![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xp_daytripper posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsArriving in London, X-Force discusses their next move in a city where nothing seems to be going on.
A light drizzle had greeted them as they'd gotten off the plane and then split up to go through Customs and reach the rendez-vous point. Amanda's hair was still damp as she walked into the pub, a sense of deja-vu hitting her. It made strangely appropriate sense that they'd be back at this particular venue. Glancing around, she spotted those teammates who had already arrived and approached with a slightly pained smile. She hadn't felt this jittery since the addiction, a sense of urgency invading her system via her mutation. "What I felt at the airport... it's still there," she announced without preamble, sliding into a seat. Her fingers started drumming the table almost immediately. "Something's really not right with London. The energy's all messed up."
Wanda glanced up from her cellphone and waved briefly before going back to her conversation. It ended a few moments later and she sighed, slipping it back into her purse. "I just got more confirmation from a few of my sources stationed in London that they haven't felt anything," she responded and then sighed. "Not that it really matters since I doubt some of those poor bastards would feel a magical bomb going off three feet in front of them. A number of them are still messed up from the events on the astral plane. But at least this way we have some feelers out."
Jubilee looked up from the menu she'd been perusing as Amanda came in, and raised her eyebrows. "I don't know about you Mandy, but I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary since we got here, other than that mime outside the airport."
Amanda pulled a face at her and went back to looking impatiently around her, fingers still tapping on the table. "There's something up, I know it is. London's all..." she waved her hand in an attempt to describe the undescribable. "Weird."
"Don't know what to tell you," Mark shrugged, poking at his glass of cola (sans rum, dammit). "Tried talkin' to friends of friends of friends, but s'all just the same old London to them." He sighed, resigned, and took a drink. Some day his convalescence would be over and he'd be able to return to his vices.
"There does not seem to be anything wrong at all." Marie-Ange had a cup of hot tea in her hands, but hadn't done more then take a few sips. "Nothing out of the ordinary, at least. Even the tabloids are not reporting anything except the usual gossip." She shrugged and gave a half-smile. "I did learn quite a lot about Anti-Social Behaviour Orders trying to look at crime levels."
"Dat in and of itself is a little odd. It's like de whole city is almost asleep right now." LeBeau leaned back in his chair and grabbed the file from the table heaped with newspapers and laptops behind them. "Remy think dat 'manda might be right. Intelligence operations in dis city are absolutely muted, dere's been not so much as a whisper on de higher level organized crime groups, and de financial activities have been almost scrubbed dey so clean. In a city dis big, dis connected, dat's something big happening dat every one is holding dere breath waiting to see it break."
Bishop had listened to the group talk for a while as he drank what passed for bourbon; they didn't have his brand. "If everyone's waiting it's just because they have their own brand of madness in the works for when there's a distraction." Pessimistic? Sure, a bit but Bishop figured it would be more then true. In his experience when something big hit everyone took advantage. If this was going to be what they all seemed to think then it would most assuredly be even worse then that. He wasn't really looking forward to more of this group's brand of wild encounters.
The muffled ringing had Wanda diving for her purse. She glanced at the caller ID and picked up, turning away from the noise at the table so she could hear better. It wasn't a long call and she turned back, the phone going on the table top now. "That was Emma calling to let us know she'll be joining us here," she explained, reaching for her drink. "Anyone else have anything?"
"Nothing, zilch, and zero," Doug noted from behind his laptop as he scanned the screen. "All my normal sources for 'weird shit' are completely dry right now." He and Marie-Ange had split the tabloids up between them, and gotten nowhere. "Not even a good alien abduction conspiracy theory story," he grumbled jokingly.
"I'm not imagining this," Amanda said stubbornly. "Something's happened or is going to happen and we need to find out what it is and make it stop." Her fingers drummed so hard on the tabletop that people's glasses rattled and she forced herself to lay her hand flat, taking a deep breath. "Something's up."
