Confusion and cosplay

Pacing down the row of men standing stone stiff in front of the portal to the island nation of Krakoa, the Sorcerer Supreme; Dr. Strange gave a harsh, critical gaze into the eyes of each X-man he passed, scrutinizing their faces while he muttered an incantation. His hands glowing arcane runic circles around his fingers while he passed another X-man. Finding only another blank gaze stare back at him.

True to the attention the hundred or so mutants standing in the middle of Central Park had garnered, the Avengers had appeared when the word got out to call them. Iron Man and Captain America stood back and watched their friend inspect the X-men while Black Widow and Hawkeye got information from the two police officers who were tasked to stay behind and keep watch over what had happened. The officers had encircled the group of mutants with yellow tape and warned people who got too close to keep their distance. Seeing the two Avengers come back with a carboard tray of coffees, Captain America gratefully took a drink from the tray and took a sip.

“So… How long have they been standing there?”

“From what the local police have told me, they’ve been standing still like that for the better part of a day and a half!”

“Damn… Their ankles must be KILLING them!” Snorted Tony from behind the plate of his mask. Being offered a drink from Black Widow, Tony went to take a sip and forgot his face was obscured by his helmet. Eliciting a smirk from Natasha and Steve when the man tried a few times to take a sip and failed miserably.

“Do we know why they are out here just standing still?”

“A great and terrible will has overtaken them all.” Declared Doctor Strange, still gleaming over the X-men in front of him. “One so mighty even my powers of sorcery cannot break the hold it has over them.”

“Sounds like some nasty Voodoo to me.”

Looking over his shoulder and giving Hawkeye an incredulous look, the sorcerer supreme scoffed. “This is no mere ‘voodoo’ as you put it. No. A terrible psychic presence as mighty as the gods has clawed itself into the minds of our friends, stringing them up as puppets to be put aside for… What the hell is this?”

Stopping right in from of Piotr Rasputin, the Colossus, Dr. Strange found the man posed with his right arm up holding a prop grey torch and his left holding a stone slab, wearing grey painted robes, and wearing a Styrofoam crown over his head, making him look like the Statue of Liberty. Turning his attention to the police ordered to keep watch on the prone X-men, Dr. Strange pointed accusingly at the police and back to the dressed-up steel skinned man in front of him.

“Who the HELL did this to him?”

Both police looked to each other and shrugged, with one going back to sipping his coffee. “Bunch of kids dressed him up when we left to get a coffee run.”

“Were you BOTH on a coffee break when this happened? This is a grave insult!” Turning his attention back to Colossus, Dr. Strange cupped his hands under the steel chin of Piotr. “THIS man has been a paragon of justice and compassion for years, a protector of the innocent his entire life… Now reduced to a prop for selfies.”

“Hey, if it makes you feel better, the guy’s been getting a lot of cheddar since they dressed him up.” Called back the officer, pointing down at Colossus’s feet.

Looking down, Dr. Strange found a ballcap sitting between Piotr’s feet, overflowing with bills and spare change from all the people who stopped to take pictures with him. With a snort and an eye twitch, he moved on to read the rest of the X-men there.

“Hmm… Well, he should be pleased with… Oh, now. Come ON!”

Standing now in front of Kurt Wagner; the Nightcrawler, he found the blue skinned mutant standing poised with an arm behind his back, Dressed as Mr. Spock from Star Trek with his other three fingered hand up, making the Vulkan greeting.

“HOW LONG WAS YOUR DAMNED COFFEE BREAK AGAIN?!” Yelled out the Sorcerer Supreme to the two embarrassed cops standing in front of their police cruiser. “You’re the shame of your police precinct! The man is a blue fuzzball of innocence and you just… Sigh… Of course it gets worse.”

There standing shoulder to shoulder were Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr, the famous and infamous Professor X and Magneto… Dressed as Yoda and Darth Vader respectively. Looking down at the powerful telepath with his face painted green with plastic green pointed ears over his own and wearing robes, the man had a toy lightsaber in hand. And right next to him was the master of magnetism himself with his costume painted black with a plastic mock helmet of the Sith Lord over his head, holding a red plastic light saber in his hand to complete the look. Dr. Strange looked like he would have a conniption fit when he stepped back and brought a pair of fingers to his temple to ease his headache.

“I am NOT going to get angry… I am NOT going to get angry…” Turning his attention back to the Avengers, Dr. Strange steeled himself and straightened his posture. “A great and terrible evil has beset the X-men my friends, so great that it has removed those who could oppose it and cast them out of the island for its own nefarious desires. Mark my words, what bodes poorly for the X-men bodes ill to us as well. We must find a way to break the diamond hard grip this… Monster has on our… Well now I’m simply confused.”

Stopping in his proclamation, Dr. Strange stood before Logan, the man dressed in a vanilla white suit with a glued-on mustache and a cigar in his hand. Shrugging, he looked back to the police who had been keeping an eye on the X-Men before they all got here.

“Who is he dressed as?”

Taking a sip from his coffee, the one officer squinted as he approached the sorcerer to get a better look at the Wolverine. “Looks like they got him dressed up as Mark Twain.”

“Mark Twai… sigh… Amateurs!” Plucking the fake mustache off the man’s face with little reaction from the Wolverine, Dr. Strange brought his hands up in an incantation. In just a few seconds, Wolverine was dressed in the time accurate attire of the late 19th century author, his hair turned stark white with his mutton chops and mustache grown naturally from his face. Now looking exactly like the southern author, the sorcerer nodded in satisfaction. “There! NOW he looks like Mark Twain.”

Looking back to his allies with a stern look, Dr. Strange raised his chin and stroked his goatee. “Now… Let’s see if we can save the X-men from this monster.”