Newcomer

[dharma]

Dharma watched the boat approach the island, standing as still as he had for the last half hour since they boarded.

His companion stared at him. He hadn't seen Genosha, never stepped on its shore, and he wasn't supposed to tonight either. Python had made it sound like a colosally bad idea. But he was still guiding the scary looking chinese man across the water. And had managed to stay alive to so, which he was thankful for.

"It is taking too long." Dharma's voice was flat, smooth, calm as water on a clear day.

"Yeah, heheh... it does take a bit. Only about twenty minutes more."

It wasn't like Dharma to become anxious, and even now his impatience had risen only to a whisper by comparison to most people. But he also wasn't the sort to wait for things to be delivered to him- or he to be delivered to them.

Stepping up onto the side of the boat, he walked off the side. Before his body hit the surface of the water, he too became liquid, a black water slipping away from the boat at an unreal rate.

"Well fuck. I guess we'll just drop his things off at the dock."

Coming to the shore, Dharma reformed, stepping onto the sand in his black suit, mandarin collar adjusted by deft fingers as the night breeze blew dark hair into his face. He walked towards the building in the distance, eyes forward, undeterred by the sirens that began to go off.

[Juggers]

The crowd noise rolled like a living thing around the stadium, a living, breathing entity in its own right. He looked up at the roiling ocean of black-clad supporters, their flags, banners and painted faces of support rolling across the sea of humanity in the stands. They loved him. The second half was in its dying seconds. Before him stood the enemy, a line of red-clad soldiers, prepared to defend their goal to the last. More seconds slipped by, the crowd hushed and time seemed to slow.

This shot was the winner.

His booted foot connected solidly with the ball and the leather orb took flight, describing a smooth arc through the air that the defenders could not hope to intercept.

Some of the crowd were already on their feet.

!!WAAAAOOOGAH!!WAAAAOOOGAH!!

"What?"

The Juggernaut sat up with a start and blinked in the red warning lights.

!!WAAAAOOOGAH!!WAAAAOOOGAH!!

The intruder alarm wailed, its piercing voice stealing away any vestiges of sleep that might have remained across the base.

Cain struggled to his feet and stumbled out the door. Nobody else was in sight. Pyro was still locked in the cell and Python would not leave the door, of that he had no doubt. Gill would be in the security office by now watching whoever was dumb enough to approach the base unannounced. Jane had slipped into some sort of meditative trance and seemed pretty dead to the world; he'd spent a couple of minutes experimentally waving a hand in front of her face to little effect. Aurora was almost as mental as Pyro and Angie wasn't exactly equipped to deal with attackers.

"FUCK!" He swore loudly and thundered off down the corridor.

Seconds later and he was rushing out into the pre-dawn Genosha morning.

"Fuckin' alarms," he cursed thunderously, "if those bitches 'ave come back an' woke me up ... " He left the sentence unfinished.

Clearly the bitches had not come back. Instead a rather severe looking oriental gentleman was strolling easily up the beach as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"Who the fuckin' 'ell are you," Cain yelled at the stranger.

[dharma]

Dharma was still walking up shore when he saw the immense man stomping out of the front doors.

Setting a large hand on the front of his jacket, he nodded once.

"Dharma. You are the Juggernaut, I assume." He looked at the building. "Pyro was expecting me. I am... a little early."

There was something unwavering in his gaze, the sort of internal stillness that made a man look like an animated statue. Not because it made him stiff, but because his entire person as devoid of ticks or unnecessary motion.

"I have set off the alarms. I apologize."

[Juggers]

The Juggernaut rocked back on his heels. "Too bloody right ya set the alarms off," he grumbled, "'ard enough to sleep around 'ere as it is with Pyro an Mystique tryin' to rip each others face off without blokes walkin' up out of the sea without askin'."

He ran a hand over his slightly fuzzy scalp and frowned.

!!WAAAAOOOGAH!!WAAAAOOOGAH!!

"Enough with the fuckin' alarm Gill!" Cain bellowed back at the base. The siren wail sounded one last time and then fell mercifully silent.

"You come to join the cause?" The big man asked, "only if you 'ave you might 'ave to wait for a bit to talk to Pyro, 'e's," there was a short moment while Cain searched for the right word, "indisposed right now."

He looked the man up and down; he certainly looked like he could handle himself. Cain wondered if he knew kung fu like the old men with the massive eye-brows in the seventies movies that repeated endlessly on channel four.

"What's ya name?" The Juggernaut finally asked, "I'll make sure you're on Gills list before I invite ya in."

[dharma]

"Dharma."

He looked up in the direction Juggernaut had yelled.

"I have come at Pyro's request. But he was not indisposed when we spoke." It seemed Dharma could sense there was something other than a busy schedule keeping the boss away from meet-and-greets.

