author: Lucinda
Series: Something in Red # 6
rating: pg 13
disclaimer: I do not own anyone from Marvel.
distribution: please ask first. Luba can have it.
Madelyne stopped, suddenly confused. She was standing in a study, a
warm fire blazing in the fireplace, and there was a man sitting in a
comfortable leather chair, smoking a pipe. He seemed utterly calm, and it
seemed almost fitting that he was there. There were wisps of the same warm
fire trailing her, cascading from her hair, twining over her hands, trailing
at the end of her sash... Sash? Looking down, she discovered that she was
somehow dressed in this formfitting outfit in red with high, golden boots,
golden gloves, and a golden sash tied around her hips. It fit her body like
a glove, outlining her curves in a flamboyant statement that was completely
alien to anything in her closet. The outfit tugged at her memory, stirring
something in the buried depths. She was not quite surprised to note the
stylized bird shape at the throat, or that a matching bird shape held her
sash together. She stood there, looking at this man, trying to figure out
where he had come from, how she had ended up in his study.
"Who are you? Where am I and how did I get here?" Her confusion was clear.
The man smiled, smoke wreathing his head and making her eyes itch in a
way that the flames surrounding her didn't. "I am Jason Wyndgaurd. You may
call me Mastermind, my dear lovely redhead. You will be the perfect pawn
for my grand revenge."
Madelyne took a step back, something in her wanting to get far away from
this man. "Revenge? Pawn? I don't want to be your pawn, I don't want to
be anyone's pawn."
With a cold smile, the man stood up, his eyes focussed on her, and she
felt as if they were two pools, sucking her into their depths, and his voice
echoed, as if from far away. "You will be the perfect tool for my revenge
against the X-Men. You will be the stuff of their nightmares, the Dark
Phoenix reborn."
Madelyn's world seemed to dissolve into flames and rage. She glimpsed
fragments of places that she'd never been, images of Scott's friends in odd
clothing, clothing that like this red and gold outfit hugged their bodies
and allowed them to move freely. Scott, the man that she was furious at...
he would pay for her humiliation, yes, he would pay dearly for toying with
her heart. Was she not the Phoenix? Was she not powerful?
The man who called himself Mastermind watched as the young woman
surrendered herself to his illusions. He had planted in her mind the
suggestion that she WAS the Phoenix, that she was the being of beautiful
power, fearsome strength, gifted in telepathy and telekinesis, wreathed in
flames as her emotions burned bright inside of her. It had been so easy to
plant the idea, to watch it take root in her mind until she accepted it,
until she no longer questioned his presence.
He hadn't expected that the uniform that he had remembered the Phoenix
wearing would actually manifest to his own perceptions. He was immune to
the illusions that he wrapped others in. But there she stood, in the red
and gold, her hair rippling down her back like fire... were those flames
along her hair, or mere illusion? He felt a flicker of uncertainty as he
realized that he didn't know.
"Lady Phoenix? Allow me to take you to them, to allow you your
revenge." He led the woman to a small plane, one that he had borrowed from
the Hellfire Club, and the pilot that was waiting inside of it. The pilot
had been well conditioned by the club, and only shifted nervously at the
sight of a woman with flames flowing amidst her hair climbed into the airplane.
He was particularly glad when they arrived in New York. The woman that
he'd deluded into thinking she was Phoenix had spent the whole time with her
face staring unseeing at the window, her hair rippling with fire, her eyes a
bright green, her fingers drumming and angry rhythem against the arm of her
seat. He kept having this little suspicion in the back of his mind that
something about this wasn't quite right, wasn't normal. But everything had
to be normal. She wasn't Phoenix, she didn't have that woman's power. But
it seemed that she didn't know that. The small flames continued to flicker
over her body, caressing her form, making the body suit, a creation that he'd
noticed was entirely without seams glisten in the firelight. Her hair
rippled, almost lie darker flames, and when she left the plane, her feet
didn't quite touch the ground.
She looked at him, and her lips curved into something like a smile.
"Thank you for telling me where I can find them. You can go away now."
He could hardly believe what he had heard. "But... I didn't... how will
you find them?"
