The Universe's Mixer

Jean-Paul had never had quite so much free time in his life as he did now. And it sucked. Even when he'd quit Alpha Flight, he'd had his Olympic training and Jeanne-Marie's multiple personalities to occupy him. Now, chances were that Jeanne-Marie wasn't even here, and while the City had proven to be surprisingly accomodating at times (when he needed money, mostly), he hadn't yet found a ski resort.

He had considered getting a job, but nothing around the City held much appeal for someone whose previous occupations had included petty thief, trapeze artist, terrorist (reformed), Olympic athlete and government-sponsered superhero. Mostly, he just didn't have the patience to deal with a high volume of strangers on a daily basis, as he would have to do in a restaurant or retail job.

So he'd done a lot of reading, he'd explored the City, and sometimes, he'd played crimefighter and helped some poor sap who was being mugged. It was fun, and didn't come with any of the bad press he'd gotten at home for being a mutant or a waste of government funds. Something of James McDonald Hudson's annoying self-righteousness must've rubbed off on him, because he actually felt good about helping people (not just good because he got to beat people up).

But most of the time, he just wandered around to try and work off his constant impatience. Today's trip took him past one of the City's gardens. He was sure he'd been by recently, but it was looking incredibly overgrown and untended, as if no one had been by in years. Strange. He paused by one clump of vines and cautiously ran a finger over a leaf. Well, it was real, at least, not just some weird set-up for a photoshoot or an out-of-season haunted... garden.

The torn-up hand and forearm he could see sticking out another tangle of plants looked real, too. Jean-Paul wavered. On the one hand, carelessly-left body parts were usually signs of evil afoot. On the other, it wasn't like he could really do anything for the guy. Oh, but his conscience told him that maybe the plants would kill someone else and then how would he feel, knowing he'd left without at least investigating a little bit?

With a sigh, Jean-Paul wandered back to the entrance gate and a pathway that pretty much disappeared into the new plant growth. Hopefully, he'd at least be able to fly out of this one if he got lost (or trapped, but he wasn't going to think about that yet).

The first time he saw the building, Jean-Paul wasn't sure if it was just the city playing tricks on him again. But the second time he went by, it was still there, managing to look neatly tucked away while standing out at the same time. Or perhaps it only stood out because it was the one place Jean-Paul's really recognized since his arrival.

Regardless of the reasoning, when he passed by for the third time, Jean-Paul stopped. This building - at least on the outside - was identical to the one Dr. Strange lived and worked in. Part of Jean-Paul knew that this could be a trap, that the familiarity was only on the outside, but if Dr. Strange was here, he could tell Jean-Paul what had happened. He probably still didn't know where Aurora was, but finding a way out of this world was the only possible step towards finding her right now.

He was on the doorstep almost before he knew it, knocking sharply on the door. He was sure the rapid noise made it sound like he was in a tremendous rush - or very angry - and while neither was particularly true (he wanted to leave as quickly as possible, of course, but if Dr. Strange was in, that meant he probably couldn't get out either), Jean-Paul cheerfully encouraged the illusion. The sooner he could get some of his questions answered, the better.

Click.

SLAM!

Click.

SLAM!

It had been going on for over an hour.

“Howl.”

He tried again. Same thing. No matter how he turned the dial by the door, it opened to one view or another of the same City.

“Howl?”

Again.

Jean-Paul resented a lot of things in life, not the least of which was being treated like some sort of sheep to be herded around on the whim of the shepherds. Currently, he also resented being fed worse food than he imagined many domesticated sheep ate, being confined, being drugged, and being told what to do by patronizing supposed-nurses and doctors.

However, since this particular incidence of herding - conducted by a rather weedy doctor and several large orderlies (Jean-Paul was flattered, really, but they needn't have bothered with him in his current state) - was heading in the direction of the front desk and the door, or so he'd been told, he was rather okay with it. It's not like he had a choice at the moment, and he had nothing to lose if they were lying.

Well, unless they were going to kill him, but that seemed unlikely, even in this place that made no sense.

"Wait," one of the orderlies rumbled, consulting a clipboard. "We missed someone."

The doctor shook his head. "He's on the way out. This way, Mr. Beaubier."

They turned a corner or two and passed a few more doors before the doctor stopped. Hesitation fought with a (in Jean-Paul's opinion) skewed sense of duty, which finally won out. He reluctantly opened the door and called out to the patient within the room. "It's time to go."

She'd always been the shy, quiet kind of girl - not big on conversation, or having large quantities of friends. She was content with her awkwardness, and liked to think she inherited it from Charlie. She'd never considered it to be flaw, let alone an 'issue' of any kind - heck, if it was, Renee would have sorted her out in the blink of an eye. She was just plain old boring Bella...at least she thought she was.

They always talked in hushed whispers, scribbling on clipboards, dosing her up with all different kinds of pills. But it was the looks that really got to her, because they stared at her like something was...wrong with her. Seriously wrong. Like she had some kind of contagious disease or something.

"Excuse me," She had asked. "Why am I here?"

The nurse smiled. "Oh, bless you child" She said as she patted her hand, and walked off.

It was lunch time, and despite being told that she needed to 'get some sunlight', she sat glumly in the cafeteria, staring into a bowl of rather unappetizing spaghettio's, which were accompanied by fluorescent green rubber, that was supposed to be jello. Just looking at it made her feel green, and she sighed, wondering if anyone else felt the same way.