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Lady is a Tyger; Patch and Marvel
Topic Started: Dec 14 2009, 10:38 PM (303 Views)
Jean
Member Avatar
Telepathy, Telekinesis
Date: 8 yrs in the past, at the beginning of The Culling
Time: Noonish
Place: Madipoor




She couldn’t see them but she heard their pounding boots coming toward her; dozens or hundreds, she didn’t know, but she did know that if they caught her, she was dead. She flew through the winding corridors a shade too fast, she had too, the guards were right on her heels. Time and again walls came out of nowhere; she’d hit them, careen off and franticly scramble to fly again. The thought of what they would do to her if… when… they caught her filled her with mind numbing terror. Soon, all she hear was her heart as it pounded in her chest, drowning out all other sounds.

Jean awoke with a startled gasp and was half out of her bed before she realized it had been a nightmare, and not the first time she’d had that one in the recent weeks, but at least it was better than the ones where she’d been caught, strapped to a table and some sinister masked doctor had come in and pounded spikes into her brain.

Belatedly, she realized she still heard the pounding, it was coming from the front door. On tiptoes, she rushed to the railing and looked down to the front door. Her mind reached out, scanning the thoughts of her visitor: Mr. Wu, with more papers, she realized. He was a flatscan human and in her grasp, his mind was as fragile as an egg. Sifting through his thoughts, she saw no evidence that her deceptions were coming unraveled and, more importantly, no evidence of SHIELD. The real escape, the one that still plagued her in nightmares, had only been a few weeks ago, but in that short time the world had been bathed in blood and fear – The Culling, mutants and humans going for each other’s throats in a fight for species survival. A month ago, she would’ve said that she knew where her loyalties lay. Looking down at the door, Jean’s face grew cold and distant at the memory of SHIELD’s betrayal.

She opened the door with her mind and gazed down at the middle-aged lawyer, already nudging and guiding his mind; he would remember only what she wanted him to and think the thoughts she wanted him to have.

“Ah, Tiger Lily,” he began with an ingratiating smile that showed crooked teeth and then gave a half bow to the pretty, young red haired woman, “your request to meet with Mr. Tzo has been granted. If you will please come with me.”

Tiger Lily… when she’d first read his mind, those were his first thoughts when he saw her, and she liked it and used it as her own. Another name soon followed though – Tyger Tiger, from the poem, she assumed. Tyger Tiger, burning bright… coming to Madipoor, she, indeed, was determined to burn as brightly as she could.

“I won’t be long,” she assured him, searching his mind for any indication if he knew this was a trap or not. Wu’s mind was clear. She turned away, not surprised or convinced, Wu wasn’t in the business of asking questions or speculating on a client’s affairs.

Soon, she would be walking into Paradise. One more step farther from Agent Marvel.
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Logan
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Patch sat in a comfortable chair in front of Mr. Tzo, one foot raised up and set on his desktop. Tzo was not exactly comfortable with Patch’s presence… he was SHIELD, after all. The formation of the Thunderbolts had yet to begin, but the plans for it’s birth were on the horizon. James watched the asian man shift under his gaze as cigar smoke rose up over his face rather menacingly. ”And you’re sure that the guy you sent has no idea that I am here?”

”Uh… no… not to my knowledge,” Tzo replied, leaning forward on his desk and nervously tapping his pen.

”Not to your knowledge? That isn’t good enough, bub. If that guy even has a hint of my presence, then she will know. Not only that, she will completely mind fuck us both once she arrives. Now, you don’t want that happening, do you?” James said, taking his foot off the man’s desk and leaning forward in his chair. The only chance he had to get close to Jean was to surprise her. Have her walk into something willingly so that they can talk things over. It was either that, or ambush her in her sleep or amongst a large crowd. He didn’t want to kill her, after all.

”Well… no. He has no knowledge of your presence. The only man who knows besides me is my driver, who brought you here yesterday,” Tzo stated. He even offered James a smile.

”Your driver?”

”Uh, yes.”

