Chapter 67: Ties that Bind Us
Xavier sat at the feet of the wheelchair that had been his means of momentum ever since his legs stopped working. As he lie on the ground, withering in pain from Magneto's assault, he reached out telepathically, and, in a desperate attempt, latched onto the easiest minds to grasp, and pulled them to the Astral plain.
As he opened his eyes, Xavier found himself sitting in the midst of a field of clouds. Around him lay the astral forms of Jubilee, Jean, Jonothan, Kyle, and Betsy. As the five of them sat up, shaking their heads, Xavier spoke, knowing that, even with the difference in the flow of time here, they did not have forever.
"We must plan quickly if we are to defeat Magneto. I believe that, between us all, we can defeat him." He said, his voice sure.
Kyle turned and looked at Professor Xavier. The Professor was startled slightly to see a pair of deep black eyes sitting in his eye sockets.
"I'm not so sure, Professor. We have no way to fight past the pain, and if we can't get past that, then we're doomed to failure."
The Professor looked at Kyle, as did the others, and, for the first time, saw the side of him that had nearly given up against Mystique. The side of him that had nearly let Betsy kill Amara, and had nearly convinced the rest of him to lose the fight on Nova Roma.
"We have to try," Said Jean.
"Otherwise, this bastard'll level every major city in the world." Reminded Betsy.
"But how do we do it, then?" asked Kyle, slightly critical.
This question stumped the rest of the X-Men.
"Bloody bastard's got us over a barrel." Said Jono.
Each X-Man psychic turned to look at the others.
"Yes he does." Said Xavier finally.
Each X-Man began to wonder on how to defeat Magneto, only to be interrupted by entry of other mental presences upon their own.
"Guys, I would really rather you not probe me." Said Jubilee, who was the only non-psychic.
"I'm not." Said all the psychic's.
Jubilee stared at them, then jumped when Bobby appeared in front of her.
"Whoa!" Said Bobby.
Looking around, Bobby whistled.
"Nice place. Like the cloud motif."
Before they could comment, Scott appeared next to Jean.
"Wow!" Said Scott.
"Guess our link's a little more powerful than we thought." Said Scott to Jean.
"Guess so." She responded.
As the Professor stared at them, a little startled, Paige appeared at Jonothan's feet. Her hands were clutching her temples, as she lay in a fetal position.
"My head!" Paige kept screaming over and over.
Jonothan stumbled back. "Professar! I cannet get 'er out of my head. Iffen I doon't, she'll die."
Xavier walked forward. (AN: Yes, walked. In the astral Plain, Xavier has full function to the lower half of his body.) Kneeling down next to Paige, he found that Jonothan's mental presence was incredible.
"Jonothan, your going to have to withdraw from her mind."
"I already said I cannae do it." Said Jonothan.
The Professor reached in telepathically, and found that Jono was somehow rooted deeply into Paige's mind.
"Professah! Help meh!" Shrieked Paige, as the two psychics in her head were far too much for her.
The Professor drew back out, and spoke softly to Paige with his telepathy.
"Paige, I need you to listen to me, and do exactly what I say. Now, focus on the presence in your mind."
Paige nodded to the professor, and focused as hard as she could on the presence.
"Now, I need you to try and wrap it up tight. Try to imagine it like corn stalks that you want to bind together."
Paige listened, and soon was wrapping the presence up tightly.
"Now, stop focusing on it."
Paige did so, and the Professor, who had been telepathically observing, watched as the binding strained slightly, then stabilized, returning the presence to the original shape her binding had held it in.
Before the Professor could explain what had happened, Roberto materialized beside Betsy.
"Wow, almost reminds me of flying." Said Roberto, as he looked around.
Betsy smacked the Brazilian, as another figure appeared in the cloudy visage.
"WHOA!!!! Where'd the ground go!" Shrieked Amara.
"Calm down, Mara." Said Kyle, as he hugged her from behind. "You're on the Astral Plain. You know, that place we psychics get to go to."
She shook her head slightly, as she leaned back, relieved, into her boyfriend.
The Professor began to speak, only to find himself cut off by a familiar voice.
"Charles, Oiy would like te know why ye be in me head."
The Professor stared at Moira for a second, then, telepathically probing slightly, found that he was indeed in her head. But he found that, when he tried to withdraw, he couldn't.
"I do not know, Moira. And I can't withdraw."
Jean and Scott traded looks.
"Professor." Said Jean.
"Yes, Jean."
"It may be a psychic link. Me and Scott have one, but I didn't think it was this powerful. But now I can read almost any thought without even realizing it."
"She's not the only one." Said Scott.
Their eyes glazed over slightly, then unglazed.
The Professor had launched subtle psychic probes to each of the X-men present, beseeching Kyle for entry before trying. What he found astounded him.
"We all seem to have formed psionic links to the non-telepaths here. Paige, the reason that yours was so painful, while the others weren't, was that Jonothan's powers are so…"
"Unfocused." Said Jono. "Me powar's are embodied in the energy in me chest. Since that's so unfocused."
"The telepathic bond was as well." said the Professor. "It was straying everywhere, and was causing far more damage than it should have. You'll be okay, but you may be prone to headaches for a few months."
"While this is all well and good, how do we defeat Magneto?" Asked Roberto.
Kyle's eyes, which had gone cloudy for a moment, refocused.
"It seems our bodies have blocked the pain, due to the psionic 'presences' our links leave. I believe we may be able to use that to our advantage."
