Hellfire Gala: Willkommen! Bienvenue! Welcome!

[Jack Sparrow]

Jack smiled when he saw Craig looking in Psylocke's direction. She was indeed a beautiful woman. She usually had Warren Worthington on her arm, but the winged playboy seemed to be among the missing at the moment. Perhaps that would give Craig a chance to strike up a conversation with the lady?

"Craig, perhaps we should ask Elizabeth to join us? She seems to be on her own this evening, so she might enjoy the company. Couldn't hurt for you to ask her."

As he saw Jessie and Ewan talking to Maddie Pryor, Jack got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. if Jean Grey's clone was roaming the rooms of this soiree, then Kari's doppelganger Cailleach might not be too far behind. That would be horrible indeed.

[Craig Dragotti]

Craig couldn't help but notice Elizabeth again. There was something interesting about her. He bit his lower lip in a very uncertain way. Would Isabella Dragotti approve of him chatting with another woman? ''I suppose we could ask Elizabeth to join us.'' Craig began to beckon Elizabeth at a snail's pace.

[Jack Sparrow]

"It's just for drink, food and conversation, Craig. Nothing to be worried about," Jack said as he watched Craig beckon for Elizabeth to join them. Of course Jack figured now would be when Warren would come swooping in, or that red clad security expert Vincent might make himself known. And he had that demonic dog, too. 

It was then Jack realized Alison and Sasha were near Elizabeth. This might not end well after all. Having Sasha and Craig in close proximity to each other might not be the best idea.

"I believe Elizabeth and her brother were once members of Hellfire, but I could be very wrong, Craig. Her bother Brian. The one called Captain Britain. Not he other one. He was quite a handful from what I hear."

[Craig Dragotti]

''I suppose food, drink and conversation are fine,'' Mr. Dragotti muttered. His eyes widened in shock as soon as he saw Sasha. He glowered at his ex-button man. Craig remembered Sasha constantly bickering with Reynard and humiliating him in restaurants. Revealing his darkest secrets to every restaurant client. Throwing his underwear out the window due to a past punishment.

Mr. Dragotti continued to scowl until he focused on Jack. ''Elizabeth was with the Hellfire Club? I'm not familiar with Captain Britain.'' He noticed Sasha again and scowled.

[Wolverine]

Logan sniffed the air as soon as they stepped inside the Hellfire Mansion. It may have been renovated, but it still stank as far as he was concerned. Too many ghosts in this place for his liking. Too much pain to be ignored.

"Pete, let's go see if we can find anything stronger than this fizzy crap," Wolverine said as he motioned toward a bar in one of the rooms off the foyer. "I'm not exactly feeling the love in this place tonight. Charity or not, something doesn't feel right."

Logan looked back to see Kari and Dana were being held up by some mystic pal or other, so he motioned to show where he and Pete were headed. "Let's be honest. That family scares the crap out of us both, Pete. Two glasses of scotch," he said to the bartender as he leaned with his back against the bar for a moment. "Bet you're happy to be headed back to England."


 

[Karenza]

{{OK, Scott said Stark just rolled in, so he wants to make sure we all keep it as civil as possible}} Kari said telepathically to all of her teammates and family already inside the mansion. {{I'll stay as far away from him as possible, but I'm sure he'll want to check up on that Carnwennan mess. Thom didn't have a lot of luck with that fake blade}}

Kari looked around at the decor of the mansion and rolled her eyes as she saw the gold powder spread across the floor. "What a waste. And I'm sure Emma will howl when it gets on her shoes," Kari said to Dana as they walked toward the bar with Ada and Alexia. Then Kari just sort of stopped and looked back toward the door. "Adaryn and Jackson. I'm not so sure she ever alerted Stark to the fact Jack arrived in this world. Oh great," Kari muttered as she glanced up at the balcony and saw Michael Priest there. She nodded politely and then turned her attention back to Alexia. "I'm sorry you got tossed into this event so soon after your arrival."

