June 2013

Sarah Vale continued to struggle with the absence of Layla Miller, especially when her birthday came around with no word. Sam Guthrie continued, with Kurt Sefton cheerfully instigating, to awkwardly court Tabitha Smith, whose Genosha-generated nightmares continued to plague her even a year after the event and were the root of her chronic insomnia. In a similar vein, Remy LeBeau and Betsy Braddock discussed the repercussions of the events involving Nathaniel Essex and Kwannon, and they decided it would be safer for X-Force for the time being if Betsy were to distance herself - there was no knowing what information about X-Force Kwannon had taken with her. Wanda Maximoff also faced a difficult decision; having her mentor Agatha Harkness declared dead after over a year of being missing in suspicious circumstances.

Namor Mckenzie, another Attilani royal, arrived at the mansion for the summer, proving himself to be something of an arrogant ass and would-be ladies' man. Remy advised Lorna Dane to get another DNA test done, this time at the secure location of Muir Island, to ensure there had been no meddling by Magneto or his Brotherhood, who might find creating doubt in Lorna's mind about her parentage amusing. Catseye was overjoyed to accept a loan from Charles Xavier and his co-signing authority on a property for her restaurant, cleverly named by Marius Laverne the Deli-CAT-essen. Adrienne Frost asked her sister Emma Frost about teaching robotics, and other several embarrassing questions with friends, talked to boyfriend Garrison Kane about something that had been bothering her. He confessed that he had been seeking refuge from the identity crisis generated by the rebuilding of his damaged psyche in copious amounts of sex, and once the matter had been aired and talked about, both felt much better about things and their ability to communicate. Another productive discussion was had between Sooraya Qadir and Angelo Espinosa, with the devout Muslim finally reaching a compromise between her personal beliefs and her religion's teachings about relationships like Angelo's.

When Jean Grey disappeared from contact while at a conference, part of X-Force borrowed David Haller as their go-to psi and Scott Summers for the link with Jean and discovered a demon-possessed hotel which fed on the personal weaknesses of each individual. It was a harrowing experience for all of them, with the remnants of Remy's "Gambit" persona given agency by the demon and the group separated and subject to disturbing visions. Eventually they won free, although not without a battle between The First and the hotel demon for possession of Nico Minoru. In the wake of the events at the hotel, Betsy exhibited extreme over-protectiveness towards Haller, blaming Scott for his psychic injuries. Her behaviour continued to concern her friends and she remained at the mansion for the time being.

Remarkably, the New Mutants had a quiet and peaceful graduation, with Matt Murdock happy to have completed high school. Not everyone was able to join in the revelry of the end of year dance, however, with Topaz winding up in the Box after an incident where her presumed-dead father Taboo resurfaced and tried to sell her to pay off his magic debts. Topaz was rescued by a small group of Xavier's teachers and a furious Amanda Sefton, but refused to address the trauma or talk about the incident, the stress wearing at her empathic shields until she lashed out at Frank Ludlum and Scott by accident, draining their emotions and rendering them almost robotic for a time. Topaz finally admitted she couldn't cope alone and began to open up, but she had a long road ahead of her.

Timeline

Jun 1 - Wade drops by X-Factor to hire them for some surveillance for a 'friend' and talks with Bishop. Sue finds Clint investigating the sentient coffeemaker and their discussion turns to robotics.

Jun 2 -

Jun 3 - Amanda and Wanda talk about Agatha Harkness and the necessity of declaring her dead.

Jun 4 - Artie posts about the awesomeness of yogurt and Peppa Pig. Dori posts about Game of Thrones episode 9 and people's reaction to it. Matt posts wishing Game of Thrones books came in Braille, and saying prom was awesome.

Jun 5 - Jean-Phillipe posts a picture of this, pondering whether to buy it. Adrienne and Clint start talking about summer classes, and end up discussing robots instead. Adrienne emails Emma inquiring whether she'd be interested in teaching robotics at Xavier's next school year. Adrienne posts wondering why all the students seem to be into robots and declares robots creepy. Sam and Kurt invite Tabby over to watch a movie.

Jun 6 - Catseye posts to look for volunteers for the Woodstock Sanctuary on June 29. Maddie comforts Sue after she loses the chess tournament.

Jun 7 - Wade posts about National Donut Day, and says there are donuts in the mansion kitchen for everyone. Adrienne posts about the Chess Club finishing its inaugural year and congratulates Sue for placing fourth in the tournament they participated in. Maddie and Sarah Vale go to a movie for Sarah’s birthday and discuss their relationships.

Jun 8 - Jubilee posts about having a secret. While fighting another sleepless night, Tabitha talks to Kurt about her insomnia and the reasons behind it. Clarice posts about celebrating her birthday with new fencing gear and being Jean's new PA. Yvette takes Sarah V. out for dinner and a movie to celebrate her birthday, where the two catch up on their personal lives with a bit of business discussion on the side.

Jun 9 - Callie catches Fred listening to music no one would expect him to like, and gives him a thank you gift for everything he did for her after Genosha. Remy and Betsy talk about Kwannon and the state of X-Force.

