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Well, this is certainly a very hopping joint.
The Gogo dancers are illuminated with kaleidoscope lights revealing both human looking and mutant genetics of assorted kinds. The music is fast paced and manic. The band on stage has just finished and went into a long climax-finale of vamping for 20 minutes.
If the goal was for a fun night on the town, Piotr was successful. The giant of a man is moving towards a booth carrying a tray full of drinks for his assorted friends—some from the X-mansion and some from elsewhere. He has a huge smile on a huge face and seems just happy to be here.
"I've got the drinks!" he exclaims, with his low voice. They are all mixed drinks, it appears—most likely filled with vodka.
Lorna steps into Club Atomic, her vibrant green hair every bit an attention grabber as is her unusually rough attire for a woman. Black leather, fringe studded biker jacket utterly covered with badges and pins, a prominent greek Omega character made across the back with spiked studs. Tight black drainpipes cinched with a studded belt, metallic buckles and straps going down each leg, ending with steel toed motorcycle boots. Needless to say, she doesn't look like she dressed to party.
She doesn't linger long by the door, casting a glance about the club, nodding at a few people she recognizes, before making her way to the bar. Shame she wasn't one of Piotr's friends, the guy was good for drinks from the looks of it.
Hope isn't usually much of a party person. It's just not something she's had a lot of time for in her life. But since it seems like she's stuck here in the 60s for a while, she's giving new things a try. Her attire is closer to Lorna's than the dancers in mod gear, close-fitting jeans and a leather jacket, though with less ornamentation all around. And then Piotr brings over the drinks, she gives them a speculative look as she laughs.
"Okay, but unless there's someone in here with some serious alcohol metabolizing power going on, I'm not making the drive home," she protests, picking up first one drink, then another to give it a curious look. The symbol on the back of Lorna's jacket catches her eye, smile faltering for a moment as she sits up a little straighter to see where she's gone.
"Thanks Pete!" says one particularly bubbly girl—Penny is a girl that Piotr met at an art show a couple of years ago. He's got a story for all of them and gradually the drinks start disappearing from the table.
Piotr grabs his and brings it up to his mouth. From the rainbow of colors originally on the table it's funny that he end up with the pink one. He gives an upwards nod to one of his other friends, Fred, before catching Hope's words as he takes a sip. "It is no problem, devochka. The Professor's bonus this semester means a taxi ride will be money worth spent. I just hope we can find a cab that's long enough." He is 6'5" afterall, and it's not a small jaunt.
But as her look falters, so does his. "What is it?" His eyes travel to where Lorna was, but he has never seen her—didn't notice as she passed.
Josh heard there were to be Drinks, and though he hasn't spent much of the day at the Institute, he comes over after a long day of working at the community center to relax. The fact that the All American Golden Boy is in fact literally shiny and gold at the moment is evidence that he's been healing today, for those that know him. He notices Piotr and the others, and heads over towards the bar, nodding to the bartender, "Martini, dirty, three olives." He flashes a golden grin at the others, "It's been a looong day, and I need to get drunk." Of course, the fact that he can regulate his body from drunk to sober to back again pretty much at will helps.
Lorna casts a cursory glance towards Piotr and his group, she doesn't really know or seen anyone from them around much, so she winds up making her way to the bar. She orders herself a gimlet. While the tender fixes her drink, Lorna turns to lean with her back against the bar, giving her the opportunity to take a wide view of the club. The golden one certainly seem to catch her attention, a rather obvious mutation, then again, so his her hair so it's not like she's judging.
"That symbol, on her coat," Hope grimaces. "Not the first time I've seen it this week, and…I don't know, maybe they're not connected, but if they are? Then that could be bad." She perks up a bit as Josh comes over, smile returning. "Hey, Josh. There we go, no need to worry about a driver now," she winks over at Piotr.
"Well, by all means," Piotr says as he nods to Josh, sets his pink drink down on the table, and reaches into his pocket for his wallet before setting a few bills down on the bar for his friend. He doesn't always get to go out like this and so he makes it count. "Tonight is a time for fun!" he says in a way that only an Eastern European could say it and get away with it still being endearing.
