06/06 Instance: Back Door Auction

[Freak]

Timelined a few hours after [Instance]Carside Service


Monet: Monet directed the driver to set her bag next to the front desk and she rang the bell for service. "It looks like I get to extend my trip after all," she said into her phone. "However, at a hotel that's not even close to the standards we just left. Disappointing. In any event, I'm here. Don't cause too much trouble without me. I want to see things, not hear about them. Au revoir." A woman walked up as she hung up her phone and Monet proceedeed to check in, giving her all the information she needed.

Pietro: Pietro rolled his eyes and shook his head as he stepped back into the hotel. "Emma, it's fine, don't worry about me... Tell Sophie to behave herself, no more drama til this is done - I don't want to be worrying about you guys too. I'll call you tomorrow." He hung up and put his phone back in his pocket then spotted Monet by the front desk, he walked over to her.

Monet: Monet heard Pietro before she saw him and mustered up a fake smile to keep up the ruse for the tournament as she turned around, "Bonjour, darling!" She leaned in to kiss him on the cheek, "How are you?"

Pietro: "Pretty good," he smiled, "Much better now, of course." He looked at her bags, "You all checked in?"

Monet: Monet looked to the woman for confirmation of that fact and got a nod and a friendly smile in return. Monet took her room key and turned back to Pietro, "Oui. Get my bags, will you? We have some catching up to do, I think."

Pietro: "We do..." Pietro bent and picked up the bags, "Rather a lot actually..." his tone implied there was more than just the pretense of the charade there.

Monet: Monet arched an eyebrow at him then turned and led the way to the elevators. "I'm quite curious to hear how you've faired while I've been away, cher." Oh she was going to get sick of having to be nice to him in public very quickly.

Pietro: "Well enough but there has been a distinct lack of inteligient conversation." He stopped at the elevator as they had to wait for it to arrive.

J: J stood in the elevator, heading to the lobby for a drink and ice for his room. He was quite surprised to see Monet and Pietro standing on the other side of the doors when they slid open. "Oh... Hello." He said, shocked as he smoothed his sleeves and straightened his cuffs.

Monet: "Oh!" Monet cut a glance to Pietro then back to John before finally stepping in, "Hello." She waited for the doors to close before she gave John a more warm welcome, giving him a kiss on the lips, "And how have you faired this summer, darling?"

Pietro: Pietro shook his head and decided to just ignore the pair of them until the doors opened again.

J: His shock faded as their lips met and he gave her a bright smile, slipping his arm around her waist. "I have been well. Went to Disneyworld." He said happily, "Was sad though that our evening never occured." He said evenly.

Monet: "Disneyworld?" She arched an eyebrow, "How juvinielle of you." Monet shrugged nonchalantly, "Maybe it will at a later time." The elevator neared her floor and she parted from John to go step next to Pietro, putting on a ruse that she didn't know him at all besides the knowing smirk she would send his way behind Pietro's back.

J: "I was going for a drink... Would you like me to bring you something? Can follow along to your room once you two are inside." He reasoned out, standing non-chelantly by himself.

Pietro: Pietro raised an eyebrow at J and gave Monet a glance. He'd let her field this one since it was her dumb game anyway.

Monet: Monet gave a noncommital shrug, "If you so choose." The doors opened and she stepped out, leading Pietro down to her room.

J: J nodded and pressed the 'close door' button once more after they stepped out and took the elevator back down to the lobby.

Pietro: Pietro followed Monet to her room with the bags and waited for her to open the door before stepping inside.

Monet: Monet went to sit down on the bed and let out a sigh as she laid back on it, watching him. "What is is you needed to speak to me about, then?"

Pietro: He put the bags down and folded his arms, leaning against the door. "Things got decidedly weird the other day." He told her, "And cover is a little blown."

Monet: Monet propped up onto her elbows quickly, "I'm sorry? It's what?"

Pietro: "There was a change to the schedule at the tournament.... instead of semi-finals they decided to throw everyone in the cage at once and see who won - the winner was to be put up against Mammommax..." he sighed, "Kyle ended up against him. It went badly."

Monet: Monet let out a string of curses in French and then took a breath, "Ok. What's our next move?"

