23. "How long until the paralysis wears off?" Beast asked going into the infirmary.
"I would need to know how her state is, my guess is anywhere from seven to fifteen minutes. That's too long," Tom answered, feeling his leg start cramping, and placed Faye into one of the beds. "Dammit, I hate being on the outside, I can't help her any out here."
Beast hooked her up to machines that would monitor her pulse and brain waves. Tom took the robe off her and looked at the woman whom he once called sister.
"We're losing her," Beast reported, though Tom wasn't listening.
This isn't her, he thought. It can't be. She's...different.
"Tom," said Rue, cutting through his thoughts.
"Yes, love?"
"Is Jeff's a time paralysis or is it a liquid paralysis?"
"I don't understand, what are you on about?"
"His daggers, they paralyze people, right?" she paused and he nodded. "Well, is it anything like my time control powers?"
Tom's eyes lit up.
"JEFF!!!!!!!!!" he hollered, walking out the door.
"What?" Jeff answered, walking up the hallway.
"Your paralysis, does it go through the blood and the system or is it mainly directed by time?"
"Hmm...Time, I suppose. But the amount of time depends on how susceptible the person is to the energy thrown at them."
"Meaning?" Rue asked from the door.
"It simply means that if the person is strong, the energy might only work for a short period of time. But if the person is weak, the energy will be stronger and the paralysis will last longer. Think of it as a spell of sorts, or a trance, it works differently depending on the person," Jeff explained, walking up to the room.
"So if she were to stop time around Faye, the paralysis would wear off without damaging her body?" Tom asked.
"I'm not sure, it might," Jeff said. "How do your powers work?"
"Well, from what I've been told, I can create a bubble where time is stopped, I can only control people's personal times, not time itself."
"Well, theoretically that could happen, but it would create an imbalance on the rules of the universe," Jeff said.
"You know, you're not the Oracle, right?" Tom said. "She is."
"Not anymore. She was never supposed to be one in the first place."
"Pardon me?"
"It's true, I know how she became the Oracle and it wasn't right. She is an imbalance on things, plus, she didn't even do a good job at it. You know, for an Oracle she was pretty clueless most of the time."
"Will you guys knock it off?" Rue screamed. "Will my powers work or not?"
"You could try, honey," Jeff said, bending down. "But how long can you hold it for?"
"Hopefully, long enough," she said, walking in.
"How's she?" Jeff asked.
"Her pulse is gone, but her brain waves are still active. It's as if someone in her was still fighting to keep going," Beast said.
"Daniel most likely," Tom said.
"Could be," Beast said and sighed. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"The three of us together?" Tom asked.
"Yes."
"Sure has. Although, last time I wasn't standing here on the outside and you weren't blue. It was after Mexico, right?"
"Yes, I remember. I let her hide in my place for a while."
"Oh, yes..."
"Alright! Enough chitchat, let me get to work," Rue complained. "Get out of here. I don't want to stop you guys too."
"What are you gonna do?" asked Beast.
"She's gonna stop Faye's personal time to see if she can help with the paralysis. It's a long shot, though."
"I'll try to concentrate only on her, but if you're too close, I can't protect you. I still don't know how Logan got away."
"I can't let you go through with this," Jeff said.
"I agree," Beast said.
"Why?" Tom and Rue asked at the same time.
"It's way too dangerous. She's still too young and inexperienced. It would be hard for Xavier to keep it going for as long as she's planning," Beast said.
"Besides, if I know Faye, she'll have a fit if she knew what you had planned," Jeff completed.
"She just doesn't have the proper training," Beast said. Rue tried to protest but they shook their heads, so she stormed out of the room.
"Oh, alright. You don't care if Faye is dying anymore. She's been on the verge of death so many times before, maybe you think she'll pull through again," Tom blurted, sarcastically.
"Tom, it's not that we don't care," Jeff said.
"Oh, no. It's just that everyone will be better off if she does die, right? You said so yourself: she's an imbalance. She killed the Oracle and took his place, right?"
"She killed the Oracle and took my place!" Jeff screamed.
"Oh, so that's what this is about? But no matter, I will try everything I can," Tom hollered, putting his hands on Faye's shoulders.
He concentrated his powers on her heart and her mind.
"Now, what are you doing?" Jeff asked.
"She's always calling herself a machine, maybe this will work," he answered.
His powers passed through Faye's body and ran up the machines. The heart monitor beeped once but it was soon silent; at the same time the brain wave patterns died down. Suddenly, Rue came running back, she pressed Faye's thumb on the sensor of the small, cylindrical object she had on her hands. As she did, the stick released itself and a scythe popped out at the end. She took it on her hands and, careful not to touch the many sensors, she jumped up on the bed and pointed the weapon to the three men standing there.
"Get out!!" she demanded.
"Now, what in the world do you think you're doing?" asked Beast.
"I gotta save her. Come on, outside, and don't even think about coming in here," she said swinging the weapon around. "NOW!"
"Hey! You're gonna hurt someone like that. It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye," Jeff said.
"Oh, bloody hell," Tom muttered. "Nice time for a joke."