The large Russian smiles at the thought of transportation. That's at least another two rounds! His cheer is cut again by Hope's comments. "What kind of trouble?"
Josh flashes a quick grin at Hope on the matter of transportation, but blinks in surprise when Piotr offers to buy. Never one to pass up since he pretty much lives on the edge of Broke, he nods in appreciation at the big Russian. But there's a furrowed brow when Hope mentions trouble, tilting his head, "I am so not in the mood for trouble." He sighs long-sufferingly, though he does turn to look out over the club then. His eyes pass over Lorna, and he gives the fellow stands-out mutant a nod across the room.
Lorna grabs her drink when it's ready, and raises her glass at Josh when he inclines his head at her, just a mutual acknowledgement between mutants. It's a good thing, mutants need to stick together. It will only get worse, so at least having others like you makes it easier to cope. She takes a sip from her glass, and from the way her face lights up, that tender knows how to make a solid gimlet.
"Oh, you know. Just…end of the world sort of trouble." Not one to let trouble come to her, Hope takes her (electric blue) drink in hand and steps away from the table, heading over toward Lorna. "Hey," she greets the other woman as she gets close enough, offering out a hand. "I'm Hope."
"Don't worry, moi drug" Piotr responds as he clasps Josh's shoulder, perhaps more forcefully than he meant to. He's had a couple and is a pretty strong dude. He's not drunk, but he's definitely loosened up.
Piotr does not give much of a response to Hope's foreboding words. Instead, he simply turns his navy colored eyes to meet hers and purses his lips. The end of the world sounds pretty intense, but the look is clear. Whatever that sign means, Piotr has Hope's back.
"Oof." Josh can't help but laugh softly when his shoulder is impacted and he has to lean forward a bit in response, but he has a martini now, and so he takes it up and stirs it before popping an olive into his mouth and taking a loooong drink of the beverage. "Who is trying to end the world today? I can't remember whose turn it is. The whole Evil Schedule of Doom is hard to keep up with, you know?"
"Hey," Lorna says back to Hope, looking a bit surprised at being approached, though she slides into an inviting smile real quick, "I like your taste in fashion," she notes, obvious parallels between Hope and herself, fitting to the 'rocker' scene well enough. "Hope is a beautiful name. I'm Lorna." Looking at the electric blue liquid in Hope's glass she asks, "what's your poison?" Her own drink is on the greenish lime side of the spectrum.
"I…have no idea," Hope admits, giving her drink a curious look. "We let the big guy pick up the drinks." She points a thumb over her shoulder toward Piotr. "Which, in hindsight, is probably just a really good way to end up wasted. But we'll figure that out later." Her smile slips crooked as she tugs at her jacket, laughing. "Yeah, thanks. Actually, I was wondering about your jacket," she admits, pointing to the other girl. "That symbol on the back. Omega? Mean something personal?"
"Who isn't?" Piotr counters to Josh with a tilt of his head. He finishes his drink and reaches over to set it upon the bar to make life a little easier for the waitress. The Russian turns his back on Hope and Lorna so it doesn't look like he is listening BUT HE IS LISTENING.
As Hope goes investigating, Josh settles against the bar and takes a moment to people watch, keeping a bit of a curious eye on Hope and the green-haired lady, but not quite evesdropping like SOMEBODY he knows. He takes another long drink off his martini; at this point it isn't going to last long. But he's also cheating and altering the efficiency of the alcohol-to-bloodstream process in his body. "Fair point, big guy. At least those Friends of Humanity dicks seem to have gone the way of the dodo."
"Let the Russian look after the drinks? Sound strategy," Lorna notes with a chuckle, "whatever it is, looks pretty in the glass," she quips before taking another sip from her drink. She arches a brow when Hope asks about the symbol on the back of her jacket, "you know your Greek alphabet, and of course it does, wouldn't sport it so proudly otherwise, would I?" That's one way to answer the question.
Lorna follows by drinking her glass empty, putting it back on the counter and tossing a few bills to cover her drink at the tender, "that was a damn good gimlet, thanks," she says before starting towards Piotr's group, leaving Hope by the bar, but not before quipping at her, "we can talk more about that symbol another time."
