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"You all look very sharp, gentlemen," Mystique told the assembled group as everyone stood in a row during inspection. "As do you, Irene and Spiral."
"So can we go and get this over with?" Blob whined, wilting a bit in his too-tight 'formal' clothes. He was wearing the fanciest thing he owned, although he still looked the least dressy of everyone present.
"Just a moment, everyone!" came Val Cooper's familiar voice behind them. "I want an official group photo!" She ignored the unsubtle grumbling that came from most of the team, and motioned them all to line up in photo-formation, the larger people in the back row and the smaller ones in the front.
"Pyro....Super Sabre...try and tone it down a bit, will you?" Val requested, frowning at the over-exaggerated wide grins on their faces. "Blob, please don't cross your eyes."
"Behave, boys," Mystique said mildly, not really caring when they acted up in front of Val. She figured it was revenge enough for the way Cooper treated them on a regular basis.
"Okay, got it!" Val called, shooting a quick disapproving glance at the mischief-makers.
"Let's hit the road, then," Mystique instructed her team. "We've got good PR to make."
Freedom Force trooped out behind her, in various states of formal dress. They had been invited to a government function, and their leader was not about to miss an opportunity to show officials and the public that they really weren't such bad people, former criminals or not.
"Remember, Fred, you're allowed to eat a small amount of food there, and if you do, you'll get all you can eat back here afterwards. I don't want you to make us look bad by stuffing your face the whole time, capiche?"
"Sure, Misty," Blob replied nonchalantly. He didn't know that Mystique had told the other team members to keep an eye on him to make sure he stayed out of trouble.
"I hate this kind of crap," Avalanche muttered to no one in particular.
"I'm looking forward to it!" Pyro exclaimed with obvious excitement, rubbing his hands together. There was nothing he loved more than schmoozing and being the centre of attention, and he certainly planned to participate in both this evening. Most of the other team members agreed with Avalanche however, feeling that such functions were too boring for their tastes. Mystique was hoping to get tidbits of useful information, and Stonewall was anticipating some intelligent conversation, but everyone else was irritated at being forced to go and planned to escape at the first opportunity.
"May I help you?" asked the doorman outside the hotel. The expression on his face and coldness in his voice telegraphed his desire to turn them away, believing them to be gatecrashers.
"Ah well, we'd better turn back," Avalanche said hurriedly, heading towards the car.
"Dominic!" Mystique snapped, bringing him quickly back. "We have reservations. We'd like to go in now, please." She showed the man the team's invitations, and he slowly looked the group up and down, lingering mostly on Mystique and Spiral, though also giving Blob a wary glance.
"My apologies, madam. Please step inside," the doorman said with only a little more warmth than before, holding open the door for them. Commando handed him a nickel as he walked by, telling him wryly, "for your excellent service."
Freedom Force strode proudly through the lobby, eliciting many blatant stares from onlookers, though the team paid no attention. Mystique stopped them all just before they went into the ballroom, half-ordering and half-pleading "Be on your best behaviour, everyone, and no acting up!"
"Ah! Mystique and Freedom Force!" exclaimed a bureaucrat from Val's department. "Welcome to the party. I trust nothing is amiss?"
"They've promised to mind their manners, if that's what you mean," Mystique replied, her tone partly friendly and partly hostile. She wanted to remain on good terms with the government, and thus agonized over the misbehaviour of some team members, but overall her loyalty and affiliation was with her colleagues and she disliked the bad things often said about them. With a somewhat haughty toss of her head, she headed over to the punchbowl to get herself something to drink, Destiny on her arm.
Pyro had wasted no time and had already gotten himself a drink, chatting with some well-dressed women. Stonewall ambled over to some distinguished-looking officials and began to talk with them about government policy and current affairs. Blob was helping himself at the snack table, while the remaining team members stood around and looked a bit uncomfortable, speaking only when spoken to. Spiral hid out in a corner and tried to avoid everyone, including her teammates.
"I'm goin' to the can," Avalanche muttered, stalking off to the washroom and planning to spend most of the evening there, where he reasoned that not too many people would want to talk to him.
"And you, Martin? What are you planning for tonight?" Commando asked his friend, already a bit bored. "I thought I might sneak off and hole up somewhere else in the hotel. There's gotta be a bar or something worthwhile around here..."
"And waste an opportunity to chat with the ladies?" Super Sabre said with feigned incredulity. "Pyro's got the right idea. This place is full of `em. Besides, Mystique will tear a strip off you if she finds out you took off."
