2013.09.26 - Mutant Integration Rally

Central Park has been host to many events in the past, of all varying types, but it hasn't yet been host to a pro-mutant rally of this sort. A small stage has been set up and a couple Food trucks have come out to the event and even some mutant-friendly crafters have been invited to sell their items. A corner of the park has been reserved for this particular event yet it still remains open to the public. The atmosphere is intended to be more that of a festival rather than a political statement. There are no ropes, no bouncers to keep anyone in or out, but there might be a few more policemen patrolling about, some in uniform and some not.

No doubt the rally has garnered some sort of media attention. There are a couple of cameramen milling about and a few others with notebooks and cellphones, no doubt reporters either interested in seeing the rally succeed, fail, or, in the case of a very few, actually reporting.

There are also some anti-mutant activists picketing nearby. They don't seem to be violent, but they seem very interested in making their voices heard as the rally prepares to begin.

As for uniforms, Mend has elected to attend this particular event in costume. It's not a statement so much as the desire to be recognized. Sometimes people pick Marissa Sometimes out of a crowd. More often, they don't. She wanders past the picketers - completely ignoring them as she heads towards the event. Although in costume, she seems to be unarmed and the only thing hooked to her utility belt is a pouch containing her wallet and phone.

Bane arrives with out his usual gear nor his mask. He has come undercover has Ishmael Guevara, curious about these mutants and what they are about and what their goals really are. He makes his way through the growing crowd observing and listening for now.

Still surprised that Warren had gone ahead and taken his suggestions, Doug had to wonder what changed his mind.

Still, never one to miss a chance, and since it -was- his suggestion in the first place, Doug had gathered up what Young X-Men were interested in attending ('Come on, free food. How can you resist? And music! And entertainment!') and gone ahead. Standing on the outskirts of the crowd, the young mutant had to admit, that was a much larger group than he'd anticipated. Were there -that- many people?

There are some people here who... Might not be expected to be at a rally such as this.

One such person is the mutant 'clone' known as weapon X-23 a.k.a. Laura Kinney.

And to be honest, Laura herself doesn't know why she's here. But she is. And if she's 'in costume' (a.k.a. her black body suit) she's wearing a black leather jacket over it so that she doesn't look like she's in costume. Even if she did end up coming with Doug and/or her Young X-Men team mates to this rally.

Thankfully, Fern had a chance to change out of her uniform, which is really how she thinks of the 'corporate-wear' that she has taken to wearing now that she's taken a job with Justin Hammer. She's back to her colorful self, in a skirt and sweater, brightly patterned leggings jammed into her beloved black boots. Since it's after work hours, she's back into friend mode with Justin, approaching the corner of the park with her arm linked with his. "Did you want to hit one of the food trucks?" she asks him, nodding toward a taco truck. Her attention is mostly on him, but part of it is wandering, eyes scanning the growing crowd for the familiar flash of white wings. She expects Warren to be busy, but she does want him to know that she... they're here to support the cause.

In casual wear, Bobby Drake's attempting the rally today. He's not going to skip his friend's big thing after all. And he's hoping to talk with his friend about a few things. Sunglasses on, he's looking for the winged man and humming a tune. Of course, he snagged some free food too. That's another plus to this whole thing.

Ruth Aldine normally wasn't one for crowds of any kind. Like most telekinetics, especially one with her complete lack of boundary issues, she tended to get worn out from all the 'voices' talking at once. And the intertwining of so many destinies, and pasts, in so small a place certainly didn't help the pre/retro-cog. It was like a veritable onslaught to the senses. But through all the 'background noise', so to speak, several of the people in the park stood out like searchlights next to candles.

So she'd loaded up in the van, or whatever Doug was driving, (since despite her powers no state ever was going to give her a driver's license) and come with a few other X-Men-in-training. Sure, she could have stayed home in her dorm room and and been not-bothered by people, but she had told Professor Xavier that she wanted to help, to 'make a difference'. The best way to do that was to be here right now to show her support.

Still, the dark-haired loner with the bandages over her eyes is clearly uncomfortable, folding her arms around herself as she walks past the picketers, who surprisingly don't offer her any jeers. Hey, not even anti-mutanists can pick on the obviously-handicapped and not come off as a douche. When she reaches the edge of the crowd, she 'looks' around, touching the various minds in the vicinity, biting her lower lip as her consciousness scrapes that of so many others.

"It is hard to hear." She remarks to the others she came with. "Yes. Sorry. Hard to hear, hard to think. There are so many." Despite having where her eyes should be completely covered, she's at least aware enough to face in almost the right direction, even if she's looking down at her shoes. After all, she didn't need to 'look' to 'see'.

Hans was here at the event as well, dressed in that black suit. He almost seems to be amused at something however when he glances at the picketers he couldnt help but laugh a bit. "Aw...They want some attention." Hans says with a thick german accent before he moves to the food and drink bar, moving to get a drink for himself, another glance given across the area to see who all is attending.

Mend is actually getting a fair number of the jeers and heckles Blindfold isn't. Which she still ignores, heading into the festival area, and then glancing at Blindfold. Huh. Most blind people wear glasses, these days. She'd lay bets that Blindfold is no more handicapped than she is...

These sorts of events are always prone to attracting quite a bit of attention... Unfortunately, not all that attention is positive. With a subtle pop and a small bit of smoke and light, Dr. Milton, head geneticist of Bastion, emerges from thin air -- only a few feet from the anti-mutant protesters. Naturally, this causes quite a stir of hatred as taunts and jeers are thrown his way, to which Milton responds with a simple smile. Cane in hand, he turns on his heel, sending a careful eye over the group until he picks out the loudest one. Without warning, the protester goes quiet, a dull look coming to his eye as he stares, unresponsive at a spot two inches in front of his face.

With a satisfied smirk, the Geneticist slips into the gathering crowd and carefully picks his way over to a stall where a mutant crafter displays his wears. Milton spares each item a cursory glance before he turns away with a murmured, "Charming," and walks off to find something edible.

Monet St. Croix, slim and imposing in a sleeveless black dress with a thin belt, stands before a bank of cameras and reporters. For this crowd, three qualifies as a bank. The crowd parts around them, though there are a few looker-ons.

"Ms. St. Croix--can you confirm that you had a personal meeting with the Imperator of Genosha last month?"

The Monegasque woman does not flinch. "I am not hear to answer questions about that."

Another reporter, sensing that all he's getting is a soundbyte: "Ms. St. Croix, can you comment on the rally?"

"I have always believed that mutant rights are human rights. This is the official stance of Monaco and I hope it will soon be the official stance of the United States."

She answers a few more softball questions before, one by one, her interviewers leave. Monet slips on a pair of sunglasses and addresses the texts piled up on her phone.

There's almost a slight growl towards Ruth from Laura at her comment. After all, as the one with enhanced hearing, this can't exactly be fun for her.

"Just be glad you can't smell /all/ of it..." is even muttered by the 'clone' under her breath.

Why? Maybe it's best not to ask, especially with all these bodes collected in such a 'small' area.

The young, former waitress turned personal assistant may very well be a mutant or something, since Fern is able to get Justin to do things he would normally never do. Like attend a pro-mutant rally in Central Park. It did take a bit of convincing, but he CEO finally relented on the grounds that it would help both his, and his company's, reputations. So he walks along with her, letting her drop the PA-persona without complaint, arms linked together. Unlike Fern he hasn't changed his attire, still sporting a dark grey vested suit, and looks suitably out of place. Looking over to his companion, who clashes with him about as much as everyone else, he shrugs lightly. "Sure, we can see what they've got." Food trucks aren't gourmet, but the redhead has a fondness for such food so he'll go with it. Tagging along with the CEO and his assistant is a plain-clothes security officer. There are two more milling a good pace back, though still well within response range.

A Pro-Mutant Integration Rally? 'Come with me, it will be fun'. That is what Nate told Rose this morning. Nate, of course, has an odd definition of 'fun' which seems to include pretty much everything.