She still had that expression, the superior smile with just a hint of
cruel amusement, her eyes burning with rage. "Of course you did. I am
Phoenix, I can pluck their location from your very mind. I can follow the
patterns of their thoughts. I can accomplish the rest without you."
She turned, and was on her way towards Westchester before he could
regain his breath. He blinked at the trails of flame, and didn't notice the
figure climb from the back of the plane, didn't notice the man in dark
clothing chasing the fire wrapped woman. All he knew was that he had to
follow her. If she went beyond the radius of his illusions, his game would
end. If the woman did somehow posses psychic abilities, then he could
control and mould her into the new Black Queen, as he had attempted to do
with the true Phoenix.
When he arrived at the X-Men's mansion, he discovered that the woman was
there, her body now fully surrounded by a flaming aura, and standing near
her, trying to talk to her was Scott Summers. How had he got here? It was
impossible! Never mind that, he would have to simply adjust the illusion
accordingly, and the X-Man would either fall to the hand of his possibly
ex-girlfriend, or he would hurt her, perhaps kill her, thinking that she was
the Dark Phoenix.
As he had hoped, the X-Men panicked at the presumed return of the Dark
Phoenix. There was fear and confusion, and at first he was having such fun
watching what was happening. Then the clouds rolled in, and masses of fog
just flowed in from nowhere, and he couldn't see what was happening anymore.
Unfortunately, that meant that he couldn't fuel the confrontation with his
illusions anymore. Perhaps it would be best if he departed before his
presence was detected...
His stealthy departure meant that he didn't see the Professor fall, his
chair unbalanced by a gust of wind and tipped by a telekinetic bolt from the
woman who thought she was Phoenix. He didn't see the Professor fall
unconscious, or Scott Summers stop and realize that this wasn't right. He
missed the realization that somehow, the whole team had been manipulated,
and that meant that he was unable to conceal the truth from them. He missed
seeing Scott Summers grab the hand of the woman known only as Rogue, and
missed the most critical exchange of the evening.
"Rogue! Something isn't right with this! It feels wrong, like we're
moving in a dream or something." He almost whispered into Rogue's ear.
"Wrong? Ya mean that we aren't supposed to be fightin' the Dark
Phoenix again? Ah could've told you that one, sugar." The sarcasm was
almost tangible, and it was laid thick in an effort to disguise her fear.
"Yes, this is wrong. We have to get to the truth about it, and I can
only see one way for that to happen." Determination lent steel to Scott's voice.
"Ya have a plan? Let's hear it then."
"Touch the Professor. Absorb his telepathy and find out what's really
going on. It's the only way!"
Cringing slightly, Rogue peeled off her glove, and reached over,
resting her fingertips on the Professor's head, hoping that he wasn't to
badly injured. His telepathic abilities surged into her, and she could feel
everyone, sense their minds, the shadings of their emotions, and their
desperate fear, the dread they had all felt at the idea of the Dark Phoenix.
The power continued to flow into her, and she could see into their minds,
hear their thoughts, touch their memories...
Soaring through clouds, feathers sensing every shift of the air/
Mariko - wish I could be with you. Miss you so badly maybe I'll see you
soon/ Winds to blow the phoenix off balance, Lightning? no, she is to close
to Logan and to Betsy... dry wind carrying the scent of hot sands/ 'Are you
Jean?' look of pain and betrayal and heartache - what have I done, no
Maddie, I'm sorry.../ a strange man with a pipe, 'you will be the instrument
of my revenge'... I am Mastermind!'
:NO!!: Rogue shouted, uncertain and uncaring if it was simply with
her voice or with her mind. :You are not the Phoenix! That slimey worm
tricked you... Madelyne, stop this at once! Ya'll stop this!:
The fighting milled to a confused halt, and everyone tried to clear
the ringing from their heads, hearing the echoes of Rogue's voice in their
heads. Madelyne gasped, and the fires went out suddenly, and she dropped to
the ground, unconscious.
With some caution, everyone went into the house, and those
unfortunates, like Madelyne and the Professor that couldn't walk were
carried. This had to be sorted out, and the truth discovered.
