Scene 1: The Back Room at Dukes

Dukes' is a regular hangout for the working class denizens of The Boroughs. It's small, dark, a little dank, a little smoky and overly warm most of the time, but something about the place makes it perfect for enjoying a cold beer at the end of the day. Fred Dukes, a rotund ex-boxer, owns the place and fancies himself a petty king of The Borough. Fred employs two bartenders, his buddy from high-school St.John Allerdyce and friendly rival from his boxing days, Dominikos Petrakis. Fred and Dominikos handle security while St.John is usually the friendly face and often the voice of reason.

There are a lot of things that keep the patrons of Dukes' coming back besides the cheap beer and spirits. There's a band called The Marauders that plays a regular gig, and a few other random groups or single artists. Allison Blaire once sang on the small stage before she hit it big. Comedians are few and far between in The Borough but they've all done their tight 5 at Dukes' in the past. The big draw is the monthly poker tournament. And that is what has drawn many here tonight.

Victor Creed, foreman at The Borough's Steel Mill. Twice divorced, father of two. He's a hard man to know, but harder on himself. Tonight he is doing his best to earn a little extra scratch to make rent. Hours at the mill have been cut recently. Being a leader, Victor took the hit right along with his workers so no one suffers more than another, not even the Captain.

Jamie Maddox runs Always There Express, The Borough's premier delivery service. Business is pretty good, but it could always be better. He's married to a Layla Miller-Maddox, and they have a son named Davey. He coaches Davey's little league team, and organizes a community garden. He is often heard saying, "Life would be easy if there were just a few more of me." Tonight he's just hanging with his friends and neighbors, enjoying a little freedom from responsibility.

Kurt Wagner works for Jamie Maddox at Always There Express. He's a delivery driver and very popular around town, and a lay-minister at the neighborhood church. Being here tonight was not Kurt's idea, his boss Jamie had invited him. Besides the book never said gambling specifically was a sin, as long as you didn't let it consume you. If he wins any money, he can always give it to charity.

Ilian Lovecraft attends classes at Borough Community College, Go Acorns, but she should probably be teaching, or maybe attending the more prestigious Xavier University uptown. Of course you need money to go there, cash works in a pinch, since scholarships never seem to manifest.

Remy LeBeau wasn't exactly welcome at Dukes' most days. He'd always been good at pool and darts...and cards. In the past he'd scammed a little to hard and called down the proprietors ire. Tonight he had to win it all and give Dukes a hefty kickback. He did it for a good cause though. Sharking was easier than holding down a real job.

Wanda Wilson, the local barfly used to have a decent job as an executive secretary for a VP at the Steel Mill. She was fired two months ago in the first round of non-union layoffs. Her pathetic severance had nearly dried up and she was starting to get desperate. This poker tournament wasn't going to save her, but it gave her time wit Victor. He was a good man, and a hard worker, If she could hook him, he would take care of her, right?

The last player at the table was a woman none of them knew well. She'd become something of a regular at Dukes in the past couple months, but she hadn't quite integrated herself very well. She came across as a moneyed individual. Someone born to privilege. Just not from around this part of The Borough. She dressed in weird crimson and black body suit. And while her purple hair wasn't anything to get worked up over, the little purple butterflies that seemed to flit around her head were distracting to say the least.

---

TAP!!!

Each of you feel tug in your brain. Suddenly you remember that none of that stuff about you is true. The names are right but the lives they described aren't true. You remember those lives, but they aren't your own. This place, The Borough, is not the world you remember. Looking around the room you see some familiar faces, but everything is off somehow.

In your head you hear a voice with a worldly, slightly British accent. It's coming from Betsy"I can explain...well...not everything...but most things. First, act like nothing is wrong, we don't want to start a panic. Just play poker. So. My name is Elizabeth Braddock. I'm speaking to you telepathically. Thank you Ilian for understanding. It's not important now as I only have a few moments before our captors notice." She peers around the room but no one seems to have noticed. "As you have probably realized this world is not out own. And by "our own" I mean none of us are from this world, and many of us do not share a world of origin. We have been plucked by some force from across the multi-verse and put here, given new lives. I don't know why, I don't know how. I only know I woke up thanks to the help of a man named Vance Astro, who has sense vanished. I hope he escaped somehow, but fear something worse has happened. We were trying out figure out what was happening and split up to more support. He did not return."