Oh, the truth is Nate had never been in one of these events. But doing new things is the very definition of fun, right? So, he dragged Rose here and now he is wondering where he should start looking for interesting things and people. "I think there are a few folks I know close by," he comments to his white-haired teammate, "lets see..." Warren Worthington the Third, host of this particular event, takes to the stage after a couple of moments. He's wearing jeans, a t-shirt with the slogan 'Mutants=People', and a blazer, tailored to accomodate the large, white wings sprouting from his back. He takes the microphone from the stand-setup from where it looks like a band will be playing later, and taps it lightly with a finger.

"This is on? Ok, good." He clears his throat and looks out at those gathered, "I really appreciate all of you coming," he gestures out to the protesters, "Even you all back there! You're part of the reason for this in the first place." The protesters are then dismissed, the acknowledgment and thanks seemingly shutting them up for a moment.

"This wasn't my idea to do, but as I thought more and more about it, I realized that this sort of support was missing. We have those who feel that mutants should rule the world and we have those who think that they should all be stuffed in a rocket and shot off to Neptune. But there doesn't seem to be the third option; an option that I, myself, strive to support and one that I live every day. Mutants...and aliens...and supers...living peacefully with everyone else." He begins to slowly pace across the stage. "We've all been attacked out of fear but I feel that this is something that can be addressed and changed...this is no different than the historical segregation of those of different religions, race, sexual orientation, et cetera. Much of the world has quickly adapted to accept those other groups, so why not us? The hate of humans for mutants...and when I say 'mutants', please know that I am encompassing all those with genetic differences to humans...and of mutants for human is not only morally wrong, but, if we really want to get down to it, is against the Civil Liberties Act put into place in 1964. But creating a mutant-only land isn't the answer to this. What makes that land so different from the Concentration Camps or POW camps of World War Two? Think about it...all those...of a genetic 'type', forced into a small location. The idea might seem like a Utopia but one just needs to look at Orwell's 'Animal Farm' to see that it won't work. It's merely another form of segregation, albeit this one self-inflicted!"

Before he goes off on a tangent, he takes a moment to get back to what he wanted to say. "Coexistence between mutants and humans is possible. It is more than possible. It is preferred. It is -right-. We aren't so different in emotions and in thoughts. Merely because some of us have wings...or are blue...or can shoot laserbeams from their eyes, doesn't mean that they feel that they should take over the world. Most of us..." he looks out at the crowd, "...and I like to think I speak for most here, merely want to live our lives. We want to have and education, jobs, a home, maybe a spouse and kids. We want to be happy. We want to be able to walk down the street without being attacked merely because we can make it rain. Think of how much we could help, instead of being shunned and pushed away, if we were embraced, encouraged, and supported. Shylock said it well in that 'If you prick us, do we not bleed?'. We have the same hopes and dreams and shouldn't be despised merely because of our genetic composition." There is another pause then, "I think I've talked enough now. Please...enjoy the music, enjoy the food, and please, discuss this. This isn't an issue that should quietly fade away. Thank you."

The microphone is put back and he goes to head back off of the stage so that the band can prepare to play. Wake up!!

It's shortly after Warren steps off stage that someone comes up behind him. "Oh, Mr. Worthington, that was an amazing speech. Can I get your autograph?" Bobby's got a joking grin ready for when his friend turns around to face him and a quick Bro-hug if that's accepted too.

Mend makes a decision, it seems, and wanders over towards...Ruth and Laura. She doesn't know them, but they've piqued her curiosity. Despite being in costume, she doesn't seem to be *doing* anything official for the event, other than being there. Warren might speak for those who just want to live normal lives: Marissa gave up all thought of that some time ago. Normal life? Boring.

Blindfold's 'gaze' moves over the crowd. It isn't seen, since she doesn't look around, but it might be FELT by those particularly sensitive to what's happening in their heads. A sort of mental 'ping'ing, like a sonar, or maybe a brush of something foreign, more sensed than felt. Her head turns a little bit as Hans approaches, at which point Ruth reaches out to pluck at Doug Ramsey's sleeve.

"That man." She motions in the German's direction discretely. "He should be dead. Pardon? Yes. A long time ago."

When Mend starts to come through, the 'blind' girl's head actually turns, faces the obvious superhero, and even tracks her movements as well as anyone with eyes would, before turning back to the YXM mentor and the Weapon X clone. "I am. Have you tried a scented cloth? Sorry. For your nose." With just the smallest smile one could ever see at Laura, she briefly pantomimes holding a hankie over her nose.

And then, she 'glances' behind her, really more just turning towards a presence felt, but her spine stiffens, she stops breathing for a moment, and the teenaged pre-cog's fingers dig into her biceps where she'd folded her arms. Yeah, it was vision time. After a handful of seconds, she comes out of it, letting out a shaky breath and scowling.

Scowling right at St. Croix across the field. She's still frowning at her when Mend walks up.

"Excellent!" Fern says, giving Justin a playful tug toward the targeted taco bliss. There's only one thing that could distract her, and that one thing happens with the tap of a microphone from the nearby stage. "Oh hey, there's Warren!" Because Justin might miss the winged man if she didn't point him out. As he starts talking, Fern's attention is on him, a smile on her lips, a couple nods at the points he makes, and when he's done she finally releases her companion to applaud enthusiastically along with most of the crowd. She turns to Justin again, "He's such a good speaker. Charismatic." At least that's her opinion, but she might be biased somewhat.

Taking a deep breath, the young mutant tries to keep up with the crowd. "Come on, let's see if we can say hi to Warren, congratulate him and... is that Monet over there?" Doug comments, slowing down as he notices Blindfold distracted by... something. "Ruth... what is it?"

There's a brief nod as Mend comes up to the group. "Hi, excuse me a second. Ruth, you okay?"

As Warren speaks on stage, Milton at least has the courtesy to listen. It's clear he agrees with next to nothing the man says, but when he finishes, he politely adds his own round of applause before turning to set about his actual reason for being here.

It falls into place so easily, it's as if fate itself was pushing for it to happen. Just as Milton turns, he catches sight of Monet through the crown, a grin breaking out on his face instantly. He sidles through the crowd, catching sight of a few others of interest to him. Notably Ruth, Laura, and Nate, but he only watches them long enough to get a good sense of their location before he arrives several feet behind and to the right of St. Croix. -- The perfect place to keep an eye on all that interests him.

Hans remains quiet for now, sipping his drink as he watches the goings on quietly. He didnt know anyone here so he simply remained quiet for the time being, wandering about. Once his drink was finished he sets it aside to continue his feckless meandering.

"Sounds like a war waiting to be waged..." Rose responded on mutteredbreath even as they arrived the tension is a visible thing riding on rigid shoulder tops that squared the closer they got and the more the voices are heard over microphhone and gathered bodies. A 'waiting war' was a very acute understatement and Rose knows it as well as any other active individual in the 'underground'. Casting a glance to Nate as they reach the crowds her shoulders roll and she replaces that rigidity with a lax facade that waited to be broken.

Mend stays back slightly as Laura checks on her friend. The being looked at by blind person didn't go unnoticed. It just didn't phase somebody who regularly hangs out with Amazons and Kryptonians. Oh, and speaking of people who "should" by the normal laws of nature be dead. Several times over. At least nobody's dropped a church on her lately.

And as Mend approaches Ruth, Laura shakes her head, trying not to comment. There is maybe a slight nod at Monet, as if to acknowledge that she recognizes the other woman from the other day.

There isn't even a comment as Doug asks Ruth if she's all right, nor at Warrens speech. (It was a good speech, just not something Laura feels like she can react to right now).

On the other hand, the 'man who should be dead' does get her full attention for a few moments before the clone glances away and starts to scan the crowd.

Justin stops when Fern does, and likewise turns his attention to the stage. He takes in the words, as well as the tone, the presence, and files it away for future reference. He's here to support Fern, who is here in part to support Warren, so he nod and applauds when necessary. He makes a good show of it too, he doesn't seem any less genuine than his normally veneer attitude. When Fern comments on Warren's speech, he looks toward her and gives her a nod. "He is, he is," he offers. "Knows how to keep a crowd. That's good, a good skill to have if he wants to keep doing the work he's doing. The charity thing and all that."