 

[chryseis]

Alexia just smiled. "Mother it's fine as long as I am back with family that is all that matters." She said as she brushed her hair back with her hand.

"Well you are indeed Alexia and quite a big family at that." Ada said with a laugh.

[Jessie Grey]

Jessie was taken off guard by the Red Queens question but she quickly adjusted herself accordingly. "Well Emma is with father making the rounds....Being part of the leadership of the teams I guess it's all part of it to do the rounds." She said smiling back at her mother. She couldn't help but comment on how she looked. "You do look beautiful tonight mother. More beautiful then a lot of the idiots that Shaw invited to this gathering.....So do you have a specific reason you are here or just revisiting the past?" She said with curiousity.

[Emma Frost]

Emma was very glad to be on Scott's arm this evening as she stepped inside what was once her home. {{There's something off about all this, darling}} she said in her link to her lover as they made their way inside. {{These people may have money to spare, but this is not the usual Hellfire crowd. Yes, I see Warren Buffett's second in command from Berkshire Hathaway and Mayor Bloomberg, and Anna Wintour is always coming to parties here, but there are a lot of faces that I do not recognize}}

As the couple stopped for a photo, Emma glanced over at Brian again and motioned for him to stay with her and Scott. "Brian, this crowd looks a bit, well, new is the easiest word to use," she said as she glanced around once more. "Some are from the European branches. But the rest? I have to be honest. They are all giving off the oddest psychic vibrations."

As the trio moved into the party proper, Emma kept zeroing in on one particular area near the grand staircase, and she stopped dead in her tracks. {{Oh bloody hell}} she said in her link to Scott. {{Look who came to the party, dear. I thought your not-so-beloved ex-wife had been dispatched to Hades after our little battle on Muir Island? Or did Kari botch that one up, too?}}

Emma then saw Jessie and Ewan near Maddie and tried to keep her composure. "Jessie, Ewan, I see you already found the first surprise of the evening. I'm surprised Sebastian let you into the building, Madelyne."

[The Red Queen]

"To be honest, Jessie, I was hoping I would see you here," Maddie said as she saw Emma and Scott out of the corner of her eye as they approached her. "And I was interested in seeing this purported rebirth of the Hellfire Club. I know Sebastian put a lot of work into the rebuilding of the mansion, but fixing a building is one thing. Putting this group back into a position of power is entirely another."

Maddie smiled as she thought about Jessie's compliment. "And thank you, my dear. I knew tonight is going to be very important for a lot of reasons, so I wanted the world to see me at my best."

As Emma came over, Maddie smiled. She was waiting for the White Queen to stick her foot in her mouth and end up causing a scene. "Michael Priest invited me. I'm being considered to become his Red Queen in London. Of course, we all know he has another redhead he would rather have take the spot, but even he can't pry her away from Wolverine. Scott, I must say I'm truly surprised to see you here. Pleased but surprised nonetheless. I'd think you'd want to stay far away from this plot of earth after, well, your past here."


 

[Craig Dragotti]

''It's going to be very difficult to ignore Sasha since he looks a bit different with his mask. In other words, he won't blend in with other people,'' Craig said to Jack. He literally turned his back on Sasha just like what the latter did to him years ago. If Sasha tried to address him, he would just disregard his ex-button man. Then again, Craig figured the ex-mobster felt the same way about him. The feeling happened to be mutual.  

[Phil Coulson]

Phil bodyslid discreetly behind a curtain where he wouldn't draw any attention to his arrival.  He contacted Agent Knight before he left for her to hack into the Hellfire Club gala guest list and put him on it.  Now it looked like he was supposed to be there instead of party crashing.  He doubted Michael Priest or any of the high rollers of the HFC would notice he was there as long as he kept a low profile.