When she passes by Piotr's table, she snaps at Josh, "that's wishful thinking, they're alive, they're well, and they're plotting your good damned end. Just listen to dear Senator Williams and the need for 'mutant curbing' legislation…you're living in dreamland," she seems quite pissed as she makes the statement and doesn't wait for a reply. She just storms on out of the club, apparently pissed at the very thought a mutant can believe the FoH threat is over with.
Hope returns to the table with her drink as Lorna leaves, brows furrowing slightly after her. "Not…an encouraging response," she murmurs when she sits back down, taking a drink. "Well. Add that to the list of things to look into, I guess. Don't tell Scott," she adds. "There's…Let's just say telling Scott right now is one of those things that can mess with the future and leave it at that until we know more."
Piotr shrugs to Hope. These sort of things happen down here. It's a rough neighborhood, made that way by the bigotry of leaders, politicians, and the citizenry.
The group of friends is there for about another hour. First it's Ned and Sally that make their way out. Then Anna, and then a deluge of the others. Finally, Piotr, Josh, and Hope make their way after the Russian went to grab their coats. They're out on the sidewalk in the winter air, as Piotr straightens the color of his jacket. "The winter air reminds me of home," he says, maybe to himself. "There is nothing like Lake Baikal at the dawn of spring when it is still cold enough to have its own beauty but not so cold that your …wait, what was that?"
Josh blinks slowly at Lorna, his golden brows arching, "I know anti-mutant fascists will always be around, but the *specific group* that *I* fought seems to have either given up on NYC or disappeared. That or the local cell got finished off." he says, voice low and steady, even if he's saying it to her back, and he shakes his head. He looks over to Piotr with a 'are you crazy' expression, "I think anyone who swims in a Russian lake has to be crazy. I'm shivering just thinking about it." He looks to Hope, "What are we not telling Scott?"
"About the potential incursion from a very old and powerful mutant who's so old and powerful he's actually still a threat in a few thousand years," Hope summarizes, clapping a hand to Josh's shoulder as they step outside. "You helped save me from him, actually. Story for another time." She pulls a heavier coat closer around herself with an amused look at Piotr. "I'm pretty sure crazy is a prerequisite for Russian," she asides to Josh. "What was what, Pete?"
"That sound. Listen…" Piotr leans his head down back towards the building. "Something is coming from down there." In the building next to the club, there's one of those recesses and a stairwell that heads downwards. Piotr walks over and descends the stairs, coming to a stop next to the door. He leans in and tries to hear better. There's like a screeching sound. Metal on metal. It wasn't clear at first, but it is moreso now.
Following along, Josh laughs softly and shakes his head at Hope, "Old and crazy, gotcha; though this 'you-helped-save-me' thing still makes my head hurt." But he shushes up when Piotr says listen, looking around and wincing at the screeching sound, "Ugh, speaking of hurt, that hurts my ears and makes my spine shiver. Someone's car needs a serious tune-up, or?"
Hope falls silent along with the others, moving toward the door to get a closer listen for herself. She tilts her head, listening carefully, then moves up the steps a few ways, searching for a window or another entrance. "A car in a basement?" she murmurs, quirking a brow. "Maybe someone's water heater is…broken?" Yeah, she knows better.
Amid a loud screech, Piotr purses his lips and a moment later, his skin turns into solid, shiny metal, glistening in the darkness. He grows taller, which makes his clothes stretch out a bit. But he plans for this and wears baggier and stretchy clothing often. Either way, he twists the handle to the door, breaking it off completely.
There is a little light in the room as the door opens. Past Piotr, Josh and Hope can see a huddled figure, chained to a radiator. Old grey, greasy hair hangs about the green shawl he wears over him. He's trying to get out. "Bozhe moi," Pete says as the metal fades and he fades back into his other self.
The Metal Squad Rules of Engagement are the silver dude goes in first, and the gold dude pulls in last; he's so not the tank of this organization. Still, once Piotr goes back man-fleshy and Josh gets a look past him, the healer immediately moves by to quickly approach the old chained up guy, and reaches out intending to lay hands on him and get a scan for his health, "Hey, are you okay? We can help you. Don't mind the shiny, its part of the uniform."
