Chapter 4
(Ethan's Costume Shop)
Ethan sat in a comfy sofa in his office as he recuperated from his spell casting. He had been drained far more than he had expected. He had also been unconscious for longer than he had planned and had missed some of the fun. In front of him a ball of energy floated showing him the scenes of what was going on outside his shop. He couldn't help but smile as he watched Ripper's possessed form fight against some of the demons and vampires stupid enough to come out at Halloween, which was usually a slow night for them. This was turning out to be more fun than he had expected. He just wished he could hear what the group, Ripper's possessed form was a part of, were saying. But this particular spell didn't come with audio, and it was the best seeing spell he knew.
'I wonder what Ripper would think if he could see himself right now?' Ethan wondered as he sipped on a glass of water.
As he leaned back and watched the group split up he let out a curse, by splitting up it made it much harder for him to track them. Keeping an eye on this particular group was important to him, especially the one with Ripper in it.
+HX+
(Sunnydale)
Spike smirked as he drained the woman he had caught running from the chaos going on in town, his hand straying downwards to get a feel of her body while he could. The scream of fear and pain she had let out was music to his ears, he just wished Dru could have come out to hunt with him like in the old days. But she was still far too weak after that mob in Prague had almost killed her. One day he would find a way to heal her back to full strength. Deciding not to turn the woman as he found her quite thin and lacking in the chest department, he preferred his female turnings to have something to look at and feel. The woman let out a last feeble moan as her eyes rolled up in her head before dying. Spike drained the last bit of blood he could from her before dropping her lifeless body to the ground.
Turning to the group of vampires who had come out with him and had been watching him enviously as he fed "Ain't this just neat?" he asked with a smirk feeling quite full now. But somewhere out here was a Slayer, who according to Dru was vulnerable, and he intended to find her and drain her dry just as he had two previous Slayers.
"Do we get to feed boss?" one of the lackeys inquired, having wanted to feed on the woman himself, but he knew better than to ever challenge Spike over a meal.
"I'm sure there are some other easy prey out here you and the others can feast on, but listen up all of you, not one of you touches the Slayer when we find her," Spike responded, quickly glaring at them all. "If even one of you touches her or attempts a quick feed, then I'm going to ensure you all suffer before I stake your undead asses," he warned them. "Got it?" he asked with a growl and almost ruined it by smirking as they all nodded in agreement with fear in their eyes.
Elsewhere Logan led Jean and Betsy through the chaotic streets, so far they'd not run into any more trouble. Betsy was keeping a telepathic eye on the other group, but they also hadn't run into any more trouble either. Jean found herself slowly getting used to being back in a body, she realized she had missed it a lot. Especially being with her friend Logan was something she had missed even more, that drew her mind to Scott and more importantly their daughter Rachel. She was sure Rachel had been missing her since she had passed on. Letting out a sigh she hoped things hadn't been too bad for her daughter.
"You okay Red?" Logan's concerned voice inquired from beside her, almost making her jump as she hadn't been aware of his movements having been off in her own thoughts.
"I was just thinking about how Rachel is doing since my passing," Jean admitted.
"She's missed you a lot," Logan told her which wasn't surprising. "Things between her and Scooter have been strained, especially with how quickly he took up with Frost after you died, no matter that you gave him your blessing," he continued as he paused as a stray sent caught him as they moved down a row of houses. "I see her point, he could have waited a little longer considering everything," he admitted.
Jean took that in and could see how Rachel would have taken it, maybe waiting a little before getting into a relationship with Emma, no matter that she had given her blessing, would have made things easier for Rachel to accept. She could sense that Logan didn't approve of Scott's new relationship, but she could also sense that he would rather see Scott with Emma than with Jean which made her smile. Logan could never hide how he felt about her and never could, she could sense he was fighting himself to keep from asking her about where they stood.
"Wait, we should check that house out," Logan said, pointing to the middle house, for some reason that house had the full attention of his senses. He had an almost instinctive need to go into that house, but he was pretty sure it wasn't coming from him personally.
"Why, what do you sense Logan?" Betsy inquired as she glanced over the house and doing a quick telepathic scan inside. "I don't see anyone inside with my telepathic ability," she told them.
"There is something familiar about it to me or maybe my host," Logan explained as best he could. "This house is important," he stated.
"Then we check it out. Perhaps if Logan is correct and it is important to our hosts then it may hold some answers," Jean said after a few moments of thought.
Betsy looked between the two and just shrugged in response, seeing no harm in checking the house out. Usually Logan's senses could be relied upon, but this wasn't a normal circumstance. What they failed to notice having been distracted with their own thoughts was that they had been trailed by a young dark haired blond, a sneer on her lips as she looked for answers to how she came to being possessing her daughter's body once more. Seeing one of the people who had helped defeat her plans last time she quickly followed them.