He brushed this tux off and straightened his tie as he walked around the corner of the curtain and took a glance around at who was here.  He spotted several of the X-Men right away, namely Karenza, Wolverine, and Pete Wisdom.  Also he noticed the Bianchis in the back corner opposite of him.  Rydenbornes were most likely lurking somewhere as well.  He smiled and took a glass of champagne off a tray as a server passed by. 

Phil cringed a bit when he overheard a passing couple say that Tony Stark just arrived.  At least he could say that Maria sent him here to observe if Stark wondered why he was here and not back at base. He sent a quick text to Darcy letting her know that he was here, but not to come up to him.  He'd meet her secretly at a later time.  

Phil took a sip of his champagne and walked over to where Pete and the others were.  "Good evening," he said through a tight lipped smile.

Pete turned away from his conversation with Dana and Logan when he saw Coulson.  "Bloody 'ell, Phil! 'ow 'ave you been?"

Phil nodded.  "I've been fine.  It's nice to see you again, Pete.  It's been a long time" he replied.  Right now probably wasn't the best time to tell him that his sister had flaked out on him and had joined SHIELD.

"Phil, this is my fiancé, Dana.  Dana, this is Agent Phil Coulson, we go way back from my Black Air days," he said, looking back at Coulson.  "So Hellfire is openly inviting SHIELD agents to their gala now?"

Phil nodded to Dana.  "Nice to meet you, Dana.  You must be a brave woman for putting up with him," he said with a smirk.  "And I'm sort of an uninvited guest of the HFC.  I'm not really here on business anyways."

[blackqueen]

There was a sense of nostalgia in the air. The Black Queen was not on the guest-list.  Sebastian Shaw, Emma Frost, the lot of them betrayed her.  But she had her watchful eye on them all.  The Black Queen was an ages old sorceress, born into central Europe thousands of years ago.  She recalled a time when she had heard about such a club starting in the 18th century Britain.  She hadn't paid it any mind... But with the fall of Nova Roma, she found herself drawn to New York and found herself on the Inner Circle's doorstep.  She felt it had been her destiny to take up the mantle of Black Queen, and demanded the seat for herself in ways no other member had ever dared.  Her presence in the Inner Circle had made Sebastian Shaw apprehensive, but she have him little alternative.  They promised her power... They failed.

The Black Queen walked through the Gala unseen by those around her.  Since her 'tiff' with the Phoenix, she has to amass her power, but she had succeeded thanks to the lost souls of Mutant Town.  She nudged up against an Agent of SHIELD with a grin upon her face.  Those in attendance saw the Black Queen has a blonde in a skimpy outfit, meant only for entertainment.  She was curious to what her former consort was up to.  That's why she sent an illusion.

The Gala was less sophisticated than she remembered.  She saw familiar faces and faces she knew didn't belong to the Hellfire Club.  It was supposed to be something regal. "Send a man to do a woman's job and look what happens..." she muttered to herself surveying her kingdom.  She became immediately aware of Michael Priest's presense at the Club.  She was not fearful of the man after the vast power within her.  He would not be aware of her illusion, but everyone could feel the uneasiness surrounding the Black Queen.  She pondered for a moment.  Had Michael Priest and Sebastian Shaw joined forces?!  Both men were too egotistical for Selene to foresee such an act.

The room was full of mutants, mystics, and humans of both good and evil alignment.  Selene scoffed.  Both sides, Good and Evil, were truly pointless in the end.  All that mattered was Selene's plans.

Selene's eyes lit up when she viewed from across the grand ballroom, the Starchilde herself.  Jessie Grey was in attendance. As was the Red Queen...  Selene cackled to herself. Pathetic witch believed herself to be in the league of Gods.

Selene stepped back into the shadows of the room, melting away.  She had been sitting on her throne in Louisiana on an unused crossing of the mystic ley lines.  Her eyes were white as she watched from afar...  Her attention was found by the activities going on in her former prison, the Catacombs beneath.  Unbeknowst to those above, someone appeared to be plotting.