Hope sighs as Piotr reveals what's inside, features falling. "Yeah. Bad water heater was too much to hope for," she murmurs, taking up a spot at the top of the stairs, hands in her pockets, where she can keep watch for anyone headed their way to interrupt.
"Please…help me…" the elderly man says as he turns to face them more readily, but is limited by the chains. "They locked me here and left me. Because I'm different…" He coughs with such a deep, harrowing noise that Piotr winces. He is not well.
Hope seems like she's in the clear. It's bar time, a little bit after, really, and the streets seem empty.
Piotr looks to the chains, reaches down, turns metal, and breaks them off easily with one yank.
Josh nods to Piotr, and when he snaps the chains, but he frowns slightly. He takes a step back, "Who chained you up?" he asks of the man, looking over to Hope and adding, "He's fine. Well, relatively fine. Like, not sick or in bad shape at all." Despite *looking* like he's not well and all that coughing? Elixir is suddenly cautious.
Hope's brows furrow a bit at Josh's report. Skepticism runs strong in this one, for all she tries to help people. Maybe he wasn't there for long. Or maybe this is a trap. Too early to tell. "Lucky for you that we came this way then, yeah?" she says with a tight smile, looking back down the street again. "Let's get you out of here before whoever put you down there comes back."
"Ha-hah!" says the tall elderly man as he is freed from his chains. "Free!"
Suddenly the room glows with a light that erupts from nowhere. "Koschei is free!"
"Koschei?" Piotr says, but there's some recognition of that name. It means something to him.
But there's not much that anyone can do. A wind erupts from nowhere, stripping the old man's robes away, leaving him stark ass naked!
Even then, from behind a doorway in the basement, a pure white steed bursts through. Not wasting an instant, Koschei reaches up to the mane and pulls himself aboard, even as the steed rushes by a befuddled Piotr and out towards the door, Hope, the stairwell, and the street.
Josh cringes: he did not need to see skinny old man. He's not entirely sure what to make of a magic steed, either, but he backs away because the last thing in the world he wants is to get himself trampled, even if he'd survive it. Dying is not fun even if it doesn't stick. "Whoa whoa whoa, what the hell? Piotr, man? 'Koschei'? Uhh, did we just let a bad guy go, or save a manipulative old man?"
Hope has no idea what to do with naked old men riding suddenly there horses. Luckily, Hope was raised by someone who never expected her to have an idea what she'd be faced with. So as the old man and the horse come thundering up the stairs, Hope borrows a bit of Pietro's powers, turning to metal and stepping directly in front of them.
"What was in that drink?!" exclaims Piotr, looking lost and around that room before back at Josh. "This cannot be." Cut to the horse as it tramples towards Hope. A wand that was clearly not in Korschei's hand moments before is now. It gloes white as he says a few words in Russian. Suddenly, Hope feels an invisible hand gently nudge her body against the stone wall of the stairwell as the white horse zooms by.
You can hear the hooves on the street and Korschei singing some sort of old Russian folk song as his words bounce off the walls, getting smaller and smaller.
Josh does a double-take when Hope's attempt to Colossus does not actually result in a horse with a headache. The golden guy scratches his head, looking between Hope and Piotr, "Well whoever it is, I think I'm hearing him sing russian. Do we, uh, give chase? Pete, spill, because clearly 'cannot' does not have quite the same meaning in English." He winces.
Hope clangs back against the wall, frowning as she stares after the pair before shrinking back down into her usual state and turning to Piotr as well. "Only a Russian folktale would have a skinny old man running around naked. In Russia. In winter." She crosses her arms over her chest, taking a deep breath. "What are we dealing with?"
Piotr reaches the bottom of the stairwell and his blue eyes have a far away look in them. You can still hear Koschei's words, even as they dissipate.
"My friends, this is not good. An evil wizard from the stories of my youth. If it is indeed Koschei, he is an evil wizard with a penchant for young ladies. Worse, he cannot be vanquished."
What did they put in that drink indeed?
TO BE CONTINUED IN KOSCHEI THE DEATHLESS, PART II !!!!!!!!!