14172/The Great Switcheroo: The Terror Of It All

The Great Switcheroo: The Terror Of It All
Date of Scene:	18 February 2023
Location:	Frost Enterprises
Synopsis:	Divine, in Kim Hayes's body, visits her boss. There's almost an incident.
Cast of Characters:	Divine, Emma Frost, Marie-Ange Colbert

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Divine has posed:
This earth, for Divine, has become a literal hell. The other night, she went to sleep in her own bed, in her own apartment. Her dreams were fraught things that night, with a Hulk, a Wizard and Grasshopper Men being weird. When the wizard attempted to send them back, something went wrong. The body she awoke in wasn't hers.

And she wasn't alone in it.

In the intervening time, the currently not-a-clone has stumbled around New York, warring with the voice in her head and the body that isn't hers. The gait is wrong, the build is wrong. She's so weak. And the pain. -The pain-. It's a maddening sensation, expecially when you've never truly known it. When stepping wrong makes agonized lances up your legs. When the arm that isn't yours swings into something and actually leaves an aching bruise. It's overwhelming.

Thusly, the short, dishevled, dirty blonde woman who walks through the front doors of Frost Enterprises looks like almost any other unhoused person with mental health issues. Wild eyed and almost frantic. Still, she starts to head right for the express elevator to the top like the mind in this body has done a hundred times. The scurity guard, steps in front of her with an amused expression.

"Where're you going, miss? You look lost."

She stares at him, head tilting in confusion before she remembers. "I'm ... It's me. Divine. The bodyguard."

The guard laughs, and moves to start ushering her out. "Sure you are. She's about a foot taller and, well, scary. You're delusional." He reaches forward to take her by the shoulder to escort her out.

"Don't fucking touch me!"

Another security guard hits the 'Alert The Boss' button before moving to join his coworker.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma has been up in her office doing things involving her business, things going in with Xavier's, and trying to trace money going down the line that's funding the Friends of Humanity from somewhere out of someone else's pocket. So when there's an interruption over from the bottom floors,s he goes to let out a sigh and moves to stand up and replies.

"What have I told you on interrupting me when I'm working on something?" There's some fast and frazzled commentary over coming up from down below. Others might think this is ridiculous and a prank.. But, not a great deal know about Divine's employment so..

Emma goes along to the doors and to her elevator. "I'll be right there." Her hand is going to rub over at her temples. She has a feeling that this is going to be one of those days. And she already has more backlog than she can deal with. It almost makes her wonder if she should take the Five up on that offer they made to her..

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
As it so happens, Marie-Ange was on her way to meet with Emma; the seer's services are something that get called for now and then, and as one of her dear friends, Emma's requests are always heeded. As a member of the Hellfire Club, the service is also one that Marie provides. Either way, it was win-win.

She's practically bouncing on her feet as she walks through the doors -- only to stop in her tracks at the apparant altercation in progress. Marie's attention moves to the strange woman, first, then the pair of guards that are working to escort her out -- stepping to the side so that the group doesn't end up going through her, but looking to one of the guards and raising her voice -- just a little, enough to be heard. She's still a meek little thing in general.

"Pardonnez-moi, is there something wrong here?" she asks, taking another step sideways. The short woman looked rather angry, afterall, but unlike Divine in her current form, Marie was definitely a known associate of Emma's, making regular visits to Frost Enterprises.

Divine has posed:
The security guards aren't exactly menacing this young woman. They're honestly being fairly gentle, but stress, you see, compounds. It builds and builds, driving tension and a weight that will make even the strongest soul buckle under it.

The second guard comes up behind the woman slowly and cautiously. No sudden moves yet.

Marie's arrival makes the girl look, and her eyes widen. "Marie! Tell them it's me! Divine! I need help!"

"You sure do, ma'am, and we'll get it for you," the guard in front of her says. That's when the one behind strikes, coming forward to grab the woman in a bear hug, lifting her from the ground.

She yells, and it takes on an odd, almost stereo quality. One the voice of a young woman, the other ... not. Tendrils of ooze erupt around her body, beginning to encase her in it. A tendril of it lashes forward, hurling the guard back with inhuman force. More grab the man behind her, breaking his hold and moving him to her front side as the goo comes up to cover her head, big featureless white eyes and a drooling, jagged maw taking shape.