Warren Worthington grins at Bobby, "No autographs, please," but he turns to offer his friend that hug. "Was it really ok? I don't really remember most of what I said..." thanks to adrenaline. He then glances out at those gathered, "Ok, wow...I didn't expect this many people. I guess...this is a good thing?" Blue eyes scan the crowd some more and he catches sight of a very familiar redhead. "Oh, good! Fern showed up!"

Monet tap tap taps on her phone, heedless of the different kinds of glares she is receiving.

You get used to it, being her.

Monet St. Croix @M Rethinking black and white fall dominance. #NYFW did not satisfy.

The large man looks around the crowd moves to in front of the stage.

He speaks up to get the crowds attention. With is a thick northeastern/latino accent he says 'Hey excuse me excuse me! I would like to just say something and ask a question.'

"I'm just guy, I don't have any powers I am not a mutant or a meta. I run a corner store in Gotham, I don't have intimate knowledge of these types of things. I believe in America and in the American Ideals, that we are all created equal. But I gotta tell you some times I don't feel safe. I don't feel safe that we have kids developing super powers, that we have this growing number of powered people that can do some damage. But that's ok not everyone that has powers is bad, but I have to wonder if equality is really what you want? I believe all men are created equal but you call yourselves homo superior? How is that a show of good faith? I just want to know how can normal schmucks like me trust the mutant community?"

After the hug, Bobby grins and pats Warren's shoulder. "Yeah, it was a good one, dude. He looks around at those gathered too and laughs a little. "Dude, free food plus a hot issue plus a hot playboy, it'll all begging for a crowd," he explains matter-of-factly. "Fern, huh? You two a thing again?"

A night out at the park, people enjoying the fellowship, swaying to the music, tapping their feet to the beat, and so on...and Jeremy's working. Well, not officially, but the kid never found a point at which he couldn't find something to do instead of relaxing. Right now? He's become a food runner for some of the people who have good seats (or more likely, kids to watch and wrangle), going up to buy their food for them and bring it back while they try to keep track of the tykes in the crowd. He's been running back and forth for a bit now, and as he delivers a load of hot dogs to a grateful family (plus their change, exactly)--he blinks as he spots not one, but several people he knows out there. Mend. Fern. Even that Hammer guy--he seemed fairly nice that one time. He gives a 'you're welcome' to the family he was helping, and waves over at Fern, then at Mend, before the big guy goes up to the stage. Crossing his arms, he frowns a little. "Sounds like somebody tryin' to start a fight," he says to himself, looking around the crowd for anyone that might've taken the comments a little personally.

"No. Yes. I am. They won't be. Because of her." Ruth replies when Doug begins asking her what's wrong. In her mind it was so clear, so concise. In her speech, it was less so, but that didn't mean she didn't feel the need to WARN someone. Namely the woman herself. ...Even though she probably wouldn't understand. They never understood. And it always happened anyway.

"The future..." The dark-haired teenager shakes her head slowly, almost imperceptibly, at something only she could see. "...will always happen." Slowly, her fingers reach up and curl through her hair, grabbing at her skull as she quits hugging herself to cradle her head and grit her teeth, as if trying to crush her own brain! "Stop stop stop, no make him stop. He wont' stop, he'll never stop, he enjoys it." But despite the urgency of the words, they're not shouted, simply stated, in a tone of voice that was almost conversational.

She takes two large steps forward and makes a grab for Mend's arm, frowing her right in the face (since looking isn't an appropriate word here). "You. Yes. You. Pardon? Sorry. You should stop that man." She nods her head in the direction of Hans. Then she lets go, if she managed to grab on at all, doing her best to block out mental images she'd rather not see, that frightened and disgusted her.

"Laura. Help. Sorry. Please. Take me to that woman. The one looking at her phone. Yes. St. Croix. Pardon? Because I am having trouble seeing." Because she had just towned her telepathy way, way down.

"I can't "stop" him until he does something, but I can keep an eye on him," Mend reassures as Blindfold suddenly strikes off. Unfortunately, she can't really react to something, she guesses, a telepath heard in the guy's head. We all *consider* committing crimes. Nonetheless, she surreptitiously pulls out her phone (a state of the art S-phone) and fiddles with it...as if checking a text. In reality, she's trying to match Hans' face. "No jokes about it, Rosie," replies Nate, losing his grin for a moment. "I have seen that war already," he adds. Then he spots a familiar thought-patter thing. Oh, several of them. Of course the Xavier folks would be around.

"Hey, look, there is Laura. Not someone I expected to see here. Ah, she is not alone," he grabs Rose's hand and tugs, leading her towards Doug's group. "Fancy meeting you here, little mouse," he says to Laura. "And you are Doug, right, we have met in passing a couple times. And..." creepy girl with blindfold. "Ruth. Hi." Forced smirk there. "This is Rose," he introduces the white-haired lady with him.

"Maybe. It's undefined at the moment, her choice," Warren starts but he then looks over at the guy who moves to the front of the stage to state his point of view. It's actually a very brave thing to do with so many non-humans in the immediate vicinity.

"I can answer for myself, if you'd like. Humans also have the capacity to do some damage. Look at the issues of gun control. Speeding cars down the streets, texting and driving, all the homicides and rapes and violence done all over the world. Violence and damage aren't purely human or purely mutant traits. I can tell you with assurance that those who I know with other powers don't randomly go about using them. Most of us do have control over them and others seek control. You're right to be concerned, but you shouldn't be concerned that it's mutants only who will be doing that damage merely because they're mutants. The whole 'Homo Superior' thing...personally, I'd like another name for that, myself. I don't think 'Superior' was Latin, anyhow."

While Laura could make a comment, she instead nods at Nate, and /almost/ smiles at Rose. And yet, well...

Ruth says that someone needs to be stopped. Thus, the female 'clone' makes a fist, and looks right at Hans, before murmuring, "If he moves wrong, I got him."

Yeah. No claws are out. After all, this is a bit public and not suppose to break down into any sort of fight, no matter what. Period.

While Fern was enraptured for a moment with Warren's speech, she glances around, always on the lookout for familiar faces. And Jeremy is certainly one of those, and one she's not seen in far too long. Her hand goes up in a wave, as enthusiastic and bright as her clothes, and she makes a note to seek him out and see how he's been doing. But her attention drifts again, and she seeks out the wings again, waving again as Warren seems to be looking in the general direction of herself and Justin. She gives Hammer's arm a light tug as she hooks her own with his again, asking, "Do you want to try and get over to see Warren? There's a lot of people, and maybe I should just see him later and let him have his time doing his thing now." She sounds uncertain, torn between the options, and her eyes turn to Justin to make the decision.

Rose watches Nate from periphery when his expression meets a moment of pause and reflection. "I know." She says lowly just before she ius tugged towards a small cluster, one of which she has already met. Laura. Nodding to the girl, the slowness of the gesture shows the respect there as well as her own apprehension - mutually. Their meeting was not.... The best? Though the others got a slight shift of chilled gaze, one cautiously trained to veil any emotion behind the eyes while her ears and Ravager-senses were spanning out over this crowd. The sound of it had her already tense before arrival, and arming herself... Discreetly.

"Really, huh?" Bobby glances Fern's way. He's curious now. When the guy gets on stage, Bobby rolls his eyes slightly. "Kinda a bad show to pin a name on people that didn't really have a say in picking out. Most mutants don't use it either."

There was a brief pause as Doug stares at Ruth and Laura, before sighing. "Laura, Ruth... does this have to be taken care of -now-, or is this for down the road?" He nods towards Mend. "Sorry about this."

Taking a deep breath, the young mutant eyes Rose's body language curiously, as he shakes hands with Nate, smiling briefly. "Nate. Haven't seen you since... it's been a while. Rose. Pleased to meet you," Doug says with a smile. Wake up!!

