January 2022

The repercussions of Laurie Collins' defection to Nathaniel Essex continued, with Laurie herself undergoing the treatment that gave her the promised cure... with some additions; meanwhile, Darcy Lewis took several steps to recover from the psychic and physiological damage caused by Laurie's powers, returning from her sudden flight after a mind scan from Jean Grey and many talks with Kevin Sydney. Her return lead to a number of catch-up sessions with various friends, concerned about her.

April Parker began to settle into mansion life after her abrupt arrival via the wormhole in the chapel basement, although not everyone was welcoming - Artie Maddicks raised some concerns about the new arrival. Clinton Barton set up a wormhole monitoring roster, with several volunteers. Theresa Cassidy and Alison Blaire began on voice training lessons, arising from their powers interaction during the Baltimore crab invasion. Kevin offered Clint a job with X-Force, should he decide on a move from eXcalibur.

Towards the end of the month, what began as Round 2 of the X-Men vs the Brotherhood of Mutants became a massive takedown of the Sentinel project and its government supporters, the weakening of the Brotherhood and the destruction of Olivier' powerbase, the culmination of a six-month long secret mission between Amanda Sefton and the very much alive Garrison Kane, who revealed himself as the mysterious new Brotherhood member Erik the Red. With no time to explain, Amanda teleported Gabriel Cohuelo, Jean Grey and Kyle Gibney to Olivier's nightclub where they met Garrison as he was revealing his true plan to Magneto - using the Brotherhood and the X-Men to take down the Sentinel program and Magneto himself to weaken Olivier, before Garrison and the other three 'tainted' mutants to finish the job. The plan was a success up until the last moments, when an enslaved Abigail Brand showed up to avenge her master and Garrison sacrificed himself - again - to get her free and away with the others. He was found in the burning destruction of the nightclub, flayed of all his skin by Olivier and barely alive. The road to recovery was long and difficult, with Adrienne Frost having left while he was unconscious and facing mistrust and anger from his teammates who felt betrayed by his actions. Amanda, too, faced the disappointment of some, namely Gabe, but fared better with X-Force supporting her actions by and large. She and Marie-Ange Colbert took Garrison in as a temporary roommate in the aftermath, unwilling to leave him alone in his now-empty suite.

January ended with a snowstorm, which cut X-Force off and stranded them in New York and lead to the mansion residents volunteering to help out their neighbours in Salem Center. X-Force's enforced togetherness resulted in some bonding, a lot of alcohol consumption and Jubilation Lee wandering the halls in search of entertainment and distraction.

Timeline

Jan 1 - Arise, X-Man: Laurie goes through the transformation process and comes out the other side, healed and with a new mission; Essex explains his plans for her to Kwannon. Clint posts a Happy New Year to the mansion and mentions hangover breakfast.

Jan 2 - Betsy posts to her journal about spending some time in London and asking if anyone wants anything.

Jan 3 - Artie posts to xp_teams asking the X-Force team about their new mansion resident April Parker. Matt and Megan speak about art, politics and the limitations of his special sight. Gabriel posts to xp_teams about being back in New York for a short time after a trip to Mexico. Clarice takes April clothes shopping. Kevin talks to Clint and offers him a job with X-Force.

Jan 4 - Darcy texts Terry to apologise and let her know she’s safe. She asks Terry what she thought of her gift.

Jan 5 - Alani laments applying to grad school. Terry texts Kyle about wanting to do harm to Laurie after what she did to Darcy. Jubilee texts Topaz about doing the milk runs for X-force. Clint emails April about the portal and options for monitoring it. Terry texts Alison about their voice training session.

Jan 6 - April helps out Maya in the gym and they chat. April follows her nose and finds Sooraya in the kitchen.

Jan 7 - Marie-Ange asks on her journal about who might have changed her ringtone to “We don’t talk about Bruno”. Jean and Sooraya run into a problem while volunteering at a homeless shelter in District X.

Jan 8

Jan 9 - Clint posts about having watched Don’t Look Up on Netflix. Darcy e-mails Jean and Kevin about getting her mind scanned and allowing Kevin access to her medical records.

Jan 10 -

Jan 11

Jan 12

Jan 13 - Arise, X-Man: Darcy has a session with Jean to work on the state of her mind after Laurie’s manipulation; Darcy lets Kevin know she’s seen Jean.

Jan 14 - Topaz emails Doug about her void bag destroying phones and other electronics.

Jan 15 - Kevin makes sure Darcy is ready to come back and brings her home; Darcy texts Doug to ask if he has plans; Darcy and Doug talk about what happened and cuddle; Darcy lets everyone know she’s back and apologises for her abrupt departure. Namor emails Topaz to "request" that she tell him about her adventures between dimensions and any possible alternative Atlantises. Arthur emails April to say hello. Hope A. asks for feedback on her new logo.

Jan 16 - Maya visits Darcy and finds out what happened. Felicia cross posts her date preparation photo from her Instagram. Maya sends Kevin a text thanking him and he responds in typical Kevin fashion.

Jan 17 - Topaz has Midnight deliver a message to Darcy and they catch up. Felicia's attempts to nap are interrupted by North, because the universe is a bitch.

Jan 18 - Darcy and Matt catch up.

Jan 19 - Gabriel emails Amanda needing help with work but she is too busy. Darcy meets with Kevin for her debriefing and faces some difficult questions.

