Welcome to Gaia! ::

Two years ago, in the 620 Universe, human and mutant relations seemed to be getting better on the planet Earth. That was until the horrifying events that occurred six months ago. One fateful night, after a long absence from the limelight, Magneto appeared above New York. Finally driven to insanity, he unleashed an attack on New York which killed 2.5 million innocent civilians both human and mutant.

The X-Men, Fantastic Four, Avengers, and any other hero in New York City fought Magneto and his Brotherhood back and stopped them from doing any more damage. This was not the end of the conflict. SHIELD, a United Nations sanctions organization, found Magneto and his Brotherhood to be a threat. When Magneto and his team fled to the Island of Genosha, SHIELD unleashed several Sentinels with a seek and destroy order. The citizens of Genosha would not allow for their leader to be destroyed. Five million mutants died in this conflict as Genosha was scorched and left for rubble. Magneto was presumed dead.

Despite Magneto being presumed dead, the human vs. mutant conflict was escalated to the highest peak. Mutants were hunted. Children were cornered.

It was time for the X-Men to act. For many years, the Xavier Institute served as a home and school for children and teenagers who desired to learn about their abilities and train to be X-Men. No longer. To look impartial, Charles Xavier stepped down as head master of his school and appointed two opposing mutants as headmasters: Scott Summers and Emma Frost.

The Xavier Institute (or "Academy X" as newer students call it) was now open to all students as a safe house. Even if students didn't want to become X-Men or even if they did not share the Xavier view, the Xavier Institute would protect and teach each student equally.

"Academy X" was now open to everybody.

Over time, those students who joined the Xavier Institute as a safe haven grew to learn their powers and skills. They fought on the front lines defending their lives from villains such as Sugar Man, Fitzroy, Mystique, Mr. Sinister, and the Hellfire Club... they took their blows and stood strong. No longer were they just students, but they were becoming something more... they were becoming X-Men.

Trouble doesn't find them. They find trouble.


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What to do in your character's first post:

All new characters will have been a student at the Xavier Institute for six months to a year. Because they have shown exceptional skill above their peers, they will be promoted from their student team to one of the Junior X-Men teams (this was assigned to you upon application approval.) The first post of the character would have them talking to either Scott Summers or Emma Frost about their promotion. Their dorm room would also be moved to the area where the Junior X-Men students are housed.

What is the difference between the Alpha and Omega teams:

Technically there is no difference between each team in the school; however, the Alphas are traditionally the "good guys" who believe in Xavier's ideals. The Omegas are traditionally more rogue/bad boys and fall more into their own ideals of how things should be done. This is not always the case, though. You don't HAVE to make your character take those views when on either of those teams.

Alpha wears a black uniform with blue detailing. Omega wears a black uniform with red detailing.

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Previous Story: XIV Eyes of Insanity

The Alpha and the Omega teams were deployed into Mutant Town weeks ago to keep an eye out for strange occurrences. In that amount of time they fought off a hoard of red, knuckle dragging demonic creatures that seemed hell bent on skinning mutants alive. They fought them off at a price--But learned a little more about the enemy.

The demons are coming from one dimension to Earth via temporal rips that are created with generators that hold the tear open. They are powered by a purple viscous fluid that has some kind of metal in it. If destroyed, the portal will try to take all evidence of the attack with it--Leaving behind only two crushed nearly unidentifiable canisters, and a spray of purple goo.

The local police investigated the Academy because some of the locals at Mutant Town ID'd some of the students. So far the police have nothing, other than a few skinned victims, and the Academy's address. Nothing that directly links them to the attacks.

Days after an epic battle with the demons, a group called the Marauders attacked the school--Intent on stealing the information obtained by the X-Men on the demons. They work for an unknown, but were taken down and sent with S.H.I.E.L.D. for incarceration and questioning. So far Sabertooth is the only one known to have escaped.

At the same time an intangible entity infiltrated the school and possessed several students. One of the students crashed the schools security, so the Marauders were able to waltz right in. At the same time, the student, possessed by the unknown entity made a copy of student and personnel files. It is unknown what became of the entity or the schools files.

During the attack-- Files from the schools server were copied twice. It is unknown if the two attacks, the Marauders, and the mysterious possessions are related incidents.

