⟶ l i k e f i r e

( Closed Starter | Billy & Lorna )

All these ruined buildings, there must be someone here that could explain to him what this tragedy was. If he couldn’t find someone, he was hoping to find something to eat to attempt satisfying his lingering hunger he couldn’t seem to fill. He held his hand up and used blue energy surrounding it to brighten up the room. Turning the corner in one of the buildings, he caught sight of a green glow. He snuffed his own light out of instinct and pulled his back to the corner. He felt like he was living in a video game. He took a deep breath as he prepared himself to face the source of the green glow then slowly emerged from the corner he hid in. “Hey.” He called out as he slowly made his way over, eyes quirking up at the sight of metal in the air. “Neat trick. I knew someone who could do something like that.” 

@viiolentends​

there was something wrong with her powers – it was a frustrating realization when already trapped somewhere she didn’t know or understand. lorna quickly deduced the only metal she could currently manipulate was silver – rendering the steel pocket knife she had on her to be mostly useless. well, unless she used it the old fashioned way. she was able to find some old silver dinner knives in one of the old houses though, and became aware of someone’s slow approach as she tested her abilities with the knife. “hey, i would just stay back for a –” she tried to warn, but as she turned to look at him, the knife suddenly flew and stabbed into a nearby wall past his head. “shit,” lorna cringed, “i’m really sorry, the neat trick kind of has a mind of it’s own today.” she tried to explain, “but yeah, i get that a lot.”

“you know, i think you might be right,” jean admitted, looking around. “though i wonder how it works if people are from different times.” she had to admit to staring for a moment in surprise at the mention that it had been 2023. “i was in 1992, the last i checked…  that’s a whole – more than 30 years? that’s crazy!”

she spent a moment wondering if she really could have spent 30 years in space - what was it some people had said about time moving differently if you were travelling closer to the speed of light…? but before she could get lost in that particular train of thought, she realised what the other had said.

magnetism.

the thought that had been lurking at the back of her mind exploded to the fore. “are you…” there just wasn’t any delicate way of putting this. she hadn’t been aware of erik lehnsherr having any children when she’d left earth, but there had been so little she’d known about him. 

“are you related to magneto?” it was a question, but she already knew the answer. “i went to him for help, once. i thought, perhaps, that he might have answers for me. but i think … that didn’t go down well.”

“1992? well shit –” she took a moment to digest it, though fairly another member of the x-men from an entirely different time shouldn’t have been much of a shock to her, not considering the current circumstances. lorna was fairly sure that none of them were where they were supposed to be. “so you don’t know anything about the avengers? or a big purple guy turning people into dust?”

she’d thought that being stuck in this place was bad – but she had to imagine that being from another time in addition to that had to be worse for her. lorna paused, lips pressing together hesitantly as she watched jean piece together the theory she could practically feel her forming. it was something she was used to, people making the connection once they heard her abilities, and there wasn’t much reason to hide it. “yeah, erik is my biological father. don’t take it too personal, he wasn’t a whole lot of help to me for most of my life either.”

lorna tried not to let bitterness in her tone – she’d thought she let go of the resentment she’d built up for him in her youth, the anger of a child that felt abandoned. eventually she’d find him, even learn more of their abilities from him, and to see genosha. they weren’t conventional, but she’d found room to care for him despite years of anger. “i was raised by my aunt.” she clarified further, “i didn’t really meet him until i was already an adult.”

closed starter for anyone & peggy [ @viiolentends​ ]

“i wouldn’t walk there!” peggy cried in warning, holding her hand up to stop them from going further down the path between the two rubbles. she had gone through a whole bunch of holes ( and had nearly been stuck in one ) more than once around this part of the stone. the broken buildings strewn did a real job of hiding places where one could get stuck in. “unless you want to be stuck down there. i don’t really have anything to help you with if you do.”

instinct brought her hand to her gun the moment yelena heard another shout in warning – stopping just over the holster as it was brought to her attention that the threat wasn’t the kind to shoot. “i didn’t think this place could be more unappealing. it can.” her attention cast down a moment, kicking her foot out slightly to find where the hole was before looking back to the woman that’d given the warning. “i would have gotten out, but it would be inconvenient.” it was about as close to a thank you as she was sure she could muster. her attention lingered a moment – nearly positive she’d seen a file of some sort on the other before. “you look familiar.”

