6290/Trial by Character

Trial by Character
Date of Scene:	21 May 2021
Location:	Bushwick <Mutant Town>
Synopsis:	Emma is rescued by a knight in ragged armour. Recruitment commences.
Cast of Characters:	Emma Frost, Atrid

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Emma Frost has posed:
Bushwick (Mutant Town) is not a wealthy ghetto by any means. There are little islands of stability here and there, but overall it is a place of quiet (and sometimes not-so-quiet) desperation. A place where those who are different, visibly or otherwise, go to be with their own kind instead of judged by humans. And in between the crime, the gang warfare, the prostitution, the drugs, somehow a unique mutant-focused culture is being formed.

It is not, however, advisable as a tourist destination.

In the daytime there are bleeding heart slacktivists, faux-sympathetic newspeople, and other low-lifes who slime their way to Mutant Town to show their credentials as caring human beings before returning to their pampered, integrated lives. In the evenings there are braver elements of the youthful and stupid, from universities and colleges around the city, some pro-Mutant, some anti-Mutant, who come here on a dare or for the excitement.

Nobody smart comes into Mutant Town at night. Certainly not at 3AM. And certainly not dripping wealth while being dressed in a cocktail dress so revealing that there are streetwalkers looking at her and thinking she's gone way over the top.

Emma, dripping wealth in a white cocktail dress so reve... blah blah blah. You get the drift. Whatever. She's in Mutant Town, staggering slightly on her stiletto-heeled pumps, navigating the narrow, dark streets badly, clearly getting herself deeper into the darkest neighbourhoods.

Atrid has posed:
Atrid creeps around the dark shadowy alleyway black leather duster and all black clothes he leans against a wall he pulls a cigarette from his pack using his right hand he ignites his index finger and it turns into a crack lighter like lengthed flame he takes a drag inhales and exhales.

Atrid has posed:
Atrid creeps around the dark shadowy alleyway black leather duster and all black clothes he leans against a wall he pulls a cigarette from his pack using his right hand he ignites his index finger and it turns into a crack lighter like lengthed flame he takes a drag inhales and exhales. His eyes fixate on the wealthy woman looking over her body and each curve before deciding shed be the right kind of mark. "Damn shes sexy as hell." He says to himself grinning as he takes another drag and pushes off from the wall and starts to follow at a distance so its not exactly obvious that he is following her.

Emma Frost has posed:
Like clockwork.

Emma senses the following person and smiles inwardly, even as outwardly she takes a harder twisting stumble, her heel turning under her and causing her to cry out briefly in pain, arm grabbing blindly for support.

"Why can't they make these streets navigable!?" she says to 'herself' as she peers down two directions: one a street with no functioning street lamps, the other an alley with a hint of light at the other side. 'Unwisely' she chooses to go down the alley. The pieces of the game she had in motion get set up.

Once too far into the alley to get out easily, three shadows come out of the dark, blocking her route forward. Feigning a little drunken squawk of alarm, Emma turns around as if to leave, only to have two people by the entrance to the alleyway step out and in her path.

They don't look like they're nice people.

"Hey!" one of the ones by the entrance says, swaggering toward Emma. "Look at what we got here, boys! A new friend to take home and play with!"

"Please!" Emma says, shrinking back, only to squawk in fear again as the middle of the three behind her grabs onto her elbows. "I don't want any trouble. I'm just trying to get to the Centinel."

Four close in with predatory faces as Emma struggles with the fifth trying to break free.

"Don't bang her up too much. She's worth more unbruised."

Atrid has posed:
Atrid steps into that alley stomping out his cigarette throwing his arms down his right hand ignites in flames and his right coats in ice. "Yo Fuck faces, how boutcha leave tha' girl alone or ya gonna have to deal with me bitch boys." He growls out his anger causing those flames to rise up his arm further and increase in heat to a blue flame as the ice creeps up his arm going to sub zero temps. "Now morons ya gonna listen ta me or am I gonna have ta hurt you creeps!"

Emma Frost has posed:
And found.

This one is a keeper.

Struggling fetchingly against the iron grip of one of the thugs, Emma lets loose with a loud, shrill, piercing scream, just to add a bit of verisimilitude to the proceedings. (It also helps her suppress the laughter bubbling up from within. That would ruin the effect.)

And give the thugs some points. They've got courage in the face of the strange. One of them, bulked up with incredible amounts of muscle (on the left side only) steps up alongside another who has what looks like teeth coming out of his body in random locations. Sharp ones. The leader, with no visible non-human features, barks, "Back off, asshole. You don't know what world of pain is coming at you!"

The fourth. Ah, yes. The fourth. He's kind of hard to follow as his form takes on the colour and texture of what's behind him while he tries to flank Atrid.

