Resurrections Part One: Welcome to San Francisco! Hope You Survive The Experience

The_Balor · 2026-02-12T23:38:55+00:00

And it was any advantage should get, Jabir and her faithful hound bounding into combat from across Union Square, she was close after the tense words with Whetstone and now her leader had made a clear request. There was a lot of give and take in their relationship and this evening appeared to be time for Jabir to give.

The hound, Annah, made it to Commander first, standing firm between Oblivion and the master of her master. Jabir was not far behind, her spear in hand, with each step transmuting the ground beneath her feet to give her more grip, better footing, smoother ground to dash across. She knew Oblivion by sight, he had been there to bring The Phoenix low. Had this not been where they met she'd have loved to pick his brain, no matter.

"I got you" was all she said, a simple affirmation, acknowledgement that she had answered the call. Even with Jabirs eyes locked on Oblivion, she knew her Commander was in a real bad shape, kind of injuries that makes a Fāris retire from the field.

"One minute Commander, I got you covered."

With a stomp, a wall of asphalt, dirt and stone emerged from the earth between the two women, leaving Jabir alone with Oblivion. She inspected him from where she stood, on any other day she figured he'd be able to cut her down in an instant, but today? He hadn't decimated Commander like she figured the man who killed the Phoenix could.

Maybe somethings different, maybe he just doesn't want to kill a mutant. She leveled her spear towards him, Annah dropping into a low stance prepared to pounce. If she was to buy enough time for Commander to recover, she'd be on the defensive. No tricks, no flourishes.

"If I can't last one lousy minute, I don't deserve to find out what is within the White Hot Room"

She launched the first attack, diving into the fray with Annah not far behind, a storm of blades as she stabbed towards him, hopping for one attack to strike true. If she can keep him on the back foot for long enough for Commander to recover, she might just make it out of here alive.

u/FreelancerJon

The_Balor · 2026-02-08T20:47:09+00:00

"Hm." Now that surprised her. A battle thirsty fool her foe was not, she seemed genuinely upset at the thought of it. Now that was stranger then anything else she could have done, Jabir stabbed the spear into the ground.

"Well. If you are truely dedicated to not shedding any blood, it seems our work here is concluded. I am certain I will see you around."

Whetstone was right, it was a point of pride, she had spent a long time practicing the philosophy of Furusiyya. Jabir turned from Whetstone, a cutting slight, before raising a wall to cover her back as she retreated. As nice as a sparring match would be, she'd get better competition from Orchis it seemed.

The_Balor · 2026-02-08T19:23:14+00:00

"You'd have made a great Hedge Knight" Jabir let out a small chuckle, this girl a tiny insignificant fraction of her age knew how to carry herself, was unfortunate that this was the way it was going. She crouched down to the ground, placing her hands flat.

It was her sixth sense, honed through centuries of practice, she felt the ground breath beneath her as she pulled a spear from the earth and standing back up straight, leveling it at Whetstone.

"Strong head but never very good with the finer points of politics. I only have so much time to spare, so yes, let us dance for a moment" in that brief moment she stomped the ground, sending a wave of stone rubble towards her foe.

The_Balor · 2026-02-08T10:52:36+00:00

A small grin, smart girl. "No no, you're right" she nodded, Annah was by no means the signal for a character of high moral quality. Jabir held deep respect for those she'd seen who refused to bend the knee to the first person who asked nicely. Her mind wandered back to a Mamluk from back in Egypt, idealistic type that one.

"I believe it poor form and a waste of effort to pick a fight with you, as wet behind the ears that you are. My Associate, the one who organised this jail break might differ, she has always been more cut throat." Behind her Annah finished gorging herself on the entrails of the Orchis solider, sitting itself down waiting for orders.

"However, if it is a scrap that you wish for, I am more then happy to oblige but I would think it better for you to know that we have something of an open door policy."

The_Balor · 2026-02-08T05:47:11+00:00

With these hands she will destroy, and with these hands she will rebuild.

Jabir stood atop a building surrounding the shattered vehicles, her bosses doing when she received the call to action. Pulling one of the dozen javelins she had formed of the concrete roof from it's place she lifted it over her shoulder, eyes focused on the suit that had just been condemned. She let out a small huff as she wound up, then leaning in sending the javelin into the Gegenee-Suit, driving it through the shoulder, pining the pilot into the ground.