“oh, you heard that? good.“ natasha responded just as sharply as she turned to immediately face the younger widow. “it’s not hell.” she corrected, stiffening her posture and keeping a keen eye on yelena’s every move.  “and i would like an explanation.” but any more words from her were cut off by her sister’s questions. she couldn’t mistake the concern that lied deeply beneath the surface.

clearing her throat, the former assassin turned her head away and gave her shoulder to the blonde. “to save… i did it so that others could live.” she wanted to admit that she did it to save someone she considered as family. yelena would have understood that - but she couldn’t bring herself to saying it. turning back, she shrugged and dismissed it. “it was a simple calculation - my life for many, i made a sacrificial play and i took it.”

“you martyred yourself.” yelena concluded pointedly, physically restraining the sigh that nearly escaped her lips before she shook her head. her stance eased only a fraction before moving forward to step around natasha. “i suppose that is what makes us different.” she wouldn’t have done it, the blonde didn’t have the other woman’s selflessness – though once loyal to her country and what the red room had engrained in her, she was now only truly loyal to herself. at least, that was as far as she was willing to admit to, and maybe that was why her faked death would make sense.

“unlike yours, my death might have been.. exaggerated.” the implication that it was faked was heavy as she shrugged her shoulders with nonchalance. “you told me to get life of my own, so i did. but you had your avengers, that family – didn’t think i needed to come along and stir up trouble for you.” yelena pointed out, the corner of her lip curved up in a smile. though she felt an itch on her nose, it hadn’t grown yet. at the least, yelena was good at telling the partial truths. “i did okay for myself – a lingerie company in cuba, own a few soft core porn channels in europe, a few good paying jobs of the other type.” espionage went unsaid. “when worth my time.”

maria couldn’t help but snort out when the mutant told her of the thor situation. as powerful (and as handsome) as thor was, the god being thrown to the wall was hilarious. he had to hand it to lorna and thor—they handled that one better than she did. or majority of the other supers. “agreed. i’ve come across more confused people here than a kindergarten on the first day of classes.” and frankly speaking, it worried her that even the supers had no idea what was going on. god, she hated dealing with the unknown. it made her work more complicated than it already was. “let’s hope it stays that way for a while. i’m fine with confused but i am not fine with threats. i saw your father earlier, by the way. definitely more confused than threatening so that’s a plus in my books.”

lorna let out a quiet snort of laughter at the accurate comparison – maybe the clear confusion running rampant wasn’t as funny as it was concerning, but it seemed easier to laugh at it. “well, you aren’t wrong about that. let’s hope we have enough geniuses around here to figure it out. in the meantime, i think it’s just making sure that everyone has what they need to survive.” though this place hadn’t shown her any immediate danger yet, lorna didn’t have particularly high hopes it would stay this way. some sort of threat always showed it’s head eventually. she could grimace at the reminder of her father’s presence – though he was her father and she loved him regardless of how complicated their family was – she knew how he was most often perceived by others, and many times for good reason. “he’s going to want to get out of here just as much as the rest of us, so he should be on our side. it’s more about what he’s willing to do for it but... i’ll handle it if he goes too far.”