Atrid has posed:
Atrid steps forward with an almost gleeful look on his face. "Uh huh lets see its takes a group of men to take on one lady and a teenager yea you guys are so tough let me tell you. You guys are nothing but a group of pansies." He laughs. "But if you want a fight im happy ta oblige, more than happy really." He grins and its at this point Atrid strikes aiming at the ground in front of him with his left hand he coats the ground in a layer of ice going straight out in front of him and from wall to wall on each side. Than throwing his right hand out in front of him he lets loose a torrent of flames moving from side to side with the hand as if it were a flame thrower from some old war movies going from the muscled guy to the guy with the strange teeth all over him whether he hits or not is of no consequence this is as much to drive them back as it is to harm them. "Ah whats the matta guys the ground slippery or afraid of the flames? Listen here bitches play with Cryopyre and his fire and yer gonna get burned!!"

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma releases her hold on her assailants who pause as if waking from a bad dream. A bad dream that has turned into a nightmare before them. Their look of shock is all too real as they see the wall of flame and the iced surfaces in front of them. Lopsided Guy gets hit by the flame on his weak side and shouts in pain, desperately beating at his sleeve to douse the flames chewing up his shirt and about to go to town on his skin. Chameleon Kid got hit straight to the torso with ice and collapses to the ground groaning and shivering.

For a fraction of a second they hold. Mostly to take stock.

Then they run. As fast as their legs can carry them. To their credit again they don't leave people behind. Chameleon Kid gets picked up (roughly) by Lopsided Guy and carried away until he can run under his own steam. It takes only a few seconds after that and they're gone in the night, leaving Emma standing, weak-kneed, leaning against brick with her bare shoulder, a small dribble of blood on her visible shoulder from a nick or scrape.

"Thank you!" she says effusively. "I don't know what they wer..." She pauses, eyes widening. Then vomits. Noisily and profusely against the wall.

And manages to make the alley smell a tiny fraction better from it.

"Sorry..." she mutters, wiping her mouth.

Atrid has posed:
Atrid shrugs. "No worries." He says the flames and ice still up his arms. "Theyre gone now. I recommend avoiding these dark alleys in this hood dahlin' creeps like that hang in them. Id say its best if you make a quick escape, take care of yerself." Atrid says as he turns to head back out the way he came no longer interested in stealing from her shed been through enough. "I just did what any decent person would do, you know, nothin' more or less." With that he starts to make his way out. "If I were you I wouldnt be trusting most folks around here not to attempt to harm you. A gorgeous wealthy woman like yourself your the kind of person these scumbag types prey upon." This is called out over his shoulder.

Emma Frost has posed:
"Wait!"

The voice is shrill with nervousness and Emma runs after Atrid, keeping a respectful distance. "I don't know where I am. I'm trying to find where I parked my car. Outside of a hotel called the Centinel. Do you know it?"

She pauses, partially to give a hint of vulnerable pathos, but mostly to suppress the laughter that keeps wanting to bubble to the surface.

"I own it," she explains. "I could ... pay?"

Atrid has posed:
Atrid stopping he turns to look at Emma and takes a breath. "The Centine, Yea I know it, You own it is it some kind of recent acquisition of yours or did you party hard and get turned around when trying to get back?" He asks. "Yer trustin' me ta get you back ta where ya need ta be? Im 17 and what you saw here in the alley tonight thats the extent of my powers and I cant really control them as you can see since they havent well turned off for lack of a better word. They seem to react more to my emotional state than my will Im not sure given my flames that Im the safest escort fer ya, however I could use the cash. Yea come on beautiful Ill get ya where yer goin, you can call me Cryopyre."

Emma Frost has posed:
"I bought it a few months back, and renovated it."

Emma's demeanour is slowly changing from fearsome to ... more controlled. Standing taller.

"And I just announced more changes that will expand its operations from being merely a hotel, though the hotel will always be there."

She steps up, smiling. "My name is Emma Frost. I'm the CEO of Frost Industries and the owner of the Centinel Hotel. And I'd prefer to call you by your real name if you don't mind. If you'd prefer incognito, of course, I'll naturally continue calling you Cryopyre."

The smile widens.

"But it's very hard to hire someone who goes by a code name."

The transformation from terrified victim to CEO is complete. Emma stands before Cryopyre in her long-legged, square-shouldered, ice princess glory. "Now come, let's go to the hotel. On the way we can discuss the price, future employment prospects, and possibly what you'd like to eat since I'm getting the feel that there may be a few recently-missed meals in the loop."

She gestures down the road the direction she came from and waits for Atrid to lead the way.

