Monica Rambeau (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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xp_logs2023-11-03 11:15 am
xp_spectrum) wrote in xp_logs2023-11-03 11:15 am
District X Flooding - Clean Up
In the aftermath of the flooding, Illyana and Haller send floodwater and garbage to a better place.
Illyana scowled as her boots sank into filthy water. "Gross," she muttered at the ground, before casting a wary eye around. Just her and Haller in the immediate area, and the smaller specks of people she could see were either from the mansion or visibly mutant enough to hopefully not freak out when she drew a portal.
No time like the present. She pulled on Soulsword, letting out a soft grunt of discomfort as it materialized in her hands. "Portal on ground," she asked, tracing a circle with her fingers pointed at the ground, "or portal in front?" The second was a larger hand gesture, indicating a spot in front of the brick building closing off one side of the muck.
Haller glanced between both locations. "No real difference, since gravity is optional with telekinesis. Although . . . wouldn't putting one on the ground effectively create a drain?" He ran through the implications of this statement and added, "Although I'm not sure even Limbo deserves NYC floodwater."
"Going to dump most nasty water right on Satana's lair. Is well deserved." Limbo had seen—and smelled—worse. Its denizens had also done worse to earth, both NYC and beyond. The only reason Illyana wasn't dumping it all on S'ym was because the demon was in her throne room, and she didn't want to deal with the mess later. "They will find use for bits, water will dry into air."
Wall portal it was, then. She focused, tracing a large circle with her sword and gesturing it wider with her free hand. Portal open, she drove the sword into the ground to keep it open, and reached armor-clad arms towards a half-rusted trash can. With a heft and a heave, the entire thing disappeared through the portal.
"Here, let me." A pile of rotting pallets rose, dripping, from the water and shot through the portal like lethal frisbees.
"Telekinesis means not getting your hands dirty," Haller explained as the pallets wheeled off into the sulfurous void beyond the portal. "If you can keep it open, I can shift debris."
"Oh good, will not chip manicure." Illyana flexed metal covered fingertips at the older man with a smirk. "Can keep open longer if I am not making exertion, but I will want big dinner later."
"They're serving meals at the community center. We can grab something there later." Various trash bags and soggy piles of what were either rags or liquifying paper began to stream through the air and into the portal. Haller wandered closer, craning his neck to see what lay beyond. "Limbo has its own ecosystem, doesn't it? Is it all right to use it as a landfill like this?"
"Will adapt," she replied shortly, then sighed. "Is not–" She broke off with another sigh. "Hard to explain, am not science person. Limbo survives. Is way of existence. Demons will find use or will find way to survive. Water, even stinky and gross, will dry and go into air."
"So it's sort of static? Or at least, resistant to outside influences?" Haller gestured. Whoever said no one read newspapers anymore would have been surprised by the sodden bundles that began to pepper Limbo's desert-like environs. "Granted, now I have a mental image of demons forming a cargo cult," he remarked.
"Is shaped somewhat by will of ruler, but have always known it for desert, rocks. Harsh living, not impossible." Illyana gave the man a small smirk. "Could be demons running cargo already. Making contracts, capsizing enemies. Demons love to play with human world."
"Even the parts of it soaked in raw sewage? Wait, what am I talking about. Metaphorically that's all of it." Haller glanced over, then down at the girl's half-submerged boots. "Speaking of, do you want some help with that?"
"Yes. Thank you." She shrugged. "Demons can find use for anything. Adapt, learn. Overcome."
"That sounds pretty human, too." The older man turned his hand, palm-up, and flexed his wrist. Illyana rose above the surface of the muck as if she stood on an invisible platform. The water directly below her feet appeared to have frozen, but without cold; the surface had simply ceased to move. Haller nodded to himself and waved a pile of soggy cardboard through the portal.
"Walking on water seems counterintuitive for your brand, but I didn't think you'd mind," he said. He tapped his booted foot against a similarly stable patch; he'd done it reflexively the moment he'd ventured into the flood waters, and while it was convenient he was slightly worried he'd done it without thinking.
"Am not woman but god now," Illyana replied, stomping carefully on the water to shake some of the muck off her boots. It reminded her of some of the weather tricks Ororo had shown her as a child, things she'd always intended to teach Illyana that were cut short by her sacrifice. "There was woman. Teacher, in Limbo. Could do something similar by putting air under feet."
"Could she have parted the waves, too? That would have come in handy." Haller caught the young woman's movements out of the corner of his eye and surreptitiously began to peel some of the grime from her shoes with his mind. "I used to know someone who could've prevented this from happening in the first place. Sometimes I wonder if we'll see her again. Or some version of her."