Jun 10 - Amanda gives Matt the Braille version of the first Game of Thrones book as an early graduation present; Matt is suitably excited. Tandy is looking forward to the new releases being announced at E3. Clint and Frank explore the mansion and talk about music. Lorna talks to Remy about her parentage and he suggests another DNA test by Moira, just to be sure it isn’t some kind of trick by Magneto.

Jun 11 - Kyle shares a show on history that he declares can be used as credit in his English class. Haller and Betsy have a sparring session and Haller expresses worry about Betsy.

Jun 12 - Topaz asks about summer solstice celebrations; Wade emails Fred about where the colour coded grills are for the subsequent summer solstice BBQ.

Jun 13 - Angel and Sam blow off steam by going for a flight. Lorna apologises for being spacey lately; Lorna emails Haller to ask for company after getting the results of the sibling blood test with Wanda.

Jun 14 - Jean is packing for a trip and asks Scott where her curling iron has gotten to.

Jun 15 - John posts about the state of relationships in general - and possibly his own in particular, although he admits nothing. Hotel California: Jean has an odd encounter with an old man at the hotel she is staying at.

Jun 16 - Hotel California: Haller emails Scott, letting him know that Jean has failed to check in and is no longer registering on Cerebro; while talking with Topaz, Marie-Ange has a precognitive fit related to Jean; while Scott and Haller are trying Jean’s contacts to see if anyone has seen her, Haller receives a call that spurs them into action; Scott lets x_team know that he and Haller will be joining X-Force in retrieving Jean; the group gathers at Jean’s hotel, with not a lot to go on but Marie-Ange’s visions and a vague sense of magic being felt by Amanda and Nico; when Amanda opens the door, something happens and they find themselves split up in a strange otherworldly version of the hotel; Scott encounters a strangely-belligerent Remy and visions of Jean and Logan together; Marie-Ange finds herself traversing Dante’s Inferno, specifically the hell of the lustful; Nico discovers herself at a debutante and is rescued by a handsome stranger with whom things get physical; Amanda is taunted by visions of the happiness of others, as well as other visions where she is someone else in the hotel, preparing for some kind of ritual; Haller meets another version of himself who points out all of his failings; Wanda is trapped by Chthon inside her own mind; Jean encounters the old man again, only to discover he is Parker Matthews as he begins killing the hotel guests and staff; Amanda, Haller and Wanda manage to break free of their tormentor and find each other; Scott encounters Logan and Jean and a fight breaks out, but he realises he’s being played and manages to break the illusion; Marie-Ange continues her downward spiral into Hell; Nico pays the wages of sin; Jean battles Matthews, realising at last that it’s not him she is facing after all; Marie-Ange finds the centre and is found; Jean and Scott manage to find each other, for real this time; the group gathers together in the library and discover the journal of the man in Amanda’s visions, the fact they’re facing a demon summoned by him, and that Gambit is “loose”; Marie-Ange, Nico and Remy distract Gambit while Jean, Haller and Amanda prepare for Jean to sever the demon’s connection to the summoner’s soul and let him finally rest; Wanda and Scott head for the greenhouse where the summoner’s body is housed, with Amanda helping as best she can via her connection to the hotel; Remy proposes a deal with Gambit, in a desperate attempt to save some of his team - and himself, it seems; Jean battles the demon for the summoner’s soul and the wards on the hotel break under the strain, which creates chaos; Wanda and Scott find the summoner’s body and destroy it; Remy taunts Gambit as the demon’s hold on the hotel is handicapped by the loss of the summoner as the anchor to this dimension; the group have a brief respite, but the job isn’t finished as Remy realises he has to take Gambit back in order to be sure he can’t escape and hurt anyone else; Haller and Remy face down Gambit, severing his connection to the demon and allowing Remy to take him back, while Haller is severely psychically injured; with Gambit no longer providing the demon focus, all hell breaks loose; Scott and Jean protect Remy from the demon’s wrath; Amanda nearly becomes the next host for the demon, but Nico steps in and the First protects its property; Marie-Ange, Haller and Wanda make an exit; back in the ‘real’ world, only a short time has passed and everything is back to normal - except those who were injured. Topaz texts Amanda to make sure she’s okay and gets a half-asleep response. Clarice needs coffee.

Jun 17 - Jean posts to the journal comm announcing that she and Haller will both be unavailable due to ‘unforeseen events’ and that she will have a proxy administer her class finals. Jean posts to the staff comm telling her colleagues she will be going to the Box for a few days. Doug posts to the Snow Valley comm about the office being shorthanded while people recover from what happened in DC. Wade texts Marie-Ange to ask if she is one of the Snow Valley employees who is out of commission. Marie-Ange posts to the Snow Valley comm about those who went to DC being out of the office for the day, and offers a quick summary of what happened. Clint emails Kyle asking for next year’s reading list so he can get a head start. Matt and Frank work on self defense and go for a swim and try to talk - the talking doesn't go quite as well.

Jun 18 - Tandy posts asking why Molly ran out of the rec room screaming.

Jun 19 - Jubilee posts, judging Marie-Ange’s laundry dancing. Haller wakes up to find an emotional Betsy by his bedside, happy he made it home.

