009 [ Voice ]

[hellionated]

[ So Julian's been gone somewhere close to a week. He finds that out from a newspaper stand. For him it's been a hell of a lot longer than a week, and his head is spinning now. Memories he hadn't known were there are rising to the surface, fitting back into place. Friends, enemies, people from other worlds. Events he'd thought he'd never forget. Skrulls, Vulcanus.

God, this is weird.

And last time he'd been here, he hadn't looked like this.

He's walking through the City, metal hands concealed in his pockets. Every part of this is a mess. His powers are holding the phone to his ear, and there's no video.

He sounds like he's bored. ]

This place has good timing. I was almost in math class.

So I'm back. You can all stop missing me now. Since nothing's in pieces I'm gonna guess no one tried to destroy the place this week. Did I miss anything worth telling?

Comments

video;

[hellionated]

That makes it sound cooler than it was. It's about time someone called Cyclops on the crap he's been pulling. I tried, and you left, and he still didn't get it 'till Wolverine pitched a fit.

video;

[professorlionface]

You're assuming he actually got any part of it, which is really the heart of the problem. You can tell him off to your face turns [Heh.] blue, but heaven forbid he actually listen!

video;

[hellionated]

If he loses half of his personal mutant army and still doesn't get it, that's his problem. It isn't ours anymore. Leaving's the best thing we could've done. It's the idiots staying behind that I don't get.

video;

[professorlionface]

It unfortunately remains our problem, actually. What he does will affect all of us, the way he's been carrying himself.

I couldn't begin to explain why some would sympathize beyond some belief that they can contribute to fighting back, as effective as that tends to be. It's a complicated world, Julian.

video;

[hellionated]

He's making himself look bad. And now everyone's gonna know, everyone's gonna see. And if they don't, they deserve what they get by staying with him.

video;

[professorlionface]

But let's not forget, one single mutant cannot act in a society which doesn't accept us without it being a reflection on every other mutant as well. He's not the only one who will come out of this looking bad.

video;

[hellionated]

That's why staying with him is stupid. The shots he's calling is only turning all of us into a bigger target. With him we're all just meat in the grinder. And now we're here and it's like none of that matters, even though it's been all that's mattered for months.

video;

[professorlionface]

Longer than that, if you ask me.

Perhaps it's a feeling that as the outcome is inevitable anyway, some may prefer to at least have some participation while they're being incontrovertibly affected either way.

video;

[hellionated]

They want to be targets who shoot back. [ That's what Prodigy said, so remembering it makes him roll his eyes. He still thinks it's stupid. ]

They're just making it worse. But you already knew that, cause you left long before any of us.

video;

[professorlionface]

I suppose that's a more succinct way of restating the very same idea.

And while they aren't entirely at fault for being made targets, Scott certainly hasn't made them less of one. A sovereign yet not self-sustaining island in international waters is too easy a target. Both Bastion and the Hellfire Club proved that.

video;

[hellionated]

Yeah, I kind of noticed, since they took both my hands with them. And people see that and still stay on that rock. We've done the nation island thing before. It didn't end well then, and it won't now. They need to wake up before it gets worse.

video;

[professorlionface]

And inciting our enemies isn't going to make it any easier when we're in such a tactically vulnerable position.

video;

[hellionated]

Yeah, so how the hell is it that our big damn leader guy doesn't see that, and we all do?

video;

[professorlionface]

Shortsightedness disguised as a lack of compromise.

video;

[hellionated]

This is where all the one-eye-narrow-vision jokes come in. We're better off out of it.

Like you'd be better off out of there.

video;

[professorlionface]

Well, I'm sure I will be, in due time.

[hellionated]

When?

[professorlionface]

As I just said, when it's due.

[hellionated]

You were never due to be in there anyway, Professor. Don't they care that you weren't even you when you hurt those guys?

[professorlionface]

Oh, must I really go over this again? With representation as incompetent as mine? I don't think they were particularly concerned.

[hellionated]

Yeah, because it wasn't your fault! If the system's not seeing that then the system's wrong.

[professorlionface]

I plead guilty. At that point the court isn't really going to devote much effort into proving me wrong, that onus is on the defense.

[hellionated]

[ He does not understand you, Hank. ]

Months ago I didn't get it. Now I still don't. You shouldn't be in there when there's worse out here, it's wrong.

[professorlionface]

Well, it made sense to me at the time.

Also that argument remains flawed, we don't let lesser crimes go simply because we still have yet to stop the major ones. We do, however, give them very different punishments.

[hellionated]

Most criminals know what they're doing when they do it. You weren't even you.

[ he scowled, not wanting to argue about this anymore. he was never gonna agree. ]

There won't be any justice 'til you're out. I never did like substitute teachers.