| Clubbing and Beatings Don't Mix |
| Summary: | Jack, Courtney and Jean are at a club. Skrull bounty hunters are here too. Do the math. Afterward Jean and Courtney meet up to compare notes and make plans |
| Date: | 2014-08-30 |
| Related: | None |
| NPCs: | None |
| Scene Runner: | Stargirl |
| Social/Plot: | Plot |
| Players: |
 .. .. .. |
-==[ Aurora — East Village ]==--------—-
The club is composed of two public areas, the Lobby and the Dance Floor:
Lobby:
This section of the club has the most visible security. There is a bouncer outside, and one by the door that leads out onto the dance floor. A receptionist keeps vague tabs on the things that people were dumb enough to leave in the cloakroom. Neon in blue and white are not quite glaring, working quite well with the deep blue pile carpet and the grey and silver patterns painted on the midnight-blue walls. The lobby isn't very big, but it serves its purpose quite well: to prevent a large group from entering the dance floor en masse.
Dance Floor
This part of the club is the heart of the matter. It's all glitz and glamour, hearkening back to the neon-infested 80s, rather than the metallic-infested 70s. Everything about this area is sharp, bright, hyper-active. The whole area is done up in deep sapphire blues and shiny silvery and golden accents. The main pit is the dance floor, home to some frenetic individuals whose body parts are going to hurt them in the morning. At the far end of the floor is the raised stage, all kinds of lights and smoke devices present to illuminate and titillate the senses, including huge speakers to pump up the jam. At the near end of the floor is a score of tables, all round and fluid, their chairs mostly silver with blue seats and backs. The bar is sidled up right past the exit, so people just coming in can get themselves a hookup of booze before getting down to the dance floor. Overhead is a series of metal girders in the industrial look, all painted blue, silver, and gold to match the rest of the decor, giving the whole area a futuristic and trend-setting veneer.
Maybe it was part of his 'getting caught up' with the scene following prison and space, maybe its random happenstance. Jack Harrison (aka Flag) is here at the club, wearing jeans and a t-shirt, looking halfway decent and not ready for the beach. He's at the bar getting a drink, whatever well is the special so he at least is paying $10 or less instead of village club prices (which is close to the cost of just going and buying the bottle). He's not complaining at all, even if watching his budget. He would probably open up, but alcohol doesn't have full effect on him and it could literally cost an arm and a leg in a Manhattan club that is happening.
Taking that pricey drink, he turns and gives another person room to order as he takes in the club.
Jean Grey wanders in, dressed in a fashionable emerald green blouse and matching green miniskirt. The outfit she's wearing seems to sparkle a bit, as if there's some gold threads woven into the fabric to catch the light. She slips past the bouncer without any problems, smiling as she makes her way towards the bar first, her stride going in time with the music from the dance floor.
Once past the bouncers and through the door, easy feat for Courtney, she seems to be a regular here if the doormen greeting her by name was any indication, she makes a direct line to the dance floor. She doesn't need to be boozed up to hit the floor and get her groove on. She is dressed for clubbing, a blue mini dress with a singular strap over the shoulder and a reasonable pair of matching heels. It seems that she knows people here, as she is quickly greeted or greeting other dancers as she moves to the pulsing music.
One of those that knows her, Jack notices and watches as she mingles and greets those she knows, those she might not. Booze probably won't help him, 'hit' the floor, he's not gonna drink that much himself, but participating in the act socializing by virtue of drinking socially, he might feel he fits in just enough. Just off handedly, he says, "If only I could be that outoing … maybe I'll figure it all out someday." Its offhanded and probably partially lost in the music and directed right towards the woman approaching the bar. Whom Jack hasn't looked at until he finishes, then is lost in some sparkles and more quietly says, "Excuse me, sorry …" For just saying random thoughts most likely.
Jean Grey grins over at Jack, "Nothing to apologize about. I'd hope you weren't the only one looking." She laughs and leans against the bar, looking over towards the dance floor, noticing the blonde in blue with a smile, then looking back at the bartender, "Just a coke, with lime please."
Once her round of dancefloor greetings is complete Courtney meanders her way back to bar where Jack lingers with Jean. "Isn't this place great!" she says to the former loud enough to be heard over the music "We got lucky that King Mob is the DJ tonight. He really knows how to keep the groove going." she lean over the bar next to Jean and waves a hand "Randy, beer me!" with her order in the red head gets a grin "Nice outfit!" she says with sincerity.
Chuckling and shaking his head, Jack admits, "Oh, I'd stare all day, I meant about interrupting you," as in addressing her univited it would seem. Good thing Courtney is showing up and making him feel less awkward for having said sorry for doing that. "Ya, its jumping, I won't lie. I'm pondering going out and seeing if I can shake my thang." By the fact he's not moving, he's in no hurry. "It is a nice outfit, if you shake that thing, it'll put me to shame."
Jean Grey grins over at Courtney, "Thanks!" She glances between Courtney and Jack, as they clearly know each other. Taking a sip from her coke, she smiles, "Well, I feel the need to dance… would be a bit of a waste if I didn't, don't you think?"
