall out? Is that why you need help?" Kamala asks curiously before moving to lean against the counter. Since the other two are civilian, she takes a moment and after some concentration, her clothing morphs back into it's more civilian attire - the forearm sleeved tunic dress and leggings with a scarf. "HG Wells is an author. I'll bring you a book sometime!" she offers helpfully to the girl and smiles again, before glancing down. "That sounds.. terrible though. I'll be happy to help you if I can. And if I can't? Well, I wouldn't mind being your friend in this time."
"Yeah, that counts as complicated." Bobby agrees. "So you're looking for a way back. I don't think the people I know can do that. So yeah, you're probably going to need Richards or Stark. Though the odds of them building a time machine?" He actually has no idea so just shrugs.
"Not this time," Hope smiles crookedly back at Kamala. "I did before, though. It's, ah." She pushes up from the arm of the couch, pacing a few steps with her arms crossed over her chest. "Where I- I mean, when I come from, something happened. A bunch of mutants lost their powers, there were hardly more than a hundred left in the world. And no new mutants were being born. Until me. But there was a group of people who thought that me being born meant…Well. I was kind of the mutant antichrist, to them. They wanted me dead, and the X-Men didn't. They sent Nathan to get me, then they sent him into the future with me to keep me safe."
She takes another deep breath. "Except we were being hunted by another mutant, who thought that me being born had caused the awful future he was from, where mutants were hunted and kept in concentration camps. So he came after us. The regulator on Nathan's time machine was broken so that we could only go forward. We kept running, but the other mutant…he figured if we had all of the future to run to, he wouldn't catch us. So he narrowed the future, by killing as many people as he could. Plagues, bombs, natural disasters. He figured that if he succeeded, the future where he did all that wouldn't happen, so it didn't matter what he did."
Her jaw sets, eyes fixed on the floor. "When he caught up to us, Nathan beat him. Took the part we needed from his time machine, and we went back, where we had to fight the people who'd come after me in the first place. We won, but it wasn't easy. I lost Nathan. But I didn't have time to- Shortly after that, we picked up new mutants coming into their powers. But their powers were out of control, and the only way to stabilize them was me. If I could touch them, they stabilized. I was trying to help one of them when a portal opened and I ended up back here. I knew I'd need help," she nods to Bobby. "So I came looking for Tony. He's my best bet right now."
Kamala listens to the story. Her eyes close as she takes in all of the information that Hope feeds her, and it's worse than even the darkest fictions she's ever read. The woman can't find words to say, her brown eyes scraping over Hope and looking towards Bobby to see his reaction as well, before she doesn't know what else to do.
So she steps in and gives Hope the best hug she may ever give anyone. "We'll find Tony. And Richards. And anyone else. And we'll set it right." She's so hopeful, so sure. "We have to."
Bobby's attention sharpens when Hope mentions the X-Men. "Have you talked to them here? And this guy who was following you… Is he dead? He likely to keep following you back here? There anything we need to prepare for? And do you know what cause the lack of mutants being born? Is it something we can keep from happening?"
Hope is a little bit awkward about the hug at first. Nathan was never much of one for physical affection, and it's not like she's spent a lot of time with other people. But after a moment she returns it gratefully, smile faint when she pulls back. "Thanks, Kamala. I appreciate it. I don't know if Bishop's a threat," she adds to Bobby. "I think we beat him, but he was a time traveler, too. Past Bishop could always show up and start trouble. Which…is also part of why I'm here," she adds with a knowing look at him. "I'm not going to bring that down on the X-Men."
"X-Men?" Kamala asks. "I didn't think they were real." There is so much that Kamala has learned in the last two weeks. Pulling away from Hope to settle against the counter again, she frowns. "This all sounds real terrible and that everyone should be helping you.. but I'm not sure if I'd want to send you back to something like that. You must be incredibly brave."
"This is our time." Bobby says to Hope. "We get to make the decisions for it. And if you can stop whatever it is from keeping mutants from being born, we're not going to let him have you." Pause. "Well, we're not going to let him have you anyway but you get the idea."
"It's…what I was born for," Hope shakes her head to Kamala. "It's why I exist. And who knows what might happen if I'm not there to stabilize these new mutants when they come into their powers? It's about the survival of a species, it can't just be about me."
