un: HELLION | video

[vexant]

Is anyone going to explain who the hell dropped in Xavier's Institute but forgot to bring along - what, literally any mutant?

( most people might start with a hello. julian just starts with a finger pointing back at the manor off behind him. )

Or, fine, anyone but Jean. ( because he's only half counting her as is. )

Comments

[decodex]

Didn’t think you were asking for it.

Are you?

[codicies]

[ That disarms him for a moment. He was expecting Eddie to match that energy, and it takes Dylan a moment to recalibrate. ]

...I get why you're worried about me. But I'm pretty sure Hellion and I are from the same world, or at least pretty close, and it sounds like it's a lot different from where you came from.

I could have benefitted a lot from that kind of training. I still could.

[decodex]

( eddie's been a rebellious teen before, too. he knows the best way to get away with something is never ask permission and to feign ignorance if/when he inevitably gets caught. can't get in trouble for something you didn't know was against the rules. )

Dylan, you're good. As long as you're not waltzing into, like, an active volcano, I think you're good. Go fuck shit up in the Danger Room— Ow.

( yeah, okay, language, he gets it!!!

it helps that the danger room doesn't sound all that dangerous according to the others chiming. plus venom probably wouldn't let him say no even if he wanted to. they need to let their son spread his wings!! )

I know I'm not your real dad or anything, but I don't want you to end up... dead. That's all. Just be safe-ish.

[vexant]

I've led X-Men squads before, I can handle not getting a teenager killed during a training exercise.

( well. as long as things keep quiet like this. no guarantees if sentinels start popping up all over the place, but that'd hardly be julian's fault. )

[decodex]

Are you saying ex-men? Like formerly men? Because that’s a really specific subset of people…

[vexant]

.. you know what? Nevermind.

I don't have to explain myself to idiots.

[decodex]

Good rule of thumb, yeah.

Have fun, kids.

[codicies]

ohhhhhmygod for someone who isn't my real dad you sure know how to be embarrassing

[decodex]

Need me to pack you a lunch, sweetie?

[codicies]

[ muffled groan into hands ]

Are you doing a bit or do you seriously not know who the X-Men are?

[decodex]

Uh, both, actually.

But, yeah, no, we don't have that in my world. At best, X-Men sorta sounds like a brand of men's athletic wear.

[codicies]

Really? They're like, the faces of the Mutant Rights movement back home. Who represents mutants in your world?

[decodex]

We're still working on human rights in my world, bud. Pretty sure people would implode if non-humans came out of the woodwork asking for rights too.

Are powers really that common? And is 'mutant' like a derogatory thing, or...?

[codicies]

It's not derogatory, it's a classification. I don't know exactly how it works, but it refers to something specific in their DNA.

So your world doesn't have any other superheroes? Just one?

[ It sounds so... statistically unlikely. ]

[decodex]

As far as we know, just one.

( and they're barely heroes. they don't have a cape or a mask!!

it's true that they saw a guy with a spider logo on his chest once, but that was in another dimension. they never even got around to talking to him. )

If anyone's got something going on with their DNA, they're being really lowkey about it.

[vexant]

It's called the X-Gene. Every mutant has it, regardless of what their mutation is. Usually right around the onset of puberty, we start developing our mutation. Mercury was a high school cheerleader, 'til she woke up and found her body'd changed to a liquid, mercury-like substance. She's living metal. There's some that are more obvious, some that are more subtle.

[codicies]

Yeah, that's it. Sometimes it's hard to tell who's actually considered a mutant if you don't have that info. Like, I thought Miss Marvel wasn't a mutant, but lately I've been seeing photos of her with an X-Men uniform on, so maybe I was wrong.

[vexant]

News to me.

( he hasn't seen her with an x-men uniform on, but it's whatever. weirder crap has happened. )

But it's possible. We've got alien mutants, why not an inhuman?

[codicies]

Probably really low-key, then? I seriously can't imagine a world that just... doesn't have mutants in it.

[codicies]

...thanks. That means a lot.