"A total waste! I mean why come to a dance club to just stand around and watch?" Courtney replies as she nudges Jack with an elbow "I'm Courtney." she gestures to her friend "This is Jack." with beer in hand she begins to lead the way to the dance floor, dragging Jack by the elbow if she has too. Which may be a bit difficult if he resists as she is perfectly normal girl at the moment, no fancy power giving belt or anything.
The dance floor is packed with the usual suspects. Young women in slinky clothing and an equal number of young men trying to dance with them. Some of the men being more successful than others. The observant may notice a few odd balls in the crowd of both genders. Exactly what is off about these is hard to pinpoint. It could be the way they move, not quite to the beat of the music, or how unlike most of the crowd there enjoyment of the dancing or music seems forced or not there at all. Whatever it is they don't quite fit in.
Jack is in the category that wouldn't notice a difference, even if he was looking at any others. "Ya, complete waste," he is saying more about Jean and the outfit when he's suddenly included in wasting time by not dancing. He goes even if he could resist, his elbow is putty to Courtney's touch it would seem, he calls back, "Er, ya, Jack, a pleasure … don't be a menace …" He says, maybe going with the waste, hinting she should dance too, but then he's going with Courtney and not seeing the oddities about the dance floor.
Jean smiles, "Jean, and…" She looks about ready to say something else, but she notices the oddness, and stops. Instead, she concentrates, using her telepathy to just try a surface read of one of the strange individuals. Just to see if there's nothing more unusual going on here.
Courtney is oblivious to the oddness as much as Jack is, she may be in her element, but that could be why. She trusts the bouncers to do there job and keep the trouble making riff-raff out. Merging easily onto the dance floor she once more begins to move to the beat of the music. The other dancers prevent any fancy moves or footwork but it is easy to see that dancing is something she is good at. "Loosen up Jack." she grabs an arm and gives him a bit of a shake back and forth.
The other club goers don't notice either, or if they do they attribute it to either to much alcohol, drugs or the combination. For the most part they are pretty much ignored as if just part of the background. As the two GoG members hit the dance floor, they begin to move around more, trying to blend and move with the crowd, maybe getting into some kind of formation.
If the moving of the odd ones might get Jack's attention, its lost as Courtney begins to move. His eyes for her at the moment, and she shakes him. "Kay, loosen up," he shakes his head like getting ready to do warm ups for exercise even then tries to move a little. Its not bad, but he could really use some practice. He can find the beat, keep to it, but he's a little lunky in that regard. "If I stand next to you, do I look good by proxy?"
Jean blinks, "Um… Jack, is it?" She pauses, and looks at Jack, "You might be in trouble. Call it a hunch, but those people…" And she nods towards one of the odd people, "They seem to have it in for you. And not for looking good." She does some half-hearted dancing, which does look good… but her mind is focused on other things.
Courtney tries not to grimace at Jack stiff approach to dancing "We'll work on it!" as the oddities are pointed out by Jean her own dancing slows. She just doesn't want to turn and look around, that would give them away, but its certainly hard not to, "Wait!..What?" she looks at Jean though her eyes are darting about to look behind her to see if she can spot this weirdos.
There seems to be five of them total on the dance floor, if there are more in the bar area its hard to say. Either way they are starting to suspect that there anoyminity is coming to an end. There are a few hand signals between them, disguised they would hope to look like weird dance moves, but you would have to be stupid not to realize its a signal to move in fast. And that they do. Angry shouts come from dancers as the Alien Bounty Hunters (ABH from here out) begin to surround Jack and his two female dancing partners.
Blinking a moment, Jack looks at Courtney more directly as Jean indicates a few others after him. Could be Martuk, could be who knows, but he might be the sole target. "This could get ugly for the other people," the dancers, "Sorry," to both Jean and Courtney, "I'll buy some time." To at least figure things out. As they dancers shout and the ABH starts to surround, Jack lifts his hands like he won't go for a weapon even, not that he needs one. "Ya got me, ya got me, look we can settle this, how much do I owe?" If Courtney's watching though, his hands are balling into fists, he would start moving now, but he doesn't want to hurt any innocents and is, in part, curious if they might say what they want.
Jean hmmms, "Well, I suppose I should make a confession here… but first." She makes a small gesture towards one of the bounty hunters. Suddenly, he's picked up and lobbed into a nearby wall as she looks at the other two, specifically Jack, "Any reason these people would be after you?"
The angry shouts continue as the ABHs push and shove dancers out of the way to get to Jack. The DJ seems to notice and signals the bouncers but they get stopped on the way to the dance floor by more of the ABH. There were more in the bar area and these ones seem to have some kind of retractable taser rod which are used to subdue the bouncers quickly. It's enough to get the attention of the bar crowd who start to stampede toward the door.
On the dancefloor the ABHs pull laserguns, one firing up at the DJ booth, totally fraking the music system and causing King Mob to duck and cover. Shots fired do the expected, empty the dance floor.
