After I finished eating with the guys at dinner, I let them know I was going to see Logan and the rest of the Xmen. I left Jake with the guys and headed over to their table. I saw four new faces I didn't recognize. Guess these were some of the members who weren't here when I first came. There were two men and two women. One of the guys was like REAL tall and all muscle, with a crew cut. The other was shorter, slimmer and had the strangest eyes...red. One of the women looked Japanese and she was very beautiful, with deep, dark eyes that seemed to pierce you, when she looked at you directly. The remaining woman had flaming Reddish Brown hair, with a curious white streak at the front of her head. The others seemed okay enough, but with the telepathy and all, I got this sense of...sorrow from her. I never felt anything like it before. She didn't seem sad on the outside, but deep down...
I made my way closer to the table and was greeted by Ororo.
Ororo: "Rick, how is everything? I hear you performed excellently on your first field mission."
Logan: "Yeah, fit right in with the rest of the team. Hmm...you gotta be a natural. Your dad wasn't much of a team player. But then again, neither am I, when the mood suits me."
Silence...I didn't know exactly what to say to respond to this, it wasn't an insult to dad but still...
Scott: "If we knew that Juggernaut was going to pay a visit to the school, we would have allocated more manpower to Mansion Security. All of us rushing out to the Nuclear Plant...what a waste!"
"Huh? But I thought that you said that the strongest brotherhood Agents would probably be there?"
Just then Hank and the Professor came into the room, and headed over to the table. I decided to ask the Professor. This was all just too strange. I thought they had this sort of thing all planned out.
"Uh, Professor, what exactly happened at the Power Plant?"
Professor: "The Brotherhood attacked it, seeking nuclear material for weaponry, however-"
Logan: "They didn't send their Big Guns to the Plant. We had enough to keep us busy mind you, but we expected the Brotherhood to send their most powerful agents on such a mission. Normally they would have."
"So...what's so different about now?"
Hank: "It could only mean something sinister is in the offing. If their more powerful agents weren't at the Plant, naturally they had to be somewhere else. I don't see Magneto letting them rest on their laurels when there's work to be done. So he had to have assigned them for some other task...what exactly, we do not know."
Just then the Red Eyed guy spoke up. He talks in this weird accent, like Frenchie-something, I don't know.
Red Eyes: "It's gotta be somethin' real big though. Somethin' Magneto don't want us knowing. He went through a lot of trouble trying to keep us ALL busy."
The Professor took the time to telepathically inform me of their names. The really tall, muscular guy's name is...Piotr Nikolaiavic Rasputin...thankfully, they also call him Peter, codename, Colossus, it was self-explanatory. The Red Eyed guy's Remmy La somethin', aka Gambit. The Japanese woman with the deep eyes is...Betsy Braddock, aka Psylocke. I take it she's Psionic. The Red-head is...Rogue. We continued to talk for a bit more, until the topic with Juggernaut came up. I suppose it was but natural...it was the highlight of everything that went down at the Mansion, but I didn't like the topic. I suppose I have no one else to blame but myself and the stupid idea of trying to take him out on my own. I never told anyone, but even after Jake and Jean got him out of my head, I still feel a little of what it was like, a part of me liked the chaos, the freedom to do whatever, whenever I wanted, knowing no one could stop you. I must have been brooding too long because the next thing I knew, they were talking about the Rock that Jake got from Juggernaut's cracked armor.
Ororo: "So let me get this straight Professor, we don't have to worry about Juggernaut again, ever?"
Professor: "Not exactly, we don't have to worry about Cain, anymore. But you know that others may be able to abuse the Shard of Cyttorak's Power. Which is why we must store it under extreme surveillance. We definitely wouldn't want that."
Rogue: "But Professor, why can't one of us use it's powers. It'll sure be a big help against the Brotherhood."
Professor: "Everyone who has ever used the Shard, leaves something of their essence within it. That would mean the next person to use it would gain some of Cain's essence, I trust you see my point."