"But where would you return to? I mean, you have already affected your own future by being here in the first place, unless there was already something in your history about you coming back to the past. So you could already be saving your own future." Or erasing it, but Kamala isn't going to say that. "And where would you return to? Where you were born? The event that stopped all new mutants before you? I mean, how did that happen anyway?" There's so many questions that Mala has in her head now, and that sci-fi nerd in her is going two hundred miles a minute. After a moment, she murmurs, "And Hartdegen is told by the Uber-Morlock; 'You built your time machine because of Emma's death. If she had lived, it would never have existed, so how could you use your machine to go back and save her? You are the inescapable result of your tragedy, just as I am the inescapable result of you.'."
"It is about survival of our species." Bobby agrees. "And we need to make sure that never happens in the first place. Some might be being born again but what about all the ones who should have been? It must have been some experiment by the government or something like that."
"Honestly?" Hope looks to Kamala. "I'm beginning to suspect it wasn't just time we traveled through. There are people here and now who aren't the right age for who they'd be in my rightful time. Things are…slightly different. I think it's possible I was thrown into another universe entirely, and I'd really rather not break yours in the process of getting back to mine. Or talk about how it happened in our world," she adds with a look to Bobby. "Trying to prevent the future usually brings it about in the end."
"Fichte said that you cannot remove a single grain of sand from its place without thereby … changing something throughout all parts of the immeasurable whole." Kamala admits. "Simply by coming back here.. things have already changed. It could be yours. But parallel worlds? Wow." she admits, having not even considered that idea." The young Pakistani woman frowns a little, "If you don't get to come back to your own time - what if you were to remain to help prevent it from ever happening in this universe? I mean, that could be your al-qadda wa al-qadr (the divine decree and the predestination). All that has happened could have already set the course for what will happen to you, and we could help you as best as we could to make sure that all goes well for you in your journey."
"You're had enough experience in trying to prevent futures to say that with authority?" BObby asks and it's difficult to tell if he's being facetious or genuinely curious. Could be both. "Whatever it was that happened to keep mutants from being born seems to have started to end in your time, right? And what do you think whoever caused it will do now we're being born again? Except this time, there's a lot less of us to make it dangerous for them to resort to just killing them all." Kamala gets a look but he's not going to argue since she's saying something similar.
"I grew up in all of the futures," Hope answers Bobby. "In a time when people had resorted to combining their DNA with cockroaches just to survive the nuclear fallout. In a time when there were no people, and we survived off of the remnants of a crashed space station. In a time when there was only Apocalypse and his minions. In a time when there were two whole cities of humanity left. Into space, as people searched for a new place, a new way to live. My entire life has been geared toward surviving to go back to the time when I was born, because I was supposed to be this…messiah," she grimaces. "No one exactly knows what that means, though. Which is super great, really."
"Messiah?" Kamala's lips twist into a frown at that. Because well, thats tripping in some bad territory for her, but she shoves it aside, because clearly Hope doesn't believe that herself. She hopes. "I have some friends. Will you let me talk to them about this and see if they can help?" Of course, some people may think she's talking about her sci-fi club, but really, it's the other family she has. After all, her cousins have a dog that can go anywhere, they may have some insight in all this.
"And since you said you could only go forward in time till you got your machine fixed, you never tried preventing any enough times to really say for sure." Bobby points out. "And if this isn't even your universe, you have no idea what the future will be. We need to stop whatever it is that happens to the mutants if it's going to happen here."
"And at what cost?" Hope asks Bobby, something hardening in her eyes. She's just a girl, sure, but she's a girl who's spent her entire life in some very hard circumstances. "If you knew who it was going to be, would you think it was worth it to kill them? One life, to save the powers of thousands of mutants?" Kamala's question is ignored for the moment, in that challenge.
"What if one life remaining here prevents that from ever happening because she can stop it with the help with others. You are not so expendable. After all, you were given a great power to carry with you - what if that is what you are carrying with you? A little piece of each of them - all of those that you could not save, and here and now; you have the chance to fix that?" Kamala asks as she chews on her lower lip. So this is what they meant by mutant drama. She frowns for a moment. "What if that one person could be convinced not to carry out their terrible plan?"
"The welfare of our entire species for the life of someone who's not even born? Yes." Bobby answers without a moment's pause. "One life to prevent genocide. Don't think for a minute that that's not the goal of whoever did it. If keeping us from being born didn't work they'll just go back to trying to kill us."
"You're no better than the man who hunted me from the time I was a child," Hope shakes her head to Bobby. "An entire hospital full of people, killed before Nathan could get there to get me. Continents full of people, dead because he wanted to get to me. Because he though that I was going to cause his future. So no. I won't create another Bishop by telling you what led to it in our world."
