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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2017 0:57:10 GMT -5
The psionic signatures were unmistakable. She was using her powers, a lot. Here on Manhattan Island, nearby. She could be anybody, anyone. Man, woman, or child. Perhaps even animals. She could change everything about her appearance except one thing - the psionic signature of her mutant powers. Xavier could pinpoint her location anywhere within a couple hundred miles of himself, even in the background noise of thousands of minds in the city. She was close enough that he could kill her with a thought, with less mental effort than it would take to wiggle his toes.
But Xavier had no inclination to kill his old friend. He was annoyed with her antics of late, impersonating him to access FBI files on mutants and creating awkward moments for Xavier when he showed up to request files already given to his doppelganger. Erasing federal agents' memories was becoming more and more necessary each time she pretended to be Xavier. Charles simply wanted it stopped. And he wanted to speak with her about it. In person. But, first, he had to get her attention. Telepathy was good for that, even if it could be painfully intrusive.
::Raven! I want to speak to you. Please don't force me to make your legs bring you here....::
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Mystique
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Raven Darkholme is not a woman to be trifled with.
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Post by Mystique on Apr 10, 2017 14:42:20 GMT -5
So her old friend had caught on to her. There was some small amount of pleasure she took in being reached out to by Charles Xavier, though she did her best to keep those thoughts well masked. It was true that she was using his likeness to infiltrate the FBI to see what they had gathered about mutants in the area, but she had an inkling that it was for the same reasons as those of Xavier. For that, she had nothing to hide. She smirked to herself from where she was in her penthouse and looked out at the city. If he was here in New York, something big must be happening.
I would love to come see you, Charles, she thought to him, but I'm afraid I'm not a mind reader like you. You're going to have to be much more specific if you want me to visit you. For all of her teasing, though, she made a point to show him that she was gathering her purse and heading for the door.
She had a few things she wanted to discuss with him anyway. After the war, mutants were going into hiding, afraid of being persecuted like the Jews or the Romani. Mystique herself had her own baggage from the war she was trying to work through, and being able to speak with another mutant would be nice. Laura- No. She wouldn't think about Laura when Charles was listening. It wasn't that she didn't trust him. It was just that she had grown to care for Laura as though she were her own flesh and blood, and she didn't want to reveal anything just yet until she knew what Charles wanted.
Out on the street, she wasn't bothering to hide her blue skin, something she wouldn't have dreamed of when she first arrived in New York. She had received many odd looks, and a couple of horrified gasps, but she walked on with pride, her head held high. She didn't want to have to hide anymore. She wanted to set a good example for the other mutants hiding in the city.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2017 17:21:31 GMT -5
Xavier mused at his friend Raven as he followed her from her penthouse and down to the street. She would never remember letting him in, or the hours he spent looking through her things, trying to find the hidden files. She wouldn't remember unless Xavier let her, and that in itself would start a fight. But Xavier thought she needed an "object lesson" in abuse of mutant powers, and to him psionically filtering her senses to make himself invisible and forgotten to her was as equally bad as being accosted by the FBI for actions taken by an identity thief.
She wasn't using her powers, walking the sidewalks in her true blue skinned form. Bold. Perhaps she felt not using her powers would conceal her from Xavier's abilities. She might be right, except for the fact that he was already a few paces behind her, psionically blocking any ability to sense him. She even looked right at him a few times and saw nothing but the streets and storefronts around them. She could change her appearance, but he could change her mind, literally.
Xavier watched as the people on the streets gasped at Raven's appearance. Fear and ignorance. Some yokel yelled "Hey look it's the Bride of Frankenstein!" and the crowd laughed. But the ugly, confrontational side of the crowd was rising. She could be Mae West, Marlene Dietrich, even Humphrey Bogart, and the crowds would love her, wanting her autograph. But she chose to be herself, and for that they hated her.
Xavier walked in front of Raven and stopped blocking her mind from seeing him, instead blocking the minds of the crowd from seeing them at the same time making them forget they ever saw Raven.
"You don't hide in plain sight very well, Raven," he teased. "Join me for coffee?"
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Mystique
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Raven Darkholme is not a woman to be trifled with.
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Post by Mystique on Apr 21, 2017 13:20:13 GMT -5
Hearing her true name again caused a visible twitch on her face as Mystique finally saw Xavier. Had he been there the whole time? Something itched at the back of her mind, like she had seen him recently, even just a few moments ago. Then it all clicked. He was erasing himself from her mind. He had been visiting her, and she couldn't remember. She knew he could do that, because she watched him do the same thing to other people. There was a sigh of exasperation before she smirked at him. She knew he'd know she knew, and that was all that mattered.