Pietro: "There's supposed to be some kind of auction - selling off all the fighters." Pietro frowned, "We're making our move then... but I think it's a little more complicated than that now... I wasn't kidding when I said it got weird."

Monet: "Selling them off? That's not a problem. I'll buy them all back." She frowned, "So how is that complicated?"

J: J led the server and his room service cart to Monet's room, using his key card, he opened it, smiled and thanked the server and sent him on his way, pulling the cart in behind him. "Room service?" He smiled and placed the cart in the middle of the room, pouring a drink out for himself and the others.

Pietro: Pietro moved away from the door when it opened, waiting for J to close it again. "Why don't you ask J?" he suggested to Monet, "It happened to him - he can tell you better than I can."

Monet: "How much will it be to buy you back, cher? And why are things decidedly 'weird'?"

J: He handed her a drink and shook his head, "Not to buy back, Johnny Dee is renting us out. Not selling. And we are to be auctioned off, so you will have to bid on me. I do hope you win." He finished with a large smile for Monet, a voice in his head outraged that he was so pleased to be auctioned off like property.

Pietro: Pietro frowned, still didn't seem to be that worried about being auctioned. Teagan was the same.

Monet: "Renting you out? Who says he owns you in the first place?" She took the drink and stood. "Non, I want to speak to this 'Johnny Dee' character. He is sorely mistaken if he thinks my fighters belong to him." She frowned and lashed out lightly at the voice she was hearing cursing mentally and took a drink. "Where is he," she asked Pietro.

Pietro: "No idea, he's vanished - disappears between tournaments or so it seems... Not that you'd have much hope getting close to him - and that's not to say I don't have confidence in your abilities." He paused, "There's something going on... everyone that had been fighting - even our people all stopped when he asked them to. And none of them seem to be at all bothered by the fact they're being auctioned off."

J: "As long as I go for a good price I see no harm in it." He shrugged, Yes you do! Snap out of it... Gah... Kid broke faster than I would have thought he could... The voice in his head would have been shaking it's head in shame if it had one.J took a sip of his drink and placed it on the tray, pulling a bunch of grapes from the fruit tray, "Grape?" He plucked one and offered it to Monet.

Monet: Monet frowned and shook her head at the grape, forcing herself to stay calm. "You see no harm in it?" She glanced at Pietro then looked back at John, "Why?"

Pietro: "You see what I mean?" Pietro crossed the room and sat down on a chair, "They're all like this..."

Monet: "All of them? Even the ones who do not belong to us?"

Pietro: "Yeah, every last one of them... it's actually disturbing... like some kind of brainwashing or mind control." he frowned, "I don't like it."

J: J shrugged and ate grapes as they talked about the situation. ... You heard me? Ah yeah... I 'member you now... The little snooty rich bitch girl... I mean his mind's been tampered with. He tried to fight, but all it did was wake me up again.

Monet: Monet narrowed her eyes, She managed to reign in her anger and not share it with the room as she looked at Pietro, "Non." She sat back down and pat the bed beside her for John, "Come talk to me, cher. Tell me what's happened while I've been away, hmm?" Maybe they could get something useful from him.

Pietro: Pietro watched J curiously, the whole situation was unnerving, having virtually the whole team Farouk had put together compromised was dangerous. Not to mention the weird situation with Kyle and Darren.

J: J smiled and took the seat offered, plucking and eating grapes happily. "Johnny Dee changed the finals from individual matches to a Battle Royale. I stayed in untill almost the very end. 3rd place. But I flopped... I could have continued fighting, I just pretended to be knocked out so I wouldn't get hurt needlessly." He smiled at her, hoping his high place made her happy.

J: The voice in his head smiled, she had heard alright. You heard me. Now how about you put that pretty little head of yours to good use and figure out how to fix him, or at least how to let him fight back so he can fix it himself. He instructed, seems he'd never finish teaching and telling kids what to do.

Monet: Monet put on a bright smile for John and pat his arm, "That's very good, darling! You did well!" He was acting like her sister. She wanted to frown, but kept up the smile, "So tell me what happened backstage while you were waiting to fight?" Monet opened a channel between her and Pietro so he could hear what was being said between her and the voice.