Justin too is looking around, but for completely different reasons. His are far more paranoid in nature then looking for friends. He looks toward the kid that Fern waves toward, tilting his head slightly as he tries to place the face. He's only met Jeremy once, and that was quite a while back. The tug gets his immediate attention, and he looks down to the shorter woman. "Oh, sure, if he's nearby. Why not? I mean, you came her to support what he's doing, you should go over and at least check in." His words are accompanied by all the appropriate hand gestures that go with speaking with Hammer, and as soon as he's done talking he slips his free hand into his pants pocket.

"Well, if he tries anything here, he'll be squashed flat." A pause. "And lots of people fantasize about ugly stuff without actually doing it. I vote we keep a very discreet eye on him, but otherwise leave him alone." A pause. "Huh. Dead ringer for a Nazi."

"He's already done it. Pardon? Many times." Ruth replies to mend cryptically, doing her apparent best to ruin everyone's good time. It must be exausting being around the girl who regularly had doomsday prophecies. Miss Aldine, resident party-pooper.

When Laura doesn't respond to her request for help, the pre-cog simply forms a hard line with her mouth and turns away from the group. "Nathaniel." She greets simply, with the same sort of detached tone. No one was ever very happy to see her, so the forced smirk is treated as par for the course. "When you die, say hello to Rachel." Annnnnd that was why no one was ever happy to see her. Because she tended to tell them things like they were going to die.

She's forced to turn up her telepathy again, subjecting to herself to more things she'd rather not, as she moves away from the group and towards Monet. "Yes. No. It's in the past. Pardon? It has happened and it has not happened yet. Always dying. Sorry. I need to talk to that woman."

Ruth, feeling like she's done something wrong again, ducks her head and drags her feet across the grass as she makes her way towards the woman on the phone, a straight b-line in fact. So much for pretenses of blindness!

The band is up on stage, but with the debate going on, they aren't sure if they should start yet. Most of them go about checking and re-checking equipment until they can gauge if it's a good idea to start.

Bane looks around noticing no one really responding but Warren, and noticing a near fight happen around Hans. He thinks to himself 'this is what the mutant community has to show for themselves? Well they are as self involved as normal humans I'll give them that. I present them with a chance to address the normal human's concerns about the mutant community and they shake it off and say its bad taste for me to do so'

"Yeah I see your point mr Worthington, anyone can do damage and harm others, and a lot of powered people do good look at them avengers and the like. But like what I said there is always a flip side there are people that do bad and people with powers that do bad can do disproportionally more damage to people than someone like me. And I'm sorry about the Homo Superior thing but that is a name tied to you guys, that's a name some of the more well known mutants use to refer tom themselves. He may be a bad dude but he is sort of one of the faces of mutant kind to people like me. Thats what we see we see magneto and yes we also see mr Xavier but he you can't fault us for having certain conceptions on what mutants are based on what we are presented"

Jeremy lets out a breath as Warren speaks up to try to defuse things, and shakes his head a little. "I-I don't remember it bein' like that...but...this really is a big thing, isn't it..." he says to himself. As the big man continues, he sighs a little, and tucks his hands into his pockets as he walks through the crowd in the general direction, for lack of anything better, of Fern and Justin. He's still keeping one eye on the stage, though...but along the way, he gets a tad sidetracked, as a young boy loses his grip on a balloon. Well, of all places, it ought to be fine to help out here, right? So, surrounded by a slight nimbus of blue light, Jeremy rises into the air, grabbing the balloon by the string, and then carefully lowers back to the ground, handing the balloon to the kid with a smile. That one meeting might not have been the best, but it was just enough for Rose to earn a certain amount of respect from Laura. Plus, as the 'clone' see's Nate with her...

Well, that's not something the clawed girl is going to ask about. Not even as she blinks at Ruth, the tension building in her body language starting to bleed off.

"Not here. Not now. Now is a time for peace." is said, as if to explain just why she didn't fly off at Hans due to Ruth's comments. On the other hand, as the pre-cog takes off towards Monet, she can't help but blink.

Nate gives Ruth a /glare/. "What the hell does that means?" But the blindfolded girl has sneaked away. "Creep," he mutters to no one in particular. Then to Doug, "I think it was when we were both chasing after a certain stubborn redhead that might be my niece by some weird definitions."

The honest shop owner trotting out some average American concerns at center stage gets Monet to raise her head. However, she considers these arguments to be tiresome and does not have the energy to deal with people she considers to be in a lower grade level than her.

Tap tap tap.

bigrula: yo m bootsy in 3? i know you got a plane get on my side of the us girl M: Doing my civic duty. Also, not 21. bigrula: how'd we meet then M: Clubs admit 18 and up in Vienna. bigrula: lol forgot srry bigrula: don't worry i'll drink twice M: You're a darling.

"Which is what I'm trying to change here," Warren points out. "Magneto is one of the most public faces...but so was Hitler. People went along with him because he had charisma and confidence and he started playing to fears. What is to stop Magneto, once he fully creates Genosha, from trying to expand it? To expand his rule over other nations? We are the ones who can stop it. We are the ones, mutant and human and alien and all, who can say 'No, we don't want this. We don't believe you are superior over us. You're just a man.'"

Sometimes it's nice to have a decision made for you, so you don't have to seem too eager on your own. "You're right, Justin," Fern says. "We can just say a quick hello and let him get back to 'business', but it'll be good to let him know we're here." As she starts to move, not quite tugging on Justin again, she notices the exchange between Warren and the man on stage finally. No, she wasn't preoccupied. There's a light frown. It's a valid point, there are some 'regular' people who do feel threatened or unsure, but she also agrees with Warren that 'regular' people can be just as dangerous. She's seen both sides of that coin, and has been saved from harm more than once by mutants. Lots more than once. Still moving, she looks to Justin, asking, "What do you think on that, Justin? I mean, I know that people with powers can do a lot of damage, but they've also stopped a lot of damage from happening."

"These people need a drink, or more..." Rose states rather pointedly as her eyes trail after the blindfolded girl of cryptoquips. Though Rose pays far more attention then she seems to it doesn't stop her from implying towards that which she spends excessive time doing when she isn't working. Playing hard instead of working hard. One foot slides back and she pivots to keep her view between their small group and where the blind folded girl went - eyeballs deep into the tension heads. "She's not too bad." She says in reference to the departing girl and Nate. Wake up!!

Hans just continues meandering about, and stops at the food table, smiling as he begins to eat some of the snacks. While most do stop to eat a bite here and there, the man doesnt seem to slow down despite how much food he was eating. He tries each of everything, going for seconds, thirds and even fourths.

Snapping his fingers, Doug nods. "Hope! We found her later, sorted things out." He regards Ruth, before watching where she was headed towards. "Uh oh... is that Ms. St. Croix? Nate, give me a minute... I'm not sure what will happen -here-. Laura, mind staying a minute...?" he says, looking towards Laura.

He nods towards Rose, before moving towards Ruth quickly, taking advantage of reading the crowd's movements to steer a path through.

For now, Mend doesn't bother Hans. As the others head over to Monet, she looks around for the guy who expressed those concerns. Did he completely disappear into the crowd? He might have. There's a lot of people here, which heartens her. The pros are definitely outnumbering the antis today.

Swish-swish-swish. Ruth's sneakers make little sounds as she fails to pick them up all the way, leaving Nate and his questions behind. Creep. At least most of the other students didn't call her that anymore. Not to her face, anyway. The girl brings a palpable aura of doom and gloom with her that almost couldn't be any thicker if she were the daughter of Trigon. And then, soon enough, her swishing noises have brought her right across the park's lawn to the woman tapping on her phone like a high schooler during a boring Chem lecture.

There's a brief moment of silence before Ruth 'looks' up to turn her covered eyes onto Monet. "When you kill them... remember that you don't have to. Pardon? The ones you are going to kill. Yes. It can be averted."

And then, with Doug coming up behind her, perhaps even already there by virtue of walking faster than her, since she didn't exactly approach at warp speed, Ruth simply waits. As if she were expecting the other woman to understand any of that. While poking her index fingers together and her best impression of an expressionless mime from the cheeks down.