One starts to speak as Jack seemingly surrenders. "Owe? We don't," his voice is raspy and harsh, like he isn't used to talking in this manner. Her clears his throat, "care what you owe who. But you are certainly worth enough to clear some debts of mine. Even after the split." he's about to continue, probably to go on about coming peacefully and what not, but its cut short as he is lifted by invisible hands and thrown across the room. The others take this in the hostile intent it was probably intended as and move if for the attack. Two go for Jack, each one making a grab for an arm. One goes to Stargirl, this one has a taser rod and the last faces down Jean.
Courtney isn't quite sure what he would be buying time for. She assumes for the innocent bystanders to get clear of what is about to go down "Hey, I knew what I was getting into when I signed up with you guys." she didn't realize that they would be crashing her favorite dancing spot though. She backs up a few steps, turning to take in the enemy and locations. This would happen when she doesn't have her cosmic belt. She guesses the staff will just have to do a moment of concentration and it appears in her hand. Jean's words have her glancing over. She is able to put two and two together so when the ABH goes flying at Jean's hand motion she grins, she doesnt answer the question though, not her story.
"Nothing legit, they're not Nova Corps," responds Jack, always forgetting that's not really a known thing on earth. Giving a half grin and nod to Courtney for her understanding before two are closing in on him. He did want the bystanders out of the way and the stampeded is as good as he can hope. If they're fast enough, they can help any that get trampled even. So he puts his arms down enough hoping the grapplers would take the bait - intending to bash them together at the same time. If one should miss, he'll double and use a hand to grab and continue with that thought. "That's a good deal, sounds like, we should turn me in Stargirl, make splits so I can clear up some of my intergalactic debt too."
Jean Grey blinks at the name dropping, and suddenly her voice is in both Jack and Courtney's heads, » Guess I'm not the only meta here. Good to know. Though I insist on a three-way split. « Jean, meanwhile, takes a combat stance as she looks at the alien mook coming towards her… then suddenly leaps into the air, and it seems like she's hovering for a moment, before her foot launches out in a kick, cracking the mook in the face. Telekinesis and Amazon training, the chocolate and peanut butter when alien bounty hunters break up your dance party.
The ABHs 1 & 2 are stronger and heavier than they look, not as strong as Jack no, but they aren't as easy to man handle as one would assume by first impressions. The arms holding Jack's form into long squid like tentacles that begin to wrap around his upper arms and torso as they get swung around like a teatherball. They oof as the crash into each other but it's not enough for them to let go.
ABH3, which gets Jean's foot in its face is knocked back, it's face looks all squished, almost cartoonish with a footprint in it, but after a moment it morphs back into its human shape. It fires its laser gun at Jean as it pulls its taser rod and snaps it open.
ABH4 that is going after Stargirl swings the Taser Rod at Stargirl, once, twice, multiple times.
The voice suddenly in her head is a bit distracting so she narrowly avoids getting hit by the taser rod, "I think that is something we can dicuss later. Maybe over the breakfast you're going to owe me after this." Stargirl tells Jack. Despite the lack of belt it seems she has had some training in staff fighting and the ABH isn't as good at swinging his weapon as he would like to think. They are pretty evenly matched, neither getting a hit on the other so far.
"Okay, breakfast it is," responds Jack openly to Courtney, as if he would of went a lot higher, but quickly takes the agreed upon price of the owing that she name. Not to pleased about the guys being tougher than they look, he also feels good he can let go a little probably, finally. "Three way split, over breakfast, I'll be the envy of Waffle House," or whichever overnighter they settle on, meaning him with two very good looking ladies at breakfast, he's coming out more on top of the bargaining, in his mind. The grapple he is in makes it hard to throw fists though, they have him too, before tentacles grow and they try to trip him up, he'll keep each on his arms and run high speed at the nearest wall that doesn't have other club denizens in front of him, trying to push them through, or knock them out, or both.
Jean then says, "Oh for…" She raises a shield in time to block the laser, wincing as it still manages to scorch the shoulder of her blouse, "Hey! I just paid for that!" She then glares at the bounty hunter shooting at her, and suddenly he flies into the wall as well with a very solid *THUD!*
The rest of the ABHs that are squidhugging Jack get even more tentacling trying to bind him up but Jack being the stronger of the three he manages to get his legs free enough to run and body slam one against the concrete wall. It's enough to stun that one and ABH1 fall free, giving Jack an arm to work with finally.
The one that was on Jean flies across the room and impacts against a stack of speakers and woofers. The sound equipment scatter like bowling pins, a few falling onto the ABH in the process, the last one KOing him.
Stargirl and the one she is fighting are still going at it. The clanging of metal on metal as their weapons impact against each other echoing through the room since there is no music now to cover the noise. "Ihop they have red, white and blue pancakes for Labor day weekend." its just a suggestion she throws out there while the fends of attacks.