"And I care why?" Commando smirked. "She wouldn't do anything to me, anyway, since I'm too valuable to Freedom Force."
"If you say so..." Sabre replied, rolling his eyes. He liked his friend very much, but the man's ego sometimes amused him, his own sizeable one notwithstanding. Frank was unfortunately always overestimating his own importance, which often created tension and resentment amongst the others. Martin considered telling him that given Commando's not-so-subtle aspirations for leadership of the group, Mystique might be looking for any excuse to be rid of him, but refrained with a sigh. Sometimes Frank just had to learn these lessons the hard way.
"Well, I'm going off to find some women, Frank. Be seeing you." Super Sabre knew better than to use even a fraction of his full speed in a place as crowded and pompous as this, but he couldn't resist moving to the buffet table faster than any normal human in the hopes that it would impress a member of the fairer sex and start up a conversation. He was, of course, correct, and rewarded with the attentions of two young ladies in dazzlingly expensive evening gowns.
Commando sighed, and went out into the lobby, searching for the hotel bar. Having spent most of his adult life living a combat and military-oriented lifestyle, he was uncomfortable at fancy and dressy occasions such as these, in which everyone seemed to be false, shallow, and supercilious. And hearing so many voices talking around him irritated and nearly overwhelmed his senses designed to so expertly track. Yes, he decided, it was most certainly worth incurring Mystique's wrath to get out of there in a hurry. He grimaced at Avalanche to express solidarity of mutual disgust when they spotted each other across the lobby crowd, but didn't particularly want to talk to him either and so continued on his way. If only Martin weren't so preoccupied with his own love life...
Mystique took a good long look at the ballroom, searching for signs of her team and any potential trouble they might be getting into. She found Super Sabre, Pyro, Blob and Stonewall, but the rest were conspicuously absent. She frowned in annoyance and turned to her companion. "Irene, do you know where the others are?"
Destiny smiled at her, and shook her head. "Indeed I do, my Raven, but you promised me you'd relax for tonight, and stop worrying about the team. The others are not up to any trouble, but if I foresee any mischief, I'll let you know in advance. What do you think of that?"
Mystique couldn't resist laughing in spite of herself; Destiny always knew how to push her buttons or placate her perfectly. "That sounds fine. Thank you. Though I don't like the way Blob's hovering over the buffet..."
Destiny cleared her throat, and Mystique sighed, remembering her promise. "All right, all right---I'll go fishing for information instead. That always takes my mind off stress. Care to join me, or would you rather do your own thing?"
"I'll follow you," the old woman decided, and the two of them set off together to find a likely target amongst the crowd.
"...but by that point, there wasn't much of it left, save its skeleton. End of dinosaur threat," Pyro concluded with a proud grin. The four women and one man had hung on every word of his story, which satisfied him to no end and put him into a wonderful and even more talkative mood.
"That's amazing," one young woman said. "Weren't you frightened?"
"No!" he scoffed, taking another gulp of punch, "it was dangerous, but I've faced worse. Did I tell you that when I was in Indonesia, I got caught in the middle of a riot whilst working on a story for the wire service? No? Well, things started out peacefully enough..."
"Surely you can't believe that the government will allocate more spending for international offensives, when it's having enough problems at home," Stonewall argued, frowning. This bureaucrat seemed well-informed---and indeed, should have been---but the man was painfully ignorant, and like many of his type, was not willing to yield to those with more knowledge and experience. Louis had recently been using his government clearance to research various issues, mostly pertaining to national defence and the superhuman problem, but in addition to having his 'book-learning' he had also witnessed first-hand many pertinent examples upon which he could draw for his arguments. He was confident he understood what was going on, which was more than he could say for the bureaucrat. Nonetheless, he pressed on, hoping someone more intelligent would show up and join in the conversation...
"Well, I thought Freedom Force would be a good way to serve my country, madam," Super Sabre said gallantly. He'd managed to keep the attention of one young woman---perhaps far too young for him, but he wasn't complaining---and was regaling her with tales of the Big Deuce and life in general as a superhero, making sure to leave out the part about the vigilantism. Most people did not seem to be too impressed when they heard about that career. Martin was old, but still very handsome, and had a distinct sense of style that appealed to people of all generations, even if they couldn't explain why. His young ladyfriend noticed his age but had decided it didn't matter to her, and she found his charming manners very attractive.