"And there's also the fact that not every mutant or alien can actually cause destruction and all that. Some just have cool wings or smokin' hot orange bods," Bobby points out, folding his arms behind his head. "And seriously? We have superheroes out there stopping the people that go on power-mad rampages with powers...way more good people who just want to live their lives and not be hassled because of how they were born too. So 'they might do a bad thing because other bad people exist!' is kind of an offensive assumption."

And as Doug takes off one way, and Ruth talks to Monet, Laura sort of kind of does what she's told to do, as she just stands there.

Her gaze does drift back and forth between Rose and Nate though as she stands there. Bane says, "And that's the reason I came up here tonight. I heard about this rally and I came here to see what is was really like. I believe that everyone deserves equal rights and treatment under the law. But I think its fair to at least address some concerns we have about this. I want to believe that you are just like us, but when some of you can destroy cities it fair to ask some questions. I'm willing to fight for your rights, just like I'd fight for anyone else's rights because that's why I moved here to be free, and if we arent all free then none of us are."

"Sounds like a plan," Justin replies, moving along with Fern's gentle hint. It is truly amazing how the slight woman can get the normally stubborn man to seem to bend to her will without trying. Warren's words give Hammer a bit of a pause and his step falters slightly. Magneto is just a man? Sure, he is. A man who can shake an entire office building like it's an earthquake. He looks apprehensive for a moment, thinking back to his dealings with Genosha and it's Imperator, but does his best to shake it off. "What do I think?" he repeats Fern's question as he mulls it over. "Well, I think it's a complicated issue..." If that wasn't sidestepping, what is? If his friend and PA wants to discuss this further, he'd rather do it in a less public place.

Warren Worthington looks to Bobby and grins his thanks, nodding at points that he made. He then looks back to the other, "And, like my friend here said, there are those of us who want to make sure that those cities are safe and we will do everything we can to ensure that. We want to protect our homes, communities, and loved ones as well. Rest assured that we won't just sit back if something threatens them."

Mend reaches the group. "Excuse me...I'm coming in in the middle here, but I just wanted to say that some of us can level cities, and some of us can just change the color of things. But none of us chose this. We already have to deal with being responsible...or with whatever other implications our powers have."


 * "Hello, Ms.St. Croix. What a pleasure to see you again. I must admit, I was fairly impressed with the way you escaped. Tricking the base into thinking you were me by copying my telepathic signature. Remarkable."| The voice sounds in Monet's head, amusement all too clear as the smooth, silk-like voice echoes in her mind. Milton remains motionless, watching Blindfold approach the object of his interest and speak to her. Besides Ruth, he's probably the only one who would even understand what she's talking about, but rather than appear concerned, he just smiles.


 * "Of course you won't /have/ to... But you'll want to. You'll want to end their worthless lives. Trust me."|

"Yeah, I know..." Nate follows Doug eyes and ends up spotting Monet. "St. Croix? Uh huh." Then he opens a telepathic channel to Doug, because it might be important |"I met that girl. Monet. In Genosha. Weird to see her here."| Then he turns to Laura. Looks at Rose and hmms. Something between them he has missed? "Let find something to eat?" he offers to Rose. "What have you been up to, Laura? I heard you left the school for a while."

Hans leaves the snack bar totally and begins to approach the area where the discussion is going on. "I hear alot of talk about a normal life and freedom and this concerns me. Quite frankly I find normal life to be quite insulting. What is normal?" Hans asks loudly, german accent present in his voice. "Normal is like everyone else. And when something happens the first thing people do is panic or flee to safety with few people even coming forward to help stop it or face the challenge. Is that truely what you all want to be like, cowardly and part of a rabble?" He asks curiously, no hostility in his voice as he looks to those present and goes to the stage towards the man.

"To be quite truthful. I think we should not strive to be normal. Alot of the heroes today would not exist if they behaved like a normal person should have done. No. I think what everyone, mutant, human, super, alien, machine and everything inbetween /SHOULD/ do is strive to be more then normal. How many crimes and victims would there be if each person strived and tried to do more? I honestly think alot less." He says to everyone. Jeremy looks back over at the debate, smiling a bit sadly. The big guy up on stage does make some good points, he has to admit. So do the others. He looks down at the ground, tapping it with a toe a couple times. "Yeah...I guess that's true...we can do good stuff, but...there's a lot of bad people with powers..." He looks away, and looks around for where Fern and Justin have got off to. "...that's why we do what we do, I guess, but...is that enough?" he says to himself, rubbing at his eyes, which have gotten a little wet. Spotting Fern again, he starts working his way through the crowd towards her again. "I mean...we only have to screw up once..." he says, continuing to talk to himself.

Monet finishes what she is typing before turning to Ruth. She slips the slim device into her clutch, soon followed by her sunglasses. The teen tilts her head to the side, studying her newly acquired soothsayer with what seems to be honest interest.

She is a fortress of will. It is difficult to pierce her mind.

"I would say that you should join the protestors, but I can see that you are a mutant," she says, almost murmuring. "May I ask--"

The Monegasque woman freezes. She abandons Ruth entirely, turning and looking across the crowd. The sense of the pale man is almost there. She never forgets, not anything. It's so close. She cannot touch it, but she can speak to it.

"I have friends that are interested in speaking with you. They are interested in your fascination with the Summers. Would you like for me to arrange a meeting?"|

Fern catches the avoidance, but for once she doesn't press the issue. She does realize that it's a very public place, and Hammer is a high profile man. And there are ears everywhere. But it's a pretty sure bet that it's a conversation they'll have sooner or later in a less open venue. "It is complicated," she agrees, then shrugs, "So is life." She hesitates, stopping their forward advance and sighing softly. "Why can't people just get along?" That age old question, posed in so many different ways. The hesitation gives Jeremy a minute to catch up to them, as she looks to Justin as if he might actually have an answer.

Looking over at Hans when he offers his opinion, Warren clarifies, "I'm not looking for 'normal'. I'm looking for acceptance. I'm looking for the chance to choose a job, a home, a community, a spouse, and anything that I would like to strive for and not be shut out of any of them because I have wings. I want to be treated with the same courtesy as the next person when I walk into a restaurant. I'm not asking for anything privileged, but I want my right to choose what I strive for. I don't want to be denied anything because of the wings at my back which, as this young lady has pointed out," he nods to Mend, "I did not choose to have."

There's a long pause at Nate's question, before Laura gives Rose a bit of a sidelong glance. Part of her isn't completely sure what should, or even could be said, thus in the end...

There's just a simple shrug before she answers.

"I left. Logan brought me back. I am at the school again."

"Oh for the love of..." Bobby mutters after Hans speaks. He glances around and then nudges Warren slightly, leaning in to whisper. "How abour I add a little more flare to things. Think the crowds would like a semi-famous superhero showing up to support your cause?" he asks his friend quietly.

As they draw to a stop, Justin again looks toward his companion. Why can't everyone just get along? Because that's not natural. Nature is about conflict, always has been, always will be. And it's that conflict that fuels the majority of Hammer's business, so he's honestly not ready to see it end just yet. That train of thought means there's a pause before he can answer Fern's question. "Well, I- I, um, really don't know." Again, he hass a strong opinion, but he's not about to share it here. Or possibly ever with Fern, since he doesn't want to damage the good image she has of him. Again the CEO looks up toward those debating, and blinks. /Ah, hell, why is he here?/ is thought as soon as Hans is identified.

Doug does not get a nod, he gets what the other got; that slow following trail of an overly assessing gaze. If anyone needs a drink sooner then later it is going to be her. The political debates were making her seem slightly pulled apart at the seams. Rose does not take sides, she is paid to be on one or the other or decides to be there on her own accord, the thrall of voices was making her tension rise even as it did in waves through the crowd. Looking back to Nate and Laura, she blinks and shakes her head, sucking in a deep breath. "Where's the... refreshments?"