One falling free, its still a bit of a tangle and Jack is trying to get some ground thanks to the one free arm, but partially falling over. Until IHOP and patriotic pancakes come into the picture, "What, for realz?" Like divine inspiration even he gets up and manages to punch one to start making it woozy, but it gives the other still on him an advantage to tentacle Jack's face. There is some smacking sounds and he is partially blinded, more embarassing than injurious, but still, he has a free arm. He stumbles a little blindly trying to take out one of the two AHB left on him. Grunting with face full of tentacles, he says to the AHB, "You guys still not gonna tell us who sent you." There is tentacle sucker smacking and some punching noises from his side, not too audible though over clanking and clinging of metals in Courtney's battle.
The ABHs that were in the bar have noticed that Jack isn't the easy target there were lead to beleive "We aren't getting paid enough for this $#*." one of them says, the others agree. Maybe they are just local hired hands to deal with things if they got messy, apparently there loyalty is more expensive than the true bounty hunters could afford. The beat a hasty retreat. And then there were two, just the one left on Jack and the one Stargirl is fighting.
"Your wanted poster is being circulated through nine separate sectors." the ABH replies between oofs and ughs as he is getting punched. He whips a tentacle out to try to get at the punching hand but it doesn't help that much "We were just the first to arrive." the ABH is looking like he is about to loose the battle with consciousness after all the blows he's been taking.
"Will. You. Just. Stop. Already." Stargirl says between clangs of the staffs. Finally she gets tired of the playing around and lifts the staff as it lifts her off the ground and up into the air out of the range of the ABH's own weapon. Why she didn't do that earlier is a mystery, but maybe it's the skirt thing. The staff twirls in her hands and beam of light shoots out, sending him hurling into the other set of speakers with the same effect as the others.
Close to the finishing punch, Jack shows restraint then. His fist close to the other face, "Fine, you'll be the first to spread word we ain't so easy to take. Whatever can brough you here, turn it around, hit every space dive you find on the way home, spread the word." Then he simply finger flicks the guys forehead for no real effect and turns to look around. Seeing Stargirl at least, he walks towards her, putting himself into order, probably with a few rips to his threads, but nothing major at least. "Did you see which way that Jean girl went? If she knew they were coming for me, she might of known something more about who they want." Like if Courtney has made it to part of the team, or if this group was only after him like Jean said even.
When Jack approaches she is making sure the DJ is okay and unharmed. "I think she went after the ones that fled." Courtney replies sounding out of breath as she makes a gesture to the door. Being breathless is not typical for her even after longer battles than this one "I guess we could wake up one of these guys and ask them?" she doesn't seem to relish that idea, but probably wouldn't debate it considering its good information to have.
"Nah, let them lie, they could as easily mislead us," responds Jack, moving for that door she was looking at. "You heard her right, in our minds, she might of done that to them too." Going to get the door pleasantly, the rush all but over and room to move now, "Don't know how easy it would be to find her, but maybe a better source? You good?" Not to say, you out of breath or anything, but she was in a wicked battle with the taser guy.
Courtney nods as she moves toward the exit, stopping to check on the unconscious bouncers on the way. The bouncers along with the DJ are out but will be fine and have a bit of a story to tell "Yeah," she gestures to her head "a bit distracting during a fight. Maybe put a missed connection ad in the paper." she jokes as she glances over at him, taking in the condition of his clothes and him in general, "I'm fine, just not used to fighting with the cosmic boost the belt gives me. You seem in peice.
"Unfortunate circumstance, despite my clothes, I could probably do that all day," work out, that is. Then Jack smiles, "I don't get the cool gizmos, the force fields or TK stuff Vance can do, but I got that I guess. One piece, we live to tell another tale ourselves. Despite the tatters, I think I'm still good for IHOP?" As they head out, he grins and pauses, "Missed connection - what about put out something on the internet, fake face book account, see if we get any hits - she might be savvvy to these interwebs like some of the other kids these days?"
"Yeah, but we can't fight off deadly viruses in a manner of days either." Courtney points out, then she nods "Red, white and blue pancakes. They are for real." she glances around as the hit the sidewalk. The line at the door is gone and police sirens can be heard in the near distance. They maybe coming this way, or to some other location in the area, hard to tell at this point "We'll have to take the C train to Fulton street. It's the quickest way unless I fly us." she facepalms "Really? More old man talk." she shakes her head as she heads to the subway entrance.
"You got me, we're both cool, I'll have to stick to real compliments from now on, like is that a new do, you make it look flattering, or damn, I could swim in your eyes for days," grins Jack on the nature of compliments and how he's been going with other ones. "Its fun, and a lot of the kids say the same thing to make fun of it all. More like, lets go fishing, see if she might bight." He could probably do all the fake account stuff himself and hit a few of the big twitter users or boards and post some things. "Good, pancakes sound great, I meant do I owe you more, cause I'm a sucker for hot girls, so you can totally take advantage of that fact."