"What needs to happen now, is you need to follow me. There is a structure under The Borough that seems to be out of view of our captors. We can plan and strategize from there. You will also find personal items there that you may find useful. While we travel bee on the look out for these." An image slides into your minds from Betsy's. "These robots are somehow connected to what is going on. They seem to relay the signal that keeps us under control. No one seems to notice them unless they've been woken up. Vance said he had another ally, a man named Logan, who tried to fight one. It called in support and once enough machines were present, they fired a ray and Logan vanished."

"We need to do this casually. We can't all run out of here at once, but you should have access to your powers. You have access to the false memories you were implanted with. There is an alley near 3rd Avenue and Yancy Street. Down that alley is a door that will take us to the safe space. Don't try to fight the robots, it will only raise the alarm and make our escape more difficult. Just ignore them."

"Any quick questions before we go?"

"Y'know this's a lot to take in," Victor thinks in response, outwardly fidgiting with a stack of poker chips so as to appear normal. "Let's say we check out this alleyway. Is it safe to assume there's more evidence? Because right now, with you pokin' around in my skull, how do we know you ain't the source o' the false memories?"

"Your skepticism is understandable Captain America, and prude t perhaps, but yes you will have enough evidence to fill a lorry and some time to decide for yourself what you believe. But we have to move soon or we will all be captured and either put back under the spell or made to disappear like my Mr. Astro."

"@#$&!...@#$&! @#$&!" Ilian swears telepathically. Her cold blue eyes narrow over the fan of her cards, giving her poker face a slightly more menacing hint.

Victor chews his lip a bit, the oversized canine tooth noticable for a moment as he ponders what to do next. "Givin' ya the benefit of the doubt lady," he thinks, eyes narrowing to a menacing squint, "so God help ya if you're scammin' me... I don't much care for throwing a hand."

The man pushes all his chips into the center of the table. "Alright boys," he says aloud, a hint of a growl to his voice as his lips curl back into a smile that seems almost threatening, "let's cut the bullshit and get this game started off right... if y'ain't here t' win, get yer ass off the table. Go big, or go the #/<% home. Who's in?"

He does not expect to win with his trio of sevens. But if he loses it all right now, walking off from the table won't seem out of place. If he wins... well, he can cross that bridge when he gets there.

Remy makes a poker chip dance along the back of his knuckles from index to pinky and back again. He keeps his cards face down, not needing to look at them, the faces already memorized. Then he feels the tug in his head, the memories of another life fighting for space with the memories of his current life. It catches him off guard and the poker chip tumbles onto the table and rolls to the center where it falls over among the other chips in the betting pool.

"I, uh, meant to do that," he says. Then the voice starts.

When it's finished, he notices a few other bar patrons have also gone quiet, a far-away look in their eyes. Hearing the name 'Logan' also stirred something in him, a faint impression of a hairy short man with a grumpy attitude. Then it was gone. When asked if he had any questions, Gambit thinks Non.

He waves his hand in the air as if he's brushing away a fly and says, "I'm in. Let us see what you got." Gambit plans to be the last to leave, as he expects to be the winner.

Jamie was a very responsible gambler, even as he allowed himself an indulgence now and then. He was a good family man, storing up for a rainy day, hedging his funds, pretty much the same way he played poker, hedging his bets, taking only very small risks, usually satisfied with a good night's worth of gaming if he walked away just slightly more than he came with. Certainty was a hallmark in his life; after all, he had no one else to rely on to take care of his family.

The voice in his head and the sudden revelation shook him. "Deal me out of this round, I need a fresh one." Jamie got up to head to the bar counter. He couldn't trust himself to keep steady after Elizabeth spoke in his mind, not because of the shock of the message, which was disconcerting enough. What was nearly psychically overwhelming for him was the sensation that he wasn't alone, that there was more of him out there in the Boroughs. For the first time he felt somehow connected to other selves, other Jamies? He tried to steady his nerves with the bourbon that St John just served up to him, but he couldn't fight the feeling that he was now somehow incomplete, a fragment both physically as well as mentally. He kept quiet and wondered what he ought to do next.

Wanda froze with the cards in her hand, then held up a finger, as if to attract the attention of the other players.

