10997/Where are the clowns, bot shouldn't there be clowns

Where are the clowns, bot shouldn't there be clowns
Date of Scene:	02 May 2022
Location:	Bushwick <Mutant Town>
Synopsis:	SMILE plans are made
Cast of Characters:	James Proudstar, Hope Summers

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James Proudstar has posed:
James Proudstar waits on the outside of the yellow tape watching the cops finish their investigation. He sips from a large coffee and looks for all the world like just another lookee loo, albeit an exceptionally large one. his hair is tied back and he wears a windbreaker, in red, with Xavier's written across the back, a plain dark tee shirt and a pair of his usual raw denim jeans broken in from wear and rough use. James pulls out his phone and looks at the time on the display but generally seems pretty laid back, finally they start to take down the tape.

Hope Summers has posed:
Hope Summers walks down the street heading in the direction of where she was told to go. She sees James Proudstar waiting outside a crime scene whilst police conduct an investigation. Hope had been preoccupied with other events of recent and had not kept up to date with other events.

"Morning," Hope says as she draws closer. She currently wears a dark green t-shirt with a pair of blue jeans. A yellow scarf hangs from her neck down over her shoulders. She had decided to wear something more casual to not draw more attention to herself than usual. "So, just exactly happened here last night?"

James Proudstar has posed:
James Proudstar raises an eyebrow as he catches Hope's scent from a distance. He nods casually, raising his eyebrows, and offers coffee and a scone. "How much detail do you want? There was a carnival. The clowns in the main tent were using pigs to eat mutants. Yes, they had drugged the mutants and were then whipping and corraling them to keep them at the pig's mercy. We think it was the same SMILE group responsible for dire wolves that killed some mutants in DC.

Hope Summers has posed:
Hope's mouth falls open for a moment, "Wait... wait... Start from the beginning. This carnival, who was in charge of it? And which mutants were being eaten?"

Already, Hope could feel her start to mimic the powers of the mutant before her. She did not know James very well and was uncertain about the exact extent of his powers. At first, Hope notices her senses begin to sharpen and become enhanced. Smells that she couldn't previously detect are now being picked up. Hope was sure she could now smell the scent of blood in the air. Then she notices the sound of her own heartbeat louder than before. But it wasn't just her own she could hear; it was James' too and that of the policemen conducting the investigation.

She places a hand to her forehead as a painful headache begins to grow, and she staggers for a moment.

"Is this how you experience the world around you?"

James Proudstar has posed:
James Proudstar smiles, "That Smile organization was putting up the fliers, it was their logo. Though they're using Don Knotts smile... he's an old actor. Something about Mayberry, I have no idea. They were random mutants from the neighborhood. And they tried Tabs but she fought back." Jim raises his eyebrows, "Focus on the coffee, it helps block some if it out. Yeah, it's easier when they come on progressively. Be gentle with the cup." Jim keeps the scone and munches, "Oh, don't push up. They flying is new." He says around full mouth as he heads back into the carnival. "I'm assuming the pigs were destroyed, can't keep animals like that around."

Hope Summers has posed:
Hope finally takes the coffee from James and focuses on it. She takes in a deep breath of the coffee, detecting the blend of different mixtures present in the coffee. She smells the coffee beans that have not quite properly been ground up and have sunk to the bottom of the cup. She smells the sugar, the milk, and the water which carries a metallic scent. Possibly whatever was used to boil the water was not properly cleaned.

"Thanks," she manages to say before taking a sip of the coffee. She feels the warmth of the drink go down as she gulps it. The headache then begins to fade. "That is helping she says." She then begins to follow him.

James Proudstar has posed:
James Proudstar nods with a small smile, "Almost like I do this for a living." Jim leads the way into the fairground now empty of people but with the skeltons of yesterdays festivities, "This is where the line for the main tent was. The clowns were handing put popcorn. Apparently theywere volunteers acting under duress. Their families had been threatened. I want to get some pictures of the rides and see about the animals, if there's any leads in who rented the equipment. That's where the carnival games were and this is where they were taking blood... that bears investigating. But I want to see if we can find the box office and the managers tents, anything that might have info."

Hope Summers has posed:
Hope nods her head as she follows behind, and then she realises that James probably did not notice her response.

"Yeah, well, I'm not sure exactly where I fit in right now," she admitted. Hope looks down at the skeletons. It is not the first time she has seen the remains of someone, but she has not yet grown used to it. However, to be eaten by pigs, a death... that gruesome... bothered her.

"So remind me, SMILE, just exactly what do they want with us? Mutants, I mean. Do they just want to see us all dead?"

James Proudstar has posed:
James Proudstar stops and looks at Hope, "That is the question, is it a general sort of we hate you, or more an organized pogrom or trail of tears situation. The dire wolf thing was dangerous but less worrisome, this is more wholesale slaughter on a scale we haven't seen in a while. I'm not sure either, I was coming down to give it another going over and, well, they said to meet up. My thinking is they wanted a fresh set of eyes, we might be too close to it, or they want someone with resources outside the group, see what the Titans can make of this. There might be a Gen-Actuve angle of which we are unaware?" James shrugs, "We're at out wit's end with this and not getting anywhere, doesn't help that Hank is on sabbatical." James makes his way to the blood donor huts and peruses the space, looking for anything in particular.

Hope Summers has posed:
"Great, just what we need, some company mercilessly killing mutants, and we don't even know their goals," Hope responds. "It's hard to keep track sometimes, my recollection of the past; my knowledge of the past in this universe and my knowledge of the history from my universe. However, I remember the Purifiers, another group that wanted to see the end of mutants."

She pauses a moment, "I do have connections outside our usual groups, the Outsiders. I was thinking about bringing them in on another matter, but I think the death of mutants might be slightly more critical. At least, so far, no one has died due to that side of things. There might be one or two that would act in Hank's stead. I can reach out to them; they might be willing to assist us in these matters."

James Proudstar has posed:
James Proudstar considers, "The purifiers? It doesn't ring any bells, honestly, maybe later?" Jim shrugs, "Well, it's your call. They're your resources to spend." He nods, "That would be good, the lab is a little backed up. I think Charles may be reaching out to some people but more hands make for light work. Yeah, mutants deaths rates pretty high with us as well." He gathers some things from the hut and makes his was on to the next location. (I have to reach out to Rogue and see what's been left, I can forward you what I find.)