It quivers like jello as the man screams in terror, going bulbous and deformed like something's fighting within it.

Emma Frost has posed:
And then Emma Frost is striding forwards over, eyes wide as she would rapidly evaluate things, "Stand down you -idiots-. Remember who pays you and remember who can /stop/ paying you just as easily." She goes to snap over at the guards then to make the point, moving to hopefully intimidate them without having to use her powers.

A quick psionic scan over of Divine does confirm that it is.. "Not another one of these.." She means the symbiote. "And how did this pray tell happen darling? It's all right>" Emma goes to hold up a hand,a nd under a psionic nudge everyone in the area goes still and files out of the way to give the trio some privacy. A mental sigh of 'not again' given the last time something like this was forced upon her..

"And do tell your passenger to calm down or I'll have them stuffed with things that are neither chocolate nor brains if they understand that." Oh yes, she's had experience with those sorts of things before. "And I'll be canceling my appointments and increasing my alcohol consumption today."

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
When faced with a situation like this, Marie has one failsafe. Her cards tell her the answers, as long as she knows the question to ask.

So Marie's question: Is that Divine? The Fool gives her two answers. One, a resounding 'yes'. Two, an indication that the woman in question has been given a... fresh start. Another body would certainly count.

"Let her g--" Too late.

Marie's eyes go wide as the symbiote starts to take control. This... isn't something she's seen before. Not something she knows about. The cards didn't tell her that she was going to die today, but that doesn't make her any less frightened.

Emma, however, is a stablizing presence right now. She turns off the redhead's flight response. At least for the moment. The urge to help another tends to supercede self-preservation when it comes to Marie.

"It is Mademoiselle Divine, Madame Frost," As if the blonde doesn't already know. "Can you help her?" Because Marie's... really not sure at all what she can do, here. Is that ooze suffocating her? It almost looks like something /alive./ The grip on her cards isn't releasing. Just in case she needs to use them, though she's trying to figure out /how/ to do so without hurting the woman who seems to be... inside the goo. A sculptor, she is not.

Divine has posed:
Emma's arrival makes the great fanged head swivel her direction. It's hard to say if the psychic message gets through, there's a lot of interference from it being two distinct minds linked as one, though the current link is tenuous at best.

The beast, because that's what it is, drops the security guard and begins stalking towards Emma with malevolent purpose. About five steps away, the creature stops, almost seeming to seize as it fights itself. Hands tremble and spasm as they lift to the head, one grabbing the upper jaw and the other the lower before they pull hard. The voice that comes out is very stereo at first, but rapidly becomes the woman's again.

"You...leave...her...ALONE!"

The symbiote 'flesh' tears, and then begins to retreat, withdrawing as it loses this battle of wills. The young woman, Divine in a body not her own, looks at Emma and says a single word as she sinks to her knees.

"Help?"

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would frown, "I.." She would go to scan the mind of Divine, and then over at her passenger. "Darling, breathe. We're here. And.. I'll do everything in my power. Marie-Ange, please breathe as well. Relax. And.. My poor darling.>" She would advance towards Divine, going to take her hand out to stroke the girl's cheek.

"What on Earth happened?" She goes to let her fingers rest there while trying to sooth Divine - telepathically and verbally.

"Marie-Ange, can you get some sort of a.." Can the cards tell them anything about this particular.. Whatever it was? Emma Frost would close her eyes. Not burrowing her mind into Divine's brain. She needed to help the girl calm down first.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
A highly charged moment that turns around in an instant.

As Divine reasserts control, Marie's quick to move. Before that, she was frozen by the prospect of friend facing friend. "Are you alright, Divine? Is there anything you need?" she asks, moving to her knees at Divine's side.

Then, she looks up towards Emma, brows furrowing. "I can try," she admits, shuffling her cards as she speaks. It's well practiced, she doesn't have to look at her cards to handle that. "What do you wish to know, specifically, Madame Frost?" Marie's not a mind reader, nor will she presume to guess what the woman wants. To do so would be disrespectful.