The school is in lock down--No student is able to leave campus, College or Highschool, without permission from Emma Frost or Scott Summers.

Previous Story: XV Demands

Catch Up: Belasco and the Shadow King have shown themselves to be the driving forces behind the attack of the Tanar'ra (Demons) on NY, and Academy X. Belasco is trapped in an alternate reality called Limbo-- He was sentenced there, supposedly permanently,by the Elder Gods that he displeased. He has crossed the X-Men before, and has battled Illyana Rasputin on many occasion. His plan has always revolved around two things, becoming more powerful, and taking over Earth of the 620 Universe.

He contracted the Shadow King to assist him in the blood sacrifices he would need, the skinned victims, that will allow him to merge Limbo and Earth-- Effectively destroying them both. He wishes to create a new world of which he is the supreme ruler. In return for his services, the Shadow King was promised the permanent body of Belasco's first born son. To do so will mean that he will sacrifice the infants soul to the ether of hell, and seal the Shadow King within the shell. The Shadow King will then serve as a general in the army that Belasco wishes to create of his own daughters and sons.

To create this army, Belasco has been kidnapping women from Earth, some of the strongest mutants, in an attempt to seduce or brainwash them. The unfortunate, or fortunate, problem is that most of them die from the grueling torture they endure before Belasco even attempts to seduce them.

In the last attack on NY, Belasco was given a taste of the power that the X-Men hold-- And unfortunately this was in the form of Solaris, the leader of the Omega's. He decided that she would be his next target, and ordered that Shadowking attack the Academy. The Academy was rocked and almost decimated by the fierce attack-- And Solaris was captured.

Forge, whom found a way into Limbo, seemingly without Belasco or Shadowking knowing-- Contacted Emma Frost to when he realized what had happened, and what Belasco was ultimately trying to do, End the World. He figured out some of the technology they used, and managed to open a portal to get the Alpha and Omega teams to Limbo.

We left off with our heroes waiting for the portal to arrive to take them to Limbo...

Omega’s: Onward to Limbo.

Forellen could see that her plan wasn’t too well received by some of the others around her. Honestly it was harmless to anyone who didn’t regenerate and she really didn’t have a whole lot of other options to exercise at this point and time. Time was simply not in their favor. If she had more time to work on the problem she could have come up with another solution but given the time and physical constraints placed on her this was the best option. She shrugged at the less than thrilled expression on some faces and frowned. ”It was the best solution I could come up with on such short notice. If I had more time to work on it then...” She trailed off with another shrug. She was not going to put herself in more danger then was necessary by having to get into close proximity to those demons. With the situation as it was and the lot of them splitting up it would be impossible for her to infect the demons encountered by all the groups out there. This plan was the simplest and easiest to pull off. Before she could get herself worked up over it Forellen shook her head to clear it and went back over by Kari to wait for Forge to get them into Limbo. Those who didn’t like it could just deal with it.

When the time came Forellen stepped into Limbo looking around as she arrived to take in the scenery. She heard Forge mention feeling disorientated and or nauseous. Honestly? Forellen felt just fine, no disorientation, nausea or anything else that would be considered negative. ”Is everyone alright?” She asked as people finished arriving and taking in the scenery. She could see one Alpha who was not handling the dimensional change very well. Poor girl Forellen thought as Molly walked away looking rather pale. She would probably be okay later on so Forellen took the advice and began to help set up camp. The time for action would come later right now was the time to prepare and get ready. Forellen selected a spot and set her bag down. It wouldn’t be comfortable but when you went into this situation you left the comforts of home behind. By now the make shift camp was buzzing with activity as the Alphas and Omegas along with the senior X-men set themselves up.

Now that they were here it was obvious that play time was over. The condition of Forges uniform was quiet testament that the climate here was defiantly on the unfriendly side. From here on in they would have to be careful as most likely the people here, as mentioned earlier, would want them dead. It seemed almost an impossible task but at this point and time failure was not an option. Forellen had to pull her thoughts from that track...if she thought too much into the situation she’d choke at some critical moment that no one could afford that. ”Anyone need help with anything?” She asked getting up and beginning to walk around the camp to see if anyone needed a hand with things.