OOC:  No one is to see Selene without my permission please.  I thought perhaps there were a couple of you she could reveal herself to in attempt to corrupt them... Hmm....

[Abbey Pryde]

"Wow, this is amazing!" Abbey said as she and others walked into the main gala room.  "They really didn't skimp on the details, did they?" she said looking at one of the gold gilded columns encrusted with jewels.

"Nice, I bet I could pay for an apartment in the Pacific Heights with one of these," Darcy said as she touched one of the jewels.  "Do you think they'd notice if one goes missing?"

Abbey raised her eyebrows.  "Ugh, probably.  I wouldn't try it.  Seriously, Darcy, don't even pretend like you're going to," Abbey said jokingly (but she really wasn't kidding).

Darcy dropped her hand from the column and then squealed a little.

"Are you okay?"  Abbey asked, looking at her friend.

"The boyfriend is here!" Darcy smiled.

"Where is he?"

Darcy shrugged.  "I'm not sure if I should point him out.  I think we're supposed to be on DL."

"Whatever, I wanna see him,"  Abbey whispered so that Kitty or anyone else wouldn't over hear them.

"Okay.  He's over there standing by the red headed Xena and the short stocky ... overly hairy dude." Darcy pointed in the direction of Kari and Logan.  "And damn .... he looks hot in tux!"

Abbey glanced in the direction where Darcy was pointing.  "Yep, he definitely looks like a SHIELD agent," she laughed.

[Jack Sparrow]

"I only know what I've heard in the middle of parties at Harry's Hideaway," Jack said to Craig as he thought back on what he actually did know about the X-Men. "Tracking the lives of the X-Men is like reading some Danielle Steel novel or watching Dallas. It tends to be as much about interpersonal relationships as it does about stopping madmen form destroying the world."

Jack looked over at the fellow in the tux chatting up Logan and Pete Wisdom. "I wonder who that is? Doesn't look like anyone I've seen around the team before."

As he saw Sasha with Alison, Jack wondered how Craig was going to avoid the man all night. "I'm sorry Sasha is vexing you so much, Craig."

[Goddess]

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Phil," Dana said as she extended her hand. "And truth be told, Pete's the brave one. I'm sure you know more about my family than most people do. And if the folks here get fussy, we can all head for that pub Pete likes and play darts. And I don't give a flying fig what the powers that be say if we do leave."

"Phil, good to see you again," Kari said as she walked over. "This is my daughter Alexia and my friend Ada. Alexia is from another world, and I think you can guess who her father is. She is clearly a daughter of Asgard."

"My sister seems to have a thing for Avengers, in this world or any other," Dana said and then realized it was not the best thing to have said. "Oh Goddess. I need to stuff my face with a prawn wrapped in bacon or something Sorry. I'm just a bit more nervous than usual."

"If we held that sort of thing against the other, Dana, we'd all be bloodied on a daily basis. I've accepted that this was all pat of Merlin's grand little plan way back in the day, and if I end up with children like Alexia, Liam or Ceri coming here from other places, then it is all for the good," Kari replied as she glanced at her sister and then to Logan. "And Phil, if anyone asks, you came as a plus one. We have more than enough single folks in our ranks to cover the bases."

"Pete, I am a bloody moron," Dana whispered to her fiance as her cheeks turned beet red. "Maybe the stress is getting to me." 

[Tytanic]

John gave a quick glance around the room and came to a fairly obvious realization: he was the only member of the X-Men socializing.

Well, yeah, everyone was socializing, but from what he saw, everyone branched off into their own little cliques. Emma and Scott were off chatting it up with two people with a collective net worth of Eastern Europe, the mystic people were still with the mystic people, and likewise with everyone else. He, on the other hand, opted to mingle with the people he would probably never see again aside from this event.