"Limbo does not have... waves. Water. Not like here. Is hot, dry. Dusty. But... yes. She could have, I think. Ororo was remarkable woman. Teacher."
We're talking about the same person. Haller blinked, surprised -- but then he remembered what he'd known of Limbo. Even beyond the rebuilding of this reality, Limbo sat at a crossroads. Worlds on worlds. This wasn't even the first Illyana Rasputin he'd known. Who knew what other versions of people they'd known had passed through there, lived there, died there?
It was a terrible place, but the thought still gave him a strange kind of hope.
Instead of voicing this, the psi only nodded. "Yeah. She was."
Elsewhere, Nica and Meggan help clean up a bodega and rescue an unhappy resident.
The floodwaters had receded, leaving in their path an unholy mess of mud, garbage and other unmentionable debris strewn in the streets. The various buildings had also taken their share of damage, and it was in the Loisaida Deli and Grocery, situated on the ground floor of the X-Force building, that Nica and Meggan were helping clear up. Nica was shovelling mud off the floors with a snow shovel, drying it out with her powers as she went to make the job easier.
Meggan had procured a second bag, after running out of room in her first one when it came to long thawed out frozen foods. This one was already mostly filled by whatever hard to identify refuse had managed to settle itself on some of the lower shelves. Thanks to the dryness from Nica’s powers, it really was going smoother in those areas. She pushed in some of the ickier remains that had evidently settled down at the back of a shelf after washing away from the deli.
"How is it going over there?" Nica asked, pausing to catch her breath.
“Pretty good, I think,” Meggan replied as she unearthed what had once evidently been a family size bag of Doritos from some of the thickest mud. Then again, given how obscured the logo was, and the state of the contents, it could have also been Cheetos.
At the very least, it was the ripped open bag, and whatever was inside had succumbed to the elements. “I’ve gotten this lowest shelf mostly done.” It would take some extra scrubbing later, to look anywhere close to acceptable. "You?"
"Nearly done this aisle, and then I'll trade you," Nica replied with a grin. "I figure you might want a break from the grossest job." She wrinkled her nose. "What a waste. All that food."
“That’d be nice, yeah,” Meggan agreed with a small amount of relief, even as she looked at another shelf. “I think a fish beached itself on a Hostess shelf over that way, so beware the smell whenever you approach those.” She'd realized where the smell was emanating from. Frequently alternating between the worst aspects might make the work go even faster. She was in silent agreement to the last, since it might have fed so many people.
"See, the thing about going full light form? I can't smell anything. Or taste anything, for that matter. But it does make picking things up harder. I'm working on solidifying parts of me while I stay ghosted with the rest... it takes concentration but..." Nica paused in the middle of her powers explanation. "Did you hear that? It sounded like a sort of squeak."
It was so quiet that Meggan had almost missed it, but yes. There it was again. It was a bit louder the second time, and a bit more identifiable as a rather worried meow. “I think that’s the missing cat,” she realized. She set aside the bag of debris as she tried to zero in on the exact spot the sound emanated from.
“Right about...here,” she noted as she heard another noise. She flew upward, and carefully shifted the foam tile, thankfully one over from the actual location, so no animal came tumbling down on their heads. “Hello, there,” she softly whispered to its occupant. She didn’t want to just grab the poor dear and scare her into scratching. “Sorry your home filled with all the water.”
Luckily, the cat treats were on a higher shelf, and in plastic bags - Nica grabbed a pouch and floated up to perch on the top of the shelves, near the section of ceiling Meggan was dismantling. "Try these," she suggested, laying the packet within reach. "And I'll do my best impersonation of a nice, warm sunbeam."
“Good idea,” Meggan praised. What cat in its right mind could turn down flopping around in some sunshine? She hoped this one wasn’t too frightened to be tempted into a luxurious beam. She shook a few treats into her palm, and then placed two of them down near the cat. It had briefly backed away, but then appeared torn.
There was some understandably wariness there, some curiosity, a dainty sniff; and then, yes, eating quickly. “Oh, you’re definitely hungry, and I wish we knew your name,” Meggan noted. At this angle, she couldn't read a collar. She would briefly start calling her Miss Calico Doe in her head until she found out the actual moniker for her. “Just a little closer, please,” she encouraged softly.
Nica sat still and quiet, letting Meggan do her thing and just focussing on warmth and light. C'mon kitty kitty, it's all safe here...
Meggan was able to scratch behind the ears as she got a bit closer. The cat gradually began to take an interest in the moving light and the warmth, even as she stole more treats from Meggan. The cat sniffed Meggan’s hand delicately, and then studied the area further below. Meggan moved back slightly, as she spotted the cat was preparing to make a leap from there to a nearby shelf.