"Uh- but couldn't you just destroy it? I mean if it's THAT dangerous to have around, and none of you can use it anyway."
Professor: "It's a sacred artifact, it cannot be destroyed by any known method or technology we possess, which means, we must guard it with our lives, from the Brotherhood...and one another."
"Huh? Who'd want to use it?"
Professor: "It has a way of luring people into it's grasp, and using them as a vessel, you would be rather surprised..."
"No one here would do that...I mean you're the good guys."
Betsy: "We all have our own temptations that we must face. The challenge is not to give in."
Hmm...Psylocke. She added something telepathically.
Betsy: I'm sure you are acquainted with what I mean, you have your control issues, but we aren't perfect either, we all have chequered pasts, you'd be surprised just how many of us would want to use the Stone's power, if we could control it...including me.
You, but why?
Betsy: For vengeance.
Vengeance for what.
Betsy: It's a long story, but the gist of it is, my mind was transferred into this body.
Huh?!
One of our enemies, sent a hired assassin to kill me. She was Japanese, this is her body. I engaged her in telepathic combat and wound up here in her body, she died whilst in possession of my original vessel, so now...I'm trapped in this one. But I suppose it's not a total loss.
How, I'd be damned upset, I should think.
Betsy: Well, I kept my original powers, the telepathy, the telekinetic blades I generate and I gained the assassin's incredible martial art skills and agility. I have come to grips with the situation, but I still want revenge at times.
Say, are you British, the accent, hmm, now it makes sense.
Betsy: Nationality is of the body, sadly, I may talk the talk but...you understand. This body was born and bred in Japan.
Earlier you said I have my control issues to deal with. How'd you know that? You didn't peek into my...(I was afraid that she had sneaked into my mind and saw more than she should have. She clarified.)
Betsy: I didn't sneak into your mind, if that is what you're asking, the Professor explained how he got the Shard of Cyttorak, when he was debriefing us and it came up, in this case it was a godsend. Still, you may want to watch out for Emma, she sneaks into other people's minds all the time, I think she gets her kicks from it. She doesn't try it on me though, she knows what I'll do to her.
Who's Emma?
Betsy: Emma Frost, she's a telepath and can transform her Body into an organic, diamond like shell.
Is she an-
Betsy: No, she's not a member of the Xmen, more like an independent who comes and goes as she pleases. She's too carefree to become attached to any group, if she joined she would have to follow the rules, and believe me, she doesn't like rules.
I hate it when telepaths sneak into other people's minds, I'm telepathic too, but you don't see me doing it for kicks.
Betsy: I agree completely. That is why the Professor made a the rule here that under no circumstances, except the most dire, are any telepaths allowed to enter the minds of another.
We were broken out of the link by Remmy's voice.
Remmy: "Kid, what's up with the staring into the air for so long?"
Betsy: "I was talking to him, if it's any concern of yours."
He made some comment about telepaths. The Professor got our attention, the entire school, telepathically.
Professor: This is an announcement to the entire populace of the Mansion. Due to information that recent events have revealed, I have the responsibility to issue a few words of warning. Most of you know that the school was under attack during the time you spent in the subbasement. Word gets around fast, and to any who do not yet know, yes...it was the Brotherhood, again. Thankfully, the consequences were not as dire as they were the last time around. Still, we are living in dangerous times and I urge each of you to be your brother's keeper. Look out for one another. If any of you see, or notice anything suspicious, by any means, optically, aurally or even telepathically, do not hesitate to inform any of the teachers or staff. I do not wish to scare you, only to inform you, to keep you safe. Very well, carry on.
"What was that about?"
Hank: "It is certain that Magneto sent Cain here to attack the Mansion. We believe his aim was to kill the Professor. He is becoming increasingly volatile. Cain would ordinarily never take an order from anyone, far less from a mutant. But I'm sure he just couldn't pass up an offer like this. Magneto has had his uses for Cain in the past. Now, with the Shard of Cyttorak in our possession, I have no doubt that they'll try to regain it somehow."