Considering that he wasn't entirely on the up and up with pop culture as he had many better things to do, but the strong man assumed that his new friends were either models or TV stars of some sort. He didn't know for sure, but they all had that "I'm famous, stare at me" kind of vibe. On the bright side, they were quite the friendly bunch and didn't seem too pushy when it came to himself when he dropped the fact that he was an X-Man.

No questions about his super powers, no one begging him to demonstrate his powers, or even asking for his life story aside from his code name. Non-nosy people to sit around with and actually having an engaging conversation was a win-win for him.

Now, if only someone would bring him some food.

[Craig Dragotti]

''How do you know anything you heard was true, Jack?'' Craig asked. After seeing the gentleman chatting with Logan and Pete Wisdom, he shrugged. ''I have no idea who that fellow is.'' He glanced at Sasha again and scowled. ''All we have to do is stick together, Jack. Sasha will probably avoid me as well.''

[Sasha Sadovsky]

Sasha made sure to remain with Alison as much as possible. He nodded at Elizabeth in order to be polite until he noticed Craig and Jack. His fists trembled with rage as soon as he saw his ex-employer. It was difficult for Sasha to forget about the times when Mr. Dragotti punished him. Reynard usually started the fights to begin with! Although his associate had been punished with him, he still never thought it was fair for Mr. Dragotti to discipline him.

*I'll just have to avoid my ex-employer. I'm certain he is doing the same with me* Sasha thought. In order to show his current emotions, he lifted his mask so that his teeth were shown. He moved what was left of his mouth and snarled at Mr. Dragotti. After lowering his mask, he turned his head. Only time would tell if Mr. Dragotti would avoid him as well.

[Maureen MacNealy]

Mo was getting sick of the whole "prophecy of the moment" nonsense with Danny and Tia Dalma. "Look, you two yack away about Tunguska or whatever. I didn't eat all day. I want food!"

Well, Mo had eaten breakfast, but a Greek yogurt parfait with berries was not exactly filling up all the empty spots. And if she kept drinking and didn't eat, well, she'd start acting like a drunken idiot. She did not need that. No one needed to see her jump in the fountain out front and start stripping. 

"What to eat. What to eat..." she muttered to herself as she wandered by a group of people who were just taking and having a good time. Some looked like those Victoria's Secret angel girls, and one guy might have been an Olympic skier. None of them seemed to know who she was, and she was actually quite happy about that. She was not Alison Blair-famous. Not anymore anyway. As she thought about her recognition level, she sniffed the air  for the scent of anything edible. "Excuse me," she said to a very tall and good looking fellow in the group. "Hi, my name's Maureen. I sort of got turned around in this crowd and lost the waiter with the Kobe beef sliders. Any idea where they are keeping the real food and not this watercress and bean sprouts stuff? Not that I don't like veggies, but well, I'm hungry. And the group I came with is getting to be a major downer. I want to have fun tonight."






 

[Kendra Athonlea]

"Oh gawd, what a bunch of froo froo nonsense!" Kendra muttered as she and her father, Gabriel Van Helsing, entered the doors of the Hellfire Mansion and were met with a sea of humanity that she would have been happy to run away from. "You sure we can't take in Mariano's last game at the Stadium? I mean Geez Louise! This place is nuts! I'd rather be riding the 4 train to the Bronx!"

"You know your mother needs you here," Gabriel replied as he looked at Kendra and smiled, nudging her arm slightly with his fist. "You and Faith are the only ones who are able to reach Finn if he gets in one of his moods. And frankly I think she's scared because of Michael Priest."

"Ma doesn't get scared. She gets pissed off and starts making noise," Kendra said to Gabe as she shook her finger at him. "Then she starts taking names. And Priest is a jerk," she added as she glanced up at the balcony to see the Hellfire bigshots all looking down on everyone else. "Cheese Wiz. Aro's here. That is just great. And...Loki? What the fu..heck is Loki doing here?"

