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| Multifaceted; Madrox and the Doc | |
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| Topic Started: Aug 12 2009, 03:24 AM (185 Views) | |
| Jamie Madrox(Old) | Aug 12 2009, 03:24 AM Post #1 |
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Impact Enduced Duplication
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August 10 The Afternoon So far the government sponsorship had not been that bad. It wasn’t anything that Jamie couldn’t handle. Sure they had to report to the government, but wasn’t that a sign that they had made the big time? The Feds were cutting X-Factor’s checks that meant they had benefits. That couldn’t be all bad. When you wound up fighting international villains it would help to have some good health and life insurance. They also had to wear uniforms. That wasn’t too big of a deal. They could certainly be worse. The uniforms could have been pink and included capes or something. Surely meeting with the government appointed shrink couldn’t be that bad. Jamie Madrox sat across from Doctor Leonard Samson in the X-Factor headquarters. “You know, when they told me your name, I thought they said Doc Savage. You know, the hero in those old pulp novels? All muscle, chiseled chin and torn khaki shirt. My dad had a bunch of those old books,” Madrox explained. “Though, I don’t think a hero like him would fly in today’s market. People want their heroes tortured and complex. Ubermensch is dead.” I hate that word, uber. "He's one of my idols," Samson smiled, "Except for the torn shirt. I was a fussy kid, never liked to get dirty." He watched the young man for a moment and said, "I agree though. It's a shame that the quintessential good guy heroes are considered old fashion. It what I based my self image on as a child, and when my gamma exposure altered my physiology, it took that form, muscley, square jawed. I've become the embodiment of everything I idolized and became something unfashionable." He clucked his tongue in exaggerated self pity. "Why do you think that is? The need for us to want our heroes to suffer? To the people of Mutant Town, you and your team here are heroes. Do you feel like you should be suffering?" To Madrox it seemed simple enough to answer the first question. “People want their heroes to be relatable. It’s all about imagining yourself in their shoes. That you could be brave and get the girl in the end just like in the movies. Like Mutant Town, for example. We’re heroes because we’re mutants. We are one with the people,” Jamie explained. “If we were flatscans, I don’t think we’d get the welcome wagon.” The last question was strange. Jamie didn’t feel like he should be suffering. Though if he snapped his fingers or beat his head against the wall enough times he’d find a dupe that thought he deserved punishment. “Nope Doc. I’m all about positive thinking. In London and Paris, I had a few dozen duplicates die and that was enough punishment to last a lifetime. I’ve got my punishment in spades.” He thought about snapping his fingers to produce a couple of dupes to add emphasis but he would probably get the Homicidal and Suicidal Twins. "I see," Samson said, "Tell me about your duplicates. I find that to be a fascinating power, but I imagine it must get... crowded," he tapped on his own forehead, "How much of what happens to them do you realize at the moment? If they represent different aspects of your personality, then how do their deaths affect you? If the part of you that likes rainbows is killed, can you never appreciate rainbows again?" Oooh, he’s deep, Jamie thought. “All of my duplicates are part of me but sometimes I tell myself they’re merely physical representations of different aspects rather than the trait incarnate. It keeps me a bit more sane that way so I’m not imagining my Rainbow Enthusiast Dupe getting murdered,” the Multiple Man explained. “But crowded? Yeah. You got that right.” Madrox uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I’ve had more life experience than most of the people twice my age. Any time I reabsorb a duplicate, those independent memories then become my memories. As if I lived them. Like right now. I have a clone that, at last check, has stayed up playing video games for two days. When I take him back in, I’ll have the memories and experience of those independent days. Whether it’s a few minutes or a few days, all that extra time adds up,” Jamie explained. "And yet, you've chosen what some might call an 'immature' persona, despite all that life experience," Samson said, leaning forward himself, mimicking Jamie's posture, "I wonder how much of that is because your dupe, who is playing video games, is not Jamie Prime. He's just a gamer dupe, produced to learn something that perhaps the tabula rasa, the blank slate Jamie that will be reabsorbing him and learning which keys to push in which order, might have found more satisfying to learn himself. At what point do you stop doing for yourself, and instead become a passive participant in your own life?" Okay, maybe a sit-down with the shrink wasn’t going to be unicorns and rainbows. “What can I say? I’m just a kid at heart. I’ll still be cracking jokes and putting gunk in Jet’s shoes when I’m ninety,” Jamie said and then switched gears slightly after a breath. “But you’re way off base there. If you haven’t noticed, we’re heroes and we don’t have time to beat video games on the hardest difficulty, or earn my keep on a crabbing boat or learn Japanese. If I can live the life, the lives, I missed out on because I was on the farm, then why not? Besides Doc, didn’t you ever wish you could be in a hundred different places at one?” Jamie added a small grin at the end. "Oh, all the time," Samson chuckled, "But I'm afraid I wouldn't be as altrusitic as you are. I think I would be the one staying at home and playing the video games, while my dupes were the ones facing the end of the world." He leaned back in his chair, "You do just the opposite, don't you? You're the one who stands at the fore, you're the one who fights for the freedom of the world, and yet, besides your multiplication powers, you don't have physical enhancements. No super speed, strength, you can't even stick to walls. What drives you forward? Why didn't you remain a farmer?" |
