Owner	Pose
Jamie Madrox	The Centinel Hotel, a gem of gentrification in the otherwise chaotic and rundown Mutant Town. One of many attempts to improve the quality of life and associated property values within a slum full of individuals with unique powers. While many appreciate the lavish lobby, the cuisine of the dining experience, or the spacious event hall, many others choose the expansive view offered by the tall tower as their favorite quality of the establishment. Jamie Madrox, in a few moments, will not only receive an excellent first hand experience with this view, he will decidedly, not appreciate it like many others, for a very good reason. *CRASH* A window near the top of the Centinel Hotel cracks, fissures spreading like spider webs. *SHATTER* The window breaks and a man wearing a trench coat screams as he begins to plummet several stories toward the city pavement. Oddly enough, an identical man in an identical trench coat stares upwards. He winces and draws lips back in a gritting frown with furrowed brow. "Oh man... I don't want to remember this one." More screams echoing through the sky as the dupe falls. The screams begin to transform into a frantic chant of, "Pull me in! Pull me in! Pull me in!" Finally, the figure distorts and dissipates. Jamie, waiting on the ground, rubs his back where the dupe collided with the allegedly shatter proof glass. He squints and murmurs, "Alright, well now there's five of me up there... Hope you enjoy contending with that asshole." Another version of Jamie is suddenly launched through the same window stories up. Jamie Prime frowns, "Okay, well four!"
Laxmi Mallick	Laxmi is just emerging from the hotel, and a conversation with a potential client which hadn't gone quite as well as she'd hoped.     It was difficult finding work as a dark-skinned, openly mutant individual, especially in the music industry. And it was frustrating, but it was something she was determined to achieve. She tries to contain her frustration, though, because showing signs of it right now might not be helpful to her future endeavors to work with the biggotted little-     Her thoughts are quickly derailed by the sounds of crashing glass and the gasps and screams that surround her. She looks up, her eyes widening as she sees the man falling, along with a hail of glass that would soon be hitting the pavement. Oh, by all that was good, that poor man.     She covers her head with her hands, stepping away from where she expects the man to hit - but when pieces of glass begin bouncing off her arms without an accompanying heavy and sickening thud, she looks up in puzzlement and confusion. Could the man fly? But she sees him nowhere.     Then a second, seemingly identical man flies out the window.     "What is-?"
Jamie Madrox	Jamie Prime steps forward, ready to absorb the second falling dupe before he hits the payment. He rolls his neck and takes a deep breath, as the adrenaline of the fall works through his body post absorption.     Noting Laxmi, he offers a nervous grin and gestures with his hands in what is more frantic then the intended soothing. "Ah, no worries. Just an... uh... slight misunderstanding with an adolescent on the." He squints and glances up, shielding his eyes. "8th... No 9th floor."     His frown deepens and yet another version of Jamie is tossed out the window. This one doesn't scream, just shrugs toward the ground as he falls. Jamie Prime slaps his forehead, "Oh come on guys! He's like 16! We are certified bad asses! It shouldn't be this hard."     That dupe is also absorbed before he becomes street pizza. Jamie side eyes Laxmi for a moment then has a terrible idea though he doesn't quite vocalize it yet. He just narrows his brown eyes and hums.
Laxmi Mallick	"...does he know throwing people out the window isn't going to kill them? That's attempted murder!" Laxmi protests. This does not seem to qualify as a 'no worries' situation - the young woman looks horrified as she watches them continue to fall - again and again from the window. "...how many of you are up there?" she asks. At least she's starting to put together what the man's power is, and what seems to be happening, as another of the dupes fades away before her eyes.     "Are they illusions? Wait- no. They broke the window." Illusions don't break windows. At least - hers certainly don't.
Jamie Madrox	"I think he knows... But he's just a very angry kid. You know the story. World is against him. If they think he is a monster, he might as well be one. Its pretty classic at this point." Jamie Prime explains while occasionally glancing upwards. Another dupe emerges through the window, but this one seems to be taking a purposeful swan dive. Jamie Prime cups his mouth and yells, "Quitter!" as the dupe descends. He's replied with two-fisted middle fingers before the dupe is ultimately re-absorbed. Blinking as he processes the new memories, he hums, "Looks like we are up to nine. The count keeps changing every time he lands a good hit." Frowning more, "So while I think I've got the ultimate advantage here. Fighting certainly isn't calming him down, but you know, I was thinking that if there's one thing that can sometimes get a straight cis teenage male to slow down. It's a cute girl or woman! So, might I interest you in a small job?"