Bane says, "I just don't think anyone should put themselves above anyone. That was my main issue. that and safety. I don't like that we have these people whom have just thrust themselves into these position of guardian and having power over us. I understand that heroes mean well but at some point there needs to be some accountablity to the people."

Thinking back to Nate, |She is? Damn it, she's been at the school as a consortium student staying with us. What's going on here?|

Out loud, Doug falls in next to Blindfold. "Monet, this is Ruth. She's one of my students and... Monet? Are you okay?"

Warren Worthington glances to Bobby, "This isn't a battle, Bobby. It's a legitimate comment, if misinterpreted. It's not about superhero endorsements." He looks over to the shopkeep again, "I agree. I don't like that some people, like Magneto, and his Genosha, have set themselves above us. If you're talking about people like Superman, I can't imagine that he thinks like that. Just from what I've seen, his concern seems to be about protecting the people and not for his own personal glory. I think that most who use our abilities to help others feel that same way. We don't want fame from it. We just want to do what we can to help our community."

A minute--yeah, Jeremy needs a minute. Duck around a person here, apologize for bumping into somebody there, quickly direct a mother's attention to her wandering toddler here, catch a falling cup before it's spilled there, take a quick picture for a family here, and finally end up at Fern's side there. Somewhat out of breath, Jeremy finally comes up near Fern and Justin, catching his breath. "H-Hi...Miss Fern...Mister...um...it was Mister Justin, right? Um, um...s-sorry...um, you're probably busy, but I just wanted--I haven't seen you in a while, so...um...you look like you're doin' well, um..."

"I've met Superman and worked with him," Mend supplies. "He's not like that. There are some that are, but everyone has their own motivations, and I don't judge people unless they, say, abandon their teammates in the middle of a fight or pick arguments.

Milton smirks faintly, before turning away from Monet to hide the amusement on his face. Instead, he pretend to busy himself with a booth set up by yet another crafter. |"Do not worry, Ms. St. Croix, they will meet me in time. For now, I'm far more concerned about you and your sisters. The Summers will survive what is to come, of that I'm sure."| With that, he glances towards Nate and his smirk ticks upwards into a full blown grin. |"I'm curious... Did you honestly think those schools you've been visiting could protect you? Shield you from my gaze? Dear, girl... You underestimate me greatly."| Milton turns to regard the debate between Warren, Bane, and... Hans? That takes him by surprise. Curious how small the world becomes when you've been walking upon it for centuries.

Ruth waits patiently, not turning her head in the direction of the protestors as they're mentioned. But she doesn't have to in order to see them. But the question to be asked is never done so, and she's apparently dismissed. Well... message delivered, at least. Ruth begins to turn away, stops, starts to turn back and open her mouth, before apparently deciding better of it and turning back to trudge the way she'd come.

"It was nice meeting you."

Never one for lengthy introductions, Blindfold refolds her arms around herself and begins to mosey back towards the Nate-Rose-Laura(-Mend?) trio (quartet?), taking her sweet time. "Shouldn't have come here. Never should." No, she should stay locked up like a good little hermit for the rest of her life. Just her and her braille books.

Then she could only come out of her room once every couple of years to let everyone know what was going to happen the following year before going back into seclusion. People already mistook her for a monk due to the Blindfold!

"Alot of humanity's greats werent welcome at the time, Herr Worthington. With time however, as people evolved, so too did the minds of others. If you wait, you will gain your acceptance." Hans says calmly before turning to Bane. "He is right. Still though, if you desire them to be accountable, what stops you from seeking them out?" He asks curiously as he moves forward. "Nature is unpredictable. Life is unpredictable. Making laws to account for every scenario, is like trying to empty the oceans with only your bare hands." He says as he goes to try and merge back to the crowd.

"Wasn't planning on a battle," Bobby replies. "Just hey...he wants a hero to address his concern, I can give him one," he explains. The icy mutant glances over as Mend speaks. "So what do ya say, I got my gear...I can go ice up," he keeps whispering to Warren.

Nate smirks at Laura, "your storytelling skills need... a lot of work." Now, food. He peers around, and points, leading both girls to the food stands. He is only paying a cursory attention to the debate, but something that was said caught his attention. "Hmm. It is funny how many mutants I know just want to be 'normal'. Everyone is exatraordinary."

The debates...

Laura doesn't comment on them. At all. Not even as she hears what Rose has to say. Thus the cloned mutant up and points at a certain table.

"There." if the other woman seriously does want a snack of some sort.

Then again, as Nate leads them that way...

Normal means different things to different people." is in turn said by the clawed 'clone'. But she doesn't explain just what she means by that. At all.

Bane says, "Just the same, Superman or, who ever they may be, being responsibly and doing the most good with your powers is one thing but there is point about accountable to the people and not letting yourself over step. We are all people but if you choose to become an Idol you move beyon that and over step boundaries. I live in gotham I gotta deal with some guy in a bat costume beating the on the disenfranchised poor and the mentally ill and he sint being checked by police or anything." The fact is valid that without the conflict inherent in humankind, Justin would be just another guy trying to get by. And despite the fact that Fern works for him, she's still not realized that. She really does just want everyone to get along. It makes life so much easier. Luckily for Justin, that's not ever likely to happen, it's been proven throughout the whole history of existence. Conflict is the true nature of the beast, so to speak. She opens her mouth to say something, but then Jeremy is there, and her attention is easily turned to the reunion. "Jeremy!" She moves automatically to hug the boy, forgetting that he's been reluctant about contact in the past, reverting to her own open nature by default. "It's been so long since I've seen you, I'm sorry that I've been so terrible about keeping in touch." She does sound truly chagrined with herself, hurrying to add, "Heck no, we aren't busy."

"In saying that, Laura, no one's normal. My opinion. Not up for debate, enough of that." Rose says waving a hand dismissively at the air around them. Reaching the table though, she scowls. No alcohol, but something cooked might tide her over until she could get to a place that ID's. "So, your worry is that somebody like Superman, the police couldn't just stop him if he did go crazy? That's why we have to police each other." Something she's well aware she's not equipped for. Most of the heroes out there could squash her like a bud...

"No, Bobby...that might cause something to explode. Thank you," He then turns, "You sound a lot like you're trying to instigate something," Warren points out to Hans. "I would rather that this not end up as some sort of brawl. Human awareness and capacity for equality has grown exponentially in the last fifty years and all I'm asking is that those of us with the mutant gene be likewise accepted. I am not saying we want to fade into the throng. That is for each one to decide, just as it is for each human to decide. I'm not asking for complete, blind trust." He looks to the others involved in the conversation and gives a nod in agreement. "I'm asking that you see us as people and not as 'powers'."

Hammer looks toward the kid when he speaks up. He recognizes him, remembering meeting him before. But where? Wait- Fern was there, right? The rest of the story falls into place pretty quickly. Fern, Thor, and the kid, Jason was it? No... The CEO had bought everything on the list the youth had brought with him, he was volunteering at the shelter down the road, and told him to take the money he had brought with him back to the shelter. "You got it, kid," Hammer replies, offering the youth one of his usual grins, the ones that Fern seems to find something genuine in. /Jeremy, that was it!/ Luckily, Fern's greeting saves him the potential embarrassment of trying to guess the kid's name. With the redhead now disengaged from his arm, he puts both hands in his pants pockets, dividing his attention between the debates and those around him. His security team is still present, though keeping in the background.

"There is someone here," Monet hisses without looking back to Doug. "A man--he could look like anyone--who poses a serious threat."

Very quickly, the teen is grabbing Doug by the shoulders and close enough that the faint scent of her perfume drifts over him. "Mr. Ramsey--"

Ruth returns and says something polite. Monet stares at her, wide-eyed, until she begins walking away again.

"--Mr. Ramsey, are there any mutants here that can detect telepaths? I can provide a unique psychic signature for them to track. Any sufficiently trained telepath or empath will be suitable!"