I let this sink in for a minute. Then...Rogue asked the question I was going to ask them.
Rogue: "But Professor, won't you, or any of the other telepaths be able sense if anyone unauthorized came in?"
Piotr: "I was wondering about that. Why the need for all this extra precautions, there are more of us comrades here at the mansion now?"
These too had some real heavy accents. I could understand Rogue's okay(It was Southern, and I've heard some like that before), but Peter's words were a little harder, heavy on the Russian. I take it he was the informant at the Russian Nuclear Plant.
Professor: "Magneto has found some means to shield himself from even my telepathy. I have no doubt that if he wanted to, he could shield his chosen agents."
Logan: "He's never done that before, at least not with his run of the mill fanatics."
Jean: "He doesn't shield them for a reason."
"What reason?"
Scott: "The only reason why everyone of the Brotherhood member follow Magneto, well except for his topnotch devotees, is because they fear him. A lot of them would be more than happy to kill off old Magneto and take over the leadership."
Ororo: "The only problem is, none of them are anywhere near Magneto's strength."
Psylocke: "He has an extremely powerful mutant, called Brainchild, a super telepath, who's extremely loyal. Through him, and the lack of telepathic shielding his cronies have, the contents of their minds are open to Magneto at all times."
"Damn, he's got this all planned out."
Professor: "Indeed, which is why we must be eternally vigilant. We cannot afford to slip, and give Magneto the upper hand, if we can avoid it, we may never get a chance to counterstrike. We will have to be on the look out for anyone trying to retake the shard, as well as saboteurs and assassins. I never thought it would come to this, but something must be causing him to act so rashly. He seems like he's rushing something along. I pray we can find out what it is before it is too late."
"Professor, where are you keeping the Shard of Cyttorak?"
Remmy: "That be none of your business."
Rogue: "Remmy, leave the boy `lone."
Professor: `I suppose it's all of our business. It's in a secret subbasement compartment. The code to enter the compartment is known only to a few of us. We, who know the code are not to reveal it to anyone else."
"Oh. So I take it that the Shard's safe."
Logan: "Well, as safe as it can be...at least for now."
Well, that was good news at least. As long as we could keep the shard away from anyone, it couldn't do any of us harm. And no one could enter unless they got the remaining key pieces from the Xmen(Who were anonymous even to themselves) who had them. Still, I didn't like the way this Remmy acted to me. I was a member of the- well the Junior team. He wasn't even here when it happened, he didn't help us with Juggernaut. He wasn't the one who cracked the armor for Jake to get the stone...I think I earned my right to ask a few questions, not that I expected answers for all of them. I told Jean that too. Telepathically of course.
Jean: Hehehe...oh don't bother about him Rick. He's just jealous of those of us who have a portion of the key code. The Professor took into consideration our respective willpower when he chose, Remmy was not on his good list.
Why?
Jean: Well, Remmy is an ex thief, belonged to some guild or other, and it would be a risk to let him have a key code. First he might get tempted too easily for he challenge, and if his ex guild members heard we had the shard of Cyttorak, and their old pal Remmy had a portion of the keycode, well they'd try and get it out of him, one way or another.
Oh, so that's why he's so bitter. And he thinks I can't be trusted to even know where it's being kept.
Jean: Ah, he'll get over it. Say, you seem a lot happier than you were this morning. What's up?
Ah-well, Jake and I made up.
Jean: Made...up. What exactly do you mean? (She was eyeing me.)
I didn't answer her. I looked away too, I don't think I could keep a straight face.
Jean: Rick? What-how did you...wait, you didn't...
We talked things over.
Jean: Talk, and that helped, so soon?
You said to talk to him, well it worked. What? You don't have any faith in your own advice? What kind of Pep-talker are you anyway?
Jean: Well, if you say so, just don't...feel pressured to-do anything-you don't want to do.