Divine has posed:
The stress starts to fall quickly, but the edge of panic is still there. She can't help it, this is terrible. "I ... I went to sleep in my own bed the other night. There was a weird dream, other people were there. I only recognized the Hulk. There was a woman. A wizard. White hair, lots of purple. She did something, I think we were all caught in ... the same dream? I think she tried to send us back, but the Hulk made her screw up, and now I'm in this body."

Her gaze swivels between Marie and Emma, eyes wide in an almost manic terror. "Everything hurts. I'd never really felt pain. Not so ... -constant-. Not with every little odd movement. It's awful and I don't know how you all don't want to die every time you kick the wall."

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would frown over while going to nod over at Marie-Ange, "Whatever we can tell about how this was done and.. What exactly it is. I've seen such things before but the buildup was entirely dissassociative and relied purely upon raw power to do such a thing. And came at the cost of near total disintegration of consciousness." Emma's tone is blunt.

"This is too smoothly done to be that, and the integration too fine." Going for the direct response over. "I'll try and see if we can get a facial matchup for who you currently are and from there." The.. Hulk made her screw up? Oh -lovely-.

This is going to be a day where she wishes she could empt the bottle. But Divine is relying upon her.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
"I..." Marie trails off, shaking her head. "For something like this, I believe there are people I must consult. My readings focus on the future," to say that she lives with her mind focused there is an understatement. "Beyond that, if magic is involved..." she considers. There's a couple people that come to mind that she'd like to discuss the situation with. Nettie, who she views as a superior reader... and Jennifer, the self-professed Sorceress. "...but I will have the answers as soon as I can."

"Pain is not fun. Death, however, is even less so." Marie offers to Divine, frowning. She doesn't /fear/ death. Marie knows that when her time comes, it will have come and that is that. This being said, she doesn't /like/ the idea of dying. There's so much more she wants to do in life! ... and other things that she'd like to do again and again!

"Mademoiselle Divine... I do not suppose your clothing contains... any sort of identification cards?" Licenses, ID cards, even a Blockbuster Video card! It might save time on the search for whose body she's currently in.

Divine has posed:
It's strange. To go from feeling crippling, agonizing pain only once -ever- to feeling every little hurt and wound, no matter how minor. It's incredible and awful and she wants out already. She feels so unlike herself. Gone is the confidence, the calm personability. All that's here is manic fear and despair. Some people may be having fun in other bodies, but she is not.

"Oh, ID, um..." She starts patting the pockets of her jeans, and pulls a card out. "'Kim Hayes', it says. Whoever that is."

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would nod over at Divine and rub her fingers to her head. "Well there's something that happened. I'm guessing by your dreams it's magical in nature. It's not psionic by any means. That means it's more hte provenance of a specialist." Of which Emma knew a few of. but was somewhat loathe to call upon. She would lgance at Divine.

"We'll look her up. Hopefully if she's over in your body we can dig her up somewhat readily. You are easy to recognize, darling. Failing that.." Emma would furrow her brows. "We'll have to think how to give out something that you'll pick up."

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
Score one for Marie! The redhead beams proudly as the ID card is produced. She was able to give an answer without the cards!

"If... if you changed bodies while sleeping, it is possible that whoever is in your body is in your home, as well. That may provide some answers." A pause. "Additionally, Mademoiselle Hayes may seek to reclaim her own body, which means... whatever form she takes now, it may be where you woke up." Or possibly on the address on the ID card.

"Worry not, Divine. When Madame Frost sets her mind to something, she gets it done. I, too, will help in any way which I can." ...and she's got a couple ideas on how to do just that.

Divine has posed:
Divine in Kim's body looks between the two, and just nods once. Her eyes brim with tears, which is certainly not something that happens to her. Ever.

"T-thank you both. For believing me. For helping me. I hate this. I'm stuck in some .... drug addled burnout's body with a passenger I can't control while someone is out ... joyriding in my body."

A flash of terrible anger crosses her face. That's a look that's familiar. "I want to find who did this and choke them til they fix it. Woman. Wizard. White hair."