Laxmi Mallick	"Uh... sure?" Laxmi answers, her gaze up on the broken window. "I mean... before someone really gets hurt. I'm- I might have a bit of a talent for soothing challenging emotions, actually," she offers - without any further explination.     When she isn't cowering if fear of raining glass and falling bodies - there's something graceful to her stance and her movements - a poise to her posture that seems both deliberate, and the result of years of practice. Her gaze goes from locked on the window above, to the man standing near her on the street. "What do you need me to do?"
Jamie Madrox	"Excellent! And even better!" Jamie Prime responds and reaches into a trench coat pocket to retrieve a paper envelope with a hotel key tucked into it. On the outside '917' is written indicating the matching room for the key. Jamie Prime hands her the envelope and then abruptly claps his hands. Just as abruptly, there are two Jamies now standing on the sidewalk. Prime up-nods to the dupe, "Go upside with our new partner here and keep her safe. I'll stay down here and... keep playing catch." The dupe salutes, "Don't slouch on the job." then looks toward Laxmi before thumbing toward the lobby. "We are going to take a quick elevator ride up to the 9th floor and... think of something!"
Laxmi Mallick	"...alright. Sounds like a plan," Laxmi replies. Sometimes the universe wills you to be in the right place at the right time. Perhaps this is one of those days. She studies the key for a moment - then tucks it into the handbag she carries with her for the moment.     "I don't know how to fight," she warns the man beside her as she starts back towards the hotel at a brisk walk. "So... well. Just know that, I suppose." She looks aside at the man accompanying her as she asks, "Are you... real? You just double yourself somehow?" she asks with puzzlement. It's not an ability she's seen before, but then again there seems to be no end to the abilities she sees in Mutant Town.     Once they're inside, she presses the button for the elevator and then... waits. There's never an elevator when you need one.
Jamie Madrox	"Name is Jamie Madrox, sometimes I go by Multi-Man. Well, actually no. I never go by Multi-Man but sometimes people demand a code name." The dupe shrugs as they wait by the elevator bank. "Don't worry about learning how to fight. I am a certified martial arts master... and a whole lot of good it's doing me. So like my parents use to say, 'Violence is not the answer'" He grins and stuffs his hands in his trench coat. He steps into the elevator once it opens and waits for Laxmi, before pushing the 9th floor button. On the way up, he continues. "And yes, I am very real. As for the 'somehow', eh.. no idea. Always worked this way since I was a kid. If I get smacked around, a new me appears. Sometimes multiple of them if you are Prime." He gestures in the general direction they came from. "Alright, so this kid's name is Trevor. He's a mutant like me. He's somewhere around 16... and he has very bad skin. Not your usual acne. Its like a rhino hide. On top of that, he's very strong. Perfect for the football team if they had allowed mutants." He frowns, "As you can guess, he's got a lot of reasons to have a really big chip on his shoulder. Pretty sure he stole the wallets of some mutant haters who were harassing him and checked into this hotel on your standard 'Run away from it all' moment." The doors open to the 9th floor. The sounds of crashing and exclamations of combat echo through the hall. Several guests peek out through cracked doors. The dupe leads the way and continues, "His mom just wants him to come home, and that's the job I took on behalf of... X-Factor Investigations." There's a small dramatic pose at the announcement of the organization. "We aren't fully open.. but I can't say no to a crying mother."
Laxmi Mallick	"I'm Laxmi," the woman volunteers readily. "Just Laxmi. Well, Laxmi Mallick. I'm also a mutant," she offers as they ride the elevator up. She listens to his story about the boy - concern and sympathy in her gaze. "Yeah... not everyone has had things as easy as I have. Poor kid... Let's see if we can't help him out, huh?" she offers, as they walk down the hallway towards the room. She pulls out the key as they get closer, asking, "What sort of music do you like? Don't suppose you like jazz?" she asks, as she slides the keycard into the lock.
Jamie Madrox	"I sort of figured by your lack of screaming and running in the face of very mutant behaviour." Jamie chuckles. He pauses and hums for a second, clutching the sides of his head. "Ugh.. I can't pick one kind, but I absolutely enjoy Jazz. I've had the chance to witness a lot of great playing. There's even some country I like." Watching her slides the keycard into the lock, he very carefully nudges the door open a crack, so they can both peek through. There are at least a dozen dupes in the room with the majority of them dog-piling on Trevor while pleading with him to calm down or stop fighting. Its horribly ineffective. The dupes are speaking over each others in a cacophony. There's one straggler laying on a mattress that's been tossed into a corner, casually scanning through a magazine. He's clearly decided that fighting is not the answer either. Trevor himself is six foot something and built like a line backer. Black hair and rhino grey skin, every time he manages to get a hold of a dupe, its tossed out the window. He's evidently learned that 'Hitting Jamie' isn't the answer, but still occasionally he goofs like now, as one of the dupes is tossed casually into the ceiling and then falls as two Dupes instead of one. The dupe accompanying Laxmi sticks his fingers into his mouth and blows a very shrill whistle before forming a T with his hands. "TIME OUT!" Miraculously, it kind of works. For Trevor, it triggers something from his sports day. For the dupe crew, they've heard it before. There's a brief lull in the violence to capitalize on.