J: He smiled at her hand on his arm, "Oh, not much really... Johnny Dee came by to shake hands with some of the fighters, and wished them luck. That was when we were told about the change of format." The voice shook it's proverbial head again at the passive way the boy spoke, Ha... Fiesty... I like that. So what's it gonna be sweets? Throw the poor kid a bone?

Pietro: Pietro blinked at the surprise super-slow voice in his head and concentrated to try and slow it down so he could understand what was being said. Not that it did much to remove the confusion. He gave Monet a questioning look.

Monet: "He shook some hands, cher? Or all hands? Did he shake yours?" She laced her fingers through John's and glanced at Pietro,

J: It was difficult to think about it, but J tried hard to remember, it'self strange for him. "Um... It might have been everyone... I don't really remember..." He shook his head, not wanting to lie to her, his face drooping from the expected displeasure from her.

J: Fair enough... and you can call me Professor. He started acting like this right after Johnny Dee made the anouncement. Sadly, I was resting before that, and the memories are blocked off...

Monet: She arched an eyebrow at Pietro. Monet turned back to John and gave him a sympathetic look, running her hand over his hair, "It's alright, John. You've had a rough day, you don't have to recall it exactly. Did you use your power on him when he shook your hand?" He really was acting like her younger sister... That was frightening.

Pietro: Professor? This was getting even more weird. He rubbed his forehead, getting that familiar pain from having to slow his thoughts down so much. He tried to pay attention to the spoken side of the conversation too since both seemed important.

J: He shook his head slowly again, "I don't remember... If I did I don't have the connection anymore..." He bit his lip, it was hard to think of Johnny Dee at all outside of the auction. ... The voice in his head stayed quiet as it listened in as well.

Monet: Monet kissed his cheek and pet his hair again, "That's alright, cher. Don't think too hard on it, you'll get a headache. Would you like for me to dig through your 'files' and see what I can find?"

Pietro: Pietro raised an eyebrow. It was extremely surreal to see Monet acting like that with someone. He wasn't sure she had it in her. Now he knew better.

J: J blushed a bit, his head rocking as she ran her hand through his hair. "Alright... I... Uh... I do not mind." He nodded his ok. Careful in here... Easy to get lost. The voice warned, Would be nice ta have a smidge a company though.... Ha.... It faded with a bit of laughter.

Monet: Monet pulled John to rest his head on her shoulder and she kissed the crown of his head, "Shh. Close your eyes and relax, cher. Won't take but a minute."

Monet: Monet closed her own eyes and rested her cheek against John's head, hoping the contact would keep him calm as she started searching, showing Pietro anything she found. Ah ha. So he did use his powers. She frowned as she recalled when he lost the connection. Monet's eyes opened wide in surpise as she found a 'back door' into J's brain.

Pietro: Pietro's other eyebrow joined his first. Yeah this wasn't good. Ow. Headache. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

Monet: Monet focused on the door for a moment She looked at the door frame and looked around for a way to shut it that would be secure and not set off alarms for Johnny Dee.

J: J smiled lazily as he laid against her shoulder, relaxed and feeling complacent. "Mmmmm" He let out softly. The voice watched intently, Yeah, that's about it. Was restin and next thing I know that door is slammed open and the kid acting all stepford wife-like..

Monet: She ran her psychic hands over the frame for a moment and finally decided to just close it and she would deal with any repricussions as they came. Monet reached through the frame and grabbed the knob, pulling the door tightly shut and locking it from her side.

Pietro: He closed his eyes, it had been a long time since he'd had to slow his thoughts down this much so he was out of practise.

Monet:

J: J's eyes went wide as the door closed. "Ah... What happened..." He blinked hard a few times, Seems like ya got it figured out... The voice sounded happy, and tired. You got it from here... then? Thanks. J felt Monet and Pietro, He was confused and concerned, and not at all certain what was happening.

Pietro: Owww.... He cracked an eye open to look at J, "You alright there?"

Monet: Monet shut the channel between her and Pietro and waved at the voice as she backed out of J's mind. She sat up and ran her hand through his hair again, wanting to make sure he was back to normal before making him leave her shoulder. "Someone used one of your own back-door viruses against you, darling. Johnny Dee, as it so happens."

J: J was quiet for a moment as that sunk in. He felt the door and started to check the rest of his files to make sure they were in order. "I do not think I like the idea of that very much." He said slowly. "Everything is in order... I... That was..." He shook his head, not really sure how to put it in words.

