2013.05.24 - Slight Detour

Hell.

It's one of those places that once one visits, it's not a repeat vacation spot. Those that are trapped there are there for very specific reasons.

Bad mutants that have done very bad things.

That, however, doesn't stop one Kurt Wagner; a mutant that has spent all his life thus far refusing to admit there was anything to the fact that he was.. blue furred, yellow eyed, spade-tailed.. well, okay. Denial only goes so far before acceptance comes with an oft-lingering-

BUT!

If Amanda knew, she'd kill him.

If Jean knew, she'd mind flay him.. then kill him.

Hell... already knows.

Since returning those few scant days ago, Kurt's been practicing his bamfs. Here, there.. up.. down..

And half-way.

And while in that half-way point, otherwise known as HELL, the fuzzy blue elf is learning the geography, learning the limitations of his teleporting.. and ultimately?

Having a little fun with it, now that he's purchased a new cross, of course. Don't go to Hell without it!

It's always easiest to prepare when one knows where it is that they're going.

To say there's something in the air in Hell tonight would be a curious understatement. The air's always off around here. Tension and dread run rampant, completely unchecked. Encouraged, even. The difference this time? There's more than one unexpected visitor.

There's two.

It's not far away that Kurt would hear the sound of Hellhounds braying, gearing up for another hunt. They've found their prey. They're heading toward the maze of caves nearby, clearly he's not the one that they're searching for. This hunt had some time to gather momentum before his arrival.

Something else is out there. Something that probably shouldn't belong.

Against the backdrop of almost perpetual twilight, the sickly-looking lightning courses through the sky, and the hellhounds are on the hunt! Kurt catches the sound on one of his many shorter *bamfs*, now in a different direction than he had taken those days ago. (Or, according to the time here, only a mere day ago!)

Pausing, Kurt cants his head, glowing yellow eyes looking to the middle distance where he can catch the slavering infernal cretures' movements. They're trotting.. quickly, their ears quirked forward, listening.. and obviously on track.

Not a good sign.

* bamf*

While Kurt's not all that sure about the mechanics of the place.. what sort of torment is dished out and why.. and how.. he's pretty sure about this. And as they begin to make their way into that maze, he's catching up.. to the point where the next *bamf*, he will be riding one!

* bamf*

Three things one can safely assume about Hellhounds: They're vicious, they're always hungry, and they don't appreciate giving piggyback rides.

In a flash the one beneath Kurt leaps up into the air, trying to twist its nasty maw around to land a solid bite on the creature that dares demand a free ride upon its shoulders. That takes some serious nerve!

It also works wonders to spur the rest of the pack on, the sudden spark of excitement kicking their hunt into overdrive. Ears lay flat, noses arrow forward, and one after another they start blitzing toward the tunnels not far away. The one hound is a lost cause.

That just means more food for the rest of the pack! Gotta catch it while it's fresh!

Slavering hounds.. and Kurt holds on, wrapping his tail about the fell beast for a moment before he's gone again. With most of the hellhound, anyway. Or.. part of it.

* bamf*

The other little trick the elf has learned.. how to teleport parts. And for all the practice he gets on damned creatures, he doesn't have to work on the 'living', such as they are!

It's something of a surprise then, that the moment he's back, the slavering beasts are headed on a beeline.. and when he returns in that next heartbeat, he's pushing off anything he can get purchase on, and telporting quickly to keep up, if not get into the lead of the creatures.

"Run!" he yells, knowing that someone, or something will hear him. "I will catch you!" As if there was method to his madness? Here's hoping they don't hear his next words,

"I hope.."

But, if he doesn't, well.. the hounds will have a fight on their hands.

And then there was one less hound. Would anyone miss that guy? Nah, probably not. He had a habit of drooling all over everything.

The others might have done something about it, except..that there's nothing to chase! It keeps teleporting. At least the slowest of the pack know that there's now a fallback meal waiting for them. He might have drooled a lot but he still tastes the same.

There's another person in the lead. Being pursued, that is. Another person, complete with a voice. "The heck do ya think I'm doing!"

