Starting Off With A Bang

Mystique could hardly help herself, chuckling when being told the story of Barbara and Cade meeting. She could picture it vividly, given what she'd just survived. It didn't make much difference to her, frankly, but perhaps there was a little bit of relief that he wasn't making things harder on her because she was a mutant. He seemed petty, but perhaps not that petty.

And she meant it when she said she would kill the man that gave her bad information. While the day had gone better than she had planned for, this was more of a wrinkle than she wanted to deal with. Confronting the press about her own explosion hadn't been on the agenda. Nor had being impaled on spikes, come to think of it. Yes, the more she thought about it, she just wanted to shoot him for the inconvenience more than anything else.

"I suppose what I meant is that you seemed as though you had a change of attitude, I guess is the nicest way to put it." She had taken notice that it appeared as though Barbara had been excited while Mystique was in that room, something she couldn't say she noticed when Cade killed Cripes. But perhaps she wouldn't get a solid explanation, nor did she expect one. "I believe that might be possible, yes," she said as a way to drop the subject.

The doors opened again and Mystique retraced the steps she memorized earlier in the day. With every step, she took on more of a persona associated with this Locke name. It was easy enough for her to come up with a personality. Locke, to her, seemed almost German in her precision and efficiency. That wasn't hard to emulate. Her appearance shifted to a not-unattractive image, more sensibly dressed than Mystique would usually go for. A basic brown skirt suit, well tailored, with sleeves coming down to an inch above the white gloves dressing her hands. Her hair shifted from red curls to a simple black 'do, pulled back and out of the face. Her face was nothing particularly noteworthy, but she remained pretty. A pretty associate always seemed to get good press.

Sure enough, she stepped outside and the reporters were gathering around the explosion site like vultures. The police were trying to get rid of them, but they just didn't seem to be able to. When one of the officers saw Barbara and a new face, he must have assumed they'd make a statement because he pointed them out to the photographers.

"Well, are you ready to deal with some stupid questions?" Mystique asked Barbara. "Because the faster we lie, the faster I can get a drink I don't have to sniff out."

Mystique chuckled softly when her easy out was ignored. She didn't much care, but she did appreciate the explanation. "My dear, I think you'll find that I am not one to judge. I don't much care what predispositions you have, nor do I particularly care what you do with them. As long as you can remain lucid and you can uphold our alliance, that is all I need to know." With an almost flirtatious smile and a wink, she took another step toward the reporters.

"If they ask any questions you want to answer, please speak up. Hearing from two women about this crime will get all of these vultures raises at their papers, I'm sure." She said the words through a fake, meek smile as they started to get swarmed. There were many questions being thrown at them, and Mystique made a point to keep walking.

"I just want you all to know," she started, "that I am more than happy to answer your questions. My name is Miss Locke. Carol Locke. I represent Mr. Cade and I would love to spend more time answering questions, but we have many matters to attend to in the wake of this tragedy."

"Is there any word from Boss Cade about this disaster?"

"Yes," she said, simply. "Mr. Cade," reinforcing a nicer persona, "wishes to extend his condolences to the loved ones of those affected by this horrible incident. The fact that anyone would target a place of entertainment is completely despicable and we were horrified something like this could happen on American soil."

"Boss Cade has cops in his pocket. Is there anything they know that they won't tell us?"

"Mr. Cade assures me that this is only a rumor," she said, very clearly. It was a lie and everyone knew it was a lie, but to have it questioned on record could be helpful. "But, I was instructed to tell you exactly what we have found so far. We have found solid evidence that a business rival of Mr. Cade's planted the bomb. None other than Wilson Fisk himself. Personally, I can't imagine why he would do such a thing. Mr. Cade is a simple, reclusive hermit that only wants to build things to make people happy," another lie, "so to attack him like this is ... it's unthinkable."

By this time, they were nearly to the gates where a taxi was waiting for Mystique and Barbara. Almost out of the madhouse. She stopped as she was about to get into the taxi and turned to say her final thoughts.

"We at Coney Island do believe that this attack is an attack on the American ideal. To hit people in a place of amusement is a slap in the face to everything we fought so hard for in Germany. Additionally, Mr. Cade requests his privacy so he can plan his repairs to the park. Please, I ask that you respect that and ask for me directly if you have any questions."

With that, she opened the door to the taxi and waited for Barbara.