Restraining herself from a gleeful squeal as the cat jumped down onto the shelf near her, Nica reached out slowly to let the cat sniff at her glowing hand. "There's a good kitty-cat," she murmured softly, as the cat decided she was safe and began rubbing its head against her hand, purring.
Meggan returned to the ground, grateful the poor thing hadn’t decided to continue on to another hiding place. She poured the remaining treats into her palm. “Would you like more?” She asked, when the cat looked her way expectantly once it heard the crinkle of the package. The treats were quickly accepted, and the purring increased in volume.
Nica took advantage of the treat scarfing to check the cat's collar for a name tag. "Bonita," she read aloud, and the cat looked up and chirped as if agreeing. "Well then, Bonita, let's get you out of here and back home, yes?" The bodega owners, Valentina and Tomas, lived in an apartment not too far away. "We don't have a carrier, but maybe we can find a box that isn't all soggy?" she continued, looking at Meggan as the cat climbed into her lap and curled up, making the most of the warmth being projected.
Meggan went to check. The first one was a bit too shallow to be of any use, but the next one looked like it might be helpful. The boxes beneath it had been ruined, but this one was just high enough that it was okay. “A former box of varieties of soups could work?” As she spoke, she was taking out the cans, and checking the depth.
"Perfect," Nica agreed from on top of the shelving. "Put my coat in the bottom to make it comfy? I don't really need it, it's just for show." She nodded towards the woolen duffle coat tossed carelessly over the counter. "And some treats so she doesn't jump out as soon as we put her in?"
Meggan smoothed out the coat, and then put a small trail of snacks to the box. As Bonita ate, she could only shrug. “That’s the best lure there could be!” She also put five more in the corner of the box, so the cat could have a good allotment of treats to occupy her while she was brought to her home. “Good girl, Bonita,” she praised when it looked like she was wasn’t going to be obstinate about getting in. She was just kneading the wool at the front, though.
Nica meanwhile had floated back down to the floor when Bonita had left her lap in favour of treats. "C'mon, kitty-kitty, she crooned, crouching next to the box and putting her warmly glowing hand inside to encourage the cat to climb all the way in. "There's a girl. Don't you want to go home?"
With a loud purr, Bonita followed the light the rest of the way inside the box, and got to work on the next treat she found. “Good girl,” Meggan cooed.
Illyana scowled as her boots sank into filthy water. "Gross," she muttered at the ground, before casting a wary eye around. Just her and Haller in the immediate area, and the smaller specks of people she could see were either from the mansion or visibly mutant enough to hopefully not freak out when she drew a portal.
No time like the present. She pulled on Soulsword, letting out a soft grunt of discomfort as it materialized in her hands. "Portal on ground," she asked, tracing a circle with her fingers pointed at the ground, "or portal in front?" The second was a larger hand gesture, indicating a spot in front of the brick building closing off one side of the muck.
Haller glanced between both locations. "No real difference, since gravity is optional with telekinesis. Although . . . wouldn't putting one on the ground effectively create a drain?" He ran through the implications of this statement and added, "Although I'm not sure even Limbo deserves NYC floodwater."
"Going to dump most nasty water right on Satana's lair. Is well deserved." Limbo had seen—and smelled—worse. Its denizens had also done worse to earth, both NYC and beyond. The only reason Illyana wasn't dumping it all on S'ym was because the demon was in her throne room, and she didn't want to deal with the mess later. "They will find use for bits, water will dry into air."
Wall portal it was, then. She focused, tracing a large circle with her sword and gesturing it wider with her free hand. Portal open, she drove the sword into the ground to keep it open, and reached armor-clad arms towards a half-rusted trash can. With a heft and a heave, the entire thing disappeared through the portal.
"Here, let me." A pile of rotting pallets rose, dripping, from the water and shot through the portal like lethal frisbees.
"Telekinesis means not getting your hands dirty," Haller explained as the pallets wheeled off into the sulfurous void beyond the portal. "If you can keep it open, I can shift debris."
"Oh good, will not chip manicure." Illyana flexed metal covered fingertips at the older man with a smirk. "Can keep open longer if I am not making exertion, but I will want big dinner later."
"They're serving meals at the community center. We can grab something there later." Various trash bags and soggy piles of what were either rags or liquifying paper began to stream through the air and into the portal. Haller wandered closer, craning his neck to see what lay beyond. "Limbo has its own ecosystem, doesn't it? Is it all right to use it as a landfill like this?"
