lucetilogs | House of M - The Beginning

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House of M - The Beginning

Who: Billy Kaplan + Anyone who wants to be involved in the House of M Plot + Related CR + Anyone Really
What: Um. The House of M Plot.
When: October 1st-7th
Where: Literally anywhere in Luceti, yo
Summary: Billy returns from a kidnapping feeling a bit, er, different. A white light envelops the village for just a moment, and when it fades... well. All kinds of things are different, actually.
Rating: Varies, anything above R take it elsewhere!

Still accepting last minute sign-ups, if anyone is interested.

It starts off so innocently, early on the morning of October 1st. A burst of light, a warm rush of energy that consumes everything it touches, and it's gentle enough to feel like stepping out into sunlight from the shade. It's so brief that some people might not even notice it happened. But there are certainly... differences. Some subtle, some not. And those changed won't even understand the problem.

After all, why would perfection be a problem?

The truth is, there are no problems. There can't be. It's perfect, Billy thinks. Believes it. His belief is his reality, and now, it's their reality. It all has to be perfect; they deserve it, all of them, for one reason or another. And he'll do whatever he has to protect that perfection from being tainted, ruined, taken away from them.

Teddy died so this could happen, after all.

So what is your new reality?

((first two threads reserved for the intro thread and billy's status; after that consider this log a free-for-all.))

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[Maybe she should be proceeding with caution given the strangeness of his eyes. But this is Billy. Her friend and her teammate. Kate doesn't even think. She just reacts. Her hands clamp on his shoulders firmly and she tries to get him to focus on her face.]

Billy! Billy, you need to calm down. [Before he hyperventilates or does more damage to himself. She's counting on Optimus' animal sense of self-preservation to get away if something goes wrong. As for Kate? She'll just deal.] Please calm down, Billy. You're scaring me.

[Billy resists her at first, trying to pull against her grasp, his whole body trembling uncontrollably. Calm down? How can he calm down? There's something wrong- there's so much wrong that he can't even begin to explain it. His head is pounding and it feels so full he thinks it might explode. And there's still the issue of-

-oh god-]

Kate...

[He tries desperately to focus on her, his eyes meeting hers for all of three seconds before they drift away again, staring vacantly to the side.]

I can't find... I can't... help me...

[Oh god does this look bad. She hasn't felt panic like this in a long time. Sure, things had gotten tense every now and then working with Clint. Their damned trip to Asia to retrieve the falsified tape for SHIELD is proof of that. But they had gotten out of there with minor scratches and bruises and dignity mostly in tack. But worry like this? She hasn't felt since Cassie's death.]

Billy, stay with me. [It's practically a demand as she tightens her grip on one shoulder. The other hand is moved to grasp his chin, forcing him to look at her. For all the good that does.] I need you to stay with me. We need to get you to the clinic and I can't lift you on my own.

[He focuses on her again, but it's still so brief; before long he jerks away from her and stumbles back, trying to push himself to his feet.]

I don't... I don't need the clinic...! I'm fine, I'm fine, I can't go there, I can't give up! I have to fix everything!

[He gives the area another frantic look, struggling for a moment before managing to climb to his feet. He sways there, the world spinning dizzily, but he can't seem to stop moving. Where... where is it...? It was right there... what was he holding...?]

[She watches him with worried blue eyes, not at all liking this pit forming in the bottom of her stomach. This looks bad. This looks so, so bad.]

We need to fix you. [The word is stressed. She has no idea what Billy's talking about, no idea at all. Is it Teddy? Is it because Teddy's not back yet? But he will come back, won't he? What they do - what the Malnosso do - it's not any sort of permanent harm, is it?

Because she can't remember her own time with them, she's chosen not to dwell on it too much. But now? She watches Billy try to stand and gets to her own feet, looking around to try to see what it is Billy's looking for. But she sees nothing. And it makes her feel helpless. She has no powers, not like the rest of the team does. What good is she?]

C'mon, Billy. Please? [She reaches out tentatively.] Let me help you.

It won't help...

[He's getting desperate now, the glow in his eyes gradually intensifying the more time passes. It's almost like his control is completely shot to hell.]

I just need to keep looking. I'll be fine if I fix it. If I fix what they did... if I...