Teleporting ahead of the pack is a great way to build up a lead on the rest of them. Doing so quickly reveals a larger room with numerous caverns leading off of it, something of a subterranean nexus for all of these darkened mazes. It's within this room, adhered to the ceiling, that their prey attempts to seek refuge.

It would work out a whole lot better if the patch of rocky ceiling that they're clinging to didn't decide that this moment was an ideal time to give up and fall away.

"Whoacrap..!"

Kurt is quick, he really, really is. Years of training, years of actually applying said abilities.. and that little kick of adrenaline? Always helps.

Now just keeping ahead of the crew, he's finding himself in something of a chamber of a cavern. Oh.. and it's not really fair to said prey that the blue elf is actually using the -hellhounds- as infernal (not quite yet) cadaver dogs.

And there, in all his blue, fuzzy glory, acrobatically leaps Kurt, adhering to the wall first, and then the ceiling. His footing, too, begins to come loose in the rocky mixture that is the ceiling.. but he's got it covered. Mostly.

Using the downward momentum of the fall, Kurt actually pushes off, in a direction of his own choosing, which happens to be in the self-same direction of the dark object falling that has uttered, now, that telltale 'Whoacrap!'..

Should everything work properly, he'll be grabbing the other, and *bamfing* out of the catacomb.. but should he miss? Well..

Playful puppies want to play!

"Not coo--"

* bamf*

"--ooOAGH!"

Whump!

Out of the cavern, out into the marginally brighter twilight conditions shrouding this dimension, a few things quickly become apparent.

The person that Kurt rescued is lanky, dark in coloring, has two exceptionally pronounced elven ears, and is holding onto the teleporter for dear life with something that is neither arm nor leg.

It's a tail.

"Whothawhat?!"

She also has bright, glowing yellow eyes, completely devoid of any pupils and definition. Eyes which are now staring right at you.

"Dad?!"

There's howling in the distance. The hounds haven't been stopped by the disappearing act of their prey. The hunt continues.

There's no time to look at the jump; it's a leap of faith, as it were, guided by that new cross that hangs about his neck.

* bamf*

And out into the less dim light, away from the caverns, landing on a familiar outcropping some distance away. Doesn't mean the hellhounds are any less on their way. It's just.. they have a little farther to go, and they're more than a little pissed off. Kurt hadn't teleported out home because, well.. one doesn't simply *bamf* out of hell without making the rescuee's acquaintance-- Hey...

It would have been much, much worse if Kurt hadn't met a TJ once before. Knowing what he does now about dimensions, and infinite possiblities, what would be the chance that this one was the one that he'd met..

Doesn't matter.

"TJ? What are you--" Beat. "How did you get--"

Take three?

"You can bamf?"

Wide yellow eyes stare back at Kurt through all of this, TJ not knowing if she's dreaming or hallucinating or what the heck is going on! "You've got both eyes..!"

"I can what?"

It's Nocturne, but not as you know her! Blast all of those pesky alternate realities and side dimensions and backroad realities. This one's a little bit older, a little bit more powerful, and had just been on the run for some time, if her appearance is any indication. The thin layer of blue fur is caked with rust red dust, adhering to her in a darker shade wherever she's suffered a cut or scrape (of which there are several at first glance.) The brown leather armor is now tainted by a matte vermilion powder, decent lightweight torso protection but doing nothing for the limbs.

Another howl is responded to by several others, the pack having split apart in search. One of the teams seems to have picked up the scent.

"Hey, since we obviously know each other and all could we maybe not sit around and wait to get torn apart by mutant dogs? Please?" We can catch up when we aren't too busy being dead, I promise!"

"All the better to see you with," comes as an immediate reply to your observation regarding his possession of both eyes. Kurt's looking at you now, truly looking at you, both eyes widened, "Are you hurt at all?"

Of course, such questions can keep until later, and he tears his attention away from you and looks to where the now two packs of hounds are baying.