"If you could travel back in time and kill Hitler, what if who takes his place is even worse?" Kamala asks Bobby, nodding her agreement to what Hope says. "There has to be another way to make sure this does not happen." she agrees with the redhead and gives a small frown. "That… was terrible, Hope. I'm so sorry it happened to you. To them."
"Then you're no better than the ones who made it happen." Bobby counters. "You're letting it happen just as if you were conspiring with those who are doing it. All because of 'might be'. Seems you have a lot in common with this Bishop too."
One of the down sides of picking up powers that you don't know how to use. And a temper. Bobby's accusation is met with a sudden blast of cold that radiates out from Hope in all directions, just as she lunges at him with a haymaker. "You have no idea what you're talking about!"
That is a lot of cold, and Kamala yelps as she feels herself swallowed up by it before she is suddenly seeing Hope lunge at Bobby in a punch. "HEY! Not in the house!" she yells, and suddenly both of her arms suddenly stretch out like super strong tendrils as they wrap up both Bobby and Hope as she tries to seperate the pair of mutants before a brawl can start. "This isn't how friends treat each other!" Even if one of them is being a bit of a jerk. Well, they were curious as to what Kamala's power was.
Bobby really wasn't expecting a punch and starts to jump back but then he's wrapped up by Kamala. Which isn't nearly as fun as it sounds. "I know I'm not willing to just sit back and let our people be killed off, one way or another." he says to Hope before looking over at Kamala. "Let go. I'm not the one trying to attack her."
"Do you think if that was an option, they would have sent me and Nathan forward at all?" Hope snaps, struggling a little against Kamala, though not enough to be really trying to break free. "You know nothing about this except what I just told you. He spent his entire life traveling and protecting our people, and he raised me to do the same. My entire life. And you think you know better than both of us what I should do?"
"…I think you should leave, Bobby." Kamala says quietly in suggestion as she loosens the grip on the male mutant, even as she continues to shiver against the cold that she feels coursing through her veins. The Bobby arm withdraws, but she maintains that grip on Hope, not trying to crush her, just.. to keep her from throwing anymore punches. "We can talk about this another time." Or not at all, because it's a very sore subject, it seems.
"Your entire life in the future of your time and nothing in my present." Bobby points out. "If we end up a few centuries from now, I'll be sure to listen to you. Maybe you should think that maybe they're not infallible and what you can do to make the future better instead of just how to get home and maintain the status quo. 'Do not go gentle into that good night.'" he quotes. Might not have been what the author intended but it fits. "Yeah, I think you're right." he tells Kamala. "There's people I need to talk to."
"Gentle? You think any part of this has been gentle?" Another burst of cold radiates out from Hope, her knuckles cracking as her hands fist. "You have no idea what you're talking about, Bobby Drake. No idea." Bobby Drake? He didn't mention his last name when he came in. Apparently she knows something about him in her world, at least. She's cold enough to start a rime of ice on things near her now, which more than anything is what starts to remind her to get her temper under control. But hey, it's an improvement over the flame issue she used to have. Deep breath, and the sense of chill starts to recede.
That cold is harsh on Kamala and she feels the tremble through her whole frame. She knows it hurts, almost giving her frostbite where her arm is wrapped around Hope and she finally withdraws it and pulls both of her arms around her tightly to try to find warmth. "Please stop." she offers quietly. "We're on the same side."
Bobby's eyes narrow at the mention of his last name but he's not going to comment on it now. "Get your power under control before you seriously hurt someone." he orders, the teacher coming out now. Needless to say, the cold doesn't bother him at all but Kamala is obviously a different case. Giving a nod to the Inhuman, he turns and starts to leave.
"It's not my power, it's yours," Hope grimaces, but the cold continues to recede until it's tightly spooled once more. "Sorry, Kamala," she says more quietly, reaching out a hand to more carefully draw the lingering cold away from the other girl.
Oddly enough, when Kamala returned to normal, the signs of the frostbite that were starting on her skin - are just gone. The young woman frowns a little. "Stop making her mad, so she can." Student tells teacher, before rubbing at her arms. "I'm okay. Just.. I'm sorry." she whispers, though she has no idea what she's really apologizing for.
"The first lesson we learn is how to not let our emotions affect our powers." Bobby says without turning back. "If you need help with that, you should know where to go." Assuming the X-Men hang out in the same place in her universe. "We're always willing to help all our people." He even manages not to stress 'all'. "Maybe I'll see you there."