“do, please - i’m lacking the entertainment i once got while being out of this wretched place,“ erik responded, giving his youngest a slow blink and a dry smile. he wasn’t surprised to see she had turned and went the opposite direction of him. after all, they (he and his children as a collective) never truly managed to be peaceful among each other all the time. still, lorna was the one he’d placed the most hope in succeeding after him for genosha, so it stung a little. “lecture? no. what would i lecture you about? i may complain though about the color of this place and the fact that my shoes are soaked from this rather unnerving water-like liquid…” at that, erik lifted his foot and examined his boot. soaked - soaked and annoyingly squishy.

“what do you think is worse – whatever this orange hell is or prison? because i’ll take this over a straight jacket and a collar.” she quipped with ease, side casting a glance in his direction. maybe finding common ground over previous prison time with her father would be considered odd by some, but they were never a conventional family. contrary to the harsh words she could throw, lorna didn’t hate her father – in fact, what she resented most was how much she understood him. emotions were complicated and anger was the only one she was as well versed in displaying. “what color do you wish it was? magenta?” there was a short huff of a laugh at the thought, before tilting her head to look at him with some exasperation. “you remember that you can fly right? either you’re walking in the water by your own free will or your age is finally getting to you.” she pointed out, despite the fact that she was also walking through the water when the opportunity to hover above it was there. “what’s your theory here? i know you have to have one.”

“Now pull yourself together.” { riri x illyana }

“i’m…together. i’m fine.” it was riri’s automatic response to when anyone suggested she might not be at the top of her game. denial. there were a million thoughts running through her mind. about why they were here and what that could possibly mean. “this isn’t driving you crazy?”

@viiolentends​

her head tilted knowingly at the other’s denial – illyana knew well the look of someone that was somewhere they knew did not belong. granted, this place wasn’t hell. she was sure of that. “that might be it’s point.” her shoulders shrugged, “i believe this place wants to put you at unease like a whisper in your ear.” she could feel it, of course, darkness threatening to swarm whatever light she had left. “i’ve known worse places, mental stability questioning.”

@viiolentends​ -  “ Mind if I have a look at your aura? ” ( illyana to tony )

tony had seen magic, fought in space, fought magic in space, but this was the first time he’d encountered anyone looking at his aura. 

hell, he didn’t even know that he had an aura, or what it would look like. “i’m not sure you’re going to like what you see,” he said, a tad nervously. it wasn’t hard to be nervous, especially when – illyana, was it? – had this big ass sword strapped to her back and an absolutely lethal air of knowing exactly how to use it. 

still, curiosity killed the stark and all that, he couldn’t help but say, “sure, but only if you tell me what it’s like. like, is it affected by the whole being dead thing? or just blackened by my general moral failings?”

he paused. “does everyone have an aura? does stephen?”

“mine is worse.” illyana stated, her tone matter-of-fact. not that it made much difference to her, but she supposed there was little she’d find in his aura that would surprise her. part of her was curious for his reaction, but moreso she had a bit of a puzzle to solve on the state of him – as he was meant to be dead. “everybody has aura, but it’s more energy than a tell-all.”

she let out a hum as her head tiled. remaining quiet for several moments as she was seemingly looking for something in the space around him. “you died, i would presume your loved ones buried your body or it was cremated, yet you are here.” if it was uncomfortable to discuss someone’s dead body with them, she didn’t realize. “so is this only your consciousness or has your physical being been brought here and reanimated? this is what i look for.”

“and to answer your question, yes stephen as aura, even the sentient cloak. why do you ask?”

open starter

Steve woke up with a burning in his lungs and a pounding in his head. Which wasn’t necessarily an unfamiliar sensation, but it was certainly happening in an unfamiliar place. He got to his feet, and tried to take in his surroundings, looking for assets and resources. Shelter. He would need shelter, and water, and probably food at some point. His shield lay at the ground at his feet, and could hardly help with any of those.

Darkness was the last thing he remembered. Darkness that felt like a weight, like everlasting night, like failure. But it wasn’t dark here. Here everything was golden-orange, a perfect warm twilight. Steve kicked at the ground that seemed to be ever-shifting beneath his feet, as much liquid as it was solid. 

