2013.05.29 - Talk Of Hope

It could be considered 'twilight'. The sun is setting on Mutant Town, but it is not fully dark yet. Various ships and cafs are packing up for the night. People are returning from work.

And others appear to just be 'hanging out'.

Take one girl with red hair who's wearing a 'unique' green and yellow outfit. She's sort of sitting next to a caf as it's packed up, reading a book. Out in the open. But the fact that this girl, Hope, appears to be relaxing, well... Isn't that odd in and of itself?

Yes, it is not normal. Hope thinks some time traveller is hunting her. And definitely some anti-mutant killers are after her. But then again, this is Mutant Town. Maybe Hope is copying some useful power so being in the open is not being a crazy redhead again.

Nah, it is Hope. She is a crazy redhead 24/7. So says Nate, and maybe he even believes so. "Nice day, red," he greets, "maybe too nice to stay indoors, uh? Have you considered, dunno, disguises? Dyeing your hair, maybe?"

"In Mutant Town?" is said with a smile as Hope sits there. That is before she finally closes her book and looks up at Nate.

"I don't have to hide. In fact, it's almost the opposite. I have to make myself known. I mean, just think about what this community is, and the people who live here, and how they would react if someone else were to come in and try to start trouble with 'one of them'."

Then though, she pauses.

"So, should I ask what brings you down here? looking for me, or...?"

"They are still people, and NewYorkers on top of it, they won't get involved wi. And you don't look like a mutant." Notes Nate. "They give me a hard time sometimes because I look normal, but I still hang around here often. And no, I wasn't looking for you, but I like to check with you every day. This time you were very close so I dropped by." He picks a place to sit down in front of Hope, checks the roofs and... looks a bit uncomfortable at being still and in the open.

Checking on her every....

"Dude. That's just creepy. Especially if it means that I have /TWO/ telepaths doing that." is said before Hope shakes her head and starts to get up.

"And sometimes they will. Some times they won't. But enough around here have seen me use my abilities to help others. They know I'm a mutant. So if people who obviously aren't mutants try to pull crap, or it looks like they're after mutants, I might get some help. Which is more than I can say about most of the rest of this city."

Nate smirks, and opens his mouth to reply, but then stops. Looks like her heard something, something unpleasant enough to wipe out the smirk. But after a few seconds, he focus in Hope again. "Sometimes is not good enough. Try not to die, uh?" He sighs, eying the nearby cafe, but it is closing. "The other telepath keeping tabs on you would be your teacher?"

There a slight pause before Hope shakes her head and chuckles, "No. But I wouldn't be surprised if she was doing that too. I was actually referring to a giant talking telepathic gorilla named Grodd who for some reason has decided that he needs to protect me."

And yes, that is said with a straight face by the redheaded girl.

"And I'm always trying not to die. But at the same time, I am trying to stick to my plan."

"Wait, Grod is a giant telepathic gorilla?" Nate looks somewhat surprised. "We talked by phone. He wanted to know about alien invasions, of all things." Mental note: ask around about giant telepathic gorillas. Also, "hey, how far can you be and still copy mutant powers?"

Yet again there's a pause before Hope says, "I don't know exactly. A hundred feet on average would be my guess. But I haven't really tried to measure things."

"And yes, he is. He has a hideout with a teleportation system. Managed to bring me there via that, and where ever his base is, it's far enough from mutants that I couldn't grab any powers. Worse..."

There's a slight pause.

"Worse he got into my head. He now knows almost everything I know. he ripped it out himself."

That explains why Grodd knew about Nate. Knowing he invaded Hope's mind, though, automatically puts the gorilla into his enemy's list. Nate frowns, but that is a problem for other time.

"Listen," he starts, "I hate to tell you this, but your plan pretty much sucks. A hundred yards gives you access to a large number of mutant powers. That is very good. But you can't expect the people here to risk their lives for you. They are just civilians, even if some have powers useful in a fight. And if your time-traveller assassin attacks and they get in the way, chances are they will die. If they don't get in the way, they are still in danger, since you said this guy was more than willing to destroy entire continents to get you."

"It's a plan. And it's not my only plan." is said defensively as Hope crosses her arms and peers at Nate.

"And I know they could be hurt. But what are my options? To always stay on the run, alone? To stay at my school non-stop and rely on what ever defense Ms. Frost has set up? To turn myself over To Jean and your father and hope I never run into a /younger/ version of the guy out to kill me, thus causing him to go crazy sooner?"

"As far as I can tell, there are no 'good' options. So unless you can think of something better, I'm going to have to do what I'm doing, if only because for once in my life it feels like I have some control over what I can do and how I do it, and because to me it feels like I'm doing something /myself/ to make me feel safe."

Nate has no good answer to Hope's situation, because there is no good answer. It is unfair she is in this situation, but hey, life is unfair. "There are no good options. No, don't be alone, and don't try to fight alone. Make friends, and find allies to watch your back. But also, don't put innocents in the line of fire if you can avoid it." Pause, "you met Jean? How did it go?"

"Should I start with the fact that I called her your father and said I had the wrong impression of 'him'?"

Yes, Hope says that with a straight face.

"And the not too long into the conversation, I called her 'grandma', which she asked me not to do ever again. But aside from that, it went well."

Then she shakes her head.

"And Nate, no matter what I do or where I go, innocents are going to be at risk as long as that maniac is after me. The best I can do is to try and minimalize that, and to choose the battleground instead of leaving that up to him."

Nate snickers about the grandma bit. "Can I call you niece Hope?" He looks around again, this time checking some suspicious windows too. Then growls. "Your choice of battleground stinks. At least stay indoors in a place you can see him coming. And keep some phone numbers on speed-dial. If I am in New York I can get to you in 30 seconds."

"If you have to." Hope says with an eye roll.

"And indoors I've learned is worse. Sure it limits the number of places I might have to watch in regards to entrances and exits, but it in turn limits my escape routes. On top of that, it limits my ability to move around if I have access to certain powers."

Then there's a shrug.

"Jean said something like that too. Hell, I was kinda counting on you picking up a telepathic scream from me when Grodd caught me, but considering he's probably as strong as you, that might not work. On the other hand, the fact that he knew that I knew so many telepaths who were that strong probably was part of the reason he backed down like he did and let me go."

"He won't get a first, free shot either. In fact you should have the first shot," mentions Nate. But this is starting to feel like another case of redheaded stubbornness. "Alright, enough about this... want something for dinner? I am hungry."

With a smile, Hope says, "If you're buying, then sure. I know a place that I have to go past on my way back to the school that I've been wanting to try."

Then she pauses and glances at Nate.

"And as for a first shot, he and I have to find each other first. And what makes you think that, if it were right here, right now, that I didn't have a 'shot' lined up if he appeared?"