Jan 20 -

Jan 21 - Exorcism Robotica: Amanda alerts the X-Men to another Sentinel base and another Brotherhood attack; Marie-Ange confronts Amanda about the secrecy surrounding the Sentinel information but Amanda won’t tell her more; Bolivar Trask is showing off his new Sentinels to A.I.M. and Olivier when the Brotherhood arrive and some of the Sentinels attack Olivier before Magneto takes his turn; the X-Men discuss the mission en route; Amanda texts Gabriel to meet her in her suite; Gabriel is not happy when Amanda reveals she needs him to return to Olivier’s dimension; Olivier is beaten by Magneto and retreats to AZTECA, with Magneto and Erik the Red in pursuit; when Erik the Red tells Magneto to stand down, his true plan - and identity as Garrison Kane - is revealed; Cyclops, Bevatron, Dust and Wildchild take on one of the Sentinels; Nightcrawler, Wolverine and Spectrum take on another; Marvel Girl has a chance of a rematch against Uniscione and defeats her; Echo and Thornn face off; Psylocke gets the upper hand against Toad; Blink takes down Dragoness; the team destroys Master Mold, the Sentinel factory; as the X-Men prepare to leave, Amanda and Gabriel teleport in and take Jean and Kyle with them to AZTECA; Erik the Red’s true identity is revealed at the nightclub and Jean, Kyle and Gabe have no time to deal with their feelings of betrayal; with Amanda holding the portal out open, the four return to Olivier’s realm to destroy the masks that anchor it to their world; before each can destroy a mask, they are tempted by what they want most in the world, with varying levels of resistance; once the masks are destroyed they are ready to leave, but Abigail Brand appears, ready to avenge her ‘master’, Olivier; Garrison gives Brand his amulet that allows them to enter and leave and tells the others to go, that he has another option to escape; back in their own dimension, the group watch the nightclub burn down, only to discover Garrison’s flayed body in the wreckage; Jean posts to xp_teams that Garrison is back but seriously injured; Amanda posts to xp_teams to explain that the whole thing was part of a plan to take down Olivier, the Sentinels and weaken the Brotherhood; Gabriel texts Felicia to demand they have a spa day.

Jan 22 -

Jan 23 - Exorcism Robotica: Garrison wakes up and faces Jean’s anger and disappointment. Emma announces that Adrienne has left the mansion permanently. Amanda finds Garrison in the empty suite he shared with Adrienne and takes him back to her and Marie-Ange’s place. Garrison posts to the main comms explaining what happened since his ‘death’ in August 2021. Emma emails Garrison to express her condolences for Adrienne’s departure.

Jan 24 - Gabriel talks to Amanda about what he'd been kept in the dark on. Garrison posts an update on the Brotherhood's current known status to the teams. Matt gets philosophical on the journals. Topaz texts Maya to leave her phone and meet her. Topaz and Maya have a walk and talk about recent happenings. Maya emails Amanda to tell her that she understands why they did what they had to do but she reserves the right to be angry. Gabriel texts Garrison an apology. Gabriel informs X-Force that he'll be in Brazil for a few days. Matt goes to visit Darcy after his post.

Jan 25 - Let It Snow: The news reports NYC will be entering a blizzard watch on the 28th.

Jan 26 - Marie-Ange and Amanda get used to having Garrison around as a roommate for a bit.

Jan 27 - Kurt meets April in the rec room and gives her some powers advice.

Jan 28 - Let It Snow: Kyle brings attention to the continuing to fall snow and requests shoveling help. Kevin updates to mansion that Snow Valley's employees are stuck in the city. In the office, X-Force quickly divides and conquers plans for sleeping and food. Jubilee and Marie-Ange return bearing food and talk about changes in Jubilee's daily jobs. Amanda give Artie his Secret Santa card and he gives her a small chiding for keeping the team in the dark. Emma is led to the office wine by Jubilee and they talk corsets. Jubilee finds Artie and questions his knowledge of the sleeping arrangements. Doug gives Jubilee accent coaching for an upcoming operation. Artie and Darcy talk about a common ground they share with emotional manipulators. After she drops off files, Kevin instructs Jubilee to dial back some of her theft. Jubilee pops in on Topaz and decides to help her with some of her labeling. Darcy finds Jubilee on top of the fridge. Darcy finds a sleeping Felicia and they have a pleasant chat. Jubilee runs into Amanda on the roof and takes the opportunity to ask after Garrison. Felicia and Jubilee enjoy snacks, a talk, and finally some sleep. Jean lets the mansion know that there is hot chocolate for the taking. Doug finds his nanites are more active with Darcy around. A nightmare leads Darcy to wandering, where she finds Kevin still awake. Jubilee emails Garrison to ask if he's ready for visitors. Topaz runs into Felicia, who took her disappearance hard. Sooraya and Garrison talk about the Mutant Underground, his time with the Brotherhood and some consequences. Marie-Ange checks on Doug, and trades him getting to chatter about one of his interests in exchange for seeing how he's handling the changes in his life and physiology.

Jan 29 - Let It Snow:Alani posts a journal bemoaning winter as a whole. Angelo and Nica deliver groceries in the snow. Nica posts a journal about the recent snow, specifically the unexpected bonus her powers give her in handling it. Marie-Ange saves Darcy one of the coveted cinnamon rolls while they're stuck in the brownstone and the two have a long talk that winds around health, relationships, and a sketch request. Garrison meets April when updating the Danger Room and sets up a training for her.

Jan 30 - Let It Snow: Gabriel comments on the snow storm leaving him in Brazil.

Jan 31 -

Plots

Arise, X-Man

Exorcism Robotica

Let It Snow - Event

External Links

January 2022