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Post by xavier on Jul 21, 2005 6:35:40 GMT -5
"Professor!" Rushing to his side, Jean helped him to sit up. "Are you all right?"
"J..Jean?, is that you?", Xavier turned to look toward the sound of her voice propping himself up on his Elbow. He could see concern in her face and worry on her brow. Charles smiled weakly, trying to ease her tension.
"I am fine Jean." He lied. He wasn't fine not in the least, yet it was crucial that they not know what he had just seen in his mind, especially not Jean. For what dwelled within her must never be given a chance to rise from the ashes. Xavier attempted to raise barriers in his mind, but something happened something he did not expect. His brain suddenly felt like it was on fire, the pain was not present though this time, it was more like something was working through him. Pushing at his restraints.
Charles could not stop the images as they flooded from his mind like a rushing torrent of water released from a stone damn. Xavier winced as he began to broadcast his thoughts unable to control the overwhelming loss of restraint. "No.. Jean... No...Emma...No!"
Just as soon as it had began, it was over with. Xavier fought to desperately bring his psychic barriers back up, but it was to late. He could tell from the look on the others face that they had seen what he had seen. Even Scott due to his link with Jean had been introduced to Xavier's nightmare...
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Post by npc on Jul 21, 2005 7:27:55 GMT -5
Pariah shifted out of time, he moved forward to point where Xavier had collapsed, just as his master had predicted it would happen. The master was never wrong, things would unfold exactly as he had foreseen.
Re-entering the time space continuum, Pariah used his holographic emitter to change into a more respectable form, he knocked lightly on the door to Xavier's room, "Room Service." There was no response though he could sense others in the room, as their thoughts ranged from worry to love of the Professor. Waiting patiently, Pariah realized that the vision had already entered Xavier's mind. How could this be? It shouldn't be happening yet, unless his calculations were wrong. Knocking on the door once again he rapped harder this time hoping to catch someone's attention "Room Service!"
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Post by Magneto on Jul 21, 2005 15:40:38 GMT -5
"Let me know what that's all about as soon as you find out. I don't like not knowing who else is sharing a building with us. We're doing fine. We should be there early tomorrow morning, probably before the sun comes up. Moss is going to lose his lunch soon, I fear, but otherwise, we're making good time and having a blast."
"Very good Raven," Erik agreed. "I am about to go investigate the penthouse. Whoever is up there did not wish to have any psychic intrusion. Which of course makes me wonder why."
Suddenly, a strange radio signal caught Magneto's attention. It was not coming from the shielded penthouse, but from just outside it. What would be mid-air or the ledge. Now, that was interesting. "I must go, Raven," he said calmly. "It seems we might not be the only ones interested in what is going on in the penthouse. I will keep you updated."
With that, Erik hung up the phone and headed out of his room. He was now very curious about what was going on in top floor of the penthouse.
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Post by magdaleina on Jul 21, 2005 15:49:46 GMT -5
Magda examined the readout on the com and frowned, as it came out in nothing she was familiar with. Perhaps the signal was botched, or this man was expecting her to be familiar with some code or cipher she could not even hope to comprehend; she couldn't tell, either way. Glowering to herself and cursing her wretched luck, she risked transmitting again:
"This is M speaking," she intoned. "The message didn't go through. Please repeat, over." She moved out to a more open part of the lot, eyes open for anyone else, always. "Please repeat," she added again.
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Post by darkmatter on Jul 21, 2005 17:41:33 GMT -5
*Emma Frost's cell phone begins to ring, If it has caller ID it would come from Sabastian's cell phone at the Hellfire Club*
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Post by Phoenix on Jul 21, 2005 23:04:41 GMT -5
"J..Jean?, is that you?" Charles asked weakly, turning towards her and sitting up. "I am fine Jean." Jean didn’t quite believe him, but she couldn’t help but feel relieved to see the Professor awake, and gave him a hug. As she pulled away she could feel his mental blockades returning fast. ‘Those sure returned in a flash.’ Her brows creased slightly as a feeling of unease came over her. It was as if the Professor didn’t want them to see what had gone on in his mind. What he was thinking. Of course, he was entitled to feeling that way. But still, the manner in which he did it left her unsure.
“Charles, what happened? Where did your mind—“ Jean was stopped in mind question. Charles began screaming, his face contorting in horror. "No.. Jean... No...Emma...No!" What was he—
A barrage of violent, angry images came streaming through the Professor’s mind, slamming into the telepathic world around him. Unconsciously Jean slowly shook her head, disbelieving the pictures she was seeing. “No..” It was barely a whisper. Why was the Professor seeing these things?? Fiery death and destruction. Everyone was dead—everyone!
On instinct her mental shields went up, protecting Scott from being able to see the brunt of what Xavier had projected. Staring wide-eyed at the Professor, Jean could only hope this was some sort of weird joke.
< What was that? > Jean sent to both Emma and Charles, not wanting to mention anything verbally just yet. Immersed in what was going on in the bedroom, she didn’t pay attention to the knocking at the door.