"You had better be who you say you are, meine schöne Tochter, or all hell will break lose at home." Beat. "Und I will be very cross."

Kurt is nothing, if not terribly impulsive, and reaching out to give you a hug, he murmurs, "Hold on," before he's the hell outta Hell.

* BAMF!*

Next stop? A rather expensive looking boat in a slip in a New York City harbour.

Is she hurt... "Not enough to stop," TJ admits. She's more out of breath than anything, been on the run ever since she got here and who knows how long ago that was.

The next statement has her looking just as confused as before. "Who else would I be..? I'm not even sure how you're still alive!"

Being cross. She never did forget her father's temper. Her father's, that is. Not... "Why do you look young enough to be my brother? How did I wind up here?"

Station break! A boat out in the New York City harbor is a definite visual improvement over that other place. Smells better, too. Marginally. It is still New York, after all.

With the teleporting out of the way and an apparent return to safety, TJ is suddenly unsure of what to do. Hug back..? Get some distance?

Be honest?

"I don't know what the heck's going on."

* BAMF*

The Red Rover. Her flags are lowered, her sails are tied. She's in port and will remain so probably until Memorial Day festivities are at an end. After all, Fleet Week is coming into full swing, and boats are in the harbour from all over the world.

Once they land, Kurt does give you one more brief squeeze before he takes a step back, his tail swaying as he studies you, looking for any hint of infernal doublecrossing. "You could be one of the demons. You know.. creatures that dig into brains und take things out in order to play upon-- nevermind. It must be you." Because if that was going to happen, the chances are good that the demons would have chosen others first; those that are forefront in his mind.

Taking a deep breath, Kurt bamfs to the edge of his boat, mid'ships, and perches there, his tail wrapped about in front, yellow eyes back to watching you. "What do you mean, I'm still alive? Of course--

"Oh."

For a moment, Kurt looks.. disappointed, but it's an easy recovery.

"Und you look.. old enough to know better, young lady.. showing up in Hell without a way out." Here it comes.. like he's got room to talk!

Throughout this description of infernal double-crossing TJ stays crouched upon the deck of the ship, mimicking your very own gargoyle-esque posture almost perfectly, save for how one eye appears a good deal wider than the other.

"What on Earth are you talking about? Of course it's me. It's always been me. 'Me' just has a terrific habit of getting unintentionally 'lost.'"

Case in point.

"What--really? That's how you're going to start this out? You haven't changed a bit in there, have you?"

Yet again she isn't sure whether she wants to hug you or put more distance between the two.

Three-fingered hands hold out wide to her sides, "I don't know how I got there! I was starting to get yanked through another timeline when something went wonky and I turned up there. Thought maybe something horrible had happened. ..I don't know, maybe Poxy got at it or something."

Arms drop back at her sides, lifeless, until one hooks upward to thumb back over her shoulder. "Were we really just in Hell? Wow, the one-liners for that shall be never-ending."

Haven't changed a bit in there? No, of course not!

The pair perch almost identically; it's truly not hard to see they are, quite literally, cut from the same cloth. Down to the fingers, which Kurt smiles at before he exhales in a sigh. "Of course it is you. I had lost track of you.." Beat. "At least I think it was you, unless it wasn't you but.. you." His own three fingered hand comes up to rest his forehead in the palm of his hand, and takes a deep breath, shoulders rising.

"Poxy.. who is.." But that part isn't as important as, "Ja.. it was Hell.. that infernal place through which I bamf.. at least hear I do. Und it was lucky for you that I was practicing.. because if I wasn't-- How long were you in there?

"I lose track of myself," TJ sheepishly admits while looking off to the side, rubbing a bicep with one hand. "This does get rather confusing, doesn't it. Let's work with what we already know. I've jumped all over the place, but I don't think I've been here yet. And I've definitely not been there before. If you think you've met me before, you haven't."

Easy, right?

"Poxy..? Apocalypse?" It's promptly followed through with a quick shake of her head, thin braids momentarily sent dancing all over creation. "I don't know. Too long. That place freaks me out, and I've seen some pretty ugly realities."