"Excuse me, Do you mind if I google something on my phone? I need to know if, when you hear voices in your head, it's supposed to be schizophrenia or psychosis or something like that."

She started rummaging through her purse.

"Also, I need to look up how to play poker, really fast, because I just forgot. Pro tip: Five tequilas before playing cards might be too much."

She put the purse on the table, resting both hands on top of it and looks thoughtfully at the people around the table.

"I mean, I remember some things from the movies, like I'm supposed to bluff until one of you puts his cards down and gives up and then I put mine down and show him that my hand was worse than his, or something like that. Then I take the chips with both hands, with a smirk, but one of you accuses me of cheating, throws the table and we fight. I'm pretty sure that's how it works, but I'd appreciate if someone can confirm that for me."

Kurt puts down his hand of cards in disgust, looking around. He suddenly realizes that he's been wearing something on his belt loop, something he's never noticed--an image inducer, of a kind he's been familiar with for years, just that now, in this false life, he's been wearing it without noticing it.

He growls at the idea of having been a lay minister. What good had God ever done for him in the terrible world he's used to?

He looks around the bar now with new eyes, seeing everything that was previously hidden in shadows. There's Fred Dukes--the man who killed his wife, back in his own world. Was this the same Blob?

His distrustful eyes turn to Victor and Remy--at least these two he could trust. Or could he?

As for Madrox... his face and name were familiar. Too familiar.

And what about the others?

He sighs and stands up, shaking his head. Stealth is not something unfamiliar to him. He stretches and yawns.

"Sorry Jamie, time for me to turn in. Can someone tell... Fred... to close out my bar tab? I'm heading home to, ach, hit the hay as they put it."

At least his past memories had him down as a German immigrant, so his accent would not reveal him.

Out loud Betsy says "Don't worry Wanda, there won't be any fighting at this table. She smiles as she pushes her chips into the center of the table to match Creed and LeBeau. She looks in Nightcrawler's direction and mentally asks, "We will be seeing you later, elf?"

At the bar, St. John looks Madrox up and down. "You ok pally? Looking a little down for the first hand. Can't have been that bad."

From his spot at the end of the bar Fred Dukes looks over, "Just a reminder folks, walking away from the table too long forfeits you'se hands and the house settles your tab outa' your entrance fees. As in the chips won' be goin' to your fellow players. They come ta me!" He eyes the two men at the bar suspiciously.

Ilian takes a quick peek at her cards again. Hard to keep focus with all the yammering in her head. "Someone needs a one way trip to Limbo-land for this insult." She thinks so loud it nearly hurts. She sees the Red Queen, the queen of hearts, staring back at her from the trio of ladies in her hand and that damnable black Ace-hole after them. Memories of her time with Katlyn rushes into her mind from the imprisoned shadows they have been chained within. For how long? "No! @#$& it! Limbo is too easy for the likes of them that's done this. Their @#$&'n souls need pruning and I've got the perfect trimmer!"

Betsy reveals her hand.

Victor's Hand

Remy's Hand

Ilian's hand

Wanda's Hand

Victor wins with just a pair of 5s.

"Ohhh, you got my 10 Victor. Good game fellas. Sorry to cut and run, but I have some business that just became more pressing. Have fun. Betsy says as she gets up and heads to the door. She drops a 20 on the bar as she walks by.

"Sunnuva..." Victor seems stunned for a moment. I tossed my three of a kind to try and throw the hand... of all the crazy...

He starts to laugh, a genuine, hearty laugh. "Never woulda guessed in a million years, but I'm no fool -- I know how to cut while my luck is still holding. Gonna cash out and call it a night. Been a pleasure."

Still chuckling as he approaches the bar, he calls out to Fred. "Hey Dukes... a round for the table so there's no hard feelings, and a little somethin' for the house to show my appreciation!" He squares up with the bar, grabs his jacket and heads out into the night air.

Next stop... an alleyway off of Yancy Street.

"I lost, right?" Wanda asked.

She grabbed the edge of the table with both hands, as if she wanted to lift it up, but she sighed wearily and released it.

"I'm too drunk to throw the table and I love you all too much to fight with you."

Wanda rested one elbow on the table and her chin on the palm of her hand.

