[2] Gene Jubilee

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"No, no, I for one have no trouble in that, trust me," Thrax laughed with a grin. What an odd claim for an animalistic mutant. "We're really just looking for a green guy who might be hiding in here."

"Though I wouldn't say no to getting a reading for fun's sake. I haven't had my fortune read before. Might be interesting!" Not knowing anything about human occultism, he had no reason to think that the little witch was trying too hard. Besides, he didn't actually care if she was the real deal or not.

[Raven Bloodwynd]

"Well, one of you sit down, and we will see what your future holds. And as for your green-haired friend, perhaps you will spot them in the mists of uncertainty as well."

[Robin Stanton]

"Ooh, mysterious!" Robin grins and hops into the chair across form Raven.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax gave the upcoming ritual his full, if limited, attention span. He'd need to know what to do for his turn at the wheel of fortune, especially if warnings of upcoming jeopardy were on the table. Assuming, of, course she wanted just another one of the myriad charlatans that littered the galaxy. The use of tech to provide ambience wasn't necessarily a sign of fraud; vibes were an important part of any performance!

[Raven Bloodwynd]

From underneath her desk, Raven pulled out a large, actual crystal ball -- tinted faintly green, when it caught the light just right, and place it on the table between her and Robin.

"Alright," she said, holding out her hands. "I want you to still your mind and focus. Focus on what you what to know. Try to form a picture in your mind, a blank slate waiting to be written upon. Then sit... breathe... yes, like that. In and out, in and out. Let the hush settle over your shoulders like velvet. The ball is clear now—but not for long."

Raven ran her hands over the ball -- never quite touching, her fingers hovering over the surface. "Be careful not to blink; the shadows of what will or may be do not show themselves twice, and the spirits do not like repeating themselves.

"Gaze into the ball. See how the fog rolls itself inwards, coiling like smoke from a decaying candle. Frwoooooom, frwooooom," she said, making the sound effects herself. But, hey, true to her word, the inside of the ball was beginning to fog up. Whatever gimmick she had going on went at least that far.

"Still your mind, and still your heart ... it's beginning to come clear..."

[Robin Stanton]

Robin opens her eyes and stops blinking altogether, staring into the swirling mists of the future surely captured in the crystal ball. The manual sound effects could probably use some work but ambience is important and mutant powers don't automatically come with that. "Alright, I'm picturing...what I might do for a job or, like, a career in the future. Am I a cool super-spy or go into teaching kiddos how to control their shapeshifting? Do I end up doing something mundane but fulfilling like my Dad did with his bakery? Do I end up doing my own stuff or am I always gonna be 'The Pink Stanton'?" she goes on, at some point halfway through realizing that these are, in fact, questions she actually has. And definitely not a reason why she's happy to take what might be years of a dimensional vacation before returning to her life, where there's expectations and stuff. Questions she obviously can't ask Nailah cause that'd be embarrassing.

[Raven Bloodwynd]

"You have a legacy. That can, like, lift you up, and it can also push you down. And, like, that can leave you feeling trapped, y'know?" Some of Raven's patter had dropped as she had switched from what was clearly pre-rehearsed and scripted lines to actually dealing with Robin's situation. "And, like, that's the thing about you future -- that's totally in your control? And it's how you react to the things that come across your way that decides which way you go?"

The fog kept swirling in the ball, and Raven ran her hands over it again. "Your lifeline path is twisted, y'know? It doesn't go in a straight line. It has doubled back on itself, and it is tying you up. But in those swirls and loops are blank stretches of canvas you can fill in as you desire. I'm seeing....I'm seeing a moment of choice coming, soon. An opportunity -- or a risk. And, like, it's also a time to choose if you want to be on your own or part of something else."

"I'm seeing...water," Raven said, as vague images appeared in the ball, hard to make out exactly. "Yes, water. One of the four elements, and, like, one of the most changeable. Fluid, and adaptable. That's your element sign, but this is more than just that. You are connected to the water, or someone you're connected to is connected to the water. And the tide is...the tide is coming in. And it's threatening to sweep things away. But you...I'm seeing you at the conflux of these waters, directing and shaping them. And someone there, opposing you? Or perhaps simply flowing their own way?