That still doesn't explain how she wound up here. She starts ticking things off on her fingers. It's only necessary to cover a few points, which is good for her. She runs out of fingers fast.

"Turns out I went and got unstuck from time again, I get blinked off to somewhere else, I ..mighta been a little emotional at the time, and ..poof? I wound up in Smelly Redworld. Well, not really a poof, but not a bamf, either. Was kinda the same, only different..?" she trails off, peering back to you with an uneasy smile.

Kurt watches you, listening to everything you say, and don't say. Then, there comes that If you think you've met me.., and he rolls his head forward, nodding. "I had met you.. younger. Not by much, mind, but enough. I wondered where she'd gone to." But, the chances are very good that she's no longer here.

He raises his head again and offers an encouraging smile, though those yellow eyes do widen at the mention of the name. Hasn't crossed paths, but.. Apocalypse?

"Unglaublich.. Apocalypse.." It's a surprise that you're still around, after a fashion, and he shakes his head ruefully. "Only a Wagner.."

Regardless!

"Ja.. that was Hell. Near as I can tell, it's frozen over once.. in parts, thanks to Bobby, und it's been visited by someone bigger und badder than they are." Wolverine.

"Und.. stay right there, bitte.. I'm going to get Amanda.." Beat. "Do you know Amanda? I'm going to get her, und be right back."

* bamf*

Kurt appears in Amanda's living room, and searches for her briefly. "Leibling!"

As a cloud of sulfur fills her living room and the telltale *BAMF* pops her ears, Amanda looks up over the top of the book she's reading and sets down the cup of wine she had just picked up. "Leibende," she replies, smiling at her suprise visitor. "I thought you would be with Domino, this evening." There's no rancor as she says it. She likes Domino. "What's up?"

"Nein.. she left for Madripoor again," and Kurt sounds.. disappointed in it, but it's something he's reconciled with. "Took her to the airport. She knows she should call me once a week.. so I know she's alright." And, of course, the other way around.

"But, leibling.. I need you. Remember once I'd said that I'd met a daughter of mine.. ja?" Beat. "Well, she's back.. but.. it's not here. But it is her.. but..

"Just come with me."

Kurt takes a step and takes hold of Amanda's hand. "She's on the boat."

* BAMF*

To that, TJ actually grins and gives a lazy wave of a hand. "Takes a lot more than that to slow me down." Like..say, a one way trip to Hell! That was off to a great start of kicking her butt.

But..you're just going to leave her here, now? After she just got... Eh. He's a teleporter. "Yeah, I'll ..be around." Mostly because she isn't sure where the heck else to go at this point. She's supposed to get 'stuck' back in her own reality, not someone else's!

* bamf*

Sigh. Not that she has long to wait, but..you know.

When two people return, TJ's repositioned herself upon the railing outlining the boat. Two bare feet and a hand, the other arm draped over a knee as she looks out across the open water beyond, tail poised within the gentle breeze.

She couldn't stay right there. That would have been too easy.

"Hey dad/notdad and plus one," she offers in a notably uneasy greeting.

Amanda's brows rise at that. She pushes herself up out of the chair, setting her book aside. "Alright," she says, reaching to take his hands. "Let's go." That's the thing about being anyfriends. Anytime, anyplace, anywhere. She trusts him, and thus goes without question.

As they appear on the deck of the boat, Amanda looks around briefly, locating the girl he indicated as TJ greets them. The sorceress glances between the girl and Kurt. Wow. Aloud: "Hi."

"I'm back--" Once again, they're on the deck of the boat, and Kurt too looks around for TJ. Finding that she's moved, he can't help himself.. and he chuckles. Didn't he say..

Right.

"TJ, this is Amanda Sefton." To try and explain anything more right at that moment would complicate familial relationships even more than they are right now. "Amanda, this.. is TJ Wagner. Und.. I believe I remember the 'other' TJ telling me that her mother was Wanda Maximoff." Looking back to TJ, his brows rise in silent question. Did he get that one right?

