Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Mutant X.
Author's Note: Me? Love cliffhangers?? Oh yeah baby!!! And here's another one! Well, the end of the story is fast approaching, so I feel the need for a quick reminder coming on,...
In short, Brennan is shackled to a pillar and about to be burnt, Emma is lying half dead after being knocked out by Firefly's telepathic force, Shalimar is a gibbering wreck surrounded by a wall of flames, Jesse is fighting a loosing battle against the guards and Adam is being held captive by some other guards.
She smiled, knowing there was nothing anyone could do to stop her now. Despite the unexpectedness of the ambush, things were going her way.
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Chapter 22: Firefly Vs Rosalie
A pain speared her head and she frowned, holding her hand to her forehead. She initiated her self-healing powers but it didn't help. She frowned harder. Something was wrong. She could always heal anything that was wrong with her. A little headache should present no problems.
Suddenly, the pain increased. It felt as if there was a raging fire inside her head, and she fell to her knees clutching her hair. She opened her eyes momentarily to look around. She didn't want to risk looking vulnerable in front of her Preachers, guards, and the mutant team. No one had noticed anything wrong with her; they were too involved in the battle Jesse was fighting.
The pain continued increasing until she thought she couldn't take any more. She looked up at Emma, wondering whether the girl had woken and was doing this to her, but she was still unconscious.
Her gaze met Brennan's as she wondered whether something about his feelings had been transferred to her, but he was looking more concerned for her rather than for himself. She screamed audibly as she pulled at her hair in terror. What was going on? She fell to the floor as the world went black.
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The sounds of fighting were silenced as she opened her eyes. Blackness surrounded her. She was no longer in the Elimination Hall but at least the pain in her head had gone.
"Is there anyone there?" she called out. Her own voice echoed back at her. As she strained her eyes trying to see something in the blackness, a dim red sphere lit up in front of her.
"Yes," came a female voice.
"Who are you?" she questioned, squinting to see into the dark distance. As the red glow became brighter, she realised she was looking into a mirror. She moved her hand out to touch her reflection, but the image remained still.
"I am Rosalie," came the female voice again as the lips of her image moved in sync with the voice.
"You can't be Rosalie, I am," she argued. The image remained still.
"This has come to an end," the image said as the red glow the image held in her hand started getting brighter. The sphere increased in size until it was large enough to surround a person, then stopped. She could feel the heat radiating off it as the ball of heat came towards her. As it touched her skin, she shrieked in pain. She looked down to see her skin blistering.
"What's going on?" she screamed.
"This is the only way of eradicating you from Rosalie's mind forever," came the voice. "It has to be done."
The glowing ball continued to advance, enveloping her completely within itself. The pain from the heat was somewhat alleviated as long as she didn't touch the edge of the sphere, but as she looked around to find the image, the ball began to contract. As the edges came nearer, they came in contact with her skin, blistering it and making her scream in pain.
The ball continued getting smaller and smaller until she could hardly feel her body any more from the pain. She let out one last shriek of pain as she blacked out.
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Adam looked on as he watched Firefly fall unconscious to the floor. She writhed around in pain for what seemed like an eternity in Adam's mind. After only a few minutes, she got up, looking more composed now, if slightly dazed, and raised her hand to aim at Jesse.
"Jesse, look out!" he yelled at him. Jesse looked away from the guards he was fighting, his attention diverted by Adam's shout. Adam watched as if in slow motion as one guard took advantage of his opponent's decreased concentration, and swung a leg out, aiming to connect with Jesse's head. A stream of nearly white fire streaked across the hall towards the huddle of fighting bodies and her voice rang out, piercing the atmosphere like a hot knife through butter.
"Enough!"
The blast diverged into four streams and floored the four guards Jesse was fighting just as the kick was about to connect. Adam turned to watch her as she then transferred her attention to the guards holding down Adam.
Again, the stream of pure energy sprang from her fingertips, hitting both guards and freeing Adam. He immediately ran towards Brennan and unchained his arms and legs. Jesse ran towards the unconscious Emma as Rosalie waved her hands in the air and dispersed the fire surrounding Shalimar. Shalimar ran into Adam's arms, and they made their way to see Emma.
"Rosalie," Adam called out. "Can you bring Emma back?" Rosalie went over to the group, fearing the worst. As she approached the psionic's inert form, she gasped, horrified at how she had nearly killed her best friend. She knelt at Emma's side and directed a stream of gold light towards her chest. As they watched the gold ripples diverge outwards through her body, a voice rang out from behind them.
"Highness, we must accelerate the Elimination before these people affect your mind further."
She turned to see a group of Preachers surrounding Brennan. One had the sceptre in his hand and was aiming it towards him.
"May the wishes of the ever-wise and noble Firefly be forever obeyed!"