"Oh gawd, no cheesy pick up lines please." Courtney says in an amused tone as she spits them out "Leave those to Vance." she shakes her head "Fishing? Where do you pick these things up?" she wonder if it could be some alien TV show that protrays humans as being this way "Pancakes are fine. Do I look like the kind of girl that would take advantage of someone like that?" okay that isn't a fair question, she totally looks like that, especially in her clubbing clothes, but she isn't
"Cheesy pick up and over-masculine use of demeaning pet names, sure, we'll leave that to Vance," says Jack, chuckling, spirits all in good mood despite learning they're wanted posters are being spread throughout neighboring sectors too now. "Look like that sort of girl, ya, you do," returns Jack, "But you are actually way cooler than that. I'm saying I'm a sucker for you Courtney - do I look like the dupe that would let some girl use him as her personal assistant?" Forgot that, maybe he does, he always has a smile on his face and is willing to help.
Despite the fact that Courtney knows that's exactly how she looks she still punches Jack in the arm in a playful fashion giving him a look of mock offense "Yeah, one person calling me pastry names is enough." his confession silences her for a moment as if she isn't sure what to say to that "Well don't be." she says after a few moments "I can take a no every once in awhile. And yes…kinda." she dances away in case he wants to retaliate for her punch in some way
"Jeese, fine then, I won't give you those extra Captain America cards I had," the WWII sort that Agent Coulson might have in his own collection. Jack raises a hand, but he wouldn't be the kind to punch back, he might have to plot another way to get back. "Really, a dupe, its the grin, right, makes me look like I'm not paying attention - I told my mom she should of let me get those braces too." Not really, but funny to push some blame that way. He makes note of the no once in a while, but doesn't press that at all, no need for any seriousness to creep in while on the way for some Patriotic Pancakes.
In Jack's mind he thinks, »Wish we could find that Jean more easily than fishing on the internet.«
"You could always sell them on e-bay and use those the proceed pay off your intergalactic debt." that's a much better option than turning Jack in for the bounty on his head. Courtney smiles, showing perfectly straight teeth "I had braces. They aren't as fun as they sound.
As Jack thinks about trying to contact Jean, a thought seems to echo back in his head, » 212-555-6010 «. Weird, when did he get a chance to get her number?
Holding up a hand to shield his eyes, jokingly, "And bright. Belts, braces and good toothpaste, you must of had everything growing up." More joking, and if there is a punch from that, he doesn't move - which is status quo for him it would seem. "No way, I can't just sell them, my babies need to have a good home, someone who would love and care for them, not some internet stalker who would sell them off for a turn of profit." And no getting into how much intergalactic debt he might have.
THen he stops, "Wait," he looks startled and pulls out a cell phone, dialing in the 212 number that popped in there curiously. He holds up the display so Courntey can see it too, "It just came to me … don't know who it is …"
The phone answers, and Jean's voice echoes through the speaker, "Hello, this is Jean… um, who is this?" Her voice sounds a bit curious, more than anything else, though she definitely doesn't sound surprised at the call.
Well except a father, but Courtney doesn't go there. No use being a downer and she doesn't seem to have daddy issues. She facepalms again and his vocal treatment of his trading cards. The phone coming out has her looking puzzled, until the voice on the other end introduces herself. She points to herself asking if she should talk or not, she does anyway "Hello. This is Courtney. One of the ones you helped kick alien butt with a little bit ago." she says at the phone
Becoming more phone conversational, Jack crosses his arms, one holding the phone between him and Courtney, his eyes roll up as if to help concentrate on phone conversing. No one knows if that stance ever works, but lots of people seem to do it. "And Jack, the other one you helped. Curious, if we could meet with you. We're curious about those aliens and you like talked in our heads, maybe you picked up something else … from them?" Hopefully she didn't pick up any of his under the surface thoughts, he is only curious about the aliens.
Jean laughs softly, "Of course, Jack, Courtney. I was hoping I'd hear from you. Where would you like to meet?" A pause, "You won't mind if I have changed into something a bit less… drafty?" Then there's another laugh, "Give me a location and I can be there."
"Really?" Courtney says into the phone, her tone suggesting her surprise that a total stranger would be hoping to hear from them. "Uhm, we are heading to the Ihop on Fulton street." she considers the question a moment "You can wear your barely theres for all I care, but I doubt they would be less drafty.
Not hangin up just yet, Jack takes his phone conversing eyes out of the sky to look at Courtney, "Barely theres - next you'll call 'em knickers or something, who's going with the old people speak now." Curious question, grinning, lost over the phone, "Er, ya Jean, sorry, IHOP, red-white and blue pancakes, ifyou want to coordinate the barely theres that is."
So, at the IHOP, Jean is already there, calmly sitting at a booth, two other menus sitting on the opposite side of the booth from her. She has no miniskirt now, wearing a comfy looking and far more modest outfit as she waits patiently. When the other two arrive, she smiles and waves a bit.
There was been no time to change for the other two heros, Courtney is still in her clubbing duds and she nods at Jack as he goes to clean himself up after having to duke it out with what turned out to be to squid like aliens "Hello again." the young woman greets as she sits across from Jean "Thanks for the assist back there. You have some impressive moves."