Jun 20 - Lorna emails Wanda asking if she’s still on for a trip to Muir in the future. Haller emails Maddie, Topaz, and Hope to tell them what happened to him and explain what it means for their meetings with him for the next little while. Betsy emails Scott, unhappy about what happened to Haller in DC and blaming Scott for it. Catseye meets with Professor Xavier and asks him to co-sign a bank loan with her so she can get her deli off the ground. Sooraya talks to Angelo about coming to accept who he is. Maddie posts about celebrating the end of the school year with a zombie movie marathon. Jean emails Haller to inform him about Betsy’s blaming Scott for Haller’s injuries and voice her worry about Betsy killing Scott. Haller texts Betsy asking her to cut Scott some slack but their conversation is strained. While spending the night in the Box after what happened in the hotel, Scott and Jean discuss their nightmares about what happened.

Jun 21 - Frank posts a video of Springbok pronking. Laurie and Frank meet the charming but old-fashioned aristocrat Namor McKenzie who arrives at the mansion. Johnny and Sarah Vale drive to the mall but Johnny’s powers cause him much discomfort which leads to them leaving.

Jun 22 - Frank posts a story about students rioting for not being allowed to cheat on Chinese university entrance exams. Laurie posts about not getting a normal amount of sleep or knowing what day it is. Matt posts about officially graduating. Sam and Wade attempt to play basketball but then give up due to their lack of skills and go muddin’ instead. Somewhere I Belong: Topaz runs into Taboo while out with Tandy and is tempted by his offer of things going back to ‘the way they were’; Topaz gets a phone call from Taboo and agrees to meet him in Salem Center late at night; Topaz sneaks out of the mansion to meet Taboo but finds out that he has traded her to two men in return for information he’s looking for.

Jun 23 - Somewhere I Belong: Tandy can’t find Topaz early in the morning and shares her concern with Kurt who is in the hallway, and they get Adrienne to read Topaz’s abandoned phone in order to find out what happened to her; Adrienne calls Amanda to share the fact that Topaz took off to meet with a British man, and when Amanda realizes it’s Taboo she gets Adrienne to wake up Scott while Kurt goes to bring Amanda to the mansion in order to organize a rescue party; Amanda, Kurt, Scott, and Logan go to fetch Topaz and Amanda unleashes some of her power on Taboo to scare him into leaving Topaz alone; Scott and Amanda grill Topaz about her decision to go with Taboo but decide to let her off the hook until the morning; Amanda and Haller try to get Topaz to talk about what happened in the morning but she refuses to tell them what happened with Taboo. North and Adrienne go shopping to buy him a motorcycle and Adrienne asks him an uncomfortable question relating to her relationship with Garrison. Amanda texts Marie-Ange lamenting Topaz’s lack of openness and asks for booze.

Jun 24 - Yvette and Sooraya have a break and indulge in some girl talk.

Jun 25 - Somewhere I Belong: Early in the morning, Matt runs into Topaz and tries to figure out why she’s being so non-committal and distracted, asking her if she’s using drugs and then believing her when she says she’s ill. Sarah V. helps Hope look for a lost earring in the gym and the two chat about the school and X-Factor.

Jun 26 - Somewhere I Belong: Molly Texts Catseye about Topaz not being in their room for three days; Catseye texts Scott to let him know what Molly’s just told her and express her worry about Topaz; Scott and Frank, separately, find Topaz camped out in an abandoned classroom, assaulted by other peoples’ emotions thanks to her powers, and Topaz drains them both to make the onslaught stop; Topaz wakes up in the Box but doesn’t remember why she’s in there; Haller posts on the journal comm explaining the accident; Topaz posts from the Box, apologizing. Adrienne goes out to the woods to find Jean and the two discuss what happened in DC, Jean’s astral plane fight with the demon, and Adrienne’s worries regarding her sex life with Garrison.

Jun 27 - Catseye shares her excitement over the fact that with the Professor’s help she was pre-approved for a bank loan and she and Marius can now go looking for a building to rent. Adrienne gives Garrison a hard time about his fantasy baseball record. The t-shirt fairy leaves Topaz a shirt. Kurt leaves Jubilee a drawing done by Marie-Ange of them for their anniversary. Haller checks in on Scott after Topaz’s power accident and the two discuss Topaz’s situation at the mansion before Haller apologizes for messing with Scott’s memories. Somewhere I Belong: Amanda and Topaz talk about what happened, and Topaz breaks down a bit. Frank goes to work still suffering from the affect of being drained by Topaz, and Angelo worries.

Jun 28 - Maddie makes a post reminding Sue that Sue must wear a Rangers jersey and post a picture of it on Facebook after the Rangers beat the Yankees in their latest series. Garrison shares his feelings about losing his identity to Adrienne when she questions why they’re having so much sex. Matt visits Topaz in the Box, bringing the end-of-year dance to her since she can't attend it herself.

Jun 29 - Clint texts Billy and Maddie to remind them of Steve and Andre’s (his parents) Pride Barbecue.

Jun 30 -

Plots

Hotel California

Somewhere I Belong

External Links

June 2013