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Post by Cyclops on Jul 21, 2005 23:38:58 GMT -5
Scott kneeled to help the professor up as well when Xavier suddenly cried out Jean and Emma's names. He sounded disorientated and frightened. Fear and pain and defeat surged over the mental link Cyclops and his wife shared before Jean's defenses stopped them. She stared at Charles wide eyed for a moment.
He was momentarily stunned by the rush of emotions. Was this what had been worrying Jean so much? Had the Professor been this upset when they left? He doubted it. Jean would have never left their mentor like this, mutant containment facility or not.
He put his hands on Jean's shoulders, giving them a comforting squeeze. "Charles, are you all right?" he asked, concerned. He completely ignored the White Queen. Whatever was making Xavier act so strange was obviously not her fault, she seemed as confused as they were. Then the insistent knocking came from the door of the main room of the suite. "I'll deal with whoever that is," he assured everyone else, giving his wife's shoulders one more comforting squeeze before rising. He sighed heavily and went to go get rid of the person.
The person on the other side of the door claimed to be room service. The Professor had been out awhile and Emma would not have ordered room service for the penthouse. Whoever was there must have the wrong room or something. "I'm sorry sir," Scott called through the door. "No one ordered room service up here. There must be some mistake."
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Post by emmafrost on Jul 22, 2005 12:00:44 GMT -5
Once Emma gave her reply, Charles started to stir. She stood up from the chair she had been forced into and watched Jean and Scott tend to Charles. Just as she was about to make her way out of the room, she was psychically assaulted with horrible images of an explosion, of the X-Men, the Brotherhood and herself and the Hellions dying in a fiery inferno. The image of her students, dead, terrified her and Emma fought back the urge to scream. Then, just as suddenly as the images had fed through her mind, they were gone, her mind's own natural defenses taking over and forcing the intruder out.
She opened her eyes and realized she had collapsed back in the chair again. Jean and Scott were just as confused as she was and Charles had a look of guilt on his face. Shaking her head, she looked down at the man who had caused her so much trouble this evening. A knock sounded at the door just as Emma's cell phone rang and she looked at the caller ID. Sabastian. That wasn't a good sign.
Looking at Charles again, she said, "Well, it seems I am not needed here and I still have work to do before tomorrow. If I don't see you before, I'll see you at the hearing in the morning. Good night, Charles, Jean." Her face betrayed none of the turmoil that had been stirred up with that "vision" of Charles' and she walked out of the room, past Scott and the room service boy.
Walking into the hall, Emma opened the phone and said, "Sabastian? What's wrong?"
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Post by darkmatter on Jul 22, 2005 13:19:26 GMT -5
(cross post from Hellfire club)
" Well Madame, I am calling for Jono. It seems your mental barriers are too strong for him to reach you. He wanted me to tell you that the man you left here who was supposed to watch us, I can't remember his name, has apparently run off without telling anyone where he went." I don't think that would be too much of a problem, but Jono can't seem to 'reach' him at all. " He paused for a moment and then continued a little softer, " And Jono would also like to ask if everything is all right. He seemed a bit worried."
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Post by emmafrost on Jul 22, 2005 14:24:03 GMT -5
Emma sighed softly. "Tell Jono he shouldn't have a problem now. I was in a meeting in a psychically sealed room and that's why he couldn't get through. As for Forge, that is troubling, especially if Jono can't reach him. Have him keep trying but I have a strange feeling I know where he is," she told Sabastian matter of factly.
Then Emma smiled when Sabastian added softly, "And Jono would also like to ask if everything is all right. He seemed a bit worried."
"Jono is a worrywart, Sabastian. You had better get used to that. I'm fine, just tired and in need of sleep but that will probably be hours away. Take care of each other and I'll see you in a day or two," Emma added, allowing a bit of emotion to escape into her voice. After seeing her precious students dead in that vision, she was feeling a bit sentimental toward them.
Hanging up the phone, Emma stopped to lean against a wall. She had taken the stairs from the penthouse to the next floor and was standing in the stairwell. Allowing her mind to reach out, she focused on one mind that she knew quite well and just as she expected, she found him.
Opening her eyes, Emma climbed down one more flight of stairs and headed for the area she sensed Forge in.
((Continued in Hotel: Regency: Hellions Room))
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Post by xavier on Jul 22, 2005 15:50:43 GMT -5
Xavier tried desperately to recompose himself, the knocking on the door didn't help much. He hadn't remembered ordering room service, but with his present state of mind it wasn't outside of being a possibility.
"Scott go ahead and let the young man in, Perhaps eating something would be a good idea after all."
Charles hadn't expected to see Scott and Jean so soon. Swallowing lightly he realized that Jean had picked up on his pain. Xavier wanted to kick himself at that moment, the last thing that Jean and Scott needed was to worry about that "thing" again.
Putting on his best look of "being in charge" He watched as Emma left the room, sad that he hadn't even had a chance to talk to her. It was clear that she had also suffered from his lack of control.
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Post by Magneto on Jul 22, 2005 23:21:44 GMT -5
Magneto sensed the signals outside again. This time it had moved down to the parking garage. He decided to go investigate it. Perhaps whoever had been outside the penthouse window could enlighten him on what was happening up there and save him the trouble of investigating himself.