"We're going to need to talk about that name," she said through almost gritted teeth. The name Raven had become unbearable, but Xavier was a friend. She wasn't going to assume he was using it out of hostility. How could he? He didn't know why she refused to go by it yet. That part of her mind she kept guarded, even from him. Being a shapeshifter meant she could shift even her brain matter, which meant some small amount of privacy for small things. Or, at least, she assumed. She hoped, anyway.
She stepped over to the nearest cafe and took a seat at a table on the street, refusing to shift out of her blue form, despite the nasty words she'd heard from the crowds. "I don't go by Raven anymore, Charles. Not since the war. It put a bad taste in my mouth. I prefer to go by Mystique." To help him understand better, she opened her mind to him and showed him a doctor in a gas mask, cutting into her day after day, hissing her name to keep her awake through the pain. When the memories became too much, she closed her mind off again and looked at him with her big yellow eyes, as if hoping for some sign of understanding.
Whether or not she'd get it, she ordered her cup of coffee and smiled. "And no, I don't hide. Not anymore. Mutants shouldn't have to. Not from humans. We're here, and they have to deal with it, whether they like it or not. And apparently they don't like it."
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2017 1:38:50 GMT -5
As Xavier followed Raven into a diner, he squinted a little, compelling the minds around them to not see the blue skinned woman taking a seat with him, even as a waitress felt the need to bring over two cups and a pot of coffee without the man she percieved to be sitting by himself ever saying anything. As Raven recalled her horrors in Europe, Xavier took her hand, and the activity in the diner froze, as if time itself came to a sudden halt around the two mutants. Xavier let Raven... Mystique marvel at the stopped world around them for a few moments before explaining himself. He removed his hand from her hand, but the surroundings remained still frame and motionless. "Time has not stopped. I have merely connected our thoughts together. A 'meeting of the minds' as it were. We can sit here for what will seem like hours in discussion, you can even drink the coffee and relax. When I release the connection, only a few seconds will have passed, and you will find yourself alone here in this diner with a pot of coffee and two cups, undrank. The coffee will be as good as you imagine it to be, as long as we are connected. Doing this serves two purposes. Being 'one mind' keeps us from lying to each other, and the exchange of information is as near instantaneous as deciding not to blink. I am buffering the experience for you so as not to overwhelm you. I will not push your boundaries and take information from you forceably. Which I could have already done and left you believing you were the  . And taking that form with your powers. But I wouldn't be much of an advocate of using mutant powers responsibly and with restraint if I could not lead by example. Please forgive my... forwardness.
"I am truly sorry about your experiences with the ignorant savagery of the war. You should not let that horrible pain take from you your own name. I am quite fond of your real name, as was Irene (aka Destiny). She's getting old, in a retirement home in Florida last I checked in on her. She cherishes your decades together before the war. You ought to pay her a visit, though I suppose with her powers she knows if you ever will, down to exact moment in the future she expects. Maybe that's why she's so sad...
"Let me cut to the chase. By now, you know I've been watching you, for quite some time. I can't exactly 'stop being a telepath.' But two wrongs can't make a right, and I have stopped short of fully abusing my powers against you to make a point. I do not want to violate your trust in me, but you've been violating my trust, impersonating me at the FBI and now socializing with some fairly seedy criminals. This is beneath you, Rave, er, Mystique. I have not delved into your mind to extract what it is you were looking for among the FBI's metahuman investigation files. I'm hoping you aren't helping these gangsters stay ahead of the law. I'm hoping you will tell me what or who you were looking for, freely, because of our friendship...
"I know you have a lot of anger and bitterness against non-mutants. You can be anyone. I can make people's brains forget how to tell their hearts to keep beating. I fear I may accidentally do it to someone I'm mad at while I'm asleep and dreaming. People fear mutants, and not without good reason. I met a mutant in Egypt with psychic powers that rival my own, and he already does control a vast criminal network in North Africa. I suspect he may make a move on New York now that his alliance with that spice importer and smuggler Wilson Fisk has betrayed the mob. Wait... that was you? Tsk tsk...
"We have to be cautious. We are on the precipice of a huge and long backlash against mutants. It is the possibility of mutants like this Shadow King that Logan wanted me to form a team of mutants to guard against, though he doesn't remember after what the War Department did to him and Victor. I should have listened to him then. But not all of us can turn our blue skin into any image we desire or rewrite people's memories. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of mutants out there that can't hide what they are. A girl that has no vital signs, no brain activity, dead but very much alive and immortal, but can't pass among the public because she looks... dead. That Crocodile man in Gotham. A boy with giant bird wings, like an angel. The Russians have a man that can turn his flesh into metal, rumored to be deployed against the Latverians. And of course Forge, who when he's not ranting about how simplistic and primitive Von Doom's inventions are is making fantastic and advanced technologies out of spare parts and powers I can't even begin to explain. All of these are threatened by and threats to both humans and mutants alike. I'm presently building a team and a school to help emerging mutants cope with and control their powers. To lead by example. To bring peace between humans and mutants before there is war...