Eventually Madelyne woke up, and sat in a soft chair, her hair falling
around her, still inexplicably clad in the uniform of the Phoenix, her hair
falling around her face. She wouldn't look at Scott. There was no trace of
flames around her, nor any sign of any telepathic or telekinetic ability.
Madelyne's voice broke the quiet murmurs, and brought the focus back
to what had happened. "Who is this Mastermind? Who was Phoenix, and why
did he think it would be so wonderful to convince me that I was her? How
did he do that anyhow?"
There was a bit of glancing around, and in the end, it was Warren who
spoke. "Jason Wyndgaurd, who calls himself Mastermind is a mutant. He can
make illusions, and use them to control someone's mind. He... Jean was
Phoenix, it was her code-name. Mastermind tried to use his illusions to
corrupt her, to have her join this group that tries to gain power. She went
mad... and it was a very ugly and scary thing. Considering how much you
look like her... he used you as the focus of an illusion of her coming back."
Madelyne looked surprised, and a bit afraid. "Why?"
Logan answered, his voice gruff. "When he didn't gain control over
Jeannie, it made his status drop real fast. He blamed the X-Men for that.
If we hadn't figured out what was going on... you could have been killed.
That would have had a devastating effect on a lot of the people here."
Hope flicked in Madelyne's eyes, and she raised her head, looking at
Logan over her knees, with her arms wrapped below them. "Could he have...
played on the fact that I resemble Jean with Scott? He said... I want to
know if that deceitful worm could have been responsible for it."
Logan paused a moment to consider things. "It's possible. He has a
lot of practice, and to just make someone worry or question without actually
making them see something that isn't there... he could have."
Scott spoke, his voice thick with shame and misery. "I'm sorry
Madelyne. What I said... it was out of line. I'm sorry. Can you ever forgive me?"
Madelyne gave a shaky smile, and nodded, her eyes glistening with
tears, and a single tear making it's way down her cheek. "I... I can
forgive you Scott. I love you."
He was over there, pulling her into a desperate hug almost
immediately. "I was such a fool. I should have looked at what I had,
should have seen how wonderful you are."
end Fire and Confusion.
Series: Something in Red # 6
rating: pg 13
disclaimer: I do not own anyone from Marvel.
distribution: please ask first. Luba can have it.
Madelyne stopped, suddenly confused. She was standing in a study, a
warm fire blazing in the fireplace, and there was a man sitting in a
comfortable leather chair, smoking a pipe. He seemed utterly calm, and it
seemed almost fitting that he was there. There were wisps of the same warm
fire trailing her, cascading from her hair, twining over her hands, trailing
at the end of her sash... Sash? Looking down, she discovered that she was
somehow dressed in this formfitting outfit in red with high, golden boots,
golden gloves, and a golden sash tied around her hips. It fit her body like
a glove, outlining her curves in a flamboyant statement that was completely
alien to anything in her closet. The outfit tugged at her memory, stirring
something in the buried depths. She was not quite surprised to note the
stylized bird shape at the throat, or that a matching bird shape held her
sash together. She stood there, looking at this man, trying to figure out
where he had come from, how she had ended up in his study.
"Who are you? Where am I and how did I get here?" Her confusion was clear.
The man smiled, smoke wreathing his head and making her eyes itch in a
way that the flames surrounding her didn't. "I am Jason Wyndgaurd. You may
call me Mastermind, my dear lovely redhead. You will be the perfect pawn
for my grand revenge."
Madelyne took a step back, something in her wanting to get far away from
this man. "Revenge? Pawn? I don't want to be your pawn, I don't want to
be anyone's pawn."
With a cold smile, the man stood up, his eyes focussed on her, and she
felt as if they were two pools, sucking her into their depths, and his voice
echoed, as if from far away. "You will be the perfect tool for my revenge
against the X-Men. You will be the stuff of their nightmares, the Dark
Phoenix reborn."
Madelyn's world seemed to dissolve into flames and rage. She glimpsed
fragments of places that she'd never been, images of Scott's friends in odd
clothing, clothing that like this red and gold outfit hugged their bodies
and allowed them to move freely. Scott, the man that she was furious at...
he would pay for her humiliation, yes, he would pay dearly for toying with
her heart. Was she not the Phoenix? Was she not powerful?
