Fortress X, Tuesday, Fandom Time
//I'm sorry, love,// Jono murmured, back mostly turned away from Jubilee, staring down at the world below the fortress from all too many stories up. //I guess I didn't understand the question. Or why you think I'd have an answer.//
"I don't know, Jono," she replied, looking the other way, one arm wrapped around a knee. "You came from way over in Europe, right? You've seen the world."
//Oh yeah, definitely. Some of its more interesting gutters, anyway.//
"Question stands," she pressed. "What are we fighting for? And don't tell me 'survival,' because it's not enough. Every animal does that."
Leave it to Jubes to shove the really tricky quandaries at him.
//Bloody hell. Well… It's us against the whole world, right?//
"Seems like it."
//On the other side of those force walls, there's an army a million strong, and they're never gonna stop coming. The longer we hold out, the more mental and impossible it looks.// Jono glanced back over his shoulder, just enough to see Jubilee's face as he spoke. //Maybe someone, someday, will hear a story about how we fought, and think, 'Okay then,' and roll their own sleeves up. Is that enough?//
Jubilee was silent for a long, long moment before her gaze dropped, her chin resting on her chest. And, if there had still been a heart beating in his own, the defeated tone in her voice would've broken it.
"Yeah. That'll do fine."
It wouldn't. Not really. But it was the best they had.
-----
Elsewhere in the fortress, a rogue was on a mission to learn the truth about a camera with hundreds of blank images. And the truth about a camera led to a man with a familiar name. Fingers against his skin meant an overload of power, and this power in particular, unfamiliar and untrained, meant that people were dropping left and right.
Jono noticed the trickle of blood from Jubilee's nose before she collapsed with a strangled sound of pain. He'd felt the shock himself, something creeping around his brain that he pushed away with a little effort, but the effect it had on her…
He had her in his arms in a heartbeat.
//Jubilee! Oh bloody stinking hell! X, code red! We're under attack!//
She was down for the count, the alarm sirens were blaring, and whatever this was, it was a big bloody deal.
---
Another break in the wall. Another force of human invaders to be fought back. Jonothon passed Jubilee off on someone who could take care of her, and he set off to fight once again.
And, like it often did, the day ended in victory. Something like victory. The humans retreated, and those who had fallen were disposed of. The human enemy was afraid that the mutants would scavenge their discarded tech, so every suit of their armor contained a diagnostic monitor and a suicide chip. If the wearer's life signs were compromised, the chip activated. An ampoule of the explosive within was released into the oxygenated air, and the rest…
Pyrotechnics.
Another long day, ending in a fireworks display from below. And, in the wake of a telepathic invasion that should have been impossible, more questions than answers.
[OOC: NFB, NFI, more Jono canon catchup, grabbed from New Mutants #22 and #23 this time around. You miss a lot of STUFF when you only focus on a tertiary character's exploits in a multi-title event. Who knew?]
"I don't know, Jono," she replied, looking the other way, one arm wrapped around a knee. "You came from way over in Europe, right? You've seen the world."
//Oh yeah, definitely. Some of its more interesting gutters, anyway.//
"Question stands," she pressed. "What are we fighting for? And don't tell me 'survival,' because it's not enough. Every animal does that."
Leave it to Jubes to shove the really tricky quandaries at him.
//Bloody hell. Well… It's us against the whole world, right?//
"Seems like it."
//On the other side of those force walls, there's an army a million strong, and they're never gonna stop coming. The longer we hold out, the more mental and impossible it looks.// Jono glanced back over his shoulder, just enough to see Jubilee's face as he spoke. //Maybe someone, someday, will hear a story about how we fought, and think, 'Okay then,' and roll their own sleeves up. Is that enough?//
Jubilee was silent for a long, long moment before her gaze dropped, her chin resting on her chest. And, if there had still been a heart beating in his own, the defeated tone in her voice would've broken it.
"Yeah. That'll do fine."
It wouldn't. Not really. But it was the best they had.
-----
Elsewhere in the fortress, a rogue was on a mission to learn the truth about a camera with hundreds of blank images. And the truth about a camera led to a man with a familiar name. Fingers against his skin meant an overload of power, and this power in particular, unfamiliar and untrained, meant that people were dropping left and right.
Jono noticed the trickle of blood from Jubilee's nose before she collapsed with a strangled sound of pain. He'd felt the shock himself, something creeping around his brain that he pushed away with a little effort, but the effect it had on her…
He had her in his arms in a heartbeat.
//Jubilee! Oh bloody stinking hell! X, code red! We're under attack!//
She was down for the count, the alarm sirens were blaring, and whatever this was, it was a big bloody deal.
---
Another break in the wall. Another force of human invaders to be fought back. Jonothon passed Jubilee off on someone who could take care of her, and he set off to fight once again.
And, like it often did, the day ended in victory. Something like victory. The humans retreated, and those who had fallen were disposed of. The human enemy was afraid that the mutants would scavenge their discarded tech, so every suit of their armor contained a diagnostic monitor and a suicide chip. If the wearer's life signs were compromised, the chip activated. An ampoule of the explosive within was released into the oxygenated air, and the rest…
Pyrotechnics.
Another long day, ending in a fireworks display from below. And, in the wake of a telepathic invasion that should have been impossible, more questions than answers.
[OOC: NFB, NFI, more Jono canon catchup, grabbed from New Mutants #22 and #23 this time around. You miss a lot of STUFF when you only focus on a tertiary character's exploits in a multi-title event. Who knew?]