Raine jumped slightly as she felt a rather large hand tap her on the back, inadvertently releasing a sparkle of electricity that rippled across her exposed skin. It wasn't painful, not even for the new guy, who would have just felt a slight tingle if he had not gotten his hand away in time. She turned to him, visibly relaxing as she realized it was someone on her own team, tossing her hair over her shoulder as he introduced himself as Jack or Legion. Before she really had a chance to respond to him, however, one of the Omegas came over to them, entering the conversation as well. It seemed that the two of them knew each other from before, though the attention turned to her once more.

"I'm Raine. Glitter when we're on missions. It's great to meet both of you," she said with a bright smile, reaching out and taking Christian's hand as he extended it. He seemed a little nervous like she had been, though she hoped that her smile was slightly reassuring. After all, she had been in his shoes and knew that there was no time to be going through internal dialogues where there are so many things to take into consideration.

"Try not to fret Christian. I'm sure you have nothing to be worried about," she said with a soft wink, turning as the portal was opened to Limbo, all the students and some of the senior X-Men moved through time and space to this new dimension. Raine looked at her surroundings, slightly in shock at the drastic differences in their surroundings. This place seemed more like a Hell than a Limbo, a scene fitting for the demons that had attacked the school in the middle of the night. Thankfully, her attention was turned from the scene as Forge appeared, seeming much more...paranoid than the last time she saw him. Bella stepped up and started calling out orders for the rest of them, instructing them to set up camp. She nodded in approval as some of the senior X-Men started setting up the more important areas of the camp. Turning to her two male companions, she tossed her hair over her shoulder.

"Either of you need a tent buddy?," she said with a soft laugh, breaking away from them and heading towards some of the large flats that they brought with them. It was good that they brought so many supplies, and the more people they had helping the quicker they could get their camp set up and start resting up for the battle that was going to come. Falling into line with some of the other students, she started pulling things off and moving them to the appropriate places. She might as well make herself useful.

"Dying is only shadowed by knowing how bad you failed..."



Stomach lurching as though she was being pulled through a straw, or downwards and forwards really, Shandra felt her knee and foot connect with solid ground. She'd bent her legs sometimes during the pull cause she just knew that they were going to have a strange landing just from feeling how it felt to move through the portal. And since it had come as a surprise as she'd been talking to Sophia...she'd mostly just reacted.

However, it wasn't that bad of a landing. And at least now she knew the sensation that "wizards" and "witches" must feel...

She stood back up as though it was the most natural thing to come out of that position, and to her it really was. Her eyes took in the surroundings. It was plain weird. Red, orange, it seemed their world had been inverted in paint and spewed back out with more damaged and hill like structures.

"Well...at least this time we got to keep our clothes..." Shandra spoke out with a humorous look towards Antonio who seemed to have landed not too far away. The next part was a whisper with something to try to lighten the clenching in her gut, "Trolls, snakes, dragons oh my..."

She looked up to see Bella already taking charge. And although the idea of squatting behind something was a little...unpleasant, it wasn't something that she hadn't expected or done before. After all...she'd camped a good portion of the time while she was on her own - she just usually made sure to hang around cities during the rainy or cold seasons. So the idea of it being abysmally cold...distracting her so her cloaking powers were rather hard to fall into...that was more disturbing.

At the end of Bella's little speech, Shandra found that at least one of their team knew their way around a camp. She was probably so rusty...but putting up tents wasn't the hardest thing ever. It was a place to start at least.

She'd worry about who she'd be in close confines with later.

Moving over quietly, Shandra choose the tent that was just a touch away from where Christian was dutifully working.

"I'll help," she spoke out towards him, almost a ghost of a voice cause it was more just a force of habit by this point to tell people what was going on.

After all living and working with a bunch of people was kind of like playing volleyball in middle school - if "got it" wasn't called, things tended to become a mess.

"...but at least with failure you can take revenge."

"There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man..." she whispered to herself. "It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone..." Maddy prattled off, not quite sure if she had even gotten the wording right. but no, this place seemed much worse than anything an early 1960s' director could synthesize. She considered taking Forge's suggestion of the bushes for a bit longer than a fleeting second before remembering herself.

Without any further comment, she obeyed the words of the Alpha leader --who was acting more like the leader of the whole group-- and went over to what was claimed to be the south side. How they knew any direction in this place was questionable what with the three suns. She grabbed one of the tents and simply started pulling out poles and such, half distracted by the environment around her. She thought that she had once had a computer wallpaper that looked like this.