Now, here comes the biggie.

"I found her in Hell."

As if anticipating the response, Kurt begins again, "I was practicing. I'm getting better.. und better. Und finding my way around, so now I have something of an idea more than I had.."

"Yeah, I smelled your return," TJ mutters before quickly recomposing herself. A three-fingered hand is held up toward Amanda, grinning just enough to show the points of four tiny fangs. "I come in peace."

The sparse introduction proves to be accurately detailed, at least. To the part about her mother she bobs her head a few times in confirmation. Okay, so things aren't too far off.

"You know you're not really supposed to go to Hell when someone tells you to go to Hell, right dad?"

That's ..hmm. It both is, and is not, her father. And this one is so ..young! It's weird! Bizarre! Borderline creepy..! But, that's how she's always known him! Hopefully people don't ask too many questions and just roll with it. That's all she can do.

Amanda pauses as Kurt says 'I found her in Hell.'

"You found her where?" she asks, turning to pin him with a sharp, blue-eyed gaze. She looks again at the girl. Her appearance is telling -- the small cuts and the dust. The truth is fairly obvious. "When?" she asks Kurt, now. After all, she's pretty sure they didn't bring the girl out with them the other night...

Then, however, as TJ holds up her hand, the witch has to let out a short laugh. It breaks some of the tension.

"Scarlet Witch?" Yes. A sorceress like Amanda will have heard of someone like Wanda Maximoff. Kurt hooked up with the Scarlet Witch and along came... "TJ." She turns now and accepts the offered hand (or raises her hand in kind... whichever works). "Alright, then. Nice to meet you, TJ."

That's Amanda for you: Accepts all comers.

"Not you too," Kurt mutters. Everyone's a critic when it comes to his bamf. "I happen to like-- oh, forget it.." He doesn't sound all that upset about it, mind.. just.. more amused. As TJ smiles, he catches the fangs, and he smiles in return. Yes.. definitely his daughter.. though he hadn't gotten the full rundown on what sort of things she'd inherited from her mother.

Later.

Kurt barks a laugh at the 'Go to Hell' quip, and he look theatrically surprised, brows rising. "Really? Und here I was working so hard.." Oh, the Hell jokes will be coming for a long time to come, he's sure.

It's once Amanda greets the girl, his.. daughter?! that he, too approaches TJ once again, and he reaches out to put an arm around her. "You can stay on the boat tonight.. I think we'll stay too," and he glances at Amanda. "Then, once you've gotten proper rest und some food.. we can sit down und look at where you've been und where.. it is you may go. Or, if you are here, where you'll be here.. ja?" Because, well.. even if he's nearer TJs age, he's still got the same sort of familial sense of responsibility. Moreso when the word 'dad' escapes her lips.

"Are you hungry?"

Surprisingly, this isn't turning out quite so bad anymore! TJ accepts Amanda's hand in greeting, it probably feels familiar as anything with having spent any length of time around Kurt.

"I'm going to assume by your sunny disposition that there's no global catastrophes threatening to destroy all of your reality as you know it, etcetera?" Slight pause. "Whew, good. Glad we got that out of the way. But..that leaves one question wholly unaswered. If there's no impending disaster here then I shouldn't be here. Unless the disaster is that I'm going to single-handedly destroy your world starting with his personal life, because I could see that happening," she says with a teasing smile, drawing an arm around Kurt in return. It's almost automatic, and ..familiar.

Yeah. Definitely Kurt. Of a fashion.

"Oh thank God you have food in this dimension!"

Amanda has to smile at TJ's reaction to things. Oh God, like father like daughter! That's all this world needs... A Kurt mini-me that's not a Bamf. (Does anyone really need those buggers?) Still, the witch keeps philosophical good humour about it.

"You know," she says now, "food is a great idea. Why don't I whip up one of my gypsy stews while you two catch me up on exactly what's been going on." And she pins Kurt with a look. "And just how you got back into hell... And out again."

Oh, yeah. Good thing the night's still young.