Laxmi Mallick	Laxmi had just been about to ask if Jamie could get... //himself// to leave the poor boy alone. She's a bit startled when that happens to promptly and immediately, and realizes a bit belatedly that she has very little time to capitalize on that moment. She takes a deep breath in, filling her lungs low, into her diaphragm, and then she begins to sing - her voice sweet, and sad, and soft, slowly swelling as she sings, and then softening once more in a way that holds the attention of listeners as she pushes open the door to move slowly into the room. It's clear this is someone who has had a lot of training to back up the talent she was born with.     And with her voice, travels her ability to soothe and manipulate the emotions of those who can hear her - supported by her choice of songs - as she urges a sort of melancholic calm to descend on the chaos. The falling leaves drift by my window The falling leaves of red and gold I see your lips the summer kisses The sunburned hands I used to hold Since you went away the days grow long And soon I'll hear old winter's song But I miss you most of all my darling When autumn leaves start to fall.
Jamie Madrox	Trevor was somewhere between angry and terrified, so the lull is actually appreciated. His brow furrows apparently skeptical as the new addition to the conflict just begins singing. He currently has a Jamie dupe grabbed by the lapels of his trench coat, a large grey fist raised. Slowly, the fist lowers. The dupe on the coach puts away his mag and rolls onto his stomach. Hands folding under his chin, he listens with his ankles kicked into the air. The other dupes look between each other and then slowly begin backing away. Laxmi's companion dupe mouths words and gestures them his way, ushering a line of Jamies into the hallway as Laxmi continues to perform. He murmurs, "Stick around on stand-by." They all nod, though one asks, "What about the lazy ass in the corner?" "Uh.. no idea, but someone get down to Prime and tell him he can stop playing catch. Time for a new tactic." The dupes agree, though instead of waiting in the hall proper, most of them are stacked on top of each other as the lean past the doorframe to keep a view of the singing. This leaves only two remaining in the room: Lazy Dupe and Grappled Dupe.
Laxmi Mallick	Laxmi reaches the end of the song - holding the last note before slowly letting it fade out to quiet, her hands folding in front of herself. "That's better, isn't it?" she asks in a moment of silence. She lifts her hands to press them together in front of her chest, offering a formal greeting to the boy. "Namaste. I'm Laxmi. How about you put the poor fellow down, and we talk for a moment?" she offers in a soothing, encouraging tone.     "Or I can keep singing, if you prefer. I don't suppose you have a favorite song I might know?" Her hands are folded in front of herself once more as she talks, standing several feet back from the boy in the room. The last thing she wants is for him to abruptly decide to toss her out the window, as well.
Jamie Madrox	Trevor looks to the dupe in his grasp and decides to slowly lower him to the ground. The dupe brushes himself off and mouths 'Thank You' to Laxmi before he tip toes over to the Lazy dupe, kicks him in the thigh and then points to the door. Begrudgingly, Lazy dupe complies and the pair exit by following the hotel room wall, stepping over a smashed television and slide into the hallway with the rest of the horde. Trevor, meanwhile, grunts. "Look, I just want to be left alone, okay? I'm kinda trying to sort out my... uh... life here. Which sucks.. and these idiots keep trying to drag me back into it." He scuffs a large sneaker on the carpet of the hotel room. "Uh, maybe... Don't Really Care? By Demi?" One of the dupes in the hallway winces and murmurs, "Really? We couldn't do something from Queen? or Prince?" The dupe is promptly elbowed by a compatriot. The rest 'shush' him in unison.
Laxmi Mallick	"Yeah, but the way I hear it - there are people from your life who really care about you and want to make sure you're alright," Laxmi offers, giving a helpless shrug of her shoulders. "Maybe we can find a way to accomodate both needs, huh?" she suggests encouragingly.     At the suggest of songs, though, amusement quirks at the corner of her lips. "Not my usual repetoire," she admits. "But I know the tune." The lyrics, however, were another matter. She pulls out her phone, though, and a few quick keystrokes pull them up. Of course she has a lyric-finder website bookmarked.     Her stance shifts subtly before she begins to sing - legs further apart, shoulders squared - the song has a more rebelious vibe, and her posture reflects that. And as she sings, she purposefully tries to blunt the righteous anger the song might carry, while heightening instead the sense of freedom, and control. She thinks she gets why the kid would choose a song like this. And hopefully the dupes would too - by the time she was done singing it - with frequent glances down at her phone to keep herself on track with the lyrics.     As much as she might wish otherwise, she //doesn't// possess the mutant power to memorize every song lyric ever composed.
