The Sci-Fi Party Illusion

[Everyone Else]

(( A part of the "Sci-Fi Party" event ))

One of the guests having fun was a mutant whose ability, not controlled too well, was to create realistic illusions that would, for a brief period of time, make others believe that they were in another place, in another reality. He was happily drinking his fifth strong cocktail when his powers got out of the control of his inebriated state and cast an illusion on the minds of several random people in the Club.


The world they found themselves in was a ruined, bleak city landscape, covered with a mix of dust and ash, with small cold rain dribbling over the empty endless streets at the moment. They would be wearing the same costumes as at the party and have the same powers and abilities, believing they had merely been placed in another location.

[gravity]

One minute, Violet had been dancing with Alex at Hellfire, trying to decipher the strange look on his face, and the next, she was standing in the middle of a devastated city. In the instant it took her to realize what she was looking at, she stumbled over some debris and fell down. "Alex?" She cried out, completely disoriented and terrified.

[Shade]

Shade was tossed into the illusion as well from one second to the next, finding herself in the same place, only metres away from Violet, cast into the ruined city at the same moment, but needing a bit to unfaze her mind. Maybe it was because so much had been happening up there recently. She blinked, feeling a bit dizzy, then looked around, scowling. Where the heck was she?

[Havok]

In an instand, Alex found himself in a darkened place, with his mouth open to respond to Violet's It seems like something is wrong. Well, now he definitely agreed. Still not closing his mouth, now for a different reason, Alex looked around in confusion. It looked like he was inside a building that could have fallen victim to an air strike or an earthquake... years ago. But there was gray daylight coming in from his side, and, finally closing his mouth, Alex turned to look. The next moment, he heard Violet's voice from outside.

"Over here," he replied, holding unto the dusty wall and making his way across the rubble towards the window or the doorway or whatever it used to be. When he reached the opening and peeked outside, he found that the street behind the wall looked approximately the same.

[gravity]

Violet scrambled to her feet and ran over to Alex. "What the hell is going on?" She asked, her voice panicked. There was rubble everywhere, and Violet could make out the figures of at least a couple other people. At first she thought something had happened to the club, but as she looked around, she realized that this wasn't even New York, and that the damage had been done long ago.

[Smiler]

From his random location on the dancefloor through which Michael had been making his way back to the main hall, just looking around and trying to keep his heart calm against the deafening beat of the techno bass, he found himself on a cold, ruined, damp street in dusty, gray daylight. He paused, standing completely still and adjusting to this sudden change. He was alone and it was quiet.

[Shade]

There were voices, close by and Shade turned her head hastily as she became aware that she was at an alltogether different place. The sorroundings were comparable to that of some post apocalyptic scenario, bleak skies, buildings that looked bombed, half torn down and deserted, abandoned and the debris covered ash.
Her instant thought was that something was wrong. Very wrong. Suddenly plunged into an alltogether scenario didn´t seem right and she could feel a panic build up, her first idea being that things were happening all over again. That someone was messing with her head.

The voices ripped her out of that, a bit. She narrowed her eyes, identifying the woman who had just gotten up. She hadn´t noticed her in the Hellfire earlier, but she knew her, having met her at the Institute once before. "Violet?" she called over to her, before tossing a quick glance at a young blonde man she didn´t know. Or thought she didn´t know.

[Havok]

"I have no idea," Alex replied to Violet, hopping out of the opening. Then he dusted off his hands. After taking a few glances around to take in the surroundings, he asked "Are you all right?", just before he heard someone else's voice.

[Morph]

Kevin also found himself alone, standing on a street corner of a ruined post-apocalyptic city. After the initial stree and confusion cleared up, he morphed into himself, adding some warmer clothes to protect himself from the wind and the small cold rain. Whatever it was, a fucked-up diversion planned by the Hellfire Club's managers, a time/dimension leap or someone messing with his head (which he found the most likely - after all, the party was full of people with random abilities), he'd have to orient himself in it.

Raising his collar higher, he walked down the street, making his way through rubble and dead shells of abandoned cars.

[gravity]

Alex's question came at the same time as someone else calling her name. She spun around, already on the defensive, but softened slightly as she saw Shade. "Shade?" She called out, "Are you alright? Do you know what's going on?" Violet stayed near Alex, he somehow made her feel slightly safer in this madness.

[Shade]

Shade was still trying to fight down her confusion and the sudden, strong fear that had been threatening to take over. What Violet asked was not too calming, yet it was. In a way. The other woman, too, did not seem to know what was happening, yet, that was a good thing... somehow. She started walking towards her. "I´m all right," she said, her voice shaking slightly. What if... she thought, her inner voice sounding far too hysterical for her liking. What if it had happened again? Someone messing with her mind, causing amnesia, another few years gone? She walked closer, the anxiety probably visible in her eyes as she faced Violet. Who didn´t look older...or did she? Who could ever tell apart a few years with people their age anyways? Panic again, threatening to overwhelm, so she asked the only question that might calm it:

"You just ended up here right?" she asked. "You don´t remember anything?"

[Havok]

Alex didn't know who Shade was, but Violet apparently did, which gave him reassurance that at least they were not alone in this weird situation and there was a familiar someone else.

"It looks like it's just happened by itself," he snapped his fingers, "just like that."

[gravity]

Violet remembered that Shade had memory problems and wouldn't know if she already knew Alex or not. To be honest, Violet didn't know whether or not Shade and Alex knew each other, but just to be safe, she pointed from one to the other and said, "Shade, Alex," then reversed and said, "Alex, Shade." She looked around, unable to come up with any rational explanation for what was happening. "Do you think this is part of the party?" She asked, feeling kind of silly as she did so, but it was a slim possibility.

[Shade]

Shade gave the young man a short nod, her mind racing, not really taking the time for politeness just now. She looked around. Apart from them, there was nobody else to be seen. Just some empty, long abandoned and destroyed piece of street that looked like a war had been raging - a long time ago. There was no noise, neither that of any cars or machines nor that of other people or birds for example. It was... a destroyed city.

She swallowed, reminded of something. Hadn´t Gambit been dreaming of somethng like this? Back then, in the Bayous, what he had told Tante Mattie had not made any sense to her, had seemed random, but it sounded like they had just been tossed into Gambit´s dream. Or rather, nightmare. Which also meant that there was just one possible answer to Violet´s quesiton. "No." she said. "I don´t think so." Something told her Gambit would not do something like this. He might think a bit differently about some things than other people might, but recreate an own nightmare as party entertainment. That didn´t look like him - as far as she could judge.

[Havok]

"It doesn't look much of a party to me," Alex chuckled grimly, after giving Shade a small nod and a raised hand to acknowledge the introduction. Even though, he had to admit, having two scantily clad women as his company here did have a drop of charm to it. He chased the thought away.

"All right, well, I think we should get going," he said, unconsciously assuming the role of a makeshift leader of their small group. Must have been the Summers thing.