”And how exactly is she going to be arriving here today?”

”Well, Wu was sent to notify her and escort her back here so that we can continue with our business. We have been discussing things for quite some time now,” Tzo said, his confidence growing.

”And how is she going to be escorted back here?”

”Uh… my…. Limo… was…. Sent….” Tzo said, realizing the mistake as he spoke. ”Oh dear God… my driver?”

James stood up from his chair and took a step forward, bringing his claws down suddenly on the desk. It was ripped in half like butter, allowing Patch to continue forward until he was holding Tzo up by his throat. He pinned the man to the wall with his left hand, while his right hand still had the claws extended. He touched the tips of the claws to Tzo’s cheek so delicately that pin sized punctures were caused. However, the man began to struggle as if he was just stabbed, which made the small punctures worse.

”I don’t need to tell you how much money SHIELD has sunk into this!” he yelled out, before throwing Tzo to the floor. Tzo’s security wouldn’t come… they weren’t that stupid. ”We told you to get me in here quietly and arrange a meet. And you can’t even do that right?”

”She might not look into the driver’s thoughts!” Tzo exclaimed, attempting to defend his actions.

”No. You fucked up, kid. And I’m not letting that one go.. Maybe she will still show up… but it won’t be you that she will be dealing with today,” James snarled, stepping forward with his claws extended.

Outside, Tzo’s security winced as they heard their boss begin to scream. Then, it went silent. Glancing at each other for a moment, they looked towards the door and wondered whether or not they should leave or stay where they were at. Suddenly, the door busted open and Patch stood within it’s frame.

”Stay at your posts. The meeting is still going to happen, god damn it!” Patch yelled, before turning and moving back to Tzo’s chair.
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Jean
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Telepathy, Telekinesis
Jean’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the behind of the driver’s head and all his secrets came tumbling out. In the seat behind her, Mr. Wu’s glassy eyes stared off into nothing. Their limo wove through the Madipoor traffic but the driver’s attention wasn’t there, not completely, he was thinking about the very secret, very important visitor who came yesterday and made his employer sweat.

:: Pull up to the curb in front :: she commanded and the car eased into an open space. Jean… no Tiger, she reminded herself; she wasn’t that person anymore, the SHIELD agent who’d followed orders, believing the lies that if she was loyal to SHIELD – SHIELD would be loyal her. She was Tiger now, and not so naive.

Closing her eyes, the building lit up as minds broadcast their thoughts: a man mopping the floor and thinking about the money he lost the night before, another wondering about his lunch, mind after mind of boredom until she reached the office. His mind was closed, contained, and trained, but all the training in the world would’ve kept her out. Her thoughts reached out, sinking her mental fingers into the SHIELD agent’s mind.

With a gasp of surprise, she jerked back as though she’d touched a livewire. She’d seen the minds for violent men before, filled with rage and darkness, with a sick pleasure in killing, but never a mind like this one. Her fingers trembled faintly as she opened the car but by the time she had climbed the steps, she thought she had her breathing under control.

Two weights thudded heavily outside Mr. Tzo’s office before the door swung open. Her gaze crossed over the bloody body of Mr. Tzo without pausing. The SHIELD agent looked as she expected, shorter than she expected but presence he projected seemed to fill the room. She gave him a level stare, nailing herself to the floor to keep from turning away from his penetrating gaze.

“You’re Agent Patch, I already know why you’re here and what you have to offer,” to her amazement, her voice didn’t sound shaky, at least not to her own ears. “But first, I have an offer for you. I know now how SHIELD treats us and I don’t want to be SHIELD’s pet mutant any longer. I’m going to run this place someday and I could use a man like you - stay here and help me.”
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Logan
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James sat in Mr Tzo’s comfortable leather chair with his feet up on the desk, awaiting the arrival of Marvel. He had one of Tzo’s cigars in his mouth, chewing and tasting the tobacco. He didn’t light it… not yet. With his eyes trained on the door, he knew that she would be showing up at any second. Before she ever got off the elevator, he could smell her scent as if it was fast approaching. Much like she could do with her mind, he could feel out with his senses, forming his own image of his surroundings.

