We Will Make Our Plans

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"There are a lot of places I shouldn't be," he said cryptically, seeming to willfully ignore the hint to move along as he stepped inside.

"Name's Thrax," he continued with a flirtatious smile directed at the currently burly goddess. What? She was his type. "And you are?"

[Samantha McManus]

"Sam. Or I guess since this is missiony, Morrigan."

"Will may be three sheets to the wind right now but he's not wrong. This looks to be a particularly... ah... rootin', tootin', and shootin' locale they've opened a portal to."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Of the three things listed, the alien only understood the part about shooting. But he pretended to follow anyway. Truth was, he was getting eager to see some action despite his misgivings about scratching that itch.

"You don't have to worry about me. I'm completely capable of defending myself. Not that I actually expect you to let me ride along. I was really just looking for the headmistress."

[Samantha McManus]

"Well she's in there. Probably be cross with us if we got the new guy lost in a parallel dimension, aye?"

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax only heard 'parallel dimension.'

"That's not the argument against it that you think it is." He smirked. He hadn't really wanted to tag along until then. Besides, if she got lost over there he was truly never leaving. "Besides, if she doesn't come back I'm kinda screwed more than I already am."

[Samantha McManus]

"Will, is this guy punking me? Am I being punked?"

[Will Stanton]

"It seems entirely possible," Will agreed. "But I don't think that sort of deception is normally up his alley."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"No, I'm not punking you," Thrax responded before making a puzzled face. "... whatever that is."

[Samantha McManus]

"Where'd they find him, Wakanda?"

[Will Stanton]

"I'm not sure you want to go through with the ritual that gets you access to that information."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"Oh, this is just getting ridiculous," he groaned. "I hate this secrecy bullshit anyway. Besides, I think you being an X-Man is reason enough for the truth."

"Yeah, so, think much, much further away. Like, light-years away. Like Shari."

[Will Stanton]

"He's from Sri Lanka," Will 'helped'.

[Samantha McManus]

"Greeeeat. Well, if we are going in, we're probably not just the two of us doing it."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax's face lit up in pleasant surprise. "Wait, seriously? You're letting me help? Awesome!"

"Should I go get my jumpsuit from my ship or... wait, do all students get those sleek costumes or is that just an X-Men thing?"

[Will Stanton]

"Why don't you go and get whatever equipment you need, and Sam can go on and find the headmistress, and we can regroup then?"

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"Aye aye, boss," he said with a grin before hurrying down to the ship for his gear with an enthusiastic whoop. Finally, some action.

[Samantha McManus]

"Was I too hard on him? He's got kind of a golden retriever thing going on."

[Will Stanton]

"He'll bounce back. I should know; I've kinda got the same thing going on, right?

He wants to help. He'll be useful. If, uh, aimed properly. But he'll need a crash course in stuff. I'll get him up to speed."

[Samantha McManus]

"Alright. Suppose it would be bloody suspicious if I went in dragging a tether or anything like that."

[Will Stanton]

"This is new to me, too -- I would imagine poppin' out of nowhere would be fairly suspicions in and of itself. Might be why Ashlie hasn't returned yet?"

[Samantha McManus]

"Have to hope for the best, I suppose. Just don't let that guy be the only one who goes after me, or we're going to be swallowing spiders to catch flies."

[Will Stanton]

"I promise I'll stop if we get to goat levels."

[Samantha McManus]

"You're weird, but that's normal." She says with a shrug, heading through the portal.

[Will Stanton]

"Come home safe!" Will called back, as Sam stepped through the portal...

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

A short time later, the alien returned to the lab. He was now decked out in his lightly armored, dark blue and gray bodysuit, his trusty tiruga across his broad back. It was much easier to believe he was from another planet in a getup like that... or someone headed to a scifi convention.

"I'm ba—wait, did she go alone?" he asked, wondering if he'd been ditched. Maybe he was a little too eager to tag along and missed some cue that he was out of line? It wouldn't be the first time someone didn't find his enthusiasm charming.

[Will Stanton]

"She went on ahead," the horrible, twisted 5-d pretzel said.

"I have to ask....do you know what's going on here?"

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Of course he knew what was going o—well, shit. He realized he didn't really even know. Way to get ahead of yourself, fuzzbutt.

"Just know there's a portal to another universe. Beyond that, not a clue!" Probably not something to be cheerful about, big guy.

[Will Stanton]

"Why are you so eager to go, then? I thought you came here to stay safe?"

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"Aside from being insanely curious about seeing a parallel universe? I mean, I'd be lying if that wasn't a big part of it but also this seems like just the kind of thing the Order would have sent me on if life hadn't taken an abrupt right turn. I thought it'd be painful so I wasn't looking for it but this feels like just what I need to get back a piece of myself.

[Will Stanton]

"Figuratively, or literally? Because that's what's going on.

We believe there's a piece of me on the other side of this portal. That's what Ashlie is searching for."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"I knew you had a few loose stem bolts but this is ridiculous," Thrax teased with an amused smirk. "Not that ridiculousness isn't thoroughly on brand for you."

"So, uh, is that your original universe, then? Or do you somehow have pieces scattered across existence?"

[Will Stanton]

"Well, we're still kinda trying to figure that out. We think I was shattered and spread -- quite a wide distance, most likely, considering the nature of the, uh, attack."

[Haley Crusek]

Haley arrived, finally feeling confident enough to do X-teams work with her wings, and sporting a new uniform that accomodated them. She pulled her hair back into a functional ponytail as she walked in.

"...are we going back home to Texas?" she asked, finally taking notice of the vista on the other side of the portal.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

The alien's large, furry ears perked up in a display of righteous concern for his new friend. "Attack? Does that mean someone broke you, so to speak? I dread any being that could do that, on purpose or otherwise."

When the tiny Texan entered, Thrax turned to face her. Humans came in all sizes, alright. He was almost tempted to actually join the teams for the snazzy uniforms alone. His suit was undoubtedly more advanced but style mattered for a showman like him. "Unless your Texas is in a parallel dimension, no."

[Will Stanton]

The alien's large, furry ears perked up in a display of righteous concern for his new friend. "Attack? Does that mean someone broke you, so to speak? I dread any being that could do that, on purpose or otherwise."

"Their intent was to destroy London, and I ended up just....taking the brunt of it myself. Like you do, sometime, as an X-Man."

"...are we going back home to Texas?" she asked, finally taking notice of the vista on the other side of the portal.

"I'm not sure what's on the other side. It appears that...I can't go through."

[Haley Crusek]

"...should we? Or wait for more backup?" Haley asked, seeing if she could focus her telepathy into the portal and hear anything beyond.

[Will Stanton]

"Guess what, par'dner" said the 5D-twisted pretzel that sometimes identified itself as Will. "You're the backup. Ashlie and Sam are already through."

[Haley Crusek]

Haley nods, "Aight...are you coming with..." she asked turning to Thrax,"...Tosh, can you turn into a... giant...dog..weasel...whatever the fuck the bad guys in Lion King were...thing now too?"

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"Why do you think I'm..." he started to ask, momentarily perplexed. "Oh! Right, he told me about his power. No, not Tosh. Name's Thrax."

"Also, not loving the giant dog weasel comment buuut I'm not whatever you're thinking. Not even from this planet, actually."

[Haley Crusek]

Haley shrugs, "Oh. Well. Cool name, alien dude. See you there maybe?"

Haley stepped into the portal without waiting for a response. If Sam and Ashlie were there, *they'd* know what to do, right?