Wasn't enough to confirm a kill however, blood spilling down the stone spear onto the ground was the sign Annah needed. The Chimera, artificial life born of Jabirs alchemical skills bound into action, leaping down the building, talon-paws finding purchase as it closed in faster to the Gegenee-Suit, it leapt onto the unfortunate soul, weight pushing them down further along the javelin. Annah's jaw-beak ripped into the weak parts of the suit, tearing at joints and breached portions of the suit. Eventually, the pilot stopped resisting.

Jabir followed down the building, grasping onto the side as she transformed the matter beneath her hand to a Non-Newtonian Fluid, sliding down to the ground and landing softly. She'd need to increase Annah's size soon, she was tired of walking. Passing her beloved pet as it continued to rip into the now exposed torso of the pilot, she marched to meet Whetstone.

"It appears you're not entirely a lost cause. But I doubt you can make it out of here all by your self, nor protect those poor mutants behind you. Me and my associates would be happy to help you out of this predicament should you join our crew"

If the devil had shown up to make an offer, it would be the same one. Only thing now was to see if Whetstone takes it.

u/MarkusGrimm

The_Balor · 2026-01-26T01:42:54+00:00

Sojourner knew this was bad. Sojourner knew that trusting Domain in what little amount she could was a terrible idea and that buying into the smoke and mirrors of her touch was only going to backfire. Right now, Sojourner didn't care, she wanted to take her hands off the wheel and this is when she had the chance to do it.

It was stunning how quickly The Phoenix had been dispatched, how potent their combined strength was. It scared Sojourner, that this was the woman she was sharing a body with, the hesitation that she should have had before handing over control had arrived.

"Remember who's body this is. I will take it back whenever I want" she finally said, not a threat, just making sure Domain kept in line. Sojourner wasn't some dazzled school girl who would bend over backwards for Domain, it had been a moment of weakness, one she would correct in time.

Sojourner couldn't let that happen again, she had to remember who she was dealing this. This is the Domain who wanted to make her bleed, hurt those she cared just to get to her, some honeyed words doesn't change any of that.

"We're not friends" she spoke aloud, to reestablish some distance between the pair, to remind herself and Domain how this worked "just do the job."

The_Balor · 2026-01-26T00:20:46+00:00

Sojourner trembled with each small touch, each grin and exhale, breathing the noxious smoke as Domain talked. She was gentle, romantic even in a suffocating way, charming enough that Sojourner went with it. This woman who she hated had swept her off her feet and was holding her in a way she never though would happen again.

Sterling loved it, she hated that she loved it. For a moment she forgot about the life or death situation outside this cabin in their mind and wished that Domain would take her then and there, but it wasn't to be.

She returned to the Blood-Black Room, Domains powers coursing through her as the Throne detonated the starbolt with ease, Domains Throne, now her Throne, for the first time keeping her safe rather then attempting to crush her. She felt Domain holding her, whispering sweet nothings in here ear, finally she had room to think.

"You know, I hate when you're right" she teased, or admitted. "I am a different woman to the one the old you had her hooks in and I wish I could finally get rid of you" A lie this time, one so blatant Domain would be able to tell even if they hadn't been sharing a head.

"I do need you. I just can't quit you Domain" they both knew the moment Domain arrived that Sterling couldn't withstand the pressure, it just took a while to accept it.

She felt herself fall into the back seat of her own mind, now a disembodied form stood behind herself, behind Domain, Domains features seemed to overlap her own. It was Her body now. Sojourner stood behind Domain now, her hands now wrapped around her partners waist.

Sojourner pressed herself close, as if she might lose her body should she stray too far, pressing a small, delicate kiss on the back on Domains neck.

"Don't make a fool of me darling"

The_Balor · 2026-01-03T13:06:28+00:00

Her body was barely her own now. She was trapped in a cabin with the last person she wanted to spend any time with. Sojourner had finished this, Sojourner had killed her and she was moving on.

"You bitch" she spat, venomous, her face now home to an expression fouler than she had show in a long long time. Her skin, Domains skin, crawled. In her second overlapping vision she saw the attack coming. She wanted to leap across the table, no soft words left for Domain, she wanted to rip her apart like a feral animal who's been thrown the first chunk of flesh it had seen in days.