When she busted in, he was surprised at her beauty. He had seen pictures and file footage, but to lay his eyes on her in person was a different matter. James leaned forward, taking his feet off of the desk. His eyes were furrowed and he looked at her harshly. He had no sympathy for the deserter. Whatever her reasons were for running, they weren’t good enough. Then… she spoke.

“You’re Agent Patch,” Jean began. James nodded once. “I already know why you’re here and what you have to offer.”

”Is that so?” he threw in.

She continued, “But first, I have an offer for you.” Jean then went on to explain how she knew "how they were all treated" with SHIELD and how she was going to start up something on her own. Also, she wanted his assistance. James was amused. Not only did she want to stay gone, but she wanted him to come along for the ride? Did she even know what she was doing?

”You have got to be kiddin’,” James started, standing behind the desk. He made his way around it to confront her face to face. ”You think that I am going to drop my Agent status just to follow you on some random bullshit scheme that you have come up with? What exactly is it that you think you know? You realize that I am only the tip of the spear… SHIELD will not stop coming at you with me. And then… Then you seriously expect to drag me into something just on your word?” James paused and sneered at her. ”Has your cheese slid off your cracker, Marvel?”
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Jean
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Telepathy, Telekinesis
Jean narrowed her eyes at him; in a strange way his rebuke didn’t change how intimidated she was by him but it was also the way every senior SHIELD agent had ever treated her. She stared unblinkingly into his eyes as her temper flared. “Agent status,” she said, giving the words a bitter twist, “means jack-shit and you aren’t dumb enough to believe differently. A month ago, I believed that Agent status meant something too,” she said, keeping her distance from Patch, “but I was a naďve kid taught to believe in SHIELD.” Her pretty lips twisted into a bitter smile, “I know better now.” The anger and pain of betrayal bled into her voice but she hadn’t bothered to try and keep it out; partly because she didn’t care that her emotions were out there for all to see but mostly, they were too raw and she couldn’t do anything about them.

She looked into the eyes of a stranger, a man who, in some strange way, had already lived through more than she ever would, even if she lived to be a hundred, and said, “When I signed up, I accepted being sent on impossible missions… suicidal missions, if my commandeering officer said, ‘we need you to do this,’ it was part of the job. What wasn’t part of the job,” she knew her voice was climbing but couldn’t stop herself now that it was boiling to the surface; she was yelling into his face… as if he had been the one to issue the orders or even, frankly, gave a damn what she thought. “I didn’t sign-up to simply lie down and die so that they could take out my brain and toss it onto the dissecting table.”

“Maybe you can climb on that table, let them put a chip in your brain that’ll turn you into nothing but a meat-puppet, parking your ass in a closet until they need something killed and putting you back when it’s done.” She shook her head, “I’m not going out that way,” the deadly tone in her voice marking her line in the sand.
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Logan
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James stood there and listened to her speak. His eyes left hers as he looked down to the cigar in his hands. Placing it in his mouth, he took out a metal zippo lighter and flicked back the top, lighting it and taking several puffs so that it could catch a flame. Once it was lit, he looked back to her just as she began yelling about what she thought the agent status meant. He took a long drag on the cigar, much like a normal person would take a drag on the cigarette, pulling the heavy smoke into his lungs. It burned nicely and for only a moment before his healing factor took over, he could feel the nicotine rush into his head. It took the strength of a cigar for him to feel this, but it was short lived. In a way, every time he took a drag on a cigar, it was like the first time.

He exhaled the smoke. Considering their close proximity, it was more or less right into her face. This was not something he did intentionally. James did not look up at her and blow it right into her eyes, but instead, the smoke just trailed out of his mouth and happened to cloud up the area between them. Since the smoke was so thick, it lingered there, the sweet smell almost instantly filling the room.