Atrid has posed:
Atrid moves forward with her. "Alright Emma my real name is Bjorn Knutsen missed meals yea I guess there have been a few." And as if on cue his stomach rumbles and he chuckles. "Ive been on my own fer a few months now after my parents finally realized that I wasnt.... Normal." He says simply as he traces the scars on his face with his fingers. "My parents couldnt abide having a /mutie/ in the family didnt even show back up to the hospital to get me, I escaped social services knowing that no one was gonna want to adopt a mutant." Bjorn laughs. "But being on my own has its advantages no one to tell me what to do or where to go, and I dont have to deal with being overly social." He says simply. "What made ya think Id missed meals anyway?"

Emma Frost has posed:
"Because, Mr. Knutsen, the plight of mutants in general moves me and I have done my research."

Research, in this case, meaning she's walked through mutant neighbourhoods and read minds, feeling the desperation and hunger in elevated amounts. Something she still seethes over.

"I upgraded the Centinel to give an avenue for money to enter this neighbourhood," she continues, pleasantly, carefully ensuring she seems to be following, not leading, the road back to the hotel. "And now phase two is starting with the Frost Outreach program. I'm afraid I celebrated the creation of the Foundation a little to heartily and..."

She shrugs, grinning sheepishly and gesturing back to where the pair had come from.

"So," she says, continuing the main point, "I know statistically speaking just being here means there's a good chance of at least one missed meal. You were out in the early hours of the morning. That increases the odds."

Then the stomach rumbles and she laughs, though that fades at the scars. She reaches out a hand to trace the same scars if he doesn't flinch away. "Beatings? Or worse?" she asks, her voice soft, but under it steel. Hot steel. Heated by anger.

Atrid has posed:
Atrid shrugs. "Its nothing." He says softly as if not wanting to remember at all. "I came into my powers at around 13 and my parents had always been anti mutant, I however never understood it. Secretly I had a couple of mutant friends because once I hit around that age people started making fun of me calling me an out cast and all kinds of crap because I was a goth. My teammates on the Baseball team didnt do this because they didnt want to lose their star pitcher. Well after the Powers manifested and I severely like third almost fourth degree burnt the leader of a Gang that was bullying me I knew I couldnt tell my parents. So I made a large effort to conceal and not use my powers. One night right after I turned 17 I got into an argument with my dad I was so pissed that I accidentally set fire to the trash can and froze his beer to the point the bottle shattered. He than proceeded to beat me and used a knife to do these he gestures to the scars going from corners of his mouth to his cheeks and the one over my eye. They dropped me off at the hospital and never came back the cops wouldnt do shit because my parents claimed I was a danger and attacked them first."

Emma Frost has posed:
More people find themselves, unknowingly, added to Emma's list of people whose lives are to be fucked with and ultimately destroyed as she hears the story. Her face hardens as the story goes on and her eyes turn the blue of glacier ice. Body language is that of someone who wants to hit someone. Hard.

"That kind of story," she says, voice clipped and harsh, "is what I hear all the time. It's that kind of bigotry that makes places like this." Her arms expand to take in the neighbourhood. "And what takes our kind and turns them into the animals you scared off earlier."

She swallows heavily and, fists clenched, visibly calms herself before finally relaxing.

"Come, let us get you fed and rewarded. And talking about employment. I'm not bringing in outsiders to 'fix' Mutant Town. I want mutants to turn Mutant Town into what it could be if we weren't marginalized and despised. And that means finding the gems in the rough."

She stares deeply into Atrid's eyes, giving the impression that she's looking all the way through to the back of his head.

"Like the one I found tonight."

Atrid has posed:
Atrid shakes his head back and forth. "Yes that kind of story, and yes Im positive that its that kind of bigotry that makes some of us into those kinds of monster, however just like in humans there are some of us who are just bad people. Dont get ahead of yourself thinking Im a diamond in the rough Emma. I was in truth initially following you to try and lift your wallet or something to be able to pay for a place to sleep and a meal or two. I chose not to because of what those animals attempted to do I felt as though youd been through enough. All I did was step up to make sure they didnt hurt you, Im a thief, and yes most times its preppy rich folks I steal from or trip because they always made fun of me when I was younger. Im not a good guy, I just did the right thing because I dont like intentionally causing that kind of harm to anyone not deserving of it. Dont try and make me out to be a hero, when Im a thief and criminal."

Emma Frost has posed:
"You weren't listening," Emma says, amusement etched across her faces. "Our kind. I want mutants to fix Mutant Town, and I'm here trying to fix Mutant Town. Read between the lines, Mr. Knutsen. (I'll use your alias out of respect for your wishes.)" She pauses and studies Atrid's face a moment then chuckles merrily, with just a hint of a 'gotcha' in the tone.

"I'm a mutant, Mr. Knutsen," she says simply. "I can pass as one of them, so I had ... better opportunities than you or the animals you drove off earlier. But they would despise me as much as you--moreso, even, likely--if they found out."