[He staggers again, feeling dizzy, and slumps against a tree to keep himself from falling over. His head is pounding, his chest aches... nothing feels right.

Where is it? Where is he?]

Yes, it will. [She thinks that she's starting to slowly piece it together. Both Billy and Teddy disappeared around the same time. Only Billy's come back and in absolutely horrible, ragged condition. Whatever the Malnosso decided to do to her friends, it wasn't anything good. And Teddy's still there.

Her attempt to help him when he staggers falls short and she breathes a sigh of relief when he finally settles by the tree. Kate walks closer and gently places her hand on his shoulder.

They've gotten through worse.] We'll fix it. But first, before we go rescue Teddy, we've got to get you better. You know that. A half-cocked rescue mission will only put all of us in more danger.

[At his name, Billy looks up. He wants to laugh; there's no humour in it, but he can't help it. Rescue Teddy. Rescue him, like they can get to him now, like they can just break down the door and carry him out and breathe life back into him and put the wings back and-

It's funny, the very idea that it's possible. Yet it's not funny at all. Kate doesn't know. Kate has no idea.

When he sets free that laugh, it's an empty sound, quiet and wavering. He turns to face her, expressionless and eerily calm, and the blue glow has eclipsed his eyes completely, like he's in the middle of a spell now.]

Teddy's dead, Kate...

[Her face turns completely ashen. Of everything she expects to hear, this is one of the last. Teddy can't be dead. It's impossible. In a place where Cassie is live and well, where all the locals talk about death as a state of non-permanence, that just can't be possible.

She's already lost Cassie. She's lost Jonas. She can't lose Teddy, too. Not now. Not on her watch.]

You're... you're joking.

[But he isn't, is he? Because Billy would never, ever joke about something like this. Oh god, Teddy's dead.]

Oh... oh god, Billy. I'm- [There are tears. She can't stop them from welling up in her eyes. Oh god, oh god, oh god.] -he'll come back, won't he? Won't he?

[He'll come back. He stares at her, taking in what he can see of her face beyond the glow: her expression, her tears, the paleness of her face. It's the response he knows he should be having. He'd watched Teddy die right in front of his eyes, seen the wings torn away, feathers broken, blood pooling-

He should be crying, but all he feels is calm. He'll come back. He will come back. It's a certainty for which he won't allow any doubt.

Teddy will come back.

Even if he has to do it himself.]

He will. I'll make sure of it. Everything... will be okay.

[Everything will be perfect. Just like it was before.

He looks down, and his hands start to glow as well. Magic can do that, can't it? Fix it? Fix everything? Make it all right again?

What else is magic for?]

[He seems to calm. That's the first thing that Kate notices after the initial shock finally wears away. He's too calm. He should be ranting right now, screaming vengeance. Or he should be a broken puddle of tears. This numbness can't be good. It can't be remotely healthy.

Oh god, Teddy's dead. And Billy...]

Whoa, Billy! [She holds out her hands in defense as she glances down at his. Okay, maybe the numbness wasn't such a bad thing. Because this can't be good. It can't be even the slightest bit a good thing. Spells being cast irrationally? Oh shit.] Billy, what are you doing?

I'm fixing it.

[The glow brightens, the whole area around them becoming charged with energy, throbbing like an unsteady heartbeat. He's not in control anymore, he can tell- the magic is guiding him, and he's following its direction. A lost child guided by a very intense trail of bread crumbs.

He's lost without Teddy. Teddy's dead.

But Teddy can't be dead. It's wrong. The words are all wrong. That isn't supposed to be his reality.

So he'll fix it.]

I'll get him back.

[There's so much power; he's never felt this much of it before, not once. It's too much. Far, far too much for one spell. For one person.

You can do more with this, can't you? Not just Teddy. Not just your own life. You really can fix it all.

You can make it so this never happens again.

With power like this, it would be... so easy. And everyone would be happy and safe and...

...perfect.

A sudden pulse of light surrounds him, slowly spreading outwards before drawing in close again. Building up towards release. His eyes flare again.]

[Then he speaks, one last time quiet but intense:]

"I want to change the world."

[And just like that, the world burns white.]

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House of M - The Beginning

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