Maddy wasn't quite sure what she was doing or who would be tenting with her, but neither of those questions were too much of a problem. The girl pushed out the tent tarp, pulling it a bit away from Shandra and Christian (who were right behind to her) and began awkwardly propping up the connected poles, struggling to keep them in the correct position. Sighing, she again wandered off in her mind, flickering her eyes around and absorbing everything around her. It was probably something that was to happen a lot. the worse change in scenery she had endured before was flying from a wintry Massachusetts to a vacation in Australia. But this was just completely macabre; everything around them surreal.

Limbo: Castille De Belasco

She delicately fastened on one of her earrings to her ears, and then the other, checking her reflection in the green glass mirror. The foundation powder that the Priestess Roc’el had brought her was satisfactory…But the berry stain for her lips was exquisite. The kohl around her eyes made the electric blue stand out with an eerie sense of perception. Pleased with the beauty she saw looking back at her, she stood up from the vanity, only then noticing the wood was engraved with skulls and demons. Something about this struck her as wrong, very very wrong… But a wave of nausea washed the feeling of wrongness away, and she wobbled on her feet—Feeling bile rise up her throat. She stiffened, hating feeling weak.

“Are you not well, Solis?”

Came a familiar voice to her side, and she had to smile, slightly—Despite her sudden increasing discomfort. He had always taken care of her… Especially after what the hume’s had done to her village… The X-Men had come from Earth and destroyed everything… She was alone in the world… Would be lost, if not for his guidance. Her stomach rolled again, and she gasped, as this time it was accompanied by a headache. She felt Belasco’s hand on her shoulder, and she turned to face him. “Perhaps I am a little under the weather today.”

“Let me help you.”, Belasco responded… Taking hold of her chin, letting him look into her eyes. Eye contact for direct manipulation was important. Especially for one as feisty as this… He could feel her railing on the inside of the false memories, wailing on them like a tigress. She would break through if he didn’t monitor her closely. He reinforced them, and watched as her pupils dilated. Good. “There. Is that better?”

Solis blinked and seemed a little disoriented, before nodding to his question…She really couldn’t recall why she’d felt so awful a few moments before. It must have been something fleeting… “Yes, it is.”, she drew back from the demon and inclined her head respectfully. “Thank you again, my Lord.”

Belasco gloated inwardly… So servile. He had warned her that she would learn to show him the proper respect… And he hadn’t been wrong. She wasn’t… Completely his. But she would be. He placed a hand on her golden head, and she looked up at him—Trustingly. Oh, that had been a nice touch… Belasco loved innocence. Loved to destroy it. An illusion or not... But he needed her willing to receive him. And willing she would be.

“Sleep.”

Her eyes closed, and he caught her as her kneed buckled.

A few more trials. A few more tests to see how strong the false memories were. They had to hold.

“And then… Then you’ll belong to me.”


**


There was a knock at the door and Belasco snarled as he put his new play thing down on the bed, before turning to answer the door. Phasing through it in a black and red cloud, he watched the servant back up-- Frightened. "Who are you to disturb me? I ordered that no one interrupt!"

"I-I.. My Lord-- There have been developments..."

"Speak faster, so I can kill you sooner."

"Please! My Lord, There has been a portal opened-- A rogue one. We didn't open it."

There was a sickening sound, before blood spattered the opposite wall.

Omega: Academy - Limbo Time

Kerrigan arrived with the rest of the group, some looking sicker from their transportation than others. Truth be told, she was a little nauseous, though she did not get sick like some of the others. It would not do for a leader to show signs of weakness like vomiting at a little inter-dimensional travel, now would it? Bella stepped up in her typical take charge way, telling everyone that it was time to set up camp. Kerrigan could not agree more, and she was glad to see almost everyone immediately start unloading the supplies they brought with them. If they all pitched in, it wouldn't take long at all. Kerrigan, however, had other plans for her time.

Moving towards Bella, the redhead looked eerily at home in their new environment. The glowing red trim of her suit seemed to meld with the overall red tint of their environment, her black suit hardened like their surroundings. Even if she didn't feel like she belonged, at least she looked the part. Within moments, the gap between the two team leaders had been closed, Kerrigan seeming more interested in their environment as she scanned the perimeter of their makeshift camp. Of course Forge wouldn't bring them into an area that was relatively unsafe, but someone needed to get a feel for the environment.