He raised the sceptre above his head and a streak of flame erupted from its tip, hitting Brennan on the chest so forcefully that it pushed him back against the pillar. He gathered his remaining energy, although his body was a bag of excruciating pains, and prepared to aim a lethal dose of electricity. The Preacher in charge smiled enigmatically as he waved a hand towards the door.
"Your power won't work, traitor. Not when Firefly herself has given us the key to neutralising you," he hissed at Brennan.
Brennan ignored the little man and started shooting energy bursts towards the gathered Preachers. At once, a large pipe appeared from the high ceiling of the hall, directly above Brennan. Rosalie paled at the memory. If he were doused in water now, the enormous amounts of energy he was blasting would be enough to kill him when he electrocuted himself. She screamed as she ran towards Brennan.
"Brennan, stop!" but he couldn't hear her through the ringing in his ears and the noise from the yelling Preachers. The water began pouring towards him as she racked her mind for how to stop this. She shot a stream of fire towards it in her panic, hoping it would do what she intended. As her fire met the torrent of water, it vaporised into steam in mid air.
"How long can you keep that up?" called Adam. The guards weren't responding to her demands for them to stop, and the torrent kept on coming.
She shot a glance at Bren who was now slumped at the foot of the pillar, completely exhausted. She had to do something, and she had to be quick about it.
"Hang on to something," she yelled before she shut her eyes and summoned up all her spare reserves of energy. She could still feel the power flowing through her body as she attempted to channel it where she wanted it.
A cone of fire appeared in the centre of the hall, revolving on its point. As she continued to direct all her energy to that point, it grew in size and spun more rapidly. Soon it had filled the hall and anyone not holding on to something was being sucked into its centre. Adam reached the unconscious Brennan in time and held them both to the pillar.
Both Preachers and guards were swirling around inside the cone of fire, unable to control their movement around the Hall. As Rosalie concentrated harder and summoned up energy she didn't know she had, the cone began to close in on itself, trapping the people inside. Smaller and smaller it contracted, until the shrieks of the people enclosed inside it were silenced and the cone popped out of existence.
As she opened her eyes, she noticed she was on all fours on the floor. Her teammates were strewn around the Hall, but there was no evidence of anyone else. She raised her head long enough to make sure Brennan was all right, and seeing Adam tending to his wounds she collapsed on the floor from sheer exhaustion.
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I've really gone to town with this one! Brennan and Emma half dead, Shalimar emotionally scarred. Will I stop at nothing? Erm, nope! Enjoy! :o)
Author's Note: Me? Love cliffhangers?? Oh yeah baby!!! And here's another one! Well, the end of the story is fast approaching, so I feel the need for a quick reminder coming on,...
In short, Brennan is shackled to a pillar and about to be burnt, Emma is lying half dead after being knocked out by Firefly's telepathic force, Shalimar is a gibbering wreck surrounded by a wall of flames, Jesse is fighting a loosing battle against the guards and Adam is being held captive by some other guards.
She smiled, knowing there was nothing anyone could do to stop her now. Despite the unexpectedness of the ambush, things were going her way.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Chapter 22: Firefly Vs Rosalie
A pain speared her head and she frowned, holding her hand to her forehead. She initiated her self-healing powers but it didn't help. She frowned harder. Something was wrong. She could always heal anything that was wrong with her. A little headache should present no problems.
Suddenly, the pain increased. It felt as if there was a raging fire inside her head, and she fell to her knees clutching her hair. She opened her eyes momentarily to look around. She didn't want to risk looking vulnerable in front of her Preachers, guards, and the mutant team. No one had noticed anything wrong with her; they were too involved in the battle Jesse was fighting.
The pain continued increasing until she thought she couldn't take any more. She looked up at Emma, wondering whether the girl had woken and was doing this to her, but she was still unconscious.
Her gaze met Brennan's as she wondered whether something about his feelings had been transferred to her, but he was looking more concerned for her rather than for himself. She screamed audibly as she pulled at her hair in terror. What was going on? She fell to the floor as the world went black.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
The sounds of fighting were silenced as she opened her eyes. Blackness surrounded her. She was no longer in the Elimination Hall but at least the pain in her head had gone.
"Is there anyone there?" she called out. Her own voice echoed back at her. As she strained her eyes trying to see something in the blackness, a dim red sphere lit up in front of her.
"Yes," came a female voice.
"Who are you?" she questioned, squinting to see into the dark distance. As the red glow became brighter, she realised she was looking into a mirror. She moved her hand out to touch her reflection, but the image remained still.
"I am Rosalie," came the female voice again as the lips of her image moved in sync with the voice.
"You can't be Rosalie, I am," she argued. The image remained still.
"This has come to an end," the image said as the red glow the image held in her hand started getting brighter. The sphere increased in size until it was large enough to surround a person, then stopped. She could feel the heat radiating off it as the ball of heat came towards her. As it touched her skin, she shrieked in pain. She looked down to see her skin blistering.