Jamie Madrox	The kid seems mollified and while he was indeed looking to channel more of that rebel vibe, the imbued sense of freedom and control give him hope for his situation. It erodes the despair in his heart. Trevor lets out a deep sigh and then nods. "Yea, I know Mom must be freaking out... It's just.. There's not much she can do about all of it." He side glances toward the ground. "But maybe... I have more control then I think. And... this is getting out of hand." He points toward the stacked Jamies in the doorframe, "Just... keep that guy off me." The dupes respond, "It would be our pleasure!" before they abruptly disappear, distorting and being drawn into the hallway. Jamie Prime sticks his head through the door frame. "Not going to mess with you any more kid, but you need to get out of here before the police show up. I'll stall them best I can." Jamie then turns and returns to the elevator, calling it, and keeping it open for them.
Laxmi Mallick	Laxmi gestures around at the devestation that was the hotel room. "Just a bit," she points out. "Look - luckily, no one was hurt here. That's the important thing. Once something like that happens... it can't be taken back, you know? And I know you don't want something like that to happen."     Hopefully, the police will be just as slow responding to this as they do to anything else that happens in Bushwick. No - more than likely it'll be members of the Bushwick Neighborhood Watch that show up first. In fact - glancing out the window would show a trio with black Neighborhood Watch armbands on, jogging towards the hotel.     "I'm sure things feel overwhelming right now," she reassures the boy as tries to gently herd him towards the elevator with a gesture of her hands. "But you don't have to go through all of this alone. There are support groups, you know?"
Jamie Madrox	Jamie gestures them inside the elevator and uses some of his more 'black market' skills to slip a few informational cards into Trevor's pockets as he passes. Similarly, he offers Laxmi one of his business cards before instructing, "Keep the elevator open for about 30 seconds before heading down... Don't worry if it buzzes. Just give me time to intercept any body that's heading this way while you use the rear exit." He offers a little salute and then steps over to another elevator being held by a dupe. The elevator door soon closes. Moments later, Jamie is seen approaching the trio of the Neighborhood Watch, pausing them in their job. "Nothing to worry about folks. No one was hurt. Just a little property damage... and a lot of hurt pride. All taken care of."
Laxmi Mallick	Laxmi nods her understanding - accepting the business card and waiting as instructed while Jamie heads down ahead of them. "Well. This afternoon has turned out all sorts of unexpected, hasn't it? Your name's Trevor - isn't it?" she asks - while silently counting a beat. She gives Jamie 45 seconds before she starts down.     "You have the money for a cab or something? And you've got somewhere to go?" she confirms - trying to make sure the kid has a plan that isn't going to land him in another mess.     Down in the lobby - it isn't hard for Jamie to waylay the watch and reassure them, given that this watch it made up of a local, Citadel (a member of the Brotherhood who is a bit hulking in size, with black inky eyes), and a member of the X-Men, who seems more than willing to accept Jamie's explinations, and reassure his fellows in the Watch. As well as readily offer up their assistance.     It's impossible to see with Citadel's inky eyes, but he is rolling them as he get voluntold to help the X-Men with something.
Jamie Madrox	Trevor nods in the affirmative, "Yea, I can just grab an uber a few blocks down the street. Yup, Trevor. Are you like... in college or something? Your singing is awesome. You should try out for one of those talent shows on TV or something." Jamie gives a thumbs up to the three and waits patiently to see them leave. Reassured they are on their way, he also makes himself scarce before the police show up. No doubt he'll have to answer questions eventually, and in truth, with his face all over video cameras, he's going to get an invoice for the damages... no where near what the mother was paying to retrieve her son. But all in a good day's work. Meanwhile, Trevor waves down his uber after a brisk walk with Laxmi. "Uh, thanks for calming me down.. Like you said, if someone had gotten hurt... it'd be a lot harder to walk away from this. I'll.. uh... do better." Becoming a little shy, he quickly ducks into the car and closes the door behind him.
Laxmi Mallick	"Just finishes college, actually," Laxmi answers. "I have a Bachelors of Music in Vocal Arts from Juilliard." Both a highly respected and highly laughable degree - simultaneously. She smiles a bit wryly as she adds, "Maybe I will try one of those..." though she imagines people would cry foul, and claim she manipulated the judges into voting her through with her powers... There in lies the rub.     "Please try to, Trevor. Make sure you find the support you need, huh? I know it can be tough - but you don't have to do it alone." She smiles encouragingly as the kid gets into the car. After he drives away - she studies the card she was offered.     X-Factor, huh? Interesting.     She slips the card into her hand bag and glances around - but the strange man and his many 'twins' cannot be seen - so with a shrug, she continues on with her day. She still had a rehearsal at Sion, after all.