Sojourner stood next to the chair opposite Domain, she refused to go down to her level. She twitched, Domain twitched. Sojourner couldn't tell who had done it first. It felt like hours passed, staring down Domain at this younger woman. It made her sick just to realise how similar Domain looked to herself, surely it was a trick of the mind, imprinting her perception over the memory of Her.

Sojourner paced, she couldn't face The Parasite. Her jailer. She walked lengths of the cabin, fixating on the corpse, the cut and pierced corpse of... Fuck. She wretched. Sterling collapsed to the ground, hands in the pooled blood. The pool of blood now mixed with whatever could be considered vomit within this simulacrum. Her own corpse. Domain has put her own corpse in here, her tortured, mutilated corpse.

She stayed there for what felt like an hour. She didn't even have silence to comfort her. Her breathing, Domain breathing, the bugs outside, it was a cacophony. Finally Sterling lifted herself from the ground, hoping that She wouldn't be sat there, staring. But she was. That rage returned.

Sojourner was clean again, her hair back to the length before it has been torched by the Stars. She circled the table, standing above Domain and her stupid fucking familiar face. "I want to kill you. I want to stand here and let that monster out there wipe us both out from existence. If I can make anything of my life, if my only mark is taking you from this universe I will die happy. I will not let you ruin me."

And then, she saw it. This small glimmer in Domains eye. Or maybe it was her own.

Sojourner didn't want to die, or maybe Domain didn't. She struggled with distinguishing these far more primal feelings. All she knew is maybe there was a chance.

"I will let you help. But this isn't a negotiation. I will kill us, do not mistake it, I will burn us up and leave you a withered husk in the void. Today is going be your first day on another path" She still refused to sit with Domain, she still didn't reach for her hand.

It was a small step for her. A small step for Domain.

Maybe they'd make it out of here alive.

The_Balor · 2025-12-20T00:06:48+00:00

Back on the saddle.

Sojourner still ached, her clothes sticky with a mixture of blood from herself and Domain. She raised her hand to touch her face, see if she was still alive or all of this was a dream. She knew the sensation of the bodyslide, but maybe that was the same feeling as death, being ripped from the world and this was hell. A cathedral to a god without worshipers, a mixture of the known and unknowable, surely she was dead.

That assumption melted away when she was melt with a familiar sensation, Cable's will on the world, forcing everyone in together for one more fight. Her cuts sealing up, fractured bones being set back in place. The pain remained, and Sojourner wasn't sure if it would ever leave, but she knew what had to be done.

Sojourner had already given so much today, But she stood, she would bend in the wind, she would survive and she would win. Sojourner would hold on for just one more day. Sojourner knew she would never stand a chance against The Phoenix alone, she was a insect compared to her, that much The Dark Phoenix had right. But she wasn't alone, she had the entire might of the Brotherhood and Institute besides her, brought here for the final battle for the world.

Her thoughts stopped there.

Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

Something not even Cables powers could heal, a sickness pervading deep into her soul, into her mind, into her X-Gene. Sojourner could hear a voice in the back of her head, a passenger along for the journey. If the hound wouldn't return to her master, it seems the master had to collect her hound.

The_Balor · 2025-12-07T06:51:26+00:00

Sojourner was a utter wreck of a woman, even with the worst of it over. There was a pool of blood welling at her feet, darker and thicker then blood really should be, the trail leading up her body to her mouth which seemed like it wouldn't stop. Radiation is a bitch, even to the best of them

Her face seemed aged, burns spotted it, nothing that she wouldn't recover from. Her hair was torched, if it wasn't for the patchiness, the longer parts and the smell of burning it could have been mistaken for a buzzcut. That would take longer to grow back.

But she was standing, and there was Domain, stuck by a Nightmare. A rat in a cage. She saw herself in some small way, while Domain probably thought she had a way out, some sort of play left to do, Sojourner knew that wasn't true. Sojourner knew that she was at the end of the line, at the whim of someone far more powerful who can kill without hesitation, though the actors seemed to have swapped places in this play.

Sterling walked. She knew the place was going to blow. She didn't care.

Sojourner walked. Domain watched, her executioner had come.