The man who called himself Mastermind watched as the young woman
surrendered herself to his illusions. He had planted in her mind the
suggestion that she WAS the Phoenix, that she was the being of beautiful
power, fearsome strength, gifted in telepathy and telekinesis, wreathed in
flames as her emotions burned bright inside of her. It had been so easy to
plant the idea, to watch it take root in her mind until she accepted it,
until she no longer questioned his presence.
He hadn't expected that the uniform that he had remembered the Phoenix
wearing would actually manifest to his own perceptions. He was immune to
the illusions that he wrapped others in. But there she stood, in the red
and gold, her hair rippling down her back like fire... were those flames
along her hair, or mere illusion? He felt a flicker of uncertainty as he
realized that he didn't know.
"Lady Phoenix? Allow me to take you to them, to allow you your
revenge." He led the woman to a small plane, one that he had borrowed from
the Hellfire Club, and the pilot that was waiting inside of it. The pilot
had been well conditioned by the club, and only shifted nervously at the
sight of a woman with flames flowing amidst her hair climbed into the airplane.
He was particularly glad when they arrived in New York. The woman that
he'd deluded into thinking she was Phoenix had spent the whole time with her
face staring unseeing at the window, her hair rippling with fire, her eyes a
bright green, her fingers drumming and angry rhythem against the arm of her
seat. He kept having this little suspicion in the back of his mind that
something about this wasn't quite right, wasn't normal. But everything had
to be normal. She wasn't Phoenix, she didn't have that woman's power. But
it seemed that she didn't know that. The small flames continued to flicker
over her body, caressing her form, making the body suit, a creation that he'd
noticed was entirely without seams glisten in the firelight. Her hair
rippled, almost lie darker flames, and when she left the plane, her feet
didn't quite touch the ground.
She looked at him, and her lips curved into something like a smile.
"Thank you for telling me where I can find them. You can go away now."
He could hardly believe what he had heard. "But... I didn't... how will
you find them?"
She still had that expression, the superior smile with just a hint of
cruel amusement, her eyes burning with rage. "Of course you did. I am
Phoenix, I can pluck their location from your very mind. I can follow the
patterns of their thoughts. I can accomplish the rest without you."
She turned, and was on her way towards Westchester before he could
regain his breath. He blinked at the trails of flame, and didn't notice the
figure climb from the back of the plane, didn't notice the man in dark
clothing chasing the fire wrapped woman. All he knew was that he had to
follow her. If she went beyond the radius of his illusions, his game would
end. If the woman did somehow posses psychic abilities, then he could
control and mould her into the new Black Queen, as he had attempted to do
with the true Phoenix.
When he arrived at the X-Men's mansion, he discovered that the woman was
there, her body now fully surrounded by a flaming aura, and standing near
her, trying to talk to her was Scott Summers. How had he got here? It was
impossible! Never mind that, he would have to simply adjust the illusion
accordingly, and the X-Man would either fall to the hand of his possibly
ex-girlfriend, or he would hurt her, perhaps kill her, thinking that she was
the Dark Phoenix.
As he had hoped, the X-Men panicked at the presumed return of the Dark
Phoenix. There was fear and confusion, and at first he was having such fun
watching what was happening. Then the clouds rolled in, and masses of fog
just flowed in from nowhere, and he couldn't see what was happening anymore.
Unfortunately, that meant that he couldn't fuel the confrontation with his
illusions anymore. Perhaps it would be best if he departed before his
presence was detected...
His stealthy departure meant that he didn't see the Professor fall, his
chair unbalanced by a gust of wind and tipped by a telekinetic bolt from the
woman who thought she was Phoenix. He didn't see the Professor fall
unconscious, or Scott Summers stop and realize that this wasn't right. He
missed the realization that somehow, the whole team had been manipulated,
and that meant that he was unable to conceal the truth from them. He missed
seeing Scott Summers grab the hand of the woman known only as Rogue, and
missed the most critical exchange of the evening.
"Rogue! Something isn't right with this! It feels wrong, like we're
moving in a dream or something." He almost whispered into Rogue's ear.