"Will adapt," she replied shortly, then sighed. "Is not–" She broke off with another sigh. "Hard to explain, am not science person. Limbo survives. Is way of existence. Demons will find use or will find way to survive. Water, even stinky and gross, will dry and go into air."
"So it's sort of static? Or at least, resistant to outside influences?" Haller gestured. Whoever said no one read newspapers anymore would have been surprised by the sodden bundles that began to pepper Limbo's desert-like environs. "Granted, now I have a mental image of demons forming a cargo cult," he remarked.
"Is shaped somewhat by will of ruler, but have always known it for desert, rocks. Harsh living, not impossible." Illyana gave the man a small smirk. "Could be demons running cargo already. Making contracts, capsizing enemies. Demons love to play with human world."
"Even the parts of it soaked in raw sewage? Wait, what am I talking about. Metaphorically that's all of it." Haller glanced over, then down at the girl's half-submerged boots. "Speaking of, do you want some help with that?"
"Yes. Thank you." She shrugged. "Demons can find use for anything. Adapt, learn. Overcome."
"That sounds pretty human, too." The older man turned his hand, palm-up, and flexed his wrist. Illyana rose above the surface of the muck as if she stood on an invisible platform. The water directly below her feet appeared to have frozen, but without cold; the surface had simply ceased to move. Haller nodded to himself and waved a pile of soggy cardboard through the portal.
"Walking on water seems counterintuitive for your brand, but I didn't think you'd mind," he said. He tapped his booted foot against a similarly stable patch; he'd done it reflexively the moment he'd ventured into the flood waters, and while it was convenient he was slightly worried he'd done it without thinking.
"Am not woman but god now," Illyana replied, stomping carefully on the water to shake some of the muck off her boots. It reminded her of some of the weather tricks Ororo had shown her as a child, things she'd always intended to teach Illyana that were cut short by her sacrifice. "There was woman. Teacher, in Limbo. Could do something similar by putting air under feet."
"Could she have parted the waves, too? That would have come in handy." Haller caught the young woman's movements out of the corner of his eye and surreptitiously began to peel some of the grime from her shoes with his mind. "I used to know someone who could've prevented this from happening in the first place. Sometimes I wonder if we'll see her again. Or some version of her."
"Limbo does not have... waves. Water. Not like here. Is hot, dry. Dusty. But... yes. She could have, I think. Ororo was remarkable woman. Teacher."
We're talking about the same person. Haller blinked, surprised -- but then he remembered what he'd known of Limbo. Even beyond the rebuilding of this reality, Limbo sat at a crossroads. Worlds on worlds. This wasn't even the first Illyana Rasputin he'd known. Who knew what other versions of people they'd known had passed through there, lived there, died there?
It was a terrible place, but the thought still gave him a strange kind of hope.
Instead of voicing this, the psi only nodded. "Yeah. She was."
Elsewhere, Nica and Meggan help clean up a bodega and rescue an unhappy resident.
The floodwaters had receded, leaving in their path an unholy mess of mud, garbage and other unmentionable debris strewn in the streets. The various buildings had also taken their share of damage, and it was in the Loisaida Deli and Grocery, situated on the ground floor of the X-Force building, that Nica and Meggan were helping clear up. Nica was shovelling mud off the floors with a snow shovel, drying it out with her powers as she went to make the job easier.
Meggan had procured a second bag, after running out of room in her first one when it came to long thawed out frozen foods. This one was already mostly filled by whatever hard to identify refuse had managed to settle itself on some of the lower shelves. Thanks to the dryness from Nica’s powers, it really was going smoother in those areas. She pushed in some of the ickier remains that had evidently settled down at the back of a shelf after washing away from the deli.
"How is it going over there?" Nica asked, pausing to catch her breath.
“Pretty good, I think,” Meggan replied as she unearthed what had once evidently been a family size bag of Doritos from some of the thickest mud. Then again, given how obscured the logo was, and the state of the contents, it could have also been Cheetos.
At the very least, it was the ripped open bag, and whatever was inside had succumbed to the elements. “I’ve gotten this lowest shelf mostly done.” It would take some extra scrubbing later, to look anywhere close to acceptable. "You?"
"Nearly done this aisle, and then I'll trade you," Nica replied with a grin. "I figure you might want a break from the grossest job." She wrinkled her nose. "What a waste. All that food."
“That’d be nice, yeah,” Meggan agreed with a small amount of relief, even as she looked at another shelf. “I think a fish beached itself on a Hostess shelf over that way, so beware the smell whenever you approach those.” She'd realized where the smell was emanating from. Frequently alternating between the worst aspects might make the work go even faster. She was in silent agreement to the last, since it might have fed so many people.