They backed up until they reached the door. Beast and Jeff got out, but Tom stayed put, looking at the girl. She jumped down from the bed and threatened Tom.
"Get out!" she said.
"Make me," he answered.
She swung the scythe around but he blocked it.
"Get out!" she said, her eyes tearing.
"You're forgetting, love, that I had to live with Faye for a long time. Anything you can possibly say or do won't scare me in the least."
She furiously swung the scythe again, this time she cut his shirt across the chest. Bringing it back, she nipped Tom's cheek. He put his hand up and felt blood trickling down. Angrily, he charged up to the girl and caught the scythe. He sent his powers to the sensors and activated them. The scythe popped back in, but before he could retract the pole, she pushed him. She couldn't do much, other than make him laugh, but she tried nonetheless. Tom was about to pick her up, when Jeff caught him by the collar and pulled him outside. The door closed between them and Jeff stood in front of it.
"Ok, you can't come in," Jeff said.
"Now, what are you on about? You're the one who was against having her do anything!" Tom protested.
"Right, and I don't expect you to understand it. You didn't see what I saw."
"Ya can't see, ya bloomin' retard!!!" Tom hollered. "You know, I ain't gonna stick around here, and let me just say that I ain't the one that'll answer the Canadian bloke when he's back. I'm going in there to get Faye away from that brat, now, piss off!"
"NO!" Jeff shouted. "In there, there's a scared little girl, who thinks that the only person that cared for her in the world is about to die, I'm not going to destroy her dream like that, so you piss off!!"
With all the anger he was feeling balled up in him, Tom clenched his fists and tried to hold himself, but he couldn't. He growled and jumped on Jeff, who tried to protect himself; Tom caught his walking stick and threw it back, hitting Beast, who was about to break up the two, in the nose. Tom punched Jeff in the face twice and was about to punch him again when Jeff caught his hand and squeezed. Jeff landed one on Tom's nose, as Beast, who was now bleeding, pulled them apart. Beast stood between the two.
"Stop that!" he warned. "The professor will be back any minute now. We have to get Rue out of there."
Tom tried to get Jeff, but Beast stopped him.
"This isn't your concern, alright?" Tom said.
"Yeah," Jeff said, trying to get Tom; Beast put his hands up between them. "Stay out of it!!!" He put his hands up and imagined Beast away.
In a second, Beast found himself locked up in a cage in the attic.
"Oh," he sighed to himself, sitting down and resting his chin on one of his hands. "Why do I keep getting involved into stuff like this?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
24. Back in the infirmary, Rue concentrated on Faye's body. The machines had stopped moving, and she smiled to herself. She was on top of the bed standing in front of Faye, with her hands up and the palms facing Faye, as if she was about to put a spell on her. Rue concentrated hard and ignored the peanut gallery outside.
One of the machined beeped, and she concentrated harder. She could feel her powers failing and time slipping away, but she was determined to save the one person who freed her from Magneto's grasps.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
25. Once Beast was away, Jeff faced Tom again.
"Now, where were we?" he asked, getting into position.
"I was about to kick your arse," Tom said, attacking Jeff.
Tom grabbed Jeff by the collar and slammed him into a wall. Jeff grunted but stomped Tom's foot. He turned and brought his elbow into Tom's chest, quickly following it with a punch. Tom caught Jeff's fist and head-butted him; he, then, grabbed his shoulders, brought his knee sharply into Jeff's stomach and his elbow down on his back. Jeff fell down coughing and hacking.
"Had enough?" Tom asked, sarcastically.
Jeff brought himself up, growled and tackled Tom. The two men wrestled each other, kicking and punching, one trying to kill the other.
Professor Xavier wheeled his chair down the hallway, followed by Logan, Jean and a tired, but unscathed, Scott. Xavier halted as he saw the two of them fighting.
"Hey!" Logan growled. "Quit it!"
Logan pulled Tom from on top of Jeff and threw him back. He turned around and slammed an angry and hurtful Jeff, who was already up and going at Tom. He pulled him away, as Scott and Jean contained Tom.
"I got half a mind to throw one of my daggers at you," Jeff threatened.
"Jeff, calm down," Xavier pleaded.
"Well, what the hell are you waiting for, mate?" Tom taunted.
Jeff growled, pushed Logan out of the way, conjured up a dagger and threw it in Tom's direction.
"Look out!" Scott gasped, pushing Tom out of the way.
The dagger landed on Scott's shoulder. He groaned, as the paralyzing effect started spreading to his forearm and shoulder blade. He kneeled down feeling his body suddenly very heavy and numb.
"Scott!" Jean cried and went to pick him up.
Jeff huffed as guilt spread over his conscience. He looked at Logan, then at Scott, and ran his hands through his hair.
"Great going," Tom said, walking towards him.
"Tom!" Logan howled. "One more outta ya, bub.....The hell's she doin'?"
He looked up inside the infirmary. He saw Rue standing over a woman with her arms up. However, she wasn't standing as defiant as before. Her knees were bent barely as if she couldn't stand her own weight, her head hung low and a vein was about to pop up on her forehead. Her whole body shook with strain and sweat dropped down on the white covers.