Across the town Snake wandered down the street he was on keeping an eye out for a costume store of all places. 'How the hell did he come to this?' he thought with a shake of his head. He swore when he found out who was responsible for all this, he was going to ensure he paid for it with pain. Abigail and Tonks followed behind him, keeping a close eye on their surroundings. Tonks almost ran into a lamp post as she spotted an armored man running after another man with blond hair swinging what looked like laser swords.
"What the hell?" she said looking to Abigail for answers.
"I have no idea about any of this so don't go looking to me for answers," Abigail responded wondering if she was dreaming all this.
+HX+
(Blackbird)
Scott rubbed his jaw as he noted they were just reaching the outskirts of California, thus they were now only 30 minutes out from this Sunnydale that Rachel had said Jean was.
"30 minutes and then we are there," he told the others. "We'll need to find a place to land the blackbird before we go looking for Jean," he added.
"It will be a small town so I'm sure there will be a field or something we can set it down in," Kitty suggested in response. "The question is can Rachel home in on Jean so we can find her quickly and maybe Logan and Betsy as well?" she added.
"Rachel?" Emma inquired agreeing with Kitty that it would make things easier if they could track Jean down quickly.
"I can sense her, but at the moment my link to her is off and on," Rachel answered. "Plus I don't think she has realized I have sensed her," she admitted.
"How is that possible?" Emma inquired, turning to face the red head somewhat surprised by the admission.
"Something is going on that is taking all of her concentration, that much I got from my initial contact with her," Rachel answered with a sigh. "I think it is all connected, her being back on the earth plain and Logan and Betsy's loss of their minds," she continued. "Whatever has caused all of this is centered in that town," she stated.
"But you have no idea what?" Kurt inquired from behind her.
"No and neither does mom, which is why her signal seems less strong than normal," Rachel answered with a shake of her head. "She is focused on finding the answer to what is going on. I don't think it has accrued to her to try and contact us," she mused.
"Why wouldn't she contact us?" Ororo asked, turning from the controls for a quick look at her friend's daughter.
"Well if Logan and Betsy's minds are there somehow, then maybe she feels she doesn't need the help," Rachel said with a shrug.
"Let us hope then that she does have help in the form of Logan and Betsy," Ororo responded with a tight smile. "Or we might find whatever has affected them is not connected to this, and we will have much more to do to find the answer to it," she added with a sigh.
Kitty shivered a little at that idea. She wanted Logan and Betsy back in their bodies. Seeing as Jubilee had been left to help Beast look after their bodies, her friend was probably tearing her hair out right now. So the quicker they got this sorted the better.
+HX+
(X-Mansion)
Jubilee watched from beside Rahne as Hank ran test after test on the unmoving bodies of Logan and Betsy. It was creepy to be frank to see the feral mutant who she looked to almost as a father unnaturally unmoving. She knew had she not been turned into a vampire something that had messed her up pretty badly, then she would be bouncing off the walls asking Hank question after question about why Logan and Betsy's mind were missing much to his annoyance she was sure. She hated that she had been left behind, but since being turned into a vampire not only had her powers been unreliable, but so had her emotions. She had lost it in the field before due to her new status and the others had decided only to take her on those missions where such actions might be useful.
"So any idea what happened to them Hank?" Rahne inquired as Hank seemed to finally pause.
Jubilee was relieved it was her friend who had asked that question and not her.
Hank let out a frustrated sigh before answering. "I'm afraid I can find no signs of what caused this, not even a small symptom that could aide me in finding the cause and that is most unusual," Hank admitted with clear frustration in his eyes.
"Are their bodies in any danger of shutting down Hank?" Jubilee finally asked, trying to keep her concern under wraps, but she doubted she did very well.
"No Jubilee they are not. Strangely enough their bodies are operating normally which is even stranger," Hank answered as he rubbed his chin in thought. "I could almost believe an outside source is maintaining their bodies systems, but I can see no sign of such outside action," he added.
"How long can they last like this?" Rahne inquired as she glanced at Jubilee and noted the real concern she felt about this twist in their lives. She wasn't stupid, she knew no matter the changes Jubilee had gone through of late, she still cared deeply about them all and about Logan most of all.
"I don't know Rahne and that concerns me," Hank admitted with another sigh. "But I will keep monitoring them until the others can find the answers and hopefully return Logan and Betsy's minds before this state begins to affect their bodies," he assured them.
"Do you really think Jean is in some way responsible for their condition?" Jubilee asked.
"I don't know as I'm unsure if Rachel is correct and Jean has returned," Hank responded turning to face them. "But if she has and she felt she needed help she may have reached out to Logan and Betsy, something may have gone wrong or something else may have interfered with her telepathic call," he suggested. "If anything if she is at the center of this I doubt she meant any harm. Considering the connection between her and Logan I cannot fathom such a thing," he added.
And neither could Jubilee see such a thing, everyone in the X-Men knew how the two felt about one another. No Jean wouldn't hurt Logan, but maybe it was possible she had summoned his mind elsewhere. Sitting down she let out a sigh and prepared to wait. Rahne went upstairs to get them all something to drink and eat passing Warren and Bobby who were on mansion duty while the others were away.