He couldn’t see anyone or anything, no matter which way he looked. He was alone. His chest seized with panic. He had no memories of being trapped in the ice, but sometimes he almost thought he did. He thought he could remember being frozen, an eternal wasteland, a world of silence and nothingness and no one, no one. He would wake up drenched in sweat, as if he had indeed been in the ocean, on the nights that particular haunting visited him.

He took several deep breaths, trying to calm his racing heart. It hadn’t happened again. It couldn’t. Not even their broken world could be so cruel. “Okay. Everything’s fine.” The sound of his own voice, any voice, began to steady him. “We just need a plan.” He turned in a slow circle again, and his heart thumped painfully at the sight of a person-shaped blob on the horizon. He picked up his shield and began to run.

“Excuse me,” he called out as he got closer. “I’m looking for a plan.”

“oh yes, a plan. i think i saw one behind tree.” she replied, russian accent still heavy in her voice. her lips turned up in amusement at the american captain as she gestured vaguely towards the flora in the distance. maybe it was a little cruel to tease him when he was clearly disoriented and didn’t even know her, but considering the circumstances, she would take what she could get in turned of entertainment. her head tilted as she took a glance to his shield and back to him. “you are steve rogers, the captain america.” she pointed out plainly, a friend of her predecessor, she mentally noted. “i’m yelena belova, and unfortunately i do not have plan you seek.”

the gun that was once in her hand was placed back in it’s holster – not considering him currently a threat. from what she knew, he was supposed to be something of a wholesome hero – someone of virtue and morality – though she knew that couldn’t be entirely true. no one that knew war and violence, who was a soldier, could be entirely pure. she held no disillusions about this. yet, yelena did trust that he wouldn’t be a threat to her if she didn’t pose herself as one to him.

“i haven’t been here long enough to know where here is, right now i believe plan is to figure it out.” she began, knowing he would likely want more information to go off of. “everybody seems just as confused.”

illyana rasputina | bad reputation by joan jett

I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation I've never been afraid of any deviation An' I don't really care if you think I'm strange I ain't gonna change

there are a lot of songs that i felt could apply to illyana at various points in her life, but i decided i didn’t want to give her a song necessarily dark or angsty. while her past would certainly fit it, and it’s shaped her into who she is, she’s very accepting of this and of who she is. illyana doesn’t hesitate to be forward about all that she’s been through and though many of her own teammates tend to be afraid of her or what she may do at any point in time ( ie. even in comics, emma frost has said ‘she scares the hell out of me’ ), she’s rarely offended by it. so i wanted to choose a song that was more about knowing and accepting who she is, for better or worse.

lorna dane | the cave by mumford & sons

So tie me to a post and block my ears I can see widows and orphans through my tears I know my call despite my faults and despite my growing fears.

But I will hold on hope and I won't let you choke On the noose around your neck And I'll find strength in pain And I will change my ways I'll know my name as it's called again

lorna hasn’t always made what would be considered the right choice, her affiliation with the x-men and her status as a ‘hero’ of any sort has varied and could be called questionable. she hasn’t shared in xavier’s pacifism, but doesn’t go to the same extreme of her father’s views. she’s witnessed hatred and the death of her own people in ways that broke her. she’s lost her way before and has done things in her anger that she regrets, but she strives to be better. lorna tries to put her pain to better use, to put her rage to better use and has hope for a better world for everyone that doesn’t require one extreme or the other, and she wants to help others find better ways instead of suffocating when a situation feels hopeless. 

yelena belova | where the devil don’t go by elle king

It's a mean world that I've known Never got no good doing what I'm told It's a mean world that I've known Now you'll find me where the devil don't go Where the devil don't go

he was a little confused where they were going considering he’s been scouting the area as much as he could. apparently she knew the area better than he did—which was a little concerning because then that would mean that the woman was here long before he got here. well he might as well follow the woman. “a two-way radio would be nice. i can figure out if they work and if they do, i can try and figure out how to contact the outside world. although i don’t have as big of a brain as tony stark, i can sure as hell try.” he followed her, still wary of the woman in front of him. “who are you anyway?”