Pietro: "Go with weird..." Pietro suggested, rubbing his temples.

J: J shook his head again, his eyes wide with fear. "No... That was horrific... I knew what was happening... But I couldn't help but agree to what he said..." The irony was not lost on J.

Pietro: "Don't feel too bad - you weren't the only one," Pietro told him, his thought processes settling to their normal speed. "It's kind of worrying to watch it too - all of you acting like it's okay to be sold at auction for God knows what."

Monet: Monet frowned and sat silently as they talked, thinking through what she had found in John's mind. "We have to close the other doors somehow."

J: He nodded, "Agreed..." He had a quick thought, "The team is scattered though..."He bit his lip thinking.

Pietro: "Yeah it is..." Pietro ran a hand through his hair, "And there's the mess with Kyle... And this thing, whatever it is, it's got Teagan too and this stuff isn't supposed to work on her." That bothered him a lot.

Monet: Monet frowned and laid back on her bed, staring at the ceiling quietly for a moment. "I wonder if this is the reason Christopher was such a 'douche' as Jason put it earlier." She looked over at Pietro, "So what is the mess with the chien then?"

Pietro: "Remember I said his fight with Mammommax went bad?" his headache was going away thankfully, "Kyle got... well... melted." That was really the only way to describe it, "Darren resorted to drastic measures to stop him from dying.... so now they're sort of... merged?" It was all kinds of messed up.

J: J shook his head, he'd not heard about that. Or his mind had been glossed over it if he had. He listened, trying to gather everything he had missed as he looked back and forth between them.

Monet: She propped up on her elbows again, "Dieu. I would like to get ahold of some of these people and deal with them my way. Where are Kyle and Darren now?"

Pietro: "Not really sure... I haven't seen either of them since the tournament... Considering how close Hepzibah is to Kyle, I figured it'd be best to just keep my distance and not stress her out more than neccessary." Even though he really did need to talk to her.

Monet: "John? Do you know where they are?" She glanced at Pietro for a moment, "Hepzibah is here? Bellisimo," she grumbled.

J: "Not all of them... I was with Hepzibah untill she left... She took a trip back to the states. The rest I do not know..." He fixed his crumpled sleeve and kept his eyes on Monet.

Monet: "Oh good, she left." Monet took a deep breath, "Alright, so what we know is that Johnny Dee is controlling the fighters with a backdoor entrance to their brain that he likely opened when he shook their hands and then utilized them when the forcefield went up. What we don't know is where he is and how he gained control of the ones who are supposedly invulnerable to that sort of thing."

J: "Right... I didn't think there was a way to use telepathy to take over my mind... Without me knowing about it at least... And it doesn't work on Teagan at all." He bit his lip and shook his head, disappointed at himself for falling so easily to a trick he knew so well.

Pietro: "Yeah that's the part that's worrying me... it doesn't look like telepathy if it's got you and Teagan so it's got to be something else... but I have no idea what else and not enough time to go through everything my father compiled looking for clues.... Best thing to do would be to find the guy and ask him..."

J: "No doubt, but no one has been able to track him as he comes and goes. Only time we ever know where he is is at the tournament." J said helpfully, plucking and popping a grape into his mouth absentmindedly as he thought.

Monet: "Which door does he head out of when he leaves? That's a starting point."

J: "The one behind his private box?"

Monet: "Then we go to his private box."

[Edited on 8/6/10 by Freak]

[puppygirl]

... Love you Freak xD

[Esynthia]

...Really?

[Freak]

...Really?

Yes :3

[Raven Hare]

I can't help but wonder how Freak would know this... Scott must have wondering eyes in the guys' shower.

[Esynthia]

Scott?

[Raven Hare]

Yeah, Scott... from the Xfactor game, aka Micromax.

[Esynthia]

Oh. Didn't know we had another one besides Cyclops. Still haven't had time to read anything yet. ><

[Raven Hare]

LOL! np. I always think of Scott Summers when I see it too.

btw - excellent instance you three. I have sorta a bad habit of scanning through instances. But this one I read from beginning to end. Nice to see Mo not being completely awful and fun to see 'the Professor' again for a minute. And peeto is gonna need some aspirin.