Jennie, Wanda, & Arthur | Luck for Dummies (Backdated)

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Wanda and Jennie hold an undergrad seminar on probability mechanics for Arthur.

The lights flickered back on in the cold, chrome room to clearly illuminate Arthur's stunned expression. He raised a finger hesitantly, but the image of the little blond stick figure getting hit over and over again by lightning on the Powerpoint was thorough. And on loop.

"I... well." He smiled dumbly. It was the kind of smile one wore when there was nothing better to say.

Wanda sat, nearly sprawled out, in a chair across the room. The perfect example of relaxed and bored, though she was far from either. Her powers were essentially standing on call in case Arthur had another "spell", ready to slam down any more luck snaps the moment they arose. She was hoping that wouldn't be the case - she and Jennie had played far too much damage control as it was at this point. She'd prefer a few hours without a raging headache.

"Well," she responded, voice dry, "feeling better?"

"Maybe?" Arthur idly scratched at the bulky power suppressor around his wrist, trying not to flinch at the curly lady's tone. "That was very detailed and scary, but, just to make sure everyone was watching, could someone in the class give a quick summary?"

Jennie flicked her bangs out of her eyes with a sign. "Ok, 'teal dear' version," she said, using quote fingers.

"Everything exists on a scale of possible things. Good, bad, whatever. It's like...Schrodinger's cat, but on a universal scale. There is a 'might be' for every single person, thing, situation, you name it. And every little probability can lead to an even bigger possibility, a butterfly flaps it's wings, big fucking hurricane, yadda yadda. Like that lamp, over there? As it's sitting, it can do any number of things. It could rust, it could short out and break, it could fall over, or it could turn itself on." Jennie gestured to the lamp on the table by Arthur's elbow.

"Those things all exist in the realm of 'might be,' and we as probability manipulators, can push the 'might bes' into reality." With a quick flick of her wrist, Jennie sent a small white disk to the lamp. It hit it with a 'ting!' sound, and then the lamp turned on.

"And then you have those like myself, who draw and manipulate the already existing chaos of the world. It's very similar to what Jennie has described - if I reach out with my powers, I could do a number of things depending on a variety of situations." She smiled and nodded at the lamp. "The biggest difference, though, is that while Jennie used her powers to turn on the lamp, if I used mine, it would probably explode. Why? Perhaps the wiring is faulty, perhaps the bulb is nearing the end and is about to shatter."

Wanda shifted in her chair, her face growing serious. "I manipulate chaos. I am finding the right strings to pull and I am, in essence yes, making the possibility into the reality. It tends to be on a more harmful scale than some of our brother and sisters who share these powers. It does not always have to be that way - I have been working with my abilities for decades and have a more finer control, so it is not always ..." A smile showed up, amused. "Boom."

"Okay," and Arthur counted the points off on his fingers, "One: Might Bes in Actual Bes. But not bees, except that bees are... anyway. Two: Probability people deal with pluses and minuses. Chaos people deal with more minuses, and get to look more badass while walking away from explosions."

He waved the counting hand absently as if to dismiss the points as covered. "I'm not willing anything to happen, though. Unless there's a spa weekend where you get in touch with your inner probability goddess to find the power of friendship that I'm missing here. All I did in Nevada was have a panic attack and really not want to die. I went all shiny, and I gave you both a headache."

To the man's credit, he had enough politeness to look sheepish for that last point. "Sorry."

Jennie closed her eyes and reminded herself about the fact that Haller had said this man's brain had basically been an etch-a-skecth for a few years. Scribbled on and then wiped neat and clean.

"It doesn't matter if you don't mean to do it. As a mutant, you will still do it. It took me a while to figure out that all these accidents that always happened around me were my own doing. And I tired to ignore it, because the last thing I wanted was to be a freak. But you can't ignore it. Watch the lamp again," she said, her teacher voice coming through.

As Arthur turned, another disk hit it, this one red. It began to smoke and hum, and then the bulb, along with half the lamp, exploded spectacularly.

"This is what we can do to other people on a regular basis, because we happen to mess up the general order of things. Your particular set of probability has you taking all the might bes and suck all the luck out of them. That's what that white stuff was. Luck. You've always been lucky, right? Never had to try hard for anything, always seem to be one step ahead. That's you sucking up all the good outcomes, and what's left is chaos. This world exists on a point of order, and you pull at one set of strings, you rattle the opposite set. So everything else, and everyone else around you goes boom," she said, smacking her hands together for emphasis.

"Chaos," Jennie held up a red disk, "And order," she held up a white disk. "Good luck and bad luck, that's what the three of us do," she flipped the disks down her knuckles like a magician doing a coin trick. "Wanda does chaos, you do order, and I..." she rubbed her fingers together and spread them, showing the disks had disappeared. "Do both."

"But..." the man's eyes raced as pieces fell into place slowly, and it wasn't hard to see that he was falling down a horribly deep hole of consequence. He absently wiped a stray hair from his face, gaze locked on the now decimated lamp. "You're saying that I cannot use my abilities without hurting someone else? Doesn't sound like any type of order to me. My mutant ability is being an asshole."

The man slowly curled into a ball as implications matured into actualizations. He tucked his knees to his chest, up from where they had been splayed across the bench he was seated on, and rocked slightly. "It isn't just getting ahead. I'm a fraud. This thing," and he gestured wildly across his face to indicate his eyes, "Means that nothing I do -- nothing I have done -- is real."