The mark. The mark will be your guide. If you understand the mark, the solutions will become clear."

[Robin Stanton]

Robin nods along at first because that's pretty standard 'restating what she just told Raven' kinda stuff but then the witch seems to start alluding to things she hadn't mentioned and is sounding an awful lot like aunt Nailah. A bit more rambling but like she's actually relaying something she's seeing.

"What mark? Like a sign or a symbol or something?"

[Raven Bloodwynd]

"The mists are hard to see, exactly. A symbol, yes."

The crystal ball looked like it had some kind of...arrow? Black, on a pinkish background, though not quite Robin's normal candy-colored pink. Pointed down. That's not ominous.

[Robin Stanton]

Robin squints at the murky image. ""What, the spirits are telling me I need to duck? Get down? I don't get it..."

[Raven Bloodwynd]

"The future isn't as clear as one would wish. Like, parting the veils of time and whatnot? It's totally not an exact science. We could attempt to do more -- with the cards, with the palm, with fire and blood. But, like, sometimes, you have to take the portents as they come and, y'know, trust that you'll know what to do when they arrive?"

[Robin Stanton]

"Yeah, that sounds about right." she chuckles. She's heard that reasoning before as well and seen it proven correct. "Well, here's hoping I'll figure it out in time. Thanks."

[Raven Bloodwynd]

"And you?" Raven asked, turning to Thrax. "Do you wish to peel back the veil of time?"

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"Absolutely!" Thrax answered with an excited nod before practically flopping into the chair, which creaked a little under his muscular bulk.

"Gaze into the ball, picture a blank slate, yeah?" He stared at the crystal ball, doing what she told Robin to do.

[Raven Bloodwynd]

"Exactly. And tell me what it is you wish to see... focus on something that matters to you..."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

For once, Thrax allowed himself to think of moments in time beyond the present. While he genuinely was a spontaneous person, the truth was that he didn't think on these things because the past was painful and the future uncertain. Exhaling, he said, "I'm picturing... will I soon be moving on? Or am I truly stuck? Will my—let's say colorful—past catch up to me? And, whether or not it does, will I ever find myself anything other than a permanent outsider?" And, unspoken, was the question of whether his presence was putting the people of this town or even this planet in danger. The last thing he wanted was to put innocent people in the crossfire of a conflict they had nothing to do with.

[Raven Bloodwynd]

"You have travelled long and wide to get here. Longer and further than most would know -- a journey of quite some distance.

And you are alone. Solitary and single, floating through life without a tether.

But not for long. I see a visitor coming for you. Stuck, you ask? Perhaps not stuck...but not moving on soon enough. Your past will find you before you can fully escape your past. As to whether or not you will be an outsider, that depends on what side of the door you're standing when it all comes crashing down."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

He was amazed by how little she actually said that wasn't just throwing his words back at him. But what wasn't was eerily close to home. She had quickly picked up on the severity of the situation should his enemies find him.

"Now, when you say crashing down" he asked with anything but casual interest. Robin certainly hadn't seen the alien serious about anything but, to be fair, she didn't know him that well yet. Still, it was rather out of character.

[Raven Bloodwynd]

"When it comes crashing down, you will hurt inside," Raven said, the images swirling in the crystal ball. "But you must take a stand. It will not help to hide.

You will have to pick your side carefully, and your choices may be irreversible. But if you have faith in your convictions, they will see you through the...oncoming storm?"

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Her insight was spooky enough but what really got to him was her final two words. It could only mean that the regime was going to find him or, at the very least, someone in their employ. And, stuck on Earth, he had nowhere to run where innocents wouldn't be in danger when they found him. Whether or not he warned anyone was a choice he had to make but that wasn't choosing a side. He thought he already did when he decided not to submit to the new regime like a few of his fellow monks did. Still, she was close enough to the truth to convince him that her abilities were genuine.

"You've... given me a lot to think about, soothsayer. You have my thanks."

[Raven Bloodwynd]

"Of course. And my shop is always open, for all of your mystic and dark magic needs.

And, you came here for your stamp, yes?"

[Robin Stanton]

"Assuming there's a Will around here somewhere." she says, glancing around. There's enough clutter that if Will really wanted to hide he'd be basically impossible to spot.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax smirked as he got to his feet and presented the flyer. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure he's the ball. I caught some green when I first looked at it. Plus, yanno, it fits the clue."