"And I want you to help me. Particularly help me find and shepherd the mutants that can't pass among humans undetected due to their appearances. We have to police and protect our own until such a day humans can accept us. We do that by not being unacceptable..."
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Mystique
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Raven Darkholme is not a woman to be trifled with.
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Post by Mystique on Apr 30, 2017 2:23:11 GMT -5
Mystique was still staring around her at the motionless crowd when Xavier started talking, but she quickly set her attentions on him. So, their minds were linked, and it was impossible for them to lie to each other. Like she would ever lie to him anyway. She had no reason to. There was nothing for her to gain from lying to him.
"Oh, Charles, you know I hate it when you leave me alone like that. It always makes for an awkward moment with the waitress. Why the two cups? Oh, she'll never know." She smirked teasingly and took a sip of her coffee. In this mindscape, it already had just the right amount of cream and sugar, and tasted perfect. Still, she stirred it to keep her hands busy while he talked. She didn't exactly think he would do that to her anyway. They had too much of a history together, unless something really went wrong. But even then, he had already come into her apartment probably, and probably already had everything he needed. So it would have been a show of power that he really didn't need to show.
"That name was my prisoner name." She could almost hear that mechanical rasping in her ear. "I swore I would never let anyone use that name against me. It's as simple as-" Then... "Wait. You know where Irene is?" She set down her stirring stick and stared at him, yellow eyes gone big. Irene was one of the reasons she came to America. There were many reasons, but Irene was one of the main ones. "I hoped she'd made it out of Austria. Last I heard, she made it through Ellis Island. Is she really in Florida?" This was amazing news to her. She'd spent months trying to track down where Destiny had gone, and was beginning to lose all hope that she'd ever see her former lover again, but hearing a location - any location - was enough to rekindle that hope. Her mind was starting to wander back to the First Great War and all of the espionage they had done together against the Russians, but she tried to focus herself again before Xavier could read too far into her memories.
Mystique let out a sigh, because for the life of her, she had no idea what on earth her personal life had to do with their conversation. Thus, she ignored it for now. "If it sets your mind at ease, I'll tell you exactly what I was looking for in those FBI files. I was looking for any mutant or metahuman activity in New York to see if I could track down one specific mutant. You can read my mind. You know I have a son. I don't know if he made it to America or not, but he looks like me. I was hoping I could comb through the files and see if I could find a description that matched him. I had to use your face because I'm an escaped holocaust prisoner and fugitive from Germany. If I had walked in, they would have deported me and sent me back to Germany- ... sorry ... Latveria now, and Doom. Or worse, Kroenen, the man that tortured me. I would have told you before, but you aren't exactly easy to get a hold of."
She smirked a little and shook her head. "Not non-mutants. Just humans. They showed their true colors during the war. I saw what they were capable of. The hatred they had for anyone that wasn't like them. Even the metahumans that are cropping up now, the powered folk that come by their powers by accident, they are forced into hiding because of the hatred these humans have for them. It's Germany in '33 all over again, and I refuse to sit back and let a mutant holocaust happen." Her smirk widened into a grin at the mention of Wilson Fisk, but she again stayed silent.
She couldn't help a roll of her eyes at the talk of being cautious. She was done being cautious. She wanted safety for her people, but she didn't want them to have to live in fear. She didn't want them to have to fear for their lives like she did. They shouldn't have to hide.
Then he mentioned Doom's name. Her eyes went wide again and she had to stop herself from covering his mouth. Coming from the part of the world she came from, saying his name was like a superstition. It was almost a sure way to get him to appear, and she didn't need that. "I don't know what kind of intel you or this ... Forge ... have, but Lord Doom is the most feared sorcerer in the world. For good reason." Even her voice had an uncharacteristically hushed tone. "I suggest you speak softer when you talk about him. I can assure you, he has no inventions, but his experiments are horrific. At least as far as the rumors go. I've seen the wake of his destruction, and he is not someone you want to speak ill of, even in passing or even falsely."