"I will wait, if I must. You may go back to sleep." Turning toward to the ocean, it seemed he was content to stand right where he was until Pyro was ready for him.

[Juggers]

"Oh right, that's ya name! Thought it was Chinese for mornin' or somethin'." Languages of the world never had been the Juggernaut's strong point.

He looked at the strange man stood there as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Pyro certainly knew how to choose his recruits. Well at least they had evened the male to female ratio, Cain pondered, he had started to worry the base was going to start looking like a Barbie house.

Not that Jane seemed the type to decorate in pink. Green maybe, but not pink. Aurora seemed more likely to decorate the place in her own feces right now. That left Angie. The Juggernaut felt a tiny bit sorry for her in his own unique way; she seemed so lost in the world.

"Gimme a minute," he said finally, "no point in 'angin' around 'ere until Pyro gets 'is 'ead fixed; you might be 'ere a while."

He scooped up a pebble and hurled it across the training yard. It struck the metal wall of the base just to the left of one of the upper floor windows and bounced off, leaving a small dent in its wake.

"Bollocks," Cain muttered and tried again.

This time it struck the armoured glass with an audible thwack. The Juggernaut grinned. A second later the window swung open and Gill's fishy head popped out.

"Oi!" Cain yelled, "Pyro say anythin' about a guy called Dharma?"

[Pyro]

"Aye," shouted Gill. "He did leave me a note to that effect. What with all the stuff that's been going on over the last few days, I forgot. Hang on a minute."

With a loud 'slam', the window shut again.

A few seconds later, it opened again.

"Yep. Seems that they've been exchanging communications. Pyro left me a note to say that we were to expect a Dharma at any time. Alright there, Dharma?"

The latter was directed to the newcomer and seemed faintly odd coming from a man with a head that looked like a reject from a fishmonger.

[dharma]

Dharma lifted his hand and nodded to Gill. An odd creature, but he expected to find a number of them here. It would be too easy to conclude that the strangest mutants would gather to the more militant cause.

Those still living in comfort often find no reason to roust themselves.

"I am well." He nodded, and looked at them both.

"If you would be more comfortable showing me inside, I can wait there. It is early and I likely woke you. Please." He gestures inside.

[Juggers]

"Damn right it's early," Cain grumbled, "I'm awake now though so I reckon some breakfast is in order, come on." He waved the newcomer toward the base and stomped off in the direction he had come. There was a bang as Gill slammed the chipped window and returned to whatever it was he had been doing before the interruption.

"Dunno what food we got in," the Juggernaut muttered conversationally as he walked, "if Angie is about she might of made somethin', can but 'ope, otherwise it's bacon sarnies all round."

He stopped and looked over his shoulder as something bumped against the quay. The ferry that sometimes delivered supplies and, less frequently, mutants, had arrived.

Cain blinked.

"Shouldn't you 'ave arrived ON that," he said.

[dharma]

Should, shouldn't have. He didn't, so he wasn't sure why the large man wondered.

"They are bringing my things. They will leave them there, and I will get them." Dharma nodded, and followed after Juggernaut.

He didn't mention that he wasn't hungry, because it was likely he should eat something anyway. It would give him a good chance to converse with others, meet this 'Angie'.. it was always important to know who surrounded you, even if their presence was inconsequent.

Walking with fluid utility, Dharma said nothing more.

[Nightingale]

[OOC: Alright, now that I've sorted out timelines and everything, I can hop back in. See you in the kitchen soon, I hope. Don't mock my food obsession!]

There were people screaming, dying, and Angie was trying to reason with them. "It has to be this way - we are the future!" She was trying to convince them to lie down, to stop panicking, but they wouldn't, and she was being trampled in their desire to be healed. An alarm went off somewhere, the loud noise drawing her out of the incredibly strange dream with a gasp. Realising what was happening, she covered her ears, wincing, and sprung out of bed.

Poking her head out the door, she looked around, but Angie couldn't tell what was going on from the hallway. If it was an intruder, someone hostile, they'd certainly picked their time well - the Brotherhood was pretty much out of commission at this point. Indecision took over her, the alarm still blaring, and she hovered at the door for a moment.

What am I going to do? Heal them to death? She could hear muffled voices, what sounded like the Juggernaut yelling, and a clang as something hit a metal wall. Someone'll come get me if they need me. Angie didn't know how to fight, she couldn't do anything but get in the way until they needed her power, and she didn't want to get herself injured because that would make her pretty much useless if they did need her. She stepped back into her room, closed the door, and locked it. Then she pulled on her jeans and a t-shirt, just in case. She didn't particularly fancy running about healing people in her pyjamas, if she could avoid it.