[Raven Bloodwynd]

"Got it in one," Raven smiled. "I'm afraid he's, like, totally busy at the moment, so you'll have to accept the stamp from me," she said, once again tucking the ball underneath her table.

[Robin Stanton]

"He'll probably take it as a compliment that you don't want to give him up." Robin chuckles.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"Yeah, I can absolutely see that," he laughed. "He seems easy to please like that."

"Probably why we get along so well."

[Raven Bloodwynd]

"Oh, I didn't know you new him socially.

Where did you meet?"

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"Oh, we met at the university pub then we went to the axe-throwing place." Of course, he had the sense not to mention sleeping with Lady-Will in front of Robin... or, yanno, the petty crime. "Really not a lot of interaction but I make friends easy."

[Raven Bloodwynd]

"Well, that's good to hear.

I'll handle the stamp, and I'll give you your next clue:

You’ve reached the point where roads don’t bend,
But something stirs here at the end."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax screwed up his face in thought. This time he truly had no idea. What could possibly stir at the end of an unbending road?

Must be an Earth thing.

"... Guess I'm just going to have to walk around until something clicks, 'cause I'm stumped."

[Robin Stanton]

"Dead-end road maybe. Or the place where the festival ends and the road's not closed anymore. This one's not so straight-forward."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"It wouldn't be much of a riddle if it was," he sighed. Moving to the exit, he said, "End of the festival grounds is a place to start, at least. Let's get to it."

[Robin Stanton]

Robin gives Thrax a thumbs-up and follows after him, briefly stopping at the exit to the tent to turn around and make eye contact(?) with the crystal ball. She's a little embarrassed about what she prattled on about in front of her dad but it's not like this isn't something she'd told him before, in so many words. "Stay fresh, cheesebags." she finally settles on to play off complicated feelings with a joke because she's at least a little bit a Pink Stanton.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

The alien gave her an odd look. "Is cheesebag a common human expression? And is it good cheese or bad cheese?"

[Robin Stanton]

"Oh yeah, it is!" Robin lies. "And it's kind of all-purpose, you know? Depends on how you say it and who you say it too, all that kinda stuff."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"I see..." he answered thoughtfully as they continued on. "Well, I like it! Anything related to cheese, really."

"Cheesebag..." he said slowly, getting a feel for the word.

[Narrator]

Robin and Thrax wandered through the fair for a while. The full extent and breadth of Mutantkind was on display in a panorama of sights, smells and sounds...but no Will to be found.

Rounding a corner, they come across a darker alleyway, where the city had placed some of the dumpsters to deal with the trash generated by a festival like this. It didn't seem super-likely that Will would have people dumpster diving for him; that's not exactly how you want to advertise a bakery. But I suppose stranger things had happened.

And hey, maybe someone else was looking for Will here, too! That would explain the muffled voices coming from around one of the dumpsters -- one vaguely nervous sounding, the other impatient, though it was hard to make out exactly what they were saying from this end of the alley, all the noise of the fair being behind them and all.

[Robin Stanton]

The tone of the voices combined with a literal dumpster alley sets of Robin's trouble-sense. She puts her finger to her lips, hoping the gesture is universal enough for Thrax to get it and then turns into a trashcan rubbish bin to scoot further into the alley in brief stretches of quiet stalking.

[Narrator]

"..ear it's fresh off the boat. This is the real deal, straight from South America. Nothing else quite like it..." It was an Irish lilt to the voice -- and a vaguely familiar one, at that.

"This stuff is banned in, like, 40 countries mate," the other voice was saying, in a deeper London cockney accent. "Including by Her Majesty's National Crime Agency. I could get nicked just lookin' at this much Glooze."

"Yeah, and you could make a small fortune with this much. I tell you, you can get MDMA or Ketamine anywhere you want. You become London's premier Flow dealer, and you can name your own price. Punch your ticket to the big leagues, my boyo. You've got the connections here; we've got the friends in high places there. You do well with this, and there's more where it came from, you savvy?"

[Robin Stanton]

"Oi! Wot's all this then!?" Robin announces in her best stereotypical copper impression, without discarding her disguise.