She grit her teeth and sighed, running a hand through her hair and looking away as she thought. "There can never be true peace between humans and mutants," she said. "You know that. They will never accept us. All they will ever see is their own superiority and a plague that needs to be wiped out." It was painfully true that she was bitter, and that bitterness would never go away. But, as bitter as she was, she cared more for the safety of her fellow mutants than she cared for her hatred of humans. "I'll help you... But we're equal partners in this. We report to each other. We work together or not at all. I'll share the files I got from the FBI willingly, as long as you stop blocking yourself from my mind and taking what you need." She leaned across the table, setting her hand on his. "You're my friend, Charles. If we're going to work together, I need you to treat me like your friend, too."
She leaned back in her seat and took a sip of her coffee. There was enough on her mind, that the taste faltered for a moment before it went back to tasting just right. "In case you're still wondering, I'm not helping the gangster stay ahead of the law. It's just the one gangster. His name is Artie. He's ..." After the speech she just gave about humans, it felt so weird to say. "He's the only human I ever met that loved me in my true skin." She looked at Xavier, half smiling. "He supports my cause, to protect the rights of mutants. The first human I know that's ever cared about it. So, with all due respect, I'd appreciate if you stay out of his business. I leave him to his business, he leaves me to mine, and we have our romances where we can. I'm just asking that you leave it alone."
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2017 22:14:43 GMT -5
Xavier remembered his bittersweet meeting in Pinellas Park, Florida with the blind precognitive mutant who called herself Destiny, and he shared the memory with Mystique. Irene's power was that she could see future events in which she would participate, and that the only vision she could see herself reunited with Mystique was one in which Mystique led a group of mutants against Xavier and his students.
"I don't think Irene wants that future, of course I don't believe she's ever seen anything that can't come true. We have three paths. You could stop looking for her, thus she's never at your side in battle with me. Or, I could disband my school, thus we're never at war against each other. Or we could join our causes in partnership against the dark future she sees for all mutants and the world when a powerful mutant with magnetic powers will emerge from hiding and destroy a Russian city, in declaration of war against humanity years from now...
"I believe the future is not unchangeable, Irene's crystal clarity of it be damned. We have to have hope that humanity can change its path. Good can come of this horrible war. The genocidalists lost. America is led by a former Ku Klux Klansman that is considering desegregating the military and public schools. Call it naivete if you will, but hatred and fear can be overcome with dignity and hope...
"When the time comes that mutants and humans must find dignity and hope from one another, I hope, I dream that we are on the same side...
"I need you, Mystique. You have the powers and the skill sets to travel freely, anywhere in the world. You can help me find mutants and you can help me train them as well. A partnership is the best alternative to Destiny's prophecy. Short of us killing each other, I suppose....
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Mystique
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Raven Darkholme is not a woman to be trifled with.
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Post by Mystique on May 16, 2017 22:42:27 GMT -5
Mystique watched the memory, and in it she watched Destiny's vision. She had never seen one of Destiny's visions before, so she held it dear to her heart. She remembered Destiny describing her visions to her before the First Great War, and chronicling them in her journals. She remembered seeing some of her visions come true. But she had never seen a vision through the eyes of a mind reader before. So that was what it was like to see through Destiny's eyes. She couldn't help the smile creeping at her lips as she sipped her coffee.
"I can't imagine Destiny wants that future," she said. "I don't want any future where mutants fight mutants. And, frankly I'm not going to stop looking for her. She was one of my happiest thoughts in the concentration camps during the war, and I need the closure in seeing her again." She stopped and thought for a moment before finally speaking again. "I feel like our only option is to join our causes. But ... I will not fight other mutants. Not unless they fight us first."
The second he mentioned his hope for the humans, though, her tone changed. "The genocidalists may have lost, but the hatred is still there in their hearts. They can't even treat other humans with compassion. You've seen how they treat Jews and Blacks. Imagine how they'll treat us. It'll be compounded tenfold. You can hope all you like, but you can't ignore reality. When they treat their own people with love, maybe we'll have a chance. Until then, we're doomed."
She listened to him and fell quiet, thinking on his words carefully. She sighed heavily. As much as she hated to reward his naivety, it really was their best chance at survival. She couldn't hope to find mutants without a mind reader, and he was willing to work with her. She shook her head and looked at him.
"Charles, you say it like I'm going to disguise myself 24/7. It's a new era for mutants. I'm seeing to that. We shouldn't have to hide anymore." She breathed another sigh and looked at the frozen people around them. "I'll join you. Lord knows you couldn't train mutants by yourself if you tried," she added teasingly. "But with the understanding that I'm done hiding myself."
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. And taking that form with your powers. But I wouldn't be much of an advocate of using mutant powers responsibly and with restraint if I could not lead by example. Please forgive my... forwardness. 