The alarms stopped, and the base was quiet again. Angie unlocked her door, poked her head out, and padded down the hall toward the kitchen. She didn't know much about the base, hadn't even left it yet, but without a doubt Juggernaut would return there sometime and she'd be able to find out what had happened. She rummaged around in the cupboards, looking for something to do, and upon finding a few ingredients decided to make french toast. Python, you will never cease to amaze me. She was glad that the older mutant seemed to enjoy cooking, because it meant that the cupboards were stocked with plenty of ingredients, and the kitchen had all the right utensils. The members of the Brotherhood certainly seemed to enjoy eating, at any rate, so she supposed that the kitchen would have to be well stocked. Wincing as her swollen knuckles connected with a benchtop, an embarrassed blush rose in Angie's cheeks at the fact that she'd actually punched a wall. She could hear voices again, seeming to her possibly paranoid mind to be a bit closer this time, and she hoped to whatever higher power was feeling the inclination to listen that she hadn't done a very stupid thing by leaving her room.

[Juggers]

The Juggernaut shrugged and ambled off toward the base. He paused a moment at the door damaged by his earlier anger and prodded it. The door swung limply on mangled hinges, it even let out a little groan of protest before coming to rest. "Gonna 'ave to 'ave Python 'ave a look at that," he muttered absently.

Then he stomped his way back inside.

As he walked he watched the newcomer out of the corner of his eye. It only took a few seconds for Cain to put him into the 'strong, silent type' box and file him away. The man was a living, breathing embodiment of economy of motion.

The Juggernaut suspected if the man could have kept his body absolutely motionless, yet still convey himself forward, he would be doing so now.

Maybe that was he power, he pondered, complete and utter stillness. Great for surprising people.

They passed through a long corridor lined with identical doors.

"This 'ere is the personal rooms, if you're gonna be stayin' you can pick one out, most of 'em are empty now."

[dharma]

"I will." Dharma stated it simply, looking into a room for only a moment. The man who brought him here would drop his things at the dock, and he would pick them up. Those priorities filed into his mind with slow simplicity, unfettered by concern or really, care.

"It's quiet." He looked along the steel halls as they walked. "There is something wrong." He continued to look forward as they continued on. "Is this why Pyro is unavailable to meet with me?"

[Juggers]

"Yeah," the big man replied, "Pyro's 'ad a bit of woman trouble, pushed 'im over the edge a bit this evenin'." Tact was not a word Cain was familiar with. "Python's lookin' after 'im though an 'e'll come around soon enough, just give 'im time."

He glanced at the newcomer again.

"Wern't in any sort of 'urry were ya?"

A couple more minutes saw them through to the kitchen and before they had even reached the door the Juggernaut could smell something cooking. Something that smelled good.

"Y'know," Cain said to his companion, "I can just about forgive ya for wakin' me up if it got Angie to make breakfast."

He grinned and stomped into the kitchen.

[dharma]

"No... no hurry."

There was even the hint of a smile on his face as Juggernaut spoke of breakfast. So there were others here. And a woman, by the sound of the name, but one could never be sure.

Still following after Juggernaut, he looked around in quiet observation. "All this metal... it is clean. Capable of being left for long periods of time. Unassuming. I'm sure it helps to clear the mind... though women, yes." It looked like a grin on his face, except for the fact that his expression had hardly changed. "Women will cause trouble that way."

[Juggers]

"Yeah, an Pyro sure knows 'ow to pick 'em!"

The Juggernaut stepped into the kitchen and the smell of cooking intensified. Angie was indeed cooking breakfast and something in a pan smelled mighty tempting. He gave Dharma a look that conveyed all the forgiveness in the world.

"Mornin'" he greeted cheerfully and started toward her, intrigued to see what culinary delights awaited.

"Dharma, Angie, Angie, Dharma. This is the bloke that set the alarms off, seems alright though an Pyro knows 'im, least Gill seems to know 'im anyway, so 'e's probbly alright."

He glanced back at the newcomer.

"Come 'ere an check this out, looks good!"

[Nightingale]

The voices had been coming closer, but Angie continued cooking French Toast, stacking up the finished product on two plates as though she could get any intruders to leave her alone by bribing them with breakfast.

She was pleased to see that the Juggernaut entered, which probably meant that the unfamiliar man who followed was welcome. Or a prisoner. Though why a prisoner would be brought to the kitchen instead of the cells was a little puzzling.

It was early.

When Cain wandered over to examine the pan and introduced her to Dharma, Angie gave a smile and a wave to the tall mutant.

"Hi Dharma." At least, she was assuming he was a mutant - didn't seem like the Brotherhood was the type to extend the olive branch to humans, and if he had Pyro's ok, then he probably was alright, as Cain put it.