She looked seductively at Remy.

"Hey, Remy, honey. I'm in no condition to drive. Could you be a sweetheart and give me a ride home?"

Ilian stands and tosses back the consolation drink, before heading for the door. "Later." She calls over her shoulder. "I know when its not my night at the table and I have better things to do than lose."

Jamie looked back up at the bartender, "Nah all good, just realised my head's not in it tonight. Forget the game, happy to toss back a couple and call it a night." At least that was the story he was prepared to reveal to St John.

"I'll let Fred know you're heading off, Kurt." He nodded in reply to his fellow poker player. He was beginning to feel that the others were also not quite who they thought they were either.

Remy tosses his cards with a well-practiced flick, and they land in a perfectly spread fan revealing his sad hand. "Well, how 'bout dat? Lady luck be a fickle mistress." He looks at Wanda and gives a smirk. "Remy would if he could, mon cher, but Remy did not drive this fine evenin'. How 'bout I walk you home instead after one last hand?"

Wanda smiles with delight.

"Sounds good to me."

She kisses the tips of her fingers and blows a kiss to Remy.

"There goes luck."

Inside Dukes' (Cap, Gambit, Lady Deadpool)
"HEY?! Where's everybody goin'?" The fat man pushes through the gathered patrons to the table that is quickly being abandoned. He sees Victor raking in his pot and greedly starts snatching up Kurt and Jamie's chips in his big meaty hands. "Congrats Victor. Good hand there, convincing them all to go in like that. You're in for a good night at this rate." He hefts some of the poker chips into a pocket, then turns to Remy. "LeBeau, looks like you're a little light on chips now. That's gonna make your night a little...difficult isn't it? You didn't forget the situations did ya' Cajun?" His sneer is audible in his voice even if you don't look up at the man mountain.

---

Out on the street (Multiple Man, Nightcrawler, Imajica)
Outside, a different site greets the newly awakened heroes. The street is exactly how they remember it. There's plenty of traffic. People walking and talking on the sidewalk, cars honking and traveling up and down the street, for all the world it looks like a normal street in a large city.

What stands out though are the large red cylindrical robots. The same kind that Betsy showed you mental images of inside. There are seven in plain view. Three walking up the walls of buildings. Two on top of a bodega and a bank across the street from each other. The final two on the street, walking right beside and between the people. As the ones on the street approach a person, a green beam of light emanates from the lower apparatus and sweeps over them. The upper central eye whirs and clicks like a camera. Everyone else is seemingly oblivious to the presence of the robots, even stepping over or around their spindly legs unconsciously. After a few seconds of watching it's clear they are headed in the heroes direction.

Remy didn't think Dukes would be so brazen as to mention any back-door deals in front of everyone, but it wouldn't hurt to open the door and see if he trips trying to walk through it. With an expression of feigned innocence he says, "An' what situations those be, Mistah Dukes?"

"You see them too don't you?" Jamie whispered just loud enough for Kurt and Ilian to hear as they stood outside the pub, weighing their next course of action. "Split up and act normal." Jamie didn't hesitate to follow his own advice, and looked for the nearest row of parked cars to see if he could walked away and duck out of sight from the robots on the ground and on the rooftops.

Finding the best cover behind a van, Jamie focussed on something he knew he could innately do as long as he willed it to happen.

The next moment, a Jamie continued to walk along the street past the van as if he were taking a stroll home. That Jamie made sure he was in full view of the robots, while another Jamie still behind the van waited for the opportune moment to sneak away unnoticed to get off the street and into a quiet alley.

Victor hears the exchange all too well, before stepping closer to the big man and lowering his voice.

"I don't know what you two have been up to, and frankly I don't give a damn. But you got a packed house, an' the proprieter startin' a fight with a customer ain't gonna be a good look no matter how ya spin it. I ain't gotta dog in this, but maybe you save this for a... quieter time?"

Victor steps away, and grabs his jacket.

Inside Dukes' (Cap, Gambit, Lady Deadpool)
FIGHT! Who's startin' a fight?! he belows. Victor come on! You misunderstand ole' Fred. LeBeau and me is friends, ain't we Rem. It's just we had an agreement, a gentleman's agreement ya see, between friends. And I need my friend here to not forget 'is word, tha's all." Fred puts a huge meaty hand on Gambit's shoulder. He squeezes it making it quite uncomfortable.