”I don’t see how you can think that, darlin’,” James started. He shrugged. ”Sure, they have done things to me on an operating table. But I don’t see why giving up a little bit of my time to help them understand why we are the way we are will hurt anything. In fact, being on an operating table has helped me out in a variety of different ways.”

James held his arm up to her, crossing it over his body so that it was parallel to the ground. Three adamantium claws began to pierce their way through his skin and they continued to come out slowly until they were at full extension. He was not pointing the claws at her, but merely showing her one of the things that they have done for him.

”I am indestructible,” James said with a wicked smile. He brought the claws down on his other arm and cut into his flesh, the razor sharp blades moving through his skin like butter. Three bright red lines appeared on his forearm and began to bleed. Almost as quickly as they appeared, the wounds began to close up until all that was left was a small amount of blood on his arm. ”And I don’t see why SHIELD giving me that gift was all that bad.” The claws retracted into his forearm.

”Not to mention, we are fighting for the greater good. We are doing things that might appear harsh or uncalled for. However, they are always done in the interest of preservation of innocent life.” He was convinced of this. How else could he justify the terrible things he has done? ”Not only could they improve you on one of those operating tables… they’d be doing it for a real purpose. But then again… I volunteered for my time under the knife. I highly doubt a person of your skill would be forced there.”
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Jean
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Telepathy, Telekinesis
Jean snorted out the smoke that drifted into her nose; watching and listening as Agent Patch extolled the virtues of SHIELD, including upgrades and implants to make them all better, faster, and indestructible killing machines. Her eyes flicked to the blades then met his again. “No, they already found out that they can't. You’re trying hard not to think about what’s going to happen when one of the brass takes a good look at what they’ve created and wets himself, thinking they made a mistake making you too indestructible and uncontrollable.” She eyed him, “Think they’re going to volunteer the info when they decide that the next little upgrade is going to include a little extra something.” Her eyes narrowed angrily, “I’m a telepath, I don’t have to rely on faith in SHIELD; I read their minds. When the Mutant uprising happened and all those people died, I saw in the minds of the doctors and commanders and soldiers, saw what they were planning to do to me.”

She was barely into her twenties but losing her trust of SHIELD was like being betrayed by a parent. “I didn’t loss my faith in what SHIELD does, just those in command.” Jean made her way over to Tzo’s picture window that looked over the grimy, vaguely oriental style city of Madipoor. “Yeah, this place may be a shit-hole of corruption, but I know who my enemies are… everyone. And here, I call my own shots.”

She looked significantly at Patch’s arm before moving away from him. “And none of SHIELD’s shiny babbles are worth enough to trade my freedom for.”
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Logan
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Patch nodded. ”Yea, What the upper command is made up of is pure shit. But that is the way it is with everything, if you look at it that way,” he started, moving away from her and walking towards the window. He looked out towards the shit can of the city below. ”Every government in this god damned world is like that. They use their population to achieve their own purposes… even to the point that they ignore the needs and wants of the people that put them in power.”

He turned towards her again. ”You think you would be any different? You say you call the shots… but if you got up a crew you think you’d be any different than the commanders of Shield once you gained some power?” Patch smirked. ”Probably not. You’ll advance your own desires and wants on the people around you… If your organization got big enough, you’d probably even neglect some of their wants for what you want to see happen. It’s just the way of the game, darlin’.”

James walked slowly back towards her as he continued. ”But let’s face it… No matter where you go in this world, you won’t be free. You’ll always have someone breathing over your shoulder at some point. Shield offers these enhancements, sure. But they also give you a purpose that you can decide on your own. Once you are out on a mission, how it goes down is on you and no one else. They give you a line to draw in the sand in the world… they give you a reason to fight.” Patch smirked. ”To kill.”

He wasn’t trying to threaten her by saying that. But his demeanor made almost every word he spoke intimidating to most people. His insinuation of “to kill” could have very well applied to his mission here. Or maybe not. Perhaps it was just that Shield gave him a legal way of doing what he loved to do?
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