"Really, it's nothing special." She picked up one of the plates and handed it to the Juggernaut with a smile. The lasagne from the first night had taught her that Cain could eat. Ain't nothing that can stop the Juggernaut - apparently, ain't nothing that can fill him up, either. She smiled at the thought.

After a moment's consideration, Angie realised that she didn't know whether the newcomer would be able to eat all of the ingredients - so far it seemed like the people on Genosha didn't have any dietary restrictions, but that didn't mean that she could take it for granted that everyone would be the same. It wasn't like the Brotherhood got you to fill in an application form or anything. She smiled as she remembered that Nat had been vegetarian for a while - until her mother had tried hiding ingredients in her dinner, convinced that it was all a phase. Then she'd gone full-on vegan, which had almost given the woman a conniption.

"It's French Toast. Is there anything that you don't eat? I can make you something different." Even though the short young woman hadn't said much, she felt like she was babbling.

[dharma]

Dharma looked at the pancakes as Juggernaut boisterously announced their presence, then looked at Juggernaut with an almost amused expression.

Standing back, he sat on a nearby stool and rubbed his long-fingered hands together. His dark eyes addressed Angie next.

"I do not need to eat now, but thank you." He nodded. "I do not eat sentient beings if I am at all capable of avoiding it. However; you will not need to take my needs into account. I will provide for myself." Nodding again, it was more of a short bow.

It was not until he left the monastery that he ran into individuals who felt denying hospitality was rude; in his culture, one graciously refused it in order to make the offering party look all the more generous. If Angie were Chinese, she would consider his statement a politeness and would urge pancakes on him all the stronger. In this instance he felt the Western way was to his benefit; if she took him at his word, he would not find it necessary to refuse outright. It was a fact that he could easily produce what little he needed to survive.

Realizing they likely were assessing him, he looked at the frying pan, eyes moving though no other part of him followed. "It does smell pleasant however. You are the 'cook' here?"

[Aurora]

A remotely tired looking young woman appeared in the doorway, still clad in baggy athletic pants and a fitted basketball jersey, which it was apparent she'd slept in. She'd bolted out of bed at the sound of all hell raising throughout the compound, only to be told after searching for others that the alarms were merely set off by a newcomer. 'That's some doorbell,' she'd thought wryly, before returning to bed in an attempt to sleep.

It was a failed attempt, and she'd eventually drug herself out of bed again. Skirting the broken glass on the floor, she'd left her room to find the kitchen and some breakfast.

Her eyes caught sight of Angie right away, and as she stepped into the kitchen, she spoke. "So who's the new--"

In mid-sentence, her eyes landed on the unfarmiliar face, and she cut herself short with a sheepish 'Oh'. She flashed him a smile as she moved to the nearest empty stool. Eyeing Angie and her cooking, she saw what was being cooked, and she snorted quietly.

"French toast?" She said with a hint of joking to her tone. "And what exactly ees eet zat you are trying to say, mademoiselle Angie?" Her accent was surprisingly authentic, and it may have brought to attention the fact that she had lost her accent completely since waking up from her unconscious state.

[Nightingale]

"The cook?" Angie shook her head. "No, not officially. I like to do it though, and we have to eat..." She wondered whether to explain what she actually did in the Brotherhood. I'm the one who stands around and tries not to get hurt in case anyone else does.

Aurora entered and teased her about the french toast, which made Angie roll her eyes and hand her a plate. "Leave some for the rest of us." She flashed a cheeky grin at the Candian woman, as though to say, 'Just cause it's French doesn't mean it's all for you.' Then she turned her attention back to Dharma.

"I'm a healer. You can call me Nightingale, if you want, but most people just call me Angie. And this is Aurora. Aurora, Dharma. She - well, she does lots of things." She wondered how he would feel about Jane's semi-sentient plants. Not that they would be likely to be eating those anytime soon - the plants were the hungry type too.

Now that the french toast was all finished, she rinsed the pan and her hands, drying the latter on her jeans. He obviously wasn't American, or British, or Australian, so she didn't know whether to offer her hand to shake or not. Pulling her thin black gloves on, she took a couple of pieces of toast and waited for Gill to wander down, as he inevitably did whenever food appeared. Maybe that's his mutation. Had nothing to do with being partially fish, but then his appearace didn't seem to have any bearing on... anything, what with not liking the water as he had told her.

"There's plenty in the cupboards when you are hungry, and if you wanted to write a list or something for next time we go to the mainland, we can make sure that there are things you can eat." Python wouldn't mind, surely. He seemed to do just about anything to make sure that the Brotherhood ran smoothly. Angie gave the tall man a smile and held out her gloved hand to shake, hoping that the gesture didn't fall flat on it's face. She felt like she was babbling again.