did yelena know where they were really going? no. she was just as new here – but she had a convincing nature to her. embedded in her training of deception to never give anyone a reason to doubt her. listening to what he believed he needed, she gave a short nod. “maybe you need to find tony stark.” she pointed out before heading toward a building. “you need military building, they look like other building if you don’t know what to look for.” that much was the truth – while they could possibly find a radio somewhere else, it’d be something akin to a needle in a haystack. “my name is yelena belova, i am black widow.”

“no worries, i only just got here.” reed immediately opened his hands and held them up, showing her that he meant no harm. using his powers in these old buildings was obviously a bad idea considering he had no idea how many more creaky floor boards there were. the woman, however, looked familiar. she had green hair, after all; hard to forget someone with such striking hair. but if she wasn’t anyone he regularly saw in the avengers, then… “ah, forgive me but are you a mutant?” reed wasn’t sure after all if she was one of charles xavier’s kids or his more temperamental friend’s. erik lehnsherr is definitely a character. but reed can’t say he blames him either.

there’s a breath of relief that’s exhaled from her lungs as her hands dropped to her side. honestly, she didn’t really want to fight anyone over some run down apartment – if she was going to fight, she’d at least make it worth it. “yeah, i am –” she began, head nodding in response. “i’m lorna dane, or polaris. and you’re that guy from the fantastic four, right?” it only took her a quick look over him to realize it, but to be fair, she was only an occasional member of the x-men, often on and off with the team, while he had something of a more celebrity status. she was, sometimes unfortunately, more known for her family. “dr. richards?” she verified, finally pulling a name from her memory. “you can do that, uh.. stretchy thing, i think.”

“oh, sorry!” embarrassment made her trip over her words a little. “i didn’t mean to startle you.” something about the way she’d been hovering seemed familiar…

“oh – yes, i sort of… it’s a long story,” she said. “basically i was off planet for a while.” 

wow, way to understate it, jean.

“it’s really good to meet you, lorna. that’s a really neat power that you have. levitation? flight?” she paused, something about the name niggling at the back of her mind. where had she heard it before? “what year was it on earth, by the way? i lost track.”

“hey, no worries – i’m starting to think this place might be playing tricks on us.” lorna admitted – only hesitant to admit that she felt like the dead were in her ears, like she was being haunted. “everyone else is looking just as confused and i’m starting to wonder if we’re all even from the same time and place.” maybe she was making conspiracy theories, but was anything impossible here?

lorna glanced down a moment, gaze flickering over her hands as she pressed her lips together – after a moment, a shade of green danced around her fingers. “magnetism, actually. i can manipulate the magnetic fields around me to carry myself – among other things.” it was leading, as it wasn’t necessarily a common power but she wouldn’t deny it.

“2023, but a lot of people lost five years after this purple guy snapped his fingers. what’s the last year you remember?” 

“ Your reputation precedes you. ” - ( @viiolentends​ ) illyana rasputina to natasha romanoff

“ah,“ natasha responded, ensuring that the tone of her own voice was calm and neutral. many people knew about her reputation; she had exposed it after all for the world to see, she just hadn’t expected anyone to confront her about it. she should have known. “agreeable? or disagreeable to you?” she asked, carefully turning to face the blonde. “because if it’s the latter; i’m already dead - there’s not much more i can pay with to clear my sins.”

“hm –” illyana hummed from where she sat with her legs crossed, though hovering in the air. she didn’t need to overthink it as her attention moved over the famed black widow. “i'm not someone in a place to judge the sins of anyone else.” she admitted, considering it something of an understatement, if she were being honest. “death isn’t always permanent, mine wasn’t.” that was a long convoluted story but her shoulders shrugged as though it were nothing. “but i do particularly like the part where you’ve told the government to.. for lack of a better word, shove it.”