 * ""Stay away from my sisters. I have already made a fool of you, pale man. If I am your creation, you made me too clever.""|

Jeremy does tense up a little as Fern gives him a hug, but doesn't pull away. He's improved a little, but he's still a bit of a skittish sort, it seems. "You haven't been bad about it, Miss Fern...I haven't been keepin' in touch either. I've been really busy with...um, you know...helpin' out places..." He shrugs a little. He looks over at Hammer, and smiles a bit. "Th-thanks again for before...it was a really big help, Mister Justin. Um, it's nice seein' the two of you here...it's a good cause, I think, isn't it?" He looks back over at the stage. "Though...I guess I understand some of the worries. When there's lots of power goin' around, there's lots of chances for things to go really, really wrong. But...I think most people with powers wanna do good with 'em, don't you?"

As Blindfold starts to head back, Doug nods at Monet, starting to follow, before stopping, as the woman grasps him. "Monet... yes. Nate..." he begins, looking over towards where the dimensionally-challenged Summers scion stands.

Nate nods to Rose. "Well, the Justice League and the Avengers are close to law-enforcement agencies, right?" Truth is he has not been keeping tab on how close and which agencies lately. He is just guessing. And then there is the Stormwatch, which do indeed do policing from the shadows.

He was going to add some comment about the food, but instead he tenses. Something is very wrong in the periphery of his psychic sense. It is that sensation that someone is walking on your grave, or planning weird experiments with your mutant genes.

"I am simply asking why people should hide behind laws and not accept you freely, nothing more, Herr Worthington." Hans says with a shrug as he begins to walk out. "If you all will excuse me, I am hungry and do not wish to eat all your food." He says calmly as he begins to walk off.

Bane internally seethes at the thought that humans can't do anything against super powered beings that cross the line. But Smiles in agreement with Warren's comments.

"That is more than reasonable to ask. In that spirit I seem to have neglected to introduce myself. I'm Ishmael Guevara I'm 35 I live in Gotham"

"It's an excellent cause," Fern agrees with Jeremy. "I agree with you. I think that people are people, deep down, and most of them want to do good, whether they have powers or not." Of course, Jeremy himself numbers among those who have protected Fern from harm in the past, making him one more example of the good in people. Her eyes drift back to Warren for a moment before her attention returns to her companions. "Hey, we should all grab something to eat. Have you had anything yet, Jeremy?" With all the running around he's been doing for others, she wouldn't be at all surprised if he's forgotten to take care of himself. She motions toward Justin, "We were just going to check out the tacos, they look really good." Well, technically, they were going to go say hello to Warren, but she doesn't want to get in the way of the exchange going on.

Laura doesn't add that if it involves mutants, there more than likely are multiple groups that would try to shut down rogue mutants. Not just the likes of The Avengers or Justice League, but also possibly Weapon X. Oh sure, odds are Weapon X would try to recruit and/or brainwash them, or would be more likely to kill them...

But then again, considering what she was told, Laura probably suspects Rose might have her own ideas of who might get involved in such a case as well.

So instead, as the trio approach the food, the clawed clone blinks at Nate an murmurs, "Something wrong?" as she notices that wince.

Bobby just shrugs, falling silent and stepping back. He'll let Warren handle it if he doesn't want some snowy help then. "Mend," the young heroine introduces. "Or Marissa, as I'm off duty. Just thought the costume would stand out a little more." She smiles easily. "Gotham. I tend not to go there too often. I respect anyone who can live in that city." She sounds as if she means it.

But the other group is walking away from her now! In the direction of food. Blindfold stops walking in their direction, seriously considering just walking her jean-clad hindparts right back to the car and waiting. Or maybe paying for a taxi to take her all the way back to the Institute itself.

Ultimately, that's the course of action she decides on, veering off from her intended course and heading towards the edge of the park. It'd be best if she didn't ruin anyone else's day with more doomsaying, get called creepy again, or see any more horrid images from a horrid man. Or get called creepy again.

When she gets close enough to a street, she heads for the nearest bus stop. She'll arrive at the school via public transportation several hours later.

Something wasn't right, and that -thing- is the fact Nate isn't perusing the food and sputtering out orders or inquiring as to what something is... So he can demolish it. From one finger aiming to point, to her hand resting at her side, she is watching her teammate cautiously, even glancing to Laura to see if she was noting it as well, only to have it confirmed with her question.

Bane stops and turns to Hans "Because the laws are there for the the protection of us all mr, and you and no one has the right to shirk them and put yourself above the rest. this is everyone's country everyone's world not just yours"

Warren Worthington nods to Hans as he departs, "That's my point. We -should- be just accepted and not made to put ourselves above...or below anyone else." He then nods to Bane, "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Guevara and thank you for coming out tonight." A "Thank you," is also given to Mend and he grins at Bobby, "I appreciate the offer though." Catching Fern looking around, he then tries to raise a hand to wave at her. Finally! The band, seeing that the discourse has broken up, finally begins to play.


 * "It's pointless. Were you to find me, I could be gone in an instant, but by all means... Scurry about. I only intend to say a few things more..."| Milton smiles and pays one of the men manning the food truck he finds himself closest to a few dollars in exchange for the... thing they hand him. Once a suitable amount of distance is put between them and the good Doctor, the ball of grease that was most certainly /not/ something he'd be inclined to eat is dumped in a trash and he turns to resume is monitoring of Monet. |"Hardly a fool, Monet. More like... a proud parent. You're growing up to be more than I could have imagined. So much more, but now it's time for your final step into greatness. While these fools blather on about human-mutant integration, I have made plans to... well let's just say, secure the future of mutantkind. Plans that involve you. Plans that, in a vague sense, involve your sisters. I know where they are, just as I knew where you would be... and I can be there in a second. If was able to so easily capture you... How long do you think it would take me to steal them away. Carve them up. Disect them and see how they tick?"| A short pause, before... |"Unless you are willing to cooperate."|

Justin gives a slight bow toward Jeremy. "My pleasure, my pleasure," he says in response. At least the kid is grateful, which is far better than most he talks to. Jeremy may be tolerable after all. He lets Fern and the boy talk, not interjecting his opinion. Since, honestly, his opinion will be a harsh and unpopular one. Fern's belief of all people wanting to do good is probably the only reason she still claims him as a friend. The topic of food, whether from a food truck or something better, it a welcome derailment. "Oh, yeah, food. We should look into that. My treat." Another veneer smile.

Though really, Jeremy protected Fern and Fern protected Jeremy, too, in that situation. There's an argument for norms and supers working together, right? "Um, food...did I..." Jeremy thinks about that a bit, and then blinks. "Oh! No, that's right, I was gonna, and then there was that old man who dropped his cane, and...um, it kind of snowballed from there." He looks sheepish, and looks at Justin, a bit guiltily. "A-Are you sure, mister? I'm...um..." A pause, as he has to admit he actually didn't bring any money, largely because he doesn't have any at the moment, so... "Um...I'll...I'll pay you back sometime, promise." !

Monet follows Doug's eyes with her own. She knows that man, Nate Grey.

The young mutant presses a palm against Doug's cheek, pushing his face back so she can give him a meaningful look. "Thank you, Mr. Ramsey."

And then she takes to the air, flying soundlessly above the crowd.


 * "I sense that you will tell me your terms regardless of my interest in hearing them. Please, continue."|

Monet cuts down sharply, descending to stand entirely too close to a certain Summers scion. One may gravewalk from the sky, it seems.

"Hello, Nate." She reaches out, trying to make physical contact with him--a shoulder or a hand, preferably. If she does, a feeling rushes into him: a psychic imprint of a person that she cannot name, a pale man with a terrible smile. Monet is composed but her expression is insistent. "He is here. Help me find him."

Fern waves both Jeremy and Justin off, saying, "Oh no, I've got a good job now. I'm buying." Then she leans toward Justin and stage whispers, "Can I borrow twenty bucks until payday, boss?" A light nudge punctuates the humor in her words, and suddenly she changes track entirely. "Oh hey, Warren's right there! Let's just say a quick hi, then we'll eat." She takes a step away, turns to make sure her companions are coming with, and then weaves the short distance to the man of the hour. Of course, he's not going to dodge the hug bullet as she steps up to him, mindful of his wings as she always is. "Warren, this is great! There's so many people here, and you were absolutely brilliant!" As she steps back she looks to Bobby, her smile warm, "Hey, Bobby! It's great to see you again! Have you both met Justin and Jeremy?" she asks, with a sweep of her arm. Others around get a nod of greeting, but without knowing names she's a little less bold with them.