And now Emma begins to seriously loom. Despite not changing at all in relationship to anything around her, she still now seems like she's far taller. And it looks like shadows are closing in on the pair with her bright whiteness being the only thing that holds the shadows at bay.

"I was aware of you and your intent for a while. And I saw you change that when worse people were about to do something to me. You dropped your selfish--nay, desperate!--act and intervened."

And it's back to just a normal (albeit abnormally attractive) woman in a streetlight's halo.

"You didn't turn into an animal. You wanted money. To eat. To have nice things for a while. And you were going to steal it. Bad yes, but necessary, undoubtedly. We'll work on the need for that. But when the chips were down, Mr. Knutsen, you stepped up. That is the spirit that will allow me to help Mutant Town help itself."

She pauses and the intensity she'd been projecting vanishes in an almost schoolgirl giggle.

"How was that? Suitably impressive? I'm still working on this presentation."

Atrid has posed:
Atrid flushes and his flames grow hotter and further up his arms /shit shes a telepath./ He thinks to himself and than remembering he face palms but again looks her over inconspicuously and his teenage hormonal thoughts flare he tries to than suppress them again as in his embarassment his flames get hotter. "I...ummm...Well...I guess the cats outta the bag now, sorry." He says apologizing for his thoughts. "So...you know what Ive been thinking now Im embarassed. I give the alias because I dont know if the police are looking for me after fleeing social services to try and take me back to them. My real name is Atrid Torsen."

Emma Frost has posed:
And Emma chuckles again, good-naturedly. "Mr. Torsen, or would you prefer I continued with Knutsen?, do not apologize for thoughts. You cannot control your thoughts."

Beat.

"That's my job."

She winks.

"I'm flattered you would think of me that way, but also think you should probably learn a bit of anatomy first. You have a few misconceptions that could prove awkward in the actual act you imagine."

All spoken without rancour, though a slight teasing tone is involved.

"And no," she adds, "just to be clear, I won't be the one helping you clear up the misconceptions."

Another wink.

"But yes, you have the idea. I've done well for myself by a combination of inheritance and the ability to pass as one of the humans. You lacked this opportunity, as did the poor devils you scared off earlier. I intend to start changing that. Mutant Town will rise and mostly by its own hand. I will be there only to give it the initial lift it so desperately needs for hope."

She holds out a (gloved) hand. "Will you join me?" Her eyes take in the flame. "You'll want to get that under control first. Would you like my assistance or would you prefer to get it under control yourself?"

Atrid has posed:
Atrid blinks a bit and chuckles. "I know anatomy enough thank you." He teases back. "Well enough to know the differences between a man and a woman or rather a biological male or female. Im not sure what misconceptions I have but I assumed as Im not of legal age you wouldnt be helping me to clear up whatever misconceptions you think I have. As for controlling my thoughts Id prefer no one but myself do that." Atrid teases. "No you can call me Mr. Torsen or just Atrid works as well. Though with the way you keep winking at me some may get the wrong impression if they werent educated in body language, see I can tell youre not into me which I get and am totally ok with as again age and professionialism come into play." Concentrating hard to calm himself the flames and ice slowly recede. "I will take your hand and shake it in friendship but as for joining you in your mission I cant give you an answer just yet. I dont like to rush decision making you know?" Holding his hand out. "I hope you understand, as kind as youve been I dont trust this world and people even less so."

Emma Frost has posed:
"A wise stance to take ..." Emma says, firmly shaking Atrid's hand. "... as long as you don't take it so far that you trust nobody ever. That is a lonely life and leads to less-than-optimal outcomes. For good or bad we are social creatures and we are at our best with others working alongside us."

Releasing the grip, she continues, "But it's an understandable stance to take given your past. Certainly, take your time and make an informed decision. The offer will be on the table unless you do something specific to remove it from the table. Until then, perhaps we can talk piecework. Pre-negotiated payment for specific tasks." Mischief twinkles in her eyes. "I'm very flexible," she says. Pauses. Then covers her mouth in faux shock. "Atrid! Not (only) in that way!"

Toying with 17 year old hormones. Not a nice thing to do.

"But seriously, I will be spending a lot of time in the hotel as I turn it into the Frost Outreach Centre of Bushwick. Feel free to drop by any time if you have questions, concerns, or even if you just want a sympathetic ear to talk to."

Atrid has posed:
Atrid grins and winks back at Emma. "Oh so youre admitting that you are indeed flexible in that way as well." He teases her back. "I will take time yes, and perhaps Ill learn to trust others again someday. However youre right due to my past that is a hard thing for me to do. And depending on what would constitute making the offer getting taken off the table I doubt Id be doing that."