As he zips up his jacket, Victor turns to Fred and smiles, pronounced canines in full view. "Can ya blame me? Ya had a hell of a career in the ring. Hate t'see anything damage what ya built here. Damned institution, it is."

Remy grins through the ache in his shoulder. "Ah, dat situation. Remy don' forget 'is word, doncha worry bout dat. But you be killin' da mood and nobody don' wanna be playin' cards presently. Now, if you don' mind, I be tryin' to play anotha hand b'fore all da money s'en aller." Remy indicates he's in for another round.

Outside the bar, Kurt makes his way carefully down the street, his eyes appearing casual and walking just as he did before, but then makes as if to stop in the alley right next to the bar to relieve himself. When he does so, he finds a patch of shadow to stand in... then reaches behind him to turn off the image inducer.

Immediately, he is crawling up the wall, blending seamlessly into the shadows... seeking to find his way to the alley pointed out by Betsy. Wherever this is going, he won't be treated like an animal to be sacrificed. Never again.

Ilian heads down the street, just as she has always done in fake-ass land after playing poker at Duke's, toward her fake-ass apartment.

Inside Dukes' (Cap, Gambit, Lady Deadpool)
Fred looks around the bar at Victor's words. He seems confused for a moment, but then snaps his expression to a mild grimace. "Listen pal, your top banana where you work. Don't be thinking you can come in here and tell me how to run my show, a'ight? I got this."

Turning to Remy, he tightens his grip on the Cajun's shoulder. "But you ain't got no more chips, swamp rat, how are you goin'na play another hand if you ain't got any chips, eh?"

---

Out on the street (Multiple Man, Nightcrawler, Imajica)
Ilian, Kurt, and both Jamie's are doing their best to clear out of the area, when they hear a commotion. The sound of metal tearing through metal, shrieking breaks, glass shattering and people screaming. Turning to look, the robot that had been observing from atop the bank has leapt down to the street, piercing the hood of a passing car and causing a three car pile-up. One of it's appendages has opened up becoming a claw. It has grabbed a well dressed blonde woman by the arm and lifted her off her feet.

The crowd does not seem to notice the robot or the woman, instead acting as if there was just a fender bender. The other machines in the area plow through the gathering throng with little regard, but no one notices as the are shoved out of the way. The woman screams in pain and fruitlessly kicks at the robot gabbing her. In response it whips her back and forth like a rag doll. You're sure her am should be broken, but instead her skin shreds away revealing a diamond form underneath.

At the revelation of a powered individual the lower apparatus of each robot begins to glow green. The bot holding the woman fires a sustained beam at her body. The light of the beam refracts in billions of directions as she struggles to break free. The bots on street level rise up over the crowd and fire their beams as well, adding to the scintillating array of the laser light show. The remaining two robots start making their way toward the commotion.

"Aww Fred, y'got me all wrong. I ain't tryin' t' run anything! I'm jus' sayin' that the entire burough loves this place -- it makes sense no one would want anything t'happen here. It's a good thing to have customers who want what's best fer yer joint!" And it was true... Duke's was the spot around here. Always had been. Although, now Victor finds himself wondering just why that is...

"As for Remy, he's got some freelance work to do for me. Talked to me about it the other day. I ain't surprised he tried making his money they easy way, but he still agreed to do some work at the shop to pay back debt. I admit, I didn't know it was you Fred, but I'm puttin two an' two together. I kinda need him able to work though. If you don't mind him bein' able to pay ya back, o'course."

"Ach," Kurt grumbles to himself as he reaches the roof of a nearby building, looking down on the chaos below, largely ignored by the passersby. "Diamond skin... hmph." The victim certainly seemed like she might be familiar to him.

Regardless, the robots were making their move. There was no time for hestiation.

With a BAMF and the smell of brimstone, Nightcrawler teleports himself towards the attack, his intent to grab the woman and teleport both of them away from these robots. Guess the idea of stealth was going out the window.

"Pardon, Herr Bot, we have someplace else to be," the elfish mutant says, tail lashing behind him.

Wanda frowns in disgust.