As the band starts to play, Mend falls into appreciative silence. And then she heads towards the nearest food vendor. There has to be something good to eat around here...and at least she knows she won't either be called out for being a mutant or asked to endorse something...

"I don't know," replies Nate hesitantly. His eyes are wandering over the crowd, though, looking for potential threats. But it is a large crowd in the middle of New York, and he has no real idea of what he is looking for. "Probably nothing," he admits.

Then Monet drops from the sky and he frowns. "Hey what..." surprise memory dump. Augh.

He knows that psychic signature, it makes him jump to his feet instantly. "Sinister!" Sheer hatred and rage fills his mind, red hot. Monet might be shocked by the intensity, he is touching him and he is projecting. Nate clenches his jaw and turns around, his left eye glowing brightly, searching for that psychic signature among the crowd while opening his mind to the crowd. Too many minds! But he tries anyway.

The smile is a bit more honest this time as Hammer pulls his right hand from his pocket to wave it dismissively. "No, no, don't worry about it. You don't owe me anything, Jeremy. I mean, what's the cost of a meal between friends, right?" After all, Justin can more than afford to get three meals at a food truck. Hell, he could buy each of them an entire food truck, complete with crew on a whim, if he really wanted to. For once, the flashing of cash isn't so much to show power and status, but to do something that shows Fern's faith in him may have a little grounding. But no matter his motivations, Fern seems to trump him. And before he can protest or respond to her humor, she's off toward Warren. With a mental shrug he heads off after the redhead, both hands back in his pants pockets as he walks. Justin draws to a stop when Fern greets Warren, giving the other businessman a smile and a nod. "Warren, nice work here," he offers, then nods toward Bobby and any others that are close by.

And before Laura can get any food, Monet up and drops in.

And Nate freaks out.

And the clawed clone /almost/ pops her claws as she glances about, before her gaze locks on Rose in a sort of 'I don't know what's going on, but it's /wrong/ sort of way' that also sort of silently asks if she knows just why Nate is screaming/loosing it like he is.

The vendor is now ignored. Food did not seem so tasty, especially if there was going to be a fight, or a potential for one. Wait 20 minutes after eating to engage in combat, lest you cramp. Rose's version of 'swimming' rules. Instead the vendor table is now a prop for the perch of her ass as she turns and faces the crowd, palms pressed to the table just behind her back to keep her propped up, and her hands closer to what she had hidden. Just in case. Bane moves to mingle and introduce himself to the reast of the people there. Drawn Laura and Monet first approaches them.

"Hello, nice to meet you, Call me Ishmael" Bane says while extending a friendly hand

To Laura's look, Rose shakes her head slowly, keeping eye contact with the girl for a moment and then slowly dragging that gaze towards Monet. "Though process of elimination says..." Hands start sliding slowly. Rose doesn't know Monet, and she is ready to jump well on her own.

Warren Worthington is certainly not going to avoid Fern's hug! "You came! I saw you after I talked...were you here for that? Thanks...I...don't usually do public speaking for this many people. The last was for my Press Conference and it was so much shorter!" He gives her another hug before reaching out a hand, "Hammer, good to see you again. Thanks for coming to this...the more the merrier, really." His smile fades some upon seeing someone flying in, but he glances about to make sure that the officers are aware of this. No one seems to be doing anything yet, just observing.

He looks back and offers his hand to Jeremy as well, "Nice to meet you, Jeremy. Thanks for coming. Oh, hey! There's Doug! He did show!" and with some of the Institute kids.

As Monet flies for Nate, Doug follows along, albeit in a more sedate manner, moving next to Rose. Gathering up food, Doug seats himself much the same way as Rose, albeit with hand holding up a plate. However tense she was, the young mutant sighs. "Don't mind Monet. She's... intense. Grape?"

Jeremy /clearly/ has a bit of an attack of shyness as Fern calls the head of the event's attention to him, even if just a little, and mumbles, "Um...h-hi...n-nice to meet you, M-Mister Warren...M-Mister Bobby..." He's actually stepped into position where he's kind of almost hiding behind Justin, but not quite. "Um...i-it's a really good event, sir, and you said some really nice stuff. Um, um, I really h-hope it works." He hesitantly takes Warren's hand, giving it a light shake, but lets go and backs off again shortly after.

The band plays, the food trucks and vendors hawk their wares, and at this point, it's much more like a festival or block party and less like any sort of rally. A couple of the protestors apparently forgot to eat because a couple are noticed sneaking in to get something from the food trucks before slinking back over to their grouping. The officers are on hand as the voice of authority in case anyone starts to get uppity.

"She's... Something." Rose mutters lowly, but seeing as the others were not being proactive in a violent matter towards the woman and handling it calmly, she slides her hands further back again, sans one that rises to take the offered fruit and pop it past her lips while watching Doug for a lasting moment of assessment from head to toe before turning back towards the others.

The experience of being identified when no one alive should know your name is... disconcerting. Truly, only one other being knows what Milton actually chooses to call himself, at least in this timeline... Well two, but the second possesses no telepathic talent whatsoever. Instantly, his mind goes on the defensive, at it's apparent for a few seconds to both Nate and Monet -- Fear. Fear of someone far older and more potent than himself. Someone probably familiar to Nate.

After a few seconds, the fear abates as Milton's initial assumption is discarded and the contact returns, this time to not only Nate and Monet, but Laura, Doug, and Rose as well. |"Curious. How do you know my name, I wonder? No matter... You will all know me in time. I warn you now, when the time comes... You would all do well to submit. I would hate to lose any of you gifted young men and women. You'll be so... useful to me."| He closes his mind to all Monet now, and begins to slowly approach her, slowly morphing, shifting Milton's frame into Sinister's as he progresses through the crowd. |"Return to the location you escaped to from my base. There you will meet a man with a very special talent. He will bring you to me. That is all you need do, and your sisters will be left alone."| Finally he comes to a stop several feet away from the group, a small smile on his lips, just as the presence reaches out to all of them again. |"Until we meet again..."| And then several people pass in front of him, momentarily he's lost in the crowd, and when they finally disperse -- Sinister is gone.

Technically, Justin would still be paying for the meal since Fern is yet to get her first 'real paycheck' and she was only half joking about the loan. She doesn't step far away from Warren, smiling at him, "You have a natural talent for it. Hey, we're going to get something to eat, why don't I bring you something in a bit, and you can talk to people for a while?" she offers. Looking at Justin, she grins. "Make that 25. C'mon guys, I'm starving." She'll enjoy her time with Justin and Jeremy, but her eyes will drift a little too often toward the sight of white wings. And once the little group parts, she'll make her way back over to Warren with some food, as promised.

Mend is oblivious to the reason for the tension, but not to the tension itself. From a bit of a distance, she watches, just in case this is a situation that requires her intervention. Not hearing the telepathy, she just knows *something* is making everyone consider a fight.

There's no hesitation as Justin takes Warren's hand. "Couldn't pass up an event for such a worthy message now, could I?" he replies as if this were the complete truth and Fern didn't have to talk him into it. Still, given his reputation and general lack of sincerety, it might be easy to find the falsehood. The kid using him as cover is far from unnoticed, though Hammer manages to hide any minor annoyance and his security team doesn't even flinch. They're well trained, and know the difference between a potential attack and a scared kid. Fern gets a chuckle. "Don't worry about it, Fern, I'll get it," he returns to her before offering Warren a parting nod and following after the redhead.

And as Doug comes back, Laura shakes her head towards him, before her gaze returns to Nate for now. It's almost as if she's waiting for him to do something...

And yet as Bane comes over, the clawed clone just glances at him for a moment or two, before she points at the food vendors and lets out, "White whale."