Jean grins, "Comes from studying with Amazons. You learn to hold your own very fast, Courtney." She tilts her head, "I didn't have too much of a chance to interrogate the aliens… frankly, their thought processes were, well, too alien for me to really decipher that easily. It would just take a bit of time."
The explanation doesn't even get a eye blink, it might have before she meet her current team mates, but not anymore "That's what we were afraid off…or well Jack was mostly." she sighs as she picks up a menu and looks it over "Guess we will have to find out what we need the old fashioned way."
Jean nods, "It was definitely after /him/ in particular, that much I could pick up." She hmms, "By the way, I don't think we were 'formally' introduced." She offers her hand, "Marvel Girl, currently in the Justice League, at your service."
"Oh yeah." Courtney nods, she doesn't seem all that surprised by that "Him and his friend Vance are wanted out there." she gestures upward "In space." there clarification if the gesture wasn't enough "Some skrull lady wants to take over this planet and seems to think it will be easier with Jack and Vance out of the way." the offered hand is taken "Courtney." she seems to recall that her own codename was said but doesn't repeat it, no telling who could be listening nearby and she is kinda protective about her ID "Justice League?!" that brings her to attention "We were just talking about you guys earlier. Trying to figure out how to get in touch with you all to warn you there is this Lobo guy wanting to come to Earth for a visit. From what I have heard and seen he is bad news.
Jean blinks, "We seem to be getting a whole lot of attention from space lately." She frowns a little, "Skrull lady? Guessing that's an alien of some kind, and Vance… well, okay, Jack I've met. Who's Vance? And I get the feeling I'm starting in the middle instead of the beginning."
Courtney waves at a waitress and signals her for coffee. Sure its really late…or really early depending on your POV, but after the battle they just had she won't be sleeping anytime soon "Yes. There is a lot of them out there, Skrull, Kree, Shi'ar to name a few." she chuckles when Vance is asked about "He's an astronaut from the '70's. Got lost in space and meet up with this group calling themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy. Jack got caught it there somewhere." she nods in understanding "I know the feeling. I only met them a month and a half ago and I am still playing catchup.
Jean blinks, "We seem to be getting a whole lot of attention from space lately." She frowns a little, "Skrull lady? Guessing that's an alien of some kind, and Vance… well, okay, Jack I've met. Who's Vance? And I get the feeling I'm starting in the middle instead of the beginning."
Courtney waves at a waitress and signals her for coffee. Sure its really late…or really early depending on your POV, but after the battle they just had she won't be sleeping anytime soon "Yes. There is a lot of them out there, Skrull, Kree, Shi'ar to name a few." she chuckles when Vance is asked about "He's an astronaut from the '70's. Got lost in space and meet up with this group calling themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy. Jack got caught it there somewhere." she nods in understanding "I know the feeling. I only met them a month and a half ago and I am still playing catchup.</Repose>
Jean Grey smiles wryly, "Well, I was dating a space cop for a while, but that didn't quite work out with his job." She shrugs, "He didn't really fill me in on too much, save that there's a lot going on out there." A pause, then she looks at Courtney, "So, who's this Lobo guy, exactly?"
Her eyebrows arch upward "Really? Lantern or Nova Corps?" those are the only two groups that Courtney knows would qualify "Yeah, dating anyone whose job was to leave the planet regularly wouldn't be easy. That whole long distance relationship thing." she thanks the waitress as coffee is poured "I only met him once. He's big, blue and seems to be familiar with Superman. Not sure how that is seeing as how Superman hasn't been around for decades. From what Jack says though he could probably hold his on against Power Woman." she pauses a moment to think if that is all "Oh and he brings new meaning to the word debauchery.
Jean grins, "Lantern. He was assigned from Earth, also a grad student whereas I'm only a soph… well, junior now." She shrugs, "But yeah, the long distance thing just got to be too rough, so we had an amicable split." She frowns at the description of Lobo, "Okay, that just sounds like definite trouble. Is there a reason /why/ he's coming here, since it seems a bit out of the way for just fun." She pauses, "Because, well, we've heard that there's a possible invasion force coming in as well. Not related to what you've said so far, I /think/."
"Yeah, I couldn't imagine dating a space jockey." though apparently she has no problems being on a team with them…which could be her reasoning. She sees what they get up to. "He didn't say. Change of scenery most likely. We were looking for info on why this Skrull lady wants Jack and Vance and in exchange we had to agree to find him a place to crash here while he visited." she isn't pleased with the agreement, but it was a means to an end.
Jean nods, "Alright, well… long as there isn't too much damage, well, I'll alert the League, but that can just be put on the backburner." She smiles a little, looking thoughtful, "Okay, and Skrulls are the shapeshifters that were at the club, then?"
Courtney takes a sip of her coffee after dousing it with cream and sugar "Lobo is a minor inconvenience compared to these invasions coming in. Is the one you are dealing with related to this Mongo space guy?" seems there aren't much in the way of secrets in the Guardians. "Yes, those were skrulls, at least the ones on the dance floor." the ones in the bar that took of the bouncers were local humans, but that was obvious "They are shapeshifters.