"Wrong? Ya mean that we aren't supposed to be fightin' the Dark
Phoenix again? Ah could've told you that one, sugar." The sarcasm was
almost tangible, and it was laid thick in an effort to disguise her fear.
"Yes, this is wrong. We have to get to the truth about it, and I can
only see one way for that to happen." Determination lent steel to Scott's voice.
"Ya have a plan? Let's hear it then."
"Touch the Professor. Absorb his telepathy and find out what's really
going on. It's the only way!"
Cringing slightly, Rogue peeled off her glove, and reached over,
resting her fingertips on the Professor's head, hoping that he wasn't to
badly injured. His telepathic abilities surged into her, and she could feel
everyone, sense their minds, the shadings of their emotions, and their
desperate fear, the dread they had all felt at the idea of the Dark Phoenix.
The power continued to flow into her, and she could see into their minds,
hear their thoughts, touch their memories...
Soaring through clouds, feathers sensing every shift of the air/
Mariko - wish I could be with you. Miss you so badly maybe I'll see you
soon/ Winds to blow the phoenix off balance, Lightning? no, she is to close
to Logan and to Betsy... dry wind carrying the scent of hot sands/ 'Are you
Jean?' look of pain and betrayal and heartache - what have I done, no
Maddie, I'm sorry.../ a strange man with a pipe, 'you will be the instrument
of my revenge'... I am Mastermind!'
:NO!!: Rogue shouted, uncertain and uncaring if it was simply with
her voice or with her mind. :You are not the Phoenix! That slimey worm
tricked you... Madelyne, stop this at once! Ya'll stop this!:
The fighting milled to a confused halt, and everyone tried to clear
the ringing from their heads, hearing the echoes of Rogue's voice in their
heads. Madelyne gasped, and the fires went out suddenly, and she dropped to
the ground, unconscious.
With some caution, everyone went into the house, and those
unfortunates, like Madelyne and the Professor that couldn't walk were
carried. This had to be sorted out, and the truth discovered.
Eventually Madelyne woke up, and sat in a soft chair, her hair falling
around her, still inexplicably clad in the uniform of the Phoenix, her hair
falling around her face. She wouldn't look at Scott. There was no trace of
flames around her, nor any sign of any telepathic or telekinetic ability.
Madelyne's voice broke the quiet murmurs, and brought the focus back
to what had happened. "Who is this Mastermind? Who was Phoenix, and why
did he think it would be so wonderful to convince me that I was her? How
did he do that anyhow?"
There was a bit of glancing around, and in the end, it was Warren who
spoke. "Jason Wyndgaurd, who calls himself Mastermind is a mutant. He can
make illusions, and use them to control someone's mind. He... Jean was
Phoenix, it was her code-name. Mastermind tried to use his illusions to
corrupt her, to have her join this group that tries to gain power. She went
mad... and it was a very ugly and scary thing. Considering how much you
look like her... he used you as the focus of an illusion of her coming back."
Madelyne looked surprised, and a bit afraid. "Why?"
Logan answered, his voice gruff. "When he didn't gain control over
Jeannie, it made his status drop real fast. He blamed the X-Men for that.
If we hadn't figured out what was going on... you could have been killed.
That would have had a devastating effect on a lot of the people here."
Hope flicked in Madelyne's eyes, and she raised her head, looking at
Logan over her knees, with her arms wrapped below them. "Could he have...
played on the fact that I resemble Jean with Scott? He said... I want to
know if that deceitful worm could have been responsible for it."
Logan paused a moment to consider things. "It's possible. He has a
lot of practice, and to just make someone worry or question without actually
making them see something that isn't there... he could have."
Scott spoke, his voice thick with shame and misery. "I'm sorry
Madelyne. What I said... it was out of line. I'm sorry. Can you ever forgive me?"
Madelyne gave a shaky smile, and nodded, her eyes glistening with
tears, and a single tear making it's way down her cheek. "I... I can
forgive you Scott. I love you."
He was over there, pulling her into a desperate hug almost
immediately. "I was such a fool. I should have looked at what I had,
should have seen how wonderful you are."
end Fire and Confusion.