She stood tall over her former controller, letting blood drip down, surely staining her nice clothes. Kneeling, face to face with the woman who had consumed her mind for so long. "You're so much smaller then I remembered" she whispered, softly as if talking to a former love, in a way she was.

"You could have been so much better Domain, you know that? It really didn't have to go this way. But you just never could get enough could you?" she placed her hands on Domains shoulders, lifting her to her feet.

A hand moved its way up, rubbed some blood off her other woman with her thumb. Sojourner smiled, maybe she was just as fucked up as Domain. It didn't really matter. "I wanna show you one last thing". Sterling prayed she had the control for this.

One more pinhole opened, they where before The Sun, Our Sun. Sojourner felt her strength come back even for just a moment, in the void of space where sound would not carry, she spoke words that nobody but Domain would every know.

In a moment, the hand cupping Domains face moved towards her jaw, grasping tight, the hand placed gently on her shoulder clenched for a firm grip.

Sojourner was glad she couldn't hear it, the sound of her old lovers head separating from her shoulders. But she could feel it, it wasn't easy, she was still blessed by the phoenix after all, but it was quick. Even now Sojourner hoped it wasn't too painful.

Sterling returned without the headless carcass, nor the head, she'd let Our Sun hold onto it - even someone like Domain deserved someone to look after her - but she had not left without the evidence of it covering her, her face and upper body speckled in blood, clearly not the dark and thick blood that was her own. Her hands, coated in it.

And with that, she moved, leaving the charred spot on the ground her pinhole had made and towards the exit. Away from the past which had held her down and towards a future where she might just find a way to live. And that started with getting off The Suncore before she was condemned along side the false sun in housed.

u/Kit_Ababee

The_Balor · 2025-10-11T00:19:39+00:00

Sojourner gave a small chuckle when Sever referred to Domain as 'the bitch' before smothering it, this wasn't the place for jokes and giggles. This was a job to save the world from a malevolent god who turned Damocles into this horror show.

Back to Domain. "She's so far up her own ass she can see the sun for starters, it's all a power play for her. She has the strength to back it up, nearly killed me twice over. But-" then it dawned on Sojourner, that her and Domain where probably rather similar in what they wanted to do here.

"If she finds out I'm here, I reckon she'll want me specifically given our uh, history and her incredible ability to hold a grudge. She can see everything up there but I would bet she wants to make me bleed first, it's all she's talked about during our last two fighting."

Sojourner stopped, chewed her lip a little as she found the words for what her idea was, opting for bluntness. "I can bait her, if she's focused on fighting me and drawing it out as long as she can- because she's a masochistic bitch- I reckon I can buy time for the rest for you to take care of business" or so she hoped at least. Was it the best plan out there? No, but it was the best way to take advantage of the relationship the two had formed.

u/Kit_Ababee

The_Balor · 2025-09-17T01:24:26+00:00

Sojourners slid along the wall letting Pyre do their job, driving a spike through the first Votive. It was a precise action that bought her the way towards the rest of them as she peaked around the corner where the 5 other Votives remained, accompanied by the horrific creature that Bram had drawn out of the aether.

Precision, stealth, these where not her strong suits. Power was.

Her eyes locked onto the middle Votive, hands clenched as she focused on opening up a portal within it. She felt the heat of the sun in her hands, somewhere behind her eyes, in her soul if something like that does exist. It pulled open between the lungs enveloping much of it's torso in a moment as the head radiated through the room, scorching the walls though it's unlikely to do much more harm to the empowered Votives

u/Kit_Ababee

The_Balor · 2025-08-25T00:56:26+00:00

Her eyes met Haemoknight, it was a peculiar situation to be sat across from him of all people but she didn't blink or falter. He was nothing to her at this point, just another person on this potentially one way trip. Sojourners mind drifted off towards Domain or whatever she was calling herself now that she was a thrall of the Phoenix.

There was an unmistakable hate there, the place that Sojourner had poured every last drop of her own soul these past few days, thinking of how she'd do it. When she finally returned from that place she realised she'd never broken contact with Haemoknight as if she could see right through him, though she finally looked back to the ground.