Jean nods, "Yes, that's the one we're looking at, someone calling themselves Ming or something. I guess he likes vases." She sips from her cocoa, not going for coffee at this hour as she looks thoughtful, "Wait, invasions /plural/? There's more than just Mongo?" She looks sharply at Courtney, "I think we need to compare notes, more than what we're doing right now."
The joke pulls a chuckle out of Courtney but it is short lived considering the seriousness of the conversation "Yes, once the lockdown on planet earth was lifted it became open season on planet earth. Most get stopped by the Lanterns or Nova Corp before they even reach this sector of the galaxy. This Ming person and the Lady Martuk of the Skrulls is the only real threat. And the skrulls not so much as long as the Guardians have anything to say about it.
Jean nods, "Okay, so for now we'll focus on Mongo. It sounds like that's the main threat." She pauses, "Do you know anything about something called Operation Rebirth?"
"Good plan." Courtney agrees with that one "If the skrull situation gets more serious we'll let you know." she reaches under the table to pull of her heels and side-sits in the booth "I've never heard of it. Sounds painful.
Jean hmms, "It's something we've been following up on. Apparently a group is abducting young metahumans and brainwashing them into being soldiers to fight off Mongo, and other things. Though I suspect less than altruistic motives, with their methods."
Courtney hmmmms "If that's the case you aren't the only one that knows about this Mongo invasion." a bit obvious but it leads to her other questions, "How long as that been happening? And how much longer did they know about it?"
Jean shakes her head, "That, I'm not entirely sure of. We've been trying to get to the bottom of this for quite a while. But it seems likely they've known about this for a while. Or are using the invasion as justification for what they've already been doing."
"I would think that if some group knew of an invasion force they would tell someone instead of trying to build their own army." Courtney reasons as she taps a finger on the lip of her coffee mug "Sounds like a cover-up to me. A convenient excuse for doing awful things.
Jean nods, "Exactly. I think they're up to something much worse, but using this as cover. But if you do hear anything about it, well, let me know, please? I've got quite a few things going to try and track these people down."
After being in space and seeing some of the things that go on there Courtney can very well imagine what worse could be "Sure, though that seems more up SHIELD's alley than ours, but if I hear anything I'll give you a call. "We, my team and your team, should get togther soon and just lay it all out there. Our goals are pretty much the same. Protect earth, just are methods are quite a bit different.
Jean nods, "Definitely, we should get some coordination working, just so we can best deal with what's out there." She smiles at Courtney, "And I wouldn't mind actually clubbing that was not interrupted by alien bounty hunters either." Her eyes twinkle a bit, as she still seems amused by that.
Courtney rests her elbows on the table and puts her face in her hands "I'm never going to be allowed in Aurora again." she says her hands muffling her words "That was one of my favorite places to go dancing." she sighs as her hands drop "And since King Mob," the DJ "is going to have to get a whole new sound setup the place will be closed for at least a week.
Jean gets a devilish look, "Well, if you go with me, I can disguise us long enough so we can get inside." She smiles wryly, "Besides, they were /really/ after Jack, not us."
"Or we just go to one of my other favorite spots, Output is great too." Courtney's eyebrows raise again "So you are saying a girls night?" she gets an OMG expression "That would be so great. I haven't had one of those since college." which really wasn't that long ago but long enough for her to want one badly "I mean I like hanging out with Jack and Vance," mostly Jack really at this point "but they are guys.
Jean grins, "I am totally up for a girl's night out. I just moved to New York, so I'm still feeling my way around. It'd be nice to go out and be social." She seems to give Courtney a knowing look, "So, you and Jack…" She trails off, but it doesn't take a telepath to see the hidden question there.
"Lots to feel here." Courtney says suggestively as she gives an eyebrow waggle "Oh I know all the great night spots to hit around here and across the river. You couldn't ask for a better guide." the unasked question gets a shake of her head "Just friends. I think he would like more," she doesn't seem totally comfortable with that, "but I don't see that happening.
Jean nods, "Ah, well, I wasn't looking… I mean, he is nice to look at, but the last thing I need is another long-distance relationship." She grins and winks at the eyebrow waggling, "Hey, I work at the Themiscyrian Embassy, just so you know."
She nods "I can't argue about his looks. And since we are team mates it wouldn't necessarily be a long distance thing, but I'm just not up for that kind of anchor. This girl flies solo." Courtney nearly giggles, but that would be a bit childish "Plenty of eye candy there I'm sure.
Jean laughs, "Yeah, I don't know… Kyle and I were really close, but it's just… the long distance thing. And now it's weird being single again." She shrugs a little, "But I'm pretty sure something will come up, if I just keep my mind open, which isn't /too/ hard."
"How long ago did you two split up?" Courtney asks curiously as she leans foward with elbows on the table "Can't be long if its still weird." a bit of a chuckles comes out "You know if you are looking I know plenty of guys to pick from.
Jean hmms, "It was about a month ago, just been busy with the new semester and transferring to Empire State that I hadn't thought too much about it. That plus the other stuff keeps me pretty busy, so." She chuckles, "I'm honestly not sure if I'm looking yet or not, my life is pretty swamped so it's hard to find time."