I have no clue what you're talking about.
Jean: Well, I'm pretty sure you know what I'm talking about...just be careful.
I broke the link and told them I was going to go back to the the others. Before Jean could say anything, I was back at the table with the rest of the guys. They were pretty much done, and I knew we'd all be heading up to our rooms soon enough. Ray and the rest who went with him were beat, I could tell. Jubilee was still not on good terms with either me or Bobby. And talk was slow. So, we eventually called it a night and decided to head on up to our respective dorms. I was tired too, the day was rather tiring, dealing with Jake, Jubilee, and Amara's antics. It took a lot out of me. I had to deal with so many emotional roller-coasters this day alone, I don't think I can remember when last, well, since my incident, that I'd had to deal with so much crap. I was going to need my rest tonight. Which is why, when Jake asked if he could come up to my room, I told him No.
Jake: How come?
I think I need some time alone tonight. I need to get some sleep real bad and I need to think, it helps to be alone. You know if you come up, we wouldn't get any rest right away.
Jake: I guess...I'll see you tomorrow then babe.
I left right away after that, well I did say goodnight to them...Jubilee was still not in the talking mood. Girls...go figure. I just rushed on into my room, tossed on something less heavy and went right to sleep. The only problem was, my sleep was far from peaceful. I should have seen it coming, I guess I just wear blinders about anything to do with the incident.
I had a nightmare that night. I knew, no doubt, that dealing with the emotional tension during the day was what had brought it on. Having Cain all up in my head the day before, didn't do anything to help either. The stress was bound to find soe outlet. Unfortunately, it came in the form of a nightmare. I hadn't had one of those since...well, two months ago. They had started the day I got home, after the incident. I had them almost everynight thereafter. But, eventually, with Mom's telepathic counselling, their frequency subsided. They didn't go away altogether, but they sure came a hell of a lot less often. What was better, the realism and intensity of the dream also decreased. The one I got that night was different though.
I had the dream again. I relived it, over in my mind. But there were some new facets to it. The main theme was there. A dozen bullies, attacking me, me losing control and damaging them...hearing their tortured screams, begging for mercy. But I had a new feeling about it. Back then, I was scared, I was trying to protect myself, well...Eric was I guess. But I know at the time he'd never...well...I hoped, kill them directly. Yeah sure, they might die from the injuries if they didn't get medical attention, but not directly. But in the dream, it wasn't Eric doing it. It was me, what was more, I was enjoying the vengeance I was dishing out. The worst part was when my parents showed up, just like they did when it actually happened. They tried to stop me and then I turned on them. I didn't get to see how it all played out, I woke up with a jump, just drenched in sweat. I hoped it was just Cain's remnants that made me do that. He hated his family, brother, `rents, everyone. Still, I wasn't too convinced.
I went to the shower, took a bath, came back in and lied down on the bed. I don't like to admit it, but I was actually scared of going back to sleep again. I figured I'd just keep awake for now. I was feeling really hot in the room, so ifigured I'd just go outside, on the grounds and cool off. I walked downstairs, opened the door and headed out front. The yard was a mess, tree fragments were just everywhere, I bet Ororo was fuming at what we'd done to her trees. Still, at least my favorite clump of them were untouched. I headed over and sat down under the biggest of them. Then I heard something shift behind me. In my condition, I didn't even bother to try and figure out what it could be. A dozen different possibilities ran around in my head, Spy, Saboteur-who else would be out here so late-wait maybe a Brotherhood lurker.
I spun around, ready to face whatever enemy was behind me. What I wasn't expecting to come face to face with was...Bobby? What was he doing out here at this time of night? It's like 2:30 am. I thought he said he was beat at the dinner table.
Bobby: "Whoa...Rick! Take it easy...it's just me."
"Bobby! What are you doing here, at this time of night?"
Bobby: "Hey, I should be asking you that...I was here first afterall."
"Well...I asked first."