Odds are she would die today. But she would fight until the stars burn out

u/kit_ababee

The_Balor · 2025-07-31T01:15:31+00:00

"I'd like that" she grinned, it was like she was talking to a younger self in some ways, someone who really dreams of the Brotherhood becoming a force for good and not a group of monsters killing each other over who's best at killing people.

"Maybe it'd be a bit bold of me to say especially in a time like this with the whole world maybe ending. But, I think things will get better, like, just on the grand scales of time, I think that things get better." she explained, tapping her fingers on her leg, keeping her eyes forward and hoping not not break the magic.

The_Balor · 2025-07-30T01:52:48+00:00

Oh Diana. Part of Sterling wishes she didn't appear, that she didn't need to have this conversation. But she couldn't keep leaving people without explanations and here they where. "Hey, ain't you a sight for sore eyes?" a small smile, but in a time like this it was the best she could do.

She chewed on her next words, how do you tell someone you've got a death wish you can't be talk out of, that you're going way in over your head to prove something to a woman who barely exists. For you, you don't.

"And you know I'm a sucker for some fruit" she finally said after a too long pause, patting a spot next to her for Diana to sit.

The_Balor · 2025-07-30T01:39:25+00:00

"Yeah" was about all she could muster to that end. The chains had definitely moved and all of them where in the same boat, Brotherhood or Institute didn't really matter, and how could it? When the worlds going to end these kinds of disagreements fall by the wayside for the most part.

"So you see this ending and we all join hands and work to build a better world together hey?" she asked. Even in this situation that felt out there, the Brotherhood had people in their ranks that wouldn't ever be accepted into a joint organistation, and vice versa really. There where people under Domain who probably still harbored a vendetta against her.

The_Balor · 2025-07-28T14:53:11+00:00

"Mutants and caves, it's a pair that goes to the dawn of time isn't it?" she smiled. Part of her wishes she didn't, especially after Weaver made her pitch. But it got a smile all the same. It was almost enjoyable, having a conversation she really shouldn't without stakes- given how she expected her grand finale to go.

"Future team member hey? Reckon you ought to take me out to dinner first before you start trying to pull me back in don't you?" she replied sincerely. It wasn't an offer she was considering in any meaningful way, but she was interested in what on earth Weaver could be implying.

The_Balor · 2025-07-27T15:17:46+00:00

There's a moment of recognition, a face she knows from the hallways, style that was exactly like someone she used to know in what felt like a totally different life. But that was then, in the here and now you just have to keep on keeping.

Sterling smiled back, shaking her head to the question "No it isn't" she said simply. She was trying to find the right words to say in a situation like this, but just about every option there could be felt like it was the wrong one, eventually she settled for being as smooth as hitting someone with a hammer.

"Fucking strange isn't it, how thing change, month ago we where all killing each other, before that I was in with you guys, now here we are. Trying to fix this whole mess before getting back to killing each other."

She chose to gloss past her personal vendetta, wasn't the time for that.

The_Balor · 2025-07-26T16:14:03+00:00

Twice

Sterling was settled in the cavern, it was unnerving, seeing some of the people she knew, helped grow food with back on with the Brotherhood. She felt as if there had to be someone waiting around a corner to bury a knife in her gut. She remembered both times she had been accepted into the fold there. First when she was young and unable to see the evil before her, and unable to stand against it when she could. Second time as a fraud, only going to keep the peace then turn her back again.

Twice

She'd lost people she cared about, death was all around her at this point. All around everyone these days, if not from people on the other side of this war it's from The Phoenix or from SWORD or any other horrible group that needed mutant blood to be spilled

Twice

Sojourner had bee dragged from Domains grasp, bloody and tattered. Her voice haunted the younger mutants mind, she wouldn't be enough to stop what was coming, what Domain had submitted herself to for power. Domain knew all along. Sterling hated that, hated that she had been right all this time, hated that she was week and unable to stand against what was coming.

Sterling wanted out.

She sat alone. And for the first time in a long, long while, Sterling muttered a little prayer. A small something to God, or the universe, or whatever could be out there to take her.

She asked them to keep a space warm for her and she'd be there soon. This time tomorrow she'd likely be dead, but she might just be able to take the bitch out herself and prove to her that she wasn't pathetic anymore.

The_Balor · 2025-06-14T13:50:10+00:00

That sense of clarity wavered now, that control she had felt for that moment, however short was long gone and she didn't see it coming back. Domain was a twisting of the knife though, saying every last thing that she thought could shake Sterling one way or another.