"Get 'er outta there," Logan cried to Jean.
As Rue collapsed, Jean concentrated on her and started lifting her away from the woman. The machines beeped twice and flat-lined once more.
"Who the hell's that?" Logan asked, but neither Jeff nor Tom listened to him.
They each pushed one another to get into the room. Xavier followed them, meanwhile Logan took Scott and placed him into a bed on a joined room. Jean placed the girl carefully on Logan's arms and went to look after Scott. As Logan picked the girl up, he looked at Jeff, who nodded--he wasn't going to let Tom get to him anymore. He was already covered in the deepest guilt for letting the girl do what she wanted, he didn't need any more problems. He faced a lifeless Faye, and watched as Tom continued to frantically perform CPR on her, though they knew that it wouldn't work any.
"Tom...," Xavier started.
"I'm not giving up on her!" he cried.
Xavier..., someone called telepathically. Charles Xavier.
Yes? Who is it? he answered, but the voice went silent.
Logan came back after giving the girl to Kitty to look after. Xavier wheeled his chair to the woman, as Jeff pulled Tom away.
"Let me go!" he said, trying to free himself of Jeff's grips.
Xavier put one hand on the woman's head and the other on his own temple, and concentrated. Suddenly, both Xavier and Faye screamed loudly. Faye's eyes shot up as Xavier collapsed in the bed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
26. She looked around, got up and tried to stand. Hearing a noise beside her, she spun around but fell from the bed. She pushed herself against the wall blinking madly; her eyesight going back and forth between light and dark.
She looked wildly at the people in front of her, not recognizing anyone--her brain too confused to think--she could think of only one thing: getting away.
The short man in the middle with his claws out seemed tough, however, he proved to be a be a good exit. She charged up to the bed, climbed it, and jumped over Logan, who backed up and caught her as she landed. She growled and struggled to get away from him. He pulled her down with him. As she stood on top of him, the ring that was inside her uniform slipped off. Logan's eyes widened and she pulled away from him. He stood between her and the door.
"What have ya done ta 'im?" he asked, growling.
Jeff tried getting to her but she conjured up strong winds that swirled wildly around her. She tackled Logan, but he caught her with ease. He held her hands together in front of her. The more she struggled, the harder the winds blew. She looked very different, she was leaner, meaner, and definitely tougher; somehow, she looked older too.
More experienced, maybe, Logan thought, though he secretly knew it wasn't true.
She didn't have the exact same healing capabilities he had, but the little she did possess worked the same way. Once she had told him that when she was born, they tried to genetically turn the aging factor off. She said that she wasn't sure if they succeeded, but having her grow up was proof enough they hadn't. However, he remembered the second time he found her, like this time, she was much older than before; he couldn't explain it but though a few years had passed, she had aged decades. The same thing seemed to be true now. When she first came to Bayville, she looked the same way she had when they parted ways after Yuki's death, but now she had aged years in just a weeks, no, days.
She was still struggling and breathing hard. He was worried about her. She felt like she was going to lose it. In a moment of insanity, she extended her palm and released the tentacle. It pushed Logan in the chest, startling him and making him fall back. She took advantage of it, pulled her tentacle back and ran out of the door. Logan scrambled to his feet and went after her, but all he did see was her diving into the floor and the small mount speeding off.
"What the hell was that?" Jeff asked.
"Who was that?" asked Tom. "She isn't the same."
Logan sniffed the air around him, but didn't recognize her scent. He growled and punched the wall. As he walked back to the room, he stepped on something, and kneeled down to check.
Jean had come into the room and was helping Tom put Xavier on the bed that Faye had been in. The room was in shambled now, the winds Faye had used to protect herself had nearly destroyed everything.
Kitty and Bobby came inside the room, followed by Rogue and Nightcrawler.
"What happened?" Bobby asked.
"Where were you guys?" Jean asked.
"Mr. McCoy asked us to stay away from her," said Nightcrawler.
"We, like, had to take care of Rue, but she's, like, one major brat," Kitty said. "Amara and Roberto are there with her now."
"What happened to the Professor?" asked Scott, walking into the room.
"We don't know," Jeff said. "He tried reaching her with his mind but something happened."
"See if you can reach him, Jean," Scott said.
Jean concentrated hard.
"No," she answered. "It's like he's not even there. Who did this?"
Suddenly, Logan let his claws out in a loud *SNIKT*, which startled everyone. He growled, got up and looked closely at the floor outside the room.
"Did ya get 'er?" Rogue asked.
"Yeah," he grunted. "Jean, contact Storm and ask her to make a diversion. You guys take care o' Chuck. I'll bring 'er back."
"I'm coming too," Tom said.
"No."
"Yeah, whatever, mate," Tom answered walking behind him.
Impulsively, Logan caught Tom by the collar with one hand and slammed the claws of the other in the wall next to Tom's face.
"Ya've done 'nough for one day, eh?" Logan growled.
He pulled his claws away and left. Tom slid down the wall and gulped.