"Would you care to go into the other room to dance?" he inquired, gesturing in the direction of the other ballroom, where a small band played classical numbers and several people had gathered to listen and dance.
"Only if you think you can slow down," she laughed, and Sabre smiled politely.
"For you, lovely lady, anything."
Commando had gone to the hotel bar and quickly vacated it, finding it to be as full of guests and annoying dignitaries as the ballroom. True, none there realized who he was and so didn't immediately pester him with talk about Freedom Force, mutants, and other superhuman affairs, but they were just as superficial and stupid. He also received more than a few stares, presumably because of his abnormal eyes, he figured. Well, even supposedly well-educated and privileged people still feared and disliked mutants, and he didn't care to be around them. So he decided to explore the hotel, and see if there was anywhere else worth visiting, and if not, he'd just risk Mystique's anger and go back home. He hoped there would be something to do; she'd probably be generally more lenient on him if he did stick around until she gave the team permission to leave. Stepping into an elevator, he hit a random button and opted to see where it took him.
Avalanche sat in a chair in the men's washroom, and sighed. He was unbelievably bored, and was annoyed at his friends for abandoning him to go off and do their own things. Well, mad at Pyro anyway, his only real friend on the team, and Mystique for forcing him to attend this function. It was to his constant chagrin that he wasn't as charming or witty or interesting as St. John, and though Pyro had once tried to give him some pointers on carrying a crowd or just ordinary conversation, the skills simply eluded him. Dominic was not by nature a gregarious person, but he did envy those who were, for he watched them enjoying themselves with others and always wished he could join in. It didn't help that in situations like this, filled with tons of chatty and presumably intelligent people, he felt his English was inadequate, even though it was nearly flawless. He sighed again, and reflected that he would probably always feel most comfortable being by himself or remaining silent.
He was startled out of his depressed musings by a man approaching him and handing him two dollar bills. "`scuse me?" he grunted, looking puzzled and suspicious.
The other man looked just as surprised. "A tip. You are the washroom attendant, aren't you?"
Avalanche's first instinct was to be outraged at being mistaken for hired help, but it suddenly occurred to him that this was free money.
"Uh, yeah, I am. Thanks." He pocketed the cash gleefully.
The other man walked out of the washroom, muttering to himself about the idiots being hired for jobs these days, but Avalanche grinned. Things were looking up for the first time all evening.
It had already been a worthwhile and fruitful evening for Mystique, and the night was still young. The snippets of gossip and information she'd gathered would help her a great deal, mostly to manipulate the government and hopefully enable her to gain a better position for her team. It was at times like this that she was truly thankful for her mutant power and grateful she had received shapeshifting over, say, Avalanche's abilities. Her mood was certainly improving, and she had almost forgotten about worrying over the various team members possibly acting up and embarrassing the whole lot of them. Almost forgotten. Mindful of her promise to Destiny, she resolved to only take a quick look around for her charges, but nearly spit out her drink in shock when she caught sight of Pyro. He was off in the centre of the room juggling small fireballs, to the amusement of some, shock of others, and obvious disapproval of a few.
Trying to maintain her composure as best she could, but electing to roast Aussie behind as soon as they got home, she marched over to him and tapped him on the shoulder.
"What? Oh, hi Raven. Look at me!"
"I am looking, and I'm not pleased," she scowled, not amused to smell alcohol on his breath.
"But I didn't...I mean...this doesn't fall under the category of 'acting up', does it?" he asked, suddenly worried.
"It does," she sighed, realizing that he honestly hadn't meant to cause trouble. Of course, Cooper and her bosses probably wouldn't see it that way...
The fireballs abruptly dissipated into thin air, and St. John directed a quick bow at the crowd. However, feeling guilty over making Mystique look bad, he beat a hasty retreat behind her, regretting not being able to stay for the applause.
"Jeez...Mystique, I'm really sorry. I'll tell Val it was all my fault, she won't blame you. Besides, the crowd really loved that!"
Raven turned around to face him, then placed a friendly hand on his shoulder. "Yeah, I know. Don't overly concern yourself---they probably won't care too much. But the damage has been done, and I am surprised that it would be you of all people on the team to mess up. Try to be more careful next time, all right?" She regretted her words as soon as they came out; he looked as though he'd been whipped, simply miserable. If there was one person he hated to irritate and cause trouble for, it was Mystique. With another sigh, and finally taking pity on him, she motioned for him to follow her. "Come on, stick close to me. Irene and I are talking to some of the guys in defence, and it can be really interesting, in a stupid-human kind of way. Besides, we'll be clearing out of here soon, before Commando and Avalanche mutiny."