Erik moved swiftly through the hotel, using the service elevators. The Master of Magnetism did not need keys or pass codes. As he entered the parking garage, he tracked the signal with his powers. He spotted a dark haired woman, dressed in a brown longcoat, her back to him, talking on a device that looked much like a cell phone. The odd signal was coming from it. He smiled slightly, he'd found whoever had been spying on the penthouse.
"I believe I will take that, miss, thank you," he said quietly. Summoning forth his powers, Magneto pulled the device from her hand, turning it off. Whoever she was contacting didn't need to know about the conversation they were about to have. He felt no need to identify himself, he was well known around the world and it would soon become apparent to her she was now at the mercy of the Master of Magnetism. Fear usually made people more cooperative. Eventually. "Now, please enlighten me to what you were doing outside the penthouse of this building?"
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Post by magdaleina on Jul 22, 2005 23:29:45 GMT -5
"I believe I will take that, miss, thank you."
Magda inhaled sharply when the com was taken from her hand. Her bare fingers from the open gloves buzzed at the presence of a magnetic field around the object. The transmission had been coming in again, and it'd been a worthy distraction to stop her from sensing an oncoming aura.
Not that the constant hum she was getting from the cars all around didn't do a good job of that, too.
She stood, back ramrod straight, all the while eyes searching for the nearest escape. She could just see the passage leading out -- though she was sure it would take her up. Better than nothing. She knew full well who this man was and the danger she would probably be in if he got a good look at her. She couldn't exactly explain to Hamphire that she failed to return to base with what he required because she'd been run down by her husband.
"Now, please enlighten me to what you were doing outside the penthouse of this building?"
Her hand twitched, and she felt the circuitry in the com short out, and in the same instant, she broke into a full sprint. Her hand shot up to the earpiece she was wearing. Her thumb pressed over a small dial, and it shorted out as well.
In the bedroom in Xavier's penthouse, just above the lightswitch, there was a loud pop! like that of a firecracker. A puff of smoke and a few bits of metal were all that remained of the bug.
Likely, evidence would be found, but with hope it wouldn't be traceable. She had more important things to worry about.
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Post by Magneto on Jul 23, 2005 0:21:19 GMT -5
Magneto was hardly surprised when the woman made a run for it, but he was surprised when he felt her using powers similar to his to short out her equipment. Whoever this young lady was, she was a mutant as well, which made her presence here doubly of interest to him. But first, he had to catch her. A trifle really.
"I think not, miss," he told her with a soft click of his tongue, almost as if scolding her for her attempt at escape. Reaching out with his powers, Erik grabbed ahold of the iron in her blood as she started up the ramp. He levitated her back to him quickly, surprised as she began to fight his powers and scream, in Rumanian in all languages. Her voice seemed oddly familiar as well.
Erik brought the young lady right before him, exerting more of his powers to still her flailing. To his surprise, she was trying not to look at him. That made him even more curious. He reached over and took a gentle, but firm hold on her chin. "If you are going to curse me, you should at least look at me when you do so, my dear," he told her.
Her face made Magneto's blood run cold. The woman looked exactly like...no, it couldn't be. She was dead, she had run from him the night Anya died, left Pietro and Wanda with the Maximoffs as babies and disappeared. That had been nearly twenty years ago. This woman was the same age she had been when she had left him. But the resemblance, the voice, her eyes, they were the same. Erik released his magnetic hold, staring at her in absolute shock. "Magda?" he stammered in disbelief.
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Post by magdaleina on Jul 23, 2005 0:45:07 GMT -5
"I think not, miss."
Magda flailed when she lifted off the ground, though the minute she tried, her limbs felt heavier, like she was swimming through glue. She felt a definite internal shift, though she had neither the knowledge nor the current clarity to identify it. Thankfully, she had enough grasp of what was occurring to at least half-successfully resist.
She thrashed, and her vocal chords certainly were not hindered in the least. She was not sure if it was the fact that she was being held or if it was the man that was doing the holding, but in her panic, she more than planned to take advantage of any passerby hearing her screaming.
...Until, of course, the man was very much upon her -- or her upon him, since she was the one drifting across the chamber, cursing in a garble of english and romanian. She screwed her eyes shut, forcing her face to turn to the side to avoid looking at him, though part of her knew that was not going to do her any good in a moment.
She went quiet when he grabbed her chin, and the initial shock had her eyes open.
"If you are going to curse me, you should at least look at me when you do so, my dear."
He looked at her, something she would have immediately cursed herself for, had that instant not been the same one in which he dropped her.
Magda, suddenly having to rely on her own feet again, stumbled, barely avoiding twisting her ankle, and fall flat on her arse. She heard him say her name, though she was too preoccupied to do much but murmur pathetically as she scrambled back away from him, all the while keeping her eyes on the ground.
She was dead. She wasn't strong enough to fight him and there were obviously no people in this blasted garage to come to her rescue.
How could she have botched up this evening any more? Hamphire was going to kill her -- if she got out of this in one piece.
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