"Isn't something always up with London?" Sarah leaned back in her chair, taking a sip of her beer, enjoying it. "That's the price they pay for having better beer than the rest of the world."
"Fucking body nazis have taken over here, too, should never have left..." Pete flicked his cigarette away as he strolled in to the pub. "Sorry I'm late. Bumped into an old girlfriend outside Foyles and barely escaped with me life. Right then - who's got what? I got fuck all from Doyle, and I'm off down The Crown in a minute, but if I'd like to avoid showing me face there unless I have to. I owe too many people drinks..."
As the time splits up, Amanda finds herself drawn to a relic few Londoners would even know was there.
The drizzle had let up, although Amanda barely noticed. There'd been more talk, decisions, a plan. Emma had called again, delayed and they'd arranged for someone to wait to brief her as the rest of the group had split up to begin investigating. The job, doing the job... Amanda tried to focus, but the interference with her powers was getting harder to ignore. She'd been supposed to head to one of the goth clubs where some of the younger magical set hung out, but instead she found herself on Cannon Street. Not wandering - she was moving as if she had a purpose. Past a series of clothing stores, a pub...
Looking at it casually, you might have thought it was some kind of ventilation grill or a light. Set low in just another plain wall, heavy Victorian ironwork painted over, Amanda had to crouch to get a better look at the stained and damaged chunk of rock. The buzzing of her powers increased in pitch: this, this was what she'd been picking up. Hooking her fingers into the iron grill across the front of the old-fashioned housing, Amanda peered at the stone, trying to focus past the power buzz. This was the centre of things, this was what they'd been looking for, what had been calling her...
The grille shifted, a piece coming away in her hand and leaving a fist-sized gap. She didn't even pause - she reached in through the grill, leaning forward until her fingers brushed slightly chilled glass. A tingle of energy and then her hand pushed through the glass and into the stone behind, the rest of her following as if she was no more substantial than smoke. There wasn't even time for a startled yelp before the young blonde witch vanished, leaving no trace behind.
A light drizzle had greeted them as they'd gotten off the plane and then split up to go through Customs and reach the rendez-vous point. Amanda's hair was still damp as she walked into the pub, a sense of deja-vu hitting her. It made strangely appropriate sense that they'd be back at this particular venue. Glancing around, she spotted those teammates who had already arrived and approached with a slightly pained smile. She hadn't felt this jittery since the addiction, a sense of urgency invading her system via her mutation. "What I felt at the airport... it's still there," she announced without preamble, sliding into a seat. Her fingers started drumming the table almost immediately. "Something's really not right with London. The energy's all messed up."
Wanda glanced up from her cellphone and waved briefly before going back to her conversation. It ended a few moments later and she sighed, slipping it back into her purse. "I just got more confirmation from a few of my sources stationed in London that they haven't felt anything," she responded and then sighed. "Not that it really matters since I doubt some of those poor bastards would feel a magical bomb going off three feet in front of them. A number of them are still messed up from the events on the astral plane. But at least this way we have some feelers out."
Jubilee looked up from the menu she'd been perusing as Amanda came in, and raised her eyebrows. "I don't know about you Mandy, but I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary since we got here, other than that mime outside the airport."
Amanda pulled a face at her and went back to looking impatiently around her, fingers still tapping on the table. "There's something up, I know it is. London's all..." she waved her hand in an attempt to describe the undescribable. "Weird."
"Don't know what to tell you," Mark shrugged, poking at his glass of cola (sans rum, dammit). "Tried talkin' to friends of friends of friends, but s'all just the same old London to them." He sighed, resigned, and took a drink. Some day his convalescence would be over and he'd be able to return to his vices.
"There does not seem to be anything wrong at all." Marie-Ange had a cup of hot tea in her hands, but hadn't done more then take a few sips. "Nothing out of the ordinary, at least. Even the tabloids are not reporting anything except the usual gossip." She shrugged and gave a half-smile. "I did learn quite a lot about Anti-Social Behaviour Orders trying to look at crime levels."