[align=center]![]() Part of Jamie totally wants to be Facebook Friends with Max Coleridge. [/align] | |
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| Jamie Madrox(Old) | Aug 19 2009, 03:14 AM Post #2 |
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Impact Enduced Duplication
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Madrox crossed his arms over his chest. Really? Immature? “Impish, sure. Delightfully jovial, maybe. Immature? I wouldn’t say that. How would you wind up though? Living on a farm in the middle of nowhere with nobody except an army of clones that are mostly just like to keep you company. When I got out of their, you know after I got my regulator suit working again, I knew I had to get out into the world. Besides? Who doesn’t like a hero, fractured or otherwise? I guess I just want people to like me,” Madrox replied with a noncommittal shrug. Samson nodded, "So, you're seeking approval, but from who? Other mutants? A strange target market considering that most of your kind are hated and resented by most of mine. You have a very easily passable ability. Just wear your regulator suit and don't make dupes in public. If being liked was your goal, then why wouldn't you just pretend to be a normal person." Okay. Jamie thought that was getting a little close for comfort. This baseline psychoanalysis was getting to psychoanalyze-y. “That’s a good question. We all want to fit in but at the same time there are things that make us truly unique that we’d rather not give up. It would be easier to just assimilate and blend in. But there are people in the world who need my help. Off the farm, I have a useful purpose,” Madrox explained and then added with a roll of his eyes and a sarcastic tone, “And if you haven’t heard, supposedly mutants are the next step in evolution. Humans are going the way of the dodo.” Oh, I have no doubt of that, Jamie," Samson agreed, easily, "I think the day is coming when what was relegated to science accidents and radioactive spider bites will eventually be commonplace cosmetic procedures like a tummy tuck or a botox injection. Very interesting, don't you think, that a man who's powers are to mass produce identical men has a desperation to stand out from the crowd? You are a crowd, Jamie, all by yourself, all by yourself. What makes you unique literally makes you un-unique." Madrox smirked. It was true. He was the only man who could keep himself company, lose a fight with himself or be his own parade. The Doc brought out a deep insight about Madrox. Being isolated on the farm, all alone for all those years, had reduced him to a walking punch line whoring for attention. “What can I say? I’m a man like any other; I’m a little boy who just wants to be noticed,” the multiplying mutant joked. “So. Is this the part where you make some notes saying that the government needs to keep an eye on me because I’m a loose canon ready to do anything for a thrill, or a cheap laugh?” "You have no idea who the rest of your team mates are, do you?" Samson chuckled, "X-Factor is filled with loose cannons. That's why you've been as successful as you've been, in my never to be humble opinion. SHIELD wants me to find out how to control you, but honestly, I think that might lessen your team dynamic. Do you agree? How is that dynamic for you? Do you think your team mates have problems with your attention garnering antics?" “Our group dynamic?” Madrox asked and scratched his head. “I’ve never thought about it. We’re like a family I suppose but dysfunctional my be the word of the day. We’ve all got our quirks. We’ve got comedians, honey-bunnies, sister figures, brother figures. Could be that we’re too unpredictable and that big unpredictable mass of chaos works together somehow. If you try to Ritalin shoehorn us into submission we’d probably all die of an aneurysm or something. Really, no joke.” Madrox paused a moment to think about how he fit into the group and what that meant for him. “I try to keep things light but you never really learn where the line is with some people. No one in the group is really super-serious so that’s a good thing. Jet though has gotten payback at me for pranks before. But that’s just a vicious circle; we always try to up the ante on one another, you know? If they’ve had problems with it, they haven’t mentioned anything outright. Maybe, I’m more of a little brother, I don’t know.” "All right, if you're the little brother, then who are the rest of the family? Is Havok the father? Is he a good role model for you children? After all, how many times has he vanished, been manipulated? Does that by default make Lorna the mother? How nuturing is she? Is this a family with no parental figures, or do you feel protected and safe within it?" |
[align=center]![]() Part of Jamie totally wants to be Facebook Friends with Max Coleridge. [/align] | |
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