"It's not your fault, Kamala," Hope shakes her head. "You didn't do anything wrong. Thank you, actually." She gives Bobby's back a cold look, though at least it doesn't come with a blast of actual cold this time. She moves to settle back onto the arm of the couch, looking at her hands with a faint frown. "Odd. That's not…how it's usually happened. Everyone usually says it's the flames," she murmurs, mostly to herself.
Kamala just shoots a glare at Bobby's well-formed backside. Will he just leave already? There's a little smirk. "Should have thrown a snowball at his backside." she responds with a little snort, before she glances at the hands. "What do you mean?"
Hope lets out a slow breath once Bobby is gone, shaking her head. "Sorry. I just…I won't consign someone else to the same life I've lived, because some people want to be short-sighted, or feel like any means is worthy of the end. I won't turn the X-Men into killers. It's more important for them to be…inspiring. They have a bigger role in the world than just existence."
"…I get it. I understand. There's a lot of people I look up to." Kamala admits quietly, before flopping onto the couch on the opposite arm of Hope. "…but next time you want to deck him, can we please not freeze me in the process?" she asks with a sudden rumbling from her stomach. "Ugh. Is it past sundown yet? I'm starving." she murmurs, pushing herself back off the couch to head towards the kitchen.
"Sorry," Hope says again, sheepish. "Sometimes when I pick up a power it…I can't always control it." She gets up, following back toward the kitchen. "I haven't had a lot of practice, and most of it's been learning as I go. Most of the time in battle, for that matter. I'm more used to fighting without powers."
Digging around in the kitchen, Kamala finds a container marked for 'Carol' and takes it out. Surely her mentor won't mind if she chows down on her leftovers as she starts to dig into the cold food with a gusto that she didn't even realize she had. "I've been told I need to learn to fight using my powers. Not that I'm any good fighting without them. I mean.. I never usually fight, you know. I guess.. well. I must be pretty boring, compared to you."
"Boring is all relative," Hope smiles ruefully, going into the pantry for bread and peanut butter. "I wouldn't exactly call my life a whole lot of fun, either. I mean, it was all right. Nathan…Nathan did his best, and I couldn't have had anyone better than him, you know?" She falls silent, making herself a peanut butter sandwich with quiet intensity. "Maybe it wasn't the most perfect, comfortable childhood, but he taught me everything I needed to survive."
As she finishes off the leftovers, Kamala eyes the peanut butter and bread. "Can you make me a couple of those?" she asks hopefully, apparently her appetite is not yet sated. Silly healing abilities. "Nathan.. your 'father', right?" she asks. "At least it sounds like he genuinely cared for you, Hope. I mean, you should come over to my house sometime - it's controlled chaos on the level of a family, but I suppose.." she shrugs. "I guess compared to most people, I've been pretty lucky.. and sheltered."
"Yeah, sure," Hope says, making a couple more peanut butter sandwiches and bringing a pair of plates over to the other girl. "Nathan was…yeah. Yeah, he was my dad in every way that counted. Oh course, neither of us was every very good at…saying it, so. And now he's gone." Her jaw clenches, pushing it back, before she quickly shoves a sandwich in her mouth instead. "I get the feeling I'm probably not the sort of friend your parents would approve of, Kamala," she chuckles.
"I think my parents would be impressed that I'd have a friend that seemed somewhat normal. As long as you don't start on the whole Messiah stuff." Kamala winks and starts to eat with gusto. "Thank you. I don't know why I'm so hungry!" she admits quietly before reaching over and gives Hope's hand a reassuring squeeze. "Look. I don't know how long you're here. Or how this is gonna play out." She withdraws her hand to work on the sandwiches. "…but as long as you're here.. I'm here as a friend. I mean, I know I'm completely dorky and totally.. square. So, if you don't want me as a friend, I'd totally say that's cool."
"No one's a big fan of that talk, really. Myself included," Hope says ruefully. "It comes with a whole lot of baggage. And responsibility. It's why I've got to get back. Honestly, the only thing that's keeping me sane is knowing that it's time travel. Nathan took me away when I was an infant and we came back just months later when I was old enough to be useful. So…so it should be the same here. When we figure it out, I can get back to right when I left."
"Until that time? You have a life. You need to live it." Standing up as she finishes off the last of the sandwiches, she dusts the crumbs from her and grins at Hope as Kamala puts her hands on her hips. "After all, when you're rebuilding the future, you need to have a great template to build off of." she offers with a wink. "Now, I'm going to go find some ice cream and engorge myself until I'm fat. Wanna come?"
"I am in," Hope agrees, hopping up from her chair. "You know, I hadn't ever tried ice cream until a few weeks ago when I ran into Bucky and Kai here. It's good."