Courtney sips her coffee as she ponders a moment "Yeah, I graduated college just recently. I didn't have time for boyfriends then. Between, classes, cheerleading, gymnastics and heroing. But I certainly wanted one. Now that I have the time to actually spend with one, I'm thinking meh why bother.
Jean laughs, "Yeah, I understand that. It hasn't even been 'meh why bother' so much as 'no time for one'. Though there is this nice guy that bought me lunch on campus the other day…"
Courtney understands that completely, "I think the last time I've had an actual boyfriend was in high school." she's dated a bit here and there, but to long term commitments "I'm sure if you really wanted to you could make the time. What's that guys story?"
Jean hmms, "Well, he's a chemistry student, and I think the best word to describe him would be 'adorkable'." She laughs, "I mean, he's really geeky, but he's nice, and fun to be with." She gives Courtney a wry look, "Really, a nice guy is hard to find out there, and I have a few advantages on looking I suppose." Though, it makes sense that a telepath would want to be with really nice/good people, keeps the mental clutter under control.
"Nothing wrong with the smart guys. They will be running the world one day, or advising the idiots that run the world…whichever." Courtney is pretty sure it is the latter option "Are you trying to tell me something?" she really isn't sure if Jean is just making an observation or suggesting she should be more open to a relationship.
Jean laughs, "Actually, no, not really. If you're happy not being in a relationship, then you should be fine without." She smiles a bit, "I guess being a telepath, and my background being the way it is… I just like having someone I can share things with."
There is a bit of a sigh from her. Relationship advice is probably not something Courtney has been looking for. "Don't have to have a boyfriend for that, any good friend will do really." she is assuming that Jean means normal stuff type of sharing and not behind closed door things.
Jean grins wryly, "Oh, I know, and I do have quite a few close friends." She doesn't elaborate much, though she does look wryly at Courtney, "I guess the question at the end of the day is, what do you want? Because I would really like to have a girl's night out, if you're still game for it."
Courtney probably can't nod her head any harder, though she only does it a few times "I'm always game for a girls night. I don't have much in the way of girls at the moment. Not since we all graduated and they got jobs and fiancees/husbands and stuffs," none of which she has, "but I have plenty of nights and party in me.
Jean smiles, "Sounds good to me. And I'll make sure you're on my invite list for… well, I turn 21 in a month." She makes a face, "And no I don't drink in clubs I just slip in so I can dance, but /anyway/, I'm thinking of possibly getting transportation to Vegas for that weekend." A group of young metas in Vegas? What could POSSIBLY go wrong?
Courtney grins in return "Than you are a much better person than me. Because I was slipping into clubs to drink…and dance. Mostly dance, but I occasionally let cute guy buy be a beverage." her mind practically screams, Vegas! Why didn't I ever think of going to Vegas!!, she acts all nonchalant though "Oh Vegas would be cool. Plane tickets are cheap too." not that she needs to plane to fly there.
Jean laughs, "I think we can probably get around the plane… though I'm going to talk to some friends and see what we can manage. I'm pretty sure transportation will /not/ be a problem."
"It usually isn't for me. But I can fly and have access to a spaceship." the latter of which Courtney is slowing learning how to fly. And no matter how many times they tell you it isn't like a video game "If you ever want to have a girl's night on an alien planet let me know." they may end up temporairly on some prison planet afterward but it is bound to be fun.
Jean grins, "Really? A spaceship? Now /that/ would be fun to fly." She nods at Courtney, "I actually have a full pilot's license, too. And I wouldn't mind going offworld to have some fun. Definitely would be interesting."
Courtney nods "Oh yeah. It's not much and kinda small, but it's spaceworthy." there is another near giggle "I'm pretty sure that Vance uses it to pick up girls. You know, like that character in Hitchhiker's guide." she snaps a few times trying to remember the name "Zaphod..the president guy.
Jean nods, "Zaphod Beeblebrox, yeah." She grins, "That's what I want for my 21st birthday, a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster."
"I'm sure we can find one in Vegas somewhere. With all those themed bars and restaurants there is bound to be one that serves an approximation." Courtney says with amusement "I've never seen one served in a bar in any of the planets I've been to. But I really haven't been to that many, so who knows.
Jean looks a bit envious, "More than me, that's for sure. We'll definitely need to take your spaceship for a spin. It sounds like that would just be incredibly fun." A cheerful grin, at that.
"My spaceship, I like that, but don't ever say that in front of Jack or Vance I would never live it down." Courtney seems to come to a realization then, "Oh god, Vance!" her feet suddenly hit the floor "If those skrulls were after Jack tonight, there could have been another group that went after Vance. It was great meeting you and chatting, but I've got to go check on Vance." grabbing her shoes "I'll call you." up she goes yelling down the hall where Jack disappeared too and is probably telling some good old days story to a drunk guy "Gotta go Jack!" she wastes no time in waiting, he can catch up.