"What's going on?" she screamed.
"This is the only way of eradicating you from Rosalie's mind forever," came the voice. "It has to be done."
The glowing ball continued to advance, enveloping her completely within itself. The pain from the heat was somewhat alleviated as long as she didn't touch the edge of the sphere, but as she looked around to find the image, the ball began to contract. As the edges came nearer, they came in contact with her skin, blistering it and making her scream in pain.
The ball continued getting smaller and smaller until she could hardly feel her body any more from the pain. She let out one last shriek of pain as she blacked out.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Adam looked on as he watched Firefly fall unconscious to the floor. She writhed around in pain for what seemed like an eternity in Adam's mind. After only a few minutes, she got up, looking more composed now, if slightly dazed, and raised her hand to aim at Jesse.
"Jesse, look out!" he yelled at him. Jesse looked away from the guards he was fighting, his attention diverted by Adam's shout. Adam watched as if in slow motion as one guard took advantage of his opponent's decreased concentration, and swung a leg out, aiming to connect with Jesse's head. A stream of nearly white fire streaked across the hall towards the huddle of fighting bodies and her voice rang out, piercing the atmosphere like a hot knife through butter.
"Enough!"
The blast diverged into four streams and floored the four guards Jesse was fighting just as the kick was about to connect. Adam turned to watch her as she then transferred her attention to the guards holding down Adam.
Again, the stream of pure energy sprang from her fingertips, hitting both guards and freeing Adam. He immediately ran towards Brennan and unchained his arms and legs. Jesse ran towards the unconscious Emma as Rosalie waved her hands in the air and dispersed the fire surrounding Shalimar. Shalimar ran into Adam's arms, and they made their way to see Emma.
"Rosalie," Adam called out. "Can you bring Emma back?" Rosalie went over to the group, fearing the worst. As she approached the psionic's inert form, she gasped, horrified at how she had nearly killed her best friend. She knelt at Emma's side and directed a stream of gold light towards her chest. As they watched the gold ripples diverge outwards through her body, a voice rang out from behind them.
"Highness, we must accelerate the Elimination before these people affect your mind further."
She turned to see a group of Preachers surrounding Brennan. One had the sceptre in his hand and was aiming it towards him.
"May the wishes of the ever-wise and noble Firefly be forever obeyed!"
He raised the sceptre above his head and a streak of flame erupted from its tip, hitting Brennan on the chest so forcefully that it pushed him back against the pillar. He gathered his remaining energy, although his body was a bag of excruciating pains, and prepared to aim a lethal dose of electricity. The Preacher in charge smiled enigmatically as he waved a hand towards the door.
"Your power won't work, traitor. Not when Firefly herself has given us the key to neutralising you," he hissed at Brennan.
Brennan ignored the little man and started shooting energy bursts towards the gathered Preachers. At once, a large pipe appeared from the high ceiling of the hall, directly above Brennan. Rosalie paled at the memory. If he were doused in water now, the enormous amounts of energy he was blasting would be enough to kill him when he electrocuted himself. She screamed as she ran towards Brennan.
"Brennan, stop!" but he couldn't hear her through the ringing in his ears and the noise from the yelling Preachers. The water began pouring towards him as she racked her mind for how to stop this. She shot a stream of fire towards it in her panic, hoping it would do what she intended. As her fire met the torrent of water, it vaporised into steam in mid air.
"How long can you keep that up?" called Adam. The guards weren't responding to her demands for them to stop, and the torrent kept on coming.
She shot a glance at Bren who was now slumped at the foot of the pillar, completely exhausted. She had to do something, and she had to be quick about it.
"Hang on to something," she yelled before she shut her eyes and summoned up all her spare reserves of energy. She could still feel the power flowing through her body as she attempted to channel it where she wanted it.
A cone of fire appeared in the centre of the hall, revolving on its point. As she continued to direct all her energy to that point, it grew in size and spun more rapidly. Soon it had filled the hall and anyone not holding on to something was being sucked into its centre. Adam reached the unconscious Brennan in time and held them both to the pillar.
Both Preachers and guards were swirling around inside the cone of fire, unable to control their movement around the Hall. As Rosalie concentrated harder and summoned up energy she didn't know she had, the cone began to close in on itself, trapping the people inside. Smaller and smaller it contracted, until the shrieks of the people enclosed inside it were silenced and the cone popped out of existence.
As she opened her eyes, she noticed she was on all fours on the floor. Her teammates were strewn around the Hall, but there was no evidence of anyone else. She raised her head long enough to make sure Brennan was all right, and seeing Adam tending to his wounds she collapsed on the floor from sheer exhaustion.
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I've really gone to town with this one! Brennan and Emma half dead, Shalimar emotionally scarred. Will I stop at nothing? Erm, nope! Enjoy! :o)