"Hey, I'm getting a "table throwing" vibe coming from over there and I don't like it. As the only one with a real job in this place…" She raises her hands. "…No offense, of course, I’ll take care of Remy. Let him play. Now, be a sweetheart and get me another tequila, Freddy sexy boy."

Ilian continues to mind her own business, especially upon seeing Kurt snatch Diamond Girl from the rays and jaws of death. She can't wait to get off the street and into her fake-life apartment.

Out on the street (Multiple Man, Nightcrawler, Imajica)


Nightcrawler appears next to the robot and the diamond woman who is now flailing about, punching and kicking, first at the robot then at her would be rescuer. Her attacks are a little wild, but not from lack of training...the robot holding her up is keeping her off balance. "Y'all better unhand me this instant!" Her strikes do significant damage to the machine's arm, but it does not falter. The machine's upper eye flits over to Kurt when he appears then whirs as it changes it's focus to encompass both creatures. An alarm starts to sound from the five robots in the immediate area.Meanwhile, Ilian continues to walk away, acting as though she doesn't see the commotion behind her, like all the other bystanders. As she passes an alley, she sees her motorcycle parked right where her captive self left it. She feels the keys in her pocket. She's home free if she really wants to leave. "I told you to ignore the machines Wagner!" A very angry Betsy Braddock shouts mentally into Nightcrawler's head.

The chaos continues to erupt around the street. The other captives are running away or toward the accident, and the robots, soon to be endangering themselves out of ignorance.

---

Inside Dukes' (Cap, Gambit, Lady Deadpool)
Just as things seem to be coming to a head inside the bar, a loud crashing sound, and screams filter in over noise and music of the bar. "It seems I misjudged Nightcrawler's ability to follow orders. You need to get out of there now. The block will be swarming with Sentinels any second now." Betsy's voice booms in your heads. Fred and the other patrons look around stunned unsure what to do.

"Let's go!"

Victor's call isn't loud, but it's firm and the intent is clear -- do what Betsy said. "Out the back, take the alleyway and let's make distance!"

Remy spreads his hands helplessly and smirks. "Guess we be finishin' our situation later." He gets up and offers a hand to Wanda. "And I do believe I still owe you dat escort." Remy then follows the commanding man outside the bar.

Ilian hops on her ride and starts it up. She ignores the alarms and guns it for her apartment. Once she arrives, she parks her motorcycle in the designated space in the garage an quickly goes up and enters her living space. Inside, she carefully looks around for signs of robots peeking in and possible hidden cameras and listening devices.

The Jamie duplicate that had been walking in full view of the robots began to walk slightly faster towards the commotion, where Kurt and the diamond woman was, to see if he needed to 'innocently' present himself as an obstacle or a distraction to the robots that were closing in. Jamie prime continued to walk in the shadows to put as much distance as possible between himself and the bar, leaving the entire scene behind.

Nightcrawler
The woman screams at Nightcrawler "Don'na touch me DEMON!" and she tries to twist away from his grasp, but he snatches her wrist at the last second...and immediately regrets it as his hand is shredded by her jagged diamond skin.

But his grasp is firm enough he is able to 'port away. The two vanish in a cloud of acrid sulfur smoke and hurl through the pocket dimension returning to The Borough two blocks away on top of a four story apartment building. The woman pulls away, staggers, and slumps to the ground unconscious. Her breathing is shallow but steady. Kurt has seen this before. She isn't used to teleporting in this fashion. The transitions between dimensions is often disorienting for the inexperienced. At least she won't resist anymore.

As he looks around he sees that a long way off several red machine bodies flying into the area he just left. Their green beams scan in all directions, but for the moment he is out of range. Searching his false memories, he orients himself and pinpoints the direction he needs to travel to get to Yancy Street.Multiple Man Duplicate on the street
More bots land on the rooves of buildings and start scanning the area. The bystanders are taking care of the issues. There doesn't seem to be a lot Jamie can do at this point.

Kurt takes a deep breath. He looks down at his blue hands, lacerations and blood from his encounter with the diamond skinned woman. Frowning, he regards her. Even among his own mutant kind, he's used to being on the receiving end of fear and prejudice.

"Ach, whether you or the Braddock woman like it or not, you are coming with me... and out of danger."

And with that, he picks her up, performing controlled 'porting to bamf his way to the meeting place.