Pyro straightened himself up to take advantage of his full height, a sure sign that he (and his ego) was feeling better, and grinned at his boss. "All right. Guess I've done enough talking tonight anyway."
Frank was finding the halls of the hotel to be as dull as the function downstairs, the only plus being the lack of slack-jawed gawkers. He strode briskly through the halls, acting as though he owned the place, as was his custom. He knew he was skilled, powerful, and an impressive physical specimen---for a man of any age---and saw no reason to hide it. Still, he tried not to rub it in the faces of others unless they particularly irritated him.
*I've had enough of this garbage* he finally decided with a snort. *Just wasting my time here, Mystique or not. She'll just have to deal with it*
He spun on his heel and turned back the way he came, through seemingly endless lengths of hotel corridors. He wasn't lost---he never was---but it amused him to think that any other person probably would be. The man who had designed the layout of the building was an idiot. As calmly and purposefully as ever, he continued to march quickly back in the general direction of the lobby, when he heard a fearful cry. Interest piqued, he listened intently for another, and when it came he sprinted in its direction. Commando didn't have enhanced hearing, but he was at the height of physical perfection and had excellent tracking skills, so it was laughably simple for him to quickly reach the person in distress.
"Please," the young woman begged the man holding her arm and trying to drag her inside a room, "just let me go. I won't tell anyone, Rob, I swear!" She was trying her best to struggle free and stay out of the room, holding onto the doorway for dear life and pulling at his grasp.
"C'mon, it's just for one night. No one has to know..." her companion wheedled, probably more drunk than malicious. He continued to tug at her...
...but stopped dead when he saw the imposing old man in a black suit glaring at him.
"I believe the young lady told you to leave her alone," Commando said coldly, arms crossed and glowering at him.
"Crap, where'd you come from, man?" the young man demanded, his words slurring slightly. "Get lost, this is between me and her."
"If you want to avoid getting beaten, I suggest you let her go now."
The young man did so, but only so he could stagger at his antagonist and swing for his jaw. With cool efficiency, Frank simply grabbed the boy's fist in midair, and swung the arm painfully back, holding on to it as the young man howled in pain and rage.
"Goddammit...*ack*...let go..." he grimaced, trying to attack the old soldier with his other arm but quickly finding that, too, pinned.
"Now, what were you saying?" Commando asked with a grin. "Oh, right. That you were going to back off and leave the young lady alone. Otherwise, you'll find both these arms broken."
He released the kid, who darted away and backed up against a wall, face contorted with fury. "Crazy old man!" he spat out, and then ran inside his room, slamming the door and turning the lock with a sharp click. Frank chuckled to himself for a moment, then turned to the young woman who had stood in the hall, terrified, during the entire exchange.
"Are you all right, miss? He didn't hurt you, did he?"
"N-no, I'm fine. Th-thank you," she quavered, slightly spooked by the powerful old gentleman with the pupil-less eyes. With a second glance back at him, she turned and ran down the hall, disappearing around the first corner. Commando shrugged.
"Kids these days," he sighed, shaking his head. He then started back on his journey towards the lobby.
Super Sabre, a man with seemingly boundless energy, had worn out his date with enthusiastic and slightly faster than normal dancing, much to his annoyance. He loved a good workout---especially with a lady present---and at times like this he became impatient when his companions couldn't keep up with him.
"Whew! I just need a breather!" she insisted, pulling away from him and moving to the sidelines to sit down. He sped over next to her, half-running and half-hopping on the spot due to excess energy, and irritably waited for her to finish.
"Don't you ever slow down?" she demanded of him, annoyed to watch him hover over her so anxiously.
"I would if I could," he replied as pleasantly as he could manage, but still with an obvious edge in his voice. He had long since accepted that the rest of the world was slower than he, and unlike Quicksilver, didn't let it bother him or act up because of it, but he didn't like to be criticized for what was his natural state of being.
"Well, I'm afraid I'm too tired for any more dancing tonight, Martin," she declared. "In fact, I think I might just go home to bed now. You've completely worn me out."
"Ah," Sabre said, afraid he'd be rude if he said anything more. "May I help you to your car?"