His voice was now a cheap mockery of his usual self, "Chase adventure and make your own luck!" He let the tail end of his catchphrase trail off, disgusted.

"Some of that is true," Wanda commented, leaning forward intently. "But reality manipulation, chaos and luck mutations - they don't always create something from complete nothing. For years you have been moving blindly, and by someone else's hand at that; now you know what you have. You have a chance to start over, to learn not only what your powers can do under your own control but what you are actually capable of."

She bent herself slightly so she could lock eyes with him. "I understand what it is like to have forces beyond your control manipulate you." It was Jennie's tale to tell about her own experiences, Wanda wouldn't bring it up without her permission. "And so do many of the others that we are friends with. What happens next is up to you, Arthur. Self-pity and doubt will only hinder you." Wanda sat back, knowing there was more she wanted - needed to tell him - but she wanted to give him a moment.

"If you give me a sword I will be both delighted and even more confused," he peeked hopefully out from the little emotional hole he had dug for himself, "But. Right. Deflecting." This was appended with a sigh and a roll of the shoulders like he was preparing himself for a tough fall or jump. "I've made a living selling myself as a someone who pushes human limits. That's my stick. That's my brand. What does that mean if I'm actually, literally lucky?"

"No swords, at least not here," Wanda smirked. "As for the rest, that is up to you. Continue as you are, change course, join the circus, perhaps even speak with Charles Xavier about staying? I would, at least for the time being, suggest you staying close if only so you can be taught enough to control all of this now you know you have it. But after that, it's now your own life."

"I myself spent a few years doing something that wasn't linked to my power. I wanted to do something to prove to myself that my power wasn't all that I was. And I got to be a professional ballerina for a while," Jennie said. "I'm back here because there was something else I wanted from my life, and it turns out it's here. Helping others. So it's not like your life is over, it's just different now. You have all the pieces in front of you, and more importantly you have a choice. People like us, with our power set, we're quite valuable, and both Wanda and I have stories similar to yours. I recommend taking some time out to learn about your powers and what you can do. Our power definitely takes a little getting used to. You would definitely have a place here at Xavier's while you figure out your next step, and you will definitely learn the skills necessary to protect yourself from something like happening to you again," Jennie's smile was warm and welcoming.

"Everyone I have talked to here either assumes I'm staying or makes a pitch about it. You all must have a hell of a benefit program," he held his hands up defensively to waylay any comments on that, "But yes, I understand that I have no idea how my luck thing works. How do you even test that? I should have died thousands of times over the past year. I cannot shoot orbs of light or, hell, I don't even know how to turn mine on."

Wanda nodded slowly. "Yes, unlike with Jennie or myself, your version of the luck abilities will be harder to test and there will be quite a lot of trial and error." She smiled again at a thought. "However, we are not the only ones with such powers to be friends with the mansion and we do have a friend who has similar abilities to your own. I doubt she'd want to stay long at the Mansion, it was never really her scene but, Jennie, do you think we could pry Domino away from wherever she is to come and pay us a call?"

"I'm sure one of her numbers still works," Jennie said with a smile. "Dom is like you, she doesn't come with an off switch." Jennie flicked her bangs out of her eyes. "Even if you have no plans on staying long term, we do offer classes and powers training. One of my old ballet classmates was a mutant-- who very desperately needed training." That was one way of putting 'she rendered me quadrupedal for four days' "She still lived in the city and commuted for classes."

"Classes," and he laughed at this, "I was never very good in school. Still. Sounds like more poking and prodding to see how I work. Do I need to go dive in front of speeding cars until one of them hits me? Plus," and at this he frowned again, "Laying low is likely the best plan for the next few months anyway. Might be time to get to know myself. Be zen and all that."

"There is also another reason for caution." Wanda rubbed at her face and when she dropped her hands, she looked tired. "This has been mostly my burden but occasionally it has caught up with others with similar powers -" She grimaced at the memory of kidnapping and trains and stupid, boneheaded morons who thought they were doing right. "There is a lot of information and I would be happy to go over it with you later in finer detail. But there are a group of men and women who worship as a cult a being called Chthon. They believe him to be the Elder God of Chaos - whether Godhood is true or not, I have been in direct contact with the being and he is powerful. Their group has gone to ground at the moment and your powers are not quite what he is looking for. But they might be close enough to attract attention and I wanted to warn you."

She gave him a wry smile. "So in other words, surprise! You're a mutant! And there are active and well developed cults with a fetish for chaos, magic and sometimes other powers on our spectrum and they worship a particularly nasty being that could probably melt your face off."

Wanda blinked at Jennie and Arthur. "What? Do not give me that look - I have never actually seen that happen but I could melt someone's face off, so it's probably within the realm of possibilities if he actually manifests."

Arthur had enough grace to just blink, wide-mouthed. "So there's that."

If Arthur wanted Jennie to match his shock, he had another thing coming as the girl shrugged a shoulder. "I once gave a Tyrannosaurus Rex a heart attack, so it's not that weird."

"Here I thought being at a school might get dull," but his grin was coming back now, "Doesn't sound like you all need luck to find entertainment here."

He glanced back at the still blinking presentation on the wall. That caricature was still having trouble with the weather. Arthur shrugged, smiling. "Sign me up, old gods and emotional dinosaurs and all."