"Maybe he likes the wine?" Gabe replied as he looked up to see Aro talking to the Trickster.

[Jack Sparrow]

"You may be right. Who knows if anything I hear in passing is correct or not!" Jack said with a wave of his hands as he looked at Craig and shook his head. "People have heard many things about me, and not all of them have been true either!"

Jack then noticed Sasha sort of glaring in their direction, and he prayed Craig did not notice his former button man. "I think we need to find that food before Lord HoiPolloy or Lady Plushbottom or one of their ilk eat it all."

((And please do not start a scene!)) Jack thought as he looked between Craig and Sasha. ((No one wants to end up on the evening news!))

[Pete Wisdom]

Pete chuckled slightly and put his hand on Dana's back.  "It's alright, luv.  I'm sure your sister didn't take it to heart," he whispered.  Out of all the MacFeorais sisters, Dana, was the kindest, most gentle of the bunch.  Not saying that she didn't have a temper but she usually didn't feel the need to get wound up over every little thing.  Sometimes she spoke when she probably shouldn't, but Pete saw that as a good thing.  He liked a woman that spoke what was on her mind.  

Pete grabbed her hand and squeezed it.  "I think we're all a little stressed out.  Just try to relax a bit and 'ave some fun, yeah?  We can walk over to the buffet and gets some of those prawns in a few minutes.  Also, you need a drink.  It'll calm you down a bit."  Pete lifted Dana's hand to his lips and kissed it.  "And if in an hour or so we find this boring we'll go to the pub and get pissed.  You in Phil?"  Pete said looking over at the agent.

What's that?"  Phil said turning from the group of women he was starting at, and looking back at Pete. 

"Going to the pub if this Hellfire thing gets a bit dull?"

"Another time, Pete," Phil said with a nod.  "Actually, I would like to get together with you in the next week or so to discuss some matters that have come up recently."

"Yeah, I can arrange some time.  Is this about Juliet?"  Pete narrowed his eyes slightly.

"We'll discuss it later," Phil said with a tight lipped smile, and then he turned back to Karenza.

"Bloody 'ell," Pete muttered pulling Dana along with him over to the buffet.  He angrily plopped prawns and scallops down on his plate and shook his head.  "Dana, bloody 'ell, I 'ave a feeling she's joined SHIELD.  I don't know why she always 'as to go behind my back when she does stuff.  I swear to god if this is because of Jason, I'll kill 'em!" he said, stuff a prawn in his mouth.

[Goddess]

"SHIELD? Why on earth would Jules join SHIELD? All because of that Jacoba fellow? If he breaks her heart, I'll have more than words with him," Dana said as she watched Pete stuff the prawn in his mouth. "You don't think she got upset because of something that happened with the X-Men, do you?"

Dana sort of knew that the X-Men might not have been the best fit for Juliet after seeing some of the assignments she had been involved in. To be honest, the folks with any sort of spy background often got shuffled into things that were not the best fit. The only ones who seemed to buck that trend were Pete, Kitty and Logan, but then again Logan was often used for much deadlier assignments anyway.

"We can find her after this silly thing is over and have a talk. Maybe you can get her back into MI-13 now that we're headed home? I'm sure you'd be able to use her talents just as well as SHIELD could. But if she is going to go that route, maybe we should step up the wedding date? I don't want her to be off on some field assignment and not be able to get home. And before you ask, I am fine with a JP in London. I don't need the church and the big dress. All I need is you."

 

[Jessie Grey]

Jessie smiled as Emma and Scott walked up "Hello mother, father." She said simply. It was a little confusing at times with all the different parents she had but she loved each and every one of them with all of her being. "I think Shaw feels everyone who was a part of this club whether past or present needed to be here but it's obvious not everyone was here......You know very well mother Shaw likes to make a show." She said as she felt someone else was watching her but she shook it off as nothing....

"Even in these strange circumstances I am happy to be with friends and family."