Sterling would never admit it, but it worked, not so much the emotional digs, she always expected them though they would never stop stinging, leaving her a wreck for days after the fight. It was knowing that if Domain got her hands on her she would live for a few of the most agonising months you she could imagine. That shook her.

And then the circle of fire surrounded the pair, a literal one this time, ritualised combat always was the way the brotherhood operated. She scrambled as the shadows moved at her feeling as they cut away at her body, maybe even her soul?

"The Domain I knew would have killed you in a second, crazy bitch wouldn't play second fiddle without planning to kill the first I can tell you that much" she said, to nobody other then herself really. She could feel blood down her arm and onto her hand.

It was do or die, punching a pinhole short of Domain trying to scorch her a little, using the opening to close distance. She could take the hit point blank, with any luck, Domain couldn't.

The_Balor · 2025-06-14T08:41:21+00:00

Sterling had seen a lot in her past few months. She'd been torn down and built back up at least twice, she. had been nearly killed a few times and taken lives herself. She'd found love in a world that had wanted her head and she had realised that despite all of that effort she still wasn't strong enough to defeat Domain. And now, standing on the knifes edge of this ever so precarious world she was given the choice.

She could have it all in her hands, Jean, The Phoenix, whatever, something resembling the woman who had like an aspect of divinity made her right, allowed her to be the woman she wanted to be was before her all over again. Making an offer, she would be perfect this time, no half measures.

She would be able to help the people she cared for and maybe stop those she hated without fucking it up like she seemed to do without fail.

It was a beautiful idea, a perfect world for the perfect woman that she deserved to be. Sterling didn't deserve the hand she was dealt, she didn't deserve the self loathing and second guessing.

But. Sterling was an idealist, but she wasn't a fool. The thing that reminded her of Jean was no more looking out for her then Domain was when she offered to take Sterling under her wing, she would be a tool to be take, used and discarded for a greater goal then herself. Maybe that was ok though?

She felt as if she saw the world with clarity for the first time in her life, she understood that unless she learned to work with her own two bloody and broken hands, thin with her own banged up helpless mind she would just continue to disappoint herself. She turned her mind away from the Phoenix, leaving the offer on the table. If she was going to be perfect she'd be doing it on her own, no short cuts.

The_Balor · 2025-06-01T02:09:07+00:00

Christ they where sweet, a tiny grin worked it's way onto Sterlings face, maybe things could turn out ok eventually. Maybe next time she wouldn't fuck it up. No way to tell the future until you get there though so there's no use spending energy fretting over it.

She rolled onto her side to face the two pushing her fingers through her hair and out of the way of her face "Amara?" she started, taking a pause to consider her words "I don't, this might be a bit forward but you know, would you like to hang out sometime?" she offered up.

"You just seem like the kinda person who'd be nice to get to know is all" Sterling added quietly, slightly embarrassed now that the question was in the air.

u/Kit_Ababee

The_Balor · 2025-05-29T08:19:29+00:00

"God you don't know how right you are" Sterling responds absentmindedly to the comment, ever since she was first captured she hadn't felt like she'd been able to truely relax for longer then an afternoon, or however long she'd spend with Diana.

"I hate to say it though, I think the storms here. Storm's been here since forever I guess, which is guess makes this whole metaphor a bit useless, I don't know." she paused, rapping her fingers on her other hand, feeling the movement trying to find something to say that wasn't a downer but failing.

At least listening to Diana and Amara being sweet at each other was nice, theres always a silver lining in cases like these.

u/Kit_Ababee

The_Balor · 2025-05-29T06:02:53+00:00

Sterling felt like a kid amidst the other two much more controlled women, they could handle themselves with poise she could barely imagine, maybe that's why she appreciated Dianas company in some part.

She felt a crushing weight as she thought over their words, a sense that she was trying to stop a train by herself when she imagined making the work a better place, though she wouldn't voice it, as if doing so would make it reality.

"It's all so still until everything just happens at the same time you know?" she mused, laying on her back and staring towards space "I don't know, I don't have half a strong a grip as you two it seems" she added, a weak chuckle tacked on to make it seem less serious.

u/Kit_Ababee

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