"See, the thing about going full light form? I can't smell anything. Or taste anything, for that matter. But it does make picking things up harder. I'm working on solidifying parts of me while I stay ghosted with the rest... it takes concentration but..." Nica paused in the middle of her powers explanation. "Did you hear that? It sounded like a sort of squeak."
It was so quiet that Meggan had almost missed it, but yes. There it was again. It was a bit louder the second time, and a bit more identifiable as a rather worried meow. “I think that’s the missing cat,” she realized. She set aside the bag of debris as she tried to zero in on the exact spot the sound emanated from.
“Right about...here,” she noted as she heard another noise. She flew upward, and carefully shifted the foam tile, thankfully one over from the actual location, so no animal came tumbling down on their heads. “Hello, there,” she softly whispered to its occupant. She didn’t want to just grab the poor dear and scare her into scratching. “Sorry your home filled with all the water.”
Luckily, the cat treats were on a higher shelf, and in plastic bags - Nica grabbed a pouch and floated up to perch on the top of the shelves, near the section of ceiling Meggan was dismantling. "Try these," she suggested, laying the packet within reach. "And I'll do my best impersonation of a nice, warm sunbeam."
“Good idea,” Meggan praised. What cat in its right mind could turn down flopping around in some sunshine? She hoped this one wasn’t too frightened to be tempted into a luxurious beam. She shook a few treats into her palm, and then placed two of them down near the cat. It had briefly backed away, but then appeared torn.
There was some understandably wariness there, some curiosity, a dainty sniff; and then, yes, eating quickly. “Oh, you’re definitely hungry, and I wish we knew your name,” Meggan noted. At this angle, she couldn't read a collar. She would briefly start calling her Miss Calico Doe in her head until she found out the actual moniker for her. “Just a little closer, please,” she encouraged softly.
Nica sat still and quiet, letting Meggan do her thing and just focussing on warmth and light. C'mon kitty kitty, it's all safe here...
Meggan was able to scratch behind the ears as she got a bit closer. The cat gradually began to take an interest in the moving light and the warmth, even as she stole more treats from Meggan. The cat sniffed Meggan’s hand delicately, and then studied the area further below. Meggan moved back slightly, as she spotted the cat was preparing to make a leap from there to a nearby shelf.
Restraining herself from a gleeful squeal as the cat jumped down onto the shelf near her, Nica reached out slowly to let the cat sniff at her glowing hand. "There's a good kitty-cat," she murmured softly, as the cat decided she was safe and began rubbing its head against her hand, purring.
Meggan returned to the ground, grateful the poor thing hadn’t decided to continue on to another hiding place. She poured the remaining treats into her palm. “Would you like more?” She asked, when the cat looked her way expectantly once it heard the crinkle of the package. The treats were quickly accepted, and the purring increased in volume.
Nica took advantage of the treat scarfing to check the cat's collar for a name tag. "Bonita," she read aloud, and the cat looked up and chirped as if agreeing. "Well then, Bonita, let's get you out of here and back home, yes?" The bodega owners, Valentina and Tomas, lived in an apartment not too far away. "We don't have a carrier, but maybe we can find a box that isn't all soggy?" she continued, looking at Meggan as the cat climbed into her lap and curled up, making the most of the warmth being projected.
Meggan went to check. The first one was a bit too shallow to be of any use, but the next one looked like it might be helpful. The boxes beneath it had been ruined, but this one was just high enough that it was okay. “A former box of varieties of soups could work?” As she spoke, she was taking out the cans, and checking the depth.
"Perfect," Nica agreed from on top of the shelving. "Put my coat in the bottom to make it comfy? I don't really need it, it's just for show." She nodded towards the woolen duffle coat tossed carelessly over the counter. "And some treats so she doesn't jump out as soon as we put her in?"
Meggan smoothed out the coat, and then put a small trail of snacks to the box. As Bonita ate, she could only shrug. “That’s the best lure there could be!” She also put five more in the corner of the box, so the cat could have a good allotment of treats to occupy her while she was brought to her home. “Good girl, Bonita,” she praised when it looked like she was wasn’t going to be obstinate about getting in. She was just kneading the wool at the front, though.
Nica meanwhile had floated back down to the floor when Bonita had left her lap in favour of treats. "C'mon, kitty-kitty, she crooned, crouching next to the box and putting her warmly glowing hand inside to encourage the cat to climb all the way in. "There's a girl. Don't you want to go home?"
With a loud purr, Bonita followed the light the rest of the way inside the box, and got to work on the next treat she found. “Good girl,” Meggan cooed.