“yes,“ thor confirmed while nodding his head as best as he could. he was an avenger - a founding member, and a proud one. but at this moment in time? being pinned to a wall by an invisible force? not so fun being an avenger. “you were intr-” thor held up a finger and inhaled sharply, nodding towards her forceful hold on him - until she loosened her grasp and he slumped a bit, letting out a softened sigh of relief.

“my apologies; you were intriguing. something about your…“ he gestured towards her form and frowned, trying to find the correct and polite words to use. “… yourself - very powerful, strong, something admirable. i was only trying to figure you out.“ he paused again and straightened up. “no funny business.“ he swore, placing both hands up and pressing his back to the wall on his own volition. “and you’re right, i should be the one to apologize to you. allow me to restart; i am thor odinson, former king of asgard, and the strongest avenger. don’t tell the other avengers about the last part, they’ll lie to you and say it’s banner.“

well, damn – he made it hard for her to ignore the bit of guilt that crept up despite her otherwise stubborn bravado. it would’ve been easier if he was a jerk about it. lorna let out a sigh as she allowed her hands to drop to her sides and any lingering shades of emerald magnetic energy dissipated from the air. “alright, if you’re going to be all flattering about it – i guess maybe i overreacted a little bit. sorry about that.” it could be said that she was... on edge? defensive? accustomed to dealing with arrogance? regardless, he wasn’t deserving the harshness.

she took a step closer, hand reaching out to him in response to the introduction. “you have a lot of titles thor odinson, former king of asgard, and self-declared strongest avenger. i’ll have to take your word for it.” amusement flickered in her eyes as her head tilted back slightly to bring her gaze up to him. “i’m lorna dane, or polaris. mutant, sometimes member of the x-men – among other things.” others had some titles for her, but she never really felt right offering them. mistress of magnetism? sounds risky without context. mutant princess? maybe to a select few from genosha. daughter of magneto? accurate but she’d been quickly judged for the association before. “for what it’s worth. i don’t think strength is easily measured. it’s not all physical, is it?”

“yeah - though … don’t ask me how long,” tony said. “it’s hard to tell how much time has passed. i could rig up something that ticks away, but what’s the point? nothing ever changes around here. until you guys showed up, that is.”

despite his best efforts, some of the mental strain and darkness of being stuck here crept into his words. for a person used to constant motion and doing things, being stuck for eternity ranked right up there on his list of ‘do not want’. 

“the very same,” he said. “natasha romanoff is the other one who’s been stuck here with me.” standing up from where he’d been lounging against one of the rocks. “it does suck, doesn’t it?” he said, that raw edge hovering around the edges of his words. “still, i’m not sure that all of you are dead. i met someone earlier who’d been dead for a while, but she’d just turned up here. and almost all of you newcomers don’t remember dying. so i’d say – maybe something happened. which means, maybe, just maybe, there’s a way out. want to help me find it?”

he talked a lot, yelena made a mental note of it. there was a moments debate in her – either take advantage of his willingness to provide information while aware natasha would hear of it later, or be upfront and save the other black widow the trouble. well, for as much as she respected her sister in arms, she needed information.

“but you and natalia are dead? are you certain of that?” a russian accent lingered, looking for verification. “you could say she and i went to same school.” on the surface, it seemed like an unimportant piece of information, but placed there to lure him into some sense of security – to say she was a friend. which, well, she could be – if it benefitted her. if he could find a way to get them out, that would certainly fall into that category. 

“and this way out, it would be for everyone? what if it doesn’t work for the dead?” the question came with hidden implication – what if he was once again sentenced here without all of the new company he found. “but i have no intention of remaining here forever – so yes, i can help.” at the least, that wasn’t a lie for now. “my name is yelena belova.”