"Dat in and of itself is a little odd. It's like de whole city is almost asleep right now." LeBeau leaned back in his chair and grabbed the file from the table heaped with newspapers and laptops behind them. "Remy think dat 'manda might be right. Intelligence operations in dis city are absolutely muted, dere's been not so much as a whisper on de higher level organized crime groups, and de financial activities have been almost scrubbed dey so clean. In a city dis big, dis connected, dat's something big happening dat every one is holding dere breath waiting to see it break."
Bishop had listened to the group talk for a while as he drank what passed for bourbon; they didn't have his brand. "If everyone's waiting it's just because they have their own brand of madness in the works for when there's a distraction." Pessimistic? Sure, a bit but Bishop figured it would be more then true. In his experience when something big hit everyone took advantage. If this was going to be what they all seemed to think then it would most assuredly be even worse then that. He wasn't really looking forward to more of this group's brand of wild encounters.
The muffled ringing had Wanda diving for her purse. She glanced at the caller ID and picked up, turning away from the noise at the table so she could hear better. It wasn't a long call and she turned back, the phone going on the table top now. "That was Emma calling to let us know she'll be joining us here," she explained, reaching for her drink. "Anyone else have anything?"
"Nothing, zilch, and zero," Doug noted from behind his laptop as he scanned the screen. "All my normal sources for 'weird shit' are completely dry right now." He and Marie-Ange had split the tabloids up between them, and gotten nowhere. "Not even a good alien abduction conspiracy theory story," he grumbled jokingly.
"I'm not imagining this," Amanda said stubbornly. "Something's happened or is going to happen and we need to find out what it is and make it stop." Her fingers drummed so hard on the tabletop that people's glasses rattled and she forced herself to lay her hand flat, taking a deep breath. "Something's up."
"Isn't something always up with London?" Sarah leaned back in her chair, taking a sip of her beer, enjoying it. "That's the price they pay for having better beer than the rest of the world."
"Fucking body nazis have taken over here, too, should never have left..." Pete flicked his cigarette away as he strolled in to the pub. "Sorry I'm late. Bumped into an old girlfriend outside Foyles and barely escaped with me life. Right then - who's got what? I got fuck all from Doyle, and I'm off down The Crown in a minute, but if I'd like to avoid showing me face there unless I have to. I owe too many people drinks..."
As the time splits up, Amanda finds herself drawn to a relic few Londoners would even know was there.
The drizzle had let up, although Amanda barely noticed. There'd been more talk, decisions, a plan. Emma had called again, delayed and they'd arranged for someone to wait to brief her as the rest of the group had split up to begin investigating. The job, doing the job... Amanda tried to focus, but the interference with her powers was getting harder to ignore. She'd been supposed to head to one of the goth clubs where some of the younger magical set hung out, but instead she found herself on Cannon Street. Not wandering - she was moving as if she had a purpose. Past a series of clothing stores, a pub...
Looking at it casually, you might have thought it was some kind of ventilation grill or a light. Set low in just another plain wall, heavy Victorian ironwork painted over, Amanda had to crouch to get a better look at the stained and damaged chunk of rock. The buzzing of her powers increased in pitch: this, this was what she'd been picking up. Hooking her fingers into the iron grill across the front of the old-fashioned housing, Amanda peered at the stone, trying to focus past the power buzz. This was the centre of things, this was what they'd been looking for, what had been calling her...
The grille shifted, a piece coming away in her hand and leaving a fist-sized gap. She didn't even pause - she reached in through the grill, leaning forward until her fingers brushed slightly chilled glass. A tingle of energy and then her hand pushed through the glass and into the stone behind, the rest of her following as if she was no more substantial than smoke. There wasn't even time for a startled yelp before the young blonde witch vanished, leaving no trace behind.