"Siren, I'm going to take Motega with me to have a look around the perimeter, see what kinds of cover we have. If you see Veritas, he might want to start of the other end of the camp and meet me somewhere in the middle."

Turning her attention to Carlos the redhead knew that she needed to keep an eye on him, while their combined expertise would help realize just how sage they should feel in this place. The last thing she wanted was for everyone to feel safer than they were -- even if that didn't seem to be a problem. Walking up to her fellow Omega, she drew one of the swords from it's sheath on her back, holding it steadily as she stood in front of him.

"Motega, would you come with me? I'm going to take a look around the perimeter," she said simply, a tone in her voice indicating that this was not so much a request as it was an order. She needed to have a little chat with him before they went on this crazy mission anyways, and there was no better time like the present to multitask.

Limbo: Camp

Isabella nodded her head in satisfaction as they teams got to work… There really wasn’t much time to waste. Shandra, Gideon, and perhaps a few others would be going out when the sun went down to investigate the enemy’s stronghold. The two of them were the best that she knew of at not being able to be seen or detected… One of their few advantages at the moment was the element of surprise, as cheesy as it sounded. The demons were stronger, faster, they regenerated… They were dangerous in their mass numbers.

But Belasco and the Shadow King were in leagues all their own.

Striding through the red grass, she paused only when Kerrigan approached her. She felt a mild bit of self reproach for ordering the Omega's around...But there really wasn't time to debate at this point. They'd already decided on the plan the night before.“Good idea… I know that a perimeter will get set up soon…But it can’t hurt to have a little extra caution.”, she trailed off, watching the girl walk away. She was worried for Carlos… But the days of him needing her, or coming to her were long over. She averted her eyes as Jean forcibly calmed Motega down… They needed to find Narcissa soon, and stop Belasco soon… For his sake.

She knew all about the demon inside of him. He’d killed her in an alternate future timeline. And this place was…Infused with darkness. Perhaps he should have been left at home… If the demon emerged… Isabella hid a shiver.

Things just kept getting better and better.

In her hand was the silver case that held the comm links that needed to be modified by Forge, and then redistributed to both teams. She could feel that sound waves and frequencies were different here, they flowed in different patterns—But led to the same effect.

Setting the silver briefcase on the table that Forge stood infront of, she tilted her head at the man—Having often looked towards him for guidance, it was strange to see him so nervous and disturbed. He looked exhausted… “I need your help calibrating the comms…After that… You really should try and get to sleep. Even if you need to ask Miss Grey for something… We have Molly, Colt, and Lillian—I’m sure we can figure out the rest that needs to be done.”

Forge looked and her, and then blinked, as if only then realizing what she had said. He looked a little sheepish and rubbed the back of his neck. “This place gets to you. I don’t think I can sleep without a horse tranq.”

“I can only imagine…”, Bella responded quietly, knowing that it took a big man—Or a smart one, to admit when something scared the hell out of him. Especially since he was years her senior. She gave him a half smile that he couldn’t return, but she knew that he appreciated her effort to keep things normal. He, teacher, she, student. It was a comfort zone thing—A familiar role.

“Well, let me see those comm’s… It’s going to take awhile.”

Bella nodded and unhooked the metal locks, before opening the case. They were all wrist comms, with the exception of a few for students who had specialized uniforms. They talked for a few more moments before she left him to his work, checking to see what else needed to be done. Tents were going up, the different stations were being set up… So far so good. Her exceptional hearing caught most of the conversation going on… She really didn’t have an opinion about opposite sex tent partners… Not this time. If there was any one of them that wanted pull a fast one in this place, they were really messed up.

It wasn’t like blood red grass and threats of being dismembered made for a good romantic evening. ‘Here honey, let me light that arrow for you so you can play Johnny Appleseed with that demon over there…’

Any one who even debated about getting lucky was far more twisted than she’d given them credit for.

She stood on the edge of the clearing-- Between the medical area and their make shift kitchen and closed her eyes. She was better than any early warning system...If she concentrated she could hear an any sneeze. So anything big, growling, and nasty coming in their direction wouldn't easily be missed.