"No thank you, I'm fine," she replied firmly. "You just go on and find someone else to dance with. I know that's what you want anyway."
Martin looked like he'd been struck, and might well have come up with a rude retort, when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. Whirling around quickly, he found that the interloper was in fact Pyro, knocked to the floor by the sonic boom of the rushing air, and looking very stunned. Secretly amused and having to work hard to keep back a chuckle, Super Sabre gallantly pulled him to his feet in a lightning-quick move, though it took St. John a moment to recover.
"Quite a punch you pack there, Sabre," Pyro said in surprise, shaking his head to rid himself of the ringing in his ears. "Anyway. Mystique wanted me to let you know that she's leaving soon, if you want to come with."
Martin raised an eyebrow at his date, and she shrugged.
"Sure, why not. I'm tired of this place anyway," he replied. Zipping back to his companion, he bowed, reached for her hand, kissed it, and took off before she or Pyro could say anything.
St. John rolled his eyes at her. "Speedsters." With that, he turned and walked out to rejoin the others.
Looking considerably pleased---like the cat that had swallowed the canary, Commando supposed---Avalanche lounged in the lobby, arms crossed and back resting against the wall in a very casual pose.
"What are you so happy about?" Pyro asked him, giving him a funny look. "I thought you hated it here."
"That was before I made twenty bucks just hanging around the damn washroom," Dominic chortled, holding up his ill-gotten gains. St. John narrowed his eyes at him, then developed a wicked grin on his face. "Doing what? Hope you remembered your protection..."
Avalanche pondered this for a moment; then it dawned on him that this was an taunt.
"Jealous, dear?" he replied with a sickly-sweet smile, much to the amusement of Commando and Sabre.
"Zing! Hey Dom, you're getting better at this all the time!" Pyro laughed, slapping him on the back. "C'mon, I bet we can get some good booze with that money. Frank, tell Raven we're going to the corner store, and we'll be back in like ten minutes."
The two walked out of the hotel, still laughing.
Mystique joined the two veterans a few minutes later, Stonewall and Destiny in tow. She looked a bit annoyed. "Has anybody seen Blob? Nobody has any idea where he is. Same with Spiral, though I suspect she's long since gone home."
The pair shook their heads, though Commando suggested she try the buffet table. Mystique clacked her teeth together in irritation. "No, I looked there already. He's nowhere to be found."
Super Sabre saw his chance to work off some excess energy as well as get on the boss' good side at the same time, and decided to take it. "I'll go look for him. Even at nowhere near top speed, it shouldn't take too long."
She nodded approvingly and he took off, speeding through every room he could find on that floor, but with no luck. Blob was a hard target to miss, so he was fairly certain that the large man had gone elsewhere, and thus increased his search to other floors of the hotel. No luck. Sabre was about to give up and call in Commando to track him when it occurred to him that he hadn't yet checked the basement, which was off-limits to everyone but staff. Slipping quickly through a stairwell door, Martin sped down the stairs and began a survey of all the basement rooms.
To his horror, he found Blob in a storage room, helping himself to copious quantities of the hotel's surplus food.
"Are you crazy?!" Sabre demanded incredulously, hopping up and down with pent-up energy. "Mystique will slaughter you for this!"
"So?" Fred shrugged, not really worried. "Want some party peanuts? They're pretty good."
"Well...maybe just a few...I haven't had enough to eat tonight for all the activity I've been doing..." Martin accepted several from Blob's greasy palm, then tossed them away in disgust when he realized where they'd been. "Come on, let's go, before she gives us both hell."
With a pained sigh, as though he'd been grievously wronged, Blob got to his feet and followed Super Sabre back to the others. Mystique was furious when she saw her recalcitrant charge, for she immediately realized what he'd been up to.
"You're filthy, covered in food! What did I say about making a spectacle of yourself?!"
"Uh...I dunno."
"Let's just get out of here, before I kill the lot of you," she raged. "And before Cooper sees Blob."
Freedom Force---including the two who'd gone off on a beer run---trooped out behind Mystique with as much dignity as they could muster, though some were more successful at this than others. They all stuffed themselves into the two government-issue cars, and left for the team's townhouse home.
"Thank God," Mystique muttered to Destiny, "we never ran into Val or her flunkies all night. They probably missed the entire debacle."
"Dear Mystique," (the memo read), "discipline will be forthcoming if you cannot control your team..."