He sat back down beneath the tree before he answered me.
Bobby: "Well, I couldn't sleep, and sometimes I come out here to think, it's the quietest part of the Mansion. So what's your excuse?"
"Well, I had a-(I stopped myself. I was NOT going to tell him I had a nightmare, and now I was dead beat, but too afraid to go asleep)-I couldn't sleep either, and I always liked this old clump of trees too, it's shady in the day, and quiet in the night."
Bobby: "Hell of a place when you need to be alone to think things through."
"Oh. You're probably using it...I'll just go-"
Bobby: "No! Wait, don't go. I said I couldn't sleep just now, not that I wanted to be alone. Maybe we could just kill some time together."
I sat down on the grass next to him. I knew something had to be on his mind for him to be out here so late. He mentioned earlier that he had problems. I figured, hey, he's up, I'm up, I told him my problems(Sort of), why not talk to him about his?
"Bobby, somethin' is up with you. I mean, I haven't known you for a very long time, but you seem different somehow. A telepath knows, so don't try and cover it up. I told you my problems, right around here the first day we met remember. I never admitted it, but I think it helped. Maybe you'd feel better if you talked about it. I saw the way you were all shook up after Jubilee grilled us about Amara this evening. So, spill..."
He didn't answer right away. He kept glancing at me over and over. I couldn't read the expression on his face exactly, but he seemed torn up about something. I couldn't tell from the few incoherant telepathic impressions that slipped from his mind either...I'm just not a powerful enough telepath.
Bobby: "It's just that-(He looked at me, probably figuring out if he could trust me)-have you, ever wanted something so bad, but just couldn't have it? I mean really couldn't, no matter how hard you tried?"
"Umm...well I can't say that I have. What exactly are you trying to say?"(okay, that was such a lie...but I moved on, I hoped).
Bobby: "Well, it's not really a something, it's a-"
"A what?"
Bobby: "It's a...someone."
A someone. Now it all made sense. Bobby had been so rough on Amara because he had a crush on some other girl, someone he really liked! That was why he came down on her so hard, for the flirting and all. Maybe he was afraid that this other girl would see and think that they were involved. It sure looked like it. I thought I heard the last of Bobby and girls at least for a while since the Amara thing this evening, but(Sigh) I guess not. I'll just have to get a grip. Why lust over a straight guy, I'll only end up hurting myself for it.
"Oh...I get it, so that was why you were so hard on Amara."
I let him know I knew what he was talking about. He looked at me like I had gone crazy, but I knew better, he was trying to play cover up. Although I didn't get it, why would any single girl in her right mind, not want to try something with Bobby? I told him so too.
Bobby: "Well, it's...something like that...I guess."
We talked about it some more, but it became clear that he didn't really want to say anything more. I figured, hey I got him to open up a little, let him go at his own pace. So I decided to drop it.
"Well, she'll come around, once she sees what she's missing. No chick with all her screws fastened right would pass up a good looking guy like you." (Hope that didn't sound too Gay. Fingers crossed! Thankfully, he didn't say anything adverse.)
He seemed to cheer up and pretty soon the conversation shifted to other, less stressful topics. I didn't want to not talk to him, I could tell he was still a little shook up, and this conversation was his way of winding down, so I stayed and listened. But I was getting sleepier by the minute. Everything went into a haze and soon enough I popped off to dreamland...well sleep, I didn't think I dreamt that time. But what a place to fall asleep, under the tree in the mansion front yard. I didn't evem think of the repercussions. But they made themselves known to me the next morning...
Okay, that's the fourth segment, I hope you all liked. Feel free to Email at phoenix_587@yahoo.com . Comments and feedback are more than welcome, so help me improve. And thanx to all those who've emailed. I asnswered some, but there's just too much sometimes, I'm real busy these days, but I won't be after next week Wednesday. And again thanx to Aussie Dude for the great advice. Sad to say, it didn't help thios time around though. Lol! Still I'm more than greatful!